Chapter 21: Fighting Fright
"Ya know, I'm still not sure about this Vlad!"
Flying ahead, Plasmius looks back at his nervous apprentice. He tries to put a calming smile on, but it kind of fails the point with his fangs and full red eyes. "Don't worry, Little Badger, you'll do fine. Just don't get cut by his sword. With your suit, you should be fine from all of the most powerful attacks, just mind Soul Shredder and do what you do best!"
The two Halfas split their formation, going around a large purple floating rock. They form back up on the other side, and Phantom looks at him strangely. "What I do best? What's that?"
Vlad barks out a laugh, "Be a pest, my boy! Fly around, bugger him with blasts and electricity, and don't get hit!"
Phantom frowns with a pout. "I am not a pest!" And he already knew not to get hit, Danny was not at all interested in being sent to a dimension of fears. He had a pretty good idea what it was for him too…
He shakes his head, clearing dark thoughts. "How will I know where to find him?"
Up ahead, Vlad pulls back a sleeve and checks a watch on one of his arms. "We're getting close to the Keep, and based off of previous records in Ghost Writers library, Fright should be awake or waking up any…"
Niiiiiiiiiiiieeegh!
"Ah, timing."
Danny doesn't share the sentiment at all, and with the fight now minutes away, he just wants to back out. This ghost is old, he's powerful, and there's no doubt in his mind that Fright Knight is far more experienced in combat.
He takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with ectoplasm. It's a weird feeling, but it doesn't feel wrong. "Here goes nothing, I guess."
Taking one last look back, concern flashes on Vlads face. He's confident that Daniel is powerful, more than he realized. But the boy isn't wrong in his assessment of this fight, he can't win. He just has to distract the spirit of Halloween long enough, or somehow capture him in that thermos. "Good luck Daniel. I believe in you."
Danny smiles back, forced and strained, but determined. "You too Uncle Vlad, don't get done in by the traps!"
And with that they split.
Those last words hit close to home. When was the last time someone said that they believed in him? His parents hadn't said that… ever. Maybe Jazz had said it at one point, and neither of his friends would have said it. There was never a situation that was so serious that it would have mattered like it does now.
Cresting over another floating island, Danny finally sees the Fright Knight. The ghost of Halloween is mounted on his legendary steed, Nightmare. Fuck, he can feel a wave of oppression from where he is now.
Taller than his dad tall, decked out in black, gothic armor with a ponytail of purple fire sprouting from the back, truly, Fright Knight is intimidating even from a distance. His steed, Nightmare, is just as horrifying. The damn thing looks less like a horse and more like a demonic Pegasus. Large bat wings, dark grey armor covering a coat of coal black fur… and the large fangs that absolutely don't belong on an equis, match just as well with the evil looking horn on its forehead.
He didn't even know a horn could look evil, but it just does.
And they've spotted him. Immediately, the knight and his steed take off at high speeds and- oh damn it, the damn thing gallops on air with fiery hooves. What kind of bullshit is this?
Okay, stay calm. "I can do this." Maybe they won't attack right off the bat? Distracting them through the use of words can work just as- okay, he's drawing his sword. That's out the window already.
Wielding Soul Shredder, the ghosts circle around Danny, who's powered up himself to be ready. Electricity crackles and pops up and down his arms, with his arms ready in front of his face, arcs of energy lance between his hands, growing more powerful along the small implants of ectonium. After a moment of the two staring each other down, Danny gathers his nerves.
"Can I help you? What's with the hostility?" Mentally, Danny is praising himself for not having his voice crack. Puberty, it's not the time!
Fright Knight growls, a creepy sound given his deep and ancient voice. "Whelp! You trespass on the Kings territory, it is you acting with hostility!"
Again with the whelp thing? First Skulker, and now him. Danny grimaces at the rest of his response, that's some absurd territory. The castle isn't even in sight at this distance. "Uh… who?"
Bad thing to say.
The steed dives at him, and Danny barely dodges in time, retaliating with a bolt of electricity. He fires it near full power, further enhanced by the natural energy of the zone, but the centuries old ghost casually deflects it using his flaming sword with a backhanded sweep. 'Of course.'
Ignoring the badass display of skill, because it was, Danny makes distance between his new opponent. "What gives? Do you have manners, you dusty tin can?!"
Green eyes narrow dangerously, and somehow, the plume of purple fire from his ponytail explodes to new heights. "Insolence! Do you not know who stands before you?!"
Danny suddenly feels a little cheeky. "Technically, you're sitting and your horse thing is floating."
It's silent for a moment, but feeling urgency that he can only describe as his spidey-senses, Danny dives down. Just in time, as a wave of purple energy is swiped where he just was. It roars like a tidal wave, with undead power, going for miles and easily cleaving through one of the islands he passed earlier.
And it keeps going.
Danny gulps, but readies himself again. No negotiations, only banter. Quick as he can, which is reasonably fast now, Danny sends four over charged ecto-discs at his opponent. The knight slashes through two- those things are sharp as shit damn it- and Danny grips his hands down, forcing the other two to detonate right behind him. The sudden pressure only serves to send the knight off his trajectory, and capitalizing on it, he sends a barrage of ecto-blasts.
"Pest!" Fright Knight bellows. They all hit, giving him a green smokescreen. Using the impromptu cover, Phantom turns invisible, disappearing from sight.
Another wave of energy slashes through the smoke, "Come here, runt!" He looks around, enraged, but centuries of time in the afterlife makes him cautious all the same. The ghost child had to be nearby somewhere.
Looking down from where he flew, Danny accelerates to full speed. He charges energy everywhere he can, hands, legs, mouth, and eyes. Closing in, he lets go and returns to the visible spectrum. Two energy swords, ecto-constructs, form in his hands blazing with electricity and volatile energy. Instantly, the spirit of Halloweens' head snaps up to him, and the two clash. From his max speed, to full stop, a concussive wave erupts from the duo from the sheer force of the clash.
"It will take more than that to stop me, peasant." Fright Knight spits venomously.
Despite holding two swords back, he hefts a hand, glowing purple, and aims it at Danny. Not at all unaware of what he's trying, the Halfa forces more energy into his eyes. Smoking from the sheer power going through his sockets, two beams of green energy slam into the helmet of the knight, flinging him back slightly. "Argh!"
Instead of an energy blast, Phantom gets off with just a punch to the gut. Not that it doesn't hurt, because it fucking does. The sheer power behind the centuries old spirit sends the half-ghost soaring through the Zone. He opens his mouth in a gasp, and mid-flight his fanged focus fires off. Flying off in a tumble, the wild spin makes the unstable ectoplasmic beam slice through several floating landmarks.
Boom!
His untimely flight ends, half buried into the side of a rock. Danny wheezes out a groan, the wind being thoroughly knocked out of him and then some. "...Just a punch?" His vision is blurry, strained, and doubled, but it doesn't take him long to see his opponent closing the distance, and fast. With difficulty, he pulls himself out of the crater he made, and takes off towards the obviously angry knight.
"Do you not know who I am, you indigent peasant?!" They met again in a clash of swords, but of the two swords conjured, one of them is immediately cut through. Danny is forced to backpedal when his second ecto-construct is sliced in half as well.
Despite the situation, and the obvious disparity in skill, power, and experience, Phantom grins savagely. "Oh, I know who you are… Fright Knight, Spirit of Halloween, and right hand of Pariah Dark." Flaring electricity, Danny points an energized finger at the knight, "You're the commander of the Tyrant King, and a grade-A asshole."
Those history books from Ghost Writer sure are detailed, if he ever meets the guy, maybe he'll get him a gift. It was a little amusing to be able to understand actual surprise through a helmet, but the guy made it easy. Maybe his time locked up has gotten to him? "What's the matter? Pumpkin got your tongue?" He formed a blast in his right hand, pumping it with electricity, and used his left to reach for one of the pouches on his belt. "Or maybe I should say sword?"
The Fright Knight roared in fury, "You disrespectful, insolent cretin!" The knight and his steed charged, now far faster than before. The sword gleamed with ill-intent, swinging for his head.
Danny dropped down, and tossed the Fenton 'Nade from his belt at the underbelly of Nightmare. He got a flaming stomp on the chest, but the overcharged ecto-blast managed to blow up directly on Fright Knight's chest. The stomp sent him careening down into the End, but he was able to stabilize himself before he got too close to the black hole down below. And his new suit was already making itself useful, he couldn't feel any burns from that hit. The blunt force trauma? He felt it alright, and still feels it, but seeing as fire is a huge weakness for him because of his core, this was a huge improvement.
Nightmare, now covered in sticky goo and unable to move, crashed into a nearby island. It toppled the creepy purple and black trees and neighed loudly in frustration. Danny doubted it would ever squeal in pain, the thing was too damn of a hardass monster for that. Fright Knight on the other hand was more or less okay, a little dusty from the blast, but definitely angry and definitely making a b-line for him.
Danny flew away from the castle, and away from Nightmare, as the right hand of Pariah gave chase with malicious passion. Boy, was he pissed. And maybe that was an understatement, because the knight kept sending slashes of energy at him from behind. He dodged up and down, and the Halfa couldn't help but be impressed with his opponent. Not only was he catching up, but he was returning fire and deflecting everything that was sent at him.
Rounding a corner around an island, Phantom dives under it, hugging it close. Soon enough he's crested the top, and returning to the optimal strategy, begins charging up more attacks. Ecto-blasts barely do anything, rays… probably will do just as much. Neither electricity or an ecto-disk has actually hit yet, so those are still debatable. What's that leave him with? He could try a Ghost Repulse, but Danny's never practiced it in the GZ before… and maybe that's the kind of power he needs.
He takes a deep breath, counts to five, and exhales slowly. Green eyes snap open, and Danny begins charging energy. He gathers it in his core, while forming spears in both hands. They crackle with electricity, once again, and seeing Frights unguarded back, he takes aim. With as much might as Phantom can muster, he throws the charged javelin. Moments later, the second one is thrown as well. Both soar through the air, wailing like chirping birds and homing in with dangerous speed.
Fright Knight whirls around, and his beady green eyes widen momentarily. He points his sword, Soul Shredder, forward, and a purple shield of energy forms around his body. Immediately, the electrified ecto-construct slams into the bubble shield with enough force to crack his protection and push him back onto a floating rock. With feet firmly planted, he's surprised by the second spear that followed right behind the first. The shield, already cracked and damaged, with residual electricity sparking along the outer edges, breaks from the power.
The spirit of Halloween doesn't shout or exclaim in pain, however. Yes, it hurts, but he's gone through far more than this. An attack of this level can damage him, but it won't stop him. But it can stun him…
Quick as he can, Danny sweeps the area with ecto-rays, left and right, high-powered and meant to destroy whatever they're aimed at. Dust kicks up, floating in every direction, and the apprentice can feel the energy getting close to peaking. Looking down, he moves the sleeve a little and warily watches his veins pulsing with green power. It's starting to hurt, stockpiling anymore won't be good for his health. Even then, Danny knows that this won't be enough; Fright Knight's too powerful. Arrogant and prideful, but that's not to say he can't back up that massive ego he has floating around.
"You have an impressive arsenal, ghost child. I must at least give you some compliments, I suppose." From the dust, the knight of Halloween calmly walked though. Confident and nary a scratch on his pitch black armor.
Of course.
"Thanks, I guess." Danny shrugged his shoulders, forming another ecto-sword. His control falters when he attempts to form a second one, so he instead chooses to reinforce the single energy blade. "Considering I haven't even been dead for half a year, maybe that means something."
"Not even half a year…?" Fright Knight whispered, amazed. This ghost child, dead not even a fraction of his time in the afterlife, had managed so much. As a ghost of legend, there is power in renown. His myths give him power, people even knowing of his name strengthens him. There is tangible power in belief, and people believe in Halloween, whether they know it or not; the day may have changed since Fright Knight's creation, but it's still around regardless, and it only makes him more dangerous each year.
And a newdead ghost child, against all odds, has held his own against a spirit of legends. Many had not lasted nearly as long, nor had they done so much. Landing attacks, causing him pain, separating him from Nightmare… it's a shame he will have to perish. The boy would do well in the service of his king.
Flourishing his sword with centuries old style, the spirit of Halloweens' tone changes. "What is your name, whelp? Young as you may be, the feats you've proven are impressive."
Energy arcs off of his body, and his body feels like it's burning. Too much energy, this talking has to stop. "My name- is Danny Phantom." His voice cracks, fluctuating octaves for a moment, the feeling of raw energy coursing through his voice box is uncomfortable and foreign, not at all pleasant. "I think you'll remember me for a long time."
The knight nods and changes the grip on his sword. Phantoms muscles tense, his figure glowing visibly in the Zone. Both stare at one another for a mere moment, power fluctuating one last time.
Then they charge.
With swings wide, they clash, a shockwave scattering any remaining dust. The reinforced blade holds, barely, but it does. Phantom roars, pushing harder, and the sword cracks. With another push, he brings his feet up in a jump, clearing the Soul Shredder by millimetres when his ecto-sword shatters.
For a moment, everything is still. The knights green eyes are wide with surprise. Phantoms' entire form is glowing with power, his eyes a full acid green, like his mentors, but of a different color. The savage smile on the Halfas' face does not match his young appearance. Before he can swing his sword back around, Danny lets go.
In an instant, a field of green energy highlights the Ghost Zone. The Ghost Repulse expands from his body, his core, with frightening speed and power. Fright Knight is encompassed almost immediately, blinded by the light and power. Inside the sphere of discharge, even more waves roll off of him, bombarding the black knight. Both scream in pain, Phantom from expending so much energy at once, and Fright Knight from the onslaught.
The sphere of exertion extends seventy feet, the constant feed of energy from the dimension empowering the attack further. Any landscape inside is vaporized, and as quick as it began, it ended.
Boom!
The repulsion explodes, flinging the two ghosts in opposite directions at high speeds. Danny is barely conscious, vaguely aware that he probably overdid it, but a little happy he got one over on someone so powerful. His speedy tumble ends when he hits a landmass of dirt and grass, skidding along and creating a trail of his landing. As smoke wafts off of his tired form, he's content to just lay there for now.
Fright Knight is flung even further, more than surprised to be hit with an attack of that magnitude from one so young. His tumble is more controlled, but he isn't able to regain full control until he's slowed down by the second floating rock he's plowed through. As he lays there, motionless, for a moment, he does damage control. That's something that he admittedly hasn't had to do in a long time.
"Unbelievable… for a child to hold such power." He growls, fury rising by the second. It was almost humiliating.
His entire front armor is covered by green scorch marks, stray sparks still arching across sections of his body. His right gauntlet in particular is a nasty shade of green that will no doubt take a bit to heal. Not long in the Infinite Realms, but not a lot of time considering his goals. Next is… "Where is Soul Shredder?!"
Momentarily, he panics. That sword is his greatest strength and weakness, losing it will ruin him for eternity. Slowly, his mind calms. Hundreds of years of experience comes to mind, focusing him. "How unbecoming." Without another word, the spirit of Halloween sticks out his hand, purple energy coating up to the wrist.
With a thought, he wills it. There's a sound, Sheen, like metal on leather, and from far above the sword of nightmares comes flying back to its master. It flies forward in a dangerous tumble, before stopping in the palm of Fright Knights hand, hilt first.
Silently, the ghost breathes more easily, even though he doesn't need to. He just feels more complete with his weapon of fear with him. Centuries of being bound together does that.
Now equipped and ready for a fight, Fright Knight looks around, his menacing gaze perusing the area. That attack, to the credit of the brat, sent him far. A decent amount of damage, not enough to end him but enough to hurt him. Even now though, his armor was regaining its ebony color, healing itself from the ambient ectoplasm of the Ghost Zone.
The surrounding portion of the dead dimension was vastly more populated with lairs, a fair assumption being: that attack launched him far enough that he was no longer in his liege's immediate domain. The area, while still claimed, was most definitely not under direct control. Doors of all shapes and sizes litter the green skies, a vivid picture to most, but not to one as old as he.
Still, for all his years, this may be one of the few places he hasn't visited- at least not for a couple hundred years. The geography of the Ghost Zone, while a little more consistent than the mortal realm, is still ever changing. Anything over one-hundred years is normally enough time for something to change significantly.
Like the open portal in the distance.
What? "A portal…"
A discovery for the century. An actual, bonafide, stable portal. One capable of taking him, if the feeling he's getting from it is anything to go by, to the mortal world. "Perhaps… that's where the key is." It was a long shot, not the smartest- the ancients could do better- but it would be an excellent hiding spot. And truly, he hadn't searched there yet.
Slowly, Fright Knight sheathed his legendary blade, extinguishing the flames. Purple fire bubbled from his hand, forming into a ball that slowly floated in his hands. Pointing up, he fired his flare, watching it explode in a wave high above his position. Now all he had to do was wait for Nightmare to come to him. The ghost child could wait, if the whelp was even still in existence after an attack like that. Something told him that the white-haired brat still stalked the afterlife, however. The boy seemed too stubborn to get done in by anything other than a powerful attack, not a suicide bombing.
Neeeeeigh!
Under his helmet, the spirit of Halloween grins. Soon, he would have the prize. Soon, his king would rise… after he terrorized the mortals a little, of course.
"This is almost too easy." Vlad chuckled to himself.
Really, being a Halfa has never been better. Okay, that wasn't exactly true. It definitely made acquiring a starting fortune easier, early deals were swiftly put into place with duplication, and he's never needed a bodyguard. He may not need to overshadow anyone anymore, nor does money need to be stolen, but his life since the accident has been rather easy, thinking back on it.
As a glowing ethereal blade swipes through his body though, the thought comes back to him. "Oh, I love being half-dead." Doors, walls, pits, blades, darts, falling ceilings- all of them don't even touch him in as Masters, so long as he doesn't want them to. It's this particular ability that humans have, and subsequently Halfas' as well, which makes exploration of the Ghost Zone so much easier.
It may have taken a fair bit of time to get to this point, a careful creep around the Behemoth as well, but it's been a cake walk since entering the castle. Swinging axes pass right through him, crushing ceilings he walks through. All too easy.
Now all he has to do is get close. The few rooms Vlad's searched so far have proven ultimately useless, a few historical tomes that could be used for barter with Ghost Writer, but no artifacts unfortunately. As he guessed, the weapons vault has been sealed with some nasty magic, breaking that wouldn't be easy. That particular field of study, mysticism, isn't the easiest to grasp when one comes from such a scientific upbringing.
Oh well, all the time in the world will let him wield that power one day as well. Perhaps he Daniel should start early? Pandora would be ideal, a dead god knows many magics, but they're not on the best terms… and those damned yeti's he's heard rumors of for the last decade are still nowhere to be seen. Aragon is an intolerable narcissist as well, even if his kingdom does have some knowledge on the mystic arts, there's no way the whiny king would allow him access without overpricing the deal. "Tsk." How frustrating.
If only Ghost Writer wasn't so stingy with those grimoires.
It took a fair amount of time, but eventually, Vlad reaches the throne room. The king himself is tall, according to history, and the throne seating a giant sarcophagus is just as large. Large green and purple chains, covered in energy, secure the coffin in place to the pale black throne.
Well, it's not like he came here for that anyway, but it's a sight to behold nonetheless. And if Vlad could have his way, Pariah would stay locked there for all of eternity. No need to add a mad tyrant to the list of things to be on the lookout for, especially one with a known history for attempting to conquer the mortal world. Too much of a headache, that one.
Skeletal golems line the way to the throne, waiting just off of the dark red carpet. They seem passive enough, but the older Halfa knows that any attempt to free the king would earn him a target. Besides the large and ornate decorations covering the enormous room, there is nothing here. "Butter Biscuits, where are all the artifacts?"
The Crown of Fire is still unknown to this date, and he's managed to collect some notes on the Ring of Rage, but… he was really hoping that there'd be some extras here besides the Skeleton Key. And so far, nothing.
A flare of ectoplasm from the distance, his nephews signature, startles Vlad momentarily. He whips around, staring off in the distance. That was a large burst of power, one he didn't think the younger of their species could quite do yet… but then again, with the infinite energy of the Ghost Zone fueling him, it's possible he broke past some limiter set in the mortal realm. Still, the spike in energy from his apprentice puts some sense of urgency into his step, and his languid pace turned into a hurried flight.
Vlad quickly split himself into twelve duplicates, the ectoplasmic entities dripping off of him like water. In a matter of seconds, they were all fully formed and split up in different directions. Getting anywhere close to this castle during any other time is nigh impossible, the Behemoth having a far better ghost sense than even the two Halfa's. He couldn't splurge this opportunity for a dramatic victory peruse.
The duplicates searched with haste, going through room after room, never searching a place twice for efficiency. There's a disturbing number of torture chambers here in this palace, and just as many brigs in the lower floors. And still, no other artifacts have been found. No Ring of Rage, no Crown of Fire, no Mourning Star, nothing at all. Despite the sheer absurdity of the idea, Vlad was beginning to worry that the council of elders had sealed him away with all of his artifacts. That would be the height of stupidity, made even worse by the fact that they were all over a millennia old.
They shouldn't be making mistakes like that.
Eventually, the clones return to his body, bringing him back up to full power once again. Well, full power aside from the duplicate he has watching the sleeping guardian. Now in front of the final portion of Pariahs Keep, a jutting series of towers on the right side known as Frights Fingers. He shook his head in exasperation as he casually walked through the large, ornate, gothic styled purple doors. The spirit of Halloween knew his theme, at least.
A small throne, well large, but smaller than the King of the Deads' own seat, laid in the middle of the room. In the center of the plush purple seat cushion laid a purple pumpkin. Another pumpkin, this one green and black, laid at the foot of the seat.
The container of the Fright Knight and Nightmare. Soul Shredder, normally sheathed in the purple seal, now gone and most likely in the hands of the ancient spirit harassing his nephew. There are no ornate designs, paintings, tapestries of wars past. The entire receiving room is very spartan-esque in style, the bare minimum. No books, no spare weapons, nothing. "How boring."
But the purple pumpkin is what Vlad is after, so he walks over towards it. It's disturbingly quiet, and the dull footsteps are loud even in the semi-liquid ectoplasmic atmosphere. Red eyes peer down into the seal, gleaming with victory.
"Hah! I knew it." Plasmius whispered arrogantly. Hundreds of years, and no one has figured it out. Hundreds of years, and one of the most powerful, yet benign artifacts in the entire Ghost Zone still missing. Except it took Vlad less than six years to notice a pattern, and now…
"The Skeleton Key." He took it out, holding it high above his head. Pure green, forged of ectoplasm, with a skull in the place of the bow. Nothing flashy, it definitely doesn't look dangerous, but this little key will let any user into anywhere. Locked cars, bank vaults, safe boxes, ghost lairs, locked dimensions… even the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.
In a moment of derision, Vlad laughs, the high of victory making him feel giddy and jubilance. "And another point for the Halfas." He sneered.
Tick.
His laughter stops, the quiet of the evil king's palace disturbed.
Tock.
Vlad turns around, places the key in a pocket between his armor plates, and prepares himself for a fight. His shadow shifts and bulges, darkening impossibly. Fire, green as his blood, sprouts in one hand, and electricity, pink in power, alights in the other.
Tick.
Gears turning, clock hands striking, the quiet of the dead.
Tock.
"Who's there?!" Plasmius bellows, residual energy blaring off dangerously. The stone floor cracks under his pressure.
Tick.
And from behind, a calm voice enters his ears. "Hello, Vladimir Plasmius." The Halfa twirls around violently on the balls of his feet, preparing to attack. "Or do you prefer Masters instead?"
Tock.
Red eyes widen, the figure before him nothing more than legends. Legends far older than even Fright Knights or Pariah Darks. Crimson eyes stare back like a mirror, no expression on the blue, hooded, scarred face.
Tick.
"...Clockwork?" Making sure to keep his voice neutral, the older Halfa doesn't even know how to prepare himself for this encounter. He had searched for the time ghost for a good while, spent a decent number of resources on it too over the years, but to no avail. And yet, here he is.
Tock.
The figure smiles, in what may be a friendly manner, but the large clock-scythe in his hand that he's casually leaning on is far more intimidating. His moniker isn't for show either, the ghost of time sporting at least twelve different types of watches on each arm.
And again, another thought goes through Vlads' mind: how does one fight time? For all of his power, his prestige, and his arrogance and ego, even Vlad knows when he's outclassed.
Tick.
"We need to talk." And there's not another ghost in existence that outclasses him more than the master of time.
Tock.
"Is that a pirate ship?"
"Uh-huh."
"And it's floating?"
"Uh-huh."
Boom!
"Is it shooting paint?"
"Uh-huh."
Boom! Boom!
"… and candy?"
"… Uh-huh?"
Sam looks over to Tucker, annoyed, and slaps him on the shoulder.
"Ow!" He exclaims, "What was that for?"
She pouts, crossing her arms. "You weren't exactly adding to the conversation."
Tucker scoffs, pointing out the window to the large flying and glowing pirate ship painting the houses on the street a rainbow of colors, "Well, excuuuuse me, I was in a bit of shock," he sarcastically responds, "I mean, it's not every day a ghost ship starts redecorating your neighborhood."
Sam raises an eyebrow, "This is my and Danny's neighborhood," she points out, "you don't live around here."
Pointing a finger at her, he nods, "Exactly! That's why I said your neighborhood." Tucker shakes his head ruefully, "This kind of stuff doesn't happen anywhere near my house."
As much as Sam wanted to respond to that, he kind of had a point. A lot of this supernatural stuff does seem to be happening in their neck of the woods. Danny probably knows a little about that, no doubt, but he's been awfully secretive about stuff recently. Or maybe it's just that he doesn't trust them as much anymore, which he probably doesn't.
And that's just depressing.
"You know what, I'm gonna take a video of this and post it to my YouTube." Tucker said.
"What?" Sure enough, he already has the video recording on his PDA. "Is this really the time for that?"
The tech geek turns to her, affronted. "I'll have you know, that ever since all this crap started, my subscriber count has gone way up." He stuck his chest out, obviously proud. "I'm up to ten-thousand people, and I barely try! It's great!"
Sam rolled her eyes. But the situation screamed ghost, and if it didn't, then she's not a goth. She turned around, searched under her bed, and grabbed what she was looking for. She pulled the silver case out, unlocked it with a fingerprint scanner, and it opened with a hiss. A disassembled ecto-rifle, a gift from Danny to make her feel a little safer. And she's happy to say that, yes, it does make her feel safer.
Significantly more powerful, the rifle has double the range, twice the weight and kick, but hitting targets make them go boom, not zap like the blaster. And when dealing with a floating pirate ship-
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It's better, she decides, if things her gun goes boom as well. Taking the grey polymer grip in hand, she puts the silver stock on first. Putting the securing pins in are easy, and she grabs the main firing mechanism next. Sam has no real idea how it works, Danny tried to explain it, but supernatural science isn't her forte. Once properly attached, the barrel comes next, and screwing it on takes only a few seconds. Adding a grip to the bottom comes next, then an ecto-sight, and finally, she takes the magazine in hand. The case has six total, more like batteries really since it's an energy weapon. All are fully charged, and ready to deal damage.
Tucker looks over, literally impressed. "Uh… whatcha doin' with that?" She's not sure where he got it from, but the PDA is set up on a tripod.
Sam walks over, opens the large door-sized window, and takes aim. She adjusts the sight slightly, increasing the zoom and getting a better look at her targets: the cannons. "What's it look like I'm doing? Getting ready to do some damage."
"Aren't you being a little aggressive about this?" He asked nervously. This just jumped from petty pranks to full on gun-warfare. "They're only painting houses and shotgunning candy. It seems more like pranks compared to some of the others that have come to town lately."
"What?" Sam turned her head, peeling her eyes away from the scope to glare at her friend. "They're firing cannons at houses and cars!"
"Filled with paint! It's like a more extreme tagging!" He rebutted.
Boom!
A quick look down her scope tells her the cannon's most recent target, "They just shot someone!" She screamed.
Tucker quickly zoomed in with his phone, looking for the unlucky bastard. He quickly begins laughing, unashamedly pointing at the poor fool. "It's just Dash and Kwam! Ahahahaha, they're pink! Why are they even out on Halloween? They're waaaay too old for that!"
Another look down scope proves him right, and Sam bites her lip to hold in her laughter. Oh god, that's great to look at. Idiots. Even trying, she inadvertently lets out a few giggles, but stops herself quickly.
"Still," she begins, "that pro-"
Oshiete oshie teyo sono shikumi o boku no naka ni dare ga iru no?~
As her cell phone starts to ring, Tucker looks at her, smirking wildly. "I always knew you were a weeb," his smug smile grows even more, leaning forward, "just couldn't help it could ya, huh?"
Ignoring her horrible blush, Sam immediately picks up the phone, ready to chew out the caller. She knew that setting that song as her ringtone was a bad idea, she'd rectify that as soon as possible. As it stands, she'll never hear the end of it.
"Hello?" she snapped.
"Sam? Have you seen Danny?" That sounded like Jazz… how did Dannys' sister have her number?
"Danny?" She turned to Tucker, mouthing Jazzes name to him.
"Yeah, Danny. He's not home, our parents are out of town, and he never told me where he was going to go tonight! Plus, there's that thing outside vandalizing the town!" Jazz sounded panicked and confused, a rare combination for a teenager who normally has her shit together so well.
"Well, normally we have this tradition where we watch shitty horror movies-"
"Oh, thank god." The bookworm interrupted, "I was afraid he was somewhere else. He won't answer his phone."
Sam put the rifle down, tired of holding it with one hand, and she scratched the back of her neck. "Well, that's normally the plan… but Danny isn't here with us tonight. He said something about helping his uncle tonight."
"..." It's quiet on the line for a moment of time, "Do you mean… Uncle Vlad?"
"Yeah, that's what he said. I guess he bought some property in town and went over to help him unpack?" This excuse they were given was starting to sound more and more like bullshit. He didn't lie, did he?
"Uh…" Jazzes voice on the other side sounds even more confused than before. "Give me a second. I need to check my parents notes." The sound of pitter-patter down a staircase is heard on the line, and then rustling papers.
"Okay, I found it." That calmed Sams' nerves a little, "It says that Vlad bought a good chunk of property- wow, fifty acres, holy crap."
That is a lot of land to buy so flippantly, "Okay, so he did buy some land, but why does it sound like you didn't know about it?"
Again, the line is silent, uncomfortably so. "… How about we talk about how you two watched Danny get beat up and didn't help?" Even if it was a change in topic, Jazz sounded pissed. "Even after he spit up blood!"
Oh boy, this was so not the time for this discussion.
And once again, the line is uncomfortably silent. This was the main reason Sam and Tucker had been avoiding the Fenton house, not that Danny invited them that often recently. They really did not want to run into Jazz. They both knew, based on the scarce glares they got at school, that neither wanted a confrontation with the redhead.
"Well?"
Sam cringed, this was going to be a long conversation. Maybe she could just hang up?
"WELL?!"
Maybe not.
Holy shit, did he just want to stay down. Every fiber of his being hurt. His muscles hurt, his bones hurt, his blood hurt, somehow his hair hurt, and most importantly, his core hurt. He had overloaded it after all, no wonder. But his rate of recovery within a dimension filled with ectoplasm is nothing short of astonishing. In less than ten minutes, Danny found himself up and moving. It would normally take at least a day or two in the mortal realm, but here?
Mere minutes.
Pretty convenient, all things considered. But it was worrisome that Fright Knight hasn't shown up yet. Danny figured someone with an ego as big as him would show up immediately for payback, because he knew that hurt the bastard.
It was only when he saw Nightmare, the demon-ghost-horse-thing he immobilized earlier, flying off in a random direction, that Danny got a bad feeling. Because that meant that Fright was over there. And over there, was the direction of the Fenton portal. There was no way that the spirit of Halloween fear should have access to the mortal realm, that's bad news bears on all accounts.
So, Danny took off after the horse of fear, because no doubt, it would lead him to his target. A Ghost Repulse was out of the question in terms of offensive ability. That's a once a month or so ability that Danny wasn't willing to fire off again anytime soon. Instinctively, Danny knew that using again would literally end him. He had other options, options that hadn't hurt the bastard enough to debilitate him, but still, all he had to do was capture him in his thermos…
The three thermoses Danny had on his belt were all broken and busted from his use of the Ghost Repulse, perhaps because they weren't actually secured inside of his pockets. That would need to be addressed later, though considering the expansion of power, it's not too big a surprise. He had more in his room anyway, but on the off chance that Fright Knight made it to the human realm, at least he could resupply for a moment. It's still a mystery why his parents continue to make them, especially when they don't even work in the hands of a human that wasn't him.
Heh.
Effectively, Danny had pretty much caught up to the horse by the time it rendezvous with its master. That didn't stop said master from attacking him on sight. A wave of fire, from the point of Soul Shredder, fired at him courtesy of the Fright Knight. He had to dodge quickly, barrel rolling to the left and then to the right for the second wave.
"You're looking pretty good for a guy who got point-blanked by that repulse." Danny taunted. The growl he received, was confirmation enough that he thoroughly annoyed him with his words alone.
Winning in a sense.
Danny returned fire, sending ecto-blasts and bolts of electricity at his target, but Fright Knight effortlessly deflected or dodged the attacks. "Tsk." Clearly, he was more cautious and aware than he was before, that figures.
"I will admit," the deep voice of the spirit of Halloween called out, "that I was surprised by that attack. Congratulations are in order, I suppose."
Danny smirked, still sore, but ultimately ready to go. "Thanks, I guess that should mean something coming from someone as powerful as you." Quickly, his eye darted to the Fenton portal not even a mile away. This was way too close for comfort.
"Hmph, it should." The Soul Shredder blazed to life, green fire licking the blade in large plumes, "I have a feeling however, that you're too immature to realize just how much that compliment means."
Danny shook his head, "Oh no, I know what it means." He put his two hands together, forming a sphere of energy, sparkling with electricity. It grew, barely benign contained in his two hands. His muscles screamed in protest, the raw energy hurting him already, his body still hadn't healed yet, even with the abundance of ambient ectoplasm in the atmosphere.
Fright Knight noticed the Halfas grimace, smirking underneath his helmet. "Why do you continue to fight, ghost child? Clearly, you are unable to match me."
Danny dug his fingers into the ball of energy, tearing it apart. A tether of green electricity sparked and surged in response, keeping the two halves connected. "I may not be a match… but I can still kick your ass."
Immediately, he launched the attack. It flew like a bola, spinning towards its target. The green fire of the Soul Shredder burned dark, turning a shade of purple. The knight of Halloween hefted his blade high, then swung down, sending forth an arc from his slice. The tether was cut in half, but the two sides kept going and hit the surprised spirit. Again, he didn't yell in pain, but the grunt of annoyance made Danny put distance between the two.
Despite the bad feeling rising in his stomach, Danny still taunted the man with his best Chappelle impression. "Ha! Gotcha bitch!" It never hurts to use a meme to insult someone, even if they won't ever get it.
"rrrrRRRAAA!" From the sparking cloud, Fright Knight burst through, a trail of green fire on his heels and trailing from his sword. Nightmare dived down from above, completely forgotten in the fight, but still very much a threat.
Danny fired an ecto-blast, detonating it inches from his hands, and blowing him backwards from the concussive force. Both enemies missed him, but in a skillful display of dexterity, familiarity and skill, Fright Knight effortlessly mounted his steed despite being at perpendicular angles.
Following momentum, the two spirits of fear flew down and around, with Soul Shredder theoretically dragging on the ground and building up a huge fireball behind him. Danny, for all his part, didn't think he could survive that purple fireball, and took off immediately. He fired ecto-rays, briefly hitting either the knight or steed, but both shrugged off the damage despite the scorches marring their frames. "Fuck!"
And then the fireball was released, now easily the size of his house, and it seemed to be growing. Ahead of him, a large floating island blocked his path. But Danny's not all ghost, he's still half human, and there's some perks to being a Halfa in the Ghost Zone. Quickly, carrying all his speed, he turned back to Fenton, much to the surprise of his opponents. Willing it so, Danny went straight through the landmass, popping out of the other side a moment later. He turned back into Phantom just in time to see a tidal wave of purple fire swallow the island, burning weird different dimension trees and shrubbery alike.
"Whew, dodged a bullet there."
And then he was blasted in the back from above. It may have hurt, but he used the speed he was knocked down in to add to his flight acceleration. Danny soon found himself straightened out and glaring at his recent opponent, whose sword was still smoking from its recent blast.
"Halfa." Fright practically spat.
Dannys' eyes narrowed, and he growled dangerously, fangs fully bared. "Yeah? Got something to say, Tighty Frighty? Gonna soil your whiteys?"
Ignoring the insult he couldn't fully comprehend due to the age gap, he continued. "I thought we wiped out your abominable kind centuries ago, which mistake was it that got away and spawned your nasty kind into existence?"
Eyebrows rose, but then the implication of what this spirit was saying hit him. He, and most likely, Pariah Dark, had at one point systematically attempted genocide on Halfas. His species. That also meant, that at one point, the cosmic fuck-ups that were half-ghosts, were far more prominent than just two accidents.
Before he could stop himself, Phantom growled, dark and primal, feeling more than ready for round two. Oh, he may not be able to win, but suddenly Danny felt like he could thrash around with this douche till the sun rose. Electricity, now more powerful and angered than before, sparked and buzzed dangerously off of his ectonium-tipped gloves. "I'm just made, thank you very much."
Feeling confident and unreasonably angry, he let the energy run through his body. "And we're on the rise… don't worry though, thanks to that tid-bit, I'll make sure you get what's coming to you." He flung both hands forward, bright green arcs surging towards their targets.
As Fright Knight blocked with a purple energy shield, it only now occurred to him, that as a different species, and not entirely human… that he was endangered. Only two left. Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius, the last two Halfas'… it's not a comforting thought, damn it.
"I would like to see you try, half-breed hellion!" Another flare of fire, and Danny found himself dodging while returning fire, but not with fire, but with ectoplasm and electricity. He was starting to hate the lack of variety in his attacks, not that his still developing pyrokinesis would help much against Fright Knight.
For minutes, they battered one another from range, definitely not the spirit of Halloweens specialty. As a sword wielder, he obviously preferred CQB, but without an artifact that could stand up to Soul Shredder, that wouldn't be a fight he could confidently walk away from. Obviously, his opponent was getting frustrated, if the billowing fire that is his ponytail is anything to go by.
It's less of a ponytail at this point however, and more like an actual billowing tail. Ecto-blasts fired from the sword, detonating near him, but never hitting. Danny at least had his agility, his small and thin frame being a good thing for once. As if that wasn't enough, small purple fireballs shot out of Frights ponytail, and Nightmare was firing ecto-rays from its god damn horn and mouth.
This continued, with Danny barely getting in any shots, but actually hitting. It's nice to have good accuracy, he thought. The splay of floating rocks and boulders helped to cover him from the blanket of firepower the spirit and his steed were dishing out. Accuracy is clearly not needed when everything in front can be hit with waves of attacks. Overpowered bastard.
"Oh shit." It was only when the surroundings started to get a little familiar when Danny realized something. Fright Knight had routed him, flying at angles to get closer without him noticing, all the while progressing the battle. Damn it all, he had been corralled like an animal, brought to what was most likely the specters goal.
As more fire came raining down on him, Danny used telekinesis to pull a cluster of rocks to cover him. Even with the shield, he could feel the heat licking through his suit, making him sweat. After the volley practically melted the rocks together, the Halfa launched out to send his own volley of electricity-enhanced ecto-blasts. The knight raised a shield, blocking the first four hits with ease, then Danny switched it up. From blasts to rays, the steady stream of energy quickly began making cracks in the bubble shield.
When it broke, Danny grinned, especially from the startled and definitely angry yell of his opponent. The ray pushed him off of his steed, but he didn't tumble in the air, instead regaining his 'footing' and straightening out. Frights hand was stretched out, palming the epicenter of the electrical beam and barely holding it there. Nightmare continued to charge forward, intent to impale the enemy of its master on the terribly sharp horn growing from its head.
Danny released fire from one hand, letting up, and conjured a ball of ectoplasm in the now free hand. In an instant, he converted it to goop, and shot it at the incoming winged menace. The horse-thing, expecting a blast of some kind, was blindsided by the sticky substance for the second time. When the horse flew by, or really glided by, since its entire front half was caked and immobile, Danny moved to the side slightly, laughing at the poor creature's expense.
"Olé!" He started cackling again, internally debating whether he should have gotten a cape of some kind just in case something like this happens again.
Then Phantom was blasted back even further than the incapacitated demonic pegasus. He crashed into another floating rock, roughly the size of his house, cratering into it. His right hand clutched his chest, a purple smoke escaped between his fingers, and his other hand was holding his head. It hurt much more than last time, good chance of a concussion with this one.
Where the fuck is Vlad at? This fight isn't going to last much longer, no matter how much Danny wanted to thrash Fright Knight, he just didn't have that much power right now. It shouldn't take so long to find a key he supposedly knew where the location of, so where the fuck is he?!
"You should feel honored, I will finish you off with one of my most powerful attacks, half-dead scum." Danny shook his head, and his green eyes, one of which was bleeding ectoplasm, locked onto Fright Knight. Boy, did that little villain monologue make him want to cringe, but his mouth stayed when he saw what his opponent was holding.
Held above his head, with a billowing mane of purple fire behind him, was a giant purple… meteor? Holy shit, that's a giant purple meteor. "Oh fuck." It's main body seemed to be made of dense crystal, and the same violet fire on Fright Knights head, plumed around the celestial weapon. It was as if the spirit of Halloween had plucked it mid descent.
Danny tried to move, but found himself bound to the rock and stuck in place. He glanced down, noticing the purple glow around his body. Telekinesis! Son of a bitch! He struggled against it, barely making progress, but not fast enough.
"Indeed, whelp. You have sowed this seed, there will be no help." Fright Knight said his piece, and immediately the shooting star came right at him. Danny had enough time to raise as many shields as possible, before he was splayed across the bolide. Immediately the shields started breaking, and he was pushed through the floating piece of ground in seconds, the meteor launching him deep into the Ghost Zone.
His pained and panicked screams echoed for miles.
"So, pipsqueak, is this all we're doing?"
Youngblood turned to Ember and huffed his annoyance, crossing his arms. "That's captain to you," he hissed, "but yeah, pretty much."
A ghoul came floating back up to the deck, holding a big bag full of candy. "Hehehehe, for me it's trick and treat."
Ember rolled her eyes, figures the kid had a sweet tooth worse than Kitty's. And was this really a trick? Sure, she liked vandalism as much as the next girl, but firing paintballs the size of cannonballs was extreme. They broke windows when they landed, dented cars, and she was pretty sure those jocks will never go out on Halloween again.
Not that they should, they're way too old for that. Plus, they stole candy from a kid! Looooooosers. They had it coming, especially the blonde one.
Ever since they came through the portal, and Ember wasn't entirely sure how they got the big thing through, they had made rounds on at least ten streets. A mere one-hundred feet above the ground gave them a lot of coverage. Plus, the ship is surprisingly fast. The rocker didn't know exactly where the little pirate got the badass hook-cannon-thing from- and she wouldn't tell him that she thought it was cool- but the kid seemed over the moon to use it as a paintball gun.
For the most part, they had avoided the street where the portal house was plotted on. Ember knew the owners, Fenton or whatever, were freaks. Some of the stuff in that basement is genuinely terrifying. And who has a portal in their basement? Nobody normal, that's who! She may not want to babysit the brat, but she'll keep him away from those ghost hunting freaks until they have to go back.
And another thing, where was Phantom at? She was itching for a rematch, even if her audience wasn't here to cheer her on. Wasn't this his turf? Why wasn't he here being all goody-goody? Also, why the hell is a ghost protecting people in the living world? Ember didn't understand, but she knew that the next time she saw him, it was round two.
"Fire!"
Boom!
Another volley of paint, courtesy of the local Home Depot, painted three houses on the starboard. A rainbow of colors splattered against the walls, and one of the windows broke, painting the interior as well. "Hehehehe." And there's the kid's creepy laugh again.
Ember looked over to the brat, face scrunched up sourly. "You're a pretty fucked up kid, aren't ya?"
Youngblood looked back up, grinning ear to ear, "I don't wanna hear that from you. Didn't you try to take over this town with mind control music?"
"Urk-" Ember snarled, and she was oh-so tempted to heft the guitar in her hand up and clock the kid. "Who told you that?!" She hissed, "Was it Kitty? I bet it fuckin' was, she can't keep a secret to save her afterlife."
The little brat kept laughing, not giving an answer, but not denying it either. That settled it, definitely Kitty. Payback will be sweet, and very loud.
Pzzt! Pzzt! Pzzt!
Suddenly, the ship rocked a little, three distinct times. Not enough to lose balance, but enough to be noticeable. Youngblood quickly flew up and over the rail, and to his dismayed shriek, one of his cannons was broken and smoldering.
Pzzt! Pzzt!
Two more shots, green lasers, land on another cannon. The ship is pushed to the side slightly when the cannon blows, the cannonball of paint that was loaded into it painted a good chunk of the little captain's ship a hot pink.
"Eeeeek! My ship!" The ghost boy seemed more distressed about the color of his ship than the damage to his weapons, but Ember decided to keep her mouth shut right now. This was actually pretty funny.
With red glowing eyes, Youngblood glares around at the houses that could be responsible. Another flash of green, this time coming from a wealthy looking mansion that hadn't been hit yet. Preemptive strikes. He points his hand forward, hook first, and it changes into a slingshot. The young ghost pulls back on red ectoplasmic lines, and fires an ecto-blast at the house.
Pzzt!
And to both Embers and Youngbloods surprise, another shot comes from a second story window, hitting the incoming ecto-blast. The two attacks cancel each other out, imploding on one another. Both the ghosts are silent for a moment, staring wide eyed at the display of skill. The two humans on the other end have similar reactions, neither having expected that outcome.
"Holy shit," Ember broke the silence first, "that was badass! I'm not even sure I could do that, and I'm the shit!"
Youngblood ground his teeth together, but he had to give the shooter credit. That was really cool. "I'd like to see 'em do it again though!" He lined up another shot, pulled the tether back, and fired the ecto-blast.
Pzzt! Pzzt! Pzzt!
Three shots rang out, but all three missed, but just barely. The attack hits the side of the brick wall. The wall was scorched, but not much power was put behind it. The owners would need to repaint it, but no lasting damage was done. The three shots hit another cannon and the hull surrounding the gun port. Again, nothing that can't be fixed relatively easily.
Ember found herself content to just sit back and relax, finding the whole situation entertaining.
Noticing something, Youngblood twirled around and barked out his orders like a true captain. "What arrrrre ya waitin' fer?! Fire boys, fire! Fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
All at once, the ghouls on the lower deck fired their cannons at the house. One of the candy-shots broke a window on the second story, and two more paintballs gave the house a nice shade of yellow, and a nasty shade of brown.
Ember watched, amused and a little impressed. The kid was getting into it, he even stuck with the whole pirate-accent thing. The thought occurred to her that, maybe, he actually was pissed, but the big smile on his face said otherwise.
The brat was having fun.
She took a look around as the 'battle' raged on, and spotted a pile of cannonballs, all a nice cyan blue. Oh, those had her name written all over them. She walked over to them, flipped her guitar around in her hand, and picked one up.
"Hey Youngblood!" She called, getting his attention. He stopped his attack to look back at her, and smiled even wider.
"Let me get in on the fun too!" She cackled, which was quickly copied by the boy she was babysitting. Ember tossed the blue ball up in the air effortlessly, and swung her guitar with decent force.
Ir struck the roof, splattering it a new color, and signaling the entrance of a new player.
"Ohhhhhh…"
It took Danny a moment to gather his bearings, or rather, to actually stay awake after getting hit by that attack. "This must be what roadkill feels like."
Danny was going to strangle Vlad the next time he saw him, there was not a single mention of that power. What the fuck even was that? Summoning a meteor out of nowhere? "I call bullshit." A lesser form of astrokinesis? Damn, it was so cool. And absolutely wasted on a piece of shit like Fright Knight. Danny's the space nut, why does the Halloween reject get it?
He really wanted that power, maybe he could develop that power later as well. After pyro, photo, and cyrokinesis of course, no point in dreaming of something that may or may not happen when he had actual attainable goals.
When Danny tried to get up, the rubble shifted, and a stray rock dropped on his chest, knocking the wind out of him and bringing forth a whole new world of pain. He was trapped, but that's easy enough to fix. Bracing himself for what's to come, he turned human, even knowing that it was going to hurt.
Sure enough, when the ectoplasmic coat bubbled away under his skin, a wave of pain nearly made him black out. Based off of a quick analysis, at least three broken ribs, a good majority of his bones were bruised, his chest and arms had burns despite the suit, maybe a broken finger or two, and his arms hurt. Badly.
But despite all of that, the Halfa could feel the ambient energy in the atmosphere entering his body and fixing it.
Now human, Fenton let himself drop through the rubble and ground. It surprised him a little how deep it went, but eventually Danny found himself on the underside of whatever he crashed into. Looking down, he found the End staring at him, and he suppressed a shiver. Seemingly sentient black holes are terrifying.
Danny blinked, tore his gaze away from the end of all things, and changed himself back into Phantom. A comforting numbness came over, dulling the pain slightly, and the intake of ectoplasm jumped again. Damn it all, this day needed to end.
But Fright Knight had blasted him back, and he clearly had a mortal destination in mind. He had to go, that monster anywhere near normal people was not a good idea. Plus, he could stock up on some Fenton Thermoses. Let's see how he likes being stuffed in a soup can.
So Danny rocketed off, going back to whence he came. The only good thing about that attack was that it hit him in a straight line. And there was a clear path where that meteor plunged him through. No wonder his back hurt so much, there were holes in mountains and trees where he spearpointed for that damn thing.
Wondering what exactly he ran into, Danny turned around after a couple miles. At the time he didn't notice it, but he really did run into walls. Purple walls, tall, and pointed with… barbed wire? There were several taller buildings inside the compound, all of which had barbed wire lining the roofs. Was that necessary in a dimension where everyone can fly? Also, the whole thing is purple. It kind of matches the theme with the Ghost Zone though, if he was being honest.
All in all, it looked like a big purple prison, isolated on a large island that was barren of trees. Actually, straining his hearing, Danny could swear he could hear what sounded like alarms. "Oh, well. Not like I'll ever be back here." He shrugged his shoulders and left, flying back home to resupply and re-engage.
The entire time, he was unaware of the tall figure watching him with a glare from the tallest building in the prison.
"Are we actually doing this right now?!" Tucker screamed.
Pzzt! Pzzt! Pzzt!
Sam returned fire, but had to duck when a blue cannonball landed just below her windowsill. It splattered up, painting the top of her curtains cyan blue. She growled.
"Yes, Tucker, we are doing this." She picked up the weapon he dropped, one of her ecto-blasters she got from Danny, and handed it back to him. "Now nut up or shut up, we got ghosts to fight."
Reluctantly, Tucker took it. "Sam, this is dumb. We should call Danny's parents." He really didn't want to get in a firefight with a ghost ship.
Sam made to pop her head up again, but dropped down again immediately. A red ball of ectoplasm flew just above her head, sizzling the whole way past, and hit her bed. The wooden frame splintered, and the bed was pushed back against the wall violently.
"Look!" He pointed at her former sleeping arrangements, "Your bed got blasted! Hell, call Danny if you have to!"
Her broken bed made her cringe, but she held strong. "I'm not calling the Fentons! Maybe Danny, but I won't call Jack or Maddie."
"Ugh! You're impossible!" Tucker gave up, adjusted his position and fired out another window off to the right. "Call Danny though! He's too good of a shot to not be here!"
Sam bit her lip, but she conceded that. Danny's aim is ridiculous, and it would really help right now. "Fine. I'll call him."
Moving away from the window, Sam pulled out her phone. With her weapon still clutched in one hand, she scrolled through her rather short list of contacts, found his name, and pressed the call button.
He didn't answer. "Fuck! That's right!"
Sam put her phone up and went back to the window. She fired off a volley at the same time as Tucker. Ducking down, he looked over to her, expecting an answer. "Jazz couldn't get a hold of him, remember? Well, turns out neither can I!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The house shakes more, but it's sturdy and well built. Made of bricks and capable of withstanding monster storms, even if Illinois isn't known for tackling hurricanes. Then again, Sam never expected her home to come under cannon fire, but it's doing pretty good so far.
The whine of the ecto-guns whirls up once more, and both peek out again. Tucker has to dive back down immediately when a cannonball slams into the wall next to his window, splattering paint everywhere. Sam managed to get in two shots before one of those red energy balls comes soaring towards her.
She leans back against the wall, but leaves her rifle partially exposed. The ecto-blast slams into the barrel of her out of cover rifle, and the weapon is ripped from her hands. "Ahhh!" Her fingers were still on the grip and trigger, and the forceful disarmament did not feel good on her digits. Sam shakes her hands back and forth in an attempt to get the pain to go away.
Tucker grimaced, that wasn't good, and it looked like his friend might have hurt herself. He shook his head, "I knew this was going to happen."
The goths head shot up to him with a glare, "And? What's that supposed to mean?" She half-yelled.
It was Tucker's turn to glare, something that doesn't happen very often. "Sam, do you really not see what's going on? Or are you too hyped up on adrenaline to understand?" He stood up, still behind the wall for cover. "We're fighting a damn pirate ship! It's not even doing anything that bad beside small time vandalism! The only people hurt so far have been you and Dash, this whole situation is ridiculous!"
Sam remained silent for a moment, thinking over his words. While she had a definite temper, normally violence wasn't the answer she just jumped to. But her first instinct was to bring out a rifle from under her bed and open fire. If that wasn't the most hill-billy thing she's ever done before, she didn't know what was. Suddenly she blushed, embarrassed over such a reaction. And even if they were returning fire, it was with paintballs the size of cannon balls. And she shot at them with a laser gun.
"Okay. I see your point, maybe I overreacted." Tuckers' glare stopped, and his jaw dropped in shock. Sam Manson, the most stubborn person he knows, actually admitting that. Hell might actually be freezing over right now. Are pigs flying?
Holding back a whoop, Tucker finally noticed that there hadn't been any shots for a while. He peeked his head out a bit, trying to get a view of their enemy. Then his mouth went dry, swallowing became difficult to do, and he suddenly wished that they were still in that firefight.
"Hey Sam?" He asked weakly, and his friend was quick to notice the fear in his voice.
She got up, and looked out the window. Her purple eyes were dyed in green light, shimmering with fear. The ship they had just been fighting…
Was aflame. The sails were like a wave of green fire, the main mast having been split in half, and they could see three figures flying above it. One they recognized, Ember McLain in a new outfit, pirate themed. The smallest of the three specters was just a child, maybe ten or eleven, dressed up in pirate garb as well, short as shit, and was standing atop a large skeletal manta ray.
And the third ghost made Sam shiver in fear, and she took a step back. She knew him, she's seen pictures of him. Hell, she even had a book about him. Descriptions centuries old, but vivid and detailed of all he entailed. A ghost of fear, mere legend, but powerful if real.
And he was very real right now.
Fright Knight, the spirit of Halloween, General of the Ghost of Genocide, and all around evil spirit, settled upon his just as legendary steed: Nightmare, the Galloping Horror.
"Oh, fuck. We're screwed."
As scared as she was of Phantom, where was he now? She'd much rather have that ghost here instead of this one.
A/N: 12k words~
Damn I'm tired and sore as hell. Well, I published the second story: It's a BNHA story with a ghoul quirk OC. Check it out, I'm trying a different writing style for it as well. I wrote most of this chapter, and the first chapter for the new story, on my phone so when I finally had time to hop on my computer there was a lot of editing to do :/
If there's any mistakes, and there probably will be some this time around, let me know please. PM or review, either works, just let me know so I can fix it. Quality is everything.
There should be one more chapter for the Halloween arc. Like Bitter Reunions, this one is longer than expected, but that's fine since I suppose. No one seems to be complaining when they're really long.
MyDogIsMabel: Nah, they're not really difficult to edit, they just take time. It's a part of the process, and I refuse to have my stories look like they were written by a middle school kid. I haven't had Tokyo Ghoul in mind when writing this, but now that it's mentioned, there are some similarities. And Danny and Kaneki are a little similar, appearance wise and personality wise as well. They both are half-human, become a part of a much grander world than before, want to protect people on both sides and unite them, and according to cannon for both series: they succeed. Don't work two jobs, it sucks. I wake up at four a.m., and get home at 8:30 p.m. It sucks something fierce. I get home, go to sleep, wake up and repeat. But I work on stories during my breaks! And if you ever get an idea that you can't get out of your head, write it down and see where it goes. It may be a hobby for me as well, but I really enjoy doing it. It's a good stress reliever as well.
oldtimeydude: Danny's got a lot on his plate as is, and unlike the canon cartoon, Danny knows and trusts Vlad. They've been in contact for years, see each other as family and are the only two of their kind. Despite having been through more harrowing things than most people in his short life, he's still a little naive. It will be a while before Pariah comes out, he's the last boss. Lovecraft has no small amount of lore, but I do see the potential there. It's gotta be real specific stuff though, throwing in shit randomly leads to plot holes, and I've been trying to make sure there are none of those.
OechsnerC: Thank you, here's another.
Levibr: Sam... I'm not a terribly big fan of hers either, she's a bit of a stubborn bitch. And yeah, she really is a spoiled brat, comes from a rich kid family too. Jazz will be coming up soon, it's just that this small set of chapters is more focused on the main plot at the moment. It's less of Danny being a ghost king, and more along the lines of how great his potential is. He's far more physically stable than Vlad was when he died, has a mentor, rare core and abilities, has a pension for learning how to fight and has many more things that Vlad didn't have when he first started out. Yeah, poor parrot. You'll have to see in the next chapter!
kimcat: I like longer chapters as well, more bang for the buck! I try to make my chapters at least 10k words, though I've been also trying to cut it off at that point too. I tend to hold onto chapters and keep adding onto them, which is why some were over 20k lol. I like reading long ones like that, but waiting so long for it didn't sit right, so now I split them at optimal points.
Blackplant: Yeah, Pariah is the king of all ghosts in the show, literally the ruler of a dimension. Not too hard to call him a god at that. Personally, I feel like he should have been the last boss of the show, but that's just me. At least they gave him his own 'movie', as loose as that description fits.
Distant Radiance: Hope you enjoy this one as well. With the suit, he'll be much tougher, and careless mistakes won't be so damaging. He's still learning though, so mishaps here and there may happen.
Hassan504: Thanks for the compliment! Stick around, it'll be going for a while. Stay safe as well!