I'm SOOOO SORRY this chapter is late! I'll try to stay with the once a week update, but stuff happens and procrastination is an inevitable side effect. My sincerest apologies. Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 14: Pants issues?
"Soooooooo, if a ghost can be half human, does that mean unicorns are in fact superior to zombies if Washington ran the Japanese government on Thursdays?"
"What the JUICE Sweater chick?!" Howard looked up at Mabel, who hung upside down from a low tree branch, watching the group below her curiously. She shrugged.
"I was just wondering how much impossible was possible now."
Tucker, Norman and Howard sat in a circle under the tree, laptops, ipads, cell phones, books, and several picnic baskets strewn around them. They had set up base in a small glen in a quiet part of the forest, a few ways off from where the convention was. The ground around them held faint scorch marks and the air was slightly metallic. But the sun had risen up on a partly cloudy and smoky sky, and in that small huddle, there was a sense of both tension and peace. And Mabel and Howard and Tucker in the same vicinity.(seriously, if this ever happened, it would be comic relief overload.)
"So, what are all the gadgets for, Tucker?" asked Norman, grabbing an apple from the one basket Howard hadn't claimed. Tucker looked up from his laptop, grinning.
"Well, all of Danny's ghost files are stored on my laptop and tablet, and the Fenton phones help me stay in contact with Sam, and the ipad is currently honing in on Danny's Ecto signature. With any luck, the other guys will be able to free Danny and together they can get the book back!" Norman couldn't help but give a small grin at Tucker's enthusiasm. He bit into his apple, satisfied.
"Hey, Mabel!" called Howard. "Bet I've have more crazy adventures than you!"
"Have not!" challenged Mabel from her perch in the tree. She swung down and landed in a roll, giggling as she fell down the slight hill. She bumped into Norman and laughed. Norman chuckled as she sat up.
"I'm only 12 years old and I've already dated a bunch of gnomes, a vampire, a merman, and a psychotic narcissist named Gleeful!" she boasted into Howards face.
"Oh, yeah?" he responded, "Well I've made the best shoob tube videos, beaten every grave punchers game, and oh, I don't know, kicked butt with the NINJA!"
"I fought off zombies once." said Norman quietly.
Tucker closed his laptop, set down next to him on the grass, stretched, and held his hands up for the floor.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you are looking at the kid who helped defeat Pariah Dark, king of the ghost zone. The kid who perminantly controls Skulker via PDA and apple tech. the kid who reigned as king Tuck and travel across time and ghost space. And did I mention that I once spent the night in a haunted hospital." He folded his arms and leaned back against the base of Mabel's tree, satisfied.
The others had no response.
"In my defense, Randy's only been ninja for about a year, so…"
"Dipper says no to a lot of the fun stuff…."
"and I can see ghosts." said Norman blandly.
Howard looked at Tucker with a defeated expression. "You win."
"Thaaaank you. It feels nice to be recogni-HEY! They found Danny!" tucker suddenly leaned forward, one hand on the Fenton phone in his ear. The rest of the teens leaned closer so they could hear better.
"Danny, I swear! Put your pants back on, WE HAVE TO GO!" cried Sam's aggravated voice on the other line.
Rest assured, looks were exchanged.
A few minutes earlier…
Danny looked at the BOOmerang and smiled.
"Good ghost weapon."
He looked up in time to see Sam and Dipper burst through the door, and Randy summersalted out of the air vent. He was in the ninja suit, which appeared fully repaired. The trio looked down at him, trapped inside his stupid blue box.
"Great! You guys made it! NOW GET ME OUT!" cried Danny. "My legs are cramping!"
"So much for hello…" muttered Dipper.
He and Randy both rushed over to the high-tech-looking control panel on the far table and began senselessly pushing buttons, but Sam knew better. She glided over to Vlad's fallen form and bent down, hand searching through his coat pockets for a remote. She felt him stir slightly, and began avidly punched him several times in the head for good measure. Laughter stopped her hand mid-swing, and Sam looked over to see Danny giggling hysterically, his eyes shining at her. Her heart fluttered a bit, and she beamed. She searched a bit more and produced a slim black remote and pressed a few buttons on it. Suddenly, the transparent blue walls shimmered out of existence. Danny fell to the floor, still laughing. Randy and Dipper stood stoic in front of the scene, watching with confusion. They looked to Sam for an explanation. She mimed her mind exploding. Danny laughed harder.
"Seriously, Danny, we were trying to be quiet." said Sam, crossing her arms over her chest and shifting her weight so it was all on one foot.
Danny's laughing stilled, and he smiled up at the ceiling from the floor. He's being rather trippy. Randy thought. Then he noticed that the ghost boy had dark circles under his eyes. He didn't get the sleep the rest of us got last night! He realized. As if to confirm this, Danny frowned, and his hold on his ghost form slipped, and the familiar white wings turned him back into Fenton. He sat up slowly, stretching as if stiff.
"Sam, we have to get out of here!" reminded Randy. He walked over and helped Danny to his feet. "Danny, do you know where the journal is?"
Danny looked at him confused. "What journal?"
Dipper timidly came over. "My journal. The journal containing summoning incantations for a dream demon?" Danny paled.
"That's what he meant…." He whispered. He stared straight ahead, entranced with his thoughts.
Randy slapped him. "Snap out of it man! We have to go!" Danny turned his head slowly. He looked ready to kill the ninja right then and there.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere, children!" snarled a voice from behind them.
The three boys turned to see Vlad hovering before them, Sam trapped in his arms. Ectoplasm covered her mouth, but her eyes were stormy.
Danny silently began raging against the heavens. He gazed upward and curled his hands into claws. He was REALLY starting to get annoyed with Vlad. Next to him, Dipper glanced at Sam's abandoned duffle, which lay only a few feet away.
Randy went ninja mode.
"Ninja heck NO!" he threw three ninja disks at Plasmius, who intangiblely avoided them. Then the Ninja drew his sword. Vlad sent ectoblasts at him, which he deflected with parries from his blade. Randy gestured for Danny and Dipper to stand back, knowing that Vlad couldn't detect familiarity between him and the ghost boy. Danny was human right now. He was a bystander. Randy continued to close in, exchanging blows with Vlad, who threw Sam against the wall and held her in place with more ectoplasm. Randy tried to get close enough to free her with his sword or magic scarf, but Vlad always stepped in the way. And Vlad was a pretty experienced fighter. Randy was finding it difficult to keep the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Dipper and Danny had locked and barricaded the door, so as to prevent Vlad from getting assistance. Dipper had dragged Sam's Duffle off to the side. He tugged on Danny's sleeve and pulled him down next to him.
"Hey, Danny," he said, pulling out Fenton cat-o-nines, Fenton creep sticks, Fenton blasters, Fenton wrist rays and a thermos, "can we use any of this?"
Danny looked at the 12 year old with a mischievous grin, his eyes wild. He picked up the wrist rays and the thermos. "This is all we need!"
Danny stood up and hastily fastened the wrist ray to his right hand. He swung his arm in the direction of Vlad, aimed the wrist ray and fired, nailing the ghost straight in the chest. Vlad crashed to the floor. Randy took the opportunity and froze him with some Ninja cold balls.
"YEAH! That vampire's cold as ICE!" he hollered.
Vlad tensed and broke the ice, flying up above to the ceiling.
"Noooo….you ruined my pun….." beneath his mask, Randy pouted.
Vlad surveyed the room. His options were not desirable. The Ninja was poised beneath him, scarf, sword, and assorted beautiful Ninja balls at the ready. The laser-like sound of Fenton weaponry loading pulled his gaze over to the corner, were Danny was armed with wrist rays and Dipper stood with the thermos and a creep stick. Sam was free of her ectoplasm, courtesy of a well-aimed shot from Danny, and had a Fenton Blaster locked onto him from the other side of the room. Vlad straightened and folded his arms. It was time for small talk.
"Ah, Ninja, how nice of you to join us." He purred. He nimbly dodged the Ninja ring that was sent as a response. From behind his mask, Randy glared.
"The displeasure is all mine, Plasmius! I believe that's your name?" said the ninja, arms folded against his chest in annoyance.
"Yes, that's right." Vlad responded
"Well it's a stupid name."
Vlad's face darkened.
"Now where have I heard that kind of talk before…I'll have you come to fear my name, little man. But later, ninja. Samantha? And Daniel? Funny we should run into each other so far from amity park. And look, it's the little boy from last night. Finally playing with the big kids are we?" said Vlad tauntingly. Dipper glared.
"I came to get my journal back." He said bravely.
Vlad noticed how out of place Dipper was. Samantha, he understood, she was Danny's friend. And apparently Danny was in contact with the ninja. That sort of made sense, even if it was extremely undesirable. But this scrawny twelve year old didn't fit. He was just…normal…ish. What was his connection?
"Where's your little shoe wielding friend, boy?" Vlad asked Dipper. Dipper folded his arms. "Gee, let me think. Probably hanging out at the mystery shack with a whole bunch of kids who got stuck there after that freak ghost storm interrupted the convention." There was the connection.
Vlad growled. He was getting impatient with these children. He curled his hands to form a plasma ball when suddenly-
"NINJA-KICK!"
-the ninja's foot rammed into his stomach, causing him to double over. Vlad gasped and looked up only to get back handed by the ninja's scarf. The force of the seemingly lightweight fabric sent him crashing into the wall and sliding down to the floor. Danny ran over and punched him in the jaw before locking the Spector Deflector around his waist and turning the dial all the way up. Vlad spazzed a bit as the shock immobilized him. Wearily, he opened his eyes.
"Plasmius, isn't it?" said a glowing fractal being of energy. Vlad blinked.
Agatha, livid and crackling with anger, sent out a hand of energy and picked up Vlad like a rag doll. Then she dived beneath the floor, her victim yanked under after her. A few seconds later the ground shook, forcing the rest of the teens to spread their arms out to keep their balance. Beakers and tables shook, the floors quaked. An unearthly scream floated up from underneath them. Suddenly the shaking stilled. Randy looked up at everyone.
"I think Agatha's got this one." He cracked. Danny, Sam, and Dipper all grinned. Then Danny's pants fell down.
Well, not fell down so much as went intangible and fell through his legs onto the floor, leaving his beautiful boxers to bath in their neon glory.
"Great," complained Danny, "my powers are glitching."
Randy quickly covered his mouth but the laughter broke through anyway, and soon he and Dipper were bending over, howling. Sam rolled her eyes. Suddenly something caught her attention. The sound of footsteps and angry mumbling in the hallway. She pressed on her com.
"Tucker, we found Danny, but-"
"Sam! What-"
Suddenly banging could be heard on the other side of the door. Danny hastily looked up from trying to retrieve his invisible jeans while Randy and Dipper froze mid laugh.
"Vlad!? Hello? Is that the Ninja I hear in there? Don't make me make Viceroy break this door down! Hello? Is that ghost brat still there?"
"Yeah, and we sure didn't order room service!" Danny yelled back. He and Randy tried really hard to stifle their laughter.
"Danny, I swear! Put your pants back on, WE HAVE TO GO!" Sam cried.
From the other side of the door, Viceroy and Mcfist gasped in shock.
"Well that didn't sound like no ninja."
"Viceroy!"
"On it!" the four teens turned to the door. Something was clamped onto the wood, sending heavy scrapes and bangs through the door. Humming started. Sam ran over and tried to help Danny get his jeans up, but it did little good. Randy lept up and pulled open his vent and slung the duffle bag inside, then hoisted Dipper in after it. He ran back over to Danny and Sam, and saw that the pants situation had not improved.
"Okay, just let go of it, and-"
"Screw it, I'm just gonna morph-"
"But you might not have the strength-"
"SAM! A STATUS UPDATE WOULD BE NICE!"
"Hold on Tucker!"
Without a word Randy grabbed Sam's wrist and hauled her up to vent, her com falling out of her hands as she left the floor. Randy looked into her startled face.
. "I'll get him! Just go ahead, we'll be fine." He said to her. Sam looked at the ninja for a second, then conceded.
"You break him, I break you." She warned before following Dipper down the metal crawlspace. Randy nodded and looked back down, lashing out his scarf so that it ensnared Danny's waist. Pants finally back in place; Danny was lifted into the Vent and was able to close it behind him just as Viceroy's device detonated. The door vaporized and the makeshift barricade fell victim to gravity. Danny and Randy watched from the vent, breathing heavily as McFist angrily stormed into the room. His shoulders were rising and falling with rage as he surveyed the room. Danny and Randy held their breath, following the villain's gaze as it travelled from Danny's abandoned cube, to the ecto-scorch marks on the walls and the floor, to the ice shards from the ninja ball, until they finally settled on Sam's dropped communicator. McFist swiped it up and held it to his ear, Listening.
"Sam? SAM? Hello? Did you get Danny? Hello? Sam! ANSWER ME!" McFist was not happy that this thing was yelling at him. But he looked at it with glee. Even he could tell this was a source of valuable information. Up in the cozy spaced air vent, Danny and Randy exchanged worried glances. This was bad.
Danny twisted onto his belly inside the air vent. He pushed open the door slightly and stuck out his hand. Slow and silently, he formed a gun out of his hand, pointed at the com, and fired. The ectobeam hit its mark. McFist Screeched and shook his hand in surprise. He furiously began looking around.
"VICEROY! There is absolutely NO ONE HERE!" he bellowed.
"Not even Vlad? Where he'd go?" the scientist replied.
The two men began to search about the room. Viceroy flocked to his precious switchboards and tech, lovingly assuring them that they'd be okay. McFist, on the other hand, walked tensely, pausing only to punch a wall or kick debris.
Danny and Randy made to retreat. They twisted to find Dipper blocking their path.
"What the heck? We're trying to leave!" hissed Danny. Dipper met his gaze with solemn intensity. Sam peeked her head over his shoulder. She looked mentally scarred. Randy and Danny looked to Dipper for explanation.
"I found the journal." He said, face white and jaw clenched. "Gideon's reading it."