Notes: Sorry for the wait! It was harder to get somewhere with internet than I thought, and it was also pretty hard to focus enough on this chapter to add the extra scene I wanted and to revise it, what with winter break and all. Plus my hypersomnia's been terrible lately. *grumbles, yawns* I'm sitting outside of my old middle school now, using their wi-fi and paranoid that a cop will pull up and yell at me for loitering. Or that I'll get mugged once someone sees me with a laptop – no, this isn't the rich part of town. Also, I didn't have much time to to the obsessive editing I usually do because I just wanted to get this up already, so do excuse any mistakes in this chapter.
The last chapter was a bit too long, and this chapter was a bit too short, and it all followed the same timeline so I decided to stick the last scene of chapter seven in here. And, really, it still fits in pretty well.
Dan alternates between using "Phoebe" and "Box Lunch." Using someone's ghost name is a sign of respect or acknowledgment, which Dan obviously doesn't have much of for Box Lunch. Box Lunch also alternates between Dan's names, but that's just because she finds it a sign of affection to call him by his human name.
Chapter Nine - Into the Storm
"We are not killing anyone, Vlad!"
"How can you possibly suggest we ignore the fact that the girl knows so much, Daniel? You could be putting our whole family in danger!"
"It's not 'our family,' Vlad, it's my son who just happens to share your DNA!"
"How dare you!"
"Then don't start suggesting that the only solution to this is to kill my friend!"
"Oh, please! Until today you hadn't even spoken to her in over ten years, you immature little rat!"
Dan blinked at the colorful words his mother used in retaliation to his dad's last insult. The boy had his ear against the door, invisible, and was trying to breathe as quietly as he could. It would be much easier and more comfortable to eavesdrop in his ghost form, but his parents could always sense when he was nearby. So, as always in these situations, he was currently just Dan instead of Dark. He was only curious, after all.
He knew his parents were fighting about his new friend, and he was anxious to know what they were going to do now that someone knew about half-ghosts – or at least about himself being half-ghost. His father had very subtly gotten most of the answers he had wanted out of Jenna once he'd seen Dan parading around in his ghost form in front of her. He'd distracted her from his true intentions by showing the girl a wide collection of supernatural contraptions while simultaneously asking her an array of questions. Dan, for some reason having felt guilty about bringing the human girl over to his house, had just looked on nervously. The boy still hadn't told his dad that Jenna knew about Plasmius, and what he'd heard so far wasn't exactly encouraging. Perhaps he'd just keep the silent pact he and Jenna had made at recess earlier for a little while longer. Just to be safe.
Dan's thoughts drifted back to the situation at hand when he heard the unmistakable sound of an exploding ectoblast inside the room where his parents were arguing.
"How the hell can you care so much about Dan making a friend who also happens to know about his ghost half, but you don't give a damn about the rumors circulating about his 'dad?' Rumors which I don't think I need to remind you, you haven't exactly fought hard to keep off the front page!"
"Because those articles don't have the potential to out us to the entire planet after years of rightful secrecy! One thing is petty tabloids and another is the safety of our entire existence!" The man paused before continuing in a much calmer voice, with an undertone of something Dan didn't recognize. "The beauty of our ghost halves, my little badger, is that when it comes to our mate, our instincts override even human concerns and self-consciousness. I really don't see how you have the ability to care so much about such a little thing. It's a bit vain, if you ask me."
"I couldn't care less what they say about us, Vlad! The kids at school giving Dan a hard time's more important than people thinking we're gay! ...Wait! I-I mean, I care about that too, but I care more about – I don't – i-it's not like I – we're not – IF YOU DON'T STOP WITH THAT SHIT-EATING GRIN, I'LL BLAST IT OFF, PLASMIUS!"
"Well, maybe you shouldn't be blushing like that. It takes away from your credibility, Daniel."
Dan paid no heed to the blast that followed, frowning in confusion and unsure of what his parents were talking about, though he knew since his father had mentioned mates that it probably involved his dad trying to get his mom to love him back once again. The boy knew his mother actually did have feelings for his father – it was more than obvious, and he could tell from the way his mom's eyes glowed in his father's presence – but he doubted his mother would ever get past his stubbornness. It got annoying, really, but as long as he was living with both his parents together, he knew they'd eventually work things out. It was what his father wanted, after all, and his father always got what he wanted.
"Daniel, why won't you just admit that things would be so much less complicated if you would only give in to something that's supposed to be natural?" his dad said in a harsh tone that made Dan flinch.
"Oh, shut up! We are not talking about this! It's always the same damn thing, the same argument over and over and over again! Why won't you just get it through your head that I don't want you?"
"Because it's not about what you want, Daniel, it's about what your ghost side needs!"
"Damn it, Vlad, I'm sick of going through this every day! Just give it a break already! As if it wasn't enough with the whole alternate -"
His mother abruptly cut himself off and a long, thick silence followed. Dan felt an unpleasant prickling in the back of his mind. What were they talking about? For some reason, Dan was now itching to know more. It was like he had to know more...
"...Fine. We'll leave the Jenna issue alone," his father began again, startling Dan out of his thoughts. Why had his dad conceded so quickly if he didn't agree? He never did that. And what's more, his parents hadn't even been talking about that anymore! "But it's still much too risky, Daniel. The least we can do is keep Dan from interacting with her. It's better to take some preventive measures, after all. I'm sure I can assure that they keep their distance, if I just -"
"No!" the young hybrid accidentally blurted out. He tensed upon hearing the voices beyond the door grow quiet. Thinking quickly, Dan looked around the hallway and quickly dashed towards the empty guest bedroom across the hall. Before he could make it, however, he was suddenly lifted into the air with a squeal of surprise, losing his invisibility in the process. He nervously looked up only to be met with his mother's stern green eyes staring down at him. Dan felt himself shrink beneath his gaze.
"You were eavesdropping again," Danny said. It was not a question.
Dan swallowed, but suddenly finding his courage again, he narrowed his eyes in defiance.
"I-I don't want you to take my friend away! I won't let you!" he cried, beginning to struggle in his mom's grip.
Danny sighed, giving Vlad a weary look. "Nobody's taking your friend away, Dan. In fact... I'm going to go ahead and call Valerie tomorrow to set up dinner together this week," he said as he lowered the boy to the floor. "But in the meantime, you're grounded for spying."
The boy's jaw dropped in surprise. "But that's not fair!"
"Actually, Dan, I think it's fair," Vlad cut in with an out-of-place smirk. "Obviously, that means you won't be seeing Jenna outside of school, son."
"NO! He can see Jenna! But there'll be no trip to the Ghost Zone this week," a red-eyed Danny snapped in that creepy, dismissive baritone of his that he often used when he was really mad, though in this case it was clearly meant to tell Vlad that he wasn't getting his way this time. That tone always reminded Dan of the voice in his nightmares, so he'd learned not to argue when he encountered it. Dan pouted when he realized his trip to the Ghost Zone was not up for discussion... yet.
Vlad glared at the white-haired ghost, and Danny glared right back before phasing through the floor. The billionaire's scowl fell and he shook his head. Suddenly feeling Dan's both nervous and angry gaze on him, he looked down at his son and smiled.
"Come, lapushka. It seems as if we could both use a training session to help unwind. Don't worry, I'll talk to your mother later."
Valerie put down her cup of coffee on the expensive coaster set before her.
"And that was pretty much the last straw before Danielle and I started making plans to move back here. You know the rest of that story."
Danny tapped his finger against his own cup and leaned in closer to her across the eat-in kitchen's table. "Well, despite the circumstances, I'm glad you're back in town," he told her, giving her a smile that Vlad would wish he had never inadvertently taught him through his pushy flirtations.
"Oh, I'm glad to be back... and around a familiar face," she retorted with lidded eyes.
"And back as the Red Huntress of all things. I've gotta say, Vlad's old design doesn't hold a candle to your new one."
The woman didn't respond for a second, trying to choose between feeling flattered from the compliment and bristling from the unwelcome thoughts of a certain billionaire. "Oh, they were just a couple of adjustments," she said modestly before her eyes narrowed briefly. "But I still can't believe Vlad told anyone about the Red Huntress. I mean, I understand there's a certain trust between you two, but I would've thought confidentiality meant more to that man, even after I left Amity."
Especially considering he's got his own dirty little secrets, she thought crossly.
"Hey, I didn't tell anyone, did I?" Danny defended himself jokingly, trying to keep the conversation light as a certain angry glint appeared in the woman's eyes. He couldn't help but be both curious and wary of her animosity towards Vlad. She had obviously tried to hide it, but she hadn't done the best job at it.
Yes, he vaguely remembered that the Red Huntress had suddenly dropped off the radar during their junior year, only to reappear months later before Valerie moved away half-way through their senior year. And he also vaguely remembered one or two incidents involving mentions of Vlad that had inflamed the dark-skinned teen. Danny knew why Vlad had been so nervous when he'd seen Valerie again; Jenna knew Dan's secret, and that was nerve-wracking in and of itself. But he didn't seem aware of any negative feelings coming from the ghost huntress. Just what was going on between those two?
"I would hope so," she said, cutting off his thoughts. She purposely decided to change the subject, not oblivious to his fallen and tentative expression. "But now it's your turn to tell me about yourself. So is there anyone special in your life?"
Danny took a second to get the meaning behind her silky words, before a smile tugged insistently at the corners of his mouth that eventually turned into a full-on grin. "Not right now. I haven't gotten around to finding the right person yet, with Dan and everything. He hates it when I date," he said, mumbling the last part, more to himself than anything, in a slightly bitter tone. "And then there's Vlad..."
Valerie's eyes narrowed in suspicion, barely having managed to catch the last words from how quietly they had been said. "What about Vlad?"
The man winced once he realized his mistake. Through his one bit of honesty about his son, he had accidentally also let slip a small detail about Vlad. "H-He's just a little, uh, overprotective."
The woman glared, an almost jealous gleam in her eyes. "Well, why would be be overprotective? You have to realize that it sounds awfully strange, Danny! After he -"
"Because of what happened with Sam!" Danny blurted out, mentally bracing himself for the bout of lies he was about to cook up. Good thing he already had this particular story well-rehearsed, so there was little chance of ever getting caught in his fabrications... though that didn't make them any less unpleasant to divulge.
Still, his words seemed to put the huntress at ease, and her posture relaxed as her visage softened once again. "After she dumped Dan on you, you mean?"
"She didn't 'dump Dan on me!'" he snapped defensively, pausing to take a calming breath. "Look, I don't really like to talk about it, but it was my decision to keep Dan. In spite of everything, Sam's still my best friend, Val."
Valerie blinked, growing more and more confused by the situation. But it obviously had to be complicated, right? Who ever heard of the father ever taking full responsibility for their child at eighteen? Much less taking full custody of them with the mother being perfectly capable. She knew Danny was a good guy, but this was ridiculous!
She sighed internally. Then again, who had ever heard of a single mother taking in a homeless half-ghost teenager, providing for her, and protecting her from another psychotic half-ghost billionaire? She was nobody to try and pry into Danny's life – her own life was probably as complicated as it got!
The woman smiled softly at him, then. She lay her hand on the table next to his own as it approached his coffee cup. His hand twitched as it brushed against her own warm one, but he didn't move it, and Valerie couldn't help but revel in the barely visible but nevertheless present blush on the grown man's face. "I'm sorry, Danny. That was a terrible thing to say. I think it's really sweet that -"
A barrage of noise sounding a lot like ecto-gun shots suddenly reverberated a couple of floors above them, startling them both. These were much louder than the thumps Danny had excused earlier, which he knew had been coming from Dan playing one of his ghost games using ectoplasm.
"What was that?" the huntress questioned, getting up from her chair and oblivious to the frustrated look that appeared on the man's face.
"Nothing! Just the kids playing again!" he tried to excuse them, though he himself was slightly worried at the unfamiliar – and frankly dangerous-sounding racket.
Valerie stared at him rather incredulously. "Nothing? Can't you hear that? Danny, maybe it's a gh-"
"I said it's nothing!" the man almost snapped. Danny swallowed hard, trying to keep his face nonchalant and mirthful. "Trust me, Valerie, everything's fine. Dan loves making all kinds of noise, and you should see some of these weird toys that Vlad buys him. That's nothing I haven't heard before, I wouldn't worry about it. And if we're talking twokids up there..." he chuckled as he trailed off, and Valerie smiled reluctantly at first but later joined him in laughing along.
Meanwhile, Danny inconspicuously focused on creating an invisible clone. The new doppelganger, once in existence, silently floated through the ceiling to search out the source of the commotion.
Dan was pleasantly surprised at how quickly his punishment had been lifted, most likely because of one of his dad's guilt-trips aimed at his mother. Not two days after his he was caught eavesdropping on his parents, he was now playing with Jenna in his room after having gone over to her house for the afternoon.
It had been... interesting, to say the least. He'd met Jenna's Aunt Dani when he'd gone to her house, since his mom hadn't been able to pick him up due to a teachers' meeting and his dad was away on business. The other half-ghost lady was... nice. Dan didn't really have much to say about her. She hadn't struck any of the unpleasant sensations he'd been expecting, which were usually present with most other ghosts he met as if there was a set of preconceived knowledge about them in his mind.
Dani had seemed to know his mom quite well, actually. They treated each other as if they were long-lost siblings. Upon meeting him, she'd even winked at the man and briefly flashed her eyes green, which had frankly surprised the child. Her eyes looked exactly like his mom's! Just when he'd begun warming up to her, however, she'd had to leave because of a ghost alert. Apparently, Jenna's house also doubled as the Red Huntress' Ghost Hunting Co. headquarters.
Although, Jenna's mom was a completely different story. She was nice and all, but she gave Dan an unpleasant and wary feeling in the back of his mind. He didn't like her, but he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the way she seemed to act around his mom; something akin to his mother's usual girlfriends, but much more subtle. Oh, but Dan would be sure to deal with her before things got that far.
All in all, it had been a great day for Dan. Not only had he gotten to hang out with Jenna and meet another half-ghost, but he would still get to go to the Ghost Zone today!
Currently, he was floating upside-down a few inches above the ground, his flaming white hair tickling the carpet every now and then. Jenna hadn't been the least bit wary when he'd suggested the game they were playing, and he was glad. Perhaps some humans were still tolerable, then.
They were currently playing one of Dan's favorite games of ecto-catch, albeit with a few modifications, given that Jenna couldn't fly or handle extremely hot things. He waited while Jenna knelt down and blew on the ball of green ectoplasm, which dimmed its glow as it cooled. Touching it with her sleeve-covered hand and satisfied it wouldn't melt her shoe, she backed away from it and ran to kick it full-force. The ball shot towards the wall at the other side of the room, bouncing off of it and back to the carpet, where it once again did a series of pirouettes while Dan went after it. Nothing was burned, since his parents had long ago decided to ghost-proof his room.
Jenna giggled when Dan was knocked backwards by the speeding ectoplasm before he was able to catch it. Pouting, he grabbed it in his hands and began to charge the dimming ball.
"Did you see Aunt Dani's eyes flash, Dark? Did you? It's cool, huh? But you didn't see her hair. It's so soft, maybe someday you can both do ghost stuff together, huh?" Jenna said as she waited for Dan to finish.
Dan shrugged as he watched the ball grow slightly in size, then waited for it to cool a little again. "She's cool. She was really nice."
Jenna nodded, intently watching the brightly growing makeshift toy. "Hey, Dark, your dad really likes my mom!"
The half-ghost was caught off guard by her words, and hesitated before throwing the ball to the girl. "Uh-huh. I guess," he said skeptically. In reality, Dan was a bit angry because his mom and Valerie seemed to be getting quite cozy. Dan knew she was an old friend from high school, but his mother was his. Well, his and his dad's, of course. But still, it was an unhappy compromise as he played with Jenna, knowing his mom and Jenna's mom were both downstairs together. The looks that Valerie had been shooting his mother made him dislike the woman even more than he already did. She was just like all of his mom's other girlfriends, and he truly hated them! But then there was Jenna...
Jenna kicked the ball around the room again, and Dan was able to catch it this time despite his reverie. "It'd be cool if they got married, huh?" she spoke up again. "Then we could be brother and sister and live in the same house! And I could always play with your uncle's ghost stuff and you could always play with Aunt Dani!"
Dan immediately stuck out his forked tongue in distaste. "Yuck! My dad's not supposed to get married!" he cried scathingly before throwing the ball towards the wall across the room with a bit more force than necessary.
The girl cocked her head to the side as she waited for the ball to slow down before attempting to catch it. "Why not? I kind of want to have a dad, don't you want to have a mom?"
Dan shook his head frantically. "Nu-uh! I have my dad and my Uncle Vlad. I don't need a new mom."
"Oh." She blinked, surprised at his vehemence. She ran to collect the ball as it slowed a couple feet away from her. "Is it because of your real mom? My mom said she was friends with both your parents when she was in school. I don't know my daddy, but my mom says I don't need to. But she said that your mom's nice!"
The boy laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah. My... mom. Yeah, she's nice. I've... I've got her, too!"
Jenna looked at him quizzically. Before she could respond, however, Dan exhaled a red mist through his nose. The dark girl gasped. "Cool!"
"No! Not cool!" the young half-ghost said with narrowed eyes as realization hit him.
Dan was tackled to the floor before he could throw up a shield of any sort, a surprised Jenna squeaking in surprise.
"DAN!"
Dan struggled in Box Lunch's grip where she currently had him pinned to the floor. He had to resist the urge to blast her. He didn't want to scare Jenna, after all, even if she claimed she often saw ghost fights because of her mom's work. "My name's Dark, you dumb ghost! Get off me!" he growled while flailing his legs. He tried going intangible, but nothing worked. She was worse than Klemper!
"Hey! Leave him alone!"
Box Lunch started at the unexpected voice, allowing Dan to free himself and flee to the other end of the room with an annoyed pout on his face. Box Lunch's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
Jenna challenged the ghost's glare right back. Dan was honestly surprised at her unfaltering audacity to challenge a ghost like that. "I'm Dark's best friend!" the girl exclaimed with conviction.
Box Lunch's eyes widened. "DARK'S BEST FRIEND?" she screamed in a hysterical pitch and bared her teeth, her red eyes glowing intensely.
The human girl stomped right up to the ghost. "Yeah! Dark's best friend!" she snapped. Dan blinked and cocked his head to the side in confusion at the anger he could sense radiating from both girls. Box Lunch he could understand, but Jenna? He certainly hadn't seen this side of her since he'd met her, though he hadn't known her for too long either way.
"I'M HIS BEST FRIEND, YOU MATE-STEALER!"
"Ew! I've told you I'm not your mate, Box Lunch!"
"You stay out of this!" they both screamed at him and the boy had to cover his ears, giving both of them in turn bewildered looks.
"Beware, human, for I have powers that will make you tremble! Now get away from my Dan!" the ghost girl screeched as she conjured up several boxes around her.
"Not in my room, Phoebe!" Dan exclaimed and flew towards Box Lunch, but before he could get anywhere, Jenna ran past him and landed a flying kick at the ghost. All the boxes dropped to the ground as the ghost girl lost her focus. Jenna landed in a clumsy fighting stance after stumbling a couple times, and all Dan could do was look on with his jaw dropped. Had... had the girl's mother taught her that?
"Dark and I are playing, now go away, ghost!"
Box Lunch rose from the ground with a newfound fire in her eyes, and the two other seven year olds tensed.
"YOU WILL PAY! FACE MY PRE-PACKAGED DOOM!"
"Not the -"
Dan was abruptly cut off as, sure enough, numerous food items began to phase into the room from every direction. They covered the ghost girl until she was several feet taller, though rather outlandish in appearance. Thinking quickly, Dan pushed Jenna out of the way just as a giant soup-can fist came crashing down onto the carpet, making a downright mess. The half-ghost turned to look at her from where he lay shielding Jenna on the floor and bared his fangs.
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM, PHOEBE!" he yelled as he shot a green eye beam at the ghost, successfully knocking many of the food items off of her. He blinked stars out of his vision afterward, not yet practiced enough to use the attack efficiently.
This barely fazed the ghost girl, however, as she quickly shook off her discomfort from the blast and aimed three heavy soup cans at the dark-skinned girl.
"Move out of the way, Dark!"
The boy was easily tossed aside from where he floated in mid-air by Jenna, who'd procured one of her dolls out of her pocket... Though by the way it had suddenly transformed, it seemed that it was actually a weapon disguised as a doll.
"And I thought my parents were overprotective," Dan muttered to himself as Jenna aimed the doll at Box Lunch with its now uncovered pink glowing chest, obviously an anti-ghost ray of some sort.
Jenna's plan of attack quickly backfired, however, as the doll began to beep ominously. "Uh-oh," she muttered. "Dark, run!"
It was all the warning he had before the thing began to shoot pink beams erratically throughout the room. Beams which were conspicuously locked onto any ectoplasmic signature in the area. Dan yelped as he was hit over and over again, throwing up a green shield which was barely strong enough to stay up against the barrage of attacks. His eyes watered from the slight burns the pink beams had inflicted.
Jenna was too startled to try and turn the doll off, and instead dropped it. She ran behind Dan's shield, closely followed by an equally scared Box Lunch. The three screamed as they were bombarded by seemingly endless pink blasts, Dan's forehead gathering sweat as he struggled to keep his shield up against attacks which were at almost the same power level as him. Both the girls clutched onto him, making it even harder to keep up his defense.
Just as his shield was about to give out, the doll was incinerated by a green ectoblast and the attack stopped. Dan let his shield die, and both girls peaked out from behind him in curiosity.
"What is going on here?" a wide-eyed Danny asked in a hushed voice, looking at the three of them in turn. Dan quickly flew over to him and began pulling on his cloak.
"Mom, girls are scary! They're crazy!" he whispered in his mother's ear.
Danny blinked, his puzzled gaze landing on the two girls. Box Lunch was glaring holes at Jenna, already having recovered from their brief scare. Jenna, in the meantime, was simply staring at Danny in awe.
"It's Danny Phantom!" she yelled, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Shh! Not so loud! There's a ghost hunter downstairs, you know. You're all lucky I could even make an excuse for all the noise!" Danny scolded, giving Dan a pointed look. The boy stared back at him before he sighed and floated down, morphing back to his human form and turning to glare at the wall. Danny ignored his pout, instead raising an eyebrow at the single full-ghost in the room. "Box Lunch, how did you get in?"
The ghost girl opened her mouth to respond but Jenna interrupted, beginning their verbal fight anew. Danny slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head in frustration. "QUIET!" he boomed. From his tone, the two were quick to listen. "Now, one at a time. Box Lunch?"
Before she could even begin, a big metal ghost phased through the wall without warning, successfully startling everyone present.
"Where's Plasmius? We've got a situation," Skulker said, looking at everyone gathered in distaste, especially Danny. The youngest half-ghost, as always, was spared most of the ghost's displeasure.
Danny groaned and muttered to himself, "Why can't we ever get a security system that works around here?"
Meanwhile, Dan's visage had transformed into one of pure glee and excitement. "Skulker!" Dan yelled happily, bounding towards the metallic ghost and hugging him around the middle. Skulker growled and kicked his leg out to try to dislodge the boy.
"Let go of me, whelp! I don't have time for this!"
"Are we going to the Ghost Zone, now? Are we?"
"No! That's why I'm here early!"
Danny frowned upon noticing Skulker's anxious tone. He ran a hand through his white hair, green eyes taking in Jenna's suddenly defensive look which she'd adopted after Plasmius was mentioned. "Your employer's not here right now, Skulker. Just give me a second, okay? Jenna, I think your mom's ready to go now."
Jenna and Dan had matching pouts then, Dan playing with the ammunition in Skulker's belt distractedly.
Danny motioned for Jenna to head downstairs. Her stance further deflated, a bit intimidated by the town hero she'd heard so much about, and she did as told. After she was out the door, Danny suddenly vanished, making it obvious that he had simply been a duplicate.
There was silence for a while between the two ghosts and half-ghost before Dan asked Skulker, "We're not going to the Ghost Zone?"
The metallic ghost looked down and noticed the boy looking up at him with wide puppy-dog eyes, and he couldn't help but sigh. "Down, pup." Surprisingly enough, Dan complied.
"So we're not going?" Dan questioned again in a sad voice. Box Lunch whined in disappointment next to him; she always enjoyed being with Dan at home, since he was more likely than not willing to play with her when they were there.
Skulker shook his head. "It's not safe there for you right now, pup."
"Why not? I can take care of myself!"
Skulker chuckled. "Not against the entirety of Walker's prisoners and ticked-off guards. At least you wouldn't dare try if you valued your afterlife."
"No, really! Look what I can do now!" the boy insisted, morphing into Dark and holding up a hand. He stuck out his forked tongue in concentration and conjured a good deal of green ectoplasm. After a while, the substance began to crackle with powerful electrical energy.
Box Lunch gasped. "Cool!"
As soon as she'd said it, the youngest half-ghost lost control of the electricity. He squeaked in surprise as the ectoplasm sparked and released, putting a nice hole through the allegedly ghost-proof wall. "Oops..."
Skulker didn't seem fazed by the mishap, however, and instead looked from the boy to the wall with a raised eyebrow. "How old are you, again?"
"I'm seven!"
"Impressive..."
Dan beamed at the compliment, his grin quickly being replaced with his tongue stuck out in disgust as Box Lunch hugged him tight. "Dark can do anything! He's gonna protect me when we become mates!"
Dan bared his fangs at her, but his mother phased into the room in his ghost form before he could sink his sharp teeth into Box Lunch like he'd so wanted to. Taking advantage of the distraction as he so often did, Dan threw her off of him and gravitated towards Skulker in a huff.
"Alright, all's taken care of and Vlad's on his way," Danny ventured to say, speaking in a neutral tone rather than the cocky one he would've used in his teenage years. Things had changes between Skulker and him since the whole thing with Dan and being Vlad's alleged mate, though he and the hunter were still on rocky terrain – apparently, eight years weren't enough for the mechanical ghost to get over losing his chance at the best prey he'd ever hunted.
Danny caught sight of the hole in the wall and immediately turned towards a sheepish Dan. Before he could ask about it, however, pink smoke engulfed the spot next to him and caused his eyes to water.
"Dad!" Dan grinned and flew to hug his father. Vlad smiled warmly at him, though he wore a weary look.
"Hello, lapushka," he greeted while ruffling Dan's flaming mane of hair. He spotted Box Lunch and raised an eyebrow, but instead of asking a question he knew the answer to, he sighed and shook his head. He turned to Skulker and Danny. "What is it that happened in the Ghost Zone, then?"
"Riot in Walker's prison," Skulker answered him.
"Again?"
"Worst one yet. Not a single ghost left in there. First time I've had to blast whooping and overexcited ghosts off my island like this... Actually, it's kind of starting to worry me. It's all too similar to Pariah's rule for comfort."
The two children were listening intently, along with a wide-eyed Danny. "Are they hurting each other like they did last year?" the green-eyed ghost asked.
Skulker nodded. "You're lucky you're Plasmius' mate and have the pup, Phantom, otherwise you'd have been long dead."
A smirk tugged at Vlad's lips. Danny's glaring eyes glowed red, about to argue against the mention of his being Vlad's mate, when he heard a sniffle. He turned his head to see a teary-eyed Box Lunch. "Are my parents gonna be okay?"
Danny's face softened and he knelt down next to her, while Dan simply ignored the girl as he floated between his father and Skulker in angry disappointment. Why was there always something happening in the Ghost Zone? And it just seemed to get worse and worse! What if at some point he couldn't go there ever again? It was so unfair!
"Of course they'll be okay, Box Lunch. They both have sort of a knack for keeping out of any real trouble. Especially your dad," his mother said softly. His son and his career as a teacher had turned him into a big softie when it came to kids - even ghosts. Though, it did tend to present difficulties when fighting Youngblood and the like; luckily, his parents took care of most of the ghost-fighting nowadays, and now Valerie and Dani would as well.
Skulker and Dan simultaneously rolled their eyes, neither being too fond of the little ghost girl to begin with. Vlad turned his attention away and addressed Skulker again. "Do you think any of it is going to affect us here?"
"Of course. Though I seriously doubt it'll happen right away. They've got enough chaos to cause in the Ghost Zone at the moment."
Vlad nodded and Danny stood up as Box Lunch settled down. The younger man gave a tired sigh, shooting Vlad a resentful glance. "Remember back when nothing really happened in the Ghost Zone? You know, before you messed around with the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep?"
Vlad's eyes narrowed. "So now you're implying that the Ghost Zone being turned on its axis is my fault?"
"I'm just saying, Vlad, nothing monumental ever happened before the whole 'Pariah's second coming caused by you' thing."
"That doesn't mean I'm responsible for everything in your life that's not to your liking, Daniel."
"But you've been responsible for most of it."
"Oh, come now. It's not my fault you're so paranoid. Or perhaps you'd like to blame that on me as well?"
"As a matter of fact -"
"I'll just go now," Skulker interrupted, quickly phasing through the wall. Dan heard him mutter something about humans and mates under his breath as he went. The boy sighed sadly.
"So we're really not going to the Ghost Zone today?"
Vlad frowned sympathetically at his son while Danny crossed his arms, glaring at the older man. "I'm afraid not, son," Vlad said. At seeing the boy looking dejectedly at the ground, Vlad lifted his chin up and grinned. "But I'll tell you what. How would you like to learn something new today?"
Dan's eyes sparkled with excitement and he grinned back, knowing his dad was talking about working on his powers. "Really? Like what?"
Vlad thought for a moment before smiling mischievously at him. "Ever heard of your mother's legendary Ghostly Wail?"
"WHAT?" Danny screeched, face suddenly pale.
Dan's face was the very opposite, however, shining with excitement and oblivious to his mother's distress at the suggestion. "That sounds so cool!"
"I'm not teaching him that!" Danny protested.
"That's fine, I planned on doing it myself, anyway," Vlad responded indifferently, straightening his cape. "Come, Dan."
"Wait! He doesn't need to know that! Vlad! VLAD!"
His objections went unheard, however, as father and son phased through the floor with the latter giggling gleefully. Danny was so distraught that he tried to go after them but forgot to go intangible, crashing head-first into the floor. He grunted in pain and eventually collapsed to the ground in defeat.
Danny rubbed his face with both hands, resting them against his mouth and with a panic-stricken look on his face. The man shut his eyes tightly, his face blank once when he opened them again. "Why can't I ever do this right?" he muttered to himself, his voice full of emotion contradicting his apathetic expression.
"DAMN IT!"
The warden's hand smashed onto the desk, rattling everything that was there. He aimed a blast at the wall, and in its erratic path, it incinerated a set of filing cabinets. Walker screamed in rage once again, blasting at everything in sight, though curiously avoiding the map on his desk.
Sirens were blaring in the background and the sounds raged of fighting, ectoblasts, and the whooping of escaped prisoners. At this point, Walker recognized that it was useless. There were way too many of them. Every single cell was empty, and almost all of his guards had been taken down. Walker had already ventured out there, but he'd quickly decided to go back to his office in order to protect his space and keep the ghosts away. The door was scorched and hanging off its hinges, but his office had more or less survived the rebelling ghosts. At least until Walker's temper had kicked in.
Walker was breathing heavily, an old habit from before his death that was useful to relieve stress in times like these. He blasted at the opposite side of the room one more time, just for good measure, before pressing the single button on the intercom - which had miraculously survived his temper tantrum.
"Anybody who wasn't stupid enough to get overpowered by a bunch of newborn ghosts, tell me what the situation is."
It was a few seconds of waiting where Walker felt himself on the brink of blasting the intercom as well before somebody finally responded.
"Looks bad, Walker," came Bullet's voice. "We're down to less than twenty guards. Sorry to say that most of them left before they actually fought back."
Walker grit his teeth in anger. "Well, what about the prisoners? Is there anyone still in their cell? Anybody left in the damn prison?" he snapped after pressing the intercom button with more force than necessary, successfully causing the button to become stuck.
"A handful of ghosts who're tagging up the prison. We tried to get 'em, but more came to their aid. I'd say it ain't worth it anymore, Walker. Just let 'em go and we'll try to get things back together here."
Walker glared at the speaker as if wanting nothing more than to cause it terrible agony. "You listen here, Bullet. I want every single prisoner that's left rounded up and put into cell block D! Every single one, you hear me? Report back here once they're caught," he spoke one last time before blasting the intercom to pieces.
In retrospect, it was a downright miracle that something like this hadn't happened sooner. Walker might've prided himself in the security of his prison, but he wasn't a fool. With the increase in the number of spirits inhabiting the Ghost Zone, there weren't even enough cells to keep them in anymore. Worst of all, the new ghosts didn't know how to respect him or his rules! Obviously, he couldn't ignore that or afford to focus on the numbers. The ghost numbers were going up at such a fast rate that the new ghosts were actually forming gangs and the like, making his job that much harder. It made Walker's blood boil. He'd had tried to keep order, to up the surveillance and sentences for delinquents, but by the little demonstration in the prison today it seemed to have all been in vain.
Walker had had a great past month with rounding up ghosts. He'd had a lot of fun with inflicting extra-harsh punishments during this time of crisis. Torturing the prisoners into submission had become more common, something he'd missed dearly... But they always seemed to get right back up! It made no sense! And now it was as if they were all at one big party, blasting at anything in the way to celebrate their freedom. It wasn't even particularly as a celebration of the prison break, but rather a genuine desire to cause as much chaos as possible.
The Wasteland was true to its name this particular day. The ghosts were taking advantage of their numbers and releasing all their pent-up energy, ransacking other ghosts' lairs and escaping into any portals they could find. It was a rampage.
Walker couldn't believe it. Nothing he'd tried had worked, and now he'd been officially overthrown. After all, there was obvious strength in numbers when it came to ghosts. It just wasn't normal, though! The ghosts that were being naturally created from stray energy, on top of being way too numerous, were at abnormal power levels! There should be no ghosts that powerful that hadn't either been born from ghost parents or been humans previously.
It was painfully obvious by now. By tomorrow's daybreak in the Real World, every ghost in the Ghost Zone would know that they were in the midst of a new era of energy upsets. By tomorrow afternoon, every specter with an ounce of brains in them would be fighting to oblivion over the most secure lairs and artifacts of their obsessions. He suspected the human world would receive the repercussion as well.
And just like so many other kingdoms and realms had been created during the Pariah era of energy upsets, including the Wasteland, who knew what would happen now? For all they knew, the Wasteland could have ceased to exist by this time next year. There was more than one reason as to why such few ghosts had survived Pariah's rule, after all... They were all doomed.
But he was a ghost, and maintaining this prison was his obsession! And so help him if he wouldn't do something to preserve his rules.
Walker turned to glare at the Infi-Map with eyes glowing a violently bright toxic green.
"Useless piece of..." Walker trailed off, fisting his hands at his sides as he directed a hard gaze to the precious artifact. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Where are we now? The Ghost Zone's turned on its head and there's no one in sight. Not the Observants, not the Ancients, and certainly not Clockwork. You're their toy, though. Yet you've been sittin' there as useless as Phantom is playin' house right now to his little town."
He lowered his hands from where they had been pointing at the map, charged with ectoblasts. He floated close to the ground and circled the desk, scrutinizing the innocently glowing map. He scoffed when he spotted the area where the Observants' tribunal was, though of course it was not explicitly shown on the map. "Come on. I'd hate to incinerate such a priceless little trinket," he whispered to the map, staring it down threateningly as if convinced that it could read his deadly thoughts. "All we need is a little more power to get out of this thing, just like Pariah kept order back in the day. Power is the key. Where's Dark Phantom, hm? I know you've got him somewhere in there."
The Infi-Map continued to sit perfectly still, non-responsive as ever.
"Where's Clockwork's little game gone wrong?"
Still, Walker was deadly silent as if honestly expecting the object to answer him.
"Come on, I ain't gonna let myself get wasted. Where's my destiny, huh?
It was so shocking that Walker didn't react at first. In fact, it took him a good while to react at all. When what now lay in front of him didn't disappear, he was even more shocked.
It was a stable portal. And not just any stable portal, but a time portal akin to those meant for Clockwork and the Observants. But... what the hell was it doing in his office? He'd never heard of the Infi-Map doing that!
His thoughts abruptly drifted to the scene playing before him, not wanting to miss out. Walker was deadly still as he studied it. It was the Ghost Zone, though there was nothing there. It was the Wasteland, to be exact, and it was awfully quiet. No, he recognized that part of the Ghost Zone; it was the area right in front of his prison. He was so entranced with taking in every detail of the scene that he didn't hear the frantic yelling down the hall.
Then, he caught something on the portal scene. It sounded like... children laughing?
"How in the hell is that of any use to..."
He never finished his sentence, because the next thing he knew there was a young ghost bounding onto the scene. It was a boy, around ten years old from what Walker could see. But that wasn't what had Walker literally shaking with excitement. What had suddenly put him in such a state was the ghost's unmistakable appearance.
He could've cried, he really could've.
Walker was looking at Dark Dan Phantom, frolicking in the empty expanse of the Ghost Zone, just a portal dive away. But it wasn't just Dark Dan Phantom he was seeing – it was a younger him. In other words, a non-homicidal looking version of him.
And just ripe for the picking, Walker thought gleefully as his mind began to process just what was happening, what the opportunity in front of him was.
"Dear Lord," he muttered to himself in awe. Shaking his head, he whispered, "What the Sam heck am I wasting time for?"
Before the warden could prepare himself to dive into the portal, however, the door to his office burst open.
"Walker, another..."
Bullet trailed off, looking from his ecstatic superior to the strange open portal that was mostly hidden from view by the warden's broad frame.
"...Did something happen? Because you certainly didn't sound as happy as you look last time we talked."
Walker's grin, if possible, widened. "Bullet! How would you like to be in charge of the prison for a while?"
Bullet raised an eyebrow and snorted. Yup, Walker had lost it, yet again. "Great time to dump this responsibility on me. How long are we talking?" he humored the ghost.
Walker chuckled happily before stepping aside to allow Bullet a full view of the newly-opened portal. "Don't know. How many years does that look like to you?"
Bullet's eyes widened. He was quiet, looking from Walker to the portal in disbelief as the child on the screen suddenly turned to stare right at them – or at least that was what it looked like as the child looked both warily and curiously in the direction that faced their own portal view, shielding his eyes from some unseen light. He'd heard the description many times before, so he certainly knew... but this was just ridiculous! An absurdly phenomenal stroke of luck. Certainly too good to be true – or at the very least too good not to be a suicidal plan.
"You can't be serious."
"Why would I joke about something like this, Bullet?" Walker laughed. "This is our chance, you idiot! And does that brat look like he can waste anything to you? Of course not! The perfect opportunity - hah! I told you this map would come in handy!"
Bullet shook his head frantically, crossing his arms vehemently. "Walker, you're risking creating an irreparable paradox! You could - God, Walker, the High Council will hang you! You don't even know what time you're jumping into! That could be decades from now, centuries even! That's probably not even in our timeline!"
"Oh, just shut up already! I got this baby to show up, didn't I?" the warden said, gesturing confidently towards the portal. "What makes you think I can't get back with Dark Phantom and the Infi-Map in hand?"
"You were damn lucky that portal opened in the two years you've had that map and you know it. I've always gone with everything you've said, even if I don't agree with it half the time, but this is where I draw the line! This is simply -"
Bullet was abruptly cut off by a glowing hand being phased into his chest, right where his core lay and one wrong move away from wasting him. He froze in both shock and primal fear. The one-eyed ghost slowly looked up to meet the angry eyes of his superior, more livid than he'd ever seen the man before.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Bullet. I ain't gonna waste this - I'm going in that portal whether you like it or not. Now, you can either be a good lackey and watch over this prison 'til I get back - because I will get back," Walker assured with a deadly snarl, "or I can get rid of the sole witness to this little quest of mine, since you're so worried about the High Council. You have five seconds."
Bullet swallowed hard, feeling the heat of Walker's charged ectoplasm choking him and burning his core. He gasped as he felt Walker increase his energy. "FINE!" he wheezed in pain. To Bullet's further discomfort, Walker stayed in that position for a couple seconds longer before finally phasing his hand out. Bullet put a hand to his chest and couldn't hold back a pained groan.
"Good," Walker said pleasantly, grinning maniacally as if he hadn't just been about to kill the other ghost. He looked behind him and to the portal. "In that case, it looks like I have some business to take care of, don't it? I'll see you in a few years." He shot Bullet a dangerous, piercing glance before saying in a low voice, "And I know you'll take good care of my prison in the meantime, Bullet."
And chuckling darkly one last time, Walker grabbed the Infi-Map and dove head-first into the portal.
End Notes: Aaaand here ends Act Two! After all the Vlad and Danny in this one, I'm pretty excited to explore Dan a bit more, including his mild to moderate jerkiness as an older kid. Oh, you didn't expect Walker to just jump into the future and not have the story change time frames, didja? Oh, Walker certainly doesn't expect his little time jump to be in the current timeline, though, nor in the very near future.
Also, I updated my profile with some upcoming plot bunnies and fics I'm working on – which, coincidentally enough, have been doing a good job in contributing to the building distractions for this particular story. That's about it, see y'all next chapter! And oh, what a chapter it shall be.