Chapter 28: Pretium Superbia
In hindsight, it wasn't his smartest decision.
Two blades of fire sweep by, narrowly dodged. Ignoring the burning in his hands, he raised his own fiery swords in retaliation.
They were easily deflected.
When he made that decision, emotions were running a little high at the time. How could they not? Danny had just escaped prison -ghost prison!- and the douchebag warden literally told him that he was going to lock him up for all eternity. Prick. Seriously, he was fourteen. Overreaction much?
So, who could blame him if he wasn't a little… salty.
Danny backpedaled, zigzagging back and away from the dangerous fire, feet barely above the ground. With new distance, he raised his hands to prepare an attack. The blades of fire conjoined and combined, forming into a blaze of respectable size. Well, respectable to him. The stuff he's seen Vlad do…
"Not fast enough!" A whip of burning energy sliced through his attack before it could even launch, and the backsplash exploded onto him.
Blown back a considerable distance, the younger Halfa yelped in panic when his chest was suddenly on fire, and he dived to the ground to put it out. Just in time, as the same whip came back for a horizontal slash. From his position, prone and vulnerable, yet a smaller target, Danny leveled his hands out towards his target.
Deciding to do something somewhat cool, the teenager hyper-focused on the task let loose. A glow built up upon his hands for the briefest of moments. After tense concentration, a brutal hail of shots sprayed out of his palms, and ectoplasm rained down on Vlads' position with a startling rate of fire.
Plasmius raised a shield, pink in color, and blocked the projectiles from impacting him. He was surprised by the speed at which his protege fired those, both in fire rate and actual speed, but without sufficient firepower it would amount to-
The shots didn't disappear or explode on impact. Instead, they thumped, flared and sparked, but resolutely stuck to the shield. The little globs of energy didn't look entirely threatening, but looks can be deceiving. Of all people, Vlad would know.
How curious.
To his interest, the shots kept piling up. The sound alone was rather interesting. Like a new sneaker on a basketball court, squeaky and high pitched. And they clumped up when hitting his shield! Fascinating. The billionaire was reasonably impressed with how fast his nephew was firing these things. Even if they don't do much.
But, experience makes you wiser. And if there's something Vlad thought he was, wise would be one of them.
Dropping the shield with a flick, Plasmius accelerated with a sudden burst of speed. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw those globs of ectoplasm that had been sparking on the shield suddenly imploded. Oh, a delayed explosive reaction? He's getting smarter. How did he figure out the implosion effect already? Even if the blast wasn't that big, with training it could be quite effective.
Electricity curled around the mentors hand, but only for a brief moment, before it lashed out. The laser of chaotic energy slashed through the volcanic earth as he pulled his hand up. Upending the ground, the attack ripped through where his nephew once was. Danny had stopped his rain of fire and rolled to the side and pushed up, now above Vlad.
Up in the air, Danny gulped. 'Holy shit, that attack was wild'. While weird that Vlads' energy is pink, the power he packs is ridiculous. His own electrokinesis is strong, but even Danny can't rend the ground with ease. That attack if anything, seemed very casual. Very much like lightning too, rather than simple electricity.
And Vlad had really ingrained in him the true difference between lightning and electricity.
Inaction leads to failure though, and the student didn't hesitate to return fire. Electricity of his own, green like his eyes, flared around his chest and-
"No electricity!" Vlad snapped angrily, red eyes narrowed. "You use your electrokinesis like a crutch, be more inventive!" A wave of ectoplasmic force came rushing forward with a wave of his hand, forcing Danny into the defensive. His shield was pulled down, him along with it, back towards the ground.
Weathering through the attack with his shield, the half-dead teenager was barely able to dodge the fist from his uncle. The ground cratered from the blow, and Danny gulped nervously. But he grinned, Vlad had his back turned to him. An opportunity that he wouldn't miss!
Before he could even fire a shot, a second Vlad morphed and molded from his teachers back, very clearly more ectoplasmic in nature and looks. Only an arm and a head with a little bit of chest, the clone looked closer to a disformed siamese twin than a proper duplicate. That didn't mean it wasn't functional, however. With that infuriating smirk on his face, the incomplete clone retaliated immediately. A pink ecto-blast formed and launched instantaneously, smashing into the younger Halfa with force.
Danny flew fast and hard, smashing through several pillars of stone and obsidian. He eventually came to a stop when he skipped off the fourth one and hit a roaming rock in the Zone. From far away, and still recovering from the attack, Danny could hear his overpowered uncle lecturing. "I'm sure you'll learn this when you begin duplication, but in the beginning, you will get many failures like that."
"But a failure, that is to be learned from." Danny phased through the rock, hoping to use the cover of wandering debris to hide him. Once on the other side, he changed back and pushed the rock forward with his super strength. "Even something you see as a failure now, may be an advantageous ability later in life!"
While charging a rather compressive ecto-ray, the rock he tossed was smashed through with ease. The rubble crashed against the rocky terrain below, and Vlad emerged on the other side… with four arms, instead of two. And there was a weapon made of ectoplasm in each hand. Sword, axe, mace and spear, from left to right.
That… was a way to use duplication too, huh. "Wow. Uh, that's gotta take a lot of concentration."
Vlad nodded. "That it does." The right arms raised, and the spiked ball of the mace shot off towards him, powered by the powerful electric attack pushing it forward.
Danny gasped, but fired his attack anyway. His fingers, glowing green from ectoplasm, split the powerful ray into six different, but focused, supercharged rays. From afar, the attacks collided, sending out a shockwave of force. The older Halfa was on the boy in a heartbeat, weapons raised.
'Teleportation!' Danny snarled to himself. He dodged to the side to avoid sword and axe, summoning his own weapons in kind made of pure ectoplasm. Whereas Vlad's weapons were detailed and refined, almost lifelike and real, they were also definitely much stronger than his own. Dannys' were wild and far more unfocused, looking more like actual energy constructs than his mentors, which were akin to hard light weapons.
His retaliatory strike was easily batted away, and his following stab was sidestepped. Vlad kneed him in the stomach for giving him an opening. Danny stumbled back and grabbed his ribs.
"Isn't this a little much for a punishment? So what if I blew up his prison? He was an ass and wanted to use me like a battery!" He still didn't lower his weapons though, not trusting his mentor to actually stop his lesson in face of his logic. There was no way Danny was going to regret bombing the ever living shit out of Walkers prison, dude had it coming!
Pink energy shot out from Vlads eyes as he floated forward. Danny blocked it by crossing both of his swords. He managed to hold his position in the air, and his own eyes burned bright green. Keeping his swords angled, the student used his blades to deflect the attack away from him on the move. The ocular blast he pulsed out was batted away like a balloon with ease, though his uncle was forced to stop up his own eye attack lest it hit him.
While keeping up the pressure and ignoring how dry his eyes felt, Danny charged in with both swords poised to strike. The right swept low in a straight slash, and his left right swung close in a backhand grip.
A hand rushed out and punched Danny in the nose, stunning him slightly. Momentum continued forward, but the sudden stop forced his cross attack to close empty. "I don't care that you blew him up, he deserves it. What matters, is that you ransacked a lair and left it smoking ruins." Vlad sniffed in contempt, an annoyed disappointment boring down on him. "It's bad manners in the Zone to destroy a lair like that, not in general, but on principle. A little light damage is fine, and to be expected…"
The two swords broke suddenly, brought to rend by a powerful chop. The ectoplasm coated hand left a trail of magenta in its wake, illuminating the scowl on the owner's face eerily. "But blasting half of the prison -the man's lair- to pieces is a surefire way to make an enemy for all eternity."
It's not looked upon with good eyes and ears to wreck lairs like that. In the Infinite Realms, a lair is more than just a home. It is a soulplace given form, a part of the ghost, their own Zone so to speak. There's no word to describe how insulting it is to decimate such a thing, such a personal attachment that only another ghost could understand.
And one as powerful as Walker would unconditionally hate Daniel from now on. Sure, the warden would be out of it for a while to recuperate and rebuild, but when he came back, the vengeance would be fierce and unrelenting. There would be no capture next time, the old ghost would be vying for blood and ectoplasm, and seek out as much collateral damage as possible. Whatever was going to happen, his nephew wasn't going to like the retaliation that would eventually come.
"Perhaps it is my fault for not explaining how much meaning a realm meant to actual ghosts." Vlad sighed to himself while casually blasting his nephew back once again. A sudden force of telekinesis had his protege flying back to his volcanic realm with startling speed. The russian Halfa watched his ungraceful plummet with impassionate eyes.
Down in the lair, Danny growled to himself. Even Fright Knight didn't manhandle him so much! Vlad was making it a point to toss him around like a ragdoll, to show him how far he still had to go, and it rankled him something fierce. With his mouth closed, he opened his jaw and began funneling energy between his fangs and teeth. He ignored how numb it made his mouth feel as well as the slow burning on his tongue.
Claws of green energy, larger and sharper than when first summoned appeared on his hands. The coat of ectoplasm traveled up his uniform, stopping just below the shoulder, with signs of a continuing creep. The signs of his progress with this ability showed how different it was from when he first used it.
Annoyingly casual about it, Vlad teleported ten feet away from him. "But I will be rectifying that, and I will be punishing you for the future headache you have no doubt caused."
Danny said nothing as he launched forward, both claws wide open. He swiped down with his left, and jabbed forward with his right. Vlad dodged the first attack with ease, but he was forced to block the second by grabbing his nephew's hand.
Vlad glared down at his charge. Rife with active sparks along the sight organs, the pink energy seconds was away from firing from them.
The younger Hafla looked to be doing the same, his own eyes glowing dangerously as well. But just as Vlad was about to fire, instead of letting loose his own optical blast, light exploded from his eyes! Blinded by the sudden flash, the older man closed his eyes and flinched back.
With a snarl, Danny curled his hand and wretched it down while opening his mouth. Green smoke bled out from between his lips, and Fanged Focus fired immediately. The unstable ectoplasm, bubbling and sparking energy that was far too volatile to be used on mortals, screeched out with a violent noise.
Despite the price he had to pay -partially disintegrated teeth were not enjoyable, though they'd grow back- Danny was sure of his hit landing home. So when Vlad caught the attack with his bare hand and slammed him onto the ground at the same time, the half-dead teen was literally floored both in surprise, and literally.
"Walker is not the kind of enemy you can afford to have right now, Daniel." Vlad scolded imperiously, his tone low and dangerous. It lowered another notch, harsh and angry with a promise of threat and pain. "And yet, the deed is done. So it is obvious you need a reminder of just how arrogant you're allowed to be, my nephew."
That caught attack changed from a vibrant green, to a neon pink. The whine it made lowered to a deep hum as it grew twice in size. For a brief second, Danny could see the tips of his teacher's finger covered in darkness, black and inky, like a kind of glove to shield him from the harsh energy.
The next second was action. The teenager raised a shield with thought alone out of panic. It didn't matter. Vlad slammed the attack home, aiming for his stomach with the already broken ribs.
They barely met. His own attack, redirected at him and made more powerful, tore through the green barrier like a lead weight dropped through paper.
The area was bathed in light.
The attack hit.
Pain ensued.
And the lesson was nowhere near being over.
Sam tapped her finger impatiently. Glancing over the classroom, her eyes landed on her friends to her left.
Tucker looked the same as before, never changing. Still liked meat, was as giddy about tech as much as she was for the occult, and was still carefree and easy going. If not, just a little bit annoying.
They've been through a lot together, even more so with Danny. It filled her with warm emotions when she reminisced of their childhood. But it soured slightly when she recalled that their relationship with Danny had changed drastically.
'Danny…' looking over at him, she winced a little. They had fucked up, really bad. Her oldest friend was many things, but loyal would be one of his best qualities. But loyalty can bend and break, and they certainly came close to breaking his.
He hates lies. Well, that's inaccurate. He didn't seem to care about lying to random people he met, but lying between each other? His only friends? Well, suffice to say, he didn't like that.
They had tested their friendship, and it nearly ended. Had Danny not been such a good person, had he not been so forgiving, there'd probably still be a silence between them that he wouldn't bother trying to change. That, and he was a lonely person in general. With only two friends, he didn't have a lot to choose from. Jazz would be going to college in a year or two, and even Sam and Tucker could see just how… strained his relationship with his parents were.
And recently, it only seemed to get worse. Danny would scowl at their mention, and avoid the topic far more than he did before. He didn't seem to want to invite them over anymore, not that he did that a lot before. Things were still tense between them sometimes, and touchy topics from before were basically untouchable now unless they wanted to ruin a mood.
Gods above, that date with Elliot is definitely the biggest regret she has to this day. The little liar was a terrible date and practically ruined her friendship. Fucking littel weasel.
And now, Danny would come in sometimes looking weird. Just peeking out from his shirt, she would sometimes see bruises. He looked tired, far more than he did before. Like he wasn't getting enough sleep or he had just run a marathon. It varied, but sometimes it was there at the same time and very noticeable.
Where before, Danny would sarcastically put up with Dash and his crew of future failures, he didn't do that now. No more brushing off the obvious bullying, no more non-violent responses. He fights back. Hits hard. And Sam was pretty sure that he was more muscular than he let on under those clothes. Jackets and jeans hide a lot.
Somehow, her space dork of a friend was now the strongest among them. Physically, at least. That didn't say much for Tucker since he's always been a bit of a walking stick, but Sam took self defense classes! Sure, she didn't have that much muscle, compact as it was, but she was confident that Dash would be on his ass if she so wished. Impact and technique was her game. Boys do have a weak spot they all share.
And Danny seemed to have a ridiculous amount of strength now, with a matching confidence to boot. He's bulked up and is getting taller.
Was this puberty? Is that what's going on? Danny looked older almost. Both literally and figuratively. Staring off ahead while zoning out, her friend looked so different compared to how he did last year.
High school really does change people.
At the very least, they're getting back to what they had. Slowly. There are still moments where Danny hesitates to say something, or he leaves out what he's doing someday. Sometimes, they don't even hear from him in days.
It worried them.
Asking his sister was a no, Jazz had made it clear that they were still on her shit-list. They made it a point to avoid her, neither wanted to get yelled at or lectured. She still glared at them across the school!
Then there was the matter of Dannys' grades slipping. It wasn't that bad honestly, he just dropped down a grade letter. From A's and B's, to B's and C's. But it's in every class, and considering he has Lancer for so many, it's got to be awkward.
Sam wanted to ask so much. 'What's going on? Are you okay? What's with the bruises? Why are your grades dropping? Do you need help?'
But… how are they supposed to ask? Danny made it clear that there's boundaries between them now. Boundaries that they didn't want to push, or rather that they couldn't afford to push.
Because at the end of the day, they had fucked up, and both her and Tucker were on thin ice. 'That's what we get', she supposed. They should have gotten up to help him when he spat blood -blood!- and instead, they watched.
And he found out.
How did he even get that footage? Was it that security guard? He always was kind of friendly.
Ugh. Everything was such a mess and Sam just didn't know how to fix it. Especially with the whole Thanksgiving mess that just passed. If his mood was anything to go by, this year might have been the worse one so far. It was awkward at her house, if only because her and her parents didn't get along.
At least she didn't have to fight her food. And her parents don't fight with each other, so that was a bonus. But Dannys' do, it's an argument-fest the whole way over something that she admits is stupid. And instead of a nice family meal, it's ruined by the food coming back to life and trying to eat them.
Seriously, how? Just… how?
"Alright class," her attention was brought back to the front, "I understand that you're all restless still. What with the short vacation before winter break, but no slacking off!"
Lancer slapped the board, waking up a few of the sleepers in class. "You still have two weeks of class to go through before the break, and I will not tolerate laziness."
"Hm." Her teachers' eyes scanned the room and he nodded to himself, satisfied that he had their attention. "I may not agree with the schedule they have for the year, but before the break, you'll be having the end-of-semester exams."
As a whole, the class groaned. Lancer was not amused. "Oh, boo-hoo. After the break, you all will be getting new classes. While it's a shame to see some of you go, for others…" His eyes glanced over towards Dash and Dale, who still weren't paying attention. Sam snickered to herself.
"Still, no slacking!" He continued, tone stern, "I expect thorough effort from you all. A's and B's! There's ample opportunity to get extra-credit as well, so if you want a last minute boost in your grade, let me know!"
The bell rang suddenly, and everyone moved to get up. "Ah-ah-ah-ah, sit back down!" Obviously, the class complied. He was their teacher still, even if only for a couple more weeks. "Good. Now, I'll make this brief. My exams, for those of you who have me for multiple classes, will be held on the day before the last day of classes. Be sure to study properly."
"Have a good day, class." Finally he waved them off, a tired smile on his face.
Sam packed her bags and moved towards the door in the back. It was closer and everyone else seemed determined to go through the other one anyway. Tucker fell in line right beside her, face deep into that annoying PDA of his. When she turned to look for Danny, she saw him at the front of the class, talking with Lancer.
He looked reluctant, but determined. Maybe he's getting some extra-credit? Hopefully. Danny wanted to be an astronaut, and he couldn't afford to let his grades slip too much. She'll have to ask him later.
At the very least, talking about school stuff wasn't off-limits.
"It's been some time, Danny. How are you?"
Tiredly, the resident hero looked up at the redhead. He sighed, more to himself than to her question. It's been a… difficult break, so to say. Big monster-ghost fights, getting thrown in prison, inciting a riot, breaking out of prison, bombing that same prison, the consequences that his mentor beat into him…
Then there was Thanksgiving dinner. That, honestly, was probably the worst experience out of all of them. It must say something that family is far more stressful than escaping ghost prison. Perhaps, if just maybe the family dinner was different than it was every year -normal!- then he'd probably be in a better mood.
But no. It was, if at all possible, exactly the same as it is every year. A mess, a ruined dinner, non-stop arguments and blah, blah, blah. Another ruined holiday to add to the tally.
"I've been better." Then there was Spectra. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with her right now. What the hell is her game anyway? She kept trying to do… something. Suck something out of him, something he didn't understand. After the first session, she hadn't been successful again, but not for lack of trying.
The therapist tilted her head in interest, feeling out the emotions rolling off the oddity before her. All the emotions were still there, some even stronger than before. Anger had reached a whole new level, along with bitter resentment and sadness mixed with confused love. New emotions flooded his mind as well. Envy and contempt, indignation, small amounts of pain and shame… and an overall sense of being tired.
How was a fourteen year-old so complex?
She smiled at him, far more curious than before. "Would you like to talk about it? Was it your family again?" Spectra leaned forward in her seat, "Thanksgiving just passed, if I remember right, you were concerned that it was going to -what was the phrasing? 'Blow up again'?"
Danny sighed audibly. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked up at her. She had her tablet out again, stylus in hand and ready to take notes. This, this right here. He hates this sort of thing. It makes him feel like some kind of experiment, and after learning of what his parents did…
A spike in emotions slammed into the misery ghost, genuinely surprising her. Betrayal, anger, pain, rage. It was almost overwhelming, so much so that she couldn't even respond fast enough to nibble on any of it. Then, as soon as it was there, it was gone.
Like it had never happened.
Now that was a reaction she hadn't gotten out of him before. Adjusting her glasses which had slipped down her nose, she reconsidered the youth before her once again. A kaleidoscope. That's what he was, but for a teenager, he had a surprising level of control over his emotions.
"I don't really want to talk about it," he began while slouching into the seat, "but I guess that's what I'm here for."
Spectra wrote something down that he couldn't see, probably noting his obvious reluctance. Danny didn't even know why, he's literally told her every time that he didn't ant to talk. About anything.
"Yeah, Thanksgiving bombed again, if you were wondering."
"Ah." She raised an eyebrow. "How bad was it? You've given some… 'vague' descriptions of it before, but no real details."
Danny rolled his neck, finding small amounts of satisfaction in the series of pops that echoed in the room. "Pretty bad."
The guidance counsellor sighed quietly, "Care to elaborate?"
"Well…" He really shouldn't, Danny still didn't know her, but against his better judgement, he finally relented. "fine, I guess I can."
She scooted her chair forward a bit, eager to finally hear what was causing his rollercoaster of emotions. While she truly enjoyed siphoning off misery and depression, before she died, Penelope was a genuine psychologist. This was her bread and butter, and having such a juicy subject in front of her piqued her interest even more.
She can get her fill from literally everyone else, but none at this school had emotions so strong as he did.
"Go on, I'm all ears!"
In spite of her peppy attitude, Danny continued. "Okay… well, you know how I don't like holidays?"
She nodded, "You may have mentioned it once or twice." Or a couple times every session.
"There's a reason for that. My family isn't exactly… normal." The Halfa scratched his head in contemplation, before looking at her. "What do you know of my family? Of the Fentons?"
Spectra tilted her head back and forth in contemplation, as if tasting the word. She went over what she knew in her head before telling him what she knew. "Your family doesn't have the best reputation, honestly. From what I've been able to gather, they're… ghost hunters? Yes? And that they're rather eccentric as well."
"Eccentric…" Danny frowned at the word, scoffing at how accurate, yet off the word was. "More like obsessed, but it's not a completely wrong description. And more than my family, it's my parents. I don't really have any other family besides them and my sister."
Well, that was good. When she found out that the Fentons were ghost hunters, Spectra could honestly say that it concerned her. She was a ghost after all. They hunted her kind. She didn't know that the portal she came through was theirs, at the time at least, but after taking a peek at his house and learning of the rumors, it painted quite the picture.
And honestly, it just made figuring out the puzzle that was Danny Fenton even more of a priority. The son of two ghost hunters, with some of the strongest emotions she's ever seen in a human! As her subject!
She liked to imagine that Jack and Madeline Fenton would be frothing at the mouth to learn that a ghost was their sons' guidance counselor. Just icing on the cake, really.
"But yeah, they're ghost hunters." He clicked his teeth, and a wave of annoyance washed over her. Spectra didn't partake in it, annoyance wasn't tasty. "They started out as ecto-biologists and took to ghost hunting to fuel their experiments and profession. And they liked it, so they continued. The problem is, they liked it a little too much."
Behind her makeup, Penelope paled slightly. They hunted ghosts to fuel… their experiments? So, they captured other ghosts? Was that what those capsules were full of? Former ghosts? She thought those were samples taken from the Ghost Zone, not the leftovers from some poor sap!
"I don't know how much Jazz has told you about them," not that much, honestly, she was rather good at dodging that topic, "but they're difficult to deal with. One track mind, odd ticks and habits. Stuff like that."
"I… see?" She took a deep breath that she didn't need to recompose herself. "Actually, not really. I'd need a little more details to understand."
Danny looked over at her, green meeting blue, and he shrugged. "They're absent from our lives, is what I'm saying. And when they are there, they fuck it up and make a mess."
"Oh." Well, she wasn't expecting that. They're neglectful parents? "How so? I've never met them, but surely they can't be that bad."
And to her utter surprise, Danny growled. He literally growled! And was that creaking she heard? Wow, that's quite the grip he has if he's putting the wood armrests under that much pressure.
"You have no idea how bad they can be." His anger and resentment was spilling out like a flooded drain during a hurricane. Still raw, apparently. "Experiments at the dinner table, accidentally hitting us with their freaking fucking guns, using ectoplasm to cook food!"
"Uh…" How was she supposed to react to that?
"That's not even getting into how bad they are during the holidays! Did you know they have somehow consistently fucked up every single holiday?" He snarled to himself, as if smelling something nasty, "I mean, literally. Every single one."
"Er- no, but-"
Danny brought up his hand, pulling out a finger as if to begin counting. "New Years, Easter, Memorial day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas!" He threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
"Ah. Uh, I see."
This was getting a little out of hand, but there was no stopping him now. "Honestly, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the worst. Especially Christmas."
Oh boy, he's on a tangent. So much for having a controlled discussion.
"This Thanksgiving? Yeah, pretty much the same as usual. Which, really, just made it all the more awful." His hand scratched furiously at his head, and Spectra worried that he may begin to bleed. "Started off shitty, at least the days prior. But after I got home? Of course, they were arguing over the stupidest shit you could imagine. Just -petty stuff. All the while, me and Jazz had to sit there and listen to it while they prepped dinner."
But what were they arguing about? She was curious, wanted to ask him, but it was better for him to get it out of his system.
And he continued. "Of course, it's not a 'Fenton Family Thanksgiving' without some good ol' fashioned ectoplasm-cooked Turkey!"
Spectra wrinkled her nose in disgust. Sure, a ghost could probably eat that, but would a human be alright? And really, why?
"Yeah, that's the proper reaction." Danny said after seeing her face. "Why stop there though? May as well go the whole nine yards and cook everything with it! Wanna know what happens when you cook shit with ectoplasm?"
Well, she was kind of curious actually. "Enlighten me, I suppose."
"It comes back to life!"
What? "It comes back to life?"
"Yes!" He slammed his hands down on his armrests. "Yes, it does! The turkey. The ham. Someway, somehow, the mashed potatoes and the damn corn on the cob come alive as well! Like, how?!"
How indeed. She had no idea ectoplasm could even do that. Were they doing it on purpose?
Suddenly, he started laughing. Resentment and anger bubbled up, then it was suddenly surpassed by a burst of sadness and regret. Spectra did dip her metaphorical finger into it this time. Her eyes widened behind her glasses. 'Delicious!'
"So, you wanna know what happened? Thanksgiving attacked for the fourteenth time in a row. And you know what? My parents didn't stop arguing about once. Not when the turkey started biting the shit out of my hand. Not when the ham barreled into my sister. They just shot all the food and called it a day, like it didn't happen! Again!"
Danny took a deep breath to calm himself. The silence in the room was deafening, and the ghostly guidance counselor leaned back forward to reclaim a more dignified sitting position. She struggled, genuinely struggled, to find a way to steer the conversation back around.
But, it's kind of hard after that tantrum. How was she even supposed to respond to that? If she wasn't a ghost and didn't know how weird ectoplasm can be, she'd probably be even more torn on how to continue. Or, perhaps, dismiss that all as insane ramblings of a stressed teenager.
Then again, compared to others in her profession, Spectra certainly had more experience. Over fifty years at this point, and a whole other dimension of experiences to augment her responses. "Well," she began with just a tint of uncertainty, "that's… quite the response. I can see why you're so stressed, at least."
That was putting it mildly.
The Halfa nodded tiredly, chiding himself silently for blowing up like that. He still wasn't sure of her intentions, and Vlad had seemingly forgotten about investigating her.
"Do you feel better, at least?" She asked after the moment of silence passed.
Danny turned his head a little to think over the question. After going over it, he nodded, more to himself than to her. He did feel a little lighter. "A bit."
"Good." She smiled, and the teenager couldn't figure out if it was genuine or if there was something else behind those pretty lips. Was she just a ghost with a job, or was there something darker going on here?
"So, how did it end? Thanksgiving that is. With more detail, if possible."
He looked at her strangely, trying to figure out her angle. Her game. But he relented anyway, getting that bit off his chest felt good, though he'd never admit it. Jazz would never let him live it down. "They blew it up."
Spectras' mouth dropped open and her glasses fell down her nose. "Pardon?"
"Ha!" Danny laughed at her reaction, "Yeah, they blew it up. Dad got the ecto-launcher that's behind the curio cabinet and blew up the dining room table and all the 'food' on it."
She squinted at him, trying to find some trace of a lie. "Are you shitting me?" A hand clapped over her mouth and a rare moment of embarrassment dusted her cheeks at the slip.
The half-dead teenager snickered at her response, finding the novelty of it refreshing. This was a ghost, genuine undead from another dimension, completely floored by his ridiculous family life.
Amusement, joy and relief overpowered all the negative emotions for a moment as he laughed. Spectra felt it all and felt some level of self-satisfaction herself at the effect of just a little talk. It may as well have once again reinforced that her profession worked, despite all the naysayers that had hounded her career choice at the time. Then again, that was quite a while ago. Psychology is quite the respected profession nowadays.
"Ahem," she coughed into her hand in a vain hope of getting back some semblance of control, "I… am not sure how to respond to that. I can see why you're so stressed now."
Melancholy replaced his emotions for a moment, before being replaced with his prior feelings, albeit a tad bit lightened. "You don't even know half of it."
She raised an eyebrow and gestured with her stylus, hoping he would elaborate and satisfy her curiosity.
He didn't.
Laying back lazily, Danny sighed to himself. Today's… kind of sucked. Not terribly bad, but not great either.
The wind licked at his hair, but he paid it no mind.
Honestly, it was the whole Penelope Spectra thing that's been bugging him. He didn't know if he could trust her, felt off sometimes around her, and what did he do?
Spilled his guts about his family problems. Well, not all of them, but some of the most glaring issues that've been bugging him recently. A whole two minutes of heated ranting about how absolutely dysfunctional his parents are.
This could come back to bite him in the ass.
No ifs, ands or buts about it. If his guidance counselor turns out to be a malevolent ghost, there's no way she wouldn't use his secrets against him. He knew for a fact she would, since he definitely would as well. Anything to get the upper hand, and mid-battle banter is something that's been a part of his repertoire since day one.
Of middle school.
Then again, he didn't have ghost powers back then. And rather than battles, it was more like the jocks ganging up on him and beating him to a pulp because he didn't know when to shut his mouth.
A cloud flew over him, blocking out the sun and cooling down the air around him almost immediately. He reveled in the cold, accepting the frigid calm as his thoughts raced.
Honestly, Danny didn't mean to have an outburst like that. It's just… it piled up. The stress, the anger, the frustration, the resentment… the truth. One big culmination that led to him going on a tangent to a possible enemy, giving away way-too personal information.
Danny sighed once again. This time, a cloud passed through his position. It was far colder inside of it, but that brought out a whole new level of comfort that gave him quiet contentment. He looked down at the city below, taking in Amity Park in its entirety. It wasn't a huge place, but it had a decent population.
When there weren't any ghosts ransacking the place, it was pretty peaceful. The townspeople themselves were honestly kind of shitty, rather rude and unthankful, the lot of them. But, this was home. And he's risked life and limb to defend it… and that felt good to admit.
Risking ones' life to protect their home. Danny wondered if this is what soldiers felt, it was a kind of pride that's difficult to describe. It came from the bottom of his gut, bubbling up in odd ways that left him feeling rather good about himself.
Then he remembered that he practically told a potential enemy that his relationship with his parents was in shambles, and it all went away. "Damn it."
Vlad was going to throttle him for this. He's already been stomping him into the ground for blasting Walkers prison. Danny could only imagine what his new punishment would be, it was bad enough as is. The lectures were particularly bad, but getting 'put in his place' was definitely sucking the life out of him.
"On the bright side…" He raised his hand to his face, smirking when it ignited into green flames. With a wave of his hands, the fire swished and swooshed, bringing about a comforting heat. Flexing his fingers, the fire condensed in accordance to his will. A ball formed, about the size of a basketball. He pointed up, towards space and its endless expanse and it fired with but a thought.
Up high, it exploded like a firework. "It's getting easier."
It had been explained a couple times now, but it's hard to listen when you're getting throttled through floating boulders and obsidian pillars. The ectoplasm in Vlads' lair was primarily composed of fire-infused ectoplasm. The Ghost Zone itself is an amazing place for a ghost to regain the strength by passively absorbing it.
The endgame solution to build up, and eventually nullify his weakness to fire, was this. Get the shit kicked out of him, practically break his body, and heal with the fire-infused ectoplasm. It burns like nobody's business, but Danny can't deny the effects. Pyrokinesis is coming easier and easier with each passing day.
"Man, there's so much going on…" School, mending strained relationships with his friends, dealing with every ghost that came through the portal or crossed the country to get to it, the training… "this is all way too much for a fourteen year-old."
And wasn't that the truth? Kidnappings, life or death battles, shadow wars with undead psychologists, non-stop training. It's all just piling up, and that's not even mentioning that his parents are hunting him and basically causing a ruckus at home. He liked it better when they were cooped up in their lab, at least then he didn't have to deal with their ridiculous cooking and constant end-of-year arguments.
When the clouds cleared again, Danny was given full view of the afternoon sky. The sun was setting and the stars were coming into view, painting a wonderful image. Rather than the pitch black void of space, red and yellow pooled around the shining stars. A sudden urge filled him, and the Halfa decided to follow it.
Already high in the air, Danny shot up even further. The clouds passed by at high speed, blurs of nothing but white and grey. His eyes glowed with desire, a burning green, and a smile splayed out across his face. Slowly, color began to drain as the atmosphere got thinner and thinner. The world began to take shape, curving more and more as he gained altitude. Somewhere along the line, ice started forming along his arms and down his back.
It brought even more comfort than before.
He was higher than before, far higher than he'd ever gotten previously. Color was all but gone everywhere that wasn't below him. Danny could feel his core straining, his limit approaching, but he paid it barely any mind. He wanted to be even higher, to get closer to his goal. Suddenly, it felt like a barrier was broken, like he was somewhere different.
Danny stopped and turned around, a small smile on his face. "Oh… I must be past the stratosphere. So this is the mesosphere then." His voice is quieter than before, almost a whisper despite not wanting it to be so. The lack of oxygen, then. His lungs felt no strain, as he had no need to breath. The core in his chest was mellowing out, getting used to such high altitudes.
Looking down, Danny came to the conclusion that pictures could never do enough justice. Earth, despite how populated and polluted it's become, is still beautiful.
Down below, possibly over a hundred-thousand feet, was his home. But up here, he was alone.
Finally, Danny let go and let himself relax.
The extra-credit due in two weeks didn't matter. The ghostly psychologist he had spilled his guts to didn't matter. Every undead that came knocking on Amitys' doorstep, didn't matter. Walker and his eventual retaliation, his ghost-nazi parents, his ruined social life, his shattered dreams, his arduous and extreme training-
None of it mattered in that moment.
Ice crystals formed around him, like a second skin. Fire danced on his fingertips and electricity bounced from hand to hand. Ectoplasm pooled and bubbled around his body, floating off and around him into various shapes and sizes.
Taking comfort in his own powers, he smiled and just let them run wild.
"My…"
Rubble and debris everywhere.
Destruction and chaos as far as the eye can see. Almost all of his prisoners were free and running amok. There was no law. No order. No authority.
And worst of all…
"MY PRISON!"
His lair! His lair! Destroyed! In pieces!
Correction officers and guards, strown about and inoperable. His home, his lair, destroyed and useless! No! "That punk! I'll murder him! Halfa scum!"
With a wave of his hand, the rubble cleared and fixed itself. But just barely. Without any prisoners to empower him, he was running lower than ever before in over a century. That damn brat practically crippled him.
Looking around, Walker floated up to truly survey the damage. He could feel it, deep down, in the base of his soul. The damage was severe.
And looking about with his own eyes, that feeling wasn't wrong. Maybe ten percent had survived with minimal damage. Even the base of his island on the east side was broken off and floating nearby. Every fence was gone, though admittedly they were more for a nostalgic aesthetic effect. The towers had fallen, obliterated to the foundations. Walls, once high and mighty containing the scum of the Zone, dusted and burning. His main office was the only thing that held, including the cells surrounding it; it was the most reinforced part of the prison, and the true heart.
Shambles. His lair was in shambles. Burning and scorched, pulverized and destroyed.
Perhaps, had Phantom been the only one to retaliate, the damage may have been less. Not even ten percent of this. But he wasn't.
Catalyst. Phantom had been the catalyst. Even though they were on the backpedal, retreating to their freedom, the ghosts had turned around once they saw his little group firing up their former prison. So they joined in. Ghosts are vindictive like that, and some had been there for a few years by that point. Emotional energy creatures that they are, holding a grudge was terrifyingly easy.
Revenge was too sweet of an opportunity to pass up. What started as one, turned to five, then to twenty. In minutes there were over three hundred separate ghosts laying waste to Walkers prison. Emotions were running high, and that's saying something for beings forged from their dying emotions.
And now, there was nothing left. Most of his wraiths were out of commission and gone. He didn't have enough power to sustain such a force anymore. In one foul swoop, Phantom had ruined him.
"RAAAAGH!" It would take months to repair the damage! Maybe even years! With barely even thirty prisoners left, Walker was left with mere scraps of his former power.
"Sir!" Behind him, Bullet arrived looking far more damaged that Walker had ever seen him. Well, before the wayward bounty had been put into his place and employed. "The prison- our guards! They're-"
"I know!" Walker snapped, turning around to truly glare at him. It's a testament to his will that he didn't falter under it, but the tension grew. "I'm ruined! It'll be years before we're back up to operational standards."
Bullet grimaced but nodded solemnly. "We should prioritize recreating the cells and filling them for now, sir."
"Yes." Already schemes and plans to regain optimum standards were racing through his head. "We had the cafeteria and food to keep them complacent, but clearly the unorderly scum of the Ghost Zone don't deserve such luxuries."
He had tried to make them more comfortable. Raise morale to just the right level where they wouldn't retaliate, but weren't truly happy either. It was prison after all, they're serving a sentence. They don't need to be happy.
The insufferable Halfa floated back into his mind. That infuriating smirk. Cocky arrogance that didn't belong on a fourteen year olds face. Insubordination of untold levels!
Unforgivable.
Capital punishment. Nothing less.
"Phantom is now our main priority."
Bullet looked up, surprised and a little worried. "Sir? I… don't believe we will have the facilities or manpower to hold him. At least, not anytime soon."
"Hm." Walker hummed in cold fury. The sight of his destroyed lair would stay with him for centuries. "I know. I don't mean capture, Bullet." The warden looked at his most loyal and powerful, a dark emotion behind his green eyes. "If you get the opportunity, end him. We know here he lives, how he lives."
His hands curled in on themselves, the sound of tightening leather filling the air around them. "We can wait, be patient. Then we will strike. Everything at once, he'll lose it."
The bounty hunter shivered, but bowed his head in obedience. "Yes, Warden Walker." He looked back up, face set in stone. "What would you have me do first?"
"Obviously," he turned around and flew back towards the main holding areas. Better to start from there and build back up, "we recollect our batteries and prisoners."
He paused his descent and looked back towards his second in command. "Surely, you can handle that, right?"
"Yes sir!" Bullet saluted, ready to get back into action.
Walker nodded. "Good. Get to it."
"Oh, and if you see Wulf," Bullet stopped and turned around before he was too far, "be sure to bring the mutt back. I have plans for him."
A shiver went down his spine, but he complied. Honestly, he didn't hate the ghost. But what Walker wants… Walker gets.
A/N: Hello all. Back again, though the chapters not quite 10k, but a nice 8k.
As usual, work's kicking my ass. Took a week or two to really adjust to working nights, especially since I went from waking up at four a.m., to working through that. It was so bad I was almost physically sick from the sudden shift, but I managed.
As you can see, I'm not dead. Won't ever be, I plan on living for all eternity. Can't stop me.
Story progresses with the aftermath report of the last couple chapters. It turned out better than I thought, but still not quite what I wanted. But I want 10k chapters, yet I'm also tired of writing such lengths. So, middle ground. Not too sold on the chapter title, but it's fine I guess.
The chapter was kind of edgy, but it's supposed to be like that. Danny's fourteen, and he's taken on a responsibilitythat he's starting to realize maybe he can't quite handle. But he'll do it anyway, because he's stubborn, and despite the struggles, he's enjoying this new world he's found himself in. Sure, he gets kidnapped and slapped around, but have you seen all the shit he can do? Worth it.
Next chapter will be some more character building with a little bit of battle. After that, it's time for X-mas! That chapter is going to be far more cheery than this one, and for once, Danny will actually get to enjoy the holiday.
I know some people won't like that I skipped over the Thanksgiving scene, but I felt there wasn't a need to have that, and the Spectra blow up thing in one chapter. It's a rather vague and undetailed report of the happenings of the family holiday, but after planning it out a bit, I like my solution more. There will be more mentions in future interactions with his parents, friends and sister, but for now, don't get your panties in a twist.
If you're curious, I'm about a fourth of the way done with the next chapter of No Choice. If not, oh well.
Also, I thought I'd throw out this little notification. More: and No Choice are the only two stories I'll be doing chapter by chapter updates for. I find myself disliking the time constraintsI keep failing to meet. So, after these two stories are finished, I'll be doing arc updates.
I'm almost done with another story, at least for arc one. It's a Destiny Semi-SI; there are shorter chapters, and unlike any other story I've bothered to write so far, it's in first person for the most part, though that's only for the main character. I think I'll have my friends read it before posting, because I'm still not sure about it. Don't expect it for a while, and if Destiny isn't your cup of tea, sorry about that.
Hunter844: Yeah, I don't plan on dropping this at all. And thank you for your concern and praise. Wrists are doing better now, typing doesn't hurt at least. Stick around and enjoy the show.
Guest: Actually, it'll be changing to M soon. After X-mas, if you were wondering. Everything so far, I genuinely think isn't worth M. A little bit of gore and pain? Maybe because it's on a fourteen year old, but other than that, he hasn't been tortured or anything. It's not even as bad as some of the Wolverine comics, and he cuts people up in those and still doesn't get a super heavy rating.
Also, for Worm fics. Never looked into them until you said something, so I looked it up. Interesting stuff! I'd have to read the books to get a know-how of the universe, but I've started reading some fics so far.
Tom2011: I'll be updating No Choice soon as well, just gotta finish the next chapter. As for a , no I don't have one. I've been thinking about it since I've gotten some messages, but I'm hesitant to do so since it'dbasically be for fanfics. It's not actual original work, even if for More: I'm basically redoing the entirety of Danny Phantom. It could have been so much more than a childrens TV show, and it's looking like it'll never be more than that. I may cave and make one soon though, since I'm a greedy bastard by nature lol.
OechsnerC: Thanks man! Glad you're enjoying it.
Drake771: Thanks for the support! I'm actually surprised that you think character building is my strong suit. Personally, I think I'm kinda ass at it, but I like it when an enemy has more than a 'look, it's someone new to kick ass on'. In my opinion, fight scenes are where my efforts shine the most, and definitely where I have the most enthusiasm. But, I do put a lot of thought into the character and plot building scenes. Walker, like many of the stuff in DP, got shafted on character building. Personally, I think Desiree and Ember didn't get nearly enough fleshing out, but the same can be said about most of the antagonists, I guess.
Also, I've got the reveal for Danny and Vlad to Jazz all planned out and I can't wait~
Dp-Marvel94: I was very pleased with that myself. I'm glad someone else liked it. It's an ability that's overlooked quite a lot in fics, and I wanted to capitalize on that.
oldtimeydude: Unfortunately, it wasn't plundered. Instead, I had to do some foreshadowing and plot building for later chapters. It's still gonna be a bit till Jazz is brought in, but expect to see more of her next chapter. I think my wrists are fine for the most part now, still pangs of pain every once