((weak laughter)) Hehe…don't hurt me, please! I tried to get this up sooner, but school work and this thing most people call "writer's block" plagued me. I do know where this story is going, don't worry. I'm just not EXACTLY sure how to get there, if you know what I mean, without making it seem too cheesy.
So…here's the next chapter…hopefully it's good…I guess you guys will tell me, though…please?
Danny moaned. He opened his eyes just enough so that he could see through them. What had happened? Where was he? How long had he been out of it? He must have asked the last question aloud, because someone answered.
"About two hourssssssss," came a raspy voice, and, along with it, Danny's memory.
"Ch-chemist?" Danny questioned, making sure his memory wasn't failing him.
"Who elsssssse? Honesssssstly, I'm ssssssssurprised you didn't come sssssssooner."
"Right. I need a cure for a poison. See, I think Vlad poisoned me and—"
"Yesssss, yessss, I know, boy. I made the poison."
Danny sighed, "I figured as much. Look, I have things—payment—," he said, addressing the contents that lay on the floor surrounding him, "that I could give you if you'll just help me find a cure."
The Chemist let out a deathly quiet laugh. "Payment. I have no need of sssssuch thingssss," he snickered, "What I need, Danny Phantom, isssssss you."
"Me? Why me?"
"Becausssssse, boy, ghosts were once humansssssss, too. To make ussss all-powerful and perfect ourselvessssss, the DNA of a half ghost would be very usssssseful."
Danny's brain finally started clicking. "Like Spectra. She wanted my DNA to lock in her new form."
"But it didn't work. She didn't know what she was doing. Even if she had gained your DNA and not your putrid father'ssssss sssssssnot, her form would not have lasted more than three hoursssssss."
Danny cocked his head, confused. "Then how do you propose to use my DNA to enhance ghosts?"
The Chemist merely smiled maniacally and left the room. Danny sat inside his rather confining cage and stared at the door as Chemist left. This was not good.
DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP
"I knew we should have gone," Sam said.
"Geez, girls worry too much. I'm sure Danny's fine," Tucker said calmly.
"Yeah? Well, it's been three hours, which means that Danny's in trouble," Sam said.
"So, what do you want to do? Go into the ghost zone and fly around aimlessly in the Specter Speeder? We don't know where the Chemist guy lives," Tucker reasoned.
Sam growled low in her throat. "Oooooh, that Danny! Why didn't he tell us where he was going? More importantly, why didn't I ask?!? Augh, I'm so STUPID! He's going to die and it's all my fault."
"He's not gonna die," Tucker said, rolling his eyes at her.
"HELLO!! He's been poisoned and we don't know how long it will be until it takes effect, nor what it will do to him!"
"Exactly. Who says it's going to kill him?"
"Who says it's NOT?"
"Sam."
"TUCKER!"
They stopped arguing. Tucker was scrunched down into his seat to avoid being hit by Sam, who was by now two inches away from him and standing over him menacingly, steam nearly visibly escaping from her ears.
Jazz, who had left earlier to retrieve something she claimed was important, returned to the room to see Sam looming over Tucker.
"Ooooookay…maybe you guys should get a room. Preferably one that's not our basement…or in our house."
Sam and Tucker glanced at Jazz, then noticed how close they were. They quickly scrambled back into normal positions, blushing.
"So, um, Jazz…what'd you go get?"Tucker said, trying to direct attention away from the unintentional scene he and Sam had starred in.
"This," she said. She pulled out the small screen she was holding for both of them to see.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Remember Danny took a radio to trade if necessary? If he's in trouble, someone (hopefully Danny) may have turned it on. The transmission will show up on this screen."
"Show up? I thought it was a radio," Tucker said, bewildered.
"It has video capability."
"Geez, Jazz, then it's not a radio. Being an avid techno-geek I would know. It's probably a--,"
"I don't CARE, Tucker. Just shut up!" she said harshly.
Tucker promptly shut his mouth.
Jazz turned on the screen. She was greeted by a small, dark room. In the corner was a lit fireplace, the room's only light source. Suddenly, a figure appeared through a door in the room. It was the Chemist. At least, she assumed he was the Chemist; he fit Danny's description, though he may have been slightly more disgusting than she thought. It appeared that the radio was sitting on the floor inside of a cage. Jazz gasped. She hoped Danny was not in the cage…but why would the radio be there and not Danny? She held her breath, waiting for someone to speak.
"I have returned," the Chemist said.
Then, dismayed, she heard Danny's voice coming from beside the "camera-radio". "No kidding. Like I couldn't see that," he said sarcastically. He sounded tired and this worried Jazz.
The Chemist smiled a little, then took out his hands from behind his back to reveal several uncomfortable-looking sharp objects.
"Umm…I'm guessing those aren't for your needle-point hobby…" Danny said warily.
"No," the Chemist answered needlessly. "You asssssked before how I would usssse your DNA to enhance a ghost'sssss form and power," he said, while slowly laying all of his "utensils" out on a table in the middle of the room so that Danny could see them. "I will need to perform a few…experimentssssss, if you will, to find the besssssst usssse for your half-ghost DNA…and the bessssst place from which to extract it," he said, pushing the air out of one of the exceedingly sharp needles.
Danny gulped in horror watching this. Ugh, he hoped someone had turned on the camera-radio back home. Although how they would help him he was unsure.
"Wh—what about the poison? What does that have to do with anything?" Danny asked, as another wave of exhaustion spread through him.
The Chemist smirked again. "Ah, yessss. It wasssss designed especially for you, ghossssst-boy. It will continue to weaken you, sssssymptomssss getting worssssse as time goesssss by. In approximately 24 hoursssss after ingestion, your ghossssst half will be shut down."
"WHAT?"
"When did you ingesssst the poison?" the Chemist asked, ignoring Danny's cry of terror.
"A-about noon."
"And it isss eight o'clock, now. You have sixteen more hoursssss before the poison takesssss its complete effect. Without your ghosssst half, it is possible that your human half will shut down as well. It should be a sssssufficient time to finish my experimentsssss, but believe me, I would have enjoyed to have more time experimenting with you," he said maliciously. "The shut down was Plasmius'sssssss idea."
Danny lowered his eyebrows angrily, "Plasmius…" he whispered.
Obviously enjoying the sound of his own voice, as most villains do, Chemist continued talking. "I did create a cure upon Plasmius'ssssss requesssssst—jussssst in case he accidentally sssssswallowed it while it wassss in his possssssssession. But it containsssss elementssss uncommon to most householdsssss."
"Like what?" Danny ventured.
Oblivious of Danny's true intentions, the Chemist answered, "Filtered ectoplasm only found in ghost blood issssss the main ingredient. The other ingredientsssss are. juice from the Lunch Lady'sssss meat, a drop of magic from Desiree, and cough medicine."
Danny scrunched his nose and forced himself not to gag at the mere thought of drinking something like that…but he would rather drink it than die. Gosh, he hoped someone at home was listening.
"And now, Danny Phantom," the Chemist said, slowly approaching Danny, "Let ussss begin."
Danny closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. He remembered that the camera-radio was on, and if someone really was watching, he'd rather they not see any experiments the Chemist was about to perform on him. He promptly turned it off.
The screen in front of Jazz, Tucker, and Sam went black and all three stared at it, mouths agape in horrified anticipation.
"Danny…" Sam whispered quietly, tears forming in her eyes.
"Oh, crap," was all Tucker could muster to say.
Jazz, realizing that she was the responsible one, took a deep breath and decided to take charge. "Guys—I think it's time we go on a mission. We've got some ingredients to find."
Well, this ending isn't that evil, right? We're just about to embark an a little adventure (which should be a relief after this whole "talking" chapter…) while flipping back from time to time to see Danny get tortured. Nothing too bad. :) PLEASE times a billion PLEASE review and tell me what you think. I love my reviewers!!!!!!