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Danny never had an interest in his parents' work, it was always something strange that had to do with ghosts. He had grown a bit resentful of his parents' work, everything they did in the basement took them away from their family upstairs; even when they were upstairs it became a pseudo-lab with their left-out guns and samples in the fridge. Still, even that didn’t excuse him from the same curiosity that all children might feel.
Freshly fourteen, on his birthday no less, he decided that it was a good idea to check out what his parents made.
He didn’t have any friends at this point in his life- his old childhood friend got a scholarship to a high-tech academy. A one-way ticket to his dream career at the ripe age of 10. Turner- Tucker. Tucker was his name, couldn’t stay behind. Danny didn’t blame him.
There’s this one goth girl he tried to befriend but the next day she had been adopted by some punk-emo upperclassmen who were loud during civics class. He still nodded to her in the hallway though, sometimes he took her political stickers to put in his locker just to have some sort of connection to someone.
That being said, no one was spending his birthday with him. Jazz had gotten him a cupcake and a few books on astronomy but she ended up getting a job at the library a few weeks ago to save up for college, even though she would never have to pay for it a day in her life. She never had a moment to spare, always doing doing doing.
His parents had spent the last year in the basement nonstop, but they came out this morning looking morose and saying something about their pet project not working.
The stairs didn’t creak when he walked down them, wearing his favorite hoodie and fiddling with the straps he went to see what was so important to his parents. More important than his fucking birthday- he took a deep breath. Jazz said something about teenagers being angsty, and he didn’t need to prove her right. He looks at the dimly lit room, he moves his hand to the wall, slapping around until he finds the light switch. Everything down there was either metal or green.
Danny hadn’t been down there in years, earlier in life he had sworn off going to the lab and practically hissed when anyone mentioned it. Running a hand across what looked to be a bazooka with his dad’s face on it he wondered if he had done the right thing. It was kind of cool down here. If his parents weren’t so… like that… he may have some interest in this. His mind wandered over the wonderful ways these could be used, the engineer in his brain was picking apart these weapons like legos. Suddenly he hissed, pulling his fingers away and putting his pointer in his mouth. The machine had a sharp edge, probably still in the works. It was something his mom was probably working on.
Speaking of which, Danny turned around with his finger still in his mouth to stop the blood from pooling out. At the back, he could see what his parents’ pet project was. How he missed it when he first walked in he would never know.
“Holy shit.” Danny yelled, confident that he’s home alone, “What is that?”
Walking closer he turned to see the blueprints on a messy desk. He dusted some bolts off blueprints, the metal hitting the ground with small clinks as they skitter away like beetles. Humming carefully he looks at the blueprints and traces the lines with his fingers. The top of the prints had the name of the project.
“Portal to the Ghost Zone?” Danny snorted, looking at the large monolith of metal behind him. A shiver went up his spine though, as he realized he had his back to this giant mess of metal. It was like a mouth, a largemouth, “Now I sound crazy.”
There were lots of working parts going with this, and he looked over to see that they had been emailing Uncle Vlad.
Uncle Vlad was a college friend of his parents, Danny rarely talked to him though, he’d much rather play video games in his room or go outside and walk to the observatory. He knew that Vlad was kind of rich, having invested large amounts of money into stuff while he was stuck in the hospital. Mom and Dad helped him through it, staying with him through it all.
Silently he walks to the large arch that begins the small tunnel. It was dark in there, he found it kind of stupid to have any part of this project dark. Isn’t it important to be able to see stuff while welding and working with it?
“This is so dangerous.” He said, before jumping over a wire before he tripped. Laughing to himself he wondered how he would explain how he broke their project with his face and clumsy ass if he had actually tripped-
Down he goes. Why did they leave wires exposed? They learn not to do this in every electrical course in the world, Danny curses slightly as he slams into the side. He brains himself on the cheek, rubbing at the oncoming bruises and hissing slightly, “Stupid. I should have brought a flashli-“
He hears something click as he takes his weight off the wall, and suddenly he feels like every inch of his skin is getting peeled away.
A scream escapes his lips quickly, and in a split second he can feel his heart trying to convulse out of his chest, he drops to the floor, his whole body a living wire of nerves. He has to get out. He has to get out of this. He’s going to die!
He’s going to die and his parents will find him here and they won’t even know for a couple of hours. He’ll be dead for a while- if they don’t find his body how long will it take them to notice.
His shaking hand finally feels the edge of the portal and he pulls himself out. Laying on the floor convulsing he thinks he just bit his tongue off, blood is rushing out of his mouth.
Finally, it all goes to black and he feels at peace.
Until he doesn’t. Waking up he blinks at the lights of the lab assaulting his eyes, groaning as he moves his hand to his head and glares at the lights. Wait, is that his hand?
He screeches as he notices his skin is dark purple! Oh god is that something that can happen when you get electrocuted? Is that something that can happen? He jumps up and starts patting himself down, looking down at his body he sees his white hoodie is now black with white hood and sleeves, and his jeans are bright white! While looking down he notices that he’s not on the floor anymore, but floating five or so feet in the air.
And the portal is open…
Vlad was not the same man he was in college, he knows that for a fact. He used to be broke, studying bioengineering and living off of ramen with his best friends while they studied the insane topic of spectrology. Now he had a few businesses and was rich, and he was still friends with his college buddies who were now married and had kids.
And he was half-dead.
He hummed and looked around his office, thinking about the recent phone call he had gotten. Maddie called to talk about how she was worried about their son. He had gotten clumsier in classes, banned from holding any kind of glassware, he didn’t have any friends at all, and he was starting to be absent from his room and the house all night. It escalated lately to him lashing out but acting perfectly normal in front of his parents. Vlad and Jack consoled her, but Vlad had more of a worry about something else.
The Fentons’ portal opened four or so months before, bringing hoards of ghosts with it. Vlad had shut down his portal in Wisconsin because of how many ghosts tried to escape and terrorize people. It had been so hard to shut down, almost taking the mansion down with it. It was a stroke of luck that everything didn’t come falling apart around the rift in reality.
Another thing that changed was that Vlad wasn’t as selfish as he was years ago, he got over his petty anger at his friends getting married, and he stopped using his ghost powers for evil.
Sighing softly he looks through his room, doing some light cleaning. He had people to do it for him of course, but he liked cleaning and organizing his own room, the library, and his lab. Those were his areas and his domains, and it helped clear his head.
His mind turns from cleaning to his recent fights, the news on the TV was showing a current ghost attack, and he spotted someone he thought looked a little familiar. He might have fought the ghost as Plasmius- but now he doesn’t actually remember fighting him.
Plasmius was what he called his ghost form, and it was the name he used to begin spotlighting as Amity’s ghost hero. A mentor he had taken up after his friends opened their portal, someone had to be competent, because as much as he loved Jack and Maddie they weren’t the best hunters. Many townsfolk liked him and found him to be a good ghost Hunter even if he was one himself, albeit there was controversy. Vlad took special pride in being a hero now, to make up for what an awful person he had been before. It was penance.
He watches more, the young ghost is inexperienced, but he is making a big mess. Letting the rings transform his body, Plasmius stands in his room watching this new wraith. He had deep purple skin, something that Vlad hasn’t seen in many ghosts before in all his years, he wore a black and white hoodie with white jeans. The ghost's white hair frothed like an angry mass, and his orange eyes sat in a sea of black sclera. Why did he look so familiar?
Remembering himself he flies out of his home and to the place where this new ghost was attacking. Vlad flies quickly, his years of training making him faster than a commercial plane. He drops down and floats by the other ghost, grabbing him by the hoodie.
“And what are you doing?” He asked calmly as the ghost he just grabbed thrashed in his grip. He held him out at arm’s length, the wraith growled at him angrily. It didn’t sit right with Vlad how familiar this ghost looked, nor how young he looked. He was inexperienced too, not like Youngblood who was young but hundreds of years old. He was young and he was newly formed, even if he looked corporeal when most ghosts looked wispy when first forming.
The younger ghost grabbed Plasmius’s arm and used it to leverage himself to kick the other in the stomach. Vlad lets go more out of shock than pain, and the young ghost glares.
“I’m just playing a little prank, why are you asking Bram Stoker wannabe. Who lets a vampire play hero anyway?” He says coldly, with a hint of amusement in his eyes. He’s playful, but Vlad has no idea what his obsession could be. Maybe pranks? Mean pranks.
He has quite the mouth on him too.
“Plasmius, what kind of name is that. I think I’ll call you Count Chocula.” He says smiling now before he darts off and Vlad has to fly after him. The young ghoul throws quips and barbs over his shoulder, and Vlad finally catches up to him with a containment cage in hand.
“Alright, and what is your name then Little Badger?” The nickname slips out, the very one he’s used for Daniel before, but this ghost kid is a spitfire just like Jack and Maddie’s son.
The ghost freezes and stares at him before looking down and crossing his arms, “Why do you care? You’re gonna throw me in a cage.”
“Well, it’s usually polite to ask people’s names,” Vlad responds, finding it slightly funny when the ghost scowls at him.
“Phantom.”
Vlad blinks, taken aback at the lackluster name, because really… Naming yourself ghosts as a ghost? “Phantom?”
“Listen all my creativity goes into my jokes, not my name. Now let me go!” He starts struggling again, landing a solid kick to Vlad’s face. He’s not fast enough though, and Vlad throws the cage like a Pokeball, and it closes on top of Phantom, shrinking him, the whole cage could now fit in Vlad’s pocket with the angry yelling little gremlin child-ghost inside. He then flies off to Jack and Maddie’s house and unlocks the cage before dumping the ghostly contents into the GZ.
It was a temporary solution, as his own portal was being built slowly in his free time.
After an hour or so he gets invited to dinner at the Fenton’s, and he accepts. His friends missed him that week, while he was being thrown left and right with all his responsibilities.
Knocking on the door he waits patiently. Jack and Maddie finally turned off their front security due to the number of complaints both from mailmen and Vlad himself. It had been an uphill battle but he was rather proud that he won it. It saved him plenty of trips to his first aid room and the dry cleaners. Instead of Jack or Maddie opening the door, there was a disgruntled teen opening it. Daniel. He looked up at Vlad and blinked rapidly.
“What are you doing here?”
“Danny!” Jazz scolded, coming up behind him and smiling, “Hi uncle Vlad. Mom and Dad actually cooked something that didn’t come to life today.”
Vlad nodded and grimace smiled, “How many days has it been since the last Frankenstein incident?”
Danny huffed, “none.”
“The lunch meat attacked this morning.” Jazz said, scratching her head, “Mom! Dad! Vlad’s here!”
You could hear Jack Fenton coming from a mile away, but Vlad had years of practice dodging the affection expertly. When Jack went in for a hug Vlad juked him out so as to not end up a splatter on the front steps, “You’ll break my back tackling me out there.”
Jack laughed, and Vlad did end up giving him a hug, though he was thankful that he could hold his breath. Jack’s hugs were nice though, Vlad never had to see a chiropractor after them since the bones were already popped. Win-win.
He gives Maddie a hug too, and smiles at them, “How have you been?”
“It’s great Vladdy!” Jack said, “Lots of new inventions, and we updated the RV.”
Vlad nodded, and the three of them ended up talking more than eating. Sometimes he gets annoyed at how entranced they are in this science of theirs, and other times he is amazing at their simple ingenuity. They aren’t afraid to do crazy things or sound crazy, maybe that was why he had gotten along with them so well. Maddie gets up to take her plate to the sink, and Vlad catches sight of Daniel. He was tapping his fork to his plate silently and glaring at them before he suddenly turned away. The little badger is bothered by something, Vlad knew, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
That hoodie looks a tad familiar now that he thinks of it.
The teen gets up muttering about being excused as he throws the rest of his food away, not having eaten much of it, it seems.
“So how has everything with VladCorp been doing!” Maddie asks, and Vlad tells them about the recent funny gossip- which he was totally invested in thank you very much. He may be a busy man but he also thrives on hearing people fight. Was that a bad trait? Maybe.
He ends up staying after dinner and instead of doing anything ghost-related, Jack actually asks for a football night. The game is on. The Packers are playing so of course Vlad can’t resist.
The game plays on, and his superheating picks something up from the stairs. He looks over to see Daniel at the stairs, his eyes set in anger. The way he stares at the three adults on the couch seems to be full of malice. Vlad blinks and suddenly the teen is gone, but something is clearly wrong.
He can’t do anything about it, because by the end of the game Jack and Maddie are tired, and Vlad needs to go on patrol.
That night he catches sight of the purple teenage ghost simply floating about, but never seems to see him doing anything wrong- so he drops it.
Danny didn’t know why he did it at first. It was just so good to finally have control over something. Oh the first time he used his powers he took down a good chunk of trees in a local park, the power made him stare down at his hands like they had done something magnificent. He never had that kind of power before, never had the ability to be the strongest in the room. Daniel Fenton was a bullied nobody, someone who got stepped on, forgotten, and otherwise unseen. At first, he didn’t mind it, sometimes it’s like that, but it always made him feel so small.
He’s not the smallest one in the room anymore, no longer the weakest, he realized while staring at the burnt park trees and upturned stumps.
The second time he used his powers was to help a dog get across the street.
The third he used it to fill Dashes locker with fake blood- drenching and staining his pretty white letterman jacket. Whenever the jock came near Danny only evaded capture quickly, disappearing behind corners. He was like a ghost, heh. The fourth time he used his powers he trashed his parents’ lab.
They had been furious, not knowing who had done it. At first, he felt catharsis, silently joking to himself that maybe they’ll pay attention to him now. But it wasn’t enough, they had interrogated both children but they had decided neither are guilty. Thank god, Danny was not ready for that grounding, even if he could break said grounding easily. Once they parsed out that it was a ghost, they got angry at the specter who had done it, threatening to tear them apart limb from limb, and Danny suddenly didn’t feel so excited for attention anymore. The quick switch from enraged at his ghost half, to a quick “hello hon” from his mom, made him retreat to his room with no further fanfare. Still, it didn’t feel like enough. Nothing felt like enough to get back at them for making the thing that killed him.
He shook his head. Can’t think like that, he can’t or he’ll get into a long spiral.
Danny thought about Jazz, she was the perfect daughter. The one who got perfect grades volunteered, had one or two close friends, was always helpful, always nice. He loves her, he loves her a lot… but he envies her. How she made it all look easy. Whereas he was stuck struggling with powers and being dead.
When Vlad came over he had a sudden wave of envy. Nothing but envy, because he was talking with Danny’s parents so easily. They let him talk, let him ramble his interests. Danny never got that! Danny never got to get big tackle hugs whenever he wanted, never got hugged by his mom whenever he pleased. Hell, they made Vlad dinner so carefully, not letting the meal come to life when he had to beg Jazz to teach him how to cook Mac and cheese.
They liked Vlad, but they were supposed to love him- their son!
He punches the bed before taking a breath. He needed to get out of his room, and he flew out to release some tension. Flying was his favorite part of being a half-ghost, because he got to soar whenever, felt the cool air on his face, and as it rushed through his hair.
In the distance, he saw the ghost hero's cape, Plasmius. He reminded Danny of Vlad so much, having this haughty air about him- heck even the nickname was the same. If he looked a little deeper, Danny could see a resemblance in those red eyes, same face shape, and everything. Gosh if he didn’t know any different he may just think that Plasmius is Vlad Masters…
Huh…
Plasmius could be Vlad Masters. Phantom was Danny Fenton, so stranger things could happen.
One way to find out. The younger ghost flies over fast enough to catch the hero off guard, taking his stupid cape and flipping it over Plasmius’s face, not stopping his mean laughter. The hero snarls and whips the cape out of his sight as Danny goes invisible to giggle.
“I know you’re here.” He says irritably, “You choose to come to me right now on the easiest night of nights. Youngblood?”
“Nope,” Danny said, twirling around the hero and poking his gravity-defying hair. It moved as if to grab him and he retreated his hand quickly. Cool.
Plasmius sighs, “ Phantom .”
“ Plasmius. ” He repeated in the same tone, “Or is that really your name?”
The vampiric hero rolls his eyes and grabs Phantom’s hand before he can poke at him again, “I’m sure your mother didn’t decide to name you Phantom.”
“Hmm, you look like a Vlad.” Phantom taunts, “What would you lovely friends think if you ended up being the thing they hate huh?”
The hero stills, eyes squinting as if trying to parse the little menace’s motive, “Phantom this is not a funny game to play.”
“Oh, but isn’t it! I bet Mmmm-Maddie will shoot you with no hesitation. Jack might miss, but hey who cares as long as they know their bestest friend in the whole world is dead!” Phantom grins, his face no longer hidden by invisibility. His face was twisting unnaturally, something that Vlad knew happened to ghosts who were distancing themselves from humanity.
“I’m so happy that you got to catch up on gossip on the only Halfa in existence Phantom, but your taunting and teasing doesn’t matter,” Vlad says, and Phantom stops dead. Halfa… he’d never heard that term, but to be fair hed never talked to any other ghosts.
“Halfa? Like half ghost?”
Plasmius blinks, wondering how the ghost could know his identity without knowing about halfas- no one just comes up with the idea of being half-dead unless… “You didn’t know? Then how-“
Phantom snatches his hand away, “None of your business old fruitloop.”
“You made it my business by dragging me by the cape.” He pointed out.
“Die again,” Phantom said, and then dove through the ground and disappeared. He seemed flustered, being caught in whatever game he was playing.
While he was now severely anxious, Danny had the information stuck in his head. Maybe he should take a trip into the ghost zone. He was not sleeping the rest of the night, Danny knew as he crept into the lab and through the portal. Hopefully, he came back before his parents came back in. Or he’d have a lot of issues.
The ghost zone was as green as he thought it’d be, and he flew around to look at all the weird sights. He saw a floating fridge and guessed that was someone’s lair- sometimes he listened to his parents’ rants okay? There were lots of doors. Each one was unique, with a different color, handle, or shade. There was an impossibly yellow door with the sound of echoing laughter and eye-sore colors leaking from the crack of door and frame. There was a black door with a sleek gold handle that sucked in all the light around it.
He wandered around with intrigue at all the new sights. There were islands too, some of them were covered in trees taller than any he had seen, and flourishing with neon plants that crawled and crept up every available surface. There was an Island playing music too, and Danny floated over to listen to it. There was some girl on a stage on her own island singing.
He bobbed along before going on his way.
Danny didn’t end up meeting anyone that day, and he just barely missed Walker’s prison. Not that he knew it. When he came back he thought about trashing the house for when his parents woke up, blame it on a ghost. Maybe then they'd spend some time out of their lab.
Vlad sat in his lab and stared at his finished and working portal, but all he could think of was Phantom. The kid seemed completely lost, and usually, Vlad wouldn’t worry about some random ghost that decides to terrorize the locals, but something was tugging at his cold dead heartstrings. Sighing quietly he started looking through emails and caught something close.
It was a picture of the Fenton family, him included, which did make him feel a bit better about his life, but he noticed that Danny’s face was similar to…
Vlad pulls up a news article and looks at Phantom’s face.
“Daniel is Phantom- wait. Daniel Fenton, Danny Phantom. It’s a pun, of course, it is.” Vlad sighs because that is just like his pseudo-nephew. He files the information in his brain and starts going through his emails. Taking that moment to relax and let the information sink in before he inevitably has to confront the 14-year-old menace. Phantom has caused enough property damage to be considered a felon, and once incited a prison riot. Why he did that Vlad would never know.
But why was he doing all of this? His obsession doesn’t seem to be pranks, and it’s not revenge in any capacity. So what are Daniel’s motives?
A thought tickled the back of his brain; what if it wasn’t anything ghostly that made him lash out. Vlad knows that Daniel seems to hate his parents, not that the two of them would realize without him saying the words to their faces. Now that he thinks about it, Daniel is probably a half-ghost which means the Fenton’s portal took another, transformed someone else who never wanted it. It makes perfect sense now when Daniel has no friends when he feels unloved by family.
Vlad can fix this- he just needs to tame the Phantom, because Daniel acts like he has rabies.
He has his work cut out for him, doesn't he?
Hours passed until Vlad decided it was a good time to head out, he spent the day doing business- replying to mindless corporate emails, setting up his own meetings, attending said meetings, and so forth. It was rather nice to get out of his chair and stretch, he had just gotten a new shipment order in for the robotics department, and he was relieved of his duties. Getting out of his spot he looks at the time, only about 7 PM. It wouldn’t be too terrible to drop by the Fenton’s would it?
No, he decided. Texting Jack he asked if they would like him to bring dinner, and the two scientists took about twenty minutes to respond, probably forgetting that anyone but them existed for a bit. Vlad almost wishes he was that entranced in someone and work, but then he realized that their work is the problem at hand and decides he’s happy with what he has going on. Vlad cooks spaghetti, which was the easiest to transport, and calls his chauffeur.
Knocking on the door, it was once again answered by Daniel, who looked at Vlad like he wanted to either bite him or run away and hide.
“Hi little badger, I believe it’s polite to say hello?”
Daniel glared, “Hello Vladimir.”
“Oh, scary the full name.” Vlad flashes his red eyes at him and Daniel blinks in confusion before flashing his eyes right back. Bright orange as if his eyes got rolled through a color inverter, Vlad felt stupid for not realizing sooner. The boy’s whole color scheme had been inverted.
Vlad raised a brow and made a gesture for Daniel to move, “Don't vampires need to wait for an invitation?”
“Well I’d love to have one but you do seem dead set on being an immovable force,” Vlad responds, and Daniel rolls his eyes and stays still. The two halfas stay at an impasse before Daniel moves out of the way while crossing his arms angrily. Vlad could have played that game all night, so help him ancients.
“Yeah yeah whatever come on in.”
“Thank you.”
“Silence fruitloop.”
Vlad huffed a laugh through his nose and went to the table. Maddie and Jack weren’t up there yet, and Jazz seemed to still be in her room. It was a perfect time to talk.
“Daniel it’s quite rude to threaten someone with an identity reveal,” Vlad says calmly, looking through the cupboards, he had been there long enough that he knew this house like his own.
The teen looked struck before crossing his arms, “Not like I could actually do if. Who’d believe a stupid teenager.”
“You aren’t stupid little badger.” Vlad says, beginning his work to set the table, cups first, “A little help would be much appreciated.”
“I would appreciate it if you left me alone,” Daniel responded but snatched the silverware from the older half-ghost. He set the table as viciously as he pranked people he didn’t like or thought were rude.
Vlad only hummed as he set down plates next, he had just sent a text to Jack and Maddie that he was there, if they’ll listen it's up to the lord at that point, “How long did it take you to change, hm?”
“Into a…” he goes quiet, waving around the forks and spoons as if that worked as words, “The portal zapped me while I was inside. It was instant, why wasn’t yours the same? Unless you were just born a Russian ghost vampire.”
Vlad blinks, though he has enough decorum to not let his mouth stay wide open in shock, “You were inside?”
“You weren’t?”
He shook his head and looked at the young halfa, “No. I got a horrible disease from getting blasted with pure ectocontamination and diet cola. Ecto-acne. I was bedridden for ten years. I was quarantined for about two, and I started getting my powers around year five.”
“Jeez. I don’t envy you.”
Vlad shrugged, letting it roll off his back, “Maddie and Jack were there for me.”
He must have said the wrong thing, as Danny gripped a knife hard enough to bend the metal, the cheap silverware starting to mold and meld in the young halfas hand. It looked painful.
“Wow, that’s great. I’m so happy that you had them there.” He dropped the knife on the ground and it clattered ominously, “how fucking lucky of you.”
He turned around and walked out of the room, instead of going upstairs he walked directly through the wall. Vlad could see a shining halo surrounding Daniel’s form as he phased through the wall. He sighed.
“That could have gone better.”
“What could have gone better?” A voice asked, Jazz was walking down the stairs with her nose in a book. She hadn’t seen or heard anything, because Vlad knows that her little detective brain would have her asking questions by the minute.
Vlad shook his head, checking his phone and seeing no notifications. Jack and Maddie must be entranced, “Nothing Jasmine, let me go get your parents.”
“Did Danny let you in?”
“Yes, he was just leaving,” Vlad said calmly, patting Jazz’s head as he walked past her, aiming for the metal lab door. He was their godfather, though Jasmine liked him a whole lot more lately than Daniel did. He used to be liked by both kids equally, but sometime around Daniel’s eighth birthday, he seemed to resent everything. Jasmine was a good kid though, intuitive.
“He’s always leaving. I really need to get him to talk to someone.” Jazz muttered, messing with the edge of her page.
Vlad huffed, turning back to look at the teen, “I can try to talk to him, how about that?”
Jazz looked up at him with calculating eyes and then decided she accepted this answer, “He needs someone, even if I want that someone to be me.”
Vlad frowned and patted her head again, “He will come to you when he feels ready, you’re a good sister Jasmine. He's just going through changes..”
Jazz nods as if she understood completely, she always did act like a mini-grown-up, “Puberty.”
Vlad huffs a laugh, “Yes. Puberty.”
Then she goes to sit at the table, still holding her book in place and using her pointer as a bookmark. The real bookmark was an Einstein one that poked out the back pages. He sighed and turned his attention back to the lab door down the hallway and hoped they weren’t doing anything dangerous when he stepped down.
When Jazz was eight and Danny was six, Vlad promised to take them to the museum. They loved going there, Danny because he loved seeing the space exhibits and learning about trains, and Jazz liked the workings of the human mind, and body. It was a special treat for both of them, and Vlad was more than willing to do something nice for his friend’s kids. They had grown up around him, and he found himself fond of the little menaces.
Jazz and Danny tugged him in different directions, pointing in awe at the large exhibits and the eye-catching colors. When he told them they couldn’t go two places at one they had glared at each other and started playing rock paper scissors, but Jazz lost on purpose. Vlad knew she did because she would change her answer the split-second Danny would throw out a rock or a paper. Danny of course never knew this, just thinking he was a rock-paper-scissors master.
They went to the constellation exhibit while Jazz took a book from her bag and read. She had no interest in the stars, but she listened intently when little six-year-old Danny told her in hundreds of things in one breath. He would flap his hands while talking about Ursa Minor, and then jump from that to another constellation in seconds.
When the exhibit ended they walked to Jazz’s side of the museum, she was taken with all the models of each psychologist that made-up history, she would start spouting each other their theories, and when a tour guide passed by he seemed impressed with how much she knew.
“Uncle Vlad!” Danny said quietly as he pulled at Vlad’s sleeve, at least, he had tried to be quiet but he wasn’t very good at keeping his volume down. They had walked to the gift shop since it was near the exit.
“What do you need Little Badger?” Vlad asked, raising a brow and leaning down slightly to hear Danny better. Jazz had gone to the bathroom, which Danny seemed to think was a perfect opportunity to ask his question.
The tiny boy pointed to something in the gift shop, but it wasn’t anything that Vlad knew Danny liked, it actually looked like something Jazz would be interested in. A book about the history of sociology, “Can we get it for Jazz, please, please, please! I won’t even ask for anything else. Promise!”
In that childish way that all kids did, he held out his pinky to promise. Vlad laughed slightly, “No need to promise little badger, we can get it for her and still get you something since you were being thoughtful.”
Danny grins and claps his hands, going to grab the book but realizing very quickly that he wasn’t tall enough to grab it. Vlad reaches over and plucks it off the shelf. When Vlad wasn’t looking though it seemed the little trouble maker ran off. He goes through a split second of panic before turning to see Danny in front of a thing of plushies. In his little hands, he holds a vampire bat plushie. It was on sale, Vlad noticed immediately.
“You know not to run off, someone may just see you and decide they want you as their son and snatch you up,” Vlad says, knowing full well that person wouldn’t get far before he tracks them down. Or Jack and Maddie find them, he does not envy anyone who crosses and angry Maddie’s path, “What have you got there?”
“It’s you!”
Vlad hums with amusement, “Do you want it?”
Danny shakes his head, but hands it to Vlad, “For you! I’m gonna use my birthday money.”
“You don’t have to do that you know, I can buy it myself.” Vlad reasons, but Danny won’t have any of it. He doesn’t want anything for himself, he was a pretty selfless kid.
Jazz ends up getting Danny something though, but still, Vlad has that goofy little plush sitting in his room on a chair. It was awful and tacky but Vlad actually kept anything the two kids gave him.
The night was his favorite time in the world, Danny thought as he threw a tree down to make it into a seat to watch the stars. It was always so peaceful. It made everything feel a lot better when he was staring at the stars. It made him think of when he was a kid and his mom and dad took him out camping. He hated the camping part so much and complained the whole time because it was hot and he was sweating, but when night fell he suddenly shut up. He hadn’t just fallen silent, he had fallen in love with the sky. There was little light pollution out, and he couldn’t even count the stars he saw on his fingers and toes.
Mom and Dad and Jazz all sat with him as he was literally Star-struck, and he was obsessed with the sky ever since. He didn’t even complain when his mom and dad decided on camping trips, he had even missed them as they began working on their Mona Lisa: the portal.
He sighed, looking up at the stars and wishing he could be with them. How long would it take to fly to the moon? Now that he thinks about it, will he ever be able to be an astronaut? Danny was never fit, but he was smart, he thought that was all it took until he was 13.
He spots a flash in the dark and sees a giant ghost dog. Smiling softly he goes to it, his parents never let him have a dog, his mom citing that the hair would get everywhere and that she would end up taking care of it.
Danny looked at this big dog and whistled, its head snapped in his direction. Nothing moved.
He leaned down and grabbed a fallen branch with ease and then threw it, “Go get it, boy!”
The dog debates and Danny was starting to think he’d done the wrong thing until it jumps into the air and runs after the stick. It drops to the ground and picks up the branch triumphantly before sprinting back. The dog didn’t stop in time, tackling Danny along with it. He laughed and groaned at the ghost dog slobber, trying to pet and push away the large creature on his chest. He notices a collar and looks at the name.
“Cujo huh? Who’s a good boy Cujo, who's a good boy!” Danny cooed, petting Cujo on the head, “You are! You’re a good boy! Yes, you are!”
Cujo gets off him about twenty minutes later, and Danny still pets and loves him. They play fetch for a good chunk of the night, Cujo not getting tired from exertion. Danny smiles, but he’s starting to feel the effects of staying up all night for another day in his four-day streak.
“I’m gonna go home now okay buddy? Don’t follow me because my parents don’t like ghosts.” He said, giving the dog one last Pat Pat, the kind you do for big dogs. Cujo whines and looks sad before suddenly growing smaller. Danny looks at him with amazement as the giant beast of a dog turns into a puppy.
“Oh, what a small, good boy!” Danny cops again, picking up the tiny dog, “I still can’t take you home buddy, but you’re so cute!”
Cujo whines before jumping out of Danny’s arms and running around the night. Must have heard a squirrel. Danny laughed softly, before going back home.
That night he dreamt of puppies and stars.
When he woke up the next morning, Danny found that he felt like death. Probably from not sleeping at all during the week. He was becoming quite the villain, awful person, a perfect example of terrible ghosts, slight annoyance in the night. Maybe he should stop.
But that would mean his parents stop paying attention to him. How he wanted their attention, even if it’s bad attention. Maybe that was unhealthy.
He shakes his head and goes to grab a coffee from the kitchen before taking it to the skies with his thermos in hand. It was a defunct Fenton thermos, mom and dad had thrown it at him one night when it didn’t work and he had taken it. The throwing happened when he was a ghost- they did not throw a piece of metal at their human living breathing blood and bone son. Not that Danny cared, he used the thermos for his coffee now.
It was supposed to be for capturing ghosts, but that was Vlad’s job.
Danny didn’t care about saving people. He didn’t. Who cares if people got hurt?
With a huff he pours out the coffee in frustration, almost kicking the thermos away. He kind of wanted to be the hero, to be liked by people like Vlad was. He was just so perfect because he was an adult and he knew everything and he was such a good person. Danny wanted to kick the man in the face.
Instead, he dropped into an alley and went to walk the rest of the way to school, he needed to get his algebra homework done anyway. Jazz said she would help if he was struggling but he wasn’t! He just didn’t care to do it.
With a hum, he walks to class and swiftly dodges Dash’s oncoming form. The jocks were running through the hallway throwing a football around and running into walls and lockers. There were a few upperclassmen joining in, but Danny could see a good amount of the seniors looking irritated at how loud they were being this early in the morning. Danny couldn’t blame them, because he too wanted to deck someone for being too loud. That person is either Dale, Dash, or Josh. One of them. But he didn’t, he walked to his locker without a sound and immediately went to the classroom.
As he ducked into his seat he thought about Cujo.
He looked over to see an angry Valerie Gray. She was one of the A-list girls, but it seemed that she didn’t quite get the memo that day. Either that or someone pulled a Heathers and Heather Chandler was out of the group. He felt kind of bad for her because it looked like Paulina and Star were leaving her out. Yikes. Not that he was going to get involved with it though.
Okay, maybe he would.
“Hey Valerie, are you ok?” He whispered, raising a brow.
“None of your business.” She hissed back.
Danny shrugged, “Sorry to bother them. It looks like the mean girls reboot kicked you out.”
She snorts, “That’s one way to refer to them- right now I’d refer to them as bit-“
“Ms. Gray, do you want detention?” Mr. Lancer’s voice called out, and it seemed that she had gotten a bit too loud. Had she been a robot she would be smoking from the ears, but since she was a mere mortal she just simmered in her seat.
“No sir.”
“Then don’t finish that word.” He said, then turned to the board. The bell rang as he turned his back, and the lesson on Shakespeare began without a hitch. Danny wrote down the bare minimum of notes and started thinking about what he should do after school.
After the lesson, they were left with a couple of minutes in class to do whatever they wanted and Danny took this time to scramble through his bag when he heard Valerie clear her throat. She leaned on one hand by the table he was sitting at and he looked over and caught her eye.
“Your parents are ghost hunters yeah?”
Danny suddenly hates this conversation and he scowls, “Yeah. They are. Why, do you want to make fun of the ghost hunters kid?”
She shook her head, “No just wondered if they sold anything that could help with… a problem. A ghostly one.”
“Why don’t you just call the goofy vampire hero?” Danny found himself intrigued by whatever Valerie was trying to say. She was definitely trying to use him to get something, but at this point who doesn’t?
“He and his stupid cat ruined my life.” She scowled just as fiercely.
“Cat?” Danny asked, cocking his head. He remembered vaguely during one of their fights that Danny had told the man to get a cat since he was so single.
Valerie sits in the seat next to him, “Yeah, his dumb ghost cat came and ruined my dad’s work, and got him blamed for it. He should keep control of that hissing monster of his.”
Danny shrugged, “Aren’t cats notoriously hard to control? They do their own thing.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yikes, how do you even know it’s his cat?” He asked, leaning back into his chair with one arm flung over the back.
Valerie huffed, “Well he yelled its name for one.”
“Oh yeah, that’ll get you.” Danny tsked, “So you're planning on going vigilante justice on the town hero and his cat ?”
“When you say it like that it sounds stupid,” Valerie says, her face getting red. From anger or embarrassment, Danny could not tell, he wasn’t the best with these things.
Danny shrugs again, “Sorry I’m not gonna get you some weapons. Getting revenge on a cat won’t make things any better. But I guess if you have to go all revenge mode, my mom and dad sell their weapons. It’s not cheap though.”
“You have been officially no help.”
Danny smiles, “I try! But for real, are you good? Other than the ghost thing, you looked upset.”
“It sucks not having the friends you’ve had for literal ages,” Valerie says with a little bit of vitriol in her tone.
Danny’s eyes twitch, and he looks unimpressed, “Welcome to Friendless Park then Val! Let me be your guide, over here are the people who will be your friend, over there are the empty lunch tables, and right there is how little I- ow ! You hit hard.”
Valerie gives him a look and he laughs nervously, “Sorry. I got a bit carried away! Anyway, yeah it sucks not having friends. I get that. No need to rub that in my face.”
“I guess you do Fenton. Sorry.”
“Breaking out the last names, I see Gray,” Danny responds with a grin, and Valerie finally cracks a smile.
“You are insufferable and annoying.”
“Yet you haven’t walked away!”
Valerie snorts, “You aren’t too bad Fenton.”
Danny gives a thumbs up, “You too Gray, want to eat lunch with me out in outcast central?”
“Sure.” Then Valerie makes a face, “I’m not flirting with you by the way.”
“I wouldn’t have noticed even if you were, and while you are pretty I am not into you.” Danny responds, “friends?”
“Sure weirdo. Friends.”
Danny had been having the worst week of his life, excluding being born and excluding dying. He had made a friend, but that was the best thing that happened since he had been unable to dodge Dash when Valerie was around. She really hated ghosts too, so that was something he had to keep from her. If she knew he was a terror to the town that would be a one-way ticket to friendless park. Or maybe an examination table. He lost three nights’ worth of homework due to his parents causing another power outage, the papers he was working on were also covered in ectoplasm.
Instead of trashing the lab like he wanted to, he instead went to go destroy something else. Kicking the heck out of an abandoned bank, his shoes made contact with the building, angrily ripping lights off the outside wall. It wasn’t a place with people in it. Lately, he’s been feeling sick when he finds out people got hurt when he destroyed places.
Suddenly his ears perk up, sharp points turning to the fine-tuned noise of someone powering up.
“Daniel get off the building this instant.” Plasmius barked, arms crossed and tapping his finger to his bicep. He looked at Danny with something, not unlike stern pity. But it wasn’t terrible, he looked more disappointed than mad.
The younger halfa kicks off a few bricks from the top of the building like a cat pawing a glass cup off the counter, the bricks break and crumble when they hit the ground. He picks up a piece of rubble and throws it from hand to hand before crushing it in his left.
“Whatever will I do the big hero V-Man is here to save me!” Phantom says, his face still pulled into a grin, but his eyes were angry. Why was he so angry?
Vlad moves out of the way of a smoking piece of the building, dodging it expertly. He knew Danny was just upset, raging at the world because it was cruel. He was just a kid. Vlad knew that stage well, having had his own stage of grief and upset. It was something Vlad had to go through on his own, dealing with all these emotions and new powers. He loved Jack and Maddie dearly, but he didn’t trust even his closest friends with this secret. Vlad had people though, supporting him.
Daniel didn’t.
Plasmius wanted to fix that, he felt a kinship with the teen. And all kids needed an adult who cared in their life, if Vlad had to be one for Danny, so be it.
He also noticed that Daniel was strong, but not coordinated. He had the firepower but none of the education or finesse to it. Maybe he would have to extend an offer that no one would refuse.
Dodging a few more rocks, he noticed that Phantom was just throwing stuff at him. He might be running out of steam, it seems. His eyes were starting to get glassy, from tears or vexation Vlad wasn’t quite sure.
“Daniel this is childish, using your powers to make life harder on others because you’re angry.” He reached with his words, getting hit with a brick for his endeavor. Still, he trudged closer, it didn’t hurt as much as it might have while the teen was in full tantrum.
Vlad was very good at saying the wrong thing somehow, usually, he’s quite adept at saying the right thing during meetings. He ran a business for ancient’s sake!
Phantom’s aura flared a lurid greenish-red, sending a blast Vlad’s way and burning a hole in his cape, “Shut up! Fuck you and your high and mighty attitude Plasmius.”
Twisting quickly, he sends one of his own blasts. He hated knowingly hitting his friend’s kid, but he needed to wear the little menace down so that he will stop throwing bricks.
“I can help you!” Vlad coaxes, getting closer before Phantom darts back and dives through the building. Following close behind he chases the teen, who cuts corners while phasing through. He was getting good at that but every once in a while he would clip his shoulder and angrily huff. Vlad could do this all day, but the teen would drain his power with how this was going.
“Leave me alone! I’m not hurting anyone.”
“But you could have.” Vlad says, sending three duplicates out to flank, “I can help you get better, I can be here for you! You don’t have to be alone.”
Phantom’s eyes flare bright orange, “You don’t get it! You have people, you get all their love and I’m just the reject! I hate you! I hate them!”
Throwing a blast, Vlad dodges. The blast that was supposed to hit him sizzled like dry ice, crackling, “You’re not a reject Daniel.”
“Oh wow, thank you I’m so happy that you think that.” Danny snarks, kicking a can at Vlad who grabs it out of thin air before it hits him. He let it drop to the ground and came closer. The clones gather around him, one of them holding a containment cage. Even if he want’s this to end well with a new mentee, he wasn’t going to let Daniel just wreck the place.
Huffing and puffing, Danny stared with a glare.
“Come with me, I can help you. If you don’t like what I have to offer then you can run amok and ruin my house. Just give it a try.”
Phantom’s glare slowly ebbs and flows, his irritability started to die down while he let out all his anger on the poor crumbling building. With a huffy little sigh, Danny seemed to try and decide between hostile curiosity or fighting. Eventually, the exhaustion wins, and he crosses his arms, “Fine. Fine. But if I don’t like it, I’m making bacon out of your Packers football.”
“If that’s what will work for you then.” Vlad said, “Change back, you’re going to pass out if you stay like this.”
“Whatever,” Danny muttered, the transformation overtaking him and leaving him in the clothes he wore to bed that night. Vlad does the same, trying to make sure he’s not being intimidating. Not that he wasn’t intimidating anyway, he was tall with a severe face. The teen followed along in silence for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything until Danny decides that it was too quiet.
“How many clones can you make?” He asks, feigning nonchalance, but his eyes betray his curiosity.
Vlad hums and thinks about it, “The most I can make and maintain at a time is 23. Anything more and they start to get harder to control.”
He only had to use 23 duplicates at once when fighting Vortex and Undergrowth at the same time. It was quite the feat at the time to him, but he didn’t go that far most of the time. He liked to send out a duplicate to handle smaller ghosts and nuisances like the Box Ghost.
It seems Danny caught onto that though, “That’s why I’ve seen you at dinner but also on the news. Neat trick.”
“You know I could show you how to duplicate,” Vlad responded calmly, silently finding the enthusiasm a treat compared to how morose the teen had been.
“Wait really?” Danny was taken aback, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Nodding as he walked, Vlad hummed, “I can teach you plenty, but I do have rules.”
“Ugh. Like what?” His guard was immediately back up, staring at the adult with distrust.
“Don’t use them to needlessly hurt people, make sure you keep your grades up,” He held up a finger for each rule he listed, watching as the teens face slowly dropped with each one, “Talk to me about what’s making you so angry.”
Danny scowls, turning his face away while crossing his arms, “Oh yay, you took a page from Jazz’s book didn’t you?”
“Maybe a little, she’s smart. So are you. I can’t just train you if I didn’t know you wouldn’t use it to hurt people.” Vlad says, raising a brow, “I used to be like you, did you know that?”
“Like me how?” He asked, voice teetering on the edge of disbelief.
“Upset, angry at Jack and Maddie. I hurt people on purpose, caused issues because it made me feel better when other people felt as awful as I did.” Vlad said, and they had finally come back to a place that wasn’t beaten to anything but bricks and ruins. The sidewalk was cold under Danny’s feet, this whole tantrum of his happening at night when he knew no one would look for him. It made the night feel even more real.
“How did you ever get over it? I mean they’re my mom and dad and they did something stupid. I did something stupid. I shouldn’t have been able to get near the portal.” Danny said, counting the cracks in the sidewalk, “I was curious, they were so upset that it didn’t work at first, they forgot it was my birthday.”
Vlad sighs, looking in the distance, “They should be more attentive, should be more careful with you and Jasmine in the house. They’ve always been like that, in their own world.”
Danny kicks a rock, grimacing at the ground, “Why aren’t I a part of that world?”
They go quiet. Vlad doesn’t know how to respond, and he sighs. They walk through the darkened streets, the cool air hitting them in the face. Looking over at Danny, Vlad feels a twinge of regret for not noticing sooner. Soon the scenery turns from the abandoned district to the cleaner streets of the town, right back into the richer part of town. The sidewalk ended a few yards away from Vlad’s house.
“I don’t know. You’re something special little badger.” The door to Vlad’s frankly giant house on the edge of town was just as ornate as the rest of his home. The Packer’s paraphernalia stared at them from all angles and Danny looked like he almost wanted to make good on his earlier promise of flambeing the football so thoroughly that it’s evenly cooked on both sides. He doesn’t actually do it, but the thought passes his mind five or six times.
Danny follows Vlad to the kitchen, where he grabs mugs, “I’m making hot chocolate. If you want any speak now or forever hold your tongue.”
“Gimme some.”
“I am not hearing the words I want to hear,” Vlad says, grabbing only one packet of hot chocolate. He usually made himself the fancy kind, but at the moment he was a little tired.
Danny rolls his eyes, “Oh Uncle Dracula may I please have some hot chocolate.”
“I guess that’s the best I’ll get from you, Daniel.”
“You guess right!”
Clicking his tongue at the minor menace at the table he goes to boil some milk because he may be tired but he is not skimping and using water like a charlatan. Danny looks around. He hadn’t been in this house before since Vlad used to live in Wisconsin and after the move, he ended up spending time at the Fenton’s home and not the other way around. It was a nice, fancy place, Danny thought it suited the prissy fruitloop.
“Do you agree to the terms I set?” Vlad finally said, having enough of the silence while setting the mug down. He then turned to pour something vaguely alcoholic in his mug as a treat, and Danny snickered at that.
“...”
Vlad thinks about the face Danny is making for a second before clicking his fingers on the mug in his hand, “Before you agree, I have one more.”
“Oh goody,” Danny muttered, but he looked close to falling asleep as he took a sip of his hot chocolate.
“Instead of causing trouble for the town, you come to me when you’re upset. You can use the training room, and we can use that angry energy and turn it into something more productive.”
He waits patiently for an answer, sometimes when you want someone to answer, you leave long periods of silence. Vlad learned that when he used to interrogate people… Not that he would like to tell anyone why he was great at psychological warfare. Humming he enjoyed his hot chocolate and waited until finally, Daniel had his answer.
“Ok. I agree to your rules or whatever.”
“Great. The first lesson will be tomorrow, for now, I’ll get you set up in a guest room and you can tell your parents you stayed over.” Vlad raised a brow, “Unless you want to fly home in your current state.”
“I’ll take a room,” Danny muttered.
That night Danny couldn’t sleep, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that happened. He texted his mom before he went to bed, but it seems that she didn’t even see it. Sighing sadly he tosses the phone to the other end of the obscenely large bed, if he wasn’t so exhausted he may have gotten angry at the delayed response, but he was worn out worse than his favorite shirt. So he turned and hugged the fluffy pillows and ended up falling asleep sometimes during the night.
The next morning he was woken up by Vlad standing in the doorway. He ate breakfast and then they were beginning training.
“You are horrendous at dodging Daniel, I am forever thankful that you don’t pick fights with anyone but me,” Vlad said as he tossed another ball in the teen’s direction and he almost got hit in the face.
Sticking his tongue out Danny dodged the next ball, “Hey I think I’ve done perfectly fine!”
“Oh really?”
“Ow! Foul play!” Danny yelled, throwing a ball back at Vlad who caught it perfectly, “You’ve had like four whole decades to handle this!”
Vlad rolls his eyes, “do you truly think I am just some ancient old bat who stays around to destroy your joy?”
“Yes,” Danny said, faking seriousness well enough before doubling over at the deadpan look Vlad gives him. Then he dodged a ball that he only noticed a second before it came at his face, “Hah! I’m baller at this dodging stuff- I see you using a duplicate that’s so cheating!”
“Not cheating if I’m teaching you to be aware of your surroundings.”
“You’re gonna be really aware of the nursing home I put you in.” Danny muttered before diving out of the way of a barrage of projectiles aiming from all angles, “This is child abuse! Abuse I tell you!”
“Stop being dramatic before I send you to the weight room.”
Danny blinked, looking more excited than Dash when he spotted a football or a teddy bear, “You have a weight room?”
“Would you like to see-“ Vlad watches Danny fly off in a general direction, literally fly, “it… You're going the wrong way, you imbecile.”
He hears Danny turn around and slam face-first into the door before Vlad opens it, “Follow me before you knock a tooth out.”
“ Fine. ” The teen follows along like a puppy too excited to play fetch. The weight room was full of… well weights. There were three sets of the same equipment, something Danny thought was kind of strange. Whatever he looked around, “You have so much stuff in this house.”
“Perks of being rich,” Vlad responds, planning on making the teenage ghoul regret being excited about the weight room. First, he had to test how much the little badger could carry easily and then push him a little. It was what Vlad wishes someone would have done for him.
Laying in his room, Danny started to hear something loud coming from outside. He blinks blearily, looking around to see in the distance multiple green flashes. He sees a teenager getting harassed by a ghost, and he stares a little bit longer than he should.
“I should call Vlad.” Plasmius was a hero, he knew what to do. Danny wasnt a hero, hell he was a bad ghost. He was one of the bad guys in the eyes of everyone. Not that he had been causing trouble after agreeing to Vlad’s mentoring. He liked learning and wasn’t going to mess it up by letting off steam.
He should call Vlad, but the teenager sounds distressed and Danny knew it would take a little bit for Plasmius to get there.
Phantom isn’t someone people trust.
But they need help.
Finally, he stands up and opens his window, as he jumps out of it, two rings of light go over his body and change him into Phantom, he flexes his purple hands and smiles slightly. He flies over to the area and drops in front of the civilian, glaring daggers at the ghost causing the problem. It was some guy with a motorbike.
“Dude, don’t you have anything better to do?” Danny asks, staring at the other ghost.
The ghost on the motorbike glares, “I was just having fun, who are you to tell me what to do huh kid?”
Phantom looks back at the teenager who looks terrified, “Just leave them alone, okay? I don’t want to have to call Plasmius over here.”
“Oh, you’re in cahoots with the Halfa? I thought you were a fun one.” The motorcycle ghost taunts, “Last I saw of you, you were causing trouble downtown.”
“Doesn’t mean I harass people.” Phantom replies with a raised brow, “Hey wait, aren’t you the guy with the shadow in your- oh you’re kidding me.”
He says this before getting grabbed from behind by said shadowy ghost, he turns and shoots an ectoblast through it before dropping and rolling to the ground. He turns to the teenager, he thinks it’s someone Jazz tutors actually, and he gestures for them to run.
“Get out of here! I’ll try and keep them off your tail.” Danny turns and lands a kick to the shadow ghost, “Come at me, bozo!”
“Wow Phantom, had a change of heart? Are you just such a good kid now?”
Phantom scowls, dodging out of the way of the motorbike's path, “Hey watch it! I'm not trying to be roadkill!”
Then he noticed that the motorcycle ghost, who he thinks is named Johnny, is trying to drive past him, “Oh no you don’t. You need to go back to the Zone.”
“God I can’t believe there is another little goody two-shoes running around,” Johnny mutters, yelping slightly when a foot connects to his back tire and throwing him off the vehicle.
Floating off the ground he turns with a fire in his eyes, Danny senses that he’s started a very unfair fight. No chance to back out now, he gets into a fighting stance and starts brawling. Johnny lands a solid uppercut on him, and had Danny been fully human that would have been history. Instead, he was just disoriented, and he turned around quickly to elbow the other ghost in the gut before firing off blasts from his fingertips.
“Seems like you’ve got a flat there buddy!” Danny said, narrowly dodging a kick to the head and sweeping his foot under Johnny’s, knocking the other ghost sideways.
Suddenly the fight stops, Johnny, his motorcycle, and the shadow ghost are all contained in a cage that shrinks. Danny looks over to see Plasmius looking unimpressed.
“What did I say about using the things I teach you to-“
“He was messing with someone!” Danny interrupted, crossing his arms and glaring, “I didn’t have time to call you, the teenager ran away when I told them to because they didn’t want to get caught up in a ghost fight.”
“Smart of them,” Plasmius says thoughtfully and then he grins with his teeth.
“Don’t say it.”
“I think we could make a hero of you.”
“Shut up! I just didn’t want them to get hurt. They sounded upset.”
Vlad raises a brow, “That sounds altruistic of you, Daniel.”
“It’s nothing. Really. Don’t talk about it.”
“Do you think my mom and dad would accept me?” Danny says in a lull between training, his eyes downturned. It was a thought that always carried weight in his mind, occupying its own little corner. He so desperately wanted to please them, yet he hated them, yet he loved them. Danny wanted to forgive them, but he might never be able to. He was still grieving his own death, he couldn’t even poke the subject of grieving his childhood with a ten-foot pole just yet.
“I think you shouldn’t worry about what they think of you, little badger.” Vlad says, looking up from his book. He places the bookmark in between the pages and sets it aside, face solemn, “You’re a good kid, Daniel.”