Summary: Danny has a bad feeling when Sam doesn't join them for lunch.
Characters: Danny, Tucker, Sam
Prompt: Evil
Day Twenty-Four
"Have you seen, Sam?" Danny asked as they sat outside, enjoying their lunch. He frowned when he realized one of his friends was absent.
"Now that you've mentioned it," Tucker said, looking around like he was trying to spot their missing friend, "I haven't seen her all day. I wouldn't be surprised if she was planning some big protest, but Sam doesn't usually skip out on school."
Danny exchanged a worried look with Tucker. "Maybe we should go look for her." It could be nothing at all. Sam could simply have come down with a cold and had to stay home from school. But Danny had a sinking feeling that something was wrong, and part of him was wishing he noticed his friend's absence a lot sooner.
He barely stood up from his spot at the picnic table when a cold shiver ran through him and he gasped out a breath. The doors of the school flew open as students and faculty raced out screaming for their lives. Danny sighed because, of course, a ghost would have to show up at that exact moment. It happened like that almost every time he was going to do something.
"You go look for Sam," Danny instructed Tucker. "I'll deal with this week's stupid ghost." He dashed off to find a safe place to transform out of sight of the people running away from the school. Then he phased through the wall and started his search for the ghost. Inside the high school surprised him so much that he had to stop and gape. It wasn't more than ten, fifteen minutes top, since he and Tucker took their lunches outside to eat, but already the inside of the school looked like a jungle. Thick heavy vines covered the halls, even crawling over the ceiling. Giant red blossoms that looked big enough to swallow up a person spotted the halls. When he peered into some classrooms, it looked like there were enough of the blossoms to have eaten up all the students and teachers that were in there.
Danny gulped nervously as he neared where his ghost sense felt the strongest. He never faced off against a ghost that could control plants like this. And what if those blossoms did hold people inside them? He didn't know what that could be doing to those people. If it was killing them, would defeating the ghost and sending it back to the Ghost Zone really save them? Or would there be lasting effects that he couldn't even predict?
His ghost sense drew him to the cafeteria, which was covered in plant life much like the rest of the school. He felt sick at the number of blossoms he spotted through the room. How many students and faculty members had this ghost already captured as hostages? He steeled his nerves. He couldn't think about that. He had to focus on defeating this ghost fast if he hoped to save everyone.
"Your terror ends here, you pestilent petunia!" Danny shouted, preparing himself to fight his enemy. And great, he was slipping back into alliteration with his banter.
The biggest of the blossoms slowly opened, petal by petal to reveal the one responsible for the jungle within the school. Danny jerked back as his green eyes widened. How could this be possible? It wasn't! He couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. It didn't make any sense! How could-
"Sam?" Danny gasped out, feeling like Dash just punched him in the gut.
Sam turned her head toward him, blackened lips stretching into a smile. Her eyes, the entirety of them, were an eerie bright red with red petals growing from the outer corners. Petals seemed to grow out of her pale flesh in other places too, matching the red petal dress she wore with a black and purple leafy strap wrapped around her chest. Her hair wasn't at all like he remembered seeing it yesterday. Purple streaks ran through the black as her hair draped to one side. The other side of her head was shaved. She looked-
Okay. If he was honest with himself, in a way, Sam actually looked quite beautiful. But this wasn't the time to be admiring his friend, who he may have feelings for if he would actually stop denying it for once in his life. Something was seriously wrong with Sam, and he had to stop whatever ghost did this to her.
Danny floated down in front of her and grabbed hold of her arms. "Sam!" he shouted, giving her a shake like he could snap her out of this and bring her back to the Sam he knew. "Who did this to you?"
Sam laughed. "Oh, Danny." She shook her head with that eerie smile still on her face. "Thinking you can play the hero and save me? But have you considered this is exactly who I want to be?"
"This isn't you, Sam!" But her question shook him, making him stumble back a step. What did she mean this was exactly who she wanted to be? Why would she want to be some evil plant controlling ghost puppet?
"But it is." Sam practically cooed the words at him. "I now have the power to turn this planet back into the paradise it was always meant to be before humans became dominant and ravaged the world. Now the humans will be the slaves. They'll provide such good nutrients to my babies." She smiled, almost like a loving mother, as she caressed a hand over the Venus flytrap that rose up to her. Lifting it to her face, she rubbed her cheek against it, and the scene looked far too creepy for Danny.
"Sam, you're being controlled!" Danny argued, trying to think of some way to help his friend without having to hurt her.
Her red eyes slid toward him again, and there was a look in them that didn't settle right with Danny. "Controlled," she rolled the word of her tongue like she was toying with some idea. A cruel smile spread onto her face. "Yes, that's an excellent idea." Her hand reached up to take hold of something about her neck that Danny failed to notice right away. "If you won't join me willingly, I'll just have to make you." She held up a shard of red glass that seemed to swirl before his eyes.
"Sam," Danny said worriedly as he felt a tug on his subconscious that he had forgotten since the last time he gazed at that glass when it was still an orb, "where did you get that?"
"I thought it might come in handy to keep a few pieces of Freakshow's orb," Sam explained, making sure Danny's eyes remained locked on the place of glass in her hands. "I should have thought about using it on you ages ago. Think of the things we can accomplish together, Danny? I'll rule this planet, and you'll be my faithful servant."
"No!" Danny tried to shake his head in protest, but he couldn't make himself look away from the shard. It drew him in and made his eyes lock on it. He could feel the fog crawling into his brain, driving back his rational conscious thought as a new personality took his place. He screamed out, begging Sam not to do this, but his voice wasn't his to control anymore. His body didn't follow his commands as it knelt down on one knee. It took Sam's hand and brought it to its lips, kissing the back of her hand. When it tilted its head up, Danny could still see through its eyes to find Sam smirking victoriously down at him.
Author's Note: I used beccadrawsstuff's design for plant Sam because it just looks really awesome.
midnight: Haha, thanks~ XD Those scenes are pretty fun to write. Haha, that's true. XD;; Vlad has shown that he is pretty crazy in the show.
Just Will: Yeah, there was a lot in season 3 that I just didn't like. =| Danny baked and decorated the cake. XD;; Well, full ghosts don't actually age, you know? So I figured at some point Dan would just be like "Yup. I look good at this age. Not going growing any older." So he's stopped himself at 24 though he could make himself look older if he really wanted to. XD;; Jack is a pretty smart guy. XD Though we do also know sometimes his vibes don't always lead him to the right ghost. *points to when he thought Jazz was the ghost* XD;; Always with 3! XD;; I wasn't even planning that either. But we've got Vlad, Elle, and Danny there (the half ghosts). And Jack, Maddie, and Valerie (the professional ghost hunters). As well as Tucker, Sam, and Jazz (the non-professional but still very capable ghost hunters). XD;; They make a pretty dangerous group if a ghost comes in looking for trouble. XD;;
maltese: (22) Maybe. But they've still got to try to put a stop to Vlad. XD;; (23) What's Archetype? Thanks~ =)