Chapter CX
Never say never. Danny Fenton had come to believe in this saying. He could fly through the air, shoot beams of energy from his hands, and walk through walls. In his present condition, he was the most powerful being he could think of. He knew the comics and he knew that he could probably hold his own against even Superman if he ever needed to. Now THAT would be something to see. But Danny knew the limitations of reality, and fighting Superman would never happen.
There came times that forced Danny to second guess what he knew as 'fact'. He never thought he'd ever kill a human being and now his personal body count was on part with some of the more notorious serial killers. This wasn't something he was necessarily proud of, but it had happened despite every measure he had taken against it which, when all was said and done, wasn't much. Even though he had seen and done a lot of things he never thought he'd do, he never could have fathomed what was happening in front of him right now. Okay, maybe once or twice or a few dozen times when the movie came out, but recently? Realistically? Never.
"Never say never". That's what Danny Phantom decided he'd tell his children if he ever had any. Why? Well the fact that the truck that had just dropped off his father was spontaneously shifting its own parts and rearranging them into something hauntingly familiar was the primary reason.
The truck's transformation, the only word Danny could think of, slowed down. The truck looked to be simply aligning its rearranged parts now, as if it was making sure everything was in place. The wheels spun by themselves, lights flashed on and off, panels opened and closed, several antennae-like appendages sprung from near where the ears should have been. A visor retracted from around the truck's mouth, two brightly glowing orbs spun in short, rapid rotations. The truck stood up on its legs and stretched its back. That's when Danny realized that the truck was no longer a truck; it was a robot. And a very familiar one at that.
"Are you Daniel James Fenton?" the robot asked in its booming, commanding voice.
"Yeah?" Danny replied uneasily.
Optimus Prime nodded. "Then you know who I am. Or you should. I was informed that you saw my motion picture."
"A-are you kidding me right now?" Sam asked. "Seriously? Danny has ghost powers, ok, but you get chauffeured around town by Optimus-fricking-Prime?!"
Prime turned his glowing blue optics on Sam, focusing in on her. "I assure you, Miss Manson, I'm not here just to give rides."
"He knows my-"
"No! Stop!" Phantom whispered urgently. "Don't repeat lines from the movie! That's, like, a whole new level of cliché!"
"You did it!" Sam snapped back.
"When?!"
"When he asked you your name and you said 'Yeah'!"
"What was I supposed to say? 'Yes Mister Prime, sir, it is I, Danny!'?"
"May I say something?" Phantom, Sam and Optimus directed their attention to Jack Fenton, looking as if they just realized that he and the rest of Danny's family was present. "What in the name of God is going on?"
Sam and Prime looked at Phantom expectantly. The ghost boy sighed. "Dad . . . I'm your son."
"I gathered that much. But Phantom? You've been Phantom this whole time and never told us?"
"I couldn't just tell you. I wanted to, believe me. Nothing in the world would have made me happier than to tell you, but I wanted you to trust me first – all of me. And on top of all the other stuff I've had to deal with, I wouldn't have been able to handle you and mom hating me for what I was."
Jack looked at his son, his face devoid of emotion. It was a look well known in the Fenton household; Jack was lost in contemplation. His mind was sifting through all the data he had just been overloaded with and trying to make sense of it the best he could. Then, like life had been restored to him, Jack's face flushed. His eyes widened and tears streamed down his face. A jolly grin spread across his face that would make Santa look like the Grinch in comparison. He lifted his shaky arms up, opening them to invite a loving embrace. "My son . . . the Ghost Kid!"
To his embarrassment, Phantom found that his lower lip was quivering. But surrounded by family and friends (and a giant robot), there was nothing to be ashamed of. Luminescent tears found their way out of Phantom's own eyes as he flew into his father's bear hug. Without bones to break or lungs to crush or impale with said broken bones, Danny was able to experience one of Jack Fenton's fatherly hugs to its full effect. Mother and daughter wasted no time joining father and son in the family affair or tears and joy. Sam and Prime watched from a distance.
"Sam! Sam, I just heard what happened when I intercepted a communication from Skulker on my PDA! I came as fast as I . . . as I . . . Oh . . . My . . . God . . .!"
All eyes turned to Tucker Foley. The African American boy was panting and his beret was visibly damp from sweat. His shock over seeing the Fenton family hugging Phantom was only barely eclipsed by his shock over seeing Optimus Prime.
"What the-!"
"Your surprise is a natural reaction," Prime's deep voice rumbled. "I would advise you to respire, though."
Tucker's eyes pleaded for an explanation as they darted from person to person. "What is going on?!"
"Approximately an hour ago, Amity Park's Terror tower was attacked by an unknown party and was subsequently destroyed. Emergency teams have arrived on the site and the Guys in White have apprehended the suspect they believe is responsible. They have requested your assistance with the rescue efforts, Daniel."
The dapper mood from just moments before was now gone with all persons present weighing the gravity of the situation.
"We could probably help too," Jack offered. Maddie nodded her head in agreement.
"No. Presently, you are being hunted by agents from other realms. I learned of Skulker's attack the same way Tucker did, by intercepting a communication between him and an unknown employer. His attack was an unrelated coincidence, but make no mistake that it will happen again. I have been tasked with preventing future incidents."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"We can start, Mrs. Fenton, by refortifying your residence. I have some suggestions to make it much more durable. Phantom," the robot continued without missing a beat, "head for the crisis area. Samantha and Tucker, remain here. I will be making mandatory upgrades to your homes as well."
"I'll, er . . . call you. You know, if something comes up," Phantom addressed his parents. "And I know we have a lot to talk about. Like, a lot. A whole big lot of-"
"Danny, they need you," his mother interrupted with a warm smile.
"Go show 'em how it's done, kiddo," Jack piqued up proudly. "We'll be here when you get back."
"I'm proud of you little brother," Jazz said softly.
He hovered over to Sam and Tucker as Optimus began explaining his plans for the new Cybertronian security system. "This is surreal," Tucker remarked as the Autobot supreme commander lifted Jack up to a shattered window. "I mean, look at all this."
Phantom looked at the ground sadly. "I wish there wasn't more bad than good. My fight with Elliot didn't end well."
Sam and Tucker exchanged worried looks. Phantom's words likely carried a much more serious implication. "Hey, come on, Danny," Sam offered. "Things get worse before they get better."
"That shouldn't mean people have to die because of me."
"People die every day, dude. You'd blame yourself for natural causes if you could, but I'll cut you some slack because this has been a pretty emotional day." Tucker paused to readjust his hat. "You have our support like you have from the start. Now you have your parents in addition to Jazz. Whether you'll admit it or not, things are looking up for you."
"Thanks guys. Really. So much has changed since the beginning, and I . . . I don't know what I'd do without you."
"We're here for you, Danny."
Aren't you forgetting something, Daniel?
What?
You FOOL!!! SSSSAAAAAAMMMM!!!
Phantom grinned. Oh, right. "I know, Sam. And when this is all over, you and I need to talk."
"About wha-?"
Phantom caught her midsentence. It wasn't deep and romantic, but it wasn't a quick peck either. It lasted barely two seconds, but the kiss felt . . . right. Before Sam could begin to think about what just happened, Phantom was already tearing through the sky in the direction of the crisis zone.
Tucker gaped in amazement, but then in horror. He hadn't even thought to record the tender, money making moment that had transpired before him! If his best friend's words were any indication, however, there would be plenty more chances to rake in the profit. In the meantime . . .
"So . . . you get any ghost tongue?"
He tensed in anticipation of the inevitable retaliatory strike, but it never came. He opened one of his eyes and saw the girl standing, rooted to the spot where her Phantom had shattered the boundaries of the friend zone. She looked at Tucker with bliss dancing in her face.
"Not this time."
Clockwork grinned as the introduction of Optimus Prime went as smoothly as he had predicted. It was dangerous combining even two different realities, but certain risks needed to be taken. Danny Phantom needed to be tested to ensure that he was up to the challenge of protecting his planet from foes even greater than Walker. Turning from his central view screen, the Master of Time selected his carefully chosen warriors and froze their respective realities. It would have been a stretch even for him, but as luck would have it, he was not forced to act alone. Multiple realities had all been frozen to prevent their disruption in the absence of their heroes– something that needed to be done to ensure the safety of the multiverse. Of course, this course of action put it in grave danger, but no more danger than inaction would expose it to.
"I'm sorry to ask this of you, old friend," Clockwork apologized. "I understand your aversion to tampering with reality."
The subject of the ghost's apology held up a hand to keep the Master of Time from continuing. "There is no need to apologize. I have seen the future of this reality, and I am . . . frightened by it. The concept itself is new to me."
"Yet another thing we have in common," Clockwork's body rapidly aged into his elderly form as he prepared to explain his concerns of the future. "What frightens me is the temporal disturbance that prevents me from seeing the event that causes the boy's rise to power."
"And by bringing about this war, you hope to test the goodness of his heart; to see if he can handle the strain of what lies ahead."
"Precisely. The future where Danny Phantom becomes evil is no longer the predominant one as it used to be. I have seen futures where his good will is so powerful that he brings about an existence without the balance of good and evil and is able to sustain it."
"I presume that is the one you're aiming for, Clockwork?"
The Time Master chuckled. "Somewhere close to it, Ghost Writer. Somewhere close."
The Terror Tower had collapsed mostly in one direction, effectively cutting off emergency rescue crews from getting to the other side of the rubble. While an obvious course of action would be to just go around, nearby buildings had been heavily damaged and structurally weakened by the fall. Some smaller, surrounding structures had already toppled, and combined with the multitude of abandoned automobiles, it was tedious work getting to the far side of the building. Helicopters had already dropped off some crews, and rescue vehicles from all outfits were slowly arriving, having taken the long way around. The damage was so intense, Phantom observed with some degree of rising anger that it couldn't have been done by a human.
Using his emotions to fuel his energy, Phantom dove at the felled building and intangibly dove through the remains. Onlookers gasped, cheered, shouted, booed, and expressed all other sorts of reactions. When he reemerged from the concrete with a group of twenty survivors, his reception became unanimously positive. His work went on as such for hours, and more often than not he was greeted with the grisly remains of the tower's occupants. He nearly broke down several times. No fourteen-year-old should have to witness such atrocities up close, but he pressed on. The city – his city – needed him to be strong; a symbol of hope in these dark times. And the dark times came as night fell over the city. The world watched in morbid fascination as the object of so many different feelings worked himself to the limit to recover the casualties of this attack.
It had been close to five in the evening when Phantom began his operation. It was one thirty the next morning when he finally couldn't take anymore.
I could see how this would get to you.
It is a gruesome thing, this recovery effort. Nobody expects children to do this sort of thing.
NOBODY should have to do this sort of thing! You two sensed it, this was a ghost attack. This was MY fault!
Stop blaming yourself, Daniel.
No! There's no way to tiptoe around this. If I never got these powers, none of these attacks would have happened! None of these people would be dead!
Consider this, then. Without your powers, who would be alive to foil Plasmius' plans of world domination? She would have killed your mother and your sister long ago, and you would now be her step-son. Perhaps she wouldn't have bothered keeping you alive. Without your powers you're worthless to her. Then who would be able to stop her wanton lust for power? The world would be ground under her heel, and the Ghost Zone alike, with no one who could oppose her. So these humans died. And it was likely some ghost searching for you. Blame yourself if you must, but there is no way to prevent all of this. You do what you can. Nobody can ask for more of you.
Especially not today. You need rest.
We will filter out these unsavory memories so you won't be burdened with the more vivid details.
But they still need my help.
They will manage. You have swept this entire place more times than I care to count.
Not that you ever could count . . .
And, should your hero complex force you to assist the cleanup effort, you'll need all the energy you can muster.
It was true that the day had taken a toll on him, physically and mentally. He still needed to talk to his parents, and he still needed to talk to Sam. The rescue teams had already dispersed to the surrounding areas, and construction vehicles of all sorts were arriving on the scene in preparation of the long road of work ahead. Deciding not to fight against the voices in his head, and deciding that he was still not used to the concept of having voices in his head, Phantom rose up into the air and turned invisible before flying off into the night sky. Even though the air was still blanketed with a thinning layer of smoke, some brighter stars managed to shine through.
Before you end this night on such a touching note for the audience, there's one more stop you have to make.
The Guys in White have the one responsible in chains, like Optimus said.
And there is more to this situation than-
DON'T SAY IT!
-meets the eye.
. . . I hate you sometimes.
You'll thank us later when you have a good night's sleep without nightmares.
I'll think about it.
Amity Park Penitentiary quickly came into view. Was there really more going on than a random ghost attack? Phantom almost wished there wasn't.
Skulker stepped from the cybernetic repair chamber cautiously; making sure his wounds had healed. Satisfied that he could move without pain and see, he scanned the room for Plasmius. She did not appear on any of his scanners, which meant she was not invisibly hiding in the room and spying on him. Perfect.
In his new body, Skulker 2.0 was incapable of spectrally powered flight, intangibility, or any other ghost powers. Without Kaine Manson, he simply wasn't strong enough. That did not deter the ghost mercenary from silently finding his way into the lower chambers of Plasmius' lab. Along the wall were several cryo-stasis pods; machines designed to hold their occupants in suspended animation. Skulker knew the first three were occupied with Plasmius' latest successes. The fourth was empty, and the fifth contained the legendary mercenary himself. Kaine Manson no longer appeared as a toad-like blob. Separated from his conglomerate body, he appeared as he did the day he died. A tall, built man with a short hair cut. Horrible burns covered his face. He also had no jaw. Manson had made the ultimate sacrifice to save innocent lives. Skulker 2.0 doubted that shielding dozens of women and children from an incendiary grenade by putting it in ones mouth was the first logical choice. But seeing as how all innocents involved had survived, then perhaps it wasn't all bad. It was interesting that his skull had remained intact, but Skulker wasn't visiting the immobilized form of his old consciousness to perform an autopsy.
Interfacing with the pod was simple enough, but it had risks. Skulker entered a new plane of perception as he psychically communicated with Kaine.
"Manson, can you hear me?"
"W-wha-? What has happened?"
"Plasmius deemed you unfit to serve her any longer. She separated you from me and put your body on ice to prevent deterioration."
"You? You were me?"
"I have been upgraded, so to speak. We haven't much time. Do you have a niece?"
"Why do you need to know that?"
"Plasmius effectively erased my personal memory of you and our shared time together. I was sent to assassinate Madeline Fenton and nearly took the life of Samantha Manson as well. She called me . . . Uncle Kaine."
"Then you have your answer."
"And you jeopardized her life by placing it above your job? You interfered with Plasmius' schemes so that Samantha would not be hurt?"
"What would you have done?"
"Ignored her. Paid her no mind. By revealing her relationship to you, you have made her a target of Plasmius. You are fortunate that she did not try to use that relationship against you."
"That hardly matters now."
"I just needed to be sure."
"Before you go, can you promise me something? Can you promise me that, no matter what happens, no matter what you're made to do, you won't let her get hurt?"
"I can promise you that I will do my best. That will have to be enough for you. Goodbye, Manson. Rest in peace."
Phantom had been to the Guys in White headquarters once before. After the Shadow Phantom incident, they had taken him in for testing to make sure the shadow ghost was truly gone. He knew the entrance was not through the front doors, but around the back. The only problem was that the only visible entrance to the massive subterranean structure was an old water tower. The penitentiary was built into a cliff wall. The water tower stood somewhat awkwardly above the prison. Flying in closer, Phantom spied a white-suited figure standing on the flattened top of the tower.
"I need to talk with Operatives O and K. It's important," Phantom declared once he was close enough to the startled Agent.
The man was clearly a rookie. "S-sir?" he muttered into his cuff radio, "I have a – yes, it's Phantom, he wants to see – what? O-ok, yes sir. Right away, sir." The middle of the circular roof split into multiple curved fragments and retreated into the roof, exposing an elevator platform. "Agent X cleared you. Go on in."
"Thanks. And mister? Your shoe's untied."
The elevator rapidly descended into the tower, leaving the flustered Agent alone to fix his laces. Phantom waited until the elevator reached the bottom of its track and stepped onto the stainless steel floor of the government agency's headquarters. K and O were already waiting for him.
"A little bird told me you have the guy responsible for that," Phantom pointed to a monitor that was displaying CNN's coverage of the Terror Tower disaster. "I want to see him."
"No can do. He's being interrogated a few floors down. When they're done with him, we'll let you see him." O paused as K handed him a clipboard. "In the meantime, we have even more bad news for you."
Phantom sighed. "How could this get any worse?"
"Damn, kid, haven't you ever heard of Murphy's Law?" Danny cocked his head to the side and shrugged. "Apparently not. Well follow us for your first lesson."
K and O strode off. Phantom, unable to keep pace with them by just walking, hovered close behind the Operatives as they headed for a conference room. There were already people inside, and a projection screen was displaying some decidedly green images. Phantom could only assume that this meant the Ghost Zone was definitely involved. Not much of a surprise there.
O walked up to the door and didn't have to slow his pace as the panel silently slid into the wall. The three quietly entered the room and remained in the back so as to not disrupt the discussion. Agent X was standing at the front of the room. Phantom could make out some of the people sitting near the front. The Box Ghost sat near the corner. Several seats in were two men who looked suspiciously like the President and Vice President. Other important-looking figures were seated near the front of the room. In the corner, Phantom saw a strange being that looked like an eyeball adorned with robes. It observed the room without moving in the slightest.
Phantom turned to Operative K. "What is all this?"
"This meeting was called to decide what to do about the impending invasion we're facing," Jackson replied in a hushed voice, noting the look of horror that was now on Phantom's face. "The Terror Tower fiasco is about to be the least of our worries."
Phantom finally managed to make out Agent X's words from his spot in the back of the room. The leader of the GiW spoke sternly, and was not visibly or audibly affected by the terrifying news he was relating to his audience. "The boys down in the research labs have crunched some numbers. The movement we detected is directed towards one of the many portals in or around Amity Park."
"Can we shut 'em down? Close the portals or . . . or block 'em somehow?"
Phantom was convinced; that was definitely the President.
"Unfortunately, shutting down the portals from our end only prevents us from getting into the Ghost Zone. The energy barriers we would need to construct to make that a reality would create explosions on par with the Tunguska event. Now consider if each of those barriers were destroyed simultaneously."
Agent X had a way with words; his message as crystal clear. "The movement we detected is being created by something larger than anything we've ever encountered. Probes were sent into the Ghost Zone to see just what was making all this movement. We found this."
Almost everyone in the room gasped in shock. Hushed worries and whispered concerns spread like wildfire through the audience. Even the Box Ghost looked a little pale. What was the source of this universal discomfort? A fleet of ships sailed through the Ghost Zone. There were far too many to count, but they numbered well over ten thousand, and those were just the large ones; hundreds of thousands of smaller vessels zipped between their larger counterparts. And most frightening of all was a vessel, the size of which eclipsed anything Phantom (and everyone else in the room) had ever seen. It flew abovethe ships beneath it, encompassing every last one of them in its shadow. Its sleek design and unusual buildlooked alien even by Ghost Zone standards.
"We have run the measurements through hundreds of times. For scale, here is a map of the United States." The image appeared on the screen behind Agent X. "The red shape is the length of the ship." The rectangular panhandle of Oklahoma was covered by a red oval shape. More nervous whispers swept through the room. "We're looking at a ship that is roughly one hundred and sixty five miles long."
The room was now scared silent. Even the eyeball ghost in the corner fidgeted.
"The ship is not composed of any alloy known on Earth or the Ghost Zone," X continued. "Ectoplasmic scans turned up nothing and the radiation it does give off is completely foreign to us, which leads us to believe that it is composed of elements we didn't know existed. What you're looking at is not only an extraterrestrial space ship, but an extra-dimensional one as well; alien to Earth and the Ghost Zone alike."
K leaned over and tapped Phantom on the shoulder. "Heard enough?"
Phantom nodded, unable to find his voice. K and O led the way back through the automated door and down the hall to another room, this one was empty.
"How does that grab ya?" K asked with a sardonic grin.
"You think this is funny? How am I supposed to stop all of those things? And that big one?! Who needs to make something even a fifteenth of that size?!"
"Not sure, kid. What we do know is that we need to get you ready."
"Ready for what?"
Operative O chuckled coldly. "You think this is going to be a localized event? One of your silly ghost-in-thermos escapades? There are more ships in that fleet than all the offensive vehicles on the planet combined. Even if we did get all of them here in sunny old California, we'd be wiped out before we could fire a second salvo. This is going to span the globe, Daniel. And we need to prepare you – you and everyone you know – on how to deal with the rest of the world once this hits the fan."
There was a certain beauty to the Ghost Zone that was taken for granted. The swirling infinities of the ethereal realm never ceased to amaze and calm. Possibilities and opportunities beyond comprehension lurked in the chasms of the decidedly green dimension. It truly was beautiful. It truly was amazing. Inside the unfathomably gargantuan extra-dimensional alien vessel, Walker basked in the beauty and amazement that the Ghost Zone caressed him with. Around him beat the heart of a machine so startling that it was itself beautiful and amazing. A command chair that challenged the Sears Tower in height sat in the middle of an otherwise empty control room and Walker stood on the seat of that chair, marveling at the technological feat that his new weapon was.
With a thought, a digital display of thousands of different characters materialized in front of the chair. Walker had wondered how much longer his journey would take. Some of the displayed symbols rotated, others blinked, some faded in and out – there were too many to take in all the features. This truly was an all encompassing machine. Closest to his eyes, Walker spied human and Ghost Zone languages and was surprised at how tiny a space was needed to encompass all of two dimension's languages. How many worlds had this vessel seen?
The display told him that the time left before his conquest would begin was in the area of a week, but the actual time was fluctuating, appearing to decrease faster than it should have been, given the speed the ship was the ship accelerated? Was it responding to the emotion that drove its new master? With this technology, Walker left nothing to absolutes; anything was possible.
Like a giant predatory sea creature, The Atrum Navitas slid through the ectoplasmic dimension with streamlined grace. While he meditated on his inevitable victory, Walker watched his infant brother sleeping on Desiree's lap in his prison lair. In another part of the Ghost Zone, Wulf played with villager children from Bullet's tribe. In the human world, Walker observed the turning of gears that would facilitate the conclusion of his time-spanning war.
To Be Continued
A/N: I hope it was worth the wait. This was way worse before Cordria edited it, so she deserves a big round of applause. Or, like, your acknowledgement. From experience, I know how hard it is to clap and have someone hear it online.
So I got Halo Wars last week and I've been having some fun with it. I read some stuff about the Zerg Rush strategy for RTS games so I figured I'd try it. And it worked! Only the thing about Halo Wars is that, if you play skirmish mode on the Automatic difficulty setting, it gets tougher to compensate for your increasing skill. My "increasing skill" was mostly dumb luck and noobish jackassery, so when the Auto setting jumped almost 10 levels to compensate for my "spike in awesomeness", the Zerg Rush strategy didn't work so well. My win/loss ratio isn't going to be looking so pretty anymore...
Uh, anyway, go watch some Spectacular Spider-Man and Transformers Animated. They've gotten way awesome and you'll love them. Or you should.
Omega Supreme thanks to Cordria, who is keeping this story on track (my feeble man brain tends to fail at making sense). And thanks to the rest of you, with your positive comments that give me an extra boost when college gets to be a little much.
Special thanks goes to gadrak-the-forbidden-one, cdunn2010, Lockblade, Cordira (again), Chemical Brain, MasterCheifSamus117, Vorago Atrox, Billy D., Yugisrose, darkbunny92, , Kryptonian250, alienphantom, The Golden Hat, gab4eva24, Reaper 96, OutlawKnight, Jiece18, and Monte-chan.
(Sorry if I forgot you or misspelled your name. Don't think I did, but it has been a while.)
Keep an eye out for another uber-long chapter of Redemption, which is near completion. But above all, have a nice day.
EDIT: Fixed some stuff. Also, why isn't there a character search/categorization option for Undergrowth? There's one for, I think, every major character except for him. He's the baddie who kicked off season 3 in the States, not to mention the fact that he was voiced by Mark Hamill, the same guy who played Luke Skywalker and voiced the Joker in Batman TAS. FFN needs to get its priorities in order... Ok I'm done.
We do what we must . . . even if it sometimes doesn't make sense. -Ratchet