A/N: So far: Sombre and Johnny 13 finally spilled out things they know about the Spectre. Phasma and Spectro are headed toward Shadesville. Phasma has discovered that someone (who we all know that 'someone' is really Danny, Sam and Tucker) has not only found the scrolls, but is trying to use them. And what is Jiva up to? Oh, yeah, trying to reach Danny, still! Hope you're enjoying this wild story! IDNOAC and here is Chapter 25. Enjoy!
Shadow of a Doubt—Chapter 25—Getting There
Jiva paced back and forth in her room. She had been unsuccessful in securing a strong channel to Danny. This would not do!
As she glided past the large mirror again, she stopped and pouted at herself. Her current method had failed and she wondered why. Then she smiled in triumph, certain this time she had figured it out. She would have to use some other way.
She struck the gong and a servant immediately rushed in and bowed very low.
"Summon Bhuto!" she spat out.
The servant bowed again and hurriedly left.
Bhuto was there in no time and after he knocked and entered, bowed low in front of her.
"Somehow, you failed in injuring him, Bhuto! It was not enough. I will have to send you to the flesh-plane again. You must capture him this time!"
"Him?" Bhuto asked, genuinely bewildered.
"You imbecile! The Phantom-of-the-flesh! Must I spell out everything to you?"
"A-a thousand apologies, Highness! I-I should have listened more carefully," he stammered submissively.
She smiled wickedly. "I grant you leave. Just do not fail me this time." She pulled out more of the red strands from her hair and gave them to him. "Wrap these around your amulet as before. But only use what you will need to subdue him. Now, go, take my army to the flesh-plane to the same area as before, and wait for my signal."
"Yes, Princess," he replied, keeping his head low as he bowed. He turned slightly and left in a hurry to get his band of soldiers and head toward the Real World.
"Well, before we get to the scrolls, how did Phasma get them in the first place?" Danny countered.
"Don't know for sure. There are only rumors," Johnny 13 said.
"And why are the scrolls so important?" Tucker finally blurted out.
The ghost biker answered him, "Because they hold the secret of the "Prophecy's Omen"."
"What's that?" Sam blurted out, furrowing her brow again, trying to piece this bit of information with everything else.
Johnny 13 turned to her and replied, "The legend goes like this: There was this Whizard Spectre dude that existed way before any of us, who had this crazy vision or something like that. He said that one day a great leader would come to rule the Spectre. Oh, and I should tell you that Spectre Whizards were totally different than human wizards. And the Spectre even spelled the word differently. They added an 'h' right after the 'w'."
The three teens blinked at him, wondering why he had mentioned that.
The ghost biker noticed the confusion in their faces and smiling weakly in embarrassment, said, "Hum, well, you know. Just thought you'd like that little piece of information. But anyways, the Whizard dude was so afraid of the prophecy that he hid it away."
"Why didn't he destroy it?" Tucker asked.
"And why was he afraid of it?" Danny mused.
Johnny continued, "Well, something about it was upsetting him. You see, that Whizard was very superstitious and he felt that if he destroyed it, it would come true. But he felt that if he hid it in a very complicated maze, no one would know the truth."
"Sounds kinda backwards to me!" Tucker commented.
The biker smiled and said, "Well, looks like the Spectre kind of superstition is, like, totally different than human ones! Anyhow, Ombre thought their hiding place was lost when the Whizard dude checked out. But we all know now that they weren't."
"Does anyone know what the prophecy says?" Tucker prodded further.
"Prophecy's Omen!" Johnny 13 corrected him. "No! But it was rumored that this future leader would have a human ancestry, you know, be a shadow-of-the-flesh, and would have a name that had a "p-h-a" or something like that in it somewhere. Maybe the Whizard dude was upset that a flesh-shadow, and not a Spectre, would rule? Don't know for certain, of course."
Sombre squirmed when he heard that.
Sam and Tucker immediately looked at Danny and Danny knew by their look what they were thinking.
"No way!" he said, holding his hand up in objection and shaking his head.
Sombre's eyes widened at the thought and then narrowed. He grumbled, "I will not accept it, either! You are no Spectre!"
"Very glad of that, too!" Danny shot back.
"But then, how come he got the scrolls?" Johnny 13 asked, speaking to his shadow and pointing to Danny at the same time.
Sombre replied, "It does not matter! He cannot be the Prophesy of the Spectre!"
"Look, Shadow, uhm, Sombre," Danny said in slight irritation. "I'm not in this to be any Prophesy or whatever it's called. I want to solve this mystery because I think Phasma is up to no good and will stop at nothing to learn the truth about the scrolls. And I think he wouldn't stop at hurting humans—and even the Spectre—if he thought that would be a way to get to them. So, don't get your shadow pants all up in a knot, uhm, if you have any, that is!"
Sombre glared at the boy but Johnny 13 touched him on his shoulder, trying to calm him. "OK, we're game, little man. And we've been square with you. So, what have you found out about the scrolls so far?"
Danny, Sam and Tucker proceeded to fill them in all about the two scrolls and how they figured out the message of the first one. Then they told them about the second scroll and that they were now close to figuring out the first part of it.
The biker ghost and his shadow listened in awe as the three teens revealed their findings. Finally, the biker and his shadow looked at each other and Johnny 13 said in amazement, "We definitely won't ever underestimate you three again!"
The three teens smiled weakly at his compliment and then Danny asked, "Which brings us to the three rings. Do you think they have something to do with this riddle?"
"Well, they're crystals you know, maybe they're the crystals you're supposed to hit? After all, the riddle says 'strike the crystal ball'," Sam interjected.
"I don't know," Johnny 13 said, his brow furrowed in thought. "Who knows if the Whizard had seen the three rings? They didn't exist when he did."
"And the riddle says the "crystal ball", not "crystals", Tucker also pointed out. "Here, let me read it again:
"In the city of happy fall
In the center of the rings
Strike the crystal ball
Look to where it sings."
"But it also says, 'rings'. And each crystal is round like a ball. Maybe the crystal ball is for each ring!" Sam countered.
Everyone looked at each other, puzzled.
"No objections?" Danny finally asked. "OK, then, would it hurt to see if Sam's idea is right?"
Everyone shook his head, indicating that they agreed to try out her idea.
Danny gave one of the rings to Sam. He then held the other one up, Sam held up hers, and then Johnny 13 took off and held up his. They then struck the middle of each of the crystals with the other, as if they were clinking glasses together during a toast, and then pulled them back slightly.
Nothing happened.
"Uh, maybe it doesn't work because I'm holding it?" Sam squeamishly suggested.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked, looking at her.
"Maybe it needs a ghost to hold onto it. After all, they did belong to ghosts!"
"All right. Worth a try, don't you think?" Danny asked the others.
Everyone shrugged and Sam gave the ring to Sombre, who hesitated at first, but then took it. Then, Danny, Johnny 13 and Sombre all hit the rings together like before.
Suddenly, all three rings began to vibrate and glow brightly, and this time, also emitting a high-pitch tone. Then, just as sudden, they pulled themselves out of the hands of each of the three ghosts holding them and, hovering in the air, came close to each other under their own power.
"It's working!" Sam excitedly said.
"And they're singing!" Danny couldn't help but yell.
And as soon as he said that, an image appeared in the middle of the three rings suspended in space. First, there was a picture of a green valley, but no one recognized it. Then, the view pulled away and revealed a large brown mountain.
Danny recognized that. "Hey, that must be Melancholy Mountain in Shadesville! I saw a picture of it in the city's atlas!"
"But what about that valley? We didn't see anything green around there when we first came to Shadesville," Tucker objected.
"It's late fall, so the valley wouldn't be green now!" Sam replied.
"Oh. I knew that," Tucker squeamishly added.
Danny scrunched his face in thought. "'By the green valley…With the brown mount'… The green valley, the brown mount. That must be it, guys! You know, like what the second part of this riddle says!" Danny excitedly said. He looked to his friends and smiles slowly crept on their faces. He then looked to Johnny 13 and Sombre, who were still in awe looking at the floating images. When they didn't return his glance, the three teens turned back to the ghostly pictures.
The three ghosts and two humans watched a little longer as the same two images flashed back and forth, like changing traffic lights. Then the high-pitch sound and light slowly dwindled, and the images disappeared. After that, the rings became mute, dulled, and fell toward the waiting hands of the three ghosts that were under them. Sombre quickly surrendered his ring to Danny, and Danny took the two rings back and put one of them in his pocket. He kept the other, keeping it within his palm again so that he would be able to understand Sombre.
But Johnny did not place his back on right away, too nervous about the encounter.
Now the riddle was finally making sense and the trio was eager to solve it.
But Johnny 13 and Sombre secretly shook in fear.
Jiva continued to pace back and forth in her room, now regretting her decision to send the soldiers on their own.
"I should have gone with them!" she huffed. "Bhuto may be strong, but he is not clever!"
She stopped, closed her eyes and concentrated. She smiled when she felt the positive energy. "Still, there is a chance…Aha! What is that? Is that a mountain I see? But I do not want that!" She stopped again. "No, he wants to go there! Oh, and is that the name of it? Good! That is where I will find him!"
"Bhuto!" Jiva then practically yelled, though she was actually sending only her thoughts to the Spectre.
He nodded in his mind, "Highness?"
"Go to the Melancholy Mountain in the flesh town of Shadesville. That is where you will find the Phantom-of-the-flesh that I seek. Do what you must to capture him, but do not kill him. I do not care what happens to the flesh-creatures with him. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Highness, I understand," Bhuto answered in his mind.
"And he has something of vital importance. A brown scroll. See to it that you also have that when you have him!"
"Yes, princess," Bhuto again said in his mind.
"Good! I will meet you there as soon as I can!" she said, as she cut off the channel and smiled. She shuddered in excitement, feeling that this time that Danny would finally be hers.
And just as Bhuto's mind was released, he shuddered in fear.