Hi, people! Back again with an update! I was very pleased with the amount of reviews I got this time around, but I've been a little busy since yesterday and have had a cold which explains the longer-than-what-should've-been wait. Also, I understand that I'm not having Danny trying to phase through Slade or any things like that. Just be patient. I'll find a way to work with that.

Let's get back to it! Chapter 6 is now here!

Plotting for a Transformation

Chapter Six: A Volcanic Threat

One good thing about Danny getting banged up over the last week was that he got extra time to rest. A few ghosts appeared over that weekend, but they were very minor ghosts and Sam and Tucker were able to take care of them by themselves. Danny offered to help, but they point-blank refused with him in his current condition.

"If they're ghosts that aren't really a threat," Sam said to Danny that cloudy Sunday afternoon as they walked through Amity Park, "Then there's no reason for you to be wearing yourself out even more fighting them."

Danny sighed, "I guess I've just had these powers for so long, it's starting to get a little off-rhythm to not use them. Hey, have you guys been able to find any info on this Slade guy yet?"

Tucker answered, "We've run a full-scale web search, but it's turned up nada. I was finally able to override the virus on my PDA last night, but we still came up empty."

Sam asked the ghost boy, "What do you plan to do when you next encounter him?"

"Be smarter," Danny replied, "That's all I can really say. Both times I've fought him, my attack plan was way off and I was totally reckless."

Tucker said to him, "You were probably just a little rattled from the stuff he said to you."

Sam agreed, "Yeah. I think the smartest thing for you to do would be just to focus."

Danny said, "And I'll have to stay on my guard. I have no idea when he's gonna come after me next, but when he does, I will be ready." His voice was icy cold as he added, "Count on it."

There was a definite feeling of uneasiness in the air that cold misty night as the trio sat on a bench in the park. Just recently, Sunday night had been declared "Movies in the Park Night". Each Sunday night, a movie would be played on a large screen so everyone could see. The three of them had agreed to go tonight in order to relax and unwind.

Danny, however, paid virtually no interest to the movie, which was one he had seen before anyway. Try as he might, he just couldn't get the masked man Slade out of his head.

"But then, you know it's in you, young man. You know the evil that lurks somewhere inside you. You've seen it." Those were the words of Slade that Danny thought about much more than any other.

Danny knew that there was a trace of evil inside of him. He had always known that ever since his travel through time and his encounter with his future self. But he also knew that every day, every time he helped someone in need, every time he stopped someone who was bent on one certain nefarious scheme or another, he had controlled that evil. And yet…

"Why, Danny, that last attack of yours was despicable, vicious, and even quite evil. Very nice."

But that was different. He was fighting to defend himself. Or did it go beyond that? Was it to the point where Danny was so content on getting rid of Slade that he would start attacking the very second he saw him?

There was something else that bothered Danny very much, although not as much as Slade's remarks about the evil within him. It was Danny's own fear.

There was no question that Slade was a terrific fighter. Tactical, patient, methodical, dangerous, cryptic, and cunning. And that made him able to see underneath a brave and strong ghost boy and instead see the weak and shy Danny Fenton. That thought sent chills all throughout Danny's body.

"Danny?" Sam interrupted his thoughts.

"Huh? What?" Danny said.

"The movie's been over for half an hour and it's almost 10:00. We got to get home."

The next day, after school, the trio was sitting in Danny's living room, doing their homework. But fifteen minutes into starting on it, Sam and Tucker noticed that Danny wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to his homework. He seemed far too caught up in his own thoughts.

Tucker sighed, "Danny, you do know that this English report for Lancer is due tomorrow, right?"

Danny muttered, "Oh, um, yeah. Pizza for lunch tomorrow."

Sam groaned, "For Pete's sake, Danny, you can't still be thinking about Slade, can you? Ever since that first fight, can't you even think about anything else?"

Danny scowled, "Well, I'm right now thinking about how much you're annoying me!"

Sam shouted back, "Well, you don't have to get…"

Just then, Tucker took a look at his PDA. It had suddenly been hit with static.

"Hey!" Tucker cried, looking at his PDA with a puzzled look on his face, "What's going on?"

After a few seconds, a figure began to take shape in the wavy static lines. Danny knew that figure all too well.

Danny hissed, "Speak of the devil."

"Hello, Danny," Slade responded, "So nice to see you again. Hope I didn't call at a bad time."

Tucker answered, "Well, we were right in the middle of an English report and Mr. Lancer is gonna kill us if…ow!" He screamed out loud in pain as Sam gave him a hard elbow, which signaled that he should shut up.

Danny growled at Slade, "What do you want?"

Slade replied in his usual icy manner, "I grow tired of tracking you down myself and engaging with you in combat. This time, I'm going to make sure you find me."

Danny raised an eyebrow in confusion, "And why would I want to find you when you haven't done anything?"

Slade held up a remote in his hand and said, "Because of this. I'm sure you three are aware of the mountain that rests just outside your little city."

Tucker answered to that, "Yeah. It used to be a volcano up until a massive earthquake made it dormant over a hundred years ago."

"Precisely," Slade said, holding his remote, "And with a push of a button, I can reactivate the volcano to the point where it will erupt in mere seconds."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker exchanged fearful looks.

Danny said to Slade, "How? What does that remote do?"

"Deep in the ground underneath the volcano, I have planted a seismic disruptor. If the button is pushed, it will interfere with the seismic patterns and force the magma out of the ground, thus causing an eruption so great, your little city will be transformed into a wasteland."

Fearing Slade's latest plan, Danny asked Slade, "Where are you?"

"You can figure it out, young man. You may maintain a Grade Point Average of a C, but you obviously have the street smarts you need. Good day."

He disappeared from the PDA, which was replaced by static once more before it went back to the original screen that Tucker had it on.

With that, Danny, Sam, and Tucker just stared at the PDA screen. Sam looked worried. Tucker looked baffled. And Danny simply looked livid with fury.

We're gonna stop it there for now. Oh, boy! Where could Slade be? And a bigger question is…why is he pulling something like this when he's said he's just wanted Danny? Right now, I'm having a little bit of trouble thinking of my own ideas for what comes next. I would appreciate some help. Review, and Chapter 7 will be up soon!