Chpt 8: Getting Worse
Skulker stepped away from the shadows and stood just before Danny. He watched with a smile as Danny struggled to get himself out of the net with his siter's help.
" How do you like it? No ghost can phase through it," said Skulker.
" What are you doing here?" asked Danny.
" I'm here to stop you, Ghost-child."
" From what?"
Skulker smirked as a whole swarm of ghosts suddenly became visible in the skies. Every one of them glared daggers at Danny; daggers that could be thrown any second.
" You're going to stop him from attacking?" asked Jazz.
Skulker looked to the red-headed teen. " Don't be rediculous. He couldn't stop all of us. Our boss told us he was injured and can't fight very well. But just in case he happened to get his powers back, I've sealed him within my net so all he can do is watch what's about to unfold."
" Unfold?" Danny repeated. " What do you mean?"
" You'll find out soon enough."
" Like now for instance," Vlad's voice said, seeming to come from nowhere.
Danny felt his anger boiling up inside him once again. " What have you done with my friends?" the young ghost-halfa yelled.
" I haven't done anything with them. They're perfectly safe," Vlad answered, appearing beside Skulker. "Infact, they're right here." Vlad threw Sam and Tucker to the ground. Both teens were already unconscious.
Jazz gasped and Danny tried even harder to find a way out of his small prison.
" Now there's just one person left that we have to catch, and how lucky we all are that she is right infront of us," smirked Vlad.
Danny looked to Jazz. " Run."
" Running won't do your sister any good. There are too many ghosts around; they'll catch her in no time. So, no matter what she decides to do she'll be captured. The easiest thing to do would be to just stay right where she is," said Vlad.
Danny and Jazz knew that he was right. There was nothing either of them could do.
Vlad smirked. " Everyone, I believe you know what to do."
With that, all the ghosts took off in different directions, attacking random objects as they went by. Destroying walls in houses and other buildings, creating huge craters in the middle of the roads, slicing trees in half, anything that was possible. The only ghost left standing infront of Danny and Jazz was Plasmius himself. He stood with an evil smirk on his face. After a few moments of staring into young Danny's eyes, he picked up Sam and Tucker, then looked to Jasmine.
" Well, are you going to come willingly? Or am I going to have to do this the hard way?" Vlad asked.
Jazz sighed as she stood up and walked towards the evil halfa.
" No! Jazz, don't!" cried Danny, struggling to get free.
" Don't worry, Danny, I won't harm your precious sister. I would never do that. And the others will be fine as well. It's as if you don't trust me."
Danny shot Vlad a look, " Maybe that's because I don't!" he yelled.
Vlad smirked one final time. Without saying another word, he grabbed Jazz and transported out of sight.
As soon as he left, the net around Danny ceased to exsist and he stood up. All of Danny's enemies were out of the ghost-zone and onto his territory, destroying anything they desired. But why? What was Vlad trying to do? Suddenly, a thought struck Danny. That's when he saw Vlad reappear on top of a building to talk with the town once again.
" Everyone, something terrible has happened! Four of your children have been kidnapped!" Plasmius announced to the crowd standing before him on the street. Everyone gasped. " Yes. The children who were taken are Tucker Foley, Samantha Manson, Jasmine Fenton, and Danny Fenton." The crowd gave another horrifed gasp.
" W-was it The Halfa?" Maddie asked, knowing what Plasmius' answer would be.
Everyone watched as Plasmius nodded sadly. " Where he has taken these four children, I know not. But I will stop at nothing to find them for you and bring them back here where they'll be safe. And just look around you at your precious neighborhood. The Halfa can't just stop with taking the children, but has to try and destroy your town - your very homes!"
Danny watched as the mob roared with anger like a ferocious lion being taunted with a stick. There was nothing he could do. Plasmius had all the upper hands and had since the beginning. At this point, Danny thought that maybe he should just turn himself in.
" If you want these children back, why don't you ask The Halfa to return them? Afterall, he's standing right over there."
The crowd turned their heads to the left to see the ghost-boy they'd been chasing earlier. Without hesitation, the town started after him. For awhile Danny stood in shock - a deer in headlights - but as they came charging closer, he quickly gathered his wits back together and ran. While he ran, he looked in various places to see all his ghost-enemies smirking evilly at him. They all knew what was in store for him; they sat back, eager to watch.
Danny looked behind him to see the mob catching up with him fast. He had to get away. Danny had to check. He put his right arm infront of him as he ran and tried to conjure up a ghost ray. Nothing but a small spark of energy left his hand.
" Darn it!" he cried. " My powers still aren't back! I can't keep running like this forever!"
As soon as those words left Danny's mouth, everything froze in place. A strange medallion was then placed around Danny's neck by an unknown ghost who flew off to the side right after his task. Danny could now move, but due to the fact that he had been right in the middle of running, faultered and fell to the ground. He rubbed his sore bottom before looking around and realizing that everything was very quiet. He cautiously got up and turned around to see everyone suspended in the air. All the ghosts around him sat plastered in their places. He walked over to his parents, who were a couple of the people leading this mad frenzy, and waved his hand over their faces, but they did nothing.
" What's going on?" Danny asked himself. " What happened, and what's around my neck?"
" I believe I can answer that," answered an unfamiliar voice.
The young ghost-hybrid whipped around to find a new ghost.
" Great, you probably want to fight me too, right?" asked Danny.
" No, I've come here to help you."
" Who are you?"
" I am Clockwork. I oversee all time and have the ability to stop, fast-forward, rewind and also see into the future," answered the ghost while changing his current form to that of an old man. " And the medallion you are wearing permits you to move around while time is frozen.
" So you stopped everybody? Why?" asked Danny, ignoring the medallion part.
" You are at an unfair advantage without the use of your powers. I also know what will happen if these people capture you. That future is not a good one. I'm here to try and stop that future from happening. If you're gone, Vlad will take over this world and the ghost world," explained Clockwork, changing again, but this time to the form of a small boy.
" So you're changing the future? You're allowed to do that?"
" If I change it for the better, yes. For this reason I can't let these people capture you. If they do, it'll be the end of you, and the end of both worlds as we know them."
" Then what are you going to do?"
" I'm going to rewind time back to when the net you were contained in vanishes. Once that happens, you are to run away to somewhere safe. A place that no one would think to look for you."
" Okay. I can do that," nodded Danny. " Thanks."
" Don't worry about it," answered Clockwork as he began to rewind time.
" Don't worry, Danny, I won't harm your precious sister. I would never do that. And the others will be fine as well. It's as if you don't trust me."
Danny shot Vlad a look, " Maybe that's because I don't!" he yelled.
Vlad smirked one final time and without saying another word, grabbed Jasmine and transported out of sight.
As soon as he left, the net around Danny ceased to exsist and he stood up. Heeding Clockwork's advice, Danny took off running before Vlad started talking to everyone. This time as he ran, none of the ghosts payed attention to him. They were still busy destroying things, pretending that it was Danny that did it. Finally, he made it to an alley where he hid behind a large disgusting dumpster and changed back into a human.
" Finally, I can relax for a little while," Danny said to himself, relieved for the moment. Suddenly, he heard a stampede of feet running through the streets. Everyone was probably looking for him. Danny closed his eyes and rested his head against the grisly brick wall in an attempt to relax when suddenly a huge shadow was cast over him.
" Hey," complained Danny. " Do you mind?"
" Fenton?" asked an all too familiar voice.
Danny opened his eyes to see none other than Dash Baxter staring down at him.
" Dash!" cried Danny.
" I thought you got kidnapped by that halfa."
" What? Oh! I was. But I...uh...managed to escape," Danny said, playing along with Plasmius' lie.
" Everyone, I didn't find The Halfa, but I did find Fenton!" yelled Dash over his shoulder.
Instantly a crowd of people came charging into the narrow alley to see if what the block-headed football star said was the truth. At the sight of Danny, the crowd was in a mixture of shock and happiness. The people directly infront grabbed Danny, pulled him onto his feet, and made their way back out to the main street.
" Okay you can let go now. I'm fine," said Danny, breaking free of everyone's hands.
" Danny!" cried his mother while running towards him, embracing him tightly once she reached him.
" Hi, Mom," said Danny, embarrassment coursing through his body.
" Danny, I thought I'd never see you again!" Maddie cried, giving him kisses.
" Okay, Mom, I'm fine!" cried Danny, trying to break free.
Suddenly, Danny's mother let go of him and looked down at him with seriousness covering her features. " Danny," she said, " where are the others?"
Danny could feel everyone's eyes lock onto him, expecting a hopeful answer. Danny gulped before opening his mouth.
" Well, I...I really don't know where they are. The Halfa didn't explain anything. He sort of just...took us," said Danny.
" Well, how did you escape?" someone asked.
Danny gulped again. How was he supposed to answer that question?
" Um...well..." he started, but was cut off by his arch nemisis' voice.
" Danny, you escaped the evil halfa's clutches! How fortunate for you," said Plasmius, false happiness in every ounce of his twisted voice.
Everyone looked to Plasmius with happiness on their faces. Well, everyone except for Danny.
" You must have been too much for The Halfa to handle. But go on and tell us how you escaped," Plasmius grinned. " I'm sorry to have interrupted you."
" Well," Danny began, searching his brain for something to tell everyone. " He...he was flying through the air and had ahold of us, and I woke up and saw everyone else unconsious. Since I was the first one awake, I must have taken The Halfa by surprise because I heard him gasp and then...um...he just...well he dropped me," Danny told everyone.
" He just dropped you? You didn't have to fight him or anything?" asked Paulina.
" Yeah...lucky me," Danny smiled cheesily at her.
" If you fell, where'd you land?" asked his mother.
" Um...we were luckily passing a tree along the way and I grabbed onto the branches. Then...I ran into that alley and hid behind the dumpster. That's when Dash found me."
" What did The Halfa look like?" someone from the crowd called.
Great. He couldn't say what The Halfa looked like. He couldn't just say, " Hey, he looks like me. Infact, I'm the ghost you've been looking for!" Well, he could, but Clockwork said that would be the end of him. So he had to think of something to tell these people and fast.
" Actually, I didn't really get a good look at him before I fell. Um...I did notice that he had green eyes though. But that's all," said Danny.
" That's it? He's the one who captured you, and you don't even know what he looks like?" cried Paulina.
" Oh well. At least your safe, Danny," said Maddie, hugging her son tightly again. Once she let go, she spoke to everyone around her. " And from now on, I think we should all keep our children with us. We can't risk anymore of them being kidnapped by The Halfa."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and started running back to find their children. Maddie grabbed Danny by the wrist and pulled him along behind her.
" Where are we going?" asked Danny.
" Home," came his mothers simple answer.
As Danny walked with his mother, he turned his head to see Plasmius staring at him. Danny gave him one more scowl before Plasmius flew the opposite direction.
When they arrived at home, Danny was ordered to lie down on the couch.
" Lie down? What do I need to do that for?" Danny argued.
" Don't argue with me, Danny Fenton, I thought I'd lost both my children just a few short moments ago. Now just do as I say and lay down on the couch!" his mother cried at him.
Danny didn't argue with her. When she got upset, it was best to do as she wanted. Just as Danny sat down, he let out a cry of pain. He'd forgotten all about his head injury from earlier.
" Danny!" cried Maddie.
" No...don't worry. I'm...fine," he said through the pain.
" You don't sound fine," his mother said, hurrying over next to her son.
" Don't worry. I...I just stubbed my toe, that's all," Danny smiled weakly.
Maddie gave him an equally weak smile before getting up and going into the kitchen. After she was out of sight, Danny layed down on the couch, his head still throbbing from the recent lightening bolt of pain. Before he fell asleep, he thought about how he was going to get his friends back. Where could Vlad be hiding them and how would he find out? For poor Danny this was just another hurdle, but would he be able to make it over and get the answers he needed?