Okay, I typed this chapter in a hurry, so it may seem a bit jumpy in some places and some of it may not make much sense. I am also not sure what some of you were expecting, but I must admit that I don't think this part is very good- I suck at fight scenes and wasn't very creative when it came to writing the song- you'll see what I mean. Also, I cut down on a lot of the dialogue because well, I really wanted to get this done- I've been writing it forever and was getting bored with dialogue. So, each section will be shorter and more or less to the point. I also couldn't remember everyone's names, like the ghost hunters in MDG or the words to all the songs, so I kind of- well you'll see. Ye have been warned. However, since you all sent me such nice reviews and e-mails about how much you like this story, I figured I'd write a nice long chapter in general to reward all of you for your patience with me and my slowness. I think one or two more chapters should just about wrap this up (I hope). I originally was writing this for my brother and wanted to finish it for him for his birthday. (I actually thought I'd finish it for him for his previous birthday!) He's the one who convinced me to start this, so you have him to thank if you like it. I'd appreciate any reviews, and if you think I should up the rating, please let me know. I also gave a clue about the end of this chapter somewhere else in the story, so don't get too mad at me…
"So, you mean to tell me that I can wish for anything I want?" Vlad asked the pink wristwatch and green hat that had just spoken to him, "and I already wished for superpowers?"
"Wow, that short-term memory loss must be worse than I thought- even worse than mine," Cosmo commented. "You wished for super speed, amazing spider powers, telekin… uh…"
"Telekinesis, Cosmo," Wanda finished for him, since he seemed incapable of doing so himself. She then turned back to who she believed to be her godchild. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, sweetie?"
"Oh, um, of course," the small boy chuckled as Vlad controlled him, making his voice sound as youthful and nasally as that of the actual Timmy. "I was just playing around."
"Well now isn't the time for that. We need to help the Fentons as much as we can, especially if there is going to be a massive ghost invasion." Wanda replied.
"And you have to get creative since our magic can't directly affect ghosts or other paranormal beings." Cosmo said.
So they still think the ghosts are going to attack everyone and destroy everything rather than just being the spectators. How wonderful, he thought as a smile crossed his face. They won't even know what hit them, especially if they can't fight back.
"So what's our next plan of action, Timmy?" Cosmo asked. "We don't have much time before the concert starts."
"Well I plan on making a few more wishes. First of all, I want…" Vlad was cut off by another young squealy voice.
"HI TIMMY! It's taken me so long to find you. Where did you go? Well anyway, I want to help you fight the ghosts- I know about your amazing superpowers and I can be your sidekick and help you and Danny and WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL ME YOURSELF? Well anyway- " the little girl paused to inhale when Vlad stopped her from continuing by raising a hand.
"Who are you now, talkative little girl- I mean uh, similarly aged female peer?"
"Similarly-aged what?" she asked in surprise, then narrowed her eyes as if having to come to a significant realization. "Is pretending you don't know me your way of giving me some kind of hint that you don't like me or something?" tears welled up in her eyes. "After all the trouble I went through to find you here?"
Oh great, the kid's got a little girlfriend, Vlad figured. "Well why don't you run along missy, and stay out of the way?"
"Hmph! My name's not Missy, it's Tootie, pal. I was going to help you, but now I'll go wallow in my own misery. I bet this whole time you've just been trying to avoid me. You just ruined my entire summer, Timmy Turner!" she turned around and stormed off, small tears in the corner of her eyes.
Man, the kid will have some explaining to do later, considering he and his friend there survive the upcoming mindless rioting, Vlad thought as he watched her storm off. He chuckled quietly to himself. Not my problem.
"That was mean, even for you, Timmy," Wanda scowled angrily, a sour look on her clock face.
"Yeah, everyone knows she likes you, but just blatantly ignoring her like that and pretending you don't know her in a time like this was just plain wrong," Cosmo added. "We still need to think of a plan."
Vlad/Timmy rolled his eyes.
"Danny! Where's Danny? WHERE ARE YOU!" Tootie cried as she searched the sea of people streaming into the area prepared and anxious to see what they thought would be the biggest concert of the decade. Luckily, she ran into Jazz who was going to meet her parents who had parked the RV along one of the nearby side streets.
"Jazz! I'm lost and Timmy's acting weird and I need to ask Danny something-" Tootie said loudly to get the teen's attention. Jazz stopped.
"Aren't your parent's probably looking for you?"
"I dunno. Probably, but I don't know where they are either. I know my sister isn't, but I know she was coming here today with Dash and his friends."
It didn't take much more than that to convince Jazz to take her with her. The red-headed girl sighed. "Oh alright, come on Tootie- you can tell me everything when we get away from the main rush," she said hurriedly, knowing she had to get back to help her parents (and Danny), and grabbed the little girl by the hand, not wanting to lose her in the crowd as they fought their way against the current of people like salmon trying to make their way upriver.
Luckily, they reached the right street and turned down it; the flow of people seemed to ebb momentarily as the RV came into view, looming against the smaller silhouettes of other cars jam-packed along the sides of the road. Tucker, Sam and Danny arrived almost immediately after they had, and Tootie noticed that they too seemed to have just fought a great battle merely by trying to make their way through the morass of people now clogging most streets and all main roads near the concert grounds.
"Wow, that's quite a story you overheard back there," Danny was saying to his two best friends. "If it's true, we have to stop Ember from controlling everyone." He stopped when he saw his parents outside the RV, suited up and preparing for an enormous attack, who both ran over and embraced all of them in a giant hug.
"We're so happy you kids are safe! We feared the worst when we thought you were kidnapped and when Danny vanished. Where on earth were you?" Maddie asked.
"Not on Earth, Mrs. Fenton," Tucker corrected.
"Yeah, we were just sent to an alternate dimension of the Ghost Zone were we had to live out some of our worst nightmares… But we're all fine now," Sam added hastily and in her normal, monotonous tone after seeing the looks of dread on the adults' faces to reassure them. The confused stares she received told her she shouldn't continue with the account. She merely stated, "I'm never going shopping again."
"Please- don't mention nightmares again. I'm still recovering from the whole thing," Danny said firmly with a slight shiver, then noticed the little girl. "Hey Tootie, I see you found us. Are you okay?"
"Oh I'm fine, but Timmy's acting weird. It's almost like he doesn't know me. I know he doesn't like me as much as I would like him to, but he still is never quite like that. I also know your big secret and that you are both superheroes, so I'd appreciate if you help him out."
"Great, who doesn't know?" Jazz asked.
"He didn't seem to know you at all?" Danny inquired, as if trying to see if she really knew what she was talking about with making such a comment. He had not told her too much on her tour of their basement about overshadowing, but she had seen the box ghost after all. However, he knew the look of worry on her face was genuine.
"No, I don't think he did."
"He may be overshadowed," Jack said.
"I'll go see," Danny said. I hope if that is true, I can get there before whoever possessed him learns they can make magical wishes, or that Cosmo and Wanda have enough sense to figure it out. And with that, he transformed and flew off to find Timmy. Maddie, Jack, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Tootie watched him quickly fly off, and then they all went back into the RV where Hans, Cherie and Franz were gearing themselves up and getting ready to fight. (Needless to say, it was a tight squeeze, but they managed.)
"Is everyone ready?" Maddie asked as they crowded into an overly-crammed version of a group huddle.
"It's now or never," Cherie said as she powered up a ray gun while Hans and his brother did the same.
"Wait, you guys," Tucker announced. "There is something we need to tell you." He and Sam restated what they had just told Danny before he had flown off about the mind control plan instead of what they had originally believed would happen with the ghost attack.
"Suffering spooks!" Jack cried. "Those fiends! Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"We just got here," Sam said blankly.
"I'm afraid a change of plans is in order then," Maddie declared handing out Fenton Phones to the lot of them, who placed them in their ears to block out any ghost noise they may hear and be controlled with. "I also think we should call in reinforcements to help- " she continued when a knock was heard on the outside of the RV.
"Now who could that be?" Jazz asked aloud and peered outside.
"Darn it! Where could that little kid have gone?" Danny thought as he flew, examining the streets with his ghostly vision. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky had turned a brilliant shade of orange which changed into a pale shade of pink as one shifted their vision along the skyline of Amity Park. The temperature was starting to cool off a bit and Danny knew that it wouldn't be long now before it began getting much darker, and the city lights would be turned on. He scanned the throng of people mulling around the concert grounds as well as the constant stream of people that were continuously arriving in cars, by train, by bus, on foot, or any other mode of transportation possible who were crowding outside the arena and in the streets immediately outside of it. Police had closed the roads to incoming cars, forcing them to park farther and farther away, and also making sure that they couldn't run anyone over who was in the street. People everywhere were waiting for the doors to open and the start of the big concert. He also noticed as he searched, that his ghost sense started to go off over and over again, in rapid succession. He glanced up, and noticed hundreds upon hundreds of ghosts appearing and hovering above the concert amphitheater stage and surrounding area. They were invisible to normal humans, but to a fellow ghost, they were quite a sight. There were so many that to him, their ghostly green auras were obscuring the beautiful light and colors of the sunset, and the combination of orange and green was making the sky appear as a shade of grayish brown. Some spirits appeared to be sprawled out on transparent, ghostly, floating lawn chairs, while others sipped at glowing drinks without a care in the world. However, most were just hovering in excited anticipation, and many were idly chatting with each other to pass time. There were even a few laughing and pointing at people in the crowd, making fun of the 'worthless humans.' Danny knew there were too many to fight by himself, but they did seem more like they were about to watch a sporting event rather than attack. I guess what Tucker and Sam overheard was the real story, he thought. "They'll never let me get close enough to that stage to grab the guitar though. What am I supposed to do?" he asked himself, when he felt the familiar warmth and a pink mist emanating from his mouth. He looked down and noticed Timmy, sporting a sinisterly wicked grin, and glowing red eyes. Danny's ghost sense went off again as he approached just in time to hear the boy start to make his first wish.
"I wish…" Timmy said just as Danny cut him off.
"Cosmo, Wanda; don't grant any of his wishes!" and with that, the ghost boy shot the younger child with a ray of ectoplasm (much to the surprise of his godparents who let off a shrill shriek) that was just large enough to force the spiritual essence that was Vlad Plasmius from his tiny body without doing either of them any harm. Some people around him stared momentarily, but went back to focusing their efforts on trying to get through the main gates before anyone else could so they could get the best seats in the amphitheater- almost as if they were being mind-controlled already and could think of nothing else.
Timmy shook his head, dazed, while Cosmo and Wanda stared in sheer confusion, or perhaps it was horror, (or maybe both). Vlad turned toward his adversary, with a look of fury so great, it would have caused the Great Sphinx of Egypt to jump up and run for cover, if that were possible.
"Ah, Daniel. Once again, you've come between me and my plans. However, I was just about to wish for a vile of your own hybrid blood so that I could make a serum for myself. However, since you're here, I don't need those stupid fairies."
"A vile of what and why?" Danny asked confused.
"He's going to make a serum for himself of your blood so that he can drink it and become all-powerful or something," Timmy blurted out as his memory quickly returned.
"Yeah, and we wouldn't have been able to grant that anyway, since our magic doesn't work on ghosts," Cosmo said.
"Shut up, you idiot!" Wanda chastised. "Honestly!"
"All-powerful? I think there must be some mistake," Danny said.
"Um, er, eh…YES!" Vlad said, not wanting to make Danny suspicious of his possible abilities. "Of course you don't have the potential for being all-powerful. Er, it's all a joke; a ruse. My way to demean you on the eve of battle- isn't that marvelous, and just like something I would do? Don't you feel all swell and peachy inside that you're about to lose? Oops, my bad." Vlad said as he vanished. Whew, that was close. If he actually knew and put his mind to it, who knows what he'd figure out how to do. He'll defeat me in a second, Vlad thought. I'll just get the blood at the next opportune moment. Besides, it's not like he can actually beat me… yet. I can't let him find out that he can. It's a good thing I found out about that Madame Babazita from Desireé and her amazing powers of soothsaying and fortune-telling.
Vlad reappeared at the other end of town, where he surveyed the scene. The ghosts were gathering as well as the humans- that will be good for when they all start mindlessly rioting and attacking each other. Lots of people equals lots of distracting chaos so I can get to Daniel while he is preoccupied with trying to save everyone. How quaint and fruitless, he chuckled to himself as he thought. Suddenly in a flash of light and swirling mass of smoke, the Fright Knight appeared, holding the one and only skeleton key.
"I have finally retrieved the object that you desire. Now return my Soul Shredder to me immediately," the frightening spirit knight of Halloween commanded.
"Ah, good work, knight, and you couldn't have had better timing. I knew we could come to an accord eventually," Vlad replied as he waved his hand and the enchanted sword appeared in it. "I must admit I had quite a blast with this old thing, but since you maintained your part of our negotiation, you may have it back."
"I didn't do it for you," the knight sneered, handing Vlad the key. "I did it to get my sword back. And now that I do, I'll transform this world into my own dimension of terror- AGAIN! Ha ha ha!"
"Not before I do," Vlad said as he split himself into four and each copy of himself attacked the knight with a mighty red ghost ray which incapacitated him momentarily. One of his clones grabbed the sword back, and thrust it into a picture of an ornately decorated pumpkin hanging in the window of a nearby craft store that it had noticed. The window shattered, but since the picture was that of a pumpkin, the poster, the sword, and the knight disappeared back into their own realm until the next time someone was to disturb the enchanted weapon. All grew silent once more. "Thank goodness they always start advertising for Halloween stuff so early," Vlad commented as he eyed the key. "For so long I have searched for this, and now, I can really have some fun. I don't have time to return to the Ghost Zone and free the spirits in Walker's prison, but there will be plenty of time for that later. I'm also sure once he finds out about this little trinket, he'll stop at nothing to possess it. But for now, I'll just free all the criminals in the Amity Park Prison. I doubt they even need to be mind-controlled to cause havoc and destruction. Ha ha ha!" Vlad flew off still cackling to himself. "This will be quite a show, for me and Maddie to enjoy. I'll just have to make sure she stays safe."
He flew over the prison and raised the key above his head; it started to glow as red as his own eyes. He started chanting:
"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust;
A soul knows no boundaries, and iron bars rust.
I call on your powers, Skeleton Key of the ages-
Come forth all my minions, ye fools and ye sages!"
As Vlad chanted, the key continued to glow brighter and brighter with an unseen, other-worldly power. Then, all the cell doors of the prison suddenly started to glow the same color, and then all flew wide open. Vlad could hear the cheering of the inmates as they all swarmed the guards, who tried desperately to lock the place back down to no avail, and they left the premises like a swarm of insects. Excellent.
"What exactly did you hear him say, Timmy?" Danny asked the boy.
"I thought he said something about drinking your blood to become all powerful, but I could have misheard, I suppose."
"I could have sworn I heard the same thing," Wanda said.
"I wasn't listening, could you repeat the question?" Cosmo asked, his wife rolled her eyes.
"Well that's really weird," Danny said.
"Even creepier than the fact that you're half-ghost," Timmy added.
"Thanks for that. Remind me to haunt you in my free time."
"Well we can't worry about that now- you all may be dead in a few hours if those ghosts attack," Wanda said.
"They're not going to attack. Ember is going to try to control everyone to attack each other and cause random chaos with a magic guitar that she has. Only, I don't know how to get in close enough to get it from her. There are ghosts everywhere."
"Where?" Timmy asked, looking at the sky and seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
"You still have that bag of ghost hunting stuff my parents gave you. Look in it and see if there is a pair of goggles."
Timmy opened it up and dug around. Sure enough there were. "Here they are," he said as he pulled them out.
"Good, those are Fenton Goggles. Put them on and you'll pretty much see what I can see. According to mom, they focus in on the energy signature of any ghost in the area, whether they are invisible or not."
Timmy put them on and gasped as he saw a pall of glowing green auras blanketing the sky for as far as he could see. "Whoa!" He looked from them to Danny, whose energy signature was white. He took off the glasses and looked at the sky again. "I think I like it better this way," he replied, but then placed the goggles back on. He noticed a flock of birds fly right through the ghost formation, and they didn't do anything about it. "Hey Danny, can you overshadow animals?"
"I don't know, but I can try," Danny said and smiled, catching Timmy's drift as he glanced at the birds. But first I'll help you guys find my parents so you can stick with them. They're parked over on Maple Street."
"Right," Timmy said as Danny picked him up and flew him as fast as he could back to where his parents were.
Little did Danny, Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda know that a second party had started listening into their brief conversation soon after Plasmius had left. A person who had just somehow mysteriously escaped from jail. A person who had stopped his ecstatic flight when he noticed and immediately recognized the ghost boy when no one else seemed to be paying the least bit of attention to anything except trying to get into the concert grounds. Lurking and skulking in the shadows, he nearly jumped for joy in spite of himself at the mention of the mind-controlling guitar from his hiding place behind a dumpster near enough that he could listen in.
"That's just what I need," the skinny pale faced man dressed in striped prison garb announced to himself. "But first…" He crept back around and ducked behind some bushes as he heard police sirens approaching. After they had passed he ran into a clothing store, and emerged wearing his characteristic black goth shirt and trench coat. Whether he had paid for them or not, the world may never know.
I am Freakshow, he thought to himself as he balled up his fist and placed a new top hat on his head that looked just like his old one, and although I don't know how we were all able to escape from prison at once, my family has been controlling ghosts for generations. Ever since that Phantom kid fought me and destroyed my crystal ball, freeing himself and my other minions from my control, I have dreamed of revenge. Now, if that guitar can control humans too, there is no limit to what I can accomplish and the riches I can amass! Now that's power! I'll get you ghost kid, along with everyone else! No more Circus Gothica for me! And with that, he sneakily stole off and lost himself in the throng.
"This is Chet Ubetcha reporting live from the Amity Park Amphitheater, where in just a short amount of time, Chip Skylark and Ember McLane will put on the concert of the decade! Now, back to me, Chet Ubetcha! Ha ha! Man, I love that one. This is Chet Ubetcha (of course) signing off from Dimmesdale Channel Four News. Remember, tune in again for an exclusive interview with the stars of- "
"We interrupt this report with even MORE IMPORTANT breaking news!" Harriet Chin interrupted Chet's broadcast, practically pushing him out of the way of the camera. "There has been an all-out break out at the Amity Park Prison and police may cancel the concert to protect the people from…"
"Nobody's canceling my story, er, I mean the concert!" Chet continued, pushing her back out of the way. "The concert will go on as scheduled, but with extra police protection, just for everyone's safety. It's actually safer to be where there is such a large crowd of people. Goodnight everyone." He then turned to Harriet as the cameras were turned off. "What's the big idea? I thought we were working together on the ghost story."
"Well perhaps eventually, but the world of news is a cutthroat business. A good story is a good story, and my career is at stake. Yours isn't."
"Are they really going to cancel the concert?" Chet asked.
"I doubt it. A security guard had mentioned it, but it would be too much trouble to really cancel it, considering how hard it was to get the two performers together at the same time. It also generates so much revenue for the town anyway; they can't afford not to have it. So what if a few people are mugged by some petty thieves that got out of jail?"
"Excuse me, but did I hear you say that you want a story?" a small boy with buckteeth and a green hat asked the reporters. Timmy and Danny had passed them and heard their report on their way to find the RV. Timmy had recognized one reporter as the main news anchor from his home town, and got an idea. He asked Danny to put him down for a brief second, and the ghost complied, placing him behind a garbage can where he became visible, then approached the two.
"A story you say?" Harriet asked.
"Yes. Put on these goggles and you'll both have the careers you always dreamed of," Timmy said, handing them the Fenton Goggles. "Oh yeah, you also gotta tell everyone to go home and tell the people who are at home, not to tune into the concert."
Harriet and Chet eyed each other, then each took turns looking through the goggles. They gasped, and Timmy smiled. Maybe if they believed him, they could convince everyone else. He ran back to Danny who scooped him up, and flew back to the RV, leaving two stunned reporters trying to figure out if what they were looking at could somehow be an amazingly elaborate hoax.
Upon arriving back the RV, Danny and Timmy noticed Sam and Tucker stationed outside of it, all geared up and ready to go. Both kept looking up and eyeing the RV nervously, but Danny didn't think much of it. Jazz, Hans, Franz, and Cherie stood near them, also carrying similar equipment. All were wearing jumpsuits.
"Okay, let's get you some gear and you'll be all set Timmy," Danny said as he phased them both into the RV. "Hey mom-" he started but froze. He was quite surprised at who he saw sitting there, helping his parents. "Um, the mambo is so much fun, but we have to get moving, kid," he said sharply to Timmy with a frightened and somewhat desperate look on his face. Timmy was surprised, but played along by nodding.
The newcomer turned as they had both entered, as one of her scanners started beeping. She raised one of her many weapons, and pointed a big ray gun right at him. She was wearing a red body suit with a mask that covered her face that was the same color as her outfit, but Danny knew who she was. He even noticed what looked to be a red Fenton Thermos attached to her utility belt. "We meet again, ghost. Put that kid down, or prepare to be sent back to your afterlife, where you can mambo all you want for all eternity."
"Valeri-" Danny stopped himself as his mom approached. He remembered Valerie didn't know who he was.
"Wha- what did you call me?" she asked, a tone of confusion in her voice. "How did you- "
"Valor! You uh, didn't let me finish. Valor, bravery, and teamwork is what we are all going to need to beat the enemy."
"Er, that's absolutely right, Inviso-Bill," Maddie said, enunciating the name with particular stress as she realized what was going on. Valerie had shown up unexpectedly, and in disguise, but claimed to be a ghost hunter who was willing to help the Fenton's out. She had introduced herself as Valerie, but left it at that. Of course Tucker and Sam knew who she was, but hadn't said a word, and Maddie didn't question her motives. Another helping hand was always welcome (especially in such circumstances), but she didn't want to give away Danny's, Hans's or Timmy's secrets either.
Valerie's ghost scanning devices had started going off wildly as she was preparing to go to the free concert, and she realized something big was about to happen. She also felt bad about stealing some of the Fenton's' stuff, so didn't feel any qualms about offering to help them out.
"Timmy!" Tootie yelled. "You'd better not be possessed anymore!"
"Um, hey Tootie. I'm fine now. You?"
"Oh you do care!" the little girl cried, and wrapped herself around Timmy. He turned blue.
"Valerie, let me introduce to you our secret weapon, Inviso-Bill." Maddie said happily.
"We've already met," Valerie said, raising her weapon again and turning to face him. It charged up with a high-pitched squeal similar to that of the Fenton Thermos, which caused Danny to float defensively backward. "You jerk," she seethed.
"Watch it creep," Danny said in retaliation.
"So you're actually helping these people? But you tried to attack the mayor and the town- not to mention the fact that you ruined my life. Why are you behaving yourself now?"
"I'm sorry about the ruining your life thing, it was an accident, believe me. The other scenarios you mentioned were a set up. I'm really a friendly ghost once you get to know me."
"Liar! I'll swear on your grave that that is what you are." Danny's face turned paler than it already was.
"Er, right then!" Jack said loudly to stop the arguing and imminent fireworks as he and Maddie watched the look of disgust on each of the kids' faces as they glared at each other with utter contempt. "But as you just mentioned, we are going to need teamwork to get through this. Dan- uh, I mean Inviso-Bill, why don't you try to get that guitar, and we'll all work on keeping Vlad away from you and chasing away the other ghosts. That's about all we can do. Oh yeah, here's an extra pair of Fenton Phones," he said tossing a pair to the two of them. We'd give them out to everyone in the city, but we don't have enough."
"Did you just say Vlad?" Valerie asked. "Um, who's that?"
"Bad dude. Not one to mess with," Danny replied then let his mother continue.
Valerie shook her head in shock, but continued listening. Maybe it's a different Vlad. It has to be, she hoped, and clutched her gun tighter as Maddie spoke. After all, Vlad is a popular name, right? Yes, it is a VERY popular name, she convinced herself
"We even called all our other ghost hunting friends to join us- you remember them, when they were all trying to capture you for that million-dollar bounty on your head?" Maddie asked.
"How can I forget?"
"Well it just so happens that they all came to the area anyway because their instruments picked up the most paranormal activity they had ever seen- right here. They all just arrived at the airport and should be here in a few minutes, providing they can make it through this crowd. I was so excited when I found out they were here and are going to help. I'm saving the rest of the Fenton Phones and goggles for them- make sure you all wear them, and forget how silly they look."
"Great. Just keep those crazy people away from me."
"Don't worry honey- I mean Dan- er, Bill." She sighed as Valerie raised an eyebrow.
"So, where is Danny?" she asked.
"He's out already, trying to convince the news reporters to tell everyone to go home." Timmy said.
"Good," Jack answered and winked at him.
"Oh, I see," Valerie said, disappointed. Come to think of it, that ghost kid did happen to look a lot like him. Nah, she thought and scratched the idea from her mind.
"Well Timmy, here are some Fenton Goggles and Fenton Phones, and a ray gun. Not that I think you'll need it, considering your, well you know, abilities, but you never know." Maddie whispered. She didn't want this newcomer to find out Timmy had super abilities too.
Timmy remembered he still had his superpowers from his previous wish and his fairies. "Right, Mrs. Fenton."
"Then let's go."
Timmy looked at his Fenton Phones and goggles as he followed her out. "I wish that nobody can be affected by the music," he whispered.
"Timmy, for the umpteenth time, we can't do anything that will affect any other kinds of paranormal stuff with our magic, Cosmo said.
"Then I wish that everyone in the city had a pair of Fenton Phones," Timmy said.
"They wouldn't know what to do with them, and everyone is already too focused on getting into that concert," Wanda replied. "Also, if we poof them onto everyone's ears, the surprise may cause a mass panic early."
"Then I wish you guys had some of these, so you can see the ghosts and don't get brainwashed from the music," he whispered, and his hat and wristwatch were now looking at him with goofy, goggily eyes, and were wearing mini Fenton Phones.
The sound of police sirens grew louder and louder as they became nearer.
Danny split away from the group, and wished all his friends good luck. Then, remembering Timmy's idea, found a lone sparrow in one of the trees as he stealthily searched for an animal he could possess without being noticed by the ghosts. Since he possessed a variety of their individual powers, there was bound to be many who could detect his presence with a ghost sense of their own. "Well I did overshadow a werewolf, this should be no sweat." He floated invisibly towards the bird, not wanting to frighten it away, and focused his energy into a compressed, smaller space as he entered its body. He soon found himself looking through the eyes of the tiny avian; his arms were now wings and he found that controlling its mind was not hard to do at all. Excellent! he thought, since he couldn't speak now. He flew off into the sky towards the stage, and if anyone had noticed the tiny animal for a long enough amount of time, they would have thought it strange that its eyes were glowing green. Perhaps they would even think it was some lab experiment that went wrong and escaped from over at that Axion facility. Luckily, no one did.
He flew warily past the ghosts; some gave him no more than a sideways glance, some tried to brush him away, not caring that a normal bird wouldn't have felt or seen them anyway. He recognized two of them in particular; Spectra and Bertrand were watching the festivities as eagerly as the rest of them.
"When Ember eventually stops playing, and everyone realizes just what they have been doing, there will be so much misery, regret, and anguish, that we will be able to use it to keep ourselves young forever, and there is noting that Danny Phantom kid can do about it!" Spectra beamed.
"I can't wait," Bertrand answered, and the two laughed wickedly as Danny passed them, enraged.
He flew on towards the stage, but noticed someone clad in black, slinking through a back entryway, somehow managing to evade the security guards who were pushing the large crowd of people back. He was making his way towards Ember's trailer behind the stage, where Chip had been staying since he didn't have his own at the moment and didn't want to sleep in his car.
Danny perched on an electrical cable that ran up to a massive floodlight and kept his eye on the figure as he snuck up to the trailer and peered into the window.
That can't be Freakshow, Danny thought to himself. But it looks just like him. How could he have gotten out of jail and over here so quickly? Better make sure anyway.
He swooped down and landed above the door, peering over the top of the trailer and down at the mysterious man. "It is Freakshow! That must be what all the sirens are for," he exclaimed surprised, which instead came out as a "tweet tweet twirp tweet!" from the throat of the sparrow. Freakshow looked up at the sound of the bird, then realizing it was nothing, looked back through the window, staring at his prize- the guitar was propped up on its stand inside. Danny was certain though at that moment, when he saw that pale face, that it was who he had suspected it was beyond a shadow of a doubt, and wondered why he was here at a pop concert rather than at some dark, dismal poetry house like the one Sam liked to go to. He could no longer control ghosts, and Ember was not a force to be reckoned with.
What chance does he think he has? He doesn't even have his magic crystal ball anymore. Danny mused to himself, anxious to hear what Freakshow would say as he rapped on the door with his spindly hand. Does he even know what she is?
"WHAT!" A female voice snapped and the door flew open. Freakshow found himself staring at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. That fiery blue hair, that crazy pale makeup with dark eye-liner so like his own, and the black clothes screamed "goth" all over them to him, whether she had meant to dress that way or not. He was at a loss of words.
"Well who are you and what do you want?" She said shortly, and then continued without giving him a chance to reply. "I didn't think they were letting people in yet or the press for interviews. Now if you don't mind, Chip and I have a concert to do, so bug off, dipstick."
Freakshow looked past her and into the trailer. He noticed a handsome boy sitting straight upright on an armchair, his eyes looked a bit distant, but he kept staring straight at her. He blinked twice when he realized someone else had entered.
"Hey, what am I doing here?" he said confused.
"We're putting on a concert, dimwit," she replied.
"But why aren't we out there yet?"
"Time flies, doesn't it? We don't start for another three hours. They are only going to start letting people in in about five minutes. Plus, some no name cover band is going to start out first. I think they are called the 'Dumpty Humpties' or something like that." She looked at him again then pulled out her guitar. "Until then…" she turned a knob on the guitar and strummed a soothing melody, and Chip resumed his vacant stare. "Stay put until I say so."
"Yes… Ember…whatever…you…say…" he muttered back slowly and monotonously, then continued staring blankly into space.
She then turned to Freakshow. "So what did you say you wanted?" she asked as if she was bored.
"I uh… is your hair always like that?" he spontaneously pondered aloud.
"Yeah," she said, the impatience in her voice was clear by her tone.
Chip jumped up happily as if had had suddenly been slapped in the face without warning. "And my teeth are always shiny!"
Ember looked enraged and put him back into his trance-like state with another strum of her guitar. "Now stay put and shut up!"
"Yes… Ember…whatever…you…say…"
"Is that all?" she continued, turning to her guest. "You know, I can call security and have you forcibly removed."
Danny couldn't tell quite where the guitar was from where he was 'perched'. He exited the bird's body, leaving a confused little sparrow sitting on top of the roof. Invisibly, he entered and listened in. He felt uncomfortable being in the presence of the woman who had almost destroyed his friendship with Sam by deliberately making him fall in love with her, but this time he was prepared and pulled out the Fenton Phones from where he had intangibly been keeping them in the pocket of his jumpsuit, which both reappeared when he left the bird's body. No ghostly music will control me again. He placed them in his ears and positioned himself in the corner, where he had a good vantage point of whatever was going on.
"That won't be necessary," Freakshow said, still unaware that Ember's human façade was hiding the fact that she was really a ghost. "I am a… well, a trailer inspector, and must request that you show me around," he said, remembering his original objective. "I must make sure this is safe, especially with all those criminals on the loose. Some may have gotten in here and may be hiding."
"What? No one else has been in here! Securit-"
"Alright, I'm leaving. I don't see why anyone would want to break in here anyway. Thank you for your time." He glanced towards the instrument, greedily.
"Eh, whatever, dipstick. I need to finish getting ready anyway." She lead Freakshow out and slammed the door behind her. He watched her go into the adjacent smaller room, which must have been where she slept, and figured she was probably putting on more makeup. That Chip Skylark was obviously under the instrument's spell, so if he just snuck back in…
He creaked the door back open as silently as he could, and waved his hand in front of Chip's expressionless face, not getting a reaction at all. He smiled a crooked, toothy smile, and tiptoed silently toward the guitar, chuckling smugly as he reached for it.
No way! How could I have missed that? He's after the guitar too! Danny thought and seized his chance by flying over and grabbing it a split second before the creepy thief/ringmaster of the old Circus Gothica show did. The guitar rose into the air for a brief second, before Danny turned it invisible and intangible as he was about to fly out with it. Yes! In your face, jerk! He thought as loud as he could, hoping that Freakshow would somehow hear it, but not wanting to push it by invoking the wrath of Ember if she had caught him.
"What the?" Freakshow exclaimed aloud, forgetting he was trying to be quiet, and immediately came face-to face with Ember again who had stormed back into the room like a bolt of lightning at the noise, her hair ablaze.
"You again! What do you…" but she stopped dead when she noticed the missing guitar. She looked angrily at Freakshow who smiled innocently and turned out his pockets in a silly manner as if proving he didn't take it. "WHERE IS IT?" she screamed, her fiery blue hair exploding in a fit of rage. Startled by the hair flare, Freakshow jumped back from her. Danny wasted no time in flying up at top speed, invisible and intangible, to escape the somewhat roomy trailer when Ember screamed savagely, waved her hand and a sphere of swirling pinkish ethereal energy shot out of her fingertips and encircled the room. Danny slammed head first into it, involuntarily becoming visible due to the shock, along with the guitar which fell to the floor beside him as he lost his grip on the magical instrument.
"YOU!" cried Ember and Freakshow in unison. She was seething to the point that it almost seemed like she would explode, but Freakshow didn't seem too surprised. Chip seemed to stir momentarily in his seat due to the ruckus, but the last magical spell Ember had placed over him seemed to keep him distracted and under control much better than the first.
"My my, so I was right about there being a criminal hiding in this trailer after all. Public enemy number one, in fact! Aha!" Freakshow chuckled, remembering the ghost he had previously overheard talking about the guitar- the same one he had tried to control to make a member of his evil circus and crime ring with a magic crystal ball. He then turned to Ember. "What did I tell you? Looks like he was trying to steal your guitar. Shame on you, drone. You see, I was trying to stop him." Danny tried to get up to defend himself, but found he was face to face with the power-hungry singing sensation who was staring him in the face before he could right himself. She had picked up her beloved instrument.
Ember eyed him furiously, but before she could say a word, Freakshow continued.
"You're a ghost too, aren't you?" he asked Ember slyly as he looked at the hair and energy enclosure she had just created with the tips of her fingers. You know my family has dealt with your kind for centuries…"
"Big whoop. What's it to ya?" she snapped. He backed away and she turned back to Danny who was trying to grab it back. "Now, you will pay!"
Darn it! I should have smashed it when I had the chance, Danny thought angrily at himself in retrospect, but fired an ecto-ray at her, which she dodged easily and reflected back at him by holding her guitar in front of the blast. He was knocked back down to the floor.
"Good shot!" Freakshow said, his eye still greedily set on the guitar.
Ignoring him completely, she continued fighting with Danny, who had picked up the guitar stand and was swinging it like a sword, as Ember did the same with her guitar. When neither of them seemed to gain an advantage, Ember growled in frustration. "That's it, kid. I've had enough- take this!" and with that she strummed a loud power chord; the sound waves emanating from the strings became a solid wave of energy which slammed into him, throwing him backward into the wall of even more swirling energy that surrounded them all. She then adjusted the knob, and played the same tune that she had played to hypnotize Chip. Danny recognized it and figured what she was trying to do, but the Fenton Phones kept him protected. He played along and sat, behaving like Chip, staring into space and unmoving.
"I'll figure out what to do with him later," Ember said as she turned around, snapped her fingers and the ghostly pink force field vanished. "By the way, she said to the 'frozen' Danny, "Those stupid earrings, if that is what they are, really aren't flattering. Leave the trendsetting to me." She faced Freakshow again. "Thank you for trying to protect my guitar," she said to him, who was still trying to figure out how to get it away from her, but she didn't put it down. "I better keep an eye on this. Chip, show the nice man to the door."
Chip stumbled as he got up, walking like a zombie. "Yes…Ember…" He practically shoved Freakshow out the door, who scowled at not attaining his prize. As Ember left to return to the other room within the trailer, Danny flew up and out. He noticed the arena was now jam-packed with people who were anxiously awaiting the show. Since the bird had long since flown away, he turned intangible and flew underground, poking his head up, between people, to make sure he was going the right way and hoping no ghosts would sense him. He needed to talk to Timmy.
The remaining Fentons and company had made their way to the concert grounds in the specter speeder to avoid the immense crowds after trying unsuccessfully to convince local authorities to cancel the concert. Sam had put up quite a protest, but could not sway anyone. After the fiasco in the office, Maddie had run back to the house to fly the Specter speeder back to them so they could use it to fly over the crowd while the others had waited patiently for her return in the RV after a disappointing talk with the mayor, who was more concerned about the recently escaped convicts who were sure to make a run for it or losing themselves in the crowd before police could get to re-arrest them. It was a good thing she was in such great shape, and had excellent endurance for running while carrying a lot of heavy ghost gear (just in case) and being able to dodge people in the street. After all, they couldn't risk losing their parking spot, or running someone over trying to get out of it. When she returned, they all scrambled into the floating vehicle and it took off.
"Well that was a big waste of time that could have been better used to help Da- er, Inviso-Bill get Ember's guitar," Tucker said, glancing at Valerie and Sam nodded.
"So vhat's next?" Hans asked as they all sat in the speeder. Cherie, Franz, and Valerie were looking over the equipment they were wondering if any of it would be of any help in the long run. Timmy was debating an idea in his head. Suddenly, there was a flash of light in front of them, and the view before them seemed to split in two, as if someone had just ripped a gash out of the very air before them and stepped out in front of their craft from somewhere else. Valerie jumped up, prepared for battle.
"Hey, it's Vulf!" Hans said happily.
"Cool, he's back," Cherie said as Maddie and Jack smiled.
"And he brought lots of friends!" Franz pointed out.
"Good thing too," Jazz added.
"Okay, so just how many 'friendly' ghosts are helping us out then?" Valerie asked after taking in the view from the front widow.
"Looks like we're about to find out," Tucker said, and then opened the sunroof and peered his head out of it. He couldn't see a thing. He went back down and looked through the window again, clearly confused when he could see the wolf ghost.
"Oh, this window is made of the same material those goggles are- you can see invisible ghosts through it," Jack said upon noticing Tucker's confused expression.
"Mi amikos!" Wulf said with an air of pride. "I have brought some help to stop the invasion." He looked up at the other ghosts. "I see it has started already,"
"Uh, Wulf," Jazz said, "There isn't going to be an 'invasion' so to say. Ember is going to brainwash everyone into practically going to war with each other to create a diversion so Vlad can get to Danny. These other ghosts are just here to watch and cause more trouble if they so desire. They also want to banish us to their realm once everyone becomes so tired that they can't fight back once they stop being mind controlled, so the ghosts can inhabit the earth once more."
"Really? That's not what I heard," Wulf replied.
"They were tricking you," Jazz said. "Plus all those escaped criminals won't need much brainwashing to find an excuse to trash the place, and possibly hurt people."
Wulf stopped for a moment and thought. "Well I brought enough good ghosts with me that we can start up some trouble with these other ones. Maybe if we can get them to flee or panic, then it may create a big enough diversion to get Vlad to forget about Danny, for the moment at least. Ember may even stop playing if she gets scared." Everyone in the van made desperate gestures for him to stop talking and glanced at Valerie who was wearing a smug expression on her face- no doubt due to his mention of the elusive Danny that she had yet to see at all that day.
"I know Danny is a friend of Inviso-Bill's, but I doubt Vlad is after him too," Sam said, breaking the shocked silence. Wulf looked confused, but the glare in her eyes told him to agree with her. "Hey, if you don't believe me, Paulina can even attest to it."
"Um… okay, right. Verdad. Good point."
"Well it's the best idea we've got," Jack said from beside his wife. "But I doubt there will be enough of us to fight all those ghosts and send them away." He glanced around outside at all the other good ghosts, and noticed a familiar pair of faces- his own parents. Jazz had only known her grandparents when she was little, but still recognized their ghostly faces as they floated next to the speeder, with proud looks on their faces. Maddie saw them as well, tears forming in both their eyes. Both she and Jack knew though, that they didn't have time to chat.
Sam looked out the window and saw among many, the Dairy King and besides him were a number of transparent white knights, perched proudly on not horses, but ghostly black and white Holstein dairy cattle. She rolled her eyes at the silly sight. She should have known he would have other people fight for him. She was surprised that they had actual armor, and not some cheese substitute, like those ridiculous 'Cheese Pants' snack crackers that were becoming so popular. She also noticed someone talking to him, that she faintly recognized as well, someone who more or less could have been an older male version of herself. Yes, she had seen him in some of her old family albums. It couldn't be, could it? The spirit resembled her great-grandfather Izzy, whose inventions made her family super wealthy- his greatest one being the deli-toothpick cellophane wrapping machine that he had created. There were a few hundred more spirits that she did not know, but hoped she could eventually get to meet him. Was he a friend of the Dairy King? Is that why he had recognized her the other day in the castle? These thoughts flashed through her head as the speeder reached its destination and hovered slightly away from the concert grounds, where the cover band, 'Dumpty Humpty' had already begun playing.
"Okay, you know the plan," Jack said to Wulf. "Start fighting all those ghosts, and we'll take it from there. But first, help Inviso-Bill get Ember's guitar. That's the main priority."
"Right," he complied nodding, and he and all the other good ghosts flew away and up towards the others, who had already noticed their presence and appeared to be trying to figure out what to do about it. It wouldn't be long before they started to retaliate once they realized their intentions.
A beeping light alerted the Fentons that they were receiving a radio transmission from the other ghost hunters. They had arrived and were approaching the concert grounds, with similar goggles as those which the Fentons had made, still in awe at what they were looking at.
"Good, more reinforcements," Maddie and Jack said, knowing that they would still unfortunately be outnumbered.
"Count me in too! I'll be there momentarily to catch the GHOSTS!" they heard a voice over the radio. It was slightly eccentric-sounding, but Timmy knew it was Mr. Crocker.
"Who is that?" Maddie asked aloud, but before she could respond to his radio signal, Timmy stopped her. "He's also going to be helping us. Trust me."
Danny stuck his head through the floor of the speeder directly in front of Timmy, "Psst, I need to talk to you," he said. Timmy nodded, and Danny grabbed his ankle so he could phase him out of the bottom of the speeder. He had been in the back, and no one had noticed he had disappeared. Once out of the speeder, he hovered beneath it, and Timmy grasped the bottom of it, since he still had his spider powers and wouldn't fall off. Cosmo and Wanda poofed into their normal forms.
"What's up?"
"Did you hear from Jorgen? I just ran into Wulf, but we need a lot more help if it is going to be just them. Did you see those ridiculous cows?"
"Yeah, he said he'd get the fairies to help, and that he'd even talk to the Pixies." Timmy answered.
"If you ask me, he should just let the Anti-fairies back out and make them attack the ghosts," Wanda retorted.
"Well we are going to need him to hurry up. This is going to be a huge battle whether we want it to be or not. Plus, I couldn't get the guitar."
"So what do we do?"
"Start wishing."
"This is Chet Ubetcha and Harriet Chin, reporting on the most amazing new fad to sweep paranormal enthusiasts this year." The pair of reporters held up the Fenton Goggles, making up a story about them, since they didn't believe what they were looking at, and it was the only thing they could think of.
"That's right," Chet said "These goggles create the illusion of what is supposed to be spectral energy, and man do they work! A simple explanation is that light refracts into different points of the lens and reflects back at different angles, and er, allows people to have instant hallucinations! Great for college kids trying to get out of exams."
"Plus, they're great for Halloween costumes too!" Harriet nodded. "Now onto our coverage of the Chip Skylark/Ember McLane concert!"
"Then I wish I knew someone who could grant wishes concerning ghosts!" Timmy said.
"Right over there," said Cosmo and Wanda together, pointing to the ghost of a beautiful woman whose spectral clothing was reminiscent of the Arabian style. Timmy had met her just a day or so before.
Timmy waved his hands to get her attention. "Hey over here, lady!" he screamed.
"Timmy, that's Desiree, and her wishes always come with a price. Be careful."
"Not that I'll grant any wishes now anyway," she said as she floated over, eyeing each of them as if she was bored. "I have decided to stop granting every wish I hear- I learned my lesson," she stated, glaring at Danny. "Besides, this will be much more fun to watch. Also, when we ghosts rule this realm again, there will be no need for me to grant wishes to you mortals anymore. Have a pleasant day," she smiled, and flew off, chuckling to herself loudly.
"Well, that went well. Timmy, you're going to have to think of stuff yourself, since I have to get going. Just be careful," Danny said, phasing the boy back into the speeder, and flying off. He noticed that Hans had jumped out of the craft with his brother and Cherie, and had turned into a Wolfa again, without anyone else having seen him. Danny flew down to them and turned visible.
"Hey, Danny- I mean Inviso Bill," Hans laughed, his fangs gleaming and his glowing golden eyes shining as the sky was getting darker by the minute. His tail swished from behind him.
"You think it's a good idea to walk around like that?" Danny asked.
"Eh, nobody's paying attention to anything except that concert," Hans growled, and Danny noticed they were all wearing the Fenton Phones and had the goggles ready. They would surely need them in a few minutes if Danny couldn't get the guitar.
"So have you figured out what the Wulf ghost did to you before?" Cherie asked.
"No, but I haven't given it much thought since. So much has happened since that incident. I feel fine though."
"Good," she, Franz, and Danny said.
"Oh no," Danny remarked as he noticed all the other ghost hunters approaching, and Mr. Crocker. Scardy Cat looked freaked out as usual, but his teammates looked determined, along with the Guys in White, and the Extreme Ghost Hunters. "Don't let them catch you like that," he warned Hans, just as all their equipment started beeping as they passed and they quickly turned his way. "And that's my cue to get out of here. See ya."
Everyone climbed out of the Specter Speeder to greet the newcomers; a scene which to an onlooker would have resembled a circus act with many clowns getting out of a tiny car. Tootie was told to stay put in the speeder, and she agreed to.
"Maybe we should rename this thing The Tardis" Tucker commented after making sure to squeeze out before Valerie did so he could gentlemanly help her step down.
"Well let's all just get in. I got us all security clearance for easy access and so no one will get suspicious of us," Maddie said. "If I tell you how I managed it, I will be forced to shoot you," she added with a laugh after seeing all their amazed yet questioning expressions.
"Let's go dudes!" the female Extreme Ghost Hunter cried. "And when I say 'dudes' I mean girls too."
After being offered a 'Kitty Crunch,' by his comrades, Scardy Cat jumped up and stood at the ready, poised for anything- especially chickening out at any moment. The Guys in White pulled out some gadgets, dusted their jackets off, and were ready as everyone joined them.
As they passed through the back gates as the band, 'Dumpty Humpty' was performing; Timmy froze as he looked out as far as he could see into the audience. "Hey, that's my mom and dad!" he cried. "WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?" Then as a second thought added, "I should have known they'd cut their beach vacation short to come see a huge Chip Skylark concert- especially my dad." He cringed as he heard his parents yell "We want Chip… and whoever else you're singing with!" Timmy continued on, knowing he didn't have time to talk to them. As he walked, he also saw Vicky, Dash, and everyone else she had been hanging out with since she arrived in the audience up close to the stage- clearly having pushed their way up there. They were all clearly having a wonderful time without him.
Timmy looked down and reached in his bag, looking for anything that would make him feel a little less nervous about all this. He felt around the Fenton Goggles, ectoplasmic ray gun, and some other gadgets, until he felt something unexpected. Curiously, he reached into the bag and pulled out the red Crimson Chin doll. "Hey, Tootie must have put this in my bag before I left the speeder- for good luck or something. This gives me an idea. I wish that all my comic book superheroes were here to fight too, and they will actually be able to help!"
With a 'poof' it was so.
Danny kept close watch on Ember as she placed her guitar down backstage and prepared to perform. She had removed the spell from Chip that she had placed on him before so he wouldn't bother her, so that he could sing too, unknowingly helping her to brainwash everyone. Danny quietly flew down, invisible, and zipped over to the guitar. He waited for Ember to turn her back, but she never did. Frustrated and impatient, he sent a beam of ectoplasmic energy at her, throwing her back halfway across the stage with a cry of surprise, and giving him time to grab it. Unfortunately, Ember regained her composure almost instantly, and sent back an equally powerful beam towards him, which he dodged, but in doing so, he could not get to the instrument.
"You think you can try this stunt again, dipstick?" she asked. "You're just going to get your butt kicked the same way." She threw a microphone stand at him, but he turned intangible and it went right through him. They continued fighting, but she kept blocking him from getting to the guitar. She shot him with an energy blast from her hand, but he erected a shimmering green force field around himself to block it. He flew forward at his top speed and slammed headlong into her, sending her careening back into side wall. She retaliated again, still keeping him from his objective, but all this fighting was keeping her from getting to the guitar as well. Her hair flamed up and turned into a giant fiery blue hand, which entangled itself around him, and threw him again. He could hear her wicked laughter as he slowly stood up from hitting the opposite wall.
Neither of them noticed the slinky figure approaching the guitar as they were both distracted with fighting each other. He grabbed the guitar and started playing it- badly. Ember and Danny froze- each had their hands around the neck of the other, but they released their grip and both stood facing Freakshow again.
"Aha! I have it now! At last!" he cried happily, strumming the strings. "As I can now control both ghosts and humans, both this world and the next will soon be mine for the taking!" He jumped out on stage, causing the other band to stop playing in surprise and the audience to look on in confusion. "That's right, my dear minions- you will all soon bow to me!" and he started playing. However, the guitar shot out random bursts of energy, causing people to do everything except what he wanted. In fact, most people were covering their ears and shouting vehement exclamations to get him to stop his horrid playing. Freakshow stopped and looked at the guitar. "Maybe I should have taken lessons."
"You got that right, Jerk!" Ember shouted and lunged for him. He strummed the guitar and the sound waves knocked her back. She got up and replied, "You can't control minds if you can't play, and you frankly don't have the touch!"
Danny soon joined in the fight to retrieve the guitar, and the audience started cheering.
"Like, is this the coolest concert or what?" Paulina said to Star who was standing next to Kwan. "And look, there's the ghost boy too! I knew he'd come!"
"This mindless teenage rebellion stuff is awesome!" Vicky added. "Though I don't know about that creepy guy up there. I can only imagine what it will be like when Chip and Ember play. You know, I almost married Chip Skylark- he came to Timmy's house when I was babysitting him one day."
"Really?" Paulina asked, almost as star struck as she usually was around the 'ghost boy.' "You have to tell us all about it then!"
"Gladly," she answered.
As Ember and Freakshow focused on beating the tar out of each other, Danny turned invisible, approached Freakshow, and grabbed the guitar from him, turning it intangible and sliding it out of his grasp. He then reeled around and shot off at top speed, determined not to be caught by Ember again, but instead came face to face with a wall of ghosts who had come down from their higher vantage points to see what was going on with Ember and her guitar.
"Hey, the halfa is stealing her guitar! Get him!" one ghost shouted, and then hundreds were on is tail. It wasn't long before Danny was surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered.
"Get away!" Danny shouted, and formed the glowing shield around himself again, so no one could get in, but he couldn't get out either. The evil spirits all started trying various methods to get through, and the strain was taking a toll on the ghost boy, who was weakening as he tried to keep the force-field up around him.
"Looks like you're stuck, kid," Ember stated after knocking Freakshow aside and flying up to get her guitar back.
"No, you are!" shouted Jack, who had just appeared behind the stage followed by his wife, daughter, two of the ghost kid's friends, and a bunch of other people who Ember had never seen before- including one who looked like a weird wolf, and a new eclectic bunch of people who were apparently more ghost hunters. He fired a blast of ectoplasmic goo from one of his guns at her, which caught her in mid air, knocking her down, and the globs of sticky goop prevented her from moving off the ground.
"Nice shot!" Danny said, allowing the spherical green shield of energy to dissipate from around him. As an added bonus, Timmy ran over in a blink, and wrapped her up is a cocoon of spider silk to ensure she wouldn't get away.
"Curses!" she shouted as she tried to get free, but then turned to the evil cloud of spirits when she realized she couldn't. "Change of plans, guys. Attack now!"
It was as if they were standing before a massive avalanche that no one else could see, except it wasn't an insane amount of snow that was rushing at them, but a wall of ghosts that could have rivaled the Great Wall of China.
"We won't let them take us without a fight!" one of the Guys in White shouted as everyone braced themselves and powered up their weapons. Scardy cat and his comrades cowered, but they also each shakily held up a gun and pointed it at the air.
"Darn right!" Maddie shouted.
"Bring it!" Valerie shouted louder.
"They don't stand a chance!" Hans said.
"No they don't," Timmy shouted, "because I called in some reinforcements, and here they are now!" The group turned to see a large amount of people coming to join them. Most were flying, and those who didn't just ran past the guards or jumped the fence. They were wearing outfits of every color, and were instantly recognizable from any comic-book enthusiast.
"Well now I've seen everything," Jazz said.
"Ditto," replied Sam and Tucker.
"Awesome!" Danny exclaimed. "I didn't know these were real people!"
"They aren't. I wished for them out of my comic books."
"Oh, well good thinking, Timmy!" Danny said, "Hey, is that Captain United States and Birdman? Oh wow, there's Wonderful Woman and Flashy too! Incredible!" He then gasped as he started to breathe out sparkly pink mist and feel warm and tingly again. "Are there more fairies too?"
"Oh you bet there are!" Timmy said. "Jorgen convinced every fairy throughout this world and Fairy World to come, along with all their godchildren so they can make wishes too. Danny even saw Jorgen, so excited about getting to fight that he could barely contain his glee. "He is so ready to kick some butt," Timmy cheered.
"Excellent!" Danny said eyeing all the fairies and children that were appearing out of nowhere before them in clouds of fairy dust. Almost instantly, he could hear them quietly making wishes so no one would learn their secrets, and then giant robots appeared, along with monstrous toys such as slingshots and baseball bats poofing into existence which floated up towards the malevolent specters and began chasing them, who had no idea what was going on. (Neither did the spectators watching the concert, who could not see the ghosts, but saw all these children and giant things appearing. The cover band decided to make a run for it, while everyone else just figured it was all part of the show.) Timmy also could have sworn he heard Crocker shouting "FAIRIES!" from the distance instead of "GHOSTS!" for a brief moment. How was he doing anyway? Timmy didn't have time to wonder too long about it, and went back to join up with the Fentons.
The Fentons and company (who were wearing the Fenton Phones and goggles) began fighting, firing energy rays everywhere, along with the other friendly ghosts, who had caught up with them in a huge counter attack. Hans jumped up, with his now supernatural strength and wolf-like agility, pouncing on any ghost he could get to that wasn't intangible. In their panic, many of them became visible, much to the surprise of the audience, who continued cheering, thinking it was all part of the show and done with laser lights and other special effects equipment. Timmy even saw his hero, the Crimson Chin fighting, but didn't have time to wish himself to become Cleft, his sidekick. Danny also continued to fight on, as the incoming tsunami of ghosts rushing at them showed no signs of receding. It was a mess. Fighting hand on-hand like this is very difficult when it's five to one, and they just keep coming, Danny thought, swinging Ember's guitar and sending what seemed to be at least six or seven ghosts careening away. All this commotion had gotten the attention of Vlad, who appeared before the attacking group and faced Ember who was stuck to the ground and wrapped in a spider web.
"What are you doing?" he roared at the fiery-haired ghost, freeing her from the stickyness that she was caught in. "You aren't supposed to attack, you're supposed to make them attack each other!"
"You know, I hate it when you adults start trying to control our lives- that's my job. I'm a spontaneous person, and when I couldn't get my guitar from that phantom kid, I decided a change was in order."
"You have no authority to do that!"
"Well they all follow my lead, Pops. That gives me plenty of authority by default, but if you are so intent on making them all go and kill each other or something, so be it." He tossed her aside, and she flew off. "Get my guitar, fools!" she shouted to the other ghosts, who all piled onto Danny at the same time, grabbing at the instrument. Their combined efforts were too much, and Danny was torn away from the guitar by one group that grabbed him, as another group pulled on the instrument and returned it to Ember.
"No!" he shouted as it was ripped from his grip and pulled backwards. As he struggled and looked around, he saw the enormous battle waging overhead, and couldn't help but think why most of the people didn't seem to be giving it much thought whatsoever. There was Wulf clawing at the spirits, the ghostly knights on ghostly cows were charging, and some guy was waving his hand and causing the evil spirits to become wrapped up in glowing green cellophane, along with hundreds of others who were fighting as well. He looked oddly like Sam… Also, were those his grandparents?
"Finally!" his attention turned back to her. "It's amazing what you can achieve when there is some motivation, eh Danny?" she sneered at Danny who glared back, trying to break away from the spirits who were holding onto him, but couldn't. "Now, just sit back and watch the chaos unfold until Vlad shows up for you!" She walked to the front of the stage, and watched the battle going on in the skies. She prepared to start a song, then remembered she was one person short. "This is why I don't normally do duets, but hey," she snapped her fingers, and Chip Skylark appeared next to her.
"That was weird," he said a bit flustered, "but let's get rockin'!" he shouted, and a roar was heard from the audience. Timmy's dad made a girly shriek as Ember slammed a power chord and started.
"Oh Ember, you will remember…" she sang. "Ember, one thing remains…"
"Shiny teeth, shiny teeth…" Chip continued singing his famous song at the same time, their syncopation flawless.
"…You will remember my name."
"Hey Vicky, you're oh so Icky- Icky Vicky!" he continued with his medley of different songs.
"HEY!" Vicky shouted from the audience, and then turned to Paulina. "He wrote that song for me, ya know."
As Ember started to play more on her guitar, she turned the dial and the sound waves started to take control of people. She started to wail on the instrument, getting louder and louder, and as she did, everyone turned to their neighbors and started fighting amongst themselves. Many of the prison inmates who hadn't gotten very far in their flight from the country turned towards the town and starting breaking windows and stealing cars. Many started attacking other people, who mindlessly fought as well, until the whole city seemed to be in an uncontrollable ruckus.
"Stop right there!" Jack yelled as he jumped onto the stage, followed by Maddie, who fired a shot at Ember with a Fenton Bazooka, and she flew back, dropping her guitar. Jack picked it up and tried smashing it against the ground, but it wouldn't break easily. Sam arrived and held up a Fenton Thermos and aimed it straight at Ember.
"You people are such a drag," Ember said. "I'm tired of this and so outta here. I'll see you all on my comeback tour, and Vlad can cry all he wants if I don't keep playing now. He can't control me- stupid adult! Oh- and since you want this guitar so badly, you can have it, I'll just build myself another! Muwahahaha!" she laughed evilly and flew over, pressed a button on it while Jack was still holding it, and then disappeared in a ring of blue fire.
"What was that all about?" Jack asked, eyeing a now blinking light that read SELF DESTRUCT next to the dial on the body of the guitar that Ember had just apparently activated. The dial had now become a countdown clock- numbers had appeared on it, and it was spinning, displaying that they only had about two minutes before the blast.
"Oh no, Jack!" Maddie panicked upon realizing what Ember had just done. "If that guitar explodes, I calculate that the amount of spectral energy that will radiate from the detonation, will be enough to wipe out half the city! Give it to me, I may be able to stop it, but there isn't much time!"
"Oh good heavens!" Jack cried, as he handed it to her and looked around at the crowd- parents and children who displayed dazed looks on their faces and some minor bruises were looking around both anxiously and confusedly, smiling as they expected the concert to continue, having no idea what was about to happen, or what had just happened to them before Ember stopped playing. Chip Skylark stood confused as well- he had no idea what just happened either. Jack knew that there would not be enough time to get any of them out of the blast range in time. He turned back to Maddie who was frantically pulling the instrument apart, pulling out various glowing wires and reattaching them to others. She was getting more and more nervous and frightened with every passing second.
Danny couldn't break free of the mass of spirits that had been holding onto him, preventing him from moving. However, as his mother became more frightened, his eyes began blazing white again, and he saw what she saw- she was doing something to the guitar. He saw the clock and noticed that it read 'three seconds left' when his mother cut a wire, but it continued going. He had a ghastly feeling as to what was going on. "Mom no!" he cried, and vanished as he had before, just as it exploded.
He awoke, looking up at Jack and everyone else. Jazz was on the verge of tears, while Sam and Tucker looked sad as they looked down. The other ghost hunters looked worried, and Valerie had taken off her mask and bowed her head. Timmy looked upset and Hans and his group were equally as distressed. He realized he had felt this way just before, when he had appeared in Sam's body after seeing what she had seen when she was frightened. The only thing was that this body felt different- it was empty and unfeeling, as if void of another consciousness. In other words, there was nothing he had to 'overshadow.' He had never experienced this weird feeling before, but as he opened his glowing green eyes, he saw his dad staring at him worriedly.
"Oh Maddie, we were so worried about you when that evil ghost's guitar exploded. The ambulance will be here shortly, but luckily you were able to adjust the blast so that it was much smaller than it should have been. There is only a small hole in the stage, but since you were the only one caught in the blast, we feared the worst…"
"Dad," Danny said through Maddie, and then floated up out of her, becoming visible. She fell back to the ground unmoving. He didn't want to have to say it, but he knew, and the truth was terrifying and horrible all the same. He also didn't care who knew his secret now, and hovered for all to see before his mother's body and announced quietly, "Mom's dead," before falling from the sky, consumed in tears. He was no longer able to focus on controlling his ghost form, and transformed back into the human Danny Fenton as everyone else was at a loss of words and hugged each other for comfort.