Switching Places

Chapter Ten

Plasmius' human side was standing on the Fenton's welcome mat, just behind the doorstep. Plasmius! A few feet away from him! He was suddenly scared. Danny didn't mention that he would ever have to deal with this!

Johnny hadn't had the pleasure of meeting the oldest half ghost but he knew from gossip and many of his friends that he was not the nicest ghost flying around the Ghost Zone.

The Fentons didn't seem to have a problem with him, though. Except Jazz. He guessed that Vlad was the Fruit Loop she had been talking about. But then again, he assumed that like Danny, his two halves were kept completely separate and that Jazz already knew his secret.

The fact that he was now mayor of Amity Park proved that the town in general thought that he was a decent enough person. Super rich, handsome, and well liked by all by day, powerfully evil ghost by night. That's just the way it goes.

"What are you gawking at, Daniel? I would have thought your parents or Jazz would have notified you of my invitation," he said smoothly. Johnny snapped his mouth shut.

"I uh- I… uh, come in?" he spluttered, opening the door to let Vlad by. Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"What, are you out of quips today, Daniel? Not going to slam the door in my face?" he asked.

"No, sir!" Johnny squeaked, pressing himself into the wall to get as far away from Vlad as possible when he walked past him into the house. Did Danny really do that to Plasmius? Was he really strong enough that he could get away with slamming a door in Plasmius' face? Vlad gave Johnny a very weird look and opened his mouth to say something else. But before he could, Johnny ran away into the kitchen.

"Mom, Dad! Mr. uhhh… Masters is here!" he yelled to them in a frightened voice.

"Oh boy!" Mr. Fenton boomed. He ran over Johnny, knocking him to the ground with a yelp to get to Vlad.

"V-man! Long time no see!" he said in a loud voice, clapping Vlad on the back hard enough that his knees collapsed and he fell to the ground. Danny's dad offered Vlad his hand, but Vlad ignored it. Mrs. Fenton appeared next to Mr. Fenton and Johnny joined the circle, but stayed close to Mrs. Fenton, in case Plasmius would try anything. She was the best ghost hunter here, after all.

"Yes, Jack, I'm terribly sorry, but you know how it goes. I've been so busy what with my new job and all…"

"That's right! You haven't come to visit since you became Mayor! Oh, Vladdie, we're very proud of you," Jack said enthusiastically.

"Yes, well, we might as well sit down, I have snacks to hold us over until dinner," Mrs. Fenton said sweetly. Everyone walked over to the living room and sat down. Johnny remained standing, though, as the adults started to talk about adult stuff. He instantly became bored and looked around the room. He caught sight of the clock. 5:10!! Danny was waiting in the lab for him!

"Uhmm excuse me, I'll uh…be right back!" he said loudly and ran out of the room. He raced down the stairs to find… no Danny!

"Uh! Where is he?" Danny's family would miss him if he was gone for even a minute. He ran back upstairs to them and Vlad, taking a random object without looking from the lab to explain his absence in case they asked. Which they did.

"Danny, where did you go?" Mrs. Fenton asked.

"I uh… um, I uh… had something to give to Mr. Masters!" he rushed, shoving whatever he was holding into a very confused Mr. Masters' hands.

"A used ecto-filtrator?" Mr. Fenton asked, laughing, as soon as they all saw what it was. "What could he possibly need that for?"

"I...uh, I don't know," Johnny answered lamely. There was an awkward silence in the room as everyone just stared at him.

"Uh, I'm gonna go back to the lab, now. I, uh, have a project to do for school," he said quickly, pointing downstairs, before anyone could say anything else. That cut the tension. Why didn't he use that excuse in the first place?

"Okay, sweetie," Mrs. Fenton said. "I'm going to check if dinner's almost ready. Jack, honey, can you run to the store really quick? I just forgot a few things." She gave Mr. Fenton a shopping list.

"Sure thing, Mads!" he exclaimed, taking the list and running out of the room. Maddie sighed and turned to Vlad, who was still holding a tainted ecto-filtrator in one hand.

"You make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back." Vlad flashed her a smile.

"Will do!" he called as she left the room. And then more quietly to himself, "Will do." He laughed evilly.

---

Johnny had been waiting for Danny for a minute now, quietly pacing the room and occasionally stopping to look at the things on the countertop. It was 5:13! Where was he? Suddenly, he heard a noise and spun towards the portal.

"Danny!" he exclaimed happily and spun around. But the ghost next to the portal was certainly not Danny. Johnny gulped, all fear returning to him. There, holding the used ecto-filtrator in his hands, was Mr, Masters' alter-ego.

"Mr. Masters! Uh, I mean, Plasmius!" he cried out pathetically, his voice raised at least two octaves higher. Plasmius looked confused at being called Danny, but then he grinned sadistically at Johnny's fear.

"Who else did you expect?" he asked like Johnny was stupid and advanced a few steps towards Johnny. Johnny let out a frightened yelp and backed away. Vlad stopped and frowned.

"My, Daniel, you're acting very strangely today. May I ask why?" he asked conversationally. Johnny found this very weird. Out of all the people close to Danny, only Jazz had ever actually found his behavior strange and not like Danny's at all. Even then, she had taken her time calling him out. And here Danny's arch-enemy was, confronting him within the hour.

"Uh…stress?" Johnny said for lack of a better excuse.

"Oh, of course, stress. I did read a case filed by your teacher asking for money for the school because of an apparent mental break down from one of his students. One Daniel Fenton. I did mean to ask you about it."

"Oh yeah, that?" Johnny's voice cracked. "I uh…I don't know what happened." This was getting to be as awkward for him as it was scary.

"Hmm. Well, anyways, I unfortunately didn't stop by for chit-chat with your parents or to check up on your mental health, although it sounds like it needs a little checking up on. I came to ask for the reason why Danny Phantom has stopped protecting his beloved town."

"Danny Phantom?" Johnny repeated. "He hasn't- I mean, I haven't stopped protecting-"

"Oh, don't deny it, Daniel. As Amity Park's best mayor, I have to keep my reputation. And my reputation involves making sure that there are less ghost attacks. For that, I must thank you; I have relied heavily on your participation in keeping this town safe for my loyal citizens. But for some reason, their beloved Danny Phantom has disappeared for two days, now. There were ghost outbreaks all over the town and poor Valerie can barely keep up. They just keep coming." Vlad had taken another few steps forward as he had talked and Johnny had taken just as many backwards. He now had his back pressed against the lab shelves. "It's almost as if someone left the portal open for all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone to come flying out of."

Johnny whimpered as Vlad crushed the glass of the ecto-filtrator he had been holding, the ectoplasm that had kept the portal running now seeping through his hands and onto the floor.

"I don't know how many times I have to ask, Daniel. I have everything. I'm the mayor of your town, my bank account statement has more zeroes in it than your little math-failing mind could probably count to… and yet, you still won't join me. Remember my little college get together a few months back? I told you that you and your mother would join me, and by choice. I barely ever contradict myself, but I'm beginning to think that you never will…" Plasmius was closing in on him. Johnny inched backwards as far as he could. But then he stood up straight and his eyebrows furrowed. Wait just a second!

"Wait, what do you mean, 'I wouldn't join you?'" he asked in a more confident tone than he had used since Plasmius had shown up. Vlad was taken by surprise.

"What are you talking about, Daniel? Have you really gone crazy?" Ignoring the question, Johnny smacked his forehead.

"What is that kid thinking? You've got money, you're the mayor, you're powerful…" Vlad's eyebrows shot way up.

Johnny supposed Danny probably had some stupid heroic reason for not joining him, but come on! The guy was a really powerful ally! How could Johnny pass that up, even in Danny's body? Danny would thank him later.

"Oh man, why didn't you ask any earlier? Of course I'll join you! It'd be so cool!" he said enthusiastically.

Vlad did not know what to do. What was wrong with Daniel? First, he stopped fighting ghosts, then he left the portal open. When Vlad had knocked on the door, he had been frightened of him! And Daniel always played it tough! Was it all some sort of plot against him? Thinking back, Vlad could never remember Daniel ever going by a plan. Had Danny Fenton actually gained thinking skills?

"Daniel, I will not fall for your tricks again. If you don't recall, you already tricked me once by faking acceptance of my offer. And I don't think I'll fall for it again."

"Come on, man! I'm not playing! I totally changed, I swear! Here, handshake?" he extended his hand to Vlad. But before Vlad could do anything, Johnny brought his extended arm to his throat and started choking and a blue vapor escaped his mouth. "Damn it! I'll never get used to that!"

Vlad realized that Daniel's Ghost Sense had just gone off and taking a few steps back, he turned around to face the portal just as some ghost he was pretty sure was Johnny 13 climbed out.

"Johnny!" he yelled to Danny. Vlad was so confused. Why did both Danny and the other ghost call out their own names?

"Johnny!" Danny repeated. "I'm sorry, I uh, got a little held up with Kitty" he said, blushing furiously. For some reason, Danny looked angry.

"Hey! I thought I told you to stay away from my girl, dig?" Vlad looked from one to the other, completely lost. Dig?And Kitty? Seriously?

"There wasn't anything I- Plasmius!" Danny cried out in shock, just noticing him. He turned to Johnny again. "What's he doing here?"

"Oh, yeah, your parents invited him to dinner or something. Don't worry- it's alright, I told him you would join him. I don't know why you didn't when he first asked you. He's scary, yeah, but he-"

"You said you would join him?!" Danny screamed angrily. "I can't believe you! Are you stupid?" He ran at Johnny. But before he could tackle him, Vlad caught him by his arm.

"What's going on?" he yelled.

"Hey, man, let him go!" Johnny cried and released an ecto-beam at Vlad. Vlad moved to block it and dropped Danny, who fell to the ground.

"Why you little-!" Vlad seethed and created a much more powerful pink blast of his own and shot at Johnny. Johnny's eyes widened in fear and he rolled out of the way just in time. The blast hit the computers behind him instead.

Vlad was surprised. Instead of fighting back, Daniel pressed himself against the wall, cowering in terror. But what shocked him the most was that Johnny jumped off the ground and stood protectively in front of Daniel.

"Go away, Plasmius! I'll never join you! Uh, I mean… uh, he'll never…join… you…'cause you didn't ask me to, did you? Uh…" the biker stammered. Vlad stared at him. He had strangely dropped into what looked like Danny's signature battle stance, arms up, knees bent, and feet apart. He didn't know whether he should blast him out of the way or laugh. Before he could do either, though, the boy he thought was Daniel cut through the silence.

"Aw, man! Danny, don't stand like that! You're makin' me look-"

"Be quiet Johnny! We still have to be believable!"

"Okay! I've had it! You don't think the old man has figured us out by now? I'm done!" Johnny cried and ran around Danny to Vlad.

"Uh, Mr. Plasmius, sir," he started. "I want you to know that I've been dying to join you since the day you asked me to, I was just too stupid to say so. But," he turned and grinned maniacally at Danny, whose jaw dropped. "I just want you to know that I'm a two-faced liar who has loser friends and tries to take other people's girls!"

For once in his life, Vlad didn't know what to say.

"That's- that's, uh…"

"Vlad, don't listen to him!" Danny suddenly shouted. He ran towards Vlad too, and extended his arm. "Vlad, I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting before, my name's Johnny 13 and the next time you see me flying around in the Ghost Zone, I want you to kick my butt harder than you've ever kicked anyone else's before," he grinned evily, just as Johnny had. "dig?" Vlad suddenly looked fearful that he was in the same room as two clearly mental ghosts.

"I-"

"No way! Don't! Never mind him, Plasmius," Johnny said, tugging hard on Vlad's cape to reclaim his attention. "I just- I also want you to know that I like rainbows and unicorns and... and flying kitty-cats with polka-dots!" Vlad pushed Johnny off of him and took a couple more steps backwards, away from the both of them.

"That's- that's, uh, very…nice, Daniel," Vlad said, sweating. He started pulling at his collar like it was too tight on him. He had to get out of here; these kids were out of their minds! "If you'll excuse me-" Danny cut him off with a growl.

"Is that the game you want play?" he asked Johnny. "Fine, then! Shadow! Bring the bike!" They all turned to see Shadow come through the portal, holding a bunch of scrap metal. He dumped the pieces of the ruined motorcycle onto the ground with a growl at Johnny's feet.

"My bike!" he whispered breathlessly, as if all the wind had just been knocked out of him, running a shaking hand through his hair. Then, louder, "My bike! What did you do to my baby?" He yelled and ran at Danny. Danny yelled and ran at him and they began punching at each other furiously.

"If you hadn't made the wish-"

"What are you talking about? You made the wish!"

"Yeah, because you-!"

"Nuh-uh, I-!"

"Your friends suck so-!"

"You don't even have friends-!"

Vlad pulled them apart and threw them both against opposite walls, hard. The both slid to the ground, clutching their backs and groaning.

"I will tear you both apart if you don't tell me what's going on," he told them in a very scary voice. Johnny gulped and Danny sighed.

"We made a wish-"

"Desiree heard-"

"Yeah, and we were just trying-"

"One at a time!" Vlad's voice cut them both off. Johnny looked at Danny, as if telling him to carry on with the story. Danny took a shaky breath.

"I- I was fighting Johnny and… we started yelling at each other. And then we both made a stupid wish. We wished that we could see what each other's lives were like and then Desiree heard us-"

"Yeah, and she granted the wish and ever since I've been stuck in this puny body!" Johnny finished. Danny glared at him, but remained calm. Johnny was just trying to provoke him.

"Wait a second… So you're- you're not Daniel?" Vlad asked Johnny. Johnny nodded. Danny, however, ran at Vlad, throwing himself at his feet.

"Vlad! Please! You have to help us! I thought maybe we could try the Ghost catcher, but I didn't know if it'd work! I can't stand living in the Ghost Zone! I wanna come home! I want my life back! I want my mom!" he sobbed pathetically, grabbing onto Vlad's leg.

Vlad was outright shocked. Daniel was begging? Oh how he needed a camera. He wanted to blast him, but something about Daniel was just so pathetic, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he kicked his leg with a jerk so Danny was sent flying. He landed a few feet away on the ground next to Johnny with a thud.

"Ow!" he cried, snapping out of it and putting on a determined and angry face.

"Your mommy? You silly boy! Look what your stupid heroics have caused!" He exclaimed, laughing. He could have sworn that Danny pouted, but when he blinked, he had on a determined face again. "I've never had the pleasure of spending a night in the Ghost Zone, so I hope you don't mind me asking how and what, exactly, your accommodations are?" It was a rhetorical question, so of course Danny answered it.

"It's so scary! Please, Vlad! You're still my parents' friend! You wouldn't let me stay in this body forever, would you?" Vlad opened his mouth to answer, but then Johnny decided to join the conversation.

"Yeah, man. Please? It's not just for the loser over there, its for me, too! I have a life- uh… afterlife too, man, and I wanna get back to it, just as much as he wants to get back to his own life!"

"And you think the mayor of Amity Park is going to help two teenage ghosts out of problems of their own creation?" Vlad asked. A black ring formed around his waist and he changed back into Mr. Masters, brushing off his sleek black suit. "Please, you two flatter yourselves. I have much more important things to attend to. Besides, how could I pass up the opportunity to keep Danny Phantom off my back and the real Daniel stuck in the Ghost Zone?" Johnny stood up straight.

"Hey man, I can fight just as hard as Danny-"

"Please, I saw it when I walked through the door. You're frightened of me. And I bet you aren't even in control of Daniel's powers. Even if you were, it wouldn't matter. In case you hadn't noticed. I'm more powerful than Daniel here will ever be," he sneered. Danny growled, but Vlad ignored him. Without warning, he put his hand on Johnny's shoulder. Johnny suddenly felt electric pain shooting through Danny's body, but before he even had time to cry out, it was over, and he transformed back into the human Danny. He gasped, about to say something, but Vlad cut him off. "But, we can continue this conversation after dinner, can't we? I think I hear Daniel's mother calling. Will you excuse us, Daniel?"

Without waiting for an answer (he was expecting one because it was another rhetorical question) Vlad put his arm around the real Johnny and walked him up the stairs, rather forcefully. Johnny only had time to send Danny a fleeting, scared glance over his shoulder before he was shoved through the door. The lab door slammed, leaving Danny without light, save for the green glow of the Fenton Portal.

like i said. total chaos. even i was confused.

okay ten chapters. should this be it? would it be okay if i ended it soon or do you want more chapters? idk ive never ended anything in my life that ive ever started.

oh yeah and thanks to hp for the cool idea i used in this chapter!