Danny Phantom: Clockwork Apprentice.

Reunions.

"Don't judge my life story by the chapter you walked in on."
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Note: Yes we are doing another time skip. Why? Because I can. Take it away Clocky!
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Danny lay panting on the ground as his duplicate got the ever half-living ectoplasm beat out of him. "Note to self, do not call Vlad up at 3 am just to ask if he bought the Packers yet." The boy groaned. Vlad was particularly merciless in the training because of it and even though Danny liked the challenge he could only keep up for so long. It had been nearly a year now, since he'd been free, two since he'd seen his family, three since he'd gained his powers and half died. Vlad kept him updated on how they were doing and even offered to take him to visit them when Danny learned Jazz, Tucker and even his father were still trying to find the lab to get him out. But Danny declined. He wanted to be stronger before he went to see them. He wanted to be something they could be proud of, that they wouldn't reject or fear. He wanted to be able to protect them. Which lead to the daily ass kicking from both Vlad and Frostbite. Neither of them seemed to have wanted to at first but Danny wore them down. He was good at that.

He groaned as he felt his duplicate dissipate, send the experience and a portion of the pain back to him. He lay flat on the ground and stopped his breath. Maybe if Vlad thought he was fully dead he'd leave him be. "Come on little badger, you still have fifteen minutes of training."

"I don't see how you smacking me around like a Discount Danny Ragdoll is training." Danny grumbled sitting up. "I think my bruises have bruises."

"You aren't always going to have the luxury of people stopping for you to summon a duplicate, or give you a time out. People can be ruthless, so I must be ruthless." Vlad answered.

"And what a swell job you are doing." Danny said cheerfully wincing as he stood. The injuries were already healing, that was a skill he'd trained during his time in the lab, since they never actually stitched him up. They just timed how quickly he'd heal. Which eventually became quite fast as his body learned it needed to be. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. And some big injuries still hurt even after they healed, since the nerves didn't quite keep up with his healing factor.

Vlad smirked and swung a fist at Danny who thankfully realised it was happening soon enough to dodge it. "Good, but not fast enough. When an enemy is stronger than you, you have to read their moves, know what they are going to do before they do it. Then use the knowledge to your advantage." This was something Danny had heard many times before. But he wasn't all knowing like Clockwork and as much as he's progressed, a year really isn't much time to learn such a thing as reading a person to know whether they will try to smash your face with their left hand or their right hand. No matter how powerful or ruthless his teachers.

Danny glanced at the clock on the bench nearby, since they were fighting in Vlad's mansion. It didn't seem to be moving. He squinted and dodged another swing. It definitely wasn't moving. He glanced outside a window and noticed a bird stopped in mid flight. "For the love of... Clockwork." He called. Vlad paused, Danny had been subconsciously dodging him without even paying attention. He shook his head as the familiar blue ghost made himself visible.

"I was wondering when you'd notice." Clockwork said in his usual monotone voice.

"How long have you been messing with our time?" Vlad asked noticing the bird.

"About an hour. The training was set to finish about forty minutes ago." Clockwork sounded amused. Danny felt like this was pay back for having drawn on the ghost's face while he had been meditating earlier.

"Ugh, no wonder I'm tired." Vlad growled.

"You?! I'm feeling like a walking bruise." Danny huffed.