Chapter 18

Sick Sad World, Part 5 of 5

Midnight Bells.

03:16 AM

Luxor Hotel… what's left of it anyway.

Inside of what's left of one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels in the world, Danny still fights relentless against a horde of Hellhounds using every power and trick he has.

With each strike the number of Hellhounds diminishes unlike Danny's rage as he can't stop thinking of all the people who died in his convention, but at least he could find comfort in destroying the monsters responsible for their deaths, at least he had the little satisfaction of giving them back what they gave him, nothing but death. But this little pleasure would not last for long for he soon realizes that a new Hellhound would grow from the remains of those he shreds.

- Ok, I feel like I'm living a crappy movie right now - said Danny when he saw the severed Hellhounds duplicate themselves from their carcasses, like a worm growing a second head when cut in half. - Gasper, put some sense into this.

- It would appears that by each one you kill, two will rise up - answers the operative system with a new found British accent.

- Thanks! Because I haven't step upon that yet! - States angrily as he eviscerates one of them when trying to seize him. - Did you just change your neutral accent to a British accent?

- Yes sir. Part of the upgrades I'm downloading, a little flaw they forgot to fix before, you don't like it?

- How would a British guy put it? It's obnoxious. That's the British thing to say, right?

- ...Yes, sir.

- Skulker you better show your coward face and put some sense into this madness because it's clear my dumb butler suit won't tell me anything useful!

- That actually hurt - said Gasper.

- Then be more useful.

- What do you think, ghost kid? Impressive, aren't they? I made these Hellhounds myself with the one task to haunt you to death. - Says Skulker from his hideout through his Hellhounds' speakers as they continue on their attack. - Now, they might not seem too much to you as you have slain them all and I can't promise they'll fight any harder than this, but this I can promise, for every one of them that falls, two shall arise and take its place… and it will be only a matter of time before you reach your limit.

In that moment he teleports himself in a green burst of flames floating behind Danny.

- Hellhounds, eh? So that's how you call this things? That's actually a cool sounding name - he admitted smashing the head of a Hellhound against the floor and vaporizing it with a blue energy enhanced strike. - Too bad it takes more than that to stop me from tearing them apart molecule by molecule! Oh god I've become my father - he says to himself.

- Oh please! There is nothing you can do now - Skulker laughed. - Your whole convention is haunted by them, everyone in here is in danger and you know you can't stop them all. Give up now, and maybe then I would consider to spare their lives.

- Say WHAT?! - Yells unleashing a purple energy wave from his arm-swords aimed at him and his Hellhounds, reaching a forty percent of his energy flow and flaming up his hair for a brief moment.

The attack destroys twenty-six Hellhounds as indicated by his suit's threat counter, whereas Skulker was able to dodge it, though barely seeing the attack.

- Say that again?! I dare you! I double dare! - shouts at Skulker sheathing his claws and arm-swords and pointing at him with his Gaitling Gauntlets. After all that happened, after all the evil they've done, the idea of giving up, even to suggest such thing was enough to stoke his wrath even more, since that has never been an option, specially not after everything these Hellhounds and Skulker did.

No, Danny was a fighter, a born warrior, a hero and as such he will never give up, and specially not with live in the line.

- Someone here is a bit hot-headed and is not me - Skulker jokes. - You think you still have what it takes to get at me? To be meaner than me? Maybe we should put that to test.

Snapping his fingers Skulker summons a new pack of sixty Hellhounds as indicated by the suit's threat counter, reaching a number of three-hundred thirty-three, but all this means nothing for Danny.

He didn't step back, instead he kept slashing the Hellhounds with his razor sharp TDA claws, and smiting them with his blue ghost rays fired from his Gaitling Gauntlets blowing their heads clean off with each shot, spreading their wired brains all over the floor and the walls. He attacked with no fear or hesitation in his mind, only rage. The Hellhounds fight him hard biting and scratching with their flaming blade-fangs and claws, firing their machine guns and plasma cannons and using the same prediction program Skulker used in his last encouter with Danny, foreseeing all of his known movements and attacks. But Danny fights them harder with his own claws, fists and ghost rays. He fights them with a skill and experience these beasts didn't possess, using tactics and movements he hasn't shown until now, thus mocking their program and getting the best of them.

The way he jumped gracefully upon their heads and swinged around them, so fast that he was nothing but a black and white blur even to their cybernetic eyes, making use of his arm-swords and spider legs to bisect them as he swiftly dodges every bullet, bite and ghost rays, blowing their head with his own ghost rays... it was like fighting a whole new Danny. It was a show like no other, but how could he fight with such ability while posseessed by such anger? His suit was the only one who could answer as it could read Danny's brain waves while he fights seeing how his brain works, and it was in a single word astonishing.

Even with his mind lost in a berserker rage, regressed to wild state thus becoming more feral than the very beasts he slaughtered, he still retained his particular combat skills which he has developed for years by fighting all kinds of ghostly monsters, and was capable of complex strategic decisions within a reduced time frame. It was as if his thinking and his instinct were one and the same. Not even the suit's tactical analysis program was able to process the situation and cope at the same rate his brain does. Such is his determination to grow that he reached a whole new limit for his abilities. He was now in the next level.

03:18 AM

Local Hook of the PPS.

Meanwhile, in the local hook of the Phantom Prime Satelite, Valerie tries to contact Dani who wouldn't answer her calls. This lack of response from Dani was either because she lost her way to communicate with her or because she had died, and if it was the later it would be all her fault since it was her plan which got Dani in front of the Hellhounds.

The plan was very simple, given that Danielle is the only one of them who can fly through walls she was the only one who could run from the Hellhounds inside the base evading any obstacle at the same time she looks for any survivor left in any room, stalling time as she goes down the basement to make her part.

- Dani? Dani pick up! Answer to me! - Valerie yells on her wrist gauntlet. - God-freaking-dam it! I'm not picking your signal with this thing either. There must be something blocking it out - says using her wrist's ghost tracker. - This is bad, this is really bad… - Valerie says worried she might have gotten Dani killed. - I gotta go look for her.

During the last two years Dani and Valerie had been members of the Team Phantom, they had developed a unique sisterly-lke bond, a strong and close friendship that is downright Valerie's most important relationship second to hers with Danny. It is because of this that she would often, if not always, look after her. And for this very same reason she would never forgive herself if Dani gets hurt because of her.

Summoning her hovering board, she flies upstairs at full pelt and starts looking out for her in every room. Soon she finds herself flying through the hallways following a long wake of ectoplasm spread all over the floor. Seeing how dangerous these beasts are, she assumes the worst and follows the path, ending on a closed door with ectoplasm all over it and what seemed to be ghost organs.

- Please don't... - mumbles leaning onto the door.

And while she wishes to be wrong about her guess just as she always is in her multiple choice tests...

Inside what's left of the short lived convention that celebrated the beginning of a new age, Danny still fights the Hellhounds having the advantage during most of the combat.

What Skulker's eyes could barely see was borderline… incredible. Never has Danny displayed such prowess like this, smiting so fast and with such strength, but then again he has never been pushed up to this limit.

Yet, even though his performance was uncanny, he was soon to see Skulker's prediction come true because just like he said for each Hellhound he destroyed two would rise up, and after all the Hellhounds he shredded there were just too many of them for him to fight no matter how hard he tried, and soon he finds himself overwhelmed by them.

- Maybe you should use only your ghost rays - suggests G.A.S.P.E.R. - It looks like they only grow back from the remains of their bodies. The one you leave when you cut them in half.

- Is that accent meant to keep me mad? 'Cause it's working.

- Besides the point... even though your fighting skills have reached a whole new level with all that training you've had the last month, you still should listen to the computer in your head when it says that tearing them apart molecule by molecule with your plasma rays is better than doing it limb by limb with your claws.

Doing as his suits suggests, Danny fires another blue ghost rays disintegrating a Hellhound and this time with no other Hellhound taking their place.

- Why you didn't mention this before?! - asks blasting three Hellhounds with a streaming blue plasma ray.

- I thought it was too freaking obvious! - Gas replies affected by Danny's mood. - Oh. I'm sorry your bad mood is affecting my good manners.

- Ready to give up now, ghost kid?

- No! - he yelled emphatically. - I won't give up and I won't get quitter, NEVER!

Calling for a massive amount of ghost energy, he fires a large streaming blue ghost ghost ray with cupped hands disintegrating every Hellhound he had in front of him, at least over a dozen according to his threat counter, but while doing so three of them seize him from behind and take him down.

- I can't believe after your failure trying to save your city, you still think you can save the whole world! - Skulker laughs.

- Enough! - Shouts Danny striving to break free of the Hellhounds that held him down, generating a white repulsion field to vaporize them. - Now listen you fucker! I have taken about enough grief by that bomb shit you and your friends caused in more ways that I'm willing to let people know about, but if you think I'm gonna sit down and cry for that, then you are hauling that bag on the wrong place - he yells at Skulker while cutting the Hellhounds with his energy push-blades, this time blue atomizing them with a single cut. - It's true I might not be strong enough to save the world, but it won't stop me from trying and doing my best every time people needs me whether if it's just my city or the entire world. So if you think you can bust in kicking around, well think it twice, because I'm the one who does that kicking around here!

- Is that so? Tell me, what would you do to save it if can't even save yourself right now? For all your power as big and unlimited as it is, it's uncontrollable which means is as good as nothing - states grinning at him.

- …you are right on that… I have lost full control of my powers. But know this: even if I fail again to save my city-my world… you can rest assure knowing I won't until I've avenged it - he states firmly with his eyes sparkling again and his fist smoldering in blue energy.

His words were a statement, a declaration that he was willing and ready to fight the upcoming war storming upon them, that he was willing to fight til the bitter no matter what comes in the future, even after defeat… even after death.

But all his bravery meant too little to Skulker, instead he seemed sure victory was for him tonight.

- Well, unless you got some new tricks you haven't used yet you better start planning your revenge, 'cuz you ain't saving anyone today. In fact you ain't saving anyone at all…

- As a matter of fact… I do… - he replies coldly, calling for all of his cold energy with his eyes glowing an intense blue and smoldering as well. And in a fact he had more tricks than Skulker could think of.

03:26 AM

Local Hook.

Valerie reaches her hand onto the door ready to open it but, whether she was ready for what was behind is something else…

- Oh God, please don't be… please don't be…

Afraid of what she might find on the other side, she opens the door to find Dani covered in ectoplasm fighting the Hellhounds with all she's got stepping on the body of a dead Hellhound. The hole place was covered in snow which gave away the position of the Hellhounds due to the flames in their paws. The snowflakes in the air made their fire flicker as they fell on them.

- All right poozers, who's next?! - she asks smashing its brain with her feet.

- Dani. You are alive! And… you killed one of those things on your own - she blurts in surprise.

The Hellhounds turn visible and turn their heads to see her with their big red eyes.

- Oh yeah! I'm more alive than EVER before! - she yells with a rush of adrenaline like she's never had before, running through her ghost veins.

Now with Valerie in the room, three of them bustle at her trying to seize her, but as soon as they jump they get blasted by a purple ghost ray from Valerie's wrist and cube cannons. The attack was only strong enough to keep them at bay.

- Wow. I can't believe it. You really killed one of those things bare handed? - asked Valerie in still shock as the Hellhound slowly move around the snow.

- Yep. They happen to be quite easy to kill when you know where they are.

- Hence the snow… why wouldn't you use it before?

- I barely got this powers like for two weeks from all that training I had with Danny. I'm still not good at it. I wasn't sure if I'd made a snowfall or a wind chill. - Dani explains dodging two of them jumping at her face - Also they seem to be kinds slow when in cold. I think it shocks their systems - states blasting three of them with a withe ghost ray.

- I still don't get why I can't pick them up with my tracker.

- Maybe it needs an upgrade. You know, like Tucker's PDA -. Dani points.

Valerie glares at her peeved seconds before the Hellhounds using their invisibility,

Quickly Valerie summons her blue ghost shield to keep them away from her.

- Dani you might wanna get out of here like… two minutes. - States firing her ecto-energy darts at will hitting at least four of them as shown by their bleeding.

- What? Why?

- You know my part of the plan?

- No.

- It's a bomb and it's about to blow this whole dam place sky high

- WHAT? That was your plan all along?! - she asks floating over her ghost shield to yell at Valerie's ear - Willie Coyote in here?! With us inside?!

- First of all it's Willie E. Coyote, and we were supposed to be out of here by now.

- Ok why?

- Because… we don't wanna die here? And because they're too many for us to fight.

- What are you talking about I just killed one of them.

Is in moments like this when she remembers that she is not a little girl, that she is a born fighter just as Danny, and like him there is no evil she won't fight against. .

- Look I'm glad to see you still got the touch, but I know better and the one you killed it's getting back on its paws - says pointing at the Hellhound Dani had killed. - Besides we don't know if there are more of them in here. Trust me, it's better this way.

- Ok how much time do we have left?

- About one minute and a half. More than enough to leave.

- I don't think so - says Dani with a long wisp of blue breathe coming out of her mouth.

- Please tell me that's just the cold that makes your breathe visible - asks Valerie.

- Fine. It is the cold. - She says staring at the myriad of Hellhounds that appeared in the room in bursts of black fire, completely surrounding them. - So what were you saying about blowing up this place?

03:28 AM

Flotaing before Danny, Skulker gloats on his face, claiming to be victorious, saying he now knows all of his tricks and bragging about his invincible ever-growing Hellhound army, thinking there was nothing Danny could do against them. But you'll see, for the last month Danny has grieved his mistake and how his arrogance cost the lives of so many, but this time he wouldn't let a mistake hold him down nor he would sit and cry for that as he has done in the past every time he failed. Instead every time he thought about it he would think of new ways to fight his enemies' new powers, how to counter them as well as any possible new power they might come up with using his new powers and weapons, and the truth is there was not a single day he didn't think about it… So for the last month he has spent every day, every thinking moment developing new plans and tactics to fight Skulker and all his enemies in order to set things right, to atone for his failure and avenge those who died on his watch and now had the perfect chance to test the one he devised specifically for Skulker.

Harnessing all of his cold energy, his arms began to numb just moments before they turn into ice. With his arms now frozen he fires an intense cold energy blast on the ground and freezes the whole place unleashing an all-consuming blizzard trapping the Hellhounds in ice cold enough to freeze the core of a nuclear reactor just as he did weeks before this.*Story for another day.

- Wow!… Impressive, that sleek and neat neon suit of yours sure gave you some super juice! - Skulker said shaking the snow and icicles of his lion armor.

- Oh, that's not the suit. That's all me - he states coldly.

- Oh right, if you want this to be a cold war… bring it on! Give me all you have, let's see if you can still hurt people like the last time - says pulling out his machine guns.

- Oh, I can still hurt people, difference is I got to choose who do I hurt now.

With all of the Hellhounds now trapped in ice way too cold for them to melt, he was ready to show the real trick. While freezing the whole place he poured his ghost energy within the cold energy essentially turning the whole place into an snow-mineland, and all he needed now was another ghost to step on it.

Teleporting behind Skulker a second before he started shooting he smites him with a full-blown attack, a streaming white ghost ray fired from his eyes and fists.

Skulker falls on the snow and just like with a real mine it explodes blowing up the whole place while Danny teleports himself away from the explosion. The convention explodes at 03;30 AM just at the same time as the local hook.

- Well I guess this is as far as the convention goes… - sighs Danny with his head down, regretting the horrible end of his convention and yet he knew the worst part was still to come. - Gasper, how many of this damn Hellhound are left? - asked Danny floating toward the sphinx where he sent his friends.

- The scanner shows there are no Hellhounds left, sir. Most of them were destroyed in the explosion, the others that prowled in the hotel were… neutralized by your parents apparently, for what I can see from the hotel's security cameras.

- Uuuhhmm… I was wondering what were they doing all this time. Good they know how to take care of themselves.

With Skulker finally gone, Danny and his team with help from his parents scouted the hotel in order to be completely sure there were no Hellhounds left. The next day Danny was forced to give a press conference regarding the events that happened in his convention.

Nothing that night played as he wanted, and at the end it caused more damage than good. People died at his convention, and there was nothing he could say or do to fix that. The only thing left to say was certaintly not the speech he wanted.

Walking toward the stage, his hands began to shake.

- Getting a little stage fright - asks Valerie as they walk at the pod.

- …

Danny was speechless, unable to answer his friend the way he would have done any other day.

- Hey… what happened last night… is not your fault. - she says. - You know that, right? You saved as much as you could.

- Yes it was. I came up with all this stupid idea, thinking I could hide the truth behind a cool laser show with music… And now everyone is dead because of me.

- That-

- I should have been straight about this. Lying to you, to everyone here, it was selfish from us-from me.

- What are you talking about?

- The true.

- What true?

- You'll see…

As Danny walks up stage, the crowd goes louder. All reporters where asking a myriad of questions all at the same time, overwhelming him with a cacophony of queries but only one of them is heard above the others, Lance Thunder who was secretly Vlad Plasmius' vessel and, who during the last month had a meteoric rise from a forgotten weather guy reduced to a radio jockey of a two bit radio show to major figure in the news world, waging a campaign against Danny and his team, as well as any other ghost hunter, all of it thanks to Vlad's guidance.

- Mr. Phantom, what do you have to say about the towering failure it was your "Phantom Convention"?

- …That… that was not what this was meant to be. This was supposed to be a celebration-the beginning of a new era, but a ghost-

- Is it truth that this ghost came here with the only intention to hunt you?

- How would he know that? - Ask Dani to the rest of the team.

- Yeah, but- Danny gets cut off before finishing his sentence.

- And is it truth that the reason he killed those poor innocent was only to get at you? To get your attention?.

- Ye-

- If that's the case then, wouldn't it be a safe guess to say that is not safe to be around you and that every ghost related tragedy is in fact because of you? - asks cutting him off again. - That you are in actuality the reason of all those ghost attacks that have been jeopardizing or humans lives not just this month but for the last four years that you've been active as a "ghost-hunter/superhero"?

- …during the last month, they've gone rogue, started breaking havoc in our world… well, more than the usual-which has nothing to do with me… they do that to send a message and it has been pretty clear, but we-I refused to see it.

- And what message is that if we can know that? - asked "Lance". - That of course assuming now you know what message is that.

- …We are at war with the Ghost Zone.