Chapter 10: Cave of the Goblins
The five walked throughout the woods, uneasy as the sounds of the night played.
Crickets chirping, owls hooting, bugs buzzing and the temperature dropped a bit. It was also very dark right now, Danny using a light from his hand to illuminate the area.
"If it weren't for those silver sons of guns, this'd feel like a horror movie where a guy in a mask comes to either chop us up or something…" Tucker comments. "Actually, I guess this was kind of a horror movie. Those things will probably wanna eat us, or take over the planet by contaminating our food, or maybe mate with us? Do you think there are girl aliens?"
He only now noticed Sam and Jazz looked back in irritation.
"Not helping…" Sam grumbled.
"So not helping." Jazz added.
Tucker only grinned sheepishly upon realizing he was talking too much.
At the same time, Danny tried to focus on the task at hand.
"I just realized, we're not that far from where those things found me and attacked." Danny said.
"How exactly did you win?" Sam asks.
"I didn't, they ran off." Danny said before thinking back. "Come to think of it… I think I heard a buzzing sound. It could be that the Varginha Devil was calling to them…" He said, pondering as he kept walking.
The others followed him.
"Starting to wish you dismissed the email as a hoax." Jazz said.
"Me too, especially since we still have no idea who sent it." Danny said.
They were alone in the woods, looking for hostile aliens and the darkness was making the area less inviting.
"It's way too quiet… and I've had to sleep in abandoned buildings that even rats won't go near." Dani said.
A twig snap caught their attention. Looking back, they saw it was Tucker who caused it.
"Oops…" He said with a nervous smile, earning irritated looks from the others before they went on.
They reached the clearing where Danny first encountered the creatures. The ghost boy looked around a bit.
"This is where I was when they probably spotted me for the first time." He explains.
"You think we're close to where they were hiding?" Sam asks.
''Probably..."Danny said.
"Wherever they went, they're gone now. So… let's just head back and have some more of those Lamb Fries." Tucker insisted, smiling at the idea of eating them.
Sam had a very grossed out look in her face, which was turning green.
"Hurrhhh…" She went before covering her mouth.
"Something wrong?" Tucker asks.
"N-No… don't worry." She lied, knowing now's not a good time to tell him.
It was then Dani snapped her fingers.
"Wait a minute, Jazz. What about the Fenton Finder? Well sure, it's used to find ghosts, but if the energy from the stuff they took were in the same general area and gave off enough ecto-energy…"
"Good thinking, Sis." Jazz said as she pulled out the Fenton Finder and turned it on. It started pinging. "That's got it. Picking up a signal…" She pointed ahead. "...that way."
"Then that's where we're going." Danny said.
Meanwhile
The McKirk farmhouse, or what was left of it, had various law enforcement surrounding the area.
3 men from the Sheriff's office, 4 state troopers, 2 members of the military police, and 3 ambulances.
All of them had disbelieving looks on their faces.
"So, tell me again… you say these "Goblins" caused this destruction?" One member of the Sheriff's department asked, clearly in disbelief.
"You think we were spooked by an owl, don't ya?" Aunt Virginia asks before taking another sip of her drink.
The officer eyed the drink in her hand, thinking he found the cause of what they saw.
"That's just her drink." Uncle Cletus said.
"SHADDUP!" Virginia snapped.
At the same time, Zeke was discussing with a state trooper.
"After they ransacked my cousin's RV, they ran off." He said, pointing out to the woods.
"And you say these things… hitting them with blunt object did nothing?" He asks.
"At best, it just irritated them things." Zeke explained, holding onto his wife as if her life depended on him.
Zeb Sr, at the same time, was also being grilled with questions.
"So, you and your kids were the first to witness these creatures?" A state trooper asks.
"Indeed…" He answered.
"Any idea on exactly...what these creatures actually are?" The trooper asks.
"I ain't so sure what them things were… but apparently my boy and girl saw… and I know this is stranger still, ghosts."
"Ghosts?"
"From the way they described 'em, it's that Danny Phantom kid…" Zeb Sr. said.
"Sir, Danny Phantom deals with ghosts, not aliens." The state trooper stated in a matter of fact manner.
"Look, I ain't sure what he was doin' here… but he was here. The McKirks can vouch for that…"
At that same time, Sally May and Zeb Jr. were waiting from a distance. The girl looked around.
"Where's Danny?" She asks.
"What's it matter? He ain't yer boyfriend, and he ain't gonna be. Now… sit tight till Pa says we can go." Her brother snapped.
Sally May rolled her eyes angrily at him before looking away and looked despondent.
He's probably right… She thought in disappointment.
Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie observed the damage to their RV.
"Well… I'm not looking forward to the week I'm spending fixing this…" Jack grumbled.
"It took months to convince insurance companies to cover ghost attacks, I don't think aliens count." Maddie said.
As this went on, someone approached them.
"Excuse me, Jack and Maddie Fenton?" He asked.
The two turned around, seeing a man in a dark suit, sunglasses and a black fedora approached them.
"Uh… goin' to a Blues Brothers' cover band concert?" Jack asks.
"Don't make light of the law here in Kentucky, Jack." Maddie ordered.
"First off, there's nothing wrong with liking the Blues Brothers, ma'am. Second, I'm not a member of the law here in this state. I'm here because I take it that something… otherworldly has done damage to this vehicle." He said in a monotone voice.
"Otherworldly?" Maddie hesitantly asked.
"And I don't mean ghosts…" He said.
The two parents sweated and tried to play it cool.
"What makes you think we encountered anything strange Mr…?" Jack asks.
The man ignored this and just went along.
"If you agree to tell no one outside of those involved with what happened tonight, we will have your RV repaired, good as new." He offered.
"Yeah right… what makes you think you can do just that?" Jack asks.
The man only smiled.
"We have… resources. What do you say?"
Jack and Maddie turned their backs to him as they discussed what their options could be.
"What do you think, Maddie?" Jack asks.
"I'm not sure Jack, we don't know him and he just said he's not with the law." Maddie responds.
"True… but it'd take days to fix this and we don't have the money to make it fixed any quicker." Jack points out.
"True…" Maddie admits in a defeated tone.
They turned around.
"Get this thing fixed ASAP and you got a deal!" Jack said as he extended his hand.
The man only stared at the hand before nodding and turning around.
"You'll have it back by the time you all leave." He promised.
Once he walked away, Jack and Maddie only looked at each other, incredulous at who they just spoke with.
"What kind of weirdo wears sunglasses at night?" Jack asks.
"Corey Hart?" Maddie suggests, earning a raised eyebrow from her husband. "The guy who sings the song about wearing them at night." She said, clarifying her response.
With the kids
The five traveled in the direction the Finder was pointing them. They reached their destination, the outside of an abandoned mine.
"What's this?" Dani asks.
"It looks like an old coal mine… Make sense if those things prefer to hide in the dark during the day." Jazz said.
"Like Sam." Tucker jokes, only for her to slap him in the back of the head. "OW!"
"Not the time…" She said, frowning hard.
As Tucker nursed the back of his head with his hand, Danny looked up and saw something that made him step back, holding his arms out to push everyone out of the way.
"Stay back!" He said, protective of everyone.
"What is it?" Dani asks.
Danny pointed upward. They saw a few of the smaller Goblins, sitting atop the cave entrance on all fours.
"Grrurrh! Grrurrh!" One went out loud as the rest just remained watching.
"More?!" Sam aimed one of their remaining blasters at the aliens.
As Dani readied an attack and Tucker hid behind for safety, Jazz studied the creatures inquisitively.
"Hmm…"
As that went on, the group became aware of more Goblins. Pairs of yellow lights went on inside the cave, they were in fact more Goblins coming out and standing on the sides, as if acting like a welcoming committee.
All of them remained where they were. Some swayed in place, moving left to right in motion like pendulums. Others made light gurgling sounds as they sat tight.
This time was different than before. None of them even attempted to attack.
"The more the merrier!" Sam said, ready to fire.
"Wait!" Jazz said, holding her arm out to block her view.
"What are you doing?!" Sam questioned.
"They're not attacking. Why aren't they attacking?" Jazz questioned.
"What does it matter?! I don't care if they're here to fight or watch!" Sam responded.
"Are they welcoming us?" Dani asks.
That's when a buzzing sound was heard coming from the mine entrance. The Goblins stopped swaying and making noises as they bowed their heads and remained quiet.
A pair of red eyes was seen in the mine as the buzzing stopped. An emaciated looking figure came walking out of the mine, one they found familiar.
"Welcome…" It said, that same voice they heard before.
Danny looked back at his family, friend and girlfriend before looking back at the creature before them.
"Did you… want us to follow them?" Danny asks.
"Indeed. They have done their primary purpose, though the theft of machinery and unique sources of energy was a suitable secondary goal." It responded.
"Come to sick us to the rest of the Goblins? Was that your main goal?" Danny asks.
"Goblins?" It asks, sounding as surprised as the monotone voice could allow it.
"We have no idea what these guys are called, so I'm just using what the locals around here call them." Danny said.
"Litalewy Ma-Jinoh! Gongong guroh!" One said, looking up a bit.
"You have done an acceptable performance for once." Their leader said, turning its head to speak to that Goblin.
"What do you want, Varginha Devil?" Danny asks.
Hearing that, the lead alien turned its head to look at Danny.
"Is that what your people call me?" It asks.
There was a silence as most of Team Phantom looked ready to fight back, with Tucker hiding. However, the Goblins did not look remotely hostile at the moment.
"What do you want… whatever you call yourself?" Danny asks.
There was a pause as the lead alien glared silently at them.
"Litalewy Ma-Jinoh! Prrruuuu kwee gun-gruh!" One went.
"That seems adequate… come." It said, using its hand to motion for them to follow.
As the Goblins all entered the entrance, the ones on top crawling in from the top, the people of Earth remained watching.
They were unsure what to do, especially given what was inviting them in.
"Well?" Danny asks.
"It could be a trap." Sam points out.
"True… but it might be something else. Besides, if it were a trap, they'd have ambushed us by now." Jazz said.
"One way to find out." Dani said, pointing to the entrance.
"That's right… we sit tight and wait for someone else to find out for us." Tucker said with a terrified smile. Once he opened his eyes, he saw everyone else entering. "Ah, heck no! I ain't going in there!"
"So, you wanna stay out here? In the middle of nowhere? In the dark? Where at best you're attacked by wild animals? Or at worst, an alien?" Jazz asks before joining the rest.
Upon her words, Tucker looked around, gulping as the silence made his blood turn cold and his nerves fading.
"GUYS! Wait up!" He called them, running to join them.
Inside the Mine
The five kept a distance, following the tallest of the aliens from several feet back.
The interior of the cave was rather large, with stalagmites pointing down from above, remains of where humans were once mining reduced to the wood of broken tools and broken helmets. The fact they were caked in dust meant they were untouched for decades.
Once they reached the end, the boulder that was of a different color than the rest of the mine, the lead alien stopped.
"We are here." The five stopped. It then looked to a small group of aliens tinkering with something. "Almost done?"
"Purikuri! Litalewy Ma-Jinoh!" One went.
Jazz, meanwhile, recognized they were tinkering with. They were blasters stolen from the RV.
"Hey! Give those back! That's what you stole from us!" She shouts.
"And it will speed up our plan. Fire!" The lead alien shouted.
With that, two Goblins held up a blaster, one at the trigger, the other on the rear end, a third Goblin standing behind to brace for impact by recoil.
Upon the trigger being pulled, the creatures were pushed back. The blast hit the boulder, doing what they intended and destroying it.
Danny and Dani got in front of the others, raising Ghost Shields for protection. However, they noticed that the debris going towards them suddenly halted, and none of it hit the shields. They saw it was a result of the lead alien levitating any and all stones from hitting them.
With a wave of its hand, all boulder debris lowered to the ground, glaring at its fellow aliens as it turned its head.
"Hey! What's the big idea trying to bury us alive?!" Sam shouts angrily at the three.
The three stared silently, one tilting its head.
"They cannot understand you." The lead alien said.
"I figured…" Sam grumbled.
"Wait… how are you understanding us? And how are you speaking to us?" Danny asks.
"The translation system I use is stuck… I am unable to turn it off, so my language is currently unable to change from your primitive speech." He then turned his head left and right as if to order. "All of you! Into the cavern!"
"Litalewy Ma-Jinoh! Prukukuru!" They went as they journeyed to the cavern that was blocked.
Some pushing the others out of the way, the others doing their high-pitched hiss at those who were pushed aside.
As their leader glared in their direction, he turned his head to face Team Phantom.
"What is it they keep calling you?" Jazz asks, remembering a repeated set of words. "Little Louie?"
"The closest approximation to that in your words is… Captain." He answered.
"You're a captain, like… a space captain?" Danny asks.
"Indeed." He responded.
"What about the other thing they said? Ma…mud… uh… that word?" Jazz asks.
"Ma-Jinoh." He responds.
Jazz looked puzzled.
"Uh… I think your translator thing is broken, it didn't come through right." She said.
"It did. There is no translation for it because it's not a word that exists on your planet." He explained.
"Then… what is it?" Sam asks.
"My name." He responded flatly.
There was a small silence as the five realized what they could call him now.
"So… Captain Ma-Jinoh?" Danny asks.
"Indeed." Ma-Jinoh said before walking towards the cavern. "Follow."
Everyone looked unsure as Danny shrugged before following, the rest following him.
Deeper in the cave
The five followed, Danny using his hand to emit a light so they can see where they're going.
As Danny remained in the front, Sam was right behind him with a blaster ready, Jazz looked around and felt on edge before noticing to her disappointment who was right behind her, which was a cowering Tucker, and followed by a cautious Dani Phantom with a glow in her own hand.
"So, Ma-Jinoh? What are you planning to show us?" Danny asked.
"Our means to get off of this world. The path you are on now was once one of our primary means before it was blocked off by you humans, using large rocks to ensure we cannot use this way anymore." He answered.
"If humans put the boulder there, when did that happen?" Jazz asked.
"The amount of time passed is unknown to them… I believe I had arrived with a crew of my own in the era you called the 90's. We arrived in a region South of this location. Men in dark clothes were sent to either dissect or imprison. I alone escaped to a location a ship crashed on this world ages prior. The boulder was in my way and my gravity control was low on energy at the time… though I found an alternate means of joining." Ma-Jinoh said.
"How?" Danny asks.
"Although the caverns used were blocked, smaller tunnels used by animals allowed us to make our way to the surface, though the procedure takes at best one orbital cycle around your sun to arrive. As such, the cavern is far quicker. Once I reunited, my gravity control was repaired." Ma-Jinoh said.
"Then, why didn't you make the boulder move out of the way?" Sam asks.
"Did you not notice the boulder was not analogous to its surroundings?" Ma-Jinoh asks.
"Ana-wha?" Dani asks.
"He means it's made of a different rock than what's around here." Jazz answered.
"They chose to locate a boulder that was not local to the area, once specifically too heavy. There is a limit to what I can affect… namely more than 20 tons, which that boulder was."
"And you're telling us this, why?" Sam questioned.
Ma-Jinoh stopped, making the rest stop as well as he pointed upward, revealing to them something.
"That is because I cannot move that." He said flatly.
What they all saw made their eyes widen. It was a spaceship, largely around 80-90 feet long, cigar shaped and had a few lights blinking on the side. It was half-buried in the ground as many Goblins, without helmets, were holding what could likely be tools as they were apparently making fixes here and there as they tried to somehow repair it.
"What is that?" Tucker asks.
"I think it's their spaceship." Danny answered.
"It is the ship that crashed here that led to what you humans call the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter. After the crash, a few members left to scout the area, searching for means to repair the ship. Those who remained were able to use the ship's temporary means of matter phasing technology, used as a means usually meant to avoid asteroids, to enter the ground." Ma-Jinoh explained.
"You guys can use intangibility?" Danny asks.
"In a sense, but it requires a large amount of power… power that depletes the ship's batteries. While we have the means to power our technology, now it is unable to escape the planet. Eventually, humans became aware of our presence, humans who wore dark coloring, head coverings with large brims and black eye coverings." Ma-Jinoh said, miming a suit, a hand and sunglasses as he did so.
"So… the Blues Brothers?" Dani asks.
Everyone else was sending baffled looks at that.
"First, I'm impressed you know what that is…" Danny said.
"Dad would introduce me to old movies he likes." Dani explained.
"Second, I think he means the Men in Black." Danny continued.
"Dad showed me those too. Not sure why people complain about the second one but-"
"No, the actual Men in Black. They're actual people who go around bullying and harassing people who have been tormented by aliens and stuff in the name of the man." Sam said, sounding bitter.
Dani was shocked to hear that.
"The Men in Black are real?" Everyone nods. "Even International?" She asks.
"No." Jazz said flatly.
"Oh thank goodness…" Dani went with a relieved sigh.
Ma-Jinoh was not paying attention to that part, only what Sam said.
"What does "the man" mean, human girl?" He questioned.
"I am talking about "the man", the same one that is behind all sorts of things wrong, from global warming to destruction of forests." Sam said.
"Ah… so you are one of the more pitiful humans." Ma-Jinoh said flatly.
"WHAT?!" Sam shouted in anger.
"You are one of those insignificant humans who are aware they lead unimportant lives so they invent the idea that a single entity is at fault for everything they despise and not realize it is the end result of interconnected forces out of their control and uninterested in their actions." Ma-Jinoh said.
Sam snarled angrily and was held back by Tucker and Jazz.
"Sam… not the time. Pretty sure he'll have these guys slash and claw us to death." Tucker whispered.
As that went on, Ma-Jinoh directed his attention to the space ship as four specific Goblins approached. These were the four who joined in the battle near its end.
"Status report." He ordered.
"Pr-brruk-guh." One went in a guttural sound.
"Excellent. Have you finished repairing the translation system?" Ma-Jinoh questioned.
"Br-brkk ." One said as its head bobbed from left to right.
"Then ensure they begin upgrading." Ma-Jin said. Once the four did as instructed and left, his direction was back to Team Phantom. "It is fortuitous that you, the one called Danny Phantom, arrived."
Danny was surprised to say the least.
"You… heard of me?" He asks.
"Indeed. For it is thanks to you we have come so close to achieving victory." Ma-Jinoh said.
"What are you talking about?" Danny asks.
"For many cycles around your sun, we have slowly been rebuilding our ship, but due to Earth's more primitive technology, combined with how few of us are able to reach you, it was difficult. Due to our own biology, ultraviolet rays risk damaging our vision, hence the use of these helmets that allow us to protect our eyes for periods of time, with my exterior allowing me longer time. Though we have power, as our core is of perpetual energy, our ship has no means of combat and is not built to go through a large amount of dirt or stone, rendering us unable to break through the rock. That all changed one day…" Ma-Jinoh said, looking up. "For you see, one day, during a failed attempt to break one of the many blockages, something happened. The ground around us was as if it had no solid mass and became see-through. So long as we remained grounded, we were able to simply walk past the rock…"
Danny's eyes widened hearing that.
Wait… are they… talking about when I made the Earth intangible? He thought.
"It was thanks to a man in black that we became aware of a piece of that asteroid that went through was left in the woods, and that it was harmful to you. Mineral designation #425032, though your primitive kind knows of it as Ectoranium, and is harmful to a creature of your physiology. As such, it has allowed us to have… leverage." Ma-Jinoh said.
Danny was too shocked by the information he heard to really pay attention, so another spoke up.
"What kind of… leverage?" Sam questioned.
That's when three Goblins approached.
"Litalewy Ma-Jinoh! Puripri… kanku!" One of them said.
"Then use the upgrade." Ma-Jinoh ordered.
With that, the three Goblins pressed the black eardrum-like spot on their "ears" with their gloved fingers.
"Kweeka?" One sounded like asking a question.
Ma-Jinoh looked back at Team Phantom.
"Speak! Designate one to speak!" He ordered.
"Uh, you might be a space captain, but you can't just think you can tell us what to do!" Sam said, irritated by his tone.
"You know you just did, right?" Dani asks.
As Sam sent her an annoyed look, the three Goblins looked amongst themselves.
"Krako."
"Keeku keekoo."
"Brrrkk."
"Excellent, the translation upgrade is successful." Ma-Jinoh said, still with that monotone voice.
"No it wasn't. I still hear gibberish." Sam points out.
"The translation is for them to understand you, not vice versa. Whether or not you understand their words is irrelevant, as these cloned creatures have become more basic, primitive. They know only to cause chaos when not ordered. Conversations with them would be a severe waste of time." Ma-Jinoh said.
As if to prove his point, the three Goblins then began to argue and claw at each other while making that hissing sound.
"I'm guessing that their DNA isn't the only thing unstable." Dani said.
"I really hate that sound…" Sam grumbled.
"So… to resume my earlier point… the man in black allowed us to get in contact with you, bring you here." Ma-Jinoh said.
"What? Wait… no, you guys attacked a guy named Christian David, he emailed me for help against you guys!" Danny points out.
"I know not of names of your kind, but we have ransacked locations owned by many humans…" Ma-Jinoh said.
"Wait… were the emails… a set up?" Danny asks.
"I am unaware of what you speak, but it is ideal you are here, for we have a proposition to make." Ma-Jinoh said.
As the five shared concerned looks at each other, Danny looked to Ma-Jinoh hesitantly.
"What kind of… proposition?" Danny asks,
Ma-Jinoh points to Danny.
"After sunset, a ship from our world will make its rounds near the world that your species calls Pluto. We have gathered enough energy to allow the ship to make a signal that will allow our kind to find us and bring rescue." Ma-Jinoh said.
"Wait, I thought your ship could phase through rock." Jazz points out.
"The machinery used was damaged when the ship landed in this underground cave and is the only thing we have been unable to repair due to materials needed being foreign to this planet. As such, the one called Danny Phantom will use his power to phase our ship out so that we may make contact and wait for our rescue party. And should he refuse… we will make our impatience clear." He said in a threatening tone.
"What exactly do you mean?" Danny asks, unsure if he really wants the answer.
"Know that the Earth lifeforms that live here… will know our wrath." Ma-Jinoh said before stepping back. "You have until sunset tomorrow to give us your answer. Be aware that if you turn against us… we will use force if needed and use the mineral to fight back… That is our leverage."
Hearing that, all five of them looked worried.
Dani was about to approach, looking ready to attack, when a Goblin approached, holding ectoranium in its claws, making her step back.
Danny reached out and pulled her back by the wrist before sending a glare at Ma-Jinoh. He then reached his hand out for the others, indicating it was time to go.
Reluctantly, each of them reached out for it, with Sam sending a glare at the aliens.
"Is this really necessary?" Sam asks.
"We only wish to return home." Ma-Jinoh answered her.
Hearing that, Sam's glare softened up.
"Home?" She asked under her breath.
Once that was done, Danny pulled them with him as he and Dani flew upward, phasing through the rocky ceiling.
With them gone, Ma-Jinoh stared up silently, eyes squinting.
"Prrrkuguha?" One minor Goblin asked.
"They will be back. It will not take long if the one in black is correct…" He answered.
Special thanks to help from Flower princess11.
And now we know what the Goblins want and how they plan to get out.
I based the mockery of Sam's "the man" viewpoint on a similar line from Steven Universe, only far more dismissive.
Also, the Men in Black are here, and nowhere near as charming as the movie characters.
For those wondering how they know about the ship near Pluto, let's just say they found an alternate means of finding out.
The name Ma-Jinoh is based on the name of the supposed local that was mistaken for an alien, as is the term Litalewy.
We shall see how they handle this... next time.
But who is the man in black he is referring to? Would love to hear your guesses.
RonaldM40196867: Since the 50's, maybe older. Not sure, possibly Zeke and Betty-Jo.
cg037: Thanks.
LockAndKey989: Yup.
Invader Johnny: Yes on both accounts.
SuperiorBatman1: We'll see how this goes for sure after this.
Leonardo: He's got standards. Maddie might start cutting her sister out. I guess Stitch, along with the noises made in this track called "The Hopkinsville Horror: Kentucky Goblins" by Mombi Yuleman, based on the Encounter. He might learn it... As for Kim Possible, this will not be a crossover series, just Danny dealing with purported real world monster sightings. I'm super behind on Miraculous.
Chanderx93: No estoy seguro si visitará Transilvania en esta serie.
Tiamat Dragoness: Mystery solved, at least that mystery. Thanks for reading :)
