Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.
Note (10/23/2020): Sorry about the long delay, I tried to write this chapter several times when I suddenly realized that I have to either cut out, rearrange, or skim over some of what I had planned because I haven't hit some of the important plot points I need to and realized I almost wrote at least two of them out of order. That's why I'm sad to say I'm skipping over Valerie's visit to the amusement park and Danny's last evening with Whisper. You can find artwork depicting the latter scene over on my Deviantart though! Either way, I have a feeling this story is going to end up pretty long even if I dial down some ideas but I'm sure you don't mind. And in the next chapter for sure, I am going to be hitting one MAJOR plot point so hope you're ready for that. Until then, here we go!
P.S. Had to go back and fix a detail I forgot to change earlier so sorry if it confused any of you who've already read this chapter.
Chapter 34: Famous Last Words
3rd Person POV
After coming up with a plan to sneak a message to Danny that was so deceptively easy they were positive that not even Vlad would expect it, it didn't take long at all to add it to Valerie's package and send it. Now, all there was left to do was wait. But waiting is always the hardest part...
Still, during their last few days of cleaning duty together once the package was sent, Sam finally began to warm up to Valerie at least a little bit. They weren't close friends by any means, but it was easier to share things about Danny to help paint a fuller picture of what his life has been like both before and after the accident with his parents portal and getting to know them better.
Valerie ever learned a lot about ghosts from them, especially when Tucker shared his files that they started keeping of the ghosts they've encountered this past year just like Danny. She knew about a few of them, having faced them herself, however, there were plenty of other ghosts Valerie hoped she wouldn't if it could be helped. And now that things had calmed down Tucker admitted that he was eager to figure out how Valerie's battle suit worked and offered to help investigate its properties so they started hanging out sometimes after school. Sam was usually there too but she mostly kept to herself during these visits and only chimed in every once in a while.
On the other side of things Jack and Maddie were becoming more comfortable in their new work environment since Damon took it easy on them their first day and for the most part, was very patient with them, but he always made sure the two of them stayed on task and finished any projects they started before sending them to another department to be tested. Unlike their personal inventions at home, Axion Labs had higher standards, and anything less than perfection had to be put to the test to make sure it worked like it was supposed to. Thankfully, since they were working on strictly protective gear or ghost detection devices there wasn't much risk of injury from a misfiring weapon...
Not to say there weren't a few accidents since some habits are harder to break than others given how naturally clumsy Jack was. To everyone's surprise though, he seemed as cheerful as ever even when Damon had no choice but to put his foot down and reprimand him for doing something careless. But Jack always took those lessons to heart to avoid the same problems in the future to the point where even his wife Maddie was impressed.
As for their arrangement with Valerie when they brought whatever ghosts she caught home with them to release back into the Ghost Zone, sometimes the number of ghosts they released from it was pretty shocking. After seeing those staggering numbers themselves, it reminded them that before all this it was Danny who was capturing all those ghosts by himself on a daily basis and not Valerie. Now that they knew the truth about their son it made perfect sense why Danny always seemed so tired, why his grades were slipping so much, and why he became so distant sometimes like he was off in his own little world...
And all this time, his parents had accused him of not taking his responsibilities in life seriously when in truth he was taking on too many. Danny, their fourteen-year-old son, was once secretly fighting ghosts all hours of the day just to survive, and on top of that, he was constantly burdened with the fear of one day being gunned down by his own parents by mistake just for being half-ghost. And sadly, one day, he actually WAS shot by them and nearly became a full ghost because of their recklessness.
Now Jack and Maddie are going to have to live with that guilt for the rest of their lives; the guilt of not being attentive enough to their son when he needed them and for not being the professional ghost hunters they always told everyone they were even though their son Danny had basically been doing their job for them and risking his life every day. That's why it was so important for them to prove themselves not only to Danny but to everyone in town that ghost hunting isn't some game or a ghostly science experiment to the Fenton's anymore. This IS their job now which is why Jack and Maddie were working very hard each day at Axion Labs.
Their first job was to help improve their ghost shield technology which seemed to be going well so far, especially with all of Valerie's feedback on the ghost activity around Casper High. Progress was slow, but with the help of the other brilliant minds at Axion Labs which included Damon himself, things were looking promising. There was another more ambitious project they were working on on the side, however, and that was to try and create something that works the same as the Fenton Thermos to capture ghosts without having to worry about dropping the thing. Such as making something you could attach to the forearm.
Either way, Danny's parents along with Valerie's father wanted to make it easier for Valerie to hunt ghosts with fewer steps while he was still going through the painstaking process of searching for trustworthy members to add to the special forces team. There was no shortage of people who were willing to do their part to protect their town of course, but Damon had to keep in mind that most of them were still just normal civilians and it would take a long time to train any of them for combat against ghosts...
Not to mention that if anyone showed up that was a bit TOO qualified, there was always the chance of them being an undercover agent from the Guys in White snooping around. Damon already had to turn several of them away when they came to the lab and said they wanted to commission Axion Labs to create a new anti-ghost weapon for them and he told them that government agents or not, this company is now the sole property of Vlad Masters so if they wanted something they would have to go through him first.
One of the agents who was visiting the lab that time threatened to come back with a warrant and shut the lab down for containing ghostly contraband out of spite before his superior could tell him to hold his tongue when Damon 'casually' reminded them that even they had to abide by the law and like any other business Axion Labs had the right to refuse service to anyone. And given the constant threat this town was subjected to by ghosts and the fact that the Guys in White haven't offered them any sort of protection in the past and basically acted on their own, both the current mayor and the former had given Axion Labs their full support which meant their services were considered vital to the well-being of Amity Park as a whole.
In other words, the entire city council was on their side so doing anything rash would raise serious questions about the government interfering too much with their town without actually DOING anything useful and getting in the way of those who were actually trying to solve the town's ghost problem and protect its citizens. Then there were also the damages Damon had records of that THEY have caused such as the time they razed Vlad's castle in Wisconsin to the ground. This proved that even when they did have a warrant, the Guys in White have been known to act rashly even when they didn't find anything.
Vlad even threatened to sue the government for malpractice which was no idle threat coming from the richest man in the world who had every reason to point a finger at them for the destruction of private property which only further proved his point. So Damon warned them that if they tried anything like that here at Axion Labs since their work is considered so important and they're responsible for the overall safety of the entire town, this time the city could have the Guys in White finally kicked out of Amity Park entirely and nothing short of declaring martial law would give them any kind of control here. They backed off after that, but Damon wasn't a fool, he knew they'd try to get in again somehow to see what they were working on eventually or would find some kind of loophole in his logic.
Unfortunately, that's one of the downsides of this lab being the most technologically advanced in the world that just so happened to be kept tucked away in this small town that now primarily develops anti-ghost technology. The Guys in White even had a small base built here in Amity for that very reason, to keep an eye on them after all the ghosts started showing up here regularly about a year ago. Either way, Damon had his hands full making sure he didn't let any of them sneak past him somehow while keeping it a secret his own daughter is now hunting ghosts in an advanced battle suit that was built with some of Vlad Master's best technology as well as some unexpected ghostly upgrade that gave her a unique telepathic bond with it...
In a way, Damon thought that Valerie might just be their best-kept secret that the Guys in White were searching for. That's why Damon made sure he heavily encrypted everything he had on file about her new battle suit and the ghosts she fought to keep his daughter safe. But there were things Damon couldn't protect her from, try as he might, such as the disappointment he knew she was going to feel when he told Valerie he wouldn't be able to spend the weekend with her after all.
Valerie's POV
"Hey, are you ok? You seem upset about something," Sam asked while walking to class with me since Tucker was at home sick today.
"Well I'm a bit disappointed about something but it's no big deal, I was kind of already expecting something like this to happen," I explained with a shrug, "Dad and I were going to do a daddy-daughter thing this weekend but he said there's a deadline coming up on one of their big security projects that has to be finished before Monday and can't make it. To be fair though it was only a last-minute suggestion I made since I was given some tickets to the amusement park so I had a feeling he probably wouldn't be able to get the time off."
Turning to Sam I asked, "By the way, do you still have plans with Tucker or is that a bust because he caught the stomach flu?"
Laughing a bit at some inside joke, Sam snickered, "Sometimes I forget that even Tucker's iron clad-stomach can only endure so much punishment, I used to joke that it's as durable as a goat's when we were kids. Anyways yeah, we were going to go see a movie or something like that to kill time but as long as he's not contagious I might just go over to his place to watch some older movies instead. I mean it's been ages since we've had a proper monster-movie marathon which is funny since we can laugh at the fact that we've actually seen our fair share of them in real life. In fact, we've even met a ghost werewolf before if you can believe that."
I blinked, "For real? A werewolf...? How does that even work? Wouldn't a werewolf still have to be, I dunno, someone still alive that turns into a wolf in the light of a full moon?"
Giving me a thoughtful look, Sam put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Valerie, if there's one thing I've learned about ghosts is that they tend to play by their own rules. Even I know we can't always believe everything we see in books or read online but at least we know some of it actually is true. Like how magic actually does exist too in one form or another since we've met at least one ghost who can use it."
Nodding I replied, "That makes sense. Still, I'm pretty impressed by all the things you've learned from your spooky goth books though. Speaking of which, thanks for sharing scans of those old pages about the Fright Knight with me. I had no idea he considers himself the Spirit of Halloween. But if he ever shows his face this Halloween at least I know one good way to stop him without getting my butt handed to me like last time."
"I figured those might help you a bit since it's almost October," Sam explained, "And honestly, as long as you don't steal his sword from the Ghost Zone to use for a haunted house or wake up the Ghost King though I doubt that the Fright Knight has any reason to come around here again. There's another reason for that too because as far as I know, he's still working for Vl-"
"Seriously Valerie, are you SO desperate for friends you're hanging out with that social reject?" I heard Paulina sneer from next to us while wearing a black and white blouse with Danny's ghost insignia on it. "I don't know what Star still sees in you since you've fallen so low it's pathetic."
"Says the girl who's wearing a Danny Phantom logo on their shirt to declare to the world she's still just another delusional fangirl," Sam frowned, putting a hand on her hip. "You know he's probably never coming back right? Just give it a rest already, as in rest in peace."
Scowling Paulina snapped, "Oh yes he will! He knows we're destined for each other and I saw him when he fought that scary evil double. He was so brave! So you'll see, eventually, the ghost boy will come back and see I never doubted him for a second! Not that I'd expect a loser like you to understand since you don't have a romantic bone in that scrawny little body of yours."
"I'd shut up now if I were you," Sam leered strolling over to look directly into Paulina's eyes, "Keep talking like that, and I might be tempted to curse you. After all, I'm a goth, right? And if ghosts are real, well, why not magic spells designed to hex people and make all their hair fall out? Bet your date to the dance tonight will love going with someone as bald as Mr. Lancer..."
Flinching back Paulina reflexively ran a hand through her long black hair in alarm then excused herself without another word, walking past us as fast as she could without breaking out into a full-on sprint. After that, we both looked at each other before busting out laughing. Oh man, the look on her face was priceless and Paulina went pale as a ghost as soon as Sam mentioned curses since we were just talking about the unexpected mythical side to some of these ghosts. And personally I had a strong feeling the only reason Paulina said anything is because she's jealous that her best friend Star is still friends with me too and she doesn't like that.
Paulina has always been obsessed with being the center of attention. And back when we were still friends Paulina admitted that part of the reason for that is because of how lonely she used to feel since her mom is always busy and is hardly ever home. I never knew my mom and dad always looks so sad and lonely whenever I've tried asking about her so eventually I gave up asking and just accepted that all we have is each other.
He used to spoil me a lot too but not nearly as much as Paulina's dad does. That guy practically worships the ground his daughter walks on and acts more like a big hulking bodyguard than a parent which used to intimidate me whenever we went over to her place to visit no matter how nice he usually is to Star and me. What's funny though is that I used to always felt bad for Dash and Kwan though since Paulina's dad would always give them a hard warning glare every time we came to visit as if to say 'I dare you to make any of these girl's cry or especially my daughter, cause if you do I'll happily break every bone in your body and cripple you for life.'
"Oh man, I think you legitimately spooked her with that threat. Hopefully, she'll leave us alone for a while for the sake of not going prematurely bald," I smiled until I saw the sad look on Sam's face when she started thinking about Danny then told her, "Hey, don't let what she said get to you. I know you didn't mean it when you said Danny's never coming back since I'm sure we'll at least hear from him soon. Anyway, let's just hurry and get to class so we can get through the day and get ready to finish our last day of cleaning."
"Sounds good to me," Sam smiled back weakly before adding, "Now that I've actually said that though I'm seriously tempted to see if there are any real spell books out there. But yeah, let's just go before any more of your former friends decide to make jabs at us."
"For what it's worth Sam," I began without looking at her as we walked to class, "I think I finally understand why Danny thinks you're such a cool person. You seem to know a lot of interesting mystical ghost facts, not to mention you've got some great comebacks. Bet he learned a lot from you."
"Maybe," she replied dismissively before falling silent but I could definitely hear the smile behind that simple reply when Sam remembered how often Danny used to make clever puns while fighting ghosts or whenever he actually did stand up against all the bullies at our school.
Either way, I'm glad both Tucker and before that Danny talked me into trying harder to get to know them for who they are as people too. And I've gotta say, having another girl around who can scare the pants off Paulina like that really might not be so bad. And I could tell that the ice around Sam's heart has been melting a lot the past few days so for once it felt like things were going right for a change...
But sadly, you know what they say about famous last words.
Vlad's POV
In all honesty, I felt a mixture of relief and disappointment to see Whisper leave us so soon. When we returned, Daniel could tell something had happened between us but thankfully Whisper kept her word and stayed silent on the matter. The only thing she told him about was unexpectedly recovering a memory from her past rather than finding what I had asked for.
He seemed skeptical at first, but Daniel decided he didn't want to pry and left it at that before the two of them left to enjoy the rest of their time together before I allowed her to pass through my portal into the Ghost Zone. Since Daniel went to bed immediately upon her departure he didn't tell me what they did together until the next morning over breakfast. Turns out Daniel decided to fly up to the roof with her to stargaze once I told him his ecto-energy levels were steadily rising again which is a good sign so I decided to allow him to use his powers again.
Judging by his expression I could tell he greatly enjoyed teaching Whisper about all the constellations and it made me happier than you can imagine seeing him so enthusiastic talking about it. Daniel also told me they played a short game of tag with her wisps as well and I must admit, I was a bit jealous. I know Daniel is probably too old for most childish games but at times even I found myself wanting to re-experience some of those with my little badger...
At least this proved my theory that Daniel needed to be around children his age again which is why there is one more thing we need to take care of before I finish signing the papers to enroll him in the private school I've chosen for him. And Daniel must have been thinking the exact same thing when he abruptly asked-
"Hey, Vlad? Now that I'm feeling better are you up for making that trip to the Ghost Zone soon? Doesn't have to be today, but it's something that's been on my mind ever since we met Whisper. And I know we've talked about this before but I think I'm ready to go back to school," reaching back to rub the back of his neck, Daniel added with a nervous chuckle, "Even though I slept pretty well last night I can tell I'm getting restless again because I had this weird dream about our day trip to Ireland. Like, for some reason, you had dyed your hair bright red and kept talking to me in a thick Irish accent. It was so bizarre but still better than a nightmare."
Raising an amused eyebrow I replied with a mirthful smile, "Indeed, also, one would assume I would have actually had a Russian accent in your dream since it runs in my family. Although, I'm sure there may be some Irish ancestry splashed in there somewhere. It's been years since I worked on my genealogy, however. One of these days I should show you my family tree Daniel, you may find it interesting."
Standing up from my seat, I strode over to Daniel, put a hand on his shoulder, and told him with a sly grin, "As for your earlier request I was actually going to suggest that we enroll you in school before too long since Whisper did an excellent job helping you let go of many of the troubles that have been weighing you down as of late my boy. Not only that but you no longer seem sleep-deprived and your ghost powers appear to have finally stabilized. So with any luck, we'll be able to resume your training with those as well now that things have settled down and you seem more like yourself again."
Confused for a moment until it dawned on him what I was saying, Daniel blushed and nodded, "Yeah yeah, I know I was acting like a big baby before because I was stressed out but like I told her I just needed a few days to catch my breath after everything that's happened the past few weeks. I mean, between defeating Dan, helping my parents and Valerie understand the truth about us, dealing with the drama with my friends, and that scare we had when Valerie's battle suit started glitching out, I haven't really had the chance to worry about myself as much when I wanted to make sure all of us made it out of there alive."
After that, Daniel looked up at me and said with a fond smile, "Listen, I know I never got the chance to really say it before I collapsed but thank you for helping Valerie and her dad get out of that apartment and for giving my parents another chance to do some good with their inventions by giving them a job at Axion Labs. It means a lot to me. I know I goofed up the other day too so thanks for putting up with all that."
"Come now Daniel, you know I only did those things for you," I replied with a mischievous glint in my eyes, "But I suppose you're right, we've been through quite a lot recently which is precisely why I fully intend to make sure we can both settle into a normal routine again as soon as possible. That said, I agree that a visit to this Clockwork's lair is long overdue so we will visit the Ghost Zone later this week once we've taken care of a few other pressing matters, such as getting you fitted for a school uniform. And don't look at me like that, I promise these are much more tasteful than what I forced you and your fellow students to wear at Casper High as payback."
"Hey, as long as I don't end up looking like a total dork this time I'll be happy," Daniel laughed, standing up and stretching a bit before asking me, "So now that that's out of the way Vlad, what's next up on the agenda today...?"
Ruffling his hair affectionately I answered, "Well since my schedule is free until tomorrow why don't we visit the nearby town? Now that you're a free man so to speak and no longer a missing person I'm sure you'd like to know what activities are available. I'll have to assign you a limo driver until you're old enough to legally learn for yourself, but for now, we'll take one of my sports cars. Why don't you get ready and I'll meet you at the front door?"
"That's a good idea. I don't think I've seen any of Wisconsin besides your castle now that I think about it, so yeah, it'd be nice to get the lay of the land," Daniel nodded, smoothing out his dark locks with little success before transforming and floating a few inches off the ground, "I'll see you again in a few minutes Vlad!"
And with that Daniel casually flew up and phased through the roof to his bedroom, leaving me alone in the dining room smiling like an idiot once again because I couldn't be happier that Daniel was so eager to let me show him around. Then again I suppose he was just eager to explore this town where there wasn't a single ghost in sight and Daniel knew it was alright to let his guard down, or if there were they were the sort that kept to themselves much like Whisper had been since most other ghosts do know this is the territory of Vlad Plasmius. Either way, I had a feeling today was going to be a wonderful day and everything was falling into place.
At long last, things were as they should be. Daniel is safe and happy again and I couldn't possibly ask for more. So for the first time in my life I feel truly content and come what may I will weather any storm to make sure I give Daniel the life of luxury and love he deserves, and if I may be so bold, the love that I have finally earned from him. From now on, there's nothing that can possibly tear us apart again...
Absolutely nothing at all.
