Dark in the island
Chapter 09: The Castle
The sun rose over the horizon with all its mighty glory shining over the island and the remaining creatures of hell that stood ready to confront the invaders, zombies dressed like musketeers stood as firmly as their quivering bodies allowed them, knights in their old armor looked at the tree line waiting for their foes, swords eager to draw blood. Only the sounds of waves striking the cliffside and the cowing of crows broke the silence every so often, the knight commander looked at the blue sky without any thoughts roaming his mind but his eyes noticed a strange circular object flying from the forest into the sky leaving behind a black smoke trail following by a whistle of sort as it bends towards the defensive line.
A mighty explosion shook the land as the mortar round hit the center of the musketeer line sending nearly a dozen and a half zombies back to their graves in pieces, and yet, the rest of the undead hardly move from their respective position either due to their rotting brains being unable to register the action that just took place or perhaps their old training still linger within preventing them from breaking formation. It was then that the knight commander rose his rusty sword finally breaking the undead stupor as they aimed their muskets towards the tree line where the explosive came from, six more rounds came flying completely destroying the musketeer line before they even had the chance to pull the trigger.
"Direct hit on all targets, Commandant Jack."- Tanya, leader of the army team said as she observed the green flames through a pair of binoculars confirming the deaths of at least eighty zombies which made her smirk.
The second and third musketeer lines quickly advance getting ready to attack, their jittering muskets aiming at the trees as their leaders couldn't see the attackers. Tanya and her men along with the rest of the hunters took cover behind trees and rocks as the zombie horde fired their muskets. Pieces of trees and stone flew into the air as the lead bullets made contact bringing Tanya dreadful memories as she recalled her team being ambushed by the undead, half her team gone just for a lack of concentration, despite their training she fell victim to overconfidence, a mistake that she will not make again.
It was then that the heavy sounds of tracks brought the dark skin woman back from her memory trip. The massive tank-like camper shoved through trees as if they were made out of paper, just behind came the zealot team, groovy gang, and the remainder of the cheerleader team that was hanging on the backside of the vehicle, left with no more options was that Paulina and Star had combined with the Manson and Fenton teams.
The windows on both sides of the armored vehicle slide opened, though Tanya could only see Danny Fenton sitting on the window frame with his energy rifle at the ready, the boy was completely covered from head to toe in that strange skintight jumpsuit, his face concealed behind the gas mask that she now knew held several purposes. The woman was more than sure that Maddie Fenton was on the opposite window, her attention was drawn to the vehicle's rooftop where she saw Jazz Fenton preparing her heavy machine, still wondering how a girl her size and build could wield such a massive weapon like a professional soldier.
With Jack Fenton leading the assault was that all teams began their march towards the bridge, hearts beating fast but confident in their victory as the enemy's main defense had been decimated thanks to the mortar shells sent by the GAV missile system, but using them any further would put the bridge in great danger as it was a few hundred years old and without any proper maintenance. The knights were the first to charge head-on towards the advancing crowd making the armored vehicle their main objective, spears though rusted by years of neglect were still as intimidating as years prior making a few members of the zealot team gulp down yet were confident in their new leadership and above all the GAV.
"Fire!"- Jack yelled through the intercom.
A deadly flurry of colorful beams littered the sky followed by the clanking of metal hitting the ground, the knights and their undead steeds fell one after another as they were struck by the riflemen who held no mercy for such abominations. Danny felt shivers running up his spine as the Zealot team began signing a religious song that he could not make out as they walked firing their rifles with poor precision but the mass of enemies allowed for more than one lethal impact. The GAV frontal machine gun that Jack controlled from the interior made quick work of most of the charging forces who had never witnessed the power of the gunpower much less of concentrated energy bolts.
Armor melted and rotten flesh charred as bodies piled up within the first few minutes, the conjoined hunters proof to be much stronger united rather than marching on their own, though the musketeers' slow firing rate and melee-only soldiers that composed the elite troops gave the ghost hunters great advantage thanks to their more powerful energy ranged weapons. Tanya couldn't help but smile as she saw the zombies and knights fall like puppets having their strings cut, her eyes then moved upwards to Jazz Fenton who mow down several rows of undead using the mounted machine gun on top of the GAV.
"This is like some fucking movie!"- Star yelled into Paulina's ear and yet the cheerleader could barely make out her friend's words.
The two cheerleaders had strapped themselves unto the back of the GAV for much easier movement and shooting, their aim was poor despite not having to walk and fire at the same time, though, both girls would have greatly preferred to have stayed at camp or at least to encouraged their new team with a few of their sexy dance routines at the far back, unfortunately, it was unanimously agreed they too have to fight after hearing them bragged about killing an Arachne alongside Jeremy Manson who didn't doubt flexing about his exploits so far, it would have been a tall tale if not for his camera footage that had him running around screaming but ultimately killing off several monsters.
Using the red dot sight was that Paulina fired her energy rifle over at the charging knights, her aim left much to be desired but managed to strike down more than one creature. Star had a crocked grin drawn across her face as she fired her rifle with far better results than her teammate, on the other side of the GAV were Sam and her father shooting down any stragglers they managed to lay their eyes upon, fury and vengeance fueled their drive, ironically, killing zombies and knights had become a bit of a competition as every hunter was rather quick with their weapons. Many praises were sung in favor of Fenton brand rifles due to their high precision and nearly none existent recoil.
Paulina lifted her head as she noticed Valerie best known by the rest of the ghost hunters as "The Red Huntress" flying overhead on her glider, missiles came out from the front destroying a column of knights before engaging a line of zombies with her automatic energy machine guns. Despite her impressive assault, the results were less than what the GAV had done so far, the undead aim their rusty muskets over at the flying girl but couldn't hit her nor come close to hitting her.
All four suddenly slammed their heads against the GAV once the vehicle abruptly stopped, Jazz and her father continued their onslaught from their positions as the rest of the hunters rushed towards the nearest barricade, before either of the cheerleaders or Manson could unstrap was that the backdoor slide upwards allowing for Brittany and Sarah to rushed out screaming their lungs out as they charged towards the bridge firing upon any creature, they could lay their eyes on.
"Fucking losers"- Paulina muttered as she unstrapped and followed behind Danny who leaped out the window.
(XXXXXX)
The initial skirmish had ended but the battle was far from over, Danny used the binoculars installed in his gas mask to see a large contingency of malformed creatures gathering further into the bridge, zombies rushed to take a new position behind a two-floor carriage, a handful was already aiming their muskets, Ectopuss monsters and their variants were getting ready to make a stand, werewolves were at the ready alongside undead musketeers. The knights were nowhere to be seen, perhaps even in their undead state came to understand their outdated weapons were not matched for energy bolts and deserted the battlefield it wouldn't be the first time in history that nobles ran away from a fight leaving the common folk to fend for themselves.
None of the hunters moved until Danny took the first step into the bridge making sure to stay low and fast on the sidewall, even the army team preferred to have someone with real ghost-hunting experience take the lead especially after hearing about the kid's exploits not only from his father but from Jeremy, commander Tanya had personally seen the kid in action and much to her dislike had to admit Danny was a rather good shot and a better fighter than herself despite his short age and built.
Sarah and Brittany made sure to stay as close behind as they could to Danny, something that bothered Jeremy as he had been hunting alongside the boy shortly after they entered the fortress granting him some level of seniority in the matter or so he thought. The man was at the back of the line leaving Paulina, Star, and his daughter Sam in the middle. A sudden gun blast snapped Jeremy from his daydreaming, and the fighting resumed. For a moment, he could have sworn that the zombies were challenging them to advance.
Danny aimed his scope over the head of a zombie sniper kneeling over the carriage, the teen vaporized the undead head with a single shot leaving behind nothing more than a greenish mist, it was then that Jack attacked the wooden carriage with a well-aimed rocket that blew up the carriage into smithereens, Jazz no longer fired a stream of energy bolts but short burst over the much smaller number of targets. Two rockets came flying out the lower part of the assault vehicle destroying a wooden barricade further ahead, undead and Ectopuss flew in pieces.
"This is not what I expected when you told me about going ghost hunting." A muscular blonde-haired man from the army team said to commander Tanya.
"That makes two of us. Had I known it was like this, I would have stayed my ass in the middle east." Tanya replied.
"Concentrate, you are in combat"- Danny said through the intercom.
It was then that the Ectopuss began hovering on both sides of the bridge firing energy bolts toward the hunters like deadly balloons, Danny "pop" two Ectopuss moments before the rest of the hunters followed suit, one by one the monsters were claimed by the ocean as they fell to their demise. The hunters moved slowly to avoid being gunned down by monsters who could use energy rays, muskets balls and arrows were more of a nuisance than posing an actual danger.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!"- Another member of the Army team yelled as he stood up to mow down a trio of knights that were waiting to ambush them. "I rather be getting shot at than fighting invisible monsters!"- the man added as he shifted his line of fire towards a flying Ectopuss.
Danny poked his head over to the stone railing to get a better look at his surroundings only to see a giant arrow flying deadly close to his head and impacting directly at the GAV, though it didn't penetrate it did leave a faint mark, two more giant arrows struck the assault vehicle followed by large and heavy rocks tossed by catapults placed at the castle, deadly weapons during medieval times but hardly a danger to properly outfitted soldiers of the modern era. It was then that a blast was heard, wooden crates splintered away as the GAV was struck by a cannon blast, Paulina and her cohort watched as a large cannonball rolled to the side, yet there was hardly a dent on the frontal armor.
"Holy shit, that was crazy."- Ghost Writer said as he continued filming the battle from the GAV passenger seat. Despite Jazz begging him to stay at the camp, there was no way for him to stay back and miss out on this action.
"Enemy siege weapons, ballista, catapults, and a field cannon, exercise extreme caution."- Jack said through the intercom as he aimed at the cannon that several knights were getting ready. "Field cannon destroyed."- the man added as he machine-gunned the undead and destroyed the cannon before it was used again.
Frighten knights dressed in their rusty armors pointed over to the Red Huntress as she flew directly at them, there was no time for them to ready their bows as her machine gun ripped through the knights and their scorpions in a matter of seconds, just for good measure, she carpet-bombed the area as to avoid any further attacks from up high. A few undead warriors stood their ground as they burned under green flames, her visor set over a three-meter knight aiming a large bow but ultimately was fruitless as she gunned him down before he had the chance to load the arrow.
Terrible howling echoed amidst the gunfighting, two dozen werewolves rushed directly to the hunters but were quickly mowed down by both Jack and his daughter, the monsters rolled over the floor as the energy bolts burned into their bodies. Paulina and Star were undergoing a sort of combat high as fear had long left them, it was almost as if they were inside a videogame given how unreal everything seemed, the slow-moving zombies were the easiest to dispatch as it only took two to three shots to slay them, the Ectopuss were much harder to hit. The Latina suddenly was tossed to the ground as a well-aimed musket shot struck her in between the breasts, thankfully the suit prevented her death.
"Motherfucker!"- Star yelled as she unleashed over the zombie who she turned into a pile of goo.
"Check your fire!"- Jack ordered after the girl struck the GAV by accident prompting her to exclaim an apology. The blondie could swear that Jazz was glaring at her through the gas mask.
"Heads up, guys. New enemy inbound."- Danny interjected as the large double doors at the end of the bridge opened.
Three cyclops marched out growling followed by four green skin trolls taller than two men armed with massive hammers and shields that only a creature of their size could wield, their massive bodies moved the barriers with fair ease, saliva came down from their large tusks protruding from their lower jaws. Jazz opened fire upon the leading troll who fend off the attack with the iron shield, large burn marks were left behind, but a rocket that came out of the GAV shoved the creature back wreaking the shield. Most of the hunters had rallied behind the assault vehicle or glued themselves to the stone railing.
The place had been designed to withstand enemies armed with swords and shields, not energy rifles and tanks, therefore, the hunters continued to advance despite the giant monsters at the end, most gunfire was focused on the smaller creatures while leaving the cyclops and trolls to the GAV and the heavy hitters. Danny lay on the ground flat on his belly as he aims the long rifle directly at the troll's ankle, the blast blew off a large portion of the foot taking away any balance he had, and leading the creature to fall off the bridge. His eyes opened upon seeing the cyclops was getting ready to fire an energy ray.
"Do not move!"- the leader of the zealot team ordered as he and his men pressed behind the GAV.
Jeremy watched with horror as the pink energy ray impacted the assault vehicle sending sparks all around as the anti-ghost shield took the full blunt, it brought terrible memories of his first day in the hunt as another cyclops had ambushed him and his family, seeing that the GAV was mostly intact meant they were still in the fight. The man pokes out and fired his rifle directly at the cyclops, his aim greatly improved though hardly doing any damage given the monster's thick skin. It was then that a rocket fired from the Red Huntress's glider struck the monster in the head leaving a large gap behind, two more rockets courtesy of Jack Fenton came flying directly at the trolls behind blowing off their heads.
The surviving cyclops looked at each other for a moment as they agree to use their energy rays at the same time, it was then that Jazz went inside the GAV closing the hatch behind her and making the zealots wonder if something was wrong, but just as the hatch closed came out a strange rod with a metallic spike ball on the tip. All the hunters gasped in awe as the device sent powerful thunder directly at the cyclops who shook on their spot before being set ablaze and exploding leaving everyone speechless.
The trolls rather than being intimidated by the attack began pounding their shields before rushing directly at the GAV but a few well-placed rockets were more than enough to put an end to their charge, Jazz came out to man her machine gun once again. Mighty cheering escaped from the zealots and several more hunters felt their vigor renew at the sight of the giant monster's death, their determination and power were unchallenged.
"Why didn't you use that… thing earlier?!"- Tanya asked through her intercom, still upset that Jack didn't charge with his GAV earlier that day.
"It's a one-time-only weapon, requires massive amounts of energy to fire and I could only bring one charge. And I was expecting something like this to happen." The man explained as the devices reeled by into the GAV.
(XXXXX)
Heavy panting escape from Mayor Vlad Masters as he climbs up the hill to where basically all of the townsfolk had rallied to watch the battle take place soon after Tommy came back with news of the hunt, his parents were furious with him and though many expected to hear the monsters had eaten away with the hunters, were more than glad to learn that much, on the contrary, the outsiders were already at the castle gates leaving hundreds of butchered monsters in their wake and according to what Tommy heard from Daniel Fenton would be attacking at daybreak prompting everyone to rush to the highest hill overviewing the fortress. Word spread fast as thousands of people rallied at the hill, never had Vlad seen so many townsfolk gathered at one spot outside the town walls.
Women had set clothes on the ground along with pastries and tea as if they were on a picnic, men had readied spyglasses and telescopes of all sizes while children climb up trees though a few grown ups including some ladies had also climbed up to see the fighting, the grumpy old timers who hadn't smiled in decades were finally laughing and clapping, Vlad then saw a couple of men carrying an old man who hurried them as he complained about missing the fight. It was almost as if they were watching a sports match, food stalls had been placed and beers were being passed around though no one was selling anything, people commenting on the battle, and a few were taking pictures with their vintage cameras.
"Mister Mayor"- A short man said drawing Vlad's attention. "This way please."- the man added as he pointed over to a high wooden platform made specifically for the mayor and the town council.
Vlad hastily climbed up the platform located at the highest point where several members of the town council were already watching the battle take place, true to Tommy's words was that the fighting began not a second after the sunrise, the mayor rushed over to the center telescope as his personal secretary told him about the initial attack that included a volley of mortar rounds and heavy machine gun, plums of smoke could be seen across the bridge but seeing hundreds of slain zombies and knights made Vlad smile long and wide.
People watched with amazement as the GAV and the hunters used "light" to fight the monsters, in a matter of speaking made sense to the townsfolk as they assumed such weapons to be blessed or made with sacred material. Vlad felt like a child as he saw the giant assault vehicle roll across the bridge completely unchallenged, it had to be the first time he saw the monsters running away, the man would have lost almost all of the town if he had attempted a similar attack, though couldn't help but noticed there were fewer hunters than at the beginning, surely, it had to be a terrible fight.
"There she is! I'm sure of it"- Vlad turned his attention towards Tommy and his friends just a few paces away, the kids had earned a spot on the platform after informing about the upcoming battle. "The green sword! That's Danny!". Tommy said taking in all of the boy's figure.
Tommy saw with dreamy eyes as Danny though dressed in a new black combat uniform was gunning down monsters left and right, the dreaded Ectopuss that made the town coward in fear at night were being burst like balloons, and zombies fell one after another. Sudden explosions made the crowd jump in their spots but were quickly followed by loud clapping and cheering, once more reminding Vlad of a football match, many pointed over to the Red Huntress who set the castle's upper corridor ablaze bringing about a roar of cheers.
"Just a matter of time, mister mayor."- one council member said. "I should have never doubted you, sir." The man added.
"Water under the bridge."- Vlad replied feeling much more at ease.
An unexpected gasp escape the entire crowd forcing Vlad to look down the telescope, the GAV was still intact and so far, none of the hunters had parish unless someone had fallen to the ocean while he wasn't looking. It was then that he saw much to his horror a group of giant monsters composed of cyclops and trolls walking out from the large gate sending shivers across every spectator, Vlad clench his fist as he watched the first creature walking forwards but relaxed as the monster was slain by a rocket making the man let out of notable chuckle.
If things carried on as he hopes then the nightmare would finally come to an end, the island would be free of monsters and demons, and his dreams of building a resort and bringing the town to the twenty-second century would become a reality. The ghost hunters weren't liars as all the council members said to be, only there to steal the town of their cash, no, in reality, these were real hunters, true warriors despite some members being of questionable age, ironically, the young ones were the deadliest, Valerie Gray in her flying glider and hunter Daniel who according to Tommy was a killing machine.
People out of nowhere fell to their knees with horror in their eyes, many screamed "No" as women covered their mouths forcing Vlad once more to look through the scope. A powerful and nearly blinding pink ray was covering the GAV making Vlad gasp, his heart nearly coming to a stop, that ray had destroyed countless houses and sent his best fighters running away while screaming at the top of their lungs, much to everyone's surprise, the assault vehicle was completely intact making more than one comment among themselves about what happened. The vehicle should have been melted away along with the crew inside.
"I saw it with my own eyes, a magic barrier that is. It stopped the beam."- Vlad could hear a man say among the crowd, several more said the same.
At this point, even Vlad was considering the hunters to have equipped themselves with some sort of magical device, or at least have divine protection from one of Amity's many gods seeing how far they had advanced in just a single day. From his studies knew that a siege on a fortress could take weeks, months, and perhaps years, though considering the amount of money he had invested in these hunters, he could have brought an entire army equipped with the finest artillery only to see it burn and all his mercenaries butchered. The crowd suddenly cheered and howled as the GAV unleashed a mighty thunder that continuously electrocuted the giants and nearby creatures.
The ghost hunters continued their onslaught without any further difficulty making the crowds cheer furthermore, plumes of smoke could be seen from afar along the bodies of hundreds of creatures lying dead all across the bridge, it was then that they all noticed their heroes had stopped at the castle entrance. Vlad knew they were planning their next move; it had been almost thirty minutes of intense combat yet felt as if they had been there all morning.
"Mister Mayor, we might have a bit of a problem," Spectra said. "Men have rallied at the hill base saying they want to join the hunt."- the redhead continued.
It didn't take long for Vlad to find the almost fifty men armed and ready to hunt, a surprisingly low number considering the town population. Not many wanted to risk their lives just yet, especially, if there were hunters more than capable of doing the job for them, there was a reason they were getting paid. Most people refuse to allow the hunt to take place fearing it would only stir up the monsters and prompt them to attack the town, but seeing the results allowed for more than one valiant soul to want to join up.
"Gentlemen, I appreciate you wanting to help but I assure you that these are the best ghost hunters and are more than capable of handling the situation. As you probably saw, they are already at the castle gate and it's a matter of time before this nightmare is over."- Vlad said using his businessman demeanor. "You already saw their skills with your own eyes, and being frank, it's very likely that you might get in the way."- the man added.
"That may be so mister mayor but them hunters are fighting as if this was their land, risking life and limp. I'd be damn if I let a mercenary defend my home and my kin. That's my job"- an old man said clutching a bolt action rifle.
"I understand, but we hired these people to do a job, so please, let them do their jobs."- Vlad replied rather sternly.
"At least let me fire my rifle at those monsters one time. For my pa." A young girl no older than eighteen almost pleaded.
"Fine! Miss Penelope please gathered a group of volunteers and my personal bodyguards; I want to see the end of this madness with my own eyes."- Vlad said making everyone cheer.
(XXXXXX)
Danny and the ghost hunters quickly took positions behind broken crates and the remains of barricades leaving enough room for the ground assault vehicle to roll out of the stone bridge crushing the lifeless bodies of its former defenders, eyes darted all around in search of more enemies but none could be found. Danny and Tanya pulled out their ghost trackers and quickly scanned the area while the rest of the hunters used their ecto-visors to find any invisible threats once more proving the efficiency of Fenton products, though a sigh of relief escape from everyone's lips upon finding the place void of enemy presence.
The courtyard was vast and the castle was absurdly tall as most other buildings around the fortress, the guard towers were empty or had collapsed due to the attack, and the main gate was nearly ten meters high, built with the thickest wood and strongest iron to prevent any would-be invaders from breaching though it open like any common door, though Danny was kindly expecting to see some manner of magic force field for added protection, even with these precautions, Jack was sure to have enough rockets to destroyed the entrance but figured it was for the best to use some high ex explosives on the gates considering they might need the rockets.
There was no way of knowing how many or what kind of defenders were inside or where they were positioned, for all they knew they could be more cyclops preparing their deadly energy ray just beyond the gate, there was also the fear of being ambush once inside the great hall, many were reminded of their opening skirmish just the previous day, one that came with a high cost for the ghost hunters. The teams took turns replenishing their energy clips and readjusting their rifles while the GAV main weapons cool down enough to engage in another fight none dare relax too much, eyes glued to the flanks and upper windows always at the ready.
"Looks like the Fright Knight threw everything he had to stop us." Jeremy said proudly as he approached Danny who was busy recharging his rifle at the energy station inside the GAV. "I mean, that's good, right? Means he's scared and wasted away all of his fighters."- the blonde man added.
"They made one hell of a stand but I doubt it's the last one. I'm sure Fright Knight has his honor guard at the ready."- Danny replied cocking his rifle.
"We can manage. He already wasted his main force."- Sam interjected knowing that her mother's murderer was inside sitting on a throne. "We'll kill them all." The goth said with an unusual coldness in her voice though earning a nod from Danny who scrutinized the goth's uniform, she had added her own flare to the blue suit by writing "Back to the grave... Born to kill… Grim Reaper" she had even drawn a pair of targets on her buttocks along with anarchist symbols.
Sam looked at the old wooden gate as Maddie Fenton and Commander Tanya used drones to set up explosives around the hinges while the zealot team stood guard, the girl felt some envy knowing that she and her family weren't cut out for fighting, their poor display throughout all of the hunt was enough proof, but there was no backing away now, they long past the point of no return, too much had been lost already to leave with nothing, she didn't care for the money all she truly wanted was to have Prince Aragon's black heart in her hand, to see his terrified face as she slices his neck. The girl then noticed her father speaking with Paulina and Star in a rather friendly manner.
"Hey Jazz, check that out"- Ghost Writer said as he pointed over to the ridge.
The redhead smiled as she looked at the large crowd through her binoculars, all of Casper had rallied to see them fight. She had been too absorbed in the battle to take notice of them but on a short inventory could tell they were having a sort of festival, food and drinks along with stalls of kinds could be seen, and more notable were the many platforms hastily constructed. The Ghost Writer was having a blast just looking at the throng on the other side, his hands typing away with vigor as ideas floated through his mind, working on both his books and the report though it was hard, even for the writer to tell which was a fiction, his story or the news report he was preparing, both sounded unbelievable.
"Everybody, get ready, we're breaching."- Maddie said through her intercom having finalized the bombs installation.
The hunters kneeled behind the mighty GAV, their rifles trained directly at the gate knowing all too well their enemies had more than enough time to set up a defense or an assault, Sam and her father along with the cheerleaders felt uncomfortable with the gas masks on and yet refuse to take them off. Jazz couldn't help but look over at the crowd as they raise their arms up high while cheering once the hinges burst in unison followed by the massive door coming down.
Silence took over as the teams slowly but firmly made their way inside the castle expecting a massive charge yet all seemed too quiet for comfort, red dots sights moved around the long and wide hallway leaving the hunters speechless, Jazz barely poke her head outside the hatch as she kept her machine gun ready. The first thing to notice was the winged marble statues neatly placed in line all the way to a wide set of stairs, each angel squatting while showing a perfectly carved vagina which everyone found in poor taste, at the base of the stairs were two large statues of women showing off their prominent butts, four thick columns held the rooftop located nearly fifty meters high. There were many murals of women and men in lewd positions that made everyone feel uncomfortable.
Between the stairs and the last statues was an improvised barricade made with shields and furniture, the ghost tracker told everyone there was at least two dozen undead hidden behind, perhaps the last defenders, Jazz opened fire upon the barrier slaying several knights, those who managed to avoid the deadly beams of lights were quickly dispatched by Danny and Tanya. One of the zealots suddenly yelled as he was pulled up via a spider web.
"Ambush! Open fire!"- Danny ordered as dozens of spider monsters crawled out from the upper floors and rooftop. "Be careful, ghost tracker isn't picking them up."- the boy added.
"For fucks sake those are Arachnes"- Jeremy said as he aimed and fired his Reaper SMG, surprisingly taking down an Arachne who crushed over one of the statues.
Danny swung his Booper grenade launcher from his shoulder and loaded a special round which he fired into the upper corridors filling the room with toxic green mist, horrible shrieks echoed throughout the hall as spider women crawled out trying to cover their mouths as they fell to their demise. Jazz shot down several monsters with her machine gun but failed to see one of the Arachne just overhead, the girl groaned as the monster pulled her up by the head. Ghost Writer shoved his gun between the redhead's legs and fired at the spider monster at point-blank range making her scream while letting go of the redhead who didn't hesitate to fire on her with an energy pistol.
Unable to use the GAV's main weapons out of fear of collapsing the structure on top of them was that Jack pressed a red emergency button that unleashed a flow of green mist from underneath, several canisters were fired away, most landing on the upper corridors, deadly green mist emanated from the cans though it was designed to be none lethal to humans, many hunters quickly put on their own gas masks just to be safe, the zealots, unfortunately, had to make do with their clothes.
The spider monsters started to cough blood as the mist filled the room but the toxic was the least of their concerns as a pair of red eyes suddenly rushed towards them, a painful shriek came out from an Arachne as her long legs were easily sliced off, her crying came to an end as Danny cut her head off in a single move. Beams crossed through the mist sending the monster to an early grave, their own energy blast couldn't find a proper target, and the cobwebs melted away in the mist.
"Would you look at that!"- A female zealot said to a member of the Army team.
Both foolishly stood idle as they saw Danny running four meters up the column before leaping and cutting a spider woman's head in a single move, the boy used his momentum to roll across the floor slicing a second monster's abdomen, her intestines soon to fall out. The zealot whistled in amazement as Danny rushed ahead gunning down two more monsters before using one of the statues to intercept a third Arachne that was swinging across the room, the creature saw Danny only after he cut her head off. Both the zealot and the soldier were beyond amazed as the monster slammed on the floor.
It was then that they saw Danny aiming his rifle directly at them, both knew to turn around as Danny shot at an Arachne that was getting ready to attack both of them, all three immediately open fire over the monster tearing off her arms and leaving her massive body like Swiss cheese. The creature's large and imposing bodies though frightening were working against them, they were the size of a small car making them into amble targets, the toxic mist already eating them away.
"Shoot it Jeremy!"- Paulina yelled as she fired her rifle over an Arachne that had forced them into a staircase going down, the creature screamed in pain as she was hit several times, and her eight eyes rolled up as death's embrace came upon. "Run!" the girl added as the monster rolled down the stairs.
"Cease fire!"- Jack ordered through the intercom. All hunters quickly rallied around the GAV ready to start fighting again.
Silence once more took over as everyone looked around wondering if another horde of monsters was soon to attack them, all of the ghost hunters aimed their rifles over the GAV as a drone came flying out, and a sigh of relief followed up. The ghost trackers didn't pick up all of the monsters, therefore, needed to use other means to make sure they were good to move. A few jittering zombies could be seen on the upper floor guarding a door that Danny slays via a Booper round, not needing to use anything overly complicated.
Jazz dismounted seeing the GAV was unable to go up the stairs without the risk of breaking the steps and rolling down, weapons were checked and the march continued. Everyone was already tired but there is no rest for the wicked nor there should be for those who hunt. As the hunters slowly made their way up the stairs makings sure to cover all possible attack points was that Tanya noticed the Fenton siblings climbing up the columns on each side like a pair of monkeys, both easily reaching the top.
(XXXXXX)
"Help me push this thing and we can get back up the rest of the guys."- Sam said though none one seemed to pay her any mind.
Just as she was about to utter her demands for help was that she saw with awe at the treasury, her voice vanished as she witnessed her father's dreams of wealth all piled up in a single room. Rows after rows of coffers filled with gold coins that amounted to millions of dollars, all manner of jewelry and precious stones laid scattered across the floor, more impressive were the piles of gold ingots near the columns, statues bathed in gold stood guard every ten meters. Surely, treasures from the dreaded Ghost Zone as she had never seen diamonds big enough to carve a sword blade out of, much less to make a shield out of a single piece of emerald.
Paulina could feel her cunt getting wet at the sheer sight of so much gold, any person's wet dream to say the least. Paulina couldn't help but caress her crotch out of instinct already seeing herself on shopping sprees across Paris and going on vacations to the most exotic lands, Star envisioned herself living in a luxurious apartment in front of central park, going to the fanciest and most exclusive nightclubs. Before either girl could say a single word was that Sam covered their mouth signaling towards the intercoms in their ears. All four discreetly removed and turned off their earplugs making sure to keep their finding a secret their eyes moving from one another wondering about their course of action.
"We can't take this gold"- Sam said making everyone look at her with annoyance.
"Why not?"- Paulina said with defiance in her voice.
It was then that the goth commanded the cheerleader to help her lift one of the coffers making the Latina scoff but ultimately comply with the request, the crate was so heavy they couldn't lift it an inch off the ground, even after Star and Jeremy decided to help were unable to move the crate more than a few inches. Sam then explained they would need the help of several strong men just carry the gold out of the treasury and up the stairs, furthermore, they would also need the GAV or at least a truck to transport just a small portion of the gold back into town. Paulina had to agree that moving a single crate would be a monumental endeavor, strong bags would be required for the coins laying on the ground.
The quartet unanimously agreed to keep this discovery a secret though not for greed but for self-preservation, Sam pointed out that the Fenton were too good intention and would want to hand over the finding to the town, on the other hand, the Army team led by Commander Tanya were mercenaries of the lowest kind, their greed would be overwhelming. The goth was sure these men would immediately turn on their fellow hunters and perhaps even on the town just to keep the gold.
"In a matter of speaking we're doing this for everyone's wellbeing, like a public service."- Star said confidently.
"Besides this gold doesn't belong to the town, it belongs to the Fright Knight… and since we're here to kill him, that makes it ok to take it."- Paulina interjected.
"She's right. To the victor goes the spoils… you know, baby, spoils of war."- Jeremy added with a smile.
The sudden sounds of gold coins falling down from the pile caught everyone's attention, Sam quickly put on her gas mask and activated the ecto-scanner, Jeremy pulled out the ghost tracker to determine the ghost's location while the girls aimed their rifles all around. From behind a large pile of gold trinkets came the sounds of high heels striking the floor followed by a strangely pale woman with the blackest hair ever seen dressed in what could only be described as a golden bikini armor, only the Greek style helmet granted some degree of protection followed by a round shield and a long spear. Four more "knights" accompanied the first.
Just as the undead lifted her spear showing a pair of glowing green eyes hidden behind the helmet was that Paulina opened fire without a moment's doubt, dark green slime in place of blood spurted out as the woman fell to the ground, everyone looked at the fallen guard for an instant before shifting their eyes over to the Latina. It was then that the four hunters unleashed over the guards who leaped away from the gunfire in the nick of time. Jeremy followed the nearest guards while firing his SMG until taking the woman down, Sam managed to incapacitate the second guard before coldly executing her via a headshot.
The last two guards quickly climbed up the walls as Paulina and Star hunted them down soon to be joined by Jeremy and his daughter, it didn't take too long for the hunters to slay the undead who fell on the ground with a loud thud. Without wasting any more time all four began filling their backpacks with as many gold coins as they could carry before Danny came looking for them.
(XXXXX)
Jeremy closed and secured the door moments after the girls step out of the treasury hopeful their comrades won't notice the entrance after dragging a nearby statue to the entrance in hopes of keeping it concealed, as they advance towards the stairs at the far end of the hall was that they heard gunshots coming from the upper floor much to the quartet's dismay as they were hopeful, the battle would be over by now. The girls instinctively stood behind Jeremy who was trembling but still led them up. The wooden double doors had been shattered by a powerful explosive.
Before them was the throne room in all its glory, all the teams had parted into different areas of the room to cover as much ground as they could despite the entire place being around the size of a football field, with thick columns every twenty meters, Sam quickly noticed the throne at the end of the room where a man with long gray hair sat with his long boney fingers interwind, her binoculars confirmed it was none other than Prince Aragon arrogantly watching the battle take place. A row of heavily armored knights protected the man, their long rectangular shields kept him safe, fury filled Sam's heart as she aimed her rifle and fired, yet moments before the energy bolt connected with Aragon's head a strange green circle appeared stopping the bolt midair.
Little by little the ghost hunters were being pushed back by the heavily armored undead knights into a more defensive stance, their armor easily withstanding even the most powerful energy blast though their preference for blades granted a few advantages to the hunters and their range weapons. The zealot team was surprisingly adamant to retreat as they stood firmly in their spot firing their rifles until breaking the advancing force. A sudden explosion took a second line by surprise, Tanya and her men had set up a few landmines without the ghosts noticing.
Jack and his wife took down several more knights using a variety of weapons that included energy rifles and a multi-headed whip called "Jack-o-nine tails" that wrapped the target and sliced it apart, Maddie was forced to resort to the double-bladed beam sword as she had run out of rifle ammunition which she combined with the laser wrist ray. The booper had proven to be an invaluable tool as it send the knights flying away, many times in multiple pieces. Valerie flew around with her glider leaving a black smoke trail as she fired her rockets at every group that she could see, more knights and even a handful of surviving musketeers advance only to be pulverized by Valerie's rockets.
"Come on Andy! Stay with me."- Fran said with a quivering voice.
"I ain't dying, dude. Just a scratch"- the blonde man said as he patted his tired tiger. A long yet shallow cut went across his face.
It was that Jeremy and the girls saw Danny rushing to the center of the room to engage in a sword fight with a well-armored knight in the center of the room, sparks emitting each time their blades met with each other. Despite being covered in a thick and heavy armor that resembled a medieval knight, the head protected by a helmet, the undead moved as if he wasn't wearing anything at all, his movements swift and precise, twice as fast as any man, his weapon of choice was a long black sword that he wields with mastery while protecting himself behind a thick heater shield. Danny fired at the shield with his energy pistol producing little to no damage but strong enough to take the knight off balance allowing for a strong slash.
Sam wanted to shoot but given their constant moving and her lack of skill meant that she could unintentionally hit her best friend. It didn't help that Danny leaped and twirl in the air in order to dodge the constant slashing and thrusting from the massive undead. The boy backflipped several times and on the last flip pulled out his booper striking the knight who protected himself with his shield, it was then that Jack joined the fray by firing his booper as fast as possible.
"I'm gonna go on a limp and say that's the Fright Knight!"- Sam yelled as everyone shifted their fire toward the knight.
With a mighty roar was that the Fright Knight rose his brazen sword overhead as it was engulfed in purple flames, it was then that the undead unleashed over the hunters a stream of purple fire. Terrified screaming resounded across the throne room as everyone run for cover, Jack shot at the demon but with little effect. Danny countered the flamethrower with a Booper round as Valerie dropped a bomb over the Fright Knight who remained on his feet broken and near defeat, never had been in battle such as this, and worst yet, his opponent was small and frail but that was more than enough for him to lose his sword arm.
"Fucking die already!"- Danny yelled as he charged directly at the Fright Knight. The undead knight could do nothing more than scream as Danny sliced his head off earning a cheer from his peers.
Everyone went silent as the terrible Fright Knight fell to his knees headless, the knights rallied at his corpse unwilling to accept defeat, and Aragon ordered them to form a wall and push forward. The hunters were already at their limits, overnumbered and outclassed but not outgunned, most of their powerful rifles already empty and forced to resort to their puny pistols, yet victory was too close for anyone to turn tail despite standing in front of more than fifty weary knights in heavy armor.
More undead knights emerged from the sides forcing the ghost hunters to bundle up in a circle aiming their rifles all around, running back to the GAV was an option but wouldn't have enough time to reload as the knights would surely give chase. Jeremy shrieked loudly as he was the first to open fire, his bolts hardly pushing the undead. Tanya placed a hand over his shoulder forcing the man to stop his fruitless assault, though her face was not one of defeat but that of confidence.
"Sorry I'm late for the party."- Jazz Fenton uttered throughout the intercom.
Powerful automatic blasting boomed across the throne room, Valerie watched with disdain as Jazz Fenton walked around wielding a monstrous Gatling gun that unleashed a stream of ecto-bolts that shred the knights with little effort, the redhead's entire body covered from head to toe in strange silver armor. Aragon clutched to his throne as his men were turned into mincemeat, their mighty armor despite its thickness ripped like paper. Green blood splattered Aragon's force field as it slowly cracks, it took all of the prince's willpower not to beak out running at the sight of the hunter and the monster in silver armor.
"Not bad for a woman…"- Aragon said condescendingly as he noticed the girl's curvy figure and large breasts, even with the armor. His eyes shifted over to Danny who removed his gas mask having already broken half of it, despite his curvy figure Aragon knew he was a male. "You… you defeated my greatest knight; would you like to serve me? I offer wealth beyond your wildest dreams, land, and men to work it, women for your bed. what say you?"- the prince said with arrogance knowing someone so young yet so powerful would undoubtedly accept.
"After this day I will have wealth, I have no need for land or men. And I've seen your women… hard pass."- The boy with a smirk. It was then that Sam walked past him and coldly shot Aragon in the head, the rest of the hunters empty their guns on his corpse just to be sure. "By the way… who the fuck was that?"- Danny asked.
"A fucking nobody"- Sam replied as she spat on the prince.
(XXXXXX)
Vlad watched with trepidation at the many dead zombies and monsters as he and a rather large number of townsfolk wanting to see the castle at close hand walked across the bridge trying their very best not to step on the corpses, the stench was so disgusting that more than one puke at the sight of such brutality. Men and women shivered as they gazed upon the burned werewolves and green blood splatters that repainted the stone railing. The ones with firearms clutched to their rifles knowing all too well they were useless.
Everyone jumped on their spot upon hearing the rumbling of heavy treads, smile broke out of every face upon seeing the mighty GAV coming out from the dark castle, though a few people felt dread as they observed the vehicle with more scrutiny, damaged and with severe burn marks all around, several hunters followed up half of what they started with. Vlad stood as straight as he could trying to maintain a dignified presence, the man had a hard time uttering his questions, he wanted to know if the Fright Knight was dead. Jack answered by showing the knight's head.
To be continued.