Chapter 4:

"So why do you like this movie, again?" Natalie asked her employer. Natalie and Kay were stretched out with their feet up on a bench Kay had moved in front of them. Kay had also moved a small television and table out into the courtyard behind the cranny. The courtyard was not very big. Ivy crept up the stonewalls that enclosed it, and a small neglected herb garden in the corner sported weeds alongside the lavender and basil. Kay had connected a small, cheap DVD player to the TV, and the whole thing was hooked up to a long, orange extension cord.

Kay sipped nonchalantly on the lemon tea she'd finished brewing. The shadows were growing longer, and the courtyard was completely in shadow.

"Come play with us, Danny. Forever and ever end ever…"

Kay gave Natalie a small smirk.

"The Shining is a classic, Natalie." She said, cradling the tea in her hands.

"Casablanca is a classic. The Maltese Falcon is a classic. Heck, Pulp Fiction is a classic. This," Natalie waved her hand at the screen where Jack Nicholson's face leered out at them from, "is NOT a classic."

"That is a matter of opinion. This is a completely different sort of classic. This movie has been scaring children and grownups alike since the seventies, and will keep scaring them for generations to come."

"I can't believe that you, a mother, would enjoy a movie about a guy trying to kill his own son."

"It's about more than that, Natalie. It's about ghosts, insanity, obsession, cabin fever, and isolation."

"And Jack Nicholson with an axe." Natalie added.

"Well it's more of a hatchet."

"There's a difference?"

"I think so. I've never been quite clear on that."

"I'm pretty sure it's a fire axe."

"You're probably right."

Danni phased Damien through the door. She heard the wood splinter as the ax hit the door. Damien was shaking, holding onto Danni's waist with a death grip.

"Well, well. More company?" a smooth, calm voice cooed from behind them. Danni turned to see the silhouette of tall man dressed completely in black. "It has been some time since we've had callers, and even longer since we've had three in a single day."

David stood at the man's side. The man had his hand on David's shoulder, and Danni noticed a slight reddish glow about the man.

"Who are you? What are you doing with David?" Danni asked, uneasy and suspicious.

"You may call me The Bishop, my dear. And your charming friend has been feeding my… curiosity." The Bishop released David's shoulder. David collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"DAVID!" Danni and Damien both gasped.

Damien let go of Danni's waist and ran to his brother, shaking him.

"What did you do to him?" Damien cried out in shock, cradling his brother's shoulders.

"My dear child, don't you know? Children are meant to be seen and not heard." The Bishop lifted up his hand. It glowed a crimson red.

"Leave them alone!" Danni yelled. Two white bands of light appeared around her waist. As they separated, Danni's hoodie and shorts were replaced with her white and black phantom outfit.

"Fascinating." Bishop lifted up a glowing red hand to his face, and Danny was horrified to see that he didn't have a face, just a blank slate of white skin. "I've heard of your type, though I was under the impression that the only two were both male."

Danni gritted her teeth, "Enough talk, more me kicking your butt!" Danni formed a glowing green ball in her hands and threw it at the Bishop's stomach.

The Bishop side-stepped the ectoblast. He grabbed Damien's shoulder, his hand glowing red. The red glow spread from Damien's shoulder to the rest of his body. Damien gave a silent howl.

"Leave them alone!" Danni flew at the Bishop, hitting him hard. Danni pinned the Bishop up against the tower wall. The glow left Damien, and he sunk down to the floor next to his unconscious brother.

The Bishop grabbed Danni's shoulder. Danni gave a silent scream like Damien's. there was a cold burn that spread through her. Flashes of her life and The Bishop's drove like stakes into her mind.

She saw herself, living in the lab, watching as her so-called father slaved before screens showing Danny Phantom in action. She saw The Bishop standing before a congregation in a church, slamming the bible against the pulpit, preaching fire and brimstone to the frightened church-goers. A mother gripped her child, so frightened by the accusations of sin and the condemnations of an unforgiving god and charismatic priest. Clones floating silently in their stasis chambers: awaiting their father's order. A shivering child covered in a man-shaped shadow. She begged to know how to make it up for her born sin. The original Danny who'd raced with her, kidded with her, fed her and fought with her screaming in pain as he fought the electric charges that were trying to force his transformation. A young man defiantly stood before the Bishop, accusing him of the disappearance of a young girl. Vlad rose from the ground, transforming to Plasmius and approaching the exhausted Danny. A crowd of horrified villagers stared dumbfounded at the priest they had trusted with their souls. Their faces darkened from disbelief to fury.

Danni blasted The Bishop off of her. She landed on the ground, feeling slightly woozy.

"An Eve, fascinating." The Bishop purred, his hands smoking red.

Kay was staring out the shop window, apprehensively clutching her Teacup.

"Bye Bye Baby, don't be long,

I worry about you while you're gone." She hummed.

"What's up with you now?" Natalie asked. She placed a hand on Kay's shoulder. Kay turned slightly.

"The boys and Danni aren't back yet. I should never of let them go."

That startled Natalie. Even when the boys had been running wild in the streets, Kay had never expressed any interest in "diminishing their freedom."

"My Spider-sense is tingling." Kay muttered.

"What?"

"Spider-sense, from Spider-man? Oh never mind. I've just got a really bad feeling hat the kids are in trouble."

"What did you do?" Danny asked, feeling woozy.

"All of the flock must give a little," The Bishop raised an arm, his hand glowing red. Danni heard movement from behind her and she turned to see the twins rise, their eyes glowing red. "And then they must obey."

The twins leapt at Danni, who went intangible, letting them fall through her.

"David! Damien! Stop! It's me, Danni!" She turned to the Bishop.

"What are you doing to them?"

"Do tell me, because it's been so long, but do all of the weaker sex have to have everything explained to them, or is it just the children?" The Bishop gloated. "They are in my power, in my prison. Here I am omnipotent, all-powerful, or are those words too grandiose for you?"

David and Damien rose from the floor. They stretched out their hands towards Danni. Danni dodged their outstretched hands by raising up in the air. She was too tired to fight The Bishop, and she couldn't let the twins get hurt. The Bishop rose up into the air above her, laughing. Danni eyed the cracked window facing the street. She noticed that Mike and his pals had long since run away. Jerks.

"Why fight it Danielle?" The Bishop asked, "You were destined to lose. You're a mere rib, a weak, foolish shadow of the true creation."

Danni cringed at being used by that name. He must have seen her past like she had seen his.

"That's not true!" Danni glanced towards the window, a desperate plan forming. "I might not be able to beat you, but I'm sure not going to lose to you!" Danni swooped down towards the brothers who had been hopping up and down, trying to reach her. She scooped them both into her arms, crashing through the window. Danni mentally cursed for not thinking to phase through the window as shards of the aged glass cut through her skin.

Danni was tumbling towards the ground. David's eyes opened to see the pavement hurtling towards him. David screamed, but just as he cringed, waiting for the painful stop, Danni regained control, flying them across the street, their shoes skidding against the concrete.

Danni and the twins hit the grass on the other side, rolling to a stop.

From the tower the Bishop watched the three children. His blank face could betray no emotion, but his slave outside the tower door backed down the stairs, feeling his master's growing fury.