Behind Unknown Eyes

07

Horrified shrieks filled the air and consumed Danny's ears. He took his attention away from Skulker and towards the shattered window. A menacing laugh boomed throughout the gymnasium and shook its floor.

Danny wanted everyone to calm down so he could think. The young boy just wanted one moment without his own head pounding. 

He turned to the students and faculty of Caspar High, who were currently unhinged in the bleachers, and tried his best to calm them down. 

"Everyone, do not panic! This will be over in no time-" A pink, fluorescent shot fired to the left of his shoulder, missing it only by a couple of inches. The whole crowd grew slightly quieter as their eyes watched in horror. They didn't want to face the fury of any ghost.

But everyone knew that Danny Phantom would be sure to save them all if it came down to that. He was their city hero after all.

Danny knew who the ghost was when he had screeched out in laughter earlier. The ghost was none other than Vlad Masters. Again. Danny huffed, rolling his eyes. 

His enemy hovered over the bleachers with a proud stance, his hand smoking. What could he possibly want now?

Danny gritted his teeth as he locked eyes with the middle-aged halfa. His eyes were red and burned with evil intentions. "Do you think that you can really convince all of these people that you will be able to save all of their lives?" His voice was a slick slime. 

It was like a pestering ring in the boy's ears. The teen's gloved hands clenched. "Don't you have to be annoying somewhere else other than here? Maybe terrorize a place in the ghost zone?" 

Vlad snickered. "Well that has already been done, my boy." Danny cocked an eyebrow at the middle-aged enemy.

 Phantom could feel the hundreds of eyes locked onto him. He could practically feel their tense bodies waiting for whatever was to come. Vlad suddenly started to reach back into his pocket. Danny stood his ground, ready to fight at any moment. People watched Plasmius as he began to speak to Danny. "I ventured into the Ghost Zone solely with one mission in mind."

Danny began to hover above the ground at that point. He had to be ready. "I'm still so surprised that you haven't questioned me about one certain detail since our battle two days ago. Phantom, I thought that you were brighter than this." Danny gritted his teeth. 

"Just get on with it." He grunted. Vlad sighed. "You're always so full of wonderful things to say to me, aren't you?" Vlad put on a slick smile.

"Anyway," he began to slowly fly closer towards the gym floor where Danny was positioned as his cape flowed. "I flew into the ghost zone to get one thing and one thing only." He swiftly pulled out a Fenton Thermos. His friends were puzzled as to why there would be a Fenton Thermos in the Ghost Zone. Danny only carried around one and hadn't lost it yet.

Meanwhile, Danny wanted to collapse onto the ground. He knew what was inside the thermos. He knew where he had gotten it from. Danny just didn't know how he had managed. 

He knew that he most likely wouldn't get the answer out of him. "Don't you dare bring that close to me," Danny warned with a threatening tone, his words like ice.

The thermos shined as he turned it in his hands. "Oh, you wouldn't want to meet an old friend? I worked so hard to get him out of that place." Plasmius taunted. Sam and Tucker were sick to their stomachs. This was an old friend that they were talking about. An old friend ten years older than them.

Plasmius began to settle onto the gymnasium floor. He gave Danny a curious look. "You see, Phantom, you rely on this cylinder made up of mental way too much." Danny stopped hovering and felt his feet meet the floor. 

He still had a thermos with him right now, and it was the original. The one that Vlad had was the second one his parents made after discovering that the first one had gone 'missing.'

Plasmius gave him a smirk. "What if it were to somehow, how dare I say it, open?" Danny's green eyes lit up like lights. 

"If you think that-" The boy's voice was cut off by a booming laugh of Plasmius'. "You and the ghost that is in here are exactly alike. The whole future of yours is pure destiny. You're careless, selfish, in denial, and the thing that destroys you the most if your nasty temper. You've always had one."

The crowd watched as the ghost boy took this all in. They couldn't believe what the ghost was saying to him. 

Selfish? Certainly anything but selfish. 

In the middle of all of their roaming thoughts, his voice broke out. "You're lying. That's enough, Plasmius." Vlad shook his head, his black hair waving. 

"Ever since Clockwork, you just haven't been the same-" Danny fired a powerful shot at Vlad, but he had seen it coming. "I said enough!" Danny screamed in fury.

Vlad, who now hovered above the bleachers, spoke. "Ah, and your emotions are what kills you. Isn't that what happened-" Danny lunged at him with all of his speed. 

They flew back into the wall, hitting it with tremendous force. Before Plasmius fell down towards the students, Danny caught him and threw him to the gymnasium floor within seconds. A crack in the floor was made because of the impact. Everyone began to cheer. Danny flew down towards the ground, ready to suck him up in his thermos once again.

Vlad didn't look fazed a bit. In fact, he looked pleased. He dusted himself off and slowly got up from the ground. He locked eyes with Danny. "Thank you for proving my point, my boy." 

Danny growled, his hands clenched. He had had enough of this guy.

But the next thing Plasmius said put everyone on edge.

"If you don't want everything to be told, for your secret to be let out, for him to be freed, I suggest you go to the center of town tomorrow morning. Hope you have the best interest of the people around you, otherwise, you wouldn't  deny."