GLE – Heh, I finished this about a week ago, but I've been a bit busy, so I'm posting it now. As usual, I'll keep this author's note rather short and wait till the end of the chapter to chatter on. So, enjoy! And, Happy Canada Day!
-(o)-
Do Superheroes Exist?
Chapter 10: To Be a Hero
"No," his voice echoed hollowly.
"Danny, I don't think you understand the situation," said Ms. Medley flabbergasted. "Your country is depending on you!"
"Ya, well you should have thought of that before you locked me up and tortured me!" yelled Danny. "I'm not a human, remember? I have no rights. I also have no obligation to clean up your mess."
Medley frowned, at a loss for words. Dealing with moody teenagers was not part of her job description. She looked to Dr. T for support.
"Danny," began the doctor, "I was the one who said that. You don't have to take it out on Elizabeth. Don't you want to help the innocent people out there who are being attacked right now by ghosts? Don't you want to have the little bit of freedom that Elizabeth promised you?"
Danny stared into his eyes. Dr. T realized his mistake and glanced quickly towards Ms. Medley apologetically.
"So, there is a catch to it after all," stated Danny expressionlessly. "There is some loophole to the so-called freedom you're offering."
"Danny, don't—"
The alarms were suddenly blaring. The lights were flashing and a number of people rushed by the door. A voice crackled through the PA box on the wall.
"Dr. T? You there?" it asked.
The doctor stood hastily and pressed on a button, replying, "Here. What's wrong?"
"The ghost shield's down. Something fell onto it and cancelled the effects completely. We think there's a ghost inside…"
"Understood," responded Dr. T. "Tell the researchers to secure their work and then go look…"
Dr. T froze. The ghost had arrived. He was hovering on the ceiling of the room.
"Look for it, Doctor?" asked the man on the other end of the PA.
The doctor only mumbled, "yes," before releasing his finger from the button.
Elizabeth Medley shrunk into her chair, trying to make herself as tiny as possible. Apart from Danny, she'd never met a ghost face to face before, and especially not one that looked so menacing. Danny was the only one who barely reacted, practically not even acknowledging the presence of another person in the room.
The ghost grinned and spoke.
"Well, well, what kind of party is this?" he asked. "You all look so gloomy."
"What do you want, ghost?" questioned Dr. T. Damn did he wish he had an ectogun on him. But he was a researcher after all, and preferred not to carry any weapons.
"What does it matter to you?" replied the ghost haughtily. "I'm here to speak with a dear friend of mine. Daniel, aren't you going to say hello to your favourite ghost?"
Danny looked up at last, and said in a deadpan voice, "What do you want, Plasmius?" He was so angry with the Guys in White and this woman from the CIA, he really didn't want to have to deal with Vlad on top of it.
"Don't look so overjoyed to see me," responded Vlad sarcastically. "I only came to get you out of here. I thought you'd want that."
"Ya, and what's the catch? You're not one for charity," Danny commented. "Just leave me alone."
Danny's mind was running with images. A group of kids shouting about how much of a show-off he was, an angry man on the tv telling all the viewers how dangerous he was, some guy trying to catch him, the ghosts kicking him out of the Ghost Zone, Dr. T yelling at him for messing up and telling him to start over, a hundred times he heard someone say they didn't want him around… All the tests that had been done on him rushed through his head as well. All the pain he went through. How many tears he'd shed from the torture until his eyes were dry. The way the researchers looked at him, like he was just some sort of lab rat they were experimenting on. Danny closed his eyes, seething. He was thoroughly disgusted with the human race, and ghosts were just as bad.
"I hadn't been worried about you, 'cause I know you're a fighter, Daniel," Vlad stated quietly, more to himself than anyone else. "But maybe I should have also realized that you're still only 14 and this may have been too much for you."
He had figured that they'd all come to their senses soon enough and praise the boy for being a hero all over again. Admittedly, he had also been worried that the boy might talk about him, especially if he was pushed to a point beyond which he'd spill any secrets he had left. So to protect his identity, among other reasons, he came here. The boy was cross right now, but a little push in the right direction might help. Vlad decided to give it a try.
"Perhaps I should slaughter them, hm?" he said, indicating Dr. T and Elizabeth Medley, but also suggesting by his tone of voice that he meant the entire facility.
"Go ahead," replied Danny heatedly.
"That doesn't sound like you," said Vlad.
"Doesn't sound like you, either," returned Danny pointedly.
"Daniel, I'm doing this in your best interests. You can be a hero."
"Maybe I don't want to be a hero!" cried Danny, standing up abruptly. "Maybe… I… I don't know what I want!"
"But you are a hero, Danny," declared Vlad, making an effort to use the boy's preferred name to get across how serious he was. "Whether these people realize it or not, they want you to watch over them, no matter how much you pester the rest of us, no matter how much they fear you. They worship you too! Don't you feel that you owe it to everyone to act like the hero that you are?"
"I don't owe these people anything!" exclaimed Danny sharply. "Just, shut up and leave, Vlad!"
"Why don't you make me?" said Vlad tauntingly. He needed to get Danny going.
"Fine," replied Danny, eyes flashing brightly, hands lighting with ectoplasm. He shot a couple of blasts towards Vlad who disappeared through the ceiling. Danny was more than happy to let off some steam in a fight with his archenemy. He flew after Plasmius, leaving the doctor and the CIA agent behind.
The fight led them around the building, a set of destroyed labs and offices left in their wake. Danny in particular was quite careless with his aim, and more than once he smiled when he saw a machine that had been used on him get mangled and made unusable. He lost track of Vlad around a corner, and spent several minutes trying to catch up with him again.
Meanwhile, Vlad found his way back to the Medical Center, where Dr. T and Elizabeth Medley were still sitting, dumbstruck. Dr. T had made the connection between the name 'Vlad Plasmius' and the alias 'The Wisconsin Ghost'. The Guys in White had some limited information on him. This most definitely was one of the three ghosts stronger than Danny. The boy had lied a little bit after all. But, it wasn't likely that this was the ghost who helped the boy's friends break into the building. First of all, he wasn't friends with Danny and second his entrance today was proof enough – big, effective, and straight to the point, and not something done as secretively as possible. Dr. T looked up when the ghost returned.
"I'm just going to say this once," said Vlad to the doctor in a dangerously quiet tone. "I'm the only one who will have data on the boy, got it?"
He proceeded to emphasize his point by trashing most of the Medical Center. He left the computer in the corner untouched, and went to it now, inserting a CD. The CD started up and ran a virus onto the machine, as well as all of its connections, which included the entire network of computers within the complex.
The noise Vlad had made helped Danny locate him again, and he flew into the room in time to see Vlad take off through the wall, Dr. T and Ms. Medley under his arms. For a brief moment, Danny panicked for the sake of the hostages, until it occurred to him who the hostages were. He felt confused by the mix of emotions, and decided that hitting Vlad would make him feel better.
Vlad dropped his baggage off in Danny's cell. Dr. T and Elizabeth Medley fell onto the concrete floor and realized rather quickly that they were trapped. The ghost had already left.
Danny followed Vlad up through the floors and out to the sky. Vlad suddenly stopped and turned to face the boy as he caught up to him.
"I know all about my own powers now, Plasmius," yelled Danny. "I know exactly how fast I can fire off ectoblasts and how much weight can be piled onto me before I break! So just get out of my way unless you want me to destroy you!"
"And then what?" asked Vlad. "Planning to demolish the labs down below? Don't bother. We've already done that."
"You don't get it!" screamed Danny. "You don't know what they did to me!"
"I get it, Daniel," replied Vlad. "You're confused. I'm going to help you find your way."
In one swift motion, Vlad teleported behind Danny and zapped him with the Plasmius Maximus. Danny shifted back to human form immediately and began to fall. Vlad caught him, pulled a set of stolen keys from a pocket, and unlocked the collar that was on Danny's neck, letting it drop down to the Guys in White's base. Danny's eyes were wild. He looked scared, angry, and bewildered all at the same time.
Vlad wasn't going to give him a chance to fight him while he was holding him close, and so he threw the boy up into the air again, yelling orders to someone that Danny hadn't seen in the area until that moment.
The last thing that Danny saw was the Fright Knight charging towards him with his sword, slashing it across his chest.
"Good work," said Plasmius to his minion. "I modified the Maximus too. He'll only be human for an hour, instead of three. Let's get to Amity Park. You'll have him reappear when his nightmare has sunk in a little? It'll be best for him to see how good he really has it after experiencing his worst fears… Which, by the way, I hope are not connected to the experiments he was going through, otherwise, we've just made everything worse."
"I can see his nightmares, Boss," said the Fright Knight while sheathing the Soul Shredder. "They have nothing to do with the experiments."
"Good. Let's get going then."
The world was in chaos. A lot of people other than Danny were also trapped in their worst nightmares, courtesy of the Fright Knight. Others were being chased out of their homes by ghouls who were laughing their heads off in glee. News crews everywhere were having a hard time making their reports since ghosts attacked them relentlessly too.
"G'day, maites!" said the Australian reporter who'd been in Amity Park the previous week. He was now back in his home country, sitting in his news studio. He tried to exert an air of being laid back, to comfort his viewers. "We're in a bit o' a pickle he-ah, as you probably already know. There's not many places you can run when ghosts are attackin'."
"Ye-es, ghost attacks!" said the Asian commentator. He had barricaded the entire crew into the smallest studio at his station in hopes of not being attacked by another ghost. Several had already destroyed the main newsroom in the building. "Our government say we safest at home and requests all citizens stay put as best as possible."
"Ze American government haz kept quiet about ze location of ze Ghost Boy," stated the blond female reporter. She still held a proud stance, as she had when she'd visited Amity Park. It seemed that whatever the situation, she was a strong woman. "Many European nations are vonderink why he hasn't yet been sent to help ze vorld. Zere is nossink else ve can do right now but hope zat his help comes soon."
"But many people ah wondering h-whether the aid of a 14-year-old half-ghost cahn truly make a difference in this worldwide conflict," announced the reporter from the BBC. The camera crews were having a tough time keeping him in focus as ghosts were dragging him down the street. The BBC correspondent remained unfazed as he continued to read his report with a steady voice. "Is the-ah no othah way to defeat these terrorists?"
"Ghosts are most densely gathered in the States, eh," said the CBC commentator. "As their neighbours to the north, we've also got quite a lot of them rampaging through cities along the border. Heh, probably the safest place in Canada is in the territories at the moment. There have been very few reports of ghosts up there; the only significant one is about a benign ghost in Iqaluit who claims to be looking for friends."
The CNN correspondent was speaking, but no audience could hear him as his audio connections were cut. And shortly, so was the visual. Ghosts were tearing through his studio and there wasn't much anyone could do to defend themselves.
Amity Park's own newscasters were off the air, to say the least. They were planning to give it one more go around noon, but made no promises to the public.
Danny woke up. He was lying on the ground in some park, except that the park didn't look like it should have. The grass was covered by big blocks of demolished buildings, and glancing around, he could tell that some disaster had happened here. It looked like a war zone. Danny stood up and tried to figure out where he was. About twenty feet away, he could see what remained of the Nasty Burger sign that had been knocked over. It was lying in disrepair next to what must have been the Nasty Burger itself. The remnants of the building were devastating.
Danny wanted to call out, but was worried that whatever had destroyed this place might still be lurking somewhere nearby. He had an uneasy feeling that he didn't want to know what had done this. And another sinking feeling within him told him that this was déjà-vu.
He began to walk, but quickly stumbled into a large stone that he hadn't seen a moment before. Looking down at it, he realized it was a tombstone. When he read the names, his stomach gave an uneasy lurch. It was his entire family. His mom, his dad, and even Jazz were…
No! They couldn't be dead! They were fine, weren't they? They could fight against ghosts, couldn't they? Amity Park wasn't hit that badly, was it?
A sharp noise to his right caught his attention. It was Tucker. He was calling out to him. His leg was trapped by some bricks of some sort and the building next to him was crumbling. FentonWorks was falling down on him!
Danny sped towards him, but he couldn't make it in time. Before his eyes he saw his friend be buried alive. All that was still visible of Tucker was his hand. It was writhing. By the time Danny kneeled down next to it, it had stopped moving completely. A small pool of blood was streaming out from under the wreckage.
Tears prickled behind his eyes. This was real. His family was dead. And now he'd just lost his best friend. There was a pain so deep in his chest that he'd never known he could feel. The loss was so profound it was ripping apart his insides as he asked the question, "why?" Why had this happened?
Deep down he knew the truth, but he wasn't ready to face it. A familiar voice pulled him away from his thoughts.
"Danny!"
It was Sam. She was running towards him, concerned for him. She started to smile, happy to see that he was alright, that he was still alive. But her smile turned into confusion and hurt as an ectoblast hit her square in her stomach. She flew backwards and landed on the ground. Danny hurried towards her. He was standing over her when another ectoblast hit her. This one was more powerful than the last and it crushed her body down until the light from her eyes disappeared. The ectoblast was still concentrated on her. Danny couldn't understand why it was still turning his friend's body into dust until he realized that the perpetrator of the ectoblast hadn't stopped firing. The firing ended abruptly.
Danny lifted his hands shakily to his face and stared at them disbelievingly. He looked down at Sam's frail form. No. The panic was rising in his chest like never before. No, no! His whole body was shaking with suppressed emotion. No. NO. NOO! There was a howl coming from the back of his throat. The truth hit him like a freight train going full speed into a crowded school bus. He had killed Sam with his own hands!
His scream manifested itself as the ghostly wail. He turned away from Sam's body to let it out and found himself destroying the last part of Amity Park that was still standing. People's shrieks of fear came to his ears as they tried to hurry away. His ghostly wail consumed them all, but he couldn't stop it. He wouldn't stop it.
He fell to his knees, unable to cry, and sat there for some time in silence. It was the sound of someone approaching that brought him back to reality. He turned to face the newcomer and found himself staring into his own eyes. The person was holding a mirror towards him.
Danny couldn't look away. He was terrifying. He was in ghost form, but he looked more menacing than usual. His green eyes had a red tint to them. His smile was wicked, teeth appearing rather pointy. He licked his lips, bloodthirsty, the desire to kill more humans clear. Danny understood his reflection very well. He could feel a part of him hoping that Dr. T wasn't dead yet, that he'd have the pleasure of returning the torture. It scared him to know he could think this way.
"Happy with what you see?" asked the person who was holding the mirror.
Danny didn't need to look up to know who it was. As he stared into the face of his future self, no words came to his lips.
"Isn't it fantastic what you've done to Amity Park!" said Dan Phantom approvingly. "And there's so much more that I've accomplished, that you will accomplish! Look at this world! It's ripe for your taking! Why don't you shed your human self already and become me?"
Danny shook his head nervously. He didn't want to have to face his older evil self again. He thought he'd dealt with that already, that he'd changed that timeline, that he wouldn't ever turn into that.
Danny backed away and said quietly, "There might be people who still need me… to protect them from ghosts." At the same time, he thought, But will I be able to live without my family? Without Sam and Tucker? Sadness dug a pit in his stomach and the idea of 'shedding his human emotions' crossed his mind. But that's what the ghost in front of him did. A mistake that he didn't want to repeat. Was he heading down that path now?
"Don't you see you're better without them?" said Dan. "Are you blind to how much they loathe you?"
It was true. At this moment, the few survivors from Danny's ghostly wail on Amity Park were peeking their heads around debris and glancing fearfully towards him, hatred burning in their eyes. Not one of them looked at all willing to trust him ever again.
Dan smiled. He pulled a person from behind his back and dropped him at Danny's feet. Dr. T gazed up into Danny's eyes, begging mercy silently.
"They tortured you," stated Dan. "He tortured you."
Danny nodded slowly. He wouldn't deny that.
"Your family and friends are gone," continued Dan. "Nothing matters anymore. You are a ghost. Feel your power. Set yourself free! You will become me and all of this will be yours. Wait'll you see their faces when you destroy everything, when it all goes up in flames. It's exhilarating!"
Yes, it might be nice to just let loose. Especially with Dr. T at his feet. But… but… There was a 'but'. He'd made a promise. Sometime in the past, before all hell broke loose and his secret was revealed, he'd made a promise. He'd made a promise to never become that.
Danny shook his head. He didn't want to break his promise.
"Oh, stop being such a child!" said Dan in irritation. "Just let go, already! Give into the darkness that becomes you! It's the best thing that'll ever happen in your life – and death."
"No," said Danny.
"No?" asked Dan blankly. "What do you mean, 'no'?"
"No," repeated Danny, this time more firmly. A fire had lit somewhere in his heart. He just realized that all of this was his worst nightmare. Becoming that older, evil self was the last thing he ever wanted to see happen in his life. It pained him to think that it took him losing all the people who were most important to him to figure this out. But it was to those same people that he'd made this promise, and even if it only made a little bit of a difference, he intended to spend the rest of his life honoring his promise. It would be very lonely without his loved ones, but maybe he could find them whenever he looked into himself and saw that the promise was still being kept.
"No," said Danny a third time. "I will never become you."
"You don't know what you're talking about," said Dan. "It's too late, you are me."
The jolt of fear from those words only shook Danny for an instant. "No," he said again. "I'm not."
Danny started to fall. Everything around him became black as wind whipped by him. Suddenly he became aware that his eyes were closed, so he opened them. He was sitting in Casper Park, the Fright Knight towering over him, sword pointed at his chest.
Danny immediately jumped up and took a defensive position. But the Fright Knight lowered his weapon, and spoke.
"It has been an hour," he informed. "You should be able to return to your ghost form. I hope that you enjoyed your nightmare."
The Fright Knight hopped onto his winged horse and took off. Danny had barely registered what he'd said and asked him feebly to wait, but the ghost was gone.
Danny looked around. The park was deserted, but otherwise intact. He was back in his home city. It was a dream. It was all a dream. None of it was real. Danny's relief was so tremendous he felt like crying. He lowered his head and took a deep, steadying breath.
He remembered what had happened. He had been so angry. He'd been in a room full of the last people he'd ever want to spend time with: Dr. T, Vlad, and that CIA woman. He realized now that it would have been very easy for him then to follow the path towards becoming the evil figment of his imagination who he'd just dreamt about. But somehow that nightmare hadn't ended badly at all. He felt stronger. He felt like he had a purpose. That he'd rekindled the emotions that he'd lost in the lab. He wanted to help people again. Even if they'd just turn around and mock him, or yell at him for not doing it properly, or continue to dislike him despite it.
He could hear people's screams in the distance. His ghost sense had gone off a few times as he stood there, but he only noticed now. It was time for their hero to return.
School was cancelled and the building closed due to all the ghost attacks at Casper High. For the first time in his life, Mr. Lancer wasn't bothered by this. And instead of spending his time cowering at home, he was sitting on the patio outside the Nasty Burger with many of his students, the signs from their protest on Saturday lying on the tables in front of them. They were planning to redouble their efforts. They wanted Danny Phantom back, and now.
This was a dangerous undertaking, since one ghost had already claimed the inside of the Nasty Burger, and many other ghosts kept flying by. Mr. Lancer suspected that the abandoned FentonWorks had a role to play in the invasion of these paranormal pests, but didn't dare get close enough to it to find out.
They were just discussing the possibility of taking a trip to Washington D.C. when a black and white blur sped by them. It took Mr. Lancer a moment to realize what he was seeing.
"Danny?" he asked.
The blur had gone into the fast food joint and was currently evicting the Lunch Lady ghost that had occupied it. Danny turned to face Mr. Lancer and his classmates through the window. He'd heard his teacher say his name. The class erupted into cheers.
Danny looked surprised, as he had when he had shown up at school to fight the mermaid ghost and they'd cheered him on then too. Mr. Lancer grinned to see his student alive and well. Danny smiled briefly in gratitude and turned his attention back to the Lunch Lady.
"You know, this would be so much easier if I had a Fenton Thermos," stated Danny to himself.
"Never fear! Friar Tuck is here!" called his best friend, bursting through the doors of the joint. Jazz was right behind him.
"Tucker! Jazz!" exclaimed Danny. "Man, am I glad to see you!"
"Never mind that now," said Jazz. "Tucker, give him the thermos."
Tucker obeyed and tossed the thermos to his best friend. Danny caught it, kicked the Lunch Lady, then sucked her into the container.
"Thanks," said Danny. He landed and rushed forwards to hug them. Tucker and Jazz hugged back. Danny wanted to hold onto them for a long time, but knew he still had work to do. As he let go, a thought struck him and he asked, "How'd you find me so fast?"
"Dad gave me the ghost tracking device that's still honed in on your signature," informed Jazz. "The Guys in White came by about half an hour ago with all the Fenton products they'd confiscated from us. Said they wanted us to use them to get rid of the ghosts. Dad demanded to know where you were, but all they said was that they didn't know. Something about you leaving? They didn't seem sure about anything, but they looked upset by something and their clothes were in terrible shape, as if they'd been near an explosion."
Danny smiled weakly. "Yep, that sounds about right."
Danny's ghost sense went off again and his demeanor changed.
"I've gotta go," he said. But before he took off, he glanced around and asked, "Where's Sam?"
"Dunno," said Tucker. "Her family wasn't home."
Danny frowned in thought. He felt concerned for her whereabouts, but he couldn't let himself worry right now. The image of her body being blasted by his own hands briefly flashed before his eyes and he shook it off, feeling confident that as long as he wasn't the one attacking her, she would be just fine.
Danny floated up a few feet off the ground. He looked down at Jazz and Tucker and commented, "If either of you can think of a way to speed up this process, I'll be glad to hear it. I dunno how I'm going to get to the countries overseas in one day… Oh, and make sure the Ghost Portal is locked."
"Already done," said Tucker. "Jazz just locked it before coming here. You don't have to worry about more ghosts coming through."
"That's a relief," sighed Danny, and he flew out of the Nasty Burger through the roof. His classmates and teacher cheered once again, and he took off towards the school.
Danny rushed around the town, gathering up as many ghosts as he could in his thermos. He felt somewhat lucky that so far he'd only run into the weaker ones. He knew that his parents and Tucker and Jazz were also out hunting ghosts, but it still seemed like an impossible task to send them all back to the Ghost Zone. The people of Amity Park were more than happy to see him back, and he'd received several shouts of praise as he flew by. Lance Thunder gave him a big grin when he thermosed the Box Ghost and he swung an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in front of the camera and exclaiming how great it was that the town hero had returned.
Danny's first big problem that he ran into before leaving Amity Park was the upgraded Technus 3.0. He was as massive as ever, bulked up by all sorts of technology, and causing a lot of damage to the downtown core like a tank blasting everything out of its way. Danny spent quite a while fighting him. He finally succeeded by overshadowing Technus (something he thought he'd never do), and taking apart the hunk of junk before leaving Technus and then sucking him into a thermos.
He had a few more scuffles, saved some screaming people, and heard a lot of praise. It was a bit tough; he hadn't fought this many ghosts in one day since the Pariah Dark incident, and he felt that by the end of today, he'd break that record. But, for every person that he helped, a warm feeling stirred within him that he hadn't felt in quite a while. He knew now that with that warmth, the stamina he needed to keep going would be there.
With Cujo, Danny thought he'd got the last ghost in town. He flew towards the highway and stopped, hovering at the outskirts of the city. He stared at the open road before him, seeing it as a never-ending stretch. Amity Park was safe, but out there, around the world, a lot of people were terrified. He needed something. Something. Like a jetpack. Ya, a jetpack would be nice.
And it just so happened that a couple of jetpacks were coming his way. Operatives K and O were flying towards him from Amity Park, a number of citizens in their wake. They lowered their speed and dropped to the ground in front of Danny.
"Danny Phantom," addressed Operative K. "You are the only ectosignature left in this region."
"You may proceed to the next town," stated Operative O. "We will accompany you and continue to send ghosts back to the Ghost Zone."
Danny looked between the two operatives incredulously. They weren't seriously thinking that this was the best way to deal with the ghosts, were they? At least they weren't attacking him or trying to bring him in again. Danny guessed that they'd probably been given orders not to. In any case…
"I've got a better idea," Danny announced. "Hand me your jetpack."
Operative O hesitated, glancing at his partner before saying, "How will this improve the situation?"
"Your jetpacks can reach speeds much faster than my fastest, and I won't be wasting any energy flying from place to place," said Danny. "But I'll need something else… A bazooka. I need a Fenton Bazooka for this job."
"Glad we came, then," asserted Valerie.
She had just arrived on her hoverboard. Sam stood behind her with one hand on Valerie's waist to steady herself, and in the other, she held the weapon Danny wanted.
"Sam! Valerie!" exclaimed Danny, surprised. "You – You're together!" he articulated.
"Long story," said Sam.
Danny continued to stare disbelievingly and the two girls tried hard not to laugh.
"Anyways," Sam continued. "Here's the Bazooka." She tossed it down to Danny. "We actually just got it back. Do you really think this will work?"
"I'm not sure," replied Danny. "But I think it's our best shot. There's a lot of people to save."
"Danny!"
Everyone turned to face the newcomers. Jack and Maddie Fenton were speeding towards them in the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle. A number of citizens were also closing in on their location.
Jack jumped out of the RV and bounded towards his son.
"Take this," he said, shoving an object into Danny's hands. "And be careful."
Danny inspected the object. It was an Ecto-Converter.
"Your mother and I made another one after the last one got stolen," informed Jack. "You can use your powers to charge it and then make use of the converted energy in a weapon or something."
"Or a jetpack!" said Danny excitedly. "Thanks, Dad. This is really helpful!"
"You're welcome," responded Jack. "And Danny? … I'm proud of you, Son."
"Thanks," smiled Danny.
"Go get 'em, Danny," said Sam encouragingly.
"Here," said Operative O, unclipping his jetpack and handing it over to Danny. He wavered a moment, downcast his eyes and mumbled admittedly, "You were always the better ghost hunter…"
Danny took the item and nodded appreciatively. He then attached the Ecto-Converter to the power module of the jetpack and put some energy into it. When he activated the personal flight vehicle, the flames at the bottom flared out to several times their regular size. The extra boost from the converter would definitely do the trick. Danny lifted off the ground, holding the Bazooka to his chest.
The Amity Park citizens had finally caught up to the Guys in White, Valerie and Sam, and the Fentons, and formed a circle around them, below where Danny was slowly rising. Everyone was cheering.
Danny lifted his free hand uncertainly and gave a short wave, then placed it on the controls for the jetpack, pressed a button, and took off.
He was flying faster than ever, his hometown disappearing in a whirl of colours before he even had a chance to look back. Everything in front of him sped by so quickly, he wasn't sure that he wouldn't pass a ghost and not even realize it.
Something started to beep on the control that he was holding, and a second later his ghost sense went off. He glanced down at the controls and found a screen pointing him in the direction of the new ectosignature. His ectosignature was there too, but next to it he could see the word "Ignore". Operative O must have inputted that command when he'd arrived at Amity Park.
Danny slowed down, followed the arrow, and found the ghost. It was a large blob of green, towering above him at a staggering 18 feet tall. Danny was glad he didn't have to deal with fighting it. He fired the Fenton Bazooka and the ghost was sucked into the mini-portal.
"Have a nice trip!" Danny called after it, then hurried on to the next place.
He was glad that things were going so well. He made it through the United States at record pace, saving his country from the terror hold that the ghosts had over them. He recognized a few of his regular customers spread out around the States, most notably, Johnny 13 and Kitty who had made it to Hollywood.
He was exasperated to find Vlad's Vulture Ghosts hanging out in the Caribbean.
"What? Can't we have a vacation?" one asked him before whirling away in the mini-portal Danny had fired at him.
Danny was glad when he stopped Desiree in South America. Her twisted wishes were running amuck.
Hotep Ra had made it back to Egypt. The mummy ghost was using an arsenal of sphinxes as his ammo, courtesy of the location. A number of ghost cats acted as his body guards, hissing and clawing at anyone who tried to get near their master. Danny sent the lot of them back to the Ghost Zone, and stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how to get the sphinxes back in place, but giving up when the ghost alarm went off again.
Danny found several other familiar faces across the globe, along with hundreds of ghosts he'd never seen before. Among those he knew, Skulker was skulking in South Africa, Ember was crashing in Vienna, Austria, Spectra and Bertrand were having a tea party of misery in England, Prince Aragon had conquered Eastern Europe, the Ghost Writer was writing in Japan, Youngblood was playing in New Zealand, and Klemper was failing to make friends in Iqaluit, Nunavut territory, Canada.
"I feel like Santa," Danny commented to himself. "Going around the world in less than a day, bringing smiles to people's faces." He chuckled. "It feels good, doesn't it?"
He could barely believe that that morning he'd been so dead set on not helping his government liberate the world from ghosts. Well, he still wanted nothing to do with helping them. But he couldn't imagine any better feeling than what he was getting from saving innocent people right now. Everyone welcomed him so easily and cheered when he flew through their towns and cities.
It was a completely different experience from what he'd felt last week, when he saw all those angry faces on the television saying they wanted to keep him away from their children, like a dangerous delinquent. Or from the torturous experiments he'd been through this past weekend… He stopped his train of thought there. Focusing on that would only bring down his good mood, so he let it go for now.
Danny returned to Amity Park. He was intent on finding someone who had information about the ongoing battle he was in. Had he finished it? Had he missed any ghosts? What should he do now? He landed outside FentonWorks and looked up at the building. Had his parents returned here? Or were all qualified ghost hunters out searching for more ghosts?
A sudden ectoblast caught his attention and Danny whipped around to face it as his ghost sense went off and the alarm on the jetpack rang.
"Look out!" cried Dani. She'd been the one to fire, knocking the Fright Knight away from Danny. The Fright Knight was mid-swing, and due to Dani's shot, he brought his sword down at a different angle than what he'd meant to do. Instead of cutting Danny, he got the Fenton Bazooka, slicing it in half.
Danny dropped the broken weapon and jumped backwards. Danielle fired at the Fright Knight again, but he dodged it this time.
"Thanks," said Danny, joining her side.
"No problem," replied Dani. "A lot of people were saying that their friends hadn't returned. I'd heard of the Fright Knight when I was heading through the Ghost Zone to your parent's portal with all the other ghosts. I figured it was because of him, so I went looking for him. Found him at that creepy house on Maple Street and chased him here."
"Good job," commended Danny, impressed. "But, why were you in the Ghost Zone? You didn't follow me, did you?"
"No," answered Dani. "I was with your friends. They gave me the Bazooka… well, I'll tell you about it later."
"Yeah," agreed Danny. "It looks like I can't finish this off without a fight. Dani, I don't know where you're going to find one at this time of year, but please get me a pumpkin. It's the only way we'll be able to get those people out of their nightmares, unless the Fright Knight is willing to let them go for free."
Dani nodded and took off. Danny turned his attention back to the Fright Knight who'd raised his sword towards the sky and had begun a swirl of green around himself.
"You aren't willing to just let them go for free, are you?" Danny asked him, just to make sure.
"No," responded the Fright Knight, incredulous. "You think I would give up this power so easily? I am going to reshape the world into a devastating myriad of nightmares! No one will feel safe ever again! Why don't you take on your human form so I can let you visit your fears once more?"
"Pass," said Danny dryly.
He moved forwards and fired an ectoblast at the Soul Shredder. The Fright Knight evaded the attack, but in doing so, disengaged the sword from the green swirl, allowing the sky to return to normal. Danny had a few more passes at the Fright Knight, who fought back by swinging the Soul Shredder at the ghost teen. Then Danny landed and questioned, "So why did you let me go in the first place? You already had me in a nightmare, thanks to Plasmius."
"Orders," replied the Fright Knight simply. "But once I have gained enough power, I won't have to follow orders ever again! Mwahahaha!"
The Fright Knight pointed his sword at the sky again and the green spiral took shape, faster and bigger than last time. It seemed his excited energy poured into the Soul Shredder's magic. Several sparks shot down and turned anything they touched into living nightmares. A lamppost caught fire and started to hop towards Danny. A car turned into a monster and bared its teeth at the boy. A pigeon became a pterodactyl and flew circles around Danny, waiting to strike its prey. The Fright Knight continued to laugh in triumph.
Danny took the opportunity to dodge the pterodactyl's dive, fly past the flaming lamppost, and go intangible through the monster car to drive towards the Fright Knight and latch onto the sword in his hands. The Fright Knight's laughter died in his throat. He struggled against the child on his arms. In a test of strength, the Fright Knight had the advantage, but Danny wouldn't give up.
The pterodactyl was coming around for another try at Danny and in that moment, Danny's senses snapped to attention. The pterodactyl was speeding towards him, reminding him of a barrage of ectoblasts. The Fright Knight and Soul Shredder were like several planks of weight that Danny had to hold onto.
Danny let go of the sword with one hand, but gripped onto it even tighter with the other. In the free hand he formed a ball of ectoplasm and placed it between himself and the Fright Knight. The Fright Knight uttered a noise of surprise as Danny's ectoball expanded and pushed them apart. The pterodactyl came crashing into the two, but Danny had gone intangible. Danny's ectoball exploded as the pterodactyl impacted with the Fright Knight. Danny fell backwards, crushing the jetpack into the ground, and the Soul Shredder flew into the air, breaking the green vortex from the sky once again, and arcing towards him. Danny extended his arms and caught the sword with his fingers.
He dropped the broken jetpack from his back and pulled out his thermos quickly, deciding to just take the Fright Knight before any more damage was done. He'd deal with freeing people from their nightmares once he got hold of a pumpkin. Although, releasing the Fright Knight from the thermos would also release the other ghosts he'd caught earlier, Danny thought it was worth it for now.
But before he even uncapped the thermos, his ghost sense went off again. Danny's stomach sank when he saw Plasmius flying to join them. Plasmius blasted the burning lamppost apart to land where it had been hopping.
"Fright Knight," said Vlad, walking towards him and incinerating the demonic car with his eye lasers. "It's all well and good that you had your fun, but what use is a minion to me who gets himself locked away?"
The Fright Knight stood up from where he'd fallen, brushing the ashes from the explosion off his clothing. The pterodactyl had reverted to a pigeon and got the heck away from the vicinity as quickly as it could. The Fright Knight looked towards his master, trying to understand what he meant. Vlad inclined his head towards Danny and the Fright Knight comprehended, seeing the thermos in the boy's hand.
"And I certainly don't want to hear that you were planning to gain more power than me," stated Vlad lightly.
The Fright Knight remained silent. Danny stood, sword in one hand, thermos in the other, watching the exchange between his two enemies.
"Give me that," said Vlad, reaching over and taking the Soul Shredder from Danny. He pulled out a pumpkin and thrust the sword into it. The Fright Knight screamed in protest as, in a whirl of green, he got sucked in. Vlad held the pumpkin out in front of him and said, "I'll deal with you later."
A large number of people suddenly popped out of nowhere and landed on the street around the two halfas. Some of them moaned in relief of being freed from their worst fears. Others just sat there stunned. A few stood up and started to laugh. Then a general buzz of conversation rose up, followed by a bit of a hush as the people realized that Danny Phantom was in their midst.
Vlad Plasmius hovered a few feet off the ground, pumpkin under his arm as he looked down on Danny and said, "And this is my cue to leave. See you around, Daniel."
Danny just stared as his archenemy flew away.
Then, the commotion really got started. Amity Park citizens found their way to FentonWorks, outside of which the Ghost Boy was standing. The news crews came, and the police officers came, and Danny's classmates and teachers came. Danny left the ground, escaping the crowd for his rooftop, where he perched himself and welcomed the ovation people were giving him. He was sure now that the Fright Knight was the last of the ghosts.
Danny spotted his family and friends down below and headed to them. He landed a few feet away from them and a microphone was immediately shoved in his face. He didn't want to deal with interviews right now. He was still trying to get the full day's events straight in his mind. He brushed the microphone aside and walked towards his loved ones, getting pulled into a big hug with his parents.
His mother lifted her mouth towards his ear and whispered, "Welcome home, Danny."
-(o)-
GLE – Whee! One chapter left! I'm about halfway through the last chapter in terms of writing it, and I don't have any homework yet, so it's possible that I will finish it before next year.
Speaking of school stuff, I've now gone to my first class and met everyone! There are 12 of us (well, 13, but we don't know what happened to the last guy… he showed up for orientation, started a facebook group for all of us, then disappeared off the map). There's only 3 girls (I'm one of them). The teachers seem cool, and the coursework looks fantastic. It's going to be an awesome year! Heh, I should probably refrain from babbling on about this… it could go on for quite some time…
Random thoughts about this chapter: Is it really possible to get around the world in a day and still have time to discuss it afterwards? Well, let's just imagine those were hyper super-powered jetpacks (thanks to the Ecto-Converter and Danny's amazing power level). I figure it's not too unbelievable for the realm of fiction in which this story is set. Danny did make it beyond the thermosphere at some point (in Flirting With Disaster).
Just a little side note, TexasDreamer01 correctly guessed back in her review for chapter 8 that Dan Phantom would be involved. Heh, he wasn't physically there, but he did play an important role nonetheless.
Also, I want to thank Esme for helping once again in "translating" the news reporters' dialects from their various backgrounds. It was fun, as always!
Wow, this is back on track in terms of length for a chapter – it's one of my longer ones. Well, I'm gonna end my blathering here. Please review and share your thoughts on this story!