Chapter 9: Misery
Misery glared down at the two teenagers, the spider legs coming out of her back allowing her to crawl towards them and off the truck.
Once her feet reached the ground, the legs on her back shrunk and morphed into her cape, revealing where it came from.
"This has gone on long enough…" She pointed her staff at Danny and Star in a menacing manner. "You! Back to where you were! As for your pretty companion, I'm willing to spare her… provided she leaves now."
Star held her weapon up.
"Not happening!" Star shouted.
Misery only gave a mere scoff before speaking.
"Well don't say I didn't warn you…"
With a snap of Misery's fingers, someone grabbed Star from behind. It was one of the hypnotized men.
"Hey! What the heck?!" She shouted as she was lifted off the ground.
"Star!" Danny said and was about to make a move.
However, he's hit by a blast of webs that stuck him to the wall.
"Nice try." Misery said in a light tone. "Now… all man-things! Capture his allies and free the others! It's time to end this!"
Before she did anything else, Danny fired a blast of concentrated cold that encased her ice.
"Can't disagree on that part." He says cheekily as he phased through the wall before coming out from away from the webs.
Angered and breaking free of that ice, Misery snapped her fingers once more and formed a sword of webs.
"You worthless man-thing. I need you alive… not necessarily intact." She said before running towards him, intent to slash.
Danny reacted by blasting out of his hands a large chunk of ice, but Misery quickly sliced in half without much issue. Danny's eyes widened.
"Uh oh…"
He then flew to the side, wanting to keep Misery away from Star as she ran after him.
"Stay where you are!" She shouted.
Meanwhile
The room Sam and Tucker were in was getting some new visitors. The men enslaved by the spiders were entering and marching towards them like robots.
"I don't like where this is going…" Sam mutters as one slapped the mirror out of her hand, breaking it. "Hey! I had to return that! Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm getting 7 years here!"
Her complaints were finished as Funhouse snapped out of it and snarled.
"Girl pay!" He went.
As Sam was grabbed around the arms by the spider victims, Tucker was pushed off the container Swarm was in, allowing her to go free. The victims also used crowbars to smash the ice the other bugs were in, setting them free and allowing Swarm to reform her true form. With that, she went to Plaything and pushed the large ice off, setting him free.
As he took his ax and cackled, someone else was in need of freedom.
"Hey! Wanna help me out?" Shade called out. With that, the hypnotized men grabbed some random junk and began chiseling her out. "About time!" She said with arms crossed and sounding ungrateful.
As Sam and Tucker were held captive by the hypnotized men, someone else entered the room. It was Rebreather, who dusted himself.
"Mistress Misery is dealing with the Phantom… keep these punks here for now." He ordered.
"Sure thing, it's time to play… Ax Throw! I just need to put the two in front of the wall." Plaything said.
"Save the games for now… perhaps we can use these weaklings as leverage to keep him on a leash." Rebreather pointed out before pointing to the Faceless. "Now… help me get them!"
That's when Star ran inside to give a hand, only to see the chaos ensuing.
"That's not good…" She said before running towards the men holding Sam and Tucker before hitting the spiders on their heads, reducing them to ink. "There!"
Once that happened, the men let the two go before the spiders reformed and resumed controlling them. Fortunately, the two were able to regroup with her.
"Now what?" Tucker asked.
"Not sure, that was as far as I got." Star admits.
"I'm open to suggestions." Sam said.
"Me too." Tucker adds.
Star was surprised.
"Wait, really?"
They both nodded, causing Star to think as they noticed who else joined the party.
"Well… lookie here." Shade said as she and the rest of the villains started calmly walking towards them.
Come on Star... they're not bickering right now, it's all on you. There's gotta be some way to stop these guys… She thought.
It was then she realized she still had the pen in her pocket. Seeing some paper nearby, a place was formed.
"Keep them off my back for now." She said as she ran for the paper.
Sam and Tucker were both still registering what she said as they tried to blast at the ink monsters while avoiding the hypnotized men.
Back to Danny and Misery
With quick thinking and quicker reaction time, Danny bobbed his head out of the way of the spider leg after Misery reformed them from her cape.
"I thought you didn't want me dead!" Danny pointed out.
"Not yet, but I don't need you conscious for now." Misery pointed out.
Danny flew up, circling around and firing from above, forcing Misery to form a shield of her webs.
She blocked his attacks as Danny realized something.
"Wait a minute. I don't think any of these guys ever flew or anything, at least not without wings. I don't think she can fly. That means she can't come after me up here." He said to himself.
Danny sent a small barrage of blasts from his hands. Misery did her best to avoid these attacks, using her spider legs to jump out of the way of each shot.
"Ha! You've missed!" She shouts with a grin.
However, one of those legs landed on something that made her slip and fall on her face. Groaning as she got on all fours of her usual limbs, she saw it was a patch of ice created from Danny's purposefully missed shots.
"Think again!" Danny said.
"You are going to suffer for that." Misery said, snarling.
"Not happening, Bug-Brain..." Danny said with a mocking smile.
"We'll see about that, you worthless man-thing! And I'm an arachnid!" Misery said as her eyes glowed more.
She fired webs from her hands, but Danny easily moved out of the way.
"Oh! Almost got me!" He said mockingly as Misery fired again, but he did a midair somersault to avoid it. "Missed again!" Misery, seething in rage, fired again but each shot was easily avoided. "Wow, you're not good at this…" Danny continued to mock her.
However, he let his guard down as one web caught his foot.
With a violent tug by Misery, Danny was slammed to the ground as he landed on his rear.
"Why don't you just give up? You can't beat me, you foolish man-thing!" Misery said arrogantly as she formed a web sword once more.
"Oh, shut up..." Danny muttered as iced the web before using his ghost ray to melt it, making it wet and breaking free.
"You dare to demand me to be silent?!" Misery shouted as she swung her sword, using the dull side to smack Danny.
Danny attempted to break the sword with a kick, but nothing happened as a ding went. He was forced to pull back.
She's too strong. I gotta break that... pen but how? He thought.
Back to the rest of Team Phantom
"Uh, Star? What's your plan?" Sam asked as she fired at the ink creatures, each shot only being mildly annoying than painful.
Star, meanwhile, was using the pen to draw something. She's done so a few times.
"Okay…" She looked around and saw the hole that led to where Shade was earlier. "In there!"
She ran to the broken wall as Sam and Tucker followed her.
"After them!" Rebreater shouted.
He lifted his anchor, but a blast from Sam's wrist blaster turned the upper half of the anchor to ink, making it fall.
"Any time now!" Sam shouted.
"Just a sec!" Star said as the three of them ran through the hole as Star resumed drawing as fast as she could. "Come on, come on! Please work!"
"You're drawing something? Ha! Like that'll help. It didn't help me!" Tucker pointed out.
"That's because you have no art skills whatsoever." Star points out without looking at him. "I on the other hand…"
She placed the paper on the floor and, soon enough, a wall of steel appeared in front of them, blocking the hole.
Several of the villains ran as fast as they could but didn't see in time before they hit head first.
Groaning in pain as they pulled back. Swarm and Plaything tried to break the steel door, but found it difficult.
"No fair!" Plaything went.
"Unbelievable!" Shade went.
"Ugh… come on… these hypnotized humans are taking too long to get those stone aliens out." Rebreather groaned.
Using her saber as a source of light, Star sighed in relief as she looked back at the two.
"That was close…" She said.
"Nice going." Sam said.
"Thanks…" Star said with a smile, appreciating the compliment.
Tucker, however, pouted.
"What the heck?! I drew a cool armor and it didn't come out useful at all! You made a wall and this happened!"
Star rolled her eyes.
"Let's be grateful I could draw a steel wall fast enough and with enough form and consistency since I hate hurrying." Star said.
Tucker was silent but still pouted, which was ignored by the girls.
"So, what now?" Sam asked.
"Hopefully, we've bought ourselves some time." Star said.
After a moment, someone phased their head through the wall and saw his team there, sighing in relief and came out.
"Everyone okay?" Danny asked.
His girlfriend smiled happily at his presence.
"Danny-boo!" Star said as she handed Sam the saber and hugged Danny.
Sam rolled her eyes at this scene.
"Okay… suddenly I'd rather be in the dark." She muttered.
As Star pulled back, she took Danny's hands.
"Good news, we used the pen to barricade ourselves in here." She tells him.
Danny smiled at that.
"Nice going."
"Weird that inanimate stuff comes by quicker than living things like them…" Tucker points out.
"I guess living beings just take longer?" Sam suggests.
"Hey, maybe we can make some weapons!" Tucker said as he took hold of the pen and started drawing again.
Danny thought about it and nodded.
"Good, that oughta-"
Suddenly, a swift cutting sound was heard.
Turning their heads, they saw the wall fall in two halves as Misery stood there, sneering at them.
"You insignificant little wretch! You will suffer, for this has gone on long enough!" Misery shouted at them as her minions and hypnotized servants surrounded them.
Danny, however, stood in front of his team.
"Hold it! It's me you want, right?!" Danny asked. As Misery nodded, Danny decided to try and buy time. "Then I challenge you! One-on-one! If I win and knock you out, my friends and I go free!"
"And if I succeed?" Misery questioned.
"Then I stay… no arguments and no resisting." Danny said, holding his hands up.
"What?" Sam questioned.
Danny turned his head to them and winked.
"Don't worry, I got this." Danny looked to Tucker. "How goes the weaponry?" He asked.
"Almost done." Tucker said.
Danny nodded and looked to Misery,
"Well, what do you say?"
"You challenge me? Ha! You cannot defeat me. I accept!" Misery said as she motioned with her hands to make her minions part from her. "Make sure his friends go nowhere while I handle this."
As Misery regrew her spider legs and jumped out the room through the wall, Danny followed her.
As he landed on the floor, Tucker finished drawing.
"And… done!" He went proudly.
At that moment, Danny saw a small puddle of ink form in front of him as something flew out. Once he took it, it took form and color.
It was a silvery club-like object that was as long as Danny's forearm.
Misery dropped her guard to take note of the item.
"That is your weapon?" She asked incredulously.
"Uh… why did you give me one of those little baseball bat things cops use?" Danny asked as he looked over his shoulder at Tucker.
"They're called nightsticks! And it's a sword!" Tucker complained.
Unfortunately for him, the so-called sword just broke when one of Misery's spider legs slapped it out of Danny's hand, the item breaking as if it were a vase.
"Some weapon." Misery scoffed.
Tucker looked embarrassed but didn't give up as something else appeared in Danny's hands.
Something round and small.
"What is this? A decorative plate?" Danny questioned.
"It's a shield!" Tucker shouted, growing increasingly agitated.
Star rolled her eyes and, as Tucker wasn't looking, took the pen and began drawing something repeatedly.
Danny tried to use the so-called shield, but found holding it like a camera with both hands felt awkward.
"Why is there no handle?!" Danny asked as Misery smacked that out of his hands as well and it broke apart. "Why did you not draw a handle?!"
"I don't know! You try drawing under this kind of pressure!" Tucker snapped.
Danny was distracted as Misery backhanded him into the floor.
"Pay attention, little beast!" She shouted.
Shaking his head, Danny got back up and flew at Misery, swinging his fist. However, Misery merely dodged before elbowing him in the chest.
It was short lived as Danny kicked her in the face, but Misery reacted fast as she formed a web spear in her hand and attempted to stab Danny with it. He managed to avoid it by stretching his abdomen region out of the way, but once he reformed, Misery raised one of her real legs and kicked him in the chest.
As Danny hit the floor, he got back up. He saw Tucker watching intently.
"Got any more "useful" ideas?" Danny questioned.
"I'm doing the best I can!" Tucker shouted.
"Just draw something that can actually help us!" Danny said.
Tucker reached for the pen, only to see it gone.
"Uh oh…"
"Uh oh? I don't like that." Danny said as he was webbed by the foot and pulled.
Misery swung Danny over her head in a circular motion repeatedly before slamming him into the floor, cracking it.
As Danny strained to get up, he saw a spider leg land near both sides of his head as Misery walked calmly towards him.
"Submit, and I might-" Misery was cut off when something landed on her head.
It was an anvil, and it was heavy enough to make the upper half of her body go splat as the lower half landed backwards.
As the rest of the villains gasped in shock, Danny sat back up.
"Uh… did you do that, Tuck?" He asked calmly.
"No! I don't-"
"Uh… that was her." Sam said, pointing to behind her and Tucker.
Tucker was turning his head and frowning as the blonde girl sent him a flat look and held a paper of 20 perfectly drawn anvils, one of 4.
"Give it up, Tucker! You suck!" Star shouted.
As Tucker pouted, the villains became aware of Star's actions.
"She has the pen!" Shade shouted.
"Get her!" Swam screeched.
The villains got into the room, going past Sam and Tucker.
Star got up and walked backwards before raising the pen over her head.
"Manson! Go long!" She shouted as she threw the pen over their heads and into Sam's hand.
"Got it!" Sam said as she ran out, the villains followed her.
As Danny was about to assist, Misery reformed.
"You dare?!" Misery shouted.
"I guess I'm just daring." Danny said with a shrug.
"Ugh… just as quippy and annoying as the comic book…" Misery said as she raised her sword and sliced the anvil that landed on a moment ago in half, making it split. "I'm beginning to have second thoughts about letting you live! The rest of you! Restrain these fools and get that pen!"
As her minions did as they were told, Danny Phantom's eyes were on her sword.
"How is that thing so strong? It's made of strings!" Danny questioned loudly.
"Her spiders' webs are stronger than normal! Something like that could cut through solid steel!" Star called out as she tried to get away from the grasp of a Faceless.
Hearing that, an idea came to Danny.
"Cut through steel?" He asked himself before a smile came to his face.
An idea to finish this for good.
Misery did not notice this as she aimed her weapon at him.
"This fight… is over!" She snarled.
The ghost sent her a cocky look.
"Oh, we were fighting? I thought you were just warming up?" He asked playfully.
"I was…" Misery snarled before she came charging at him with her spider legs doing the walking.
I got one shot at this… Danny thought as he began his plan while Misery's minions tried to get to his friends.
"Get her!" Funhouse shouted as he tried to reach for Sam, only to trip on Plaything and making the two fall. "Hey!"
"Hey yourself!" Plaything snapped.
"Some teamwork. I guess you don't play well with others!" The goth quipped.
Sam found herself surrounded by Swarm, Shade and the Faceless as she thought fast.
"Give us the pen!" Shade demanded.
Sam saw Tucker without someone trying to get a hold of him and thought fast.
"Tucker! Heads up!" She threw the pen.
Tucker attempted to catch it, but he ends up fumbling as he swung his arm downward and sent the pen bouncing on the floor before rolling. Thankfully, Star rolled in and took the pen before sending him a glare.
"Don't tell me, bad at sports too?" She questioned.
"Hey! For your information, I'm all about brains and skills with tech." Tucker said proudly.
"And you wonder why things could never have worked out between us…" Star grumbled as she made a break for it with the pen.
As the villains went after her, Danny was dealing with avoiding the giant spider legs.
''Is this all you got? Sheesh, I guess my comic book self might be too easy for you..."Danny taunted as he led her away from his friends.
Misery growled before she used her spider legs to to get on the ceiling and crown towards him, intent to use her sword.
"Nowhere to go now, you little smart mouth!" Misery snapped.
"I beg to differ." Danny said as he let her get close enough to flash a bright light from his hands.
"AHH! My eyes!" She yelled as she lost her grip and landed on the floor, making a pained yelp as she did so.
As Misery was blinded by the flash of light, Danny made his move.
"Star! Pass me the pen! I have a plan!" He called out.
Once she nodded and tossed him the pen, Danny felt a spider leg hit him and he found himself pressed against the ceiling.
"Well done, man-thing! Thanks to you, I can reclaim my pen!" Misery said as she attempted to reach for it, but Danny thought fast and phased through the ceiling, much to her shock. "WHAT?!"
"Nice try, Bug Breath!" Danny taunted as remained out of her sight.
"Okay… he's got the pen. Now what?" Sam asked as the other villains surrounded them.
"Not sure… let's just hope he's got a plan. Was really looking forward to that recital…" Star said.
It was then that Danny reappeared, standing in front of the table where the artist was drawing previously.
He had his hands behind his back for some reason as he smirked.
"Hey! Eight Legs? Lemme guess, you're so bitter with men because you can't find a date for prom?! He asked mockingly.
Misery turned red with rage.
"How dare you assume I wish to have any sort of… interactions with lowly creatures! Compared to you worthless lifeforms, I am a goddess!"
"Goddess of losing, maybe…"
"What was that?!" Misery shouted, teeth barred.
"Danny!" Star called out as the villains surround her and the others. "She's not gonna give you time to draw with it!"
"Who said anything about drawing with it?" He asked under his breath.
"Give me the pen! I might consider sparing you after that crack!" Misery demanded.
"Come on, no wonder comic me can beat you! And I thought my real archenemy, Vlad Plasmius, would get some competition!" Danny taunted once more, getting on the villainess's last nerve.
"THAT'S IT, I'LL FIND ANOTHER GHOST! DIE, MAN-THING!" Misery shouted as she came charging at him with her web sword.
Unknown to her, this is what Danny wanted.
"Just what I was hoping for." He said under his breath as he flew to his right at the last second, narrowly avoiding her weapon. He then slid away and smirked. "You've lost, Misery Vex."
Misery was confused, one eye opened wider than the other.
"What are you talking about?! You can't destroy me and you can't destroy the pen!" She snaps.
"I don't have to…" He pointed to where she attacked. "You did that for me."
Misery was confused and annoyed until she saw what was under her weapon. There was something atop the now destroyed table Danny stood in front of, along with something that was now cut in half. It was the pen.
She gasped loudly before the rage and horror reached her.
"NO!" Misery yelled.
"I guess the pen isn't mightier than the sword." Danny quipped.
Reacting in horror, Misery got on her knees and tried to put the pen, which was now cut in half, back together. However, to her horror, her attempts to do so only made chunks of it fall off. She attempted to web it, but the webs were coming out as ink.
"NO! MY PEN! WITHOUT IT, I DON'T EXIST!" Misery shouted.
The rest of the villains still surrounded Sam, Tucker and Star. But as Plaything approached and raised his ax, it suddenly melted into ink.
"Huh?!" He then saw his hand turning to ink and melt and his killer smile became a terrified expression. "NO!"
The Faceless instantly melted into puddles.
Rebreather slowly melted feet first as he sunk into the puddle.
"Oh, come on! I just got here!" He shouted more in annoyance as his head sunk in.
"NO NO NO!" Plaything whined as his face melted and contorted in a pained expression before he fell face down and became a puddle.
"Somehow, that clown doll just keeps getting creepier…" Sam admits with a cringed expression while Tucker nods.
"Uh oh…" Funhouse went before he fell apart in chunks of ink.
Swarm attempted to fly away, but the insects escaping her turned to drops of ink and fell to the floor before screeching one last time as she too melted.
"MISTRESS! HELP ME!" Shade said in horror as she suffered the same fate and became a puddle
Misery then saw all her spiders turning to ink, which also broke her control over the humans.
Misery turned to the smirking ghost boy and her hands shook before they turned black and became motionless. It then reached her head, slowly closing on her face.
"No! Curse you, Danny Phantom!" She shouted as face turned jet black like the rest of her now ink body.
With that, the ink that used to be Misery Vex fell to the floor, now a lifeless puddle.
The team looked around, seeing all of the fake ghosts and the spiders were now no more. The hypnotized men were all coming to, and the pen was no longer in one piece.
Star then walked to the puddle that was Misery Vex and smiled.
"See? Told you she talked like that!" She couldn't help but say.
New chapter with thanks for Flower Princess11.
The villains are no more. One chapter left.
Invader Johnny: Thanks. This was a way I thought would at least be interesting.
RonaldM40196867: Most likely for the last two questions you asked.
Jebest4781: Thanks.
Leonardo: That'd certainly be more interesting that You Know Who's idea.
Pedro Alonso Buby Huayanay Zamudio: Nothing Star vs The Forces of Evil related in the near future as far as I can say.
