A/N Ok so I guess I'm a fast updater, considering the fact that I haven't really felt like writing since I put chapter 8 up, so this was somewhat forced, but it's still pretty good. Big Thank You goes to 2wingo, who's been sending me tones of ideas and gave me the ideas for the whole ghost hunting division and all the weapons that will be mentioned. And also thanks to DphantoMfreak, (sorry bout last time with the wrong name!) for beta reading for me each time! So with that said, let's start.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any other characters from that series, Butch Hartman does.
I do not own Spiderman or any other characters from that series, Sony Pictures owns any thing mentioned from the movies, and Stan Lee owns the actual characters. I do, however, own the brain, creativity, and ideas (Unless noted in A/N) to create this story :)
Along Came a Spider
Chapter 9: Midnight Duels
It was getting close to eleven PM and Danny had finally decided that it was time. Peter had gone to bed around thirty minutes ago, but Danny decided it was best to wait a little longer, to make sure no one knew he was gone. He got up out of bed, where he wasn't actually sleeping, just lying in case someone came in, and stood on it. He concentrated on his goal, turning once again into the half ghost hybrid he was. Without a moment to spare, he flew through the wall and out into the moonlit night air.
Before setting out for his goal though, Danny couldn't resist just taking a nice fly. It felt so great to fly sometimes, just escape from the mundane that he called ghost hunting. Sometimes he just felt like flying, and this was one of those times. He flew around in the fresh night air for about ten minutes before he decided that he had wasted enough time and that he should really concentrate on his goal—finding out more about Oscorp's Ghost Hunting Division.
He remembered the way from that morning, and in no time at all he had arrived at Oscorp Industries. He didn't know where to begin, so he just phased through the wall and started some exploring.
The first room he found himself in upon entering was obviously the main entryway. In front of him was a receptionist's type desk, obviously where someone who greets people and the such would sit during business hours. The entire room was white, and it reminded Danny of a doctor's waiting room. Remembering the time when the evil bugs had given everyone ghost powers, he quickly flew into another room.
This time he found himself in a room one would expect to find in a place like Oscorp. It was a large lab-like room, with tables and chairs all over. It too was painted white, but it wasn't as sickly as the other one, and the floor was tiled, not carpeted like the other room. Obviously not what Danny was looking for, so he once again decided to leave the room and look some more.
He left through a door that was unlocked and found himself in a hallway. At the end there was a flight of stairs going up and down. The hallway itself, from what Danny could see, contained the entryways to about five rooms.
He started down towards the stairs, looking at the room labels as he went. Ones such as Flight Lab, Aero genetics Lab, and Space Sciences appealed to Danny as he went.
If I wasn't trying to figure out something about the ghost-hunting department, I'd seriously be really interested in all this, he thought to himself as he explored the hallway.
Coming to the end of the hallway where the stairs were, he decided just to phase through the ceiling to save time. In doing so he found himself in a messy lab that reminded him of his parents' lab, but about ten times more advanced. There was green goop everywhere, along with notes laden on all the tables that the workers had left behind until tomorrow. Beakers and test tubes were everywhere as well, and Danny could swear he saw something moving over in the corner.
He looked around for a door, so he could check the label to make sure he was in the right place. He found it and tried to open it, but it was locked and he didn't have a key.
Now what Fenton? he thought to himself
"Oh duh, ghost powers," he quietly said as he phased through the door. Ghost Division: TOP SECRET was what he read on the door, telling him he was in the right place. He reached for the handle and found that it opened with ease.
Who locks a top-secret room from the inside only? he thought as he re-entered the room.
Looking around, he didn't know where to start so he just began with where he was standing. Next to him was a desk, and looking closer he saw that it was indeed covered in notes about a new weapon Oscorp was obviously inventing. The pictured showed a disc, and from the looks of it, it was some sort of shield that negates kinetic energy. The notes pointed out every tiny detail, making Danny wish he had that thing right then and there.
I could finally beat Vlad's butt with that.
Finally taking his eyes off the shield notes, he moved on, next finding himself at a large lab table. He found himself staring in awe at the beakers and beakers full of ectoplasm, which were obviously being used to make some sort of weapon. He once again noticed some notes, but this time the notes were over some type of sword-type weapon. Diagrams showed every angle and every aspect, making Danny hope that if it were ever actually invented, it wouldn't be used against him.
You gotta admit though, it is pretty cool looking!
As Danny explored the room, everything he saw fascinated him.
Mom and Dad could never come up with the technology in this room!
After about twenty more minutes of snooping around his attention was drawn to a small table near the back of the room. Deciding to take a closer look, he ventured towards it. He gasped when he saw before him the very same sword and shield he had read about earlier, along with another very interesting weapon. It was a small rod with two buttons, one red and one blue, and looked very versatile. He gazed at all three in awe.
No, don't pick it up! You have no idea what they really do! One part of his head said to him, while the other part screamed, DO IT!.
It was a long mental battle, but in the end the 'DO IT!' part of his mind won and his hand reached for the rod-shaped weapon.
"Put it down, child," came a voice from behind him. Without thinking, Danny grabbed the weapon, and quickly spun around, holding it like a sword as he gazed into the eyes of Skulker.
"Skulker, what do you want with me now?" he yelled at the ghost floating above him.
"That, unfortunately, is none of your business," was the reply Danny got from the ghost.
With that, Danny pressed the red button on the rod. To his and obviously Skulker's (he had a look of utter surprise on his face) surprise, the rod changed into a five-foot long staff with an ectoplasmic spearhead on each end. Staring at it intently for a mere second, Danny knew what he had to do. He began to spin it and spin it fast, all the while getting closer to Skulker. Skulker quickly disappeared and reappeared behind Danny at the table with the two remaining weapons sitting on it, right before Danny would have hit him. He picked up the disk and pressed the activation button next to the handgrip, causing it to turn into a four-foot wide shield made of ectoplasm and tachyon particles. Danny turned around and aimed his spear at Skulker, hitting the shield right in the middle. The shield simply absorbed the energy of the spear before once again protecting its holder.
"You can't win against me. I have a job to do, and I didn't plan on battling you in the process!" Skulker yelled at Danny, as Danny flew into the air, still holding the pole in one hand. "But this would be a good opportunity to rest your pelt at my bed!"
"Once again with the pelt. You seriously need to get a life!" Danny yelled and aimed his spear at Skulker once more. Realizing, though, that it was no good as long as Skulker had the shield, he decided to try the blue button. The pole turned itself into a bullwhip with the same type of spear on the end, and Danny decided it was time to do some hunting of his own. Quickly grabbing the end of the whip, he whipped it towards Skulker and managed to "rope" himself a shield. Then he whipped it back and sent the shield and its razor sharp edge into the air, heading straight at him! He quickly turned intangible, but not before the edge caught his sleeve and left a pretty deep cut. Falling to the ground, he lay there in pain as the whip escaped his grasp. Quickly reaching for it while still in pain, he wasn't fast enough as Skulker beat him to the punch.
"Hmmm this is interesting. My boss would definitely benefit from this," Skulker said quietly.
"Your Boss!" Danny yelled, forgetting all his pain and rising into the air. "You mean Vlad!"
"Of course, boy, who else would I mean? He sent me here to retrieve the weapons, but imagine his surprise when I bring you to him as well!"
"I thought you wanted my pelt!" Danny yelled at the ghost in front of him.
"I changed my mind. My boss might benefit having you more than I would!"
And with that Danny flew towards the table and grabbed the last remaining weapon. He quickly hit the activation button and a sword made of pure ectoplasm flew out of the handle. It had come down to this, him with his natural powers and the sword, against Skulker and his body suit and whip/pole thing that Danny didn't know the name of.
"It's on!" he cried as he flew straight at Skulker with the blade of the sword aimed right at him.
"Try me," Skulker laughed as he used the whip to rope up the sword, and seeing as Skulker is stronger than Danny, he pulled it out of the boy's arms. "Now you are without a weapon, and even your ghost abilities can't save you now, boy, so prepare to be—"
Before Skulker could say another word, Danny fell to the ground in agony, grasping his head at the pain he had just felt.
"That was a little too easy," Skulker said quietly as Danny lay on the floor, rolling around holding his head. Skulker quickly grabbed the third weapon, the shield, deactivated all three, and flew through the room.
Danny, who was lying on the floor, felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey kid, you okay?" he heard.
"Yeah I'm fine, just a really bad headache."
"Good, because you're about to not be!"
The pain once again suddenly subsided as he looked up and saw staring back at him Spiderman, and he sounded angry.
"Why are you here?" was all Danny could say as he got to his feet, preparing for what he knew was soon to come.
"More like why are YOU here?" Spiderman replied. "Snooping around, looking to steal something perhaps?"
With that, Danny shot a strong ecto-blast at Spiderman, hitting him square in the chest, causing him to fall against the wall. By the time Spiderman was able to get up, Danny had disappeared.
"I'll get you sometime, so watch it buddy!" he yelled at the air.
At least I got some good pictures.
"Where did you get those?" Danny asked rather loudly as he entered the room the next morning to find Peter gazing at some photographs sitting on the table.
By the time Danny had finally gotten in the previous night, it was almost 2 AM. He knew they had classes and stuff the next morning, so he fell straight into his bed, turned back into Danny Fenton, and fell asleep, but not before wondering where the heck Spiderman had come from.
"What, these?" Peter asked, rather shocked as he pointed at the pictures on the table "I took them, why?"
"Just curious how you managed to take pictures of this stuff, that's all," Danny replied as he sat down and gazed at the pictures. One contained a shot of him and Spiderman fighting at Oscorp the previous morning, another was of him by himself floating in the room, taken the previous morning as well. But what really put him in awe were the ones Peter seemed to really be concentrating on. There was one of him holding that sword thing, one of him and Spiderman as Danny sent out a green beam, and various others. Danny noticed that none of them contained Skulker.
How coincidental... he thought as he stared at them.
"Well you know I take pictures for the Daily Bugle?" Peter told Danny as he interrupted the silence.
"Yeah..."
"Well seeing as a lot of fascinating stuff happens at Oscorp, including alot of major 'battles,' Harry let me install some cameras there to take pictures."
Gotta remember to punch those out next time you go exploring at night, Danny thought as he heard all that.
"Ohhh." And trying to sound convincing, he added, "and who's that?" pointing at himself in one of the pictures.
"Oh, him, well he's this 'ghost boy' I've been having some trouble with lately," Peter replied with a look of loathing.
"Why have you been having trouble with m—errr him?" Danny asked curiously.
"Oh I got my reasons, but right now we should really be getting ready to go. I have to take these pictures to Mr. Jameson and then we need to get to the college for my class."
"MR. JAMESON?" Danny said a bit too loudly
"Yeah, the editor of the paper," Peter replied, looking confused.
"You're gonna have him put those IN THE PAPER!" Danny almost yelled, thinking in his head, Great, now the whole dang town will think you're some sort of evil spirit thingy.
"Yeah that's the plan, why?" Peter replied, looking even more confused.
"No reason, let's get going," Danny said, covering up his blunder.
He's hiding something, and I need to find out what, both boys thought at the same time as they left the apartment.
An hour later, Danny found himself sitting in the reception area of the Daily Bugle with Peter waiting to go talk to the editor, Mr. Jameson.
"Peter, Mr. Jameson will see you and your friend now," Ms. Brett called over to him from her desk, ushering them towards the door.
"Parker!" was the first thing Danny heard as he and Peter entered the office, to find a tall man with a mustache standing behind a desk. "Where have you been, it's been ages since you've gotten me any good pics of Spiderman!"
"Spiderman?" Danny said rather loudly, forgetting to hide his major shock.
"I'll explain later," Peter mumbled right before Mr. Jameson added, "And who's the kid?"
"He's a kid I'm supposed to be showing around New York this week for a school program, Mr. Jameson."
"Okay well let's get down to business. Do you have some decent pictures, or do you expect me to publish squirrels again?"
"I have some that you might like," Peter said, sitting down in front of the desk and pulling out his portfolio with the pictures in it. Danny just stood by the door and watched.
"Who's this kid?" Jameson commented, looking at the pictures.
"Well it's kinda complicated, but he's this ghost boy who's been causing trouble lately," Peter told the man, then pointing at a picture of Danny in Oscorp's lab added, "He's been snooping around Oscorp lately, so I figured it might be a major story."
"Hmmm he spares a striking resemblance to you, kid," Jameson said, staring at the picture of Danny Phantom.
Danny, who had been leaning against the wall, choked at being caught unexpectedly, and replied in a rather flustered voice, "Me? Yeah, he really looks like me...what are you thinking?"
Still, the more Danny thought about it, the more Mr. Jameson was right. Danny was utterly surprised no one, not even his parents, had figured out his secret yet, seeing as there were alot of similarities between Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton.
"The more I look, the more you're kinda right," Peter said, then changing the subject added, "So how much do I get for them?"
"How much? They stink! I'll give ya 500 bucks for 'em!"
"Deal," Peter said, standing up to shake Mr. Jameson's hand.
"Give this to the girl," Jameson said, handing Peter a pay slip.
Outside the office, Peter handed the slip to Ms. Brett and then she gave him his money and they left, Danny still flustered over what had just happened.
Another incident like that, and your secret's out, he thought to himself as they left. But what's with Peter and Spiderman anyway?
It was 3 PM, and Tucker was bored out of his mind. Harry had once again headed to the company to do some stuff rather early that morning, leaving Tucker behind again.
Isn't he ever gonna show me anything? This is an intern program, you know, Tucker had thought to himself that morning.
Well now he was getting bored, so he decided to do some snooping like he had done the previous day, and he knew where he wanted to begin.
Heading back down to the main room and opening the mirror door, he once again found himself in the same dusty storage-like room. He wanted to take a closer look, because last time he was so shocked he just couldn't concentrate enough to explore. Now that it had sunk in, he was ready to figure out the real secrets.
Turning the corner to where he knew the "stuff" was, he once again found himself in awe, but for a different reason.
He quickly ran out of the room, found a phone, and dialed the number on the speed dial labeled PETER and hoped that their classes were over for the day. He sighed in relief as Peter picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Peter, this is Tucker. Is Danny around? It's urgent!"
"Yeah, one sec." Tucker heard Peter put down the phone and call to Danny.
"Yeah hi, Tuck. What's up?" Danny asked coolly.
"You need to get over here right now, and bring Sam. There's something you gotta see!"
A/N I'm evil right? Yeah I know, threaten me with your dogs and stuff, I don't care, I had to stop there! Well the title doesn't really go with all of the chappie, but it still works. I am gonna say though that I have like no clue what will happen next...really. Anyway I know I should have put in the part with Danny going to Peter's class, but I figured why bore you with that, I'll put it in on the chapters that happen later in the week. Also sorry for the lack of Sam/MJ/Harry, but this was mainly a growing chapter for Danny and Peter. If you're wondering why they don't know each other's secrets yet, don't worry, it'll happen...eventually! Well review cuz you know it makes me update sooner, and overall happier! Bye
Lisa