I don't have anything to say so… *throws virtual cookies of every Danny Phantom character*

Title: Corruption

Summary: His red eyes glowed with insanity, his forked tongue sneaked out for a second, and his hair ignited violently. That mixed with his cape made him look dangerous.

Characters: Danny Fenton/Phantom, Dash Baxter, and Valerie Gray/Red Huntress along with many minor characters.

Pairings: None

Side Notes: Pre-Phantom Planet. Post D-Stabilized.

...

They didn't exactly know how they had gotten there. One second, they were in English class and the next, they're waking up in a very large room that looked like an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a maze.

"Hello, humans," a ghost said, appearing from the shadows. He was slightly pudgy and was dressed in black. His skin was a deep red, verging on black and his eyes were a full green. "I am Dishonesty. And yes, I was the one who brought you here." His eyes drifted to Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley. "To leave you must choose someone to wear this collar." He held up a high-tech looking collar that had a red ghostly glow around it. "It will turn the wearer evil with little to no humanity or regret for being a killer. And, yes, you have to fight said person to leave. I'll give you five minutes to decide." He vanished in a cloud of red smoke.

"Great," Danny growled. He glanced at the group of A-Listers whom the class was letting make the decision. "Someone's going to be turned evil and I am not gonna go full-out ghost at them 'cause it'll reveal my secret. Great. Just Great."

Valerie was having similar thoughts. Someone's going to be corrupted. I can't hurt them since they'll be one of my classmates. And I can't reveal my secret here since everyone here's a Phantom Phan.

The A-Listers got out of their huddle.

"We choose…" Dash started.

Everyone leaned forward.

"Fenton."

Danny's eyes went wide. "Wha-what?! Why me?"

Dash smirked. "Dishonesty said we'll have to fight the person we choose. And you're weak. It'll be easy."

A black glove grabbed Danny's shoulder. Dishonesty was floating behind the boy.

"Good choice," the ghost said.

Danny quickly got out of the ghost's grip and backed up. Dash pushed him forward again.

The last thing everyone saw before it all went black was Danny Fenton being dragged away by his feet, kicking and screaming.

….

The parents of everyone in Mr. Lancer's last period English class barged in the door to find no one there. Pencils had been abandoned on the desks, papers and notes were strewn on the floor, and a lesson was unfinished on the blackboard.

Maddie Fenton walked up to a note that was left on the desk and read it over. She gasped and backed up, dropping it.

The huntress grabbed her husband and ran out the door.

….

Dash Baxter's eyes fluttered open to find himself chained to the wall in the same room that they had passed out in. His classmates and teacher were already awake and chained up next to him.

"Well, it seems the last is awake," Dishonesty said, floating in front of them. "Good."

"We had a deal!" Paulina shrieked. "We let you corrupt someone and you let us go."

"I also said you have to fight that person, and as for you leaving, I lied," Dishonesty said. "There should've been a clue in my name."

A silhouette of a figure walked silently on a beam high above them. It leaned against another vertical beam.

"Where's Danny?" Sam demanded. "What did you do with him?"

The figure on the beam chuckled, drawing attention to himself. "Don't worry, Sammy. Danny is fine. This show's already begun. The halfa will make his appearance later."

The voice made everyone shiver. It was sick and sly in a monotone "you-don't-know-anything-about-me-but-I-know-everything-about-you" voice. It made everyone tremble.

"Who's that?" Kwan asked.

Dishonesty turned his back on them. "My accomplice and apprentice."

The figure smirked knowingly and looked away.

"Now do you want—" Dishonesty stopped short as he turned around. The class was gone. Rage filled his red eyes.

He faced his apprentice. "Find them! Destroy them if you have too!"

The figure chuckled. "With pleasure." A sadistic smile lit up his face.

….

The class was running on adrenalin only through the maze. They wanted to collapse from exhaustion but knew that if they did, they were dead.

The only sounds that could be heard were their gasping and heavy breathing, the sound of their feet on the concrete floor, and the rhythmic thuds of their pursuer's boots.

Nathan fell to the ground panting in what appeared to be a large grove in the maze. Mikey followed. To everyone's shock, it was Kwan and Paulina who helped them up.

Voices suddenly filled the maze.

"Actually, that was me… and you, eventually."

"I suppose out of respect for our past I should let you live. But that's not how I work."

"You know, if I had an ounce of humanity left in me, this would be a very touching little reunion."

"Run? Where are they going to go?"

"And you aren't going anywhere if you can't remove your time medallion."

"In fact, you aren't going anywhere at all."

"Of course you will. It's only a matter of time."

"Actually, nobody's going anywhere. Not until it's time for you to be blown everywhere!"

"I'm still here! I still exist! That means you still turn into me!"

"What makes you think you can change my past?"

"Oh you are such a child! You promised?"

Everyone spun around, trying to find the source of the voices.

"It's not real," Sam eventually said. "They're just voices from the past."

"Wait," Tucker said. "The footsteps stopped…"

Everyone froze. The footsteps of the pursuer (they assumed it was the accomplice/apprentice) had indeed stopped. He was around here someone.

An animalistic howl lit up the silence. Everyone looked up to see a black and white blur rocketing at them.

"Look out!"

They all scattered in opposite directions. The blur slammed into the ground, throwing anyone too close back and blocking everyone's vision with dust.

"Is everyone alright?" Mr. Lancer yelled.

"I-I-I think so!" Dash called back.

"You won't be soon," a monotone voice said.

The dust cleared to reveal a figure.

Sam and Tucker gasped and stepped back. "That hair… that skin… that costume…"

"Who is he, Miss Manson and Mr. Foley?" Mr. Lancer asked.

"He's…" Sam trailed off.

The figure's head shot up, eyes blazing a blood red. Everyone gasped as they saw a high-tech collar around his neck. "Daniel Fenton."

He rubbed the debris off him and stood up, smirking.

Everyone took a step back.

….

Dishonesty waited in his room for Danny to return with the bodies of his classmates. The corruption had completely blocked out his humanity, basically making him Dan. He was now the most powerful ghost in history, his powers being that of Dan and Danny's.

The door suddenly flung open and Maddie and Jack jumped out.

"Freeze, spook!" Jack yelled.

Dishonesty took a step back. "Minion? Minion!"

Maddie shot him with her ecto-gun. "Where is our son and his class?"

Dishonesty pointed towards the maze.

….

Dash stared in shock at Danny. He looked so different.

The boy's normally raven hair was a mess of pearly white flames. His eyes that were normally friendly were blood red with madness. His pale skin was a bluish-green and a pair of fangs were in his mouth. And either Danny was hiding muscle beneath his baggy clothes or the collar had messed with his physiology. He wore a black and white top with white sleeves and a white collar. He also had black pants and a white belt with white boots and black gloves. A black and white cape was on his back. What shocked everyone was the DP symbol on his chest.

"Anyone want to fight me first?" Danny asked in a drone. "Dishonesty wants you to never escape."

Dash cracked his knuckles. "I will. You're still Fenton. You can't be that hard to beat."

Danny raised a black eyebrow.

Dash charged at him with a fist up, screaming at the top of his lungs. Danny caught the fist with a bored expression on his face and moved quickly to be behind Dash, holding the jock's wrist painfully behind his back.

Dash's eyes went wide as he heard Danny's voice in his ear. "That's not going to work, Dash. I've fought beings twice your size and twice as fast as you and have won. This is nothing to me."

Using strength, Dash didn't know Danny had, he shoved the bully forward. He hit the wall with a sickening crack and fell to the floor.

Dash looked up to see Danny walking towards him, growling like a rabid animal.

"Hey, Danny!"

The-good-halfa-turned-bad-ghost looked back to see who interrupted his kill. It was Valerie.

"What, little Red?" the boy growled.

"I'll fight you."

A wicked smile slipped onto the boy's face. He glanced back at Dash and held out a hand. It glowed green and a ring of green fire surrounded his former tormenter. "I'll be back for you."

Everyone stood, shocked that Danny could do that. That collar must've really messed up his abilities.

He flashed a pompous grin at Valerie. "Are you sure you want to do this, little Red?"

She charged at him.

His eyes glowed brighter. "So be it."

He shot into the air, did a flip, and brought his foot down on her head. She cried out in pain, sliding backwards.

"Valerie!" Sam yelled. "Catch!"

Valerie caught an ecto-gun and aimed it at Danny. He did a backflip in mid-air dodging a blast before getting struck with another.

"We've got to go!" Val yelled. She took a water bottle out of her backpack and threw it on the fire blocking Dash from escaping. "C'mon!"

They charged down the hallway.

"We've gotta find a way to weaken him!" Sam yelled.

"He's got ghost powers now probably because of that collar!" Valerie yelled back. "What weakens a ghost?"

"Uh, blood blossoms, ectoranium, and the Specter Deflector!" Tucker said. "Not one of us has that!"

"The collar!" Dash yelled. "If we get the collar off of him, he might go back to normal."

"And what if I like it this way?"

Everyone froze as the ground cracked and Danny Fenton crawled up from it.

"Hmmm? What about that?"

Everyone back up.

Silence filled the air. The class stood in one side, looking horrified. Danny stood, blocking their path, grinning, cape and flaming hair waving in the breeze.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, with a fake pout on his face. He grinned.

His red eyes glowed with insanity, his forked tongue sneaked out for a second, and his hair ignited violently. That mixed with his cape made him look dangerous.

"That's what I thought."

….

Jack and Maddie ran into a section of the maze. There was significant damage to this section.

"They've been here," Jack observed.

"And it seems that the ghost's minion was here too." Maddie examined a mark on the wall. "Ecto-blast. And ghostly fire over there."

A loud shriek ran through the maze.

"That sounded like Mr. Lancer…" Maddie said.

She and Jack ran down corridor after corridor until they found the class. The students and one teacher were huddle together, eyes filled with fear, and scanning the room for danger.

"Mrs. and Mr. Fenton!" Sam and Tucker yelled when they spotted the two ghost hunters.

"Sam! Tucker!" Jack yelled. He froze. "Where's Danny?"

"H-H-He was here a s-s-second ago," Dash stuttered.

Maddie nodded. "He must've gone ahead in the maze. We'll go find him."

They took out their ghost weapons, ready to face whatever lay between them and their son and took off into the maze, screaming like a banshee. The students and teacher listened until they couldn't hear the Fentons anymore.

And that's when it happened. Dash's shadow that had been flickering on the wall changed. It grew slightly scrawnier, two slits for eyes cut into it, the hair grew wilder, and a cape appeared. In one swift movement, the shadow peeled itself from the wall and shot through the air, laughing manically. It gained color as it flew but it wasn't until it landed that the group could confirm their suspicions of his identity.

Danny had landed in a crouching position, one of his gloved hands on the floor, keeping him steady with the other charging up an ecto-blast.

"Y-Y-You!" Dash stuttered.

Danny's malevolent grin widened. "Yes, me. Couldn't have my parents see me know could we?"

Silence. He took that as an answer. "Correct."

In one swift motion of his hand, the group was restrained to the wall with ecto-goo. Everyone's eyes widened, failing to notice that someone from the group was missing.

A red claw shot out from behind Danny and wrapped around the collar. He stopped what he was doing and looked down with confusion. Realization hit him and he turned around to see Valerie Gray holding a red ecto-gun with the claw shooting out of it.

The huntress pressed a button and electricity shot through the wire attached to the claw, to the claw itself, to Danny's collar, and finally Danny. The monstrosity he had become screamed as electricity poured through his every molecule.

Please work! Valerie thought.

A crack appeared in the collar.

Yes!

As everyone watched, more cracks appeared until it finally shattered. Pieces of metal flew everywhere as it did.

Danny groaned and pressed a hand to his right eye. His fiery hair turned black and settled back into his normal hairstyle. The eye that everyone could see faded from red to blue and his skin changed from greenish-blue to pale. The fangs in his mouth retracted back into his teeth and his pointed ears softened to be round again. His tongue went back to normal.

With another groan, he collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Valerie smiled, despite the fact that her friend was unconscious.

"You did it," Sam whispered. Louder. "You did it!"

In a very uncharacteristic way, Sam jumped up and hugged Valerie. The ghost hunter returned the hug both laughing since they were okay.

"Did Danny return?" Maddie asked appearing around the corner, Jack next to her.

Everyone stopped in their celebration, remembering the unconscious halfa.

His mother noticed him.

"DANNY!"

She ran over and laid his head in her lap, stroking his black hair. "What happened to him?"

"T-T-The ghost that trapped us here put a collar on him that turned him evil, gave him superpowers, and changed his appearance," Valerie explained. "We got it off him and he reverted back."

With a moan, Danny started to stir. He sat up and pressed a hand to his right eye again. "Did anyone get the license plate of the bus that hit me?" he joked.

Maddie laughed and hugged him. He hugged back. The students were too terrified from their almost near death experience with Danny's dark side to comment on that.

"Why does my eye feel like it's on fire?" the teen asked, removing his hand from his eye.

Half of the group screamed.

"Um, Danny?" Dash said, abandoning the usual nicknames. "Your eye is red."

"WHAT?!" Danny shrieked.

Everyone nodded, still in shock.

The hero sighed and got up. "I'll deal with that later. For now, we've got to take down Dishonesty." He smirked. "Who thinks that I'm still under his control. Guys, I've got a plan."

Dishonesty leaned against the wall giving a sigh of relief. The hunters had not come back for him. They must've been caught by his minion. Who should be coming back anytime now. The ghost laughed. The son killed his parents.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a blaster charging up. Slowly, he turned around to face Maddie and Jack Fenton and Danny's class.

"Where is our son, you filthy piece of post human consciousness?" Maddie yelled.

"Yeah!" Jack agreed.

Dishonesty cracked a sadistic smile. "You want to see your son?" He snapped his fingers. "Minion!"

"Yes, Master?" a silky smooth voice answered. Dishonesty turned around to see Danny's silhouette on a beam, cape waving in a non-existent wind.

"Dispose of the enemy!" Dishonesty shrieked.

The class and the ghost hunters gained a horrified look.

Until Dishonesty was hit in the back by a white boot.

He fell over onto the ground. "What the—"

The ghost looked up to see an insanely angry, completely good Danny Fenton.

"You told me to dispose of the enemy," Danny stated. "And I believe—" He grabbed Dishonesty by the front of his shirt and brought him face to face with him. "—That's you!"

In a swift movement, Danny flung Dishonesty across the room.

The ghost groaned and looked up just to see Danny running at him. His green eyes widened.

Danny hit him in the stomach, sending him flying into the air. Then the halfa hit him in the jaw when he came down and finally tossed him across the room again.

"Heh heh, no-no need to get violent, Danny…" Dishonesty whimpered.

Danny's eyes narrowed.

"Danny…"

Danny raised a fist and slammed it into Dishonesty's face, knocking him out. The halfa took a Fenton Thermos from his belt and sucked him in.

"That's what you get for messing with the halfa," Danny whispered as he capped the thermos.

Suddenly, he was tackled by his parents and his two best friends.

"You're a pretty good fighter, Danny," his mom commented, hugging him. "Maybe I could teach you some moves in case a ghost decides to do this again."

Danny grinned and pushed them off of him before fixing his cape. "C'mon. We've gotta get home. Everyone's parents are probably worried about us."

He stopped. "And we will not discuss what happened there with them."

For once everyone agreed.

I don't know why, but I really like young Dan… Don't question me!