Chapter Sixty-One: New Year
A new year was announced by the TV-recording ball dropping and the maids changing the calendars around the house. And with it came the end of Winter Break. Dan and Danny packed up their books and finished homework and gave Vlad hugs good-bye before Plasmius escorted them through the portal, the cloak and bracelet left behind with Vlad.
Taking with Johnny would have to wait, unfortunately, as they had classes to attend to. Still, Dan and Danny both felt a rush of joy as they entered the Ghost Zone and flew to Clockwork's tower.
"Did you enjoy your vacation?" Dark asked as they entered the tower. He hopped down from a higher area and grinned, leaning against the wall. "I hope you've been practicing."
"Uhm…" Danny glanced to the side. They'd practiced before they went and after they got back, but otherwise…
"Oh, this will be fun." Dark grinned, opening the door to his room. "Let's start class."
"Guaaaaahhhh!" Dan cried out as he was hit with the eight ecto-blasts, starting to fall to the ground.
"Phantom!" Danny cried out, flying up with the ecto-ball he had been making and giving it to him instead of himself. "Here, quickly heal!"
"T-Than—get out of the way!" Dan cried out, quickly pulling up a shield to protect both him and Danny from more attacks.
"Good, good!" Dark and his clones said, laughing as they continued to fire. "Nice teamwork!"
"Danny, how could you do something so risky?" Dan asked.
"You needed to be healed." Danny explained. "I'm your partner, remember?" He smiled.
"But you were supposed to use that for yourself! If you keep using your ecto-balls on me, it'll take even longer for you to get your own form!" He cringed as the shield started to crack.
"I don't care; he's hardly giving you a chance to breathe!" Danny said, starting to form another ball of energy.
"You might want to start spreading out the shield now!" Dark said, as the two found themselves surrounded on all sides.
"Danny…you have to move." Dan cringed. "He's not below. Just duck."
"Why are you being static?" Danny asked. As the blasts fired, he absorbed the ball, grabbed Dan's wrist and pulled him down and out of the way.
The blasts continued to fire at them as they flew around the room and Dan abandoned the shield and fired back. "You're right; that WAS pretty dumb!"
"This is a shield lesson, put your shield up!" Dark called.
"Danny, fire at him while I make a shield!" Dan said, forming a shield in front of him while Danny fired. Danny's shots were weaker, but they were enough to make the Darks move out of the way. 'I have to put the shield around us...Danny, move closer to me!' He thought.
Danny pressed up against him, his arms around his shoulders as he continued to fire at Dark.
'C'mon…cmon…' Dan thought, pulling at the shield. With Danny keeping him busy, he could focus entirely on the shield. "Yes!" He smiled as it spread without flickering; gripping it as he turned to Danny and attached the two stretched ends together. Then he went vertical and covered the top and bottom, the two now in a shield bubble. "Alright!" He grinned and fired at Dark.
"Finally." Dark rolled his eyes, shooting at the shield as he dodged their attacks. "You know, we really should have brought him up here sooner. You get so much of your WORK done when he's in danger!"
The shield lasted about thirty shots before it went down and then Danny pulled Dan out of the way to avoid the next shots.
The door opened and Dark looked over. "I guess that means the lesson is over. Alright, I want you practicing your shields, Dan. Make them much stronger than that; you did great today, by the way."
"Is he actually complimenting me?" Dan asked Danny quietly.
"Danny, I want you to visit the Ghost Portal and absorb ecto-energy every four hours. That would be six times in a day, in case you still suck at math." Dark gestured to the door. "You're dismissed. Get out. Shoo. I'm tired of your whiny voices."
The two flew out, landing before they said good-bye to Clockwork and Daniel and went out to Plasmius. "Well, that was fun." Danny remarked.
"How did class go?" Plasmius asked as they picked up their book-bags and flew off to the library.
"Well, I completely a bubble-shield. It was weak, but I completed one." Dan reported. "Danny kept using his ecto-balls on me when I was hurt, and one time he couldn't just fly back down so we ended up flying around the room and he fired on Dark while I made the shield. He said I did great, but that I had to practice making it stronger."
"I got told to absorb ecto-energy every four hours." Danny said.
They landed at the library and Plasmius ushered them in. Being sixteen, they technically didn't NEED an escort, but he didn't trust the other ghosts to leave his charges alone if he didn't escort them. They went to the classroom and he waited outside, picking a random book to read while they studied.
Four hours later, they came out with their bags stuffed with more homework. Dan looked annoyed and Danny had a mark on his hand – no doubt from Ghostwriter's ruler. "How did class go?" He asked, leading them out.
"It went okay." Dan stopped at just outside the door and looked thoughtful. "We gotta talk to Johnny. That alright?"
Plasmius didn't LIKE them talking to Danny 13, but he knew why they needed to. "Alright…but I'm going with you."
They flew off to where Johnny 13 made his home, finding him with Kitty. "Johnny!" Dan called, the three landing near them.
"Hey, kid!" Dan grinned, waving with the arm that wasn't around his girlfriend. "What's up?"
"We need a bit of advice." Danny said softly.
"Alright, you got a voice now!" Johnny cheered.
"Yeah, and we need some more information on what…I am." He gestured to himself.
"Alright." Johnny nodded, looking at Kitty. "You mind if I spend a bit of time with the kids, babe?"
She pursed her lips and tossed her hair. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt for a little while. They're not girls, after all. Are they?" She eyed the shadow ghost warily.
"I'm Danny. You know, Danny Phantom? We were split, I died, and now I'm a shadow ghost." Danny said, annoyed. "Definitely not a girl. And DEFINITELY not interested in your boyfriend."
She laughed a bit. "Well, alright. I'll be over there, then." She pointed to a pillar in a circle of rocks. "Come to me when you're done, Johnny." She kissed his cheek and walked off.
"Am I THAT shapeless?" Danny grumbled.
"Well…" Johnny started.
"Don't answer that." Danny said, shaking his head. Plasmius and Dan laughed.
"So, you had some questions?" Johnny asked, leaning against his bike.
"Yeah, have you ever been apart from your shadow ghost?" Dan asked.
"Once or twice." Johnny nodded.
"And did it…y'know, attack other ghosts?" Dan asked.
Johnny's face got a look of understanding. "Ohhh, you had that happen? Man, who did you piss off by his going rampant?"
"No one, Plasmius helped us." Dan said. "We got lucky; since it was on Christmas, his going berserk on a ghost would've ruined the Truce."
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, you got lucky for sure, kid. Alright, so you obviously don't want any more surprises." He licked his lips thoughtfully. "Well, I hardly ever leave his side, so I don't really know many of the effects of leaving him alone. Especially after I pissed off, er, Walker."
Danny and Dan both cringed and Plasmius let out a sigh as Johnny continued. "Well, what do you know so far? You know about the teamwork thing, the vampire thing…what else?"
"I think that's it. Oh, but Danny was doing things that were weird for a shadow ghost before I picked him up." Dan said, nodding.
"That's because he had a connection to your world. I went back to the warehouse after you guys left and went in; there was a mirror. You've seen how mirrors can lead to the Ghost Zone sometimes, right?" Johnny explained.
"Yeah, like Poindexter had." Danny said, remembering one of their earliest fights.
"Well, then you know what I mean. He most likely knew the room you would be staying in, created a mirror to match it, and that's how he was able to reach the real world." Johnny nodded. "Any ghost can use a matching mirror to get through, but a shadow ghost can only use mirrors or reflective surfaces connected with their partner in the Real World. Usually it's just to communicate, though…"
"But, he left the mirror. He went to another room." Dan frowned. "How do you explain that?"
"Y'know…you're an anomaly as it is, being a halfa, so it could be related to that." Johnny said, shrugging. "Shadow ghosts aren't supposed to enter the Real World unless they're connected to someone at the time – and by connected, I mean you have to bring him out like you did when I brought you to him. Seriously, you're an anomaly. Weird things can and will happen."
"So, we should document this stuff for any future half-ghosts?" Dan asked, frowning a bit at the use of the slur.
"Might be a good idea; for your own use, as well. Luckily, since he's already got a voice, you might not have to worry about him being a shadow ghost much longer. Maybe a year at most." Johnny encouraged.
"Why is yours still a shadow?" Dan asked. "You've had him for years!"
Johnny looked at his shadow. "He prefers it this way. Only I can understand him and only I can see him properly. Everyone else is cut off from that." He looked at them and smiled. "Good luck, kids. Keep it up." He gave a thumbs-up. "And you may as well keep up the teamwork once he's no longer a shadow, since you WERE the same guy for a while."
"Er…same body. We're actually twin brothers." Dan said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Heh, you halfas are so weird!" Johnny laughed, driving over to rejoin Kitty.
"A year, huh." Danny sighed. "That'd be nice."
"We didn't learn much more than we already knew." Plasmius commented as they took off for home. "But it was good to get an estimate on how much longer you'll be a shadow."
"Maybe Danny will be able to revert back to a shadow form later or something." Dan suggested. They ducked behind Plasmius when Skulker flew by – even though most ghosts avoided pissing off Plasmius, Skulker still wanted Dan's pelt.
"Perhaps. It would be efficient for hiding his identity." Plasmius said, giving Skulker a warning glare as they passed by him.
"Do you think my hair is going to be white in the end?" Dan asked worriedly.
"It should be black, like it is to me." Dan smiled. "It's just the cloak that makes it white."
They arrived at home and the boys went to their room, grabbing their bracelet and cloak as they left the lab. Plasmius hung back to talk to Vlad, speaking in a lower tone.
"Hey, do you think those two ever do it?" Dan asked, looking over his shoulder as they walked.
"Do what?" Danny blinked, fastening his cloak on.
"You know. It." Dan winked, putting on his bracelet.
Danny stared blankly, and then his pale face went a mixture of green and red. "You…what…gross!" He ran off ahead of him, Dan laughing as he followed.