I love it when I'm able to update two days in a row! I hope you guys love it too
Little Did You Know: Ah, yes. Things are not going well for Danny
Looney Aces: Yeah…
Mimi1012: I love your imagination!
Op Kazuma: Yes, 'good' things ;)
Sophia the daughter of Nyx: Thanks!
Phantomfanforever: Never ever ever!
Randomphandom: Yes, it will go against his obsession more. When this is all over and done with, Danny is not going to be okay
Nesy: So do I, but I can't deny that I'm not having fun writing Danny losing his mind
InfiniteReader: Thanks!
ShinyMudkipGal: I can see, and SO AM I!
Mydoginasweater: Yes! Also, I love your name
Potterheads2016: Haha, will do!
Enjoy!
It was neither the blood that had splashed across his face, nor the short cry that erupted from the operative's lips that broke through the haze of Danny's rage. What truly caught his attention, was the distinctive thud of a body dropping to the floor. A sound that, despite having only heard it once, he would never forget. In his shock, the scythe slipped from Danny's hands and spun through the air before the blade sunk smoothly into one of the pillars closer to Kraeva.
Danny was afraid to turn and look behind him, where the momentum of the thing he sliced had carried it beyond his view. But, while looking forwards, he had immediately noticed the lacking presence of the operative Kraeva had taken. Slowly, he turned, and his eyes fell upon the white clad figure. It was lying face down, and blood had started to seep out from under the body. Danny stepped towards it, his steps echoing ominously around the open space. He turned the body over, and saw closed eyes, and an expression contorted in pain.
For a few quiet seconds, Danny just stared down at the operative, and the bright red slash across his chest.
::I do believe he's dead::
Danny then did something very unexpected. He threw his head back and laughed. It was a high and desperate laugh and his whole body shook with it. He dropped to his knees beside the prone figure, the blaster in his hand clattering against the tiles.
Kraeva, pleased that the result was as he had expected, let out his own cackle, and he trotted down the hall towards Danny. What he hadn't expected, were Danny's next words.
"It's so ironic!" Danny gasped through his laughter, pressing a hand to his head. "He just looks so… dead! Hayden didn't. He looked like he was sleeping, with just a small cut on his chest."
The halfa lowered his hand onto the operative's chest, the warm blood soaking through his glove. "This is what he should have looked like. Bloody and in pain, like this. Not… not like that. But he isn't dead, he isn't dead."
Danny raised his bloody hand and pressed it against his face. Kraeva scowled, looking closer at the seemingly dead operative, and noticed the slight twitches in his facial expression, and the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest. Danny, meanwhile, continued to look at the operative with wide eyes through his bloodied fingers.
"You're not dead, you should be dead, but you're not. You should be dead!" He shouted down at the operative, and suddenly lunged forwards, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You should have died, you should be dead. I should've killed you, I should kill you. You should be dead, I should kill you, you should be dead, I should kill you I SHOULD KILL YOU!"
Danny was screaming into the operative's face now, shaking him violently. The rough handling caused the operative to open his eyes for a brief moment, and his vision was filled with the face of Danny Phantom¸ bloody handprint on his face.
"F…Fen…ton," the operative groaned before passing out again. Danny unceremoniously dropped the operative, remembering how he had transformed just before Kreava had thrown the man.
"Uh-oh…" Danny giggled and scrambled back. "He saw me. He shouldn't have seen, but he did. He'll tell the others, then they'll capture me, and experiment on me. He'll tell them, he'll tell them, I should kill him."
While Kraeva was enjoying this little breakdown, he was getting bored and wanted to fight. So, before Danny's rant could grow and longer, he spun around and swiftly kicked Danny in the chest, sending the halfa flying across the hall, between a set of pillars, and crashing into the wall. He cried out as his head bounced against the stone and slipped a hand under his hood to rub the growing bump.
::Don't bore me, boy. I said I wanted fun, not your pathetic ramblings::
Danny rose on unsteady feet, blinking until the world was no longer blurry, and no longer felt the urge to laugh. Instead he focused a dark glare on Kraeva and held his hand out beside him. Crackling energy gathered in his palm, and Danny thrust his hand forwards towards his enemy. The electricity laced ectoplasm moved as fast as a lightning strike and in an instant was before Kraeva. It suddenly shrunk, almost disappearing from sight, than exploded outwards. Green electricity arced off of the explosion and struck Kraeva in the chest, knocking him back a ways.
Without wasting a moment, Danny flew forwards, red eyes ringed with blue as he fired beams of ice towards Kraeva while he was still stumbling. His aim proved true and the blue energy struck Kraeva's shoulder and knocked him further off balance so that, when Danny landed his own kick on the ghost's side, he tumbled over.
Danny didn't let up his barrage of attacks. Firing ectoblast after ectoblast, hitting Kreave with a flurry of kicks, punches, and wave after wave of fatal electricity. He only stopped when, minutes later, he was panting heavily. Kraeva had taken every single one of Danny's hits, providing no resistance, and was now lying slumped against the marble floor. Danny approached cautiously, believing his assault may have been enough to finish the ghost off.
::That was fun::
Danny stopped when Kraeva's voice rang out in his head.
::But I think I'm going to enjoy this more:: Kraeva suddenly disappear and Danny backed up against a pillar, looking around trying to find the now invisible ghost. He did, eventually, find him. At the same moment that a pair of long, sharp claws raked across his arm.
"You're sure they should be here?" Sam asked, peering around the corner of the building. Tucker, who was standing just behind her, looking at the traffic cameras on the streetlamps, taking in their angle, and what could theoretically be seen through them.
"Yeah. That was one of their cameras," Tucker pointed and Sam followed his gaze, nodding.
"Okay." Sam looked at the ghosts standing before the shield, taunting what few humans were brave enough to hide inside a building, but not enough to step out and face them. "Danny told them to hide, so I guess we'll look through the nearby buildings. Jazz, since you have the suit, could you stand guard?"
"Sure." Jazz nodded and took over Sam's position while everyone else crept behind the building. They waited at various back entry points to several buildings, nodding to each other, before easing their way inside. Jazz, from her lookout point, could hear everyone whispering various ghosts' names over the open channel as they hunted through the most likely empty buildings.
The first few minutes proved fruitless, with the Ghostketeers rushing from building to building as quietly as possible while Jazz changed alleyway watch points as they moved further down the street and around the shield. She had her eyes trained on a very human looking ghost who was talking animatedly at the people through the shield—they appeared to get more depressed with every word the ghost spoke—and listening idly to the whispers in her ear, when she noticed on a little different from the others.
"Ms. Fenton?"
Jazz jumped in surprise, her heavy suit banging loudly against a garbage can, and she winced as the ghosts around the shield paused. When they resumed their antics, muttering something about "cats" and "Plasmius", she sighed in relief and turned slowly, searching for the source of the voice. Although, even if Jazz couldn't see her, she suspected she knew which ghost had spoken.
"Princess Dorathea?" Jazz hissed into the dark alley. Only now, searching for the ghost in question, did the future psychologist realize how low the sun was. She shuffled away from the alley's entrance, ignoring the questioning voices in her ear.
"Yes, Ms. Fenton?" Jazz nearly yelped when the green-skinned ghost suddenly appeared in front of her, but she managed to contain her shout of surprise. "Where had Sir Phantom gone?"
"Fighting Kraeva, I think," Jazz answered, casting a wary glance over her shoulder before delving further into the shadows of the alley.
"Alone? Sir Phantom may be powerful, but Kraeva is one of the oldest ghosts in existence! Only the Ancients could defeat him, and Danny is hardly as strong as them," Dora's eyes widened comically, but the matter was serious. "We must assist him!"
"Yeah, he's going to need our help. But there's a problem. Some ghost completely froze Fenton Works, with people inside, so we have to through and get them out before we can access the Fenton Portal," Jazz explained quickly while Dora nodded in understanding.
"It must have been Vortex. You were right to seek us out. Only a more powerful ghost's fire can melt another ghost's ice, but I'm afraid I am not more powerful than he."
Jazz, understandably, looked crestfallen, and was about to relay this new information to the rest of the Ghostketeers (who were still whispering furiously for her to answer them) when Dora continued.
"If Ember helps, as well as a few other ghosts with fire cores, our combined power should be able to melt the ice."
"Hey, guys, I found Princess Dorathea," Jazz finally replied to the Ghostketeers as she smiled at the ghostly princess. Dora, in response, nodded to Jazz and went off to find the ghosts in question. "She's going to find a few other ghosts that can help her melt the ice. We should have everyone out soon."
"And then we can help Danny." It was no surprise when that was the first thing Sam said, and she wasn't the only one who was thinking that.
"We should start heading over now, since we can't move as fast as the ghosts," Valerie said as she emerged from the building she had been searching. The others followed from their own respective buildings.
"Good idea, Valerie," Jack grinned, and he immediately started jogging North towards Fenton Works. The others quickly moved to follow, but Jazz hung back.
"Something wrong, girl?" Valerie asked as her board formed under her feet.
"I'm going to get those three GIW agents that were left out here," Jazz explained.
"They're still out here?" Tucker asked in surprise. "I thought Danny would have brought them inside the shield."
"He… wasn't able to," Sam hesitated, not wanting to divulge the fact that Danny had willingly left them out there. Although it wasn't a total lie. The other ghosts had gotten in his way. "I'll be coming with you, everyone else should go to Fenton Works."
Tucker looked like he was about to protest, but Sam raised her foot in a manner that was surprisingly threatening prevented the words from leaving his mouth. He nudged Valerie and they set off after Jack while Jazz and Sam went on the opposite direction. They mostly moved in silence, both unsure what to say as well as wanting to remain out of their enemies' awareness.
It was only when they were nearing the GIW that Jazz broke the silence.
"Nothing was stopping him, right?" She asked as they ducked behind a dumpster while a shapeless ghost floated by.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Nothing was stopping Danny from retrieving those GIW agents."
"I really don't," Sam lied, wanting desperately for this to remain secret.
"Look, Sam. I don't like them either, especially not after what happened. But this is Danny we're talking about. No matter what, he would never leave someone behind. The fact that he did is a big deal, and we both know that he did." They rushed out from behind their cover and pressed themselves against an indented doorway. From her position, Jazz could just see the side of one of the agents. They were so close.
"I already said, I don't know what you're talking about. That ghost, the Fright Knight, stopped Danny and the other GIW from getting to them," Sam remained adamant, knowing full well what a big lie that was. But she wanted to believe otherwise. Jazz scowled, knowing she was going to get nowhere, and instead focused on the task at hand.
"I don't think we'll be able to just walk over and break them free. We'll need a distraction," Jazz said, scanning the ghosts.
"The Peeler will be better for breaking the ectoplasm that's holding the operatives. I'll distract the ghosts." Before Jazz could argue otherwise, Sam and run out of their hiding place, hoisting the Ecto-stoppo-power-ifier onto her shoulder and firing it at the nearest ghost, which had been a short, human looking man, cried out and transformed into red-eyed blob of ectoplasm as the blast hit. This, as planned, drew the attention of the other ghosts.
"Hey, ghosts! Over here!" Sam waved her arms and firing again, although this time she hit nothing. Eager for a little fun, the ghosts grinned and flew towards her while she ran away, leading them down the street. When the coast was clear, Jazz crept forwards towards the GIW operatives, who had started struggling against their bonds when the ghosts left.
"Hold still," Jazz instructed, and she raised her arm. The green beam poured from the gun and tore away at the ectoplasm holding the operatives in place. When the last of it was stripped away, they fell to their knees, and Jazz noticed something odd. "Wasn't there supposed to be three of you?"
"That ghost took Operative N," one of them responded. Jazz couldn't help but glare at the one who had spoken. Operative H, who she had immediately recognized, was the operative that trapped Danny under the shield.
"Go to the shield, now," Jazz demanded, though not fully expecting compliance. She was right.
"You should leave the ghost fighting to the adults. It's because of you kids that we're in this mess," Operative H responded, checking to see if any parts of his intangibility suit still work, or if Phantom's ectoplasm had shorted out all of its functions. It had.
"How is any of this our fault?" Jazz demanded, her gun of the Peeler still aimed towards the operatives.
"If a more competent adult had been leading, instead of that Fenton boy, the ghost would have been defeated much faster," Operative H explained, completely serious.
"What, are you stupid?!" Jazz strained to keep her voice down. "You're the ones that made a stupid decision that resulted in a boy dying! All because you couldn't stand listening to a teenager? What kind of superiority complex do you have, that you can't recognize a good plan all because the person who made it is younger than you?"
The operatives blinked in surprise, having fully expected this teenage girl to jump at the chance of having an adult's orders to listen to.
"Danny happens to be my little brother, and if it weren't for him, those wraiths would still be flooding the streets, then we'd have to deal with them, and all of these other ghosts!" Jazz swung her arm out, motioning to where the ghosts in question had been mere moments ago. "Now, if you'll excuse me. My brother's girlfriend is risking her life so that I can save you two, and she needs my help."
Jazz spun around and ran down the street, leaving the baffled operatives. At the moment, she understood why Danny had left them outside the shield. Not that it was okay that he did it, far from it, but she could understand his reasoning behind it.
Maddie cheered in triumph as she raised the vial high above her head. Finally, she had finished making the blood blossom serum. She darted up the stairs, grabbing the BB Blaster as she passed, and into the entryway where Amber had apparently handed off the bazooka to Damian Grey. While the ice was still sealing itself quickly after each blast, they had managed to create a small crater due to the frequency of the blasts.
Still, they had been working on it for around an hour and a bit, and had technically barely dented the ice if one were to look at exactly how thick it was.
Maddie quickly loaded the BB Blaster. She hadn't made enough serum to even fill the canister halfway, but if she was right, it would be just enough to break through the ice. Just in time, too, because the temperature and dropped severely and everyone was shivering. In the living room the only small child that had remained inside Fenton Works was bundled in almost every blanket and sweater that they had been able to find, but he still looked extremely cold. Everyone else, save for Amber and Damian, were huddled around the child with the remaining warmth-bringing items around their own shoulders.
"Don't stop shooting," Maddie told Damian as she raised the BB Blaster. Damian complied, and continued to fire as Maddie readied her shot. When it was lined up, she waited until just the right moment to fire. Not even half a second after Damian had unleashed a shot from the bazooka, she pulled her own trigger, and the red blast quickly followed the green one. As the bazooka's energy exploded against the ice, it deepened the crater ever so slightly, and the red blast hit the same spot, further damaging the area as the red liquid splashed against the ice. Quickly after, another of Damian's blasts hit the spot, further spreading the BB serum.
Suddenly the ice crashed, and bright green light flooded into the house.
Dora and Ember led their retinue of fire using ghosts to Fenton works while the others were close behind, ready to provide cover. When they arrived, the Ghostketeers, save Jazz and Sam, were already there.
"You guys ready?" Ember grinned, pulling her guitar over her shoulder.
"Yeah, but what happened to your Fenton Phone?" Valerie asked.
"Ghost fire and electronics don't really miss," Ember said in lieu of a detailed explanation. But really, it was enough. Jack slammed his fists together, the ghost gloves banging loudly and drawing the attention of Vortex, who had been standing watch around the building.
"I hope you're ready to face the perfect storm!" Vortex roared, and his arm lashed out, sending a gust of wind in their direction. The humans dropped against the street to avoid being blown away while the ghosts flew around. Dora and Ember led their small group over to entrance of Fenton Works while Johnny and Kitty headed the charge towards Vortex. When the wind faded, Valerie immediately shot up on her board and joined the ghosts in bombarding Vortex with ectoblasts. Tucker and Jack were forced to fight from the ground, but they still did their part.
Vortext, surrounding, was getting increasingly frustrated. He spotted the ghosts standing in front of Fenton Works, charging their ghostly fire. When Dora's dragon eye amulet glowed and she transformed into her dragon form, Vortex sent another gust of wind towards the pesky ghosts attacking him and focused on the ones trying to destroy his masterpiece, but he was stopped by a black mass flying in front of his face. In a spot of bad luck, Vortex slipped on the very ice he had created and crash heavily against the street.
"No!" He shouted as the ghosts launched their green fire at his beautiful ice.
"Yeah!" Ember countered, and she dramatically swung her arm up, before striking a powerful chord to amplify the effect of the fire. It was extremely effective, and the blaze of green flames swirled together and burst through the ice. Cheers erupted outside the building, and a moment later Maddie Fenton burst through the hole that had formed in the ice, BB Blaster raised high.
"Your mine, ghost scum!" Maddie cried, firing off the remainder of the BB serum at Vortex, who cried out in pain as it hit.
"Mads!" Jack shouted as he saw his wife.
"Jack, hi honey! Where are the kids?" Maddie stepped to the side so that the others that had been trapped inside Fenton Works could stumble down the steps.
"Jazz is on the other side of the shield with Sam, and Danny is in the Ghost Zone."
"What? How did he get there?"
"We're not really sure," Valerie answered with a shrug. "He just sort of… disappeared."
"We just need to wait for Jazz and Sam, then we're going after him," Tucker added.
"Let's hope their quick," Maddie nodded. The ghosts, meanwhile, were still attacking Vortex, who was attempting to pick himself back up despite the red liquid eating through him. The Ghostketeers quickly skirted around the fight, guiding the people they had just rescued to the shield, but before they passed through it, it disappeared.
Jazz caught up with Sam quickly despite the added weight of the Fenton Peeler, and immediately jumped into the fray as they started to work their way back to the shield, both of them knowing it would be much easier to make their way to Fenton Works in a location where the ghosts couldn't reach them.
Making her way to Sam, Jazz attacked the red-suited ghost she had seen talking to people earlier, who looked surprisingly fearful at the sight of the Fenton Peeler. Jazz payed little attention to that and instead just turned the green beam onto her. The ghost, which Jazz was just recognizing as their old school counsellor, shrieked and her skin started to peel away in layers until she was an old and shrivelled figure that Jazz was able to knocking over with a light tap.
"Come on, we're almost there!" Sam shouted, and Jazz started to back up with the Goth. Taking a calculated risk, they turned and dove through the green wall, grinning in triumph as the ghosts were halted by the energy shield.
"We need to get to Danny," Sam said, turning serious. Jazz nodded in agreement and, as they were rising to their feet, the green wall that was protecting them suddenly vanished.
There was an awkward moment as Jazz and Sam stared at each other, then the ghosts that were just as stunned. The ghosts recovered first, wicked grins spreading across their faces. The girls then scrambled to their feet and, all caution abandoned, streaked down the street to get as far from the ghosts as fast as possible.
"Aah!" Danny cried out as he was thrown for the third time against a pillar, the marble cracking as he hit it. Several other pillars already had such spider-web designs from the severe beating they were receiving from of Danny's body being used as a projectile. Before he could slip to the floor, Kraeva was there, hand around his throat.
::It is such a pity, I had expected to have a little more fun::
Danny's reply came in the form as an unintelligible croak. He was undoubtedly losing, badly. His left arm was bleeding profusely where Kraeva's claws had first dug into his skin, he was bruised all over, and Danny was sure that he had a concussion, if the fuzzy images that swam before his eyes were any hint. But he still fought, landing his own punches whenever he could. They just didn't seem to make any difference. In fact, looking at Kraeva, he didn't appear to have any injuries. No bruises of light scratches even. Still, Danny wouldn't give up, and it wasn't for his typical noble reasons.
He was fighting to protect Amity Park, but he had a much darker motivator than that. What Danny wanted, was revenge. Revenge for hurting his Sam, for invading his town, for endangering his people and his family. Not to mention Hayden's death who at that point Danny's obsessive side had already considered his. After all, all the Ghostketeers had become a part of his family. Hayden's death would never have happened if it weren't for Kraeva's attack, not that Danny didn't place most of the blame on the GIW. Operative H had a rather special place in the darkest parts of Danny's mind. But, at the moment, Kraeva was closest. And it was Kraeva that Danny wanted to defeat.
His breath came out in a sharp puff, and the red hand closed around Danny's throat became coated in a thin layer of ice. Quickly, Danny grabbed Kraeva's wrist and channelled his lighting through the appendage. He was able to slip out of the suffocating dip and jump up without Kraeva's range of reach, thrusting his elbow into the ghosts gut. Kraeva simply chuckled and, as if to amuse the boy who was putting so much effort into fighting him, flew back a ways while pretending it had been the blow that actually knocked him away.
Danny was panting heavily, and he could feel his power waning, his eyes fading back to green as he no longer had the energy to stay so angry. It was all he could do not to drop to his knees. His eyes roamed around the throne room, and they settled on his abandoned blaster, still lying beside the barely breathing operative, and the scythe embedded in the pillar, which he was now much closer to. Danny gauged the distance. He wouldn't have enough energy to teleport all the way to the scythe, which was designed to fight more powerful ghosts and would certainly do more damage. But he could reach the blaster.
"Kraeva, I will defeat you," Danny threatened, and he teleported beside the operative. Kraeva hadn't noticed Danny picking up the blaster and flew forwards, preparing to attack. The halfa whipped his arm around and charged a powerful blast, assisting the guns energy release with his own electric and ice powers. The blast hit Kraeva square in the chest and this time, as he was pushed backwards, it actually was because of Danny's attack.
While Kraeva was righting himself, Danny turned, risking having his back to his enemy, and lunged for the scythe.
::No!::
Danny quickly looked over his shoulder and saw Kraeva coming towards him. He turned back to the scythe and sprinted the last few feet to the weapon. His hands closed around the staff, slipping momentarily because of the blood that still covered his gloves, and he yanked the blade out of the pillar. He twirled the scythe so that the blade was in position to slice his opponent and spun around, arms behind him and ready to swing forwards.
The start of a loud cry poured from Danny's lips, but was quickly halted by the sharp claws being shoved through his chest.
So… I'm just gonna go over there before you all attack me… yeah
'See' you next time!
*runs away*
