A/N: ...holycrap. So Um. I just realized this is the second to last chapter...
wow this story was short. :I Sorry... I'll try to make the next one longer.
Everything hurt. His stomach felt like it was simultaneously on fire and trying to leap out of him as Danny slowly came around. His head felt like it was about to burst, and his thoughts swam lazily around inside it.
"Did someone get the number of the ghost that hit me?" Danny pushed himself up with one hand as the other went to his forehead to try to stop the spinning.
Danny coughed once, then squinted open his eye to check out his surroundings. The walls were bare stone, a small lap hung from the ceiling rocking back and forth slowly. But what caught Danny's attention the most was that on each wall sat hundreds of ravens. Their white, soulless eyes seemed to be locked onto Danny as their heads went this way and that and their smoke-feathers ruffled and unruffled.
Danny's ghost scene fogged out of his mouth at an almost constant rate, confirming his suspicion that these birds were ghosts and a threat. Danny groggily got to his feet and muttered "Goin' Ghost," before trying to tap into the cold core that was his ghost form.
There was nothing there.
Danny's heart fluttered nervously, and he swallowed. Each bird kept an eye on him, the room eerily silent as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his powers. They just weren't there.
He tried to think back on what had just happened- he remembered going to Valerie's house, then an intense pain, and then he woke up here.
Had Tucker been right? Had she figured out that he was a ghost and had done something to him? Was he… dead?
Danny started to panic until he felt his heart skip and he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't dead, not yet at least. But if these birds were any indication, it wouldn't be long until he was. Danny looked around carefully, looking for any sort of opening to the walls of ghost birds.
A plume of smoke appeared, just on the edge of his peripheral vision, and Danny spun around to face the potential threat.
Demois appeared there, standing tall and looking down on Danny with his blood red eyes. "Nice to see you've come to, Daniel." The older ghost observed.
A particularly large raven flew over and landed on the ghost's outstretched arm, its cold white eyes boring into Danny's as it tilted its head this way and that. "Do you know who I am?"
Danny swallowed, "No," he replied, trying not to let his fear show.
The older ghost pulled his arm close to him and gave his bird a pat with a finger on his free hand. "My name is Demois, the most powerful ghost in the Zone,"
Danny licked his lips, "I.. I've fought Vlad…"
The ghost paused and looked at Danny. "Who?" he was confused, "I've never heard of such a ghost; no matter! I'm the most powerful ghost in the Zone, except for one key element."
Danny didn't like where this ghost was heading, and he stealthily shifted into a defensive position.
"The one thing I'm missing is your power." Danny bit his lower lip as Demois continued, "You are one of the more powerful ghosts around, and considering you're also human still, well, it makes me hunger."
The bird on his arm flew off as all the birds on the walls became aloft at the same time. None of them made any noises except the snapping of their wings. They vanished through the ceiling, smokey-feathers floating down towards the ghost and the man, disappearing before hitting the ground.
Demois waited until it was silent. "With your exceptional ghost abilities, you're very powerful. Mixed that with your still living half; and you are a grade almost to my own." The ghost frowned as he watched Danny. "I will absorb you and with your powers, I will be unstoppable in taking over both the Ghost Zone, and the human world!"
Something sparked in Danny- something he didn't know he had. Anger bubbled under the surface as Danny recognized his new emotion. He wanted to protect everyone. Protect Amity Park. Protect his friends. Protect the world.
Danny had always thought of himself as a coward: unable to leave the Facility out of fear of the real world; unable to face his parent's lab due to the whispering cries of the dead.
Unable to face Sam and the truth of his feelings for her.
And suddenly, Danny felt his cold core rush back to him. Felt his powers collide into him like a powerful wave, washing over him with a calming sensation.
Suddenly, there was no more fear. There was no more doubt. There were only two things in Danny's mind: pure, bubbling anger; and the strong, fiery desire to protect the people he loved, and the town he lived in.
Danny's eyes were glowing a dangerous, bright green as he looked up at Demois. The older ghost had a smug grin on his face and floated with his arms crossed and his black, fiery hair lazily crackling on his head.
"You will never take over my town while I'm alive, buster." Danny growled behind clenched teeth before shooting up into the air and charging to an attack on Demois.
Suddenly, Wulf yelped, leaning backwards and stopping his flight. The Specter Speeder screeched to a halt behind him and the four humans peered over the dashboard and at the ghost.
"What's wrong, Wulf?" Sam asked over the loud speaker.
Before the ghost could answer, a ghost in a white suit and black fedora floated into view. "Flying an unauthorized vehicle; that's against the rules."
Wulf swallowed with fear, staring at Walker as his hackles began to rise. Walker looked at him. "And as for you: leading an authorized vehicle in my Zone. Well, that's a double violation."
"Violation of what rules?" Jazz asked, leaning around her parents to watch Walker cautiously.
"My rules," Walker replied. He never got tired of reminding people of his rules, in his zone.
Wulf looked back at the Speeder and the humans in it. "I'm going to create a portal, and distract him- you guys go through,"
"Esperanto?" Walker asked curiously. "You wouldn't happen to be that ghost named Wulf, would you?"
Wulf looked at him, his nerves on edge. "Because I've been getting many reports on you; seems you've been tearing open portals to the human world- that's against the rules."
Wulf swallowed nervously as Walker snapped his finger. Suddenly around them, several police ghosts appeared, forming a tight ring around the Speeder and the werewolf. "You're all going to have to come with me." Walker's gaze was menacing as his ghosts moved closer and closer to the group in the center.
The world spun. The world spun and his vision swam with black dots. Nothing made sense. Again, he hurt all over. But instead of the fiery pain in his stomach, these were wounds that danced over his flesh. He struggled to maintain his ghost form as he floated weakly in front of his opponent.
Danny looked up and saw the blurry, swaying face of Demois as the older ghost smiled down at him. Danny lost his grip on his ghost form and reverted to human. The sadistic ghost standing over him smiled with a grim satisfaction.
Briefly Danny wondered why he wasn't doing anything to take his power, as he had made so blatantly clear he had wanted to do. The black haired ghost reached down and grabbed Danny by his shirt collar, lifting the boy up to look deep into his eyes.
"This is just the beginning of your pain, child." Demois hissed behind his teeth as Danny struggled to keep his eyes focused on the ghost, "I have much more planned for you, things you could not even imagine."
Danny swallowed bile that rose in his throat as the powerful ghost dragged Danny towards something Danny could only assume was to be his new cell. Cell? Danny's inner thoughts screamed at him to get out of there. Danny started to flail in the iron grip the ghost had on his shirt and a bit of skin. He couldn't go in there. He couldn't handle being locked up again.
He would die in there.
Demois unlocked a room and tossed the halfa in. Despite his injuries, Danny got to his feet and turned quickly, eyes wide as Demois slammed the door closed. "No…" Danny whispered, running to the door to try and yank it open. As soon as his hands touched it an electric shock blazed through him, causing him to scream in agony and stumble back towards the bed in the corner. "No, no no no…"
Demois' glowing eyes looked at Danny through the small square window in the door. "You'll stay in there until I'm ready for your surprise." Danny gulped nervously.
"S-surprise?" Danny squeaked worriedly.
"Oh, you'll see. I'm not kidding when I mean your torture's just begun."
The sound of keys turning in the lock brought Sam out of her stupor. She and Jazz had been up all night discussing plans on getting out of the jail. Maddie and Jack had been thrown into a separate cell and she had no idea where Wulf was.
A police ghost wafted in, brandishing a night stick and a stern look. "Come on you two," The ghost said. One of the rare times Sam had heard any of the cops speak. "Walker's got someone waiting to see you."
Jazz and Sam looked at each other, frowning as they were herded out of the cell and united with Maddie and Jack. They were shackled to lead lines the ghost carried, and brought to the front, main office.
Walker was speaking to a ghost who had his back to the four humans as they were shoved into the office.
"Ah," Walker said catching sight of them. "There they are. Normally, it's against the rules to sell prisoners but…" he looked at his guest, who had turned to watch the humans with calculating red eyes.
"You have an offer I cannot turn down."
Slowly, the ghost floated over to them. He walked over to Jack, who just so happened to be front of the line and placed a hand on his shoulder. In an instant the room vanished from the human's views and was replaced by a dismal, gothic castle room.
Demois pointed a finger at them, and around them sprung up a dark flamed cage. "Hey!" Jack protested as the four of them huddled back to back to stay as far away from the flames as possible.
"Sam?"
Sam, along with the Fenton family turned to look at the new voice. A little ways away in a similar cage, was Tucker. The black man was as close to the bars as he could get without being hurt.
"Tucker?" Sam edged herself as close to the cage as she dared. "What are you doing here?"
Tucker glanced towards one of the far doors, swallowing nervously. "I was on my way to class when that ghost showed up." He whispered, "The ghost babbled something about needing Danny's weaknesses, and then he brought me here…" He gripped his PDA worriedly. "I heard Danny before, but he screamed and went silent…"
"That's because Demois locked him up," All eyes turned to the door way, where they were astonished to see Valerie standing.
Rage flooded through Sam and she gripped the fiery bars, paying no heed to the pain that shot up her arms.
"What did you do to him!"
Tucker calmly watched as the Fentons tried to pry Sam off of the cage, the smell of burning flesh wafting towards him.
"Val," Tucker spoke quietly to his old friend as Sam's cries of rage subsided into sobs of pain. Pain from losing Danny, or from the bars, Tucker didn't know. As Valerie looked at him, Tucker quietly asked, "Why?"
Valeries eyes were granite chips. "He's a ghost. I've pledge to rid the world of ghosts."
"He's only HALF a ghost!" Sam screamed, wrenching herself out of Jack's iron like grip and ramming herself against the bars of the cage. Sam's anger was derived from panic and pain. She was scared for Danny, knowing how being locked up would affect his psyche. It came from her feelings for him: she wanted him to be safe.
"Half ghost, full ghost, they all must be eliminated."
"But you're working for one," Jazz pointed out.
Valerie pushed a button on her wrist and starting from the bottoms of her feet up a suit sprang, moulding over her clothes and transforming her in the skin tight leather. She became the Red Huntress.
Tucker whistled, earning a glare from the cage next to his.
Valerie pulled her hood over her head and looked at the group, "I'm going to dispose of Danny and Demois."
"Please don't harm Danny!" Maddie held Jack's arm fearfully. Val took no notice as she turned towards the door.
"We should have never given her those weapons," Jack muttered angrily.
Before Valerie could leave the room, the door crashed open and something hit Valerie sending her careening into the far wall. As the dust settled, everyone could see Danny tangled up with Val.
"V-Val?" Danny stammered in shock, disengaging himself and stepping back from her.
Danny's emotions were raging between surprise, anger and glee; surprise to find her here, anger at what he could just vaguely remember her doing, and glee at seeing a familiar face.
"Danny!" Sam and Tucker said together, and Danny looked at both cages. But contrary to what everyone thought he would react like, Danny started to panic.
This was his nightmare come to life.
"No," Danny shouted, holding his hands up and walking away from them. "No, no no no."
"Danny boy, what's wrong?" Jack asked as everyone except for Valerie watched Danny's behaviour, concerned.
"You can't be here." A flicker of white light appeared at Danny's waist as he tried to go ghost, but it sputtered out with a slight fsss noise.
Val got stiffly to her feet as his audience stared at him. "You aren't here." Danny chuckled, his eyes flickering from one face to the next. "You aren't, really you're not."
"Oh, but they are Daniel."
Danny whipped around and for a second he swore he saw Vlad, but the image melted and Demois was left floating in his place. "And it's about to get a lot worse for you."
Danny clenched his teeth as he glared up at the sceptre. He didn't say anything however, as the other ghost floated down to his level.
"I think I'll start with this beauty right here."