3: This Is Halloween
I wonder... has anyone noticed that all three chapters bare a song as their actual title?
The poem Sam wrote was created in about five or ten minutes by me. No stealing unless you ask first, in which case it's not stealing.
Look at how unoriginal I am! I can't finish a story without some cliché appearing!
And YES, this is the end. I might make another story, I might not. I doubt it. In any case...
Happy Halloween everyone!
...
Hotel Room 15, New Amall...
Danny woke without a splitting headache, as he would've expected. Nor did he wake up in the wilderness, another expectation of his.
"Danny's finally awake, Tucker!" Sam called.
The most nerdish of the group walked in with a steaming mug of hot chocolate that he set before Danny, who took it graciously.
"What's up with you, man? It's like, nine o' clock. You're usually a decent morning person," Tucker asked.
"I'm just surprised to be here, guys...," Danny grumbled.
When asked about it, he explained everything, from Paulina and Ichabod, to the Headless Horseman. He expressed wonder at how he got in.
"We don't know, Danny. Lancer locked all the doors from the outside, so we couldn't get out when you didn't come back. We finally went to bed at around one, I think," Sam said.
"Well, anyways, we should get out some. It'll be good for me," Danny said.
"How about the coffee shop? There's some poets and artists there," Sam said.
"There's also a chess tournament going on," Tucker added.
"Sure. You guys go ahead. I wanna' finish off my hot chocolate, then I'll catch up. What's the name?" Danny asked.
"Joc's Coffee Shop," Tucker answered.
"Sounds like a song," Danny muttered.
Sam and Tucker snickered, then exited the room, leaving Danny to himself for a few minutes. He took another sip of his hot chocolate, when the pain came. It shredded through his chest, then splintered off and grew, stopping at his head and blossoming outwards. The pain spread lightly throughout the rest of his body from his chest in about a second. The sudden shock and the sheer pain caused him to throw his cup across the room, shattering it and spilling hot chocolate everywhere.
He screamed as hard as he could. Then the pain worsened. And he screamed.
Just when he thought it would never end until he saw a light, it was over. He collapsed on his bed, unaware of how much he had writhed about on the mattress. His face was covered in sweat and was incredibly pale. A few tremors spread through him, causing him to shake and shiver for a few minutes longer.
He was amazed that no one had heard him, but then he paid attention to the outwards sounds. The wind was howling horrendously and the ice was shattering against the building. Most of the places were far enough away that, considering all the muffling, it would have been more amazing if someone had heard him.
The pain didn't return for another half hour. Danny decided it was safe to get up, so he cleaned up the shattered glass, then used some paper towels to mop up the hot chocolate. He walked over to the sink, still incredibly queasy. He noticed how pale his face was, and figured he was probably in a minor degree of shock. A spear of pain shot through his chest and head, causing him to grip the sink. However, it only lasted a second, and wasn't nearly as horrible as the first shot.
He huffed and puffed, out of breath, then looked around for a moment. There was another cup of hot chocolate in the microwave. He heated it up for about thirty seconds, then drank deep of it, letting the scalding, delicious drink warm him.
Danny set down the cup, bundled up, then headed outside.
Joc's Coffee Shop...
Danny was glad that the blizzard had apparently died down. He wasn't sure if he would have actually been able to stay out in the cold. Now, it was just a light snow. Hopefully, it would stay that way.
He sat down beside Sam, who was marveling at an odd piece of artwork by one of the local artists. It depicted a lovely scene of the winter, with one oddity: the wolves all had skulls instead of normal heads, yet they were obviously in some form of life.
"It depicts how everything in winter is dead," the artist noted.
"Well done," Sam applauded.
"Do you have anything?" the artist asked, politely.
"I've got a poem," Sam said, semi-quietly.
"Let's hear it."
"I'd rather not..."
"Well, come on," Danny urged.
Sam sighed, clearly not wanting to.
"Hair bright white / he prepares to fight. / The parade of troubles marches on / he fights from dusk to dawn. / To protect is his life / to fight is his strife. / Honor is his call / and it may be his fall. / When he leaves / my heart grieves. / If he should go / what pain it would sow. / He's my friend and more / waiting at my heart's door."
"Very well written. I sense deep emotions within, just like within your sketch. What does it represent?" the artist asked.
"A number of things. It's not something I really want to talk about," Sam said.
"I understand. It took me a few years to admit why I believe winter is dead. Reminds me of my mother's death. Art was a form of expression in myself for the longest time. A lot better and a lot easier than visiting a psychologist, I must admit," the artist noted, "In any case, I must leave you two. There are a few other artists. I need to get back to work."
"Pretty cool poem, Sam. What inspired you?" Danny asked.
"Eh... not anything specific. Comics. Cartoons. Video games," Sam said, offhandedly in a vaguely false manner.
"Where's Tuck?" Danny asked.
"He's over at the chess tournament on the opposite side of the shop. Funnily enough, we were wondering the same about you," Sam noted.
"It wasn't anything major. I made myself some breakfast. Then I broke one of the dishes, so I had to clean it up. Took a lotta time," Danny lied.
"You sure?" Sam asked.
"Yes."
The harshness surprised both of them.
"Sorry, Sam. I had a rough night. Paulina was kidnapped because Ichabod loved her ancestor, Katrina... She wasn't lying when she said she was one of the descendants of the founders here," Danny whispered.
"That'd be a rare thing from her. That ditz probably just didn't realize it," Sam grumbled.
"That's be a rare thing to happen. Come on. She says she's a descendant and then she's actually possessed by someone who would know whether or not she was. That was a spell Ichabod cast, I'm sure of it... Anyways, I wanna' have fun. The ghost trouble's all over. Let's just have fun," Danny said.
Oh, he is just asking for trouble.
"Well, I heard something about a horse race today. It'll start in a few minutes. Let's go check it out," Sam suggested.
Tucker walked over to the table, somewhat dejected.
"You lost?" Danny asked.
"Yeah. I wasn't on my A game today. So, what's the plan?" Tucker asked.
Sam and Danny nodded, then they headed out into the cold fall afternoon.
Race Track...
Danny, Sam, and Tucker approached the race track. By some weather abnormality, the sun was out again and the snow had already melted. A man stood on a platform, shouting.
"Horse race! Anyone can compete! Five bucks entry! First place gets twenty bucks! Second gets ten! Third gets five! Step right up!"
"You've ridden a horse before, haven't you, Danny?" Sam asked.
"A few times, yeah."
"Well, try the race."
"Sam? I'm nearing broke."
"I won ten dollars in that art contest with a sketch of Skulker and Ember. No biggie."
"Well... sure."
Sam handed Danny the money, then sat in the bleachers. Tucker snickered, before looking at Danny and speaking.
"You're going to lose horribly."
"You're no help."
"I'm not here to... Heh. Good luck, man."
Tucker sat beside Sam, and Danny paid the man to enter the race. The announcer called a girl who lead Danny into one of the stalls with a horse inside.
"Do you know how to mount a horse?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Good. I have about eight others competing who don't. The local champion's competing, just a warning. Don't get your hopes too high."
The girl left the stall to help the others. Danny hopped on the horse in a swift, smooth motion that didn't fit one who hadn't ridden a horse in quite some time. He lowered himself on his horse in the perfect racing position. He felt himself as a mere extension of the horse. He felt power flow through his body and into the horse. The stalls opened simultaneously and a gunshot cracked throughout the sky.
The horses burst from the gate, but none as quickly as Danny's. His eyes were closed, yet somehow he saw. It was in grayscale all around him. He could sort of see the finish line, but he could see the competitors easier for a few moments, before they all fell behind. Danny opened his eyes, and the grayscale vision disappeared, along with the poor vision. He saw his horse's head flicker for a moment, almost skeletal, then it was back to normal.
He crossed the finish line. A few of the more perceptive members of the audience noticed that the line seemed to have a flicker of fire upon it, if only for a few seconds as the other horses crossed it. Danny dismounted his horse, and he felt weak upon the solid ground.
He was presented with a twenty dollar bill as the announcer shouted his name to the cheering crowd. Danny smiled as he walked towards the bleachers. The other horsemen were disgruntled as they received lower prizes or none at all.
Dash snickered as Danny came towards the bleachers, then stuck out his leg a second before Danny was about to trip over it. To his surprise, Danny jumped on the foot, sending pain through it. He then whirled and slammed his fist into Dash's face, causing the jock to fall back. Danny looked vaguely surprised, but definitely pleased, until he saw Lancer looking around for the commotion. He darted out of sight, then darted into the forest. No one suspected a thing, and Dash wouldn't tell out of pure fear of losing credit. Telling anyone he had been knocked for a loop by the lowest person on the totem pole was not something on Dash's to-do list.
He and Danny both were thankful that no one was paying attention.
Forest...
Danny hadn't been seen by anyone except the most dangerous person there. His name was Derrick Geri, and he was the local racing champ of the horse races. He hadn't been beaten in over a decade unless he wanted to be, and that was just to draw in crowds. He was the best there was, and he was looking to go for some serious championships at some point, but hadn't the time or money.
He also had anger issues and incredible strength, along with a degree of stealth and intelligence enough to slip into the woods when he saw the boy who beat him dart in there. He figured it was probably to meet up with some girl in the middle of the woods.
Derrick was planning that he wouldn't leave the forest.
He caught up with his target and lunged from the bushes after a moment of waiting. To his surprise, the boy side-stepped the lunge, grabbed him by the arm, and swung him down even harder than Derrick thought possible. The horse jockey pistoned out a fist, but Danny leaped over it, landed on his arm, then delivered a swift quick to his face. Derrick howled in pain as blood flowed freely from his fresh wound.
"Wrong time to mess with me," Danny growled.
Derrick looked up at him, and, for a moment, he later swore he saw the kid's head turn into a pumpkin. Danny grabbed Derrick by the throat, twirled around, and slammed the jockey into a tree, then delivered another block to his face. Derrick slipped into unconsciousness. Danny, growling angrily to himself, dragged him onto the well-known trail. He remembered that there would be a tour in just a few minutes. He didn't know much about wounds, but he did know that Derrick would survive that long.
Danny muttered for a few more moments, trying to calm himself. He transformed, and headed to the Hotel, wondering why he had entered the forest in the first place.
Room 15...
Danny phased into the room and transformed, seconds before Sam and Tucker entered the room.
"Danny, what happened?" Sam asked.
"Nothing of importance," Danny replied.
"Dash got hit. Was that you?" Tucker asked.
"No," Danny lied.
"Danny, nobody saw it happen, but I'd bet all twenty of those dollars you won that it was you. Dash was at the bottom of the bleachers you went by. You've been acting weird all day...," Sam trailed off.
"Fine. I hit him. So what?"
"We were just asking," Sam said, indignant.
"I wanted a movie file of it," Tucker said, helpfully.
Mr. Lancer opened the door and immediately launched into the announcement.
"The bus has broken down. It'll be a while before the mechanic can fix it. We also have no way of communicating. A storm is coming in and it's messing with signals. Don't try it, you'll just run up your phone bill."
He immediately shut the door, before anyone could say a word, undoubtedly to go repeat the message, as is the life of teachers.
Danny growled lowly to himself, transformed, and flew out of the room.
"What is wrong with him?" Sam demanded.
"Well, he changed today. He met up with Ichabod last night. Coincidence is rare in superhero work," Tucker pointed out.
"When should we leave?" Sam asked.
Mr. Lancer opened the door.
"The bus will take a lot longer to fix than expected. We will undoubtedly be here an extra day, beyond Halloween. Curfew of ten o' clock still stands. It's seven now," he growled, slamming the door again.
"Well, that was unexpected," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Ah man! It's Halloween! I forgot! Candy, Sam! Candy!" Tucker shouted.
"Tucker, we're going to visit Ichabod. Now."
"Ummm... okay?"
Schoolhouse...
It was 7:30 by the time Tucker and Sam got to the approximate place where Paulina had supposedly been taken to. The schoolhouse was just as creepy to them as it was to Danny. Ichabod floated out of the doors, in a foul mood.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"We're friends with-" Tucker started.
Sam elbowed him, shushing him.
"We want to know what happened here last night," Sam asked.
"Oh, so that boy was friends of yours? Has he been taking to the curse well?" Ichabod half-cackled.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Sam snarled.
"I heard my legend was publicized. You've heard it, have you now?"
They nodded.
"There were a few things they left out, largely because they didn't know about it. Washington Irving wasn't thorough in his research, but it was pretty much impossible to be. Brom didn't exactly give off the impression of being intelligent or a demon-Summoner," Ichabod noted.
"Demon-Summoner?" Tucker asked.
"Yes. Brom had bonded himself to a demon. He was granted incredible strength, along with intelligence, and even speed. This made him the most charismatic man in Sleepy Hollow. Katrina was the only woman who wasn't immediately wooed by him. She loved me, and I her. I couldn't face up to Brom, and he committed what you call sexual harassment several times. Katrina and I fought over it one night, and I rode off. Brom became the Headless Horsemen willingly and passed the curse to me. He kept the benefits, and no longer had to explain where he went every full moon. I was killed by it and bonded to the Earth."
"So you passed it to Danny? You JERK!" Sam screamed.
"I didn't intend on passing the curse. That actually caused problems for this town. It's drenched in ecto-energy. Quite a few spirit mediums wander through here, then leave complaining of headaches. It's caused because of me staying here for so long. I heard a few complaining about some skeleton ghost. Probably some side effect of drenching the place in ecto-energy. Can't be healthy," Ichabod said, off-handedly.
"That's why Danny's ghost sense has been going off. It only goes off once when a ghost approaches until the ecto energies are gone completely, otherwise it'd be going off constantly in the Ghost Zone," Sam said.
"So, you became the Headless Horseman?" Tucker asked.
"No. Remorse kept me human. It kept the demon at bay. However, I was filled with anger when Danny forced me to give up Katrina once more. I became the Headless Horseman again."
"Can we save him?" Tucker asked.
"Well, since it didn't kill him, I'd say he probably just needs a blast of light energy. Since the sun didn't work, though, silver might work. If that doesn't work, kiss him. It could be someone who absolutely despises him. Kissing represents love in and of itself, so it should expel the demon. I'd suggest silver though."
"I bet you'd prefer the kissing bit," Tucker snickered.
Sam slapped him.
"Shut up or I'll kick you in your lower appendage, and I don't mean your feet," Sam growled.
"Okay, sorry. I mean, it's obvious, though, isn't it? Tucker asked.
"Are you serious?" Sam asked.
"I heard your poem. Unlike Danny, my mind isn't clouded by a demon, nor am I that stupid. Don't insult my intelligence, Sam, come on," Tucker replied.
"I'll just... ya' know... go back inside... and stuff," Ichabod mumbled, floating into the school.
"Silver, Tucker," Sam growled.
"There is no silver to be found around here, trust me. I've seen everything around this place. There isn't anything silver at all around here," Tucker said.
Sam sighed.
"The universe hates me. I'll take it out on you later. Come on, let's find Danny."
Tucker smiled discreetly as they walked through the darkness, heading back to the Hotel.
Hotel Area...
They were almost at the Hotel when Danny found them.
"Hey guys. What have you been up to?" he asked, smiling falsely.
"Nothing really. We just took a stroll for a while," Tucker said.
"Really?" Danny asked, dangerously, approaching Tucker.
"Danny... you're scaring me, man," Tucker said.
"Really? I was going for terrifying."
Danny was right in front of Tucker, glaring angrily.
"Danny, what is wrong with you?" Sam demanded.
"You two. Alone. Call me paranoid, but I'm suspicious."
"Why? We didn't do anything. Trust us, man," Tucker said.
"That's not so easy, when you've been such a jerk," Danny growled.
"Danny, stop it," Sam urged.
"No, I don't think I will."
Danny grabbed Tucker by the throat and held him high in the air.
"Danny!" Sam shouted, "Stop it!"
"You two alone disturbs me. I want to know the truth as to what you did with Tucker. I'll get it from him if he doesn't die first," Danny said.
"Sam... ki-ki..." Tucker gasped.
"Sam kissed you? Really. What did that lead into, I wonder?" Danny asked, visibly furious.
While he was focused on Tucker, Sam lunged at Danny, grabbed him, and, scrounging up her courage in a split-second, gave him a peck on the cheek. Danny looked shocked as he turned and faced her. His eyes were ablaze for a moment, then he dropped Tucker and fell to his hands and knees, coughing.
"What's happening?" Sam asked.
"It's supposed to get rid of the curse," Tucker said, clearly not knowing what was going on.
The same heart-stopping pain tore through Danny, but this time it was in reverse. It started in his entire body, then shrank quickly into two points at his heart and head. Two tendrils of some strange energy emerged from his chest and head, as he let out a scream. The tendrils tangled together, then speared into the ground, completely disconnected from him. He huffed and puffed, trying to get his breath back.
Sam and Tucker, satisfied, walked towards Danny to help him up.
CRACK.
They turned around, confused.
KA-CRAAAAAACK.
The ground split behind them, and red light poured from the cracks, before it exploded with fire. A figure walked from the energy, covered in smoke for but a moment. From the top up, he was demonic, with twisted flesh that was spiky. His head was a jack-o-lantern with flames licking about it. From the top down, he was very-horse-like, without being a centaur.
The Headless Horseman had risen again.
"Danny..." Sam warned, trailing off.
She saw the white rings appear out of the corner of her eye, and then she saw Danny speeding towards the Headless Horseman.
Danny shot upwards, and the Headless Horseman cackled, spraying fire at him. Danny dodged what he could, and shielded against one spurt of the deadly element. He focused for a moment, then let out a quick spray of ecto-energy beams. The Headless Horseman dived to the side, shooting up another burst of fire.
Danny took it in the face, and he screamed as it burned him. He shot through the air, causing the wind to put it out. The demon cackled as it sent off a spray of fire, then shot towards his friends. Sam and Tucker were snatched up in a moment, and the demon put a claw against their throats.
"Get closer, boy, and I cut 'em," the Headless Horseman warned.
A football slammed into him, harmlessly, but the distraction was enough for Tucker and Sam to get away.
"Hey, freak! Nobody messes with the geeks except all of Amity High!" Dash shouted.
The Headless Horseman started to dash towards him, but he was interrupted by a blast of ecto-energy. Danny landed on the ground, facing him.
"Nobody threatens my friends and gets away with it."
"Then I'm Nobody."
"You are nothing, do you hear me? NOTHING!" Danny shouted.
More specifically, he Wailed. The sonic-ecto power washed over the Headless Horseman, knocking him into the Hotel. Danny stopped the wail before it could seriously drain him, and flew as fast as he could, slamming a fist into the demon. The wall cracked a bit, but didn't smash, to Danny's delight. He grabbed the Headless Horseman, punching him square in the face repeatedly.
"Stupid boy..."
The demon spat fire in Danny's face, causing the ghost-boy to recoil and fly off to put it out. A gunshot rang through the night, the source being Mr. Lancer, holding a smoking rifle.
"No one threatens my students. End of sentence. Got that, demon?" Mr. Lancer snapped.
Several months of living in Amity Park had desensitized Lancer to the appearance of supernatural entities. Thus, he came prepared. It was noble, but somewhat stupid. The demon turned to face him.
"Your pathetic human weapon can not hurt me," the Headless Horseman snapped back.
"Oh snap!" Tucker shouted.
The students and Mr. Lancer bolted for the hotel, desperate to get distance between themselves and the monster. He slowly walked towards them. He had all the time in the world to hunt them down, after all. A fist smashed into the back of his head, followed by several ecto-blasts.
"Forget about me, fugly?" Danny asked, swerving back to avoid retaliation from the demon.
"I figured you would be dead, boy."
"A lot harder to kill me than that," Danny shrugged.
Room 15
Meanwhile, Tucker was looking through his hotel room. After a moment, he found it. He took the object and bolted back outside.
Hotel Area...
Danny flew back as the demon belted him across the face. He recovered a moment later, kicking the demon in the meantime. The Headless Horseman laughed at the pathetic attempt. He heard running behind him, getting louder, but he paid it no mind.
Danny blasted him in the face, which didn't do much good. The flames flickered green for a moment, then the demon belched out similarly colored fire. Danny took to the skies to avoid it.
Tucker reared back, with all his might, balled up his fist, and smacked the Headless Horseman across the back with his silver brass knuckles. The demon whirled around in surprise and shock. Tucker repeated the previous procedure, but this time, he hit the demon in the face. The Headless Horseman flew back from the sheer power of the silver, writhing in pain.
Danny touched ground, watching as the demon seemed to have a seizure, before finally imploding.
"Good job, Tucker."
"Don't mention it."
Sam walked up behind him, dangerously, whirled him around, and slapped him across the face even harder than before.
"What was that about this town having no silver?" she demanded.
"Hey, I didn't think you had to have silver to kill it," Tucker said.
"I did suggest silver," Ichabod replied.
"Like I said, good job, Tucker," Danny said, winking this time.
Sam's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and anger.
"I hate you two. So much."
"Yeah... I'm going to be at peace now... Maybe go into the after-realm and stuff...," Ichabod mumbled, floating off.
Master Manor...
Vlad sat on a throne-like chair, observing his computer monitors, which had observed the recent fight with the Headless Horseman.
"Incompetent ghost. I put up money and the suggestion that the brats go to Sleepy Hollow. I trace Katrina's lineage down to that friend of Danny's and that ditzy popular girl. I tell Ichabod about Katrina's current ancestors. I lie to him about Danny being a follower of Brom. Yet, still, Danny lives. Ichabod didn't even kidnap the right girl. I told him to go after the goth girl. Does he? No. Stupid ghosts," he growled to himself.
"Sir... I believe you had orders for me?" Skulker asked.
"Yes. I need you to steal something in a moment. Technus has the information on his hard disk. Download that," Vlad said, shooing away Skulker.
"Yes sir."
"Ah... Maybe next time, Daniel Fenton will fall into my grasp... for apprenticeship... or death. Until then, rest easy while you can," Vlad muttered.
End
