Call of the Phantom: Part 7

"I think I changed my mind!" Jake yelled in panic as he dropped through the air, crashing painfully onto the ground. Danielle quickly landed next to him, much more gracefully and on her feet, though kept her eyes on their prey. Said prey, a large green bull with glowing red eyes and sharp, pointed white horns, didn't seem to be paying them much mind as it looked around angrily.

"You know, if we weren't currently fighting an undead bull right now, it would be way funnier how much you seriously suck at flying and landing," the white-haired girl said. Pushing himself to his feet, Jake groaned, stretching his back out before he too stared at the raging bull.

"Ha ha. You're a real comedian. Glad to see that my pain is such a great source of entertainment for you," Jake replied, giving his stiff neck a swift crack as well. "So, are you planning to be of any actual help here, or are you just gonna keep running your mouth and watching me get rag-dolled around?"

"That depends," Danielle replied in a snarky tone, placing a hand on her hip and glaring at him. "Are you ready to actually come up with a real plan, or did you wanna keep being an annoying jackass while trying your stupid bull-riding idea again?"

"Oh, I'm being annoying? Well, I certainly don't see you coming up with anything, little Miss "Queen of the Animals"," he shot back, turning to glare back at her. "Why don't you just use whatever animal mind control powers you have and just make it go away?"

Danielle could feel her anger hit its peak in an instant, something that only Jake and her family seemed to be able to achieve in such a short amount of time. Without realizing what she was doing, Danielle opened her mouth and growled at him, starling Jake as her green eyes seemed to spark to life like a flashlight, though he barely noticed as he was more focused on the fact that her fangs, both lower and upper, had grown and extended, looking sharp and very much deadly.

"You'd better watch yourself, Jacob! That's not how my powers work, and you know it! If I could mind control it, don't you think I would have done that already instead of dealing with your stupid ass-"

A scream brought the two out of their argument, dropping Danielle's temper back to normal, as well as returning her teeth to normal. The cry, which was coming from a little boy, sounded distressed and Danielle instantly knew why. The bull, which had focused its attention on a group of people, was now charging forward straight toward the little boy who had tripped behind his mother as he was fleeing.

And there was no way he would get out of the way in time.

There were no words exchanged but their bodies began moving on autopilot as the two super powered preteens dashed forward in a flash, streaks coming off their bodies as they did. Danielle could feel the urge of her animal instincts as they kicked into high gear, pushing her to move as fast as possible to get to him, but in the back of her mind, she knew that her current speed wouldn't be enough.

I won't make it in time…Danielle thought in panic. I need to run faster!

Her mind began to flash and spin, almost like a movie reel, as images of animals passed by, one at a time. The spinning soon began to slow down before stopping on a single image. Her eyes flashed green, almost as if her brain were scanning the image and sending the data straight to the rest her body like a memory card loading saved data.

Her body hunched over, allowing her palms to grace the ground lightly as she shifted her weight to be more even. The second they touched, Danielle, could practically feel the power as it travelled through her, allowing her to run on all fours like it was natural, and increasing her speed immensely. As she used her new burst of speed to leave Jake behind, the stunned boy could swear her heard the same growling noise coming from her, only this time not directed at him, before she screamed out.

"Spirit of the Cheetah!" The sound was confirmed as she threw her head back and released a small cat like roar. The roar had no power behind it, but was a signal to all around that her presence was to be acknowledge as the sound went past her fanged teeth and into the air.

The little boy cried as he lay on the ground. The fall had hurt him, but not only that, the big green animal was scaring him. He didn't know what to do, but all he could think about was how he wanted his Mommy.

Said mother had stopped dead in her tracks the second she felt his hand slip, but unfortunately for her, her son's small legs couldn't keep up with hers, and so the distance had already become wider than she had realized by the time she turned on her heels to retrieve him. Though she knew she was running straight into danger, nothing, not even a monstrous green bull, would stop her from getting back to her baby, who she could see and hear crying out to her with all his strength. Just as she got to him, he was gone in flash before her eyes, but before she could process what happened, a sudden force came, narrowly moving her out of the path of the bull. Said force, whom she now realized was a boy with green hair, clothes, eyes and pale skin, had taken her place, being rammed hard by the bull and sent flying through the air, his screams of pain getting further and further until it was replaced by a crash.

"Oh my god! That boy just saved me!" She cried out before remembering why she was there. "Bobby!? Bobby, where are you!?"

Her gaze dropped to the floor and fell upon what looked like claw marks that had been raked into the floor. Following them, the woman gasped as she saw what looked like a ferocious creature holding her son and growling under her breath. The fierce green of her eyes burned with could only be described as hatred, though it wasn't directed toward the woman, but at the bull who didn't even seem fazed as it kept charging forward.

Danielle could feel her blood boiling as her anger seemed to only grow the more she watched the bull who had not only just nearly hurt people, but actually DID hurt someone. And not just anyone; no, he hurt Jake. Her Jake. Her best friend. She would not stand for this.

"Angel…"

Danielle blinked, calming a bit as she looked to the little boy still cradled in her arms. She realized that the boy had been staring at her, a look of curiosity and amazement on his tiny face as he said, "Pretty" before placing a tiny hand on her face.

Danielle blinked but couldn't help smiling at him.

"Please…" the woman said, taking a step forward, though she gasped at the quick reflexes Danielle had as she turned her attention to her. Taking another shaky step forward, she spoke again. "Please, don't hurt my son…"

Danielle blinked, confused, before it suddenly dawned on her.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," she said, surprising the woman. Did this girl just go from being a terrifying entity with a frightening aura around her to acting like a normal embarrassed preteen? Danielle quickly stood to her feet, holding the small boy out to his mother. "I guess I got a bit…overprotective there."

The woman wasted no time grabbing her son and hugging him close to her. Danielle smiled at the reunion. Tucker had been right. Her instincts had taken over and had allowed her to save this little boy. She now knew what this whole thing had meant and what it all had been for; trusting her instincts to put on the ring had given her the power not only to save the world, but to save her parents. But she wouldn't stop until they had been returned safe and sound.

"Oh, Bobby. Thank goodness you're alright," she cried. Turning to Danielle, the woman said, "Thank you for saving him. I don't know how you did it or how to thank you."

"You're welcome, ma'am," Danielle replied. "But you should really get out of here before things get worse."

"But…what about you?" She asked, before, hesitantly asking, "What…are you? The way you moved and the feelings I got from you earlier…"

Danielle smiled bashfully as she replied, "Well…we're ghost. And so is that bull. But don't be scared!" She said quickly as the woman started to turn pale. "My friends and I are here to help to protect the world. We're the Phantom Rangers."

"Phantom Rangers?" she asked.

"That's right. We came to stop things like this, and I promise you, we're only here to help. Now please," Danielle asked before floating into the air, shocking the woman. "Get to safety. I'll take it from here."

"Wait!" the woman called out before she could take off. "That boy…he saved my life…is he a ghost too?"

"Yes, he is. But don't worry, he'll be ok."

"When you see him…can you please thank him for saving my life?"

Danielle smiled. "Of course, I will," she promised before turning and darting off into the direction the bull had gone. It didn't take long for her to find that store with the broken window and the loud crashing coming from it.

Landing at the entrance, Danielle entered the toy store, looking around at all the destruction that the creature was causing while following her sense of smell to where Jake was. Though she hadn't been tapped into the hyper senses of her animal spirit for very long, she could recognize his scent anywhere. The smell of the wintergreen boy's body spray he had started using recently had been all over her house for months now, and though she had gotten used to it, she would always recognize when he was near as his nature body odor seemed to be freshened by it and make it stronger. And now that she had the nose of a blood hound 24/7, finding him buried under a broken shelf of toys was easy.

Jake groaned as he sat up slowly and brought a hand to his head. The throbbing pain was definitely something he was going to have to get used to because so far, this hero work was turning out to be serioously painful. Danielle knelt, lightly brushing some hair form his face.

"You ok?" she asked, worried that he was seriously injured.

"That depends," he said, slowly opening his eyes and trying to focus as he looked up at her. "Why are there two of you?"

"Well, looks like that bull really scrambled your brains," she said with a shake of her head before looking at the rest of the damage. "We've gotta figure out a way to stop this thing. Or at least slow it down."

"Well, how are we supposed do that? Getting hit by that thing feels like I just got hit with a bulldozer," Jake said as he got onto on knees and started to stand. Danielle grabbed his arm and gently helped pull him up onto his feet. "Thanks. But like I said, that thing hits hard, and I don't know if we have the strength to try to brace for it and take it head on. We'd need like the strength of a gorilla or something times a hundred."

"Strength of a gorilla…" Danielle mumbled as an idea struck her. "That actually might work!"

"What? Dani, you can't be serious. I was just being sarcastic," Jake said.

"No, Jake, you're right. We're already strong because our strength is magnified by our powers. So, if I had the strength of a gorilla magnified by my powers, I think I can slow that thing down."

"Ok, I guess that makes sense. But how exactly are you gonna do that?"

"I just gotta follow my instincts. Earlier, I don't really know what happened, but when I knew I couldn't go fast enough on my own, it's like my instincts kicked in. I saw like this image of a cheetah in my head and then next thing I knew, I was running on all fours and moving faster than hell," Danielle explained as she began to look around them. "Maybe if I try it again but focus on a gorilla instead, my instincts will kick in there too."

"Ok, let's say that this whole gorilla thing really is something that you can pull off; what exactly do you plan to do to actually use that strength to slow it down while it's going full force? Take it from me, trying to take that thing head on unprepared will not end will."

"I've got just the thing," Danielle replied with a grin on her face as she picked up the items.

"Seriously? A pair of boxing gloves?"

"No…not boxing gloves…" Danielle said, pulling them on and taking a deep breath. Pulling her fist apart from each other, Danielle began to concentrate and try to remember the feeling she had earlier, the feeling of the power as it activated and coursed through her body to give her the speed she needed except now, she needed strength.

As she focused more and more, the gloves on her hands began to glow as a white aura encased them. Hoping that her instincts were right once more, Danielle brought the two glowing gloves together, slamming her fist into one another. The light intensified, nearly blinding the two as the gloves began to change form.

The leather straps used to tie them extended and shifted up, going to her forearms and changing into strong metal. The grip around her wrists tightened, creating metal cuffs that were adorned with various animal shaped symbols. Lastly, her hands were covered in white metal that looked uncomfortable, but felt amazingly soft, almost cloud like, to Danielle as she flexed her fingers, while the tops of her hands were covered in pink fur.

As the light faded, Danielle looked at her handy work and nearly squealed in delight before turning to smirk at her gawking friend.

"Not gloves, but gauntlets," she stated proudly.

"Dude…That is so cool!" jake cheered, looking over them as well.

"Thanks. Now I just need a name for them." Danielle looked at them carefully as she flexed her fingers, though she did sneer unhappily at the pink fur.

"Well, since there's a bunch of different animals on it, why not something like 'Beast Bracelets'?"

Danielle scrunched her nose up at the suggestion. "Ew…isn't that a little…I don't know, girly?" Before Jake could reply, there was another crash, bringing their attention back to their problem. The bull had turned his attention back to them, and, based on the stomping and lifting of his hoof, was about to make his way right to them. Turning back to Jake, she panickily yelled, "Never mind that! Find a weapon or something, quick!"

"Right!" Jake replied, dropping back to the ground and beginning digging around for something he could use as a weapon. Turning back to the bull, Danielle began chanting the words to herself.

"Strength of the gorilla…strength of the gorilla…." The words came hurriedly. Taking a deep breath, and shifting herself into a wide stance, Danielle stared the bull down while shouting out, "Spirit of the Gorilla!"

Her mind went blank for a second as the film reel like sensation returned to her. Her hands followed suit as they began to glow pink, the cuffs spinning like a roulette wheel. The cuffs shifted and changed, stopping on the logo of the gorilla as they reached the top of her wrist. The symbol of the gorilla head flashed pink just as the imagine of the gorilla stopped in her mind and her eyes flashed green once more.

Danielle could feel a surge of power pour into her as her hands stopped glowing and were replaced by large white gorilla hands. Her fangs elongated once more as a rumble seemed to be building in her throat, and pulling back, Danielle released it all with a mighty, ape like roar.

Taking a few steady breathes, Danielle let her vision focus as her senses seemed to be coming back to her. She didn't know what all that was, but she definitely liked the way it felt. Looking down at the change in her weapons, Danielle was impressed at the look and feel.

"Now this is cool," she said.

"I've got something!" Jake called out, his hands already glowing as he focused his energy into the object that was still buried. "It feels pretty soft, but I bet once I finish putting my energy into it, it'll be super badass!" As the light faded, Jake smiled and yanked it out, declaring, "I present to you-"His excitement deflated instantly as he looked at the glowing green goo in his hands. "Putty?"

"Putty!?" Danielle shouted, looking at what he held. "You can NOT be serious right now, Jacob! Out of all the things you could have picked, you picked Silly Putty!?"

"Hey, give me break, ok?" He retorted before groaning. "Ugh, this sucks! Why does my weapon have to suck so much? Why couldn't I have gotten something cool like a sword?" The green putty began to glow in his hand, startling the two of them, before changing its shape into a beautiful broadsword. The Blade was made of stainless-steel metal with a curve on the back to make it wider, while the guard and grip were a beautiful green made from wood.

"Did that putty just turn into a sword?" Danielle asked, still in just as much shock as he was. Turning it over to examine it, Jake gave it a quick swing behind him. The strike was quick, but powerful as the shelf behind them split in two before coming crashing to the ground. Danielle could only stare even more in disbelief. "Holy shit, it did…and the blade is real…"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Jake cheered with a grin on his face. "I take back everything I just said! I've got the coolest weapon ever because I can have any weapon I want!"

"That's what your spirit meant. Your abilities are only limited by your own imagination. Literally," Danielle said before rolling her eyes. "Of course, you would get what's probably going to be the most destructive power out of all of us. Either way, let's just do this. You ready?"

"You got that right!" He said enthusiastically as he turned to the bull who had just begun to charge at them. Focusing, he imagined the sword changing into a bundle of chains, and in another flash of green light, the putty changed again. Grabbing part of it in his left hand, Jake began to swing it through the air, yelling out with a fake Southern drawl, "Alright you bovine bastard! It's bout time we had ourselves a rodeo!"

Danielle could only shake her head at her friend's stupid actions as the ground rumbled under the weight of the charging bull that only drew nearer by the second.

"Something tells me that this is gonna hurt…"

To be continued…