Hey all! I am really tired and also really sick, so I had time to write! This is the exciting, explosive climax of Fear. Yup, there's only one or two more chapters left after this one, then it's over. I will be most certainly updating within a week after this goes up. I hope you enjoy!
Oh, and the numbers are just page breaks. I just put them in numerical order to be politicly correct
;-)
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Chapter Seven: Terror
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Rhiannon's scream jolted three people awake and scared Sam half out of her wits. Danny sat up in bed, eyes already flashing green and fists clenched. Tucker leaped off of the floor, and, in one fluid motion, hid behind Danny's desk. And, in the room across the hall, Jazz jerked her head off her desk, where she had fallen asleep while doing her extra credit work. She ran across the hall, flinging open the door.
Danny, Tucker, Sam, and the silver girl stared at her with wide eyes. Tucker slowly eased his way out from behind the desk, Sam clutched her chest, panting slightly, and Danny stood up carefully, closing his eyes. Rhiannon met Jazz's eyes with an even, though frightened, gaze.
Oops. she said quietly, only to Danny. I did not mean to do that.
"It's okay, Rhiannon." Danny muttered, and then turned to his sister. "Ever hear of knocking?"
"I heard a scream." Jazz said grouchily. "At least, I thought I did."
"No, no one screamed!" Tucker said, voice cracking slightly. Sam elbowed him in the gut and he moaned. "Ouch."
Jazz frowned and looked at Rhiannon again. "Would someone explain to me exactly why she is floating?" she asked angrily. Rhiannon gave her an icy look, and gathered her power slightly.
We do not have time for these pleasantries. I am a ghost. And a very evil person is coming to destroy this town. Any questions?
"Um, yeah. If Joanna is coming here, why are we just standing around?" Tucker asked. Danny sighed loudly and rolled his eyes pointedly at Jazz.
"We have to go. Now." Sam said, looking out the window. "The fog is getting thicker."
"It would be more dangerous out there, don't you think?" Jazz said pointedly.
Um. . .
"She's after me. Everyone should stay inside and I could lead her off. . ." Danny murmured. Sam's eyes grew wide as she opened her mouth to protest.
Excuse me, but. . .
"You aren't going out there alone!" she shouted, fear bleeding into her eyes. Jazz turned around quickly.
"Who said anyone was going anywhere! It's safer inside!"
Excuse me. . .
"Jazz, you need to leave now. Go to the bathroom or something." Tucker said hesitantly, pushing her in the direction of the door.
"Why?"
"You just do."
Danny and Sam were at the point of yelling at each other. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
"If you think I'm letting you go out there and risk your butt alone, you've got another thought coming, mister."
"Who died and made you my mom?"
WOULD EVERYONE SHUT UP! Rhiannon yelled. The din stopped immediately. Thank you. We have a problem here. Joanna is coming and you haven't done anything about it. I can understand why you are nervous, Danny, but I believe Jazz has something to tell you that would make your discomfort seem very silly.
"She does?" Danny turned to his sister with an expectant look on his face.
"Um, yeah. About that. Uh, Danny, I kinda sorta saw you transform in a back alley one day and now I know that you're half ghost. . ." Jazz blushed as Danny's mouth dropped open.
"You knew?"
"I'm not stupid, Danny. . ." Rhiannon cut her off.
Thank you. Now, Daniel, I believe you have something to do, and someplace to go.
"Right. Going ghost." Danny muttered as the twin blue rings played around him. In a mere second, he had become Danny Phantom. "Now, all of you have to stay here. I don't want anyone getting hurt."
You need me to coach you in how to defeat Joanna.
"I am not letting you do this alone!" Sam said forcefully. Danny opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off.
"I'm coming too. I have the Fenton Ghost Peeler (A/N: If I got the name of that thing wrong, the one that appeared in My Brother's Keeper, please tell me and I will change it ASAP.) and I'm the only one who knows how to use it." Jazz said quietly. Danny turned to her, only to be cut off again by Tucker.
"Guess who just came up the block." he said, eyes on the window. A golden glow was tainting the mist, making it seem less deadly. Looks can be deceiving, however.
Here. Rhiannon lifted her arms and a silver glow surrounded the three humans in the room. I will keep you three away from the Dark Fog while Daniel deals with Joanna.
"Right." Danny said, leaping through the window to float in the air, right in front of Joanna. Rhiannon and her charges followed, setting down on a nearby roof. Jazz noted, with a twinge of discomfort, that the shield around the house had been turned off. That really wasn't a good sign.
"So, boy. You still have a fighting spirit. I shall extinguish it!" Joanna yelled.
"God, you are so annoying!" Danny shot back. "Now, how about a game of follow the leader." He darted towards her, veering away and down the road at the last second. He flew for at least three seconds before realizing that Joanna was laughing. The sound was low, a mighty chuckle from the bowels of Hell.
"Foolish boy. Do you really think I care about your petty game of cat and mouse right now? Now, when I have a houseful of victims ripe for the picking? When I can strike you where it hurts? No, boy, I do not care for your final act of heroism, leading me away to a place where we can fight without hurting any bystanders." Danny floated, frozen in horror as Joanna stretched her arms for his house. Even before the black mist began to pour out of Joanna's golden form, Jazz began to scream.
All they could do was watch in silent mourning as the fog drifted inside the house and tangled around the ankles of it's victims. Before the citizens trapped inside realized what was happening, they were trapped in their worst nightmares.
"Mom. Dad." Danny breathed, hearing Jazz's sobs as though from a great distance. Everything had narrowed down to one point, the triumphant glint in Joanna Nightshade's eyes as she destroyed his home.
"And now, I will play." she sighed, turning to Danny. He met her look with an empty gaze, ice cold and piercing green.
Calm down, Daniel. Think of someplace that can be utterly destroyed without your feeling badly afterwards.
"I don't care anymore." Danny muttered, voice flat, devoid of emotion. Tucker sat up wearily, a smile on his face.
"The school, Rhiannon. That can be destroyed. Heck, level it for all I care." He looked at the three girls around him, one frowning in concentration, one sobbing in despair, and one, with amethyst eyes locked on Danny's form, who was shaking slightly.
As you say, Tucker. Rhiannon said quietly, and the world shifted around everyone. As it started to right itself, Tucker heard her mutter; And keep your wise cracks to yourself. This is most certainly not the time.
They opened their eyes to the gymnasium at Casper High. Joanna was floating in the center, Danny near her, and the others were standing near the wall.
"What?" Jazz asked, disoriented. Sam steadied her and turned back to the two ghosts.
"Location has no matter right now, bug. Destroy you here or there, it makes no difference to me." Joanna said casually. Danny gritted his teeth.
"I know how to get rid of you." he said, eyes flashing. Joanna smiled, amused.
"Oh, did little Rhiannon tell you how? I wonder, though. For all your bravado, are you strong enough to do it? I think not. And, I have the locket. There is nothing you can do to me, boy. I am invincible." She twirled a strand of hair, still smirking.
"Locket." repeated Jazz. She had no idea what was going on, but it had something to do with the locket around Joanna's neck.
"What?" Tucker asked, scratching his head. "I think I missed something major."
"Shut up." Sam muttered. Danny and Joanna were circling each other, trying to find a weakness.
The only way to get your parents back is to entrap Joanna, Samantha. Rhiannon said carefully, her hand clutching Sam's shoulder.
"Why don't you go out and help him!" Sam yelped at Rhi, startling the ghost. "If you're so powerful, why don't you sacrifice yourself?" Rhiannon glared at Sam.
I am severely drained of power. As guardian of the locket, I am held responsible for it's opening. My power is being drained as we speak. And the fact that I saved your sorry souls from Joanna once before, and performed two inter-dimensional teleportations, I would say I'm pretty useless right now, wouldn't you? Sam stayed quiet after that.
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"So, are you going to attack me?" Danny asked, taunting. Joanna growled.
"Don't bait me, boy, or I will bait you." She raised an arm, and Sam rose into the air, clutching at her throat.
"Sam!" Danny yelled, darting foreword. Joanna stopped him with a wave of her hand, which caused Sam to drop a few feet. Fast.
"Ah ah, bug. To close and I just might drop her." Sam fell a little more, letting out a chocked scream. Danny stopped short.
"You bitch." he whispered, muscles tensed. "Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch. . ."
"Now Danny, words may make you feel better, but they certainly don't help the girl." Sam fell a few more feet. She was starting to faint, from both fear and the fact that Joanna was tightening the invisible noose around her neck.
"All right, all right. What do you want, Joanna? How can I make you put her down?" Danny murmured, unbelieving.
"Oh, dear boy. You thought I was going to let her live? So sorry to disappoint you." And Sam began to fall.
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Tucker had left the room to go barf, the tension and fear finally catching up with him. Rhiannon had been unprepared when Joanna lifted Sam into the air, and she and Jazz watched in terror as the golden figure and Danny exchanged remarks. Rhiannon was muttering under her breath, trying to come up with the energy to cushion Sam's fall, when it did happen. And Jazz was still thinking about the locket.
She could see it, dangling around a thin chain on Joanna's neck. And the evil woman was being distracted. And, as Sam began to fall for the last time, Jazz saw her chance. As Danny dove for his dearest friend, Jazz ran across the floor. She tensed and leaped into the air, slamming into Joanna, who gave a quick gasp of surprise. At this moment, Tucker walked back into the room. He saw Rhiannon first, a dazed expression on her face. He saw Danny holding a sobbing Sam. He saw Jazz scrabbling at Joanna's neck, and then flying off as she was hit. But Jazz slowly stood and opened her hand. The locket rested inside of it.
At this point, Tucker decided that he had most definitely missed something. And he also realized that Rhiannon had been right. It was most surely not the time to joke around.
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"The locket." Jazz said quietly as Danny gently placed Sam on her feet, next to Rhiannon. She nodded to tell him that she was okay, and stood stock still as she realized what Jazz had just done.
"Throw it to me." Danny called, darting into the air. Before Sam could scream for Jazz not to do it, to tell her that she was signing the death warrant for her brother, Jazz tossed the tiny heart into the air. As if in slow motion, Danny caught it in one gloved hand. Sam let out a little moan. This was where it would all end, everything she had every dreamed of.
Danny stared at the tiny object in his palm, a grim expression set in his face. He slowly drifted down to the ground, walking near the center line. He looked across the room at his sister's face, realizing for the first time that she only meant him well when she nagged at him. He looked at Tucker and realized how different life would be without his comical, geeky friend. He glanced at Rhiannon, the girl he had met a few short hours ago, the girl who had told him how he would die. His gaze rested on Sam, the girl of his dreams, the one he had wanted to speak with for so long, the girl he wished would love him back.
And, finally, he stopped on Joanna. The reason he would have to do this. The person he had grown to hate most. The person he wanted so badly, oh so badly, to utterly destroy. The one who had ruined his life forever. And he saw fear. It shone in her eyes like a lighthouse in the darkness. But his resolve was set.
"Joanna Nightshade!" he yelled, the words ripping themselves from his throat. "Joanna, I don't care if you are afraid!" But that was a lie. He did care that she was afraid, and that was what she was counting on.
"Weakling." she hissed, standing across the line from him. "I knew you would not be able to do it. You are worthless, no more than a bug beneath my feet. I will destroy you, and the rest of this stupid world. I will make you all pay for the terror I suffered in everyday for eight long years. I will start by killing you." Golden light blossomed around her hands, her eyes glowing with the same intense color. Danny stood, silent, staring at her, then down to the locket in his hands.
"No." he whispered, and he flicked open the locket, tossing it into the very center of the gym. It hung there, suspended, open to the world. A white beam of light shot out of it, right at Joanna. When it struck her, she shrieked. The light surrounded her with a burning aura, and her screams melted away. At the same moment, golden light bloomed from the other side. It went straight for Danny, and time slowed to a crawl.
Sam watched the light tear it's way for her beloved, and she made a few decisions. She could not live without Danny, her fear had proven that. She loved Danny, she would do anything for Danny. Sam was already halfway to the center of the gym when the light came out. She could make it.
Behind her, Tucker heard Rhiannon speak. She spoke one single line, and in that one second, everything became clear. Jazz heard it too, and realized what a mistake she had made.
The line Rhiannon quoted was from the poem the old man had taught her long ago.
And one must die. she whispered.
Sam bolted for the center, the world still slow around her. There was only a foot of space left between Danny and the gold light when she threw herself in front of him.
Several things happened in that single tenth of a second.
The light struck Sam in the center of her chest, and there was a huge flash of light.
Joanna disappeared, swallowed by the whiteness around her.
All over the town, people appeared. They were all trembling, crying, and utterly terrified. Thankfully, they slipped almost immedietly into a deep, healing slumber.
In the ghost zone, in The Fright Knight's castle, The Box Ghost appeared. He whimpered softly, looking around the room for any sign of cylinders, frogs, or that evil golden woman, and then fainted with a muffled cry of "I am the. . !"
In the gym, Jazz and Tucker began to scream in the same exact instant, and Rhiannon stood with her eyes closed, screaming in the privacy if her head.
Danny and Sam were thrown backwards by the resulting shockwave from the impact. Samantha's eyes slid closed as she whispered, too quiet to hear; "I love you Danny."
Danny felt his ghost form rip away, leaving him to slam into the floor in his human form. Sam fell right next to him, and their hands fell together, clasping each other by reflex.
In the very center of the room, a heart shaped locket fell to the floor with a soft clatter, glowing slightly.
And silence fell.
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Mwahahahaha! I love cliffhangers! Who is alive? Who is dead? Well, you're going to have to stay tuned in, and review, before you can find out. Until next time, which, on my honor, will be next week,
Grey R. North