Oops, I forgot to put the chap title on that last one, sorry! I apologize for the delay.
Chapter 13: Golf carts
"Oh thank goodness it's you two! Something terrible happened to Danny!" cried out Agatha's disembodied voice.
Dipper looked around for Agatha, but in her normal form she wasn't visible.
"We know, Aggie," said Randy gravely, "Vlad told us."
A faint glow appeared by the window, drawing Dipper and Randy's gaze. Small tentacles of yellow lightning sparked around the light, and Agatha's eyes appeared, burning bright with anger. She flickered into view, angry energy empowering her.
"I hate that guy! But Randy, it was your enemies that shot him down!" she said.
Randy's shoulders slumped.
"Vlad told us that too."
Agatha shook with rage. A rogue lightning bolt took out the nearby lamp with a loud POP! And another scorched scar lines onto the walls and ceiling. Randy and Dipper threw their hands in front of their faces for protection.
"Agatha! Calm down!" cried Dipper.
Agatha took a deep breath and the lightning stopped. With another breath she was invisible once more. Howard let out a loud snore, but no one stirred.
"Sorry. I'm just scared, that's all. There's so much to worry about." She whispered.
"Let's (yawn) sleep on it. mkay?" suggested Randy, already falling back onto his mattress, eyelids drooping. Dipper crept back into his own bad and fell asleep almost instantly. the boys were tired beyond belief. Snores and nightly silence once again filled the room.
Sam awoke to warm morning sunlight on her face. Normally she would cover her face in disgust of the harsh light, but this morning it felt okay. Energizing even.
But still, light was light, and Sam was a creature of the dark.
She rolled over moaning and found herself face to face with Howard's bare and very unhygienic feet.
Needless to say, her scream served as the alarm for the rest of the teens.
"AAaaaaaaaaGGHH!"
"SAM!"
"What the heck?!"
"Get away from my beautiful toes, woman!"
"Howard, the pig is eating your sharpies."
"Bad WADDLES! MOOOORRRNIIIIIIING (sung like a musical)"
"Agatha? Wait, where's Danny?!"
Sam and Tucker sat up and rounded on Norman, who was staring an invisible Agatha. Dipper hugged his arms to his chest, uncomfortable, and Randy looked away.
Mabel looked expectantly at the young seer, just as curious for news on her hero.
Agatha's bodiless voice filled the room like an echo.
"He…he was kidnapped by McFist…" she said quietly.
"WHAT! No, no, not Danny PHANTOM! There is no way." protested Mabel.
Sam looked ready to murder McFist. She knew she could do it too. She had spent long hours devising devious and painful ways of expunging Vlad, should Danny ever ask it of her. Sam took pride in her Goth-nourished ability to imagine pain for others.
"I swear, people need to get their enemies straight, or I'll get my hands on a scythe and set them straight!" she declared, fists clenched at her side. Tucker took a small scooch away from her, and Howard watched her warily. Randy shook his head, causing Sam and the rest to get even more worried.
"That's not all," said Randy, "Vlad also, kinda, broke in and stole Dipper's journal for some incantations?"
"That doesn't sound good for Danny. Or us, for that matter." Said Dipper.
Randy nodded.
"So what are we gonna do? We've got to help Danny!" said Tucker, already trying to get a lock on Danny's ecto-signature from his ipad. Mabel looked down at the floor, then looked up very fast, an expression of determination covering her face. She stood up on her bed with her grappling hook raised over her head, and declared "Then today, men, we crush the both of them, and take back what is rightfully ours! We will kick their butts with our ninja pal's mad karate skills. We will free our friend and save our book, for the good of Mabel Nation!"
Howard clapped enthusiastically. The others were less sure.
"Mabel, even if we did manage to find Danny and get the book back, we'd still be back where we started!" said Dipper.
"Oh my god." Said Tucker, a sudden thought hitting him. "What are we gonna tell Danny's Parents?" Sam went white at the idea.
Howard snorted. "Parent probs. Ha ha. Me and my buddy Randy came up here solo, cuz we're just that awesome."
"GUYS! DANNY"S IN ENEMY HANDS! FOCUS!" Sam cried.
"She's got a crush." Tucker whispered to Randy and Howard.
Sam elbowed him in the ribs. Tucker whimpered but he got the point. Howard smirked.
"I think I know where they took him." Said Agatha. "Viceroy said something about taking him back to the lab, wherever that is! I left pretty fast."
"I'm pretty sure they're still in town. I'll go ninja and check out where their staying. Tucker, can you find that out on your tablet?" asked Randy.
"Gravity Falls Hotel, main street, top floor, presidents suite. Vlad is in the executive suite right next door, and there's a third room that both parties are paying for. There's an ecto reading from that room that matches Danny's." Tucker read off his screen. Sam rolled her eyes.
"Okay, that's a plan. Randy, don't get captured." Said Dipper.
"Thank you, Dipper, for that wisest of advice. I will heed it humbly." Responded Randy, rolling his eyes, his voice running with sarcasm. Howard snorted again.
Suddenly Mabel squealed. "What is that red glowing thing?" she cried, pointing at Randy's bag.
"THE NOMICON!" said Randy, lunging for it. He pulled the old book out and let it drop back into his lap. Sam leaned over, curious. Books and magic were right up her alley.
"Be right back guys! Arrough!" Randy opened the book, and as he did so his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped forward, unconscious, eyes staring blankly. Sam poke him and waved her hand in front of his face, testing. Randy gave no response, save for a small amount of drool.
"Is this normal?" asked Norman. Howard nodded glumly. "It's a thing. He could be in there for a while. Hey, what's for breakfast?"
Inside the nomicon.
Randy landed in a crouched position on his hands and knees, tensing to absorb some of the impact. He was in the forest. A tall building loomed in front of him, its inky dark color bleeding onto the parchment ground. Randy felt a chill travel up his spine. That place was nothing good. As he stared up at the tall tower, a bright light illuminated the top floor windows. The flash was followed by a scream. Randy wasted no time and ran towards the ominous tower, running up the very walls like a total ninja would. He leaped up and grabbed hold of the top window ledge, set his feet into crevices in between bricks and pulled his head up so he could see. What he saw wasn't a pretty sight.
A small black shadow with an emerald aura lay on his hands and knees before three looming, larger silloettes. The middle shadow was glowing a menacing magenta. The left shadow's aura was orange; the right, short one's a baby blue. They sneered at the small glowing green shadow, who was in obvious pain. Randy looked up and saw the source of the shadow's torment hovering above the shadow's head, arms held out as if in meditation. A yellow triangle with a top hat.
Red words flashed above the scene.
'Beware the demon who enters your dreams.'
Randy noticed the scribbling notes of past ninjas fill in to clarify. An arrow pointed at the guy, naming him 'Bill Cypher', friend of the sorcerer.
"great, another evil villain." Cheered Randy halfheartedly.
The nomicon left another message.
'The Light and the Dark oppose each other, but they must always balance.'
As if Randy didn't know the significance of Balance in this culture, a giant yin-yang was formed out of the green and magenta auras, which floated lazily from their respective owners to the symbol like candle smoke.
"Okay, okay, keep the balance, that works. Um, what's that triangle guy doing?" asked Randy. The polygon looked like it was overshadowing the green aura-ed shadow. The shadow began twitching and screaming, its aura beginning to pale and lose its color, until the mist was pure white. The shadow collapsed. Familiar green smoke wavered up from cracks in the floors and consumed the small quivering shadow, warping and twisting it into a monster. Randy noticed that as the once green shadow succumbed to the stank, the magenta shadow doubled in size, it's new found weight and form pressing against the walls of the room, causing the building to crack and splinter.
The nomicon shook and trembled as if there was an earth quake. Randy lost his grip on the ledge and began to fall. He screamed, arms flailing. Suddenly, his fall was broken by something soft and leathery. Randy lay on his back, gasping for breath. The tower above him shook, crumbling. Randy slowly sat up and looked down at the soft green….skin?
"Crud. Not again!" Randy muttered. He slowly turned his head…
…and found himself staring into the yellow eyes of the newly freed sorcerer.
"AW, COME ON!"
The sorcerer's hand clamped shut around Randy, choking him, strangling him, making it impossible to breathe!
'KEEP THE BALANCE' warned the nomicon. Thanks for the tip! Randy thought angrily. He couldn't see anything, couldn't get air-
He gasped as he rose out of the book, and fell backwards onto the hardwood floor, heart hammering inside his chest.
"Danny" he breathed.
"He's screwed isn't he?" asked Sam quietly.
The room was empty except for the two of them. Sam explained that the rest had gone downstairs for bacon pancakes and awkward phone calls, and she had opted to stay up here and wait on him.
"Thanks, Sam." said Randy, sitting up. "And yes…..I think that if we don't do something, Danny and the entire world will be massively screwed."
Danny was having the worst day of his life. He was cramped, confined, in a room full of psycho bad-doers, and now his 'uncle' was here. He was so massively screwed right now.
"Go die in a hole, Vlad." snarled Danny. Vlad tsked at him.
"Ah ah ah, I'm not ready to go full ghost just yet, little badger. Being human has its perks. Like meeting lovely people with similar interests and ambitions" said Vlad, fondly gesturing to the others in the room. Danny turned to them.
"All of you, go die in a hole." Said Danny, arms folded over his chest. He gave the glass wall an agitated kick. Vlad sighed.
"Give us a moment?" he requested. The other villains grinned and left Plasmius with his 'nephew'. Viceroy paused by the doorway just long enough to grab some test scans results. It wasn't often you were surrounded by two half ghosts.
Vlad studied Danny with a scrutinizing gaze. Danny glared back up at him.
"Let me go." He said.
"No."
"What? Are you gonna wipe my memory or something else crazy?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, right, froot loop!"
"Don't push me Daniel. I can make you very sorry if you do!"
"Fat chance, old man."
"Oh, but it's so easy, Daniel. All I have to do is play on your unstable emotions and voila! You're controllable."
"Like you could EVER control me!"
"I didn't say I would be the thing that would be controlling you."
This made Danny pause. Not that fact that Vlad wasn't taking the credit or claiming the job. It was the word choice of thing instead of person.
"The thing?" he asked, feeling nervous.
Vlad smiled, but the smile was sad.
"As much as I don't want to risk erasing your charming personality," he responded slowly, "I have certain…plans that could do without your constant interference. On the bright side, you get to help liberate a friend of a friend, and I get the half ghost son I always wanted. Everyone wins!"
"I don't win in that scenario, Vlad. Pawns never win."
"Ah..well…sucks for you!" Vlad floated down until he was inches from Danny's face, the pale blue glass cube wall the only barrier. Vlad glared with malice. Danny felt his resolve quiver but he held his defiant gaze.
"I should hate to have to force your cooperation by targeting your friends, say, Sam?" Danny clenched his teeth and fists. "Or perhaps your new fan Randy? Or the little ghost seer Norman?"
"Or you could open the dang box so I could thank you personally for the warm hospitality I'm getting here!" counted Danny with a snarl, Banging his fists on the glass. Vlad pulled back and frowned down at the boy.
"Stay away from my friends, and stop screwing with my life." Said Danny through his anger. Vlad sighed.
"You know I can't do that Danny."
Randy, Howard, Sam, Tucker, Mabel, Dipper, Norman and Agatha were gathered outside the mystery shack, just inside the woods. Around them, small faint tendrils of smoke still floated up from the damaged convention. The morning news had informed them that many of the tourists had gone on home, and repairs would be going on immediately. The incident had made international news, and to Sam and Tucker's horror, the guys in white had showed up last night, and were in contact with the Fentons about the ghost situation. Because it was a ghost attack, Maddie and Jack had opted to stay and collect research. They were coming later in the afternoon to pick up the kids.
"So, we're attempting to break into the top floor of the hotel, free Danny and get the book back, beat up whatever foes happen to be there, and make like an egg and scramble?" inquired Dipper, hands raised for emphasis.
"Yep, that's the plan." Confirmed Sam. She was dressed in all black, no patterns or anything, just black jeans and a black hoodie. A black backpack bulging with smuggled Fenton weaponry was slung over her shoulder. Dipper was dressed normally, save for a small bag of gummy bears and a modified marshmallow shooter. Randy had his ninja mask tucked into his back pocket, the nomicon lying safely inside his backpack. He turned to Howard.
"You ready, man?" Howard nodded. "Go get 'um ninja."
"Why does Dipper get to go and not me?" complained Mabel. Dipper looked to the heavens for guidance. "Because it's my book?" he responded.
"But I can save us with my GRAPPLING HOOK!"
"NO!" said everyone else at once, arms out in protest.
"Mabel, we need you back here with Howard, Tucker and Norman. They need someone to keep them in line." Said Sam encouragingly. Mabel pouted.
"But DAAAANNNNYYY!" she cried.
"We'll get him out. Just help us get in and out smoothly, k Mabel."
"I'm telling on you to the invisible wizard, Dipper."
"You do that. Agatha, wherever you are, are you ready?" asked Randy. Norman glanced at Agatha, who looked nervous, but also excited. Why would…..
"Yes, I'm ready." said Agatha's voice icily.
Vlad's a dead man, thought Norman.
Randy, Sam, and Dipper began walking towards the golf cart. Dipper took the driver's seat and revved up the engine, and Randy slid in next to him, Sam filling in last. Agatha floated invisible behind them. The three turned and waved at their friends. Tucker waved back, his laptop, ipad and smartphone already set up and running. Howard waved from his cooler, which was filled with cokes and snacks for the day. Mabel shot her grappling hook and rode up to an overlooking tree branch, waving enthusiastically from the height. Norman waved quietly at all four of them, causing Agatha to smile.
The golf cart sped away and started down the road to the Gravity Falls Hotel. Several clusters of police and fire marshals lined the streets. Sam casually hid her face when the cart passed a group of the Guys in White. The three teens watched in silence at the sight of fallen power lines, broken shop windows, and debris littered streets. Agatha felt ashamed.
Dipper pulled around back into the lot behind the hotel. Randy couldn't help but notice how similar the building looked to the one in his vision. He and Sam got out and unloaded, and Randy grabbed the mask, hid behind a dumpster, and transformed into the ninja. He lept up and summersaulted over the trash bins, landing silently behind Dipper and Sam. He looked down at himself, surprised and happy that his suit was mended.
"YAY! SCARFFIE! YOU SURVIVED!" he cried with joy. Dipper and Sam turned and watched him with expression of awe and slight confusion. Randy felt defensive. He turned to Sam.
"Like your boyfriend doesn't have a costume accent that he's emotionally attached to!" said Randy. Sam's face reddened.
"He's NOT my boyfriend! We're just friends! …and it's his hair." She mumbled the last part. Dipper grinned at the exchange.
"Ready?" he asked. Sam and Randy nodded.
"Agatha? Get them inside!" commanded Randy, already sprinting up the hotel wall. Dipper and Sam gasped as an invisible Agatha lifted them up and flew them to the top floor, carrying them intangible through the exterior wall to the inner hallway. Sam and Dipper dropped into crouching positions and waited, Agatha hovering above them unseen. A few seconds later, Randy 'ninja-flip!'-ed his way through the open window, landing in a crouch in front of Dipper and Sam. He looked back and grinned, his eyes smiling deviously.
"Shoot the robo-apes, shoot at any ghosts, don't get caught, Agatha, don't get too angry." He said. "Ready? Let's do this!"
The four(?) teens began creeping down the hallway, Spy-style. Randy opened up an air vent in the ceiling and entered the ventilation system, scoping through the vent openings for the book or Danny. Dipper ran down the hall checking door numbers, and Sam pulled out the Fenton BOOmerang, happy to see it was still keyed into to Danny's ecto signature. With gusto, she hurled the BOOmerang down the empty beige hall.
The BOOmerang knew exactly where to go. It speed down to the end of the hall, rounded a corner, and crashed through a door on the left. The metal tracker whipped across the room and whacked an unsuspecting Vlad in the back of the head, sending the ghost to the floor. The BOOmerang ricocheted and reset its course, flying straight into the glass cube and landing on the floor beside it, where it began to beep insistently. Danny took one look at the BOOmerang and grinned.
He he he, Danny angst and golf carts. And Sam in spy gear. I love writing, mostly because I never know what's going to happen. Expect an update around once a week; school's starting to slow me down. Au Revoir!