Chapter 3: Nightmares and Predators

Hey guys! It's been awhile since I've updated this story. Figured it was about time to write another. Like the previous chapter, there will be some minor changes to the original episode. I do not own Danny Phantom. R&R and Enjoy!

***In Paulina's Dream***

There was an open field, full of wild flowers and lush, soft grass. The sky was a brilliant blue with a few white clouds drifting about. Through the field ran a small rock wall, about three feet tall. Near this wall stood a single oak tree, standing tall and its branches spread wide. And under this tree, we find our dreamer.

Under the shade of the tree is a checkered picnic blanket. Near the trunk of the tree was a wicker basket with the remains of their lunch. Next to the basket is a pile of clothes. Finally, we turn to Paulina. She is lying naked on the blanket, her luscious black hair fanning out like a river delta. A thin layer of sweat coats her body, giving the illusion that she is glowing from the sunlight.

She is making beautiful and passionate love to her crush turned possible boyfriend, Danny Fenton. He was currently positioned above her, his head buried in her bosom while his hips slowly moved back and forth, pushing his cock in and out of her velvety folds.

"Yes, Danny! Yes!" Paulina cooed, wrapping her legs around his waist to draw him in deeper while she lifted his head from between her breasts.

"I love you, Danny." She said, tears of joy preparing to fall from her eyes.

"And I love you, Paulina." Danny replied before he leaned down to kiss her.

The Latina girl closed her eyes and waited for his kiss.

And waited.

And waited.

Opening her eyes, she saw, to her dismay, that Danny had disappeared. No longer was she being pleasured by Danny. No longer was she lying on a blanket. No longer was she looking up at the bright, blue sky.

Now she was alone, lying on cold, damp cement, and the only thing above her head was a dark ceiling.

"GOD DAMNIT!" Paulina exclaimed.

She had be SOOO close to kissing Danny before finishing off her wonderful dream with a dramatic yet satisfying orgasm. But NOOO! Her mind somehow conjured up this dingy hallway she was currently lying in.

"Maybe if I just concentrate hard enough, I can get back to my fantasy." She said to herself.

She tried just that but her efforts were futile.

"Great." She grumbled. "Now I have to wait here until I wake up."

Checking her surroundings, she noticed two things. The first that she was in a hallway. The second was that both ends of the hallway seemed to lead to a dark and dingy basement area, almost like...

"You've got to be kidding." Paulina said in an exasperated tone of voice. "I go from having amazing dream sex with Danny to having a nightmare about Trinity of Doom?"

As if to emphasize this point, the Latina girl heard the eerie scratching of Nightmerica's claws on metal pipes.

"Come out, come out!" The burned child molester called.

"Nope." Paulina said. She sat up and put her back against the wall. "I've seen all the Bad Dreams on Oak Drive movies. Every time someone walks towards the voice or tries to run away, they get stabbed or killed in some other campy way like in the sequels. I'm just gonna sit right here and wait to wake up."

Yet despite her sound logic, there was still a hint of fear within the girl. This fear only grew as the burnt bitch's voice drew closer and closer.

Hush little baby,

Don't say a word.

*SCREEECH*

"This is just a dream." Paulina told herself. "She can't hurt me."

Nightmerica will make sure

You can't be heard.

*SCREEECH*

The girl shivered as the voice and the scratching of metal on metal drew closer and closer. She tried pinching herself to wake up but it didn't work.

And if you try to

run away,

*SCREEECH*

"Come on! Wake up!" Paulina said, her rationale on the current situation slowly giving in to the fear. Looking down the hall, she saw the form of Nightmerica slowly and tauntingly walking down the hall, her arms now unnaturally long so that the tips of the knives on her gloves were touching the walls.

I'll make sure you don't see

The light of day.

After finishing her twisted lullaby, the burnt bitch stepped into a small patch of light. Her face was horribly scarred, her teeth were unusually razor sharp, and her filthy hair was matted down on her head, covered by her fedora. Her ugly sweater and pants were littered with singed holes.

"Scared, little girl?" The nightmare taunted her.

"You're not real." Paulina tried to say courageously, unable to prevent the slight waver in her voice. "You're just a bad dream about a horrible woman that molested little boys and got too many movie sequels."

"Keep telling yourself that. It'll make your death so much more pleasant." The villainess chuckled as she drew closer to the Latina girl.

Once Nightmerica was ten feet from her, Paulina's fear won out and she tried to run.

Only to find that the floor she had been sitting on had turned to quicksand.

Her legs had already dipped below the surface and her hips were slowly sinking into the thick, black muck.

"No, no, NO!" She said, lunging away from the nightmare, trying to find an edge where she could climb out. Yet all she accomplished was to further burry herself in the mud, reaching the bottom curves of her breasts now.

"I'd say this is one wet dream where you won't come out so satisfied." The burnt child molester cackled.

The nightmare raised one of her clawed hands, the light glinting off the metal.

"NOOO"

***Back in Reality***

"OOOOO!" Paulina yell as she sat up in her bed. Breathing heavily, she checked her surroundings. No dark and dingy hallway. No Nightmerica trying to kill her. Looking down at her legs, she saw the lower half of her body was covered by her sheets. Quickly throwing them off, she was relieved to see she still had her legs.

"Gracias a Dios." She sighed before crossing herself.

Climbing out of bed, she walked over to her full length mirror on the door leading to her bathroom. She was completely sweat soaked, her hair clinging to her forehead and back. Traveling down, she saw that even her panties were also soaked with sweat along with...

Giggles started bubbling out of her before it turned into all out laughter.

"Guess I was able to enjoy the fantasy before it turned nightmare." Paulina mused, looking at the cum stain again before chuckling again. Opening the door, she stepped out of her soiled panties turned on the hot water, and stepped into the shower.

"No more horror movies. At least for a week. Two weeks tops." The Latina murmured as the water washed away most of the sweat that clung to her body before she reached for the shampoo and conditioner.

Ten minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and began drying herself off. After going through her usual routine of drying her hair, applying some light makeup, and getting dressed, she walked into the kitchen.

"Buenos dias." Her mother called from the kitchen table.

Mrs. Sanchez looked nearly identical to her daughter if not for being a few inches taller, small lines forming at the corner of her lips, and a few stray strands of grey in her black hair.

"Morning, mama." Paulina said before walking over and giving her a peck on the cheek. "How was work?"

"Dreadful." The mother replied. "We were short handed the entire night."

"What about Papi?"

"Your father and his law firm are working on a major case."

Paulina frowned at this news.

"Does that mean neither of you will be able to make my quienceanera?"

The elder woman sighed deeply.

"We're sorry, chica. We tried our best to be free for you on your special day. Thing just came up."

"I know, Mama." The girl said, pouring herself a cup of Cuban coffee before sitting beside her mother.

"Remember the story I told you when your father and I were still living in Miami?" Mrs. Sanchez asked.

"Yes, Mama." Paulina said, a small smile curling on her lips.

"Your papi promised to take me to the hottest night club in town. He told me time and again that he would take me there. Then when the day came, his boss at the law firm said he had to work overtime. They refused to let him off. I was so frustrated with the whole situation that I refused to go the club even when my friends offered to take me. And you know what?"

"Yes, Mama, I already know." The girl chuckled.

Despite this, her mother continued her story.

"Turns out some gangsters shot up the club that night, trying to take out some upstart drug lord. One of my friends got nicked by a stray bullet. Her and some of the other bystanders decided to sue the club for lack of security, winding up at your father's law firm. The partners were so impressed with how your father handled the case that they set him up with a partnership up her in Amity. And with the money he made from he new job, he was able to propose to me."

"And you had a beautiful daughter and lived happily ever after."

"Relatively happy." Her mother chuckled. "The point I'm trying to make is..."

"Don't go to clubs frequented by drug lords?" Paulina cheekily interrupted.

"That too. What I was going to say that even if things don't go the way you want them to, they may end up leading to something better."

Paulina sighed. She understood what her mother was trying to tell her. Didn't make her feel much better at the moment but she understood.

"We love you, chica. If your father is free over the weekend, we'll take you and some of your friends out to dinner." The elder woman said before leaning over and embracing her daughter.

"I love you too." She said.

"You can have the rest of the coffee. I'm going to get some sleep before I work again tonight."

"Sleep well, Mama." The Latina girl said before grabbing another cup of coffee. Checking the time, she saw that she had a little over half an hour before she had to be at school. Quickly packing her lunch, filling a thermos full of coffee, and grabbing her backpack, she walked out the front door and locked it before making her way to school.

After a few minutes of relative silence cutting through the park, she came out and saw Danny walking on the street alone.

A smile coming to her face, she rushed over to the boy.

"Good morning, Danny." She greeted before hugging him.

Danny looked extremely tired, as if he had an even worse night's sleep than she had.

Still, the boy managed to put on a smile of his own for her before returning the embrace.

"Good morning to you too." He said, trying his best to hide his blush at her show of affection. Paulina noticed and couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

"Rough night last night?" She asked as they continued their walk.

"You could say that." Danny said, the corner of his mouth curling up in a smile. "How about you? How did you sleep last night?"

"Fairly well, for the most part." Paulina replied, her cheeks turning slightly pink at the memory of what she was originally dreaming about. "But then the good dream turned into bad. All of a sudden, I was in Nightmerica's boiler room and she was trying to slice and dice me."

"At least she didn't try to kill you in one of the cheesy ways like in her sequels. Remember the one guy was killed in his water bed?"

"Yeah. Idiot saw a naked girl swimming in his waterbed. When he tried to find her, Nightmerica burst out and drowned him. What about the time where she killed the guy obsessed with video games?"

"I remember that! She used her 'power glove' to control him and toss him into a pit." Danny chuckled. "You're alright though?"

"Yes." Paulina said, her own giggles having subsided. "I just don't think I'll be watching anymore horror movies for a while if these dreams keep up."

With that, she pulled out her thermos of coffee and took a big swig. A shiver passed through her body as the highly concentrated, caffeinated beverage began kicking in.

"You want some of this before I toss the rest?" She asked Danny.

"Yes, please!" He said eagerly, accepting the thermos from her before drinking.

"Just be careful. Cuban coffee tends to be pretty strong, especially for..." The Latina began to say before she turned to see Danny wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying and instead chugging the contents of the thermos."

"Danny! Breathe!" She exclaimed.

Seconds later, the black haired boy the now empty container from his lips. He also shivered as the caffeine took effect but, unlike Paulina, his hands were slightly shaking.

"What kind of coffee was that. I don't think I've ever had it that strong before."

Now Paulina was laughing.

"You goof! I tried to tell you before you started drinking that it's Cuban coffee."

"What makes Cuban coffee so special?" He asked as his eyes began to dilate.

"Because of how concentrated the stuff is. There is a good reason why they serve it to you in a shot glass."

"So what you're saying is that I'm..."

"Gonna be wired the entire day." She answered, finishing his sentence for him.

Danny sighed, slumping his shoulders at this realization.

"Aww. Don't worry about it too much." The Latina said, "I still like you, even when you have your clueless moments."

"Thank you." The boy said, blushing again. "I think this is one of the first times a girl has told me that they like me."

"Well, get used to it. 'Cus you're gonna hear me say it many more times."

With that, she leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek.

As the school came into view, Paulina let out a disappointed sigh.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"Remember when I said we would have to try and hide our feelings for each other from everybody else?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wish there was a way to put down this whole hierarchy system we have set. I like being friends with Star and Valerie but I don't want them to start ignoring me just because I'm with you."

"I know what you mean. I know I wouldn't want lose Tucker or Sam as my friends if we became public." Danny replied.

"I guess we can figure out how to stop this messed up system some other time." She huffed.

Much to her surprise, Danny leaned forward and pecked her on the lips. Turning to look at him, she saw that he was nervously rubbing the back of his neck while his cheeks had turned crimson.

"I'm sorry. If you don't want me doing that again, I'll..."

"No, no, no!" The Latina said quickly. "I liked it. That was the first time you initiated a kiss."

Having said that, she pulled him into a warm embrace and began nuzzling his cheek.

'I think I could get used to this.' Danny thought to himself as he returned both her gestures.

When they separated, they were holding each other's hands and simply looking at each other.

The moment was broken when they saw a limo pull up beside the school entrance.

"That would be Sam." Danny sighed, reluctantly releasing Paulina's hands.

"Does she looked annoyed?" The Latina asked.

"Oh yeah." Danny chuckled. "She's coming this way, actually."

Composing herself, she gave her crush one more smile before saying. "Anything mean or rude I tell you in public, know that I don't mean a word of it."

"I know." Danny said, giving her a reassuring smile before putting on a nervous face. "So what exactly would you like me to wear to your party?"

His voice was slightly raised, probably so that his goth friend could hear.

"Something nice. Anything but the rags you currently have on will be a vast improvement." She replied in a superior tone of voice before turning around and walking towards the school. On her way, she passed the Girl in Black. She gave her the stink eye but Paulina brushed it off and continued on her way.

Sam was displeased, to say the least. Her parents decided to wake her up by throwing open her thick curtains. Then the forced her to have a sit down breakfast with them, which she reluctantly ate once they had the chefs prepare a meal acceptable to her diet. Finally, they had pushed her into their limo so they could take her to school instead of allowing her to walk to school.

If that wasn't enough, when she finally stepped out of their gas guzzling luxury car, she sees her best friend and crush talking with the Queen B of Casper High, Paulina. When she hears her degrading her friend on the clothes he wears she is angered...and a little satisfied. Angry at how rude she is to her friend and slightly satisfied because her words might snap Danny out his crush for her.

"Hey Danny." She says to her friend.

"Hey Sam." Danny replied before the two made their way towards the school.

"How was the movie with Paulina?" The goth ask, disgust clear in her voice.

"Movie was great. Plenty of blood and gore to scream about and many horror movie cliches to laugh about." He said, a smile appearing on his face.

"Sooo, you wouldn't mind going with Tucker and I to see it again?" Sam continued.

"Of course not!" He said. "What day were you thinking?"

"Tomorrow." She said casually.

"Oh. I can't make it." He replied, his smile falling.

"Come on." Sam said, frustration now evident in her voice. "Just forget about Paulina's dumb birthday party and come with us."

"I can't Sam." The black haired boy replied, now frowning. "I promised to go to her birthday party and it would be rude to change my plans now."

"But...But she insulted the way you dressed! I heard her tell you that she thinks you wear rags!"

"Maybe that was her way of saying to dress formal? Don't wear street clothes?" Danny suggested, raising an eyebrow. "You're acting really strange, Sam. Is there something wrong?"

"I...I just...Can't you just come with us to the movies? We're your friends." Sam said, fumbling over her word while trying and failing to tell Danny how she really felt about him.

"I know and you will always be my friends." Danny said reassuringly as they made it to their lockers. "But that doesn't mean I can't try to make new ones."

"Fenturd!" The voice of Dash Baxter called from behind the two.

Stuffing his books in his bag, Danny and Sam turned to look at the football jock. To his left stood Kwan and Star while his right arm was slung across Paulina's shoulders. The jock himself looked more annoyed and frustrated than usual.

"What do you think you're doing, besides being a pathetic loser and a nobody?" The blonde asked.

"Me?" Danny asked in an innocent voice. "I'm just getting my books for first period. What are you doing besides tripping over roots and losing football games?"

This brought a couple of gasps and snickers from students passing by. Both Dash and Kwan seemed pissed off at the jibe. Star seemed too absorbed in her phone to really care about what was going on. As for Paulina...Her head was turned to the side and she was covering her mouth with her hand. Yet Danny could ever so slightly see the corner of her mouth turned upwards into a smile.

"You got a lot of nerve saying something like that Fenton!" Kwan said, trying to back up his friend.

Danny wasn't exactly sure what was prompting him. Maybe he was still riding high on the caffeine rush form Paulina's Cuban coffee. Maybe it was some newfound confidence he attained now that he and Paulina were seeing each other. Or maybe it was from some of the courage he had left over from kissing Paulina during their walk to school. Whatever the reason, Danny felt compelled to continue goading the jocks on.

"Oh really?" Danny replied, a cocky grin now on his face. "You trying to make up for your terrible pass, Kwan?"

A collective gasp spread through the now forming crowd. A nerd, no, an outcast was standing up to not one but TWO of the A-Listers.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Sam hissed to her friend.

Before her could reply, Dash had shoved Danny up against a locker.

"You got quite a mouth on you, Fenturd. Too bad you don't have anything to back it up." The football player snarled before a cruel grin broke out on his face.

"Compared to me, you are nothing. That was just one game last night. I'm still the football star. I'm one of the most popular kids in school. Best of all I'm dating..."

"Was dating. We broke up, remember?" Paulina interjected.

"Ooo. Take that off your bragging list." Danny chuckled despite the situation he was currently in.

"Oh yeah? Well, how about this? I had SEX with Paulina!" The jock said.

That caused the cocky grin on the black haired boy to falter.

"Not so tuff now knowing that I've gone all the way with the most beautiful girl in school and you don't have a snowball's chance in Hell of even getting a glimpse of her tits. What do you have to say about that?"

"I would say..." The voice of Mr. Lancer came from behind Dash. "That your sexual exploits are irrelevant in this building that you have earned a detention for your handling of Mr. Fenton."

"But...But...Fenton started it!" Dash complained.

"Really? Is this true, Ms. Sanchez?" The balding teacher asked, turning towards the Latina.

Dash began to smirk at Danny, thinking he was about to get off the hook.

"Dash began calling Danny a loser and a nobody. Then Danny remarked how Dash fumbled the ball and lost the game last night. Things escalated from there."

The smirk on Dash's face vanished at this.

"Thank you for clearing this up, Ms. Sanchez. Make that two detentions for trying to lie to me, Mr. Baxter." The teacher said before he began dispersing the crowd.

"This isn't over, Fenturd." Dash hissed before letting go of Danny and walking to class.

Sam also went to class, giving her friend a disapproving look before walking off.

"Come along Mr. Fenton. Let's go to class." Mr. Lancer said.

"Yes, sir." Danny said before the two of them began walking.

"While I commend you for standing up for yourself, Daniel, there is a fine line between rebuking insults and poking the bear." The teacher remarked.

"I'll keep that in mind." The boy said as they entered the classroom just as the bell rang.

As Danny sat down, he looked around the room. His eyes first turned to Sam. She was quietly whispering to Tucker, presumably about him not going to the movies with them and about the fight than nearly occurred. The Techno Geek simply shrugged his shoulders before pulling out his notebook. Sam huffed in annoyance before pulling out her own notebook and began to doodle.

Next he looked over to the group of A-Listers. Dash and Kwan were glaring him down.

Danny just gave them a cheeky smile and a wave.

Finally, his eyes rested on Paulina. She had a bored and uninterested look on her face as the class was getting ready to start. She glanced over at Danny and gave him a small smile before turning back to face the board.

"Alright, class. Before we begin, can anyone tell me what important event will be taking place tomorrow night?" Mr. Lancer asked.

Star eagerly raised her hand.

"Paulina's Birthday!" The bubbly blonde answered.

"Party! Party! Party!" Dash and Kwan began to chant.

"You are already on thin ice as it is, Mr. Baxter. Do you wish to continue trying my patience?" The balding teacher asked.

That managed to shut the two football stars up.

"Ms. Sanchez." Mr. Lancer said, turning towards the Latina girl. "Besides your fifteenth birthday, what other event is taking place?"

"The meteor shower." She replied.

"Correct, Ms. Sanchez." The teacher remarked, happy to see that one of his more vain students were beginning to apply themselves in class. "Now who can tell me..."

Paulina raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Sanchez?"

"Do you have a laser pointer on you Mr. Lancer?"

This threw the teacher for a loop.

"No, I do not. Why do you ask?"

"Because there is some weird triangle shaped laser that keeps popping up on my shirt and it's getting annoying." The girl said, indicating the spot above her heart.

The teacher looked at the strange laser spot on her shirt before slowly turning to the front of the classroom to find the source of the disturbance.

What he found was...nothing.

"What?" He exclaimed. "That's impossible."

Then, slightly to the left of where the laser was originating, there was a brief flash of yellow light, almost like a pair of eyes.

Suddenly, something like an electric field flickered before revealing...

"RUN! IT'S THE FEMALIEN!" Dash yelled.

Everybody in the room screamed before rushing out the door. The galactic huntress looked around the room, trying to find her target amongst the fleeing bystanders but was unable to find the girl.

"Hey, tall, scaly, and scary!" Came the voice of Danny Phantom, appearing through the wall of the class room. "The urban jungle isn't your playground.

The huntress roared at this new challenger before firing off her plasma cannon. Danny was quick to dodge the incoming fire before tackling the Femalien into the ground, making them both intangible before reappearing in the school basement. Then he quickly pulled off her shoulder mounted plasma cannon before smashing it against the wall.

"Not so tuff without your gun, Elmer Fudd." Danny quipped, proud of his handiwork.

The Femalien was not impressed. Instead, she extended her signature bracer claws. Releasing another primal roar, she charged at Danny, trying to tear him to ribbons.

"Shit." Danny hissed under his breath before he began to quickly dodge the hacks and slashes.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not play with knives?" The halfa asked before charging up an ecto beam and firing it at the huntress. The horror monster was thrown back into a stack of crates. Danny quickly followed up by dealing rapid fire blows to his enemy.

First a left hook to her face, followed by right hook to the kidneys. He finished off with a roundhouse kick to the gut, sending the Femalien sprawling to the floor. Rushing over, he formed two concentrated beams of energy in his hands before melting off the bracer claws.

"To quote your movie franchise, you are one ugly bitch." Danny said, breathing deeply while wiping the sweat from his brow.

Seeing that she had no other options, the Femalien opened up a panel on her left bracer to activate her last resort.

"Nope!" Danny said, firing off another ecto beam and frying the controls on the alien tech.

"There will be no suicide end games this time around." The boy said. "Now tell me why you were hunting Paulina. Who sent you?"

The creature began to flicker and fade before the boy.

"SAM." The galactic huntress said before she faded from existence.

Sighing, Danny floated back up to the main floor and into an empty stall in the boys bathroom. Transitioning back, she stepped out and made his way over to his class that was huddled further down the hall way.

"What could Sam possibly have to do with Femalien showing up and trying to hunt Paulina?" Danny asked himself.

Author's Note: If you didn't notice throughout this chapter, I'm a huge fan of the horror movies from the 70's and 80's, as seen by my homages to famous scenes and my jokes at the various cliches. Again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't mind the alterations I made to the original episode.