Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom. Nickelodeon and Viacom do, and they are very big companies armed with lots of money and lawyers. Since I'm not making any money from this and I never will be, there is nothing for the law-ninjas to sue out of me.
Author's Note: Holy crap, did I manage to blow my update deadline bigtime. I swear, the closer this story gets to its conclusion, the more reluctant my muses are to cooperate with me. At least this one's a long chapter!
Chapter 19: Slamming Doors
"You show no regrets
About all the things you did or said
I have failed you
But believe me
You failed me too"
-"Destroyed" - Within Temptation
"That's it?"
"Yes, that is the nearest of his outposts."
"Additionally, it appears to serve as a major supply depot for most of his operations in this area."
"Is it now?"
Dan smirked while his two reluctant companions exchanged fretful glances; all three peering at the facility in question from behind a distant floating boulder. So far the Observants seemed to be playing honest, there was no doubt or question that the bustling outpost a few hundred yards away was under the command of Maghnus. Maybe they really were so desperate as to be honest with him.
"How are you going to attack it?" One of the mono-eyed ghosts dug up the courage to ask.
"I fly in and start blowing stuff up, how else would I attack it?" Dan retorted dryly.
"Isn't that... rather blatant and unsubtle?" The other Observant squeaked.
"I don't do subtle." The hot-tempered ghost sneered, lobbing a green energy blast the size of a small car over the boulder and square into the center of the complex.
It detonated, the shockwave breaking over the boulder the trio where hiding behind. An alarm klaxon began to wail as the outpost turned into a swarm of panic like a kicked anthill; a smaller green explosion went off, and the alarm swiftly fell silent.
"What-?"
"I'm good at multitasking." Dan smirked wickedly. "And here I thought you had been paying attention?"
The two Observants exchanged confused glances before looking to the outpost again, where explosions continued to rip through the complex. Two ghosts were attacking in tandem, matching capes billowing in the wind...
"What the-!"
"I can duplicate myself, remember?" Dan remarked boredly over the rumble of another blast. "You didn't honestly think I was just going to leave the two of you unsupervised, did you?"
Meanwhile, the duplicates darted into the thick of the confusion, one copy flinging energy blasts at the watch towers; the other grabbing catapults and other siege engines and throwing them at the flustered army grunts. The Observants exchanged uncomfortable glances, the scene evoked an all too familiar memory from over a year ago: maniacal laughter, a city in panic, a demon incarnate rampaging unchecked through the streets and tossing aside heavy military vehicles like mere playthings. That Dan was doing such things for a cause they supported did little to make the scene any less unnerving.
"While I'm busy tearing the place to bits, where is the next one?" The taller ghost smirked, his conversational tone ever-so-slightly malignant.
"Our network sighted another one roughly twenty miles in that direction-" One of the Observants pointed into the distance. "That's the next closest one to our current location."
Another explosion, and a skeletal monster went sailing over the boulder with a yelp. An instant later one of the copy-Dans darted overhead, grabbing the monster and bodily tearing the bony beast in half, quickly discarding the corpse and floating down to join the conversation.
"That's too close." The new arrival picked up the discussion without missing a beat.
"The idea is to hit Maghnus in random places." The original smirked, suddenly taking flight and joining the battle in the rapidly falling outpost and leaving the duplicate to continue discussing targets with the Observants.
"He can't predict where I'll appear and set up an ambush if there isn't a pattern." The duplicate finished the other's comment.
The Observants glanced at one another uneasily while Dan smirked. The use of his duplicates and tagging in and out wasn't so much for the efficient destruction of the base, though having two attackers was quicker than if he had just gone in solo. Despite his claim of not being subtle, the duplication ploy was specifically to make Dan's current allies uneasy; he wanted them kept firmly off balance while dealing with him.
He chuckled his amusement at their anxious glances as he flew in over the smoldering depot, snatching what he assumed was a higher ranked goon by the heavily embroidered red cloak. Ducking a flurry of indignant sword swings, Dan half-spun and launched the goon to a shattering impact against the nearest intact section of the fortified wall.
"You know, you really need to quit thinking so two-dimensionally." He quipped, blasting another attacker that was trying to sneak up behind him.
"This is modern warfare, and you aren't protected at all from aerial assaults!" His duplicate finished the taunt as the two ghosts both jumped into the air, circling overhead like a pair of giant vultures.
The two begun systematically carpet-bombing the outpost from above, a veritable rain of small to medium sized beams and explosive fireballs. Explosions rocked the complex, the last remaining sections of wall and watchtowers crashing down with the sort of roar that would make the ground shake if any remained.
Dan's two duplicates winked out as he landed in front of the wide-eyed Observants, dusting off his gloves. Without further preamble, he formed a portal out of the Ghost Zone and hauled them through after him.
"Alright, where's the next one?" Dan smiled wickedly.
--
"And that's what he said he was going to do." Danny concluded his account of what Dan told him. "He's probably causing havoc in the Ghost Zone right now."
"Well, that keeps him busy, I guess." Paulina frowned, studying a pile of rubble.
"Oh, so he thinks he can just waltz into the Ghost Zone and -"
"Seriously Valerie, stay on target." Tucker interrupted with a bass rumble while hefting one of the larger slabs of broken concrete. "If he's busy fighting right now, that keeps him out from underfoot so we can find this gauntlet thing."
"Besides, if he's going to be rampaging and attacking anybody, it might as well be the same guy we're fighting against." Sam pointed out. "After all, he could have decided to find the gauntlet, too."
Nobody wanted to contemplate the situation that would have resulted from that. Another fight at the very least, and a serious and potentially fatal distraction from the real danger at the worst. Plus the idea of Dan armed with anything remotely approaching ultimate power was not a pleasant one, no matter how much he might have changed.
"I just don't know what he thinks he can do." Danny remarked as he joined the search efforts. "He's not stupid, he has to know he's nowhere near as powerful as Maghnus is. Trying to fight that guy head on is just asking for another pounding!"
"We can't control what he does." Dora dragged a steel beam out of the wreckage. "As you've said, he isn't stupid. I doubt he will likely confront that tyrant directly until he's fairly certain of victory."
"I don't care what he does." Valerie grumbled, waving a scanning wand over the smaller debris revealed by the removal of the beam. "Hey, hold on a second-!"
The scanner was beeping at something in the pile of rubble. Nearly all activity ground to a halt as all eyes turned toward the huntress and the heap of debris she was examining. In moments, shovels were out and the effort concentrated on digging through the smaller fragments of pulverized concrete.
Slowly the dull gleam of gold became visible, the sunlight striking a faint shimmer from something smooth and metallic among the gritty rubble. The sight of the treasure prodded the efforts on, and before long Valerie was prying their find out of the wreckage. It was golden in color, the shine visible even through nearly a decade's worth of dust, the metallic surface itself unmarred for all it had been exposed to the elements. It was shaped like an armored glove, the fingers tipped with points lending the appearance of claws. One side had a series of angular indentations, appearing to be settings for some sort of stones; undoubtedly the gemstones Vlad told them about.
"The gauntlet!" Sam gasped.
"Hey, that's great!" Danny grinned. "We found it!"
"Not to rain on the parade guys, but it's a little early to be celebrating." Tucker pointed out. "We've got one gem, and the gauntlet itself. We still need three more gems, remember? Two more of the magic ones, and the power source one."
The reminder put an immediate damper on the premature celebration as with a few grumbles everyone scattered back to work. Valerie heaved a sigh and experimentally slid the gauntlet over her right arm, flexing the jointed metal. It didn't feel like any sort of super-powerful artifact from the ancient Ghost Zone; in anything, it felt like a stuffy and vaguely uncomfortable piece of flimsy metal armor, even if it fit her arm perfectly.
Just a few more gems to go and then we'll be ready to go up against that ghost!
--
"This isn't a good location-"
"What do you mean it isn't?" Dan glowered at the Observants. "You just told me a few minutes ago that this was a good location to hit!"
"What my partner means is we have just received word that Maghnus is in the area." The other mono-eyed ghost countered. "Your attack on the outpost might draw his attention prematurely."
"You mean you haven't figured it out by now?" The fire-headed ghost sneered. "I want his attention. This is perfect."
The outpost was in the middle of the debris field that had once been Walker's prison a long time ago, and cut from the same mold as the previous half dozen places Dan had already trashed. The debris field would provide ample cover for Dan's getaway after the explosions attracted the tyrant's attention.
"Wait-"
The first explosion interrupted the one-eyed ghost, as Dan was already entering the fray. He neglected to leave a clone watching the two Observants; they had proven themselves either trustworthy enough or too cowardly to attempt any treachery. The first series of blasts knocked in walls and sent skeletal goons scattering in panic. Before long, ballistas and other war engines were caught in the conflagration, adding to the chaos as ropes snapped, supports cracked and weapons misfired into the confusion.
"We should get away before the tyrant comes to see what's going on."
"But if we do that, we will lose our best hope of stopping Maghnus."
The Observants' debate was cut short by a red blast lancing across the outpost, silencing the battle save for the thunderclap of its passing a moment later. Dan whirled, either expecting the disturbance; or pretending he had been expecting it. Maghnus strode forward through the smoke and scattering minions before him, sword held ready with a red gleam.
"So the coward has finally chosen to reveal himself!" The tyrant bellowed, the ground shaking with every step toward Dan.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Dan sneered in response, kicking off the ground to hover eye level with the giant ghost.. "I was wondering how long until you decided to crawl out of your hole and come play."
"Hand over the rest of the Ascendancy, and your destruction will be swift and painless." Maghnus growled, leveling his sword to point at the fire-headed ghost.
"Isn't this the part where you demand I give it to you in exchange for my life?" Dan countered, one hand behind his back and preparing an energy blast.
"Your life has long been forfeit, since the time of your first infantile resistance!" The tyrant roared. "And now you still test my patience; your demise shall be assuredly slow, and you will be awake and aware for every moment of its pure agony as I use my strength to dismantle everything that you are, were, and ever shall be!"
The boast was met with an explosive blast to the face, Dan holding one hand forward and looking smug at his work.
"You talk too much."
Maghnus met the taunt with an inarticulate bellow of rage and launched himself at the smaller ghost. Dan was caught by surprise at the tyrant's speed, and was only able to move out of the way enough to be smacked by the flat of the sword rather than the blade's cruel edge.
"We must flee!" In a flash, the two Observants were beside Dan, who had been sent reeling several hundred feet from the impact. "Hurry, one of those portals!"
"Don't tell me what to do." Dan snapped, backhanding the nearer of the two ghosts.
Maghnus loomed closer, but his murderous gaze had changed to one of mild confusion. The tyrant wasn't looking at Dan, but at something a dozen feet to the left, shining with its own light.
"What trickery is this?!" Maghnus boomed, advancing on the other object.
Dan bit back a curse and launched himself at the tyrant, one shoulder slamming the larger ghost in the midsection and knocking him momentarily off balance. He took the brief lapse to plant himself between Maghnus and the glowing vortex.
Vlad's portal.
--
"Found another one!" Paulina crowed, holding her prize aloft. "Two, I think!"
It was the first good sign since they had found the gauntlet itself a few days prior. Between the long, fruitless hours, uncomfortable weather, and continued tension about Dan and Maghnus, tempers had grown short.
"Did you? Which ones?" In an instant a crowd gathered around the cheerleader, who was hurriedly working on breaking up another chunk of congealed rubble, slowly prying her prizes from the debris.
"Blue one, and a yellow one!" Paulina announced, holding up the two stones so the dusty gems caught the light and sparkled. "Is that all of them?"
"Not yet." Valerie groused, taking the stones and fitting them into their settings on the gauntlet. "We still need to find the last one, that Vlad said powers the thing. Until we have that, it's just a gaudy decorative piece."
"Ech, you've got that right about being gaudy." Paulina made a face as she looked at the device Valerie was wearing. "If it wasn't some kind of super powerful weapon, I'd want to sell it or scrap it to get a nice new necklace or something instead!"
"Well the sooner we stop gabbing about fashion, the sooner we'll find the thing." Sam muttered, already moving a small boulder off the pile of rubble.
"What's the status report from Patrol HQ?" Tucker decided to change the topic before the girls could start sniping at one another again.
"Last I heard from Vlad, there's been a steady stream of ghosts fleeing the Ghost Zone." Valerie admitted. "He said that he and Undergrowth are coordinating things so the ghosts have somewhere to stay without disrupting the city. And apparently he has been busy harassing that Maghnus guy, from what some of the refugees are telling Vlad."
"That's what I told you he was probably doing." Danny remarked under his breath, helping Sam with another boulder.
"Remember, this is Valerie we're dealing with." Sam whispered to her friend. "Obsessive, really hates certain ghosts, remember?"
"Like I could forget?"
The digging resumed, a slow melancholy settling over the group. They had no real way to be certain the last gem was in the prison; records regarding the inmate the Guys in White had interrogated were sketchy at best. If the final gem wasn't somewhere in the prison wreckage, the entire plan to use the Reality Gauntlet against Maghnus was useless.
"Hey, I think I'm getting a reading on something!" Paulina announced over the beeping of the scanner.
"Why does the scanner sound weird?" Tucker peered down at the device.
"Yeah, it's made a sort of pinging noise for the other stuff, it's making more of a beeping like-" Valerie paused. "... a ghost radar?!"
All activity paused for a moment as all hands dropped digging gear and went for portable radars and weapons. The radars had long since been calibrated to recognize the ghosts currently present, which meant that whatever was setting the equipment off wasn't a familiar acquaintance.
"Why don't you come on out already, ghost?" Valerie spat, glaring at the expanse of rubble toward the area indicated by the radar blip. "It's not like we don't know you're here!"
A thin, hissing laugh drifted over the group, a pile of debris shifting as something underneath began to move. "I think you've found something that belongs to me. Oh the irony, to have found the rest of it, only to have it stolen away at the most dramatically opportune moment! Ha ha!"
"Why does that voice sound familiar?" Sam already had her thorn whip materialized and held at the ready.
"I think it's the annoying laugh." Danny quipped.
"Stay back, Valerie, whatever it is wants the gauntlet!" Paulina moved in front of the huntress, weapons ready.
"Yeah, whatever it is, it's taking this stupid thing over my dead body!" Valerie retorted, her own weapons in hand and lined up on the shifting debris.
The taunting voice dropped to a lower octave as a concrete slab abruptly flipped over, forced aside by the ghost manifesting itself. "Little girl, that can be arranged."
A billowing black coat and top hat only served to make the ghost's slug-white features seem even paler. Beady glowing red eyes leered over a nose that seemed tacked on as an unsightly afterthought to the ghost's face. What would have been a sharp dress shirt and vest beneath the coat instead resembled a blackened, scowling fanged face, woven teeth cradling a brightly gleaming red gemstone pulsing with light like some grotesque imitation of a heartbeat.
The gathered group and the ghost stared at one another for a long moment before recognition dawned on several faces.
"Freakshow?!"
--
"A portal!" The Observants quickly dove through the vortex, wanting to get as far from Maghnus as possible.
"Another gateway that links my realm to that of mankind?" The tyrant very nearly purred the question. "Excellent, a beachhead into that ancient territory!"
"I don't think so!" Dan inhaled deeply.
The fire-headed ghost had to act quickly. The very thing he had been trying to prevent had been caused by his own carelessness; one of the portals to the real world had been found. Something had to be done, and quickly, otherwise Maghnus would go right through and it would be all over.
"And what can one pathetic ghost such as you do to stop-" Maghnus was cut short by the ghastly cacophony of Dan's full-powered Ghostly Wail, the sonic attack driving the horned ghost's hands to his ears and making him back a few dozen feet up from the force of it.
"More than you think." Dan snarled, turning and diving through the portal.
The Observants were arguing in the middle of Vlad's lab when he touched down. Their debate died as they saw him stalking forward, anger plastered on the fire-headed ghost's face.
"What do you intend-"
The query was cut off by a flurry of fist-sized green blasts Dan lobbed at the portal and the equipment surrounding it. Miniature explosions tore up the portal's framework, annihilating the machinery that maintained the whirling vortex. With a dying sputter the green portal winked out, leaving a yawning dark space showing only the stone walls of the lab in the broken gateway.
"Not the nicest way to solve the problem." Dan dusted his hands off, surveying his handiwork. "But it's well documented that 'nice' isn't how I work."
The two Observants exchanged worried looks. They were stranded and dependant on Dan's mercy to get back to the Ghost Zone; unless they made the trek to Amity Park to throw themselves on the mercy of the Patrol there. Neither option was particularly attractive.
"I... see." One of the two finally spoke up. "What do you intend to do now?"
Dan paced in thought, one hand carelessly rubbing his chin. "Simple. Keep attacking Maghnus' outposts."
"But, what about Maghnus? What if you encounter him again?" The other Observant sputtered out in surprise.
Dan turned, scowling at the one-eyed ghosts. "My plan is to keep him distracted until the others find that stupid Reality Gauntlet. If I run into him again, I keep him busy. Is that too much for you glorified eyeballs to grasp?"
The Observants exchanged concerned glances again before sighing in unison. "Very well. There are still plenty of outposts and other targets you haven't gotten to yet."
"Excellent, then let's get to it. I haven't got all day."
--
"What the heck are you doing here?" Danny growled, dropping into a combat stance.
"Is that-?" The ghost leered down at Danny. "It is you! It's all your fault I wound up here, ghost boy!"
"My fault you what-?"
"The Guys in White had Freakshow moved to this prison to interrogate him about the Gauntlet." The former GiW agent sheepishly admitted, also aiming his weapon at the freakish ghost. "I guess he got killed when Phantom blew up the building."
"But I'm not bitter, there are definite... perks..." Freakshow raised clawed hands menacingly. "Such as taking revenge on you!"
"Whoa!" Danny dove out of the way, the deranged ringleader barely missing him.
"Oh no you don't, freak!" Tucker bellowed, lunging forward and bringing his spiked tail to bear in a whipcrack that sent Freakshow flying with a startled yelp.
The impact startled the freakish ghost more than it seemed to injure him, the gem embedded in his midsection glowing all the brighter for the abuse. "Come now, that wasn't very dramatic!"
"Drama this!" Sam joined the attack, catching Freakshow's arms and pinning them to his sides.
"Oh, I do love escape tricks!" The ghost giggled madly, the vine whip falling away, neatly sliced in a dozen places.
"Open fire!" Valerie ordered, immediately raising a firestorm of anti-ghost weaponry directed at the former circus ringmaster.
Remarkably, the shots seemed to slide off the ghost, doing minimal damage. Somehow, it seemed as though the red gem was protecting Freakshow against the worst of the onslaught.
"That's it! Now this is suitably dramatic action before I strike you all down! Ha!" Freakshow cackled, lashing out with a hand that suddenly shifted into a large scythe.
"It's no good!" Danny called over the roaring of ecto-weapons. "It's just sliding off him!"
"Oh, and a door prize to the ghost boy!" Freakshow remarked dryly, forming a door-shaped ectoplasmic burst that he sent flying at Danny.
The bludgeoning attack was intercepted by Tucker's horn-crested head, the presently draconic geek countering with a blast of fire that only seemed to slide off Freakshow like oil on water.
Valerie hung back, studying the mess of attack and counter, defense and parry. That gem Freakshow was carrying seemed to glow and flash brighter whenever an attack struck the ghost. A quick glance at the gem and at the gauntlet on her arm confirmed her suspicions: Freakshow was using the Reality Gauntlet's power source to bolster his own defenses.
It gave the huntress an idea.
"Paulina, cover me!" Valerie snagged Paulina and whispered the order.
Valerie holstered her weapons and recalled her jet sled, using the piled rubble as cover and skirting around the outer edge of the skirmish. Paulina laid down covering fire, drawing the ghost's attention to the Patrol and away from Valerie and the Reality Gauntlet. The huntress took up position behind Freakshow, the gem's location fixed in her head as she stealthily closed the remaining distance.
Paulina was watching, and as soon as she saw Valerie was in position she shouted a new order; this one directed not at the Patrol, but at the two dragons participating in the skirmish.
"Grab him!"
"Wait, what?" Tucker glanced in confusion at the former cheerleader.
"Just do it!" Dora surged forward, a tidal wave of blue and green scales.
Freakshow gave a girlish shriek as he tried to back away from the wall of teeth and claws bearing down on him, but Dora caught his arms in her front claws. Her tail snaked around and coiled around his legs, effectively tying him down.
"What idiocy is this? Do you really think that's going to work-?"
"No, but this will!" Valerie shouted, leaping from her hiding place, striking out with the clawed fingertips of the Reality Gauntlet aimed squarely at the ghost's back.
"Is it now?" Freakshow purred, turning intangible and about to slip out of Dora's entrapment.
Valerie's only answer was a smirk as her armored hand plunged through the space the intangible ghost was occupying until her grip found the one thing that wasn't intangible. She closed her hand on it, her forward momentum taking the huntress into a controlled tumble past Freakshow and beneath Dora's front legs.
Freakshow gave another high pitched shriek, sputtering angrily as he pulled himself clear of Dora's grip. "Why you-!"
"Not so tough without this, are you spook?" Valerie climbed to her feet, flashing her prize.
The power gem gleamed in the sunlight as she slapped it into its place on the Gauntlet, the golden device reflecting the multicolored light as each of the gems began to glow with its own light.
"Give it back!" Freakshow snarled, lunging at Valerie.
"How about not?" Valerie grinned, aiming the gauntlet at the charging ghost. Yellow energy collected in her open palm, and Freakshow slammed face-first into a concrete wall that materialized out of the rubble.
"Valerie, should we finish him off now that you got the gem from him?" Paulina asked, pointing her weapon at the ghost's bald head.
The huntress contemplated the gauntlet for a moment. "Freakshow was put in jail for a string of robberies and stuff awhile ago, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he was using ghosts to do his dirty work." Danny remarked with an annoyed tone, recalling his part in that mess all too well.
Freakshow was about to get up and resume trying to attack, but wisely froze when the sound of fully half a dozen ecto weapons locked onto him.
Valerie studied the pinned spook. Without the power gem, the ghost's strength was clearly lackluster; he was completely vulnerable. It would be better to finish him off so that he wouldn't be a threat to anybody again. For some reason though, the idea didn't sit well with her; Freakshow was utterly vulnerable and at her mercy now that she had the gauntlet.
"What was his prison sentence?" Valerie asked suddenly, earning confused looks from everyone present.
"Fifty years." The former GiW agent replied. "He'd barely begun to serve his sentence when the prison was destroyed."
"Did he now?" Valerie shifted her attention to the gauntlet, tapping the gems in the sequence Vlad had told her to unlock the device's full power. "I think I've got a better idea. He wasn't sentenced to capital punishment back then."
So it was an excuse to give the gauntlet a test run, but the idea of finishing the former ringmaster off when he was in no position to defend himself didn't sit right with the huntress; not after her 'discussion' with Dan a few days prior.
"A better idea?" Sam asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Yeah." Valerie aimed the gauntlet again at Freakshow, a golden beam leaping from the device toward the pinned ghost. "How about he serves the rest of his sentence?"
"Aiee!" Freakshow shrieked as the beam hit him, lifting him into the air for a moment before dropping him unceremoniously back to the ground. "What... what did you do, girl?!"
Valerie smirked as she surveyed her handiwork. "Wow, it worked. From ghost to human with hardly a thought! Alright guys, take 'im away!"
Freakshow sputtered indignantly, searching hands quickly proving Valerie's statement right; she'd used the Reality Gauntlet to completely cancel his ghostly status, stripping what power he'd had. He tried to flee on foot, but unused to the effects of gravity, the ringmaster stumbled on the debris and was easily apprehended by the Patrol members, including one particularly pleased former member of the Guys in White.
"Whoa, that was... either really cool, or really creepy." Danny admitted.
"No kidding." Valerie agreed, studying the gauntlet on her arm. "And with this, we can take care of that Maghnus creep! C'mon, let's get back to headquarters and get the freak here delivered to lockup! We've got a tyrant to take down!"
And maybe somebody else to take care of while we're at it.
Valerie's wristband communicator buzzed, breaking her momentary reverie. Glancing at it, she raised her arm and answered the call. "Valerie here. What's up?"
Vlad's face on the tiny screen was strained, it almost looked like he had smudges of soot marring his usually impeccable business suit. His white hair was dusted with black and disheveled, and it looked as though he'd been roughed up if the bandaid on his forehead and the uncovered scratches were any indication.
"What happened?" The huntress' tone turned frigid.
"That's a very good question, young lady." Even looking like he'd been in a brawl, the billionaire's tone of voice was as measured as always. "Something must be happening in the Ghost Zone, because something came through your portal."
"Cut to the chase, Masters. What happened?"
Vlad sighed briefly, straightening his rumpled tie before answering.
"'What happened' is simple." The billionare began, pausing to brush some soot and dust from his hair.
"And?"
"In short, your Ghost Portal just exploded."
Author's Notes: Geez guys, I am sorry about missing my update deadline by like a month and a half. Like I said before, it seems like the closer I get to the end of the fic, the more reluctant my muses are to let it end. With this chapter posted, there's just six more chapters until this project is over and done with. Scary thought, huh?
Anyway, excuses aside, water guns and lemonade to my awesome (and patient) reviewers: Selofain, Enray, Phantom-Akiko, i AM the Random Idiot, Angelic Kittens, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, Tie-dyed Trickster, Akino Ame, Fulcon, BaronOBeefDip, Luiz4200, Moony's Metamorphmagus, Sukoru, Clueless.1, Truth91920, phantoms-allie, spiritmind675, darkness over day, Eleirah, and Blouper! (And I swear I'll respond to that essay of a review you left me, probably sometime this week. Good grief, you should have seen the look on my face at the length of that review!)