Jazz cursed herself for the third time in less than a minute, unable to force her own hands to stop shaking. With her forearm she wiped away the tears that clouded her vision and forced herself to open the thermos once and for all. She pressed the button and the beam of light released Clockwork from his captivity. Jazz tried to take a deep breath to steady herself as she watched the master of time slowly rise to his feet.
Leaning on his staff, Clockwork stood up and looked at the redhead with a smile.
- Thank you, Jasmine.
As best she could, Jazz gave him a smile and covered the thermos, trying to calm her still racing heart. Clockwork approached her slowly and held out his hand. The girl looked at the palm curiously until out of nowhere, the Infimap appeared on it.
- Take care of it for me, will you?
- Sure. – She said in a low voice.
As soon as the girl took the map in her hand, Clockwork began to float and fly in the direction he presumed Dan had taken. It wasn't hard to estimate, after all he just had to follow the path of destruction. Meanwhile, Jazz just watched him go. When he disappeared from her sight, she looked at the Infimap and then at the thermos.
Dan squeezed his eyes shut, containing all the anger he felt. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and bowed his head down at the ground. He could take it, as long as he didn't start talking and saying…
- I'm the Box Ghost! Fear my power!
Dan looked up and glared at him. Even the box ghost was surprised by the weight of his gaze and he stepped back a little. Dan clenched his teeth to the point where the pressure on his jaw could break his own teeth. He had been about to kill the biggest nuisance for him, and he had interrupted everything... for that? He exhaled through his nose slowly and pointed his sword at him.
- I'll deal with you later. – He said severely.
He swung his sword in his direction for a few seconds before turning to finish what he'd started with Danny. He took a step towards the boy who was kneeling several meters from him, looking at him with visible confusion on his features. Before he could take another step, he was hit by a surprise attack on his left side. The incredible force of the chord that hit him sent him crashing into a building, destroying its front wall and collapsing on him.
- Ha ha ha! I! The great Technus, master of technology and everything digital! With my magnifier of…!
- Shut up, dumbass. - Skulker said.
- Don't flatter yourself so much, you're just an amp. - Ember crossed her arms.
Danny looked with even more confusion at the newly arrived ghosts. The Box ghost was floating away from the others, without having moved from his initial position. Ember was crossing her arms, looking irritated at Technus, who was transformed into a giant black amplifier with green details, and his visible face was in the speaker area. Behind him was Skulker, activating weapons on his suit and… Sidney Poindexter?
- Hey! – The box ghost intervened. - Did you use me as bait?
- Of course.
- Clearly.
- Obviously.
All three answered at the same time.
- It was their idea. – Sidney defended himself.
Danny stood up and helped Danielle up and they both flew to where the other ghosts were.
- What…? How…? - Danny couldn't find words to express his confusion.
- Why are you here? - Dani asked.
Skulker flew up to stand in front of the group. He smiled at both of them and opened the mouth of his mechanized armor to speak, but Dan's voice forced him into silence.
- That's a great question. – He said coming out of the rubble.
Dan looked at the diverse group of rebels in front of him. It was the second time they had rebelled against him... third, if he counted when they had rallied to defeat Pariah Dark years ago.
- You know? When he does it… - He pointed to the box ghost. - Is irritating. Tolerable, but irritating. But this… borders on the unacceptable. And have you heard of tuners? - He said looking at Ember. - I didn't know if I was listening to a D minor scale or a cat being killed.
Ember clenched her fists in the position she was in, with both arms crossed over her chest and frowned. The fire in her hair began to grow little by little due to her annoyance. Dan just smiled.
- We are all here because bullies like you need to be stopped before they get out of hand. – Sydney replied. - We won't let you do what you did to Amorpho again.
- That and that we would rather die again before letting the lovebird here become our king. – Skulker answered pointing to Danny.
Danny looked at his sworn enemy and frowned. "How nice".
- Hmm. – Growled Dan, wielding the sword again. – If you miss him so much, come here and I will gladly send you all to him.
- All? – Skulker said with a smile. - Who said that we were all?
Dan raised an eyebrow at that moment, the sword flew out of his hand. Startled, he followed the trajectory of the sword with his gaze until it ended up in the hands of the Fright Knight. Dan ignored everything and everyone, concentrating on who he considered to be his vassal. The ghost looked at him seriously, with a sword in each hand. He stood still while the king took steps towards him.
Danny was going to move towards them, but Ember stopped him by the shoulder. He turned to look at her, but she just shook her head. She released his shoulder and with her hand signaled for him to wait.
- Is this treason... servant?
The Fright Knight looked at him for a few seconds before turning his gaze to Danny and the others.
- No. Betrayal would be staying on your side.
Dan raised his face and nodded, without any emotion on his face. In the sky he observed the figure of Clockwork flying towards them, behind the Fright Knight.
- I assume that you did not carry out the task that I entrusted to you.
- What do you think?
- Good. - He said nodding.
At the height of the tension, Dan flew at full speed towards Clockwork, intending to take the staff and end it all. However, the Fright Knight predicted Dan's intentions and quickly raised both swords in the direction of Dan's flying figure.
- Attack!
Dani was about to go against Dan, but the army of ghosts that emerged from the ground made her recoil in surprise. Soon, Dan found himself surrounded by the entire army of Pariah Dark, who followed him as he flew towards Clockwork. When he looked at the aforementioned ghost, he just waved at him before disappearing into thin air. Dan stopped and soon all the ghost skeletons were on him.
The halfas were shocked as a whirlwind of ghosts attacked Dan. Although he made an explosion to get rid of them, there were too many of them and they quickly surrounded him again. Danny smiled and turned to see the ghosts next to him.
- Guys…
- Save it, boy. – Technus said returning to his normal form. - This is bigger than all of us...
- And it is our duty to do something. – The box ghost ended. – Our existence depends on this.
- But you must know something and I hope it is very clear to you. - Ember said.
- And that is…?
- We don't do this for you. – They all responded with a serious face.
Danny couldn't help but smile at them and dismissed their response.
- I knew I had earned a place in your hearts.
- The only place you've earned is on my wall, boy. – Skulker said, taking him by the chest and bringing him closer to his face.
- I don't think my girlfriend would like that. – He replied.
- Oh. - Ember intervened. - I didn't think you'd have the nerve to ask the goth girl.
- This is not the place or the time to talk about it! - The cry of the Fright Knight alerted everyone. - Here he comes!
They looked up, and the large green orb of ghost skeletons dispersed in a matter of seconds. One of the swords in the Fright Knight's hands (the one that Pariah had given him to command his armies with) flew up and ended up in the hand of Dan, who was engulfed in white flames and from his eyes streamed a red glow.
- Now boy, what's the plan? – Skulker asked Danny.
- We have to immobilize him. Then Vlad will take the crown from him and maybe then we can defeat him.
- How do you plan to take the crown from him? - Ember asked.
- The crown has a loaded device ready to detonate. – Vlad showed the detonator for a few seconds. – He needs to be immobilized so he doesn't try to retrieve it immediately.
- Where are the others? – The Fright Knight asked.
- On their way. – Sydney replied. – They had to go looking for many more.
- Others? – Dani asked curiously.
In that moment, Dan created two duplicates and quickly launched to attack. The group stayed together to avoid leaving Clockwork unprotected. They all flew backwards together as the original Dan fell to the ground and buried his sword in the ground where Vlad had stood before. Skulker immediately activated all the weapons on his armor and started shooting at the clone that was trying to attack them from the right with the help of the box ghost; Dani, Technus and Vlad attacked the clone coming from the left and the rest faced the original. The Fright Knight engaged in a sword fight against Dan, but his inferior physique forced him back with each attack he received.
Using both hands, he placed his sword horizontally to parry Dan's attack from above. With his free hand Dan sought to attack him with his mace, but Ember's guitar stopped the second attack. Distracted, Danny took the opportunity to fly in front of him, grabbing him by both wrists and throwing his body back to start kicking his face. Seconds later, he released him and flew back to give Sidney room to fire a bolt straight into the pit of his stomach.
The attack knocked Dan back a few inches. He called out to the two clones and assimilated them, then rose into the air to use his ghostly wail against them, but a projectile hit him in the back, engulfing him in a cloud of smoke.
Valerie came up behind him in her speeder and circled the cloud of smoke to stop next to the group of ghosts. Seeing the members of that group, she quickly took out two guns from her back and pointed it at them, earning a serious look from everyone. Danny materialized in front of her with his hands up.
- Val, wait… They're on our side.
- Yeah? For how long?
- As long as our fight against him lasts. – Sidney clarified.
Dan waved away the smoke with one hand and shot fire at them with his eyes. They went back as a group and when he was about to attack them again, three ropes got entangled around his ankles. Looking down, he discovered the Masters' Blasters trying to pull him down. Without thinking, he transformed his legs into a tail and broke free.
- Fools.
- Well… - Trash said with a smile. – We made you look.
He narrowed his eyes just as O started shooting at him as he fell toward him from the Fenton specter speeder.
- Banzai!
Before he could attack O, an orange flash streaked across the battlefield through the skies, landing a heavy punch on his jaw. Taking advantage of the distraction, Clockwork returned Jack a few seconds in time.
- Banzai!
The second blow managed to send the king of ghosts to the ground, where everyone present began shooting at him. Dan created a wall of ice around himself to stop the attacks, but in that, a hand of plants came out of the ground and wrapped around him.
Sam came to the battlefield walking and clasping both hands, interlacing her fingers so that the plants put more pressure on Dan. Ice began to form on the vegetation, but she summoned even more plants to hold it back for a few more seconds. Running came the Guys in White, who immediately surrounded the sphere of plants, as the wind began to blow a little stronger and colder.
- Fire!
At O's shout, the sphere of plants exploded and Dan came out shooting fire in all directions. Sam raised her hands and a wall of plants appeared to protect them, but it blocked everyone's view. She took a step back when she saw a sword pierce through her wall of plants and embed itself in her abdomen. She started to back up quickly to get away from the blade's edge, but Dan chased after her until her back collided with a car stranded in the street. It was there that Dan put even more pressure to pierce her body with the sword. Her green eyes opened as wide as they could and looked directly at the red ones who were looking at her without any emotion, before going completely blank and cold. Dan heard a crack as he applied more pressure to the sword and looking down, he was surprised.
The crack of his sword did not originate from colliding with the metal of the car behind the girl, nor was her spine being destroyed. It was a piece of ghost wood in the girl's abdomen that prevented the sword from going through her.
"You fought well, my child." Sam's subconscious could hear that voice echoing in her head. She didn't know where she was or why she had no control over her body, the last thing she remembered was being stabbed in the stomach by Dan and looking into her eyes. And then she…had come to this place. "Now it's my turn."
Dan dug the sword out of the wood and just as he was about to give the girl another thrust, Sam shot bolts out of her eyes. The act surprised the king, who covered himself with one hand to contain the attack, which curiously was very powerful. When he was away from the goth, the attack ceased and Sam fell to her knees, snarling. Immediately afterwards, Sam screamed loudly as the entire wall of plants disappeared and from the wood in her abdomen, a gigantic hand reached out trying to catch Dan. Everyone present was stunned to see what was happening, while Danny felt how his heart began to ache. His Sam was suffering.
Dan dodged the hand of plants in the air and cut the vines that tried to capture him. He was so focused on it, he didn't notice the ghost who came flying behind him engulfed in flames and struck him hard in the face with her spear, throwing him against a building and demolishing it as he passed through.
The plants stopped coming out of Sam's body and Undergrowth finally materialized in the human world, causing all the ghost hunters to take a few steps back upon seeing him. Danny quickly flew towards Sam, who supported herself with her hands so as not to fall on her face to the ground.
- She will be alright. – He said without looking back.
Danny looked at him for a few seconds before taking Sam by her face to inspect it. She was still under the influence of Undergrowth, but she was clearly exhausted.
- But I can't say the same for him.
Dan dropped to one knee, but before he could get to his feet, a lightning struck him in the chest, destroying what little armor he had left on that part of his body and dragging him a few feet to the ground. Lightning streaked across the sky and the wind fanned the flames at ground level, further illuminating the battlefield so that everyone could see both ghosts descend from the sky and stand beside Undergrowth. Clockwork appeared in front of 3 seconds later.
When Dan was able to stand up, he observed that behind those 4 a black shadow rose several meters above the ground, which took its final form with a slight white glow. Danny looked at the 5 ghosts in front of him with some disbelief and quickly looked to Sidney for an explanation, but the black and white ghost was focused on Dan.
Rising to his feet and removing his armor, Dan swept his serious gaze over the new group of ghosts. Clockwork, Undergrowth, Pandora, Vortex and Nocturne... The 5 ghosts remained serious, with their eyes fixed on Dan. Pandora was the one who broke the seriousness of the moment with a small laugh.
- 6 were enough to stop Pariah Dark. And if you look around you… well, you do the math.
Now it was Dan's turn to get serious. The crown and ring began to glow and he began to regenerate little by little. Things were about to get out of control and he would need all the power at his disposal. His plan had gotten complicated... again.
Dan sensed movement to his left and quickly fired a bolt at the moving body, which managed to dodge it with relative ease. Everyone else, ghosts and humans, got into attack stances as they watched whoever was joining the battlefield. With a neatness in his outfit that surpassed that of the Guys in White, Walker took three more steps before stopping several meters away from Dan and the others. With his hands behind his back, he surveyed the crowd until his gaze fell on Dan.
- You… - He said taking off his hat. – In the last few days, you have broken so many rules that I stopped counting them…
- Go back to your prison if you don't want me to exterminate you. – Dan threatened him.
- Oh, sure I will. – He smiled and put his hat back on. – But you will come with me.
- Am I now? – He raised an eyebrow.
Walker just laughed.
- There are no more options. And to make things more interesting… - He made a brief pause.
To everyone's surprise, a gigantic crack appeared in the sky with a brilliant green glow. Wolf was the first to go through the portal and fall to the ground on Dan's left flank. Behind him, a multitude of ghosts flew through the portal in the sky and began to flutter across the sky, taking up their position around Dan.
A beeping sound known to all the Fentons made its way across the battlefield and they watched all of Walker's guards appear behind him, with the highest ranking one holding Jazz's gift weapon. Completely surrounded, Dan stepped back and sped up his healing a bit more. The Fright Knight smiled and took the sword with both hands and raised it to the sky, causing all the ghost skeletons in the Pariah Dark army to reanimate.
The tension in the humans present began to amplify to the point that they discreetly began to back away. Nocturne noticed and turned his head to look at Jack and O, who were the only ones who hadn't backed down.
- Humans, you already did your part. Now it's our turn.
- We're not leaving. - Jack sentenced.
- Then attack from a distance. - Ember said. – Your safety won't be our priority from now on.
Jack and O exchanged glances for a few seconds and nodded. Jack whispered orders through his comlink and the human forces began to fall back towards the nearby buildings. Everyone except Valerie.
- Go with them.
- I'm fine, Danny.
- No, you're not. – He told her seriously. – Go, rest a bit, and come back when you recover your strength.
- But…
- I'm not asking you Sam.
Sam tried to hold his gaze, but Danny wouldn't budge. She snorted and turned around, being helped by Download to get away from there. Seeing her go, Danny returned his gaze to the front and flew up to the 5 ghosts, closely followed by Vlad and Dani.
- Now what? - Vlad whispered.
- Now... - Vortex spoke, inhaling. - We fight!
Another bolt of lightning fell from the sky towards Dan, but this time he managed to deflect it to the right with his ring. Immediately, the roar of the entire ghost army echoed throughout the city as hordes of ghosts charged at Dan, with Danny leading the way.
Valerie stepped into Technus's way as he went to attack, causing the ghost to give her a funny look.
- What do you want?
- You to be useful. – She said with a smile. - Are you the master of technology?
- Do you doubt it? - He said slightly offended.
- Then I have a job for you.
When Jazz was walking down the street, slapping herself to get rid of her nerves and refocus on the mission in front of her. She stopped as she watched the Fenton speeder heading towards her. She snapped out of her stupor when she made eye contact with her mom, who she was driving. She ran towards the vehicle, while all the crew members got out.
- Mom! - She hugged her tightly when he had her close.
- I'm glad you're okay, sweetie. - She answered her when they separated.
- What is...?
- I want men on all the roofs of these buildings with long-range weapons! – O yelled pointing to the surrounding buildings. – The rest, secure nearby but small buildings. Enable a line between both buildings in case it is necessary to evacuate.
Jazz watched the movement of all the staff and among the sea of people, she began to look for her father. The noise of the fight reached her ears, but an explosion made everyone duck and cover their heads. Aside from the fireball, they watched as several ghost skeletons flew out in all directions, some falling into their midst before disappearing. They all began to head towards buildings to take shelter while the roar of blows continued to come towards them. The last thing Jazz saw before taking cover was a gigantic red ghost crashing into a building in the opposite direction.
- What is happening there? - She asked her mother.
- The ghosts are taking over.
- The ghosts? What ghosts?
- Everyone, apparently.
Jack appeared behind her daughter and quickly hugged her. Breaking away from her, he surveyed her with her gaze and sighed in relief when he saw her intact. He lightly squeezed her shoulders and continued on his way to O.
- We'll need to expand our perimeter. They are getting closer and closer. – He whispered to him.
- The Gray girl stayed with them to fight... we can ask her to guide them in the opposite direction.
- Did she stay?
- She's old enough to make her own decisions, no matter how stupid they are.
Jack sighed and rubbed his face.
- Here. – O deactivated the ghost peeler and handed the gun over to Jack. – I'll support up there, you coordinate the transfer to the other building.
- Understood.
- Oh, and the specter speeder...
- What about it?
- Get it out of here. It's the only vehicle left and we risk losing it by keeping it so close.
- I will do it. – Jazz said, drawing the attention of the two men.
- Of course not! - Maddie said. - I…
- Mom, you are more useful here than me. Also, I just have to move the speeder backwards.
O looked at both women, then at Jack, and finally shook his head.
- I don't care about who does it, just do it. You. – He pointed to another Guy in White who was there. - Come with me.
They watched the operatives leave upstairs and Jazz took the opportunity to snatch the keys to the speeder and run out of there.
He punched Dani, knocking her out of the way. Kicking the box ghost and shooting beams from his eyes at one of Walker's guards, he pushed them out of his way. A handful of sleepwalkers crowded around his limbs as Danny and Skulker pummeled him, but Dan increased his size and swatted them away. Taking advantage of the opening, Vortex inhaled deeply and released a torrential wind in Dan's direction, who held the crown tightly so it wouldn't fly off and with his free hand, held onto the ground to steady himself. Ember started to play his guitar, throwing fists of energy with each chord that hit their mark, throwing Dan backwards.
When Vortex stopped blowing, Dan quickly got to his feet and started attacking those around him. However, Clockwork turned back time on those he was trying to attack, causing them to go backwards while Dan tried to hit them. Suddenly, Shadow wrapped around his head for a few seconds before Dan used his flaming hair on him. He was immediately attacked by Walker and Spectra, allowing Undergrowth to grab him by the neck and slam him to the ground, where Vlad attacked him from behind with the ghost gloves.
Dan turned, but Vlad fled before taking any hits. In that position, Klemper hurled a snowball at his face, which exploded when he made contact with the king's pale skin.
- You are a bad friend!
He inhaled deeply and blew out a frozen breath that Dan neutralized with his fire powers. Ghost skeletons came up with their swords to attack him, but he blocked the swords with what little armor he had left on his right arm. He stepped back in time to avoid the phantom executioner's ax slashing across his head. He took the mace in his hand and struck him hard in the chest, sending him crashing into the ghostwriter. Bertrand curled up in a ball and hit him in the back, leaving him in position for the red monster ghost to punch him. Dan bounced off a wall and was attacked by the ghost archer, who managed to pin his cape against a wall, which Valerie took advantage of to fire a missile at him.
Dan detonated the ammunition before it reached him, and the explosion caused the already weak surrounding buildings to crumble. He threw an energy sphere at the girl which she dodged with no problem. However, Dan smiled when in her evasive tactics, she ended up running into a wall that had fallen off a building. The debris hit her on the back and her head, causing her to lose control of her speeder and end up falling to the ground. As she was about to be crushed by the collapse, a green shape appeared in her field of vision and grabbed her arm, dragging her away from there.
In a safe place, the ghost released Valerie and she tensed as she recognized her "savior". Cujo, in his giant form, watched her seriously. Seconds later, he began to flick his tail and he relaxed his features to lick her helmet. Immediately after, the dog turned and ran towards the battle.
Dan was on full alert, as one of Pandora's hands was constantly trying to take the crown from him while the other 5 did not stop attacking him, one of them with a spear in hand. He further increased his size to gain an advantage over her and catch 4 of her wrists with one hand. He pointed the ring at her and the lightning that struck her sent her flying into the distance, taking with her any ghosts in her path.
When he was looking for Clockwork in the crowd, he started getting hit by an invisible force. First on the stomach, then on the face, and then on the legs. Dan started punching the air, trying to find the one responsible, but that only gave Dani an opportunity to hit him.
- You go up and I go down!
Dan waited for the invisible force to close in on his face, but instead it hit him on the back of his knee and Dani was the one who hit him on the face. Recognizing who was responsible, Dan jumped back and gave a clap that generated a pulse of energy that hurled the ghosts closest to him backwards. A side effect of that attack was making him visible to everyone.
- There you are, you little shit.
Youngblood was surprised when Dan lunged at him and grabbed him by the throat.
- How can you see me? – The child ghost asked while he tried to get free.
With fire in his eyes, Dan answered him.
- I'm the king, fool. I can do what I wants.
Without telling him more, he fired at him at point blank range and the young man could do nothing but scream. Dani tried to help him, but noticing that she was getting closer to her, he spun his neck 180° to attack her. Sidney took advantage of that to snatch Youngblood from his hands, but before he could run away with him, a clone burst out of Dan's chest and grabbed Sidney's shirt. Sidney released the juvenile ghost so he could run away and was dragged by Dan's clone into a corner playground.
- If you miss Amorpho so much... you can join him.
He grabbed his leg and tossed him down the slide. He walked over to the swings and ripped off the chain, which he quickly wrapped around Sidney's neck. He tied a small knot and began to spin it in the air, destroying all the playground in the park and ending up lashing him against a fountain. He pressed down hard on the chain and was engulfed in white flames, while the metal became red hot. Poindexter was still submerged in the fountain when he felt the intense burning pain around his neck. He tried to fly away, but Dan crushed his chest with his metal boot, leaving him submerged and on fire. In an instant, the water in the fountain froze and the flames were extinguished. Dan narrowed his eyes and before he could react, an ice stalagmite formed in the fountain and pierced his chest, instantly vanishing the clone.
Little by little, the ice broke up until it returned to its liquid form. Sidney sat up and began to cough as he rubbed his throat. The chain had definitely left a mark on him, but he didn't have time to think about that when his savior held out a hand to help him to his feet.
The original Dan dispatched a slew of soldiers from his army with a swing of his mace, while with his sword he destroyed more sleepwalkers who rushed at him. Johnny 13 took advantage of the moment to circle around him and cloud his vision with a cloud of dust and dirt. Dan was about to attack the biker when he had to duck to avoid being hit by an Ember chord; when he got back up, Wolf leaped from his left to the other side of the cloud, ripping his left arm. He fired in the direction where Wolf had disappeared and was hit in the jaw by Vlad, who came out of the ground and was lost to his left.
Dan spun and was now attacked from above by Shadow, before getting lost in the ground. Fed up with the situation, he stretched out his hand to the right to open a portal to the ghost zone that Johnny 13 went through when he didn't see it. He quickly fired a beam at Kitty in front of him, who was about to blow him a kiss to make him disappear and punched Wolf when he lunged at him again. From behind him, Cujo headbutted him, sending him facedown to the ground, but he scrambled to his feet to avoid being bitten on the legs.
He rose into the air and with both hands slammed him over the head, slamming him to the ground and returning him to his puppy form, then kicking him hard into a building. Thanks to his small size, he ended up going through the window and taking down an operative who was positioning himself there.
Undergrowth extended some vines that grabbed his right arm and began to pull him backwards. On instinct, he froze his entire arm to paralyze the ghost and engulfed his other arm in flames to break the hold. Immediately, he used his frozen vision on the vegetal ghost. Little by little, he weakened him, until Pandora stood between them and stopped the attack with her spear. Vortex quickly shot a lightning at him and Dan did the same, causing both electric streams to collide and emit a powerful glow that blinded them for a few seconds. Time that Dora took the opportunity to land in front of him in her dragon form and exhale her breath of fire at point blank range. When she stopped attacking her, Aragon landed behind him, also as a dragon, and struck him with his tail. He destroyed 3 condos before he could hit the ground.
Dan supported himself with both hands to try to stand up. He was losing and that was unacceptable. He was more powerful than all those pathetic clumps of ectoplasm, but the numbers and that damn missile from earlier were taking their toll on him. He got to his knees to get to his feet, but was immediately knocked down again by Valerie, who was shooting at him with an ectoplasm machine gun. He covered his face with one hand and created two duplicates, who shot in all directions to get rid of the girl.
Valerie dodged most of the attacks and began to circle him, positioning herself behind Dan's back to slowly bring him back onto the battlefield. Jumping up, Dan jumped to his feet and shot her with the ring. Valerie didn't need to dodge the attack, as Nocturne appeared in front of her and received the attack; the hole that formed in his abdomen closed almost immediately and he launched himself at him. He wrapped himself tightly around him to immobilize him with his body and put him to sleep. Dan jerked and yelled to get him off of her. Overexerting himself, he ripped Nocturne's body apart and threw it in front of him, where he regenerated.
Pandora again arrived and stood in front of Nocturne, shooting Dan with an energy beam from her spear. The attack knocked him back a few feet, but Dan didn't stay long. He flew up until he was above all the ghosts that had rose against him. He stretched out both hands in front and a ball of fire formed. Using the power of the ring, he raised his hands and the sphere grew until it was visible and distinguishable throughout the city.
Danny's eyes widened and he quickly positioned himself in front of the group of ghosts who were as surprised as he was. Against an attack like that he didn't stand a chance, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying anyway.
- Eat this.
Dan threw the fireball at them and Danny quickly shot it with both hands and frozen beam eyes, but the ball continued its descent. He tried even harder to increase the power of his lightning.
- Far Frozen! With the Great One!
Danny raised his head a little when he heard Frostbite's voice behind him and immediately afterwards a gigantic hand of ice was formed, containing the ball of fire in its palm. Danny stopped using his ice vision and looked down, to see about 100 yetis with their hands up holding the ice hand. Even Klemper was helping.
Seeing that, Dan's features hardened even more and he launched himself against the fireball to push it further. Danny followed suit and launched himself, firing his frozen powers. With Dan's extra momentum, the fire sphere eventually collapsed the ice hand and both forms exploded, sending out a shock wave of fresh air and covering the battlefield in a thin layer of snow. Danny and Dan went flying in opposite directions, as they were the closest to the explosion. Danny was caught by a bed of plants before crashing into a building, courtesy of Sam. Dan on the other hand, ended up circling over the snow until the inertia of the explosion was used up.
Danny broke away from the plants and looked at Sam, who gave him a slight smile and he returned the gesture. He turned around and Vlad appeared in front of him, along with the Fright Knight and Clockwork.
- It's time. We will not have a better opportunity than this.
Danny thought about it for a few seconds and nodded.
- Get in position and get ready to take the crown. – He told Vlad. – Clockwork, I have too many questions, but I will leave that for another time. Do you think you can distract him for a few moments?
- We will do it. – He smiled at him as he transformed into an old man.
Danny nodded and looked at the Fright Knight.
- Gather our forces and divide them into 2. You must immobilize their arms. The Far Frozen and I will take care of his legs.
- Understood.
The three ghosts flew forward and Danny returned his gaze to Sam again.
- Let me guess: You don't want me to get close. – She said, crossing her arms.
- Quite the opposite. – He smiled at her. – I need you to immobilize his head.
Sam looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then smiled at him. Danny smiled at him, but then his face fell.
- Wait. Clockwork said: "we'll take care of it"?
Sam realized that too, but something more important distracted them. The lights on the street that were not destroyed began to shine. The lights in the apartments, houses, and offices that had been abandoned before the evacuation came on at the same time, and the city gradually filled with the sound of electronic devices blaring in the distance from people who were unable to turn off their televisions or who were listening to music when the Guys in White mobilized them.
An image appeared on the screens of all the devices turned on: the face of Technus laughing.
- I! Technus, I have restored all electrical systems in the city!
Valerie watched from the sky with a smile as the city lit up again in sectors, leaving only the one where they were fighting in darkness, which was somewhat depressing to watch. All the destruction of the heritage of dozens of families… it was like reliving her story all over again, only worse.
She at least had the consolation that her plan had worked. The comm channel began to blare with conversations from the Guys in White discussing what had just happened and that was her cue for her to finally regroup with them, until she heard interference directly in her ear.
- …rie… list… Val…?
- Hello?
She checked her communication systems and then paid attention to who was speaking to her.
- Valerie… do you hear me?
- Tucker?