Hi, and welcome back! (Alright, all of you who are single and pretty girls please form a line.) Tucker, can you please keep your mind off females for a single minute, or at least, keep it for yourself? (Let's see… I'm a male teenager… so the answer is surely 'No'.) I should have known; can you please say the disclaimer?
(Yes I do; DISCLAIMER: Ramiro doesn't own Danny Phantom or any related character, all of us copyrighted by Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. We'll also have some characters 'borrowed' from other series, who aren't owned by him as well, and a few OC.)
Thanks, Tuck. As he said, we'll have some OC in this fic, one of them influenced by a Mexican movie based in a real-life person. (A real-life bandit, actually; Mexico has its own collection of colorful legendary criminals, just like our Al Capone, Jesse James, and Bonnie and Clyde in USA.) You're right, Tucker; now that I think about it, you could had been a Mexican criminal, 'The Santa Julia's Tiger'. (Who was him?) A Robin Hood-like guy who had lots of female accomplices, all of them his lovers. (Really? Now, that's someone to admire!) Think again; he got caught when he got a serious stomachache and had to make an 'emergency stop' during a getaway, and the police found him at a farm's field, sitting and his pants down. (You mean… EWW! That's disgusting!)
One last note; this story is set after the events of another of mine, "Kids' Game". Guess that's enough, so… on with the show!
The Fugitives.
A Danny Phantom story by Acosta Pérez José Ramiro
-Breaking Out.
"SIR! SIR!"
"What's going on, Bullet?" Walker asked his second-in-command, more than slightly annoyed about his sudden entrance at the warden's office.
"It's HIM, sir! He escaped again!"
"WHAT?" Walker roared in shock and anger. "It can't be possible! He hadn't escaped in over a year!"
"Maybe he was waiting for the right chance to do it, sir." Bullet commented, and then took a deep breath to encourage himself, "Worst of all, he helped some of the other criminals at the high security ward to escape as well; he surely did it yesterday night during the shift's change."
"He didn't escape with… Prisoner X-13, right?" Walker asked in his usual authoritarian tone, yet showing a little bit of fear.
"No, sir… he did it with Prisoners X-09 to 11."
Walker showed a slight relief, but returned to his usual frown a moment later. The 'X' prisoners were those too aggressive to be with the regular population, or so tricky or dangerous they needed the most security. When Wulf was his captive, Walker kept him as Prisoner X-05, because of his ability to create portals by his own, and after Danny escaped he gave orders to build a new cell for him at the 'X' block on the event of catching him again, because he wasn't risking another riot and massive getaway like last time.
"What I don't get is why he escaped with company. He usually does it alone." Bullet commented.
"Simple; to separate and move on their own once outside; he knows we'll need to focus on those fugitives as well, therefore can't use our whole power on just finding him." Walker said as walking out from his office, Bullet next to him. "Organize two search parties, one to look through The Ghost Zone and another focusing on the area around The Portal."
Bullet nodded and left to fulfill his orders while Walker went to the 'X' block and look at the now empty cells. The warden gave a large hateful look inside the now empty Prisoner X-12's cell.
"I thought I finally had you here for good." Walker growled. "I swear, next time will be the last one."
At Fenton Works, four figures exited the Fenton Portal, despite the new and improved lock Jack and Maddie installed just a few days ago. One of the fugitive specters motioned the others to stop.
"Now, go and have fun, but remember, you guys owe me one, so stay around in case I need a favor."
The other three specters (a huge, muscular one; another with large wings; and a pretty big and sparking one) nodded and left in a hurry, while the remaining ghost stayed at the basement for a moment, getting a sly smile.
"Now, back to work."
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"BEWARE! I'm The Box Ghost, the all-mighty master of all things cubic and square. Beware my cardboard-made fury… YEAAARRRGH!"
The chubby ghost's speech was cut by the powerful sucking force of The Fenton Thermos, currently held by Tucker Foley, who was leaning at a wall outside Amity Museum's restrooms, waiting for his best friend.
"My ghost sense detected something." Danny, who exited the restroom a moment later, ready to transform, said to his grinning friend.
"Don't sweat, Danny; it was just The Box Ghost. I got him in a moment." Tucker said proudly. Danny sighed in relief; if acting fast, any human using a Fenton Thermos was more than able to catch that particular specter.
"Hey, guys, hurry up." Sam Manson appeared from next corridor, calling her friends. "You shouldn't have taken so many sodas before coming."
"I got thirsty." Danny shrugged as he and Tucker walked next to their friend, the geek placing the thermos inside his backpack, "I had to capture The Lunch Lady right before breakfast, and she attacked me with so much jerky beef I had to get rid of the taste somehow."
The trio joined the rest of their class; as every couple of months, the school organized a guided visit to the museum to check up the new exhibits and artifacts, saving the teachers from teaching something themselves and giving the alumni the chance to get out of school for a few hours. As usual, Danny and company kept themselves at the end of the line, so they could sneak away if a ghost appeared, while Dash, Paulina and the rest of the popular crew stayed at the middle, so the teachers and guides couldn't notice them slacking and chatting nonsense.
"My dad is dropping a gala party this weekend," Paulina snobbishly commented to Star, "He just bought a bunch of ancient furniture and exotic artifacts, and invited several friends to see them."
"I hope he had bought a guillotine." Sam commented to Danny and Tucker, who chuckled slightly. Even if Danny still couldn't help but feel some attraction for Paulina, and Tucker couldn't help to feel some attraction for… any female his age, both boys no longer crushed on her, finally realizing how shallow and mean she really was.
Valerie, who was among the first students in the line, couldn't hear Sam, but was getting a lot of Paulina's blabbing. The huntress rolled her eyes yet tried her best to concentrate on everything the guide was telling the group; on regular circumstances, she could have done as Danny and his friends and keep herself at the end of the line, for the same reasons, but she knew that, in order of her dad not suspecting she still was a full-time ghost huntress, the girl had to improve her notes, therefore paying attention during this visit was pretty important for Val.
On the meantime, a police captain, on his early thirties, well built, slightly tanned and dark haired, appeared at the museum's entrance, and immediately directed to one of the place's guards.
"Good morning, sir." The guard made a military salute to the nodding captain.
"Rest, my friend; do you know where I can find the museum's security chief?" The captain asked.
"I can call him… is something wrong?"
"I don't want to alarm the civilians, but it seems there's a criminal hiding inside the museum." The captain said to the guard, who gasped slightly. "I need to talk to your superior so we can evacuate this place as calm and fast as possible." The guard nodded and then used his walkie-talkie to communicate with the security chief.
A few minutes later, everyone at the museum heard the manager's voice at the speakers, asking the people to leave orderly because of out-of-control circumstances. The guards and guides showed the people the closest exits, and almost everyone obeyed.
"What's going on, Danny?" Sam asked her friend when he stopped on his tracks.
"My ghost sense," Danny whispered to both her and Tucker, "Guess this might be the reason the museum is being evacuated."
The ghost hunting trio hide behind an ancient jar so nobody could notice their absence when the group left through an emergency exit; Valerie, since she was among the first ones to exit, wasn't alerted by her ghost alarm.
"See any security cameras?" Tucker asked as he and his friends finally left the jar's security to get a look around.
"No; this part of the museum doesn't have many rare artifacts, so the security is minimal here." Sam said after confirming no cameras were near them.
"Then… I'm Going Ghost!" Danny exclaimed, and, a split second later, the energy rings appeared from his waist and transformed him into his Phantom persona.
Meanwhile, the mysterious captain had ordered the guards to keep an eye outside the building while he looked for the criminal inside. However, the moment he became alone, the man got a large white sack out of nowhere, and his skin turned totally pale, as his eyes (who were a normal blue color) got bright glowing green pupils.
The ghost grabbed a medium sized gold-framed mirror from the Roman exhibit, and placed it inside the sack. Then, after turning intangible, he phased through the wall, finding himself at the Egyptian exhibit; after a fast search, found another mirror about the same size, but with a wooden frame, that had several snakes and birds carved on it. The ghost turned solid for a moment to repeat the stealing operation.
The ghost entered the Greek exhibition, and, again, found a mirror in there. However, this time he didn't grab it.
"It's too small; there's no use on getting this." The ghost, frowning, said to himself.
"You need it for your bedroom?" The ghost turned when hearing Danny Phantom, who was hovering a few feet behind him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't police officers supposed to stop this kind of thing from happening? If you are using a style, you have to follow it right."
"Well, I have my own style, kid… one that says it's not easy to catch me." The ghost smirked and, in a lightning move, took a gun out from his jacket; it looked a lot like an old Colt .45, but had a characteristic ghostly aura around it.
Danny, by instinct, turned intangible to avoid the shot.
BANG!
"Ungh!" Danny groaned and fell to the floor, holding his right shoulder in pain.
"Ghost bullets, kid; even if you survive, they kick like a mule." The ghost grinned evilly as aiming again at Danny.
PTANG!
PTANG!
PTANG!
PTANG!
This time, Danny protected himself with a ghost shield that deflected the bullets, hitting the walls and the rests of a Greek column instead. The young halfa rolled at the floor, still using his shield to protect from a new series of shots, and, after covering behind a Greek battle cart, replied with a few shots of his own.
The captain jumped aside to avoid Danny's blasts, using a soldier's statue for coverage. He and the boy exchanged several shots, with none of them hitting, until Danny got an idea. He placed his left hand at the floor, and sent a freezing wave through it; as a result, everything in contact with the floor got a thick layer of ice around it, including the captain's legs.
The captain shot at one of his trapped legs, breaking the ice, but, when he was about to do the same with the other one, Danny shot a ghost ray against his hand, sending the pistol several feet away. The ghost groaned in annoyance and pain, and, when trying to break the ice by his own strength, got surprised by a dashing punch at the kisser that sent him against the closest wall, making him to drop the sack.
"Not bad, kid, but you'll need something better to stop me." The captain said as slowly standing up, getting a battle stance.
"Something like this?"
The ghost looked at his right, spotting Tucker, with Sam next to him, aiming at him with the Thermos.
"YEEAAARGH!"
"Gotcha!" Tucker smiled in triumph as closing the thermos; Sam, doing her best to keep balance on the frozen floor, walked next to Danny and gasped when noticing his injured shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked, concerned, as checking the wound. As every time Danny got severely hurt in ghost mode, it had some green ectoplasm dropping out of it.
"Yes, except for this burning sensation." Danny confessed; he then introduced two fingers inside the wound, and, groaning in pain, handled to find and retire the projectile, a bright silver-colored bullet. "And, if you're wondering, yes, this hurts as much as it seems in movies."
"Don't move your arm. Even with your powers, that might take a while to heal." Sam pointed while Tucker got a closer look of both the wound and the bullet, not noticing how the Thermos, now inside his backpack, was shattering slightly, until…
BOOM!
The trio got sent backwards because of the explosion at Tucker's backpack. The geek rubbed his back in pain, obviously resenting the hit, while Danny and Sam shook their heads to recover from the impact.
"BEWARE! A simple cylindrical container can't hold my square-faced glory. I'm The Box Ghost…"
"Whatever, just scram, can you, please?" The captain softly glared at The Box Ghost, which was enough cue for him to leave as fast as possible.
"How did you escape?" Danny got a surprised expression as the captain smirked at him and moved next to an ancient weapons' exhibitor.
"That's what I do, kid; there's the reason why, even when alive, I got known as Captain Phantasm." The specter grabbed a long Greek spear, and then, after taking a fast aiming, threw it against Sam.
"NO!" Danny jumped next to a stunned Sam as the spear headed against her head. Danny grabbed her ankle at the last moment, turning her intangible, so the weapon phased through the girl without hurting her.
"Too close for my liking." Sam sighed as moving away from the spear so Danny could turn her back to solid. The Captain took advantage of Danny's distraction, and grabbed both his sack and pistol, phasing through the ceiling a moment later.
"I'll get him!" Danny growled, really furious about the ghost hurting Tucker and almost killing Sam, and, ignoring his wound, phased through the ceiling as well to chase him, forgetting who was on the outside among the other students.
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"Let's see… everyone's here?" Lancer asked the group, all of them about to enter the school bus.
"Fenton, Manson and Foley aren't, Mister Lancer." Dash pointed, grinning; he just couldn't ignore a chance to make them get detention or, at least, a little lecture from Lancer.
"And Grey isn't here too." Paulina added because of feelings similar to Dash's.
"Well, where might they… 'The Ghost of Canterville'!" Lancer exclaimed when The Captain flew just a few feet over his bald head when leaving the museum. The teenagers gasped in surprise, and then screamed in excitement when Phantom emerged from the museum as well, chasing the other ghost.
Despite his injured shoulder, Phantom proved to be a faster flyer than Phantasm, placing in front of him in a few moments.
"Well, a stubborn young man, aren't you?" The Captain growled as aiming at Danny again, while the halfa pointed at him with his glowing left fist.
"Yes, and I have some issues concerning ghosts who try impaling my friends!" Danny snapped at him, both combatants getting hateful glares.
"Oh, boy, and I thought this would be just another boring field trip!" Dash exclaimed as he and the other teens looked at the ghosts in awe.
"Yes, this can't get more exciting!" Kwan added, and, in a perfect cue…
"SURRENDER, GHOSTS!"
Both Danny and The Captain had to abandon their battle stances to avoid getting shot by The Red Huntress; when they started fighting inside the museum, their ectoplasmic activity increased, therefore Valerie's alarm could detect them, so she moved aside the rest of the group and hide behind the bus to get his battle suit on.
The Captain started shooting back at Valerie, who made a fast dive to avoid the attack, but the ghost handled to hit the back of her sled, making her to lose balance for a moment. He was about to finish her when Danny surprised him with a fast kick; the ghost was sent several feet back, and, realizing he couldn't fight at whole power while holding his loot, decided to escape, flying at top speed while shooting back at Danny and Valerie.
Danny used his shield to protect from the bullets while Valerie, now fully recovered, dodged them. She then realized Danny was injured, and got a slight smirk; a wounded Phantom is an easier to catch one.
"This time I'll get you, ghost!" Valerie dashed against Danny, who gulped and dived to avoid a shot. Injured as he was, Danny wasn't nearly as maneuverable as usual, so it was just a manner of time before the huntress could get him, so, instead of flying away, he returned to the museum, phasing through the walls. Valerie was about to fly at a door to chase him on the inside when Tucker and Sam emerged from it; Val realized she wouldn't be able to capture Phantom with them on her way, and, reluctantly, decided to let him go and go back to her regular self.
"Miss Manson, Mister Foley, what happened in there?" Lancer asked his students, noticing Tucker's charred backpack.
"We were checking an exhibit when we were told to leave, Mister Lancer," Sam made a fast and believable lie, "and we found that police-looking ghost on our way out. We tried to escape, but he hurt Tucker. Danny distracted him so we could escape, and then Phantom appeared and scared the other ghost away."
"And where's Mister Fenton?" Lancer asked, surprised; Danny, despite his parents being ghost hunters, wasn't known for facing specters on his own. Then again, the teacher knew how close the trio was, so he risking his life to save them wasn't a weird idea after all.
"I'm here." Danny finally emerged from the museum, still holding his shoulder; luckily, as most of the times he got hurt as a ghost, the wound got partially healed when turning back to human, therefore it wasn't as painful as just a few moments ago.
Lancer helped Danny sit at the sidewalk alongside Tucker, who got helped by Sam. Now fully believing Sam's story, the teacher called for help; one of the guards told him to stay with the teens while one of his partners left to find the museum's nurse so she could attend them while a doctor arrived.
"Fentonio was fighting a ghost? Yeah, right; he surely was cowering just like…"
"You would do it, right, Dash?" The jock was cut by Valerie, who seemed to appear out from nowhere. The blonde was about to reply, but thought better before getting into an argument with a girl who could take him down in a pretty humiliating way, so kept quiet as she approached Danny.
"Are you two okay?" Val, concerned, asked Danny, and gave a fast look at Tucker. Even if she had no romantic feelings for the techno geek, Valerie admitted he was a lot more likable than any guy from the A-list crew, except Star (who was the only one who was still friendly with her), and wished him no harm.
Danny nodded, and gave Valerie a little smile. Tucker did it as well, happy for getting some sort of sympathy from a girl aside Sam for once, but the Goth couldn't help but sigh in frustration; it was a major irony that the girl dedicated to try turning Danny into spectral Swiss cheese when him being Phantom was the same one who couldn't resist the idea of his human self getting injured.
At a distance, sitting on top of a building, Captain Phantasm opened the sack, and checked his loot. Luckily, it wasn't damaged during the fight, but now he realized about how hard it was to accomplish his plan; he had heard about the halfa, and now he had faced him, the ghost discovered how powerful Danny really was, plus having human help, therefore he was a major obstacle. Also, the huntress, a menace he hadn't considered until now, seemed to be highly skilled; she had to, since handled avoiding several of The Captain's attacks. Plus, he wouldn't be able to sneak inside the museum so easily again, with all the investigators and cops that were sure to be there on the next days to investigate about the robbery.
The specter rubbed his chin in thought, and then got back his evil grin.
"Guess I'll need to use those favors sooner than I thought."