Chapter 6: Airsick

"Oh, no, no. This is bad. What am I going to do?" said Danny as he paced back and forth in the alley, muttering like a madman. "If I can't go ghost, then I can't get revenge and," a thought finally occurred to him, "what if Vlad finds out? … He won't find out. Yeah. I'll just use my brain instead of my fists for once … Ugh, I'm so out of practice."

Danny continued his ranting until he heard a soft chorus of voices. He quickly ducked behind a dumpster in paranoia and listened. Heavy footsteps were soon followed by the figures of Mr. Lancer and Vlad. The teenager started to panic as he watched his godfather. Ugh, that now felt like a nasty word. Thankfully, the older halfa didn't seem to notice him and Danny released a breath he had been holding. Stuck there now, he had nothing better to do but listen.

"So, when are you leaving?" asked Lancer as he readjusted his yellow hat.

"Tomorrow. There's nothing to pack and I think the memories that surround this place might be too painful for Daniel. Plus, in his state of mind, well … I just think it's best."

"Where will Danny be moving too?"

"Wisconsin. I have a castle there."

Lancer merely raised an eyebrow, inquiring, "And it can't wait a few more days?"

Vlad shifted his umbrella to his other hand as if he was biding a moment to think. "Someone of my notoriety might attract unwanted attention in a small town like Amity Park. I don't want the press badgering Daniel quite yet, so it's best for us to leave now. The sooner, the better."

"Moving might be hard on him," continued the English teacher. "Are you sure he can't finish up the school year here at least? Familiar faces might be good for him."

It seemed to take forever for the voices to finally becoming muffled, their wet footsteps disappearing.

Danny sighed deeply and buried his face in his hands. He knew he was going to live with Vlad, but since he had only known for a few minutes it hadn't yet sunk in. Danny was moving away from his home, his hope… and closer to Dan.

No, no! He knew his fate if he gave into sorrow. He couldn't do that. Besides, this future was different. His parents had lived longer than with evil Dan, and Lancer hadn't died. Plus, the demon had never been there. This time around, he had revenge to keep his head on straight.

…

Vlad was becoming frustrated because they still hadn't found Daniel yet, but he was glad to be in Lancer's company. The man had a calming mindset to him. No wonder he was a teacher. In fact, while talking with the educator about Daniel's recent grades, a thought occurred to him: What if there were more of me? Simple multiplication, no?

The billionaire smirked as his invisible ghost clones scattered to help in his search, dripping from of his shadow and into the pavement before reemerged out of Lancer's line of sight.

"Skittles. We should have thought of that sooner," one of his clones whispered before flying down a separate alley.

…

If Danny's ghost powers had been working he might have noticed there were Plasmius clones on the prowl, but since he was now inept he hadn't noticed the replicated Plasmius' running amuck. So, unable to keep still, the teenager was no longer keeping hidden.

Danny slowly got up feeling hatred and sickness in his stomach, but he had to worry about that sick feeling later. Right now he had to worry about his ghost powers. He was powerless and keeping that information from Vlad was his number one priority currently. Who knows what that jerk would do to him if he found out? Chinese water torturing, cement boots, or maybe he would force him to watch every Packer's game ever: marathon style. Any one of those things could be easily done and he'd be powerless to stop it.

In vexation, the teenager slammed his fist into the dumpster and immediately jumped back with a yelp. He forgot he had bruised it earlier.

"Daniel?"

The teenager jumped and ducked behind the dumpster again. He had only gotten two steps! Why was Vlad backtracking?

Quickly peeking around the corner to where Vlad and Lancer had last been, the youth stalled. No one was there. Maybe ... it was an echo or something ... Or he was just going mad. Yeah, he could see that. His luck was terrible enough.

"Daniel, were you hiding from me?" growled a familiar voice as Plasmius' head suddenly popped around the top of the dumpster, peering down on the boy with a sour expression.

The younger halfa stared up at him in shock. Okay, was this madness or real? He thought for a second. He had terrible luck. So, of course, it's the real Plasmius. A fake one wouldn't befit the world's personal grudge against him. Ugh, he didn't even have his ghost breath to warn him in the future. Something Vlad would probably notice.

Danny quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and looked away from the older half-ghost as he tried to collect himself. He didn't need to blurt out he was powerless like an idiot or something.

Plasmius raised a brow at this, "... Are you trying to ignore me, because you might want to rethink your tactics little badger."

The teen continued to stare at the wall, trying to tell himself not to panic. He didn't need powers to deal with Plasmius. He just had to keep a cool head and he would be fine.

Sighing, figuring this was some kind of weird silent treatment, the older halfa tugged Danny out of his hiding place. The ghost waited for a backlash, but Danny just looked up at him, hand still covering his mouth as he sweated bullets.

Brow going higher at the odd behavior, Plasmius decided to fill the awkward silence, "Daniel, why did you go running off into the rain like that? I know I should have brought it up sooner, but is it really such a shock that I'm your godfather? I have been taking care of you this whole time after all."

Danny merely glared at the older man and continued to hold his hand over his mouth. Plasmius just continued trying to keep his cool, his lip twitching in irritation, "Is this some kind of weird silent treatment?"

When Danny didn't answer, the half-ghost rolled his eyes. "Fine, do you want to fight first and then talk after I have defeated you because this silent treatment is doing little for conflict resolution."

The teenager twitched at this and then removed his hand from his mouth, choking, "Or we could not fight."

Plasmius stared at Danny like he grew a second head or something. That was so out of character that he couldn't help but reach forward and try to touch the teen's forehead, "Are you feeling ill, little badger, or is this some weak attempt to make me feel bad about not telling you about my godhood sooner?"

The teenager batted away the hand, nearly shouting, "I'm not sick and you should have told me!"

Glad that the teen was acting normally again, the billionaire chuckled deeply in his throat. The kid still needed a slap in the back of the head for running off like that, but at least he was acting like little badger again.

Clearing his throat, Plasmius spoke calmly, "Daniel, listen. Yes, I should have told you sooner about being your legal guardian, but I was just worried about your reaction. Which, in fairness, I guessed correctly. You overreacted."

Danny growled slightly yet the man continued.

"But I was wrong not to tell you sooner, Daniel. It was unjust of me," ended Plasmius, not an ounce of trickery or lies in his voice. This was only the pure, calm truth.

"Who … who … who are you?" asked Danny as he took a step back, Plasmius' sincerity creeping him out. Yep, this was all madness. He was going insane.

Plasmius rolled his eyes and made a grab for the teenager, "Alright, you had your bout of freedom. Come, its time to go back. Your bandages are probably soaking wet by now."

"No. You never apologize. What are you up to? Did you send the bat-thing? I'm not going anywhere with you," continued Danny as he sidestepped the taller man. This wasn't right. Maybe Vlad was just being nice, but Vlad was never nice. Maybe he was losing it.

The older half-ghost didn't miss a beat though, lashing out with his other arm to pull the teen too him. Danny yelped, but Vlad paid it no mind, "You're rambling now Daniel. We are getting out of the rain now. You look unwell. Clammy at that."

Plasmius pulled the boy against him so that he could cover the teen with his cape. Danny squirmed at first until he noticed that he was indeed shivering. He fought with his pride for a moment before he groggily accepted the shelter. He did feel kind of off.

Trying not to pout, he allowed Plasmius to dry his head slightly with the top of his cape. He was cold and strangely it was nice to have some human contact; even if it was the fruitloop. Jazz had been a hugger, dad was always slapping him on the back or ruffling his hair, and Mom always liked to nuzzle the top of his head. Now ... now he had no one to offer soft niceties.

"Okay, let's go, little badger," said the older half ghost once Danny had stopped shivering so violently.

"What?" complained the teenager, peaking from under the cape, "My feet hurt and it's cold. No way am I going to walk."

Plasmius laughed and said in a surprisingly warm tone, "Daniel, we're flying. Now turn into Danny Phantom and let's get going. I want you out of the rain as soon as possible with your health as it is."

No flying powers. Hmm, I wonder if he'll notice.

Fumbling for something to say, Danny squeaked, "Um … I'm airsick."

Oh, that's priceless. I just as well state I forgot my ghost powers at home.

Plasmius stared at Danny, his brow nearly in his hairline, "Air Sick? What are you talking about? You've never been airsick before in our quarrels. Now turn into Phantom and let's depart. Lancer and the real me will be at the hospital any minute now."

"No," the teenager growled as he took a step back out of the cape-shelter. The older ghost's eyes glowed in irritation and Plasmius merely took a step closer, not put off by the teenager's stubbornness.

"Now," growled Plasmuis as he glared down at the teenager.

Unfortunately, the child merely took another step back, ready to flee as he murmured, "Not going to happen."

Closing his eyes as he pinched his nose bridge, the older half-ghost sighed and decided to try to compromise, "And why in the Sam-Hill not?"

"Uh … I just ate. You know the rule. You can't fly after eating for thirty minutes. So … yeah. Stomach cramps," tried Danny as he took another step back, ready to practice his track and field. He never thought he would be glad to have Dash as a bully. There was always plenty of running.

"You have been missing for over thirty minutes and you barely even ate at the banquet. You just picked at it," groused the man, trying to decide why he cared again. "Give me a real reason, Daniel."

"Okay ... Well …Bye."

And with that, Danny turned and fled in the opposite direction. Sadly, the ground was slippery, causing the young athlete to slip. His burnt arm then slammed into the dumpster causing jets of pain to run up his spine. The teenager quickly dropped onto his knees and barked out in agony, gripping his shoulder tightly as he tried to cut off the feeling. The older half ghost's irritation was gone in a moment as he ran over to the cringing boy, leaning down next to him as he tried to look at the injured arm.

"Daniel, let me see," begged Plasmius as he tried to see what had happened, but Danny only held his arm tighter and whimpered softly.

Only after some insistent probing, Plasmius finally got Danny to stop hugging his arm in a death grip. It didn't look broken since there were no weird angles, but Plasmius pulled the sleeve up regardless which revealed bloody bandages. The burn wound hadn't bled through for a while now. A bad sign he was sure. With a heavy sigh, the billionaire knelt down a little further and tried to pick up Danny up like a child. The teenager merely whimpered something about not being a baby but that didn't stall Plasmius.

It was then, the teenager in his arms, that Vlad noticed something. "Daniel, how long have you had this fever?"

"I don't have a fever. Now put me down you fruitloop-kidnapper," said Danny weakly, but he knew that even if he did break free he'd have to go to the hospital anyway. His arm had gone completely numb. "I'm not a baby."

The billionaire's temper finally broke, the man barking, "Then stop acting like one. Now, hold on."

And with that, Plasmius shot off into the stormy skies.

…

"You let him go out into the rain?" barked Dr. WebKing, galvanized.

Vlad frowned in distaste as he tried to wipe his soaking hair in a towel. "Hardly. He went out into the rain of his own accord. For nearly an hour I have been looking for him. He did this to himself."

Dr. WebKing only huffed in response and returned to his patient. Danny had been stripped of his wet clothing, dried, dressed in an unflattering hospital gown, and put into his warm hospital bed. The good doctor poked and prodded the wounded arm as the nurse quickly unwrapped the wet bandages. A frown slowly penetrated the man's usually gentle face.

"Nurses, see which stitches popped. You, follow me," said the aging man as he exited the room signaling the billionaire to follow.

The soft clapping of the two men's shoes filled the hall as they entered the doctor's office. WebKing quickly poured himself a cup of coffee and then sat down at his desk signaling for Vlad to sit in the opposite chair. Then, after taking a sip of his life-giving liquid, the doctor said, "Listen here, Mr. Masters. I know you had plans, but that boy is not going anywhere, especially not tomorrow."

Vlad frowned heavily at the doctor's words and slowly made up his mind as Dr. WebKing drank his cup of coffee. "The boy's health does come first. So, I suppose, I'll just have to leave without him."

XXX

Paw07: WebKing is the name of a woodshop teacher from my high school days. The man has to be 6/4 or something, but he's still a pushover. ;)

(Revisions November 2019)