Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: To "DarkAbyss53" thanks for letting me know about the typo in your review! Sometimes I forget this is a genderbent story and type Sam and Tucker on reflex instead of Sam and "Trish." It doesn't happen often but when it does I tend to kick myself lolz. Anyways, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter because most of it is brand new and I'm really starting to heavily imply the Gray-Ghost vibes coming into play. It'll be very important to the next major conflict of the story along with a few minor ones along the way.


Chapter 11: Overindulgence


Danielle's POV

The timing couldn't have been more perfect because a few minutes after I finished resting my eyes, Vlad finished his business call too. He caught me leaving the library but thankfully his fancy new super computers had left plenty of proof stored in their data-banks to show that I DID do what Vlad asked me to before slinking off to take a break. I even told him what I decided to call my new ghost power while Vlad was analyzing the energy readings that were recorded during all that target practice.

"Final Epitaph hmm? That's a rather melancholic name for an attack I must say." He mused, idly stroking his beard. "But regardless, I don't want you running around using that ability unless it's absolutely necessary. According to the simulations I've run this power costs a great deal of energy almost to the point where you'd automatically change back to your human form."

Rolling my eyes I folded my arms on top of his head and laughed. "Geez, you worry too much Vlad! I seriously doubt I'm going to have to use it again any time soon outside of more training to build my strength up. Don't forget, I only used that attack last time to save you from the Banshee's shriek as soon as I realized your Fenton Phones were busted. I'm not that reckless anymore."

"Perhaps not." Vlad smiled, glancing up at me with a fond expression. "You're growing up so fast, little badger and I couldn't be happier that I have the privilege of seeing it first-hand."

Feeling kinda embarrassed by the unexpected compliment I lifted my arms off of his head and coughed into my fist. "Anyways, it's getting pretty late now and I need to go out on patrol soon so what was it you wanted to talk about again?"

Turning his chair around to face me, Vlad folded his hands over his lap before calmly explaining. "It's nothing too serious my dear. I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be relatively preoccupied for the foreseeable future so if you're unable to get in touch with me that's why. I'm working on a project which if all goes well should greatly reduce the amount of collateral damage caused by your various battles with one ghost or another-"

Confused I raised my hand and interrupted. "Uh...sorry, but could you repeat that in English please? I didn't catch any of that."

"What I mean is-" Vlad continued without breaking eye-contact with me, his eyes glinting with excitement, "-that call earlier marked the end of my take over of Axion Labs, meaning that I own it along with all the assets created there. The newest of which will most likely be a more affordable and energy efficient ghost shield that will soon become available to the public."

"Wait what? No way. No WAY!" I blurted out, grinning from ear to ear. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

Nodding Vlad proudly declared. "Yes, it means that before long Fenton Works won't be the only place in Amity Park equipped with a ghost shield. Mind you this process will take time but I'm confident it will be well worth the wait to see you finally gain some peace of mind knowing your brother and your friends won't be attacked by ghosts nearly as often while wondering the halls of Casper High. Because I plan to make it much more difficult for them to gain access."

Without thinking I rushed over to Vlad and wrapped my arms around him, feeling happier than I have in a long time, and squealed. "Oh my god! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's so awesome! I can't believe you'd really do that for me!"

"Of course." Vlad replied, returning my hug with just as much enthusiasm as he cradled my head and whispered into my ear. "You know I would do anything for you."

And just like that, the moment was over as an involuntary shiver ran up my spine. Thankfully my ghost sense went off at the same time so I could use that as an excuse to leave right away before he noticed anything was off about me but...sometimes it's so easy for me to forget just how much Vlad's capable of doing with his money and power that's both good and bad. But I'll never let myself forget that again. Not after finding out in the worst way possible that Vlad killed Freakshow to save me from his Blood Magic...

No matter how much I want Vlad to change I know he doesn't care about other people as much as I do. He only cares about the people who matter to him or the ones that matter to them and if Vlad had the choice he wouldn't bother extending his help and influence to benefit anyone else. That's something I've learned to accept about Vlad, but, that doesn't mean I like it. I hate knowing that if Vlad ever had to choose between saving me or saving an innocent stranger, he'd always choose me regardless of who the other person is.

There is something seriously wrong about that level of obsession. I'd never ask anyone to sacrifice someone else to save me, not even my worst enemy, that's just not who I am. And something about the way Vlad told me he's willing to do anything for me wasn't very reassuring. I can't explain it but I couldn't shake the feeling his plans for the future of Axion Labs weren't as wholesome as Vlad made them out to be.

Still, Vlad hasn't given me any reason not to trust him so I chose to believe in him. I chose to trust in Vlad and wait things out before jumping to conclusions. We've been through so much together so I don't want to start doubting him again for no good reason apart from some random gut feeling which for all I know could be hunger pains.

I mean, to be fair all I've had since lunch is a milkshake. I tried to convince myself, focusing on that instead of whatever weird vibe Vlad had given me just before I left since I was probably overthinking everything as usual anyway.

At any rate, with whatever time I had left I spent the rest of the evening distracting myself by doing my job before officially calling it a night and face-planting directly onto my bed as soon as I finished releasing all the ghosts I fought back into the Ghost Zone. I definitely made the right call taking a short nap because it took me until 3am to catch them all, not including the trickier ones that Sam and Trish all worked together to corner earlier into our patrol. Trish was clearly feeling a lot better too so she brought some snacks along to help the rest of us keep our energy up. She was seriously my hero for going out of her way to do that when I know Trish usually only grabs enough munchies for herself and occasionally Sam since I'm usually too far ahead of them to hand one of them off to.

Deep down I knew that our lives were bound to change sooner or later. It couldn't stay like this forever whether I wanted them to or not. Vlad said it himself, we're growing up fast which means that very soon I'm going to have to put some serious thought into what I want MY future to look like. As in do I see myself ghost hunting under the guise of Dani Phantom until nobody needs me anymore, or do I let Vlad go ahead and do his thing so I can enjoy my last few years of High School in peace...?

The only thing I knew for sure is that I didn't want to think about anything beyond school the next morning so I didn't even bother changing out of my clothes and fell asleep right on the spot. And this time I didn't have any strange dreams which has honestly been happening a lot lately. Instead I was met with a blissful nothingness that was only broken by the sound of my alarm clock going off a few hours later, marking the beginning of a new day and a list of new things for me to worry about.


The next morning I met up with Sam and Trish for the first time in forever so we could walk to school together like the good old days before I literally gained the power to fly there instead. All three of us made an unspoken agreement not to talk about her ex-boyfriend, but I did mention Vlad offered to use some of his expertise to find his social media accounts online to make them easier to hack into if Trish felt so inclined which coming from him I thought was actually a good idea for once. She seemed to like the idea and a mischievous grin lit up her face as Trish whipped out her tablet and started tinkering with it while I kept talking to Sam.

We were about halfway to school when out of the blue, Vallen drove up next to us in his new car and honked, making us jump in surprise at the unexpected noise. Turning to face him, we watched as he parked on the side of the road then leaned out of the driver's seat window, waving. "Hey Dani, you guys need a ride?"

Smiling at him since I knew Vallen meant well, I waved back and replied politely. "Thanks for the offer but its really not too much further from here so-"

"Count me in!" Trish suddenly beamed, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the sleek red mustang convertible before us.

How could I forget that aside from being one hell of a hacker, Trish absolutely loves cars? Back when we were a lot younger she even tried to build one of her own entirely out of spare parts only to realize that making a real fully customized car is a lot more complicated than that, not to mention expensive. Still, she seemed ecstatic about riding in such a fancy automobile so I glanced over at Sam to see what he thought about Vallen's offer. But it looked like he was too busy having some kind of a alpha-male face-off or whatever with Vallen and you could practically see the angry sparks flying between them.

Vallen had this super coy smile on his face but Sam was straight up glaring at him so I decided to speak up again to defuse the situation before things got a little too heated.

"Come on Sam, lets just go before all four of us end up late for class." I laughed nervously, pushing him towards the car from behind since Trish was already way ahead of us and called shotgun.

Vallen looked a little disappointed when she sat down in the passenger's seat instead of me and glanced back at me once we were all inside, but I just shrugged and gave him a small apologetic smile. I also elbowed Sam sharply in the side to stop him from giving Vallen a death-glare the entire time since he was just trying to be nice. It wasn't like any of us had a car of our own because one, we couldn't afford one, or two, our parents said we'd have to get a job and 'earn' the privilege. At least Sam and Trish stand a better chance than I do finding and keeping a job since I have ghosts to worry about 24/7.

Seriously, if someone actually paid me to do that it'd make my life a lot easier. Well, scratch that because one advantage to being half-ghost is I can fly which means I don't have to worry about getting stuck in traffic. Having some extra spending money would be nice though since all I can afford right now is a few cheap meals at the Nasty Burger. But as much as I like their food there is NO way in hell I'd ever work there, not when most of their employees look like they've seen too much and have pretty much given up on life.

So yeah, thanks but no thanks. I'd rather keep fighting to stay alive in a figurative and literal sense. Only problem is that doesn't exactly put more cash in my wallet which means we're back to square one. Oh well. Maybe someday I can add ghost-hunting to my resume under charity work or something even if it's just as an inside joke. Until then though I'll have to keep training to gain more experience and hold onto the hope things won't stay like this forever because unlike Vlad I'm not interested in making an insane amount of money, I just want...to feel like I have a say in what the future holds.

Putting all that aside though, one thing I do have a say in is who my friends are. And it really does seem like Vallen has turned over a new leaf so would it be such a bad thing to give him a chance to become a part of the group? It might take some getting used to obviously, not to mention there's no way I can tell him my secret any time soon, but if he's willing to put in the effort to get to know us then what's the harm in trying and seeing where the road takes us...?


Despite things starting off a little awkward during the ride over, I was happy when I noticed Trish and Vallen were hitting it off and he actually didn't mind telling her what model car this was. He genuinely seemed to be taking her advice on keeping it in good shape to heart too. On the other hand though I couldn't really get Sam to talk to him much but I chimed in when I could to join in the conversation even though I don't know much about cars except for how to drive one since I had to learn on the fly, literally, when I first borrowed the Specter Speeder...

It's kinda crazy to think that the same guy smiling in the driver's seat used to be kind of a jerk to us, but to be fair at least Vallen never did anything beyond making a snide remark at our expense. One of the cheerleaders slapped me for spilling something on her uniform once and this other time someone tripped me on the way to my desk and I bruised my elbow on the way down. I never saw who did it, but let's just say that having ghost hunters for parents made it easier for the people that usually ended up being bullied to bully others who are seen as more of a loser than they are.

Sadly I'm pretty used to a nerd or two giving me the side-eye too, but I'm glad Vallen has changed his tune once the dust settled and Vlad stepped in before he could blame all of Cujo's antics on me. Vallen has even started defending me a little bit whenever his friends start picking on us in front of him. I mean all he really said was that we weren't worth their time but hey, that was definitely better than nothing. Besides, I've learned that Vallen is surprisingly easy to talk to and it feels so natural like he's always been there.

That's why in what seemed like no time at all we were already in front of Casper High thanking Vallen for giving us a lift. Sam gave his somewhat reluctantly so I apologized for his attitude -again- and practically had to drag Trish away from the car since she had already grown so emotionally attached to it. Vallen had a different class than us for 1st period but I knew I'd see him in 3rd which was Science. And as luck would have it the two of us ended up paired as lab partners. Vallen had to handle all the breakable stuff since I'm sorta banned from touching any of it, you know, just as yet another fun reminder of what it was like back when my powers would go off at random.

I've gotten a lot better at controlling my powers, but sadly there's nothing I can do at this point about the entire school branding me nothing but a big old accident-prone clutz. Weird things still happen with my ghost powers from time to time, but thankfully it's nothing as painfully obvious or troublesome as my elbow phasing through a desk or another random body part turning invisible anymore. And speaking of obvious, Vallen wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was enjoying our one on one time together during class. I caught him staring at me a few times while I was checking the textbook for the next step of our assignment and I realized I was probably going to have to set some boundaries before either of us get too carried away with...whatever it was were were doing.

I mean, does any of this count as flirting? Maybe. I honestly have no clue since I'm not used to getting this kind of attention from cute guys. A few ghosts have made passes at me but nothing serious and besides...I don't want to be reminded of how creepy Freakshow acted when I was under his control. Obviously I know Vallen's a good person though so that helped me keep an open mind about it.

Still, I don't mind being friends Vallen but deep down I knew I couldn't let him get too close to me too fast or let people get the wrong idea about us. I could always tell him I liked someone else, but I was afraid he would ask who it is which would make it harder to come up with a convincing lie. This time, using Sam as an excuse wasn't going to cut it. It's true that I used to have a crush on him before but now...I'm not sure anymore. What exactly is Sam to me...? And what am I to him...?

"Dani, you ok? You've been staring at the same page for like, five minutes." Vallen pointed out and I snapped it shut reflexively, wincing when I accidentally closed it hard on my thumb.

"Ouch, that smarts. Sorry, I got distracted." I replied nervously, blowing on my sore finger a couple of times before reopening the book and asking him innocently. "So uh, what page were we on again...?"

"Page 134, over in this section." Vallen answered, his shoulder brushing against mine while he patiently explained what I missed while my mind was wandering off to god knows where.

I smiled in response and thanked him for reminding me where we were so I wouldn't get stuck too far behind. Right on cue when I was about to reread what Vallen showed me I shivered and inhaled sharply to cover up my ghost sense going off, its something Vlad suggested I try out since his ghost sense isn't as clearly visible as mine.

Well shit. Looks like duty calls! Knowing exactly what to do next I raised my hand abruptly and suddenly asked to use the bathroom. I expected them to put up more of a fuss about it but the teacher just waved me off like he wasn't even surprised by it anymore. Or maybe Mr. Lancer told them to cut me some slack after the whole Banshee fiasco. Anyways, with that I did my usual thing of hiding, transforming, catching the ghost or ghosts who showed up, then put the Fenton thermos back in my locker. And after taking a quick minute or two to catch my breath I started heading back. Or, well, that was the original plan anyway until I suddenly realized I DID have to go to the bathroom ironically.

While I was washing my hands I thought about how sometimes I missed those good old days when school bullies were my only serious problem, not ghosts who usually want to take things a step further and literally destroy me. That's why I kept telling myself that whatever Vlad's up to is supposed to help make all our lives a little easier in that regard which means I had to stop acting so paranoid about it. One way or another I really hope everything works out how it's supposed to.

I want Sam and Trish to know that they can still depend on me as their best friend just as much as they can as a protector. And most importantly I want Vlad to finally see me as an equal, not just a half-pint version of what a half-ghost should be in his eyes because he's a lot more experienced than I am. However, if there's one thing I'm good at it's thinking outside of the box. Besides, I can't let him have all the fun uncovering everything there is to know about my ghost powers so I think I'll keep a few theories to myself. Especially things like how I get the feeling my dreams are starting to become more than just dreams...

I can feel it.