Chapter Four - Transform
After this conundrum the young halfa became reclusive even straying away from the billionaire he was attempting to build a relationship with. Why did Sam have to bring up who did he want as his own? The teachers were now watching him closely but with a tense anger at him for not keeping his mouth shut about the abuse— Vlad had pulled his funding till the school pulled their shit together. But still Danny attempted to hold his head high just as Vlad told him to but each day it got harder. The billionaire couldn't protect him the whole time and this became evident when the administrators started to turn a blind eye to the bullying and jocks again. Apparently the school was getting by just fine without Masters' money but not for long. The halfa could feel the darth and perverted stares upon him as he walked down the hall to his locker but true to Vlad's decree no one had messed with him yet just the other geeks and nerds. The jocks were crueler in their attacks and acts as if they hadn't been laid in months. Even Tucker caught a bit of the abuse that was truly meant for him but for Danny... Today was the last straw. It was a calm morning for that most part but when he was about to start for his locker, he saw it... Daddy had his step brother in a vice grip bending his arm to unfathomable angles and grinding his face into the lockers. Tucker bit back his screams but the pain was evident upon his face as sweat dripped down with perverse abandon. What made it worse was the fact Danny could subtlety see the jock grinding against his friend and taking pleasure in the pain he was causing. The monster had grown impatient and needed release but his favorite piece of arse was under protection from a powerful man, oh well... Go for the next best thing.
"You like that, Foley? "
"G-get off me, D-dash!"
"What's that NERD?! " The monster sneered. "You want more? " SHOVE! Dash fell to the floor with shock and anger but dared a glance at his assailant... Danny who was holding Tucker with care and worry, if only he had acted sooner, why was he such a coward? He could've stopped Dash but his fear was too much and now his friend had paid the price.
"You okay? " Danny asked while subtly using his ice powers to check for injuries.
"A little sore but I'ma be aight. " Tucker replied while rubbing his arm. "Thanks for saving my ASS, b. " Danny slowly started to creep away while pulling Tucker up with him, his eyes filled with fear. Dash was slowly getting up and emerging upon them, his eyes filled with rage and sadistic glee. Danny turned to Tucker and whispered.
"When I let go... " Danny inched away from Tucker. "Run. " The halfa jumped and clotheslined the rising jock. Which instantly put him in Dash's sights. Tucker ran to get Sam so they could help but all in all. Danny was on his own, he ran like Death was finally at his heels, ducking and dodging any and all obstacles to try and evade... THAT. Dash was fuming with not only rage but murderous intent. Fenton had finally broke, how dare he lay hands on him. But now he had the perfect excuse to get at the beautiful geek and try some new things on him. Things that'll have him screaming...
Danny had been running for about the entirety of the whole lunch period, thirty minutes to be exact. If he made it out this alive, Lancer was going to have his ASS regardless. He was in the boiler room hiding, he peeked out the door and saw Dash on the prowl for him. He looked deranged and even more so another emotion was peeking through . He looked in the lockers knowing the boy could morph into impossible shapes to fit, but then as if he felt Danny's ectoaura... He headed straight for the boiler room. Luckily Danny had sipped into the shadows just in time but his fear was stagnant in the air. The jock smirked darkly when he smelled Danny's subtle cologne in the midst.
"I got your number, Fenton. " He seethed. "... Think you can Sucker punch me and ~!" He hit a pipe putting a dent in it for emphasis. "GET AWAY WITH IT! Oooohhh~! You done did it now, baby... " Danny crept along the shadows remembering there was a set of stairs that ran to the old catacombs up under the school. If he could reach them then he'd just go ghost and be home free. His only logical thoughts summed up into one:
"Find VLAD. Find PLASMIUS. He can help or at the least find your parents!" He had just made it to the corridor with the stairs when... Dink!
"Hello, sweetness... " Dash lifted him by his neck and shoved him against the wall. Danny's spine was lit with agony as he grinded into the pipes. The mongrel's hand squeezed the halfa's neck so hard he had to let some of his ghostly energy seep in to keep him conscious.
"I been waiting for this! " Dash's hand went for Danny's belt but the halfa fought so the heinous jock caught his hands and... KISSED HIM! HE KISSED THE BOY! Danny's eyes went wide with horror when he figured out what was going to happen. Why was Dash doing this?! Why was this happening to him, this was the breaking point! Something had to be done! He was tired of being treated like dirt for the pleasure of the others and this was as low as it got. It was wrong, the jock was going take his purity and toss him away like trash. He was fed up with this abuse but he couldn't risk his secret for it so... He bit him. Dash freed his bottom lip from the young ghost and tried to put a hand in his pants but Danny fought. HARD! He managed to get his pants down but when Dash went for his belt that's when it happened.
"NO! " DANNY'S SCREAM TURNED INTO HIS WAIL AND BECAME LACED WITH ICE! It blasted Dash back into the opposite wall but Danny DIDN'T STOP! HE SCREAMED SO LOUDLY THAT EVERYTHING AROUND THEM RATTLED WITH RECKLESS ABANDON. He craddled his head and kept it up, frost rose around him and froze over everything like a tsunami. When ice started to crawl up his arm, Dash's eyes snapped open, he moved to stop Danny but when the boy saw him moving towards him again. The blast got more powerful and this time Dash WENT Through the wall... This was bad.
Sam and Tucker had been searching for Danny for a full hour even skipping their classes to try and find him. They had searched the library, cafeteria, empty classes but no dice. That is till the tremors hit from the west side of the school. Tucker gave Sam a worrying glance.
"You feel lat? "
"Bet money that was Danny. "
"Double it up, he's in trouble. " They ran hard towards the source and soon they could hear his wretched wails along with seeing the outright damage it was creating, the whole school was shaking at this point. And at this time, teachers were setting up students for the earthquake drill but everyone grew chills from the horrendous screaming that accompanied the quake plus frost was slowly creeping up to the surface. Students had no choice but to huddle in the middle of halls to avoid it. BUT WHERE WAS IT COMING FROM?! Tucker was shoved down but he managed to give Sam a look that yelled "GO!" The geek then dialed the last number he thought he'd ever dial in his life...
"FOLEY! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! "
Vlad was in his office looking over some documents but he couldn't take his mind off Danny. The boy had been~ distant as of late, he was still sweet and charming but he had been slowly pushing the billionaire away. What was up, it was as if when Vlad sent him back to that hellhole, someone got into his head. That hypocritical Goth no doubt, girl did have a bad habit of sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Probably turn the boy back to his old ways in a sense. He was about to pack it up for the day when the local news turned on. It was a scene with Casper High only... A good chunk of the building was covered in ice and cracks where popping up left and right and what's worse... All of it was accompanied by a scream of sheer death, Daniel. Vlad tensed up as his decree to the school came back to him, something had to have happened. Then his phone rang right when he was dashing out the door, the name read "Daniel's Friend #2."
"FOLEY ! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"
"It's Danny, man! Dash chased him into the boiler room! DANNY'S DONE SNAPPED!" The boy ranted frantically. "ICE CREEPIN UP THE WALLS AND SHIT! HE GOING CRAZY! "
"I'm on my way. "
He arrived in the nick of time but it was still a horror show. Police and fire fighters were trying to find a way to the transverse the terrain but we're having no luck, the Fenton's were trying to break the ice barrier but it kept swallowing their weapons while silently in the skies the GHOSTS! Were actually attempting to help but only because the wail had penetrated the supernatural barrier and was wrecking the GZ, along with the ice. All of a sudden a voice popped into his head, Dante's Mirror.
"IT HAS BEGUN. THE TRANSFORMATION HAS BEGUN! FIND HIM! " Vlad didn't need to be told twice but first he had to find a way to get the other students out safe and sound. He coordinated with the police to get a way in for the fire fighters, he had the Fenton's on blockade duty as in "WHATEVER YOU DO! DON'T LET THE ICE REACH THE STREETS! " While he made the ghosts head towards the east side to get inside and FIND DANNY! It took a minute but Skulker had apparently found him by finding the source of the ice on the west wing of the school. There were some students trapped and on the verge of dying. It took Vlad a minute but he got to the children, they were shaking horribly as were their auras, resisting the pull off Death, HE HAD TO STOP THIS NOW! He breathed out a warm heat so as to pull the children back from Death's door. They instantly got up and he directed them towards the fire fighters waiting near the end. But before they jetted he asked who was missing.
"Danny Fenton and Dash Baxter are the only ones unaccounted for! " Lancer squealed before running out. As soon as no one was in range, he transformed into his alter ego then dove into the boiler room... Just as expected, Daniel was crying and screaming, his pants near his ankles while his assailant lay covered in crippling ice. Vlad's eyes glowed with hatred at the blond for what he'd done! He wanted to wrangled what little life-force he had left in him for committing a crime so heinous! Upon HIS Daniel, no less! But now was not the time for murderous imagination, as of now he had to get that disgusting human out there and stop Daniel from ripping Amity a new one with his screams. He duplicated and instructed it to throw Dash to the humans as in literally throw. Vlad then turned back into a human and stalked towards the boy; the ice was shifting and moving as if they were guardian snakes waiting to strike if the man brought harm to the crippled and overpowered halfa.
"His body cannot handle the emotional rip. " The mirror advised in his mind. "You must try to console him now or your goals will fail you. " He immediately listened and when he got close, he gasped... His Badger's eyes shone like fractured diamonds.
Why? Why was everyone out to hurt him? All he wanted was what everyone had: love, acceptance. That wasn't much too much to ask for right? Wrong! He had to fight to live and only lived to pleasure others by being their doormat. What was he doing still being alive?! He should've died in that damn portal but NO! Now he was a freak! Cursed to live between two realms and neither wanted him. So all he could do was scream. Scream till his passion was felt throughout both realms. Scream till all his oppressors had chills in every inch of their bodies. Scream till their descendants in the yonder years to come would have it chiselled into their dreams. Plus cry, this maybe the only time he'd been allowed to cry, he was forced often to hold back his tears. His cries for help went ignored plenty and when or if someone paid attention, they'd beat him for his pain whether on purpose or by accident. So... Scream.
Vlad was weak from the vibrations Of the wail but pressed till he was able to grab Danny's shoulder. The wail turn softer but was still a pain upon his body as it was wracked without mercy.
"DANIEL! " He begged. "DANIEL PLEASE! YOU'VE GOT TO SNAP OUT OF IT! PLEASE! ANSWER ME! " He narrowly missed the ice trying to snap at him only to hold Daniel tight against with him. Vlad cringed with pain as the cold of the boy's emotions wracked his body along with the wail. This child was broken, he shattered from years of abuse. "WAKE UP! FOR LOVE OF GOD, SNAP OUT OF IT! " The boy only screamed louder than before as he feared punishment as if his unearthly and unholy screeches were the only thing between life and death. Vlad was running out of options and the only thing he knew Daniel would respond to was what got them into this situation... Pain.
The school had been obliterated but nonetheless everyone stayed and waited because two people were missing out the whole ordeal... Daniel James Fenton and Vladimir Polchavich Masters. It had dawned on everyone who the two were really in truth and regretted everything they'd done unto the poor boy. This was his vengeance, his opus, his retaliation for the years of torment he had suffered from the hands of his peers and fellow townsfolk... They shattered a diamond, and in return... Were about to be turned crushed like glass...
"Forgive me, Daniel..." ... SMACK!... A crisp slap to the future face of cruelty. Giving more anguish to an already damaged soul. That's what Vlad had done, he had slapped his ward. The wail was cut off and they were left alone with nothing but the silence for company. He had betrayed him again; the boy he wanted to spend eternities with cupped his cheek where he had been slapped and to be honest it turned a sheer and striking red. Danny's head whipped to face the billionaire only instead of a soft baby blue or at the most a fierce and angered neon green... His eyes were a diamond storm of emotions as he analyzed the area only... His face showed no emotion, his eyes were glowing a bright diamond but they held no real emotion in them. The ice flared around them which Vlad took as sign to back away with fear. Then finally Daniel spoke.
"Do you know what true pain is, Vlad? "
"Daniel let's not get drastic now... "
"ANSWER ME. " The boys voice had taken a turn, it echoed with a hardened coldness and divine authority.
"Despite my origins... No. " That was all Danny needed to hear. BEFORE HE WRAPPED HIS HAND AROUND PLASMIUS' THROAT! The boys hands burned Vlad with the cold. It crept up his throat and burned with a cold aggressence.
"This town betrayed my loyalty, my parents betrayed my trust and you... " The boy them let loose a bone chilling sinister laugh. "YOU BETRAYED MY LOVE! " he then proceeded to throw the man through the nearby wall.
It was silent, as everyone mourned the two lost half-ghosts. Even the other ghouls were trepidatious add they awaited any movement from the rubble of the school. Skulker and Tucker scanned the lands for about twenty minutes till they were ready to declare it all a lost cause... CRACK! Everyone looked to the skies only to find the vampire tossed 20 stories plus into the air then BEAT AROUND LIKE A RAG DOLL BY A BLACK AND BLUE BLUR! The blur stopped but his presence was accompanied by the darkening sky and the so much storm brewing within. Plasmius crashed back into the ground creating a nice sized crater. His ghostly uniform was in tatters while he was covered in all manner of bruises and scratches; this lead everyone to look to the skies only to feel the true definition of terror race down their spines... Danny Phantom was pissed.
Everyone scattered but knew with the look he casted at them, there was no hope against Phantom... He was enraged plus he looked more deadly than usual. Jack and Maddie pulled their weapons and fired but all he did was wave their fruitless blasts away like they were no more than mere nuisances.
"Get out of my sight, you pathetic excuses of rhinestones. " He seethed, Danny then blasted then with pure and raw ice core power as he set his sights back on his main target... Plasmius. He Superman stomped him and planted a boot on his chest. "How does it feel to be beneath my feet?" Vlad's eyes opened and he released a fierce growl.
"Honestly... It feels like SHIT. " He then blasted the boy when his pride started to swell up. Phantom felt up his chest checking for damage only to find he was unharmed.
"Lousy cheap shot from a pitiful old man. " He then froze over the bottom half of his face and then it was on.
The boy had turned savage and was thoroughly giving Plasmius the business. They were in the midst of their battle but it was clear Danny had the upper hand. He had frozen over his right hand turning it into a deathly claw upon which he shredded the vampire to a mere seven inches of his life. Plasmius dodged as best he could but it was pointless, the boy was butchering him like a fresh Thanksgiving turkey. Danny would blast him then send ice shards his way, Vlad was slaughtered like no other. The villainous vamp did get a few hits in with a few well timed blasts and shots at the boy but it was hopeless. He'd looked to find that Danny had simply yawned and got back on his tail. The fight was waged all over Amity, destruction rained down upon the poor town as the two went at it but finally it came down to this:
" WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, DANIEL?! "
"Honestly... I have no idea but I like it... " The teen countered. They floated like that for a hot minute taking a breather from all the damage they were causing. Plasmius was losing steam fast, he was hurt dreadfully and his ghostly healing was barely able to keep up with the damage being inflicted upon him. What was up with the once innocent ghoul? Vlad could see his ectoaura had changed as well it was bright and fierce like - like... A god's.
"So this is what the mirror meant?"
"What are you babbling about old man? " The boy seethed as he twirled; several ice swords had been crafted around him.
"I was warned about you... " He ranted. "By Dante's Mirror. It claimed you'd become a force to be reckoned with and to earn your trust. Seems I messed that up, I suppose. " In a flash Danny was in front of him and he DID NOT look happy — obviously.
"To think I actually loved you... " To this... Vlad was flung.
Maddie and Jack may have been scorned by the Phantom but the huntress be darned if they didn't get one last go in with him. It was hard to move due to the emerging storm and and the rubble but that did little to deter her motivation. For three years she had been arguing about the true evil that was Danny Phantom but she wasn't expecting this. She had set up a good dozen meters away from the fight looking for the perfect sniper nest. Seventy- three exact seconds was all she needed, the bait was already in place, Phantom was just levitating there. Wait were those... Tears? Her scope wasn't lying there were tears streaming down his face but he held no emotion, what the hell did the Wisconsin Ghost say to him? There was only way to end this before he turned Amity into a frozen crater... The Exodium Shot. Three-two-one... BLAST!
Vlad laid in the crater, thinking back on all his bad life choices and so far... None compared to this one. He had broken a soul, a pure and kind soul, who was actually willing to give him the one thing he craves more than power. The very thing that caused this whole disaster, a broken soul is basically a dead body so in truth he killed someone and that someone levitated before him... Contemplating his next move, should he tortured the corrupt billionaire or blast him to ashes... The choices seemed endless. All of a sudden blue aura spheres started to appear around the teen, his tears had stopped but his eyes took on a brighter diamond blue as his true power manifested...
"Goodbye... MY LOVE! " He screamed and the sky rained down and just when it was about to make contact.
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAANNY, STOOOOOOOOOOOOPP! "
One move... One simple miscalculated move... And all hell broke loose. Jasmine Fenton lay in the debris and aftermath of the most volatile fight between two certain arch enemies to date. Her eyes were closed in a peaceful manner but the true source of her blissful sleep was the mis-aimed ice blast that had struck her right temple... All of time stood still for this exact moment... As Danny Phantom... SNAPPED.
His sanity and heart were shattered by the cold of his infinite ice core as he let loose a devastating ghostly wail that had the power of true ice behind it. It blasted back all and froze everything it came in contact with as the Ghost-child shed his forever held back tears at having hurt a loved one. Vlad was astonished and appalled by the power the child held and how deeply he cared for his family. The boy's body glowed a sheer electric blue as his true powers were unleashed, the sky turned a dissimal grey as it cracked with thunder and lightening to accommodate such harsh and cruel conditions. He screamed till his vocals were SHOT, mourning his sister whom he thought he hurt beyond repair but by then... Amity Park was drowned in ice... Danny Phantom had disappeared.
