Sup, peeps. It's a new chapter! YAY! and i still have plenty of time to go see X-3!
anyway, there's a new character. she's not a major player here, so she won't be seen much. in later chapters she'll make more of an appearance.
My bad guy has a name! when i was finishing this yesterday, it came to me! if anybody figures out what his name means, i'll give you a cookie and a handful of M&M's!
On with the Show!
Chapter Nine-What's Happening to Us?
Alex woke with a start when the bell rang. She ran a hand across her mouth and yawned. The blonde picked up her books and rubbed her eyes.
Sam lifted and eyebrow as the blonde yawned yet again. Alex waved Sam away and made her way to her locker. Tucker and Sam shared a look as Alex rubbed her eyes. A little ahead of the group, Danny was almost bouncing down the hallway.
Alex stopped at her locker to grab her books. As she reached for the lock, her entire arm disappeared and she fell into the locker. Luckily, she caught herself before she made any noise and looked around to see if anyone had been watching. Sam, Tucker, and Danny were down the hall at their own lockers, Dash was at the end of the hall pestering some freshman, and Paulina was talking with her groupies. Alex shook herself and her hand and arm reappeared.
She took a deep breath and felt a little more awake. She opened her locker, still waiting to see if any more body parts might disappear unexpectedly, and grabbed her books. She slammed her locker shut and sprinted to catch up with her friends.
Danny had seen Dash as well. The scene was something that he was used to, but this time, it felt differently. The freshman Dash had decided to pick on was much like Danny at that age: small and skinny with unruly hair and wide eyes. Danny clenched his fists and started towards Dash. Sam happened to be watching Danny's face. She felt her eyes go wide as she watched Danny's irises go from crystal blue to neon green to a fiery red. The Goth put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder and he turned to face her, his hands still clenched and now slightly glowing red. Sam blinked once, deliberately, and Danny immediately relaxed, knowing that was the signal that his eyes had changed color.
Sam smiled as her boyfriend's eyes faded back to deep blue. Sam caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see Tucker walking towards them with a bored look on his face. Alex came running up behind him, her face pale and her eyes wide. 'She looks scared,' Sam thought and raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright, Alex? You look terrible, and you've been yawning all morning."
"I'm f-" Alex grabbed her stomach and dropped to the floor. Tucker knelt beside her as the blonde girl writhed in pain. Suddenly, she arched her back and her eyes rolled back into her head. Tucker picked her up and felt the girl go limp in his arms.
He looked at Sam and she pointed down the hall towards the nurses' office, somewhere Tucker had avoided as long as possible. The boy paled, but took off that way anyway, sprinting to get there in a hurry but not fast enough to jar the girl in his arms. Danny and Sam watched them go, as did most of the hallway.
As soon as Tucker and Alex disappeared, Danny felt a tremendous bolt of pain flash through his skull. It felt like his head was being split in two. He put both hands on his head and gritted his teeth, to stop from screaming. He squinted his eyes to keep the light out, which seemed to be very bright. When the raven-haired boy took a step, he felt the same jolt run through his entire body. He crumpled to the ground and when his head hit the floor, he was out cold.
Sam looked around at the people gathered around, hoping someone would step forward. Surprisingly, Dash pushed his way through the crowd, mad that somebody would dare distract from him. Sam gazed at him helplessly, and his harsh look softened. He picked Danny up and carried him to the nurses' office, Sam trailing behind.
Danny was floating. He felt a little disoriented and looked around to see if he recognized anything. He looked down and saw that he was now Danny Phantom. The white-haired Ghost Boy was confused by that. 'Wasn't I just at school as Fenton? By the way, where am I?'
"You are on the border between order and Chaos," a voice rang out through the darkness.
Danny turned, trying to pin down the voice, but it seemed to come from all directions. "What? Who said that? Where are you?"
"I am the Guardian of this place. I have many names, most of which you could never hope to pronounce. You may call me Gigi." A figure emerged from the darkness, still cloaked in shadow. The only thing that could be seen were the brilliant silver eyes.
"But…why am I here?" Danny tried to float closer to the eyes, but nothing happened.
"The same reason she is here." Gigi raised an arm and pointed with a pale blue finger. Danny looked in that direction and saw Demonica floating towards them.
"Hello, Gigi." The Demon Girl greeted the shadow with sadness in her voice. "I messed up, didn't I?" She hung her head.
Gigi raised both hands to her face and lowered the hood she wore. Bright, purple hair fell down the girls back while silver eyes, outlined in black, gave the demon halfa a severe look. "I should think so! You didn't consult anybody about this bond, did you? Didn't you think there would be consequences?"
Demonica merely hung her head, not daring to speak. Danny looked back and forth between the Demon Girl and the Guardian. He cleared his throat, gaining Gigi's attention, and asked, "Would someone please explain what's going on?"
Gigi sighed. "This was not supposed to happen. Demonica has some extremely powerful enemies after her. She was only supposed to ask for your help. Now, because of your blood bond, these same enemies will start coming after you." Danny gasped and looked at Demonica.
Demonica had raised her head when Gigi began to explain. Now she decided to speak up. "But what about me being so tired? The bond has nothing to do with that, does it?"
Gigi turned to her. "Actually, it does. Because both of you are halfas, you already have altered DNA. You have merely altered it more. Your tiredness is merely a side affect of your body adjusting."
Danny was now even more confused. "What do you mean, we're both halfas? How do you know that?"
Gigi rolled her eyes at the Ghost Boy. "Everyone in the Ghost Zone, Demon Realm, and Chaos Realm knows of the existence of every halfa in that dimension."
Danny couldn't help but ask, "How could there be other halfas? There's only two in my world."
Gigi sighed and Demonica smirked. Gigi gave the girl a look and replied, "That is where you are wrong. There are only two 'ghost' halfas, or phantasms. Surely, you've heard of mermaids, centaurs, and werewolves, right?" Danny nodded thickly. "'Halfa' is a general term. The more specific term is what actually describes the creature."
Demonica piped up. "Besides, I now know both phantasms and their human halves."
Danny spun to gape at the girl. "How do you know that? Who told you?"
"Nobody told me anything. I figured it out on my own. I'm an artist, Danny. I look for things others might miss. I saw the similarities between you and Fenton and put two and two together."
"But I don't know who you are," Danny grumbled, not expecting a response. Demonica heard him, however, and turned to him with a sigh.
"I just told you, Danny. Who do you know that's an artist and was hanging around with both you and Fenton?"
Danny thought for a moment. When it came to him, he was truly shocked. "Alex!"
Demonica nodded. "But, what about…?" Danny gestured to his back and hers, hoping the girl would pick up on his meaning.
"Oh, you mean the wings and tail?" Demonica turned slightly and Danny nodded. "Well, in that respect, I'm a lot like you. I can change from human to demon just like you change from human to ghost. However, demons are a little more…temperamental, so I wear a red tear-drop necklace. It's a spell that helps me control the demon half."
"Ahem."
Both teens turned, looking at Gigi who had been listening intently. Both gulped, realizing they had forgotten about the Guardian momentarily.
"As intriguing as this conversation is, I have brought you two here for a reason. Have either of you heard of Ludo or his Master, Nogard Raiyf?"
The white-haired boy and the red-haired girl shook their heads. Gigi muttered under her breath, "I was afraid of that" and then spoke so the teens could hear her. "When I release you, do some research on him. In order to win, you must arm yourself with knowledge as well as skill."
The teens were puzzled. "What do you mean?" Demonica cocked her head as she asked.
The Guardian rubbed her eyes with one hand and sighed heavily. Danny and Demonica shared a glance, then turned back to Gigi as she spoke again. "He seeks to control one or both of you. If he can turn you before you understand how to beat him or have control of your new powers, then all hope is lost for all time and all dimensions." The two young people widened their eyes. They were both too shocked to say anything for several minutes. Danny was the first to break the silence.
"Can you do anything to help us?" Danny looked eagerly at Gigi, who could only shake her head and sigh.
"Why not? Surely, you don't want this 'Nogard' guy to win, do you?" Demonica floated with her hands on her hips.
Gigi's head snapped up, silver eyes blaring. "I am here to guard the border between order and chaos. Both World Wars? Hitler? 9-11? All those times were when Nogard gained a small measure of control! Imagine what would happen if he broke the barrier completely!" Demonica shrank back and the fire in Gigi's eyes softened. "No. the most I can do is keep you shielded from him. He has been watching you both and waiting for his moment to strike. From now on, he will not be able to watch you." Gigi held her hands up, waved them in a series of complicated motions, and whispered a few words. Silver fire wound from her fingers to enclose first the Ghost Boy and then the Demon Girl.
The teens could see and hear nothing while the fire worked its magic. They both felt a tingling sensation and then the fire was gone. Gigi seemed to have disappeared the same time her fire did. The two teens looked around wildly but they couldn't see anything but darkness. Suddenly, they heard a voice.
"Remember what I told you. Find as much information about Nogard Raiyf as you can. As for your powers, the most I can say is this: work together. Another thing; your human and halfa appearance will change whether you want it to or not. Do not be alarmed. Now, it is time for you to return."
Danny opened his eyes, expecting darkness. Instead, he was confronted by a blinding white ceiling. He groaned slightly and shut his eyes to block out the glare. He heard someone shuffle over to him and place a cool hand on his forehead. Danny opened his eyes a sliver and saw the school nurse's smiling face.
"Good. You're awake. That fall knocked you out cold for a couple of hour. How are you feeling?"
Danny did a mental check. Other than a slight headache, which was probably from falling, he felt fine. He told the nurse the same and she nodded. "Good. Now, I can give you a choice. You're welcome to finish out the day or I can have someone escort you home."
Danny thought. He had been doing pretty well in his classes lately, so he had no real reason to stay. He then remembered Gigi's message and made up his mind. "I think I'll go home and sleep off this headache."
The nurse nodded and turned back to her office. "Let's see. Did you have anyone in particular that you wanted to have escort you home?"
"How about Sam Manson?" Danny asked hopefully, skeptical that he'd actually get his way.
Surprisingly, the nurse laughed. "That's fine. I know she'll take good care of you. You can sit up if you want and I'll go get Miss Manson." The nurse left and Danny pushed himself into a sitting position. He then remembered that Alex had come here before him and he turned to the other bed.
He was surprised to see that Alex, too, was sitting up on the small cot. She looked tired and he know knew why.
"You all right, Alex?" Danny swung his legs over the edge.
"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine. I take it that wasn't a crazy dream, then?" Alex copied Danny's position and covered a yawn with her hand.
Danny shook his head. "Nope. The question now is: Do we tell Sam and Tucker? They already know about me, but…" Danny cocked his head at Alex.
The blonde thought back to her dream. She didn't want to tell and Sam, or especially Tucker, but she knew if she didn't, Danny and she would never be able to get anything done. "I think we have no choice, Danny. If we don't, we won't be able to practice without interruptions."
Danny nodded. The nurse reappeared, followed closely by Sam. When the Goth girl saw that Danny was awake and okay, she gave him a tight hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
The nurse turned to Alex. "Good to see you up, Miss Stokes. I'll give you the same choice I gave Mr. Fenton. Stay for the rest of the day or go home and get some rest?" Alex glanced sideways at Danny and the boy thought at her, We should get started on the research Gigi told us to do. And we'll have a few hours to get in some practice as well.
Alex smiled and told the nurse that she was going home. The nurse went to her office to fill out the paperwork.
"Anyone in particular, Miss Stokes. I believe you know a Tucker Foley…"
"Yeah. I know him. He can help me get home."
The nurse finished and handed Danny and Alex two slips of paper. "These are your excused absence slips. When you go to class tomorrow, show these to your teacher and you'll get whatever work you may have missed."
The teens nodded and stood up slowly, both still a little achy. The nurse added, "You may want to thank Mr. Foley and Mr. Baxter." When she received confused looks, she continued, "They're the ones who brought you here."
The trio of Alex, Danny, and Sam trooped into the hall to be met by Tucker. He looked worried and was glad to know that both Alex and Danny were going to be ok. The group went to their lockers to pick up a few of their books.
When they all got out to the parking lot, Alex turned to Danny. "Where's somewhere we can all talk without fear of being heard or interrupted?"
Danny thought for a moment. The Fenton house and the Stokes house were both out of the question for the simple fact that neither was safe for either halfa. Sam's house was also out because her parents still saw Danny as a bad influence. He knew Tucker's house was also a no go simple because it wasn't very big or very private. Then, he remembered.
"There's an old, abandoned warehouse on Pier 13. The only ghost we ever find there is the Box Ghost. We should be able to talk fine there."
Alex nodded and got in the passenger seat of her car. Tucker drove while Alex fiddled with her tear-drop necklace. She was silent the whole way to Pier 13 even though Tucker did try to make conversation.
Sam drove Danny's car and Danny, too, had been quiet the entire time. He was starting to have second thoughts about revealing Alex's secret.
The group arrived at Pier 13 and went into the oldest warehouse. They walked all the way to the back of it and settled themselves in a corner.
"Sorry about coming all the way out here, guys, but we needed a place to talk without interruption." Alex was taking deep, calming breaths while Danny talked to Sam and Tucker.
"You ready, Alex?" The blonde looked up at the sound of her name. She found Sam and Tucker looking at her apprehensively and Danny nodding. 'Guess it's now or never,' Alex thought to herself as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans. She looked at the curious faces surrounding her, gathering courage. She closed her eyes and felt her human appearance disappear as Demonica took its place.
She opened her eyes.
WooHoo! My First Cliffie! sniff I'm so proud! sniff
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