Hello, everybody! Surprised to see me so soon? (frankly, I am too...) But I just had to get out here and write this you're-going-to-kill-me-for-what-I'm-about-to-do chapter. Ah, yes... (gulp)
Chapter Twenty-one: Mors Mortis
Before Dan had time to react, he was knocked onto his back by a rush of air. Harry pulled the broom up into the sky and prepared to swoop back down for another attack. But his broom had other ideas- it disintegrated right in his hands and Harry plummeted to the ground. Luckily, he fell on a pile of trash bags that helped to cushion his fall.
Dan growled, picked Harry up by his throat and threw him in front of the other wizards. "What is this? Having children fight me now? Are you just asking to be slaughtered?" Harry groaned and blinked his eyes.
He noticed movement behind Dan. Three people- Sam, Tucker, and Hermione it seemed- were tiptoeing to where Danny lay unconscious. Without even a glance back, Dan shot from his hand a long glowing cord that wrapped itself around them.
"That's just pathetic." He grinned. "Come now, aren't you going to try some more spells on me? Or do I get to blow you away? Remember, things to do, people to kill."
Piers fingered his wand, aimed, and yelled, "Exis Calus!" Dan opened his mouth to say some other insult, and looked utterly shocked when his body froze and turned to stone. He didn't move again.
"That actually worked?" Sirius said. "That was…"
"It would seem effective," Hephry voiced. "There's really nothing he could do to get out of that."
Martin narrowed his eyes at the new statue before them, almost doubting it could be this simple to defeat him. "Very well. Tend to the injured."
The binds dropped around the teens; Sam and Tucker ran to see if Danny was okay, while Hermione went to where Harry still lay on the ground, staring at Dan. "Harry, are you okay?"
He continued to look at the statue and replied stiffly, "Yes. Are you?" His voice was devoid of all emotion.
"I'm fine. I guess this means it's over, right?"
"I guess it does."
"I'm… going to see if I can help Danny. He looked pretty bad."
Sam gingerly brushed the hair from Danny's face. He stirred and weakly batted at her hand. "Five more minutes, Mom…" He attempted to roll over and gasped at the pain in his side. In a state of horror, he opened his eyes and looked around him. They stopped on the frozen Dan, and he jerked back. "What is that thing? Is that… him? What did you do? Where am I? What happened?" He attempted to push himself to his feet, yelped for his arm, and collapsed back on the ground.
"Hold it, big shot," Sam laughed, and felt a tear run down her face. "He's gone. The wizards stopped him. Just relax."
Hermione knelt by his side. "I'm going to mend your bones, okay? I did it before, after you were hurt by Skulker." Danny blinked shortly in confusion, and nodded. "Now, where are they broken?"
"In my arm, definitely, and I'm pretty sure he cracked a couple of my ribs." Hermione set the tip of her wand on Danny's arm where he indicated and murmured, "Fracturio Reparo." He felt an odd tingling in his arm and instantly some of the pain eased. Hermione repeated the action on his rib cage.
Danny flexed his arm and whispered, "Thanks."
"No problem," she smiled.
"Hey, are my parents okay? Would you check on them?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "My parents were with your parents!" She sprinted off to the GAV.
Danny let loose a sigh. "That's almost disappointing, really."
Tucker raised an eyebrow. "What is, that Dan's gone?"
"No, that I didn't get to see him turned to stone. And- well, never mind." He closed his eyes and gently rubbed the back of his head. 'I'm going to have a massive headache in the morning.'
"Danny, there you go holding in your feelings again. You know what Jazz says-"
He stopped her. "Yes, I know what Jazz says."
"So…?" Tucker prompted.
"Fine. It's disappointing that Dan didn't go 'poof!' after they froze him. Doesn't that mean that I'm going to still turn into him, eventually? That he's not really gone, just gone for now?" Danny paled.
"Danny, don't think about that. Not now. Not ever. You know what he is, and you know not to ever let that happen to yourself." Sam patted him softly on the shoulder. "You're stronger than that. I know it."
Tucker grinned down at them. They were having another of their 'moments'.
Danny smiled at her, but suddenly looked to the side and frowned. "What is he doing?" Sam and Tucker turned to see what Danny was talking about. It was Harry. He was standing up, pointing his wand at Dan's chest and muttering something. The stone wavered, and seemed to slide off the surface of the statue like snow from a branch. Harry was grinning; he looked Danny straight in the eye with his own that shone blood red.
"That's not Harry," Danny gasped and tried to leap up. He failed, still weak from the battles. Sam and Tucker helped him to stand, yet never looked away from the statue. Or really, the ghost that had been there only minutes before.
The red faded from Harry's eyes and he stared at Dan in shock and stumbled backwards. "What-"
"Thank you Harry. You just betrayed everyone and set me free. How does that make you feel?" Dan glared down at Harry and blasted him backwards. "Damn, I just sounded like Jazz. Where is that girl anyway? Hmm. Oh well!" Laughing, he rose into the air to see where everyone was. Maddie, Jack, and the Grangers had just exited the GAV, and everyone was staring at Dan in a mix of horror and confusion.
Danny struggled to change forms, but the white rings appeared at his waist for only a second and faded again.
"No more fun and games," Dan growled, and his voice seemed to echo in the silent street. "This affair is quickly turning from amusing to tiring. I end it now."
Danny, with one last burst of determination, attempted to turn into Danny Phantom. Amazingly, it worked. Sam and Tucker tried to hold him back.
"No, you're too weak; let them handle it!" Sam whispered just as Tucker said, "I can't let you do this, man!"
The wizards in the street fingered their wands hesitantly, clearly nervous of the muggles standing right by them. Maddie and Jack, however, quickly brought guns up to aim at Dan. Danny went intangible and flew through his friends' grasps. Slowly, he rose to Dan's level and said, "No. You won't end it. I will."
"Please, I could blow at you and defeat you. Besides, I think I have backup." He looked down at Harry and smiled hatefully. Harry shook his head, staring blankly at the pavement.
Danny threw a weak punch at Dan's head, but Dan easily swatted him down. He landed roughly on the roof of a building. Danny's parents immediately shot their guns, and Dan shielded himself. He shot a long band of green goo down at the group in the street and it knocked most to the ground and pinned them there. The wizards all lost their wands in the fall. Dan landed and took care of the remaining people. All except Harry.
"I heard there was a prophecy about me. How quaint. Though I don't remember any of you in it. Just Danny and Harry. I distinctly remember that only you two children could defeat me, one of whom can barely stand on his own and the other- well, you're just plain crazy aren't you? Attacking me one moment, freeing me the next? Who can say?" He chuckled and blasted Harry down.
"Leave them alone," Danny growled from above. He flew down and threw several balls of ice at Dan. He dodged every single one.
Harry stood and pointed his wand at Dan, but the wand simply fell out of his hand. "What's happening?" he gasped. First the broom, and now his wand- it's like he was loosing all control. The voice laughed softly at the back of his mind. Harry listened simultaneously to Dan laughing at Danny. And he realized something. They were the same.
"It was you!" he cried skyward. "You were the one talking to me! It was you this whole time!"
"And you just figured that out now?" Dan smirked and grabbed Danny from behind, throwing him to the ground to land near Harry. "You're duller than I thought!"
Harry stared, openmouthed. "You sent me those nightmares, didn't you? You gave me the headaches, you made me angry all of those times! You- you made me reluctant to trust Danny. But how? Why?"
"Because I never would have gotten here without you, nitwit! And you wouldn't have gotten here either! I spelled out every good decision you've made since you arrived. I provided all of the necessary motivation to come fight me... What, you actually thought you just wanted to be a do-gooder? No, Harry, this is revenge. You thought that if you took me out, you could help undo all of the pain and suffering Voldemort caused. You thought you could prove yourself worthy to the ghosts of your parents. Here's big news- I've seen their ghosts. They don't give a hoot about your brave deeds. They think you're dead."
"You're lying!" Harry screamed. He tried to grab his wand but found he couldn't move an inch. "What are you doing to me?"
"I have no idea what you mean."
Danny leaned on one knee and shot an ectoblast at Dan. It hit his side, yet Dan did not even seem to notice it. "Stay away from him," Danny said instead. "It's me you want. Come after me."
"You know you don't really want that," Dan replied, turning to the young halfa. "You know you'd rather see everyone here die before you put yourself in the line of fire. But you just have to be the good guy. Weakness, that's all your human half will ever give you. You will die, and so shall everyone else. Starting with your dear Sam."
Danny's eyes widened. "No. No!" He shot another blast at Dan, who blocked it and sent it right back at Danny.
"But Harry, don't you know you could stop it all?" Harry suddenly found he was able to grab his wand. He pointed it at Dan. "Now, what are you going to do with that thing? Every other spell cast on me has been… well, ineffective." He chuckled darkly. "There's not one magic out there that can hurt me."
"There is one," Harry murmured. He felt a surge of power within him, and cried, "AVADA KADAVRA!" The green lightning flew at Dan and coursed through him, causing him to yell in pain. It faded, and Dan was left, smoking, but seemingly untouched.
"Ah, the killing curse. One problem- I'm already dead. Trying to kill a ghost… you really are a half-wit, aren't you?" He shook his head in amusement.
But while you can't hit one Phantom, there is another that is vulnerable, Dan's voice whispered. Harry was forced to turn his head to where Danny sat panting, eyes wide with fright. He still has life in him. And while he's still alive, hehe, I'll never leave.
Harry glanced up at Dan in hatred. It had to be some sort of trick. But it all made so much sense. There had to be another way, but unless he acted now, everyone here would die.
There was a flash of emerald light behind Dan, and with a breath of surprise, Dan was sucked away into a vortex that Harry recognized as from the Fenton Bazooka. Ron held the smoking gun.
"Ron!" shouted Hermione. "Oh, Ron, thank goodness you're here!"
"Is he gone?" Harry said softly. "Is he gone for good?"
Danny was the only one to hear him. "He's gone for now." The gooey binds around all of the people vanished. "He's back in the Ghost Zone. But that should give us just enough time to-"
"For now?" Harry snapped suddenly. "For now? What about 'for good'? When does that happen? You defeated him once, Halfa, but now he's back. He was turned to stone, but now he's back. Now he's in the Ghost Zone, but he's coming back. When does it end?" Danny opened him mouth to speak. Harry raised his wand again. "It's the only way Danny. It's the only way."
"What are you-"
"AVADA-"
"Harry, no!" Hermione screamed.
"KEDAVRA!"
---
(raises shields) The spell 'exis calus' came from the latin words 'existo caculus' (I think. I forgot to write them down) They are supposed to mean 'be of stone'.
Thanks to: Sasia93, Punker88, PotterPhan21, RasenqanFin, Shiva the Sarcastic, egyptianqueen777, Eleirah, dark-angel miyuki