AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the long wait, guys! I've just been focusing sooo much on school...
Here we go; the next installment to Double Trouble. Let's do this!
Ruber and Vio rose into the air and immediately began attacking Danny. Danny either dodged every attack or had them chase him around the entire mall. He didn't want to attack them until the time was right, and before that, he had to tire them out.
Especially Ruber.
Vio panted as they chased Danny about. "Ruber, he's goin'… goin' way too fast!" he said. "Like, way faster… than before!"
"I don't care if he was as slow as a snail, Vio!" Ruber growled. "I want that power, and I will imitate it!"
Danny laughed amusingly and looked over his shoulder. "Sure, if you can catch me," he teased, darting around a corner.
Ruber and Vio continued to attack and chase him. "If you're really that powerful, why don't you just attack?" Ruber snapped.
Danny zigzagged between potted trees and light chandeliers. "A powerful spirit once told me that if you are to use your powers, wait for the right moment," he replied. After a few seconds, he laughed. "And right now, you're just not worth attacking!"
"When I get my hands on you, you're gonna regret saying that, Halfa!"
Danny turned around and held up his hand. To their complete surprise, Ruber and Vio found themselves coming to a complete and abrupt stop without them understanding why.
Danny narrowed his eyes and frowned. "But considering the trouble you've caused and the grief you've brought upon my wife," he hissed, "I'm gonna show you just how powerful I can be."
He formed a white ghost shield around the Imitators and picked them up in his hands. Like a ball, he tossed them over his head and sent them into the floor, creating a dent and sending large cracks through the tiles.
Danny stared at them for a moment before closing his eyes and breathing deeply. Easy, Danny, he thought to himself. Remember what Sadina taught you. Learn to recognize when too much UC is too much.
The twins got to their feet after a slight moment of weakness and both glared up at the ghost. "You wanna play games?" Ruber snapped while pointing at him. He raised his arms and several items from different stores came flying out towards Danny. "Then let's even the odds!"
Danny watched as sharp objects flew quickly in his direction. But all he did was frown softly and glare at the red ghost, all the while raising his hands and causing every single item to stop in its tracks.
Ruber gasped in shock.
Danny narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose.
"He doesn't look too happy, Dude," Vio muttered nervously.
The white-haired ghost bared his teeth. "Not by the least," he hissed. He pointed at the teenagers and every item that had frozen in mid air turned and headed straight for them.
Vio cried out in shock as he and his brother went intangible. They remained so until every item had fallen harmlessly against the ground.
Ruber bared his teeth. "I don't care if my powers don't have an effect on you," he growled. He looked at his twin. "Vio! Give him a ghostly wail!"
"What?" Vio exclaimed. "Dude, he's gonna make it bounce right back at me!"
"A Ghostly Wail isn't created from ectoplasm, idiot! He won't be able to stop something that isn't physically there! So do it!"
"But—!"
"Do it, Scaredy Ghost!"
Vio frowned back before looking up at Danny. "Fine," he said stubbornly. "But if I get killed, I blame you!" He took a deep breath and let out as loud a wail as he could.
Ruber was right; because a wail was not a physical attack, Danny was unable to stop it. The ghost groaned slightly as he stumbled back a few feet and clenched his teeth. Although it did not do as much harm or cause him as much pain as it would have while he was not using his Ultimate Control, he could still feel his energy drain slightly because of the attack.
If I keep putting up barriers to keep me protected, I'll revert back to human form, Danny thought. I could always use a Ghostly Wail against them, but while in this state, I could easily bring down the entire building.
To his surprise, a powerful ghost ray rammed into his chest, propelling him backwards several feet. Danny groaned painfully before raising his head and staring at his attacker.
Ruber, now hovering at the same level as Danny, glared furiously at him. "I've had it up to here with your dang stalling, Hero," he hissed as Vio floated up to join him. "I wanted your kid's body; I wanted your powers; I wanted your head served on a platter, but you just-keep-stalling!"
Danny glared back and evaded another attack sent to him by Ruber, but while he was distracted, Vio had disappeared into thin air and reappeared behind the white-haired ghost. Smiling cleverly, the purple spirit shot a ghost ray of his own at Danny.
Danny groaned again before turning his head and baring his teeth. He now had come to the point where he had to pretend to be oblivious to their attacks; in order for them to attempt at imitating his power, he had to have them believe that they could weaken him.
He dodged as many attacks as he wanted, and let one or two hit him. He pretended as best as he could to make it seem as though he was actually becoming weak.
Okay, enough fooling around, Danny, he thought. If you don't get this over with, they'll really drain you of strength. If you're going to have them attempt to imitate and then make your move, you're gonna have to do it now—!
PfffiTOOMMM!
To Danny's surprise, a bright purple ghost ray shot up into the air past him, causing him to gasp in shock. The ray ran directly into Vio, who flew out of control while shrieking in fright.
Danny stared at him in shock before a voice caught his attention:
"That's it, Buster; I dare ya to hit my son again!" Down on the ground, weapons pointed at the twins, were Danny's parents.
Jack held up a fist. "And if you do dare, I'll hit you back!" he added.
Danny widened his eyes. "What are they doing here?" he said to himself.
Ruber watched his brother sail into the windows before turning and glaring at the humans. "The whole family's insane!" he exclaimed.
"Fentons are what we are!" Maddie replied, still pointing her gun.
Danny let go of his ultimate control and closed his eyes. Once his spectral tail had faded back to normal, he reopened his eyes, revealing them to be the original green they usually were in ghost form. "Mom, Dad, what are you doing?" he asked with a worried frown.
"We're coverin' your butt, what else?" Jack replied.
"But why didn't you go help Sam and Tucker? They may be hurt!"
"They're fine, Danny, trust us," Maddie replied.
"But—!"
"Trust us, Danny; they're fine."
Danny did not understand what his mother meant. He only shook his head. "You've gotta get out of here!" he insisted.
"We're not leaving until these stupid ghosts are out of our grandson!"
Ruber growled at the woman as Vio flew back towards him. "I can see where Hero gets all his stubbornness," he growled.
Maddie narrowed her eyes. "I guess I taught him well, then," she hissed.
Ruber glared at her. "Not well enough," he replied. "Vio! New plan; don't aim for the hero; aim for the bait!"
"What?" Danny exclaimed. "No, don't!"
Ruber and Vio pulled back both their arms and then threw them forward, sending four rays of ecto-energy towards the two ghost hunters. Maddie and Jack gasped in shock.
"NO!" Danny cried out. He turned and flew towards them as quickly as he could.
Jack and Maddie turned in their son's direction when they heard him shout yet hardly had the time to react when Danny shoved them out of the way of the four deadly ghost rays. Unfortunately, the ghost himself did not have enough time to get himself out of harm's way, and was violently tossed several feet away by the powerful attack.
"Danny!" MAddie exclaimed as Jack held her back.
Danny slid across the floor until he rammed straight into a kiosk, knocking several items over. He groaned painfully before raising himself very slowly. Okay, that's weak enough now, he thought while rubbing his scalp. If I keep pretending, I'll lose my chance at saving Andy. He called upon his Ultimate Control while closing his eyes and then reopened them. Once again, they were filled with light.
By that time, Ruber and Vio had flown over and landed on the ground. While chuckling deeply, Ruber walked over. "Not bad, I'll admit," he said. "You sure know how to protect those you love. I'm impressed."
Danny bared his teeth and shot a ghost ray at the teenager. He made it seem as though he was growing too weak to aim, and missed Ruber completely.
The red ghost laughed. "Uh-oh, someone's getting too weak to properly battle anymore," he taunted.
Danny growled before returning his eyes to normal and rubbing his forehead. He's falling for it again, he thought. Let's just hope he keeps on falling for it… at least before I revert back to human form. The ghost rose to his feet. "I won't stop fighting until you release my son," he hissed.
"Keep on dreamin', Hero," Ruber replied, coming to a stop a few feet away. He crossed his arms. "I ain't goin' anywhere, especially now that you're too weak to use your power." He looked at Vio. "You ready to do some imitating, Bro?" he asked with a sly smile.
Unlike before, Vio was sharing his brother's clever grin. "Oh-ho yeah, baby," he replied, holding out his fists.
Ruber turned his head and looked at Danny again. "Stand still," he said, "While we suck the power out of you." Both twins closed their eyes and began to glow brightly in their appropriate colors.
Danny could feel their powers wrap around him and attempt to breach his Ultimate Control. He wanted to grin cleverly, but he knew that it would give away his plan. He simply stood as still as he could.
Several seconds passed by before Ruber inhaled loudly and sighed. "Ah, can you feel that power, Vio?" he exclaimed as their bodies continued to ripple in bright light. "Man, I ain't felt this good since our first imitation!"
Vio giggled excitedly. "Woohoo, I feel powerful!" he said, holding up his arms.
Ruber looked at Danny again and smiled evilly. "So now we've come to the end of the road, Phantom," he said. "And the only ones leaving victorious and with the prize are Vio and me. You, you get nothing. No victory, no Fenton thermos, no friends, and especially, no son."
Danny's eyes glowed green with anger. "You're disgusting," he hissed.
"Like I said, dude; we like Andy's body, so we plan on keeping it," Ruber replied, pretending to examine his nails. His eyes filled with red light, just as Vio's filled with purple. "Anyway, let's cut to the part where we blow you away… and when I say that, I do mean literally… and permanently." They held back their arms. "Game… OVER!"
They threw their arms forward in order to toss the final blow… but nothing happened. No ghost ray, no sphere of bright light, no nothing. Not even the air stirred.
Their eyes returned to normal. Ruber gasped in shock and stared at his hands before attempting a few more times to toss the same powerful energy rays that Danny had tossed at them. Vio did the very same. "Hey!" the purple ghost gasped. "It's… it's not working!" He looked at his twin in confusion. "I don't even feel that sudden burst of power anymore, dude! If we imitated his Ultimate Control, why aren't we feeling it?"
Ruber stared at him in complete confusion as well, and then looked at Danny in shock.
Danny had crouched into a ready stance and growled in reply; after blinking once, his eyes filled with white light; he spun in a circle and swung out his foot. His white boot glowed brightly and, as it passed the twins, sent out a ring of ectoplasmic energy.
Ruber and Vio gasped in horror and were propelled backwards dozens of feet by the attack. They slid across the floor, running into another kiosk and even sliding a little passed that before they came to a complete stop.
Ruber shook some sense into his head. "I don't understand," he said. "Imitation's always worked. Why can't we imitate his Ultimate Control?"
Vio looked at him in concern until a bright white light caught his attention. He gasped and looked up, staring in horror at their approaching foe.
Danny was once again halloed in bright white light. He frowned gravely at the teenagers as he approached them. "You should have studied more in Ghost School, boys," he said. "Ultimate Control is the only Ghost power you can't imitate. It has to be learned on its own. The amount of power it contains would only destroy you in seconds if you aren't strong enough to achieve it."
Ruber stared at him in shock. Danny glared angrily at them and narrowed his eyes. "Get up," he hissed.
The twins gasped as they felt their bodies respond to the command Danny gave them. Without any hesitation, they rose to their feet and stared at their opponent.
"Th-that's not possible," Ruber said in shock. "We can imitate any power."
Danny shook his head. "Not this one," he replied. He raised his arms into attacking position as the light in his eyes glowed brighter and brighter. "And now that I've got you boys exactly where I want you, I'll make sure you pay for everything you've done to Andy these past two weeks."
Ruber's eyes filled with dread. It was the first time Danny had seen him filled with fear.
Danny formed a giant orb of white light between his hands and got ready to throw it. "Stand still," he hissed.
Ruber was the first to try and move, but found that he could not. He and Vio shared horror filled faces.
"You want to know what it's like to lose?" Danny growled. "Here's a taste of your own medicine, Ruber! GAME OVER!"
He tossed his arms forward and the orb in his hands exploded, sending all of its energy into one direction: straight for the Twins.
Ruber and Vio gasped in horror and screamed in pain as the white light impacted them. They were immediately haloed in white light, which grew brighter and brighter.
The light continued to grow until the ghost ray was finally able to burst through the two Imitators. As it did, a transparent figure was pushed out of them and slid across the mall floor. Both figures joined together to create one solid being, and once the light had faded away, a child with jet black hair was lying immobile on his back.
Danny stopped his attack and closed his eyes while moaning weekly. His arms fell to his sides as he dropped to his knees in weakness. He then fell on all fours, hanging his head tiredly between his arms. A halo of light appeared around his waist and crossed over his entire body until Danny had returned to human form, with black hair, jeans, a white t-shirt and a thin red sweater.
Ruber and Vio dropped to their knees in weakness as well. "What… what just happened, Ruber?" Vio panted.
Ruber looked at him and then looked at the boy lying several dozen feet away from them. His eyes flashed angrily as he turned and glared at Danny. "He just ripped out our physical host," he hissed angrily. He got up to his feet and squeezed his fists. "You good for nothin' HALF GHOST!"
Danny raised his head at these words and looked up at him in silence.
Ruber's body began to glow. "I'll show you what happens when I don't have my way, Hero," he hissed. "So before we get back into the kid's body, I'm gonna beat you up until you wish you'd never been born! Now that you're too weak to transform, it'll be a sinch!" He threw his arm back as flames wrapped around it. "Say, SO LONG, SUCKER!"
Danny stared at him with growing concern in his eyes and then turned his head away, awaiting the worst.
Suddenly, a bright blue light shot out from another direction and shed over Ruber and Vio. The twins recoiled in shock and turned to look at where it had come from.
Tucker was standing several feet away, with Sam supporting him from behind. The mayor glared furiously at the two ghosts while holding the Fenton Thermos in his hands. The thermos was opened and currently shedding its light on the twins.
Ruber and Vio gasped in horror.
Tucker narrowed his eyes. "So long, Suckers," he said coolly, pressing the vacuum button.
Immediately, the thermos began sucking them in. The twins shouted in fright and tried fighting their way out.
"NO! No, no! I'm not going back to those crazy one-eyed freaks!" Ruber exclaimed while clawing at the ground. "NO, NO, NOOOO!"
Vio was sucked in first. He screamed in horror before disappearing into the thermos. Shortly after him, Ruber followed.
"NNNOOOOOOOOOO!" the red ghost hollered. His voice became more and more echo-like until he was completely sucked into the Fenton thermos. Everything fell silent after that.
Tucker slapped the green lid onto the thermos. "Shut up," he groaned tiredly.
Danny rose to his feet. "How did you guys get here so fast?" he wondered in confusion.
Tucker pulled himself away from Sam. "Your parents brought us over here once they had finished with the fire," he replied. "We hid until the right time came to suck them into the thermos." He smiled tiredly and held up the cylinder. "You honestly didn't believe that you could save the day without our help, right?" he teased.
Danny blinked and looked at his parents and they rushed over. "You mean you guys… planned that?" he said in shock.
Jack smiled proudly while his wife placed her hands together. "When I told you not to worry about your friends, Sweetie, I was being serious," she replied. "You didn't doubt us, did you?"
Danny shrugged weakly, but before he could say anything, Sam caught his attention.
"Danny! Danny, come over here!"
All four turned in her direction before Danny dashed over to her. Sam was leaning down over Andy, who was still as immobile as he had been when Danny forced the Twins out of him. His face was still incredibly pale.
Danny fell to his knees beside his wife. Sam picked up the little boy and looked at the astronaut. "He's not waking up, Danny," she said as tears filled her eyes. She looked at her son again. "Do something to wake him up."
"He's fine, Sam," Danny replied, although his tone of voice clearly said that he was concerned as well.
"Maybe using that power was too much on him…"
"Lady Sadina wouldn't have told me to use it if it would harm him."
Sam stroked Andy's head, passing her fingers through his hair. "Andy, wake up," she begged. "Please wake up."
"Come on, Andy," Danny whispered.
"Andy, Mommy wants you to wake up."
"You can do it, Andy…"
Tucker, Jack and Maddie rushed over but did not dare to say anything for the time being. They only stood in wait behind the couple, silently praying.
Sam became desperate. "Andy, please wake up!" she cried. "Mommy wants you to wake up!"
"Andy, open your eyes," Danny encouraged. "Just open your eyes!"
"Please, Andy! Wake up!"
Sam shook him gently as she pleaded with her husband and then fell dreadfully silent. No one dared to speak a word during those moments, as though afraid that it would crush their hopes.
It was in that moment that Andy decided to come to. He winced weakly, wrinkled his nose and moaned very quietly before finally opening his eyes. The first person he saw was his mother.
Sam stared back at him, almost in shock.
Andy blinked and squinted at the bright light. "Mommy?" he whispered.
Sam and Danny immediately smiled. Sam cradled her son up against her body and showered him with kisses while Danny placed his arms around both of them.
"Oh, Andy, I'm so glad you're okay!" Sam said joyfully. "Do you still feel sick? Do you need anything? What did you want, Andy; you can have anything you want!"
Andy placed his hands up against his mother's face to stop her from kissing him anymore and then looked up at her. "I want ice cream," he said with a grin. "An' Gramma's gingersnaps."
"Good!" Jack announced, making his wife chuckle. "Back to normal!"
Andy looked at his grandparents and giggled before spotting his uncle. He raised a hand and waved. "Hiya, Uncle Tucker," he said.
Tucker grinned in reply and waved back.
"You look sick. Do you have a monster in your head too?"
Tucker would have laughed if he did not feel as weak as he did, but that did not stop the others from giggling. "Let me sleep on that and I'll let you know tomorrow," he replied.
Andy smiled back before finally looking at his father. His eyes became serious. "Is he gone?" he whispered, almost as though he was afraid someone would hear him.
Danny grinned back. "He's gone," he replied as Tucker raised the thermos. "Actually, both of them are."
"Both?"
"You had two monsters in your head, Andy… Or more specifically, you had two ghosts in your head."
"Two teenage ghosts," Maddie added as-a-matter-of-factly.
Andy widened his eyes and held up two fingers. "Two?" he said in shock. He pondered this for a moment before raising his eyebrows and beginning to inspect his body with the utmost curiosity. "How did they fit in here?" he exclaimed, making the adults laugh. "I gotses too little a body for two ghosts to fit in me!"
Danny rubbed the boy's head. "Ghosts do crazy things," he said with a wink.
Andy noticed this and grinned back.
"Welcome back, Squirt."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okie doke, guys; get ready for the final chapter! Once I have school sorted out, I'll get started on posting the next installment to the Danny Phantom series!