In which the excrement hits the rotating temperature control device.
Review replies;
TweenisodeOrange: Or as Hark! A Vagrant's version, for that matter. :D Thanks for reading!
Night-Waker: And that's not all! But I don't wanna spoil too much. ;) Thanks for reviewing!
SOLmaster: It is, a bit. Don't think they deserved that. :| Anyway, thanks for the review!
Zim'sMostLoyalServant: Oh, I think I'll mention Russia somewhere. :D And the answer to your question - yeah, a few, but probably only cameos. Thanks very much!
LightandDarkness Warrior: Yeah, I figured bringing her back might be a bit popular. :D Thanks!
Chapter Four: The Warlord
"Fifteen minutes," noted Thompson.
"I know, Jonah," grunted Fletcher.
The two agents walked into the concourse of Stark Tower, marking their way to the front desk.
"May I help you?" asked the receptionist.
"Fletcher and Thompson, CIA," replied Fletcher, "We need to see the owner."
"...and do you have an appointment?" demanded the receptionist.
"Yep," nodded Fletcher, "It's called Armageddon."
Danny, Jimmy and Spongebob were standing in front of the Ghost Portal. The former was in ghost mode, and his companions were armed with the 'Jack-o-nine-tails' and the Anti-Creep Stick respectively.
"Why do I get the feeling I got the short end of the stick here?" asked Spongebob, looking at the bat.
"It's probably nothing," shrugged Danny.
There was a sudden beeping from the portal.
"Ghost proximity detector," nodded Danny, "It's nearly time."
He looked over to Jimmy, who was starting to breathe heavily.
"Come on, Jim, it'll be easy," he reassured.
"I wish I shared your confidence, Danny," gulped Jimmy.
"Uh, that was horrible," grunted Fletcher and he and Thompson entered the elevator, "Thought we'd never get past that secretary..."
Suddenly there was a beeping from his jacket. Fletcher pulled out his phone and answered as the lift doors closed.
"Lay it on me, tech."
"Are you anywhere near the Empire State Building?" demanded the techie, his voice somewhat frantic.
"No, I'm at Stark Tower," replied Fletcher, "Why, is the portal opening?"
"You could say that," said the techie, grimly, "The energy build-ups are starting to behave like wormholes. They're beginning to suck matter up towards them."
"...what're you saying, techie?" asked Fletcher, nervously.
"It'll suck the buildings up," replied the techie, "Rip them from their foundations, crumble them in the air, and when the rubble reaches the right altitude...big bang, portal opens."
Fletcher's eyes widened in horror.
"They're not landing on the buildings," he realised, "They're destroying them."
"It's a demonstration," nodded Thompson, "Of the Warlord's power over us."
"Techie, how do we prevent this?" demanded Fletcher.
"Prevent it? Dorian, it's already begun."
At the top of Stark Tower, a portal opened. Timmy and Dani stepped out, the former shuddering a little in the cold afternoon breeze. Cosmo and Wanda were also present, disguised as the Starflinger and Timmy's backpack respectively.
"Well, here we are in New York," Timmy grumbled, "No sign of Jenny. Let's go home..."
"Timmy," said Dani, pointing towards the Empire State Building, "Look."
Timmy looked. His jaw dropped.
The wind was blowing straight towards the building, creating a dim whirlwind around the structure.
Jazz was sitting in front of the TV, channel-surfing for anything that might be connected to the coming Warlord. So far, she'd found a live debate by the Australian parliament on the study of ectoplasmic science. They were discussing ectoplasmic build-up over the capital of the country.
"...if I have said it before, I have said it a thousand times – the Opposition's blind faith in this...unproven field of 'ectoplasmic science' would have the entire budget diverted to-"
The whole building shook, and Jazz fell off the couch.
"The heck?" she muttered, climbing to her feet.
She looked at the TV. The debate had stopped, the politician speaking glancing around nervously, his papers on the floor. It was as if he too had just been struck by a small earthquake.
"...that's impossible," she whispered to himself.
The building shook again, and she nearly lost her footing. There was a bang, and the television turned off.
The elevator slammed to a halt.
"Oh, for the love of-" cursed Fletcher.
"Hold on," replied Thompson, calmly, "I've got an idea."
He pointed to a small emergency flap on top of the elevator.
"...Jonah, he's on the top floor," reminded Fletcher.
"Then we'd better start climbing," shrugged Thompson.
Danny, Jimmy and Spongebob stood in the now dark lab, lit only by the light of the portal. The building continued to shake, and even Danny was starting to look nervous.
"Come on, guys," he said, clenching his fists, "We've been through worse. He's just trying to scare us..."
Suddenly a massive ectoblast emerged from the portal, slamming into Spongebob and sending him careening up the stairs. Jimmy barely had time to shout out before another beam hit him, sending him flying after his friend.
"Spongebob! Jimmy!" shouted Danny.
The lab shook again. Caught off guard, Danny fell to the ground. There was the faint sound of roaring wind outside, and the portal began to ripple violently.
Then, he emerged.
The Warlord was extremely tall, reaching ten feet, and his bulk was increased by the brass-coloured platemail armour he wore. His skin was pale and almost rotting, and he was bald – his face looked almost like a skull. A massive sword was sheathed on his waist. His armour was mostly plain, although the pauldrons were lined with gold. A light sneer crossed his face, and he pierced Danny with a stare from fiery yellow eyes. A ghostly aura surrounded him – it looked like he was surrounded by fire.
"Phantom," he whispered, "Your destiny awaits."
"Get out of my house," Danny whimpered, trying and failing to sound brave.
The Warlord didn't reply, instead looking over the teenager at his feet.
"You have more power in you then I had dared imagine," he declared, "You will make a perfect heir."
"Not likely," snapped Danny, climbing to his feet, "You hurt my friends."
"I will do far more than that, Phantom," replied the Warlord.
He reached down and grabbed Phantom by the neck.
"I can make you great, Phantom," he said, ignoring Danny's squirming and his feeble attempts to kick his captor, "I want you to think about that – and what will happen if you refuse me."
He allowed himself a small smirk.
Then he threw Danny through the lab roof.
Jazz jumped as Danny burst through the floor next to her, landing hard against the wall.
"Danny!"
Danny coughed, and climbed to his feet.
"We have to leave," he muttered, "Now."
Suddenly, there was a massive roar and gravity gave way.
Jimmy opened his eyes. He had landed across the street from Fenton Works, thankfully on something soft. He looked around to see if Spongebob had landed near...
...oh.
He got up, apologising to Spongebob for landing on him, and looked across the street.
"Gas Planet," he cursed, "I knew he wouldn't be that easy! We need to..."
His jaw dropped.
Before him, the very building was slowly lifting up out of its foundations in a gust of upward wind. With a loud crash, the massive neon sign was torn from the wall, falling to the earth and shattering on the road. The Emergency Ops Centre was also ripped free of the building, which was slowly being ripped apart, brick by brick.
"...we're gonna need back-up," gulped Jimmy.
Timmy and Dani watched in shocked awe as the Empire State Building began to lift into the air, the glass windows ripping out and falling upwards like the flakes in a snowglobe. The spire snapped from the rest of the building and slowly disintegrated.
They were not the only ones. Down below, the city that never slept had come to a stand-still as all eyes fell on the collapsing building – and the cloudy red vortex that was forming above it.
For a moment, Danny was lost in vertigo as he floated in the family room (although given that the walls were falling apart, the distinction probably didn't matter.) When he finally regained his bearings, the walls had long collapsed, revealing the city outside.
"Phantom," a voice snarled, "Face me."
Danny turned around. The Warlord was standing behind him, hold Jazz by the neck.
"Let her go," demanded Danny, clenching his fists, "I'm the one you want."
"Indeed," nodded the Warlord, "But her life is...irrelevant."
Ectoplasmic fire covered his fist and he pulled it back, ready to swing it.
"Police!"
Danny, Jazz and the Warlord looked down. Several squad cars had arrived below them, and a dozen police officers had emerged. One of them – probably their leader – was holding a megaphone.
"Drop the girl and put your hands in the air!" he bellowed.
The Warlord smirked.
"Very well, constable."
He threw Jazz off to the side and raised his hands in a lifting motion. In a thunderous roar, the tarmac underneath the police officers and their cars was ripped upwards, and they too began to be pulled uncontrollably upwards.
Danny wasted no time, flying after Jazz and reaching out to her. Jazz reached out, just managing to grab his arm in time for him to pull her away from being hit by one of the police cars. He pulled her close.
"Hang on," he instructed.
With a jolt, he flew forward, away from the destroyed Fenton Works.
"Moscow."
Atkinson looked intently at a small tablet. On the screen, St. Basil's Cathedral was being lifted into the sky. Surrounding civilians and police watched in slack-jawed amazement as the famous spires turned to dust before their eyes.
"Beijing."
The scene changed to a panoramic view of the Forbidden Palace. The portrait on the gate was torn free and soared upwards, followed soon after by the gate itself. The bridge ahead of it began to tear itself up, one span at a time.
"Canberra."
The scene changed again to a view of the modern, boxy shape of New Parliament House. The Australian flag was ripped from its pole, followed by the pole itself. Soil from the lawn raised into the sky like an upside-down rainstorm.
Atkinson shook his head.
"Did we evacuate them in time?" Richardson asked nervously.
"Mostly, yes," nodded Atkinson, "They didn't believe us when we said it was ghosts, but they erred on the side of caution."
He paused.
"On the other hand, I'm fairly certain the Australian Parliament was in session, but they might have evacuated in time."
"Sir!" the helicopter pilot called, "ETA five minutes on the Valiant. Stand by for landing."
Danny landed a few blocks away from Fenton Works, setting Jazz down gently. The two siblings watched as the remains of their home – now little more than dusk – ascended into the vortex in the sky.
Then, quite suddenly, it exploded, and the sky was ripped open.
"Oh my gosh," whispered Jazz, "He can't have..."
"He has," nodded Danny, "He's ripped open a portal right above Amity Park."
"But why?" demanded Jazz, "He already had ours!"
"Yeah," said Danny grimly, "But it wasn't big enough."
Out of the portal, descending slowly to the ground, came hundreds of the Warlord's soldiers.
AN: Let nobody say I let my homeland off easy.
Incidentally, should I move this up to T, or is it fine where it is? I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of going up to M level, but I may need a low-T rating.