Thanks to Snickerer and YumeTakato. C'mon, those two can't be the only people reading this, can they?
Chapter 4: Plan C
I don't own Danny Phantom or any Fenton product, as cool as they are. If I did own any of them, the ghost that stole half my cutlery would be toast.
A week after the Technus affair, Will Spirit was patrolling one of the residential areas of Amity Park late at night when his Ghost Sense went off. He quickly moved his head side to side to scan his surroundings, but saw nothing. Before he had time to turn around, however, he was hit with another flash of darkness like the one he'd gotten in school over a week ago, and it disoriented him enough that he didn't even notice the hand until it clamped over his face. It held a cloth soaked in some sort of sweet smelling substance. Lancer felt his eyelids droop and struggled to stay awake.
"Sorry, Spirit, but you're coming with me," said a voice that was already beginning to blur. In the fog that was invading his mind, Lancer managed to come up with one suprised, sarcastic remark before losing consciousness: What is this? A TV show? Who actually says that sort of thing?
---
His next memory was of a dimly lit room with a lot of odd shadows. From the lack of internal cold, he knew he was human again, which meant that his kidnapper either knew his secret, or was about to find out if Lancer couldn't transform back.
He tried. He couldn't. He discovered that he was also restrained by something, but he couldn't tell what. Before he had time to truly panic, a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway.
"Well, well, awake I see. Welcome to my home." His captor chuckled unnervingly.
---
Danny sidled into English the next morning planning on another false tirade from Lancer. Instead, he was greeted with a very real tirade from none other than Testlaff, the health and gym teacher. She ranted at Danny for a full two minutes before he had a chance to speak.
"Aren't you supposed to be teaching instead of chewing me out?"
Testlaff harrumphed, but did fortunately stop haranguing him and began the class. Danny took his seat and pulled out his books. When he judged it was safe, he slipped a note to Tucker.
Where's Lancer?
Didn't show. Thought he was with you.
No. Haven't seen him since yesterday. You don't think he's hurt, do you?
Maybe, but he might have a valid reason.
He would have told me. I'm going to go looking at lunch. Keep your ears open.
Tucker passed the finished note to Sam, who looked concerned for a moment before continuing to scribble in her notebook. She shot a glance at Danny that said, We'll help. He nodded.
---
By four o'clock that afternoon, there was still no sign of Lancer. His bed hadn't been slept in, his wallet was on his kitchen table, his car was still parked on the street, and as far as Danny had been able to tell, he wasn't lying wounded anywhere. Tucker had managed to find out that he hadn't let the school know he was going to be absent either. That left only one option. It had to have been a ghost, and if Vlad was around these days, three guesses who that ghost was. And the first two don't count.
Danny gritted his teeth at the idea. He needed weapons and transportation, and he needed them now. He ran down the stairs to his basement the moment he got home but stopped short at the bottom.
"Mom. Dad." Of course, just when I need the lab to be empty, my parents are down here.
"Hey, Danny boy! Look what we've come up with!" Jack Fenton held up what looked to Danny like a giant spray bottle. With Jack's face on it, of course. There was a light green liquid sloshing inside it. Danny eyed it warily.
"It's the Fenton Sprayer, Danny! If there's an invisible ghost nearby, all you have to do it aim this in its direction and pull the trigger. The liquid clings to ectoplasm so you can see it again."
Fantastic, thought Danny, now I can't even have the security of being invisible.
"That's ... great, Dad. Have you tested it yet?"
"Of course not! I don't see any invisible ghosts around here! Hey! Let's try this thing out right now! Might as well make sure it sprays properly before we meet a ghost." Jack pulled the trigger of the Fenton Sprayer. He pulled it again. And again.
"Dang it. Must be clogged or something." Jack pointed the nozzle towards himself and peered at it inquisitively. He squeezed again. This time it worked.
"Argh! Maddie, get it off, get it off!" Jack started running in circles around the lab, knocking over beakers and equipment. Before he could do any more damage than his son was willing to clean up, Danny grabbed a towel off a counter and handed it to his mother, who made a flying leap and tackled her husband to the ground.
"Now stay still, Jack dear."
Well, that's a welcome distraction. Danny began to sneak around the side of the lab. He surreptitiously pocketed a Fenton Fisher and was reaching for a Fenton Finder when his mother looked up and caught him.
"Danny, what are you doing?"
"Uhhhh, Phantom needs more stuff?" he asked hopefully.
"More than what you've got stashed in your room?"
"They got broken?"
"Danny..." Maddie was losing patience. Her son was obviously worried about something (more than usual, at least), and doing a terrible job of lying because of the nerves. Danny knew the game was up, and sighed.
"I just talked to Phantom. He says Will Spirit's been kidnapped and that he needs me to meet him in the Ghost Zone to help with the rescue. So I'm just going to take a few more weapons and get in the Speeder..." Danny began edging towards the Portal again. Maddie put out a hand to stop him.
"Wait a minute, Danny," she said. "You can't drive. How do you expect to take the Specter Speeder into the Ghost Zone?"
"You trained me, remember?"
"That was in case of emergency, when we couldn't be with you." Maddie grabbed a Bazooka and a few assorted weapons and tossed them in the back of the Speeder. "We're coming too, Danny. The Ghost Zone isn't a safe place for humans. We are trained professionals, Danny."
"Mom, Dad," Danny protested, "you'd just be in the way. Trust me. I know what Phantom's planning." Though I would really like the help.
"Do you even know what ghost he thinks did it?" Maddie asked. "Maybe we know a little about it and can provide information."
"He knows all he needs to. He's fought him before." I didn't realize they'd try to be this helpful.
"Why are you so worried about this?" inquired Danny's father, trying to get the last of the Sprayer's liquid out of his hair. "This is Phantom's fight, not yours."
"Phantom says Spirit's never fought the ghost alone before," Danny said. "He's pretty powerful and I'm worried. Even Phantom's scared to go up against him. He's told me what that ghost can do to people, especially ones that are already dead." The gears in Jack's head clicked into place.
"It's that Wisconsin Ghost, isn't it?" Danny tensed. "I knew it! He's the most powerful ghost we know of, besides Phantom and Spirit, and the only one who's an even match for Phantom." That was the third time Jack had surprised his son in the last month. Had he really been watching Phantom's fights that carefully?
"Nasty piece of work," Jack continued. "If that's who Phantom's going to fight, I'm coming. You're not going in there alone. I've seen what he thinks of humans, and I don't want to see anything happen to you."
"I'm coming too, then," Maddie declared. "Phantom's just going to be distracted trying to protect you, and he's going to get hurt. And besides, if Phantom's fighting and you get hurt, who's going to get Spirit out of there? We're fellow ghost hunters. We're not leaving one of our own to suffer. Either we all go, or no one goes." She jabbed an ectogun into her belt.
"All right," Danny conceded. "But he won't be happy about this." Danny watched as his parents loaded the entire portable contents of the lab into the Specter Speeder. It hit him just how big a hole he'd dug for himself in the last five minutes.
Oh, great. They're going to expect to pull over at some point to meet up with Phantom, and there're going to be a lot of awkward questions. A lot. Like about how I know the Ghost Zone so well. And I'm not going to be able to answer them all without getting my parents suspicious. At least, any more than they already are. Lancer's right. I can't keep lying to them like this. I barely remember what I've told them and what I haven't. And they do accept me as a good guy, and want to be friends, so I guess they won't try to kill me now. But then I'm going to have to explain the hows and whys. Danny sighed. Well, it does take a few hours to get to Vlad's portal. I guess I can do this. I've waited long enough.
"Danny, are you coming?" Danny jerked himself out of his thoughts and realized that his parents were waiting expectantly for him.
"Yeah. But I need to tell you guys something first. It's to do with the kidnapping, sort of." Danny stepped out into the middle of the lab. "Promise you'll think before you do anything?"
His parents nodded, confused. They watched in shock as two rings appeared at Danny's waist and Danny Phantom appeared where their son had been standing. The keys to the Speeder clattered to the floor in the moment that followed.
"Danny?" Maddie stammered and nearly slipped to the floor before Jack caught her. "How? When? Why didn't you tell us before?"
"I'll explain on the way," Danny said tightly. "We've got a couple hours before we get there."
He climbed into the Speeder, and his parents nervously joined him. Maddie turned the key and drove through the Portal, eyeing her son as she did so. This was going to be a very interesting ride.
---
While Danny was sitting in English consumed with worry, his teacher was sitting in a dark room, trying to figure out why Vlad had captured him and why he was getting a feeling of déjà vu. His abductor's silhouette appeared in the doorway of the room and Lancer could tell that it was sneering.
"Well, well, looks like Daniel hasn't come to get you yet. Think he will, or does he not care about you enough to rescue you?"
"Why am I here?" Vlad began to walk slowly into the room, hands behind his back.
"I suppose it's no harm for you to know. I'm sure Daniel's told you that I'm trying to take him under my wing. The boy has still a lot to learn about his powers, and I have twenty years of experience I am more than willing to share with him. And you, for that matter. Well, I've realized that Daniel is not going to come to me on his own, so I've brought you here to entice him."
"In other words, I'm bait." If Vlad's resorting to this, he must be getting desperate. That's useful.
Vlad winced. "That's such a harsh word, William. I prefer incentive. I am merely looking out for the boy's best interests, after all."
"Turning evil is not in anyone's best interests."
"I merely want to train him, William, and to have him as a son."
Lancer burned. That was just wrong, and almost a blatant lie.
"I'm never joining you either, you know," he said angrily.
"Oh, I don't know. I think you might, given the right motivation." Vlad grinned, and fired up an ectoblast. It was the same colour as the light Lancer had seen in his blackouts.
And if you didn't already know that I was evil, you do now! Mwahahahahaa! Especially when you're not going to find out what happens to Lancer for a few more chapters! Mwahaha!