Goodbye to You
I don't own Danny Phantom.
Chapter 17: Love and Lost on a Battlefield
The Fenton ghost assault vehicle drove silently through the night covered streets of Amity. While Jack was smoothly making turns, his hands were gripping the wheel with such force that it could break any minute. Next to him, Maddie's head hung low. Her face was mixed in both sadness and confusion. Both of there insides were twisted with emotions as to what their daughter and Tucker was telling them. The lab accident, Danny's powers his battles, Vlad, and up to the murder of Valerie. They just didn't want to believe this was true about their son, but it was impossible to do so.
"…and that's pretty much everything," Jazz said as she ended her side of the story. Her and Tucker then waited for a response, but they were just struck by complete silence.
"I know it's hard to believe it," Tucker began," but it's the facts. I understand if you're shocked."
"You can say that," Maddie said as she lifted her head back up," but there is just one part of the story that doesn't make any sense."
"And what would that be?"
"Why didn't he tell us about what he had become?"
"He was afraid of how you would see him. Either you would support him or do to him what you do to ghosts,' Tucker said.
Jack looked into his rearview mirror to fix his gaze on the two. "If only he did tell us," he said.," he should of. I would except him for what he has becomes." His face then cringe in anger. "And I never would have taken him down. But, I tried to. I actually fired at my own son. I feel disgusted."
"It's not your fault Jack. I did the same thing. We couldn't of known that our son was that ghost," Maddie said.
"I know, but Danny is just…he just shouldn't go through this at his age. He fought battles, saw two people die, one dead by his own hand. And then we made it worst. Why can't he just see us. We can help."
"I tried that," Jazz said," but, it didn't work. Then I did the same thing as you two did. I pulled a weapon on him and tried to take him out. I never thought I would try to do that. My brother does get on my nerves, but never to a point like that."
"I know how you all feel. I turned my back on him over Valerie's death. It wasn't about him killing her, but about how I couldn't have her as a girlfriend. I was blinded by my own greed. I never really saw how much Danny was suffering."
Everyone in the car then just stopped talking all at once. Describing what they had done to Danny had just stricken them with guilt. Right then and there, they just hated themselves. Suddenly, Jack then pulled the van over to the sidewalk and turned towards everyone.
"What are we doing?" Jack asked. "Why are we dwelling on the negatives of our actions when we should tell ourselves that we can fix this?"
"Are you8 saying that we should help Danny no matter what?" Maddie asked.
"That's right. He's important to all of us in one way or another. Either as a friend, a brother, and a son. And this whole deal about him killing someone. We know he did it to save someone else. I don't like murder as much as the next person, but Danny was forced to do it as a last resort, as Tucker told me," Jack stated.
"I know, Dad. Danny just isn't the type of person capable of remorseless killing," Jazz said. "And knowing Danny, he has used his powers to help people."
"Danny always fought against ghosts for everyone's safety," Tucker added," even when the city had mixed doubts about him, he still fought for us. He helped us, now we have to help him."
"Danny may not know it, but there are people who will help him. The city may be against him, but we are with him. We have to forget about the things we did to Danny and instead help him as much as we can," Maddie said.
"But, where do we look for him?" Tucker asked. "All I know is that he's fighting Vlad somewhere."
"I have an idea. Jazz, there's a computer next to you. I use it to track ghost energy readings. Turn it on," Jack said. Jazz shook her head and headed towards the device, flipping a switch and hitting some buttons. "While we wait for that to start, that brings us to another question."
"Its about Vlad, right?" Maddie asked.
"I just don't understand. Him and me were such great friends at one point. Then, he tries to take down our family, attack my son, hires someone to take down my son, and then gets that person killed. And for what? Over jealousy," Jack said.
"What Danny said was that Vlad was jealousy over you marrying Maddie," Tucker stated," that's what he was driven by."
"I could tell from our last encounter," Maddie stated.
"Love can be a strange thing," Jack said. "It can either be your greatest ally or your worst enemy. For Vlad, its what's killing him."
"I sometimes wish Vlad wasn't such a jerk," Maddie said. "Maybe then you, me. And him could have been friends again."
"At least I'm still hear," Jack said," and that's all that really matters."
"I know," Maddie said with a smile, "but you have to pity Vlad. He may be a maniac, but he is a very confused man tormented by his needs."
"You can say that. But, either way, Vlad has to be taken care of before anyone else gets killed," Tucker said.
Just then, the computer let out a loud buzz. "Did it get something?" Jack asked.
"You bet. Ghost energy, and a lot of it. It's a few blocks away," Jazz said as she stared at the statistics on the screen.
"Let's go!" he then yelled as he got the vehicle back into drive and headed towards the energy source.
Back at the football field…
Sam was lying unconscious on the ground due to Vlad's punch. She was not aware of what Vlad was so shocked over. She never saw the green light shot from where Danny was lying. When it had cleared, she couldn't be witness to what had come out of the light. For there now stood Danny. He was back in his ghost form. The wounds that had decorated his human face had not cared over to his surprise retransformation. In fact, he looked like he had started over with a fresh new physique. Everything was the same as it always been in his ghost form, except for one part. His eyes, for they glowed entirely green. And when looked straight into, they seemed to blaze with green energy like that of a blazing sun.
Vlad, however, was not noticing the glow in his eyes. His mind was now wrapped up in the possibility of how this could have been accomplished. "How is this possible?" he asked the newly reincarnated Danny. "My drug was to stop you right on the spot. This doesn't make any sense. How did you do it?"
But, Danny just stood there, those green eyes still blazing with some kind of fury.
"Answer me! Tell me how!" Vlad ordered. Still, the ghost boy remained still. Vlad then noticed Danny's green eyes. While eclipsed by green light, he knew if those had pupils, they would seem to pierce right through him with angry.
"Do you think you're better then me?" Vlad asked. "Making a comeback from my bio weapon isn't enough to help you out. Look at you, believing to be stronger then I am no matter what. I'll make sure you understand how powerful I truly am!"
He then once again launched himself at Danny and brought a punch towards his face. But, Danny's arm quickly shot up and intercepted the blow. Vlad, while stunned at this, went in for another punch. But, this too was blocked. Danny then brought his free hand back and striked Vlad dead on right in the face. Vlad was moved back by the blow and held the spot where Danny had hit him. Vlad then charged at Danny again and brought his leg up for a high kick. Danny quickly ducked under this and retaliated with his own kick to Vlad's stomach. Vlad was sent into the air and then fell back down with a crash.
"I see you got better," Vlad said as he picked himself back up.
"I feel better," Danny finally said. However, while sounding the same, his voice seemed to have some kind of distinction to it that made it sound like his repressed anger was being magnified into his voice, even though it sounded calm.
"I hear your voice now," Vlad began," and I sense distress in it."
"My anger has now been unleashed. It will guide me towards your defeat," Danny stated.
"Confident, aren't we? No matter, I can still wipe you out," Vlad said.
"I think the confident one here is you," Danny stated.
"Please, Mr. Fenton, you have to work on your dialogue. This isn't some action movie where the hero defeats the villain and comes out the victor. This is real life where only the strongest survives. Even if you have gotten slightly better, I am still superior to you."
"You want to test that?" Danny asked.
"Of course," Vlad said. He then shot up into the air and hovered over the football field. Danny then shot up into the air a hovered a few feet away from Vlad. The two fighters then just floated there for a while, their hands at their sides and their eyes never breaking the locked gazes they had on each other. Then, in a flash, the two fighters then flew straight at each other. They then brought both their legs up to kick each other. The kicks then hit each other instead. Upon connecting, a crash of these two powers could then be heard echoing throughout the nightsky.
The two fighters quickly released their locked legs and charged at each other yet again. Vlad blocked a punch from Danny and retaliated with an uppercut. Danny caught this right on his jaw and then ducked in order to avoid a kick sent in from Vlad. Danny then got Vlad with a hard gut shot, forcing Vlad to bring up his hands in order to avoid a two hit attack from Danny. Vlad then grabbed Danny by his jumpsuit and threw him away. Danny recovered and then blocked a rampage of punches that Vlad was sending at him.
Danny then brought then sent out a shockwave from his hand that knocked Vlad back from him. In response, Vlad then stretched out his left hand and red electricity shot from it. Danny yelled as the electricity wrapped around his body and cackle with power. Vlad then fired off an energy ball with his free hand at Danny. Upon connecting, a blast of red light erupted and Vlad had to shield his eyes in order to avoid the flash. He then looked back towards it to see that Danny wasn't there.
"Disintegrated him," he said to himself," finally, that annoyance is gone."
"Not quite," Danny's voice then answered behind him. Vlad turned to now have Danny facing right in front of him; his hands brought back in preparation for a beam attack. Vlad brought up his hands to block it as the blasts knocked him downwards a few good feet. When he brought his hands back down, he then got a full force punch right in the mouth. He then moved in with a punch of his own, but Danny blocked it. He then tried a spin kick, but Danny grabbed his leg.
Smiling, Danny said, "You really need to think up better fighting skills." He then swung Vlad around and threw him downwards. While Vlad was falling, Danny fired off a green energy blast that connected with Vlad and caused him to fall faster. With a crash, he came to stop right in the wall of the bleachers. The metal bent backwards in a contoured shape as Vlad's body then slid down the wall and dropped to the ground, his body still up against the heavily dented wall.
Danny hovered down to the ground and walked over to the body of Vlad. Vlad's clothing had been torn in different places and the strange human-ghost blood mixture was spilling form the cuts protruding through the openings. His face was also a mess; with the blood trickling from his mouth and one of his eyes cut down the middle.
Vlad looked up at Danny just then and asked," What more can you do to me, Danny?"
With his eyes still blazing like a green fire, Danny stated," Something that I should have taken care of so long ago." Danny then raised his right arm back as green energy transformed into the blade weapon.
Vlad smirked at what Danny was doing. "I guess you did pick up something from this whole time. The will to murder. It has wrapped around your soul as it has mine."
"Thing is," Danny began," I'm just a better person then you." Danny then brought his arm down quickly. But, just before it made contact with Vlad's face, the blade disappeared and Vlad got a solid right hook across his face. Blood shot out from his mouth as the punch got him in the side of the face. When it had finished its journey, his head then slumped to his side and he feel unconscious. Then, two rings formed around his body and moved up and down separately, transforming ghost Vlad back into his human form. His body was free of injuries, but he was still in an unconscious state. Danny did the same, but the injuries he sustained when Vlad was beating him to a pulp had still remained. Holding onto his side, he then turned around and limped over to where Sam was still laying unconscious. He bent don to the ground, cringing at the pain still searing in him, and laid his hand across Sam's check.
"Sam. Sam. Wake up," he said softly.
Sam's eyes then opened into slits and then widened as the world came back into focus. And the first thing she saw that made her heart burst with joy, was Danny, still alive.
"Danny, you're alive," she said as she got up. She then grabbed Danny and got him up upon noticing his difficulties in doing so. "You're hurt."
"I'll be fine," he said.
"This wouldn't of happened if I didn't come," she began," I shouldn't of put myself on the line like that. I know I'm stupid, but I couldn't have you leave and not look back."
"Sam, I don't think of that as a mistake, but as what helped me the greatest," Danny then said. "When I saw Vlad hit you, something activated in me that happen the day Valerie nearly took your life. All that love I had of you built up inside of me was covered into energy. Even back when I was trying to hide this love, it was what gave me the greatest of strength. My feelings for you guided me throughout that fight, and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't if made it."
Sam then remembered that she was wearing his hoody still. "I also think this belongs to you," she said, motioning to the sweater she was till wearing.
Danny just smiled and said, "Keep it. You look better in it then I ever did."
Sam giggled then and slowly wrapped her arms around him. "Forget the banter. Let's just be thankful we are still together. Danny wrapped his arms around her also, even though he still felt pain as he moved them. But, the two of them still embraced in a hug, ignoring everything else around them, the only thing that mattered was that they were together. They didn't even notice the Fenton vehicle puling up.
It parked right at the end of the football field closest to the now happy couple. Out of the passengers jumped Jack and Maddie, ghost bazookas drawn and armed. Tucker and Jazz also got out to witness the fight in action. Of course, nothing happened. All they saw at first was Vlad's body lying against the bleachers.
"We came late," Jack stated as him and his wife lowered their weapons to the ground.
"Danny did it," Tucker said," and it looks like he's getting his reward."
Everyone then turned to see Danny and Sam holding each other tightly in front of them.
"Finally, he chose the right one," Jazz said.
"Soon enough, he is going to explain all of this," Maddie said.
"We know," Jazz began," but right now, let's just allow him to have the moment."
But that moment wouldn't last long. Unbeknownst to everyone, Vlad was still conscious. His eyes were only half opened to see everyone that was now there. He saw Maddie, the woman who would never accept him. He saw Jack, the man who took his life from him. And of all of them, he saw Danny, the boy who overcame the odds and beat him. He had lost in the end. He had failed miserably. He felt the anger now boiling in him. It wasn't fair. He deserved more. He should have gotten a better life. Not this weaklings who were better then him. It just wasn't far. All at once, he then felt a searing pain in his arm. He then felt himself sweating uncontrollably. And then, there it was. That pain that was gripping his should was once tightly winding itself around his soul. But this time, it was just uncontrollably painful. Of course, he knew his soul wasn't getting crushed. He was having a heart attack.
"Same, Vlad. Seems as though you should of worked out your anger and sadness in therapy," his mind the said in a mocking voice.
Vlad tried to respond, but all that came out was silent, quick breaths. And he now felt like was being squeezed in a vice. "No comeback? Well, that what happens when you are about to pas on."
Vlad, however, wasn't going out like that. He reached into his pocket, despite his heart beginning to go out, and pulled out a sleek .45. A little something from his hunting collection he brought with him from time to time for protection. "Kind of a coward's way of going down in a blaze of glory." His mind stated.
"Still," he silently said to himself," I…will….not let…him win." He then brought up the gun and looked down the barrel at Danny's back.
Jazz, however, caught this out of her eye. She turned her head all the way around to get a clear view on this, finally seeing what Vlad was doing. "Dan-" she yelled then to alert Danny, but it was too late. Vlad pulled the trigger three times as the gun eruptions seemed to break the air around them. The bullets left the muzzle and traveled quickly ripped through the air. Everyone was now aware of Vlad's attack, but they could do nothing. The bullets ripped into Danny's back, which caused pieces of bloody flesh to erupt from them. Sam eyes widened as she saw his body rock against hers. His arms then slipped from around her body as he fell to the ground.
"Danny!" Jack yelled as him and the others ran over to his side. Sam, just in shock, dropped to her knees and looked at him. The grass underneath him was now turning red wit the crimson blood leaking from behind him.
"Don't let this happen," Tucker is as he wiped out his cell phone to dial 911.
"No," Danny said, "Vlad got me. Must of…ripped my lung and got something else. I don't think…I can make it."
"Don't talk. Save your strength," Maddie said as she knelt down to her son.
"Vlad!" Jack yelled as he turned to him. His face was twisted in rage when he turned to face Vlad. However, Vlad's weapon, still smoking, was now at his side. His eyes were turned back in his head and no sound came from him. His anger and jealousy had won in their battle over his body. And he was the only causality.
"He's dead now," Danny said to his anger stricken father," I should of gave him a harder punch then before."
"I should of saw it coming," Jack said as his hand clutched into fists.
"No, I saw it first, I should of reacted-" Jazz began. But Danny cu in with, "Shut up. Stop feeling sorry for me. This isn't the first time I've been like this. But…this time it is fatal," Danny said.
"Can't you go ghost or something?" Tucker asked.
Danny looked up at him and said," You didn't hear what Vlad said. He said…that if one side dies, then the other goes. This is my final…moment."
"Stop it now," Maddie said," we can help you."
"Don't kid yourself. I know what…I am going….to become now," Danny said. He then coughed up a wad of blood that went up and splashed onto his face. Just seeing that made everyone's insides turn with sadness at watching him suffer and not wanting his help. Their eyes filled with tears that fell like raindrops.
"Hey, don't…feel bad," Danny stuttered out.
"Why shouldn't we? You need our help, but don't want it," Jazz stated.
"I told you…it wouldn't matter. I…done. I am not being weak…I am just being truthful. Besides, you have all done me good," Danny stated.
"How?" Tucker asked.
"Why did you all…come here to help me even if you were unsure of my sins?" Danny asked.
"Because we still care about you," Jack said.
"That's right. You all…could of gone.; Even if…you were late, you still…came. I know that despite all that has happened, everyone…still cares about me."
He then turned his head to the now tear stricken Sam. "And you," he began," hearing you say that you loved me….as I loved you, helped me too." He then moved hand up to try and tried to touch her face, but it lowered to the ground due to his weakness. She picked it up and placed it to her face, felling his warmth that was fading.
"I was afraid of not being accepted for my powers and what they caused," he began," but…that was because I never saw past you all. Hearing all…of you…tell me you still care for me. I know now…I am accepted…despite my…wrongdoing. And as I…die, I can…hear this and let…it bring me to the other side. Whatever faces me….there….I can face it with my….soul filled with …such happiness."
"You really are going?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Danny blurted out," but…remember. I love you all. You are truly…the best family, friends, and lover….who every came into my life. Now, its time."
Danny's eyes then closed. Sam still held his now limp hand as a single tear fell from her eye onto his face. Danny let in one last breath, and when it was released, everyone there felt like her passing through them towards his next destination. If Danny was able to talk, he probably said the last thing he felt before passing was Sam's tear. And that feeling would make his spirit glide so smoothly towards the next beyond.
The End.
Sad ending, wouldn't you say? Anyways, sorry for the delays, but I had some chool problems. I would like to thank everyone for reviewing and their words of encouragement. My next wriitng will be up soon. Until then, happy trails.