Chapter XCVII
Danny and Sam slowed their run to a halt outside Mr. Falluca's door. Mr. Lancer grinned at them. Tucker arrived last, breathing heavily. He stumbled to a stop and slumped against the lockers.
"You . . . can give . . . me . . . whatever . . . grade you . . . want," he slid down against the lockers and curled into a fetal position on the floor. "I . . . just want . . . to live!"
"Fair enough," Lancer chuckled. "But first, can you open this door?"
"I thought he already did," Sam looked at the pathetic form of her friend lying on the ground.
"I must have . . . gotten it confused . . . with another one," Tucker's composure was slowly returning. "Not enough oxygen . . . was flowing to . . . my brain."
His rubbery arms pulled his PDA from his pocket. Shaky fingers tapped on buttons. Amazingly, despite his inability to keep his hands steady, he deactivated the barrier on the correct door.
The steel barrier slid back, revealing the slightly frightened and very confused forms of Valerie Gray and Robert Falluca.
"Would someone mind explaining to me what exactly is going on?" the short, stout man asked as he cautiously exited his room in front of Valerie.
"Something set off a . . . security system I didn't know we had," Tucker explained, standing up.
Mr. Falluca and Valerie gave him curious looks. "Security system?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah. I can open all the sealed doors inside the building," Tucker's composure was almost completely restored. "I can't open any of the exits or the windows."
The math and science teacher remained silent, looking at Tucker's PDA. "Are you hacking into the school's security system?"
"W-well, I mean, hacking is such a strong word to-"
"Never mind," he held up a hand, cutting Tucker off. "Can you access the door sealing off the school's computer lab?"
Tucker's face lit up. "Of course! If I can get into the mainframe, we can shut the whole thing down manually!"
"Exactly," the whole crowd watched as Tucker furiously tapped away on his machine. "Well?"
"Hang on . . ." Tucker's exhaustion from the previous expenditure of energy seemed to have worn off entirely. "Got it; we're in."
Danny, Sam, and Valerie started to run. "Hang on!" Tucker called after them. "Look, the walls aren't closing in on us or anything and it's not like we're missing anything on the outside world. Can we please walk?"
The lead trio exchanged glances, shrugged, and fell back to walk alongside the other three.
"So why aren't you able to open the exits?" Mr. Falluca inquired.
"There's some sort of firewall around its code. I was able to bypass the walls to open the doors inside easily, but the walls for the exits and windows . . ." Tucker trailed off. "It's like they're adapting to better defend themselves against intrusion."
"That's rather peculiar, don't you think?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah, it's almost as if-"
Tucker froze in place. The other five stopped to look at him. Tucker caught Danny's gaze. "As if it's alive."
Danny's expression changed to match Tucker's shocked one. "Technus," he said softly.
"Ok," Tucker slid his PDA into his pocket and pointed down the hallway. "Now we run."
Walker slammed a fist down on his desk. It shattered under the force of his blow. The specter rose to his feet, swinging his arms up and sending the two halves of his desk flying into the wall on the other side of his "office". He had been watching the video feed from inside the school, and his father's friend had just discovered Technus' presence.
Daniel had been able to defeat Technus before. He did have some help, but now Technus was no longer untouchable. And if the boy found out that the ghost master of technology was working for his son . . .
"Technus, you imbecile!" Walker growled through his communicator. "You've been found out!"
"A calculated possibility; one I have prepared for," the nasally voice replied from the other end.
Walker snorted in disgust. "Why have you not beaten this game and allowed for me to enter the school through the internet?"
"This game is well defended against modifications that would allow me to simply skip to the end and win. I am close to being done, rest assured."
"I will not rest until my father lies dead at my feet with his blood fresh in my mouth," Walker spat. "And nor will you if you wish to survive!"
"Thank you for that . . . insightful statement."
"One more remark from you, and I shall eliminate you first."
"And then maybe you can get up off your high horse and come out here to kill him yourself," Technus snapped back. "I have calculated this innumerable times and I cannot ascertain, with the given information, why you simply cannot accomplish this task on your own."
"There would be . . . repercussions if I was to enter the human world."
Technus noted that the hostile edge in his employer's voice was completely gone. Whatever these repercussions were, they were enough to placate even Walker.
"Very well. And do not be put off by this turn of events. I shall see to it that your 'father' is delivered to you."
The communication went dead and Walker sighed. He was unwilling to confide in his employer the true reason why he could not venture into the human realm. The ghost would probably manage to use it as blackmail, and it would make very good blackmail. There was no reason to tell Technus that he couldn't go to Earth . . . because he was already there.
Tucker lead the pack as he sprinted down the hall, filled with vigor and energy the others had never seen in him before. He didn't even slow as he turned into the computer lab.
"Which one's the main computer?" Tucker asked quickly, quickly searching the available machines.
"Back of the room, in the closet," Mr. Falluca replied.
Tucker jogged to the back of the room, swung open the door, and disappeared into the closet.
"What do the rest of us do?" Valerie asked the teacher. "I love standing around as much as the next girl, but-"
"Head to the library," Tucker called out from the closet. "I've got all the doors open, and I think there's a fire exit in there that wasn't sealed off." The remaining five turned to leave. "I need Danny to stay here, though," Tucker added. "You know, keep me company and whatnot."
Danny rolled his eyes and sighed, playing the part of the irritated best friend well. The teenager headed back into the lab, knowing very well that Tucker was more worried about Technus than his own loneliness. Once the others were out of earshot, Tucker slouched down in his chair and let out a long breath.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked, pulling up a chair himself.
"There's no fire exit in the library," Tucker muttered.
"What? Then why did you send them there?" Danny leaned forward, curious to hear his friend's answer.
"I'm gonna lock them in," Tucker replied.
"What?!" Danny jumped to his feet. "You can't do that!"
"Do you remember the last time we fought Technus?" Tucker stood and faced his friend. "You couldn't touch him! The only way he was even able to be brought down was by the Guys in White, and there isn't too much good they can do us in here."
"So why are you locking the others in the computer lab?" Danny demanded angrily.
"To keep them safe. All I can do is fiddle with computers. If we can't stop Technus, his own security system might keep the others safe."
Danny stared at his friend in contemplation. After what felt like a long time, Danny nodded. "Good call. But how are we supposed to find Technus and get him out of the system?"
Tucker grinned. "I've been working on a few lines of code that should do the trick."
"And I've gotten stronger since the last time we met," Danny said smugly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tucker waved his arm and took his seat. He plugged his PDA into the mainframe and got to work. "You get ready to go ghost if he rears his ugly head. I just sealed the others in the library, so we don't have to worry about them getting in harm's way."
The two boys didn't notice as one of the computers in the lab silently came to life. The monitor glowed a bright green color before a hideous spider head emerged from the glass screen. Its eight eyes scanned the room with thermal vision, seeing a slightly dimmer signature for Danny than for his friend Tucker. With what could only be a smile on his face, Technus opened his mandibles and sent his circuitry webbing out from his mouth.
The cords slithered over, around, and under the objects in the room until they were just within range to ensnare his prey. Moving with machine like precision and swiftness, the cords wrapped around Danny's legs and coiled tightly. With a tug, he fell to the ground.
"What the - !" Danny was whisked from the closet, pulled through the lab by Technus' web. Tucker raced out after him, but froze when he saw the cackling spider head of Technus.
"Spider!" Tucker gasped. "Why did it have to be a spider?!"
Technus' nasally laugh echoed around the lab as Danny was thrown into computers, chairs, desks, and just about anything else that was destructible.
"Technus!" Danny growled.
"Bingo, bubbie!" The techo-specter cackled once more before drawing his head back through the computer screen. The coils began to pull Danny in with them.
"Tuck! Get him out of the system!" Danny transformed into his other self with a flash of electricity. "I'll keep him busy!"
With a final effort to untangle his legs, Phantom's head was thrust through the closet door. His skull smacked off the brick wall just next to the mainframe computer. Tucker saw Phantom's eyes roll back into his head before it slumped against his shoulder. He was unconscious.
The webbing yanked Phantom back through the lab, trashing anything that was left unscathed, or just making a bigger mess out of the already-damaged room, before he was yanked into the computer screen. The monitor flickered for but a moment before it winked off; along with the rest of the school's power grid.
"Well," Tucker whispered as he used his PDA as a flashlight. "That's just prime."
Phantom felt like his body was being ripped apart molecule by molecule. The pain was overwhelming, but just enough to snap him back into consciousness. Upon his reentry to the land of the living, he realized that was not where he was. A strange landscape greeted his eyes once he was able to open them. Around him stood pillars and statues taller than buildings. Foliage had sprung up from the ground to reclaim the raw materials long after the civilization responsible for harvesting them had vanished.
The ghost boy knew where he was. He spun around to take in more of his surroundings. More pillars and statues and ruins covered in plant life rose to greet him. Phantom looked down at his body and gasped at what he saw; his custom made character from DOOMED II: Back for Gore. He was in a video game.
"I thought for sure the transition would have killed you," Technus said with a tone of relief. "It appears I was wrong."
Phantom rose off the ground, feeling his power course through his avatar form. Turning in mid air to greet his opponent, he was surprised to find Technus in yet a different form. The body of a scorpion held the upper torso of Technus up off the ground. The specter's arms had been reformatted into giant pincers. The massive stinger-tipped tail waved back and forth slowly, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Phantom reached for his sword, grinning as his fingers wrapped around the cold steel of its hilt. He gently slid it from its sheath and held it in front of him with one arm. His other arm brought his shield up in a defensive stance.
"You think you're a match for me in here?" Technus accused with a laugh. "This is my natural environment! I am invincible!"
"You're only as invincible as your natural environment. In case you didn't know, DOOMED has totally destructible environments."
Phantom blasted off the ground, sword held behind him and shield held before him. Technus ducked and allowed his tail to spring forward. The stinger stabbed right through the shield just below Danny's arm. The ghost boy phased his arm through the bindings that held him to the metal disc and somersaulted through the air. He swung his sword, slicing Technus across the face. But the wound was only superficial.
"Your weapons are useless against me!" Technus exclaimed as he scuttled over to where Phantom had landed on the ground. "I will . . ."
Phantom raised an eyebrow from behind his helmet. "You will what?" The ghost boy dodged out of the way as several of Technus' legs stabbed into the ground where he had been standing. "Destroy me?"
"Destroying you is not my intention," Technus admitted as he shuffled back. "I am to capture you and take you to my employer."
It was Phantom's turn to laugh. "What does Plasmius want with me this time? And why did she send you in to capture me in her own school?"
"I am not working for Plasmius," Technus retorted as he shifted his body back into that of a spider. "I am working for a much more powerful ghost."
"Who?"
"That is none of your business, young whippersnapper," Technus barked as he shot web at his prey. Phantom became intangible and allowed the webbing to pass through him.
"C'mon, I think it's my business if he's trying to kill me," Phantom grabbed the stream of web and spun around in circles. Technus cut his web with one of his legs and was sent flying into a pillar. It collapsed on top of him, trapping him underneath.
Phantom flew over to Technus and saw the pillar had done much more damage than he had thought. "Who's after me?" Phantom asked as he floated down on top of the wreckage. "Who?"
"Technus," a familiar voice said from somewhere underneath the rubble. "You are not to reveal my identity to him under any circumstances. I would rather you die first than reveal me to my father."
Phantom felt his powers flicker momentarily when the realization hit him; Technus was working for Walker.
Daniel, focus! Do not let this turn of events distract you from the battle!
Yes! Focus! Let this fuel you! Use it to destroy Technus once and for all!
You must escape. I sense there are . . . others in this game that do not have your best interests at heart.
Phantom floated back up off the rubble and began tossing bolts of electroplasm into the ground where Technus was. Each blast was more powerful than the next, and even Technus was unable to ignore the onslaught; it was starting to hurt.
As if a mine had exploded underneath the remains of the toppled pillar, Technus burst from underneath. His spider form was horribly damaged. Several legs were missing. His abdomen was cracked and entire parts of the casing were missing in several places. One of his mandibles was gone, and several of his eyes had broken. Sadly, it did little to make the rampaging Technus any less frightening.
The spider lunged at Phantom, swinging two of its operational legs forward. Phantom back flipped out of the way and sent more electroplasm Technus' way. The bolts ripped clean through the spider's legs and Technus was now completely immobile. He quickly reformatted his body into that of a worm and burrowed underground.
Phantom floated in place, expecting the worm to come up underneath him. Instead, Technus ripped through the ground right in front of him. His mouth, lined with thousands of razor sharp teeth, spewed thousands of tiny coils that sped for Phantom. Once again, the ghost boy found himself at Technus' mercy.
"You have become much stronger," Technus noted in a thunderous tone. "But you are still no match for the likes of me. Even with a tangible form, I can still beat you! Me! Technus ! Master of-"
A strange object sped from behind one of the pillars and slammed into Technus. The giant worm roared in anger as it toppled over. Its coils loosened and Phantom escaped Technus' grasp.
Do not engage that other ghost!
He is . . . familiar.
Too familiar. I don't like this . . .
Phantom decided to heed his voices' warning, but ventured closer just to have a look. Technus was still lying on the ground. The object that slammed into him was nowhere to be seen, but a large part of Technus' exposed side was torn away, almost as if something ate it.
BEHIND YOU!
Phantom spun around just in time to raise an ectoplasmic shield to ward off the offending ghost. The amorphous blob splattered against the green wall. A lone, red eye blinked several times before focusing in on Phantom.
The ghost child was unnerved by the stare. It was so strange, but so similar to . . . his own.
This ghost shares almost all of your DNA.
"How is that possible? How do you know?"
It is trying to assimilate you!
Phantom cried out as he saw the ghost's oozing body creeping up his foot. He fired a blast of energy at the ground and the creature retreated back into its central mass.
"What are you?" Phantom tried communicating.
The blob began to take form, spontaneously molding itself into a replica of Phantom. "Agschhhh bmmmm urgchh clagchhhhhh!" it lifted an arm, forming a fist with the index finger extended. The finger pointed to the "P" symbol on Phantom's chest.
"I don't-"
"Ah mm uhr klahn!"
Phantom looked at the emblem on his chest.
"I am your clone!" the creature cried out a third time through his crudely formed mouth. "I muscht deshtroy Plashmiush! And you are the INSCHTRUMENT of her DEMISHE!"
"How?" Phantom took a step back.
"You and I muscht become ONE!" the clone placed its hands on Phantom's shoulders. "Together we can schtop her evil waysh and prevent more like me from schuffering my fate!"
Phantom felt a pain shoot through his body. The shapeless ghost threw itself into Phantom, covering him with his shapeless body. Phantom felt his body destabilize, then everything went dark.
"Would you let this happen?" Tempest asked
"Would you allow your body to become food for a clone?" Folium growled.
"You cannot allow yourself to be defeated by this creature!" Tempest exclaimed. "There is still so much left to do!"
"We will not be with you forever, but we are here right now. Let us help you. Separate, we are powerless. Together, we are strong! Together, we can do anything!"
Phantom opened his body to the presence of his others, allowing them to take control.
The clone felt that something was wrong when Phantom resumed his struggling. The creature had formed itself around Phantom, covering him in a rock hard techno-organic casing. The lone red eye, which had been closed in concentration, snapped open as Phantom broke through the covering around his arm. The other arm broke through, then each of the legs.
The clone wailed in pain as the rest of it shattered. Phantom stumbled forward, grabbing the remaining crust on his head and ripping it apart. The red eye fell behind him, but clasped onto his boot. None the wiser, Phantom's triple-fused body ravaged the entire level of DOOMED. Technus' body was blasted over and over again to make sure he wouldn't be going anywhere soon. The solidified remains of his clone received a similar treatment.
Then, with the force of a black hole, Phantom was yanked from the game and thrown out of a monitor. He skidded across the floor and slammed into a shelf of books.
Wait . . . books? he thought.
"D – uh, Phantom?!" Sam exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you the one who locked us in this place?" Valerie demanded.
"Don't be ridiculous," Phantom snapped as he stood. "I . . ."
Hey guys? Uh, crisis averted. Can I have my body back?
Of course.
Sorry.
Phantom felt his others withdraw to their usual residence in his mind and sighed with a grin on his face. Then he saw the confused looks from everyone else in the room.
"Sorry about that . . . but no, I'm not responsible. I just got done beating the ghost that was."
"Really? Then why are we locked in this library?" Mr. Lancer asked. "And why did the power go out?"
"Well I guess that would be Technus' fault; the ghost I fought. He's a technology controlling ghost that . . . well, controls technology."
"Yes, I figured as such," Mr. Falluca mumbled. "Where is Tucker and, er, Daniel?"
"They're still back in the computer lab. I found them first before Technus attacked," Phantom lied. "I think they're safe."
"How did you manage to get into the building?" Valerie asked. "I thought this place was ghost proof when the system was on."
"I guess whoever put it in didn't care to think that a ghost could come up from underground," Phantom rubbed the back of his neck. "You might want them to check on that."
"Alright, so is that how we're getting out?"
Phantom looked at Valerie with a blank expression. "Huh?"
"Well if you came in from underground, then couldn't you take us out that way too?"
"Oh, well, you see, there are, uh, certain complications in, um, moving, I guess would be the right word, people underground and I don't-"
Phantom's foot might not have gone into his mouth as it should have, but it did kick up and carry him to the ceiling.
"Are these the repercussions you were talking about?" Mr. Falluca asked in an amused tone. "Or is this an unrelated incident?"
"The second one," Phantom grumbled as he grabbed at his foot. His eyes widened in horror as he recognized the red eye attached to the back of his boot.
His foot jerked down and took him flying through the library. Phantom turned intangible to avoid collateral damage, but the red eye didn't slow any. Instead, it bounced into the walls, trying to flee. Phantom scowled, not enjoying the ride.
"Are you quite finished?" Lancer asked irritably. "I'd rather not waste away in here for the rest of my life."
The red eye suddenly bolted through the floor, taking Phantom with it. The five humans looked at each other and around the room, wondering where he went.
Phantom, screaming in shock, came sailing up from the floor. His foot was not longer tugging him along behind it, so the ghost's face slammed into the wall above the door where the humans were standing.
He pulled himself away from the drywall and turned just in time to see the red eye fly at Valerie, who cried out in surprise as it intangibly flew into her body.
"What the hell?" she pulled up her shirt, but the red dot was nowhere to be seen. "Where did it go?"
Phantom had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Uh, Miss? Would you allow me to turn your body invisible?"
Valerie's jaw dropped slightly. "For what?"
Phantom remained silent, but gestured at her abdominal section. Nodding in an unspoken agreement, Phantom landed just in front of Valerie. He knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her stomach. He felt her muscles contract at the chilliness of his touch.
"Don't worry," he quietly reassured her. "This will only tingle."
Phantom concentrated on making the space between his hands invisible. At first, he saw nothing. But something moved at the bottom of his window to the inside of the girl and he slid his hands down. And that's when he saw it. The red eye didn't look much like an eye. It was slightly larger, and tendrils had burrowed into Valerie's body.
"Robert," Phantom whispered. "What are we looking at?" He feared he already knew the answer.
The man looked at the glowing, red object inside his student. "It looks like . . ." he trailed off, unsure of how to proceed.
"Like what?" Valerie asked, her voice trembling.
"Like an embryo."
"Y-you mean . . . I'm," Valerie let go of her shirt. Phantom withdrew his arms and took a step back. Valerie placed her hands on her stomach. "I'm . . . pregnant?!"
The rest of the group remained silent.
You do know what this means, don't you?
It's my fault that this happened!
True, but that wasn't his point. This ghost is based off of your DNA. It was in the process of assimilating you when you freed yourself.
That red eye was the ghost's DNA based computer. I was able to analyze it in our brief moment of captivity. In the event of imminent destruction, it is to seek out a new host an impregnate it. The computer will retain all of the original organism's memories, functions, all of it. The rebirthing process will make it stronger as well.
Wait. So what you're saying is that whatever thing is inside Valerie's body –
Is yet another one of your offspring.
Valerie is pregnant with your child.
To Be Continued
A/N: That's right. To Be Continued. There's no way I'd leave it at that.
I beg you to think of who this baby will grow up to be. So far, I don't think there have been any true OCs and Phantom Junior the Second isn't going to start the trend. I want to see if anyone can guess right. If you do, I'll let you know in a PM. Anyway, this is really going to strain the Danny and Valerie relationship, as well as the Phantom and Huntress one.
And, in case you didn't know, I have a guide posted called "Grumbles Guide to Bad DP Fanfiction". That has cut into some of my UDP writing time, but I think I'm just about out of material. So go ahead and have a look and let me know what you think of it.
Something else that might be getting in the way of my writing is my job. I'm now working at Bob Evans. Free time is hard to come by, especially to pump out long chapters like these ones. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be working there; maybe until the end of July. I don't think I'll be working every day, but the days I do work will be tiring to say the least.
I'd like to thank all my reviewers, especially darkbunny92, inukagome15, Bloxham, Vorago Atrox, darkness over day, Fulcon, and MissMeliss4251.
Three more chapters until I hit 100! Woo!
NEW LOOK, SAME GREAT TASTE – My boxers . . .