Chapter 10:

Sam and Dan

Chapter Warnings:

Violence

Started:

April 12, 2013

Edited:

April 30 2013

Uploaded:

April 30 2013

Sam's POV

I screamed. I couldn't help it. Tucker had been stabbed, right there in front of me. I thought fast. He'd dropped the gun he'd been aiming at Vlad, he was on his knees and everyone's attention was on him. Riley was behind me, his eyes glowing in anger and I knew he was seconds from transforming. I jumped, grabbing the gun and rolling, firing a blast at Vlad's hand.

He dropped Danny, who landed in an undignified heap on the floor as Vlad recoiled his hand, hissing in pain. Tucker was dead. I had seen it as I had jumped, as I had rushed to get Danny out of Vlad's hand in the slight gap in Vlad's concentration.

Riley transformed. I heard the roof snap and felt the structure shudder as the dragon roared. Despite my own injuries, I grabbed Danny, hauling him over my shoulder and sprinting to Riley's side. The dragon breathed fire into the room and I hoped it'd be enough to at least stall Vlad.

It was too much to hope for it to kill him.

Hopping onto Riley's front leg, I held on tight to Danny and it, as the dragon flapped his wings, clearing the debris out and breaking through the rest of the old building. I wasn't sure how many people were still in the base, but it didn't matter to me anymore.

Tucker was dead.

His body was down there, but there was no way for us to get it without going past Vlad, so we had to leave it. Riley flew up and out, and I had Danny in my grasp. That was enough. It had to be. We had to regroup, fight Vlad somewhere else. Get Danny away.

I didn't know where Dan was, but I knew that we needed him. If anyone could fight Vlad, it would be him.

Riley shifted us, I knew that our weight combined with his own was a little much for him. He was just a child after all. But he was determined to get us as far away from Vlad as possible. He turned us invisible as he flew, craning his neck to look down at us. "I'll take you to the mountains." He said quietly as he flew.

I knew that we could find somewhere to hide Danny there, so I simply nodded. That would be the best place to hide until Dan could find us. How would Dan find you? The rational part of my mind asked. He's going to see the wreck of the base, and figure you're dead. Of course that was a possibility, but Dan was Danny. He'd find a way.

And if he didn't, I'd have to find him.

Dan's POV

Shit. The base was destroyed. The building was down, and rubble was everywhere. Here and there I could see limb sticking out from large slabs of concrete. I clenched my fists, lowering down so my feet touched the ground. Where were they?

Where had Sam, Tucker and Danny gone? There was a large crater that led down into the subbasement and my gut twists. I could see a pool of blood and a brown arm sticking out from under a large chunk of concrete. I would know that arm from anywhere. Tucker was dead.

A rage started in my stomach and spread through my body, making me physically shake. Tucker was dead. I'd worked hard to save him in this universe and he still died.

Was everyone destined to die?

I knew the answer to that without even trying to question it. Of course everyone was. This was my future we're talking about. I can't have a happy ending; it'd break the laws of nature.

I ground my teeth together, drawing some sort of sick satisfaction from the way my fangs dug into my lower lip. Vlad was going to pay. He'd caused this. He'd caused the damage to the base.

But if Tucker was here, where were Sam and Danny? The room beyond was blocked from view by large boulders, but I phased in, preparing for the worst. But all I saw was smoke and scorched fabric. The bed had been burned; everything in the room had been by the looks of it. But I could see no other burned bodies.

A wave of relief passed through me but I quickly pushed it away. I can't be getting emotionally attached to these people. Especially since I knew there was no way I could stay with them. Fuck getting sentimental. This was war.

"Clockwork," I ground out, levitating out of the wreckage and looking around, trying to find something passed the mass of broken buildings. "I swear when I find you, I'm going to end you slowly and painfully."

All I had to do was make sure Sam was safe, and Vlad was dead, and everything would be fine. I could find a portal back to the ghost zone and leave this godforsaken place.

I felt more than saw the blast that was flying towards me. Turning, I brought up a tight barrier, and the ecto blast bounced off of it harmlessly. Snarling, I turned towards the source, my eyes locking on the sender. Vlad was floating a few feet from me, looking riled and more than a little insane.

Perfect.

Charging my hands, I sped towards him, sending blasts after blasts at him, my shots bouncing mostly harmlessly off of his shield. The constant assault was draining though, and I could see him starting to strain. Little cracks appeared in the shield, becoming clearer to me the closer I got to him. I grinned. This was it, the final battle.

We fought for a long while, and I was glad that I had seemingly found the original Vlad. Not a clone. And if he was a clone, then Vlad had done a mighty good job of keeping it stable. I knew all of Vlad's moves, so it was more of a matter of keeping him from landing a hit and waiting for an opening than actually breaking a sweat fighting him.

Several minutes into our stalemate battle a roar broke the otherwise silent day, and both Vlad and I looked up as Riley appeared. His wings were spread wide and his claws out, catching Vlad easily in his huge talons.

I stared almost dumbly as Riley drove the crazed halfa to the ground, before reacting and following them down, landing a few paces away. Stalking over, I let a growl start in my throat, rumbling out and showing I meant business.

Riley's massive head turned to look down at me, eyeing me casually. He knew I was on their side, but my power seemed to intimidate most ghosts. That was fine; I could work with that.

Riley's lips pulled back and he raised one paw, the other keeping Vlad securely pinned to the ground. His eyes darted down then back to me, indicating what he wanted.

Vlad screamed a chain of curses, thrashing under Riley's paw and blasting at the dragons thick hide with his powers. "Let me up you insufferable beast! I'll turn you into boots for heaven's sake!"

Riley clenched his toes, the claws digging into Vlad's sides and the man screamed, quieting and settling for glaring. I approached slowly and carefully, crouching down to look at him. "Well, Vlad." I drawled, knowing that we had him, this time. "Looks like it's over. Finally over."

I still never figured out why in my own time I'd chosen to spare him. Maybe it was because he was a pathetic husk of a man after Plasmius had been taken out. Or maybe it was because I couldn't bring myself to kill the last being alive that had wanted to care for me.

Either way, in this time, Vlad deserved to die. I knew Sam would want to do it, and internally I warred with myself for a second. She'd be pissed if she found out I finished him. On the other hand, I didn't know where she was, and I wasn't about to lose this opportunity to go find her.

So, instead I looked down at Vlad, my face turning into a frown before grabbing him around the neck, phasing him out of Riley's grip. The dragon let out a noise of protest, but I knew Vlad wouldn't be able to leave. Not with me holding him.

I could feel the pulse in Vlad's neck quicken, and I knew that despite how batshit insane he'd become, he knew he was done for now. And he was terrified.

I turned my free hand intangible, sliding it into his chest. I grabbed his core; the very thing that let his ghost form function, and I yanked. Vlad screamed, writhing and tearing at my hand with his claws, the pain almost unbearable for him.

I ignored his pathetic attempts to get away from me, and yanked harder. The core ripped free of his body with a loud snap, almost like a bone breaking. Vlad screamed again and went limp in my hand, changing back to human form.

This was too easy.

I crushed the glowing ball of energy in my hand, ectoplasm running through my fingers and dripping to the ground. I let it go, let it melt into the dirt and dust below my feet before turning my hand intangible once more. To kill Plasmius was only half the battle.

Vlad had to die, too. My hand melted into Vlad's chest with no resistance and I found his heart. He gave a startled, terrified gasp, feeling my hand around his precious organ. I could see his plea in his eyes, even if he was unable to voice it because of the restriction my other hand presented to his neck. He didn't want to die.

But it was too late for retribution.

I tore his heart out easily and the man collapsed in my grip. Dropping his body to the ground, I also dropped his heart, watching with a twisted grin as the bloody organ pumped once more, blood spewing from it.

Vlad was dead. The war was over.

I turned and Riley nodded. He took to the air and I followed. On the ground below us, the Danny's clones shuddered and collapsed. Vlad's powers had been holding them together, and with him out of the picture, they had nothing keeping them going.

And for now, I didn't care. We were going to find Sam.

Sam's POV

Riley let us off on top of a nearby hill. The dragon watched to make sure we were okay before taking off, probably to find Dan. Or so I hoped.

I turned to Danny, making sure he was comfortable before looking down the hill. I had to get back to the battle. Dan wouldn't want me to; but right now, I didn't care what he wanted. I had to get down there.

I was interrupted by a moan and shuffling. Turning in shock, I saw Danny twitching, his face turning into a grimace. He was waking up.

"Danny?" I breathed, crouching next to him and pushing his hair out of his face. "Danny, can you hear me?"

His blue eyes opened for a second before closing again, hurt at the brightness of the day. "S-Sam?" He croaked, and his voice sounded strained—broken and disused. But it was him.

"Danny…" I knew I was on the edge of tears and I scooped him into my arms, holding him close. "Oh god, Danny, you're okay."

"Hey…" He mumbled, weakly shifting in my grip. "Easy there."

I've never been more elated in my life. The war was shuffled into a back corner of my mind, mostly forgotten for the time being as I concentrated on him. "I'm so glad to have you back, Danny."

"How long have I been gone?" He asked weakly, looking around. He didn't know where we were, but it would all be explained in due time. I didn't know how long he'd been in a coma, or what exactly Vlad did. So I didn't want to push him. I didn't want him to know right now; if I said something wrong, it could trigger him into another coma. I couldn't take the risk.

"A while," I murmured, keeping him in my arms and pressing my chin lightly to the top of his head. "But it's okay. What matters is you're back."

Riley landed next to us, and I hadn't even noticed how much time had passed. But he changed to his humanoid form and grinned widely. "Danny!" He exclaimed, happy to see him awake. Danny furrowed his brow and gave the boy a confused look. He'd never met any dragon ghosts outside of Aragon and Dorothy, so seeing one now confused him greatly.

I laughed gently, introducing him. When Danny was told, he opened up immediately, just like the good old Danny.

"We did it, Sam!" Riley said with a grin, turning to look at me. "I was able to pin Vlad, and then Dan—" Riley paused and looked around, as if he were looking for the spectre. "—well, Dan killed him. We did it! We won!"

"Won? And what do you mean, Dan?" Danny asked, and I frowned, looking around as well. Dan should have been here, I didn't think he'd just up and leave.

Clenching my jaw, I hoped that this didn't mean that Dan was about to start troubles of his own. I don't think we could handle another war so close after the first. The only reason we'd won this one was because of him.

I hoped he just got side tracked, and he was on his way. I wanted to thank him.

No POV

The war was done. There was nothing left to fight, and no reason for him to remain there. As he was flying back towards Sam and Danny, the powerful ghost slowly faded from view. It wasn't his invisibility that caused it, but something greater. Clockwork watched from his viewing screens as Riley joined Sam and Danny and knew that all was right.

Things were going how they were supposed to.

Turning, he greeted his guest. "Dan, you did well out there."

Dan's face was pulled into a confused grimace and he looked at the time-controlling ghost. For a brief instant, pain flashed over his face before he got it under control. "Yeah, well, don't expect it all the time."

Turning, the powerful ghost stalked away, leaping onto one of Clockwork's many towers and sitting in the scaffolding, glaring out into the darkness. "You don't want to see what happens next?" Clockwork asked, turning and motioning to the screens. "I can show you…as a reward."

"No." The reply was clipped. He was angry and more than a little upset. Clockwork didn't really blame him, but he knew this was easier than if he'd allowed Dan to stay too much longer. "I really don't fucking care."

Shrugging, Clockwork turned the screens off, allowing only the swirling green of the ghost zone to remain on them. "That is your choice." The master of time knew what was happening next, after all. So he didn't need to see it. He knew that the ghosts would help the humans rebuild, and that the world would slowly return to how it was before Vlad had taken over. Slowly, but not completely. They could never fully recover, but they could get close.

Dan made a low growling noise in his throat, pouting up in his perch and Clockwork let him. He would soon have to be returned to the thermos, but for now the ghost was letting him have some freedom.

He'd earned it.

A/N: and that's the end of that asdkgs

Yeah its not a good ending (Or I don't think so) but I really had no other ideas on how to end this argh.

I'm never doing first person again.