[Third Person's PoV]
Kid Flash zoomed across the stage, dodging cymbals that whizzed past him, each one attempting to bisect him mid-stride. He closed in on the ghostly drummer and threw a punch—only for his fist to pass straight through as the ghost turned intangible.
"This is going to get annoying real quick," Kid Flash muttered, ducking just in time to avoid a countering right hook.
Meanwhile, the guitarist narrowed his eyes at Danny, who remained stationary, firing ghost rays at Ember as she soared above on her guitar. Seeing an opening, the guitarist strummed his instrument, unleashing a barrage of sonic blades aimed at Danny's back.
Sensing the attack, Danny swiftly raised a protective shield around himself. The sonic blades struck, creating deep cracks across the glowing barrier.
"Thanks for the heads-up," Danny said over the comms to Robin.
'It'll be faster if I take out her backup first. Then I can focus on Ember,' Danny thought. He dismissed the shield before it could fully shatter and dodged to the side.
With a burst of speed, he shot toward the guitarist, weaving through the incoming sonic blades. His hands pulsed with ghostly energy before he fired off a rapid succession of ghost rays.
The guitarist tried to retreat, flying upward, but before he could escape, Danny encased him in a force field.
Ember, who had been locked in combat, instinctively glanced toward the radio dish, making sure nothing was amiss—only to see Robin tampering with the controls.
Her fiery hair flared wildly with rage. 'That idiot was just distracting me!'
She snarled and rocketed toward Robin, her hands surging with ectoplasmic energy.
Robin, catching her approach from his peripheral vision, flipped backward onto a steel beam just as an ecto-blast struck where he'd been standing.
"You shouldn't mess with things that don't belong to you, little boy!" Ember hissed, firing another volley of ghost rays.
Robin somersaulted backward, evading each shot, before flinging explosive Birdarangs her way.
She scoffed, turning intangible at the last second, allowing the Birdarangs to harmlessly pass through her. However, what she didn't realize was that these weren't ordinary Birdarangs.
A small green light blinked on the devices—a ghost-seeking function he and Batman had developed, designed to lock onto ectoplasmic signatures.
The Birdarangs doubled back. Before Ember could react, they latched onto her back and detonated.
"ARGH!!" she screamed as the explosion sent her spiraling through the air.
Meanwhile, Danny kept his opponent contained within the force field, which prevented the guitarist from simply phasing out.
The guitarist strummed his guitar frantically, sending out sonic waves to shatter the barrier. It cracked momentarily, but Danny reinforced it before the ghost could escape.
Danny flew in, creating a small opening just large enough for himself to enter. Now, it was a cage match.
"Sorry, man. No hard feelings," Danny said, his fists igniting with green ghostly flames.
The guitarist sneered and unleashed another barrage of sonic blades, his fingers flying up and down the strings at an almost impossible speed.
Danny weaved through the attacks, countering with bursts of flames. His focus was razor-sharp.
Despite having recently gained control over his ghostly fire, he wasn't yet fully proficient with it, forcing him to rely on simple but effective strikes.
The battle turned into a chaotic symphony of fire and sound. The guitarist's confidence wavered as Danny closed in. Step by step, he retreated—until his back touched the force field.
The moment he made contact, he convulsed as electricity surged through him, his body spasming uncontrollably.
"Time for the curtain call," Danny said, pulling the Fenton Thermos from his waist. He popped the cap and sucked the struggling ghost inside.
As the force field dissipated, Robin's voice crackled through the comms.
"A little help here, Danny?! You were supposed to be keeping Ember distracted—more people are showing up, which means she's getting stronger!"
"Yeah, yeah, I had to thin out the crowd first!" Danny shouted back before turning to Kid Flash. "Kid! Catch! Use this!"
Kid Flash pivoted just in time to see Danny tossing him the thermos. With a burst of speed, he leaped high, snatched it midair, and rolled as he hit the ground.
He sprinted around the stage, dodging flying music notes from the keyboard ghost, the thermos tucked securely under his arm like a football.
"How the hell do I use this thing?! Are we turning them into ghost soup or something?!" Kid Flash yelled as he narrowly avoided another attack.
Danny explained the thermos's functions and which buttons to press as he flew toward Robin, who had just leaped off the steel beam, grappled onto another support, and swung across the stage—narrowly avoiding an enraged Ember.
"You need to make sure they're cornered first! Otherwise, they'll just dodge it!" Danny called out before tackling Ember mid-air, stopping her from chasing Robin.
"Easier said than done!" Kid Flash shot back.
Danny and Ember tumbled through the air before crashing into the ground away from the stage. Since they were in an open concert arena, they landed on a patch of grass, kicking up dirt as they skidded across the ground. Despite the chaos, the roaring crowd continued chanting Ember's name.
"Goddammit! Why are you trying to stop me from achieving my dream?!" Ember shouted, eyes burning with fury.
"Oh yeah? And what exactly is that dream?" Danny asked, ectoplasmic energy flickering around his clenched fist.
Ember bit her lip, fists trembling. "All I ever wanted was to be a star!"
Danny scoffed, narrowing his eyes. "Can you really call yourself a star if you have to hypnotize people into liking you?"
"What do you know?!" Ember screamed, her hair flaring wildly. "You have no idea what it's like to be me! This is the only way people will notice me! The only way they'll care!"
She blasted forward in rage, swinging a fiery punch at Danny. He caught her fist with one hand, grimacing as he felt the sheer force behind it.
'She's strong!' Danny thought.
She swung again with her other hand. He caught that one too.
Their fingers interlocked as they pushed against each other in a struggle of raw strength. Danny gritted his teeth, his feet slowly sliding backward. The cheers from the crowd fueled Ember, making her stronger by the second.
"You coward," Danny spat.
Ember's fiery eyes narrowed dangerously. "What?" she growled, tightening her grip.
"What did you just call me?"
Danny let out a pained cry as he felt the bones in his hands creak under the pressure, but he refused to break eye contact.
"You heard me! You're a coward! You say you want people to like you, to notice you—but you're forcing them! Hypnotizing them! What is that if not the coward's way out?! If you really want to be a star, do it through your own damn effort!"
With a fierce snarl, Danny pulled her toward him instead of pushing back.
"ONLY COWARDS LOOK FOR SHORTCUTS!"
Danny slammed his forehead against hers in a brutal headbutt. The sickening crunch of Ember's nose breaking echoed in the air, and green blood splattered between them.
"AAAHH!" Ember staggered back, clutching her face, her fingers trembling as they came away soaked in glowing ectoplasm. Her eyes watered from the pain.
Danny's forehead dripped with green blood from a fresh cut, but he didn't waver.
"I want to ask you something," he said, his breath heavy. "Would you really be happy knowing people only love you because you made them?"
Ember gritted her teeth, using her ectoplasmic energy to heal her wounds slowly. "You're really starting to piss me off," she hissed. "You keep acting like you know me—"
Danny cut her off with a nod. "You're right. I don't know a thing about you. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to listen." His expression softened, though his stance remained firm. "I am curious. What's driving you to this? Who is Ember McLain apart from being a rock star?"
For a second, just a second, Ember hesitated.
Then the chants of the crowd surged, and her flames burned hotter. She extended her hand, summoning her guitar to her grasp.
"Don't patronize me. And don't lie to me either." Her voice was venomous. "You don't actually care. You're just stalling so your little friends can ruin my plan!"
"Wait—" Danny started, but it was too late.
Ember twisted the dial on her guitar. The emblems on its body flickered—skull, heart, flame, purple whirlpool, red music note—before locking onto the purple whirlpool.
Then she unleashed a devastating sonic blast.
Danny barely had time to react.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Agonizing pain engulfed his body. His eardrums ruptured. Blood poured from his nose and eyes. His throat burned as his own screams tore from him unwillingly.
Ember's fingers moved in a blur across her guitar strings, pouring everything she had into the attack. Her hair lengthened, her eyes glowed brighter, and her entire body radiated power.
Danny's vision blurred. His muscles trembled. His body wanted to shut down.
Then, something inside him snapped.
His ectoplasm flared on instinct, mixing with his raw agony.
A low, ghostly wail echoed from his mouth.
The sound was eerie, unnatural—like countless voices whispering from the grave. It started as a whisper but grew stronger, faster, deeper. A wave of spectral energy burst forth from Danny's lips, colliding with Ember's sonic attack.
The ground cracked. Debris flew. The entire arena trembled under the force of their battle.
Ember's eyes widened in shock. She pushed harder, her fingers a blur—but Danny's wail only grew louder, stronger, more relentless.
She started sweating. Then struggling.
Then failing.
The moment her power faltered, Danny's wail overpowered hers, crashing into her like a tidal wave.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!"
Ember screamed as she was struck, her body convulsing. She dropped from the sky, clutching her ears in agony. Her vision swam, her strength faded, and before she could stop it—her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.
Danny's ghostly wail slowly faded. His breaths were ragged, his vision swam, and his body felt like it had been torn apart from the inside.
He took one step forward—then crumpled.
A bright flash of white light engulfed him. Rings of energy appeared around his waist.
And in an instant, Danny Phantom was gone.
Now, lying unconscious on the ground, was just Danny Fenton.
********************************************
+10 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3