Yay for summer. On to another year of high school.
Oh, and this is my longest chapter so far! (By a good bit.) Sorry for taking so long. O.o
And remember- rated T for cussing :)
I don't own DP. Nopity nope nope.
Sam ran her fingers through Danny's hair as his head rested in her lap; his body continued to twitch slightly after the electric shock. His face was devoid of color -his ebony mop of hair didn't really help that- and his breathing was somewhat strained. Sam caught sight of the device used on Danny across the room that had been thrown aside by Skulker. According to the ghosts' argument, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were able to conclude that Skulker's lack of violence was a part of their original plan. However, Spectra ad Bertrand had ruined it with their belligerence. The teens continued to eavesdrop on the ectoplasmic entities as they bickered.
"Oh gosh, this isn't good. Not at all!" Poindexter's back and forth flying pattern mimicked a human's way of pacing.
"Quiet! Spectra, you knew what the plan was. Why did you follow Plasmius' orders?" Skulker questioned her angrily, his deep voice rumbling.
Her red eyes narrowed at the mechanical ghost, "Um, excuse me?" She drifted closer to him, "I thought you were the loyal assistant." At Skulker's sudden bitter look, she corrected herself, "I'm sorry," she said sarcastically, "I meant 'friend'."
Skulker glanced at her and dropped out of the air slightly to allow his feet to meet the ground. Averting his gaze, he walked away a few paces, deep in thought. "I was," he looked back at Spectra, "but he has tainted our alliance."
"How so?" The shadow ghost's voice sounded genuinely curious.
"Amity Park is a place where ghosts roam. Where we terrorize people. I, however, go there to catch my prey. Unique things- which includes certain ghosts. The whelp is unique and hunting him is a challenge." Skulker frowned and shaked his head, "Plasmius is ruining my hunting."
Sam scoffed at that statement before shifting a bit. She looked down in surprise when Danny shifted along with her. "Danny?" Running her fingers through his hair slowly pulled a contented hum from his throat.
Big blue eyes fluttered open to meet hers and a faint smile graced his lips. "Mmm...I feel like I've been...the damsel in distress a lot lately." Danny muttered.
"What is that supposed to mean? Only girls can get hurt?" Sam asked him angrily- only half joking.
Danny blinked confusedly up at her before scowling slightly, "Sorry..."
Laughing slightly, Sam caressed his cheek, distantly noticing that his skin was colder than usual. "I'm just messing with you. How are you feeling?"
Danny smirked, "Fine, I guess...What hit me?"
Suddenly, Sam realized how quiet the room had gotten. She looked up and felt her face flush at the sight of everyone in the room staring at her and Danny. Apparently, he noticed too because he tensed and attempted sitting up. A sharp gasp sliced through the silent room like a knife and Sam snatched up Danny's hand, squeezing it when she saw his eyes losing focus.
"Danny?!"
His weak chuckle was a little delayed,"Geez, Sam," he breathed, "you're such a...worry wart."
Sam couldn't bring herself to smile as she subconsciously brought his hand closer to her heart.
A cough ruined the moment. "Uh, Sam. Danny. Not lovebirds, huh?" Tucker waggled his eyebrows.
"Yeah." Jazz agreed, although her facial expression made it obvious she was concerned for her brother's well-being. "You guys are kinda making a scene." She scooted closer to the pair. "It makes me sick." Jazz smiled to assure them that she didn't mean it.
Tuning out their comments was hard, but Sam managed to anyways. "Where does it hurt?" She asked Danny in a hushed tone.
"Sam. Stop worrying." He told her firmly as he squeezed her hand. "So dramatic."
The sound of heavy boots clinking announced Skulker drawing near them, "Wow. I can't believe it."
Danny shot a confused look up at the mechanical ghost. "Can't believe what?"
"That the ghost child has a girlfriend." Skulker looked back at his fellow ghosts. "Is that not weird? I mean, it's hard to think he has a life outside of being the nuisance we all know him to be." He rolled his eyes when all they did was shrug at him.
Sam tried hard not to smile giddily. Danny didn't even deny the girlfriend comment! She took his shock as an excuse to lift up his shirt to survey the damage. What she saw sent her mind reeling. "Oh my God!" She turned her head away and her mouth watered in revulsion.
Jazz leaned forward to see and her face twisted in a painful grimace of sympathy. "Oo, that does not look good..."
On his flank, right below the ribs, was a patch of white, charred skin. Around it was red and blistered, but it also looked extremely dry. His abdominal muscles were still contracting slightly; it looked almost as if he were hiccuping.
It was the sight of Danny's pale pallor that finally made Jazz reach over to grab his other hand- the one not being held by Sam.
"People! I'm fine!" He told them stubbornly, his voice coming out weaker than he'd hoped it to. Danny wished he wasn't lying dependently on Sam, one hand clasped in her grip while the other in his sister's. "Stop treating me like a kid. This is really degrading," he whined.
"Jeepers..." Poindexter had snuck up to catch a glance of what they were talking about. The nerdy ghost looked back at the other ghosts, "What did you use on him?"
Spectra flew over to the discarded weapon and picked it up, "The Plasmius Maximus II. It's supposed to short circuit his powers for two days."
"Two days?!" Danny, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Skulker, and Poindexter all shouted simultaneously.
"He was going to help us, Spectra!" Skulker gruff voice growled menacingly, "Must you ruin everything?!"
"Excuse me? I was doing what Plasmius told us to do! He's going to repay us later!"
"Plasmius is such a bully..." Poindexter said reproachfully, "He's hurting innocent people!"
"Wait, wait, wait. Hurting them?" Danny asked fearfully
The nerd ghost crossed his arms, "Well, kinda. He's holding them in some kind of liquid container...It was nuts! They weren't moving!"
Sam gasped before looking down at Danny, "Just like Walker used to trap our classmates!"
He blinked again, unaffected by the realization it seemed, and opened his mouth to say, "Will you guys let go of my hands, please?"
Jazz and Sam ignored him.
"Point is," Sam continued, "it doesn't physically hurt them. But, we don't know what Vlad's planning, so that could mean anything."
"Plus, most of the stuff we know about Vlad comes from Danny," Tucker threw in. "So, how are we supposed to-"
"First of all, Tuck," Danny interrupted, "we never now what the fruit-loop is planning. He's crazy." Danny pulled his hands out of the girls' grips gently to brace himself to sit up.
"Daniel James Fenton! Lie back down this instant! That is a third degree burn!" Jazz barked at her younger brother.
"Yeah, Daniel." Tucker snickered as he poked his best-friend's shoulder slightly.
Sam decided to stay silent that time, but did hold Danny's upper arms firmly.
"You guys," Danny exclaimed exasperatedly. "Seriously. I'm a big boy, I promise."
Even the ghosts had to marvel at the ghost boy's stupendous ability to block out pain.
"Enough chitchat." Skulker said suddenly.
"Right." Danny agreed. "Spill it, guys."
Skulker told them that Vlad had been planning this for a long time. He had grown tired of being the simple mayor of Amity Park and decided that it was time for a change. A major change that would change life as they all knew it. Vlad Masters wanted power. Apparently, the first step to ruling was taking over Amity Park. He had banded as many ghosts as he could persuade together and had them help him kidnap everyone in the city. None of the ghosts knew what Vlad was planning to do with them, but it sure wasn't going to pretty. Skulker, being his righthand-man ...er, ghost, was the first to know of Vlad's plans. Skulker agreed to help him at first, but he soon realized his mistake and how Vlad's plan was going to ruin his entire after-life.
Poindexter hadn't liked Vlad's scheme either, so the two of them got together to come up with a plan. (Much to Skulker's dislike. The nerdy ghost was quite annoying.) Spectra and her little assistant, Bertrand, also agreed to go up against Vlad. They decided to suck it up and ask the great Danny Phantom for help. So, with Danny being Danny, the ghosts knew he would show up at Vlad's place. Skulker had sent Poindexter to retrieve the ghost boy and bring him. However, once he and his friends got there, Spectra and Bertrand changed their motives and attacked Danny just like Plasmius had ordered in the first place.
At that part of the story, Spectra had to interject, "Excuse me. We were following orders!"
"But you said you didn't agree with Plasmius, you traitor!" Skulker with contempt.
Spectra glowered at him with glowing red eyes, her green aura flaring with anger. She ignored his accusation and floated over to Bertrand, whispering to him. Together, they phased through the wall and out of the room.
Skulker gasped audibly, "That bitch! Where does she think she's going?!" Without another word, he followed the two fleeing ghosts.
Danny, Sam, Jazz, and Tucker continued to sit while Poindexter remained floating awkwardly. The nerdy ghost just gazed at them for no evident reason before lowering himself to the ground.
"Well," Poindexter shrugged helplessly, "now what, pals?"
Sam resisted rolling her eyes and instead adverted her eyes to the halfa who was struggling to get up.
"What are you doing?" She asked Danny as she helped him stand. No use in trying to keep him down; that never ever works.
Danny gritted his teeth as he regained his footing, "I'm gonna go find the froot-loop," he said with determination.
They all gaped at him, looking at each other to confirm that they had all heard the same thing.
"Dude, that's suicide!" Tucker exclaimed, arms waving dramatically. "What are you planning to do? Talk him out of his evil plan?!"
"Tuck, I have to do this."
"No, Danny." Jazz said with finality, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Tucker's right. As your older sister, it's my duty to ensure your safety."
"To ensure my safety?!" Danny fumed.
Sam, Tucker, and Poindexter just watched the siblings argue wordlessly; debating on interfering or not. Tuck and Sam knew that tone of voice. He was dead set on this and nothing was going to change his mind. However, Jazz was also dead set on prohibiting Danny from finding Vlad.
"Yes, to ensure your safety, little brother. Do you honestly think that I'm going to let you find him right now? You have no ghost powers at the moment, you're hurt, and you're tired. Enough of your hero-complex. Come on, we'll figure something out back at the Far Frozen."
"Fine." Danny relented.
So much for not being able to change his mind, Sam and Tucker both thought at the same time.
They all headed back the direction they came, passing the ornate decor as they walked on in the eerily hushed mansion. Sam stood beside Danny, quite closely, as the walked. The two of them lingered slightly behind as Jazz, Tucker, and Poindexter led the way.
"How did he get so rich, anyways?" Sam leaned over to whisper into Danny's ear.
He cast her a weird sidelong glance. "How do you think?"
Sam stared at him as she slightly slowed her pace, gazing at the furniture, paintings, displays, and tapestries. The amount of sumptuousness made her head spin. "He...he stole...this much money?" She asked him in disbelief.
"Why's it so hard to believe, Sam? Do you know Vlad at all?" He sent another brief look at her.
Sam rolled her eyes and huffed, "I don't know! It's just hard to believe he actually got away with robbing so much money..."
Danny sighed, "When you're half-ghost it's really not that hard. I mean, intangibility, invisibility, flying...point is- he's a bad guy and it's tempting when you've got powers like that."
"You don't do that kind of crap, though, Danny. You're a hero." Sam placed a hand lightly over his heart and could practically feel the awkwardness radiate off of him as he blushed. She quickly put her arm back down at her side.
"Oh my gosh," she exclaimed as she suddenly left Danny's side to gape at something on the wall.
"What is it?" Jazz and Tucker strode over (and Poindexter floated) to glance at whatever she was gaping at.
There was a picture- surrounded by a 14-carat picture frame- of a young Vlad, Jack, and Maddie at Gothapalooza.
"No way! They got to hang out at Gothapalooza while I was there for, like, five minutes?!" Sam exclaimed angrily, gesturing to the picture and herself for emphasis. After a moment she wondered aloud, "Why would they go there, though? They're not goth..." Although, one look at Danny and Jazz's father made her snort. He was decked out in black clothes, chains, and eyeliner; Maddie and Vlad were in normal attire.
"Uh, guys..." Poindexter's nasally voice called to their attention.
"What?" The three teens looking at the picture said in unison.
"...The halfa isn't here..." He announced with trepidation.
"WHAT?!" Jazz shrieked as she whipped around.
Sam just felt numb as she stared at the spot where she had just been standing beside Danny.
"Well, damn," Tucker broke the sudden silence, "he's a sneaky little shit, isn't he?"
Random fact about me: I like to name all toads and frogs Jerry.
Come on, guys. Please review. Let me know if you like it. See you guys next time!