The Prince and the Poltergeist - Chapter One

"I've already been posting this on FanFiction.net, but it's been a big project this month (mostly because I got the Danny Phantom series on DVD) so it goes with the month's updates. Plus, I get to make use of all these great Danny Phantom GIFs that I keep running across on Pinterest." -Casey

Chapter One: Lord Masters’ Apprentice

Danny walked from his room into the laboratory of the castle and looked around inquisitively. “Lord Masters?” he called. “I’m here on time! Ya know, for a change.”

There was no answer so the young boy walked over to the table where the ghost studying equipment was kept. There were containment units coated with anti-ghost residue, sensors that blinked to life as Danny drew near, beakers filled with a verity of glowing liquids, and a small sign that read, “Do Not Touch. This means you, Danny!”

Danny glared at the sign and then proceeded to knock it off the table with a swat of his hand. Then he caught sight of his reflection in a small round mirror that was sitting on the table. He was still taken aback by his ghostly appearance, even though he’d been living with it for nearly a month. His white hair, green eyes, and the eerie glow surrounding him all reminisced of a different person. He took the mirror in his hands and frowned down at it. The glass began to shimmer with a green light and Danny dropped it in surprise. The mirror stopped just short of hitting the floor and then floated up into the air until it was hovering just above Danny’s head.

“Now, now, Prince Daniel,” a familiar voice echoed. “There is a reason for that sign, I assure you.”

Vladimir Masters appeared before him, holding the mirror carefully in his hands as he shook his head at the boy.

“Lord Masters!” Danny exclaimed. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Of course you didn’t,” the man sighed. “I was using my powers of invisibility.”

Masters put the mirror back on the table and then strode to the center of the room. “Which, incidentally, is just what we’re going to be practicing today,” he announced. A ring of light past over the man and he transformed right before Danny’s eyes. His black clothes and cape changed to white, with black accents, his well combed grey hair was spiked and black, his blue eyes were now completely red, and his skin was a pale green color.

“Now let’s see if you can become invisible without going intangible for a change,” the man smirked.

Danny frowned determinedly at the man and his eyes began to glow. “Invisibility! Coming right up!” he said. He held his arms out to either side and he did indeed become translucent, but unbeknownst to him, he was also slowly sinking into the floor. “Ha! See! Just call me Inviso-Bill!”

“Uh-huh,” Vladimir sighed. “Do me a favor and make sure I turned off the lights while you’re down there.”

“What?” Danny managed to ask before he realized that he was already waist deep in the floor. He cried out in a panic, which only made him sink faster to the lower levels of the castle. He fell all the way into the entryway of the castle where he plummeted down from the high ceiling to the stone floor below.

Danny pulled himself onto his knees and stared down at the crack he had made in the floor. He grabbed his cape and started trying to buff the crack away, but Vladimir appeared in that spot, causing him to jump back.

“I…uh…I can pay for that,” Danny assured him with a nervous smile.

Vladimir glared down at the boy in disappointment. “Prince Daniel, honestly, it’s as if you don’t even want to gain control of your powers.”

Danny jumped to his feet and stared at his mentor pleadingly. “No! Lord Masters, I do! I swear!”

“The King and Queen trusted you to me,” the man sighed as he turned his back to the boy. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell them that I’ve failed to train you. And they were so looking forward to seeing you again, too.”

“What am I, invisible?!” Danny shouted.

Vladimir turned back to the boy, but found that Danny was nowhere to be seen. The man blinked in surprise and failed to notice when the boy reappeared behind him, dropping his invisibility just long enough to shout, “Boo!”

Vladimir wasn’t startled, but he turned around to look for Danny in annoyance. “Oh sure,” the man scoffed. “You can fly around unseen, but you can’t keep yourself from falling through the ground. Do you really think that your parents are going to coat the entire Kingdom in anti-ghost residue just to keep you from falling to China?”

Danny reappeared floating at Vladimir’s side, his long ghostly tail trailing where his legs had once been. He shrugged his shoulders with a lighthearted smile. “Eh, it’d be nice,” he replied.

Vladimir pointed his finger at Danny and a beam of energy shot from it, sending the boy flying into one of the many stone pillars lining the entryway.

“Hey! What was that for?!” Danny cried in surprise.

“Why didn’t you go intangible to avoid that attack?” his teacher asked disappointedly.

“I wasn’t ready!” the ghost-boy complained.

“Ready. Set. Go,” Vladimir said before he shot another beam of energy at his student. Danny leapt out of the way and watched as the pillar he’d been standing next to cracked and blacked from the attack. Another beam quickly followed and Danny had to fly up into the air to avoid it.

“Quit it!” he yelled.

“I suggest that you put up a shield,” Vladimir sighed as he shot at the boy again. Danny dodged the attack and then began rubbing his hands together frantically.

“Shield, shield, shield,” he muttered. “Charge energy in hands…green glow…and…”

Danny’s hand did begin to glow, but then a beam of green energy shot from them straight at Lord Masters. The man raised an energy shield before his face without lifting a finger, blocking Danny’s attack.

“Do I get points for that?” the boy asked nervously.

The ring of light passed over Vladimir again and he returned to his human form. “There is no ‘A’ for effort in my class, Prince Daniel,” he replied. “Only a ‘D’ for Disappointment.”

Masters made his way up one of the long stairways that lead to the second floor. Danny trailed after him, flying silently through the air.

“So, that’s it?” the boy asked. “No more lessons for the day?”

“I have a meeting with the Manson family this afternoon,” Masters replied. “So you’re going to have to stay confined to the lab until they depart.”

“What? For how long?” Danny sighed.

“It might actually take the entire week to complete our business,” Masters shrugged.

“A week?!” the boy shouted only inches from Vladimir’s ear.

“Yes, a week! And I don’t want their visit disturbed by any ghostly wailing!” the man scolded.

They were on the second floor now and soon they were before the laboratory doors. Vladimir pulled one of the doors open and gestured that Danny should go inside. The boy frowned but flew into the room with no other protests.

“What’s the harm in anyone seeing me anyway?” Danny asked as he lowered himself onto the floor. “Even if I get complete control of my powers, I’ll still look like a freak.”

“You’re only half-ghost, my dear boy,” his teacher said as he entered the room, transforming back into his ghost form as he did so. “I learned to control my powers…and so will you, in time.”

“I won’t learn anything if I have to stay cooped up in this lab!”

“Very well, Prince Daniel,” the man almost taunted. “Then change your appearance. If you can get yourself to look just like the old Prince then you will be free to roam the halls and return to your family.”

Danny blinked in surprise. Lord Masters had never even hinted to the idea that he could look like his normal self again. He knew that his teacher could revert back to his human form, but could he really do the same?

The boy closed his eyes and focused on the last time he remembered being a normal person. He had been in Castle Fentonworks with his sister and his parents. They had been telling stories of their long success as ghost hunters and about the Fenton Portal that would one day be able to open up into the ghost world.

A ring of light appeared around his waist and it split in two as it passed over his head and his ankles, changing his black clothes and cape white and eliminating the eerie glow that usually emanated around him. Danny stared down at his hands in amazement and then turned his attention to his own reflection on the polished metal floor. He had black hair and blue eyes again, he was normal again.

“I…I did it!” he exclaimed as he turned to his teacher. “Lord Masters, it worked!”

The ring of light shot over the boy again, even quicker this time, and he was transformed back into his ghostly form. Danny stared down at his hands in disappointment as they glowed with an eerie white light.

“But…I don’t understand,” Danny muttered in frustration.

Lord Masters smiled, his fangs visible, as he walked over to put a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“If you learn anything from our training today, Prince Daniel, let it be this; you can have anything you want if you’re willing to do whatever is necessary to take it.”

Vladimir stepped back again and gestured to the boy grandly. “You’ve just taken your first step towards being the crowned Prince of the Fenton’s Kingdom.”

Danny smiled; genuinely glad to hear that he had at least done something right for a change.

 “Lord Masters!” called a rather loud and gravelly female voice from outside the lab.
“Lesson's over! Stay out of sight!” Vladimir said quickly as he slammed his hand against a big green button in the corner.
“Wait! What are you---” Danny hardly got out before the glass cylinder shot out of the ground, trapping him. He glared at his teacher, crossed his arms and then became invisible. He couldn’t phase through this glass, so it was better that he just comply with orders until his teacher let him out.
Vladimir reverted back to his human form and went to answer the door. A teenage girl stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips and her chin jutting forward.
“Ah, Lady Manson,” Vladimir said cordially, ignoring the girl's crass demeanor. “What can I do for you, my dear?”
“You were supposed to meet with me and my parents about the Nurturing Nature Gala half an hour ago,” the girl complained.
“And you came all the way here to the lab to remind me! You really are such a responsible young girl!” Vladimir said quickly, ushering the girl out again.
Danny pressed his face against the glass, trying his best see the girl over Vladimir's shoulder.
She had short black hair, violet eyes with matching makeup, and she was wearing a gothic style black and green dress. Danny had met the other members of the Manson family before when he was still human, but none of them were anything like this girl. They were cheery and annoying, but she looked nothing of the sort.

Lord Masters slammed the door behind him and Danny was left alone in the laboratory. He hoped that this dumb old Gala or whatever would be over with soon so that he'd be free to roam the rest of the castle again. He hated being cooped up in the laboratory.

Danny Phantom (C) Nickelodeon 

Story (C) SuperheroGeek13