I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've been away from this fiction way to long. I think my cat's sick, he's been making funny noises and dumping everywhere! XP Gross.

But anyway, I'm trying to get as many chapters done this weekend as fast as I can because I'm trying to make up for not posting anything for, what, two weeks now? EmptyHeart's been on my case about and I've been on her case about her 'Melody in Red 2: Conspiracy of Crimson' DP fiction. She's stuck, she says. Says I gave her WB. I laughed at her.

Earthdance

--One cannot take back words that have been said, erase actions that have been done, or fix mistakes that have been permanently made. These are the things that make up a life.--

9: Confusion, Lies, Fire, and Red

Tucker collapsed under the shade of an overhanging rock, sagging into the sand, panting, not even bothering to watch the sun rise hazily over the horizon. Sam was slumped next to him. They had made it to the mountain and were exhausted to near death by the trek; the duo needed water, food, rest, and probably medical attention for their sunburns.

"A couple of desert rats, it seems, have stumbled onto my doorstep." Said a cool voice and Sam turned her heavy eyes upward just in time to seem the figure of a tall man with silver hair and piercing turquoise eyes before she passed out…

--Guardian of the Forest--

"DANNY!" Sam sat upright a little too quickly and felt her head spin. Groaning she pressed a hand to her forehead and found it wrapped in bandages. Looking down, she realized she was lying in a bed, and a nice one at that, covered in a thin sheet, still fully dressed.

"Sam?" She looked to her left and there was Tucker, looking a little darker skinned than usual but still nervously pushing his glasses up his nose, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah…" The girl gazed around the room; it was small, with at least three beds crammed into it and nothing else with stone walls and a temperature that had to be about ninety, it was insanely hot, "Any idea where we are?"

"My home, of course," Said the cold voice that the two had heard before fainting and they looked about to see a thin man with long silver hair and a sly sort of smile leaning against the door frame, "You blacked out right at my front door and I couldn't just leave you out there in the wasteland…!" His sly smile grew, "After all, it would make Daniel oh so upset if he lost his 'friends.'"

"Daniel…?" Tucker muttered as Sam tried to process the sarcastic sort of tone the man had used on the word 'friend', "Sam, Sam, Danny's here!" He turned to the man, almost falling out of the bed, "Where is he!? Can we see him!?"

"I think you need some food and water first." A couple of apples appeared in one hand and two large glasses of water in the other, "Freshen up and then we can go."

They inhaled the food, relishing in the rejuvenated feeling, and quickly followed the man's long strides down several confusing stone hallways. Sam's mind was clear enough to realize that this could be a trap, they didn't know this guy! But then again, if it was a trap, how did this strange man living in the mountain where Plasmius was supposed to reside know about Danny? And that was another thing? Where was this Guardian of Fire?

"Quiet now, Samantha, Tucker, he's sleeping." With a snake-like hiss a metal door slid into the wall revealing an enormous steel coated room lined with control panels and boxes of flashing lights like two had never seen before. And right smack-dab in the middle of the room was a huge plant. At least at first glance it looked like a giant version of the flower that Danny Fenton slept in at home but another quick scan of the thing told another story. Several thick wires and tubes ran from the bottom of the 'stem' which was actually a giant cylinder of steel and floating in a grayish substance with numerous wires running from his limbs and a mask over his mouth and nose was their best friend.

"What is…is that plant thing?" Sam gasped at the size of thing as Tucker gaped around at all the technology that she no doubt wished he could get his hands on.

"Oh, it's not a real plant. But he doesn't know that." The man's smile was full of malice and he had a sneer to his voice, "He thinks that damned forest is protecting him right now. Ha!" He gave a snort of laughter and his eyes flashed red, "Shame, now that I've got you here, things will go so much quicker. I sort of wanted to see him squirm some more…!"

"Wh-wh-what!?" Tucker's voice got higher with each stuttered remark, "Wh-who are you!?"

"Vlad Plasmius!" The man laughed manically, his silver hair turning black and spiking upwards around his now ashen gray features, claws and fangs sprouting like thorns, his red eyes burning horribly bright, "The Guardian of Fire! At your service!"

"Service this you big fat lousy jerk!" Sam screamed and swung a fist at him.

"Watch it brat!" Plasmius caught her wrist and dug his sharp nails in, letting the blood well up and grinning when she screamed.

"Sam! You…you…AAAHHHHRRRGGG!" Tucker just couldn't seem to find a word foul enough to describe the Guardian and launched himself at the Fire controlling man only to be batted aside like a leaf tossed by a strong wind. He slammed into the metal wall with a heavy thud, a cry of pain, and slid to floor, unmoving.

"Oh dear," Plasmius said in mock horror, "Hope I didn't kill hi-AAAHHG!" He leapt away from Sam who had sunk to her knees, clutching her bleeding wrist, "You…you bit me! You f-ing bit me!"

"And you taste like f-ing dog crap!" Sam snarled back, "What the hell are you doing with Danny!?"

That horrible, evil grin was back, "That's for me to know and you to die trying to find out." He sneered, baring sharp fangs, "How about I bite you back!?"

"Plasmius!"

The Guardian of Fire made a guttural snarling noise and flames shot off of his body in every direction, evaporating into the air before they touched anything. He was obviously very, very pissed.

"Brothers…!" He hissed as Sam glanced over her shoulder to see Clockwork, Ghostwriter, and Fright Knight standing shoulder to shoulder, looking just as pissed, "What, might I ask, gives you the right to interfere with my business!?"

"Your business became ours when you attacked Phantom!" Fright snapped back, his armor clinking as he shifted into a tensed attack position, "You know that's against the oldest laws set down by our parents-!"

"Screw our parents!" Plasmius shouted, floating in the air on a torrent of hot, shimmering space, "Screw the rules! Those humans are scum and you know it! Phantom's goody-two-shoes nonsense was a ploy! He hates them too!"

"Silence!" Clockwork slammed his staff onto the floor, eyes glowing fiercely, "Release Danny and his friends and submit, Plasmius!"

"Ha! Ahahahahaha! You can't touch me, Clocky!" Plasmius laughed, still in the air, "You don't dare break those rules yourselves! You're cowards!"

While this argument was transpiring, Sam had slowly made her way over to Tucker's side. She pressed her bloodied fingers to his neck to check for a pulse and he yelped, eyes snapping open, and edged away slightly.

"You faker!" She wanted to slap him but under the circumstances it seemed the wrong thing to do, "Whatever, come on, we have to get over to that…that plant-thing and get Danny out of it somehow!"

"I don't think we need to…" Tucker pointed, "Danny's already awake…"

--Guardian of the Forest--

"It's not real? Why wouldn't it be real!? Tell me why!? Someone answer me!"

But it was empty nothing. A few moments earlier a voice had been repeating over and over to me that it wasn't real. But I didn't know what wasn't real. That Sam and Tucker, my two best friends on the whole planet, had set the Ghost Wood on fire? Curse my damned logic.

"Someone answer me!"

Plasmius.

"What?"

Vlad Plasmius!

"No, no, no! He doesn't matter! He doesn't…Vlad? Vladimir Masters? V-Vlad!? Vladimir is Plasmius!"

Sam!

"Sam! My Sam! Sam! Sam! Tucker! Mom! Dad! Jazz! SAM!"

"You're cowards!" Those were the words he opened his eyes to. All he could see was the murky gray but he could clearly hear their voices. He'd heard it all. Several voices he didn't know, Sam's voice, Tucker's voice, and Vlad. The one Guardian that Phantom had warned him about and he'd gone and forgotten.

With a feral snarl of rage he ripped the wires from his skin. This wasn't his plant, not his forest, he could feel it now, it was all a lie. He tore and mask from his face and choked on a mouthful of water. Damn Plasmius! Curse him! Curse him into oblivion!

"PLASMIUS!" Vines burst from his frenzy-shivering frame and the glass sphere around him exploded into a million shards of glass, spilling liquid everywhere. He was furious. Never before had young Danny Fenton lost his temper so violently before. He stood in the remains of the sphere, seething, breathing heavily from the wrath that consumed him, vines ripping at the air around him, eyes pulsing green.

"Don't." He growled, emphasizing each word with a step forward towards the edge, "Touch. My. Friends!"

All eyes were on him. He jumped from the thing he'd once been convinced was a plant and, aided by his vines, landed safely on the floor. Turning, he began to stalk up to Plasmius, ready to beat the living daylights out of him, when someone's strong grip on his shoulder stopped him.

"Danny, you can't touch him." It was a man with blue skin and warm red eyes, the opposite of the Guardian of Fire's, and a black lightning mark under one of his eyes, "Guardians are not aloud to harm other Guardians and though Plasmius has broken that rule I'd advise that you did not."

"Why should I listen to you!?" Danny snapped and then his gaze fell upon Sam and Tucker sprawled hopelessly on the floor, blood smeared over them in small amounts, and his anger grew, "Look what he's done already! That monster!"

"Danny!" Sam cried, snapping his attention back to her as Plasmius tried to keep an eye on all of them at the same time, cursing them with words even Danny didn't know, "Danny, Phantom can't touch him but Fenton can! You just have to use your Guardian powers without changing into your Guardian form!"

Danny grinned and brushed the man's hand away, letting go of all the anger and hate he had building up inside of him and sighing as his eyes faded into blue and his hair turned black again.

"Sam, damn it, I love you, you're such a frigging genius…!" He chuckled and then let his smile drop, turning to face Plasmius, the vines still whipping the air behind him, "Hey you guys are Guardians too, right? Then protect my friends." And without waiting for an answer, he threw himself at the Guardian of Fire.

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(gasp) Next chapter is going to have a fight scene! Awesomeness! I stayed up late finishing this chapter so if stuff is off, weird, has typos, or is just plain corny then I apologize. I'm tired. But I had to finish this for you guys! I will prevail! XO RAWR!

Please review! It helps the freed chapters kick Walker's ghosty little rear if he tries to capture them again and makes all this cursed snow go away!