After work, Danny got in his car and drove back to his and Sam's apartment. He still drove the same car as in high school, and it was just as tricked out with anti-ghost weapons as ever. However, the ride home was ghost free, so he didn't have to use any of the cool weaponry. When he entered the apartment, he found Sam sitting on the couch, channel surfing. He jumped onto the sofa and snuggled up next to her.
"How was your day?" he asked.
"You know, the usual. Yours?"
"I had one incident in the morning."
"A ghost attacked the shield last night? Which one?"
"Actually, it was three. Plasmius three vultures all collided with the shield and were perched in a tree near the building."
"How did you get rid of them?"
"I made a small ghost shield and cast it through the tree so that it repelled the ghosts. It was pretty easy to get them into the thermos after that."
"I don't understand why Plasmius would send his goons into Axion Labs. Even if he couldn't just teleport into the building, he owns the company. He could just waltz right in if he feels like it."
"Damien said the same thing, and I told him that Vlad wouldn't teleport in because he just doesn't like doing grunt work-he feels that it's beneath him. The only problem that I see with him visiting as Vlad Masters is that his arrival would attract publicity, not to mention my attention, and he might want to keep his actions below the radar for now."
"We'll have to watch out for that. Anything else happen of consequence?"
"Yeah, they're working on a new type of solar panel that's supposed to be ten times as efficient as the current model; they already shipped a prototype to NASA and they're going to attach it to the International Space Station, but the brass say that we're going to make a real killing when it becomes available to the public."
"Great, we won't have to rely so much on fossil fuels. I'm glad that the company is doing something that's good for the earth for once."
"You're such an environmentalist, Sammykins," he said as he nuzzled her neck. "Oh, by the way, I led a tour of Casper High freshmen this afternoon, and you'll never guess who was chaperoning for them."
"Who was it?"
"Lancer."
"Really? How's he doing nowadays?"
"He looks pretty much the same. Actually, his goatee has some gray in it, but besides for that he's the same out-of-shape teacher that he was when we were his students."
"Danny, we were his students only five or six years ago."
"Yeah, but all the trouble we caused kept him on his toes. These new guys are making it too easy for him to grow fat and old."
"Trouble? We never caused any trouble in high school." Danny's eyebrow kicked up.
"Changing the menu? Setting the frogs free?"
"Hey, I just wanted to make our school more earth-friendly," she said as she playfully hit him on the arm. "Anything else new?"
"Well, we do know that he can still do a cartwheel."
"What? He hasn't done that since he found out that we were together. Not to our knowledge, anyway. Did he win a bet again?"
"It's like you're reading my mind."
"Oh no…"
"What?"
"Did he bet Tetzlaff another five hundred dollars that we would get pregnant?"
"Yep."
"And you told him today and he was so happy that he cartwheeled out of the lab?"
"Yep."
"And are you totally clueless for repressing your feelings for me for so long that people started betting on us in the first place?"
"Yep-hey!"
"Looks like you need someone to keep you on your toes."
"That's why I have you, Sammy."
"Don't call me that, Danny. You know I hate the pet names my parents made up for me."
"What's wrong, Sammy?"
"Danny!" Danny noticed a blush creeping up her neck and saw an opportunity present itself, one that he planned to take full advantage of.
"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy…"
"Danny, if you call me that one more time, I swear I'll-"
"You'll what, Sammy?" She poked him in the stomach.
"Ouch, Sammy, that hurt," he said in mock pain. She just poked him again.
"Okay, Sammy, but you do realize that this means war." A mischievous gleam appeared in his eyes.
"Oh, no."
"Oh, yes, Sammy."
"Danny, for the last time don't call me Sam-" but she was cut off by Danny tickling her mercilessly. She tried to squirm away but he was too strong for her. Laughing uncontrollably, she rolled around on the couch and eventually knocked the two of them onto the floor. She landed on her back, and he came down on top of her with his face an inch from her own. Sam looked into his eyes and noticed that all traces of the childish mischief had been replaced by pure love and not a little desire. He leaned in and kissed her passionately, and she returned the kiss with fervor. Outside of the building, a powerful ghost floated next to the window and watched Danny wrap his arms around Sam. Plasmius disappeared in a flash of pink. His vision was filled with a pink and black spiral that spun into eternity for a minute (like those hypnosis spinners), and then changed to green and gold as he materialized in the foyer of his Wisconsin mansion.
"It's time for me to find my own princess. And I have just the spirit in mind." He phased downwards into his lab, and shot forward through the Fenton Portal. Plasmius continued in his current direction until he passed a purple door that was embossed with the symbol of a knight, at which point he hung a right. He stopped in front of a huge green door that was emblazoned with the head of a monstrous dragon. He shot a pink ghost ray at the handle of the door, which caused it to creak open. Plasmius looked down at the scene unfolding before him-it was a ghostly replica of a medieval kingdom, with a castle surrounded by small houses and farms, with ghost serfs tending to the fields and lakes. He landed next to an odd rock formation. It looked as though it had once been twin arches made of stone shaped like a spinal cord, each of which ended in the skeletal head of a dragon. However, one of the arches was broken; the dragon head lay on the ground below the arch. Plasmius walked down the path that lead to the castle that lay in the center of the serfdom. This, too, was decorated with a coat of arms that looked like two dragons whose fire blasts formed an X. Suddenly, he was accosted by two ghosts that guarded the castle. Both were wearing traditional medieval garb, one wearing a red hooded tunic and the other a tunic of blue. The red-hooded ghost carried a bow and a quiver of arrows. The ghost in blue wielded a massive battle axe.
"Oh, please." Plasmius scoffed. He made a single duplicate of himself, at the two identical halfas vanished. Each reappeared behind one of the guardian ghosts. They used energy attacks to force the ghosts close to each other, then each summoned half of a sphere that was composed of pink energy. The halves enveloped the two ghosts and fused, thus trapping the assailants in a pink sphere. The axe-wielding ghost slammed his blade into the sphere. Instead of slicing open, as was expected, the sphere delivered a massive electric shock to both of its prisoners. The two ghosts passed out, and the sphere disappeared and allowed them to fall to the ground unconscious. The minute they hit the ground, the large wooden door slowly opened. That was almost too easy, Plasmius thought.
The half-ghost entered the castle and immediately flew towards the throne room. The room was enormous. The floor was a massive emerald that was carved to look like the eye of a dragon. The stone circumference of the semi-circular room was decorated with canvas paintings of two dragons, one purple and the other blue. The dragons were depicted in various fighting positions, sometimes with each other and other times with invisible foes. The only flat plane in the room (besides the obvious floor) lay behind twin thrones. This side was decorated from floor to ceiling with a stained-glass picture. It showed the purple dragon, sitting on all four legs and breathing fire to the left, and the blue dragon in the mirror image of that position to the right. The twin tongues of flame coalesced into the coat of arms that had been on the door to the castle. Sitting on mahogany thrones decorated with colored cushions were two ghosts. On the throne to the left, directly in front of the purple dragon, a prince sat on purple cushions. To his right, in front of the blue dragon, sat his sister, a princess, upon cushions of blue. The two monarchs wore amulets identical to the emerald on the floor, except on a much smaller scale.
"I am Prince Eragon," the prince said.
"And I am Princess Saphira," the princess echoed.
"What brings you to our realm?" the two asked simultaneously.
"My name is lord Vlad Plasmius," the hybrid said. "I have come to this part of the Ghost Zone for one reason and one reason only." He turned his attention to the princess. "I have come to ask your hand in marriage, fair princess."
"Many have come seeking my hand, and many have been turned away. You may marry me, if you can pass my challenge," she replied.
"Very well, what is your challenge, my dear."
"You must defeat me in battle," she said, her amulet glowing green.
Brownie Points for anyone who can guess where I got the name for the princess.
SAVE DANNY PHANTOM!