Danny Phantom

Invasion

Author's Notes: Sorry for my extended absence, guys. I've been wrapped up in school and another project that caught my attention that I couldn't put on hold. But, I digress, here's the chapter I promised, even if it is a few months late. We're still a ways from the end, so here's something to tide you over until the real action kicks up. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chapter Fourteen of "Invasion."

Chapter Fourteen:

To Pieces

"Ungh..." Sam mumbled as the world around her swam back into focus. Dib sat a few feet away from her, nursing a broken leg, and she could see Jazz's left leg from behind the building. She wasn't moving. The girl scrambled to her feet and stumbled across the street. Jazz lay there, unmoving, yet still breathing. Her eyes were tightly closed, as though she were suffering some great pain. Jaston was nowhere to be found.

"Jazz!" she said through gritted teeth. "Jazz c'mon, you gotta get up!" The older woman didn't move, but groaned and drew air sharply for a moment. Sam's eyes flicked back to Dib. "Are you okay?" she called, placing a hand on the fallen woman's shoulder.

"I've been better," Dib returned, tearing strips off of his jacket and wrapping his leg in them. "I'm gonna need help, though, and we need to get her into the house. Whatever he came for, I think he got it."

Sam nodded and pulled Jazz as far as she could before turning back and helping Dib to his feet. "He said something about an orb... and I think, whatever he meant, he took it out of Jazz. We have to get her inside and contact Danny as soon as possible." The other boy nodded and pulled himself painfully to his feet.

"That guy... did you know him?" Dib asked as he limped after Sam.

"Once... a long time ago. He tried to hurt some people we cared about... so Danny had to finish him off to save everyone." She sighed and turned her eyes back up. It was hard, thinking off all these sad memories, but she didn't suppose she have much choice. She and Dib returned to the older woman, who was still lying on the ground where Sam had left her. The pair picked her up, Sam under her arms and Dib at her feet, and slowly carried her up to the metal-framed house. Most of the furnishings had been overturned or tossed aside rather unceremoniously. It was disturbing, to say the least.

Sam leaned back against the wall after the pair set the couch right-side up and placed the unconscious Jazz on it. "Okay, so we were supposed to get into the Ghost Zone to talk to some old friends," she mumbled, glancing around the house. "We should get moving."

"But what about her? We can't just leave her here..."

"You're right... if she has a specter speeder like the one Danny's parents had, we'll be able to take her along. Now we just need to find her lab..." she whispered, walking into the kitchen. The house was strikingly similar to the old Fenton home, minus the random splotches of ectoplasm and other various substances that neither Danny, Sam, nor Tucker ever questioned. Her thoughts of the trio was enough to make her lip quiver, since one of them had long-since vanished and the other had been presumed dead for fifty years. It wasn't exactly a heart-warming memory.

She made her way to the basement, Dib hobbling close behind. There was a lab, but it was much different than the lab that sat in the basement of Danny's house. For one thing, it was clean, and was absent the various unfinished and hazardous experiments common of Jack. However, there was something that was incredibly familiar: the steel doors of a ghost portal. Sam made an enthusiastic gesture and dashed to the control panel, punching in a sequence of commands that eventually caused the doors to slide open.

"Awesome," she whispered, glancing around to spot something that resembled the specter speeder, with the exception of being much more advanced. It was sleek and silver, almost resembling a small fighter jet with the Fenton logo plastered across the wings. "Okay, let's go. The sooner we find some allies, the sooner we end this crap."

"Child, give me the object I seek, and I shall give you the honor of being joined with my spawn..." the voice rumbled, metal tentacles twisting their way around the cavern. Zim folded his arms, refusing the speak. The metal cluster growled, a thunderous sound that shook the entire cave. "You will give it to me, or you shall perish at the hands of my offspring..."

Finally Zim turned, facing the main bulge that he assumed to be the control center of the... whatever it was. "I told you before, you're not getting this weapon!" he snarled, his hands clenched tightly into fists. The room began to shake and around him there were little tentacled balls of slime, almost watching him. That is, they might be if they had eyes. He fixed his gaze on the mass, trying to avoid having to look at the others and forcing down his feeling of intense disgust. "It doesn't matter how much you threaten me, I made it clear that this is not EVER going to be yours!"

Right on cue Gir blasted in, screeching at the top of his lungs. The little masses of filth recoiled back from the violent noise that was Gir. Zim dashed after the little robot and leaped to sit on top of it like a bike, shouting, "Gir! Get us out of here NOW!"

"YES SIR!" he replied, his eyes flashing red for the briefest of moments and then returning to their original teal. Blue flames emerged from his feet and the pair were blasted up through the hole Gir had made coming in. It was a long ride, and being chased by squirming masses of hideousness didn't help the length any. At last Zim saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and began to breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as they burst into the world above, something sharp found its way into Zim's gut, piercing the Irken straight through. He didn't feel the pain at first, only a warm, sticky feeling around his mid-riff. Two minutes passed before he could feel the pain, the agonizing bolts of shear pain that shot up and down his form. He tipped sideways, falling hard on the moist, brown Earth. Gir paused to look back, then doubled back and dropped beside his fallen master and began to sob loudly.

"Master! Master, you gots to get up!" he cried, wailing like a siren. Zim slitted an eye open, staring at the little robot for a moment.

"Gir, be quiet," he muttered, sitting up slowly. "Let's go, we've got to get this out of reach of that... thing. I have a feeling he's not gonna give up so easily just because we outran him. Let's go," he said, gingerly getting to his feet and pressing a hand to the wound to stop his green fluids from leaking out. After once again sitting on the little robot the pair blasted up and away from the scene.

"He wanted this," Zim mused aloud, holding the metal shackle in his hand, turning it over to look at it. "And he said he recognized me. If that was who I think it was, then this planet is probably doomed."

Danny chewed his lip apprehensively, looking around the swirling green mist that was the Ghost Zone. He had no idea where he was going to stumble onto Clockwork's tower, but he had to do it shortly. Vlad had gone off somewhere to try and contract whatever other ghosts still survived to their aid. He didn't think it'd do them much good against a woman who'd literally defied death, but it would help tip the scales even slightly in their favor. Somehow, the comfort of dying amongst those who could be almost considered friends was more welcome than a lonely victory.

It was with a similar sentiment that Danny found himself floating upon the great wrought-iron gates that floated uselessly around the fortress of time. He guessed they were mostly for show. However, he didn't think the commotion coming from within the building was just for show, so he shifted his form to smoky and invisible and made his way towards the source of all the crashing and arguing.

Before he could even reach the door, however, it was blown clean off its hinges and slammed right on top of a hapless and flabbergasted Danny.

"Well, looks like he got the door," said a chilling and familiar voice that made Danny's heart drop into the pit of his stomach. He kicked the door away and stared directly ahead at Dan Phantom, who was cackling like a madman and floating ever closer to him. "Hey, it's little me!" he said with a tone of slight surprise, but it vanished a moment later when he turned around to face Clockwork. "You didn't tell me we'd be having guests!"

An irritated Clockwork only glared, gripping his staff tightly as he circled around to find a position that best allowed him to attack.

Danny chewed his lip apprehensively, shifting slightly through the mists and he attempted to fathom just what it was that was going on. He didn't get much chance though, because a heartbeat later he'd been tackled and wrestled to the wall of the fortress. "Little me, it's been awhile," Dan hissed in his ear, and Danny could almost feel the forked tongue flicking out near his ear.

"Get the hell off of me," he snarled, he eyes flashing darkly.

His words were met with a wicked chuckle. "I think not, kid. In fact, since you removed me from the time-stream and then screwed it up yourself, I have no problems with killing you right now," he breathed, pressing a searing hot hand to the small of Danny's back.

He only winced, squeezing his eyes tightly. "Last chance for you to get the hell off me."

Dan pushed harder, forcing him so hard into the stone walls that the rock he was flat against began to crack.

All at once Danny's eyes flew open, brilliant green and deadly. He balled his hands into fists and then jerked away, whipping around and belting his alter ego straight in the jaw. The entity stagged, hand on his jaw and a look of bewilderment in his eyes. From behind, Clockwork struck, thrusting out the staff and in a breath, the dark Phantom had frozen.

Danny released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and stood, shakily, and crossed to wherer Clockwork floated. "You think you can tell me what the hell is go-" he started, but his sentence was cut off by something hard striking the back of his head. He felt himself crash into the stone of the fortress, and there he lay for a few moments in a heap as he sorted out just what'd happened.

Something bright flashed behind him, and Clockwork was thrown back as well. Danny turned to see the other advancing on them, something sinister in his eyes that made a rage boil up within him.

"She told me I just had to take your orb, Clockwork, but she didn't tell me I couldn't kill you. And as for you... well, she may want you to herself, but that doesn't mean I can't kill your friends instead."

Danny's muscles tensed, and he suddenly found himself trembling with rage at the words of the other. The mad glee in Dan's eyes, the tone in which he spoke of killing those dear to Danny, the way his face read of 'I'll make sure they suffer first' made Danny, at last, snap.

He brought up his hands, drawing from inside him that same energy he'd discovered when he'd fought Depravity. It swirled around him a moment and then exploded from him, consuming Dan in a wash of brilliant green light that slowly began to tear him apart. The energy was thrown from Danny with such a force that the stone around him had begun to crack and crumble.

Dan Phantom couldn't scream, but oh, he wanted to.

It had been fifty years since Skulker had seen anyone from the living world, save the ghost boy that'd lived among them for those long years. But it came as quite the shock when he saw Vlad Plasmius float into his domain, and an even greater shock when the older hybrid had asked for help. The explanation was a short one, as Skulker had been present the last time the dark Ancient had terrorized mankind. The hunter listened in silence to the other's tale, simply nodding here and there to show he was, in fact, still listening.

"...and now, since it appears she's killing off the gods one by one, we may need a little more help than we'll be able to find," Vlad finished wearily, glancing around as though he were being watched. Skulker arched a flaming eyebrow.

"And since our worlds are connecting, I guess you need our help," said the large metal-framed man, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, either that or you can bow to Depravity," he said and folded his arms. A sigh of resignation escaped the hunter.

"I'll see what I can do. There aren't many of us left, you know," he said in a tired fashion and floated off into the mist, leaving Vlad alone with the swirling green and his thoughts. He couldn't help but feel that even with the help of the other ghosts, there was no hope of defeating that... thing. And something else was lurking in the shadows, something that, every time he tried to fixate on it, shivers ran up his spin and a feeling of sickness washed over him.

Something that reminded him of a disease.

At length he shifted his focus to something slightly more pleasant, like having his innards ripped out by a power-hungry, revenge-seeking lunatic who'd missed a few too many hugs. He sighed inwardly and turned, floating on deeper into the mists after Skulker.

The ghosts had already gathered round and were listening intently as he explained the coming, and imminent, dangers that threatened to destroy them all. It was amazing how much they had all changed in fifty years. Ember and Skulker's relationship had blossomed, resulting in (and he never wanted to know nor questioned how) two small children. She floated there, one on her hip and the other at her side. The box ghost hadn't changed much, only collected more rectangular containers. He had, though, become a father to little Boxlunch and, though he embarrassed him, she loved her father dearly.

Several of the ghosts had been destroyed, including Bertrand, two of the three vultures, and Klumper. Technus had fused with Skulker, and a few of the ghosts had married and multiplied. Things had changed in the ghost zone since he'd been here last.

They each took their turn sharing ideas on the situation, Technus and the box ghost being the loudest of the bunch, and at last reached their decision.

"We're in, but you'd better pray we don't lose, or else we're all taking it out on you, Plasmius," Ember snapped, bouncing the flame-haired child on her hip.

"Well then, let's get to it. I have a few ideas that I thought I might run by you..."

Miriana walked away from the gates of hell, leaving them wide open for its infected denizens to escape and cause havoc. A smirk graced her visage as she left, carrying in her arms four glittering orbs. It hadn't been easy, but she'd managed it well enough. All four lords of hell had been incapacitated by her Hysteria, and hadn't done a thing to stop her when she'd stolen their essence.

She arrived where she'd been instructed, presenting the orbs to the white-skinned, flame-eyed woman in Mother's old throne.

"Excellent work. Jaston should be arriving soon. It seems we may have struck a bit of a snag," she said wearily, rubbing her temples.

"Oh?" the mad girl questioned, scratching her head with on of her many tentacles.

"Yes. It seems one of our number has run into a bit of heat and failed to collect Mobieus' orb. We'll have to go get it ourselves, unless he can withstand the force that's tearing him apart."

Miriana nodded slightly and turned to see Jaston stride into the room, looking rather pleased with himself.

"My lady, the orb of Cirria," he said with a slight flourish.

"Well done. Now, let's get to business."

"My lady, if I may," Jaston interjected, chewing his lip thoughtfully.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I was simply wondering... what is to be done about the creature that's sucking the life from this planet? What are we to do about the spawn?"

"Destroy it."