Hey I might be updating more frequently now that school's back to procrastinate against doing homework. Funny how that works.

Disclaimer: I don't own a pair of moon shoes, and I don't own Danny Phantom either. I think that was the saddest sentence I've ever written. Excuse me while I cry in the corner.

Chapter 12: Isolation Vacation

Having time to think and reflect is nearly always thought of as a good thing. It is for this reason, Vlad came up with the punishment for Daniel that he did. Two weeks of isolation.

"What could possibly go wrong?" Vlad muses.

DANNY'S POV

Of course isolation is second nature to Danny since he was raised mostly by a diverse selection of imaginary friends. After four years of being constantly watched; of having all of his thoughts and actions controlled; of sticking (for the most part) with reality. This two week-long imprisonment is a vacation of sorts. All of Vlad's training is meaningless in here. There is no point in dressing to impress. There is no one to exercise his manners with. All he can do is sit in the room Vlad locked him in, and contemplate life.

Much to Danny's delight, this room is in all basicness, a dungeon. I've joked about him having one in the past. But I never actually thought he had one! This is fantastic. The cell is about ten by ten feet. It features cold stone walls, a dirt floor, and an omnipresent dripping sound. Danny would end up spending much of his first night in this room trying to find its source. Unfortunately, like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, this is one thing the world may never know (A/N: Might as well throw in an "I don't own tootsie pops". And contrary to what I just said, I do know how many licks it takes. It's a little over 700. Oh and I do hope you people get this reference. This commercial is kind of old, but a classic no less). The cell also contains some fairly gross furnishings. It has a musty old cot in the corner (this has some mystery as well: What created these stains?), a questionably clean chamber pot, and a pair of unoccupied, rusty shackles attached to the far wall. I wonder why he built this in the first place. Like seriously? What's the point? Does he lock people in here on a regular basis? Am I just the current of many previous tenants?

His first day of imprisonment is also the last that he bothers to hold onto his sanity. He spends nearly the entire day reviewing the events of last night's party. As has become the norm of his past four years, he first thinks about his relationship with Vlad. He says he is my father, and yet he never acts anything but cold to me. And then there was that vision from last night. That big man. He looked so familiar. I'm sure I've seen him before, if not in real life, than in my dreams. Who is he? I called him "Daddy". But that was so long ago, I must've been… What? Three? I can't tell if this is a memory or just something I made up. I'm so confused. Maybe the fruit loop has been lying to me. That seems like him.

But if he's not my dad, than is Maddie not my mom? She doesn't act like how a mother should either. She never hugs me, or cares for me, or even talks to me. But there is something about her that is so different from Vlad. She doesn't ever look at me or treat me with hate. I've even seen her smile at me in passing before. And besides that, she is so like me sometimes. She is always off somewhere in her head. She never seems to be truly present. She could be my mother. Maybe she and the man from my vision are my real parents. I bet they would've loved me. Hell, I KNOW they wouldn't have thrown me in a dungeon!

Of course the topic of his parentage isn't anything new. Any connections or ideas of who his parents are, is packed away to the back of his brain. They aren't something that he can solve by simply speculating. Instead, he allows his mind to wander over to that girl. I wish I could travel back in time and get to know her. I know nothing about her. Well, except for the obvious. I know she's beautiful. I know she's funny and clever. I know she's kind and patient. But that's about it. I don't even have a name to put to her face. Ugh. How did I never even think to ask for that? Besides bathing in regret, there really is nothing he can do in regards to his mystery girl.

That concludes day one. Day two is… interesting at best. It's a sharp contrast to the previous day. Danny wakes up in his cot with an old mindset. One that he was forced to abandon four years back. If anyone had bothered to watch him through his cell's bars, they would see a crazed look twinkling in his eye. They would look at his messy raven hair, the deep bags under his eyes, and his frightening smirk. And they would likely run away as fast as they could. Danny looks around his seemingly empty prison, and begins to laugh. He gets up and strides across the room into a small area under the barred window. Light streams down, highlighting an impossible thing. A young fern grows out of the dirt floor.

"General! It has been far too long." Danny embraces the plant. "I've missed you, old friend." Danny spends the day catching up with General Fern. He laughs at Fern's jokes, and cries at his war stories. He even tells Fern some tales of his own. He talks about his problematic relationship with Vlad, and his regrets about the girl from the party. Fern listens intently. Occasionally he nods as a slight breeze flows from the window. In the end, he decides to ask Danny a question.

"So you have about twelve days left in here?" Danny nods. Fern's face breaks into a grin. "Well then I know exactly what we need to do. Say it with me now: Dozen. Day. Party." Danny's eyes grow wide and soon he is smiling right alongside Fern. Invitations are created and Fern makes his leave with a mail sack full of them. Danny goes to sleep, happy that The Party game is back.

Since the Party's invention when he was five, it has been greatly revolutionized. The dirt floor is replaced by a multicolored LED dance floor. The ceiling is beyond coated with streamers. Pizza and cookies make their rounds via butlers. A bottomless punch bowl rests in the corner. Music blares from speakers. Strobe lights flash while a disco ball spins from the ceiling. And most importantly, the room is packed. Party guests from all walks of life mingle and dance. Some familiar faces are there such as Miss Sunflower and the General. But strangers are just as common. Danny finds himself telling jokes to a crowd of seven people he has never seen before. One is a large spider, another is a man named Dwayne (in reality he's a rock). The other five are a clique of ghosts (A/N I wrote this and was like "Whoops forgot there are actual ghosts in this story! This might get confusing. To clear it up, these five are pure imagination.). Later, Danny would find out that they were previous inhabitants of this very cell.

By its third day, the party had long since become out of control. I'm amazed Vlad hasn't sent someone to stop us yet. Part of the thrill of the party is hiding its existence from the rest of the Mansion. Whenever someone would come to his cell with food, Danny would silence the music and everyone would hide. A few would always start giggling. Which would in turn, bring on a round of shushing. Danny would grow more and more anxious of the food deliverer to leave in fear that he would hear them. Thank goodness he never does.

Some of Danny's party guests give him really good advice. After listening to Danny recount his woes, Miss Sunflower's sisters all sigh in discontent. Her eldest sister, Rose, has firetruck red hair that truly stands out in the usually dank dungeon. She swings her hip (A/N rose hip pun unintended) forward, and looks at Danny like he's missing the obvious.

"Kid, you have to come up with an escape plan."

"Nah, I like spending time with all of you guys in here. He'll let me out in a few days anyway." Rose rolls her eyes.

"I meant you need to escape from Vlad. As in you leave the estate. As in you take control of your own life!" Her sisters back her up with nods and a chorus of "mmhmmm"s. Danny just stands there flabbergasted. Escape? From Vlad? Leave the estate? Control my own life? That's… That's impossible. I can't just leave and never come back. Hell, I don't even know what's out there! I wouldn't have anywhere to go. But I could go anywhere. I've never had that option…

"But how would I do it?!" I can't believe I just said that out loud. What if Vlad figures out that I'm thinking about escaping? He'll kill me! Rose just looks at him blankly. She doesn't know what to say to that. Her youngest sister, Marigold, steps up.

"I propose a two year plan." The group all turns to her with quizzical expressions. "What you have to do is gain Vlad's trust. Face it, Danny, he hates you. You have to change that. Blow away your teachers with a mastery in each subject. Make it so Vlad doesn't think you need Rush to tell you what to do anymore. Make Vlad notice you. At the next party, DO NOT SPEAK TO THAT GIRL. I know you want to, but don't. You can always find her after you make your escape. In the meantime, go around the party. Mingle with people, flirt with Paulina, and make yourself seem utterly perfect. That party is the one place Vlad won't be able to ignore you. After that, make it your mission to get close to him. Dine with him and Maddie. It doesn't matter if they are or are not your parents. That is irrelevant to the plan. Study him. Get close to those around him as well. Then one way or another, an opportunity will present itself. That is when you escape." Everyone simply gaps at little Marigold. Danny, himself, is scrambling for words.

"But… how… when… How long will this take?"

"As I said before, this is a two year plan, so ideally you'll be free by when you're about 16. Any other questions?" The other girls, and Danny, remain silent. "Perfect! So are you in?" Danny just stands there for a few minutes. The sisters lean in, in anticipation. Danny's head does a hardly noticeable nod. Marigold's eyes darken. "The pact is sealed."

RUSH'S POV

Rush enjoyed his own vacation while Daniel was down in the basement. Two whole weeks away from the kid. I can't believe it's over. Rush sighs unhappily as he makes his way down the stairs to Daniel's cell. The prison door's key jingles in his hand. He makes sure his steps are slow and deliberate. Anything to give me a few more minutes of peace. But eventually he reaches the door to the cell. He opens it up, and stands back for the kid to come out. After two weeks of being locked in a small enclosed space, anyone would look insane. Rush is astounded to see that for the boy, this is not the case. Daniel strides out of his prison with his head held high. His back is pin straight, and his clothes are not even the least bit rumpled. He greets Rush with the same charming smile that Rush had drilled into his head three weeks ago.

Um… Well this is new. As they walk to Daniel's attic room so he can get cleaned up, Daniel makes polite conversation. He's using every trick in the book. His communication skills are perfect. But how?! Later, once Daniel is freshly dressed, Rush leaves him to attend his classes. After each class's allotted time has ended, the teacher of said class runs into Rush's office. They are pale and breathing irregularly. They all tell Rush the same thing.

"Daniel knows all of my material. I don't understand how! He's at the same level as me!" That night Rush leaves Daniel so he can sleep. But at the last second he stops, and peers through Daniel's bedroom door. The boy is sitting up on his bed with an insane grin on his face. His lips move as if he's saying something. Rush strains his ears to catch whatever is coming out of his mouth.

"Phase… motion. Every… ccording… plan. …Marigold." Rush backs away slowly. He's talking to himself! This can't be good. He runs to his room and locks the door. I'll deal with this in the morning.

Yeah, I made Danny crazy again. I reread the story and learned two things: I had put his room in the attic, and he's insane. Strange that, that major characteristic escaped my mind. Oh well. Bringing it back. By the way, I noticed a lot of people have been asking, so I'm going to answer the question. Yes. Ghosts are involved in this story and Danny will become Phantom when I feel like it. Now stop pestering me. And I might as well clear up what Danny was saying in his room. "Phase one is in motion. Everything is going according to plan. Night, Marigold." Or somewhere along those lines. I wrote this last night, so I really do not know what I was saying. Whatever.