Hello once again. I cannot even begin to apologise for the lateness of this latest instalment. The exam period has started so time has been ridiculously restricted. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of a Phantom Apocalypse.
It had been over twenty four hours since Danny had teleported from sight of those in the Infirmary. A logical assumption could have been made that he had simply left, as not a single eye had found a cloaked-clad, raven or white haired teen around the school in that time. However, this assumption would only be half correct. In truth, no human eyes had found Danny, as he had spent all of his time in the company of his ghostly friends. Initially, Jack and Maddie were concerned for their son's safety, not wanting to lose their son right after having been reunited, but once Tucker explained what happened, they knew Danny needed time to himself. Of all their paranormal research, one of the only things they had got right was how angered a ghost can get when their obsession was questioned. They were in fact proud of Danny in that he had restrained himself from hitting Gerry. Meanwhile, the teen himself was currently lying on the roof of the school and gazing up at the afternoon sky, a look of content on his face. He had spent most of the morning with Krystal and Dani in training to hone in their ice powers, whilst Ember, Johnny and Kitty watched with amusement when an ice bolt flew amiss. Even though Krystal was more inexperienced in being a ghost than Dani, and the fact that she had no teacher to begin with, her mastery over cryokinesis was astounding; it nearly put Danny to shame who had frozen dozens of Frostbite's people when he first realised he had an ice core. Clockwork was correct when he said powerful ghosts wore capes and cloaks. By the end of their session, Krystal was practically a master and Dani could hold her own. Danny's jovial musings were interrupted when he realised he was no longer alone on the roof. Danny then began to tense for a confrontation when he heard three sets of footsteps coming towards him. Like a vampire rising from their coffin, Danny rose to his feet and faced the three intruders in a battle stance with guarded green eyes. Tucker's, Valerie's and Dash's faces were all priceless. Confused, Danny concentrated and felt the familiar rings wash over him as he took down his hood, revealing the now raven-haired, blue-eyed teen.
"Dude," Dash said, finding his voice. "That had to be the single most creepy and awesome thing I have ever seen." Despite himself, Danny couldn't stop the small chuckle from escaping his lips. The three teens took this as a positive sign and moved closer.
"Coming from you Dash," Danny started, sitting down once more and gesturing the others to do so too. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Not that I ever paid you many." Dash conceded guiltily.
Danny waved his hand at this. "Better late than never. So what can I do for you three?"
"Well, first of all," Tucker began, throwing a radio at the Halfa. "You're going to keep that radio. You leave it behind, the next time we see you, we'll stick it to you with some ecto-goo."
Danny snickered, but took the radio and clipped it to his belt. "Aye Captain. Anything else?"
"We wanted to make sure you were all right." Valerie said; a touch of concern in her voice.
"I'm fine." Danny said nonchalantly. "I've dealt with human crap for years. He ruffled me a little bit, I'll admit, but a quick fly was all I needed to clear my head."
"Wow." Tucker said, titling his head as he examined the teen in front of him.
"What?" Danny asked, confused.
"Nothing." Tucker said. "I just never expected you to say 'human' in such a carefree way. I remember before all that asteroid business, you were always so concerned at the fact that you weren't entirely human anymore."
"That was before I spent two months in the Ghost Zone." Danny said, his voice becoming more clipped with every word he said. "It also doesn't help when practically every human I've met here would like nothing more than to shoot me until I became full ghost. And then probably shoot me some more." When the three teens looked down in shame, Danny saw that he had gone too far.
Danny sighed deeply. "I'm sorry guys. You didn't deserve that."
"It's okay Danny." Valerie said consolingly. "We understand. We really do."
"It's just that I thought the world was beyond all this evil ghost stuff." Danny said, his shoulders dropping. "Looks like a Zombie, sorry, Infected apocalypse caused everyone to regress. Well, nearly everyone."
"People fear what they don't understand." Dash said, surprising everyone. The four lapsed into an uncomfortable silence before Danny asked something which had been bothering him since his confrontation with Gerry.
"Do you mind if I ask you guys something?" He asked. "It's just something that Gerry said which has been bothering me."
"Sure." Valerie said. "What is it?"
"What does 'opting out' mean?"
As soon as the words left his lips, Danny knew he had broached a painful subject. The three teens in front of him were looking at each other, anguish and sorrow etched across their faces. Danny knew that look well; it was the same look he has when he thinks about events surrounding Dan and the deaths of his friends and family.
"Look," Danny began. "If you don't want to tell me, it's fine. I was just curious."
"No, it's all right." Valerie said, taking a calming breath. "You should know. Tucker, would you mind?" This surprised Danny. Normally Valerie never shied away from anything, no matter how difficult. Danny should know; he had the scars to prove it.
"Did the Doc explain what happens when you get bit?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah," said Danny. "That when you get bit, you become one of them. He was fairly certain it wouldn't affect ghosts, but he couldn't be sure what would happen if a Halfa was bit."
"I wouldn't advise testing it." Valerie said quietly.
"Anyway," Tucker carried on. "Like you said, all it takes is a bite. One bite and then you become a bio-mechanical weapon driven by meat batteries. Never having to be fed or recharged."
"Death would seem a better option." Danny said simply.
"That's the general view around here." Dash said. "And that's what happens."
"What?" Danny asked, shocked.
Tucker sighed. "No one wants that way of life. When you get bit, the change doesn't happen straight away. The shortest time we've had is four hours, and the longest time was twelve. It depends on the size of the person. But the symptoms are all the same; an out of control fever, aching of the muscles and skin rashes that cover the entire body. In the final hour of the change, it literally feels like your whole body is on fire."
"In that time, a person has the decision to 'opt out'." Dash said, his tone saddening. "We have a stash of real bullets here for such occasions; just one to the head is all it takes." The group of four teens sat there in a heavy silence, heads hung low, Danny especially. He knew the world had gone to hell, but to hear this was taking it to another level. It was when Danny looked back and saw his friends' faces did he realise there was more. His face dropped in realisation.
"It's happened, hasn't it?" He asked, already knowing the answer. They nodded their heads numbly.
"We got word half an hour ago." Valerie said, her voice hitching slightly. "A member of the army, the one with Sam's R&R team, was bitten. He chose to opt out straight away. He had no family to say goodbye to. They'll be back within a couple of hours for a funeral of sorts. He was actually one of the pleasant ones." Danny didn't know what to say. He should have been elated at the prospect of seeing Sam again, but his heart wasn't in it.
"Wait, a funeral of sorts?" Danny asked, catching onto the last thing Valerie said.
"Yeah," Tucker said. "We don't have your traditional funerals anymore. It would be impossible. We simply don't have the space. So instead, all those who want to, gather on the football field and their name is etched onto the memorial statue. It gives us a sense of normalcy. As I'm sure you can imagine, feeling normal is a rarity around here."
"And what of the bodies?" Danny asked curiously.
"We burn them." Dash said bluntly, torn between shame and acceptance. Once again, Danny wasn't sure what to say to that. He felt like he should be upset at what Dash had told him about their dead, but with a morbid sense of acceptance, he understood.
"Will you attend?" Tucker asked suddenly. "I know you take issue with er, humans, at the moment, and no one knows what'll happen when the army get here, but it would mean a lot to us if you did." Danny regarded his friend for a moment. It dawned on the Halfa that Tucker had been slightly offended, and quite possibly scared, when he insulted all the humans in the school, effectively segregating himself from everyone else.
"Of course Tuck." He said finally, a small smile coming to his face. "I'll see you there." With that, the conversation was over. Danny bade goodbye to his friends, shaking Tucker and Dash's hand and hugging Valerie, as they each went their way. Tucker, Dash and Valerie walked to the stairway and Danny teleported from sight.
A moment later, Danny reappeared outside the door to the infirmary; knocking on the door, he waited for an answer.
"Come in." George said from inside. Walking through the door, Danny saw that George and his daughter Victoria were leaning over Carl's sleeping form; Victoria let out a small noise before blushing and went to the other side of the room. Whilst Danny didn't know how to respond, George just chuckled.
"Star struck," he muttered, still smiling. "So Danny, how can I be of service?"
"Nothing much." Danny said, moving forwards.
George looked at the teen and laughed. "You are a terrible liar Danny. It's amazing no one discovered your secret before you told them." Danny was about to argue, before biting his tongue. He really was a terrible liar.
Danny sighed. "Might be because my life depended on people not knowing my secret back then. If they knew at the wrong time, I probably wouldn't be here." Danny then thought about it. "That, or the people in Amity Park are seriously dense. I mean, whenever human me vanished, ghost me would appear. Or the fact that I was always shouting 'Going Ghost' right before I transformed."
"Fair enough." George said, putting Carl's chart away. "So what can I do for you?"
"I came to see how Carl was doing." Danny said, his tone saddening. Carl's eyelids fluttered slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Danny, but he ignored it. "Tucker told me about the whole 'opting out' thing, so I guess I understand why Gerry was so upset yesterday. He's still a jerk, but at least I understand why."
George scoffed. "Codswallop." He said, surprising the ghost. "Gerry was upset because he's a pillock, who appears to be very determined to get a rise out of you. He doesn't seem to grasp the concept of how you could probably take him out by flicking your fingers. If you hadn't of been there in that warehouse, we would be etching six names onto that statue instead of just the one." Danny didn't understand some of the words George had used, but he got the general undertone of what he was trying to say. At first, Danny flushed at George's praise, blanched when he described how powerful he was, to sad once more at the mention of the funeral.
"How often does 'opting out' happen?" Danny asked.
George thought for a moment. "That last one we had was about three months ago. It happened to an R&R team the last time we sent one out of Amity. There was a big debate over whether we should do it again. Both Tucker and Samantha were adamant that they should, saying there was no point in being afraid." Despite the morbidity of the conversation, Danny couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Sounds like them; especially Sam. They were always encouraging me and helping me to fight when I was having a particularly hard time with a ghost." George smiled at Danny's admission, before frowning at the mention of his female friend.
There it is again, Danny thought, catching the Doc's look. Why do people keep doing that whenever I mention Sam? Before he could question it further, George spoke again.
"Sounds like you were pretty close." He said. "I sincerely hope you never have to experience something like that. Will you be attending the funeral?"
"Yes, I am." Danny said, sighing. "Even though I'm fairly certain I won't exactly be welcome there."
"Yeah," George agreed, copying Danny's sigh. "To be honest, if arseholes were planes, this place would be an airport. But they'll come around. Eventually." Danny couldn't help but laugh at George's analogy; it was an apt description. He was also feeling much better.
"You know," he began. "After what happened yesterday afternoon, I was determined to distance myself from the human race, aside from a select few and carry on quite happily. And now you, along with Tucker, Dash and Valerie, have changed my mind." With that, he began to float slightly and headed up towards the ceiling, before turning to face the doctor.
"Thanks for the talk Doc. I'll see you later." He said, before directing his attention to Carl. "And for what it's worth, I'm glad to see you're doing okay Carl." George chuckled as Carl stiffened at the comment as Danny flew through the ceiling. Once Danny was gone though, George's smile fell. He saw the level of anger and hate in Danny's eyes before he teleported away for the second time. He didn't know how much more the hybrid could take before he finally snapped.
Night had fallen and the funeral had begun. The entire school had congregated on the football field, facing the direction where Mr Lancer's memorial statue was located underneath the posts; a makeshift altar had been placed to the side of the statue. Each person was holding a lit candle; sombre looks decorating their faces as their eyes faced forwards. It was the first time Danny had seen all the occupants of the school in one place. The invisible teen also noticed that about thirty of them were wearing army fatigues.
So it looks like the Army has finally arrived, he thought to himself. Danny then returned his green eyes to the rest of the crowd, and for a fleeting moment, he knew he didn't belong down there. The moment this thought was dispelled, Danny's Ghost Sense went off; he narrowed his eyes and noticed five, very faint, shimmers coming from the opposite end of the field, right above the posts; smiling slightly, he flew over.
"You know," he said, allowing his invisibility to drop, revealing him in Ghost form with his hood up. "I'm surprised that you guys are here."
"Hey," Ember said, reappearing as well as the others and punching Danny's arm. "I resent that."
"Yeah," agreed Dani, punching him too, also in Ghost form. "I'm still half human remember?"
"And I haven't been a ghost for very long." Krystal said.
"Okay, I'm sorry." Danny said, raising his hands. "But the question still applies. How come you're here?"
Johnny shrugged. "We always attend the funerals. Kind of reminds us of what we once were I guess. We stay up here so not to cause trouble with the locals."
"I think that's the first time I have ever known you to actively avoid trouble." Danny said chuckling.
"Shut your trap Phantom." Johnny said, but he too was smiling slightly.
"I take it it's because of the Army as well?" Danny asked, jerking his head to the ground below them. Ember's hair flared up slightly, but she turned invisible before it caused a scene; she reappeared when she got it under control.
"Nothing would make me happier than to have my guitar have an intimate encounter with their faces." She said angrily, before an evil sneer crossed her face. "Or something dangling." Whilst the other four ghosts stifled their laughter, Danny playfully nudged her.
"I knew there was a reason I missed you." Danny said.
Ember smirked. "Must be my feminine charms."
"Yeah right." Dani said, causing Krystal and Kitty to chuckle. "You just hate the Army."
"Hate is a strong word," Ember said. "I just like to see them suffer for a bit. I personally don't see any harm in that. It's no more than what they would do to us."
"Valerie said something about how some of the Army are actually okay though?" Danny queried.
"Yeah, I suppose." Ember conceded, pinching the bridge of her nose, almost as if it was painful for her to admit that. "There are only about five or six out of the thirty that will actually have a conversation with us. The others are fair game though." This caused all the ghosts but Johnny to laugh slightly; he would have joined in laughing, but movement on the ground caught his attention.
"Guys?" He started, his voice becoming grave. "It's starting." Danny whipped his head around and saw that a person in army fatigues had made their way to the altar, candle still in hand. When he turned, Danny got a good look at his face. He had black hair, similar to the length Danny had his before he left and blue eyes, which were also strikingly similar to the Halfa's when in human form. Danny couldn't explain why he felt his whole body tense; his jaw clenched tight when he took in the man's face. Danny also couldn't explain how he was convinced he knew the man. The only thing Danny did know, that whoever this guy was, he was trouble.
Danny placed himself between Ember and Dani and watched as the service commenced, his eyes still narrowed at the soldier talking.
"We are gathered here tonight to commemorate the passing of Sergeant Stanley Blake." He said. His voice was calm and smooth, but forceful; practically oozing with confidence.
There is something about him, Danny thought to himself. Something I can't quite put my finger on.
"He was a brave and loyal soldier." He carried on. "He followed his orders to the letter and he would always perform outstandingly, and above all, admirably. He was liked by everyone he met, and he will be sorely missed." Danny took this moment to look at his ghost friends, and was surprised when he saw them all with sad expressions. That was when he remembered what Valerie had said before; about how this particular soldier was one of the nice ones. He must have had quite an impact on them. A small sniff disturbed him from Danny's musings. Looking down, he saw Dani trembling slightly, her green eyes glistening. Gently, he wrapped his cloak around the younger Halfa. She in turn crumpled into Danny's embrace, gripping the cloak tightly around her as she continued to cry.
"It's okay," he said softly. "It's okay Dani. Just let it out." As Danny said this, he heard yet another sniff, but this time coming from his right. Looking sideways, he saw that Ember was comforting a crying Krystal, but what really surprised the hybrid was that Ember, the hard-core teen ghost, was crying too. Not as heavily as Krystal, Dani or Kitty was, but crying nevertheless.
"So the rocker chick has a heart after all." Danny said, smiling softly.
Ember rolled her eyes as a tear escaped and held out her hand. "Shut up Dipstick and just hold my hand." Danny smirked softly and grasped her hand, squeezing tightly. Ember flashed him a small, warm smile before returning her stoic gaze to the funeral. Danny followed her gaze, and inspected the crowd below them. At first he was confused when he felt no emotion, even though he was at a funeral. He then realised he had no emotional connection to anyone down there. Looking to his floating friends, Danny saw that he had a stronger connection to them than the humans. However, his lack of emotion suddenly turned to irritation when his nagging feeling returned when he laid his eyes on the guy still speaking.
"I don't trust that guy." Danny said suddenly; Ember scoffed. "What?"
"Nothing." Ember said dismissively. "It's just typical."
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked, confused. Before Ember could reply, Kitty spoke up, wiping her eyes.
"Will you guys shut up?" She hissed, sniffing. "This is a funeral, not a chat show. And Danny, you'll find out later."
"Sorry Kitty." The two ghosts said in unison. If the ghosts had been concentrating more on the funeral than they had talking, they would have noticed the occasional glances being sent their way from the people on the ground, especially one person in particular. Occasional murmurs were passed around, but quiet enough so not to disturb the proceedings.
"Can you believe it?"
"How is it possible?"
"What's it doing here?"
"It's holding hands with Ember!"
"I thought the portals were all sealed off?"
"If that's a dude, he is so lucky."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Great. Another freaky ghost to deal with." This last comment caught the attention of one particular person near the front. They turned and saw the ghosts floating at the opposite end of the field; the person was actually friends with the ghosts, so their appearance didn't bother them. The distance was too great to make out many details, but they could make out a cloaked figure with a single green eye floating between Ember McLain and Dani Phantom. Amethyst eyes widened.
The funeral ended with people lifting their candles into the air as Blake's name was etched onto the statue, saying a prayer at the same time. Once they were done, the candles were blown out and people broke off into groups and headed back into the building. Once the field had finally emptied, Danny flew down the memorial statue and inspected Blake's name. This time, he was able to read the statue without welling up. He felt the presences of the ghosts as they landed beside him and he gave them all a small smile, simply enjoying the silence he was sharing with his friends. In the cafeteria, however, things were not so silent. There were about twenty people, a mixture of soldiers and residents of the school, but all eyes were fixed upon two who were in the middle of the room arguing, one of which was still wearing their balaclava and goggles.
"Why wasn't I told about this before, Tucker?" They demanded, arms crossed.
"Take it easy Sam." Tucker said, getting slightly fed up. "I only found out yesterday and I wasn't given any forewarning either. So please, stop jumping down my throat. Tonight's hardly the night to be arguing." He thought this would get the angry teen in front of him to calm down, but it only made her louder.
"But this is huge Tuck." Sam said exasperatedly. "If more ghosts are coming through, then that could mean the portals are reopening. We may actually be able to get some back up here." This was met with a lot of groans from mainly the soldiers, but a few others made the same noise. Sam just rolled her eyes; she was well aware of many of their opinions on ghosts but she wasn't paying much attention to them.
"We have to talk to it." She said suddenly, forming plans in her head. "We need to see what it knows, and how it got here." This time, it was Tucker who groaned; out of annoyance and humour at who Sam was referring to.
"Seriously Sam?" He asked, giving her a look. "After all we've been through with ghosts, and making friends with a great many of them, you're going to call him an 'it'?" This cut through Sam's thoughts.
"Him?" She asked. "You mean you've spoken with him? And you didn't tell me?"
Tucker groaned. What I wouldn't give for the Box Ghost to make an appearance. "Yes Sam, I've spoken to him. My half of the R&R team went on a mission with him yesterday." He said. "And the reason I haven't told you was because I hadn't got the chance yet. We were more focused on organising the funeral for Stan. So please, shut up." Even though they couldn't see her face, the people in the room knew she had a look of shock on her face. They enjoyed it when Sam was put in her place, which wasn't often. It was only Tucker and Jazz who could do that.
"So, can I speak to him?" She asked in an apologetic way; Tucker recognised the tone and knew she was apologising. He nodded, accepting her apology, and reached down for his radio.
"Dude," he said into the radio, confusing everyone in the room. "Do you mind coming to the Cafeteria for a sec? I need you to see something." Sam didn't hear the response, but the look on Tucker's face seemed to show that the ghost had agreed.
"He'll be here shortly." He said, clipping the radio back onto his belt.
"You gave him a radio?" She asked. "Why? The others don't have one."
"That's because he disappeared on us after the mission, so we forced it on him." Tucker answered. "As for the others, they don't really care. Ember incinerated it when we tried to give her one."
A moment later, a green light suddenly filled the room and the cloaked figure appeared in the room. The first thing Sam noticed was the piercing green eye that penetrated through the darkness of its hood and its cloak hiding the rest of its body from view. The second thing she noticed was that this ghost was radiating power. So much so that she, along with everyone else in the room, felt like curling up into the fetal position and hide in a corner. She recoiled slightly when the green eye landed on her; it felt like the ghost was looking into her very soul, but she couldn't help but feel like she recognised it. When she saw the ghost move his eye to look at everyone else, she noticed that it narrowed, and the threatening feeling amplified.
Great, Sam thought. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. He already detests the Army and he's only been here a few days. The group stayed like that for a few moments, not wanting to be the first to break the silence. Even if the soldiers would never admit it, they were all scared of this ghost in front of them. Then one of the soldiers took it upon themselves to break the silence, the same one who had given the speech during the funeral. He stood up and went to stand by Sam. It was then he noticed that the ghost was the same height as him.
Is it glaring at me? He asked himself. "Well this is an interesting development." He said, trying to sound brave and cheerful. "We didn't think we'd see another new ghost around here. Want to explain how you got here?" He was met with only silence, which unnerved him slightly, but he kept his poker face.
"Typical ghost." A sneering voice said from the side. "Thinking they're better than us." The cloaked ghost whipped its head around and the soldier squeaked under its gaze. Realising there was going to be a fight, Tucker thought it best to speak up.
"Sam?" He asked, causing the figure to widen its eyes. "Maybe you should take your head gear off. It might help." Sam gave her friend a confused look, but did as he said. Once she had removed it all, she heard the ghost gasp loudly. Her eyes widened as a familiar white ring appeared around the ghost's waist, surprising everyone but Tucker.
It can't be. She thought, bringing her hand to her mouth. The ring split, travelling vertically up and down; the only thing that changed was that the green eye was now blue. Lowering his hood, allowing the cloak to open slightly, he moved the bang out of his eye, allowing both blue eyes to lock onto purple ones.
"Sam?"
"Danny?" They stood like that for what seemed an eternity, before the soldier standing next to Sam chuckled.
"So this is the infamous Danny Phantom." He said, smirking before grasping Sam's hand. Danny's blue eyes widened with shock at the contact. "I've heard all about you. The name's David. I'm the leader of the little group of soldiers you see before you. I'm also Sam's boyfriend."
I apologise once again for the late submission, and I apologise again because the time may be roughly the same for when I publish the next one. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time.
Lord Pugsy.