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Chapter 26. To Fear No Evil (Part 2)
Starfire fired several star-bolts in an attempt to drive the ghoul's attention away from Sam. But, as soon as she shot them down, more just took their place, the never- ending tide of fiends just kept going for the mortal girl. Deciding it was best to get Sam to safety, Starfire levitated in the air and swooped down to lift Sam off of the earth. Before she could reach for Sam, a green blur leapt towards her, followed by several others.
At least half a dozen specters leapt at the alien powerhouse at the same time, dragging Starfire back to the ground with them. Starfire struggled like a wild beast, trying to wrench herself free from their grasp. The specters weren't very strong compared to her, but there were a lot of them, and more kept on piling on top of her. Some held down her arms, others her legs, while others ripped at her hair and scratched her bare flesh with their claw-like nails. Starfire shuddered as she felt an ice -cold finger travel between her exposed cleavage.
"Enough!" She cried out, feelings of disgust and rage fueled her power, as Starfire let a massive blast of energy.
Completely annihilating the specters around her. Levitating in the air, she covered herself while her eyes scouted for Sam. There she was, below her, encircled by spectral warriors, with a ghostly mace about to descend on her cranium.
Morgan let out a cry of pain as Raven delivered blow after blow, her mind filled with disturbing visions of what she had seen in the sacrificial chamber. Morgan kidnapped her and stripped her naked, forced her to partake in a ceremony that resurrected a radical evil, but worst of all he tried to rip her away from him; her one true love.
Morgan hissed and countered with a blow of his own, catching Raven across the jaw. This got some distance between him and her.
"You know, I don't know why you're so upset, my dear Raven." He mocked. "You have just assisted in bringing about a new chapter in history, an empire that will last for eternity. If you surrender now I'm sure that my master will find a place for you and your boyfriend in his kingdom."
"Screw your kingdom, I've seen what you do! You're nothing but a monster!" Raven roared and charged.
Morgan caught her by the forearm and delivered a fierce blow to the abdomen, momentarily stunning her. Morgan took this opportunity to fire a devastating blast of energy into the young heroine at close range. Her cloth covering set ablaze Raven fell hundreds of feet into the forest below. Raven hit the ground hard, her vision was blurred momentarily, but it focused soon enough to see a green fireball heading straight towards her…
The ball of fire exploded with the force of fifty pounds of TNT, the forest itself was set ablaze. Morgan hovered above the inferno where Raven once was and spit on her final resting area.
He looked down at the remaining titans and spectral forces below him. Even though the numbers of the Ghost King's forces were overwhelming, it was becoming clear to Morgan that the soldiers from the afterlife were not enough to overcome their foes. Another was needed, so an unseen signal was sent, deep underground in a secret chamber, a monster stirred from its sleep.
Danny felt the force of the Ghost King's grip and swore he could hear his bones cracking under the intense pressure. Tyranus held the hybrid so close to his face Danny could smell the horrid breath of the Ghost King.
"Smile Daniel," The ghost king commanded, "soon you will become a part of me, like your enemies before you."
With that Tyranus' jaws opened, past his enormous fangs, the purple snake-like tongue, and the horrible stench, Danny could make out a bottomless void. Deep within the darkness, Danny could make out beings struggling against some unseen force that bound them, hundreds of them, maybe thousands were screaming, roaring, fighting against their invisible restraints. Then Danny saw Vlad.
Then Skulker. Then Ember. Then Technus. All of the foes he had ever fought in the past had been consumed by the Ghost King, despite all the crimes they had committed against humanity, Danny couldn't help but feel sorry for them, none deserved a fate as terrible as this, an eternity of being drained of ectoplasmic energy to power the war machine that was Tyranus. Now Danny was being pulled ever closer towards the Ghost King's maw. Danny attempted to phase through Tyranus' mighty grip, but the Ghost King anticipated this and send a surge of energy down his arm, Danny felt the surge of the energy and cried out in pain; before his body went limp and he reverted back to his human form.
Slowly the hybrid teen was being pulled ever closer into the Ghost King's maw. Soon whatever light the pale moon provided would be drowned out by endless shadows.
Before the spectral blade could so much as scratch Sam's delicate skin, a loud gunshot was heard. Starfire caught a glimpse of Jack and Maddie Fenton blowing their way through the ghostly horde. For a moment Tyranus' servants were distracted from Sam, Starfire took the opportunity to fly to Sam and scoop her up in her arms. She didn't even get the chance to get to her feet when a she felt the blow of a mace smack the side of her skull.
For a moment she saw stars, but Starfire felt Sam and knew that if she passed out it would be over for the both of them. Shaking off the blow, she fired her star-bolts in every direction possible, trying to keep her attackers at bay-it was no good. Even Jack and Maddie Fenton soon found themselves being overrun by an endless ocean of lost souls. The same thought kept repeating itself inside of all of them.
What now?
Then Starfire heard something, her body tensed with instant understanding. The sound was a shallow "Whsssp"; Starfire knew its meaning-rocket fire.
"Duck!" She commanded Jack and Maddie; the two ghost hunters grew aware of the noise and instantly took cover behind a collapsed log.
While Starfire grabbed Sam, and rocketed off of the ground as fast as she could, a ghost made a desperate leap at her-and missed. A moment later the warheads hit their intended targets, the ghostly hordes were scattered in every direction possible. When the smoke cleared, what was left of their ghostly attackers was quickly fading into nothing.
Maddie and Jack stepped out from behind their cover to see the Fenton Assault Vehicle crash out of the dense forest and into the village; its missile pods still smoking. Jazz was at the wheel, Tucker was riding shotgun, and the side doors were open revealing Dash hefting an enormous gun, Paullina could not be seen. From inside the powerful machine, Jazz took aim and fired several more rockets into the army of ghosts. Those that the rockets missed, Dash capped with the gun in hand.
Tucker felt himself dig his fingernails into his seat as Jazz let out a battle cry and drove right into the heart of the ghost army. Rockets exploded, anti-ectoplasmic guns fired, and ghosts were trampled under the enormous mass of the vehicle. Tucker looked into the rage filled face of Danny's sister and marveled that this was the same bookworm he had encountered only weeks ago. He began to wonder if Jazz's experience with this little town of horrors had done something to her sanity. Evidently, the sadistic twitch in her eye proved him right.
A spiraling half of a ghostly warrior landed on the windshield, Tucker saw it and screamed, amazingly the creature screamed too before Jazz floored it and it disappeared under the vehicle. Tucker swore he could hear thumping as the thing was run over.
Hmp, he thought, talk about road kill.
Starfire gently placed Sam on the ground and the assault vehicle screeched to a stop beside her. Paullina stepped out of her hiding place in the back of the vehicle and offered Starfire a hand; the alien gently placed Sam on the vehicle's smooth metallic surface, while Jazz, now out of her seat, placed a blanket on the scantly clad young woman.
"Jazz!" A voice shot.
Jazz found herself staring into the face of an angry Jack Fenton. "I thought I made it clear that you were to take the others to safety!"
"What are you doing back here, you could have gotten hurt, and you've endangered the lives of everybody else!" Maddie added.
Tucker stepped up. "Actually Mrs. Fenton, we came by our own free will. We had to help you guys out after all you've done for us."
Dash spat on the ground. "Judging from how all of you were about to be consumed by a thousand of those ghost things, I'd say we did a good job of it!"
"And many thanks for doing so!" Starfire chirped.
The peaceful reunion was brought to sudden halt as the ground began to shake, forest trees collapsed, and the earth itself split in two. Jack first took it as an earthquake, but something in his gut told him it was something more. In the distance, something exploded out of the ground, an enormous shadow took flight, its form was massive-it bloated out the moon. A moment later whatever it was tilted its massive head back in a savage roar.
The roar itself was ear shattering, and could be heard for miles. Everyone covered their ears, while debris flew past them; it was like being in the middle of a hurricane! When it was over, Jazz stumbled forward, feeling partially deaf, she saw her father shout something to Star and Maddie, the two split in opposite directions. Jack placed his hand on the sliding door and shouted something before slamming it shut. The others in the vehicle looked up at Jazz, hearing returning to normal, she finally realized what her father had told her: run.
Part 3 coming soon!