The creature was looming over Jazz, a soapy plate sticking out of its forehead between two angry violet eyes. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Danny might have been amused that his sister had used a plate, of all things, to try to fend off the creature. "Danielle, get Jazz out of here," Danny ordered, transforming quickly.
"You've got it," Dani told him, transforming as well and lunging towards Jazz. Danny launched himself after her aiming a blast of ectoplasm at the creature's face. The plate shattered on the impact of the blast, sending shards of plate everywhere. The creature growled at him, a low noise that sounded almost as if it were gargling shattered glass.
"Yeah, yeah," Danny told it. "Come and get me." And not Jazz, he added mentally. The further his sister was from danger, the better he would feel, especially since he wasn't sure he could beat this thing. Freezing had worked before, so it was worth a try. He aimed a blast of ice toward the creature's middle as Dani flew Jazz out off the room, sending the crystals creeping upwards and downwards. For a moment it looked like it was working. Then the creature thrashed its whole body, sending shattered shards of ice flying at him. Danny managed to turn intangible before he was stabbed by chunks of ice he created, wincing at the sounds they made sinking into the walls and door behind him. If he had been just a little bit slower, he would have been seriously injured.
"Need some help?" Danielle asked, sticking her head around the doorway and then slamming it quickly before the last chunk of ice hit her in the middle of the forehead.
"Yes," Danny replied emphatically when the door opened a crack again. It would be good to have someone else that could turn intangible to avoid being killed by projectiles in this fight.
"So what's the plan?" she asked with an eager grin.
"We have to blow it up somehow," Danny told her, turning intangible to avoid a clawed swipe from the creature. "At least that's how I beat the last one." Dani nodded and aimed an ectoblast at the creature, shooting up towards the ceiling when it sliced at her with suddenly created claws. She darted around the creature's head, which was almost brushing the ceiling, peppering it with blasts. Danny took advantage of the creature's distraction to start freezing it again. Hopefully this time he'd manage to freeze it before it noticed and broke free. He watched almost nervously as the ice swept steadily upward, just waiting for something to go wrong. Something always did.
Sure enough, the creature quickly grew tired of Dani's games and simply reached out an arm to snatch her out of the air. It slammed her on the ground hard and she stayed there with a dazed groan. Danny shot forward to help her only to be knocked back almost dismissively. He turned intangible to pass through the wall rather than slam into it and after a moment he managed to change direction, lunging back into the fight just in time to keep Danielle from being stabbed by needle sharp claws.
"Thanks," she told him, flashing him a quick grin before shooting up towards the ceiling again and peppering the creature with blows. Miraculously, the ice hadn't completely shattered and the cracks would be easy enough to fix. Staring with the cracks first, he began the painfully slow task of coating the creature. It didn't notice the spread of ice until it could no longer move its arms. It turned a furious violet gaze on Danny and let out a roar that made the walls shake. He ignored it, focusing on spreading the ice faster. The creature strained its neck upward but the ice was relentless until it covered the top of its head.
"Blast it, Dani," he ordered, already turning intangible. Dani's hand glowed and a massive blast of green ectoplasm struck the creature in the back, exploding it into hundreds of razor sharp pieces. They clattered to the ground as Danielle and Danny watched as a violet eye blinked once beneath a coating of ice before going still. "Nice job," Danny told her, landing carefully and nudging aside the shards of ice. Danielle beamed at him and floated over next to his shoulder.
"Danny? Danielle?" Jazz called, hesitantly sticking her head around the door she'd pulled open a little. "Is everything okay in there?"
"Yeah," Danny called back. "The monster's gone, for the moment." Jazz smiled and stepped inside, gently shutting the door behind her.
"Where'd it come from?"
"It might've followed me from New York City via the Ghost Zone," Danielle admitted, hanging her head a little.
"Wait a minute," Jazz cried and Danny's eyes widened in realization.
"Mom and Dad," they said at the same time, running for the basement.
Maddie and Jack Fenton's ghost hunting lab was a mess. Half completed weapons and machines were scattered about with the shattered remains of completed ones. The Fenton parents were nowhere to be seen and the portal to the Ghost Zone was wide open. Danny was staring at the swirling green portal in silent shock. "Mom? Dad?" Jazz called but Danny knew already that they weren't going to answer. While he, Dani, and Jazz had been distracted by the creature upstairs, something else had taken Jack and Maddie.
He watched his older sister frantically search the wreckage only to come up empty, her aqua eyes growing more and more worried with each passing moment. "I'm so sorry, Danny," Danielle apologized in a soft voice as she floated next to him looking horribly guilty. "I didn't mean for this to happen."
"I know," he told her, voice hollow. "It's okay."
"No it's not," the girl protested. "I led a monster to your home and got your parents kidnapped."
"You didn't mean to," Jazz told Danielle, placing a shaking hand on her shoulder. "You weren't trying to hurt anyone. You were just scared and looking for help."
"Jazz is right," Danny agreed, pulling his clone in for a hug. "You didn't mean to." Danielle nodded reluctantly, still looking guilty. Her feet were brushing the floor as she slowly lost altitude. "I'm going to go ghost and look around in the Ghost Zone," he continued, turning towards Jazz. "Maybe I can find some sign of whatever took Mom and Dad."
"I'll come with you," Danielle volunteered, brightening a little.
"Okay," Danny agreed, knowing that Danielle was looking for some way to assuage her guilt.
"Take Fenton Phones," Jazz told them, gaze worried. "And stay in contact at all times. I don't want to lose you guys too."
"We promise to stay in contact," Danny reassured her. "And we'll leave at the first sign of danger."
"Okay," Jazz agreed, handing over the Fenton Phones. "Stay safe, both of you." Danny nodded and hugged her tightly before joining Danielle in floating upwards.
"Don't worry, Jazz," Danielle called as they flew through the portal into the Ghost Zone. "Everything is going to be just fine."
Hanna blinked open her eyes with a groan. Her head throbbed and her mouth felt sandy. Each breath of humid air made her headache worse. She slowly pushed herself upright, wobbling a little before managing to find her balance. Whatever power Dan had unleashed, it had been extremely dangerous. She was pretty certain that if he had been at full power, she probably wouldn't have survived it. Hanna carefully cupped her hands and let out a soft sigh of relief when water pooled in them. She drank slowly, sighing in relief as it soothed her scratchy throat. After managed to down several handfuls of water, the pounding in her head subsided. That was good. It meant she could concentrate on tracking down a possibly murderous ghost.
She tried to float off the ground but only made it a few inches before dropping. "Crap," she muttered, scowling. Apparently, she was back to being unable to fly. That wasn't so good. It was going to be a lot harder to find Dan if she couldn't fly above the ground. At least she knew where to look. Whatever power he'd used on her probably took a lot of energy. That meant he probably hadn't gotten very far. Hanna started walking. After a morning of flying, she'd forgotten how slow walking was. Dan had flung her pretty far away from the sight of their original argument which meant that she spent most the afternoon walking. At least it wasn't raining. Her legs ached by the time she reached the site of the altercation, reminding her that she'd been through a lot in the past day. Ending up in the Amazon Rainforest on accident was definitely no pleasure cruise. Once this mess was resolved, Hanna was definitely taking a vacation.
At least she had some luck. Dan had apparently passed out after throwing her several yards away into a tree. Hanna's lips twitched, trying to form a smile, as she took in the sight before her. The ghost who seemed to take pride in being terrifying was slumped in a crumpled, boneless heap at the foot of a tree, a Spider Monkey cuddled up in his lap while another one tugged curiously at his cape. A giggle escaped her and she lifted a hand to muffle it. It took a moment to control her giggles as the monkey investigating his cape was joined by a second, slightly smaller one. This one picked up a piece of the fabric and chewed on it before spitting it out and making a disgusted face. The giggles escaped her in a wave then and she struggled to get herself under control.
Once she finally managed to stop snickering, she swirled her fingers, gathering water around them before sending it crashing down on his head. Dan woke with a sputter, the monkey on his lap chattering angrily and launching itself away from the startled and angry ghost to clamber up a tree. Hanna watched, amused, as he pushed himself to his feet, hair slowly coming back to light. The two monkeys that had been investigating the cape shrieked angrily and clambered up the tree after the first one, waving their fists furiously at the ghost down below. Hanna barely bit down a giggle at the entire scene.
"Enjoying yourself?" Dan questioned, tone downright poisonous.
"Just a little," she replied with a smirk. The commented earned her a glare but, judging by how slowly he'd stood, he didn't have enough energy to start a fight. In some respects they were back to where they started, but this time at least Hanna knew which direction they needed to go. "I'm glad to see you're making friends," she added and he growled. This time, Hanna didn't feel any need to be afraid, despite the green glow surrounding his hands. "Are you going to start another fight or do you want to get out of here?" she asked, hands on her hips.
There was a moment of silence as he glared at her, red eyes blazing. Finally, just as she was beginning to feel uncomfortable, he said, "Walk or next time I'm almost back to full strength I'll turn you into a pile of ash." Hanna couldn't think of a reply to that so she just turned on her heel and marched away. She knew Dan was following her by the prickling feeling on the back of her neck but she refused to look back. Before the quickly escalated argument, they had been on almost civil terms but now the air was fully of distrustful tension. This was going to be a very long walk.