Chapter LXI
Sam and Tucker stood outside the Axion Laboratories building on the edge of Amity Park. It was a large, ominous sort of place; tall, dark, high-tech, not to mention covered with automated defense systems and swarming with guards. Dark clouds were forming in the distance, and lightning was visible as the storm approached.
"Do we have to be here?" Tucker asked nervously. "And, of course, by we I mean I. He asked you to come, not me."
"You know more about science stuff than I do. Besides, there's nothing to worry about. This isn't a hospital."
"I didn't even bring that up!" Tucker exclaimed.
"You didn't have to," Sam replied with a smirk.
The girl pressed a large red button on the outside of the door. A camera was built into the same panel as the button, as was a speaker directly below it.
"Good afternoon, and welcome to Axion Labs," a friendly feminine voice greeted. "May I help you?"
"Yeah, we have an appointment with Mr. Faluca," Sam responded courteously.
"I'm sorry, but the professor has no scheduled appointments as of right now."
"Could you check with him?" Sam pressed. "He knows we're here."
"I'm sorry, but the professor has no scheduled appointments as of right now."
Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Interesting," he mumbled. He pulled out his PDA and tapped several buttons on the device.
Sam took a step back and watched her friend go to work. He angled the transmitter of his PDA at the camera on the panel. Moments later, the voice spoke again.
"Professor Faluca is expecting you. Please, enter and enjoy your visit to Axion Labs."
Sam looked at Tucker incredulously. The door slid open and the two walked inside.
"How'd you know it was a computer?" she inquired.
"Simple. People don't repeat themselves verbatim like that. I can pull up some statistics on the probability of exact recitation and vocal patterns if you want."
"Please, don't."
Tucker grinned as the two continued walking. Sam suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"What's up?" Tucker asked.
"We have no idea where we're going," Sam replied.
Tucker looked around. "You can stop and ask for directions if you want."
"A man agreeing to stop and ask for directions? What madness is this?"
"I said you could ask for directions."
Sam grinned and led the way through the maze that was the Axion building. Finally, the two reached lobby where a security guard was sitting at a desk. Upon seeing the two, he stood up and walked over to them.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're looking for Mr. Faluca," Sam answered. "Can you tell us where his office is?"
"Say, aren't you students at Casper High?" the guard asked. "You look familiar."
"Yeah, we both do," Sam replied. "Why?"
"My daughter goes there," the man said proudly. "Valerie Gray?"
Tucker suddenly took interest in the conversation. "No way. You're Valerie's dad? I hardly recognized you in that uniform!"
"I'm Chief of Security here," Damon said. Then added with a wink "I'm required to look like I know what I'm doing. So what do you kids need from Faluca?"
"He called us about something and wanted to see us in his office."
"Is everything alright? I know you two must be worried out of your minds, seeing as how Danny's been kidnapped by that Phantom character."
"Yeah, say, is that press conference with the Huntress on yet or are they still getting ready for it?" Sam asked.
"Oh no, it started about ten minutes ago," Damon pulled a remote out of his pocket and aimed it at a large, rectangular painting of a beach.
The painting moved out from the wall, rotated around to reveal a flat panel, LCD television on the other side, and then retracted back into the wall. The conference popped up on the screen, showing the Huntress at a podium in front of the media and city officials.
". . . information only reiterates what I have been talking about for the past several minutes. Phantom has long been a nuisance to the city of Amity Park. Ghost activity has spiked since his first appearance last year and collateral damage has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
This isn't to say that all ghosts are malevolent, however. The Wisconsin Ghost has pledged her full support in rescuing Danny Fenton and destroying Phantom once and for all. With our combined efforts, we can finally rid ourselves of the most antagonizing ghost menace this city has ever known."
Sam and Tucker scowled at the television. Damon saw this and pressed the mute button, silencing the Huntress before she could anger the two teenagers further.
"Well, she seems to know what she's doing," Damon commented.
"She has no idea," Sam growled. Tucker nodded in agreement.
Damon tugged at his shirt collar and cleared his throat. "Well, Mr. Faluca's office is down this hallway, last door on the left," the man gestured to the hallway behind him. "Tell him I said hello. I'd do it myself, but I'm not permitted to leave my station."
"Will do," Sam mumbled.
Tucker followed Sam down the hallway towards Mr. Faluca's office, leaving Damon to wonder why the two had been so angry at what the Huntress had said.
"Ah, I see you're awake," Plasmius said happily. "About time, too. I was wondering if my neural paralysis had permanently disabled you."
Johnny shook his head, clearing the last traces of blackness from his vision.
"Where am I?" he groaned. He tried to rub his head to clear the fatigue, but found that his hands were bound together by some strange ectoplasmic substance.
"You're at a hotel in Amity Park.," Plasmius said. "You and your little girlfriend popped out of the sky and started flying around like you had a license. I . . . incapacitated you and brought you here."
"Girlfr- Kitty!" Johnny's eyes widened. "Where is she? What have you done to her?"
"Oh, don't you worry about Kitty. She's safe. For now, anyway. Tell me, would you like for her to stay safe?"
"Yes, I would."
"Then tell me, what exactly is this?" Plasmius held up a vile of a strange yellow ectoplasmic liquid.
Johnny gasped. "My augmentation formula! Where'd you get that?"
"It fell out of your pocket when I blasted you out of the sky. Augmentation formula, you say? Good thing I didn't let it fall . . ."
Johnny smacked his forehead. Or would have if his arms were not bound behind his back.
"I assume you are a man of science? No, that's a dumb question. You are a man of science. Few ghosts even know how to pronounce the word 'augmentation'. The fact that you had this on your person is proof enough."
"What difference does it make? You have it, so let me and Kitty go free."
Plasmius tossed her head back and cackled. "Oh my poor, delusional child, you honestly think I need to enhance myself with a formula concocted by some brat? No, while this will make an acceptable down payment, your service to me is what will set you and your girlfriend free."
"Service? For what? You're so powerful, what do you need me for?"
Plasmius set the vile on a table near her bed. "I presume you know of the current situation with Phantom?"
"Yeah, he turned into a monster, went crazy and flew away. Come to think of it, didn't he kick your ass?"
"No, he didn't," Plasmius hissed. "Could he have? Very possibly, so you are going to discover his weaknesses so that I can dispatch him in our next encounter."
"Great! I'll get started as soon as- oh, wait, I forgot." Johnny wriggled his shoulders. "My hands are stuck together behind my back."
Plasmius snapped her fingers and the ectoplasmic bonds disintegrated. Johnny brought his hands around and rubbed his wrists. He then floated up off the ground with a grin.
"Thanks for letting me go so soon. We'll have to do this again . . . never."
"Oh, of course, go ahead and run away to save your woman from certain doom. Oh, that's right. You have no idea where to start looking, while I know her precise location right down to the longitude and latitude. Not to mention that your motorcycle is hidden as well."
Johnny floated in place, his fists clenched and burning with energy.
"Attacking me will do you no good, as you are not nearly powerful enough to fight me. If you flee, there's a good chance that Phantom will find you. If he does, you'll stand even less of a chance against him. Then you'll be dead, Kitty will soon follow and your bike will be destroyed. Is that what you want?"
Johnny spun around. "No," he spat.
"Then you'll help me?"
"Yes, but I swear, if anything happens to Kitty, I will kill you."
"Noted," Plasmius said dismissively. "Now please, you have everything you need to work with in this room, so get to it."
Plasmius vanished in a wisp of pink smoke, leaving Johnny alone in the room. He turned around and gaped at the massive array of scientific equipment laid out for him. A beaker sat in the middle of a table, containing a squirming black substance inside. Johnny slid on a pair of gloves and put on a pair of goggles. A glowing green tear trickled down his cheek, but was quickly brushed away. There was work to be done, and people to save.
"This substance, whatever it is, has strange properties, not unlike those of a symbiotic organism, but it is too different to directly correlate the two." Mr. Faluca held the squirming creature with a pair of forceps. The ends glowed an ethereal blue, keeping it from contorting its form and escaping the metal clamp.
"So what is it doing to D-Phantom ?" Sam said. Tucker cast a disapproving glare at her.
"From what I can tell, the organism can exist as a living creature on the physical plane, but the Ghost Zone is much colder and composed of different chemical compounds. When it was exposed to conditions identical to those in the Ghost Zone, it solidified into a rock like state. It returned to its semi-liquid form immediately after being brought back to room temperature."
"That doesn't answer my question," Sam said impatiently.
"If you would let me finish, I would," Mr. Faluca replied irritably. "I divided the organism into several more pieces and exposed them to different creatures. Experimental ghosts that were exposed to it were eventually taken over completely and their molecular structures were altered and the ghost was assimilated into the organism. Earth animals, however, were only changed in very few aspects in order to adequately sustain the organism. It cannot survive on its own in our atmosphere, and requires a host. If it was to permanently change its host as it does with ghosts, the host would cease to provide necessary life-giving nutrients and the organism would die."
Tucker rubbed his chin. "Fascinating."
"No, its not," Sam interrupted. "That still doesn't-"
"In Phantom's case," Mr. Faluca continued, "he is being altered on a molecualr level and will eventually become part of the organism, as he is a ghost."
Sam grabbed Tucker by the shoulder and pulled him away from Mr. Faluca.
"We have to tell him," she whispered.
"What?" Tucker looked at her with confusion. "Tell him what?"
"What do you think?"
Tucker's face flashed to express shock. "No. No, no, absolutely not, no!"
"Tucker, he doesn't know what Danny's dealing with. This thing is either going to kill him or its going to change him. Either way, we're going to lose Danny to this 'organism' unless he knows the truth!"
"We're going to lose Danny whether he knows the truth or not!" Tucker whispered angrily.
Sam looked away sadly.
Tucker sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. We're not going to lose him at all, ok? But telling someone about Danny isn't going to help him either way. Telling an authority figure is even less helpful, let alone one who has authority in the ghostly field-"
"Tucker, we have to. If we keep any information from him, then we might lose any chance to get Danny back."
Tucker sighed. "If you tell him, then Danny is going to freak out. He has to go through so much already; I don't know if he can deal with someone he barely knows finding out about his secret."
"And if we don't say anything?"
Tucker looked off into space. His gaze, after absently looking all over the laboratory, finally returned to Sam's eyes and he nodded slowly. Sam walked past him and right up to Mr. Faluca, who had been busy placing the black organism in an anti-ghost beaker.
"Mr. Faluca," Sam started shakily. Tucker placed an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Tucker and I . . . have something to tell you about Phantom."
Phantom peered out from beneath a drainage grating. He had been traversing the sewers for some time now, memorizing every twist and turn. It was an ideal hiding place as his new body continued its completion. It was also proving most effective in making his way around the city, although his present location might have been in a different city entirely. There were no people around at all. The sound of water told him that he was near the ocean. Phantom fazed through the metal bars and looked around. He was at the docks, but there were no boats around, no dock workers, no pedestrians, no cars, no anything. It was all barren.
Phantom floated up into the air, looking around. The empty docks stretched on for quite a while, but with his expert vision, Phantom was able to see civilization in the distance. He was several miles away from the outskirts of the main city, but he was still in Amity Park.
Phantom looked to the sewers and was about to reenter the dark, dank tunnels, but something caught his attention. A tingling sensation spread from the middle of his spine and shot up. His tendrils stood up on end and his solid green eyes glazed over. His head tilted back before shooting forward, releasing a bestial sound along with a stream of green mist. His ghost sense had gone off.
Phantom's head jerked from left to right. The two slits on his face that acted as nostrils flared. His lips parted, revealing razor sharp teeth and he took in the stale, night air through his mouth and nose. A strange scent permeated his olfactory senses.
Perfume?
A female!
Sam never wore perfume . . .
Close . . . she's nearby.
Scared, frightened, terrified!
Scare? Sam, can't scare Sam, no, never! Can't see like this . . .
Hero, PHANTOM! I must rescue her.
P-H-A-N-T-O-M
Save her, save Sam, save them all . . .
Phantom flew over to one of the warehouses. Nothing set it apart from the others, but it smelled funny. Not funny like a clown funny, but funny as in different. The shadow ghost floated over to the wall and turned his head intangible. He pressed his forehead against the old wooden wall and felt his still-hardening skin passed through the surface. It emerged on the other side and Phantom took in the sight before him.
The warehouse was bare. No boxes, no garbage or litter, it was almost as barren as the surrounding area. The only thing worth noting was the ghost sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Her head hung forward in despair and her green hair covered her eyes. Her hands were connected behind her back by bonds of ectoplasm. Muffled sobs reached Phantom's ears and prompted him to take action.
He floated flew forward silently, but his ghostly tail dragged along the ground. The ghost woman's head rose at the sound and her expression of grief melted into one of fear.
"Wh-who are you?" she stammered.
Danny?
PHANTOM! Ghost, not human!
BOTH! Danny, Phantom, ghost, human, but she must not know of Danny. Cannot endanger Sam . . .
"Phantom," he replied. "Ghost."
Kitty gasped. "You're the ghost boy? You look so . . . so different!"
"Change. Big change. Ghost, not human, save you, save Sam, save them all."
"Sam? Who's Sam?"
Phantom howled, causing Kitty to flinch. "NO! Sam must be safe, must not tell her name, EVER!"
"A-alright, ok, you don't have to tell me anything about her," Kitty said nervously. "But what are you doing here?"
"Hiding from them, safe here, body not done hardening." Phantom looked around the warehouse. "You, come here to hurt them? To hurt Sam? To hurt me?"
"N-no! I was captured! A ghost named Plasmius, she brought me here! I didn't want to hurt any-"
Phantom's eyes flared. "PLAS-MI-US! Evil, hate her! Kill mother, love father, hurt me, hit me, want me, kill me! Made me like this! Made me monster! I'll find her, kill her! Save you, save Sam, save them all!"
Phantom flew around behind Kitty and tore the ectoplasmic bonds that held her hands together. He grabbed her shoulder and tossed her onto his back, his tendrils wrapping around her and holding her in place. Kitty hugged onto the monstrous specter; her hands didn't even reach halfway across Phantom's pectoral muscles. The shadow ghost shot up through the roof and made haste for the town.
Plasmius, hurt her, evil! Phantom, save her, hero!
P-L-A-S-M-I-U-S
Save girl, save them, save Sam, save them all.
She will pay for what she did.
Will PAY for what she did!
Before she can hurt them, hurt Sam, hurt them all.
To Be Continued
A/N
RAWR! M I RITE? Danny's humanity manages to merge with the animalistic instincts of the shadow organism. So is there hope for him after all? Well I can't just kill him off here. Not with all the awesome, tragic and actiony crap I have in store for my rework of seasons 2 and 3. No, I don't think I'm even a third of the way done. So enjoy it.
Reviews! HOARG! So many, and the 700th winner thing in approaching, so I will take this opportunity to post the guidlines for making an entry.
1) Character must be a ghost. No hybrids, no humans, no aliens, mole people, so on and so forth.
2) Character must have control over something that normally would not be seen as threatening.
3) Character must be appropriate. This means no offensive themes or powers.
4) Character cannot already exist in another show or cannot be a blatant carbon copy of an existing character in another form of entertainment.
-Entries that violate any of the above rules will be discarded.
-Changes to the guidlines can be made as I see fit.
-You may submit your character in a review or in a PM. If you are the 700th reviewer, character will be taken from either form of submission.
-Character can also be submitted by winner after winner is confirmed.
-Once the character is accepted, no changes may be made, although creator will be consulted for remake of DP episode: "Boxed Up Fury"
Winner will also recieve the name of my alternate DeviantArt account
Special thanks to Fulcon, MissMeliss4251, Musicallity, Bitchy Princess, TDG3RD, slyfoxx, Warrior of winds, artbug, darkbunny92, Sapphire Wolf Master, gatogirl1 and Skye-chan.
PREPARE FOR AN OBLIVION FOR WHICH THERE IS NO PREPARATION!