Hey! Sorry for the longer wait for this chapter. I hope you enjoy!
Friday came sooner than Danny had expected. Between school and homework and dealing with ghosts, his life was as hectic as ever.
After school ended, he and his friends went to hang out at one of their common hangout spots, the Nasty Burger. Contrary to its name, the food was surprisingly good for being fast food. It was a short walk from the high school, which made it a popular place for teenagers to go after school or during lunch.
The trio sat at a booth together with an arrangement of food on the table. They casually talked as they ate. Eventually the conversation went to the plans for that night, specifically whose house they would hang out at.
Danny suddenly remembered his preexisting plans and the fact that his friends had no idea about them yet. He was surprised that he was able to keep it a secret for this long. There was little about him that his friends didn't know, with how much time they spent together and how close they had all become.
He interrupted the conversation between Sam and Tucker about their plans for later. "Actually, I have somewhere to go tonight, but if anyone asks, I'm with you two."
"You're going somewhere?" Tucker asked curiously.
"Yeah."
"Somewhere?" asked Sam as she halted in raising a french fry to her mouth.
"Yeah, somewhere."
"Is there any other information about this 'somewhere' that you can tell us?"
"… No…"
Sam and Tucker looked at each other, and the latter shrugged before continuing to eat.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck and cringed at the twinge of guilt he felt. "It's a long story. But don't worry, I'll be safe… I think… And the ghost situation should be okay until late tonight, and I'll try to be back by then."
"What do you mean you think?"
"He'll be fine, Sam. Are you forgetting that he can fly and shoot lasers from his hands?" Tucker said amusedly and clapped Danny on the shoulder. "Just text us at some point so we know you're okay, man."
"I will," he responded amusedly. Sam didn't look entirely convinced, but she seemed to let it go for the moment.
"It's your loss. We'll be playing Doomed without you," Sam said in her serious yet joking manner.
"Maybe I'll finally surpass her in levels!" Tucker responded optimistically.
"Don't hold your breath."
The three laughed. The topic was quickly dropped as they finished their food. After throwing out their trash, they began pulling out school books and writing utensils. They typically didn't have a lot of time for homework anymore, so they had to make use of what time they had. While they worked, they chatted about various assignments they had in common. Halfway through, they got smoothies to give them a boost in motivation.
Even though the homework itself was a drag, Danny enjoyed spending time with Sam and Tucker like this. It almost felt like everything was okay again, and the biggest things they had to worry about were acne and the big test coming up. Sometimes he pretended in his mind that that was still true.
Later that afternoon, Danny arrived home. The house was uncharacteristically quiet, as his parents were probably out in their RV ghost hunting as they often did in the afternoons. Jazz was also gone; she was staying after school for a National Honor Society meeting.
He sighed as he closed the front door and closed himself within the silence. Finally alone with his thoughts, one thing mainly plagued his mind. It was hard to believe that he was about to see the only other person like him again.
He honestly didn't know what to expect. According to the plan, they were going to go into the Ghost Zone, which was something even his parents had never done. Yet he had agreed, maybe stupidly. The thought of going anywhere close to the portal again after his accident honestly scared him. He had stayed far away from it since, purposefully avoiding any chores that involved being in close proximity to it.
But Vlad's confidence and experience reassured him a little. He had supposedly gone in tons of times and he was fine with it. Why couldn't Danny do the same? Something in his mind dissuaded him from appearing weak or scared, especially in front of other ghosts, even if that meant doing something that terrified him.
While he anxiously waited, he made sure the house looked presentable enough before retreating into his room. He tried to distract himself from his worries about a ghost attack while he was gone or his cover story falling through somehow.
Finally his phone buzzed, and his excitement grew when he read the new message. He bounded up from his bed and to the front door. He opened it to see a familiar figure standing there, looking at the neon sign above the house with disdain. He looked as put together as when they had first met, his suit and tie spotless and well-fitting. His blue eyes moved to Danny as soon as the door opened.
"Have any trouble finding it?"
"Yes, it was extremely difficult," Vlad said sarcastically, causing Danny to hold back a laugh. He backed up from the door to let the man in.
"We get that a lot. Come on in! No one else is here."
Vlad appeared to inspect the inside of the house before cautiously entering. He looked around at the walls as if he expected them to fall down on top of him, or more likely, some ghost-related security measures to target him.
"Don't worry too much about being attacked by the security system. Most things seem to ignore me when I'm not in ghost mode."
"That's… good?"
"It's something."
Danny led the way through the family room and kitchen to the ajar door to the basement lab. They descended the dark stairs, the dim overhead lights flickering as they passed. Once they emerged into the lab space, he immediately went over to the main security control panel. Even though he had turned it off earlier, he wanted to make sure it was still in that state so they wouldn't encounter any nasty surprises.
"It's very… small."
"Yeah, honestly, it's nothing compared to yours," Danny joked as he looked up from the controls. "All right, we should be safe from being shot at."
"Wonderful."
Their gazes went to the closed ghost portal on the wall. The hum of energy coming from it was obvious to Danny. It always seemed to be stronger when he was in the lab.
"Are you sure it's safe?" The teenager asked nervously.
"No, it's most definitely not 'safe' by any means, but with me around we're unlikely to run into trouble."
Danny stared at him. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?!"
Vlad shrugged silently and offered no alternate option.
"Ugh, fine." Danny hastily flipped some levers to open the portal. He tried not to show the true extent of his nervousness. He was about to go inside the Ghost Zone, er, Infinite Realms… where all ghosts came from…
Ghosts hadn't been especially kind to him in the past few months, in fact the opposite. Poindexter was okay, sort of, but the others were mean. In fact, he still wasn't convinced that the majority of ghosts weren't monsters. Yeah, he and Vlad didn't seem to be, but they were still part human.
He approached the portal, swallowing nervously. The last time he had stood there, shortly afterwards he had been fried within an inch of death. Fried beyond death, even. Great, Danny, that's a lovely image to think of right now.
He saw black smoke surround Vlad out of the corner of his eye, and he started up his own transformation. Unfortunately, watching the stars didn't help to calm his nerves.
He mustered up all of the courage he had and followed Plaz through the green swirling portal.
Danny slowly opened his eyes once he felt the weird tingling sensation go away. He was surrounded by green and occasional swirls of purple and black. He stared wide-eyed at what looked like an alien world right in front of him. Off in the distance were a group of floating islands. Scattered throughout the atmosphere were floating doors, ranging in colors and styles. He felt an underlying energizing buzz, almost like he had just downed several energy drinks.
"Cool, right?"
"That's… one word for it?"
"I think I know where we are. Come along," Plaz stated before floating off, his cape billowing out behind him.
"What do you mean, you think?" Phantom muttered before realizing he was about to be left behind. "Wait for me!" he squeaked and flew after the other ghost. He felt his legs merge into a single tail, which flicked around nervously in his wake.
As they floated further into the green dimension, Danny spotted different landscapes in the distance. He also realized that the atmosphere below and above him expanded as far as his eye could see. He wondered if it was similar to outer space, infinitely expanding. Or if it was like a big cave with a roof and a floor somewhere. Or something else entirely.
Despite feeling some awe at the spooky yet oddly beautiful things he was seeing, he felt his panic rising the longer he was there. He couldn't help but look over his shoulder every few seconds, fearing the worst about what could be there.
They eventually slowed down after what felt like forever. Danny almost bumped into Vlad when he abruptly stopped in midair.
"We're here."
"Already? How?"
"Space and time work differently in the Infinite Realms," was the only answer he got. "Before we go in, I need to tell you something."
"You want to talk while… here?" Danny looked around nervously. He hadn't seen another soul that whole time, but he was still on edge.
"I just want to tell you that there are a few ghosts in my house right now. I invited you so you could meet them."
"What? Why?" Danny felt a flutter of fear at the idea of facing multiple ghosts at a time. What if they were hostile like all of the others?
"They're my friends. Well, they're technically my staff, too, but 'friends' sounds nicer."
"Staff?"
"Yeah, they stay in my mansion and keep things running in exchange for protection."
"Huh…" Danny was dumbfounded. "So… they won't attack me on sight?"
"No."
"…Are you sure? What if they see me as an intruder in their home or something?"
"Kid, honestly even if they wanted to hurt you, they wouldn't be able to. Don't tell them I said this, but they wouldn't stand a chance against you in a fight."
Danny blinked. "You haven't even seen me fight. And even worse, you saw me get slapped into the forest."
"Even if you're terrible at it, they'd still get creamed."
The boy snorted in laughter. "I mean, thanks, I guess?"
"Just don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll get along fine." Plaz said as he pulled a metal device out of his pocket and then pressed a button. Suddenly, a portal opened up directly in front of them, making Danny float back in surprise.
When they went through, he recognized the room as Vlad's lab. He breathed a sigh of relief now that he was out of the ghost dimension.
Immediately afterwards he felt a chill and realized that there were indeed several ghosts in the near vicinity. He tried not to think about the fact that he was badly outnumbered if Vlad turned on him. Or the fact that he wouldn't have a way home if that happened. Or the fact that his friends were still in Amity practically defenseless against the ghosts and…
He had to stop that train of thought. Logically, Sam and Tuck would be fine for a few hours. And the other things would also be fine. He hoped.
Moving past that train of thought, he realized that it felt weird to be there once again. It hadn't been that long in the grand scheme of things, but it felt like forever.
"How much did you look around before now?" The question made Danny jump in midair before he comprehended what was said.
"Not very much."
"Want a tour then? At least I need to show you where not to go."
"What do you mean?" Vlad was already floating away, so Danny followed curiously.
They flew up through the ceiling of the lab and then on a winding path through walls to explore the most notable parts of the mansion. First was the proclaimed ghost wing, which had rooms and living space for the ghosts that lived there. Luckily for Danny, they didn't run into another soul there, though he knew he would see them eventually. In another area there was a wide open room with lots of windows and a black grand piano, and another room bright with sunlight with dozens of different thriving plants along with several comfortable chairs and hammocks. Dozens of other rooms followed. Danny had known the place was big, but it was truly a maze.
Eventually they made it to another wing of the mansion with vacant guest rooms and offices. Danny recognized it as the area where he and his family had stayed a few weekends ago. Suddenly, he glimpsed a floating form across the hall from them. A ghost immediately looked over at them and smiled at the sight. She put down the basket of folded towels that she had been holding and floated closer. She had long navy hair and light blue skin with a scattering of white freckles across her face. She looked to be only a few years older than Danny.
"Lovely to see you, Plaz." The ghost said with a small curtsy in midair. Her long skirt billowed out around them as they did so. Then her eyes curiously moved to Danny. "And it's lovely to meet you! You can call me Moira."
Danny had never seen a ghost act so… normal before, as if she was a regular human. He hesitantly held out a hand, which Moira shook lightheartedly. "I'm… Phantom?"
"You don't sound too sure about that." She teased. He realized that she had a heavy Irish accent to her lyrical voice.
"No, no, I am sure!" He said awkwardly, glaring at Vlad as he clearly held back a laugh. "Very sure."
"Right…" Moira said with a giggle.
"Sorry, I just… haven't met many nice ghosts before."
"Ah, that's unfortunate. Luckily everyone here is pretty nice as far as I can tell. Though I'd be cautious getting on Henrietta's nerve," she said in a half-joking tone.
"I'll keep that in mind…"
"I must finish putting these away, but I shall see you both later!" Moira curtsied one more time before heading back to the basket she had left behind.
"Well?" Vlad said once she was gone.
"Well, what?"
"Was that so bad?"
"No, she seems nice… But that was so unlike every other interaction I've had with ghosts." Danny kept his eyes on the wall where Moira had disappeared through, almost expecting her to come back with a more hostile demeanor.
"I experienced the same thing. Most of the more powerful ghosts who come to the world of the living are aggressive and ambitious and constantly looking to fight. But the ghosts of the living who have always lived here are often kinder, as long as you show them respect."
"Huh…" Danny was dumbfounded. Vlad had told him something similar before, but to see it with his own eyes was still shocking.
The tour continued to the lower levels of the mansion, through a few different lab spaces with different uses. It reminded Danny of his parents' lab, though it was a lot more spacious and elaborate. It was also much neater than his parents' organized chaos.
"By the way, why do you have so many labs?"
"Because it's fun?"
Danny shrugged. "Fair enough."
"I don't want you to snoop around here alone, at least not without telling me first. Safety reasons and all that jazz."
"Got it."
"There are also some locked up areas over here. You shouldn't be able to get in even if you tried, but do yourself a favor and refrain from trying."
Danny peered curiously at the wall panel in front of them, presumably used to open up the locked places. "Fine by me. But are you not going to say what's in there?"
"Mostly stuff that's especially dangerous in the wrong hands or if it's handled recklessly. It's for the safety of the ghosts that live here, really. And you as well, Mr. Lab Safety Expert."
"Wow, calling me by my legal name, are we?" Danny snorted. "Don't worry, I won't try to get into your top secret rooms. Yet."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Danny giggled at Vlad's narrowed eyes.
Unfortunately I'm not sure how long future updates will take, as I don't have much written out for them yet. I have some planning done for them though, so hopefully I can continue this soon!
By the way, I made a Spotify playlist for this story! You can go to the AO3 crosspost of this story for the link, or it's on my Spotify page, called Specter14. I have a bunch of other DP related playlists too if you're interested.
Anyway I want to thank you all again for the continued support! I get so happy whenever I see a new comment, favorite, kudo, and everything else! Much appreciation to you all! I'll see you in the next update :)