Chapter 10

Danny leaped away before the monstrous dog's teeth could catch hold of him. Skidding back toward the wall, he landed in a crouch as his glowing green eyes gazed up to meet the frightening glare of the beast. He gulped, never having encountered a security program like this one. The security programs that he ran into in the past usually looked like policemen with visors over their faces and shields before them like the ones that worked crowd control during a riot.

"Of course he would have some freakish program," Danny grumbled, dodging to the side as the dog lunged at him, ferocious fangs bared and drool flying from its mouth. He rolled back on his feet, remaining in a low crouch. "Hey, I'm not a virus!"

The security program, however, didn't seem to believe that protest. Danny raised a feeble shield as the dog tried yet again to make him a chew toy. He preferred not having to attack security programs when they were simply doing their jobs, and he doubted this Vlad Masters person would be happy with him if he destroyed the dog. The man would probably be less likely to help him, like Clockwork apparently wanted, if Danny fought off his security program. But he didn't want to get eaten by the dog! He knew his body could heal itself since he suffered numerous injuries over the years. Getting chewed in half by a dog, however, he wasn't all that certain he could recover from that.

The shield shattered under the pressure of the huge dog's attacks. Acting on instinct, Danny fired off a number of energy balls from his hands. His aim wasn't all that great when he first got his powers freshmen year, but through all the battles he fought, he got much better at being able to hit his targets. And this security program was a very large target and close enough that it would be hard to miss it. His attacks struck the dog right between its angry red eyes. Backing up several steps, the dog shook its head, growling its displeasure at being struck with the energy balls. Danny swallowed thickly, drops of sweat prickling upon his brow. Perhaps angering the beast wasn't the wisest decision he could make at that moment.

The dog growled, rearing its head forward as it prepared to attack again. Its paws hit the ground with loud whumps as it charged forward. Danny raised his hands, firing at the security program in hopes to make it back off him. The green energy slammed into a pink translucent hexagon that appeared between Danny and the dog. It fizzled out in a wisp of smoke while the hexagon remained undamaged. Danny blinked in surprised before noticing more hexagons appearing, dotting randomly before him until he and the security program were walled off from each other. The dog screeched to a halt before ramming face first into the pink shield then dropped onto its hunches. Its expression changed almost immediately, the ferocity fading away as it tongue lolled out of its mouth while it panted. Its fluffy tail wagged behind it, like a dog waiting to receive praise and a treat from its owner.

"Okay. I didn't do that," Danny mumbled, completely baffled as he looked over the shield separating him from the security program. Standing up straight with his arms folded, he realized something else that startled him. The shield wasn't stopping him and the dog from fighting. He spun around to look at the dome of pink surrounding him. He was trapped!

"Well, if it isn't the infamous Phantom."

The slow drawl of a man that sounded bored and snooty came from behind him, and Danny twisted around again to face the security program. He blinked rapidly when he found not the giant monster that attacked him but a small puppy, yipping happily at the foot of another program. This one was a man that was only taller than Danny by maybe half a head. He wore his black hair in the strangest style that Danny ever saw, thinking it remained him of demon horns. The translucent red visor that he wore didn't hide the fact that his eyes were red.

"And you would be?" Danny asked offhandedly, like he didn't care much who the program was. It clearly worked for the person that he was here to see, if he could control the security program like it was his personal pet. His mouth thinned at being called infamous. That was generally a bad thing, and his mood worsened as he realized that infamous was probably more fitting than calling him famous. Most programs seemed to like him. Viruses hated him for stopping them at every turn. Some humans looked at him like some sort of hero, but his parents and a lot of the adult demographic considered him another virus that needed to be purged from the NetZone to keep it safe.

Red eyes narrowed at him, looking him over, sizing him up before the program snorted, a derisive sound. "Plasmius." He stepped up to the shield surrounding Danny as Cujo followed after him eagerly with a small yipping bark. If they weren't in the NetZone, Danny could almost believe the security program was a real dog. "Now," he folded his arms behind his back, standing up straight as his red eyes glowered down at Danny, "why exactly were you trying to break through my firewall?"

Danny clenched his jaw, pondering over how to respond to this program. His eyes slid toward the firewall, but the blinking of green light that he grew accustom to since his meeting with Clockwork was oddly absent. His brow pinched when he realized that, wondering if it vanished simply because he reached his destination.

"I need to speak with Vlad Masters," Danny answered after some internal debate. If the program belonged to that man, Danny couldn't find much reason to lie about why he was there.

His eyes narrowed a fraction, like Plasmius was trying to see through him to the truth, like he suspected a lie. "Why do you need to speak with him?"

Danny resisted the need to sigh out loud, wishing the program would stop with the third degree and simply let him meet with the man. Clockwork must have some reason to believe Vlad Masters could teach him, but Danny didn't really see how a human could help him. His mouth tugged downward as he wondered if he should mention Clockwork to this program. Having control over a program that could predict every future outcome could give anyone an enormous amount of power to make things happen in their favor. He didn't want to risk giving someone like Vlad Masters that kind of power. The man was already the richest person on the face of the planet.

"I was told he could help me," Danny answered with a bit more bite in his voice than he meant. "Look. Are you going to let me meet with this guy or not?" He didn't have the time to sit around arguing with a program. If he wasn't going to be allowed to meet with Vlad Masters, then he was better off heading back home so that he could get started on his homework. Thankfully, he didn't have to meet with Dash, Kwan, and Paulina to work on their play idea for class anymore. Now that they had a story for their play, they could practice it during class instead of after school.

"Who told you that he could help you?" Plasmius lifted an eyebrow at him. His eyes roamed over Danny's body, making him shift uncomfortably, before Plasmius snorted. "And why would he want to teach you anything?"

Danny stepped up to the shield, drawing himself up to his full height as he glared at the program. "I wasn't given a whole lot of answers. The program yanked me out of the under level and told me that this Vlad Masters guy would be a better teacher for me than he would be. He gave me the guy's location, and that's why I'm here now. So you can either show me to your user or you can tell me to get lost. Just stop wasting my time." His green narrowed, refusing to let the program think that he was in any way intimidated by his superior height or dome imprisoning him. He didn't try to break out for the simple reason that he wasn't here to fight with the man.

"You fell into the under level?" That sparked some interest in the program.

The curiosity in Plasmius' eyes made Danny frown. Most programs trembled with fear at the mention of the under level. "Yeah, and I was saved from it. I believe I already said that."

The pink shield fell, disappearing in hexagonal sections. "Clockwork must have some reason for saving you." Plasmius gave him hardly a second look as he walked toward the firewall.

Danny blinked several times before he stumbled after the program. The dog followed, yipping as it danced around his feet. "Wait. You know Clockwork?" He put himself between Plasmius and the firewall as his mouth hung open in shock.

"Not all programs are idiots like you." Plasmius placed a hand to Danny's shoulder then shoved him off to the left, ignoring any protests. The password screen appeared again when he stepped up to the firewall. With a few quick keystrokes on the translucent keyboard, a door opened in the firewall to allow them entry.

"I'm not an idiot," Danny argued, trailing after Plasmius as they passed through the firewall with the security program bounding ahead of them. "I doubt Clockwork goes around blathering about himself to just any old program he can find." The firewall closed behind them. Folding his arms, Danny glanced around the room. It was impressive. A sleeker design than what he usually saw on the NetZone. Even the area surrounding his house didn't have this kind of advanced look to it. Screens were set up all around, filling up most of the walls, and streaming an immense amount of data.

"You're quite right on that point." Plasmius sneered at him, like he hated to admit that Danny might have a brain after all. He leaned against a desk within the room as he folded his arms. "Clockwork tends to keep to his hidden tower, viewing the streams of possible futures, guiding the NetZone with subtle nudges. I've only had the opportunity to meet him a few times." His nose wrinkled with a look of mild disgust. "Though I don't understand what interest he would have in you."

Danny glowered with the sense that he was insulted. Shaking his head, he walked closer to where Plasmius stood against the desk. "Look. I'm only here to meet with that Masters guy. So just direct me to the nearest access point, and I'll pop out of your hair and let you get back to," he glanced around at all the data screens, "whatever it is you do."

"He's a very busy person." Plasmius was a rather irritating program, Danny decided. The security program hopped onto the desk, curling up near Plasmius, who reached out a hand to scratch behind the dog's ears. "He didn't become a billionaire simply from sitting around doing nothing all day. He doesn't have the time to meet with some stupid program that thinks itself some sort of hero."

"I don't-" Danny ground his teeth, tension in his shoulders as he struggled with his rising anger. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and released it slowly. Now was not the time for fighting. "I just want to keep the NetZone safe from harmful viruses. Surely even you can understand the need to stop the viruses from hacking through firewalls and stealing information. But apparently, Clockwork thinks this Masters guy can somehow teach me to become stronger. I don't really understand how some human can help, but if Clockwork thinks he can, I guess I have no choice but to trust him."

"Many consider you a virus." Plasmius' expression turned thoughtful as he tapped the air before him. A screen appeared, not much different from how they appeared for Danny except that Plasmius' screen was pink. He frowned curiously as he moved the screen around, focused on Danny's body in some sort of examination.

"I'm not a virus," Danny protested firmly, hands clenching at his sides. He wished there was a way to make humans, specifically his parents, understand that, but they didn't seem capable of accepting him as anything other than a virus.

"No," Plasmius agreed with a grave look as he lifted red eyes to meet Danny's gaze, "I suppose you're not." He stepped forward as the screen vanished. The dog lifted its head from its paws as it watched them curiously. When Plasmius grabbed at his chin, Danny tried to flinch away, but the program held on firmly, keeping Danny from turning his head away. "So who are you really?"

"Don't you already know?" But a chill ran through Danny at the look in Plasmius' eyes, like the program knew the truth. "I'm just Phantom."

"Don't play games with me, boy." Plasmius' grip tightened ever so slightly around Danny's chin. "You're no mere program, nor are you a virus. You're something more. Your life signs show something beyond data. What's your human name?"

Danny laughed weakly as fear took root inside him. How could this program possibly know that he was human? His life signs? No other program ever gave him a scan to check his data, the coding that made him up in his digital form. He swallowed thickly, and he could tell, he knew, Plasmius saw the terror in him brought on by that one simple question. The grip remained firm and tight upon his chin. Plasmius wouldn't be letting him escape without him giving answers. Beyond that, Danny realized that Plasmius wouldn't buy any lies from him, that dancing around the truth would be unacceptable.

His teeth hurt from the pressure of grinding them and the hold on his face. Even simply giving his true name to this program proved to be a difficult task. Skulker knew he was no simple program, but Danny doubted that he realized the full truth behind Phantom. Clockwork knew, but he proved that he knew everything. But was it worth revealing himself to this program? He didn't even want to tell Vlad Masters who, what, he really was.

"Danny Fenton," he said, his own name lodging in his throat until he managed to push those two simple words out and reveal his identity. His brow wrinkled as he watched the shock play across the program's face, the hand quickly snapping away from his chin like he suddenly zapped Plasmius with a strong electrical surge. He blinked, not understanding that reaction.

"Oh, that foolish idiot," Plasmius muttered, hand raking through his black horned hair as he turned away from Danny.

DB-KT: Don't blame me! T_T It's the viruses fault! *shifts blame onto Skulker*

Anon: Oh, that feeling of betrayal that would come from finding out! *buries face in hands* No no. Like every time I read over stuff, I end up finding more and more errors! orz

jeanette9a: If they had just given Cujo his chew toy, they wouldn't have had any problems though~ D:

Guest: Did you know Sam was originally going to have a psychic link with Danny? XD;; Sooooo very glad they didn't include that. I feel like that just would have made their relationship feel all the more forced and shoved down viewers throats. I kind of wished Danny didn't end up with anyone in the end, not because I like to slash him with other male characters. XD;; I write just about any pairing that I think can work, or randomly pop into my head if I get the idea for it. But I just like the idea of leaving it open for the viewers to decide who to pair him off with. That and I don't think they handled the Danny x Sam relationship all that well. Having friends turning into a couple feels like a very delicate plot that needs to be handled right for it to work, and I don't think it developed right in the show. Plus I hate the idea of Tucker being cut out because Danny and Sam are off being couply with each other. -.-;;; Yes~ Vlad~ Look! He's there! 8D;;; *shot*

werewolf120: The techno geeks fall in love? XD

midnight: *pets Danny* =( Life never seems to be happy for him. orz

Sammi: Maybe~ 83

XD: I hope you're doing all right~