Hehey, how's it going? Ok, I'd like to say that I've been busy, but I was really just in moral outrage at how they ended the Teen Titans. Stupid…freaking…last episode…leaving us HANGING! Guh, I could rant about that all day, but I will spare you my frustration… (Snaps keyboard in half)
SO, anyway…
Dis: Not and never will be mine.
Ah, the plans that are being set in motion… Chapter 12!
"Hey, Sam. I just finished my homework, do you still want to hand out at your house tonight?" Danny asked his cell phone. He stood in his room, his window framing the sun as it slowly crept below the horizon. A jumbled reply came through, Danny grinned.
"Yeah, Sam. I actually did my homework." Another reply echoed through his phone.
"Huh? Oh, no. My dad is still here. Jazz went because she knows the most about me and my enemies. And, well, my mom is better at arguing then my dad is." Danny waited, listening. Then he sighed, his gaze going to the floor of his room, imagining his dad down in the kitchen.
"He's already pinning for her. I don't know how he's going to last a week without her." Shaking his head, Danny quickly changed the subject. "So, is Tucker already there?" He absently picked up a picture of his family, staring at his two parents while he listened to Sam.
"Ok, I'll be over in a bit." Danny closed his cell phone, putting down the picture with a sigh.
Danny looked in the kitchen. His dad was sitting at the table, his shoulders slumped, half-heartedly working on an invention he and Maddie had started before she had left.
Danny cleared his throat loudly, his dad looked up.
"Um, I'm going over to Sam's house." He said, mentally trying to justify leaving his dad all alone.
"Oh, ok... I'll just stay here and work on this invention." He held up the half-finished invention, staring longingly at the spot where Maddie would usually sit. "All by myself…" His dad sighed.
Danny turned around, trying to ignore his conscience yelling at him and the guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Um, ok." Danny hesitated, feeling bad, but finally left. With a final glance back at the kitchen, he walked out the front door, headed for Sam's house.
A figure floated in front of the Fenton house, waiting patiently. Down below, a door slammed as a black haired boy marched into the cold weather. His breath trailing behind him, the boy headed off down the block, the yellow streetlights illuminating his path.
The figure watched him until he was out of sight, then turned its eyes towards the Fenton house.
With a shadowed grin, it flew into the house.
Walking to Sam's house in the chill air, Danny couldn't help but think about his father.
Maybe I should have stayed with him. I could've helped him with the invention. Danny stared at the concrete, seeing only his father's sad face. Shaking his head, Danny held his arms close, shivering in the chill air. No, I promised Sam I'd go over to her house. He told himself.
He still couldn't help but think that he had chosen that option because it was more fun for him.
Danny looked around suddenly, realizing he was nowhere near Sam's house. Shabby, run down houses surrounded him, the streets were broken, the sidewalks cracked and littered with trash. The yellow streetlights overhead flickered, some permanently dark.
He had absently wandered into the poorer part of Amity.
With a tired sigh, Danny concentrated and turned into Danny Phantom. He jumped into the air, just wanting to get to Sam's house so that he could get out of the cold weather and stop thinking about his father.
With a yelp, Danny fell face first onto the cold concrete. Holding his throbbing head with a moan, he managed to push himself off of the freezing ground.
That was weird.
He stood up, looking around in embarrassment to make sure no one else had seen that. Satisfied that he was the only one outside, Danny tried flying again.
He jumped up, flapping his arms to try and help.
Again, he fell. Only this time, he managed to land on his feet.
What is wrong with me? He stared at his hands, imagining green fire lighting up. Nothing happened. He tried turning intangible, he stayed solid.
Nothing seemed to work.
Danny glared at his gloved fist. Great. Why not make this night even better. He thought, thoroughly frustrated.
With a flash, his hand turned back to normal. Danny Fenton looked around the dark streets surrounding him. Well, at least I can still do that. He thought, not exactly overjoyed at his one remaining ability.
With a sigh, he started off towards Sam's house, his hands in his pockets to try and keep warm.
Sam opened her door to find a shivering Danny.
"Danny!" She reached out and yanked him inside. "Are you trying to freeze yourself to death?" She asked, her voice worried and scornful at the same time.
Danny grinned at her, which really didn't help her mood much since his teeth started to chatter together.
Sam shook her head and turned around, disappearing down the hallway. Danny rubbed his hands together, trying to get feeling back in his fingers. When did it get so cold outside, anyway?
Sam came back, a black trench coat in her hands. Danny looked at it skeptically.
"Why do you have a trench coat?" He asked.
"I gave it to my dad for his birthday." She said, her voice dry. Danny laughed at that.
"Has he ever worn it?"
"Nope."
Danny grinned at her, taking the coat and putting it on. Sam studied his new look, one that Danny had no intention of keeping.
"Hey, Sam…" She looked up at him, "Would you mind hanging out at my house tonight?" He asked, feeling awkward in the black coat. She shrugged.
"Sure, why?"
"Because, well, my dad is sorta lonely. When my mom's not around he gets really depressed." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding Sam's eyes. She smiled at him.
"Aww, you're not half bad, Danny." Danny turned around, hiding his blush. Opening the door, he looked back at Sam.
"Ready?"
"Oh, I have to wait til Tucker gets here to tell him what's going on. He just called me, telling me he was on his way."
"Oh, ok." Danny said, trying to suppress a sudden feeling of jealousy. It's just Tucker! He told himself sternly. Sam interrupted his thoughts.
"He should get here soon, I'll meet you at your house?" Danny nodded.
With a small wave, he turned around and walked back into the chill air, the clouds parting to reveal the moon. With white moonlight lighting his steps instead of just the pale yellow of the streetlights, Danny started back towards his house.
Danny opened the door to his house, taking off the jacket and hanging it up, he headed towards the kitchen.
"Dad?" He peaked around the wall, finding an empty table. Hmm, that's weird. Danny searched through the quiet kitchen, his eyes going next to the fridge.
Two of his favorite spots, empty. He glanced at the counter, spotting his dad's keys lying where he had last left them. And he left the lights on, so he must still be in the house...
With a shrug, Danny headed for the lab. Only one spot left.
He opened the door to the lab, the light shinning down the dark stairs. Danny looked down into the darkness uneasily, quietly stepping down onto the first stair.
Gulping, he looked down into the dark lab, noticing a dim light shinning up from somewhere below.
Danny took another step, his nervous eyes wide.
What, are you afraid of the dark? He asked himself harshly. Squaring his shoulders, Danny fought down the uneasy feeling that something was not right and continued down the steps.
Reaching the bottom, his eyes scanned the lab, absently spotting the thermos that had once held the girl from the alley. He had released her back into the Ghost Zone the minute he had returned home Sunday night, not wanting his dad to try and experiment on her.
Danny finally spotted a single lamp shinning desolately down on the back of Jack Fenton. The nervous feeling only increasing, Danny stayed by the stairs. Taking a deep breath, he broke the oppressive silence.
"Hey dad, Sam will be over here in just a sec. We decided to hang out here tonight." He said, trying to keep his voice calm.
His dad looked up, a new invention held in his hand. This one looked different then most of his other inventions. It was colored a darker color instead of the usual bright green. It had a two-pronged fork that was made out of a dark black metal. The fork seemingly grew out of the black base, golden highlights circling around and fading into the black fork.
It reminded Danny of something… something, sinister.
"Hey Danny, come over here." He waved his hand holding the invention excitedly. Eyeing the invention warily, Danny shuffled over to his dad.
"Hold out your hand." His dad instructed, his voice sounding different.
Danny slowly held out his hand, wondering what his dad wanted as the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach grew. His instincts kept telling him to run, but Danny forced himself to stay still, thinking that this would make up for him ditching his dad earlier.
"Good, I just need to test this-" Jack said as he took Danny's hand. Wait, test it... on ME!
"WHAT!" Danny tried to yank his hand away, but his dad had already taken a hold of his arm.
With a satisfied smile on his face, Jack pressed the fork-pronged invention into Danny's hand, sending black lightning forking up his son's arm.
Danny jerked his hand back as black energy raced across his arm, his fingers going numb.
His dad stood to his full height, his usually jolly face twisted into a cynical smirk.
Danny backed up nervously, his eyes darting around.
"D-dad?"
He felt the black energy work its way through his body as he continued to back up, a cold numbness following in its wake.
Jack's shadowed eyes narrowed, his grin widening.
"Jack's not in at the moment, can I take a message?" His dad's voice answered, sounding completely foreign to Danny. He stepped forward, leaving the small circle of light.
Danny stopped, his eyes narrowed in hatred.
Nobody overshadows my dad. He thought angrily, his fist clenching. He concentrated for a moment, calling upon his ghost side.
His eyes widened and he gasped, looking up fearfully at… whoever was possessing his father.
"Why can't I go ghost?" He asked, his heart hammering in his ears.
"So it did work, good. Last time it only shorted out your powers when you were feeling unsure of yourself."
Last time…? Danny looked at his father in astonishment.
"Skulker?" He asked. His father didn't answer, but instead started advancing on him. Danny gulped, hesitating.
What do I do! I can't just leave my dad here! ...but I can't fight Skulker without knocking him out of my dad first. Danny looked around the lab, slowly backing towards the stairs. He spotted the Fenton Catcher…
Right behind Skulker.
Great.
He tried dodging to the side, but his dad cut him off, pushing him towards the stairs.
Noticing his son's longing stare as he continued to step backwards, his dad looked behind him, trying to see what Danny was looking at. Spotting the catcher in the background, he quickly turned around and shoved Danny backwards.
Danny stumbled, barely staying on his feet. His dad stepped forward, completely dwarfing him and cutting off any chance of reaching the catcher.
Danny's eyes widened, seeing his dad's giant fist swing back, a promising look in his fathers eye. Memories of his exposure at the school coming back forcibly, Danny quickly turned around to the stairs.
And ran.
He jumped up the stairs two at a time, his frightened mind hearing his dads booming footsteps right behind him over the sound of Danny's panicked breathing.
All he could think of was to escape. He'd rescue his dad later, after he had time to think of a plan.
The still rigged doorbell echoed down the stairwell, but Danny barely heard it, or the shriek that followed. He was too busy running up the stairs, his heart racing in his ears.
Jumping up the last stair, Danny didn't even look behind him, but headed straight for the door.
He grabbed the handle to the front door, throwing it open.
The light from his house fell on a very mad Sam, standing angrily at his doorstep. He absentmindedly noticed her burning glare, slightly smoking hair, and clenched fists.
"Why does your doorbell shock people?" She asked with a low voice. Danny ignored her.
"Sam!" He yelled, glancing behind him nervously. Sam's murderous expression quickly changed to one of concern when she noticed his fearful gaze.
"Danny, what happened?" Danny grabbed Sam's hand and jumped down to the moonlit sidewalk, dragging her along behind him.
"Run!" He yelled, taking off towards the edge of town. Sam took one look in the Fenton house, noticing a furious Jack Fenton racing towards the door, and instantly turned around and ran after Danny.
"Danny, what-"
"Skulker overshadowed my dad and used an invention to short out my powers!" Sam took a second to let this all sink in. (Plus she had to give herself time to catch her breath, running was not her most favorite activity in the world.)
"Wow… that's low even for Skulker." Danny glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened, taking in the faint glow of an orange jumpsuit following along behind.
"Sam! He's following us!" Sam glanced back, her eyes widening at the sight of Jack Fenton trying to sprint.
"That's not something I needed to see." She muttered, looking back at the moonlit ground in front of her and widening her stride. The two easily out ran the giant man chasing quite a ways behind them.
"I don't get it." She panted, "Why doesn't Skulker just leave Jack's body and fly after us?"
"I don't know." Danny gasped, his face getting paler by the second.
He grabbed Sam's hand and steered her towards the dark forest at the edge of town. The trees sheltered out all light, the trampled path that the two were following fading away beneath the black silhouettes of the trees.
"But I do know… that we can hide… in here." Danny took one last glance behind him before diving into the forest, Sam by his side.
It's a good thing my dad likes to eat so much fudge. He thought as he and Sam ran blindly through the forest, trying to find a good place to hide.
The two raced through the maze of trees, only slowing down when they came across a small clearing.
Danny clutched his side, the patches of moonlight filtering through the leaves beginning to swim in his vision. He stumbled to a halt, breathing heavily.
What is wrong with me? He thought worriedly, his legs feeling like lead.
"Danny?" Sam stopped, realizing her friend was behind her.
Danny heard Sam crunch through the leaves, rushing back to him. She reached out and tugged on his arm. He barely felt her, his thoughts back in his parents lab.
Maybe Skulker's weapon…?
"C'mon! We have to hurry!" Sam yelled at him, pulling desperately on his arm. Danny's eyelids slid down, his mind going blank.
"Sam… I can't…" A familiar tingling numbness spread throughout his body. Danny closed his eyes, his whole body relaxing.
"…Danny?"
He collapsed, asleep before he even hit the ground.
I hope the scene with his father wasn't too dark. I tried to keep it light without ruining the mood. Er, yeah...
So… replies!
(MasterP) Guh, Dash and Paulina, bleh. They are my least favorite characters, by far. But they do make for good sub-plots! (ObiQ) grins…um, innocently? Thanks! I think that part has been the hardest part of this story, figuring out how the world would react. I mean, I really don't even know how the US's central intelligence works, except for what I see in movies (And those are oh so accurate) Feh, mysterious CIA. (Crazy) Heh, thanks! (SleepW) Bwa ha ha! I love my easy senior classes! But I still do get homework from my College Comp class. ...reading homework! Haha! Oh, and thanks! (MissM) Evil villainous plots are the best kind! Tis convienient that his sister and his mother were gone... And what did you suspect with Sam? (EnigP) Yay foreshadowing! Claps You are the only one who caught that. You get some Dippin Dots. And a LiveJournal account. Hee hee! Just kidding! I rant to my friends all the time, only I have to do it on LJ because, around them, all of the conversations somehow turn into random fun-ness… yes, you know that made sense. Someone needs to invent 'life in a can.' Yes, you open it and, suddenly, all of your friends don't have to work or scavenge for gas money anymore! Woo! That would be cool. Rambling is fun.(PurpleD) I was amazed that my computer didn't spontaneously combust! Heh, yeah. Oh, and I will do MiBaB after this one for sure! (CaptianD) Hey, did you get my idea? Well, tell me what ya think. (PhantomL) Thanks! Aww, but that would be too easy, wishing it all away. Darn logic.(DFlame) Thanks! Ohh, I really like the shortened summary. You really are good at that! (JodiC) Really? But you get to start school later then mid August, right? Glad you liked my story!
I'm starting to work on the story 'A Plan Gone Awry,' and I will try and post it ASAP. So it's either the next chapter in Savior or the first chapter to my second story that'll be up sometime around Monday, hopefully. Hmm, well, I'll figure that out later.
For now, you should all review! It will help me post faster, I promise.
Oh! I almost forgot. While I was fixing this chapter up, I started rereading the part where Sam and Danny start running through the night and I thought of a cool picture. Yeah, so I might actually do some art for this story, I don't know. It depends on if I can get the perspective I really want, because if I screw it up I'll get frusterated and trash the pic.
Bleh, rambling.
Review!