A/N: Okay, I have promised myself, I will not rant on the cons of Urban Jungle, so I'll focus on my (and all other fangirls') favorite pro: DANNY IN THE DE-ICING CHAMBER!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

OMG, but on Thursday, there was a bomb threat at my school! OMG, I was SO freaked!!! But I got about five new story ideas from it, so it wasn't all bad, lolz. Though I think I scared some people by singing the chorus of "Reach for the Sky"…. (:points at title: Not mine)

…And, with that out of the way, here's your new chappy!

BTW: TITLE FOR THE SEQUEL IS STILL NEEDED! Context clues for title are: notes, death threats, and new boyfriends! Best idea gets A SNEAK PEEK TO SAID SEQUEL!! Contest will close soon, so get all your ideas in now! …Plus, I need a title, and I can't think of one. :cries:

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Chapter 9: Persuading

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"What's going on, Danny?" Maddie asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing. Just my worst nightmare come true!" Danny replied, pacing frantically.

"Definition, please?" Tucker said, blinking.

"Vlad knows. He's sent Skulker to kill us."

"Fight him off!" Jazz suggested.

Danny stared. "Are you insane? I can't fight!"

"Maybe Fenton can't, but I'm sure Phantom could."

"But I—"

Sam placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Just try it, Danny. For me?"

He glanced around at all of them, seeing only hopeful faces. He knew he was outnumbered and sighed. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

"You don't need to. You'll beat him. I know it."

Danny smiled slowly. "Thanks, Sam." He inhaled deeply, transformed, and let out his breath, saying, "Hope you're right…." He flew through the door and out to face Skulker.

"…That makes two of us…."

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"Hey, Skulker!" Danny called, charging an ectoblast. "No pelts for you today!" He threw it, getting another ready as Skulker dodged.

"Oh, then yours will be lonely, won't it?" Skulker said, returning fire.

Danny blinked as he flew over it. "I just said 'no pelts', mine included."

"But you're special; you can't be lumped together with humans."

"Well, I shouldn't be 'lumped' with ghosts, either!"

"Hm, you've gotten smarter. How'd you manage that?"

"It's called maturity. You should work on yours sometime!"

"Still, you're just as pathetic!"

"Oh, yeah? Try this on for size!" Danny's ectoblast suddenly turned to green fire that expanded rapidly when released, consuming Skulker's entirety. A small, green blob fell down from the charred suit as Danny floated above, glaring and opening a Thermos his real dad had made. "Don't call me pathetic, shrimp," he said as the Thermos sucked Skulker's true form inside.

Danny smiled, shaking the container for good measure and turned to go back in.

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"Wow, he's doing really good!" Jazz gasped, watching the fight.

"He should, he's had his powers for eight years, he said," Sam replied.

"Well, I think he'll win," Tuck declared. "Right, Mrs. Masters?" When he received no reply, he looked around for her. "Mrs. Masters? …Guys, where'd she go?"

Sam listened intently as did the others, and heard a sniffling noise coming from upstairs. "C'mon," she said, leading the way back up to Danny's room. There, they found Maddie sitting on the bed, staring at a picture of her, Danny, and a man who was most definitely not Vlad Masters, if Danny's smile was any indication.

"Oh, Jack," she cried before noticing the teens. "Wha—What are you three doing here? I—Is Danny okay?"

"he's doing fine, Mrs. Masters," Sam stated.

"Maddie, please."

Sam smiled weakly. "Right."

"I don't know if Danny told you, but the day Jack died… all of us should have."

"Yeah, he did. He was sick, so you guys stayed home—"

"No, after that. When he heard the crash, he practically dragged me out the door so he could see if Jack was alright. When we got home, I noticed that the door was open. I knew I had shut and locked it, so I called the police. Ten minutes later, they arrived, went in, made a lot of noise, then came out, carrying a heavily armed man. They said that if we had been in the house, we would've been dead. Danny saved me life twice in one day, and he was only six years old, and just barely, at that!"

"It's okay, Mrs.—Maddie," Jazz said, patting her back as she cried again. "Danny seems to have a hero complex, anyway."

"I just can't help but think, if Danny hadn't have dragged me out, we would've been shot or—or—"

"It's okay, Mrs. Fenton, you lived."

"Fenton…. It's been ten years since someone called me that. Ten years too many."

"It's much better than Masters," Danny said, flying in, landing, and transforming back. He held the Thermos out to her, smiling. "It works."

"You—You caught him?" she asked in wonder, taking the device.

"Yep. I won."

"Oh, good job, Danny!" Sam said, throwing her arms around him. "Now, we just have to beat Vlad, and—"

Danny tensed. "No."

Sam pulled away, staring up at him. "Wh—What?"

"I'm not fighting him."

"Why, Danny?"

"… 'cause I'll lose…."

"You. Will. Not."

"Yes, I will! You four don't understand! He has fourteen years more experience than me! I can't win."

"You can and will, even if I have to force you to fight!" Sam stated, hands on hips. "You're gonna beat him, Danny."

"No, I'm not!" he yelled, flying through a wall, changing in mid-air.

"…That went well," Tuck said dryly.

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He had found this room a few days ago. He didn't tell anyone, but somehow it was… familiar. He didn't know why. The room was full of electronic gizmos and what's-its, and there was a small sign near the window reading 'OP-center'. Other than that, there was just dust.

But Danny dug through it, picturing the place in his mind. He found a secret compartment in one of the keyboards and pulled it open. Inside was a picture.

There were three people. A rather large man, a beautiful woman, and a young boy. They were standing in front of the house, a neon sign above them.

"FentonWorks," Danny breathed, immediately realizing what that meant. The family was his, before he was six. The man was his father, the woman his mother, and the boy him. They had lived in this house.

And Vlad had bought it, obviously already knowing this. But then… that would mean he wanted Danny to find out, possibly thinking it would destroy what little sanity he had left.

Like I had any to begin with, Danny thought, what with parents like mine.

But,… his mom had to have known. That would certainly explain how she seemed to know every nook and cranny here. She had told him to explore… and he had.

He was looking around his room when he leaned against a wall. He had gone straight through it, without fazing. That was how he found this place. Now, after searching for a while, he had seen this picture, just because his mom told him to look around….

He gasped. His mom had planted this picture! She said she already knew about the abuse; she must have put this here so he'd remember better times.

And he did.

And he had come to a decision.

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"But he's been in there for—!"

"Five minutes, Sam," Jazz said dryly. "If that. Don't worry; he's fine."

"He needs to find inspiration," Maddie replied, thinking of the picture she'd hidden. She knew he hadn't found it yet. If he had, he would've said something to her… or at least to Sam.

"But we believe in him! Isn't that inspiration enough?"

"Sam, this kind of thing takes time."

"Yeah, time that we don't have! We needa beat Vlad now!"

"Sam, be patient! He'll figure something out… eventually." The temperature dropped as Danny flew in, saying only three words.

"I'll do it."

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A/N: AH! YAY! Go, Danny, go Danny:dances:

Before anyone asks, yet again, the story has written itself. That part with Danny saving Maddie twice, not planned. Lolz. Ahhh, the story takes life!

Okay, here on out, only three chapters left before the LOVERLY sequel! YAY! (Note: Said sequel still needs a title)

Heh, BYEZ Y'ALL!