Chapter 9: Sheer Firepower

"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you."

-New Testament, John XII, 35

"Maddie! How could you! Oh Maddie…!" Jack was yelling as he fell, his suit having protected him from the blast of fire that had blown him out of the helicopter. He was just coming to the realization that what had just blown him out of the Fenton-Copter wasn't his wife when he felt the lines grab him. "What?"

"It's ok sir! You're safe now!' Savior said, as he made the awkward trip of hopping from building to building considering there was hardly any room to swing from. Good thing he wasn't Spider-Man, as the Shimmer was considerably more versatile then a line of webbing, as he pulled Jack Fenton's large form to him and tried to find a place to set him down.

"Oh thank you! I must…" Jack began, and then, as Savior reeled him in, he saw Savior's all white outfit and hair.

Could you really BLAME him?

"AHHHHH! ANOTHER GHOST!" Jack yelled.

"What…?" Savior said, looking up, and then Jack klonked him on the head with the Fenton 3-In-1, which he had somehow managed to hold onto all the way down. Fortunately, it was light, and Jack was at a bad angle, so it didn't really hurt. But it certainly disrupted Savior's concentration, as the lines flowing out of his arms lurched and the two dropped down several feet before Savior could adjust, and Jack was still hitting him.

"I can accept ONE good ghost, but two is too much! You have evil plans, but I will not let you carry them out!" Jack said, as he continued bonking Savior on the head and shoulders.

"OW! OW! I'M NOT A GHOST YOU IDIOT!"

"That's just what an evil ghost would say!" Jack said, as he continued. "Though I must admit you are surprisingly concrete for a ghost! Maybe you are an evil, stupid ghost!"

"I'M NOT A GHOST!" Savior yelled, even as he lowered the two onto a warehouse roof.

"You will not fool me! Not after what has just happened!" Jack said as he continued with the bonking, and Savior, finally having had enough, sent a Shimmer strand out of his back to coil up and give Jack a light blow in the forehead, which would hopefully dissuade him from the constant bonking.

"Ow! Your evil ghost tentacle will not stop me! I will defeat you!" Jack said, as he started swinging at the Shimmer strand, which dodged easily and gave Jack another, slightly harder blow. "OW! Never! I will not yield! You shall be crushed, evil ghost…!"

Considering they were an inch away from the ground, Savior's third blow was probably a bit (ok, a lot) harder then it should have been, but as mentioned, Savior had little patience for some things, as stars exploded in Jack's eyes, even as Savior touched down and set the large man on the roof, where he staggered a bit.

"My god! I see it all so clearly now!" Jack said.

"What?" Savior asked.

"Ghosts…it's idiotic! I've been wasting my life! I must give up this foolish quest, so I can find my true calling. Yes, I must prove the existence of, FAIRY GODPARENTS!"

"Wrong channel." Savior muttered, and smacked Jack in the forehead again. He staggered back a bit, blinked, and then looked at Savior. "Ah ha! Now I have you, evil ghost!"

"Whatever." Savior said, as he turned and ran off, swinging back to the battle site.

"Ha ha! That's it, run! Fear the great Jack Fenton…" Jack said as he looked around.

And realized there were no stairs down from the roof.

"Um, evil ghost…could you come back…I'm kind of stuck…"


"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-OFFFFF!" Paulina woofed as she fell into Cyborg's arms.

"Got you! Don't be afraid miss, I'm here to help you." Cyborg said: all superheroes pretty much had this line to feed to people they caught: it kept them from panicking and trying to squirm out of their grip.

"Ohhhhhhhhh…what happened…" Paulina said.

"Nothing. You just got caught in a small mess." Cyborg said, as he flew off, not wanting to set Paulina down near the battle and have it drift over her way so she found herself involved again.

"Uhhh…AHHHHH!" Paulina said, and Cyborg started.

"What?"

"My nails! They're ruined! Who did this to my nails!" Paulina said, staring in horror at her hands. Cyborg sighed.

"Nothing you could help."

"Hey…watch where you're holding me! That's a no no place! No one…" Paulina said, struggling.

"Look miss, unless you just want be to drop you in some pool, I suggest you be nice!" Cyborg said. "Ugh, shallow…"

And then a loud crunching noise sounded on Cyborg's back, and he jerked a bit.

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh? What do you mean uh oh?" Paulina demanded.

"I thought my rockets might be somewhat on the fritz…I think my assessment was too insubstantial." Cyborg said.

And then one of the rockets konked out, and without two to provide balance and keep the weight up, Cyborg went into a spin, Paulina screaming for dear life, as the two headed for the ground.

"Hang on!" Cyborg yelled, as he managed to spy a construction site and exerted what little control he had left to point himself towards it. Fortunately, it was empty at the moment, leaving only a just started skeletal framework of a building, some heavy machinery, and due to the previously mentioned heavy early morning rains, a lot of mud.

That Cyborg dropped Paulina into, even as he screamed and crashed into the metal framework, the two constructed floors buckling and then collapsing on the teen machine, even as Paulina bounced a few times and came to a stop.

She looked at her arms, and then a small shriek of pure horror and disgust came from her mouth as she looked at her form, which was covered head to toe in wet dirt.

"Uggggghhhhhhh…I take it that means you're all right." Cyborg said from under the debris.

"ALL RIGHT! MY MAKEUP! MY HAIR! MY CLOTHES! MY BEAUTY! How can I be all right? I'm a mess!" Paulina wailed.

"YOU'RE a mess? I'M UNDER FOUR TONS OF STEEL!" Cyborg yelled, and then with a roar he exerted all his power and threw the wreckage off of him. He muttered, holding one side of his head as he shook it, and then he started re-routing power to his jets.

"You HURT?" Cyborg asked.

"My clothes! My clothes!" Paulina moaned. Cyborg grit his teeth, and then he demonstrated that he was a nice guy at heart as he didn't have to give Paulina this idea.

"Well, look on the bright side. Your daddy will be so glad you're alive, he'll probably buy you whatever you want." Cyborg said. His systems informed him power had been successfully re-routed, and he began warming up his jets again.

"But…I…uh…hey!" Paulina said. "You're right! A whole new wardrobe! And this mud is probably great for my skin! Thank you!" Paulina said, as she threw her arms around Cyborg and hugged him.

"Yes yes, please step away miss, I still have business to take care of…" Cyborg said, as his jets ignited and he flew off.

"Thank you Robot Man!" Paulina said, waving.

"CYBORG! CYBORG! MY NAME IS CYBORG! Robot Man is on the Doom Patrol!" Cyborg yelled back as he flew off. "You know, speaking of the Doom Patrol, maybe Sizzle ain't so bad. Well, she ain't the Brotherhood of Dada, that's for sure, she won't be sealing Amity Park into a painting like they did with Paris…"


True, Sizzle may not have possessed the mad creativity to do something like seal Paris in a painting…but she had enough to abandon her tiring host and select a new one, the mother of her enemy, who she would use, with the weapon the mother had brought to destroy her, to destroy HIM.

And she was in possession of an AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopter, the improved version of the AH-64A Apache helicopter, one of the deadliest weapons in the world. Which had been heavily modified by the Fentons to destroy ghosts. HEAVILY modified.

The situation, not to mention the irony, was delicious.

Not so much so to Danny, as he saw the panels underneath the helicopter snap open and struts emerge as missiles armed.

"Spectral Destroyers armed." The Fenton-Copter's computer informed Sizzle, as she snapped the firing guards off the flight stick and pressed the button.

"Oh no." Danny said.

Six missiles fired from the Fenton-Copter, blasting at Danny, who started to fly backwards. He tried to blast them with ectoshots, but the blasts just bounced off: the missiles had shielding. And they were following him. Danny stopped, started to turn intangible, and then realized that even if the missiles missed him, they could fly off and crash into buildings, risking how many lives.

And then the missiles split apart, as the six missiles chasing him became six DOZEN mini missiles, all drawing a bead on him.

"AH NUTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSS!" Danny screamed, and formed an ectoplasmic shield in front of him, closing his eyes as he focused, ready to try and bear the terrible backlash.

The missiles started slamming into the shield, and the impacts rang through Danny…but it seemed easier then he expected. A lot easier. He opened his eyes.

Raven was floating next to him, her hands and eyes aglow, as she added to his shield with her own black power, enhancing it and allowing it to take the impacts. The last of the projectiles slammed in and exploded, and then Raven lowered her arms, breathing heavily.

"Thanks." Danny said.

"No-"

The balloon struck Raven in the chest and exploded, the thick viscous fluid splattering all over her, and she screamed as the liquid stuck everywhere, weighing her down, as she tried to fly and found she couldn't, as she fell to the ground, landing on the concrete and sticking there.

"Not again!" She cursed, as she tried to free herself from the glue.

"Aw man, alone again, naturally." Danny said, and turned back to the Fenton-Copter, where Sizzle was glaring at the computer.

"Glue? Fuck that! I wanted something fatal for that little bitch who killed me!" Sizzle said.

"Would you like to increase the acidity of the Fenton Ghost Glob?" The computer asked.

"Yes!"

"Please select level." The computer asked, as a panel slid open and a dial slid out, marked from one to ten, the dial currently set on 1.

Sizzle turned it to 10 so fast she nearly broke the dial off.

"Warning, such high acidity has a 99.7 chance of utterly disintegrating target." The computer said.

"Now you're catching on." Sizzle said, as she looked back up.

And found Danny flying at the cockpit.

"GET OUT OF MY MOTHER!" Danny screamed: he didn't care if his last attempt to depossess Sizzle had failed, he would NOT allow his mother to come to harm!

And his mother wouldn't let herself come to harm either, as she had build the F.U.M.B.L.E to protect from such things like invading ghosts, as Danny bounced off an invisible barrier that was two feet from the cockpit, a barrier that absorbed the force he had inflicted by crashing into it and reflecting it back three-fold, sending Danny tumbling through the air with a scream.

"Ohhhh, ghost shielding. Very nice work, Mrs. Fenton." Sizzle said, as she locked onto Danny with the Ghost Glob gun. "Jalapenos, eat your heart out!"

And Sizzle fired the balloon filled with the new mixture of the Ghost Glob at Danny, as the mixture was made right up in the weapon and hence could switch from benign to total cellular annihilation almost immediately.

Danny saw the balloon coming: be glad he decided to turn intangible and let it fly through him instead of blasting it and getting an acid bath. The balloon fell to the street and splashed onto the roof of a car. A few seconds later, there was pretty much no car. Or the street that was under it.

"No! Stand still!" Sizzle cursed as she armed and fired more acidic balloons. Danny went with what had worked and went intangible to avoid them, and he countered with his own ectoplasmic blasts. Which were stopped by the shielding: The Fentons hadn't been kidding when they said this was the ultimate ghost hunting vehicle. Too bad it was turned on Danny.

"Where's some help when I need it?" Danny cursed as he dodged another balloon and fired another ineffective blast.

"You rang?" Starfire asked cheerfully, suddenly next to Danny. Danny jumped, or more exactly, jerked his body up another foot. "What would you have me do?"

"That helicopter is shielded against my attacks. Go see if the same can be said for YOURS." Danny said. "But be careful! Sizzle's got my mother!"

"I understand! HAHHHHHHHHH!" Starfire yelled as her eyes glowed green, flying in. Small guns extracted from the side of the Fenton-copter as she closed in and began firing rapid-fire laser blasts, but Starfire just dodged around them and opened fire with her own energy barrage. An onslaught of Starbolts exploded across the side of the Fenton-copter…and left a few minor burn marks and not much else. Starfire's eyes widened, and then she had to dodge away before the trail of blasts caught up to her.

"I an unhappy to report my attacks have proven as ineffective as yours." Starfire said as she flew back to Danny's side.

"Yeah, it figures. Not only great shielding, but great armor." Danny said. Starfire was about to reply, except another acid balloon had just been fired at them. Starfire yelped, and then Danny grabbed her shoulder and turned them both intangible. By the time Sizzle was done with that weapon, the city of Amity Park was going to have to spend its whole transportation budget fixing the massive potholes she was making. As the Halfa and Tamaranian turned solid again, they both fired back, twin blasts of green power that slammed into the front of the Fenton-copter, and while the shielding prevented any damage the impact sent the aircraft into a spin. Danny's heart seized up: his mother. She was in there, being used as Sizzle's host: how could he and the Titans effectively fight back without risking harm to her?

If it was any comfort, Sizzle was wrestling with her own conundrum, as she cursed and said more swear words I can't use in this rating, as she fought with the controls to right the Fenton-copter.

"FUCK!" she cursed as the vehicle finally came back under her control, as she tried to turn it towards the two. "What good are all these weapons if THEY JUST GO THROUGH HIM, YOU STUPID BITCH!" She yelled, cursing at her host.

"Would you like to activate the Fenton Ghost Destabilizer?" The computer asked.

"What?"

"Would you like to disable the target's powers?"

"……….Yes. Oh hell yes." Sizzle said, as a grin spread on her face that would have done a shark proud, or at least a lawyer.

"Arming…"

"Oh no this again!" Danny yelled as Sizzle fired off more missiles, but these were just a decoy. And Starfire fell for it.

"I will handle these!" Starfire said as she flew off, firing off Starbolts. Apparently, the missiles' shielding wasn't as good as the Fenton-copter's, as unlike Danny's spectral plasma, the Starbolts made them explode…very small explosions, which confused Starfire. Then again, these were missiles designed to harm spirits, not physical objects…

Which Danny was about to be, as the Fenton Ghost Destabilizer locked onto Danny.

"So long kid." Sizzle said, as she armed up the last acid balloon alongside the Destabalizer. First she turned off the powers, and then she melted him into his component genes.

She pressed the firing button.

"Please select power." The computer informed her. She looked at it. "What?"

"Please select power to be disabled." The computer replied.

"What? You can't turn them all off?"

"Prototype only allows one at a time."

"Argh. Fuck. Fine. Turning intangible!" Sizzle said.

"Acknowledged."

"YIKE!" Danny yelled, as a small cannon suddenly emerged from the top of the cockpit and fired a red blast, a red blast so quick he couldn't dodge it. When it struck him, he felt like he had a muscle cramp…in his entire body. He yelled and spun away, trying to get his bearings.

"Target struck. Intangibility disabled for thirty minutes." The computer said.

"All right, do flight next!" Sizzle yelled.

"I am sorry, the prototype Fenton Ghost Destabalizer is only good for one shot." The computer replied.

Sizzle stared at the cockpit.

"You should know what your vehicle is capable of, Mrs. Fenton. I would tell you to read the manual, except that is pointless because you wrote the manual."

Sizzle screamed, enraged, and instead of doing the smart thing like looking into Maddie Fenton's memories to examine the full capacity of the F.U.M.B.L.E, she did the angry thing as she locked the last acid balloon on Danny and fired it.

"Oh man…oh…" Danny said, as he finally recovered, only to see the balloon flying at him. He went to the well again…

And found it empty, as his attempt to become incorporeal only resulted in his whole body cramping like a muscle informing its owner that it had had it and can't do any more for a bit. It didn't take Danny all that long to figure out what had happened, but the amount of time it did take was enough for the acid balloon to fly in close…

So when Danny, reacting in instinctual fear for his life, blasted the balloon instead, it exploded and caused the acidic slime to go spraying out and right for him, and Danny saw his life flash before his eyes…

Just before the sonic cannon blast slammed into his side, sending him tumbling across the sky as the slime sloshed over the empty space where he had just been and fell to the ground. Danny went tumbling to the ground and ended up in a bush, where he groaned.

"Sorry Danny!" Cyborg said as he flew over. "It was all I could think of in the moment!"

Danny gave Cyborg a hazy thumbs up. Or maybe he was giving him the finger, Cyborg didn't know from the distance, as he turned and jetted over to Starfire, who was finishing off the last of the rockets.

"Ok Star, let's go!" Cyborg said, as he switched to his gatling cannon.

"No! Sizzle has possessed Danny's mother! She's the one flying that vehicle. Any assault we make could risk harm coming to her!"

"What? Great." Cyborg said. "What do we do?"

"I believe our optimum plan of attack would be to remove Mrs. Fenton from the vehicle. And considering how difficult it would be to approach her, I think Raven is needed."

"Great, where is she?"

"Uh…down there." Starfire said, pointing, and Cyborg looked down to where Raven was, glued to the ground and clearly not happy about it.

"I will free her. You distract Sizzle, but remember, do not attempt anything major!" Starfire said, as she flew down.

"Right, attack the heavily armed flying weapon without really attacking it." Cyborg said. "Well ok. There's a reason I'm a master mechanic." Cyborg said, as he changed his gatling cannon back to a normal hand. "All right then, let's get physical!"

"Dammit! Shoot him!" Sizzle cursed as she tried to fire more missiles at Cyborg as the man-machine flew at her, his rockets blazing.

"Spectral Destroyers have been exhausted. Would you like to switch to the Fenton Ghost Bolos?" The computer enquired. Sizzle didn't get to enquire what those did, as Cyborg slammed into the front of the helicopter, his strong hands reaching and seizing the metal front, the ultra-strong digits digging in, just a bit, even as his back rockets blazed harder and Sizzle found herself being pushed back. While her shield was apparently good for blocking Danny and general energy attacks, it didn't seem to work on non-ghost entities.

"Now that I have your attention, listen to me!" Cyborg said as he armed his sonic cannon: he'd carefully converted it to a setting that would knock Maddie Fenton out without causing her too much pain: she might have a burst eardrum or two.

Sizzle glared at Cyborg.

"Activate perimeter defense?" The computer asked.

The glare became that vicious grin again.

"Yes. Go fuck yourself." Sizzle said.

The surface of the Fenton-copter suddenly coursed with electricity, and Cyborg made that weird noise people make when they are being electrocuted before the sheer voltage threw him off the helicopter and sent him spinning back through the air. Cyborg managed about ten spins before he managed to stop, his body jerking a bit as it worked out the voltage.

"Oh now you've…!" Cyborg began, and then he suddenly felt an intense pressure on his ankle. He made a very small yelp and looked down, wondering what bizarre weapon was attacking him now…but it wasn't an offense. In physical terms anyway: the grip was from a white energy line, one that had converted it's basic nature to extreme elastic in order to propel it's carrier up.

"Thanks Cyborg!" Savior yelled as he flew up past Cyborg. Cyborg's eyes widened.

"Savior, did you just use me as a LAUNCHING GRIP?"

"And a launching pad, sorry." Savior said as he started to fall back down, and then twin Shimmer lines grabbed his shoulder, as they contorted Savior's falling form out and then back, launching Savior over Cyborg's head and towards the helicopter. Cyborg stared, and then he started sputtering in righteous indignation, even as he flew back up to level with the helicopter so he could embark on his own assault.

"I'm not a rassnnn frassnnnn slingshot, we could have just done our version of the Fastball Special…"

And then the bolo wrapped around Cyborg, Sizzle having taken the time to get a lock on him.

"Ah nosenuggets." Cyborg said, and then the balls at the end of the bolo ignited and blitzed him with a weird energy. To a ghost this would have been extremely harmful, maybe even fatal. To Cyborg, it was merely like getting electrocuted again...except this time all his systems went into a chaotic mess and his jets konked out again, even as the crazy messages screaming through his neurons and circuits caused him, if not pain, immense discomfort.

"OH GOD!" Cyborg yelled, as he plummeted to the ground. "AHHHHHH! THIS COULDN'T BE ANY WORSE!"

CRASH!

"I WAS WRONG!"

Sizzle watched Savior fly at her and then dip under her field of vision as he flew under the helicopter and grabbed one of the landing struts near the back. From there, Savior planned to pierce into the underbelly and pull himself to the weapons, which he could yank off and hence remove the helicopter as an effective offensive weapon. Then they just had to give Sizzle the runaround until one of the Titans could run back to the school, fetch the special Thermos, and…

The metal was denying his efforts to pierce it. Savior frowned and tried again, but his sentient energy simply would not go through the armor.

But Savior was nothing if not quick on his feet: if he couldn't dig in, then he'd get sticky fingers, so to speak, as the sharp ended Shimmer lines removed themselves from the underside and blossomed out into a rough bowl shape, making a perfect suction cup that stuck to the underside. Savior quickly formed four such appendages and pulled himself right up against the helicopter's underside…and good thing, as half a second later the body of the machine coursed with electricity again. Unfortunately for Sizzle, the only part of Savior's body touching the actual aircraft was the Shimmer, and as longtime readers know, the Shimmer didn't conduct electricity.

Still, hanging upside down to a whirling moving craft wasn't the most comforting thing, as Savior tried to get his bearings and pull himself over to the weapons. More electricity zapped through the framework, but none of it got to Savior.
"Fuck! Fucking shit! Fucking shit-eating bastard!" Sizzle snarled, as her constant pressing of the ship's structural tazer refused to disgorge the bogey on her underside. "YOU ARE WORTHLESS!"

"Would you like to activate second perimeter defense?" The computer asked.

"Will it work?"

"There is a…"

"Yes, fine, whatever!"

"Acknowledged."

"All right, just another…" Savior was saying, when it happened.

Six ports opened up on the underside of the helicopter.

And out came what looked like mechanical ants. Armed with miniature saw blades, flamethrowers, and tasers. Savior's eyes widened. "HOLY SHIT!"

The tiny droids attacked, and Savior found himself deluged: they were fragile and easy to smash, and their weapons were so small they could hardly hurt him…but there was roughly twenty billion of them, or so it seemed, and they were everywhere, as Savior thrashed, yelled, and used every type of Shimmer trick to keep them off him and away from sensitive body parts that wouldn't do well to be sliced, zapped, or flambéed. Sizzle heard the yelling and chuckled merrily.

"I swear, when this is done, I am going to rip off…" Raven was saying, as Starfire tried to ascertain a way to free her from the glob of glue that had stuck her to the ground.

"Um…ok…let's try…" Starfire said, as she grabbed around Raven's feet. All she did was get her hands stuck again, and she had to pull them free, her palms starting to get raw.

"Can I help?" Came a voice, and Starfire looked up to see Danny, who had apparently decided to check how they were as the helicopter was, at the time, tied up with trying to zap Savior.

"Yes! Go see through and…" Raven began.

"I can't." Danny replied. "Sizzle zapped me with some kind of power blocker. I can't access my intangibility power." Danny said, holding up his hands and looking sorrowful. Raven's eyes showed murder once again, though not directed towards Danny.

"Then I guess I have no choice." Starfire said, as she again shoved her hands into the glue. "I did not want to try this unless I had to, as the degree of fine control is rather severe, but Raven…I am sorry if I burn your clothes off."

"WHAT?" Raven yelled, but it was too late as Starfire fired off a Starbolt and sent a great wash of heat rippling through the glue, drying it out so quickly that it instantly became as brittle as a potato chip, the powerful adhesive shattering and spraying the three with bits of itself. Coughing, Raven floated up, her clothes singed by still intact.

"Sorry." Starfire said, smiling a slight, sheepish smile.

"I'm going to kill her." Raven just replied, referring to Sizzle. "I don't know how with her already being dead, but I am going to…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHRGGGHHHHHHHH!" Savior shouted as his efforts to ward off the mecha-ants finally made him lose his grip on the Fenton-copter and he fell. Raven looked at the noise and waved her hand, and a black claw of energy emerged from the ground and caught the teen…for a second, just enough so that his fall went from "surely doomed" to "painful", and then the hand disappeared, causing Savior to thunk to the ground.

"Ow." He said, and then he resumed his previous task of making sure there wasn't a single micro-droid on him. Raven, meanwhile, flew up with Danny and Starfire, as Sizzle finally returned her attention to them.

"Oh, back for more, huh?" Sizzle said, and fired off three whirling bolos. The flyers dodged them.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven chanted, as she thrust out her hands, eyes a glowing ebony, as dark power began to envelop the helicopter as Raven tried to seize control of it and force it to the ground.

It didn't work, as the dark power abruptly blew off and Raven was sent backwards like she had been struck, a loud grunting yell escaping from her.

"That damn shielding. It's not just blocking your abilities Danny, it's blocking anything supernatural at…" And that was as far as Raven got as the bolo suddenly whirled around her. "NOT AGAIN!"

Raven didn't get any shock: apparently that was a feature that only applied to some bolos, but being wrapped up as tight as a mummy made her briefly lose her concentration and she fell, stopping herself twenty feet down and seizing the tough bolo ropes to try and yank them off of her. Starfire and Danny, meanwhile, attacked, blasting the helicopter with their respective talents in the hopes they could make a dent in the thing and hence damage the shield and eventually disable it. If they were getting anywhere, they didn't know, as the small anti-personal cannons flipped open and opened fire on them. Danny, not used to aerial ballet fanciness, took a blast in the shoulder and was sent whirling away, while Starfire proved to be luckier: she managed to blow up two of the small weapons. Sizzle was losing her temper again, as she fiddled with switch after switch and was informed that she had already exhausted that supply of weapon.

"Damn it! I need…"

The car, encased in black power, flew up and slammed into the helicopter's underside, causing it to lurch and sway, and Danny felt his heart go into his throat, but he understood that they couldn't back down and that the Titans would do everything to avoid harming his mother, even though Starfire didn't currently look like she was averring to that creed as she had thrown her hands over her head to charge a massive Starbolt, one that she let loose into the side of the helicopter with a scream. The explosion rocked the vehicle and sent it flying to the side…but once again, the only real damage was a scorch mark. And considering that Starfire had put so much power behind the blast that she had been sent flying backwards, almost out of control…

"Damn it! What the hell is that thing made of, adamantium?" Raven cursed.

"Wrong universe." Danny said as she joined his side. "You think we're doing any damage to the shield?"

"I don't know, let's find out." Raven said, as her eyes glowed again. "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" she yelled, and fired off a blast of black power.

"Um, AH-LAH PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES!" Danny yelled lamely, and fired his own green blast of power.

The twin shots deflected off the barrier. Yep, it was still there and still holding tough…though Danny and Raven were too far away to get the "back times three" effect, and its occupant couldn't really appreciated the great deal of protection it was offering.

"What is ON this piece of SHIT that will DESTROY THOSE GODDAMN TITANS AND THAT FUCKING BOY!" Sizzle snarled.

"Assessing your request madam…would you like to begin preparing the Fenton Ghost Obliterator again?"

Sizzle looked at the computer.

"Excuse me?"

"The Fenton Ghost Obliterator is the most powerful weapon on board. It will destroy virtually any spectral threat and can do serious harm to living things as well, regretfully."

Sizzle was smiling again.

"Arm it."

"Yes Mrs. Fenton."

Raven was regrouping near Danny when the guns that had fired the bolos, glob balloons, and special spirit destroying missiles split apart and began folding down and out, as something new began to emerge.

"Somehow I doubt that's good." Raven said as a new, very large cannon unfolded from underneath the Fenton-copter.

"Then why don't we get bad?" Danny said, as spectral fire exploded on his hands. Raven nodded, and the two made a dash for the Fenton Ghost Obliterator. Raven gambled that the shielding was focused more around protecting the occupant and vital parts of the machine, and that the weapons relied more on the armor. If that was the case, they might not be able to destroy the gun, but they could damn sure mess it up…

If Maddie Fenton hadn't already thought of that beforehand. She really was a smart woman. And so was Sizzle, when she wasn't utterly consumed with insane rage, as she had finally began poking through Maddie Fenton's head and pulling out the exact operating schematics of the F.U.M.B.L.E.

"Activate Fenton DD's!" Sizzle ordered, and a new panel opened that offered a few new buttons. Sizzle pressed three.

Several panels opened on the Fenton-copter as the two flew in, and the Titan and Phantom stopped dead as objects were ejected from the panels. Expecting an attack, the two immediately switched from offensive to defensive, as Danny threw up a shield and Raven cloaked herself in black power…

Wrong kind of defense, as Sizzle closed her eyes.

The Fenton DD's were one of the things that, despite the name Fenton on it, was a device created by someone else that had undergone very slight, if any, modifying. The DD's stood for Distraction Devices, non-lethal weaponry.

That, however, didn't help Danny at all, as they were designed to disable regardless.

And they did this by, in the course of detonation, generating 170 decibels of noise and 2.3 million candlepower of light.

Which, to those who need an equivalent metaphor…was like a space shuttle engine going off in Danny's face.

Danny screamed as he flew backwards, not even hearing his own cry of anguish as his vision was consumed in white. He clawed at his eyes, but all that remained was white, as Sizzle, safe in her soundproofed cockpit and with her eyes tightly closed and turned away, opened them, smiling contently at the agonizing boy, as the Fenton Ghost Obliterator finished arming and began to charge, the crosshairs locking on the thrashing ghost child.

And then Raven was on the attack again, swooping out from her cloak of darkness, but Sizzle had expected that, expected Raven's innate power to protect her better, and she was ready, as Maddie Fenton had prepared well, as twin short arms extended from either side of the cockpit and opened up to reveal strange mirror-like devices. The energy shield that blocked Danny's powers, as well as Raven's and probably others, operated on the principle of absorbing the energy and reflecting it back in an amplified state. But it could do more then that, as Raven raised her arms, ready to hammer on the Fenton Ghost Obliterator with telekinetic blasts, and the panel of buttons Sizzle had just been pressing opened again to reveal a much larger one.

Sizzle smirked.

"Ladies and GERMS, this is your captain speaking, please buckle in, we will be experiencing, TURBULENCE." Sizzle said, and pressed the new button, which was inexplicably labeled BONUS.

There was a brief flicker that showed an outline of power around the front of the helicopter, power that drained off into the mirrors and then fired them back out, as Raven gasped in surprise, and that was all she had time to do as the mirrors siphoned energy off the shield and fired it at Raven, striking her like a sledgehammer and sending her flying uncontrollably through the air…and smashing right into Danny Phantom, the still blinded and deafened boy screaming in surprise and some fear as Raven crashed into him and the two flew along the sky a bit more, all tangled up, as the Fenton Ghost Obliterator finished charging.

"A girl, a boy. One killed me, one has to die." Sizzle said, as she flipped open the firing button. "C'est juste."

And a powerful glow erupted around the front of the gun, as Raven finally collected her bearings and turned around…

And a gigantic blast of whitish blue energy flew from the firearm, zapping across the sky, filling Raven's vision as her eyes widened, even as Danny stared uncomprehendingly as the shifty white blur he could see became a shifty BRIGHT white blur…

"NO!"

And then Starfire flew in, shoving the two to safety…at terrible cost, as she replaced their targeted form with her own.

Raven could have sworn she could see the blast reflected in Starfire's green eyes, side by side with the fear.

And then the explosion rang through the air, a huge surge of energy erupting and throwing Danny and Raven away again, even as Starfire's scream was swallowed by the boom. Raven managed to stop herself and grabbed Danny with an energy talon, even as she saw a smoking form fly out of the explosion at high speed and go off into the horizon, the body falling limply off in the distance like a puppet with its strings cut.

"AH DAMMIT FUCK! FUUUCCCKKKK!" Sizzle screamed. "Begin recharge!"

"Mrs. Fenton, the cannon must…"

"DO IT!"

"Yes Ma'am." The computer replied, and began recharging the strained weapon.

"Oh Kory…" Raven said. She knew Kory wasn't dead: she was still feeling the girl, inside her, due to her unique emotion abilities, and if Kory was dead, the void would have been sudden and profound…but the alien girl was in deep pain. She had guesstimated, correctly, that her body would take the blast better then Danny and Raven's, and given herself up so that they would be spared serious, possible fatal wounds.

"What happened…" Danny said, shaking his head, his vision finally starting to return but far from perfect.

"Kory's down. Because she saved us." Raven said, and looked at Danny with a serious gaze, and to make sure he heard her despite his damaged ears, she spoke with her mind as well as her mouth. "Don't let what she endured be in vain."

"Hell no." Came a new voice, as Cyborg floated up next to the two, a little worse for wear but apparently fixed.

"Is that Cyborg? Where is he?" Danny said, looking around. Cyborg gave Raven a wry, "what's with this?" glance: Raven just did a brief motion to indicate Danny's eyes were messed up: after fighting together for several years people could learn to understand each other with a minimal amount of effort.

"Damn. Ok Danny, listen up. Whatever you hear, we'll do everything in our power to help your mother." Cyborg said. "Rae, I'm going to hit that thing HARD: be ready to try and grab Danny's mom before the thing disintegrates or explodes."

"Understood." Raven said, as Danny looked in her general direction, his eyes now making out a black blur against a blueish blur, but before he could make any comment whatsoever Cyborg had flown forward.

"Cannon will be recharged in ten seconds." The computer informed Sizzle, even as she looked at Cyborg with an air of interest.

"Ok, if this doesn't do something, nothing will." Cyborg said, and then his chest snapped open. He kept the more powerful missiles in there, and for this, he had pulled out something special. "Drillers, away!"

Six modified missiles fired out, aimed at parts of the helicopter, their ends whirling with special razor sharp drill tips. Sizzle saw them coming, looked at them for a bit…and then smirked.

The missiles slammed into the Fenton-copter. There was a brief, very brief sound, that sounded like a gigantic sewing machine getting jammed up, and then the missiles vanished in a brief puff of smoke and fire.

Cyborg gaped: the missiles had hit the armor and been unable to pierce it, their forward momentum crushing them out of operation within a second of said failure.

"Those missiles were tipped with DIAMOND." Cyborg said, in a true this ain't fair tone.

"I was right. It IS made out of adamantium." Raven said dryly.

"Or some kind of super alloy." Cyborg said. In her cockpit, Sizzle was chuckling to herself as she locked onto Danny and Raven again. Danny, whose eyesight was about 80 back by now, gaped.

"We have to…" he began.

"No." Raven said, holding onto him. "We can't move."

"Why not?" Danny said. Raven pointed. Danny looked.

And realized just where they were. The battle hadn't been stuck in one place: the Titans, Danny, and Sizzle had been gradually moving along…and they were just about to hit the small developed cluster in Amity Park, the section in which rested several blocks of tall buildings, including a few skyscrapers. One of which was at the trio's back.

And Danny understood. If they moved, the blast would hit the building, and cause god knows what kind of damage. Hell, it might be the equivalent of crashing…Danny didn't want to think of that.

"Ahhh! Uh, quick, stop it up!" Danny yelled/suggested.

"Too late." Cyborg said. "Anyone else got another plan?"

"If not we have about three seconds to think one up." Raven said as the glow around the cannon increased.

"Not enough time." Cyborg said, and then he flew forward. Raven blinked.

"Cyborg? What are you doing?"

"That thing's energy shield didn't block me. Maybe the same can be said about its big gun." Cyborg said. "MOVE!"

"But…"

"I SAID…!"

"Well, the robot wants to die as well. Three times the charm!" Sizzle said, as the computer informed her that the cannon was charged again. She flipped open the firing switch.

"Cyborg…!" Raven said apprehensively.

"Too late!" Cyborg said, as he held his hands out.

The Fenton Ghost Obliterator fired again, the blast locked onto Danny and Raven, and striking Cyborg since he was in front of them. He growled in effort as the beam struck him and pushed him back, the energy spraying out around him as he tried to block it, but the beam wasn't fading and Cyborg's growl began to verge on a scream as he tried to keep the blast away from Danny, Raven, and any innocents.

"Damn it!" Raven said as she flew forward. She'd be damned if Cyborg was going to take the full brunt of the blow if she could help it.

"No…Raven….stay away…!" Cyborg cursed as she flew in.

"Forget it! Azarath Metrion…!"

And Raven learned the hard way why Cyborg wanted her to keep her distance: the laser's energy stream nature caused Cyborg's blocking of the beam to be similar to someone trying to stop a tap by holding your finger to it. Despite your efforts, water is going to come out, by going around the blockage. And the same was happening with the beam: it had split into several weaker streams that were being directed into the ground, into the air…and one offshoot right into Raven's form, a scream coming from her throat as she was slammed with another wrecking ball blow and thrown backwards, this time completely losing her concentration and plummeting to the ground. Danny, had his eyes been perfect, would have caught her…but his still recovering optical orbs were not yet up to the task of discerning certain objects against dark backgrounds, and so Danny lost sight of her and could only hear her yell before she hit the ground like a stone and the yelling cut off. Danny's heart sank, even as Cyborg's voice built to an utter roar of pain, anger, and defiance: you ain't MOVING ME BEE-YOTCH.

And Sizzle didn't, as the beam suddenly cut off, as Sizzle yelled in her cockpit as the controls erupted in sparks. Cyborg lowered his arms, his front badly scorched but apparently undamaged, as he took deep breaths. But his face was a picture of savage contentment.

"Boo-yah! Your stupid ghost weapons can't harm me, you nutcase!" Cyborg yelled.

Then his jets konked out again.

"Fuck." Cyborg said, and found himself in freefall again. Had Sizzle been in a better state she might have taken a shot at Cyborg's falling form, but she was too busy trying to correct the spin her helicopter had suddenly started as the controls went haywire due to Sizzle's utter lack of gentleness in her commands to the gear she was using. She cursed, spat, and tried to plumb the brain of her host to figure out how to fix the problem before the boy fully recovered and went on the offense. She was going to kill him this time, oh yes, if she had to ram the actual helicopter down his throat…

Danny, again, would have helped Cyborg…except his eyes were, as mentioned, messed up. So all he could do was look around frantically and hear Cyborg yell…

Before white lines sprang up and caught the robot, stopping him. Cyborg came to a halt, and then yelped as Savior dumped him, not so gently, on the ground. At least it was in a small park and not on the street, as Savior rose up next to Danny on a Shimmer-formed ladder, the white energy perfectly balanced as it propelled Savior up. He'd checked on Raven when she had fallen, and having noted she and Cyborg, once his momentum was interrupted, would be ok, Savior quickly returned to the battle, as he slid up beside Danny. Not the nicest thing to do, but Savior had always thought strategically overall.

"That you Savior?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Savior said sarcastically.

"Well, a big white blur on a blue background…not hard." Danny said. Savior looked at Danny oddly. "What's going on?"

"Kinda obvious. Or are you blind?" Savior said, his question serious rather then snarkily rhetorical.

"Sizzle detonated some light bombs, my eyes…"

"Gotcha. Hold still." Savior said. Danny didn't get a chance to ask why for, as he suddenly felt an intense pressure in his ear and then his vision suddenly cleared up like his eyes was a camera being focused. The sudden return to normalcy was actually quite disorienting, as Danny yelped and then blinked several times.

"There. That better?" Savior asked.

"What did you do?"

"Hacked into your neural network and sped up the rewiring of your brain. This thing as a lot of uses." Savior said, commenting on the Shimmer that had, in the past twenty seconds, served as a medical device, a cushion, a brace, a lifter, and another medical quick fix. Danny would have complained about Savior's rather insensitive actions when it came to his body…except Savior was no longer paying attention to him, but the helicopter, which appeared to finally be coming under control

"We have to stop this now, before it gets into the city." Savior said, reaching under his coat. "Here Danny." He continued as he pulled something out and tossed it at Danny. Danny barely managed to catch it. He looked at it: the Mini Fenton Ghost Catcher his father had rigged up.

"Here's the plan. I think that shield and that big gun draw power from the same places. Considering how messed up the helicopter just was, I think the shield is lessened. I'm going to throw myself over there and hit the front as hard as I can, which will hopefully break through the shield AND the cockpit. When I do that, you fly in and start zapping. Once we get Sizzle out of your mother and her to safety, I'll run back to the school and get the Thermos, you'll be on your own then. Possibly until I get back. If you have a better plan, you have five seconds to say it, because Sizzle's righted herself and looks to be charging up that gun again."

"Mrs. Fenton, power reserves are dangerously low. Any attempt to fire the Fenton…" The computer was saying.

"Shut the FUCK up." Sizzle growled, and the computer listened. Well, if she only had one more shot at this, she was going to make it count.

"That's not good." Danny moaned as he saw the cannon light up again.

"Actually it may very well be. On my mark Danny." Savior said, but Danny didn't even get a chance to prepare as Savior immediately yelled "NOW!" and grabbed Danny with a Shimmer line, using Danny's body to propel himself forward (and throwing the lighter then Cyborg kid backwards) as he threw back his arms, the Shimmer forming into a vaguely defined but still immensely powerful bludgeon. Sizzle's eyes widened as the teen flew in and slashed his weapons down.

And found his plan had been right everywhere except the first assumption: the shield and gun DIDN'T draw on the same power supply. Maddie Fenton was, as mentioned, smarter then that, and Savior's plan bit the hand that created it as the Shimmer hit the shield and all the power Savior had put behind the blow was reflected back at him threefold.

"AHHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!" Savior screamed, as he was thrown off into the horizon much like Starfire, even as Danny recovered and watched as the last standing Titan disappeared off into the distance. It was ironic that the plan Savior had had included heading back to Casper High to look for the Thermos: the energy backlash had somehow tossed him in that direction.

"Sorry asshole. But bigger doesn't always mean better." Sizzle said, and contently locked onto Danny for the third and final time. Now he had no more shields to block or protect him, and he couldn't turn intangible to avoid it. And if he just moved, well, that was why the robot had taken the blast when he and his fellows could have just moved then: they didn't want to get anyone hurt. Sizzle had no such qualms: all men had to die anyway, and if a few females went with them, well, you couldn't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Danny watched as the cannon's glow increased, and in his own way, he knew what Sizzle was thinking. He pondered all his options, and the one that kept being presented to him was to run away. The cannon was designed to destroy ghosts, it had barely affected Cyborg, skyscrapers were mostly metal, they'd be ok…

Except he knew that was an excuse. Maybe the blast wouldn't destroy the building, but who knew what it would do to the people. No, he couldn't run. And since he didn't want to die, that left one option.

Stand.

"All right then…" Danny said, his voice cold and serious as his eyes glowed green. His stuck the Mini Ghost Catcher into his boot, and then his hands erupted with power. "Come on you gruesome hag, you want to kill me so bad, I'm not going anywhere."

"Cannon charged. Warning, overheating, all systems…" The computer said.

Sizzle pressed the button.

The third Fenton Ghost Obliterator shot fired out.

And Danny screamed as he let loose with his own ectoplasmic blast, the two energy eruptions flying out and meeting. Danny felt the backlash through his entire being, but he refused to yield, refused to give, refused to stop in any form as he poured everything he had into the blast and Sizzle did likewise, Danny's intense look of determination matched only by her insane one…

The blast exploded between the two of them, as neither side was able to gain an advantage and hence chose to die together, as Danny was sent flying backwards like a comet and a feedback of power sent the Fenton-copter into another crazy spasm, Sizzle screaming and turning the air blue as she failed again, even as Danny hit the glass of the skyscraper with such force he nearly went through the extremely tough material, a huge spider web of cracks spraying out as his form was driven three inches into the substance.

Danny gasped, twitched, and then went limp from exhaustion, the small indent he had made somehow holding his body up against the window as he slumped down.

"Fucking boy! Fucking boy! FUCKING BOY!" Sizzle screamed as she wrestled with the controls. "Charge again!"

"Fenton Ghost Obliterator has overloaded madam. It cannot be fired again."

"Fuck! Arm whatever's left!"

"That would be nothing madam. You have exhausted all projectile weaponry and drained all energy from other weapons. There are no more anti-supernatural weapons available."

Sizzle looked down, in the way some people do just before they blew a gasket, which was what Sizzle was going to do: she was going to scream and then she was going to leave this helicopter with the thanks it deserved: an explosive exit that would destroy it and her current host, but she didn't care, there were plenty of fish in the sea and she was going to kill that…

"Would you like to eject Fenton weapons and arm original weapons?" The computer enquired.

Sizzle looked up.

"What?"

"In order for the Fenton Ultimate Mobile Ballistics Logistics Equalizer to function at optimum level, the original weapons of the AH-64D Longbow Apache were modified so the Fenton weapons could be built over them. Would you like to remove Fenton weapons and arm original weapons?"

"What kind of original weapons?" Sizzle asked, and to her great surprise a green holographic screen appeared on the cockpit before her, on which appeared several schematics of the helicopter she was flying, which quickly zoomed in on the weapons.

"Weaponry of original Longbow Apache…M230 33mm automatic chain gun armed with 1200 rounds of depleted uranium shells…16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles…4 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles…one reload barrel of chain gun ammo, 1200 rounds. 84 reload Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles also on board in special holding compartments. This aircraft was specially modified to reload in mid-air. Would you like to re-arm original weapons?"

There was that horrible smile again.

"Yes. Oh hell, yes."

"Acknowledged."

Groaning, Danny came groggily back to life, his vision finally clearing, though there was still a ringing in his ears. His whole body ached, pain shooting through every fiber of his being, as he managed to pull himself off the window, shards of glass pulling small strips from his costume as he tried to form a coherent thought. But that was highly difficult as his body kept telling him that he had just about had it. Whatever had blessed him with what he had demonstrated today was great, but after yesterday's intense battle, on top of everything he had done today, he wouldn't be able to stay in ghost form much longer…

And then Danny saw something that made him forget all about his exhaustion.

With a loud snapping noise, several of the parts that had clearly been modified by his parents fell off the helicopter. For a moment Danny panicked and though Sizzle had pushed the custom-designed vehicle too far and now it was going to fall apart…and when it didn't, he was filled with a new worry as he knew something bad was going to happen.

He didn't know if not knowing or knowing made it worse.

"Wha…"

Inside the cockpit, several of the custom panels that had come out so Sizzle could use the anti-ghost weaponry were being tucked away, even as the stick she had used to fly the Fenton-copter and fire its weapons was reprogramming itself for its old weapons…weapons that began to emerge.

Danny's eyes widened.

"Oh no."

Apache wings are usually rather thin: the Fentons had severely bulked them up in order to hold their new weapons. Now a good chunk of that bulk was gone, as four sets of new, larger struts emerged, folding themselves out. A few seconds later, several sets of small mechanical arms folded out from the wings, reached up, and came down holding a missile which they inserted into the strut, quickly arming sixteen of the deadly projectiles in the four four-way rails. Two more bits of the Fenton-copter broke off the end of the wings, revealing four more missiles, two on each wing, on smaller launchers, even as the space that had been occupied by the Fenton Ghost Obliterator got a new occupant: the chain gun, designed to fire 625 rounds a minute, rounds designed to go through 100 mm of modern tank armor. Normally, the Apache would need another co-pilot to act as gunner to fire that gun…except Maddie and Jack had modified that need away if it was necessary.

A few more superfluous parts broke off, revealing the new Fenton-copter: no longer a weapon specialized to hunt ghosts, but instead a weapon of mass destruction with its sights locked onto a ghost.

Who, may I remind you, had had his intangibility power turned off. But don't worry, that was due to wear off…in about 18 minutes.

Danny Phantom, at the moment, probably didn't have 18 seconds, as he made a small noise of fear in his throat as he realized that Sizzle was still coming at him…deadlier then ever, because unlike the previous sets of weapons, these ones would tear through ANYTHING in their way.

"Lock on target." Sizzle said: the transformation had kept the shield and computer, and that was all Sizzle needed.

"Madam, the Hellfire missiles were designed as anti-tank weapons. I am not sure…"

"Is it possible to lock onto target with fair degree of accuracy?" Sizzle replied, highly aggravated at all this nonsense. If she didn't need it, she'd have fried the computer a while ago.

"…Well yes, the AGM-114D Longbow Hellfire missile possesses a millimeter wave seeker, which has given the projectiles the nickname of "fire and forget" weapons…"

"Good. Then FIRE the weapon and FORGET about bugging me any more!" Sizzle snapped.

"Yes Madam. Finalizing lock."

"Help?" Danny said, looking around for any of the Titans.

He found no one.

He was on his own.

And he doubted he could block what was coming with an ectoplasmic shield.

"Now boy…" Sizzle said, as she thrust her thumb up. "Let me reiterate. START YOUR SCREAMING!"

And eight of the missiles ignited and fired off their launchers, heading straight for Danny Phantom.

Whose name might soon have to be changed to Danny Vapor.