Into shadows the children will play, dancing and prancing their merry way.

Shadows
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

Chapter 1: Remember

The green dress flared as she sank to the floor. "Traiga mi destino en la Luz, fuera de Sombras, y poderes de Oscuridad vendrá," she mumbled softly under her breath. A long match appeared almost magically in her fingers. She twirled it in the air, continuing to whisper under her breath before striking it against the floor. It hissed to life. She brought the flaming match up to the candle's wick. Inches away from completing the ritual. "And the young hybrid's life…"

"Belongs to me," Danny interrupted. Reaching deep inside himself, his breath caught in his throat. Green eyes flared with renewed life, his pupils vanishing as his vision faded to an emerald-tinged world. From his painful crouch, he focused on the woman kneeling before him.

My soul is mine, he snarled to himself as he built up a huge charge of energy. He released it in sharp waves that radiated in every direction. As the ropes disintegrated around him, he gasped in pain. It felt like someone had thrust a red-hot poker through his stomach and starting ripping out pieces of his insides.

Panting slightly, he glared at the lady who had brought this on him. Locked him the dark. Threatened his life. Tried to take over the world. She seemed frozen, matchstick an inch away from the green candle's wick, her reddish eyes wide with surprise. Danny pushed himself to his feet, wavering slightly. The lack of food made his head spin dizzily.

"Phantom!" A female's voice echoed through the hall.

The boy wiped his head around, his electric eyes focusing on a woman wearing a dirty blue jumpsuit. She struggled against the large man holding her arms. Mom... no…

The sight caused a new wave of fear and anxiety that made the energy around him flare. Grimacing at the new level of pain that twisted into his stomach, he swiveled his head back to the lady in green. It's her fault, his mind whirled. It's all her fault.

She threatened me. She threatened my family. She was going to kill my mother! Fury filling his mind, he brought his hand up, a fatal dose of ectoplasm sparkling between his fingertips. The flickering green energy cast her features in a jade glow, her red eyes becoming a much more human brown. Danny stared at her, watching her eyes fill with fear and terror.

She's just a human, a corner of his mind whispered. The bright glow faded just before it left his fingers, zapping the short distance between them and catching the lady in the shoulder. Her scream cut off as she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Danny stared at her body, shaking in anger. You deserve worse than this.

"Hey!"

Danny's head snapped around to one of the guards. A large, Hispanic man had his hand half-raised in the air, his eyes flickering between his boss and the young half-ghost. His hand reached for a gun, and Danny used the excuse to channel more energy into the next blast. The guard was thrown against the wall, his head making a sickening noise as it hit.

Pain stabbed through him, his body loudly protesting the use of energy that Danny simply did not have. Biting his lip, he funneled the agony into motion. Stumbling off the dais, trembling at the emotions and energy flooding through him, he raced towards his mother. The carefully arranged candlesticks scattered under his feet.

His legs started to give out. Clenching his teeth, Danny threw himself into the air, his flight uneven, his entire body throbbing with the effort. Jerking to an unsteady stop in front of his mother and the guard holding her down. "Let her go," he snapped. Waves of needles swarming through his body as he yanked more energy into being, forcing his hand to a deadly glow.

The guard's eyes widened. His hands went to his belt, scrambling for the gun.

Danny screamed in pure pain and anger and sent a blast of energy into the man's face. The man shrieked and stumbled backwards, collapsing in a writhing pile. Tearing his eyes away, Danny tried ignore the aching emptiness that was creeping into the very core of his body. He turned to his mother. "Go!" he panted, glancing into his mother's eyes, "Run! Get help!"

She was staring at him, eyes wide. When she didn't move, he raised his hand point the way out. "M…" he trailed off, staring at his fingers in surprise. He could see straight through his hand. Gazing at the back of his hand for a second, eyes focused on his mother's expression through his hand. Her eyes weren't looking at him… they were looking through him…

Danny spun around. The first guard clamored to his feet, a bloody hand clamped against his head. Watching the man, eyes wide, mind whirling, he snapped at his mother. "I can't hold them off for long." If I can hold them off at all. When his mother just continued to stand there, watching him. "Go!" he screamed.

She hesitated just one more second, reaching out and grabbing Danny's hand. He blinked, glancing down. It felt weird; her warm, solid hand against his. "Stay alive, we need to talk," she commanded.

Looking up, he met her eyes. A shiver of hot energy flickered through him and a grin slid onto his face. He nodded, then turned away from his mother.

Listening to her race out of the room, Danny watched the man stagger towards the gun glittering in the candlelight. He screamed, a wordless challenge full of terror, pain, and anger, and reached for the energy inside of him. A ball of ectoplasm swirled into existence slowly, dragging icy claws through his brain. Releasing the sphere as soon as it was fully formed, he collapsed to the floor.

Barely able to push himself to his hands and knees, he shut his eyes and let a groan slip through his clenched teeth. I can see through my eyelids, he wondered through the pain. His trembling arms finally buckled, sending him the rest of the way to the floor.

He curled up, his stomach twisting, his brain burning, every muscle shrieking in protest. Is this-? A wave of stings blasted through him, sending his thoughts scattering like puzzle pieces. Everything vanished in a wave of pain except for one thought.

Oh, please just let me die… let me die... let me die...

"You thought you could win, hybrid?" a voice sneered in his ear.

Danny turned his head to peer upwards through the pain. It was the lady.

"I am better than you," she continued, seemingly oblivious to the hatred starting to glow in Danny's eyes. "You are disease; a blight on humanity. But a useful blight. You can't even stand, can you?" She laughed.

Her eyes were wild as she held out that green candle and set it between them. "Luz," she whispered, pulling out another match. Crazy light was glowing in her gaze. "Sombras." She struck the match against the floor. It sizzled to life. "Oscuridad." She touched the light to the candlewick.

The candle burst into light, the flame glowing a brilliant green. There was a beat of nothing happening, then Danny gathered his thoughts enough to mutter, "That's it? Your brother changed all of reality and all you do is light a candle?"

Her smirk was tinged with insanity as she leaned forwards, her nose inches from his. "Your life is mine now," she whispered. "Don't underestimate me."

Pulling a small walkie-talkie out of a pocket, she got to her feet. The flickering green candle sputtered. "Charlie. Rob." She waited, static crackling on the radio.

"Yup." A thick voice hissed through the tiny speaker.

"The creature's mother is headed your way. Stop her."

"You need her awake?" The man's voice was emotionless.

"The ceremony has started," she said with a laugh. "She doesn't need to be alive."

The voice crackled through the static. "Copy that."

There were more than two guards! Danny's mind raced, horror sweeping through him. No! He gasped in agony as he pushed himself to his hands and knees. Mom!

"Yes see, blight?" Jessica Oscura purred. "I win."

"No," he whispered. His eyes narrowed as he glared at her. "You can't win."

"Why not?" she laughed, turning her back on him.

Danny looked down at his almost completely transparent hands. The edges of his arms blended into the dark shadows marring the floor. Can I do this? His eyes closed, an image of his mother being brought back here, her throat being cut, dying… I have to. His fingers curled into fists, his fingernails dragging across the stone floor. And I will.

A snarl transformed his face. "Because I said so." Energy swirled around him, yanking at his body as it zapped and sizzled in the air. Biting back a howl at the pain, he formed the energy into a blast and sent it flying into the lady's back.

The world started to fall apart. Danny's eyes jumped down, watching himself dissolve into nothingness.

No!

He held perfectly still, trembling as he forced his body back into reality. Barely able to remain upright, he shook as he fought off the panic that was trying to envelope him. He'd felt, just for a moment, an intense emptiness. A void so vast and silent that even a brief glimpse had seared itself into his memory.

Finally, licking at his lips, he took a deep breath. I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, he chanted silently. Pushing himself unsteadily to his feet, Danny staggered across the room. Jessica Oscura was lying in a puddle of green skirts and caramel curls, blood from a cut on her forehead trickling onto the waxed floor. He stood there, weaving drunkenly, watching her breathe.

Just die…

The image of his mother in the same position curled through his mind. "Mom," he whispered, tears in his eyes. He body sank to the floor even as he thought about saving her. His head dropped to tiles. Pressing his forehead against the cold mosaic floor, he closed his eyes and let his churning emotions take him over.

I can't even move. How can I save her?

His breath rasping in his throat, Danny found his body had nothing left to give. He could do nothing but pray for her safety.

To be continued…