So, here's a recap: Fenton and Phantom were separated by the Observers and their DNA is breaking down, Clockwork has released Dan Phantom, Danny's evil(?) future self from the thermos and has guaranteed him that, if he helps Fenton and Phantom merge together again, he'll be returned to his own time, Clockwork has sent Jack and Maddie off on a little excursion to keep them out of the way, and Phantom has finally lost his marbles and is trying to kill Danny.
Could things possibly get any better?
Oh yes, and in case I didn't already put this and people are throwing hissy fits over it, let me just reestablish one thing: Fenton and Phantom are the same person! What the Observers did to them is very similar to the incident with the dream-catcher thing whose name eludes me at the moment. Physical and psychological personalities were split; Phantom ended up scared half out of his mind (now all the way, by the looks of it) because of what happened and Fenton was all pent up anger and self-pity crap. Simply that. So, I repeat myself, Fenton and Phantom are the same person!
Seventeen: The Breaking Point
The whole mansion suddenly shook and Tucker looked up at the ceiling and then at Dan who hadn't taken his attention away from the screen.
"Dan, what was—?"
"It was Phantom." Dan growled, "He's lost his marbles and that's no doubt due to Danny." With an annoyed sigh, Dan stood up and turned intangible, heading towards the ceiling, "I better go stop him before somebody gets killed."
"K-killed!? WHAT!?" But the ghost was already gone, leaving Tucker alone in the theater. The techie curled his knees up to his chin on the theater chair, rocking back and forth with his arms wrapped around his legs, thinking for a moment or two. Coming to a decision, he jumped off his seat and ran towards the door…only to find it locked.
"Hey!" He yanked on the handles, "Let me out! Dan!" He called the ghost a number of foul names, "You locked me in! Let me out! DDDAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!"
Vlad nearly dropped the handful of delicate machine parts he was holding as the mansion shook on its foundations.
"What the fudgenuts!?" The millionaire set the parts on a table and allowed the black rings to wash over him, turning him into his ghost form, "I've had enough of the rough-housing!" And he vanished through the ceiling.
Jazz winced as the book slid through her fingers and hit her foot. Seconds later, she was on the floor next to said book, starring up at the ceiling. Something had shaken the whole mansion.
"Danny…?" She pushed herself to her feet and opened her door, "Danny?" Worry sent a cold feeling through her chest and she ran out the door, heading for the stairs.
It was the throbbing in her arm that told her she was still alive.
Sam blinked, trying to get her vision to focus but everything was blurred by the thinning dust and the blinding light that had made tears spring into her eyes. Phantom had probably unleashed a huge wave of energy. She hoped that Danny was okay.
With a groan, Sam attempted to leverage the ceiling piece off her again but it was too heavy and she yielded with a gasp of pain. Her arm was hurting terribly and she was losing feeling in her lower half.
"D-Danny!?" She called, coughing, "Danny, can you hear me!?"
Her answer was a howling scream of rage and blinding flares of green light. Someone shouted and there came the muffled sounds of someone scrambling through the ceiling wreckage.
"Sam!?" Jazz's voice sounded to her left and she looked around to see the red-haired girl drop down beside her, "Sam, what happened!?"
"Phantom! It's Phantom! He's attacking Danny!" Sam heaved against the rubble again, "Jazz, can you get this off of me!?"
Danny's older sister knelt down and pushed against the ceiling slab, slowly rocking it off of the Goth. Sam got herself to her feet, clutching her bleeding arm to her chest, ignoring the pain. Flash of green light, muffled yelps, and whimpers were coming through the dust and, as it settled, Sam was able to discern two figures, just barely silhouettes.
"What have you done to my house!?" Vlad suddenly rocketed through the floor, livid with rage, "You idiots! I've had it! I've absolutely—!"
"Shut up, Vlad!" Dan zig-zagged down the hall as Clockwork dropped from the ceiling behind Phantom, "And protect Sam and Jazz!"
"Where's Tucker!? What'd you do to him!?" Sam shouted but Dan had already turned intangible and dove inside Danny's body. Danny went ridged, eyes widening, muscles taunt and back straight as Dan's ectoplasm seeped into him, taking him over.
Phantom shouted in triumph, forming dangerous swirls of ectoplasmic energy in his hands. But his enthusiasm was short lived. Clockwork dropped his staff into Jazz's hands, turned intangible, and dove into Phantom. The Time Ghost taking over Phantom was quite a bit of a spectacle. Ghosts overshadowing other ghosts is an odd experience; their ectoplasmic structures reject one another. But Clockwork was centuries stronger than Phantom and soon had him under control.
Danny (Dan) on the ground let out of heavy breath, eyes closed, and then straightened up. It was eerie to see Danny's usually blue eyes a burning crimson. He rolled his shoulders, stretched his left arm above his head, cracked his neck, and arched his back until it popped. Then he grinned, "Mmmmm, gravity. I'd forgotten what it felt like."
"Indeed," Phantom's green eyes had changed to a warm, rich red, "And I would recommend not using any—GET OUT! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Phantom's eyes flashed green and he gripped his white hair angrily, pulling at it like he could pull Clockwork out, "HE SHOT ME! HE SHOT ME! GET OUT!"
Another blaze of green energy and Clockwork went flying head over ghostly-tail to land with an undignified crash against the wall and slump to the floor, dazed and one a the knees on his black pants torn open. Blue ectoplasm trickled in a slow stream from a cut on his pale skin.
Dan made a horrible growling noise that sounded wrong coming from Danny as Phantom went into a peal of insane laughter. Footsteps rang out behind them and Tucker skidded around a corner, a modified Fenton Thermos clutched in his hands. Phantom was still laughing but Dan noticed, grabbed the thermos, and pointed it at Phantom. Tucker dodged to Sam's side.
"Where were you!?" Sam hissed.
"Dan locked me in the theater but I hacked my way out with my PDA and grabbed a Fenton Thermos on the way up here." The techie responded, "Where is Dan anyway?"
"Hey Phantom!" Dan shouted, Danny's voice sounding hoarse and dangerous, "How do you like the Fenton Thermos!?"
Phantom stopped his maniacal laughing and his eyes widened as his gaze fell upon the Fenton Thermos. Then they narrowed, glowing so brightly they were almost white.
"You…wouldn't…dare…!" He hissed, ectoplasm flickering off his body.
"Don't think I—AAAAHHHHHHGGGG!" A beam of bottle green caught Dan in the shoulder, sending Danny's body spinning through the air to land with a thud on the floor. The Fenton Thermos went flying and Jazz made a jump for it but someone else grabbed it first.
"Mine." Phantom rumbled and even Vlad took an unconscious step backwards. Phantom whirled around and aimed the thermos at Clockwork who was just coming to.
"Phantom, sto—!" The Time Ghost began but a blue-white beam of light shot out, enveloped Clockwork, and pulled him into the thermos. Phantom capped it and punched the side, shorting the controls out and effectively locking the Master of Time inside.
Dan rolled to his feet with some difficulty, hindered by Danny's bandaged arm, and glared at Phantom who was tossing the thermos back and forth from hand to hand with a dreadfully smug look on his face. Dan cracked Danny's back again, pushed his shoulders back, and sucked in a giant breath of air.
"Dan! Don't!" Vlad shouted and Dan froze, looking almost comical with his cheeks puffed out, "If you use your Ghostly Wail it couldn't rip out Danny's vocal cords!" Dan let the air woosh out, blowing it past his lips to make odd noises, and deflated like a balloon.
Phantom sneered, "I am not so limited." The ghost half of Danny arched his back, fingers tightening on the thermos, and pulled in a breath of air bigger than Dan's. Everyone instinctively squeezed their eyes shut and covered their ears but all they heard was the normal, mundane scream of Phantom. There was no energy behind it. There was no Ghostly Wail.
Phantom shut his mouth as soon as he realized that he was just screaming like a mad man and raised his hand to fire more ectoplasm at the vulnerable Dan Phantom. A beam of pink ectoplasmic energy hit the specter on the side of the head, sending him spinning into the wall and causing him to drop the thermos so that it landed with a clatter on the floor. Sam scooped it up in her good arm and held it close.
Phantom shook his head, wiping a way a stream of green ectoplasmic blood with one white gloved hand and leaving an emerald smear across his fingers with it. His eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation. Vlad, with more pink ectoplasm boiling in his clawed hands, Dan, looking even angrier than usual with a fist clenched around the strap of ZeE's laptop like he was going to bash Phantom over the head with it, and Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all ready to jump in and help if they were needed.
"See you worms!" Phantom snarled and he fell back through the wall.
"Clockwork's going to murder me when he gets out of that thermos…" Dan murmured as he stepped out of Danny with a heavy sigh and ran his clawed fingers through his fiery hair, his humanoid form abandoned.
"Wha…huh?" Danny blinked drearily, his blue eyes coming into focus, "What happened? Sam, you're arm's bleeding…! Where's Phantom!? What happened!?"
"Phantom ran off," Vlad growled, "No thanks to your idiotic actions! Now, if you don't mind," The black light trailed over his body, leaving a black suited man in its wake, "I'm going to call a repair crew to fix this place up!" And he stomped off angrily. Dan hissed at his retreating back, flicking his tongue out.
"Sam, let me clean your arm up," Jazz took the Goth girl's hand, "We can worry about Clockwork later! It's not like he's going anywhere…"
Sam handed the thermos off to Tucker and followed Jazz from the hall, shooting a worried look in Danny's direction. Danny's blue eyes trailed from Sam's lilac ones to the broken thermos clutched in Tucker's hands. Dan snorted.
"What happened to Clockwork? What happened to me!? I can't…remember…?" Danny closed his eyes, chewing on his lip and Dan chortled. The Fenton boy whirled around angrily, "You! You overshadowed me!"
"Hey, saved your life didn't I?" Dan examined his gloved claws nonchalantly, "So just shut up and take it!" He smacked Danny with the back of his hand and sent the boy to the floor again, "Clockwork's not around to save your little hides right now! I could kill you and be done with it!" Dan's eyes glowed a fearsome red, "But then I wouldn't get back to my own time! And I'm not going back into that thermos again!"
Snarling and cursing, Dan Phantom shot into the air, violet cloak billowing out behind him, and disappeared. Danny made a face and looked back at Tucker, "What happened to Clockwork?"
"Phantom sucked him in here," The techie muttered helplessly, holding out the Fenton Thermos, "And then smashed the controls. Clockwork's trapped in here now."
"Bet he's pissed beyond belief." Danny muttered, taking the thermos with his left hand, "Dang, that jerk really did a number on this."
"Danny were you…were you really trying to kill Phantom?"
Danny's black hair was shadowing half of his face; he really needed a haircut, "Yeah." He replied hoarsely, "I was being stupid again, thinking about what I wanted and not was actually best for me. For everyone." His blue eyes trailed to his bandaged arm, "This whole angsty-emo-boy routine is killing Sam. So, I guess, I could merge with Phantom again…just to stay alive, you know."
"Right, dude, you keep telling yourself that." Tucker said with a grin that made Danny scowl, "Because you know the real reason you're doing—DANNY! RUN!"
"Wha—mmmmhhhppphhhggg!?" A hand clamped itself over Danny Fenton's mouth, hauling him into the air with another arm wrapped around his waist. Danny's feet kicked out, dropping the thermos to the floor as he attempted to claw off the hand that was rendering him speechless.
"Daniel Fenton in custody," The guard spoke into the com unit in his helmet, "Target 003 acquired. Targets 001: Phantom, 002: Dan Phantom, and 004: Clockwork not in sight." The guard's narrowed eyes found Tucker, "Verifying: Tucker Foley, Human, Close Friend of Daniel Fenton. Capture and Detain."
Tucker screamed.
Vlad heard a scream just as the dial tone for the repair place he'd called was cut short and a voice came over the phone, "Hello, this is the Amity Park Repair Building. What can we do for you?"
"Tucker!" Vlad growled, dropping the phone and running up the stairs, changing back into his ghost form as he did so. ("Hello? Is this another prank call? Hello!? I am so fired…)
Plasmius flew down the hall, assessed the situation, and barreled straight into the guard, claws digging under the helmet and tearing it off. Danny slipped from the ghost's grasp and plopped to the floor, gasping and snatching up the thermos again. Vlad tussled with the guard, firing pink blasts of ectoplasm and ripping at the enemy ghost with claws and fangs. Vlad was never one to use his sharp features in a fight, preferring punches and ecto-energy attacks, but at the moment he was too pissed to even care. The guard soon dissipated into a greenish haze that fizzled away with an odd pop.
"Did you…did you kill him!?" Tucker squeaked as Vlad landed on the floor again.
"No," The older halfa said in a low voice, "The Observers have manipulated the ectoplasm of their guards so that, when destroyed, their essence will return to the Ghost Zone and rebuild itself."
"That sounds really gross." Danny commented as he hauled himself to his feet, the laptop (amazingly still in one piece) swinging around his legs, "And if that guard found us, I think we should get out of here."
"Agreed, Little Badger," Vlad responded, reverting to his human form, "I'll start my car up, you and Tucker grab Jasmine and Samantha and anything you might need and meet me in the front of the mansion. We're going—."
"After Phantom and Dan." Danny stated stubbornly and when Vlad's turquoise eyes narrowed, the Fenton boy frowned and pointed to his bandaged arm. Vlad relented and made his way down the stairs.
"Come on, Tuck, let's get the girls!" Danny said with a smile and headed in the opposite direction. Tucker followed, grinning widely.
"Dude, it's good to hear you say that! Nice to have you back!"
"I hope I'll stick around long enough so you won't have to eat your words!"
Dan knew that Phantom was well aware he was being followed but that didn't stop him from racing through the skies of Amity Park after him. Phantom, Phantom, Phantom, Phantom! Phantom was the key to everything and yet, in Fenton's opinion, the ultimate cause of it all!
"Hey, Phantom!" Dan shouted at the black and white figure bolting around the sky scrapers, "When did you turn into such a coward!? To scared to face your inevitable future!"
Phantom screeched to a halt and whirled around to face Dan, features contorted in rage, "I'll never…be like you!"
"Oh really?" Dan crossed his arms over his broad chest, grinning darkly, "You came awfully close to killing off your human half. Aren't you just the least bit curious," Dan held up one hand flexing his fingers to emphasize his claws, "As to what the feeling of warm human blood on your hands feels like?"
Phantom started shaking, eyes wide and horrified, breath coming quick and fast. Dan charged a sphere of ectoplasm in his hand and started tossing it up into the air only to catch in his palm again and repeat the process. Phantom barely noticed. He looked as though he was trying not to cry.
"Really Phantom, don't be stupid. Whatever lies Clockwork tells you, the future is inevitable. I will happen, I'll make sure of it somehow." Fangs glistened as a forked tongue slowly traced pale lips, "So here's the deal; you come back with me all nice and quiet like, merge with Fenton brat again, and no one needs to get hurt. Or killed."
"I don't have to listen to you." Phantom growled, charging his own ecto-energy, "I don't have to listen to you! I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU!"
"Geez, I hope Danny doesn't lose his marbles when you two get put back together again." Dan stated flatly and threw the sphere of ectoplasm at Phantom with all his might, "IT'S A SINKER, PHANTOM! ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE!?"
Cutting off the chapter here so I have something left for the next chapter. Yeah! Dog fights! Whoo-hoo! Clockwork's in the Fenton Thermos, he's probably so pissed right now!
Anyway, I'm sorry, so sorry, for the late update. I've been too lazy to bike to the library and try and upload them there. I don't think it's worth the effort. Hopefully, when school starts, that'll be a different story.
See you around! Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Byes!