I've been wanting to post this chapter for so long, but writing chapter 12 was fraught with writer's block that had me stumped in a few places as to how to proceed, but I made things work in the end. So now that 12 is complete, 11 is ready to be presented to you. We now return to find out how Danny plans on breaking free from Walker's clutches.
Walker sat in the chair in his office, twiddling a pair of Fenton Phones in his fingers as he focused his gaze upon one of the glass cases on the wall behind his desk. Behind the glass was a weathered, and torn piece of parchment with strange shapes and symbols drawn onto it. His gaze was only torn away when the door to his office was thrown open. He swiveled around in his chair and locked eyes with Nocturne as he came barging into the room with Bullet and a prison guard following close behind.
"I cannot be summoned on a whim, like one of your loyal dogs!" the ghost of sleep spat angrily, pointing an accusatory finger at the guard that had followed him into the room. The guard glared at him angrily, noticeably insulted, but chose not to say anything while in the presence of the warden.
"So long as you and I are aligned with Plasmius' goals; and as long as your services are bound and required in my prison, and he has need of you and your abilities, you will heed all requests and demands I make of you," Walker informed him thusly, keeping his tone calm all the while. "Now then, about the simulator-" he began talking business with the darker specter before he was cut off.
"I think you overestimate the damage that was done to the machine!" Nocturne snapped at him angrily before he took a deep breath and calmed himself. "The circuitry was utterly fried, and the computer terminal itself was completely vaporized. It's beyond salvageable without aid from those whom actually built it and originally programmed it," he explained to the warden. "I could still slip the two hybrids into their own little dream worlds-," he suggested, "-but you and Plasmius have explicitly debunked that idea on the grounds that I would siphon off their dream energy if I did that," he reminded the warden, his frustration apparent.
"That's because you can't without siphoning off their dream energy," Bullet taunted him, grinning and folding his arms.
"Perhaps, then, you'd like to donate to the cause!?" Nocturne snapped at him, furious over the Bounty Hunter's mocking of his abilities.
"That's enough!" Walker shouted at them; Bullet grinned with a smug satisfaction as Nocturne seared daggers into him with his own penetrating gaze. "Phantom and his clone will just have to be kept contained in the isolation ward," he determined before glancing at his lone prison guard. "That means your men will have to find other means of entertainment," he warned the guard, much to the lesser ghost's dismay.
"Not that I don't have faith in the isolation ward, Walker," Bullet spoke up, sounding serious once more as he had dropped the air of arrogance he'd held when taunting Nocturne. "But do you really think he can be contained down there for very long?" he questioned, sounding quite concerned. "I mean, Wulf managed to escape," he reminded his superior.
"Wulf escaped because we let him out on too long of a leash," Walker reminded his subordinate. "A mistake I don't intend on makin' again," he vowed with determination. "Besides," he resumed with an air of renewed confidence. "I've kept Paradox locked up down there since before this prison was even established; I have no doubt that a weaker ghost of Phantom's caliber would be hard pressed to escape so easily, even with help from the other prisoners."
"That won't stop him from at least trying," Bullet reminded him as the guard nodded in agreement. "As long as there's even the tiniest shred of hope-," he said as he held up his hand and pinched his finger and thumb together, "-he won't hesitate to jump at any opportunity to break out," he warned.
"This is true," Nocturne also agreed, turning his attention back to the warden. "He is very persistent," he admitted begrudgingly.
"So, we just need to drain him of all the hope he has left?" the guard inquired, glancing around at the other three.
"Walker, I may have a suggestion," Bullet proposed. "If I may?" he asked of the warden's permission.
"Go ahead. Enlighten us," he agreed. "Pray tell what you've concocted," he proclaimed as he leaned back in his chair with his hands interlaced behind his head as he kicked his feet up onto the desk.
"Phantom and the clone were planning an escape with the other prisoners," Bullet began to elaborate. "With security beefed up, and the guards making regular changes to their routines; we can therefore speculate that the only plan they could have come up with on such short notice would have been another riot," he pointed out, earning praises of agreement from the other three before he continued.
"Now, obviously they are going to account for us not releasing him, or the clone, from their cell again; which means, the planned riot would have been used as a distraction; during which time, Phantom and his clone would escape from their cell and await for us to come and check on them afterwards, giving them the opportunity to escape from the isolation ward when we open the door," he explained.
"This is all very elaborate and well thought out," Nocturne congratulated him before he furrowed his brow and scowled at the Bounty Hunter. "But you're not getting to the point fast enough," he warned him.
"Have some patience," Bullet cautioned him tauntingly. "Obviously, even if the two of them could get out of their cell, they still have the spectral cuffs, and would therefore be much easier for us to take down. This would shred whatever hope they had left and would put an end to their plans for breaking out," he concluded with a sinister grin.
"Hmm," Walker pondered for a moment as he thought it over. "I like it," he said with a wicked grin of his own. "Their rebellious nature would be crushed, along with any hope they were holdin' on to of getting' out of here on their terms," he chuckled before he frowned as another thought suddenly occurred to him. "But how do we orchestrate it in a way to lead them into thinkin' that they have the green light to try their escape attempt?" he inquired of the Bounty Hunter with an air of seriousness. "We can't be too obvious about it, even he would see right through it."
"We could just let their original plan pan out on its own," the guard suggested, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, as if it were the most obvious course of action.
Silence fell throughout the room as they all pondered on this suggestion. Walker tapped his fingertips together in deep thought before he smirked maliciously. "Release the Mummy," he ordered with cruel intent.
"Hmm," Paradox hummed as she appeared to be in deep thought. "Flowing streams," she said randomly. "Waterfalls cascading…thick mist condensing…trickling rain drops falling…"
The purpose of her random ramblings were interrupted by the sounds of locks clinking and metal clanking as a cell door was opened, illuminating a dark prison cell and revealing Hotep-ra sitting on the floor in the corner with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around legs. He looked up with disgust as a shadow passed over him. Bullet held the cell door open as he frowned down on the mummy ghost; the guard behind him looking rather disgruntled. "Let's go," Bullet ordered.
"Whatever happened to complete isolation?" Hotep asked cautiously, squinting curiously at the Bounty Hunter.
"You're still allowed time in the mess hall for meals twice a day," Bullet grumbled grudgingly.
Hotep squinted at the Bounty Hunter distrustfully as two guards entered the cell and shot him with their batons, binding his wrists before they forced him to his feet. He willingly allowed himself to be led out of Wulf's old cell and down the hall. He cast a quick glance into the hybrid's cell as he passed by.
Dani stood, leaning against the back wall with her arms folded and her hands balled into fists. She was looking intently at the stone floor with a determined look in her eyes as she squeezed both of her legs together, twitching them occasionally. She looked up and momentarily locked eyes with Hotep who nodded at her before he, Bullet, and the two guards passed out of view.
Standing across from her, leaning against the wall next to the energized bars of their cell with his arms crossed as well, Danny had his eyes closed as if in deep thought. He opened them only after Hotep and the guards had gone by, and glanced towards the energized bars of their cell as Paradox continued her random rambling of water related words as if nothing else had happened.
"…Babbling brooks…dripping water…leaky faucets…pipes bursting…rivers flooding…overflowing…"
Dani groaned in mild discomfort as she began blushing. Her legs were twitching harder than ever as she squeezed them together to stop herself from shaking. She desperately cast her gaze upon the rancid toilet they had been provided, extremely off put by the bubble that gurgled to the surface of the green sludge that sat in the bowl, rather than water.
"Enjoying yourself?" Danny asked, sounding rather casual. His gaze too was upon the toilet, but he'd been referring to Paradox, whom stopped her random mumbling and smirked across from her own cell.
"Immensely," she replied with amusement.
"You're evil, you know that," he growled in annoyance. "Plain and simple."
"Tell me something I don't know," she mused with delight before she turned and floated away from the energized barrier of her cell.
"Don't think that's even possible at this point," he grumbled to himself as he looked up at Dani, whom was starting to dance where she stood. She looked up at him almost pleadingly as tears began to swell in her eyes. "I won't tell a soul," he promised her.
"Turnandfacethewall!" she ordered, speaking so quickly, there was no pause between her words as she dashed for the decrepit commode that would likely scar her for life and become the bane of her existence; all because of Paradox's deliberate subliminal messaging. Evil didn't fully describe the shadow ghost imprisoned across from them; she was beyond deplorable.
He did as she requested and turned away to face the wall against which they had slept the last two nights. With his arms still crossed, he focused on the stone floor as he continued to think. For what purpose would they have for allowing Hotep out of the isolation wing? Perhaps he was being given the same liberties he and Dani had had before Walker decided to keep them locked up at all times? If that were the case, then the only time Hotep would have to coordinate a riot with the other prisoners would be during meals hours, while being watched by guards. He couldn't risk being caught and thrown into permanent isolation. He had to hope that if Hotep still intended on going through with the plan, he would find a way to do it without immediately alerting the guards to what was going on.
In the mess hall, Hotep was having the same deliberation with himself as the guards released him from his bonds before floating away to resume their rounds. He knew that if he was caught discussing plans with anyone else, then he'd be sent right back to the isolation wing and locked up on a more permanent basis. Instead, he'd have to find a way to get the other prisoners to start rioting without discussing it with anyone, and he had less than an hour to do it. The sooner, the better.
He was soon shuffled further into the mess hall by other inmates having been escorted in by other guards. Approaching nearer to the food line, he could overhear a pair of inmates ahead of him.
"Man, I can't stand eating this gruel anymore," one prisoner groaned with disgust as they waited their turn to have their food trays laden with slop from the garbage ghost still serving portions of its own body.
"So go ahead and do something about it then, if it disgusts you that much," the other chastised him.
"No way man!" the first inmate half-shouted so as to not draw attention to them. "The slob is on Walker's payroll," he informed the second inmate in a hushed voice. "Besides, I wouldn't consider getting any closer without a pair of rubber gloves," he sighed with defeat as the garbage ghost dumped a particularly large scoop of gelatinous sloop onto his tray, much to his displeasure.
"Hmm," Hotep pondered after hearing this exchange. He turned and faced the expanse of tables and glanced around the room before his gaze fell on Lydia, sitting with a couple other inmates, but glancing in his direction, her gaze focused on him; her own tray of food lay forgotten on the table in front of her.
With their gazes locked, he nodded his head towards the garbage ghost serving food before he raised a hand with two fingers extended before he began making a scissoring motion. She nodded in understanding before cautiously glancing around the mess hall to be sure their short exchange hadn't been observed by unwanted eyes.
Soon it was Hotep's turn in line to receive food. The garbage ghost was prepared to ladle a portion of itself, but looked at Hotep impatiently as it waited for the mummy ghost to hand over the empty food tray. Hotep squinted at the garbage ghost scathingly as the garbage monsters single eye suddenly widened in worried fear.
Suddenly finding itself wrapped up in numerous paper bandages, it began screaming and roaring in a panicked distress before it was raised off the floor and thrown into the air, raining down pieces of itself onto the inmates below, much to their disgust and fury. The icing on the cake came when Lydia sprang into action.
Imitating Danny from the previous day, she flipped up the table she'd been sitting at, slamming food trays still laden with gruel into the faces of other inmates she'd been sitting with. She then focused her attention onto the still airborne garbage ghost and squinted in disgust as she raised her arms, releasing her tattoos that rose up and swarmed around the terrified garbage ghost. Flying around it at super speeds, they shred the creature to pieces like flying razor blades, sending pieces of him flying all around the room and covering all of the inmates and guards from head to toe and tail in slime and garbage.
The entire room was eerily quiet for several moments before every single inmate went into a furious uproar. Tables were flipped and overturned, punches were thrown; inmates fought with each other and the guards as they desperately tried to restore calm and order. A few hid behind riot shields as they raised their glowing green batons, ready to fire before their baton hands were wrapped up in paper bandages. They gasped fearfully when their gazes followed the bandages back to Hotep as he smirked at them.
"ARGH!" he yelled ferociously as he retracted his bandage wrappings and threw the prison guards across the room where they were piled on by numerous prisoners whom quickly subdued them. "Now's your chance, Phantom," he growled. "We won't be able to keep this up for long."
"RAGH!" another guard yelled as he jumped onto Hotep's back and tried to put him in a strangle hold before the mummy ghost grabbed him by his arms and threw him over his head and into the nearby wall.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
The lights went out, only to be replaced with a flashing red light, and an alarm began blaring within the isolation wing.
With his arms still crossed, Danny looked up from the floor and gawked towards the ceiling. "The riot!" he gasped in surprise when he realized what must have been the cause of the alarm system going off. "It's started!" he shouted, turning towards Dani.
Luckily, she'd finished her "business", and was now refastening the belt she'd been given for hers and Danny's shared birthday. "Hotep won't be able to buy us a lot of time without having the time to coordinate anything with the other prisoners," she informed him as she came up beside him and turned her attention to the glowing energy bars of their cell.
"I hope you've been formulating a plan of your own for getting yourselves out of there," Paradox inquired from her cell across the hall. "That walking corpse of a friend of yours must have pulled a rabbit out of a hat in order to pull this off for you," she commented, regarding the limited time he'd been away from the rest of the prison's population. "I wouldn't let his sacrifice go to waste," she warned.
"Danny?" Dani asked with worry, looking up at him, hoping that he would have figured something out.
"I have an idea," he reassured, but didn't look too reassured himself. "But it's risky," he warned. "It might not even work at all," he added as he raised his arms and looked at the glowing spectral cuffs locked onto his wrists. "Just in case, you may want to stand back a bit," he advised, taking on a very serious tone as he locked his gaze onto the glowing bars of their cell.
Dani followed his gaze to his hands as he flexed his fingers before she looked up at the glowing bars of their cell door, and was instantly filled with absolute horror. "Danny! Don't! You'll shock us both!" she screamed, reaching out a hand to latch onto him in order to stop him, not wanting him to go through with what she now knew he had planned, but she was too late.
Inhaling deeply, Danny had already braced himself before he latched onto the glowing, energized bars of their cell door. "YAAAAH!" he screamed as ecto-electricity from the spectral cuffs interacted with the ecto-electricity from the energized cell bars, before flowing into him and spreading throughout his body.
"DANNY!" Dani screamed in horror as she was forced to watch him being shocked without being able to help him without getting shocked as well. Suddenly, her horror was replaced with surprise as she looked down at her own spectral cuffs. In the past, whenever one set was activated, they would both be shocked, but hers weren't being affected by Danny's selfless act.
"Hmm, so he actually noticed," Paradox mused to herself with a smirk. "I didn't think he'd been paying attention at the time."
After several more seconds passed, Danny finally released his grip on the energized bars. The ecto-electricity stopped flowing, and his body was left smoking as he gasped for breath. He turned his head and smirked at Dani whom was currently looking between his spectral cuffs and her own in confusion.
"I noticed the other day," he informed her, still wheezing to catch his breath. "I grabbed the bars instinctively after Paradox told us that she'd met Vlad down here in the past," he reminded her. "I was shocked, and you weren't," he pointed out. "So, I knew you'd be safe if I went through with this attempt," he confessed.
"But how is killing yourself supposed to get us both out of here!?" she screamed at him, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm hoping that my body will hold out longer than these cuffs," he admitted, once again taking on a sudden seriousness as he looked at his spectral cuffs again.
"That's quite brazen of you, kid," Paradox scolded him. "I thought you were being brave, but that's just plain stupid," she chastised him. "The energy in these barriers is not to be messed with," she warned as she cautiously eyed her own pink energy barrier. "Even I avoid touching them."
"Danny, please," Dani began pleading as tears now streamed from her eyes. "We'll find another way."
"No," Danny replied defiantly, much to her dismay. "We won't get another chance. It's now or never; and I'm getting us out of here, NOW!" he yelled with conviction as he grabbed onto the energized bars of their cell once again, sending ecto-electricity coursing throughout his body. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes tight as he strained to keep from yelling out in agony as he was severely shocked.
For several moments, Dani was once again forced to watch in horror as bolts of electricity threatened to spark outwards away from his body, forcing her to back away further, least she get shocked by a stray bolt.
Even Paradox watched with amazement over his endurance. She hadn't expected him to hold out this long when she herself wouldn't have dared try it. She was yet more surprised when his ghostly glow suddenly began to brighten. "What's this?" she asked herself with interest. Indeed, in her many years of existence, she'd never seen any kind of development such as this before, and it intrigued her immensely.
Dani's look of horror turned to confusion and amazement, as she had seen this kind of development before. He looked as if the ecto-electricity was causing him to tense up, but his muscles had actually become more toned as his eyes began glowing with a brilliant white light. His ghostly glow, which had already begun flowing around him in a thick aura, continued to brighten until it exploded outwards, forcing her to shield her eyes before she was blown backwards off her feet and into the wall behind her.
Even Paradox had to shield her eyes from the blinding light that threatened to eradicate her shadow body. When the blinding light had faded, she lowered her arm and squinted as her vision returned to her. She blinked a few times before she realized the hall between their two cells was now filled with dust and smoke.
The debris lingered and failed to settle until the non-energized, half-melted bars of the cell door fell through the smoke, dispersing it as it clattered to the stone floor, hinges and all. Through the remaining smoke, a pair of still sparking, but decimated spectral cuffs clattered to the floor at the feet of a figure silhouetted by the remaining smoke, with the exception of a pair of glowing eyes that shined brightly through smoke. The remaining smoke was quickly swept away by a mysterious wind that seemed to emanate from the silhouetted figure itself, revealing it to be Danny, standing defiantly as his ghostly aura flowed upwards around him, wafting his hair in an almost flame-like manner.
Even Paradox was at a loss for words at his frightening appearance. She went wide eyed and gasped with surprise; she'd never expected something like this to happen. She may not have been able to sense his power because of the energized barrier of her own cell, but she was fascinated by his ability to break free from his own. He was displaying an impressive amount of power, even for her standards.
But as quickly as his power had risen from the depths, it vanished. His ghostly glow returned to normal as his muscles shrank back down to normal. His eyes were the last to fade back to bright green before he turned to face Dani as she pried herself from the stone wall. "Common," he urged her, no longer out of breath despite the level of stress he'd just endured. "The guards will have heard that explosion and will be on their way here, if they weren't already," he informed her.
She could only look back at him in awe, but she was also quite relieved. His plan had worked, and he wasn't wasted in the process, despite having just come up with it on the spot. Or had he? He knew she wouldn't get hurt via her own spectral cuffs, so perhaps there had been a plan amongst all the madness that had befallen them since they arrived. She was drawn out of her revere of Danny by Paradox commenting on the miraculous escape.
"The guards are probably too busy with the riot to have noticed," the shadow ghost speculated.
"But they know we were planning to make an escape during the riot," Danny pointed out. "That's why they put Hotep down here in the first place, to prevent any further planning," he pointed out. "So they'll be along to check on us eventually," he surmised. "We won't be able to get passed that next door until they open it from the other side anyway," he relented as he looked up the hall at the sealed door that separated them from the rest of the prison. "When they open that door, we need to be ready," he declared as he turned towards Dani and reached out for her hands.
He began to inspect her spectral cuffs, still glowing with pink energy, in search of a means of removing them. He didn't dare try to tamper with them, or use his own powers to break them; he'd only end up hurting her in the process, something he wanted to avoid at all costs. The cuffs were placed on them; Walker must have had a means of removing them. A key of some sort maybe? He could only hope that they'd get their hands on one at some point soon, either on the coming guards, or Walker himself; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to offer up much support in their escape. The cuffs could still be used to subdue her, and himself in the form of blackmail if he wasn't careful.
"It's a shame, really," Paradox sighed as she began to nonchalantly examine her nonexistent fingernails. "In spite of all the power at your fingertips, you still require outside help in order to escape," she criticized him with a taunting grin. "HE managed to get out under his own power," she hinted at quite cryptically. "Albeit, he did take quite a bit longer than you," she added as an afterthought.
"And who exactly would 'he' be?" Danny asked in annoyance, not even bothering to look up from his examination of Dani's spectral cuffs.
"Your supposed archrival, of course," she answered back with a sinister grin. She knew that was enough to get the message across to him, but she wanted to go a step further in piquing his interest. "Vlad Plasmius," she chortled.
Dani looked up into her brother's eyes as he momentarily paused in his examination of her spectral cuffs. This revealing fact had indeed caught his attention.
"Though to be fair, outside help did eventually arrive in the form of those filthy human friends of his," Paradox added as another afterthought. "Though, he'd already escaped on his own by that point, so really their efforts had been quite pointless," she chuckled as she shrugged her shoulders.
Now this was certainly news to the hybrid siblings. Vlad had human friends that came to rescue him when he was imprisoned here? They both began to sweat nervously, with Danny's eyes going out of focus so he could concentrate on taking in what the shadow ghost was revealing to them.
"And even after they arrived and found him already gone, the Fat Man was more determined than ever to find out where he'd gone to if he wasn't here anymore," Paradox continued to elaborate as she appeared to be going down memory lane, though the smirk she was sporting suggested that what she was revealing had been carefully, and methodically, thought out.
"Fat Man?" Danny questioned, turning his head slightly in her direction, but still not giving her his absolutely full attention. Surely she couldn't be talking about…
Continuing to feign ignorance tauntingly, Paradox put a finger to her chin as if she were trying to remember something important. "What was his name again?" she asked, as if to herself before acting as if she'd stumbled upon the correct answer on her own. "Oh, yes, I remember now. Vlad's old college buddy, Fenton. Jack Fenton," she revealed with dawning realization. At the mentioning of their father's name, both siblings went slack jawed in surprise as they spun around to face her with horror stricken across their faces and in their eyes. "Boy, that name sure does sound familiar, doesn't it?" she concluded with a sinister grin directed at the two siblings.
Meanwhile, back in the mess hall –
"AARRGGHH!" a random prisoner roared furiously as he held a guard aloft over his head and threw him off to the side before he was blasted away by a series of green energy beams fired from the glowing batons of other guards trying to restore calm. But the riot only continued to strengthen around them as more and more guards fell to the prisoner's onslaught.
"Hotep!" a prisoner called out.
Said mummy ghost was currently using his bandages to hold another guard aloft, wrapped up tightly and hanging upside down, as he used a food tray to deflect a series of green energy beams from yet more guards. He threw the tray aside and with the same motion threw the guard he'd been holding prisoner at the guards that had fired at him, knocking them to the floor only to be swarmed by rioting prisoners moments later. He turned to face the prisoner that had called out to him in annoyance, just as the prisoner ran up to him, looking rather put out himself.
"We can't keep this assault up much longer," the prisoner warned him. "If Phantom was going to show, he'd have shown himself by now," he concluded. "The guards just keep coming and our forces are dwindling," he informed the mummy ghost. "If we don't start making our way for the main gate out, we may not make it passed the fortified barrier Walker put in place," he advised. "With, or without, Phantom, we need to go, now," he declared.
"Very well," Hotep relented as the overwhelming odds against them only increased as the minutes passed. "Everyone!" he called out to the mass of prisoners around him. All fighting stopped for a moment to allow him to speak. "We make our way to the main gate!" he declared, receiving cheers and standing ovations from the prisoners, whom quickly finished beating up on the prison guards they'd been fighting before they began to move together towards the door to the mess hall, ready to begin their assault on the prison's main gate, the only barrier between them and freedom.
But before any of them could file their way through the door to the mess hall, an ominous powdery blue mist began flowing into the mess hall through the door, stopping the prisoners in confusion and wonderment over what it was. Some looked to one another, as if hoping for an answer out of their fellow inmates, to no avail.
"What is this plague?" Hotep asked himself cautiously, taking a step closer to the sparkling blue powder flowing around everyone's feet.
Before anyone could react, the powdery mist suddenly rose upwards, engulfing all but the guards and two of the prisoners, Hotep and a very startled Lydia. She watched in horror as her tattoos, which had been flying around, attacking guards during the initial fighting, suddenly fell to the floor asleep, like birds falling from the sky, unable to be summoned back to her. The other prisoners soon followed, leaving only the two of them left standing, confused and horrified by what had just occurred.
Before either of them could gain their bearings, black smoke wafted in from the shadows before forming together into Nocturne, looming over the pair with a wicked sneer. "Looks like this riot has just been put to rest," he taunted, only serving to infuriate the mummy ghost.
"RAGH!" Hotep roared as he lunged for the Ghost of Sleep with fury in his eyes, a fist pulled back so he could strike the evil specter. Before his fist could strike though, it was suddenly encased within the green glow of ecto-energy from one of the guard's batons. "ARGH!" he screamed as he was pulled back, away from a smirking Nocturne, and slammed into the ground before his other arm was engulfed in glowing green energy from another guard's baton before several more guards grabbed onto the bandages emerging from his back that he could have used to attack them; they weren't taking any additional chances with him.
Wincing after his capture, Hotep managed to catch a glimpse of Lydia getting captured as well. Her arms were pinned to her sides by glowing green energy that wrapped around her torso. She was forced to kneel and keep her head up and facing forward by a guard that had a firm grip on one of the spikes protruding from the top of her head. All she could do was glare and growl.
"Well, well, well, that certainly went better than could've been anticipated," came the drawling voice of Walker as he came strolling up to Hotep and grinned down at the captured mummy ghost. "I guess I should thank you," he chuckled.
"For doing what?" Hotep growled back. He was gradually growing nervous; Walker had been anticipating something like this to happen? No doubt he was always on alert for riots and breakout attempts, but it felt deeper than him predicting a riot.
"For helpin' to ensure that Phantom's hope of escape is shattered completely," Walker answered. "I presume the plan was for Phantom and the clone to escape their cell during the riot and escape the isolation wing when we go to check on them?" he asked of the mummy ghost. Hotep didn't answer, he just glared back angrily. "Well, even if they did, the spectral cuffs will be enough to subdue them both," he reassured before he turned towards Bullet whom seemed quite eager as he waited near the door. "Take your men and make sure Phantom and the clone learn their place for their role in all this," he ordered as he waved his hand around the sleeping prisoners.
"With pleasure," Bullet acknowledged with a smirk of his own before he and several guards disappeared down the hall and prepared to siege the isolation wing, leaving Walker and Nocturne to observe the guards pulling Hotep and Lydia to their feet, Hotep's torso now bound completely in green energy to prevent him from lashing out.
"Take them to interrogation," Walker ordered of the guards whom proceeded to escort the two remaining prisoners out of the mess hall as other guards either roused their workmates or began picking up Lydia's sleeping tattoos and placing them in glass jars, leaving all of the sleeping prisoners laying where they fell.
"Do you still intend to keep them locked up down there if they've proven capable of escaping?" Nocturne asked of the Warden, floating up behind him, clearly speaking about the hybrid siblings.
"Yes, and no," Walker answered as he held his hands behind his back as he observed the remaining guards going about their duties. "I want them locked back up, both behind bars, and within their own minds," he declared, turning his head slightly to look back at the specter over his shoulder.
"We've already been over this," Nocturne responded with irritation. "The simulator is destroyed behind repair, and I can't put them into a deep sleep without absorbing the dream energy I need in order to keep them under in the first place," he reminded the Warden. "Something which you and Plasmius have strictly forbidden."
"We don't want you absorbin' 'their' dream energy," Walker retorted. "No rule against you absorbin' the dream energy you need to keep them under from another source," he said before he turned away and waved his arm out across the expanse of sleeping prisoners. "Take as much as you want," he invited of the Ghost of Sleep.
Nocturne seemed quite perplexed for a moment before he smirked menacingly and interlaced his fingers before cracking them in a reverse stretch, before floating forward to go about his business absorbing all the dream energy he would need from the sleeping prisoners.
"YOU'RE LYING!" Danny shouted furiously at the shadow ghost smirking at him as he stood in the hall between their two cells after he'd destroyed the cell door and his spectral cuffs. Dani stood behind him in the destroyed door to their cell, looking both frightened and horrified, not by Danny's aggressive shouting, but by Paradox's newest revelation, which Danny was absolutely refusing to believe.
"My father was never here!" he continued shouting furiously. "He never knew about Vlad's powers back then, so he most certainly wouldn't come here to try and rescue him! And besides, they didn't have access to the Ghost Zone back then either; so he couldn't have come here, even if he'd wanted to! He's never recalled being here, he's never helped Vlad escape from prison, and he's most certainly never met you!"
Paradox only continued to snicker with amusement. "You have much to learn, Danny," she mused before her entire body seemed to dissolve into dust and ash before reforming into a college age version of Jack Fenton, wearing what looked like combat fatigues. 'Jack' continued smirking the same way Paradox had been smirking. "Just because you haven't been made aware of all past events, doesn't mean they haven't happened," 'Jack' chuckled.
This stunned Danny into silence, seeing the vision of his father smirking and chuckling at him. It had to be true, otherwise, she wouldn't have known what he even looked like! She was a Morpher after all, a shapeshifter capable of taking on the appearance of another subject they've observed, much like how she took on the appearance of Walker the day before. If she could impersonate a college age version of his father, then he must have been here long enough for her to observe him and imitate his physical characteristics. There was no other possible way! But if his father had indeed been here, then why was he trying to free Vlad from Walker's clutches? Because they were friends? Allies? If all this had happened, then why had he never known about it? Was everyone hiding something from him? Or did they simply not remember?
He wanted to ask all of these questions, but the sound of the door buzzer going off at the end of the hall announced the arrival of Walker's forces coming to either check on him, or subdue him, if they were aware of his escape. Paradox, still smirking at him in the form of his father, turned her gaze down the hall when the buzzer went off. She knew her tormenting of the hybrids was at an end.
"You're time has come," Paradox informed him with her 'Jack' persona. "Good luck, Danny. See you again, real soon," she bade him farewell before she once again vaporized into smoke and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Danny with numerous questions that he wouldn't have time to ask, now that his time here was up. If he and Dani were going to escape, they had to do it now, the questions he had be damned.
"Bullet, sir, they're out of their cell!" one of the guards yelled as they all filed into the isolation wing's narrow hallway.
"Exactly as predicted," Bullet chuckled, a gleam in his eye as he smirked at the Ghost Teen.
Still staring at the energy barrier of Paradox's cell, Danny seemed as if in deep thought, though he was just trying to accept that he wasn't getting the answers he wanted out of Paradox. He'd have to wait for another opportunity when this was over.
Dani half hid herself behind the destroyed wall of their now former cell. She didn't know how well she'd fare against the armed guards, especially with her spectral cuffs still impeding her powers. She didn't want to leave Danny to fight them all by himself, she wanted to help; but she had little choice at the moment.
"Hope you enjoyed your last bid for freedom," Bullet taunted the Ghost Teen, whom turned his gaze upon the Bounty Hunter and prison guards behind him. "You'll never breathe free air again," he warned as he raised his arm, revealing the button that activated the spectral cuffs.
Danny's eyes widened when he realized what Bullet was threatening him with. He thought he could keep the Ghost Teen restrained with the spectral cuffs. Bullet promptly pressed the button with a smirk, expecting the Ghost Teen to suddenly start writhing in agony. Danny smirked back at him when nothing happened to him; his spectral cuffs having been destroyed; but he gasped in shock and horror when he heard the crackle of ecto-electricity and a high-pitched scream.
"DANI!" he screamed when he realized that while he was no longer subject to such harsh punishment, she still was. She fell to the stone floor and writhed in agony as sparks of electricity coursed throughout her body.
"Sir!" one of the guards called out in alarm. "He's not affected!"
"What!?" Bullet shouted in frustration, releasing his grip on the button that activated the spectral cuffs.
Dani lay on the floor panting, her body smoking, after her spectral cuffs had ceased shocking her. Danny stood over her, his hands clenched tightly into fists before he turned his furious gaze upon Walker's forces, his eyes glowing bright green with rage and hatred.
"His spectral cuffs are gone!" another guard yelled out in alarm.
"His powers are unrestrained!" a third guard yelled, sending the others into a sudden panic.
"Shoot him!" Bullet shouted furiously, but also nervously at the way the Ghost Teen was glowering at him in particular. "Attack him! Restrain him! Before he has a chance to retaliate!" he ordered out of desperation, his own method of doing so now gone.
The guards nearest the front of the pack raised their glowing green batons and fired simultaneously at the Ghost Teen.
Danny growled in irritation as he raised an arm and produced a glass-like energy shield that contoured itself to the shape of the narrow hallway, blocking all of the beams of energy shot at him. When the barrage of energy beams ceased, he seized the opportunity for himself and thrust his other hand forward, releasing a massive wave of ecto-energy of his own that broke through his energy shield and swept down the entire length of the narrow hallway, completely engulfing the terrified guards whom had nowhere to go to escape the wave of ecto-energy.
Ceasing his attack, Danny wasted no time in pushing off from the stone floor and flew down the narrow hallway at full speed, his fists blazing with ecto-energy. Any guards that weren't knocked out by his attack now found themselves being pummeled by a series of harsh, energized punches, kicks and the occasional energy beam from his hands and eyes.
By now, Dani was slowly pulling herself back to her feet, using the destroyed door frame to their former cell for support. She watched in awe as Danny took out the guards, one by one, singlehandedly. She took no pity on the poor guard that found his face shield being cracked and shattered by a rather brutal punch, revealing his real face, and knocking him unconscious after he crashed into the ground at her feet, his baton clattering to the stone floor.
Guards were flying left and right as Danny brutally assaulted them. One crashed into the glass wall keeping the green smog-like ghost contained. It roared, either furiously or approvingly, as the unconscious guard slid to the stone floor. Another guard was slammed into the metal bars of the human ghosts, who didn't waste any time in grabbing at him through the bars and continued pummeling him as best as they could while the woman with wild, untamed dark hair laughed gleefully as the guard screamed bloody murder from the continued assault.
"You'll never take me alive…you'll never take me alive…you'll never take me alive…" the blue skinned, tiny headed prisoner in the first cell continued muttering as he watched the fighting from his cell. He paused in his mutterings and flinched when another guard was slammed into the bars of his cell. He promptly continued without interruption. "…you'll never take me alive…you'll never take me alive…you'll never take me alive…"
The three headed hydra in the middle cell wasn't left out. A guard was slammed into his cell, and growled angrily as he attempted to jump back into the fray, only to suddenly find himself being held back by a pair of webbed, blue scaled hands with razor sharp claws. His angry growl was replaced by fearful whimpering as the hydra ghost repositioned his hands on either side of the guard's head; his strength enough to prevent the guard from prying himself free.
"Not sorry bout doin' this to ya, boy," the left head said to him with a slight southern drawl, not unlike Walker's, before they proceeded to twist the guard's neck harshly to the side, rendering him unconscious, sending him sliding to the stone floor.
"Too bad he's already technically dead," the right head sighed with disappointment, his voice sounding like it had a robotic rasp to it.
"Don't waste your time and energy on them," the middle head called out to Danny, his voice sounding deep and calm. "Get the coward before he gets away and locks you back in here for good," he warned of the Ghost Teen.
Danny punched out the last guard, before he snapped his head towards the door and saw Bullet limping through in a bid to escape. Bullet had been damaged heavily by Danny's earlier wave of energy that had engulfed him and the guards, but he'd escaped being pummeled and had now made his way out of the isolation wing.
He turned back and tried to push the door closed behind him, trapping the Ghost Teen inside, but he was blasted back before he could latch it shut. The door was blasted open by a beam of ecto-energy, sending him crashing into the opposite wall. He barely had time to raise his hands and block a knee to his stomach after Danny came flying out through the now open door and tried to attack him by slamming his knee into the Bounty Hunter's stomach.
Danny pulled back an energized fist, intending to land a powerful punch instead, but Bullet growled as he crouched down to one knee, dodging the energized punch, which missed and pulverized the wall behind him. From this position, he formed his hands into fists and pushed off from the ground, sinking both fists into Danny's stomach, sending him off his feet. The momentum carried Bullet with the Ghost Teen and he tackled him to the ground.
They both growled like vicious animals, barring their teeth and glaring furiously into each other's eyes as Bullet grabbed onto the sides of Danny's head and began slamming his head into the stone floor repeatedly. This only stopped when Danny grabbed onto the Bounty Hunter's hands and stopped him from slamming his head into the floor.
"Resist all you want, Phantom!" Bullet growled with rage as his and Danny's arms began shaking, their forces pushing back against one another. "But like it or not, you and the clone are never getting out of this prison," he declared, his eyes becoming wild with untamed fury.
"Oh, yes…we…ARE!" Danny shouted rebelliously as he planted his feet into Bullet's stomach and pushed him off, sending the Bounty Hunter crashing into the ceiling before he fell back to the floor, landing quite agile for his battered condition. "Dani! Now!" he called out.
Bullet looked up after his cat-like landing and went wide eyed with surprise at seeing Dani standing in the doorway of the isolation wing with a furious gaze burning into him. His own gaze dropped to the glowing green baton she held and had aimed directly at him. He didn't have time to react before he was blasted off his feet and back into the opposite wall by a beam of green ecto-energy that suddenly bound his arms to his sides, preventing him from using them. He looked up and glared at the Ghost Girl as she stood over him with a look of loathing.
"My powers may be restricted, but I don't need them to do this," she declared as she pulled back a fist and punched him right in the face, knocking him out cold as he slammed the back of his head into the wall behind him before his body slid sideways to the floor, unconscious. "Not too shabby for a 'clone', huh?" she asked him mockingly as she stood over him, victoriously.
"Not too shabby at all," Danny congratulated her, standing behind her and smiling down at her, which she promptly returned. "Now let's see about getting those cuffs off," he said, reaching down and removing a ring of keys from Bullet's side. After spending a moment to fiddle through them, he wasn't having much luck with finding the correct one. "None of these seem to match," he groaned in disappointment. "These are all for cell doors."
"Where could the keys to these things be if he wasn't carrying them?" Dani wondered as she gripped one of her spectral cuffs and twisted it, as if that would help pry it off.
"Let's ask the only one with the authority to remove them," Danny answered with a scowl.
"One more thing though," Dani said with a mischievous grin as she held up an extended finger.
Bullet's bound and unconscious body was tossed down the set of steps into the isolation wing, rolling atop the pile of guards that lay on the floor, before the door was shut and latched, trapping him and the guards within. The hybrid siblings smirked at one another before they took off down the corridor, passing by vacant jail cells, their occupants elsewhere.
"They must still be fighting the rest of the guards in the mess hall," Dani figured as they ran passed the empty cells.
"They'll just have to hold out on their own," Danny responded. "We've got business with the warden," he added with a scowl.
"But, wouldn't he be in the mess hall?" Dani wondered with some confusion.
"Walker isn't one to get his hands dirty," Danny informed her as they took a turn in the hall and skid to a sudden stop.
Ahead of them, several of Nocturne's Sleepwalkers were putting sleeping prisoners back into their cells, dream helmets stuck to their heads. The Sleepwalkers took notice of the siblings and immediately began charging towards them, practically forgetting the sleeping prisoners they had been handling.
"GO!" Danny yelled, blasting a couple of the Sleepwalkers with energy rays before he turned and followed after Dani as they ran down another hall to escape the pursuing Sleepwalkers. They easily outran them, but quickly found their path blocked by yet more Sleepwalkers that had just been floating down the hall when Dani ran into them, with Danny skidding to a stop behind her.
"Weren't we done with these guys!?" Dani shouted in horror as she and Danny turned to run away from the new group of Sleepwalkers, only to find their path blocked by the first group, having caught up with them.
"It would seem that Nocturne has been getting a little busy," Danny speculated, remembering the sleeping prisoners the Sleepwalkers had been putting back into cells a moment before.
With Sleepwalkers blocking their paths on both sides, the siblings had no other choice but to go through a nearby doorway. They immediately regretted this decision; they would have stood a better chance against the Sleepwalkers. They were horrified by the sight of numerous prisoners, sleeping on the floor with dream helmets on their heads. Prison guards were picking them up and handing them off to yet more Sleepwalkers to be dragged off. The siblings had stumbled into the destroyed mess hall.
Upon hearing the siblings enter the room, all guards and Sleepwalkers looked up with surprise to see them. Standing off to the side, with his arms folded behind his back, Walker turned his attention towards them and cocked an eyebrow at seeing the two siblings.
"Why am I not surprised; I'd been expectin' Bullet to return," Walker growled, turning to fully face the siblings with a scowl. "But instead I'm greeted by you; never expected you to actually escape from your cell," he added quietly, more to himself. "But never the less, we're prepared for you!" he declared.
The guards not hauling sleeping prisoners off the floor aimed their glowing green batons at the siblings. They were both startled by this, but Danny's attention was equally drawn to the moans and groans from the Sleepwalkers that were gathering behind them.
Not ready to give up just yet, Danny threw up his arms, his hands glowing, and constructed a dome barrier that surrounded himself and Dani, preventing the Sleepwalkers from approaching any closer, as well as any energy rays from the guard's batons if they'd had time to fire. They never did get to fire their batons, but they did mutter amongst each other.
"So you've managed to remove your spectral cuffs," Walker mused with interest, knowing that Danny couldn't have used his energy to construct a barrier if he was still wearing them. "I'm actually impressed; although…" he admitted as his eyes shifted towards Dani, trying to hide behind her brother. "Whatever method used to remove yours couldn't be duplicated in order to remove hers as well," he snickered whilst holding up a remote control box with a green button set into it.
Dani gasped in horror, knowing what was about to happen yet again. Danny's eyes widened in both horror and anger at seeing another spectral cuff controller. He wasn't going to wait for Walker to harm Dani like before with Bullet. He thrust both hands forward, releasing a tremendous blast of ecto-energy that destroyed the energy barrier and raced towards Walker.
Walker's smirk never faltered as numerous guards with riot shields put themselves between the warden and the energy blast. It exploded on impact, shrouding them in smoke.
Before he could determine what had happened to them, Danny didn't give the Sleepwalkers behind him a chance to strike, by half-turning and swiping one of his arms through the air, he released another wave of ecto-energy that completely engulfed and disintegrated the advancing Sleepwalkers, reducing them to piles of ash.
Flashes of green light lit up the room as numerous beams of green energy shot through the smoke, catching Danny off guard. "UFF!" he and Dani grunted as they were blasted off their feet and fell to the floor, their arms bound to their sides by green energy bindings.
"I've let you have your fun, Punk," Walker called out through the smoke before it dissipated, revealing the warden, quite unharmed, with his guards standing in front of him with their glowing green batons held up over the riot shields they held. "But if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times; there's no escapin' from my prison," he declared, quite sternly before he pressed down on the button for Dani's spectral cuffs, the remote still held up in his hand.
Danny was forced to watch in horror as Dani screamed in agony as her spectral cuffs, now bound to her side by the energy bindings, sent bolts of ecto-electricity coursing through her. Walker didn't release his hold on the button until the Ghost Girl's body had begun smoking. As she gasped for breath, Danny glared at Walker with fiery rage burning in his eyes.
"Let this be an end to your escape attempts, both now and in the future," Walker declared, lowering his hand, and the remote, to his side. "And as an extra incentive, I've ordered for the two of you to be placed back into a deep sleep that you won't be woken from until Plasmius gives the order," he declared with a wicked grin before he raised his other hand and snapped his fingers.
Danny figured he knew what this meant, and it was confirmed when black mist materialized out of the very air around them before it formed into a solid mass directly behind the siblings, morphing itself into Nocturne, who smirked down on the siblings with elation. "And this time, don't expect to be in a shared dream world, like before," Nocturne warned with a malicious snicker.
Danny watched with horror and rage as a now whimpering Dani was brutally grabbed by her hair, her head pulled back sharply, by Nocturne as he proceeded to release a handful of sleeping powder directly into her face. She looked directly at him with tears in her eyes. "Dan…ny," she groaned as her eyelids drooped before closing, her head soon lolling to the side as she was put back into a deep sleep.
"Don't be so tense, Phantom," Nocturne chuckled as he wobbled Dani's body from side to side, his fingers still entwined with her hair. "We've both been down this road before," he taunted the teen. "I've put her into a rather pleasant dream, you remember the kind," he reminded, letting go of Dani and letting her fall over sideways onto the floor before he floated over to Danny, glaring up at him with a burning fury. "I'll try to make yours as realistic as possible for you," he reassured the teen, grabbing him by his hair with one hand as he held the other underneath the Ghost Teen's face. "You'll be less likely to escape on your own, like before," he reassured as he began releasing the sleeping powder, making Danny instantly feel droopy. "That should give Plasmius the time needed to burn your world to the ground," he declared with a malevolent sneer.
These last words regarding his most hated enemy snapped Danny out of his drowsy state, regardless of the facefull of sleeping powder, and snapped him fully back into reality. His eyes snapped open and were glowing bright green, much to Nocturne's horror as he had fully resisted the sleeping powder.
"NOOOOOOO!" Danny screamed with rage, his scream reverberating around the room before it was accompanied by his Ghostly Wail, destroying all of the remaining Sleepwalkers, and forcing Nocturne, Walker, and all of the remaining guards to cover their ears as the entire prison began to shake.
Back down in the isolation wing, normalcy had just about returned, with the added addition of a bunch of unconscious prison guards strewn about across the length of the hall. With the commotion now abated, the prisoners had gone back to passively waiting out their imprisonment, including Paradox, whom had reformed and retaken her shadowy form. She currently sat in her chair, reading from another book before the entire prison began to rumble. "Hmm?" she questioned, looking up as dust fell from the ceiling and the energy barrier of her cell waivered and flickered for a just moment. She was greatly intrigued by this, but nothing more came of it, no matter how much longer she observed it for.
Back up in the mess hall, many prison guards were blown away by the force of Danny's Ghostly Wail. This caused them to drop their glowing green batons, releasing the energy bindings from the two siblings, not that it did Dani any good now. Having been pushed back by the Ghost Teen's attack as well, Nocturne looked up with shock and wonder at how the hybrid had managed to overcome his powers over sleep.
With his arms free, Danny ceased his attack, allowing the prison to settle as he stood up on his feet. His rage towards those that prevented him from returning home, and allowed Vlad to go about his plans to destroy his world, had not been abated by his rage filled scream. He had no way of knowing how much destruction had been caused to his home in his absence. He had no way of knowing if his friends and family were alright. He needed to get out of here at all costs in order to put things right; and as for Walker, Nocturne, the prison guards; they would all pay for standing in his way!
"RRAAGGHH!" he screamed once more as his anger and fury exploded outwards, manifesting in a blinding flash of light that blinded anyone not shielding their eyes. When the light had faded, Danny had taken on a much harsher, much more frightening, and much more devastating appearance. His muscles had bulked up a little, his aura had thickened and now rose upwards like flames, even mixing with the white flames that his hair had transformed into, licking at the air over his head. His black-rimmed eyes glowed with a bright white light as he turned his molten hot gaze upon a now terrified Walker and began growling through tightly clenched teeth.
Walker took an involuntary step back, as he began to tremble nervously, a bead of sweat even began rolling down the side of his face. He glanced sharply at Nocturne behind Danny whom seemed quite uncertain of how to proceed from here himself. Rather than risking direct conflict with this new power the Ghost Teen was demonstrating, he glanced at the prison guards with riot shields, nonverbally suggesting to Walker that they use the guards as fodder in order to test the Ghost Teen's new abilities.
"You!" Walker called out to the guards with the riot shields. "Subdue this menacin' Punk!" he ordered of them.
They all seemed quite nervous themselves, but promptly put on their game faces and charged the Ghost Teen, their glowing green batons raised to attack and their shields at the ready. They didn't get far though as Danny promptly vanished as if disappearing from existence itself, reducing one of their numbers in the process.
BANG!
Everyone looked up at the sound of a loud noise and found the missing guard had been slammed into the wall with Danny's hand gripping his face and pushing him up against the wall, causing the metal paneling to become indented. What was more surprising was that his entire arm had completely penetrated through the riot shield to do so.
"RAGH!" the other guards roared as they raced towards their teenage foe, hoping to save their comrade. They didn't even get close, as Danny merely raised his other hand and began rapid firing white energy rays from his fingers at them. "ARGH!" they all screamed in agony as they were blasted back by the barrage of energy rays, their riot shields being destroyed and their batons dropped to the floor and forgotten as they all found themselves blasted into walls before they then collapsed to the floor, unconscious and out of commission.
Walker was dumbfounded by this turnabout. He rounded on Nocturne and began shouting hysterically. "If we can't overpower him, then we'll just have to overload him with sleepin' powder till he passes out from exhaustion!" he suggested as their last possible course of action.
Not wanting to argue, Nocturne quickly got to work; he'd tried it before already, but that was just him alone. If he could get all of his Sleepwalkers to work together at once, then just maybe it would work. "Sleepwalkers, Form!" he called out. The room was soon filled with more than a dozen Sleepwalkers, all with their sights on Danny. "Sleepwalkers, Incapacitate!" he called out, pointing at Danny.
Danny removed his arm from the prison guard's riot shield, releasing his grip on the ghost's head, and allowing him to slide down to the floor, unconscious. He turned to face the Sleepwalkers as they raised their arms in his direction and began producing clouds of sparkling blue sleeping powder.
He raised his arms to his sides as his hands began glowing with white energy that pulsed and sparked. He growled ferociously as he slammed his hands together, releasing a brilliant pulse of white light that spread throughout the long since destroyed mess hall, engulfing all of the Sleepwalkers and dissolved them away, not even leaving a speck of dust behind.
"WHAT!?" Nocturne gasped as the light faded, revealing that all of his Sleepwalkers had completely vanished, but so had Danny. He looked down when he saw the glow of another white light and found Danny crouching in front of him with a ball of pulsating white energy between his outstretched hands, and it was aimed directly at him. "NOOO!" he roared in outrage before the ball of pulsating white light exploded in a massive wave of energy, completely engulfing him and shredding his shadowy, starry night sky body to pieces.
The resulting wave of energy that exploded from Danny's hands didn't stop with tearing Nocturne to shreds; it also destroyed a small portion of the prison, blowing a massive hole in the wall, revealing the vast expanse of the Ghost Zone beyond the prison's walls. Danny stood in front of the hole, looking out into the Ghost Zone's vast expanse as the few remaining shreds of Nocturne's body drifted away to recover, having been spared from the Ghost Teen's ferocious attack.
"Not thinkin' of leavin' just yet, are ya?" Walker called out to the Ghost Teen, almost tauntingly. Danny turned away from the gaping hole in the wall and faced the warden, cocking an eyebrow in interest as he did. "Forgettin' somethin', aren't ya?" he asked mockingly. Danny's eyes widened in surprise to find Walker smirking victoriously as he held a still sleeping Dani up by her head, his grip threatening to crush her skull. With his other hand, he held up the remote that activated the spectral cuffs she still wore. "She might be asleep, but I bet this would still hurt a lot, even in her dreams," he snickered, his thumb hovering over the button, threateningly.
Only now did Danny realize that while he'd been distracted with fighting the prison guards and Nocturne's Sleepwalkers, he'd forgotten about Dani who, in her unconscious state, could no longer defend herself; giving Walker the perfect opportunity to get his hands on her and use her as leverage against the Ghost Teen.
"Now, this little rebellion of yours is over," Walker declared as he began a ferocious stare down with the Ghost Teen. "I will not allow this prison's reputation to be tarnished by another breakout," he vowed. "So either you stand down, or the clone will suffer the consequences," he asserted with determination. "What say you, Punk?" he asked, awaiting Danny's response.
Danny didn't respond. No way was he giving himself up to Walker, nor was he allowing the warden to harm his sister again. He needed to get her away from him, and he needed to do it before he could activate the spectral cuffs. Never taking his eyes off the warden, he raised his arm and aimed his hand at another wall as he began charging up more glowing white energy.
This amused the warden. "What will blasting more holes in the wall accomplish?" he asked the Ghost Teen mockingly. "You'll never be allowed to see the light of day, or breathe free air again," he warned.
"Not blasting holes in walls," Danny answered back, in an almost inhumane growl before he suddenly vanished from view yet again, as if disappearing from existence. Walker was quite shocked by this, and completely dumbfounded to find that Danny had instantly reappeared at his side, with his still energy infused hand aimed directly at him now, rather than another wall. "Just you," he growled, his eyes squinting before he released the pulsating energy.
"AARRGGHH!" Walker roared as he was engulfed in white hot energy, forcing him to release his grip on Dani's head as he was blasted across the mess hall and crashed into the opposite wall before he fell onto a table and smashed it to pieces. He groaned as he leaned up out of the mess, his tailored white suit ripped and torn, and growled angrily at the Ghost Teen.
The spectral cuff activator remote clattered to the floor before Danny's foot slammed onto it, destroying it. In his arms, he carried the sleeping Dani, having caught her before she too fell to the ground after being released from Walker's grasp. He looked down at her with sorrow in his now silver eyes.
"Sorry, Walker," he apologized, looking up from his sister in order to glare disapprovingly at the warden. "But it would seem that your prison's "reputation" is now debatable; especially now, if you can't even keep a pair of high security prisoners locked up behind bars in isolation," he taunted the warden with a mocking grin.
Turning, with a sleeping Dani cradled in his arms, he crouched before pushing off from the floor and, in a burst of white energy, launched himself out through the massive hole in the wall, quickly disappearing into the vast expanse of the Ghost Zone beyond.
"NOOOOO!" Walker roared in panic and alarm at the loss of two of his most prized prisoners as they fled into the distance, vanishing from view, save for a contrail of white light that quickly faded.
First thing, right off the bat, I've hidden Easter Eggs within this chapter that will be important plot points for future stories...some far more obvious than others. Paradox has met Jack Fenton before!? Why was he at Walker's Prison trying to free Vlad during his imprisonment? Why was he wearing combat fatigues? Why wasn't any of this brought up in the TV series? All I have to say is...things have changed. ;D These issues will be brought up at a later time. Guess you'll just have to stick around if you want to find out what the heck is going on.
It would seem that Walker's overconfidence in Danny's confinement was ultimately what allowed the Ghost Powered siblings to escape. One of his greatest weaknesses is that he underestimates his enemies, and probably if not for the Deus ex Machina that is the Phantom Fury Technique, he may have succeeded. Wonder how Vlad will react if and when he finds out the two siblings have escaped.
Where will the Phantom Siblings go now that they are free from Walker's Prison. Do they have allies that can take them in? Or is everyone too busy dealing with Plasmius to be of any aid to them? Or, will they be captured again by Walker's forces, or Vlad himself? Stick around to find out.