Chapter CI
"Ok Danny, your parents are officially gone," Sam reported as she saw the Fenton RV pull out of the driveway.
"I still can't believe they agreed to go to the opera," Danny said shaking his head in disbelief.
"Uh, Phantom of the Opera, anybody?" Tucker offered.
"Oh, yeah," Danny grinned. "Ok, so what's on the agenda for tonight?"
Sam grinned menacingly. "Training."
Before Danny could ask, Tucker and Sam had each grabbed one of his arms and were dragging him down into the lab. Upon their arrival, Danny saw the room like he had never seen it before. Obstacles jutted out from the floor, walls, and ceiling. Automated turrets rotated back and forth, sweeping the room for targets. Jazz, wearing a lab coat and a pair of reading glasses, sat behind a large glass wall.
"Danny, you're here!" she called out, waving the trio over.
"Jazz? What is all this?" Danny asked in astonishment.
"All this is the training course mom and dad designed for the Fenton Ecto Suit." She sighed and removed her glasses. "But you know Dad; he wanted to make it cool. So he designed a course that was sized for a human, but too powerful to get through without the exoskeleton."
"So?" Danny was looking around the room, still slightly shocked by the drastic changes.
Jazz sighed. "The exoskeleton is at least three times bigger than a normal human. Maybe only twice as big as dad, but still, the suit couldn't work with this obstacle course. So I made some slight modifications in my free time. It was as easy as Shake'n Bake!"
"And I helped!" Tucker chimed in, proudly pointing his thumb at his chest.
Danny rolled his eyes, but he was too excited to be bothered. "I get to try it out?"
"Stand on the red line," Jazz pointed to said marker at the end of the glass barrier. "I'll just go over some of the features. This wall is shielded from energy attacks. The turrets fire low-powered laser bolts, so they don't pose much of a threat. You, I'm not so sure about. Keep it scaled down, ok? All you need to do is hit them with a beam and they'll shut down."
"Got it. Ok, let's go!" Danny began his transformation, willing the silver-green rings to form at his waist.
"Wait!" Jazz reached out and, to everyone's surprise, grabbed onto the rings before they could split.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker looked at her in awe.
"Hey!" Danny swatted her hand away and the rings disappeared. "How'd you do that?"
"I don't know," Jazz replied. "I didn't know those were tangible."
"That makes four of us," Tucker added. "I'd keep that little secret to yourself, Danny. Or have Temper and Follicle work on fixing it."
"Tempest and Folium," Danny corrected irritably.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Jazz interrupted. "Hit any targets that pop up, but only the ones shaped like ghosts. There are some that have our faces on them; don't hit those."
Danny grinned. "No promises."
Jazz glared at her brother. "Whenever you see rings come out of the wall, fly through them. Try not to slow down."
"Is there, like, a score for this or something?" Danny asked, rocking back and forth on his feet in anticipation.
"Actually, yes, there is," Jazz confirmed as she brought up a display on the computer. "The course keeps track of how many turrets you hit, how many rings you fly through, stuff like that. Each time you do better, a new obstacle is added."
"Sweet! Now can I go?" Danny willed the silver-green rings to form at his waist.
"Not yet!" Jazz reached out and grabbed the ghostly rings again, this time pulling on them. As they were tethered to Danny's center of gravity, he was yanked back as well. "There are a few rules I have to explain!"
"Oh come on, rules?" Danny smacked Jazz's hand away and dispersed the rings. "This is a training course!"
"Exactly," Jazz said with a smirk. "Rule number one, follow the flashing red lights. Rule number two, you can't just phase through everything. Rule number three, this obstacle course is designed for you, not Tempest, not Folium, you. No using them to help you with any powers or anything."
"Hey, that was four things!" Tucker declared.
"The last one was a two parter," Jazz muttered.
Danny sighed. "Fine. Now can I go?" He waited to form the rings at his waist.
"Ok, get ready," Jazz typed in commands onto the computer. Lights blinked off throughout the course, turrets began sweeping the room faster, and obstacles slightly realigned themselves. "Get set . . . go!"
Jazz held onto her clipboard, Tucker held on tohis hat, and Sam held the front of her skirt down as Phantom blasted away from the red line faster than he'd ever taken flight before.
"Is he always so eager to start?" Jazz asked her brother's friends.
"I dunno, ask Sam," Tucker said with a grin.
"Shut up, Tucker," Sam hissed as she elbowed him in the ribs.
Phantom sped through the first several walls and fired a weak beam of energy at a nearby turret. As he phased through the last wall, a new wall sprung up in front of him; one made of fire.
He flew right through it, wincing as the wall of heat charred his skin. He continued on, knowing that his regenerative powers would take care of his burns. It was a good thing that was the case, because Phantom was focusing very hard on flying through hoops. He passed through the first three without difficulty, but more began popping up in sporadic locations. His speed was slowed minimally but he managed to fly through all the rings.
The next part of the course had pop-up turrets which his father built so he could play whack-a-ghost. The turrets were concealed by cutouts of ghosts and humans. Phantom fired a beam of energy at a cutout of a ghost before its turret could fire. Two more sprang up on either side of him and were easily disarmed. But the turrets began springing up much quicker. Several laser bolts made it through Phantom's defenses, singing his backside.
With an angry growl, Phantom began firing much stronger energy blasts to make sure the turrets stayed down. He made sure to leave the ones with civilians and his friends and family in one piece, as long as they didn't shoot at him.
He finished with that part of the course and moved onto the next part and found himself flying at a triangular wall. The path on both sides was narrow, and if he veered off course, he could crash. Phantom thought about using his others to help him duplicate, but knew Jazz would scold him to no end. So he concentrated on the duplication process on his own in the one second he had until he hit the wall. It wasn't enough, and the space between Phantom's necks slammed into the-
"Wait," Phantom said as he slumped to the ground.
"What?" his other head turned to look at him.
The two Phantom heads looked at each other before they screamed.
Jazz, Tucker, and Sam made their way through the now-deactivated training course. The walls and barriers and obstacles were retreating into the walls and floor and ceiling. Towards the end of the room, the three saw Danny looking at . . . himself. He appeared extremely uncomfortable.
"Dude," Tucker said with a grin. "What the heck happened?"
"I tried to split in two," Phantom's left head replied.
"But I couldn't get it to work by myself," the right one finished.
"That's so weird," Sam remarked.
"Gee, thanks," the left Phantom's head said grumpily.
"I won't be getting you a birthday present this year," the right Phantom's head added.
"Danny, pull yourself together . . . literally, I mean," Jazz ordered.
Danny concentrated, but his dual craniums refused to go back together. "Ok, let's try something else," both heads mumbled.
Phantom allowed his transformation rings to change him back to Danny Fenton. It solved his head problem –
"What the-"
– But, as Tucker so subtly pointed out, it created another.
Danny looked at his sister and his friends with his eye; his lone, single eye. The boy caught a glimpse of himself in a sheet of reflective metal and started yelling in shock.
"Snap out of it!" Tucker grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Everything's going to be ok!"
"Tucker, let me try," Jazz moved Tucker out of the way, shaking her brother by the shoulders. "Stop it, Danny! Get a grip! You're going to be fine!"
"Jazz, it's not working," Sam lightly shoved her out of the way and cupped Danny's face in her hands. "Knock it off, goofball!" she slapped him, causing his eye to divide in two. Each eye slid back in place. "See?" Sam asked, turning to the others.
"Thanks Sam," Danny rubbed his forehead. "Well that sufficiently scared the crap out of me. I'd suggest we go to the Nasty Burger, but we were just there, like, two days ago."
"Oh God forbid we frequent the only fast food place within walking distance of our houses," Sam rolled her eyes. "Wanna go see a movie?" she offered. "I mean, you know, all of us," she added hurriedly as Tucker's mischievous eyes darted between her and Danny.
"Ooh! It can be like a double date!" Jazz grabbed Tucker's arm and slid closer to him.
Tucker grinned, but Danny and Sam knew he was about to have a spaz attack. Sam smiled smugly and folded her arms across her chest. She didn't even have to say a word.
"Hey, no getting cozy with my best friend," Danny pointed as Jazz.
"Aren't you supposed to yell at me?" Tucker asked.
Jazz giggled. "Not when I'm the one hitting on you," she whispered into his ear.
"Alright, alright, enough!" Danny stepped forward and shoved them away from each other. The other three teenagers shared a laugh while Danny sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This is so wrong . . ."
Proximus yawned and opened his eyes. He had arrived in Amity Park earlier in the morning, but his nonstop flight over had taken its toll on the ghost creature and he needed to rest. Rubbing his eyes with the bends of his arms, Proximus unclamped his feet from the support beam he had been hanging from and fell to the ground. He righted himself at the last moment and landed on his feet. Yawning once more to dispel his grogginess, Proximus began to smell the air.
"Ah, there you are," he said softly after several minutes of taking in scents.
Unbeknownst to Plasmius, Elliot was not just a savage beast. The processes he had undergone had surely not increased his intelligence, but his mind was still as sharp as ever. He had deduced that his sonic powers scrambled his brainwaves, which would lead Plasmius' monitoring equipment to think that he no longer thought as a sentient being. Oh how wrong she was.
"You smell different, Phantom," Elliot said to himself. "You're more powerful than I remember. But it matters not. My mission isn't to destroy you . . . yet."
With an inhuman wail, Proximus launched himself from the window in Amity Park's clock tower and took flight. Phantom was close at hand and his adversary was eager to see how far he had come.
Walker looked up from his papers and grinned at the sight of Desiree playing with his brother. The ghost genie bounced little Amorpho up and down on her lap, humming a tune that Walker was unfamiliar with. The little ghost squealed in delight and flapped his arms up and down.
"I think he's taken a liking to you," Walkernoted absently as he rifledthough his documents.
Desiree jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. "If I am being too overbearing-"
"No, it is no problem at all," Walker quickly interjected, looking up from his work again. "I am pleased that he is quick to adapt to the presence of others."
Desiree nodded weakly. While helping Walker rear his younger brother was a nice reprieve from the usual humdrum business of the Ghost Zone, she was still on the clock of the most feared ghost the dimension had housed in quite a long time. It did not quell her uneasiness to know that he took residence on the property of the most powerful ghost in known history.On top of that, her husband was still incapacitated and she had no idea where her daughter was.
"He's a powerful one," Desiree said with a smile as she turned her attention back to the baby. "He'll grow up to be big and string, just like his brother, won't he?" she said sweetly.
Amorpho gurgled in delight and waved his arms around. The ghost infant turned to look at the near by wall as Wulf phased through it. The massive, lupine specter grinned at Amorpho and flopped down on the ground next to the baby. Desiree scooted back from the imposing canine, although it appeared to have fallen asleep. Amorpho pulled at black tufts of hair, making excited noises every time the coarse black fur slipped through his three fingers and he almost lost his balance.
"If I may ask," Desiree floated up off the ground and hovered over to Walker's desk. "Is there any news of my husband?"
Walker sighed. "I do not know how long the restoration process will take. Bullet has never had to revive a being of the Turpetrator's power before. It could take several years."
Desiree looked at the floor dejectedly. "I understand."
Walker regarded the genie with pity. "If you would like, I could make a wish to-"
"No!" Desiree shouted.
Wulf's ears perked up and Amorpho looked over to see what was happening. Once he saw everything was ok, he resumed his fruitless work of trying to tear out Wulf's fur.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice," she apologized, floating several feet away from Walker. "You must understand, every wish I grant has horrible consequences. I- I couldn't risk doing something that would hurt him or . . . change him."
Walker nodded slowly. "I understand. Do not fret, Desiree, he will return to you in all his glory someday. I promise you."
The genie smiled despite her emotions and nodded. "I am eternally grateful."
Walker grinned, but a tune began to play from a cell phone on his desk. "Keep your eyes on him," Walker pointed to his brother. "I'll be back."
The ghost flew up through his ceiling and landed on his roof. He flipped open his phone and held the device to his ear.
"This had better be good news, Freakshow," Walker growled.
"Please don't call me that," the man in question sighed. "It's so demeaning."
"How is your progress in acquiring the gems?" Walker ignored the man's plea.
"I've arrived at Vanessa Master's mountain home in Colorado. Her . . . servant greeted me."
"She is not there?" Walker's voice grew angry.
"She's on her way," the man on the other line replied. "This Skulker person informed me that her pilot made a miscalculation during their flight and took them considerably off course."
"She has likely been delayed by some other matter at her residence," Walker grumbled. "Do not be deceived by the ghost woman, Frederick. She is cunning, manipulative, and deadly. Guard yourself carefully."
Frederick laughed from the other end of the line. "My friend, don't underestimate me, I'm capable of protecting myself quite well."
"The augmentation formula?"
"It worked better than I could have envisioned! Perhaps the name Freakshow isn't all that inappropriate."
Walker raised an eyebrow. "It has changed you?" he asked curiously.
"Not to such a noticeable extent. You're a well read ghost, I'm sure you've heard of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"
Walker grinned. "I see. However, neither your newfound prowess nor the artifact you have obtained will be a match for Plasmius. She is extremely powerful and . . . immune to mind control."
Silence came from Frederick's end. "What do you mean immune?" he asked slowly.
"Just know that your orb will not be able to manipulate her the way it will be able to manipulate Proximus or Phantom. She will know if you attempt to do so, and then she will kill you."
"I understand. Fear not, controlling her was never my intention."
"Good. Report to me after your part has ended, then report back to me."
"Of course," Frederick replied.
Walker closed his phone and returned to his office. Desiree was asleep on the couch near Amorpho's playpen. The baby ghost was nestled in her arms. Wulf rested near the couch, his ears up and alert lest the slightest disturbance should occur. Walker grinned and settled down in his chair. There was work to be done; work that would ensure that Amorpho would have plenty more quiet, peaceful nights like this one.
To Be Continued
A/N: One of my favorite things to do is to set things up for future events. It's so much fun. If you ever write a ridiculously long story, I suggest you try it. So there we have the prelude to the fight between Phantom and Proximus. I modeled the fight after the fight scene in the new Hulk movie. If you've seen it, you'll be able to catch the references. If not, then I suggest you go see the movie. It was really good.
Earlier, when I talked about Desiree providing maternal services to baby Amorpho, that included any and everything a mother would do for her child. I didn't want to get too blatant and graphic with breast feeding or stuff like that, and I didn't want to completely go off topic with him having his diaper changed. Personally, I think every ounce of energy goes into the ghost's subconscious effort to keep their molecular structure stable, so they never have to excrete waste. That's why some ghosts don't have a "body" below their midsection. And besides, when has a ghost ever had to go to the bathroom in an episode of Danny Phantom? The answer is an unsurprising NEVER. But anyway, there was an example of Desiree acting as babysitter/mommy for Amorpho while bib brother Walker attends to some important business. It's like a weird, dysfunctional family.
And speaking of families, Jack and Danny get to spend some quality father-son time! Not next chapter, though, the one after that. So stay tuned.
Once again, give it up for my incredibly talented beta-reader, Cordria. She's moving this weekend, so wish her luck for whatever one needs luck in regards to relocating. Maybe wish her luck that her movers are competent. I've heard some stories about bad ones, like one kid lost almost all his Transformers since the movers didn't secure the truck. His parents' lost their bed too. So yeah . . .
Reviews! GASP! Only three for the last chapter?! Hmm. For some odd reason which may or may not have anything to do with my 109,000+ hits, I don't feel so bad. Special thanks goes to Vorago Atrox, Cordria, inukagome15, alienphantom, and my good friend, Billy D.
YELLOW PAGES: LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING! - Yellow Book (Phone Book)