PHANTOM OF THE COAST
CHAPTER ONE: HAUNTED MERMAIDS AND FORCED PHANTOMS
"What was that noise?" A girl wearing a purple tank top and orange shorts and long brown hair asked her friends.
"I don't know, Cleo." Another girl answered, a bit scared. She was wearing a white tank top with green dots all over it and green shorts with long dirty-blonde hair.
"Let's go see." The third girl said. This girl was wearing a black tank top with a red vest over it and black shorts. She had light-blonde hair put in a ponytail unlike the other two.
"I don't know, Rikki. It sounded pretty creepy." The second girl said. Cleo laughed.
"Come on, Emma. We're in my house. Nothing creepy there." Cleo said jokingly.
"Fine. Let's go." Emma gave in, getting off Cleo's bed.
As the three girls were walking to the door, it closed by itself with such a loud smack that Cleo and Emma visibly flinched. Rikki walked forward still.
"It's just the wind. Come on, let's go." She said, reaching for the doorknob. She jiggled it a bit, but it wouldn't open.
"And it's stuck." Rikki said, drawling out the 'and'. Cleo shivered a bit.
"Is it just me or did it get colder in here?" Cleo asked, hugging herself. Emma nodded, sticking her hands in her pockets.
Without warning, Cleo's pillow started levitating around the room, causing all three girls to drop down.
"Cleo, are you moving that pillow?" Emma asked, looking at Cleo.
"No! It isn't even wet! And I can only move water, remember?" Cleo answered.
The pillow dropped and was replaced by a textbook. Then followed by a banging noise on the wall. By now all three girls were getting scared.
"Rikki! Are you doing this?" Emma asked.
"No! I swear it's not me." Rikki said, shaking her head.
"Cleo? Emma? Rikki? Are you guys in there?" Came a voice on the other side of the door.
"Lewis! Help!" Cleo shouted, obviously afraid.
"What's wrong?" Lewis' voice asked.
"We don't know! The door won't open, textbooks are flying there's weird banging!" Emma called back.
There was a pause before the doorknob started to shake. When the door didn't open there was a thud against the door.
"It- it won't open. It's jammed." Lewis said.
"No shit!" Rikki replied sarcastically, ducking under the textbook.
Without warning the textbook fell down onto the floor and a random 'thud' noise was heard, but not from the book. Then the sound of quiet laughter was heard and it sent chills down the girls' spines.
Then a creature came into view. It was about their size, give of take a few inches but its body was all black except it's face that was bright white. Its fingers were long and thin, extending well beyond normal length. Its face had the indents of eyes and mouth but they weren't there and its entire head was white.
All three girls screamed in sync, startling Lewis.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" Lewis yelled into the room.
The girls all huddled against wall the bed was on as they called to Lewis, who was repeatedly banging the door trying to get inside the room.
"Hey! Slender! Pick on someone your own size!" A new voice called. Suddenly another figure appeared.
He looked more human like. He was wearing a black HAZMAT suit with white gloves, boots, collar and belt. He had snow-white hair and glowing green eyes, glaring at the other figure. To top it all off, he had a symbol on his chest with a 'D' and a 'P' inside.
The girls screamed again, causing Lewis' patience with the door to end and he banged once more, causing it to explode open. All three girls quickly hid behind Lewis, but dared not leave the room.
"Phantom? What are you doing here?" The white-headed figure asked in a scornful way.
"Heard someone was picking on girls. Thought maybe you could try it on someone who isn't afraid of you." Phantom dared, his green eyes glowing brighter in the dark of the night outside.
"Your obsession with the humans is far too great, halfa. It's going to be your end." The other figure said.
"As long as you guys go down with me, I'll gladly let it happen." Phantom said back.
The two floating figures stood there for a minute, just glaring at one another before the first figure disappeared in a whirlwind of blackness. Relieved, Phantom turned to the others.
"Don't scream again, please. I swear I won't do anything bad to you. I just want to ask you some questions." Phantom begged.
Rikki nodded slowly, having been snapped out of the trance first, and sat on Cleo's bed. Emma, Cleo and finally a very confused Lewis followed her.
"Okay. Thank you. Now, could you just tell me what happened?" Phantom asked.
"Well," Emma started, "We were all here, just hanging out when we heard a noise. Then we went to leave the room the door slammed shut and locked us in. Then things started floating and we heard banging." Emma explained, Cleo and Rikki nodding along.
"Then that thing just appeared. Then we screamed and then you came and we screamed even more." Cleo finished.
"I'm sorry. I was already on my way by the time things started floating but it's a long way from Ohio, America to Australia." Phantom apologized.
"You came here from America? In ten minutes?" Lewis asked, amazed. Phantom nodded. "What are you?" Lewis asked.
"A Ghost." Phantom replied simply. The girls nodded, believing him since they were also nowhere near normal, and Lewis scoffed.
"Please. Ghosts aren't real." Lewis said factually.
"Then how could I do this?" Phantom said rhetorically as he sank through the floor, leaving only his head visible.
"Point taken." Lewis said back.
"So was that thing a Ghost too?" Rikki asked after Phantom was floating normally again.
"No. That was a Poltergeist. They're like Ghosts, just not as powerful." Phantom explained. "Look for some reason things like this have been happening more and more. This is the sixth time in four days I've been to the Gold Coast so just promise me you'll be careful?" Phantom continued. They nodded.
"Oh and take this." Phantom said, reaching for something in the pocket of his HAZMAT. He pulled out four small pager-like devices. They were obsidian black all over except the snow-white keys and they had the insignia that was on his chest on the back of them. "These are so if anything happens to you, I'll know." Phantom said.
They all took one and examined them thoroughly before nodding in satisfaction and stuffing them in their pockets. Phantom let a ghost of a smile appear on his face.
"I don't think you give these to everyone?" Rikki asked, eyeing her device.
"No. But you guys didn't scream and run away, try and call the cops or go love-struck on the guy who saved you so you're all okay in my book." Phantom said, rolling his bright green eyes.
"Run away?" Cleo asked.
"Call the police?" Emma questioned.
"Love-struck?" Rikki finished.
"I told you I've been here six times. Look I'll be back again and if you want to learn more I'll be happy to help with anything I can but there is another Poltergeist in someone else's house." Phantom said, floating over to the now-open window.
"Wait!" Rikki called after him. Phantom turned around, raising an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" She asked. She doubted 'Phantom' was his real whole name.
"Phantom. And you are?" Phantom said back, surprising the mermaid girl.
"I'm Rikki. This is Cleo, Emma and Lewis." Rikki replied, gesturing to her friends.
"Nice meeting you." Phantom said before he flew out the window.
"This was weird." Lewis said simply. The girls nodded.
LINEBREAK
Phantom touched down back in Amity Park, Ohio with a sigh. Something was going on in Australia. All his enemies, Skulker, Ember, Technus, Box Ghosts and everyone else, were feeling drawn to The Gold Coast as if they were needed. Even half-ghosts as he, Vlad and Danielle included.
There was a lot going on over there. Poltergeists, Ghouls, Wraiths, Shadows and Shades were all running loose over there and the pull he felt to go to Australia was getting stronger. Phantom knew he was going to have to tell his parents about his pull to the large island.
Yes, Jack and Maddie Fenton knew their son was half-ghost. He told them so they would take Danielle in so she could have a family and things have been easier ever since. Until this Australia business started.
Now he was flying across the Atlantic Ocean twice a-day and half the time all he did was exchange some witty-banter and the attackers left, viewing him as someone who shouldn't be screwed with. Which was absolutely right. Ghosts were one of the more powerful kinds of after-spirit, only being weaker than Wraiths and Corpse Walkers, which is a sub-type of Wraith, but not by much and he was on the higher end of the power scale for Ghosts. In fact he was only weaker than Pariah Dark, Vlad and Dan Phantom, who wasn't even on the scale since he wasn't in this timeline, and not including the ancients like Clockwork.
Cleo, Emma and Rikki seemed like the people he'd be a friend to. They only screamed when he first appeared, which was understandable, and they answered his questions without a problem.
He'd saved some spoiled rich kid Zane from a Ghoul and the only reply he got was 'get away from me you floating freak' and he'd saved some bossy, but admittedly hot, girl Miriam from a Wraith and he could practically see the hearts in her eyes.
'Great,' Phantom had thought, 'just what I need, another Paulina.'
Phantom phased into his living room and began his transformation. The rings of light rolled over him, changing him from Ghost to human. His HAZMAT suit changed to a white t-shirt with red trim and blue jeans, both extremely baggy and his hair and eyes went from white and green to black and blue respectively.
"Danny-boy! How was Australia?" Jack, Danny's father, asked him.
"It was a Poltergeist this time, attacking three girls. I got it to leave without a fight though." Danny explained.
Jack nodded in understanding. He was about to say something before his wife, Maddie, and daughter, Jazz, came into the room.
"Danny, have you been feeling a pull to Australia too?" Maddie asked, catching the halfa by surprise so he just nodded, giving her a confused expression. "Danielle told she was feeling one. We think the other Ghosts have it too, since there hasn't been any attacks here for a week and you've flown across the world twice a day for half the week." Maddie explained further.
"But why? Why are all these after-spirits going to the Gold Coast? I thought Amity Park was the ideal spot for things like that." Danny asked.
"We really don't know. But we can see how it's physically hurting you and Danielle trying not to go and we're losing money here, what with the lack of Ghost attacks." Jack answered.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Danny asked hopefully. Both his parents nodded and Danielle phased through the floor.
"Pack you're bags, bro! We're moving to the Gold Coast!" Dani said cheerfully.
"Yes!" Danny cheered, hi-fiving Danielle. Jack and Maddie smiled while Jazz giggled.
"This is great!" Dani hollered excitedly.
"No more ignoring the nagging feeling that keeps telling me I need to be somewhere else." Danny said, looking out the window. Danielle nodded her agreement.
"When are we leaving?" Jazz asked her parents.
"We've been discussing this for some time now and we already have a house picked out. Pack your bags tonight and we'll be out of here by midnight tomorrow." Maddie said happily.
"I gotta go tell the guys!" Danny remembered, changing into Phantom-mode and phasing out the wall.
LINEBREAK
Phantom was flying in the skies with most of his enemies alongside him, high above anyone's view.
They too had been feeling the pull to Australia, like they just had to be there and since he had experienced it too, Phantom let them come along with his family on their move. He and the other Ghosts were flying there a few hours ahead of the Fenton's.
Phantom so he could set up the house a bit to settle his family and the other Ghosts so they didn't have to wait for the Fenton's to rebuild the Ghost Portal to come to Australia.
"Whelp, when we get there what are we supposed to do?" Skulker asked from the right of the halfa, who shrugged.
"I don't know. Whatever you want to do I guess. You guys haven't caused trouble in Amity for a while and we've been getting along better so I doubt you'd like to go back to me kicking your Asses." Phantom replied, earning various sounds of agreement. "So just hang out. I'll hang out with you anytime. You can fly around and just let me know if you find anything." Phantom continued.
"Anything like what, Child?" Technus asked from his left side. Phantom shrugged.
"Anything like something why we all feel pulled here, something you think I should know about, things like that." He replied. The others just nodded.
They continued flying in silence until Phantom's Ghost sense and pager went off simultaneously. Phantom looked at it and it said,
"Phantom, I don't know if you know this or not, but one of those things is back. –Rikki"
Phantom knew that, although she was trying to sound calm, she was afraid. He could tell from his Ghost Sense that it wasn't another Poltergeist. It was a Wraith.
"I'll meet you guys there. A Wraith just showed up." Phantom said. He didn't wait for an answer before he rocketed away.
LINEBREAK
Cleo, Emma and Rikki were freaked out. They were all on their secret beach when another one of those things appeared. It looked different this time though.
It had a black jacket on that was ripped in several places and it had a wisp of a tail where it should have had legs. Its skin was whiter than a sheet of paper and it had glowing red eyes that practically looked into your soul, which frightened the girls deeply. Its hair was messy and unmanaged that added to its scary image.
Rikki, thinking fast, paged Phantom before anything could happen. She did her best to sound calm but she was admittedly very scared of this thing.
"Rikki! Do something!" Cleo ordered, grabbing Rikki's right arm with Emma standing right behind her.
Rikki was usually the brave one, the one who wasn't scared of anything. So it wasn't unusual for Cleo and Emma to expect Rikki to do something first.
Rikki was scared of what this thing could, and would, do to her friends so she sucked her own fear up and stepped forward. Maybe she could at least keep this thing away from her friends until Phantom showed up.
"What do you want, Halloween reject?" Rikki yelled at the creature. It seemed taken back by the sudden bravery from a human but didn't show it much.
"Fear." It replied simply. Its voice was just above a whisper but all three girls heard it anyway and it sent shivers down all their spines. The voice held no emotion or feeling what so ever.
"I- I am not afraid of you." Rikki stated as forcefully as she could, hoping the thing didn't catch her stutter. The creature floated down to just above eye level with Rikki and looked down at her face.
Rikki was terrified on the inside but she couldn't let her friends know because if they did they'd be scared. And Rikki didn't want her friends to be scared. Then the thing whispered again but only Rikki heard it this time.
"You should be."
Rikki stood there in fear. She wished her pride had let her stay back with Cleo and Emma until Phantom came. But it wouldn't let her.
"You should be scared of me too!" A familiar voice echoed around them.
Cleo and Emma looked around frantically, Rikki sighed in relief and the creature scowled. A green ray of energy slammed into the creature's side right side, sending it flying into the sand. The girls turned to the direction the ray came from and saw their savior, glaring at the hole the creature had made with his hand steaming.
"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt did you?" Phantom asked, floating over to Rikki. Rikki saw his green eyes filled with worry and was instantly relieved he showed up.
Rikki nodded. It took pretty much all her self-control not to take Phantom into a hug. She was just so relieved when he showed up. Phantom turned to Cleo and Emma.
"It didn't hurt you either, right?" He asked in a caring tone.
"No, it didn't. We're all okay." Emma replied, her tone shaking a bit. Phantom nodded.
"Rikki, I need you girls to back up a bit. This time is going to be different." Phantom said, turning back to the bright-blonde girl.
Rikki nodded and hurriedly took Cleo and Emma further back so they wouldn't be in danger but close enough to hear and see what was going on.
LINEBREAK
"Hey, Spooky! Pick on someone your own size!" Phantom dared, looking back at the Wraith.
"Phantom, you need to learn to mind your own business." The Wraith's scratchy voice replied as it floated from the sand-crater Phantom crashed it into.
"When you go around scaring innocent people, it becomes my business." Phantom declared, his eyes glowing bright.
"You're a Ghost; I'm a Wraith. Do the math, you can't beat me, Phantom." It reminded.
"I can and will do it." Phantom shot back.
"Then it will be your own demise." It stated eerily.
"If it means protecting them that it looks like it will." Phantom said.
The tension between the spirits was practically visible and yet they were both speaking in normal voices rather than yelling or actual fighting.
"Well you obviously know who I am, so could I know who you are?" Phantom said, floating up a bit.
"I am Echo. Or as you may call me; your demise." Echo quipped also floating up.
Echo made the first move, using some spectral energy to make a scythe. He twirled it around to show off before posing with it, taunting Phantom.
Phantom's hands lit up with Ecto-energy, ready to fire at any moment. He wasn't going to make the first move; the Wraith would expect him too. It'd be easier to counter all it's strikes and hope Rikki and the others didn't get hurt.
Echo had obviously run out of patience. He lunged at the halfa, swiping his scythe and the hero only barely managed to backflip away.
LINEBREAK
"What's wrong sweetie?" Maddie asked Danielle, who froze up in the Fenton Assault Vehicle- er The RV, on the way to the airport.
"There's a Wraith on the Gold Coast." She replied uneasily.
"I'm sure Danny's taking care of it." Jazz reassured. Jack and Maddie nodded.
"I sense him there too, but I'm still worried. If there's people nearby Danny gets distracted. He worries more about them than himself." Dani reasoned.
"He'll be fine. He's done this before. We just have to trust him." Jack told her. It broke his heart that he couldn't help his son with something this serious but he had to stay on track and hope Danny knew what he was doing.
Dani nodded and the matter dropped with an awkward silence, everyone hoping for the best.
LINEBREAK
Phantom floated up from a crater, his eyes narrowed.
"That was a dirty trick." Phantom growled.
Echo had just threw his scythe at the girls who were still in view and when he took the scythe for them a duplicate of Echo held him in front of the scythe and threw him down onto the beach.
"Wraith's and Ghost's don't play by the same rules. Thought you knew that already." Echo replied darkly.
Phantom didn't respond, just glared at the attacker and glanced back to the girls. Big mistake. During the split second Phantom's eyes weren't on him, Echo used his spectral energy to enlarge his hand and used it to smack Phantom out into the ocean. Not far enough to hit any deep part but when Phantom stood the water was at his knees. Phantom glared harder.
"You know what, Echo? You're just determined to stay on my bad side aren't you?" Phantom quipped as he floated out of the knee-deep water.
"This could have been avoided had you not interrupted my feasting off the humans fear. You just had to intervene." Echo reminded with a scowl.
"I wasn't going to let you feed off innocent girls. You'd have sucked their life-force dry in a poor attempt at getting your life back and that's not fair." Phantom said, floating between Echo and Rikki with the others, as if marking them off limits.
"It would have worked had you not interrupted me!" Echo screeched, throwing his scythe at the halfa.
Phantom put up a small wall of Ecto-energy in front of him, the scythe's blade getting imbedded inside. The hybrid sent the shield, and by default the scythe, at the attacker and Echo cried out in pain as he was forced back. Echo grabbed his scythe with his left hand and the Ecto-shield fizzled out of existence when it was removed. Echo's eyes turned from the disappeared scythe to Phantom just in time to get a white-gloved punch to the face, sending him down into the sand.
Phantom took advantage and send twin Ecto-blasts at the crater where the Wraith landed. A cry of pain was heard and a sand-veil was kicked up, making it difficult to see. Phantom sensed danger anyway and moved swiftly to his left and avoided a jab in his already bruised ribs from a scythe. He grabbed the scythe with both hands and swung it out around, taking the holder with it.
After a large splash the sand settled down and Phantom overlooked the ocean and saw Echo standing on a buoy, his scythe by his feet, his left hand gripping the vertical metal pole and his right clutching his side that was most likely hit with an Ecto-blast. He looked up and glared at Phantom.
"Obviously you're well adept at taking care of yourself, Phantom." Echo started. Phantom nodded, his glare still in place. "But are they?" He finished, nodding over to Rikki and the girls whose heads were visible peeking out from behind the rocks.
"Leave them out of this. This is between you and me." Phantom tried to reason.
"It was between me and them first." Echo retorted.
"Exactly and that means you attacked them and everyone knows that when you do that, it becomes my problem." Phantom explained.
Echo opened his mouth but didn't reply, just shot like a bullet. But instead of ramming Phantom, he changed course to Phantom's weak point; the girls.
Phantom's jaw clenched and he rocket after the evil spirit, desperate to save his new 'friends'.
LINEBREAK
Cleo, Emma and Rikki were all lying on a rock, using a bigger rock to hide most of their bodies except their heads so they could see what was going on.
The next thing they knew Echo and Phantom were both making a b-line towards them. They all tried to duck when they realized Echo was targeting them, but were too late when Echo's enlarged hands picked them all up.
With a little maneuvering Echo had Cleo and Emma's wrists in one hand and Rikki's in the other as Phantom growled at their captor.
"Put. Them. Down. Now." Phantom ordered, every word full of venom. Even the girls had shivers go down their spines at the hate in his voice.
Even Echo flinched and floated back a bit at the young hybrids malice but held his ground.
"Not until I know you aren't a danger to me anymore." Echo bargained, his voice taking an ominous tone.
"And then you'll leave them alone?" Phantom questioned skeptically. Echo nodded. "How do I make myself not a danger? I'm not leaving until they are released." Phantom continued.
"Change, halfa." Echo ordered with a smirk, knowing he had just gotten under Phantom's skin.
"What does he mean, 'change'?" Cleo quizzed, fear in her voice at being close to her evil captor.
"Then you'll let them go?" Phantom questioned, still skeptic.
"Do we have a deal or not?" Echo questioned. The girls looked frantically between Phantom and Echo, fearing the results.
Phantom sighed, looked at the girls, the ground, Echo, the girls and back to the ground. He floated down to the ground without looking up. Echo smirked and the girls exchanged confused looks. Phantom's head snapped up, his eyes bright blue, and shot blue rays from his hands that hit Echo square in the chest, releasing his hold on the girls and sending him flying back into the rock wall.
Phantom quickly caught Cleo and Emma with one hand each but when he tried to catch Rikki he miscalculated and he ended up breaking her fall.
"Thanks for breaking my fall." Rikki muttered, rolling onto the sand.
"Thanks for breaking my back." Phantom shot back, playfully rolling his eyes.
Phantom didn't miss a beat as he pushed himself up and jetted over to the rocks where Echo was iced.
"I didn't peg you for one to give me the cold shoulder, Phantom." Echo quipped. He realized he couldn't phase out of ghost-ice so he knew it was pretty much done now.
"I didn't peg you for one to freeze up on the job, Echo." Phantom retorted, pulling a Phantom styled thermos out and sucked the offender inside, swears of revenge being heard within the swirling blue vortex.
Capping the thermos, Phantom turned to the girls.
"You still okay? He didn't hurt you too bad did he?" Phantom asked, concerned.
The girls looked over the young Ghost Boy, their concern for him matching his for theirs. To put simply; he looked beat. His hair was wet and all messed up, he had a cuts from the scythe all over his suit the one going down his right arm looking the worst being as it was bleeding heavily. There was another cut on his cheek but not as bad. One of his gloves was covered in grey goo and his boots were covered in sand.
"We're fine but…" Cleo trailed off, looking over the exhausted Phantom once more. Rikki got the hint.
"Are you okay?" She asked pointedly, stressing the 'you' for effect. Phantom gave a sad smile.
"A little sore but nothing I can't handle. Just really tired." Phantom explained, his exhaustion catching up with him after the difficult battle. The girls looked amazed.
"How is this 'nothing'? This is definitely something." Emma argued with Cleo and Rikki nodding along. Phantom shrugged.
"Not really. After doing this everyday for a year and a half you get used to it. Besides, I've had way worse than this way more than a couple times." Phantom excused.
"Everyday?" Cleo asked exasperatedly.
"A year and a half?" Emma parroted.
"Worse than this?" Rikki pointed out.
'Do they always to that?' Phantom thought to himself. He shrugged at his own thought before answering.
"Yes. To all three questions." Phantom replied morphing his legs into a Ghostly tail, ready for take off.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Cleo shouted, forgetting he hadn't taken off yet.
"Gotta go wait for my friends. They're on their way." He replied after wincing at the brunette's volume of choice.
"What was that thing?" Emma questioned next.
"That was a Wraith. They're another kind of after-spirit except more violent than a Poltergeist. They're more dangerous too, that's why I told you to leave this time." Phantom explained.
"How many kinds of after-spirit are there?" Rikki asked, catching the use of 'another' rather than 'the other'. Phantom sighed.
"Six, counting Ghosts." He told them, sounding rather sorry. The girls were amazed. "Don't worry. I make sure they don't cause trouble. Too much." He continued, smiling at them through his tired eyes.
"What are they?" Emma asked next.
"All six? The six kinds of after-spirit are Ghosts, Wraiths, Poltergeists, Ghouls, Shadows and Shades. Don't worry though, only Ghosts, Wraiths and Poltergeists can do much damage other than give you a good scare." Phantom informed them.
Cleo went to question Phantom again, but was cut off by a soft gasp from the Ghost and a wisp of blue air. Phantom groaned.
"I'll be back. There's another one I have to clean up." Phantom muttered before rocketing away from the beach.
Although they were scared and clueless as to what was happening around their beloved Gold Coast, they could all agree on one thing; they were safe as long as Phantom was around.
