Chapter 9
First Attack
…
"That's creepy," Jazz said, staring at the welcome message. Sam nodded in agreement.
"Dash, Morgan, come in here," Danny called. A few seconds later, Morgan was hovering over his shoulder, and Dash was standing just behind them.
"That's creepy," the jock and outcast repeated in chorus. Jazz and Sam nodded.
"Is that ghost blood?" Dash asked.
"No. It's ectoplasmic residue from an ectoblast, or something similar. It's a ghost burn, that's why it's green," Danny explained. He walked up to the wall and examined the letters. They weren't faded, so they had to be recent. He pressed a hand against the stone and felt how warm it was. The message was very recent. "Someone knows we were coming. We shouldn't stay in one place for too long."
There was another doorway to their left, a narrow arch with a ghastly figure etched into the stone above. Danny marched through it and glanced around. The buildings and islands that had been smashed and burned before were now whole. The slabs of land floated close together, enough so that they wouldn't need to fly from on to another. Danny stepped into the air, intent on flying up to get a new view of their surroundings. He'd barely risen three feet when his body started to feel heavy. Danny dipped, wavering, and frowned in confusion. He flew up higher, and grew heavier still. By the time he reached roof level, he was struggling to push himself into the air, and suddenly it was like something was slammed into his back and he was shoved back to the ground.
Danny groaned and lifted his head, rubbing his chin.
"Danny! Are you okay?" Sam asked, running up beside him.
"Absolutely peachy," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Sorry," Sam mumbled, realizing the question was a little ridiculous given his standard situation.
"It's okay. Standard question, right?" Danny smirked. He couldn't remember how many times Dora said that to him when he visited her after a fight. "Morgan, can you fly?"
The blue-haired girl floated through the archway, and the moment her whole body had passed, she dropped to the ground. Morgan shook her head, "Nope."
Danny pushed himself up and floated several inches above the ground. As long as he didn't go any higher, he didn't feel any added weight. He tried to pass through the closest solid object, but couldn't do it.
"Phasing and flight don't work," Danny announced. He focused on his palm, concentrating his ghostly energy. Sparks danced across his fingers and the temperature around him dropped, but no ectoplasm. "Basic ghost powers don't work here. It looks like my specialty ones do probably because they're a lot stronger. How are the FBRs?"
"Totally busted, Fenton. These things are useless." Dash held his FBR away from him, the rockets sputtering and whining. Danny quickly snatched it out of the jock's hands and shut it off.
"It's like Dora's castle, electronics don't work here. No ghost powers, and no power in general. I guess that's how they keep criminals contained," Danny mused, looking around.
"But there's nothing to stop them from just walking out." Jazz frowned, glancing towards the arch.
"For now, that's not our problem. We need to find the yetis, and without flight, that means we're walking."
"But what way?"
Danny once again took stock of their surroundings. Closer to the arch the islands were smaller, and they appeared to float higher and higher until the massive slab of land that seemed to hold an entire city. It was a decent ways off, and probably the heart of the banished lands.
"We need to get there," Danny said. Even if the yetis weren't held there, the added height would give them a better view. "It'll probably take us a day or two to get there. Keep the FBRs. Whatever is shorting them out could fail, and if you fall, you'll need them to save you."
"Then lead on, little brother," Jazz prompted. Danny didn't glare at her this time, but he swiftly floated by without saying anything. Jazz cast her eyes downwards and shuffled her feet as the others walked by. Sam gave her a reassuring shoulder pat, then jogged to catch up to Danny.
"You're being an idiot," Sam scolded in a sing-song voice.
Danny groaned, guilt and frustration flooding his expression. He glanced at Sam, expecting to face a stern glare. Instead she was watching him with worry. He sighed and gave in. "I just, I didn't want her to come."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm stronger than her!" Danny almost shouted. He glanced back, making sure the others hadn't heard him. "I'm stronger than her. I faced stuff like this on my own all the time. Undergrowth, Vortex, Pariah Dark. But she's… she's Jazz, and she takes being the big sister so seriously. She's going to do something stupid, thinking she's defending me when I don't need it, and it's just going to get her hurt!"
Sam was silent as they reached the edge of the first island, hopping over the gap. The new island bobbed a bit when she landed before settling. Despite the gap between the two chunks of lands being only two feet wide, with just a slight height difference, Danny still hovered close by as Morgan, Dash, and Jazz jumped across it, though pretended that wasn't exactly what he was doing. They moved on, and Sam once again settled into place beside Danny.
"Hayden," she whispered, and Danny stiffened, his step faltering. "You think something like that could happen again."
"I don't want it to happen again," Danny muttered. "But it wasn't just Hayden! Did you know that Vlad killed someone?"
"What?"
"When he was shutting off the ghost shield. Everyone was gathered in the auditorium, and he was in the rafters. He took the cover off the generator and just tossed it down. It his someone in the head. They could have been fine, but then everyone was put to sleep, and they didn't get any help. They never woke up," Danny spoke somberly. He wasn't sure how many people new about that. In the aftermath of the battle, there was so much chaos. People needed treatment, buildings needed to be destroyed. No one, except for those involved, notice there was another funeral besides Hayden's.
"And then with Dani… Next time I see Vlad, he's going to regret everything," Sam seethed.
"You can't. Vlad is gone, I – he left. He's not coming back," Danny stumbled over his explanation. He couldn't tell anyone what he did.
"He better never show his face again."
"He won't." There were several more minutes of silence.
"You should tell Jazz why you didn't want her to come. I know you're mad at her, but she believes you think she's just getting in the way."
"I mean, technically?" Danny shrugged, then smirked.
Sam punched his shoulder and grinned back. "Just tell her. Or else I'll tell her the real reason she had to get a new Bearbert Einstein when she was nine."
"You wouldn't!" Danny gasped.
"I will."
"Wow, I can't believe you're blackmailing me. I mean, I can, but wow. Bad girlfriend," Danny teased.
"Oh, shut it ghost boy, I have a Fenton Thermos in here. I'm sure it works on halfas just as well as humans."
"It does, it really does," Danny said in a horrified whisper. That had been a horrible three day experience. Sam gave him a questioning glance, and Danny just shook his head, conveying that it was a story for another time. He focused on the path ahead, and his eyes slowly narrowed. Sam, sensing his unease, fell silent and glanced back at the others.
Morgan looked to be her normal brooding/happy self. She'd been unusually cheerful the past couple of days, probably the excitement of entering the Ghost Zone, but her collision earlier seemed to have soured her mood. Or at least brought it down to its normal temperament. The ominous atmosphere probably helped.
Jazz looked like she was mentally logging everything she saw, to add to her memoire as soon as they returned.
And Dash, was Dash. Feigning confidence, and flinching at every little sound. Sam rolled her eyes and looked forwards again, faltering when she saw a pair of beady eyes peering at her from an empty window.
"Danny." She grabbed Danny's sleeve, directing his attention at the ghostly eyes. They were dark purple, with wavering white dots in the place of an iris or purple.
"I know," Danny muttered and quickly diverted his gaze. "There are lots of ghosts here, I could feel them as soon as we went through the arch."
Sam nodded slowly. If Danny wasn't worried, then she had no reason to be either, and as long as the jumpy idiot behind them remained unaware, everything should be okay. But apparently Sam spoke to soon.
"What's that?!" Dash squeaked, pointing at the eyes. There was a sharp hissing sound, and the eyes disappeared.
"Get down!" Danny shouted. He shoved Dash out of the way and pulled Jazz with him, relying on the other girls to move on their own, as a spear of shadows drove through the middle of their group. Danny watched it soar by. "Johnny's Shadow?"
The dark spike swerved back and split apart, one zooming towards the boys and Jazz, and the other in Sam and Morgan's direction, driving the two pairs further apart. An ice-blast formed in Danny's palm, and he tossed it at the approaching shadow. It passed harmlessly through it.
"Great, ice doesn't work," Danny groaned. He ducked as the jagged darkness soared over his shoulder, nicking the halfa's ear.
"Fenton! Do something!" Dash cried, scrambling back and narrowly avoiding behind sliced himself.
"I'm trying!" Danny shot back, frustrated with the jock. Sparks danced across Danny's fingers, and he directed them at a nearby bush. It caught fire immediately, pale green flames consuming the dead plant. Danny spun and kicked the burning bushel in the shadows direction. It may not have been Johnny Thirteen's minion, but it function just the same. The shadow spear shrieked and shrunk back, shying away from the flames and light, and angle downwards sharply, stabbing the dirt and disappearing through the crack. Danny stood on guard, breathing slowly, and watching the break in the ground. The small island they occupied bucked, and Danny and Dash stumbled into each other.
The crack the shadow had made grew, and the ground began to crumble.
"Dash, move!" Danny commanded, dragging the bulkier boy with him as he ran. Jazz didn't need telling and took off after them. Dash, despite knowing Danny was much stronger than him for quite some time, never failed to be surprised when the halfa did something that proved his strength. Such as practically carrying Dash away as they ran from the quickly approaching island edge.
"Fentooooon!" Dash shouted, pointing at the crumbling dirt, even though Danny couldn't actually see it.
"Yeah, yeah!" Danny shouted. He slid, literally, around a corner, leaving glowing green tracks that faded after a moment. He felt increasingly thankful that quite a few of his more useful powers, like his back slide, were technically specialized and not restricted here.
"Hold on, Dash!" Danny shouted, dragging the jock onto his back. He grabbed Jazz's hand, bent his knees, and launched himself upwards to the next island. They crashed to the ground as whatever mystical power took hold here forced Danny back to the ground, and the rolled away from each other. Danny quickly shot back to his feet, while Dash groaned and rubbed his head, slowly crawling back to the edge of the island. Jazz sat up and rolled her shoulder, which had been wrenched uncomfortably when Danny pulled her up, as she joined them.. The chunk of land they'd previously occupied was completely gone now.
Danny had no clue what happened to Sam and Morgan, but he couldn't see anyone falling, and the way the divided shadow seemed to float dejectedly in the now empty space was proof enough for him. The shadow reformed into one being, whatever that was, and Danny felt like it was watching him before it started to fly closer again.
"Does nothing get rid of this thing?" Dash whined.
"I know something that will." Danny crouched on the island precipice, bringing his arms close to his chest and focused on his core. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, picturing his transformation rings. Dash started to tug nervously at Danny's jumpsuit, signalling the shadow ghost was a lot closer now. Danny waited until he could sense the thing a few feet away from him before releasing the building power.
A bright ring spread from his core and split up and down his body, growing larger as it went, and releasing a bright flash of light. The shadow ghost squealed pitifully and sizzled, burning out of existence. For now at least. Danny opened his eyes and saw a trail of smoke where there enemy had been flying moments ago. But it would recover eventually.
"A repulsion field would have worked better," Danny muttered to himself.
"Fentur – uh, Fenton, what was that? How come you're still a ghost," Dash asked, quickly recovering from his fright.
"Because those weren't transformation rings, it was an aural projection," Danny explained. "It doesn't use ectoplasm, not in a raw form at least, and releases makes a pretty bright light. Although that's not its purpose."
"And what's a repulsion field?" Jazz asked, painfully aware of how little her brother shared with her when it came to his powers.
"Something similar, but more powerful, using ectoplasm. Light projection would have been better than both of them, but that needs ectoplasm too."
"But if that, auro project or whatever is powerful, and you can still use it, why would a stupid little light projection be better?" Dash frowned with a puzzled look in his eyes.
"Because aural projection has a downside." Danny stumbled suddenly, pressing a hand to his forehead. "It really… takes up too much energy."
Danny stumbled again and dropped to his knees before collapsing. Jazz rushed towards him in worry and Dash followed. Despite how much he picked on Fenton, that loser was the only way he'd make it out of this place alive. Plus he was a hero, Dash couldn't let something actually bad happen to him. But for now it looked like the halfa had passed out.
…
"Guns!" Morgan shouted, pulling her backpack from her shoulders as she ran. Sam, who already had an ecto-blaster in her hands, and shot over her shoulder. She looked back to see the ectoplasmic bullet do no harm.
"Damn it," Sam hissed.
Morgan fished her own blaster out of her bag and planted her feet, spinning around to face what was chasing them. Just as she set her finger on the trigger, Sam grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her down, making Morgan's shot go wild as the shadow spear twisted down to follow her. Sam pushed Morgan away and rolled in the opposite direction.
"What the hell, Manson! I haven't gotten a chance to shoot my gun in a week, I was looking forward to that!" Morgan protested.
"It's like the unlucky guy's shadow! Guns won't hurt it!" Sam explained.
"Of course." Morgan rolled her eyes in frustration. Both girls leapt to their feet and stood back to back, looking around.
"Where did it go?" Sam asked.
"No idea."
"Wanna just run before it comes back?"
"Good idea."
They fixed the position of their backpacks and started running again, wordlessly looping around to go back to where the attack happened. They needed to find the others. Instead the shadow ghost, or the half that pursued them at least, found them again. It burst through the ground and hovered threateningly before them, despite its shapeless form.
"Come on!" The girls groaned, halting in their tracks and backpedalling away from it.
"This sucks," Morgan grumbled, then stumbled as the whole island seemed to shake.
"But that sucks worse." Sam pointed to the growing whole where the shadow had emerged from.
"This way!" Morgan grabbed Sam's sleeve and tugged her between two old buildings. There was a new piece of land not too far from them. Sam, being the more athletic one, quickly pulled ahead. She crouched and laced her fingers together, providing a step for Morgan. The outcast took it and scrambled up as fast as she could, then pulled Sam up behind her.
"And the ghost?" Morgan asked as the spectral entity in question appeared again.
"I think I've got something." Sam rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a flashlight, whipped around, and shined it at the shadow. It hissed and dissipated. The girls quickly retreated towards the center of their new island, listening to the last of the other fall away.
"That was… anticlimactic," Morgan complained.
"Not everything is going to end in a three-sided war," Sam pointed out with a smirk.
Morgan grinned and chuckled. "I guess not, but that was still too easy. It didn't phase through anything, and did you really beat it with a flashlight?"
"It was only half the ghost, remember? And I think it wasn't even as strong as the other. I didn't get a good look, but the one that went after the others seemed bigger." Sam frowned.
"Probably for Danny." Morgan shrugged. "How are we going to find them? How do we even know if they're fine?"
Sam stopped walking and looked back the way they'd come. "Danny's okay. We should just keep going, they'll meet us at the big island. Highest point."
"How the hell do you know that?" Morgan asked, looking mystified and impressed.
"I just know." Sam shook her head, and it was true. Sometimes she just knew things when it came to Danny, or they said the same thing at the same time. People often attributed it to their long friendship. But Sam could tell it was something different, something meaningful.
"Maybe you lovebirds are telepathic," Morgan joked.
"We're not love –" Sam started to protest, purely on instinct, then faltered and blushed.
"Yeah." Morgan grinned. "Totally lovebirds.
…
I'm so sorry for how long it's taking to update! I'm stage managing for some plays, and my schedule fault for choosing to write so many stories at once :P It'll probably be like this for a little while longer, so once again, I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry. But on the Brightside, the chapters are slowly getting longer. I'm hoping to eventually release 4000 word length chapters like I did for PA.
I decided to hint at the psychic link between Sam and Danny that Butch scrapped in the show in this chapter, just because it's such a cool story element. I should write one where they still have it…
One more note! I got an idea for a oneshot series (I won't actually write it for a while, I'm working on too much right now). But it would be Danny Phantom clichés, with a twist, and it would be request only style. You give me a Danny Phantom fanfiction cliché (ghost zone field trips, mental intrusion) that you're sick and tired of seeing always end up the same way, and I'll do a little oneshot where I add my own twist so it doesn't end up that way. Anyways, if this is something you'd be interested in reading, please let me know. I've only had one person express any interest so far, and if no one else does, then I'm not gonna write it. So if you have any interest, please let me know.
Snoopykid: Thanks for the vote! I've decided not to give her any powers, and I'm glad you're liking the story! It's awesome to hear from you again :)
Nuadize: Thanks for the vote! You'll be happy to hear she won't get powers, even though I have a story planned where she will. But, as far as I know, it will be very different from those other stories
Dracologistmaster: Oh, I have lots of things planned. The only problem is fitting them all together to actually make a coherent plot :P
Taygon55: Thanks for voting, though you'll probably be sad to hear Sam won't get her powers this story. But you may be happy to hear I do have one planned where she will get them, and it will have my own classic twist, which lots have people said I tend to do to common story themes. And obsessions will play a role in that story ;P As part of my milestone review… thing (whoever gives me a milestone review, get to request something), a oneshot was requested instead where Sam gains her powers back. But I'm morphing into a full (though brief) and potentially heartbreaking story!
Autumn n woods: Thank you! I have been told I have a wild imagination, and I decided not to give Sam powers. The confrontation probably won't happen until they're back out of the Zone, because that's the main focus of my third story, which is a touch more angsty but still with lots of action.
Guest: Thanks for voting! The way the votes went, she won't get her powers, but if you're still interested in that I've got something planned for another story.
Salinedreamsxena: I'm so glad you like this! I was a bit worried people weren't liking the sequel as much because of how fewer reviews it's getting, but with the slow updates I guess that makes sense.
'See' you next time!
