Chapter 12: Casper High
The streets of Amity Park were deserted. Swizzle, Jubileena, P.I.X.A.L. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and McLeach walked through the wrecked streets in silence as darkness fell around them. The sides of the roads were lined with rubble, wrecked cars, and the occasional destroyed military vehicle. The Guys in White's counterattack had clearly failed disastrously, and by the silence on the wind, all resistance in Amity Park had ceased.
"Swizzle, your going to have to tell us what he told you." Jubileena said.
Swizzle didn't reply. Instead, he turned a bend as if walking in a dream. Casper High was at the end of the street, which was blocked by a downed attack helicopter. It was scorched, but not on fire.
"Swizzle, we can't help you unless you talk to us." Sam snapped.
Swizzle ignored her and climbed onto the helicopter. He looked over at Casper High, his eyes narrowing.
"Swizzle, come on! You've got to snap out of this..." McLeach started to say.
"Ghosts. In there." Swizzle said.
There was a long silence.
"Friendly ghosts?" Tucker asked, hopefully.
"Only one way to find out." Swizzle replied.
He jumped down from the helicopter and walked over to the school doors. The others hurried after him. The doors were locked, so Swizzle knocked on them.
"Unoccupied!" a voice called, unconvincingly.
Swizzle rolled his eyes.
"Lancer, it's me, Swizzle." a voice said.
There was a creak as the door opened slightly. An eye peered out before the door flung open with great force, slamming Tucker in the face.
"Guys! You look like you've been hit by a tank!" Mr. Lancer exclaimed.
"I'm here too, Mr. Lancer." Tucker said, pulling himself off the ground.
"Oh, right, Mr. Foley. I apologize. Now get inside, before they find you!" Mr. Lancer said.
He dragged Swizzle in by the collar. Jubileena, P.I.X.A.L. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and McLeach looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him in.
The Sugar Rush racers, Cinndon, Candace, Toxika, Damon, Crepe, Jeremy, Tony, Charbonneu, Fury, Hill, Dr. McFlambe, and Tremblay were standing on the bridge of the Justice, looking over a holographic map of Amity Park.
"Two dozen Harrier GR.10s... specialized aircraft, you see... plus fighter coverage from SHIELD F-35Cs and UNIT Eurofighters. We have roughly a battalion worth of infantry if we pool all of our commands together, light armor, and a platoon of Challengers aboard Justice, which we can airlift to Amity aboard..." Tremblay started to say, reading off from a list.
"Major Tremblay, not all of us have an encyclopedic knowledge of military hardware. Get to the point, man!" Dr. McFlambe said.
"We have enough air and ground forces to support the plan for about three hours, if we go all out. We can't guarantee we'll be able to get to the portal." Tremblay explained.
"And with Sugar Rush and Stark? And Jeremy? And the other Disney Characters and Nickelodeon Characters?" Charbonneau asked.
"It's still not looking good, sir." Tremblay replied.
There was a long silence.
"Well, everyone here knows what their getting into." Charbonneau said, grimly. He turned to Tony and ordered "Mr. Stark, take McFlambe and Miss Winterpop to the lab. There are components from RERE's attempt at an anti-ghost weapon. It's called Project Ghost. Do what you like with them, but have it done within two hours.".
"You want me to build a highly sophisticated combat suit in two hours?" Tony asked.
"Yes." Charbonneau replied.
"Sure, no problem." Tony said.
Down in the hangar, Steve and Crumbelina were sitting next to Candi.
"So, what's the problem?" Steve asked.
"I'm useless." Candi replied.
"What makes you think that?" Steve asked.
"Look at me. I'm short, I'm weak, and I'm not that smart. If I didn't have caramel abilities, I'd be nothing." Candi replied. She then sighed, looked at her feet, and muttered "Maybe if I wasn't so terrible, Gizmo would still be here.".
"Gizmo knew what he was getting into." Steve said.
"It doesn't make it better." Candi said.
"No, it doesn't. Crumbelina said.
There was a long silence.
"You couldn't have done anything. No one could have." Steve said.
"You could have. Your a super solider." Candi said.
"And I've lost people too. People who were... very close to me. People I wish to God I could have saved." Steve said. He sighed, shook his head, and said "But you can't let it tear you up. You have to keep going. It's what they would want. And if you can do that, then you've got all the strength you need.". He then smiled a little and said "Besides, you don't need to be a genius to be smart. Just be a little... creative.".
"Captain Rogers, Miss Owens, and Mrs. Owens, to the bridge." a voice on the PA system said.
Steve and Crumbelina looked up.
"You need any more time to..." Steve started to ask.
"Go ahead, I'll be right there. I've got something to do." Candi replied, smiling a little.
Steve nodded and ran out the door. Crumbelina started to follow him, but before she left, she stopped running and turned to her daughter.
"Wait, what do you have to do?" Crumbelina asked.
Candi looked at Crumbelina.
"I just had a thought... I'm pretty sure Jorgen owes me a favor." Candi replied.
Swizzle, Jubileena, P.I.X.A.L. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and McLeach had been escorted to the English class, and they were now standing somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the room, right between the A-List and Vlad (who was in his human form), who was talking in hushed tones with Damon and Coulson. Candlehead and Bing Bong had beaten them there, and the Birthday themed racer and Imaginary friend were sitting in the corner. Lancer was at the front of the class, watching an old TV.
"We can now confirm that Elmerton has fallen. The Guys in White have been decisively defeated, and US Marines and National Guardsmen are being pushed away from the outskirts of town. Evacuation appears to no longer be possible. We'll take you to Lance Thunder on the ground in the Marine ca..." the man on screen was starting to report.
The screen suddenly turned to static.
"There is nothing you can do to save yourselves." a voice sneered.
The Nightmare King's face, cast in shadow, appeared on screen. Somebody screamed.
"Your armies are vanquished. Resistance is pointless." the Nightmare King said.
Lancer pressed frantically at the remote, but nothing happened.
"Pray to your gods... for what good it will do? In the end, you are totally lost. This world shall be cleansed of all intelligent life." the Nightmare King sneered. He then narrowed his eyes and said "The Age of Humanity is over.".
The television promptly exploded. Dash squealed and jumped back. Kwan raised an arm.
"Mr. Lancer? Seeing that we're all going to die, can I get an exemption on my essay?" Kwan asked.
"I'm sick of this." Swizzle said. He walked to the front of the class and asked "Is this how it all ends? Do we just sit here cowering until he kills us all? Or do we fight back?".
"With what?" Paulina asked.
"We'll make our own ghost hunting weapons. We find the ghosts, we team up with them, and we close that portal." Swizzle replied.
"And if we can't do it?" Star asked, crossing her arms.
"Then at least we tried something." Swizzle replied. He then turned to Coulson and asked "You, Coulson! Where are the ghosts?".
"There are no ghosts in Casper..." Coulson started to reply.
"Coulson, we can trust him. He's a good kid." Damon said.
Coulson paused and then nodded.
"Their gathered in the gym." Coulson replied.
"Thanks. Now, who's with me? Who wants to fight?" Swizzle asked.
"Why should we follow you, Malarkey? Come on, your just a scrawny little dork! Since when can a coward like you fight?" Dash asked.
"You take that back, Baxter." Jubileena sneered.
"See? He's letting his wife fight his battles for..." Dash started to say.
"Your right." Swizzle said.
All eyes turned to Swizzle, who was staring straight at Dash.
"Why should you follow Swizzle?" Swizzle asked.
He clenched his fists and formed an energy ball. Dash and the rest of the A-List recoiled in shock (because they didn't know he had powers), and Vlad and Coulson raised eyebrows.
"Well, Dash, you'd be surprised." Swizzle said. He then asked "Now, I'm going to ask again. Who's with me?".
He raised a fist in the air. Jubileena, P.I.X.A.L. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and McLeach raised theirs almost immediately, followed by Candlehead and Bing Bong. Vlad sighed heavy and raised his, followed by Damon and Coulson. Then, one by one, everyone else in the room lifted their fists, until only Dash was left.
"Well, this is the most awkward moment of my life." Dash muttered, uncomfortably raising his fist.
"Great. Percival, Tucker, Mikey, get to the science labs and build something that we can use. Dash, Kwan, whip everyone into shape, and yes, that means you, Paulina. Vlad, come with me, we need to talk to the ghosts." Swizzle ordered.
"What is this stuff?" a marine asked.
Jack, Maddie, Sergeant Hoffman, and a younger marine were climbing through some rubble, heading across town in search of any citizens left in the ruins. The marine was poking his rifle at a wall that was covered in green fungi.
"Have you ever read H. G. Wells, son? Did you ever hear the term 'red weed'?" Hoffman asked.
The marine shook his head.
"Their terraforming us, private. Changing the world to suit their needs. It's not invasion. It's colonization." Hoffman replied.
They climbed over a pile of rubble and found themselves looking over the Amity Park Museum. The roof had been torn away and had landed in pieces on the next door building.
"Well, nobody's in there. Still, there might be something we can use in there." Hoffman said. He turned around and ordered "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, move on to Casper. Private Pyle and I will delve through that mess.".
The two marines jumped down from the rubble and started heading to the museum. Jack looked around the wreckage, shaking his head.
"Do you think the kids are still out there?" Jack asked.
Maddie put a hand on his shoulder.
"Their Fentons, Jack. They'll handle themselves just fine." Maddie replied.
