Danny Phantom Post Planet, Chapter 12
As it turned out, Valerie was in for finding Vlad. Danny grabbed as much gear as he could carry and put it all in an empty bag. He met his friend at Casper High and agreed that they would begin the search there. They went in opposite ends and wouldn't stop until they had successfully looked through every single corner of town. It was 6 when they started and close to 11 when they finished.
"Anything?" He asked when she dismounted her hover board over the football field.
She shook her head. "Nothing. And I checked everywhere too. I wish I knew how he was giving us the slip."
"If I knew that, I would be sucking him into a thermos right now." Danny growled
Valerie checked her watch. "I need to get home. I've been out too late as it is. You heading out too?"
Danny rubbed his eyes. He was getting tired but he always figured sleep could come later. "No, I'm gonna do one more sweep of a couple places."
"You sure that's a good idea? You look exhausted and that's not going to do much good if Vlad shows up."
"Yeah I know." He snapped. Valerie raised her eyebrow at him. "Sorry. Long day."
"Which is probably a sign that you need some sleep."
"I know you're right Val." He said but he thought of Sam lying in her hospital bed fighting off an infection, or maybe something worse. "But I just can't right now. He's out there and what if he hurts someone else while I'm sleeping or waiting for something to happen?"
"You seemed to be ok with waiting for him to do something earlier today. Did something happen to Sam while you were at the hospital?"
Danny bit his lip. Valerie was his friend and had been friends with Sam too. Maybe she had the right to know what happened. He took a deep breath and told her about his visit earlier that night and how Sam was now fighting an infection with the burn from Vlad's attack on the Nasty Burger.
"That's why I can't just sit around waiting Val. I need to do something."
"I understand that Danny, but you're still half human and humans need sleep and energy and all the things that make us function. I'll bet you anything Vlad's sleeping somewhere too."
"I just wish I knew where."
Danny ended up taking Val's advice and heading home to sleep. But he also set his alarm an hour earlier than normal so he could get some patrolling done before school. He still had homework to do but at this point it wasn't going to get done.
He got home a little after 11:30 and showered before going to bed. He knew it was late but he wanted to try and get an update on Sam's condition before going to bed otherwise regardless of how tired his body was, he wouldn't sleep. He dialed the Manson's home number and Sam's grandmother answered.
"Hi Mrs. Manson. Sorry for calling so late but I wanted to see if there was any change with Sam."
"No problem at all Danny, you have as much right to know as we do. Doctor Jackson says it was an infection in the burn. She's been given some medication to stop it from spreading. And we'll know how well it's working over the next day or so."
Danny rubbed his eyes. He was really starting to feel tired now. At least they knew what was hurting her and she was fighting it. He was suddenly smiling. That was his girl, always the fighter. "Thanks again Mrs. Manson. Sorry again for calling so late."
"It's ok Danny. Go get some sleep. It's a school night."
"Yes Ma'am."
Danny hung up his phone and got into bed. Despite how much didn't want to sleep, he was ultimately glad he did. He felt better when he woke up the next morning. His patrol before school didn't turn anything up. The biggest issue he had to deal with that day was the fact that he didn't finish his homework. He didn't care that much though, his grades were high and steady enough to drop an assignment or two.
After school he checked in at the hospital for an update on Sam. She was fine but sleeping when he called. According to Sam's dad, the infection was still there but it wasn't as painful as before and it didn't seem to be spreading. He would have gone to see her but she was still sleeping and under a lot of pain medication for the infection so he decided to head right home after school.
Against his better judgement and at the insistence of his parents, Danny did his homework the moment he got home. Although he was sure he didn't do a good job and knew he would have to prepare for some after class conversations with teachers later in the week. He didn't care though, if it got him out of the house faster to find Vlad, he was all for it.
After Danny grabbed a quick dinner, he geared up for his patrol and contacted Valerie. They agreed to meet at Casper High like the night before and begin patrolling the city for Vlad or at least some hint of where he could be. The ghost teen flew to the football field and landed, still in ghost form, waiting for Val. After about 10 minutes she arrived but she didn't travel in by hover board like she always did. Instead she came in through one of the side entrances. She wasn't alone either, Dash, Star and Kwon were following her.
"Hey what's up Danny?" Dash asked holding his hand up for a high five. Danny didn't respond to the gesture though, choosing to glare at Valerie.
"What's going on?" He asked still focusing his attention on his armor wearing friend.
"We were all talking earlier today and they want to help. So I agreed to let them know when we were patrolling, and here we are." She said, pulling some gear out of her bag and getting her hover board ready.
Danny looked around at the other teenagers. They all must have just come from football and cheer leading practice because they were all wearing Casper High clothes and carrying book bags. Dash still had his hand up waiting for Danny to return his high five.
"Absolutely not." He finally said. Dash lowered his hand looking disappointed.
"Why not?" Kwon asked him.
"Aside from the fact that the three of you have like zero ghost fighting experience," Danny explained crossing his arms and still glaring at Valerie. "This isn't a grade D level ghost we're going after, this is Plasmius. He's tougher than most of the ghosts I ever fought and you guys could get seriously hurt." He now started looking at his feet. "More than enough people have been hurt by Vlad, I don't want to add you guys to that list."
"We know the risks Danny." Star said crossing her own arms and looking more serious than Danny had ever seen.
"Yeah dude," Dash added. "And we don't plan on fighting him or anything, we just want to make sure you guys cover more ground."
"You don't have to give us fighting gear either if you don't want to." Kwon said. "and we can always call you if we see anything dangerous, Vlad or otherwise."
Danny had listened to their argument but it wasn't really registering with him. All he could think about was Sam lying down on her hospital bed all because she wanted to help her boyfriend. He couldn't let the same thing happen to these guys just because they were his friends.
"Guys," Danny said, moving his view away from his feet to his friends, "I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but…"
"But nothing." Dash had cut him off and was standing in front of Danny now, looking him in the eyes like he was about to wail on him. "Valerie told us that you can't sit around and do nothing while Sam is in the hospital. We feel the same way. We may not know Sam or you as well yet but you guys are our friends now and we want to help dude. You can't do this alone."
Danny thought about this for another couple minutes. He would have to make a decision soon. Finally he sighed and slung his loaded backpack off his shoulders. "I really hope I don't regret this."
Everyone looked excited now at the prospect of helping the one and only Danny Phantom. The ghost hero reached into the bag and grabbed some communicators and passed one to each person except for Valerie, who already had one.
"I'll let you guys help but you need to follow my directions to the letter otherwise I'm benching you."
"No problem. What's the play coach?" Dash asked placing the communicator in his own ear.
"We're each going to take a section of town, Valerie and I are going to check locations Vlad has been known to be at. Star can take the park and the surrounding area. Dash can take uptown and Kwon can take downtown. Val and I will handle the rest. We will all meet back up here after we're done. If you see Vlad or any other kind of ghost, let me know IMMEDIATELY and do not approach him under any circumstances, we clear?"
"Clear!"
After a few hours of searching and check ins every hour, Danny and his team turned up a great big whopping nothing. Every time this happened, the half ghost just got more restless and stressed. Plasimus practically had him on a silver platter while he was out on these patrols and yet he was doing nothing, why?
Everyone apologized to Danny once they had regrouped at Casper High and he told them that an apology wasn't necessary. They had done their best to help and they did follow his instructions. It wasn't their fault his archenemy suddenly got really good at hiding himself. He sent them home a little after 7 and told them that he would call if he needed any help.
"Any other plans for tonight?" Star asked him as he started packing away his gear.
"Yeah, I'm gonna try and visit Sam in the hospital before visiting hours are up. She was sleeping earlier when I checked in."
"You really care about her don't you?"
Danny smiled a little as he zipped up his bag. "Yeah I do. More than I ever really thought I would."
"That's wonderful." She said.
"Alright I'm gonna head out. I'll see you guys later."
"Hey Danny can you hold up a sec?" Star asked. Danny slung his bag over his shoulder and turned to face her.
"Sure, what's up?"
Star started rubbing her arm like what she was going to say was going to be a little difficult. "I don't know if this means much coming from me." She started. "But I'm sorry for the way Paulina has been treating you these last few months. The post yesterday was ridiculous and it wasn't fair to you or Sam."
Danny blinked. He certainly never expected this to come from somebody like Star. As long as he had known her, Star was always Paulina's friend and he had always assumed just as shallow. But then again Valerie was the same way before she decided to start ghost fighting and she had become one of Danny's closest friends. Dash was the same way. Maybe the same could be said for Star and even Kwon.
He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Thanks Star, I really appreciate it and I know Sam would too."
"You're welcome Danny."
"While we are on the subject of Paulina, you mind if I ask you something too?" Danny asked Star as they were leaving the football field.
"Sure."
"Was I ever that bad as her? I mean back in freshman year, was I ever that bad or annoying when I was asking her out or trying to get attention?"
Star didn't answer right away. She chose to remain silent and think about it for a few minutes before answering him. He hoped this was a good sign. Finally she answered him.
"Honestly, No. I mean, you were a drooling idiot."
"Thanks for that image." Danny said laughing and she laughed too before continuing.
"But a lot of guys were like that Freshman year and you eventually took the hint that you and Paulina probably weren't going to happen and you backed off and moved on. Plus there's one big difference between you and her."
"What's that?"
"You never would have resorted to blackmail to get someone to go out with you. I mean that's just low. We all voted her off the cheer leading squad this morning for it, unanimous vote too."
Danny sighed. He knew somehow he was going to be taking the brunt of that decision tomorrow and he realized he really didn't care. Paulina had made her own bed and now it was her turn to lie in it. He thanked Star for the talk and her help tonight and said goodbye before flying to the hospital. He checked in at the front desk but was told he only had about an hour of visiting time left. He went to Sam's room and was really glad to see that she was awake.
"Hey you." He said moving a chair next to her.
"Hey." She said leaning up in her seat so they could talk and she wasn't lying down.
"How you feeling?" He asked interweaving his fingers with hers.
"Better." She said indicating her leg. "I've been asleep most of the time though."
"Sleep is good."
"It hasn't been good enough though." Danny gripped her hand. He was scared again.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I'm going into surgery tomorrow Danny. They said they need to surgically removed the burned skin. Doctor Jackson believes it will stop the infection."
Danny took a deep breath. He really hoped things wouldn't come to this but it really looked like there was no other option. It just made him hate Vlad even more. How could one person cause this much pain and suffering? The dude really had to be insane, it was the only real explanation, at least he hoped that was it. One thing at a time though, he wanted to focus on Sam right now and get her through the surgery.
"When do you go in for surgery?"
"Tomorrow morning at nine." Danny ran a hand through his her to try and calm his nerves. He always did something like this when he was nervous. Sam noticed it and gripped his hand a little tighter.
"I'm gonna skip school tomorrow." He knew his parents may not go for this but he knew deep down that if he went to class tomorrow, it wouldn't do him any good. He would be thinking about Sam the whole time and even though he already was to some degree. This would be even worse.
"I can't let you do that." Danny shook his head but she kept going. "I'm gonna be ok here Danny. Doctor Jackson is doing the surgery and Grandma will be here."
"Sam, I would just feel better if I were here too. And I want to be here when you wake up."
"Danny…" She started again but he cut her off.
"You would do the exact same thing for me if the roles were reversed. You know that."
She sighed. She knew that he was right. After his fight with the Ghost King, Sam hadn't left his side until he woke up and they weren't even dating then. "Ok." She eventually said. "As long as you're here when I wake up."
"Always." He kissed her good night and left for home since visiting hours were close to over. He would have to talk his parents into letting him skip tomorrow and that wouldn't be easy but he could do it. He crawled into bed that night thinking about everything that happened and hoping it would work out in the end.