CHAPTER 30: MAN MADE GOD, PART 5
At the center of the family unit is the sense of belonging; a linchpin which keeps all members of the family stuck together and closely bonded to keep their lineage moving and stable. Supporting a healthy environment for children, to see them develop strongly and be ready to face life in the future, is the sole and most important goal of the unit, and failure is not an option for the parents who chose to start it.
One of the ways in which their goal of belonging and safety is met is with the nightly event of a family dinner, giving each member of the family a chance to sit down and converse over their day to see their lives shared in full with one another, further cementing the connection and bond that all members have for each other.
With a full course of food set before them, the family all seated themselves at the table, preparing to indulge in the meal and converse over the day as they ate. As the mother set a helping of food on each plate, carefully separating out each course, she set the plates before all members, leaving each dish of fresh, hot food sitting before all 4 members of the family:
The father, the mother, the son, and the daughter; each a different role in the larger whole, but none replaceable or expendable.
When each plate was set before them, the family did not take to eating their dinner as it was served, but instead withheld themselves for the pre-meal ritual of prayer. The act of silence and meditation was traditionally once made to give thanks to their god for the procuring of the food, but theirs is not towards any deity, but towards the creators of the food themselves.
"We are thankful for the food we have set before us. We give thanks to the farmers who have grown the meat and vegetables, who put their bodies to such hard work to produce good crop for us. We thank the meat packers and vegetable canners, who have preserved the food so that it may be delivered to us. We thank the supermarket workers who supply us the food so we may purchase it and feed ourselves with it. Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your hard work and good deeds." The father said.
Concluding their prayer, the family began to cut into their meat and vegetables and ate it, chewing up the home-cooked meal and swallowing it to send it down into their bellies, where it would be broken down into their bare nutrients to keep their bodies nourished and fed to sustain their lives.
As the family began eating the food, the mother began inquiring over the children's' respective days, seeking to know what experiences they had in their absence.
"So, kids, how was school today?" The mother asked.
"I had a really fun time. Me and my friends all got to work together on a class project at history, and we got a B plus!" The daughter said.
"Eh, it was okay. Just a bunch of dumb classes like usual, then finally some football. The coach said that he could help me with some of my grades if I stuck more to the game." The son said.
"Now, son, you know that sports aren't the most important thing in life. There's still a lot of things a man has to learn to be a provider for his family." The father said.
"But I can become a big star quarterback and become really rich. Then I would've have to learn anything."
"Your body can only take you so far. Youth and strength don't last forever. I'm learning that the hard way with this factory job. If it wasn't for the union, I might've been laid off some time ago. No, you gotta keep going to school and become smarter so you can get a good job where you don't have to break your back for a good paycheck."
"Aw, but what's the point of learning all this stuff, anyway? I'm never gonna actually use any of this in any job. It's stupid."
"Well, honey, there's plenty of things that you'll learn in school, especially later on. You'll find something you do like eventually, and you'll find yourself wanting to do it for a living later on, and you'll want to learn how to do it better." The mother said.
"Yeah, well, what if I don't? What job is gonna want me to answer a bunch of stupid math questions?"
"Plenty. Scientists have to do it a lot to make sure they get their results right."
"What if I don't want to be a scientist?"
"Then there's plenty of other things you can be, too, that need you to be smart to do them."
"That's right. I don't want you having to work too hard on some other job that anybody can do. I want you to do a job only you can do, and do really well." The father added.
The father's comment was followed by a small beat of silence, then by a large round of applause, given by a line of observers over the full event and dialogue. Concluding their performance, the 'family' stepped up from their seats and faced the crowd, all giving a bow.
Following the performance was a tour guide giving her own address to the crowd, leading them further on their trip.
"What you just saw before you was an approximation of family life in the early 21st century, before Danny Phantom. Families would often give prayer for their food much like you just saw, though usually addressed to their deity of choice rather than the people who grew the food. The food in a family dinner consisted primarily of a protein of either beef, poultry, or fish, with any number of cooked vegetables, mostly of which are sadly extinct. Children could be bred without any government population control, unlike today with our selective breeding programs which will ensure a stable population. The boy and girl who have performed for you today have actually been pre-selected to marry and conceive two children of their own when they're of age, and, fortunately, they're not actually siblings, because otherwise said children would breed many genetic defects. Now, if you'll follow us through this way through the Amity Park Museum of Natural History, we'll be moving on to an exhibit and performance on daily activities like tending to house pets and plants, up to visits to gas stations prior to the invention of hovercars." The tour guide said.
Leading her group further through the Museum of Natural History, the tour guide left the imitation of life behind, moving them on to the next exhibit. No longer on shift to entertain the tourists, the mock family went their separate ways, beginning to leave the museum to fulfill their own lives, or what they could make of them.
"Dear god, honey, I don't know how straight people lived like this back then. I'm glad I barely remember life before Danny Phantom. Tell me why I took this job, again?" The 'father' asked.
"Because we're good actors, and the Museum pays us damn good money for extra rations. If I can pretend to like men, you can pretend to like women." The 'mother' answered.
"Shouldn't that be 'pretend to be a woman' in your case? I know a dick bulge when I see one, and I see a big one right now."
"Shut up, you asshole."
As the mock mother and father departed on their separate ways, neither bothering to acknowledge one another following their performance, nor even the children who had once played their own. Moving out of the set of the living room, the children moved into the back lockers for the Museum staff to change into their own clothing and remove their wigs, changing back into their own clothes once again.
With her wig removed, the girl redressed her hair into her preferred hairstyle, keeping most of her hair short with a ponytail atop, strongly resembling the hairstyle once worn by the long-dead Sam Manson. Despite her hair being a bright blonde, the resemblance between her and the long-dead Sam was strong, even having purple eyes just like hers.
The boy, his name Oliver, and the girl, her name Geraldine, their part-time job completed, then began making their way off to school.
"So, Oliver, how do you think I'd look with my hair black?" Geraldine asked.
"Huh?" Oliver asked.
"I said, how do you think I'd look with my hair black?"
"I heard what you said. Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm trying to look more like Sam Manson."
"Who?"
"Sam Manson. You know, she was the girl who was killed along with the Fentons, back before Danny Phantom turned evil. She used to be Danny Phantom's girlfriend."
"Oh, no, you're not getting caught up with the Fenton cult, are you?"
"They're not a cult. They're more of a... group. You wouldn't get it. You'd have to be one to get it."
"I get enough of it. They seriously think that the whole reason Danny Phantom went evil is because she and the Fentons all died. They act like it's a whole religious prophesy and everything. It's just another trendy cult, that's all it is."
"They're not just a trend."
"The news says they are. They say their fasion sense is."
"No. A trend is something that'll just go away in a few years. This is different. Once you're a Fenton, you're a Fenton forever and ever. You keep the memory of the Fentons alive through yourself."
"Then why do they include a girl that wasn't part of the family and another guy?"
"She was Danny's girlfriend. She was part of the family. They might've gotten married someday and maybe had a baby. Rumor has it, one day they'll all return and they'll all fight back against Danny Phantom for all that he's done, and save the planet from him once and for all."
"I've heard the spiel before. I wasn't impressed the first time."
"Oh, yeah? How's this for impressive?"
Geraldine pulled a necklace out of her shirt, displaying it to Oliver. The necklace was a vintage piece of jewelry from Nasty Burger, once perhaps worn by an employee or a prize in a children's meal. Placed on a string, it now held the purpose of being a symbol of her religious affiliation.
"Pretty cool, huh? I got it just for joining." Geraldine said.
"Oh, you got a kid's meal prize. My dad told me about getting those in his meals." Oliver snarked.
"It's more than that. It means that the Fentons will come back someday."
They'll only come back after everyone else is dead, though, right? How exactly is that saving the planet if everyone else is dead? Who's left to save?"
"They say things will start over again with Danny Phantom gone, that life'll start all over again like nothing happened."
"Ah, what a load of bull."
"Speaking of girlfriends and babies, you know, you should really try to have a better attitude. If I'm gonna have to have two whole babies with you, we need to get along better before we grow up."
"You mean, you wanna change me to make me into a husband that you like."
"That's one way of putting it. Look, I do like you, I really do, but, if we're gonna live together for the rest of our lives, then we'll have to find some way to put up with each other, and that means respecting my beliefs."
"Seeing is believing. That's all I respect."
Just making a pass by Casper High School, the two children were given the sight of a hero that could not be simply speculated to return from the grave, but one that still lived and existed in person. The hero had flown past them, not unlike a ghost like those outside Amity Park who would threaten them, but a human warrior who had sworn her life towards fighting them.
Her name is Valerie Gray.
Racing past the children on her hoverboard, the two children greeted her with an enthusiastic 'Hi!', to which she kindly waved back. Flying past Casper High School and all the children beneath her flightpath, Valerie Gray continued her flight through Amity Park, off to complete a mission of the utmost importance given to her by her father.
Taking her flight along the edge of the Jericho Wall, the airborne ghost hunter took to one of the defense towers, landing on its balcony. Setting her hoverboard aside, Valerie stepped to the control box of the defense tower, checking its statistics and checking for any technical issues.
For a job so important as keeping out the threat of any ghosts, especially the dreaded Danny Phantom, the task is no simple chore nor to be taken as such. Fortunately, the statistics of the tower showed the system to be at full health, making the inspection a breeze and a relief to all those in Amity Park.
Taking to her wrist communicator, Valerie contacted her father, Damon Gray, to inform him of the good news.
"Ghost shield, tower 9, 100% operational." Valerie said.
Just seating himself the instant he was contacted by his daughter, Damon Gray took the good news with a smiling face, partially covered by an eyepatch.
"Great, sweetie. Check the last tower and get back-" Damon Gray began to say.
Before her father could complete his sentence, the transmission feed was interrupted, breaking the picture to a static of white noise. Fearing that something had gone terribly wrong, Valerie called out for her father, her choice of words not unlike that of a scared child.
"Daddy? Daddy?!" Valerie called.
And like worst fantasies a child calling out for a parent, her fears were instead met with a boogeyman, looking back at her with nothing to its form but piercing red eyes.
"Hello, Valerie." Dark Danny said.
Valerie's state of emotions were again not too dissimilar from a child meeting its monster, but she tried her best to mask the fear with an annoyed tone of voice.
"You again?! I don't care how powerful you are, ghost, you can't break through the shield!" Valerie said.
"Until today." Dark Danny said.
What came out next from her monster's mouth was not any human speech nor anything that could potentially resemble it, but a loud, inhuman wail that showed no signs of humanity within it. The wail was loud and piercing to even the deafest ear, especially to Valerie herself, bearing the worst of the wail at the border of the Jericho Wall.
The noise of the wail is an intolerable one to hear, but it is nowhere near the worst part of hearing the noise itself...
...and it will soon show why it was an unwise idea to name Amity Park's ghost shield the Jericho Wall.
In the skybound fortress known as Fenton City, the ideas of tomorrow are put forth today through the ways of science; breaching into the unknown through human adventure to apply newfound knowledge to the days of modern life in the name of betterment and improvement of society.
This mission has been held by the Fenton family, but had come to an end with their murder at the hands of Demon Phantom and his 4 accomplices. Now, the means of research and development rests in their hands, and they have chosen to use it to create their own beings of mass destruction by creating ghosts incarnate of all the gods created by and worshiped by humankind.
These newly-created gods, brought to life after centuries of existing as myth and constructs of belief, have one purpose and one only:
To destroy the Earth and to wipe it clean of any and all life.
For the most part, their plans had moved along smoothly, until a warning came to Fenton City's main control computer, M.I.S.T.E.R., informing them of a visitor to their base of operations. Upon reading the computer screen, they were then informed of who this visitor was:
Valerie Gray, the most famous ghost hunter on Earth, second only to Danny Phantom himself.
The reason for her visit is based on suspicions raised by President Tucker Foley regarding the actions of the Fenton family (in actuality Demon Phantom and his accomplices possessing their corpses), wishing for context behind their recent uncharacteristic actions, ensuring that no troubles would come to his re-election campaign.
Having their own agenda to fulfill and prevent any problems from coming to it, Demon Phantom, Skulker, Ember, and the Fright Knight, once again in the guises of Danny Phantom, Jack Fenton, Jazz Fenton, and Sam Manson Fenton, respectively, did the only thing that could possibly prevent any further suspicions or reveal their true nature and plans:
Allow her inside.
As they allowed her inside Fenton City, Demon Phantom, on behalf of the group, warmly greeted her as a guest to their base of operations, aiming to eliminate any and all suspicions that they could be anyone else but the Fentons. Stepping forward with a kind hand, he extended it to the new arrival of Valerie Gray, saying...
"Hello, Valerie. Such a pleasure to have you visit." Demon Phantom said.
Uninterested in his warm reception to Fenton City, Valerie refused to acknowledge the handshake, sticking solely to the job at hand.
"Cut the crap, Danny. I didn't come here to spend a weekend off. Tucker sent me up here because he thinks you guys are up to something. Whether or not he's full of it I'll decide, but I came her to do a job, and I intend to do it." Valerie said.
"Come, now, Valerie, there's no reason to be so hostile. We'll do anything and everything we can to cooperate and see that everything you need is met, but we're also good friends from old years. If you really are here on a wild goose chase, then you might as well make the best of it, right?" Demon Phantom said.
Trying to keep up with the chipper attitude of Jack Fenton, Skulker stepped forward and bombastically backed up the point, reaching for a handshake.
"That's right, Danny! We always love to have our good friends come visit us, especially the wonderful Valerie! Put 'er there, partner!" Skulker shouted.
Though annoyed with the cheerful attitude of 'Jack Fenton', Valerie nonetheless reached out and took Skulker's hand to shake it, placating the requests made to her for a handshake. Expecting the social norm to be completed in a few brief seconds, the two of them found the simple gesture going wrong fast.
Skulker, despite his attempts to release Valerie's hand from his own, suddenly found himself unable to do so at the least convenient time. Once using the hand of the deceased Jack Fenton many times before, the hand no longer became responsive to his mental commands, leaving it stuck in grasp of Valerie's hand.
Using his free hand in attempt to release the other, Skulker forcefully pulled off his hand from Valerie's, leaving her to grasp her hand in pain following the incident.
"Ow! What was that all about, asshole?" Valerie asked.
"Er... arthritis. Sorry, gets really bad in my old age." Skulker said.
Despite the quickly-scavenged lie being only partially believable, it seemed to satisfy the disinterested Valerie, moving on from the affair indifferently.
"Whatever. Excuse me if I don't shake any more hands." Valerie said.
"Apologies for that, Valerie. If you're here to inspect the premises, perhaps you'd like a tour guide? One of our robot assistants? Perhaps our own Jazz Fenton could lead you through?" Demon Phantom asked.
Needing to investigate the meaning of the supposed incestuous incident between Jack and Jazz Fenton, the latter offer struck interest to Valerie, leading her to accept it.
"Yeah, I'll take Jazz. I got a few questions I want to ask her about what's going on here." Valerie said.
"Oh, really? Well, wonderful! I'd be happy to lead you through and answer all your questions!" Ember shouted.
"Yes, yes, of course she will." Demon Phantom said.
Placing a hand on Ember's shoulder, Demon Phantom discreetly whispered to her, giving her further instructions on dealing with their guest.
"Don't oversell it. Tune down the shouting and keep the cheeriness at 75 percent of what you've got." Demon Phantom whispered.
"Doing my best, pal. You think you can be this bitch better, you can do it." Ember whispered.
"Spare me the attitude. Put this in your ear."
Demon Phantom placed a small earbud in her hand; the two then moved past the discreet passing of instructions, with Ember beginning to escort Valerie through Fenton City in attempt to quell any and all suspicions about the work of the 'Fentons'. Remaining on her performance as Jazz Fenton, she kept up her hyper and chipper attitude, attempting to keep Valerie's worries to a minimum.
"Oh, Val, I can't even remember the last time we had you come visit us! I'd be more than happy to give you a grand tour of some of the new things we've got going on here!" Ember said.
"Uh... yeah. Just show me what's been going on with all the new technology and I'll be on my merry way. Maybe not so merry as you." Valerie said.
As the guest and host departed, Demon Phantom no longer kept up the persona of his former self, moving back to work on the task of ridding themselves of Valerie. Flying to the nearest computer terminal for M.I.S.T.E.R., he contacted the laboratory to hail Technus for further instructions.
In the midst of operating on one of his God Machines, making adjustments on a subject in an artificially-induced delusion based in the religion the individual staunchly followed, Technus received a call on the M.I.S.T.E.R. terminal within the room. Putting a short pause on his work, Technus answered the call, coming to a video chat with Demon Phantom.
"Yes, master?" Technus asked.
"Change of plans. We're trying to get Valerie out of here by setting up a little tour for her. Ember's walking her through the city. Get on the computer and give her a live feed of instructions guiding her away from the God Machines. The frequency in her earbud is at Channel 6." Demon Phantom ordered.
"And the God Machines?"
"You can work them at the same time with those robots of yours, can't you?"
"Correct."
"Then don't waste my time with stupid questions. Get to work, now!"
Promptly following his orders, Technus' main attention towards the God Machines was instead redirected to the task of handling the fake tour for Valerie. Looking up the map and schematics of Fenton City, he quickly devised a tour schedule to elongate the trip as much as possible, while keeping the subjects away from the room housing the experiments for their own purposes.
As Technus went on his work, setting one of Demon Phantom's concerns to rest, he moved on to Skulker, seeking to investigate the purpose behind his sudden and strange incident with his frozen hand. Taking no amusement out of the near-miss of a problem, his approach to the act is less than friendly.
"And you, what was that about with your hand? Are you trying to blow our cover?" Demon Phantom asked.
"I didn't do it on purpose, I swear, it's like my hand just froze up! I don't know what happened!" Skulker pleaded.
Investigating the error for himself, Demon Phantom grabbed the arm of the deceased Jack Fenton out of the control of Skulker, running his own over it. Phasing his ethereal form through the physical flesh, carefully analyzing the tissue within, he found the problem was not a conscious nor unconscious mistake by Skulker, spelling out a different challenge altogether:
The decay of a human body.
"Oh, damn." Demon Phantom said.
"What? What's wrong, boss?" Skulker asked.
"Rigor mortis. The Fentons' bodies are stiffening up and becoming unusable, at least for a few hours' time."
"But, my lord, isn't that supposed to happen long after death? The Fentons have been slain quite some time ago." Fright Knight asked.
"We've been keeping the Fentons in use since then, preventing that issue from happening. Skulker and Ember, on the other hand, just happened to discard their bodies carelessly enough when they could no longer get any sexual satisfaction out of them, and left them inactive long enough to begin decomposing."
"Well, sue me, alright? I didn't know that was gonna happen!" Skulker said.
"Were you not a hunter in your days of living? Surely you had some understanding of death before your own?" Fright Knight asked.
"Yeah, but not for the years I've been in the Ghost Zone! You tend to forget about unimportant stuff like that, you stupid buckethead, what the hell am I gonna do with information about dead bodies decaying when I don't even have one?!"
"Enough whining! Our main concern here is ensuring that Valerie Gray does not learn of our work here. Because of your foolish treatment of the bodies of Jack and Jazz Fenton, that has now been compromised, and we must act accordingly. Technus is already seeing towards distracting her, our goal has now moved towards removing her." Demon Phantom said.
"And how are we gonna do that? Bore her to death with science talk?"
Momentarily contemplating a response of anger to Skulker's flippant remark, Demon Phantom stopped in inspired contemplation over the statement.
"Skulker... perhaps you aren't nearly as dumb as you present yourself." Demon Phantom said.
"I'm not?" Skulker asked.
Not bothering to answer the question, Demon Phantom instead returned to the computer terminal to contact Technus, sharing the new change of plans.
In the God Machine laboratory...
Carefully planning out a long and drawn-out itinerary of Fenton City, attempting to lead Valerie among the many tourist traps and minor inventions to lead her away from his own work, Technus received yet another call from Demon Phantom, making him groan in annoyance as he was forced to stop his work again. Answering the call, he once again made ready to receive instructions, this time less patiently.
"I'm working as fast as I can, master. I've got the route planned out everywhere except here. I'm sending them to as many nonsense inventions I can find." Technus said.
"Good. There is another caveat with your instructions I must add. When having Ember give out the tour, give her the most drawn-out and bloated dialogue surrounding the tour as you can write up, and instruct her to deliver it just as excessively detailed and tiring as possible." Demon Phantom said.
"Oh, I can do that easy. You can count on me, master."
Following along with his instructions, Technus began typing up a script for Ember to follow, aiming to make the experience as boring and tedious to the layman as possible, a task easily completed by making it all the more interesting to someone with a scientific mind like himself.
Adjusting the memetic form of his hands into robotic hands with fingers that split into multiple smaller ones, he typed up a full script in mere seconds, preparing the words for Ember to read back. Making a call through the M.I.S.T.E.R. terminal to Ember's earbud, he began reading it aloud for her to recite.
"Listen carefully, Ember. You should be inside the laboratory featuring the common household items. There should be an object that looks like a flyswatter with lasers instead of netting. Repeat what I say about it as closely as possible, and try to drag it out. It's called the Phantom Swatter. It runs off a small power source of pure ectoplasm, approximate to the size of a D-size battery. When activated, the ectoplasm runs out from the power source to the net, which runs through a of laser diode specifically designed to pass through ectoplasm rather than light..." Technus recited.
"...regulated by a device known as an Ectoplasm Stablilizer which keeps too much ectoplasm from running through. The feed comes through the diode and reflects out onto a series of small mirrors inside the Phantom Swatter and lead up to the net, creating the series of ectoplasmic lasers you see here. We initially tried creating a series of diodes which fed through, but this presented problems faced when we couldn't prevent the diodes from pointing at each other, without sacrificing the classic look of a flyswatter net that we were looking to achieve. Instead, the divergent laser beams meet at a beam blocker where the laser feed is safely kept in check without causing any potential harm to the user. We also added a new feature where..." Ember trailed.
The tour began at a laboratory dedicated solely to inventions for the civilian private market, sticking to the benign and common inventions to keep little interest. In keeping up with her performance and the material given to her, Ember played off the scientific explanations and jargon to full success, perfectly emulating the science-oriented mind of the late Jazz Fenton.
The performance and screenplay both play off their full effect on Valerie, who listened on to the scientific lecture with little to no interest whatsoever. Having no interest in science other than the potential of hunting ghosts with it, the demonstration of a civilian item meant to keep ghosts away as if they were pests are of no interest to her at all.
In attempt to move the purpose of her visit back to the original intent, Valerie put an interrupting stop to Ember's infodump.
"Hey, hey, hey! Girl. I really don't give a shit about your glorified ghost flyswatter. Last I checked, your little brother Danny was giving out death threats to world leaders at the United Nations over the stuff they were buildnig. I don't wanna see this stupid crap, I wanna see what the hell you wanted from them so badly, and what you're doing with it now." Valerie said.
Being thrown off of her script, Ember stammered to stay to her place, trying to keep the tour on track to distract Valerie.
"Oh, uh, the new stuff? Yes, yes, of course, how silly of me, you wouldn't be interested in these silly toys all for the common market. I'll be happy to show you the new stuff, it's all on..." Ember paused.
"Floor 4, laboratory 13." Technus said.
"Floor 4, laboratory 13, right this way!"
Leading Valerie off to her desired destination, Technus remained hard at work to keep up a new script, with Ember attempting to keep her composure under pressure of her acting abilities. However, stressed as her abilities were, they were not able to overcome the new issue brewing that led to further questions from Valerie.
With her helmet removed, Valerie was now exposed to any and all smells that might exist in Fenton City, expecting to find none other than the industrial smells of a laboratory at work. What she soon began smelling was not any sort of the thing, but instead a foul, repulsive stench that resembled rotting meat.
Leaning in to sniff Ember, her nose leading her to the source of the scent, Valerie soon deduced that it was her who held the offensive smell.
"Uh... something wrong?" Ember asked.
"Yeah, random question, when was the last time you took a shower?" Valerie asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you smell like you've been dead for two damn days, that's why."
Realizing the new issue arising from her disguise, Ember relied not on any script from Technus, but instead an improvisation of her own.
"Uh... Well, we've been very, very busy here with all the new technology we've gotten. I haven't even slept for the past couple of days, I've been hard at work. Must be all the sweat, blood, and tears I've been shedding for our research!" Ember lied.
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Valerie once again brushed off the odd instance with a scoff and a shake of her head.
"Nasty bitch, I remember her having better bathing habits than that..." Valerie mumbled.
In the hangar of Fenton City...
Listening into the conversation through Ember's earbud, Technus, feeding the audio to the rest of the ghosts, kept them informed over the situation as it developed. Dodging yet another inexplicable bodily issue with their vessels, the goal of keeping Valerie unsuspecting of their true identity became even further away, even with the obstacles long past them now.
"What's that one? Bodily decay?" Skulker asked.
"So it seems. I take it none of you bothered to wash yourselves or apply any sort of deodorizer to your bodies?" Demon Phantom asked.
Guilty of not maintaining proper upkeep of the Fentons' bodies, Skulker and the Fright Knight remained silent in shame.
"Are you serious? None of you bothered once to take a shower?" Demon Phantom asked.
"What is a shower, my liege?" Fright Knight asked.
"What?! You don't kn-?! ...Oh, yes, right, medieval times. But what about you, Skulker? Surely you didn't forget about basic hygiene?"
"Well, if we were only disguising ourselves to eventually destroy the world, I didn't think it really mattered that much. What's the point of staying clean if there's no one left on Earth to be clean for?" Skulker said.
Disgusted and annoyed with the laziness of his subordinates bringing him into a greater debacle, Demon Phantom hung his head down with a sigh.
"Unbelievable." Demon Phantom groaned.
Continuing to listen to the situation develop further, the ghosts listening in heard yet another seemingly insurmountable obstacle to face.
"So you gonna explain to me why you were sucking face with your own father?" Valerie asked.
The question and its aggressive tone brought a jump from all the ghosts listening, including a barely-audible gasp from Ember.
"Uh... What are you talking about?" Ember asked.
"Don't play dumb with me. Tucker told me all about how he caught you two slobbering all over each other. What, you got so rich that you decided to dip your toes into some 'Salo' or 'Eyes Wide Shut' shit?" Valerie asked.
Experienced only in providing layman's terms of the Fentons' technological feats, the question, tailored towards explaining the out-of-character experience, was not one that Technus could provide an easy answer for. Taking to the M.I.S.T.E.R. display, Demon Phantom provided his own answer to Ember to say.
"Say that Jack's developing dementia, he thought you were Maddie, and you played along so you wouldn't upset him. Be as sappy as possible." Demon Phantom ordered.
Elsewhere in Fenton City...
Making their way to the fourth floor of the towering Fenton City, the disguised Ember began to feign sniffles and tears, pretending to be sad and sensitive to the topic brought up. Unable to produce any tears with Jazz's body long dead, her tear ducts no longer functional, the lack of tears were made up by her sobbing voice.
"Well... You see... It's just that... My dad's going through dementia. He thought that I was my mom, and he... Well... I just didn't know what to do, so, I just... decided to play along, and hope that he wouldn't get upset. It's... It's happened a lot of times before, thinking that I was her, but never got that physical before. I'm sorry that Tucker had to see that, it's... It's just so wrong that I had to kiss my dad like that, to kiss him in that way... I was just so embarrassed that it happened, I'm sorry..." Ember lied.
Turning herself away and continuing to quietly sniffle, her performance began to draw sympathy from the hardened Valerie Gray, bringing her arm around her in a hug.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy. You don't have to be embarrassed. You were in a difficult spot, you didn't know what to do, it is what it is. Dementia's a rough patch. I get it. You don't gotta be so upset. It's alright. Look, just forget I asked, and lead the way on the tour. Alright?" Valerie asked.
Successfully deceiving her, Ember put a stop to the fake breakdown, acting normal once again in a feigned collection of composure.
"Right. Sure. Thanks. I needed that. Thank you." Ember said.
"Don't mention it, girl. Just lead on, I got you." Valerie said.
In the hangar of Fenton City...
Jumping yet another hoop in the attempt to keep their story clear, the ghosts sighed in relief, with Skulker giving out a laugh.
"Oh, man, that was a good save, boss! Lying about dementia? I woulda bought that! You sure know the Fentons pretty well." Skulker cheered.
"Of course I do. I had told you when I first found you, Skulker, I was once one of the Fentons, don't you remember?" Demon Phantom said.
Having long forgotten their first meeting and the revelation of his new master's origin, Skulker came to an embarassed realization upon hearing the news again.
"Oh, right. I forgot. That reminds me, Vlad was asking about that earlier, and I forgot to tell him that. Did you get to talk to him before he ran off?" Skulker asked.
Remembering in turn that it was his own actions that led to the departure of Vlad Plasmius, Demon Phantom squeezed his eyes in annoyance, letting out an angry groan.
"Yes, Skulker. Thank you for your ever-so sharp vigilance on important subjects." Demon Phantom said.
Elsewhere in Fenton City...
Moving onto led Valerie to the laboratory numbered 13, the two finally reached the room featuring most of the recovered technology from foreign natoins, save for what has been repurposed for the God Machines. With the goal being to prevent Valerie's discovery of the machines, what she was led to see is merely the remains of the projects, left mostly as scrap metal.
"Here's where we have most of the new projects we got in. This one here is basically a copy of a Ghost Portal, but much more cruder. It operates much on the same principles of our Ghost Portals, utilizing ectoplasmic energy to create the interdimensional rift through the space-time continuum and reach through to the Ghost Zone, but they managed to do so in a way that seemed to overcomplicate some areas yet simplify others, like with how they managed to design the chevrons to-" Ember began to say.
Before able to continue on the script provided by Technus, Valerie put a stop to the scientific spiel with a raised hand and interrupting voice.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Simple sentences, please. I can't understand all that." Valerie said.
"But I can't really go into how the technology's different without going through the nuances. Really, most of this is the equivalent of a monkey getting ahold of a cell phone and managing to invent the telegram, I'm really impressed at what they were able to come up with-" Ember began to say.
"Jazz. Look. I know you love getting into the technical, science-y, technobabble, blah, blah, blah, but I literally don't know half of what the hell that all means. I don't know how it all really works and I don't care; I just want to catch ghosts with it. I just wanna know what was so important that Danny had to threaten the whole goddamn world into nuclear annihilation that he had to get his hands on it."
In the hangar of Fenton City...
With Ember paused in her speech to await an answer, and Technus no longer able to provide long, boring, scientific speeches to feed to Valerie, the group now all looked to Demon Phantom for answers. Having no other choice to keep up the disguise but to comlpy with Valerie's demand for simplicity, he chose to drop the act, taking the affair into his own hands.
"Fine, then. We'll be as simple as she wants. Ember, listen carefully and repeat it exactly as you were Jazz." Demon Phantom said.
Elsewhere in Fenton City...
"Well, as you already know, all of these came out of other countries' attempts to recreate Danny Phantom, to make another person like him. Half-human, half-ghost." Ember said.
"Right, right, but we never had to go to extremes like this to put a stop to the projects. Going after them directly's one thing, but trying to threaten the whole world into bending to your will is kinda like going after a fly with an atom bomb, don't you think?" Valerie asked.
"With a threat as serious as creating weaponized ghosts, don't you think that a little threat would be necessary to stop the terror?"
"No. Giving a threat to control another threat is putting a gun to someone's head and telling them to drop the gun. What you did is like strapping a bomb to your chest, grabbing onto the other guy, and making them diffuse their own bomb. That's just plain crazy."
"Fundamentally, there'd be no real difference, though. Your life's still at stake, so you'd have to do everything to save it. You've fought ghosts ever since you were still in high school, you know how dangerous they can be. Do you really want more ghosts all over the world tearing up everything?"
"No, but I at least want a world to fight for. You seriously put us this close to World War 3."
"But we're not there. We got all the tech back, and no one's likely to try it again. If anything, we prevented another world war. We should be celebrating, honestly. We won."
Though not able to agree with the logic presented, Valerie nonetheless came to end all curiosity with a nod. Having completed all manner of business regarding the retrieved technology, her attention to the task of checking on the Fentons began to lessen, getting most parts of her task completed.
When double-checking all other parts of her mission in her mind, she took notice that she never laid eyes on Maddie Fenton, questioning her absence aloud.
"Hey, I just noticed something. Where's Maddie? I didn't see her when I came in." Valerie asked.
"Oh! Uh... She's, uh... busy." Ember said.
"So busy she couldn't be bothered to answer the door with the others?"
"Afraid not. You know how she gets on an experiment, never stops until it's done."
"Well, you mind if I see her for a minute? Tucker sent me to check on everybody, and that includes everybody. I'd like to go back and be able to say I took care of everything."
"Oh, but she's really, really busy right now. She really doesn't like to be bothered when she's working."
"Well, tough rocks, but I need her bothered. I only need her for a minute, that won't be enough to interrupt what she's working on."
In the hangar of Fenton City...
"Well, crap. With Vlad gone, he can't play as Maddie to shut Valerie up." Skulker said.
Further annoyed with Skulker's statements of the obvious, Demon Phantom let out another groan of frustration.
"Yes, thank you once again for your impeccable ability to state the obvious, Skulker. However, you seem to be severely lacking in stating anything that would be of any use to our current affairs." Demon Phantom said.
"Well, I'm not the asshole that bailed on us when we needed him to play housewife for our cover story. Now what do we do?" Skulker asked.
Without anyone to fill the role of Maddie Fenton, there now presented the issue of keeping her body in use to cover up her recent death. With his subordinates currently occupying the bodies of the Fentons, there only remained one ghost available to take over the body of Maddie Fenton:
Demon Phantom himself.
Taking back to the M.I.S.T.E.R. terminal, he located the body of Maddie Fenton laid to rest in her bedroom, up for the taking to any soul that would possess it. Scanning the nearby laboratories in the vicinity, he also located a room close to the bedroom that held many experiments within, giving him plenty of time to play to the cover story.
"Ember, lead her to the main floor, room 8. I'll have the body of Maddie there." Demon Phantom said.
Focusing his consciousness to expand it into a separate entity, he utilized his power of duplication, beginning to create a temporary copy of his ethereal form to possess the body of Maddie Fenton remotely. Concentrating his mind carefully, imagining his own self placed some few feet in front of him, he began to create the identical and independent image of himself.
Splitting himself like an amoeba, as if some simplistic life form asexually reproducing itself, Demon Phantom split off an exact duplicate of his ghost self, still holding the form of his original self. The duplicate, turning itself invisible, flew towards the bedroom of the Fentons, seeking out the body of Maddie Fenton.
Flying and phasing through solid walls and other objects, he made his arrival to the bedroom, locating the body of Maddie and quickly flying inside it.
Elsewhere in Fenton City...
Backtracking throughout the airborne technopolis to the main floor, the duo of Ember and Valerie reached the laboratory in room 8, seeking out the audience of Maddie Fenton. Without Vlad to occupy her body, the difficulty of using her corpse to fool any and all who would believe she were dead otherwise increased greatly, especially to Valerie, who demanded to see her specifically.
Thanks to the swift actions of Demon Phantom, she does get to see her indeed, and is more than convinced she is without any issue to be noted. Finding her going to work on a piece of newly-developed technology with an arc welder, all sights of Maddie appear to be normal to Valerie so far.
But the challenge then comes for her to be in character, which is put to the test soon after.
"Oh, hi, look who it is! It's Valerie! Come here, Valerie, so good to see you again!" Demon Phantom cheered.
Discarding the arc welder and protective headgear to approach Valerie, Demon Phantom, occupying the body of Maddie Fenton, wrapped her arms around her in a large, happy hug, getting a look of surprise out from the guest to Fenton City. Reluctantly moving her arms back around 'Maddie' to reciprocate the hug, Valerie quickly exited out from the embrace, trying to keep a professional appearance before the Fentons.
"Uh, heh, yeah, hi, Maddie. I came in to do a little check-up on you guys at Tucker's behest, but I didn't see you in the hangar. You seem like you're doing alright." Valerie said.
"Valerie, oh, I'm so sorry I didn't stop to see you. I was just in the middle of this little touch-up on a new weapon we're developing. Care to see how it works?" Demon Phantom asked.
"Oh, no, no, no, I've had enough of crash-course science lessons for the day. I'll pass."
In the hangar of Fenton City...
Watching the successful deceit from the M.I.S.T.E.R. terminal, Skulker and the Fright Knight let out a celebratory cheer and laugh, respectively, seeing yet another obstacle in their mission overcome and defeated. Taking victory as it came, Skulker showed more of a celebration than the Fright Knight, loudly boasting their deception longer than need be.
"Ha-ha! You like that, you stupid, ghost-hunting bitch?! Our boss gets shit done! That's what I'm talking about! That's what I'm-!" Skulker began to shout.
Before he could continue on his prideful boasts any further, Skulker stopped short in his celebration, feeling an uncomfortable tumbling in the digestive system of Jack Fenton's body. Clenching his stomach in pain, his laughter turned to stifled groans, unable to focus on anything else except the gastrointestinal discomfort.
He did not understand the sudden change in his current body, and neither did the Fright Knight, the latter asking to find the reason.
"Skulker? What's wrong?" Fright Knight asked.
"Ugh... My stomach... I can't..." Skulker groaned.
Skulker's words were soon followed by a loud, ripping release of flatulence, setting loose a foul stench in the air. Being more than accustomed to unpleasant smells in the days of his life, the Fright Knight was no stranger to the smell that was released by Jack Fenton's body...
...but even he found his tolerance at a test of limits with the smell, covering his nose in disgust.
Following the loud blast of gas, Skulker's pain vanished thereafter, letting out a sigh of relief when all was over.
"Oh, man, that was rough. God only knows what that fatass Fenton ate to make that." Skulker joked.
"That was no mere bad meal that caused that. That is the flatulence of a dead man, when his own stomach begins to break down the rest of the body and create such foul gasses. I have seen my fair share of it during my days of service." Fright Knight said.
Realizing potential issue that such a problem might cause for Demon Phantom and the rest of the ghosts trying to do away with Valerie, Skulker's emotion then turned to a sudden sense of dread. Further realizing that if such an issue had come to him at that moment in time, that more trouble might show for him to warn the others about, the problem has already presented itself for them.
"So, does that mean...?" Skulker trailed.
Elsewhere in Fenton City...
"Oh, has my little Jasmine been boring you with all our science talk? Sorry, honey, we don't mean to bore you, but you know how much she loves it all! Takes right after her mother! I tell you, it's all the same with kids: In the teenage years, they're the total opposite of you, when they grow up, they're just like you!" Demon Phantom said.
Even when not truly the subject of conversation at hand, Ember still felt an off-hand sense of embarrassment for Jazz Fenton on her behalf, leading her to complain about it to Demon Phantom directly. The action is one so genuine in teenage disgust that it transcends any conscious performance, as if embodying the character meant to be portrayed as a whole.
"Mom! You're starting to embarrass me!" Ember complained.
Just like with Skulker, what follows next for Ember is her sense of embarrassment being replaced with acute pain in her stomach, making her let out a small groan.
"Sweetie, what's wrong? I'm not that embarrassing, am I?" Demon Phantom asked.
"No, you idiot, my stomach's killing me, I can't..." Ember groaned.
The slipping of character is one that might have gained enough attention out from Valerie to arouse further suspicions, but what follows it is what takes all her attention away from the small outburst. A loud burst of air from Jazz Fenton's digestive system was violently released into the air, overshadowing even that of the blast emitted from the once poorly-dieting Jack Fenton.
As quick as Ember found relief, she soon realized the new problem rising from her decaying body, as it left behind a gust of flatulence that had a smell that trumped any given common badly-smelling object, including that of the dreaded skunk. Feeling the smell of the gas fill her nose, Valerie covered her nose in disgust and coughed, barely able to stand the smell.
"Oh, sweet Jesus in a handbasket, Jazz, what the hell did you eat?!" Valerie shouted.
Remembering the last taste that the body had on her mind, Ember quickly thought of an excuse to explain away the foul flatulence.
"Uh... nothing. I haven't had anything but coffee today. That's why I... Yeah, sorry." Ember stammered.
"Ugh, god, girl, see a doctor!" Valerie shouted.
Finding the smell of digested human remains no longer able to be tolerable, Valerie held back a heave of vomit, quickly demanding a place to release it.
"Bhthrhm! Bhthrhm!" Valerie mumbled.
"Uh, down the hall, to your left." Demon Phantom said.
Wasting no time to thank the 'Fentons', Valerie rushed out of the laboratory and straight to the nearest restroom, gaining an acceptable place to release her body's rejection of her recent meal. With Valerie gone for the moment, Demon Phantom and Emebr shed their respective character roles, addressing the unforseen incident.
"Let me guess, more dead body stuff?" Ember asked.
"Yes. Your body is digesting itself, and that little rip was a result of the gasses building up in your stomach." Demon Phantom said.
"Ew. Well, Valerie's not gonna know that, right?"
"I doubt it. If anything, I'm betting she'll probably be wanting to leave sooner than later after that. Once again, it seems you and Skulker aren't as useless as you seem."
"Uh... Thanks, I guess."
In a batrhoom nearby the laboratory of events past, Valerie violently emptied out the contents of her stomach into the toilet, unable to stand the foul stench which originated from Jazz Fenton's bowels. Losing a large, calorie-heavy lunch, meant to keep up with her body's hard work of fighting against ghosts, the food ultimately met an untimely waste in the lavatory.
Following the multiple heavings of partially-digested food, Valerie finally lifted herself off of the toilet, flushing it and making her way to the sink after, washing her hands and drinking water out from the sink to remove the taste of stomach acid out from her mouth, spitting out what remained.
Stopping to take time to compose herself, her self-imposed silence was interrupted by a call on her wrist communicator, receiving a call from one of the other members of Valerie's Maladies. Pressing her communicator to receive the call, she was met with the face of Download, asking for her current status.
"General, sir? You've been inside Fenton City with no contact for awhile. Everything alright in there?" Download asked.
"Yeah, fine, D. Just lost my lunch over this really bad fart Jazz ripped. Didn't know the girl had that in her." Valerie joked.
"What, sir?"
"Nothing, nothing. I'm fine. The Fentons are acting a little weird, but I'm not seeing any real clear puzzle to piece together."
"How do you mean by that, sir?"
"Well, they said the whole reason they went as extreme as they did on threatening the whole U.N. was to stop more dangerous ghosts from being created. Excessive way to do it, but I can buy that. The daddy/daughter bonding moment gone wrong, they say Jack's getting dementia, thought Jazz was her mother, and she went along with it to prevent any problems. Seemed like a weird way to handle it, but I can buy that, too. Not to mention he nearly crushed my hand in a handshake, which he writes off as arthritis."
"Jack Fenton is mostly old in his age, sir. It's not uncommon for such problems to develop in his years."
"True, but all of them in general have their weird moments. Like smelling like absolute ass then ripping ass that smells worse than anything I've ever smelled before. Believe me, I used to work at Nasty Burger as a kid, I used to smell some pretty bad farts."
"Uh... Smelling bad and farts are a cause for concern, sir?"
"Well, even if you're the business of working with super-expensive ghost technology, I imagine you'd at least have time to wash yourself at least once a day. On top of that, they just seem really skittish in general."
"How so, sir?"
"I don't know. It's hard to say. It's just like they're not themselves."
"So what are you going to do, sir?"
"I'm gonna look around for a little while longer on my own, see if I can find anything they might be hiding. Something still seems up here. Stay on standby."
"Understood. We're ready for action if you need us, sir."
Ending the transmission with Download, Valerie ended the information update with the rest of the Maladies to continue on her own as vowed, stepping out from the bathroom to make her own investigation. Out from the corner, the sound of footsteps and voices were making their approach to her, clearly distinctive as Maddie and Jazz.
But what the voices were saying did not sound like anything they would normally say, and began to truly arouse suspicion from Valerie.
"So you sure this bitch is finally gonna leave? Getting a little tired of playing bratty spoiled science bitch." Ember said.
"She'll most likely be ready to leave now, if we can hope. She might be just stepping out of the restroom now, begging to leave us alone. Then we can get back to work." Demon Phantom said.
The words spoken out by the voices brought Valerie a strong desire to stay in Fenton City, knowing well that her investigation should not yet end. With the voices and footsteps getting too close for her to avoid easy, Valerie took to running to the nearest adjacent room, hiding herself in the corner of the doorway.
The footsteps then became louder, then soon after came to a stop, signalling the two were at the restroom door. Hearing the sound of the door open and footsteps head inside it, Valerie then heard the footsteps come back out of it, along with the now angered voice of Jazz comment on it.
"What the hell?! Where is she?!" Ember shouted.
"Calm yourself. She's probably halfway at the hangar already. We'll meet her there and send her off quickly." Demon Phantom said.
Hearing the footsteps retreat once again, Valerie took to her wrist communicator once again, contacting Download over the situation.
"Yes, sir?" Download asked.
"D, something's wrong. They're talking about trying to get me out of here, and they seem like there's something they don't want me to find. On top of that, they aren't beginning to sound like themselves anymore now that I'm not right in front of them, almost like they were trying to sound like themselves earlier." Valerie said.
"So, what? You think they're possessed, sir?"
"I don't know. Hard to believe if the best ghost-hunting team on the planet could get possessed that easily, but there's absolutely no way that they'd have possessed Danny, too. He's half-ghost, he's literally un-possessable."
"Then, what, Danny's doing some kind of evil plan?"
"'Evil' plan? D, how long have you been with me, a decade? What's with the Saturday morning cartoon language? You're a professional."
"Well, whatever it is he's up to, sir, there's definitely something they don't want us finding out about."
"You got that right. You guys better get tactical. Anything goes wrong, I'll need you in as backup ASAP."
"Yes, sir. But, sir? Just one thing... If Danny Phantom really has gone bad in some way... then are we even capable of fighting him?"
The question, silly as it might seem on face value to the world, is still one that nonetheless bred a discomfort in Valerie, making her give pause before answering.
"Traditionally, I'd probably say 'god help us all', but we know there ain't a god to help us, so we'll just have to take care of it ourselves." Valerie said.
Ending the transmission with her teammate, Valerie sneaked back out of the room, slowly sneaking her way around Fenton City in search for any potential experiments that might be hidden to any pedestrian eye. Moving back along the route she was led down before, she moved to the routes not previously taken, searching for anything that she may have been led around.
Carefully making her way down one hallway, she heard a commotion of construction and mechanical equipment in use, catching her attention out of the majority of silence in the air. Drawing out an ectoplasmic handgun out from her leg holster, she hugged herself against a wall, sidestepping her way to the door to the room that seemed to originate the noises.
Slowly pressing her weapon against the door, she opened it ever so slightly to give herself a view to peer inside. Looking inside the room, looking for some kind of experiment or action that would be deemed illegal or at least suspicious, she soon found the answer she was looking for...
...and she gained far more than she bargained for.
Inside the room, Technus remained at work on a nearby computer terminal, with several robot servants, now redesigned to his personal taste and called 'Techbots', assisting him on the God Machines. The God Machines were designed as sensory deprivation chambers with vitrual reality equipment inside, designed to alter the consciousness of any human subject inside, which each of them held.
Valerie is not aware of the mechanics or purpose of the God Machines, but she knows that she was not mean to find them, which all she needs to know.
Previously occupied with the God Machines, Technus received a call on the terminal, getting a message from his leader.
"Technus. Valerie is loose in the building. Drop what you're doing and search for her before she finds the God Machines." Demon Phantom said.
Unlike the previous voices of the Fentons that she knew and recognized, this voice was deeper and darker than the rest, resembling none of the Fentons or any ghost she had encountered before. This fact brought her a sense of terror, but that terror of the unknown was surpassed by terror of the known, presented by the incoming Technus and his Techbots.
Stepping away from the door, Valerie jumped into the air, flipping herself towards the ceiling. Utilizing her zero-gravity boots, she stuck directly onto the ceiling, keeping out of the immediate sight of the arriving ghost and his minions. With Technus flying off and his robots following him down the hallways, her gamble proved itself effective, preventing her capture by the enemy.
Deactivating her zero-gravity boots, she fell back to the ground once again, looking back on the departed Technus with further confusion.
"Technus... What's one of Danny's main bad guys doing here?" Valerie pondered aloud.
Stepping through the door to the laboratory, Valerie gave herself a better look at the God Machines, taking her time to carefully analyze the machines. Never before seeing such creations of human technology, she is unsure what to even identify what they are, or what purpose they serve.
Taking to her wrist communicator, she once again called her team, updating them of the situation.
"Found something weird here, guys. Nikolai Technus is apparently in cahoots with them, and he's been helping them build these weird... sensory deprivation tanks, I guess." Valerie said.
"You 'guess'? What exactly are these things, boss?" Vid asked.
"I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. They're these weird pods filled with water, they've got human subjects inside each of them, and they're getting air through an umbilical and what appears to be VR headsets on."
"Maybe it's some kind of next-level gaming console they're working on?" Thrash asked.
"Aw, c'mon, be serious, will ya, Thrash?" Vid asked.
"Well, I don't know what to make of this, either. Why not just pop one open and ask the guy what's going on?"
Looking to the top of one of the God Machines, Valerie noticed a port meant for loading and unloading potential subjects, giving her a means to try her teammate's idea.
"Good plan. I'm gonna try that now." Valerie said.
Climbing up on the back of one of the God Machines, Valerie opened up the port, reaching into the water to retrieve the subject within. Removing his VR headset and air feed, she carried him out and placed him on the floor, laying him down gently to ensure no harm would come to him.
Taking a small flashlight out of her equipment, she inspected the subject's eyes for pupil dilation, finding him to respond normally.
"Sir? Hello? Can you hear me? Are you alright?" Valerie asked.
Despite being saved by Valerie from the God Machine, the subject had apparently already had its work done on him, as demonstrated by his response to her efforts to save his life. Waking up with in a surprised look on his face, the subject did not seem to react to his experience in the machine in any way, but instead towards the presence of Valerie.
With each of the subjects being programmed to become a different god, the subject soon made clear which one he was meant to be with his approach to her.
"Ah, yes, providence has delivered to me a woman! I normally detest of such savages, but you, my dear, are indeed a dark-skinned beauty! You rival even the beauty fo Aphrodite herself! You and I shall have many strong heroes as children!" The subject said.
Taking personal dislike to the racism embedded within a sexual advancement that she already disliked, Valerie's approach to the subject became far less sympathetic.
"Uh... What the hell did you just say to me?" Valerie asked.
"What's the matter, woman? Don't you desire me? I am Zeus, the lord of all gods! I take any woman I desire, especially virgins! You are a virgin, aren't you? Yes, you shall serve my needs well! Perhaps I must persuade and seduce you further, perhaps I shall give you tiding of Zeus in the form of a golden shower!" The subject said.
Having no more tolerance for the subject's advancements, Valerie threw a punch to his face, sending him falling back to the ground.
"Sorry, pal. I don't do watersports. And you gotta wait until at least the second date before you get any action." Valerie said.
"Still as fiery as ever, Valerie." Demon Phantom said.
Hearing the deep, dark voice make itself heard in Valerie's ears once again, she snapped in a turn to find the form of Danny Phantom behind her, looking back at her with a confident smile. Taking no chances against the seemingly rogue Danny Phantom, she raised her handgun to him, slowly stepping back.
Stepping back forwards towards Valerie, Demon Phantom lightly kicked against the subject that claimed itself to be Zeus, seeing him now unconscious.
"I don't think this one was done cooking, Valerie. Shouldn't have taken it out of hte microwave yet." Demon Phantom said.
"Shut up! What the hell is going on here?! What is this shit that you didn't want me to find out about?!" Valerie shouted.
"So, first, it's 'shut up', then, you want me to talk again? Valerie, my dear, don't tell me you've been getting sloppy in this timeline. I remember when you were able to act as Amity Park's sole defender against anything. Of course, all that talk sure sounded tough when you were hiding being a big, strong wall, but you at least put up a good fight when the chips were down."
The retelling of events made no sense to Valerie, having no memory of the retold events nor having any chance of being able to, leaving her further confused and scared.
"What the hell are you talking about? What the hell happened to you, Danny?" Valerie shouted.
"What happened to me? Well, I've gone through the trouble of telling this story once already, so I believe it be more convenient if I simply show you instead. Observe!" Demon Phantom said.
A halo of blue energy came out from his midriff, splitting itself into two separate rings, with one going up to his head and the other going down to his feet. As the rings traveled, his body began to change from the form of Danny Phantom back into the true figure of the ghost, revealing itself to Valerie at last.
Turning back to its true form, where it felt more comfort as itself, the ghost changed into a black and gray costume with blue skin and red eyes, with white hair that moved atop its head like a flame. Moreover, it stood at least a foot taller than the form of Danny Phantom, presenting itself as a more intimidating threat than before.
Once again, the ghost is its true self: Demon Phantom.
Never before seeing the ghost nor having any way to predict its very existence, Valerie could not do anything other than marvel at the new ghost, pausing in fear before the awesome and intimidating form it held. The one moment of hesitation is a mistake that would cost her dearly, as well as the small curse she squeaked out in fear.
"What... the... fu-?!" Valerie began to say.
Before able to finish her sentence, Demon Phantom swung his hand across her neck, sharply cutting into the flesh of her throat and slitting it. Feeling blood pour out from her neck, gagging on the liquid as it made its way into her trachea, the handgun in her hands fell out from its place; her hands instead going to her neck in a vain attempt to preserve her own life.
Demon Phantom, watching the once-mighty ghost hunter kneel before him in her dying breaths, allowed himself a small smirk at the sight, taking only slight pleasure out of her death. The expression seemed to be one mixed with both disappointment, and a mild sense of satisfaction, as if disposing of a pest.
"You know, I remember you putting up a little more fight than this. I had thought a world like this would have bred you into a finer fighter, someone who I could actulaly see as a worthy challenger. Apparently not. So, this is how you die in this timeline: On your knees before a god, without any chance of redemption. How pitiful." Demon Phantom said.
Still keeping her hand to her neck, Valerie tried to put the rest of her strength to get on her feet again, hoping to fight back against Demon Phantom, making one last attempt to save her pride. Despite the strong efforts she made to step up once again, she could make no footing once again, leaving her on her knees again.
Crawling on the floor, she tried to reach out for her dropped handgun, hoping that her weapons would provide her a means to fight back. Preemptively reacting to the weapon, Demon Phantom kicked it aside, leaving Valerie with no means to defend herself or even attack.
Losing a large amount of blood and feeling most of it making her way to her lungs, she knows her end is near, and she knows that she will have failed to stop him. And worse, that thought lingers in her the worst, as if one final insult to the grave, giving her a taste of Hell before her arrival.
Lying on the ground, her last breath approaches.
