Well, folks, here it is. I bet you're dying to know how Danny gets out of this one, so I won't ramble. Here it is!
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all related characters copyright Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon, Viacom, and Billionfold Studios.
Danny had no qualms about hitting a girl if that girl was trying to take over the world, kill him, or some combination of the two. It simply had to be done.
Still, no situation, no matter how dire, could cause him to strike Sam. That little factor was unfortunate, because she was his unwilling opponent this time, and that factor led to her having the upper hand when the battle began. This was because Danny still tried using words.
"Sam, please, you don't want to do this," the halfa begged. He was rewarded with three powerful vines slamming into his chest. The ends had been filed into points, causing the weapons to penetrate his skin. Thankfully, none of the vines were anywhere near his brain, so he remained with his free will.
"You're right, I don't. But if you're going to stand in the way of the children, I have no choice."
"Sam, please," Danny struggled to talk through his pain as the vines pinned him back against the same wall he was against earlier, "this isn't you. The real Sam would never do this," he pleaded as more vines wrapped around him.
"No, Danny, it's still me. I've just been…liberated."
"What…are you talking about?" Danny said as vines continued to envelop him.
"I've been liberated from inhibition…from fear…from want. I've become superior, Danny, but I'm still the same girl you fell in love with."
"No. The Sam I love wouldn't side with a megalomaniac like Undergrowth."
"Oh, Danny, you're so naïve. I've always found that adorable. But don't worry, you'll understand once you become…enlightened!"
At that point, a vine jabbed into the back of the half ghost's head. Fortunately, before he fell into a chlorophyll-induced haze, he finally managed to activate his ice powers. His restraints were quickly frozen solid before shattering into pieces under Danny's superior strength.
Even though he was free, Danny was still in trouble. The first attack had punctured his chest in three places, causing green blood with a red tint to leak out. Already his arms and legs felt like lead. Still, this didn't cause him to slow down. In a flash he flew past Sam and straight at Undergrowth, readying another beam of ice.
The master of plants didn't even flinch at the attempted assault, nor did he make an attempt to stop him. He didn't need to. Another vine, courtesy of Sam, wrapped around his waist and pulled him back toward her. Once he was close, she grabbed him by the back of the head. With a sadistic grin on her face, she turned around and slammed him face first into the steel prison wall.
Danny barely had time to register the pounding pain in his head before his overshadowed girlfriend pulled his head back and slammed his head a second time, then a third. When he was pulled up again, he coughed up blood, wheezing and struggling to breath.
"Sam…" he said weakly. As a response, the goth leaned to Danny's ear.
"We always hurt the ones we love," she said in a low, seductive whisper before slamming him against the steel sidings once more.
Undergrowth let loose a laugh. "Most entertaining. I actually hope that fool Walker installed a security camera in this room. I would love to refer back to this whenever I wish to be entertained."
By the seventh slam, Danny knew what he had to do to save himself. Even though it had to be done, he still felt the guilt twinge in his heart. When his overshadowed girlfriend pulled his head back again, the half ghost acted. He reached up and back, grabbing her gloved hand. In half a heartbeat he activated his ice powers, coating her hand in frozen water. This surprised her so greatly that she lost focus for a split second, which was all he needed to whirl around and fire another beam directly at her.
Sam flew into the wall next to Undergrowth, her stomach and hands frozen in makeshift restraints. Danny visibly flinched at what he had done. Even though she was barely hurt, the pain of having to perform the action was more painful than any attack he had been forced to endure that day.
He charged at the true source of the aggression with renewed anger. Unfortunately, Undergrowth was angry as well.
"How dare you attack her!" he boomed, swinging one of his oversized hands at the ghost boy. However, he easily dodged, his own anger fueling his speed.
"How dare I! What about you? You're the one forcing her to fight!" he countered, firing a beam that froze his left shoulder. The iced area froze, but it quickly regenerated.
"She must fight because you prolong the inevitable!" He boomed, continuing to try and swat his enemy.
"Look you," Danny threatened, charging up a powerful blast of ice, "I had enough of your…"
He never finished. Sam broke free of her icy restraints and, before Danny knew what was happening, wrapped him in several more vines. The ghost boy struggled against his binds, but they just got tighter. It was at that point Danny knew what was happing. Sam was trying to crush him.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" he cried as the vines squeezed the life out of him. His screams of pain echoed throughout the room as Danny desperately tried to think through his pain.
"Danny, please," Sam pleaded, loosening the restraints slightly, "stop this and join me. It's still not too late."
"No, Sam…this isn't right," he answered weakly. "I can't…"
"Then keep screaming," Undergrowth commented as Sam renewed her death grip. "It makes this show all the more entertaining."
Danny unwilling obeyed the command. The pain was excruciating, and he could swear he heard his bones cracking. He felt like his organs were going to explode under pressure at any time.
"Sam!" he cried through his pain. "Stop! Please!"
"You can make it stop, Danny. Just join me, before I have to kill you."
"I…can't!"
Sam looked crestfallen, but Undergrowth just smiled a sadistic smile. "Then you shall be nourishment for the children. Continue, daughter, crush him into dust."
Once again, Sam looked unsure. Then, she put on a determined face. "Yes, father."
"Are you sure Danny went this way?" Danielle asked, concerned.
"The Fenton Ghost Tracker doesn't lie, sweetie," Maddie answered as the remaining members of Team Phantom walked down the hallways of Walker's prison, following the guidance of the device that Jack and Maddie had long thought was malfunctioning.
"Three ectoplasmic entities detected, thirty meters ahead," the female computer voice stated.
"See? Works like a charm!" Jack said, who was the one holding the device. The rather large group continued moving forward until they came to a rather large steel door.
"Ectoplasmic entities dead ahead. Prepare for battle, and try not to get killed," the voice from the Finder stated.
"Ready your weapons," Kaufman instructed, "if Danny still hasn't come back with his girlfriend, there must be another hostile, and I'm willing to bet he's tough if he's lasted this long."
"Right," Valerie answered, readying her gun blocks. The others took similar actions.
"Alright, let's move in…" Kaufman began, but he was cut off by something unexpected. The tiles on the floor split open, and several vines shot up into the air, entangling the area.
"What the…" Kaufman began, but before he could finish a vine stabbed him in the back of the head, sending him into a chlorophyll-powered trance.
Jazz was the next to fall victim to the Growth, receiving a stab to the head before she could even raise her ectogun. Danni was next, her inexperience getting the better of her. Amorpho was next, his usual red eyes turning green.
Jack, Maddie, and Valerie managed to avoid their initial onslaught, but not by much. The only reason Valerie hadn't joined the majority of the group was the fact that her helmet prevented from the vine's penetration. Still, this was little help. While their professional skills kept them safe for a few moments, the Fentons were soon under the control of the Mind Vine. The Red Hunter lasted until a possessed Amorpho and Kaufman grabbed her arms. Then, Danielle floated over and phased her helmet off. Before she could react, the girl found her mind hazing.
The entirety of Team Phantom was now slaves of Undergrowth.
Danny could never remember feeling pain like this. His first fight with Plasmius had resulted in him getting seriously injured for the first time in his career, but at least there it had been over so quick he barely felt anything before he blacked out. The ectoskeleton had taken most of the damage in his fight against Pariah, the only result being some extremely sore muscles. Dan had avoided seriously hurting him in order to ensure he would exist in the future. And, in all three of those cases, his opponent just wanted to end the fight.
But in this case, Undergrowth wanted him to suffer, and that is just what he was doing. Sam's vice grip continued to get tighter, increasing his pain.
"Sam…stop…" he moaned weakly.
"I've told you, I can't," the goth said silently.
"Yes, you can. Please, think of everything we've done in the last few days."
At that moment, Sam's grip actually loosened. Before she could stop herself, she found herself inadvertently obeying the request.
Sam couldn't believe it. Just an hour ago, her best friend had told her exactly what she had always wanted to hear. After all this time, she was finally kissing her best friend.
Their lips broke apart as they both enjoyed the view of the tall office building they had landed on. After a few moments Danny broke the silence.
"How long?"
Sam turned to him, puzzled. "What?"
"How long have you loved me?"
She was silent for a moment. "Well, I've always considered you my best friend, and I've always felt great around you. I think I was always in love with you, I just…didn't think I should be thinking that way about my best friend. What about you?"
Danny sighed, giving a smile. "Well, that first 'fake-out make-out' was when I started thinking about it, but it was that incident where Desiree erased my memory that I realized how much you meant to me."
"That long, huh?" she commented, easing closer to him. "Why didn't you say anything? Thought it was taboo to fall in love with your best friend?"
"Well, that was one of the reasons, but that incident with Nocturne ended that. Something else was stopping me."
"What?"
"Vlad. I mean, he always knew how to use my weaknesses against me. I knew if I started dating you, he'd have used you against me. You'd be in danger. I figured that, as long as Vlad was around, we couldn't be together."
"Well, what do you call your fling with Valerie?" the girl asked, a bit offended.
Danny smiled sheepishly. "Well, I didn't think I'd ever get rid of Vlad, so…I guess I tried covering up my feelings for you by dating Val. She was…better equipped to fight ghosts, so I thought she'd be safer."
"Danny, when are you going to get it through your thick skull that I don't care about danger? Besides, if anyone's worth the risk, it's you," she said, giving him a kiss on the lips.
As soon as the kiss broke, Danny sighed. "I know, but…if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. It may sound corny, but…I don't think I could live without you."
Danny felt the vines untangle his body. He fell to the prison floor, his body to weak to fly.
"What is this?" Undergrowth shouted. "Daughter, finish him!"
"I…I can't," Sam said, her voice almost sounding normal. "I'm sorry, father, but I just can't kill him. He means too much to me.'
Undergrowth looked ready to explode with rage. But, to both Danny and Sam's surprise, he clamed himself. "Very well. If that's the case, then return to my side."
The possessed goth shot Danny one last apologetic look before obeying the command, floating toward the plant master's right side. Seeing this, Danny rose to his feet with great difficulty, assuming a battle stance once he was back on his feet.
However, this didn't worry Undergrowth. On the contrary, he found it amusing, giving an echoing laugh. "So, you have some fight in you yet, ghost child? Very well, I wouldn't be me if I disappointed your thirst for pain."
"So…you're finally going to fight me yourself instead of hiding behind Sam?"
"So you can freeze me solid once more? I'm no fool, ghost child. I'm merely sending some new slaves to battle you."
At that point, the large doors he had entered through opened once more.
For the third time that day, Danny felt his blood turn cold.
There were his friends, his family, and his back up, all with glowing green eyes and veins around their eyes. All were staring at him vacantly.
They were all under the control of the Growth.
"It isn't as deliciously ironic as getting destroyed by the girl you love, but it is still quite amusing," Undergrowth commented. "But enough of this talk. Destroy him!"
With those words, Amorpho, Valerie, and Danielle were suddenly right in front of him. In a flash, Valerie had kicked him in the side of his head, sending him to the ground. Soon afterwards Danni hovered over him and sent a two handed ectoblast directly at his chest. Since he still had those wounds on his chest, his pain was greatly magnified. Following this Amorpho summoned a blade on his staff and drove it into his ribs.
Danny screamed in pain as the shape shifter removed the weapon from his chest. Almost immediately afterward the remaining members surrounded him and began to violently attack him, whether by their ectoguns or merely by kicking him. Either way, the pain was immense.
Undergrowth watched it all with sadistic glee. Sam, on the other hand, flinched at every attack, as if they were attacking her instead. Still, as much as she wanted too, she couldn't find the strength to move forward and help. Her faux father's influence was too strong.
Danny was kicked across the room, rolling into a wall. By now his body was covered in cuts, burns, and bruises, each leaking ectoplasm and blood. The halfa struggled to his feet as his possessed family and friends closed in on him, each with a sinister look in their eyes.
It was at this point he knew that he needed to fall back and regroup. So, he quickly reverted back to his human form and immediately phased through the wall.
As he stepped through he began to fall. He realized the room he had occupied previously was at the edge of the prison. Summoning his strength, he transformed back into his ghostly alter ego. He looked back. He wasn't being followed. He suspected it was because the ectoplasm Undergrowth had injected into his victim's bodies had rendered them unable to pass through ghostly items.
Pleased that he had a moment to think, his mind began racing.
Undergrowth's too smart to approach directly. He's not going to let me get anywhere near him as long as he has Sam and the others to hide behind. I need to get him to attack me directly. Then he thought of something. When I temporarily froze Sam, he flew into a rage and attacked me. As much as I hate to say it, I think I need to do it again. Still, I'm probably too weak to finish him off myself. I need to think…
That's what he did, and slowly a plan formed in his mind.
"Well…if it's a boy, I'm thinking Blaze. A girl, maybe Flare."
Mrs. Manson smiled. "Sounds like they'd fit," she said, not really knowing what else to say. Those names were certainly unusual for a human, but they sounded fine for a ghost…or so she thought. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely clear on ghost culture.
Still, she forgot several times that the young woman she was talking to wasn't human. Hoping to get her mind off the situation involving her daughter, she had engaged in conversation with the only available source. Ember was more than willing to talk, because she wasn't too pleased by the situation either. She was constantly wishing she could connect her ex-boyfriend's face to her fist, but she knew she couldn't. For all her rage she still had love for the child growing inside her. Still, sitting still when she could be in action was driving her crazy.
That seemed to be happening to Jeremy Manson. He was pacing in front of the Ghost Portal so much the girls could swear he was wearing a ditch into the tiles. Youngblood, meanwhile, was playing Doomed on the nearby computer, taking out some of his frustration of not being able to join the battle on some virtual enemies.
A phone ringing interrupted the tense scene. It was the Fenton's home phone, on a telephone installed in the lab. Puzzled, Jeremy walked over and answered. "Fenton residence, may I help you?"
"Mr. Manson, thank goodness!" a voce exclaimed from the other end.
"Daniel?" Jeremy asked, earning the attention of the lab's other occupants. "What's going on? Where's Samantha?"
"Working on it. That's why I called. I need you to get the stretcher we had Sam on earlier ready. Get it ready to strap down."
"Why?"
"I don't have time to explain. Just get it ready and pass the phone to Ember."
Jeremy was definitely confused, but did as he was told, handing the phone to the ghostly siren. "He wants to talk to you."
Ember took the phone. "What it is, dipstick?" she asked the receiver curtly.
"Ember, how big of a fire blast can you produce?"
Undergrowth was both confused and nervous. The ghost boy's sudden retreat wasn't like him. Usually he stood and fought no matter what the odds. His sudden act of running away had been strange, at least at first. The plant master was no fool. When he had retreated previously, it had merely been to regroup and train. That had to have been what he was doing now.
He looked down at the slaves of the Growth. "Spread out, find the ghost child!"
"Don't bother, Undergrowth," a new voice said. Much to his amazement, Danny phased through the wall, not bothering to transform into his ghostly alter ego.
"So, child, you're not even transforming. Have you finally decided to stop fighting and join the Growth?" At this, Sam's eyes lit up with hope.
"No, I'm not going to serve some overgrown weed," he said looking confidant, but in truth he was incredibly nervous. His entire plan hinged on not one, but two big gambles. If either failed, he was finished. In fact, the world might be finished, unless Tucker had somehow gotten word out on his opponent's weakness. Putting that thought aside, he pulled out the Fenton Thermos.
Undergrowth let out a laugh. "You're actually going to try and catch me? I'm sorry to disappoint you, child, but I'm still much too powerful for you to capture. But to be sporting, I'll let you try it just once. Go ahead, use your little toy."
Danny smiled. "With pleasure," he said, firing a beam from the Thermos.
A beam that passed right by Undergrowth.
It took a quarter of a second for the plant master to realize something was wrong. He turned and found, to his horror that the beam was meant not for him, but for Sam.
Sam, caught off guard by the attack, failed to put up any defense as the beam began to pull her forward.
Danny gave a triumphant smile. It looked like the first gamble had an out come in his favor. Namely, that Sam had enough ectoplasm in her to be caught by the Fenton Thermos.
Undergrowth made a grab for his surrogate daughter, but to no avail. She was pulled into the Fenton Thermos.
Instantly the plant ghost went into a rage. "Release her!" he demanded.
Danny held up the Thermos and gave a mocking smile. "Come and get her," he taunted, phasing back through the wall.
He immediately transformed back into his ghostly self and began flying away at the fasted speed he could muster. This was fortunate, because not a moment later Undergrowth busted through the prison wall in a very impressive display of rage-fueled strength.
The halfa sped forward, heading directly toward the Ghost Portal that had been repaired not a week earlier. As he sped forward, Undergrowth was a step behind him. "Boy, I'll destroy you when I catch you!" he threatened.
Soon, the portal was in sight. Half a minute later, he was right in front of it.
He passed through it and into the lab.
Undergrowth followed a minute later.
Ember, who had been standing to one side of the portal as Danny had instructed, activated her hair and unleashed a wave of fire onto the plant ghost. Youngblood, who was standing on the other side and was not about to be left out, shot a wave of fire from one of his many mechanical hand weapons.
Danny pointed the thermos at the stretcher Mr. and Mrs. Manson had waiting and pressed the button. Sam came pouring out and unto the said device.
Undergrowth screamed in intense pain as his body began to burn away. He began to thrash wildly, but both Ember and Youngblood were smart enough to back away a bit and the Mansons were waiting near the back of the lab.
Jeremy and Pamela quickly strapped the previous occupant of the Fenton Thermos down. It wasn't until they were finished that they realized their captive was a ghostly version of their own daughter. But even this revelation didn't get them to release her, because she was thrashing wildly against her ghost proof restraints, yelling out words that would have gotten her grounded under any other circumstance.
"Enough…enough!" Undergrowth yelled, her strength building. Danny gave the signal for the pair to back off, which they did. This was fortunate, because a second later their opponent regained his composure and shook the attacks off. "You…little…worm! I'll…"
Undergrowth never finished his threat. Danny summoned the last of his strength into a beam of ice, which he fired with full force. The attack hit its target square in the chest.
"No! No!" was all the plant master could scream before the ice covered him, encasing him in a crystal prison.
Danny dropped to his knees, his breath coming out in sharp, ragged gasps. It was at this point the others noticed how severely injured the boy was.
"Whoa, dipstick, what happened to you?" Ember asked, sounding somewhat concerned.
"Geez, Phantom, I knew you were tough, but man," Youngblood commented.
Danny didn't answer. Instead he pointed the Fenton Thermos at the still frozen ghost and pressed the button. The blue light shot out and caught its target in its grip. A few moments later Undergrowth was now the thermos' latest prisoner.
Capping the cylinder off, he smiled. "Looks like I win," he said. Then, the weight of all his injuries sunk in, and he collapsed.