A/N: Here's the new chapter. I don't own Danny Phantom (but I wish I did). Enjoy. :)
Sam and Jazz both knew that they were in a pickle when they were taken to an abandoned building that had been tricked out to Vlad's liking. Sam turned her face to Catherine and Mallory but they couldn't even look at Sam. Frankly they turned away from Sam which made her confused. Did I do something to upset them? If so, I can't remember what I did, Sam thought to herself. Sam was trying to convince herself that everything was going to be fine but it was hard to convince herself that when she knew she was a pawn just to get Danny here so he could kill him. Sam was knocked out of her thoughts however when Vlad paced around the room and sat down near one of the monitors. With a touch of a button, they were able to see Danny flying around London looking for Vlad, but there was something off about Danny. For one thing Danny looked very angry, something that Vlad was hoping for. That would mean that he could take advantage of Danny's anger and soon be able to control him.
"This is just what I wanted." Vlad chuckled to himself. Sam and Jazz had to figure out a way out of there before Danny came in and put himself in danger. Sam noticed Catherine and Mallory leaning against one of the machines while staring intently at Vlad. Sam had to figure out a way to reason with Catherine and Mallory. What happened to the girls that Sam had met at Oxford? These weren't the girls that Sam knew. Not by a long shot.
"Catherine? Mallory?" Sam whispered. Catheirne and Mallory looked at Sam and Jazz but their faces were cold and angry. Sam decided to ignore it and just continue. "Why are you doing this to us?"
"Don't you know that Vlad is evil?" Jazz added. Catherine and Mallory exchanged glances with one another and continued to stare at Vlad.
"Catherine? Mallory? You aren't listening to us." Sam continued to reason. "I thought that we were friends. We were in this together. Why are you doing this to us?"
"Oh please, we know how this works." Mallory's voice sounded bitter.
"We are used as pawns in your game, you swoop in and save the day." Catherine added.
"And then you leave us." Mallory finished Catherine's thought. "We're just pawns so you can get to Vlad. You don't care about us at all. You were only intent on saving yourselves."
"Now that is not true." Sam's eyes widened. "I would never use you two to get to Vlad. By the way, you were the ones that said that you wanted to help."
"That was before we figured out that we were just pawns in your little game. You were just going to leave after all of this was over." Catherine said.
"What are you talking about?" Sam was now becoming confused. Where were Mallory and Catherine going with all of this?
"You use us and then when this is over, you leave Oxford." Mallory spelled it out for them. "In other words, were just little toys in your game. You never really cared about us at all."
"What exactly did Vlad tell you?" Jazz spoke up. "He has a way of manipulating people and making them turn on Danny Phantom. Danny has done all that he could to save this town and this is how you two repay him? You should be ashamed of yourselves." Catherine and Mallory however didn't look ashamed. They didn't even look like they cared. But Mallory's face soon turned from cold and bitter to remorseful and apologetic.
"Vlad did say that we were just being used." Mallory admitted. Catherine looked at Mallory with an angry scowl.
"And you're just going to side with them? Just like that?" Catherine angrily scolded her.
"Catherine, think about it." Mallory then sighed. "Danny did save us from that asteroid that was going to destroy the world. And Sam did ask for our help to save Danny. Danny is always putting his neck on the line for us. Why shouldn't us normal girls do it for him...and Sam?" Sam's face turned to a small smile seeing that she got through to Mallory. It was Catherine who was now a little more wary of what was going on here. Catherine at this point wasn't sure who to trust; Danny Phantom or Vlad Plasmius.
"I don't know who to trust anymore." Catherine scratched her head as she contemplated her choices.
"Trust us Catheine." Sam almost sounded as if she was pleading. "We are trying to stop him from hurting us. I wish that you'd understand that." Catherine tried to read Sam's face and tried to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. Just then Vlad gasped which made every head turn towards him.
"He's coming." Vlad's face turned into an evil grin that made Sam and Jazz shake in fear. They knew they had to pretend that they didn't care about Vlad, but it was hard when he was making them shake in their boots. "Finally, I shall get my revenge on Danny Phantom!"
"And what are you going to get from all of this?" Sam asked. "What is killing Danny Phantom going to prove? That you're big and bad? Or that you're just a big fat coward because you know that Danny's better than you?"
"I am not a coward!" Vlad yelled across the room. "I am not afraid of Danny Phantom and I am better than he will ever be. I know his every move, and I shall know his every move when he gets here!" Vlad got close to Sam's face hoping to make her shake in her boots, but there was nothing from Sam. Sam didn't even move a muscle. "And I bet you are wondering how you fit into the puzzle, aren't you brat? Well, I know how much Danny loves you so he'll be crushed if I hurt you in front of him. Don't think he'll like that now will he?"
"You'll never get away with this!" Jazz yelled, not looking afraid of Vlad. She's seen all that Vlad could possibly do and frankly after seeing Danny face him over and over it wasn't much a surprise anymore.
"Oh, you think that I'll never get away with it?" Vlad mocked Jazz as he turned back to his controls. "Prepare to see a genius at work. Hoggins helped me build this whole lab just so we could get Danny Phantom here. It looked like her plan worked."
"She didn't tell us that part." Sam looked shocked while turning to Jazz.
"Wait, so she leaves out that she and Vlad built a lab together and they were planning on killing Danny no matter what?" Jazz wondered.
"That's exactly what she had in mind." Sam looked afraid. She was more afraid for Danny's safety than she was for her own. Sam had to figure out a way out of this without getting Danny involved but time was running out. Danny was probably close to finding Vlad so that he could take him down. Sam didn't want this for Danny. She didn't want him to have to face Vlad all alone. She didn't want Danny to die because of Vlad. Sam and Jazz noticed something lurking in the corner, a shadow figure that Sam knew all too well. Out came Headmaster Hoggins, snarling at Sam. The question was how did she get out from the restraints that Danny left her in?
"I know what you're thinking ghost brat." Headmaster Hoggins snarled at Sam and Jazz before walking towards Vlad. "And I would like to say that Vladdy here helped me out in order to see Danny Phantom get destroyed right in front of you."
"But I don't get it Hoggins? Why?" Sam shook her head in confusion.
"Why? WHY? You want to ask me why I did what I did?" Headmaster Hoggins's voice shrilled throughout the whole entire room. "I did what I did because I needed the money and of course Vladdy here was willing to pay me."
"Yes, and now that Agatha had done what I had asked, Danny Phantom should be here any moment so that I could crush his soul." Vlad cackled while turning to look at the screen. "He's almost here."
"How long before we get Danny Phantom into our clutches?" Headmaster Hoggins wondered.
"Soon..." Vlad's red eyes squinted at the screen while an evil smile plastered on his face. "Very, very soon." Just as Vlad continued to look at the screen he heard a smash come from behind him. Sam and Jazz turned their heads to see a hole in the ceiling. Sam knew what was going on; Danny was here and he found Vlad.
"Game's over Vlad!" Danny's voice screamed through the whole building. When Sam took a look at Danny, something was really wrong with him. His eyes were a bright red; no longer the green that she used to know. He also looked very angry; so angry that he was able to break a hole at the top of the building.
"Daniel, glad to see that you joined the party." Vlad smirked.
"Why do you call him Daniel?" Headmaster Hoggins wondered.
"Because that's his real name!" Vlad screamed, sounding a bit agitated that Headmaster Hoggins interrupted his witty banter.
"Let Sam go...and no one gets hurt!" Danny growled. That was when it hit Sam and Jazz; Danny was no longer himself. He was blinded with rage and anger...and it seemed like it was something Vlad and Headmaster Hoggins wanted.
"You want me to let your little girlfriend go?" Vlad asked in a taunting tone. Danny growled while flying straight down letting out a gigantic ecto blast. Vlad grabbed Danny's ecto blast which stunned everyone in the room. "Daniel, apparently you don't get it. I make the rules now." Vlad then threw an ecto ball that was 4 times the size of Danny and it hit Danny square in the chest. Danny flew back right into the wall while Sam watched in horror. Danny...her Danny was getting hurt and there was nothing that she could do about it. Danny's eyes opened as he struggled to get up. Jazz noticed Danny's eyes turned green again which made her think for a moment about what was going on. What was Danny going through?
"You are not going to win this Vlad! It's not happening." Danny said through ragged breaths. Danny tried to get up and walk towards Vlad but Headmaster Hoggins moved so fast that she was able to punch Danny once again which made him fall to the floor. Danny didn't understand how Hoggins was able to move so fast. As a matter of fact, no one in the room was aware that Hoggins could move as fast as she did.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Sam's voice began to crack as she watched Vlad and Headmaster Hoggins beat up on Danny. "DANNY!" Jazz knew how much this was hurting Sam inside and it was making her feel crazy that she couldn't help.
"Catherine, Mallory you have to get us out of this ghost shield. We need to help Danny." Jazz pleaded with them.
"I don't know where the button for the ghost shield is." Mallory admitted.
"It's over by the control panel!" Catherine quickly commanded. Sam's face quickly flashed to a smile after Catherine quickly took charge. Mallory ran over to the control panel and looked at all the controls. There were so many that Mallory didn't know which one to press.
"I don' know which one to press!" Mallory sounded a bit scared.
"It's the blue one!" Catherine said. Mallory pressed the blue button that was in the middle of the panel. When Mallory pressed it, Sam and Jazz fell to the floor as the ghost shield broke.
"All right, Mallory & Catherine. This may come to be quite a shock to you." Sam warned. Sam transformed into a ghost right before Catherine and Mallory's eyes which made them look as if they were going to faint.
"You're...you're..." Mallory pointed while she looked in awe.
"A ghost! I get it. Now we need to get Vlad away from Danny before something happens to him." Sam growled. Sam flew towards Vlad and Headmaster Hoggins while releasing a gigantic ectoball. "Hey Vlad! Why don't you have this one on for size!" Sam threw the ectoball towards Vlad but Vlad turned intangeble...and her ecto ball hit Danny. Sam's eyes widened in shock as Danny flew to the wall and laid there. Jazz, Catherine and Mallory looked at Danny who didn't move a muscle. Vlad walked over to Danny while lifting him up and it looked as if Danny was lifeless. "No..." Sam quietly said. "NO!"
"YES!" Vlad yelled in glee. "FINALLY! With your help Manson, I was finally able to DESTROY DANNY PHANTOM!" Sam couldn't even speak. As a matter of fact, she couldn't even move. She couldn't believe what she had done...she had lost the most important person in her life. And it was all her fault.
"How about we let Sam say goodbye to Danny...in the dungeon while we plot on how to kill the second ghost girl next." Headmaster Hoggins cackled. Sam turned and saw Danny laying there lifeless as she felt her heart break.
"No...Danny can't be dead." Sam felt her eyes well up as tears fell down the side of her face.
"Oh but he is." Vlad laughed. "Now...off to the dungeon with all of you." Vlad pressed a button on one of the walls that made the floor open up. The next thing Sam, Jazz, Mallory and Catherine knew, they were falling down a chute to the lowest part of the building and all they saw next was darkness.