Okay, people, this is likely to be my last update for a while, which is why you get an extra long chappie. Today's my first day of college. Blegh. So, if I don't reply to your reviews instantly, that means I'm busy. But I will respond, and I will try to update sometime this month. Hah, hah. I don't know how many of you got the reviews I sent, but I did reply to every one of the reviews. So if you didn't get it, either you got a PM 'cause it said I'd already replied (still figuring that one out) or the website simply didn't send it. But enough of my talking for now. Onward to chapter 6!
Disclaimer: I only own the Fenton Adhesire from AKA Phantom, featured again here, as well as something else that I won't tell, but you'll recognize. You'll see. All characters recognizable from the respective TV shows belong to their respective owners.
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Chapter VI: Pacts, Powers, and Parents
At the North Side, Jack and Maddie Fenton had dragged out their ghost hunting gear and were fighting as many ghosts as they could. Jack had the Jack-of-nine tails as well as the Fenton Adhesire. Maddie had all she could do to heft the Fenton Bazooka. They were a perfect team. Jack would stun or wrap the ghosts in goo, and Maddie would shoot the Bazooka, throwing the ghosts into the Ghost Zone. So far, they had tackled the Fright Knight and his army of giant skeleton soldiers (which had laughingly disappeared the moment the Fright Knight was sucked into the Ghost Zone), Spectra and Bertrand, and Desiree. They were now fighting Walker and his goons.
"Fighting when you're outnumbered. That's against the rules," smirked Walker.
"Outnumber this, you odd manifestation of post-human consciousness!" shouted Maddie. Jack fired the Adhesire as Maddie took aim. Walker managed to duck the goo, but flew right into the path of the Bazooka. Shocked, the other ghosts didn't put up much of a fight as they were stunned, gooed, and sucked into the Ghost Zone. That left only two ghosts, the ringleaders of this whole operation.
"So, where are they?" asked Maddie.
"Are you looking for us?" said a deep, threatening voice.
Maddie and Jack turned to see the two they were looking for. The female ghost, Ember, was at the male ghost's side. They hadn't caught his name, but as they saw him up close, they noticed some similarities between him and the former Public Enemy #1.
"Well, well, Ember dear, I think they've actually recognized me. Or should I say, recognized part of me." He snapped his fingers and a glowing cage suddenly appeared around Maddie and Jack.
"Who are you?" demanded Maddie.
"And what do you want?" finished Jack.
He laughed, a deep, cruel laugh that made Jack draw Maddie into his protective arms.
"Who am I and what do I want? Very well. I am known by many names: The Ultimate Enemy, Phantom, Dark Danny, the list goes on and on. What I prefer is Dan Phantom. But if you really what to know who I am, I am what happened to your precious boy."
"Liar!" shouted Jack. "Why would our son turn into a ghost?"
"Because he's been one for the past year! Hello, Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom? Ever notice the similarities? Jazz did, which surprised me."
"Our son – is the ghost boy?" whispered Maddie.
"Ding, ding, ding, the dipstick's parents finally get it!" said Ember. She stopped to let them figure the rest out.
"Jack, the Ghost Portal. What if – somehow – Danny – half died – when he turned it on –and that's what allowed him to become a ghost."
Dan laughed. "Now they get it. Took them so long and now they get it!" Dan's laugh sent shivers down Maddie's spine.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to kill you just yet. You see, in order for me to be created in this timeline, you two, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker must die. It's just the way things work. Shame I only have two, but soon the others will join you in that cage." He turned to Ember and planted a kiss on her lips. "In the meantime, Ember will guard you. I have a feeling we're about to have company." He took off, leaving Jack and Maddie with Ember, who was strumming her guitar in gleeful anticipation.
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Danny felt his eyes glow bright green. "Where?" he growled.
Sam looked fearful of giving the answer. "The North Side, where the ghosts were."
"Were?" asked Superman.
"Yeah, uh, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton managed to get most of them rounded up before they were caught, according to the news report."
"Well, at least we don't have to deal with them," said Vlad bracingly. Danny glared at him.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Danny, surprising everyone by transforming. Vlad followed suit. "Let's go!"
"We're coming," Sam said suddenly.
"No, you're not," said Danny. His voice was firm.
"Uh, no, you're not leaving us here," inserted Lois.
Superman groaned. "Lo-is!"
But Lois was just as stubborn as Sam. "Just because we're women doesn't mean we can't fight too."
The three males looked at each other before replying in unison. "No."
"Let's go!" said Danny. He flew through the open window, Vlad and Superman behind him, but he had to stop in midair.
"That way," said Superman helpfully.
"Right," said Danny as he darted in that direction, his legs melting into an ecto-tail. Superman flew behind him, with Vlad bringing up the rear.
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In the Conference room, Lois stared at the three shrinking dots, furious.
"Hey, Lois," said the Goth girl. "They didn't say that we couldn't look, now did they?"
Lois turned to see a look of mischievousness on the Goth girl's face. Lois grinned.
"And," continued Sam, "I happen to have two Fenton Thermoses here for our protection. Just in case, of course."
"Of course," said Lois, taking one of the cylindrical former soup containers.
"Well," said Sam, "let's go 'watch,' shall we?"
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As the two heroes and one villain approached the North Side, they saw the last of Walker's goons dispersing after the loss of their leader.
"All right, now what?" asked Danny.
"There are people trapped in the buildings damaged by the ghost attack. I'll try and get as many as I can out."
"Daniel and I will search for his parents and Dan," said Vlad.
"So where do you think Dan is?" said Danny as Superman sped off.
"How about right behind you," said an evil, familiar voice.
Vlad and Danny whirled around. Dan floated about ten feet away and behind him was the cube prison with Jack and Maddie Fenton, both of who were glaring at Dan.
"I was waiting until you arrived to kill them," said Dan conversationally. "Shame Jazz, Sam, and Tucker aren't here. Ah, well, I'll take what I can get."
"I don't think so," Vlad growled. He split himself into four Plasmiuses.
Dan snorted. "Please." He split himself five ways.
Danny concentrated and another Danny appeared beside him. "Yeah," cheered both Dannys.
As the four Vlads and one of the Dannys battled the five Dans, the other Danny sneaked over to the cage and began picking the lock. He sweated as he tried to maintain his duplicate, who was getting quite a pounding.
"Danny?" asked Maddie.
Danny looked up from the lock he was picking. Surprised green eyes met startled teal ones.
"What – what'd you say?" He felt his blood run cold. Well, ectoplasm in this form.
"You're our son, aren't you," said Jack quietly. "That big ghost that looks like you said so."
Danny gulped, but before he could answer, he was hit by a bright pink blast. He crashed into the street below, the duplicate vanishing as Danny's concentration broke. Danny groaned as he sat up, trying to get his head to stop spinning, to no avail. He looked up, half expecting one of the Vlad clones to have hit him, but he was sorely disappointed.
Valerie, in her Red Hunter garb, had somehow escaped Sam and Tucker and was in full predatory mode. She pointed her charged up ecto-gun at him.
"All right, spook, fess up before I start shooting!"
Danny groaned as he stood up, the dizziness still racking his brain. "The ghost with flaming white hair is the threat. The other one, the one with black hair, is an ally for now. This ghost is stronger than Pariah Dark, and you remember how we had to work together on that one."
Valerie pursed her lips and weighed her choices carefully. If Phantom was lying, then that meant there were three ghosts to deal with instead of just one, and her equipment, however new, was not sufficient to deal with three extremely powerful ghosts. If, however, Phantom was telling the truth, then he really did need her help.
"And why should I believe you?" she finally said, disengaging her board and standing face to face with Danny.
"Well, well, well, how touching." The fifth Dan had touched down after realizing the Danny he had been fighting was a clone. "You know, if I had any human emotions left, I would find this little reunion absolutely hilarious."
Valerie narrowed her eyes. "I've never met you before."
"Oh, yes, you have," Dan grinned, his fangs bared.
Valerie looked at the two ghosts on each side of her. Both had similar characteristics, including that emblem, yet neither looked alike, almost like another person was involved in the older ghost.
"You see, Valerie, oh, yes, I know who you are, Red Hunter, I am what could've happened in little Danny Phantom's future." Valerie stepped backwards, toward the younger ghost, as Dan advanced on her. "And now I can take care of you before you even become a pest." He raised his hands, which were glowing fiery green ectoplasm. He was completely determined to make sure Valerie was nothing more than a grease stain.
"NO!" shouted Danny, who threw up his hands. A cold feeling seemed to emerge from his stomach outwards to his hands, which were suddenly glowing a light blue. Danny concentrated on that feeling and the blue orbs increased, finally shooting out of Danny's hands. The result was instantaneous. Dan was frozen in place, the green orbs and his hair extinguished.
"Weird," said Danny, staring at his still smoking hands. "A new power."
"You just saved my life," said Valerie, shocked. "Great, just when I thought you couldn't confuse me enough with the duplication," she muttered as she returned to her usual brisk self.
"So, are we on the same side?" asked Danny.
"For now." Valerie hefted her gun. "Target practice!" She aimed a practice shot at the frozen clone, which shattered instantly.
Danny grinned. "One down."
"Four to go," finished Valerie.
They took to the sky, Valerie taking shots at random Dans and Danny shooting the blue bursts at the distracted duplicates. They defeated two more Dans, each one shattering as Valerie shot the frozen copies.
Now there were two Dans left. They pulled together, giving Dan back his energy. Valerie, Vlad, and Danny lined up opposite him. Vlad was actually panting.
"I haven't been," gasped Vlad, "this worn out in years!" But he still prepped himself for the next fight. Valerie threw in a new cartridge for her gun, and Danny prepared two more ice rays.
But to their surprise, Dan just grinned and shouted, "I don't think so!" He looked behind them and, against their better judgment, they did so also. There was a collective gasp.
Floating there was Superman, but his eyes were a glowing blue.
"About time you noticed me," he said, but the voice was female. Or more specifically…
"Ember!" shouted Danny. "How did you overshadow him?"
"Easy," said Ember/Superman, "I surprised him. Turns out as long as he's face to face with a ghost, he can't be overshadowed, but I didn't say anything, just jumped right in. It helped that he's really tired. All these rescues–" Ember/Superman tisked. "–are really making him weak."
Danny threw the ice rays at him – her – whatever, but they simply ricocheted when they hit.
Ember/Superman smirked at Danny. "Oh, come on, now, I'm invulnerable, remember?"
Valerie narrowed her eyes, and took out a small pistol that had been strapped to her ankle. She lowered the small gun at Ember/Superman.
"Get out!" she growled.
"Or what?" laughed Ember/Superman. "You'll shoot me?"
"Valerie! What are you doing?" hissed Danny, but Vlad laid a hand on Danny's right shoulder.
"She knows what she's doing," murmured Vlad. Danny snorted at him in amazement.
Valerie pulled the trigger. A green, glowing bullet shot out of the end and embedded itself in Ember/Superman's right shoulder. As Ember/Superman rocked with the impact, Ember was thrown out of Superman's body and floated in midair, grabbing her head in mental anguish.
Superman, however, was falling toward the ground. Without Ember or his ability to fly, the laws of gravity had taken over. Danny quickly dove downward, catching Superman just before they hit the ground, making a soft landing.
Superman groaned as Danny gently laid him on the ground. Danny chanced a glance upward. Vlad had resumed fighting Dan, and Valerie was now flying toward the ground.
"Of all the places to hit," Superman gasped as Valerie landed beside them, her board retracting into her shoes, "why the right shoulder?"
"Be glad it wasn't someplace else," Valerie muttered darkly.
Danny looked over the wound. "Valerie, do you have a pocket knife?"
Valerie pulled one out of her many pockets. "Here." She maneuvered over to Superman's left side and grasped his hand.
"I don't need to tell you this is gonna hurt," said Danny.
"Just do it," said Superman, his teeth gritted. This is gonna be worse than the last time someone shot me there.
Danny dug the pocket knife in and Superman yelled in pain. Valerie's hand was dwarfed by Superman's, yet she kept a firm grip. Her suit helped in that it was designed to withstand pressure like this.
Finally, the bullet popped out and Danny threw it down the sewer drain. They watched as the wound quickly healed itself up. They helped Superman to his feet just as Vlad crashed down beside them. Dan, a little worse for wear, landed about twenty feet away. Dan's cape was singed and his jumpsuit was ripped in a few places, including a slash through his emblem. His flaming hair had been reduced to a few inches. His crimson eyes glared at them, as though he could vaporize them just by looking at them. He was purely ticked off.
Dan twisted around as he heard a rather large crash behind him. Pointing his finger in the general direction the sound had come from, he aimed and fired an ectoblast at a nearby car. It flew in the air, and came back down a hundred feet away. Crouched down, now revealed, were Lois, Sam, and Tucker.
"Well, well, this is nice," drawled Dan. He teleported to the new arrivals and dumped them inside the cage holding the Fentons.
"Let me out of here!" demanded Lois.
"Lois!" shouted Superman. He struggled to fly, but his body hadn't fully recovered from the bullet, and he stumbled, Danny and Vlad catching him.
Ember, now recovered, floated up beside Dan. She was so focused on the people below here she didn't see Tucker withdraw a lipstick tube from his pants pocket. Tucker fired it, hitting Ember's back and sending her falling down toward the streets.
"Ember!" shouted Dan. He dived down to catch her.
Lois stared at Tucker. "Why do you even have lipstick?"
Tucker grinned. "Cause I'm worth it?"
Lois rolled her eyes, and shouted, "You gonna get us out or what?"
Danny and Vlad flew upward, leaving Valerie to support Superman, and with a few powerful blasts, including a few from Danny's new power, the lock was broken. Vlad carried Maddie, Lois, and Sam while Danny carried Jack and Tucker. The cage instantly dissolved as the last person was removed.
After they all touched down, Jack quickly hugged Danny.
"Jack!" hissed Maddie, "The others–"
"It's all right, Mom," Danny assured her. "All present here know about my other half. Except the Red Hunter." He wasn't worried as Valerie was still a good twenty feet away and slowly moving Superman to the others.
Maddie blinked as the meaning of his words hit her. She glanced at Vlad, who tried his best not to grin and frighten her. Knowing Maddie, she'd hit him with the Bazooka anyway if he came too close.
"Danny, what happened?" asked Sam, puzzled by the sight of Jack actually hugging Danny in ghost mode.
"Dan tried the same trick he did last time, guys," said Danny, sighing. He ran a hand through his snow white hair. "This time, though, I had help on my side." He glanced at Vlad, who was looking nervous. He leaned over so only Vlad could hear him. "Don't worry, I won't blow your secret if you keep behaving," he whispered to the older halfa.
Vlad's face registered surprise as Danny had just told him that he wouldn't reveal Vlad to Danny's parents.
"I'll explain later, okay?" Danny said to his parents.
Finally, Valerie joined the group. "Hey, why did you land so far away?" she demanded.
"Sorry, we" (he indicated Vlad and himself) "had a few things to clear with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton first." Maddie almost giggled as her son automatically assumed an authoritative position.
"So what's the new plan, Phantom?" demanded Valerie.
Danny looked around at all assembled. "We need to trap him. Anyone got a Fenton Thermos?"
Sam grinned at him. "When do we not?" In her hands was one, while Lois's held another. "Tucker had the lipstick."
"Which, by the way, is really weird," added Lois.
Danny grinned. "All right then, this is what we do…"
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Ooh, a cliffie! I threw in a handful of quotes from the DP episodes, so if you recognize them, brownie to you. So now Danny has that power Dan doesn't. Remember chapter 3? "And unless I get a new power quick, I'll be no match for him." Looks like he'll be a match now, huh? I thought it wasn't done enough justice with Urban Jungle. Speaking of which, if BH is going to have the series finale in February (Waaaa!), then he'd better hurry! I'm not gonna complain if it gets extended though. And that little gun was put to good use. How about that?
Exactly nine pages of MS Word were put into this chapter, so I politely request that this chapter have a minimum of ten reviews before I post the next chapter. I had eight for the last, so it won't be too hard.
Thanks to those who have stopped long enough to answer the call of the review button:
Cylon One, Quacked Lurker, Sunshine Silverjojo, Splout, pottersparky, Oraman Asturi, lily fae, phantomfreek, ghostlover15, dragongirl k, Yami-chan and Unrealistic, CRESCENT-MOON-89101112, egyptianqueen777, Sasia93, Lady Elyn the druid of Serria, and Kaji Blaze the Crimson Serafin.
So, R&R, let me know your opinion. Remember, I need feedback! Especially with college. Where do you think I get my extra energy from, eh? See ya!