Sweet Surrender

Chapter 2: The Darkness Within

(A/N: Here's chapter 2 to Sweet Surrender. Sorry I took so long to update.)

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. You sue me, and I kill you.

"Danny--!"

Sky blue eyes snapped open.

"Danny, get up, dear! It's time for school!"

He shook off his sleepiness and ran down the stairs, hanging a right into the kitchen.

"Mom? Dad!"

His mother smiled at him cheerfully, using a spatula to scoop eggs out of the pan onto a plate, accompanied with two strips of bacon, two sausages, and one slice of toast.

She handed the plate to him, ruffling his messy black hair.

"Danny, you ok?"

The teen snapped out of his daze, smiling at his parents.

Startling her, he hugged his mother tightly.

"I love you, Mom. You're the best!" he whispered.

She blinked.

"Danny, are you feeling all right?" she asked, holding a hand to his forehead.

He looked at his parents and older sister, his smile widening.

"Yeah, I'm all right."

He sat down with his plate and actually had a real breakfast with his family for once.

A half an hour later, Danny's parents were downstairs, working on a new ghost hunting invention, Jazz was off to school, and Danny was upstairs, brushing his teeth.

He knew taking his time would make him late for school, but he was so happy that his family was safe he didn't care at the moment.

As he brushed his teeth, he thought of the rogue ghost he'd encountered last night. He was almost positive it had been Dash. He had looked too much like him for it to be just coincidence. But something still didn't sit right with him. He paused in brushing for a moment.

If the ghost really had been Dash, question was, how?

People didn't just go turning into ghosts all the sudden. There was a kind of rule that you had to die before you became a ghost. And Dash couldn't have been dead. Danny had just seen him the other day at school. Maybe…nah!

It would be highly unlikely and totally freaky if it was actually true, but maybe, there was a slight possibility that Dash also had a ghost portal in his house.

Maybe his parents had become ghost obsessed after hearing about the rogue ghost's attack. Well that wouldn't explain Dash's sudden transformation.

He sighed, spitting and rinsing.

He took off his pajamas and took a shower. Squirting some shampoo in his hand, he began scrubbing his hair.

He sighed in contentment, enjoying the hot water soothing his slightly sore limbs, the massaging feel of water pressure against his scalp.

Because his eyes weren't open, and the running water blocked out all sounds, the showering boy did not see or hear the door open.

Luckily, he finished quickly. He shut off the water, groped for his towel, wiped his eyes clear of shampoo and water, and looked up, just as the rogue ghost reached up to swipe at him.

He screamed, barely dodging the deadly attack.

"Dash!" he screamed.

Okay, so his plan was that he'd try to get the real Dash to wake up inside of the beast, and maybe he could return to normal.

Not the best sort of plan, but it was all he had at the moment.

"Dash, it's me! Danny Fenton! You know, the guy you love to hate and torture?" he shouted, while continuing to dodge the swipes.

"Dash! Danny Fenton, remember? Come on, you've gotta beat this thing! This isn't you!"

"Dash is no longer here!" A sinister voice roared.

Danny continued dodging, occasionally slipping because of his wet feet, and getting slashed because of it. He already had at least three claw marks.

"Get out of him you—beast thing!"

Suddenly, the rogue ghost's eyes flashed red, then went back to sky blue, bringing its giant paw to its forehead, groaning.

"D-Danny…h-help me…"

"No! I'm losing control!" the beast inside of him roared.

"Sh-shut up, Shadow! G-get outta me!"

The ghost slowly transformed back into a human.

Danny just stood, frozen, watching the ordeal.

Dash's eyes drooped. He swayed on his bare feet, he was scratched up, bruised and bloody, and he was nude.

'He must've been taking a shower when he turned into the beast again,' Danny thought absently.

"D-Danny…h-help…" he couldn't finish, and Dash fainted.

Danny caught him before he hit the cold bathroom floor.

Oh great. Just great.

He had a naked Dash in his bathroom, passed out, bruised and bloody, and they were a half an hour late for school.

And he had his own scratches to clean up.

This was gonna take a long time.

(A/N: Don't think Dash is safe just yet. And Ember will show up again. Read and review please! )