Breaking Dawn
A Danny Phantom Fanfic by Quill N. Inque
I do not own Danny Phantom.
(A/N: Just so you guys know, the music "Anakin's Dark Deeds" from Star Wars: Episode III goes REALLY well with the epilogue of this chapter. Seriously, you should open a new tab and load it up before you read any further; it'll really enhance and set the mood that I'm trying to convey. Again, the song is "Anakin's Dark Deeds," and you can find it on Youtube by a user named "ViktorKrum10x." Seriously, it goes with the epilogue PERFECTLY. ^^)
Chapter 15: Crossing the Line, Part Two
Amity Park, 4:00 A.M
Paul Sims, the ex-journalist of dubious morality, whistled merrily to himself as he turned the key in the lock of his brand-new house. The solid paycheck he'd received from shadowing the Fenton kid had been enough for Sims to move out of his dingy motel room and into a brand-new five-star neighborhood that cost more than most working-class folks made annually. That he had violated Danny's privacy to do it meant little to Sims; all he knew was that, for once in his corrupt and duplicitous life, he was riding the gravy train.
The key-card slot in the door handle flashed green as Sims turned the handle lazily, and upon stepping inside his domicile he took a moment to sigh happily before reaching to flip the lights on.
The switch clicked obediently, but to the man's momentary astonishment, nothing happened.
"Oh, come on," Sims growled, fumbling around in the darkness. "You'd think the wiring would be better with all the rent I'm paying. Where'd I put the phone…?"
Sims bent over the kitchen counter, his fingers scrabbling on the marble in a vain search for the missing device, and with a sigh of exasperation he stood-
-Only to nearly faint with terror as two eyes, crimson like a sunset after a heavy rain, stared balefully back at him with scarcely contained fury.
"Don't bother," a voice said quietly, its tone calm but its words laden with a thinly veiled threat. "I already disconnected it."
Sims fell flat on his rump with sudden, adrenalized terror, and he skittered like a beetle across the marble floor in his haste to elude this terrible apparition. "OH, GOD! What are you? Who are you? Why are you doing th-"
"You know who it is," the voice murmured back. "You followed me…us…at the mall yesterday. Who are you working for?"
The former journalist gasped with consternation as the identity of the invader dawned upon him, and as fear spawned in his belly, Sims' natural cowardice resurfaced with a vengeance. He sank to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut, blubbering as he pleaded his innocence. "I told you, I'm just a report-H-u-u-uk…"
A hand of iron suddenly grabbed Sims by the throat and lifted him clear off of his feet, and the ghost boy's face never wavered as he felt the reporter's windpipe threaten to snap like kindling. The man began to turn purple, his legs thrashing as oxygen deprivation set in, and Danny's eyes burned like the fires of Hell as he stared his stalker down.
"Liar," he hissed. "You're working for them..."
Sims' eyes rolled back into his head as he clawed at his neck, and Danny remained coldly indifferent to his suffering as he grated through clenched teeth, "You might as well come out and admit it…otherwise we might find out how many bones I have to break to loosen your tongue. I could crush you like a soda can right here and right now if I wanted to, Sims. It'd be easy…like breaking a toothpick…"
Sims gasped in enough air to work his vocal cords for a second or two. "Okay! Okay! You're right! I was working for them, but I had no idea that they'd –U-k-k-k…"
"That they'd what? Come after her? Don't play stupid with me! You knew exactly what they were planning," Danny hissed, and his words were so venomous that Sims looked away. "You wouldn't dare try to justify yourself if you knew what your greed almost cost me! Sam lies practically comatose, broken and bleeding in a hospital bed, and it's all your fault! How much did they promise you, Sims? How much blood money did they give you to shadow me so they'd know who to go after next?"
"They weren't planning anything like that, at least not yet!" Sims said hoarsely, taking in a gulp of oxygen as Danny tightened his grip. "The Society is trying to lay low for a while after the botched plan with the FBI agent! They have orders, I've seen them myself!"
"There's nothing you say that I can trust," Danny snarled, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. "You'd say anything if it meant saving your own pathetic hide! Maybe you need a little bit of persuasion…"
"NO! JESUS, NO!" Sims screeched as a glowing ball of white-hot energy appeared in Danny's palm. "I'm not lying, I swear! I'm a newly inducted member of the Society! We-they- have rules concerning what can and can't be done. If one of the higher-ups says to lay low we do as we're told! But then again…"
"Keep talking."
"Well, I know from firsthand experience that there are more than a few zealots who think the Leader is taking things too slowly. I wouldn't put it past them to jump the gun and move on you without clearance from upstairs."
"Who are they? Who is the Leader? Names," Danny's voice ran like a hammer striking an anvil. "Give me…their names."
"No one knows who Leader is; he contacts us, not the other way around! And as for the other guys, I don't know any of them personally!" Sims bawled. "Half of us are wearing masks most of the time, for Pete's sake! And I only joined a few days ago; I'm not really familiar with most of the other members yet!"
Sims' eyes bulged as Danny grabbed him by the throat again and lifted bodily off of the tile. The ghost boy's eyes glowed even brighter with the force of his wrath, and the snoop's tongue waggled like a chicken being strangled. "If you don't know…then who does?"
"Probably… one of the Recruiters," Sims forced out, his lungs starving for air. "They're…in charge…of new members…"
"Where can I find them?"
"There's…recruitment drive….scheduled…outside Wal-Mart…"
"WHEN?"
"It'll…be there… all day!" Sims made no attempt to hide his terror. "We… have people scheduled to take over… in shifts! At least five Recruiters… will be running it… at one time or another!"
Danny felt some lesser part of him soar with evil joy as his new informant began to turn blue, and his gaze was disgusted as the blubbering Sims begged and pleaded for mercy. "You're not lying to me, are you?"
"NO! Jesus, no!" Sims babbled, tears streaming down his face as his composure broke completely. "I'm not lying, I swear, just don't kill me! I'll do anything you want! I'll donate to charity! I'll start an orphanage! I'll recycle!"
"You're sure about that? You'd do anything?"
"Y-y-yes…."
"Then you're going to leave Amity Park tonight. And you're never going to come back," Danny whispered. "If you're even in the same state as me by this time tomorrow, I may not be quite so charitable…"
Then, slowly and deliberately, the dark apparition that had once been the noble Danny Fenton leaned in so close that Sims could feel his breath as he whispered in his ear.
"You tell them I'm coming…And Hell's coming with me..."
Meanwhile…
The Fenton residence…
Agent Thomas Brody, still bruised and battered from his experience with the Society of Light's hospitality, muttered under his breath as he cast the sheets aside. The guest bed that Fenton's parents had been kind enough to loan him was hardly charitable to the old agent's aching, creaking joints, and so great was the pain which had roused Brody from his slumber that the agent could barely shuffle across the hall. Bleary-eyed and bewhiskered with razor-stubble, Brody cursed to himself as he struggled with the bottle of Advil that seemed to defy any and all attempts to open it.
"Damn childproof container," Brody grunted as he struggled to turn the lid. "Opening this thing should not be so difficult…"
"Brody?"
The venerable cop spun around to see a still-groggy Jazz staring at him. "What are you doing up so early?" she asked.
"Couldn't sleep," Brody grunted. "Damned arthritis is acting up again and I needed about five pounds of painkillers. Open this, would ya?" he added, thrusting the jar into Jazz's hands.
The girl tried to contain her mirth at the thought of the fearsome Brody struggling with such things as she performed the task with practiced ease. "Here ya go."
"Thanks," Brody nodded. "I may as well get some coffee, I guess. There's no point in trying to sleep anymore now that I'm up. By the way, how's Fenton's girl doing?"
Jazz nodded understandingly. Brody's injuries, especially his back, which was aching worse than ever, had prevented him from joining the rest of the group that had taken Sam to the hospital. Riding in a car in his current state would have been agonizing for the old cop, and no one thought any less of him for it.
"She's…stable," Jazz said finally. "Dr. Dourman said she got beat up really badly, but it could have been a lot more serious. Bruises and broken or fractured bones, mostly, but nothing Sam can't recover from."
"Those dogs will pay," Brody vowed, clenching his teeth before softening a bit. "How's Fenton dealing with it?"
"He was devastated," Jazz sighed. "Danny's totally smitten with Sam, so it hit him harder than anyone else. I've never seen him so angry before, Brody," she added quietly. "He was…like another person altogether."
"Is Fenton asleep?"
"No, actually," Jazz admitted. "Danny told us he was going to take a walk and wouldn't be back for a while. I don't blame him, to be perfectly honest. He needed to let off some steam."
Brody's head snapped up. "How long ago was this?"
"About three or four hours," Jazz replied, confused. "Why?"
Something in Brody's eyes changed, and he glanced at her with worry in his gaze. "And he hasn't been back since?"
"Nope."
"Get dressed," he ordered curtly. "We're going after him."
"What?"
"Fenton may be a hero, but he's also a fourteen-year-old kid!" Brody exclaimed. "Do you really think there's even the slightest chance that he hasn't gone off the rails and gone gunning for the ones who beat up his girlfriend? It's obvious that he's been pushed too far this time, and we need to find him and stop him before he does something he'll regret!"
"You mean…he's going to kill them?" Jazz was appalled. "The Danny I know wouldn't do that!"
"Danny isn't himself right now," Brody shook his head as he headed for his closet. "And from what you've told me, he seems furious enough that there's a chance he might actually go through with it. You got a car?"
"Um…yeah."
"Good," Brody nodded, strapping his trusty Sig to his belt. "I'm driving. Get something from your parents' weapons vault and meet me outside in five."
Jazz vanished down the hallway, and Brody took a moment to give a deep sigh of resignation.
"Don't make me come after you, kid, not for a second time…"
Epilogue…
Danny Fenton, now clad in the guise of his human form, looked almost cheerful as he exited the lavish two-story house that had, until a few minutes ago, been the residence of the snoop-for-hire Paul Sims. The ghost boy smiled to himself at just how frantically Sims had fallen over himself to vacate the premises in his rush to escape Danny's wrath, and the tire tracks from the ex-journalist's car were still clearly visible on the now-vacated driveway.
The man may have made Danny's skin crawl, but he had certainly come in useful. The so-called "Recruiters" would no doubt know the identities of Sam's attackers, and Danny had no doubt that they would sing like canaries once he showed up.
His pace slowed as the sidewalk ended on the street corner, and before vanishing into the night, Danny took a moment to listen intently-
-And his efforts were immediately gratified as, two houses down, the gas-powered stove that Danny had switched on prior to leaving erupted in a thunderous explosion. The residence that Sims had paid for with money that almost cost Sam her life collapsed as though it were made of playing cards amidst a roiling, mushroom-shaped and incandescent fireball that filled the air with the reek of gasoline and rubble. Without even breaking his stride or looking over his shoulder, Danny continued on his way as though nothing of note had happened at all, and the glow of the flames tinged the darkness with streaks of orange and yellow as its shockwave split the night like a monstrous thunderclap.
The menacing silhouette of Danny Fenton vanished across the street, and though his entire body was bathed in shadow, his eyes glowed a demonic red as he inched ever closer to falling into darkness…
A/N: Damn. Looks like Danny isn't playing around! XD But will Jazz and Brody find him in time? Find out in coming chapters! And PLEASE REVIEW! If you have ANY ideas or suggestions, LET ME KNOW!
Your humble servant,
-Quill N. Inque
P.S. If there are any obvious typos in this chapter, I apologize. It's really late as I'm finishing this up, but I promise that I'll go back and correct them tomorrow. I would be obliged if you all would be kind enough to help me with this by pointing out anything that needs fixing. ^^