EPISODE 58—BURNING PASSIONS
It was the first of May, and was the hottest day on record ever for the month of May. Danny was cooling himself off with his powers over ice, but Sam, Tucker, and Noah were dying as Ms. Tetzlaff made them do the half-mile run. Noah again finished in under two and a half minutes, but unlike his usual effortless output, he was sweating profusely and leaned against the bleachers with his eyes shut.
"Oh, come on," Ms. Tetzlaff yelled at everyone else who was lagging behind. "You can do better than that. A little sweat is healthy for you! Get going because you're going to be doing some push-ups after this!"
Noah shot the gym teacher a glare, then turned and walked into the boys' locker room. A second later, Ms. Tetzlaff suddenly twitched, and then stood up and yelled to the class, "Plans have changed! I'm going to go lock myself in the boiler room for the rest of the day. You all do whatever you want for the rest of class!" With that, she turned and walked mechanically out of the room.
Most people slowed to a walk; some of them kept running, certain that she would come back. When she didn't return for a full thirty seconds, everyone just went to the bleachers and sat, chatting.
Noah popped out of the boys' locker room with a grin on his face, and Danny went up to him and elbowed him in the side. "Nice," he said. "But don't make a habit out of overshadowing people, of course."
"Oh, what could happen?" Noah laughed, wiping sweat out of his eyebrows.
"You could provoke the spirit of Sydney Poindexter," Danny pointed out.
"Who's that?"
Sam and Tucker walked over with knowing smiles. "I'm guessing that was Noah?" Sam asked.
"You guess correctly," Noah said, flashing a smile. "I'm not exerting myself any more today than I have to."
"It would help if our school hadn't cheaped out on A.C. in the gym," Tucker said.
"No problem," Danny said. He backed up and placed a hand on the wall; almost immediately, the room got several degrees cooler.
"I'm a little worried about you guys using your powers like that," Sam said. "It might attract the wrong kind of attention."
"Like what?" Danny asked as the ceiling burst open and the Guys in White dropped in.
"Freeze!" the first one yelled. "Where's the Ghost Kid? We've observed signs of spectral energy coming from this room!"
"Let's analyze all the things!" the other one stated, pulling out a small device with a satellite dish on top.
Sam looked from Danny to Noah, clenching her teeth. "Guys!" she hissed. "Hide, for the love of God!"
"Don't worry, Sam," Danny said, pulling up his necklace and tapping it. "Noah reinvented the necklace, remember? Now it can seal away more ghosts at a time… but it also hides our spectral signatures."
"We tested it with a bunch of lab equipment," Noah said. "Nothing tracks us, even when we go ghost." Noah had adopted the phrase "going ghost."
The Guys in White started scanning everyone in the room. Dash looked over nervously at Danny, who wasn't moving. Dash edged closer to Danny and whisper-shouted from about twenty feet, "Fenton! Run!"
Danny stared back. "…Why?"
The Guys in White turned to look at Dash. He made a nervous fist, pounded it into his hand, and said, "Um… Because I'm going to beat you into a pulp for getting a higher grade on the short story test." He shook the fist and advanced on Danny. "Better get a head start!"
One of the Guys in White intercepted Dash and scanned him with the machine; Dash broke away afterwards and ran up to Danny. "I'm gonna…" He made a fist and grabbed Danny's shirt. "Why the hell aren't you running from me?"
"I have my doubts that you'll follow through on your threats in front of government officials," Danny said.
The Guys in White seemed to think there was something suspicious going on with Danny, and they scanned him next; finding nothing, they moved on to Sam, Tucker, and Noah. Dash put him down with a bewildered look on his face.
"Are you all right, Dash?" Noah asked. Dash hadn't beaten on Danny in almost two months; ever since Noah had shown up, Dash became great friends with Noah and stopped picking on Danny, since Noah lived with him. Or was that really the reason…? Dash was hard to figure out recently. Now he was regressing? Or just forgetting?
Dash caught sight of the high-tech necklace Danny was wearing, which had accidentally fallen outside his shirt after he showed it to Sam. He figured that must have been the reason, and he walked away slowly.
"Um, see you at lunch," Noah said, not getting a response.
Danny looked after Dash. Danny was confused, too… He almost missed having Dash grab him by the shirt and stuff him in a locker, although that seemed to make no sense. Why was he suddenly happy for a moment when Dash picked him up by his shirt collar?
The Guys in White blasted through the hole in the ceiling again, passing through several stories of school, all of which had holes. The kids in the upper levels could be heard complaining as the air conditioning escaped.
"Interesting," Noah said. "I wonder how they locate just the energy, without the source. I'd like to see some of their technology."
"We could go after them and steal some," Danny said, grinning.
"I would, but I promised not to exert myself today."
Suddenly, both of their ghost senses went off. They exchanged glances.
"Wait, wait, wait," Sam said as they were about to head to the locker room. "This could be a trick. Remember? The Guys in White have used ghost decoys to lure you out before, Danny. And they were just here. It seems a little too convenient for me."
Danny walked to the door that led to the outside, and he opened it. Overhead, he saw what looked like a man made of rocks, enveloped in fire. It flew past the school, and then there was an array of shots from Guys in White members below. The new ghost looked down, and then lazily swung an arm in their direction. An enormous mass of bubbling flame exploded downwards, blasting apart what looked like it must have been an entire city block. Buildings crumbled down everywhere. People screamed, and fires continued to burn everywhere, including on the stone sidewalks.
Danny looked back. "This… is not a drill."
"What did you just see?" Tucker asked, starting to look worried.
"Noah, you need to stay here."
"What?" Noah whined. "You're kidding! You just told me last night I was ready to face anything!"
"That was before I saw what I just saw," Danny said. "Noah. This thing appears to be a fire ghost, and I just saw it blast apart every building in a 200-foot radius." Noah, Sam and Tucker all raised eyebrows. "You need to stay here, Noah. I'm worried about you."
Noah glowered, not used to being talked to like a child. "What about you? If this thing looks so powerful?"
"I'm going to try to sneak up on it with the necklace," Danny said. "If that doesn't work, I'm getting the hell out of there."
Noah's expression softened. "Well…"
"Just guard everyone else here for now," Danny said. He exited the building, making sure no one else in the room was paying much attention.
With a quick transformation, he was flying through the air, until he was about a hundred feet away or so from the new ghost that was floating away from the rest of town. He unhooked the necklace, and whipped it hard slightly to the right of the ghost.
He got ready to escape quickly if necessary. The boomerang grew closer… and closer… and the ghost wasn't turning around… closer… almost there…
It melted in midair when it was a foot away.
The ghost's head turned slowly; it stopped moving and stared at Danny. Danny backed away in the air, then turned around and darted away as quickly as possible.
A heat on his back told him he was being pursued; he looked over his shoulder and gasped. This new adversary wasn't flying as normal ghosts did; he was blasting after Danny on a jet of flame that erupted from his feet. His face was craggy and brown; his clothes were all orange, and his glowing-red hand lifted up in front of him and out exploded a massive fireball. It was literally too big to dodge; the wall of flame hurtling towards Danny was the size of the school.
Danny threw up a wall of ice in vain, and made himself intangible. It was no use. The ghostly flame melted the wall of ice before it even had a chance to shatter, and struck him despite his intangibility.
No other blow from any other ghost had ever been so painful. Never had the sheer force of one impact made him feel like he was dying, and dying quickly. The fireball slammed him into the school, and when it left, he was unconscious, intensely burned. The fire ghost turned around and continued onward, leaving an almost completely destroyed Danny Phantom on the ground behind him.
All of the Fentons were clustered around his bedside when he woke up. Tucker, Sam, and Noah were there, too. His eyelids felt like sandpaper and his arms felt like they were still on fire, but at least he was awake.
"What…" Danny started, but Maddie put a finger to her lips.
Jack was sniffling. "We… We thought we lost you, son," he said.
My God, Danny thought. Was it that bad?
"I'll explain what happened to you, sweetie," his mother said softly. "That fire ghost that attacked the school… His name is Vulcrex. A legend in the Ghost Zone, or so says Noah." Noah held up a book in response. Maddie continued. "Vulcrex launched a fireball into the school, destroying half the foundation, and injuring half the students. No one was killed," she added quickly, seeing Danny's look of distress. "You came the closest, though." Her eyes filled with tears. "I want to hug you so very badly right now," she said, "but I know that would be incredibly painful for you. The government is tracking Vulcrex right now, but I don't know how they'll be able to contest him. That's the most powerful ghost I've ever seen. He destroyed an entire city block when the Guys in White fired at him." She smiled weakly. "No deaths yet, thank God."
Danny was still wondering one thing: had he transformed back in time, or had Sam and Tucker been forced to reveal his secret in order to save him?
Sam seemed to read his mind; she mouthed at him, They don't know. No one saw.
Danny let his eyes close again, and the doctor walked in. "Please," she said in a strong Spanish accent. "You must allow him rest."
Jack and Maddie nodded. "Come on, kids," they said, and walked out.
As they left, Noah walked behind the doctor and disappeared to overshadow her; he brought her through the floor to the level below and popped back up so that they could talk to Danny alone.
"We're going after Vulcrex, Danny," Sam said. Danny's eyes widened, and he tried as hard as he could to look slightly angry. It was hard, though; his skin felt hard and crusty, and moving any part of his body was painful. It hurt even to breathe and blink. Sam nodded her head yes, and continued. "It's our responsibility to hunt ghosts, Danny," she said. "You've done great. But we're going to take this one. Jazz, Noah, Tucker and I talked it out all of last week."
WEEK? Danny twitched in shock.
"Well, five days," Sam said. "We've gotten word of where Vulcrex was sighted last. Around the Kansas area. We're taking the Specter Speeder and going after him."
"Kids?" Maddie shouted. Noah ducked away to overshadow one of them and distract the other.
"We have to do something," Tucker said. Danny shook his head no. "No. Really. We've been doing this for a long time. We know the risks. You didn't think it was always going to be as easy as shoving the Box Ghost into the Fenton Thermos, did you?"
Danny had nothing to say to that, even if he was capable of speaking; Tucker was, after all, quoting something that Danny had said once before.
"We'll try what worked on Vortex," Jazz said. "Remember? Vortex got really annoyed when he figured out that you had control over the weather, too. Well, Noah has good control over fire. We'll lead Vulcrex into a trap by having Noah attack him."
This time, Danny felt like he had to object vocally. He rasped, "NO!" but it hurt so badly that he started coughing, and that hurt even worse.
"It was Noah's idea," Jazz said. "And I suggested leading Vulcrex to Frostbite so his ice army can take care of this fire ghost. Danny, I know you object to this. But you're out of commission now. It's our fight. We'll take it from here."
Danny sighed, knowing it was going to be impossible to convince them otherwise.
"We'll be fine," Sam said. "We'll come back." She patted the side of Danny's bed, not wanting to hurt him, and then they left, and there was nothing Danny could do about it.
He stared up at the ceiling, which was cracked and patched up. It was probably damaged from the battle he'd had with Hemozoa. He'd almost died fighting that ghost. And she was nothing compared to the threat his friends were about to face.
Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Noah walked out of the hospital; Noah was in the lead, and smacked his head into the chest of a man walking in. "Sorry," he said. Then his eyes widened as he looked up at who it was. "Mayor… Masters?"
The other three gasped, as Vlad looked down at them. "Please," he said in his nicest voice. "It's just 'Vlad' to any friend of the Fentons, my dear Noah."
"How do you know my name?" Noah asked, furrowing his brow.
"Oh, dear boy," Vlad said, smiling. "I'm the mayor of this town! Surely I know all of its inhabitants."
"Good morning, Mayor!" said a man as he walked by on the street.
"Good morning, um… you," Vlad said.
"What do you want?" Sam spat. "Or did you already get what you want? If anything happens to Danny, I swear to you, everyone will know about you!"
"I have no intention of harming young Daniel, and I have no idea what gave you that impression," Vlad said.
"Oh, really?" Sam shouted back. "You don't, huh? You must really be getting old, if your memory's going that fast!"
"I'm not here to fight," Vlad said, holding up his hands. "In fact, I'm here to help. Believe it or not."
"Help?" Sam said, gawking. "Uh, no, I don't believe it, believe it or not."
"Oh, yes," Vlad said. "It may be beyond your feeble young mind to comprehend at this point, but I love a not-destroyed world as much as the next person."
"World?" Tucker asked nervously.
"Vulcrex destroyed almost all life on earth many eons ago," Vlad said. "And he was thusly sentenced to sixty-five million years of imprisonment and intense torture. Which of course only made him madder."
"You're kidding, right?" Sam asked. Vulcrex destroyed the dinosaurs? This was starting to sound like a bad fanfic of their lives.
"He did so by burrowing into the earth and drinking vast quantities of oil," Vlad said. "Oil is what powers him. That's why I can tell you he's headed towards the Gulf of Mexico, to attack the oil vessels and drink the fuel to charge his energy."
That was actually helpful; the four teens stared at him in disbelief. Vlad ignored them and kept going. "And this time, the oil is so much more available; he can incinerate every last inch of the earth and still have power left over for the Ghost Zone. He's focused only on the destruction of life, so he will hold nothing back against a group of four teenagers going off to tweak his chain. I'm going to offer my services to assist you."
There was another silence. "But… you're evil," Tucker said.
"Evil? Perhaps my motives were a bit misguided, but I hardly think I'm evil. I admit, some things, I've done wrong, without regard for how others might feel."
This was a change of character unlike anything they had ever expected. Sam looked at Tucker; Tucker looked at Sam; Jazz looked at Noah; Noah looked at Vlad.
"It's been like a friendly game for a while, between me and Daniel," Vlad said softly. "But of course, when something like this comes up, there are no games involved. Absolutely not."
"What could you possibly do to convince us that you're not going to turn on us after we defeat Vulcrex?" Sam countered.
"I promise?" Vlad said, grinning.
Sam laughed so hard that she almost fell over onto the street; people everywhere looked over curiously.
"How powerful are you?" Noah asked.
The other three teens looked at him. Vlad tugged on the ends of his coat and responded, "Well, I've had my powers for twenty years now, and I suppose I'm pretty good with them. Why do you ask?"
"I want you to teach me while we're on our way," Noah said. "Teach me some of what you know."
Vlad smiled. "I would be honored to do that."
"Noah, what are you doing?" Tucker muttered at him.
"I knew he'd already know my secret," Noah said. "If he knows what we were planning, he's got cameras in the Fentons' house." Vlad looked away at that statement, hiding a small smile. "And I think that if there's a way we can increase our chances of coming out of this both alive and successful, then I think it's worth it." He turned back to Vlad. "I happen to trust you… for now."
Vlad smiled back at the boy. "I am glad," he said. "I know I haven't exactly given you reason to enjoy my company. But believe me when I tell you I am a necessary presence this time." He took a step forward and patted Noah's shoulder. "As much as I hate Jack Fenton for ruining everything and stealing the love of my life… I still would rather not see everyone else in the world go up in flames."
"So why did you agree to train Noah?" Sam accused. "What do you gain from that one?"
Vlad stared at her, and slowly blinked. He legitimately seemed to be unable to answer—and it legitimately seemed to confuse him.
There was a long moment of awkward silence. No one spoke or moved, except that Vlad moved his stare from Sam to Noah, and then somewhat later, to a point far off in the distance, unfocused.
"I…"
The silence returned after that single syllable from Vlad. No one interrupted; they all just waited to see how Vlad would answer.
"I never had a son…"
He looked back at Noah, who was gaping at him. All of the teens were.
Vlad reached into his pocket and pulled out a rolled-up, worn-out piece of paper. He handed it to Sam and sighed.
Sam looked at it and unrolled it slightly, and she gasped. "This… This is the Infi-map," she said, looking back up at him.
"I pilfered it from Frostbite," he said. "They weren't too pleased with that, seeing as how I used it the last time."
"To try to take over parts of the world," Sam said, glaring.
"Yes, yes," Vlad said. "Well, last time, I commanded the map to bring me to the path to Maddie's heart." Jazz grimaced. "I was brought to the cave of the love ghost, Luster… but… it was empty."
None of the teens knew how to react to this story of Vlad's. They all just looked at him with genuine shock.
"The cave was empty. No love for me. I took that as a sign, finally, that I would never win her. She was always Jack's."
Tucker and Sam shot looks at each other—they knew what Vlad might not have known… Luster was invisible to the naked eye, whether human or ghost. Luster might very well have been in that cave, just keeping silent.
"When I first met Daniel, I was trying to destroy his father's reputation," Vlad said. "But I also always wanted a son. I offered to teach Daniel what I knew, in exchange for him renouncing his father. Of course, he would never do such a thing. And so my bitterness grew. But now, I see how misguided that bitterness was. I should have been searching for my own happiness, not trying to steal it from others. And here, I have been given the opportunity, if only for a little while, to be like a father to this young man. It's stricken me in a way that I didn't even realize until you asked that question."
"Come with us," Sam said, finally.
The nurse was standing with her back to Danny, writing on a clipboard.
"How do you feel?" she asked, scribbling.
"Pain," Danny whispered, trying not to move his lips too much lest they set the rest of his face on fire with agony.
"It'd feel a lot more painful if you weren't on the medication, believe me," she said, and put the clipboard down. Then she turned around, and Danny was unable to gasp at the sight: it was Spectra. "And it's about to be even worse!"
A black mist formed around her feet and shot up around her as she raised her hands and her skin faded away, leaving a gruesome black shade in front of his bed. "Misery galore," she said, punching him in the stomach. He screamed silently as the pain flooded across every inch of his body. She breathed in deeply and her grin grew wider. "Oh, the wonderful taste of teen in pain. I don't know how I'll ever go back to feeding on depression when this sort of agony is just so delicious!" She slammed her hands into his chest, and more fire coursed through his skin. He was in total agony, and she was feeding off of it. And there was nothing he could do.
"What's the matter, little misfit?" Spectra cackled. "Can't defend yourself? Good. Then this is for all the times you crammed me in that hell-hole of a thermos!" She slapped him hard across the face, and he felt like some of his skin must have cracked and fallen off. "Say goodbye!"
"How about YOU say goodbye!" yelled a familiar voice from the doorway. A blast of energy rocketed across the room and smashed into the unsuspecting Spectra, knocking her through the window.
Valerie Gray was standing there, in plain clothes but holding a fairly large ecto ray gun. She glared out the window, then softened up when she saw Danny. "Oh, man," she said. "I heard what had happened to you, and I came to check to see how you were… I wish I'd come a bit earlier." She glanced at the gun. "Pay no attention to that," she said, hiding it behind her back feebly.
"Thank you," Danny choked, still burning with pain.
Valerie smiled softly. "I like your shorter hair."
Danny's eyes widened. Had his hair been burnt off? They must have cut it down to a point where it was all uniform length.
"I just wanted to give you my hopes that you get better," Valerie said. "Since, you know, we're good friends." She glanced at his neck, and her expression turned to curiosity. "Wow," she said. "What's that high-tech necklace you have on?"
"Neck…lace?" Danny rasped. His necklace had burnt off. Had Noah given Danny his necklace so that Danny wouldn't be discovered by the Guys in White?
She lifted it off of his shirt and examined it. She rubbed the metal, and when she reached the top, it accidentally detached. "Aack!" she shouted. "I'm sorry!"
"Okay," Danny coughed out as best he could. "It's okay. Supposed to come off."
Valerie was very interested; she pressed the button in the center of the diamond, and it shot out two arms, becoming a V-shape; she almost dropped it in alarm. "I keep thinking I'm breaking it," she laughed.
Danny felt his ghost sense go off—why hadn't it gone off the first time that Spectra was here? He must have been asleep for it. Spectra rose to the window again, and growled and tackled Valerie to the ground, slashing her ecto ray gun in half.
Valerie tossed off her attacker, and took out a smaller ray gun from her pocket. How did they not stop her at the door for carrying those? Danny wondered.
She shot Spectra, who crashed into the wall and growled. Her tail whipped out and smacked the ray gun out of Valerie's hand and out the window.
"Throw the necklace!" Danny wheezed at the top of his lungs.
"Throw it?" Valerie asked, but she was quick to react when Spectra next attacked. Valerie did as she was told and whipped the necklace at the ghost. Spectra was too close to not be hit. She howled as the necklace sucked her in, and she clawed at the ground for a moment until she fully disappeared into its inner workings, and the necklace flew back towards Valerie, who caught it.
She stared the necklace down for a while in shock, and then turned to Danny. "What… is this?" she asked.
Danny didn't say anything. He just cast a gaze to the ceiling.
"Danny, this is an amazing device—" She was cut off by a loud beeping sound from her wristwatch, and she frowned at it, pressing a few buttons. Her eyes widened as she stared down at it. "But… but I just caught a…" She looked up at Danny.
He remained silent as she walked up to him, and her wristwatch was beeping out of control. She held it up to his forehead, and suddenly it stopped.
"What…?" she asked, looking at the watch. "Is this thing…" She backed away, and it started beeping again.
Danny wasn't sure what was going on, but one thing came to his attention that he had forgotten when Valerie accidentally snapped off the necklace: The necklace guarded him from the tracking devices that located ghosts.
Valerie seemed to come to the same conclusion. She placed the necklace on a table on the other end of the room, and then walked up to Danny with the wristwatch facing him. The watch began beeping faster and faster, and then furiously when she held it next to his forehead. She stared at him, a curtain being unveiled in her mind.
"You weren't just caught in the line of fire, were you," she whispered. "You were fighting it."
Danny lay still, staring unblinkingly up at her. She gathered herself, and leaned down next to his ear. "I know Vlad's secret," she whispered. "I saw him transform after you left, in the incident with Danielle."
He was unable to show any emotion he was feeling on his burnt and scarred face; he just lay still and continued to listen. Valerie leaned back again and smiled. "This explains… so much," she said. "How you knew my other 'job' when we did the project. Why Skulker stole the sack of flour to blackmail both of us. Where you went the very first time I chased you… that wasn't a real make-out session with you and Sam, was it." She looked into his eyes. "I could go on. But… I want you to know… that I forgive you. And… I trust you." She turned and walked away.
As she reached the door, she looked back one more time, and blew a kiss. "And you… can trust me." Then she smiled and continued out.
As the Specter Speeder blasted off on its set course, Noah stood in the back with Vlad as the latter changed into his ghostly form.
"Now, Noah, there's a few basic things I want to see if you know. Shoot an ectoplasmic energy ray at me, please."
Noah nodded, transformed into a ghost, and threw his hands forward with an energy blast; Vlad held up his hands and absorbed it. "Good," the older half-ghost said, rubbing his palms together. "Your form is excellent. Daniel has been teaching you well."
"Thank you," Noah said, smiling. How could this man have been evil?
"You're very welcome, my boy," Vlad said. "Now, as quickly as you can: Turn invisible and intangible at the same time."
Noah had to concentrate for a split second, but he transformed. "Good," Vlad said again. "Now throw up a shield of energy; move it around and fire at me simultaneously."
Noah did as he was told; there was a small fight of energy rays and shields.
"Perfect," Vlad said. "Can you duplicate yourself yet?"
Noah shook his head. "Danny showed me, but the most I can get is two heads."
"Well, he had to learn it on his own, just from having seen me do it," Vlad said. "I think I can get you to be an expert on that in mere hours."
"Really?" Noah grinned wildly; he'd always wanted to duplicate himself. Ever since he'd seen Danny do it, it had become a personal goal.
"Absolutely," Vlad said. "Here: I want you to stay completely still for a moment." Vlad pulled a cord of purple energy from the air and wrapped it around Noah's arms and waist, and then did the same to his legs. "You're completely trapped now. You can't escape from this predicament. Can you?"
Noah wiggled himself around, trying to break free; he tried to charge up energy to melt his bonds, but the cords absorbed his power. "No…"
"So how do you defeat me?" Vlad asked. "I'm about to deliver the finishing blow. What do you do?"
"I… don't know…" Noah said, frowning. A small bump of turbulence caused him to fall into a sitting position.
"Now, I want you to imagine changing back… but don't do it," Vlad said. "Imagine yourself changing back into your human form." With that, Vlad gestured to his right side; a narrow black disk appeared out of thin air, and flowed upwards and downwards. It seemed to draw another Vlad Plasmius out of thin air.
"Whoa," Noah said.
"You're pretending you are a human," Vlad said, his second figure disappearing. "This time, I want you to imagine transforming back into a ghost—but I want you to imagine it happening like you are a bystander, simply watching. And it's happening right here." Vlad held up his hand, and a strange energy surrounded the area just to Noah's left. "Right in that high-energy zone I'm creating."
Noah nodded. "What do I do?"
"Concentrate," Vlad said. "You don't exist until you appear in that zone. You aren't where you are right now. You're a floating, bodiless mass of consciousness, waiting to be materialized. And you're going to do it somewhere other than where you thought you were."
Noah breathed deeply and closed his eyes.
"No, keep your eyes open," Vlad said. "Stare at that blob of energy to your left. And imagine your human form inside it. Now… transform!"
Noah broke into a sweat from the concentration, and his teeth clenched together tight as he stared into the high-energy zone. He imagined what he wanted—it was a goal he was seconds from obtaining, and he leaped for it.
A strange shimmering came over the area. A strange effect—what looked like thousands of little panels in the air—started to flip over themselves, painting a picture, a perfect image of Noah's ghost form in the high-energy zone. When it was finished, he was both staring at himself floating in the zone, and staring at himself sitting on the floor with the energy cords around him.
"Now shoot me!" Vlad commanded. "Shoot me down with your other form!"
The Noah in the high-energy zone shot a blast of energy, which Vlad purposefully did not defend against; he let himself be hit against the wall with a grin, and the cords holding the sitting Noah disappeared.
"Wow!" Noah shouted twice at the same time. "This is so wicked!"
"Excellent work," Vlad said. "That's a good strategy to use when you're in a pickle. Just add yourself another copy directly behind your attacker, and shoot him in the back while he's distracted with his presumed victory."
Noah nodded. "What was the high-energy zone for?" he asked, simultaneously with himself again.
"You likely wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise," Vlad said. "I created an area in which it was easier for you to manifest a second form. Your second persona is stabilized while he is inside that high-energy zone." He pointed at the Noah still floating in the energy area. "If that zone wasn't there, you would have dematerialized before you formed. It takes a lot of practice to make yourself solid."
"So…" said the Noah in the zone, "If I exited right now, I'd…" He stuck a hand outside the area; it disappeared. When he drew it back in, the hand reformed.
"It's hard to keep those copies of yourself stable and solid," Vlad explained. "So for a while, we'll practice with a high-energy zone to make your clones stick around. Once you feel ready, we'll move to reality, and you'll try to keep your clones alive without any assistance. Then we'll make your clones do completely separate things, like one human and one ghost."
"You can do that?" Noah asked, impressed.
Vlad waved a hand, and the energy zone dissipated. The floating Noah began to break down, dematerializing in the air. Noah fought with all his concentration to keep his clone intact.
"It's all right," Vlad said. "Don't use up too much of your power trying to stabilize the clone; let it go, we'll do more practice."
When the clone was down to just a head, Noah was straining with concentration, breaking a sweat again. And finally, somehow, the floating head stayed in place, without disintegrating. Then the body started to reform under the head; the arms shimmered back into place, and the entire clone was back and completely stable.
"My word!" Vlad exclaimed, faking surprise. He had known Noah would probably be able to keep the clone intact; creating the clone was the hard part. But if he made Noah think that he was exceeding expectations, Noah's excitement and adrenaline would make the lessons go even faster. "That is incredible! I don't even believe it, Noah; you've stabilized yourself without the energy field!"
Noah laughed and high fived himself. "WICKED!" he shouted again.
Vlad smiled and glanced to the front. "How close are we?"
"According to the Infi-map, we're only about fifteen minutes or so away from the portal," Tucker shouted back. "From there, we gotta drive quick to another natural portal that'll appear five minutes later. That one will take us straight to Mississippi—and it'll take us there to a time ten minutes before we left."
"That's like, negative a million miles per hour," Sam said, laughing. "I didn't think it was possible to arrive somewhere before we left."
"Well, it's a good thing, too," Tucker said. "Check this out." He held up his PDA, which was getting a live broadcast from a news station. Vulcrex had been seen destroying gas stations and feeding on them all the way down to the tip of Louisiana. "We'd have been way too late if we'd driven towards it."
"Let's just hope we can make it to the Mississippi portal in time," Jazz said. "Remember, it's about four and a half minutes away from where we'll enter, and we only have five minutes to get there. We can't waste any time."
"Stay optimistic, guys," Noah said. "We'll make it. And if anything gets in our way, we have two powerful half-ghosts here who can get rid of the problem…" He looked at his clone. "And we can have as many more back-ups as we want!"
The Speeder slowed to a stop in the middle of a forest. There were two trees there that grew near each other and looked like the fused into each other; it looked like the sort of place where a natural portal might be. They knew without saying anything that this was the place. "We're here," Tucker said. "In, say, thirteen minutes, the portal will open… and then we're in for the drag race of a lifetime."
"Wait," Vlad said. "My boy, Noah, would you come outside and take a walk with me?"
"What?" Noah said. "I… I don't think we ought to. I mean, the portal…"
"I have a watch," Vlad said. "Well, actually, I have fifty. But I'm wearing one, you see. I'd like to discuss some matters that… that I'd like to keep secret. Would you come with me for a five-minute walk?"
Noah glanced at Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, who all eyed Vlad suspiciously. He glanced back at Vlad, and nodded. "All right. But let's get back quick."
"Of course," Vlad said, and he phased through the Specter Speeder's wall. Noah followed him, and they walked into the woods where they couldn't be heard or seen.
The next time Danny opened his eyes, he got the surprise of his life.
Dash was sitting by his bedside, flipping through a magazine with a bored look on his face. Danny was staring at him for at least thirty seconds before Dash noticed.
"Um, hi," Dash said sheepishly, grinning when he saw Danny look up. "I'm… uh… I'm glad you're awake. And feeling better."
Danny had been healing rather quickly; he heard the nurses talking about it. It was almost unnatural. He wondered if being half-ghost had anything to do with it. His skin was still raw and in some places he'd had to have grafts, but mostly, he was feeling a lot less pain. He'd been feeling pain even with the painkillers for the past day, but that had subsided. He barely even felt the spots where Spectra had hit him. Of course, he still felt like he couldn't get out of the bed without feeling awful, but it was great to know that even this near fatality was a thing of the past within a week.
However, what Danny found even more baffling than his miraculous speed-recovery was the fact that the kid who'd been bullying him since they met was now waiting by his bedside, perking when Danny woke up, like a happy dog. Why did Dash care enough to visit him?
"I like your shorter hair," Dash offered.
There was an awkward silence. A very, very awkward silence.
"So, Fenton," Dash started, then coughed into his sleeve. "Where did your friends go with the mayor?"
Danny had a sudden urge to sit up. "What?" he said, regaining his voice a little.
"I saw Noah and your sister and friends walking towards your house with Mayor Masters," Dash said. "I was just… wondering if you knew why."
"No," Danny muttered, his brain whirring, trying to figure out what this could be about. Was Vlad brainwashing them or something?
"Well, anyway…" Dash turned towards the window. "I don't really know how to… um…" He seemed distracted. "What is—" He stood up and stared out the window. "I… I remember him!"
"What?" Danny asked again, trying to lean his head over to see.
Dash suddenly dove out of the way as a large, blue-gray figure crashed through the window and hovered in the center of the room on a jetpack. It was Skulker.
"Greetings, young human," he said, staring at Dash. "I remember you. You were the human prey that got away, and I still haven't forgiven myself for that one."
Dash backed off, shaking. Skulker turned to Danny. "Ah, but the true prize is here," he said, grinning. "And what's this? He can do nothing to defend himself. Usually, I would not hunt you in such a condition. But exceptions can be made when I know I'm outmatched, and besides… I can always bring you back to my lair and hunt you later!"
He reached out towards Danny, but his mechanical suit alerted him to an attack coming from behind.
He reached around and threw a punch as Dash tried to jump him, and Dash was knocked backwards into a wall. But he was a football player, and was used to that sort of extreme contact; Dash was back up again and charging before Skulker reached Danny again.
Skulker growled and turned around, firing an energy gun at Dash. But Dash was also a quarterback, and a master of fake plays; he ducked and sprinted around Skulker's side, and then jumped him from behind, knocking off the jetpack. Skulker crashed into the floor from the small fall, and Dash was on top of him, tearing off pieces of his suit with brute strength.
"No! Stop it!" Skulker yelled, and turned intangible just as Dash ripped part of the head off.
The tiny little green blob that was Skulker slid out and landed on the floor, then shook his fist at Dash and flew out the window. "I'LL BE BAAAAACK!"
Danny was in awe of the performance Dash had just made, and then looked out the window as something blocked out the sun.
It was Desiree, the Lunch Lady, Johnny 13, Kitty, the Box Ghost, Ember, Youngblood, and Technus. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened: they all heard that Danny Phantom was incapacitated, and all of them were ready to give him some payback while he couldn't pay back.
"Dash," Danny whispered. "Get out of here."
Vlad and Noah came walking back from the forest several minutes later. Vlad had a strange smile on his face, and Sam was immediately suspicious. But, strangely, Noah had the same odd little grin, and he nodded to the three teens as they phased back into the Speeder.
"Where the heck were you two?" Jazz shouted. "The portal's opening any—"
"There it is!" Tucker shouted.
The tree arch suddenly buckled as if there were a strong wind pushing it back. A green swirling mass appeared in the center with a flash of light and a noise that almost sounded like laughter.
"Go!" Sam said to Tucker. The Speeder rose into the air and prepared to fire off.
Jazz suddenly jumped and reached into her pocket. Her cellphone was going off. "It's Dash," she said, confused. "Oh boy—I hope it's not bad news about Danny…" She answered it. "Hello?"
The Speeder blasted into the portal.
The mass of ghosts grinned at him lying in the hospital bed. Dash stood, paralyzed with fear again.
Danny raised his voice as Dash didn't move. "GET OUT OF HERE. NOW!"
Dash grabbed the jetpack that was on the floor, and, with the wires that fell out of it, he strapped it around himself in a flash. As the first ghosts started to pour through the window, he grabbed Danny around the waist and slammed his other hand into a button that had been revealed on the inside when the pack was torn off. He ran towards the window as the jetpack started to shake and sputter; he dove through the cloud of ghosts, which parted for him as he plummeted to the ground. The jetpack started to roar when they were halfway to the ground, and he blasted off, away from the ghostly lasers that started to pursue him when Danny's enemies figured out what was going on.
An awestruck Danny kept a tight grip around Dash's shoulders as he looked down at the ghosts pursuing them. He leaned back a little bit and said as loud as he could against the wind, "Where are we going?"
"I don't know!" Dash yelled back. "Do you have a safe place in your house?"
Danny stared at the mass of angry spirits not a hundred yards away; they weren't getting closer, but they weren't getting farther. The wind was stinging his skin, but he knew it was nowhere near as bad as what the pain he'd feel if they got caught.
"My house has the ghost shield, but I don't know if we would be able to get it up in time," Danny yelled back.
Dash reached an arm into his pocket. "I have your sister's phone number on here, because of the tutoring!" he yelled. "Is she home? She could put up the ghost shield before we got there!"
"I hope so!" Danny shouted.
Dash clicked a few buttons. "Dash! Dodge!" Danny yelled.
Dash swerved to the right as a blast of energy barreled towards them. He put the phone to his ear. "Come on… Come on… Jazz! Are you at Fenton Works? …Jazz? JAZZ!" He slammed the phone shut. "FRICKIN T-MOBILE!"
"Call my parents," Danny yelled. "Here—I'll do it!" He took the phone from Dash, ignoring the pain that came from moving, and dialed his house number. He put the phone to his ear, hoping that his parents would pick up—but nobody did, and the answering machine picked up. "I don't think they're home!"
"Great!" Dash yelled. "So, where do we go?"
"I have one idea," Danny said. "Go to Fenton Works anyway. We'll go into the Op Center and release it! But we'll have to do it fast!"
"Isn't it a freaking blimp?" Dash shouted back.
"It can turn itself into a jet," Danny responded with a little bit of a laugh.
"Gotcha," Dash said. "How are we gonna get in?"
"We'll have to crash through a window," Danny said, grimacing.
He didn't hear Dash sigh, but he felt it against the other boy's chest. Dash looked down at him, smiling. "Couldn't… Couldn't you just… phase us through?"
"What?"
"All right, Fenton, I guess now's as good a time as any to mention that," Dash said. "I know you're Danny Phantom."
Danny fell a little limp in Dash's grip. What? Dash knew his secret, too? If Dash, celebrated dunderhead and D-student, had figured out his secret, how many others had?
"How did you… know?" Danny asked.
Dash veered a little bit to the left. "Wait. Which way is your house?"
"You're going the right way," Danny said. "It'll be hard to miss when it comes into view. But Dash… how did you find out?"
Dash looked around. "How close do you think we are?"
"Stop avoiding the question, Dash," Danny pleaded. "I need to know how you found out, and if you've told anyone, so that I can avoid revealing myself in the future."
Dash let out another sigh. "I haven't told anyone," he said. "I promise. But… it's kind of a long story how I found out, and you don't remember any of it."
"I don't remember any of it?" Danny asked, confused. Then he lit up. "Oh! You mean… the school blackout?"
"I was the only one who didn't black out," Dash said. "It was Luster."
"So how did I give it away, then?" Danny asked. "And how come you were the only one who didn't black out?"
"Um…" Dash laughed humorlessly and nervously. "Can we talk about it when we're somewhere safe?"
Danny nodded. "There it is! Veer a little more left!"
Dash saw it, too, and turned as Danny was shouting. Danny looked back again to see that the ghosts were still as far, and as close, as ever. "I'm going to need to act fast once we get in there," Danny said. "Drop me right after I phase us through."
Dash turned slightly downwards until they were on a direct path towards the Op Center. They accelerated with the slight pull of gravity. "Drop the jetpack when we get really close," Danny said. "I'll fly us the slight distance in. Otherwise we'll crash hard."
"Got it," Dash said, and slid his fingers into the knot around his chest, weakening it. It finally unraveled completely, and he grabbed either end of the wires, holding it strapped around his chest.
"Now!" Danny yelled as they closed in. Dash dropped the jetpack, which aligned itself vertically and shot directly upwards. Danny turned them invisible at the moment they were dropped, and the horde of ghosts turned upwards to chase the jetpack. Danny caught himself and Dash in midair, again ignoring the intense pain, and flew forwards as fast as he could, phasing through the wall of the Op Center. They tumbled to a stop, and Danny jumped up to get to the Op Center Release Button before the angry ghosts figured out that he and Dash weren't attached to the jetpack anymore.
He slammed the button down, and the fixtures highest up on the building snapped off as the blimp inflated above them. Danny then ran to the refrigerator, picking up the Emergency Ham and pressing that button as well. The top of the blimp snapped off, too, as his ghostly pursuers turned towards the blimp. The ship on the bottom expanded and transformed, until jets in the back blasted them off into the horizon. Danny then ran to the controls and hit the Auto-pilot, and an inflatable version of his father popped up on the driver's seat. Danny hit a few buttons to increase the speed and fly in a straight line, and the other ghosts were left far behind.
"All right," Danny said. He slumped against the wall and tried to take his mind off of his aching body. "I think we'll be able to escape them until I'm strong enough to fight back again. That is, if they haven't given up the chase. But we're already out of sight. I suspect they'll give in." Dash walked up and sat down next to him, grinning. Danny smiled back. "And, thank you, Dash."
"You've been saving our butts for, like, ever," Dash replied. "It's about time I was able to repay you a little."
"I… still want an explanation, though," Danny said. "About how you figured out. I need to make sure nobody else finds out."
"Don't worry," Dash said. "It's not something that would happen again."
"Still."
Dash nodded. "Um… you may not want to hear some parts of it."
"I'll live."
Dash took a deep breath in. "Okay. Here goes."
The Specter Speeder rocketed through the Ghost Zone. "How are we doing on time?" Jazz said.
"We're more than halfway," Sam said. "We're gonna make it with 30 seconds to spare."
Tucker concentrated on the drive ahead of them. "No sign of obstacles yet," he said. "But I doubt much would stand in our way except a full-on assault, and what are the chances of that? No one knew we were coming."
"Why wouldn't we be in danger except for a full-on assault?" Noah asked.
"Real-world items pass through stuff in the Ghost Zone," Sam explained.
"Whoa," Tucker said. "What is that?"
An enormous form was ahead of them. Vlad narrowed his eyes at the sight. "It's the Behemoth," he said. "It used to guard the Skeleton Key. Now it wanders freely across the Ghost Zone."
"Is it a problem?"
Vlad nodded. "Yes. Big problem. It will probably attack us. No worry."
"No worry?" Sam shouted.
"Slow down for ten seconds or so," Vlad said.
"What?" Tucker yelled. They were about ten seconds from collision. "Are you insane? We have a time limit here!"
"Listen to him!" Noah blurted, and slammed his hand on the emergency brake button; they slid to a stop.
As Jazz, Sam, and Tucker argued with Noah, Vlad transformed and flew out the front window. The Behemoth was moving towards them, but it stopped when it saw Vlad. "Get out of the way!" Vlad yelled.
The Behemoth growled, but its eyes seemed to go unfocused at the sight of Vlad. It moved to the side and stared at him.
Vlad flew back in. "Hurry up!" he said. Noah took his hand off the button and they resumed their course. The Behemoth growled again at them as they passed, but it did not pursue.
"How did you do that?" Jazz asked.
"I have some influence here in the Ghost Zone," Vlad said, shrugging. "I challenged the Behemoth some time ago and won, and he's respected me as his superior since then."
"That would be when you stole the Skeleton Key and freed the Ghost King?" Sam shot.
Vlad grinned. "Let's not get too hung up on details," he said.
Jazz pressed a finger to the front windshield, pointing. "There it is!" she said. "Come on!"
"It's not going to disappear, darling, don't worry," Vlad said. "We didn't waste thirty seconds on that creature."
The portal seemed to be shrinking as they approached, but it was open enough that they could sail through easily. It disappeared behind them several seconds later.
"That was too close," Sam said. "But we made it. Tucker, activate the ghost tracker!"
Tucker punched a few buttons, and the tracking screen popped up on the dashboard. "Let's see," Tucker said. "That was easy—got him. There's a Scale 10 ectoplasmic entity approaching us, about 50 miles to the north." He adjusted their course.
"Scale 10?" Sam said, gaping. "Isn't Danny only a Scale 7?"
"He's been moving up," Tucker said. "Like he's getting more powerful. But he's still only a scale 7.3. Noah is at 6.8. And Vlad is at 7.5. So this is still the most powerful thing we've ever seen. I wonder if Scale 10 is the maximum."
"It is," Vlad said. "Anything with more power wouldn't have a physical form."
"Explain that to us later," Jazz said. "For now, let's go."
"I'll be at the back, waiting for you to turn around when he's in sight," Noah said. "That's the plan? I fire and then I use my fire abilities to try and guard us while you lure him away?"
"That's the plan," Vlad said. "I will be assisting you also."
"Thanks!" Noah said. "I don't care what anyone else says about you. You're a good guy."
"Well, thank you, my boy," Vlad said. "I'll quickly admit I've been acting like a child with my little war with Danny. But that's all in the past, isn't it, hm?"
Vlad suddenly yelped and flinched as Sam punched him hard in the arm. He turned around in a bit of a rage and called out, "What was that for?"
Sam shrugged, smiling sweetly. "It doesn't matter. It's in the past!"
Noah glared at Sam, but sat with his legs folded in the back of the Speeder. Vlad laughed. "Yes, well I suppose you had reason to do that."
"You're absolutely right," Sam said. "That's for almost killing me and Tucker with ecto-acne. I'd hurt you more if you didn't have superpowers."
"We're closing in," Tucker said, interrupting the exchange. "He's moving crazy fast. More than two miles a minute, looks like. We're 44 miles from impact."
"All right, then," Vlad said softly. "We'd better all get ready."
There was a silence that lasted several minutes as they all hoped for the best when they finally met up with Vulcrex. The seconds didn't pass by like hours, but they were significantly more packed with dread and anticipation.
Eight minutes went by, and then Tucker cleared his throat. "Two miles. We'll be coming on it at a slight angle." He pointed in the direction that Vulcrex would appear in.
"Then angle us away a little bit," Vlad said. "Put us in his path and then turn around so Noah can face out the back."
Noah grinned and stood in a fighting stance.
Sam walked up to him and put both her hands on his shoulders. "Hey, Noah," she said. "I know you're feeling confident. You certainly look like it. I think that's great. Just be careful, you know? And good luck." She smiled and kissed him on the ear.
Noah suddenly turned red, and he staggered on the floor. "Whoa," he said, putting a hand into the hair on his forehead. "Where… am I?"
Sam giggled. "That's cute," she said. "Go on. Go get 'em."
"How close are we?" Noah asked, turning around.
"Less than a mile away," Tucker said. "I think… I think I see him. And we're right in his path."
Noah suddenly lost all confidence. "What?" he shouted. "When did we get so close? I—"
Vlad went to his other side and leaned down in front of him, whispering something. Noah straightened up and nodded, and Vlad stepped aside. "Open up the back!" Vlad said, turning to Tucker.
The back of the Speeder opened up and Vulcrex was in plain view, a football field away. He turned as if to avoid the Speeder.
Noah nodded to Vlad, who nodded back. Noah set his feet into the floor and out of his hands erupted a burst of fire that intercepted Vulcrex's path. Vulcrex slowed to a stop and stared down the Specter Speeder.
He looked like he was made of rock that moved around his skin like the crust of the Earth. There seemed to be a glowing red mantle in his center, visible through the cracks on the craggy brown rock that flowed on his skin. His face, though, was constant; a straight line for a mouth and two glowing red narrowed eyes.
Noah shot another blast of fire at Vulcrex, and Vulcrex responded with an explosion that billowed across the ground directly at them. Vlad threw up a shield on the very edge of the Speeder while Noah used his fire abilities to try to control the assault.
"Go!" Jazz yelled to Tucker; Tucker started up the Speeder and accelerated towards the closest portal to the Ghost Zone, as dictated by the Infi-map.
"Is he following us?" Sam asked, looking at the ghost tracker. Her heart leapt. "Yes! Yes he is!"
"How long do they have to hold Vulcrex off?" Jazz asked. She grabbed the Infi-map and scanned it. "Oh! This is great! It's not far at all! We just have to stall for… it looks like we're already a third of the way there!"
The chase continued, with almost consecutive fireballs the size of buildings blasting after them. Vlad turned to look at Noah; the strain looked like it was finally beginning to take a toll on the boy. "Keep it up!" Vlad shouted. "Almost there! Keep fighting that fire!"
Finally, the green portal opened up as just a dot in the distance. Vulcrex was almost on top of them already, but Tucker still slowed down.
"What are you slowing for?" Jazz screamed, clutching her hair.
Tucker turned violently to the left, and Vulcrex followed; then he turned back towards the portal. "We should go through it right as it closes!" Tucker responded. "Then if he realizes his mistake in following us, he can't go back through!"
"That doesn't help if he catches us!" Sam yelled.
Vulcrex was closer to Noah than the front of the Speeder was, and he was putting heavy pressure on the teen. Vlad turned and saw Noah's legs start to buckle with the strain of holding back the stream of fire, and he knew he had to do something. He duplicated himself, and one clone flew out the back and shot a ray of energy at Vulcrex.
The energy ray simply passed into Vulcrex's body without moving him. But the ghost's head turned and he waved his hand, making the air between them explode in a direct path towards Vlad's clone, which vanished on contact. But the distraction gave Noah enough time to catch his footing.
"Ten seconds!" Tucker shouted. "Keep holding! EIGHT SECONDS!"
The back of the Specter Speeder was melting off. Parts of the hatch that had been lifted up was dripping onto Vulcrex's body, hissing and bubbling and then evaporating.
Finally they blasted into the Ghost Zone, and the portal closed as Vulcrex passed through directly behind them. The fire ghost turned and stared at where the portal had been, suddenly comprehending what had just happened. He turned at the Speeder, flying away, and seemed to be talking, but there was no sound; just what looked like steam billowing from his mouth. He then blasted after them.
Sam jumped into the air in the Speeder and pumped a fist. "YES!" she shouted. "We did it!" She ran over to Noah and hugged him. "Noah, you did it!"
"Where'd we come in?" Jazz asked as Sam ran back up to the front. "Where are we near?"
Noah looked around. "What in the…?" He turned back around. "This is where my portal is!"
Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Vlad all turned to look at him. "Your portal?" they all said together.
Noah looked back again in case he had to ward off Vulcrex. "Yeah. If we were going the other way, we'd have ended up right where the portal my parents built is. If we have time, you guys could see my house!"
"Does England have a ghost problem?" Sam asked.
Noah shook his head. "Nope. I'm careful with the portal. My parents built most of it, but it broke when they tried to start it. They disassembled it because it was too risky to continue—it destroyed our entire house the first time. But I stole the blueprints and made some modifications… my parents still don't know about that one. I kept it a secret when I got my powers." He took his stance again as Vulcrex approached. "When I took up the project, I expected to have to do some major revisions. Strangely enough, though, everything in their calculations seemed to be right, except for one little problem: The ecto-catalyst wasn't strong enough. With some quick research, I discovered that the ecto-purifier needed to be mixed with some combination of methyl ester, benzoic sulfilimine, and crystalline xanthine alkaloids. Funnily enough, these are all very common chemicals. They were actually all together in some brands of diet cola in the 1980's."
Sam and Tucker exchanged knowing glances, remembering Danny's story of what happened when they had contracted ecto-acne.
"So I got the portal working, and out of an incredible wave of stupidity likely brought on by the euphoria of having completed my experiment, I curiously stuck my head through the portal to see what was behind it." He laughed. "Thing was, it hadn't finished charging up yet. I got zapped pretty bad. Good thing I came to my senses before my parents went up to check on me."
The three other teens were all very invested in Noah's story. Strangely, though, Vlad looked very unhappy. He walked back over to Noah again and whispered with the boy again. Noah again nodded to him, and took his fighting stance again. As Vlad withdrew, Sam saw a glimpse of something red inside Vlad's jacket. It looked familiar.
"Where do we lead him?" Sam asked. "We're not close to Frostbite, are we?"
Noah turned around again. "Swerve thirty degrees left! Follow the Pink River!"
"Pink River?" Sam said as Tucker turned. "Sounds hideous."
"What's this about, Noah?" Vlad asked.
"We'll be arriving really quickly if we're where I think we are," Noah said. "Tell me when you reach the Fountain Temple."
"I already see it!" Tucker said, and he directed the Speeder downwards slightly.
"All right!" Noah said. "Here goes everything!" He concentrated as hard as he could, and with a shimmer of light, he duplicated himself almost immediately.
Vlad laughed and clapped his hands. One of his forms turned invisible and flew towards the ground as they crossed over what Noah had called the Fountain Temple. There was water pouring from the top and running down each side of a four-sided pyramid of stairs with an entrance on one end. Meanwhile, Vulcrex passed by the temple, not noticing Noah's clone descending inside. He was almost within firing distance.
The Noah inside the Speeder yelled back to the gang, "This is where I spent most of my Ghost Zone time. There are ghost warriors who deal strictly with water here. I found another half-ghost who lived in the Ghost Zone—she was able to manipulate water, too. She serves as their queen, and I'm good friends with her. I should be able to convince her to help us!"
"Should I turn around and fly over the temple again?"
"Yes, but not yet. I'll tell you when they're ready." Noah tuned his mind both to keeping an eye on a possible attack from Vulcrex and finding his friend Megan Wright in the Fountain Temple.
Vulcrex was holding off on his attack; he might simply be following them to see if they knew a way out. Or he was waiting until he was close so that he didn't have to waste power. Whatever the reason, it was a good thing he wasn't firing: Noah was not as powerful, being focused on a clone as well as his original self.
"Now!" Noah yelled after about half a minute. "They're getting ready to attack!"
Tucker swerved in a 180, then turned upwards and rocketed over Vulcrex. Vulcrex turned almost as quickly and followed, catching up more from that stunt than before. He held up a glowing red hand and they could sense him building his energy.
"Faster!" Noah yelled, blasting fire out the back to try to increase their speed as much as he could.
"This is as fast as I can go!" Tucker yelled back. "Crossing over the temple in ten… nine… eight… seven… six…five… four… three… two… one and a half… one…"
As they passed over the temple, and flew over the Pink River again, the river foamed, as did the lake it fed into. What looked like hundreds of green primitive warriors burst out of the river; they looked much like Zoras from any Zelda game, differing only with two fins on their back that looked almost like tiny wings. In fact, the Zelda creature looked like it could have been designed on a sighting of this ghost, if the designer hadn't known what he was seeing.
They all raised their hands in a formation that looked like the front end of a jumping-jack. The entire river burst out of the ground and slammed into Vulcrex as he passed; all along the river, more water was drawn in by other warriors and sent up as water evaporated. Vulcrex was unseen among the steam, but he wasn't breaking free of the fluid. The pink water kept blasting him with what looked like greater pressure than a fire hose, and it went on for almost a full minute while the Specter Speeder floated back to watch. Noah's clone disappeared from the Speeder; they saw him standing next to a young human woman on the steps of the Fountain Temple.
The warriors finally stopped shooting the water at Vulcrex. The steam disappeared, and they saw a brown form fall from the sky. The inner heat had gone; he was just a rock now, and he fell to the ground and shattered.
A tense silence followed; Sam and Tucker expected the ghost to rise back up and continue destroying everything. But their eyes moved to the Ghost Tracker. There were thousands of ghosts around… but when they set it to only recognize ghosts of Scale 9 or higher, there were none.
"I think… it's dead," Tucker said. He paused for a moment, then added, "Again."
Danny's eyes were locked on Dash as the blond finished his story. "And I knew you wouldn't remember any of it," he said. "So I decided to keep the secret that I knew your secret. I put the thermos back in your hands. And I opened the ghost book to a page on Luster and put it on Sam's table so you could figure out what happened."
Danny was stunned. This was… interesting, to say the least. But why had Dash been so afraid to tell it?
"But nothing romantic happened between us," Dash said for the fifth time. "You just really liked being around me for a while."
"Wait," Danny interrupted, something not clicking. "You said Luster knocked me out with an energy blast?"
"Yeah," Dash said. "That's why I had to take the thermos and use it."
Danny's gaze never wavered. "Dash… You're leaving something out."
"What?" Dash fought his face from turning red as best he could. "Why would you think that? No, that was everything."
"You couldn't have seen him," Danny stated simply. "You wouldn't have known where to aim the thermos."
Dash worked his jaw up and down. "I… took the glasses that you were wearing."
Danny shook his head, but still didn't look away. "They'd broken from contact with the floor."
"That happened… afterwards," Dash said slowly.
"When?"
Silence.
"Dash… what really happened?" Danny's hand moved a little closer and brushed against Dash's fingers. "Just say it."
Dash finally made unwavering eye contact with Danny. "Luster did something to you," he said. "I couldn't see what was happening, but you just got this crazy look on your face and you… jumped me and… kissed me." His ears flashed completely red. "Then I could suddenly see him."
"Oh," Danny said. He had been somewhat expecting it, but still…
"Sorry," Dash mumbled, rubbing his ears with one hand, keeping the other close to Danny's.
Danny smiled. "No. That's okay. I'm proud of you for having beaten Luster."
"Thanks."
Danny slid his hand fully under Dash's. The jock stiffened and glanced sideways at him, but didn't remove his hand.
Danny waited without moving, to see if Dash's hand would withdraw.
It didn't.
They sailed through a portal that led them directly to the outskirts of Amity Park, holding the Infi-map and cheering. Vlad smiled. "Please," he said. "Come to my mansion. I insist. I'll treat you all to dinner."
Sam laughed. "I think that's all right," she said. "Thanks, but I'll pass. I just want to get back to Danny and tell him, and then relax."
Noah smiled sweetly at Sam. "Come on, Sam!" he said. "Let's go!"
Sam bit her lip. "Well…"
Jazz shook her head. "I'll walk to the hospital," she said. "I'm going to go see my little brother." She opened up her phone as she hopped out the open back. "And I've got to return this call from Dash."
"We really should go, too," Sam said. "Come on, Noah! Don't you want to see Danny?"
Noah looked back at Vlad. "Yeah, but… Jazz is going to tell him about the whole thing. We can visit him later. The Mayor's invited us to a feast, though!"
"Noah, this is not like you," Sam said. "Why don't you care about your friend?"
"It's not that," Noah said. "It's just… Vlad… All those times he was talking to me… he was asking me if I wanted to live with him. As his son. …And I want to!"
Sam was aghast, and Tucker was just awestruck. Vlad smiled. "You do?"
"Yes," Noah said, walking over to Vlad and hugging him.
Sam sputtered. "But… but… wait, though, don't you—don't you want to see if Danny's all right first?"
"He's all right," said a young girl's voice behind them, inside the Speeder.
Tucker and Sam whipped around to see Danielle floating behind them, and they grinned. "Dani!" they both exclaimed.
"I checked on him," Dani said, smiling, floating horizontally on her stomach with her head in her hands. "He was sleeping like a baby at the hospital just five minutes ago!"
Almost at the same time, Jazz ran back into the Specter Speeder with a relieved but still panicked expression, breathing slightly heavily. "Guys!" she said. "You're not going to believe this. It's… crazy. Danny and Dash had to evacuate the hospital. All of Danny's enemies came to beat up on him while he was weak… and they escaped on Skulker's jetpack. They're in the Op Center Jet right now, blasting off just to keep moving! And Dash knew Danny's secret!"
Jazz stopped talking as she noticed that none of them seemed to be paying attention to the fact that Dash knew about Danny. They were all staring at Danielle, who had a frightened expression on her face as she stared at Jazz.
"Why is Danielle here?" Jazz asked nervously.
Suddenly a connection was made in Sam's mind about the red item she'd seen inside Vlad's jacket, along with the way all the ghosts had been acting strangely. She made a dive at Vlad's coat, but he jumped out of the way. Dani and Noah both then advanced on her threateningly, and Vlad snarled, "What was that for?"
"Tucker! Jazz!" Sam shouted. "Vlad's got the crystal that Freakshow had! He must have found the pieces and put them together!"
Vlad stomped a foot on the ground. "HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?" he growled. He put a hand on Noah's shoulder and looked at Danielle. "Take them in! We'll just say they were killed in the pursuit of Vulcrex. My plan is almost complete and I can't have you three protecting Daniel from my control!"
Danny fought the mind control once, Sam said. He can do it again! But… shouldn't Noah and Danielle be able to fight it, too? How do I free them from—
But she already had freed Noah. She'd done it several times, and each time, Vlad got angry and had to reprogram him!
She threw herself at Noah and locked herself in a kiss with him. Noah's eyes went unfocused again, and he suddenly snapped back into reality as Sam got dragged away by Danielle. "Noah!" she shouted. "Don't look at Vlad! He's got a mind-controlling gem!"
Noah stared for a moment, not comprehending.
"Look at me, my son!" Vlad called, opening his robe, careful to keep his own eyes averted.
Noah started to turn, but his instincts suddenly caught up with him, and he took in Sam's shout. He smiled with his back to Vlad, and said, "What was that, Father?"
Vlad grinned. "Take them," he ordered.
Vlad didn't notice the clone Noah manifested behind his back. With one swift move, Noah swept his legs under Vlad's to lift him, and then blasted him in the back of the head, sending him spiraling into the wall. The older man hit the side of the Speeder and fell, unconscious.
Noah combined his two forms back into one and fought off a screaming Danielle who then assaulted him. "Get the jewel!" he called.
Vlad was stirring, but Sam got to him and pulled out the large red orb, still cracked where it had shattered the first time. Since Vlad didn't seem to have spent much time putting it back together, it shouldn't be difficult to destroy it again. She placed it on the ground, lifted a combat boot, and stomped as hard as she could.
The gem shattered everywhere, and Danielle suddenly came back into her own mind. She shook her head to clear it, and stared at Vlad with anger. "What is he doing here?" she shot angrily.
"He hypnotized you," Sam said as Vlad lifted himself up to look feebly at his competition. "But now's your chance for payback!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Dani said.
Vlad transformed into his ghostly alter-ego and stood defiantly. "I'm still more powerful than all of you combined!" he yelled, duplicating himself into five, spreading the length of the Specter Speeder. "What makes you think you stand a chance?"
"I know exactly what makes me stand more than a chance," Danielle said. "A nice little trick I learned from Danny!" She took in a deep breath, and then screamed with a devastating sonic wave like a higher-pitched version of Danny's Ghostly Wail.
Four of the Vlads in front of them melted backwards and faded; the other one exploded out the back of the Specter Speeder and crashed through the side of the movie theater and out the roof. Danielle stopped and laughed, falling to her knees and transforming back.
"Danny didn't teach me that one," Noah said, gaping. Then he turned to Sam. "Sam… thank you for getting me out of that mess."
"It was nothing," Sam said, and then noticed Noah's smile falter. "No, wait," she said. "I meant that it wasn't hard. It was really easy, actually." She smiled at Noah. "And I enjoyed it. I thought you should know that."
"I enjoyed it, too," Noah said, and shuffled himself closer.
Sam met him halfway, and they drew into each other again for another kiss.
A roar in the sky drew Tucker and Jazz's eyes up as they smiled, and the Op Center Jet descended above them. It landed a few yards away, and Danny hobbled out, assisted by Dash.
"Guys," Danny said, smiling. "I have something to tell you."
Sam and Noah broke apart and looked over. "They know that Dash knows," Jazz said, smiling and shrugging. "Sorry. I already told them."
"That wasn't what I was thinking about," Danny said.
Tucker lifted an eyebrow at Danny's grin. "What, then?"
Danny put a hand on the side of Dash's face and then lifted himself up on his toes as Dash leaned down and they met in a kiss. All four of the other teens just gawked, jaws dropping and eyes nearly popping out. The boys' kiss lasted for a long time, and then they drew apart, smiling into each other's eyes.
"That might be the biggest surprise I've had in my life," Tucker said. "And that includes you stepping into a machine that gave you superpowers, Danny."
"I know," Danny said. "I don't even know how it happened. It just… did."
"Well, that's how love's supposed to be," Jazz said, tilting her head and smiling with watery eyes. "And you know that I'll always support you. No matter who you love."
"I think we can all agree on that," Sam said.
"Hey, my best friend back home had two moms," Noah grinned.
Dash and Danny seemed to be eager to make up for the time they'd missed. They leaned back together for another kiss. Sam and Noah followed up and locked lips, too.
Tucker and Jazz looked to each couple. Then Tucker turned to Jazz and raised his eyebrows. Jazz laughed and pecked him on the cheek. "Nice try," she said, smirking.
"Worth a shot," Tucker said, shrugging and laughing.
-THE END-