Disclaimer: I don't own DP.
Plus I've labeled this chapter RAYOR (Read At Your Own Risk) and rated a solid PG rating.
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Chapter 3: Panic Attack
It was around nine at night and Danny was back in the hospital, recovering from the brutal attack. He was still unconscious, but responding well.
Sam and Tucker, sitting on the chairs provided in the room, just stared at their friend like this.
"I don't know how much more he can take, Tuck. With these attacks and all, I'm afraid he'll get killed," Sam said, glimpsing at her gently clasped hands in her lap.
"I don't know either. By the sound of that dream he told us last night, I think that Phantom's trying to separate from Danny," Tucker concluded. "And these attacks come from no where. Like from thin air. It's the only possible conclusion."
"Good theory…" Sam mused, looking at the ghost boy in front of her.
She got up from her seat and walked over to get a better look of her friend.
Danny's face had gotten noticeably paler, ghost-like in fact. His skin has gotten a bit cooler to the touch. Sam almost thought for a second Danny had died. But 'No, no. Danny can't die. He's strong, he's courageous, he'll get through this. He has to protect his town, his friends and family' rang and rang and rang in her head for what seemed like forever.
"He can't die… He just… can't…" Sam whispered, getting teary-eyed. She laid a hand on the boy's forehead.
It was warm. A small difference, but it was warm. Sam smiled.
Sometimes I wish I could just go inside his head and hear his thoughts… Sam thought, running her hand through his hair. But we can't have everything, can we?
Inside Danny's mind, the portal separating the ghost from the human was just hanging on by a thread.
"Just a few hours more, then I'll be free," Phantom mused, floating in his little confinement chamber where he stayed when he wasn't needed. "Just a few hours more…"
Just then, human Danny appeared on the other side of the portal.
"Why?" he said.
Phantom took notice. He flew over to meet his human counterpart.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Phantom said, innocently.
"Drop the innocent act, Phantom. You know what I said…" Daniel said, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Why, you ask?" the ghost mused, acquiring a sitting position. "Well, it's because of you."
"What do you mean?" Danny said, perking up.
"Oh for the love of Pete, Danny, do I have to spell it out for you? Five words. I. Don't. Need. You. Anymore." Phantom explained. "All this time, I've been ready to separate from my humanity once and for all. Now that chance and opportunity has come… Once, this thing is completely destroyed-" Phantom paused to tap the portal. "-Which will be soon- I will be free from you once and for all."
"What will you do once you're free from me?" Danny asked.
"Since when do I need permission from you, a HUMAN, in fact, to do what I please?" Phantom challenged.
"I want you to NOT be a burden on MY town, Phantom. And don't think for a minute that you'll get away with whatever you're planning, got it? I have my eye on you," Danny said, narrowing his gaze on the ghost.
"Oh, of course, I won't be a burden, Daniel. You have my word. I only exist to help and to serve people who need it…" Phantom said, trying to sound believable.
Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
"You have my word." Phantom mused.
"Good. But if you don't live up to your word, I'll whip you so hard you won't know what hit you…" Danny warned, and then walked away.
"Oh I will…" Phantom said, turning away from the portal with a smirk on his face. "Now it's just a matter of time…"
Back in the real world, Danny slowly but surely came back to his senses. His hearing was the first to come back. He heard the sound of confused and worried voices, the exact words were undecipherable. Next, his sense of feeling. His internal temperature rose to a perfect 98.6 degrees, but this rapidly increasing temperature caused a pins and needles sensation, but it lasted only a few seconds. Next, his sight returned. His eyes fluttered open. His vision was still vague, but his eyes corrected themselves. He stared at the bare, white ceiling for a few minutes as his strength returned gradually. Danny's hearing improved, now he could register the Slurvian-style words.
Danny groaned.
Sam and Tucker took notice and rushed to each side of the bed.
"Danny?" they asked. "Are you ok?"
Danny gave an obvious look.
"Sorry, standard question…" returned Sam.
Danny sat up a small bit and looked at his hands. Then he clenched them and once more reopened them. He raised both arms above his head and stretched them out.
"Wow. I feel a lot better…" Danny said.
"Well, of course you do. You've been asleep for 3 hours," regarded Tucker, returning to his seat. "Anything strange you'd like to share?"
"Only that Phantom is starting to act just like Vlad…" he reported.
"VLAD?" the two friends exclaimed.
"Yep, and then he said he'll be free in a couple of hours. It's kinda making me nervous…" Danny said.
"So Tucker was right… Phantom IS trying to separate from you. I didn't even think that could actually happen!" Sam commented, turning her head slightly towards the brown-skinned individual.
"Huh?" Danny asked.
"I said earlier while you were still asleep a theory of mine… I stated that I think that Phantom's trying to separate from you," Tucker explained. "It was the only possible conclusion."
"Oh…" cooed Danny, sitting back a bit.
Silence befell the room until Tucker took a peek at the clock.
"Whoa! It's almost 10! I'm pushing curfew! See ya, Danny!" Tucker said, running out the door.
Sam took a few steps away from Danny.
"Uh… yeah, I better go too. See you in the morning!" Sam said rather quickly, then followed Tucker's suit.
Danny was alone in the room again. He sighed.
"Oh well, that was interesting…" Danny said.
Danny sighed and lay back in the bed.
"Better get to bed, then…" he sighed.
Then he laid on his side and shut his eyes.
Silence befell the room, the moon full and hanging gracefully in the navy blue sky.
There was peace. Pure, undisturbed peace.
It went on like this till the morning. A brilliant red sun peeked over the mountains in the distance as if playing peek-a-boo with Amity Park. Then the sun rose more and more.
Not soon after the sun stopped playing its game, the rays it radiated reached the room that Danny was in, scaring the shadows that had blanketed the room into hiding.
Danny woke up swiftly and abruptly, like any school day morning.
Danny opened his eyes and groaned.
"Oh well, at least today's Thursday…" he stated.
A nurse poked her head in the door.
"Oh. You're up!" the nurse said, cheerily.
"What? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he questioned.
"Good. You're free to go once you feel you can stand and walk again," stated the nurse and then disappeared from the door.
Danny positioned himself on his back and pushed himself up with his elbows.
But then he was suddenly reduced to the hospital bed.
Razor sharp knife-like pins and needles invaded his skin again, this time only millimeters from the surface of the skin.
Danny felt like he was going to bleed, and if that didn't happen, die.
Danny grimaced and succumbed to the searing pain and agony.
It went on like this for a full 5 minutes then the attack stopped suddenly.
Danny opened his eyes and relaxed.
"Wow…" he said. "That was weird…"
He pushed himself up again, this time without any difficulty.
He jumped off the bed and grabbed his backpack, then set off for school.
It was lunchtime when he arrived, and the cafeteria was filled to the brim with gossiping, laughing, and shouting.
Sam spotted Danny looking bewildered like a freshman on the first day of high school.
She walked up to him and greeted him.
"Hey, feel any better?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, to say the least. I think I can make it through the day," Danny stated.
"That's good… but be on your guard. You'll never know when there's gonna be another attack…" Sam said.
"I'll be fine, Sam," Danny comforted, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder then removed it.
Danny walked off to his locker, leaving Sam. She sighed and returned to her seat.
The day lagged on and on and on as if torturing the students, mercilessly.
Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, hours became an eternity.
Danny was beginning wonder if Clockwork was messing with the clocks.
Finally Danny made it through the day all honky-dory, as did his friends Tucker and Sam.
They departed the school around four in the afternoon. The trio were talking about their days.
"And then Lancer just scolds me because I didn't do my homework! Now I have a century's worth of homework in my backpack…" Danny said.
"Aww…" Sam mused.
Danny and his friends rounded the corner to his home, and clouds gathered as if out of no where and it began to rain.
Sam looked up and took notice.
"Wow, the forecast didn't call for rain until next week…" the goth stated.
The trio ran into Danny's house but on the steps, Danny began to feel strange.
The portal inside had been destroyed.
Phantom, smirking, turned intangible and flew straight through the portal.
At this moment in time, Danny's soul was being divided in half.
Painfully slow. Like a precision laser cutting through live, human skin.
Danny was splitting in half.
His two friends screamed his name, and Danny was clinching onto his heart, writhing on the concrete sidewalk.
"Danny? Danny? Can you hear me? What's happening?" Sam said, gently shaking his shoulders.
Danny screamed in agony, he wanted this pain to stop.
Phantom's head appeared out of Danny's shoulder blades like a science experiment gone horribly wrong.
Danny writhed some more, his skin was burning like fire was dancing upon him, needles were piercing his skin, seemingly secreting poison.
A minute passed, Sam and Tucker were just staring at their friend, crying. There was nothing they could do to help him.
Helpless. Needless. Hopeless.
A minute and a half, Phantom had his whole torso sticking out of his back. Danny let out a ear-piercing scream loud enough for the whole world to hear his pain and suffering.
His skin burning, even bleeding slightly. Long, nice inch needles were slowly piercing his flesh.
Yet, only his friends could hear it. Just two people.
Just. Two.
Coming up on 4 minutes, Phantom was almost free. One inch, two inches…
Danny let out one last scream, carrying enough energy to release his ghost side.
Then, dead silence. Cold, eerie.
Only the patter of the rain was heard.
Danny lay on the concrete, unmoving.
Like a corpse at a crime scene.
Sam ran over to her friend, crying. She picked him up and hugged him.
"Danny? Danny? Can you hear me? Say something! Please?" Sam asked.
Tucker just cried.
"Danny?" he said. "Hello? The box ghost is here. Time to go… Danny?"
Danny didn't respond to any of his friends.
"DANNY!" Sam yelled, hugging him tightly. "No…"
The rain was the only reply she got…
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Poor Danny! cries Curse my fingers! How dare they hurt Danny!
Where did Phantom go? Will Danny survive? Will I stop talking?
Tune in next chappie to find out!