Frozen Yogurt
A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews and support. I can't believe I've gotten over a hundred views in only a day. You guys are the best! So here's Chapter 3, and I hope you all enjoy it :)
Chapter 3: Half A Sandwich
"How long until we reach Dora's domain?"
"I dunno, Sam. At the rate we're at, it'll probably take us a few days."
"Damn it. Their food won't hold out. We'll need to show our supplies. They'll start asking questions about us. My parents will ask questions about me."
"Calm down, dude. We'll do what we have to."
"Tucker's right, Danny. The last thing we need is them paying too much attention to us, but we can hardly let them starve. We take everything as it comes, so just relax."
The pleading look that she had shot him succeeded in relieving some of his tension. Danny's shoulders visibly slumped.
"It's gonna be a long walk."
Their peers undoubtedly agreed with Danny's statement. Jazz, who was up front near her parents, had taken the brunt of the complaints, as everyone was too afraid of Maddie Fenton to bother her or her husband. Especially when they looked so solemn as they led the procession of students.
"My feet hurt. And Paulina looks like she'll pass out any second. Can't we just sit down for a bit?"
"Yeah! My legs are sore. And I'm really hungry."
"Hey, don't ignore us, Fenton! We're tiiired!"
If Jazz heard one more whiny complaint come from the rag-tag group of teenagers, she was going to jump off the path. Unable to take it any more, she finally gave in and caught up with her parents.
"Mom, Dad, people are complaining. They're exhausted and wanted to know if we could take a break from walking soon. Can we?"
"Sure, Jazzypants. We could spare ten minutes. Right, Mads?"
Maddie looked down the path, which extended forward with no visible end in sight. Sighing, she gave in.
"Well... alright, I'm sure ten minutes wouldn't hurt. But no more than that."
Thankful that she'd have reprieve from the incessant complaints, Jazz loudly told everyone to put their stuff down and that they'd stop here for a ten-minute rest. Sighs of relief were ignored by her as she made towards her little brother and his friends. She hadn't talked to them about the plan yet, and could only hope that they had one.
"Children, how exactly have you managed to eat all of your food already?" Maddie Fenton was clearly distressed, refusing to think about rations and slow starvation. She felt a headache coming on.
"If anyone has any food left, please bring it forward so we can take inventory. We'll need to have rations from now on so that we don't go hungry."
"Uh won't rations kinda make us hungry?"
"Shut up, Dash," bit out Paulina, who was very tired and not at all in the mood for Dash's usual comments, thank you very much.
Team Phantom had in the meantime stood up, bringing forward roughly thirty sandwiches in total. At the incredulous looks they received, they just shuffled their feet.
"Uh, I get really hungry, sometimes?" offered Tucker uncertainly.
The rest of them said nothing, avoiding looking at everyone, and they made their way to the back of the group again to sit down. Surprisingly, no one said anything. While Jack and Maddie were certainly confused, they were willing to let it go for the moment.
"Okay, then. Anyone else?"
A few more students came forward with snacks and a sandwich or two.
"This should last us a while if we do this right," said Maddie. " We'll each eat half a sandwich twice a day. We can't afford to eat much more than that."
The implications of that statement were not lost on the teens, who soon realized that they might be stuck in the Ghost Zone for days, or maybe even longer. There was a quiet moment as they all tried not to panic. It was broken by the sounds of shuffling as they saw Mr. and Mrs. Fenton motion for them to get moving again and they packed their belongings.
It was only minutes later that anything broke the silence. Team Phantom greatly wished that nothing had.
"Humans! Humans in the Ghost Zone!" the echoing voice caught the attention of the group.
It was one of Walker's goons, and the officer looked immensely pleased to have found them. He'd get a promotion for sure. The trio immediately ran towards him, ready to take him down no matter the consequences, their actions unnoticed by Valerie and the elder Fentons, who had moved to do the same. The officer had turned tail and flown in what the teens knew to be the direction of Walker's Prison.
"Oh god, we're so screwed," moaned Tucker. The rest of Team Phantom couldn't help but agree.
"Listen up, everyone!" Danny had moved to the center of the group, getting the attention of everyone, teen and adult alike.
"We have only minutes before we'll have a small army upon us, so we need to move! If we don't run or hide ASAP, we're going to get caught in the middle of a bloodbath."
"Danny, slow down. What are you talking about, sweetie?"
His eyes were frantically surveying the area, "Mom, I'll explain later, but right now I need you to trust me and get everyone in a defensive position, right now. It's too late to run, so we'll have to take a stand."
She looked over at Jack, who was equally as lost as her.
"Mom, please. Just trust me."
To her credit, Maddie Fenton hesitated only for a moment before she hid her uncertainty and nodded at her panicking son.
"Everyone, put your things in a pile in the center. Form up around it, if you have anything to defend yourself with, take it out. Stay close to each other, and run if Jack or I say so."
While nobody was really taking Danny seriously, his mother was a different story altogether. They rushed to obey, and had huddle around their things. It wasn't a moment too soon, as they saw what looked like a cloud of green was coming at them. The members of Team Phantom readied themselves for a fight, their hands reaching for their weapons, though not yet taking them out.
Someone shrieked as they realized that the ominous cloud was really a small legion of guards much like the one they had seen barreling towards them, a smirking figure in white at the lead. And then Valerie did something that absolutely no one expected. She called on her suit.
Gasps erupted around her as she moved to stand beside the elder Fentons. Before anyone could say anything, she spoke to the group gaping at her.
"Yes, I'm the Red Huntress. Now isn't the time for questions. I refuse to stand by helplessly right now, even if it costs me my secret"
Danny, though still shocked, had a brief, guilty thought that Valerie was much more selfless than he'd thought, and what did that mean, that he'd still not planned on revealing his own identity even now. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focuses again on the approaching ghosts. Sam had tossed off her hoodie, leaving her weapons exposed and with easy access to them. Tucker had done the same with his flannel shirt, his holsters in clear sight. Danny followed suit. No one noticed, too focused on the imposing army.
"Daniel Fenton, once again, you've broken the rules."
Walker led his forces right up to Danny and his friends. They moved forward, bodily shielding their classmates.
"Fly away, Walker. We don't want trouble," Sam attempted to diffuse the situation.
"Trouble is all you punks bring to the Zone. Get em' boys!"
The trio whipped out pistols, firing at Walker, but he stepped back into the swarm, laughing darkly. They were forced to back up closer to their classmates, firing nonstop, but most of their shots hit. The Fentons and Valerie, though shocked beyond belief at their actions, cleared their heads and joined the fight. Maddie would be yelling at Danny for endangering himself later.
The ecto-guns soon became useless as the goons got near enough that close-combat was the only option. The exception was Valerie, who flew above the ghosts on her hoverboard to fire at them. She hovered near the students, firing at any who got too close and doing what she could to thin the horde.
Danny had whipped out an ecto-staff, his face contorted in a snarl as he cut through ghosts with every powerful sweep of his arms. Sam, who's preferred wrist rays had been destroyed, pulled out her knives. Coated in blood blossom oil, every slice to a goon was a death sentence. Seeing that one of the goons was about to fire at Tucker's exposed back, she sprinted towards Danny, who boosted her up, leaping off him, she cried out in fury and buried her stiletto knives in the ghost's chest. It dissolved in an agonized scream.
Tucker spared her a grateful look, then turned back to shock one of the goons into dissolving. The El-ecto-fier was his own invention, based off of what Danny said the Plasmius Maximus did. It sent a strong current of electricity and ectoplasmic energy into a ghost, shocking the more powerful and dissolving the weaker specters. A piercing shriek was heard as Sam went down, being caught in one of the goons' shocking restraints. Danny ran to free her, but was beaten by Jazz, to the surprise of the students who huddled still by their belongings.
With a war cry befitting a viking berserker, Jazz came at the glowing guard with the steel gauntlets that never left her person, always kept in her large purse. She knocked him up the jaw with a punch that made a resounding crack, stomping on Sam's restraints. She dragged Sam back to safety, as she'd gone limp in unconsciousness.
The elder Fentons were a sight to see, as they fought as seamlessly as their son and his counterparts. Jack shot down those who came from above and afar, leaving Maddie to pounce and tear apart the ones withing reach. But with a cry, Tucker and Jazz were downed by a pile of goons.
"TUCKER! JAZZ!"
They were being overrun, down three fighters. Valerie, who had been watching Danny fight whenever she could spare a second, was very impressed. Not to mention feeling foolish for breaking up with him on the basis that he couldn't defend himself, which was obviously not the case. But what was done was done, and Valerie brought herself back to the present. Steering her hoverboard down and clearing some space, she motioned for Danny to jump on.
With two people firing at them from above, the few remaining who held down Sam and Tucker were shot down, but they were already knocked out. Danny scanned the purple crag beneath them for any blood that belied a head wound but saw none.
The elder Fentons were injured, Maddie sparing only a moment to wrap a gash on her arm as her husband covered her, and Jack had done the same with his shoulder. They barely slowed in their firing, but it was enough for a sudden mob of goons that had appeared and restrained the struggling hunters.
Danny and Valerie held up to the assault of what seemed to be reinforcements, but only because they were in the air. Unfortunately, they could fly as well. They retreated closer to the students, willing to fight to their last breath to keep them safe, but then Walker sauntered out from behind some goons.
Before they could attack him, he produced a small container. With a smirk, he clicked open the top and released a thick gas.
"Cover your mouths!"
Danny's warning came too late, as those who had up until then remained conscious felt themselves sway. Black spots danced in their vision as the felt themselves fall to the ground. The last thing they knew was a deep cackling and white boots walking past them.
Valerie Grey woke feeling exposed. Her armor was gone, faded back to where ever it was when not in use. Groaning, she rubbed at her head. What the hell happened? As she sat up and saw her classmates, it all came rushing back to her. She jumped to her feet, and upon seeing bars she rushed them, yelling "Let us out, you filthy, half-witted- oomph!" Upon touching the bars she'd been shocked and launched back by the force of it.
Not in a hurry to try that again, she glared at the cell that held her and the rest of the group. She rushed over to the injured, seeing that Maddie and Jack were just coming to.
"Are you alright Mr. Fenton? Mrs. Fenton?"
"We're fine, Valerie. Do you have any idea why we're in a cell?"
"We're in the human wing of Walker's Prison. The unwilling domain of the Ghost Zone's most notorious criminals." They turned to look at Danny's known punk girlfriend.
Sam who had been laying slumped by the wall, winced as she propped herself to a vertical stand.
"And how exactly do you know that, young lady?" Maddy Fenton interjected, but her firm question went answered by the unexpected spirit who appeared on the other side of the bars.
"Because she, along with her punk friends, are sentenced to a collective 9,000 years here." Walker's smug words were met with twin glares in Tucker and Sam. The former who had been collecting himself off to the side, fingers running through his dreadlocks for the lock pick he knew to be in there. He was forced to stop when Walker had shown up.
"Wait, what?" Dash shrunk back as the ghost's attention focused on him briefly, already regretting having spoken up.
"I'm glad you asked, punk. Daniel Pha-"
Jazz had taken a threatening step forward, her eyes promising pain if he continued that sentence. Walker denied any fear, and especially denied thoughts of the last time he'd been on the receiving end of that look and his consequent two months of slow recovery. He also denied having gulped at said thoughts.
"Daniel Fenton has been deemed guilty of trespassing, defying the Warren, resisting arrest, destruction of Ghostly Property, assault on the Warren, directly causing 8 riots and consequent prison breaks, indirectly causing countless more riots and prison breaks through example, fraternizing with known escaped convicts, bringing in unlawful human contraband to the Ghost Zone, and existing. He has a sentence of 3,000 years"
"Oh my god," said Paulina after a brief silence. The shocked stares of the others in the room were agreement enough.
Pleased at the reaction, Walker went on.
"Sam Manson is responsible for and deemed guilty of trespassing, defying the Warden, resisting arrest, destruction of Ghostly and Prison property, assault on the Warden, directly causing 2 riots, fraternizing with known escaped convicts, aiding and abetting said convicts, setting fire to the entire left wing of the Prison," that, to Sam's smug delight, was said through gritted teeth, "existing within the Ghost Zone, and preventing the re-capturing of an escaped convict on more than 3 occasions. She is sentenced to 3,000 years."
"Tucker Foley has been judged guilty of defying the Warden, assaulting the Warren, aiding and abetting escaped convicts, replacing all of the furniture in the Warden's office with holograms of aforementioned furniture-"
Here Tucker looked incredibly proud, and Sam and Jazz shot him impressed looks, not having known about that. He gave a sarcastic bow to his peers, to Walker's obvious displeasure.
"- indirectly causing injury to the Warden, existing in the Ghost Zone, and teaching a dead language to the inmates, resulting in the discussion of escape plans in an obscure, unintelligible tongue. He is sentenced to 2,000 years."
"Jasmine Fenton-"
Jack and Maddie looked incredibly alarmed at that, paling further than they had at hearing what Danny had been up to in the Ghost Zone, when he had been expressly forbidden from doing so.
"- is guilty of assaulting the Warden, and aiding and abetting known escaped convicts. She is sentenced to 1,000 years."
"So you see, these punks deserve to be behind bars, Daniel Fenton most of all."
"Speaking of Danny, where'd you take him?" Tucker growled out his question, incredibly protective of his friend.
Satisfied that he'd dealt the Ghost Kid a solid blow in his identity by revealing his history with the Warden, Walker had already turned to walk away. Without looking back, he simply answered, "The Pit."
Sam and Tucker blanched, feeling sick.
Danny woke to a pitch-black expanse. Everything ached. Getting to his feet, he rubbed at his neck with his arm, the nervous tick bringing the cuff on his wrist to his attention. Unable to see a thing, he tried to enhance his vision with his powers, but found himself unable to. Of course, inhibitor cuffs.
He stumbled through the dark, groping blindly and waving his arms back and forth. Which is how he managed to slice his palm on cool metal. Wincing audibly, he grabbed at his bleeding hand. Trying to focus his eyes and see what it was that he'd hurt himself, the bleak darkness gave way to a wispy grayscale. With that, Danny saw saw the massive spike that was only a few inches from his eye.
Jumping back with a yelp, he realized that there were countless spikes on the wall in front of him. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed the same for the wall behind it. So, he was in the infamous pit. It was the only thing the inmates feared. Being sent to The Pit was a death sentence, as all who were sent here had their powers neutralized. Danny knew that soon the walls would start moving and closing in on him. These metal spike were said to burn ghosts with a touch. But right now, Danny wasn't a ghost.
Setting his shoulders, Danny determinedly walked towards the wall of spikes. With no time to waste, he began to climb.
"Samantha Manson, you tell me what my son is going through right now."
Despite the difficulty of it, she managed to ignore the frantic woman who was more of a mother to her than her biological mom ever was, Sam turned to the rest of the group. They looked horrible, their clothes torn and dirty, exhaustion and stress written in their faces. They were kids in the same way that Danny was before the accident, and Sam knew that they shouldn't have to see the things that they'd already seen.
"Listen up. Here's the plan. We'll be taken to the mess hall soon. The inmates know us, and we'll vouch for you to keep them from causing trouble with you. Don't insult any of them and everything will go a lot smoother. There'll be a prison break during the lunch time. I'll go to find Danny while Tucker leads the rest of you to the exit."
Seeing that Maddie was about to object, Sam raised a hand to cut her off. "Mrs. Fenton, you don't know the layout of the prison, and slowing me down in finding Danny could cost us dearly if he's injured. I'll find Danny and you'll be able to see him much sooner than if you or Mr. Fenton accompanied me."
"Any questions?" asked Tucker. "No? Good. Get some rest, it'll be a bit before the prison break and you'll need your strength to run."
The group was still in shock, of the kind where so many unexpected things happened in such a short time that one became detached until they had the time to slow down and process it all. But they all had the time to wonder the same thing. Where was Danny?
The group of humans were jolted awake by a guard clanging on the bars. Sam and Jazz shot Tucker a glare, as it was his turn to stay awake and keep watch. Laughing sheepishly, he shrugged. What could he say, he was tired. The group was led to the mess hall by an armed guard. Walker was apparently taking no chances in keeping them in line. He was noticeably absent from their guard, though, the coward.
As soon as they reached the large cafeteria, the teens could feel Jack and Maddie's tangible efforts not to attack any of the dozens of ghosts scattered around the room. Foregoing the lunch line, Sam and Tucker made towards the center table, the unspoken table of Team Phantom. They were in the prison often enough that while it wasn't exclusively theirs, it was the only one they sat at, for strategic reasons.
Familiar figures were already seated there, but Tucker and Sam sat down there anyways, the rest of the group hesitating but ultimately sitting beside them gingerly.
"Sup, Skulker. Ghost Writer, Kitty, good to see you guys."
"Likewise, child. Long time no hunt," greeted Skulker in his usual manner, the other two nodding their hellos to Sam and Jazz as well.
"So Skulker, how are you and Ember doing? I heard she's started touring in playing some concerts in Europe lately," despite how stressed she was, Sam was genuinely curious, as she and some of the other ghost girls had struck up a sort of pseudo-friendship over the years. She'd still fight them alongside her friends when they wrecked havoc, but they were all equally as likely to head to a coffee shop to catch up and chat.
"We're doing great," said the metal specter, always glad to speak to the more pleasant of the Ghost Child's friends. "I got her the amplifier that the Ghost Child suggested for her anniversary. Needless to say she loved it. Perhaps I'll hold off the hunt for a few weeks in thanks."
Jazz meanwhile, was in a deep conversation with Ghost Writer about her thesis on Ghost Core Growth. He'd been helping her on the structure of it a few months back and inquired as to her progress. Jack found himself listening in to the conversation despite himself. He hadn't known that Jazzy had been studying ghosts. He'd be more proud if he wasn't so busy worrying for his son.
Kitty, to the surprise of no one, had taken immediately to the preppy girls. "Why so quiet ladies? Nevermind that actually, it's just great that there're some gals to gossip with for once. Pariah, prison is so boring without Ember and Spectra." And with the promise of gossip, however alien the concept of gossiping about ghosts was, the teen girls perked up and were soon caught in an animated discussion with Kitty on the merits of mascara with thinner than usual bristles.
After a few minutes however, Tucker got everyone's attention. "We need to get down to business. The guards will be changing shifts in a few minutes, so they're distracted. Now is the time to strike. Skulker, would you mind?"
A grin spread on the ghostly robot's face. "Whelp, it would be my pleasure." He stood up from the table and strode purposefully towards a nearby ectopus. He snatched it up and held it over his head.
"RIOT!" he bellowed, tossing the screeching ectopus at a nearby ghost known for his anger issues. Within seconds, the room was a war zone, shouts, food, and ghost flying through the air. The prison guards had been caught at a bad time, and they scrambled to get the riot under control, forgetting to watch the exits.
Tucker was sure that Skulker could handle himself, especially since Tucker had handed him a spare ecto-gun under the table. He'd hidden the tiny pistol in his boot that morning, and figured that Skulker could use the extra firepower to blow up the wall later, in exchange or helping them break out and not attack them. Secure in that knowledge, he focused instead on the living.
He quickly got the attention of his classmates. "Alright, let's move. Follow me, don't worry about the guards, they can't actually touch you in here. Something about the frequencies in Walker's Prison. Now, run." And he took off, Sam breaking off from the group at full speed to find Danny.
He'd been halfway up the spikes when the walls began moving. His sweaty, bleeding palms were stinging and covered in small cuts from where his grip had slipped. Danny tried hard not to panic, moving even faster at the risk of falling to what would probably be his death.
Minutes passed too quickly for his liking, and he was nearly at the top when he turned to see the other wall of spikes was only a foot away and steadily getting closer. He gulped and kept going, and the excitement he felt as his fingers touched the roof was short lived.
Oh yeah, the roof. The roof that was his only way out and that he had no idea how to open. Despite his best efforts Danny started to hyperventilate. Pariah, he might die here. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the roof slid open with a screech, the bright light that flooded the pit blinding Danny and nearly making him lose his grip. So grateful he was that someone had come to his rescue, he forgot to keep moving. As sharp metal pressed against his back, he had time to think 'Aw, crap,' before Sam came to his rescue once more and tugged him out bodily.
Panting heavily, Danny lay there for a few seconds before Sam was tugging him to his feet and pulling him at a run towards the exit. He stumbled, still trying to catch his breath as he ran with her.
"Are the … *puff puff* … others … *huff* … safe?" he wheezed.
"They're on their way out as we speak," she replied instantly, to used to his "saving-people thing" to comment on it further.
"Good."
Tucker had led the others through the secret exit, rushing them towards the bushes off by the border of the island. There was often a natural portal there, as they formed near large concentrations of ectoplasmic energy, and Walker's Prison was such a place. Unfortunately, they tended to lead to other areas of the Zone rather than the Human World. But beggars couldn't be choosers, so he began the hard task of convincing jaded ghost hunters, teenagers, and a teacher to jump through an ominous glowing portal that led through places unknown.
As Star had finally screamed in frustration at the bickering, she jumped into the portal herself. The rest of the A-List exchanged looks, shrugged, and jumped in afterwards. Soon, only Maddie and Jack refused to jump in, insisting over and over that they weren't going anywhere until they saw Danny.
Thankfully, that's when Sam and Danny came running towards them, loaded with carrying their supplies and weapons in their arms, followed by the massive, towering form of Walker, who was roaring in fury at their yet again successful prison break.
"Okay, you saw Danny, time to go." And he pushed the startled Fentons into the portal, and seeing that his friends were right behind him, he hopped in too.
Rolling to break his fall, Tucker didn't bother checking his surroundings, waiting for his friends to tumble through the portal be fore firing at it with a ecto-gun he snatched quickly from Sam's arms. The portal immediately overloaded and sealed itself, leaving Walker on the other side.
Tucker turned to his best friend, who stood unsteadily in front of his family and peers.
"Err, I guess I have some explaining to do." Danny's parents stood unwavering in front of him, clearly waiting for him to continue.
The poor bastard.