Here it is, and like I promised, it is now the longest chapter so far. I hope you guys are good and stuffed, cause here is chapter 9. Before you begin reading, I would like take a second to thank Quick-Demon for a sexy awsome fan art the dude did. A link to it is posted on my profile page, so check it out when you get the chance. Now, lets get on with the show...uh...I mean fanfic!
Chapter 09: The Ghost Army Unleashed
Riku, Kairi, Axel, Valerie, and the King ran after Sora. Danny was about to go ghost, when Sam stopped him. "You can't go ghost, Valerie will wonder how the ghost-boy got here," she said, "She might even figure out you're Danny Phantom." Danny realized that she was right.
He then noticed that Sam had her Keyblade out. He quickly looked into her eyes and commanded, "No, you're not going out there." Sam replied, "Danny, I have to. They need all the help they can get. Besides, you saw how I fought against the Heartless back home."
Danny couldn't help but face the facts. Sam was right, as always. He let Sam run off as he walked back to Jazz and Tucker. Tucker smiled and replied, "Not as much fun sitting in the sidelines, is it?" Danny sighed and replied, "Damn straight." Jazz glared at Danny and replied, "Watch your language, little brother." Danny rolled his eyes and turned to battle before him.
Sora ran up next to Donald and Goofy, who were happy to see their old friend. "Just like old times, eh?" said Sora as he sliced through a Soldier. Donald replied, "Unfortunely, you're right. Heartless, Heartless, Heartless, there's no end to them." Goofy then said, "Gwarsh, Donald, at least it means that we get to spend more time together." Donald rolled his eyes as he cast a Firaga spell at a group of Shadows.
The King and Axel ran up to Leon and began to fight alongside him. "I see you got our message, your majesty," said Leon as he slashed through several Morning Stars. King Mickey took out an Assault Rider before asking, "Is this Maleficent's doing?" Leon replied, "We can only assume so."
Leon then noticed Axel next to him, and was about to attack him, when the King said, "Don't worry, Leon. Axel's with us." Axel slashed through a group of Soldiers, and then replied, "Got that memorized, Leon?"
Sam, Valerie, and Kairi charged into the swarm of Heartless, weapons at the ready. When they reached the swarm, they attacked. Although they were rookies at fighting, Kairi and Sam were holding their own. They sliced their way through the swarm, taking out Heartless one by one. Valerie, however, was far better than both of them. Using her ghost-hunting equipment, she was able to take out Heartless much faster than the other two teens.
Riku joined Tifa and Yuffie as they fought against a Behemoth. Tifa ran up to one of it's legs, and gave it a hard roundhouse kick. As she did that, Yuffie tossed her ninja star and got the Behemoth in the eye. Riku then went to the attack on it's horn. Sure enough, it was quickly disposed of.
Kairi and Sam were back to back as they fought off Soldiers and Shadows. "So, is this much different from your average life?" asked Kairi as she sliced through another Soldier. Sam slashed through a Shadow before answering, "Not really, except for the fact that I'm the one who's fighting, instead of Danny."
Kairi cast a Blizzard spell and then asked, "Yeah, why isn't he fighting?" Sam sliced through a Shadow and a Soldier, and began to explain Danny's situation. After having finished, Kairi replied, "So, was it before or after he got his powers that you fell for him?"
Sam staggered and stuttered, "W-What?" She quickly regained her balance and fought back the Heartless as Kairi replied, "I can see it in the way you look at him." Sam decided to try and change the subject.
"Well, what about you and Sora?" asked Sam as she slashed through a Morning Star. Unlike Sam, Kairi didn't stagger and simply replied, "Well, of course I like him. And I can tell he likes me. It's just seems that no matter how many Heartless and Nobodies he's faced, he's still too shy to ask me out."
Sam couldn't help but laugh, as did Kairi, and they continued to fight through the Heartless.
"I wonder what they're laughing about?" said Tucker as he, Danny, and Jazz sat at the entrance of the Crystal Fissure. Jazz replied in a know-it-all tone, "Probably about their love lives." Tucker turned to Jazz and replied, "How do you know?" Jazz gave him a look that said "cause I just know."
Danny paid no attention to their conversation, and instead kept his focus on the battle before him. "I should be out there, helping them fight…making sure Sam doesn't get hurt," thought Danny as he watched her fight against the Heartless.
Meanwhile, near Maleficent's Castle…
Stealx found the perfect spot to open the portal. He took out his communicator and contacted Yemd, but was surprised to see that it was Venn. "Hello, Stealx," Venn replied with his chilling voice, "Yemd and the others went to gather our ghost army. You may open the portal whenever you are ready." Stealx nodded and replied, "Understood. Stealx over and out."
Stealx put away his communicator and then proceeded to focus his energy on making a portal. It would be difficult, for his was no longer on the same world as the Ghost Zone, and that making a portal to a far off world would be difficult. But he knew that it was possible.
After a few minutes of concentration, Stealx was able to open the portal. After doing so, he got down on one knee, and bowed to the portal, or rather, the person who came out of the portal. "Excellent work, Stealx," proclaimed Master Xehanort, "you may stand."
At his leader's command, Stealx stood back up. The rest of the Chasers walked out of the portal, each one of them carry a thermos. Venn was the last to step through the portal, and handed Stealx one of two thermoses he was carrying.
The portal was active for just a few moments more, before vanishing into thin air. Then the Chasers turned to their leader, awaiting his next word. "Phase one is now complete," Master Xehanort proclaimed, "we have returned to our worlds!"
He took a deep breath and added, "Now, we must find a base of operations." He looked to his right to see Maleficent's Castle. He sighed and said, "It seems Maleficent has already acquired her old castle." He turned back to his followers and continued, "It would seem that we need to seek another world for our base of operations. Let us leave this world."
"Master Xehanort," said Yemd all of a sudden, "perhaps, before we leave, we should leave Hollow Bastion a going away present." Master Xehanort smiled at this suggestion and replied, "Grand idea, Yemd. Proceed."
Yemd turned to the direction of the town, and then pressed the release button on the thermos. He released a few hundred Octopi ghosts before shutting the thermos off. The ghosts turned to him, awaiting his command.
Yemd took a deep breath and yelled, "Go! And reek havoc on the town of Hollow Bastion!" Without hesitation, the ghosts followed their orders and flew in the direction of the town. Having released the ghosts, the Chasers gathered together and opened a portal. They entered and disappeared.
"Hmm…this is all very interesting."
All of a sudden, a ghost appeared out of nowhere. He had black spiky hair, a white suit and cape, blood-red eyes, and had ghost-blue skin. It was Vlad Plasmius.
He had a smile on his face as he took a look at his surroundings. "So, this is but one of the worlds those "Chasers" were talking about," Vlad said aloud. He chuckled and continued, "It was definitely a wise decision to remain invisible during their conversations, or else I would have never known about these worlds."
As he continued to scan the surroundings, he continued to talk to himself. "That Ansem Report and Secret Ansem Report really did explain a lot as well. These "Heartless" sound like the most excellent creatures to use as minions."
Due to his carelessness, Vlad was unaware of a large figure sneaking up behind him. When the figure was close enough, he slammed his fist hard into the back of Vlad's head, knocking the half-ghost out.
The figure laughed with pride as Vlad turned into his human form, known as Vlad Masters. The figure picked up Vlad with great ease, and placed him on his shoulder. He then proclaimed, "Ha! My dear Maleficent will be so pleased when I bring her this intruder." The figure ran in the direction of Maleficent's Castle.
Back in the Great Maw…
The King, Sora, and Riku teamed up to take on the last Behemoth, while everyone else fought back the Heartless. The King and Riku started to attack it's front legs, as Sora went directly for it's horn. It didn't take long for the Keyblade Wielders to vanquish the Behemoth.
When the last Behemoth was gone, the rest of the Heartless began to retreat. It looked like the battle was over. Suddenly, hundreds of Octopi ghosts appeared from the sky, flying down towards the Great Maw.
"How did ghosts get here?" thought Valerie as she fought back several ghosts. She was suddenly caught from behind by a ghost, landing hard on the ground, although still conscious.
"Valerie's down! Now I can help everyone," thought Danny as he stood up and began to go ghost. As he did, Valerie picked her head up just in time to see Danny's transformation. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her ex-boyfriend was her arch enemy. She quickly put her head down, pretending she was knocked out.
Having turned fully into his ghost form, Danny flew over to the other fighters and began to help fight the ghosts.
Riku was the closet one to Danny, and asked, "What took you so long?" Danny replied, "Well, you see, these powers I have are a…" Danny blasted a group of ghosts, then continued, "…are a secret to everyone on my world, except for my sister Jazz, Tucker, and…" Interrupted by a ghost heading his way, Danny went invisible, snuck around it, then reappeared and blasted it. He then continued, "…Sam."
"Valerie over there," Danny pointed to the "knocked out" ghost-hunter, "she sees me as her arch enemy, but it was all just a misunderstanding." Riku slashed through a ghost, before replying, "So, what you're saying, is that you have an alter-ego?" Danny dodged some attacks before replying, "Yeah, that's what I'm saying."
Sam had just sliced through a ghost, when she turned around to see some Heartless had appeared and were running over to Jazz and Tucker. She dashed in the direction of the Heartless, when another group of Heartless formed around her.
She was about to attack, when she felt the Keyblade moving by itself. It thrusted itself into the sky, and began to suck in all the Heartless nearby. It then thrusted in the direction of the Heartless near Jazz and Tucker. It began to shoot the Heartless that had been sucked up at the Heartless near Jazz and Tucker, hitting it's target every time.
When she was finished, all the Heartless had been destroyed. Kairi ran up to Sam and said, "Wow! What do you call that limit attack?" Sam thought about it, remembering that it felt like she was holding the Fenton Thermos. She then replied, "Its called "Phantom Thermos." Then she thought about it, and asked, "Um…what's a limit attack?"
Having seen the attack, the remaining ghosts got scared and flew away. Danny turned around and flew over to Sam. He changed back as he landed in front of her and said, "Wow, Sam. That was cool." Sam blushed and replied, "Thanks Danny."
Jazz and Tucker ran up to the three and Tucker said, "Thanks Sam, you saved us." Jazz added, "That was really impressive, great job!" This made Sam blush even more. She suddenly remembered about Valerie, but turned to find that she was already back up and walking towards them.
"Ok, just get him alone and you'll finally get your revenge," Valerie told herself as she walked over to her friends. "Are you ok?" Valerie was startled by the sudden voice, and turned around to find Riku standing in front of her. "Um…yeah," stuttered Valerie, feeling embarrassed for some strange reason, "I-I'm alright."
Riku put his hand on her shoulder, to Valerie's surprise, and replied, "You sure?" Valerie blushed, and took a minute before replying, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm…um…just embarrassed I was knocked out again, that's all."
Riku smiled and replied, "Don't be. You're a great fighter by my standards." Valerie felt her heart beat faster, having no idea what to say. She didn't have to, for Riku said, "Come on, lets go see how the others are doing." All Valerie could do was nod and follow Riku.
It seemed as if everyone had gathered into one big group and had already introduced themselves to each other by the time Riku and Valerie got to the group. After Valerie introduced herself to the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, she went and stood next to her friends as Leon turned to face the King.
"Your Majesty," said Leon, bowing to the King, "thank you for coming to our aid. But, do you know what those strange creatures were just now?" The King shook his and was about to reply, but Danny interrupted. "We do."
They had all traveled back to Merlin's House before the Amity Park residents told them all about the ghosts. After the explanation, King Mickey replied, "So, we now know that these creatures are ghosts, right?" He turned to Danny before asking, "Do you know how they got here?" Danny and all his friends shrugged, having no clue as to how the ghosts were here.
"Hmm…maybe Master Yen Sid will know!" Sora said, the thought having just crossed his mind. King Mickey thought about this, and then proclaimed, "He just might. Come on, everybody! It's time to go see Master Yen Sid!"
Before they left, the King gave the teens munny and told them to split up and gather supplies, incase something else happens on their way to Master Yen Sid. Somehow, Danny and Valerie got paired up and began to walk to through the market.
"Um…hey," Valerie suddenly said, breaking a long silence between them, "Could I talk to you in private?" Danny thought nothing of it and replied, "Sure." They entered an alley, when all of a sudden, Valerie pulled out her Ecto-Rifle and shoved it into Danny's face.
Danny lost his voice and didn't know what was going on, but Valerie was quick to explain. "I saw you transform," she said, not even moving a muscle, "I wasn't unconscious when I was hit. In fact, I was about to get back up, when I saw you transforming. I decided to stay down, so that later, I could get you alone." She began to powered up her rifle and said, "Say your prayers, Danny Phantom."
"Wait, Valerie!" said Danny, having found his voice again, "I didn't mean to make you dad lose his job, its was just…" But Valerie interrupted him, putting her rifle into his mouth. "Shut up, Danny!" shouted Valerie, tears in her eyes, "I can't believe my ex-boyfriend has been my arch enemy all this time. Don't make this any harder for me."
Sudden, Valerie's rifle was knocked out of her hands. She turned to find the Riku had taken her weapon. "Maybe you should let him explain," said Riku, a sort of maturity heard in his voice, "before you go killing him."
Her eyes were like Niagara Falls, she had trouble breathing, but after a minute, she regained herself, turned to Danny, and replied, "Explain."
Danny told Valerie about how he tried to stop Cujo the Ghost-Dog and how they had accidentally destroyed Axion Lab. He explained that he never meant to get her father fired and that he's sorry for everything that has ever happened to her.
After he had finished, he looked into Valerie's eyes and waited for her response. She tried not to, but Valerie ended up crying again. Riku handed her the rifle back and said, "Ok, now you can kill him."
Danny was shocked by Riku's statement, watching Riku walk up to a wall and lean against it. Danny turned back to Valerie, only to find her staring at the ground, still crying. To his surprise, Valerie dropped the rifle, ran up to him, and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Danny," she cried as she squeezed him tightly, "I just wanted to get revenge so badly, when I should have gotten the facts first."
She released Danny from her hug, and then said, "Now that I think about it, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know that it was only because I was well off with money, that I was popular. Because of you," she said, hugging him again, "I have true friends now."
She released Danny again and then walked up to Riku. She took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, Riku." Riku simply smiled and replied, "Your welcome."
After having gathered all the supplies they needed, the teens, Axel, and King Mickey entered the Highwind Mark V and waved goodbye to the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. Sora was disappointed that Donald and Goofy decided to stay, but understood that they wanted to be here incase more Heartless or ghosts show up.
They then went into the cockpit and began to make ready for lift off. The Highwind Mark V lifted off the ground and began to hover over Radiant Garden. "Off to Twilight Town!" proclaimed King Mickey as they blasted off into space.
Meanwhile, in Maleficent's Castle…
"Ugh…my head," groaned Vlad as he began to stir. "Maleficent, he's awake!" Vlad opened his eyes to find himself in some sort of chamber, locked in chains. He saw his capturer, a large and fat anthropomorphic cat. "Hmm…could this be a Heartless?" thought Vlad, when suddenly, the door to the chamber flew opened.
A woman with green skin, yellow eyes, and devil-like horns walked into the chamber. She wore a black robe that seemed to slither on the floor. On her shoulder was a raven and in her hand, she held a staff. "This must be Maleficent," thought Vlad as she continued to walk towards him."
She stopped, turned to her assistant, and replied in a spine-chilling voice, "Thank you Pete. Now, leave us!" Pete bowed and replied, "Yes, my queen." Pete then walked out of the chamber and closed the door.
She turned to Vlad and asked, "Why did Leon send you?" Vlad was confused and replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Maleficent didn't miss a beat and quickly replied, "Don't be a fool, tell me what is it your after." Vlad smiled and replied, "As I said, I have no idea what you're talking about, and more importantly, I don't care."
Vlad turned ghost, and went through the chains with ease. He looked back at Maleficent, only to be surprised to see she was unfazed. He suddenly realized he was surround by demon/angel-like black creatures with yellow eyes. He turned back to her and asked, "What are these creatures?"
"Hmm," said Maleficent as she began to pace, "Those are interesting powers you have there. And if you do not know what the Heartless are, then you could not be working with Leon." Vlad looked around at the creatures and replied, "So these are Heartless?" Maleficent turned to him and asked, "I thought you didn't know anything about the Heartless?"
Vlad turned to her and pulled out documents, showing her. "I see," she said, her eyes on the documents, "you got your hands on the Ansem Reports." Vlad smiled and replied, "As well as the Secret Ansem Report."
Maleficent shot her eyes at him and replied, "Really? Let me see them, then." Vlad pulled the document back and asked, "Why should I?" For the first, he saw Maleficent smile. "Because I think this could be the start of a beautiful relationship." After hearing her say this, Vlad smiled as well, and replied, "Indeed."
And there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed it, because that's where the story ends. HA HA, just kidding. In fact, I don't know how long this story will go on. All I can say is that this story won't end for a long time. Well, I give you guys thanks for staying with or joining me in the is journey, and I can't wait to give you more. But until the next update, all I can say, is see ya later.