Hello, folks! Listen, I understand the scarcity in reviews for Chapter 8 because it was rather dull. I just felt it was necessary to write. I promise that things will pick up in Chapter 9. Just so you all know, this fic is drawing to an end. Only 2 chapters left, I believe.
Right now, I'm feeling quite angry, but not near as much as Tuesday night. Believe everything I'm going to say, because it's true, from Butch Hartman himself. Danny Phantom will have 13 episodes in Season 3, which is currently scheduled to finish in February of 2007, and then the show is going to be canceled! Check out butchhartman . com and go to his forum for the official word. Bummer, yes. But with some petitions and letters, who knows? Maybe Nickelodeon will renew the show then!
But for now, here we go! Let's hit Chapter 9! Just so you know, I've decided to change the rating to "T" because of intense fight scenes.
Ghostly Competition
Chapter Nine: The Final Fight
"You guys want to go for a walk?" Danny asked a few minutes later.
Sam shrugged, "It's better than just sitting here doing nothing."
With that, the three of them got up and headed out of Fenton Works and down the street.
As the trio walked, Sam asked Danny, "Are you going to talk to Steve about this?"
"Which part?" Danny asked, "The him being in the homeless shelter part, or the me and my experience with my evil future self part?"
"Uh…both. Or maybe just one of them."
"More likely the first one than the second. He'd reckon I was full of baloney if I told him about traveling through time. As for the first, I'd have to wait until he's calmed down a bit before actually talking to him."
Tucker spoke, "Well, you can't let it wait too long."
"I know. I'll just have to wait for the right moment."
They had reached the park when Danny's ghost sense went off. A few seconds later, Tucker pointed to the sky and said, "Hey, what's that?" Something in the air a distance from them was hurtling towards them!
Sam shouted, "Look out!" The three of them got out of the way as the figure crashed into the ground, making a small hole in it.
The three of them looked to see who had landed and saw that it was Steve.
"Steve?" Danny said.
Steve Spirit opened his eyes and said, "Danny?"
Sam said to him, "What in the world happened to you?"
"Allow me to explain," said a voice behind them.
Vlad Plasmius flew towards them with an evil sneer on his face.
Danny yelled, "Plasmius! What are you doing here?"
"Ah, hello, Daniel! How have you been? Well, you see, I asked young Steven to join me, which he unfortunately declined. And since I know of him to be a stronger opponent than you, I cannot afford to have him as a threat any longer."
"You're destroying him?"
He applauded, "Oh, well done! You are not as dim as you appear! Congratulations!"
Danny's eyes flashed green.
"Oooh, another temper flare of yours, I see. But this concerns you not, young man. I suggest you leave before I decide to waste you as well. Steven and I have a little business to attend to." He fired a ghost ray at Steve, who rolled out of the way just in time.
Seeing Steve was in trouble, Danny called out, "Steve! Let me help!"
Steve stubbornly yelled back, "Forget it, Fenton! I can take this chump on my own!" He flew straight at Plasmius. He chuckled, and pulled his cape over himself, disappearing as he did this.
Steve shouted, "Where are you, Plasmius? Come on out!"
"As you wish." Vlad appeared behind Steve and blasted him with a ghost ray, knocking him to the ground.
Tucker said, "Has he been able to hit Vlad even once since the fight began?"
Plasmius answered for him, "Afraid not, young Mr. Foley." Then he flew down at Steve, who frantically phased through the ground. He flew back up a few feet away and fired a ghost ray at Vlad. This one finally found its target and knocked Vlad sideways.
Steve yelled to Vlad, "Now I hit you!"
Vlad smirked, "Oooh, bravo. One hit. Perhaps I should give you a medal."
Hating Vlad more and more by the second, Steve flew at Vlad and tried to punch him. But Vlad's own fist connected with Steve's face before Steve had even started to bring his own fist forward. Blood now spurted from Steve's face as he flipped through the air.
Danny was watching this with a face showing angst. He said, "I can't just stand around and watch this."
Tucker said to him, "But you know the deal. You fight a ghost, your secret's no secret anymore."
Sam's words were more encouraging, "But it's your choice, Danny."
Danny sighed. He then said, "If that's the price for helping out someone who is in grave need of help, so be it."
Sam said, "You mean you're going to…"
"I'M GOING GHOST!"
The rings went through Danny's body, and he transformed into Danny Phantom.
By this time Vlad had Steve in a stranglehold in mid-air. Steve was trying to pry Vlad's hands off his neck, but he was too tired. Plasmius laughed, "Had enough, my young foe?"
Danny flew up to Vlad and shouted, "Maybe he has, but I haven't!" He fired a ghost ray at Vlad and it hit him in the face, bruising it up a bit. He was forced to let go of Steve, who dropped a few feet before regaining his balance.
Steve then flew up to Danny and said rather quietly, "We had a deal, Phantom."
Danny look perplexed for a second, wondering where Steve was going at with this.
Then Steve gave a very small smile and said, "Thanks for going back on it. You saved my butt right there."
"No problem. Should we take this jerk on together?"
Steve hesitated, and then said, "Yeah. Together." They both turned to face Vlad, who was now frowning.
Plasmius called out sarcastically, "Oh no! Now I have both you little pests teaming up against me! Oooh, I'm so scared!"
Danny shouted, "Take this!" He fired a ghost ray at Vlad, but he deflected it with his shield.
Steve flew at Vlad from the left, while Danny took the right side. Vlad saw them both coming and flew up out of the way. Both Danny and Steve collided with a crunch!
Both of them dropped to the ground while Vlad was clutching his ribs from laughing so hard.
Steve asked Danny, "You alright?"
Danny rubbed his head and said, "I've got some bleeding in the back of my head, but yeah. You know, we could've planned that a little better."
Steve answered as blood trickled down his leg, "Alright. How about I start firing ghost rays at him and you fly toward him and tried to hit him with a punch or kick."
"That sounds good."
Steve fired a ghost ray at Vlad. He had now stopped laughing and dodged the ray. Steve continued firing while Danny carefully flew towards Vlad from his blind side.
But as he approached Vlad, something else hit Danny from his side. And to add injury to insult, Steve had fired a ghost ray, and Danny was knocked right into it.
Fortunately the ghost ray knocked Danny right towards Vlad, and he gave him a kick in the face. Blood shot from Vlad's face as well as he was knocked backward.
Danny then looked around, "But who hit me…?"
Danny looked to where he had been hit and saw a Vlad duplicate!
The second Vlad said, "Did you honestly think you two could pull a sneak attack on me?"
Danny responded, "Well, actually, we thought we could pull a sneak attack on the original Vlad, not you."
Both Vlad's growled and fired ghost rays at Danny and Steve. They were both hit and knocked down to the ground, where they both groaned.
Both Plasmius's laughed and flew down to the two teenagers, whom had both stood up, though quite slowly.
Each Vlad formed an ectoplasmic paddle and tried to hit both Danny and Steve with it. Danny flew out of the way, while Steve jumped away. It missed and Steve landed on the ground, sliding a few feet as he did. A few sparks flew from his feet as they did.
One Vlad fired a ghost ray at Steve and hit him square. But everyone was surprised to see Steve standing there looking fine!
Steve looked as shocked as anybody. He said, "Hey, I didn't feel a thing."
As he said this, Danny saw a few more sparks flying off the ground by his feet. Then he had an idea.
"Steve!" Danny shouted, "Move your feet back and forth on the ground as much as you can!" He started doing it himself. Steve looked confused, but he began doing the same. Sparks were flying from their feet, and more were coming, looking brighter and brighter.
Both Vlads looked confused, but they both began to fire ghost rays at Danny and Steve. They hit, but they were both unaffected. The sparks had now become light and were shining very bright, now moving up from their feet to their shins.
Apparently, because of their ectoplasmic makeup, part of being ghosts, Danny and Steve could absorb ghost rays by charging ectoplasm in their feet, and maybe even fire it back. This was only a theory for Danny, but would it work?
"Steve!" Danny screamed, "Over here!"
Steve moved over to Danny and the light around them shone even brighter.
Both Vlads, Tucker, and Sam could only stare in awe at the sight in front of them.
Finally Danny shouted, "Now! Fire the ghost rays!"
A giant portion of light finally shot from Danny and Steve, and it flew straight at the two Vlads. They desperately put up their shields, but it wasn't near strong enough. They were blasted upward very far. It was a full fifteen seconds from the time that the blasts had hit them to the time they hit the ground!
Vlad changed back into Vlad Masters as Danny and Steve stood above him, changing back into Danny Fenton and Steve Reynolds.
Steve smiled, "Read it and weep, Vlad. We beat you."
Vlad replied, "In battle, yes. But Vlad Plasmius does not always win just by fighting."
Then, before either of them could even blink, Vlad pulled out a small chip the size of a beetle and placed it on Steve, which latched onto his skin! He tried to do the same for Danny, but he jumped out of the way.
"What the heck was that?" Danny asked.
"What's this chip for?" Steve asked.
As Sam and Tucker walked over, Vlad answered, "A new gizmo I've invented, the Plasmius Chip. It latches onto a ghost's skin and holds there, and I control it with this remote." He pulled a remote out of his pocket.
Steve said with a rather shaky voice, "What are you gonna do?"
"What I came to do when you chose not to join me." He pushed a red button.
In an instant, Vlad phased away through the ground, saying, "Ta!"
Just then, the chip on Steve went off with a BOOM! A large fiery ball of smoke appeared in Steve's place. Danny jumped backward as the blast went off. As the smoke cleared, Danny screamed, "STEVE!"
Big cliffhanger here! Danny and Steve have settled their differences and beaten Vlad, but oh no! Big explosion right here! Did Steve survive that large boom! Find out in the concluding Chapter 10, coming soon!