Um, okay, I'm sorry for being so lazy with the last chapter but, like I said, Writer's Block. Murder on me. Want to kill it. Anyway, I think we can finally get back to the real story line now without any further distractions. Maybe…
Seven: Fight after Fight
Danny Fenton hadn't slept well in at least four days. Tucker watched his best friend massaging his forehead from across the table. The four kids were all sitting at a picnic table in the park, just generally hanging out for the weekend. But still, the presence of Trice and his fellow Yokai Tabby loomed over them like a dark shadow. Even this sunny afternoon couldn't get Amethyst to relax or Danny to stay awake. The boy kept nodding off randomly, dark circles forming lightly under his eyes. His shoulders were healed, courtesy of Amethyst, but even her healing abilities couldn't erase weariness.
"I hate to say this guys but all of us just starring at each other really isn't what I'd like to call a good time." Tucker stated, pushing his glasses farther up his nose, "I mean, we could at least do something! Right Danny? Danny? Danny!"
Danny, startled from his snooze, jolted upright, lost his perch on the park bench, and fell off into onto the grass where he lay for a while starring at the clear blue sky. Then he stood up with a sigh and brushed himself off, looking from one face to another. Sam looked bored, Tucker looked annoyed, and Amethyst looked locked in some sort of morbid daydream, her mouth slightly open and he violet eyes glazed.
"Alright then, Tuck, what do you suggest we d-oh, come on!" A wisp of blue and Danny flung his hands into the air, exasperated, "Can I have one moment of peace, please!?"
"Danny, Danny, Danny." It was that accented voice that sent chills up Danny's spine and made Amethyst sit up straight and look around, "Peace is something you have to earn and you, dear boy, are far from earning such a prize…!"
Trice stepped out from the trees, smiling hungrily at Danny. Amethyst, Sam, and Tucker all leapt to their feet; Sam pulling out the Fenton Thermos from her bag. Trice laughed at the sight, showing sharply pointed teeth.
"Oh please! Do you really think that will work on me while I'm in this state!?" He waved a hand carelessly at his body, "Think again, children!"
"We know what you are!" Sam snapped, pointing the Thermos at him, the cap still on, "And we know someone who can beat you!"
"You mean the young Fenton boy? Or should I say…Phantom?" Trice sneered at Danny as Sam, Tucker, and Amethyst all gasped and looked at their other friend, "Yes, I know your friends' most precious secret…! And I also know that you've been keeping that Yokai Fox girl very…very…close." His golden-green eyes flashed and locked with Amethyst's, "Well, what're you waiting for? I killed your family…your clan…your father…come and get me!"
Amethyst growled, fox ears springing up and flattening in rage against her still human skull, a fluffy red fox tail bristling up to twice its normal size, her pupils became slits, and, fangs bared, she extended a clawed hand out and swiped at the air. Trice laughed again but was distracted by a flash of light. Danny Phantom slammed into him and pinned him to the ground, perched atop his chest, knees locking his arms down, and punched the Yokai Ghost Tabby in the face.
"SHUT UP!" Danny shouted, punching him again, and Amethyst reverted, eyes wide with shock, "JUST SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH!" Tucker stepped backwards unconsciously, "YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO MAKE ME ANGRY!" Sam dropped the Thermos onto the grass, disbelief written all over her face, "ALL YOU DO IS TALK!! YOU DON'T EVER FIGHT! YOU HAVE YOUR LITTLE SLAVES TO DO THAT FOR YOU! YOU LOW LIFE!"
"Ah, but Danny," Trice snickered, not bothering to fight back, ignoring the blood flowing from his split lip and nose, "You aren't that different than me…!" He turned his gaze to Danny's friends and Danny's green eyes, now blazing so brightly they were almost white, starred at them too, barely comprehending what he saw he was so rage flooded, "You fight, yes, but without your friends, you are nothing. Without your powers, you are nothing." He looked back at the halfa boy, "You only fight for yourself and those who follow you! Everyone else is below you and doesn't deserve your salvation!"
"SHUT YOU'RE MOUTH!" Danny raised a fist glowing with green energy, "DON'T YOU EVER COMPARE ME OR MY FRIENDS WITH YOU AND YOUR STUPID CLAN! EVER! YOU HEAR ME!? EVER!!"
"Danny stop it!" Sam grabbed his wrist, stopping him from hitting Trice who was smiling, "Just…stop it! This is what he wants! He wants you to hit him when you're angry! You're doing exactly what he wants!"
Trice laughed, went intangible, and disappeared into the ground. Danny sat in the dirt on his knees, seething, pale face blotched with red, green lost to white in his angered eyes, shaking with rage, Sam still holding onto his wrist, starring at the spot where Trice had disappeared beneath him. After a moment or two, his breathing slowed down and he changed back into his black-haired self.
"You can let go now Sam…" He muttered and she quickly dropped his wrist. Danny brought his hands up to his face, sitting back in the grass, covering his eyes, hunched over on the ground.
"Hey, dude, you alright?" Tucker asked tentatively, crouching down beside his best friend, "You're as white as a…well…ghost." He half-smiled, "Heh, bad analogy…"
Amethyst stayed back on the other side of the table, watching the three friends, eyes distant. Then she shook herself and walked over to stand by Sam.
"Get up, halfa…!" She said firmly, "On your feet! This isn't a pity party!"
"Quiet…" Danny growled but stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans, "What was that…?" He asked quietly, "What did he do?"
"Trice has that sort of effect on ghosts," Amethyst answered, her voice strained, "He can make them angry and lose their sense judgment with just a few simple words. That's what makes him all the more dangerous. But I don't know if that's his power or if that's just the way he is. I can't answer that one…" She shook her head, long red hair waving.
"But Danny's only half ghost." Tucker said, his hand on his best friend's shoulder, "It shouldn't affect him like it does you!"
"It seems he knows how to push Danny's buttons better than Dash does…!" Sam chuckled, "And I didn't mean that to sound like a good thing!"
"How about I push some more buttons!" A voice rang out, "Like push your eyeballs into the backs of your heads!" A Yokai Tabby dropped out of the sky, armor gleaming, tail lashing, eyes glinting, "Stupid fools! You have no where to run to!"
Danny smirked,
"I don't need anywhere to run to!" He shouted, taking stance, "I'm just going to GO GHOST!" A flash of light and from the light a beam of green energy erupted, smashing into the Tabby's paw.
"Well, that tickled!" It bared its fangs, crouched, and jumped…right over Danny! The Yokai Ghost slammed Amethyst to the ground and brought its mouth close to her face, letting a thin string on saliva trail from its jaws and dangle inches from his cheek. She looked like she was going to be sick.
"Leave her ALONE!" Danny grabbed the Yokai's tail and tugged at it…hard. The Tabby yowled and wheeled around, sending Danny flying into a tree. He slid to the ground with a groan, a shower of green leaves tumbling after him.
"Halfa!" The giant cat spat, "I'll eat you first…and then the Yokai Fox…and then your friends…!" It laughed and stalked towards the moaning white-haired boy. Sam snatched up the Fenton Thermos from the ground, yanked off the cap, and pointed it at the Tabby.
"Sam, look out!" Tucker tackled Sam just as another Yokai Tabby flew down from the sky and took a swipe at her. It snarled as it missed its target and skidded around in mid-air to find it.
"We have to get out of here!" Amethyst shouted, "We could barely fight one, let alone two! Hey! Halfa! Get up!" But Danny was only semi-conscious, unaware of the fact that he was about to be swallowed up by a giant ghost cat, "HALFA! HALFA!"
"DANNY!!" Sam screamed at the top of her voice. At first there was no response but then the boy's ghostly wail shattered through the air, making them all clap their hands over their ears and drop to the ground. The Yokai Tabby that had been about to eat Danny dissolved in a screech of terror and the other reeled head-over-heels through the air, its ears bleeding.
"Let's go!" Danny hauled Sam to her feet and shot off into the air followed by a slightly translucent Amethyst carrying Tucker. By the time the second Tabby recovered from Danny's attack, the four of them were long gone.
Whew…!" Danny wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he reverted and they all landed behind the Nasty Burger, "That was a really close one! Thanks for the wake up call Sam…!"
Sam's cheeks turned pink but she said it was nothing. Amethyst dropped Tucker on the pavement and became solid again. Tucker gave her dirty look as he stood and brushed himself off.
"So, now that we know that Trice knows about Danny and that he's going to be sending twice as many Yokai Tabbies after us than usual…what do we do?" Sam muttered, leading the group around to the front of the fast food place, "I mean, there's plenty of things we could do but they're not that logical."
"Like stealing a nuke and bombing the whole lot of them while they're sitting in the Ghost Zone." Danny chortled as they walked across the street.
"Yeah, like that." Sam replied.
"We could, instead, get a bazooka." Tucker offered and Sam and Danny laughed. Amethyst just stared blankly at them.
"I fail to see what's so amusing…!" She growled in a low voice, "This is a completely serious matter! Trice is more dangerous than you three are giving him credit for! You need to focus on the battle!"
"'Reality bites with a variety of sizes of teeth.'" Danny said, holding his finger in the air like some sort of professor giving a lecture, "Ah…" He paused, blinking, scratching his chin, "I don't remember who said that…Tony Something-or-other…" He shook his head and started walking again, "Anyway, my point is, crap hits the fan 24/7 and most of the time it's little bits of crap that you can ignore but sometimes it's a ton of crap that just piles down on you and drags you down. So you know what you do to get that crap off you!?"
"Find a shovel." Tucker whispered to Sam who suppressed a laugh.
"Simply laugh it off!" Danny ignored the jibe his friend had made and flung his arms skyward, grinning at Amethyst, "How do you think I've kept myself from going emo?"
Amethyst starred at him for a while, the four of them standing outside a small shop.
"What…is emo?" She finally asked and the other three laughed at her.
It was a warm weekend day with a clear blue sky. Everything was almost perfect in Amity Park. Very close to perfect…but not exactly.
Next time on 'Melody in Red'
Amethyst: Why don't we just kill Trice next time he shows up? It would make everything so much easier!
Sam: We don't kill Amethyst, we capture and return.
Danny: Besides, how can you kill something that's already dead? That doesn't make sense at all!
Amethyst: (grumbles incoherently)
Tucker: And a Merry Christmas to you too!
Sam: Tucker, I swear, if you pull out that mistletoe hat thing again I'll punch you in the face.
Danny: (laughs at Tucker's expression) At least he's got pants on now!
Amethyst: What is mistletoe? And Christmas? What is Christmas?
Sam, Danny, and Tucker: I can't believe her…!