The Apprentice of Thanatos

Chapter 27: Ultimate Enemy Part 7

     "What?" Danny glanced briefly at his injured right arm, where his apprentice mark lay hidden under his glove. "What are you—"

     Dan lunged at him, catching Danny off guard; he had used Danny's own tactic against him and found an opening.

     Danny barely managed to block Dan's fist, wincing as the impact jostled his injured wrist. Danny found himself unable to do anything more than block and dodge as Dan pummeled away at him, denying him the opportunity to find his footing or gain the upper hand.

      With the entirety of his focus on Dan, Danny couldn't keep track of what was under his feet. Stepping back, Danny's ankle caught on a piece of loose concrete and he stumbled and lost his balance. Dan saw an opening in Danny's defense and grabbed him by his wounded wrist, lifting him off of his feet and into the air. Danny cried out in pain as he flailed and tried to break free. He swung at Dan with his left hand, which still had its gauntlet.

     Unfortunately, Dan caught Danny's punch and pulled the gauntlet from his hand, tossing it to the side with ease. Thankfully, Danny's left hand was uninjured, but the halfa now found himself weaponless.

     "Tch, did you really think those pathetic inventions could do anything to me?" Dan scoffed. "Those pitiful devices have no effect on me anymore."

     Danny would have believed him, if it wasn't for the fact that—now that they were face to face—Danny could see that Dan did look a little worse for wear. The tips of his ears were slightly blackened with soot, and a faint charred smell seemed to be coming off of him. Even his breathing was slightly labored. Which meant that the Specter Deflector had worked, at least a little bit.

     Danny spared a glance at the Nasty Burger. His family and friends were all still there, trapped. They looked afraid. For him. For themselves. Danny had to protect them.

     Danny looked back at Dan, determination set on his face.

     "I commend your tenacity, but it was all in vain," Dan continued, his voice boastful. "I have killed gods! What could you possibly do to—"

     Danny swung his leg up and kicked Dan right between the legs, catching Dan off guard. His grip loosened and Danny was able to break free and land on his feet.

     Danny immediately kicked forward again, but Dan caught and twisted his ankle, knocking Danny off balance and throwing him face-first into the ground.

     "Fightin' dirty, huh?" Dan sounded almost proud. "Just like she taught us."

     She? Was Dan talking about Gaea? Danny had never even met the goddess, let alone learned anything from her. He pushed himself to his knees with a grunt of pain, careful to keep the weight off of his injured wrist as he got to his feet.

      "Gaea's never taught me anything," Danny spat.

      "That's not who I'm talking about." Dan's condescending smirk grated on Danny's nerves. "Mom made sure we knew how to defend ourselves by any means necessary."

     What?

     Mom?

     Sure, Danny had been taught some self defense by his mother, but not much. Most of his fighting skills had been learned through his many fights as Phantom. And... for some reason, Danny got the feeling that Dan wasn't talking about Maddie.

     Dan strolled towards Danny at a leisurely pace, as though he had all the time in the world. Danny fell into a defensive stance once more, his hands raised and glowing with green energy. Danny fired a blast at Dan, but he dodged easily, splitting himself into two duplicates.