Greetings, fellow lifeforms! How goes it? I had the free time I needed, so I was able to put this together for you. And before we head to the new chapter, I would just like to say…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! 16 years old today, and it feels great!

Alright, enough celebration. It's time for Chapter 11!

Plotting for a Transformation

Chapter Eleven: A Troubling Talk

Danny started immediately by firing a ghost ray at Slade, which he calmly side-stepped. The ray struck the wall and left a gaping hole in it.

Slade watched the ray hit, and then turned to Danny, "Impressive. Unless you were aiming for me."

"Quit taunting me!" Danny roared as he flew straight towards Slade. As he neared him, Slade swung his staff at Danny. But Danny was ready for it and went intangible. The staff harmlessly went through him.

Now having an opportunity that had been scarce in his fights with Slade, Danny gave him a hard backhand slap to his face. Danny's strike was true and Slade stumbled backward.

Satisfied at drawing first blood, Danny fired a ghost ray from close up. Slade swung his staff again and knocked it away. He then tried to swing the staff at Danny again, but just as before, he phased through it.

Danny smirked and hovered over his opponent, "I think you might be losing your touch, Slade. You haven't even touched me yet."

Slade sneered behind his mask, "Don't sound so sure of yourself, dear boy. We've barely begun." He then pushed a button on his belt. He started to glow a bright red, along with his staff. They glowed for a few seconds before it stopped.

Wondering what that possibly could've been, Danny flew at Slade and tried to kick him from above. But Slade grabbed hold of his foot in mid-air. Danny went intangible, but was shocked to Slade still holding onto his foot!

Seeing the ghost boy perplexed, Slade explained, "Like it? This button I just pushed has inserted a chemical compound throughout my nervous system, as well as into my staff. It is very much similar to ectoplasm, so if you had any thoughts of trying to phase through my attacks, forget them."

With that, Slade swung Danny over his head and slammed him down onto the floor of the catwalk. Face down, Danny looked up and saw Slade's foot moving down to crush his head.

Danny quickly phased through the catwalk and down below it. Hovering below the catwalk, he fired a ghost ray at one end of it. It blew apart the end of it, and with nothing on that end to support it, it fell off balance, sending everything on it down, including Slade.

Slade fell off, but as he fell, a tower which contained high voltage equipment stood in his way. He landed his feet on it, and pushed off of it, backflipping through the air and landing on his feet on the ground below Danny.

Danny was a bit awestruck at seeing this, but he tried not to show it. It was hard enough hiding the general fear he had for Slade behind a wall of anger and hatred for him.

Not wanting to let Slade gain the momentum in this pivotal battle, Danny started firing ghost rays again at Slade, but he seemed to pre-determine his every shot as he jumped, flipped, and rolled around every single one of them.

Frustrated as he had been, Danny called out, "How do you know so much about me anyway?"

Slade answered, "I must say that having acquaintanceships with your foes can be very rewarding. Pity you seem to think of me as one of them."

Danny growled, "Why wouldn't I think that?" He then flew at Slade and tried desperately to land a punch to his face while he went on, "You're psychotic, ruthless, vicious, and obsessive."

"You make it sound like they're bad," Slade responded, dodging Danny's punches, "Even when they are still a part…of you."

Danny looked a bit shocked at this, but he shouted, "NO!" as one punch finally found its target. Slade was hit around his shoulder blade and he stumbled backward.

Danny looked furious as he yelled at Slade, "I am none of those things! I am not like you!"

"You may think that," Slade responded, "But it seems to me that few others think the same way."

Danny didn't answer verbally. Instead he fired a ghost ray at Slade with both hands. This time Slade swung his staff like a baseball bat. The ray was knocked back at Danny and it struck him, fazing him for a moment.

Slade took advantage of this and gave Danny a jump-kick to his chest. Blood shot out of him as he was knocked through the air, and to add injury to insult, he hit one piece of electrical equipment, making a dent in it, and Danny was zapped with electricity because of it.

The pain shot through Danny's nerves for a few moments before it finally subsided. Danny fell to the ground from high above.

Slade watched as Danny struggled to his feet, saying, "It's because of your so called 'heroic exploits' that your friends are in such danger. In danger now, just as they have been before, and will continue to be…all because of you."

"Shut up," Danny grunted as he was now back on his feet.

"You want them to help you, to assist you in your battles, to gamble with their lives just so you can get what you want. Despite that, they are still of no use to you anyway. All they do is sit back and watch you protect them so they get the easy parts, and what thanks does that get you?"

"Shut up!" Danny shouted as he fired a ghost ray. Slade sidestepped it and walked towards Danny.

"And it goes beyond them, Danny. To your sister, who gets on your nerves, your parents, who hunt you, and this whole city, who hates you. And it's all merely because of who you are. A ghost."

Slade now stopped about a foot away from Danny and went on, "What's the point of trying to do good if you're never appreciated for it, even when a greater purpose for your powers lurks inside you?"

Danny had had enough. He roared, "SHUT UP!" As he did, he kicked Slade in the gut with all his might. Slade was hurled through the air and landed on the ground. Slade looked up and saw Danny trying to land a punch to Slade's face with everything he had. Slade rolled out of the way and Danny's fist met the floor, making a hole in it.

Blood was dripping down Danny's fingers as he stood up. Slade was nowhere in sight.

"Come on out!" Danny screamed, "Come on out and fight, you creep!"

"As you wish," said a voice that sent chills down Danny's spine behind him.

Danny barely had time to turn as he was socked to the face and stumbled backward. Danny tried to give Slade a punch of his own, but Slade ducked it with ease and shoved his staff right into Danny's gut. Danny cried out in extreme pain as blood mixed with ectoplasm shot out of him.

Danny fell back to the ground, feeling like he could just fall face-down and die at any second. His entire body was battered and bruised, blood and ectoplasm scattered across his chest down to his waist, and his skin still tingled painfully from the shock he received.

Slade walked up to the fallen hero and said quietly, "You can't protect them forever, dear boy. One day or another, they are going to fall, and when that day finally comes, it will be all your fault."

Danny listened closely. He was hating Slade and at the same time fearing him the more and more he talked.

Danny finally spoke in a voice that seemed to drip blood along with his own body, "Get away."

Danny then jumped up, directing his body into a backflip. As he did, his feet flew up and landed a hard blow right to Slade's chin. The blow knocked Slade to the ground as Danny landed back on his feet.

The ghost boy scowled and turned to his chained-up friends in the corner. He immediately shouted, "This ends now!" He fired ghost rays at the top of each chain.

Tucker and Sam shut their eyes in fear of getting hit themselves, but Danny's aim was right on the money. The tops of the chains were blown away, and the chains fell to the ground, bringing Tucker and Sam with them.

Noticing that they were still chained to each other, Danny shouted, "Guys! Spread out!"

His friends obeyed, and Danny fired another ghost ray at the chain. It was blown apart and Sam and Tucker could now move by themselves.

Danny turned around as Slade had recovered, and now simply stood in one place, saying, "You think this is over, Danny? We have not even begun yet."

Seeing that there was a high-voltage machine to the far wall next to them, Danny fired a ghost ray at it.

His aim was true and the machine went off with a large explosion. A wave of bright light and energy filled the interior of the Power Plant. Seeing his opportunity, Danny flew back to Sam and Tucker and phased them out through the ground.

As he carried Sam and Tucker, Danny flew and flew through the night sky. He continued flying at a fast pace and he didn't stop until he had put as much distance between him and Slade as he possibly could, stopping at Fenton Works.

Finally back, Danny collapsed to the ground, dropping his friends and transforming back into Danny Fenton as he did.

Tucker and Sam took the red substance out of their mouths so they could speak. Once that was done, Sam saw Danny's current state and cried, "Danny!" She and Tucker immediately ran to his side.

In really hard beatings, Danny's injuries in ghost mode carried over into human mode, and that was once again the case here.

Tucker asked his fallen friend, "Dude, you okay?"

Danny panted, "Uh huh. Just…achy and tired."

Even at the fact that they had gotten away, even at the fact that they were safe for the moment, and even at the fact that Danny had dealt Slade much more blows in this battle than the first two, Danny found no reason on Earth to be happy as Slade's words replayed themselves in his head over and over and over again.

And thus, Chapter 11 ends! Looks like Slade's really trying to mess around with Danny's head now! What is behind his mind games and criminal acts? Let us wait until Chapter 12!