The ghost looked around the room with its intimidating scowl before locking its eyes on Danny and pointing at him with a finger.
"I've come..." started the ghost. "To take your soul!"
Danny gulped. Then the ghost pointed to Sam, Tucker, Spectra, Kitty, and lastly Ember.
"That goes for the rest of you too!"
The group took a step back. All except for Ember who folded her arms over her chest.
"Seriously?" remarked the flame haired ghost with a raised brow.
The dark grey ghost's expression had lightened up and it rubbed the back of its head before saying, "Too much?"
"Yeah."
"Had to do something to calm these guys down," shrugged the mouthless ghost. "Looks like it worked."
"Um... Ember?" started Kitty looking to her friend. "Do you know this person?"
"Unfortunately I do," answered Ember.
"And who prey tell is this ghost?" asked Spectra.
Ember was about to answer but Sam beat her too it with, "Shadow? Is that you?"
The mouthless ghost turned to the goth girl and responded, "Yep."
"Hold on a second," said Tucker shaking his head. "You're Shadow?"
The white-haired ghost nodded.
"The same Shadow who has been helping me lately?" asked Danny.
"I am he," said Shadow.
"You've been helping Dipstick?" asked Ember raising a brow.
Shadow turned around to face Ember before saying, "What? Are you jealous or something?"
"Don't try to turn this around on me. I want answers."
"So do I," added Danny as his face became serious.
"I second that," tossed in Sam. "Well, third but you get the point."
"Ok," said the mouthless ghost. "I suppose I do owe you guys an explanation."
Then the dark grey ghost cleared its throat.
"As I informed Ember a while back, I am neither on her side nor on Danny's side. Therefore, who I know and who I associate with is nobody's business, but my own."
"Like heck it isn't my business!" snapped the pop princess. "You could have been giving him inside knowledge about my plans the whole time!"
"And how do I know you didn't help her kidnap my parents and my friends?" added the halfa.
"Rather than answer that, why don't you two ask the other person involved?" suggested Shadow. "I mean you're standing across from each other."
Ember and Danny looked at each other realizing that Shadow had a point.
"So um..." stammered the teen hero. "Did he uh... help you do that?"
"No," answered Ember before asking, "Did he... you know... tell you about my plans?"
"He hasn't."
The flame haired ghost shifted her gaze to Shadow again and said, "You might not have said anything to him, but I still don't like it."
"So you weren't involved but that still doesn't explain why a neutral ghost would bother helping us to begin with," pointed out Danny.
"The answer to that is simple," started Shadow. "I wanted all of you to be ready for the day Dan escaped from the thermos."
Ember, Danny, Sam, and Tucker blinked twice. Spectra and Kitty noticed their behavior.
"(Why do I get the feeling that I've been sucked into an unpleasant situation?)" thought Spectra.
"He's the one responsible for what happened to Johnny?" questioned Kitty.
"He is," answered the dark grey ghost.
"You...!" growled the pop princess as her hands clenched into tight fists before she fired a doublehanded ghost ray at the mouthless ghost. Shadow crashed against the wall before falling flat on his stomach with a groan. Everyone else in the room could only stare in shock as she approached the grimacing specter. "This whole time... you manipulated me like a stupid puppet!"
"What?"
"I see through your little mind games now. Pretending to help when you actually wanted me to do your dirty work for you."
Shadow pushed himself off the ground, but Ember kicked him in the side. The ghost groaned as he clenched the injured area.
"Cmon Ember!" shouted Danny. "That's enough!"
She looked over her shoulder and glared at the halfa before ordering, "Can it Dipstick! This is between me and him!"
"Ember!"
"No Danny," said Shadow.
Ember turned to face Shadow who had got up but was holding his side.
"Ember's right. This is... between the two of us."
The dark grey ghost looked past Ember to Danny and smiled.
"This is a door that doesn't belong to you ok?"
Danny fell silent for a few seconds and nodded before saying, "Ok."
Shadow focused on Ember again and continued with, "Now where were we? I think you said that I manipulated you like a puppet."
"I did and I was about to dish some more pain your way," stated the pop princess.
"Fine. Let's take this to the roof."
The two simultaneously flew up through the ceiling.
"There's no way I'm going to miss this," smiled Spectra following behind.
"I'm coming too," said Kitty doing the same.
"C'mon Danny," said Sam.
"Yeah dude," agreed Tucker. "What are you waiting for? Take us up."
Danny grabbed hold of his friends and flew up to the roof of the hotel. When they had arrived, Ember was already going after Shadow without holding back.
"She's beating him to a pulp!" gulped the mayor of Amity Park.
"And he's not fighting back..." observed Sam. "Why?"
Ember sent out a bolt of lightning at him and it zapped Shadow to no end. Then she followed up with a fist beam, and fired a blast from her guitar. Danny watched in silence as Shadow took hit after hit. But through it all, the grey ghost never went down.
"I have to give that Shadow some credit," complemented Spectra. "He knows how to take a thrashing."
"Especially from Ember of all people," added Kitty. "I'm surprised he's still conscious."
Several minutes later...
Ember panted in exhaustion while Shadow hovered with a big lump over his left eye and many bruises covering his ghostly body.
"You hit... hard...!" winced the mouthless ghost.
"You... didn't... fight... back," slowly breathed Ember. "Why?"
Shadow inhaled deeply and exhaled seconds after before saying, "I'll answer that but there's something I need to say first."
"Fine."
"Ember Mcrib."
"What?" blinked the ghostly pop princess.
"I assume you remember the last time you heard that name."
"Of course I do. Clockhead said it was a nickname the other me from the future had. What's your point?"
"If it wasn't for me, you would have suffered the same fate."
"As if I'd let that happen to me," said the flame haired ghost folding her arms.
"Let that happen? You lost to Dan in this time period and the other. The only difference between the two is that he thought you were a worthy foe in this one and decided to leave your vocal cords intact.
Ember looked down and fell silent as she remembered the fight between her and Dan.
[Memory Start]
In the next moment, the ghostly pop princess aimed her guitar and fired a flaming beam towards Dan. The evil ghost from the future sweatdropped in anticipation. As soon as Ember's attack made contact with the tornado, it mixed with the ghostly vortex and it seared Dan with its newfound twisting heat.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!" cried Dan.
Even if he had a fire core, the attack hurt like crazy. Barely getting an eye open a minute later, Dan grimaced before muttering, "Got to... put an end to this...!"
Spinning in the opposite direction of the fire tornado surrounding him, Dan made himself into a tornado that disrupted Ember's. The end result of his action left him standing free and somewhat bruised.
"Ugh..." groaned Ember before thinking, "(What does a girl have to do to take this guy down!?)"
"If that's the best you can do then I'm afraid this battle is already over," stated the evil ghost from the future.
In the next moment, Dan raised his right forearm in front of his face before swiping his hand to the right. Ember was blindsided as an ecto wave crashed into her from the side.
"Agh!" exclaimed the pop princess before skipping across the ground a few times, then landing on her stomach. With her guitar still in hand, the flame haired ghost used it to help herself to her feet. She panted heavily for a few seconds before aiming her hand and shouting, "Take this!"
A ghost ray was fired, but Dan manipulated his body so that it would pass through his chest.
"Pitiful little Ember Mclain," grinned Dan seeing her growl in frustration. "Although you've managed to improve your skills, you still cant match the bar that is Dan Phantom. Not that you could measure up to my younger half either for that matter. Hahaha!"
"Shut up!" ordered Ember with clenched fists.
Her hair extended out with the intention of incinerating Dan with its flames. But Dan grabbed hold of the flaming hair somehow and managed to swing her around in a circle as he hoisted the pop princess up off the ground.
"Let... GO...!"
"Why?" snickered the evil ghost from the future. "I'm only trying to help you with these knots and split ends. These things take time and effort to fix. Lucky for you, I know of a shortcut method!"
Dan swung her faster and faster until everything became a blur to the pop princess. After a minute or two...
"There. All finished!"
Then, he let Ember go as she skyrocketed to the ground below like meteorite.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried pop diva during her journey.
When she made impact with the ground, she slid across it for nearly a quarter of a mile before coming stop inside of a small crater. Bruised and battered, Ember was down for the count. Dan landed over her body with a foot on each side while looking down. Ember let out a groan as her eyes barely came open to look up at him.
"I'm impressed," admitted Dan. "So much so that I'm willing to spare you your fate this time around."
He aimed a glowing green hand at her.
"Goodnight Ember. And stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."
And that's when everything went green then followed by black for the pop princess.
[Memory End]
Ember looked up to Shadow and the anger she had towards the white haired ghost had disappeared.
"You're right," said the flame haired ghost. "I got lucky because of you."
"And how does that make you feel?" asked Shadow.
"Like a helpless little girl who can't do anything on my own..."
"Good."
"Huh? You're happy that I feel that way?"
"No, but I'm glad that you acknowledge it."
"Now you're confusing me."
"If one can't admit the truth to themselves then how can they expect to move forward and grow as an individual?"
"So basically this was a face facts kind of deal?"
"Yep."
"And you taking a beating from me was to help me with that?"
"I did it to show you that if I could take a beating from you and not go down, then your chances of beating Dan by yourself is as likely as hitting the lottery. So don't get overconfident in your abilities again or you might end up in a worse condition than what you put me in. Got it?"
"Loud and clear..." muttered Ember turning away.
"Now lets go back to the room."
A minute later in the hotel room...
"Before we start, I would like to apologize to Danny and Ember," started Shadow. "I admit I was sort of manipulating you guys in some form or fashion. But I don't want you to take it the wrong way. Not once had I thought of you two as pawns or puppets for me to use. I was only doing what I thought was necessary so that both this world and the Ghost Zone could have a better future. Still I'm sorry for what I did and I hope you guys forgive me."
"You don't have to apologize," responded Danny. "I understand where you're coming from. If I were in your shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. Especially when my evil half is involved."
"Thanks."
"Dipstick might accept your apology but I don't," said Ember.
"That's fair. I'm at least glad you chose to stick around instead of ditching us so thanks."
Feeling uncomfortable by Shadow's gratitude, the flame haired ghost ordered, "Get on with what you have to say before I change my mind."
The mouthless ghost nodded before suggesting, "I think all of you should work together to save the world."
"What?" blinked Danny.
"Huh?" gaped the pop princess.
"Are you nuts?" asked Tucker.
"Us team up with them?" questioned Spectra.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Sam in disbelief.
"Is this some kind of joke?" remarked Kitty.
"Come on guys," started Shadow spreading his arms out. "Don't act like you're so surprised. Why else would I bring you here together?"
Everybody exchanged looks with each other before Danny decided to ask, "Not that I'm against it but is this really necessary?"
"Is Green Undead Remission a great game?"
The halfa didn't need anymore convincing than that so he replied, "Its not like this is the first time I teamed up with ghosts who hate my guts so I'm in."
"I hope we're not going to regret this," frowned Sam. "I'm in too."
"Sounds good to me," nodded Tucker.
Our heroes waited for the ghost girls to answer.
"If I do this, I'll get Johnny back right?" asked Kitty.
"Yep," answered the dark grey ghost.
"Ok. I'm in."
"As much as I despise Phantom, I hate this Dan guy more," stated Spectra. "I'll join the party but don't expect me to fight him."
"Sure," nodded the mouthless ghost.
And then there was one. Everybody shifted their eyes to Ember who seemed annoyed by the pressure.
"Ugh..." groaned Ember. "Fine, I'll give it a shot. But I won't take orders from any of you. Especially you Dipstick."
"(Same old Ember.)" thought Danny chuckling.
"Ok," said Shadow. "Now that we have our team, I believe we can move on to the plan."
"Hold on," started Tucker raising a brow. "You have a plan?"
"What? Did you think that I was just goofing off and messing around with the two lovebirds the entire time?"
"We are not lovebirds!" shouted Danny and Ember at the same time.
"Calm down. I was just kidding geez. No need to get all defensive. Although, I am surprised how you both said that at the exact same time."
Danny and Ember did their best to avoid looking at each other to not make things even more awkward.
"But anywho, the plan. As you all know, Dan is the problem. However, he's not the only one though. The Fright Knight pledged his allegiance to him and you know how troublesome he can be. Especially with an army of ghouls at his command."
"We have to deal with that buckethead too?" asked the annoyed pop princess.
"And you never said anything about fighting an army..." added the red head.
"I love Johnny but I'm not sure I want to fight against that many ghosts for him," frowned the biker babe.
"Don't worry Divas of Disaster," comforted the mouthless ghost. "Where there's a Shadow, there's a plan."
"Hey!" shouted Ember. "We never agreed to be called a name like that!"
"Hold on Em," intervened Spectra. "I kinda like it."
"Me too," smiled Kitty. "You gotta admit its pretty rad."
"Ok its cool," admitted the flame haired ghost after sighing. "But fighting an army with only seven of us is suicide."
"Like I said before Divas of Disaster," started Shadow followed by Ember scowling at him but the dark grey ghost ignored her. "When there's a Shadow, there's a plan."
AN: Ignore it if a flashback doesn't have exactly the same words as what I posted in a previous chapter. I'll fix that down the road.
