Author's note:I don't own anything you've seen in DP. I wish I did, but I don't, that's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Chapter 8 (Tantarra)
For a second I thought I was seeing doubles, although one was a complete negative to the other.
As Tarra shrank back to normal size the beast beside him grew, until their sizes matched exactly.
The other cat was snowy white with red stripes and eyes, with glowing green fangs that dripped venom. Also, the feline seemed to be fluctuating, as if it couldn't hold its form for more than a second.
"BROTHER," the feline spoke, this one obviously female, "WHEN SHALL WE FEAST UPON HIM?"
"SOON, TANNA, BUT FIRST WE MUST WORK OUR TERROR INTO HIS SOUL," Tarra replied.
He then turned to me and said ominously, "WE ARE TARRA AND TANNA, TWIN PREDATORS."
"WE HAVE LED YOU ON A LONG HUNT, ONLY FOR YOU TO FIND THAT NOW IT IS YOU WHO HAVE BECOME THE HUNTED."
"Why have you done this?" I hissed, backing up ever so slightly.
The two cats noticed my movement and started circling me.
"TO LURE YOU TO US," Tanna hissed.
Tarra cut in, "TO DRAW YOU OUT."
"Yeah, but, why go to so much trouble? I can scent you guys a ways off," I leered.
"WE PREFER THE MORE, ELABORATE PLANS, THANK YOU. IT FEELS MORE REWARDING ONCE WE'VE CAPTURED OUR PREY," Tarra explained.
"WE HAVE BEEN HUNTING YOU, YOUNG NINJA," Tanna cooed from behind my back, "WE HAVE COME TO DESTROY YOU."
"How did you keep coming back?" I asked, pointing an accusing finger at Tarra, "Even after I banished you into the Ghost Zone numerous times?"
"YOU SEE, WHELP," Tarra answered, "WE MUST BOTH BE PRESENT IN THE SAME REALM AT THE SAME TIME. THAT IS ONE OF OUR POWERS. AND THAT IS ALSO HOW WE LEFT THIS WORLD THE FIRST TIME."
"SO LONG AS YOU ONLY BANISHED ME, AND NOT MY SISTER," Tarra explained, "I COULD NOT LEAVE THIS WORLD. SHE ACTED AS MY TIE TO THIS MORTAL COIL."
"That much I can understand," I replied, "But why bother knocking down all the buildings and doing all that random damage?"
"THAT? OH, WE JUST FIND THAT FUN," Tarra grinned maliciously. He then chanced a swipe at my legs.
I leapt to evade it, and was just about to level him when four huge claws plowed their furrows across my back. I yelled, then spun and clove downwards. I felt a set of fangs puncture the skin on my arm just as my attack touched Tanna's muzzle.
I was twisted around and thrown backwards. I lay there a second, before leaping to my feet and taking to the air.
Flames erupted around their feet and they pursued.
I flew, weaving and flitting through the air like a shade, until I was surrounded by rafters.
I went invisible, and tried tracking my elusive foes.
They must have gone invisible as well, because I couldn't see them. I could hear them though.
"OH NINJA, WHERE ARE YOU LITTLE NINJA?" Tanna called.
Her brother finished, "YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE, BECAUSE WE CAN SMELL YOUR BLOOD!" I shot forward with all speed as a set of claws ripped clean through the rafter behind me.
I flew forward as fast as I could, phasing through everything in my path, then just as I approached the far wall, I dropped like a rock.
Just as my two foes descended upon me I struck, releasing the new power of my weapon upon them. There was a huge flash of light, then a loud snap as the central support for the hall collapsed.
A moment later the entire hall caved in. I stood there whilst it collapsed, phasing through anything that fell on me. After a few minutes the dust and debris settled, and all was quiet.
People were watching just on the edge of the hall, with police car upon police car barrelling up the hill.
Then they emerged from the wreckage, shaking the dust from their coats, then turned to face me. And they did not look happy.
A dry chuckle escaped Tarra's lips as he groaned, "YOU HAVE PROVEN A MIGHTY HUNT, WHELP, AND A MIGHTIER PREY."
"BUT THE CURTAIN IS ABOUT TO FALL AND THE TRAGEDY HAS YET TO BE PERFORMED," Tanna cut in with a growl.
Then they spoke as one, "NOW, YOU MUST FACE THE GREATEST OF HUNTERS, ONE WHOM HAS NEVER LOST ITS PREY."
Ever so slowly their outlines faded, until they seemed to merge into one. Their bodies melded together, their colours swirling into each other, until a shockwave of white energy erupted from them.
They were literally one! A huge, two-headed, grey, amethyst-striped and -eyed, green-clawed and -fanged tiger stood before me. It shifted slightly to one side, and I realized that it had eight legs.
"WE ARE TANTARRA, AND WE ARE YOUR DOOM," one voice, warped as though it was two speaking at once, said threateningly.
I shielded my face as they roared, their stagnant breath threatening to overwhelm my sense of smell while their roar itself blasted my ears into a deciballic nightmare.
All at once the roar stopped. I lowered my arms as TanTarra charged me with enormous speed. I dashed to one side as they flew by, twisted around, and came back again. This time I ran.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, dashing and leaping over the wreckage with enormous agility and speed. However, Tantarra wouldn't be eluded so easily.
Within moments it was upon me, its twin jaws slavering as its paws slammed into the ground with tremendous force. Once it got close enough it struck like a cobra.
I leapt into the air just as the left head snapped at where I had been a second before, landing nimbly on top of the right head. Just as the left head realized where I was I leapt into the air and sailed off like a kite.
As soon as I was high enough up I ripped out another blast of energy from my dagger. It was a direct hit.
I waited for a moment to see if Tantarra was defeated. I was greatly disappointed.
The creature leapt into the air as well, its paws ignited, and it pursued me as if unphased. I whipped through the air like a sparrow trying to throw off a hawk, turning, spiralling, rolling, and forming 3D geometric shapes in midair, which was actually kind of cool.
But Tantarra wasn't to be eluded so easily. Fast as I was it was faster, and always the beast seemed to get closer and closer to me.
Finally, my feet struck the ground, and I stopped. Tantarra circled over my head once, then turned and landed as well. I took both opportunities to blast the creature with my dagger, as little good as it did.
The creature was still unphased as it charged towards me. I phased into the ground, at which point Tantarra stopped and tried to pick out where I was.
Having positioned myself directly under Tantarra's body, I flew up and landed one huge dagger blast on Tantarra's belly. There was a huge rasp of pain as Tantarra's body was lifted off the ground and thrown into what was left of the hall's roof.
There was a huge gash across its stomach when it rose to continue the fight. To my horror, within a moment the wound had sealed itself, and Tantarra was charging towards me once more.
Focusing all the energy I could I raised my dagger high over my head, then brought it down with untold force. A huge blast of white energy exploded from the tip of the blade, extending until its power seethed from the entire weapon. The energy ripped through the ground with ease, to the extent that it actually had a "bow wave" of debris.
Tantarra, however, had other plans as to whether or not it would let this attack strike it. It planted its feet squarely, then just as my attack approached, their jaws snaked out, one head grasping my blast by its top half, the other by the bottom.
I zoomed towards them like a bullet, dagger brought back for a lethal stroke.
Just when I came within several feet of them their teeth punctured my attack. I was thrown back by the shockwave, and hit the ground a ways off. I was trying to get up when I was thrown back again by a huge paw.
I tried several times more, but each time I was struck down by a huge paw.
"YOU HAVE FOUGHT WELL, PREY," Tantarra mocked, "BUT NOW, YOUR SOUL IS MINE."
"Hey!" Tantarra paused as a voice rang out from the crowd, "I don't know you, and I don't know who that is, but I think it's time that I used this."
Before I could speak a long whip had coiled around Tantarra's right neck and was zapping the goo right out of it. I was dropped as Tantarra's other head tried to break the whip without success.
I rose to my feet as Tantarra dashed back and forth, trying as hard as it could to remove the lash around its neck. It was actually shrieking in pain.
"Let's put this beast down," I growled, as I energized my dagger for one last blast. Once again I could feel its energy and mine merging as I raised it over my head, waiting for just the right opportunity.
Tantarra was dashing towards me, still tearing at the thing that so urked it.
As my arms dropped the lash came loose, and Tantarra realized its mistake. The blast I'd used before was nothing compared to this. Tantarra's entire body was engulfed by it.
Once the light had dimmed enough and I could see, I noticed that Tarra and Tanna were lying there, fully seprate and unconscious.
As one of them tried to rise I silenced them with a wave of my hands, returning them both to the Ghost Zone.
I fell to my knees, out of pain and exhaustion.
My chest heaved as I sucked in huge lungfuls of air, and my arm and back throbbed with pain. After a moment I managed to raise myself to my feet. I looked out at the mob of people staring at me. For a second everything was silence. Then out of nowhere someone started clapping.
Slowly at first, but gaining momentum with every second. They were joined by a second and a third and a fourth, until the entire hill was a roar of clapping and cheering, everyone chanting, "Yurei! Yurei! Yurei!"
I raised a hand and waved to the throng, and was greeted by roars and screams of joy.
I slowly floated up into the air, then took off, becoming invisible as I left the crowd behind.
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"Tirrell! You'll never guess what happened at the STEA fundraiser," Mom called up the stairs.
"The hall was attacked by a ghost, which was in turn attacked by the famous Yurei Ninja, they fought, someone distracted the beast, and Yurei won?" I asked specifically.
"Um... yes," she said uneasily, "But you'll never guess who it was that helped Yurei bring down the ghost."
"Police?" I asked, playing dumb.
"Nope," she said bluntly.
"Professional ghost-hunter?" I asked, a bit more prudently.
"Not quite," she answered.
"You?" I asked, puzzled.
"Almost but not quite," she said animatedly.
I looked over her shoulder to Ronnie, whose attention now seemed to be riveted on an old magazine article.
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"Oh man I'm going to suck at this," I murmured to myself as I knocked on Ronnie's door.
"Come in," Ronnie called momentarily after I tapped lightly on her door.
I stepped inside, in my transformed state so that I could see half-decently, and my jaw dropped.
As quickly as Ronnie's room had filled with decorations, diagrams and posters, it was as clean and organized as it had ever been. Relatively speaking.
"Hey," Ronnie said softly, "I guess you know who helped you out tonight then?"
"Yeah, thanks," I answered, scratching the back of my head as I tried to voice my thoughts, "Sis, can I ask you something?"
"Fire away," she said indifferently, fingering through a copy of "The Tome of Kitaiyou."
"I probably wouldn't be here tonight if things had gone only a bit differently," I began, pacing across the floor, "Things got ugly over there pretty fast, and if it weren't for the fact that my wounds are replaced by exhaustion when I switch forms, Mom would be one kid less right now."
"Are these questions, Tir, or are you trying to make a point?" Ronnie asked, arching an eyebrow as she stopped flipping, scanned a page, then flipped back.
"I'm trying to make a point, but I'll admit that I'm not doing it very well, am I?" I asked. Before Ronnie could reply I continued, "Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson, Hercule Poirot had Hastings, and Batman has Robin. They all have someone there to help back them up if things get ugly."
"Ronnie, I'm starting to get a very good handle on my powers, it's true, but I can't fight all these ghosts by myself." Ronnie had long since turned away from her book. I'd definitely gotten her attention.
"So what are you saying Tir? That you need someone riding shotgun? A second banana? A sidekick?" she asked almost indignantly.
"Ronnie, I don't need a sidekick, now or ever. I need a partner. An equal. You are perhaps the only person I know that fits that description."
For the first time in her life, Ronnie seemed to be at a loss for words. The book dropped from her hands, and her jaw was hanging open slightly.
Finally she asked, "How would I be able to help? What can I fight with?"
"Way ahead of you," I said, withdrawing a magazine from my back pocket.
"Ghost: The Hunter's Guide and Order Form to all things Ectoplasmic?" she asked, amazed.
"I've checked through it, actually," I admitted, "This is the magazine mom keeps getting those anti-ghost devices from that she keeps giving us."
"It's got everything. Ghost-swords, suits, visors, etc. and it's all next to nothing in price. All I'd have to do is search through the sofa cushions and I'd be able to afford a whole set."
"So, are you in?" I asked. I didn't have a begging tone whatsoever. This decision rested in Ronnie's hands.
"The U-AGE Master's combat set is top of the line at only $899.99," she contemplated after a minute or so, "Recommended for any Ghost-hunter. Runs on a miniature nuclear fission reactor. Requires recharging about once every thirty years. Includes AEICM Visor, KMJPP Flight Pack, ECTOS-NET device, Fenton anti-ghost sword, Fenton portable ghost sniper, Fenton specter deflector, Fenton specter reflector, and an AGEET-based combat suit. Whole set easily contained in ghost-proof gravity-resistant wristband, so the extra weight of the equipment is virtually unnoticeable. Buy now and get a second AGEET-based combat-suit FREE! Second suit option not valid after Nov.8."
She sat there for the longest time, legs crossed over one another, digesting the magnitude of this decision.
"So, do we have a secret handshake or what?" she asked slyly, extending a hand as she said, "I'm in."
I gripped her hand like iron as I replied, "'Til doom do us part."
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Author's Note: Man, what a way to end a chapter, eh? For those of you wondering, I did plan those acronyms I used.
U-AGE stands for Ultimate Anti-Ghost Equipment.
AGEET stands for Anti-Ghost & Ectoplasmic Energy Thread- based combat suit (a suit that reduces the effects of ghost powers that come in contact with it).
ECTOSNET stands for Ectoplasmic Consciousness Targeted Operating System & Neutralizing Entanglement Tool (It targets ghosts and launches a series of missiles and nets at them, totally cancelling the ghost's powers; it can be adapted not to lock on to certain ghosts, or you can select a target yourself. It can lock on to several foes at once).
KMJPP stands for Kinesis Manuevered Jet Powered Propulsion flight pack (To put it bluntly, a flight system that reads thoughts and the slightest body movements and tensions of the wearer and adjusts according to that data. Equipped with a ghost-proof coating).
AEICM stands for Anti-Ectoplasmic Invisibility Combat Module (To put it simply, a visor that sees ghosts while they're invisible. Can be shut off by manual switch only).
The specter reflector reflects and absorbs ghost attacks while active, converting them into nuclear energy, and the ghost sniper is just a lighter version of the Fenton Bazooka.