Jazz's car raced along the street. Jazz steered her way nimbly around the potholes and craters. She eyed her passengers through her rearview mirror. Everyone was in varying states of shaken but determined.
Swiftshadow stared absentmindedly stared out of the rear window. She had remained mostly silent ever since the fight with Julien. Whatever she experienced left her her hands trembling. She rested them on Wilson who laid on her lap. The little robot passed one of his talons on her hand attempting to give some form of comfort.
"You sure that Julien is taking Danny to Vlad," Tucker asked Sam from the passenger seat. She sat next to Swiftshadow, clutching an old worn book tightly.
"He and Vlad had made some sort of deal. I don't know much about any of the finer details,"
"A deal? With Vlad?" Questioned Jazz, "I highly doubt that that will go over well. Vlad is liable to go back on his word. Can you tell us anything else?"
"He had this whole spiel about how he was going to change the world. Make sure no one has to fear death. Yada yada. Create paradise, Standard villain stuff,"
"Any Idea of what that shadowy thing was?" Tucker said.
"I think he called it Malic Korvoth? Or something like that,"
"Did you say Malic Korvoth?" Swiftshadow seemed to come out of what ever stupor she'd been in. The life seemed to come back to her eyes.
"You know of him?" Asked Jazz.
"Frostbite told told me about him when I was in the Far Frozen. From what I understand he's some sort of god of darkness of some sort. Apparently long ago he tried to destroy both this realm and the ghost zone. A group of heroes rose up and sealed him away,"
"Like Pariah Dark," Noted Tucker.
"And Little white prissy boy has released him," Growled Sam.
"I'm not so sure about that,"
"How so?" Questioned Jazz. This should be interesting, she thought.
"Wilson, remember those gems in we've been encountering?"
"You they're connected to this?" The little dinosaur questioned.
"They all have the same dark presence," She noted, "And did you notice Julien wearing any sort of pendent?"
"He was wearing a snake jewel on his lapel," Said Sam.
"The serpent, the bear and the panther,"
"Uhm, Yeah could you elaborate please, cause you're not making any sense," Said Sam.
"From what I understand Is that ages ago there were a group of deities known as the Beast Spirits who protected the realms from evil, I guess,"
"The serpent, bear and panther were among them?" Said Jazz.
"Along with the raven, the ram, stag, and The Wolf Spirit," Jazz noted the special emphasis Swiftshadow placed upon the last entity. "Until Malic Korvoth came and destroyed them all,"
"Except for the one that saved you?" Wilson stared at her.
"Yeah," Said Swiftshadow said. Several different emotions bleeding through her voice. something to ponder over later,
"Is there any more you can tell us?" Jazz asked.
"Well….." Began Swiftshadow.
Julien stood on Vladimir's doorstep. He couldn't help but let a smirk crawl upon his lips. Soon he would be almost half way to accomplishing his goals. Soon three gems within his grasp with only four to go.
'Don't worry mother,' he thought silently to himself, 'When next I see you, I will have a cure,'
Phantom lay slump against the railing. Shadowy tendrils were coiled tightly around his unconscious form. His white hair covering his eyes. Julien regarded the ghost with a tentative curiosity. If it weren't the boys ghostly aura he would've seemed like a normal kid.
The door swung inward. Vlad eyed him with a curious expression. His brow arched with intrigue. HIs gaze travelled down to Phantom prone body.
"Ah, I see you've brought the goods." The elder man noted, "You don't mind if I take him,"
"Actually I do mind," Julien replied, "I would like to see the goods first before I hand him over,"
"Ah yes, come in, have a seat. I'll go and get the your payment," Vlad stepped out of the doorway allowing Julien entry. Julien stepped into the foyer dragging Phantom behind him. Ornamental stands with Packers memorabilia decorated the walls. A green and gold rug with a Packers logo spread out along the floor. In the centre was a stand with an autographed football.
Julien huffed. He was never into sports, He'd rather have his nose in a good book.
Bookshelves with books lined the walls. Julien eyed some of the titles. He recognized some of the titles. Frankenstien, Moby dick, and Watership down among them. There were also a few titles he didn't recognize. Romance for Rich Creepy Dimwits, Chronicles of the Fright Knight, Ghost Hunter's Almanac to name a few. He merely raised brow at the books. He'd have to look into getting his own copies. Except for maybe the 'Romance for Rich Creepy Dimwits'. He could skip that one.
'Be careful, he has a couple manifestations roaming around,' Malic slithered into his ear. Julien had to suppress a shudder. He hated it when he did that. He gave a slight subtle nod of understanding. He was in Vlad's turf after all.
"You can wait here while I retrieve your trinket," Vlad strode out of the foyer into what looked like the den. Julien kept his guard as Vlad disappeared.
"Is the talisman here?" He whispered, keeping his voice quiet enough as to not be heard by prying ears.
'It is, just below our feet,' Excellent. Even if things go awry he can easily grab it and go.
Just as he was starting to strategize on his approach a strange sensation overcame him. Both cold and fiery. It rolled over him like fog over the ocean, chilling him to his core. It clouded his senses making it hard to think. A sudden jolting pain yanked him back to reality.
He fell to his knees gasping for breath. His quaking body felt numb and chilled. stars filled his vision. He fought back against the bile climbing in the back of his throat. He did not want to defile himself with his own vomit. Julien staggered back to his feet blinking away the stars.
It took him a moment to process the scene before him. Malic's dark tendrils constricting a green skinned vampire like ghost. A white and red cape fluttered around his white and black suit. His red eyes glared hatefully at the being binding him.
"So we're playing this game, are we," Julien said, regaining some of his composure. He hoped desperately Vlad would not notice his trembling hands, "Then we'll play,"
Julien strode over the football. He instructed the shadows to drag Phantom over next to him. He noticed the ghost boy crack open a fiery green eye.
"I've played to your demands and terms. Now it's time you played to mine,"
"Very well," Vlad grunted, "What do you propose?"
"Firstly, I may not be a sports nut by any stretch, but I do know how spot a valuable autographed sports memorabilia can be worth anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on sport and player. It would be quite a shame if something happen to such an item,"
A shadowy tendril shattered the glass case guarding the football. A panicked alarm spread alarm crossed Vlad's face, "You wouldn't dare," He growled.
"Secondly," Julien continued, "You must be pretty desperate to be getting your hands on this ghost if you were willing to send out a random teenager out to capture him. It would be a shame if he were allowed to float free. And I'm pretty sure you already know what you want,"
"Fine," Conceded Vlad, "I'll go get you trinket,"
Vlad's form split and divided into two. The duplicate dove beneath the floorboards. After a moment of tense silence the copy reappeared with the pendent firmly in his hands.
Excited anticipation welled inside Julien's chest. He was one step closer to his goals. Violet hues danced dazzlingly over the raven's surfaces. He could feel Malic's hunger for the talisman. His desire for completion. For being whole once more.
Just as he was about to grab the gem a green laser fired, knocking the gem out of Vlad's hand, sending it skidding across the floor. Julien looked up to see Phantom standing up with a smoking out stretched palm. His bonds lay shattered and frozen on the floor.
Danny lay quietly on the floor. He slowly managed to claw his way back into consciousness. Memories of what had happened to him flooded his brain. Julien. The fight with those shadow creatures. The wall of darkness consuming him and pulling him into oblivion.
He heard Julien talking with someone. He immediately recognized the voice. Vlad. He forced his brain into overdrive trying to decipher what they were saying. Their words jumbled together in a soupy mess.
He suddenly felt himself yanked back into some sort of stand. His bonds coiled ever tighter. He was starting to find it hard to breath. Not that he needed to breath as a ghost, but it was an automatic action that his human side demanded.
"Fine, I'll go get you trinket," He finally heard Vlad say. He cocked open a single eye to see Vlad dive into the floor. The wall were black with shadow. Glaring eyes shined down into the foyer. Waves of terror leached off of them. His instinct were telling him to flee this place.
But he knew better. Many a times he had encounter ghosts who were able to influence and manipulate a person's emotions. Ember and Spectra came to mind. This one seemed to thrive on fear.
Vlad reemerged with a shining pendant in hand. A deep violet diamond carved into the shape of a raven. He didn't know what was going on but It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the gem was important.
Gathering his ice core he forced the cold out freezing the coils. In one swift movement he shattered his binds and shot an ecto-blast at the gem in Vlad's hand send it skidding across the floor.
All hell broke loose.
Black spikes struck from every direction. Danny was thankful his ghostly agility and reflexes, otherwise he would've been skewered. The spikes stabbed the air around him, missing him by mere millimetres. He was certain that he was nicked a couple of times. He couldn't stop without risking impalement.
Vlad was also in a similar position of dodging the spikes. Veering and swerving his way around them. They both were struggling to stay ahead of the deadly points.
Julien strode to where the pendent rested on the floor and reached down. Danny knew he had to stop him. But how? He was barely managing to keep himself alive. He fired a beam at the gem only to be intercepted by a dark mass. Julien rose back up with gem in hand, A gleeful smirk on his lips.
The front door exploded. Wood splinters scattered everywhere. A black dragon charged into the room silver fire spraying from her jaws. The shadows screeched in pain as the flames ate away at them. Swiftshadow nimbly dodged a spike before setting it ablaze. The crest on her shoulder was definitely glowing.
Jazz, Sam, and Tucker followed quickly behind, Ecto weapons blazing.
She locked eyes with Julien as he summoned a portal. She pounced at him as he disappeared through it. She land on the wooden floor were the boy had been. She growled in frustration.
The shadows disappeared the moment Julien did, leaving a decidedly ruined foyer. Deep grooves were carved into the floorboards. A shelf had fallen over spilling its contents. Ruined books and loose pages were scattered about. Shards of glass and wood littered the floor.
"Guys," Danny floated down to his friends. He ignored the numerous cuts on his arms and legs. While they were small they stung painfully.
"Danny! You're okay," They a seemed to shout at the same time.
"For the love of butter biscuits," Vlad growled viciously. The haggard man's suit was ruined. His cape was in tatters. Green ectoplasm stained his suit in patches. "If I'd known this whole operation was going to turn out this way, I would've never entertained that brats deal. But if I have one consolation it's you, Daniel,"
Vlad lunged.