Check it out! I'm back! I actually made it! Somehow, this story didn't turn out to be another failure. I hope my cliffhanger on this one doesn't leave you hanging for as long as this one.
Disclaimer: This is never gonna happen in this story again, but hey, I don't own Danny Phantom
~Rainosa
Chapter 12: Savior
After running into an alleyway, Danny hurriedly transformed, calling his mantra "Going ghost!" as the rings travelled across him. Without a second thought, he dashed into the street, not expecting any traffic, and suddenly, headlights were blinding him and a horn was blaring in his ears. For a split second, he couldn't think, couldn't understand what was going on, couldn't react, but the instant was short, and he instinctively went intangible. He heard a scream, and a screech of brakes, followed by a loud crash behind him. Whirling, his eyes fell upon the wrecked remains of the car he'd just gone through, the front demolished against a lamppost. Childish wails echoed from the wreck, and suddenly, Danny knew where he had to be. He flew over to the car and pulled on the door, despite it being locked. The cries got more frantic, but nothing had come from the driver yet, and Danny became worried. He had to get in. With a final burst of energy, he tore the door off its hinges, breaking the lock, to reveal a young girl in a car seat. The mother lay unconscious in the front seat, blood trickling down the side of her head and a smoldering cigarette hanging out of her hand onto a suspiciously dry pile of papers. Before Danny could do a thing, the papers went up in flames, and the dry atmosphere quickly allowed the fire to spread to the fabric seat.
"Mommy!" the little girl cried, reaching for her mother desperately.
"Shh, it's okay, let me help," Danny tried calming her down, leaning in to unbuckle her car seat. Gently, he pulled her out, rubbing circles on her back to soothe her, and saving her from the wreckage. A crowd had started to form around the scene, and he hurriedly brought the girl to a responsible looking couple.
"Watch her for me!" Danny called before flying as fast as he could towards the flaming car. The heat could be felt from a distance, and Danny only survived as the fire engulfed him because of his ice core. Calling on his intangibility, he forced his essence into the vehicle to locate the mother, and within seconds, he had wrapped his arms around her to pull her free. His escape, however, was stopped short when he saw that her leg was trapped beneath the dashboard, and for fear of hurting her further, he let go. She cried out in pain, and he realized that he'd shifted her hand, which was in flames on the paper. Thoughts didn't even enter his head as he blew the flames out with a single, ice-powered gust. Tension disappeared from her face, but not enough. Hoping upon hope the she wouldn't get burnt worse, danny grabbed her shoulders, turned her intangible, and yanked her out of the wreckage.
He'd only managed to get her ten feet away before the vehicle exploded.
Debris flew everywhere, and Danny was only just able to put up an ecto-shield in time to stop it from hitting them. The crowd backed away, stepping just out of range, and Danny used the newly cleared space to lay down the woman he was carrying. Using his limited medical knowledge, he iced up one of his hands and took her burned and mangled one, trying to relieve pain. With his other appendages, he arranged and aimed an overly square cast made of ecto-shields, assembling it around the leg that had been trapped. One stray hand made its way to his white belt, and without a second thought, he tore it from his waist and wrapped it tightly around her head, specifically covering her injury. In the audience, the girl he'd rescued broke free from the arms of her newly appointed babysitters and toddled through the debris to her mother. Sirens blared in the distance as she took the uninjured hand and hugged it in her small arms.
"Is Mommy gonna be okay?" she asked in a high worried voice. The crowd behind her started to get louder, but not much louder than the ambulance, which sounded like it was only about four blocks away, now.
Danny sighed, "I'm not sure. I'm not really good at this."
The girl looked him in the eyes, "But is she going to be okay?"
Danny was struck with the realization that she was actually asking if her mother would live. This little child thought that her mother was going to die. Reassuringly, however, he saw that her fear was unwarranted.
"Yeah. She's going to be fine."
Suddenly, paramedics were flooding the scene, intermingled with cops, and the woman was taken from Danny's care and placed on a stretcher. Members of the crowd began providing witnesses, but the cops seemed to give Danny a wide berth, reluctant to speak to a ghost. With a sigh, he was forced to pick on a brave-looking officer and recount his story, when a firm hand grabbed his shoulder and drew his attention.
"Hey kid. Were you the one that bandaged her up?" A tall paramedic asked.
Danny nodded, "Yeah , but it probably wasn't very good. I'm no doctor."
The man shook his head, "No way, kid. I've seen real paramedics do poorer jobs than you. Where'd you learn to treat someone like that?"
"I don't know," Danny shrugged, "I guess from experience. I get hurt a lot."
"Mangled hand hurt?" the paramedic questioned.
"Try five broken bones hurt," Danny confirmed.
"Wow," he gasped.
"Wow, yourself."
DP
"Tell me, Fentons, what are you going to do to top a powerful ghost like me?" Vlad challenged, folding his arms.
"Everything we can, ectoplasmic scum! You don't scare us!" Maddie roared, charging up an ecto-bazooka.
Jazz rushed down the rest of the stairs and snatched a wrist ray before Vlad could make a move, "Just float back into the Ghost Portal, Plasmius, and no one gets hurt."
"No one gets hurt! But dear Jasmine, that's the reason I'm here! To hurt people!" Vlad taunted, purposely floating towards her and away from the portal.
Determinedly, Jazz pulled out her cell phone and dialed Danny's number.
"Ah, calling in the big guns, are we?" Vlad laughed.
"No. I'm calling Danny," Jazz firmly informed him.
"Danny? Jazz, are you insane? Danny's terrified of ghosts! He'll run the minute he comes in!" Jack cried.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway! He's not picking up," Jazz put her phone in her pocket.
"Well then, as you young folks say, let's get this party started, shall we?" Vlad clapped his hands together and disappeared. Suddenly, jack was tossed into the air like a rag doll, and Maddie reflexively fired at the spot where the blow had come from. A mocking "Missed me!" emanated from that corner, but Jazz aimed her wrist ray at the voice and shot him.
"Didn't miss you that time," she quipped.
Vlad reappeared with a burn mark on his shoulder, "Insolent child! I ought to RIP your HEAD off!"
"And I oughtta tear you to pieces for knocking me over!" Jack stood up and fired the Jack O'Nine Tails, but Vlad nimbly dodged. Of course, this left him open for an attack from Maddie, and she promptly took it, throwing the Booomerang straight into the back of his skull. Vlad whirled to confront her, only to be thwarted when Jazz fired right into his face.
"Enough!" Vlad put up an ecto-shield all around himself, "I will not be defeated by three pesky humans!"
"Jazz saw what was happening; she'd seen it before when he'd fought Danny. At first, it would seem like Danny was winning, landing every blow, finishing every joke. Then Vlad would become enraged at his own poor fighting, and suddenly, Danny didn't seem on top any more. At the last second, someone would step in and help Danny, and Vlad would be forced into defeat.
Of course, this time, it would be a little reversed.
Whipping out her phone a second time, Jazz typed out a text faster than if she'd just found out she was dating Josh Hutcherson, and sent this to Danny right before a razor-sharp ecto-shield sliced through the space where her head had been.
BSMNT! NOW!
DP
BSMNT! NOW! The text read.
Danny checked the I.D. again. It was Jazz. What could be going on at home that was more important than-
Oh. Right. Ghosts.
Danny rubbed his temples. Man, his life was getting messed up. Ghosts and car crashes and portals and halfas and stupid secret I.D.s, he bet no other normal kids had to deal with this. With a sigh, he took off.
"Sorry, Toby, I got some ghost business to attend to," he dismissed, turning invisible.
"Anytime, Danny," the paramedic waved.
Little did they know, Valerie was sitting on a rooftop nearby, watching the whole thing.
Ta da! Did you like my little references there, with Josh Hutcherson and The Listener? Tell me in a review! (Seriously, I'm now desperate for them)
~Rainosa
