Year Two: Progression

Year Two: Progression is the first fic in the Amity trilogy. It follows Dany Fenton/Phantom in his sophomore year of high school, as his world is thrown upside down again.

Prologue
September 2, 2008

It was too crazy to be true.

Danny wasn't that surprised when we woke up. Whether it was from the stress of starting his sophomore year, or saving Danielle from becoming a pile of sludge two nights ago, he wasn't sure. But for a few minutes, he just sat in bed, chuckling at the absurdity of it all. Nothing in life was that simple. There was no way his parents would accept him that quickly. Masters' Blasters? Sounded like a cheesy video game for kids. Tucker as mayor? Pfft. And of course, there was his guilty pleasure of riding...well, flying into the sunset with Sam. He doubted that would come true any time soon.

Could it happen though? Danny had been asking himself that the entire summer. He wasn't quite sure, but in the past weeks, he felt something he hadn't noticed before. Or maybe...he just hadn't realized before. Was it worth risking his friendship, or pushing away the girl he wanted desperately to keep close? Why did girls have to be this challenging? Where could he get advice? Tuc-no, no way. His dad? Nope, even worse. Jazz? The psychology part might help, but he questioned her ability to keep her mouth shut.

He'd think about it later. Danny grabbed his towel and went for the shower. It was going to be a long day, with or without this on his mind.

It was still dark when Sam left the house.

That was how things had been for most of the summer. Get up early, change quickly, leave a note, and head to school before Mom and Dad woke up. She hadn't gotten a decent sleep since Nocturne, but it was better than the alternative. The night had truly become her friend. It was the only time she felt alive, secure, surrounded by people who didn't care who she was, who accepted her. She could make a difference. It didn't matter what sperm and egg she came from, her family was with Jazz and Tucker and Danny...Danny. That stupid, clueless, immature dork.

That one person she couldn't imagine life without.

Part of her wanted to share what was going on. It wasn't worth it. They didn't need her burden. Danny had enough on his plate. Heck, they would all have a lot on their plates in the next few weeks. No, this was her burden, and hers alone. Besides, they understood having annoying parents. She could handle it.

Tucker straightened his beret.

A whole new year approached, and he liked his chances. Sophomore year meant a wave of new freshmen, fresh faces, new chances to finally prove his skills as a ladies' man. Now that Star was officially off the market, he had to search for other options.

But that would have to wait. His eyes flashed to the box on his dresser. The contents: two flash drive. Inside the first was all the data he had on Danny, ghosts, Vlad, the Ghost Zone, Valerie, and Fenton technology. He doubted even Danny knew how much information it contained. And the less people who knew about it, the better. You never knew who could be watching. The other drive contained his magnum opus.

He spent months working on the program, making sure it stayed safe, testing it whenever he could. Every fiber of his body screamed not to do it. Every step of the plan could go horribly wrong, and he wasn't sure he was ready to do Step One. Fear didn't describe what he felt about what he was going to do.

But there might not be a choice. There was enough to worry about today. He turned away from the box and went upstairs for breakfast.

It was three nights ago when Valerie's world was shattered again.

Vlad Masters was a ghost. The mayor, the man who gave her the power to make things right, who gave her direction in her darkest point in life, was a ghost. He wasn't being overshadowed, she had seen him become one with Vlad Plasmius, as if they were two halfs becoming whole.

Almost like Danielle. Never in a million lifetimes could Valerie imagine something...no, someone like Danielle. It didn't make sense: how could someone be both human and ghost at once? Did that mean they were only half alive? Was Vlad a...half-ghost too?

Why would Vlad reach out to her? She knew they had Phantom as a common enemy. The ghost that ruined her life, got Dad fired, forcing her to pick up whatever remains of herself remained. The being that attacked the last mayor. If one thing had been clear, it was that Danny Phantom was a monster. Ghostly scum. But now she wasn't even sure about that.

Danielle trusted him. He had worked to save her. Valerie hadn't forgotten his despair when he thought Danielle was gone for good. Everything he told her about Danielle that night was true, which was more than Vlad could claim. And Danielle was remarkably similar to him, physically at least. What did that mean for-

"Val,"

Valerie blinked. "Huh?"

"We're here,"

Sure enough, they were at Casper High. Valerie gave her best attempt at a smile. "Thanks, Daddy,"

He smiled warmly back. "I know it's the first day of school, but...have a good day,"

She rolled her eyes. "I'll try,"

Dad nodded. "Hey, you free tonight?"

Her heart sank. "Sorry, I couldn't get my shift off,"

The hopeful light in his eyes faded. "That's okay. Maybe sometime later this week?"

"I'll see what I can do," she answered, knowing she probably couldn't make it work. Between working at the Nasty Burger and Dad's late night security guard shifts, it had been hard to just sit and have dinner together. "Love you, Daddy,"

"Love you too, pumpkin," he said, kissing her on the cheek. She took one last glance as he drove off, shrinking into the distance. Before, she was able to place all her anger in fighting ghosts. They were demons who did nothing but hurt people, and she could make them pay. Now, she didn't know what to believe. She didn't know what she had been fighting for.

The harder Val thought about it, the murkier everything felt. She couldn't keep this up: she had to focus on school, getting behind this early because of ghosts wasn't an option. The only way was to get answers, but where could she get them? The Fentons wouldn't know, and they might call her dad. Vlad was obviously out of the picture. Danielle was the most trustworthy, but Valerie had no idea where she was, left alone how to find her. That left...no, no way.

But she had no choice. Valerie hoped she would never, ever have to do this. Unfortunately, the only thing clear was where the key to all this was.

She would have to find Phantom.

Chapter 1
No sooner had Valerie walked into first hour when the beeping of her phone snapped her from the murk of her thoughts. Of course, she was dragged right back in one second later.

Vlad: Contact me when you have a moment.

Valerie froze in the doorway. Did Vlad find out she knew? Did he find Danielle? Did-

OOF!

Aaaaannnd…there went all her books. Her phone clattered away as she stumbled to the floor.

"Watch it! Other people have to get through too, you know!"

"Well, excuse me for-" Valerie stopped mid-sentence. "Star?"

The girl's frown disappeared. "Valerie, hey! Good to see you!"

Valerie grinned. If there was any remnant of her past life left, it was Star Jemison. They had been best friends since third grade, the only person who remained loyal to her when Dad lost his job. She was blunt, intelligent, but still fiercely loyal and caring, all of which Valerie respected immensely.

"So, how was your summer?"

"Busy," Valerie replied. "How was Arizona?" Every summer, Star went to Phoenix for about a month to see her dad.

"Other than the sunburn, it was great!"

They shared experiences and talked about the summer right up until the teacher came in. It wasn't much, but at least it was a trace of normal life. A world that she knew was forever beyond her reach.

"WHO CHANGED THE MEN-"

The Lunch Lady didn't get to finish. Danny capped his thermos and waved to the cafeteria. "It's good. Go back to your…uhhh…lunch, I think? I know it's the first day of school, but hang in there!" He turned intangible and flew through the window. About two minutes later, he was back in human form sitting with the group.

"Not worth the wise crack?" Jazz asked as Danny took a seat.

"It's the first day, I didn't want to make too big of a mess," he said with a shrug. "Besides, the so-called-cooks seemed to done that just fine,"

"How is this a pizza?!" Tucker hollered.

Sam was getting some suspicious glances, which she returned with a scowl. "It's not me this time!" Seriously, change the menu once, and you get blamed for everything.

"At least they're trying to be healthy," Jazz offered.

"Yeah, because nothing reads healthy like pizza," Sam quipped. Every passing second made her more relieved that she brought lunch from home. The "veggie pita pizza" was one of the most disgusting things she'd ever seen. It was a lukewarm slice of pita bread topped with a layer of cottage cheese, something that was probably green a month ago, and brown broccoli.

"This is not a pizza!" Tucker cried. "This is..."

"Vile?" Danny offered. "Revolting? Pathetic? Nasty?"

"All of the above!" Tucker finished. "This is a crime against food!"

"Aren't you overreacting just a little?" Jazz tried.

"No," Danny and Tucker said unanimously. Jazz sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I hate it too. So, how's the first day going so far?"

"Let's see...three rejections so far, but hey, I got a girl's number!" Tucker said, shrugging off the failures.

"You've tried asking out four girls already?" Sam said indignantly.

"Well...six. The other two ran away without a word," Tucker admitted.

"You got a number? Let me see," Danny asked.

"Read and weep," Tucker replied smugly, pulling out a sheet of paper. Danny took a quick glance. "Uhh...Tuck? Did you get this number around...end of 2nd period?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"This is literally the time and date you asked her," Danny answered.

The techno-geek's face dropped. "Huh?"

"095-209-0208. 9:52 am, September 2, 2008,"

"Hey, you found a girl who'll give you the time of day," Sam joked. "First day of school and you've already made progress,"

"Shut up," Tucker whimpered, turning red as his beret.

"Cheer up, man. You'll find the girl out there for you someday," Danny comforted. Judging by his tone, he was trying to convince himself more than Tucker. "Other than the Queen of Mystery Meat, nothing worth mentioning."

"Meh," Sam replied. Jazz seemed disappointed in their responses.

"Well, what time should we start ghost patrol tonight? Seven work for everybody?"

"Sounds like a plan," Tucker agreed.

"Sure," Jazz said. "Danny, have you told them yet?"

"Told us what?" Sam asked.

"There's your answer," Danny said, his face darkening. "The Froot Loop's having a press conference next week. Dad said something about a big announcement."

The non-Fentons at the table tensed noticeably.

"Did he say anything else?" said Sam.

"No, but he seemed pretty excited. I wouldn't have thought much about it if Mom didn't seem so enthusiastic about it too,"

"It has to be something about ghosts," Tucker guessed. "What else could get your both of your parents thrilled that easily?"

"That's what we're thinking," Jazz noted. "Unfortunately, that's all we have for the moment. It could be anything,"

"Anything as long as it's horrible," Sam said gravely. "It's not like he's done a lot of good for Amity Park."

"I don't everyone would say that," Jazz argued. "He's expanding and redesigning the urban area, the population has grown by about 20% since he got elected, and he's expanded business and job opportunities."

"Are you seriously defending my nemesis?" Danny said incredulously.

"I'm giving credit where it's due and acknowledging another perspective!" Jazz said, raising her hands in protest. Sam clenched her fork tighter. She sounded exactly like Mom and Dad, arguing about how good it was that Vlad had become the new mayor. If only she could tell them about what he was really was…

"Well, in terms of ghosts, we all remember the last time he tried something," Tucker pointed out.

"Yeah. Not only was there Vortex, but a tempest of emotions," Jazz replied. Danny shook in head in disbelief at the bad pun.

"Either way, we have to prepare ourselves for whatever's coming," he concluded. "Whether it be ghost, or something else,"

No turning back now.

Valerie exhaled and pressed call.

It was a few seconds before he picked up. "Hello?"

Act calm, like nothing's happened. "Sorry it took so long to get to you, Vlad,"

"Oh, Valerie! My apologies if I contacted you at a bad time,"

"No, no, no, it's fine." she replied. He sounded like the Vlad she knew…or rather, the Vlad she thought she knew. Hopefully he didn't sense anything. "I hope you're doing okay after what happened Saturday night,"

"Well, still a bit rattled, but I'm feeling better," he answered. "Thank you again for saving me,"

"Anywhere, anytime," Valerie lied through her teeth. "As long as it's not during the school day,"

He chuckled on the other end. "Of course not. To be honest, my memories of what happened are still foggy…come to think about it, I can't remember most of Saturday."

So that was the reason he called. Trying to cover what happened in case she was suspicious. All she had to do was play along. "Maybe you were possessed by that ghost?"

"Overshadowed is the term, but yes, I highly suspect it. I was in my office, and the next thing I remember was waking in that cell with the girl tied on that gurney. I feared for my life, how did you know to find me?"

He's testing Val, think. "Well…the girl ghost looked so much like Phantom…maybe she's his sister or something?"

"Potentially. They did look quite similar,"

"I figured that Phantom might go looking for her, so I kept an eye out for him. Turns out, he found me. I got him pinned, but he said that you were in danger…normally I wouldn't trust a thing he says, no, but I realized if you actually were in trouble…I couldn't risk not at least checking to make sure."

"Well, thank goodness you did," Vlad answered after a brief pause. Valerie noticed a tinge of irritation. "I'm surprised that you saved the girl, though,"

"Phantom's the reason I knew you were in trouble. I owed him at least that much, but we're even now. The next time we meet, he's going down,"

"I see. Just a word of caution, Ms. Gray: while you may take the high road, ghosts will most likely not."

"I know, but I like to think I'm better than my enemy,"

"Very well. Are you free tonight?"

What did he need for tonight? "Uhhh...I'm working until 9. Does it need to be tonight?"

There was a brief silence. "If you could handle it tomorrow, then no. It's nothing important, just something I wanted checked."

"I'm free tomorrow night,"

"Oh, then that works perfectly! Thank you again, Valerie,"

"No problem, sir," she replied. What was he up to now? She would have to worry about it later. She had a job to do. Literally.

(6:58 pm)

No sooner had Jazz parked the car when Danny heard screams. Instinctively, he opened the door and listened.

"What are-"

"SHH!" Danny hissed. "I need to hear," The noise was almost a buzz, like a bee flying around his ear. A human wouldn't be able to pick up, but hey, that's what ghost powers were for. He concentrated harder until more of the sound came into focus.

"Where is the ghost child? I challenge you to a duel, A test of your worth!"

There was the unmistakable whizzing noise of an ecto-blast.

"Yeah, I heard it too. Any idea who it is?" Jazz asked her brother, who shook his head.

"I don't recognize his voice. But if he wanted to make an order, he could have at least used the drive-thru. I'll radio you guys once I figure out his location." Looking around for a spot free from curious eyes, he jumped back into the car. "Going Ghost!" Phasing through the roof, he flew in the direction of the noise.

"Come out and fight, boy! Or do you not care for them, Your city and people!"

Two blocks later, the ghost came into view. It was about seven feet tall and encased in what looked like black samurai armor. Purple eyes stared through the opening in his helmet. A gleaming white sword lay in his left hand, currently being used to turn cars into sushi. Danny could see a crowd running desperately away, but more than one civilian was pinned down by the growing piles of rubble. First priority was getting everybody to safety. As he reached for his earbuds, a familiar voice interrupted him.

"What have you done now?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Why does it always have to be my fault when something goes wrong?"

"You tell me!" Valerie growled, adjusting her hoverboard so the two were at the same height.

"I don't have time for this-"

"That makes two of us, Phantom! I've got less than 15 minutes before I have to go back to work because you-"

"Shut up and listen!" Danny snapped. "There's another ghost turning Amity into Hiroshima! Get the civilians out of there so I can deal with him!" Not waiting for a response, he flew towards the scene.

"Hey! Samurai Slice and Dice!" he yelled as he shot an ecto-blast at it. The ghost deflected it without even turning its head.

"You finally come, And not a second too late, Pariah slayer."

"Leave the humans out of this!" Danny growled. "You're fighting me, and no one else!" The ghost turned to face him.

"And to you, the same. No mortal friends or ghost Can save you now, boy."

He raised one hand, and a ghostly shield surrounded the two of them. It was just a city block and them.

"All that I request Is to test your strength myself, Nothing more or less."

Danny paused. "You just want to fight me?"

The ghost merely nodded.

"So if I beat you, will you leave?"

The ghost nodded again.

"Are you ready then, To fight the great Sengoku, To the bitter end?"

"You'll be saying sayonara soon enough," Danny said, launching a blast at the ghost. Sengoku cast it away with his blade and charged.

Danny barely dodged a slash, and he flew away to get some more time. Blast after blast he fired at the ghost, only for it to be deflecting. "Okay, that's not working...how about this?"

He felt his body temperature drop as he sent out an ice blast, which Sengoku dodged. The second blast was more successful, freezing the samurai ghost up to his elbow. Unfortunately, one roar of fury later, the ghost had busted his hand out again. This time, he grabbed the longbow from his back and launched a series of yellow blasts. Danny managed to avoid all but one, which landed in his shoulder with all the sensation of a real arrow. Gritting his teeth from the pain, Danny decided to change game plans. Hopefully he could actually pull this one off.

Ducking behind a building, he scrunched up his eyes and mustered all the energy he had into making a duplicate. When he opened them, he could see a duplicate back at him. The clone went for the frontal assault, and Danny turned invisible to get behind the enemy.

Controlling a clone at once was harder than he wanted. It was like trying to watch two different tv screens at once. "Well, I know I won't be a security guard," Danny noted before flying behind Sengoku. His duplicate was doing its best to keep the ghost busy, but it was still working at half-strength.

"Unsastifying! I expected far more, boy! What an utter-"

Danny shot a ghost ray, this time hitting Fruity Ninja in the back of his head. Sengoku turned around. "-shame." He charged forward again, but this time Danny was ready: he let out a Ghostly Wail, sending the samurai flying back into its own ghost shield. As it tumbled to the ground, Danny hit it with another blast for good measure.

"We had a deal! Now, the hell out of Amity Park!"

Sengoku's eyes narrowed before a chuckle leaked from his helmet.

Very well, Phantom, I will withdraw from your home, Until our next duel.

The ghost shield faded away. Sengoku sheathed its blade before letting out a noise between a shriek and a whistle. An echoing neigh came from the sky as a horse of mist came down, stopping to the left of the samurai. The ghost mounted his steed before disappearing into the night. Danny immediately turned to the crowd.

"Is everyone okay?"

"They're safe," Valerie said, flying back into Danny's range of view. "A couple of injuries, but nothing severe."

He sighed in relief. "Thank you,"

"You want to thank me? I need answers," she answered sharply. "You said you would give me information in exchange for helping save Dani. Fill your end of the bargain.

So that's what this was about. "Didn't you let me go?"

"I agreed not to keep you captive. I still need information, and I have some new questions."

"Like?"

"How did Dani become half-ghost?"

Danny's blood ran cold. If he told her, he'd have to tell her who he was, and about Vlad. Unfortunately, Valerie was far more inclined to believe Vlad than him. Then again, when was Valerie ever inclined to believe him?

"You wouldn't believe me,"

He had to dodge a shot from Valerie. "Quit dodging the question, you ectoplasmic scum,"

"Every time you're told something you don't agree with, you deny it. I know enough to know that you wouldn't accept it if your father told you, let alone me. I'm not wasting my breath talking to deaf ears,"

Valerie gave a venomous glare that was interrupted by a beeping. "I have to get back to work. This isn't over,"

She started to fly away, and a thought came to Danny. "Wait!"

She turned around, and for a moment Danny could see a glimpse of her true emotional state: tired, confused, frustrated, scared.

"I'll give you the truth once you prove you can accept it, but not a moment before."

And with that, he flew off into the night.

Somehow, Valerie managed to finish the last two hours of her shift.

I'll give you the truth once you prove you can accept it, but not a moment before.

It filled her with rage, but she knew Phantom was right. She knew she was stubborn, and she had never trusted Phantom. She still didn't trust him now, but right now he was the most reliable option to get the truth about Dani and Vlad. Her chance to get the truth had slipped through her fingers.

"Val!"

Dad? What was he...Valerie turned around to see him sitting in one of the booths.

"Hey, sweetheart. How was your night?"

She smiled. "It was alright. A bit busy,"

"I would expect so." he replied. "I heard about the ghost,"

Her heart sank. "Dad, I'm sorry. It was during my break, and I couldn't-"

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked. At first, she thought she had misheard him. "What?"

"You helped people who were hurt and in trouble." he said. "Now let's go get a bite to eat. I want to have dinner with my daughter,"

Valerie smiled, and unfortunately sniffled a bit. "Thanks, Dad,"

Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the booth with two burger combos, a jumbo sized French fry bucket, and two diet sodas. It wasn't the ideal family dinner, but it would work.

"Hey, Dad? Can I ask you something?"

He looked up from his bacon cheeseburger. "What is it?"

"It's just...how do I say this? The past few days, I've been thinking and now everything I thought I knew has gone down the drain. I don't know what to do, I can't get it out of my mind, and I have no idea how to get answers,"

He thought for a second. "Everybody has that happen to them at least once in their life."

"Really?"

"It happened to me. Once when I got laid off, and when...when your mother left. I remember feeling so...so frustrated and confused and alone, and in some of the darkest spots in my life. But I remembered that I couldn't wallow in despair. I had you to take care of, and that came first. So I stopped thinking and just focused on the next step. I guess my advice to you would be...don't focus on what you can't change and don't know. Focus on what you can do now, keep an eye out for the small things, and the answer will come to you. Does that help?"

"Thanks, Dad,"

He smiled. "Valerie, I know this past year has been hard on the both of us. But I've seen you grow so much in these last few months, and I couldn't be more proud than I am,"

Valerie wiped a tear from her eye. "Thanks, Daddy,"

There was so much that she was still lost with, and so much she still had to do. But right now, she needed to focus on being there for her dad. She wouldn't stop hunting ghosts. But one day soon, she would get the truth from Phantom. One way or another.