Summary: Danny is forced to become evil by Vlad, who threatens the lives of his family by capturing them. Sam and Tucker, unknown to this, think he's really crossed over to the dark side. Can they help him in time? Or has he really become a criminal?

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom

A/N: I'm not wasting my time on creating this story! I've been working on this for hours to make this at least four pages long. Hope it's okay :D

Sunday mornings are best enjoyed with no clocks and looming deadlines. I guess you could say that the only thing that I hate about them is school coming up tomorrow. I folded my arms behind by head and leaned farther into my pillow, looking upward at the ceiling to try and savour whatever tranquility the seconds could offer. It was rare to have a day like this. Whether my enemies decided to have a day off was none of my business, but at least I had time to do my homework for the first time in months. Four hours of it.

I might not even have to fight anyone for the entire day. I'm certainly not going to argue with that.

It wasn't the fact that I was a selfish jerk, but I've always wanted to have a typical day. To just lie down and sleep a few nights was enough for me. Heroes needed a break too.

I shut my eyes slowly as I let my mind wander. Mom and Dad were probably downstairs making another invention, as usual.

There was a long pause. Being lazy wasn't really one of my strong suits. And though I had half a mind to do it, I rose up from my bed and stretched.

"Going ghost!" I exclaimed playfully, raising my arms up. A familiar flash turned me into something more wild. Grinning, I pulled open my window and leaped out, free falling from the second story. The breeze felt good against my face, and at the last possible moment, I curved skyward into the waiting clouds. Closing my eyes once more, my sense of direction began to change when I spied the organised aisles of the town grab my attention. I let the sun shine on me as I began to traverse the streets of Amity through the air.

I heard a woman shout as I zoomed past. Crowds of people began to look upward. Everyone cheered and waved and I smiled heroically and waved back. Nothing wrong with boosting the ego. Soaring over the city was always exhilarating anyway. It didn't take long to patrol the area once (safely concluding that there weren't any ghosts out) before landing with a soft thud inside an alleyway. I transformed by letting the feeling of warmth overwhelm my body and changing me back into that normal Danny Fenton. I strolled out into the streets and scanned the area.

No ghosts. So far so good. I could even have stopped by the Nasty Burger if time allowed.

"Hey, Danny!" A voice called, suddenly interrupting my thoughts. I glanced around and spotted Sam riding up in her engine-powered scooter with Tucker following just behind. They stopped and parked, using a foot to balance them.

"Hey, guys." I greeted. "Nice to see you both here. How's your day going?"

"Pretty fine, if I get a say in this." said Tucker as he gave a bright grin. "No ghosts out today."

"Yeah. Thanks for the brief reminder." chided Sam, looking a lot less cheerful than usual. "None have showed up today, so I'm kind of getting suspicious lately. Call me a worry wart, but I really don't have a good feeling about today."

"Chillax a little," snorted Tucker from behind. "You worry too much. Can't you take a break like the rest of us?"

"Tuck's right," I agreed. No way did I want this day to be wasted worrying about something that didn't need to be worried about.

Sam made room for me on her scooter. "Well...if you guys say. Hop on. Why don't you come to the Nasty Burger with us? I heard they made a new flavor up for sale."

"Sweet! We'd totally be the first ones!" cheered the techno geek.

I blinked at them before smiling. Mind readers, these guys are. The best ones, at that.

Tucker tossed me a helmet in response. I grabbed on to Sam as she revved up the engine, lurching the scooter forward. We weaved around the streets so quickly; it didn't take long until the three of us arrived at the Nasty Burger. We parked the vehicles up on the side of the building and walked on inside. The second we entered, I froze at the door. The three of us looked down line of people. We should have suspected that a new flavor equaled a long line. It seemed to go on forever.

"Why couldn't they have more than one register..." sighed Tucker, taking the next available seat nearest to the front door. Sam seemed to grin.

"Okay, Tuck!" she concluded, clapping her hands to snap us out of our daze. "You wait in line while Danny and wait by the table."

"What?" he argued. "The line's, like, an hour long!"

"You said you were treating." She laughed, dragging me with her. I dumbly followed. "Too bad. But hey. You get first dibs on the drinks."

Tucker widened his eyes in realization and smirked.

"Don't get any bright ideas." I said finally, pointing to him menacingly while narrowing my eyes. Following Sam, we sat across from each other.

"So you haven't seen a ghost all day?" said Sam, her voice clear despite the commotion inside the restaurant. "That seems a little too far fetched if you ask me."

"Maybe you need to calm a little, Sam," I addressed crossing my arms. "I'm enjoying this time off."

Sam sighed quite audibly. "You're going to regret those words. And this time, I'm not going to help you out if something comes up."

"Fine by me. How would you know, anyway? You don't have to juggle grades with ghost fighting."

"Believe me," she said exasperatedly. "I've had my share with family problems and ghost fighting. But I never said that. Knowing how you feel like. I just said you might regret those words. You don't know if they'll attack when you think otherwise."

"Maybe, but maybe they need a break too?" I argued. "Villains and heroes need a vacation every now and again."

"I suppose."

Oddly enough, thirty minutes went by with less banter before Tucker approached us with a tray of smoothies in his hands.

"See, Tucker?" laughed Sam. "Waiting in line didn't take an hour, did it?"

Tucker had the same gleam in his eye when I last left him.

"Nah, but I don't mind having to serve smoothies to the lovebirds at table one. It seriously doesn't fit well with me in the picture."

"We are NOT lovebirds!" stated Sam and I at the same time. Tucker chuckled. I stole a smoothie from him from under his nose. Chugging down the new flavor (which had kinda banana flavoured after taste), I stared out the window. My inside wanted me to be as serious as Sam was about today, but I couldn't bring my heart into it. No one likes their perfect day to be postponed. Me especially.

My gaze turned to the two friends squabbling at each other about their food categories. They needed this vacation more than I did too.

...

Something vibrated in my pocket that interrupted the conversation and I almost choked in the middle of drinking.

"I'll never get use to that." I muttered as I dug into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my cell phone. The screen read that I missed a call and was left a voice mail from Jazz.

Jazz?

Now that was strange. Why would Jazz call me so early in the day? If any ghosts came nearby, she could handle them herself. Or at least Dad would. The alarm would have went off at the very least.

I dialed the voice mail for an answer.

"Danny! We're being attacked back at home! Please get here! We need you. Vlad came over and he suddenly just-!"

My heart sank as I heard something drop on the other line. The phone switched voices on me and the grip I had on my smoothie loosened as it plopped upright on the table. I didn't care.

"Hello, little badger. You know very well who this is. Listen to your sister and come to back to your house if you would like to see your family again. As Phantom, of course. Wouldn't want to scare your parents when you come home human, right?"

"Danny?" asked Tucker uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

"And please tell no one of this. Utter a sound and I will show no mercy."

I had to control my hands to keep from dropping the phone before I clicked it closed. My friends looked at me with a serious expression. I gave a weak smile.

"Sorry guys," I forced, getting up from my seat swiftly. "I gotta get home fast. Can you drink the rest for me? Thanks!" I dashed for the door and I almost yelped when Sam grabbed my wrist.

"What's going on, Danny?"

...

What was I supposed to say?

"Well…" I tried to explain, reaching into my brain for a quick response. "Box Ghost."

Sam relaxed and released her grip on my hand. She put on a smile. "Told you that you were going to regret those words. Go get 'em, tiger."

I didn't have enough seconds to spare to bid farewell properly. Exiting, I ran around to the back of the Nasty Burger and made sure no one was watching me as I got into position to transform. White rings traveled up my body once more as I rose into the air and raced home.

...

Why did Vlad have to ruin my perfect day? He would probably be one of the ones urging for a break for once too. And why also couldn't this have been done while I was at school? I could have at least skipped a boring lesson or two! I clenched my teeth and forced my body to fly faster. I didn't stop until I turned up to my house.

"Where are you, Vlad?" I called out angrily, phasing into the room and landing softly on the carpet. The second feet plopped on the floor, something pricked my foot and I twisted into the air to look around. The furniture was completely out of whack. Some of the glass on the picture frames littered and the couch was growing haphazardly out of the wall alongside the table and chairs.

Any other comments eluded me as heavy force grabbed my throat. I thrashed, and it pushed my neck downward. I grabbed the hand of whoever was strangling me. Expectantly, Vlad. He chuckled with amusement as he easily phased us a level lower where I spotted my parents and Jazz.

Inside a cage at the corners of my eyes.

"Danny!" called Jazz in relief. The elder man made a gun with his index finger and thumb. Without much effort at all (and even looking at me the entire time actually), he pointed his aim at the cage and missed to startle her. The shot was too far off to have actually been considered good. That wasn't exactly Vlad's style.

"Why you-!" I started, gripping my hand tighter on his occupied hand to keep him from moving. Another hand charged up a beam. A quick second too slow. I grinned, letting it at his face, knowing he couldn't avoid the blast. He was sent sprawling backwards into the ceiling; a delayed yell and an explosion just following.

Once free, I rose off the ground to see what the smoke left behind. A moment later, Vlad calmly emerged from the hole above and gave a smile. I tensed and put my fists up in defense.

"Very good, Daniel!" Plasmius clapped as he floated down dangerously. "You're actually starting to get better. Maybe even as good as me, hmm?"

My eyes flared as I charged up another beam meant for him.

"I am nothing like you."

The blast missed. And before anything else, Plasmius held up a hand.

"Ah, ah, ah. We don't want the spectators to get hurt, now would we?"

The cage. Swiftly turning my attention to the left, my family was surrounded by a circle of Vlad's clones. My first instinct was to jump and attack, but the split second of distraction made a hand yank me backward. My body was sent head first into the brick wall. My ears rang when the wall hit my skull.

"Ugh..."

I stood up shakily, and opening my eyes was probably the worst ideas I could have possibly done at that instant. Double vision. I helplessly stared at the ghost as he came up and grabbed be by the collar.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," the voice of my Mom advised over the ringing. "But you need to defeat this creep, Phantom!"

"What she said!" my Dad followed after. "Get us out and we promise not to rip you apart molecule-!"

"I get it!" I hissed, rubbing my temples. Not enough time for rambling? Doing a swift uppercut to his chin, I distracted the original Vlad long enough to fly past him. I zoomed over to the clones near the cage and defeated each one, all fading from existence. I curled my fists as I finished off the last of them and turned to the real one. Surprisingly, he threw his head back in laughter.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, inching closer. Vlad pulled out a switch from behind his cloak and pressed a button. Jazz's piercing scream spread across the entire lab, making the hairs on my neck stand up on end. Panicking, I spun around to see what happened. Mom and Dad had a shocked look on their face, catching Jazz just before she fell. The three of us shot a poisonous look at Vlad.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" All of us shrieked. I was tempted to use the Ghostly Wail. The billionaire simply laughed to himself.

"Nothing, really." He mused. "I just gave her a little shock…but back to the problem at hand."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you want with me?" I growled. Vlad bent over to my ear and whispered.

"I know we've already had this discussion, but...become my son," He promised. "And I might reconsider my actions."

"This again?" I roared. "Never. In a million years." Backing off, he merely pressed the same switch again, this time shocking my parents. They fell forward too, bending over in pain to bear it. I was sure my teeth were cracking as I tried to keep my hands from shaking in anger. That switch he was holding was the only thing that kept me from beating up this monster and freeing my family.

"What do you say?" offered Vlad again. Right before I was about to make a comment, a small and weak voice called from behind.

"No…Danny…"

Widening my eyes, I turned around once again to see Jazz, barely rising from her fallen form, and holding on to the end of the cage for support with Mom and Dad helping her. Vlad rolled his eyes and almost began to press the switch again before I smacked it out of his hand.

"…I'll do whatever you say. Just stop."

Vlad smiled. I didn't stop him from grabbing the switch.

"I knew you'd see things my way, Daniel."

I looked down sorrowfully at Jazz and she looked back with pleading eyes. I gave Vlad a dirty look.

"On account that you don't press that switch again."

Vlad put his hands up innocently. "Oh no! That would be out of my character!"

I didn't want to look. The sight of my family turned my attention away. Mom and Dad gave me a surprised look, probably because they haven't ever seen me up close in ghost form. Perhaps it was the first time. I ignored their inquisitive whispers to each other. Now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" I said to them. "I-I'll promise to get you out soon." I stuttered. I thought that they would reply, but they instead nodded miserably in agreement and returned their attention to Jazz.

And in that one day, I became evil.

-Posted July 16, 2011

Geez... I promise to add a little more action onto this next time. Thanks for reading and please leave a review to tell me how I did!