Eh, I should be working on other things but this is our second Snow Day in a row and I don't really feel like working on anything else. I hardly feel like working on this! I want to watch more Danny Phantom!
Sam: Finally lost interest in killing Danny?
EmptyHeart: No, no…I got revenge on him for ruining my preview studio.
Sam: Well, where is he?
(cuts to Danny hanging upside down from some random tree, unable to go ghost)
Danny: This means payback…
Three: Will You Fight Me?
A thin trail of blue wafted out of Danny's mouth and he pulled up short on the sidewalk. Sam, Tucker, and Amethyst stopped too.
"What? What's going on?" Amethyst asked as the other three looked this way and that.
"There's a ghost nearby…!" Danny muttered under his breath, "Really near by!"
Amethyst sniffed the air and growled, the gem on her chest glowing with an inward light.
"Cat…!" She snarled, "Yokai Tabby…! They're looking for their scout, the one who attacked my father and I…"
"Or they're looking for you." Tucker said, "Danny, I think now would be a good time to 'go ghost'…!"
Danny ducked into an alley and there was a flash of light and out flew Danny Phantom, hovering in the air above the buildings, peering over the streets. Tucker and Sam watched him with worried expressions and Amethyst continued to sniff around, trying to hone in on her arch enemy's scent. Her eyes widen and she whirled to shout up at Danny,
"BEHIND YOU, HALFA!"
An invisible paw smashed into Danny's back before he could turn and sent him tumbling head over heels through the air. As the ghost-boy regained his balance, he saw the Yokai Tabby become visible. It was even bigger than the one Amethyst's father had been fighting and it had plated armor down its back and legs and a steel helmet on its head. It hissed at him, ears flat back.
"Halfa-Boy! Tell me where the Yokai Fox is! I can smell her on you!"
"No!" Danny charged a palm blast and fired his green energy at the Yokai, hitting it square in the nose where its helmet open up to let it breath; it yowled and rolled back, "Pick on someone your own size, stupid cat!"
"Insolent fool!" The cat's claws extended and its tail lashed the air, people below screaming and diving for cover from the huge ghost-beast, "I'll tear you to pieces! Tell me where she is!"
"I'd like to see you try and get me!" Danny smirked, "Come on!" He took a stance, "You over-sized kitty! To much Meow-Mix, I think!"
The cat charged at him and Danny swerved out of the way, firing his palm blasts with merciless ferocity but they just ricocheted off the armor on the cat's back. As he dodged his own blasts, the halfa failed to notice the cat's tail curling out behind him and then it was too late; it had curled around him, pinning his arms to his sides and squeezing him. Danny cried out, gasping as his lungs were crushed, and Sam and Tucker called his name. Amethyst made to turn into her Yokai form but Sam stopped her, shaking her head.
"He'll know it's you and that'll cause Amity Park even more trouble!"
"Like it, Ghost-Boy!?" The Yokai Tabby made a sound that could have been a laugh, "I thought you were going to take me down, Brat!" The tail squeezed tighter and there was a sickening crack; Danny screamed in agony, tears forming at the edges of his green eyes.
"I have to help him!" Amethyst snapped, pulling away from Sam, "It's my fault he's in this mess! I'm partially responsible! I'm going to make it better!" And her body went translucent, "Don't worry about me," She grinned at Sam and Tucker, "I'll mask my scent." And she soared upwards.
Danny struggled in the cat's tail, jostling his broken ribs, screaming even more, when a sharp silver claw poked at his throat. He gulped.
"You're really annoying…!" The cat hissed, "I think I'll kill you now…maybe the boss will let me ea-."
He was cut off by a bolt of red lightning slicing through his tail and cutting it in half; Danny freed himself and doubled over, clutching his side, wheezing slightly. Amethyst was suddenly beside him, glowing with red energy, slightly translucent. She pushed his hands out of the way and put her own on his side. Red light glowed briefly and Danny felt his ribs mending inside of him. He grinned at her and straightened up, clenching his fists.
"Time to send the kitty back to the shelter!" He called over the cat's yowls, "Let's go!"
"Two!? Two halfas!?"The cat was completely overwhelmed, "Why didn't we hear about this!? Where'd she come from!?"
"Stop talking and fight!" Amethyst dove beneath the cat where there was no armor and sent a sliver of red lighting slicing through its underbelly, "What kind of Yokai stands around and chats!? You call yourself a fighter!"
"You're one to talk!" Danny called back, kicking the Yokai Tabby on the chin, jerking its head up, "Are you always like this!?"
"Only when I'm ticked!" Amethyst replied, slamming her fist into the cat's eye, "Ewwww! That felt gross!"
"Everybody cover their ears!" Danny yelled and took in a deep breath. Sam and Tucker dropped to the ground, slapping their hands over their ears, and Amethyst dropped down beside them, pulling her hood over her head. Danny's ghostly wail still shook the buildings and made Amethyst wince, her sensitive fox hearing not a real help. The cat, however, had it the worst, it screeched as the attack blew out its ear drums and ripped off its armor and most of its fur. One of its eyes popped and blood slid down it matted fur.
"NOW TUCKER!!" Danny called and Tucker pointed the Fenton Thermos at the Yokai; a stream of blue light erupted out and sucked the cat into the Thermos, slamming the lid on when it was inside.
"Yuck." Sam and Danny said at the same time and then looked at each other and blushed, looking away.
"You popped its eye…! That was remarkable!" Amethyst was utterly in awe of Danny's achievement, "What was that move!? It was fantastic!"
"My ghostly wail?" Danny asked, changing back into Danny Fenton and pushing his black hair from his blue eyes, "Well, yeah, it's pretty awesome isn't it?"
Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes, snatching the Thermos from Tucker and waving it under Danny's nose with a look on her face that clearly said: "we can be enchanted by each other's powers later but right now you have a ghost to kick back into the Ghost Zone so do it now or I'll shove this Thermos where it doesn't belong!" Danny grinned sheepishly and took the Thermos back, heading down the street with the other three in tow.
"So, what'd that cat thing want?" Tucker asked, shouldering his pack, "It looked pretty mad and, having said that, all the ghosts that come after you look mad…!"
"It wanted Amethyst, obviously." Sam replied, "I mean, why else would it come to our world. I guess the Yokai Tabby figured the best place to start would be to ask someone with ghost powers on this side."
"And when you say ask," Danny muttered darkly, "I hope you mean torture."
"Are you going to be okay?" Asked Sam, "We heard you screaming."
"The stupid thing broke my ribs…!" Danny put a hand on his side, "But Amethyst fixed them; I don't know how."
"Yokai magic." Amethyst mumbled, looking preoccupied, "Standard Yokai magic, I might add. Mending a few ribs isn't all that hard but the bigger the wound that harder it is to heal. Bleeding wounds are the worst because you have to hold back the blood and stitch up anything that got torn."
"Well, whatever, thanks!" Danny rotated his shoulder, grinning back at the fox girl, "I feel just like new!" He popped his shoulder, "Oooooohhhhhhh, and now I don't…!"
The other three laughed at him as they all continued down the sidewalk. It was only their first day together and Sam, Tucker, and Danny were already bonding with Amethyst. But there was forever the shadow of what had happened, the looming darkness of the Yokai Cats hunting down Amethyst and now Danny Phantom. The week ahead looked rough.
Next time on 'Melody in Red'
Amethyst: Oh, come on! Like it isn't obvious what's going to happen! More Yokai cats, more fighting, more winning, more school, and more of that annoying Dash kid!
Tucker: You really don't like him do you?
Amethyst: (gives him a look)
Tucker: Alright, I'll take that as a no…!
Sam: Hey guys, what's up?
Amethyst: Hey Sam…! Hm? Where's Danny?
Sam: (shrugs with a smile) Trying to escape EmptyHeart's revenge.
(cuts to Danny struggling, still upside down in the tree)
Danny: SAAAAAAM! TUUUCKEEEERRRR! ANYYYYOOONNNEEEE!
(cuts back to Sam, Tucker, and Amethyst)
Tucker: (rolling on the floor laughing)
Amethyst: I sense a storm on the horizon…!