Today is the big day. The day they've been waiting anciently to arrive. Well at least one of them was anyways. The one muttering cursed words under her breath as she floats through the air with her eyes constantly glancing down to scan the information on the flier in her hands. As for the two floating just behind her following her lead? Well they were less enthusiastic than her. Sure the prize is mind blowing. Hell you would be sputtering too if you had a chance to win five million dollars. Well two and a half million anyways after it is split eveningly but that's besides the point for them. At least to one of them. Sure it's a lot of money but with her ever growing fame in the music industry this mere two million dollars will look like chump change to her soon. Real soon if you were to believe the words coming out of her agent's mouth. That is what Ember keeps telling herself anyways as she follows silently after a muttering Kitty with Danny floating right by her side. The sacrificial lamb of the evening. That is what she likes to refer to him as on this day. Why oh why did she even listen to Kitty in the first place? Why oh why did she allow her best friend to convince her to do this hence to convince her Babypop to do this? If she needed money so badly all she had to do was ask. It's not like she doesn't rack in the doe after every one of her concerts. Though her concerts have been far and inbetween of late. Hey!? It's not her fault coming up with lyrics for a new song is hard! You try it some time dipsticks!
" Damn it!? It should be around here somewhere but where?"
A sentence alone that gives them no short of confidence. Just how are you supposed to compete in a competition when you can't find where it is taking place in to begin with? The answer is simple. You can't! Would it be such a bad thing if they couldn't find the place? No not really. Though they couldn't really say for sure until the situation is resolved. It would have saved them countless hours of pain. More so for Danny. He still hasn't completely forgiven Kitty for what that bull had tried to do to him. At this point he kinda wished he chose to go with Cujo instead. At least his canine companion would have taken it easy on him. He thinks anyways.
Whatever! We better find this place soon or so help me, I'll….
" Ah! Here it is!"
And speak of the devil ask and you shall receive. If the giant billboard towering over the lone realm door wasn't a blinking sign then the blinking lights pointing at the door sure is. A sight Ember and Danny can't help but gape at with their mouths hanging wide open and for all the wrong reasons. Only one thing is going through their minds right now. One lone thought. A thought shared by both.
What a bunch of dipsticks!
It was true. Just who in the hell is in charge of this whole thing anyways? Only an idiot would come up with something like this. Billboards,blinking lights,what's next? In fact they don't even want to think about that. Thinking about it alone might just make it appear out of thin air. Just like how suddenly the annoying Box Ghost appears directly behind them out of thin air. A ghost who quietly snickers to himself thinking he has the upper hand to do whatever he pleases. So much so that quietly he makes a cardboard box suddenly appear floating right beside him with the intent to send it soaring at the back of Danny's head. Only at him though. He may not be the brightest but after what she did to him last time even he knew better not to piss off one Ember Mclain. A memory that makes him pause and shiver as a cold chill runs up and down his spine making his arms immediately come up to hug himself. Yes pissing her off is certainly not on the agenda. Not now and certainly not ever again but this opportunity is just too good to pass up. In fact any chance to deliver a good wallop to anyone is too good to pass up in his eyes. He just needs to be careful with this one. So much so that silently he dips down to pluck the cardboard box out of the air and handles it with caution as though it is a newborn. Almost with too much caution that the moment he lifts up his eyes before he knows it he is sent back flying kicking and screaming when a blue energy blast hits him square in the chest evaporating the cardboard box in his hands to pieces. These burnt small pieces of cardboard that disappear into the void as Ember lowers her left hand down back to her side before she crosses her arms over her chest and stares up towards the billboard in annoyance while Danny looks behind them looking quite confused as to what had just happened. That is until a loud clap forces his head to snap back forward finding a grinning Kitty looking back and forth between them with her hands clasped together.
" Alright gents! The moment we've been waiting for has finally arrived!"
Ignoring the amused look Ember sends her way bringing her arms behind her back without looking at either of them slowly Kitty starts to pace in front of the realm door.
" I will admit it's been a long and hard fought journey to get to this point…."
She could say that again. The bull fighting. The disgusting protein drinks. The countless hours of training. Eating only healthy foods with no junk food aloud. Though that one really came back to bite her in the ass. She knew her best friend could be vengeful when the situation arises but to break into her realm and steal all of her food leaving only fruits and vegetables inside of the cabinets? Now that is just plain mean!
" We've scratched,we've clawed,we've been chased and nearly mammed…."
Okay maybe she said too much there. Especially with the way Ember now glares at her with her blue hair slowly but surely starting to ascend up into the air. The telltale signs she should just move on before her big mouth gets her into more trouble.
" And all that hard work will show on this day!"
Coming to a stop just left of the realm door instantly Kitty snaps around to face Danny and Ember with a determined look across her face and gestures her arm towards the realm door.
" Now get your butt in there and show them who's boss!"
Taking a moment to glance towards Ember with a retort already on the tip of his tongue thinking better of it from the way she looks almost annoyed at the green haired ghost before them with a shrug Danny floats through the air and stops just in front of the realm door. Was he ready for whatever might be lurking behind this door? He likes to think so. Sure he has faced some rather interesting characters but would the ghosts also competing in this competition be like them or would they be a whole lot tougher and meaner than the likes of Ghost Zone's greatest hunter Skulker and the annoying Box Ghost? He would like to think it is the former but deep down he knew this wouldn't be the case. Knew deep down the ghosts behind this realm door wouldn't be pushovers. Wouldn't be guys he could beat with his eyes closed and both his arms tied behind his back. No they would give him a run for his money and they were expecting the same from him. So much so that with a determined look reaching out Danny grasps the door handle of the door before without a second thought he throws open the door causing a blinding light to hit him in the face forcing him to bring his hands up to shield his eyes. The very same could be said about his companions as well as they too are forced to shield their eyes from this blinding light. A light after a few seconds dies down allowing them to lower down their respective hands from their faces. Allowing for Danny to have a clear view of what is awaiting for them inside and what he sees? What he sees makes his eyes widen unknown to the girls knowledge. That is until Ember and Kitty move over and take a peek over each of his shoulders to see what has him frozen to his spot.
Yep that's about right.
She should have expected to see something like this. She really should have but even someone as awesome and talented as her makes mistakes every now and then. This was no different. What better place to hold a bloodthirsty competition in other than a place where competitions such as these were known to be first held in. Just whose realm this is she wasn't sure of. What she did know was this person whether it be a man or woman is centuries old. The towering colosseum off in the distance just screams this. A colosseum only seen back in the ancient roman times. A colosseum that as impressive as it looks this far away would look even more massive the closer they get to it. The perfect place for a competition like this. Blinking in total surprise shaking off her shock clearing her throat rather loudly to earn both of their attention moving around Danny to float inside with a glance over her shoulder back towards the happy couple with a smirk Kitty nods her head in the direction of the colosseum.
" Shall we?"
Without waiting for a response Kitty floats on forward and flies in the direction of the colosseum leaving Danny and Ember staring at her retreating form. A form they watch disappear into the horizon before they turn to look towards each other.
" You know? It's not too late. We could always you know?"
And it was at times like this she is reminded of just how perfect he is for her. Did she know what he was referring to? You betcha. The thought has come across her mind once or twice on the way here but as good as it sounds she did promise her best friend this and she is a woman of her word even though the thought of seeing the look on her best friend's face once she realized she was ditched makes her smile.
" Yeah but then we would have to move our realm to another location far out of her reach. Not to mention we would have to avoid going to our usual spots in case she came looking for us there. You would have to dye your hair…."
" What? Why just me? Why can't you dye your hair?"
" What are you nuts? I'm not dying my hair. Look at this hair. My hair is awesome!"
Staring directly into the other's eyes with neither backing down even in the slightest after a couple of seconds unable to keep it up any longer instantly Danny and Ember burst out laughing.
" Ahem!"
Looking unamused at the couple as she sees them turn to look at her with matching smirks rolling her eyes floating over Kitty takes their hands within her own before with a tug she pulls an amused Ember and equally amused Danny forward towards the colosseum.
Yep this is exactly how she imagined it would be. Crowds as far as the eye can see. Crammed spaces with hands wandering where they shouldn't. Yep exactly how it was like but this? All of what she is seeing around her is quite….unique to put it mildly. The way the old meets new in a rather interesting way. Stone walls littered with posters promoting what is to take place inside of the colosseum in the next couple of hours. Stands one after another stretching for miles with articles of clothing including shirts with the date and name of the competition being sold by vendors. All things you would see normally back in the real world but in this realm? With the way most people are dressed up in togas. Many that inspect what is being sold with interest. Others with distaste and not even bothering to hide it. She kinda couldn't blame them. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing any of these….hey! Aren't those some of her concert shirts!
Pushing her way through the crowd not caring who or what is pushed out of the way earning her some looks of outrage ignoring their looks stalking her way over towards a nearby vendor the moment he gets done exchanging money with another well satisfied customer instantly Ember reaches out and lifts up the vendor by the front of his shirt making his face pale considerably as the bills in his hand spray across the ground underneath his feet.
" And what do we have here? Selling my merchandise without my permission?"
Gulping his throat sweating furiously from the way Ember glares a hole through him glancing around as he looks towards everyone around the stand with a pleading look instantly the vendor regrets his decision when he feels himself being shaken causing his head to snap back and forth while his vision gets blurry. A vicious head shaking making everyone around the stand back up to give them some space fearing the worse with others downright running away from seeing what they considered to be the impossible. From seeing the way her hair grows like a flame and shoots up into the air. If only they knew this was a regular occurance whenever she is pissed off.
" What was that? Speak up dipstick! I couldn't quite hear you? I think you said you'll split the profits with me seven five to twenty five. How generous of you."
Releasing her hold on his shirt causing the vendor to come dropping down on his ass on the dirt crossing her arms over her chest with her intense glare remaining across her face the moment she sees the cowering vendor muster up the slightest of nods the glare disappears across her face into a smile. Was this the first time something like this has happened? No not at all. In fact not to brag but she could count the amount of times this has happened on one hand. Now was she against something like this? Not at all. You gotta eat right? But that doesn't mean they can just use her face for it! If they aren't caught she has no problem with it but if she catches them doing it? Well then comes time to pay the piper.
" Good choice. I expect you to have my share waiting for me once the night is over with."
Receiving another quick nod without muttering another word turning on her heels Ember makes her way through the backing up crowd towards where she can see a stunned Danny is standing looking flabbergasted at what he had just witnessed. He really should have known by now to expect this kind of thing once and awhile but whatever. She'll let him off the hook this time. Especially from the way he looks so cute just standing there dazed with this stupid look across his face in a cute dorky kind of a way. A look that remains on his face even after she comes to a stop in front of him before with a sigh Ember lifts her left hand up and snaps her fingers causing for his daze to disappear as a look of realization can be seen forming in his eyes.
" Was that really necessary?"
Rolling her eyes grabbing a hold of his hand with a tug Ember leads Danny in the opposite direction of the cowering vendor.
" Necessary? No but it was fun. Nothing like seeing a grown ass man pissing his pants."
Unable to keep his eyes from widening glancing over towards his wife seeing nothing but her trademark grin across her face with these blue eyes that twinkle with nothing but mischief staring straight ahead gulping his throat a small smile comes across Danny's face.
" You can be really scary sometimes."
Nodding her head glancing around the large crowds for a glimpse of green hair finding none nowhere to be seen looking back towards Danny with a grin leaning over Ember pecks him on the cheek.
" I'll take that as a compliment."
Shaking his head in amusement earning himself a smile as a reward gently squeezing her hand before he knows it Danny finds himself standing by Ember's side as she comes to a stop in the middle of the crowd and stands on her tiptoes as though she is looking for someone.
" And speaking of scary at times where oh where did our green haired menace run off too this time?"
Now that he can answer. Quite easily actually and with a tug of her hand Danny takes charge and starts to lead Ember down the crowded street while she looks on with confusion.
" No idea. She said something about sizing up the competition. Whatever that means."
Nodding her head in acceptance, taking a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose in an effort to stop the headache she can feel building up from within letting out a sigh with a shake of her head, Ember turns back to look at Danny with a wry grin. A look that just makes him look at her in confusion causing her to roll her eyes as she releases a hold of his hand and turns fully towards him with her hands coming to rest on her hips.
" Babypop? I love you to death but you can be a real dipstick sometimes. When was the last time Kitty actually you know didn't act like a well…."
Unable to think of the right words with her face showing it after a couple of seconds Danny mumbles out.
" A dipstick?"
Pondering over the words in her head for a couple of moments finding them to be more than acceptable response nodding her head a bright smile comes across Ember's face. Sometimes he just takes the words right out of her mouth. Was it possible that her best friend isn't stirring the bee hive so to speak? Yes but very unlikely. If she knows one thing about Kitty it's this. She has a knack of getting everyone around her in the weirdest of situations.
" I was gonna say a complete idiot but dipstick works just as well."
Returning the smile reaching out Danny wraps an arm around Ember's waist and steers her forward through the crowds. Large crowds that seem to disburse and give them a wide berth after the little show she had just put on and that is fine with them. Many that cower in fear trying to avoid her eyes. Others that look in her direction surprisingly with approval but no matter. Their opinions don't matter. Not really anyways. Let them think what they want to think. She knows the truth and the truth is simple. She isn't heartless as others in her position would be. No on the contrary she understands what that vendor was going through. It was like she said everyone's gotta make a living somehow in order to survive. Now was she happy about it? Not really. Was she really expecting to get some share of his profits from this evening? Not a fat chance. Sure she may have said the words but they were merely meant to be a life lesson to him and that lesson is simple. Don't ever piss off Ember Mclain if you want to see another day. Perhaps she should remind Kitty of such a thing? Sizing up the competition oh brother!
If only they knew right then the true meaning behind those words. Would she be praised for what she is doing right now? Maybe? Maybe not? Ember would probably call her a pervert. Who wouldn't? She is peeping on she means scouting the competition in the very changing chambers that are supposed to provide them with privacy but hey! This was for Danny's benefit after all and there is nothing in the rule book against what she is doing right now. Sure she is getting a good view of some of the competition's goods. A real good view as they get dressed in their respective gears but she wouldn't let that distract her. No,no,no she is on a reconnaissance mission and their flashy muscles don't impress her. Nope not one bit! And so far everything she is seeing is making her get more worried by the second. Not by their fit physics though most look like they could crush another's bones with ease. No it's the look on each of their faces that has her worried. These intense looks. These focused looks that paint a clear picture for her. These ghosts have come here for a war. Have come here for a fight for their lives and quite frankly she couldn't blame them. The prize money is just too good to pass up. Just too good to overlook. This carrot dangling from the end of a fishing line that apparently has attracted the attention of the worst kinds of ghosts. Such ghosts that honestly scare the living crap out of her. True brutes in every sense of the word. Large muscular frames. Battles scars all over their bodies. Hell she has seen most of them don't even have all of their teeth anymore. Yep real bad characters.
And Danny has to face these guys!
He is good. There is no doubt about that. She's trained him personally afterall. Had put him through the ringer for those few short weeks but this? Against these ghosts? Never before has he faced anyone quite like the ghosts before her now. At least she thinks so? Never before has he truly had to fight for his life like he will have to if he tries to go toe to toe with these guys. Not that he could really to begin with. These frickin brutes make her look like a little girl and she is taller than him to begin with! No these guys that look like they would eat him alive. True beasts she tells ya. Just thinking about what could happen once the bell rings makes Kitty wince and ache everywhere. The bull had been bad enough but that will look like child's play compared to what these guys could do to another ghost's body and that was one pissed off bull to begin with!
There's gotta be something I can do? Think Kitty think! I'm too young to die….again!
And there lies another huge concern. At least to her anyways. When she had come barging into their realm and declared them a team for this whole thing she meant it. Meant every single word. They are all in this together. The prize money would be split evenly. She and Ember would undergo any intense training Danny had to go through with him together. Just to a lesser degree. No way she would sign up to be chased by a bull. She's nuts but not that nuts. Well? Maybe after a few drinks the idea would look more appealing to her. But to them? It wouldn't be appealing. She could already imagine her best friend going ballistic if her husband was to get hurt out there in the colosseum. She can already see it now so perfectly. The coliseum burning to a crisp around her with every single one of the other competitors laying face down in the sand unmoving. Countless spectators running, kicking and screaming for their afterlives trying to escape the flames that chase them around in an intense game of tag. A raging Ember Mclain standing dead center in the middle of the flames just watching the coliseum burning down around her. Intense flames that only get worse by the second as she stares daggers around the coliseum just daring for anyone to challenge her until those very eyes come to rest on her. Until those eyes make her shake in fear as the flames around the coliseum suddenly shoot towards her….
Nope! Uh uh! No way! Not on my watch! If i'm going down,I'm going down my way drunk,stoned,and smothered by cuteness not being burnt to a crisp!
She just needed to come up with a plan. Yeah! That's it! A way to save her skin….she means to save Danny from a beating. That is totally what she meant. It wasn't like she was panicking about facing Ember's wraith or anything like that. Nope uh uh! Nothing like that. This is strictly business. A tricky situation with no real good way out of this.
Uh Uh! If there is a Kitty there is a way or whatever that saying is anyways!
The only question that remains is what? What can she do. It wasn't like she could make these guys vanish into thin air? And that's when it hits her making Kitty facepalm herself. This loud clap that echoes through the chambers making everyone look in her direction causing her to quickly dip behind a nearby corner before she is seen. Of Course she can! Why didn't she just think of this sooner. These giant apes no matter how strong they might be stand no chance against one of her special kisses. Like she said before. It wasn't like it was against the rules or nothing. Besides the competition hasn't even begun yet and nobody would notice a couple of competitors going missing. A sound plan she thinks and with that nodding her head with a sly smile Kitty emerges out of her hiding place and comes to lean herself up against a nearby corner just waiting to be noticed. Just waiting for the first sucker she means competitor to notice her standing at the entrance way. Competitors that to her dismay don't even notice her or pay her even a single glance as she watches them continue to prepare for the upcoming event.
How rude!
And yet this could work to her advantage. If she was to go unnoticed then none of these brutes would have any reason to seek vengeance upon her. None would even know who to look for to begin with. Such a thought that enters her mind making a wide grin come across Kitty's face and before anyone sees her doing it instantly she goes intangible and wrings her hands together with an evil smirk coming across her face.
Oh this should be fun.