Marisa's note: the fact that Mr. Hartman chose 'waste' as his alternative for 'kill' has always annoyed me—I mean, seriously, this isn't a gangster film! So, as I have done in other fics, I'm going to use the terms 'kill' or 'destroy' (since I'm not sure you can kill a ghost) instead. I might use 'waste' as well, but don't expect it. This follows under the clause of 'this is a vaguely serious fic (if you haven't noticed) and as such we'll be using vaguely serious words'.
Also, to all of our lovely reviewers: seriously, could you expect Vlad to be anything but evil?
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Chapter Six
"You're not half bad, Danny. Maybe someday Valerie will figure out the other half isn't either!"
- - -
Darn it, Valerie thought as she flew over Amity Park on her upgraded hoverboard, why isn't he here yet?
It had been several days since Mr. Masters had come to explain who Danny Phantom really was and how he needed help, but Valerie still had a hard time believing it. Danny Fenton a ghost—and furthermore, a ghost who had repeatedly let her try to destroy him? Why hadn't he told her? Why hadn't he told anyone?
He must have told Sam and Tucker—they spent too much time together for them to have not known. That stung—Danny had been able to trust them with the secret, but not her? True, she had sworn to destroy Danny Phantom on sight, but she would have stopped had she known. (She ignored the small part of her that said, you know you wouldn't have, not without a good explanation as to why he turned your life upside down.)
"Darn it, darn it, darn it!" she grumbled. "It shouldn't take this long to get back from Wisconsin…shouldn't it? I've seen him fly really fast…"
But ghosts took time to gather strength after they died. Danny may have been strong while he was alive, but now he might be severely weakened because of his death…what if one of his enemies had gotten to him before he made it back to Amity Park…?
No! she thought. Don't think of that! He'll be fine. He'll make it here and then I can yell at him for being so stupid!
That thought cheered her up, and she began to search the town with renewed vigor. How would she catch him? She could try to use the new thermos, but she needed to actually talk to him, and it was pretty hard to interrogate someone when they were stuck inside a fancy soup container. Her new net-gun might work, though. It was worth a shot.
Suddenly she heard an explosion from her left. She swerved, switching her net-gun to her favorite bazooka, and searched for the source.
There! She could see the smoking crater in a nearby water tower, steam mixing with the smoke. For a moment she thought she saw a white hand try to pull itself out of the twisted wreak, but it—or rather, its owner—fell back with a thud.
"This hunt was disappointing, ghost child," smirked a deep voice. "Perhaps you will not have the honor of having your pelt at the foot of my bed after all." Valerie's eyes widened, and her lip curled unconsciously. Skulker!
Then she thought about what he said. Take the ghost kid's pelt?
That sounded kind of cool, actually.
She shook her head. No, wait, this might be Danny, and skinning Danny alive was not cool.
Either way, Skulker's victim didn't respond. The hunting ghost closed in on the water tower, his smirk growing larger—
She fired her bazooka and blew Skulker away, sending him flying into another apartment complex.
"Hey!" she yelled. "You want to pick a fight, you take me on, creep!"
Skulker's booster rockets flared into life, and he righted himself, looking for who had shot at him.
"Ah, the hunter girl," he smiled as he spotted her. "I was disappointed that the hunt had ended so soon. Now there will be more hitting!"
"Hit this!" she switched the bazooka's setting from 'laser' to 'missile' and fired, sending half a dozen ectoplasm-seeking bombs flying towards the ghost. He twisted and tried to dodge, but three hit him square in the wings, and he fell, smashing into the concrete.
Unfortunately, that left three extra ecto-missiles flying around, searching for a victim. She watched as the ghost kid pulled himself out of the busted remains of the water tower, rubbing his head as he tried to get his bearings—
—before the bombs locked onto him and blasted him back inside, knocking him out once again. Valerie winced. For once that not been intended.
"You truly believed that little shot was enough to take down Ghost Zone's greatest predator?" growled a voice behind her. Valerie whirled just in time to get blasted in the stomach with a glowing green ray. She slammed into an opposing wall, her wrists and ankles bound in green ropes, and landed onto the ground with a THUNK. Her vision swam as she fought unconsciousness, and while her armor had taken most of the damage, her whole body felt like it had been—well—slammed into a hard brick wall.
"I was expecting a better fight," Skulker sulked. "What a disappointing catch!"
"Catch this!"
A huge ball of green ghost energy hit Skulker in the back, once again blowing the hunting ghost into a building. His suit's missile launcher smashed into the concrete face and broke in half, and the ghost fell to the ground, breaking a laser as well.
"Are you all right?" the ghost kid asked worriedly as he helped Valerie to her feet. She nodded wordlessly, staring at him. Now that she knew who he had been, she felt like smacking herself for being such an idiot—how could she have not noticed that his facial structure was the same, that he had the same haircut, that he was the same height, that he had the same voice? Sure, the colors were different, and his voice echoed for some reason, but…
Well, you also thought the ghost kid was dead and a full ghost, she answered herself dryly. It's hard to think someone could be a ghost when they're clearly alive and human.
"Uh…Valerie?" The ghost kid—Danny—waved his hand in front of her face. "I'm as amazed as you are that you're not trying to destroy me, but we've really got to move."
"Hey, creep—" she snapped out of habit, but the ghost only grabbed her hand and took off into the air just as a net shot forward and snapped shut below them, empty. Skulker growled up at them, retracting the net angrily.
"You thought you could sneak up on me!" he snapped, and a wrist gun of his own clanked into place, charging. "Me, Ghost Zone's—"
"Greatest hunter, yeah yeah, we know already!" Danny grumbled, rolling his eyes. Valerie blinked. Was that just a reaction, or was that him trying to do his habitual (and annoying) "witty" banter?
Suddenly Danny swerved, and Valerie came back to the real world as she saw a bunch of glowing green swords lodge themselves into a building's wall.
"Valerie, can't you go all gun crazy like you usually do and hit him with something?" Danny yelled, frustrated.
"Shut up, ghost, I was just about to!" she growled without a thought. Then she realized how rude she had sounded and bit her lip, annoyed. It would take some effort to remember to not insult the ghost kid from now on.
She pressed a button on her left wrist, and her hoverboard smashed into Skulker from out of nowhere, racing past him to stop at her feet. She caught her balance as Danny let her down on the board and kicked a back panel, setting the rocket boosters to maximum, and shot forward to the still recovering hunting ghost.
"Take this!" she yelled, and her shoulder gun shot up and blasted a laser ray at Skulker, blowing him one final time into a wall. She then yanked out her improved Fenton Thermos and sucked the ghost in, who roared in fury as he attempted to resist. However, his efforts were in vain, and within a minute the hunter was trapped within the container.
She smirked and shook it, as she had gotten into the habit of lately. "Not too tough now, are ya?" she asked, not expecting an answer.
"Well, it was fun fighting with you for once, but I'm off," she heard someone quip behind her. She whirled to see Danny salute her almost playfully as he took off at top speed.
"Hold it right there!" she yelled, kicking her booster rockets in once again.
"Do I look like I died yesterday?" the ghost kid shot back, and despite herself Valerie felt her spirits rise. Yes, that definitely sounded like the usual banter the ghost kid had thrown around before he died, and the sort of thing Danny would say—this really could be him!
"Stop! I mean it!" she yelled, and fired. The ghost yelped as he dodged the blast.
Brilliant, she thought angrily, mentally slapping herself. Next time switch to the net gun before you almost blow his brains out.
"That was a warning shot!" she yelled as she switched guns, not wanting to make herself look stupid even if it had been an accident. "Now stay still, Danny Fenton!"
The ghost froze despite himself, though momentum still carried him forward. Perfect, Valerie thought in satisfaction, and fired.
"Gyah!" Danny yelped despite himself as the net closed around him and dragged him back. He began to struggle fiercely, but Valerie ignored him as she landed on a building roof. She was confident he couldn't break free.
He punched at the net one last time before turning to glare at her, arms crossing in annoyance.
"Just great," he grumbled at her—or maybe at himself. "First I had to fly here all the way from Wisconsin and got myself so lost I ended up in California, then I finally made it here only to get ambushed by Skulker, and now I got caught by you again! Whatcha gonna do this time, gift wrap me before you drop me off at Vlad's?"
He looked so peeved and childish Valerie burst out laughing. "Wait, you flew to California? What, too proud to ask for directions?"
"Yeah, like many people are gonna give directions to a gho—" he stopped as he realized something. "Hey, why aren't you trying to destroy me?"
"I ask the questions around here," she snapped quickly, not wanting to answer that question just yet.
She took a deep breath, then stared him straight in the eye. "Are you Danny Fenton?"
She hid a smirk when she saw his pupils dilate and his eyes widen just a bit. She'd hit a nerve, and probably the right one, too.
Danny gave a weak laugh. "Uh, yeah, I'm Danny—Danny Phantom. Are you calling me by my name now?"
"Nice try, but you suck at lying." She took off her helmet and shook out her hair. "I figured it out a while ago." She didn't want to admit she had had help—of course, the fact Mr. Masters had cautioned her against it helped too. "Now answer my questions or I'll put you in the thermos and make you answer them at home!"
Danny thrashed around some more, but made no headway. "I told you, you've got the wrong guy!" he yelled, frustrated. "Danny Fenton's dead!"
"So are you," she snapped, and instantly wished she could take the words back at his downcast expression.
"I wish," he mumbled to himself, and Valerie's eyes widened. What did he mean by that? Oh, she had questions all right.
Danny shook his head and glared up at her, probably hoping she hadn't noticed the slip. "Yeah, but I've been dead a while. Why else would I be here when Fenton isn't?"
"That's what I want to find out, Danny!" she yelled, exasperated. "Why didn't you tell me who you were? I'm your friend!"
"A friend who wanted to destroy the ghost me!" he snapped back unthinkingly. Then his eyes widened. "Oops…"
"Oops is right!" She whapped him on the head with her gun.
"Hey! You don't have to hit me!" he yelped, but she ignored him.
"Why didn't you tell me you were half ghost?" she snapped. "I wasted hours and hours of my valuable time trying to catch you instead of earning money for college or hunting other ghosts, you insensitive jerk!" She hit him again.
"Stop it!" he yelped again, flinching. "I kept trying to tell you I wasn't a bad guy, but you kept shooting at me anyway—even when we were at Axion Labs and your dad ended up getting in trouble, which you blamed me for! How was I supposed to know you wouldn't keep shooting even when you knew it was me?"
"You should have trusted me!" she snapped, whapping him again before he could dodge. "I'm your friend, Danny Fenton! I would have listened!"
"I…how could I…" his eyes went blank. "I know," he said softly. "I should have said a…a lot of things. I didn't think…"
Oh, no, she thought, horrified. She had reminded him. Danny, I'm sorry, she wanted to say, but mentally slapped herself upside the head. Why should she apologize to him?
"You jerk!" she yelled instead, hitting him again. "You killed yourself! How do you think that made me feel? I was just getting to know you guys, and then Tucker and Sam died, and then just as I was starting to accept that you killed yourself with a…a…a ghost weapon..."
Oh, man.
Suddenly gears clicked into place, and she really did smack herself on the head. I should have figured it out then! she thought. So obvious…!
"You killed yourself with that so the ghost would die too, didn't you?" she asked softly.
"No!" he cried. "I was trying to kill the ghost me, not the human me! And then I blacked out and woke up in the ground, and, and—" He clutched his head, eyes clenched shut. "Valerie, just go away," he whispered brokenly. "Please…"
A lump rose in Valerie's throat and her eyes teared despite herself.
"Danny…"
Wait a minute.
Why should she let him just hurt like this? Mr. Masters had said to interact with him, after all, and that was what she wanted to do anyway, and maybe being with her would help him.
She swallowed, wiped the tears from her eyes, and glared at him.
"Well, if you're gonna stick around, I'm not gonna let you be useless," she declared, hitting him on the head one last time.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked, looking both surprised and suspicious. "And stop hitting me!"
"I mean you're going to be helping me out," she answered, ignoring him once again. "It's not like you have anything better to do. I'll give you equipment and stuff, and if you knock we'll let down the ghost shield so you can see your house again."
He stared at her blankly, head cocked to the side.
Then he grinned mischievously, eyes glowing brightly. "Maybe later," he smirked. "But you shouldn't have let me rest here first."
And with a shout he overloaded the net's power, and it burst into a million small pieces. Before Valerie could react he saluted her once again and dove straight through the roof of the building, probably heading down into the ground, where she'd never be able to reach him.
"You'll regret that, Danny Fenton!" she yelled at the air. "Just wait 'til—"
But it was pointless. Danny was gone.
But not forever, she thought almost happily. He'll be back…he won't be able to resist fighting ghosts. And I'll catch him again and talk with him again and hit him again until it gets through his head I really do want to help him and be his friend. She frowned. And we've got to make a ghost shield that goes underground. He runs away too often through it.
Valerie pulled on her helmet, kicked her hoverboard into gear, and flew to Fenton Works, smirking just a bit.
