[she throws the newspaper shreds on the ground and looks over her shoulder at him.]
Whatever. It's not like it's new. Everybody already sees me that way, you just set it up perfect for them.
[this is actually perfect because this sets up so well for a memory, so - as she's saying this the scraps of paper glow a soft pink, and then - like a series of comic pages, a story gets told.]
[ Danny blinks in shock as the papers shift around and--he's not sure if what he's seeing is real, but he can't think of a reason why it wouldn't be. It looks real and feels real enough--and it matches with what Nimona is saying, to boot.
And boy doesn't that just make him feel rotten. That here, she is considered a hero, and what he did was do something obviously villainous while looking just like her, acting with her power. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but...Nimona clearly doesn't want it to be this way. And he's only made it worse. ]
...I...I really am...sorry. I didn't think it would get back to you. I didn't think anyone would even see who did it.
It was...I was just doing it for me. It wasn't supposed to affect you at all.
[oh, well. she's not expecting the memories to just flutter all across like that, so she just. stops, and stares at the papers.]
... What the fuck was that? [that's way worse than being seen in the newspaper, honestly, she's not even listening - she's not even really mad at him.]
At least there's one good thing about this week, I guess.
[ and now it's time for danny to memshare!! comic panels pop up, flashing various short snippets of time.
one is of Danny's dad holding up a chrome gun of some kind at the kitchen table while Danny and his sister Jazz eat breakfast. Brandishing it, his dad says "I'm just saying, if we can find that ghost at Jazz's school, we're gonna peel that ghost like an onion!"
Danny's mom looks perturbed at such a violent thought coming from her husband. "Well we can't completely vaporize it. Don't you want to at least examine the remains?"
---
Another panel: the whole family is piled into the. family submarine. Maddie, the kids' mom, eagerly says, "Nothing like spending quality family time with the people you love."
Jazz raises an eyebrow. "And by quality time you mean hunting down ghosts in a sub-aquatic death trap?"
Jack, with gleeful excitement: "You betcha Jazzypants! Whether it's air land or sea I won't stop until we capture a ghost and tear it apart. Molecule by molecule!"
Danny looks away uncomfortably. Jazz takes notice and asks him if he's okay. "Who, me? I'm swell. Every single molecule of me."
---
A third comic panel. In the kitchen, a small TV plays a news snippet. There is an inlaid picture of ghost Danny as he appears on his trading card, inverted colors and all, as the news anchor says: "...a mysterious benefactor has offered a million dollar bounty on the head of Amity Park's most famous ghost and hired the world's best known ghost hunters to track him down."
Most of the family is gathered in the kitchen listening to this and roll their eyes as they count down: three, two, one...
Jack bursts into the kitchen armed with a bazooka. "Nobody's catching that ghost kid except for me!"
---
A fourth panel. Danny and his dad are airborne in the Specter Speeder, chasing after a ghost Danny. (Look, it makes sense in context and won't feel weird to see here--it'll actually feel like both of them are equally Danny as the other) Jack, his dad, has his hand on Danny's shoulder and says, "Your old man's gonna show you how to catch a ghost!"
Danny, awkwardly: "Dude--uh, Dad. I-I don't know about this."
Jack initiates the targeting system on the Speeder, the points calibrating around ghost Danny flying through the air. "Okay. Now you're gonna want to nail him right between the eyes." The crosshairs combine and flash, indicating a lock on the target. "Now waste him! Take the shot, son. Make your old man proud!"
---
A fifth panel. Danny, in ghost form, is inside City Hall, and the interior is in disarray. Outside, reporters can be heard saying "ghost kid attacking City Hall during a town meeting" and "we now bring you live to an evil ghost teen on a rampage." The mayor stumbles into Danny's hands, and immediately a massive gun is pointed right in his face by his own mother.
"Get your hands off of our duly elected leader, you odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness!"
She fires right for him, but another ghost, a huge wolf in a hoodie, intercepts and takes the hit for Danny. He implodes into a green portal while reaching out for him. Now, with no one left to help him, Maddie aims for Danny again. "By the authority vested in me by the city of Amity Park, I sentence you back from once you came!" ]
[ he has no idea how to interpret this tone and it's making him kind of bristle. how the turntables, because now he's the one trying to brush it aside with bravado. But...awkwardly. Not combatively, just like he's not sure what to do and is preparing for this to blow up in his face somehow. ]
[that's so fair - she recognizes this, actually, the way he bristles, and she shakes her head, lifting her hands a little. no, no. she doesn't mean it in a bad way. she just relates.]
Just - how'd you deal with it being your family? [...] I don't know if I could've.
...I don't know. What other choice did I have? I thought they'd probably change their ways and accept me if I told them, but if it went poorly, it would be...catastrophic.
Turns out they really would have accepted me, if it had come to that. But it didn't, and they ended up being right about me in the end anyway.
I didn't do it because I had to, Nimona. It's...I killed them, and everyone else, because it's what I do. It's all I'm good at and all I know how to do. Whether I thought I could've told them or not...doesn't change that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Whatever. It's not like it's new. Everybody already sees me that way, you just set it up perfect for them.
[this is actually perfect because this sets up so well for a memory, so - as she's saying this the scraps of paper glow a soft pink, and then - like a series of comic pages, a story gets told.]
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And boy doesn't that just make him feel rotten. That here, she is considered a hero, and what he did was do something obviously villainous while looking just like her, acting with her power. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but...Nimona clearly doesn't want it to be this way. And he's only made it worse. ]
...I...I really am...sorry. I didn't think it would get back to you. I didn't think anyone would even see who did it.
It was...I was just doing it for me. It wasn't supposed to affect you at all.
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... What the fuck was that? [that's way worse than being seen in the newspaper, honestly, she's not even listening - she's not even really mad at him.]
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No.
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...you know, I told you the truth, can you at least give me the dignity of doing the same?
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... I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, that happened. It always happens. It happened with him too. He didn't see me at all.
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What?
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[a pause, and then she kind of just laughs.]
Yeah, well. That didn't last long. He figured out what he actually thought of me right before I got here.
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[ well that's a fucking bummer. ]
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Like I said. I'm used to it.
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I'd say lean into it, but... [ it is extremely obvious that leaning into it doesn't actually make her feel better about it ]
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That's what they want, so I might as well give them a show. [...] Did you get your powers back?
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I was starting to get used to having yours instead, but now that I have intangibility back, I feel right again.
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[ and now it's time for danny to memshare!! comic panels pop up, flashing various short snippets of time.
one is of Danny's dad holding up a chrome gun of some kind at the kitchen table while Danny and his sister Jazz eat breakfast. Brandishing it, his dad says "I'm just saying, if we can find that ghost at Jazz's school, we're gonna peel that ghost like an onion!"
Danny's mom looks perturbed at such a violent thought coming from her husband. "Well we can't completely vaporize it. Don't you want to at least examine the remains?"
---
Another panel: the whole family is piled into the. family submarine. Maddie, the kids' mom, eagerly says, "Nothing like spending quality family time with the people you love."
Jazz raises an eyebrow. "And by quality time you mean hunting down ghosts in a sub-aquatic death trap?"
Jack, with gleeful excitement: "You betcha Jazzypants! Whether it's air land or sea I won't stop until we capture a ghost and tear it apart. Molecule by molecule!"
Danny looks away uncomfortably. Jazz takes notice and asks him if he's okay. "Who, me? I'm swell. Every single molecule of me."
---
A third comic panel. In the kitchen, a small TV plays a news snippet. There is an inlaid picture of ghost Danny as he appears on his trading card, inverted colors and all, as the news anchor says: "...a mysterious benefactor has offered a million dollar bounty on the head of Amity Park's most famous ghost and hired the world's best known ghost hunters to track him down."
Most of the family is gathered in the kitchen listening to this and roll their eyes as they count down: three, two, one...
Jack bursts into the kitchen armed with a bazooka. "Nobody's catching that ghost kid except for me!"
---
A fourth panel. Danny and his dad are airborne in the Specter Speeder, chasing after a ghost Danny. (Look, it makes sense in context and won't feel weird to see here--it'll actually feel like both of them are equally Danny as the other) Jack, his dad, has his hand on Danny's shoulder and says, "Your old man's gonna show you how to catch a ghost!"
Danny, awkwardly: "Dude--uh, Dad. I-I don't know about this."
Jack initiates the targeting system on the Speeder, the points calibrating around ghost Danny flying through the air. "Okay. Now you're gonna want to nail him right between the eyes." The crosshairs combine and flash, indicating a lock on the target. "Now waste him! Take the shot, son. Make your old man proud!"
---
A fifth panel. Danny, in ghost form, is inside City Hall, and the interior is in disarray. Outside, reporters can be heard saying "ghost kid attacking City Hall during a town meeting" and "we now bring you live to an evil ghost teen on a rampage." The mayor stumbles into Danny's hands, and immediately a massive gun is pointed right in his face by his own mother.
"Get your hands off of our duly elected leader, you odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness!"
She fires right for him, but another ghost, a huge wolf in a hoodie, intercepts and takes the hit for Danny. He implodes into a green portal while reaching out for him. Now, with no one left to help him, Maddie aims for Danny again. "By the authority vested in me by the city of Amity Park, I sentence you back from once you came!" ]
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Oh. [this is so unfortunately familiar.] ... Danny.
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...what?
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Just - how'd you deal with it being your family? [...] I don't know if I could've.
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Turns out they really would have accepted me, if it had come to that. But it didn't, and they ended up being right about me in the end anyway.
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With the body count stuff. [she says, after a minute.] Would you have had to do that if you'd thought it was okay to tell them?
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Are you waiting for me to agree with you? Because I'm not going to.
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