Danny Phantom - The Next Chapter

Rivers of Power

Danny's eyes burned with hatred as he prepared to release his building power. Vlad struggled to free himself from his grip but Danny wasn't moving, the temperature in the room plummeting to dangerous levels.

'Danny, wait!' Maddie exclaimed but his eyes never strayed from Vlad's face.

He didn't move, watching as Vlad's struggles began to wane. Then suddenly his dad's hand was on his arm and tugging him backwards. At first Danny resisted, every fibre of his being screaming at him to strike now while he had the upper hand. But some small voice at the back of his mind whispered, This isn't you. You're not a murderer. You don't kill people.

'Danny...' Valerie said quietly and the fear in her voice was enough to snap him out of his fury.

He finally relaxed the pressure on Vlad's throat and allowed himself to be pulled back. Vlad gasped and sank to the ground, massaging his throat and eying Danny with a look that could only be described as grudging respect.

'My word, Daniel,' Vlad rasped, 'I didn't think you had it in you. When did you get so... vicious?'

'It tends to happen when you've been on the receiving end of one too many attempted murders,' Danny snapped back, his power flickering just below the surface like green flame.

'I suppose that's fair.'

'What is going on?' Danny demanded, finally turning to his parents. 'What is he doing here? I thought he was drifting in space.'

He turned back to Vlad and added, 'I was starting to enjoy the peace and quiet.'

'Ah, yes,' Vlad replied mockingly, 'It's the embodiment of serenity here. You seem to have a firm handle on things.'

Danny started to move towards him again threateningly but was halted by his dad's hand on his shoulder again.

'Vlad apparently came here to offer his help,' Maddie explained, though she sounded as if she didn't believe it for a moment.

Danny barked a mirthless laugh. 'Yeah, sure. What, did you have a change of heart up in zero gravity?'

'Not up there, no,' Vlad admitted, 'I was getting news of your various misadventures from the International Space Station. I have to say you've made quite a mess of things. I will admit I decided to return to Earth when you were captured by the Guys in White, if only to gloat. But then...'

He trailed off and seemed almost embarrassed. The pieces started to fit together in Danny's head; the slow development of the mutant halfas from the monsters they had been before to the perfect balance of ghost and human that he and Valerie had just encountered. The Guys in White definitely hadn't held him for long enough to get that information from his own DNA. Which meant...

'You,' Danny hissed, 'The Guys in White caught you and used your DNA to make their half-ghosts.'

Vlad gave him a sardonic smile and nodded. 'So it would seem. I went to their lab to try to uncover what they were doing and perhaps free you. But I underestimated them.'

'You have a tendency of doing that,' Valerie sneered and Vlad turned to her as if he just realised she was there.

'Why Ms. Gray!' he exclaimed, 'What a pleasure to see you again! It has been a while.'

'Yeah,' Valerie replied coldly, 'If I remember it right, you were using me to capture Danielle and turn her into goop.'

Vlad cringed under her glare and did seem to be somewhat uncomfortable about the switch in topic.

'I trust Danielle is doing well?' he asked.

'That is none of your business,' Maddie snapped firmly, 'Why don't you tell us what you came here to say then we can get to the part where we never see you again?'