No Man's Land
(A/N: After spending several days trying to will my brain out of the SpongeBob-caused atrophy that it has been trapped in for a while, I can finally write again! This fic will be loosely-based on the "Batman" story arc of the same name. Enjoy, please read and review.)
Summery:When a massive earthquake causes the federal government to abandon Amity Park as a No Man's Land, ghosts take over the city, ruling over the remaining people in small, isolated fiefdoms. Now, Danny must fight to reclaim his city, perhaps even at the cost of his own life.
It was a day like any other in Amity Park. Fall was in full bloom, and winter was fast approaching. Ghost attacks had been fairly low, but Danny still felt uneasy, like something terrible was coming, something he had never faced before. His silent fears were made worse by the recent string of microearthquakes that had been occurring underneath the city, though they were too weak to be felt on the surface.
One evening, Jazz went down to the kitchen for a drink of water, and saw her brother in the living room by the hearth, staring at the slowly dying fire with steepled fingers. Jazz walked up behind him quietly and put her hand softly on his shoulder. For a while, he just kept on staring at the flames, as though he didn't even notice her.
"Danny," she said when he finally turned to face her, "something has been bothering you for the last week or so. You know that you can tell me anything. Does it have anything to do with all these subterranean earthquakes?" Danny took a long, sad breath and said, "I don't know, Jazz. I just have this feeling of . . . impending doom, like I had before I fought Pariah Dark. And the thing is, I think my Ghost Sense is causing it."
"Is it a new ghost?" asked Jazz, not quite understanding. Danny shook his head and said, "No, I think it's some kind of . . . prescience, or ESP, or something. I just have this feeling that something hasn't happened yet, but it will. And it's not going to be good." "Danny," said Jazz, taking on a motherly tone, "Go to bed. I'll tuck you in and tell you a story like mom did when you were little."
Danny smiled and did as he was told. Jazz even brought him a glass of warm chocolate milk. She stayed up for almost an hour, telling Danny stories from when he was too little to remember. He fell asleep that night feeling happier and more relaxed than he had since the microquakes began.
The next day at school was a particularly good one for Danny. He had recently begun to display the same level of intelligence in Art, foreign Language, and Music that Jazz showed in Science, Mathematics, and History. Tucker had recently started going out with the new girl at school, a hot little redhead number named Natasha, and had scored his first girlfriend. Danny and Sam were still just best friends, even though everyone and their grandma knew that they were in love.
"All right, class," said Lancer as the period drew to a close, "I want your book reports next Wednesday, no excuses." Danny, Sam and Tucker were among the first out when the bell rang, their plans for the weekend already in formation. "So," said Sam, "I was thinking we all gather at my place for pizza, movies, and enough sugary snacks to keep us awake for days."
"Sounds great," said Tucker, "but no can do. My folks are taking me to a family reunion in the mountains. You lovebirds have fun, though!" He started running as Danny and Sam yelled, "WE ARE NOT LOVEBIRDS!!!" at the same time. "So Danny," said Sam, quick to change the subject, "How about just you and I hang out this weekend?"
"Sounds great," said Danny, "Come by my place at 8:00?" "Actually," Sam replied, "it would probably be better if you stayed over at my house. Given your strain relationship with my parents, it would help keep their minds at ease if you were on their territory."
And so it went that Danny stayed the night at Sam's. Her parents were surprisingly genial, and pretty much left him alone. At one point, they went swimming in her underground pool. They played an excellent game of Marco Polo, not to mention the swimming races that Sam beat Danny in 5 times out of 9. As they drifted off to sleep a few hours later, Danny thought that his life couldn't get any better.
(A/N: All Hell breaks loose next chapter. Any ideas and/or suggestions would be helpful since I haven't actually read the No Man's Land comic series, and am working pretty much in the dark. Please review.)
TO BE CONTINUED.