Danny Phantom Unlimited
Chapter 21
Phantoms of the Heart:
Phantom Traveler, Part 3 of 3
Fifth Act: It all comes truth.
Salem, Massachusetts.
Leonidas High School.
September 5, 02:12 PM
Jazz and Danny walk into the School's Goth Club, a dark room with tons of Goth clichéd decoration: a roof painted to resemble the night sky, tombstones and coffins-like furniture and many other things Danny knew Sam would love.
All of the members were the typical black over-wearing and gloomy students, some of them wearing fish nets or trench coats and all of them wearing sunglasses.
"You know who wears sunglasses inside? Blind people… and douchebags." Danny says.
Jazz nodded her head. "Good point."
They both step inside the room and turn on the light much to the Goths dislike. With the light on he sees their plates are full of ultra-recyclo-vegetarian food.
Danny steps inside, his nose getting struck by a powerful odor.
"Patchouli, yeah, mixed with depression… and sweat, so much sweat. Yikes, no wonder you got locked up, I can smell your misery… from meat deprivation." Danny says. "No wonder you never smile."
One of the Goths jumps to talk about the goodness of vegetarianism saying "Meat is-" but Danny cuts him off as soon as he started talking.
"Spare me the lecture buddy. I got a girlfriend like you and she ain't got any progress with me, and she has more leverage tha you. Jazz, give them the talk while I phase around looking for any hiden equipment of magic item."
While Danny searches the room for any hidden piece of equipment or or magic instrument that might be used to control the ghost-zombies, Jazz proceeds to question the non-cooperative Goth students of Salem. After half an hour of questioning they leave empty handed and move to the next club, the science club where all they got was a lot of insults in words not even Jazz could understand and where Danny's final words were "I can understand why you are so miserable, is from the sex deprivation, but trust me it keeps getting better."
"Really? Again the same deprivation joke?" Jazz asks.
"Hey, if it ain't broken don't fix it."
03:04 PM
After questioning every student in Salem's high school that hated the victims enough to kill them getting no clues whatsoever, Danny and Jazz get a call from the police station about the results from the coroner's autopsy. Danny asked about the blood analysis result from both Robert and Dylan which had an impressive low level of iron.
"Does that say anything to you?" Jazz inquired.
"I not sure. I have a theory but… I need more evidence, further analysis… I need a 'living' chomper and a lab to study it."
Jazz roars in laughter. "Ha-ha ha-he, hu-oh… oh, you serious? You mean like… you want to study them on your own… like… mom?"
"Yeah. That could give us an edge, you know? If we could get our hands on one of them and dissect them, we could know how do they work, how and what are they made of? Am not hoping to find a cure but, maybe a better way to fight them, or not having to fight them at all."
"Wow, you… wow… every day you sound more like mom and dad." Jazz points. "I… just keep driving. I'd like the results on my own."
After going to the morgue to see the complete results of the autopsy they head back to the old police station. While Danny was driving Jazz kept digging about the Groovy Gang's book in her laptop.
"You still reading about that crap?" He asks.
"Yep, check this out, remember that I told you about chompers attacking other states?"
"Yeah, you said they were all moving to Salem."
"Well, turns out that they didn't only publish a book about how to fight them, during the last three weeks they've been going to wherever the ghozbies appear and apparently they do manage to get rid of them by using their tactics."
"Yeah right. …And?
"And? Maybe their stuff does work. Maybe they are finally onto something."
"Wait a minute, are you saying that we should give those punkers this case and leave them hunt the ghost-zombies? Are you out of your mind?!"
"I'm not saying we should give up the case, but maybe they could help us."
"…You are off your rocker, is that it? Those posers are a virtual 'who's who' of who can't catch ghosts, and you say we should ask them for advice hunting ghost-zombies?"
"Well, that ain't exactly our department. That is still a new-"
"Let me stop you right there, Jazz. They are ghosts, that's what we hunt, is what we the Fenton do, the family business, we hunt and shoot down green transparent and gooey things that leave ectoplasm wherever they go, saving people. Now this 'new' species is nothing new to us, nothing we haven't seen before, these hybrids-they're not even like me or Dani, not even Plasmius. Maybe they were humans once but not anymore, they're more ghost than human, the only difference between these hybrids and any other ghosts from the Ghost Zone besides their sweet teeth for human flesh is that they're uglier, meaner and meaner. Maybe they act like zombies, maybe they were humans before, heck maybe that part is what makes them act like that craving for human flesh to get some humanity back and maybe some else is using them as a weapon or maybe not, but at the end of the day they're still ghosts and we are the Fenton, we don't ask other people for advice on how to hunt them, we teach them."
"Wow, you had that speech prepared for quite some time now, didn't you?
Danny avoids eye contact with his sister saying "…Can't say, won't deny."
"I'd like to go to the girls' room and vomit up breakfast now."
"Besides I don't think they'd be too willing to help us, remember their tiger?"
"What's wrong with it? I mean other than not having balls."
"I put a fish inside Fran's purse when she wasn't looking," explained with a grin.
"Danny why did you do that? I had already put cat pheromone on Andy's vest."
"Cat's pheromone? Do I wanna know?" He laughs.
"No."
The Fenton brothers laugh at their devilries done to the obnoxious Groovy Gang putting their Scaredy Cat against them while these are chased out of their van by this. Andy and Fran lean on the door frightened for how their usually tame and coward white tiger pounces over them on sight for no apparent reason.
"Tinkers, what the heck is wrong with him now?" Andy asked with his hand in his racing heart.
"Aaggh, I think I know. Somebody put a dead fish in my purse-I thought we had this conversation before, no more prank wars!" Fran sounded raging against her teammate. "They always escalate and get our cat against us."
"Hey don't look at me, I didn't do that."
"Then who… Fentons! They couldn't take the fact that we're better at handling this crisis than them and tried to put our cat against us."
"Are you sure? Isn't that jumping to conclusions?"
"Beside the point, we should get to work. This town needs our help, not the Fentons' help."
"I-I don't know, maybe… we should leave this case to them."
"SAY WHAT?!"
"Franny, think about it, the last three cases we got lucky, they all either exploded when we lured out of town or were to weak to actually do anything, but what if they don't explode this time? What if they what if they actually fight back?"
"Andy, don't be so ludicrous, we've read every book about fighting zombies and we have been hunting ghosts our entire lives. The math is just perfect."
"They've fought bigger monsters."
"But they don't know as much about zombies as we do. Or as much about ghosts. When the ghsot-zombies appear who they're gonna call? Groovy Gang and the Scaredy Cat."
"Yes… I guess you're right. Though I think we need a better name for our cat."
Former police station used as H.Q. by the Team Fenton.
03:56 PM
Jazz walks in soaked in chocolate milk followed by Danny who was roaring in laughter by his latest prank, floating behind her.
"Oh man, I can believe it worked." He laughed.
"How could you do that? How could you even change all the water in the RV's shower for chocolate milk?"
"I don't know. Chocolate milk bending?"
"I said this was going to end bad Danny and you earned-and I did warn you before it all started, now you'll see the consequences and I'll laugh last," she fumed pointing at him.
"Really? It doesn't look like that. But is really sweet of you to think that way," says putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing his sister's cheek. "Though in my defense you gave me the idea this morning when I told you to shower."
"Sir, there is an incoming call from Officer Rambeau, it seems urgent."
"Reroute it to my phone. I'll put her on speaker," he answers with his thought, taking his phone out. "Shhh, we got a phone call form Monica."
"Danny! Come to the downtown now! There is a swarm of ghost-zombies attacking people and-!"
"Oh my god."
"Ok, you take, a shower, I'm going ghost to save the day," said Danny as he transforms.
"But-" before she could argue, Danny vanishes. "Damn it Danny, stop doing that!"
03:12 PM
Danny appears in the sky above Salem's downtown where Officer Rambeau says the ghost-zombies are attacking people.
He hurls at them with ease unsheathing his arm-swords, lunging between them and riving them in half striking their torsos with his energy charged blades. The split bodies fall on the road with their green insides spreading all over the place as more and more ghost-zombies appear focusing their attention on Danny and the more they come, the more savage he fights them. The ghost-zombies go ghost transforming into even more hideous monsters.
The people form Salem runs away sacred of them, but some are outrun by those ghost-zombies that didn't attack Danny. For some of them the ghost-zombies are too many to run away from and as Danny keeps smiting them he soon realizes they have become too much for him as well. This make him angry, his anger makes his power bubble up, he is coveted by this growing and overwhelming feeling, he wants to give into that rage, let his power boil up, burn them with hate but he remembers for his own safety and health he can't allow himself such pleasant weakness and for a second he hesitates. That split of a second was all the ghost-zombies needed to strike back and a giant green fist delivers the blow right in Danny's face with devastating force.
The neural system-linked suit blocks the pain receptors of its user, Danny, saving him from a pain that easily reaches "10 Worst Possible" on the built in pain scale. Its healing functions working with Danny's healing powers help him to recover much faster than he could without it quickly stopping the bleeding of his nose and mouth and getting him back on track. Without his ghost-hunting battle suit he would have been knocked out and gone human with that blow, Lucky me, he thinks.
Quickly, Danny phases into the ground escaping from the foot of a hulking ghost-zombie aiming to trample his head only to phase back up shooting a large streaming green ghost ray with power enough to scorch the hulking ghost-zombie to its bones, the remains fall steaming green.
He faces the horde of ghost-zombies, all of them in their ghost form with the myriad pf shapes and sizes of actual ghosts from the Ghost Zone, some of them sill resembling to a zombie only but greener if not uglier, with fangs and shreds of skin falling off, others with more a monstrous appearance as most ghosts tend to look like.
He pulls out all of his claws and blades, his guillotine blades (or lateral blades as the manual calls them), his energy push-blades, his knee-pads spikes and his hidden shoe knives. "Gas, what do you think I should dance?"
"You're facing a though crowd here sir, I'd recommend you try some Krav Maga rough them up first. You know what that is don't you?"
"Sam told me about it, she wanted to try some but she didn't have stomach for it, she doesn't have too much of a stomach really. Me on the other, I loved it just didn't have the time to learn," he admited.
"Then a mastery of Kravmaga for the, uh, would it be right to say gentleman? No it wouldn't."
In half a second the suit downloads in Danny's brain and body all the knowledge, training and techniques of Krav Maga, the Israeli fighting style used for soldiers in the battle field, a very aggressive fighting style that worked perfectly against a large number of attackers like Danny's facing now.
The first principle of the Krav Maga is to avoid confrontation, this he couldn't do, and when that is not an option he must engage and eliminate the threat in the shortest and most direct way possible striking with a fair amount of force, this he clould do rather eagerly and in this case that meant all his force. With the abilities and experience, of a real Krav Maga fighter Danny jumps and strikes first with his spiky knee pad in the face of the largest ghost-zombie pining through its brain.
Defending himself with a hand-to-hand combat technique designed to neutralize opponents swiftly and decisively targeting the most vulnerable areas felt somehow fitting and worked perfectly against this kind of enemies, the kind he shouldn't show any mercy at all.
The suit's tactical analysis software pointed out the different weak points in the different ghost-zombies, all of them with an anatomy of their own, but all of them with common weaknesses: the knees, the groins and the head. These he would strike eagerly with his fists, claws and blades.
Face to face with a chomper three times his size with arms at least twice larger as his and bulkier than Dash, he jumps and uses a fish hooking attack, placing his clawed fingers within its already large and dislocated open mouth tearing it apart with ease spreading a green ghost-blood shed around him and on himself, then finishing off the monster by stabbing its head with his energy push blades.
Each monster he attacked was over in a matter of seconds, but as fast as he could smite them, it wasn't enough to diminish their number.
"Gas, how many of them are. Left?"
"I haven't displayed the threat counter for a reason sir, and it's for your own health."
"Oh great. Just that bad? What does the tactical analysis program says?"
"It says…-"
"-dance?" They both asks together.
"Like-like in-"
"That ought to be a glitch sir. I'll send a report to Mr. M requesting for an upgrade to solve this problem."
Danny jumps over the head of another oversized ghost-zombie with so-very nimble movements, holding its head and them blowing it with a white ghost ray from both hands. "You know it would be a lot easier if I could just… let things go like I did with the Hellhounds," he points out.
"It sure would sir. It would also be a good way to ruin me in the process thus becoming a living bomb."
"…right."
"Or there is the other side in which you lose all your powers and is like going back to season one."
Graciously, he swings and ducks the attacks of ten ghost-zombies cutting them in half or striking their head with his knees and elbows. "Right… don't you mean going back to score one?"
"That too, sir."
"Yeah but-is that… is it me or some one is playing music?" He asks listening a faint melody on the distance.
"I can hear it too sir. And it appears they can too, also they seem to have cease their attacks."
"Wait, that voice, you don't think it's-"
"I think it is her. And I think they will-"
"Oh God, I hope no."
Some of the ghost-zombie stop moving and in that moment Danny begins to feel a striking pain in his chest, the bone splinter near his heart was aching. A piercing pain so strong he was lucky it took this long. Now he was panting and all he could feel could feel was the splinters in his lunges piercing. In this moment of weakness the ghost-zombies strike back hitting harder than before.
But the worst… the worst part was yet to come.
Sixth Act: Stand by my side.
Salem, Massachusetts
Thirty minutes ago.
After taming their docile and cowardly cat, The Groovy Gang claims their van back minutes before hearing about the new ghost-zombies attack.
"You heard that Andy? We must prepare ourselves. Set the equipment." Fran says.
Now.
The Groovy Gang and the Scaredy Cat arrives to the were Danny fights the ghost-zombies, armed with a plan they have used before and proved successful. A plan not even Danny's master mind could conceive.
Using the most powerful weapon of all they manage to tame and freeze the ghost-zombies, this weapon is the power of dance for now, as then, this simple truth: all zombies are dancers by nature.
And so, they dance in perfect sync a choreography they've never danced before not even as humans demonstrating their supernatural dance skills while Danny stares in awe and shock unable to understand what is happening.
"Ok, I guess that was not a glitch after all. Looks like the program was right when saying 'Dance' to fight the ghost-zombies just like-"
"Don't. Say. A word."
Chief Robert M. St. Pierre Police Headquarter, Salem, Massachusetts.
05:45 PM
Hours after the ghost-zombie attack which ended with them dancing until their nanites ran out of energy…
"Remarkable! You managed to get rid of those foul creatures by… dancing!" Says Chief Rick Grimes congratulating the Groovy Gang.
"Yes we did, sir. Thank you very much." Fran says.
"How did you that?" He asks.
"Well sir if you read our book 'How to fight Ghost-Zombies', you'll see that as all zombies do, they have a unique weakness and is that they all love to dance." Fran explains.
"Oh is that so?" Danny asked angrily busting into the office, slamming the door against the wall.
"Yeah well, you just saw it worked." Andy says.
"What I saw was the biggest display of stupidity ever since the 80's. And I've been there plenty of times!"
"You are just jealous because we saved the city and your butt today," Fran says.
"Oh-ho, right. Silly me. What was I thinking? I completely forgot to thank you for, what? Saving my life by Dancing with the Abominations?! What was I thinking. Oh yeah, what the hell was that?!"
"That is efficiency." Andy answers.
"Something you should learn."
"Yeah, by the two who that put who in 'who can't catch a ghost'. You might be able to fool them but you ain't fooling me."
"Fool? You think that we are, like, controlling them or something? That's ridiculous," Fran points out."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. It takes brain to control brainless creatures. Yet, it's funny that you mention that since I never brought that up, don't you think?"
"Enough! These two managed to save the city -without violence- stopping another tragedy li-" Chief Rick says.
"You're right, that's enough. Since you are so fancy with them and how they managed to dance the ghozbies to death, then maybe they should lead this investigation. Maybe they can make the responsible for all these crimes dance out to the police station and confess."
"Oh please. The only responsible for the atrocities of today are those ecto-zombies and they have already died-" Fran says getting cut off by Danny.
"Then I guess there is nothing else here for me to do here," he says glowering at everyone in the Chief's office. "And since the so called experts think there is nothing else to do here, then I guess I can finally leave this miserable town," says slamming the door behind him and flying out of the station in his human self.
"Sir are you all right, you seem… agitated." Gasper asks while Danny flies to the old police station.
"Agitated? I'm mad! Explain to me how does an entire swarm of chompers gets control with music?!"
"Ember did it."
"Ember is different. Ember has powers."
While flying he feels again that piercing pain in his chest around his heart.
"Well, maybe they can be control by music. Remember what Jazz said, there is still much we don't know about them."
"Yeah, but 'all zombies loveto dance?'"
Danny lands in a convenience store taking a bottle of water to swallow his pills to ease the increasing pain in his chest. The Vicodin soon begins to have effect on him dwindling his pain and anger.
"You know sir sir, even in your human form your healing factor will burn the drugs out of your system much faster than usual."
"…You think I overreacted back there?" Asks while paying the store manager and walking out of the store.
"Totally, sir. You had a real child's tantrum."
Danny sighs. "That's what I thought… I just. Aaaarrrgghh. I can deal with the fact that someone else saves me… sometimes. But them! Using music to make the ghozbies dance? What the hell?"
"It's ok sir, just let it all out. Just don't do it in your ghost form, it seems the bone splinters cause the more damage when you go ghost than when you're human."
"Yeah well I won't have to. If they think they can handle this, that this case is over. I'm out, pack up your stuff, we're going back home tonight."
06:26 PM
Danny flies into the police station looking for his sister Jazz and explains her everything that happened.
"We're leaving?! But-but what happened with all those things you said in the car about-"
"Forget it. The case is over! And no, this is not a joke. Pack up your stuff we're leaving right now."
08:04 PM
Danny drives the Fenton RV outside of Salem still mad for what just happened that afternoon.
"I can't believe this. First-"
"Shut up! I don't want to talk about it."
"Don't you tell me to shut up!"
"I said I don't want to talk about it. Just forget it. Let's pretend it didn't happen."
"Well I can't do that. Danny we didn't even solve half the case," she points out.
"Well why don't we let that to the meddling kids?! They handled the ghozbie swarm pretty well when all I did was getting my butt kicked."
"So that's it? Things get hard, things get rough and you just quit it, eh? Since when do you do that?"
"I don't."
"What?"
"I'm not runing away, I'm stepping back to see the whole picture."
"But you said-"
"I know what Isaid, that was a diversion."
"...I don't understand."
"Of course you don't. Try to see thing this way: the victims, they all loved parties. Most of them were jocks and cheerleaders. The typical horror film victims who get slashed while having sex except this time there is no final girl and the only survivor are left in coma. All the attacks happened so suddenly with no warning. They just appear, eat and leave. You'd believe there would be a connection on the victims other than being jerks and bitches, right?"
"…Yes, but try to keep it clean."
"But, let's stop thinking a cop, let's think as murder that can control the chompers, I could finally take on people who hurt me, but tall that people? And then they all began to yank people from town to town creating chaos."
"So? Not all murders have logic, some of them are just ramdom."
"Yeah, but then again, whoever stops that chaos would be a hero, and who do we know shows up and makes them dance to their second death, thus earning the title of hero? The Groovy Gang. They send monsters to create chaos, then they stop it and pose as heroes and get to the top of New York's best sellers. And of course they didn't think somebody else knews they can be controlled."
"How did you jump to that conclusion?"
"No need to praise me, I'm just a man, not Superman."
"Ok... let's assume they are behind all this, how are they doing it?"
"Maybe one of the chompers followed them home and they kept it, then they experimented on it until they got it to do what they wanted. Probably they use them as their butlers too."
"Ghost-Zombie butlers? Really?"
"What? They can't complain about their live sucking sucking jobs 'cause as ghosts and zombies they ain't got any."
"That aside… to hide a swarm like that-"
"You only got to put them in invisible and tell them to stay away until is dinner time."
"There is one more thing we're forgetting," she points out. "The guys at the hospital."
"Way ahead of you sis', remeber they had almost 0 iron in their blood? Well I checkedall the hospital records from all the cities the chompers attacked and were saved byt the Groovy Gang. There was at least one in each case. The last town before Salem had actually three survivors, and all of them comatose since the attack. But what really unettles me is that all of them have the same iron level in their blood system which is alarmingly close to zero."
"But what does that mean?"
"My theory, which I had sice our little hunt the morning before we left, is that this nanites work asa viru, and to reproduce themselves they use the iron in our blood to create more nanites and spread airborne."
"Create more nanobots? What for?"
"So they can infect anyone who is near them, really I thought you were the smart one."
"If that was the case, everyone in the hospital could be infected."
"And all they need is the signal to be activated."
"Wait, then what are we doing here?"
"I'm putting you at a safe distance,"
"What?!"
"You're gonna stay here. I should have never brought you to this case in the first place. The ghost-zombies are to dangerous for you."
"But-"
"Your are not coming, you can get hurt. You're my sister and I'm supposed to look after you. That's what I do, watch ove my old pain-in-the ass sister"
"Danny that's cute from you that you try to protect me like that but I'm as bit as hunter as you are. I can take care of myself and-" before she could finish her sentence Danny vanishes without any warning. "DAMN IT DANNY, STOP DOING THAT DICK MOVEMENT ON ME! Is not fun anymore!"
Seventh Act: Outbreak.
Salem's Hospital.
08:23 PM
Danny appears in the middle of the hospital, and as he feared, almost all of the patients were infected with the ghost-zombie nanites and now he finds himself surrounded by "chompers" hurling at him with their mouths wide open with large fangs and longs sprawling forked tongues, growling and hissing.
Completely calm, he bows down pressing a button in his wristband touch-screen to pull out his mechanical spider legs slashing the heads of all the ghost-zombies running at him, pining them through their mouths.
"Gas, call the police station, the Chief, Monica, anyone! Now!"
"On it sir, but… you should go outside."
"What?! Why?"
Danny floats out of the hospital only to realize things were much worse than he even imagined. "Wow… good thing I didn't bring Jazz here."
Hundreds ghost-zombies were running amok on the streets chomping people.
Unsheathing his arm-swords he jumps in and severs six ghost-zombies chasing a group of teenagers.
He keeps severing chompers in the street as they chase humans trying to remain unexalted and puts the few citizens he saves on top of the hospital, hoping it be far enough from their reach and locks them inside a force field made with portable cubic ghost-shields generators, similar to those of the G.I.W., stored in his utility belt. "Boy, this thing really comes in handy. How could I live all those years without one of this?"
"Sir, no one is picking up at the police station."
"God-freaking-damn it!"
He teleports himself back to the police station leaving six clones behind to keep fighting. Inside the station everything was a complete chaos, tables were upside down, gore and ectoplasm was spread all over the walls and the floor, along with human and ghost-zombie bodies, all of them either eviscerated or with their heads blown off and dismembered.
"Gas, search for any human life form, they can't be all dead."
"Done, there are four human life forms in the building, three hiding in the morgue -God knows why would they hide there- and one right behind you."
"What?" He quickly turns around with his fists charged ready to open fire only to face a shining ecto-gun pointing right between his eyes held by a beautiful and slender redhead. "Jazz, what the hell are you doing in here? I told you to stay put in the RV."
"And let you get all the fun? No-uh, besides I am your big sister, I'm the one supposed to look after you. These things are too dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."
"That's why you keep pointing your ecto-gun at my face?"
"Sorry." Jazz says putting her gun back in her holster.
"How did you get here so fast anyway?"
"Dad taught me how to drive, what do you think?"
"I think you are as stubborn as a Fenton."
"Yes, we sure are."
The two sibling stare at each other for a few seconds before Chief Rick shows up on the door roaring while running at them, green skinned. The head of the police department was turned into a ghost-zombie, and as he runs to eat Danny and Jazz, that head gets blown off by Officer Monique standing at the door severely wounded and fainting.
Twenty minutes later she wakes up in a cell with Jazz and Danny and explains them what happened after they left: they got a call from the hospital saying almost every patient was a ghost-zombie and that a group of them showed up at the station and took Andy and Fran away not without biting and mauling her partners infecting almost everyone. The first one to get bitten was Chief Rick.
"Oh my God… I can't believe this… I-I shot the Sheriff?"
"...Uh, but you didn't shoot the Deputy," Danny laughs with a smirk getting a serious look from Jazz.
"Oh my God, Kevin! My son! He must be scared to d-I have to go look for him! Please take me to my home!" She asks Danny.
Without a second thought Danny flies Officer Monique to her home while Jazz interrogates the other two Officers left.
They find the front door broken and the inside had sings of struggle, in the living room there were three ghost-zombie bodies with holes in their head.
"That's good. It means they weren't eaten, right? Where could they go?"
"The city is a complete chaos so they must be in our panic room upstairs," Monique explains them.
Danny floats with her up stairs and much to Monique's dismay, her husband was laying dead on the closed door surrounded by other two dead ghost-zombies. His head was blown off and his body had bite marks.
"He must have shot himself when got bitten," Danny theorizes. "I.. I am so sorry."
Monique holds her tears. "Take me inside. My son must be in there waiting for me. He must be scared."
Danny phases with Monique into her panic room where her eight years old kid sits crouched in a corner making strange noises.
"Kevin," she whispers.
Before she could get any close to her son, Danny takes her by the shoulder. "Hold on, there is something weird about him."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I... see something that is not right."
And indeed, his lenses showed him something was wrong with little Kevin, but he had to see it with his own eyes. "Let me go first," says retracting his cowl.
As he leans closer to Kevin, he gets a chilling sensation in his stomach.
"Kevin… it's me, Danny Phantom. Your mom told me you are a big fan of mine."
The kid answers with nothing but noises.
"Come on, boy. Why don't you come here with me and your mom, I sign you an autograph, would you like that?"
Slowly, kevin turns around to stare at Danny with two big red glowing eyes.
His skin was green and his teeth were jagged, poor little Kevin was a ghost-zombie.
Ever since Danny saved the world, little Kevin Rambeau wanted to be like him, a half-ghost, a hero like him and now he was a halfa, but poor child, nothing human was on the other half, nothing but a monster that was now trying to eat his hero's face.
Officer Monique Rambeau's house.
09:04 PM
In the living room, Danny and Monique are engaged in the bitter argument about the future of her son.
"We need to talk about Kevin."
"Please, please I beg you… tell me there is a cure for… this," she asks Danny blatantly.
"…I… I'm sorry but there isn't. The truth about ghost-zombies is… they're all crap. There is no cure for them. The only way to deal with them is by…" Danny was unable to say those words, he could barely speak there was no way he could say that to a mother in pain. That was a limit he didn't want and couldn't cross.
"The only way is what? What is it?"
Danny takes a deep breathe mustering the courage to say the words "The only way to deal with them is... by blowing their heads or beheading them…" Monique stares at him gasping in awe covering her mouth, "Even if their ghost half is torn apart, the human side is still left a zombie or with terrible celular damamge and would never make it past the twenty four hours, and there is no way to fix that."
"But…"
"Even worst, the nanites in his bloodstream, they come with a very short life battery, and when they expire… they… usually explode."
"You are saying that…"
"I'm afraid so."
"I… I can't do that," she cries. Hearing those words, Monique knew what he had to do, and it was not pretty.
"… I… I'll do it…"
He takes Kevin to the kitchen while his mother sits crying, taking her gun with him. He couldn't believe what he had to do.
When Technus declared the war on the human world, when he first saw his ghost-zombies he knew things were bound to be… messy, and this war would take him down on a dark path, limits would be crossed by both sides, but never he thought it would come this far, but what he hated the most was that this was not even the begining for the real war was still to come.
"I really wish I didn't have to do this, Kevin."
The blast of the gun is heard from kitchen in the living room where a mother cries the death of her entire family in one night.
Eitght Act: Conclusion
Police Station.
09:23 PM
Danny floats into the morgue looking for Jazz.
"Danny what happened? Where is Monique?"
"I… left her at home with her family. That's where she need to be right now."
"I guess you're right but… but why the long face?"
"Nothing. What did you learn from them?"
"Well, from all their gibberish I could set up a time line. Around 8:15 they got a call from the hospital, that's when everything went S.N.A.F.U."
"S.N.A.F.U.? What are you? A Navy Seal?" He breaks in.
She glares. "All patients had seizures, they started to turn green and then they transformed into big mean ghosts. About five minutes later they all came here, they didn't even got to send the Groovy Gang when a swarm of ghozbies showed up and took them away before they could dance. So what do you think?"
"I don't know, a classic case where the monster turns against its creator? Maybe they got smart enought to get payback or maybe they planned to make a big move savinga city twice in a day but it backfired."
"Where do you think they took them?"
"Ok, let's stop thinking as a cop, let's think a ghost-zombie. If had a grudge against a pair of dimwits who made me and my brothers dance, where would I take them?"
"Where indeed?"
09:26 PM
"Danny, this is a bad idea," Jazz says walking behind him in the darlness holding a flashlight.
"Hey, it was your idea, you're the one who said dance club."
"It was a joke! A very… bad joke. God, your influence is poisonus."
"Yeah, well it was a bad joke/good idea. Besides it's the best we got."
"How fitting the only dance club was having a 70's themed week."
"Nah, I preffer the 80's or the 90's," he says enlightening the hallway, "you know, any age with loudly music."
"Speaking of which… since when do you listen to Bob Marley?-And I want a straight answer this time."
"I was looking for new music to play in my head while I'm fighting, you know kind like my own soundtrack, and Val borrowed me some of hers."
"Hmm, you and Val seem to be getting too well lately, a lot if you ask me. How does Sam feel about that?"
"What? Why would Sam have any saying on who do I get to get along with? She's not my wife. Besides, is not like I would listen to her. I came to learn is better for my health if I don't. This powers; all her fault."
"Just saying, you and Val had a thing going on back in the days, and now that Sam is your girlfriend… She is the jealous type, you know? So she might get a little up set to see you fancing with your only ex… again."
"Since when do you care about my love life?"
"I am just doing my job. I'm watching out for my little bro, I don't wanna see you become the kind of jerk who cheats on his girlfriend instead of just being the kind of jerk that pisses his friends off."
"Hey, that's not being a jerk, I just show you my love by contrasting it with how much I can make you guys hate me."
Jazz stares at him mulling his words. "Do you even think before you think?"
"…just keep walking."
"Said Johnnie Walker."
"You say that like if I had a flask in my pockets all the time."
"Right, I forgot… you only do that on weekends," says sarcastically.
"Exactly… not like that's any of your business."
"For the record I actually like Valerie better than Sam. She can be a bit of a hypocrite sometimes. And way too bossy."
Danny nods his head agreeing with his sister. "No need to tell me."
"Wait, you're not gonna argue that I insulted your girlfriend? The woman you love."
"…Well, that's a stretch. You can't really call it an insult if it's a description."
"I thought-wow… So… you're saying your not happy with Sam?"
"I'm not saying that, I love her. I'm just saying that she is not… perfect. I never thought she was, she has her flaws as we all do, and is not like she would even try to change no matter how many times she gets me in trouble."
"Sounds to me like you guys need some counseling. You know, before things get out of control."
"What do you care anayway?!"
"I'm telling you, realtionships can be complicated and sometimes-"
"And you thought that you, that who hasn't had a boyfriend since ever, could give us relationships advices? Well if that doesn't spell irony, then-" their conversation gets interrupted by his ghost sense breaking in, indicating the presence of ghost zombies in the area. "I'm going ghost!" Said preparing to battle, illuminating the area with the intense white light from his suit. "Only two? Not sure if a relief or a downer," says seeing how many ghost-zombies were there.
In that moment every light in the dance floor gets turned on. The whole place enlighten with multiple colored lights and the ghost-zombies were standing in the middle of the dance floor.
"Oh god, these are my two favorite letters: e-z," states with a smug. "You can sit here, I don't need your hekp."
Danny claims with utmost confidence, if not arrogance, a second before the ghost-zombies go ghost revealing their most dreadful side.
Ten foot monsters with large muscles and razor sharp claws and fangs, with spiked tongues and long hair made of spines.
"On the other hand… a little help might come in handy. Jazz?"
"Well, these are you two favorite letters, right? You should tell them that," utters sarcastically.
"…you can be really mean sometimes."
"As I said, your influence is poisonus."
"Yeah, whatever. Never said I wanted or needed your help in the first place." Danny said bustling into the dance floor ready to fight, charging his energy blades
"I came here so I can take care of you. Watch over my little pain-in-the ass brother is what I do."
"Well guess what? I am not a little kid anymore," he says slaying the hand of the ogre-looking ghost-zombies. "For crying out loud! In just three months I'll be old enough to join the army."
"Wait, you're joining the army?"
Danny jumps avoiding the fists of the ghost-zombies and swings in the air between them with astonishing nimble movements cutting their left eyes with his arm-swords.
"That's not the point. What's the point? This is the point: I don't need you to babysit me anymore and I don't need your help." He states vim. "I'm a grown man and I can perfectly take care of my own without you-"
Danny argues about his sister meedling, always looking out for him as if he was still a child claming she didn't have to, but getting smacked in the face by a ghost-zombie does little to prove his point.
"Why, you're doing great on your own, I think you got them tired... of punching your face. You've clearly proven me that you don't need me."
"You know what? You are right, I don't." Says moving his legs in circle around his body without touching the ground, and then spining on one palm supporting his weight with his legs wide open using his shoes' hiden blades to keep the ghost-zombies at distance.
"Hey, that is break dance, that didn't exist until the 80's," Jazz points out.
"Who cares?"
He springs up back on his feet and stabs ghost-zombies in the torso getting his hands stuck inside them. They quickly tun their stomachs into large mouths with fangs and forked tongues to fire a devastating green ghost ray at point-blank range each one, sending Danny back to where Jazz was sitting.
"Are you gonna sit there or are you going to help me?"
"Well you told me to sit her because you didn't need me. Now unless I hear someone saying the words…"
"Forget it!"
Danny rushes into the dance floor again blocking the blows of his opponents with his swords and even, moving swiftly around them.
"Not the words I was waiting for!"
The ghost-zombies might had the upper hand in the strength and resistance department, but he was certain of something, he had the upper hand in speed and agility and he was going to use that on his favor.
With quick movements he jabs them using his blades to deliver deadlier blows gashing throug their think and rottid flesh, but the beasts won't fall down, instead their pain makes them angrier and stronger and once again he is flinged onto the wall where Jazz was sitting with a surprinsingly quick blow.
"All right... for whatever it's worth... would help me?"
"Sure, but I need you to say it first."
"You really gonna waste my time on that?!"
"Ok, I think you learned your lesson," she says standing up for her little brother.
Full of spite, she rolls her right sleeve up unveiling a silver bracelet she had worn ever since she left home hidden beneath. This piece of jewelry was not a fancy adornment, when looked closely you can see it has the silver glimmering of something concocted by the Fenton.
This little piece of technology is one of their most dangerous inventions, as it is a re-invention of their most powerful weapon so far: the Ecto-Skeleton.
When "holstered" it resembles a heavy jewel encrusted bracelet, and whereas it didn't enhance her abilities one-hundred folds but ten folds instead, it was arguably one of the most powerful instrument a Fenton ever made, even more so since it didn't have the same flaws of the original design.
Presing the two knobs on side of the green jewel-like piece, the bracelet begins to release a green gleam on its joint lines which grows into a stream of green light that covers her, generating a body-hugginga armor in less than a second.
"Well if this isn't a declaration that we're a team of teenagers with attitude, I don't know what it is. Is that-?"
"The portable Ecto-Skeleton prototype mom and dad've been working on? Yes."
"And they gave it to you?"
"Dah. I'm more responsible than you, so what do you think?"
Now what really happened was…
"Jazz, I do not want you to take this wear-around Ecto-Skeleton," Maddie shouts out in the lab. "It might be functional now, but it's still a prototype and it needs more testing and if you ruin this prototype I'll blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah, BLAH BLAH BLAH!"
"She said something about being carefull with it when I take it out," Jazz said to Danny. "Now, lets wipe this chompers ass right now!"