Hey readers, there's a little change in pace with this chappie.

CHAPTER FIVE

PLEASE ANSWER

Dick groaned as he tossed the blankets off of himself. He rolled into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. Reading the alarm clock caused him to scowl in annoyance; it was one in the morning. Dick sat there, bouncing his knee, and tapping the edge of the bed for a solid minute before he suddenly pulled a laptop out from beneath the bed, set it on his lap, and switched it on. The Wayne Tech. laptop, that was clearly updated beyond what was on the market, quickly responded with a small ding and Dick pulled open Amity Parks local news channel. This was definitely not stalking his biological brother; he was doing research and watching for any clues as to who might be responsible for the Amity attacks. He definitely was not worried that it had been over a week- one hundred seventy five and a half hours -Dick had last seen or heard from Danny himself when Danny has been out of school for three days now. And he definitely was not regretting giving Danny his number and telling him to call when he was ready. When the news channel came up it only displayed a "technical difficulties" apology and asked him to wait. Not really feeling like waiting, Dick hit the rewind button, having been recording the news since the last time he had watched it, four days ago. Then he snatched the cell phone off of the nightstand and left the laptop to rewind.

He stepped into the living room area. His apartment, well, suite , was large and open. The living room had a grand view of the murky Bludhaven skyline through a window that took up the entirety of the south wall. Dick liked his bachelor pad. He kept it spick and span and ready to host at any moment. Because, while he loved living on his own and having his own place, he really hated it. So, he kept it ready and made sure his friends knew that they were welcome to stay anytime. He didn't bother to turn on the lights as the lights of the city filtered through the window. The silence inside the suite stretched across the room and magnified the sound of the fridge opening. After a few minutes of spacy staring, Dick grabbed a container of leftovers from who-knows-when and tossed it into the microwave. The low, consistent, dull hum of the microwave eased the silence, but not quiet enough. After yawning into his fist, Dick sent a text to his brother, Tim.

'Are you awake?'

The response came rather quickly,

'yes but I'm busy.'

and a second later,

'Bother the hellion. it isn't doing anythinfvdsil'

Dick furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but before he could do anything, he got a text from Damian.

'Do not bother me, Grayson. Drake is a liar; I am currently occupied. Furthermore, if you are missing your brother so much, just call him already and quit bothering everyone else.'

Dick couldn't help the snort that escaped him after reading the message. He put his phone down and went back to tiredly watching his food spin in slow circles. When he heard his phone, his not-bat-phone, Buzz from his bedroom over the hum of the microwave, he excitedly raced to his bedroom and leaped over the king sized bed and picked up the phone off of the night stand. His excitement deflated, it was just a drunk text from a colleague. He moodily punched out some advise and tossed the phone back onto the nightstand, then flopped face first onto the bed and groaned in frustration.

He was regretting telling Danny to call when he was done with school and ready to hangout again, letting Danny be the one to make second contact. It was only because Dick had been so busy that he hadn't lost self- control and called Danny first. A new gang had popped up out of nowhere in Bludhaven. They were all young, ambitious, and stupid. That was a dangerous combination for people with access to guns. They bit off way more than they could chew and stirred up an unbelievable amount of chaos for such a small gang. Dick spent most of his week either handing the young idiots over to the police if they had arrest warrants, or scaring the living hell out of those that didn't. He might not have worked so hard to get to the young gang before anyone else found them, if they hadn't been so young. More than half of them had been teens. But he had gotten to the last of them last night and he was sure that they would stay off the streets for at least a year, until they forgot about pissing their pants in fear of the vigilante that protected Bludhaven and went right back to it. Who knows, maybe they'll find another outlet and forget about a life of crime. Dick sighed as he could almost see Bruce's doubtful and almost pitying glance at his optimism.

Dick sat up and checked the laptop. His eyebrows rose in mild surprise; the computer had rewound about three hours and the technical difficulties apology was still on the screen. He hit the rewind button a few more times to speed it up.

Four hours.

Five hours.

Six hours.

He sped it up some more.

Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve hours.

He frowned and sped it up even more, until he couldn't get it to go faster.

Fifteen, nineteen, twenty-four, twenty-eight, thirty-two, thirty-seven hours, it continued until around sixty-five hours ago. Dick almost flinched when the moving colors replaced the screen he had been staring at. He hit the play button and fast forwarded it back to the place the program was cut off. He watched the moving pictures intently, reading every word that came into the screen, watching for any warnings that they were going to shut down the studio for repairs or something. To his surprise though, nothing of the sort showed up. Instead, in the last few minutes before the (the) channel shutdown a ghost attack warning interrupted the regular program. Startled by what he saw, Dick rewound the news again to the beginning of the ghost warning.

The news reporter looked unaware of being live as he nervously watched the buildings behind him. They seemed to be covered in large vines and other plants, but the plants were all oddly blurred, so it was hard to tell what they actually were.

"Why do we have to get so close? I'm a weatherman, I shouldn't have to deal-"

"We're live."

"Amity Park citizens! Lance Thunder reporting that we are under attack, folks."

A metallic screeching, like metal being torn, brought the reporters attention off screen. His eyes grew wide with horror.

"We have to get out of here!"

"No, finish the report!" The camera man insisted.

"G-ghost plants have taken o-over down town. We advise that everyone stay indoors. I re-repeat do not go outside. Throw out any plants y-you may- wait a minute, I'm getting an update... The plants seem to be targeting powerlines and cellphone towers. Oh, OH GOD! They're cutting us off!"

"Lance, keep it together!"

Just then a green... something grabbed onto Lance Thunder and he let out an undignified scream.

"LANCE!-"

It cut back to the station.

"Citizens of Amity Park," a lady addressed the camera, "this is a level five emergency. Please, stay in your homes and wait for further instructions. Throw out any plants you have in your home. Do not go outside, this is a level five emergency. The ghost hunters, Jack and Maddie Fenton, have assured us that they will get things under control. But until then-"

The apology came back onto the screen.

Dick sat there, completely dumbfounded. Was this a hoax? He had seen them report on ghosts before, but it was never anything like this and three days was a long time for a hoax. Dick dove for his phone and punched in the number for FentonWorks.

The line was disconnected.

He called Maddie's cell.

The number was no longer in service.

Jacks cell.

The number was no longer in service.

Dick gave himself no room to panic. He immediately went into action. He downloaded to the news report onto his phone, grabbed his shoes, keys, helmet, and jacket, then called one more number.

"Bruce, there's a problem."

Danny groaned at the morning sun lighting up his room. He moved to pull his blankets up to block out the light, but grunted and stopped short. His muscles ached from the multiple day fiasco and from not moving at all during his miniature hibernation. Apparently receiving a butt kicking, nearly freezing to death, training with Frostbite, taking another butt kicking, then using all of one's strength and ghostly energy to destroy a giant killer plant takes its toll.

He knew the creaky stiffness in his limbs would not allow him continue his blissful sleep. Blinking away the hazy blur from his eyes, he focused on the unfamiliar ceiling. It took him longer than he'd care to admit, to figure out why the ceiling was unfamiliar. But he eventually remembered that FentonWorks was currently uninhabitable thanks to the rotting vines that currently occupied it and its lack of electricity and running water, also thanks to the rotting plants. He and his family had gotten a room in a motel just outside of the city limits. They had been pretty lucky to find a room since half of Amity Park was in the same boat they were in. Danny had been eternally grateful yesterday when they had been able to find a place to stay relatively quickly. As soon as his mom unlocked the door to their room Danny had found the nearest bed and conked out for the night.

Despite his protesting joints, Danny slowly sat up. He was a little surprised to find that he had been sleeping on top of the comforters still fully clothed. He thought for sure he had at least changed his clothes. Must have been more out of it than he thought. Someone had taken off his socks and shoes and had given him an extra blanket. And he was wearing a red hoodie he couldn't remember putting on.

Danny lazily took in his surroundings. The only exists were the front door to his left and the window next to it. There was a small pathetic excuse of a kitchen in the corner along with a door on the far wall that Danny assumed to be the bathroom. The room had two queen sized beds with forest green comforters and matching pillows. His mom and dad occupied the bed furthest from the door, while he and his sister had the other. If he hadn't been so sore, Danny would have begun protesting loudly at sharing a bed with his sister. But instead he just silently promised to never speak of it to anyone. On the bedside table in between the beds a digital clock told him it was six thirty in the morning. A small piece of his not-yet-fully-functional brain did a happy jig at the news that he had gotten at least thirteen hours of uninterrupted sleep. Ever since the accident he hasn't needed as much sleep, so thirteen hours of sleep was a miracle. But the rest of his brain blissfully longed for a hot shower to ease his stiff muscles.

Hobbling like an old man, he crawled out of bed, dug through his bag for a new set of clothes and his tooth brush, and shuffled into the bathroom. After completing his morning ritual he made his way to the shower. After a bit of finagling with the knobs, he managed to get the his usually desired temperature. He stripped his clothes, caught sight of himself in the mirror, and suddenly remembered putting on the hoodie. At some point in the battle yesterday, Undergrowth had managed to knock him into changing back to human, then tried to squeeze the life out of him. Sam had made him wear it to hide the bruises that decorated his arms and torso...

He frowned at the green and purple blotches. They hadn't faded as much as he would have liked. Turning from the mirror, he tentatively stepped into bathtub, closing the sliding glass door. A confused frown played on Danny's face. The hot water was not helping his muscles relax. In fact, the hot water felt incredibly uncomfortable. It wasn't like the water was burning hot, it was just unpleasant. Danny turned the hot water knob down just a smidge, then down some more. He surprised himself to find that the colder the water was the better it felt. Wanting to experiment with how far this would go he shut the hot water off completely. As the water dropped below his body temperature, he let out a content sigh.

'It's gotta be my ice core. Man, this is weird. It feels sooo gooooood...'

Ten minutes of soaking in freezing water later, Danny felt better than ever. He used his intangibility to dry himself off, letting the excess water fall into the tub. Exiting the bathroom fully clothed, Danny was happy to find everyone still asleep. He quietly slipped his shoes on, grabbed his backpack, and wrote a note saying he was going to Sam's house, which was in one of the few neighborhoods that were unaffected by the attack, ironically enough. He was technically telling the truth. He, Sam, and Tucker planned to celebrate not dying today, just not at seven in the morning. But after his cold shower, he felt rejuvenated and wanted to go flying and maybe experiment with his new ice powers, as well as help with cleaning up the aftermath.

Knowing that his parents had probably set up some kind of ghost defenses, Danny slipped out the door like a normal human into the morning air. He carefully shut the door, hoping against hope that he didn't wake his dad and cause a scene. Tiptoe-ing away from the door, Danny breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good morning, little badger. I'm glad you're awake."

Danny took in a sharp gasp and pivoted, immediately shifting into Phantom and pulling up a defensive stance. An arm grabbed him from behind and pulled him into a choke hold, lifting him off the ground. He lifted his arm to elbow his attacker in the stomach, but pink smoke filled his vision and the world began to spin. The pink smoke cleared as quickly as it came. But Danny's vision spun, making him light headed and queasy. The arm holding him up suddenly dropped him. Miraculously, he managed to land on his feet as the floor tipped dangerously. Before he could fully recover, his body was racked with a blinding hot pain, cutting through his bones and crawling across his skin. He involuntarily let out a strangled cry that cut short as his lungs seized up and refused to suck in air. Then the pain left.

Danny crumpled to the floor, too dazed to notice the plush red carpet or the pristine white ceiling. He was only faintly aware of the click of a lock and soft footsteps approaching him. Someone knelt down beside him and placed a firm hand on his chest.

"Breathe, Daniel, Breathe." A familiar, calm, and smooth voice told him.

He hadn't realized he still wasn't breathing. After a few unsuccessful tries, he sucked in as much air as his lungs could hold, before letting it out in a coughing fit. The hand left and the figure next to him stood and walked back a few steps.

"Hahaha! You have to give me one of those, Plasmius." A deep mechanical voice laughed.

"No, I really don't."

Danny still hadn't completely recovered, but he sat up anyway. Danny hated getting electrocuted. It always sent him into a slightly panicky state and made him sick to his stomach. His aching lungs and his beating heart indicated that he was back in his human form, but it was the sight of his red tennis shoes that confirmed it for him. He shot a glare at his attacker.

"What the hell, Vlad?"

The business man sighed, placing his hands behind his back.

"Language, Daniel."

Danny's glare intensified as he got to his feet.

"Oh, do calm down, Daniel. I just want to talk."

"What? You get bored of playing chess by yourself?" -The billionaire's eye twitched.- "And if you really just wanted to talk why'd you hit me with a train and why is Skulker here? W-where is here?" It finally registered that he was no longer at the motel. He was now in a large room with ceiling high book shelves covering most of the walls. The only exits were a set of large wooden French doors on one side of the room, and two huge windows with heavy red curtains behind an extravagant desk with several neat stacks of paper. In front of one of said windows Skulker floated with his arms crossed, looking incredibly smug. It didn't take Danny long to figure out how he got here; Plasmius had teleported with him. This put Plasmius at a whole new level of creepy in Danny's book. He tried to hide his rising discomfort, but the idea that he could be in Wisconsin made it difficult.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "We're in my office. And I didn't hit you with a train; I electrocuted you with the Plasmius Maximus, because I need to talk with you and I don't have time for one of your childish fights. I have been up all night dealing with the mess Amity is in." He held the small device up and placed it on the desk, confirming to Danny that he was not only stuck in his human form, but also cut off from all of his powers. Danny didn't like how Vlad hadn't specified which office they were in. He ignored the icy apprehension twisting in his gut.

"And why I am here is none of your business, Whelp."

"What'd you do? Sup it up to knock out an elephant?" Danny ignored Skulker to piss him off and wipe the smug look off his face. It worked. "We're not in Wisconsin are we?"

"Daniel, tell me what happened in the last three days." Vlad demanded.

Danny bristled at the unanswered question, but let it go when Vlad's words sunk in. Danny searched Vlad before answering him.

"Do you seriously not know what happened? You're the mayor-!"

"Just because I am the mayor of this... fine city, does not mean that I do not have other responsibilities to attend to. Now, if you please, tell me what has happened."

Danny crossed his arms and glared. "I don't have to tell you anything, you crazy old Fruitloop."

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose as a blood vain on his forehead bulged. Skulker growled and started to advance. Which made Danny stiffen and prepare himself for a fight, but Vlad put up his hand, telling Skulker to stop. Then he looked up at Danny and gave him a face that clearly stated 'no more nonsense'.

"For some reason, the Justice League as noticed this last ghost attack, along with the rest of the world, and as mayor I need to give them an explanation. So, tell me what happened and I'll take you back to the motel."

Danny blinked. And blinked again.

"The Justice League is coming to- wait a minute! What do you mean 'for some reason'?! The entire city was taken over by giant man eating plants for three days! How could they not notice?!" Danny threw his hands in the air as he pointed out the obvious.

He received an eye roll from Vlad and an amused chuckle from Skulker. Danny's eyebrows dropped in irritation and confusion. He hadn't missed something, had he?

"The same reason they haven't noticed before; people have a natural aversion to the supernatural, Daniel, and they tend to turn a blind eye to it unless it is staring them in the face. I don't know what has caught the league's attention this time, and quite frankly, I don't care, because they will not accept the truth. They will look for a way to explain away the events of the last three days and then be on their way, just like last time." Vlad explained in an incredibly bored tone.

"Then why do you need to know what happened?" Danny glared.

"The best lies are closest to the truth."

Now Danny was thoroughly confused. "Wait, you're going to lie to them? But I thought you..."

Danny wasn't really sure what he had thought. But it had sounded like Vlad was going to try and tell them the truth.

"Daniel, they won't believe the truth, so I'm going to give them something they will believe," the businessman explained slowly as if he was talking to a five-year-old.

"I'm not going to help you lie to the Justice League," he said with finality, then turned and marched for the door. He pulled on the doorknob only to find it locked. His stomach dropped and his hands became sweaty as the feeling of being trapped battled to completely take over. Danny angrily turned back around to an annoyed looking Vlad and a very smug Skulker, and crossed his arms.

"Let me out, Plasmius."

With slow and methodical steps the older hybrid began to cross the unnecessary large office.

"I will, as soon as you tell me what happened. I'll even bring you back to the motel, if you wish." He finished his journey with a smirk, towering over Danny. He had forgotten how tall Vlad was.

It took all of Danny's willpower not to step back, away from the man, and press himself against the door. He set his jaw defiantly.

"No."

Vlad blinked, then set his own jaw as his eyebrow twitched. Danny involuntarily let out a small surprised yelp when Vlad lifted him off his feet and harshly slammed him against the mahogany doors in one fluid motion. The man's forearm forcefully pinned him, causing the contents of his backpack to painfully dig into his back, keeping him off the ground and eye level with the angry halfa.

"No?" Vlad demanded for clarification through clenched teeth.

Danny glared right back, even though it was hard to breathe and he was sure Vlad could feel his heart hammering away. A plan of escape slowly formed in Danny's brain. While there was a good probability that it would be successful, he briefly wondered if he should; it was a little unorthodox and the consequences would be extreme if it didn't work.

"I'm not going to help a sad, lonely, old, Packers fanatic, that can't get over his high school crush lie to the Justice League," he spat out in defiance.

After a few agonizingly long seconds of watching Vlad's face contort with fury and his eyes burn with hell fire, Vlad shifted into Plasmius. Looking into the glaring red eyes that promised pain, Danny immediately regretted not keeping the insults out of his refusal. Plasmius brought up his hand and electricity threateningly cackled between his fingertips.

"Listen here, you little rat-!"

Any qualms Danny had over his escape plan left him. Not letting the man finish the angry rant, Danny set his plan into action and brought his shin up as fast and as hard as he could between the man's legs.

The electricity dissipated and a pained wheeze escaped the billionaire. The pressure on Danny's chest left as Vlad stiffly stumbled back. Danny wasted no time and as soon as he hit the floor, he whipped out one of his parents' ectoplasmic blasters from a hidden side pocket in his backpack.

Finally catching up to what had happened, Skulker roared, "Cowardly little Whelp!" Brandishing a glowing machete.

Danny blasted Skulker in the chest, knocking him back into the wall. Then he shot at the curtain next to Skulker, causing the curtain to burn and the glass behind it to shatter. Before he could make another move, a large, angry hand painfully grabbed his arm. Danny only reacted, he didn't think when he immediately blasted his captor in the face at point blank range. Vlad cried out in shock and clutched his face in pain. Danny dashed for the mahogany desk and grabbed the Plasmius Maximus.

Skulker lifted himself up with a vicious growl. Danny jammed Vlad's weapon into the hunters stomach, short circuiting the robotic suit. As soon as the metal clunked to the floor Danny sped past him and took a flying leap through the burning curtains and out the window. His eyes widened as he realized he was much higher up than he had expected. Apparently they had been on the third floor. The grass rushed up to meet him. He tucked his shoulder in and rolled across the grass on impact. He was suddenly very grateful for all the mishaps he used to have with his powers.

Danny Stood up and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Amity's streets just beyond a fancy, climbable, fence. Not wasting any more time, Danny shoved the Plasmius Maximus in to the pocket of his hoodie and hoisted himself over the fence. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he ran.

Vlad grunted in pain as he gingerly lifted himself off the floor. Black rings enveloped his body shifting him back to his human half and the blistering burn on his face faded into a faint, pink blotch. Fury, rage, and his injured pride demanded action, but Vlad calmed himself with a deep breath. He then carefully straightened his suit, smoothed back his hair, and dusted invisible dirt off his shoulders. Once finished he squared his shoulders and looked around the room. A smile split across his face when he caught sight of Skulker. The little badger was improving.

A hatch in Skulker's suit flung open and the small ghost crawled out, fuming.

"Don't worry, Plasmius. I can have my suit running in five minutes, then we'll clobber the little brat."

Vlad walked past Skulker and peered through the window; there was no sign of Danny anywhere. Without even looking, Vlad conjured up an ectoplasmic shield and smothered the flames eating away at his curtains, as he strolled back to his desk.

"There's no need, Skulker. He's gone."

There was a quiet pause as Skulker watched, completely dumbfounded, as Vlad sat down at his desk and began going through his paperwork.

"Huh, Plasmius?"

"Hmm?" Vlad responded without looking up.

"Um, what... why aren't we going after the whelp?"

"Because I got what I wanted and I have work to do. Now, finish repairing your armor. I called for you for a reason."

"Huh..." Skulker stared, not really comprehending, at his employer.

Vlad heaved and an irritated sigh through his nose and looked up from his desk.

"Skulker, I called you, because I need you to find Undergrowth."

"So, you know what happened?"

"Of course I know!" He snapped. "And I highly doubt Daniel and his friends knew how to actually deal with the little weed. It's more than likely he's hidden himself away, regaining energy to attack again. But I will be busy taking care of our guests. So, I will need you to track him down and return him to the Infinite Realms, without being seen. I got what I needed from Daniel, there's no need to trouble ourselves with him for now. You can handle that, hmm?" Vlad wore a condescending smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Plasmius... you do realize he took the Plasmius Maximus, right?"

Vlads face dropped and his eyes widened.

"Butter biscuits!"

Danny's tennis shoes pounded the pavement in a fast paced rhythm. He knew he was making the people on the street cleaning up after the plants nervous, he could see it in their questioning glances and how they paused what they were doing as he passed. In Amity, if you see someone running like their life depended on it, it probably meant there was a ghost attacking nearby and after this weekend it only made sense that Amity's citizens would be a little more weary. But their lack of understanding and lack of screaming told Danny that he wasn't being followed by any angry, revenge seeking ghosts. This made Danny smirk and dart into an alleyway to catch his breath. Vlad had used the Plasmius Maximus on him, that meant he had no ghost signature, which meant that if Vlad and Skulker hadn't been able to follow him then they would have no way of tracking him and finding him.

Leaning with his back against the brick wall in the alley, Danny struggled to breathe. A triumphant smile slowly stretched across his face. He gradually slid down the wall, his hoodie getting awkwardly pulled up by the bricks, until he was sitting in the grainy dirt on the pavement. A short giggle escaped him. The short giggle turned into snort, which turned into uncontrolled bouts of laughter. Once he managed to catch his breath for a second he disbelievingly stated,

"I kicked him in the balls."

Which only caused him to lose it again. He gripped his sides and nearly fell over sideways. With tears streaming down his face his half- crazed smile morphed into an expression of horror.

"I kicked him in the balls."

For a moment the sounds of the bustling city and a couple of pigeons nearby echoed through the quiet alley. Horns honked and people shouted.

Danny breathed into the empty alley, "I am so dead."

But Danny's choice of words sent him into another round of hysterics. Eventually he hoisted himself up and dusted the grime off his pants. Then he fished out his prize of the morning out of his hoodie: The Plasmius Maximus.

"Plasmius Maximus," He scoffed, "I'm not calling it that. He's worse at naming things than Dad is. I mean, at least the names Dad uses don't sound like names for a male stripper."

After turning the device in his hands a few times, he looked around the alley for a hiding place. When he didn't find a place he felt comfortable with leaving the weapon, he carefully stashed it in his backpack. Maybe he could hide it at Tuckers house, which was relatively undamaged during the attack, for a while, just until he was sure Vlad wouldn't show up looking for it.

Casually exiting the alley, Danny headed in the direction of his best friend's house at a steady pace. It was going to be a long walk.

"Hi Mrs. Foley, is Tucker up?" Danny asked politely from the doorstep.

The sun had risen considerably and was now beating down with beautiful blue skies. The smell of burning leaves filled the air. There were several places where pillars of white smoke stretched high over the city, dissipating into the atmosphere. A miniature plume of smoke rose from the Foley's backyard.

"Good morning Danny, Tucker isn't up yet, but I was just about to wake him," Mrs. Foley responded with a frown on her kind face. She had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows and she wore a faded pink apron.

"Isn't it dangerous to be walking about so soon after... Well, you know..." She trailed off.

"Oh, um, the all clear was given, so it's safe enough."

At least he was fairly sure the city gave an all clear. His parents wouldn't have been in the motel if there was a chance of any ghosts still being in town.

"If you say so, dear," Mrs. Foley nodded uncertainly with a small smile, opening the door wider and ushering him in. "Please, come in and help yourself to some breakfast; it's all set out on the kitchen counter."

"Thank you, Mrs. Foley!" Danny smiled brightly at her.

Danny dropped his backpack in the hallway and tried not to run into the kitchen like a starving stray dog, but whatever breakfast was smelled amazing. Bacon, sausage, eggs, and pancakes if his nose was correct.

He greeted Mr. Foley, who sat neatly in his chair at the kitchen table with an empty plate and newspaper. The sleeves to his button up shirt were also rolled up and he wasn't wearing the sweater vest he usually wore.

Danny's stomach complained loudly when he caught sight of the steaming plates of food all lined up neatly on the counter. It was this moment that he realized that the last time he ate was with Frostbite yesterday and while the meals with in the Far-Frozen had been filling, they weren't exactly tasty.

Mr. Foley laughed, "If you're wanting to tame that beast in your belly, you better do it fast, before Tucker comes down."

Danny flushed and said, "you don't have to tell me twice."

He filled a plate with food and sat at the table with Mr. Foley.

"DANNY!" Tucker's muffled voice called angrily, "YOU BETTER NOT HAVE TAKEN THE LAST OF THE BACON!"

Mr. Foley rose an amused eyebrow at his son's best friend as he suddenly started to shovel the bacon on his plate into his mouth. Thundering footsteps down the stairs only encouraged him to shovel faster. Tucker appeared in the doorway and took only a second to take in the sight of Danny with a mischievous grin obscured by a mouth full bacon, before he roared and charged at his friend. Danny launched out of his seat, nearly knocking the chair over and fled the kitchen with Tucker in hot pursuit.

Mr. Foley only shook his head and went back to his four- day old paper. There was a thump and a bang and Danny's panicked voice came from the living room, "Tucker! Tucker Wait! Stop! There's more bacon on the counter! There'sMoreBaconOnTheCounterISWEAR! THERESMOREBACONANDSAUSAGEONTHECOUNTER!"

"Tucker! He's telling the truth!" Mr. Foley said as he turned the page.

There was another thump and a muffled, "Ow" before Tucker grumpily marched back into the kitchen and up to the counter. Danny soon returned to his spot at the table rubbing his side of his head with a faint victorious smirk.

After breakfast was finished, thank you's were said, and dishes were rinsed, Danny grabbed his backpack, and the two boys headed up to Tuckers room. As soon as the latch clicked shut, Danny's mood shifted and he said,

"You will not believe what happened this morning."

Tucker shoved some dirty clothes aside with his foot as he made his way to the bed to sit and looked warily at Danny, who began to pace agitatedly.

"You don't have another brother, do you?"

"What? No!"

"Hey! That's how you opened that conversation last time!"

"No, Plasmius attacked me this morning!" Danny hissed under his breath after sending a quick glance at the door.

"What? Are you okay?" Tucker whispered back, wide eyed.

A proud smirk spread across his face. "Yeah, I kicked his butt."

The smirk deflated a little when Tucker only looked at Danny searchingly.

"Isn't Plasmius a lot stronger than you?" Tucker asked, no longer whispering.

"Wha-? No! Well, a little!" Danny crossed his arms and huffed, "I'm telling the truth, Tucker."

Tucker held his hands up in a placating manner. "Okay, okay, I believe you. It's just that you haven't been able to beat him before, so I was wondering."

Thinking that Tucker may have lost it, Danny's voice rose an octave has he protested, "I have too!"

"Uh, no, you haven't."

"Yes, I have!"

"No, you haven't!" Tucker shouted as he stood up with clenched fists.

Irritation bubbled inside of Danny's chest.

"Um, are you thick? Or are you just forgetting the two months we spent chasing Plasmius through the time stream, kicking his butt?"

"That doesn't count!"

"What?! Why not?!"

"BECAUSE! We never really beat him! We just messed up his plans over and over! But we never really got him! It was Frostbite and the map that beat him! Japan was the closest we got to beating him, but he still got away!"

Danny opened his mouth several times to argue, but nothing came out the first couple of tries.

"What about when me and Jazz fought him and won?"

"You guys didn't win!"

"What?! Yes we did!"

"Then why isn't that creep in jail!?" Tucker threw his hands in the air. "If you had beaten him, he wouldn't be a problem any more! He wouldn't be the Mayor and he wouldn't be in charge of a multibillion dollar company!"

The words felt like a slap across the face. Danny heard the wobbly fear in his best friend's voice, past the anger, and he could only stand there frozen and wide eyed.

Tucker watched, with growing horror at what had just been said, as a series of emotions flickered across Danny's stunned face: Shock, fear, guilt, hurt, and anger.

"Danny, I am so sor-"

"Let's go get Sam. I don't feel like telling what happened this morning twice." Danny sharply interrupted, glaring at the green wallpaper. He shrugged off his backpack and ripped it open.

"Danny, I-"

"Could you hide this in your house for a while?" He stiffly asked, holding out the stolen device.

Tucker tentatively took it from his friend and turned it around in his hands.

"S-sure... What is it?"

"It's the Plasmius Maximus," Danny answered, "I managed to swipe it when I got away."

Tucker stared at the device wide eyed for a few seconds, then Danny left the room. Tucker sighed and shoved it under his mattress.

"I am such an idiot."

The boys barely stepped off of the Foley property when Sam came sprinting towards them.

"Tucker, I've been texting you like crazy! What took you guys so long? My mother has been..." Sam slowed to a stop in front of them.

"Uh, sorry Sam.. the plants got my cellphone..." Tucker trailed off.

"Oh my god, you guys are worse than a pair of lovers."

Danny and Tucker shared an awkward glance and Sam rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"C'mon, let's get to the Nasty Burger, before my mom figures out I'm gone and calls your parents. Then. We'll work this out," she jabbed her finger at the two of them.

Turns out the Nasty Burger was closed for maintenance. So they took off towards the park. Finding somewhere secluded to sit had been surprisingly difficult with all the clean up and construction going on, but they eventually found a spot next to the, now busted, fountain. The three of them sat on the concrete, sun baked, rim of the fountain with Sam in the middle, looking completely irritated at the two glum boys.

"So," Sam began, "how'd you guys hurt each other's feelings this time?"

They both immediately answered, "I said something stupid."/ "I don't want to talk about it."

Tucker turned completely towards his friend. "Danny, listen. I didn't mean it, I swear. I'm just still freaking out over the mind controlling plants that tried to eat us, and Plasmius creeps me out, and I don't know... I'm sorry I lost it on you.."

Danny sighed and met Tuckers pleading gaze, "It's okay, Tuck. I guess I'm still kind of freaking out too and... I get it; Vlad is creepy."

"Thanks, man."

"Okay!" Sam suddenly stood up, "now, before you start hugging and crying, let's move on."

She spun around sharply, "Danny, care to explain why you couldn't go ghost to find us a spot to chat?"

"Um, well, after I got up this morning..." With that Danny began to recount the events of the morning and this time they hardly interrupted.

"Let me get this straight," Sam said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "you didn't answer him, kicked him in the junk, broke his window, and stole a weapon from him and then you went to Tuckers house... because he couldn't track you by your ecto signature?"

"Um. Yes?"

"YOU IDIOT!" Sam slugged Danny over the head.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"YOU'RE LUCKY PLASMIUS WASN'T ACTUALLY CHASING YOU! BECAUSE TUCKER'S HOUSE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES HE WOULD HAVE SEARCHED FOR YOU!"

Both Danny's and Tucker's jaws dropped open in horror.

"Danny... If.. if Plasmius had come to my house..."

"Tucker, I am so sorry! I didn't even think-!"

"...I would have missed breakfast."

Sam let out a shout of aggravation and hit Tucker over the head. "I swear! Being friends with you two is worse than hanging out with a pair of two year olds!"

"Ow, Sam, quit hitting!" Tucker whined, but only received another whack. "Owie!"

Sam stopped mid-strike, about to hit Tucker for the pitiful response to the last hit. "Danny?"

Danny sat, leaning forward, glaring worriedly at the ground.

"Why didn't he chase me? He and Skulker were really angry when I left... Why didn't he come for the Plasmius Maximus?" he looked up at his friends.

They all began to think hard on the current puzzle, when Tucker suggested, "Maybe he had a meeting?" while he himself didn't believe it.

"Oh." Danny blinked a couple of times. "I forgot to tell you guys. He did have a meeting he was preparing for..."

The excitement building in Danny's tone drew in his friends' full attention.

Kay so, all y'all need to go and thank Is-this-a-good-name. If it wasn't for her I probably would have given up on writing fanfiction and left all your butts hanging. She has been the very best in helping me brainstorm ideas for plots and characters. She has been successfully fueling my enjoyment of writing these stories. Remember when I said I had a sort-of plot? I now have an actual plot and it's all thanks to Is-this-a-good-name.

Thank you, Is-this-a-good-name!

Adulting is hard you guys. A word of advise, try and learn how to adult before it's necessary for your survival.

Date posted: 05-22-17