I promised you guys I wouldn't keep you waiting for long and I intended to keep it. So here it is. Let's see how the Phantom's are doing.
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is created by Butch Hartman. I do not own any of the show's original characters. Just of the design of the older version of Danielle you can view on other websites.
Chapter 26: Back Among Friends
Danny's body may have lain relatively motionless on the stone bed in the medical facility of the Far Frozen, but his mind was in turmoil as he psychologically saw himself wearing the Ecto-Skeleton armor his father had made. He was in the throne room of a red castle and was face-to-face with the tyrant owner of it: A powerful and massive ghost that wore black armor with metallic boots and gauntlets with green spikes. A long, ragged black cape with blood red on the inside hung from his shoulders with green skull-shaped brooches.
The Ghost King Danny thought he had defeated a long time ago was a difficult opponent, but with the Ecto-Skeleton increasing his strength a hundred fold, he managed to gain the upper hand and throw his enemy to the ground. However, as The Ghost King was getting back to his feet for another round, he smiled with a menacing laugh as his pale, scarred face started melting away. To Danny's astonishment, at the same time the tyrant ghost's features were disappearing, the ecto-suit Danny had on was disintegrating from around him. All of his enhanced power draining from his body as it did so.
As soon as the Ecto-Skeleton had gone away, Danny looked up to face his opponent again, determined to finish this, even without the extra power. Standing petrified with fear and surprise, he found that the face of his enemy was no longer the scarred, eye-patched one of The Ghost King, but that of the green skinned, flaming white-haired Dark Phantom, now equipped with the armor and weapons the body of the Ghost King had left him.
After the dark specter let out a malicious laugh, and admired his new appearance, he thanked Danny for providing him with the first means of obtaining the Ghost King's old but powerful possessions: The Crown of Fire, which he proudly wore on his head.
The all-powerful and evil specter's blood red eyes flickered as he then pointed towards a wall of white fire that was ablaze behind him. Danny followed the ghost's indication and saw in horror that all his family and friends he knew from back home were trapped behind the fire. They kept calling for help from behind the flames that rapidly spread towards them until they were engulfed in them completely.
Danny cried out in despair and hurried to try and help them, but he couldn't even get passed this new, modified version of his future evil self. The teen could only watch helplessly as the flames consumed his loved ones and didn't stop there. They climbed higher and higher to where Danny had to crane his neck to see a large globe shaped like Earth floating in midair above the blaze. The flames were getting too close to the globe before they started licking the bottom of it. Danny heard panicked and painful screams of thousands, or maybe millions of people suffering as their lives so suddenly and still painfully came to an end as the whole globe caught fire and burned to ashes that then fell into a black abyss.
Before Danny could realize it, he heard his evil self throwing his ablaze head back in laughter at his victory before Danny too was beginning to get sucked into the black hole, never to be seen or heard from again while his alternative self took over his life.
That was when Danny's eyes suddenly shot open as he awoke from the nightmare he had been having. He quickly looked around him, realizing his surroundings had suddenly changed from a red castle with a black hole swallowing it to a cold stone cave with occasional computer monitors and tables of medical tools lining the walls. It took Danny only a second more for him to remember where he really was and he sighed in relief, realizing that it was merely a dream.
Sitting up on the hard stone he had been asleep on and finding that a blanket had been put over him in addition, Danny buried his face in his hands, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He wiped some sweat from his brow, starting to wonder if this was how Danielle always felt whenever she had those frequent nightmares about Vlad coming back: A sudden panic and adrenalin rush from a simple and yet so realistic vision. Then waking up with your heart still thumping hard inside your chest and feeling hot and worn out, as if you really had been in the middle of a battle just a minute ago and making you wonder for a second if you really had been dreaming after all. And if it was, was it some kind of sign or a warning of what might soon happen.
After a while in which his breathing finally returned to normal, Danny laid back down, lacing his fingers together as he rested the back of his head in his hands and started to think back on the things that had happened lately. Since being imprisoned at Walker's jail, he hadn't really reflected on where his evil self might have been. What was he doing with The Crown of Fire? Was he powerful enough to completely control it? Would he try to get The Ring of Rage to match?
This thought started to scare Danny when he imagined The Ghost King being released again and him having to deal with two all-powerful ghosts without the ecto-armor to boost his natural abilities this time. What if it eventually would come down to that if he didn't act soon?
But then Danny relaxed again as he thought, Nah. Dark Phantom may have had Vlad's ghost half fused with him, but even Vlad had learned that unlocking the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep just to get a little artifact was a terrible idea. Dark Phantom wouldn't be that stupid, even if he was stuck-up about his own abilities. But if he wasn't powerful enough to completely harness The Crown of Fire, what might he do to possibly do it without The Ring of Rage? What could he do with such raw power that he likes to use for murder and destruction anyway?
As Danny was meditating on these thoughts, he heard padded yet still thundering footsteps coming from the tunnel-like corridor. He turned his head to see a large, clawed hand made of purified ice lift the tattered curtain and Frostbite poked his ice-horned head through the doorway into the room.
"Ah. You're awake I see." The white-furred creature said with a smile when he saw Danny sitting up and looking much more refreshed than when he had arrived. "Are you up for something to eat?"
At the very mention of food, Danny's stomach began to rumble loudly. The hungry teen moved his hand over his abdominal region as if attempting to stop it from growling, but he just knew that it was already audible enough for even Frostbite to hear from all the way across the room. Danny looked up at his furry friend sheepishly, and the beast's amused expression proved his theory.
"I'll take that as a definite, yes." Frostbite replied and the both of them just started laughing at the humor of the whole thing.
The blue-clad ghost then stepped in, holding the curtain open before motioning at someone who was apparently waiting just outside the doorway. Another Far Frozen beast ducked into the room, carrying a flat, rectangular rock that held a hot meal. He handed it to Danny, who put it onto his lap and began eating gratefully.
Walker had just kept him and Danielle in the cell back at the prison, probably thinking starvation might help to loosen his tongue in addition to the electrifying torture. How long had it been since Danny had last eaten? Was it dinner back at home? How long ago had that even been?
After Danny thanked the friendly ghosts, the servant bowed himself out of the room and Frostbite approached the boy, moving a giant boulder with just a nudge of his clawed fingers to seat himself next to Danny's stone, bedside. "Are you feeling better now then?"
Danny nodded with a smile, as his mouth was now full of freshly cooked meat, keeping him from really saying anything. After he swallowed it, he then asked, "How long was I asleep for?"
"At least twelve hours."
Wow. Danny thought to himself in awe. I really was tired. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever been able to sleep that long since his evil self had been on the loose. Usually, he and Danielle would take turns on who would take care of whatever ghost problems might happen during the night. Since Danielle had lost her sight and Danny had confined the rest of his family to the safe walls of the underground Fenton Works, Danny always had to be on the lookout for his evil self on his own. His anxiety that the malevolent specter would attack at any minute didn't exactly help him to sleep most of those nights.
"How's my cousin doing?" Danny asked when this came to mind.
"Last I heard, she was the one among you who was currently sleeping." Frostbite answered with reassurance.
"Still?" Danny asked, a bit surprised. He remembered how she had fallen asleep much sooner than he had for sure.
"Well, she had awoken a few hours earlier and we were able to check the status of her wounds and give her something to eat before she fell asleep again."
"But she's gonna be okay, right?" Danny asked again. He felt he already knew the answer. He could sense it through the connection. Or rather, he couldn't sense that she was that badly in pain anymore. Danny just thought he should make sure. He had to go off of so many things that were uncertain to him lately, it was just more comforting for him to hear it from another source that was trustworthy.
Frostbite chuckled pleasantly at Danny's concern and nodded. "She kept wondering where you were, but she looked much better when she was awake that time. She should be released by the end of today." Danny then saw his friend's furry face become more grave before he put in, "Though I do believe you have some explaining to do of how she had gotten those injuries in the first place. Unless I am mistaken, I understand that you had forbidden your entire family and two closest comrades from setting foot outside your place of residence in your own world."
"Right." Danny sighed out heavily, looking down at his stone tray. It was time for another story, now that he had his strength back to do so. And Frostbite would be the one living in this realm to understand the most.
Danny continued eating as he took the time to tell Frostbite of all that had happened since he left after helping to repair some of the damage from the attack. How his evil self had tricked him into thinking he would give him the cure before he had set a trap on him that ended him in Walker's custody. How his link with Danielle alerted her to the danger he was in and that she braved entering the Ghost Zone by herself to find him, even while still blind.
This got a shocked stare from the beast that sat near him. While Frostbite agreed that Danielle doing such a thing was careless under the circumstances, he was more amazed by her courage to play such a dangerous card just to make sure her cousin was all right. Even after Danny mentioned that Walker had eventually captured her as well.
Danny continued on by explaining how Walker tried to torture an old friend's hiding place out of him. When even offering the cure wouldn't work, the jailer eventually turned on Danielle as leverage against his favorite prisoner.
Frostbite had already started guessing that the wounds he and his people had treated for the girl were from the methods Walker might have used on her before Danny even explained the part about the arena with the giant blue tiger.
After Frostbite knew and understood how Danielle had come to have those wounds in her back and forearm, he asked how they had managed to escape the situation. In turn, Danny explained as best he could what Danielle had told him about how she was able to coordinate herself with his vision and take down the tiger, single-handedly and escape the arena. Later coming back for Danny and getting the cure back, using the same tactics.
After Danny had finally finished his story as well as his meal, Frostbite laughed delightfully, saying, "The both of you will never cease to amaze me. So young and yet still so strong and strong-willed to take on any challenge for the sake of another's well-being."
Danny just shrugged, looking down at his now empty tray. "Someone has to be in times like this."
Frostbite noticed that a somewhat gloomy expression came across the young hero's face and he had a feeling that he was referring to his evil self being free. Perhaps the beast aught not mention this at present. Clearly the boy had been through so much already on that alternate specter's account. So, Frostbite decided to change the subject.
"Well, I've analyzed the cure." He said.
This got Danny's full attention.
"Several of the scientists here and I have checked and rechecked the concoction of the bottle's contents and it appears to be completely untouched. Particularly by the hands of certain malicious ghosts."
Danny let out a calmed whistle. "That's a relief."
Frostbite nodded in agreement before he asked looking thoughtful, "But now that your cousin has seemed to have found a way to cure herself of her…condition, will she even want the one we've made now?"
"We talked about that. She said she still did." Danny answered with a nod. "That's one of the reasons we came here after escaping Walker." Suddenly, Danny had a realization that made him panic. "Oh no!" He slapped his forehead. How could he not have thought of that before? Especially after his evil self had attacked this realm?
Frostbite must have recognized the urgency of his expression because he instantly asked, "Something troubles you, Danny Phantom?"
Danny turned to his hairy friend with a worried look. "If Walker's men come looking for us here, you guys will get in trouble for helping us for sure!"
Frostbite blinked and stared at the young hero in surprise at first. But then, to Danny's confused astonishment, Frostbite threw his furry head back in laughter. "Not to worry. Being the cold, wasteland this realm is, it is well left alone and hardly captures anyone's interest, even on such remote searches. Thus making the protection of the Infimap and other precious charges we may have even more secure." Frostbite eyed Danny, strongly hinting that the additional charges he was referring to meant him and Danielle. "No one's going to be arrested by that greedy jailer here."
"I don't know." Danny said, unconvinced. "Walker was willing to pass into my world in order to get me behind bars again. And he has no problem with twisting, interpreting and even making up rules to get what he wants."
Frostbite shook his head with another chuckle. "Even Walker knows that he still has limitations on what he can do to my people. The Realm of the Far Frozen is well outside his jurisdiction. We have our own set of laws here of which I am the current head enforcer. Even if Walker was interested enough to track you here, he knows better than to march into territory he has no knowledge of in the first place. Much less have any authority over. He would have no more power here than the Box Ghost."
Hearing this made Danny sigh in relief with a smile. It made sense now that he thought of it. If Walker ever did have any influence on the Realm of the Far Frozen and he discovered the shrine they had built in Danny's honor, knowing that power-hungry specter, wouldn't he have had them all locked up a long time ago? Danny's feeling of security that he always felt whenever he was in this icy realm increased exponentially in learning of this. Even more so that no one was going to suffer even more here on his behalf.
After a short pause, Danny felt Frostbite's large, furry hand pat him on the back.
The young hero looked up at him before the creature then asked with a smile, "Now then. Shall we see if your cousin has awoken?"
Danny's face brightened at this suggestion and he nodded as he set his stone tray to the side and stood up to follow his furry friend. Frostbite led Danny to the same room Danielle had been examined in before when research for the blindness cure had first started. (Also the same room where he himself had been treated for the Blood Blossom Poison.)
Frostbite gestured for Danny to enter the room first as he held the worn out curtain aside for him. Once the boy was inside, he saw that Danielle was indeed awake now. She was still in her ghost form and sitting on the edge of the patients' bed, currently wearing a black tank top with her white and silver pants as the physician was applying new bandages to the back of her shoulder. It appeared that her now bare forearm had already received such treatment. Danny also noticed that a splint had been applied to her wrist.
"Hey, Dani. It's me." Danny greeted his younger cousin.
After a small grimace in pain from some ointment being applied to the cuts on her back, Danielle perked up and smiled in recognizing Danny's voice.
"How do you feel?" Danny asked as he stepped towards her.
The doctor finished with the bandages and Danielle used her wrapped up hand to feel her shoulder. "They still twinge a bit and apparently my wrist got sprained when that tiger bit me. But I'm at least able to stand the cuts enough to lay on my back again." She responded with a shrug of her good shoulder, massaging her newly bandaged one.
"Excellent." Frostbite replied joyfully, rubbing his clawed hands together. "Then you can do so while we apply the cure to your eyes."
Danielle perked up again in hearing this, though…was that a glint of anxiety Danny saw in her eyes instead of excitement?
"Oh. So…there's nothing wrong with it?" Danielle asked, sounding hesitant, even in being given such good news.
Frostbite smiled and said boldly, "Nothing at all."
"You're positive though? You double-checked?" Danielle prodded.
"At least three times." The blue-caped ghost answered with as much confidence as ever.
"Well. Then I guess…" Danielle began, rather undecidedly before smiling sheepishly. "Thanks Frostbite. I don't know how to…"
"No need, child. There never is." Frostbite interrupted, holding up a massive hand that Danielle couldn't see. "We think of it more as a way of thanking you and your cousin for all you've done for us and both our worlds."
Danielle just stared blankly at the floor as Frostbite took out the blindness cure. "Now. Let's get some light back into those eyes of yours. Shall we?"
Frostbite obviously hadn't noticed that Danielle was looking nervous as she was starting to stretch herself across the flat rock she was already sitting on for a bed. Though, Danny still had no clue as to why this could be so about her. Having an idea, he touched Frostbite's arm to get his attention as he was uncorking the vial.
"Frostbite, can I um…" Danny asked, trailing off, but indicating the vial. "May I?" Danny thought that if Danielle were apprehensive about this, maybe she would feel better if a family member gave her the cure.
After visibly making the connection in his head, Frostbite nodded in understanding, giving Danny the cure and an eyedropper lid to put on the bottle to let him be the one to apply it.
"I just drop it into her eyes, right?" Danny asked Frostbite as he popped on the special lid.
Frostbite nodded in confirmation.
Danny then approached Danielle's bedside and put a gentle hand on her forehead. "You ready, Dani?"
Danielle just remained silent. Taking deep breaths. She concentrated, knowing that it was her cousin's warm hand that rested on her forehead. Now, faster than ever because of some practice, the little green lines danced before her eyes, forming the picture she knew Danny's mind was envisioning with his own eyes. She saw an outline of herself, laying flat on the stone bed. One hand extended out from the side of the picture and was placed on her forehead while she saw another coming from the other side moving toward her face with a little bottle. Danielle's mind raced in circles and she felt her heartbeat speeding up more and more as the cure came closer and closer to being applied to her darkened eyes.
Without thinking, she suddenly bolted her hand up to catch the wrist of the hand that held the bottle. "Danny, wait!"
This sudden action startled Danny as well as Frostbite and the physician who was supervising this scene with a professional eye. All three stared at the girl with widened eyes.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked, thinking Danielle must have heard or sensed something nearby that she thought might mean danger.
Danielle just panted for breath, still holding Danny's wrist firmly, as she closed her eyes tight. "I…I just need a minute."
"Now?" Danny responded, withdrawing both his hands from Danielle's person. "Dani, we're this close to getting back the one thing you've been talking about for weeks. Don't tell me your starting to get cold feet."
"Well…" Danielle hesitated. "After the things that have happened today, I'm starting to wonder if getting my sight back really is a good idea."
Completely flabbergasted, Danny asked, "Why?"
"Well…think of all I've been able to do without it." Danielle began, staring up at the ceiling, (if she was able to see it in the first place). "I've been able to focus on what I hear and feel better. I was able to locate you in that jail after escaping the arena. I was able to hear when danger was coming long before it was even aware of us. I think maybe it was just my lack of confidence that kept me from really trying hard enough to actually be able to defend myself. That's how Bullet caught me. But now I feel better about being able to detect things without having to see them coming. If I do need to see something, all I have to do is focus on your vision."
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head at the redundancy of this whole conversation. "But Dani, a while ago we were talking about how limited that still is. You were the one who pointed out that I'm not gonna be able to be right next to you every minute." Already knowing that she couldn't see his expression anyway, Danny still moved his hand down to his waist, looking skeptical. "I know that would drive you crazy eventually anyway since you're so used to doing things on your own. And If I got knocked unconscious for any amount of time during a battle, you wouldn't be able to see at all and you could get ambushed."
Danielle just argued back. "But if I'm able to find you through our connection, maybe I could use my ghost sense to find out where danger is back home? It's not like it's been tested since I went blind. You had me stay underground the whole time."
Danny shook his head. "Even if you could, not all trouble we run into in Amity Park is ghostly. You know that."
Danielle had to admit that Danny had a point. Most of the trouble they ran into may have been ghosts, but there were still several human criminals that thought they were clever enough to get away with their undermining of the law that both the Phantoms had to deal with now and then.
After a while, Danielle sighed in defeat. "Okay, so I am a little nervous about taking the cure." She admitted.
"Why?" Danny asked again. He just didn't understand. "How could you actually be afraid of getting your sight back when it's only what you've talked about missing so much since losing it?"
"It's just…I…" Danielle's voice trailed off and she got the look in her eyes that Danny instantly recognized. Even if her eyes didn't have the same quality to them that they did before she had been hit with the sap that blinded her.
"I know that look." Danny said out load and very gravely. "It's not 'just' anything. Is it?"
Danielle stayed silent and turned her face away from her cousin as if trying to hide her worries from him.
Frostbite saw this exchange happening and looked at the Far Frozen Physician who was looking uncertain of what to do. When the doctor saw his leader bob his head towards the door, suggesting in a friendly way that he should probably leave them alone, he nodded respectfully and walked out.
After the doctor left, Danny put the cure down on a stone table that was nearby and took his cousin's good hand in his. "Talk to me, Sis." He gently encouraged. "You know you always can."
It was a long time before Danielle even moved. But she eventually squeezed her cousin's hand back before turning her head to face where she knew he stood. It was then that Danny saw that tears were glistening down her face.
"I'm scared, Danny." She finally squeaked. "What if it still doesn't work? What if it turns out I'll never be able to see you… or our family…or anything again? Forever."
Danny felt a stone lodge itself in the pit of his stomach in hearing this. After looking at his blind cousin sympathetically, he helped her sit up and wrapped her in his arms as she started to weep. Now he understood. In fact now that he thought of it, that was probably what she was mainly thinking about when she suggested they get Frostbite to check the cure first for any signs of contamination.
As poor Danielle sobbed on his shoulder, grasping the front of his jumpsuit, Danny looked over at Frostbite, almost as if asking for help. He just didn't know what to say that would comfort her.
Frostbite was already one step ahead when he received this signal. He came up to the both of them and put a warm hand over Danielle's back, being careful of her bandaged shoulder. "Oh, dear child, there's always going to be the chance of failure." He said gently. "I had supposed you would have already realized this. Both of your parents are scientists, correct?"
Frostbite's words suddenly gave Danny some inspiration of what to say and took it from that point, using Frostbite's sayings as a good foundation to build off of. "Right." He said, slowly pulling away from Danielle to look at her face at arm's length. "Dani, since my evil self got out, I had been going out all the time, knowing that there was a chance I could fail to get him contained again. But even before that, while we're out fighting ghosts, mom and dad are always having to be careful of dangers happening right inside the house with their experimenting. Even the smallest thing going wrong could cause something catastrophic. As a matter of fact, when we…"
Danny suddenly stopped himself, trying to evaluate if bringing up that particularly painful memory was a good idea. After seeing Danielle was still waiting for him to finish, he took a deep breath, making his decision. "That time back in Vlad's lab when he almost destroyed you…" Danny began. Danny felt Danielle's shoulders tense and she visibly looked like she was straining to keep herself from remembering that fateful day before Danny found the heart to continue. "I was afraid that Dejecto stuff might not work just before I used it to stabilized you."
Danielle relaxed and her gaze shifted upwards as if she was surprised to hear that the older cousin she had always looked up to had been afraid of anything. What would he have had to fear back in that lab when she was the one who was losing the stability of her own form?
"When I saw you dissolve down to nothing but that ectoplasmic puddle, even after I had used it," Danny went on slowly, "I thought I had lost you. That the Dejecto probably even had something to do with speeding up the reaction instead of stopping it or even slowing it down. That I had not only failed to protect you from what you had feared the most, like I promised you I would, but had become the ultimate cause of it happening in the end."
A moment of silence followed in which Danielle's eyes shifted to the side as this statement touched her. She had never really thought of how Danny must have felt during that time. All she had ever really thought about was how happy she was that she had returned to herself again after it was all over. That she was able to stay on the same plane of existence for longer than she ever could have hoped. Also, that she was able to get back at Vlad for trying to destroy as an ultimate bonus. But even years after that had happened, how could she not have realized that it must have been a difficult time for Danny as well? As the young clone thought about it, she did remember seeing Danny looking really sad after coming out of a blackout while she was reforming. As soon as he had turned around to find that she was okay after all, he also seemed to be about as happy as she was that she was still alive.
"But the point is," Danny continued. "You never know what could have happened, much less if it would have worked out, if you don't take the risk in the first place."
Frostbite was listening to this conversation in sympathy a well as in awe. He had never had the opportunity to observe any of the actual events this ghost-powered teen was famous for, much less the ones that the public never even knew of. He had just heard stories and had a record kept about them with the shrine. Perhaps he will ask Danny further about this experience with Plasmius he speaks of later, but for now it was an inspiring experience to see the young boy, who had stumbled with figuring out his Phreeze power when he had first told him about it, had grown into this fully realized hero who had apparently grown in wisdom as well as in awesome strength. To Danny Phantom's words, Frostbite nodded in agreement saying, "Your cousin speaks very wisely, dear one."
Danielle used her good hand to wipe her tearstained eyes and stare into space, still listening to what her cousin and good friend were saying. "Yeah. I Know." She said with a sniffle. "But still, I…"
She trailed off again, but Danny and Frostbite both waited for her to finish expressing her concerns. Danny could see the turmoil that she was trying to work out in her head through her dull eyes until she let out a heavy sigh. She then raised her hands to take one of Danny's wrists as her eyes started to glisten with more arising tears.
"Danny?" Her voice cracked as she spoke again. "Where's mom and dad?"
Danny blinked in surprise and withdrew his hands from Danielle's shoulders as his instincts straightaway alerted him to the two words that hardly ever came from his adopted little sister's mouth. She just referred to Jack and Maddie as her mom and dad. Danny looked up at Frostbite and saw that he had caught this too, even if he didn't quite understand its true meaning.
After shaking off his daze, Danny turned back to his cousin, who was looking a bit worried by what his reaction might be already, even though blind to the astonished look on his face.
Danny was the one who hesitantly broke the awkward silence. "Uh…hopefully safe at home, but…why ask?"
Danielle bit her lower lip, looking nervous to give her explanation.
Danny made an educated guess. "You're saying you want them to come here? In the Ghost Zone?"
Danielle tensed, looking like she was ashamed in asking the question in the first place. "I know I must sound really childish and I know you don't want them to leave the house with your evil self being out there, but…I really think I would feel more up to this if…they were here."
When Danny wasn't saying anything after Danielle had justified, she groped in front of her for a second to find her cousin's wrist. "Danny, Please?" The girl pleaded, looking desperate and afraid of what she thought the answer might be.
Danny was frozen where he stood as he stared at Danielle, detecting that lost look in her faded-out eyes that he knew full well that only the support of real loving parents could cure her of. After thinking for a minute, he finally said, gently pulling his wrist away from her hands and patting one of them reassuringly, "I'll be right back, Sis."
He and Frostbite exited the room, allowing the physician to reenter to keep the girl company. Before Frostbite let the tattered curtain fall behind them, Danny caught one last glimpse of Danielle looking very anxious as she pulled her feet up onto the medical table she sat on and hugged her knees.
"Well, Great One?" Frostbite encouraged for Danny to start once they were in a private place in the corridor.
Danny sighed heavily, running his gloved fingers through his white hair. "I don't know." He admitted as he tried to think. "I was always telling them to stay hidden for their own safety while I handled things." He paused for a minute as he felt his heart grow heavy in remembering that sad and desperate look on Danielle's face. "But…Dani…" he looked in the direction of the room in which he knew Danielle still awaited an answer. "She was the one who was able to help me escape Walker's jail in the first place. And she's the blind one." He looked down at the floor, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin. "And it wouldn't be the first time I've told people things I never thought I'd have to say to them. Having that in mind, maybe it really would be a good idea for the others to come." Danny couldn't help but scoff at this next thought he voiced out to Frostbite. "I know Jazz especially would leap at the sound of getting some fresh air."
"Then you approve?" Frostbite prodded, looking hopeful on behalf of the little cousin.
"Well, there's still a bit of a problem, though." Danny said, shrugging. "How am I supposed to contact them? I didn't bring anything to keep in touch with them before I left the house. I was afraid my evil self might see them and bail on our deal entirely, thinking I had some plan of double-crossing him."
Frostbite folded his massive arms with a cocked eyebrow. "Well, that's ironic." He replied.
Danny rolled his eyes at the very memory of being ambushed back at the floating canyon. "Isn't it?"
Frostbite looked around in the frozen cave tunnel as if trying to find a solution that would help this troubled hero. "Well, we did have a radio tower, but it's still under reconstruction from when your dark self attacked us. None of our own communication systems are back online yet."
Well, that helps. Danny thought sarcastically. He sighed heavily, putting a hand on his forehead. What was he going to do? Danielle was too scared to take the cure without the right kind of support. If Danny couldn't get a hold of his parents from here, he would have to go back home and get them himself. But it was too risky for him to leave the Far Frozen at this time with Walker and his men out looking for their escaped convicts. He and Danielle may have been able to avoid trouble on the way here, but their luck always ran out with time. And time was something they were running out of considering the damage his alternate future self could do with The Crown of Fire. The memory of his nightmare came back and made him suppress a chill that ran down his spine.
Danny still had his tracking device in his belt, but now that he was in a safer realm, turning it on would only indicate to his family back home that he was safe and that he, or more importantly Danielle, wasn't in need of them. If he kept it off, they wouldn't know where to start looking for him, even if they ever did know he or Danielle wanted them to leave the house at all.
Danny felt like his head had hit a wall as every option he could think of only canceled itself out with the next thought. He was definitely at a stalemate here.
"Ow!" Danny exclaimed, as his head literally did hit something hard. Or rather, something hard hit his head.
Frostbite was taken aback by this unexpected occurrence. "What in the name of both dimensions…?"
Before he could finish his thought, two Far Frozen guards came rushing from the cave entrance, looking short of breath as they approached their leader and the Savior of the Ghost Zone who was rubbing the back of his head where a throbbing pain had suddenly erupted.
"Forgive us, Great One." The forward guard apologized. "It bypassed and eluded our every attempt to intercept it before we even realized it was aiming for you. It's as if it has a mind of its own."
Still massaging his head where it hurt, Danny looked around, confused at what the guard was even talking about. His eyes eventually wandered to the stone cave floor where he saw what had hit him.
"No way!" Danny blinked with widened eyes when he realized what it was. "But then that's gotta mean…" he started to say as he reached down to pick it up, almost thinking that he might be dreaming again.
"I wouldn't handle it if I were you, Great One!" The second guard warned, stepping forward in concern as if afraid the gadget might come back to life and bite. "It could be dangerous, especially in seeing it was only willing to hit you."
The guard quickly took the gadget from Danny's hands and started examining it suspiciously. As he did this, his partner pointed his spear at the thing with a look that was like he was daring it to do something harmful: Particularly to the young hero.
Danny just shook his head with a scoff. "That doesn't make it dangerous." He said, taking the gadget back, to all three beasts' alarm. "It's just annoying, that's all."
The Far Frozen citizens still looked quite edgy as the teenage hybrid started squeezing around the edges of the green and silver gadget as if double-checking to make sure it was real and actually here in his hands.
"You mean you recognize this weapon-like device?" Frostbite asked, looking confused. "But if it's in the shape of an Aborigine hunting tool, how could it not be used for such a purpose as hunting, or otherwise bringing harm of any kind?"
Danny almost started laughing at how the tribal ghosts were making such a big fuss over his safety. "Well ghost-hunting was what it was original made for, but not as a weapon. It's a tracking device my dad made." He explained calmly, flipping the Boo-merang in his hands. "But…that's what's weird, because it's only ever been used in emergencies by…"
Before he could finish his sentence, all four ghosts suddenly turned towards the cave mouth entrance where they heard a high-pitched humming coming from outside that gradually got louder as it sounded to be coming closer. A slight breeze of rather warm air also picked up, making snow powder blow onto the floor of the inner cave from outside.
Danny recognized this sound instantly, but he still couldn't believe his ears. After briefly glancing at Frostbite, in which he saw his own hopes being reflected right back at him, the boy bolted past the two guards, stopping at the mouth of the cave where he beheld, with his own two eyes, the bulky white Ghost Zone exploration ship coming in for a landing only a short distance from the cave.
Danny finally found his voice to finish his previous sentence when he saw his father and mother piloting the Specter Speeder and his sister, Sam and Tucker waving down at him through the windshield window from over the back of the pilot seats.
"My…family."
Another lengthy chapter, but I hope it was worth your while. I've considered splitting this one into two different ones, but it just didn't have the feeling I wanted whenever I tried figuring out where to do that. I do feel that some parts of the first conversation with Danny and Frostbite were lengthy and unnecessary. What do you guys think?
Anyway. I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you guys hanging for a while longer for an undetermined amount of time again. I have the basic dialogue down for the next part, but I've still come to a bit of a crossroad decision with certain parts I really wanted to put in. Plus, I've gotten wrapped up with a few things going on in school. And I'm working on another part of my Older Dani Animation. Once it's finished, I'll let you know and you can probably see it on my Livevideo account.
In the meantime, I would very much like to know your thoughts on this chapter or just how the story's going in general. Thank you all for your support.