DarkFoxKit: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others. That's because this is the conclusion of the Reign Storm episode. I like to think I gave a satisfying conclusion as well as a fair bit amount of foreshadowing. Also, it seems the big twist with Dustin was highly favorable among the fans. I was not expecting it to turn out so well as it did. :3 Thank you guys, I'm happy to hear that Dustin is turning out really well here. Also, today's the birthday of Donfyre, a great online friend of mine. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONFYRE! :D ...Now onto the reviews.
OMNISENSE95: Well then, that makes it still fun to read anyways. XP And I'll let you see how it ends.
ZAFT Prime: Well that should be fun. XD
KingStarfire: I don't think anyone did, not even myself for a while. ^^' I guess that's one reason why it took so long for me to write out Reign Storm; I didn't want to copy it from the canon and I had to figure out what to do with Dustin. And I'm guessing you're interested in Micro Management because of the whole shrinking with Dash thing, right? I'm thinking about that's when Andy talks to Dash about his ghost powers, but that's only a maybe right now.
Blue: I've joined the Undertale fandom long before the fandom even knew it existed. :3 You can thank my friend Donfyre for that, he's the one who got me into it. I hope you like what I did with the battle due to the Undertale influence.
FoxyKhai0209: Andy's not going to unlock elemental powers until season 3 as that's when Danny unlocked his own ice powers. But thanks for the compliment! :D
Joltik12: Don't die on me! And Key was the one who created Dustin, but since he left I had to try to figure out what to do with him. I think I found a good role, and there's a good reason why he's a maniac. ^^'
kmsbookkitty
sjsreader: Most people didn't. XD Well Dustin wasn't planned to stick around forever, but I'm glad he got a lot of attention due to how twisted he is. Don't look up Undertale if you plan to play it, it's a game best played with no fore knowledge after all. And when I was younger, I always tried to imagine what happened after Danny passed out too, hence why it lead to Andy battling it out with Dustin after Danny's battle with Pariah Dark. That and it was also the best time to have Dustin and Andy battle it out.
Luna Lillyth: Uh... good luck with that. ^^'
Nine-tailed K: It's what I like to do; be unpredictable. XD And it's not a bad thing to feel empathy for him.
Mana: Seems the plot twist with Dustin is really popular. XD And the original plan was that Dustin existed during Pariah Dark's reign. But since it was scrapped, that no longer applies. I'd imagine it's because Amity Park was cut off from reality due to being inside the Ghost Zone. The Guys in White probably didn't move their hideout there until later.
anjanishe
Mimi1012: I'm not sure if I understood what you were saying. ^^'
CalmTheHydreigon
Chapter 28: Pariah Dust
What am I looking at!? In front of me was the sarcophagus but… it was HUGE! And its face looked like a cross between Pariah's and Dustin's, and this sarcophagus have both feet and four arms, a pair was thin and lean while the other pair was bulky and muscled. The face was grinning widely at me.
"I AM NO LONGER PARIAH DARK OR DUSTIN! I HAVE FUSED TO BECOME PARIAH DUST! AND YOU, LOWLY HALFA, WILL BE THE FIRST OF MANY VICTIMS TO COME!"
His voice was loud and disorientating, but now I have to defend myself! I couldn't flee from him in this open space of darkness, all I can do is try to survive.
The first thing that Pariah Dust did was launch swords at me, sword after endless sword came raining down on me. I yelped as I did my best to dodge them all… I have a feeling going intangible wouldn't do me any good and I wasn't willing to find out.
I tried to hit him with a ghost ray, but it didn't even phase him! There wasn't a dent or scratch anywhere, I may as well have not even touched it! I yelped when he threw more swords at me, but of course I couldn't dodge them all as I was grazed by a few of the blades.
Pariah Dust then whipped out his his ocarina and started playing a very out of place happy sounding tune, and suddenly I find myself surrounded by balls of ecto energy, and they were coming at me. But what confused me was that some of the balls went through me as if they weren't there, but some of the balls did hit me, and it hurts, a lot… I gave a shout as some of the ecto balls slammed into me and caused a great shock through my system while some of them just went through me… was Pariah Dust using illusions as well as real attacks?
There was no way I could last much longer against this guy on my own… I can't do any of this by myself… it's also what I told my brother…
"Please… someone… help me…" I said silently before I began shouting, "SOMEONE HELP ME!"
And as if my voice was a trigger, there was a loud noise as if someone strummed a guitar, then I heard missiles being fired, a bunch of box-shaped ectos, some kind of blizzard, meat out of nowhere and green fire surrounding the giant coffin monster before me.
"HEY! WHAT IS THIS!?"
"Andy… don't give up…"
"Dora…?" I looked up when I heard her voice.
"We will… do… what we… can to help…" I heard Poindexter's voice.
"We can't… let this… idiot… steal our spotlight… now can we?" That was Ember.
"Beware… for we… are united… as one… to help… this ill shaped… coffin monster!" Of course, Box Ghost.
"Hurry up and… skin this… monstrosity… so I will… be free to… hunt you and your brother… another day!" Skulker really knows how to motivate ya.
"IDIOTS! ALL OF YOU!" Pariah Dust screamed out before he smirked, "OF COURSE, I CAN STILL USE THEIR ATTACKS AGAINST YOU!"
Before I knew it I was being shot at by missiles, by pure instinct I tried to shield myself with my own ecto energy, and it was enough to create a barrier around myself… but this eats up my own energy and the missiles were bombarding against it.
Then came in green fire, trying to burn me alive. I hissed, trying to keep the barrier around me while at the same time trying to dodge the flames, the barrier can only protect me for so long.
Pariah Dust alternated between missiles and ghost fire before he started bombarding me with… meat…? Must be from the Lunch Lady, but the meat came back in lunch boxes… uh… Box Ghost too? I gave a yelp as more fire came out and then I was hit with cold ice. Then even music began attacking, guess he's using Ember's attacks too... It didn't surprise me when my barrier began cracking.
"I can't… do this alone…" I said weakly, trying in vain to hold up my cracking barrier, it was the only thing protecting me from all of Pariah Dust's assault.
Pariah Dust then threw a sword at me and it was more than enough to shatter my barrier and threw me back.
"JUST GIVE UP! YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME, ESPECIALLY AS A LOWLY INEXPERIENCED HALF GHOST FREAK!"
"Andy…"
"Andrew…"
I groaned weakly when I heard two familiar voices… they… they were… "Danny… Vlad…?"
Using whatever strength I had left I managed to lift my head up to see Danny in his ecto-suit with Vlad beside him, both of them still in their ghost forms… weren't they unconscious?
"Don't give up…" Danny said as he aimed his arms at Pariah Dust and shot out an incredibly strong beam.
Vlad duplicated himself and flew into Pariah Dust's body… wait… why?
"YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME!"
Danny turned to me and smiled, "You can do it bro… just like when you stopped me… everyone is behind you."
As if those words were magic, my body felt stronger and re-energized… and I managed to stand back up on my own two feet. This feels familiar… that's it, it's just like when everyone gave me their powers to stop Corrupted Danny… I won't… I won't fail them!
"Andrew!" I looked up when I heard Vlad's voice, "I've weakened him, now is the time to attack!"
This was my chance… I quickly summoned my plasma rod and flew right at Pariah Dust, then slammed my rod into him. I could see a dent in his coffin body, and he gave a groan, but he was far from finished. Using his swords, he tried to swing or throw them at me, of course my own rod couldn't protect me from those swords, so I had to keep dodging, but it was impossible to dodge all of them, so again I got grazed.
I didn't give up… I kept attacking him, though he burned me with Dora's fire… however, during his assault I noticed that I was still able to keep going… how? Then I noticed my brother was beside me… he was out of the suit… is he fighting beside me? … Wait… I don't think he's really beside me… maybe this is him in spirit?
Then something else happened… I saw a giant frozen meat coming my way. Blinking, I found myself still charging at him, but then that giant frozen meat I saw in my head was coming at me, this gave me enough time to turn intangible and fly through it. Looks like my visions are helping me out again.
Pariah Dust is going to shoot fire at me from behind, then attempt to hit me with Ember's music in the front, then try to ambush me with Skulker's missiles from the side.
I quickly dived straight down just before he could hit me with the fire, escaping the assault he planned to use on me. I got in close and swung the plasma rod with all my might, then again, and again… I had to keep moving to avoid his attacks, but at least I can hit him with my own. Each attack got him to groan in pain, and it was clear he was getting tired and battered… just a little more ought to do it…
Pariah Dust is going to surround me with his swords again. No, not this time… I threw the plasma rod right into his chest and it plunge right through like a spear before he could surround me with his swords. It looks like I have won...
"NO! HOW COULD I HAVE… HEH, HEH, HEH… YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME… I AM IMMORTAL!" Pariah Dust yelled before his body glowed… and… all those dents and injuries I made on him… they were gone… as if they were never there.
"What!?" I gasped as I felt the color in my face draining.
"HA, HA, HA… DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU COULD DEFEAT ME? YOU'RE SO HOPELESS. I HAVE THE CROWN OF FIRE AND THE RING OF RAGE IN MY POSSESSION! NOTHING YOU DO WILL WORK- ALL THESE GHOSTS WITHIN ME GIVES ME ULTIMATE POWER! A LITTLE HALF BREED LIKE YOU IS NOTHING SHORT OF PATHETIC."
Pariah Dust suddenly shot a large beam at me, it was so sudden that I didn't have time to react or defend myself! I was bathed in searing, white hot pain… my body felt numb… so numb that I couldn't feel anymore pain… am I… melting…?
I found myself lying motionlessly, at the mercy of Pariah Dust.
"AWW, LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE TIRED NOW. WHY DON'T YOU CRY FOR YOUR MOMMY AND DADDY? I'M SURE THEY'LL LOVE TO COME AND SEE THEIR SON BEING KILLED BY A GHOST!"
I coughed… trying to lift my head and glare in defiance… he's mocking me… "S-stop this… I… I can't… do this… alone… I can't… end this… nightmare… by myself…"
Then suddenly, the sarcophagus body burst open, surprising me… but apparently I wasn't the only one surprised by this.
"WHAT? WHY DID I…?"
I heard a dragon's roar, and suddenly Dora, along with all the other ghosts came flying out of the coffin, all of them gave an angry glare at Pariah Dark, who was now looking mighty helpless and powerless right now.
"HOW!? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ABSORBED BY ME!"
"Get him," Skulker growled.
All the ghosts then charged and attacked mercilessly… all I could hear was the sound of Pariah Dust screaming out in agony as he was being ripped apart by the angry ghosts… heh… it's funny… they all came out when I was calling for help… isn't that weird? Maybe… ghosts need motivations to do things… just like humans…
I was too injured and tired to move, but something fell in front of me… looking up, it was Dustin… and he was back to his original ghostly self… but he was beaten up pretty badly.
"... Well… Andy… looks like… I'm the one… who lost… it was a good… run though…" Dustin said weakly to me, smiling strangely enough, "Well… looks like… you can… finish the job… the ghosts… won't hurt me… anymore…"
"W-why?" I asked.
"They… feel it's right… you decide… my fate…" he explained weakly.
Why me? I frowned in confusion as I looked up at the other ghosts, they floated there, as if waiting for my answer.
"As a hunter, I have honor too. Since you were the one he antagonized, it's only fair you get the call to his fate- whether you will finish him off and hang his pelt in your room, or let him go and continue his existence is up to you," Skulker said as he spoke for the other ghosts, they all nodded in agreement.
It was rather strange… why did the ghosts leave Dustin's fate to me? Heh… maybe Dora had something to do with it. I looked at Dustin… He's the one who caused all this- the Pariah Dark incident, manipulating Vlad, manipulating me, almost dooming Amity Park and both our world and the Ghost Zone, and almost killing me as well as Danny… in other words; I have every right to end him here and now…
I reached out to the helpless ghost teen, and he braced himself for the end, but I didn't hurt him or anything… I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm letting you go."
This was obviously something Dustin didn't see coming, because he gave me a confused look on his bruised face, "... What…? Why? Do you think I've learned anything from this? No…"
"I'm letting you go, Dustin," I told him firmly.
"Why? I'll come back you know, and I'll haunt you and make you regret this decision," Dustin said to me, hissing slightly.
Perhaps sparing him isn't the best idea, but… "I don't want to end anyone, not even a selfish ghost like you," I answered him. "Now go, get out of here before the other ghosts change their mind."
"But why? I don't understand… why would you let me go after all I did?" Dustin frowned at me, looking suddenly lost. "Are you that much of a weak hearted imbecile that you're willing to let someone who almost destroyed both worlds go?"
I turned away from him and limped away- this would've been so much more dramatic if I wasn't so injured.
"Heh… guess you are too soft… oh well… I guess I'll take you up on your offer then. Just hope you don't regret it too much the next time we meet, Andy."
"... I hope not either," I said quietly, giving a faint nod.
I weakly looked up to see the ghosts have all flown away, all except for the Fright Knight. The Fright Knight landed to where Vlad was… looks like someone has a new master…
"I'm alright, that ghost just caught me off guard is all," I heard Vlad say as he stood up from the rubble, still in his ghost form.
I wonder how and why Vlad regained consciousness so fast? Danny is still obviously out cold… and pretty soon I will be too.
"Help me pick up this suit, Fright Knight," Vlad said to the Halloween ghost.
"Yes Master, but what will you do about the boy that lies within it?" Fright Knight asked, they must be talking about Danny.
"I'll get him and his brother back home safe and sound, you just make sure that suit is transferred safely," Vlad told the knight.
"Yes sire," Fright Knight bowed in respect to him as Vlad phased Danny out of the suit.
I kept trying to limp away… I'm sure Dustin's left by now… so I fell to my knees, feeling tired, before falling to the ground. All I could do was lie there and wait for Vlad to take me along with Danny… the last thing I saw was him walking towards me before I closed my eyes and everything went black.
"Andy…"
What?
"You did well out there."
Heh, thanks… by the way… who are you? Why do I sometimes hear you in my head?
"... Even with all the crazy things you've seen so far… I wonder… would you even believe me?"
What's that supposed to mean?
"... No… I think… this is something better for you to find out for yourself."
I guess… if you think it's for the best… but what do you want from me? Why do you… help me?
"I've told you before… I want you to save Danny."
Y-yeah, I've heard you say that before… but… save him from what exactly?
"Save him from… himself."
What?
"I suppose you earned a little explanation… but I have to be careful not to give too much information away, it could damage the time stream. I'm already risking a lot by talking to you now… but let's not dwell on that. I can't give you the details, but what I can say is that… not too long from now… there's going to be a C.A.T. test in Casper High… you know what I'm talking about, right?"
The Career Aptitude Test… right?
"That's correct."
It's a stupid test that supposedly guarantees your future… Jazz talked about it a few times, and she had the highest score in the history of the C.A.T., I knew she was a genius, but that just feels like an overachiever now.
"Jazz had always been known for her school smarts… but that doesn't matter right now. Listen and remember this well; when the C.A.T. is announced, Clockwork will start interfering, when that happens you better start preparing yourself."
For what?
"I can't say… but… there's going to be a terrible accident… and when that happens, Danny will fall victim to despair. A despair so deep that you wouldn't be able to pull him out of if something's not done… this despair will not only destroy Danny, but lives as well. If you let him fall far enough, there's no going back."
W-what should I do to prevent that?
"I'm sorry… that's all I can tell you right now… just be on the lookout for when strange thing occurs, it might mean Clockwork is involving himself, and you know as well as I do what it means when Clockwork has to get involved."
Y-yeah…
"But hey, it won't happen for a while, so take this time to rest and be happy with what you were able to accomplish."
Thanks…
"And being merciful isn't a weakness… remember that."
"... Danny…? Andy…?" This voice… it was… Sam's.
"H-huh? W-wha?" I heard a confused Danny say close to me, but I was trying to open my eyes slowly.
"Andy… are you okay…?"
That was Valerie's voice… I managed to blink open my eyes to see my parents, Jazz, Tucker, Sam and Valerie all looking at us in concern, but were smiling warmly.
Vlad soon walked up with a calm smirk on his face, "You both gave us quite a scare there, little badgers."
Dad gave a smile as he said, "Vlad said he found you two just outside the dome just as the town flickered back to reality! He saved both of your lives, sons."
I know he did… if he left us there… well, maybe we would've been fine, but I rather think we were safer here than waking up back at the Ghost Zone… feeling all sore and conked out like this.
"Things might've been weird there for a while, but if Vlad saved both of your lives then I'd say bygones!" Mom smiled.
Oh great, so now she's forgiven Vlad… ah well, it's not a bad thing… I myself pretty much forgave him already, sadly I can't say the same for Danny.
"And you're always welcome to visit us V-Man, you can stay in the twin's room!" Dad said with a smile, and of course he'd offer our room.
Vlad didn't seem to care to respond to that, "Too bad you lost your ecto suit, Jack."
This didn't seem to faze Dad, "That's okay V-Man, those pants made me look fat."
"Ugh…" My brother beside me groaned as he struggled to get up from the bed, but he was too sore and tired to move. I was too tired to even speak, just laying there like a rag doll sounds pretty good to me.
I noticed Sam putting a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. Heh, those two should just kiss already.
So we managed to defeat Pariah Dark and Dustin, though the kid is still out there, maybe letting him go was a mistake… but there's nothing I can do about that now.
Weeks have passed since the defeat of Pariah Dark, the people of Amity Park were cleaning up the town from the aftermath, and Danny Phantom is starting to become more of a hero than a villain in the eyes of Amity Park… unfortunately Valerie still disagrees, and I'm still pretty much unknown.
Ghosts have been leaving Amity Park alone for a while, probably recovering from Pariah's invasion themselves too. But as the news reporter say… a sense of normalcy is returning and life can continue on. Oh yeah, there is one new change out of this…
"You understand now, Paulina?" I asked a certain popular girl, we were in the Nasty Burger and I was tutoring her in biology.
"Oh, I get it now," Paulina smiled as she marked her answer.
"Alright then, looks like you'll do well with the biology test coming up tomorrow then," I said after we were finished.
"Um… this is a nice thing you're doing for me, Andy. So what do I owe you for this?" Paulina asked me, as if trying to say the word 'thank you'.
Heh, she may still be a snob, but at least this is a start, "Just don't be so mean to the people you deem as 'losers', that's all I ask."
"You're tutoring me and you want me to not be mean?" Paulina frowned.
"Well, if I was mean to you then would I have tutored you or saved you when that ghost tried to kill you? I understand this is not something you can do so easily, but people count on each other when needed. If you were on a deserted island, with nothing but these people you deemed as losers with you, then would you rather be mean to them or work together to survive?" I asked her.
Paulina hesitate on that, but before we could say anything else, Valerie came running in and hid under the table.
"I was never here!" She hissed at us.
Before I could even ask, a nasally voice shouted, "VALERIE! WHY WON'T YOU SAY YEEEEES!?"
Ah yes, Nathan, the ever persistent lovesick boy. I feel kind of bad for Valerie, she wants nothing to do with him yet he's very persistent.
"And what would you do when a loser tries to make you fall in love with them?" Paulina asked me while Nathan was hunting Valerie down.
"You could do what Valerie's doing and hide," I chuckled with a shrug.
I like to think I was able to get Paulina to rethink about her attitude with people, maybe she really is trying to change for the better.
Of course peaceful days are nice, but they don't last forever. It was kind of a small thing, but it did cause quite a crisis on our hands… let's just say Danny and I came up with a very stupid idea that involves the Ghost Catcher.
DarkFoxKit: And that is the conclusion of Reign Storm. For those of you who played Undertale, this scenario should look familiar to you. I hope the conclusion was satisfying as we move on to Identity Crisis, the very episode that gave me inspiration for Andy in the first place. I am DarkFoxKit and I look forward to hearing from you.