This chapter is dedicated to Shining-Zephyr, why?
Because today is the day she was born! So Happy Birthday my friend.
See you all at the bottom.
Chapter Nine:
"Skulker?!" Youngblood repeated in disbelief "As in the creepy deranged hunter guy that wants Phantom's head on his trophy room?... That Skulker?!"
"Yes, yes and yes!" Ember replied in a mixture of disgust and annoyance.
The ghost rocker was trying to act stoic, as if trying to prove that she was strong enough to prove that her little "adventure" had not affected her in the least.
Even thought it was very clear that it did.
"He messed you up?"
She nodded weakly.
"Why would he do it?" The boy mused "I mean what he could gain from this?"
Ember tried to shrug uncaringly.
"Well I don't think the dumbass hunted me down just for the sheer pleasure of it." She told him, her body now shaking "I think he wanted something from me... from us."
Youngblood simply nodded dumbly a few times until he sharply turned to face his ally.
"Wait a minute! back it up back it up" The young ghost said while unknowingly doing a reverse motion with his hands "He HUNTED you? As is you were the prey?"
The strong appearance that Ember was trying to hold finally ended when she winced and hugged herself once she heard the "P" word, no way she was ever gonna hear that word again without feeling like a defenceless little creature.
Nevertheless the ghostly diva wanted to prove to Youngblood (and herself) that she was all right and that her encounter with Skulker was not something to be concerned about; after all she was still alive wasn't she?
Alive in the best possible sense of the word anyway.
"Of course he hunted me dipstick, you don´t think I hurt myself for no apparent reason do you?!"
Youngblood was appalled.
"Oh man, Phantom is going to freak when he finds out about this"
"No he won't!" She said sharply.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because we aren´t gonna tell him squat!"
"You're kidding me right?"
"Does it LOOK like I'm kidding you little brat?!"
Ember raised her arms threateningly, a bad move on her part since her abused body was finally taking it´s toll on what had transpired just a few hours ago, she started to massage her arms, making sure to avoid the boy´s eyes.
"I don´t need his pity."
However if she had seen the boy´s green eyes, Ember would have known that he felt far from pity towards her, if anything he felt annoyed and revolted.
"Why do teenagers always gotta act like big jerks!"
Ember´s head snapped upwards at hearing the little brat´s insult.
Realization came quickly to the boy "I said that out loud didn´t I?"
Ember glared daggers at him.
"Whoa, whoa," Youngblood backed away a bit "You already whooped my butt when I read your diary a couple of days ago and I am NOT gonna let you hurt it again."
"Shut up!" She hissed.
Youngblood narrowed his eyes "I'm NOT your punching bag." He said as an after thought.
Before the older ghost could say anything a third voice reached her ears.
And wished she hadn´t.
"Hello?... Youngblood?"
It was Danny's voice.
Ember's eyes widened three times their normal size...
He was near… she just knew it.
And she was right, because the doorknob started to move.
Youngblood tuned his head following the sound, triumphantly he faced his older ally but as quickly as that look came it went since he saw something he never expected from the singer.
She was afraid, she was showing fear.
It was a weird sight indeed but not as weird as seeing the pale ghost begging him to help her out.
"Please get him out of here"
Ember was simply sitting there, still unable to move a muscle and only being able to stare back at the young boy in desperation.
"Please"
If it was in another time and place the pirate kid would have made the most of this and taunt Ember.
Make her do anything for his services.
Humiliate her as revenge for destroying his boat.
"Please"
The door was about to be open.
In the end, the decision was clear.
In a rare moment for both of the villains Youngblood did the right thing and quickly flew to Ember's side turning her intangible and getting her into the next room, noticing that in her weakened state Ember was as light as a feather.
In return she actually mouthed the words "Thank you".
Youngblood made a face "That was so weird."
Hearing the hinges of the door creak the ten year old quickly turned around coming face to face with Danny.
The hybrid stared at him for a couple of seconds floating slowly into the room, inspecting everything in it, almost as if he were expecting something would come out and attack him.
But nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Were you talking to anyone?" Danny asked finally staring at his young friend.
The green haired child lied smoothly "Nope, why you ask me matey?"
Phantom rolled his eyes "enough with the pirate lingo, its getting on my nerves."
"Well I like it"
Danny ignored him but asked again, this time with a harsher tone "Were you talking to anyone?"
"No"
"I heard you screaming."
"Erm… well you see… the thing about that is… that… well... err... I was yelling at the intruder!" Youngblood said uncertainly "yah that's it"
The last part he muttered to himself so that the older boy wouldn't hear him.
"You saw him?" Danny asked hastily "Who was he?"
"Erm… well not exactly, I followed whatever the heck got in the house to this room... and... well... I sort of got carried away and I think my yelling might have … scared him away?"
The ten year old smiled innocently.
Danny raised an eyebrow sceptically "Scared him away?"
"Yup"
"All by yourself?"
"Yup"
"Without using you're ghost powers?"
"Yep"
Danny then shakes his head in irritation "Youngblood, dude... This has got to stop!"
"Huh?"
"Your pranks" He clarified "They were funny for about a day or two but now it's getting on my nerves... correction on everyone's nerves".
In a moment of exasperation and tiredness, Danny puts one hand over his head to stop his growing headache.
"You think I had something to do with this?!" Youngblood exploded.
The headache increased.
"You been trying to get back at Ember for something she doesn't want to discuss, so I wouldn't put it past you to start pulling pranks on me instead."
"But I…"
"The joke is over"
And with that, Danny turned around indifferently and left the room without sparing his young friend a second glance.
Youngblood was perplexed, it was one thing to get the blame when actually did something but when he was innocent… well that was quite another.
The boy's sudden emotion could be described in three words:
... He
... Was
... Pissed
Without further ado, he blasted the nearest thing in the room, which was of course Ember's guitar.
She was going to be mad for sure.
But right now he didn't care.
Youngblood quickly slammed the door shut and once again flew over to the place Ember was a couple of minutes ago, he turned his hand intangible and moved it roughly, when he felt something on the other side, he quickly grabbed it and pulled it through the ectoplasmic wall.
It was an unexpected sight indeed; the young pirate had the older girl by her hair and was glaring dangerously at her.
"Ok, this I how things are, Phantom now think I'm responsible for everything that happened since you oh so dramatically arrived" He explained sarcastically.
Ember snickered proudly, happy that at least something went her way.
"So here's YOUR deal" The child mercilessly ripped some of Ember´s blue hair making her yelp in surprise "You´re gonna tell me what happened to you, every little detail and if you do then I might NOT drag you out of here as you are right now and take you to see your dearest boyfriend, and explain yourself to him!"
Ember gasped "You wouldn´t dare!"
"Try me girly!"
The teenager gave him a scattering glare, hoping to at least intimidate the boy, imagine her surprise when he didn't budge.
He simply retuned the look of contempt.
Talk about feeling like a helpless little creature.
"Well?" Youngblood pressed "What's it gonna be then?"
Tiredly, Ember sighed.
"This is gonna be long, so if you want to go to the bathroom… go now"
"And leave you alone? ... No thanks" Youngblood responded incredulously "For all I know YOU could try to escape or something"
Ember narrowed her eyes "escape to where?" She asked scornfully "If you haven't noticed this is my house!"
"Don't chance the subject... just get on with it!"
The female ghost snarled "I hate you so much."
"I'm a kid... I don't really care if you hate or love me..." The child snapped "All I wanna know is why you almost got yourself a second death."
"No"
Youngblood played his "secret" card
"Shall I go for Phantom then?"
The look of horror in her face said a thousand words.
She grudgingly relented in the end.
".... It... it all happened so fast... like a blur, I don't think I can tell you everything"
"You could try"
"But tell me something before I actually get started... Did you know that the ghost zone has temporal portals to the human world?"
Youngblood nodded.
"Good" She said "It will be easier for me to tell then story then."
"File number 297OMF"
A window opened showing Valerie attacking Danny with her ecto-weapon.
Danny turned intangible before getting hit by the artificial rays and then tried to create a duplicate, which only resulted in the creation of a third arm..
"Stop"
The image froze.
"Analysis"
A few windows with old data popped up.
Vlad Plasmius stared at the image worriedly "I see you need help with duplication my boy"
The frozen image revealed just how much struggling the young hybrid had to put into his powers.
"Once I find you Daniel... I'll help you with your powers" Vlad said in a fatherly tone of voice. "I promise"
It was so unreal to the older half-ghost, he just couldn't believe that his teen foe had actually disappeared without a trace; he had kidnapped the boy before and had found a way out of his diabolical schemes so the question here was, what made the situation different?
"What is Daniel being put through?"
If he hasn't been seen in the ghost zone then that meant that whoever had the boy captive was a smart ghost, someone who has thought of every possible outcome and detail... it struck a nerve in Vlad, he was a master of manipulation and one of the most powerful ghosts.
He was the owner of many multi million dollar companies.
He had defeated many others with and without his ghost powers.
He had money and the methods to do anything he pleased without caring about the consequences.
But he couldn't find Maddie's son.
It was just so unnerving.
In so many ways
His minions weren't doing any better.
The Fright Knight reported almost constantly, telling him that no trace of the boy has been found in the other dimension, but the spirit of Halloween was not one to give up so easily, if anything he has checked the human world as well, believing that Phantom had somehow gotten there but was still lost.
Vlad couldn't rule that possibility out, but if that had happen then the news of seeing Danny Phantom would have been reported long ago.
Then again, he knew that Danny wasn't foolish enough to risk expulsion, but he also wasn't probably in the best of conditions so the worst outcome came to mind.
The Guys in White.
Sure, they were incompetent fools, but dangerous nevertheless.
Their weapons obviously surpassed his own designs and he was disgusted of even contemplating of what they could do to a ghost no matter if it was threat or not.
To those psychopaths, ghosts were just things to be dissected and experimented on, and if there was one thing the billionaire couldn't tolerate it was their savage scientific ways.
The satisfaction they got from hurting them and ultimately using their remains for purposes unknown was sickening.
Vlad Plasmius hasn't been a ghost for over twenty years without earning a sense of understanding and respect for the other species.
So he went to the GIW facility in Amity Park to make sure that Daniel wasn't caught by those deranged agents, he had to bribe a few people and make a few phone calls just to be let into the building for a few hours and do a search of his own but overall nothing was found.
Another disappointment
They had even the most useless of information well secured and he was not about to risk using his most complex ghost powers on the premises, he would not become their guinea pig.
However that didn't mean those morons were to be left alone.
The Fright Knight's search for Daniel was put on hold and instead Vlad told him to monitor the GIW organization, he knew that the medieval ghost could take care of himself around then; so if they were to caught Daniel the ghostly Knight would rescue him and would be brought to his mansion.
... Hopefully alive
And now those bumbling vultures would continue the search in the Ghost Zone, but unlike his more powerful minion these three tend to complain a lot, they had actually spend more time arguing among themselves, than actually doing the assignment given to them.
"Honestly... If they weren't useful to me I would have gotten rid of those annoying birds long ago" Vlad thought dryly.
It was inexcusable behaviour.
What made everything an even crueller joke was that one of the richest most powerful men in the world was forced to wait... he at first knew that he didn't have much of a choice on matter, but now after weeks of doing just that, he finally got inpatient, he couldn't wait any longer for all he knew weeks of searching could turn into months and possibly into years.
Vlad could not and would not have that.
And since not one of his pawns has located the boy made the billionaire come to yet another unpleasant conclusion.
That his soon to be protégé was killed in the Ghost Zone and his body scattered all over the place, the man at first refused to believe that, but he also couldn't rule that possibility out.
He himself ached to join the search party in the other world but something or rather someone was holding him back.
Valerie.
It was rather ironic that the person who gave him the hope that Daniel was alive also kept him from doing a much bigger part on the matter; she constantly kept calling to tell him that every ghost she has caught has not seen Danny Fenton.
That is not to say that she has been ignoring Danny PHANTOM... To the huntress, he could have been involved in her friend's kidnapping.
She certainly was obsessed with the boy... both sides of him... and in such different ways, it was certainly ironic, it was amusing really.
But now it was not the time to think of such trivial things.
Surely he couldn't allow suspicion coming from his most loyal pawn, if he suddenly took a leave of absence, she would worry and search for him instead of their main priority... that girl was kinda paranoid when it came to the safety of people that mattered to her.
Then again her little job gave her the right to feel that way, ESPECIALLY after what happened in her home town.
So due to that little setback Vlad had to rely on his staff to do his bidding and if their efforts came to fruition then the results would be good.
... Very VERY good
He decided that he wasted enough time already and continued with his research, the sole reason of him being in Colorado.
"File number A113" Vlad bellowed.
The screen now showed Danny creating an ecto-dome just seconds before Valerie blasted him to smithereens.
"Stop, analysis"
New data came on the left side.
"File number C24"
Danny turned intangible.
"Stop, analysis"
"File number 45GFD"
Danny flying while dodging punches.
"Stop, analysis"
"File number 679VX, Stop... File number 0IJ65, STOP... File number 361ASS... Stop... Analysis... Conclusion?"
The computer downloaded every single file Vlad had listed and after a few seconds Maddie's holographic head came to life.
"I'm sorry cupcake... insufficient Data... experiments can't be completed without mid-morph sample"
"Figures..." Vlad muttered darkly "Ugh, no matter I'm through waiting... my son is out there somewhere and I'm NOT about to lose what precious time I have!"
The Maddie program just smiled sweetly "What do you have in mind?"
"Release the clones" He responded soberly.
The computer program frowned "They are not stable enough Vladdie... they could turn into ectoplasm in a matter of minutes"
"In the human world" Vlad said stubbornly "In the ghost zone they have a better chance of maintaining their forms.
"I still think they need more time".
"And I say release them!" The half ghost snarled "I can always create more if necessary"
"Very well... only three will be released... the fourth one might be useful later on"
The Maddie program's eyes started to turn white and immediately numbers started to roll in them... Matrix style, information obviously being sent to the mainframe.
A couple of lights turned on and four pods were seen, only three started to open.
One revealed a tiny green glowing.... thing.. another revealed a hulk like entity, he had some of Daniel's characteristic but obviously he was still far from perfect since he was not smart enough to make any coherent thought other than to "pleased father" and the final clone was hidden under a bed sheet, it was clear that this particular creation had not gotten to its final stage.
But that wasn't important... none of them were.
Plasmius floated to them and eyes them the same way a general eyes his troops.
"Listen to me and listen well... I will not tolerate any failures from you.. I had enough as it it with my staff... I want you to go into the Ghost Zone and find this boy..."
He got a photo of Danny in both forms for them to see.
"And don't come back until you do"
All the of his creations said in union "Yes father"
And they flew into the Plasmius portal ready to serve their old man.
"Father.... I do so love that" The billionaire smirked happily but frowned immediately "And yet that just doesn't sound right"
Before he could give that any further thought, the vampire like ghost took noticed of the last cloning tube, a little green window was in front of it, giving him the chance to look at his most recent piece of work.
Without any further ado, Vlad took a step closer and cleaned said window with his gloved hand, curious about the fourth clone's appearance.
After a few milliseconds, He saw something... the silhouette of a young child... around probably ten years old... hooked to a breathing device around her mouth and several wired with the purpose of telling him its health.
Vlad just assumed that this clone was getting ready to be completed... he could sense a decent amount of power coming out of the sleeping child.
It was about ready to be "born".
So it seemed that at least something was going on the way he wanted.
"So what are we going to do with your children after you find this Danny boy?" The Maddie program questioned.
"Excuse me?"
"Our children... what will be of them if you get the original Fenton kid?"
Vlad hadn't thought about it to be honest "I don't really know I suppose... death"
The hologram gasped in horror.
Whatever love the woman had been programmed to have for her creator it was somehow being overwritten by something else.
... Hatred
Vlad was unaware... there were after all more important things to attend to.
Like finishing the Booomerang
Vlad knew that Jack really put effort into his inventions
But he wasn't about to say it out loud.
He left his laboratory.
The Maddie program glaring at his retreating form.
"I never loved you" She said to the empty room.
Meanwhile:
Danny was in the ghostly forest, one of the few places in this dimension he actually knew perfectly... the other being Ember's house, it was finny to think that just a few weeks ago he was terrified of this place but now he actually found it southing, when things with his roommates went all world war three, he left them alone and came to his "happy place".
However he didn't know he was being watched by the parrot... the dead bird often tagged along making sure that Phantom did not get into any trouble... or run into anyone who could tell him about his true self.
Ember was really paranoid about that, she did not want to get into Danny's bad side, she had after all gone through an experience with him that she would never EVER forget.
The parrot landed on a three nearby curiously watching the hybrid.
"Why are you here this time?" The bird questioned.
Danny was sitting nearby a rock, putting one of his fingers on the ground and making lines, it was a simple thing... but it occupied this mind from the troubles he endured.
"There is the chance you won't get your memories back... and if that's the case then you will have to make new ones"
"That's the bad thing" Danny muttered "New memories wont replace the old ones... even the most unpleasant ones"
Truth is that the boy felt that without his memories he was no one... since memories give you experience and without experience he was nothing but a kid with nothing to look forward in life.
He sure as hell knew that he had a dream of what he wanted to be when he grew up... everyone has dreams... but he didn't... he didn't even know he could grow up... for all that mattered he could remain a teenager forever due to his ghost half.
... That could prevent his ageing.
He was also uncertain of a few things... like why Ember refused to speak to him about his past.. he was sure she knew...
However the only excuse he got was that... in Youngblood's words "Too much information could melt you brain"
Ember then re-told his reaction of his parents disowning him to make her point across.
He could see the she was not comfortable telling him about this... he figured that in a sense his pain affected her in some way.
"Maybe she and I were closer than I thought?" Danny mussed.
His girlfriend certainly looked out for him... even made sure that the simplest of things were not a burden for him.
He smiled fondly at a memory that happened the second day of his "revival".
Ember put all the stuff he needed to take a shower within reach so he wouldn't trip or strained any of his muscles.
In the end he did trip and the yowl of pain was enough of an alert for her and before the halfa knew it, she was in the bathroom faster than a rabbit running from a coyote.
She was embarrassed when she entered to say the least.
"Heh, she is kinda cute when she blushes"
He insisted that he didn't need help and that he could do things by himself much to the chagrin of his undead girlfriend.
She even had a fit when he tried to levitate to get some cereal... reminding him that using his powers even a little bit of them was not wise at the moment... not after the bee incident.
He just rolled his eyes at that memory.
But he had to agree that maybe he should take care of himself, Danny actually felt guilty for scaring the hell outta Ember, after all he almost died.
And after everything she had done to help him, he could at least take into consideration her point of view, even if it was a bit annoying.
"Maybe she does this because she doesn't want to lose me?" The teen asked himself out loud "If so then that would even her constant protection"
The parrot stared at Danny for a second, then shakes his head "Oh you poor clueless smuck."
Danny continued to make lines in the ground, not actually paying attention to what me was forming, it just served as a form of relaxation.
"All she wants is for me to be ok..."
He scratches the back of his head in contemplation "Just what have we gone trough together?"
"Obviously a lot if we are were we are now..." he just wished he could remember all the stuff they did together, like how they met, how did they became a couple and most importantly their first date.
"Assuming we even HAD one before my mind turned to mush" Danny darkly said.
A thought then came to him... something he wished he had asked a long time ago.
"How long have we been going out?"
The parrot raised an eyebrow at seeing the hero go stiff.
Danny groaned "Great I can't even remember THAT... Ember REALLY has to put with me a lot... I just wish I knew how to repay her.
He stopped moving his hand.
Just what did he really know about the rocker?
Aside from the fact that she was a ghost like him, that she saved his life... that she had a knack for playing the guitar and singing, there was nothing else.
Her past was a mystery much like his... the difference here was that she remembered hers but refused to acknowledge it... that he knew, he didn't had a long talk to her a few weeks ago for nothing, he thought that her nightmarish time in her bedroom was more than a clue.
But Danny was not about to pry the subject of her private life just like it was not important... no... if he respected her privacy then it would be a first step to get her to open up to him.
God knows maybe she wants to talk about this to someone.... anyone.
He promised himself that he was going to help her in anyway possible... he was going to return the kindness he has been receiving.
And he just thought of the perfect way to do it.
He grinned from ear to ear at the idea he just got.
"About time I got an idea in my head" He joked.
"The boy must be delirious, he is talking to himself more often than not" The spying bird said in a bored tone.
Danny turned his feet into a tail and flew away.
The Parrot followed.
Phantom was nervous, he was sure the feeling was normal... it had to be.
How often do you plan on asking a ghost for a date?
Yup he planned on asking Ember McLain on a date.
Maybe... just maybe, both of them would get even closer than they were now.
... He just hoped not to screw anything up.
Danny had no intentions of messing up something as important as this.
Ember deserved a thank you.
"And she was gong to get it" The boy thought determinedly.
He just hoped she said what he wanted to hear.
One little word.
"Yes"
TA DA... FINALLY AN UPDATE! I'm so so SO freaking sorry I didn't post this sooner but my real life comes first.
And I apologize again, this time for NOT posting the fight between Ember and Skulker, but damn I just couldn't think of a way for the fight to happen, and truth be told I had no intentions of even writing it but many of you want one fight between the hunter and the rocker and I will write it.
But not in Ember's POV... I figured that the Danny/Ember relationship is much more important than her near death experience.
No pun intended, and well I think that it would make much more sense if everything happened from Skulker's perspective, after all what better way to describe an action scene than to get us some laughs since I plan on humiliating "the ghost zone's greatest hunter".
I bet you are all wondering where IS Skulker?
Heh heh heh, well let's just say he got himself into some deep water and he is all tied up at the moment.
I guess you'll just have to wait and see what I mean... not like you all have any choice in the matter.
About the relationship Ember and Youngblood have, I just think its very humorous and ironic that sometimes they switch roles, Ember as an imature brat and Youngblood as the "mature" one, its just one of those silly little ideas that I enjoy writting, whatcha think of THAT?
Umm, and about the Vlad scene, I'm not really sure where it came from.
To be honest it just wrote itself... I just think that the older half-ghost is getting a bit too obsessed with finding Danny that he is even going as far as using the clones and yes I realized that his solution of killing them once they did theiy job was a bit exaggerated and cruel but i just think that IS something Vlad would be willing to do, after all in "Kindred Spirits" he nearly killed Danielle without remorse.
The Maddie program? Ah that actually is something that has been planed since even before I started writing this baby up... I just wanted to give this fic a bit of an ironic twist what if the computer program actually HAD a maternal side?
And Danny planning on asking Ember out... cliff-hanger much?
NOW things get interesting... umm?
Finally I plan to putting ALL the ghosts that have ever appeared on the series on this fic... most of them will have minor roles... and even a cameo, which is why I putted the Danny clones in the first place... so if you wanna give me suggestion for your favourite ghosts having an appearance then send me a private message ok?
That include those from season three.
Oh before I forget both E-Dante and ChadRocco did some great artwork involving my fic check it out will ya:
The first is a Title card of the story and the second is a drawing of Ember's look for later in the story.
Here are the links... just remove the spaces:
http: // .com /art / DP-Ghostly-Emotions-116171502
http: // .com /art / Ghostly-Emotions-Ember-114273493
Well please read an review... I crave reviews after such a long wait.
And just because I feel like saying it again Happy Birthday SZ!!!
Invader Johnny Signing Off.