So...I realized I didn't actually have any banter in the last chapter's fight scene...I hope this makes up for it. :)


Chapter 29: Saving Grace


"You won't beat me this time, Danny-boy." I was going to lose it if that abomination said that one more time.

"I fight you every day and I'm not going to lose to you now."

"You still don't get it do you? I'm inevitable."

"Yeah, and Vlad's perfectly sane." You just gotta love those moments where you can insult your two least favorite people at the same time.

"I still exist! You still turn into me!"

"I will never turn into you, asshole."

"Why? Because of your little promise? Please, Danny. You are still such a child."

"Oh, fuck off asshole." I finally let loose the ghostly wail that had been building in my throat. In retrospect, throwing out something that I knew was going to drain me as much as it did was not a good idea. Especially when the victim of said attack could easily counter act it by using their own wail without losing nearly as much of their energy.

After that, my power started fading as fast as Sam's was. There was no way in hell we were going to win. We'd both already used too much power before the Reality Gauntlet had been destroyed and now that it was we were too drained for it to make the extreme difference that it should have.

I was knocked to the ground for a second, just long enough to see that Sam was barely standing on her feet as it was. It was as close to set in stone as one could get, we were going to die without some extreme interference from an outside force.

I didn't know how much longer either one of us was going to last, but there was one thing I was hell bent on saying one last time before this battle came to an end.

I love you, Sam.

Her eyes turned solidly neon green before I turned away and back to my own fight. Not just the irises as normal, but also the pupils and whites of her eyes. She was glowing with power.


My mental cry for help was sent out just before I heard what I suspected Danny had meant to be his last words.

I nearly toppled over after a stupid mistake that got me hit with a well-aimed and powerful blast.

Key word: nearly.

I stepped back before I felt strong hands holding me up, keeping me from falling to what was sure to be my death. Then energy started to flow through my body, starting dimly only to get stronger and stronger. The King was distracted by a missed blast from Dan long enough for me to look over my shoulder to see who my helper was.

It wasn't just one person supplying the much needed strength, it was several; six or seven by my count. They were all in a line, each with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, creating a flow of energy into my body. The first two people I recognized right off the bat, one because I grew up with them and the other from various pictures around the house. My dad was right behind me, my great-grandmother behind that. I didn't know the rest but they all held something familiar. Just as I ripped my eyes away from the face of my deceased father, it hit me. This was the half-ghost Manson line coming to my aid in my time of greatest need.

As I felt the flow of energy, I also felt something else, a gentle push as to what I needed to do in order to beat the King. I built up one of the icy flames I had used at the beginning of the fight, only much stronger and with a different destination in mind for this one. I didn't send it spiraling towards his chest as I had before. Instead it went for the top of his head and hit both him and his crown. The crown fell to the ground, its flames extinguishing as the ice took over. When the fiery part of my blast kicked in it turned to dust and I saw the King's power diminish greatly. I had a chance.

An ectoblast hit him squarely in the chest, sending him flying backward before he had a chance to send off another attack in my direction. I changed my position in regard to the King to get a better shot at him when he rose to his feet and my line of halfa ancestors kept up with me, effortlessly mimicking every movement and continuously supplying the energy I need to keep going. This change in position gave me a clear view of Danny in my peripheral vision; I wasn't the only one who had a little help now.

I saw him go from a slumping form, about to collapse from exhaustion, to the strong, determined fighter I knew and loved. I didn't recognize ho was helping him, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it was his family. They didn't stand in a line the way my ancestors did, instead they opted to stand around him. His mother had a hand on one shoulder and his sister had a hand on his other shoulder. While they stood beside him, his father stood behind him, his hands covering those of his daughter and wife. By his reaction, I'd have to say that Danny didn't realize who was surrounding him with assistance yet.

I knocked the King down once more and felt with a surge of energy what needed to be done to end this. I started up another ectoblast, this one way stronger than anything I've ever used before. I felt the lethality of it as it built in my hands. One blast and the King would never be seen again. I didn't know where the hell he would go, but he sure as hell wasn't coming back here.

The blast hit the King's crippled form and I watched his final destruction, he disappeared molecule by molecule until there was nothing left but his ring. I grabbed it on instinct, the voices of my ancestors telling me it wasn't something I wanted Vlad to get ahold of even with the crown destroyed.

I felt most of my borrowed energy fade as the King vanished from existence. I went to help Danny, but my father's strong arms held me back. His voice came through to me, a voice I thought I'd never hear again.

"It's his fight Sam. He needs to be the one to finish it." I stopped trying to resist the pull and watched Danny fight his ultimate enemy.


Questions? Comments? Concerns? I'd love to hear from you!

...And I swear one of these days I'll get around to answering more than one reveiw at a time before I get distracted again... :P


Invisible One