Chapter 51

The remainder of his day was filled with little hiccups of pain every time a sneeze decided to attack him. By the time the final bell rang, Danny's head was a pounding mess, and he was pretty sure he zoned out several times during Lancer's class. He gathered up his things, shoving books into his bag as he sluggishly followed the rest of the class out of the room.

"Fenton, a moment?"

Danny halted, cringing at those simple words. With a sigh, he turned around to face his teacher. "Um, yes, Sir?"

"I just wanted to check on how you're feeling." Lancer frowned as his green eyes narrowed at the sight of the busted nose and ugly bruising around his throat.

Danny unconsciously reached up, wrapping a hand around his neck as he looked away, hoping to hide the bruising from his teacher's sight. "It's fine," he mumbled and wished everyone would stop focusing on his injuries. "I've felt worse so it's okay."

"Daniel, that is not reassuring." Lancer gave him a flat glare, concern for his student managing to sneak into his eyes. "Williams has been expelled. Principal Ishiyama was very upset to hear about Williams strangling you in the bathroom earlier and decided that type of behavior is very much unwelcomed in our school."

A small voice wormed its way to the front his mind, wanting to demand why nothing was ever done with Dash beat him up in the past. But Danny realized he actually kind of liked the jock. Not romantically. But he enjoyed getting to talk with Dash and become sort of friends with the jock these past few months. And Dash never actively tried to kill him when he roughed him up a bit as a bully. It was a strange revelation to realize that he didn't really hate Dash for all those times in the past. But he had always wanted to get in with the cool kids, a stupid dream to be popular that he kept chasing the last three years until finally giving up on it at the start of senior year.

"Well, I'm glad he won't be attacking any other students," Danny said, but mostly he was relieved that he wouldn't have another run in with Calvin at school. He couldn't count on someone to come to his rescue every time, and he didn't want to use his digital powers to fight off a bully, risking exposure to someone that he really didn't want knowing his secret.

"I apologize that you had to experience something like that."

Danny blinked at his teacher. "Uh, well, it's not your fault, Sir. Calvin's just an as- er, jerk." He winced, waiting for Lancer to reprimand him for that near slip.

Lancer sighed, exhaustion washing over his face. "Williams has always been a bit of a troubled student. I've tried to get through to him, but he seems content on continuing his life as a delinquent."

"Sorry, Sir. I guess," Danny rubbed at his neck, "there are just some bad apples that can't be changed." He shrank away when Lancer landed a scary glare on him.

"I wish that statement wasn't true." Lancer ran a hand over his bald head as he sighed. "Unfortunately, there does seem to be quite a few of those bad apples that resist any help offered them." He placed a hand on his student's shoulder. "Please do be more careful in the future, Daniel." He pulled the young man to him in a one armed hug that shocked Danny, who stood still in uncertainty of how to respond. "I don't want to see any more harm come to you."

"Um," Danny turned his gaze to the ceiling, feeling awkward over this whole teacher hugging him thing, "I'll try to be more careful, Sir. Um, I should, uh, probably go. Homework to do and all." Once he was released from his teacher's hold, Danny said a quick goodbye before ducking out of the classroom.

The hall still had several students lingering about, hanging out as they chatted with their friends. Danny hurried to his locker to grab a book he would need for his homework that night. Tucker was already there, waiting for him, as he leaned against the lockers, toying with his PDA as usual. Danny opened his locker and searched through the mess to find the book, frowning as he realized he should probably clean his locker sometimes.

"Danny, I think we need to talk about something," Tucker announced, and Danny really didn't like that worried frown on his friend's face. Green eyes glanced around the hall, darting about quickly before settling back on the raven haired man. "Uh, somewhere private?"

Danny shouldered his bag as he turned to his friend, knowing exactly what the topic of this discussion would be about if Tucker needed to talk somewhere alone with him. "Uh, sure." He took a step to follow Tucker when he heard a growl. "Can it wait? I got something to take care of first."

"Danny, this is kind of important." An unusual urgency filled Tucker's voice as his frown grew.

Danny dropped his gaze to the watch on his wrist, already searching the display for where the virus appeared. "And so is this, Tuck. I," he glanced up at his friend, almost feeling guilty when he saw the hurt in Tucker's expression, "can't just ignore a virus attacking the school."

"Let Valerie deal with it then," Tucker argued, grabbing Danny's wrist as his hand covered the watch. "I really need to talk to you about something."

"I can't. Valerie could get hurt. I have to do this." Danny pried the hand away from him then jogged off down the hall to find a safe place to transform. Conflicting thoughts turned in his head. As Phantom, he had a duty to protect the town from viruses, but that duty was interfering with his friendship, forcing him to ditch his friends. He missed out on a lot with his friends in the fight against viruses. He didn't get to hang out with Sam and Tucker just kicking back and relaxing, enjoying life like an average teenager, as much as he wished he could.

After transforming, Danny rushed to the site of the virus outbreak. Students gasped when they saw him racing past them through the halls. Several girls giggled and whispered to each other when they saw him. He spied Paulina and Dash both following him with their eyes while Kwan looked oddly concerned. Skidding around a corner, he nearly slammed right into Sam only just managing to twist out of her path and avoid sending them both toppling to the ground.

"Wait, Phantom!" Sam shouted, reaching for him.

"Can't!" Danny yanked his arm away before Sam could grab hold of him. "Virus attacking. Gotta take it down."

Danny kept running, bursting out the back doors of the school. The marker indicating the virus' location led him to the trashed football field. Coming to a halt, Danny pushed the translucent green visor up, resting it atop his head as he stared at the virus before him. The fact that it had a spider's body really didn't surprise him after fighting against the army of smaller spider viruses recently. His eyelids slipped half shut as he stared dully at the predictability of the big bulbous black body supported by eight spiny legs. The human torso protruding from the body, however, gave him pause. The clear dome showing off a squishy brain was kind of sickening to stare at, so Danny tried to focus on the green skinned face and the black sunglasses hiding the virus' eyes.

"I guess I didn't need to ask Vlad to hunt down the boss after all," Danny mumbled as the virus laughed to the skies.

"Who is this nut job?"

Danny nearly jumped at Valerie's voice. "Uh," he said, dragging it out from the shock of the woman appearing right next to him, and even more surprisingly, she didn't have a gun aimed at his head. "Final boss?" He didn't have a name to call the virus. "And by the way, he," Danny pointed at the virus, "was the start of all this. He's the one that attacked Axion Labs."

Valerie pulled out one of her guns. "Well, then I finally know who to take out all my aggressions on."

"Wait. So are we, uh, cool then?" Danny scratched a hand through his white hair, feeling rather confused.

"You should thank the Goth chick." Valerie turned her attention back onto the virus. "Got a plan for fighting this thing?"

"Ahahaha! You think you can defeat me?" the virus demanded as he landed his gaze upon them, and a grin stretched wide across his face. "I, Technus, the master of all things technological and electronic, soon to rule over this miserable world will not be defeated by a mere human and a pesky, illogical program."

"Oh good," Danny muttered dryly. "He's the type that shouts out his name. That's always fun."

"Think he'll shout out his plan if we ask?" Valerie whispered back to him.

Danny couldn't get over the strangeness that she wasn't trying to kill him. He wondered what exactly Sam said to Valerie to make her stop raging at Phantom. He grabbed her by the arm, dragging her out of the way as a sharp leg descended on them. The tip of it pierced into the turf of the field.

"Let's worry about the evil master plan later," Danny suggest as he released her arm, though he already had an idea of what Technus had planned. A smirk almost made its way onto his face, smug satisfaction at the fact that the virus failed in its plan to corrupt him. "Let's take him down. Then you can beat the answers out of him all you like."

"Sounds like my kind of plan." Valerie charged forward, taking aim at the virus with her weapon.

Technus followed her movements, but only a confident grin cut across his face. Something about it didn't feel right to Danny as Valerie's gun whirled to life with that familiar noise that tended to send a shiver down his spine. But a second later, the sounds shut off. Valerie dropped her gaze to the weapon, not understanding why her gun failed her when it worked perfectly every other time she fought against the viruses. Why then would her equipment fail her now? It hit him like getting punched a second time in the face by Calvin as his wide green eyes turned onto the virus.

"Val!" Danny shouted in a panic. "Valerie, get out of that suit!"

"Huh? Why?" Confusion played in her voice as Valerie turned to him.

"Pathetic human, are your ears incapable of listening?" Technus actually sounded amused instead of annoyed, and Danny's fear crawled up several more notches.

"Just get out of the suit!" Danny shouted.

"I am the master of technology and electronics." Technus' grin grew wider as he stared down at Valerie. "I even control that suit I so generously gave you to fight against Phantom."

"Valerie!" Danny rushed toward the woman as her screams filled the air. White hot electricity danced over her body in waves. Valerie dropped to her knees, losing her grip on her gun that thumped to the ground beside her. When he reached her, Danny grabbed at her but yanked back his hands when the electricity seared through his white gloves, revealing pale flesh beneath it. "Stop it," Danny ordered, growling as he snapped his gaze to the virus. "She has nothing to do with this, so leave her alone." His gaze darkened, glaring at his enemy. Viruses were ruining everything in life, hurting people he cared about. His fists squeezed tightly as the only thought running in his head was that he needed to defeat all the viruses once and for all.

"Yes, good," Technus said, enjoyment over the situation a teasing note in his voice. "Let the virus consume you."

Danny gritted his teeth, holding back shouting at the virus that his stupid plan to corrupt him failed. That was, according to Vlad, his upper hand in this situation: Technus believed Phantom was turning into a virus. His attention strayed from the virus when he heard something hit the ground. Valerie fell back, the suit melting off her and the watch on her wrist smoking slightly after being busted. He knelt beside her, hands hovering over her, too scared to touch her in case he made things worse.

"Are you okay, Valerie?" Danny asked in concern.

Green eyes cracked open and slid toward him. "I'm sorry," Valerie whispered in a hoarse voice. "I should have listened to you from the beginning." Regret filled her eyes as they slipped shut again.

"No! Valerie! Hang in there." Panic raced through Danny when Valerie didn't respond.

"What is this pathetic attachment to humans?" Technus questioned, baffled by Danny's reaction.

Twisting his head around, Danny rose slowly to his feet. "You crossed a line there, Technus." Electricity crackled in the air around him as he stepped closer to the virus.

"Da- uh, Phantom! Stop!"

Danny shot a glance over his shoulder, seeing Tucker arriving at the football field with Sam, Paulina, Dash, and Kwan all following after him. He raised his hand toward them and a field of green hexagonal screens encompassed them, sealing them off from approaching him and his opponent. Panic flashed across Tucker's face as he banged on the screens.

"No more distractions," Danny said as he turned back to the virus. "I'm going to end you."

Technus laughed, the loud noise echoing in the air. "Soon, you'll be my little puppet. A pet virus of my own creation, and we'll rule over this world. Our first order of business will be destroying that wretched organization known as the Guys in White."

The electricity grew more intense as it gathered in his hand. "You are so wrong that it's not even funny. I will not," Danny ground at the word as he raised his arm toward the virus, "be a puppet!" A burst of green energy exploded from his hand, sparks of red bleeding through it.

Technus shouted out, stumbling back before he managed to erect a shield of binary to protect him from the assault. "You dare to attack your master?" Metal wires shot out of the virus' arm, spearing right toward Danny. "I control you!"

"Afraid not, babbling buffoon." Shields went up to block the wires. Danny's eyes shot worriedly toward Valerie, still laying on the ground unconscious. He needed to move away from her before any stray attacks hit her. Pushing his wall of shields forward, he shoved Technus back to put distance between them and Valerie.

"Foolish child!" The metal wires broke through the shields, seizing Danny in his moment of shock. "My virus is already eating away what you were and turning into something better." The wires twisted around Danny's arms and legs, squeezing around his waist and throat. "The change has already started, and you're not even aware of it." Technus threw back his head as he laughed in triumph.

This virus was clearly out of his mind, and Danny had had enough of being toyed around with by some government crafted rogue virus. The scythe appeared in his hand, the blade glowing a faint white around the green. He maneuvered it with some difficulty to slice through the wires binding him. That was the problem with overconfident viruses: they underestimated his abilities. Technus shouted out as the wires writhed through the air, leaking that gross clear substance. Danny charged forward and leaped. The blade of the scythe dragged down through the virus' body as he dropped back to the ground, landing neatly on his feet. The two halves produced loud thuds as they keeled over and hit the ground. Danny watched coldly as they began to dissolve, melting into that same clear liquid that spilled from the wounds of the digital beings.

"Savor your victory!" Technus somehow managed to still laugh like he won the battle. "Your transformation is complete!" His smirk spread over the two halves was the last thing burned into Danny's mind before the virus dissolved into a sick pool of clear ooze.

"Phantom!"

Danny turned around at the shout, his hand clutched tightly around his scythe as his eyes narrowed at the group of students. Paulina crouched beside Valerie, worriedly checking on the other woman. Tucker stepped up to him, terror consuming his green eyes as he nervously played with his PDA.

"D-Phantom," Tucker said in a cautious tone, throwing a quick glance back at the group behind him. "That cold you had. All that sneezing. It wasn't just a regular cold. You-" He chewed on his lower lip, fearful of the words he wanted to say. "Your digital makeup was being corrupted. I didn't know! I'm sorry. I realized what was happening too late. You're not-"

"Phantom anymore?" Danny smirked, a cruelness creeping into his expression. "No, I'm better." He brought up the scythe, the blazing white blade inches from Tucker's face. "I have the power to annihilate all the viruses destroying our lives. I have the power to protect this town. I'm not the weak, pathetic Phantom anymore. I'm the EXEcutioner."


DB-KT: Fast paced? D: Oh no! How was it fast paced? Right now, I guess. Haha. XD;;

Sammi: Yes~ Love the protective friends. 8D

Omnifarious Writer: Were your suspicions proved correct? =D Déjà vû over Danny's cold? O: Do tell~ Danny gets wrapped in so much drama! D: The poor guy. *pats him* I can see the end! It's near! 8D;;;

maltese: Nope. Not an OC. XD;; Haha, yeah. Dash loves him as a friend and as a bro. But that's not the same as loving him in the romantic sense. XD;; One day, though, one day.

midnight: That has to be really painful. DX Poor Danny~ I almost edited that line out, but then thought that would be so Tucker for him to say something like that. XD

Just Will: Yup. Kwan couldn't have asked for a better friend. =) Danny feels bad because he was still invading Kwan's privacy. He thought it was all fun at the beginning then realized "oh, this is wrong. I shouldn't be doing this." But yeah, Danny can definitely talk with Kwan about having that perfect older sibling thing. So true~ And Kwan's mask was a pretty good one since no one but his good friends knew anything about the real him, so it's not surprising that Sam knows basically nothing about him. I guess, in a way, it's like keeping up appearances? Danny's learned some fighting skills from Vlad, even some hand to hand stuff, but people at Casper High only know him as the weak loser he's pretended to be over the last three years. It would be pretty shocking if he just suddenly ninja-fu-ed Calvin's butt and stuff. Plus that suddenly getting his head smashed into the paper towel dispenser sort of stunned Danny then immediately getting punched and having his nose broken was, like, double whammy on him.

DARKLOVEFORFANFICTION123: You don't have to apologize~ Life comes before reading~ I hope your computer is all right! D: Haha, I got so focused on the guys that I haven't really developed the girls, huh? XD;;; There was a passing thought in my head that Sam and Paulina could hook up. XD;;