Chapter 6: Call of the Phantom: Part 6
For the most part, Lawrence Lancer loved his job as an educator. Sure, dealing with the emotions and troubles of teenagers was challenging, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a sense of pride when he saw his students accomplish something that they truly strived for. This was why he, unlike most of his coworkers, was more than willing to give up his Saturdays to be at work. Whether it be to get his lesson plans done for the week or because one of the sports teams needed an administrator on campus, he was more than willing to volunteer.
Though, if he was being honest, after today, that was probably going to be a thing of the past.
"For the love of Moby Dick, people, run!" Mr. Lancer shouted as he and the music instructor ushered the few students on campus into the school. "Everyone, get to the cafeteria and under cover, now!"
Another loud explosion could be heard going off as green energy lit up the school grounds, followed by a shrill cackling from above. Mr. Lancer looked up in fright at the creature floating above him, who appeared to be an ordinary woman, though given the eerie glow around her body, the green hue to her skin and the red in her eyes, he was certain that she was anything but.
Green energy, like that which had been raining down upon them, surrounded her hands as a black cloak billowed behind her as a gust of wind blew through it, her green hair and her pointed hat. Her nose was long, a wort bulging from it as her wrinkles stretched across the gleeful smile on her face.
"That's right! Run, you pathetic humans! This shall be the location of my new domain, and you will all make tasty snacks while I cast my spells and- "
Her rant was suddenly cut short as she found herself spinning in a circle while two streaks, one a vibrant purple and the other an electrifying blue, darted across the sky and into her. Mr. Lancer watched, terrified, as the two streaks seemed to be doing loops around her, throwing her off as she tried to comprehend what was happening, before both crashed into the ground before him.
A thick cloud of dust kicked up from their impact, directly into Mr. Lancer's face, causing the man to cough. Waving his hand in front of him to clear his vision, Mr. Lancer was astounded by what he saw. Before him were too creatures, one, a shining blue and the other, a majestic purple, that looked no older than any one of his students, but radiated power and, to his shock, a sense of fear as they simply stood from their crouched positions.
"See? I told you that would work. Plus, we even got to do a cool superhero landing," The blue one said, his voice coming out in a deep, digitized tone.
"Just because we got the jump on her, doesn't mean that the plan worked. Don't forget, getting her attention is only the first part," the purple one said, her voice coming out almost seductively as she dusted herself off. "Though I will admit, that probably went about as well as could be expected."
"Exactly. I mean, it could have been way worse. We could have crash landed in a tree or dropped out of the sky like rocks. Can you imagine how much that would have hurt?"
"I suppose you're right," she agreed before placing a hand on her hip and heaving a sigh. "So, she's the one we're after, right? There aren't any more hiding or anything around here?"
"Should be. Unless you're sensing anything else," he said, information scrolled across his visor. "Your earth powers telling you anything?"
"Not in the slightest. If I'm being honest, they're actually really annoying because all I can hear from the grass is this low whistling sound. The flowers are worse because it's kinda like those cartoons where they're all sing-songy, and the trees- "
"Um, excuse me…" Mr. Lancer interjected, grabbing both their attention. Mr Lancer flinched slightly at the look that they gave him, gulping before speaking again. "I'm…Mr. Lancer, and – "
"Well, that's nice and all, old man, but we're kinda in the middle of something here," The blue one said, brushing him off. "You should probably get out of here because things are about to get messy."
"Old man?" Mr. Lancer said, offended at the jab. "I'll have you know, I'm a spry, young 45 years old. Just who do you think you are, speaking to your elders that way? And what in the world is going on here?"
"Well last time I checked, WE are ghosts, and this, is an invasion of ghost. But don't sweat it, we're not here to take over the world. We're actually here to stop other ghost from taking over the world," he replied with a grin.
Mr. Lancer could only stare at him in stunned silence, and as his voice returned to him, he stammered out, "G-gh-ghost?"
"Yeah, ghost. You know, undead beings from another plane of existence?"
"Hey, a little less chit chat, and a little more focus here," the purple clad girl said, as she turned back to the witch ghost in front of her who finally seemed to get her bearings and began to glare down at them. "Also, for the record, I still very much hate this plan of yours."
"Trust me, you've made that very clear, and then some," he said, rolling his eyes. "Don't forget, I gave you the choice to either be the muscle or the distraction, and you made your choice, so don't get all bent out of shape over it now."
"Ugh, fine. You're so annoying sometimes, I hope you know that" she said before taking a deep breath and shouting up at their opponent, "Hey, wicked witch of the death! I hope our little entrance didn't scramble your brains!"
"Bite you tongue, you wretched wench!" The witched declared, anger crossing her features at the insult. "No one dare speak to I, Agatha of the Darkness, in such a manner!"
"Oh, so scary. I've seen flies scarier than you. If you're so great, what haven't you removed that ugly wort in the middle of your face? Oh, wait, never mind. It's your best feature!"
"What!?" The witch screamed, an explosion of green energy releasing from her body as her hair flowed around her like tendrils. "I WILL WRING YOUR NECK AND EAT YOU FOR DINNER!"
"Oh, that's just gross," the girl said as she began levitating off the ground, stunning the English teacher once more. Turning to her partner, she commanded, "This plan better work, or I swear, you're dead!" before shooting off at high speed into the high school.
Mr. Lancer looked up at the witch as she plunged forward toward them, screams of anger exploding from her mouth, and prepared to yell in fright, when he suddenly found himself standing near the tree at front of the school. Looking around him, he was stunned as he watched the witch crash through the doors and chase after the girl who insulted her, before turning to see the boy he had been speaking to earlier.
"Ceaser's ghost- "
"Not quite but appreciate the thought. Now, if you'll excuse me," he said as he began floating as well before throwing the teacher a salute, "I've got a job to do and will be on my way, so do me a favor and get some distance. We'll take care of her and make sure the students are safe. Oh, and when you tell people about this, make sure you tell them that the Phantom Rangers are here to save the day."
Before he could respond, the boy darted off, flying toward the school, and vanishing as he passed through the wall. The loud crashing of the witch's actions could be heard all over the school, prompting him to follow it as a small earpiece materialized in his right ear.
"Sam? You ok? I can hear all that crashing and thrashing from here."
"Oh yeah, doing phenomenal here, Tucker!" Sam replied sarcastically as another blast narrowly missed her head. "It's not like I'm zigzagging through the halls for my life or anything right now!"
"Not gonna lie, I didn't know you had it in you. Though really could have done without the ghost pun. And did you see the look on Lancer's face when I- "
"Focus, Tucker!" Sam shouted into her headphone as she twirled around a corner. A loud explosion went off, causing her to look over her shoulder to see green smoke coming from where she had been only moments ago. "Now is not the time to gloat about pissing over Lancer. We need to figure out a way to stop her before she levels the whole school!"
"Alright, look, what we need to do is find somewhere we can fight her with more open space."
"Well then why don't we just lead her back outside to the football field or something?"
"If we do that, we risk her getting away again. We need somewhere that we can keep her contained but still be able to fight openly," Tucker said before an idea came to him. "Wait, I've got it! The Gym! That should have plenty of space for us!"
"That could work. I'm in the main hallway now," Sam said as she looked to see that the signs for the locker room were coming up. "I can lead her through the locker rooms and meet you there."
"Sounds good. I'll be there waiting. Be careful, Sam."
"I'm on it," she declared, taking a hard left toward her destination. There was no need to check to see if the ghost was still behind her because the loud screeching could be heard like a police siren. There was no doubt in her mind that Tucker would make it there and be waiting for her, but Sam really hoped that he was thinking up a plan because if not, they were screwed. "He's probably passing through the walls now. We'll be fine…" She mumbled to herself.
The thought had accorded to her to do the same, and though she told herself that going the long way was to give him more time, Sam knew that she was nowhere near confident enough to try it herself. Regardless of how much power she was feeling right now, something in the back of her mind kept her from accepting the fact that this was something she could do.
The buzzing of her headphone drew her back from her thoughts, distracting her once more.
"Tucker? Please tell me you're calling back so soon because you've come up with a plan."
"I just checked the gym, and it's all clear. And yes, I have a plan. When you get to the gym, phase through the doors, and drop to the ground. You're gonna wanna duck."
Sam could feel a nervous shiver run down her spine, pausing before answering him.
"Right…phase THROUGH the door…no problem…that's super easy, and anyone could- "
"Sam," Tucker said, his voice gentle. "It's ok. You don't have to pretend. Look, I get it; this whole situation is…well, it's a lot to take in and pretty freaky, but you CAN do this. You just gotta trust your instincts. If you weren't the best suited to do this, then you wouldn't have been picked. None of us would have been. All you gotta do is just imagine yourself passing through the wall like it's not even there."
"Right…I can do this…just pretend the wall's not even there…" Sam said, drawing closer and closer to the door. Taking a deep breath, Sam could only cry out, "I hope this works!" before closing eyes and bringing up her arms to cover her head, fully expecting to crash headfirst into the door.
But, to her shock, nothing came. No pain, no full force stop; just a slight tingle.
Slowly, Sam opened her left eye, then her right one, expecting…well, she wasn't sure what she expected, but what she didn't expect as to see herself glowing blue. Coming to a quick stop, Sam examined her hands, amazed at the fact that she could literally see right through them.
"Sam? You there? Please tell me you're ok and not currently splattered against a wall," Tucker called out in worry.
"Holy Shit!" Sam exclaimed, an excited smile coming to her face. "I did it! I can't believe I actually- "Her celebration was cut short as a loud crash resonated from the very same door she had just passed through, followed by a shrill scream, reminding her that she was still being chased. Turning solid, Sam darted forward once more, heading for the open door to the gym at the other side of the locker room. "Ok, Tuck, I'm about to enter the gym. Are you ready?"
"I'm ready. Just give me a count down, and when we hit 1, drop to the ground and duck."
"Ok, here goes nothing. 5…"
"4…"
"3…"
"2…"
"1!" Sam cried out as she passed the threshold of the gym.
"Get down!" Tucker cried out before flinging what looked like a blue and silver disc toward her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Sam dropped under the disc, turning over and sliding on her back toward him. The disc streaked across the room, a blue aura of energy coming off and creating a tail behind it.
Just as it finished passing by her, the doors were flung open again as the witch barreled into them, only for her to be instantly struck, face first, by the disc. The force of the hit knocked her back, sending her body soring into the doors once more before a small explosion went off, engulfing her in blue smoke.
Sam blinked, amazed at what she had just seen as she came to a stop in the center of the gym while Tucker simply raised his hand. Getting to her feet, Sam watched as the disc swirled out of the smoke, coming toward them and moving around Tucker's body before retreating into his waiting hand.
"Ok, what the hell was that and how did you do it?"
"That, my dear Sam, would be my weapon. I call it, the Data Discus. Using my amazing knowledge obtained from the majestic power of – "
"Cut to the chase, Tucker."
"Ugh, fine. I swear, you really have no appreciation for the theatrical part of this," Tucker said, rolling his eyes. "When I got here, I looked for something I could use as a weapon and found a discus in the equipment room. Because my ability is all about information, I figured it would be a good choice because I can see different path and trajectories possible for throwing it by charging it with my ecto-energy which allows me to control it. Happy?"
"I'm goth. We don't really do happy. Well, at least not in the same context as everyone else," Sam replied with a smug smirk. "So, do you think that worked?" Another shrill scream came from the smoke, which was starting to clear, and Sam could swear she saw two glowing red eyes directed at them. "Well, that answers that question."
"Here, I got you something to," Tucker said, pulling something from behind his back and handing it to her. Sam looked at it before grimacing at him.
"A jump rope, Tucker? What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Skip around and hope she decides to join in?" Sam asked him sarcastically.
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't really have a lot of time to search through for a more "Sam appropriate" weapon for you and your love of violence, but I really don't think now is the time to debate this, because she does not sound happy," Tucker said, turning back to the ghost in question.
"Yeah, no kidding!" Sam retorted while face palming. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she continued. "Screw it. No point in complaining about it now, so, tell me how to turn this power weapon thing on."
"It just takes some focus. You've gotta push your power into the weapon, and from there, your spirit's influence in your subconscious will form it into a weapon for you. You just gotta imagine the energy flowing from your hands and into the rope. It's just an extension of yourself."
"An extension of myself," Sam mumbled, closing her eyes and imagining energy leaving her body and into the jump rope. In her mind, she could almost see if beginning to glow, as if it were working, and soon felt a tingling sensation in her palms.
Opening her eyes, Sam was greeted with the sight of the rope being engulfed in a purple light, which faded as it moved from one end to the next. The handle hanging from her right hand changed first, going from being a simple, plastic grip, to a strong purple metal that was adorned with green lines across it that crisscrossed up the length before forming a strong guard that would cover the user's hand. From there, the rope changed, going from a weak, thin rope to a long green vine that was adorned with thorns all the way to the opposite handle, which vanished in a flash of light that shot up into the air, and dropped into the first handle, creating a beautiful full bloomed purple rose of metal.
"Whoa…" Sam said, gently lifting the vine and examining it closely. "It's so beautiful…"
"And deadly! Holy crap, Sam! You made a Vine Whip!" Tucker cheered.
"No…not a vine whip," she corrected, smile on her face as she looked up at the angry ghost who was very much now focused on her. Dropping the vine, she let it brush against the floor for a quick moment, before bringing it up and giving it a swift crack. The thunderous sound reverberated off the walls of the empty gym, making Sam smile even wider as she said, "A Rose Whip! And I think it's time we whipped this witch into shape."
The sound of the whip sent a chill up the witch's spine as she looked on warily at the two, realizing she may be in over her head, though this went unnoticed by either of the teens as Tucker rolled his eyes, but smiled as well.
"Really, Sam? I never expected you to start making puns," he teased as he shifted into position, Data Disc in hand. "Looks like I'm rubbing off on ya."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't let that ego of yours get too big, buddy. Let's just do this before I change my mind."
To be continued…