Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: To "Dp-Marvel94" sorry for the delayed response to your last review but yeah, Vlad's not fooling around which is eventually gonna bite him in the butt once Danielle catches wind of it. She can only stand so much borderline 'evil' stuff being done for her sake.


Chapter 10: Contemplative


Vlad's POV

"You're late." I began as soon as I closed the door behind her, giving Danielle an incredulous look that I'm sure she is sadly quite used to seeing on her parents faces.

Rubbing the back of her neck Danielle apologized with a weak smile and a nervous laugh. "I know, I'm sorry. I thought I had plenty of time but then somehow still totally spaced about our plans to start training with my powers today. I swear I meant to call you right away to explain what was going on. Basically, Trish just went through a really bad breakup so Sam and I invited her out for shakes over at the Nasty Burger after school to cheer her up. I was about to call you back once I realized how badly I screwed up but then to top it all off I accidentally ended up calling Vallen instead which only held me up even longer."

Before I could say anything in response Danielle added proudly. "Oh, and before you ask, yes I did fight a few ghosts earlier today too. Luckily they weren't too tough so you'll be happy to know I don't have a scratch on me! But trust me, I'm not even kidding when I tell you I really wanted to get here early for once so we could get started as soon as possible."

"I can see that." I chuckled, unable to stay upset with her for very long. Especially not after seeing Danielle make such an adorable declaration. "In the future though please keep me informed of where you are or plan to be if something unexpected happens so I don't have to find out through unconventional means. I know our plans often get delayed because of ghosts but..."

Trailing off, I sighed and explained. "At any rate, I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the rest of our training session since you were absent for the past two hours I had already set aside for that. Unfortunately, I am expecting a call soon from an important client and I can't postpone this meeting with them any longer. So if you wouldn't mind waiting for me to finish with that there's something else I would like to discuss with you while you're here."

"I totally understand." Danielle replied with a small nod, stretching her arms high above her head at the same time. "It's my own fault we have to cancel so the least I can do is stick around so we can talk. And I feel like absolute crap for bailing on you like that."

Stifling a yawn after lowing her arms again and covering her mouth with the back of one hand she added. "This is probably as good a time as any for me to catch a few z's while I've got the chance anyway..."

"Not so fast there, little badger." I smirked with a slightly wicked glint in my eyes, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If you think I'm going to be letting you off the hook so easily then you're sorely mistaken. We may not be training together today but that doesn't mean I want you getting complacent. That's why I'd like to register your ghost signature in the training room now that the upgrades are complete and once that's done I expect you to complete at least a few rounds of target practice before I return."

"Aaand there's the catch." Danielle groaned, her shoulders slumping a little. "But ok, that sounds fair enough and let's face it, I could definitely use the practice."

"That's my girl." I beamed, reaching up to ruffle her hair before casually strolling past and tilting my head back towards Danielle expectantly. "Shall we be on our way then?"


While not everything had gone according to plan there were still plenty of ways for me to turn them back in my favor, so for the time being I decided to focus on keeping Danielle distracted while I tied up a few loose ends. To be perfectly honest I would have been more than happy to let Danielle rest for a bit instead of immediately putting her to work, but again, I didn't want her catching wind of my plans at an inopportune time. Besides, as usual she has been putting far too much pressure on herself so hopefully letting her blow off some steam would help Danielle take her mind off of all that if only for a brief moment...

Most of the pieces had already fallen into place so all that was left for me to do was to make my purchase of Axion Labs final and then track down a few rather illusive but powerful relics in the Ghost Zone to ensure the rest will go smoothly. After months of searching I had finally discovered the whereabouts of the legendary Skeleton Key was now so it was only a matter of defeating its guardian and taking it for myself. At first I was tempted to invite Danielle to join me on this excursion but again, I rationalized that there was always the risk that she would realize I have ulterior motives for wanting to add this particular artifact to my collection.

This key had a multitude of uses such as the ability to open any lock, door, or seal, provide the user with access any realm in the Ghost Zone, and another hidden power I was very close to uncovering as well. According to my research it had something to do with the potential of 'unlocking' the secret of a ghost's true nature but sadly the exact translation of the remaining text was nearly impossible to decipher because of the extent of the damage someone had done to that page likely as an attempt to destroy all traces of the Skeleton Key's existence in the first place. I suppose that is understandable seeing as it played an important role in the imprisonment of the most evil ghost to have ever roamed the Ghost Zone-

Pariah Dark, the King of all Ghosts.

Danielle has absolutely no idea that the home of the Fright Knight whom she has visited once before actually belongs to the Ghost King himself who is currently sealed away deep within the main chamber of the castle. This was not always the case however because long ago the Fright Knight was once a force to be reckoned with in his own right as the Spirit of Halloween since he would regularly travel to the real world to absorb most of his strength from the fear of mortals whenever the mood struck him and no one could stop it either.

Very few people have escaped their encounters with him with their sanity intact after living out their worst nightmares in a pocket dimension personally crafted for them using the power of the Fright Knight's sword the Soul Shredder until one day a brave group of witches, warlocks, or something along those lines cast a powerful curse upon him that allows anyone to trap his soul as well as that of his steed Nightmare inside the confines of a pumpkin and banish them back to the Ghost Zone. Think of it as a primitive Fenton Thermos specific to the Fright Knight. Of course, there are many other similar objects and methods around that one can use to accomplish the same feat as long as you know what you're doing, but I digress.

The point is, not long after his original banishment which only allowed him to return when the barrier between worlds is at its thinnest, in other words All Hallows Eve which is how he became known as the Spirit of Halloween, the Fright Knight was forced into the servitude of Pariah Dark and that is why he has called Pariah's Keep his home ever since. Even so, there is no doubt in my mind that deep down the Fright Knight longs for his freedom. And if everything goes according to plan then he's not the only one who will soon have it...

The plan is simple.

First I am going to give Danielle one of the two artifacts that Pariah needs to become all-powerful again, the Ring of Rage, while claiming its merely a gift meant to help keep her safe. After that I will feign ignorance of the situation once Pariah wakes up and comes after it and depending on whether or not I have won over the Fright Knight before or after freeing him first I will either plant him as a spy or wait for my chance to catch him alone to make my offer to help him escape from his enslavement to the Ghost King once and for all. But once I have both the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire in my possession I will become the new Ghost King which by extension will also make Danielle untouchable.

Ever since Freakshow almost stole Danielle away from me and after personally witnessing the horrors she has suffered through despite the numerous threats I have made to prevent ghosts from targeting her nearly as often as they used to I've realized that I can no longer afford to remain impartial to her plight. I've been holding back because I do not want to lose her or destroy the foundation of trust we've built over the last several months, but I also cannot bear to watch this vicious cycle continue any longer. We may not have had to deal with all of the same hardships after becoming half-ghost, however, Danielle is too young to have to fight for her life almost every single day like a soldier in the army-

Because this is not her war to fight.

It never was.

This battle for supremacy against the hoards of ghosts plaguing this town is mine alone so that she will have a better future which is obviously the last thing on her parents minds. For ghost hunters, they barely lift a finger to do their supposed job and that is precisely why it has all fallen on Danielle's shoulders. So perhaps if I raise the stakes those two will finally start to take their part in all of this more seriously while at the same time it is MY responsibility to provide everything Danielle needs to succeed, including the power to overcome any challenge that comes her way whether its a ghost, human, or something else entirely.


Danielle's POV

After finishing a few rounds of target practice I started to get a little bored so I sat down and crossed my legs, trying to think of more creative ways to use my powers. Then I suddenly remembered my new power doesn't have a name yet! And from what Vlad explained its a rare ability so that got me excited because now I'll finally have some kind of trademark attack tucked under my belt.

I wanted to name it something unique too since most of my attacks already have names like Ecto-Energy Ray, Ghost Shield, and so on. A few different ones came to mind like calling it my Ghostly Wail, but after thinking about it for a minute or two that just sounded like every other ghost power I already have in my arsenal which kinda defeated the purpose. Still, it is a ghost power so I tried to think of other paranormal terms that could work...

Sam's taught me a lot of cool words thanks to his goth poetry readings and mythology books which gave me a good place to start. One thing I had to keep in mind is that this new power really packed a punch but at the same time is something I can only really use as a last resort since I just don't have the stamina to keep it up for very long. At least, not yet anyway.

I noticed the first time I used it that I also go nearly deaf when I unleash it so its almost like everything goes dead silent. But naming it Dead Silence sounded cheesy even to me. Moving onto the other options I settled on either calling it Final Requiem, Final Dirge, or Final Epitaph because that's like the last thing you hear or read before the end. I got the idea from part of a quote that sprang to mind '...never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.' which Mr. Lancer likes to quote too every so often when we're late for class.

In the end I decided to go with the last one since the word 'epitaph' describes a short phrase or inscription usually written on a tombstone to etch those words into the memory of everyone who reads it. And I definitely wanted to leave an impact on my enemies in more ways than one so they might start thinking twice about messing with me because I can't rely on Vlad to save me every time things go south if I want to finally reach a point where I feel more like his equal than just some wanna-be hero who couldn't even stop one psychopath in the circus who had been dabbling in blood magic for most of his life from nearly brainwashing her.

You'd think I'd be over it by now but sometimes I still have nightmares about what happened with Freakshow. I've never come that close to losing myself like that and hurting the people I care about. And something about meeting him as a human then seeing him become a ghost right in front of me somehow made ghost hunting a lot more real to me. It's one thing to say you know a lot of ghosts were people once, it's another to meet one you played a part in the death of...

I think that's what scares me the most honestly. Not Freakshow himself, but knowing just how far Vlad's willing to go to keep me safe. And I don't want that. I don't want to see Vlad go back to being the big bad and eventually be forced to fight against him to stop him from doing something just as horrible as killing Freakshow. Thankfully he didn't do anything like that to the Banshee as far as I know while I was unconscious but...my gut tells me Vlad didn't quite let her off the hook either.

I've learned to accept that Vlad has his own way of doing things that are pretty inexcusable, but at least he's trying. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't trust Vlad, its just that I know he has a tendency to try to go over my head to do a lot of underhanded stuff that's 'for my own good.' I feel bad for thinking about him this way but sometimes I can't help it when I haven't seen Vlad in a while because I seriously worry about him picking up some of his old habits while he thinks I'm not looking.

Then again, maybe I'm overthinking all this as usual. I thought to myself with a heavy sigh, gently landing back onto the ground. It's been a long day and I could seriously use a cat nap to help clear my head even if it's only for a few minutes. I'm sure Vlad won't mind if I take a short break, right? After all, I did do a bunch of target practice like he told me too and I'm sure he's got some sort of device installed in here that recorded everything.

Making up my mind, I poked my head out of the wall to check if the coast was clear then phased through it since there wasn't a door built in and made my way to the library to curl up on the lounge chairs. Vlad had this really nice one in there covered in a dark red velvet that looked like something out of a Victorian-era film or an antique, and knowing him, it probably was. The library was closer than my usual guest room so I figured he'd track me down once he was done with his business call relatively quickly.

Settling down in a comfortable position after I changed back, I closed my eyes while enjoying this rare moment of peace and quiet while it lasted. That's one thing I can't thank Vlad enough for despite worrying from time to time that I'm secretly a burden to him. He's the person I feel the safest around while my brother, Sam, and Trish come in as a close second. There's Vallen too of course but-

Blushing when I remembered our conversation from earlier I curled into a tighter ball and buried my face into the nook of the chair as if hiding my expression from the world. With everything else going on in my life the last thing on my mind should be dating boys. I mean...could I ever truly be myself around anyone else but Sam? Especially Vallen of all people who hates ghosts almost as much as my parents?

And the problem is...I can't even go to Vlad for advice about this either. It's way too embarrassing! Vlad might even get all huffy about it and grab the nearest weapon to play the part of dad-with-a-shotgun-scaring-off-potential-boyfriends. The sad thing is, my actual dad has gone beyond that and purposefully doused a few guys in ecto-goop 'accidentally' or leaned over and threatened to grab the Fenton Anti-Creep-Stick if they try anything funny. That's why I've never had anyone but Sam and Trish over at my place, not even for a class project.

But who knows, maybe someday that will all change and I'll get the chance to date someone normal for once. Well, I say normal in air-quotes when everyone I know is either secretly a ghost-hunter or half-ghost themselves. Still, it's a nice thought. So nice in fact that once I finally started to drift off to sleep I had a wonderful dream about what it might be like to date Vallen and to have him accept me for who I am too as both a person and a ghost...

A dream that would be great if it became a reality.