I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. If I DID own Danny Phantom, the third season wouldn't have been as rushed, we'd have seen more of Danielle, and the series finale would have involved Dark Phantom.
I also don't own the Ghostbusters in ANY variation. Although the movie is one of my favorites…
I am REALLY sorry about the long wait. I have no excuse but this: COLLEGE-LEVEL SPANISH IS EVIL!
Now, that aside, you all have probably waited long enough. So let's not wait anymore! Allons-y!
I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts
Chapter 26
Shadow World
Part 1
"Trapped in your world, where you're burning in my eyes,
You're like a shadow that never hides…"
- "Parallel Worlds", Elliot Minor
oOo
"So, by this point, the customer has had enough," Peter said, "And he says what has to be one of the funniest rants I've ever heard: 'It's not pining, it's passed on. This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life! It rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up daisies! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! THIS is an EX-PARROT!'"
There was laughter from those assembled, Danny lifting his glasses to flick away some tears of mirth.
"Monty Python's great. Hope we don't end up having to bust that bird!"
What would have been a few more appreciative chuckles was interrupted by the alarm.
"We've got a hot one!" shouted Kylie, running into the room, "Some kind of freak twister in Central Park."
Peter stiffened.
"Did you say twister?"
oOo
"I really hoped I was wrong," Peter mumbled as the Ecto-1 pulled up. Danny, Eduardo, Kylie, Peter, and Ray hustled out and tried not to get too close to the bizarre tornado that stood in the park, unmoving but still whirling.
"You recognize this?" asked Eduardo.
"Unfortunately," replied Ray, "It's eerily similar to a manifestation we encountered in the old days, and what it lead to was anything but good. The twister turned out to be some sort of portal to a ghostly dimension we dubbed The Flip-Side."
"The Flip Side? I remember reading about that in the files!" said Kylie, "It was some sort of bizarre backward version of New York, and it even had versions of Ghostbusters that hunted organic life!"
"I think this IS the same thing," said Danny, "I'm sensing energy fluctuations I only get when near an active ghost portal. But I've never seen a portal like this before!"
"I'm getting a closer reading!"
"Careful! This wind is picking up, and I don't think I'll be able to fly in this!"
Kylie carefully edged closer in order to get some better readings, but slipped when the wind knocked several newspapers into her. As the winds from the twister tugged her up, Danny and Eduardo, the closest to her, reacted, grabbing on.
"Now I know how Dorothy felt!" Eduardo yelled over the wind.
"Just hang on! I don't feel like going to Oz!" Kylie shouted back.
"Too late!" Danny yelled as the wind picked up speed.
They barely heard the calls of Peter and Ray over the roar of the wind as the three were carried up and away.
oOo
It felt like being in an out of control tilt-o-whirl. Up was down, down was up, and left and right where having a drunken fling together. Gravity had taken one look and decided not to bother. The only things Kylie knew for sure were the iron grip Danny kept on her wrist, and Eduardo's continuing stream of Spanish, of which she knew enough to know that he was cursing a blue streak.
After what felt like forever, the wind died down, and the three were left several hundred feet in the air. Thankfully, one of their number could fly, and he guided them in for a safe landing.
Then Kylie's PKE Meter started sparking. She quickly threw it away and it promptly exploded.
"That was random," said Eduardo.
"I don't think so," Danny argued, "I think it overloaded. My senses are going nuts. Where are we, anyway?"
The city around them looked like New York, but it was as if a filter had been placed over the scenery. Everything was darker and grittier. Stone crumbled, slime oozed from out of cracks, and the smell of decay hung heavily in the air. The skies were clear, but oppressive, and there was no sign of the tornado that had brought them there.
"Guys, remember what Ray said? About how the old team ran into a twister that was a portal to the Flip Side?" asked Kylie.
Eduardo swore.
"Let's just get to a safer place," said Danny, readjusting his glasses, "We'll find a way back home later, but we're too exposed out here."
"Exactly. We don't want to run into the Peoplebusters," replied Kylie.
"The who?"
"Eduardo, do you EVER read the files? The Peoplebusters were ghostly versions of the Ghostbusters, and real pieces of work. They hunted any organic life that found its way here, and at the moment, that includes us. The old team couldn't do a thing to them, because their proton packs wouldn't work here. Some kind of reversal in proton energy, it was kind of complicated. Point is, if we run into them, we're sitting ducks."
"I REALLY hope we don't see a Flip Side version of me," Danny commented, "I've been down that road, and it wasn't pretty…I don't want to have to go through it again…"
oOo
They found shelter in an alleyway, quickly finding that Kylie and Eduardo could phase through solid objects. Once they felt safe, they began to brainstorm.
"So how did the old guys escape?" asked Eduardo.
"According to the files, they ended up getting caught by the Peoplebusters and thrown into some sort of containment unit, one that functioned like our own. They took advantage of the similar nature that unit had with the real world to blast a way back home."
"That might not work again," said Danny, "The Peoplebusters are supposed to be mirror versions of the Ghostbusters, right? That means they have their own Egon, and if that's the case, then they'll probably have locked down that little exit."
"You got a better idea?" asked Eduardo.
"Not really. Way I figure it, this might be part of the Ghost Zone, maybe an off-shoot. We might find a natural portal back to Earth, but we'd have no way of knowing where one will open, or where it would open to. Or even WHEN it would open to. I hate to say it, but I think our best option is to wait things out. Hopefully, we'll find a way back, or maybe the Box Ghost can track us down and help us back."
"So, how long do you think that'll take?" asked Kylie.
"Could be minutes, could be days."
"Don't think we have days," said Eduardo, as a ghastly moan pierced the air like a siren, getting closer within seconds.
Peeking out into the main street, and they gazed upon a terrifying sight.
Piling out of a twisted version of the Ecto-1 were equally twisted versions of the Ghostbusters: a lanky, zombie-like version of Peter, a skeletal double of Egon, a fat and apelike doppelganger of Ray, a hirsute, wolf-like ghost that resembled Eduardo, and a blond lookalike of Kylie with long fangs jutting from her mouth.
The Peoplebusters.
"Mierda," Eduardo hissed.
"You said it," Kylie whispered back.
"What a drag," Flip-Eduardo growled, "I SO didn't want to do this today."
"Come on, baby! A little action, a little smacking of some meatbags! It'll be fun!" piped up Flip-Kylie, a peppy grin on her face.
"Too bad Winston, Garrett, and Roland are missing this," chuckled Flip-Ray.
"Quiet," barked Flip-Egon, consulting a rusty gadget, "The organics are near."
"Then why are we wasting time?" asked Flip-Peter, picking a maggot out of his teeth, "Let's find 'em, tag 'em, and bag 'em. I'm feeling hungry…"
Kylie shuddered, and Eduardo laid a steadying hand on her shoulder. Danny motioned for them to sneak away, but Murphy's Law had other ideas. A stray can clinked against Eduardo's foot, and the five vile ghosts whirled toward the noise.
"BINGO!" shouted Flip-Ray, and the five activated their own weapons, slime sprayers, before charging into the alley.
"We're dead," Eduardo squeaked.
Danny reacted fast, letting off several ecto-blasts with stunning accuracy and pushing the Peoplebusters back into the street.
"Another ghost?" asked Flip-Kylie.
"Probably one of those meat-loving rebels," Flip-Eduardo snarled.
"Well, he can't beat us all," Flip-Peter replied, "Drench 'em!"
The five let loose streams of slime. Danny erected a shield to block the goo, but the constant barrage started to wear it down.
Suddenly, the shadows around them sprang to life and swatted aside Flip-Kylie, Flip-Eduardo, and Flip-Ray. A dark figure appeared from gloom.
"It's the Wraith!" shouted Flip-Egon.
Danny took a look at the newcomer, about to thank him. Then his blood ran cold.
Garbed in a pure black body-suit was young-looking ghost, with pale green skin, fangs, and dark red eyes. White flames composed his hair. To Kylie and Eduardo, it looked like a demonic version of Danny Phantom.
To Danny, it looked like a shade from his nightmares.
"No, NO!" he shouted, his mind running a hundred miles an hour with grim thoughts, "Stay back!"
Danny's freak-out caused him to drop the shield, allowing Flip-Peter to shoot right at Kylie. The blobs of slime impacted her small form, coating her body in muck.
"KYLIE!" Eduardo cried out, attempting to dislodge his teammate, but his attempts only served to glue his hands to her slimy cocoon, leaving him wide open to an assault by his own doppelganger, along with Flip-Kylie.
The Flip-Side Danny reacted, throwing out several blade-like bursts of darkness, forcing the Peoplebusters to retaliate with slime. Danny attempted to get to Kylie and Eduardo, but a blast of slime from Flip-Kylie knocked him back.
"Sorry, hun! Nothing personal!" the fanged ghost giggled.
As Danny tapped into his ice powers to freeze the goo off him, Flip-Eduardo and Flip-Ray were already grabbing Kylie and Eduardo and were starting to load them into their vehicle.
"NO!" Danny shouted, about to leap after them, but a cold grip yanked him back. It was his double, using a shadowy lariat while a black shield blocked incoming fire.
"You can't help them now! We need to regroup back at the base!"
Before Danny could protest or spit in the face of the one who looked so much like The Darkness, he was literally pulled into the shadows. The next thing he knew, he was someplace else.
Danny roughly threw his double off.
"Get away! I have to save them!"
"They're already on their way to the Peoplebusters' base!" Flip-Danny argued, "You can't save them alone! They're too powerful and too well organized. They have this entire city in a death grip!"
"You have a better idea?"
"Not him," came a voice, "But perhaps I do."
Out of the shadows came a large figure, a bizarre cross between man and bat. But the most shocking thing to Danny was the new ghost's features, startlingly similar to one of his greatest enemies.
"They call me Plasma," said the doppelganger of Vlad Plasmius, "I don't know why you look like my adopted son, but that doesn't matter. Welcome to the resistance."
oOo
Meanwhile the Peoplebusters' base, the gummed together forms of Eduardo and Kylie were being hauled toward machine that looked like a demonic head.
"Too bad we have to throw them in," quipped Flip-Kylie, "The male looks good enough to eat!"
"Careful," the Flip-Eduardo growled, "I might get jealous."
Flip-Kylie giggled girlishly, and the two humans were struck by how surreal that was.
The twisted machine opened its mouth wide, and with a heave, the two Ghostbusters were tossed directly into it. They fell for the second time that day, this time hitting the ground in a grassy field with an overcast sky. The goo began to dissolve, obviously not suited to the new environment, and Kylie and Eduardo finally extricated themselves from each other with great awkwardness.
"Why did you even do that?" Kylie asked, wiping slime off her face with a grimace, "You got caught too."
Eduardo froze for a moment before speaking.
"Umm, well you would have done the same for me."
'Stupid!' he swore mentally, 'You stared down a creep-show version of YOURSELF, but you chicken out of a PERFECT chance to tell her how you feel? STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!'
Kylie must have noticed his sudden silence, for she asked what was wrong.
"Nothing," he replied quickly, "Just didn't think my evil twin would be a werewolf, or yours would be so…sunny."
Sensing the awkward tone in the air, Kylie easy jumped in the change of subject and replied, "Yeah, she kind of reminds me of Death from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Only blond."
"I heard about that series. Tried to read it once, but couldn't wrap my mind around it. Stopped after the first issue."
"Too bad. Death's a scream."
"Comedian?"
"No, just a pleasant and perky Goth. A paradox, I know, but on her it works. On her first appearance, she talked about Mary Poppins. Said it was a cute movie."
"NO WAY! DEATH? Mary Poppins?"
"Yeah. Even impersonated Dick Van Dyke's faux-British accent."
"You're pulling my leg!"
"Nope. Then four pages later, she yells at her brother, Dream, and throws a loaf of bread at him."
"THAT I'll believe."
"It's a good series. You should give it another shot."
"If we get out of this, I just might. Any idea what we do now?"
Kylie sat in the grass and drew her knees to her chest.
"Wait, I guess. Danny will think of something."
"I guess," Eduardo replied, sitting beside her, "What was with those Peoplebusters, anyway?"
"You really want to know?" came a voice, and the two spun around to see an old man had snuck up on them. Confused, the two nodded, and the old man sat before them.
"Name's Carl," he began, "I entered this ghostly realm many years ago. I had hidden at first, watching. Years ago, a group of three humans entered this city, humans with strange suits and carrying stranger equipment on their backs. I later learned from a newcomer that they had been the Ghostbusters, but what I knew at the time was that they did something to the Peoplebusters, something that deeply wounded their pride and their reputation."
"They escaped," Kylie interjected, and Carl nodded.
"I figured as much. Well, I remember seeing a massive column of light erupting from the Peoplebusters' old base. It soon became known that it was a jailbreak of organic life. That did NOT go over well with the city. The Peoplebusters retired in shame. However, a few years ago, they returned, with new recruits, new resources, and a new drive. In a matter of months, they had taken over the city, ruling it with an iron fist. They began aggressively hunting down any hidden organic life, and levying heavy punishments on any ghost they felt stood against them and their regime. In little time, they had become bigger monsters than the ghostly citizens had considered people once upon a time. I helped found a resistance movement to combat them, but I was recently captured. I can only pray my partners have keep our people safe…
"But, that is my story," Carl concluded, "What is yours?"
oOo
"Fascinating," said Plasma, pondering the story he had just heard from Danny, "Heroes from the world of the living."
"And we just wanted to get home," said Danny, "But now, if there's a way to help stop the Peoplebusters in the process, you can count me in…"
Now, that song quote at the beginning? Here's the Youtube link, in case you're interested. Delete the spaces:
watch?v =s3_ZR eEaKbo