Before I begin this chapter, I'd just like to say thanks again to all the people who have reviewed this story. Thank you guys for telling me to update soon, because it really gives me motivation to continue.
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Danny could not believe a single thing he was reading. Unfortunately to him, it all made too much sense. Danny read the Maldums' plans on the computer screen, unable to say anything.
Phase 1:
Look forward to Danny Phantom's schedule. Find week he will have the most work to make up if he misses a day of school.
Phase 2:
When week has been decided, overshadow lunch ladies and give Danny contaminated cafeteria food. Even though all food is contaminated, it will only affect Danny. The chemical contaminants will only make ghosts sick. Danny will get sick and have to miss school the next day, giving him a lot of work to make up.
Danny tried to take in all the information he just read. Myrus and Cobaark and the other Maldums were planning ahead to find the week Danny would be stressed out the most if he missed a day of school, and then did everything to make sure he missed the day that would cost him the most. In order to make sure he missed that day of school, the Maldums contaminated the cafeteria food so that only people who had ghost blood in them would be infected. Danny read this and couldn't believe it, but he still had a question lingering in his mind: why? Why would the Maldums want him to miss that day of school and be stressed out in the first place? He soon got his answer.
Phase 3:
Make sure Danny's mom gets him into the doctor's office to see what is wrong with him. Overshadow the doctors there and hook him up to the power extractor.
"The Power Extractor?" Danny said breathlessly as he stared at the computer screen in complete shock. "That must have been the machine that I was hooked up to in the doctor's office! Come to think of it…I was hooked up to a machine very similar to that one when I got beat by Vundeter when I first met him at the mall. That must have been what took away my powers! Me being hooked up to the machine!"
Unable to think, Danny tried to take in everything he had just read. The Maldums had made sure he got into the doctor's so they could extract his powers, and they used a high level of ectoplasma in his blood as an excuse to bring him back the whole week. It was all starting to fall together now. Danny thought he knew everything that there was to know in the operation, but he didn't. There was still more to be learned.
Phase 4:
Make sure Danny is given antibiotics. These will actually be capsules researched and designed to make Danny's powers strong. These items will add strength to Danny's power and will be directly proportional to how stressed out he is.
Danny didn't understand it at first, but after reading it a few times, he finally understood. The antibiotics weren't really making Danny feel better; instead they were just making his powers stronger. The more stressed out Danny became, the more powerful the "antibiotics" made him, and that would mean greater powers when the Maldums extracted his powers the entire week. It made total sense to him.
Danny, still unable to say anything, stared at the screen. Finally, his fists clenched and his adrenaline skyrocketed. His entire body was filled with rage, and he suddenly started to shake.
"I've been used!" Danny whispered, his voice full of hatred and anger. "I've been used from the very beginning!"
Danny didn't want to accept it. He went intangible and flew out of the Maldum base. He knew where he had to go: to the Esceron base. Danny knew that this wasn't going to be an easy encounter, having to admit he was wrong to the ghosts he never trusted from the moment he met them.
So now, Danny knew the Maldum's plans from the very beginning. They were going to look into Danny's schedule and try to find the week that he would have a lot of work in school to worry about, and then try to find the day that would be the worst day of the week to miss school. In order to get Danny to miss that one day, the Maldums put something in the cafeteria food that would only make someone who had ghost material in them sick. This caused Danny to get sick and miss school the next day. When his mom brought him to the doctor's office the next day, the doctors were really some Maldums overshadowing the doctors, and the high level of ectoplasma was just a reason to keep bringing Danny back to the doctor's office so they could extract his powers everyday. However, when giving him the antibiotics, they were really enhancing Danny's power. The more stressed out Danny got from school and from the work he missed, the more powerful he would become. The Maldums would then extract that enhanced power and use it in the war against the Escerons.
When Danny finally made it to the Esceron base, he went intangible and snuck in. He looked around very quietly for Raschenda or Vundeter, and when he eventually found them both, he took a deep breath and went up to talk to them.
"Uh…hi," Danny said nervously, walking up to Raschenda and Vundeter. "Look, I know you probably hate me for breaking in and stealing me powers back…"
Saying this, Vundeter growled at him.
"Vundeter, I know you hate me already, so you can just drop it," Danny said. "But look, I just found out the Maldums plan to try to recruit me. And believe it or not, they recruited me without me even knowing about it."
"What are you talking about, Ghost Boy?" Raschenda said in her seductive voice.
Danny told them the entire story about what he had just learned when he went onto the Maldums' computer. He found out about the Maldums extracting his power and enhancing it with the antibiotics they were giving him, and how the stress from school was playing a huge part in it.
"So that's why we couldn't extract any of your powers when I captured you at the mall!" Vundeter said. "You were telling the truth the whole time. You were the Ghost Boy, and your powers had already been extracted by the Maldums, and you thought the Maldums were doctors!"
"Really, Sherlock?" Danny said in a sarcastic tone. "Bottom line, I want to side with you guys now. I don't want to join up with ghosts who use me like that!"
Vundeter scowled. "You have been a lot of trouble," Vundeter said, crossing his arms. "I seriously don't want to come here."
"And guess what!" Danny said loudly. "I don't want to come here either, but it looks like I'd rather be here than in the Maldum army. Vundeter, what do you say?"
"It's not my place to decide whether or not you can fight with us," Vundeter said. "That's up to Raschenda."
Saying this, both Danny and Vundeter turned towards Raschenda. Raschenda looked unsure with what she wanted to say, but then said "Very well. I think we will have an advantage if we have you, Danny Phantom."
Danny felt almost relieved to hear Raschenda say she wanted him to fight for the Escerons. But then, he found something to contradict what Raschenda said.
"Raschenda?" Danny said. "I have about two-thirds of my powers now, but the Maldums still have the other third, and that's the one with all my cool ghost powers in it."
"Well then," Raschenda said. "I guess we will have to get those powers of yours back, won't we?"
