With a smile on her face, Valerie Gray walked with her father, Damon Gray. One hand held her fathers hand, swinging it back and forth with the exuberance of a small child. The other held onto a goody stuffed picnic basket. It was his first day off in what seemed like ages to the teen, and it had been even longer since he had shown an abundance of energy. When he suggested they head to Amity Park for a picnic lunch, she agreed without hesitation.
True, the weather was not ideal for a day out in the sun. It was the hottest day of summer so far. Her father even wore shorts for the occasion. On the bright side, there was a slight overcast and a pleasant wind. Even if the day did not have those small reliefs, she was determined to make the best of it. Ever since the incident at Axion Labs, it was not every day they spent quality time together. Even once his work situation improved, his determination to work his hardest was strong and took away spare moments. The amount of time she spent chasing the ghost that caused their original misfortune did not improve their available father-daughter time.
Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the before mentioned ghost, Phantom, blazing crossed the sky. She cursed herself for even thinking of him on such a beautiful day. She thought it was just like him to show up like this. This was supposed to be a good day. She did not need that jerk causing trouble.
Allowing her eyes to widen with an innocent sparkle and letting an earnest grin cross her face, she turned to her father. "I just saw Star." She held out their food. "I'm going to say hello real quick."
"Don't take too long. I might just start eating without you." Her father said in good humor and accepted the picnic basket without question. "Tell her I said hello."
Valerie's happy nod promised to do so, and took off around the nearest tree. Her gear filled backpack, which was brought under the pretense of it carrying a blanket for them to sit on, engaged, providing her with suit and weapons. Prepared for a fight, she took to the skies.
She watched him head away from the park and into town. In order to prevent him from coming to near to humans, she needed to act quickly. Racing forward and gaining altitude, she began her attack. Precisely aimed green discs hit their mark, causing him to stop midair.
It annoyed her to see him gasp for air. He could not need such a thing being dead.
Ectoplasm seeped from the fresh gauge in his right arm and lower back. Covering the wound on his arm to stop the flow of green, the ghost looked at her with wide eyes. Despite the sting of the wound that showed on his face, he adopted a look of determination.
"Isn't it a little too hot to be chasing after me in that suit of yours?" Irritation oozed from his voice. "It's got to be like, 100 degrees out today."
"Can't take the heat, ghost boy?" The helmet hid her smirk, but her tone was unmistakable smug. "You're going to love these weapons then. Hear the blast really burns a ghost."
The ghost avoided the blasts sent towards him, denying her the truth of her statement. The second shot landed closer, yet it was still a miss. He gave a half-hearted blast of energy in response. This paired with his next actions told her something was distracting him. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape. Each dodge of her weapon lead him further away from his attacker and closer to the ground.
"You are not running away from me."
"It's summer, don't you think you could take a break?" Phantom called. "A lake, a beach, a deserted island far, far away?"
"And let you wreak havoc? I don't think so!"
"Just because you don't want to take one, doesn't mean I don't."
"Yeah? What would you do?"
Phantom opened his mouth to answer, with a finger raised in a matter-of-fact fashion only to be cut off by a missile blasting a crater into the sidewalk beside him.
"If you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask." He glared, looking at the damage.
The significance of the damage sidewalk stuck her. The ghost had led them into the city. She cursed underneath her breath. More missiles were out of the question. She did not mind a few damaged sidewalks if it meant taking out the ghost boy, but people walked below them. Her task had become more difficult.
An unreadable expression crossed Phantom's face. Valerie tensed, waiting for his next move. The building beside him would be a quick escape. To her surprise, he darted high into the air. Still suspicious of what his next action would be, she felt relieved that he just made her next attack easier. A missile shot upward would be no danger to the people around her, least of all if it hit its mark.
Phantom would not allow it to be so easy. He turned, still propelling himself upward, and lashed out with ectoplasmic energy. His blasts hit her missile, causing her weapon to detonate in the air. He continued firing as his hunter drew closer. She dodged them with more grace than he showed avoiding her attacks.
"I've landed two hits," Valerie boasted, reaching eye-level with the ghost. "How many have you got?"
In retrospect, she would have realized it was not smart make a taunting comment with her opponent so near her face. The short-ranged blasts were rapid and difficult to dodge.
Shifting her weight to the back of the board, she intended to use the device to block the blast. It did not have the intended affect. The green energy hit to close to the edge and instead of deflecting, the board began to rotating. The unexpected motion caused Valerie to lose her footing. Causing more damage, the flipping board struck her in the stomach.
"Rider absent. Corrective piloting program initiated." The board announced before it angled downward, searching for its fallen rider.
She inhaled deeply to offset the low of breath the sharp blow caused. Time was precious, but at her current height there was enough time to be saved. Her first fall from the board proved that true. There had been little distance between her and the ground in that instance. If the board saved her then, she was confident she would be saved now.
She was not so confident that she did not reach for the board feet above her. The difference between grabbing the board and allowing the object to catch her could be lifesaving. As her outreached hand gripped the edge of the board, she gave a triumphant grin.
"I'm going to destroy you for this, Phantom!" She shouted. It doubled as an outlet of fear of falling and letting her enemy know that she survived his little attack.
There was a factor she had not accounted for in her small victory. She was still falling, finger tips on metal did not stop that, and her downward plummet was not straight. Flipped from the back of her board, she was projected at an angle.
Slight and fatal, the angle smashed the back of her head against the building behind her. A helmet was not enough to save her. Life left her in an instant, leaving a horrified enemy to witness the gory mess and an unaware father waiting for his daughter's return.