Another long one….
I love setups. And I love reviewers! All of you! HAHA! Also, I have to give a shout to Epona Harper, since the e-mail situation ate all recent reviews, and none of you will see the wonderful words of encouragement I had bestowed upon me. Ah well, I got them somehow, and they are definitely appreciated, even if no one else will see them.
That said, on with the show. (This thing was TEN PAGES)
Bye!
HiddenAuthor
Chapter 14 – Defenses
Valerie and Danny faced each other in the Fenton's basement lab. The few working lights flickered in the ceiling, threatening to go out any second. Neither blinked.
"So, you're telling me that this…thing that's coming is an evil version of you. From the future…" Danny nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact. Tucker tensed, but whether he was moving to protect Danny or Valerie, not even he knew. Sam just stood back, waiting. Danny wasn't in any serious danger, and she thought Valerie knew that. You only had to look at what he'd done to the basement, and you could tell he could have killed her any time.
"Yes." He said, quietly and simply. Valerie calmly pulled out an ecto-gun and charged it, aiming directly at Danny's chest.
"Fine. Now tell me why I shouldn't just destroy you now." Danny didn't bat an eyelash.
"Because he exists whether I live or not, and I'm your best chance at stopping him. And because I could be behind you with a charged blast ready before you released the trigger." Val raised an eyebrow, and lowered her gun. Both blinked, and the moment passed. Tension almost visibly leaving the room, the two new allies walked towards the weapons vault together, Tucker and Sam just behind. The two fell back, Tucker grilling Sam on how Danny had pulled off that interview stunt.
"So why put my dad on the shield?" Danny smiled.
"I saw you in the future, and you were very good. But you weren't in charge. I didn't think you'd let anyone else boss you around, so your dad had to be running things. If Amity Park was still standing after everything he-I, did to it, he must be very, very good. Besides," he continued bitterly, "everyone else who could have been running things was dead." Valerie paused thoughtfully.
"He's good at fighting off humans, but I never really thought about him ghost hunting. It was always my thing." She shrugged. "But I guess I had to get it from somewhere." Danny grinned.
"We all do…" He deftly pulled down several different compartmentalized weapons. "That suit," he said, rummaging through the guns, "it's modeled after your original one, right?" Valerie nodded. With a satisfied shake of the head, Danny resumed working. "Good. Vlad designed it?" Valerie paused, shocked.
"How did you know that?" Danny frowned, hesitant.
"I don't know a nice way to tell you this, but Vlad…he was using you to spy on and distract me. He wanted me out of the way so he could kill da-Jack Fenton, and steal his family." Valerie paled, but frowned. Danny deftly tossed her a weapon he approved of.
"I don't get it." She said, snapping off an old blaster and replacing it. "If that's true, why?" Danny tossed her another gun.
"He's sick. Mentally, I mean. I've tried to tell you that you were being duped before, but you wouldn't believe me, and I had to be careful. He could have had you rigged to self-destruct." The huntress froze, now very pale.
"He did." She whispered, dropping the latest upgrade in her distress. "My old suit. When you blasted it the last time, it blew up. I thought you were trying to attack me, so I didn't really think about it much, but…" She punched in the next gun with a shaking hand. "He rigged it to do that while I was still inside!" Valerie shook, breaths coming very fast. Tucker quietly reached out and touched her shoulder. Seconds later she paused, and looked up with an intense expression. "When we're done here, I think I'll pay him a visit. We need to 'talk.'" Danny shook his head, putting the unused guns back.
"Don't bother; he's been taken care of." Valerie looked at him incredulously. He just shrugged, careful not to mention that Vlad was a ghost. "It's a legal thing, don't worry about it. Whatever happened to him, he'll be out of the picture for a while. In a way, I'm kind of glad he's the one who made that suit. Most of his best work is based off prototypes he stole from the Fentons, so their weapons are compatible." Valerie looked over at him, confused.
"I still don't get it." Danny grinned.
"Have you seen the stuff in their jumpsuits?" Val shook her head.
"Not that. You know so much about this family, and you protect them. Why is that?" Phantom froze, flustered.
"I, uh, that is, I just, really really care about them." Valerie raised an eyebrow. Danny blushed. "What? Yeah, they're ghost hunters, but they're honest ones. They can do a lot to protect this town, and I could use the help." Val chuckled.
"I don't know if I can see Danny fighting ghosts. He's such a klutz." Tucker sniggered behind her, and Sam elbowed him in the ribs, grinning slightly. Phantom rubbed his head.
"I think he'd do all right." Val glared at him.
"Don't even think about using him this time. I've got experience, but he'd just get in the way or get killed." Phantom raised his hands, looking amused.
"Relax; no one who can't fight will be here." He frowned. "Speaking of that, we need to get back to work." He turned towards the other two.
"Sam, Tucker, you finished that other job?" Tucker nodded, wincing. Danny frowned. "I'm really sorry you had to do that, but you're the only one who could." His friend didn't say anything. "You should probably go find Mr. Gray. He could use someone with your skills to keep the shield running smoothly. Sam?" She turned to him. "You should go help Jazz recruit. She knows the right words, but if there's anything a Manson can do, it's whip an angry crowd of volunteers into a frenzy. After that, get to safety." Grinning, Sam started to follow Tucker out. Halfway up the stairs she paused, and faced Phantom with terror in her eyes.
"Phantom. Just promise you'll tell Danny to be safe. And that I love him." Phantom smiled back sadly.
"I'll make sure he gets the message." Nodding, Sam ran off to help Jazz. Valerie cleared her throat.
"Well now what do we do?" Phantom turned and watched the portal intently.
"We wait."
The rippling had stopped. Jack grinned up at the dome from his parking space, thrilled that even with half of the generators inactive, it was still up, albeit flickering slightly. Turning, he watched with pride and slight nostalgia as Damon punched numbers intently into his laptop.
"I've isolated the mis-calibrated generator. It's over by Axion, one of the first we put up." The man shrugged. "I guess we rushed those a bit to avoid getting caught." He looked up, smirking. "Not that we aren't being really obvious or anything." Jack grinned back and revved the engine. The two tore off towards the malfunctioning shield as Damon reactivated all of the ones he had shut down.
"This has been a blast D-man!" Damon quirked an eyebrow. "I haven't had this much fun with another guy since Vlad and I were in college!" Jack's smile fell slightly. "I missed it. Any way you might do this permanently?" Gray rubbed his chin thoughtfully, grinning in spite of himself. To be honest, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun either. Protecting a company's secrets was important business, but this just seemed more…important. Fulfilling. Besides, there was no way he was working for a guy who'd tried to kill his friends and family. Gray turned and smiled at Jack.
"We'll see. After this is over, Amity will need somebody to keep the defenses working." Jack beamed.
"Just think of it. You Maddie and me working together to fight off ghosts! Maddie can think up the cool new weapons, I'll fight the ghosts, and you'll do that computer thing and keep everything running." Jack smiled. "It's perfect!" Laughing together, the two parked by a lone electric pole just outside the Axion fenced perimeter. Praying they didn't get arrested, Damon quickly went out and started fiddling with the chips. Jack's cell phone rang.
"Hello? Tucker. How's Danny? Really? Valerie's there, too?" Jack smiled at the phone. "Sure, Damon would love some help, and he probably wants to talk with Val, too." He nodded. "Right, we're just finishing with the dome, we'll be home in fifteen tops." Damon jogged back over, grinning.
"Everything's fine. Just a crossed wire. Where to?" Jack grinned back.
"Back home. Valerie's already there, and you've got some backup to keep the shields running." Damon quirked an eyebrow. "Tucker. Danny's friend. I think he and Valerie are dating or something." His friend nodded as they tore off down the road.
"I could use a hand. No offense Jack, but computers aren't really your thing." Jack nodded, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. "I've heard Tucker's really good. While I run calibration routines, he can start work on an automated failsafe program series."
"I don't know what you just said, but it sounds good to me." The two were home in five minutes. Damon actually didn't seem to mind Jack's driving; he was grinning like a maniac.
"What a rush! We need to carpool." The security officer jumped out of the RV and jogged into the house. "Valerie?" Tucker was sitting at the table, playing pong.
"She got bored downstairs, so she's off with Phantom testing her new stuff. Mrs. Fenton is downstairs watching the portal, Sam and Jazz are out recruiting, and I'm," he said, bored, "playing pong." Damon nodded, only slightly upset Valerie wasn't there. She was in good hands, after all. He hoped.
"You up for something more challenging?" Tucker looked up and grinned at the computer now resting in front of him. The two immediately started speaking some weird alien language, and Jack decided to leave them alone. As discreetly as his size allowed, he edged himself over to the basement door and joined his wife. Every weapon the two had ever made seemed to be trained on that portal.
"Hey Mads." Startled, Maddie almost blasted her husband's head off.
"Jack! Don't scare me like that! How's the shield coming." Jack scratched his head, grinning.
"I think it's done, but Damon wants Tucker to help him set up some automatic thing on that computer of his." Maddie smiled up at him.
"So what do you think of Mr. Gray?" Jack grinned.
"He's great! Really smart, good with programming stuff, likes fighting ghosts…" Jack grinned. "I haven't had this much fun since college!" Maddie smiled, only slightly sad at the memories.
"Well I'm glad. I don't think Vlad will ever be what he was again, but it's good to make new friends." She paused. "Oh, and if anyone asks, Phantom took Danny to a secure shelter somewhere else in town, and plans on taking Jazz and Sam later. Tucker too, unless Damon needs him to keep the shields running." Jack nodded, frowning.
"It's not really fair, is it? Danny does all this cool stuff, and nobody thanks him. I mean, they'll thank Phantom now, but not him." Maddie smiled.
"I have a feeling he likes it that way. There's no pressure to live up to Phantom all the time. He's turned into a real live hero, and I'm very proud of him, but he needs to be human, too." Jack paused thoughtfully, and nodded. Maddie chuckled.
"So you over that 'jealous' problem?" Jack grinned a bit.
"Mostly. Tucker told me about that interview thing over the phone. I don't need that kind of stress." Laughing, the two watched the portal together holding hands, carefully charging their death rays.
"This is stupid!" Danny shouted out, doing a backwards loop in midair. Pink and green energy blasts tore through the sky. Valerie scoffed loudly over the wind.
"I need to test this new stuff out. I'm not about to fight some new ghost with new weapons!" She shot off another blast. "But I'd feel better if we did this on the other side of that dome." She gestured at the blue energy wall above them. Phantom scowled slightly.
"I already told you, I can't go through it. And I tried teleporting, it's like slamming into a brick wall!" Frustrated, he shot off a few blasts of his own, which Valerie dodged easily. "We should be back there guarding the portal!" He dodged a return volley.
"Come on ghost boy, that's not your best! I need to practice!" Danny finally lost it.
"You want my best? Fine!" Before Valerie reloaded, he teleported behind her, jerked her arms into a secure lock, phased her weapons so they just fell off the suit, did a back flip and planted her firmly in three-foot thick concrete. Fuming, he melted two holes inches from her head on either side with his eyes and held a glowing fist to her face. "Dead." He said simply. He instantly regretted it as the fight just went right out of her. "Val?" She just lay there, staring at the cement. "Val?"
"How am I supposed to help?" She asked tiredly. "This guy can beat you, and you just planted me. Literally." Danny sighed, and sat down.
"Well, he can't teleport. At least, I don't think he can." He started. "So he couldn't just appear behind you. I'm sorry I lost my temper, I just didn't want to go all out on you, and the portal is important. And no matter what you think, you can help. Future you was no match for future me alone, but she came close. You can, too, and you'll have help." Smiling, he reached down and phased her up out of the concrete. "Besides, you can do better than that. I've seen it." Gathering up her weapons, he helped her reattach them to her suit and the two took off again. "Best two out of three?" Val grinned, and charged her new toys.
"Alright people, thank you for showing up. Amity Park will survive this attack because of you!" Jazz spoke with excessive enthusiasm through a bull horn at a football field filled with volunteers. "My family has set up powerful weapons and shields to keep this ghost at bay, but we have no one to keep the shields safe. That's where you all come in." Sam reached over and grabbed the amplifier from Jazz and glared out at the crowd.
"We don't know when the ghost will get here, and we don't know how. So we'll put you all in shifts. Someone will be at each shield generator at all times. We need you to stay there for four hours every other day. Come up and sign up for shifts. There's a different sheet for every generator, complete with location. Don't sign up if you can't help!" Sam shot a grateful smile at Mr. Gray. With a brief salute, the man took off in the RV to check the perimeter. "This town is ours! And we won't let some ghost take it away from us!" Applause and cheers filled the stadium as the crowd rushed forward to sign up. Jazz shot the girl a bemused look.
"Wow. You're good." Sam shrugged.
"The one time I'm glad to get something from my parents." She turned back to the crowd. "There will be three charged ecto weapons by each generator. To all the psychos listening, they don't work on humans, so don't bother. Use these to ward off any ghost that manages to sneak in. Under no circumstances can they be allowed to destroy that shield!" With that, Sam stepped down and handed the horn back to Jazz. Sighing, she walked off a ways and looked up at the dome.
"Whatever happens, Danny, don't you dare die."
Danny and Valerie phased down through the lab ceiling, holding hands. Tucker arched an eyebrow over the computer screen in the corner.
"Val, should I be jealous?" Danny and Valerie blushed, and the huntress ran over to give him a quick hug.
"Nah. But Sam was right about the uniform." The two sniggered as Danny turned even redder, and went over to see his parents. Val's eyes went back to the computer screen.
"Ugh, what's my dad making you do?" Tucker grinned.
"Automatic maintenance programs for the shield. He hardwired the basic instructions in, but new stuff can just be beamed out to the generators from this basement." Typing quickly, he stared as line after line of gibberish filled the screen. "I'm teaching the generators to change how they act based on how many of them are working, where the other working ones are, and power supply. It's not easy, but having them evenly spaced in a circle simplifies things a bit. I don't have to program unique spatial relationship data for each generator." Valerie just nodded slowly. Tucker chuckled.
"Sorry, went a bit geek on you there. Your dad is amazing though! He programmed those things to work together in just a few minutes, and he had to do it the hard way." Her boyfriend shook his head. "No way I'm that good. He's pretty cool." Valerie started a bit.
"Yeah, he really is, huh?" The huntress relaxed against her frantically working boyfriend and sighed happily. At least she got to see him again before things went down. She just hoped Danny and Sam were happy and safe together somewhere.
Across the way, Danny and his parents were arguing heatedly.
"No way I'm leaving Tucker here. It's not safe!" Jack and Maddie just shook their heads.
"He needs to be here to keep the shield running. Damon said so, Tucker said so, there's no other way. He knows the risk. Besides, this place is an anti-ghost fortress. If we lose here, he won't be safer anywhere else." Danny sighed, sagging.
"I know. I just don't want anyone to get hurt." Maddie smiled.
"We may not have super powers, but we get along just fine, thank you. You don't have to worry so much." Danny nodded mutely, then frowned, a strange expression crossing his face.
"Guys? I've got this weird feeling. He's close, but it's more than that. I've felt like this before. When…" His eyes lit up. "Oh no."
Dani sat in the stone chair she'd found, legs swaying back and forth as she looked out at the starry sky. Far off in the maze of halls and stairs, the trickling of flowing water echoed out. She smiled contentedly, comforted by the fountains, the stars…Danny's presense. She could feel him in this place, and remembered his promise to protect her, to keep her safe. Not that she couldn't stand up for herself, of course. Ember groaned from behind her, and Dani looked back towards the arched doorway.
"I don't care if he seems together, that kid is seriously messed up." The singing ghost had almost passed out the first time she saw the inside of this place. While mostly over the severe vertigo, she had been captivated by the stone artwork they found in this room. "How'd you find this place, anyway?" Dani shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't seem to have much trouble finding my way around in here. Maybe it's just because I'm, uh, related to Danny." Ember snorted.
"You said it, tootsie-pop. If you were a few years older, you could pass for twins." The singer quirked an eyebrow. "How come he hid you out here?" Dani shrugged, uncomfortable.
"If I helped fight that other ghost, I'd probably melt. I can't really use my powers that well." Ember stared at this.
"You've got ghost powers, too?" Dani nodded. Ember smacked her head. "Yeah, Danny said you did, duh. But it's still really weird. What, one ghost kid wasn't enough? You multiplying or something?" Dani scowled over at the pop star.
"For your information, hairdo, I didn't ask to be made this way. If I didn't have my powers, I'd probably be stable and safe. But noooo. Vlad, El Senor Wack-Job just had to have a clone with ghost powers." Ember blew a pink bubble, and chewed her gum for a moment.
"Wait, wait, hold it. Clones? Vlad? What, are you Danny's clone now?" Dani nodded. Ember burst out laughing. "But you're a girl. Dude, I'm sure the dipstick's got some masculinity issues, what with the beatings he supposedly gets at school, but seriously! A chick? How'd that one happen?" Dani's frown deepened. Her eyes lit green, despite a slight dripping from one finger.
"Don't you make fun of Danny. Not many people would just take a punch from those jerks instead of punching them through the wall. Vlad made me a girl so I wouldn't melt as quick; Danny had nothing to do with it." Ember quirked an eyebrow. The ghost girl sighed, looking down. "I'm dying." She whispered. "Slowly, but my powers are tearing my body apart." Ember stared at the little girl.
"Oh." She said simply, not really sure what to say. "Um, so what's up with the creepy carvings?" She pointed over at the chiseled indent of Dan. "Self portraits from another dimension?" Dani frowned.
"No idea. But it's kinda sad." She gestured at all the Amity Park people enjoying themselves, but terrified of Danny, all alone in the middle. Ember nodded, shrugging, and blew another bubble. It popped loudly, and she sucked the gum back in.
"People get scared of ghosts. Always have. It's a real drag, but you get used to it, I guess." Dani frowned.
"I thought you were supposed to be a bad ghost. Why should you care?" Ember shrugged, irritated at the question.
"I don't know, pipsqueak, I just do. Maybe 'cause my powers work best when humans love me, and want me around. It doesn't help things much when they're scared of you." Ember sighed, and sat down, tracing Danny's outline with her finger.
"Yeah, I've tried to take over the world. But 'bad ghost?' Kid, things are always more complicated than that. I love singing, not power. If I could sing to a crowd, hear them cheer me on, what would I want with the world? But I'll never get that on my own," she said bitterly, "because humans are scared of ghosts. Don't think I don't get it, kid. I just gave up on the nice girl approach a long time ago." Dani frowned thoughtfully. Ember smiled. "This kid hasn't given up yet, though. Maybe being part human will help." Her smile dropped again as she thought about it. "You ask me it just sounds lonelier. Humans feel more, or at least I think you do. Ghosts have to work at the feeling stuff. All that hatred and fear probably just hurts that much worse when you can't just shut it off." Dani sighed.
"Yeah. It does. At least Danny was human for a while. I've always been a freak." Ember blew another bubble.
"Well you two got each other, right?" Dani nodded. The singer shrugged. "Maybe that's enough. And hey, maybe I'll drop in now and again." She looked off to her side. "Without my voice, what else have I got to do? Singing's the only thing I really loved, and that monster took it from me." Ember's hair flared briefly, but then died down again. Her companion nodded sadly, eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry, we'll get him. He won't get away with what he's done." Ember just brooded silently. Dani shivered. Blue mist shot out of her mouth.
"Um, Ember?" The flame ghost shook, wide-eyed. The temperature began dropping drastically, both girls holding themselves tight for warmth. The gentle trickling stopped. Dani couldn't see or hear why, but somehow she just knew the water had frozen solid. Heartless laughter echoed throughout the stone maze. Squeeking in fear, Ember jumped behind the stone chair.
"I think I like this place." Echoes filled the cold void, repeating an even colder voice. "But it could use a few personal touches. What, no ectoblasts? Oh well, I guess I'll do this the fast way." Both girls clapped their hands over their ears as an ear-splitting shriek filled the lair. Stones cracked and flew apart all around them, but with no down, merely floated, suspended in space. The shriek lasted several minutes, until there was nothing left of the great stone maze. "Hmm. Can't fly in here either. Inconvenient." Dani peeked one eye open over her arms, and looked at the ruin of the lair. Empty red eyes bored into her from a surviving chunk of Danny's mural, and seemed to blink as the stone rotated in the moonlight. Elsewhere, all that remained of Danny's masterpiece where floating islands of rubble suspended in a midnight sky. There wasn't even a floor anymore. Turning, she gasped as a dark cloaked figure jumped from floating stone to floating stone, heading towards the other, clearly visible door. Ears perked, the dark ghost's head rotated on his neck completely to the side and stared at her.
"What's this? Has little Danny made this a cozy hidey-hole for all his little girlfriends? Let's get a closer look. Or two…" Laughing maliciously, Dan jumped from stone to stone, grasping with hands and feet, as he advanced on the cowering pair. The far door slammed open.
"Hold it."
