Ch. 26
Stupid brats! Curse that sled! His fingers tighten around the amulet. His foot mists away, dragged off to a big top somewhere on the other side of the Ghost Zone. He's aware of the halfa below, slowly beginning to rise.
Has he figured it out?
He dodges another blast from the sled, and sweeps the miasma beneath it like a wave, sending the rider tumbling head-over-heels. Lydia's tattoos swirl around the technogeek, who drops beneath the cloud and fires from below.
A pink ray blasts into his side, sending him flying. His hand snaps out to catch his top hat. He whirls the miasma around again, whipping it into what would be a frothy patch of ocean in the mortal world.
Again, some part of him mists away, and he can see the lights focusing on the ring. The four-armed ghost in the center twirls a bejeweled rod. His red cape swishes over the ground.
A ghost. Even now, I'm being upstaged by a ghost!
In the corner of his eye, he's aware of the shuttle, inching towards the portal. He should stop it. Reveal the halfa's secret. Reveal the Huntress's secret. So many secrets to reveal, nothing truly released due to that boy's stubbornness. The groups he provided were the most interesting he could have. The Ghost Boy, Danny Fenton – no, Danny Phantom, in a group that comprised of his greatest tormentors.
Maddie Fenton, a beautiful, scientific genius who hates ghosts with a passion. She's logical, suspicious, and already mistrusts halfas due to Vlad Plasmius. She hunts Phantom constantly, consumed by a desire to study him; but also the desire to protect her children. Yes, her reaction to the truth was truly the pinnacle of entertainment. Her tears, her anger, her confusion, her doubt, her paranoia. All crushed beneath the revelation that she had been hunting her own son.
William Lancer, the vice-principal of Casper High. He's tough on his students, but because he cares. Despite that, he didn't seek the truth behind Daniel Fenton's mysterious absences and disappearances. Never noticed the hidden injuries or the bullying. He looked down on him and wondered where he could possibly go in his life. Tucker Foley is intelligent and resourceful; after the disasteroid incident, he got plenty of scholarships. Samantha Manson, while a rebel, does well in class and gets excellent grades; she has some issues with authority, but she's determined and passionate. But what about Danny Fenton? He'd had dreams of becoming an astronaut, but his poor grades didn't help. He wasn't sure what he'd end up doing; he never suspected he'd become a hero. When the slightly overweight teacher had pieced the puzzle together, he'd checked it over and over again. The more he thought about it, the more – and yet less – sense it made. He hadn't shown his horrified expression to Danny; instead, he'd been up the entire night wondering how to apologize. How to make things right. Debating who to tell and how; should he stop a student from doing something so dangerous?
Could he?
Dash Baxter, the resident bully, had been entertaining to watch. Freakshow had delighted in the shattered expression upon learning that his punching bag was dead. He'd looked terrified, as though by his own hand. His face was pale and sweating, his blue eyes wide; sick, he looked like he wanted to puke. Then Danny was alive, and he still looked ill. Haunted. His opinion of the smaller boy has been written on his face, slowly turning into fear, confusion…and awe. He has yet to figure everything out; but who cares? It'd been amusing to see him wonder what Danny could have done to him if he'd ever lost his temper.
Kwan Ishiyama had been the least entertaining of the lot. Sure, he'd felt guilty, but not as much as Dash. He wasn't a leader; he just followed, and did whatever put him in the spotlight. But he wasn't as interesting without Dash around; not for his purposes.
Freakshow had separated the trio, to weaken them. Sam was placed with her mortal enemy; the ever-popular Paulina Sanchez. He was amazed that she hadn't killed the cheerleader. As for Tucker Foley, he'd been given the easiest group – in a fashion. None of them were necessarily enemies, but given how far out they had been in the Zone, being with Lester and Mikey – two of the least in-shape kids at school – had to have been difficult.
Then there was Valerie Gray, the competent Huntress, infamous in the Infinite Realms for her ruthlessness and skill. She was placed with none other than Jack Fenton, a man renowned for his incompetence. It would have been more amusing to see when she would have snapped and shot him, revealing her identity…but Walker's prison had been entertaining, no?
The shuttle inches closer to the portal, and he lets it. What does he care? His quarry is here; below him. He just has to remove the other two pests, and then he'll make the hero suffer. He'll capture them and that pretty little girlfriend of his. She'll be last. She'd been the one to foil his first plan; it had been her peril that broke the control he'd held over Phantom. He will make Phantom watch her life slowly and agonizingly leave her body. What could be worse to a hero than letting someone die before his very eyes? Someone he loves? It'll tear him apart in every part of his being; his human love for her and his ghostly obsession with heroics. Her death would violate them both; her death alone could destroy him.
It disappears through the portal finally, no longer an option. He doesn't care; he has more important things to deal with, such as…
"Hey! Freakshow!" those awful blue eyes turn an even worse green beneath the midnight strands of hair, and he restrains a snarl.
"I see you're back," he sneers, his red lips curling, "Perfect. This way, I can skip capturing them and just kill them!"
"You can't do that," Danny mocks, "I mean, you're not human, not ghost, not a halfa either," he laughs, "but me? I have the best of both sides!" he draws the goth closer, capturing her lips briefly, "And I have people who accept both sides of me."
"Enough!" he swirls a large wave of miasma around the teen, who visibly pales, "You can't do anything either!"
"Oh really?" he snorts, slipping onto the sled, a protective arm around Sam, "I don't have to stay here. I can just leave. I'm completely free. I don't have to stay in the Zone, and even when I'm in the mortal world, I can fly around as much as I want. People cheer when I show up," he grins as Valerie hits the acceleration and the sled begins to take off, whipping his following words away.
They speed for the portal, and he waves the amulet in the air and steps through the curtain with Lydia, appearing in front of the portal. He pulls the miasma aside, trying to divert the sled speeding towards the portal behind him. A smug grin rests beneath acid green eyes as the Huntress surfs the condensed mist, her arm whipping out and catching the ringmaster in the stomach, pulling him through the portal.
-BREAK-
"Everyone, out! Out!" She lands the shuttle and helps Lester with his injured leg from the vehicle.
"Mom! Dad!" Jazz appears, breathless, on the bottom step of the lab, "You're all okay!"
"Maybe a little scuffed up," Jack grins, "What're you doing here, Jazzerincess?"
"A group of students, a teacher, and my parents go missing during a field trip into the Ghost Zone. Who did you think they'd call?!" she frowns, "What were you thinking?!"
"Jazz," Maddie cautions, "Can we talk about this later? We'll be taking them all to the hospital for checkups in the Fenton Assault Vehicle."
"Yeah…wait, where's Danny?"
"Yeah. I want an explanation about why you didn't tell me," she frowns, "But not right now; too many…unaware parties."
"Got it," Jazz laughs nervously, "But…?"
"He, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie are holding off that Freakshow fellow," Jack answers, "Your mother and I will be taking the kids. You wait here for them, okay?"
"Yeah," she nods, "…Freakshow?"
"Yeah."
"How…?" she shrugs, "Not the time," she snatches a Fenton Peeler from the desk, "Go. I'll hold down the fort. I can ask Danny when he gets here." The group vanishes up the stairs, desperate to get as far away from the portal as possible.
So they know now, she thinks, tracing a seam of her weapon, they didn't kill him, so…I was right about that. I wonder what Freakshow's up to now? I should probably thank him; he made an excellent case for my college entry thesis on ghost envy. I mean…thank him after he's been detained, obviously…I wonder if the Ghost Writer has any books I could use for my dissertation on Ectopsychology as a legitimate field of science? I mean, that may be years away, but you can never start too early…
Valerie bursts by on her sled, Freakshow in hand, Tucker and Sam leap to the floor, and Danny waves with a brief "Hey, Jazz!" as they angle up, phasing through the ceiling into the world above.
Tucker rushes over and closes the portal, while Sam snatches a bazooka from the weapon's vault.
"So, what's going on? Should I gear up too?"
"Freakshow's back for revenge on Danny," Tucker answers.
"No, we've got this. Danny can probably handle it himself, now that Freakshow's little amulet doesn't work," Sam shrugs, "We're just extra insurance. You keep an eye on the portal. If you see Lydia – red cape, lots of tats? – shoot her."
"Got it. Have fun," Jazz seats herself at the desk and begins to read a book beside the keyboard.
"We'll catch up when we're done here," Tucker smiles.
"You okay, Tuck?" she asks, finally noticing the bandage across his head.
"I'm fine," he shrugs nervously.
"He just doesn't want to go to the hospital," Sam snorts, shoving him to the steps, "We'll tell you the stories later. See you, Jazz," they disappear up the stairs.
"BEWARE!"
She snatches the flyswatter on the desk without looking away from her book and slaps the ghost away through the wall.
"How dare you swat the terrible Box-Ghost with your little plastic flyswatter of—"
"Shut up, or I cram you into the thermos for several days," Jazz growls, swatting him away a second time, "I'm trying to study. Get lost."
-BREAK-
They spew into the sky, and he takes a deep breath of air, allowing his cold core to rise. The familiar lightness spreads through him, and he can't help but grin as he falls from the sled; he breaks into a laugh as he spirals up behind it. Valerie lets go of Freakshow as she swerves aside. He falls a short distance, his voice a high scream until Danny catches him.
"You were going to do what to my friends?" he challenges, rising higher again.
"I-I'll k-kill t-them…and you!" the ringmaster shrieks.
"With what power?!" Danny snarls, ripping the amulet from his hand. The gold chain shatters, the links scattering in the sunlight like sparks. He tosses it to Valerie, who hovers nearby.
Freakshow's form ripples, and he can see his ghost bowing to a crowd of his peers. Below, a group of people cheer for Phantom.
"I! Will! Not! Be! Upstaged! By! A! Ghost!" His hands scramble for the halfa's throat, but he feels a pull at his cape. Turning, he can see the familiar blue light of a thermos.
"Hm," Danny smirks, "Seems it still works on you," he drops him to avoid the thermos, and Valerie caps it.
"What are you going to do?" she asks, handing him the container.
"We'll find a way to lock him in one form or another," he shrugs, "Maybe uniting him with his ghost or something. Who knows? We'll deal with him after some research. We'll want to keep that amulet too; don't want anyone using it."
"Why not destroy it?"
"What if one piece works like the whole amulet?" he snorts, "We'll keep it intact for now."
"Good point."
"Besides, I think Sam could totally rock a couple pieces of it as earrings…Christmas is only a few months away…"
"…really, Danny?"
"Yeah," he grins.
"Danny!" Sam waves from the top of a building, a bazooka slung over her shoulder, "You already took care of it?"
"Yeah!" he replies, phasing back to Fenton,"Where did my parents and students go?"
"Hospital," Tucker shudders.
"You really should go, Babe," Valerie sighs, alighting next to him.
"Wait, so I'm 'Babe' now?"
"Are you going to complain?"
"…no."
"Good. Let's go," she pats her sled affectionately.
"Oh no," he backs away, "I'll just walk – it's not that far–" he's cut off as she whisks him away, a terrified yelp on his lips.
Sam laughs, "Ghosts? No problem. A ride on Val's sled to a hospital? He screams."
"Well, we all have our weaknesses," Danny chuckles, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Should we catch up?"
"We're fine," she shakes her head, "Let's just go back to your place, huh? We can explain some things to Jazz."
"Sounds good," he smiles, "Tuck can tell everyone we're back safely."
"You temporarily died on this 'field trip' and you say we came back safely?"
"Hey, we're alive now, right?"
A/N: All that's left is the epilogue! I hope this wasn't too…anti-climactic. I'm not good at action; I'm more of a character-driven person. It's weird; I've almost done NaNoWriMo here! Remember to keep an eye out for "Adrift," the sequel-fic to this! (I will post the first chapter no later than next Monday, 9/8/2014!)
So…how does it feel to realize that you've practically been Freakshow this whole time? Watching the struggles of the characters, enjoying their hardship? *evil laugh*
A BIG THANK YOU to all who have reviewed! Remember; it's your reviews and love that fuel my writing! :D Please continue to do so and never forget to ENJOY the story! I hope you'll also enjoy the sequel.