Presenting the winner of the poll!
Yep, this is a sequel and you've been waiting a long time for it. Sorry about that but I hope it's worth the wait. If you haven't read the previous stories, you're likely to be a bit lost. The direct prequel to this is Ghostly Justice but all previous crossovers with Kim Possible and American Dragon: Jake Long are also included in this time line.
This story leads on directly from the previous fanfic but there's a time skip. The previous story was set after Hallowe'en. So Artemis and Zatanna had met and fought Secret/Greta Hayes and Harm but Zatara was still around at the time. But it was set after the show finales of Kim Possible, Danny Phantom and American Dragon: Jake Long. This is set early summer the next year.
This story has a number of crossovers too. It crosses over Danny Phantom, Young Justice, Kim Possible, American Dragon: Jake Long, (and minor spoiler) Jimmy Neutron.
I'll be honest, I wasn't happy with the previous fanfic. I'll admit it wasn't my best work and there were a lot of plot holes and out-of-character moments. But this story should clear those up.
I don't own Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, Young Justice, American Dragon: Jake Long or Jimmy Neutron.
Wow, that was a lot to say.
But without further ado… on with the story!
Danielle kicked a mangled cage on the dusty lab floor. Sam scanned the room with a scowl on her face.
"Danny, they're gone. By the looks of it, for months," Sam complained. Danny rolled his eyes as he opened another filing cabinet.
"Yeah, I see that. But you know we're not just here to clear out scientists and trapped ghosts," Danny retorted.
"Come on Danny! We've been here for ages! Can't you just grab everything in those drawers and take it home. Dad's gonna have finished testing the new Speeder before we leave at this rate," Danielle whined. Danny glanced at her and shook his head.
"The only kid actually interested in dad's ramblings," Danny mumbled to himself. He turned to face his adopted sister.
"No Dani. That isn't possible. There's too much here and most of it is useless. Just be patient for a little longer and we'll get ice cream or whatever on the way back," Danny promised. Danielle grinned.
"Sweet!" she cheered.
Danny shut the drawer he'd been searching through and walked to the next cabinet. He crouched down and peered into a dark cupboard. It seemed empty and Danny was about to move on when he spotted a flashing red light at the back. He raised an eyebrow curiously and reached into the cupboard. It was surprisingly deep.
"Danny? You alright?" Sam called curiously.
"There's a flashing light in here," Danny grunted as he strained to reach the source of the light. He shuffled closer to the cupboard, squashing his face painfully flush to the next cupboard over to reach into the cupboard.
"Aha!" he cried in triumph as his ghostly gloved fingers brushed against the small device at the back, wedged in the top corner. Despite this being a ghost hunter's lab, Danny preferred to investigate while in his ghost form, that way he had quick access to all his powers if something happened.
"What is it?" Danielle wondered. Danny frowned in concentration as he tried to get even further in to grab the device and pull it out. His eyes widened in shock though as he heard the tiniest click.
"Uh, Dani, back away slowly. You too Sam," Danny muttered worriedly.
"What's wrong?" Sam inquired, hearing the fear in her boyfriend's voice.
"I think I may have accidently triggered a trap," Danny admitted slowly, keeping his hand as still as possible, not wanting to make any sudden moves and triggering the trap further.
"Why?" Sam pressed worriedly, taking the smallest step closer to help.
"I heard a click. Sam, stay back. I dunno if this trap is timed. It mightn't only hurt ghosts," Danny warned sternly, turning his head as much as possible to look at his girlfriend, which was unfortunately very little as he couldn't pull away without moving his hand.
"So what do we do?!" Sam demanded worriedly.
"I don't know alright. But if it's pressure sensitive, if I move it'll trigger. Maybe call Tuck. He might be able to get someone out here to help me," Danny answered trying to keep as calm as possible in the situation.
"Good idea. Hold on," Sam agreed and tugged her phone out of her skirt pocket.
Danielle edged closer to the Goth girl.
"Don't worry Danny, we're not gonna just leave you," Danielle called reassuringly. Danny nodded slowly.
"I know Dani. Just, please, stay back. Remember where we are," Danny retorted.
"Yeah, I know. Old Guys in White building. Very dangerous. Blah blah blah," Danielle grumbled, opening and closing her hand like a mouth moving. Danny scowled.
"Dani, I mean it. This place is dangerous. It was places like this where they made Project White Flower," Danny scolded, sensing that Danielle wasn't taking the threat seriously. He couldn't really blame her. This was the twentieth base he'd taken her to and this was the third time he thought he triggered a trap. The first time was when he trod on a wobbly floor board and thought it was a pressure pad. It took thirty minutes for Tucker to come and figure out the truth. Danny still hadn't lived down that embarrassment. The second was when Danielle pressed a button and Danny had been forced to dodge a number of ghost weapons in the next room. That was the last time Danielle was allowed to touch anything without Sam or Danny's say so first.
"No signal," Sam informed him fearfully. Danny bit his lip worriedly. He couldn't stay completely still forever. And it could took take hours before anyone noticed the three of them missing. Jazz was away with Maddie, college scouting. Jack was testing weaponry which tended to blind the man to other responsibilities like checking on his half-ghost kids. Tucker was busy at the town hall, which was the reason the techno-geek wasn't with the trio in the first place. Valerie would probably notice first and that would only be because of a ghost attack and no Phantoms. The new Fenton portal was up and running for a month now and ghosts had started using the doorway. On the upside, Danny had finally been able to empty all the thermoses filled with ghosts lying around.
"Danny, we can't wait for help," Sam commented, reading her boyfriend's mind. Danny nodded in understanding.
"I know. I'm thinking," Danny muttered, his cheek was really starting hurt with the pressure he was pressing against the cupboard in order to stay in contact with whatever he was touching.
"Why don't we race the trap? Try and get far enough away before it triggers," Danielle suggested hopefully.
"What if it's a bomb? What if the trap isn't localised to right here? Dani, it's too dangerous," Danny pointed out.
"I could take Dani to the next room. We'll be safe there and you can run for it," Sam offered. Danny sighed softly. It was better than waiting and hoping a ghost attacked soon. It was an hour's drive to this base as it was without having to wait for someone to realise something was up.
"Alright, but be ready for anything," he relented.
Both girls nodded and scurried to the lab door and waited for Danny to race the trap.
"I swear Danny, if this is another loose floor board thing, I'm never listening to you again when it comes to traps," Danielle called to her brother as he prepared to run, shuffling his feet underneath him and pressing his free hand against the cupboard to push off of. Danny rolled his eyes.
"On three Danny. One!" Sam shouted encouragingly. Danny took a deep breath and readied himself.
"Two!" Sam resumed. Danny edged his fingers away from whatever he was touching in order to bolt.
"Three!" Sam cried. Danny jumped to his feet, pushing away from the cupboard and releasing the device in the cupboard in one swift, fluid movement.
However before the halfa could take a single step away, something shot out of the cupboard and latched on to his ankle. Danny tripped as he started running and cried out in alarm, slamming, face-first, on the ground. He spun around to see a metal claw holding his ankle tightly. His gaze flicked to the red light only to see the light was a steady bright green. He gulped nervously.
"Danny!" Sam and Danielle screamed fearfully. Danny tried to shake the claw off of himself as the girls ran back into the room. Despite the loud rattling of the attached chain, Danny heard another click and a steady clacking filled the room as the claw began to drag him towards the cupboard. He gasped fearfully and grabbed anything within reach, feeling Sam grasp his wrist painfully tightly.
"I got you!" she exclaimed and tugged on his arm to stop him being dragged into the cupboard. Danny yelped in alarm and fear as he saw the cupboard back had slid away and the claw doubled its attempt to pull him into the cupboard. Danielle grabbed his other arm as Danny used his free foot to stop himself going any further. The three teens strained against the claw together.
Suddenly, with a mighty crack, the cupboard Danny had propped his foot against splintered and the sudden jerk forward caused Danielle to lose her grip on her brother's arm.
"No!" Danielle shrieked terrified. Danny was pulled inch by inch away, faster than Danielle could recover and stronger than Sam could stop.
"Sam, let go!" Danny yelled as he heard her combat boots squeaking beside his head with the effort of trying to save him.
"No! We have no idea what will happen!" Sam growled.
"Exactly! If you don't let go, you're gonna get dragged down with me! Let go!" Danny retorted panicked, his hips had entered the cupboard by now and the claw wasn't stopping. Sam bit her lip, drawing a few beads of blood.
"We're not going to rest until we find you. Hold on. We'll find you," Sam vowed, tears in her eyes. Danny gave her a solemn nod and she let go. Danny's head disappeared into the cupboard seconds later.
Danny screamed as he was suddenly pulled down a hole. Instinctively he tried to stop the fall by tapping into his ability to fly, but after a few seconds of fighting the claw, he quickly realised he was fighting a losing battle. The claw was taking him down. He had no choice in the matter. He was going down the chute.
Sam flinched as she heard her boyfriend scream, her heart thundering in her chest as his voice grew fainter. Danielle slowly got to her feet, having fallen over when she lost her grip on Danny. The young girl edged closer to Sam, her body shaking with fear. Suddenly her adoptive brother's warnings and concerns didn't sound so ridiculous. They were scary real for her. Sam swallowed stiffly and pulled out a blueprint Tucker printed off for them. She scanned it and shook her head in despair. The trap wasn't on the blueprint. They were in a corner on the bottom level. She had no idea where that claw was dragging her boyfriend to. She fished out her phone. Nervously biting the inside of her cheek, she eyed the symbol telling her there was no signal. She glanced worriedly at the cupboard.
"Dani, take my phone outside and call Tucker or your dad. I'm staying here, maybe I can open that passage Danny went through and we'll be able to follow," Sam planned and handed her phone to Danielle who nodded in numb obedience. Danielle scampered away towards the stairs into the offices above and out to Sam's car. Sam crouched down beside the cupboard. It was completely dark now. No sign of a blinking light anywhere inside. She crawled inside as much as she dared and brushed her hand on the back of the cupboard.
"Hold on Danny. We'll find you," she whispered to herself worriedly. Without her phone to use as a flashlight, she was left to feel the cupboard with her hands to find clues. She eventually wrapped her hands around the device Danny found. With a soft sigh in relief to have found that proof, she crawled out of the cupboard and sat beside it. She scanned the wrecked lab and shuddered. The image of Danny trapped in one of those cages came to the forefront of her mind. And she hated how true that image could be.
Oh no! Danny's been taken by someone! Any guesses who?
Let me know what you think so far.
Until the next chapter.