Vavoom!
While the ghost armies continued to get fried by Tucker's zappers, all the people of Amity Park pointed upwards at the flash of light and watched as their hero engaged in combat against the giant ghost outside the shield.
Now assembled together in the field near the park, the Fentons, Tucker and Sam stared upwards at the battle, along with the neighbourhood.
"Do you think Danny's strong enough to take on that guy alone?" Jazz asked worriedly. "What if he needs our help?"
"Even if he did, Jazz, we wouldn't be of any assistance," Tucker replied without tearing his eyes away from the battle raging on. "If we even pass that ghost shield unprotected, we'll turn into ghosts and become liable to becoming dinner for GK. And that would only make him more powerful."
Sam pushed some hair out of her dirty face and hugged herself as if to keep warm. "I've got a really bad feeling about this, Tucker," she said, catching his attention. "Like, majorly bad. Almost as if something horrible is going to happen soon."
Just as she said those words, the shield gave another groan, this time much louder and lower than the other times. Everyone looked up at it as it suddenly began to falter in its green glow.
People gasped in horror and most even dashed off to hide in fear. They had done their fighting; now, they wanted to find a safe place before anything else happened.
The Phantom Crew watched them leave before staring up at the shield again. "I don't think anything worse can happen than the shield going down," Tucker said worriedly.
Danny had lost track of time. He did not know how long it had been since he began the battle with the Ghost Keeper. But so far, he had managed to keep himself from suffering too many serious blows. He knew the courage and trust of his friends, family and of the people of his town was helping him conserve his ghost energy, but for how much longer, not even Danny knew.
He used his ghost rays, his ghostly ice, his shields, duplication and even invisibility and intangibility to protect himself and avoid getting hit.
But the Ghost Keeper proved to be nearly unbeatable. Whatever Danny dished out at him, he threw back nearly three times as strong, if not more. He avoided being hit by attacks even more than Danny could.
Danny could feel his energy beginning to seep away after what seemed to be nearly an hour of unending battling. He shot another large ray of ghostly ice from his eyes and then flew away a few hundred feet. Groaning painfully, he placed an arm around his waist and winced while clenching his teeth.
The Ghost Keeper laughed deeply. "Do my eyes deceive me?" he said. "Is the all-powerful Danny Phantom losing strength? What will his beloved town think of him now?"
Danny looked up at him and glared. "I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve, Ghost Keeper," he warned.
His enemy laughed again and pointed at him. "Oh, really?" he laughed. "Like what, may I be so bold to ask? Your Ultimate Control? Spare me the humour, Daniel; you haven't even mastered that ability yet! What makes you think you will be able to use it against me?" His eyes flashed anger as his smile disappeared. "The only one in this realm and the Real World that deserves such a gift as that is me, Danny; you are too weak to call up the power to use that gift now!"
Danny felt his anger begin to bubble within him again. He bared his teeth and growled as his eyes flashed green.
The Ghost Keeper smiled a little once more. "There goes your anger again," he said. "Did you not learn what horrid things anger can do to one's powers? Oh, but of course you did; you use anger all the time to fuel your abilities."
Danny growled a little louder and his body was haloed in a green glow. "BE QUIEEEEETTT!" he yelled menacingly, ejecting a powerful ghostly wail at the spirit.
The Ghost Keeper gasped in surprise and braced himself as the wail passed over him. He stood up ground as his cape fluttered, but hardly any damage had come to him.
Danny stopped yelling and gasped painfully once more, grasping his stomach again.
The Ghost Keeper looked on in satisfaction. "That one took plenty out of you, I see," he said. "You must be cautious on how you spend your energy, Daniel; it may be the death of you."
Danny groaned before looking up at him. "If I'm really getting this weak, why aren't you just finishing me off?" he said.
"Please; and risk not having you see the destruction of your fair town?" the Ghost Keeper laughed. "I relish in making my prey wish they had never been born, Daniel; and you are one I hope to make suffer deeply before your time comes."
Danny narrowed his eyes and straightened out. "I won't let any of that happen," he replied. "And I won't let you make fun of my family or of me. I will defeat you, even if it means using all of my powers at once!"
He took a deep breath as his body began to glow both green and blue, and then let out another powerful wail in the Ghost Keeper's direction. This time, however, his wail was accompanied by every other offensive attack he possessed, including ghostly ice, ghost ray and duplication. Shards of ice flew towards the Ghost Keeper at full speed.
The Ghost Keeper was shocked that Danny would go to that much effort to protect his town; yet the shield the Ghost Keeper put up was strong enough to protect himself from Danny's attacks. Although incredibly impressed by the man's courage, the Ghost Keeper laughed mockingly. "You'll only die in vain that way, Danny Phantom!" he shouted. "Even when attacking all at once, you will not be able to destroy me! I am the Ghost Keeper! I know of every power in the Ghost Zone, and the only one that can defeat me is unreachable!"
Danny ceased attacking and floated limply for a few seconds. He closed his eyes and tried to regain more strength, but he was far too weak to do so. Skulker was right, he thought. Using my powers all at once isn't only stupid and useless, it's suicide. He frowned and clenched his teeth. But I can't let him win; he's already destroying my town; he's already hurt innocent people, including my family… He squeezed his fists. I will not let him get away with that!
Anger and hate bubbled within his chest, warming it up at an incredible speed. Danny growled softly as he fought to gain control of the gift he had been seeking to use against his enemy.
He opened his eyes and stared angrily at the Ghost Keeper. His irises glowed green with hate as his body began to glow in a pale white light. He squeezed his fists. "I will not let you get away with any of the crimes you've already committed, Ghost Keeper!" Danny yelled furiously. "I will destroy you, and even if I do kill myself, at least the world will be rid of YOU!"
He raised his arms as he glowed brighter and brighter. He closed his eyes and reopened them; this time, they were filled with white light as he got ready to blast the Ghost Keeper with all the energy he had left, using the gift of Ultimate Control.
To his confusion, the Ghost Keeper only smiled and laughed menacingly. The ghost threw his head back, laughed loudly and then pointed at Danny. "You fool!" he shouted mockingly. "You dimwitted fool! You will be the death of everyone you know!"
At these words, Danny's frown softened. The dream he had had a day earlier came back to memory: the deserted town; the missing people; the destruction…
The Ghost Keeper seemed to understand what was going through his mind. He chuckled darkly. "That's right, Daniel," he said. "You will be the death of them all. Without full control over your gift, you will destroy everything! All the people you know, all the places you've been, you will be the most powerful ghost of all… and all ghosts and humans will FEAR YOU!"
Danny slowly loosened his clenched teeth and stared in silence at his enemy.
The Ghost Keeper pointed at the shield beneath them and smiled like a wolf. "But enough about you; let's see what happens to your own defences when you blast against them with this… Ultimate Control."
Danny gasped softly and looked down at the ghost shield around the town. It began to falter, and suddenly, began to crack.
No! Danny thought in horror.