Chapter Text
Amity Park - Wednesday
Danny Fenton had had better days. He had had better months and years, too. In freshman year of high school they had to fill out a 5 year plan. His plan had included things like asking Paulina out to prom, getting into a good engineering college, eating every item off the menu at the Nasty Burger, and beginning astronaut training. Things he hadn't thought to include on his list were gaining ghost powers, making an enemy of his dad's old college roommate, and fighting ghosts. Unfortunately, that second list was closer to the truth, and was the catalyst for his current situation.
Danny jumped back just before a pink plasma blast exploded the ground where he had been standing just a second ago. "Two years of training and you are still this slow? I'm disappointed, Daniel." Vlad Plasmius, white and red cape billowing, sneered from where he hovered ten feet above the boy.
Danny felt his irritation rising, his back pressed against the wall of the massive gym. It had been two years to the day since his parents had died. Two years since Vlad had become his guardian, two years of 'ghost training' which seemed to be just another excuse for Vlad to verbally abuse him.
"If you would let me use my powers this would be a much fairer fight!" He yelled. Vlad didn't answer, he just aimed another blast at Danny's head. He ducked just in time, but still smelled burnt hair and ozone. "How am I supposed to fight you with no weapons and no powers?"
"This isn't fight training, Daniel, this is dodge training." The older man said with a sardonic smile. "Now dodge." Danny had to leap forward in a roll to dodge the plasma beam Vlad shot at him.
They had been at this for a while, Danny wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up. His hair was soaked in sweat and his shirt clinged to him uncomfortably. His arms and legs were numb, and he could already feel bruises forming from where he hit the ground or the wall too hard in his efforts to dodge. Vlad hadn't broken a sweat. Four more blasts came in quick succession. Danny backflipped out of the way.
"It's good to see the gymnastics training is paying off." Vlad said, aiming another blast. "Private tutors don't come cheap."
Danny twisted away from the blast. "Don't pretend like you're hurting for cash!" He spat.
A plasma blast caught him right in the chest.
Plasma blasts weren't deadly to humans, but they could be painful and leave burns. Danny usually pulled his blasts when dealing with humans so he didn't hurt them too much. Vlad never did. A blast from Vlad felt like getting hit by a red hot tire iron hooked up to an electric fence. Danny collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest.
Vlad came down to squat in front of him, eye level. "Maybe if you were faster your parents would still be alive." It was a taunt, bait to goad Danny into attacking. He didn't rise to it. He was too tired, too hurt. He just put his head down against the cool wood floor. He heard Vlad walk away, out of the gym, up the stairs, out of earshot.
Danny stayed there, crouched on the floor for longer than he wanted to admit. As much as he hated Vlad, hated when he said things like that, hated everything the man did and said, he had a point.
Danny had been too slow to save his parents.
Jazz had drilled it into his head in the weeks and months after their death that it wasn't his fault. She had made him repeat it over and over. "It wasn't my fault they died. It was an accident. No one is to blame." He recited, even now.
Still, a small piece of him, whispering in the back of his mind said 'But if you had been faster you could have saved them.' The accident wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help blaming himself for their death.
Danny - Later That Night
"Guys, relax, it's fine. Look, it's already healing." Danny was on a four way video call with his two best friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, and his sister, Jazz.
"I still don't like the idea of him using live rounds on you, Danny!" His sister was fuming. "How many hours a day does he train you?"
"I do rest, Jazz! Not having to worry about ghost attacks in the middle of the night is great for my sleep!" It was true, Danny did sleep well most nights. Ghost attacks were virtually non-existent since his parents' portal had been shut down. Valerie had figured out about Vlad being Plasmius, and it didn't take long for her to figure out that Danny and Phantom were the same person. Since then they had called a truce and traded off patrol weeks. It was easier on both of them.
"Anyway." Sam jumped in, tired of the sibling's squabbling, "are you guys coming over this weekend? I got an advance copy of the new Terminatrix movie, and my parents upgraded the theater. Curved screen, surround sound, the works!"
"That sounds awesome!" Tucker joined in, looking up from his PDA "Count me in!"
"I can't" Jazz said "I have to study. My Pharmacology class is kicking my butt." Jazz had graduated high school a year early and had immediately started psychology at Yale. She had earned a full ride academic scholarship. "How does anyone remember what the different salt forms of hydroxyzine do?"
Danny didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but to hear her struggle with something for once made him feel a bit better about his own academics. Vlad had insisted he finish high school online which turned out to be a better fit for him than in person classes. Being able to work more or less at his own pace allowed him to produce better work faster. He was set to graduate in the spring.
"Bummer. What about you, Danny?" Sam asked hopefully.
"I can't. I have that technology fair in Gotham on Saturday."
"Wait wait wait. Gotham?" Tucker was paying full attention now, not even looking at the PDA he had been coding on all night. "As in 'Home to Wayne Enterprises, makers of the best tech on the planet' Gotham?"
"Yeah, well it is the Wayne Enterprises technology fair. I've only been working on my submission for 6 months. I'm sure I've told you guys about it."
"You did say you were submitting something a few months ago." Jazz said "But you never said you heard back."
"Oh. Sorry." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I got the invite in the mail a few weeks ago."
"What did you end up submitting?" Sam asked, "I don't think you ever said."
"Oh, it's the portable force field belt. It was the only prototype I had that was operational at the time."
"If you are going out of town does that mean the ecto-signature dampeners are working?" Jazz asked.
"Kind of. They work when I'm in human form, but if I change into Phantom they short out. They should help when the G.I.W. come sniffing around, anyway." Danny fiddled with the titanium bands around his wrists.
"At least you can use your powers with these. The last ones nearly knocked you out when you flashed your eyes green!" Sam said, laughing.
Danny laughed, too. "Yeah, basing the design off the Specter Deflector was probably a bad idea." The group dissolved into giggles and laughter. A few minutes later the alarm on his phone went off.
"Bedtime?" Jazz asked. "It's only eleven."
"Yeah, but I have Judo at six, so I have to get some sleep." Danny was feeling pretty tired, anyway. "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, Danny, good night." Jazz looked upset. Probably thinking about how busy his schedule was, but she disconnected the call without saying anything more.
"Night" Sam and Tucker said at the same time.
"Night guys, don't let the ghost bugs bite." Danny grinned and disconnected the call. His face fell immediately into something not quite a frown.
Danny wasn't pretending to be happy for his friends sake. He was genuinely happy to talk to them. Just as he was genuinely irritated and angry at Vlad. But when he was by himself, alone with his thoughts he found it hard to have emotions or feelings. When his hands were still and his mind was allowed to wander it wandered into some dark places. Places Danny didn't like to think were part of him. His parents death had left him not quite broken, but definitely cracked.
When he told Jazz about it she had suggested therapy. When he told Vlad he had suggested sucking it up.
So Danny kept himself busy. Without the distraction of Ghost fighting his grades jumped immediately. He was graduating early and was looking into engineering colleges. In the meantime he kept busy with Judo, Kendo, gymnastics, and ghost training with Vlad. He didn't need to take days off to recover, his healing factor made him good as new with a good night's rest.
When he wasn't training he was tinkering with gadgets. His room looked more like a lab than a bedroom. Danny removed the titanium bands from his wrist and put them on the charging pad. It glowed faintly green.
Jazz liked to think Vlad was responsible for Danny being so busy, but the truth was that Danny had asked for all the extra curriculars. Being busy kept Danny from thinking too much. It kept him from spiraling. He had seen where spiraling led to, and he wasn't interested in becoming Dan.
In the bathroom Danny studied his reflection as he brushed his teeth. He had changed a lot since he had become Vlad's ward at fifteen. He was still shorter than most other boys his age, but he had filled out. He was lean and muscular, thanks, no doubt, to all the martial arts training. Danny rinsed his mouth with mouthwash and then peeled the gauze off the plasma burn on his chest. It was already halfway healed, only the size of a fist, the new pink skin around it was still a little tender. By morning the burn would be gone without a trace. Danny recovered the wound with a fresh gauze pad and headed to bed.