Leon…he needed to be punished…h-he…he needed to die…
"You know Leon, don't you Danny?" Sam questioned softly while watching him in concern.
Danny nodded his head once in anger, and even that was a task in its self. Just the sound of his name made him want to break something in half. He had to find Leon and kill him! No, wait…D-Danny Phantom saves lives; he doesn't kill anyone…no…but Creature Danny might-
'Wait, what am I thinking?! I-I can't do that! I just…I-I need to relax…vent the rage…'
Sam and Tucker exchanged a nervous glance as they watched the many expressions of Danny's inner torment flow, disappear and reappear on his furry face. So caught up in his only inner battle, he didn't notice their stares, hell, he didn't even notice himself walking, well more like stalking, over to a nearby tree.
"Did he do this to you?" continued Sam, stepping after his retreating form.
Danny heard her, but he couldn't answer- he was shaking with anger. He needed to release his built-up energy, and he needed to do it soon. His anger caused his senses to explode, and every little sound, every little smell seemed like a monstrous danger. He could feel Sam and Tucker's presence, but his instincts were telling him to run, attack, defend- now! So, he raised his paw and punched the tree. The tree broke in half and pieces of bark flew everywhere. The severed log then fell to the ground with a mighty thud. Danny twisted his head and looked back at his friends, his teeth clenched and his breathing heavily. His friends were, for lack of a better word, terrified. Sam blinked once in shock and stared into his eyes. They flashed red for half a second before returning to their intense blue colour. She blinked again. Had she really seen them turn red? She continued to stare at him while he stared right back with such intensity it scared her slightly.
"D-Danny?" she stuttered, reaching out a tentative hand as if to touch him.
Shaking himself free of his trance, Danny slowly realizing what he had done, what he had so very nearly done to them, how close he had come to losing it, and he sighed shakily before walking back over to them. It was strange, he had felt that angry before, like during past ghost fights or when he had first met Leon, but it was never that strong; never once did he have the urge to kill… Whether his friends realized the seriousness of what just happened or not, they played dumb and Sam simply rubbed his arm.
"Take that as a 'yes' then!" muttered Tucker, at which Sam rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry Danny, we'll find him…" she assured in a gentle voice.
Danny nodded sadly and forced a smile. He quickly turned his head from them, closing his eyes and released a quivering breath.
'Oh man, what just happened-'
-Rumble-
Danny and Sam turned to Tucker with a startled look to find him gripping his stomach with one hand.
"Uh, sorry, I skipped breakfast to meet you guys!" he smiled timidly, rubbing his stomach to sooth his hunger.
However, this started a chain reaction, and Danny and Sam's stomach also began to rumble.
"I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday!" Sam admitted sheepishly.
Danny nodded in agreement- he hadn't eaten anything either. He'd been so caught up in surviving the past few hours he never once thought to fill his stomach.
"Do ya…wanna go to the Nasty Burger for something to eat?" suggested Tucker.
"I guess…but we're gonna have to disguise Danny so he doesn't draw any…unwanted attention."
Tucker snorted a laugh, "How are we gonna disguise him?! He won't exactly fit into any human clothes anymore now will he?!"
Sam glared at him for his tone of voice and slapped his shoulder.
"Fine then, how 'bout he waits here and we'll bring him something back?" she suggested with an agitated manner as Tucker winced and rubbed his shoulder.
Danny thought for a moment. It did seem like the most logical way…what was he kidding- it was the only way! Anyone who spotted him would surely inform the authorities and have him arrested. So he nodded in agreement. It was the safer option, not just for himself.
Sam smiled faintly, "Ok, we won't be long Danny. Just sit tight."
Tucker and Sam waved goodbye to Danny as they headed through the forest and out of sight. Danny watched them leave, and continued to stare at the spot where they disappeared between the trees and shrubs. Although he could no longer see them, he could hear them. It was strange, but also kinda…nice. He would never again feel alone with all the wonderful sounds of life around him. He listened as his sensitive ears picked up the rustling of the foliage under their feet, and enabled him to hear a question Tucker asked as they headed for their destination.
"Do you think he eats raw meat or cooked?"
-Whack-
"Ow! I was just wondering!"
Danny smiled and shook his head at his friend's low pain threshold. When they pasted his range of hearing, he walked back over to the lake and sat at the waters edge, his tail dipping in the water. A small fish came over to investigate the new object invading his home, but it went unnoticed by Danny; his mind was far too troubled to notice such trivial things.
'How am I gonna find Leon? He could be anywhere by now, and I'm sure he doesn't want to see me of all people!' he pondered to himself.
Danny sat by the edge of the lake for a few minutes, thinking up ways to find Leon and get switched back, but all of them were long shots. The little fish, once intrigued by his presence, had long since disappeared. Sighing, Danny scratched the back of his neck in frustration, before stopping short of the action. Lowering his paw, he looked down and noticed his claws were still protruding through his fingertips. He groaned.
'I only have to mention his name and my body reacts negatively to him! What happened to me back there? It felt like I was about to lose it; the need to kill something was unbearable. I-If I hadn't have gained control…who knows what I would have done to Tucker and Sam…What if I had hit one of them instead of the tree-'
His pupils contracted in horror at what he had just pictured in his mind- Sam and Tuckers dead bodies littering the ground, and him covered with their blood. Shaking his head, he quickly changed his train of thought to the only other thing he could think of, plucking a flower from the grass beside him and twirled it between his fingers.
'I hope Sam wasn't freaked out by what Tucker said…he can make things so complicated between us sometimes…maybe I should tell her how I feel; get it out in the open…oh what's the point…she probably doesn't feel the same way…and even if she did…she wouldn't understand what I was saying anyway…'
Danny sat in thought for over half an hour, before he began to realize the time.
'Sam and Tucker sure are taking their time…I hope they're alright…wait, what if Leon's got them?! He could be turning them into beasts right this minute!'
Danny was on his feet and heading in the direction Tucker and Sam went before he even registered his hind legs moving. He ran through the woods, gaining more scratches and cuts on his body. When he emerged from the trees, he saw the Nasty Burger situated down the street below the hill. On his hands and knees, he crawled down the hill, ducking behind bushes and trees to hide from the civilians below, not that it was crowded much; in fact, it looked quite deserted! But, as the saying goes, better safe than sorry. He made his way down the hill and carefully approached the Nasty Burger to find Tucker and Sam making their way out with bags of take-away food. Danny smiled and released a sigh of relief.
'Thank God!'
"Damn, those queues were long! I thought I was gonna die of starvation by the time we reached the cashier!" groaned Tucker, struggling to hold the overfilled bag in his hands.
Sam merely rolled her eyes, "You're so melodramatic Tuck!"
"Look whose talking Miss 'I'm-worried-about-our-friendship'!" he grinned playfully at her, nudging her in the arm with his elbow.
"Yeh yeh, whatever," she smirked wryly back, a small blush gracing her cheeks.
The conversation ended with that, leaving Danny very confused and agitated. What the hell were they talking about? Obviously, it was a well talked about subject since they both knew what the other was implying, but it caused a wave of jealousy to shoot through Danny. Since when did they keep secrets from each other? Although the two began to head up the grassy hill and towards the forest again, they, surprisingly, didn't spot Danny in his hiding place and were, instead, approached by none other than Dash Baxter.
"Hey geeks! What are you doing here?" he questioned.
Danny stepped closer to hide behind a nearby tree and listened warily to their conversation, frowning in concentration.
"It's a free country…and we're not geeks!" stated Tucker, still struggling his the take-away bags.
"Man, Manson, I know it's kind warm out but that's no reason to go jump in a river! –Cue Sam's glare- And where's Fen-turd? Did ya ditch him or something?!" Dash laughed
"We would never ditch Danny! We're on our way to meet him right now!" Sam informed him matter-of-factly with a growled, "Now if you'll kindly move!"
"Should have known you'd never ditch your lovebird!" sneered Dash, ignoring her earlier demand.
"We're not lovebirds!" she snarled.
"But you wish you were! Right?!"
Danny frowned in confusion.
Surprisingly, Sam's resolve didn't falter, a faint blush being the only indication that she had heard him, but it quickly faded back to her pale complexion, "Dash, I'm warning you-"
"You're warning me?! I could break you in half if I wanted to!" he threatened, raising a clenched fist in front of his face for emphasis.
"Then why don't you?! You afraid I'd fight back and kick your ass?!" Sam dropped the bags of food and stood challengingly in front of him, hands clenched by her sides.
It took all of Danny's will power not to run out and defend Sam right there and then; he actually had to dug his claws very deeply into the ground to hold himself back! He growled furiously under his breath and glared daggers at Dash.
But said boy, oblivious to the danger he was putting himself in, merely laughed, "Please! Don't make me laugh Manson! Believe it or not, I have a policy about hitting girls…oh wait, I guess that means I can hit you!"
Heat flowed through Danny again, and this time, he was unable to ignore it. His sudden urge, no, need to hurt Dash willed the fire to spread over his body and he was quickly overcome by his hatred of the teenage jock.
"THAT'S IT!" Danny bellowed, his eyes flashing red.
Dash barely had time to register the thundering roar from behind him before Danny had jumped forward, grabbed him by his throat and dangled him 7 feet in the air, while his legs flailing wildly beneath him.
"NEVER, EVER, SPEAK TO SAM LIKE THAT AGAIN, OR I WILL HURT YOU!"
Danny lifted his other paw up to Dash's face, his claws dangerously nearing his skin.
"I'm sorry…l-let me go…please!" he managed to choke out in fear, although he didn't understand the ghostly creature strangling him.
Danny narrowed his eyes at him, baring his teeth and releasing a throaty snarl. When he looked upon the fear on the blondes face, he could feel his resolution dimming, and he acknowledged that no human deserved to die, even one a low as this filth he held like a worm. So, he dropped him. Dash landed with a thud on the ground and looked up at Danny in shock.
"Get out of here!" Danny growled, looking forward instead of down at him.
He glared at Dash when he remained where he was, frozen with fear and still confused as to what he was growling. He leant forward and pointed his finger in the opposite direction before roaring,
"NOW!"
Dash shrank into the ground in terror and frantically began to scramble away. Danny continued to stare after him, part of him wanting to follow after him and show him the true meaning of pain, but his conscious won out and he stayed put. Sam and Tucker stood behind him; wide-eyed and mouths agape, the food completely forgotten. Tucker was the first to regain his composure and whistled low and quiet under his breath. Sam cautiously approached Danny until she was in his line of sight. His facial expressions were full of hate and anger, his eyes tinged red, but at the sight of her, it faded and converted to worry and sadness. She had such an effect on him, and she didn't even realise. Like a river of calm that flowed into him to sedate his anger like morphine would pain. He stepped closer to her, breathing in her aura, his eyes never leaving hers. Their noses were almost touching, but Sam felt no fear with his innocent blue eyes locked with hers.
"Are you ok?" he asked softly, his warm breath flowing over her face.
"…I'm fine…" she breathed.
Danny nodded, his gaze shifting to her arm, which he stroked with his furry thumb. Dash could be so cruel to her, and yet somehow she had learnt to suffer his taunts. She was so strong.
"Danny…don't you notice something?" she asked gently, also watching his paw move carefully, delicately over her arm.
"No…why? What's wrong?" he gave her a quick look over in case he missed her being injured during all the commotion. If she had gotten in his path of rage…
She cupped his face with her hands, forcing him to look back into her eyes, "Danny…I can understand you…"
(Sorry for not updating, school is a hassle and a half! Boy, are these getting longer or is it just me?! This must be the longest chapter so far! And it'll probably stay this way…though I will try to make them all as long as this… no really, I will try! Anyway, tell me what you think, and I do sincerely apologise for not updating for so long.)