A/N: Wow and whew, everbodee! I didn't think that this chapter would be finished in time for tonight's posting because my beta wasn't perfectly happy with it until the last 'burning the midnight oil' round. And when she's not happy, I'm definitely not happy. And because of all the banter we had over it (which is actually quite entertaining in and of itself), I think I should tell you something VERY IMPORTANT about this chapter. This is sort of an AU chapter. It takes place five more years into the future of the TV episode, "The Ultimate Enemy"; and, it has some unanswered questions in it that I will save for another time (story?) because the bottom line is that what happens in this chapter is pertinent only to this story. I didn't intend for this chapter to have so many unanswered questions; but I also thought the background of what will unfold was important to this story. If I get enough of y'all asking those same unanswered questions as my beta, then I might seriously consider writing another story that will go in depth about those questions. But for now, I just hope you can suspend some belief and roll with it as it is….Also, if you haven't read my story "His Own Worst Enemy" (and please do and review!), you will be very confused about this chapter as well…which, therefore, calls for a very quick spoiling re-cap of that story: In my Dannyphandom, Evil Dan escapes from the Fenton thermos in that story and tries to destroy Danny in Danny's present-day timeline—which, of course, is still Evil Dan's past. But in the process, there's a human/ghost war that Dark Dan ignites using ecto-radium to poison and destroy ghosts and conquer humans through the use of slave/poisoned ghosts. *sighs* Now, time to change wavelengths. I would like to dedicate this story to Lisa (you know who you are) who is celebrating her birthday today! You are awesome! In the meantime, I do not own the DP characters, but I own this plot and its OCs. Enjoy the show!
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Entanglement—Chapter 14—Complications of Plans, Part One
"Well, well. Lookey who we have here!" twenty-nine-year-old Dark Dan snidely sneered just as he grabbed Tucker by his collar and easily pulled the teen up to eye level.
Privately, the wicked ghost was curious as to why the teen-from-the-past was here, especially when five more years had elapsed in his timeline. But Danny's future evil's self wasn't about to let on.
Tucker yelped in alarm before his cry was choked off at the sudden pressure around his neck. He immediately reached up and tried to pry off the ghostly hands, but to no avail. His face was also flushed with the uncomfortable feeling of having his footing literally knocked out from under him.
"And, look: another invader!" the Skulker-half of Skultech 9.9 growled as he easily grabbed and restrained Valerie.
"Invader?" Valerie immediately growled back as she struggled against the robotic ghost. "You're the invaders!"
Still holding onto Tucker, Evil Dan floated over to Valerie. But then, he put the boy down next to the woman and unconsciously released Tucker's collar enough for him to breathe. The boy struggled to stifle his impulse to gulp in air even as he continued to pull on the ghost's hands to fully release him.
In the meanwhile, Dark Dan ignored the boy's paltry efforts and smirked at Valerie in anticipation. He was going to enjoy this as much as he had in the past five years. He reached over and lightly caressed Valerie's face. As he expected, she instantly pulled away, and he almost chuckled, "Tsk-tsk, 'sweetheart'. That blow to your pretty head must be worse than you thought. Just look around you!"
Valerie's eyes immediately darted to the left and right of the ghost in front of her and a moment later, her eyes widened.
"We're in the Spektra [1] Sector!" she gasped.
"Spektra Sector?" Tucker gasped in both fear and confusion. Even though he had no idea what she meant by that, the way she said it was definitely a reason for him to be afraid.
But Valerie didn't answer him.
Instead, the woman lunged at Evil Dan; and even though Skultech 9.9 effectively controlled her, she gritted her teeth, defiantly glared at the more powerful ghost, and seethed, "With the way you run this place, 'big boy', the borders change all of the time! And I didn't know I was in your turf until right now! If you had made sure to keep your minions out of my turf, I wouldn't have been too busy to see where I was driving them to in the first place!"
"Well, then, you should have paid closer attention to detail, 'beautiful'," Danny's alternative self said with faux sweetness even as he kept a firm hold on Tucker and pulled him closer to his front. "Something I think you are usually exquisite in doing."
Valerie said through gritted teeth as she continued to struggle against Skultech 9.9, "It won't happen again, 'hot shot'. You know I wouldn't have been that sloppy."
Meanwhile, Tucker listened to the two in confusion. What were they talking about? And for that matter, why were they even talking at all? And what was this 'sweet talk' between them all about? Obviously, then, that things had definitely changed since he had last visited the future Amity Park. But then again, he had purposely come here five years further into the future for that other purpose.
The teen was about to ask what was going on when he was jerked around so that he was now facing Evil Dan. He felt chills running up-and-down his spine as he peered into the ghost's stern glowing red eyes.
Though Phantom never took his eyes off Tucker, he still only addressed Valerie, "I'll deal with you in a moment, goddess. But what I really want to know is why this runt is here!"
He shook the boy and demanded, "So, shrimp, why are you here? Did that little twerp of my younger-self send you? Though I can tell from your height that he must also be a little older but still no wiser!"
Though terrified, Tucker puckered his face in determination and said nothing.
"Oh, so you think that 'brave act' is enough?" Dan challenged. "Well, not here, dweeb! Spill it!"
"Uh, uh…" Tucker stammered in fear. He wasn't being brave at all. He just really couldn't explain why he was here in the first place because no matter what he said, they wouldn't believe him.
But the wicked ghost didn't wait for an answer. While maintaining a tight hold on the human boy, he quickly began to inspect the boy's pockets.
Tucker twisted in a vain effort to keep the ghost out of his pockets. In the next moment, however, the evil ghost was pulling out his ghost detector and his…old PDA!
With one quick, effortless squeeze, Danny's alternate-self pulverized those items within his hand as if he were merely popping soap bubbles.
Phantom then just as easily twisted Tucker around so that his backpack was facing him.
Though Tucker was momentarily relieved that the ghost had stopped searching his pockets, he quickly yelped in protest and tried to pull away again when Phantom tore open his backpack.
"Oh, I see that you didn't come here with the most innocent of intentions," the ghost mocked as he threw all of the weapons that Tucker had put into in his backpack down at the boy's feet.
Tucker swallowed hard.
"Let's see what else is in here…" Dark Dan began, as he resumed rummaging through the backpack some more.
Phantom then easily twisted the teen back around so that the boy could see and he said with a sneer, "Oh, now I see why you came here, chump!"
Tucker's eyes widened as he gasped in shock.
Danny's older-alternative-self was holding up two more of Clockwork's time medallions!
"How-how d-did they get in there?!" Tucker blurted out in all honesty. The boy was distressed to say the least.
Suddenly, Phantom laughed heartily, "Ha-ha! You don't know, do you, twerp? Must be that you were definitely played for the chump that you are. Obviously, you were sent here just to deliver these to me and Skultech from that old man Clockwork after all! So, what is that conniving Old Weasel up to?"
"No! I mean, I don't know!" Tucker cried out in a panic, "Clockwork didn't send me….he doesn't even know I'm here! And I don't know how those things got into…"
The panicked teen suddenly stifled himself. The time medallions must have fallen into his backpack when he had stumbled into their case at Clockwork's Room of Chronology! He gulped in dread at what this could mean. Now, he wished he had never come here to try to get another PDA from Skultech!
But his thoughts were interrupted by the powerful ghost still holding him, "Oh, come now, twerp, you can do better than that! I would think that you would have grown more of those techno-brain cells by now!"
Tucker didn't know what to say, but then, Valerie angrily piped in, "So, obviously, then, 'Ace', the kid never thought it through and so all of this is a big mistake!
"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head over that. I might now have new plans now that I have these," Phantom said, patting the time medallions. "Just think. I might go back and re-write a little bit of history myself with these little things."
"Y-You c-can't do that!" Tucker stammered.
"And that isn't part of the deal, and you know it, Phantom!" Valerie growled.
Danny's alternative-self frowned in irritation. But before he could reply, he tightened his hold on Tucker's collar and jerked the teen down to the ground just as he released him.
Tucker, in turn, fell onto his face and spit out the dirt he had just kissed. But when he tried to get back up, Evil Dan shoved him back down with his foot and pinned him to the ground.
Phantom motioned for Skultech 9.9 to bring the woman closer to him. He then gently caressed her face once again and chuckled slightly when she pulled away yet again as he said, "And how would that 'deal' apply to me in this case, 'sweetheart'?"
She answered through gritted teeth, "I can't believe I have to refresh your memory about all of this, 'Romeo'."
Tucker spit out some more dirt and grunted in confusion. Just why did these two throw around those endearing pet-names at each other when they obviously weren't the best of pals? Still, he couldn't help but listen in—especially when he had no choice at this point since he was still in a helpless position.
"Do tell, Red," Evil Dan said in fake sweetness, though at the same time, encouraging her to go on.
And then, the Red Huntress proceeded to indirectly 'tell' Tucker about what caused all of this… change— which actually happened about two years earlier in the teen's timeline, but was actually five years earlier in this timeline, shortly after Clockwork had sent her back into the future after the Poisoned Ghost War…[2]
The twenty-four-year-old Red Huntress was on patrol in Amity Park as usual. She was careful not to fly too quickly so as to keep a close look out all around her. After all, she didn't want to accidentally fly into any of her ghostly enemies…
As she flew along, she couldn't help but notice that it was still quiet…too quiet…like it had been for several days now. She knew the reason: Evil Phantom was gone…She really couldn't deny it for several reasons, especially that most important one. She had been responsible for the evil ghost's having been given a lethal dose of ecto-radium in the past at an Amity-Park-that-looked-foreign-to-her during that alternate-universe war. So, he must have been destroyed in that dimension after all. She couldn't be certain of course, since Clockwork had sent her back to her timeline before she knew what had finally happened to the wicked ghost. That uncertainty had been an uncomfortable pit in her stomach ever since then, too.
But still, she couldn't deny how quiet everything had been here in Amity Park since that encounter. After all, she was certain the wicked ghost wouldn't miss his favorite sport of regularly ravaging and terrorizing her town right now by himself or with some of his goons if he had somehow survived being infected with ecto-radium and—more importantly— if he had somehow been able to return here if he had survived.
She paused. She would have rather known that he had indeed gone to the oblivion; but she couldn't dismiss the possibility that he had somehow survived. After all, he was from this universe, so maybe being poisoned by ecto-radium in that other dimension wouldn't actually permanently harm him…
She knew, of course, that it was lame thinking on her part. But she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Dark Phantom had wormed his way out of even that.
She paused again. And there was still the matter of its being too quiet here. She really couldn't believe that there wouldn't be other ghosts around who wouldn't want to take advantage of Phantom's being gone...Even though she had to admit that it could mean what she had always suspected: that Dark Phantom had been the supreme leader of the Ghost Zone, even when he had power enough for all the destruction he had done without the need for any ghosts. And if that was indeed true, then maybe the ghosts were regrouping and trying to figure out what they should do from now on…
She frowned, unconvinced. Maybe that evil ghost was able to get back; and he and his goons were just off attacking another world somewhere until he had brought them to their knees as he had pretty much had done to the humans even before he got into that earlier alternate dimension. That thought fueled not only her hatred for Evil Dan and her desire for his having succumbed to ecto-radium poisoning, but also her discouragement. She always had the gnawing feeling that it would have been just a matter of time before the human race would have become slaves to the wicked ghost and his minions. But she knew that she would rather die at the evil ghost's hands than to be his slave…
She paused when it seemed as if the wind rushing past her ears had suddenly blown that discouraging thought out of her head and brought her back to reality of...
Silence.
Right now, the utter emptiness of life was so foreign to her that it made the hair on the back of her head crawl. It reminded her of that other brief period of time that seemed like eons ago when there was a similar uncomfortable quietness around Amity Park. It was around the time when, oddly, the teenage Danny Phantom and who she thought at first were the ghosts of Sam and Tucker had come from the past and into her timeline. And she still couldn't quite wrap around her head about seeing Sam and Tucker alive then. But it didn't matter because there had been a fight and then it seemed as if Evil Dan had destroyed them after all. And then, when she tried to find out if that was what had happened, she discovered that not only had the teens of the past disappeared, but so had Evil Dan...
Little did she know that the older Phantom had actually gone back into the past to try to guarantee his future before he had been defeated by his younger-self and locked up in one of the Fenton's thermoses for months and months inside Clockwork's castle. And not too long after that, he had escaped from the thermos and tried to waste the same younger-self and take over the world ten years earlier…
But she knew that the older Phantom had failed yet again; and in the process, the fight between him and his younger alternate-self had ultimately erased some of time before she had infected him and hopefully sent him to his doom. But maybe he hadn't succumbed. Maybe he had been sent back to his timeline, where he was planning to resume his terror in revenge on what she did to him!
Maybe, then, this current lull in the destruction might be another of his many tricks to catch her off-guard! So, all that was important right now was for her to keep alert and count her blessings that Phantom had been gone for several days and so was not terrorizing the citizens for some inexplicable reason. But yet again, she had another nagging feeling that this kind of uneasy peace was one of his many tricks.
She threw that thought away. She still had to finish her patrol…
But as she flew on without running into him—or any of his minions—she switched to her binocular vision and continued to scan all around her. Nothing was smoldering in decay like it usually was for sometimes days after Dark Phantom had destroyed it.
After a couple of hours, however, it was becoming clearer and clearer to her that Phantom was gone.
But then, she came to a sudden halt on her hoverboard and raised her hand up to shield her eyes as a bright beam of light flashed before her. She could barely make out through her squinted eyes that a very odd…portal was opening!
Though she had never seen a portal like that—one that was made up of purple ectoplasmic energy and spun wildly like a fast-ticking clock —she quickly prepared herself to do battle! After all, she reflexively thought that Phantom could be behind what looked like a trap, since he was so good at devising very clever ones, like making himself look like a kid.
Still, she focused, raised her weapon and trained its sights on the portal. A split second later, a ghost materialized just before the odd portal disappeared not even a heartbeat later.
It was Dark Phantom!
She cocked her ecto-blaster, her finger itching to pull the trigger, when she suddenly paused and frowned in total confusion.
He was weeping? Evil Dan Phantom, the terror of the entire planet, was crying?!
But she snapped out it almost immediately afterward. He had survived the poisoning!
"You did worm out of it and so this is just another dirty trick!" she said through gritted teeth as she looked through her sight and fired.
Dan Phantom yelled in pain as the point-blank angry ecto-shot that dug into his ghostly flesh forcefully pushed him back at the same time.
Quickly pushing all sorts of command buttons, Valerie hurriedly raced after him while launching several anti-ghost grenades she and her father had devised just for Phantom.
All of them made contact and Phantom was swallowed up in smoke and a powerful bubble of anti-ecto-energy. He screamed in more pain.
Valerie anxiously hovered in place and kept her guard up as she waited for the cloud to clear. She re-cocked her weapon and wrapped her finger around its trigger.
Finally, the smoke cleared, but Phantom was gone!
The twenty-four-year-old Valerie gasped in dread and violently jerked her head in all directions.
Before she knew it, she felt pressure around her throat before her foe reappeared floating right in front of her!
But instead of trying to yank his hands from around her throat—even when she hadn't noticed that he was not actually squeezing it—the girl warrior pulled the trigger on the weapon she still managed to hold onto.
Evil Dan was riveted away from Valerie yet again. He screamed in pain as he reflexively cradled his wounded abdomen before he crashed to the ground in an area with a lot of debris and rubble.
Valerie immediately banked her jetboard downward and raced after him, quickly re-loading her blaster with another very wicked-looking big missile meant to destroy this evil ghost.
As she narrowed the space between them, she could plainly see that he had yet to recover from her last assault. In fact, he was still cradling his abdomen, which was heavily leaking ectoplasm out. Good! She just needed to get a few more feet closer and it would be enough for the missile to unleash its full force on him and obliterate him!
But when she was within speaking range, her heart constricted slightly in conflict when the evil ghost lifted one of his bloodied hands up in what looked like surrender.
"N-NO! D-Don't shoot!" Phantom barely was able to say since he was obviously struggling with getting that out.
"Forget it, ghost!" she growled back as she reached for the trigger. "I won't fall for any of your tricks this time!"
Valerie's eyes widened in surprise when instead of forming a ball of ectoplasm in counter-attack, the evil ghost just let that hand drop to his side. She could then see that his other hand was still trying to dam a gaping hole in his abdomen with ectoplasm still leaking out all around him. And unbelievable still! Spectral tears were still falling from his face!
"Just as well that you got me," the ghost sadly sighed really to himself than to Valerie. "Just make it quick, then!"
Valerie's face puckered up in total confusion. Evil Dan was admitting defeat?!
But the woman could not have known that Phantom had just phased back into their timeline several days after having his afterlife spared by none other than the younger version of himself after curing him of the black shadow decay. The evil ghost's psyche had been shaken to the deepest part of his core at the shocking blow from his younger self's mercy; and he didn't know how to deal with it. At the time of his return—which was when the Timeless Magic surrounding him had faded— he had been psychologically defenseless; and so, even Valerie's attack the moment of his arrival wasn't enough to get him out of his funk—even if his survival instincts did manage a weak counterattack. But even that had not been enough to save him from suffering a serious wound from Valerie's aggressiveness.
Valerie was still in a bit of shock because she still hadn't pulled the trigger.
Now, Phantom was irritated at her hesitation and the fact that yet again, he was under someone else's mercy!
"Well," he growled through his grunts of pain, "What are you waiting for, Valerie? Destroy me while you have the chance!"
For once in his existence, Danny's alternate-future-self couldn't even make himself shoot her at this point. In fact, his physical blow compounded his psychological one and the pain of both only made him more aware that his last encounter with his younger self had awaken his long-ignored…conscience.
Valerie's throat tensed a bit more before she started to squeeze the trigger. After all, this ghost had done so much evil and deserved to die…and he was too dangerous to hold as a prisoner. She should finish off what she had started.
Suddenly, however, Valerie gasped and recoiled reflexively when a beam of green ectoplasm struck from behind and grazed her left arm.
"This is a trick, you jerk!" she yelled through her own cry of pain as she turned toward her new foe and quickly fired.
But her shot went wild; and that same attacker fired again, this time knocking her off of her jetboard.
However, Valerie tumbled like a gymnast with the momentum until she ended up on her knees with her ecto-blaster poised and ready. She aimed and fired at Evil Dan this time!
But just before her powerful projectile could make contact, another green ectoplasmic beam intercepted it and it exploded a few feet from the still-injured Phantom.
However, the remnants of that explosion were able to reach their originally intended victim and Evil Dan screamed in more pain as his ecto-flesh was rented yet again.
Valerie, meanwhile, while hearing that her latest blow had hit its mark, didn't wait to see it because she was already swinging into action against the other offending ghost.
Commanding and then jumping on her jet board as it obediently whooshed toward her, her eyes narrowed on Skultech 9.9 as she shot a powerful missile at him.
Skultech, in turn, fired back his own deadly projectile; and both missiles hit head on.
The force of their impact repelled both Valerie and Skultech away from each other.
Valerie was the first to recover and seeing that Evil Dan hadn't even attempted to get off of the ground yet, she quickly soared right up to him and pointed her ecto-blaster right at him before she quickly produced another weapon and aimed it at the fast-approaching Skultech.
"Back away, spook, or else your master here is history!" she growled seriously in threat.
"He is not my master!" the Skulker-part of the robotic ghost growled back before he yelled, "Now's your chance, Phantom!"
Whether the evil ghost refused to attack for some odd reason or couldn't fight because of his wounds didn't matter to Valerie. She cocked both of her guns; but before she fired, Dan said, "Stand down, Skultech!"
Valerie glanced at the injured ghost in disbelief! Did she hear him right?
However, that slight distraction was Skultech's advantage and he soared right at the woman!
But Valerie heard him and shot out the robot's rockets just in the nick of time.
Skultech tumbled out of control and Valerie gasped when she realized it was too late for her to avoid the robotic ghost.
He plowed right into her!
But even as they rolled in a melee on the ground, Valerie still managed to hold onto her weapons. In the next split second when girl and ghost stopped in a heap, it was Valerie kneeling on top of the robot with each gun aimed right between Skulker's robotic eyes and between Technus's eyes in the robot's abdomen. And all of them were very close to Evil Dan.
"And I don't have to tell you that this works even when you're invisible or intangible," she growled in threat before she hitched in a gasp.
Much to her dismay, she quickly saw that Skultech had also managed to hold onto his weapon and it was pointed right at her! "And I might say the same thing, too, human!" he countered.
Both warrior and robot paused in hesitation, each fully aware of their 'Mexican stand-off'.
"I said, 'Stand down, Skultech'!" the older alternate Phantom commanded yet again just before he started coughing.
The Technus-part of Skultech whined, "But we have the humans' greatest warrior at our mercy!"
"As if you know what that means!" Valerie seethed through gritted teeth, ignoring her sweaty palms as she tightened her hold on both of her guns in readiness. "But I would say that we both have the advantage and disadvantage right now!"
Suddenly, however, all four foes heard a noise in the distance.
Valerie smiled only to herself. That must be some of the other human ghost hunters she had reflexively alerted after she had initially encountered Evil Dan after he had left that odd portal! Her cavalry was coming! But they couldn't get here soon enough with the situation she was in.
Dark Dan, meanwhile, could also tell that human reinforcements were on their way and he was completely defenseless! And suddenly, all he wanted to do was survive!
"Skultech," he insisted, "I'm in no condition to help you and I actually need your help right now. So…."
But Valerie hotly interrupted him, "You're wrong, Phantom! You definitely won't get Skultech's help if I destroy him right now! In fact, you all are doomed once the other humans get here! So, give it up!"
Skultech, however, growled in threat, "And if Phantom dies, you will be doomed, too! Surrender, human! Now!"
Nevertheless, none of the dueling parties made a move to suggest either surrender or action.
But then, suddenly, Valerie re-directed her aim to Evil Dan and kept her aim steady on the Technus-part of Skultech while keeping her eyes locked on Skulker.
"You do not scare me, human," the Skulker-part dryly said.
"That's because she's aiming at me, you dolt!" the Technus-part whined. "And if she bumps me off, you know you'll be the sitting turkey you'll then deserve to be! So, watch it!"
A brief yet intense moment of silence descended upon the foursome, each of them knowing that if any of them made a false move, there would be nothing left for the advancing humans to do.
But then, Phantom groaned while trying to move. He immediately stopped when it was useless and said with a hint of a sarcastic bravado in his voice, "Look, 'sweetheart', I'll make a deal with you…"
"What? A deal? Since when have you made a deal with anyone but other ghost scum like this one, huh, 'loverboy'?" Valerie sarcastically replied while motioning slightly to Skultech 9.9 while indirectly letting Dan know that she knew that Skultech was his closest ally.
"Hey!" Technus objected.
But Dark Danny didn't deny or confirm what she had said. He would never admit that his Vlad-ghost side and the Skulker part of Skultech were still…friends as well as allies.
However, without losing sight of the others, all four briefly tune into their peripheral vision. The commotion of the advancing human ghost hunters was getting louder and it also sounded as if they were being surrounded. They knew it wouldn't be long before the cavalry would be in sight.
The woman darted her eyes quickly to the injured ghost and mockingly continued, "And I don't think you're in any position to make any deal, unless, of course, it's my deal, 'sweetheart'."
When Valerie saw no objection in Phantom's eyes for a change, she told him, "See if you can reach that scrap of paper just to your left there."
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
Dark Dan knew that he was in no condition at this point to argue. If he didn't get to the Ghost Zone soon, he might never recover from his serious wounds. He struggled to reach the paper, but then, he finally did.
"I have it, 'beautiful', he cheekily said.
Valerie turned to the Skulker-part of the robot and asked, "Isn't it true, Skultech, that a ghost's ectoplasm is as good as its bond?"
The Skulker-part replied, "Yes, but what does that have to do…"
"Good," she said, intentionally interrupting him before wincing, "Geez, that's so whacked that even evil ghosts have a perverted honor system…" She then glanced at Phantom and seriously demanded, "So, I want you to write what I say down, 'Romeo'. And use your finger as a pen and your ectoplasm as ink!"
All three of the ghosts' eyebrows shot up in shock. If Evil Dan agreed…
"How do you know I will actually write what you want, 'goddess'?" Phantom brashly teased.
Valerie answered in irritation, "Do you or don't you want a second chance? All we have to do is wait a bit more and it won't matter what you write!"
Danny's alternate future-self hesitated. He didn't understand why she would give him a second chance…just like he didn't understand why his younger-self had given him one, too... Something tugged on his core; but he quickly threw it aside when he could feel his head begin to swim and the sound of multiple human feet echoing in the next over alley. He quickly dabbed his index finger into his abdominal wound and reluctantly said, "I'm all yours, 'beautiful'…"
"Okay," she instructed, "I want you to write that you promise by your own blood that you and your minions will stay out of Amity Park north and east beyond where we are now, which is Main Street near Pearl Street. You can have the rest of Amity Park from the next block over on this side. Where we are now will be our neutral zone, a place for any truce we might need. And from now on, if we have to engage in any kind of battle—which, honestly, I think you all actually like—no ghost will be able to become intangible or invisible during those battles. That way, we can level the playing field a little bit….And maybe stop a little of the insanity that we have now…. Did you get that?"
"Yes," Dan said with a cough even when he finished writing what she said.
"Now, sign it, 'hot shot'!" she insisted with a serious frown.
He complied.
"Leave the paper and go…now! Our deal starts when you leave," she commanded. "And if you break that blood bond, Phantom, not only will I make sure all the other ghosts get you, but…" She suddenly jumped off of Skultech and onto her jetboard and shot at Phantom—but missed him on purpose.
Skultech hurriedly flew over to the injured Phantom, created a portal just big enough for the two of them, scooped him up, and jumped in just as it closed and just as Valerie's cavalry began to close all around her.
And ever since that moment, whenever the woman warrior and the ghost had to meet for some reason in their 'neutral zone' or otherwise, they used those same 'pet-names'….
….
Back to the present five years later, Valerie concluded her 'history lesson' to Phantom by saying, "And even though I have to admit that you've been true to your word for all of these years, 'Romeo', you have to admit that I have too, until I was too busy chasing Spectra back to your side to see that I went a bit too far. But then again, I could say that I should be the offended party since one of your minions broke the deal in the first place."
In the meantime, not only was Tucker trying to wrap his head around an actual peace settlement between Evil Dan and the citizens of Amity Park even being possible, he was also wracking his brains with trying to figure out a way out of this mess. However, every time he even tried to get in a more comfortable position even when he was still faced-down on the ground, Evil Dan would just exert a bit more force with his foot and push him back down.
But when the teen could tell that Valerie's explanation was coming to an end, he began to panic. And with good cause, for he now could tell that the conversation was taking a different track.
Dark Dan frowned at the woman's comment and dryly replied, "I've told the ghosts to stay on our side; but you of all humans should know that there are renegades in both camps."
Valerie bit her lower lip. She secretly agreed with him. She paused only a moment before sweetly adding with a smile, "But really, do we want to get into all of that, 'sweetheart', especially when you owe me for that second chance like I gave you back then? It won't happen again."
He frowned as if he wasn't satisfied with her comment. But then, he tersely said, "Alright, 'goddess', I will give you that 'second chance'; that way, I will no longer owe you any other such favor from now on."
Valerie could barely believe what she had just heard, as she only saw the ghost as being very selfish and evil—and that he had only agreed to their deal five years ago because he was so compromised and close to going to his oblivion. But she couldn't possibly have known about the seed that had been planted, ironically, by a much younger and alternative version of the evil ghost shortly before his and Valerie's momentous encounter. Not that the ghost had fully mended his ways…he was just more open to…alternatives that he would never had even considered before he had been spared by his younger-self even when he had deserved to have been destroyed.
But before the woman warrior could comment, Phantom lifted his foot off of Tucker, leaned down and roughly pulled him up and off of the ground by the back of his collar this time. He pulled him up to eye-level again and almost growled in threat, "However, I never owed such a favor to this twerp. And this time, you will tell me why you're here, chump!"
Tucker gulped and he nervously averted the evil ghost's glare. In desperation, he searched just beyond his foe and spied Valerie's jetboard which was very close to them.
A thought burst as loudly as a firecracker thrown into the air.
"I wonder…is it possible?" the human boy dared only to ask himself. "Only one way to find out, dude!"
The teen slowly reached for the control band that was still on his wrist and hidden from all eyes under his long-sleeve cargo shirt—the control band that he borrowed from his girl, that is, the younger version of the alternate-timeline Valerie who was right in front of him.
Tucker groped for the button and easily located the specific one he wanted. He didn't hesitate to push it.
His heart leapt a bit when the future Valerie's jetboard silently lifted upward just as he commanded.
"Ugh!" he reflexively thought, "Major déjà vu! Don't know whether to be impressed or disappointed about that like I was when I first met Skultech 9.9! Oh, well, here goes nothing!"
He immediately pushed the next command button.
A moment later, he grunted when he was roughly released and fell to the ground when the flying machine slammed hard right into Evil Dan and wrenched him away from the boy, just as Tucker had hoped! The jetboard then plastered the wicked ghost into a dilapidated building, which immediately collapsed around him. But Tucker had commanded the hoverboard to kick quickly back before it, too, would be embedded.
"I didn't do that!" Valerie yelled in shock as she pulled against Skultech 9.9.
"No, she didn't," Tucker loudly confirmed, "I did!"
"Stop, human!" the Technus-half of the robotic ghost protested.
But little did Technus know was that when he said that, the Skulker-half had unconsciously loosened his grip on Valerie and pulled out a weapon after he had seen his ally's being rocketed away from the scene and then rammed into the building. He immediately shot at Tucker!
Tucker yelled in panic, even as he was able to command the hoverboard back to him and jump out of the way of the ecto-beam at the same time.
Valerie, meanwhile, took full advantage of that slight movement she felt against her arms, twisted out of Skultech's hold, rolled to the ground and grabbed one of her weapons that was still in the place where it had fallen when Evil Dan had unleashed his ghostly wail.
She didn't hesitate to fire upon the robotic ghost, who yelled as the ectoblastic ray bit into him and riveted him violently away.
Just as Tucker hopped onto the still-flying jetboard, he yelled out, "Let's get out of here, Valerie!"
He then commanded the hoverboard to fly over to the woman. As he neared her, he didn't stop, but reached out to her ready hand, pulled her up behind him and soared away before the two ghosts could re-coup.
As they flew on toward what would be the 'neutral zone' of Amity Park, Valerie asked the teen, "How are you doing this, Tucker?"
"No time to explain," he hurriedly answered. "All I want to do right now is get as far away from here as I can!"
"I don't think it matters where we're going right now," Valerie said with a little fear in her voice.
All of sudden, several ectoplasmic rays whizzed by them!
Tucker didn't need to be reminded that they were still in very hot water as he commanded the jetboard in several successful evasive movements.
Valerie hung onto Tucker for dear life as her jetboard bobbed and weaved. But then, she turned around and saw that two ticked ghosts were quickly closing in!
She pushed a button on her belt and a small headband with a mouthpiece appeared around her cropped head. She yelled into what turned out to be a kind of loudspeaker, "This wasn't my idea, 'lover-boy'! I said I won't invade your turf anymore and I mean it! I just hope you will keep your word to stay on your turf as you have in the past. I'll believe that if you don't crossover into the Homa Sector!" [2]
Tucker knew she had spoken a little Esperanto and so, he knew she had been referring to the "Human Sector".
In the meantime, Dark Dan hadn't answer her; instead, he poured on more speed and shot out more of his energy. Though Skultech couldn't fly that fast, he was still able to continue in his pursuit and attack.
Tucker, fortunately, was still able to maneuver their flying board just out of the line of fire each time.
"The border to the Human Sector is just ahead!" Valerie yelled as she pointed over Tucker's shoulder at the area full of pristine buildings.
But with still several hundred feet between them and that part of Amity Park, Evil Dan slowed down. But instead of stopping, he pulled in a big gulp of air in anticipation of releasing his ghostly wail!
"Hurry, Tucker! I just know he's going to release his ghostly wail any moment!" Valerie desperately said, fearing that Evil Dan was no longer going to uphold his end of their agreement. "I can activate a ghost shield as soon as we cross the border, which might help minimize the damage to this sector."
Tucker swallowed a hard-lump down and pushed a button with his foot this time.
The jetboard jerked forward so rapidly that both riders yelled in a panic when they almost fell off! But when they regain their balance, the pair could see that they were very close to the border.
Just then, however, Phantom's powerful ghostly wail hammered at them, their surroundings and their ears all at the same time!
Debris from the nearby buildings crumbling under the ghost's powerful weapon rained down on the pair even as Tucker pushed the jetboard's power to its limit.
But suddenly, a large piece that had broken off the top of a high building fell on the tip of the flying surfboard and pushed it sharply downward before both the debris and the tip slammed into the ground.
Unfortunately, the tail of the hoverboard maintained a forward thrust and the jolt of a very abrupt stop catapulted Valerie and Tucker as easily as if they had been on a springboard!
In the midst of his unexpected flight, however, Tucker somehow managed to hold onto the edge of the jetboard. But Valerie was thrown over the still falling debris and safely over the border into the Human Sector. Even as she quickly recovered, she reflexively pushed a button on her belt and a ghost shield materialized, that protected her from the pile of wreckage that was quickly mounting and choking off any entrance into—or exit from—either the Human Sector or Neutral Zone.
She turned to look for Tucker and gasped when she couldn't see him! But when she turned back in the direction in which she had come, she gasped again when she caught a glimpse of him just before the rest of the debris cut off her line of vision. She felt her heart constrict when she knew she couldn't help him now.
Once the passage was completely blocked, Evil Dan stifled his ghostly wail.
Meanwhile, Tucker was struggling with commanding the jetboard to pull itself from under the rubble pinning its front tip.
"Now I got you, twerp!" the wicked ghost chuckled.
Tucker didn't even stop to turn around and look at the evil ghost because he could tell that he was closer than he wanted to even admit.
But just as Valerie's flying machine finally broke free, several things happened all at the same time: Tucker hopped on the board, squatted to his knees and pushed a button to send it soaring away; the boy felt a strong hand wrap around his right ankle and he grasped the upper sides of the board harder; and his throat hitched when he heard that Skultech's rockets were just about upon him!
"Let go!" the teen desperately demanded as he banked the hoverboard to a hard left while pulling his right foot away at the same time in an attempt to brush the evil ghost off of him and the board.
"Not on your life!" Dan promised as he yanked even harder on the boy.
Tucker yelped when he was pulled to his right and closer to the evil ghost. Beads of sweat immediately formed on his brow as he performed a strange-looking chin-up along the floor of the jetboard in an attempt to move further toward the tip of the flying machine and away from the evil ghost.
A moment later, unfortunately, Skultech had finally caught up and quickly grabbed hold of the jetboard just behind the teen's left foot. Now that both ghosts were on either side of the back of the jetboard—with Tucker in between them—they suddenly reversed tactics—literally. Dark Dan fully released Tucker's foot and instead grasped the jetboard with both hands. Almost reflexively, both he and Skultech began to pull on the jetboard as if they were cowboys wrestling to pull down a young steer by its horns.
Once again, Tucker yelled in panic. Yet in spite of his terror, his brain snapped with an idea. He struggled to reach the control band of the hoverboard that was on his wrist. Finally, he felt the controls! Without hesitating in the least, he pushed a button; and a split second later, the ghosts were yelling in pain and had let go of the flying surfboard which had blasted them right in their faces with the increased propulsion.
But Tucker didn't anticipate the sudden shift in the forward movement of the hoverboard and before he knew it, his feet were sliding off of the side of the hoverboard and he was now hanging from the tip and facing behind the jetboard's forward path.
And he could see the two evil ghosts renew their chase!
Gulping in dread, Tucker grunted as the pulled himself up in the best and swiftest chin-up of his life and threw himself over the tip and onto the body of Valerie's flying machine. His eyes widened when he could see the ghosts were just about to pounce on him again!
It never occurred to him that they had no intension of firing at him.
Nevertheless, the teen's brain was as charged as his heart's thumping and another idea sprung up. He hurriedly turned forward again and clung to the right side of the board…And just when it seemed that the ghosts were about to put their hands on the flying board yet again, Tucker reached down his shirt with his left hand and yanked off his time medallion with more force than what was needed in normal circumstances.
In an instant, Tucker was surrounded by a purple aura and was phasing out of the timeline and into his own…bringing with him the jetboard….
And, much to his chagrin, also bringing Evil Dan and Skultech 9.9, whom he knew in the heartbeat when the aura had appeared, had just been able to grab onto the jetboard—and even his right ankle again—and who had obviously already put those other time medallions on in anticipation for this very chance!
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[1] Esperanto for 'Human'.
[2] If you want the details as to what Valerie is referring, you're going to have to read my story, "His Own Worst Enemy"! *winks*
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A/N: Well, there you have it! I sure hope you liked the AU-ish part of this chapter! And I hope you will throw some of those AU-ish thoughts my way in that little box below. Until next time, dear readers, and a happy birthday again to you, Lisa!