Girl-of-Action- I don't own Danny Phantom or Marvel and never will.
-DIVIDER-
What a soup container (no matter how high-tech) can do against a rampaging ghost, Peter isn't sure, but as of right now he is determined to make it do something. He pops off the lid, running his fingers over it and looking into it. Phantom screams something in the background that has Peter making a legitly confused and comical expression underneath his mask. "DON'T POINT THAT AT YOUR FACE; YOU'RE GONNA HURT YOURSELF!"
Is he serious? Peter ponders, incredulous. His shoulder where Phantom hit him earlier still smoulders in reminder. I've been burned, possessed, beat up- and he's worried about this thing? It doesn't look that dangerous... Peter points the open thermos at Phantom instead and garners an indignant response that would have Peter snickering if the situation was less bizarre. "THAT WASN'T AN INVITATION TO POINT IT AT ME!"
It actually sounds like he's… afraid. Peter thinks with some awe as he continues to run his hands over the thermos until he feels two buttons underneath. He presses one of them. The word RELEASE flashes in all caps onto the Thermos' built-in mini screen. Phantom comes at him in a frenzy (invisibly weaving and bobbing in an attempt to stay out of the line of fire) and Peter really hopes it releases something helpful right about now. He holds tight as a burst of green explodes from the Thermos, along with loud shrieking, obnoxious laughter and eerie howling. Dozens and dozens of - of monsters (that's the only way Peter's racing mind can think to describe them) pours out from the small, initially unassuming, cylinder container.
Then, the ghost that Black Widow is so wary of, is towering over Peter, looking none too pleased. He hits Spider-Man in the gut, hard. While Peter is dazed he grabs him and spins him around, pressing Peter face first against the ground. Peter's arm is twisted painfully behind him until the slightest twinge on his part sends a wave of agony through the younger boy. His arm feels close to breaking, the way it's being held, causing him to wince. Already aching from their earlier fight, getting possessed, tasered and then thrown across the makeshift battlefield, Peter isn't in too good of shape right about now. Not only that, but with his recent possession in mind, Peter is more than a little freaked out. "Hold still!" the familiar voice snaps above. Naturally, Peter doesn't listen. He tries to lash out with his feet, but much to his horror, Phantom's own feet turn into a tail and wraps tightly around Peter's legs. The spider tries to head butt Phantom, but gets only a painful warning squeeze on his arm for his trouble. Phantom is just too strong!
Peter is snapped out of his panicked frenzy when a guttural snarling sounds to his left. Peter turns to look, and pales underneath his mask at what he sees. A wolf. A huge, glowing wolf, as big as a car with what looks to be green poison dripping from its… large fangs? Peter instinctively attempts to shrink away from it, but without much luck thanks to his current position. Instead, Phantom hovers closer to him, eyes glowing a brighter and brighter neon green. Much to Peter's astonishment, two green laser-looking things proceed to fire from Phantom's eyes and hit the wolf square in the face. The wolf goes toppling backward, howling in surprise and (assumedly) pain.
Peter abruptly realizes that Phantom's hold on him is suddenly far less oppressive, and much more protective. As soon as this is understood, Peter immediately stops struggling and goes limp to test his theory. Sure enough, Phantom releases his painful death grip on Peter's arm in favor of dealing with oncoming green monsters (ghosts?); although, that doesn't stop Phantom from shooting Peter warning glances every couple of seconds. Obviously, Phantom wants him to stay put. Not that I can do much of anything anyways, what with his freaky spectral tail-thing wrapped around my legs. Peter struggles to stay calm.
Phantom, for his part, continues shooting his laser-eyes (which secretly, Peter finds pretty epic) at the incoming monsters, sending them flying back and withering in pain. Then holding his free hand out all jedi-like, the ghost precedes to summon the monster thermos (definitely not soup thermos) with telekinesis. Peter watches as intently as he can from his awkward and uncomfortable position as Phantom presses down on a button and sucks up all the monsters in the immediate area back inside. So that's what Black Widow was trying to tell me- I could have used it to trap Phantom inside. Peter finds himself feeling kinda stupid, even though it was a fifty-fifty chance and there was no way for him to have known which button did what… Still, he can't help but beat himself up over it.
At a press of a button, he could have captured arguably the most dangerous member of the Captain's team.
At a press of a button, Peter could have greatly impressed Mr. Stark.
At a press of a button, Spider-Man could have been a big-league hero.
Instead, Peter is the one who is trapped- trapped by a villain who thinks he's doing right, making him all the more dangerous.
-DIVIDER-
Once all the nearby monsters are taken care of, Danny quickly unwinds his spectral tail from Peter's legs and yanks him to his feet. Danny holds Peter's shoulder tightly, looking up at the sky. The area directly above is being blotted out by red, blue, pale white and most predominantly- toxic green, and Danny can't help but feel it's his fault. It is hard to find time and opportunity to release ghosts into the Fenton portal when on the run from the government, especially so when the GiW keeps careful watch of Amity. The last time he was able to release ghosts into the Zone was weeks ago. Now, Danny is paying the price for his negligence.
He turns then to look intently at Spider-Man, wondering how he's going to keep Spider-Man and all the rest safe at once. Spider-Man, seeming to take this intense stare the wrong way, panics slightly and starts blabbering. "Wait a second, man- or, ah, ghost. You don't want to possess me. If you do, I'll just be that nagging voice of conscious at the back of your mind, telling you over and over that what you're doing is terribly, terribly wrong!"
Danny blows some of his snowy white bangs out of way, now looking at Spider-Man with half-amusement and half-irritation…. But then Danny processes the other teen shaking underneath his hand. Whether it is because of the physical strain or repressed fear, Danny can't tell. Probably both, he realizes a split-second later. That sombers the ghost boy up quite a bit, not to mention the guilt that mercilessly assaults him. "Look, I'm sorry I overshadowed you. I hate using that power, but it was the only way I could think at the time to get you out of the fight quickly and without killing you," he tries to apologize and rationalize. Even to Danny's ears though, the excuse sounds pretty lame.
"Uh-huh, right," Spider-Man says, not seeming all that convinced that Danny possessing him was done in his best interest. Danny sighs. It isn't like he wasn't expecting this, after all.
"If you don't want to be body-snatched by a ghost, who (unlike me) doesn't care whether you live or die, then stay nearby where I can see you." It was meant to come out as a command. Instead, it sounds like a plea.
Spider-Man jerks at Danny's words, seeming indignant, and sure enough… "Dude. There is no way that I am going to let you mother-hen me! Not to mention, being near you doesn't really seem like the safest place for me lately," Spider-Man snarks sarcastically, shrugging off Danny's hand from his shoulder and backing away. Usually he has more patience, but having his head smacked repeatedly against concrete probably hasn't done much good for said patience.
Danny frowns darkly, his previous overprotectiveness transforming into cold anger. "You want to be in the thick of it, Cockroach-Boy?" Danny ignores a slight, annoyed glare at the nick-name. "Fine," he grinds out. "You let them out, so it only makes sense that you'll help me put them away! Take this." Spider-Man reflexively catches the silver, metal band thrown his way. It, along with others like it, had been attached to Danny's belt.
"What do I-?"
"Slide it over your wrist," Danny orders shortly.
Spider-Man mulls over his options, glancing quickly over the battlefield. All of the previous battles had broken off in favor of fending off the freed ghosts… And no one but Danny has had any real success. Against Spider-Man's better judgement, he slides it over his wrist, jerking in surprise when it automatically shrinks down to his exact size. "Ok, now what?"
"There is a camouflaged button on the bottom-"
"Got it- wowa!" A miniature laser rises appears from the wristband. Spider-Man gaps behind his mask, trying to comprehend how something like that could appear from such a thin bracelet. "How is this even possible? What's its power source? How does it-" Spider-Man starts to babble again, the science nerd in him shining bright as day.
Danny snorts. "Of course. You're more interested in that than the existence of ghosts," he mutters while scanning the area, fending off any ghosts that come near with a few well-aimed ecto-blasts.
"Well, I've gotten used to the idea of ghosts thanks to you," Spider-Man grumbles, rubbing the back of his head. "Too used to it, in fact."
Danny's cold countenance instantly melts. Sure, he is still upset about Spider-Man almost capturing him and freeing the ghosts instead, but Danny has never been good at holding grudges... Not to mention Spider-Man has just as many reasons to be angry at him. Danny clears his throat. "Press the button again to fire it and lightly push the laser down to trigger it to go back inside. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome. You should go get Black Widow. I, uh, tied her up again, and you probably won't be able to free her this time. She's where we left her. If you run into anyone being oversha- possessed, just fire at them. The wrist-ray is designed not to hurt humans, and it may even free instead." Spider-Man nods in understanding, and he is off, firing his borrowed wrist-ray with remarkable precision. No surprise there, with his senses. Although, Danny is still impressed. He would have thought that Spider-Man would struggle a little more with all that he has been through recently…
Brushing that thought and the guilt that accompanies it aside, Danny contacts the Captain through his (miraculously) still functioning earpiece. "Captain, this is your chance! You can go for the jet."
"Already on it, but what about the ecto-control act? And all these ghosts?" he inquires worriedly.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of the ghosts, and I have no intentions of being captured. I can escape without a trace- I'm a Phantom, after all," Danny returns in a carefree, confident tone. The confidence he is so obviously radiating seems to allay the Captain's concerns. "Ant-Man, I'm gonna hand you a Fenton wrist-ray. Here's how it works." Danny quickly explains, flying up to the man and handing it to him. "Grab Falcon and Agent Barton. I have a plan to get the rest of you guys outta here."
"Alright, kiddo. I'm with you." Danny nods appreciatively as he hands over the wrist-ray and Ant-Man goes racing off. Cat-Man lets him go, too caught up avoiding a pack of ghost dogs. Danny shoots a volley of ecto-blasts to give the man some breathing room. I guess Cat-Man and ghost-dogs don't mix, Danny thinks wryly.
"Scarlet-" Phantom starts.
"I'm staying behind with Phantom."
"What? No way!" Danny balks, almost dropping the thermos he is using to suck up the ghost dog pack.
Surprisingly enough, it's not Scarlet who protests to Danny's refusal. "Danny, if she thinks she can actively help, you need to hear her out and work her into your plan." Steve patiently explains to Danny, even as he smacks away an unsuspecting humanoid ghost on the back of the head and throws his shield to a charging bull ghost. The bull ghost goes intangible, but a human actually fighting back surprises it enough to make it hesitate. The shield, against the laws of nature, is back in the Captain's hands a moment later, (not that the laws of nature have much control at the moment, anyways).
For a brief moment, Danny struggles with himself. On one hand, the life of anyone who stays behind is now truly at risk. Many of these ghosts could not care less if someone lives or dies. On the other hand, Scarlet is Danny's teammate now. He needs to respect her and work alongside her as he would with Sam, versus some damsel in distress in need of saving like Paulina. Not to mention, she already more than proved herself by saving him! Danny is being ridiculous, and he knows it. I can't let my ghost obsession get the best of me, he decides firmly. "You're right," Danny quickly relents. "I'm sorry, Scarlet; go ahead."
"I can sense these…"
"Ghosts," Danny supplies. He tackles yet another of said entities and stuffing it back into his Thermos. There's so many. I didn't realize I caught so many ghosts within only a few weeks! He thinks to himself, straining to hear what Scarlet is saying meanwhile.
"Yes, and my powers are effective against them. I can also sense where they are and strongly feel what each wants. They're so-" Danny feels a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, knowing what is coming and this time stays silent as she grasps for a word. "Obsessive." Danny winces a bit. It's one thing for him to know- another to hear somebody he admires verbally proclaim it. What will they think of him now? By this point in time, his teammates must have guessed that he also shares this trait, if to a somewhat less noticeable extent thanks to his human half.
Well, since the cat is already out of the bag… Or more like the ghosts out of the Thermos. He clears his throat some. "You can use that against them," Danny admits, trying to hide his reluctance at giving such information. "A ghost's obsession is their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. Most will do anything to fulfill it. An-y-thing." He sounds out the word with emphasis, then pauses. "Remember that."
"Understood," Scarlet assures, seeming thoughtful and determined.
"Danny, I got Falcon and Hawkeye. What's next?" Ant-Man pipes up a moment later, sounding anxious, and no wonder. He is running away from a small group of vampire-bat ghosts, and he can't exactly use the Fenton wrist-ray very well while carrying a fully grown man over each shoulder.
"Bucky and I are taking off," Captain America informs right after, and Danny can hear how much it is killing him to leave his other teammates behind.
Show time, Danny thinks, pulling back from an attack he was about to unleash on snake ghost, that promptly slithers off in fright. Danny fires off orders, briefly falling into the role of leader- a rare occurrence for him, since even though 'Team Phantom' functions like a well-oiled machine when together, they never really decided on a leader. "Ant-Man, head toward the Captain's jet. Captain, take off a bit slower than you normally would. Scarlet, try to keep the ghosts and anyone else away from the jet." He gets a string of affirmatives as he springs into action. Danny flies to Ant-Man's side in a rush. "Hold on tight," is the Phantom's only warning. He picks the three of them up with ease, turning all intangible and flying them into the jet. He gently sets them down right behind the cockpit, the Captain looking over his shoulder in silent surprise. The expression quickly transforms into a small smile of approval. Danny offers a cheeky grin and salute before intangibly leaving the jet. He's just in time to block Vision's energy attack with an ectoplasmic shield. Fortunately, Danny doesn't have to keep the defense up for long. The jet is gone from sight a few seconds after.
Danny hovers in the sky, looking down now at the mass of angry ghosts that were so recently stored away in Thermos, some for weeks. A good portion had scattered and flew away as soon as they were set free, but the majority had stayed to take out their frustration on their environment and the few clueless humans around. Danny's hands form tight fists, then erupts into green fire. Well, Agent Barton warned this wouldn't be easy… With intense concentration and a quick 'please let this work', Danny tries to duplicate.
-DIVIDER-
~OMAKE~
With a sneaky smile on his face, Scott carefully pries the soup thermos from the sleeping Danny's hold. The last couple of days have been crazy for Scott, and he hasn't had a chance to eat since yesterday morning. He's starving! And the mere idea of having something even as mundane as soup makes him salvate. "Are you seriously going to steal the kid's lunch?" Clint asks in exasperation from the driver seat of the van they are in.
Scott freezes at the attention. Wanda glances back at him from the front passenger seat with a disapproving frown. "Um, no?" Wanda's frown intensifies when Scott doesn't make a move to set the Thermos back down. "Just sharing it with him. I won't eat it all…. Oh, come on! Don't give me that look. I haven't had some grub since yesterday morning," he whines. "I need to have something to eat before the big showdown if I'm to do my best."
Wanda just shakes her head some, but concedes the point. "That's one strange looking Thermos," she mutters.
Scott snorts. "No kidding, but I'm not gonna judge." He shakes it some, trying to pry the lid open. "How do you…?"
"Have you tried one of the buttons?" Wanda suggests.
Scott chuckles sheepishly. "Right, right, the buttons…" Wanda rolls her eyes. Scott presses one. The word RELEASE flashes on screen. Scott smiles, pleased. "There, I got i-"
The van explodes in a shower of neon green.
"YOU DARE TRY TO EAT ME?! PATHETIC MORTAL; YOU SHALL PAY!"
~END~
Girl-of-Action- Whoops. Somebody's in trouble~
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter and omake! Sorry for getting it all out rather late. I have no excuse. Just not enough inspiration for a while there, honestly. X3 Credit goes to the Okami Princess again for betaing this chapter~ Although I did add some stuff afterwards, specifically the omake. If someone wants to beta the next chapter for me, feel free to say so in a review or pm.
Thanks again for all the favs/follows/reviews!