Chapter Sixty-Five: Prank
"Hn…" Danny groaned in pain as he slowly woke up. The first thing he noticed was a wall that wasn't his. Then he realized arms were around him. Big, light-blue arms. He shivered and looked over his shoulder, seeing Plasmius fast asleep next to him. And he was shirtless. Why was he shirtless? Danny groaned in pain again and slowly sat up, his shirt falling from above his chest to cover it. Wait…why was his shirt hiked up? He looked at himself and gasped sharply. Why were his pants down?! He looked towards Plasmius and realized his pants were undone. He covered his mouth in horror as his mind tried to piece together what had happened last. He'd gone to apologize…fed Plasmius wine…grapes…and then he was force-fed wine…and that was it. He didn't know what happened after.
"Did Plasmius…?" He breathed.
"Hm? Oh, good morning, Daniel." Plasmius smiled, opening his eyes. "Did you sleep well?"
Daniel looked at him and then got out of bed, pulling his boxers and jeans up and fastening them before darting to the door. 'Locked.' He thought, and then grabbed his stuff that was lying on the floor and went through the door in an intangible state.
He got to his room and poked his head in. Valerie was alone, brushing her hair, and he quickly left the room before she detected him. 'Phantom?' He thought. 'Phantom? Where are you?'
'In the den.' Dan replied. 'What is it? What's wrong?'
'P-Plasmius…I think he…' The rest of it faded off in a silhouetted image of what he feared had happened.
'Alright, come on up to the den and tell us what happened. That is really fuzzy, can't tell what's happening.' Dan replied.
'Okay.' He pulled on the cloak to regain his James appearance, put on the watch and bracelet, and headed up to the den.
He let out a yelp when he arrived. "P-Plasmius!" He cried out.
Plasmius was in the den with them, looking amused by something.
"Don't worry, Daniel." Vlad sighed. "Plasmius was just telling us about the prank he pulled on you. Nothing happened last night aside from your clothes being messed with."
"Creep." Dan tossed an eraser at Plasmius. "C'mere, Danny."
Danny walked over to Dan, sitting in the chair next to him. "So…nothing happened?"
"That's right. He was just doing that to freak you out." Vlad nodded.
"You gave some great reactions." Plasmius smirked.
"That was downright cruel." Danny said, curling up and pulling his hood on to cover his face. "I am never drinking again."
"Oh, what's the harm in a little prank?" Plasmius chuckled.
Danny shot him a look, then looked at Dan. "Phantom, do something." He murmured.
Dan was about to, but then seemed to hear something. "Valerie's coming up. Plasmius, hide."
Plasmius vanished, most likely moving to an area of the room he could sit and watch without being sat on by accident.
Valerie opened the den door. "Hey, good morning." She smiled, walking over to them. "What did I miss?"
"James had a nightmare, so we were discussing it." Vlad explained. "Did you sleep well, Miss Gray?"
She smiled. "Yeah, I slept okay." Her cheeks turned a bit pink, Dan's doing the same.
Danny glanced at them and then climbed out of his chair. "What's for breakfast, Vlad?"
"Shall we go find out?" Vlad smiled, then got up and walked over to him, offering a hand.
Danny nodded, taking his hand and following him out.
"You don't have to give us privacy, you know." Dan said, laughing a bit.
Danny shrugged and closed the door behind them.
"Sorry about them." Dan smiled at her.
"It's fine." Valerie walked over and climbed into his lap, kissing him. "I like having time alone with you."
He grinned up at her, stroking her side affectionately. "Yeah, it is pretty rare. And when we do get it, we make the most of it, don't we?"
"We do." Valerie smiled. "And I hardly ever take off your present." She touched the rose necklace he'd bought her.
"I'm glad." Dan smiled. "I love you, Valerie."
"I love you too, Dan." She kissed him.
'Yugh. If I have to see much more of this…' Plasmius thought, going through the wall to escape the romantic scene. 'When will she find out already? This is getting irritating! Break it off!' He passed through the walls until he found Danny and Vlad messing about in the kitchen. "That is just disturbing to watch." He commented.
"Almost as disturbing as seeing you screw Phantom on the bed intended for me." Danny said, not looking up from what he was mixing.
"Touché." Plasmius smirked.
"You're just being annoying and possessive." Danny looked over at Vlad. "Can you pass the salt?"
"What are you making?" Plasmius leaned over Danny's shoulder.
"A snack for later. Don't do that." He swatted at him over his shoulder.
"Plasmius, please leave Daniel alone." Vlad walked over with the salt. "I know you're bored, but if you really want something to do then I do have a list of people that I want you to talk to in my study."
Danny looked up at him. "Just talk, right?"
"Of course. Unless they start firing on me." Plasmius smirked.
"Plasmius." Danny frowned.
"I have to right to defend myself from threats, Daniel." Plasmius kissed his head and then went invisible, leaving the room.
Danny looked at Vlad. "You're not gonna give up on your world-takeover, are you?"
Vlad smiled and rubbed Danny's hair. "Can you blame me for being greedy? I want it all, Daniel. Though, I will give up on your mother, as I already have you two." He kissed his cheek.
"Still don't have the Packers, though." Danny smirked a bit.
"Yes, well, with my world-takeover they will be mine." Vlad huffed. Danny chuckled a bit at his mood and decided to stop teasing him. "What happened yesterday, anyway? You went to see Plasmius and found him in the Ghost Zone?"
"Oh…yeah. Desiree's got a place…" Danny glanced to the side. "A club…and Plasmius got me drunk while there. So, I honestly didn't remember anything after he forced me to drink from his cup."
"No wonder you were panicking so much this morning." Vlad frowned.
Danny nodded. "I met Ember and Desiree…told them about who I am. Who I was."
"Why did you do that?" Vlad frowned. "You know that they don't care for who you were."
"I had to be honest sometime…" Danny said softly. "And they would find out as soon as I regained my form. But, they were nice to me, even encouraged my efforts to regain it. I guess I did say to Ember that Danny Phantom isn't protecting Amity Park anymore…"
"Hm. That could be why." Vlad remarked. "If Danny Phantom is no longer in the way, then they don't have to worry about him being loose. And I'm sure your running around loose intrigued them as well."
"Even if not Amity Park…I can still protect other places." Danny set down the bowl he was mixing in and looked at hands. "With my powers…"
"Daniel, you can only do blasts and the healing ability right now. Don't be over-ambitious." Vlad shook his head.
'As far as you know.' Danny thought.
Valerie left the following Sunday and Danny and Dan headed for Clockwork's on Monday. Plasmius waited outside, as usual, but halted Danny before he followed Dan in. "Little badger, remember what I suggested before." He said calmly. "Show him what you can do."
Danny smiled and followed Dan into Dark's room. Dark was hovering in the air high above, his arms crossed behind his head and one leg crossed over the other. "Ah, you're here." He nodded and flew down to meet them. "Good. Danny, pick up where you left off. Phantom, let's see your shield."
Danny obediently started to form ecto-blasts, forming them into a ball to absorb energy. Dan huffed and formed the shield, wrapping it around him quickly as the clones appeared and he was fired on from all sides.
"C'mon, don't lose focus now!" Dark laughed, firing on the shield repeatedly. "I can already see cracks, don't let it drop!"
"You're being relentless!" Dan yelled. "Give me a chance to—"
"To what? Be snagged by the Wraith Wrangler?" Dark sneered. "Oh, that's a nice expression. That's it, give me more rage! Tell me, Phantom, are you awake yet?!"
"ENOUGH!" Danny cried, firing his ecto-ball at Dark. Caught off-guard, Dark was slammed into and hit one of the gears with a sharp hiss of pain. "Stop picking on Phantom, Dark!"
"What was THAT?" Dark flew over to Danny. "Did you just turn the healing ability into an attack?!"
"Don't hurt him!" Dan flew down to them.
Dark held out a hand, clones blocking Dan's way. "Well, Danny? Did you just turn your healing ability into an attack?"
Danny nodded. "Yes. I wondered if, with all the absorbed ecto-energy, it would be an effective attack. It turned out to be a lot stronger than a regular ecto-blast, and Plasmius suggested I show it to you during class today after I used it on him during a sparring match.
Dark stared at him quietly, then grinned. "Good work! You're using your head, boy! What other tricks do you have?"
"I can't show you unless I'm actively in a battle." Danny said, flying back to move further away from him.
"Oh, we can fix that." Dark smirked, calling up more clones. "They'll play with you while I tear down your brother's shield!"
"What?!" Danny looked at the clones and then darted away, weaving through the air to avoid their blasts as the new clones gave pursuit.
"Dark! You're not being fair!" Dan cried, repairing his shield just before it started to be attacked again.
"Who ever said I would be?" Dark laughed, flying up to watch both battles from a better view, leaving his students to fight his clones.
"Let me go!" He heard Danny cry. Apparently he hadn't been able to outrun the clones and was now being held by two while a third stroked his body suggestively. Then a bright green flash came from Danny's body as his eyes flashed green and the clones were blown back. "I said to get off!" He snapped, looking a little woozy as he flew off, trying to conjure up a healing ball.
"And what was that move?" Dark asked, lowering himself to Danny. "Seems to have taken a lot out of you."
"I expelled the remaining power energy in my body to blast them away." Danny explained, and then slumped into Dark's arms. "It takes…a lot out of me, though. Like the Ghostly Wail…"
"Well, you'll get better with practice." Dark assured him.
"Dark!" Dan called, flying over in his shield. Dark glanced up to see his other clones had been defeated, the shield still intact. "What did you do to Danny?!"
"He did it to himself." Dark said, cradling the unconscious Danny in his arms. "I just caught him so he wouldn't hit the ground."
Dan moved closer, then formed an ecto-bubble, letting it grow as he dropped the shield. "I think I can move past the shield now. I got to where none of their attacks even dented it."
"Good work." Dark nodded, looking at the shadowy outline of Danny in his arms. He noticed the outline of bandages on his arms and touched them. "Why did he have these bandages?"
"The arena." Dan explained, putting the grown ecto-bubble against Danny's chest and letting it sink in, his body glowing as he absorbed it. "Seven months until the estimated time for him to have a proper form." He sighed. "Feels so long."
"Phantom." Dark said, and Dan looked up at him. "How will you manage to take your revenge when he's by your side? He'd never let you do it, but you and I both know that Jack Fenton needs to pay."
"I'll think of something." Dan pursed his lips. "I still have years before I'm at that point. Physically, he can still grab me and throw me around. I need to be strong like you."
Dark stared at him silently and then grinned. "Then I'll be happy to help you with that. You came to the right place, kid." He looked at Danny asleep in his arms. "I think we can call this lesson concluded. You both made great progress." He flew out with Danny in his arms, Dan right behind.
Plasmius started when Dark flew out carrying Danny. "Daniel?!"
"He's just exhausted." Dark handed him over to the older ghost. "That ecto-burst attack of his tired him out."
"Ah, he's shown you his new moves, then." Plasmius nodded. "Well then, we'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait—homework?" Dan looked at Dark.
"Eh, no homework today. If you really want some, absorb ecto-energy every six hours and Danny absorbs it every four hours." Dark flew off inside again, Daniel going in shortly after him and shutting the door.
"Alright, let's head to the library." Plasmius picked up Danny's books and gave Clockwork a nod of farewell before he flew off with Dan, Danny resting in his arms.