A quick note from the author: Bet you all thought I completely forgot about this one!
Chapter 7
Dan Phantom glanced around him, familiarizing himself with his past hometown.
"Daddy! Daddy!" two little voices cried before he found himself tackled by his children. They clung to his legs, obviously glad to see their dad was all right.
"Danny!" Sam followed after them, hugging her "husband." "You made it."
"Yeah, of course I did." He smiled at her then kissed her on the lips to keep up the pretences. "Let's go home and get those plans returned," he said as he picked up little DJ.
Danny struggled against the rope that held him, bobbing through the Ghost Zone. "This is just annoying," he muttered. "Going ghost!" he yelled, and though he changed into his ghost form, it didn't help remove the rope. "Well, it was worth a shot," he mumbled weakly.
He felt so defeated, and he was afraid what Dan Phantom would do to his little girl and baby boy and what he would do to Sam. He closed his eyes, shoulders drooping. He couldn't protect them just like in his dream. He yelped and opened his eyes as he ran into something. He looked up, eyes widening.
"Box Ghost?" he asked in amazement.
A muscular, bad boy ghost in overalls glared at him. "Beware!" he growled, firing a shot at poor, trapped Danny.
He was thrown into another ghost. "Ember? You look…"
The rock-and-roll ghost was overweight. "Like a failure because your Ghostly Wail killed my vocal chords?" the ghost shouted.
"Um, that's not what I was going to say, but okay." He cried out as she turned the dial on her guitar and strummed it, hitting him with a power chord. ((Hah, power chord…))
It went on like this for some time, and he kept running into old enemies of his now older. Johnny 13 was in a wheelchair, and Spectra now worked as Johnny's shadow. The four of them threw blast after blast at him, hitting him in all directions.
Dan Phantom smirked as he held the packet with the federal plans inside. All he needed to do now was anonymously turn them back in or sell them on the Internet. He swiveled his chair to face his computer, setting the files beside the technological machinery. He looked up, slipping the plans into a drawer as Sam approached him.
"Hey," she said, setting her hands on his shoulders. "I just wanted to tell you that Jazz is here. You should probably come greet her."
"I will in a little bit. I'm almost done."
She glanced toward her drawer. "What are you doing with those plans?"
It was no use keeping secrets from her now, he decided as Hailey, DJ, and Jazz made their way down to the basement. "I'm selling them."
"What?" Sam stepped back. "Danny, you said you would return them!"
"Well, I'm not. I could sell them for a lot more."
Jazz stepped forward, and Sam beckoned the children to her. "Danny, this isn't like you."
"So? Maybe I've changed," Dan Phantom replied. DJ began to cry, and he turned on him. "Shut up!"
DJ's eyes widened, and he whimpered, clinging to Sam as she picked him up. "What is wrong with you?" Sam whispered, tears filling her eyes. Danny never yelled at the children unless they had been extremely bad.
Hailey tugged on her pant leg. "Mommy, that's not—"
"Shut up, little girl. The adults are talking," Dan Phantom interrupted.
"Stop it!" Sam yelled. "Stop yelling at the kids!"
Jazz pushed them all toward the stairs. "Let's get out of here," she whispered.
Danny's eyelids were beginning to droop as he struggled to remain consciousness. "Stop it," he whispered. "Stop." He growled, suddenly finding new strength. "STOP!" His shouting burst forth as a Ghostly Wail, and he gaped as he found his four opponents floating unconscious. The rope around him was broken, and his hair…was black? "What the…" Danny went ghost again, and he was back to normal. "Oh, great. I'm stuck in the future, and I'm going evil too."
He flew on through the swirling green-yellow mist, looking for some type of exit. His parents portal was gone, but he luckily found Vlad's portal hidden behind a giant football. ((Freaky)) He flew through and went human then let out a startled yell as he found himself faced with a very, very old Vlad Masters.
"Vlad?" Danny said. "I would've thought you'd be dead by now."
"Oh, no. Your evil self made certain of that," the man replied.
"How did all of this happen?" Danny looked around. "I would never kill my family and friends."
"It began about five years ago," Vlad said. "You were returning the plans to Mr. Gray, and Samantha, Hailey, Daniel Jr., and Tucker somehow ended up trapped in a boiler room at the library. Your wife contacted you through the Fenton Phones, but when you arrived, it exploded and nearly took your life as well." The old man stood, leaning on a cane as he walked toward the man. "You woke in a hospital, hand-cuffed to the bed. You were being charged with the murder of your family and best friend. Valerie didn't believe you; she was too grief-stricken and shocked. With nowhere else to turn, you came to me. I hid you from the authorities and press, but your pain never ended. Without your dear, sweet Samantha and your precious little children, you were barely hanging on to life. You asked me to end your pain…"
"You've got to have some way you can make this all go away!" Danny yelled. He looked desperate, and Vlad's heart actually went out to the boy. He and Danny could actually relate in a way. "Please, Vlad. I can't live like this anymore," the young man begged, tears slipping from his light blue eyes.
Vlad sighed. "I've tried a few different things, and I may have perhaps perfected the procedure. If you really are desperate—"
"Just do it," he interrupted.
Down in the lab, Vlad leaned over the unconscious Danny Fenton, wearing the Ghost Gauntlets. This wouldn't hurt the young man while he slept. Vlad inserted the clawed gloves into Danny's chest and slowly pulled them out. Danny Phantom floated at the end of them. The ghost opened his eyes and grinned maliciously, tearing himself from the Gauntlets and firing a blast at the old man. He took the gloves and lunged at Vlad, removing Plasmius.
Perhaps he wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but he tried to overshadow Plasmius and ended up absorbing the ghost instead. The pure malice of the older ghost was too much for him, and when he opened his eyes again, they glowed red instead of green. He turned to the table where his human form was just waking. Danny didn't know what to do as he was faced with his ghost side ten times stronger and eviler than it had been. The young man didn't put up too much of a fight as Dan Phantom killed him.
Danny was silent for a moment, mulling over what he'd learned. "So…if these glove things can separate my human and ghost sides, which by the way sounds really disgusting, maybe you could separate me again and get the medallion out of me."
"Or perhaps I would simply use this moment for revenge," the old man replied. "Didn't think of that, did you?"
In the human world, people tried to recover their lost town while Dan Phantom was obviously gone. Some paused as a scream of pain was heard from the old Master's Mansion but did nothing about it.
A/N: I have updated! And I'll be updating again soon, I hope. I'm almost done.