Hey guys! First off, I want to apologize for leaving you all hanging for months. I had a bad case of writers block and school left me busier than ever. I took my first SAT a while ago, and I'm studying for my second one and doing a lot of things over the summer. I promised not to be a writer who goes on hiatus with no warning, and I plan to keep that promise. I'm not sure when I'll be able to put a new chapter up. To be honest, this chapter was written over the course of a few months and I spent the past week reviewing it. I did put a lot of work into this, though, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, thanks to all my loyal readers who put me on their alert list. Now enjoy :)
Chapter 8: The Close Encounters
Danny scrubbed his hands over his face.
30 ghost attacks. 30 ghost attacks had happened in one week. In London.
One ghost had been the precursor to so many more attacks. He had been lucky so far. The ghosts only caused trouble at night, or when Rosie was busy with her boyfriend and Uncle Sherlock and Uncle John had been busy with casework. The fights hadn't been reported in the local news yet. Clockwork had even offered his assistance.
He remembers feeling the weight of a medallion and seeing stillness during a difficult fight with an electric type ghost. Clockwork smiled sagely at him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small wrist watch. It was a jet black color and the strap bore his insignia all the way around it. It also had a large face which displayed military time and the date. The final feature was the two small buttons on the side of the watch.
Danny looked up in confusion. "I appreciate the gift, but I already have a phone to tell the time."
Clockwork shifted from his child form to his adult one. "Ah, but this is no ordinary watch. It does tell the time and give you the date, but it also does so much more. The top button will open up a portal to the ghost zone, and the bottom one will open up a portal to Amity Park.
It's not as if you have access to your parent's portal to send ghosts back to the Ghost Zone. You also don't have a convenient way back home if something were to go wrong and there was an emergency Amity couldn't handle by itself. This watch helps solve both of those problems. It even disappears when you transform back into your human self."
Danny looked down at the watch, contemplating it. It was practical and discrete, and it would become a necessity once his thermos was filled to capacity or Amity needed him.
"Gee, thanks-" Danny looked up to the ghost of time, only to be met with empty space. A moment later, the battle continued as if it had never stopped. Danny smiled with a renewed sense of vigor and doubled his efforts in the fight. A minute later, the electric ghost was sucked into the thermos. Danny took a moment to test out the watch, using the top button and opening up a portal to the ghost zone. He sighed in relief as the thermos emptied itself into the portal. He clicked the button again and the portal closed in a couple of moments.
"Well, that's one problem solved. Now the only issue is keeping my secret from London's greatest detective and his family…"
Things wouldn't stay simple for long, though. Everything came crashing down after one particular ghost attack.
Skulker was at it again. Their fight had moved from one of the quieter parts of London to one of the more public areas. Usually, defeating Skulker would only take a few minutes, but he had upgraded his arsenal and Danny was tired after a full day of fighting.
Danny groaned in annoyance. "C'mon, give it up, Skulker! You and I both know this will never work out for you!"
"Insolent whelp! It's only a matter of time before I succeed. You've already lost most of your strength after those other battles you went through. Your skin shall make a lovely pelt on my wall!"
"Ugh, again with the pelts!? That joke is getting older than the Ghost King!"
"It is not a joke, you fool! One day I shall capture you and you shall become my trophy!"
Danny sighed. Ok, this fight has gone on too long. I need to put a stop to this.
Danny was snapped out of his thoughts by an ecto-beam missing him by mere inches. He forced his focus back into the battle.
Ugh, I can't believe I have to deal with this crap in London!
Danny gathered up a large ball of ecto-energy and threw it at Skulker, destroying his arm in the process. Unfortunately, Skulker had also formed a large sphere which Danny didn't have a chance to avoid, one that threw him into the ground forming a crater.
Danny groaned as he hoisted himself up. As his eyes adjusted and the world stopped spinning, he saw a group of civilians standing a couple of feet away from the crater. They were frozen in fear, their eyes wide as they looked between him and Skulker.
Skulker grinned manically, forming another ecto-ball with his intact hand and tossing it at the civilians. Danny quickly flew in front of them and formed a shield which made the energy fly back at Skulker, who dodged it himself.
Danny's eyes flitted over the crowd, checking to see if anyone was injured. It was then that his eyes locked onto a familiar pair. His eyes widened.
What are they doing here?! They must have come to see the action, ugh why!
It was because of them that he didn't notice Skulker until it was too late. He felt the familiar searing sensation of ecto-energy hitting his back and he lost his balance, slamming into the concrete once more.
Danny shook off the hit as he always did, quickly getting back up and floating a few feet into the air. He saw Skulker preparing another ecto-ball and aiming for the crowd once more.
He suddenly felt a wave of protective fury wash over him.
There's no way I'm letting him hurt my family!
Danny charged up a ball of energy, letting it grow bigger until it was as large as him, before throwing it with all the force he could muster. He did this in such a short amount of time that there was no way of avoiding it. The hit was true, and Skulker's suit exploded after Danny's force was applied to it. Danny put up another shield around the civilians to prevent them from being hit by debris and shrapnel.
Once the dust settled, Danny lowered the shield. He looked once more to the civilians (more specifically John and Sherlock) and let a smile of relief slip onto his face.
Thank goodness they're alright.
Still, as another measure of security, he called out into the crowd, "Is everyone alright? Does anyone need medical assistance?"
He couldn't help but smile as the crowd shouted a bunch of "No's" back to him. There were also a few "Thank you's" scattered in, something which he wasn't used to with the adults of Amity Park.
He glanced at John and Sherlock out of the corner of his eye, and saw that Sherlock had turned his piercing gaze onto him fully, deducing what he could about him.
Danny shivered. Sherlock's gaze usually didn't make him feel unsettled, but it was different when he had a secret identity to maintain. The crowd was also getting louder and coming closer. People were starting to ask questions, and Sherlock and John were pushing their way to the front of the crowd.
Danny was glad he could, quite literally, make himself turn invisible and escape the scene before things escalated any farther.
The crowd (not including Sherlock and John) gasped as Danny disappeared in sight. People started whispering, speculating on what had just occurred. BBC News had captured the entire battle and the news anchors grinned in excitement.
Sherlock and John exchanged glances. Both of them had already forgotten the nearby crime scene they had come to examine, as had Lestrade and his crew, who were gazing up at the sky in awe. The two of them turned to Lestrade.
"Greg, mate, we'll be going now. The crime scene was contaminated after that fight, so there's no point in examining it now."
"I agree with John. We shall be taking our leave. We shall see you later, Gavin."
Greg made no move to correct Sherlock or stop them from leaving. He turned back towards his team and shouted orders at them.
As Sherlock and John hailed a cab at the curb, John turned to Sherlock, his face filled with concern.
"Are you alright?"
Sherlock's smile would have seemed genuine to an outsider, but John could see the uneasiness in it. "I'm fine. You're alright as well?"
"Yes, I'm fine. The crowd was uninjured as well."
John sighed. "That attack, though...Things could have gone much worse."
"I agree, and I feel that this is only the beginning, John."
"Luckily, everyone is fine. That ghost boy, Phantom, he did a fine job of protecting everyone."
"Indeed. I can tell he's been doing this for months. Did you see the way he looked at us, though?" Sherlock could have sworn he had seen the ghost freeze and his eyes widening as he saw them.
"No, I didn't see anything." John looked at Sherlock in confusion.
"I suppose it was nothing. Forget I mentioned it."
"Well, whatever happens, supernatural or not, we'll get through it together, just like we always do."
John's smile was fond and reassuring. "I love you, Sherlock."
Sherlock smiled back.
"I love you too, John."
Well, that's the end, at least for now! I'm going to try and post at least two new chapters this summer, but I'll have to wait and see what my schedule brings me. This is milyash2131, signing off and wishing you a happy summer break :)