Can I just say that in all my writings, Tucker is always the one to make me laugh?

No I don't own DP so On with the story!

Chapter 2: Vortex

It had been four days.

Four days since Undergrowth captured Sam and Danny. Four days since the remaining Team Phantom had vanished. Four days since the Fentons had disappeared. The town was covered in foliage and Undergrowth was preparing to expand his kingdom into the next town over.

"Daughter, how are the children?" Undergrowth asked as Sam and Danny appeared in front of him. By now, Sam had some control over Undergrowth's powers and was able to use some of the vines and plants to fly around.

"They will soon be ready for their nourishment father," Sam replied to Undergrowth. She matched the dark smile on his face, but soon Undergrowth became annoyed. Danny was shaking his head and holding his face in his hands.

Multiple times each day Danny fought against Undergrowth's mind control, and even though the fights were becoming less and less, Undergrowth's patience was wearing thin. He just wanted the ghost boy to give up the fight and realize that he'd lost. Undergrowth motioned to Sam to take care of Danny, and she complied.

"No! S-Sam?" Danny mumbled, breaking free from control for a mere few seconds before Sam placed her lips on his and he once again subdued to the mind control. Once Sam had stepped back, she smiled and held her hand out to Danny, who took it. She then turned to Undergrowth while Danny said, "Sorry Sir. What shall we do now?"

Unbeknownst to them, Val and Maddie had witnessed the whole thing. They had been observing Danny and Sam for the past hour, trying to find out how Undergrowth was able to control them since Sam didn't have a mind vine attached to her neck. When they saw how Danny was being controlled, they let out a small gasp before retreating back to their hide out. Once safely hidden in the confines of their underground camp, Val reported, "We know how Danny is being controlled, and Maddie has a theory about Sam."

"How?" Tucker asked. The rest of the team had been patiently waiting for Val and Maddie to return. They'd been trying to create a battle strategy, but couldn't think of anything. They needed to know how Undergrowth was controlling their friends before they could plan how to save them.

"Sam controls Danny through her saliva. When Danny fights the control, Undergrowth has Sam kiss him and Danny automatically loses the battle. As for Sam, I'm assuming he has some sort of seed or plant attached to her somewhere that is highly evolved, so it doesn't need to be attached to Undergrowth for him to be able to control her. It's quite genius actually," Maddie explained.

"How is he a genius?" Jazz asked, only slightly peeved her mom was admiring an evil ghost who'd taken her baby brother and Sam hostage.

"There's no way to freeze saliva successfully. You told me that last time Danny fought Undergrowth, he froze his roots and was able to win that way, which was also how Danny didn't become controlled by him. Undergrowth has eliminated that risk. If we have any hopes of saving Danny, we must first save Sam," Maddie replied.

"And now that Sam has both Undergrowth and Danny protecting her, she's virtually untouchable," Dani said, joining the conversation. It had been known in the group that Danny, no matter what the circumstances were, would always protect Sam. Even when Control Freak had him brain washed, Danny had always managed to save Sam from getting hurt.

"So, what are we going to do?" Val asked. "Undergrowth is about to expand his kingdom, so we need to move fast if we hope to defeat him before he becomes too powerful."

"We need to use Danny's weakness against him," Jack said. The last few days, Jack had really grown into the adult he was supposed to be. Maddie had been very proud that Jack had manned up when he realized their child was in trouble.

"What's that exactly?" Dani asked.

"His emotions. Danny is very loyal to his friends and family. So we will use you and Sam against him," Maddie said.

"Why me?!" Dani exclaimed. Sure, she and Danny were cousins and were pretty close, but she didn't understand how she might be closer to Danny than his sister, Jazz, was.

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about your connection to Danny. You came from his DNA, yes?" Maddie asked the young halfa.

"Ya; I'm his clone. So?" Dani replied, confused as ever at the woman in front of her.

Maddie swallowed. This thought had come to her late last night when she'd been lying on her cot thinking about Danny. She thought a lot about her parental instincts and signs she'd overlooked in the past. When she thought about what a parent was suppose to do, she couldn't help but draw parallels between how Danny treated and protected Dani, from what had been described to her.

Slowly, Maddie had come to the realization that Dani had been made from her son's DNA, inadvertently making her little boy a father, scientifically speaking. When Maddie said what she'd been thinking and explained it to the group, the reaction was immediate.

"Holy shit!" was all the teens could say while Jack's mouth gaped open and Dani continued to float in place.

"Language!" Maddie sternly yelled. Sure, this was a lot to take in, but Maddie wasn't willing to listen to profanity when normally she wouldn't hear anything about it. She needed something normal to anchor her down, and keeping their mouth's in line would have to do.

Suddenly, Dani scream, "I'm going to kill Undergrowth for taking my daddy away from me!" Dani's aura began to fiercely glow white, and if it hadn't have been for Jazz, who knows what kind of destruction could have ensued for the camp.

"Dani calm down. We will rescue them and Undergrowth will pay for this, but if we hope to accomplish anything, we need to advance logically," Jazz said as she wrapped Dani into her arms. The young halfa began to cry, and the group stayed silent until the atmosphere was once again calmed.

"I've got a plan," Tucker said once Dani stopped crying. The team assembled around him, ears ready to listen.

"All right, everyone understand?" Tucker asked as he finished going over the details of their attack plan. It had taken him two hours to explain everything.

"Remember, words are just as effective when it comes to Danny as actions," Jazz said when everyone nodded their heads in understanding. Psychology was what Jazz did best, and she knew that if Danny heard Dani call him 'Daddy' he would freeze. She wasn't sure if he would come back and break free, but she knew that it would be effective none the less.

The team headed out of the underground hut. Tucker joined Val on her hover board and soon became camouflaged. Dani held on to Jazz, who used her moon boots on her armor to fly, and transferred her invisibility to cover them both. Jack and Maddie went to the Specter Speeder and activated their newly improved camouflage as well.

The team began to fly towards town ready to put their plan into action, when suddenly a large gust of wind came from seemingly nowhere. Through the Fenton Phones, Tucker ordered everyone to pull over and meet behind the billboard for Amity Park. Soon, the team was hiding behind the billboard, visible, and were watching clouds quickly roll in from all directions. At first they were sure this was Undergrowth's doing, but they soon saw that that wasn't true.

Back in Amity Park, Undergrowth summoned Sam and Danny to stand by his side. He ordered Danny to prepare for battle as he waited for the threat to materialize. The scowl he had on his face soon turned into an evil smirk as he saw his guest descend from the sky.

"Vortex! To what do I owe this pleasure of your visit?" Undergrowth asked as Vortex came to him.

"I had to see if the rumors were true. Is Phantom completely under your control?" Vortex asked. He'd been one of the many ghosts who'd heard about Undergrowth's take over and had wanted to see for himself how he'd managed to gain his victory.

"Yes. Future son, please come here," Undergrowth ordered. Soon, Danny floated over to join Undergrowth. He stood at attention as Sam slowly joined behind him. She had direct orders from Undergrowth to never be too far from Danny incase she was needed to keep him under control.

"Future son?" Vortex asked, slightly confused at the possible term of endearment.

"Yes. He is my army's leader and my daughter's prince. Therefore, he is my future son," Undergrowth started.

"Daughter?"

"Yes. It seems this girl is the key to Phantom. She is also a wonderful care taker when it comes to the children." Now Sam came to float next to Danny. She slid her hand into Danny's and respectively bowed her head at Vortex.

"How exactly is she the key that keeps Phantom at bay?"

"I use her saliva to keep him under my control. I would use a mind vine, but the boy would simply freeze it off. So, using one of my more evolved mind flowers, I took the girl under my control and used their feelings to ensure their defeat."

"So, you mean to tell me that by having the girl kiss the boy, the boy submits to your power because she is under your control?"

"Preciously. I'm sure if you stick around for a few more minutes, you will see for yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"The boy refuses to give up. He continues to fight against my control. So each time he fights it off, I have my daughter bring him back to us. This will occur many times throughout the day, but luckily the amount of times is becoming fewer and fewer," Undergrowth explained. Right as he finished his explanation, Danny began to fight.

Vortex became a little worried. He knew just how powerful the ghost boy was, and he didn't want to be sucked into that god forsaken thermos today. All the ghosts knew that whenever the girl was put in danger, his power and rage would mix together and the ghost responsible would feel great pain.

Undergrowth merely grinned. When Danny had regained some control, he gave the silent order to Sam, who once again kissed Danny and returned him to Undergrowth's control.

Vortex looked very impressed as he asked, "Very nice. So, how do you control the girl again?"

"Daughter, turn around please," Undergrowth ordered Sam. She did as she was told and Undergrowth lifted her hair to reveal the petals that were attached to her neck saying, "This is how I control her. Do you see the middle of the petals? Whichever ghost fuels this middle part with their own power is the one who controls the one wearing it. The only way for the wearer to break free would be if an extremely weak or pure ghost were to control them, allowing the wearer to overpower the one in control."

"So basically, as long as the Box Ghost doesn't touch it, they will remain prisoners to their controller?"

"Exactly," Undergrowth said. He was quite proud of his new creation. He planned on making many more in case something were to happen to the original, but he decided he would worry about that after he'd taken over the human world.

"I see. Well, I must be going but I'm sure I will return in the near future," Vortex said as he ascended up into the clouds. A plan had begun to form in his mind, but in order to properly execute it he needed to wait for the proper time.

Behind the billboard, Tucker had tapped into the remaining technology near where the conversation between Vortex and Undergrowth had just taken place. They hadn't heard it all, but they'd heard enough.

"O.k., change of plans: we'll capture Sam instead of Danny and then bring her to the Box Ghost. We'll trick him into controlling her, she'll break free, and we'll come back and save the day. If we're lucky, Danny will continue to fight and without Sam there, he'll be able to escape from Undergrowth's control," Tucker said as he powered down his PDA and slipped it back into his backpack.

"Got'cha. Dani, you ready?" Jazz asked as the group agreed to the new plan. She was answered with a wink as Dani faded from visibility. Jazz hopped into the Specter Speeder and waited with the others for their cue.

Dani flew into downtown Amity before letting go of her visibility. She tried to look weak. "Danny…" she moaned as she slowly flew through town. Within seconds, Undergrowth had spotted Dani and had ordered for Danny to go retrieve her.

Danny, followed by Sam, flew to Dani. They soon appeared in front of the young and weak looking halfa, eyes narrowed. Dani had to hold back her smirk as she looked up at the couple. She and Tucker had been preparing a plan to get them together because it was driving them both crazy at how clueless they each were when it came to their feelings for each other. Although this wasn't exactly how they would have planned it, she couldn't help but think of the irony in the situation.

Dani inhaled a deep breath before screaming, "Daaaaaaddyyyy! Help me!" Dani broke down into fake tears and launched herself at Danny, forcing him to hug her back. Both Sam and Danny were taken aback. During this slight hesitation, the rest of Team Phantom appeared and began to attack the vines surrounding Sam.

Undergrowth had been watching, and he too had been shocked. None of the ghosts had known that the ghost boy had a child. No one would have even guessed since he was still a child himself. As soon as the rest of the team had appeared and began attacking, Undergrowth snapped out of his shock and growled.

"Children, attack!" Undergrowth ordered. "Daughter, do something!"

Sam tried to get to Danny, seeing that he was now fighting Undergrowth's control, but she was having a bit of trouble. She sent vine after vine to try and reach Danny and deflect the others, but she was going too slow. Finally, one of her vines reached to where Danny was, but it grabbed the wrong Phantom.

Dani screamed before attacking the vine. Once she broke free, she aimed her Ecto-ray at Sam and fired. Sam let lose an ear piercing scream as she flew into the wall behind her. That had been enough for Danny to finally break free and fly into action. The only problem was Danny was flying straight to Sam. He had no idea what was going on. The team tried to yell to him and warn him about the situation, but all he could hear was Sam screaming and he screaming her name.

After what felt like hours to Danny, he arrived at where Sam had fallen against the wall. Her eyes were closed and she was still. He went to help her up, but as soon as he had her in his arms, Sam opened her eyes and attacked his lips with hers. Danny was caught by surprise and dropped Sam. He dropped to his knees, trying to fight off the mind control and the thoughts that emerged in his head. Sam quickly recovered and crawled up to him, ready to kiss again.

Undergrowth was laughing as he managed to hold back the rest of the team. "Foolish flesh dwellers! No one can defeat me!" Team Phantom continued to fight against his vines, but they soon realized that they were fighting a losing battle. Danny and Sam were still making out and Dani's mouth had been covered by a flower so she couldn't scream to Danny again. They needed a miracle.

Its funny how during trying times, someone somewhere always hears the desperate cries.

As soon as that thought crossed the minds of Team Phantom, a shot of lightning struck. It struck Sam on the back of her neck, but she wasn't hurt. Instead, Undergrowth let loose a terrible scream. The lightning vanished and in its place a snowflake fell. This one snowflake was followed by another and another until it was a full out blizzard. Undergrowth continued to shriek and yelp in pain as he began to shrink in size. His vines were freezing over, no doubt the same way his roots were.

Soon Undergrowth was nothing but a weed, and Tucker took this as his opportunity to suck him into the Fenton thermos. Danny and Sam had stopped kissing and were now resting their foreheads against each other's.

Just as Tucker was about to claim victory, Vortex descended from the sky. During the battle, Vortex had summoned his clouds again and had conjured up a blizzard. He had been the one to shoot lightning at Sam, and his aim had been perfect. He'd zapped Undergrowth's power out from the petals and had replaced it with his own.

"Rise minions!" Vortex shouted. Before Team Phantom could comprehend what was happening, Sam and Danny opened their eyes and rose. Sam's eyes were no longer green, but they weren't purple either. Now, they were an electric yellow.

Sam's outfit had also changed. Instead of being covered in vines and leaves, she wore a long grey dress that resembled the clouds overhead. Where a thorn covered tiara once sat atop her head was now a wave of dancing lightning.

The same could be said for Danny's crown. His hazmat suit had never actually changed, so he still looked like the Danny that everyone knew, but now his eyes were red and not just green orbs of energy.

"What the hell! You've got to be kidding me! That's cheating!" Tucker whined as Vortex began to laugh. Team Phantom had just begun to understand that Sam and Danny weren't completely free when Tucker had his outburst.

"I don't care. I'm evil. Now that I have control of the key, the ghost boy is under my control! The world shall be mine!" Vortex announced. He continued to laugh as the people of Amity Park came to. Many held their heads, but many more were screaming at the sight before them.

"Like, what the hell is happening?" Paulina whined. A group of Casper High students had assembled near Team Phantom and were horrified at the sight of an evil Danny Phantom in their presence.

"We defeated Undergrowth, the first ghost to take over Amity Park, but now we have a new problem," Jazz explained to the panicking teens.

"I am Vortex and I now have control over the ghost child. If you know what's best for you slaves, I would run and hide. I feel a blizzard coming on!" Vortex screamed at the people below as the snow intensified.

The people of Amity actually listened as they scrambled to the safety of their homes. Vortex ordered Danny to attack, and attack he did. It didn't help that Sam could now use part of the weather to help Danny in his pursuit. Soon Team Phantom was thrown from the surrounding area and Tucker ordered an evacuation. It would not be good if anyone were to get hurt or captured.

Ah, so close yet so far! Next update within 24 hours(: