An explosion caused Tucker to jump in bed and come wide awake. He surveyed the room with his eyes and slowly the memories of that night came back to his mind. The surveillance, the planning, getting some sleep to be ready in the morning and now the explosion. Danny! He had to alert Danny and the others.
He got up and ran out of the room, trying to remember where the others had left off. He ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, but no one was there. "Maybe they went out to inspect. Then…"
He ran upstairs and entered the first door he saw, but found Paulina sleeping. He frowned and closed the door. He entered the main room and found his target.
- Sam. Wake up. Something happened and… Sam?
He left his place by the door to walk over to the bed where she was asleep and shook her shoulder. She didn't react immediately, so he decided to pinch her arm. The pain was effective in slowly making the girl regain consciousness.
- Sam? Are you ok? You seem…
- Danny… - She whispered, pushing Tucker out of her way as she got up from the bed. - Danny? Danny! Tucker, where is Danny?
The desperation on her face and her friend's tone of voice puzzled him.
- The explosion... woke me up and he was no longer here...
- No, no, no, no, no, no! – Sam began to spin while she pulled her hair back.
- Did I miss something or…?
- Danny did this!
- The explosion? - Tucker asked.
- No! Well maybe. But I'm talking about this… - He pointed to the bed. – Danny put us to sleep.
- No, he did it. - Tucker replied. - But about the explosion...
- Danny put me to sleep, Tucker. He…was going to go for Dan. He…!
- Wow, wow… Relax. - He said taking her by the shoulders. - What makes you think that Danny…?
- Because he said goodbye to me.
Tucker saw the seriousness in Sam's eyes and fell silent. His mind was racing trying to put together a plan of action, but when he opened his mouth, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He glanced at Sam before putting the phone to his ear and answering.
- Jazz?
Valerie was flying as fast as her speeder would allow her. When she was close to Paulina's home, she heard a voice coming from her communicator.
- Operatives. Spread out and evacuate everyone in the area. Fast! Direct them to the other side of the city.
- Request support from all available security forces. We need all the help we can get to make a fence around the evacuees. Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius are in the field, but they need to fight away from civilians.
- Mobilize all civilians to Fenton Labs. Axion's shield is about to fall, I repeat: the shield is about to fall...
She stopped in midair and looked back just in time to see a blue flash in the sky followed by an explosion. In almost slow motion she watched the protective field dissolve and a puff of smoke rise from Axion Labs. Her thoughts quickly turned to the well-being of her dad, so she sped up and headed back.
- I'm sorry.
Jazz commented to the operatives as she hooked up her hair dryer to an extension and began to blow at the ice that was holding them prisoner in the room. She had brought everything in her house capable of generating heat to defrost the men. To speed up the process, she ran upstairs to find her mother's dryer; however, when she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard the transmission that the radio on the coffee table was receiving.
- Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius are in the field, but they need to fight away from civilians.
- Mobilize all civilians to Fenton Labs. Axion's shield is about to fall, I repeat: the shield is about to fall.
- To all reserves: prepare the GB-01 missile. With the evacuation we will have a unique opportunity to shoot him directly and… everybody down!
Jazz listened carefully to the information until an explosion echoed through the house. She ran for the window, throwing the dryer onto the couch, but hitting an operative in the process. She watched in the distance as a column of smoke rose and how the shield was giving way until it disappeared. Panic invaded every fiber of her being and she ran into the living room and plugged in the other dryer to speed up the process.
She took the phone out of her pocket and dialed Paulina's number, but the line was out of service. She dialed Tucker's number and after waiting 3 times, he finally answered.
- Jazz?
- Tucker! Danny…
- He did something completely stupid!
- Sam?
- You're on speakerphone. – The boy clarified. – We know that Danny went looking for Dan… he put us to sleep so he could…
- He put you to sleep?
- Well, just Sam. The point is, he left us out of the game.
- What about Danielle?
- She surely went with them. – Sam commented.
- No, she wasn't with them when they passed by.
- Well, she is not here either. - Tucker said.
- Danny went there? Why didn't you stop him…?
- Because he would have done the same to me as he did to you. But back to Danielle…
- She must be with them. I highly doubt she ran away or is hiding…not typical of her.
- Maybe she went for Valerie. – Sam commented.
- Could be. - Tucker replied.
- Anyway, you need to come here. Axion's shield fell and they are mobilizing all civilians to my house shield. You have to hurry to avoid chaos. Now!
- We are on our way.
Jazz hung up and tossed her hair back. She put her phone in her pocket and sped up her task to unfreeze the operatives. she approached one and while she was running the dryer through the ice that covered his face, she asked him.
- What the hell is the GB-01 missile?
- You heard her. - Tucker commented. – Grab what you can and let's go.
Sam rubbed her face in frustration and looked up to pick up the weapons that had been dumped in the living room of the house, but she was taken aback when she saw his friend go upstairs.
- Where are you going?
- Pauline is still here. – He reminded her.
"Right". She thought. She returned to what she was doing, placing the heavier weapons on the couch for Tucker to carry and a few others for Paulina to use. She walked to the guest room to pick up a cannon she found lying near the door. Picking it up, she noticed that there was a message engraved on the metal plate near the scope.
To my favorite daughter (even if you are the only one).
Next to the message, the face of Jack Fenton was carved. Sam smiled at the innocent but cute gesture from Danny and Jazz's dad. Taking advantage of the fact that the weapon had a strap, she hung it on her back and entered the room. An explosion in the distance made her walk to the window to lean out, until the door closed behind her.
- Samantha Manson. – Someone commented with a smile.
Tucker and Paulina went downstairs when the girl was ready and awake to evacuate the house. When they went downstairs, they looked at the weapons that Sam had left in the room and began to arm themselves with whatever they could carry.
- Ready? – He asked while putting on the deflector.
- Yeah. – She answered in a low voice while she rubbed her eyes.
- Hey… I know we're not friends or anything like that, but… for what it's worth, I'm really sorry for your loss.
Paulina looked at him for a few seconds before answering him with a light "thank you." She looked bad, but there were more important things at the time. There would be time later to cry... or at least he hoped so.
- Do you have a vehicle in which we can move? – He asked her after a few seconds.
- I have a scooter. But it can only take two people maximum.
- Damn it. – He whispered. - It doesn't matter. We will go by foot. – Tucker decreed taking a small pistol and giving it to Paulina. – Either way, the streets must be in chaos now.
When he was ready, he looked in all directions for Sam, but couldn't find her. Paulina understood what he was doing and helped him, inspecting the kitchen and bathroom, searching for the goth.
- Sam? – Tucker advanced down the hall towards the guest room. - Sam?
He reached for the doorknob, but didn't turn. He tried harder to start shaking him, until the noise of a gunshot coming from inside put him on high alert.
- Sam! – He began to knock on the door for the girl to open. - Sam!
Determined, he stepped back until he bumped into the wall and stepped up far enough to kick open the door. When they both peeked inside, they saw the goth girl with the cannon in her hands and on the floor, a portal to the ghost zone. Tucker understood what she was thinking about doing and tried to stop her.
- Don't…
- I'm sorry.
Sam jumped over the portal and was immediately transported to the ghost zone. Tucker tried to jump over her to avoid it, but her friend was faster and the portal closed behind her.
- No, no, no, no! – Tucker yelled taking off her cap and throwing it on the ground in frustration.
- What happened? Where she went? – Paulina asked, looking at the floor.
- She went to the ghost zone! - He said scratching his head. - Fuck!
- How? - She said following him back to the living room.
Tucker ignored the question and took the phone out of his pocket.
- Jazz, we have problems!
- Tucker! We have problems.
They both spoke at the same time.
- I go first. - Tucker said. – I don't know how, but Sam opened a portal to the ghost zone and left.
- What?! – He separated from the phone when he heard the girl's scream. – Did she happen to have a cannon…?
- The size of her body, silver and that it makes a strange noise when it fires? Yeah.
- That explains everything. – She commented. - It's my birthday present… it shoots temporary portals to the ghost zone.
Tucker rubbed his forehead and turned to see Paulina, who was looking at him expectantly.
- But we have another problem. – Jazz commented.
- Tell me. – He said collapsing on the armchair in the living room and putting the phone on speakerphone on the coffee table, covering his eyes with his hands.
- The Guys in White are going to fire a missile at Dan.
- What? – He said sitting up in the seat.
- What kind of missile? - Pauline asked.
- The ghost equivalent of a nuclear bomb.
- What?! - They both shouted.
- They designed it to destroy the ghost zone, but they plan to use it against Dan…
- That would destroy the whole city. – Pauline commented.
- The blast might, but in theory… it would only destroy ectoplasm signatures within the range of action…
- But if Danny is fighting him… - Tucker started.
- That would kill him. – The Latina concluded.
- Like I said… a problem. – There was silence on the line for a few seconds. - Look, I have to go and you guys need to evacuate Paulina's house, so we'll discuss this when you get there, okay?
- Alright. – Paulina answered and hung up.
She watched the dark-haired man carefully in silence, until the boy exploded. He stood up quickly and started swearing into the air trying to release his anger and frustration. At one point, he saw a gun lying on the floor and kicked it with all his might until it disappeared down the hall.
- Why am I surrounded by idiots?! – He hissed violently while pulling his hair. – Even Sam… she's not stupid, she should have known that this is a bad idea… but she still did idiotic things!
- It's just that she will play a role different from yours.
That voice scared Paulina and made her jump out of her seat and run until she was next to the boy, who only turned to see the owner of the voice in surprise.
- Payback time, kid.
Pariah Dark reached out his hand and the Fright Knight's sword flew into his hand, then pointed it at Danny. A column of fire shot out of it, but Dany had no problem dodging it.
- Did you hit puberty, Dan? Or why did your voice change?
Pariah's smile faded and he went flying at the boy. Danny smiled as he managed to provoke him and he was rammed to the ground. To Pariah's surprise, the duplicate disappeared by the force of the impact and when he raised his face he received a punch to the chin from the boy, who quickly moved away from him. Vlad then hit him from behind with a metal garbage container and then fired an ectoplasm beam at him.
The king was enveloped in a cloud of smoke that limited his visibility, but he disconcerted them when they heard his laughter coming from the cloud.
- My turn.
A white glow took them by surprise and they saw it come out of the smoke screen to shoot white flames from their eyes. Both took evasive action and the lightning ended up hitting a gas station, which immediately exploded.
Seeing the destruction he had caused and the screams that could be heard in the distance, Danny took the initiative. He went on the attack along with 2 duplicates, trying to dish out hits, but missing each time. Pariah took both duplicates by the arms and smashed them head-on into the other, disappearing instantly. Vlad took advantage and together with his duplicates fired his weapons, forcing him to pay attention. Danny formed a block of ice and smashed it on the king's back.
Vlad stopped firing and charged forward, swinging his punches anywhere on the body he could hit and with Danny now hitting him square in the face. The knuckles of his gloves glowed a deeper green with each strike, and to top it all off, he used his cryogenic powers to form spikes of ice on each knuckle for extra damage.
At one point, Pariah drew the mace from his waist and with a spin, struck both of them, sending them flying into the nearest building. He straightened up and shot a bolt of lightning at them with his ring which they managed to dodge, but ended up blowing a large hole in the building.
- We have to make Dan come out. – Vlad stood up while he spoke.
- It seems to bother him that we call him "Dan". – Danny observed imitating him.
- Isn't that childish?
- Do you have a better option? – He fixed his attention on the king who was walking towards them. – Dan, that is no way to treat your creators.
Pariah frowned and fired another bolt at them, which they dodged.
- That got him out of me. – Vlad commented.
- I precede your entire race. Reckless fools!
Pariah tossed the mace in Vlad's direction to make him back up as he focused on Danny. For someone very big, he did not lack speed and on more than one occasion, the boy found himself in trouble dodging the blows that were coming his way. Vlad counterattacked, forcing the king back a bit and allowing Danny the rest he needed.
- You're wrong. – He replied, catching his breath. - If my math doesn't lie to me... you're only 17 years old.
Pariah intensified his attacks against Vlad until he forced him to create an energy sphere around him to avoid taking hits, but in a matter of seconds, he managed to destroy it. Just as he was about to punch him in the face with the ring, Danny froze his fist and the extra weight from him caused the trajectory of the blow to deflect. Vlad walked away and Danny stepped in, punching him in the face.
"Pathetic". The voice echoed in his head as he kicked Danny away. He dropped to one knee and cupped his head.
"Is that why you wanted my place? To humiliate us?" He closed his eyes, concentrating on silencing Dan's voice growing louder inside him.
- Be quiet. – He whispered.
Observing the state of the king, the two of them exchanged a quick look before pounced on him.
"Set me free". Pariah's eyes widened at that moment, just as he was about to be attacked.
- I'll show you what a King can do. – He whispered.
He scrambled to his feet and ran at them, kicking Vlad in the stomach and grabbing Danny by the foot, spinning around and throwing him against the building that ended up collapsing on top of the boy. He pulled Vlad towards him by the collar of his suit and began relentlessly punching him across the face with his free hand. When he had his fill, he released him and shot white flames from his eyes, sending him crashing into another building and destroying it in the process.
He rose into the air and quickly plunged towards the place where Danny had fallen, but the boy managed to get out in time to avoid the attack. However, Pariah increased his size and pinned Danny with his hand against the ground as he tried to escape. He regained his original size and started hitting his back relentlessly. At one point, he raised his hand and caught the mace coming back at him and brought it down violently at the boy's head.
Seeing this action, Danny released so much cryogenic energy to slow him down that he ended up freezing at least the equivalent of a one block radius zone. With the frozen mace mere inches from his head, he turned intangible and headed out to find Vlad. Seconds later, a fireball coming from Pariah destroyed all the ice. He jerked a bit before seeing which way his prey had fled from him.
- I think we pissed him off. – Danny said lifting Vlad from the rubble.
- Yeah? I didn't notice. – He answered, dusting himself off.
- Now what's the plan? - Danny asked.
- Now? Move.
Vlad shoved Danny away as he jerked back at just the right time to avoid Pariah's sword strike, which ended up burying half the blade in the ground from the force used. With a rope of ectoplasm, he pulled Danny towards him and hit him in the pit of the stomach. Out of breath and no ability to react, he took the mace from his belt and with a direct blow to his chin, sent him flying upwards until he ended up crashing into a billboard.
He spun around and brought both his fists together, unleashing an energy beam that struck the former mayor square in the center of his chest. With Plasmius out of the way, he could focus on his first victim.
Danny blinked a lot to clear his vision and slowly sat up. He ignored the sharp pain on his face and carefully brought his hand up to his nose, only to discover that it was covered in green liquid. When he saw Pariah floating near the building he was in, he stood up and reached into his belt for something that might help him. As he approached him, he tossed him a small ball that was actually a micro ectoplasm grenade.
To his misfortune, Pariah caught it and detonated it in his hand, undeterred. Danny got desperate and threw another 2 grenades at him that he didn't even bother to stop, instead he dodged them and let them explode around the building, compromising the structure of it.
- Any other trick?
- Only one.
Danny pulled out a circular device the size of his hand that looked like a speaker. Wasting no time, he placed it over his mouth and used his ghostly wail on him. The speaker amplified the power of the attack, sending Pariah flying several meters backward, landing on the rubble of the first toppled building.
Danny put the device back and Vlad appeared next to him after a few seconds.
- He's trying to divide us. – The older one commented.
- How long have we been fighting him? – He said wiping his face.
- Around 3 minutes. – He sighed. - Here he comes again. – Vlad said when he observed the green glow on the street approaching them.
- Another building fell. – Vid said through the communicator. – Increase the exclusion zone to 5 km…
- Use the fire trucks to clear the way through the brush in order to evacuate the city's population… - Trash was talking to the city's emergency services.
- Safe house to Fenton Labs, respond! We need the speeder! – Download threw the headphones on his desk in frustration.
He had been trying to communicate with someone there for almost 10 minutes and no one was answering him. His companions turned to look at him for a few moments before returning to what they were doing. They were in a safe house provided by the Guys in White, with satellite monitoring equipment that they were using to measure the progress of the evacuation, the radius of involvement of the fight against Dan, and the possibility of enabling exits from the city.
- Screw it.
Download stood up and walked to the back of the room. On a wheeled cart rested the GB-01 missile armed and ready to attach to the Fenton specter speeder. It had been sheltered in that place so as not to arouse suspicion in the citizens when they saw a missile parading through the streets, but now the genie had come out of the bottle and they had to show initiative.
He pushed the cart and took it to the exit, and that's when his partners noticed him.
- Dude, where are you going with that? - Trash asked.
- If Mohammed doesn't go to the mountain, the mountain goes to Mohammed...
- At least notify K that you will mobilize the missile. – Vid said.
- I'll do it. - Trash replied.
- Tell him I'll take it to him... - He said opening the door. – There is no time to wait for the speeder. They will have to detonate it analogously.
The boy left the location and his partners turned to see each other.
- I don't think anyone would volunteer to do that.
- You! – Tucker said pointing at him and walking towards him. - All this…!
Clockwork only raised his hand to stop the claims he was about to say. The gesture had the expected effect, more than anything because the boy wanted to hear the explanation he was going to receive.
- Time is something we cannot waste... especially now, Mr. Foley. – He was in his childish form and looked at the girl. – Miss Sánchez, save your tears. Your parents are safe and sound.
The girl opened her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but Clockwork stopped her with his hand.
- Everyone's safe, really. But it's Daniel who needs to hear that. As for you two… - He smiled. – You have a very important task ahead of you.
- Wait... How is it possible? And where were you all this time? and how…?
- Tucker… - He called him kindly. – There will be time to talk about it when this is over…
- And if this doesn't end in our favor? - He interrupted him.
- Then… would it have mattered to know?
Tucker closed his mouth and looked down, not at the answer but at what the answer implied.
- So, you don't know if we will win?
- I'm afraid the future is uncertain for now. But you can do something to change it.
Clockwork moved his staff and in front of both of them a small portal materialized showing some scientists working in a laboratory. Men were working on a machine, pressing buttons, and through glass pipes a red liquid could be seen flowing into a photoreactor. Tucker watched the images familiarly, while Paulina only got closer to the ghost.
- What's that? – She asked.
- They called it ectoranium. – He answered turning into an old man.
- That place... It's the facilities of the Guys in White, the ones that exploded... why...?
- They developed something… a weapon that could help us in this particular problem.
Clockwork pressed the button on his staff and the image changed. Now they were inside an office and a woman was seen placing a small vial on her desk with the same red liquid. With a marker, she made a small mark on the jar to identify it. Clockwork pressed the button again and the image froze on the vial.
- This is your goal. – He said looking at the man and stretching out his hand with a medallion of time. – Get the vial back and we might have a chance.
Tucker took the medallion and looked at Clockwork. The image soon changed and Tucker saw the entrance to the facility.
- I'm afraid this is the closest I can get you.
- Why?
- Ectoranium repels ghosts and at that particular time, it is present in many hallways.
- But we were looking at the office...
- Seeing and interacting are very different things. – He interrupted him. – The moment you cross the temporary portal, the effects of the ectoranium will be present in me. Which could cause the portal to fail and…
- Leave me stranded in the past? – He joked.
- Split you in time. You would come to exist in that time period for eternity.
- Oh. – He paused. – So, you won't be there when I get back? How will I know what to do next?
- She will guide you. - He said looking at Paulina. – As told you… you have an important task.
- Really? – The girl asked.
- I will transport you to a moment where all accesses are open. Time will be frozen so you will not find opposition. However, avoid touching anything.
- To avoid whiplash when you resume the flow of time. Understood.
- When you have the vial, remove the medallion to return. – He smiled at the boy. – Good luck, Mr. Foley. And remember: only you can do this.
Tucker nodded. He turned to see Paulina for a second and then put on the medallion. He sighed and jumped into the portal. Then he closed the portal and they lost visibility of what the boy was doing.
- Your turn. – Clockwork told the girl.
As best they could, they both got to their feet as fast as their limbs would allow them. However, Pariah took both their heads, one in each hand, and smashed them together. Immediately after, he elbowed Vlad and with the same hand, punched Danny, forcing him to his knees.
He kicked Vlad in the pit of the stomach, which bended him over, as she grabbed Danny by the back of his suit to lift him up and fire a point-blank beam into his chest. Afterwards, he took Vlad by the collar of his suit and brought him close to his face; however, he used a laser bracelet to shoot him in the chin. He continued to fire until Pariah squeezed his wrist, destroying the laser bracelet, and then he flung him at Danny.
- I hate this plan. – Vlad commented trying to stand up.
- Well… at least we bought them time. – The boy said on his knees.
Two ropes of ectoplasm wrapped around their torsos to pull them back in front of Pariah, who lifted them up by one arm and blew freezing breath that trapped them in a block of ice. He pushed them back slightly and reached his hands out to his sides to catch the mace and sword that returned to him. When he returned to face them, the sword was engulfed in white flames and the mace glowed a deep green.
- Choose which one you want. – He smiled as he showed them the weapons.
- Can we talk to the other guy? He seems to be more rational. - Vlad joked.
- The sword then. - He said seriously. – I will cut out your tongue before I crush your skull.
Vlad lowered his head and closed his eyes as Pariah drew her sword back. When he had it over his head, Vlad opened his eyes and fired a beam straight into his hand, causing him to drop the object and just swing his fist. Angered, Pariah tried to hit him with the mace; but Danny threw his body back, causing the ice block to spin and the blow, instead of hitting Vlad in the head, ended up hitting the ice in the space between them.
Breaking free, Danny kicked the king's face and made an attempt to remove the crown, but Pariah punched him in the chin, lifting him high enough so that his chest was level with his face and shot fire to him through his eyes. Having effectively isolated the older one, he created an energy sphere with his right hand and compressed it until it was no longer visible.
Vlad tried to land punches on his face, which were easily dodged and when his defense opened, Pariah placed his right hand on his abdomen. Danny could only see Vlad for a second, before the explosion created a curtain of dust that obscured his visibility. He could hear the destruction of a wall and the glow of dark rings in the distance confirmed that he was already out for the count.
He lowered his face and sighed. Instead of standing up, he just leaned back and sat up, clutching his chest with one hand and resting the other on his knee. Pariah walked toward him with determination, leaving white flames in each footprint. He fisted his left hand and the ring began to glow. He tried to calm down as he thought about what might be some last words worthy of the great Danny Phantom, but his mind was blank.
He tried to get to his feet, but as he was about to sit up, his hands were caught in ectoplasm cords behind his body. Likewise, his legs were caught and a rope wrapped around his neck, using the other ropes as an anchor point and pulling his body backwards. Pinned down and exposed, he just watched as Pariah stood in front of him and pointed the ring at him. Out of pride, he refused to close his eyes and looked directly into his.
- Die. – He said in a neutral tone.
Pariah's hand jerked downward just as the lightning left the ring. The attack impacted the ground in front of Danny and made an explosion that sent him back with great force. He ended up hitting the perimeter wall of some condominiums with his back and fell to the ground on his head. Amidst the dust that was raised and the darkness of the night, he could only see the king's flaming hair flying through the air as he spun around.
Free of the ectoplasm ropes, he pulled his legs out in front and placed them on the ground, standing on his knees facing the wall that had stopped him. Using it for support, he got to his feet and turned around. He observed a gigantic crater in the ground where he had previously been and doubts began to flood his mind. At that, a vine appeared from his right. Danny instinctively moved away and got into a defensive position, until he noticed that the vine was not attacking him, but was gently leaving Vlad's body on the ground next to him. He then noticed that his ghost sense hadn't activated.
- He's still alive.
His heart began to beat faster and his breathing quickened as well. His body trembled involuntarily, but he forced himself to stand up and turn back to face the owner of that voice. His heart broke when he saw those cold, lifeless green eyes staring into the horizon.
- No, no, no, no, no…
Danny flew up to face her and cupped her face with both hands. He tried to get the girl to turn to see him, but was unsuccessful.
- Sam… What did you do? What did you do?! – He rested her forehead on hers.