Chapter 8

How could it have gotten to this? How could he have been so careless? Danny's little episode, where his powers and emotions went beyond haywire, had somehow gotten caught on camera. Cameras actually, plural to be precise, and not just three or four. It wasn't that he didn't expect it, really he did. He did destroy the surrounding cloud coverage and make a noticeable scene after all. Especially when he watched the footage of it.

Did he have to be found out so soon though?

All eyes in Amity were probably on him at the moment. If someone was outside, then the sudden coming of a green lightning storm most definitely caught their attention. Given the current era, everyone snapped out their phones and recorded the whole damn thing. The internet was abuzz for the next week, talks about his ghostly side ranged from Facebook and Reddit to even some of the more serious news journals like The Times or the Daily Planet. As honored as he felt to have his image on such esteemed sources, all it did was fill him with dread.

He definitely made an effort to not be seen from that moment on. He made invisibility his top priority, practicing it for a large majority of his free time training. Not that he didn't practice his other powers, but he didn't want that kind of publicity, especially when he's only had the powers for less than a month. The last thing he needs is some meta snatcher or ghost hunter to come and stick their nose where it doesn't belong. Up in his business, to be precise.

Despite his lack of a reappearance, the videos gained in popularity, millions of views and still growing. Everyone in town, without a doubt watched it or saw it, and worst of all his parents immediately knew it was a ghost. They should have, to be fair, it was their job after all. According to his parents, the sensors indicated high amounts of ectoplasmic readings, higher than any they've ever seen.

Pride may or may not have inflated Danny's ego a bit, and it did improve his mood to know he was powerful. Now if only he could get better control, because he did not want a freak out like that again. It miffed him a bit that his parents, or rather his mother, just seemed to gloss over their last conversation. Any apparent thought or concern was gone, replaced by their damn obsession with ghosts. What happened to the concern when they talked?

Is it ironic that it was himself that distracted her from her concern for her son, even if she didn't know? If it is, it's a cruel irony, and if anything it made Danny avoid interacting with them even more. They have been leaving the lab more often though, even if it is to search for his other half.

Danny noticed that Jazz stopped calling them mom and dad. She's been addressing them as Jack and Maddie, and he was really starting to think that he should do that as well. If just to get the point across that they should be paying more attention to their children instead of going on wild ghost chases.

Unfortunately, no new powers have surfaced, a little disappointing, but he's got quite a few already. He's gotten better at using them, though they are still a tad bit finicky. Flickering on and off at random times, very inconvenient at best, and almost life threatening at worse; like when he's flying. The ecto-goop has gotten easier to make, though it takes a minute or two of concentration to get it right.

This morning in particular has actually been stranger than normal.

First and foremost, Danny woke up being attacked by leftovers. Strike one. It's not the first time it's happened, unfortunately, but it happens once every two months or so. Reanimated sausage weenies chomping on your toes make for a horrible alarm clock, and Danny has never been much of a morning person anyway. It took all of ten seconds for him to slice through the shitty little menaces. He took great pleasure in bashing the glowing bratwursts into the floor with an ecto-infused stomp.

For some odd cosmic reason, Danny's parents weren't in the lab. That was strike two, and his mother was making breakfast. Strike three. His dad was at the table, blabbing on and on about ghosts while working on some strange weapon or device. That was actually kind of normal, but it was already the third strike, and Danny wanted out.

The device, or weapon as it turns out, made Danny more than a little uncomfortable. The last time his father was working on a weapon at the table, Danny was blasted with it by accident almost immediately after it was 'finished'. He had a sinking feeling this was going to be similar. The invention this time looked like some kind of arm mounted ray gun?

Jazz was sitting at the table too, eyeing Jack with caution. She had a book in her hand, but it seems to have been forgotten. Looks like she remembered what happened last time too. When she noticed Danny, he gave a concerned glance at both his parents. She nodded. One parent was somehow making living food that wanted to eat its creators. The other was waving around and working on a piece of experimental weaponry that used a volatile and contaminating source of energy as its power base. At the dining room table they're supposed to eat at.

It was going to be one of those days.

"Hey little brother, sleep well?" Jazz started the conversation. Subtle concern laced her voice as she kept glancing at her mother.

"I was, but then I got woken up by some sausages of the dead." Danny shot a glare at his mother, but the sparking, close to completion weapon drew his attention away from the cause of his wake up call.

Jazz noticed too, but attempted to keep the conversation going. "Are you okay? I know they're not exactly dangerous but they can still hurt…" Danny waved it off as he walked to the fridge. "I'm fine, stomped them into the floor." He spoke with a grin.

He hesitated on opening the fridge door. For some odd reason, his mother stored the radioactive food-things in the fridge. A stupid decision without a doubt, there was no debating that. But she wouldn't be swayed, and he didn't want to unleash more of them. Opening the door he quickly grabbed the milk before slamming it shut, there wasn't anything in there but it never hurt to be careful.

"Sweetie, don't slam the fridge door." Danny glared at Maddie. He wouldn't have to if there wasn't a danger in keeping it open sometimes! Danny said nothing as he poured a glass of milk for himself. He put the milk back before sitting down across from Jazz. "What's for breakfast?"

His mother turned around slightly, "Eggs, bacon, sau- and pancakes." She happily replied. He was pretty sure sausage was supposed to be in that sentence, but it was obvious where that early morning food went.

To the bottom of his foot.

"What'cha reading?" He peered at the title that was slightly covered by her fingers. Ah, a psychology book. Why wasn't he surprised? Jazz pepped up at the mention of her chosen interest. "It's Advanced Psychology: Understanding Teenagers and Young Adults!" She paused to let the large title sink in, "I'm hoping it has tips on better handling the brats from school."

As good of a reason that was, it was summer and he was pretty sure that book was for him. He gave her a knowing look, one she turned away from. He rolled his eyes before focusing on his father. "Uh-huh. Sure, whatever you say." He's been a little distant, sure, but he's been talking to her. Mainly about their parents and his increasing frustration with them, an opinion she shared with him. This is the longest they've stayed out of the lab for a while, so it's nice to spend time with them, but the circumstances could be much better.

Like no weapons or ecto-cookware.

This was a Fenton family though, and by the looks of it, Jack was finishing up. He had his tongue stuck out in concentration and was squinting at the object in his hand while he slowly turned a tiny screwdriver. How was he holding that?

His attention was drawn over to his mother when he heard some banging. She had a glowing green spatula that she was stabbing at what was probably the last of the once fresh sausage. Now the only links left in the house were undead wieners. Soon to be smashed, for sure, but still.

'I really could have gone for some too…' He thought longingly.

"HAHA! I did it!" Jack stands up straight, moving the table away from his large frame and spilling his and Jazz's drinks. Danny's eye twitched, but he held his tongue. His dad shoves his new weapon in their faces. "Look at it! Isn't she beautiful? I call it the Fenton Wrist Ray! Cutting edge, compact ecto-tech meant for that just in-case encounter with a ghost!" He wasn't planning on selling that was he? Didn't you need a license to sell firearms?

"Jack, you shouldn't bring weapons to the table. It's not a safe environment for a growing child!" Jack deflated a little, he wasn't used to his daughter calling him by name, and he still didn't like it.

"I'm not a child Jazz." Danny's quip is ignored.

"Jazzy-pants, I thought we told you to call us mom and dad. We're your parents, not strangers." The Fenton patriarch chided his child.

Danny may have calmed down from his episode, but Jazz was still upset with them. She was also in a foul mood from this morning, and Danny could tell it just kept mounting on more and more frustration.

Jazz flexed her hands for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. "No, Jack, I will not. I'll call you two by mom and dad again, when you start acting more like it." Their mother was still busy cooking, otherwise she would have come to Jack's rescue.

She glared at her father, "A good place to start would be to put the weapon away before someone gets hurt. Again." She glanced at Danny when she said the last part.

Maddie finished cooking and walked over with plates of food, "Jazz, sweetie, have a little more faith in your father. His projects don't always involve an accident first." So she's not denying it?

Jazz has no intention of backing down, "I don't care, there's not a thing you can do to convince me that having an experimental weapon at the dining room table is okay!" She turns to Jack, "Have you even tested it yet, or did you literally just build it?"

Jack puffs out his chest with pride, "Why, I just built it! I thought of this baby here this morning, and I've already got a working pro-" Jack never finished his sentence. The device sparked along the barrel before going off.

"ARRGH!" Danny is suddenly blasted in the chest by the wrist ray. It's a low powered weapon compared to the other ones he's been hit with in the past. That doesn't mean it's any less painful. He sprawls back over the chair and slams his head down onto the floor. Honestly, hitting his head hurt more, but now another one of his shirts was ruined, and he might have a scar from where he was blasted.

"Oh my god, Danny!" Jazz is the first to rush over, she carefully picks him up and brings him over to the couch. Danny is dizzy, most likely from his head bouncing off the ground.

Jack just stands back with a sheepishly embarrassed frown on his face. He rubs the back off his head and looks down in guilt. Thinking better for once, he takes out the small energy pack and places the wrist ray in one of the kitchen drawers.

Maddie comes back in a moment later with a med-kit, one of the many stationed throughout the house. "Sorry it took so long, I couldn't find the kitchen med-kit." She glares at her husband, but remembers she literally, just seconds before this happened, said it was fine. She wouldn't live that down for a while.

She crouches next to Danny and looks at the burn, "Superficial at worst, you're father was right. It's very low powered, that's good. Your shirt's barely got a hole, and it doesn't look like it actually left a wound." She takes out some burn cream anyway and applies some to a gauze bandage before placing it onto his wound under the shirt.

"I'm more worried about that spill," She feels his head and pulled her hand back. "No blood, that's good." Danny blinks away his mounting headache and adjusts his position to be a little more comfortable. "I think I just have a headache now. Great morning, really, I've been attacked twice in less than ten minutes. Could today get any worse?" Danny almost slapped himself for that jinx. It was definitely going to get worse.

After learning that Danny is going to be okay, Jazz's concern quickly changes to anger. The dial goes from three to ten as she storms over to Jack, who at this moment was eating a piece of bacon. Her eye twitches as somehow she can feel it go from ten to eleven. "What did I say?"

"Well, I'll admit you were right sweetie, but-"

"WHAT DID I SAY?!" Jazz takes a breath, "This is exactly like last time! I told you to put the damn weapon away, and what happens? Danny gets blasted because you're too self absorbed to be more careful!" The oldest daughter takes deep breaths to calm herself.

"Jazz, language! Don't talk to your father like that." Maddie attempts the proper parent role, but it backfires when Jazz's glare is shifted to her. She points a finger at Maddie, "Don't you dare defend him! I told you this would happen! I told you!" Jazz redirects her finger to Danny, "And look what happened, Danny got hurt, AGAIN! THE SAME WAY AS LAST TIME!"

Although taken aback by her daughters outburst, Maddie holds strong. "I agree that you were right honey, and we'll be more careful next time, but we are your parents and you will not talk to us like that!"

Twelve. "WHAT?!" Danny winces, that almost sounded like it came from a megaphone. "I will raise my voice if it gets the point across! You've barely seen us in months, haven't tried to eat with us or talk, or anything, and when you finally do, IT'S A REPEAT OF LAST TIME!"

Jazz glares back at her father, who had the incredulity to keep eating. "And the time before that, and the time before that, and the TIME BEFORE THAT!" The harsh and quiet tone escalates once more. They can't even deny it either, every time they stopped working in the lab for a bit, whether to spend some time together as a family for a meal or go on some ridiculous and sporadic road trip, it always, always ended the same way. With Danny or Jazz getting hurt. It didn't happen as much in their early life, but it has gotten worse over time. They rarely see their parents anymore, always in their lab working on something, and when they do finally spend some time together, someone gets hurt.

There's an uncomfortable silence in the house, Jazz was right on all accounts. Jack says nothing, knowing he would make the situation worse, and Maddie can't refute her daughter. She bites her lip to try and find something to say or salvage the situation.

Danny has had enough though. He gets up with a wobble before he grabs his food and walks upstairs. "I'm just gonna eat in my room. Maybe I can still salvage something for today." Danny looks at his mother, "Thanks for the food mom." She nods at the show of gratitude, but the whole situation is sour now.

Jazz sends one more frosty glare at her parents before doing the same and rushing to help Danny up the stairs.

Maddie rubs her face and temples. She gives a deep sigh before turning to Jack. "Okay, that was horrible, and could have been avoided. So," She knows Jack will complain, but this may placate her daughter. "No more working on weapons at the dining room table or living room. She's right, we haven't been spending much time with them lately, and when we do it's normally Danny that gets hurt. He shouldn't be getting hurt at all."

Jack makes motion to rebuke her, but he holds his tongue. It could be talked about later. "Alright, I understand. Let's finish up breakfast and then head to the lab." Even Jack knows that attempting to talk to his kids right now would end in failure. Jazz is livid beyond anything they've ever seen, and Danny just looked disappointed, which seemed to hurt more than Jazz's harsh truth and volatile fury.

"The portals almost done, after that we can focus more on reconnecting with our family. The part arrives today right?" Jack nods to the question, he takes out his phone and opens the package tracker app. "Says it's twelve stops away, should be here by noon or one." He grinned, their life's work was about to be completed.

Everything they've worked and striven for, sacrificed for, was coming to fruition. They were going to be proven right. They had the calculations down, the equipment was re-calibrated and checked over thrice for any possible mistakes and damages. All they needed were the specially designed DALV coils and they could start it up.

Tomorrow was the day.

"I want to check over anything that could go wrong tomorrow, especially after what just happened. We can't afford any mistakes Jack, we're going to be punching a hole in the fabric of space to create a stable and congruent inter-dimensional gateway. We have to be careful, this can blow up bigger than anything before."

Jack stuffs his face with the rest of his eggs while nodding his head, "Don't worry Madz, we got this! After we get the part we'll triple check everything again and start our test tomorrow morning." He takes another bite of bacon, "Now hurry up honey, we got work to do!"

----------------------------------------

"Danny, are you alright?" Jazz walks into the room almost seconds after he closed the door. The youngest Fenton sighs but shakes his head. Now that he knew he had a healing factor, awesome by the way, he knew this new wound would be gone by tomorrow. Actually, compared to some of the other stuff he's been blasted by before, it really was low powered. The wrist ray only hurt on initial impact and even then, slamming his head against the tile hurt much more.

"I'm fine Jazz, dad wasn't kidding when he said it was low powered. I've got a headache now, but I'm just… kind of tired of it." Jazz raises an eyebrow, curiosity now coupled with concern. "What do you mean?"

Danny snaps, "Them," but he reels it back, he shouldn't yell at her for their mistakes, "I'm tired of them. All of it- I don't know. I've been thinking a lot about things recently." Danny stops, he needs to think about what he's saying instead of just blurting it out.

Jazz looks surprised, maybe she really did think of Danny as more a kid than he initially thought. He sees her look, the psychologist look, and rolls his eyes. "Despite what you want to believe Jazz, no, I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself and have been for a while. I'm tired of everything. Really, between bullies at school, teachers who do nothing, getting hurt by my own damn parents, and the lyi-" He cut himself off before he says too much. He's not ready to tell her about that just yet.

Jazz notices he stopped himself, but she is pleasantly surprised by his maturity. She knows exactly how bad his life has been, not terrible, but it shouldn't have gotten as far as it has. Actually, certain aspects, she reasoned were terrible. That made her grimace at the realization.

Jack and Maddie are social nightmares, any semblance of a social life is nigh impossible to come by because of the two ghost hunters who regularly cause incidents in public. Many of which involve embarrassing her or Danny, mainly Danny if she's being honest. It was the initial cause of Danny being bullied in the first place, and to make things worse more than half the time their parents won't believe their own son about it or that he's being bullied. After all, no school report and all supposed eye-witnesses beside her, Sam and Tucker refused to say anything. On several occasions they even tried to have Danny apologize to the bully, something he vehemently refused, and that earned him a grounding of one month each time.

The bullying has only escalated too. Danny is defiant to the T, despite how meek and beaten down he should be, he is still snarky and sarcastic, and kind of, no, without a doubt a smart ass to the people who keep trying to put him down. She's afraid something in the future is going to go overboard, but Danny is resilient, and Jazz can outsmart a majority of what people throw at her. Danny's just an easier target, and she really does worry for his high-school life.

"I've thought about a couple of things I could do, but it's honestly kind of ridiculous at this point." He huffs out an irritated exhale, "I'm just kind of… over it. I mean, really, is it so bad to ask for something more normal? They're the cause of so much of our lives going to shit, and they refuse to even believe it! Mom and Dad have practically ruined our lives Jazz, and they seem to think that a bandage and some ointment is all it takes to make it better." What Danny says is true, she can't deny it, but she feels there's more to it.

Before summer started, Danny almost seemed resigned to his parents actions. Like he didn't care anymore. Now though, he's aware of it, more than she's ever seen from him. He knows how odd his parents and how little contact he had with them, especially recently. And it shows in the questions he's asked and in this conversation.

"And, if what you said is true, then they don't even love us as much as they should." There was almost a finality in his voice, like he knows something that she can't put a finger on. Danny looks hurt to say it, and she can't blame him.

"I understand how you feel little brother, I do." Danny looks up from his plate at his sister. "They're not the best parents, actually they're pretty awful, but they do care for us." She thinks they do at least. "I'm not sure how to change them or get them to realize their mistakes, at this point it would take something pretty big for them to get their heads out of their asses." Danny snickers at that, it's not often his sister curses. Also, he would wager that him dying could do it, but he wasn't going to risk it.

She smiles a bit, Danny's been in a bit of a funk since the conversations with their mother and it's been a while since she's seen him laugh. "I'm always here if you want to talk, you know? I'm going to be studying psychology so I need all the practice I can get." Back to the usual sister he knew so well.

Danny shook his head, "I'm fine Jazz, I just haven't really had time to unwind since summer started. I've also been up for less than two hours and I've been attacked twice. Today's just been a bad day. Actually, my whole summer's kind of sucked, so I guess the ball just keeps rolling."

"I know it's boring without your friends," Danny frowns at the mention, something Jazz notices, "but try not to get too down on it. They should be coming back soon right?"

Danny blinked at that, when did they get back? He's been kind of distracted with a new hobby, so it really did slip his mind. He also felt that he had, indeed, calmed down compared to day one. He was still angry at them for lying and not helping him, but he wasn't as… raw about it.

So he shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, I forgot."

It was Jazz's turn to blink, he forgot when his only friends were coming back to town? She coupled that with the frown from earlier, but didn't want to pry into anything. Especially when he already had plenty of reason to be in a bad mood.

She would come back on it later though.

Danny took the opportunity to actually start eating his breakfast. It was getting cold, and despite the atrocities that his mother could make in the kitchen, she made some damn amazing pancakes. They were chocolate chip too.

He turned his TV on and turned back to his sister, "You gonna eat? If not, I am pretty hungry right now."

He was going to give her a toothy grin, but it was still kind of hard to do that without his fangs popping out.

He'd get that trick down one day.

----------------------------------------

"What's ready?"

The way Danny said it was strange. If Jazz had to put a finger on it, she would say that there was confusion, which was understandable. This was the big project their parents had been working on for almost twenty years. And they finished it. It was the fear that flashed across his face, and it seemed to linger in the way it was said. That's what she found strange. It didn't last long, maybe a second at most, but it was there.

"It would have been done last week, but there was a delay." He looks away and shrugs his shoulders. "But now, we present to you the Fenton Ghost Zone Portal!"

It scared him, honestly. The feeling still fresh, the experience always popping up in idle thoughts. They had done it, and the inside was alight with ectoplasm charged coils and lights. All they had to do was flip the ON switch. Obviously not the one inside, that one was probably on anyway.

It faded soon though as her forcibly calmed himself. Rampant thoughts went through his mind. What would they do now? What security measures would be put in place? What do they know of the place the portal leads to?

"Uh… it's safe right? Like, it's not gonna blow up in our faces?" Trepidation was easy to express. After all, he had somehow gotten killed in the thing, what was to say his parents hadn't screwed it up even more?

His father chose to answer, "It's fine son! We've triple checked everything, it won't blow up!" Jack laughs it off, but it only furthers to unnerve his two children.

Jazz turns to their mother, "So, is it going to blow up?"

Maddie rolls her eyes at her daughters petty defiance. "Yes, Jazz, it is safe. And no, it will not blow up." Honestly, how could they have so little faith in their own parents?

"Okay, so, I trust you guys on this, really, I do. But-uh, I'm just gonna… go over here. Where there's cover." Danny scoots back toward the stairs, he grabs his sisters arm and she eagerly follows. Like Danny, she doesn't have the utmost… confidence in her parents inventions.

Jack visibly deflates, "Well, if you insist. On that note, Madz, if you would do the honors?" His rapid change in emotions is concerning at times.

Maddie resumes her role as scientist and inventor. "Why thank you sweetie, here have some fudge." She tosses him a Hershey sized piece in a wrapper.

"Woohoo!" He whoops in excitement at the small confectionery. Jazz groans in embarrassment. "Thank god they didn't televise this." She mumbled it under her breath, but Danny catches it and snorts at the comment.

"What do the sensors say?" All too sudden the previous mood is gone, replaced by the sobering seriousness of people about to rip the fabric of reality apart.

Maybe at this distance he could at least save his sister.

Actually, ripping apart reality was only half of what they were doing. The end goal is also to stabilize said tear in space, and have the gateway be self sustaining so they don't have to power it themselves. They were going for the all in one experience right off the bat.

"All signs green, the coils holding up?"

It all sounds nice and dandy, but it's all too easy to see the colossal potential for a fuck up here. Especially after he experienced it first hand.

Maddies confident smile grows, it's finally happening. Their life's goal is about to be completed. "Coils running at maximum efficiency. Generators are galvanized, and ready to go. Start up packs, do we need more?"

The machine to another dimension starts up. The outer edges begin to glow green and start spinning slowly. Arcs of energy and electricity jump from one micro-pylon to another. It spins faster and faster, and on top of the smell of ozone the machine itself sounds like a giant fan.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Packs are golden baby!" Jack flips a few switches and turns some dials. "Hyper-condensed ectoplasm stabilizing and growing at nominal levels. It's all perfect!" He looks at his wife, "You ready?!" She gives a nod of affirmation. She was born ready for this.

Danny is more than a little uncomfortable, and Jazz has paled at the realization that her parents might actually pull this off.

Or blow them up. It's one or the other at this point.

Jack's shit eating grin grows from ear to ear and he raises his hand high over his head. "LET'S GET THIS STARTED! WOOOO!" His voice rises in pitch and he slams his hand down onto the button with way more force than what was necessary.

The machine shakes from the force of the hit, and for a solid three seconds, nothing happens. The excited atmosphere turns somber before it happens.

A cacophony of sounds was the first thing heard. The buzzing of electricity, the rushing of air, crashing of water, the rumbling of the earth and the ripping of metal all at once made the entire family wince. It sounded horrible and it got louder as a green swirling portal began to form in the center.

Danny stilled at the sight, only vaguely aware of the otherworldly echo the portal was giving off. Green light slowly illuminated the room, basking those present in a green glow.

As the noise died down, Danny refocused on the portal. The thing that had killed him. He didn't remember the sound too much, but he was also busy being electrocuted at the time. As the actual gateway between dimensions stabilized, it grew to the full size of the opening. Green swirled with black and a bit of purple here and there.

An ectoplasmic mist poured out of the dimensional gateway and flooded the room. As it passed over Danny he shivered at the comforting touch. It was cold, but invigorating. The mere skin to ectoplasm contact gave him a collected boost that felt way better than it should have. There was a slight wind pushing it out of the now completed portal, and it made Danny wonder about weather patterns on the other side. As the portal stabilized, the ripping sounds died out to be replaced by the swirling whoosh of the portal.

"Hey, is- uh, this stuff toxic?" Maddie turned to her daughter, "It's fine sweety, it won't hurt you, especially in small amounts like this." They would add a containment field later, this mist was pretty to look at, but would be bad in the long run.

Danny really wished he could focus on something else besides the swirling vortex, but he was just so damn drawn to it. The energy on the other side called to him. Practically sang for his attention, and he was hard-pressed not to give it. It felt so familiar, so comforting, almost like-

Home.

And maybe it is. The home of his ghost half. Staring at the eye of the portal is almost hypnotic, and he has to fight the urge to just run and jump in. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

They actually did it. Jazzes eyes widen and her breathing hitches. Holy shit, they actually did it. Her parents, two loons who made ridiculous and dangerous items and weapons that blow up constantly. How, in the name of all that is right, did they actually make a working portal to another dimension?

Jack dropped to his knees and screamed his life's greatest success to the heavens above. "YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHH! OHMYGOODLORDTHISISAMAZING!"

Maddie jumps from her husbands outburst, but she can't blame him. Actually, she was hopping up and down and proclaiming her success in unintelligible sounds as well.

Everyone who said they were crazy. Loons. Crackpots. They laughed at their field of expertise, called it a fake science and mocked at them, belittled their focus matter. It had embittered them just a bit, and they worked vehemently for years to make it. And they showed them! Hah! How many can say they made a portal in their basement with no government funding? No one. No one!

Jack and Maddie were on cloud nine, and were marching straight towards ten.

----------------------------------------

The Fenton parents were in a euphoric high the rest of the night, and Danny took advantage of his parents good mood and got them to order a pizza delivery. He wouldn't say he loves meat as much as Tucker, but Danny definitely loves the meat lovers special.

Despite the grand Fenton family achievement of the ghost portal, they still kept working. If anything, to the bafflement of their children, it seems the parents of the household have redoubled their efforts in a zealous new drive. It was both disappointing and expected, but hurt all the same.

The portal though, after having time to think it through, is genuinely impressive. How did his parents do any of this, especially in a basement lab? Maybe he should give credits where they're due; it seems even if they're not that great of parents, they are absolutely stellar inventors and scientists.

"A fucking portal though?" A portal to another dimension! Every intention they set forth with the thing worked too! It actually worked and didn't blow up in their faces, it stabilized the gateway, some-fucking-how, and they even got the damn thing to sustain itself. Just, how? Seriously.

It was a bit of a wake-up call. If his parents are anything, they're inventors, scientists, and ghost hunters. He's seen that they've been successful before with their hunts, and that just made him hope they never hunted him. If Jack and Maddie are even halfway as good at ghost hunting as they are inventors, he might be screwed.

There was something that worried him though, before he left the lab last night, he could have sworn he heard howling coming from the portal. It made him jump and despite how loud it seemed, no one else heard it. That meant he was either going crazy, or it was a ghost thing. He felt it was rather a ghost thing, and it set him on edge the whole rest of the night, the next day, and into this morning. He felt it was prudent to be on the lookout for whatever made the noise.

When he was home, he kept an eye on the basement in case anything came through the portal. He was glad that worry was put away, it seemed his parents actually knew what they were doing. He was worried that he was going to have to fight everything that came through the portal.

It was when Danny was flying towards his secret base that he felt it again. That same pull he had that day, with the rat ghost. It was different this time. A large puff of blue mist burst through his mouth and the feeling in his stomach told him it was in the direction of his base. So, against better judgement, he went that way. He was going there anyway, but if this meant anything close to what it did last time, it was going to get dangerous.

Danny was almost there anyway, so when he was getting close to his base, he took the opportunity to drop his bag off. Immediately he took to the skies again to continue his search.

Why was he following his gut again? It almost got him killed last time, and he really hoped it wouldn't put him in a similar situation.

----------------------------------------

So, it was much worse than he could have hoped for. Down on the ground below him, miles out in the wilderness and a flight a bit away from his cave, he found where the pull was leading him.

Wolves. How about no? He barely handled one big, dumb rat, how was he going to handle wolves? Plural! Weren't they really smart? Pack animals that use tactics, and he was by himself!

Sometimes, lady luck just doesn't shine on him, and if anything, Danny was pretty sure she just shit on his luck. Not one, but two giant ghost wolves. They were both smaller individually than the rat, which was slightly amusing, but that there were two of them made him want to turn tail and run.

They hadn't noticed him yet, and he was hoping to keep it that way. He quickly turned invisible so he could… study them? Or get closer.

Maybe, just maybe, they didn't want to fight. It was completely possible that they could be intelligent, not that he's had any reason to assume they are. If anything, that they keep snarling and barking at one another, just disproves his hoping theory.

If he's being honest, he would have figured that ghost wolves would look as ugly and decrepit as the rat, being ghosts and all, but these two look like they regularly groom themselves. Possibly a trait left over from the time it was alive? 'Guess old habits don't die after death?' A nice piece of information for future ghosts. Then the giant rat was just a nasty rat?

The two wolves are about the size of a horse each, which is fucking terrifying. They're lean, and have long legs, with each toe ending in a large claw. Both wolves are a mixture of greens, though the one on the right is larger and has giant fangs.

Danny pauses, wolves are pack animals. He didn't know if two counted as a pack, but there was a real possibility that there were more. As he floats down to one of the tree branches, he hears a rustling from behind and he feels the pull in his stomach again. A puff of blue mist comes from his mouth once again and he whips around on the branch he's on.

Everything seems to slow down as Danny perceives what's about to come. A wolf, invisible like him, is perched on the bottom of a branch, above him on the same tree that he's on. 'What fucking luck.' It pounces on him immediately upon eye contact, it's glowing red eyes show all the menace he needs to know it is not friendly.

Danny barely reacts in time, dodging to the right and flying out of the tree. A clawed paw nicks his arm, but it's not an injury that would impede him. He's lost the element of surprise now, but as his eyes land on the two below, for half a second, the half-ghost notices that they're still not completely aware of the situation. It's obvious where this is going and fast, and Danny's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He rockets toward the two wolves with the third right behind him. Before the pursuing wolf's bark can fully alert them, Danny manages to charge up a couple ecto-blasts and hurls them at his surprised targets.

The blast impacts both wolves, and they let out yelps from the damage. Since he's still on an intercept vector he charges up a claw. The first wolf was blasted out of the way, but was recovering quickly. The second one found five claws sheering across its back and cutting a large chunk of its tail off. It howls in anguish and loses its flight, falling onto the ground. It rolls around in the grass in an attempt to douse the pain.

He smirks as he keeps flying, going intangible through some trees. Danny bobs left to lose his pursuers in the brush, going through tree, bush and rock alike. He starts charging up some goo, he had to control this fight more. If he battles three, or even two at once, he's screwed. He needs them to stay still for a while.

Danny flies up to reveal himself to the ghosts. One spots him and howls, and from below he can see all three racing up towards him. As if running on the very air, they gallop toward Danny at an alarming pace. The injured one is lagging behind, reduced mobility makes it less of a threat. He can leave that one out, he just needs to disable one of the other two, both would be ideal.

Danny charges up an ecto-blast in his spare hand and flies away from the wolves. He needs to keep distance from them, close quarters is in no way appealing in this scenario.

At what he feels to be full charge, Danny releases the blast and begins charging up another volley. The leading wolf dodges, but the large fanged one is blasted right in its face. Danny smirks and raises both hands, one with an ecto-blast and another with the goo, and fires them both at the stunned target.

The wolf dodges the blast in time and it flew wildly into the top of a tree, destroying it. The goo slapped against its leg and the following momentum caused it to tumble out of control. It eventually came to a stop against the side of a mountain. It dangled and flailed roughly in confusion as its back legs were glued to the mountainside. A victorious grin split his face at the sight, maybe he wouldn't die after all.

Then he felt the bone crushing bite of a fourth ghost wolf on his leg. It tore through the fabric of his suit with ease, skin broke with surprising resistance, but did indeed give out. The haunting snarls were loud and seemed to add to his confused daze. The pain broke it though, and he screamed as it tried to pry his leg off. He glared hateful eyes at the beast before shocking it off of him. He continued to blast it with ecto-electricity before resuming his flight.

Maybe, just maybe, he could have fought three. Big maybe there, but he was confident and at full power. Now, it was a four versus one, and his leg may or may not be broken. It hurt like hell, but the pain was fading rapidly. He peeked at the leg, and found it a gruesome green mess. Danny grimaced, even if he healed quickly, that would take a bit.

Through his peripheral he catches sight of an incoming maw of teeth. He dives down, before ziging left. He continues dodging around the wolves as they continue to try and bombard him with their own bodies. They're faster than him, but he's more mobile. Danny spots the wolf that's stuck to the mountain directly below him.

He rockets toward it at his maximum speed, the whole time charging two ecto-rays in his hands. As he finally gets in range he releases one ray at the beast before it can escape, and sweeps the other behind him. Both rays hit on target. Shooting a mostly immobile target has never been difficult, and seeing as the other three are literally right on his tail, they had no time to evade the swathing beam of energy.

The burning sweep on the three behind causes them to recoil back, but nothing major is done beside burnt fur and singed skin. The one stuck on a mountain is another story: with nowhere to go, the beam drilled into the wolfs side, and it stayed there as he closed the distance. Eventually it started to burn even deeper, and the wolf howled in pain. It made Danny wince, but he felt less guilty when he remembered they were trying to eat him.

The beam dug into the wolf's right shoulder and pinned it into the mountain. Danny maintained the ray as he charged a claw up. He was approaching fast though, so when he finally reached the wolf he reached out and stabbed through the wound he created with the claw. He was putting a lot of faith in his abilities destructiveness, if he was wrong he'd snap his fingers, wrist and arm against the side of the mountain. Then die.

Danny was rewarded for his self-confidence when his clawed hand went straight through the wolf and into the mountain. It was almost too easy. It shrieked at the impalement, a normal living wolf would never be able to make that kind of sound. High pitched howl's erupt from the monsters mouth, sounding like eerie bottle rockets in an old time radio.

It was unnatural.

Then the wolf reared back, contorting in impossible ways and bit into his left shoulder as an act of vengeance. Danny screamed and ripped his arm out of the undead canines body. The wolf yelped again and let go of its hold on Danny. He bolted into the woods below. Just in time as one of the pursuing wolves barreled into its already injured pack mate. The resulting crash had enough force to crater into the mountainside slightly, knocking stray rocks and boulders down the mountain. 'Hopefully that didn't start a landslide.' The remaining wolves turned in time and remained in hot pursuit.

The open air was not the strategy. The wolves are faster than Danny, and there are four of them. They can come from any angle, and they were definitely going to catch up eventually. He's hurt two, one hopefully stays out of the fight, the other is right behind him, lagging behind the only wolf that hadn't taken any damage.

He was going to have to change that.

As he bobbed and weaved through the trees he had to keep changing directions. He charged a blast into his hand and electricity in the other. His shoulder hurt, but it wasn't as bad as his leg. He dodged left as the injured wolf narrowly missed him, then he flicked the ecto-blast at the unprotected back. It blew up in spectacular fashion and sent the beast careening down to the forest floor as a smokey mess. "Down boy!"

He raised his arm to show some sith justice to the damn ghost, but the offending mouth that had chomped on his forearm stopped that plan in motion. The uninjured thus far wolf received a shock when Danny let the energy flow freely along his arm. It released the appendage and he stumbled back in the air.

The damage was done though, and his frown gained anger as he re-funneled the electricity back at a new target. The remaining energy coalesced into a ball of electrical energy. He fired without hesitation. The blast slammed into the wolf, catching it in its chest. It howled and whimpered with spasms, but it would recover soon.

Danny took off again and dove into the trees. All the wolves are injured, but a 4v1 is still not something he wants to deal with. He glanced at his left arm, it was pretty much useless. The shoulder wound was healing up, but with his forearm almost crushed, and definitely shredded, it was slow going for both wounds. His leg was feeling better, maybe the damage wasn't as bad as he first thought.

He still had to get away. There was no way he wanted to fight this fight handicapped. So he bolted in the direction of his mountain base. He zigzagged through the forest, barely getting out of range of the pack. He was about a mile out when he was blasted in the back. It was a glancing blow, but it still arched up along his back and into his injured shoulder. He hissed as pain, both new and old racked his nerves.

"Of all the places to hit!"

He turned around to see two of the wolves flying at him and two in the back charging up blasts. He continues his flight away, but he keeps an eye on the wolves.

The two in the back are the most injured. He can see a recognizable hole on the wolf on the left, and another missing a piece of its tail. The two open their mouths wide. Their teeth begin to glow green with energy, and before long a small, unstable blob of ectoplasm forms in between their fangs, undulating randomly. Danny's eyes widen at both their actions, and the implementation of ecto-manipulation. Deciding he doesn't want to find out what's going to happen he fires off multiple blasts. Although not at full power, they can still deal damage. The wolves finish before the barrage hits, and both fire a beam of energy from their mouths.

The energy arcs across the ground, scorching it, but flies straight to him despite its erratic serpentine pattern. The beam barrels through his low powered blasts going right for him. Trees offer no protection as the volatile energy rips apart the foliage with ease. One of the wolves missed when Danny dived out of the way, but the other hit true.

As the arc of energy, similar in appearance to lightning, but so very different, raced towards Danny he finally heard it. The buzzing and crackling of energy intermixed with a trill of burning and breaking oxygen. The attack seemed to scream as it made contact with Danny's arms. He had infused them at the last minute and crossed his arms across his chest. Hopefully the added protection saves him.

The beam resisted against the infused ectoplasm and pushed Danny into a tree. It cracked and splintered at the sudden force, but tumbled over when the lance of volatile ectoplasm exploded against his arms. He flew back from the force before crashing into another tree. His arms gave off green wafts of smoke, most likely burned by the attack. His suit up to his upper arm was gone, and both his hands were tanned a shade of crispy green they normally didn't have. It also hurt like a bitch, and Danny had to bite back a whimper from his burned and beaten arms.

There's no rest for the wicked though, as the wolves are upon Danny again. He kicks off with his one good limb and flies deeper into the forest. The situation's gone from bad to worse, and he's running out of working limbs.

He allows invisibility and intangibility to overcome him. It's not easy, using both abilities at once, but in the current situation it was either it happens or he doesn't escape.

Danny blasted off, quickly accelerating to his top speed. A straight line isn't going to cut it, not with these wounds. The half ghost zigzags in random directions, pushing his powers to the limit. It's difficult to maintain, but ten minutes is the best he can do in his current state.

He drops to the ground as he wheezes for air he currently doesn't need. His hands are numb and crispy and Danny's pretty sure that's not a good thing. His left arm and shoulder- his whole left side just really hurts. Pain trickled up his leg and spine when he tried to walk on it, but it wasn't completely unbearable. He could limp on it, sure, but he would much rather fly.

He's bleeding, and there's no way wolves won't be able to track him. He's safe for now, but who knows how long that'll last.

"Wow, how has this gone so far south, so fast?" He had walked right into the damn trap, and why didn't he bring any gear? His parents hunt these things for a living, his house has an armory, he should have taken some!

Hindsight, hindsight, hindsight.

Danny floats above the treeline and looks around. His mountain is… over there! Oh, the irony. About a three minute flight to the north and he'll have medical supplies and painkillers.

Actually, he still wasn't sure how well of an effect painkillers had on him.

----------------------------------------

Slowly, but surely, the wolves crept into the cave through the main entrance. The prey had fled here, injured and cornered. The pack had gotten lucky with the ambush, but the prey was powerful.

Claws scraping on stone echoed in the narrow tunnel entrance. The four wolves slowly trudged through the natural formation. They had gotten hurt from the last encounter, so they were more wary, cautious. The numbers game the pack played always helped them take down prey, but this one still escaped, even after the damage it inflicted on the pack.

As they finally made their way into the main cavern, Danny started to feel it. The excitement. The rush. The thrill.

The high of combat.

The wolves stalked into the room in a single file line. The wolf he shocked, was at the forefront. The half tail wolf led behind the front runner, it's injuries looked better than before, healed slightly, but they still hampered its movement. The third in line was the one he skewered with his ecto-claw. It's injuries were extensive, and it floated in the air, rather than walk like the rest of its pack. A weakness Danny fully planned on exploiting. The last wolf was the healthiest of the pack of four. He had only managed to hit it with a few blasts, nothing that would deter it in any way.

The pack followed the trail of blood he left, and seeing as he smeared it all over the room, and he's spent a great deal of time here recently, his scent won't be the easiest thing to find him by. The wolves also walked into the cave, they didn't fly through the walls like he did occasionally. They walked through, which made him think they relied more on animalistic habits and tendencies, rather than ghost instincts.

From high above, on the ceiling, Danny waits in between a pair of stalactites. Taking a page from the wolf, Danny had his feet to the ceiling and was looking down at the quartet. He was surprised how easy it was. Most likely, it's an application of a ghosts ability of flight. More to think on later.

The wolves weren't exactly being quiet, low growls and barks on top of the scratching made for good cover over the dull hum of his powers. Claws of ectoplasm ran from fingertip to elbows, fully charged and the best way to keep his already hurt and bandaged arms safe. Danny was high enough in the air that the glow of his powers wasn't immediately visible, and unless the wolves specifically looked directly above them, they wouldn't spot him.

The large fire he made in the middle of the room was a good distraction, and it cast shadows in the large grotto that further covered his glowing form and weapons.

The wolves grew cautious at the sight of fire and slowed their approach. They were almost there, almost right below him. His claws cut just a little bit more into the slate and limestone formations.

The wolf in the front, possibly the leader, barked a little louder and the ghosts stopped. Danny frowned, but they were close enough, and were spreading out, so it was now or never.

His grip tightened and the claws easily cut through the base of the stalactites. As they began to fall, Danny helped speed things up by soundlessly accelerating and pushing the mineral missiles down. He unknowingly infused ectoplasm into the rocks, making them even deadlier to their intended targets. The lead wolf sniffed a couple of fallen rock formations, practice from earlier Danny mused, now served as a distraction. At the rate it was going, the rock spikes he had in each hand would impale the third wolf, most likely ending it, and he would split off to hit the fourth.

As Danny entered the range of final approach, he released the two stalactites and connected his two hands together. As if he was literally diving into combat, he focused on his claws and tried his damnedest to hone their cutting power to the maximum.

There was no turning back, Danny finalized his resolve.

He hit the wolf half a second before the stalactites. His claws, combined together in a ghostly guillotine, cuts the wolfs head off in one strike. His feet landed on the wolf's now dead again body. The stress of the momentum pushed his legs to the limit, his injured and splinted leg begged to give out, but he bit his tongue and pushed through the pain. He pushed himself off, aiming for the second wolf that was now reacting with the first.

The stalactites did their job as intended, but damn is it gruesome. One ceiling spike struck true, right through the canines head, and pierced through into the ground. It didn't even mutter a yelp before its afterlife ended. The other pierced into its back, slightly off from the center, but it still cut a large chunk of its body off.

The remaining two wolves spun around in a blink, but that was all it took for the pack to be reduced to two. Halved in half a second. Surprise flashed through before an enraged snarl roared out at the half ghost.

Danny grinned like a madman, despite wanting to puke for his actions. Even with the grizzly results, his plan had worked far better than he would have thought. Like a charm, really. Two targets down, survival rates are soaring up and all he got was a little more ache in his legs. It was already there anyway, a little bit more and this would end.

The two sides met quick. Danny tried to claw his target, but it opened its mouth and fired a blast at him point blank. He rolled left and dug a hand into the ground, leaving claw marks into the stone. His other met the blast in a failed attempt to deflect it away. It worked partially, but blew up almost immediately after he bounced it off.

The blast flung him further left, but his anchored and least injured arm kept him from being blasted off. Even with undead endurance, his arms screamed in protest at the force both were experiencing.

The lead wolf was on Danny in an instant, but he responded with a kick and sent it flying over his head. Danny rolled right to avoid another blast and returned fire with a ray. The attack landed initially, but the ghost wasn't dumb enough to stay still.

The ghost teen needed to keep moving if he didn't want to become a meal. He flew back to create some distance. Electricity rolled across his coated right arm in waves, and he focused an ecto-blast in his left.

This was the utmost of his control at the moment. He was using four abilities at once, flight, ecto-claws, ecto-blasts and electrokinesis. Flight was negligible, and he's never had a problem using it in conjunction with his other powers, but these were new waters. The two ecto-abilities were technically a part of his ecto-manipulation, but they were two different facets of the power and he was using that along with electricity and flight. Electrokinesis wasn't the easiest power to use in the first place, but it's very powerful and at the moment, very strenuous.

The injured wolf continued to fire off ecto-blasts, but the charge up for each shot was slow enough for him to counter attack. As he was flying back, he aimed the blast at the charging wolf. The wolf proves its agility again, when it dodges the shot.

Danny ducks as another blast soars over him. The shot is wide and slams into the ground behind the wolf, knocking him over towards Danny "Hah!" Opportunity strikes as the ghost boy brings his fist down on the wolf's back, slamming it into the ground. It grunts in pain, but shows no other signs that the attack was effective.

Danny jumps back and aims his electrified arm at the downed ghost. The wolf growls and moves to get up, when a thick bolt of electricity whips it into the wall, twenty feet away. This time it does yelp from the pain, and the attack burns a large part of its back. The wall cracks and craters, but the cave shows no sign of collapse. The blast stunned the wolf, and its body spasms and constricts even as it tries and fails to get up.

He's out of the fight for now.

The fight may be going well-ish, but Danny's stamina is waning. That last blast of electricity cost him more of his reserves than he thought it would. But the odds are on his side now, he has a real chance to beat them, to survive.

So Danny is caught off guard when the injured wolf from before that was acting as ranged support, rushed him. The horse sized, rabid beast headbutts into his side, and Danny has déjà vu at the feeling in his abdomen. Ah, that's right. Broken ribs, how great. Danny flies back and skids across the ground, but he rights himself in time to see the wolf back on him again.

Danny catches the wolf by the shoulders, but that only stops it from biting him, though the giant maw snapping for his face incites a little bit of panic. It does nothing to stop the giant paws full of claws from tearing into his chest and stomach. He dropped to a knee and releases a scream as the claws slowly rake through his torso muscles.

In retaliation, Danny digs his own claws into the creatures shoulders, and he's rewarded with a cry from the beast. He pushes off his knee and turns his body to throw the wolf away from him in its moment of distraction. The ghost wolf is blasted back mid-tumble, by a hasty ray from Danny.

The lead wolf finally managed to get back on its feet. Its steps are shaky, and static sparks along its body occasionally, but it recovers enough and regroups with its remaining pack mate. The two ghosts glance at one another before redoubling a glare onto Danny's form across the room. They snarled and bared their teeth, drool dripped from their mouths and hate flowed from their eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, that figures, don't run."

He was hoping they would retreat since they've suffered rather… heavy casualties. With two of their own dead, they've lost a serious advantage. Even injured, Danny's got a good chance of at least making it out of this alive, os long he doesn't mess it up too badly.

The two wolves continue to glare at him, but Danny notices their fangs beginning to slowly illuminate. Slowly they open their mouths, most likely to collect the energy needed. His eyes widen in realization. 'It's the attack from earlier!'

He has to stop that attack, there's no cover and if he's hit by that, he'll be cooked. Plus, the cave might collapse, but that's not that big a deal compared to his life in peril. Well, it could put his life in even more peril if it falls on his head.

Danny psyches himself up for what, most likely, will be the final confrontation. His muscles ripple with power, and his hands and eyes glow bright with ectoplasm. He infuses ectoplasm into his arms and charges a blast with each hand.

There's not much space between the opposing parties, maybe forty feet. Danny closes the distance in a second. He focuses both blasts on the still sparking wolf.

This wolf was the closest to finished with the attack, but the sudden blasts interrupt its energy collection. The loss of concentration explodes radically in the wolf's face and open maw, unstable ectoplasm burns the inside of its mouth and down into its throat. Any fur previously on the ghosts face was gone now, replaced with burnt energized flesh.

Satisfied with his work, Danny refocuses on the other wolf and he's not happy with what he sees. He allows the ectoplasm on his right arm to condense into a claw and charges the thing. His other hand charges up with electricity, just another possible defense if he doesn't get there in time.

The battered and bleeding undead canine, mere feet away, howls with the unstable energy beam, releasing the deadly attack point blank. There's no time to dodge, so Danny flings both hands in front of him while curving his body. The beam slams into his angled arms, grinding and pushing him back. He can feel the burn through his own energy, sizzling and frying his arms through his hasty defense. The electricity he built up does seem to help, empowering both the sole claw and his ecto-infused arm, but not much. Not enough.

The strong attack forces him into the wall, and he struggles to keep his defense up. Then he remembers he has ghost powers, besides purely offensive ones. In his moment of clarity he phases through the wall, allowing the serpentine emerald beam to hit the wall of the cave. Danny keeps backing up as the beam melts the stone wall, continuing on its path toward him. It continues on towards its target, barely impeded. Molten rock drips from the opening and Danny dives down the second he gets enough breathing room.

Danny returns to tangibility from below the wolf with a violent growl. His claw impales the wolf in its chest, up to his elbow, and the beam cuts off when the force pushes the wolf's mouth shut, along with forcing the body up. The attack explodes in its closed mouth, similar to the other wolf, but the full power ability was leagues more mighty than a half charged attack. It's head recoils back and the dead beast lets out a hoarse and strangled cry.

The other wolf is on him at the last moment. A thunderous roar pierces his enhanced hearing far too close for him to do anything about it. It actually startles him enough that he turns intangible by accident for a few seconds. This saves his arm from being chomped right through as a maw of deadly sharp teeth.

His eyes widen at the close call, and for once in his half-life he thanks his luck. Years and years of unarguably, shit luck doesn't make up for saving his arm, but it's a start.

It's a start that ends much too quick.

The first bite may have missed, but the follow up on his leg didn't, Danny could barely see its mouth move. Turning intangible was a reaction, not on purpose, so he slipped out of it immediately. The impaled wolf had fallen through his untouchable arm and dropped to the floor. The gaping hole in its chest leaked ectoplasm in a pool around the ghost. It huffed and puffed, trying to cling to a life it doesn't have anymore as it slowly bled out.

With refocused attention, mainly on the intense pain from his thigh on the formerly uninjured leg. Danny's vision darkens around the edges of his vision and he screams from crushing muscle and can feel his femur slowly getting closer and closer to snapping under the wolfs monstrous jaw strength.

He slams his fists on its head to stun it on sheer reflex alone, but all it does is hammer teeth further into flesh. The grotto shakes from the slams, dust and small rocks fall from the ceiling. He hisses through his teeth, but is too blinded by pain and anger. He repeats the action once, twice, and thrice more before the wolf releases its grip and staggers back. Danny's leg is left a bleeding mess, flesh and suit are torn apart and about, and he's not even sure if his femur is broken or not. He really hoped it wasn't, he had no idea how to work around that.

For now though, walking isn't an option. Danny floats back quickly, the need to make space and blast these two giants completely dominating his mind. He's on the other side in a heartbeat, and levels his arms at the cause of his pain. Electricity coils around his whole upper body, sparking along and burning the ground in wild arcs. Any noise in the cave is drowned out by the low hum of energy and the sporadic crackles of electricity. The whole cave is alight as Danny glows brighter and brighter with power.

The wolves aren't idle. The impaled wolf can't move, but it's body was angled almost perfectly. It pours the last of its energy into a blast, if it can save it's last pack mate then that's fine. The other wolf, in much better condition than its companion charges at Danny. It's claws are extended in condensed in ectoplasm, similar to the half-ghosts own ecto-claws. Energy collects in its mouth, and it's still dazed eyes radiate fury and hate at the teenage ghost.

They all fire at the same time. Twin thunderous booms shake the cave and deafen its occupants. Bolts of green electricity, the closest he's gotten to lightning so far, slam into the opposing attacks of the wolves. The blasts barely left their mouths before the opposing energies collide. The attacks crash into each other and fight for dominance, for all of three seconds before they implode on each other.

The explosion is massive and Danny is blasted back into the wall. He gasps as the wind is knocked out of him, and he can barely keep conscious. A heavy green smoke fills the cave, and the epicenter of the explosion glows a bright green.

Danny's ears are ringing and he's barely aware that they're bleeding. His left eye leaks green life force and every single one of his limbs hurt. His whole body is wrecked worse than last time.

He barely has time to be thankful that there wasn't a cave-in before he passes out.