Author's Note: The best way to read this fic is to picture it as if it is an extended episode; things just flow better that way. That's the way I intended it to feel, so I'd appreciate it if you let me know how it worked out.

Disclaimer- All the awesome characters from Danny Phantom, as well as the episodes they often reference to in my stories, aren't mine. If they were, Clockwork would appear a lot more often.

One of Those Days

It had been one of those days. You know the type; where nothing seems to go your way, and everything that can go wrong, does. It had been exactly that way for Danny Fenton, and he was on his last nerve. The fifteen-year-old boy was upside-down, unable to move, and he would have been shouting if it had not been for the repulsive remains of Nasty Burgers all around him, threatening to slide into his mouth if he dared open it. He kicked his legs as hard as he could in an attempt to free himself, but he was lodged too deep into the dumpster at the Nasty Burger to do anything more than wriggle in futile efforts to escape. A slightly muffled voice from beside the dumpster made its way to Danny's ears, one of which had unfortunately found an open pack of Nasty Sauce.

"Hungry, Fen-toad? You'd better be; you'll have to eat your way out if you want to get out of there at all!" laughed Dash Baxter. The sound made the teenage halfa's blood boil. Danny's fists were clenched so tightly that he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. An intense desire to go ghost and escape the bully engulfed him, but a small voice in the back of his mind screamed that it would be incredibly stupid. So the soon-to-be sophomore sighed, immediately regretting it as the sickening smell of fast food garbage assailed his nose. I'll just wait for Tucker and Sam to give me the all-clear... then I can use my powers to get out of here. He faintly heard the popular football players' laughter receding into the distance, but he decided it would be smarter to wait and make absolutely sure that no one was there to notice his escape. A few minutes later, his reluctant patience was rewarded with a light tap next to his head and a call from Tucker; "Dude, the coast's clear. They're gone."

Immediately, Danny went intangible and slid out of the dumpster, dropping behind his two best friends and reappearing again. "Thanks guys," he sighed, making a face as he wiped Nasty Sauce out of his left ear. Danny was a terrible mess, with everything from melted cheese to salad dressing covering him from head to toe. "That was really gross. I don't think I want to eat any Nasty Burgers for a very, very long time." He went intangible once more, the trash falling from his body into a heap on the ground. "There, at least that's off me, but it didn't get rid of the smell."

His friends gave him sympathetic looks, resisting the urge to crack a joke at Danny's expense. Instead, Sam suggested, "We'd better get to the town get-together- we're late." Of course, Danny thought to himself. His parents had told him right before he met his friends, and unfortunately Dash, at the Nasty Burger that he'd be grounded if he was late. Just what I need, more rules to break. Why in the world does the town have to have a get-together anyway? He already knew the answer to that was printed on the colorful flyers posted around town that read, "Amity Park Get-Together on Monday! Promote unity in your town by joining in the fun!" but it didn't stop him from wondering what had possessed the mayor to organize this event, and why his parents were making him go.

The three walked away from Amity Park's favorite fast food restaurant, Tucker and Sam walking a bit farther from Danny than they normally would have, because of both the smell coming from him and the furious expression on his face. They knew better than to try to cheer him up when he was this angry. Danny, meanwhile, quietly fumed. This was the third time that week that he had been shoved into something by the school bully. The first two times it had been empty trash cans rolling down a sidewalk, but Dash had seemed to get the idea that it would be much more fun if there was actually trash inside the can. Just because school was out didn't mean that Dash had stopped picking on his usual targets- in fact, it was much worse in the summer because the football star had nothing better to do with his time than to torment the unpopular and throw footballs at passing cars. I just wish he'd let me meet my friends in peace every now and then! Danny thought heatedly, failing to pay attention to where he was going.

THUNK!

"Um, Danny, watch out for the door..." said Tucker, trailing off as his friend's head collided with the Fenton Works door.

"Thanks a lot, Tuck," Danny mumbled thickly, gingerly rubbing a large, painful bump on his forehead, "but I think you're a little late there."

The techno geek stepped in front of his half- ghost friend and opened the door for him. "Sorry, dude. I thought you'd see it..."

"Never mind, I should have expected something like this to happen," said Danny darkly, still rubbing his forehead. "It's been one of those days." He pushed past his friends in a high bad humor and stomped up to his room, completely ignoring Jazz's exclamation that he smelled just like their kitchen when Jack attempted to cook. As Danny turned the doorknob to go into his room, he was stopped by an irate voice behind him.

"Why are you late again, son? And why do you smell like..." Jack paused, leaning over his son's head and taking a whiff. "Like Nasty Sauce, cheese, and salad dressing?"

Danny sighed and turned around, facing his father. "Some creep stuffed me into a dumpster," he muttered bad-temperedly, glaring at the ground.

Jack frowned as he looked his son up and down. "Why didn't you whack him with the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick or something?"

"Because I left it in my other pants, Dad!" replied Danny sarcastically, his already short temper snapping like a rubber band. "D'you think I always carry around all that ghost fighting junk like you do? I have a life, you know!"

Maddie Fenton chose that moment to walk around the corner, and she happened to overhear Danny. She looked shocked at her son's outburst. "Danny! Don't talk to your father like that!"

"Sorry," Danny mumbled without meaning it, glaring at the ground.

"You know, I think you're having an attitude problem, Danny," Maddie said sternly, standing beside Jack. "Your father and I weren't going to ground you for being late like we said we would because we noticed that you seem to be down and out lately, but since you've chosen to be disrespectful, you're grounded from the computer and phone for a week."

Danny looked up abruptly, indignant. "What!"

"You heard your mother, son," Jack said in a tone warning Danny not to press the matter. "Now you'd better get a shower before you go; we'll meet you there. Hurry up, and try not to be too late. Besides, there'll be fudge!"

Danny fumed as he watched his parents turn and walk down the stairs- or in Jack's case, fairly skip down at the thought of his favorite dessert. Without another word, he spun around and headed for the bathroom to take his much-needed shower. Afterwards, Danny felt refreshed and a bit better, but he noticed to his annoyance that some of the unpleasant smell still clung to him. Just great, he thought with a twinge of annoyance, but I guess there's not much I can do about that. As he walked down the Fenton Works stairs, he found his two best friends sitting in the kitchen waiting for him. The trio headed out the front door and began walking to the town park, where the town get-together was being held. Upon arriving, they saw a lot of familiar faces: Their school principal, the mayor, Mr. Lancer, many kids they recognized from school –including Dash Baxter, whom they avoided as soon as they saw- Sam's and Tucker's parents, Danny's parents, Jazz and some of her friends, and-

"WHAT!" cried Danny as he spotted a very unwelcome face among the crowd. "Vlad? What in the world is he doing here? He lives in Wisconsin!"

"I'll bet your dad invited him," Sam suggested darkly as the three of them glared at the billionaire.

"Probably," conceded Danny shortly, not taking his eyes off his archenemy.

"Man, this really isn't your day," Tucker commented as Vlad spotted them and walked casually in their direction, a twisted grin playing at the edge of his mouth.

"Why hello there, little badger. Miss Manson, Mr. Foley, fancy meeting you here as well. Young Daniel never goes anywhere without you, does he?"

Danny glared at the older halfa, his eyes flashing vivid green for a split second. "What do you want, Plasmius? What're you doing here?"

"Ooh, the scary eyes!" Vlad exclaimed, patting Danny's head mockingly in a way that ruffled the teenager's hair. "Might want to control that temper with all these people here, hmm? And why, might I ask, do you smell of fast food compost?"

Danny fought to restrain himself from slapping Vlad's still patting hand away from his head. Instead, he took a large step back to where Vlad couldn't reach him and fixed his hair back into its normal shape. "I asked you why you're here," Danny repeated tersely, clenching his fists and ignoring Vlad's last question.

"And I asked you why you smell of rubbish, but you didn't answer that, now did you?" replied Vlad in a cheerful tone, obviously enjoying himself.

"I so don't have time for this," Danny grated out in frustration, turning away from his archenemy. "I'll kick your butt later when you decide to do something evil or whatever. Just leave me alone until then."

The billionaire raised an eyebrow. "Oh, but that's not nearly as entertaining for me, is it? What if I were to tell you that I only came to give you a hard time?"

Danny studied Vlad for a moment through narrowed eyes, then said slowly, "I'd say you're a bad liar, that's what. You expect me to believe that you came all the way from Wisconsin to annoy me?"

"See there, Daniel, you can use that head of yours when you want to! You are learning from me, aren't you? Indeed, I have not come from my home in Wisconsin merely to irritate you. I have another purpose in mind, and part of that purpose happens to be persuading you to join my side."

"And you think you can do that by making fun of him?" Sam asked, putting a supportive hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Ah, it must be nice to have an encouraging significant other," Vlad commented wryly.

Sam blushed first, and then Danny a few seconds after, when he'd figured out what his enemy had meant. "She's NOT my girlfriend!" Danny yelled, causing several people in the crowd behind them to turn around and stare at him.

"Then why, may I ask, is her hand still on your shoulder?" Vlad asked condescendingly as Sam yanked her arm away quickly, glaring daggers at the older man. "But she is right, I did not intend on persuading you by mocking you. No, I have a better, more convincing intention in mind." As Danny opened his mouth to speak, his archenemy held up a hand. "Ah, look at the time! I have some catching up to do with my old college buddy, Jack. Ta!"

The three teenagers watched the billionaire walk briskly back into the crowd. Tucker glared in his direction. "What a creep."

"Yeah, he is," agreed Sam hotly, her cheeks still burining red. "Imagine anyone thinking Danny and I are going out!"

Turning to look from Sam to Danny and back again, Tucker sniggered loudly, trying and failing to hide it behind a cough. "Yeah, imagine that!"

Sam looked as if she were about to give Tucker a piece of her mind, but Danny spoke first, looking quite perplexed. "Guys, what d'you think Vlad's up to this time? He's got that cocky look he always has when he thinks he's come up with the greatest plan ever to either win me over or kill me."

"Well, at least he can't do both at once," Tucker said, and Sam used this as an excuse to elbow him hard in the side.

"Are you ever serious?" she fumed, glaring at her techno geek friend.

"It's okay, Sam," Danny said in a soft but intense tone that quieted the both of them instantly. "We've just got to keep an eye on Plasmius- that's all that matters right now. It'd be a bad idea to let him out of our sight."

"Uh, too late, Danny," stated Tucker as he squinted at the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of his best friend's nemesis. "I think we lost him."

Danny swore angrily, and Sam and Tucker stared at him. Danny never swore unless he was in a very foul mood, and even then it took something really troublesome to set him off. "What are you staring at?" the teenage halfa snapped rudely.

"Hey now," said Tucker, holding up his hands, "no need to start on us!"

"Yeah, it's not like it's our fault this day's been so crappy for you!" Sam pointed out, crossing her arms.

Danny heaved a sigh and stared guiltily at his friends. "I'm sorry guys; I know it's not your fault... I just wish this day would end already. I'm going to fly around the park... both to look for Plasmius and to clear my head. If anyone asks, I'm using the bathroom."

His friends nodded understandingly, and Tucker said quietly, "We're here for you, dude."

"Thanks, guys," said Danny, smiling faintly. That means more to me than you know. With that, he headed for the nearest restroom, checked that the coast was clear, and transformed into Danny Phantom with his signature cry of "I'm goin' ghost!" Rising into the air, he turned intangible and invisible and flew through the restroom's ceiling, hovering undetectably above the crowd in search of his arch-nemesis. Danny searched for several minutes and couldn't find a trace of Vlad Plasmius. Deciding to check the more remote areas of the park, Danny faded back into visibility and started to fly forward, still looking down.

He didn't see the blast of ectoplasm headed straight for him until it was too late.

Poor Danny! This isn't the end of his bad day, though. There's more trouble in store for everyone's favorite halfa... (maniacal laughter). Er, anyway... I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can. I'm only planning to have two or three, but then again, this started out as a one-shot, so who knows how long it'll be? Please R & R in the meantime!