Chapter Nineteen: Memoirs of a Ghost-Boy
Danny Fenton sat in the soft seat of his complimentary suite's chair, pondering about his life. He'd been through a lot in his last thirty-nine years: ghost-boy, college student, war hero, and company president all in one, and nobody even knew about half of it.
Jazz had used to say that Danny was the kind of hero people read about in great literary works: Fearless, dedicated, and mortal on the inside. The kind of hero people might distrust, but that keeps going on anyway. The one that truly matters.
She said that she could think of no better definition for Danny Phantom than that.
On December 14th, 2008, eighteen-year-old Danny Fenton was standing on the side of a mountain in the Alaskan Range, staring at the oncoming army of ghostly skeletons bearing down on nearby Anchorage. He'd learned to estimate numbers of people through relative distance and crowd density a few years back; there were at least ten thousand skeletons making up this army. He didn't understand why the GZWC would send their armies here, to such a remote part of the world.
Then, he thought about it. There was nobody to defend this place. All forces had been pulled south to more strategically important locations. His parents were probably fighting there right now.
It was just supposed to be a ski trip among friends. Jazz had suggested it from back at Yale, despite the war effort, and it had seemed like a good idea to take away the stress of college life at Northwestern University. The war had been hard on everyone, and a vacation was much needed.
But this–
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Danny put a hand to his ear, activating the comlink attached. "Jazz? Are you there?" he said.
"Yes, Danny?" his sister's voice asked, sounding worried.
"I see it. Technus's army is here."
"How can you be sure it's Technus?"
"His insignia is on everything."
And it was true. Each and every skeleton's armor was emblazoned with the signature 'T' and lightning bolts that were characteristic to the Ghost Master of Technology.
"I'll try to hold them off until the Army gets here." Danny said.
"Be careful, little brother," Jazz replied.
"Don't worry. Danny out."
Danny then stood, letting his ghost half explode through his being. Instantly, his parka, boots, snow pants, and gloves changed into the signature spandex of Danny Phantom. He took off into the sky, scanning the army from about half a mile up.
Definitely about ten thousand strong.
The telltale potshots of ghost flak alerted him to their knowledge of his presence, and Danny dived into the army. Taking out dozens at a time with punches, kicks, and ghost rays, he fought valiantly as the skeletons came at him in hordes.
Then, they stopped.
For Danny, this was unheard of. Ghost skeletons usually went by one combat objective: destroy anything that moves. To halt in the middle of a battle would be insane for them. But here he was, in the middle of a war zone, with these monsters standing in a rather large semicircle around him, bearing all the ceremony of a military conference.
But now, Danny could see why: their leader was coming.
Out of the sea of glowing green bones stepped Technus, attired in his cyberpunk clothes and bearing his undercut hairstyle and green, cadaverous skin. He walked with an arrogant air, as though he were going to pass judgement upon all beings in this battle like a malevolent dark god.
"Hello, ghost child," he said nasally.
"I'm hardly a kid anymore," Danny retorted.
"Oh, I'm sorry: ghost man. Anyway, I expect your surrender as of the immediate time."
"Does that line ever work?"
"Sometimes. When it doesn't, the person in question is destroyed. Such as now."
Technus snapped his fingers, and three very unusual-looking beings strode out of the ocean of ghosts. They looked like impossibly tall humans, wrapped entirely in dirty gray shawls and linens, giving them a mummy-like appearance. The only thing visible underneath all their wrapping was a pair of solid red eyes. In their three-fingered hands, they each held a lightning rod associated with the ghost who called upon them. Danny had never seen this kind of ghost before, but they appeared to be Technus's bodyguards.
"What are your orders, Lord Technus?" asked the center bodyguard asked as his brethren fanned out around Danny. Its voice was brisk, yet strangely metallic, as though a man were speaking out of a computer.
"Kill him," Technus replied simply, pointing at Danny.
Instantly, the triangle of bodyguards filled with the crackling heads of lightning rods smacking whatever they could touch, whipping around faster than the eye could see. One blow caught Danny on the side of the head, flinging him to the outside of the circle of skeleton warriors.
Okay, Danny thought. This presents a problem...
Rising into the air, the ghost-boy let loose a rain of ectoplasmic bolts at the shawl wearing beings. But this wasn't exactly effective: by the time the smoke cleared, the three were nowhere to be found.
WHACK!
A sharp crack of electricity was sent up the length of Danny's arm, leaving a scorch mark and bruise from where the rod had struck him. Turning around, he faced one bodyguard who was now in midair, along with its kin, who glided up to meet their target.
A midair tackle from one bodyguard sent Danny careening into the ground, pinned down by his opponent's weapon. Lightning blazed from the mace-head as it inched closer and closer to the halfa's face. However, Danny had been in this position before, and was able to push away his captor with a well-placed kick to the stomach. There was a great /iclang!i as his boot connected, and Danny began to suspect that these weren't ghosts after–
His thoughts were interrupted by a hard strike to the midriff. Another bodyguard had used his lightning rod as a pole-vault to propel himself at the half-ghost. Once again, Danny felt himself on his back, but was hampered in getting up by the two baton shafts that were pinning his neck to the ground. He could feel the hot sparks on his skin as the guards set their staffs to high power.
Suddenly, Technus entered his field of vision. "You see, ghost child," he said, "my Marauder-class bodyguards have been programmed with heuristic processors which allow them to learn from opponents. Second, I have equipped them with copies of my lightning rod..." He summoned his weapon of choice out of thin air. "...which allows them increased strength, speed, and electrical power. They act as circuit breakers, channeling your own ghost powers and funneling them back out. Every blast you throw makes them more powerful! And now, your own combat form has bent your neck before my axe!"
"Get...off...me..." Danny choked, struggling against the weapons.
"No way," Technus replied simply.
It was then that Danny remembered something helpful.
As Technus brought his staff down, Danny turned intangible and phased through the ground. The rod clashed with the two on the ground, culminating in an explosion that temporarily outshone the sun. When Danny reemerged, the circle of skeletons had become quite wider, littered with bones and pieces of shawl and metal. Technus simply stared, eyes growing wide from behind his sunglasses.
"You shouldn't really broadcast how your machines work, Technus," Danny said. "That's so one–point–oh."
"Child, you seem to forget that I am in control here," Technus said. "There are ten thousand skeletal warriors under my command. Anchorage is within my grasp. Once I'm done with you, I will squeeze until this region brims over with the blood of innocent lives!"
"You really like the sound of your own voice, don't you?"
"Not as much as this..." He held his hands high in fists, as though each one held the ghost-boy's neck. "Destroy him!"
The army erupted into a horde of swords and might.
Danny let himself sink into his combat form. It was simple, yet effective: a mixture of different fighting styles he'd observed over the years, whether it be from real life, television, or his own design. It followed no set pattern, merely using whatever was most effective for the situation at hand. Such as now, he used the form he'd used four years ago on a similar army of skeletons at Pariah's Keep: target waves and areas, not one soldier.
But then, he'd been empowered by the Ecto-Skeleton.
Here, he had no help.
He noticed that the soldiers were getting their hits in, as well. Whether by sword, spear, or arrow, he was injured, ectoplasm dripping from open wounds. The sea was beginning to close in around him. He had to think of something before he drowned.
Then, he remembered another trick.
It wouldn't work twice, but it would do.
Clearing the army of ghosts, Danny took off into the air, drawing in breath. In one fluid motion, Danny let out a roar of power, which transcended into the attack his ghost persona had become famous for: the Ghostly Wail.
Aiming the sound wave at the army below, Danny closed his eyes, not seeing thousands of skeletons being reduced to ecto-mist and dust. He spread the attack out in several directions, attempting to take out everything at once. Hopefully, it wouldn't reach Anchorage, which was mere miles away.
Danny then stopped. He dropped to the ground, trying desperately to maintain ghost form, and assessed the devastation: not one skeleton was left standing.
Technus, however, was not among the casualties. He stood in the middle of the carnage, looking pleasantly surprised.
"Wow!" he said loudly. "Very nice, I must say. But not enough to destroy me; Technus!"
He flew over towards the ghost boy, who was propping himself up on his knees. "You're tired, aren't you? The wail attack drains your powers, and makes you weak. It might have done more to me, had I not prepared for this. My nanotech structure can emit a series of sub-harmonic waves that effectively shield me from your attack. You're powerless against me."
Technus conjured his staff again.
"And in a few seconds, you'll be nothing at all."
Then, Danny heard something: the steady hum of a repulsorlift engine.
Out in the distance, a Specter Gunship was speeding towards the battle scene, arming its weaponry against the ghost it saw before it.
Technus looked at the gunship, then at Danny. "Another time, child!" he said, flying away.
Danny then collapsed in the tundra, feeling unconsciousness take him away...
Danny Fenton sat in his new hoverchair, just outside of the moderate ward of Jung Home for the Emotionally Troubled. He'd just come out of an extensive operation to save what was left of his shattered spine, with paraplegia as a result. Dr. Kwan, from his childhood, had performed the surgery, and Danny hadn't thanked him enough for it.
Even more affected by this recent turn of events was Sam, his wife for three months. Funny; everyone said they'd be together eventually, and now they were married. One thing was for sure: a lot of people owed Tucker Foley money for that bet. Another important fact was that Sam had recently said that she was pregnant. She hoped it would be a girl.
Now, however was the task at hand.
A nurse with sandy brown hair came through the doorway. She reminded Danny of his mother.
"Mr. Fenton? You may come in," she said.
The nurse escorted Danny into a stark white, sterile room that housed a giant glass cell. Inside that cell, attired in a white patient's uniform, was Vlad Masters. He looked very much the way he had earlier in the month, but there was a benevolence about him that seemed...uncharacteristic.
"Could I talk to him in private, please?" Danny asked the nurse.
"Of course," she replied. "Just make it quick." She walked out of the room, leaving the two alone.
"Hello, Vlad," Danny said.
Vlad looked up. "Hello, Daniel."
"So...How are you doing?" Danny asked.
"Fine. Just fine. There's not much to do here, but I think it's for the best."
"So do I."
"That's why you sponsored the treatment, isn't it?"
"In a way."
"I heard that Jack and Maddie gave the family business to you."
"Yeah, but I don't know what I'll do with it."
"I'm sure you'll find something, Daniel."
A beat.
"Do you dream much, son?"
"No. Why?"
"Nevermind. I also hear that your lovely wife is pregnant."
"That's true. We're expecting a girl."
Another pause.
"Daniel," Vlad said, "I've spent most of my life with ghost powers. I've come to rely on them for many things. I even thought that I could use them to win your allegiance, along with the love of your mother. But I've lost them now. Now, I'm truly alone. It must feel strange, does it not? Stripped of our titles, inventions, and powers, naked in our absolute humanity.
"We are hideous, are we not?"
Danny looked at Vlad with pity.
"No," he said. "No we're not."
He floated out the door, leaving his history with that man behind...
"Danny!"
The man of thirty-nine was jerked from his memories from his wife's voice.
"Danny! It's time to leave!"
He got back into his hoverchair and made for the doorway, where Sam stood to accept his hug.