A Truth For A Life
He opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness. He tried to move but something was holding him in place. He struggled, but it was useless.
Suddenly, several torches burst to life, creating a soft glow in the room. The place looked awful. Paint was peeling off the rotten wooden walls, the furniture was torn to shreds and thrown around chaotically, and the floorboard had gaping holes all around it. He tried to turn his wrists and ankles intangible, but as soon as his form began to change, something shocked him. His body drooped from the sudden pain.
He looked around, and his eyes widened when they landed on Sam. Her head was hung low, her black hair making it impossible to see if she was awake or not. She was tied up just like him. He was about to call to her when a door creaked open.
"Daniel, you're awake," an all too familiar voice spoke. His head whipped up to see a man standing at the doorway.
"Vlad. What do you want?" he growled.
"Oh, no hello or how you doing?" he said sarcastically, as he stepped into the room. His hands were behind his back and his perfect ponytail shook behind him. Danny just narrowed his eyes. With Sam here, he didn't feel much for some playful banter.
"Well fine then," Vlad said when he realized Danny wasn't in the mood for much small talk. "I'm just bored is all. Thought I'd have fun. And what's more entertaining than ruining your life?" Vlad said with an evil smile.
"Seeing my mom reject you again and again," Danny growled. Vlad visibly flinched.
"Well, it seems your manners haven't improved," Vlad commented.
"And never will. Now let me go!" Danny said, pulling at the chains again. He tried to go ghost, but the cuffs just shocked him again. Vlad chuckled.
"They're made to hold humans and ghosts, Daniel. Struggling won't do you any good." Danny gritted his teeth.
"Now!" Vlad exclaimed. "On to the games!" He changed into his ghostly form before he grabbed a glass of water and chucked it at Sam. She woke up gasping and sputtering, as her eyes darted around wildly.
"Who are you? Where am I?!" she demanded immediately as she glared at Vlad.
"Oh quiet down dear, you're going to give me a headache," Vlad complained as he massaged his head. Sam grinned.
"Good." Vlad rolled his eyes.
"Let her go, Vlad," Danny said, making Sam's head swivel towards him.
"Danny!" she exclaimed in surprised. "What's going on?"
"I'll explain later," Danny said absently, as he kept his eyes on Vlad.
"Why don't we explain now?" Vlad said, as he pressed something on his watch and Danny's restraints loosened, dropping him to his knees. Vlad towered over him.
"Let's play," he said, shooting Danny and sending him flying into the wall. He slid down with a grunt. He had the urge to go ghost, but he didn't want to reveal himself to Sam. At least not now. He liked her too much and he didn't want to scare her away. He stood up, leaning against the wall for support. Vlad blasted him again, slamming him against the wall harder.
"Danny!" Sam yelled.
"Fight Danny boy, what's wrong? Performance problems?" Vlad teased as he strode towards him. Danny was breathing heavy, but he wasn't going to let Vlad ruin a possible relationship. Vlad's hand glowed bright red, and before Danny had time to duck, he lashed out, catching Danny square in the chest and sent him flying across the room. With a yelp, Danny hit the wall much harder. His body was sore and he could imagine he had cuts and bruises all over him.
"Leave him alone!" Sam yelled frantically, which only made Vlad cackle in delight. He grabbed Danny's hair and pulled him up.
"She doesn't know, does she?" Vlad whispered. Danny grunted as he tried to pry Vlad's hands off of him. He laughed and slung him to the floor.
"Danny! Fight!" Sam yelled, her chains making a racket as she squirmed in place. "FIGHT!" Danny wanted to, but he also knew the only way to beat Plasmius was to go ghost, and he was afraid he'd lose her for good. He shakily stood up, his knees feeling like jelly. He was breathing heavy and the dust in the room didn't help much. He felt something hard hit his back and fell back down, his face colliding with the floor. He grunted and he could feel something warm gushing from his nose.
"Fight Danny," Vlad cooed, as he kicked him.
"No," Danny said through gritted teeth. Vlad sighed.
"You really aren't making this any fun, are you?" Plasmius said sullenly. Danny got to his knees, but everything screamed for him to stop. Plasmius walked up to him and grabbed his arms, lifting him off the ground.
"You are pathetic. Do you thinking turning ghost would scare her away? Who are you kidding?! Just being you can frighten anyone. You aren't special. You can't even fight right," Vlad said, each word falling like rocks in Danny's stomach. He could feel anger surging through him and he gritted his teeth, but it wasn't helping. He could feel his eyes glowing, and despite everything he had tried not to do, a green glowing ball formed in his hands.
With a yell, he pushed, sending Plasmius flying across the room. He stumbled until he was standing in front of Sam. He turned ghost, feeling his body change into something more; something better, something more powerful. He heard a gasp from Sam, but he was afraid to look at her, afraid of the disgusted look she was probably giving him. He blasted Plasmius, but it didn't do much damage. Before he could shoot again, Vlad cackled and phased through the roof.
"DAMN IT, VLAD!" he yelled at the ceiling. Seconds later, red lights went off with a shrieking alarm.
"Auto destruct in 10… 9… 8…" Horror built up inside him. He turned to Sam and her eyes reflected his fear. He shot at her cuffs, but it simply pinged off. They were ghost proof. Danny panicked, but giving her a pained look, he levitated up and pulled her head into his shoulder.
"3… 2… 1…" The building shook and exploded around them, but the debris and the fire went harmlessly through them as Danny kept both himself and Sam completely intangible. He could feel her heart beating fast, and he wondered what was going through her mind now. When the rain of deadly projectiles ended, he pulled away from her. She tumbled down, the cuffs broken from the explosion, but Danny caught her arm and lowered her gently. He stood in front of her while she simply stared at him wide-eyed.
"I'm sorry," he said. He expected her to call him names and run away, yelling his true identity, but she just smiled.
"All this time," she said softly. "Why didn't you tell me?" Danny looked down.
"I thought you'd think I was a freak and leave," he replied. She touched his chin and pulled his face up.
"I would never think that. And I would never leave you," she said. Danny felt like the weight of the world had been pulled off his shoulders. She leaned in and kissed him. And he'd never been happier. Vlad tried to ruin his life, but all he did was make it 10x better. That probably really pisses him off. Or at least, Danny really hoped it did.
So this is the first time I've written a Danny Phantom fanfic, and I'm not even sure why this came out, but I hope you liked it. Please review your thoughts on it, because I might write more in the future. For now, I'll put "incomplete" in case I decide to add more one-shots. Hope you enjoyed! :)