Chapter CXI
Daniel has some very unusual dreams.
Yes, I suspect it is connected to his other half. We could very well be responsible for these dreams.
A kaleidoscope of imagery swirled beneath the protoconsciousness' manifested forms. The tall and spindly Tempest kept his sparkling blue eyes on the "sky" where various hues of blue churned in rhythmic pulsations. Iridescent flashes of green lightning shot from cloud to cloud, charging each one with ethereal energies. Rain fell in circular patterns like so many tornadoes, dancing along the ground and gently swaying the grass to and fro. Folium's intense, dark green irises were aimed at the flowers that blossomed in waves of rainbows across the dreamscape. Vines sprouted from the soil carrying the fruits of a burdened hero. The scene unfolding in Daniel Fenton's subconscious was wondrous to behold; a shame not even he would remember it.
I have calculated a significantly high risk in our plan for escape.
I thought everything was good to go. What's the problem?
Our liberation places Daniel in a very vulnerable position. I do not know if he will survive the process.
So what if he doesn't? We'll be free at last!
Our lives are insignificant. We exist to ensure he fulfills his destiny. We cannot do so if he is dead.
Why is this our problem? What about his destiny makes us worthless?
Do not play the fool, brother. The survival of two whole dimensions is at stake. If he perishes before he can eliminate the threat of the Reality Gauntlet, then we will be doomed as well.
So this drive to keep him alive is just to make sure he doesn't get us killed?
In the unfortunate event that we are destroyed, do you wish to face Judgment with the blood of two dimensions on your hands?
. . . You've made your point. So what about our contact? Can she know of the risks involved with the purge?
No, she has agreed to assist us for her own twisted intentions. If she discovers that Daniel may not survive then she may refuse to assist us
Alright, so we keep it quiet. Let's say that this doesn't work, that we give it a hundred and ten percent and we're still trapped inside Danny's head. Do you have a Plan B?
An earsplitting roar echoed through the dreamscape. Beneath their feet, a fissure in the crust of this imagined paradise opened to swallow the unnatural beauty. Molten lava, green in color, bubbled to through the crack in the earth and crawled along the fields with the intent of consuming everything in its path. The flora withered and burned to ash. The clouds of soothing, oceanic blue faded to a depressing charcoal grey, and the jovial green lightning lashed out in vicious strikes of purple and red. The world behind Daniel's closed eyes washed away to blackness as he awoke from his slumber.
I do. I just pray that we are not forced to implement it.
"You know what sucks about this?"
Danny looked from his uneaten pizza to his best friend. Tucker was in between dinosaur-sized bites of his sandwich. "No, what?"
"We've missed so much school this year, we're probably gonna have to repeat this whole grade."
If Danny's appetite had been lacking before, it was completely gone now. "You're right!"
Tucker opened his mouth to inhale the rest of his lunch when Kwan walked by and, quite disdainfully, threw a crumpled up twenty dollar bill on Tucker's lunch tray. The teen grinned and pocketed the cash before getting back to his meal.
"What was that about?"
Tucker looked from Danny to Sam and back to his sandwich. "Nothing. He owed me some money."
"Come to think of it," Sam pondered as she slid closer to Danny, "A lot of people have been giving you money today. Any particular reason?"
Tucker shrugged his shoulders. "A lot of people owe me money."
"For what?"
Tucker reached for his water. "For stuff," he replied before engaging the plastic bottle.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with me and Danny, would it?"
Feigning surprise, Tucker set down his drink and stared intently at his friends. "Is that what you think?"
"Well considering everything that's been going on recently, you betting on Sam and I dating doesn't sound nearly as farfetched."
"I could run those numbers past my baby if you want to see how statistically implausible it would be for me to do such an abhorrent thing," Tucker offered, holding his PDA up.
"I've been meaning to ask you something. You're always typing away on that dumb thing, but you don't have any games on it or anything. What exactly do you do on that thing all day?"
Tucker frowned and looked at his coveted device. "I keep a journal, mostly. I figure someday we won't . . . be here, and someone might want to know how it all went down." The techno-geek saw Danny's worried expression. "Don't worry," he added, "I still have all my anti-Technus firewalls and the like. He's not getting anywhere near this thing."
"That's not exactly what I was getting at," Phantom murmured quietly. "But you're right. Someday we won't be here to tell our story. I'm worried that day might be sooner than later."
"Come on, dude, you can-"
"I can what, fire off some beams, phase through some missiles, land a few punches, and then what? I can't fight Walker. And how the hell am I supposed to fight a space ship larger than this entire city? Even if I do take them both down, there's no way I can turn right around and lay the smack down on a bazillion ghosts and just as many more ships."
"So what, you're giving up already?"
Those violet irises; Danny had a hard time reading them. One second, they looked like two beautiful orbs of compassion and tenderness, frozen on the face of an angel. The next second, it looked as though they would start swirling around their respective pupils like mini, purple hurricanes. At the moment, they looked like the latter.
"I'm going to fight this thing to my last breath, but I don't think it's going to be enough."
Thoughtfully sliding his PDA into one of his many cargo pockets, Tucker crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "You have our support; you always have. You have the support of your whole family, and the backing of the government. You aren't fighting this alone."
A grin appeared on Danny's face. "Thanks guys. It might sound strange, but I hope I don't have to tell any more people. The last thing I need is someone finding out I'm-"
"The Huntress!"
"- a girl?" Danny looked over at the person who had shouted and followed her gaze to the window. Sure enough, the Huntress was hovering just on the other side of the cafeteria wall. Valerie was still wearing her new outfit, which meant she wasn't wearing a mask.
"Oh man," Danny ducked under his lunch table while the masses of students rushed to get a better view. "Is everyone facing away from me?"
"You're fine," Sam confirmed. "Do your thing!"
"Going ghost!"
It felt good to use the battle cry. Danny felt as if he hadn't been able to proclaim the painfully obvious in quite some time. Although he was forced to whisper the words, there was a deeper meaning to them that filled the teenager with a sense of power. Or perhaps the sense of power came from his transformation. Yeah, that was probably it. The bright green ring formed at his waist and split in two, speeding along the length of his body. In less than a second, it was Phantom who was crouched under the cafeteria table, not Danny Fenton. The ghost boy made a motion to stand, but accidentally knocked Sam's knee into a support bar.
"Ow!"
"Sorry! Sorry, I just need to-"
"What are you doing down there?!"
"Sorry! I'm a little cramped. If I can squeeze through this way, maybe I can-"
Tucker felt his ankle make contact with another steel bar a split second before the spike of pain shot up his leg. "Jeez! Come on, dude, what are you trying to do, cripple me?"
"I said it was cramped down here! There's too many bars to just crawl over, I think I-"
"Hey, Phantom?"
"Yes, Sam?"
"Phantom the ghost boy? Who can walk through walls, disappear, and fly?"
". . . What are you getting at?"
Sam leaned over so that she could see clearly under the table. The sight that greeted her eyes made her sigh in exasperation, although she was straining not to burst into laughter. There was the infamous Phantom, tangled in the cafeteria table's support bar structure like silly putty.
"Go intangible?"
Phantom looked back at the rest of his body and pouted. "Right. I, uh, forgot I could do that." Before either of his two friends could rebuke him for his memory lapse, Phantom disappeared from sight and slipped through the floor.
It didn't take long for Phantom to reappear outside. He floated behind Valerie, arms folded across his chest and a serious expression on his face. "Care to explain why you're flying around the school?"
Valerie turned to face him. Her face conveyed that she was in a good mood, or at least as good a mood as possible given the circumstances. "You pop up here pretty often. Why is that?"
"I'm getting my GED."
Valerie rolled her eyes.
"Alright, you didn't fly past this place to reveal your identity. What's going on?"
"Guys in White sent me. Wanted me to bring you back for some questions."
Phantom's eyes narrowed. "An interrogation?"
"Dunno, didn't tell me. X isn't in a very good mood."
"Agent X sent you? Not Operatives K and O?"
"Who?"
"Never mind." Phantom headed off for the water tower above the penitentiary. Valerie fell in behind him. "I don't need an escort, thanks."
"You're right, you just happen to be going in the same direction I'm going."
"X actually trusts me?" Phantom looked over his shoulder.
Valerie shrugged. "How should I know? If they didn't, I'm sure they would've come for you themselves. It's probably no big deal."
"So when exactly were you planning on telling us about your transforming friend?"
Phantom squirmed under Agent X's gaze. The sunglasses were menacing, but the ghost boy had a feeling that it would be more uncomfortable if he could actually see the man's eyes.
"I . . . didn't think he was important?"
"Are you asking me, or telling me?" X's voice dripped with venom.
"I didn't think it was something that needed to be brought up."
"And when were you planning on telling us about your relationship to this ghost?" The projection screen at the other end of Agent X's office blinked on, showing an image of Walker. Phantom's throat went dry. "Your son from the future?"
"H-how did you find out about-"
"You think you're the only ghost who we communicate with?" X didn't wait for an answer. "What about this ghost?" Phantom's white, amorphous offspring appeared on the screen. "Not only is this thing your spawn from the present, but he's yours AND the Huntress'?"
"That's not my fault!" Phantom jumped to his feet. "None of those are my fault!"
"We're investigating the giant robot, but how do you explain two ghosts who are your own offspring spawn running around dimensions when you're only fourteen?"
Images of a world turned against him flashed through Phantom's mind. If Plasmius found out that he'd betrayed her dual identity, she'd have him exposed to the world in hours. Minutes, even. "Walker says he's from the future. He told me I do terrible things and . . . take over the world."
"Who is the mother? Someone you know?"
". . . Yes."
"Who?"
Phantom hesitated.
"That Manson girl?"
"No! I-it's Paulina. Paulina Sanchez. She goes to my school."
Something hit Phantom on the back. Looking over to examine the cause, Phantom caught a nod of approval from Operative K while his commander's attention was diverted. Typical.
X scribbled something down on his clipboard. "We'll deal with the future when it happens. But I want to know what possessed you to have . . . relations with Miss Grey and-"
Phantom scowled. "You might run the show when I'm Phantom, but what I do as Danny Fenton is none of your business. And it didn't . . . happen like that. It was completely different."
"Care to enlighten me?"
Phantom took a deep breath. "A parasite from the Ghost Zone slipped through to our dimension. It sapped some of my DNA and then impregnated Valerie. It was part machine-"
"Techno-organic?"
Phantom nodded. "Technus was trying to capture it or something, so I, uh, convinced him to help me get it out of Valerie. He removed the techno part and removed the rest of it from her before it exploded out of her chest . . . or whatever it was gonna do."
"And this parasite wasn't connected with any other ectoplasmic entities that you know of?"
"It wasn't exactly the talkative sort."
More notes were scribbled down. "This all seems so surreal," the man muttered under his breath. "Kid, we're facing the possible extinction of the human race. There's an armada of ships with enough firepower to blow us all to Hell and back led by a psychopath who wants you dead. This kind of thing would've been nice to know beforehand."
"I didn't know how to tell you that I turn evil and take over the world in a way that would keep you from vaporizing me."
"Fair enough. K, O, show him the door."
X watched the agents lead the ghost boy out of the room and down the hall. The door sealed shut behind them leaving Agent X in the absence of any human company.
"That was almost informative. At least now we know he tells the truth." A hulking silhouette stepped forward from the wall. X regarded Wulf with indifference. "The saboteur is ready to accompany you back to Walker's ship. Can you get him there safely? Don't answer that. I still can't understand Esperanto." X sat at his desk and gently massaged his temples. "Go on, get out."
The lupine specter growled and phased back through the wall. Satisfied that Wulf was gone, X opened the intercom to the medical bay. "Operative M?"
"Yes, sir?"
"What did you find out about the gauntlet Mr. Showenhower was wearing?"
"Sir, we've done every sort of scan possible. Infrared, Ultraviolet, X-Ray, we've even done Gamma and Ectoplasm scans. The gauntlet just . . . vanished sometime between when we arrested him and brought him to the penitentiary. We have to assume that an associate of his intangibly took it from him."
"I want you to make absolutely sure it's gone. If he's carrying it around with him in the jail upstairs, we're going to have a serious problem on our hands."
"Understood, sir. We'll keep looking."
It is good that you could meet with us.
We must finalize this plan before we are tied up in your employee's affairs.
HE IS NOT MY EMPLOYEE. HE SERVES WALKER, LIKE THAT TRAITOR TECHNUS.
What difference does it make?
None, to us. We are not here to argue over the allegiances of your servants. You understand why we summoned you; let us get to the point.
Freakshow is being held temporarily in the penitentiary. You need to spring him.
HE IS SURELY BEING HELD BY THE GUYS IN WHITE IN THEIR SUBTERRANEAN BASE. I CANNOT PENETRATE THEIR ECTOPLASMIC SHIELD.
He was being held there, from what we've gathered from Daniel's time spent in the base and our own observations. However, we have picked up his very erratic brainwaves coming from the above-ground jail.
And the jail isn't shielded. The GIW may be thorough, but they are also stingy. There's no reason to fund a ectoplasmic shield for a human prison that holds only human prisoners. And besides, they have no reason to suspect anyone of trying to break him out. Even Freakshow doesn't even suspect it.
WHILE YOUR OFFER IS INTRIGUING, I AM QUITE SKEPTICAL. WHY GO THROUGH SO MUCH EFFORT ON MY BEHALF?
We know you monitored our early communications. We know that you know that our continued existence in Daniel's mind will eventually cause his mind to unravel. Recent events, however, have accelerated the degeneration process.
We don't have as much time as we thought we had.
SO DANIEL WILL PERISH IF I DO NOT AID IN YOUR EXTRACTION?
Precisely.
HOW DOES FREAKSHOW COME INTO PLAY?
We believe Freakshow's mental state has been dramatically altered by his usage of the Reality Gauntlet. He has become malevolent, and we can use that malevolence to induce a psychological episode in Daniel's mind.
It won't be pretty, but the resulting shock will allow us to free ourselves from Daniel's mind.
At which point we will gladly offer our consciousnesses to you for your experimentation.
AND I AM SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL COME TO ME WILLINGLY AND GIVE UP YOUR FREEDOM SO SOON?
Where else will we go? We can't exist for long without a body.
You are our only chance for attaining physical forms of our own. We understand that you have several otherwise unsuccessful experiments desperately in need of souls.
VERY WELL. I SHALL REMOVE FREAKSHOW FROM PRISON AND PERSUADE HIM TO ASSAULT DANIEL'S ALREADY-FRAGILE PSYCHE. JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU TWO SERVE ME NOW, AND I AM NO LONGER LEINIENT TOWARDS TRAITORS.
Understood, Plasmius. But be cautious during your prison visit.
There's more to Freakshow than meets the eye.
To Be Continued
A/N: I have no excuse for being so late with this. However, I worked out all the little bugs I had with this chapter and the rest of the segment and I think it's going to blow your mind. Or you will find it mildly enjoyable to read and then forget every detail within the next several days. Most of you will probably opt for option 2.
Go see Star Trek. Like, now.
Special thanks to gadrak-the-forbidden-one, Bloxham, Cordria, Chemical Brain, alienphantom, OutlawKnight, darkbunny92, Billy D., Sworn Alliance, xXxHayaiUrufuNagareboshixXx, Nyrrari, and Monte-chan. Extra special thanks to Cordria for beta-editing. This chapter wasn't as messy as the last one, but it still needed a bit of work. Here's hoping I can do even better next time.
I like my women like I like my instant oatmeal packets; quick, easy, and covered in facts about dinosaurs. –lefthandedtoonsdotcom.