Notes:

Hey, there. Thank you for deciding to check this story out. This is the sequel for a previous story called "The Gloaming" so there are several things that won't make sense unless you've read that one.

This one will be narrated in Danny's point of view in present tense. For the record, season three never happens. However, throughout the story there will be references to various episodes of said season. If there's any major spoiler, though, I'll warn you beforehand. No particular pairing though it will hint at times at both D/S and D/V, savvy?

Oh! And here's a brief (and maybe kinda ambiguous) summary, of course:

Summary: A week has passed but Danny still can't get over what happened that hectic day with Vlad and Valerie. Even though things start looking good with the new truce between the Red Huntress and Phantom, the ghost boy isn't so sure that things are completely right. In fact, he has a feeling that something is about to happen. Could be the appearance of a new foe or just the aftermath of what happened a week ago. Either way, Danny is just about to find out what exactly is in store for him...

Anyway, I hope you like it. If you want a sneak peek of what might happen in future chapters, there's a drabble in my deviantart account, too.

(without spaces) www . deviantart deviation/52367864/

Recap (and spoilers) from "The Gloaming": Vlad sent Skulker to attack Danny and used an inverted version of the Plasmius Maximus on him, keeping him stuck in ghost mode at the same time Valerie believes Phantom did something to Danny. Valerie digs deeper into the Danny/Vlad rivalry and finds out more than she would've liked, their real identities included. Vlad traps Danny in his lab but the ghost kid is rescued by Valerie. Although Vlad is now aware she knows his secret, the Red Huntress doesn't tell Danny she knows about his alter ego, placing a truce with Phantom instead to keep a closer look to both sides of him.

Disclaimer: (applies for each and every chapter posted) Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.

Prologue: Beginning

For as long as I can remember, I've always been known as the clueless one of the bunch. Any bunch. Family, friends, and even enemies I've only met for two seconds, they've all called me "clueless" so many times that I've actually lost count.

And the funny thing about all this? I still have no clue why I'm so badly stuck with the label.

Yeah, sure, sometimes I miss the big picture or tend to ignore things that are practically obvious, but that's usually because I get easily distracted or have so many things in my head that I don't pay enough attention. I know that if I focus or at least stop goofing around, I can figure out almost anything.

So, once I stop thinking about how clueless people think I am, I'll probably figure out whatever's going on here. But, how can I start piecing this together when I really can't remember what I was doing less than a minute ago?

I feel like I've just woken up while sleepwalking or something. All I know for sure is that I was heading to the lab, which is where I "woke up", so I just go on and keep walking down the rest of the stairs. Maybe my ghost sense went off and I decided to check it out while I was only half awake. It isn't too farfetched. Nowadays I rarely sleep, what with the whole ghost-hunting biz and all that.

The Fenton Portal is open but barely lights the room, which should be my first clue that something's not right. The place is eerily dark and silent, as if it came from one of those "Doomed Science" movies Sam made us watch the other night. Not that any of the eight flicks in the series was actually scary, but close enough to give me the creeps right now.

Wait… I think I remember something. I wasn't looking for a ghost down here; I was looking for my family.

"Mom? Dad?" No answer. Jazz isn't here, either.

I think I already searched everywhere, or at least that's what my gut tells me. And if I've survived in this gig for as long as I have, it's because I know I can't ignore my instincts.

So, what now, my trustworthy instincts? Am I supposed to start looking in the Ghost Zone or something?

The lab suddenly gets very cold and I begin to shudder. The portal seems to be closed and, if there was any other dim light on, it sure went off by now. I can't see a thing, not even an inch from my own nose, but I'm pretty sure my ghost sense went off just a second ago.

"Well, well, well…"

The voice sends chills down my spine and I know exactly what creep it belongs to.

"You came sooner than expected, little badger."

Vlad.

I gather my strength and grit my teeth as I glance around the room to find him, but, even as I change to ghost mode, I still can't adjust my eyes completely to the darkness. "Where are they?" I try to sound more secure than I actually feel, but deep down I know Plasmius won't buy it, which doesn't put me at much ease.

It's not because of all his powers or how many years of experience he has. The scary thing about him is how good he can get into my head and how dangerous his games can be. Aside of his ghostly abilities, he knows how to make strategies and manipulate things to go his way, one way or another.

His glowing red eyes suddenly appear in front of me and I involuntarily take a step back. He smiles smugly like he usually does. "The question is, Daniel," I hear his poisonous voice hissing close, "do you know where you are?"

Before I can say anything else –threat, witty banter, or whatever-, some sort of wires snake in my direction and grab my wrists and ankles, shocking me as I struggle to get free. I try to go intangible, charge a blast, and even use those freezing powers I recently began to develop, but it's no use! I try with every ounce of strength to pull free from these… these chains, but I just can't stand the pain. The intensity of the shocks increases and I can hardly even think straight. It hurts so much that I can't hold back a scream.

Oh no. Not just any scream.

Green waves of energy shake the ground as I release my Ghostly Wail. Shouldn't I be changing back by now? I don't even have that much energy left. It won't stop and it's tearing me apart to use that much power, like it rips right through me and takes the life out of me. I suddenly notice that maybe I wasn't completely off with that metaphor: somehow, my human half is being forced out of me!

The Fenton part of me grunts in pain as he falls to the floor. The wail stops immediately and we just stare at each other. I can see in his eyes a mixture of confusion and fear, but also… emptiness. I don't know how to explain it but I know I feel the same. I feel so… incomplete.

A pink glow lights up the room, making me close my eyes for a moment to avoid the sudden brightness. At first I thought it was one of Vlad's blasts, but I think it was some sort of portal or something. The first thing I notice is that the human me is gone; I'm just the ghost left behind. I then realize I'm no longer chained or in the lab, either. It looks more like some sort of maze.

Behind me there's nothing but a dead end; above me, a green shield. That doesn't really leave me with that much of a choice, which I guess is a good thing in this case. At least I know in what direction to go, so I just float forward and hope I can find a way out of here.

Not two corners away from where I started, I can hear someone singing. It can't be far from here and, since I don't really know where I'm heading, I decide to find the source of its sound.

I try not to think about my missing human half or the fact that I officially have no clue of what the heck is going on. As soon as I'm out of here, I'll have the chance to freak out for as long as I want to. So I do what I often do and distract myself with something else, like with a certain "song" I can hear more clearly now.

"…What are little ghosts made of, made of?

What are little ghosts made of?

Evil and slime, to give a hard time;

That's what little ghosts are made of…"

The voice is sweet, maybe a little too sweet. It sounds familiar but I'm not sure if I should be comforted or not. That's when I reach a corner where I see Valerie sitting in a table, wearing a pink dress that kinda makes her look like a doll. But what is she doing here and… like this?

Duh. Of course.

She found out Vlad's secret and, if he's behind this, he'll probably use any chance he can get to play games with her, too. Though I still don't know what kind of trick this is exactly. Maybe I can snap her out of her trance or something.

I walk to her side as she starts pouring some tea into a cup in front of her, but she doesn't turn to see me.

"Would you like to have some tea, Danny?" without looking up, Valerie asks in an extremely sugary voice, one I've never heard her use before, which is all levels of creepy given how she tends to yell at me when I'm in Phantom mode. And since when did she start calling me by my first name?

I just stare at her blankly for a moment and I hesitate to say something, but two voices beat me to it. "Yes, please," they cheerfully reply in unison. I look at them and see… me. Both my ghost and my human half are sitting in front of Valerie looking unfazed. I just gape as they all smile and drink from their cups. Seriously, it takes all I have to keep myself from screaming.

Ok, Vlad's definitely behind this. Those have to be clones, robots or something of the like. If they're not- if they're the real deal-, then what am I supposed to be? I swear I'm really sick of all these mind games and-

"Wait until you try these!" another voice announces to the crowd and interrupts my thoughts. I warily look at the new "guest" as he appears out of nowhere, holding a plate full of cookies and sitting next to Val.

What is Skulker doing here?

It's more than official: I'm seriously losing my mind. None of this makes any sense! I just know I gotta get out of here, and I definitely need to find some answers.

I take a shaky step back but I end up bumping into someone. I try to turn around to see who it is, but the one behind me suddenly holds me in a bone-crushing hug. "FRIEEEND!"

"GYAAAAAAH- OOF!"

Ow. Did Klemper toss me to the ground or something?

As I rub the side of my head, I blink several times and stare at my surroundings: blue walls adorned with space shuttles and Dumpty Humpty posters; an open closet with clothes flooding out of it; an old bag of lime and vinegar chips, next to a computer and a mess of papers on my desk. Yup, I fell off my bed and woke up from a really freaky dream. Again.

I stand up and groan when I look at the time: two in the morning. It figures that when I finally manage to sleep early, thanks to some miraculous lack of ghostly activity, I still can't get some rest.

With a sigh, I go to the bathroom to wash the sweat off my face. Thankfully, Jazz didn't wake up this time. Otherwise she would probably try to do another late night psychoanalysis or something. And I'm glad she didn't show up not only because she's usually overbearing; I just don't like dragging her too much into my problems.

I turn on the bathroom's light and just let the water run through my fingers once I reach the sink. I can't believe I'm still having that dream. It's been over a week since the whole mess with Valerie and Vlad happened, but I can still feel the same pain I felt whenever I was shocked in that… containment thing. I still can feel uneasy around Val or distressed because I can't change back to human. But it's not just that.

I've had my share of nightmares every now and then. The most frightening ones are always about my future, especially the explosion at the Nasty Burger. Those usually make me feel hopeless and defeated, sometimes even with a lot of self-loathing; but then I remember my promise and I know that I won't let any of that happen. So, even if it still scares the heck out of me, it just makes me more determined to keep my word when I wake up. It serves me as a reminder of why I keep fighting.

But the feeling I get from this new recurring nightmare is not the same.

It's not that I'm scared about the part of being captured and tested on. Sure, I gotta admit I freaked out and couldn't get a good night's sleep for a couple of days after the whole cloning thing. So, going through Vlad's crazy experimenting twice in less than six months isn't exactly the equivalent of fun. Still, that's not it.

What scares me is the growing feeling that something's still wrong, that I'm really missing something important, and not because I'm clueless or anything. I don't know if it's because of Vlad, Valerie, or both, but I just can't shake that weird sensation that something's about to happen.

Man, look at me... I'm pale and covered in sweat over some stupid dream. And I'll keep coming every night here to look at myself in the mirror, trying to wash everything away with some cold water against my face. I'll try to go to sleep and then I'll pretend it's all good and dandy in the morning. Once again, it'll all be all right in the world of Danny Fenton, the guy who risks his neck every day by going toe-to-toe against some pretty nasty ghosts, but who can't shake off a simple feeling. I guess I'll be stuck in that routine until it wears off or something really happens.

Oh, great. I should know to keep even my thoughts quiet: my ghost sense just went off. My night sure is complete now. Note to self: don't provoke the forces of karma with inner monologues.

At least it's some distraction, I guess. I don't bother with a battle cry this time since I'm not really in the mood, so I just change. It's time for Danny Phantom to save the day, again, and lose a night of sleep. Again.

Ok, let's see. There's some noise coming from the roof, so I guess that narrows my search for whatever ghost decided to attack tonight. I turn intangible and head to the Ops Center, where I'll be able to watch the ghost and get some handy backup in case it's needed.

The noise gets louder as I reach the Ops Center. I can't see the ghost in the shadows, but it looks like he's just trashing the roof, maybe to get my attention, though my ghost sense would've been enough to do the trick.

I need get a closer peek to see who or what it is, so I turn invisible and float outside. It's probably the Box Ghost looking for some crates or something. Or maybe it's Technus trying to hack our house again. Or maybe-

"Whoa…" What the heck is that thing? Now that I'm closer -and got his attention by not staying quiet-, I can definitely tell this guy is new around here.

"Came for the view?" I lamely ask so I can find out what kind of ghost I'm dealing with. Well, the fact that he's some bulky skeleton dude with horns and bony wings kinda gives me an idea, but you can never be too sure. That doesn't mean I shouldn't prepare a blast in my hand, though.

The demonic ghost –or ghostly demon or whatever- laughs and then stares at me with his glowing red eyes, which is usually never good. "Ah, excuse my glee, but I really couldn't wait to get this operation started," he exclaims.

Now two things cross my mind: One, I'm not so sure I want to find out what exactly he means by that. And two, shouldn't his voice sound… different? I mean... he has the whole otherworldly thing going on for him, with the bones, wings, horns, and hooves (Did I already mention he looks like he's half goat or something?). He's even wearing some sort of armor adorned with black skulls. You'd at least expect some deep and eerie voice to match all that. Instead, he sounds more like some super villain from a Saturday morning cartoon.

But his voice should be the least of my worries. Concerned about what he said, I charge my blast to its full power and fire at him. "Sorry, pal, but you're going to have to get in line if you want to start whatever evil plan you have in mind." The ectoblast hits him but his chest armor seems to have taken most of the hit, so the ghost recovers quickly.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," the demon or whatever it is replies while he throws a bomb of some sort with—wait a minute, sleeping gas? "See? You apparently mistook me for someone who wanted to fight."

"Who—what… are you?" I manage to ask, but I can't keep myself awake.

I can hardly hear him now as I fall from where I'm floating and begin to cough. He says something like 'zork', or 'xorkin', or 'horkiz', or… I don't know. I can't focus on what he's saying anymore. He's probably just going on about some evil scheme or whatnot and how I— ugh… my head is killing me. Sleep's starting to sound really good about now. Eyes getting heavy. Can't—

Gotta… get… h…e...l…p…

Ugh, I passed out, didn't I? I can't believe I passed out in the middle of a fight. Ok, maybe I can believe it and it does happen kinda often. Still, the sun is up already, which means that I was unconscious for at least four hours. I've never been out for so long before, except maybe that one time... Ugh, my arm itches.

I'm still on the roof but thankfully not in ghost mode. I'm still wearing the same PJs I wore last night. Well, that sure is a relief. I wouldn't want to have a repeat of what happened with Skulker and the inverted version of the Plasmius Maximus. That one turned out to be a complete mess.

I gotta find ASAP this "Horkiz" ghost or whatever he said he was. He probably just wanted me out of the way, but I'll have to ask Sam and Tucker to help me find out more about this flying-demon-goat guy. Hopefully he didn't do anything incredibly harmful while I was out.

Oh, man… what time is it? I should probably get ready for school, if I'm not too late already. I could still use the aerial route to get there fast, but I don't want to risk being seen by Valerie on my way to school. Even if we have some sort of truce, the only way I'll make sure to keep it is if I earn her trust. Flying around Casper High when there's no threat in sight or even by making her suspicious of the Fenton-Phantom connection won't help in that cause.

Valerie… another piece in the puzzle that is my life.

Uh-oh… I hear the door leading to the roof open with a bang. No time to turn invisible!

"I swear that if another ghost took—Danny!" Mom exclaims as she runs to my side and knocks the wind out of me with a hug. "We've been looking for you all over the house! What were you doing up here?"

Man, she looks more concerned –or even relieved- than angry. And there's even an ectogun in her hand, so she was definitely expecting to find trouble. Can't blame her, though. After believing Skulker kidnapped me and seeing how injured I supposedly ended up because of him, she and Dad have been keeping a closer eye on me, not to mention they've become more vicious with their ghost hunting.

I should know firsthand with the way they've been chasing "the ghost kid" lately, who just happens to be me.

She releases me from her embrace and looks me in the eye expecting an answer. I can see the worry and motherly love in her look, which always makes it ten times harder to lie to her, but I know I have no choice.

Well, technically I do, but that's beside the point. It's not like I'm going to reveal my secret just like that. At least not until I'm ready and I know they're ready.

Time for lame excuse number 1,582… "I, uh, couldn't sleep last night and I… dozed off watching the stars out here?" And please believe me because I'm already tired and don't want to come up with any other excuse?

Mom just blinks and frowns for a moment, but then she smiles knowingly. "I think I know exactly what's going on here."

Uh-oh. I know I didn't sound too convincing, but she can't possibly have figured it out. Which means…

"Oh, honey, I know how much you must want to overcome your fears, to put on a brave face and do daring things to forget what happened a week ago." Yeah, just what I thought. If she only knew… "But you can't be so reckless, Danny. Who knows what kind of malevolent and putrid ghost might show up while you're out here on your own?" Trust me, you'd be surprised.

All I can do is pout and try to look ashamed to go on with her story. "Sorry, mom, I'll try to be more careful next time."

She sighs as she puts a hand on my shoulder and steers me inside the house. "We'll talk about this later. Right now you should hurry up and get ready for school. You can't afford to be late again."

Well, at least she didn't suspect anything. Sometimes I just can't believe how much nonsense I've got dancing right in front of them and they still don't notice a thing.

And they say I'm the clueless one…