Chapter #25: Knight Templar
Kovich leans over a table strewn with blueprints of the cruise liner, marking out his next plan of attack with half a dozen different-colored sharpies. He dimly notes the variety of inks smearing the side of his hand, creating the illusion of a mottled bruise.
Ross leans against the wall behind him, obsessively cleaning his gun for the fifth time. His eyes flick regularly to their captive, who breathes slowly from his chair. If the young halfa so much as twitches, the gun will be reassembled in the blink of an eye.
Burgess seems almost troubled as he watches his computer screen – though his reasons could be as trivial as losing his current game of online chess. Then again, he'd probably have the same expression if someone told him his mother had died. There's really no way of knowing.
Ramirez snoozes beside the wall, his hand wrapped around the handle of a knife beneath his pillow. Looking at him, Kovich can hardly remember the ten-year-old child smeared with mud, ash, and blood. The young child crying for his destroyed family even as he wreaked havoc against their killers. Captain Kovich immediately knew he had to have the boy. He flipped his coin and Lady Luck had smiled upon the boy.
He looks down at his plans, and pulls the quarter from his pocket. It flips into the air, and he waits for it to fall to the table.
He waits, not hearing the tell-tale ring of contact.
"I think your lady has abandoned you," a voice hisses in his ear, and the coin is carefully placed tails-up on the table, "She's blowing on my dice now, Kovich."
All of his breath is sucked away in a flash of light. When he can fill his lungs again, it's the salty sea air on his lips. The metal deck of his ship is under his knees, he lifts his head, spying Ross and Ramirez in the same situation. Ross coughs, trying to catch his breath. Ramirez groans, rolling over with a grimace. A shadow floats overhead, red eyes glowing from his silhouette against the moon.
The shadow turns, his lips moving without sound, showcasing sharp teeth. Moonlight spills across his skin, revealing it to be more ashen in color than before. He then moves a hand, and a green rope appears, wrapping around the three pirates as the little boat begins to creep forward.
Shouting can be heard from above, and the halfa reacts, his head swinging around to stare at the railing, where a small figure stands, waiting. His lips move silently once again, a cheerful grin on his face. He continues to watch in amusement as she rappels down, but disappears in the blink of an eye, appearing to catch his amore.
The young woman is placed gently on the deck, before her boyfriend swoops to the front of the craft. She stares at her bleeding palms with mild distaste, lifting her gaze as a swirling green hole is torn into the air.
"I didn't think he knew how to do that," she whispers, turning to Kovich. Her amethyst eyes spark angrily, and the next thing he knows is a steel-toed boot hammering into his jaw, "You!"
"Hey, missy, why don't you come play with me?" Ramirez smirks, finally awake, "I like playing rough."
"Oh, you'll get your turn," she sneers, drawing a Glock from her side, leveling it at Kovich.
"You don't have the guts," the Russian snorts, eyeing her white-knuckle grip.
"I disagree," Ramirez protests, "She's a warrior. She'll do whatever she has to."
"Either way, she still has a gun in your face, Captain," Ross adds.
"She's a vegetarian," Kovich snorts, "She can't eat an animal she didn't have to kill."
"I'm an ultra-recylo-vegetarian," she corrects, pulling back the slide, "I don't support killing innocent animals. I'm pretty sure you hardly count."
-BREAK-
::…Danny! Danny!:: she shouts mentally, clawing at the static, "Tucker, what's going on?!"
"He…" he struggles, "Danny's out on the deck of the pirate ship. He just…appeared out of nowhere, but…Sam, he's…"
"He's what?!"
"He's not…his usual self," he swallows.
"I'd say," Valerie breathes somewhere behind Tuck, "Why are his eyes red?!"
"His eyes are what?!"Sam gasps, catching her parents' attention.
"Red, Sam. Danny's eyes are red, and…he's looking a little different than normal."
"Is it…?"
"I don't know," she can hear his feet on the floor as he begins to pace, "It can't be him. Clockwork would've given us a heads-up on that one."
"…Danny had a dream about him recently. I got dragged into it, and when he threatened me, Danny got so angry…his eyes turned red–"
"Red eyes?" Jeremy interrupts, "He woke up from some dream the other night and they were…you know…it scared the crap out of me. He shot straight up. His eyes…I don't think he was actually awake…"
"My dad said he sat straight up earlier and had red eyes," she begins to sprint along a corridor.
"We don't exactly know what dictates ghostly eye color," Tucker states, "But I think something is definitely wrong."
"I'm almost to the deck," she pants, throwing open a door. She rushes to the railing she'd been keeping an eye on, hoping to sneak onto the boat. Danny floats below, hovering above the smaller vessel. His three captives are tightly wrapped with ecto-cords.
"Danny!" she shouts, "Danny! Are you okay?!"
He turns to face her, his ashen skin glowing in the moonlight. A smile reveals sharp teeth, but her eyes are locked to the dark bruise on his chin, and then to the fiery eyes.
"Samantha," he rumbles, "You must have been worried. I'm fine now – now, if you please, my queen, allow me to dispose of these…insects."
"You aren't Danny," she sneers, "He would never call me Samantha!" She grasps a line from the grappling hooks in her hand, pulling one end behind her hip and lowering herself overboard. The rope tears at her palms, and he struggles to keep a painful grip, I could really use some gloves right now!
The line slips in her bloody grasp, and she yelps, unable to catch herself. But she doesn't fall far, caught by familiar arms. She opens her eyes, meeting with his red orbs. They're narrowed, and his lips are pressed together in a firm frown.
"Danny, what's wrong?" She asks, "Please, I'm okay, aren't I? I could use a shower, but I'm okay. You can calm down."
"I am calm," he snorts, "If anyone's overreacting, it's you. Look at your hands," he snorts roughly, depositing her on the deck.
She listens, glancing at her palms, I should've looked for some gloves. I'm sure Captain Voss knows where the maintenance crews keep some…
A large, swirling, green portal opens in the air in front of the ship, and all her breath leaves for a moment, "I didn't think he knew how to do that," she whispers. A cough catches her attention, and she swirls on one of Danny's former captors. She flicks her steel-toed boot up, slamming it into his jaw, "You!"
Kovich grunts, ignoring the trickle of blood trickling down his chin.
"Hey, missy, why don't you come play with me?" Ramirez interrupts with a smirk, "I like playing rough."
"Oh, you'll get your turn," she sneers, drawing a Glock from her side, leveling it at Kovich.
"You don't have the guts," the Russian snorts, eyeing her white-knuckle grip.
"I disagree," Ramirez protests, "She's a warrior. She'll do whatever she has to."
"Either way, she still has a gun in your face, Captain," Ross adds.
"She's a vegetarian, based on the dining specifications in her registration," Kovich snorts, "She can't even eat an animal she's never seen, let alone one she's killed herself."
"I'm an ultra-recylo-vegetarian," she corrects, pulling back the slide, "I don't support killing innocent animals. I'm pretty sure you hardly count."
"Ah-ah-ah," a gentle rumble whispers in her ear. An ashen hand grasps the barrel, pulling it away from the pirate. She can feel Danny's breath on her ear, and a gentle kiss on her neck. She turns her head, spying the red eyes beneath his bangs. His eyes meet hers, and the gun is pulled to press against his abs.
"What are you doing?!" She hisses, ensuring her finger remains away from the trigger.
"I'm the only one you're allowed to kill," an arm wraps around her waist, "You're my murderer. I won't give you away to anyone."
"Murderer?" she breathes.
"Oh, come on, Samantha," he laughs, tilting his head, "We joke about it all the time. Though, in your case, I think the technical term would be 'manslaughter.' But," he turns away, tangling his fingers into Ramirez's hair and pulling the young man's face upward, "semantics, really, don't you agree?" he drops him.
"You…aren't Danny," she whispers, tightening her grip on the firearm, "So who are you? His future alter-ego?"
"That abomination?!" he growls, his eyes glowing brighter with fury, "That…Plasmius-Phantom mutt?! I think not," he takes to the sky, sitting with one leg crossed over the other. The green sky of the Ghost Zone slides into view behind him.
"If you're not him, then who are you?!" she shouts.
"…it only took one little question to set him off-balance enough to take control," he begins abruptly, "Just one little question, feeding his doubt, and now I'm here."
"I don't understand," she frowns.
"I suppose you wouldn't," he sighs, lying back in the air, "Tell me, Samantha…did Danny tell you everything that happened in the portal?"
"He was electrocuted half to death, he blacked out and woke up in his room," she answers cautiously.
"That's not everything," he laughs, "but then again, he didn't remember until…when he almost died on the field trip. I guess getting that close to death cleared up his amnesia. I don't blame him for not telling you. It's…personal. Then again, his was…unusual."
"Just get to the point!" she shouts.
"That day…in the portal," his eyes are conflicted, pain on his features, "that day…everything was ruined…by you."
-BREAK-
"I guess it's time, huh?" he whispers.
Spirit. Split thyself from Humanity and cleanse thyself from Impurity.
"No! I…I'm not ready. I…I had so much I still had to do!" Humanity screams, his blue eyes wide and his face pale, "I…I had to become an astronaut! I had to see Earth from space for myself! I…I never kissed a girl–"
"Forget it, Humanity. Death doesn't negotiate with the likes of us."
Impurity speaks the truth, Humanity. Spirit, you must leave them.
"…So soon?"
Fourteen years is a fortunate sum, compared to others.
"But what about her?" the white-haired being inquires, his green eyes glancing to the opening of the portal, where she stands, frozen, her face contorted by fear.
Her spirit will join you soon enough. We must go, Spirit.
"I understand…" he whispers, and the thin, glowing line between he and Humanity breaks. Humanity freezes, his eyes wide as they glaze over, and he slumps to the ground. Impurity stares at the line between he and Soul as it begins to whither. He then turns his red-eyed gaze to the thread connecting him to the fallen Humanity. Emotions swirl around him, lost desires. The desire to fly, the desire to see space. The worry for his friends, his family. All of Humanity's worries flow along the thread, gathering emotions from the miasma of the Infinite Realms.
"I just want to help her," Humanity whispers weakly, "She looks so scared."
"I'm amazed you can still talk," Impurity comments, breathing in the emotions.
"Death…you said her spirit will be joining mine soon," Humanity wheezes, "Why?"
She's the reason for your death, Humanity. Her guilt will swallow her until she can no longer bear to take another breath.
"She'll…" his fingers twitch, "I can't let her do that!"
"It's not your place to decide, Humanity," Impurity hisses, "Listen to yourself. You're going mad!"
If it comforts you, child, it is fast. She's gone before anyone knows she needs to be saved.
"No!" he whimpers, "There has to be another way! A way to tell her that it's okay, that it isn't her fault–"
"But it is her fault," he snaps, "You're half-gone anyway. You can't possibly return to the land of the living again. Just let yourself go, Humanity."
Spirit stares at the writhing Humanity, his green eyes conflicted. They turn to Impurity, taking in the swirling power around him.
"Spirit, you can't be–"
"I cannot do it without you, Impurity. Humanity cannot exist without you."
Spirit. This is not the path that was written.
"No, but Humanity alone possesses the ability to alter that path. He has will, agency…dreams," Spirit whispers.
"No, you can't do this!" Impurity shouts, "This power…and there's so much more to come! My freedom! I'm sick of being tied to him! I could rule the Infinite Realms! He's not the only one with dreams, Spirit!"
"But he's the only one constrained by time, Impurity. You will have the timelessness of the Infinite Realms," he takes a step towards the prone Humanity, "All he truly desires is to protect her."
He is half gone. What can you do?
"This," Spirit replies, grasping Humanity's hand with his own. A bright light surrounds them, and Impurity feels a sharp tug at the thread that connects him to Humanity. When the light fades, he feels the weight of a body around him once again. A cold ache is in his chest.
Spirit…what have you done?!
-BREAK-
"There was only half of Humanity left, so Spirit stole some of the ghostly power I'd collected and fused it to himself. This power allowed him to fuse with Humanity. However, it…" he frowns, "There used to be three of us, but now Humanity and Spirit are one being. It's like…" the red-eyed Danny – Impurity – struggles, "Imagine that you have a puzzle, and one piece is missing. There's another one in the box, but while the rest of the puzzle is a forest scene, this remaining piece is bright green. It doesn't match the blue sky-pieces around it, but it's the right shape. So you shove it in place and paint it blue. From that point on, it's part of the puzzle, indistinguishable from the rest."
"So, you're…?" her eyes narrow.
"I am Impurity," he answers, "Together with Spirit and Humanity, I make up the soul known as Daniel James Fenton. However…after that incident in the portal, a small rift was created between me and the others. Gaining that much ecto-energy began to give me independence from Humanity, but it wasn't until the 'future' incident that I really began to notice. That Danny began to notice."
"So you're the devil on his shoulder," she growls.
"Almost," he 'tsk's, "You see, unlike the cliché, I actually have Danny's wellbeing in mind. You see, killing these maggots," a sword of ice forms in his hand, "would keep them from exposing his secret, and, even more importantly, it'd keep them away from you. I may be impure, but I'm not evil. I'm just…ruthless. I'm…possessive. I am the manifestation of Danny's obsession, taken to the extreme. I am the Knight Templar who will extinguish any possible threats to those I hold dear."
"Danny–"
He places the tip of the icy blade at Ramirez's throat, "And they're a threat. They are evil."
A/N: DUN-DUN-DUUUUNNNN! Chapter #25! No, it's not Dan. Sorry, folks, I know a lot of you were all excited. (Please don't hate me…) I hope this chapter made sense…things make sense in my head, but I'm not sure if I always convey them properly.
WhiteWinterStar: Yeah, it probably was. It's because Tucker's listening to Sam, and watching Danny through the binoculars…
The Talent: Yeah! Now you know why. Impurity would be better labeled as Obsession or Templar now. :D
ShadowWarrior85: Congrats!
Jim89: I think you were probably the closest in your theorizing, back in Chapter #22: "I think they're bringing out possessive and protective Danny which server runs on similar to Dan protocols."
EDIT: Just fixed some grammatical issues. I was half-asleep when I uploaded it the night before. :D