Chapter Text
That same evening, Danny flew around in Phantom form with Star, in her ghost form, which hopefully was different enough to not be clocked as her by humans. So far, the few who spotted them didn’t seem to realize, even though they’d gotten uncomfortably close to some after a rogue ectopus tried attacking a convenience store—Danny generally tried to stay far enough away that his face wasn’t clearly seen, as his human form was caught on camera plenty thanks to his parents insisting on dragging him and Jazz on interviews and whatnot to try to show people they were ‘a typical family’ rather than just two somewhat-unhinged ghost-hunting adults, with limited results. That was something else he could relate to with Star, given her mom loved taking her places to try to dissuade people from (correctly) thinking she was still the wild card that she had been known for in her youth. Danny found himself increasingly surprised at just how much they had in common!
Although Star had no plans on permanently becoming a ghost fighter like Danny, Danny was still teaching her how to fight as a ghost and use a thermos, just in case, although they’d only encountered a few ectopi and a couple blobs so far. To Danny’s surprise, Star seemed quite competent at ecto-blasts, which he’d been worried about after the mishap while bowling (he had a feeling she’d been practicing on her own after that). They even discovered that they could use them together to make an even bigger blast! That could be useful if they encountered a more powerful enemy.
Eventually, they took a break, floating far up in the sky, to practice their duet for music class. Danny had been a bit embarrassed at first when Star revealed that it was in fact a romance song they would be singing, but he already knew a fair amount of the lyrics and Star had been able to fill him in on the rest so it honestly had been a pretty good choice of song. After a few tries, Danny finally got the lyrics fully down, and they were able to get through the whole song, flying around in sync to the music as they did so—similarly to the song, in fact, albeit flying by their own power as opposed to with a carpet.
Star giggled. “Obvious we need to practice more, but that was magical, don’t you think?”
“Definitely,” Danny easily agreed, staring at Star and unable to stave off a blush.
Star sighed wistfully. “Too bad we can’t do the flying choreography in class; that was… We definitely need to do that again.”
“Agreed,” Danny said, unable to stop staring. Star looked so pretty, with her hair reflected in the moonlight (the current pattern was twinking stars, which Danny recognized as a sign of happiness, if he was correct). Even her blue skin, despite being a reminder that Star was a full ghost, looked beautiful. Danny felt a sudden urge to kiss her; he withheld though, given that it had only been two days since they’d become friendly (in private; it was only semi-friendly while in school) towards each other, and Danny definitely did not want to rush things if this really was budding attraction and not a heat-of-the-moment thought. So instead, he pulsed his core slightly, in a happy gesture.
Star paused at that. “What was that?”
“You don’t know?” Danny asked, surprised. “I thought the other ghosts explained that, since you did it a few times before—guess that was accidental. Ghosts can send pulses of emotion towards other ghosts, via our cores.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that; that’s pretty neat!” Star said happily. “Can we send pulses to humans too? It seems like it could be a useful thing, like to calm people down.”
Danny gave pause to that. Could they do that? “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I never thought to try it.”
“You should,” Star suggested. “Or, maybe I can try. Oh, but I should make sure I can do it too, first…” Her face morphed into one of deep concentration, and she sent a pulse that Danny’s core picked up.
“Determination?” Danny confirmed.
“Oh. I was trying to send happiness like you did,” Star revealed, looking disappointed.
“Ah. So what happened is that your determination to send it was stronger, so it pulsed that emotion instead,” Danny concluded. He instructed, “Try to relax and gather the happiness in your core, ignoring other emotions.”
Star nodded, then took a deep unneeded breath and closed her eyes. A moment later, happiness pulsed from her core to Danny’s.
“You did it!” Danny cheered.
Star grinned. “Awesome! That was easier than I thought… Hey, what else can we train tonight? We’ve got time.”
An hour later, Danny and Star could be found in a small woods area in the park, working on flight agility; so far Star had only hit trees, or rather phased through them, three times, which was better than Danny’s first attempt in the same woods over a year ago.
“Halt, ghosts!” came a sudden shout that Danny recognized as the Red Huntress.
“Oh, no,” Danny groaned as the girl emerged from behind a tree.
Star flickered into invisibility.
“That won’t work,” Valerie said fiercely. “My suit’s visor lets me see heat signatures, including your cold-as-death ones.”
Star returned to visibility. “Should we run?” she whispered to Danny.
“We can try, but she’s fast—we should disable her board with ecto-blasts first,” Danny whispered back.
“My suit also has augmented hearing now,” Valerie said smugly. “And the board repels ecto-blasts.”
“What a joy,” Danny said flatly, automatically deepening his voice slightly to disguise it.
“So, who’s the girl ghost? Finally get a girlfriend, Phantom?”
“No!” Danny immediately denied, well aware that he was blushing.
“Unfortunately not,” Star muttered, to Danny’s surprise. Did she actually want to date him, this soon? No, Danny must be misinterpreting it; she must have been referring to something else, or maybe thinking about how her best friend Paulina wanted to date Phantom. Then again, there was that song earlier…
“Hmph. Whatever,” Valerie said. “Either way, haven’t seen you around before, and oddly enough you two seem friendly instead of fighting. Who are you?”
“Who am I…” Star trailed, looking contemplative. “That’s a good question… Does anyone truly know who they are?”
Danny snickered; that was such a Star thing to do, shifting the topic that way in lieu of outright denying to give Valerie an answer.
“Oh, please, don’t get philosophical on me, spook,” Valerie spat.
“You know, that’s a borderline slur,” Danny informed her. Most ghosts didn’t like that term being used, especially as a large percent of them actually tried hard to not come across as spooky to humans.
“Oh, I know,” Valerie said smugly.
“Seriously?” Star whined. “Ugh. Why are you so mean all the time?”
“I’m not—Wait,” Valerie cut herself off, freezing. “Wait a second. I know that voice… and you look a bit like… and all the alerts in the school that had no explanation… and the coldness in the classroom but no ghost appearing… and the alleged ecto-contamination… Star?”
Now it was Danny and Star’s turn to freeze. Shoot; Danny knew he had been forgetting something. He should have instructed Star to try to change her voice, like he intentionally deepened his when talking to the public or people he knew (that didn’t know his identity).
“It is, isn’t it?” Valerie said slowly. “That’s why you really disappeared, why you really were in the Ghost Zone, isn’t it?”
Danny and Star glanced at each other, both clearly unsure what to do.
“But then… Why were you in the classroom? Why are you pretending to be human?” Valerie asked, clearly confused. “It doesn’t make sense. Ghosts only do that if they have nefarious plans. I don’t sense nefarious intent from you. You seemed so human at school. No different than before.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for nearly a year, Red—ghosts are not as evil as you think,” Danny asserted. “We’re mentally just like we were as humans, just have some different physiology.”
“Including changing appearance to look like you did when they were human?”
“It’s rare, but some ghosts can do that,” Danny said vaguely, realizing this was getting too close to Valerie finding out that—
Valerie gasped. “Wait a moment. If ghosts can change appearance… Star’s not the only one with so-called ecto-contamination that sets off trackers… And your voice I always thought sounded a little familiar and a little faked, like you were making it deeper… So if it were higher… And, I always thought your appearance kinda looked a bit like… Danny?” Her voice quieted at that last word. “It is you, isn’t it? Wait… Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton… Oh god, it’s a damn pun.”
Danny winced. Too late. “Fine, you got me,” he told Valerie, using his normal voice, well aware that there was no convincing her that was untrue. He looked around; they were safely hidden in the woods. So, he transformed back to Fenton form, still floating, hoping that it would reduce the chances of her shooting him. “I’m both Phantom and Fenton.”
“You died?” Valerie asked with clear disbelief. “When? How? Wait… Phantom’s been around over a year, so… you were a ghost when we dated?! Did you know my identity that whole time?!” the last sentence rang with clear anger.
“Yeah… We have a lot to talk about,” Danny told her meekly.
In response, Valerie held up an ecto-gun, pointing it at Danny. “Yeah? And why should I talk to you, spook? Why shouldn’t I shoot you right here for tricking everyone? For tricking me? You knew I hate ghosts, yet still you—ugh!”
Danny held up his hands. “Whoa, no need for weapons and slurs! I wasn’t tricking anyone—besides, I’m technically not actually a full ghost.”
“You’re… what?” Valerie’s anger waivered, voice shifting to a tone of perplexion.
“Confusing, I know, but it’s true. I’m something called a halfa, or liminal if you want the more traditional term. Happens when your body gets revived after your ghost forms, and the two merge. So I have human and ghost traits,” Danny explained. “Use your suit to check my vitals—you’ll find a pulse on me.”
Valerie paused for a moment, during which Danny assumed her suit was scanning him, then said with surprise, “You’re right. It’s slow, but that’s a pulse… But, Star doesn’t have one.”
“Yeah, I’m a full ghost,” Star admitted.
“And Danny’s a… halfa, you said? Like, a ghost possessing his corpse?”
“No!” Danny asserted. “Why do people keep interpreting it like that? A ghost possessing a corpse is called a revenant, and the two are still separate. There’s zero life signs in that case, and the corpse rots. With a halfa, the body is revived and the ghost literally merges with it, creating a new entity, something in-between ghost and human.”
“Okay, okay, sheesh, don’t get angry,” Valerie said, and Danny could imagine that beneath the helmet she was rolling her eyes. “It’s just, a little hard to believe, I guess. How does that even happen? Some sort of experiment?”
“Eh, kinda,” Danny said. “Lab accident, more accurately. The portal kinda opened on top of me. And no, my parents don’t know.”
“So then… you didn’t die?”
“Oh no, I definitely did die,” Danny assured her. “The fact that I became a ghost in the first place proves that, even if I merged with my revived body milliseconds later.”
“This is so confusing. I never knew any of that was possible.”
“To be fair, you didn’t know ghosts in general were possible until a year ago,” Danny pointed out.
“Well, you got a point there,” Valerie conceded. “Okay, fine. So you’re this liminal thing—which, for the record, still looks basically like a ghost to me, just one with a heartbeat.”
Danny sighed. “Well, I also have bones, and need to eat human food and sleep,” he told her. “But, that’s basically it, so I guess you’re not really wrong that I’m more of a ghost than a human,” he admitted.
“But you’re not evil.”
“I’ve told you, Val, ghosts mostly aren’t evil; we’re as nuanced as humans on that front. The majority of ghosts just stay in the Ghost Zone and live their afterlives there, just wanting to be left alone. Honestly, there’s also a lot of ghosts that visit here that you don’t even notice because they don’t cause trouble.” Frostbite had informed Danny of that; Bigfoot and similar cryptid sightings were mostly just Far Frozen residents on vacation, and now that there was a permanent portal that provided easy access to a human-populated area (versus the permanent natural ones in difficult places like the Bermuda Triangle or the Marianas Trench), and didn’t belong to a psychopath, a fair amount of ghosts would visit invisibly to check in on their still-living relatives or descendents, or would simply tour around to see how the world changed since their deaths. The ones that truly wished to cause chaos and terror were a relative rarity.
“Speaking of trouble, that dog of yours—”
“I told you, he’s not mine,” Danny hurriedly interjected.
“But I’ve seen you playing with him,” Valerie pointed out in an accusing tone.
“Yeah, after the incident with him destroying Axiom, where before he was euthanized by them he was a guard-dog in training,” Danny said, thankful she was finally letting him explain. “I tried putting him back in the Ghost Zone but he kept escaping and going right back there, so I tried to train him, then realized he was looking for something—turned out he just wanted his squeaky toy from the old kennel, and when I realized that and found it he went back to the Ghost Zone willingly.”
“Wait. They euthanized him?”
“Yeah, well, what did you expect them to do to the old guard dogs once they got a fancy new security system?” Danny snapped, a little bitter about that. Cujo was a puppy! They couldn’t even bother trying to rehome him? Then, he realized what he’d potentially accidentally implied and quickly added, “Sorry, I’m not blaming your dad or anything, that’s all the company’s fault, I’m sure he didn’t know they’d do that.”
“I know you’re not blaming him. I’m angry at Axiom about it too! Ugh, if they had just rehomed him, literally nothing would have gone wrong, and my dad wouldn’t have been fired…” Valerie put a hand on her helmut. “Ugh, what a mess… To think I’ve been so angry at you for that, and you were only trying to help…”
“That’s what I’ve been saying for a year,” Danny grumbled. “Can you please lower the gun now?”
“Oh, right,” Valerie said, then complied. “Sorry. This is just a lot.”
“Oh yeah,” Star chimed in. “Finding out your ex that you still kinda like is a ghost has gotta be stressful.”
“And finding out my former friend and classmate is a ghost too,” Valerie added, interestingly ignoring the bit about her still kinda liking Danny, which only really confirmed what Danny had suspected too; honestly, Danny still liked her too, but he had a feeling that the current situation significantly reduced any chances of them getting back together—plus, Valerie was human, so Danny’s immortality thwarted that as well.
“Well, on the plus side, your reaction to finding that out rules you out as my murderer,” Star said, a little too casually.
“What? You were murdered?!” Valerie declared.
“Well, I think so,” Star amended. “Of course, I don’t know for sure—Danny and some other ghosts are trying to help me figure out what happened, because I have no memory of it. But I mean, I don’t see what else would have done it, you know? If it were an accident or medical or something, someone would have found the body by now, but the police have nothing.”
“And they’ll always have nothing because they think you’re still alive,” Valerie pointed out.
“Yeah. Which is why we’re investigating ourselves,” Star said. “We were hoping we could catch whoever did it by seeing them freak out when seeing me back, but either no one in school did it or they’re very good at keeping cool.”
“We’re really lucky she ended up with pretty strong transformation powers,” Danny said. “Most ghosts don’t.”
“Transformation powers? Like, what was his name, Amorphus?” Valerie asked.
“Amorpho, and not to that extent,” Danny told her.
“Yeah, I can’t, like, make myself look like a different person structurally,” Star said. “Just things like colors and other superficial things. Like fangs! I can give myself adorable fangs.”
“I dunno if I’d call fangs ‘adorable’,” Valerie said skeptically.
“Oh come on, you can’t say Danny doesn’t look super cute with them,” Star argued.
“Danny?” Valerie asked, surprised.
“Yeah! His teeth got knocked out a couple nights ago, and he came back as fangs!” Star revealed. “Show her, Danny!”
Danny sighed, and then grinned wide enough that the canines were visible, just for a moment.
“Oh. They are kinda adorable,” Valerie said softly.
“Seriously?” Danny complained.
“Yeah, vampires are hot,” Star said confidently.
“Now it’s hot? How can it be hot and cute?” Danny asked mildly confused.
“You can be cool and cute and hot all at once,” Star informed Danny.
“I’m cool?” Danny asked, surprised.
“The fangs are,” Star clarified. “You aren’t. Yet. After this weekend, you will be.”
“This weekend?” Danny asked nervously. What was she plotting?
“Yup. Paulina and I are taking you to the mall and making you fashionable!” Star informed him.
“Okay, you’re obviously joking,” Danny concluded. “Haha, very funny.”
“No, I’m serious,” Star asserted. “If we’re going to publicly be friends, you need to fix your fashion, at the very least. I am going to pull you out of loser status to mid-tier popularity even if it kills me,” she said, then amended, “Or, something else bad that hasn’t already happened.”
“Why do I feel like I don’t have a choice?”
“Because you don’t.”
“Why do I feel like I need to tag along to protect you?” Valerie wondered.
“Oh no, you are not tagging along,” Star said. “Paulina won’t allow it.”
“Excuse me?” Valerie bristled. “I was joking, for your information, but you don’t need to be so mean about it!”
“I didn’t mean to be mean, I was just telling the truth! I’d be open for letting you in the group again, but Paulina is still quite angry about your ghost vendetta.”
“My ghost… Wait, she knows?! Since when? And, wait, does that mean you knew about me before this, too? I assumed Danny told you…”
“No, we just recognized your voice,” Star informed her. “Like you recognized mine. But don’t worry, we kept it within the A-list. But yeah, that’s why we weren’t talking to you; I mean, we run the Phantom Phan Club, and you’re kinda his enemy. Were his enemy? Are you still his enemy or not?”
“For the record, I never really considered you an enemy,” Danny offered. “Not a real one, anyway.”
“Yeah, because you knew my identity but I didn’t know yours!” Valerie asserted, then relaxed and shifted awkwardly. “I… no, I guess I can’t see you as a true enemy anymore, but… you still… well, it feels like a betrayal. Plus, I dunno, I think I’m kinda still processing things? I just need time. But we can start with a truce, how about that?”
“If you include Star in it,” Danny said.
“Well yeah, obviously,” Valerie said.
“Can you include my new ghost friends in it too?” Star asked.
“New ghost friends?” Valerie said with unease. “And just who are these new ghost friends?”
“Kitty, Johnny, and Ember,” Star supplied. “They helped me a lot with learning about being a ghost, and are helping solve my murder!”
“For the record, I talked to them, and they did promise to be more careful about causing chaos,” Danny quickly told her. “Especially Ember.”
“Really?” Valerie asked with clear skepticism. “What about Johnny and all his racing? He sometimes causes accidents, you know.”
“That’s kinda on the humans though,” Star pointed out. “I mean, they don’t have to accept his racing requests.”
“He’s best friends with the police chief so a truce with him could be good for that too,” Danny noted.
“He’s what? Well, that actually explains a lot,” Valerie said dryly. “Fine, I’ll ignore those three. Tentatively. If they do start causing chaos again, deal’s over.”
“Guess that’s the best I can expect,” Danny conceded, then held out his hand. “Should we, er, shake on it?”
“Eh, whatever, sure,” Valerie said, then flew forward so she was close enough to shake his hand; as she grabbed it she tensed slightly, likely at the coldness. “Truce, but I’m still somewhat annoyed at you for hiding you were a ghost from me,” she said as she let go of his hand. “Especially because the entire reason I broke up with you was to protect you from the ghost stuff, yet you were one all along!”
Danny couldn’t help but scoff at that and cross his arms, giving Valerie a flat look, eyes aglow. “Oh, like you wouldn’t have broken up with me anyway if I told you? You’d really be able to stand dating a ghost?”
Valerie hesitated. “Well…” she trailed, though seemed unsure how to answer.
“Yeah, thought so,” Danny said, concluding that she didn’t want to admit that she definitely would have. “Anyway, if we’re done here, I need to get back to—” Danny gasped and some icy air escaped his lips—i.e., his ghost sense triggered.
Valerie tensed as a very quiet beep sounded from her suit near her ear (Danny could only hear it due to his enhanced ghost hearing), and Star sneezed, which apparently was her ghost sense. It was something all ghosts had, Danny had recently learned, all exhibited different ways: for example, Ember’s was her flaming ponytail flaring, Kitty’s was a sharp pang in her head, and Johnny’s was a cough.
“That was the ghost sense thingy, right?” Star correctly concluded—ghosts didn’t naturally sneeze, after all, except around certain anti-ghost materials. “So that means there’s an unknown or unfriendly ghost around?”
“Yeah. Well, ours mean that—I think Val’s just goes off regardless.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Valerie said dryly. “Until today, I assumed no ghost was friendly—and I’m still not 100% sure of you, for your information, part human or not. I’ll be watching you. Both of you.”
“Sheesh, intense much?” Star said with an eye roll.
“Whatever; let’s just figure out what we’re dealing with,” Danny said, starting to fly upwards. Honestly, that went better with Valerie than he had expected.
Star giggled. “Danny, you’re forgetting something!”
“Oh, right,” Danny realized, then shifted into Phantom form, blushing slightly. “Thanks. Now, let’s go.”
Danny flew above the tree line, Valerie and Star following him.
“The presence feels creepy,” Star said quietly, floating a little closer to Danny. “Almost like the grey van at the school…”
“The what?” Danny asked, now on high alert.
“There was a creepy van yesterday,” Star told Danny. “It felt kinda similar… but… no, this is different.”
“Yeah; pretty sure I know who it is,” Danny said flatly; he’ll ask more about that van later.
“You two can sense who the ghost is?” Valerie asked curiously.
“Eh, kinda,” Danny revealed. “More like, the energy they give off; some familiar ones are more distinct now, though I still can’’t guarantee who it is.”
“Works for living things and cursed objects too,” Star supplied.
Upon breaching the treeline, as Danny expected, not far away they found Amity Park’s mayor—or rather, his ghost form, Vlad Plasmius, heading their way. Danny wondered if he was here for him or Valerie; he was pretty sure the man was tracking them both. Or, maybe he was simply curious about why they were in the same place yet not fighting.
“Could it be? Two fierce enemies, not attacking each other?” Plasmius said, confirming Danny’s guess, stopping in front of them. “And… Hmm, what’s this? Someone new?”
Danny narrowed his eyes, a suspicion coming over him. Vlad had a great poker face, so if he was surprised at seeing Star, it didn’t show. Could he have murdered her? Danny wouldn’t put it past the man to murder people—in fact, Danny was pretty sure the man had in the past, to further business dealings when the people were strong enough to resist the overshadowing. The creepy energy Vlad gave off only reinforced this suspicion.
Also, it occurred to Danny that Valerie still didn’t know that Vlad Plasmius was actually Vlad Masters… Should Danny tell her? Well, maybe not right in front of Vlad; Danny had a feeling that would not end well at all.
“What do you want, Plasmius?” Valerie and Danny simultaneously asked with vitriol.
“Well, I was simply flying around when I sensed the presence of two of my adversaries, specifically of who are known to hate each other, yet to my surprise heard no sounds of a fight. Can you blame me for curiosity?”
“Curiousity, right, totally believable,” Danny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
“Yet it is true! I would love to know why the famous Red Huntress is not attacking Danny Phantom, the ghost who ruined her life.”
“How do you know that?” Valerie asked with suspicion.
Vlad paused very briefly, then said, “Why, it is known to all ghostdom that that is the Red Huntress’s motivation for ghost fighting is vengeance against all ghosts for the pain they have brought to her life, particularly Phantom, whose destructive nature caused the loss of her family’s wealth and subsequent plummet to the bottom of the social ladder.”
“I didn’t do that!” Danny argued. “Not intentionally. And she knows that now!”
“Oh? Does she? Is that what this is, some sort of chat where you spread lies in order to protect yourself?”
“I’m not lying!”
“Wait a moment,” Valerie said slowly. “I know that voice…” she gasped. “Mayor Masters?! You’re Vlad Masters, aren’t you?”
Vlad flinched in surprise, then recomposed himself. “Why, girl, I surely do not know what you mean.”
“No, I’m certain of it. I know ghosts can pass as human, and you and him sound exactly the same,” Valerie informed him.
Danny chuckled. “Honestly, I’m surprised that someone who’s allegedly an evil genius never thought to change his voice—you know I don’t deepen my voice around the public just to sound cool or something, right?”
Vlad narrowed his eyes at Danny (Danny suspected he had in fact thought such), then turned to Valerie. “Fine. Say I am Vlad Masters. Tell me then, girl, did you know that there’s another ghost who has been hiding among humans? One that goes to your school, one that you’re even on-and-off friends with? One who, in fact, is here with us now?” He grinned victoriously, apparently thinking he was going to trigger some big chaotic reveal.
Danny then had an idea; Vlad was looking at Valerie, not him, and as he no longer needed to use the rings… He shifted back into human form. Star glanced at him and grinned, shifting into her human look too.
“Yeah, I know,” Valerie said. “Two, actually; that’s what we were talking about, in fact.”
Vlad then noticed Danny and Star. “What the…” he trailed, looking at the two in surprise. “You… there’s another halfa? Wait, no… you’re a full ghost, with transformation powers? Hold on… you’re the girl that went missing!”
“More than went missing,” Star said. “Although, I don’t remember it.”
“I see…” Vlad said, though he seemed to be paying more attention to Danny now, a strange expression crossing his face. “Daniel, how are you floating right now?”
“What do you mean?” Danny asked, thrown off by the question, then realized why Vlad was asking that. “Wait, can you not fly in human form?”
“No, I cannot… And, come to think of it, where was the flash that usually accompanies your form change?” Vlad looked concerned for some reason.
A suspicion came over Danny. “You… don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?” Vlad asked, with mild dread—obviously he was thinking that somehow Danny had become a full ghost.
“Ghosts, halfas included, are influenced by their psyche, emotions, and beliefs,” Danny explained.
“I know that,” Vlad spat. “It’s why my ghost form looks more like a proper ghost and why yours still looks so childlike—I wasn’t in denial for a year, pretending to be a silly kid with superpowers!”
Danny laughed. “Me, in denial? Dude, that belief influence includes powers. I can use all my powers, including flight, in human form because I’ve accepted it’s just an appearance change—you, apparently, have not. I’d say the difference between your ghost and human form is more of a sign of denial than mine looking similar.”
Vlad narrowed his eyes. “What are you blabbering on about, boy? Halfas are symbiotes, two manifestations of a being sharing one body—one human, one ghost, completely divided.”
“If that’s what you believe, sure, it’ll manifest that way,” Danny told Vlad. “But isn’t what you’re seeing now proof that that isn’t actually the truth?” He spread his arms out and floated back a little. “I mean, if it’s two separate things, why can I use all my powers in human form, including flight?” He tucked in and flipped forward, rolling in the air. “Why do things like the trackers, stronger ghost shields, and the thermos work on us in either form? Why do we not need to breathe, and bleed ectoplasm? Why are we unaging?”
Vlad was silent, seeming unsure how to respond to that point.
“You can fly in human form too, I bet,” Danny told him.
Vlad frowned. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breathe, and changed back to his human form, using his rings. He floated for a moment, opened his eyes, looking down, and like a cartoon character stepping off a cliff began to fall; then he tensed, a look of concentration across his face, and halted. He rose up then, looking a little disturbed.
“See? Told you,” Danny said smugly. “If you believe you can use the power in human form, you can use it. If you don’t, you can’t. I recommend you check out some of the books on halfas in the Ghost Zone library, if you want more info on it.”
“The Ghost Zone… library?”
“Yeah? Where do you think all the librarian ghosts go?”
Vlad floated there quietly for a moment, then said, “Yes, the Ghost Zone library, of course. I think I’ll do that.” He changed back to his ghost form, still using the rings, and quickly flew off; Danny wondered if next time he’d have the rings or not.
“Dude, I think you gave Plasmius an existential crisis,” Star commented.
“Yeah; he even forgot about me figuring out his identity,” Valerie noted.
“Hopefully it keeps him busy for a while,” Danny said. “So, Star, do you think Vlad could have anything to do with your murder?”
Star took a moment to consider that. “No, I don’t think so,” she concluded. “He didn’t seem worried enough, you know? He was more concerned with you. I feel like if he murdered me he would have been more concerned with finding out everything I know about it.”
“True,” Danny said. “Then again, he’s a pretty good liar…”
“Yeah, he’s gotta be, being a politician,” Star reasoned. “We’ll keep him on the suspect list, but I really don’t think he did it—I mean, his ‘gotcha’ with Valerie was that one ghost was hiding in the school, not two.”
“True,” Danny acknowledged. “Also, really can’t believe he knew so little about halfas,” he added, still surprised at that. “Like, sure, I recently learned that too, but I’ve only been one for a year, he’s been one 20 years.”
“Well, you learned that stuff because you actually talk to ghosts,” Star pointed out. “He just intimidates them and forces them to work for him, right?”
“Or tricks them,” Valerie said bitterly. “Humans too. Ugh, I can’t believe I’ve been working for a ghost this whole time!”
“Working for?” Danny said, on edge. Was she more closely aligned with Vlad than he thought?
“Well, he’s the one that got me the suit, and gets me upgrades for it—or, got me upgrades, pretty sure he won’t be doing that anymore.”
“I know he made it, but I thought he kinda just let you loose to hunt and that was it.”
“Well, occasionally he gives me missions,” Valerie revealed. “Small things, like capturing specific ghosts or finding ghost objects that made it into town; he said it was always to protect the city, that the ghosts and objects were bad ones that got loose and he could take care of them once I got them, but now knowing he’s Plasmius… Ugh, this sucks!” she shouted, putting her hands on her helmet. “I need time to think,” she decided, and zoomed off.
“That went… well, right?” Star asked tepidly after a few moments of silence.
“As well as it could have gone, I guess,” Danny agreed. No one had gotten injured, they had a tentative truce with Valerie, and Vlad was likely going to be quiet for a few days at least while he read up on halfas and came to terms with the true nature of them.
“So, um, should we continue training?”
Danny glanced at his watch. “Unfortunately, my curfew is coming up; don’t you have one too?”
“Nah; Mom’s away on a film shoot and Lance is still too nervous about me liking him that he doesn’t enforce the rules,” Star revealed; Danny was a little jealous about that. “But, I gotta go home too,” Star decided, with a look of realization. “Gotta go do that book report that’s due tomorrow.”
“Book report?” Danny said, on high alert as he switched back to Phantom form (couldn’t be flying through town as Fenton, after all). Right, they had one of those. “Crap; I totally forgot about that! Man, I didn’t even read the book!”
“Yeah I didn’t either,” Star admitted, shifting back to her ghost form as well. “Totally forgot we even need to do it until like two seconds ago. But, that’s what Sparknotes is for!”
And thus, the two flew off.