Danny Phantom

Invasion

Author's Notes: Sorry about the accident. There was a slight glitch in the system and the chapter was uploaded when I was trying to make adjustments to chapter four. Again, sorry about the inconvenience. Alright, now that that's out of the way, here we have yet another chapter of "Invasion." Enjoy.

Chapter Ten:

Released

Mobieus didn't care for the observants, but they did have their uses, such as locating a hybrid ghost child in the middle of the world of men while he was being tracked and possibly beaten senseless by some strange evil from the stars. And so for the first time, Mobieus went to the observants and asked for their help. The suddenness of it shocked them, and made them ultimately question his sanity, as he was usually ill-receptive to their presence, but they complied with his wishes none the less. The tower of watchers, as it was called through the Ghost Zone, was a great tower with hundreds of thousands of rooms. Within the rooms were mirrors, each of them focused on one person until that person expired. Most of these people were somewhat important in the makings of history, which was why they were observed by these ghostly watchers. Men like Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, even Charles Manson had mirrors of their own.

The mirrors differed in design, depending on their focus. Nazi memorabilia littered Himmler's, symbols and computer chips covered Bill Gates', and around Shakespeare's was bits of costumes and play scripts. These rooms in this tower climbed to reach the very sky (if the Ghost Zone had a sky) in thousands of floors. But there was one mirror that stood alone, unique even against the rest of them. It was at the top of the tower, in a room of its own. It was adorned with blazing emblems and was rimmed in black, green, and silver. This mirror showed someone who very few knew to even be associated with the threads of history, because until he was sixteen, no one even knew how much of a hero he had grown to be.

Mobieus followed the observants to the top of this tower and into the topmost room, where he was at last able to gaze into the mirror whose focus happened to be the very child he was trying to find. Where he was, the master of time didn't know, but it wouldn't be hard to find out. He watched for a few moments as Danny fought against this strange space menace with the little green boy at his side, and how the shifter suddenly left. It was perplexing, to say the least, but he figured he knew why the monster had just suddenly run off. Danny then reverted and spoke to the green boy and then the sister before the two left, soaring through the sky. Well, it was safe to say that they were in Minnesota, somewhere to the east. He noticed the little Irken was riding a dog through the sky, and though this was certainly strange, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

He left the Tower of Watchers without a word to the observants, which convinced them that he was just being his usual introverted self, and he returned to the Fortress of time.

And that was when the front door was blown off its hinges.

"Okay, so she's angry at you for killing her..." Zim repeated, still confused. "How is she still angry with you if she's dead?" he asked, holding onto Gir's ears as they increased their speed. Danny wasn't going to ask why Zim's dog had rockets in his feet, mostly because he had a pretty good idea why, and partly because he didn't want to create any unwanted tension in their already-tense situation.

"Don't you remember what I told you? There is more than one dimension. I guess Depravity somehow got sent to the Ghost Zone and then found her way out again. C'mon, we really have to hurry. There's not much time left, and I think as soon as she's done with her, she's going to kill Sam. I can't let that happen. It's already happened once."

Though the sheer mechanics of what Danny was talking about were nearly impossible to wrap his mind around, Zim tried to understand it. He supposed that being from Irk, where such things didn't seem to exist, had something to do with his lack of knowledge about such a strange thing. None the less, he listened.

"WEENIES!" Gir screeched, sticking his tongue out. Zim rolled his eyes and sighed.

"This way, mistress," Xanu said, bowing and directing her into a dark room. She entered, peering around, trying to penetrate this darkness. Lights flashed on. The room she found herself in was a lab, quite enormous and filled with an assortment of strange devices. And in the middle of the room lay something that made a dark smile cross her violet lips. She approached it, running a delicate finger along the perfect contours, admiring how well crafted it was. She turned to Xanu.

"You've done well," she said, smiling. "Once I merge with this body, you will have what I promised you: power. It will all be yours. When I leave this body, take it to a holding cell until I'm capable of full movement. I will speak to her, and dispose of her, myself."

He nodded in compliance and stood back, waiting. "Oh, and one more thing. Before I can make a full unity, I need the fraction of my soul that is still housed in the fortress of time, deep in the Ghost Zone. Fetch it for me, and bring the prisoners here. Once I'm merged, you will have all the power you could ever dream of, and more once you gain this weapon you covet so zealously."

Again he nodded and turned, snapping his fingers and ordering ten of his finest soldiers along with him. "Let's go, so we can be back for my power. I want to use it against the Irken brat." They followed silently, moving across the warehouse in a deadly formation and moving out into the dark.

Miriana sighed and leaned against the side of her cage. Depravity hadn't returned in such a long time... and since time didn't flow normally here in the Ghost Zone, she didn't know how long it'd been. At least, not in human terms. She sat there, muttering madly to herself, and occasionally to Dan, who merely cackled darkly every so often, and after awhile she grew oh so tired of the silence that she began to scream to make it louder. Each time she was silenced by an angry Clockwork, and each time she found herself saddened again by the silence.

And then something happened. An explosion rocked the fortress and she bolted to her feet, grabbing the bars and jumping gleefully in her cage. "Yay!" she shouted, banging on the bars. "Someone's come to say hi!"

Meanwhile, in the front room, Mobieus had his hands full. There were hundreds of them, and though he was the master of time, it was rather difficult to fight them all at once, especially when one of them had gotten ahold of his time medallions. The battle was intense, and many shifters fell to the might of the Lord of Time, but it was all in vain. Xanu himself had entered the fray.

"It's an honor to meet you at last, Clockwork," he said, clashing with Mobieus as the two battled for supremacy.

"The pleasure is all yours," he said, taking a step back and swinging the scythe around that he'd taken from one of the statues. It clinked against the force of the metal whips extending from Xanu's hand.

"We came to collect something for our mistress, I'm sure you know her."

"My niece, I presume. Yes, I know her, and she must return here immediately."

"But, Clockwork, that is somewhat of a problem. I want my power, and she's going to give it to me."

"Fool. You have no idea that you're being used. She's not going to follow through with that promise. She's going to kill you."

"Liar. I know what you're doing, and I shall not fall for it." He leaped back and turned, forcing up his arm and sending the metal tendril up, aiming for Mobieus' head. He ducked, bringing the scythe around.

"Sir! We've got them!" someone shouted from the hall.

He smirked and dashed back, pressing down the medallion so that it wouldn't smack against his chest as he ran. Mobieus dashed after him, trying to stop him from leaving the fortress. Ahead were Xanu's men, holding up the cage, the suspended animation sphere, and the thermos.

"Let's go!" he shouted, and they vanished, leaving Mobieus alone in the fortress. He cursed and floated back to the main chamber, where he turned to face the mirror.

"Danny Phantom..." he breathed, and upon the mirror Danny's face swam into view. "Dear boy, your fate is an uncertain one... I fear you may not triumph in this battle..." he whispered, and looked forward, prodding into the paths of time. As he watched, he smiled as flashes flitted across the mirror. Danny, the irken, a battle between his three escaped prisoners and the three boys, Depravity fighting the goth girl... and then the final flash, which caused the smile to widen across Mobieus' face.

"Time has sealed your fate."

Depravity smiled as Xanu entered the room, followed by men carrying the prisons of her fellow outcasts. She clapped her hands once and chuckled softly. "Ah, you've brought them! Wonderful, wonderful," she whispered, then ran a finger along the bars of Miriana's cage. "We'll release you once I'm reunited with my soul fraction and my new body," she said to her, and turned to the fractured portion of her soul. The two joined and Sam's body glowed for a moment before Depravity began to laugh hysterically.

Once the glow had subsided, she moved across the room, standing beside the table where her new body lay. "This time, it won't be so easy to kill me."

She closed her eyes and Sam once more began to glow, but this time it was with a sinister light instead of the warm glow of a soul. From her mouth Depravity was issued until at last the ghost of the Ancient stood fully before them. The goth girl crumpled and fell to the ground. Depravity climbed upon the table and lay in the body, closing her eyes and her soul began attaching itself to the metal shell.

Sparks flew and the lights exploded around them. The shifters shivered, looking around with fear, all save for Xanu, who was staring at Depravity as though in a trance.

From the floor Sam's eyes snapped open as her soul regained control of her body. She scrambled back, pressing up against the wall, her lavender eyes lit up with fear. And then she felt something on her hand...

In a blinding flare of fire Depravity's eyes opened and she sat up, stretching. "At last..." she hissed, her blazing red eyes scanning the room. She slid off the table and stared at her hands, morphing her hands into sharp daggers and then back again. "Perfect." She closed her eyes a moment and then garments seemed to form on her body, purple, and her hair grew back, red and black and cut short. At last she opened her eyes and then put her hands at her sides, staring around the room. She moved to the cage, taking the lock in her hand and crushing it. The door swung forward and Miriana slithered out.

"FREE!" she shrieked and bounced happily around the room. A instant later the animation field surrounding Jaston was lowered, and he floated to the ground, his eyes fluttering open. Nearby, a flash of light erupted from the thermos and a high cackle echoed through the room, which was immediately silenced as Depravity grabbed Danny's dark older incarnation and slammed him into a wall.

"I'll tell you right now, Dan Phantom, I'll not tolerate you obliterating this room. I shall command you until you are clear of this city, understand?" she snarled, the thermos still in her hand. He eyed it warily, and then at last, grudgingly, reluctantly, he nodded.

Jaston got to his feet. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Depravity," he said, giving her a sweeping bow. She raised her eyebrow.

"Psychic," Miriana said simply, crossing her arms. Depravity nodded.

"Excellent. I have a job for the three of you, but first, I have some business to attend to with the good shifter here," she said, motioning to Xanu. He smiled as she escorted him from the room. "I've got something special for you..." she hissed, her eyes flaring brightly in the darkness.

Danny could see his breath. Something had happened, and he had a bad feeling he knew exactly what that something was. He blasted forward, making Gir hard-pressed to catch up. The little robot managed it, all while singing strange songs that made no sense and shouting out random phrases like a child with tourette's. Danny's eyes were fixed, and his blood boiling. They were close, he could almost smell it.

Dib waited for them in their designated meeting place, hiding behind the dumpster and peering around the corner every so often to see if he were being watched. The trio slipped into the abandoned building and sat huddled in a circle, where two rings of light flashed around Danny and reverted him as he sat down on the floor.

"Okay, so our first place that we need to look is that warehouse. I have a feeling she's still there, and that the reason she 'killed' me was because she didn't want me to tell you where she's hiding." Danny nodded. "So I say we go quietly, so they won't know we're coming."

"Leave that to me," Danny supplied, his eyes flashing bright green for an instant. Dib nodded.

"We'll try and get in the back so we can shut down whatever body she's going to inhabit. If it's a shifter's design, then it'll be mechanical in some way or another. We'll try and get it so she can't use it, and then you take her down."

Danny nodded. "Alright, lead the way," he said, standing. The rings flashed over him once again as he stood to his full measure. Beside him, four metal legs shot out of Zim's pack and hoisted him into the air. He smirked.

Dib nodded, getting to his feet, and they followed him into the streets below.

Zim still didn't know why he was working along side the humans. He was, after all, an Invader, and they rarely worked with the people they were planning to destroy. But for some reason, there was something about the ghost boy that drove Zim to want to help him. He didn't really know what it was, but it worked.

So even with these thoughts, Zim plowed forward, Dib clutching to his arm as the Irken slid silently through the dark on four metal legs. As Dib had predicted, there was in fact a back entrance to the warehouse, and it was well guarded. This had been expected, so the two boys were prepared to see the shifters standing just outside the door. Dib nodded to Zim and he set the human down, then silently crawled just above the door. While two legs held him to the wall, the other two descended quietly just behind the shifters.

The only sound was the thud as the plasma nailed them in the base of their skulls and they dropped, unconscious. Zim waved Dib down and the two slid into the door, and into the darkness.

Danny had simply taken the front door, though he was quite invisible. He slid through the walls and doors silently, peering around. It was almost too dark to see without a ghost ray, but he knew he couldn't chance it. So he moved on, hoping for some sign of where he was going, and more importantly, some sign that Sam was still alive. He could hear sounds from the far end of the warehouse, talking, it sounded like. He peered around the corner and into the room.

There stood Sam... er... Depravity, next to a table, where her body lay. She was saying something... but Danny couldn't quite make it out, since she was speaking so low.

"C'mon... hurry... there's not much time left..." he whispered to himself. A metal leg jutting into few for a fraction of a second caught his eye, and he smiled. "Okay... hurry..."

Dib had recovered his laptop on the way in, and was typing furiously away. "Okay... almost in..." he whispered.

Something popped up on the screen: CONNECTION LOST. BODY DISCONNECTED FROM POWER SOURCE.

"Oh crud..."

Danny slipped in silently, going for Sam to push Depravity out... but he knew he was too late when Sam crumpled to the ground and Depravity stood there, ghostly and sliding into the new body. He swore under his breath and shielded himself as light flashed through the room. The air rippled and the ghost boy took a step back to steady himself. He might be invisible, but he could still feel everything going on around him, and right now he was certain he could feel the air melting.

The body began to jerk as she attached herself to it. Below the table Sam had roused, and was scooting back into the wall, her eyes mirroring the terrible fear she felt in her heart and bones. Danny knew that if Depravity got ahold of her, she'd be dead in an instant, so he knelt next to her and placed a hand on hers. She gasped, but when she heard Danny whisper in her ear, she froze.

"It's me..." he whispered. "Let's go, before she does some damage."

The two slipped down through the floor and out of the room, coming up behind Dib and Zim.

"We were too late," Dib said, hanging his head. "She's gone and fused with that body. We're going to have to get rid of her and Xanu."

Zim got to his feet. "I'll get rid of Xanu," he said, clenching his fists. "The shifters are a threat to my conquest-"

He was silenced suddenly as Danny pressed a hand to his mouth and grabbed hold of Dib's arm. Sam was still holding Danny's shoulder. In an instant they vanished from view and the door beside them slammed open. Out walked Depravity and Xanu, into another room, alone. Danny nodded to Zim and he pushed Sam and Dib into another room, out of sight. The pair slid into the room behind Depravity and waited.

"Xanu, I would like to commend you for your efforts. It's been quite a pleasure working with you for all these years, and it's a shame to have to end our business this way..."

"What?" he said, confused. "What do you mean, 'end it this way'? We had a deal."

"True, we had a deal, that I would reward you richly with all the power you could ever want," she replied, and something dark flashed in her eyes. He made a move to step back but unfortunately, he didn't make it that far.

Depravity snatched him by the front of his long coat and sneered. "You didn't expect me to actually give you that power, did you?" she chimed. "I simply meant that you'd get to see it. Of course, if I'd have known any better, I might have just done this without you, but I did need drones to do all my dirty work. A seventeen year old girl would draw too much attention, especially if she never ages." Daggers sprouted from her fingers. "You didn't question when I disposed of that pathetic Paulina girl, nor when I sent you to take care of the abomination's sister. Why did you think I'd get rid of them? Because I couldn't have them talking." She forced one dagger through his stomach. "The same goes for you." Another followed suit, pressing through the flesh.

Xanu gasped as the pain seized him. Depravity went on. "Besides. If I gave you that power, you'd get in my way, and I can't have that. I'll take that little weapon for myself, and with it I'll finally put an end to the boy, something you couldn't do. You have no idea how skilled he can be, so this shall be entirely up to me. As I said," she whispered, sticking him with a third dagger in his ribs, which tore into his lungs, "You are no longer needed. Good bye, Xanu. I'll be sure your men get a proper farewell."

The fourth dagger entered his heart and she twisted it, then ripped it out and thrust it into his neck.

"NO!" Danny shouted, materializing out of thin air and leaping at Depravity.

"We need to get out of here," Dib whispered, yanking Sam's arm. She nodded and got to her feet, weakly since she hadn't had control of her own body in over fifty years. She stumbled after him, and the pair fled into the street. They didn't stop for a long time, not until they were a safe distance from the warehouse.

Sam leaned against the wall of a building and slid down, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Danny... we just left him there! She's going to kill him!" she shouted, putting her head on her arms. Dib patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

"I don't think she'll kill him..."

"Yes, she will. She hates him, more than anyone in existence. She's not going to stop until she literally rips his heart out!"

Dib thought a moment. "Now... that's... well, a bit morbid."

"TACOS!" came a shriek from behind them. Dib sighed.

"Where's Zim?" he asked.

"Master is with the... other... thingy..." he said, his eyes screwed up in concentration. Dib nodded.

"Well, Zim is with him, so they might stand a chance..."

"You have no idea how powerful she is, do you?" she asked, leaning her head back again. Dib shook his head. "Depravity, at her most powerful, can become one with the elements. She commands darkness, she can shoot plasma from her hands, and let's top that off with the fact that she's got a brand-new body that can morph into whatever the hell she wants. She's got something inside her, too, but I don't think she'd use it if she cared for her own life."

Dib nodded. "Okay... well what are we supposed to do?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I tried to find a weakness while she was overshadowing me, but I couldn't find any. She locked herself up tight."

"Well crud. What're we gonna do then?"

"I dunno, but we can't just leave Danny to take her on alone. We've got to get her away from him. I need to know something, though. What happened to him? How is he still alive?"

"When Xanu shot him, it was only in the arm. Danny went into the... ghost... thing... and waited there until the portal was reactivated again... er... by me. I don't know why he's still a kid, though..." he muttered, placing a hand behind his head. "Anyways, we'd better get moving. If she's as powerful as you said, there isn't much time."

Gir waddled up next to him. "Are we gonna save my master?"

Dib nodded. "Let's go."

"You've got to be joking," Depravity said, yawning, clutching Danny's fist. "You think you're being all noble and righteous, don't you? Too bad, you're just a bit too late," she whispered, smirking and tossing him across the room like a rag doll. Danny flipped back and landed in a crouch, sliding back as he hit the ground. Zim leaped forward, his metal legs firing off volleys of plasma at the ancient. She bolted across the room and around, spinning into a sweeping kick and knocking the Irken clean on the floor.

And then Danny was up again, green plasma shooting from his hands. Depravity countered and attacked, causing Danny to go intangible for an instant to avoid the waves of darkness. When he rematerialized she was there, and kicked him up through the roof.

She blasted up after him.

Zim got up off the ground, slowly and painfully, and his pack opened. One of his metal legs dropped the cuff into his hand and he leaped up through the ceiling after Danny and Depravity.

Their fight was intense, that much was certain. Danny was having a hard time avoiding her blows. She was toying with him, and Zim could see it. If he didn't do something, Danny wasn't going to be just half-dead.

Depravity smashed down on him with her hands laced, her blow coming down on his back and sending him shooting to the ground.

"What's wrong, you little freak? Where's your power now?" she giggled, rushing down to meet him and kicking him hard in the chest. Danny groaned under the pressure and hit the ground, hard.

He growled as he sat up. "That's a good question..." he muttered, and threw up his hands to block the punches she was throwing at him. The glowing green dome enveloped him, protecting him for a few precious minutes.

"Hey! Albino!" someone shouted, and Depravity stopped, turning to see who'd shouted at her. She was met with a volley of searing hot plasma that knocked her clear down the block. Zim blew slightly and the steam from his pack vanished as he smiled. She stood.

"Oh you little rat-" she started, only to meet a hard fist directly in her jaw, courtesy of Danny. She stumbled and slid back again, clutching her face where he'd hit her. There was a slight dent from the force of his impact.

"Power's not all asleep," he said, smirking slightly. "If you piss me off again, you're going to regret-"

"DANNY!"

He turned, and there she was, standing with the boy and the dog. When he turned back, Depravity was gone.

"Ah, Lady Depravity, you have returned, and mostly unharmed, I see," Jaston said, giving her another sweeping bow.

"Mostly?" Depravity echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"You're jaw. There's a slight dent."

She nodded and made a mental note to fix that. "That's not important right now. What is important is the tasks I have for each of you. The boy will stop at nothing to see to it that I am removed, so to speak. I want to make absolutely certain that he is so broken that he can no longer fight me. It will make it easier if we plan to take this plane of existence."

"Take this plane? But my lady, I thought you simply wanted to destroy it."

"My time working with these worthless humans has shown me something. Mortals can be used, for good or evil, and when the right price is given, they'll do anything. So I shall use them to further my power. With their evil, I can finally storm the gates of heaven and hell and take them as well. First, there are some certain deities that must be removed. First, Ravial must die. Her connection with this planet will make it too difficult to take by force. With her gone, that'll leave us open to taking this entire world and the filthy inhabitants. Next we must dispose of Cirria. She'll have the second greatest connection to the planet. Though, now that I look back on it, I don't think she's in her immortal form. I can't remember where she is, anymore."

Jaston nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem, my Lady."

She smiled and went on. "After that, we must be rid of Kalliva, for she can bring us ill fortune, as she is the sea. Once those three are out of my way, we can move to conquer Hell. My father must be the first to go. I know that a year before the boy killed me, you almost destroyed him, is that true?" she asked, eying Miriana.

"Oh yes, and what a thrill it was!" she chimed, clasping her hands. "Hysteria is such a nasty disease..."

Depravity nodded. "Alright then, you shall go to hell and see what you can do about my father and the other three. Once Father is gone, I shall go to heaven and dispose of my mother and siblings. That shouldn't take too long. Jaston, while we're in heaven and hell, I want you to influence these pathetic humans. Bring them under my command."

"Yes, madam."

"Dan, I have a special task for you," she said, turning to the dark incarnation of the Ghost Boy. "I want you to eliminate Mobieus."

"Who?" he asked, arching a flaming eyebrow.

"I believe you know him as... Clockwork. I want you to kill Clockwork."

He sneered. "Now that, I can do."

Depravity sneered. "Once we pull off our little coup, it won't be long before all of their power becomes my own."

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam asked, kneeling beside him and gently pressing two fingers to his ribs in several spots. He didn't answer, but instead pulled her into a tight hug.

"Sam..." he whispered, closing his eyes. "I thought..."

Zim sighed. "Ah-hem. We do have business..." he said irritably. "And I do certainly hope you aren't going to forget about it with your mushy human affections."

Danny chuckled. "Okay... where'd she go?" His response was shrugs and the shaking of Sam's head. He sighed. "Okay... we'd better-"

His sentence was cut short as the warehouse was blown sky high.