"This is a fitting place for this fight, isn't it?" Sam remarked as they looked around the abandoned factory, nervously fingering the Fenton Peeler. "You know, if the situation wasn't so desperate, I might like this place."
"Sam, not now." Danny snapped, his hands glowing to give them light. "I hope he hasn't done anything to Jazz. If he has, I swear to god…"
"Calm down, Danny." Valerie cut in, her ecto-gun ready to fire. "That won't do us any good. We have to approach this logically. He wants us to be unbalanced and vulnerable."
"Maybe, but they could be anywhere." Tucker pointed out. "This is a big place, and it's pitch black. Danny, stop that glow; you said you can't detect him with your ghost sense. The same should apply to him." Danny reluctantly nodded and it went dim. Unfortunately, now they could no longer see. They held hands to keep from getting lost as they slowly walked through the place.
"This place gives me the creeps." Valerie whispered. "I hope we can find her; any ideas? Who puts a manufacturing plant in the middle of the woods, anyway?"
"let's listen carefully." Sam suggested. "I don't think Jazz would be a quiet hostage and…OW!" She stubbed her toe on the various scrap lying around. "Guys, I heard something."
"yeah, so did I." Danny added. "Come on!" in his ghost form, he was able to see in the dark to a certain degree, but the ability was far from protected.
"Derek, stop this, please!" they heard Jazz beg. "You don't have to do this; there's another way!"
"Not anymore, Jasmine!" Poison sighed. "Your brother gave us no other option because of what he did to us. Why did you separate yourself from us? We would never have hurt you; you know that."
"Derek, I know that, but for a minute, I really thought it was you. I'm sorry, but even though it's not logical, I can't help but feel a bit nervous around you. Let me go; you still have a choice. You don't have to go down this path. You don't have to become a villain."
"We are not the villain; your brother is! He has tormented and persecuted us as we have faced endless times in the past! We were helpless then, but not anymore! Danny ripped you away from us; you were all we had after our father's demise."
"It still doesn't justify what you're doing, Derek. Can't you see what you're becoming? Please, listen to reason! I don't want to see you like this; it breaks my heart."
"Our heart has already been shattered. How long will you keep making excuses for your brother? How many times has he hurt us, accusing us of abusing you? He wanted to believe it, wanted to believe the worst of us. How many times did you defend him?"
"Derek, please…"
"How many times?"
"Sigh, many. My brother's just overprotective of me after everything's that happened. I'm all he has left now."
"We asked you to defend us from him. Since you did not, we have had to take matters into our own hands."
"Are you going to kill him? Derek, please, if you do this, you'll lose yourself."
"That is up to him. No doubt he will be overjoyed at the prospect of our death."
"That's not true…" Danny had enough and flew towards Derek, kicking him in the chest. He spun around several times, but wasn't seriously hurt. Valerie shot him in the face, knocking him back further so he wouldn't be able to counterattack. Unfortunately, he recovered quickly and backhanded Danny into the wall.
"We knew you'd come here, Phantom." Poison chuckled. "Now our scheme is complete. As for your little friends, we will give them the chance to escape unharmed. This battle is between you and us, Fenton."
"We aren't leaving him, Featherston." Sam snapped. "I stand by my friends, not that you'd know what that means."
"Yeah, man, we aren't going to let you hurt Danny, and you've already hurt Jazz." Tucker added. Valerie decided to let her weapons do the talking. She activated her jet sled and started firing. Poison dodged most of the shots and his shield deflected what he couldn't.
"Be quiet, Samantha; you know nothing!" Poison hissed. "We haven't done anything to Jasmine, and your boyfriend deserves everything we've done and more! We've always respected you, Samantha, but if you continue your obstinacy, we have no choice." Poison fired several shots in her direction. Sam dived to the right, but one of them burned her leg. Ignoring the pain, she fired the Fenton Peeler. Unfortunately, it was a short range weapon and was not difficult to avoid.
Valerie shot poison in the head, following with more to the torso. Danny delivered a two-punch uppercut, sending him over 50 feet. Tucker fired his weapons as well, but Poison had recovered enough to dodge his shots. He growled furiously at the heroes, and launched lethal blasts towards them. Danny screamed at them to move, but they knew enough to get out of the way.
Danny used his ice powers, throwing spears which pierced some of the weaker metal, but none of them hit their intended target. "This is pathetic, Phantom! Poison screamed. "Can't you fight without your little friends to help you? You'll pay for interfering with us!"
Valerie and Tucker fired more shots, all of which Poison, but they led him right into Danny's attack. He kicked Poison across the jaw, his eyes burning with anger and determination, and grabbed his arm, breaking it. Danny was backhanded into the wall, following with a powerful ecto-blast, sending him through the metal. Poison healed his arm and hissed furiously.
Sam fired her weapons, while Valerie and tucker worked on getting Jazz free. Poison laughed, dodging her shots with ease. He flew close to her, grabbing the Peeler out of her hand. He put his other hand on her neck, squeezing. Sam struggled and kicked him in the gut with her boots, but it was like hitting titanium. "We gave you a chance to leave; you've brought this on yourself!" Poison snarled, pulling her closer. Sam was terrified, but did her best to hide it. "What has he done to deserve a friend like you? Why can't we find someone as loyal? Why did you fuckers have to tear away one of the only good things in our lives? Answer us!"
"Fuck you!" Danny shouted, punching Poison with all his strength. His hand stung, but it didn't matter to him. Poison was forced to release Sam as he tried to defend himself from Danny's onslaught. Danny used his ice powers to form knives and rip through Poison's body. He screamed as the substance covered the wounds, but Danny didn't intend to let him go, kicking him into a container.
Danny landed on the ground, struggling to get in control of his anger. Still, for the first time, he had done Poison some real harm in this battle. Jazz stepped in between them, trying to stop everything, giving him a chance to catch his breath.
"Stop this, now!" she demanded, looking at Derek. "Don't you know what you're doing? One of your shots almost hit me!" Poison looked guilty, the substance revealing Derek's face. "This isn't getting anywhere; none of this is Danny's fault! It was just something that happened?"
"Really? Was breaking my wrist just something that happened?" Derek declared, walking towards Danny. Jazz stood in front of Derek, refusing to move. Had he wanted to, he could have easily shoved her out of the way, but her words had gotten to him. "I hate you, Fenton, more than I've ever hated anyone!"
"You hurt my sister, you beat her up!" Danny screamed. "We all saw it!" Jazz tried to make herself heard, but Danny ignored her. "You don't deserve Jazz, you don't deserve friends, and you don't deserve love!" Tears rolled down Derek's eyes, giving him a sense of satisfaction, but the symbiote re-covered him.
"How dare you, Phantom?" Poison screamed. "How dare you judge us after everything we've been through?! You understand nothing!"
"You'll pay for what you've done, Featherston!" Danny screamed. Poison growled, tackling Danny and throwing him through the roof of the factory. He followed and an aerial duel took place. Each were furious at the other, and Danny was holding back less and less, discovering he had much more power than he believed.
The others watched the duel, unable to do anything. Sam and Tucker's weapons had limited range, while Jazz was unarmed and Valerie was hesitant to get between the combatants. Jazz looked sadly as she watched her former boyfriend and brother do their best to rip the other apart. "I wish none of this was happening." Jazz said with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe how foolish both of them have been. I suppose I can understand why Derek's so furious, but he actually bonded with an organism to get revenge on Danny! I loved him, and I still do, but he's dying. Danny's not exactly blameless in this conflict, either."
"He made his choice, Jazz." Sam glared. "He didn't have to take this path; he chose to get revenge."
"Yeah, I better get over there right now." Valerie gulped, especially since ecto-blasts were hitting the ground, setting the woods on fire. It brightened up the area, allowing them to see the devastation. "Damn, I don't want to do this, but I have to help Danny." She activated her jet sled and flew up to assist. More ecto-blasts crashed onto the ground, starting more fires and one coming dangerously close to Sam and Tucker.
"I can't even tell who they're coming from; there's just moving too fast." Tucker complained, aiming his weapon although it wouldn't do any good. By now, almost the entire place was on fire and many of the nearby trees were ignited. Both of them knew they were rapidly becoming trapped. They ran as the fire burned. Thankfully, there was no wind, but even so it was not easy to escape.
They had gotten about 300 yards when a green orb crashed in front of them. Danny slowly got up, covered in blood, while Poison grinned in triumph, although his injuries were considerable. Valerie kept attacking, but he didn't consider her more than a nuisance.
"Get away from him!" Sam screamed, firing the Fenton Peeler. Poison screamed, but forced himself out of its path in a couple of seconds. Faster than her eyes could move, he was in front of her, grabbing her wrists painfully tight.
"How touching: you're defending your pathetic boyfriend!" Poison hissed. "You had your chance to get away, bitch." He punched her in the jaw, knocking Sam unconscious. Poison had no wish to kill her, only Danny. Danny got up and looked furiously into Derek's eyes, but holding his side painfully.
"You haven't beaten me yet, Featherston." He gasped out. Tucker kneeled down, looking at Sam. She had a purple bruise on her face, but was not seriously injured. Poison and Danny flew back up, continuing the fight, although it was obvious that Danny was getting the worst of it.
Poison launched an attack strong enough to potentially destroy Danny, but he managed to get out of its path. Unfortunately, it barreled straight into Valerie and although it was an indirect hit, it was more than enough for a mortal blow. She was blown back almost a mile, her jet sled and costume torn to shreds. Danny sped after her, eventually managing to break her fall. The attack ignited a huge bout of flame, bigger than any of the others and spread everywhere. Danny held Valerie in his arms, trying to get a good look at her injuries.
"You'll be fine, Valerie." Danny lied. "We'll get you to a hospital and they'll be able to help."
"You're lying, Danny." Valerie smiled weakly. "I know when you're lying to me. I don't think…I'm going to make it."
"You Won't die; I won't let you!" He took off her jumpsuit. Normally, seeing her without much on would be awkward, but he had no time to worry about it. He felt her hand going limp, and panicked. He looked at her wounds and the more he saw, the more horrified he became. He conjured a knife and was about to link their veins together, but he no longer felt a pulse. He held her and cried, wishing none of this happened, wanting to be anywhere but where he was.
"We were wondering where you were, Fenton!" Poison laughed. "We dealt with your friends and now it's your turn. Danny flew up to fight, but was in too much emotional turmoil to put up much of a struggle. Finally, he decided to flee and hide inside the factory, while Poison eagerly perused, describing in detail how he would rip him apart.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well, this isn't exactly what I intended. Danny thought to himself as he hid from Poison. Damn, how is he so strong? And more important, how can I beat him? The others weren't going to be any help. Valerie was dead, Sam and Tucker were unconscious, and Jazz was restrained. At least he didn't kill them; guess he's saving all his hate for me.
"You can't hide from us forever, Fenton; we'll find you." Poison chuckled. While Danny couldn't detect him with his ghost sense, the reverse was also true. He kept his breathing as quiet as he could, though Danny feared Poison could hear his pounding heart.
Fortunately, the abandoned factory had plenty of places for him to hide. He ducked under an old forklift that was covered in dust, while Poison flew overhead. He breathed a soft sigh of relief. Featherston may have been more powerful, but Danny had more skill.
"How much more of this can I take?" Danny asked himself sadly. "Danni and Dad were killed by Krueger; so was Mr. Lancer. I never got along with him, but he never deserved what Krueger did to him. Damn it, if Featherston hadn't done this, they would still be alive. With me, him, and Vlad, we could finish Krueger permanently!" The fact that his treatment of Derek may have caused this never occurred to him. Once he discovered that he spoke too loudly, he clapped his hands over his mouth, but it was too late.
"Foolish Danny Fenton; you're not as smart as we thought you were." Poison laughed. "We'll find you, that we promise. You brought this upon yourself." Danny stayed silent, knowing he was simply trying to goad him out. "The symbiote only wanted to make you stronger, become your friend, but you rejected us! You did not give Derek a chance, either, wanting to believe the worst, and thus, we were born, Fenton!"
Danny crawled slowly away, not daring to even breathe. He slowly moved behind several pipes sufficient enough to hide him. He heard Poison's steps around the area, as he hissed in anger. "We must admit, Fenton, we envy you! You have friends that will follow you no matter what; we never had a such a thing! You inspire loyalty among your companions, we admit. Why did you have to take Jasmine away from us? She was among the only decent thing in our lives, and you ruined it! You simply can't stand to see us happy, can you?
"Since you're too cowardly to play with us, Fenton, we'll play with your friends! We wonder how much they'll enjoy that, but first, we have to wake them up! We wonder how your dear friends will react to hear that you're a coward. Let's see what Samantha does when we decide to play. We wonder what we can do with her, since you aren't willing to play with us; perhaps she will be." Danny clenched his fists in rage. If Derek decided to turn his sadism on his friends…
"NO!" Danny screamed, appearing and kicked Poison across the jaw. Not giving him a chance to recover, he continuously fired powerful ecto-blasts into his chest, ripping through the metal railing and floors. They were of such power that ordinarily he would feel pain because of the burns on his hands, but not now.
Poison was taken by surprise and tried to get himself coordinated, but the advantage was Danny's and he was pressing it. He fired more blasts, a ghostly wail that shook the whole building and sent pieces of the roof crashing to the ground. "You'll never touch them!" Danny promised, taking his attack to an even higher level. Poison fired a blast of his own, throwing him off-course for a second, but did nothing more because now Danny felt nothing. Like Krueger, he had discovered the "secret of pain".
He grabbed Poison's legs, shocking him and throwing him into the wall, causing more metal to come loose. Poison fired an ecto-stream ripping into Danny's body, causing burns, bleeding, and removing what little remained of his costume. However, Danny didn't scream, he didn't stop, or even give any sign that he felt it; his rage was too overwhelming. Had he been in such a situation, Vlad could not defeat him, and neither could Poison now.
The factory was slowly destroyed by the two launching attacks everywhere, Poison trying to get away from his foe, for he had made a deadly mistake: he unleashed the full power and hate of Danny Phantom, which even Vlad had never been able to do. Danny duplicated into 4, attacking Poison from all directions, screaming with hate.
Poison fought back hard, launching an explosion from his body that destroyed the duplicates and threw Danny back. He threw punches and kicks, but Danny did not even feel them. He fired beams out of his eyes and drove Poison back yet again. After a short time, he was forced against the support beams, a shield around him in an attempt to protect himself.
Danny pounded the shield again and again, launching ecto-blasts, punches, you name it. His knuckles were bleeding badly and one was even broken, but finally the shield broke and Poison fell to the ground, raising his arm and panting loudly. Black substance reached towards Danny in an effort to slow him down. He pulled with all his strength, slowly ripping the symbiote out of Derek's body, until the bonds were broken. The symbiote screamed and tried to rejoin him, but Danny sucked him in the Thermos with a satisfied smirk.
Derek, on his hands and knees, backed away as fast as he could, which didn't mean much, considering the shock and pain of having the symbiote ripped out of him. "Okay, Fenton, I surrender!" Derek raised his hand, crawling away with the other. His eyes, for the first time, were full of fear, and there was plenty of reason to be afraid.
XXXXXXX
Vlad sped towards the area, knowing Danny was probably going to need his help. Foolish boy; does he want to get himself killed? As he neared the battleground, he saw an inferno growing by the minute. Putting a shield around himself, he searched for Danny and co.
It was nearly impossible to see or hear in the flames. However, Vlad heard a weak cough nearby. Avoiding the fire as best he could, he followed the voice as best he could. After several tense seconds, he found Tucker on the ground, coughing weakly. "Come on, boy, let's get out of here."
"What about Sam?" He managed to gasp out.
"I'm getting her and Valerie as well; just hope I can find them in these flames."
"Valerie…"
"What about her, Tucker? I told you, I'm getting here out of here as well." Vlad hissed in pain as the flames burned his hand. I don't have much time; I'd better find them now.
"Dead…Poison…"
"Who are you talking about?"
"He killed her…Valerie."
"She's dead?!" Tucker nodded weakly. "What about Samantha?"
"Alive…I think." Tucker collapsed from the smoke. Vlad flew into the air, conjured a duplicate to take him both to Fenton Works, and flew back into the flames.
"Samantha!" He flew through looking for her, ignoring the pain. Even turning intangible didn't protect him completely. He spotted a combat boot out of the corner of his eye. He rushed there and saw Samantha unconscious, the fire burning part of her body. Vlad hastily put it out, taking a good look at her. Thankfully, she was still alive. "Krueger's going to pay for this; this is what he wanted. Hopefully, whatever his plan is, it hasn't been completed yet." I should help Daniel, but I need to get them to safety and heal their wounds.
"Never!" he heard Daniel scream. He saw various ecto-blasts being thrown around the factory. His instincts told him to go and help, but Vlad reluctantly shook his head. He had to see to Samantha and Tucker. Besides, Daniel can take care of himself; he's barely even begun to discover how powerful he truly is.
XXXXXXX
Danny kept moving forward, though. "Fenton, I told you, I give up!"
"Now you realize what you're facing." Danny glared at him, his fists clenched in spite of the pain that was slowly showing itself. "You think I'm going to let you surrender? No, you'll try to kill me again as soon as you recover. This time I'm going to finish it; Derek Featherston, not only will you be defeated, you will be destroyed!" Before Derek could reply, Danny sent a burst of ectoplasmic lightning into his body, stunning him. He grabbed onto a machine, trying to pull himself up so he could fight. Derek groaned with the effort, moving up inch by inch.
"Pathetic fool; only at the end do you realize what you receive when you hurt my family." He declared grimly. He launched it again, sustaining it for a couple of seconds. Derek fell back to the ground, screaming in agony and fear, which was music to Danny's ears. "It's your fault Danielle suffered the way she did; it's your fault my father is dead." He fired the lightning again, this time keeping it up for several more seconds. "You killed Valerie, Featherston!" True, he was aiming for him and miscalculated, but it was his fault nonetheless. He launched again, keeping it going and slightly increasing its intensity.
"Help me, Alexis! Please!" Derek screamed in desperation, forming a fetal position in a futile attempt to protect himself, smoke coming from his body. Despite everything, he tried to get on his feet but Danny wasn't about to let him go.
"Shut up; no one's going to help you!" Danny yelled. "You've brought all of this on yourself!" He continued the shock, saying nothing more while Derek screamed and twitched in pain, rolling on the ground to escape it. After a couple of minutes, he ceased. He was badly drained of his power, but beyond that, Danny just wanted him to suffer. "Now, Featherston, you will die." His face turned into a grin.
Derek groaned, smoking pouring from his body. Weakly, he tried to crawl away, grabbing the floor. Danny watched with amusement as he ever-so-slowly crawled on the floor. After a few seconds, he launched again. Derek was again inflicted with pain, this time with the ecto-lightning at a greater intensity. All he knew was pain and agony while Danny had a sadistic smile on his face, shocking him again and again. His screams grew louder as Danny continued, smoke coming from Derek's body. It was unknown how much time took place, but it seemed like an eternity. Danny sighed in happiness with Derek's screams growing louder, but he was careful not to launch the full killing force. This fucker is going to suffer for a LONG time. Danny thought. He continued the assault for about another minute, Derek's screams echoing throughout the ruined factory. Gradually, his twitching and screaming gradually faded as he grew weaker. He was barely able to move at all, and a few seconds later, gave a final jolt.
Danny stopped the lightning momentarily. He saw that Derek, despite the fact he couldn't move, was still alive. "Sorry, I'm not showing any mercy this time, Featherston." He glared. Derek was curled into a ball, crying and whispering softly. Danny smashed his foot into his jaw furiously, smiling at the crack of bone. "Shut up; you had this coming for a long time! Time to die…"
But now it was Danny's turn to scream as someone grabbed his neck from behind. The assailant wore the specter deflector, which caused him great agony. He fired lightning at his assailant at a lethal level which he had not yet done to Derek. Who the hell is this? Danny thought as he tried to squirm from his assailant's grip. Who would protect this worthless fuck? He continued launching lightning, trying to hit whoever it was, but he (she?) made a difficult target.
He turned around and saw Derek's sister, Alexis, in agony but stubbornly holding onto to Danny. Her face was badly burned, nearly to the bone, but she held on no matter what he did to shake her. He kept firing, aiming frantically; In a different situation, Danny would never have dreamed of hurting a civilian, especially one trying to protect her brother. However, he was completely consumed with rage. "Fry, cunt!" He bellowed. Alexis didn't respond, still holding onto his neck. If she's willing to protect him, she dies too! Despite the lethal level of energy, Alexis held on as tight as she could. Her skin was on fire, most of her clothes burned to a crisp, her body being destroyed. Still she held on.
Danny rapidly started weakening, the deflector hurting him badly, although not nearly to the degree that Alexis was suffering. He fell to his knees, his lightning losing its intensity. Panting, he tried weakly to get her off, only to succeed at last. Alexis fell to the ground, her body almost completely black and white, bone showing on several parts of her; the last thing Danny saw was a smile on her face.
Yeah, I figured you guys would want to see something like that happen to my OC. Still, I'm not sure whether he deserved something as horrible as that, but it was fun to write. I think there are 2 chapters left and then an epilogue. I wanted to show the kind of stress the recent events have put on Danny and this seemed to be the way to do it.
