Planet Vlad

Prologue

-Danny-

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

With a flick of my wrist, I opened the cheap flip phone in my hand and quickly typed out a text message. Thundering footfalls against the forest floor assaulted my ears. I didn't have much time left. My thumb hit "Send" and I watched arrows flit across the screen, turning over and over. Reception was always a tricky thing in the Ghost Zone.

"C'mon, c'mon," I muttered, leaning back against the boulder I was hidden behind. Matted strands of white hair hung in my face. I brushed them away, feeling the greasy build-up of who knows how many days without anything even resembling a shower. Or rest. Crud, I was so tired.

The phone finally blipped with success. I hesitated, listening to how near my pursuers were now.

"We're close! I can feel it!" Skulker's voice was gleeful and correct. He was too close.

I silently cursed. No time for another message. It was my own fault for putting it off for so long. I threw the phone against a rock to my left and sent a bolt of energy after it. The small piece of technology was obliterated quickly and with little effort. Good, need to save my strength.

I maneuvered into a squat and waited until I was sure the entire search party had followed Skulker into the clearing just beyond my boulder. The sound of weapons being readied told me they had undoubtedly locked on to my location.

Eyes closed, I took in a steadying breath and imagined Skulker raising a hand, instructing the rest of the ghosts to hold their fire, to wait for his signal. I began my own countdown… 5, 4… energy blasts built up in both my palms… 3… come out swinging, I reminded myself, you've been on the run, you're tired but you'd never let them take you without a fight… 2… it has to look real… 1.

I shot up and instantly blasted two of the members of the party. They were all big ghosts, made faceless and indistinguishable from one another by the uniformity of their high-tech suits. The others reacted with precision, filling the gap the injured had left behind, and keeping their ecto-guns trained on me.

"Danny Phantom," one of them spoke in a robotic tone, "by order of the Supreme Overlord and Ruler of the Earth, you are to come with us. We can and will use force."

"You can tell the Supreme Overlord to eat my shorts!" I hovered in the air, laughing. "No, really, you should because it would sound really funny coming through your helmets. Do those things have voice changers or are you actually mindless drones?"

A metal fist closed around my neck as Skulker appeared at my side. He threw me up against the nearest tree and pinned me with his signature glare.

"You shouldn't taunt your captors, Welp. The Ruler of the Earth has trained his ghost army well and they have been instructed to subdue you with any means necessary…" His evil grin intensified. "Or unnecessary."

I returned his scowl. "I wouldn't call myself captured just yet."

Skulker's hold on my neck loosened and his eyes turned glassy before they were replaced completely by red lasers. I recoiled, bracing myself for pain, but it did not come. Waves of red light simply passed over me instead. Skulker chuckled and his eyes returned to normal.

"Your energy levels are down and your recovery speed is slowed. Your human half is exhausted and starving to the point that it's affecting the ghost part of you. Face it, child, you're in no condition to resist." He smiled almost serenely then as he waited for my response to this.

Lifting an eyebrow, I leveled a glare at the hulking mass of metal. "Neat trick. I suppose kissing butt has some perks to it. You get an upgrade?"

Skulker's face twisted in rage and he threw me to the ground, his arm transforming as he did so.

"Someone restrain the whelp before there is nothing left of him to restrain," he said through gritted teeth, staring at me down the length of his arm-turned-giant-gun.

One of the ghost soldiers was immediately at my back, securing my wrists with energy-draining handcuffs. I felt their effect immediately as Skulker's scan had revealed the truth. I was basically running on fumes.

My weak knees were ignored and I was made to stand and walk surrounded by the militant specters. I made eye contact with Skulker once more before he took off ahead of the procession, guiding us to a portal for the human world, a place I had not been in what had to have been days, maybe even a whole week.

I knew what awaited me back in that world and I hoped I was prepared for it. This was not supposed to happen. Vlad Plasmius was not supposed to save the world.

A/N: Hello what is left of the Phandom! I had this idea and wanted to practice writing in first person so this is what happened. Each chapter is told by a different character from the last, but I do repeat characters. You will be able to tell whose point of view it is by finding the name under the chapter header (also hopefully by context). My original idea was to have each chapter be able to exist on its own as a one-shot, but the story wound up being more complex than I intended so I no longer think that is possible. That being said, it may be hard to follow at times. In the beginning there's a lot you won't know, but I promise all will be revealed! Feel free to ask though if something is super confusing! Enjoy! -Cam