Sorry for the wait! Double chapter tonight to make up for it. We're getting closer to the climax, but before we get there, let's warm up a bit. While Danielle was away, Amity got in trouble...
It was raining hard in the outskirts of Amity Park, which struck me as odd. The supernatural aura that permeated the city usually kept weather systems light, or outright away. The magic pink lion's portal spit us out at the exact point we took Ginny's portkey, too, which was a little unsettling.
"Welcome to Amity." -I said, as the team assembled. They looked formidable, I'll admit - a demigod, a witch, a swordswoman, and a half-alien hybrid, all looking to me for direction.
Before I could say anything, though, I heard screams. We all turned towards the city proper, which was somewhat...ablaze. Plumes of smoke rose through the rain, and I could hear shouting and small explosions.
My eyes widened. "What the hell?"
Nico grimaced. "Looks like your absence hit the city hard."
"We have to help!" -said Steven, summoning his shield.
I rose into the air, unwilling to wait. "Ellie, stop! We need a plan!" -shouted Ginny, but I didn't acknowledge her, instead blasting off towards the city I'd sworn to protect.
Amity Park was a war zone, one that Danny would've unfortunately recognized. Roaming the streets were dozens of skeletal ghosts, green in color. I knew about them - the army of Pariah Dark, the Ghost King. It was all wrong, though. He was supposed to be sealed in his Keep, to be eternally guarded by the Fright Knight. The undead warriors should've kept to Pariah's domain indefinitely.
Then it hit me: Danny was supposedly battling through the Zone, and had been for a while. Who knew how much destruction he and the Rider had wrought?
It was hardly the time to reflect. Two cowering citizens were straight in the path of a group of skeletons, and I had a very nice shot.
My eyes blazed with fury as I raised my hand and blasted away. The ghosts all but melted into puddles of ectoplasmic goo from the heat enhanced ghost ray. I landed beside the two people.
"Dani Phantom! You came back!" -one of them, a young black girl, shouted in glee.
I smiled. "That I did, citizen. Head out of the city that way, it's ghost-free." -I pointed behind us.
The two of them shook their heads. "We're going for one of the Fenton ecto-gun caches, a block from here. The fighting is thickest downtown, and they need all the help they can get. Good luck!" -the girl said, as they ran away. I smirked fondly. I may not have had the time of my life in this city, but I did love it and its quirky people.
I shot upwards again, headed downtown. I came across a few pockets of skeleton warriors, which I promptly blasted to pieces. The two civvies were right; the battle was raging in front of City Hall, and not for a minor reason: there were thousands of skeletons here, which Valerie was trying desperately to hold back, flying around on her sled. A sizable line of civillians had dug themselves in around the building, helping the Red Huntress with copious amounts of suppresive fire, led by Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Even a couple of my fellow ghosts had joined in the defense, likely unwilling to stand aside and let the Ghost King's army prevail. Ember sent wave after powerful wave of music from her guitar towards the horde, Skulker bombarded them from the skies, and Wulf jumped in and out of their formation, tearing them to pieces.
The real kicker was the Ghost King himself. Pariah Dark, scourge of the Ghost Zone, duking it out with the Fright Knight, and, unfortunately for me, Plasmius. Pariah did not have his crown or ring on, thankfully, which meant he was much less powerful than he had been when my brother had fought him. Deciding the two powerful specters were doing a decent job of holding him back, I flew towards City Hall.
Joyful cries of 'Dani Phantom!' greeted me. Maddie Fenton ran to me as I landed. The Fenton matriarch had a few more wrinkles and gray hairs than last I'd seen her, but she was still very spry and fiercely smart. "Ellie! Thank goodness you're alright...Valerie only told us you were gone, and then this mess started…"
I felt a little bad, knowing I'd left the purpose of my departure on the outskirts of town, but my duty to Amity took precedence. I smiled. "No worries, Mrs. F. I'm back, and it's time to turn this tide." -I reassured her.
I floated, so the people could see me clearly. I spotted a mech-suited Jazz, waving at me, which bolstered my confidence. "People of Amity Park! You've beaten the Ghost King's army with one Phantom before...let's give it an encore performance!"
They shouted fiercely as I flew to the front line, planted my feet next to a surprised Ember, and summoned the energy in my core, releasing it through my mouth in a devastating attack Danny had appropriately named a 'ghostly wail'.
The battlefield seemed silent next to my cry, a banshee's roar that tore through dozens of ghost warriors at once, leaving nothing behind but ectoplasmic dust. Their comrades kept coming, uttering pitiful war cries, so I kept shouting as long as my breath lasted. When I stopped, I breathed in deeply, feeling the strain in my core slowly fade as my energy replenished. I had opened well - now it was time for a good, old-fashioned ass-kicking.
Letting ghostly flame permeate my form, I flew to the middle of their charge, forming one of my signature ectoplasmic balls. I slammed it into the ground, watching in satisfaction as dozens of skeletons disintegrated at once. I became a twister of punches, kicks, and dodges, systematically taking down every enemy that dared come close. Whenever things got hairy, I shot my palms out, twisting in place as I blasted everything around me with ecto-rays. Those skeletons that got to touch me immediately regretted it, as my burning aura quickly melted them to ectoplasmic ash. I even got creative with my shields, charging them with heat and flaring them outward to decimate the surrounding foes.
The skeleton army had a vast numerical advantage, though, and it showed. They started to land hits on me; my left side got nicked by a lucky sword swipe, and a thrown hatchet buried itself shallowly on my shoulder. I turned intangible and it fell, but the damage was done. I formed a dome over myself to allow my injuries to heal, but I started to struggle in keeping it intact against the multiple simultaneous strikes.
As my shield failed, a dozen rockets fell around me, destroying the skeletons closest to me. Skulker landed at my side with a heavy thud, bringing out a pair of wicked green blades from his forearm.
"About time you arrived, brat. The humans wouldn't have lasted much longer." -he growled.
I held my shoulder as I felt the wound close up. "Aww, Skulker, you do care."
He scoffed. "Hardly. If we ran out of humans, we'd have to fight by ourselves." -he clarified, cleaving a bold skeleton in two.
"What happened here? I swear, I'm gone for a day, and the apocalypse begins." -I asked him, blasting a few mooks away.
Skulker looked at me like I was crazy, even as he grabbed a soldier by the head and crushed its skull. "You've been gone for half a week, whelp."
I blinked. "Oh."
"Where in the Ghost Zone did you run off to?" -he asked, alluding to the weird and often unpredictable way time flowed inside the parallel dimension.
"Nowhere, actually. I made a few new mostly human friends. I guess time flies when you're having fun fighting alien monsters on magical islands."
Now it was his turn to be confused. "Is that why Phantom is fighting alone? I thought you'd finally abandoned his pelt."
I chuckled, ducking under a sword swing and punching a pelvis to dust. "That's you, Skulker, not me."
He growled. "Quiet, brat, or you'll take his place."
"Please. We all know you couldn't leave your infatuation with Danny Phantom behind, Skulker, not even for Ellie." -said Ember, landing beside us. She riffed on her guitar and a fist-shaped energy projectile flattened a sizable mass of enemies.
I snorted, throwing a fiery ecto-ball at a group of foes, which promptly exploded, sending flaming pieces of skeleton flying. "So, how's Danny doing?"
"Not well. He and that thing he's fighting have wrecked half the Ghost Zone already. He didn't look great the last time I saw him." -said Ember.
I scowled. "I have to help him…"
"Not before you beat ol' Pariah, first." -she shot back.
Skulker nodded grumpily. "You've taken enough heat off of us. Go, destroy the Ghost King, before you run out of steam."
I hesitated, but they were right. Plasmius and the Fright Knight were powerful, but not quite enough to defeat the Ghost King. They needed help. "Alright. Keep the humans safe, please."
Ember rolled her eyes. "Move it, dipstick. They'll be fine."
I nodded, taking off again. I saw the thinned out horde of skeletons begin their charge anew, my ghostly companions keeping their word and standing firm against the tide. This needed to stop, and the only way to do it was taking out the source.