Phantom Falls

Chapter 12

Danny was wandering aimlessly through the woods when he heard the scream. He whipped around, looking for the source. It had sounded like Mabel. She screamed again, and Danny took off running. He transformed mid-step and flew through the trees at top speed.

He saw Mabel up ahead in a clearing, backing away from something. As he neared, he saw that it was Skulker. What was Skulker doing here? As Danny zipped in behind Mabel, Skulker shot a glowing green net at her. It wrapped around her and forced her to the ground. She tried to scream again, but a lump of ectoplasm acted as a gag.

"Oh, hello, Ghost Child." Skulker said, looking at Danny. "Come to help me?"

"Let her go, Skulker." Danny said warningly.

"But surely you understand why we need her," Skulker raised an eyebrow. "She is one of the ten I have been tasked with retrieving."

"Who told you to capture her?" Danny asked, arms crossed.

"The entire Ghost Council, whelp. Didn't you know?" Skulker looked astonished.

"Know about what?" Now Danny was confused. He looked back at Mabel, whose eyes were wide through the net.

Skulker laughed. "You spend too much time in the mortal world, naïve child." He became serious. "There is a grave danger coming to this world. All of the ghosts have fled to the Ghost Zone. Surely you noticed."

Danny landed softly on the ground between Skulker and Mabel, still in a defensive stance, but listening. "I have noticed that, yeah. Not even Plasmius is around anymore."

"That is because even that hybrid fool can recognize that something is about to happen," Skulker said.

"But wait," Danny shook his head, "If something is going to happen to this dimension, that means that the Ghost Zone will be affected too. They mirror each other, remember?"

"Exactly. There was a meeting of the Ghost Council, and it was decided that for the safety of our own dimension, we must prevent this catastrophe from happening."

"Then why do you need the girl?" Danny asked, taking up his defense again.

"I need more than just the girl. I require ten specific humans that can prevent the catastrophe."

At that moment, Dipper burst through the bushes behind Danny. He cried out as he saw Mabel tied up, but in a flash Skulker had a net and gag on him, too.

"There's another one. This might be easier than I thought." Skulker made to pick up the twins and put them in his containment device, but Danny blocked his path.

"Leave them alone," He said through clenched teeth. His hands started to blaze with green light.

"Have it your way, whelp." Skulker activated his weapons system. He shot a few glowing blades in Danny's direction, forcing him to fly to the side to avoid them. "I will take your head on my wall any day."

Danny evaded another shot and turned the fight away from the twins. He couldn't let them get hurt. He fired a few ectoplasmic rays from his hands, taking out one or two of Skulker's weapons. As a barrage of darts soared toward him, he put up a shield while he fumbled with the Fenton thermos. A dart nicked his arm and he gasped in pain. But the cut didn't seem to be deep.

"Is that the best you can do, metalhead?" Danny said. On the edge of his vision he saw Dipper roll his eyes. Shut up, he thought.

Skulker laughed, which gave Danny enough cover to open the thermos and activate it. Skulker tried to dodge it, but the streak of light emitting from the thermos hit right on target and sucked a tiny green blob of ectoplasm out of his head. The empty metal suit fell over, and Danny put the lid back on his thermos.

He turned and floated over to Dipper and Mabel, who were still tied up on the ground. He got them out of the nets and helped Mabel to her feet.

"Sorry you got stuck in the middle of that," he said apologetically.

"It's okay, she said, rubbing her wrist. "That was cool, the way you fought him off. What happened to him?"

"He's in here," Danny held up the thermos. Then he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "That's just his exoskeleton. He's pretty tiny without it."

Dipper grabbed Mabel's hand and pulled her back, away from Danny. "Why did you save us?" He asked.

"Well, I couldn't let that psycho stick you in a cage, could I?" Danny half laughed, but he knew Dipper was remembering the betrayal.

Dipper looked at him with distrust. Danny could see that he would have to do some thorough explaining.

He sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry, Dipper. I shouldn't have kept it a secret." He averted his eyes, rubbing the back of his head. "I was just trying to keep a low profile, but I did ask for your help. I should have told you."

"Tell me what you're really doing here." Dipper said, stepping in front of Mabel as if to protect her.

"Dip, he just saved us," Mabel said quietly.

"I need to know the truth, Mabel." He said, looking back at her.

"I'm here because it's my job to protect people from ghosts, or any sort of weird disaster. Our readings indicated a high level of supernatural activity here, so I came to investigate. After I met Bill, I knew I had to take care of him. It's what I do."

"But what are you?" Dipper asked. "Are you a ghost or a human?"

"Both. It's sort of hard to explain." Danny looked self-conscious. "A couple years ago my parents tried to create this portal to the Ghost Zone, but it didn't exactly work. When I went to check it out, it zapped me and turned me into... this." He landed on the forest floor and transformed back into Danny Fenton again. "I can change back whenever I want, but I have all the powers of a full ghost."

"Cool...." Mabel said.

"Yeah, but it is a burden at times." Danny said.

"So you're really not going to hurt us?" Dipper asked.

Danny looked indignant. "Of course not! I never use my powers against the innocent. Well, except sometimes on Dash. But he's a jerk." Danny laughed again.

Suddenly Dipper saw that Danny was an ordinary teenage boy. He had flaws and enemies, but he was also lighthearted and fun. He wasn't that different at all.

Dipper joined in Mabel and Danny's laughter.