Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note (7/21/2020): Just a heads up but I hope Valerie isn't making her decision too hastily in this chapter. I really want to keep things going after hitting this important milestone in the story so we can get to the fun parts. I'm also ecstatic my explanation about the battle suit makes sense to everyone! I figured since Valerie doesn't have ghost powers it makes a weird sort of sense that her battle suit might be able to substitute another type of energy for ecto-energy and as a result, gave her the ability to generate it safely as a byproduct and more importantly an alternative way to repair it since it's more than just a piece of equipment now, it's literally become a part of who she is. And with that out of the way dear readers, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

P.S. Holy crap I didn't realize I replaced a few chapters out of order but it should be fixed now. I am SO sorry! T^T

Chapter 9: Return of the Red Huntress!

(Chapter inspired by Breakthrough from Lemonade Mouth)

Danny's POV

I'm glad Vlad gave us a few minutes to process all that because while I already knew Technus was behind her suit upgrade all along I never expected anything like this either so its no wonder Valerie freaked out. And sure, those abilities might not be actual ghost powers, but experiencing something like this for the first time can be a pretty scary thing. Especially when it happens while you're by yourself and there's no one around that knows what you're going through. I know that feeling better than anyone.

Well, except for Vlad obviously.

Still, I think Valerie and I both heaved a sigh of relief after Vlad explained to us that this was likely a one-time thing and it isn't likely to happen again unless her battle suit gets super busted up again. But what I don't get is why Vlad lied about the ghostly side effects of her upgrade because while Valerie didn't seem to notice, she was glowing with an angry red aura just like the day Technus gave her that new battle suit. And when I saw it happening my first instinct was to rush over and help her calm down before she did snap into battle-mode like I kept doing when Vlad was trying to help me but I didn't trust him yet.

That's why I was so surprised when Vlad stopped me from helping her and the first chance I got to talk to him alone again I pulled Vlad aside after the meeting. I confronted him about holding me back and when I asked him why I couldn't tell her the truth about that part about her glowing red, all he told me was that hearing about that would only make her feel even worse so for now it's better to keep that particular detail to ourselves...

Unsatisfied with that answer I kept bugging him about it until finally, Vlad explained with an exasperated frown, "Daniel you saw her reaction as well as I did and while Valerie has put aside most of her prejudices against ghosts for your sake I highly doubt her opinion of them has changed in the least. Valerie still hates and fears them to some degree so how do you think she'll react to finding out her battle suit is actually reflecting the intensity of her drive and obsession through that ghostly aura?

"Even if she decides to let me block or remove her telepathic connection to that battle suit and disassemble it so she can live a relatively normal life, that won't change the fact that its power has already changed her life forever. While it's power is not fused to her on a molecular level like our ghost powers are to in our very DNA, the changes that have been made to Valerie's brainwaves, as well as her newfound sensitivity and ability to store more electricity in her body and discharge it much like you do when your cold-core is overcharged or when your ghost sense goes off, is likely irreversible. It won't change much in her day to day life, but the idea of being 'tainted' by a ghost is obviously appalling to Valerie, even now. As such, it's best to let her process the details I've already given her and nothing more because it won't make those feelings go away any time soon. Valerie has to let go of her resentment of me on her own just as you have."

"I...guess that makes sense. I still don't like it though," I sighed, glancing in the direction we left Valerie and her dad while rubbing my arm nervously. "Some things never change I guess, having to lie to the people important to me. But if it helps her sleep better at night then ok, my lips are sealed. I do have one question though-"

"Yes, little badger?" Vlad asked innocently and I had to resist the urge to glower at him for not taking me seriously.

Giving him one of my 'I-know-you're-up-to-something' looks I asked, "Why do you keep acting like you actually WANT Valerie to keep ghost hunting while pretending not to care either way? I know you, Vlad. And even if you're not scheming anything I know there's more to this than just wanting to give them a heads up about having nothing to do with giving her current battle suit."

Smiling Vlad replied smugly, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. You must be imagining things, dear boy."

"Vlad!" I groaned, giving him a light punch in the arm and giving him an annoyed look, "I'm being totally serious here so stop making fun of me you fruitloop."

Raising his hands up in surrender Vlad laughed, clearly trying to lighten the mood a bit and finally answered, "Alright you win little badger. The truth is I'd rather not waste too much time training a new group of ghost hunters when Valerie is a perfectly capable one in her own right. I will still do so of course, but frankly, it would be nice to know I'm leaving someone behind in that department as well who is actually good at her job so that you'll feel better about your decision to come live with me. In the end, that's all I care about..."

Ruffling my hair and keeping his hand tangled in it for a moment Vlad continued with a warm smile, "Ah yes, I'll never get tired of saying that. After all this time, all the scheming, I've finally achieved my greatest dream starting from the day we met to have you finally here by my side. That's why even though it's unlike me to go out of my way to help anyone else out of the 'goodness of my heart' as it were if it taking the extra time to do so in Valerie's case makes you feel a little less troubled about her well-being then I'm glad.

"And now that I've done my part, depending on what she decides to do next, I will make the most of our remaining time in Amity Park so that you can leave here today feeling a little lighter and have yet another thing that's been clearly weighing on your mind lifted from your shoulders so that you'll stop worrying so much about what Valerie needs to help her move on, and more about yourself and what YOUR future holds now that I'm here to support you every step of the way."

Valerie's POV

"Sweetie, are you ok? I know that was a lot to take in, but hey, at least we know this was just a false alarm and there's nothing more serious going on that we need to worry about," my dad asked, still holding my hand to give me some emotional support.

"You already knew about all this, didn't you?" I stated without looking at him, "Vlad told you about this in advance and that's why you didn't look as surprised until you actually saw what happened that day up close. This is so messed up! How can you guys say its nothing to worry about when this makes me feel so weird?!"

It took him a minute to figure out what to say in response, but when dad finally answered my question he explained calmly, "I understand how you must be feeling and believe me I might seem calm about it now but the truth is I was worried too. We didn't have enough information on what was happening to find out one way or another how to deal with it and that bothered me as well. And the truth is that yes, Vlad did give me a basic overview of what he suspected was going on with your battle suit, but even he wasn't a hundred percent sure about most of it until just now when he gathered more data about it. But it's alright Valerie because at least now we know what we have to do! Vlad said he can safely remove the suit's telepathic connection to you and after that, you'll gradually stop experiencing this whole static electricity build-up thing and everything can go back to normal."

Letting go of my hand to give me a side hug he added with a supportive smile, "Besides, I already told you I'll support whatever decision you make and while it might not seem like it I'm sure Vlad feels the same. And Danny wants you to do whatever feels best for you from now on so you don't have to worry about protecting Amity Park if you don't want to anymore. We'll take care of the rest from here with the help of his parents and-"

"No, dad," I began, looking up at him as I said, "I get what you're trying to say but I can't give it all up just like that. I still want to help you and to make up for my mistakes so please, don't make this any harder. And while you might not see it I can already tell Vlad secretly wants me to keep doing this, he's not exactly trying to hide it. So even though it makes my blood boil even thinking about it, for once I think he's got a point.

"I probably have the most experience out of all of you actually dealing with ghosts with the exception of Danny and if I quit it's going to take forever for your guys to find anyone else who can do that. Well ok I know his parents have fought ghosts before too, but let's face it they only ever did that once in a blue moon or when they went out of their way to catch a bunch of ghosts to experiment on," I shuttered at the thought and leaned forward, putting my face in my hands and sighed heavily-

"Ugh, I still can't believe I almost blurted out that stuff about feeling like I've been infected by a ghost in front of Danny. I must've sounded like such an insensitive jerk! At least the battle suit thing is something we can get rid of, but Danny...he'll never be the same again after what happened to him with his parent's ghost portal. He's going to have to live the rest of his life with ghost powers just like Vlad is and here I am freaking out about something so trivial when he's probably dealt with much scarier things like having his powers alert his parents that there was a ghost in the house and they-

"Actually, you know what?" sitting up and breathing in deeply through my nose, clenching and unclenching my fists before exhaling, I said, "If Danny can figure out a way to move past all that baggage so can I, so that settles it! I'm going to use this as an opportunity to start over too even if it means letting Vlad mess with my suit again so that tech-ghost can't possess it again or whatever he has in mind."

Giving me a worried look my dad let go of my shoulders and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah," I nodded, standing up and as I turned to look down at him I smirked and said, "Looks like the Red Huntress is back in town. And this time, she's here to stay to show these ghost punks who's boss!"

As if right on cue, I nearly jumped out of my skin when Vlad walked in again and smirked, "Excellent, then it's all settled? In that case, shall we get started?"

"GAH! Oh my God, would you PLEASE stop doing that?! Geez," I gasped, resting a hand over my racing heart, "How long have you two been listening anyway?"

This time Danny answered with a nervous laugh, "Relax we haven't been here that long since Vlad and I literally just walked back in. And don't worry, Vlad wasn't spying on you guys or anything, we were just talking and needed a minute or two to ourselves after he unloaded all that Technus stuff on all of us. Honestly, more than half of it went over my head anyway so I had a few more questions for him. Then again I didn't get much sleep last night and I had a lot on my mind just like I'm sure you two did so that made it harder to process a lot of it in one go. Still, I'm glad we finally know what we're dealing with here and how to take care of it. Right, Vlad?"

Ignoring me completely after nodding to Danny to address my dad, Vlad turned to him and instructed, "Damon, since it may take a while for me to finish the repairs and make the necessary adjustments once your daughter has manually removed the suit I would like you to take Daniel with you if you would and wait for me either in your office or perhaps go somewhere to get something to eat. While I'm working on the suit however please notify me immediately if Valerie experiences any other unusual symptoms again or anything happens to Daniel while he's with you. Mind you I have only dealt with a situation like this once in the past and given the unique bond between Valerie and her new battle suit there are some unknown variables we should be wary of just to be on the safe side."

"Understood," he nodded but then asked a little unsurely, "If you don't mind my asking, wouldn't it be better for Danny to spend some time with his sister instead? It might be a little less awkward for him."

Raising an eyebrow at my dad Vlad challenged, "Is that so? And are you quite sure it's not you or perhaps your daughter who feels this way? Besides which, I'm afraid Jasmine is preoccupied at the moment and we already asked her to help us with an...unfortunate situation yesterday when Daniel had a momentary relapse which is why he cannot be left alone right now. At the same time, I don't wish to bore the poor boy more than I already have today. But if it's too much to ask I suppose I could risk asking his parents to watch him. I'm sure they'd be delighted to-"

"Dad it's fine. If you're worried about how I feel hanging out with Danny again its not a big deal. Besides, if it's all the same to you I'm actually starving since I never made lunch so why don't we take him up on that offer of grabbing something to eat? I think it's a good idea for the three of us to get some fresh air anyway and get out of the lab for a bit," I hastily interrupted when I noticed how the color suddenly drained from his face when Vlad mentioned his meltdown and his parents all in the same sentence.

And here I thought I was the insensitive jerk here. I mean, even I can tell he's trying to guilt trip my dad, but did he seriously have to play the Fenton Family card? Guess this just proves my point all over again though. Danny's clearly dealing with way more than I am so I need to suck it up, get over myself, and if there's any way I can help him in some small way- I thought to myself before giving my dad a look and eventually, he gave in.

"Good point Valerie, and I'm sorry Mr. Masters. I wasn't trying to imply there's anything wrong with us watching him. I suppose it would have been easier to ask Danny what he wants to do instead," smiling at Danny apologetically my dad offered, "I know a few good places nearby to sit down or we could get something to go and drive around town for a bit since most of the repairs are complete. So where would you like to go Danny?"

Looking between Vlad and my dad, Danny rubbed the back of his neck and replied sheepishly, "Now that you mention it I've been craving a Nasty Burger ever since we came back to town. Weird I know given that it should trigger me too because of what happened with Dan in that other timeline, but I actually have a lot more good memories there than bad so it doesn't bother me as much. To be honest I wanted to invite Sam and Tucker there to eat together sometime for old time's sake but I totally forgot they still have school which really bummed me out. So yeah, it'd mean a lot if we could go there to eat..."

Turning to Vlad again, Danny asked unsurely, "Um, would you like us to bring anything back for you Vlad?"

I almost had to do a double-take when Vlad smiled impishly and nodded, "If you insist Daniel, I suppose it has been a few years since I last subjected myself to some good old-fashioned heartburn. But jokes aside a strawberry malt would do just fine, little badger. I'll just eat something more substantial once we return to the hotel since I'm not quite in the fast-food mood myself. Do feel free to enjoy yourself and get as much as you want, my treat."

"Pfft, 'Little badger?'" I snickered without thinking when I saw Danny blush ten different shades of red when Vlad called him that in front of us, "What's all THAT about?"

"Don't ask," he said more loudly than necessary and coughed into his fist, "A-anyway lets do the suit thing and get the heck out of here! Laboratories like this always give me the creeps."

We all ended up laughing for a few minutes after that for no reason at all just to break the tension in the air again, but once it passed it was back to business and while it was a bit embarrassing for me to summon my battle suit again in the changing room where all the lab coats were kept next to the lab, it was even worse when I peeled the thing off my clothes underneath it before smoothing them out and handed it to Vlad. And thank god I wore capris today instead of the usual skirt, I'm starting to think I should wear them more often...

Anyways, after Vlad assured me he'd take good care of it, even though I wasn't so sure I tried to trust him at least enough to get this over with without more of a hassle on my end. Either way, I didn't say anything because there was no point in getting mad at him for what I can't do anything about now and figured once this was all over, with any luck I wouldn't have to deal with Vlad directly and it wouldn't be much different than before when I went out on patrol and occasionally checked in with my dad to keep him up to speed. And frankly, that's exactly how I like it so maybe it wouldn't be so bad ghost hunting again after all; and who knows, it might be a great way to let off some steam picturing his face every time I fought a ghost.