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Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or other relating characters.
Chapter Four: A Minute
A week had passed since the battle.
Dani's wounds had healed nicely, and her fever had finally died down.
After spending 4 days at Sam's house she went to stay at Tucker's house. The rotating schedule seemed to be working, and with Dani's regained health she was able to go invisible whenever one of the parents walked into the room.
Today would be her last night at Tucker's house before she went back to staying with Danny, and there was only one way you could spend a last night at a techno-geeks house.
An all-out, all-night video game marathon.
The two were currently engaged in their seventh round of 'Rain Forest Demolition II'.
While competing against Tucker for the best time Dani thought about everything that had happened over the past week.
Danny had over shadowed a school administrator to enroll Dani in Casper High. According to the form they filled out Dani was 14, lived with the Fentons, and was in the same grade as the others. Danny had made her birthday the same as his successfully labeling them as twins.
Danny explained "It would be a lot more suspicious if Dani was in the same grade and two years younger. For the sibling thing, it would be easier to explain our physical similarities if we were twins. You have to admit we could so easily pass as twins."
Everyone had agreed to the story of Dani not being in school this long because she had done a semester overseas as a part of a foreign exchange program.
Tucker had hacked into the school's mainframe and enrolled Dani in the same classes as Danny. Needless to say, she was excited to finally be a part of a school like a normal teenager.
Her thoughts took a mellower tone when she thought about why they were taking all these precautions.
Dan hadn't appeared in a while. She hoped he wouldn't ruin the high school experience for her.
A smile returned to her face when she thought about what she had done in high school so far.
She made a new friend with Valerie, who still remembered Dani from their last encounter. When Valerie had first saw Dani at the school she immediately pulled her into a hug, and when the girl said she was in with her twin brother Danny, Valerie finally understood. Danny was the other phantom cousin! The resemblance between Danny and Dani was stunning, and their resemblance to the phantom cousins was even more obvious. It was right there in her face! Valerie had mentally berated herself for not figuring it out sooner.
Valerie had later confronted the two about it, and Danny told her the truth. He told her about the nightly ghost hunts, about their powers, Dani's origins, and Vlad's intentions. He didn't tell her about Vlad wanting him to be his son, but he shared the part about the fruit loop wanting his mother.
Now Valerie was officially a part of their group of friends at school. At lunch Danny and Tucker would sit on one side of the table while Sam, Dani, and Valerie sat on the other side.
Too lost in thought, Dani didn't notice the game declare Tucker the winner until too late.
"NO!" She cried out. Dani had been holding a winning streak.
"Now that I have won we can call it quits." Tucker said while turning off the game system.
"You just don't want to lose again." She retorted.
"Off the record, yes. But we have school tomorrow, so we better go to sleep." Tucker turned off the T.V.
"Wasn't it your idea to pull an all-nighter?" Dani questioned while unrolling her sleeping bag.
"Uh…Good Night." Tucker quickly shut off the lights.
"Well done Ms. Fenton."
Lancer was passing out the test the students had taken earlier in the week.
Dani had gotten herself an amazing 91, while her brother had only managed to pull a 57.
"I'm disappointed in you Mr. Fenton. Perhaps you can ask your sister for help if you don't understand. Or at least stay awake in class." Lancer placed the test with a big red F on Danny's desk.
Danny groaned as he picked up his test paper. He looked over to Dani who was smiling at him while waving her score in front of his face.
"I get it, you don't have to gloat." He said frowning.
"I don't have to. I want to!" She laughed as she exchanged scores with Sam.
"How did you even get so good at literature? I thought this was your first time in a school."
"It is my first time. I spent a lot of time in the Ghost Zone and when I was there I took a few lessons from Ghostwriter." Dani looked at Sam's paper which had a score of 87 on it.
"Ghostwriter? How can you stand that guy? He's a jerk!" Danny's anger spiked as he remembered the Christmas poem he was stuck in. Sure everything worked out and he learned his lesson, but he still didn't like it!
"He is not a jerk." She said swatting Danny oh his head with her rolled up test. "He even let me read the Christmas poem starring you."
Danny put his down on his test as Tucker leaned over to see his score.
"Ouch man. How are you going to explain this to your parents?" Tucker put his paper on Danny's desk and took the halfa's.
"Jazz will probably cover for me again with some psychology stuff my parents don't understand."
The bell rang announcing the beginning of lunch.
Normally the group of ghost hunters would be sitting inside the cafeteria, but today everyone was sprawled on the lawn outside.
Dash and Kwan had been running about the cafeteria using other student's heads to bounce their hacky sack around. At least they were until Valerie took the sack and gave the boys the yelling of a lifetime.
To avoid any more trouble the group decided to move outside just for today.
The group was currently throwing the hacky sack around while trying to study for an upcoming history exam.
"Which president was in office during world war two?" Valerie threw the sack to Tucker.
"Franklin Roosevelt. What was the first battle Japan lost in the war?" Tucker threw the sack to Sam.
"The battle of midway. Which countries were a part of the axis powers?" Sam threw the sack at Dani, but threw a little too far into the bushes a few feet away. "Oops, sorry."
"No problem." Dani called back as she ran past the bushes to try and find the sack.
The girl crawled underneath some of the brush looking for the little red cloth. After about a minute of searching she found what she was looking for.
Dani grabbed the sack and crawled back out from underneath the bushes. She stood up and dusted the dirt off her clothes when she noticed someone standing in front of her.
Dani looked up to see Dan looking down at her.
Dani mentally willed her legs to move and run back to Danny, but they were frozen in fear.
Choosing to ignore the girl's frightened look, Dan put a hand on her shoulder.
"Do you have a minute?" He asked.
Dani's thoughts came to a halt when she heard his question. Why would Dan need a minute?
"Yes." She wasn't really sure if this was a good idea.
"Perfect."
With a smile Dan pulled Dani to his chest and flew off.
The remaining teenagers turned their heads towards the bushes when they heard Dani scream. They got up and ran towards the noise, but Dani was nowhere to be found.
"Dani!" They called out while searching for her.
"Guys, check this out." Valerie picked up a paper from the floor.
They gathered around to read the note written in formal cursive.
Don't worry. I'll have her back before the end of lunch.
Dan Phantom
They looked at each other and visibly paled.
Dani stopped screaming once the initial shock of being shot forward wore off. She looked down at the view, taking note of the fact that they were traveling away from the city.
"W-Where are we going?" She stuttered out.
"You'll see." Was the only answer she received.
After a few more minutes of flying they arrived at their destination.
Dani looked around and noticed they were on the ledge of the cliff overlooking the city. She noticed a cave a few feet away from where they were standing and a trail leading down the mountain.
Dan sat down, still holding Dani, and turned the girl around so she was facing the view of the city.
Uncomfortable would have been an understatement. Dani didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be sitting in this man's lap away from her comfort zone. Realization hit Dani. This was the first time since coming to Amity Park she was without Danny or his friends. The younger girl began fidgeting.
Dan looked down at the girl in his lap. She was moving around like crazy. They were just enjoying the view, why was she so nervous?
Dani used to love just sitting here. This was the very spot in which he first found her.
14 year old Dan was flying as fast as he could. He had to get away. Away from the lab in which he became a horrible monster. He flew to the only other destination he knew of, Amity Park.
Even in the city people ran in fear that the monster would tear them to pieces.
Dan let out another scream as he launched ecto-blasts at the people. They were to blame for this! Why were they running and screaming? Couldn't they face the consequences of their actions?
Dan flew to the outskirts of the city. He needed to get away!
Flying even faster he made his way up the mountain. He reached the top of the mountain, but came crashing down as he made contact with another object.
Dan stopped to pick himself. He saw another figure in front of him do the same.
"Danny?" The voice said.
Dan looked up to see his younger female clone in her ghost form. She was looking at him a little strangely.
"Danny, what happened?" She continued.
"An accident." He decided he wouldn't share anymore."And call me Dan."
"Okay Dan, what are you doing up here? I thought you were staying with Vlad." She wasn't going to give this one up. Danny had changed. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. It was like he was a completely different person.
"Nothing, I just needed to get some air." He said emotionlessly.
Dan was caught by surprise as the girl suddenly tackled him into a hug.
"Come and sit with me then." The girl pulled him to the edge of the cliff and pulled him down to have a seat with her.
Dan was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Dani trying to squirm out of his grasp. This was not going to be easy. He was going to have to distract her.
"Have you ever been here?"
Dani stopped her wriggling for a moment. This guy's questions always caught her off guard.
"Yes, a couple of times." She liked watching the sunsets from here.
"Then relax, enjoy the view." He gestured to the city the sprawled out in front of them.
Dani stayed still for the remainder of the time.
Danny was seriously starting to freak out. He couldn't go ghost in the open, and Dan had been gone with Dani for about 20 minutes now. Why did he take her? What did he want from her? Was he really going to bring her back before lunch? So Dan was with Dani in the future, they knew that so far, but what was their relationship? We're they together together? Or just traveling together? What if it was the first option? Did Dan take Dani to…?
No, he had to stop thinking like that! Dani was going to be fine. He would brutally murder Dan if the evil ghost hurt a hair on his twin sister's head. Danny smiled to himself. He was actually starting to see Dani as his sister.
Danny looked up at his friends who had long since abandoned their study sessions. Valerie was pacing around in circles, Sam was picking at the grass, and Tucker was using his PDA to try and pick up traces of Dan's ecto-signature. Dan was too good; Tucker was coming up with nothing.
Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off.
Everyone looked over to him as students all around them began screaming.
The other students ran inside the school as Dan landed in front of the ghost hunters carrying Dani.
"See, safe and sound." Dan set Dani down on the ground.
Danny ran forward and pulled the girl into a hug, turning her away from Dan.
"Oh Danny boy, you should have more faith in me. After all, you are me." He bantered.
"I'm not you. I'm not you!" Danny yelled back.
Dani felt Danny's grip on her tighten.
"Yes, yes. I'll see you around." Dan turned towards Dani. "Goodbye Dani."
With that the evil ghost phased through the ground, out of sight.
The group continued to fawn and fuss over Dani throughout their next class.
"Where did he take you?"
"Are you okay?"
"He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"I'm fine guys. See, I'm fine." She held her arms out for them to see.
"Sorry, we don't mean to overwhelm you. We were just worried." Sam intervened on behalf of the group.
"Tell us, where did he take you?" Danny put his hands on her shoulders.
"He took me to the cliff overlooking the city." She really didn't want to talk about it, but she knew the other wouldn't just let it go.
"What did he do there?" All the possibilities came rushing back into Danny's head.
"We just watched the city." Dani slipped out of her brother's grasp.
"He didn't hurt you or anything, right?" Danny's fists clenched.
"No. Like I told you, we just watched the view." Dani put her hand on her brother's arm trying to calm him down.
Danny let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. At least Dani was alright. For now.
Dani saw a look of relief pass over Danny's face.
"Come on guys, let's get to class." Valerie pushed everyone forward into the classroom.
There was quite the uproar in the Ghost Zone. Ghosts were reading notices that had been scattered out variously throughout the place. To put in simpler terms, they were unhappy.
Ember, Skulker, Desiree, Technus, Johnny 13, and Kitty were discussing the piece of paper they had found that morning.
"This is outrageous, what is Walker thinking?" Ember handed the paper over to her boyfriend.
"I have to hunt that ghost child! His pelt is going to be the center piece of my room." Skulker passed the paper over to Johnny 13.
"That kid is a good fight. There is no way I could go with this." Johnny put his arm around Kitty and held the paper out for her to see.
Not really interested in the ghost boy, Kitty passed the paper over to Technus.
"Where am I supposed to get my technology if the ghost child attacks us in the human world? I have to fight back!" Technus handed the paper to Spectra's shadow form.
"It says 'ghost children'. I didn't know there was another half-ghost child." Spectra mused.
"It could be my employer who asked Walker to post this around." Skulker knew Vlad had some weird obsession with Danny Phantom.
Skulker took the paper and read it over once more.
It is hereby decreed that no ghost may attack the ghost children of Amity Park.
Rule 1489374 Sub Sec. 56 Paragraph 7 Line 34
Ghost Zone Police Department
Walker
"I'll go check with him. Until then we should avoid going into the human world. It wouldn't work well if we had to deal with Plasmius and Walker at the same time." Skulker told the group.
"You do that. If he's not involved" Ember said smiling "it's going to be time for a little anarchy."
Skulker exited through the Fenton ghost portal.
Not waiting for an angry ghost brat to come phasing in, he turned intangible and flew to his employer's office in city hall.
As soon as the building was in sight Skulker turned invisible and flew through the door.
Vlad looked up from his paper work.
"Skulker, what are you doing here?" He asked knowing that his minion would not come see him if it wasn't dire.
"This notice has been circulating throughout the Ghost Zone. I came to see if you are the one who requested Walker post this." Skulker placed the slip of paper on Vlad's desk.
Vlad quickly read over the paper.
"Children? As in more than one? Is the girl Dani here?" Vlad questioned.
"Actually yes, yes she is. We had an encounter last week."
"I didn't send this out, but don't attack just yet. I need to some investigating of my own. "
"And do your homework!" The teacher yelled out as the students ran out of the classroom like their lives depended on it.
"Weekend!" Cheered the various teenagers as they headed on out.
"Hey Dani. Why don't you sleep at my place this weekend?" Valerie offered as she got her books out of her locker.
"Are you sure?" Dani held Valerie's bag so she could put her books inside.
"Of course. My dad thinks if I have friends over I won't go ghost fighting, so he has no problem with friends crashing over for a night or two." Valerie zipped her bag shut and took it from Dani.
"Okay!" Dani responded excitedly.
The two walked to the front of the school to meet up with the rest of the gang. Dani explained her sleeping arrangements to Danny and walked home with Valerie. Danny said he would give her her overnight stuff when they met up again for their nightly ghost hunts.
Dani looked around Valerie's room. This was her first time at the older girl's house.
Dani picked up and examined some of the various ghost weapons lying about as Valerie put their backpacks next to the bed.
"Have you been fighting ghosts for a long time?" Dani picked up another rather large ecto-gun.
"Not really. I think I've been fighting for about three or four months now." Valerie sat down on her bed and motioned for Dani to sit beside her.
"You've been to the Ghost Zone, right? Do you have friends who are ghosts?" Valerie was genuinely interested. She's heard of friendly ghosts, but had never encountered ones other than the halfas.
"Yes, I do. There is Ghostwriter, the one Danny doesn't like, Queen Dora, Poindexter, and the Dairy King." Dani explained.
"Dairy King? You mean like the one in Wisconsin?" Valerie pulled out their math books to study for the upcoming algebra test.
"Yes. He actually haunts Vlad's castle up there. He's totally harmless. In fact he will automatically consider you a friend if you give him some cheese." Dani turned the pages of her book looking for the right one.
"Tell me about this Ghostwriter. Why doesn't Danny like him?"
Dani let out a laugh as she remembered reading the book.
"You see, Danny destroyed Ghostwriter's first Christmas poem, but rather than apologize he instead said he was happy to have done it. The Ghostwriter trapped Danny in an illusion in order to write another Christmas poem. Danny's never taken too fondly to him after that. In the poem he turned everyone against Danny, even Sam and Tucker."
Valerie laughed herself. "Think we can get a copy of this poem?"
"I'm sure we can the next time I go to the Ghost Zone." Dani liked the prospect of having her own copy of it.
"What about the others?" Valerie was still curious about the other ghosts.
"How about we study? It may be Friday but if I'm going to pass this math test I'm going to have to study all weekend. You know how bad I am at math!" Dani argued.
"You and your brother have that in common." Valerie threw a pillow at Dani.
"Is that a challenge?" Dani armed herself with a pillow.
"Bring it on!" Valerie prepared her own arsenal.
Vlad flew right through the brick building with the spider-like structure on top of it. Looking through the room he found the teenage boy he was looking for.
Danny turned when he felt his ghost sense go off. A few feet away stood Vlad in his ghost form with a bloodied up hoodie in his hands.
"Daniel my boy, how have you been?" Vlad smirked.
"What do you want Plasmius? And don't call me 'my boy'!" Danny really didn't want to have to put up with Vlad on a Friday night.
"You should get used to it. Someday you actually will be so, but as to why I'm here I couldn't help but notice this was in your garbage can." Vlad held up Dani's old sweatshirt.
"You were going through my garbage can? Did you find your manhood in there while you were at it?" Danny taunted.
"Enough. I know Danielle is here and I better not see any trouble coming from the two of you or your little ghost fighting friends." The man threatened, clearly not amused by Danny's witty banter.
"I know what has you so bitter! You must have found your love life in the garbage can!" Danny broke into hysterics at his own joke.
Vlad continued to glare at the teenager. "I'll be watching, so don't try anything funny!"
Vlad phased out the walls of Danny's bedroom as Danny ran towards his window.
"You must have at least found your lack of it in there!"
Danny ducked down as an ecto-blast came flying in through his open window.
Poor Vlad.
This chapter is dedicated to for being my beta!
I'm really enjoying the attention this story is getting! All your support really cheers me up when I'm down.
Reviews are always appreciated!
