I have three more chapters of this written and I haven't had the time to type them up. And, yes, I did put a Frozen reference in this chapter.
I don't own Danny Phantom.
Valentine paced along the tree line in the park, his green eyes watching the dark sky. Normally, he would've thought that Danni had ditched him but he'd received a text from her saying that she had to take care of something with the Chaser brothers first, stating that Timepiece had had an asthma attack.
Valentine looked around. It was a peaceful night, not too hot and not too cold. The late September air had a chill to it. It wasn't too late in the day and the hunter's curfew wasn't for a few more hours. He wandered over to a bench and sat down, listening to the peaceful nighttime sounds.
There was a rustle in the bushes and Valentine's ghost tracker/wrist watch beeped. He jumped to his feet and activated his suit, the cool metal armor surrounding him.
"Who's there?" he demanded. "Stop being a coward and come out!"
There was a rustle in the bushes again and Skulker jumped out.
"Skulker!" Val gasped. "I thought that Phantom boy had taken care of you!"
The robotic ghost chuckled before firing rockets at him.
Valentine used the technology in the suit to create a shield, stopping the rockets. But when he looked up again, Skulker was gone.
"Huh?" he said. "Come out you coward!"
Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind by Skulker.
"No one calls the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter a coward," she hissed.
"Hey, Skulky!"
Skulker turned around just in time to be hit in the face with a rock. She dropped Valentine and stumbled backwards.
While the hunting ghost was distracted, Valentine turned to see who had thrown the rock. He gasped when he saw who it was.
Danni Fenton stood there, her eyes cold and filled with confidence and determination, something he'd never seen in the normally shy, friendly girl.
"You," Skulker whispered.
The girl didn't respond as she narrowed her eyes even more.
With a yell, Skulker fired two rockets at Danni.
"Dann-!" Val started before he saw something incredible happen.
Danni flipped over the first rocket before ducking below the second one. They exploded behind her and she stood up, raven hair waving in the wind.
Skulker growled and fired a few ectoblasts at Danni as she was running to her backpack. The girl rolled under them, glancing back at them briefly, before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a small ectogun and a Fenton thermos. She clipped the thermos to her belt before firing a few blasts at Skulker. They hit perfectly, throwing her across the park.
"Red Hunter!" Danni yelled, catching Valentine's attention. "Run!"
He glanced at Skulker before staring at Danni.
"I said run!"
He just continued to stare at her.
"Run like Dara Baxter when she sees the Box Ghost, Red!"
He didn't move.
She sighed and grabbed the thermos from her belt. She sucked Skulker in, ignoring the ghost's cries, and clipped it to her belt again.
The duo stared at each other for a second.
Valentine tried to process what he'd just seen. Danielle Fenton, friendly, clumsy, shy Danielle Fenton, had just fought a ghost and won.
Danni tilted her head like a curious puppy, icy blue eyes meeting his green ones.
"I should… I should probably go…" he said, trying to think of an excuse for how a girl who didn't do any sports and ran away when a ghost showed up was able to have such agility and knowledge of how to defeat a ghost.
He got up as she watched him and started to walk off, still trying to think of how she could do what she just did.
A cold hand grabbed his wrist. He turned around to face Danni.
"Valentine," she said quietly. "I know that's you.""
Incredible agility, ability to fight ghosts, AND knowledge of his identity? Why did that seem familiar?
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about," Val stuttered.
Valentine could feel the cold of her hands as she reached up and removed his helmet. She smiled weakly at him as she placed the helmet on the ground.
"How-How long have you known?" Val asked.
She giggled. "Since you caught Sam and I kissing in the park." She paused and whispered, "Technically it was a fake-out make-out."
Valentine stared at her, something coming into his mind.
"So…" she said with a smile. "You wanted to see me?"
Valentine leaned in closer to Danni. She blushed and leaned in as well. Before their lips met, something hit Danni in the stomach and she was thrown backwards before slamming into a tree with a sickening crack. She cried out before falling to the ground, sitting against the tree with her bangs blocking her eyes and nose. A trickle of neon green and blood red ran down her face.
"I understand now," Valentine said angrily as he lowered a still-smoking ectogun. "Your agility-" He took a step forward. "—your behavior—" Another step. "—your ghost fighting technique—" Another step. "—Even the amount of time you've known my secret. They all add up to one person—" He raised the ectogun again. "—Danni Phantom."
She said nothing, so he continued.
"So, Phantom," he said, spitting the name out like it was poison. "I'm going to give you one chance to stop possessing Danni Fenton." He took another step and as soon as he put his foot down, Danni's head shot up, fangs barred and eyes glowing completely green. Valentine gasped as he was grabbed by a telekinetic force and shoved into a nearby tree, ectogun ripped out of his hand. His wrists were tied up with ectoice, the same way his feet were tied up.
There was a flash of green and Danni was there, raven hair falling into her now-glowing, unearthly green eyes.
"And what makes you think I'm possessed?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Valentine struggled for words.
"C'mon, Val. I expect you to be smarter than this," she taunted, facial expression changing to one of mock hurt. "After all, you've met Daniel Phantom."
"What?" he asked, now scared of the halfa.
The girl in front of him chuckled. "You automatically jumped to the conclusion that I was possessed." She looked back at him, her green eyes meeting his. "But that's not the truth." She leaned in closer. "I'm not possessed. I'm a halfa."
Valentine froze. Crud. He thought he was shooting an overshadowed person in the stomach. He'd shot a halfa in the stomach.
Danni saw the look on his face. "I am Danni Phantom."
Valentine's blood ran cold.
Danni was about to say something else when she realized what she'd done. She'd just revealed her identity to Valentine and,in a way, gave him a reason to think that she was evil by pinning him to a tree. She took a step back, easily hearing Danny in her head saying that Dimension Chasers don't hurt humans, and sprinted off, running deeper into the park.
The ectoice restraining Valentine melted and he fell to the ground.
"Danni! Wait!" he yelled. She didn't hear him.
There was the sound of footsteps behind Valentine and he looked back to see Danny Chaser- or whatever his name was- standing there. Danny took one looked at Valentine's expression and Danni running away to know what happened.
"Oh no," he whispered.
….
Danni stopped running when she reached the playground, out of sight from Valentine.
She stopped and leaned against the slide. She kicked the mulch on the ground.
"You're an idiot, Fenton," she muttered. "An idiot."
"One ghost detected."
Danni looked up to see Michael walk into the clearing, holding a small ghost tracker. Michael took one look at Danni before sighing and putting the ghost tracker away, muttering about it being defective again.
"Hey," Danni said with a weak smile.
"Hey," Michael said, sitting down on a swing across from his daughter. "You seem upset." He tilted his head. "Rough day at school?"
"Not really," Danni said, truthfully.
"A boy problem?"
Danni nodded.
"What happened?"
His daughter sighed and sat down on the ground. "I was going to meet Valentine here and I did, so we talked for a bit and…" She trailed off and bit her lip. "…Almost… kissed. But I told him my secret and he flipped out and overreacted a lot and… I ran off." Sure, she was leaving out a few parts but that didn't matter.
"Aw, sweetheart," Michael said, getting up and hugging her. "Whatever your secret is, I bet it isn't worth overreacting over."
She smiled weakly at him and hugged back. "Dad, I—" She paused and decided not to tell him the secret just yet. "Never mind." The halfa got to her feet. "I've gotta get going."
"Danni, if you ever need to tell me something, I'll listen," Michael said with a friendly smile.
"I know," Danni said, walking away.
"Danni, I'm your father. I'll understand anything," Michael said, getting up and following her.
"I know," Danni said again, slightly annoyed at being followed.
"I—"
"I KNOW!" Danni yelled, spinning around. As she did so, an icy blast flew from her hand and struck the ground, creating daggers of ice rising from the grass.
Michael gasped as he stepped back, eyes wide in shock. Danni looked at her hands, then at the ice, and finally at Michael. Her icy blue eyes met his violet ones.
She ran.
"Danni!" Michael yelled, running around the ice and towards his daughter.
Danni ran into a forest hoping it would slow Michael down. But it didn't. Michael was a ninth degree black belt. There was nothing he couldn't maneuver.
The duo jumped over tree roots and rocks and bushes, Michael gaining on Danni's trail. She glanced over her shoulder at her father and took a sudden left. Michael nearly ran past it but managed to turn quickly.
Danni was standing in the center of a clearing, her icy blue eyes staring at Michael.
The man stopped and stared at her for a second, their eyes meeting.
Then suddenly, a bright white ring appeared around her waist. It split in two and traveled in different directions. The bottom ring passed over her jeans, changing them into a black skort with a white belt, before passing over her shoes, which made them a pair of pearly white boots. The other ring went upwards, turning her t-shirt into a black long-sleeved shirt that showed her stomach, complete with a familiar symbol and a white collar. White gloves encased her hands. When it reached her face, her red lipstick became green and her skin tanned. Her eyes went from icy blue to ectoplasmic green and her hair went from raven black to snowy white.
Danni Phantom, superhero of Amity Park and expert ghost hunter, flew off in a blur of black and white, leaving a shocked Michael Fenton behind.
Danny and Valentine ran into the clearing in their normal clothes and gasped as they saw Michael watching Danni leaving.
"How much trouble can she get herself into?" Danny muttered.
….
Danny threw open the doors to Clockwork's lair. After the attack at the Far Frozen, they'd set up base at Clockwork's tower again.
"Is she here?" he asked.
Fishtail shook his head. "Unless you're referring to Clockwork because she's here."
Danny glared at him and just resisted the urge to blast him across the room.
Suddenly, the doors burst open again.
Danni stood there in human form. She wasn't crying at the moment but her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear tracks down her face.
Danny ran over to her and hugged her. She cried and buried her face in his HAZMAT suit, sobbing. She fell to her knees, letting go of Danny, and wept.
Danny knelt down next to her and hugged her again.
"It's okay," Danny said, trying to comfort the female Phantom. "Everyone messes up."
"Not this badly!" Danni cried.
"Hey." He pulled out of the hug and held her at an arm's length, resting his hands on her shoulders. "If there's one thing I've learned from Clocky, it's that all things happen for a reason."
She listened quietly.
He brushed some tears off of her face. "There's a reason you became a halfa. There's a reason Dash followed me here. There's a reason Time became a ghost when he died. There's a reason we met. There's a reason Daniel didn't become a halfa or a ghost or a merman or even get a slight shock from the Fenton Portal." He looked her in the eyes, his green ones meeting her blue ones. "There's a reason this happened.
She sniffled. "You—You really think so?"
He nodded. "I know so."
Danni glanced at the floor. "They probably hate me now."
Danny shook his head. "I doubt it. I talked to Valentine and explained everything. He seemed accepting and understanding but said he needed time to think. But Michael… you have to explain things to him yourself."
"He'll blast me into oblivion the minute I walk through the front door."
Danny shook his head. "He's your father. He'll understand."
Timepiece and Fishtail looked away guiltily.
"Now c'mon." Danny took her hand and helped her up. "Go talk to him. Explain everything. Explain who you are. Explain who we are. Go."
She smiled and wiped away some tears. "Thanks."
He smiled back. "Hey, what are counterparts for?"
She chuckled before smiling a smile of thanks and leaving to go talk to her dad.
….
Michael sat on his couch staring at a group of pictures that he'd found.
The first one was a picture of him and a younger Danni. He was hugging her and she was laughing as she hugged him back.
The second was of Danni Phantom. She was hovering in the air. The picture was blurry but easily recognizable as her. Her white braid was waving in the air, her eyes were blazing green, and ectoenergy surrounded her clenched fists.
The third picture was of their family trip to Disney Land when Danni was four and James was six. Danni was dressed up as Ariel and was sitting on Michael's shoulders. In one hand, she held a lollipop and in the other, she held a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal.
The fourth picture was of Danni Phantom and that Johnnie 13 girl ghost that James had dated before finding out she was a ghost. They were sitting on top of a building, talking and drinking Coca Cola. It was one of the few pictures Michael had where the ghost girl wasn't fighting something.
With a deep breath, the hunter took Danni's school picture from freshman year and placed it next to a picture of Phantom, smiling kindly at a camera.
There was no denying it now. The two could've passed as twins. Michael had noticed the hairstyle before—the braid and the long bangs hiding the left eye—but the smiles were identical and their eyes, although different colors, held the same kindness, braveness, wisdom, and excitement for life. Their body figures were nearly identical and it could probably be easy for Danni to hide some muscle under her baggy clothes anyways.
Michael placed another picture on the table. It was one of Phantom again but, due to the fact that she was in the middle of turning, the hair that normally was covering her left eye was revealing it.
The hunter stared at the picture and could make out a faint scar under the girl's left eye from when she'd cut herself accidentally with a butter knife under her eye when she was twelve.
Even the two girls' mannerisms were the same. He'd seen Phantom rub the back of her neck in nervousness just as much as he'd seen Danni do the same movement. And the way he'd started to notice Danni hold herself was the same way Phantom held herself, the same confidence in their postures.
Plus, Phantom was involved in ghost attacks around the clock. That could explain her "bathroom breaks" and cut classes at school, her late arrivals home, why she never got enough sleep, everything. And their inventions weren't defective. They were tracking Danni.
Michael sighed and whispered, "Fenton. Phantom." They even sounded similar and it did sound like something Danni would come up with.
"How did I not see this before?" he mumbled.
"I can't blame you. With the way I cover up my tracks, it's hard to find out."
Michael froze and looked up, recognizing the voice immediately.
Danni stood there. She'd taken one of her gloves off and was fidgeting with it while staring at her boots.
"Hi, Dad," she looked up, green eyes duller than usual. "We need to talk."
Here's the clue for the next Dimension Chasers story:
Is anyone reading this a fan of Valerie Gray?