Chapter LVIII
The roar of engines caught Plasmius' attention as she sat atop the bell tower on Amity Park's church. The ghost turned her head to see the form of Valerie Gray, her huntress protégé, rapidly approaching on her aptly named Banshee Board. It had been several weeks since the ghost had given the young woman a chance to avenge her mother's death, although the girl's reasons for doing so were convoluted and her target had attempted to prevent the tragedy that drove Valerie into her current mindset.
That mindset was what had prompted Plasmius to hand the girl some of the most advanced ghost hunting technology on the planet. It was a gamble, but one that had wound up paying off. The portion of Amity Park's populace that disliked Phantom sided with the Huntress almost instantly, seeing her as the better alternative to removing ghosts over the supposed hero who was himself a ghost. If the Huntress continued to gain support, that would be one way to drive Phantom right into her clutches.
But now Plasmius was thinking too far ahead. Daniel would either join her willingly or suffer his mother's fate. At least that much was certain.
The roar of the rockets dwindled to an idle hum as the Banshee Board stopped a little over two meters away from the bell tower.
"You wanted to see me?" Plasmius asked in a business like tone.
"Yeah, I did. Phantom's got himself a new look and a new attitude. He would've killed me if it wasn't for your equipment, so thanks."
"It's yours now, dear," Plasmius corrected. "I may have commissioned its creation, but you own it."
"He also got a look at me. A little more than I would've wanted him to at that."
Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "I assume you're referring to your mask?"
"Yes. The bastard yanked it off and started shouting like a drunken frat-boy; like I did something wrong."
Plasmius scowled. "Perhaps you should lay low for a while. If he has, indeed, become more powerful, I fear for your safety."
"Don't count me out just yet," Valerie said slyly. "I managed to nab something for you." The girl pulled a vile from her ammo belt and tossed it to the ghost. Plasmius snatched it out of the air and brought it close to her face to examine it. "It's that black stuff you wanted."
Plasmius' eyes widened in disbelief. "You managed to obtain a sample of his mid-morph DNA? Fascinating . . ."
"Mid-morph?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with as of now. It has little to do with you, rest assured."
Valerie maneuvered her Banshee Board closer to the ghost. "I think that, considering the fact that it was sheer luck that I'm even here to give that to you, it does concern me. Any sort of advantage you can give me is vital."
Plasmius bared her fangs. "Even if you knew what this was, it would do little to help your odds. It would most likely hamper your efforts to get your petty revenge."
"My revenge is not petty, but I guess I can't expect you to understand what it feels like to lose a mother."
"You're right," Plasmius whispered. "I wouldn't know what it feels like to lose a mother. My mother died in childbirth and my father-" The ghost woman rubbed her temple with her free hand. "My parentage is irrelevant, and don't make the mistake of bringing it up in conversation again if you value your life."
Valerie cast the ghost a glare almost identical to the one she was receiving. "What are you going to do about Phantom's little makeover?"
The ghost's hostile expression flashed to a sadistically amused one. "Investigate."
Danny jumped out from behind his cover and rolled to a stop several feet away from the tree he had been hiding behind. He brought his paintball gun to bear and peered through the scope, using the magnified sight to pinpoint the locations of the other players.
Being the Friday of the week-long break, Dash Baxter had decided to host an overnight, outdoors event for guys only followed up by an indoors event which was open to both sexes. Danny was still locked in an epic struggle during the first portion of the event; the paintball free-for-all.
Thus far, Danny had evaded detection by some of the better players via his invisibility powers and had used his Specter Sharpshooter/ paintball gun from the heights of several large trees thanks to his flying powers. Of course, always one to at least give playing fair a chance, he had only resorted to those tactics when absolutely necessary. Coincidentally, it had been necessary to do so for most of the game.
Danny's keen eye picked up on a flash of movement. It was more than likely one of the junior or senior boys. They had displayed superior speed and accuracy in the field earlier in the game, although most had met their demise at the splatter of an invisible paintball, and were worthy opponents.
The target moved again, even more swiftly than the last time it had evaded Danny's detection. The boy fired several rounds off in the direction, but instantly regretted the act, as his position was undoubtedly revealed. The forest region of Amity Park was filled with trees, and the geography of the forest allowed sound to carry ridiculously far. The fact that one whole side of the forest was barricaded by a massive stone cliff didn't help matters.
Danny continued to survey the area and continued to see flashes of movement. His target was fast. Too fast. Almost-
-superhumanly fast. And there was only one type of fast in Amity Park that constituted for superhumanly fast, and that was ghostly fast.
Danny dropped his weapon and transformed into his ghost half. The black-green rings washed over him and turned the human teenager into a living shadow. Phantom slithered along the ground until he saw the flash of movement again. The ghost lunged out and grabbed the creature by the tail.
The fearsome head of a bear-cougar snapped around and its jaw opened wide, letting out a ferocious cry. The ghost creation of Plasmius spun around to face its attacker and launched itself into the air using its muscular cat-like hind legs, the bear-cougar leapt at Phantom, who dodged the massive, hulking front bear-like arms as they slashed through the air.
"I'm not the kind of guy that abuses animals," Phantom said as he punched the beast in the face on its second pass. "But I think I can make an exception in your case."
The limp body of the bear-cougar crashed to the ground. It began to stand up, but Phantom was on it again, using his enhanced abilities to tear the ghost's skull out of its head. When the creature continued to thrash about, very unlike a ghost with no skull, Phantom bashed it with the mutated cranium. The ghostly form collapsed to the ground again and dissolved into ectoplasm.
"Hmm. I beat it to death with its own skull. Somehow, it doesn't seem physically possible."
"Well maybe you should try the thermos next time," Tucker said from somewhere behind the ghost boy.
Phantom quickly reverted to back to Danny and took his gun from the boy, who had retrieved it on his trek over.
"Dash decided to call it quits," he said. "He wants to get his place ready for his party tonight and figured we could all pitch in since we're all invited."
Danny cast Tucker a congratulatory look. "You got the hook up?"
"I got the hook up," Tucker confirmed. "Dash said he figured it was time to expand membership in the A-List, kinda like an experimental trial period."
"And when the trial period is over?"
"I won't even remember half of these people in ten years, so who cares?"
Danny nodded. "Good point. Of course, among those whose names won't be lost to time, I'm assuming you agreed to go because Star's gonna be there?"
"That might have had something to do with it," Tucker said with a smirk.
Danny patted his friend on the shoulder as they walked back to the camp. "All we need to do now is hook Sam up with an A-Lister. I'm thinking Kwan, but, you know, with some refinement."
"Some?" Tucker questioned. "Dude, the guy needs a complete overhaul. He's almost as clueless as you!"
"Am I really that bad?"
Tucker shook his head. "There's already an A-Lister Sam would totally get together with."
"Really? Who?"
Tucker sighed. "No, I take that back. Kwan's nowhere near as clueless as you." A popping sound, followed by a sting of pain in his calf nearly toppled the African American boy. "OW! What the-"
"By the way, that still counts," Danny said with a smirk.
Valerie soared through the skies above Amity Park, watching the streets below and the skies above for any signs of ghostly nuisances. She had already put up with Plasmius and her pet cat . . . bear . . . thing, making sure it reached the woods without any problems, and was now enjoying the peace that her technological gift had given her. Flying was enjoyed by few, and she was one of the privileged.
Being so close to the heavens made Valerie feel closer to her mother. It was a harmless reverie, but in order to experience the euphoric recollections the girl had to travel over thirty thousand feet in the air without any breathing equipment. It was very dangerous, but it was worth the risk. Descending to normal altitudes brought the girl back to reality. It also fueled her desire for vengeance, as her descent was symbolic of how Phantom took away one of the best parts of her life.
A beeping sound distracted the girl from her hateful thoughts. Her wristwatch displayed the number 530, which meant that Dash's party was close to initiation. With an exasperated sigh, Valerie flew off in the direction of the boy's house. There was a safe alley way in which she could cover her sleek hunting outfit with street clothes, hiding her from any unwanted publicity.
Valerie shook her head. Fenton was bound to be at the party, which would make the whole situation awkward for both of them. It was a bad idea to go, but maybe it would also be a chance to talk. So long as Phantom stayed out of the way.
"Come on, Sam, please?" Danny pleaded with his friend. "It's just one party! It's not gonna kill you!"
The Goth girl looked up from her book and cast Danny a quizzical look. "Are you willing to take that chance?"
"Cut it out," Tucker said. "Seriously, it's just a party, Sam. You're actually invited! We all are!"
"Guys, you know I'm not comfortable with the popular kids. They might be nice to us now for some reason, but that doesn't mean I can just overlook all the crap they put us through for most of grade school."
"Sam, you can't hold grudges," Danny replied. "It just fills you up with hate and eats you from the inside out."
"That black thing is definitely helping you out with your sentence formation," Tucker said. "It would've taken you five minutes to say that exact same thing when you were just normal."
"You know how I feel about that kind of stuff regardless," Danny said, ignoring Tucker. "You think I hold a grudge against Valerie's ghost hunting?"
"Wait, what?" Sam asked in bewilderment. Tucker wore a similar expression. "Valerie is a ghost hunter?"
"Yeah, didn't I tell you guys?"
"NO!" Tucker and Sam shouted in unison.
"Oh, I thought I did . . . well yeah, anyway, she's the Huntress. I unmasked her a couple days ago."
"And you're not gonna blast her to pieces?" Sam asked with hope in her voice.
"No. I'm responsible for her mother's death, and I've come to terms with it . . . somewhat, and if she feels the need to hunt me for revenge, then I guess it's a good way for her to blow off steam." Danny chuckled. "It's not like she could actually hurt me."
"So you're going to let Valerie hunt you, even though you didn't do anything wrong?"
"I'm hoping she'll cool off in a few weeks . . . or months . . . or years. Really, I have no idea how long it will take, but I hope it happens eventually."
"Sam, we're gonna be late if we don't leave for Dash's right now," Tucker interrupted. "Are you coming?"
"No, I'm not. I'm not in favor of you two riding the popularity train-"
Danny grinned. "You mean Star?"
Tucker blushed, but scowled at Danny. "Don't you mean Paulina?"
Danny blushed as well. "Don't worry, Sam, no trains will be ridden no matter how much Tucker wants to."
"Yeah, we're not riding any trains. Danny would most likely have to pay for his ride, and we both know he'd pay a guap to get on that caboose."
Danny elbowed Tucker in the arm, but both of them were laughing. "Just get out of my house before your perverted behavior rubs off on me," Sam said angrily.
"Hey, we're talking about girls here," Tucker said. "Unless you would be riding that train too!"
"Tuck, that's a bad idea-" Danny warned.
"Imagine," Tucker interrupted the hybrid and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He made a ninety degree angle with his thumb and forefinger, centering Sam in the middle. "Sam and . . ."
"If you even add another name in there, I'll tell that girl you said it. Then we'll both kick your ass."
Tucker considered Sam's statement and recalled his hand. "Alright, fine."
"We'll stop back later for the Bowling Bonanza, Sam," Danny said as he transformed into his ghostly half. His imposing shadow form looked around the room. "And clean this place up, it's a mess."
"What are you, my father? Besides, we don't come up here for that," Sam reminded him.
"I don't," Tucker said, pointing to himself. "You two, though . . ."
Phantom pulled Tucker into the air and brought him to eye level. "Can it, we're leaving."
Phantom turned himself and Tucker intangible. He flew up and out of the room, leaving Sam alone with her messy room.
"Not like I have anything else to do," she muttered as she began to clean the place.
Phantom hovered to the ground after arriving at Dash's house. Tucker made contact with the concrete and stepped away from Phantom as the ghost began its reverse transformation. Danny Fenton smoothed out his black shirt and ran a hand through his hair.
"You ready, Tucker?" the boy asked.
"What's there to be ready for? It's just a party."
"Good man."
The two walked out of the alley and approached the front door. Danny rang the doorbell and the two waited for someone to answer. Soon enough, Dash Baxter pulled the door open with a big smile on his face.
"He-hey! Danny and Tucker! Come on in, guys!"
The two boys quickly entered the house after shaking Dash's hand and looked around. To Danny, it was commonplace to see all the high and mighty kids in their natural element. Tucker was a bit more taken aback.
"Wow, Sam was definitely wrong about these guys," Tucker said loudly so his voice would carry over the music. Danny nodded.
"She needs to give them a chance. Look, I see Star over there, I'll see you later."
"Wait, you're just leaving me here!?" Tucker exclaimed as Danny made his way to his favorite chair in the Baxter residence. Fortunately, nobody else seemed to like it. Either that or nobody else wanted to sit down.
Danny looked around and noted that everyone seemed to be having a good time, as per usual custom. He had only been to several parties, but he had been enough to know the constants.
Kwan was always the bouncer for the foyer, making sure nobody snuck off to the basement or the upstairs. Dash's mother would periodically set out a tray of snacks and restock the supply of plastic cups for beverages. Dash's father would make one or two appearances to check in on his son and see how the party was going. Dash was also reminded of the ramifications if anyone was to bring and serve alcoholic drinks and/or drugs or any kind. It was almost bone chilling to watch.
And finally, the constant Danny had become accustomed to was Paulina sitting unusually close to Danny on the arm of his super comfy chair. The boy couldn't help but grin as the girl saw him from across the room, waved and started to make her way over.
"Hi Danny!" The girl said perkily as she took her usual seat on the arm of the chair.
"Hey Paulina," Danny replied.
"So how was your paintball thing?"
"I won," Danny said confidently. "I wiped the floor with all these guys."
"If you're all using different colored paintballs, how do you know you got everyone?"
"My paintballs were the only ones that glowed on impact."
"Ah."
Danny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It was really nice out today."
"Mhmm."
"What did you do before you got here?" Danny asked trying to keep the conversation going.
"Oh, I went shopping with Star. She wanted to get this new necklace that had a green stone in it. I didn't want her to get it, but if Star wants to buy some jewelry there isn't much that can change her mind."
"How come?"
"Well she usually plans it out in advance, which is weird. Like, she'll go look at it for weeks before picking it up."
"Wait . . . you said green?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Isn't the August birthstone green?"
"Maybe, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Danny smiled. "Tucker was born in August."
Paulina thought for a moment before a smile appeared on her face. "Oh! That's so sweet!"
The two began scanning the crowd for the two before their eyes settled on the pair. Tucker was examining the necklace intently, unaware that his proximity to Star was making her blush.
"That is so cute," Paulina said. "They're both completely inexperienced, which means that we can offer our expertise!"
"Maybe you can," Danny said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "My first girlfriend disappeared on me after the Valentines Day dance and Valerie kinda broke off. I don't think I can tell Tucker anything useful."
"Give yourself a little credit," Paulina said as she ruffled Danny's hair. "You did ok, Fenton."
"Thanks, I guess."
Before anything else could be said, Danny let out a deep breath from his nose. A stream of green mist streamed out of his nostrils and dissipated into the air around him. Danny's ghost sense sent a shiver down his spine and sent him into action. Unwillingly though it was, Danny forced himself to stand up and wave goodbye to Paulina. He weaved through the crowd of students and was let upstairs by Kwan in order to use the restroom.
Danny found the facilities easily enough and locked the door behind him. Danny concentrated on his ghostly half. The black green rings encompassed the human boy and mutated him into the fearsome Phantom. The shadowy ghost shot up, fazing through the ceiling, and emerging into the darkening sky above Dash's house. There was no ghost to be seen.
"My, my, Daniel, it seems you did get a makeover!"
Of course that meant the ghost was behind him, where he wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. Duh.
"I didn't get a makeover, Plasmius, I was reborn!" Phantom fed energy into his clawed hands, smiling as they glowed with the ethereal green color of ectoplasm. "And now you'll experience the full extent of my power!"
Phantom shot forward and fired the energy from his hands. Twin beams lanced out and slammed into Plasmius before she could defend herself. The older hybrid tumbled back through the air before righting her body. She charged her eyes with her own pink energy and fired the ectoplasm back at her attacker. Both shots hit and then went through Phantom. The younger ghost didn't even flinch.
"I guess you have gotten stronger," Plasmius said coldly. "But you'll find your little power boost to be not nearly enough to defeat me."
Phantom roared and fired more blasts out of his hands as he sped through the air at Plasmius. Right before the younger half ghost could engage in hand to hand combat, Plasmius' figure distorted and then winked out of existence.
Phantom's head snapped around, looking for the older ghost. A punch to the back of his head revealed her location. The teenager plummeted down into the street below and smacked into the pavement. Unlike his previous crash, only Phantom was damaged. The pavement was relatively unharmed.
"You no longer have power over me," Phantom shouted. "I am stronger than you can hope to imagine!"
With a bit of concentration, the ghost boy disappeared from view. He reappeared in front of Plasmius and slashed her across the face with his razor sharp claws. The woman cried out as pink blood sprayed through the night sky. The four long marks on her face let the pink substance flow freely. The ghost's red eyes flared.
"You better hope so," she hissed as the one Plasmius split into two, then four copies. "Because I'm done being gentle!"
Two of the duplicates opened fire with ghost rays from the eyes and hands. Another formed hundreds of ectoplasmic daggers and sent them hurtling at Phantom. The last one turned intangible and flew inside the ghost boy.
The two ghosts battled for dominance over Phantom's mind. Danny Fenton was not strong enough on his own to resist Plasmius' power, but this new Phantom was strong; strong enough to repel the ghost woman's mental control with enough force to drive her out.
Plasmius would have been angered if overshadowing had been her goal. Phantom's eyes widened as his vision became decidedly pink. The ghost rays and daggers ripped through his body like tissue paper. The ghost boy howled in agony as his body was shredded.
The pain would have ended there had Valerie not arrived on the scene. Firing her own weapons in addition to Plasmius' attacks, Phantom experienced suffering like no other. His very body was being torn to pieces. It was a miracle in itself that he was still able to stay airborne.
After what felt like an eternity, the unbearable anguish subsided. Phantom's body floated in the air in the form of countless black globules of ectoplasm. His eyes opened slowly, allowing him to see the blur of the night. His vision adjusted and the blur was replaced by the unwelcome sight of Plasmius floating next to Valerie.
And then it all made sense.
Valerie was in a state of emotional melancholy. Rather than leave her alone, as a greedy and self centered billionaire with no connection to the girl would have done, Vanessa had provided Valerie with the proper equipment needed to track him, hunt him and eventually destroy him. Plasmius had taken advantage of the death of Valerie's mother in order to manipulate the young woman to do her bidding. She had made everything worse.
Phantom's disassembled body began to shiver. The blobs of black goo began to snake through the air in the direction of Phantom's head. Tendrils spread over his body, reforming what had been destroyed. But in his anger, the reformation process was warped. Phantom's body twisted and distorted. The once vaguely familiar face of Phantom was replaced by the disfigured blotch of rage. Solid green eyes glared at his two opponents. Logic was replaced by instinct. Human intellect was replaced by animalistic urges. Danny was replaced by Phantom.
The ghost knew the two beings before him were powerful. He knew he was probably even more powerful than both of them, but his body was still new. It needed time to complete its transformation, and that process would most likely be hampered by any sort of battle. With a roar of warning, Phantom flew off into the night sky, melding with the darkness and vanishing from sight.
To Be Continued
A/N
Sorry for the wait. I hate school, just so you know. Classes are a pain in my posterior, and I'd be better off without half of them.
That aside, I've decided to shorten these chapters a bit. I think the first two in this segment are too long. I want each one to be nine chapters long, which means I can't just give half the story in the first two.
This story has been added to another C2 community. Thank you dsfjr1190 for adding Ultimate Danny Phantom to Fanfiction WorthReading
Just as a reminder, the sooner this thing hits 700 reviews, the sooner the contest winner's custom character gets in the story. It won't be much fun if we see the new ghoul only in a cameo in the remake of Phantom Planet, now will it? I'll post revised guidelines when UDP hits 650.
Special thanks goes to Andrew Laplante, phantoms-allie, Fulcon, TDG3RD, Sapphire Wolf Master, HiddenAuthor, Skye-chan, darkbunny92, MissMeliss4251, artbug, DarkMusicallity, Night'sBullet and slyfoxx.
Jackassery . . . lol