Chapter 7: 10:15: The Laborer
Back in the room in which he had fought Klemper, Danny watched as the timer above the door to the next room reached zero. The doors slid open and Danny knew it was time to proceed. He began to fly toward the door and into the next room.
'So who am I fighting next? I guess I'll know by seeing by how the room is set up,' he thought. Upon entering, Danny gasped and then let out an exasperated groan as he viewed the contents of the room.
Within the room, there were stacks upon stacks of cardboard boxes and wooden crates. It looked almost similar to the warehouse he had been fighting in yesterday. The only exception was the door at the other end with the timer counting down from fifteen minutes. "You don't have to be a genius to figure out who's in here. My opponent in this room can only be…" began Danny before a familiar voice interrupted him.
"Beware!" yelled the voice. Danny looked up and saw the familiar form of the Box Ghost floating down from a stack of crates.
"Now ghost child, you face for the second time in two days, the unrivaled fury of the Box Ghost!" he announced. "Isn't getting your butt handed to you once a week enough, Box Ghost?" asked Danny who was annoyed at having to face another one of his weakest enemies.
"You defeated me yesterday. But today will be different! The one known as Plasmius has provided all these lovely boxes with which I will crush you! And very quickly I will due to I have a date with Lunch Lady tonight," said the Box Ghost. Danny's eyes opened wide as the last statement sank in. "Sorry but I can't think of anything else to say but eew!" responded Danny.
The Box Ghost looked enraged. "You shall pay for mocking my love life! Now let us do battle, child! Beware!" he yelled. "Let's just get this over with," said Danny.
The Box Ghost used his powers and raised one of the boxes into the air. With a wave of his hand, he sent the box flying at Danny. Danny just sighed, went intangible and waited for the box to pass harmlessly through.
But to Danny's surprise, the box didn't pass harmlessly through. Instead, the moment it passed through his intangible body, Danny screamed in pain. He collapsed to the ground on his knees clutching his chest.
"What kind of box is that?" he asked as he turned around and saw the box which had smashed open upon contact with the wall. It was filled will all sorts of machinery. "These aren't ordinary boxes. They're rigged with some sort of ghost harming technology," said Danny.
"Exactly! Now for the first time ever, the Box Ghost shall triumph!" yelled the Box Ghost as he raised nearly all the boxes in the room into the air. The boxes started to swirl around him creating a massive swarm.
Danny ducked and dodged every box now full aware of the pain that he would feel should he come into contact with one of them. 'With these specialized boxes, he's nearly as powerful as his buffed-up future self. I can't risk blasting these boxes with my ghost beam because that might make things worse,' thought Danny.
The Box Ghost watched as his hated enemy floated around the room avoiding his projectiles. "Give it up! You know the Box Ghost has won! With my new cardboard and square projectiles, victory shall be mine!" he yelled to Danny.
'Man! He never stops thinking that he's the most powerful ghost in the world even though he's not, even with his new boxes. When will he ever learn that there is nothing scary or threatening about boxes?' Danny thought. Then his face lit up. 'Yes. Despite the extra weaponry, he's still the same old Box Ghost. One who can still be easily tricked,' though Danny.
"Hey Box Ghost! Your little box swarm doesn't scare me. Now a single filed chain of boxes chasing after me like a vicious snake, that's threatening. But I bet you're not strong enough to pull that off!" Danny called in a teasing voice to his enemy.
"You dare to mock the all powerful Box Ghost! Then beware of the mighty line of boxes which you have spoken of!" yelled the Box Ghost as he ceased the swarm and began to line up the boxes in mid-air. Once they were all in line, he sent them flying after Danny.
The ghost boy flew off with the line of boxes chasing after him like a vicious snake. 'I've just got to keep away from the boxes until the right moment,' thought Danny as he flew around the room.
The Box Ghost watched as he steered his chain of boxes after Danny. "Ha ha! Do you dare doubt the power of the Box Ghost now?" he asked. "You still haven't hit me so I'm not impressed," responded Danny. "Then I'll speed up my attack! There is no escape! Beware!" yelled the Box Ghost.
The box chain started to move faster and began to get closer to Danny. Danny shrieked as his foot briefly nudged against the first box in the chain. "Ouch! Man that stings!" he yelled. But he kept on flying as the Box Ghost continued to laugh maniacally.
Suddenly, Danny started to fly directly toward the laughing Box Ghost. "Ready or not, Box Ghost, here I come!" yelled Danny. The Box Ghost ceased his laughter and looked ready to engage in fisticuffs with Danny. But unexpectedly, Danny flew over the Box Ghost instead of starting a fight. The Box Ghost looked confused for a second. But then he realized that his own chain of boxes was now coming right toward him with no time to stop them.
"Nooooooooooo!" he screamed as the first box slammed right into him causing it to explode. The resulting chain reaction caused each box to explode as well.
Danny quickly turned intangible. He still felt pain from the explosions. But he imagined it would be more intense if it wasn't intangible.
Soon, every box had exploded and when the explosions had ceased, the entire room was littered with pieces of cardboard and wood accompanied by scattered technological remains. The Box Ghost laid on the floor. He looked pretty weak but he was, in a manner of speaking, still alive.
Danny went solid again, floated down to the floor and collapsed on one knee. Apparently, he had taken his share of the explosions' beating though not as much as the Box Ghost. He then picked himself up and walked toward the Box Ghost.
"It always ends like this, doesn't it?" asked the Box Ghost weakly. "Yeah, I'm afraid it does," said Danny as he took out the Fenton Thermos and activated its energy beam. "Tell Lunch Lady I'm going to be late for our date! Beware!" yelled the Box Ghost as he was sucked in. "I still find the idea of a relationship between you two disgusting," said Danny as he put the cap on the thermos.
Danny looked up at the clock and saw that eight minutes remained. 'It usually only takes me less than a minute to fight the Box Ghost. I shouldn't underestimate any of these battles because Vlad has clearly orchestrated it in all my opponents' favor. Better rest up and check in with Tucker and Jazz,' thought Danny.
He placed a hand up to the side of his face and whispered, "Tucker, Jazz, have you been seeing these spectacles?" "We have, Danny, and we're doing all we can to try and figure out this whole thing. Just rest up Danny. You've been doing alright. If you need us, give a holler," said Tucker's voice out of the communicator. "Will do. Over and out," said Danny as he leaned against the wall and waited for the clock to run down.
Meanwhile, outside the complex in the invisible Specter Speeder, Tucker cut off his communication with Danny and then turned to Jazz. She was going over various files on the computer.
"Those battles were pretty intense. And yet at the same time, very interesting. If it weren't a matter of life and death, it would make for a great television event," said Tucker. "Can we stay focused on the task at hand, Tucker? I'm going out of my mind trying to figure out Vlad's plan," said Jazz.
"Any ideas?" asked Tucker. "Not a clue. I'm usually good at figuring things out. But this whole Gauntlet of Doom thing escapes me. If we only knew who else was participating in this challenge," said Jazz.
"Yeah, that's bothering me too considering who we've just seen Danny fight," said Tucker. "And what mystifies me most is that according to Danny's enemy files, Friendly Fiend and Crate Creep, I mean, Klemper and Box Ghost are the weakest foes in the database. And yet, they're the first that Vlad has set against Danny," said Jazz. "We do know that Vlad does have the Fright Knight in his employ. Skulker has worked with him from time to time as well," said Tucker.
"So if he can get more powerful opponents, what's the point of having the weakest ones in Danny's rogue's gallery at all?" asked Jazz. "That's a good question. But what also worries me is that if the weakest ones are through, than what about the rest of the challenge?" asked Tucker.
The two teens continued to ponder the situation as they tried to make sense of what Vlad was up to. But so far, there seemed to be no point to the Gauntlet of Doom. All they could do was wonder and wonder as the minutes ticked down to Danny's next fight.
Author's Note: I hope the whole 'hyped-up' box gimmick wasn't too corny. I couldn't think of any other way to amp up the Box Ghost. Also, I hope, like Tucker and Jazz, most of you readers are still in the dark of what this plan is. Not to give too much away, but I will point out a bit of information: the chapter titles that are accompanied by the time. They are both a plot device and a movie reference. It may be too early to guess what the reference is. But I'm sure you'll get it soon enough. Keep reading and reviewing!