Hey!
Yay, I got this up about when I wanted to. It took me a bit longer than I thought, but now I have the final scenes of the story firmly in place in my head. This chapter, you finally discover who's doing what. I hope some jaws drop. I was going for that. And I'm seriously loving how this thing will end. But that's later. And so you all know, this is how I planned the ending from the get-go. I'm very glad it worked out though, since I didn't really know the middle of the story when I was writing. :D
Right, now love for reviewers! Thanks to: hermie-the-frog, bluename, Meagainsttheworld, Diamond Raider, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, MarinJayde, Sasia 93, Queen S of Randomness 016, "Quacked Lurker" (super cudos for figuring out how the Fentons knew the DNA trick), Warrior of winds, Nikky Phantom of the Opera, The Fluff Ghost, Nonasuki-chan, "Linda", Unrealistic, DP fan, fan-girls2.0, egyptianqueen777, chaotic.calm, Chaos Dragon (still waiting to hear your par), Tornada Silverwind, Epona Harper, acosta parez jose ramiro, and AirGirl Phantom. You all rock! Out loud!
So here goes the chapter! Hope you like it, there's a tiny cliffie in it. :P
HiddenAuthor
PS, special cudos to anybody who can tell me what RARE videogame I'm spoofing with the cheif ghost.
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Chapter 13 – Losses
In the early dawn light, a fleet of seemingly harmless vans rolled along various highways and roadways across the state. They were different colors, different models, different years, and for all the unsuspecting citizens knew, were out on completely different business.
Unfortunately, not many people can see through solid objects. Inside, each van was the same.
'GIW' blazed proudly from atop glowing displays. Nameless agents in standard white suits spoke into radio phones or calibrated ghost weapons. The day of attack had finally come.
Agent M smiled grimly at the stretch of road before him, the last few miles on his path back to Amity Park. There had been setbacks, even disappointments, but before the day was out, Phantom would be theirs.
"Agent S, this is agent M, over." He called into the radio at his side.
"Agent S speaking; how are things with the cavalry?" M chuckled humorlessly.
"Already missing our base in the city, S. I wish with every bump in the road that it'd been you that had been sent out."
"We both know I had to stay here to run things." Came the inevitable reply.
"Oh?" M answered, amused. "How many new 'Spook' articles did you write, exactly?" S didn't reply.
"Get those vans to just inside the towers. I'll meet you when you arrive."
"Right. M out."
As the weapon-laden vehicles trudged on, M thought back wryly to Phantom's second…and last, press meeting.
'If you run into anything above a Class 7, get a tank.'
"Oh, you'll wish that was all we were going to do." He said darkly to a flickering image of Phantom on a nearby screen. "You'll just wish."
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Damon rubbed his eyes wearily and drank another cup of coffee. He and Maddie had stayed up late into the night in the Fentons' living room, making plans and drawing complex pathways across tower schematics. Jack had gone to bed hours earlier, to rest up for his 'trip through the Ghost Zone.'
After only four hours of sleep, Maddie was feeling just a little jealous.
"So why are we going to Tower 22 again?" She asked tiredly as she sipped her own coffee, struggling to wake up. Damon shrugged.
"They seemed to work hardest to keep that one secret from me." He answered simply. "If nothing else, it's a good place to start. And we'll have a half hour window of shade on the entry side of the tower just before the noon shift change. I can bypass the security pad at the door in about five minutes. We just have to run up to the door when the first guard leaves, unscrew the cover plate, attach my connector wires, and draw them around the side of the tower before guard number two arrives."
"Then you bypass the lock on your computer, I toss a rock or something to draw the guard, we both slip through the door before he gets back, and it'll lock again behind us." Maddie finished, already feeling much better and more alert. "But what about the cameras?"
"Ughh." Damon rubbed his temples. "We were up for hours last night thinking about that." The security guard sat back in his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Any ideas?"
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"Shirt tucked in, tie straight…" Danny counted off to himself as he nervously tried to press out wrinkles on his dress shirt and jacket as he looked at himself critically in the mirror. "Fenton phone to Jazz and Tucker tucked away just in case." He continued, discreetly shoving the small device into his left ear. "Now all I have to do is outthink Vlad, avoid the Guys in White, try and figure out how to prove those 'Spook' guys are lying, get Mr. Gray his job back, and impress Sam's parents." He rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe the last one is too hard, but the others should be snap. Right." Taking a deep breath, he turned and grimly marched downstairs. Jazz was waiting for him outside in her car.
"Not bad, bro." She said cheerfully as she tucked the edge of her hazmat ghost battle outfit under the hem of her usual t-shirt. "You clean up pretty good. But do you think she'll like it?" Turning a bit red, Danny gave a noncommittal shrug. Jazz laughed.
"I just want to get through today alive." He answered. "Are you and Tucker ready?" She nodded briskly as she put the car in drive.
"As we'll ever be. We brought enough Fenton Weapons to beat ten Vlads. Besides, he'll be at a huge party surrounded by hundreds of people. What can he do?"
"Something evil." Danny answered simply. Jazz snorted.
"I don't know, Jazz. This isn't really his style. Every time we've fought before, he's been at the back, moving pieces like one big chess game. He never shows up until he's ready. And I haven't caught any ghosts working for him, or plans he has his hand in, or anything. And all the weird stuff going on around here…I can't see how any of it has something to do with going to this party."
"Well it is a public place like you said." Jazz said slowly as they turned towards the Manson mansion. "Do you think he might expose you?" Danny's eyes widened, but seconds later he just shook his head.
"But that doesn't make any sense either." He insisted. "Exposing me exposes him. And there's no way he wants people to know he's half ghost."
"Maybe he thinks he has nothing to lose." Jazz said quietly. "If he doesn't cause some major trouble, he'll never see mom again. And as creepy as it is, she's more important to him than almost anything." The two shared a quiet shudder as the car pulled up to the house.
"It just doesn't make sense. Besides, I don't think he could force me into my ghost form." Danny said skeptically. "He tried that with Dani and the clones, and he couldn't do it."
"Well, be careful." Jazz said as he stepped out of the car, invitation in hand. "Tucker and I are meeting at the small park down the block. Yell if you even think Vlad's going to pull something. Okay?" Danny nodded and stepped out. Sighing, Jazz continued on to the park. Somehow, she just knew something terrible was going to happen.
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Val glowered up at the grim man in front of her. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, least of all now, but she was in serious trouble. The last thing she remembered was a brilliant flash, and she'd woken up in a very small holding cell, presumably in the tower. He seemed to be in a conversation with someone.
"We have two persons outside the tower now. Visual suggests Damon Gray and Maddie Fenton." There was a pause. "I understand. I will act as soon as I hear the signal. Thank you." The COM link closed.
"Smith, is it?" She asked coolly. The man moved from the small control center and gave her a dismissive gaze.
"It is." He replied absently. "Valerie Gray, correct?" Val said nothing. "Oh come now, girl, I've given my name, the least you can do is give yours. I've seen your picture a hundred times in that oaf you call a father's office. Imagine my surprise when I removed the deadly Huntress's weapons to find…you."
"Were you really?" She asked caustically. Smith didn't answer. "What do you want?" She tried at last.
"I want what any man wants." He said simply, turning back to his work. "No more, no less. At the end of the day for me, that means sitting here, running things at the Towers. Though I won't be here much longer, thankfully." He favored her one last dark look. "You behave yourself, or I might just leave you here with him." A brusque gesture directed her gaze towards the corner of the room. A green puddle oozed across the floor, a small, feeble limb occasionally managing to form and twitch for a few seconds before dissolving once again.
"Wha-what is that?"
"Was." He corrected. "A ghost, utterly drained of ecto-energy. Eventually, he wasn't even able to maintain a body." He raised an amused eyebrow. "With a ghost being our primary enemy, how did you think we were going to power the towers?"
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The door to Clockwork's lair burst open.
"Clockwork!" The loud voice of the chief ghost echoed off of the gear-filled walls of the vast lair. The agitated spirit hurried along on two surprisingly short legs, his incredibly short form, usually so well concealed behind a tall podium, putting forth extreme effort in his haste.
His nerves fully locked behind his usual calm expression, the Time Ghost approached out of the gloom.
"You wanted something, Gregory?" The ghostly intruder flinched.
"Don't call me that!" He hissed. "The councilors aren't supposed to use names! You're the only exception we've seen in thousands of years, but you don't need to drag us with you."
"My apologies." He replied mildly. "Are you here to arrest me?"
"I should!" His 'guest' huffed. "Everything on earth is an absolute mess! Armies are gathering – armies, Clockwork! – and those two…things are right there in the middle of it all, one slip from blowing the hybrid secret to kingdom come!"
"Then why not arrest me? That is what you declared fit punishment for such chaos."
"Because we need you, curse you!" He burst out. "As much as we want you off the council so we can properly deal with those creatures, if their secret gets out to the military, you're the only ghost with the power to fix things!"
"Fix things?" Clockwork asked, actually amused. "You assume something is wrong."
"Of course it is!" Greg shouted. "Half-ghosts are wrong! They're too powerful, they were never meant to exist! And if things go wrong, we'll have an army of the things at our doorstep before we can blink!"
"Not meant to be?" Clockwork asked, eyes flashing. "You know nothing of time, Gregory; do not presume to lecture me on its subtleties. If it were not meant to be, it wouldn't be. What you want is for me to interfere with the time stream directly, not let it flow as it should, to shape the universe to your liking!" The ancient ghost's voice rose in anger. Above, the gears and walls shook. "It has always been about control! You and your foolish council, my so-called 'friends' in the past, those observants! You don't want the universe to be as it is meant to be, you want it to meet your desires! That's why you've always locked away my powers, curbed my abilities, and limited my actions. It's so I do nothing to time that you don't first approve! So do not come to me now and speak of a correct universe, Gregory! What you want is your universe, so just find the courage to say so!"
The chief ghost was very pale. There was silence for a long time.
"I…I want you to keep the humans from discovering the path to hybridization." He said tremulously. "If you can stop it, your charges shall be dropped."
"Then I'm free to act?"
"No!" Gregory shouted quickly. "You'll do nothing until I say you may act! If your efforts are not needed, you will do nothing, and things will stay as they are! Stable, secure, and safe!" Clockwork snorted.
"You're a fool, Gregory. And that council is little better. Change is the only constant in the world, and safety is an illusion. You cannot condemn something new and strange simply because it might be dangerous. You lack foresight." Now Greg snorted.
"That's hardly our fault. We aren't lords of time."
"Not all foresight is ghostly power. Sometimes you just need faith. You've never understood that, Gregory, and perhaps that's why you don't deserve that power."
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Danny had just discovered that caviar was bad.
Sam shot him an amused smirk from her prison of 'aspiring young gentlemen' as he tried to discretely remove the quivering spoonful of raw fish eggs from his mouth, by any means necessary. Of course, Mr. Manson took this moment to give him a withering glare, rendering all methods except one useless. Danny swallowed.
Shuddering, the ghost boy moved away from the silver tray bearing the offending food-like substance and ambled off into a crowd of conspicuously rich people. There seemed to be a lot of them at this party. The only thing really bothering him was that he hadn't run into Valerie.
"Tucker." He called into his Fenton Phone link. "Anything?"
"Nothing, man." Came the worried reply. "I think something's seriously wrong. I'm gonna go look for her. Cool?"
"Yeah." He said. "Jazz should be fine. Right, Jazz?"
"Sure thing. Go on, Tuck."
"Later, dude."
Sighing, Danny moved on through the crowd, stomach growling loudly. He hadn't had anything to eat before coming, but at the time he'd assumed the Mansons could afford real food, not weird stuff like goose liver and fish eggs and snails. Bleh.
Voices were raised across the hall. It seemed two financial rivals were all but punching each other over some business transaction. Though he thought it best not to get even remotely involved, especially with Vlad lurking around somewhere, Danny found himself being inexplicably drawn towards the fight. Eyes flashing a momentary green, the ghost boy made his way to the front of the growing crowd around the two enraged men. A contented look involuntarily stole across his face, and his stomach stopped growling.
"Delicious, isn't it?"
Danny's head whipped around to take in Vlad. The billionaire smiled darkly towards the fight, then returned his look to survey Danny after his several month absence.
"It seems the months have treated you well enough." He said conversationally, pointedly ignoring Danny's now clenched fists as he gazed straight ahead to look his foe in the eyes. "It's fitting that as proper foes, we start on an even footing, so to speak."
"What do you want?" Danny growled out harshly, careful to keep his voice low.
"At the moment, the same thing you do Daniel." He replied with wicked amusement. "So much anger, violence; the charged emotions are intoxicating, and quite delicious. I've always been partial to hatred over fear myself. You?" Danny thought he was going to be sick.
"I don't…"
"Don't what?" Vlad interrupted, his own eyes briefly flashing red. "Don't feed off the pain of others like every other ghost? Of course you do. That's why you came over here. I noticed you weren't partial to the caviar so I…nudged this conflict over here along. You looked hungry." Danny wanted very much to punch the man standing in front of him. But he was in a public place, and such luxuries were for the moment beyond him.
"Why?" He hissed, glaring at his enemy and pointedly ignoring the increasingly pleasant sensations he was getting from the nearby fight. As a part ghost, his body might suck up negative energy and enjoy it, but that didn't mean he had to. "Why go through all this trouble to get me to meet you here? We can't fight without exposing ourselves. And there's no way you're crazy enough to do that."
Vlad flashed Danny a dark, triumphant smile. "You have gotten cleverer; I'll give you that Daniel. The months have indeed been kind." His face grew thoughtful, and he motioned for Danny to walk with him. Not seeing any other choice that would keep Vlad in his sight, he obliged. "Have you ever heard of the great tragedy of the Greek King Laius?" Danny didn't say anything.
"No?" Vlad asked, feigning surprise. "He was the father of Oedipus, you know. A fortune teller once told the king that should he father a son, one day that son would grow powerful and destroy him. Being a prudent man, when Oedipus was born, Laius sent him into the mountains to die of exposure and starvation." Vlad smiled tightly at Danny's obvious incomprehension. Noting the exchange from far off, Sam hastily signaled Jazz and began moving in towards the talking pair.
"You've become very powerful, Daniel." Vlad continued. "And you've not finished yet, if any information I've gathered is accurate. I understand now that you will never be mine, and so you are my enemy. This…public hall is not meant to keep you from attacking me. It's to keep you from leaving."
Eyes widening, Danny looked around the room. Faint glints of a golden metal could be seen on every wall, the ceiling, floor, and every closed door.
"Your parents are indeed brilliant Danny." Vlad said conversationally. "It's too bad you're trapped here, and unable to save one of them." Before Danny could begin to move, Vlad reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small device, and viciously jabbed his thumb on a red button.
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Grinning with joy, Jack once again checked that all the parameters were exact. He knew he'd goofed up in the past, the most memorable incident the time he'd accidentally sucked the entire house into the Ghost Zone. But this time, there was no room for error. If the slightest surge went wrong, Dani would die.
Finally satisfied, Jack moved over the nearest lab table and lifted the large beaker of green ooze towards the large, dead ghost portal.
"Here's hoping." He mumbled towards the goo. "Dani, if you can here me, wish me luck." Backing up, he flipped the main power switch.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
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Damon and Maddie were feet from the door to Tower 22 when a Guys in White agent stepped up right behind them.
"Hold it! I know who you are, so don't try to lie. Explain yourselves. What are you doing here?" Before either could respond, the front door opened and Smith stepped out, looking smug. The agent immediately saluted.
"Are the Towers functional and secure?"
"They are." Smith replied calmly, with a smirk. Maddie looked back and forth between each other uneasily.
"Then," the agent said brusquely, "As a government official, I demand that you immediately hand these towers over to the Guys in White for our use." Smith's smile grew.
"Ah…no. These towers belong to DALV." Damon and Maddie's faces paled. The agent seemed taken aback.
"You will give us the towers or we will take them!" He finally managed to say in a stern voice. For a moment, Smith was silent. Then, he answered.
"Fire."
Beams of light lanced out from the tower and hit the agent square in the chest. The man flew back and hit the ground hard, convulsing with pain and energy discharge as smoke wafted up from a precise convergence point of over ten lasers on his chest. Damon and Maddie stared. Then, returning to reality, both of them fell into fighting poses to engage Smith.
"Stand down if you ever want to see Valerie again." He said coolly. Damon faltered.
"What?"
"She's here, in the basement." He said simply. "She visited last night, apparently tracking what was left of poor Bertrand. It would be a shame if something happened to her."
"You're sick." Maddie whispered, horrified. Smith didn't bat an eyelash.
"Perhaps. But I also have a very powerful, very temperamental employer, and one last task to do before this is over. So if you'll-"
BOOM!
A bright light lit the horizon. Smiling Smith turned around, activating the Tower 22 individual ghost/human shield, which immediately pushed Maddie and Damon back a few feet.
"What was that?" Damon asked aloud.
"My signal to activate the towers." Smith said cheerfully. "You asked about those 'alternate power generators', right, Damon? That's what got you into so much trouble. They're at this tower, you see. I'm told we have the Fentons to thank for the original design. What better way to power the ghost shield than a dozen or so ghost-energy-sucking ectoconverters."
"Oh no." Maddie whispered, eyes going wide. Without a part-ghost child, Damon didn't find this information as distracting.
"That didn't answer my question, Smith." He growled.
"No I suppose not." Smith grinned as the doors started to close. "You see, DALV employed ghosts have been busy in the Fenton home. But they didn't just plant bugs in FentonWorks. They planted bombs."