I do not own Danny Phantom or X-Men: Evolution.

Chapter Six

Rogue

Danny hadn't been to school in three days. I would have thought it was because of the fire, but he'd come for a few days after Beast had released him. Now, he'd just vanished into the ether. Kurt, Kitty, Scott, and I were going to Phantom's Café to see if he was there.

The place was completely empty. The doors were broken and there wasn't a single person inside. I tried the door that led to his apartment, but this one was locked. I pounded on it for five minutes before Scott declared that he must not be there.

We were about to leave when I noticed Danny's necklace—minus the creepy ring—on the floor by the doors amidst the shattered glass. I picked it up, wondering why he'd left it.

"This seemed pretty important to him," I said, "and the ring's missing. What could have happened?"

"I don't know," Scott said, "but I don't think he left of his own free will. You're right that the necklace seemed important; besides all of this glass on the floor."We had no idea where to even begin to find Danny, so we headed back to the mansion. Cerebro hadn't ever detected his use of power before (which was nearly unheard of), but it was worth a shot.

"Did you hear about those robberies that have been going on the past three days?" Kitty said, trying to make small-talk. "Apparently, the guy robs these places in broad daylight, but they can't catch him." We walked by a jewelry store and I watched as a white-haired kid our age flew through the door, carrying a sack of what was probably stolen merchandise.

"You mean like that?" Scott asked. "Hey, you! You won't get away with these robberies!" The kid turned toward us and smirked.

"You think you can stop me?" he asked. He was wearing a white form-fitting shirt with short sleeves, black cargo pants, white combat boots, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. The shirt had a strange symbol on it that looked like a D with a P inside of it.

"Kurt?" Scott prompted; he teleported next to the kid, grabbed the bag he'd set on the ground, and teleported away. I assumed he'd gone inside the store to return the merchandise. He reappeared next to Scott and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Well, well, well, aren't you interesting? The name's Phantom. Let's play again sometime," he said and vanished.

-o-

Scott

When we got back to the mansion, we went straight to Professor X and told him what we'd found at the café and about Phantom.

"This is certainly troubling news," the professor said. "You said this 'Phantom' flew, phased through a wall, and vanished before your eyes?"

"Exactly. It's not normal for mutant powers to manifest so diversely in one person," I said.

"You don't think he's like me, do you?" Rogue asked.

"It's unlikely, though possible," the professor said. "Danny showed a similar unusual variety of powers. It could be we are dealing with a new breed of mutant."

"What does he do besides teleport?" Kurt asked.

"I saw him phase through the wall of that burning building," I said.

"And I witnessed his peculiar energy powers. Beast said he can also create ice but Danny said it's another facet of the energy powers," the professor said.

"For all we know, he has even more powers," I said. "Danny's pretty secretive, anyway."

"Professor…what do you think is going on?" Kitty asked. It was a good question. Things had gotten really weird in Bayville since Danny had arrived. Was it his fault?

"I'm afraid I have no idea, Kitty," the professor sighed.

-o-

Kitty

Danny wasn't at school the next day either, and it was really worrying me. I couldn't concentrate all day in class. All I could think about was Danny…and that Phantom guy. If I really thought about it, they looked kind of similar. Plus, Danny's store was called Phantom's Café. Could Danny be Phantom? No, they didn't act anything alike!

Unless Danny was just acting the whole time. That didn't sit right with me, though. Danny was my friend and I shouldn't be doubting him. If he was Phantom, there had to be a logical explanation. I resolved to keep these ideas to myself (I was probably nuts anyway).

"Kurt!" I ran up to my fuzzy, blue friend after school, "I want to go back to Danny's. To see if we missed something."

"I was thinking the same thing, Kitty," Kurt agreed. "We should get Scott and Rogue, too."

"Alright, alright, but let's hurry!" I exclaimed. Scott and Rogue were easy to find (I vaguely wondered why Jean wasn't with them, before remembering she was probably in the library working on her huge science project), and they quickly agreed to come with us. They were just as worried as Kurt and me.

-o-

Kurt

We couldn't find any more clues as to Danny's whereabouts at the café. I was just about ready to bust into his apartment, but before I could even suggest it, I heard laughter echo through the building. Cold, deep laughter followed by a high and insane cackle.

"Who's there?" I yelled.

Phantom appeared right in front of my face, saying, "Well, well, hello there, Fuzzball!"

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. Phantom backed up and lifted into the air effortlessly. He pulled his legs up and sat cross-legged in thin air.

"I've come to play with you, of course," he smirked. "You little X-Men are just so interesting!" Something about this guy made chills run down my spine. Scott, Kitty, and Rogue finally made their way over to us from the other side of the store.

"Who are you?" Kitty asked. Phantom tapped his chin like he needed to think about it.

"I'm Phantom!" he finally said. This guy was starting to irritate me.

"And who is Phantom?" Scott pressed.

"Hmm…" he seemed to think for a second before continuing, "I don't want to tell you!" Okay, this guy was really irritating.

"You lookin' for a fight?" Rogue asked Phantom. He seemed intrigued by her and floated back to the ground. He walked around her for a few minutes, studying her.

"Phantom!" a new voice yelled. A man walked out from behind one of the bookshelves, "Quit playing and get rid of them." The man held up a staff; the tip glowed and Phantom looked mesmerized for a second. He shook his head, white hair flying.

"Yes, Master Freakshow."

"Master?" I asked, dodging the green blasts he'd begun shooting at us. What was it Professor X had said about Danny having energy powers? Were they like this? I didn't have time to dwell on it. I made a snap-decision and teleported behind Phantom, grabbing his arms.

"Let. Go. Of. Me." He protested. I held firm. We struggled for several minutes before I noticed the ring on his right hand. Phantom threw me off.

"That ring…Danny?" I asked, getting up and looking him in the eye. I thought I saw them flicker to green, but they were red again so fast it could have been a trick of the light. If I'd blinked, I would have missed it, but I knew what I saw. He'd reacted to the name Danny.

"My name is Phantom!" he shouted at me.

"No," I said, suddenly sure of myself, "you're Danny, aren't you?" Scott and Rogue gasped in shock behind me.

"I thought that, too," Kitty said. "So I was right?" He continued to deny it, but we all knew. He was Danny. Rogue stepped towards him and removed one of her gloves.

"Danny…I'm sorry about this," she said and placed her hand on his cheek. We all expected him to pass out, or at the very least weaken, but nothing happened. Nothing at all. That was definitely not normal. What was this guy?

"Was that supposed to do something?" he grabbed her hand. "I assume your little mutant power has something to do with physical touch. Did you really think you could defeat the King of the Dead so easily?"

"King of the Dead?" Scott asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I say," Phantom replied. Danny was dead?

"You," Phantom's master appeared to be getting angry, "will stop all of this meaningless talking right now. Finish them!" He was practically growling at us. Phantom's eyes unfocused again and he nodded at the man. Phantom began attacking us again. I managed to dodge them all, until he shot a blue energy at my foot that froze it to the floor.

"Kurt!" Kitty yelled. Phantom stalked toward me. I had to get him to stop before he decided to attack.

"If you're really King of the Dead like you say," I began (please let this work) "why are you taking orders from a guy like that? Surely you're more powerful than him." Phantom paused. He cocked his head to the side and stared at me for several agonizingly silent minutes.

"You're right," he smiled. Wait, that worked? He turned around, walking to his master. The man shrunk back, as if he were afraid of his so-called servant.

"Don't listen to him! I am your master!" he pleaded.

"You, insect, are nothing," Phantom said coldly. He grabbed the staff from the man's hand and elbowed him in the head, knocking him out. Phantom held up his arm, where a bracelet I hadn't noticed before was glowing. A large, green vortex appeared in front of him. He grabbed his former master's collar and threw him into the vortex.

"What'd you do with him?" I asked.

"I threw him in my dungeon," Phantom replied, nonchalantly.

"Oh. So what happens now?" I continued. "Will you go back to being our Danny?"

"No," Phantom's voice grew cold again. "It's true, I was your Danny, but I'm not anymore." The staff in his hands glowed with black energy. Phantom fixed his now-black stare straight on me and vanished before our eyes.

Muahahaha! So who saw that coming? I adore Phantom. Never has a character been so much fun to write! :D So? So? Thoughts? Predictions? This chapter was soooooooooooo fun. The next one, too. Seriously. Phantom. I love him.

Aaanyway, it's still finals week and I shouldn't be on here but I can't focus on math and animation is irritating so I'm just kinda sitting here waiting for my class in an hour. So chapter for you. ;)

-Vi

She's been grumpy lately, I think it's the stress. Feel free to bombard her with well wishes as she has even taken a break on reading the fanfictions I recommend to her! *huge dramatic gasp* This cannot continue, she's not writing as much as she should, who will amuse me if she has a break-down? Oh reviewers I'm so worried, please send moral support, because I'm mostly laughing at her stress and that's not helping.
~L

(Side note: thanks for making me sound like a mental case. -Vi)