I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment proposes only, no money involved.
So much pain... the pain was so intense that Danny couldn't think straight. It fell like his blood was on fire and that ever beat of his heart was sending hot lead through his vanes. His vision was nothing but a blur of dark misshapen figures.
He wanted it all to end. All he wanted was an end to the pain. He was being sapped dry of all that he was by thorny red vines that were holding him to a large black gravestone.
He could vaguely hear laughter. The sound stung his ears in the otherwise silent oblivion. Everything else might have been tolerable, if it wasn't for the laughter. Something inside of him continued to resist fading away completely because it didn't want the laughter to win. But he didn't even understand why he hated the laughter so much.
Then something else came though the nothingness. "Shut up!... up... up..." The words seemed to echo in the darkness as if shouted in a long and twisted cave. The laughing quieted. "Stop pretending your Phantom! You aren't him! The Phantom I knew never blamed his problems on others! The Phantom I knew had real resolve. The Phantom I knew would never let something like pain stop him from protecting his friends! So stop pretending that your him!... him... him..." The words echoed around Danny, penetrating the fog around Danny's mind.
"Black... Star...?" He said confused having recognized the voice. The pain he felt was becoming more manageable and he looked up as his vision started to clear. He was in what looked like a graveyard with lazy grave diggers. A dozen wrangled corps like figures lay scattered about, each looked as if it have been violently killed. It took Danny a moment to realize that they all had his face and that each one held an injure that he had taken in his life that should have killed him.
Danny couldn't understand what was going on, but then he heard the laugh again. Looking it's direction he saw what looked like a beardless Dark Dan standing in front of a large grave stone with his hands wrapped around the throat of Shaula, draining her of her soul. He was starting to remember, remember everything that had happened since he had broken Shaula's spell on him. He remember this creature forcing him to attack his friends, and the things it said to Sam.
He gritted his teeth and pulled against the vines that held him. They cut into his arms but he didn't care. He needed to stop this. The vines snapped and he flew like a rocket towards Pain and delivered a round house kick to his head, getting him to let go of what remained of the witch's soul. The moment that Shaula's soul hit the ground, it shattered into dozens of tiny scorpions that scattered and ran off in all direction. Pain was glaring at Danny."How can you still be here? I absorb your soul completely." He watched as the last of the scorpions ran away. "And you cost me my lunch."
"Yeah, you'll find that I'm kind of a pain in the ass to creeps like you." Danny said getting ready for a fight. "I won't let you hurt my friends anymore!"
Black Star and the rest of the team watched as Pain thrashed about screaming bloody murder. He threw the Deathscythe aside and clutched at the sides of his head. "Black... Black Star." He said looking straight at the ninja with a pair of mismatched eyes. "Hurry... I can't... I won't let... They will die... I must hold him..." Pain started smashing his head against the ground hard enough the crack the surface. "Kill me!"
Black Star tightened his grip on sickles as he walked up to the riving Kishin. "Phantom... I'm sorry." He said. Pain let out a scream that shook the earth beneath them as Black Star slide the Specter Deflector around Pain's waist. "Tsubaki, Soul Resonance! Trap Star!" Black Star shouted and Tsubaki's chain wrapped itself around Pain, binding his arms to his side. "We'll... hold you here... until you win... Phantom!" Black Star shouted straining to keep up enough power to held the Kishin still.
"Black Star... I don't know... how long we can keep this up!" Tsubaki shouted over Pain's screams and death threats.
"I will tear your spines out your... Ah!" Pain screamed as the struggled against his bondage.
"We'll keep it up as long as we need to, Tsubaki!" Black Star shouted back. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he willed himself to find more power to put unto their Resonance.
"Soul Resonance! Guardian Field!" Estelle's voice cried out and Black Star immediately felt some of the strain being taken off him. He opened his eyes to see Repede holding Estelle's blade up against Tsubaki's chain, and a golden light spreading across the chains as it wrapped around the Kishin.
"We are with you, Demon Cub!" A voice echoed inside of Black Star and Tsubaki's minds.
"Soul Resonance! Ponkitanu kitkitanu Raccoo!" Kim shouted. A magic circle appeared around Black Star and Repede. Black Star looked back at the witch. "I might not have any sealing spells, but this stamina spell should help out! And you don't have to pay me for this one, Black Star. Consider it on the house, as long as you bring Phantom back!"
A large grin split Black Star face. "Yeah! We'll show this Kishin who he's messing with! Keep it up!" He shouted and the whole group began to pour everything they had into the effort. Except for one. Sam stood behind the other, feeling completely useless as the fight for the future unfolded right in front of her.
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Danny was not having an easy time of it inside of the soul world. "Stay still you brat!" Pain shouted as Danny rolled behind a tomb stone to dodge a large shot of red energy which demolished the cover. He then jumped over another stone and used the dust that was kicked up from the previous blast as a smoke screen as he returned fire scoring a few hits. "Awe! Stop that!" Pain shouted and sent another shot that blew the cloud away, but Danny had hidden himself away among the stones again. "I'm really getting sick of... AHHH!"
Both Pain and Danny fell to the ground screaming in momentary pain as the effects of the damage to the real world body by the spector deflector hit both of them. It only lasted a moment before they both started to move again. Danny tossed several long knifes made off his ice core at the Kishin, who countered with a giant fiery vulture that vaporized his ice and went straight for Danny. Danny sank into the ground as the attack was about to his and flew underneath it to Pain, grabbing his ankle as Danny came out of the ground and pulling Pain off his feet.
As Pain's arms flailed about, Danny shout a ectoblast into his face causing him to scream in pain. But before Danny could follow up on the attack another wave of agony hit them both and they were both rendered unable to move. By the time it was over Danny had missed his opportunity and was blasted backwards by a large wave of red energy.
As he flew back into a tomb stone he hit his head and cracked it open causing a small stream of warm blood to flow down the back of his head before mending closed. He then had to quickly move before his opponent could follow up on his attack. Truth be told, this was the type of fighting that Danny exceed at. No straight forward fights in close quarters. Everything was ranged and tactical. The only probably being, his opponent was even more thick skinned then him and packed a much bigger punch. If he was going to win, he was going to have to be a bit more creative.
It wasn't until Danny was down on the ground looking for a new angle of attack that he spotted something. One of the corpses of him. It was the one from just before Pain took over, and it still had the giant spike pushed through it. Danny grabbed it an pulled it our of the corpse. "The last place I would have ever thought I would get a weapon from." He mumbled. "Now I just need to figure out how to get clo..." He stopped middle thought as a wave of pain rushed over him. He chocked down a scream that would have given away his position as he heard Pain give a cry of misery. There was a certain time gap between the episodes of pain, and it was the same every time.
That's when he realized what he needed to do. "Come out brat! I'm really getting sick of this tactical shit!" Pain shouted as he moved though the graveyard towards Danny's position. "Why are you trying to protect those children! They are causing us nothing but pain!"
"That's where we are different!" Danny shouted as he spun around a corner running full speed at Pain. "Unlike you..." The wave of crippling pain set in and Pain shrieked. But Danny merely gasped, willing himself to push forward through the pain. "I can take the pain!" He shouted as he closed the distance between them and drove the spike straight into Pain's chest. "Nighty night, crybaby." Danny said smearing as Pain stumbled back.
Pain eyes were bugging out as large wisps of red soul waves flickered around his body. His hand went up and he touched the spike that was sticking out of his chest. Danny's grin fell away as Pain let out a deafening wail that might just have put his Ghostly Wail to shame. A small crack appeared on his forehead which then split open to show a third blood red eye. His body exploded with red flames that forced Danny into a quick retreat as the Kishin began to grow even larger.
By the time he stopped growing he was as big as the school dorms and clothed in dark black armor with blood red carvings on it. His hair had gone from a middle length white flames to a long mane of burning crimson. He opened his mouth up wide and screamed. The ground beneath Danny shook and began to crack into pieces as large chunks of it began to flout up into the air around. After screaming for around ten seconds the creature stopped and trained its three eyes onto Danny.
Standing in from of a true Kishin Danny could only say one thing. "Ah fudge."
Black Star and the others had been doing their best to keep Phantom restrained and were doing a pretty good job of it. Pain was still struggling about and swearing at them but they ignored him to the best of their abilities.
"You will all pay for..." Pain started screaming but then he stopped his jaw going slack as both the green and red eye widened.
"What's happening? Did Phantom win?" Estelle asked hopefully.
"I don't know." Kim said. "I can still see Phantom soul, so he hasn't lost... I think."
"Of course Phantom's winning! Don't even think of questioning that!" Black Star shouted.
But then a small line appeared down the center of Pain's forehead. It then opened up to show the third eye of a true Kishin and Pain let out another scream. Sharp pain shot through everyone's bodies and they fell to their knees. Kim's lost control of her magic and Estelle and Repede's Soul Resonance broke, leaving Black Star and Tsubaki alone to bare the burden of the rampaging Kishin.
"Wha... what's going on!" Estelle screamed through the pain.
"It's a madness wavelength! The madness of... of a Kishin spreads to those around it!" Kim said trying in vain to get back up. "This pain is the form of his madness!"
"This is insane!" Jackie cried. "Make it stop!"
The Spector Deflector was crackling with the strain of trying to hold the Kishin back.
"Tsubaki, we've got to keep going!" Black Star shouted holding onto his Soul Resonance for dear life. "We can't lose him! I know Phantom can still win!"
Sam stood there shaking from the pain that washed over them. "I'm just useless." She said miserably. "Danny..." She gripped her arms and felt the smooth material of the jumpsuit that Danny had made her for her birthday.
'You were never the one to like being stuck on the side lines or feeling helpless...' He had said. 'You were always the reliable one that would bail me and Tucker out when things went wrong, which was all the time. And you know that I still depend on you.'
"Danny... I'm coming." Sam said pushing through the pain and walking forward towards the thrashing Kishin.
"What are you doing, you crazy weapon!" Black Star shouted but Sam ignored him. She went straight up to Pain... to Danny and placed her hands on either side of his head. She closed her eyes, and entered his soul world.
At first Sam couldn't understand was she was seeing. Danny was doing battle with a different version of pain, one that made Black Star's ego look small by comparison. Danny was flying around trying to stay just out of the creatures reached, but the Kishin made a long lung that caught the ghostboy and launched him like a cannon ball, straight into some flying rocks.
"Danny!" Sam shouted. That turned out to be a bad move.
"Sam!" Danny shouted back as the Kishin turned to the girl.
"YOU!" Pain cried out in rage a swung a massive arm in an attempt to crush her.
But Danny jumped out of the rock that he had been thrown into and shot a blast at the Kishin's third eye, causing the creature to fall back and clutch at it while swearing like a sailor. Danny flew in and scooped up Sam moving away from Pain as fast as he could.
"Sam, what are you doing here!?" Danny asked with a mixture of shock and panic.
"I... I came to help you." Sam said trying to regain her senses.
"No, it's to dangerous. You have to leave." Danny said. He moved to the left just as a wave of red fire burned a path where they had just been flying.
"Get back here!" Pain shouted as they heard the massive foot falls that told of his chasing them.
"I can't leave you to fight this thing on your own!" Sam shouted.
"Sam, I'll be fine, I promise. Just leave it to..." Danny started as they landed on a large rock but Sam gave him are hard slap across the face.
"Stop that! Ever time something like this happens you always shout out that you promise you will comeback and then run off to fight by yourself. You get hurt and almost killed, and you leave the rest of us to feel worried and useless! Stop trying to do everything by yourself!" Sam shouted tears in her eyes.
"But Sam..." Danny tried by was cut off again.
"No Danny! It's about time I'm the one that promises you something! I promise that you won't have to fight by yourself anymore!" Sam shouted at him. "I'm your partner Danny, so let me help you!"
Danny looked at his friend a little dumbly, but then smiled. "Alright, since you're too stubborn to leave, I could use the help." A purple light appeared between them and the till appeared.
They each put one hand around it. "Lets do this." Sam said as they turned to face Pain.
"You think you can stand against me! I am a god! I am suffering incarnate! I am all the pain you have faced in your life!" Pain's laugh shook the rock that the two were standing on.
"You're nothing more than a ghost of things that I already delt with in the past!" Danny shouted back.
"An incase you forgot, we ain't afraid of no ghost!" Sam added as they raised up the till. Her body glowed dark purple as Danny's was covered in a brilliant green.
"Soul Resonances!" They shouted together. Their souls mixed and their aura's combined into a single pitch black aura that swept around them. Threads of the dark energy began to weave around the till until a giant black phantom symbol, a quarter the size of Pain himself was being held above their heads. "Return to nothing! Ghost Hunter!"
As the attack came down Pain tried to grab. His fingers wrapped around the attack and black and red sparks flew as they struggled against each other. "You think you can beat me! I am a god! I am Pain!" He shouted pushing the attack back. Pain laughed like a maniac until cracks started to form in the dark gantlets that were on his hands. The black metal shattered and Pain's arms twisted as the attack came down on his head.
The shock wave that followed had blow him to the ground, completely defeated. "Owe..." The last thing he ever said before his body turned gray and flaked away into nothing, leaving only a large red soul behind.
Sam grabbed the soul in the palm of her hand. "So this will be the first." She said before tilting her head back and it turned into a wisp and slide down her throat. "Not surprising, it tastes like crap..."
The pain had stopped and the small group of students watched as the massive red soul shrank til they could actually see it, as the green soul began to grow back to its usual size. Eventually the red soul disappeared entirely and Sam leaned back as Pain's body dissolved away to leave the white haired Phantom behind. Tsubaki's loosened chains and the fried spector deflector falling to the ground.
"Did... did we win?" Jackie asked as if surprised. "Is it all over?"
Danny's green eyes opened and he grinned as a white ring appeared around his waist that separated turning him back into the human boy that they all knew. "Yeah... it's over."
"Yahoo!" Black Star shouted jumping up and giving a fist pump. "I, Black Star, have beaten the Kishin! I'm assume!" He shouted.
"Wait, he beat the Kishin?" Kim said raising an eyebrow at the ninja.
"Just let him have it." Sam said shaking her head and smiling. "He earned it."
"Well Sam, sorry about your ruined birthday." Danny said scratching his head.
"For get it. These kind of things happen around you all the time. But now for the next order of business, I vote we all go home and get some sleep." She yawned loudly stretching like a cat. There were loud agreements and everyone started to head back towards the dorms. After all, tomorrow, the rebuilding would start...
Back at in his room Danny as down on his bed. Closing his eyes he reentered the soul world within him.
This time it was his own home back at Fenton Works. He was standing in the middle of his parents lab and everything was just as he remember it. "I know you're there. Come out." He said into the empty room.
Then a head peeked out from behind one his the larger inventions and Shaula walked out. Danny looked down on what remained of the witch's soul. All the years of hatred and pain had been stripped clean by the Kishin's attempts to feed. And she looked the way she did the day Fate had first appeared to her. A small child, around five years old girl in a black sundress with two twin braids in her multicolored hair. Her pink and blue eyes looked scared as Danny looked down at her.
"I guess it doesn't mean much but, I'm sorry." She said looking down. "There isn't much of me left, so if you want to destroy me, then go ahead. I deserve it."
Danny took a breath. "No... You've done some things that will be hard to make up for. But I believe you deserve a second chance." He said shocking the witch. "If we are going to find a way to fix this world without killing anyone. Then it will have to start with us all working together." Danny let himself fade back into reality. "Everything start here."
"Owe my head." Death groaned weakly shifting the ice pack that was balanced on top of his repaired mask. "You know Clockwork, you could have saved us allot of trouble by just telling me that there was going to be a Kishin showing up today." He complained to the master of time and Madness through Fate.
Clockwork chuckled a little as he poured his old boss some tea. "Come now Death, you know that isn't how I operate. And everything turned out just the way it was supposed to."
"Just the way... Clockwork! Did you plan all this!?" Death shouted angrily but then he started to lose steam as his head began to throb.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." Clockwork said as he opened up a portal to leave. "Oh, Mr. Franken Stein is going to be come in in a few moment. Do give him that faculty position." Clockwork said before moving through the portal and disappearing.
Death sighed. "Sometime I wonder how I ever managed to work with that ghost." Then he looked at the end of the long row of guillotine to were Doctor Stein was coming in. "All this still seems to simple for Clockwork. I wonder what his end game is." Death mused but pushed the thought aside. After all, trying to understand the actions of Madness through Fate would only drive someone insane...
The end... for real this time.
...I'm done... I'm actually done with a story... all I have to do is not write the first chapter for the next season and I will actually be done...
I know the ending is kind of weird, and maybe a little if not a lot forced, considering I meant it to leave the possibility of a next installment. Also I ran out of steam after having written out that whole fight twice because of my computer crashing.
I am not promising any future installments, even though I do have another whole season planned out... I mean... no... there are no plans... there is no cross dressing Danny sneaking into a witches' gathering, or a massive monster making factory run by a new supporting villain, or Black Star taking on Excalibur using the power of friendship, or Kid being sent on a wild goose chase by a bored Clockwork, or even the return of human Repede hooking up with Blare... I have no plans to write any such things. Go away!
If there is a next time, 'A New Day, confession of a phantom?'