DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom.
Sorry about the long wait, everyone, and sorry it's a little later than I said it would be.
KittyGrl24, DPcrazy and Sciencefreak330: Thank you for you reviews, and for your help!
As it has been a couple of weeks, here's a quick reminder of what's happened so you don't have to go and read through previous chapters: Vlad has managed to separate Danny, Valerie and Mimic from one another by getting a few of Walker's guards to pop up at the same time. Now Danny's fighting Vlad, unaware that Vlad is sneaking up behind him with the Plasmius Maximus. Val and Mimic are on their way to help, but they may not make it in time.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Valerie
Danny pushed himself off the ground and into the air, preparing an ectoblast in his right hand, when suddenly, the Plasmius Maximus jammed into his side.
He screamed as the device shocked him, two rings of white light washing over him, changing him back into Danny Fenton. He tumbled through the air to the ground, landing painfully on his already-injured left arm. He gasped, and scrambled away from Vlad desperately, knowing he couldn't possibly escape but trying nonetheless.
With a triumphant cackle, Vlad recalled his duplicates and swooped down upon the teenager like a vulture on dead meat, quickly knocking him out with an ectoblast and binding the unconscious boy's wrists together with ectoplasmic rope. A large smirk lit his features as he turned both himself and the black-haired boy invisible and disappeared, taking Danny Fenton, spectral saviour of Amity Park, with him.
From behind her mask, the eyes of the Red Huntress widened, and her jaw slackened. She stared, aghast and disbelieving, at the air where Danny Fenton had previously been. Mimic paid her no heed, shooting forwards with a horrified cry.
"Danny!"she called frantically, desperately hoping that somehow the boy was still there, that Vlad was merely invisible, that there was some chance of rescuing her friend before he was taken. When her hands met nothing but air, she sank to the pavement, searching urgently for some kind of clue as to where the older half-ghost had taken her friend. But before she could disappear, a choked noise from behind her stole her attention.
Her disused heart sank as she realised exactly who was behind her, and she turned slowly, feeling oddly queasy.
"...Valerie."
The girl looked shaky, wobbling dangerously on her jet sled. Mimic winced at her shocked expression, and cautiously floated into the air once more, gliding slowly towards Valerie.
The red-suited huntress paid her no attention, simply staring in silence. "Danny?" she murmured hoarsely.
"D-Danny?" Mimic nodded mutely, watching the ghost hunter warily. Valerie did not acknowledge the nod, instead staring shocked, visibly shaking.
Mimic grimaced, and flew over to the other girl, gently but firmly taking hold of her shoulders to prevent her from toppling off the jet sled. "Careful, now. Fly down, Valerie." She said quietly, guiding the other girl towards the ground, where it wouldn't be quite so dangerous if she fell.
Valerie allowed herself to be lifted off the jet sled and onto the pavement, turning her questioning gaze to Mimic. The ghost gave her an encouraging smile, knowing that she needed the other girl's help if she were to rescue Danny.
"Okay, Val. That was a big shock for you, I know. But you need to pull yourself together now, okay? I want you to take a deep breath, and calm down." Mimic said as gently as possible, stamping down her own conflicted emotions and attempting to comfort the younger girl. "I know that you weren't expecting that, and that it's difficult to believe, but it's true. I know you're probably very shocked and maybe angry or distressed, but Danny is in a lot of danger right now Valerie, and he needs you. So I want you to try and calm down for me." she said soothingly, awkwardly putting her arm around the girl, hoping the friendly gesture wouldn't upset her.
Valerie said nothing for a few minutes, closing her eyes and breathing deeply as the ghost had instructed her.
"Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom?" she asked quietly, after a long silence. Mimic nodded, readying herself to fly away quickly if the girl decided to go on a murderous rampage for being lied to. But Valerie did nothing, and she relaxed.
"Val... I know it's hard to take in, but it's true. I'd explain it all to you, but we really don't have time... If Vlad has Danny, there's no telling what will happen to him." She said softly, resisting the urge to scream at the girl for not flying off after Danny immediately.
"Vlad is like that too, isn't he." she said, more a statement than a question. Mimic gave her a surprised look, before nodding.
"Vlad and Danny are half-ghosts, Valerie. Although I have no idea how you knew about Vlad..." Valerie gave a bitter laugh.
"Me and Danny had just rescued his... ghost cousin, I think, from being melted into green goop and I went back to see if Mr. Masters was alright. But he didn't see me coming, and transformed in front of me." Mimic looked surprised.
"Danny has a ghost cousin? Oh, never mind. Valerie even if you're furious, we have to go and save him..." she was cut off by Valerie, who raised a hand.
"Yeah, Okay. Sorry I freaked out... I was just a bit shaken. I mean, that's my ex-boyfriend, you know. More to the point, that's Danny Fenton. I dated him and hunted him at the same time. I broke up with him to make sure he wasn't in any danger from ghosts, and he's been fighting them. He's the son of two ghost hunters. I wouldn't have thought anyone like Danny could ever be anyone like Phantom. I mean, the guy's a klutz, he spends more time in his locker than his school books do..." she trailed off. "Man, he's been letting Dash beat him up all this time?"
Despite the situation, Mimic found herself laughing. Valerie was evidently still shocked, but was apparently coming around to the idea. "I know what you mean, I was surprised too. But right now, Val, we've got a rescue mission to get started." Valerie nodded grimly, and she climbed back onto her jet sled, kicking it into action, the engines grumbling at it flew a few feet into the air.
"Let's get moving."
I'm sorry it's a bit short. Also, Valerie is out of character. I know, and I'm sorry, but... well, put yourself in that situation, and I'm pretty sure you'd act out of character too. I tried to keep her as Valerie-like as I could, but it seemed to me that she'd probably freak out. I know she's seen half-ghosts before, with Vlad and Danielle, but that's not why she's acting so strange. It's because it's Danny Fenton, of all people. I mean, compare the meek, scared, wimpy Fenton to the tough, confident Phantom. This is just how I thought she'd react, and hopefully, you don't think it's too far-fetched. Anyway, as always, please leave a review!