Hey only a week late right? *Sigh* Enjoy the final installment of this particular story arc! Be prepared for a new story arc next week! LOVE!!!
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After saving the frightened teams from falling car debris, and carefully turning invisible to avoid being seen, Danny flew back into battle, ghostly tail streaming behind him. He was glad to know Jackson was being looked after, but he regretted that it wasn't him who was doing it. But he had to worry about later. It was time to finish this.
As he watched the monster continued to smash more cars in the parking lot, honking with glee. Danny decided it might be a good time to call Tucker again. Some "friendly" advice would be useful right about now. Tucker picked up immediately.
"Yes?" His annoyance was clear in his tone. Danny sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.
"Look, I'm sorry for-"
"For what? For ghosting me?" Tucker snapped. Danny snorted, then caught himself. "Don't answer that." Tucker quickly added, before Danny could tease him. "But you can't just keep hanging up on me like that! None of my constituents would hang up on me like that! Actually, that was a little egotistical. I'll rephrase that. I-"
"Right. I know. You're right. I really do value your advice." Danny tried not to sound too rushed- time was running out before the monster might notice him again or go after more park goers. But wait- did Tucker just admit he was being egotistical? "Tuck, I know when you're really upset what humility you have starts to show." Desperation started to creep into his voice. "I really need you right now, man. I don't know what I'd do without you." And he really meant every word this time. He could hear Tucker give a dramatic sniffle on the other end of the line.
"I'm touched; really I am." He choked out, then he cleared his throat, returning so quickly to seriousness Danny had to hold back another laugh. After a brief explanation of the battle so far, Tucker was ready to get down to business.
"Alright. First things first: every beast, no matter how ugly, has a heart. We just need to find it." Danny darted downward behind the cover of the treetops; the monster had started to amble in his direction. Despite not having a head.
"What do you mean, its heart?" He asked, thinking hard he spoke. "Is it like some sort of central place within him that powers everything? 'Cause it doesn't make sense that he'd need that if he was able to make cars float separately and throw tires at me."
"True." Tucker acknowledged. "But if we've learned anything from Technus and other ghosts that strategize like him, they all operate from some central vantage point, usually within the machine."
"Because the closer they are the stronger their control." Peering through the branches, Danny scoped out the monster, scanning its build for any place strongly resembling what Tucker described. The beige family van that could probably carry ten people lay surprisingly intact in the area where the monster's chest would be. Easy as parallel parking. Just needed to dodge the truck pincers and car claws. And the flying tires. Always the flying tires.
"I think I see it." Danny told Tucker, floating closer. He was still well hidden among the trees.
"Great. Well, call me after its over," Tucker replied, and though smirks cannot be heard, without a doubt Danny knew Tucker wore that expression. The last thing he heard was Tucker's faint laughter as hung up on Danny this time. The thing about Tucker was he took little victories whenever he could.
Clenching his fists, Danny shot into the air and plunged directly toward the monster's chest. It desperately tried swatting him away with first one claw then the other, but Danny corkscrewed around them with ease, his arms outstretched in front of him, and white hair whipping behind him. He flipped around so he feet first as he turned intangible, landing with a soft thud in the interior of the van.
There was no beating heart in sight. No ghost to be seen. But the chill was unmistakable: as if the A/C had been turned to thirty degrees. Head low, Danny floated over the rows of seats until he was in the front of the car. The radio was softly playing the Spanish station. He felt like he was being watched: but not by a predator, but prey. Angrily hiding in the bushes from a larger creature it knew it couldn't face. But where was it hiding?
Danny gaze finally landed on the keys, which had carelessly been left in the ignition. Two green feathers hung from the key loop, as well as some miniature credit cards. Danny narrowed his eyes with a grin.
Got ya. He carefully reached over to the drivers seat and plucked out the keys. He heard a small whir, and an angry humming. The keys vibrated in his hand, and he readied the thermos.
A tiny little ghost, which resembled an angry robot, materialized in front of him. It had gears for eyes, a rusty jaw, and its lower half dissipated into greenish brown mist. It squeaked angrily at him, shaking its tiny fist. Danny held up the thermos, raising his eyebrows at the absurd little ghost, and with one last enraged squeak it disappeared into the blue light of the thermos.
"So you were the little guy causing all this mayhem, huh?" Danny said to the thermos incredulously. He really had to stop underestimating tiny ghosts. They were honestly the most dangerous sometimes. If fighting Skulker almost every night for weeks during ninth grade were any hint at that.
Phasing out of the now lifeless machine, he watched it slowly crumble, cars screeching weakly for the last time as they were finally crushed. He sighed. Hopefully all these people had good insurance. Maybe he could call Tucker to help out with that later.
Rattling the thermos thoughtfully, he landed in the cover of the trees and transformed back. It was time to face his next challenge: Jackson.
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Both were silent on the way home, listening to the soft music on the radio. The car company had conveniently arrived right after the mayhem, and were booked the next few months for car repairs. Business had never been better.
Anyway, Danny had gotten his van back and repaired for a reasonable price, so after saying their goodbyes, he excused himself and Jackson to get home. Usually the team would go out for pizza or something afterwards, but everyone knew without saying anything that getting home (and getting their cars fixed) were more of a priority. And they all they'd be able to about would be the crazy events of that day anyway.
Danny glanced over to Jackson, whose legs were resting on the dashboard, and gazed at his cleats.
"I'm sorry for not being there, when all the craziness started happening." Danny said finally. Jackson looked over at him briefly, then glanced back down, saying nothing. "I would have been there if I could." Jackson huffed, and shifted so that he was now crossing his legs, still refusing to speak. "Look, Jackson, you can't just give me the silent treatment the entire ride home."
Jackson glared at his cleats, green eyes watering. "I thought you died." He admitted blatantly, crossing his arms and sinking deeper into the seat.
"No. Never, I- I would never throw myself into a dangerous situation like that. I'd run in the opposite direction." At least that was partially true. He knew most ghosts would never try to kill him. But ghosts on the level of Pariah Dark, for example, he'd probably hesitate to fight again for the sake of his family. He continued, "But I wasn't even anywhere near the parking lot. I was walking the trails. I was safe. I'm just sorry you were in the middle of it all without me there." After a brief hesitation, he added, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Jackson shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, like Coach Drey was there and stuff, so it was okay. So was the rest of the team. So we kinda comforted each other." He sat up as he remembered something, and he turned eagerly to his dad. "But there was something really weird that happened, and I was the only one who saw it." Danny started to feel worry creep into his chest, but he tried not to let it show. What could be weirder than a giant car monster?
"What?"
"Well, at one point we were running across the field- me and Coach Drey- when suddenly cars came flying towards us from the sky. I thought we were so dead, but then something, I don't know what, stopped them. Like greenish light. And I heard a voice, and saw something that looked like a person floating up there. They were fighting the car creature thing." His voice grew awed. "It was amazing."
Danny simply could nod, too numb with shock. Of the frightened spectators, of course his son had to be the one who saw him. He observant, super-smart and fragile son, who shouldn't have to learn about the chaotic and confusing world of ghosts so soon. Because otherwise he'd be asking too many questions. So it was better to give him the truth now.
"Uh, I don't really know how to say this, Jackson, but, what you saw, those were-"
"Ghosts?" Of course he'd figured it out already. Oh, what did he have to be so smart? He must have gotten it from Sam. Or Jazz. Or both.
"Yes. Ghosts." Danny sighed. "I should have talked to you about this sort of thing sooner. Because ghosts are so mainstream now, even more than when I was a kid."
"It's okay." Jackson reassured him, staring thoughtfully out the window. Things were silent again for a moment.
"Love you Jackson."
"Love you too Dad." Danny smiled to himself, starting to hum a little to the song playing, trying to ease his nerves. Things had really been close this time. He wanted to bang his head against a wall, he hated keeping his secret from his son so much. If only it were that easy to tell him! But he knew that if he did, things would never be the same between them. Squinting at the road ahead, he let out a loud groan, causing Jackson's head to turn.
"What?"
"TRAFFIC!"