"Oh my ghoul!" Draculaura squealed. "I can't believe I'm talking to the real dead Danny Phantom!"
And Danny couldn't believe he was talking to a vampire. But there he sat in the creepateria with not only a vampire, but Frankenstein's daughter Frankie Stein. Honey, of course, was filming everything.
"What's it like being a hero?" Frankie asked eagerly.
Should he tell them that it was the most life draining work ever and he was slowly going insane with all the pressure from hiding his half death from his ghost hunter parents who tried to murder him all the time?
Nah.
"It has its pros and cons but it's fun!" He said with false cheer.
"That's so cool!" Frankie and Draculaura cried in unison.
Soon other students gathered around the table asking him to tell them stories of his fights and he got question after question about his hero life. He was kind of overwhelmed but it was much better than the hate he received from the Amity Park residents.
And to his relief everyone thought he was fully dead and he wanted to keep it that way. He had a secret identity to maintain and he wasn't too sure they liked humans. They could be completely fine with him being a halfa but he didn't want to find out in case they weren't. He could handle the adoring fans but not a raging mob filled with monsters.
The shrill of the bell sounded saving him from the crowd. The monsters reluctantly left the creepateria leaving him and Honey alone.
"That was great! You're a natural at workin' a crowd." Honey said as she lowered the camera.
"You really think so?"
She nodded. "Yup! Now it's time for the tour!"
With that Honey dragged him out of the room. They walked down the crooked hallways and a giant tentacle appeared out of nowhere stopping them in their tracks. He watched in horror as an unsuspecting student was pried away from their locker screaming in terror.
"What just happened?!" he cried out in shock.
"Don't worry Danny, that happens all the time." Honey said with a smile.
He was about to protest but he shook his head. He just had to accept that his life was crazy now.
The tour commenced without any more tentacled interruptions, thankfully.
They roamed all around the school and he saw even more brain breaking things like a mermaid and sea creature swim team in the indoor pool. A walking talking human sized voodoo doll and a horde of zombie casketball players in the gym.
He'd never get over the zombies. Did they eat brains? He wanted to ask but he had a feeling it could be offensive so he kept his mouth shut.
"Alright here's the last place I'm takin' you for today." Honey said as they stopped in front of a door. "The Headmistress wants to speak with you."
"Uhh, okay. Am I in trouble or something?"
Honey laughed. "Of course not! Go in, I'll wait out here."
He phased inside the office, floating toward the Headmistress' desk. "Err, you wanted to speak with me?"
She nodded and took off her head and sat in on the desk...why was he even surprised anymore?
"Yes, I've heard quite a lot about you, Danny. It's admirable that you are protecting normies from criminals but it's unfortunate that you have to do such a thing at your age. From what Honey has told me you haven't been dead for long?"
"Yeah, it's been a couple of months."
"Do you have any family in the Ghost Zone with you?"
He shook his head. "No, it's just me."
"Quite tragic…" she said as she put her head back on. "The reason I wanted to speak with you is because I have an offer."
"An offer?"
"Yes. I think it would be good for you to continue your deaducation by enrolling in Monster High or I can contact Principal Revenant at Haunted High if you'd rather go to a school in the Ghost Zone. But if you do enroll you'd have to put a pause on your hero work until you graduate."
He bit his lip. Enroll in Monster High? And there was a school in the Ghost Zone too?! He couldn't go to either of them. He still had a life—well half of one anyway and he couldn't pause his hero work. No one—a.k.a his parents—was competent enough to fight the ghost and he couldn't leave everything to Sam and Tucker.
And no one knew he was a halfa. Everything could change once the monsters found out.
He sighed. "Headmistress, that sounds amazing but I'm going to have to decline. I'm sorry."
"I see. Well the offer still stands, just come by if you change your mind."
With a goodbye he left the office.
"How'd it go?" Honey asked.
"It was fine. We had a nice chat."
"Good! You ready to go?"
"Yeah, thanks for the tour. It was very...eye opening."
She grinned. "Good. I made sure of it."
xxxx
Danny stood at the front door of Vlad's mansion. He didn't have a key and it wasn't like he could phase in without jeopardizing his secret. He'd have to ring the bell and face Vlad. Why were things so complicated for him? He sighed and pressed the bell and waited to face his fate.
The door creaked open and there Vlad was in all his glory. "Daniel, come in." Vlad said as he ushered Danny inside. "Did you have fun at school today?"
"What?! I was just walking around town. There was no school!" he denied.
"Sure, of course. I must be going senile." Vlad laughed as he ruffled Danny's hair.
"Yeah you're practically turning into a crazy old fruit loop! Well I'm gonna go, see ya later bye!" he said in a rush as he booked it away from Vlad.
It made sense that Vlad knew about Monster High but him knowing Danny's secret didn't. He was so screwed. He needed to talk to Vlad no matter what. No more dancing around the truth. Dad may be an idiot but mom or Jazz could easily pick up on Vlad's not so subtle hints about Danny's ghostly adventures.
xxxx
Danny adjusted the collar of his suit for the millionth time. He hated formal wear but he had to wear it because he was at the big college reunion. He managed to stay away from Vlad after their weird encounter earlier but there was no avoiding him now.
And then his ghost sense decided to go off. Because of course it did. He went into the hallway and transformed away from prying eyes and then followed where his instincts were leading him.
Apparently it led him to an empty office. He rolled his eyes. He still felt something was there. He sighed. "Okay, I don't feel like playing games tonight so can you come on out?"
And then the door slammed behind him in response. He turned going into a battle stance. "How are we supposed to fight if I can't see you?"
"Who said anything about fighting, Daniel. I just want to talk." said a disembodied voice.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. Let's talk then."
Finally the ghost appeared in front of him. Danny snorted. "You look like a discount Dracula."
The discount Dracula narrowed his eyes. "My name is Plasmius. I've been watching you for a long time Daniel." Plasmius said ignoring Danny's comment.
"So basically you've been stalking me?"
Plasmius clenched his fists. "No! I've been watching how you've progressed with your powers! You are clearly in need of training and, in my opinion, a lower moral compass."
He crossed his arms. "Okay so you stalked me just to tell me that."
"I haven't been—" Plasmius stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. After a moment of silence he clasped his hands behind his back. "Daniel, you are insufferable. But that makes sense considering who raised you."
He narrowed his eyes."What do you know about my parents?"
"I know everything. They're the ones that made me like this!" Plasmius hissed.
"They killed you?!" he asked in a terrified whisper.
"Not exactly. Half killed, perhaps."
"Half killed...you're a halfa?!" he said in disbelief.
"Yes and I know you are too."
"Who are you?! How do you know?!"
Plasmius sighed. "Daniel, you are intelligent enough to figure this out on your own."
And then all the pieces clicked together. "Vlad?! You're Vlad!"
Plasmius nodded. "Indeed I am."
He couldn't believe it. Vlad a halfa too. What were the odds? And apparently it involved his parents somehow. That must be why Vlad hated his parents.
"So you said something about training?" he inquired.
"Yes, I have 20 years of experience with these powers and I can teach you If you'd like."
He did need training. "Okay. I'll accept but how will I train? It's my last day here."
Plasmius smirked. "Consider this your first lesson." and in a swirl of green mist he was gone.
He looked around. Where did he go? He didn't sense him anymore.
In a flash Plasmius was back to where he stood before. "What was that?! It wasn't invisibility." Danny asked.
"That, my child, was teleportation."
"Teleportation…" he said in awe. "Teach me, please!"
And so Plasmius did. It took a few tries on Danny's part but he got it. He could teleport now!
xxxx
"Thanks for having us over V-man! It was great seeing you!" Jack said as he crushed Vlad into a hug.
Vlad glowered at Jack when he was finally released. "I do wish I could say the same." he said as he fixed his suit.
Jack barked out a laugh. "Vladdie, you're killing me!"
"If only…" Vlad muttered under his breath.
Danny watched them through the RV window with a grimace. Dad really couldn't take a hint and It was clear Vlad's grudge wasn't going away anytime soon. Thankfully the grudge wasn't with Danny. Vlad would be training Danny every other Saturday for the foreseeable future.
It was funny that he wanted to get away from ghosts and school with this impromptu trip but he managed to go right back to them. But he didn't mind it this time. The ping of his phone broke him from his musings.
It was Honey.
Hey Danny! My friend Cleo and I are going to the Maul this Saturday. Want to come?
He grinned. Yea sure!
Great! See ya then!
"What are you smiling about, Danny?" Jazz asked.
He pocketed his phone. "Nothing. I just saw something funny."
Jazz hummed in response and went back to reading her book.
He needed to be careful. He had so much more to hide now. He groaned internally. As if things weren't complicated enough.
