Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does, and I somehow doubt that will be changing any time soon. Since I'm not making any money from this, there is nothing for the law-ninjas to sue out of me.
Author's note: Eeep! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry I didn't get the chapter done last weekend! I was camping out at Target to get a Nintendo Wii! And then all my free time this week was spent... well, playing it. But I'll have you guys know I promised myself I wouldn't leave you hanging for more than two weeks, and have worked hard to resist the call of Twilight Princess to finish it!
And I would have had this posted two days ago, but FFN wouldn't lemme upload it!
Chapter 8: Confrontation
"To end all the innocence
To be someone like me
This is the birth of all hope
To have what I once had"
-"End of All Hope" - Nightwish
Vlad touched down a few feet from the group, a fanged scowl on his face. It took a moment for the others to recognize the ghost for the present day version and not the far more haggard future one. He looked impressively livid as he looked over the teens, his red-eyed gaze skipping over the almost-panicky Phantom. That was a good thing at least, it seemed Vlad didn't realize that the ghost was anybody of importance. Perhaps he mistakenly thought that the tall, slender ghost was some friend of Jazz.
"What do you want with Danny?" Sam snapped, putting a bold face on her surprise.
She and Tucker thankfully had seldom dealt with the billionaire, and those few times they did, Danny was there. The situation was extremely unpredictable with Danny elsewhere talking to Plasmius, and an unstable Phantom present. What on Earth was Vlad Masters doing there anyway? Did he know about Phantom and the rampage in the city a week ago? Sam cast a worried glance at Phantom, the slender ghost's eyes darting left and right, thin frame tensed to flee. Jazz had been doing so well with the spook, and it seemed likely that Vlad's untimely arrival had just thrown all that progress clean out the window. Considering what Phantom had to say about Vlad, there was really no telling how the situation was going to go.
"Simple enough, girl." Vlad retorted. "I want to find out why precisely Daniel saw fit to destroy my castle. And what precisely is going on."
A quick glance at Phantom confirmed where Vlad must have gotten that idea from. The ghost cringed at the mention of the castle's destruction, that was probably what had the billionaire rather cheesed off.
"What if we told you Danny hasn't been out of Amity Park for weeks?" Jazz bit out. "So you're barking up the wrong tree, fruit loop."
"Yeah, what makes you think it was Danny, anyway? Don't you have any other rivals to worry about?" Tucker quirked an eyebrow.
"I know what I saw." Vlad growled, clearly not in the mood to play nice. "Unless the four of you can think of some other ghost with that ridiculous D-P emblem."
"It's not ridiculous-!" Sam protested.
"Right." Jazz cut the goth off dryly. "And living alone in some creepy old castle, of course you'd never imagine things to break up the monotony of solitary living."
Apparently the redhead's worded barb struck a nerve, if the intense glare Vlad turned on Jazz was any indication.
"Need I remind you, Jasmine, that you are not in a position to try anything right now?" Vlad hissed. "I'm certain Daniel would be a great deal more cooperative in explaining what I want to know with you three involved."
"Are you threatening us?" Sam quirked an eyebrow. From her limited experience in dealing with Vlad, such bold moves weren't typical of the billionaire.
Vlad smirked at the goth's indignation. With Daniel elsewhere, there was little his young friends or sister could do against the older half-ghost. Even if Jazz had some of her parents' weaponry on hand, such things were of little concern to the billionaire. Now, if Jack was there and armed with anything, the big man would have potentially been a serious threat. But no, Vlad was no fool, he chose his confrontations wisely, when his target was most vulnerable. He'd spotted the group near the school, and had assumed they were on their way somewhere and would lead him right to Daniel. Following them to the mall proved this did not seem to be the case, but it was a simple matter of altering his plan. They would lead him to the answers he wanted, one way or the other.
"Of course not. I don't make threats." Vlad replied, tone lightly mocking. " I make promises."
"You do not, you lying piece of-" Phantom shrieked suddenly, lunging at the half-ghost.
"No, wait-!" Sam yelped, too late to grab the agitated ghost or do anything to stop him.
The attack was clumsy and borne clearly of anger. So it wasn't well planned, and Vlad easily batted the ghost aside. Phantom hit the ground with an angry cry as he tumbled to a halt. He hadn't been hit by anything terribly hard given what Vlad was probably capable of, but the blow had been enough to stun the ghost. Apparently the billionaire had unknowingly chosen poorly in his witty banter, given how Phantom seemed to have a fixation with the entire promise concept.
"Leave him alone!" Jazz ran in between Vlad and Phantom, casting worried glances over her shoulder at the ghost. "He's got nothing to do with this."
Vlad raised an eyebrow at the declaration. "He seems to think otherwise."
A second glance showed Phantom already clawing his way back to his feet, glaring green daggers at the billionaire. The amount of hate in that glare was unsettlingly reminiscent of the fused version's usual expression, making Jazz shiver involuntarily. Was it that much hate for the archvillain himself, or self-loathing for the past decade being focused on the man? Regardless, the group was not in a good position, and there was still a slight chance that the situation could be diffused without a fight. Vlad wasn't one for bold, blunt maneuvers; clearly all he was after was information because apparently Phantom and Plasmius had blown the man's castle to bits. The question was whether or not the group could give him an answer that would satisfy the billionaire without giving away anything important.
"What makes you think Danny knows anything about what's going on?" Sam challenged, slipping past Jazz to try and reign Phantom in before he could decide to attack Vlad a second time.
"Okay, look, there was one other ghost." Jazz sighed, putting just a touch of defeated slump into her posture. "From some sort of alternate reality in the Ghost Zone. If it was him though, none of us would know where he is or what he's up to."
"Danny!" Sam hissed in a low whisper to Phantom as she grabbed his arm. "Don't fight him, you'll just get hurt."
Phantom startled slightly at the contact and name, gawking at Sam in confusion. "But he-"
"I know." Sam interrupted. "Just trust me, you're not in any shape to fight him. You had trouble with this timeline's Danny, right? If you had trouble with him, what makes you think you stand a chance against Vlad?"
Something in the goth's tone made Phantom pause and slowly unclench his fists. That wasn't just concern in her voice, no. Phantom raised an eyebrow when he realized just what it was in her voice. Fear. Something had Sam... Sam of all people, frightened. Not for her own safety. She was afraid for him.
"Hm... I would like to trust that you are telling me the truth, but I just can't quite bring myself to." Vlad sneered at Jazz. "After all, I can't simply forget what happened the last time I trusted you, now can I?"
I guess he's still bitter about the battle suit. Jazz cringed. "None of us know anything more than I just told you, fruit loop."
"Really... call it just a hunch, but I somehow suspect Daniel will have more useful information on the subject." Vlad floated forward, looking down at Jazz.
"No, he doesn't." Jazz stood her ground, forcing herself to match Vlad's creepy red stare with defiance.
Sam kept a firm grip on Phantom's arm as the situation continued to play out. The ghost was quivering, though from fear, panic, or rage she couldn't tell. From the look on his face, it was clear he was tense and wanted to attack Vlad. Sam didn't want to break the news to him that he was on borrowed time, and it seemed to the goth that getting into a fight would only shorten what little time the ghost still had left.
"Then why don't we go and find out?" Vlad hissed, his minimal reserve of patience clearly running out as he caught a fistful of Jazz's shirt, hefting the redhead so they were face-to-face.
"Put me down!" Jazz yelped, trying to pry the billionaire's hand open.
Something snapped. Sam saw it in that split second that exists between hesitation and action, the shift in Phantom's expression. Whether it was that much hate for Vlad, or that much fear for Jazz's safety, or perhaps both; Sam knew that the situation had just gone completely out of control even before the ghost's arm passed intangible through her grip. Still in human guise, the ghost circled around to the side before he launched himself at Vlad a second time.
"Leave my sister alone!" Phantom bellowed as he slammed into Vlad, sending the billionaire tumbling.
Phantom tumbled briefly as well from the impact, though he did land on his feet, crouched and glaring at Vlad. The billionaire snarled something unintelligible and got back up, glowering at the unexpected intrusion. Jazz was still sitting where she'd fallen, a stunned look on her face as the two ghosts regarded one another warily. Phantom had yet to transform, but everything in his stance indicated he wasn't going to be restrained from attacking the archvillain a second time.
"Your sister?" Vlad studied Phantom warily, red eyes widening slightly. "Who are you?"
Phantom straightened slightly as he considered his reply. "Maybe I... should just show you."
"Wait! If you-" Tucker yelped, the protest a moment too late.
Phantom cried out when the energy rings flashed into being, transforming the ghost back to his real form with disconcerting speed. Compared to how much effort it had taken him to take on a human appearance, it was evident that only sheer willpower kept Phantom on his feet through the transformation. It did stop Vlad in his tracks from sheer surprise, the billionaire clearly not having expected some 20-something kid to suddenly turn into a familiar-looking ghost.
"You-!" Vlad pointed accusingly at Phantom in surprise, a nearly uncharacteristic display for the billionaire. "It was you!"
Phantom nodded once, still panting from the effort it had taken just to transform. It seemed as if perhaps the billionaire's untimely arrival had provided some sort of outlet for whatever intense emotions were plaguing the guilt-addled ghost. Whether or not he could hold up through a fight was a complete unknown, especially against Vlad.
"Yeah... it was me." Phantom gasped between breaths, crouching slightly. "Even if that's... only half of it."
Vlad ignored Phantom for a moment, turning to sneer in Jazz's direction. "You don't know where he is, do you?"
Jazz chuckled nervously. "Uh... whoops?"
"I don't know who precisely you are or why you see fit to mimic myself and now Daniel-" Vlad scowled at Phantom again. "-But most all ghosts have learned you do not cross me."
"Yeah, so?" Phantom growled. "I won't let you hurt anyone... not after everything that I-...Just go away!"
Sam slapped her forehead while Tucker helped Jazz back up. The trio of teens unobtrusively moved to put some distance between them and the two ghosts. All the psychology know-how in the world wouldn't do any good in predicting how the situation was going to play out. If the situation turned violent as it seemed primed to do, it would be better that they were out of the line of fire.
"We've got to call Danny." Sam declared in a low voice, casting worried glances at the standoff.
"Yeah, he doesn't stand a chance if he's gonna..." Tucker glanced at the standoff, then at Jazz's confused expression.
"What did Danny tell you on the phone, Sam?" Jazz shot the goth a stern look.
Sam frowned. She and Tucker hadn't meant to keep the news from Jazz, but there simply hadn't been a good opportunity to tell the redhead in between the car trip and Vlad showing up. It seemed now was as good a time as any.
"Apparently, Plasmius told Danny that unless they-" Sam's tone left no doubt who "they" were. "Unless they fuse back into him, they're both going to disappear. Forever."
"They're what?" Jazz's eyes widened at the news, casting a frantic glance at the standoff twenty feet away that seemed poised on the very brink of battle.
"And he wants Danny to help him find some way to do it that doesn't involve going back to that psycho kill-everything business." Sam frowned.
"I think that's gonna take a back seat to dealing with present Vlad." Tucker pointed out.
Phantom yelled something and lunged at Vlad a third time. The billionaire was ready for the attack though, forming a pink shield that the 20-something ghost slammed into face-first, stunning him momentarily. Vlad was no fool to waste time on witty banter, and instead capitalized on the opportunity to land a punch to Phantom's midsection that sent the ghost careening into a parked car nearby with enough force to dislodge the vehicle's door.
"I didn't come here looking for a fight, you realize." Vlad growled, stalking toward the fallen ghost. "But if you absolutely insist, I can't think of a single good reason not to oblige."
Phantom clawed his way upright and snarled wordlessly at Vlad's approach, green eyes burning nearly yellow from the intensity of his anger. It was relatively apparent to those watching that Vlad's untimely arrival had brought an intense mood swing to the unstable Phantom, the ghost's clear hatred for the man an echo of the ruthless killer that Danny had barely managed to defeat before. While Jazz had achieved surprising success with her attempt to use psychology to tame Phantom, it remained evident that the ghost was mentally unstable. Doomed or not, the ghost was still a danger to himself and those around him. Assuming that Vlad didn't beat Phantom into the dirt first.
"Oblige this!" Phantom hissed, flinging a green ecto-blast at Vlad.
The abruptness of the attack caught the billionaire by surprise, sending him head-over-feet into the side rail of the parking complex. He recovered rapidly, springing nimbly into the air just in time to avoid the flying kick Phantom had aimed at the tall half-ghost's face.
Somewhere in the back of Phantom's mind, he was aware that trying to fight in his condition was a bad idea. Every use of his power sent bursts of pain coursing through his body, but the only outward sign he gave of the discomfort were slight twitches and cringes. He knew trying to fight Vlad wasn't a good idea. But the sight of the man, the thought that the archvillain was threatening these people he found himself caring so intensely for was a thought he simply couldn't bear. The idea of the three teens coming to harm hurt worse than any physical pain, and the ghost refused to let that mental image come to pass. Not after the terrible things he blamed himself for, that they had been so willing to forgive.
If he ended up killed in the process... well, his life was the very least that he owed everyone for everything he'd done.
---
"Do you honestly think there's any way to fix things so that... if you two... you know what I mean!" Danny gestured accusingly at Plasmius with his phone.
"Well clearly I'm not the problem in this equation." Plasmius countered, arms crossed. His little guilt trip had worked almost exactly as desired, coercing Daniel to cooperate, however grudgingly, lest the boy be anything like his alternate timeline self.
"I know. I know!" Danny growled. That the fused ghost from the future was so messed up largely because of his half of the equation didn't sit well with the half-ghost. "And apparently Jazz is trying to play headshrinker with him."
"You realize that may be just what it takes to stabilize your alternate self?" Plasmius quirked an eyebrow, ignoring the now-steady ache of his own deterioration.
"I still don't like it." Danny groused. "What if it doesn't help and you two still end up all nuts?"
Plasmius frowned. The tall ghost had no answer that would satisfy the hot-tempered teen, and they both knew it. Their options were limited, and neither one was particularly savory. On the one hand, it would likely be less of a headache for Daniel to simply let the split ghost halves fade to oblivion. The idea of those deaths hanging over his head was an undesirable consequence, but the alternative solution was not much better. Taking an uncertain gamble on fusing the split halves back together was no more attractive an option; the odds were far from favorable that any sort of change could be brought about, and the consequences if the gamble failed were far worse than either Daniel or Plasmius liked to consider. It might have been possible to find some less drastic way to save the split halves, but there simply wasn't the time nor the resources available to find it.
Plasmius might not have shown the same hysteria about the past decade that Phantom did, a fact attributed almost entirely to the fact that the pale ghost had been mentally stable at the time of fusion, that he was older and better able to cope with trauma; but he was still utterly appalled by the acts he'd helped commit. Oblivion was very nearly tempting in the face of that terrible knowledge; yet the will to survive, to persist in one form or another was still stronger. Regardless of what Phantom might have wanted, Plasmius was no suicidal fool. If Daniel had been able to effect such a great change as to prevent that future from ever happening, there was no way to know just what might be done to atone for the decade of slaughter.
Further argument about the situation was interrupted by the obnoxiously loud noise of Danny's phone. Both glanced at the device for a moment before Danny flipped the phone open, checked the number, and hurriedly answered.
"Sam? What's-" Danny froze, green eyes going wide. "That's what that noise is in the background-? He's what?"
Plasmius waited, a frown on his face only getting deeper as Danny's expression got increasingly worried. The only reason for the girl to call that would have the young half ghost so intent was a bad one. Something had to have gone wrong involving Phantom. From the look on Daniel's face, something hadn't simply gone wrong, it had gone seriously wrong.
"I'm on my way. Just... take cover!" Danny flipped the phone shut, almost darting into the air before he paused, remembering that Plasmius was still there.
"Let me guess." Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "Something's gone wrong involving your alternate self and your sister and two friends."
"Your alternate self showed up and mine is trying to fight him!" Danny snapped.
Were the circumstances different, the way the ghost's red eyes went wide almost in panic would have been comical. It made sense that Plasmius would have a great deal of concern for the continued well-being of Phantom; if something dire happened to the traumatized ghost, Plasmius could kiss his own survival good-bye.
"Cheesecake!" Plasmius yelped, lifting into the air before noticing Danny was gawking at him. "Well? What are you waiting for, a carved invitation?"
"You're helping me?" Danny hopped into the air so he was eye-level with the ghost, a slightly incredulous look on his face.
"Well of course you fool." Plasmius bit out. "While it may be your friends in danger, it's my survival that's at stake!"
Danny couldn't argue with that logic. Besides, maybe having Plasmius along would surprise Vlad just enough to give the half-ghost a much-needed edge against his arch-enemy.
"Good point." Danny noted as the pair shot off toward the mall.
Hang tight guys, I'm coming!
Author's Notes: Let's see... things have been busy around here. As I mentioned, I got a Wii, and am enjoying it muchly. But I'm sure you guys don't want to hear my blathering about how awesome it is.
News that will probably hold more interest for you is this: After talking with a number of other DeviantArt members, I decided to start a new club over there. So if you're so inclined, please check out Danny Phantom: Real Fans at http:// dp-realfans. deviantart. com/
And to wrap things up, a great big "THANK YOU!" and more pumpkin pie (with pumpkin pie ice cream, oh man that stuff is AWESOME!) to everyone who's read and reviewed: Sasia93, Sapphire Wolf Master, Pieling, i AM the Random Idiot, The Fluff Ghost, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, StarsOfTwilight, Arabic Blessing, CharmedNightSkye, Punker88, Tornada Silverwind, WTFWonder, and PotterPhan21! You guys rock out loud!