Um, yeah. This isn't a long author's note because I'm not in the mood to write one.
Thanks for reviewing Manyara, PhantomGirl712, Captain-Mad Dog Vane, NarutoxxAddict, My Dreams are My Wings, pearl84
6. Danny Phantom
Danny had never really been anywhere in Amity Park, except for the occasional trip to the mall and maybe to his friend's house every weekend. So when Valerie Gray had told him that he could tour part of her home at the newly reopened Axion Labs, he snatched up the opportunity and called his mother to tell her where he was going. Despite the fact there was a hint of disappointment on the other line, Maddie was happy that her "son" was going somewhere completely different for a change. Incidentally enough, Sam and Tucker had never seen the location of "Project Silencer" and jumper upon the chance to tour the lab.
Valerie smiled. "Axion Labs has been around in Amity Park since before I was born, around fifteen years ago. It was created by and built by the leader of the city himself, Vlad Masters. Amazingly enough, my father agreed to the whole thing… but that was only because of the fact that, well…" She lost her smile and began to not only look, but feel, very uncomfortable.
Tucker nodded and slipped his hand into hers. "I get it. Personal problems." She didn't want to let go.
The foursome were halfway to Valerie's house/lab when a sudden SWOOSH went past them. A whitish blur seemed to past in front of their eyes. Danny blinked, trying to remember what he had just seen. "Did any of you guys notice that?" he asked, speaking for the first time since they had left school.
Sam blinked out her daze of seeing white and tuning out Valerie. History was not Sam's specialty. And for a good reason. She had never really like Valerie that much, and vice versa. It all worked out like a charm. When Danny spoke, though, it was like she was in a completely different world- almost as if she held on to his every word. "Notice what?"
"That guy with wings."
She looked confused at these words, as did Tucker and Valerie. "Are you talking about that strange flash of light?"
He shook his head. "I mean the strange guy with wings of a demon and long gray hair. Pointed wings, too. You didn't see him?"
The other three shook their head. Tucker looked worried. "Dude, there was no guy that flew past."
"But… but I just saw him!"
Sam sighed. "We know. Just forget about it for now."
Danny gave up and dropped the idea. His mind, however, began to wrack for any sort of memory resembling to that figure. Noting seemed to jolt his mind, though. He sighed and let go of the idea, now smiling and talking to Sam for the rest of the walk there. Fate, however, wasn't so easy to let up on that.
Fate was going to become very cruel.
-Archangel-
A shadowed figure sat on the rooftop of the building, hearing the male companion talk with his friends about seeing a man with wings. Long gray hair. With this, he fazed through the roof and landed on the floor, the wings disappearing and the hair becoming a familiar shade of black. His white cape flowed behind his back as he rose again into the air and into Damon Gray's office, who was sitting and typing at his computer.
"Damon," he hissed.
The man turned around and suddenly saw a ghost figure floating in the air. He grabbed a weapon of some sorts (was it a sword?) and pointed it at the figure. "You! What the hell are you doing in my office?"
Vlad Plasmius floated down and examined his nails, casually glancing at the petrified owner of Axion Labs. "I came here under Masters' orders," he replied smoothly, raising an eyebrow. "I hope that you recall his call he made to you about a representative coming by to see Project Silencer." His hands began to glow with a strange pinkish-red energy. "Or did you put all thoughts of him into the recesses of your mind?"
Damon Gray never forgot when Vlad Masters told him something that involved a glitch his schedule. Especially if it was within the next few weeks. He had to make sure everything was perfect down to even the layout of the room for where he would be visiting. He shook his head, looking fearfully at Plasmius. "N-no, of course I didn't forget!" he defended himself, moving some papers out of a chair. "Please, um…"
"Plasmius," the ghost replied. "And thank you for the kind offer, but it's too much. I really shouldn't. Honestly, I believe that so far, Masters would be quite pleased on how you have shown your hospitality to someone such as myself." He flicked a piece of dust off the chair and swept his cape to the side, seating himself down.
There was a long CREAAAAAAK! following that, and Plasmius merely glared at Damon before he got the message. "You know what? Why don't I just show you Project Silencer right now?" the leader of the lab asked nervously.
"I would absolutely adore that," he growled, getting up.
-Archangel-
The first thing that came to Danny's mind when he saw the lab was a mansion. A really large mansion. One of his dreams involved a large castle-like house that was most definitely a mansion of some really rich person. The second thing that screamed out was "SUPERNATURAL!!" It looked like it could've been the most haunted place in Amity Park if you let it decay over a couple of years. Valerie noticed his thoughts and grinned. "Yeah, this is where I live, Danny. What do you think?"
All he could say as he walked into the hallway was, "Hot damn. You've got it all."
Sam rolled her eyes. One of these days, he was going to have to pick between her and Valerie. She didn't care, though. As long as she got the one person's company she actually enjoyed, then all was well. Until that time… well, hostility was pretty much a one-option sort of thing.
Damon was waiting in the next room, looking very nervous with a man with a long cape, black hair and fangs. Somehow, he looked very familiar in Danny's eyes. It frightened him for some reason. The man smirked at Danny. It sent a shiver down the boy's spine as Sam and Tucker gave him strange glances. "Might I ask, who are you?" the man asked, holding out his hand.
Danny looked at him warily and shook his hand. "I'm Danny. Danny Fenton. And you?"
"I'll leave it at that," he replied, turning to Valerie. "And you must be Damon Gray's daughter."
She tightened up. "And if I am, ghost?"
Damon hurriedly intervened in the conversation. "Kids, this is Mayor Masters' colleague, Vlad Plasmius. He works in the office with him, only showing his face once in a while. Plasmius, I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Valerie Gray and her friends, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley."
Sam and Tucker shook his hand. "Nice to meet you," Tucker told him politely.
"Pleasure is all mine," Plasmius replied, giving Danny another strange look.
"Well, since you four are here, I may as well give you the tour of Project Silencer as well," Gray told them, gesturing the group to yet another room in the building. Plasmius floated towards the room, leaving the man with the teens. He glanced around nervously and leaned over. "I don't know what it is about this Plasmius guy," he whispered, "but something tells me that it is not a good idea for you four to be here when the power surge goes through the whole city."
Valerie looked confused. "What power surge, Dad?"
He looked flustered. "Well, once Project Silencer has been activated, it just so happens that the surge from the device to the city will be so strong, the whole area will short out for approximately an hour. I want you kids to make sure that nothing happens while I try and make sure Plasmius doesn't do a thing here." He looked disgusted. "He scares me somewhat and makes me sick."
The kids just looked at one another as Damon walked into the other room. Danny blinked. "Is your dad right in the head, Val?"
"Of course he is," she said severely walking into the next room. "He's just worried about this whole thing, that's all."
The foursome walked into the room and gasped. A large portal-like device stood on the wall, appearing to look like a ghost portal. Danny had seen one before, but it was quite a fuzzy memory. Like when he was maybe three years old… a man with long gray hair nearly pushing him into one, where he found himself face to face with some strange people. Human people? He shook the image out of his head. He'd think about it later.
Sam looked impressed. "That's one really big ghost portal you've got there, Mr. Gray."
He shook his head. "Actually, it technically isn't a ghost portal. I'd love to say it's a portal to another world, although I haven't been able to test it for ten years. Given the circumstances, I would've been able to try it for myself, but it had to make records of how many other worlds there were in the universes around us. Really, it hasn't been that simple, Ms. Manson. I'm surprised it's even done now."
Plasmius landed next to the portal and smiled. "I've… I mean, Masters has waited a long time for this moment, Damon. Finally, we will be able to watch new worlds come into existence with this device! Project Silencer will be a complete success in the making!"
The other man nodded. "And at last, the moment of triumph for Vlad Masters. Enjoy!"
He flicked a switch.
The lights suddenly flickered and began growing brighter and brighter as the device began to light up the room with its intense heat and power. Danny and the others shielded their eyes as it became brighter and brighter with each passing moment. He could have sworn he had walked into a sauna, not a lab with a strange portal. There was a muffled yelling over the whir of the machine as Plasmius tried to get nearer to Silencer and miserably failing. A loud noise was heard, and Danny instinctively pushed Sam towards the ground, falling on top of her. Moments later, the light vanished, and the group of people stood- or sat- in the dark.
Danny got off of Sam and rubbed his head. She got up and brushed herself off. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," he replied, brushing off the incident.
A strange pink light appeared in the room, and Plasmius' face was lit with a hellish glare as he turned to Damon, who was picking himself up off the floor. "What the hell happened?" he growled.
The other scientist rolled his eyes. "I thought I told you before… no, that was Masters. There's supposed to be a power surge after I activate Project Silencer that's supposed to last for approximately one hour. For right now, though…" He glanced at the kids. "…I suggest you take a look around in this place." Groping blindly around, he dug into a drawer and pulled out a flashlight. "You kids go take a look around in here. Valerie can give you a tour of this place."
The foursome gladly accepted the invitation to be anywhere but near two feuding businessmen, who were already getting fired up over the portal. As they snuck out of the room, Danny could hear Plasmius shriek, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU MEAN-"
"Man, they can get fired up really quickly," Tucker whispered, running to another room with the others at his heels. "Let's go in here."
When they shut the door and Danny flipped on the flashlight, Valerie began to whimper. "This is Dad's private lab where he keeps all his super-top-secret inventions from Vlad and other people! He told me that if I ever stepped foot in here, I would be grounded for eternity! We should really get out of here!"
"Aw, have a little faith, Val," Danny told her, making Sam twitch with anger. "I'm sure it can't be that bad."
When they began to look around, however, Danny's "I'm sure it can't be that bad" turned into a "Whoa. This is bad." Paperwork piled high to the ceiling and other beakers frothing and bubbling with different chemicals seemed to change his mind about what he was seeing. The room had charts, maps, and various other plans to what appeared to be…
"Assassinate Vlad Masters?" Valerie whispered, looking just as stunned as the rest of them. "Oh, my god. He's got to be freakin' kidding himself. No one plans out this sort of thing and doesn't get caught."
Danny looked at her, color draining from his face. "And that's not all." He pointed to what appeared to be a miniature portal. "Look at that."
He walked over and examined it, muttering under his breath and using his hands to apparently measure something inside. Finally, he looked at it and turned to Sam. "Do you mind getting me that jumpsuit over there, Sam?"
"I'm not your delivery girl!" she protested quietly, now fearful of being heard, but all the same, she threw him the white spandex outfit from afar and shined the light on him.
He slipped into the outfit and glanced at the trio. "Listen. I'm going to make some mods to this thing. If the power does come back on… run. Understand?"
They nodded. He grinned. "Let's get to work."
-Archangel-
"WRENCH, not screwdriver," Danny moaned, exasperated. Fifty-eight minutes later, they were tweaking and turning parts on the portal-like device, hoping to some deity that it wouldn't zap them because of the power surge. "Honestly, Tuck, don't you know a thing about building a machine?"
The African-American shrugged, digging around in the toolbox again. "Dude, I'm with the tech department, not the auto parts area."
"Fat help you are," Danny grumbled, snatching the new tool from his friend.
Valerie opened the door. "You've got a minute, Danny! Hurry it up in there!"
"Explain to me something," Sam requested, fingering around with a screw. "Why are we helping Valerie's dad not get caught with plotting to assassinate the mayor if we don't want to get caught? Can you answer that, Danny?"
He glanced at her from inside the portal. Valerie's voice sounded terrified. "Forty-five seconds!"
"Because if we can make it look like Damon was working on another portal, maybe he won't get busted for plotting a murder," he explained, his handiwork seemingly far from finished as he twisted another bolt into place.
38… 37… 36… 35…
"This sucks," Sam mumbled. "Why did I get dragged into this?"
"Because," Danny teased, working furiously. "We wanted you to come. And besides, you're my girlfriend."
Sam blinked. Did he just call her his 'girlfriend?'
31… 30… 29… 28…
Tucker sighed. "Here. Bolt crank." He tossed it to Danny, who missed. It hit his finger and slammed it almost into the floor.
He let out an animated curse. Sam grinned. "Where'd you learn that one?"
22… 21… 20… 19…
He hit the portal. "Damnit. Some pieces are missing. We should've looked around here before going headfirst into this."
"Typical," Tucker muttered, hearing Sam snort with laughter. "Jumping in headfirst, and we're missing half a portal. Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"It's not funny!" his friend snapped back furiously. "We could all blow up when this thing goes back on!"
Sam quit laughing. "Well, now you tell us," she sighed. "And I haven't even written my will."
10… 9… 8… 7…
"Crap!"
Tucker looked frantic. "Get out of there, Danny!"
He looked out. "I need more time!"
4… 3… 2… 1…
ZAP!
It happened in an instant. The lights turned back on, the generator fully running and ready for operation. The portal suddenly came to life, flashing a brilliant bluish-white color, engulfing Danny in the process. Sam's voice seemed to be drowned out by the roar of the new portal, as were Danny's screams. Valerie opened the door and watched in horror as her friend was shocked into seeming oblivion.
And yet, he wasn't.
As Danny stood in the portal, strange warmth seemed to overtake his body as he felt his features changing. He tried to feel his face, but a soothing voice told him, "Relax. It'll be over soon enough, Danny."
"Who are you?" he muttered dimly.
"Someone from your past, present, and future, my child. Fear not. Now go. Become Danny Phantom!"
"Who's…?" It was all he could say before he was lost in darkness.
-Archangel-
"Danny? Danny!"
The sound of Sam's anxious voice seemed to resonate through his ears as he wearily opened his eyes and saw a worried Goth girl face peering into his eyes. "What is it?"
She jumped back as if she had touched something scalding hot. "You… are you Danny?"
"Well, yeah," he replied, confused. "Why are you asking me that, Sam?"
Sam sighed. "Go look in the mirror."
Still confused, he did what she wanted and glanced at him. He couldn't believe his eyes. His usual black hair had become snow white, and the white spandex suit he had put on before was now black with a strange 'DP' emblem in the middle. He tried to feel through his hair but felt nothing. Again he tried, but still, no hair. He glanced down at his hand and gasped. It was gone, disappeared, invisible.
As he turned back to look at Sam and Tucker, who was simply gawking at the former normal teenager, he asked the collective question:
"What am I?"
His thoughts raced back to the sound he heard when trapped in the portal.
"Become Danny Phantom!"
Danny Phantom? A ghost?
Danny's now a half-ghost, half angel… half human? I can't do math today…