I can't think of anything right now that has to go with one word. Although I do have something in mind for another. Yes, more angst. Can't think of anything humorous at the moment… Could be considered sequel to "Abyss."

Challenge by tsubasahope

4. Darkness

Wandering in the shadows… is there any way out of it?

"I'm nothing like you!"

The raven haired teen struggled against his foe's iron-grasp to the bed as he floated above, forcing the teen to stay where he was. His red eyes bore into the boy's blue ones, a strange sort of anger in there. "You have never understood the darkness that threatens us all. You have it more than anyone, Daniel. Embrace it! Take care of it, and it can blossom into the greatest flower of all eternity!"

Danny Fenton struggled on the bed. "I want you to get off of me!"

Vlad Plasmius sighed and did as the boy requested, which stunned him, to say the least. He floated in the middle of the room, shaking his head. "I'm going to make you understand, Danny. Even if it takes me a lifetime." With this, he floated out of the room through the wall, and he was left by himself.

Danny looked at his arm and winced, tears stinging his eyes. Did he need the torture of being cooped up in his enemy's house with no way out and all doors being watched by him? He almost wished that Plasmius would go after his mom and not him. Almost. The way that he pursued the boy was almost like he loved him in a not-so-son sort of sense. Not gay, though, either. Like a long lost lover that refused to disappear into the darkness.

He got up and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway. It was nighttime, and the entire house was engulfed in a dark and eerie feeling as he morphed into Phantom, the cast still around his arm. "There's no way I'm fighting Plasmius like this," he grumbled, floating and beginning to search for a way out. His arm twanged again in pain.

There was a soft whoosh from behind him.

He whirled around and growled. Being in houses like this was annoying, but when you factored in that you couldn't see two inches in front of your face, it made for a completely different setting. His hand began to glow lightly to see where he was going a little better as he floated down the hallway, one arm wrapped in a sling.

Another whoosh. This time louder.

He swallowed and took a deep breath. 'Come on, dude, you're hallucinating,' he sternly thought to himself. 'You know there are such things called ghosts, but the shadows that terrorize us is ourselves. Remember that.'

He continued floating down the hall.

"Going somewhere, little badger?" a voice whispered in his ear.

Phantom jumped and whirled around, gasping for air. Plasmius stood behind him, looking madly triumphant. "Trying to escape, were you?"

Phantom took a step back. "No. No I wasn't…"

Plasmius grabbed him by the shoulders, his nails digging deeper into the boy's flesh. "You are going to live here with me in the darkness, Daniel. Remember, misery loves company. And you are just what I need to stay alive."

He closed his eyes, wincing from the pain. "Let go of me. Please!"

"Never again, my boy," he laughed, hands beginning to glow with energy. "I will take you as my son, and you will see everything that I have to offer. The darkness has embraced you, Daniel. Why don you not embrace it back?"

Phantom's eyes looked at his sling, then into Plasmius' eyes. "I have no fear of it," he told the male calmly, no longer worried about being hurt by this vampire that wanted, at one point, to murder him. "You don't see the light that embraces you. Don't you get it, Vlad? I finally managed to find it in this house.

"The darkness does not embrace me. It is you who embrace me. You, my embodiment of darkness. I want the light, but you try and cover my eyes and don't allow me to see what the truth is. I want nothing more but the truth of what I was meant to be, not these lies that corrupt me for what I'm supposed to be.

"Leave me alone, Vlad. The darkness never tempted me. But it overshadowed you."

Plasmius blinked, staring at the boy, green blood now dripping down his fingers from digging his nails into Phantom's flesh. Is this what he thought of him, only trying to embrace the darkness? He glared at him. "Is that is how you believe what I am trying to accomplish for you, little badger…"

He threw Phantom to the floor. He screamed in pain when landing on his arm.

"…then have it your way. But know this. If you believe in the light and not the dark, I will continue haunting you, and I will make it my personal goal to make you see the darkness of life."

With this, he teleported away, and Phantom was left alone in the darkness. He couldn't see again, his hand emitting a soft glow in the hallway. He picked himself up, trying to figure out a way out of the house. Shaking his head, he headed back to the guest room and opened the door. He could simply escape through the window if he wanted to. Phantom looked out the window and opened it, allowing the breeze to blow in a soft sort of thunder booming in the distance.

It was true. Plasmius could not suck him into the darkness.

But he might drag him into that same place without even knowing it.

Besides, that factor had already come true.

In a way, he already was one with the dark. And that half of him was trapped in a thermos in another dimension far from where he watched the clouds roll in…

Okay, that was kind of nice to do. Hey, tsubabsahope, hope you liked it. Reviews are appreciated. If you're lucky and everything goes well, maybe I'll get another one up today. Much love, friends. Thanks for reading.