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13. Allied
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Lancer stared fixedly at the door. They had been in the choir room for all of ten minutes and the mayor's burly ghosts had yet to come barging in.
Still, Lancer was on edge. He was locked in a room with two hybrid children, both of whom were utterly incapacitated at the moment and incapable of providing any sort of protection should a situation arise.
He glanced at the clock for the hundredth time.
In his frenzy, he hadn't thought to tell the Fenton parents where in the building they were. He'd tried calling them back but there had been no answer. They were probably already on their way.
Something light brushed against his shoulder, startling the man out of his musings.
He yelped and turned to look at the young child who'd touched his shoulder.
Danielle, who'd only just awakened, swiveled her round eyes toward Lancer.
She rubbed her temple then moved to kneel over the unconscious teenage boy whom Lancer assumed to be a cousin, since he knew Jazz was his only other sibling.
"Is he okay?" Danielle asked without taking her eyes off Daniel.
Lancer genuinely had no idea. He'd seen the blow the boy had taken in protecting them. The injury seemed pretty bad, but, although Lancer couldn't even fathom how it was at all possible, the boy, like Danielle, was half-ghost, which probably meant he could withstand more pain than the average human, so Lancer wasn't sure what the extent of the damage was.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Lancer replied, uncertainly.
"Danny?" She whispered, gently nudging him.
Lancer moved to stop her, but the boy instantly woke with a start.
Danny blinked, sat up, and groaned from the abrupt movement. "Agh!"
Danielle flinched in response. "Are you okay?"
Lancer stared at Daniel.
How had he not known? That boy that had been sitting in his classroom, the boy he'd known for years, had secretly been the ghostly guardian of Amity Park.
Half-phantom, half-human, just like Danielle.
The discovery revealed to Lancer the reasoning behind the boys' unusual behavior, like the constant absences, the frequent tardies, those exorbitantly long bathroom breaks, and the sudden academic plummet.
The boy in question looked up at the educator with weariness and cynicism in his blue eyes.
"Your parents are on their way," Lancer explained. "But I never got a chance to tell them where we were."
Danny glanced around, finally taking in their surroundings. "The choir room?"
Lancer shrugged. "I figured if Mayor Masters had another one of those sound devices, it wouldn't affect you in here. The room is sound proof."
"We should go," Danny grunted as he got on his feet. "We can't sit around here and wait for the ghosts or my parents to find us." He looked at Danielle. "The sooner we can get you to my mom, the better."
'My mom.'
The words only confirmed that the two were not siblings, despite their unusual likeness in appearance.
Danny rose to his feet. Lancer noticed the boy's hand pressing against his rib. The observation worried him.
"But that noise," Danielle began. Her eyes clouded over with fear and hesitancy.
"I took care of it," Lancer replied, forcing his gaze to Danielle. "I got rid of it while you guys were out, and I can help you if the mayor has any spares."
"Really?" Danny blinked at Lancer. "Thanks."
Lancer shrugged. "I may not be a brave warrior like you two, but I will do what I can to help."
Danny nodded. "Okay. Let's-"
The wall behind them exploded suddenly, sending the trio sprawling to the floor.
Their moment of safety had been painfully short-lived.
Lancer raised his head and looked back at the ghosts that had finally made their way inside.
There was a flash of light and, before Lancer could react, he was suddenly airborne, a pair of hands hooked under his armpit and pulling him up and away from the danger.
Danny shouted as he flew them out of the room. "Hang on, Mr. Lancer!" He glanced down briefly, giving Lancer a glimpse of silver hair and glowing green irises.
Danielle flew at their side, her own pair of glowing eyes constantly tossing Danny and Lancer frightened looks.
The pair dodged ecto blasts as they flew. Danielle, their only line of defense, shot back at their adversaries, covering Danny and Lancer.
"Danielle," Danny shouted over his shoulder. "Keep them busy!"
Danielle gave a curt nod and immediately fell behind.
Lancer blinked.
Danny slowed as he rounded a corner, stopping in front of the janitor's closet, before phasing through the door. The intangibility sent chills crawling through Lancer.
The boy dropped him, and the man fell unceremoniously to the ground.
"Sorry, Mr. Lancer." Danny began, breathlessly. "I know we owe you an explanation but, for now, we need you safe. Don't bother trying to get out."
"Daniel, wait!" Lancer called, but the boy was gone, swift and silent like a ghost.
Lancer tried the doorknob and sighed.
He'd been locked in that very same closet enough times to recognize the futility of his escape attempts.
There was nothing he could do but wait.
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Danny shot a flurry of ecto balls at the ghost as he approached the battle scene.
Danielle had been playing a game of chase and dodge with the ghosts, temporarily distracting them.
Of the six that had attacked, four remained.
Danny managed to divert the attention of two of the ghosts away from Danielle by engaging in combat.
His ecto blasts successfully struck one square in the chest.
Danielle successfully brought another one down.
The entities dissolved into a pile of goop on the floor.
Danny grit his teeth.
Two to go. Or, at least, he hoped there were only two. If Vlad's injuries hadn't rendered him incapable of returning to fight, then the remaining two lackeys were the least of their worries.
Recognizing their abrupt drop in numbers, the remaining ghosts moved faster and hit harder, acutely aware of the danger they were in.
The less there were, the stronger the survivors became.
The ghost raised its arms, hands glowing in preparation for an ecto blast.
Acting quickly, Danny curled his fist around the ghost's hands, stopping him from releasing the blasts.
Both he and his adversary were locked in a death grip that seemed impossible to escape intact.
Out of the corner of his eye, Danny caught sight of Danielle tumbling down to the ground in what appeared to be a near defeat.
Her opponent sauntered over to her, hands glowing dangerously.
"Dani!"
Danny swung his feet and used his momentum to throw his own adversary several feet away.
He scrambled towards Dani.
The ghost raised its palms.
For a terrible second, Danny thought he wouldn't make it in time.
And, then, a figure appeared in front of Danielle.
The new ally tossed himself over her in a protective pose, a green shield materializing over them.
Danny skid to an immediate stop.
His clone had arrived.
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Danielle blinked up at the new arrival.
The resemblance to Danny was utterly astonishing. They had the same round face, the same thin lips, the same glowing green eyes, the same wire-y shape to their bodies.
They were the identical in every way except in two: the color of the hair, and the reversal of the colors in his jumpsuit, which created an interesting contrast to Danny.
The clone's grayish locks swept over his weary gaze.
His smile was Danny's smile—wide and genuine.
"You must be Danielle," he managed between heavy breaths. He was still struggling to hold up their shield.
Danielle blinked but responded. "You're a clone, like me."
She couldn't believe it. She'd only just learned of his existence, and now here he was, making what she thought was a fantasy into a reality.
"Please," his smile widened. "Call me David."
Danielle returned his grin.
The clone dropped the shield and glanced up as their adversary moved away from them, his attention pulled to Danny.
"Um," Danny called out, barely dodging a blast from the ghost. "A little help, please?"
David and Danielle straightened up, fists glowing.
Danielle couldn't believe her luck.
There was another clone, just like her, and he was exactly like Danny with that glowing determination in his eyes and a surreptitious kindness that lingered in his smile.
The two older Phantom boys positioned themselves in front of her.
Their two remaining adversaries stalked forward.
The odds had suddenly tipped in the Phantoms' favor.
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It hadn't been a very long time before Lancer finally heard voices on the other end of the door.
At first they sounded distant, but he could tell as the sounds grew louder that, whoever they were, they were moving fast and in his direction.
Lancer pounded on the door, making as much of a ruckus as he possibly could. "Hey! Hey! Help!"
A female voice on the other side spoke. "Mr. Lancer?"
Jonathon blinked in response, instantly recognizing the person. "Mrs. Fenton?"
The voice of a familiar young teenager spoke next. "What the hell is Mr. Lancer doing in there? Again?"
Maddie spoke again. "Jack, the handle."
Jack's voice. "Don't worry. I got it."
There was the sound of clanging on the other side and then a shattering sound.
The door burst open and Lancer gratefully stepped out.
He looked at the group before him in surprise.
"Ms. Manson? Mr. Foley?"
The teens in question looked terrible.
Sam had a long cut stretching from her forehead across her eyebrow to her left cheek. Tucker's shirt was torn and covered in green stains.
Both held what Lancer recognized as small ecto weapons.
The Fenton parents, on the other hand, were completely free of any visible injuries and had larger weapons that were significantly more daunting than the the ones in the hands of the children.
"Mr. Lancer," Maddie began. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But the kids..."
He looked at his two other students in question.
"Vlad sent some ghosts after us," Sam explained. "I'm guessing he sent the rest of his little posse to Danny and Danielle."
"Lancer," Maddie began, "take these kids back with the rest of the student body."
"What?" Sam blinked incredulous. "No way! We're going with Danny. We want to help him."
Maddie frowned. "But-"
"We're wasting time arguing." Tucker pointed out.
Maddie sighed. "Not now. If you want to see Danny, you two can meet us at our house. After school."
"But-" Sam opened her mouth to protest, but Lancer interrupted her before she could.
"I need to go tell Ishiyama to have the children evacuated. The school isn't safe, and we don't know where the mayor is or in what condition." Lancer paused and pointed down another hall. "Before I go, I should tell you I last saw Danielle head that way. I'm guessing young Daniel went to her aid."
"Thank you, Lancer." Jack placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "We'll take it from here, Lancer."
"You two stay with Lancer and keep the other students safe." Maddie nodded at the teenagers and swung her deadly looking bazooka over her shoulder.
Jack nodded. "Let's go."
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The last ghost dissolved into a puddle of goop before it even hit the ground, and it took the three of them united to bring it down.
Danny turned to look at his two clones.
Green-and-red-speckled ectoplasm speckled dripped across Danielle's cheek from a small cut beneath her eye.
Her loosened hair was completely disheveled and the sleeve of her arm was torn. Her left glove was barely hanging on to her hand.
Still, despite the mess they were in, she managed a wide grin.
"We did it!" She cheered.
Danny looked at his other duplicate.
The clone looked worse than them all, even though he hadn't received nearly as many injuries as the other two hybrids.
His skin had lost all color, and small, nearly imperceptible fresh droplets of blood emerged from cracks on his pasty, dry lips pasty. Dull gray hair clung to his face, wet from the sweat that drenched his trembling body.
The clone's breathing quickened, raising alarms in Danny's head.
And then the clone dropped.
"Oh, my god!" Danielle shouted. Both Phantoms dropped to the ground beside him.
Before he could even think up a plan, Danny's attention snapped up to the sound of someone calling his name.
A surge of relief coursed through him in spite of his fear. "Mom! Dad!"
The pair quickly made their way to him.
"We need to take him to the lab." Maddie worriedly bit her lip as her fingers pressed against the clone's neck, feeling for a pulse. "Immediately."
"I'll take him," Danny picked the clone up and swung him over his shoulder. The young man was incredibly light.
"Danielle," Danny ordered, "you can carry my mom.."
"I'll take the GAV," Jack nodded, agreeing.
"Is David gonna be okay?" Danielle queried.
The question snapped the Fentons' attention to Danielle.
The arguably youngest clone fidgeted under their stare.
"What did you call him?" Maddie demanded.
"David. He said his name was David." Danielle hesitated. "Is that not right?"
"Jazz advised him to choose a name for himself," Danny realized aloud.
Maddie smiled a sad smile.
Danny understood immediately.
Danny himself had been named after Maddie's father, Daniel, who'd passed away a long time ago.
Soon after her father's death, Maddie's mother began drinking heavily, so she and her sister had been taken in by their uncle.
The uncle, the man Maddie considered her pseudo-father and the man Danny called a grandfather, was named David.
It seemed, Danny realized with a start, that the clone had developed a profound bond with his own caring mother.
"David," Maddie nodded, tears glimmering in her eyes. "I like it."
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A/N: I know, I know. Last month, I had assured you all that this chapter would be posted within two weeks after the previous had been posted. Clearly, it's been more than two weeks. I'm sorry for (1) not updating sooner and (2) giving false hope.
I make no promises except that I will try to remember to post the next chapter soon.
Anyways, as usual, all feedback-positive or negative, constructive or encouraging-is always accepted and appreciated.