CII
"It's so nice out!" Jazz exclaimed as she walked with her brother and his friends to the Nasty Burger. "I can't believe summer is almost here already!"
"The year has gone by quick," Tucker agreed. "I can only begin to imagine what it's gonna be like, what with Danny being able to fight ghosts full time."
"I hope it isn't as often as it has been," Danny noted. He felt tired just thinking about it.
"Don't worry," Sam said comfortingly. "You'll still have time for us. I don't think a couple of stupid ghosts are gonna keep you tied up all summer."
"And if you keep working on that training course, they shouldn't be a problem anyway," Jazz added.
Before long, the teens found themselves at the fast food joint. It was relatively quiet even though it was the weekend, and the party of four managed to get seats quickly.
"So, I'm curious," Sam began as she picked through her salad. "Tuck and I saw Valerie on our way out of the hotel. What did you guys talk about?"
Danny dropped his french fry and sighed. "Nothing good," he mumbled.
"Why? What happened?" Jazz looked from each of the younger teenagers in confusion.
"You want us to tell her, or do you wanna do it?" Tucker asked after he swallowed a particularly big bite of his burger.
Danny took a deep breath and began to retell the story of how his clone impregnated Valerie. He found it quite nice that Jazz didn't interrupt or ask questions like she normally did. Finally, with some dramatic emphasis placed on the fate of his new son, the hybrid teen finished his story.
Jazz sat in silence for a moment, going over everything in her mind. Sam and Tucker cast each other worried glances, but said nothing. Jazz didn't appear distraught or angry; just contemplative.
"So you and Valerie have a son, and you and Paulina have a son," Jazz summarized. "If I had to guess, I'd say Walker is watching him."
"That's what I think too," Danny said, nodding his head. "I tweaked the boomerang to lock into my ecto signature, so-"
"So that it can track down your baby since he's your clone," Jazz finished. "Very clever, little brother, I'm impressed. But his Walker person doesn't seem like the kind of ghost that would just let you walk away with your baby."
"That's what I said," Sam threw in.
"And I said that I wasn't going after him right this second," Danny spoke. "I know I can't take on Walker and I know there aren't any ghosts who would help me; at least not for the sake of getting my son back."
"Well, you know, with proper planning and enough weapons, I'm sure you could hold your own against him," Jazz said. "But I agree that you should probably hold off on a daring rescue for now."
"But anyway, getting back to what you asked earlier," Danny turned his attention to Sam, "Valerie was pretty shocked when I told her that our baby was being watched by his brother."
"You told her?" Sam gasped.
Danny nodded sheepishly. "I told her that Walker is my son from the future who wants to kill me for taking over the world. She believed me," Danny rubbed his neck. "I was really expecting her to be like 'oh, yeah right' or something, but I guess when you fight ghosts, you realize that anything's possible."
"Did you, uh," Tucker took a sip of his Wild Cherry Pepsi, "Did you happen to divulge the unique parentage of Walker?"
"I decided to leave that little detail out," Danny chuckled. "I doubt she'd still uphold this cease-fire thing we have going if she knew I was sleeping around with our classmates in alternate futures."
Sam kicked him from under the table. "So how did she react to that? Was she ok with it, or what?"
"Well," Danny reached under the table and rubbed his shin tenderly, "she wasn't too happy that I turn into a monster, but I told her that I refuse to allow myself to become whatever it is that made Walker hate me so much."
"So? What did she say?" Tucker asked as he finished off his burger.
"She said she wants to help bring our son back. I tried to explain how dangerous it'll be, but she doesn't care." Danny sighed. "I guess you don't really realize how dangerous something is until you've experienced it yourself. I mean, Walker nearly vaporized me." Danny looked at his hands, studying them intently. "I would've died if it wasn't for my healing powers. The pain, though," Danny's hands started trembling slightly and he slid them under the table. "It was . . . horrible, but I recovered. I couldn't let Valerie do that to herself. She doesn't know Walker. I mean, I don't know him either, but at least I know what he's capable of."
"Well," Tucker started to dig into his ribs, "whenever you decide to go, you don't have to tell her. I mean, sure, she'll be pretty ticked at you for leaving her out, but if you manage to bring baby Phantom back, I'm sure she'll be cool with it."
"That is probably the biggest if in existence. I'd have to kill Walker first," Danny stated. "Something tells me he wouldn't stay in a thermos for too long. I mean, Jazz, you saw what happened with Wulf. Imagine a ghost with ten times that power. He wouldn't stay trapped for long."
Jazz nodded solemnly. "But in the meantime, we should focus on happier things, like-"
Danny's ghost sense decided to go off at that moment. The green mist poured out of his nose and drifted into Tucker's face. Tucker inhaled some through his own nose and gagged.
"Oh God, dude, that is just awful," he choked out. "It smells like-"
"Please don't finish that sentence," Sam butted in. "We're eating," she gestured to hers and Jazz's plates.
Danny was already gone into the bathroom. He was about to transform, but noticed a Nasty Burger patron exit one of the stalls.
"Hello," the man said casually.
"Oh, uh, hey," Danny replied.
Not wanting to draw suspicion, Danny walked over to one of the urinals and pretended to relieve himself. Much to his annoyance, the man was taking an exorbitant amount of time to wash his hands. Danny furrowed his brow as the man began to whistle a tune. He considered telling him to hurry up, but thought better of it. He almost snapped when the man dropped something on the ground and slowly bent over to pick it up.
Reaching his limit of tolerance, Danny turned invisible while the man was distracted and phased through the wall to the outside of the restaurant. He transformed into Phantom, allowing the silver green rings to form at his waist and travel vertically along his body. He cast a glance over his shoulder to make sure Jazz wasn't sneaking up behind him to grab onto the rings as they completed their journey.
Phantom took to the skies, looking for any signs of the ghostly offender.
So, you guys have been awfully quiet lately, Phantom thought.
It is because we are reveling in your newfound independence.
He might be. I want to DESTROY THINGS!
And that is why we have taught him to be self reliant. We are always here if you need us, but it is good that you are able to operate perfectly fine without our assistance.
Speaking of your assistance, can you help me find this ghost?
Do not worry, he will find you before too long.
How do you know?
Trust us. We just do.
Phantom decided to take them at their word or, rather, thought, and continued on. Before long, he was out of the suburbs and right in the heart of Amity Park. The city was still undergoing several repair projects; some from the bounty hunter incident, others from previous ghost attacks. It would be quite a while before the city was ever restored to its original condition; to before Phantom came into existence. The ghost boy continued on his way, keeping his eyes peeled for any ghosts. But after ten minutes of searching, he was beginning to think it was a false alarm.
Suddenly, he felt a tingling feeling on his arm and looked to his side. He saw a flash of motion, too fast to be a bird or some other animal, and grinned as he gave chase. He rounded the corner of the building where the ghost had disappeared, but saw nothing. Another tingle ran up his spine and Phantom spun around, catching another glimpse of the ghost before it disappeared.
The ghost boy felt his temper flare as he sped off after the ghost. He turned onto the street where he knew the ghost had gone down, but realized he had done the same thing as he had done the last time. He spun around faster and saw the ghost before he felt the tingling sensation, this time on his chest.
"You!" Phantom shouted, flying faster so as to not lose the ghost. "Get back here and fight me!"
The ghost leapt off the corner of the building it was perched on and spread its massive wings, taking flight. Phantom flew in, but found that this ghost creature was faster than he was. Not by much, but it was enough to evade him.
"I'm not gonna tell you again, spook," Phantom growled as he managed to get in close.
He wound up a punch and was about to deliver it, but the ghost creature turned to him and let loose an earsplitting wail. Phantom cried out in pain and fell from the sky. He tumbled down through the air, all five hundred feet, and crashed into the pavement. Cars swerved to avoid hitting him and instead slammed into more vehicles. Traffic began to build and angry motorists were exiting their vehicles to express their displeasure. Phantom was about to apologize and fly away, but the ghost animal slammed into him from above, driving him back down into the road.
"Do you like the taste of asphalt, Phantom?" the ghost asked in a hauntingly familiar voice. "Then have your fill!"
"That was a stupid joke," Phantom retorted as he grabbed the ghost by its shoulders and flipped him over his back. "Almost as stupid as your face is ugly. Seriously, what gives?"
"You will soon find that power comes with a price. This disfigurement," the ghost gestured to its face with the bends of its wings, "is but a small price to pay."
"To you, maybe. I'm suffering pretty badly from it over here."
The ghost growled and Phantom fell into a defensive stance. The creature didn't lunge at him, though. Instead, it blasted him with another inhuman screech. Phantom fell to his knees and slammed his palms over his ears.
What is that?!
It appears to be some kind of . . . ghostly wail.
There is something we must tell you.
That ghost shares forty-five percent of your DNA.
Another clone?
No. I am not certain what it is, but it is not a clone.
He smells familiar, somehow.
Allow us to process this. We shall alert you to this one's identity as soon as we have ascertained it.
While we wait for that most uninteresting development, perhaps you should move to attack. He is a ghost; ghosts do not need air, which means he can sustain that attack forever.
Phantom struggled against the concussive force of the ghost's sonic bombardment and slowly opened his eyes. His jaw dropped slightly as an eighteen wheeler was lifted off the ground and thrown into the side of a building. Other cars were tossed around like cardboard boxes in a tornado. Whoever this ghost was, his ghostly wail was doing some serious damage.
A parked, unoccupied police car was lifted off the ground and thrown at Phantom. The ghost boy rose to his feet and grabbed onto the car and halted its movement. He held it out in front of him to shield his body from the effects of the ghost's attack, but it wasn't doing very well. Phantom caught sight of a little boy holding onto his pet kitten through a window. The sonic waves wore down the durability of the glass until it shattered, sucking the kitten through the frame and knocking the boy away.
Filled with rage, Phantom tore the squad car in half and charged each section with ectoplasm. He threw the first half with all his might and watched with satisfaction as it slammed into the ghost creature and pinned it to the ground. With its ghostly wail cut off, Phantom moved in for the kill, towing the other half of the squad car with him.
"Very clever, ghost boy, but you-"
Phantom didn't give the ghost time to finish as he descended upon him with the rear end of the car, smashing it into the ghost's upper body. He lifted it up and brought it down again and again and again. The rear end of the car was no longer recognizable as it had been smashed and warped so many times. Phantom tossed it to the side and used his own fists to pummel the ghost down into the crater he had made.
"Is that all you've got?" The ghost's wing smacked Phantom across the head and sent him sprawling into a building. "C'mon, give me a real fight!"
Phantom tore himself away from the wall and hurled himself at the ghost. It stood almost a foot and a half taller than him and was much more muscled. That didn't stop Phantom from clobbering him in the face with his energy-charged fists. It sure didn't slow him down as he expertly dodged the ghost's attacks. And if one was to have stayed to watch the fight, he or she would have said that Phantom used the ghost's larger size and bulk to his advantage. The ghost boy flipped his offender over his shoulder and blasted him in the spine with a ghost ray.
The creature tore itself away from Phantom's beam and circled around to attack again. "You can't kill me, Phantom! I am immortal!"
Phantom grinned and charged his fist with electroplasm. "Falcon . . ." Phantom waited until the ghost was well within range. He then swung his fist forward as hard as he could. "PUNCH!" He could hear the bones breaking in both his hand and the other ghost's face as he unleashed his charge of electric energy.
The ghost screeched in pain as it spun through the air. It bounced off a building, snapped through a street lamp and smashed into a car. Glass from the vehicle's windows blossomed out in a circle along with fragments of metal and blood from the creature that was now twitching in the indentation left in the automobile.
Phantom held his wounded hand behind his back as he hovered over the beaten ghost's body. "Had enough? And by 'had enough' I really mean 'GTFO my city, noobcake'."
"You may think that you've won, Phantom," the ghost hissed. It spat out some of its broken teeth mixed with blood and saliva onto the road. "But this was only the beginning."
Phantom laughed. "Where do you guys come from? I swear it's like there's a cliché villain factory somewhere. You come, you cause some trouble, we fight, you say something almost embarrassingly stupid after I beat you senseless, then you shout pointless revenge threats as you fly away to lick your wounds." Phantom wiggled his fingers to be sure his hand had fully healed before he sped down toward the ghost feet first and crushed its body further into the car under the force of his impact. The creature grunted in pain. "Well I'm done letting you guys get off the hook that easily."
"You can kill me if you so desire, it makes little difference. Plasmius doesn't need me; she wants you." Phantom saw the red glow in the ghost's eyes was no longer there. It was replaced by a new pair of very pained, very human eyes. "That's why she did this to me; to test your DNA."
"Are you a clone?" Phantom asked.
"No," the ghost grinned. "Not completely. I am Proximus; the next step in evolution for both humans and ghosts. At least that's what Plasmius says."
"She's wrong-"
"No, she's right!" Proximus exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Your DNA could save billions of lives! Do you realize just what your healing factor does for you? It is not just a get-out-of-death free card, it's so much more!"
"How much more?" Phantom was starting to feel very uneasy.
"You cannot get sick or contract disease. You may have already figured that out, but it goes so much deeper than the common cold." There was an unnerving glimmer behind Proximus' eyes as he stared into Phantom's green ones. "You are immune to cancer, AIDS, smallpox, any and all illnesses do not affect you! Your DNA even goes so far as to prevent you from carrying any of these diseases!"
"Well ok, but how does that help you, or anyone else?" Phantom asked, fearing that he wouldn't like the answer.
Proximus' voice quieted to an even duller whisper. "Any part of you; your hair, your skin, your spit, your blood – anything – carries this DNA. It can be passed on to others! You are the miracle cure that mankind has struggled to find for so many eons!"
"But how? That doesn't make any sense!"
"And that's the beauty of your condition! There isn't anything to understand! No scientific experimentation to do, nothing! It's a guaranteed cure!"
"But look at you! Look at what my DNA did to you!"
"A small price to pay, my friend," Proximus rubbed the side of his face with the bend of his wing. "I am powerful because of you. Your mid morph DNA is the ultimate stem cell! No more controversy! No more bickering while lives are lost! There is only . . . you!"
"Wait, my what?"
"Mid morph DNA," Proximus repeated. "It is a sample of your genetic structure taken from your transformation rings. Have you ever noticed that your body completely heals itself once you transform? The rings contain your mid morph DNA."
"And Plasmius got this how?"
"I do not know how she acquired it," Proximus confessed. "But she used it to create the clone that led to the birth of your child. It was also used to accelerate the adaptation of my body to the DNA of a vampire bat, hence my appearance."
"Are there others?" Phantom leaned closer. "More clones like the one I fought in the computer?"
Proximus grinned. "Thousands more!" he whispered in a barely audible tone. "An army of Phantoms!"
The ghost boy reeled back in shock. "You're lying!"
"What motivation would I have to lie to you? It is very true, but Plasmius has failed to grasp the reason all her clones will wind up like the first one did."
"And what is that?"
"You. Your DNA carries with it your inner goodness; your adamant need to do the right thing. That will, that desire, coupled with the genetic memories of your deeds, passes to each successive clone. Perhaps one day she will realize this, but until then she will continue to create more like you until she has what she wants."
"What? What does she want?"
Proximus laughed. "You will discover the answer in due time. I have already divulged much more information than I intended, but I couldn't help myself. I never fully appreciated you, especially not the last time we met."
"We've met before?" Phantom asked in a confused tone.
"You may remember me as Elliot," the ghost replied.
Phantom gasped before his expression melted into anger and fury. "YOU!"
Phantom grabbed the totaled car Proximus was lying in and threw it out into the fire and wreckage caused by his ghostly wail. The bat monster pushed the car off itself and glared at Phantom.
"Now what on Earth was that for?" he growled.
"You killed Valerie's mother!" Phantom sped at the ground and slammed his fists into the pavement. He concentrated, and his ghost stinger exploded from his hands. Like a glowing green snake, it slithered underneath the road, cracking the pavement along its path. The ghost stinger exploded underneath Proximus and sent him flying into the burning wreckage of another car.
"You're still mad about that?" Proximus leapt from the burning vehicle and landed in front of Phantom. "That was months ago!"
"She hated me for all those months. She made my life hell. That whole incident almost ruined my life; it did ruin hers!" Phantom slammed his fist into Proximus' face. The ghost stumbled back. "Since you disappeared, I was the one who took the blame!" Phantom socked Proximus in the jaw. "All because of YOU!"
Proximus blasted Phantom with his ghostly wail as his fist came in for a third punch. The ghost boy staggered back, clutching at his ears. Thankfully, the attack was short lived.
"You can hate me all you want for that; it is of minimal concern to me. But you have a destiny to fulfill," Proximus grunted and shook his head. He then shut his eyes tightly and groaned through clenched teeth. When he opened his eyes, they were red again. "And I shall see to it that you do your job."
Proximus took to the sky, screeching like the animal he had become and disappeared into the night. Phantom considered following him, but decided against it. Angry and confused Phantom turned to leave. A mewing sound stopped him dead in his tracks. The ghost boy looked over to where the sound was coming from and saw, with a large degree of relief, that the kitten that had been sucked out of its owner's arms was clinging to a tree branch.
The ghost flew over and gently plucked the feline from its perch. The kitten cuddled up in his arms, purring gently taking in the view. Phantom found the broken window and flew up to it, seeing the boy crying in his parents' embrace.
Phantom silently set the kitten down on the floor and flew away. The shouts of happiness reached his ears before he had made it too far and dragged a much needed smile to Phantom's face. Despite everything that his life would throw at him, he knew he had to face it. If he didn't, then who else possibly could?
To Be Continued
A/N: Well there was the super mega awesome fight I promised. If you know how the episode Maternal Instincts played out, then you'll be able to see where I'm going with this. Expect another scuffle between Phantom and Proximus, only in Proximus' natural habitat. The new evil Skulker is going to make an appearance too, but I don't think Danny's going to discover him until the next segment.
Next chapter starts to develop Danny's need for a normal relationship with his family. It also gives insight to the possibility of the infamous TuckerxJazz pairing you all seem to absolutely ADORE so much. Surprisingly, though, there's minimal, if any, DannyxSam in the next chapter. It'll likely come up later. I mean, Sam did date Proximus before. Isn't that spooky?
And Skulker doesn't have any weapons? Well that's going to change very soon. If you visit my Deviant Art page, you'll find out just how he equips himself for battle. And you can catch a glimpse of the new, terrifying Ultimate Nocturne!
Reviews! I'm not sure who to thank, so I'll thank ALL OF YOU BY NAME. No, that would take too long. Special thanks goes out to Shining Zephyr, darkness over day, alienphantom, phantoms-allie, inukagome15, darkbunny92, Cylon One, Acaykath, Mary Blondine, and my good friend Billy D.
"Not even a little excited?" Betty Ross, The Incredible Hulk