Chapter 4: Ambush and Showdown
Vlad Masters was pleased, to say the least. He snickered as he listened to Sam struggle against the bonds that held her to his lab table. "Don't bother, my dear, not even a ghost can break those bonds, they're charged with ectoplasmic energy. You might as well wait and watch the show when it starts."
"You won't get away with this Vlad…Danny is gonna kick your sorry, lonely guy butt into oblivion and back! You have no idea what you're doing!"
"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing. Haven't you noticed the way Danny tends to act around you? I'm assuming he gave you that blade you tried to cut me with, correct?"
"What if he did? What does that have to do with…" Sam's eyes grew wide.
Vlad smiled evilly, "Exactly, he's so hopelessly in love with you that he, in classic Fenton style, will rush in here in a blind rage, allowing me to ruthlessly defeat and kill him. And you get to watch the whole thing! There is, however, one way you might be able to save him…"
Sam eyed him suspiciously, "What?" Vlad smiled once again and said, "If you want to save the one you love, convince him to join me. He'll listen to you more than anyone else. If you can do this, I'll let you both go and allow you to live out your little romantic fantasies to your heart's content."
Sam glared at him and growled, "You can take your offer and shove it up your…" Vlad got angry at her insolence and slapped her across the face in a flash of rage. "You pathetic little child! You have no right to be mocking my wishes in your position! Very well, if you will not cooperate, then you can watch as your boyfriend is torn apart, molecule by molecule!"
At that moment, Vlad's ghost portal opened and a fat ghost in a pair of overalls emerged. "I AM THE BOX GHOST, MASTER OF ALL THINGS CARDBOARD AND SQUARE, FEAR ME!" Vlad's eyes flashed red and he screamed bloody murder as he chased the ghost around his house. He ran out after the ghost and the lab door slid shut behind him.
Sam struggled but could not free herself. She felt like crying, she was so upset. Not only had her first almost-kiss been interrupted by Vlad, now he was going to lure Danny to his death. She closed her eyes in defeat, when she felt a sudden coolness next to her. The last thing she saw was a pair of glowing green eyes before everything went black…
Vlad returned, with the Box Ghost in hand, and yelled, "For the last time, STAY OUT OF MY HOUSE!" He threw the fat ghost back into the portal and shut it off. He returned his gaze to Sam, who appeared to be unconscious. Her eyes fluttered open again and she said, "You won't get away with this…Danny will come…he's gonna tear you apart…"
Vlad's eyes flashed red again, and he scowled at her. Sam chuckled and said, "Ooooh, the scary eyes…" Before Vlad could register what was happening, Sam's eyes glowed green and two ghost rays shot forth from her eyes, striking Vlad against the far wall. He got up and yelled, "How did you…how could you do that without powers!"
Sam fainted as an extremely angry Danny emerged from her body and appeared right in front of Plasmius. "Vlad, you've pushed this too far…I'll kill you for this." Vlad merely chuckled again and said, "I'd love to see you try, Daniel!" And before Danny's eyes, two black rings appeared around Vlad and when they disappeared, he had transformed into Plasmius, with his red eyes and pale blue skin glowing malevolently. "At arms, Daniel, let's finish this now!"
The fight began with a bang as the two hybrids traded punches. Vlad may have been older but he was certainly no less quick for it. He seemed to laugh as Danny's punches whizzed by him. Eventually, their fight blasted a hole through the wall and they both flew outside to continue.
Danny fired everything he had in his ghostly body, but couldn't seem to hit Plasmius at all. Vlad fired one well placed ghost ray and nailed Danny in the back, knocking him from the sky and into the ground. Vlad floated down to meet him and scoffed. "You are such a fool…as long as you fight with your emotions instead of your head, there is no way you can defeat me, Daniel! Face it; we know who the better man is here!"
Danny got back to his feet and practically growled at Vlad, "I am far from done, Plasmius…if you're such a tough guy, then come at me! Give me your best shot!" Vlad obliged and howled in rage as he let forth a barrage of ghostly beams. Danny rapidly whipped out his Fenton Light Blade and proceeded to swipe wildly, deflecting the shots into the nearby trees. He held the blade at level with Plasmius and said, "Now it's my turn…"
Danny kept his gaze keen and his head clam as he blasted towards the old ghost. As much as he hated Vlad, he knew that he had to keep calm or he would lose for sure. He swung at Vlad quickly and the old man barely managed to duck. Vlad went intangible as Danny came down with a slice.
Vlad let a fist fly but it hit air as Danny disappeared. "Show yourself, Daniel! I want to relish in my victory! I WANT TO SEE THE LIGHT LEAVE YOUR EYES FOREVER!" He jumped at a loud yell from above and Danny brought the tip of his blade right across Plasmius' chest. Vlad howled in pain and Danny took his chance.
Vlad barely had time to react as Danny flew by him in sweeping cuts, progressively getting faster and harder to predict. When he had finished, Vlad floated to the ground, cuts all over his arms and legs, with a couple nasty ones on his face and chest.
Danny floated down himself and shouted, "Now look who's the weakling. You have some gall to be able to kidnap Sam and not think you'd be punished for it. Just because you missed out on your chance at my mother, it does not give you the right to take away my chance with Sam! You're a filthy, putrid, lonely, disgusting ghost that passed his prime years ago. You can't beat me Vlad, and deep down, you know it!"
Plasmius began to glow malevolently with magenta energy. Danny made to lunge again, but Plasmius caught the hand with the sword, wrenched the weapon from Danny, and broke it in his bare hands. He threw Danny back and just as the dazed teen arose, Vlad unleashed his final fury.
Streams of purple lightning flew from Vlad's fingers and smote Danny where he sat. The young halfa shrieked in pain and Vlad merely roared and grunted in anger. When Vlad gave him a break, he shouted, "I AM TEN TIMES THE GHOST YOU WILL EVER BE! NOW BE A GOOD BOY AND DIE!" Vlad continued his onslaught and Danny's voice eventually stopped shrieking from pain…
Sam sat in the corner of the secret lab, crying like a lost child. She could hear every scream Danny let out, and it killed her to think what Vlad could do to him. "Danny…this is all my fault! If I was just quicker with that light blade we'd still be at prom! Please, Danny don't give up…I need to help him, but how!"
Sam jumped form the corner of the room and tripped over something. As she turned around where she lay, she noticed a discarded jumpsuit. It was predominately white with purple gloves and boots, much like Danny's was before the got his powers from the portal…THE PORTAL!
Sam suddenly was struck with a crazy idea. If she could set Vlad's portal to those same settings…it was a long shot, the process could just as easily kill her…but she didn't have time to reconsider. She put on the jumpsuit over her gown, and opened the doors to Vlad's portal. She adjusted the panel next to it as if by memory, and stepped inside.
She zipped up her suit completely, and then looked down at herself. In a random moment, she tore away the midriff so her stomach lay exposed. "If this works, then I'll still keep my style…" She pressed the small green button and braced herself. Energy from the ghost zone penetrated her skin, fusing with her DNA. She let forth an unearthly shriek as the energy subsided and the smoke cleared away…
Vlad had finally ended his assault of lightning and merely glared as Danny struggled to stand again. "You see, my boy. In the end, it's age before beauty. And now you're time has come. Say farewell to this world, DANNY PHANTOM!"
He released one giant ghostly ray from his hands. Danny sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for the force that would remove him from existence…but it never came.
Instead, he felt something whiz past him and collide with Vlad. He opened his eyes and saw that Vlad lay unconscious on the ground, with a mysterious figure floating above him…
Danny gasped as the figure turned. Her white hair seemed to sparkle, along with the one streak of pale purple along the side. She wore a jumpsuit much like his, only purple, with the midriff seemingly torn away. Danny's eyes finally met hers and he understood…
Sam floated down to him and transformed back to her old self. She took Danny into her arms and tried to force back her tears as she said, "Look at you…you're a mess…Danny, this is all my fault…" Danny put a finger to her lips and, much to their surprise, rose to his feet with her. "Sam…you gave yourself ghost powers to save me. None of this is your fault…"
Sam nodded and said, "Danny, I need to do this before he wakes up, just so I don't lose my chance again." Before he could ask, she pulled herself towards him and kissed him deeply. He happily returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist. After they both needed air, they broke apart and Sam softly said, "I love you Danny." Danny smiled weakly and responded, "I love you too Sam…"
They turned in time to see Vlad finally wake up. Sam transformed again and glared daggers at the old man. Vlad stared at the two and finally sputtered, "That's… impossible! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!" Sam opted to not respond and quickly returned to beating the hell out of Vlad. For a first timer, she seemed to have power equal to Danny's and just as much speed too. Vlad grabbed her by the neck, but she countered with a sharp blast of ectoplasmic energy from her eyes. She grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the ground with surprising strength, burying him with ghostly rays.
By the time she was done, Vlad stood dazed, confused, and hurt. Danny took his chance and as he approached, his hand shot out and a long green blade of ectoplasmic energy grew from it. Danny stood with the new sword and muttered, "See you in hell, Plasmius…" He plunged the blade into Plasmius' chest, but instead of killing the man outright, it merely dragged the ghost half from his body and left him tired, confused, and hurt. The ghost Vlad yelled in anger and made to charge, but didn't get far.
Danny turned quickly and let forth the most impressive ghostly wail anybody had ever heard. It seemed to warp reality around it and the ghost known as Plasmius disappeared in the blast, shrieking like a banshee as it faded away.
Danny finally stopped wailing, and as he transformed back to his human form, his fatigue finally caught him and he fell as everything went black…