Oh, I'm so glad I got this up. I'm extremely happy with the results ot this chapter, and the drama is starting to get going. I had to much fun writing this!
Also, I wanted to apologize for no putting the next update up as quickly as I would have liked. School started two days ago and my life was and is pretty hectic around the first day of school. Eigth grade, woo hoo. -_-
I hope you enjoy, and review, please!
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and you don't own Danny Phantom. Well, unless you're Butch Hartman. If so, thanks for reading my FanFiciton and BRING DANNY BACK!
"Now, Daniel, don't struggle. It just makes it worse" Vlad smirked, standing in front of the real Danny. His entire body had been crammed in a small cube; a miniature ghost shield. Each time Danny struggled to use his powers, a sharp jolt of electricity ripped through his body.
Danny had been fighting Vlad all day, not realizing that it had been a mere distraction for him so Daniel could "become" Danny.
"You won't get away with this, Vlad!" Danny snarled. "You do realize that my parents are going to realize I'm missing and come looking for me!"
"On the contrary, Daniel. I have something special for them so they won't have to worry their pretty little heads."
"What did you do!" Danny yelled. "I swear, if you kidnapped them, you'll wish you were never born."
His neon green eyes glowed in the dimly lit room, cursing Vlad; hating Vlad.
"I might have," Vlad yawned, playing with the young halfa. "But what are you going to do about it? It seems you might have to think outside the box."
Danny glared at Vlad. He had no idea why the older halfa decided to randomly attack. Suddenly, a horrible thought struck Danny as his stomach twisted in pain.
What if Vlad wants me out of the way so he can have Danielle? What if he wants to melt her down, getting revenge on both of us? It would devastate me; he sure knows how to get under my skin.
"I'll be right back," Vlad announced, pulling his cape upwards, and disappearing in a magenta swirl.
I have to get out of here, Danny thought. However, it seemed hopeless. The cube was generated of pure ectoplasmic energy, preventing him from escaping. It also seemed to zap his powers, and make them extremely weak. He could barely make mist around his hand, and as hard as Danny tried, the best he could do with his ectoplasm was a small light source at the tip of his finger.
In frustration, Danny punched the wall. The ectoplasm rippled, leaving a small…what was that, a tear? It quickly closed up, but Danny's mind started forming a plan. He was sure that if it worked, it would take hours on end, but it was worth it. There were no other options.
He started to punch and kick the wall, the ectoplasm slowly deteriorating.
I'm coming, guys. Just wait for me and hang in there.
"You know Danny's been acting weird, lately, Sam!" Tucker argued.
"I know, but maybe he's just having a mood swing. Every person does at one point or another…"
"I guess…" he replied, fixing his beret. "But he's also really lovey-dovey. I mean, he's been making googly eyes at you all day."
"Hormonal?" Sam offered.
"Yeah, for you," Tucker snickered.
"I advise you to shut up unless you want a fist down your throat," she threatened, holding her clenched fist directly in front of his glasses.
"Oh, quiet. He's coming."
"Hey, guys!" Daniel greeted.
"Hey, Danny!" Sam smiled at him, feeling sorry if he was having a mood swing.
"Sam and I were wondering if you wanted to hit the Nasty Burger with us," Tucker offered.
"Oh, sure," Daniel replied.
They entered the burger joint and sat down. "I guess I'll order," Sam said. She swiftly walked up to the counter, not really focusing on the menu; her mind was wandering back to Danny. What if he wasn't hormonal? What if he really liked her?
Oh, gosh, if Danny liked me, I would be the happiest girl in the world, Sam daydreamed, a warm feeling spreading inside of her.
"Look," Tucker started, "If you really like her, go for it."
"Really?" Daniel asked. He really liked Sam, but wasn't sure how she would react.
"Why do you think I call you guys lovebirds all the time? You're both clueless about the other's feelings. Go for the kill…before the whole Gregor-Elliot incident happens again."
Gregor-Elliot incident? Daniel wondered, shaking away the thought. "Okay, I will."
Sam walked back to the duo, a piping hot plate of the Nasty Burger's specialties. "One for me, one for Danny, and one for Tucker."
Tucker licked his lips at the sight of meat while Sam scowled and rolled her eyes. The delicious smell of food wafted towards Daniel's nose. The burger smelled delicious!
Tucker took an enormous bite out of his big, juicy double cheeseburger as ketchup dribbled down his chin.
"Nice manners," Sam teased, leaning back in her seat.
"Um, Sam?" Daniel said, sounding more like he was asking a question.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Could I talk to you in private for a minute?"
"Sure," Sam answered. They both got up out of their chairs and walked outside the building. Daniel started to feel a cold sweat break out and his hands felt clammy.
"I- I don't know how to say this," he stammered, "But Sam…I like you. I really like you."
"Thanks, Danny." Sam blushed upon him saying this.
"I like you more than a friend, and I was wondering…" He paused, to take a deep breath. This is it. "Would you like to go out with me?"
Sam couldn't believe her ears. Danny was actually asking her on a date! For the first time in a while, she smiled, a genuine, beautiful smile, showing off all her white teeth.
"Oh, Danny, I'd love to!" she gushed, throwing her arms around him. Daniel saw other high school couples do this as a sign of affection, so in return, he hugged her back.
Suddenly, another thought hit him. Before Daniel realized what he was doing, he had grabbed Sam and dipped her low, then planted a soft kiss on her lips. Sam was shocked at first, then relaxed and opened her mouth, motioning his tongue to join her. Soon enough, their tongues were locked in the passion of the kiss. Passion burned between them before it suddenly cut off by a loud clearing of the throat.
The two immediately straightened up to face Tucker.
"You know this is a public place, guys," he joked, leaning against a wall.
"Tucker!" Sam snapped. "We were a little busy. Couldn't you have saved it for later?"
The techno geek threw his hands up in defense and smirked, knowing the two had been pretty embarrassed.
"Let's just go finish our food."
"I AM TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL THINGS ELECTRONIC AND BEEPING!" a voice boomed from behind the three. They spun around just as Daniel's ghost sense went off, and became face to face with Technus.
"Aren't you going to say 'going ghost?'" Tucker asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Oh, right. Goin' ghost!" Daniel said, racing into a private area to transform.
Remember, you are Danny Phantom. Don't let down father. You are Danny Phantom, and are doing a much better job at it than the original.
He let his ice core take over him as he was engulfed in a flash of light. His eyes flashed green before he flew up into the air, his legs forming into a wispy tail as he went.
"Haha! You cannot defeat me this time, ghost child!" Technus taunted, lifting his hands. All technology around him glowed black, then floated up to him, leaving its owners confused.
"Hey! You gotta pay for that!" Tucker snapped as his PDA flew from his hands.
"No problem," Technus replied. "I'll have the ghost boy pay for all the times he crammed me in that stupid thermos!"
He flicked his wrists forward and sent everything flying at Daniel. The young halfa gasped as he tried to remember what Vlad had taught him.
When being attacked with solid objects, go intangible. Intangibility, right.
Daniel crossed his arms as if they were to block the attack, and squeezed his eyes shut. His body became instantly intangible and transparent. The items crashed to the ground, but Tucker leaped into the air and caught his PDA.
"Kelsey, I missed you."
Sam responded to Tucker's childish behavior with an eyeroll.
Daniel smirked at the pathetic ghost and shot a couple ectoblasts at him. Technus went flying back a few feet, still stunned.
"Quick, Danny!" Sam shouted, thrusting a Fenton Thermos at him. The ghost boy caught it, but blankly stared at it, confused as to what to do.
"Open the lid!" she yelled, frantic that Technus would get back up again. Swiftly, Daniel popped off the lid and watched a blue light shoot out from it, pulling the other ghost into it.
"You may have won this time, but I'll be back!" Technus yelled before the thermos dragged in his head. Daniel screwed the lid as he swore he could hear muffled shouts from inside. He laughed triumphantly, staring at the thermos. My first caught ghost, he thought.
"Nice job Danny," Sam congratulated.
"Yeah, quick catch, man," Tucker commented.
"Oh, look at the time!" the goth exclaimed. Her eyes widened. "I can't believe it got away from me like this; I really have to go and work on some homework Lancer assigned."
"Me too. You were smart to do it in study hall. I guess I'll be going. See ya, Danny!" Tucker bid farwell to his friend and ran off into the distance.
"Bye, Danny," Sam said, giving him a quick kiss before blushing again and leaving. Daniel was in a daze as he stared at her running off into the distance. It was definitely love at first sight with this young clone.
Daniel gazed around, happy no one witnessed the ghost fight, and took to the skies, closing his eyes and taking in the view. He could see the whole city from up there, and it was beautiful. Everything Daniel saw was beautiful, because when Daniel was living with Vlad, beauty was a rare thing. Beauty like Sam…
That was all he could think about. That pretty, strong, individual, tough girl who was now his girlfriend. Sam clouded his mind; so much to the point that he almost forgot about his mission and Vlad. It made him envy the real Danny and wish that he could like him every day. Maybe he could…
Daniel stared dreamily into open air. Sam, Sam, Sam. There was nothing else in the world that he could think of, and if he tried, Sam just shoved her way back into his mind.
He landed down in an alley, only to run into his "cousin," Dani.
"Watch where you're going!" she snapped, fixing her beanie.
"Sorry, Danielle," he mumbled.
"Just doing some ghost fighting? Sorry I wasn't able to hel-" She paused, then let out a small shriek, staring at Daniel's feet like they were coated in poison.
"Danny, your feet! They're d-stabilizing!"
"D-stabilizing?" he asked, his eyes wide with fear. He looked down to see that his feet had literally melted into two puddles of green goo. His legs were slowly being eaten away, and his body was sinking into the viscous mess.
"You're not Danny!" she shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at the clone. He shook his head in denial. No, this can't be happening. I'm the perfect clone! No one should be able to tell the difference between me and the real Danny!
The frantic thoughts only caused him to melt faster, and soon enough, Daniel didn't even have knees. I'm dying! he thought.
In a last desperate attempt to save himself, he tried to calm down as much as a melting person could, and squeezed his eyes shut, exactly like he had when he had turned intangible.
All it takes is some focus…
Daniel focused extremely hard on his feet. He tried to use his mind to suck it back up, and slowly, the feeling returned to him.
"You're a clone!" Dani exclaimed. "You liar, you faker!" she accused, glaring at him. He had pretended for who-knows-how-long to be her cousin. Danielle had only felt so betrayed when she found out that Vlad was just using her.
"Just wait until I tell the others. Then no one will believe you to be Danny Phantom. They'll all know you're a phony," she spat. Then, she let the white rings engulf her and transform her into Dani Phantom, an action she hadn't done in ages, but was crucial that she did now. Daniel couldn't believe his eyes. Little Dani had been a halfa too all this time?
"I would fight you, but I can't. Danny will, and when he does, you will lose and be nothing!"
She shot into the evening air, not giving the clone a second glance. Now she knew why "Danny" was acting so weird, and she was determined to get her real cousin back.
Oh, Danny. Don't worry. I'm coming for you! Danielle had a good idea of the first place to start looking.
Suddenly, an all-too-familiar vampire ghost flew up in front of her, his red and white cape whipping in the wind.
"Boo."
