I believe one to two more chapters will bring us to a close.
"You brought this upon yourself"-Dark to Gray
A grey sphere appeared atop a warehouse, pulsating and rotating several times before dissolving. Where before the rooftop was empty, save groups of air conditioners and slanted glass panes, two people now occupied the space. The Creator and Paulina stood facing each other, just as they had when the higher being first began the process of unlocking her mind. They stared at each other for several moments before Paulina fell to her knees, tears pooling in her yellow eyes. Everything came rushing back to her; her life as a human, small snippets of Danny Fenton's life granted by his ghost blood, and images from the blood of the scorpion also used in her creation.
For the first time since her death she was truly herself again, along with the memories of everything she had done since her 'resurrection'. While part of her was heartbroken at all that had taken place, a greater part of her was angry. She wasn't angry at the being across from her, for her gave her a second chance at life, in his own way. No, she was angry at Technus and Skulker for seeking to use her in some pointless scheme against Danny Phantom. Perhaps she would be more shocked about the fact that the Ghost Boy she had such a crush on was actually the dork of Casper High, Danny Fenton. However, right now that wasn't important.
While Paulina was having her internal thoughts sorted, The Creator had turned his attention towards a disturbance in the distance. Frowning, the feeling was one that he had not felt in a long time. "It would seem that I underestimated you brother. I won't make that mistake again." In a flash of light The Creator disappeared, leaving Paulina to recover on her own. The Halfa fell to her knees, taking deep breaths in an attempt to quell what felt like a panic attack coming on. Looking at her hand, her eyes narrowed and with just a smidge of thought she transformed into her Ghost form.
Her form had changed ever-so-slightly due to The Creator's actions. Her back was now free of the large spikes that had before spread all over, her shirt instead covering segmented flesh. Her elbows also sported a spike poking out from her skin. They were nearly a foot long, black, and ended in a deadly point that could no doubt cause some serious damage. The last change was the stinger on her tail. Where before it looked like an arrowhead, now the end of her tail looked like a double-pronged fork. Bladed and with sharp points, the appendage was more formidable looking that ever.
Taking another breath Paulina stood on shaky legs before glancing in the direction that The Creator had before his departure. Something had obviously been important enough to draw his attention away from her, and even though that irritated her, she had to wonder what could do so. He had mentioned a brother, just as he had done before unlocking her memories. If there was someone that could rival him in power, but was going about using that power to oppress, then that seemed reason enough in her mind for the being to leave her.
However, she wondered if there was something she could, or should, do. Without a second thought The Creator had gone after the disturbance. Would she be in the way if she were to go after him and attempt to assist the higher being? Would this brother that The Creator mentioned destroy her? Truly none of that mattered, not really, in light of the fact that there was a chance the being could be part of the reason she had been killed. If for nothing else she wanted more answers, and the desire for revenge was rapidly growing within now that she had access to her memories again.
Growling to herself the hybrid levitated off the roof, keeping her concentration on the thought of staying in the air, and with another thought flew in the direction that her senses told her multiple energy signatures resided. One way or another Paulina was going to get answers and payback, even if it cost her life a second time. Whether it was The Creator or his brother that the Latina would have to fight didn't matter.
With Danny
Another slash of blades sent Danny flying away in pain, blood seeping from the marks already inflicted alongside the new ones. For twenty minutes Danny had tried fighting this powerful being that claimed to be the ruler of Hell, but every attack was either countered or completely ignored. With the amount of damaged he'd taken it was a miracle that he had not turned back into his human state. Crashing to the ground and rolling a few times the hero glared angrily at the slowly approaching God, who'd taken to licking green blood from his blades with a smile.
"Such wonderful taste. You were made artificially through an accident that much I know, but your ghost blood tastes so wonderful. Unless I knew the difference I might not be able to tell. Sad really, with such power I thought you would pose some challenge to test out my rejuvenated state. Perhaps next time I decide to fight someone I'll find someone worth their strength." Stopping next to Danny the Hell God looked down at him in disappointment. While a part of him knew from the beginning that Danny would not beat him, he at least expected a stronger resistance from the boy. Having been in such a decrepit state for so long before taking Desiree's essence had essentially left him 'out-of-shape'.
Ah, but he wouldn't be disappointed for much longer. A flash of light and now standing opposite from him was The Creator. "It's been so long Gray, I'd begun to think you'd forgotten about me." His blades dissolved into nothing, the Hell being calmly putting his hands on his hips. "Of course I could never forget what you did to me brother. Of all the conflicts you, sister, and I have had none of us have ever resorted to draining the loser of their power. Such….cruelty is unbecoming of you I think." His lips turned into a smirk, happy to see that his sibling was shocked at the sight of his rejuvenated body.
Gray's eyes narrowed in frustration and disappointment. "Had you not decided to involve the Human Realm then you would not have been punished so. Your multiple genocides, incited just to increase your own power against Light and I, could no longer be accepted. I think you should be happy that I'm the one that punished you instead of Mother. Anything she would have done would far outshine anything I could do."
Now it was Dark's turn to narrow his eyes. "Don't talk to me as if you were doing me a favor. You grew tired of our fighting so you decided to take me out of the equation. Light has no true desire for conflict, while you balance us out. Since I seek enjoyment through battle I do whatever it takes to entertain myself. Have you forgotten that we are Gods? Last time I checked we could do whatever we damn well desired!" Dark's eyes were nearly glowing black at this point, showing how truly angry he was. The ruler of Hell took an unneeded breath and pointed at the ruler of the Ghost Zone. "Now that I have drained every last bit of power from the Genie I am more powerful than the last time we fought. Perhaps this time I'll leave you a powerless husk!" Without warning Dark rushed Gray, his black blades appearing once more. Gray pulled back a fist and when the two Gods struck their attacks shattered the sound barrier instantly. Accompanying the boom was a blinding flash of light that forced everyone to look away.
When the light died down and everyone could see once more, they discovered that Dark and Gray had disappeared, leaving a severely injured Danny Phantom alongside a newly arrived Paulina. Danny somehow managed to look up at the other teen, wondering what she was doing here and if perhaps this is where he would meet his end. However, to his shock, Paulina pulled the boy to his feet and situated herself to support his weight enough to get him standing. With but a thought Paulina levitated into the air and flew away towards someone she'd seen on her way here. The police could only look on in confusion and frustration. They were not equipped to deal with these sorts of situations, but because they did not have the proper funding or weapons to fight against ghosts they were always left feeling useless.
It was a most sour taste they had to chew on, and as the senior officers set about having men and women enter the building from which one of the four 'ghosts' had come from, they knew that one way or another they needed help.
Elsewhere
Star waited anxiously next to her car for Danny to return. He had been gone for nearly 45 minutes now, and aside from the occasional flashes of light from the direction he'd gone there had been no word of any kind to her. Even when he would temporarily be on the losing side of a fight the couple would communicate with each other to come up with tactics or some such things. This complete blackout worried her deeply, and brought to mind the only two events where Danny had told her he truly thought he was going to die: Pariah Dark and Dan.
If Danny were facing off against something of that caliber then obviously she would do no good. However, she wished she knew at least something about what was going on. She…wait…..something was flying towards her. Pulling out some Fenton-Oculars she gasped when she saw Paulina coming her way with a very injured Danny slung on her shoulder. When the duo touched down moments later Star rushed to her boyfriend's side without a second thought. Several spots on his uniform were gone, revealing burned skin that had blistered and lightly bleeding.
Tears filled her eyes looking at how hurt he was. Yes there had been times in the past when he'd been injured fighting off ghosts, but it had never been this bad. Even when he'd gone up against Dan it had not turned out like this. Seeing movement in the corner of her eye Star watched as Paulina moved a clawed finger above Danny's forehead and lightly tapped it. That was enough to send him out of his Ghost mode, leaving the now human boy in a state just as bad as before.
"Star," The blonde looked up at Paulina. "I swear that I will do what I can to pay back the person that did this to him. I know that…we weren't the best of friends and that our friendship ended rather badly, but I know better now. I will protect you both, even if I have to die a second time." The Latina held out her hand in offering, a determined look on her face that Star had only ever seen when the girl was plotting to be mean to someone in school. Now, however, the expression promised that the Hybrid would stick by her word no matter what.
Slowly Star placed her delicate hand in Paulina's scaled one. Her old friend lightly squeezed for a second before turning around and flying back the way she came. Hoping that Paulina would be alright Star pulled out her cell phone and called Sam. Only two rings passed before the Goth picked up. "Sam, I need you and Tucker to meet me somewhere safe. I've got Danny with me and he's in bad shape." After being told to come to the Manson home since Sam's parents were out of town, Star carefully placed Danny in her car and drove as fast as she could. While they didn't have any miracle cures or things of that nature, Team Phantom did have one or two Fenton inventions that helped to make the healing process on people suffering from Ectoplasmic injuries go smoother. Star prayed that other than what she could see on the outside that Danny was not inflicted with any life-threatening injuries.
Back with Paulina
This was the last straw for the Latina. In the past year she had been made poor, homeless, an orphan, dead, a living-dead Hybrid, and a pawn. No more she decided. While she was a bit angry at The Creator for not telling her from the start why she had been brought back to life, and without her full memory, it was obvious that the real culprit was someone or something else. Whatever they were, they were going to pay dearly for the darkness that she had experienced, and if she died in the process at least she would find peace in the next life.
Ignoring the startled and perhaps hostile looks from the numerous police and increasing number of National Guard surrounding the building where she had picked up Danny, the Hybrid landed gently on the pavement in front of the destroyed entrance and calmly waited. She did not know where The Creator was, or his adversary, but she was willing to bet they would return. When they did, she would be ready, and she would strike.
