Chapter Four: Plasmius

"Dad!" Danny burst open his front door, running in. "Dad, are you here?"

"Danny, what's wrong?" Jack Fenton came up from the lab, followed by his wife Maddie.

"A-A ghost…he kept saying your name…said he was g-gonna…" Danny clung to his father. "W-We have to get out of here!"

"Calm down, Danny. What do you mean 'a ghost'? Who?" Jack asked, holding his trembling son in his arms.

Danny looked out the door, where he had last seen Phantom get intercepted by other ghosts and stopped to fight them. "I-I think he was c-called Plas—"

"Vladimir Plasmius." They all froze as a high voice spoke, Plasmius appearing in their living room. "I've come to take your life, Jack Fenton." He formed an attack.

"No!" Danny cried, clinging to his father. The blast was fired and the three cowered together, but found they hadn't been hit. Danny looked up to find Phantom in front of them, a green shield held up in front of him.

"Ghost!" Jack gasped.

"I'll keep him busy; you guys get out of here!" Phantom yelled over his shoulder.

"No! You will not stop me this time, Phantom!" Plasmius roared, clones of him appearing around them. They fired blasts, and Phantom grit his teeth and expanded the shield to protect them on all sides. "No!" Plasmius strengthened his attack.

"Cujo, I need help!" Phantom yelled. A little green dog came out of the lab and changed giant, charging at Plasmius.

"Get off me!" Plasmius yelled. He was pinned to the floor, and as he was beaten down white rings started to appear around his body before they disappeared and he threw Cujo off. "Fine! You win this time, boy, but I WILL have the Fentons!" He scowled and pointed at them before flying off.

"Cujo!" Phantom smiled and dropped the shield, the dog turning small and jumping into his outstretched arms. "Oh, who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are!" He rubbed and scratched at the dog, apparently ignoring the humans for the time being.

"Hey!" Jack snapped.

Phantom looked at him, seeing the gun trained on his person. "You're welcome, by the way." He said dryly, setting Cujo down. Cujo ran down into the lab, most likely into the ghost portal.

"I don't trust you. No ghost would have any good reason to protect a human!" Jack took off the safety.

"Dad, no!" Danny ran over and stood between the gun and Phantom. "He's my friend! And he saved us!"

"Friend? But, Danny…he's a ghost." Maddie stepped forward.

"He saved my life, and has been there for me ever since!" Danny cried, tears forming in his eyes. "Don't hurt him!"

"But, he's a ghost." Jack stressed.

"He's not like the scary ghost lady, though!" Danny cried.

'Ghost lady?' Phantom thought. 'Okay, who was it? Ember? Spectra? Kitty? All of the above? Now, that's scary.'

Jack pursed his lips tightly and lowered the gun, putting the safety back on. "Fine. You get to live, ghost."

"Phantom." Phantom said calmly. "My name is 'Phantom'."

"Danny, you alright?" Tucker cried as he and Sam finally reached the house. "Sorry we're late we—whoa."

"You're late." Phantom smiled.

"Yeah, I said that." Tucker walked in. "Uhm…what happened here? There's scorch-marks on the floor and walls."

"Plasmius happened." Phantom looked at the Fentons again. "You might want to warn any other family members about this. Plasmius is relentless."

"But why? What does he want with us?" Maddie demanded.

"That halfa is out for revenge for the accident that changed him into what he is." Phantom replied firmly. "An accident that was caused, he feels, by your husband. And since you're his targets, I suppose I'm going to be guarding your family."

"By yourself?" Danny blinked.

"I have a few allies that might be able to help." Phantom said thoughtfully, walking over and picking up a family photo. 'Four family members…' He thought. 'Maybe I can get Johnny 13 to guard the daughter; he'll fit in okay at her age group. I can guard the parents, and maybe Cujo can guard Danny.' He glanced at them. "Where's your daughter?"

"She's out at the lib—how do you know I have a daughter?" Maddie demanded.

Phantom pointedly held up the photo. "Alright, so I'm going to get an ally to guard your daughter and I'll guard you while Cujo protects Danny."

Jack pursed his lips. "I don't need a guard, I just need a weapon. And Danny is more important than me, anyway."

"Not to Plasmius, he's not." Phantom shook his head. "He's just a means to an end for Plasmius."

"I still want you guarding him instead of the dog. Maddie and I will have weapons and sleep in shifts." Jack said firmly.

Phantom sighed and then brought his fingers to his lips, whistling twice. Cujo came running out again excitedly and Phantom knelt next to him. "Find Johnny 13. He'll know what it means and come find me." He told Cujo, and then the ghost dog was scrambling back into the lab.

"Who's Johnny 13?" Sam asked as Phantom stood up.

"Someone who owes me a lot of favors." Phantom replied.

"Hey, do you know who Plasmius used to be?" Maddie asked. "And what's a 'halfa'?"

"A 'halfa' is someone who is half-human and half-ghost." Phantom turned to her. "Yes, I know who he used to be, because he still IS him. Does the name 'Vlad Masters' ring any bells?"

Maddie dropped her gun in shock.

"Vladdy?" Jack breathed, his eyes widening. "He wants…to kill me?"

Phantom nodded. Danny pursed his lips, wanting to ask who Vlad Masters was, but afraid to bring it up.