Hello again. Thank you for continuing to read this. I don't think that I will post a chapter of Mortified on Tuesday, but I might put up a chapter of Grandfather Clocks. If you like Clockwork and Danny father/son fluff you should check it out.
Please review. I will answer questions if you have them. :)
PhantomOfProcrastination: Yes, that is what they're called. What I'm calling them anyway.
MsFrizzle: I guess I did take a few shortcuts with the interrogation. I was trying to go for a combination of the ghostly 'I can sense your fear' thing, and Danny being smarter than he's usually given credit for but... I can see where it could come off as a Bat Deduction. I did make both the GIW and the Observants super evil in this. I guess I just wanted clear and easy villains. I know that they aren't really portrayed as that in canon, but as far as the GIW go, their stated goal is to catch Danny and perform 'lots and lots of painful experiments' on him... Which means to me that they know perfectly well that ghosts feel pain. Then with the Observants, their go-to method of damage control is murdering a fourteen year old? One who hasn't even done anything yet? Yeah. That's evil. That's like the 'would you kill baby Hitler?' question. If you have access to baby Hitler, there are so many other things you can do, than kill him. Your other question about the GIW raises another good point (Picture me here, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck). I did have reasoning for this, it just never made it in (oops). Their reasoning goes like this: Pariah Dark was the King of All Ghosts. Ghosts are subhuman. Therefore, their social hierarchies must be built entirely on power and strength. Therefore, Pariah Dark was the strongest ghost. Phantom defeated Pariah Dark. Therefore Phantom is the strongest ghost. We fight Phantom on more-or-less equal footing, never loosing a man, and the fights always end with Phantom retreating. Therefore, we can fight all ghosts on even, or better, footing. The two problems with this are that Danny used the Battle Suit to fight Pariah, and only barely won, and that Danny never really fought them at full strength, because he didn't want to hurt them, giving them a false view of the Ghost Zone. Even so, they would probably have done much better if they didn't try to attack Danny in his lair. Going after a ghost in their lair is a BAD IDEA. And, yes, victims suing their murderers does happen. It doesn't happen terribly often, though, because for it to go through the ghost courts, both parties have to be ghosts, and the court has to be convinced that the murder was terrible enough to warrant attention, because they usually don't go after one-time murderers. Otherwise, the victim is encouraged to haunt the heck out of their murderer.
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Chapter 69:
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"Inanna," said Mirage. "That's the third group. The goddess who invaded the underworld. Fitting, I suppose. She died, though. She was resurrected later, but still."
"Dammit, I'm not doing this!" exclaimed Theta.
"Agent Theta," scolded Alpha.
Theta cursed at Alpha. "Inanna. They're not a rescue detail."
"Theta-"
Mirage cut the man off with a flick of his hand, the gag regrowing.
"They're after a target," continued the man. "One that could get rid of all you freaks. But if we're here when the Bomb is triggered, we're all dead."
"The Bomb?"
Theta licked his lips. "I heard one of the science guys call it Project Ophiotaurus."
"What?" exclaimed Sam.
"What's wrong?" asked Danny.
"Ophiotaurus was a creature whose blood was supposed to kill gods."
"Wait," said Danny, closing his eyes. "A target that could take out all ghosts... A bomb... A god killer..." Danny rubbed his head. These were puzzle pieces, and he was so close to putting them together, but he was so tired, and so many other things had happened in such a short time.
"My god," said Maddie, suddenly. "When did you split up?" she demanded. "Tell me," she insisted, when the agents and the just stared at him.
"About twenty-four hours ago," said Theta.
"My god," repeated Maddie, raising a hand to her hand. "Are you insane? If you succeeded, do you have any idea what would happen to Earth?"
"Mom?" said Danny. "What's wrong? What are you talking about?"
"Danny, do you remember back when your father and I were researching the link between the Ghost Zone and the real world?"
"Yeah?" he gasped. "You don't mean... They're not... They can't, they tried before and I- we stopped them!" He stood, clenching his fists, green blooming in his eyes, and took a step towards the agents. "You're trying to destroy the Ghost Zone? How? Where? Don't you know that will destroy earth as well?"
"What are you talking about?" asked one of the agents.
"The Ghost Zone and the real world are two sides of the same coin," said Maddie. Danny's breath caught in his throat. "Events in one effect the other. If you destroy one, you destroy the other. You have to get in contact with them, tell them to stop."
"How do you-"
"I'm an ectologist. My husband and I built the world's first ghost portal. I know what I'm talking about."
"We know who you are, traitor b-" He cut off with a shriek, as a vine tightened around his ankle.
"You will show respect to my guests," said Mirage, his voice even.
"We can't contact them," said another agent. "Our radios haven't worked since we came in, and before that, they were almost out of range."
"Ancients," said Danny, running a hand through his hair. "We have to- We have to stop them. How... I need... You..."
"I'll take care of these," said Mirage, still playing the part of Phantom for the agents. "I'll make sure that Dash, Paulina, Valerie, and the twins get to a safe place. The rest of you go to the Door."
"Right," said Echo, practically picking up Danny. "Hurry," he said.
"Put me down," said Danny, as soon as they were out of sight of the group. "Echo, put me down. I've got to- We've got to get everyone who can fight. Everyone who can be a distraction. Everyone who can get here in time." Echo put him down, and Danny ran a hand through his hair, striding forward. He pulled on his core, triggering his transformation into Phantom. It hurt. Danny ignored it. He didn't have a choice. (Rather, he had a choice. He had had a choice. He had just made it long ago. He had made it when he died in the portal. This was the reason he existed.)
All around them, bells began to ring, every clock in the doorless town going off at the same time. The bells of the churches, the town hall, and the clock tower in park were the loudest, clearest, ringing out a complex melody.
"Danny," said Maddie, "what are you planning on doing?"
"Fighting. We have to get through the agents outside the Door. At least one person, to spread the word, so that something can be done. If we can beat them... Then we take their vehicles. They have to have them. A lot of them, to get so many people here. Then we need to find Inanna. Stop them. Get to them before they get to the Core." He stopped. "You'll need to get protective gear, all of you. The Core is dangerous. For humans and ghosts, but for different reasons. Your suit won't cut it, Mom."
There were now dozens of wisps swirling around Danny. A pair of ghostly cats slunk out of an alley. Other things fluttered and swirled in Danny's wake, phantasms and formless specters, ghosts that would never survive outside the Ghost Zone, ghosts that had never shown themselves to the Harmonians, and wouldn't have shown themselves now, except that Danny has asked them to. He began to speak to them, explain what had happened, giving them instructions, asking for information.
"I might know a shortcut to the core," said Danny, "depending on where we come out."
"How?" asked Tucker.
"Clockwork showed me, once, said I might need to know, but he wasn't sure."
"How could he not be sure?" asked Maddie. "I thought that he could see the future."
Danny groaned. "Too complicated to explain." He swallowed a giggle.
"Danny?" said Jazz, suspiciously. "Are you..? What did you tell the wisps?"
Danny glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes burning bright. "I need all the energy I can get."
"Danny, you know that isn't healthy."
"Doesn't matter. Everything's over if we can't stop Inanna."
"Is that our house?" said Maddie.
"The Door is where the Door is."
"In your room?"
"No. The basement."
They entered, Maddie, commenting softly on how similar everything was, how even many the stains on the carpet had been copied from the original FentonWorks. The only difference was the lack of electronics, the detritus of invention, and the signs a four-person family leaves in its habitat.
They went down the steps. The two GIW agents were tied to a pipe, deep cuts on their legs. Umbra was helping Jeremy, checking him over for injuries.
This was the first time that any of the others had seen Umbra, but they were growing used to the shadows now. All they did was blink. Echo introduced him, briefly. He looked like Danny's human form. He wore what looked like a military dress uniform, all black, complete with a tasseled sword.
More ghosts filed in behind the group. Maddie looked like she was about to crawl out of her skin, but she was restraining herself.
"What's going on?" asked Jeremy. "Who are you?"
"I'm Phantom," said Danny. "This is mine," he said gesturing around himself. "I'm sorry. We don't have a lot of time. The friends of the people who attacked you," he hooked a thumb at the agents, "are trying to destroy the universe. Literally. We need all the help we can get. Do you mind?"
"Wh- What's the plan?"
"Not much of one."
Shade came down the steps, into the basement. He had his rifle slung over his back, and a dozen sets of headphones in his hands. "These are modified to cancel spectral noise," said the shadow, offering one to each of the humans. He then unslung the rifle from his back, and offered it to Maddie. "Here, take this. I won't be able to leave the lair. Valerie is trying to follow you, by the way. I think she knows where we were going. She is unhappy about what happened. I don't think that she understands how close she came to dying."
"It is always a shock," said Echo. "The first time someone you trust tries to kill you." He looked pointedly at Maddie. "This is your last chance." He went to the other room, and started to pull out drawers.
"So that's what I had to say?" asked Danny, fiddling with a piece of equipment that Shade had given him. "Two sides of the same coin, and then you would have gotten it?" If circumstances were different, Danny would have been hurt, would have been angry, but as it was, he didn't have time. Even as he said that, he was thinking of ways to fight, to survive, to protect. To make sure that everyone lived, that the worlds continued spinning. To save everybody. To not die.
"Danny," said Maddie softly.
"It is the same thing," said Danny. "It's fine though. We don't have time. Maybe you could explain to Dad, though."
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"Echo," said Sam, getting the shadow's attention. "Were you and Mirage really going to use Undergrowth's mind control on those guys?"
Echo blinked at Sam, pausing his search. Then he smirked. "You don't think that we'd waste something as precious as truth on the likes of them, do you? We don't know the first thing about mind control."
Sam let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.
"Bit too sinister for you? Too dark?" teased Echo lightly, going back to his task.
"Sorry," said Sam. "Just... I don't like that kind of thing."
"I get it. If it makes you feel better, we handle the plants is completely differently than what Undergrowth does." He paused. "I might have stabbed them. I would have stabbed them."
"Now that's sinister. What are you looking for?"
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"Hey, I have an idea," said Tucker.
"Yeah?" said Danny, his interest zeroing in on Tucker.
"Their radios," said Tucker, "do you know why they're being blocked? I mean, if it's something that's being done, like, if they're being jammed, or if it's just because they don't have enough shielding from spectral noise?"
"They're being jammed," said Mirage, flicking into existence. "Sorry. There was a bit of a mutiny. They're fine, they're all in safe places," he hastily assured everyone. "They're just in a lot of different safe places."
"The Guys in White?"
Mirage smiled. "They're in significantly less safe places. Tucker, do you want us to stop doing that? I don't think that the ones out there will listen to reason. Or nonsense. Or anything else, really. Or... Oooh. I think I know what you're thinking. I could mimic a voice, if not a face."
