Chapter LXII
Mr. Faluca sat in his chair. The room was not spinning, his head was not throbbing, his glasses were not strewn on his desk and his breathing was not labored. Instead, a glass of water was held gently in his hand and his other hand casually steadied his computer chair in order to keep it from rolling away from his desk.
Samantha Manson looked as if she had just murdered someone. Tucker Foley appeared equally distraught. There were more than enough reasons why the two teenagers appeared as they did.
"So," Robert Faluca began. "You're telling me that Daniel Fenton is Phantom; that the clumsy, accident-prone boy is a super hero with ghostly powers and this whole business with fighting ghosts has been going on since the end of the first semester?"
Sam nodded slowly.
"Well that certainly does explain some things," the man said absently as he took another drink of his water. "Do his parents know?"
"No," Tucker replied. Sam bit her lower lip.
"Does his sister know?"
"No."
"What about that Huntress girl?"
"Mr. Faluca, you, Sam and myself are the only three human beings that know of Danny's, uh, condition."
"So there are ghosts that know of his powers?"
"Every ghost that Danny has faced knows he's half ghost. The Lunch Lady, Terrakor, Skulker, Ember, Spectra, Poindexter-"
"Wait, Spectra? As in Penelope Spectra?"
"Yup. Ghost trying to steal our happiness so her father could feed on our misery."
"You don't say? And who is the-"
"Look, as much as I feel you need to know all of this, it has to wait. If that organism does what you say it does, Danny might be in bigger danger than we thought." Sam was sitting at a lab table. Her head rested in her arms. Tucker sent her a worried look before returning his attention to the older man. "This ordeal has everyone all worked up. Danny's parents haven't slept since he went off the deep end, Valerie's been looking all over the city trying to kill him-"
"Kill him?" Mr. Faluca said startled. "Why would Valerie want to kill Danny?"
Tucker smacked his forehead. "I . . ." he sighed, "I meant to say the Huntress."
Mr. Faluca's eyes widened. "Wait just one minute. Valerie Gray is the Huntress? Well isn't this just one big day of surprises. Tell me, does anyone else in the student body have super powers?"
Tucker chuckled. "Not that we know of. And Valerie doesn't have super powers, she just has a bunch of high-tech gadgetry that-"
"Yes, yes, I figured as much, it was just an expression. Now I cannot hope to relate to what you two are feeling right now. I understand that it must've been extremely difficult for you to tell me Danny's secret, but I want you to know that you two no longer have to confide in only each other. I will keep his secret until my dying breath and, as a man of science, I will always be here to assist you all in any way I can."
Tucker beamed at the man. Sam lifted her head from her arms and smiled weakly.
"Now then, it seems like we have a student to save. Let's see if we can't find what makes this 'shadow ghost' tick."
"Shadow ghost?" Sam asked. "What does that mean?"
"Well as I'm sure you're all well aware, each ghost has its own unique ability that often defies scientific explanation . . . in addition to the rest of their scientifically inexplicable powers. This organism seems to have the ability to take on the appearance of a shadow. It can even change its shape in order to match up with the shadow of another object, be it living or not."
"Do you think that could be a clue to finding a weakness?"
"Only one way to find out."
Johnny ran over his calculations for the umpteenth time. If he was correct, his latest attempt to disable the organism could very well be the answer to his "employer's" problem. Johnny looked at the squirming black ghost in the beaker. It had regenerated after every attempt to wipe it out, but some methods worked better than others. It had seemed invincible until Johnny accidentally sent it into a spasm. It was still recovering from the unintentional attack.
Johnny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes nervously then turned the flash light on.
The creature emitted a garbled cry of pain, which was odd as it had no mouth or vocal cords to speak of. It squirmed and writhed, trying to move away from the light, but to no avail. Its movements slowed and the organism withered. Johnny gasped and grabbed a beaker of water. He gently poured the liquid on the creature, but that only sent it into another spasm as its body dissolved. The water became murky and any movement inside the beaker ceased.
The shadow ghost had been killed.
"I hope you're not still at step one," Plasmius said as she flew in through the ceiling. "You told me that an hour ago, and I'm starting to get impatient."
"You will find that I was successful. I managed to kill the creature completely."
Plasmius stared at Johnny with wide eyes. "I didn't tell you to kill it." She said angrily.
"Well that's what happened. Deal with it."
Plasmius bared her fangs and teleported in front of Johnny's face. She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. "I most certainly will not. Now tell me what you did before you anger me further."
"It's hard to believe you didn't think of it, being so powerful and all. Imagine, the secrets to defeating this shadow ghost were sitting under your nose the whole time and you were too lazy to look yourself."
"Push it one more inch," Plasmius hissed. "I dare you."
Johnny smiled. "An inch? I was thinking more in terms of FEET!"
Johnny kicked Plasmius in her torso, sending her sailing back into the wall on the far side of her hotel room. The wall cracked from the collision and Plasmius was left in a temporary daze.
"I think my augmentation formula worked well enough," Johnny said as he withdrew the empty vile where his serum had been encased. He squeezed it in his hand and the glass shattered. "I wish I had more time to work on it, but desperate times call for desperate measures and such."
Johnny aimed his arms at Plasmius fired a massive blast of yellow energy from his hands. The beams connected with the still-dazed Plasmius' head and her world went dark.
"I guess there's something to this 'element of surprise' mumbo-jumbo after all." Johnny picked up the beaker with the remains of the shadow ghost and splashed Plasmius in the face with it. "There's the answer to your problem. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a woman and a bike to save. Fare thee well, oh harlot of plasma."
Johnny flew out the window and scanned the night sky. His augmentation formula was still taking effect on him. His muscles were pushing the limits of the fabric of his shirt, his eyes were changing from green to red and his skin was becoming a dull yellow.
A grin filled with sharpening teeth appeared on his face as his augmented senses picked up on a familiar scent. Kitty was alive, and in the city. His grin fell into a frown as Johnny registered an unfamiliar smell with her. Whatever it was, it was strong. The sky reeked of its power.
Johnny decided to find his other companion. His nostrils flared as the scent of spectral lubricant and traces of ectoplasmic exhaust fumes entered them. His bike was also nearby. Johnny began to laugh. He had gone from wimp to warrior in seconds, and that was only the beginning. With his newfound power, he would save Kitty and destroy Plasmius. And after that . . . Johnny laughed harder at all the possibilities the future had to offer.
Phantom flew through the sewers beneath the city of Amity Park. His memory of the tunnels assisted him in making instantaneous decisions and allowed him to fly almost as fast as he would on the surface.
The girl is nauseous.
Sewers, good protection, must complete change!
Cannot hide while Plasmius stalks the innocent . . .
Unconscious?
Fresh air, do us both good.
They are close!
Friends?
Enemies?
Both!
Flee! Save girl!
Flee! Complete change!
Protect, defend the weak!
Danny?
PHANTOM?
Both!
Girl is sleeping.
SLEEEEEPING?
Bring her to surface, save her.
Phantom turned intangible and rose up through the concrete tunnels of the sewers. He looked around upon rising to the surface and saw that the labyrinths had taken him closer to the city. He was still a mile away, but before he reentered the tunnels a building captured his vision. A strange symbol surrounding an A sat atop the structure, glowing an eerie neon blue color.
Kitty moaned from her position on Phantom's back and lifted her head to see where she was.
"What's going on?" she mumbled.
"Axion Labs. Friends inside, help you, help me."
Phantom turned himself and his companion invisible and made his way toward the building. He fazed through the outer walls and recalled his previous trip to locate the office of Robert Faluca. He found it easily enough, but his heightened senses detected life on the other side of the door.
Three inside, Tucker, Sam, Mr. Faluca.
DESTROY THEM!
No, stupid, no destruction. No more.
Friends.
Help us?
Help us all.
Phantom fazed into the room and watched invisibly as Tucker, Sam and Mr. Faluca hovered over a Petri dish with a black substance squirming about inside.
Part of us!
SPAWN!
Part of us, must assimilate into greater mass.
Can feel its pain, separation!
FEEEEL ITS PAIN!
Dying . . .
The three humans cheered as Phantom felt the last traces of life leave from the small sample.
Murderers!
MUR-DER-ERS!
Dead . . .
Must avenge spawn!
MUST avenge!
Plasmius . . .
Plasmius?
RAWR?
She is to blame! Would kill us, kill them all!
Yessss, she is evil!
Tear her face off!
Friends first . . .
Help them
Protect them
Save them
Phantom regained his visibility behind the trio. His tendrils gently uncoiled themselves from Kitty, allowing her to slide off his back. Her heels clacked against the tiled floor, alerting the three humans to the new arrivals.
Sam looked at Phantom in shock. "Oh my God . . . D-Danny? Is that you?"
"Sam, SAFE!" Phantom hovered over to the young woman. "Protect you, save you all!"
"Protect us?" Mr. Faluca asked. "From what?"
Phantom floated over to the short, stout man. His eyes were narrowed suspiciously.
"Danny," Sam said softly. "He knows your secret."
"Secret?"
Human?
GHOST!
Both. Rob-ret, knows we are both!
She told . . . she betrayed you!
EAT HER HEART!
NO!
"Why tell Rob-ret?"
"Danny, he wanted to help you, we had to tell him!"
"Help? Help me?"
sHe WaNtStOsEpArAtEuS
Ghost from human?
pOwEr FrOm WeAkNeSs
She can't! Must save her! Body done hardening! Stronger, more powerful!
An EnEmY aPpRoAcHeS!
"An enemy approaches?"
"What? Where?" Tucker looked around the room nervously.
The dull hum of an engine became audible from outside the lab. It steadily grew louder, and Phantom's ghost sense went off. The shadow ghost lazily swiped at the air in front of his face, dissipating the green mist as he turned in the direction of the noise.
"From there!"
Sure enough, Johnny Thirteen's macabre motorcycle fazed through the ceiling of Mr. Faluca's laboratory. The ghost, now rippling with new muscle, maneuvered his bike to smack Phantom in the head with the back tire. The larger ghost flew back into the wall with a pained wail and slumped to the floor.
"Johnny!" Kitty squealed as she recognized the ghost on the motorcycle. "You came for me!"
"'Course I did, Kitten," Johnny replied with a grin. "Plasmius couldn't keep me down forever."
"PLASMIUS!" Phantom roared from his position on the floor. He rose from the ground and glared at Johnny. "Sent you to kill me! To kill them!"
"What are you talkin' bout, freak? I just sent her into an ectoplasmic coma! Guess you wouldn't know nuthin of the sort, seein' as you're all feral and crazy."
"Not here to kill?"
"Come on, now, don't be such a spoil sport! I never said that," Johnny said eagerly as he fed ectoplasm into his hands.
"Johnny, stop that!" Kitty exclaimed. "He saved me!"
Johnny swiveled his upper body to look at the young woman. "He saved you? Kitten, I could'a saved you. All I needed was some backup," he patted the seat behind him.
"I've never been more confused in my life," Tucker mumbled. "What is going on?"
Johnny, Kitty and Phantom turned to look at Tucker, the former two seeming to notice him and the other two humans for the first time.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Johnny said with a chuckle. Kitty elbowed him in the arm. "Ow! Alright, fine. Me and Kitty here decided to go for a little ride on this piece of work," Johnny ran his hands over the bike he was still straddling. "A portal opened up in the Ghost Zone and took us into the sky over what I guess is where we are now. Some crazy chick knocked me out and I woke up in a hotel room-"
"WHAT?" Kitty shouted. Johnny clamped his hands over his ears. Phantom's tendrils waved about angrily. The others flinched. "You got a hotel room and I got stuck in an empty warehouse handcuffed to a chair?"
"Kitten, I didn't decide who went where," Johnny replied with a sigh. "I was a victim too."
"Aw, listen to mister muscle, claiming to be a poor and defenseless! And what's with this pet name you decided to give-"
"Uh, weren't you telling us a story?" Sam interrupted.
"Oh, right," Johnny said apologetically. Kitty continued to glare at him. "So, like I was sayin', I wake up in this hotel room, also handcuffed, and Plasmius gives me her whole spiel about how I was gonna help her get your pal back to normal," Johnny jerked his thumb at Phantom, who growled. "I was in the process of examining a black organism that seemed to have symbiotic properties and I accidentally sent it into seizure mode when I shined an ultra-violet flash light on him. I tried it again and figured it was some sort of weakness, but it started to shrivel up so I poured some water on it, but that only made it worse. The thing dissolved in the water, so when Plasmius found out, she got pretty pissed off."
"And you managed to escape?" Sam asked.
"I had some help," Johnny replied. His newly formed biceps flexed involuntarily as if to finish his sentence.
Kitty's eyes widened. "Oh Johnny, you didn't!"
"Had to, Kitten. I didn't have a choice."
"And now I'm confused again," Tucker said irritably.
"Don't worry about it. Now I bet Plasmius will be back in action in no time, so I think it would be a good idea to-"
"Run and hide? You wouldn't be the first," the unmistakable voice of the afformentioned ghost said in a soft yet potent tone. "You wouldn't be the first to die either."
Plasmius made herself visible before the group, her hands glowing with energy ready to discharge without a moment's notice.
"This is insane!" Mr. Faluca shouted, drawing all eyes to him. "Here I am at Axion Labs, the world's leading developer and manufacturer of anti-ghost weaponry, and there are four ghosts in the central engineering wing!"
"Dude, you're in on it now," Tucker said casually. "Better get used to the idea."
"I have come to-"
"PLASMIUS!"
Phantom lunged from the shadows and grabbed Plasmius by the neck with both of his massive hands. He slammed into the ground, pinning the elder ghost beneath him. His head shot back and he let out a horrendous roar. Plasmius tried to faze through his grip, but found that his own powers prevented her from doing so.
"Get off me, you monstrosity!" She said through strangled breaths.
"Will KILL you!"
Plasmius concentrated and let a surge of energy explode from her body. Phantom loosened his grip on his adversary, giving Plasmius enough of an opening to escape.
"I can see that negotiations would be most ineffective," she said with a sneer. "Good thing I have an insurance policy."
Plasmius tapped a button on her wrist. Phantom, having recovered from his shock, wasted no time in grabbing the female by her arm. His large hands squeezed her wrist and the device was crushed instantly. However, its signal had gone through.
"Hungry . . ." Phantom opened his mouth slowly. A long, forked tongue slithered out and crept along Plasmius' face causing her to flinch. "DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!"
Phantom's jaw hyper extended, opening wide enough to engulf Plasmius' entire head. Before he could carry out his victory, an explosion shook the building, sending both attackers to the ground.
"'Bout time you showed up," Valerie said coolly from her Banshee Board. A grenade was held in one hand and a rifle was firmly grasped in the other. "Been waiting a long time for this."
Phantom looked from Valerie to Plasmius. His options were limited, as attacking one enemy left him open to an attack by the other. A blast of yellow energy helped with one threat as Valerie was sent flying from her board thanks to Johnny Thirteen.
"She Devil's all yours, spooky," Johnny said as his bike sped into the air. Valerie growled and hopped on her Banshee Board, ignoring Phantom in her fit of rage, and gave chase to the cycling specter.
Phantom charged at Plasmius, but suddenly found himself facing four. Her old trick barely saved her in their last encounter and Phantom was convinced that it would do little to stop him in this battle.
The copies spread out, firing at Phantom from a distance. He nimbly dodged these attacks and the ones that hit did little to hurt him. The shadow ghost closed in on the nearest copy, slashing out with his claws. Plasmius tried to counter, but Phantom tore into her defenses. The duplicate dissolved after a short bout and Phantom closed in on the next copy.
Sam, Tucker, Mr. Faluca and Kitty watched from the far corner of the lab.
"How is it that security hasn't gotten here yet?" Tucker asked. "With all the commotion you think somebody would've come to check it out. Especially with the hole Valerie made in the roof."
"Almost all of the defenses are automated and controlled by the central computer," Mr. Faluca explained. "There might be a glitch in the system, but that seems highly unlikely."
Tucker chuckled nervously. "Actually, and you're not going to believe this, but it might not be all that farfetched-"
"LOOK OUT!" Sam cried, cutting Tucker off from his uneasy explanation. A pink beam of energy impacted against the ceiling above them. The explosion sent a considerable amount of debris down upon the four beings huddled in the corner.
Phantom looked on in horror as Plasmius' beam sailed over his shoulder and smashed into the wall above Kitty and the three humans. They were covered by the shower of rubble.
Phantom spun around and glared at the remaining Plasmius. The other three had been easily dispatched.
"Well isn't that a shame," Plasmius said with a grin. "The only three people who knew what you are now lie dead beneath a pile of drywall and bricks and whatever else buildings are made of."
Phantom howled and shot at Plasmius. In his rage, his body flickered and disappeared, only to reappear an inch in front of Plasmius' face. His claws flew forward and his right hand sliced across cheek. The ghost, caught off guard, spun around, spraying blood and saliva from her mouth. Phantom landed a direct blow to her abdomen, making a new hole in Mr. Faluca's roof as Plasmius was sent flying out of his office. The enraged shadow ghost pursued, never relenting as he pressed his attack.
Plasmius managed to catch a glimpse of the large building that was Axion Labs as she sailed through the air, carried through the night sky by the momentum in Phantom's punch. The entire building was now surrounded by what appeared to be Guys In White agents. Maybe that could be used to her advantage.
But she was never able to make a plan as Phantom caught up with her and began to viciously assault her. A blow that would shatter concrete connected with her back between her shoulder blades. Another punch of equal force slammed into her side. Plasmius fired a ghost ray, but Phantom barely flinched as it sliced through his chest and exited out of his back. The wound sealed over itself while Phantom wrapped his tail around Plasmius' neck. He brought her face up to his own grotesque one and hissed.
"You took them all from me. I wanted to protect them, save them."
Plasmius struggled against Phantom's grasp. His tail felt like a steel cord wrapped around her neck.
"Now I take you!"
Phantom raised his fist and began to charge it full of ectoplasmic energy. It glowed bright green against the deep blue sky.
Suddenly, a bright blue light shone from somewhere below. It stopped on Phantom's fist and the ghost howled as the green orb winked out of existence and his hand began to melt. Plasmius' mouth curved into a wicked smile as she realized what had taken place. Meanwhile, Phantom found himself glaring down at a peculiarly colored and modified RV. Even from his height, Phantom could see a megaphone extend from the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle.
"Return our son to us immediately!" shouted the distraught voice of Maddie Fenton.
Phantom growled, but his reply was cut short as a glowing, pink fist slammed into his stomach. Plasmius once again multiplied into four copies and pressed her attack, using Phantom's temporary inactivity to her advantage.
Phantom regained his senses and retaliated, blocking punches and kicks sent his way by the two duplicates that applied more physical violence than the other two. He grabbed one copy by the ankle and swung her into the other bodily attacking one. They both exploded in a pink cloud. The other two continued to fire ectoplasmic beams, discs, orbs and whatever else the woman ghost could conjure up.
Phantom swerved around most of the attacks. The ones that made contact did little to slow him down. He flew towards the nearest of the two, but the copy exploded before Phantom could attack.
"Sorry dude," Johnny called as his bike continued on its way. Pink smoke trailed from the front of the vehicle, indicating the point where his bike had impacted the duplicate.
Phantom grunted his acknowledgement and was turned his attention to the remaining Plasmius. She smiled as another beam of blue light shot up from the ground and washed over him.
"You cannot win, Daniel!" Plasmius said. Her tone betrayed her exhaustion. "Victory . . . is mine once again!"
The black substance peeled away from the light, exposing the half ghost child beneath him. Plasmius fired a beam of energy into his chest and grabbed the other end like a rope. Phantom began to slide out of the ultra-violet light, allowing the shadow organism to close over the patch it had uncovered.
"Valerie!" Plasmius called in despair.
"What's wrong?" the girl called as she pursued Johnny Thirteen. Two missiles disengaged themselves from her Banshee Board and tracked the ghost's bike.
"If the Fenton's move the spotlight away from Phantom, he'll escape!" Plasmius cried as she struggled to keep Phantom on the end of her rope. "Go and tell them to keep it trained on him no matter what!"
"I'm a little busy right now," she shouted as one of her own missiles was swatted back in her direction.
"Then switch places!"
"What?"
"Come hold Phantom in place!"
"Are you insane?!"
Plasmius sighed while fought to keep her hold on Phantom. Despite her weakened state, two more versions of herself appeared on either side of her. One of them flew off after Johnny and the other one helped hold Phantom in place by firing another ectoplasmic rope into his chest. Valerie saw the new Plasmius come in and engage Johnny, leaving her to inform the Fentons of the situation.
"Cannot stop me!" Phantom howled. The light was beginning to burn the shadow ghost surrounding Phantom. Smoke drifted from his body in the oceanic breeze. "Destroy you!"
"Haven't you done enough of that, Daniel?" Plasmius replied through clenched teeth. "In the short time since your transformation, you've almost killed ten people, you leveled part of the city and now you're destroying yourself."
"NOT LIKE YOU!"
"No, you aren't. I am in control of my power whereas your power has taken control of you."
Phantom trashed against his restraints, but his mind was much busier than his body.
sHe Is AnOtHeR wHo WiShEs To DeStRoY mE
To separate us?
YeS, tO sHeD yOu Of YoUr PoWeR, tO lEaVe YoU wEaK, vUlNeRaBlE
Shed me of . . . hate! Evil! Darkness!
nO!
Yes! You made me evil! Dark, menace!
I mAdE yOu StRoNg
You made me not me!
yOu AnD i ArE oNe!
NEVER!
ALWAYS!
Phantom began to claw at his own body, ripping the black shadow ghost off of his form. Plasmius watched in fascination, wondering if the light was making him act in such a way. In a sense, it was.
Valerie hovered down in front of the Fenton RV. The two occupants looked out either window and cast her puzzled looks. Each one appeared weary and drained, as would any parent if their child was captured by the infamous ghost boy.
"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, you need to keep that light trained on Phantom as best you can," Valerie explained.
"What do you think we're doing?" Jack replied irritably. "How else is the Wisconsin Ghost going to defeat him?"
"She can hardly hold her own against him. The light, though, something about the light is weakening him. I don't understand how, but it must be if she wants it aimed at him so badly."
"We'll do our best, young lady," Maddie said kindly. "And please, if you find Danny before we do, bring him back to us."
"Will do, Mrs. Fenton," Valerie replied sadly. She wasn't expecting to find Danny given Phantom's current state. If she did . . . she shuddered to think of what would be left.
Johnny decided at that moment to sail by at impossible speeds on his motorcycle. Valerie, not missing a beat, grabbed her board and took off in pursuit. Maddie and Jack traded downcast glances before resuming their task of keeping Phantom in the spotlight.
Johnny looked at Phantom as he got closer. The ghost looked like he was trying to rip himself apart.
"I guess that's the only way anyone could beat him," the ghost mumbled. "Hardly anyone else could touch him."
His train of thought was interrupted as a grenade exploded barely inches from his face. The blast sent him flying from his bike, which began a destructive descent down to the streets below. Johnny righted himself in the air and growled as his bike crashed in the midst of the GIW barricade below. No doubt it would be confiscated.
"You little brat!" Johnny shouted as Valerie made a pass. He fired his yellow ghost rays, but the Huntress easily dodged them. "Guess I should work on my aim if I'm going to call people names." He rubbed his chin as Valerie made a wide turn some distance off in preparation for another run at him. "Aw, to hell with it. HIT ME IF YOU CAN, TWERP!"
"Twerp?" Valerie shouted as she fired another pair of missiles. "I've heard better insults from a cartoon!"
"We'll see if you live long enough to watch any more of them!"
"Ooooh! I'm so scared! Oh wait that's you!"
Johnny was about to retort when her remembered the missiles. His eyes widened as they grew closer. "Damn it," he sighed as both of them exploded on contact with his chest.
Valerie grinned as the smoking body of Johnny Thirteen fell from the sky, carried by the momentum of the explosion into the woodland area behind Axion Labs. There would be time to deal with him later. There were bigger issues to deal with presently.
Jackson and Michael stood over the motorcycle that had fallen from the sky. It was damaged beyond repair, but that didn't stop the technicians from tearing it apart to examine its components within seconds. All that remained was a decorative steel skull. The silver metal depicted the skull's jaw opened wide to reveal a bulb encased inside.
"Agent 616," Jackson called to one of the technicians. "What is this?"
"Some sort of light fixture," he said dismissively. "Nothing spectacular."
"I beg to differ," Mike mumbled as he grasped it with both hands and hoisted it up to waist level. "This thing weighs a ton!"
"No, you just need to work out more," Jackson scoffed as he took the fixture from his partner. His face contorted before he set the light back on the ground. "Ok, ok, it is heavy. 616, can you tell me what kind of light this is?" Jackson asked. He pretended not to notice the smirk Mike was giving him.
"UV, sir," the blonde haired man replied in a distracted tone. "Strangely enough, it's the same kind of light the Fentons are shining on Phantom."
The two agents looked up at Phantom as he tried to tear himself apart with his own hands.
"You think the light could be why he's behaving that way?" Mike asked as he inspected the light from the motorcycle.
"Probably. I'd need a sample to be sure, but since we know that's not going to happen, I think it's a safe bet to say that the UV rays are making him spasm like that."
Jackson maneuvered the light on the ground and aimed it up at Phantom, careful to not try and lift the object. Mike examined the circuitry on the back.
"Didn't seem to break in the fall. Guess we have the metal casing to thank for"- the light suddenly flared up and shot out into the darkness. "Whoa! There we go!" the Caucasian man held the wires in his fingers together while Jackson steadied the beam.
"Sir," an underling called from a computer console. "Phantom's core energy levels are peaking! Discharge of ectoplasmic energy is imminent!"
"What's the reading?" Mike called out.
"Level six point five!"
"Oh man," Jackson mumbled as he kept the light trained on Phantom. "Get the radiation shielding online! I want this whole perimeter covered within the minute, understand!"
"Yes sir!" came the chorus of replies.
"Hang in there, kid," Jackson said to himself. "Hang in there."
Phantom's spasms doubled as a second light from an unknown source impacted the back of his body. He no longer tried to tear the shadow organism away from his body, as the light seemed to be doing an excellent job of that.
Deep beneath the animalistic shadow ghost, Danny Fenton's consciousness surfaced. The exposed portions of Phantom's body began to glow green. The glow intensified with each passing second until Phantom's body pulsated with the ectoplasmic power inside him. Phantom slowly stopped seizing as the pulsations became brighter and larger. The pauses between power surges grew longer. The silver-green energy retracted into his body and remained pent up for a full five seconds before it was loosed from his body in a violent explosion.
Plasmius looked on in fascination as the explosion rippled through the air. The blast laid into her, and she smiled before disappearing in a cloud of pink smoke.
"Beautiful."
Agent X stood at the back of the barricade of his agents. The reflective blue energy shield, raised courtesy of Agent 089, was doing its job to the tee as ectoplasmic radiation bombarded the area. Those behind the protective shield were saved from contamination and the massive shockwave that followed. Agent X pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and grinned.
"Superb."
The remains of the shadow ghost fell from the sky, splattering into the ground at an accelerated force thanks to the ecto-surge from Phantom. Severely weakened by its attack, the organism silently lamented the loss of such power. Creeping silently along the ground, its tendrils bumped into a mass blocking its path. The organism crawled over the obstruction, recognizing it as the ghost on the vehicle that aided him in battle. Its hopes of forming a physical bond were shattered as the tendrils felt around and inside of the gaping hole that tore through the ghost's chest.
Realizing its current predicament, however, the shadow ghost submitted to its own helplessness. It would die, just like the ghost in front of him if a suitable host was not found. The organism crawled up onto the ghost's body and poured itself into his wound. The shadow quickly filled in the hole where Johnny Thirteen's heart had been. The two bonded and Johnny's eyes flickered open. He was instantly aware of the other, as it was aware of him. Johnny stood to his feet and looked down at the ground. Even in the night sky, the ground beneath Johnny's feet was darker. The ghost smiled . . . at his shadow.
"Magnificent."
Phantom's eyes snapped open. He screamed at the feeling of falling from a great height. Once he realized that he was not dreaming, his screams continued. Momentarily unaware of his ability to fly, Phantom continued his fatal descent to the ground, but something grabbed his ankle at the last second.
"There's no way on earth or wherever you come from that I'd let you die without knowing I was responsible," Valerie said in a tone colder than ice.
Phantom failed to reply as he was thrown onto a roof top. Unable to move, Phantom could only watch as Valerie circled around and fired a missile at him.
"Good-bye and good-"
The missile was shot in mid flight by a blue beam of energy. Valerie cried out and shielded her face as her Banshee Board took her through the cloud of smoke and debris. She opened her eyes to find two man in white suits and sunglasses standing on either side of Phantom's body. One of them held a rifle, the barrel of which was still smoking.
"In accordance with Article Thirteen of the Guys In White Handbook, Phantom is under government protection," the rifleman declared. "Continuation of current assault will result in retaliatory fire, arrest, imprisonment or death. Stand down."
Valerie shouted in anger. "We'll meet again, Phantom. Count on it."
Phantom looked at Jackson as the man lowered his weapon and Mike as he said something inaudible into his communication device.
Finally, some peace and quiet, he thought.
For Danny?
For Phantom?
The ghost hybrid smiled weakly as his eyes fluttered shut.
For both.
To Be Continued
A/N
Wow, what a doozy! Took me long enough. Over 5000 words and about 20 pages in MS Word, for those of you who like numbers.
What happened to Sam, Tucker, Mr. Faluca and Kitty? What happened to Plasmius? What's going to happen to Johnny? The Fentons? How'd the GIW manage to assemble an army outside Axion in under five minutes? These are all excellent questions, and I can't wait until someone answers them . . . oh, wait. Nevermind.
In further news, up-and-coming FF.NNewspaper has decided to do an article on my story. I gave LostInHyrule an interview after he said another author recommended an article be done on UDP. I'm not sure if this has any credibility or substance, and I'm not completely convinced it was not an attempt to divulge information from me in order for someone else to claim my work as his/her own. If that's the case, then this story goes bye-bye along with my account and the thief can sit on 1/20 (one twentieth) of a story and hope to make something from it coughunlikelycough. If it is legitimate, then you should definitely check it out when it goes public. LIH and affiliates, sorry for the skepticism, but this is the internet.
Still have another chapter to go in order to wrap this segment up.
Almost at the 700th review! I'd like to thank everyone who has left an opinion on my work, especially slyfoxx, Musicallity, Vassel, TDG3RD, Fulcon, Warrior of winds, MissMeliss4251, darkbunny92, artbug, Evil Riggs, lacerated goths and teddies, gatogirl1, Skye-chan, sparky333, Bitchy Princess and LostInHyrule.
Again, sorry if I forgot you. Don't hesitate to let me know if I did.
NEXT!