Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.
Note (9/6/2020): Good news, the reviews have finally shown up so I'm hoping most of the other issues I've been having will sort themselves out too! On a side note, ugh, I have no willpower because I was going to save the AU designs I drew for another story in the future but to me its a nice way to show how much all the characters have changed and it's nice when you see characters in different outfits once in a while right? You can find those drawings over on my Deviantart "SecretSigil." And finally, sorry if the end of the last chapter was a bit all over the place. I had this idea in my head about Dani fighting crime but didn't want it to take too much focus off the fact that she's in bad shape and needs to get to Amity Park fast, the only problem is Danny's not there anymore which unfortunately she's going to find out the hard way. Plus, a certain group of Guys in White might delay her progress. Hint-hint nudge-nudge. Lolz!
Chapter 22: Alpha And Omega
Valerie's POV
"...if you ask me, I still think she deserved it. Manson always acts like she's better than everyone just because she's an ultra-veggie-whatever, but we all know she's just another freak at the end of the day. I can't believe you're still stuck on cleaning up with her too, must be awful," Star sympathized, stirring her iced tea around with the tip of her straw.
"I kinda get why she hates you though. I mean, I know you had this weird crush on Danny Fenton too but unlike you she never admitted to it and now it's too late. Oh well, you know what they say, you snooze you lose," she shrugged before continuing more thoughtully, "I'm actually really glad you've finally gotten over that puppy love crush you had on him and saved yourself from social suicide because trust me, Val, you're much better off without someone with the kind of baggage he's got around weighing you down. I'll give him some credit though that it was sweet of him to help you out as much as he did when he had his own problems to deal with. So maybe Fenton's not SUCH a total loser after all."
Ignoring her comment about Sam since I wasn't sure whether to agree or disagree at this point since we're at least acting civil around each other now I just shrugged and focused on the part about Danny and sighed, "That's what I've been telling you Star, he's really not that bad once you get to know him. Danny's a really nice guy and his home life hasn't been that easy even before he was kidnapped. I just never knew how bad things were before. Now I know why Danny never told me about any of this either, but at least he's somewhere safe now where he can get away from it all."
"Oh my god yeah! I can't believe that Vlad Masters practically adopted him after everyone found out it's his parent's fault that ghost kidnapped him in the first place for months! That's so scary..." Star shuttered before adding with a small smile, "By the way how's your dad doing after all that? Didn't he help beat the ghost that kidnapped Fenton?"
"He's fine, just really busy working in his lab getting it all set up with the new security features and probably reinforcing as much as he can to get ready for when Danny's parents start work there on Monday. They were supposed to start last Monday but...well there were complications with Danny so they had to postpone," I replied and added sadly, "I really miss him."
Putting a hand on my shoulder, Star smiled again and said confidently, "It'll pass Val, don't worry. And if you want I'll help find you a WAY better boyfriend than Fenterd would have ever been. I know a few guys that might be interested and they're not to bad looking either..."
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not allowed to go to the school dance this weekend remember? So if you were planning on setting me up with a blind date for it there's no one I'm really interested in anyway. You know as well as I do that the selection of cute boys has always been limited at Casper High to begin with," I smiled back, brushing her hand off. "Thanks for thinking of me either way. That reminds me, are you and Kwan still dating?"
"Well yeah, duh!" Star scoffed, pretending to be all offended, "He's going to be picking me up for dinner before the dance and we're going to hang out with Paulina and Dash later at her place to go swimming too. It's a shame she doesn't really like you anymore, but I can't do much about that. You know how she gets. She's been my best friend since forever but so are you Val. So even though I can't do much I want you to have a good time too. Promise me you'll try at least, ok?"
Nodding, I picked up my drink and said, "I will, thanks Star. Anyways it's getting late so we should probably finish up here. Wasn't there one more store you wanted to check out to see if they had some jewelry to match your dress for the dance?"
"Yeah, I wanted save the best for last!" she replied with a sly wink, grabbing her drink too. "It just opened yesterday and I'm so excited. It's about time we got a new jewelry store here in the mall, I was getting tired of the same old one since everything there is so tacky..." trailing off, Star leaned closer and pointed, "Speaking of tacky, looks like Manson's finally come out of the shadows looking as goth as ever."
Following her gaze, I saw Sam too and she was wearing something totally different today then the same old outfit as before, Tucker had some new duds on too so I almost didn't recognize them. Sam was wearing a black corset top with a semi-transparent black undershirt, her usual choker, dark purple leggings, a wrap-around purple and green skirt with a dark green belt, and finally a new pair of black boots that weren't nearly as gaudy as the old heavy-duty combat boots she usually wore. Tucker on the other hand didn't change his look very much. He wasn't wearing his red beanie anymore so I could tell his hair had grown out and Tucker even swapped his yellow long-sleeved shirt for a short one, got a new brown vest to wear of it, a new pair of dark green army pants with several large pockets and a zipper at the knee, some nicer boots too, and last but not least this really nice brown leather bookbag to carry his electronics in.
When I glanced over at Sam again I noticed she was carrying several shopping bags in both hands and it was kinda weird seeing her carrying them herself instead of making Tucker do it. Then again maybe this was just one of the ways she was trying to pull her own weight in their friendship. Besides, Tucker looked awfully happy beside her with his eyes glued to the screen of the new handheld game console in his hands. For a second I wondered if she's the one who got it for him since it looked like the latest edition too.
Did she really have that kind of money though...?
"Hello? Earth to Val, are we going or what?" Star asked, waving a hand in front of my face and I blushed.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm coming. Sorry about that," I apologized with a nervous laugh and started walking, briefly glancing back at them and for a second I could have sworn Sam looked my way but maybe I was imagining it.
It wouldn't be much longer until our punishment was finally over and we can go our separate ways at school too. Still, before that happened there's something I really wanted to ask her. It's been on my mind ever since I said goodbye to Danny and kissed him. I don't feel guilty about that kiss or anything, it's just that I know she feels bad for the things she said to Danny and I wanted to know why she hasn't tried to call him and apologize to Danny too or maybe even tell him the truth about how she's always felt about him without Tucker and I around to mess it up?
I mean, Sam seems to be getting along with Tucker again just fine for the most part so didn't she want to at least make sure Danny is doing alright and let him know they've taken his words to heart finally? Or maybe they were just biding their time until they knew for sure he'd woken up from his coma. Jazz promised to let us know when that happened anyway. Then again, it's always possible that Vlad wasn't going to-
"No way! Valerie you have to see this!" Star suddenly squealed, pulling me by the arm and pointing at one of the necklaces on display in the very front of the new jewelry store and I lost my train of thought.
Following her gaze, I saw this beautiful golden necklace on the other side of the glass with a light green opal pendant and laughed, "Ok ok calm down, I can see why this caught your eye though. It would look perfect with your dress. Wanna go check how much it is?"
"You know it," Star giggled while happily trotting inside to dazzle the guy at the counter with her shameless flirting and I had to roll my eyes a bit watching Star in action so I distracted myself by taking a closer look at some of the other rings and necklaces.
It reminded me of how I did the same thing when I charmed Tucker into going out with me for a bit when I first learned about ghosts and wanted to find out everything I could so I used him to get closer to Danny in the first place. That feels like such a long ago now, and honestly, I'm really glad I'm not the same girl anymore. And thanks to Danny I've already learned so much not only about ghosts, but about myself and about him as a person.
Because of him, I've finally realized that I don't have to manipulate anyone to get what I want like I did back then since I can hold my own and I don't feel as obligated to blindly hate every ghost I see. Not that I've met a ghost that hasn't tried to kill me yet. And frankly, I highly doubt I ever will.
Danny's POV
A few hours later after sorting through some more of my things within arm's reach before taking a nap, I took a shower to help me wake up and shrugged on a clean shirt. And when I looked at myself in the mirror after brushing my hair out, I actually cracked a smile because even though I still looked a bit...haggard I guess I felt like things were finally going back to normal and I sighed contently to myself. Crazy right? That living with Vlad feels more normal to me now than living in the house I grew up in with my family in Amity Park again while I was recovering from our final battle with Dan...
Home is somewhere you're supposed to feel safe, not somewhere you dread going back to or where feel incredibly uncomfortable and tense. It's supposed to fill you with comfort and relief to be there, but Fenton Works hasn't been that for me for a long time. Well, at least when it comes to all the ghost-related things putting me on edge that had taken over the few normal parts I used to have in my life even before I became a halfa. For example, I used to be really close with my mom and we used to go to the park together to play and enjoy a good picnic when I was little.
Too bad I found out later part of why we did that is so she had an excuse to get away from home sometimes when dad's carelessness and clumsiness started to annoy even her since she had only so much patience with him sometimes, Jazz was usually there too but she preferred sitting under a tree reading a book while mom and I played around in the grass. As sad as this may sound, apart from going fishing with my dad sometimes once I got a little older, I don't remember doing as much with my dad when I was younger since mom was usually busy treating HIM like a misbehaved child.
Honestly, I kind of regret it now because I'm not going to be able to see them for a while. It's a bittersweet feeling because on the one hand, I can't tell you how relieved I am that they've accepted the fact that I'm half-ghost even though they still don't understand it and that they still love me. But on the other hand, in some ways, it's like we're still practically strangers to each other. And what I mean by that is that just like Vlad is, they're finally learning for the first time who I am as a person, what I want in life, and the things I enjoy.
"Even Sam and Tucker, we've known each other this long and it's suddenly like...they don't really know me at all," I thought sadly, thinking back on what Vlad said earlier when he convinced me not to throw out anything I had that came from them or reminded me of my friends.
Part of me was tempted to ignore him and throw it all out anyway, but considering the fact that Vlad was going out of his way to tell me NOT to let how hurt and angry I feel control my actions that had to mean I'm doing something right with him at least. He's pretty much the king of holding onto his petty grudges and resentment so it meant a lot to me that Vlad is giving me some of my own advice about giving people another chance and not blowing things out of proportion. And who knows, maybe 3rd time's the charm and my friend's will-
I jerked in surprise when I heard a sharp knock on the bathroom door and then Vlad's voice from the other side asking, "Daniel, are you in there?"
"Yeah, I just finished up in the shower and put on some clean clothes," I called back, waiting for him to open the door before asking with a curious look, "What's up?"
Resting his hands behind his back, Vlad explained with a calm calculated tone, "Now that you've rested a bit more I wanted to ask if you would be willing to get your medical examination out of the way before joining me for dinner. While I'm very pleased to see that you've made a full recovery, I'd like to make sure you are in perfect health and prescribe some anti-depressants as we discussed before. I just want to make sure we take care of all the bases if you will before gradually easing you back into our daily routine again, not to mention prepare for this trip into the Ghost Zone and for starting school again at the private institution we settled on."
"No rest for the wicked huh?" I teased with a weak smile.
"Oh come now," Vlad teased in return, ruffling my still-damp hair, "How can what I'm doing for you be evil if what I'm 'plotting' will be beneficial to both of us? Given how exciting your life normally is being the son of ghost hunters and half-ghost yourself, I'm sure being given the chance to start living a relatively normal life will be a new and exciting adventure even for you Daniel. Besides, I'm sure you're as eager as I am to resume training with your ghost powers, especially in light of a more recent discovery..."
Giving him an odd look since I don't think he meant to say that last part, I asked, "Wait, what are you talking about...?"
Catching himself Vlad shook his head and chuckled nervously, "Forgive me, I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself. Don't worry about it too much little badger, I'll tell you when you're ready. At any rate, shall we go?"
"Ok, but you know I'm gonna keep bugging you till you tell me right?" I pointed out, following after him when we left my room again and headed to his lab.
On the way Vlad told me offhandedly how good it is that I woke up with all of my motor skills intact because most people who just barely wake up from a coma usually have to go through rehabilitation and sit in a wheelchair until the strength returns to their legs which I was obviously not having any trouble with. Vlad didn't go into too much detail about it so what he was basically saying that even though I've been in a coma for a week, as far as my body is concerned it was just an extended nap and nothing actually life-threatening.
Although right off the bat we both agreed that I probably needed to discharge some of my pent up ghost energy soon one way or another. Especially my ice core energy, but apart from that to my surprise too I really felt almost normal. Well, normalish I admitted since I still felt really bleary-eyed even after waking up from the nap I took a little after we ate breakfast together. Thankfully Vlad explained that this only just meant my stamina was a bit low from not eating anything solid since that night when Valerie and her dad brought me to the Nasty Burger while Vlad was working on her battle suit and the IV's could only give me so much of the nutrients and protein I needed to regain my strength.
Speaking of which when what Vlad said reminded me of the first time I blacked out from overusing my powers, I told him I was genuinely worried about the gap in my memories I'm dealing with this time around because for one thing I wanted to know just how badly I freaked out and how much damage I did to the lab so I wouldn't start to panic and think it was as bad as last time or possibly worse. And secondly, suddenly losing my memories like that is honestly a really scary reminder of those blackouts I used to get when Dan's control over me started to get stronger through the part of him that was partially overshadowing me once in a while.
So in this case, now that I've calmed down for the most part I wanted to know what happened so I could deal with it when I'm ready. Sam, Tucker and I have been in fights before and deep down I'll admit that Vlad's right, I didn't mean what I said earlier about throwing out any reminders of them too. They're still my friends and I know I let the stress and fear get to me in a really bad way so they didn't deserve being used as MY emotional scapegoats.
I'm better than this, I know I am...
Caught up in my own thoughts I forgot Vlad was walking in front of me and accidentally bumped into his back and blurted out, "Oops, sorry about that."
"It's alright. Trust me, I want to get this taken care of as much as you do my boy," Vlad nodded sympathetically before opening the door and ushering me inside then closing it behind us as we descended down the steps to the lab. "Besides, you're not the only one who is a bit lost in thought I'm afraid. Even though we've escaped one situation, the road ahead of us will be a bit of an uphill climb at least to start with. But I'm confident that before long you'll feel like your true self again and that nothing else will stand in our way."
I nodded but in my head I kept thinking, Geez Vlad, I get that you're trying to be optimistic while I'm not exactly feeling that way myself right now, but that's usually when things go south really fast as soon as the universe decides to prove you wrong. I just hope he's right and the worst is finally behind us.
Unknown POV
"There you are, what's the status of your mission?" Agent Alpha asked in all seriousness when his face appeared on the screen.
Smirking since I finally had something to report for a change I replied confidently, "We've located the target and have a confirmed sighting of the ghost boy. We're questioning the witnesses as we speak. One of them is proving to be surprisingly tight-lipped, but with your permission I'm sure he can be...persuaded."
Narrowing his stern gaze at me behind his standard-issue shades, Agent Alpha frowned, "Do not misunderstand, while we have our orders to apprehend Danny Phantom that does not mean we have sanction to torture information out of civilians."
"With all due respect Sir," I continued, straightening my posture and speaking more plainly, "That is not what I was implying at all. I'm not a savage. What I meant to say is that I've checked the records of everyone involved in the incident and three of the four witnesses appear to have troubled pasts. If we offer them a full pardon, perhaps that would make them more agreeable, perhaps even compensation for their troubles would help loosen their tongues."
"Very good," he nodded in approval once I placated him, but then Agent Alpha added grimly, "Now, you said the sighting was in a convenience store correct? Do you have any confirmed visual evidence or is it necessary for us to rely on their eye-witness testimonies alone?"
My eye twitching slightly in annoyance I confessed, "I'm afraid it's the same as last time Sir, any and all digital footage of the ghost boy whether its captured on video or on camera is heavily encrypted and there's a highly advanced virus is written into the code capable of wiping out all related ghost data. Our hackers were no match for it and we nearly lost all of the intel we've gathered on Danny Phantom so far. Someone must be protecting him because our records show that only a few ghosts are capable of manipulating data in such an advanced way."
"Well I want results one way or another before the month is up or I'm going to have to reassign your mission to someone more competent like Agent Omega. And you know as well as I do that she'll stop at nothing to accomplish her mission and we only deploy her as a last resort. But regardless, it is imperative that we capture-" Agent Alpha began sternly when another agent suddenly called out to me.
"Sir, I'm picking up a weak ghost energy reading directly south-west of our position. It could be the ghost boy! Permission to change course, Sir?" they asked and I returned to my post in the commanders seat.
"Granted. Now if you'll excuse me Agent Alpha, Sir, I have a ghost to catch," I said indifferently to our leader, all of my focus returning to the task at hand.
You've somehow evaded me this long, Danny Phantom, but I WILL capture you. I will prove my worth to this organization and keep the world safe from monsters like you... I thought to myself.
After that I barely registered when Agent Alpha reprimanded me sharply, "Watch your tone. Remember that the only reason I entrusted you with this important mission is because your fellow operatives spoke very highly of your skills, but until I see results for myself you are treading on thin ice. Our orders are to capture Danny Phantom INTACT, so if I receive a report telling me you've failed and destroyed the closest humanoid ghost we've come across that could provide us with valuable information about their kind I will send you back to the academy for reevaluation and you will be demoted to level zero. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Sir," I replied before he told me I was dismissed and finally ended the call.
After that, I set my jaw before I turned to the pilot and ordered, "Engage cloaking device, this time I want to make sure that punk doesn't see us coming until its too late. It may still be in the experimental stages but its the only chance we've got to sneak up on him. He won't get away this time. In the meantime, tell our field agents to get what information they can from the witnesses before returning to the airship. We're going to need everyone on hand to corner this dangerous specter."
"Affirmative, engaging cloaking device now," the pilot nodded and I relaxed my shoulders again but only because all I could think about was fulfilling my duty as a member of the elite forces of the Guys in White to keep this world safe. And I'm not about to let some ghost playing hero give us a bad name anymore. We protect our own.
"Just you wait Danny Phantom," I said with all the determination and bravado I could summon, "Your days are numbered so watch out, I'm coming for you. And you'd better pray I succeed unless you want Agent Omega to stay true to her title and spell the end for you."