Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A quick note: I'm so sad to see this story end, but the good thing is I can start on Danny Phantom 2 now! Yay! And just so you all know, I got in "trouble" with my college Spanish teacher because I was working on this instead of watching some stupid review video. I already took Spanish 1! I don't need to retake it when I'm supposed to be in Spanish 2! That's what I signed up for, for crying out loud! And what I mean by in "trouble," is you can't really get into trouble with college teachers. You signed up for the classes, you paid for them. If you're not paying attention, it's your own fault. But he still gave me a talking to as if he was a high school teacher. He's from Columbia though, so it might be part of his culture.

Reviews: dark magician girl91, xXxdark alchemistxXx, acosta perez jose ramiro, darkbunny92, PotterPhan21, Raidon Phantom, Sapphire Wolf Master, Samantha-Girl Scout, hamanor12.

Chapter 9: Choose

Sam woke slowly, groaning. Her head ached. She sat up slowly, glancing around her. Where was she? She stood, stepping back then gasped as she nearly fell off the edge of the platform she stood on. She quickly pulled away, staring down at the cars speeding below her. She was standing on the Amity Park bridge! She ran to the side of the platform, looking down. A sound attracted her attention, and she ducked as Plasmius flew over her head. He flew over to a trolley making it's way across a wire attached to the bridge.

"Cool!" the children inside shouted, running from window to window to watch him fly past them.

Plasmius ignored them, firing a Ghost Ray at the trolley station. It exploded in a ball of flames. Cars on the bridge swerved and created an accident blocking the entire bridge. Danny flew forward as fast as he could, landing on a building to catch his breath. He gazed at the bridge with wide eyes. What had Plasmius done?

The children inside the trolley screamed as the machine shook, and the wire holding the trolley up snapped from the explosion. Plasmius caught the wire as the vehicle began to fall, laughing wickedly as he flew up to the platform where Sam stood. Danny took a deep breath then sped on to meet the ghost.

"This is why only fools are heroes!" Plasmius shouted down at him as Danny landed on a platform just below them. "You never know when some lunatic will come along with the sadistic choice: let die the woman you love," Plasmius looked to Sam who was struggling in his grasp, screaming and looking down at the water below her, "or suffer the little children." His gaze turned to the trolley where the children inside were screaming for Danny to save them. "Make your choice, Danny Phantom and see how a hero is rewarded!"

"Don't do it, Plasmius!" Danny shouted desperately.

"We are who we choose to be. Now choose!" He released the wire and Sam.

"No!" Danny cried as both of them began to plummet toward the river.

He ran to the other side of the platform, taking a leap and catching Sam from the air. He threw out his ectoplasmic rope, managing to catch a part of the bridge. He swung across and caught the wire, stopping the trolley from its fall. Danny grunted as the rope began to tear, causing them all to drop a little further toward the water.

Sam screamed as Plasmius took off and circled around them. "He's coming back!"

"We're going to bring the barge under you!" a voice shouted up to them, and as they had promised, they began to steer the barge toward the trolley.

"I need you to climb down," Danny said.

She shook her head, tightening her grip around his neck and shaking her head. "I can't."

"Yes, you can, Sam." He looked over at her then grunted as the rope slipped again. "Sam, you've got to do this!"

She nodded then grabbed the wire connected to the trolley, slowly climbing. She gasped as she looked down then looked up at Danny. "I can't. I can't do it!"

"Yes, you can!" He looked up as Plasmius flew toward them. "Hang on, Sam!" He grunted as Plasmius punched him but managed to hold on to the rope and the wire.

Sam and the children were jostled around, but neither of them fell. Plasmius swung back around, his hand glowing before he punched Danny square in the jaw. Danny fell back, flipping in the air. He released the wire but kept a tight hold on the rope. Once he righted himself, he grabbed the wire again. Sam lost her grip as the wire ceased moving again and fell toward the river, managing to grab the side of the trolley.

"He's not going to make it!" one of the men on the barge said.

"He's going to make it!" the other said, looking up at the dangling trolley and the fumbling girl. "He's got to…"

Danny grunted as he slowly lowered the trolley onto the barge. The people on the bridge had begun throwing things at Plasmius, distracting the ghost for the moment. The children piled out of the trolley and crowded onto the barge to watch Danny. Sam also stood in the crowd watching.

"Phantom, watch out!" Sam cried as Plasmius flew at the ghost boy.

Danny released the rope just as Plasmius spun around him and punched him in the gut, knocking the air out of him. Plasmius grabbed the ghost boy's arm and flew away with him while the citizens of Amity Park watched their hero get torn away from them by the enemy.

Plasmius spun around and threw the younger ghost into an old, abandoned warehouse. Disintegrating walls collapsed around him as he smashed right through them before falling to the ground with a thud. Danny's powers gave out and returned him to human form. He groaned and struggled to get to his feet, but Plasmius set one foot on his back, shoving the poor ghost boy back into the ground.

"If you hadn't saved her, your little girlfriend's death would have been easy, but now it's going to be slow and painful." He grinned down at the young man under his foot. "Sam and I are going to have one hell of a time!"

Danny growled, eyes flashing gold. He shot up, catching Plasmius off guard and managed to knock the other ghost into a wall. He returned to ghost form, firing a Ghost Ray at the man and knocking him into yet another wall. Danny grabbed Plasmius by his collar and threw him across the room then went after him, grabbing him by his neck and preparing to punch him in the face, his hand glowing.

"Danny! Don't, stop! Please!" Plasmius cried. A ring appeared at his head and moved down his body to reveal—

"Vlad," Danny whispered, staring at the man in horror. He stepped away from him, shaking his head as he too returned to human form. "But those people… You hurt all those people!"

"No, it wasn't me!" Vlad said, pleading with the young man.

"You hurt my mom; you tried to hurt Sam…"

"It was Plasmius! I don't have any control when he takes over! Don't let him take me again!" He stumbled toward the young man. "I've always been like a father to you, Danny… Be a son to me now. Help me!"

Danny shook his head. "I had a father. His name was Jack Fenton."

Vlad growled, his pleading face changing to a scowl. "God speed, Danny Phantom!" He threw a crystallized shard of ectoplasm at the ghost boy.

Danny ducked, and Vlad's mouth fell open as the shard sped back around and came toward him instead. It caught him between the ribs, and he let out a strangled gasp, stumbling back against the wall with both hands covering the bleeding wound. Crimson blood flowed freely between his fingers. He slumped against the wall, looking at the wound before looking up at Danny who was staring up at him in shock.

"Danny, don't tell Tucker," he breathed, then slumped to the ground dead.

Danny stared at Vlad's motionless body then bowed his head, closing his eyes as a tear trailed down his cheek.

Tucker whirled around as a noise was heard in Vlad's bedroom. "Vlad?" He walked into the room then gasped. Danny Phantom turned from where he stood beside Vlad's bed, having set the dead man upon it. "Get away from him!" Tucker grabbed a gun from the desk and pointed it at… nothing.

He glanced around the room; Danny Phantom was gone. He walked over to his dead uncle, choking back a sob. The ghost boy would pay for this!

The funeral of Vlad Masters was small. He had few friends and no family. Danny and Sam stood just to the side of Tucker as the preacher spoke over Vlad's grave. When he was finished, the people began to walk away. Danny stepped up to Tucker and set a hand on his shoulder, and the other young man looked over at him.

"I'm so sorry," Danny said. "I know what it's like to lose someone."

"I didn't lose him. He was stolen from me." Tucker looked up at his best friend. "Phantom will pay for killing him," he whispered. "I swear on my uncle's grave: that ghost boy will pay." Danny smiled weakly; if only Tucker knew the truth. "Thank God for you, Danny. You're the only family I have now."

Tucker moved to thank the other people that had come, shaking their hands, and Sam stood beside Vlad's casket, setting a single white rose upon the black box. Danny watched all as if he wasn't really there before walking away, following a familiar path to a familiar grave. He gazed down at the tombstone for Jack Fenton.

No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, the ones I love will always be the ones who pay.

He turned at footsteps, and Sam smiled sadly as she walked up to him and hugged him. "You must miss him so much," she whispered.

"It's been so hard, without him," he admitted, hugging the girl tightly.

She stepped back, keeping one hand on his shoulder. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you. When I was up there and I thought I was going to die, there was only one person that I was thinking about, and it wasn't who I thought it'd be. It was you, Danny." She smiled nervously. "I kept thinking, 'I hope I make it through this, so I can see Danny Fenton's face one more time.'" She reached up and gently touched his cheek, and he smiled. "There's only one man who's always been there for me." She stepped close to him again. "There's only one man who makes me feel… like I'm more than I ever thought I could be. I'm just…me, and that's okay. The truth is, I love you, Danny. I love you so much." She kissed him.

All I wanted was to tell her how much I loved her.

He shook his head when the kiss ended. "I can't," he whispered.

She laughed a little. "You can't? You can't what?"

"Tell you… everything. I mean, there's so much to tell."

"Yeah, there's so much to tell," she whispered.

"I want you to know that I will always be there for you," he whispered. Her smile faded as she gazed at him. "I will always be there to take care of you. I promise you that." He managed a smile before choking out, "I will always be your friend."

She glanced down, trying to smile. "Only a friend, Danny Fenton?"

He smiled sadly. "That's all I have to give."

Sam swallowed and closed her eyes, a tear trailing down her cheek. Her hand fell from his cheek as she realized the harsh truth of his words. He stepped away from her, walking away. A small sob wracked her frame then she stopped, reaching up and touching her lips before turning to look at Danny's retreating form.

Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: With great power comes great responsibility. This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Danny Phantom!

The End

The story continues in Danny Phantom 2…