Hello, pe- ah, forget it. Let's get straight to the announcements.
First up, this chapter contains another ghost fight, this time against the dreaded Box Ghost! He's rough, he's tough, aaand he's probably going to get taken down in the first few seconds of the fight, right? Well, not necessarily, but you'll have to read on to find out what happens. Of course, I'm assuming you're going to do that anyway.
As usual, I am still taking costume ideas from you, the readers. To recap, I want you to describe alternate costumes for Danielle, and I'll choose my favorite as a new costume for her, or I'll mix and match ideas for a hybrid costume. I'll honestly take any suggestions. If you have a suggestion, PM me and include a description of your costume idea. Keep it K+.
Finally, I have an announcement in regards to The Lost and The Found. The introduction arc will be wrapping up in the next chapter. Notice how I said arc. Why would I say arc? Because I wish to continue this story as a series, with a several mini-arcs operating under one canon. However, I wish to know your preferences for the format of these stories. Would you rather I write these stories into their own self contained stories that follow their own canon (a la the author Silent Elegy), or should I white these stories as chapters in The Lost and The Found (a la The Phantom Reboot by Soulfulbard). Please PM me with your choice.
That's all, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy Chapter 7 of The Lost and The Found! And, just so I don't get sued...
Dani and The Box Ghost belong to Butch Hartman, not me.
Chapter 7: Storage Wars
"Must I repeat myself?! Who are you to stop the Box Ghost, master or all things packaged and corrugated?! You will suffer the wrath of my six sided EVIL!"
Dani sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. When her ghost sense had gone off in Andy's house, she had been hoping for a competent ghost to fight; Ember, Technus, even Cujo would have provided some decent amusement. But no, Danielle would be fighting a ghost who couldn't surpass 100 dollars on Walker's bounty list.
As Dani pondered how to get rid of Boxy with minimal feelings hurt, she felt something tap her shoulder, trying to get her attention. She turned around to face it and saw a familiar black vest and collared undershirt. When she looked up, a grey fedora and brown eyes met her acid green ones.
Andy.
Her body tensed up as she prayed that Andy wouldn't recognize her. A few tense moments passed as the black clad figure stared at the ghost girl before he finally said,
"If I may, who are you and what's your business in Vaga?"
Dani gawked at Andy for a moment, then internally cheered; Andy didn't make the connection! Andy wielded a lot of power in Vaga and could quite easily kick her out of town if he figured out Dani's secret; however, if Andy didn't recognize her ghost form, she wouldn't have to deal with any more Jaike-like moments.
"Excuse me, miss? I was talking to you. Have I ever met you? You seem familiar."
At this question, Dani snapped back to reality. She answered, "Who, me? Oh, no, no, I'm sure that we've never met. Yep, absolutely sure. You can call me, uh, Dan if you need to. But while we're talking, how about you take about, say, fifty steps back?"
Confused, Andy responded, "Why would I do that? I mean, I don't even know you, and there isn't anything dangerous around-"
"He-LLO?! Specter and finely dressed mortal? Would you please quit talking and respect the presence of the Box Ghost?"
Andy looked up and saw the floating box enthusiast; however, instead of backing away or fleeing, Andy merely laughed and said, "This is the threat that's worth fifty steps of precaution? Honey, I don't know about you, but he looks about as frightening as a basket full of puppies."
"A barbed wire basket full of EVIL puppies!" the Box Ghost retorted, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity. "Evil puppies with RABIES!"
Dani sighed, and then told Andy, "Yes, I know that the Box Ghost doesn't look all that threating but, as the name would imply, he's a ghost with has power over boxes; if he gets his hands on one, he controls both the box and the contents inside."
"Alright, so what? So long as he doesn't find the warehouse in the north plateau, there shouldn't… be…any..." Andy moaned, slapping himself in the forehead. "Son of-"
"A warehouse full of boxes? YES! Soon all of Amity Park will flee in terror at the fury of the Box Ghost!" the floating specter gloated, throwing his hands in the air and laughing at his foregone victory.
"Hey, tape for brains!" Dani yelled at the gloating ghost. "Hate to burst your bubble wrap, but this isn't Amity Park. Or do you see any skyscrapers in the middle of this desert?"
"Impossible! The Box Ghost's sense of direction is never- wait a minute." The Box Ghost stopped gloating and scanned the surrounding terrain; indeed, there were no asphalt roads, no skyscrapers, and no Nasty Burgers. Even Amity Park's 'A Nice Place to Live' billboard was nowhere to be seen.
"Wait, I, but how…? I thought for sure the portal was another entrance into Amity Park, not not Amity Park..." The Box Ghost muttered.
"I-I'm sorry", Dani stuttered, unable to believe what she just heard. "Are you saying that there's a portal from the Ghost Zone to Vaga?!"
The Box Ghost continued as if he hadn't heard Dani's exclamation. "I suppose it doesn't matter if that portal took me somewhere new. A new town just means a fresh canvas for a masterpiece of terror! Prepare to flee in fear, citizens of Vaga! There's a new ghost in town, and his name is Box Ghost!" The blue skinned specter cackled as he flew off to find the store house. The two watched him fly off; after a moment, Andy put a hand above his eyes and squinted, then asked,
"Isn't he flying south?"
Dani shrugged her shoulders and said, "If that's the case, it'll give me more time to reach the warehouse at the north plateau. You get back in your home and-"
"No way." The engineer interrupted, crossing his arms in defiance. "I'm the only one with any means of defending the town, so I at least have some responsibility. I'm helping you fight, whatever happens."
Dani lowered her head and rubbed her temples as Andy's words of brave idiocy hit her ears. Why couldn't logical reasoning overpower human emotion in dire situations? She didn't want any injuries on her hand, so she looked up and flatly stated, "Look, I understand that you want to help, but please try to understand that I am a ghost with powers from the other side, he is a ghost with powers from the other side, while you are a fragile human who doesn't even have a weapon. You're powerless."
At this, Andy cracked a small grin and replied, "Powerless, huh? Well, meet me at the south side of the north plateau in five minutes where the storehouse is located, and I'll meet you there." After he said this, he turned and ran into the town, nearly losing his fedora in the process.
"Where are you going?" Dani shouted, wondering what on or below earth the man was doing running away from a fight he had been so eager to start
"I'm getting a defensive apparatus to help me even my odds." he shouted back.
Dani shrugged and said, "Whatever, but don't blame me when you find out you're in way over your head."
"Where is he?"
Dani tapped her foot against the cracked earth as she waited impatiently for Andy to meet her; she had beaten him to the storehouse as now stood in from of a fairly large solid steel gate. As the seconds dragged on, she ground her teeth, angry at the world and the hand that she'd been dealt that day.
"This is just perfect." Dani mumbled under her breath, looking up in exasperation. "I start the day fighting Skulker, then my identity is revealed, then I melt my earphone, and now I'm wasting time with a ghost on Walker's least wanted list. Plus, I have to deal with a heroic, valiant idiot who's only going to get in my way. It's just Boxy, though. With any luck, I can wrap this up before-"
"Before what?"
She paused her monologue and looked down to see Andy standing in front her with a cocky smile plastered on his face, one gloved hand by his side, and the other hand behind his back. Perfect. The spitting image of a man about to go to war, and then get killed on the front lines. Danielle took a deep breath to calm herself, then addressed the engineer. "I see you've made it here without tripping over your inflated hometown pride. So where's this odds-evening weapon, or super potion, or pixie dust or whatever you have?"
Without saying a word, Andy whipped his hand out from behind his back to reveal…
"A hammer?" Dani questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
Indeed, the "weapon" that Andy wielded in his gloved hands appeared to be an oversized metal hammer. It was nearly six foot tall mallet, with a two foot wide head. The head was supported by a thin pole with a flair on either end. Two grips made of electrical tape were attached on either end of the shaft. At the end of the pole was a half sphere of a rough, dark grey material bracketed to the base by four triangular copper panels.
The most impressive piece of the hammer, however, was the head. A concave cylinder made up the two and a half foot wide body, with two black rings capping off the end and a segmented disc of silver metal attached to the rings. The head itself was divided into five sections, all of which were suspended in midair; some magnetic force must have kept the pieces suspended. Two discs of metal were attached at the top and bottom of the head, and a long, thin triangular spike rose out of the top disk. It was an impressive piece of machinery; although, if Danielle was honest, she only had one question regarding the device.
"Where on Earth did you pull that thing from? I mean, there was literally no hammer behind your back a few moments ago."
Andy grinned and replied, "Hammerspace."
Dani groaned and put a palm to her forehead, which only elicited a laugh from the engineer. "I wouldn't expect those to stop anytime soon," the man chuckled, "because a good fight always gets me in a joking mood. And from the looks of things," he continued, pointing to a floating blue speck drawing closer, "it's going to be a battle to remember."
Both temporary comrades prepared for the battle as the Box Ghost approached; Dani dropped into a closed fighting stance, fists clenched and ready for action, while Andy stood tall, brandishing his weapon like a poleaxe. When the Box Ghost finally arrived, he yelled, "So, you finally decided to come face to face with the Box Ghost? Were you scared of my awesome power?"
"Not really," Andy replied with the same goofy grin on his face, "but we were astonished by your impressive lack of direction."
The Box Ghost retorted, "I didn't get lost! I was merely, uh, scouting the area to make sure that you didn't lay down any traps! Besides, I don't see any threats here other than a Phantom wannabe and a man with an oversized Whack-A-Mole mallet!"
Andy continued to smile as crouched low to the ground and taunted, "Well, you may be a ghost, but by the time Chispa and I are done with you, you'll be a-ghast at the damage that a human can wreak on your post-human consciousness."
Silence filled the air around them as the engineer's terrible pun sank in. Both ghosts stared at the human, dumbfounded at Andy's sense of humor. Andy looked at the two of them, noting their deadpan glares. "What, no laughter? Not even a giggle? Alright, fine. Guess I'll have to force the laughter out of you."
Dani gave him an aside glance and stated, "You know that Boxy really isn't anything more than a giant punching bag, right?"
Andy merely responded, "Well, if that's the case, let's land as many hits as possible before he goes down."
With that, the two pushed off the cracked earth to meet the undead box aficionado.
Dani leapt into the air with balled-up flaming green fist, hoping to land a blow to the ghost's cranium. Just as she was about to connect, he grinned and vanished out of the visible plain, leaving her swiping at noting but air. Dani turned in an instant to see Boxy wind up for a punch…and watched that punch get interrupted by a silver and black blur colliding with the ghost's abdomen. The ghost immediately reeled backwards and fell to the ground. When he got up, the black-clad techie was standing above him, hammer raised above his head.
"Let's see how you look as a rail spike," Andy said, grinning as he swung the hammer down, slamming the head into the ground. A small eruption of dirt exploded around the impact; when he lifted his weapon, a small circular crater surrounded…nothing. The ghost had vanished. Suddenly, a hard blow to Andy's spine left him flying forward. Before he landed, however, Andy slammed the hammer's spike into the ground, spiraled around its shaft and let go, speeding the other way. Andy yelled, "Quick, Dan! He's headed your way!"
Before the Box Ghost knew what was happening, Andy's foot collided with his nose. He stumbled back, holding his nose in pain, not realizing that Dani was right behind him, winding up for a supercharged uppercut. When the ghost got close enough, she let her fist fly, glowing particles trailing off of her hand.
*CRACK!*
The sound reverberated through the town as a blue, overalled blur shot above the twin mesas of Vaga, and then came plummeting down to the backside of the north plateau. The ghost slowed to a halt before it hit the dusty sand. Heavy breathing could be heard coming from the figure as the fighting duo came closer to the worn out fiend. Suddenly, the ghost snapped its head up to face the two, it's normally blue eyes burning a fiery red.
"HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE GREAT AND POWERFUL BOX GHOST LIKE THAT?! YOU TWO SHALL PAY WITH YOUR LIVES!"
As the infuriated undead spoke, his body slowly shifted color; his clothes, hat, even his black work gloves changes from various shades of placid blue to fiery hues of red. Before either one of them knew what was happening, the infuriated ghost went intangible and phased through Andy, Dani, and…the gate to the warehouse. Both mortal and halfa exchanged worried looks before Dani grabbed Andy and phased both of them into the vast expanses of Vaga's storage.
"Geez, it's dark down here. Hang on, I can light this place up with a ghost ray."
"No need; there's a control panel should be around here somewhere with the master light switch. Hmm, yup. Here it is."
"…If you don't get your hand off of there this instant, I will personally-"
"Sorry, sorry. My bad. It's over here."
Dani shielded her eyes as a series of halogen lights lit up a massive warehouse filled with rows upon rows of wooden crates. Thick steel columns supported the roof and lofty shelves housed hundreds upon hundreds of the six sided parcels. Boxes that were far too large to be stored on the shelves were shoved near the back, while smaller cardboard packages were placed closer to the entrance.
"Keep on your toes," Dani warned as they walked down the central corridor, "because the Box Ghost could be anywhere. Darkened corridors, hidden crates-"
*thump*
*Thump*
*THUMP*
*BOOM*
*BOOM!*
The two figures froze, and then turned to face the source of the noise. What they saw was a glowing humanoid figure nearly twelve feet tall and composed entirely of boxes; large crates formed the torso, arms, and legs, while small cardboard boxes forced the hands and feet. A console rested where head would be, and the Box Ghost stood at the head of the controls.
"-or a gigantic box mech." Danielle finished, turning to face the behemoth.
"Cower, fools, for your DOOM is at hand." The Box Ghost bellowed, clenching his fist and waving it at his adversaries. The giant followed suit, balling its fist up in synchronization with its undead master. "I have taken possession of the boxes of, uh, of…" The Box ghost trailed off, then flew off of the mech to read one of the labels. "'Schwen…ke and Valentine Construction and Hardware', and will now crush you with their mighty cubic power!" He boasted, taking up his position at the controls on the giant's head.
"Man, I have wasted too much time fighting your sorry butt already," Dani hissed, grating her teeth in annoyance, "and I don't intend to waste any more."
Dani pushed off the concrete floor and launched herself toward the boxy behemoth, sending a flurry of small ecto charges ahead of her. The Box Ghost merely raised the giant's enormous arms in front of him, shielding him from the onslaught. The charges exploded against the giant, but did nothing to damage it.
"Hah! It'll take more than a few explosives to takes this bad boy down, girly," he gloated, jabbing the air in front of him. Unable to stop herself, Dani flew straight into the oncoming offense and was immediately thrown backward. She recovered in midair, shaking off the initial pain of the blow. "Geez, that should've at least blown his arms off. What's going on?" she thought as the giant stood in front of her, completely unfazed.
"This box is held together by my patented brand of Box Ghost Packaging Tape," the ghost explained, wagging the giant's finger at Dani, "so it's nearly invulnerable to any attack you launch at it! You are powerless to stop meEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHH!"
Dani looked down to see Andy at the foot of the ghost's mech, neatly tripping it with a swipe of his hammer. The sentient collection of boxed stumbled back for a moment, giving Andy enough time to leap up and swing the hammer's head at its midsection. The force of the blow knocked the giant backward before it skidded to a halt and stood upright again.
The giant charged toward Andy and attempted to swipe him off of the ground. Andy neatly sidestepped it, leapt at the giant's exposed back and slammed the behemoth into the ground. Dani took advantage of the opportunity and flew down to examine the stunned giant. Every box in the contraption was attached to the other by thick strands of shining tape; when she attempted to pull one loose, it stretched but didn't break. When she tried to melt it, the plastics inintegrity remained intact "This stuff isn't gonna snap anytime soon," Dani thought as she tugged at the tape. "Man, I need something to cut- wait a minute."
"ANDY! Over here! I know how to take the Box Ghost's mech down," Dani yelled, gesturing for Andy to follow her. Andy noted her signal and ran toward her, just as the ghost began to recover. The duo rounded a corner and hid from the Box Ghost who began raging throughout the warehouse in an attempt to find them.
Both human and halfa crouched behind a wooden crate until the sound of the box giant subsided; once the ghost had left the vicinity, Dani explained her plan to the engineer. "Alright, so the Box Ghost's mech is held together by some sort of super-tape that I can't pull or melt apart; however, the stuff is stretched so tightly that a slit in the tape would probably break it apart-"
"So if you distracted him, I could use the spike on my hammer to split the tape and destroy the giant! Genius!" Andy finished, eager to put the plan into action. "But before we begin, I only have one question."
"Shoot."
"How exactly did you know my name? I didn't tell you."
Dani's started as she realized that Andy had never revealed his name to her ghost persona. "Well, I, um, I, uhh…"
Andy put his index finger to his lips, signaling Dani to be quiet, then whispered, "I suppose it doesn't matter right now. Just help me bring this ghost down, and then we can discuss the issue of you knowing things you probably shouldn't know." He got up from behind the box and began to walk toward the faint thumping sounds being produced by the giant. Dani breathed a heavy sigh and flew ahead of the engineer.
Despite the loud stomping noises produced by the Box Ghost's mech, there was very little damage present within the warehouse. The only signs of the ghost's presence were crates with missing lids and cardboard boxes with the tape peeled off; clearly, the Box Ghost respected his parcels as much as he respected his ego. Dani ultimately found the wooden and cardboard giant carefully opening a crate marked [FRAGILE], no doubt hoping to find the two hidden inside.
Before Dani engaged the ghost, she scanned the area to locate Andy; she found him hiding behind a wooden crate behind the giant and giving her a thumps up. After returning the gesture, she took a deep breath and shouted,
"Hey, tall, brown, and clueless! You aren't going to find me in there, unless I've suddenly transformed into a wine bottle!"
Dani ducked as the box flew overhead, eventually landing with a crash and a shatter on the cement floor. The Box Ghost roared, "You would continue to insult my power and awesomeness? Very well, then; come and face me!"
The halfa flew straight towards the giant, and at the last second, phased through him. When she had phased through to his other side, she taunted, "Hello, Boxy! I'm over here!"
The ghost turned to face the halfa, allowing Andy to sneak behind the monster and begin to cut the tape. Dani noticed that while the hammer's spike went through the tape like a hot knife through butter, there were a lot of strands to go through; he would need more time. Dani thought for a moment as she dodged the giant's wild punches, then realized that all she would have to do would insult his ego.
Dani flew to the front of the ghost and taunted, "He you know, you fight pretty well for a packaging ghost, but I'll bet that you couldn't hit me standing still. You have way too little coordination for something like that."
"Oh, really? Well how about this!" responded the Box Ghost, thrusting a giant fist at Dani. She dodged the punch easily and, true to his word, the giant remained rooted to one place. Andy quickly cut through the rest of the tape, save for one strand. When Dani gave him a questioning look, he quietly mouthed,
"One liner."
Dani gave Andy a thumbs up and flew up to face the Box Ghost, who seemed to be having some trouble piloting his craft. "Wait, wha-what's happening? My box giant's shouldn't be falling apart; it was supposed to be invincible!"
She leaned in closed to the ghost and stated, very slowly, "Vaga is like a field of flowers, friendo. If you try to trample it, watch out for the bed of roses."
*SNAP*
With a final slice, the box giant's supportive tape was broken. Boxes tumbled and fell from the frame of the mech, until there was nothing left but a pile of wood, cardboard, and a very confused looking Box Ghost, nervously looking at the pair of ghost fighters.
"Well, it's, uh, it's been fun," the panicked ghost mumbled, slowly backing away from the two, "but I really need to be going." He quickly turned and tried to fly away, only to be grabbed by the suspenders of his overalls.
Andy, who had grabbed the ghost, quickly threw him on his back and planted him on the cement floor. He looked up at the engineer, gasped, and turned intangible to try and escaped. Try as he might, though, he couldn't phase through the floor; some force was keeping him in the warehouse, "You aren't going anywhere, genius." Andy growled, kneeling to the ghost's link of sight. "After that little display of anger, I'd say that you've earned a trip to Sang and Delphos' Supernatural Research Lab." Andy turned to ask Dani, "Dan, would you mind-"
The halfa wasn't there. She had disappeared without a trace.
Unbeknownst to Andy, Dani had turned invisible in order to both avoid more questions about her identity and restrain the ghost to avoid him escaping. As much as she wanted to find the portal that the Box Ghost mentioned in passing, she knew that if the Box Ghost escaped, she and Andy would have to fight him again, wasting even more time.
Realizing that his supernatural companion had left, Andy shrugged, got up from his kneeling position, and took a few steps away from the ghost. Once he had retreated about 20 feet from his downed opponent, he turned and faced the ghost, with his hammer in hand. The engineer flipped his weapon over so that the dull metal sphere was facing the ghost.
"Um, wh-what is that", the ghost asked apprehensively, futilely trying to escape his unseen bond.
"Oh, this?" Andy sneered, addressing the metal orb and the end of the shaft. "This is just a re-purposed tesla coil I've attached to the end of Chispa. It gives the entire apparatus a little extra zing. Shocking, wouldn't you say?"
A faint humming began to reverberate throughout the underground facility as the hammer gathered power. "The only thing between you and an amped-up electrocution," he continued "is a touch panel located right next to the bottom grip of my weapon."
"If that's the case, why aren't you getting electrocuted now?" The Box Ghost pondered.
Andy gestured to his clothes in response. "You see my clothes, these gloves? Well, they aren't just for show. The material in my clothes both discharges any positive charge from my body so that I'm have a neutral energy and insulates from any ambient energy in the air. You, on the other hand, are composed of a mostly positive charge, meaning that you and anything you're in contact with are about to become a supercharged lightning rod."
Dani breathed a sigh of relief as Andy moved his hand to the panel by the handle. "Finally", she sighed mentally, continuing to restrain the box enthusiast. "The Box Ghost is finally gonna be dealt with, I can find the portal, and everything'll be all-
"Wait, did he say 'in contact'?"
Dani started to let go of her terrified adversary in an attempt to flee from the weaponized tesla coil.
She didn't let go fast enough.
A thick bolt of white lightning arced from the end of the hammer into the ghosts' bodies. Searing pain erupted throughout her system and scrambled her thoughts. The bolt only lasted a few seconds, but the pain lasted far longer. After a few moments, the strain of staying invisible and remaining in ghost form forced her to her knees. Her vision began to fade to black as she struggled to remain conscious. However, as she tried to stumble away, Dani felt herself become visible again, in plain sight of Andy. Eventually the strain became too great, and she collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
The last things that Dani saw before she blacked out were two strong arms lifting her off of the ground, and a glowing white band traveling across her body.
Look like Dani just experienced her first Pyrrhic victory. The Box Ghost is defeated, but at the cost of her identity to one of the most powerful people in Vaga. Will Dani be forced out of Vaga. Will Andy have mercy and let her stay? Is this a parody of Dragon Ball Z? Maybe.
Now some of you may be wondering why on earth I would have Andy team up with Dani in this chapter, or at all. My reasoning is as follows: When Danny fought, sometimes Tucker and Sam participated. In the case of this chapter, it was a forced alliance, but I want to make it clear that Dani can and will be fighting with other people.
I would like the cover my reasoning behind splitting up this story into smaller parts. Basically, I know that I've left a ton of questions unanswered in this story, and some can be explained away with a little applied phlebotinium (Look up phlebotinium on TV Tropes if you don't know what it means). However, I want to answer some of the more difficult questions in their own stories; plus, as you can see in this chapter, I have introduced a new weapon and mentioned at least two characters. As such, I have characters, weapons, and ideas that need to be explained, and I feel that stories with self contained plots would be the best method of explanation.
Don't forget to review if you loved it or review if you loathed it.
Thanks again, and stick around for the final chapter of The Lost and The Found!
