Round 2: Van Boredom


*A/N*

AstroPhantom: We're baaaaack! Things start to heat up in this chapter, so be prepared! Fudge will be served promptly at the end of this chapter. ;P

BlueDragon007: Indeed, but what are you saying that we heat them more by some reviews? Astro, and what about cookies?

AstroPhantom: Oh, I'd take us up on that in a heartbeat. Let's make this story light up in review-fueled flames! Which will be perfect to bake the cookies on. ;) Read on to enjoy, with the promise of yummy treats awaiting you!

BlueDragon007: That's what I'm talking about! Now onto the story and see what we prepared for you this time ;)


Danny was waiting for the man to come back into the van. He had a feeling like ten hours had passed, but in reality it had only been ten minutes. Time ran slower when you are locked in a cage in the dark.

Not soon after, he heard the front door open and saw a new source of bright light that blinded him for two seconds.

Danny saw none other than his captor sitting in the van. The man closed the front door with a loud 'SLAM' and turned on the engine.

When Danny heard the door closing, he began to feel really scared and nervous. The fact that the man didn't even look at him when he put him in that stupid small cage made him even more anxious. He didn't know what to do. Danny tried to turn intangible and fly out of the cage, but as a result, he got pain, lots and lots of it. He even yelped. It looked like Danny's scream brought a bit of attention to the man and he smiled a bit.

"What's so funny, van head?" Danny asked, clearly annoyed. He didn't like the man's smile; it was creepy! But then Danny remembered that he didn't know the man's name. He could use that to annoy him without too much risk since if the man wanted him dead, he would already be.

"Strong silent type, huh?" Danny asked and let out an evil grin.

"I would keep that energy for later," the man said with a cold and deep voice. This was the first time that Danny had heard the man's voice so close.

"Look who finally decided to talk," Danny said, clearly trying to annoy the man. "So...what's your name?" The man strongly ignored him.

"Ok, glad to meet you Mr. No Name," Danny said.

After a few minutes of silence, he decided to ask the man one more question. "Where are we going?"

The man was quiet for three minutes, probably questioning himself on if he should tell him the answer or not. At the end, the man decided to answer. "Somewhere far, far away, where no one can find you," he answered with his deep mysterious voice.

At that Danny shut up.


Jack was at home in the lab, fixing some of his gadgets while Maddie was upstairs, hoping that Danny would call or come home.

In the lab, Jack noticed that he was missing a few components, so he decided to go out to the hardware shop. Maybe this trip would also give him the chance to spend his coupon that would expire tomorrow.

He clamored up the stairs, his unfinished device in hand, and gave Maddie a brief kiss as he continued towards the front door. "I'm going out to the store, Mads. This thing just needs a few more nuts and bolts and then it'll be done!"

Maddie's mind was clearly distracted. She felt very on-edge about the current situation. Jack could see the tension in her eyes bubbling up, threatening to push her to go search for Danny if the teen didn't contact them soon. He walked back over to her and purposefully wrapped his bulky arms around her petite frame. A Jack Fenton trademark hug would surely lift her spirits, if just a little bit.

"Look at me, Maddie. He'll be home soon. And if not, he'll call. And if not that-" His wife gave him a Look here. "Then he just forgot. It's Danny we're talking about here. He does this kind of thing all the time. But he always comes back. You know that." He gave her an extra squeeze.

"I know, but something just...doesn't feel right," Maddie returned, clinging hopefully to her husband's orange jumpsuit.

"He'll be fine. But I gotta go before they close. I'll be back soon!" A final kiss, and he was out the door.

Jack walked out to the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle and stepped up to the front seat. He always enjoyed that raw feeling of power the GAV inspired when he sat in it. Others didn't appreciate it nearly as much though, particularly when he actually drove it.

But no one was in the car with him to spoil his mood, so he revved it up and got to Clark's Hardware in record time.

On the way home, Jack even got the chance to use his coupon for a nice big box of fudge. Perhaps his plan to split it with Maddie would cheer her up...

...If he could keep his hand out of it until then, that is. Almost a full row of the chocolatey goodness was gone by the time he got within two miles of FentonWorks. Not surprisingly, the presence of fudge made his driving even more hazardous. Food trucks, a black mysterious van, and about a dozen cars on their way home from work all honked at him, along with other rude gestures.

Jack paid them no mind though. He had fudge.


Danny felt disoriented beyond compare. He had no idea which direction this man was driving, or even how long it had been. His best guess was that at least a good handful of hours had passed, and that it was probably nighttime.

At some point, he felt the van stop and heard the man shut it off and get out. Were they at his destination now? Danny braced for the back doors to open.

Nope. Instead of the doors, he heard the cap of the gas tank being twisted off and carelessly hitting the side of the vehicle. They must be at a gas station. Danny sighed frustratedly. That probably meant his "trip" was far from over.

Danny looked around the van, trying to think of some way to escape. He saw some kind of cell phone on the floor, not so far from his cage. 'Maybe I can reach it and call Sam and Tucker,'Danny thought and forgetting that he was in his ghost form, trapped in a ghost-proof cage, he tried to reach it, but all he got was a painful shock.

"Oh, right," Danny said to himself, rubbing his forehead with his right hand. He was thinking about how he could reach that phone, until he remembered that he is only half-ghost.

In a flash of light, Danny turned into his human form, hoping that Mr. No Name hadn't noticed the strange light coming from the van. Unfortunately he did and in response, the man started to act quickly. Danny probably had only 110 seconds to reach the phone and contact Sam or Tucker.

As a quick test, Danny touched the cage to see if he would be shocked again, but by his luck, he wasn't. At that, Danny let out a satisfied smile. He reached his hand towards the cell phone. He struggled to get it, but after thirty seconds, he finally had it.

Knowing that Mr. No Name would probably be back soon, Danny decided to jump into action and turned on the phone. But all of his hopes were crushed when he saw that there was no signal and the battery would soon be empty.

Danny heard the front door open and quickly, in a white flash of light, transformed into his alter ego, Danny Phantom.

The man sat in the van and closed the door. He looked at Danny, wondering what he was planning.

"What are you looking at?" Danny asked annoyed, clearly trying to avoid the man's stare.

The man just ignored him and turned on the engine. "What will you do with me, Mr. No Name?" Danny asked, but the man ignored him, again.

Danny got sick of being ignored but then remembered that he was still holding the cell phone behind his back. He threw the phone at the man's head so that after the hit, he almost crashed the van into a tree.

The man growled. "You little!" he said with his angry voice and parked the van close to the road. "What the heck is your problem?!" the man shouted.

"You! Stop ignoring me already, Mr. No Name!" Danny shouted back.

"I have a name, you know."

"And what would that be? Empty Head?" Danny said, laughing a bit.

"My name is Rob, and if you want to keep that smile of yours, I would suggest you shut up!" the mysterious man, that proclaimed himself as Rob, threatened to Danny.

"What will you do, rob my smile?" Danny teased.

At that, Rob rolled his eyes and took out his ecto-gun. "Listen to me, I don't care how much my boss is paying me to bring you to him, I swear that I will kill you if you don't shut up!" Rob threatened again, and at that Danny shut his mouth.

All of the sudden, Rob's cell phone started to ring. He left the van to pick up, unaware that Danny was listening.

"Hello boss, what do you need?"

"Um... I'm not sure that I will deliver him soon. He is really annoying. I think that he will even annoy the audience when he fights in the arena."

"Wait, you want me to deliver him tomorrow, in the morning?"

"I'm afraid that that's not possible, not without a raise."

"Then it is a deal. See you soon then," Rob said, hanging up the phone. He came back into the van and, without a word, started to drive to his destination. He didn't have a lot of time.


To be continued...