Danny's gaze scanned every section of the ghost zone. He skipped school today. Like, what was even the point of doing what he supposed to do now? Not like he would learn anything in there with his current state of mind. His mind would just keep going back to how Sam and Tucker were supposed to be there, but weren't. It would just get him depressed and moody all over again. No, he figured his time was better spent on something more constructive. Getting some answers from Skulker.
Danny had no idea what he was even going to do when he reached the ghost's island. Would he actually be able to take the situation as calmly as he thought he could? Or would he just attack him on sight? He also had to contest with the different traps that were sure to be on the hunter's island, which would more than likely get in his way. He'd have to be careful, but nothing was going to stop him from getting to Skulker.
"What are you going do once you get to him, hmm? Can you even kill ghosts?" his mind questioned.
"No, we're... I'm not going to kill him. Feel like I'm going insane here," the second half of his mind said. "We just want answers."
"Answer to a question that you already have the answer to. He killed Sam and Tucker. That's all there is too it." It was so much like an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Only the devil sounded strangely enticing. But no. He would stick to his guns. He would do the right thing here. Yet at the same time, he didn't exactly know what the right thing was. But a beam striking his back that caused him to fly forward before he stopped himself in midair stopped his pondering.
"Great," Danny murmured as he turned to face his opponent.
"I could've told you it was a bad idea to come here dipstick," Ember said with a grin. Danny's impatience only grew.
"I don't have time for this. How about you walk... er, float away from here and I won't leave you in the thermos for a week. I get awfully forgetful you know..." Danny said even as his fists lit up with energy. It's almost as if his body was hoping that she would deny the offer. He then became aware of his vision patching up with black spots. As if resisting the urge to fall unconscious.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Ember said before she blew a chord at him. Had he not felt so upset, it felt like Danny would've smiled at her words. Well, at least he had a way to blow off some steam.
Danny dodged the chord she launched at him with seemingly no effort before launching beams of his own, which she dodged. She was smirking, at for some reason, that made Danny angry. Suddenly, things went black. Only he could see.
"What's the matter babypop? Can't..." Suddenly her throat closed off. Ghosts didn't need air to exist obviously, but they could still feel pain. And the thing around her throat was as tight as anything. That was when her eyes wandered up and saw that Phantom was in fact holding her throat with an ectoplasmic whip. She didn't even know he could make weapons with his powers. And... why did he look so angry?
"I offered you a chance. And what do you do?" Danny questioned before she was jerked forward. And immediately blasted back by a beam he shot towards her. She groaned is she managed to recover in midair.
"Attack me," Danny finished, floating in front of her. "What... a... surprise." Each emphasized word was followed by him creating a clone, effectively surrounding her. He didn't normally use clones unless he was fighting a substantially difficult opponent, but for some reason he was feeling... playful. Wait, playful? The headache was back. This didn't seem right... Unfortunately, that was what gave him away to Ember about him being the real one.
"Gotcha!" she said as she blasted a chord in his direction. In an unnaturally calm fashion, he raised a shield to block the chord and it stopped dead. Didn't even crack. The headache was gone.
"Do you? Because I'm ready for more," Danny said, all of his clones blasting her at the same time. It took everything for Ember not to yell. His blasts hurt a lot more this time. And this was him splitting his power levels. Did he always pull his punches?
The ghost rocker was distinctly aware of a presence catching her before she fell into the endless pit. Who knows when she would've recovered. But she certainly wasn't being held nicely. She was in fact, being held by her throat. Looking up, she looked straight into the eyes of Danny Phantom.
"Where's Skulker," Danny said, his voice calm and demanding rather than asking. But she knew there was something... off about him. He had never used physical attacks before, but right now, it was like he was trying to strangle the afterlife out of her. Not only that, but his eyes were bright green, but it's more like they were chips of ice. It gave her a strange feeling of Vlad Plasmius.
"How would I know where he is? He's always going off somewhere hunting..." Suddenly his grip tightened, and she could've sworn that he just gave her several bruises on her neck. Ember swallowed hard. She wasn't dealing with goody two shoes Danny Phantom. No, she was dealing with a Phantom that was willing to hurt her. And hurt her bad.
"Don't. Lie. To me," Danny said slowly, his tone cold. He then placed a hand to her head. Slowly she felt the top of her head begin to chill. Her eyes widened as her head was made of fire, and he was able to freeze it solid. She channeled her energy through her fire hair. And she was not going to melt this off without someone chanting her name. Believe her. She was trying.
"I mean... you could check his fortress," Ember said, trying to put as much volume in her voice as she could to avoid sounding meek. She couldn't believe she actually felt scared. Of Phantom. Then again, he was giving her good reason to.
"My thoughts exactly. And you would know where his traps are, wouldn't you?" Danny asked, causing her to nod. "Good. I won't go today, but... when I need you... I will come. And we will venture on the island together. You will disable the traps. If you don't, well, that all depends on what Skulker sets up. It's guaranteed to be painful."
Ember's eyes widened in realization. He wasn't going to trust her. He was going to use her as a dummy for the traps if she tried to deceive him. Smart, because she most likely would've made him walk straight into one, but it was still horrifying. She just hoped Skulker didn't change the location of his traps from the last time she was there.
"Now, cooperate and you'll walk away just fine," Danny said, getting rid of the ice on her head. But then his grip tightened on her throat and she suddenly felt her guitar being wrenched from her hand. Her hand tried to reach for it back, but he was able to restrain her with minor effort.
"But if you end up lying to me or warning Skulker, well, I hope you like a broken guitar to make songs with," Danny told her, somehow making her eyes widen even more. "You can talk to him all you want. But if you warn him, I'll know. And... well, as you can see, I'm not feeling very nice. Remember that." Then he whacked her upside the head with it to knock her out.
As if he suddenly got the worst headache ever, he gripped his forehead with his knees slightly bent before taking in his surroundings. He was aware of something being in his hand, and looked to see that he had Ember's guitar. Looking around in curiosity, he saw Ember on the patch of land in front of him in an unconscious state.
He also noted the bruises that were on her neck, and wondered where they came from. She and Skulker have a fight or something? Then again, he had more faith that the rocker would win the fight over the so called 'hunter.'
"That's weird," Danny said as he put her guitar down. He took a look at Ember and wondered if he should actually find a ghost to take her back to her place or someone that she knew.
"Nah. Better to get out of here before someone shows up and causes problems for you," his mind told him. Somewhat hesitantly, his body was in agreement with his mind and he ended up floating off.
"Skulker!" Ember exclaimed, pounding on the door to his lair. "Skulker!" She had woken up on the same patch of land Phantom left her out, and the bruises on her neck were a reminder as to what she experienced back there was no dream. Phantom had something against Skulker, and, by the looks of things, willing to do anything to do it. And considering Phantom had beat them all and sent them back to the ghost zone on a daily basis, she wasn't a big fan of finding out what methods he would use if he didn't cooperate.
"What woman?!" Skulker exclaimed, wrenching open the door. She glared at him.
"Stuff it with the woman thing blob head. We've got bigger issues. What'd you do to piss off Phantom?" Ember questioned, heat in her tone.
"What do you mean 'piss him off?'" Skulker questioned.
"Skulker." Her voice wasn't as icy as Phantom was when he threatened her, but it was good enough. "I just found Phantom and he's looking for you. But because he found me first, I ended up getting the crap kicked out of me. You think Phantom normally does this to people?" She put extra emphasis towards the bruises on her neck, and Skulker seemed to finally get the idea.
"A simple miscalculation," he said rather calmly.
"What could you have possibly miscalculated that got him going from a disgusting goody two shoes hero to a second coming of OJ Simpson?!" Ember exclaimed, raising her hands as if she were coming down on him like a large bird of prey.
"My ectoplasmic rockets. Some of them seemed to have tracked the ecto signature of his human friends and they were injured from the explosions. I expected it to put him in a status of mourning, which in turn..."
"Skulker! Focus! Instead of him being upset, he's pissed off! Judging by his methods, he wants your head on a platter. Do you know how badly my neck hurts?!" Ember said, furiously gesturing towards her bruises again.
"Did you at least defend yourself?" Skulker questioned.
"UGH! You are-" Ember was about ready to blast the hunter, but she stopped herself last minute. She wouldn't be surprised if Phantom still smashed her guitar if she had gotten to him before he did. She was the one to start the fight, but that was besides the point. His careless response is what made her mad.
"How about you do't got near me," Ember said calmly before her tone got darker. "For the next few days." Then she flew off. Skulker was beyond confused, but Ember would find just a bit of pleasure in making sure Skulker got the crap beaten out of him.
