A/N: Hello, everyone! Surprised to see me posting another story even when I'm in the midst of co-writing that other story with pearl84, our very own Seeing is disBelieving? (Heh-heh, yeah, I know. Shameless advertising here!) Well, join the club! I'm actually shocked because this is something I don't usually do…post more than one story at a time, that is. Why? Because I'm just too dumb to multi-task, so my slow brain must type…one...thought…at…a…time! But, hey, I was in the mood for Father's Day, thinking about my dad and all and this little story just popped out of my brain—slowly, of course! And if you haven't read my other stories, tsk-tsk! Just kidding! But it might help for the background, like the fact that Tucker and Valerie are now a couple and this is after Phantom Planet, so, of course, Danny and Sam are also a couple. And, finally, I wrote a story called, "His Own Worst Enemy" which has Danny's secret being restored, though his parents still know of it. But most of it should flow right along even if you haven't taken a peek at —and reviewed — my other stories (tsk-tsk! Sorry, couldn't help myself!) Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this little one shot and, more importantly— for MOST of you out there—spoil your dads REAL good today, OK? He'll appreciate it, believe me. Happy Father's Day to most everyone! And just so you know, I might be a bit early for wishing a "Happy Father's Day" to fathers in countries like Brazil (in August), New Zealand (in September), and Iceland, Finland and Sweden (November) and a bit late for others in countries such as Russia (February), Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania and South Korea (May). But that doesn't mean that we can't wish every day to be Father's Day! And, before I forget, I want to thank my AWESOME beta and friend, pearl84, for keeping me straight and for my AWESOME friend, Angelus-alvus, for giving me his nod on the summary! You know how slow my brain is! Enjoy!
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Father's Day Gift
"One-hundred-point-one, Jack! He's never been sick like this before!" Maddie anxiously said as she checked the thermometer again before glancing worriedly between her husband and their sick son. "And the only time he was this ill was…." Maddie began, but didn't have the strength to finish.
By the look on Jack's face, however, he knew she was referring to the time when Danny had ectoradium poisoning—which they all called Black Shadow Decay—and almost died from it. Jack looked down at his feverish son again. Danny was in his human form. But the boy was sleeping so heavily and his breathing was so shallow that the man was growing just as worried as his wife. Still, he steeled himself and tried to gently reassure her, "C'mon, sweetcakes. I'm sure he's going to gonna be fine. We all get the flu sometime."
"But this is stranger than the flu, Jack," she insisted just before she reached over to the bedside table and picked up a long sheet of paper. Then she pointed to Danny's left arm and added, "And that doesn't explain that horrible cut on him."
Jack glanced at Danny's wound that had stopped bleeding for the most part. But red and slightly glowing green stains were still present on the skin around and just below the cut. And when the man looked back up at his wife, she had already pressed the paper she had retrieved from on top of the bedside table into his hands. He frowned as he read the data they had collected after running a few tests on their son. Maddie was right. This wasn't the flu. He bit his lip. What was wrong with his son?
"Okay, I agree. It's not the flu," he slowly began, though his voice betrayed his growing panic. "But what can we do, Maddie? We can't take him to a regular doctor because of, well, you know. And we've never even tried to look for some kind of ghost doctor before, either."
"Then, it's time that we did," the women countered as she looked down again at Danny's sweaty forehead which had already soaked his bangs. "With Danny's ghost core being a cold one and because his normal temperature is ninety-six degrees, way lower than normal humans, having a temperature like he's running is even more dangerous for him.
"You're right, of course, Maddie," Jack seriously replied. "I'll go and get the Speeder ready."
Maddie smiled weakly at her husband before he turned to go down into their lab. But the slightly upward turn of her mouth fell with motherly concern as soon as Jack was out of eye sight. Her husband and she were usually able to figure out how to cure ghostly problems, like they had when Danny's friends—and Vlad— had been infected with that deadly strain of ecto-acne.
But what Danny had was no disease and his arm wound wasn't severe enough to explain her son's condition. In fact, why he was even having a fever at all, much less a dangerously high one for him, and why he was comatose for all intents and purposes was beyond her.
She reached down and gently brushed her son's sweat-soaked bangs out of his eyes and just as gently lifted one of his eyelids. She gasped and immediately felt tears forming when she saw his eye. Not only was his pupil now actually greyish in color, but it also looked….vacant. As if Danny wasn't there…
And she really wasn't far from the truth….
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Much earlier...
"Hey, Danny, what are you getting your dad for Father's Day?" Tucker asked his friend as he, his girlfriend Valerie, and Sam were in the midst of scouring the mall for gifts for their respective fathers.
All of the friends were in a particularly festive and thankful mood today. And that was because somehow they had managed to get ready for a holiday several days rather than several hours before its arrival. After all, fighting ghosts had become more of a custom for them around the holidays for the last couple of years than any other thing; so having this amount of free time was precious to them. And that was especially true when each of his friends' families were leaving early for the Father's Day weekend.
"Oh, I don't know," Danny replied as he smirked back at his friend. "I guess I'm going to chicken out like always and get him what I usually get him."
Valerie rolled her eyes and thought, "Not another tie?"
But she was surprised by Sam's next comment.
"So, you don't think that your dad will get tired of another Mario Brothers' game?"
Danny winked at his girlfriend before turning back to Valerie and quipping, "Oh, if he does, he can still play those other 'virtual worlds' games I always give him for his birthday!"
Valerie rolled her eyes again and said, "Cheesy, hero! But I guess you must know him the best."
"Everyone does!" Tucker and Sam both chimed in at once before laughing.
The foursome finally got to the food court to have lunch. Once they sat down with their food, everyone—except Danny, of course who hadn't bought anything yet—was looking over the presents that they had gotten their respective dads.
Danny had just started eating his second slice of pizza when ice blue frost suddenly leaked out between his bites. He quickly swallowed it all down and griped, "Man, I hate when my ghost sense does that. I like my pizza hot!"
His friends looked at him with that comment.
Danny quickly scanned all around them and caught sight of something glowing purple and green flying above and just outside the glass roof. Pointing upward as non-obtrusively as he could, he then added, "Guys, there's a ghost up there. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"
Looking upward as well, Valerie asked, "Do you need help?"
Sam and Tucker also sat up more erect and glanced at their friend.
"No. I think I can handle him," Danny said with a pleased smile. "But I'm glad to know that my friends are always ready to get their hands dirty!"
"Literally!" Tucker quipped with a smirk just as he dramatically wiped some ketchup off his hands.
The foursome chuckled a bit just as Danny dashed off. But then his friends frowned when the teen just as suddenly turned back around and said seriously, "And, no, you can't have the rest of my pizza, Tucker!"
"Hey, I wasn't going to touch it, dude!" Tucker protested as his best friend hurried off again. But when Danny was out of earshot, Tucker pouted and added, "Darn!"
The girls, however, hadn't heard Tucker's last comment because they were tracking Danny as he scurried off to find a place to morph.
Danny quickly found a hidden area and scanning around him once more to make sure he was alone, he instantly transformed into his black-and-white alter ego. Without hesitating, he shot upward, turning invisible and intangible just before he plunged through the ceiling.
Once outside, the half-ghost scanned the area carefully, and slowly tuned himself 360 degrees, not unlike an ice skater revolving around his small axis, only in very slow motion.
Suddenly, he spied the glowing purple ghost in the far distance! But it was entering a natural portal. And he knew that he wasn't going to catch up with it before the portal would close, even if he used his supersonic speed. Still, he sighed in some relief because he really needed the time to get that present for his father!
He quickly returned to his friends and reported what happened. Though all of them were use to this kind of excitement, each of them secretly was glad that they could complete their lunch and shopping before Danny's friends would be going out-of-town tomorrow.
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Danny woke the next day feeling a little down. Sure, he had known well in advance about his friends' holiday plans, but he still never liked being without them—especially Sam. Still, he had to get going since he hadn't found a gift for his father yet. And tomorrow was Father's Day.
He sighed. He wished he could have chipped in with Jazz and let her get the present. But her college orientation wouldn't be over until mid-day tomorrow, so that wouldn't be possible, of course.
He stretched a bit and got out of bed. He quickly readied himself and headed downstairs for breakfast. He smiled when he smelled his favorite breakfast's scent greeting him on the stairs and quickened his pace.
But then, suddenly, his ghost sense fired off. He narrowed his eyes in irritation.
"Oh, great!" Danny groaned. "And on an empty stomach, too! I hope it's the Box Ghost, because I'm starved!"
Without any more delay, the boy quickly transformed, turned intangible and ricocheted upward.
When he reached the outside sky, at once he saw two ghosts in the near distance. Darn! This wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped.
"What is he doing here?" Danny grumbled under his breath. But then he chuckled softly at his very next thought, "For that matter, what's with any ghost ever being here except to cause trouble? Well, then, quit stalling, Fenton!"
He increased his speed, already mentally calculating where he was going to intercept the purple and green ghosts.
Finally, the hybrid was within earshot when he charged up a couple of small balls of green ectoplasmic energy. The pulsating white and green energy within each ball bounced off of its sphere's shell, as eager to charge outward as a penned-up feisty rodeo bull was.
Danny threw the orbs and just like flack shot at a jet fighter, the balls of energy burst brightly and loudly right in front of the flying ghosts.
Nightmare abruptly halted and reared up on his back legs in a startle and almost threw his rider off.
But the Fright Knight was as skilled a horseman as he was a warrior. He quickly gained control over his steed and pulled the reins back until Nightmare had turned a full 180 degrees to face their attacker.
That was enough of a distraction for Danny to fly even nearer. And ready with two even larger orbs of green energy pulsating around his fisted hands, he called out, "Hey, Fright Nut! You're way too early for Halloween! You're scaring all the summertime birds, you know!"
Fright Knight immediately drew out his green glowing sword and crossly said, "I am no longer subject to the commands of any ghost, much less yours, Ghost Whelp!"
"Oh, yeah?" Danny countered as he soared even closer to the ghost mounted on his floating horse. "Well, that may apply in the Ghost Zone, but not here! So, why don't you just go back to your 'land of the free and home to the jerks'?"
His purple flaming hair flaring even more with fury, the Fright Knight suddenly yanked Nightmare's reins back.
The glowing green horse reared up on his hind legs in mid-air while neighing in anger. And just as his own green flaming hooves flashed brighter and hot smoke bellowed out of his snout, he and his master shot toward the Ghost Boy.
The medieval ghost readied his green Soul Shredder as he and his steed charged down upon the teen.
But Danny easily avoided the Fright Knight's first downward attempt at slicing at him; and shot an ectoplasmic ray as the ghosts swept past him.
Danny grunted when the ray went wild. He turned and darted right after them.
Once again, the Fright Knight pulled Nightmare 180 degrees and didn't hesitate to lift up his glowing blade and charge.
As Nightmare stormed down at him, Danny could see that the Fright Knight was using the same strategy as before. He internally smiled. He had a few tricks of his own. He hovered in place before charging up a green ectoplasmic shield and an ice sword of his own.
At first, the Fright Knight cackled when he saw that the Ghost Boy had the lower ground and was making himself an easy target.
However, a few moments before the Fright Knight was sure that he was going to shred the boy, Danny bolted upward before flipping over head first so to get his sword at the right angle. And just as the boy had hoped, ice firmly met metal and flicked whatever force the sword had away from him as rider and steed galloped under him.
And as before, Danny stood his ground in mid-air readying his shield and sword just as the Fright Knight pulled his steed around for another charge.
This time, however, Nightmare bolted to the boy's right at the last second, which gave his master a wider range to hack at their opponent.
Danny gasped and raised his shield. It cleaved in two at the blow, but successfully protected Danny from the touch of ghostly metal. The boy grunted in determination. True, the Fright Knight was definitely not easy to beat as he had earlier thought. But that didn't mean the ghost was invincible.
The half-ghost turned to see that the armored ghost had steered his steed around yet again and was already charging at him. Willing another shield and holding it steadily in front of him, Danny then bolted toward the knight and stallion...
On they fought in mid-air, though neither of them realized that they had drifted further into the city.
Danny panted after the last run. He wished he could have eaten something before all of this started because he was beginning to tire. But he still hadn't defeated the ghost yet. And so, it was time to end this!
He took in a deep breath of determination. But before he could think of his next move, the Fright Knight called out to him.
"You do fight well, boy. But you will not defeat me this time! I have visited an ancient place that has given my sword more power. And you will soon feel its sting!"
"Well, then, that would explain the 'new and improved' Fright Nut," Danny grumbled to himself. But he yelled defiantly back, "That would be the day, jerk! And haven't you heard the saying, 'the more powerful they say they are, the harder they fall'?"
"Uh, something like that!" Danny concluded only to himself as he raised his shield and ice sword.
The Fright Knight growled in anger as he nudged his horse forward. As far as he was concerned, this would be their last round.
His Soul Shredder glowed more fiercely as he and Nightmare barreled down upon the Ghost Boy. And this time, the older ghost willed a powerful energy ray, which shot out from his sword and slammed into Danny's shield.
Danny grunted at the vibration pummeling his shield. It was so bad, he had to drop his own sword and hold onto the shield with both hands. But in the next second, the shield was being cleaved in two by Fright Knight's blade.
Danny gasped and barely avoided the green sword again. But the Fright Knight had already countered with a back-handed swing, which was headed right to him!
In desperation, Danny threw his hands up; and just before the blade could carve right through him, it met a block of solid ice that had formed between Danny's hands at the last second. Now that the green sword was wedged within the ice, Danny yanked downward, pulling ice and blade with it with enough force that Fright Knight was pulled from Nightmare.
Still grasping the ice block, Danny quickly used it as leverage. He pulled his legs upward and with a round-about kick, slammed into the ghost's side. Fright Knight yelled in pain and anger when the blow was hard enough to loosen his grip on his sword. Danny quickly followed up with a powerful green ectoplasmic blast, which harshly pushed the ghost knight away until the ghost was several hundred yards from where he had started.
But before Danny could do anything else, he felt himself being harshly rammed downward.
He had forgotten about Nightmare, which had come to his master's aid and had kicked the Ghost Boy with his front hooves.
Danny yelped in pain after he had made contact on the ground. But he had still managed to keep a hold on the Fright Knight's ice-embedded sword. He staggered up to a stand before producing his wulf claws. Without hesitating, he tore open a small portal to the Ghost Zone, where he planned to throw the Soul Shredder.
But in the next moment, he caught something coming at him in the corner of his right eye. He gasped. He could barely make out the outline of Nightmare under that huge ball of green fire. And the fire seemed to be originating at the base of each of the steed's hooves!
"I didn't know he could do that!" Danny yelled. But then he frowned and added, "Oh, yeah. That 'new and improved' thing.
And as the horse galloped closer, the heat precipitously increased. In the next moment, in fact, the ice around the Soul Shredder had melted even though Nightmare was still several yards away!
"Man, that's a friggin' comet coming at me! I don't know if my ice energy can match that, but I know what can!" Danny quickly thought.
He drew in as much breath as he could hold and then just when he thought the time was right, poured out his Ghostly Wail.
And just as he had hoped, his power had not only snuffed out the flames surrounding the horse, but had sent the ghost animal pell-mell several blocks away.
Panting from the effort, Danny had already dropped to the ground. But even though he could now control his Ghostly Wail, he hadn't yet eaten and he was already exhausted from his fight with Fright Knight. So, he wasn't too surprised, yet also not at all happy, when he could feel his energy rapidly ebbing away.
But just before he knew his transformation rings would unwittingly appear, he heard something behind him. He turned to face whatever that was and gasped.
Fright Knight had been able to return and had his Soul Shredder raised with both hands and was in the process of sweeping downward!
And just as the boy's white energy rings appeared, the green blade came down. Danny reflexively threw up his left arm to shield himself right when he was in mid-morph!
Danny screamed at the pain as the blade dug into his skin the moment he returned to his human form. He immediately dropped to the ground and lay still.
Fright Knight frowned when he saw that the boy was still here!
"What did you do to my Soul Shredder, boy?" He angrily demanded. He was about to swipe at him again when a powerful beam hit directly in front of him. Before he knew it, he was fighting another force: the force of Maddie Fenton's ecto-bazooka which was capable of forming instant portals and sucking any ghost into it.
Once the ghost was gone, Maddie ran up to her unconscious son. She immediately screamed, "Jack! Come here! Hurry!"
In some ways, it had been fortunate that Danny's battle with the Fright Knight had ended in his own backyard.
But, the deed of the Soul Shredder had been done….
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"Everything's set, Maddie. Let me get Danny into the Speeder, okay?" Jack gently said as he softly wrapped his huge arm around his wife's shoulders.
Maddie in turn sunk her face into his shoulder and softly wept. A few moments later, Maddie pulled away and began, "I know we said we had to find a ghost doctor, Jack. But while waiting for you to finish, I did a little research on that ghost that had attacked Danny. His name is 'Fright Knight'. And his weapon is especially terrible! It sends a person to a dimension of that person's worst fears!"
Jack blinked and then smiled a bit before saying. "But that's good news, isn't it? Danny's still here. So, maybe…"
But Maddie interrupted him, and he immediately stopped talking when he heard the worried tone in her voice, "But, honey, I saw what happened. That 'Soul Shredder' — as that ghost's weapon is called—actually cut Danny, not phase as it sliced through him. But it cut Danny when he was in mid-morph! He was neither ghost nor human at that state!"
Jack frowned at his next thought. Could it mean that….But he uttered out loud, "It couldn't be that…"
Once more Maddie interrupted him. "Yes, my thoughts exactly. And that would explain why Danny is how he is. His human-half is here, but his ghost-half is in that other dimension!" She swallowed hard a bit at her next thought but she still said, "And because Danny has actually been split in two, both of his halves are in effect, dying! His human side is burning with fever because his cold core isn't countering it…"
"And that would mean that his ghost half must be freezing wherever it is!" Jack concluded for her.
She gravely nodded. But then what she said next was in such a serious tone that it actually creeped her husband a bit.
"We have to go find the Fright Knight's lair, find a portal to whatever dimension Danny's ghost half is, and get Danny out of there!"
Jack was about to comment when she added, "It's a good thing that Danny gave us a copy of his Ghost Zone map. We at least have the coordinates to the Fright Knight's castle."
"I agree, then that we have to go there to get our son, Maddie," Jack then said. "But what does your research say about how to defeat this ghost?"
"There is only one way…..and it's not going to be easy," his wife answered. She then opened the nearby laptop and pushed a button. She gravely read the words: "To cease the storm, to end the fear, the sword must sheathe in pumpkin near!" (1)
"Pumpkin? That's just dumb!" Jack blurted out. But he winced when he was met with his wife's glare. "Sorry, sweetcakes! But this is June! Where are we going to get a pumpkin?"
"I'm sure one of those health food stores will carry one! They always seem to have the weirdest things there at the weirdest times!" Maddie replied.
"Yech!" Jack said with disgust. "They only have organic fudge in there!"
Once again, Maddie glared at him and he chuckled apologetically, "Sorry again, honey. Let me run to get a pumpkin. In the meantime, could you, heh-heh, check everything over and make sure we have everything we need. You know how I am!"
He quickly left and this time Maddie smiled weakly. She knew her husband tried, but he usually did flub up when it came to planning and doing things. She glanced over at Danny again before hurrying down to the lab…
In the meantime, Jack drove all over town trying to find a pumpkin. But so far he had no luck in finding one.
As he was slowly driving back to his home, he sadly thought, "Once again, Jack Fenton fails! But I can't fail! My family's depending on it!" But then, his shoulders drooped in defeat and he bit his lip. Suddenly, an idea pulled itself out of his brain. He brightened at the thought before frowning with uncertainty. But then, he brightened once more and said with more determination, "Lame, but it's worth a try!" He quickly turned the wheels of the Fenton RV sharply to the left, and spun deftly into a 'one-eighty' turn before he headed to his next destination.
Once the man had returned home, it was already past midnight. Jack quickly shoved his find into a large backpack and deposited it into the Specter Speeder. And at another thought, he ran over to one of the lab's tables and added another item to their list of supplies. He then ran back upstairs, where he knew he would find his wife.
"Sorry I'm late, sweetcakes. Finding that pumpkin was almost impossible. But I got what we need."
Maddie nodded and bit her lower lip as her husband lifted their unconscious son. She knew that he was extremely gentle as he did his task, but she was about to cry with her fears as she watched and had to steel herself.
Finally, they were on their way to the Fright Knight's lair….
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The red castle loomed in the distance and both Jack and Maddie tensed. They hoped that they would be able to accomplish their mission for their son's sake.
"We can do it, Maddie," Jack said, trying to assure her. "We have to."
Maddie smiled weakly and glanced back at Danny, who was lying on a small cot. She frowned. His fever must be rising because his face was now flushed and he was sweating even more.
She then seriously said, "Jack. You're going to have to do this alone."
He turned from the controls and with a worried frown asked, "What do you mean, honey?"
"I can't leave Danny. I think his temperature is getting higher. And I'm going to have to keep him as cool as possible," she said as she opened a cooler full of ice and retrieved a washcloth. She went right to task and started to wipe Danny down.
Jack bit his lower lip and took in a deep breath. His wife was right.
He turned back and looked at the castle that was quickly growing larger. He would have to try to get Danny's ghost-half back. But he would also have to make sure that his wife and son would be safe until he could return—if he could return. He spied a shelf with a large boulder on it and seeing it was large enough, steered the Speeder toward it.
Once he had landed the flying machine, he retrieved the backpack he had brought and a jetpack that he would use to get to the castle.
After he had secured everything, he walked up to his wife and son. Then after gently patting his son's hot forehead and giving his wife a quick, yet tender, kiss, he opened the hatch and headed toward the Fright Knight's castle...
Fortunately for the man, Fright Knight was not expecting any human visitors.
Jack slowly entered the darkened passageway leading to the castle's entrance. Once it lightened up, he was at the base of a long upward-winding staircase.
As he inched forward and upward with nothing amiss, Jack smirked to himself, "Hey, this isn't so hard! I should be finding the Fright Knight sooner than I expect, then!"
But, of course, he spoke too soon, because, just as he had taken another step, massive blades on pendulums swung out of nowhere! He gasped when the first blade came at him and there was no way to avoid it! He shielded his face and braced himself. But a moment later, he wondered why he wasn't now two Jacks! He slowly lowered his hands, just as the blade came out of him again. He gasped when he saw it pull out of his body, but then smiled in relief. Danny had said something about humans being the 'ghosts' in the Ghost Zone…he just had never experienced that before now!
Now a bit more confident, he turned on his jetpack and flew up the stairs and didn't even fret, well, not too much, anyways, when several more blades sliced through him.
He finally got to the door at the top. He turned off his jetpack and entered a hall full of silent skeletons standing guard.
Jack hitched in a gasp when he saw them. But when he could see that he had not called their attention in the least, he walked further on. But then, large spikes grew out of the walls on both sides of the hall! And then the walls began to move, quickly narrowing the passageway!
He dashed forward as the spiked walls closed in upon him, all the while focusing on getting to the lone door at the end and, of course, hoping that he was still the 'ghost' here!
He sighed in relief when he finally entered a small room right after he pulled himself unscathed from the 'wall of death'! There was only a small chair on a pedestal here.
But when he heard what must be a door opening somewhere behind the chair, the man quickly darted into a darkened corner. He barely squeezed into it and silently promised himself to cut down on the fudge!
"I will be visiting my newest prisoner, so stand guard in here until I return!" a menacing voice cried out from the darkness behind the chair.
Jack hitched in another gasp when the Fright Knight and two skeletal guards then emerged into the light and bit his lip when the Fright Knight then commanded, "And do not let anyone into the castle. I cannot have any complications while I am away!"
"Newest prisoner? Does he mean Danny? Okay, Fenton, don't mess up," Jack said to himself before making sure to concentrate on whatever the flaming purple ghost would do next.
The Fright Knight walked over to a wall mirror and turned a small lever at its base. A portal formed and he lifted his sword and allowed it to both pull and guide him through it.
Jack swallowed hard before steeling himself. Somehow, he had the hunch that going through that mirror was the way to his son….
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Danny Phantom sat atop a boulder in the middle of a vast wilderness.
He sighed, giving into the depression that had started the moment he had gotten here. Not to mention the fact that he was still a bit dazed and feeling more chilled as each minute passed.
"I still don't understand what happened," he began before scratching the top of his head in exasperation. "One minute I was fighting something…or someone."
He scrunched his face up, trying to clear his mind. And then he suddenly shivered.
"Man, who turned down the thermostat?" he muttered as he rubbed his arms and looked around for any reason as to why he was so cold.
But there wasn't even a wind blowing here.
"And how did I get here? And how long have I been here…wherever here is?" he asked himself again, vainly hoping that he would come up with an answer.
He rubbed his forehead before combing his fingers through his white bangs. "And why do I feel so lost?"
The boy suddenly yelled out, "Is anyone here?... And where am I?"
But he got no answer.
"Now what?" he asked himself again. He was feeling so low it was as if someone had placed a ton of bricks on both of his shoulders.
Yet. at the same time, he felt so lost at this point that he didn't even want to do anything. And then he was suddenly aware of a sense of dread creeping up his spine. He was more than lost….he felt empty…and worse than that. He suddenly felt as if he would never feel whole again, never ever be normal in any sense of the word because who he was was no more.
He shuddered again at the thought. And then when he glanced downward, he gasped. His feet….they were encased in ice!
In sudden panic, Danny threw himself upward into the air, only to come crashing right away back to the ground at the base of the boulder.
"Ouch! That hurt!" he said as he reached to cradle his head. But, ironically, that jolt also help shake some of the dizziness out of his head.
He slowly pulled himself up from the ground and looked around him again.
"I'm all alone, lost…empty. And with no powers and no sense of who I am," he suddenly realized with the dread in him getting more of a hold on him at the thought. He paused at his very next thought as his memory finally cleared. He just didn't want to admit it. "I-I was fighting Fright Knight before I came here! A-And that means that I must be in…."
But before he could complete his thoughts, he heard a whirling-like sound just behind him. He jerked around and gasped at seeing a portal forming from out of the boulder he had been sitting on!
He stepped back and narrowed his eyes and fisted his hands in anger at the figure emerging from the portal before growling, "Fright Knight! You sent me here!"
The medieval knight lifted his Soul Shredder in threat and said, "Yes, I did! But there is unexpected news that pleases me! And it gives me delight to tell you of it! My sword touched you when you were neither human or ghost, so my Soul Shredder did not work the same way with you as it did with either regular humans or ghosts. It separated your ghost-half from your human-half. And because of that, both your human-half and ghost-half are both helpless and will not be long for surviving!"
Danny startled at the news! And that only made him angrier! He knew he had no powers anymore and even if what the Fright Knight had said was true, he wasn't about to go quietly into the night.
"You change me back, you jerk!" he demanded as he lunged at the ghost.
Fright Knight laughed as he easily backhanded the boy, which sent him several yards away from him.
Danny groaned as he firmly hit the ground. Now his dizziness had returned with more force. And before he could even get up, the Fright Knight was upon him and yanking him back up by the collar.
"Before I leave for my castle, I would like to push you even further into your extinction!" He lifted his sword up, ready to strike the boy again.
But before he could even move the blade toward the boy, something green and glowing had wrapped around the sword and had suddenly yanked it out of his hand!
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Jack set his jaw in determination as he quietly took off his backpack and jetpack. He reached into the backpack and searched for one of the weapons he had brought that he thought would help him here.
Once he retrieved it, he began to walk out of the shadows, completely unaware that the arm loop of his backpack had managed to slip around his foot. A half a second later and the large man was making a very large thud when he tripped face down with a very large grunt. But somehow, his right hand had still managed to hang onto his weapon.
The two skelton guards immediately jumped to attention and unsheathed their swords just before they lunged at the human.
Jack quickly got up on his knees and throwing his left hand in a surrender-like pose, he nervously chuckled, "Heh-heh, fellas! No need to get up on my account!" And just as he said that, he jerked his right hand forward, only to groan in frustration when his ecto-fishing line had tangled up again from his fall.
He quickly crawled over to his backpack and was sort of relieved that the rest of its contents had spilled out after its hard yank by his foot. He grabbed the next weapon just in time to activate it.
In a heartbeat, his jack o'nine tails snapped loudly as it whipped itself toward the two guards. And not a moment later, the two guards were entangled within the clutches of the chords before disappearing into clouds of green smoke.
"Heh-heh!" Jack triumphantly said as he grabbed yet another item he had brought with him. He headed immediately to the mirror. But before he activated it, he hesitated.
"What would Maddie do?" he asked himself as he looked at the mirror and all around him again.
But then he jolted. He had almost completely forgotten about the pumpkin! He ran back over to his backpack and looked in it...It was gone!
Now panicking, he desperately scanned around the room. And then, he found it! It had rolled behind a tapestry! He quickly snatched it.
That slight distraction had helped clear his mind even more. He knew what he had to do. He quickly wrapped the ecto-lariat around his waist and tied a knot in it. He then sighed when he saw that there was not as much leftover rope than he had expected.
"That's it! I'm swearing off fudge!" he said with a sigh as he tightened the knot to get more free rope.
He quickly went to the chair on the pedestal in the middle of the room and tied the other end to the chair's leg. He tested it, relieved that it held firm.
Without hesitating any longer, he activated the mirror, held the pumpkin in one hand and his jack o'nine tails in the other, and plunged head-first into the green swirling portal…
Once he had emerged from the boulder, Jack hitched in a gasp. The Fright Knight was here and…he was about to strike his son with his sword again!
There wasn't a moment to lose! He whipped the jack o'nine tails forward, glad that several of its strands had snagged the blade. And before the ghost could react, Jack pulled hard back on his weapon, not unlike reeling in a fighting fish. With only one attempt, the blade had been yanked from the Fright Knight's hand!
"What?" the Fright Knight yelled in surprise as he turned slightly back to see where his sword had gone. He narrowed his eyes at the audacity of this…human invading his territory and somehow getting into this dimension.
But the ghost also didn't want to worry about the boy trying any kind of counter-attack—as ineffectual as it might be. With a quick jerk back, he pulled the boy around toward the boulder again before slamming his fist into the boy's jaw.
"Danny!" Jack screamed as his boy's ghostly body ricocheted off of the blow and slammed into the boulder.
Danny crumbled to the bottom of the boulder immediately afterward and lay still.
"That's my son you hurt!" Jack yelled in anger while activating his jack o'nine tails again. "And I'm going to turn you back into a pumpkin! ….Er, I mean, I'm going to send you back into a pumpkin!"
The Fright Knight laughed at the brashness of this very fat human. He quipped, "Well, your big hide is certainly the same size and color of a pumpkin! Very well, it is time to shred your soul!"
He flew over to his sword, but gasped when Jack's weapon entangled his hand!
"How dare you, human!" the Fright Knight jeered as he yanked on the strands. "For that, I will send you to the very bowels of the abyss of all your fears!"
"What, a place with no fudge?" Jack sarcastically replied. "Well, bring it on, spook! I can always lose a few pounds!"
The Fright Knight yelled in defiance and ripped the chords binding his hand to shreds. He quickly picked up his sword, and with his red eyes flaring in anger, he charged at the man.
Jack pulled out his ecto-fishing reel from one of his pockets and threw the entire thing at the ghost.
Once again, the Fright Knight became entangled in the already entangled fishing line.
"You will die for this, human!" he snarled as his sword easily ripped through the fishing line.
"Ah-oh," Jack said in chagrin when all he had left was the pumpkin. He quickly raised it up as if it were a shield.
But the ghost stopped and actually started to laugh when he saw what the man was doing.
"I had always been wary of the Ghost Whelp. But now that I have seen the fighting strategy of his father, I will no longer be worried."
Jack growled in defiance and actually charged right at the ghost with the pumpkin in hand!
The ghost readied his sword, though he was having a hard time squelching his laugh at the site of the man charging at him. Very well. He hadn't been able to toy with any of his victims in a very long time as he usually was busy subduing them.
Once Jack was within an arm's length, the Fright Knight lazily flicked his sword. But much to the ghost's surprise, Jack quickly dodged the blow…But, really…
"Whew!" Jack thought in relief, "I almost fully lost my balance just now, but hey, it worked!"
Without further hesitation, Jack swung the pumpkin into the side of the ghost's helmet, which immediately threw the ghost off-balanced.
Fright Knight growled at himself for being so foolish. He angrily arched the hand holding his sword upward, ready to strike the human down at the next round.
Jack turned back and charged at the ghost once more. He hoped his idea would work. And as he charged, he yelled, "Uh, to stop…" He stopped at once and frowned. He desperately tried to remember what his wife had said.
Fright Knight looked at him in confusion before smiling in amusement. Still, he lifted his sword and began to fly toward the human fool.
Jack gasped and that was enough to help him remember. He renewed his charge, yelling, "Uh, to stop…cease… Cease!…that's right! To cease the storm, to end the fear, the sword must sheathe in pumpkin near!"
Fright Knight smiled evilly under his helmet, ignoring what that foolish creature had said as he drew closer. And once satisfied that the human was near enough, he swiftly slashed downward, now more than eager to send the human to his doom.
But at that moment, Jack lifted the pumpkin as a shield once more.
And the Soul Shredder quickly penetrated its target...
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the Fright Knight gasped in alarm. His sword was stuck! Even as he could see an unwanted glow begin to surround his captured sword, he immediately objected, "This is impossible! That is a small human tin can you were holding!" He then jolted when he finally read the label: Pumpkin Pie Filling!
"Sorry," Jack said with a weak frown, honestly apologetic in his tone. "That's all the store had!"
"NOOOO!" the Fright Knight yelled in protest as the atmosphere around him began to erupt and pulled at his form toward the tin can.
Jack gasped as the area around him and his unconscious son began to vaporize! He ran over and scooped Danny up in his arms just as the ground under him disappeared. The man tried to ignore just how cold his son felt.
And even though Jack gasped when he and his son were now literally hanging on in mid-air by the ecto-rope, he never loosened his grip on Danny.
Grunting with determination, Jack threw Danny over his shoulder and hoisted himself up the rope hand-over-hand. Suddenly, the portal activated and began to suck things through it from the outside!
All sorts of debris and several skeletal guards swept through the portal toward the can of pumpkin pie filling rattling on a jagged piece of floating ground.
"We've got to get out of here!" Jack desperately yelled. He poured more strength into getting through the portal, but as he strained to pull himself and Danny up the rope, he grunted to himself, "That does it! I'm never even going to look at another piece of fudge again!"
He finally reached the edge of the portal, and anchoring his left arm securely around his son, he shoved himself through the swirling, back-drafting portal. But even though his free shoulder had gone through, his other side was repelled back!
He looked to see why. His son could not pass whatever barrier that kept him in this dimension!
"Oh, no!" he gasped before closing his eyes and fervently uttering, "Please, don't let him end this way!"
Suddenly, the force pushing the things from Fright Knight's castle stopped, the portal slowed and everything —including the Fright Knight—was finally sealed within the can of pumpkin pie filling.
A sudden, unnerving silence rained down on Jack and his unconscious, cold son. The man swallowed hard.
Was this the end?
But before he could decide on what to do next, he, Danny, and the ecto-lasso around Jack's waist were all of the sudden surrounded by a green aura.
Less than a heartbeat later, Jack reappeared at Maddie's side within the Specter Speeder!
Maddie screamed in alarm but then grunted in relief when she saw it was her husband.
But then she gasped again when Jack frantically inspected himself before suddenly screaming, "Danny! Where's Danny?"
"I-I'm right here, Dad," a weak voice said from an area just below the parents.
Both Jack and Maddie fell to their knees beside the cot on which Danny was still lying.
"Danny, are you all right, son?" Jack said, clearly shaken, even though his hand reflexively yet gently cupped Danny's forehead. He calmed a bit when it felt normal.
"I-I think so," Danny finally answered as he, slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position.
"Easy, sweetie," his mother interjected before adding, "How do you feel?"
"Tired. But otherwise, I feel fine. What happened?" he asked, before he suddenly gasped at the sudden memory and lifted his arm up. He sighed in relief when he could see no mark on it in the least.
Danny shook his head in an effort to fully clear his mind. "The Fright Knight…a horrible dream….then…then I saw some green glowing strands…with Dad's face on the end of each!" he mumbled before looking up at his father in confusion.
"Well, heh-heh, I…I —" Jack began, truly embarrassed, only to be interrupted by his wife.
"He rescued you from the Fright Knight!" Maddie beamed before embracing her husband and giving him an affectionate kiss.
Danny winced at the scene, before he jolted in surprise. His dad going against the Fright Knight? Still stunned, he was still able to utter, "Wow, Dad. That is so cool! I don't think any human has ever gone head-to-head with the Fright Knight without ending up having his soul shredded!"
"Well, you have defeated him before," Jack pointed out with a hint of pride.
Danny smiled weakly and added, "Well, okay. No full human has been able to defeat the Fright Knight."
"Thanks, son," Jack said, embarrassed once more. "So, I guess your clumsy old man didn't do too badly this time, huh? And, really, all that's important is that you're all right."
Danny smiled again and nodded. But then he gasped at his next thought.
"What's wrong, honey?" Maddie said in alarm as Jack's eyes widened.
"Uh, sorry, Mom and Dad," Danny replied and he could tell that he was blushing a bit. "But, uh, what's today?"
Maddie checked the chronometer on the console of the Specter Speeder and hesitantly said, "It's Sunday, why?"
"Oh, no!" Danny said and his parents gasped again in alarm. Danny blushed even more, but continued, "Uh, sorry, again! Uhm. I'm sorry, Dad!"
"For heaven's sake, son, what for?" Jack asked in confusion.
"I, uh, kinda ruined your Father's Day. And, uh, I wasn't able to get you a present!"
"Is that all? Hey, don't worry about that, son! This is the best Father's Day ever! I'd much rather get all this ghost action than a tie!"
Danny smiled weakly and chuckled a bit as he tried to stand up. But he promptly lost his balance and fell right on his bottom.
"Danny! Are you all right?" his mother cried, as she reached to help him up.
"Yeah, Mom. Just a bit clumsy, that's all," he said as he pulled himself back up and sat on the cot.
Suddenly, he chuckled a bit more at his next thought.
"What's so funny, son?" Jack asked.
"Nothing," Danny began, only to quickly add, "I was just thinking about how proud I was of that tree."
"What tree?" his father said, completely bewildered by his son's remark.
"The one whose apple doesn't fall far from it, Dad!"
Jack smiled weakly and reached down to hug his son as he said, "Thanks, son. You're the best Father's Day present. I love you."
And Danny hugged him back and said, "And so do I, Dad. So do I!"
The End
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(1) Quoted from "Fright Night" written by Marty Isenberg and Steve Marmel.
A/N: Hope you liked this little story. Fathers ARE the best! I would love to hear what you think —and, of course, what your dads think of it as well! *winks* Happy Father's Day!