Hey everyone. Lord Pugsy. Here is the latest instalment of A Phantom Marooned, and I hope you enjoy it. I do not own Danny Phantom, only the story.
The moment the five reluctant volunteers left the room, an uncomfortable silence fell upon the rest of the survivors as they looked at each other. The rest of the English Class realised that in the past forty-eight hours, they had come to depend on the mysterious Danny Fenton and his closest friends to lead them; from training and learning to defend themselves, to starting a simple conversation.
"So," started Dash, attempting to break the silence, looking at the twins who appeared to be roughly the same age as them. "Either of you play any sport?" The twins just shrugged.
"We play football and baseball from time to time." Said James. "Not that it matters much here."
"More into football though." Said Max. "We play for our school."
"So do we. Dash and I play for our school, Caspar High." Said Kwan. This struck a chord with all five of them.
"Caspar High?" Asked James. "As in Caspar High of Amity Park?"
"You've heard of us?" Asked Nathan.
"Everyone knows who you guys are. You live in the ghost capital of the United States." Said Max, excitedly. "Tell us, do you know Inviso-Bill, or Danny Phantom?"
"The Ghost Boy?" Squealed Paulina, showing more excitement in a few seconds than she had in the past week. "Of course we do. He's my soul mate." Whilst Frank, Ellie and the twins looked on with confusion, the students of Caspar High face palmed whilst Paulina just continued having a dreamy look on her face.
"Anyway," began Star, cringing at Paulina's obsession over Danny Phantom. "You know all about Phantom?"
"Not really." Admitted Ellie. "We only know what we've heard in the news; about how sometimes he's a menace, and other times when he's a hero."
"That depends on who you talk to in Amity." Said Michelle, looking down.
"How do you mean?" Asked Frank.
"Well, if you were to ask teenagers, they would all say he's a hero." She responded. "But, if you asked most adults, they will tell you he's dangerous. Especially the Fentons."
"Fentons?" Asked Frank, the name ringing a bell. "As in Danny's parents?"
"The very same." Said Mikey. "Everyone thought they were crazy to begin with, continuously spouting off nonsense about ghosts being real. When the ghosts first started coming, some people started believing them. But when the town got trapped in the Ghost Zone, doubt no longer existed."
"That was also the point when some adults finally began seeing Phantom as a hero." Said Kwan, memories of that day flooding his mind; remembering how Phantom had flown off to fight the Ghost King.
"He risked his after-life for us that day, but some people, namely the Fentons, still think he's evil." Muttered Paulina.
"Even after everything he did for your town?" Ellie asked incredulously.
"Unfortunately." Said Chelsea.
"But hasn't he fought off hundreds of ghosts?" Asked Frank.
"Loads." Confirmed Nathan. "He fought a massive storm ghost, a ghost who could control technology and a massive plant ghost who covered the entire town in vines. He's done everything for us."
"What about Danny?" Asked Megan, speaking for the first time; she had been silent ever since Danny left the room, hoping that he would return soon. Before the students could answer her, they faltered. They had never once heard Danny, or any of his friends for that fact, talk about Phantom. Whether it be positive or negative. The only exception was Valerie, who for a long time despised Danny Phantom. It was only just after the C.A.T's that Valerie had stopped talking about him.
"We don't know." Star said finally, looking down. "We don't really know much about Danny. Or his friends. We've learned more in these past couple of weeks than we have in the six years we've known him."
"We all thought he was this wimpy loser who hung around freaky people and had freaky parents." Said Dash, a new feeling of guilt settling in his stomach. "But we've seen him do impossible things since we got here."
"Such as?" Asked James.
"He was clever enough to know that the currents were taking us in the wrong direction." Mikey said.
"He led off a Komodo Dragon." Said Kwan, remembering the feeling of terror when they were stranded up a tree.
"He fought of four panthers at once." Said Nathan.
"Four?" Asked Max, disbelievingly.
"We know it sounds crazy, but he did." Said Star. "We were sat in our shelter, scared out of our minds, and watched, in the middle of a storm, as he fought and killed four panthers."
"You saw Danny's bandages under his shirt, right?" Asked Michelle; the others nodded. "That's where his chest got ripped open. It was so deep; there was blood all over the sand, but he carried on fighting." Michelle stopped suddenly, as a thought occurred to her.
"You know, it's funny," she started. "After Sam stitched him up, he hasn't once flinched or given any indication that he was in any pain. It's like he doesn't even realise that they're there anymore."
"Yeah," agreed Chelsea. "A paper cut can make most people cry for hours, but Danny got over it almost instantly."
"Sounds like some kid." Said Frank, gaining a sense of respect for the fearless teenager.
"Yeah." Murmured Paulina, her features once excited, were now fearful, all thoughts of her beloved Ghost Boy disappearing instantly.
"What's wrong?" Asked Ellie, slightly disturbed by the Latina's sudden change of mood. When Paulina didn't reply, Alice spoke up.
"You can't really blame him to be honest. I think most of us would have done the same thing, but we were all too scared. When we first got here, we were pretty much hysterical and panicking; some more than others." She started, giving a pointed look towards Paulina. "Danny was the only one who seemed to be calm and level headed about the whole situation. It's weird. It was almost like he had been in this type of situation before. He was composed and trying to calm us down, up until Paulina and Sam started arguing and fighting."
"It was like something in his brain switched, and the normally quiet teen turned into this angry and terrifying person." Said Bradley.
"His voice," chimed in Craig. "He could have threatened to rip our heads off and we would've believed him."
"His eyes blazed with anger and looked as if he was staring into our very souls." Added Eric. Once he said this, the English Class casted their minds back to that moment on the beach, where they had been made to feel like small children being told off by their parents, chills running down their spines. The others had a difficult time digesting this latest piece of information. What they had just been told defied all opinions and perceptions of the mild-mannered teen they had spoken to before.
It was at this point the five volunteers walked back into the room; as soon as Danny entered the room, all the occupants flinched when they saw the look on his face.
The look of intense rage and hatred on Danny's face was evident to all those who looked at him; his eyes were cold and hostile, the ghost within him threatening to unleash itself. No one in the room had any idea what to say; this was worse than how he had looked the first night they became stranded on the island. Any doubt Frank had about the information he heard about Danny was instantly dispelled. The class also noticed that Sam, Tucker and Valerie had angry expressions too, but not to the extent of Danny's. Only one word was running through Danny's head, all the way from Hunter's office back to their cell.
Skulker, thought Danny. He trapped us here. The next time I see him, I'll… Danny didn't know how to finish the rest of that sentence. Before Dan, he would have just destroyed his suit for the umpteenth time and frozen the blob that is Skulker and throw him deep into the Ghost Zone. But now, all Danny wanted to do was to obliterate him from existence, in the most painful way possible. By this point, Danny knew his rage was beginning to become too much; he broke away from Sam, Tucker, Valerie and Mr Lancer, and began pacing at the opposite side of the room, away from the others. Sam, knowing how angry Danny was, left him to it as she sat down with the rest of the group, her eyes never leaving Danny's angry form.
"What happened?" Asked Frank, unnerved by Danny's sudden behaviour change.
"We think we know who's responsible for the ship sinking." Valerie said through gritted teeth.
"What do you mean 'responsible'?" Asked Bradley. "It was just a freak accident wasn't it?"
"It would appear that is no longer the case." Said Mr Lancer, a downcast expression on his face.
"Well spit it out then." Said Dash. "And just what the hell is wrong with Fenton?" He went to go and shake Danny into giving him some answers, when Sam pulled back on his arm.
"Dash, I wouldn't." She said firmly.
"Why should I listen to you Manson?"
"Because Danny is seriously pissed off right now." She said, her voice seeping with anger over the involvement of Skulker. "He's over there because he knows one wrong word could set him off, and quite frankly, I don't blame him. But you've seen how he can get when he's annoyed. Imagine what he's like when he's angry." This stopped Dash in his tracks, remembering full well how Danny had made him feel; he sat down slowly, eyes also transfixed on Danny.
"What happened?" Asked Star, looking nervously at Valerie.
"They wanted a swap of information. They ask us a question and then we can ask them a question." Valerie said. "They told us the story of how they ended up here and what they have done over the years."
"But who's the reason why we're here?" Asked Chelsea.
"It was Skulker." Sam said. "He's the reason why we're here." This caused everyone from Amity Park to gasp, knowing full well who Skulker is.
"Do you guys know who this 'Skulker' is?" Asked James, confused by their reaction.
"He's one of the more frequent ghosts we get in Amity. Always trying to get Phantom's 'pelt' for his wall." Alice explained, causing everyone to become disgusted at the thought of someone being skinned.
"But what's Skulker got to do with this place?" Asked Michelle.
"It turns out this is where Skulker used to live, before he got too big for his boots. These people here? Skulker was their leader until they killed him for bringing too much unwanted attention to their illegal activities." Said Tucker.
"Just when you thought these people couldn't get any sicker." Muttered Ellie.
Why did he do this? Danny kept asking himself, continuing to pace. Does he want us trapped here so he can hunt us? No, he wouldn't be able to get past the ghost shield. Does he want us here to disable it so he can get his revenge on Hunter? Maybe he wants Hunter and his psycho crew to get rid of me once and for all. With more questions than answers, Danny's anger began to grow. It got to the point where all he wanted to do was to punch something as hard as he possibly could. Before he could though, two things happened; his ghost sense went off and time stopped.
"Clockwork." Said Danny, turning to see his guardian floating in adult form.
"Danny." Danny wasn't entirely sure how to react to Clockwork's sudden presence. It was the first time since what happened with Dan that Danny had seen his guardian.
"I was wondering when I would see you next." Danny said curtly.
"But that's not all you were wondering, is it?" Asked Clockwork, morphing into his elderly form.
"Why the hell are we here?" Asked Danny angrily. "We have nearly died several times, kidnapped by psychopaths and you have done nothing! Was it Skulker who did this to us?!" Clockwork barely flinched as his young wards' voice continued to rise until he was shouting at him.
"Danny," Clockwork started calmly, morphing into his child form. "Do you remember one of the last things I said to you after your confrontation with your future self?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Danny asked impolitely.
"Do you remember?" Danny sighed.
"The Observants look at time as if it were a parade, each event passing by one by one in sequence right in front of them. I see the parade from above, seeing all the twists and turns it might or might not take."
"Word for word if I am not mistaken." Said Clockwork, smiling softly down at Danny.
"What happened that day has haunted my nightmares ever since. I remember every detail." Danny said solemnly. He looked over at Sam and Tucker's frozen forms, remembering how distraught he had felt when he thought he had lost them in the explosion.
"Are you saying that you haven't done anything because if you had, something terrible will happen?" Asked Danny.
"You are learning." Said Clockwork. "And to answer your previous question, yes. Skulker is responsible for the destruction of your cruise ship. But he is not the reason why you came to this island."
"How does that make sense?" Danny asked, confused.
"You touched upon it whilst you were at sea. The discrepancies in current direction. Skulker was not responsible for that, but he utilised it for his own gain." Said Clockwork.
"So what changed the current?"
"It's a perplexing thing, ghost technology." Said Clockwork, after a moment of silence. "Very temperamental in its early years, and can have calamitous side effects if not dealt with immediately."
"Are you talking about the energy-field surrounding the island?"
"Precisely. Combining any form of technology with prototype technology is dangerous enough as it is, but when you add an ecto-element to it, perilous events can unfold."
"But what does that mean?" Asked Danny, not understanding where Clockwork was going with this.
"The ghost technology that was stolen from your parents and Vladimir all those years ago was designed to create and stabilise a ghost portal, not to be used as a ghost shield."
"Wait, are you telling me that energy-field is creating a ghost portal?" Asked Danny, dumbfounded.
"Slowly, but surely." Confirmed Clockwork. "It is using the energy created from oceanic currents to power it. This island is acting as a magnet and an amplifier."
"So what will happen when it's finally formed?"
"It won't be anything like the portal your parents created. This will be a volatile rip in the walls between the two worlds, causing anything to fall through from either side." Danny was left speechless by this information, struggling to think of the horrific events which could take place if it were to happen.
"That is the first reason for why I am here Danny. You must find the generator for the energy-field and disable it. You have approximately a week."
"No pressure then." Said Danny, forcing a smile, alleviating some of the tension from earlier in the conversation. "I take it you can't do it because something bad will happen and the Observants won't be happy with you?"
"Once again, you are learning." Said Clockwork, giving Danny a genuine smile as he morphed into his adult form once again.
"But wait, what's the second reason you're here for?"
"Slightly more personal." Confessed Clockwork. "As I intervened with Dan, I effectively became your ghostly guardian, as you are aware of. As such, I am here because I care about your wellbeing Danny. Your anger is becoming incontrollable. Had I not intervened again here, your class and new acquaintances would know the truth about you. It is not the right time for you to reveal yourself just yet Danny." Danny took in what he had been told.
"How though Clockwork?" Danny asked desperately. "Everything just keeps going from bad to worse. Just when things start going in our favour, something always happens and messes it up. When it messes up, I get angry. Then when I get angry, I lash out at those around me. When I do that, I get scared that I am turning into Him."
"Don't be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only fools are not afraid of anything. But dwell on this; you faced your future self with courage and came out victorious. Dan no longer has any power over you." Danny looked into Clockwork's ancient eyes, and saw only truth in them. Feeling as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders, Danny smiled and nodded.
"Thanks Clockwork."
"My pleasure. But before I go, there are two things I need to tell you, because I feel you deserve to know them. However, you have to promise me you won't divulge the information to anyone. Not even your friends."
"I promise"
"Firstly, in the next few days, you will come to know that one of your allies will be in grave danger, but not one you would expect it to be. I cannot elaborate any further but keep a watchful eye out and they will be safe. And secondly," started Clockwork, raising his staff, a twinkle in his usually black eyes. "It was about time you finally kissed Miss Manson." With that, he shouted 'Time In', and the room turned back to normal. Muttering some choice, light-hearted insults at his guardian, Danny turned and headed back to the group.
Once again, I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter. Until next time.
Lord Pugsy.