Okay, I'm just gonna write a little bit before bed...
EIGHT PAGES LATER...
Review replies;
SOLmaster: Yeah, not a big fan of it myself, but I thought I might as well give it a go. Anyway, glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!
TweenisodeOrange: That's what my stories need - more Jimmy-Cindy banter. Thanks for reviewing!
LightandDarkness Warrior: Well, quite! Thanks for the review!
Zim'sMostLoyalServant: Who wouldn't be excited about turning into a dragon? =P Thanks very much!
Chapter Sixteen: The Final Battle
Caught between a small army of ghost soldiers and the vast void of the Ghost Zone, protected only by the wreckage of the Spectre Speeder, Captain Richardson began to wonder why he'd volunteered for this mission.
He and three other RERE troopers cowered behind the cover as the ghost troops fired relentlessly at them (well, at least they couldn't aim). They were trapped, out of ammunition and pretty much doomed.
"Well," grunted a trooper, "Guess this is why they call it a 'forlorn hope'."
Richardson nodded, fixing a bayonet to his weapon.
"Well gentlemen," he muttered, "It's been a privilege."
He took a deep breath and prepared to make a final charge for Pariah's Keep when he heard a dim droning noise. It was getting louder and louder.
"...what in the name of..."
The Hovercraft pelted over them, landing in front of the Keep. Jimmy leapt out of it, firing the Tornado Blaster at the ghost soldiers on the steps. Behind him, Jenny and Valerie landed, firing rockets. The wall of the keep exploded, and the soldiers were sent flying.
"Come on!" called Jimmy, "One last effort, guys!"
He raced into the keep, the Nicktoons following after him.
Richardson blinked.
"...this had been a particularly strange day," he muttered, following after Jimmy.
Danny skidded along the marble floor of the temple, landing face-first in a crater. Wearily, he tried to get back up again, only to be forced down by a boot on his shoulder.
"You will not be getting up again, Phantom," snarled the Warlord.
He stomped down hard on Danny's back.
"You have fought valiantly," the Warlord admitted, "You are indeed a worthy king. Such a shame to cut your reign short."
He unsheathed his sword, holding it at Danny's neck.
"The King is dead," he growled, "Long live the King."
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting roar.
The Warlord looked up. A dragon was hurtling down towards him, mouth wide open. In a flash, it had scooped him up in its jaws and was soaring up into the sky, two figures dropping from it's back.
"That probably wasn't the effect he was hoping for," mused Sam, looking up at Timmy's handiwork.
Danny pulled himself out of the crater, dusting himself off. He looked over to Sam and Private Elsmere, his eyes wide.
"Sam?" he exclaimed, "How'd you get here? And who has the amulet, and what the heck are you wearing, and..."
He trailed off.
"Sorry sir," said Elsmere, "I was overruled, sir."
"Somebody had to get the portal open," shrugged Sam.
She turned to Elsmere, arms crossed.
"And come on, 'sir' isn't a punctuation mark, alright? Calm down."
"Sorry, ma'am."
Sam rolled her eyes.
Danny climbed to his feet, wincing a little as he stood on his left leg.
"Sam, do you know what you've done?" he exclaimed, "You can't just give yourself ghost powers! You need to learn, to train, to..."
"What was I supposed to do, Danny?" demanded Sam, "Leave you to die?"
"Yeah!" retorted Danny, "That was kind of the plan!"
"Well, it was a stupid plan!" snapped Sam, "You can't beat him alone, Danny!"
"And what happens if you die?!" shouted Danny, putting his hands on Sam's shoulders and shaking her.
"Then I die with you," replied Sam, "We're a team, Danny."
"Uh, sirs?" gulped Elsmere, "Don't mean to interrupt the reunion, sirs, but we might have a problem..."
They looked up.
The Warlord was on Timmy's neck, holding onto his head as if it were a set of reins. He was wrestling him down, out of the sky and towards the temple. With a mighty crash, they slammed into the bottom-left corner, levelling the entire corner and kicking up a plume of dust and smoke.
When it cleared, the Warlord was striding away from the wreckage, the unconscious form of Timmy laying in the middle of the crater.
"Timmy!"
There was a poof of smoke, and Wanda appeared next to him, holding Cosmo in hammer form. She raised the hammer to attack, face red with rage – the Warlord extended an arm and fired an ectoblast at her, sending her flying into the ground.
"You wish to fight me, madam?" he sneered.
Danny stepped in front of her.
"I'm the one you want, Alexander," he snarled.
The Warlord extended an arm and Danny was surrounded by a green aura. He flicked his arm to the left, and Danny soared off into another column.
"Bring it on, Warlord," snapped Sam.
"Are your legs supposed to be invisible, madam?"
Sam looked down. Her legs had disappeared.
"You have been one of us for twenty minutes and you intend to challenge a king," sniffed the Warlord, "How do you expect this to end?"
Sam raised an arm. It glowed green for a second, then it fizzled out.
"En garde, madam," said the Warlord.
He drew his sword again and charged.
Jimmy and company ran into the entrance hall of the keep. Jimmy skidded to a halt, his eyes wide.
A gigantic tank, three times the size of the Warlord's normal tanks and with no less than four turrets, was sitting in the entrance hall, Napoleon seated in the commander's hatch. The main gun was pointed at Jimmy, and was preparing to fire.
It fired. Jimmy was shoved out of the way by Cindy, but the ectoplasmic shell exploded next to them, knocking them hard into a wall.
Jenny rocketed into the air, firing a volley of rockets at the top of the tank. They bounced off the thick armour, and one of the smaller turrets immediately fired back. The shot hit, and Jenny was knocked out of the sky, crashing through a wall and into the dungeon.
Rubbing her head, she groggily climbed to her feet. She was standing in a hallway between several cells.
She turned around and came face to face with her mother.
In the streets of Amity Park, Jack and Maddie were surrounded by ghosts.
They came from all sides, including above. The Fenton Bazooka had long run out of charge, and they were now down to defending themselves with the Jack O'Nine Tails and the Anti-Creep Stick respectively. They were being pushed back into the house, inch-by-inch.
There was a sudden crash, and a couple of ghost soldiers were knocked aside. Tony had come crashing into the street, his armour a torn mess. Almost immediately on landing, Steve and Coulson pushed through the chaos towards him. Steve gestured to Jack and Maddie to come over. The four picked up the iron-suited behemoth and carried him inside.
Not far away, Vlad was fighting through shades among the rooftops when he spied three figures on a nearby roof. He narrowed his eyes and soared towards them, fists clenched. The Syndicate were about to have their day ruined.
Sam ducked under a swing of the Warlord's sword, trying for an uppercut while he was recovering. She was too slow, and the Warlord grabbed her fist. He used it to swing he over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground again.
He swung round, lifting his sword and aiming for her heart. He smirked, and prepared to finish her off.
"Get away from her."
Danny had climbed to his feet again. He was limping towards the Warlord, summoning the very last of his energy.
"I swear, Phantom, you don't know when to quit," spat the Warlord, "It would do you well if you just..."
"I said GET AWAY FROM HER!"
The boom of the Ghostly Wail smashed into the Warlord.
The temple was ripped to shreds, blocks of marble torn from their foundations. The roof crumbled and was blown away. Elsmere leapt out of the way and Sam clung to the ground, but the Warlord was lifted into the air and buffeted by wreckage. He was thrown into the upper half of the temple, colliding with the wall with such force that the whole thing collapsed and obscured everything in dust.
Danny fell to his knees, the last of his energy gone. He reverted to human form. In the dust, he could just see the Realm Divide lever, visible though the haze. He extended an arm and began to crawl.
"I'll confirm he's out, sir," called Elsmere, striding into the dust. Danny barely heard him.
Every single movement was torture – his every bone and muscle ached, and he felt more tired than he'd ever been in his life.
Suddenly, his hand knocked on something hard. He looked up to find a camouflaged helmet roll away from him.
Then the Warlord strode out of the dust, limping, covered in grime and very, very annoyed.
"My, my, Phantom," he snarled, "You truly are an insufferable little son of a wench."
"Will somebody please deal with that tank?" bellowed Chester.
"Hey, you've got the enchanted armour!" snapped Dani, "You do it!"
They, Spongebob and Sandy were huddled behind a bookshelf, trying and failing to think of a way to get past the tank. The whole plan had ground to a halt (again), and they had no idea where the others were.
"Well," said Spongebob, "I guess this is the end."
"Eh," shrugged Sandy, "We've been through worse."
Spongebob narrowed his eyes.
"Wait a minute," he asked, "What's that smoke?"
"That'll be the exhaust," replied Chester, "Why?"
There was a long silence.
"...oh no, I am not going out there," snapped Chester.
"Indestructible armour, Chester," grunted Sandy, "You're going in, Chester. We all are."
"Oh, brilliant," winced Chester, nervously.
"On three," hissed Dani, "One...two..."
There was a long silence.
"Ah heck with it, three!" exclaimed Spongebob.
They leapt out of cover and raced towards the exhaust.
Up the stairs, behind the tank, a door burst open. Jenny emerged, Dr. Wakeman right behind her.
"Get behind it!" shouted Dr. Wakeman, "It can't fire from the rear!"
Spongebob changed course, racing to the side. One of the turrets followed him, charging to fire – there was a metallic clang, and it stopped moving.
"...you heard her!" Spongebob heard Jimmy yell, "Run!"
The rest of the Nicktoons and Captain Richardson's team emerged from behind the rubble of the front of the building, running as fast as they can towards the back.
Spongebob and Dani reached the exhaust pipe. Dani jammed her staff into the pipe and dragged him back.
"Get back!" she thundered, "It's gonna blow!"
Spongebob dived into the ground and covered his head. There was a loud bang, followed by a very long silence.
Spongebob got up and turned around. The tank was now a smoking wreck, a very dazed Napoleon climbing down from the hatch.
"...well," he muttered, lifting up his hands, "Discretion is the better part of valour."
"How did you know it was weak from behind?" asked Cindy.
"They made me build it," replied Dr. Wakeman, "And their other tanks. Never rely on kidnapped labour, children."
"Guys," beamed Jenny, "This is my mom."
Jimmy glanced between Dr. Wakeman and Jenny.
"...you know, I thought you'd be taller," he muttered.
Danny gazed up at the Warlord, his face falling. He tried to get up, to stand up to him, but he couldn't find the strength.
"This is the end," snarled the Warlord, "No more getting up, no more last stands, no more deceptions. There is no Fletcher to save you now. It is just us, and soon it will be just me."
"Get away from him you wiener."
Timmy limped out of the dust, Cosmo as the Starflinger in his hands and Wanda as his backpack. He aimed at the Warlord.
"Wiener, am I?" sneered the Warlord, "Is that the best you have?"
"Come over here and fight us," demanded Timmy, "Or are you afraid of some ten-year-old kid?"
"I am not afraid of a child!" snarled the Warlord.
"Then prove it," said Timmy, "Come on, you and me."
"Timmy," wheezed Danny, "Don't..."
"Challenge accepted, boy," said the Warlord, stepping over Danny.
Danny felt something lift him as he tried to reach the lever. He looked up – Sam was limping towards the lever, carrying him on her shoulder.
"Any last words, boy?" demanded the Warlord, marching up to Timmy.
"Yep," replied Timmy, "I'm Timmy Turner, and I am not afraid of you."
The Warlord extended an arm.
"Charming," he growled.
The burst of ectoplasmic energy slammed into Timmy, throwing him into the air. He slammed back into the ground with great force, sending dust and smoke pluming into the air.
Timmy lay in a crater, covered in bruises, grime and wounds, looking up at the swirling sky. The Warlord strode up to him, arms crossed.
"Well?" he demanded, "What did that prove?"
"Heh," Timmy chuckled weakly, "You lose."
The Warlord turned around. Danny's hand was on the lever, Sam's hand on top of his.
"Boy, don't you dare..." shouted the Warlord.
Danny pulled.
There was a sudden gust of wind, and a rip in space of time began to open behind the Warlord. On the other side, there was nothing but a white void.
"No!" exclaimed the Warlord, "Mercy! Please!"
Danny looked at him. His eyes were a pure, irisless green.
"I gave you a chance, Alexander," he said, his voice echoing.
The rip opened up, and the Warlord was lifted off his feet. He screamed as he was sucked into the void.
The keep began to shake, and Jimmy was nearly thrown off his feet. Outside, the sky turned red.
"The heck was that?" spluttered AJ.
"He did it," replied Jimmy, "It's the Realm Divide. We have to leave!"
He pressed a button on the recaller, opening a portal next to them. Using the confusion as a distraction, Napoleon slipped away.
"Wait!" exclaimed Tucker, "We have to wait for Danny! We can't just-"
"He'll meet us there, Tuck, now come on!" shouted Jazz, grabbing his backpack.
"No! I can't leave them!" shouted Tucker, "We have to wait! We have to..."
"Move!" thundered Cindy, dragging Tucker by the collar into the portal.
The portal emerged in the first aid house. Tucker broke free from the group and ran for the door, brushing past Atkinson and Fury, who were looking up at the sky in astonishment. A white portal had opened up in place of the Warlord's, and his army was being sucked into it en-masse. On the roof above them, the Syndicate (currently in the middle of a rather nasty beating from Vlad) shuddered as shades were sucked out of their bodies.
He raced down the street, jumping down into the Fenton's lab. He landed badly but quickly recovered, racing towards the Fenton Portal. He stopped in front of it.
The portal was fizzling and sparking, going haywire as the swirling mass within began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster. There was a low whine as parts of the metal casing began to fall off – the console began to smoke.
Then there was a loud bang, and the portal died away. Tucker ran into the portal and slammed his hand on the 'ON' button. Nothing happened.
He pressed it again and again until he found himself being dragged out of the portal.
In New York, police officers and soldiers emerged from their dugouts, looking around in disbelief at the now quiet streets. Slowly, it began to dawn on them – it was over.
In Moscow, civilians and soldiers slowly began to cheer, one by one. They danced, cried, shook hands with one another, celebrating the end.
In Beijing, an impromptu street party was beginning to break out as people left their shelters and hideouts. It would not end for several days.
In Canberra, one by one, parties of soldiers and police began to set off green flares to indicate that the fighting was over. The streams of smoke wafted into the air, contrasting the late evening sky.
The nightmare was over.
Sam backed away from Danny, who was still pulsating with power. His eyes were still pure green.
"He was wrong," realised Danny, "I don't get the power of the Ghost Zone...I am the Ghost Zone."
"Danny, we-we've gotta get out of here," reminded Sam.
"The divide is over, Sam," replied Danny, "The recaller won't work anymore."
He looked over at Timmy. The boy lay in the crater, his eyes closed. Cosmo and Wanda lay beside him.
"I won't have this power for long, Sam," said Danny, "But right now, with all this power...I can do anything."
"You're creeping me out," gulped Sam.
"I can see them," continued Danny, "The strands between worlds and all the portals and connections between them. I can see us stranded here forever – I can see Timmy fading away..."
"Danny?" asked Sam.
"...and I can say no," finished Danny.
He raised his arms, and energy pulsed into the sky. A white mist began to build up around them.
"The Man in the White Suit was wrong," said Danny, "We're not trapped."
He smiled.
"We're going home."
There was a loud boom and everything went white.
Tucker was walking slowly back to the house. Jazz was behind him, arm around his shoulder. Both had been crying.
"Look, I know it sucks," said Jazz, "But he did what he had to do. For all of us. We'd do the same for..."
She trailed off as a swirl of white energy appeared in front of them. It spun around, creating a suction effect with the nearby wind.
"...what in the name of?" exclaimed Jazz.
Then there was a crack, and suddenly they weren't alone. Their jaws dropped.
Danny stood in the street, flanked by Sam and Timmy. They were all very much worse for wear – Danny's jumpsuit was basically ruined. Timmy was looking down at his hands, whispering something about not being dead.
"...well," said Danny, his voice slightly high-pitched, "Timmy's not dead, we're not trapped, I'm not Ghost Zone anymore...I'd call that a success."
He grinned broadly and immediately passed out.
AN: It is way past midnight what am I even doing
Right, we've got one more chapter and an epilogue, and then we're done. That actually makes me feel a bit sad, to be honest.
Anyway, hope you liked it!