He wasn't sure what had gotten into him. Nothing different had happened, really; just another day in the life of Casper High's biggest loser, Danny Fenton. He had been minding his own business, just hanging out by his locker with his two best friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, when the thorn in the halfa's side had appeared.
"Hey, Fentonio!" Dash Baxter yelled from across the hall.
"Oh great," sighed Danny, closing his locker with a loud bang. "I've been up the past three nights getting my butt whooped by Plasmius, last night being especially brutal, I might add; now I have to deal with him too?"
Neither Sam nor Tucker had time to say anything in support as the jock grabbed Danny by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the locker.
"Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you, Fen-toad," Dash sneered, shoving the smaller teen against the lockers for emphasis.
Danny sighed. "I'm really not in the mood for this today, Dash." As his back met the hard steel once more, a lock digging painfully into his lower back, he spat angrily, "But when has that ever stopped you before? As long as the great Dash Baxter has some amusement, that's all that matters, right?" The bully was caught off guard as Danny slapped his hand aside and pushed him back a step with surprising strength, adding, "Well, I hate to break it to ya, Dash, but your fun stops now".
"You're gonna pay for that, you little worm!" Dash hollered, raising a fist as his initial surprise wore off, only to come back seconds later when the smaller teen caught his hand inches from his face. Glancing around, Dash saw not only his own friends, but Fenton's friends as well, wore shocked looks to match his own. "You...how did you do that?"
Danny just glared at him, not gracing him with a reply. With his free hand, the black-haired boy shoved Dash's shoulder, spinning him around and pinning his arm painfully behind his back.
"Danny..." Sam muttered, a worried tone in her voice.
"No, Sam. I'm sick and tired of this guy thinking he can just push me around whenever he wants to. Enough is enough!" the boy retorted heatedly, eyes flashing a brilliant glowing green as he gave Dash's arm another painful twist, causing the larger boy to let out a yelp.
Looking around at Kwan and the other members of Casper High's A-List, who all bore the same expressions of surprise, Dash hollered out, "Well, don't just stand there, you idiots! Get this loser off of me!"
The large Asian boy was the first to make a move. He rushed forward, grabbing Danny's shoulder in an attempt to turn him around; and turn him around he did. Danny spun on his heel, releasing Dash and sending his fist directly into Kwan's face. He felt the crunch of bone as the other boy's nose shattered underneath the power behind Danny's otherworldly punch, before he was sent flying several feet backwards. Kwan screamed as blood spluttered from his broken nose, writhing in pain on the hard tiled floor.
"Danny!" Sam and Tucker yelled in unison, surprised that their best friend would turn his abnormal strength on a human.
At the exact moment, there was a chorus of, "Kwan!" "Dude!" and "How did he do that?" from the other group of teens. Though all seemed angry, no others from the group moved forward to avenge their fallen friend.
Except one.
Turning around with a snarl, Dash screamed, "Why you little...!" He threw an enraged punch at the smaller boy, who expertly dodged it and sent a fist of his own into the jock's stomach. Gasping as the air was knocked out of him, Dash dropped to his knees, clutching his injured gut. He barely had enough time to spit out a mouthful of blood and spittle when Danny rammed his knee into Dash's face. The force of the blow knocked him onto his back, smacking his head on the floor as he landed. Before the stars even began clearing from Dash's vision, Danny was upon him. The smaller boy sat straddled across his chest, legs on either side pinning his arms to the ground. Fists like steel rained down on him from above, pummeling into anything they could; face, chest, arms...There didn't seem to be any real destination for them, just as long as they made contact.
Danny's mind was completely blank; nothing but sheer rage coursing through him. He couldn't hear anything but the pounding of his own blood in his ears; not even the cries of he and Dash's friends for him to stop, the large crowd of students that had gathered around to watch the spectacle, or even the cry of surprise from Mr. Lancer as the teacher pushed his way through the mass of teenagers.
"The Grapes of Wrath! What is going on here?" Then as the man finally laid eyes on what was causing the chaos, or more particularly, who was causing it, he yelped, "Danny! What's gotten into you? Get off of him immediately!" He rushed over to the two boys, one of which who was now fully unconscious, and attempted to pull Danny away from Dash. The small teen proved to be too strong, however, and it was a struggle just to get one arm pinned to his side.
He was relieved to see, after a moment of his losing battle with Danny, that help was finally arriving. The school police officer and a few more teachers came to the rescue, grasping the boy tightly and dragging him several feet away. In total, it took four grown men to keep him contained, which was a shocking revelation to everyone.
Also startling to the mass of people in the small hallway was the ferocity with which Danny fought, even in the hold of the adults. He was like a trapped animal; thrashing and screaming obscenities his parents would definitely not approve of as he tried to free himself from their grasp. He didn't even seem to realize that he could just escape using his ghost powers.
Finally, the officer managed to get some handcuffs on him as Mr. Lancer called an ambulance for Dash and Kwan.
All the while, Sam and Tucker watched in horror as their best friend, the hero of Amity Park, was dragged away to an awaiting police car. They knew Danny had been stressed lately, but never in their wildest dreams would they imagine that Danny would ever just...snap. It was a truly terrifying thought to think they may have just witnessed the fall of the great Danny Phantom.
Unbeknownst to the two teens, however, there was one more person who was watching, though with a much different emotion. Invisible to all there, Vlad Plasmius looked on in amusement as Danny was dragged out of the building, bloodied hands cuffed tightly behind his back. He chuckled quietly to himself. With Danny wrapped up in the legal system, he would finally be free to do as he pleased without the boy and his morals getting in his way.
A/N: So, this was a challenge from Kirbysamful to help with writer's block. And I must say, writing this has really gotten my creative juices flowing again, so thank you so much! The prompt I picked (obviously) was "Danny stands up to Dash". Though I think I turned it more into "Danny beats Dash to a bloody pulp" but oh well. :D
I might continue this, but I dunno. Should I?
Anyway, reviews are loved! :D