Danny Phantom - Gender Bender (Discontinued)

Chapter Three

"The Mindscape,' Frostbite began after taking Danny to what appeared to be the edge of the Ghost Zone, "is a wonderful and mysterious and awful place to be. You can gain great knowledge from the Mindscape and clealy see things that were once foggy. But get trapped in the Mindscape, and you may never come out. Many ghosts who have enetered their minds have ceased to exist as sentient beings, and instead have fallen from the level of ecto ghost, to what we call call haunting ghosts. They are the lost souls that roam about the human world stuck between here and the afterlife. You humans are so insensitive going on 'ghost tours' just to see their misery!"

Danny cracked a small smile. As they flew over here, Frostbite had told her that she must contact and make peace with the Phantom inside her, learn to control it. Phantom had been dormant until her breakdowns and was now slowly waking up. It seemed fitting, as it was Vlad who drove Danny so far down the drain, that it was also Plasmius who awoke the Phantom. Obviously, Danny had never had superpowers before she gained them, and still, her ecto blasts and freeze rays and other various powers always seemed rather weak in comparison to Vlad Plasmius. And now she knew why.

"Your uncle," Frostbite continued, "came here when he was about twenty-five. About a year after gaining his powers. And I taught him what I am now going to teach you. It was sad, really. He had so much potential and strength, but he grew impatient with the lessons. And..." His voice faded out and his face dropped.

Danny thought for a moment then said, "He got stuck in the Mindscape."

The bear slowly nodded and sighed. "And like I said, not many people can escape their own minds. And I don't think Vladimir entirely did. It was about ten years ago when that happened, and he hasn't been the same since."

"If you mean 'hasn't been the same' as in 'his humanity had drastically deteriorated', then yeah, he hasn't been the same." She crossed her arms and humphed. She found comfort in the fact that the anger that filled her when she heard Vlad's name was not her own temperament, but the Phantom's too. Hey, I'm an angry girl with a six-thousand year old spirit inside me. What's one to do? She quietly chuckled to herself. Frostbite sat down in a lotus position, which seemed impossible for someone of his stature. Danny followed and pressed her knuckles together in front of her as the bear did. "Uh, are you going to teach me how to meditate? Isn't that, I don't know, very cliché, using Eastern traditions?"

"Well, if they work I don't see the problem. You know, the Asian (and Australasian) region is filled with a lot of ecto energy, and they found a way to contact us long before any Westerner." Danny shrugged and closed her eyes. She took several deep breaths, counting to four as she inhaled, and exhaled for six counts, as Frostbite instructed. She could feel the air pass through her and she soon built up a steady rhythm of "breath in, one..two..three..four, and out, one..two..three..four..five..six." It was a strange sensation. It felt as though the air was water being poured onto hot rocks, slowly cooling them down to their original state. Was I that angry?

She could not recall how long she stayed in that position, on that ledge overlooking the void, nor did she care. The fog in her mind had begun to dissolve. The knots of her thoughts unraveled themselves. And the stream of air flowing through her felt as smooth and cool as metal. The echo of the Ghost Zone floated about her, passing her ears as a whisper and tousling her hair gently. Frostbite had been standing up for the past hour watching her. He thought to himself, Vlad never stayed this still and focused for so long. She's got some strength, that girl. He smiled. Oh, what's this? He frowned slightly as he gazed upon Danny. Her ghoulish glow had gradually instensified, and he only realised then. He knew he must not disturb her in this state. She was entering her Mindscape, and distracting her halfway through would surely trap her inside. Another echo merged with the ambience of the Zone. It was an incomprehensible mumble of sounds, but it sent shivers down his spine. The murmur grew and evolved into defined sounds. It came in waves, and each time it was stronger and clearer.

Phantom...

Frostbite raised his eyebrows and gasped.

Phantom.....

The sounds were coming from Danny's direction.

Frostbite? What...

"Danny?" he said. He jumped back. He had broken the transcending silence. But was it silent?

Frostbite, what's happening?

Danny's face scrunched up. It was silent. The sounds were in his head. He went to call her name again, but bit his tongue. It was silent. Instead, he thought her name. Danny?

Frostbite! What is this?

Well, you aren't moving your lips, yet you are speaking. I'd say it's telepathy.

The girl's eyes shot open and she jumped up.
Telepathy? Oh gosh! This is cool. She squinted. This is weird. She took a step back and looked the bear up and down. Very weird.

Indeed. He put a comforting paw on her shoulder. Try speaking normally now.

It took her a few moments as she slowly stretched her jaw, but finally she spoke. "Hello!" She shook herself. "Oh, whoa! I'm telepathic! That's awesome!" She fist bumped the air and giggled. Frostbite grinned, but looked puzzled. "What is it?"

"Well," he started. "I have never known of a ghost that was telepathic. And not once in that book does it mention either Phatom or Plasmius possing that power."

"So Vlad can't do this?" Frostbite shook his head. "I wonder if there is anything else that I can do that he can't, apart from my wail and ice powers."

A sheepish grin crept onto Frostbite's face. "And that self division thing Vlad can do."

Danny scrunched up her face. "Hey, I can totally duplicate myself." She squeezed every muscle in her body. Pop! She had made two, no, three duplicates! Frostbite gasped and jumped with surprise. "Well, that's new," the Dannys said in unison. She squeezed herself back into one. "I can usually only make one copy of myself. Unless I'm really fired up, then that's a whole different story..." And wasn't that easy? All this power... The ghost vigorously shook her head. Yes, it was easy. But these powers are going to be used for good, alright? Alright.

Frostbite nodded slowly and patted her back. "Ah, you are connecting with the Phantom. The telepathy was the first step. And now, O Great One, I think that is enough for one day. You can only take so much in all at once, and I'm sure this is all very foreign to you, possibly even concerning." Danny nodded, her head down in thought. "But do not be afraid. I am here to help you through this, and," he got down to one knee and cupped her hand in his giant paws. "I will not fail you as I did Vlad, this I vow."

They said their farewells and Danny flew off towards the Fenton portal, churning all of the new formation around in her mind.