Chapter Seven
Foe to Friend and Friend to Foe
The night was calm and peaceful, something Danny hadn't experienced for a year without something major happening the next day, so it was understandable that he was a little jittery from the peace and calm.
"Relax Danny, I'm sure nothing's wrong." Sam spoke through the Fenton Phones. She was at home going over the homework from that day and helping Danny study while he patrolled the city for any ghost on the run.
"Sam's right, I'm sure that they're all just busy because doing their own thing. I mean they can't always be attacking you Danny, I'm sure they have an afterlife to live after all." Tucker threw his two cents in as well, also at his home studying for school the next day.
"Yeah I know." Danny muttered as he flew over the high school, thermos strapped to his back, Fenton Phones in his ear, and an extra ecto-gun just in case he somehow lost his ghost form. "But when there's not even the Box Ghost out I know something isn't right. It's like the calm before the storm." He explained as he flew towards the Town Hall.
There was silence and Danny knew he had made his point to his friends and so didn't bother starting up another conversation and instead shut the Fenton Phones off so that his friends could continue to study in peace. He continued to fly and had just hit the Town Hall when a familiar white figure appeared in front of him. "Daniel!"
"Plasmius!" Danny exclaimed right back at the blue skinned halfa as he came to a halt. "What are you up to?" Danny asked as he narrowed his eyes and took in the other's form with a frown forming soon after.
Vlad was sweating heavily and breathing just as heavily and there were several burned holes into his cape and his hair was slightly frazzled looking. "Better question, what happened to you?"
The older halfa just shook his head before looking around and then back at Danny. "You have one of those thermoses on you?" He questioned hurriedly, crimson eyes filled with worry and fear. Danny had just nodded suspiciously before he had a blue cube like thing shoved into his face. "I need you to suck this into a thermos and keep it on you at all times! Don't even give it back to me, do you understand!"
Danny blinked at the blue cube before shaking his head in confusion. "Wait, what's going on? Why do you even have this thing and why do you want me to keep it?" The teen asked as he flashed back to Pariah Dark where Vlad had given the Ring of Rage to Valerie to hold onto.
Vlad growled as he shoved the cube into Danny's hands. "No time to explain but do not let anyone, not even me Daniel, have that! Keep it on you and in the thermos at all times! Don't let it out of your sight. Now go and get out of here! I'll lead them away!" Vlad ordered with such urgency that Danny didn't even bother to argue anymore and instead just flew away.
Danny didn't look back and so didn't see the blasts of blue energy zip towards Vlad just as the man multiplied into five, knocking one of the duplicates out of the air. Instead Danny flew straight home where he settled the cube onto his bed. "I hope Vlad didn't just give me this to take attention away from him and onto me." Danny muttered before blinking in surprised as something seemed to seep out of the cube and towards him.
He couldn't help it, it was calling, and Danny didn't want to ignore it. So he touched it.
Energy burst through his body and filled him up before leaking out of his body and into the air around him. Danny soaked up the energy, feeling so much more powerful than he had just a minute ago.
Then that energy faded away and something else tried to enter into him, wriggling its way into him and trying to take control. It was dark. It was evil. It was all consuming.
Danny wrenched his hand away from it and stared at it with wide horrified eyes. "I don't know what you are but I'm not touching you again." Danny told the cube as he retrieved the thermos from his back and sucked it up into it. "Well whatever you are, you're made up of energy or enough energy for the thermos to hold you." He said as he settled the thermos next to his bed where he could grab it and strap it back onto his back in the morning.
"One thing is for sure, I'm not going to let you out of my sight or my hold." He decided as he changed back to human and then climbed into bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Danny Phantom
"Hey Valerie, is Danny okay?" Tucker asked as he called over the Fenton Phones to Valerie's own communication devices.
"Yeah, he's fine. But we're still surrounded and he's knocked out. We'll finish this up and get back to you; it's only Walker's goons left. Luckily Danny took care of Skulker and we were able to suck him into a thermos, Walker's been taken care of as well." Valerie explained as she shot off more of Walker's goons and soon they were sucked up into a thermos.
"Good, I was worried that he might've hit the water. I'm not sure if his human form would be able to survive such a high drop like that, no matter how much stronger he is than a normal human." Tucker informed as he typed at a computer. "Look, I don't have any ghost shields here that are up and operational at the moment, only the normal human lockdown. Which means reinforced steel shutters that close at the code and steel doors and laser guns in the hallways." Tucker informed the girl.
"Alright, we'll be able to get through so go ahead and shut the place down. We'll come that way once we have all of these goons and we'll be able to get in. Don't worry about it." Valerie informed.
"Gotcha, can't wait to see the two of you again." At that moment Tucker's cell phone went off. "This is Tucker Foley, TF for Too Fine." Tucker answered automatically, ignoring the fact that he was now a Stark. He couldn't just let that TF go, it was too good not to use.
"Tucker, Danny isn't at the tower right now is he?" Tony asked over the phone.
Tucker panicked at that as he went with the cover story he and Danny had come up with earlier. "What? No, Danny is still down in the Gym working out. What makes you think that he isn't here anyways?" The Techno geek couldn't help but laugh nervously at the end and knew that Tony would know that he was lying with that.
"You know exactly who Danny Phantom is, don't you." Tucker wasn't even sure what to say to that and so he did the most rational thing to do at that obvious statement.
He hung up.
DannyPhantom
Danny met up with Sam and Tucker as soon as he could the next day at school. That was rather hard though since it was Parent day and all of their parents had made it. "So that's what happened." Danny finished explaining to his two friends and Jazz who had come for a visit from college.
"Wow, I wonder what had Vlad so frazzled." Jazz said as she cupped her chin in one hand while the other held her elbow. "He's normally so calm and collected that it's hard to think of him as frazzle and out of sorts."
Sam and Tucker nodded their heads. "Yeah, he's your strongest enemy, so whatever had him on the run you should be wary of Danny." Sam said as she looked at her friend.
Danny nodded his head. "Yeah I know, though I'm confused too since the cube was really weird." Danny said as he looked over his shoulder at the strapped thermos on his back. "It was as if it gave me an energy boost but then tried to take me over. I wonder if that's what had Vlad all weird."
"Don't know, but maybe I should take a look after school and see what it's made of." Tucker suggested as he looked at his friend. "Whether its energy or some kind of machine we should know so we can better protect and hide it."
Danny frowned at that suggestion as a bad feeling invaded his stomach. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. We'll leave it in the thermos and I'll keep it safe with me that way we know where it's at, at all times." Danny stated firmly, not willing to take any other suggestions.
His friends and sister all recognized that tone and just nodded their heads in agreement. It was at that moment at their parents called them back to them and all three did as told.
Tucker and Danny were able to stand pretty close together as their parents liked each other but Sam had been dragged down the hall a couple of yards so that she was away from them and the Fenton parents. Jazz was with her and Danny's parents talking with Mr. Lancer along with the Foleys. The two teenage boys were a little ways behind the older group talking with each other about the latest version of DOOM.
Which was the time when a familiar white caped figure appeared in the middle of the hallway. "Give me the thermos boy!" Vlad boomed as he glared at Danny with sapphire eyes and a hand held out towards Danny.
"What?" Danny asked with confusion as he looked at the older Halfa, wondering if the man had lost his mind with suddenly approaching him like this in the middle of the day. This could leak both of their secrets if he wasn't careful. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Danny said as he adjusted his backpack so that it covered the thermos more firmly.
Vlad snarled and was about to attack when a green blast of energy slammed into him and slammed him into the lockers lining the hallway. "Stay away from my baby you ectoplasmic mindless scum!" Maddie hollered as she and Jack aimed their weapons at the Wisconsin ghost again, ready to take the ghost out. Jazz was behind her parents with Mr. Lancer, watching with wary and fear ridden eyes. Sam and her parents were off down the hall standing with several other parents and students.
Danny and Tucker could only gape in horror as Vlad stood up from where he had been blasted and snarled at the Fenton parents with such anger and hatred that they had never seen from the man before. "I do not have time for your foolishness Jack and Maddie Fenton. My Master has commanded me to retrieve that thermos and that cube and I will do so no matter what." He stated as he spread his arms out to his sides with energy whirling around him suddenly. "Even if it means destroying this pathetic school with everyone in it!"
Danny could do nothing more than grab Tucker by the arm and turn them intangible as Vlad released the violent burst of electrified energy that instantly disintegrated everything in its path.
Danny and Tucker had to watch as their school, their teachers, their friends, and their family were killed in the blast while they escaped and ran from a furious Plasmius with only the clothes on their backs and the thermos tucked between Danny's shoulders.
DannyPhantom
Danny gasped as he woke from his dream…nightmare…memory of the events that had preceded his and Tucker's runaway from Casper High and Amity Park.
He shook his head as he fought to control the shaking of his hands and the gasping for breath. He had had that dream several times since it had occurred half a year ago and he knew that he would continue to have that same nightmare for many years to come. After all, it was the same day that he and Tucker had lost almost everything.
Then the memories of what had happened on the helicarrier's bridge flooded his memory for several seconds before he could regain control again. "Nothing seems to want to go my way today." He muttered to himself as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Hey there sleeping beauty, nice to see you up." Danny blinked and looked up from where he had been placed on the floor and against a wall of his and Tucker's lab to see Valerie standing over him with her hands on her hips. "You over did it in that fight knucklehead." She stated with a frown.
Danny smiled sheepishly as he stood up but his knees buckled under him. Luckily Valerie caught him before he hit the ground and helped him to stay standing as well. "Thanks Val, and I know, it's been too long since I went all out with my powers so I'm really rusty." He explained as he looked at her with tired eyes.
She nodded her head in understanding before pulling one of his arms over her shoulders and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Yeah I can tell, you're just lucky that I had some backup to catch you. That and she took care of Walker, snuck up on ugly and sucked him into a thermos before he could do anything about it." She said with a smirk as the two walked towards where Danny could see all of Tucker's computers set up.
"Backup?" Danny asked as he looked at Valerie, who he noticed he was taller than now by a good foot. Danny smiled at the thought of his father's genes finally kicking in.
"That would be me!" Another voice spoke up that Danny didn't recognize at first. "Did you really think you had lost me in that wild chase Couz?"
The raven haired teen smiled happily as he and Valerie finally came around to see the computers screens with the two others in front of them. "Dani!" He called out as he held an arm out towards his cousin.
Dani smiled as she walked over towards him and engulfed him into a big hug with her arms around his waist and face buried in his neck. Danny released Valerie and the Ghost Hunter released him so that he could hug Dani. Once he had gotten his fill, Danny pushed the younger girl away so that he could take her in fully.
She had grown several feet and was now reaching his neck with ease within the last two years and Danny remembered that she must've been at the age of twelve at this point. Her hair was long and flowing down her back though the front of it was still obviously styled much like Danny's own. She also had gain the beginnings of the woman figure with the chest and then the hour glass figure. She wore blue jeans with a tight fitting white long sleeved shirt that showed off her midriff with a blue vest over that. She wore a red baseball cap instead of a beany that she had put on backwards.
"You look great Couz." Danny replied as he pulled her back into a hug.
Dani smiled as she hugged him tightly before releasing him and helping towards the screens. "Alright, an awesome reunion but now we have to figure out what to do." She said as she looked back at Tucker and Valerie, both of who were now looking at the computer screens that had security footage on them. "Tucker and Valerie have brought me up to speed so we need to plan on what to do."
Danny nodded his head in understanding before looking at the screens himself. "Well, we have to avoid Vlad at all costs. No offense Valerie and Dani, but I couldn't take him when I was at full power and he was only using half of his, I don't want to see what he's like using full power while attacking the three of us unprepared." He said as he looked at the two. "That and I have no idea what you two are capable anymore, I'm sure you both got stronger and better but if I don't know then I can't coordinate any attacks effectively."
Valerie and Dani both closed their mouths at that as Danny had a point. "But what if just me and Valerie take him on, me and her have been fighting together for the last two years so we know how to work together." Dani explained as she looked up at her original with furrowed brows.
Danny gulped at that before nodding slowly. "Only if we have to though, as a last defense sort of thing." Danny stated as he looked at the two firmly. "Vlad is much stronger than any of us know, he blew up an entire school without even breaking a sweat and then chased me and Tucker across the country for hours before we lost him…I don't even know how we managed that one."
Tucker shrugged at the mention of their escape. "All I know is that we hid in a woman's bathroom after dressing up in women's clothing. I guess we made some pretty convincing women to fool Vlad like that." Tucker said after a moment of thought.
Valerie and Dani had to muffle giggles at the thought of the two boys dressing in woman's clothing but were brought back to the seriousness of the situation when Danny's cellphone rang.
Danny blinked in surprise before picking it out of his pocket and answering it without looking at it. He only had two numbers on the thing and one was Tucker. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was that was calling him. "Hey Tony, what do you need?" He questioned as he raised an eyebrow at Tucker suddenly going pale.
"Why didn't you tell me you were Danny Phantom?" What the first thing Danny heard from Tony.
Danny blinked in surprise before sighing in defeat, knowing that Tony would've learned of that eventually as the man had seen him use his invisibility and intangibility several times in the past. "I didn't think it was important at the time." Danny replied as he shifted himself so that he was leaning a little bit more on Dani as he held the phone more firmly in his hands. "That and it never came up and you never asked about my powers."
Silence on the other end of the phone before Tony spoke again. "You got me there…okay we'll talk about this later. Jarvis has informed me that you have initiated the lockdown of the tower. Good job on that and also good job on helping us out here on the Helicarrier and stupid of you for risking yourself like that!" Tony exclaimed near the end before jumping again. "I want you to keep the Tesseract away from Loki and his controlled minions alright, do not let him get it no matter what! I don't care what you have to do alright, destroy the tower for all I care! Don't let them get the tesseract!"
Danny nodded his head and then realized that Tony wouldn't see the movement. "Yeah, I can do that, especially as I got some backup now. No worries Tony, we got this, just do your thing and take Rudolph out of the game will ya."
"You can bet on that Casper." Tony remarked. "Be safe and protect yourselves, I'll see you after this is over." With that Tony hung up the phone and Danny turned to Tucker.
"Well, the secret is out." Danny said to the group before looking back at the screens and paling. "And another has entered!" He exclaimed as he pointed to the middle screen where it showed Plasmius right outside of the lab they were in.
"Aw shit." Tucker said just as they all turned towards the wall where Plasmius had entered the room.
"Well hello children." Plasmius said with a sick grin on his face as he looked at the four kids with malicious glee and happiness. "It's so wonderful for you all to join me here where I can take care of you all at once."
Danny scowled at that as he stood up straight and shrugged Dani off. "Don't think that it'll be that easy Plasmius." Danny said as he met the sapphire gaze of the older halfa. "You'll have to get through all of us to get this thermos." Danny stated as he transformed into Phantom.
"Yeah, you'll have to go through us!" Dani exclaimed as she went ghost as well, revealing the same Phantom outfit she had before except that a white cape had appeared.
"A cape, really?" Danny questioned as he looked at her with a raised brow.
"What? I think it's really cool!" The girl said as she sent a glare at Danny before looking at Valerie with puppy dog eyes. "You think it's cool, don't you Valerie?" She questioned the older girl.
Valerie just rolled her eyes as she had her helmet rematerialize and then summoned one of her many guns. "This isn't the time for this. Get out of here Danny, protect that thermos." Valerie ordered.
Danny frowned but knew that that is exactly what he needed to do. "Show off that teamwork you two, alright." Danny said as he stepped backwards and grabbed a hold of Tucker, turning the two intangible with great effort. "Take him out because I don't think I'll be able to." With that he disappeared up through the ceiling slowly.
Valerie smirked as she looked at a growling Plasmius. "You'll have to go through us to get to them." She said as she fired off a blast that was blocked by a glowing pink shield.
"Please, I'm the one who trained you to be a ghost hunter girl, I know all of your moves and abilities." Vlad throw back as he fired off a pink blast.
"True, but you forget, I'm not fighting alone." Valerie stated as she avoided the attack.
Vlad frowned at that just as Danielle appeared behind him and slammed her foot straight into his head followed by a powerful blast of ecto-energy. "Yeah! You forgot about me!" She shouted out in glee as she looked at the downed Older Halfa.
"Who'd have thought that would work on him?" Valerie said as she walked over to the other girl with her head tilted to the side.
"Hey, it's always the simple things that work the best." Dani said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Ugh, what happened?" the two girls turned back to Plasmius, who was at this point holding his head in pain while on his knees. "Where am I?" He asked next as he looked around the room.
Valerie and Dani blinked in confusion as Plasmius stood back up and turned around in a circle, taking in the room with wide crimson eyes.
"Danielle, Valerie? What are you two doing here…no wait…I…remember…but it's all…covered in…blue haze." Plasmius rasped out as apparently all of his memory came back to him. "No…I can't believe…I didn't mean too." Vlad muttered as tears welled up in his eyes and he fell back onto his knees as everything he had done came back to him. "I can't believe I destroyed….destroyed the school…with so many…people inside of…it…I never…ever…wanted that to happen." He sobbed out as he fisted his hands tightly while he bent over and hid his face from the world.
Dani and Valerie could do nothing but watch in complete and total shock at what was happening in front of them. Neither had ever seen Vlad so broken before, so shattered and vulnerable.
"Oh Maddie, even Jack…I never meant it…" He continued for some time before something seemed to click in his brain. "Daniel." He muttered suddenly in worry and horror. "Oh no, he's after Daniel." He stated as he stood back up and looked at the two girls. "Where's Daniel? He's in danger! That madman is after him and he'll do anything he can to get to him!" Vlad exclaimed as he looked at the two.
"Wait a moment Plasmius." Dani said as she and Valerie finally snapped out of their shock. "How do we know you still aren't trying to kill him and take the thermos from him?" She asked with energy in her hand and Valerie's gun was aimed at Vlad's head.
"Because foolish girl I'm the one who gave it to him to hold onto and not give to anyone, not even me!" Vlad hollered as he glared at the two. "If that monster gets a hold on what's in that thermos than he'll open a portal that'll allow something much worse than ghosts out!" He explained as hurriedly as he could. He knew that they had limited time until that cretin reached Daniel and got exactly what he wanted, especially with the state that the boy was in from everything that had happened within the last half year.
Dani and Valerie shared a look before nodding at each other. "He went up through the ceiling to get the thermos away from you. If we just fly up then we should be able to catch up to him without too much of a problem." Valerie explained as Dani grabbed hold of her hand and floated into the air.
"Try and keep up old man!" Dani yelled with a smirk before going intangible with Valerie and flying straight up and through the ceiling.
Vlad sighed in relief before he too went intangible and followed the two girls up through the ceiling.
Avengers
Danny gasped in air like it was going out of style once he got himself and Tucker to the living room. Once he was sure that he and Tucker were fully up into the room, Danny released his Ghost powers and returned to his human form and collapsed onto the floor. "Are you going to be okay Danny?" Tucker questioned as he helped up his brother and friend with all that he had. Despite the fact that Danny ate less than the African American, the Halfa was a lot heavier due to the muscles he had built up over the years.
"I don't know if I'll be able to keep going." Danny muttered as Tucker helped him stand. The halfa was forced to lean on the other boy, absolutely exhausted from all the use of his unused powers within the last few hours. "If only I had kept up practicing with my powers, than we wouldn't be in this position.
Tucker shook his head at his friend as he helped the other walk towards the couch so that he could sit down and relax. "Its fine Danny, you used your powers sparingly because you knew we were being followed. You didn't want to give them anything else to use to follow us, you did what you could to protect us." Tucker said calmly, even as he began to breathe heavily under the weight he was carrying. He'd have to use his inhaler after this.
Danny smiled at his friend as he tried to lift his feet up and help walk but he was so depleted of energy that it was hard to walk straight let alone walk at all. He wasn't even sure how he was still awake at the moment as he was just so exhausted. "Either way, I don't think I'll be able to Go Ghost again for while after all of that fighting." He informed as Tucker began to turn them around so that Danny could flop onto the couch.
"That's rather good news for." A suave voice said out of nowhere. "Means getting the tesseract from you will be easy to do." And with that Danny could only gasp as the tip of a scepter tapped him on the chest and his world was covered in a blue haze.
He never got to flop onto the couch like he wanted to.
Avengers
Tony could only continue to reassure himself as he flew through the air towards the tower. His boys were in trouble and even though the billionaire hadn't really started out as the greatest parental figure in the world, he'd like the chance to improve. To get to know the two boys better. To give them a chance to grow up. To let them learn and spread their wings.
To help Danny further his abilities and help Tucker learn more about the technological world.
"Hold on you two, I'm on my way." Tony muttered as he pushed for more speed to get to his tower faster.
"Stark, you go any faster you'll lose us." Steve said through the communicator. "We have to go at him as a team and take him out together."
"Yeah well, we don't have everyone together to go at him together." Tony snapped. "Besides, without the tesseract he won't be able to activate whatever machine he's had Selvig build." He explained as his tower came into view. "I've got two puppies to check on so Iron Man out!" With that he clicked the communicator off before Captain America had time to reply.
It was a breath of relief when he finally arrived to his tower. He quickly made his landing on his pad and allowed the computerized system begin to remove the armor. "Danny? Tucker?" Tony called out into the living room once all of his armor was removed, catching sight of the two boys. The steel shutters of the once locked down tower were no longer in place and Tony feared that something was wrong. "Why are the two of you up here, I thought you'd be in your lab in lockdown?" Tony asked as he walked further into the room.
"Well you see, they've decided to join the right side of this little battle of ours." Tony whipped around to see the familiar smirking face of Loki.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony snarled as he glared at the man.
"I came to pick up the tesseract. Draugr, bring it to me." Loki ordered with a smirk as he held a hand out at his side.
Tony blinked as Danny appeared next to Loki in his ghost form, eyes glowing that eerie sapphire blue, tesseract in his hand. "Of course Master Loki." Danny intoned with a smirk appearing on his face as he dropped the blue cube in the Asgardian's hand.
Tony stared at the teen in horror before whipping around to see a human Danny smirking at him with a similarly smirking Tucker. Both had glowing sapphire eyes. "What's have you done to the boys!" Tony hollered as he whipped around to continue glaring at Loki.
Loki smirked as he tilted his head to the side. "I just persuaded them to help me in my cause, after all, they will be part of a much better kingdom once I have fully activated the Tesseract." He informed the billionaire. "Now you see, I must get this to the roof so that Selvig can put it into place. I can't keep my army waiting much longer." With that said Loki turned to Danny and pointed at Tony with his scepter. "Destroy him and then come back to me. You boy, you'll come with me while the Man of Iron is taken care of." Loki ordered to Danny and Tucker.
"Yes Master." The two boys intoned and the human Danny disappeared with Tucker as Loki disappeared as well, leaving only Danny Phantom standing in front of Tony with a malicious smirk.
"Danny, come on, you remember me, Tony, the smartass that adopted you a week ago?" Tony said as he back up out towards his landing pad again, intent on getting back into his suit.
"Yes, I remember that." Danny said as a frown appeared on his face and then his face scrunched up all together. "I remember you adopting us." He said as he shook his head, eyes flashing back and forth between Neon Green and Glowing Sapphire. "You…saved…Tucker…you…saved…me…" He muttered before he seemingly slumped and his eyes went back to sapphire. "No, my master has commanded me and I'll follow those commands. You must die."
Tony smiled sadly at the teen as he finally stepped onto the landing pad. "I won't just let you beat me around Danny, just so you know." He informed the controlled teen.
"I don't care, I'll be able to destroy you easily." Danny informed the billionaire as his hands began to glow with blue energy.
Tony shook his head. "I doubt that, Jarvis, suit now!" Tony commanded and the robotic arms of the landing pad extended and began to equip the suit onto him.
"I won't let you!" Danny shouted as he released the icy blue energy at Tony, intent on making a Popsicle out of the billionaire.
Danny Phantom
A.N. Okay, so another chapter done and up. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter since it took a lot to write. I was continually rewriting this chapter but I finally got it the way I liked it. I hope you all liked it as well. Review and let me know.
