If I haven't responded to your comment at any point in the last few chapters, sorry! Turns out I'm not getting notifications for all of them, so I apologize if I didn't reply to you.
I bet you guys think Danny is dead, right? I mean, 100% dead, because, you know… he's already half-dead…
Potterheads2016: I was super happy to see you back! And he isn't quite back yet, as a few things in this chapter will show. It's good to know I'm not going too overboard with my cliffhangers, because I do notice that I do a lot. It's just so fun :P
Little Did You Know: That would be fantastic! But not quite yet
Shiikun: It wouldn't be a good story if I weren't a little mean :P
ShinyMudkipGal: I really enjoy writing protective Daddy Danny, and also his interactions with Dani, because they do have the father/daughter vibe, but since they're so close in age and Danny is still a kid, they sometimes act like immature siblings
Sophia the daughter of Nyx: I think they might have medication for that :P and thanks!
Phantomfanforever: I mean, he's half-dead
Princessbinas: Since Danny's so in tune with his ghost half, it probably wouldn't if it came down to it
Andromeda Alpha: Yeah
GirlFish: I guess I didn't actually mention that specifically, but the marking on Danny's face (the lightning-like ones) are actually spreading out from the mark on his neck. I'll have to mention that
Katpet: He did not take it, but you'll have to read on to find out about the unscathed part :P
Mimi1012: Yes! There will be a sequel! But it'll be more angsty than action-y. In terms of Danny's eyes, yeah, pretty much. It's like his eyes flashing green when Vlad tick's him off, but on a larger scae
Nesy: I almost feel bad for leaving that cliff hanger. Almost.
Reptil: That would be a super cool set up, but they shield would be causing them a lot of pain
Randomphandom: The TV thing was inspired by Stranded With My Class, which is a fantastic fic and totally worth checking out if you haven't already
Mystic Myra: I'm so glad you're liking it so far! And it is happening, but the real question is what is happening?
Enjoy!
"Time in."
Danny was afraid to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see. He hadn't felt any pain, but he just had to be dead. There was no way he could have survived such a strong blast of anti-ecto energy. It was like ghostly radiation, a large enough dose and it's lethal. Not that that dose had to be very large in the first place.
So why, he wondered, could he hear Sam and Dani shouting his name? Maybe the anti-ecto energy had only finished killing him, and now he was simply 100% ghost. He would still be dead, but that's much better absolute death. Which also meant he might still be in Amity, since he already existed there as a ghost. But that didn't make any sense. Anti-ecto energy wouldn't harm his living half, not directly at least. Obliterating his ghost half would certainly finish killing him, but that would mean he couldn't be in Amity Park, because the ghost of Danny Fenton would no longer exist.
So he was understandably reluctant to see what his knew reality may be.
It was, oddly enough, the pain that prompted him to open his eyes. Not because it was a new pain, or a very intense pain (although it was intense), but because it was a familiar pain. It was the pain he had been feeling ever since he saw Sam and Sable, covered in cuts and bruises, that had doubled as he watched Hayden die. A pain that he surely wouldn't be feeling if he was absolutely dead. So, he blinked. And he saw Sam and Dani, and Johnny 13, and the Box Ghost. And Kwan, and Star, and Morgan.
"I'm alive?" Danny asked, a little dumbly, as he stared at Sam.
"Looks like it, kid," Johnny grinned down at the halfa, then turned to tell the rest of the ghosts the news. Danny sat up slowly holding his head, and noticed that he was no longer in Phantom form.
"You idiot!" Sam shrieked and punched his shoulder.
"Hey, ow! Injured ghost boy here!" Danny protested rubbing his arm. He looked up at Sam and flinched. Her face was red, and her eyes were brimming with tears. She looked mad, and happy, and sad all at the same time. Danielle, meanwhile, had tears flowing freely down her face, and she collapsed onto Danny, throwing her arms around his neck.
"We thought you were dead! You didn't make it out of the shield, and then the anti-ecto energy started up, and you screamed and fell. Then the wraiths started dying, or whatever it is ghosts do, and we thought you were dead to!" Sam cried.
"But I'm not," Danny offered lamely, with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
"You and your stupid hero complex." Sam hugged herself for a moment, looking conflicted, then she lashed out and punched him again. Danny's second protest was cut off when Sam pulled him forwards and kissed him.
When they broke apart, Danny grinned. "There are two things I need to do more often. Share life altering secrets, and just barely avoid death. They both result in us kissing."
"The first time wasn't really a result," Sam grumbled. She placed her hand on Danny's chest and frowned. "You're not breathing."
"I don't need to," Danny huffed, but when Sam's eyes narrowed, he took a deep breath for show. That was when the Box Ghost coughed awkwardly, reminding the couple of the fact that they were alone. Danny's breath shot out of him in a loud puff, and both he and Sam blushed furiously.
"How am I not dead?" He asked the group at large.
"The Box Ghost is unaware of how such a thing transpired!" The Box Ghost declared, puffing out his chest. "Perhaps if it involved the use of containers cardboard and square!"
"Sorry, Boxy, don't think it did," Danny shook his head and frowned. He could have sworn he heard something before he opened his eyes, but he just couldn't remember what. What he did remember was the wraiths, and he became aware of the celebrations going on around him. "The wraiths?"
"Jazz's team just took out the last group," Morgan grinned, and the other Ghostketeers echoed her expression. But Danny didn't, he was still frowing.
Something just wasn't right. Danny knew that Kraeva had a lot ghosts on his side, so how come only his wraiths fought? Not only that, but they weren't as strong as Danny knew they could be. It only took a few blasts from a Foamer to take them out, and they never used their flight while fighting, unless it was against other ghosts that could also fly. It just didn't make any sense. Plus, Kraeva himself hadn't come out to play, and from what Danny understood, the demon-like ghost had been looking forward to that. He glanced around at the exhausted Amity Park forces, leaning against each other for support. They had all been fighting for hours, and were no doubt extremely worn out.
Danny's eyes narrowed. Someone at Fenton Works had powered down the ghost shield, and Tucker had taken down the one around the school, while he was unconscious. The people that had been confined around Fenton Works were probably making their way over here now.
"Tucker?"
"Yeah, dude?"
"Where are you?"
"Mikey and I are heading your way."
"Go back to the school, now. Turn the shield back on." Those within earshot of Danny stilled at his words, and the serious tone in his voice.
"Uh, sure. But why? We won!"
"No, we didn't. This is a trap." Danny switched his Fenton Phone to the open channel. "Guys, everyone needs to get back inside the shield."
"Danny, what's going on?" Danny heard Sam's voice twice, first coming from in front of him, than her words overlaid in the Fenton Phones while she finished her sentence. It was a little disorienting to someone with such sensitive hearing.
"Kraeva's coming," Danny explained quickly. When the ghost shield started expanding from the center of the school. Danny pressed his hand down on Danielle's shoulder, at the moment not caring who might see, and forced her to transform back into her human form, then checked to make sure her belt was in working order. Just before the green walls passed over Danny, he checked his own belt. It was working fine, but that didn't stop him from being pushed a few inches as the shield struggled to pass over his ecto-laced form. Everyone who hadn't heard Dany had certainly noticed the shield going back up, at the cheers resounding around the street slowly died.
"Mom, head to Fenton Works, turn the shield there back on," Danny instructed through his ear piece. As he rose to his feet, several people turned to watch him. He noticed their attention, and immediately raised his voice. "Everyone needs to head to the school yard! Keep your weapons on you!"
Danny's commanding tone sent them into uneasy action. The crowd of battered humans started to hobble back to Casper High.
"Dora, get all the ghosts to hide somewhere. The others are coming, and I don't want you all out in the open when they do."
"The princess is a little occupied, Sparky, but I got ya."
"Just be fast, Pyre."
"Ooh, the nickname. You really are stressed."
"Ember…" Danny growled menacingly.
"Okay, cool it, baby pop. Don't go all red-eyed on me." The halfa blinked, and realized that he couldn't feel a neat in his eyes that meant they had, indeed, turned read. He forced the quick anger back and focused on the Amity Park forces. Mostly everyone was back at the school already.
"Operative O, it's best if you and your men come inside the shield."
"Anotherthreat?"
Not quite.
Danny gasped and spun around, searching for Kraeva, but spotted nothing.
::Oh, do relax, boy. I'm not going to show myself that easily::
"Kraeva, you coward! Come and face me!" Danny shouted to the green tinted sky.
"Kraeva?"
"The ghost behind all this. I sort of didn't tell you guys about him, did I?" Danny chuckled, but his eyes continued to scour the area outside the shield.
"No, Danny Fenton, you did not. Teams Alpha and Omega are almost to your location. Did you come across team Beta at all?"
"Yeah, I did," Danny scowled.
::Boy, have you left me a snack?::
"Danny, the GIW are still out there," Sam reminded the halfa. Danny heard her, but chose to ignore it.
"What if I said it was a peace offering?" Danny asked, red eyes zeroing in on the three operatives still stuck to the side of a building outside, a smirk plastered on his face.
::I appreciate your bold sacrifice, and will gladly accept your meager offerings, but I'm afraid the peace you seek will not be returned::
"Take them anyways."
"Who are you talking to?"
"Where did you come in contact with team Delta? We have been unable to reach them."
::Not very heroic of you::
"Danny?"
"Mr. Fenton, pleaserespond."
"Will you all just shut up?!" Danny shouted. He ripped both Fenton Phones from his ears and threw them down, while Sam and Danielle jumped away in shock.
"Are you okay, Danny?"
Once again, he ignored Sam, and instead stepped up to the shield. People stared at him in confusion when he started yelling. "Kraeva, if you're going to attack, attack! I know you have more allies, and your cowardice impresses no one!"
This time, Kraeva's silky voice reverberated not only in Danny's voice, but in those of every citizen of Amity Park.
::Very well, ghost boy. If you're so eager for a fight, I'll easily provide you with one::
At the same time, the rumble of the GIW tanks reached Danny's ears, and Operative O flew over in his intangibility suit and landed beside the teen. The sky suddenly darkened, swirling clouds gathered and formed a funnel cloud. As it touched the ground the tornado broke off from the top, and changed to a bright ectoplasmic green. Vines burst from the ground and twisted together into a large form. The evening sky itself seemed to shift, the darkest part, where the first stars were visible, shifting and descending to the ground.
Vortex, Undergrowth, and Nocturne stood around the Casper High ghost shield, and more of Danny's enemies appeared beside them. Plasmius, Spectra and Bertrand, the black and purple dragon recognized as Aragon, Walker and his goons, Bullet, Desiree, and Skulker.
"Which one is Kraeva?" Operative O asked.
"None of them. You'll recognize him by his flaming hair," Danny responded, searching for the aforementioned ghost. When the Fright Knight rose from the ground, the GIW immediately jumped into action.
"There he is!" One of the operatives cried, and he immediately charged forwards. The tank cannons whirred as they settled their sights on the flaming night, and the remaining GIW ran through the shield, ecto-blasters charging up and cufflink-saws whirring. They bee-lined for the Fright Night, and the surrounding ghosts just watched in amusement.
"Idiots!" Danny hissed, and he chased after them, grabbing Sam's Blaster as he bounded away. He charged head down, shoulder first at the shield, and met immediate resistance. With a frustrated growl, Danny forced his way through the green wall and stumbled when it released its hold.
"Kraeva, under the ecto-elimination act, you are wanted by the GIW!" Operative O shouted. Fright raised an eyebrow and looked at Operative O Skeptically.
"You idiots, that's not Kraeva!" Danny slid in front of the white suited operatives, Blaster hoisted on his shoulder and aimed at the Fright Knight.
"What?" The operatives blinked in confusion, a few of them a little angry that this kid thought he knew better.
"I, Kraeva?" Fright asked. His green eyes narrowed behind his helmet, and he thrust his Soul Shredder forwards. "My lord hath more important worries, and you pathetic beings offer insult?"
The Soul Shredder burst into green flames, and it slashed down towards the operatives. There was a sharp clang as Danny stepped forwards and blocked the sword with his blaster. He was sure that beneath his helmet, Fright would be scowling. Plasmius, who had been watching idly with the rest of the ghosts, flew forwards as if to help.
"Fright Knight, Plasmius. I think my I might actually have to thank you," Danny grinned at the two ghosts.
"For what, little badger?" Plasmius asked tauntingly
"It'll be so much easier to kill you, now that I don't have to go looking for you," Danny growled.
"Ooh, the scary eyes," Plasmius raised his hands in mock fright. However, when Danny's eyes turned red instead of green, he really did flinch, his own eyes widening. This caused a Cheshire smile to melt onto Danny's face, wide, wicked, and mischievous. Summoning his strength, Danny heaved and shoved the Soul Shredder away, throwing Fright off balance, then righted his Blaster and fired a few quick shots at the knight and vampire whannabe. They dodged swiftly, and Fright swung his arm out towards Vortex.
"Proceed." Fright's simple and vague instruction was followed immediately. Vortex cackled and launched himself high over the ghost shield. Danny felt the temperature drop as vortex soared overhead, and noticed the direction where he was headed.
"Tucker, can you-" Danny cut off his shout as he realized that he had taken off his Fenton Phones, and they were lying abandoned on the pavement inside the shield. He ducked as a blast of pink ectoplasmic soared through the air where Danny's head had been a moment ago.
"Fool, Kraeva has claimed the boy as his own prey!" Fright rounded on Plasmius, who had fired off the blast.
"And where is he? He said he wanted my head, so why hasn't he come to take it?" Danny asked, crossing his arms and staring up at the two ghosts.
"He is exactly where you would expect a king to be in the middle of a war," Fright said slyly. Danny was about to give him a sarcastic retort, when he realized what the Fright Night had meant.
"Get back to the shield!" Danny shouted, thrusting his arm out behind him towards the GIW. The surrounding ghosts made no move to stop them, but instead started laughing as Danny and the GIW retreated behind the green shield. The ominous rumble sounded all the way around the shield, and Danny took of running the moment they were safely behind the wall, moving at an impossible speed. He easily skipped around the people in his way, and in a matter of minutes he was on the other end of the shield. He stopped abruptly, just before colliding with the shield.
On the other side was Fenton Works, a cackling Vortex leaning against the ice encased building.
"My art endures," Vortex grinned slyly at Danny and rapped his knuckles against the frozen walls. "They aren't dead yet, but it won't be long."
Danny gave Vortex one hard glare before spinning around making his way back to Casper High, ignoring the questions that were thrown his way.
Maddie had just been stepping inside the door to her home when the ice formed along the steps. She dove inside quickly, and just narrowly avoided being consumed by the encroaching wall of cold. She stared at the still open doorway, now blocked by a thick layer of aqua ice, and scowled.
"Rotten spooks," Maddie spat at the wall as she rose to her feet. She looked around and was surprised to find that she wasn't alone. When the shields had gone down, the ghost huntress had assumed that all the citizens of Amity Park would be proceeding to the point of victory. But it looked like around fifteen to twenty people had remained inside of Fenton Works. Maddie couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing. They weren't outside to be threatened by whatever ghost had frozen them in here, but they were frozen in. She sighed and set her weapons on the entryway table.
"Is this everyone?" Maddie asked no one in particular.
"Yeah," Amber nodded, glancing quickly around the room.
"The first thing we need to try and do is break through this ice," Maddie pointed over her shoulder at the opening behind her. A few people nodded and ran to retrieve any items that could be useful, while Maddie contemplated using blaster she had just set down, but decided against it. It could cause serious damage in such a confined space.
When the first person returned, Maddie held out her hand and accepted the knife that was offered her. She faced the ice stabbed at its surface, but the blade simply slipped along it, leaving no marks at all.
"Hmm…" She deposited the knife beside her discarded weapons and held her hand out for the next thing. A blow torch. The concentrated blue flame didn't appear to affect the ice any more than the knife had. With a dejected sigh, she put that too on the table, then surveyed the other items people had found. Mostly kitchen knives, everything normal in nature. At least normal in terms of the fact that it was not equipped to fight ghosts.
As she thought this, Maddie took in the hue of the ice, so blue and perfect. Of course! It wasn't natural ice, it was ghost ice. Normal items wouldn't be able to damage it. She grabbed her ectoblade and slashed at the surface of the ice, grinning triumphantly when it slashed through about an inch. But the scar she had made sealed quickly. Frustrated, she stabbed the sword at it and was once again pleased when it worked, the blade sinking in about halfway. But at that point the ice started to creep along it towards the hilt, and Maddie was forced to pull it back out and what the hole she had made close up as soon as the blade was free.
With a little reluctance, she took up her blaster, and warned everyone to take a step back, then shot the ice. When the ectoplasm hit the surface, steam rose off the ice with a sharp hiss, and everyone watched eagerly as it cleared. The blaster had created a decent sized hole, but was still nowhere near going all the way through the ice, and it had closed back up almost instantly.
Everyone groaned, put off by the repeated failures, while Maddie thought furiously.
If only there was something that could inhibit the ghostly properties of the ice.
There were several moments of silence, at least in Maddie's mind, before she experienced her eureka moment.
"The BB Blaster!" Maddie shouted, startling those around her. She tossed the gun currently in her hands at Amber, who fumbled to catch it, then bounded down to the lab. It took her a few minutes to find the gun, but when she did, Maddie gave a triumphant shout, which changed to a groan when she saw that the canister for the blood blossom serum was empty, the last of it having been used on Danny.
She bit her lip and looked around the lab, then dove into one of the many messy cabinets before she pulled out a jar filled with rose like flowers. Flowers that had blood-red petals, and purple stems and leaves.
"Amber!" Maddie quickly ran back upstairs, to where her daughter's friend was still standing in the entryway, gun in hand. "Keep shooting that ice! I need to make more of this serum, then we can get out of here."
Amber nodded and fumbled with the weapons in her hands. Maddie heard the sound of blaster fire, follow by a high-pitched yelp and a thud as she set to work on her task.
Danny stormed into the classroom Tucker had his set up in, and found that the Ghostketeers were already there.
"Danny, what's going on?" Jack asked the moment his son stepped through the door.
"The wraiths were just to wear us out. Now Kraeva's true allies are here. For now we're safe behind the shield, but it's only a matter of time before they somehow get passed that. Fenton Works is frozen solid, so you guys need to find a way to break through and get everyone out," Danny informed them all.
"Uh, 'you guys'? What about you, dude?" Tucker, who was lounging in one of the desks, leaned forwards.
"I'm going to fight Kraeva. I know where he is." Danny grabbed the Fenton Phone that Sam had held out for him, but refused the second one. "I want Jazz to stay in contact with the GIW."
"Speaking of the GIW, I believe three of their operatives are still out there," Lancer pointed to the screen where team Beta was, indeed, still stuck to the building. Spectra was standing before them, no doubt providing her own special brand of therapy on the desolate looking souls.
"Save them if you want, I don't care," Danny growled, and as he spoke he felt a stab of pain in his chest.
"Danny, where are you going?" Sam asked, grabbing Danny's wrist before he could leave the room.
"I told you, to face Kraeva."
"But where?"
"Where most kings go while their soldiers fight," Danny cocked his head, his body perfectly still while his eyes flicked about in that eerie manner most of the Ghostketeers had yet to get used to. "To the castle."
He didn't even pull his hand from Sam's grip, but a soft white aura enveloped his body, and suddenly Danny was gone.
Before anyone complains about how Danny survived, know this! It is not a cop-out, it serves purpose to the story! And it was fun reading you all have mini heart attacks. I'm evil, it's what I do.
I'm fairly certain you all know how Danny survived, but do you know where he and Kraeva are going to fight it out? I think you do.
'See' you next time!
