The Witch Doctor Incident

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Chapter Three

Day 3 – Saturday January 14th, 2006

Ahead loomed the remains of a great citadel. Craters broke the stone courtyard and the outer wall of the ancient building. The large porticos of Pariah Dark’s Castle lay broken and the unprotected entryway gaped like a black mouth.

Jacobs slowed the speeder as they approached the entrance. The tension was palpable; Anderson, Jacobs and Danny all searched the world beyond the windshield for threats. The speeder pilot took an audible breath before plunging the speeder into darkness. Danny’s aura gave off a slight glow, barely illuminating the controls under his hands. He flipped a couple of switches, turning on the dashboard lights and the floodlights mounted on the exterior of the speeder.

Anders growled at his actions but kept his tongue still. There was no sense in starting a fight when the Witch Doctor could be beyond the darkened hallway.

“Which way should we go, Phantom?” Jacobs asked, voice quieter due to the castle’s dark atmosphere.

“Keep going straight,” he said after a moment. “At the end of the hall is a large room. If she’s not there, she’s not in the ruins.”

“Are you sure,” Anderson asked from the seat behind Jacobs.

“There are no other rooms,” Danny told the hunter, turning around in his seat to do so. “The walls collapsed, leaving just this hallway and the throne room intact.”

The speeder slowly moved down the passage until two doors once blocked the way. The once grand doors were nothing but burned splinters hanging on the hinges and scattered across the ground. Danny destroyed then the same day he fought the Ghost King in the room beyond. Jacobs paused before coercing the speeder out of the hallway. The mess outside couldn’t prepare the hunters for the indoor catastrophe. Inside the throne room, broken stones from the walls littered the floor. The damage to the walls alone was devastating, even before one took into account the burn marks and ruined décor that added to the ruins.

“It looks like two giants fought in here,” the pilot said in trepidation.

“I almost didn’t survive,” Danny told the man softly. He looked down at his lap, never looking up at the damaged throne room. He could remember it clearly. Two years hadn’t faded the memory of Pariah Dark. He could remember every punch thrown, every hit and blast taken. He could still feel the suit draining him, killing him. He could remember falling to his knees as Dark struggled against the coffin’s lid and the final feelings of betrayal as Vlad took the Crown of Fire and, ultimately, the Ectosuit.

Everything looked as it did two years ago when he dared to look. Nothing changed past the dust and debris. The Witch Doctor never set foot in this place.

“She’s not here,” Danny said, convinced. “Let’s get out of here.” Jacobs started to turn the speeder towards the exit when Anderson told him to stop and land. Danny turned around in his seat to ask why but Anders wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at the shattered north wall. Beyond the fallen masonry, the space was lit by a single light shining on the Coffin of Forever Sleep.

Jacobs looked over at Danny and his suddenly pale face while the expedition leader slid out of his restraints, eyes focused on the Dark’s resting place. Uncertain, the pilot landed the speeder in a cleared area in the middle of the room, floating a couple of inches off the floor.

“The Witch Doctor isn’t here now but maybe she left some clues,” Anderson reasoned out loud, not tearing his gaze away from the windows. “Jacobs, you staying the cockpit incase we need to leave in a hurry. Phantom, you’re with me.”

Danny rose out of his seat reluctantly. Jacobs gave him a supportive grin and a pat on the back to shore him up. They had talked a little that morning during the approach to the castle when the other hunters unpacked weapons in the back. Danny admitted why he didn’t like the castle and the reasons he had entered it in the first place, the story he didn’t mention when he retold the tale of Pariah Dark.

In the back, Anders had everyone checking his or her personal gear. Their styles varied person to person but the weapons’ purposes were identical: to damage any ghost that reared its ugly head during their search. Anderson nodded in approval and guns powered up and Smith’s blades glowed with infused ectoplasm. With Danny standing in the doorway, he nodded to himself one last time before telling the humans to put on their suits.

“Ya sure?” Smithy asked, her Texan accent sounding thick with surprise.

Townsend and Thorton also stared at their leader before opened the large crate marked ‘Ecto-suits’. Different than the original Fenton Ectosuit, these were normal sized black jumpsuits with miles of slender tubing under the surface. At hip level a small, plastic box attached to the suit, filled with pure ectoplasm. When the wearer pressed a hidden button the miniature pump activated, filling the tubing with the ectoplasm. The Fentons invented the suits in the hopes that they could use them when exploring the ghost zone. That dream died shortly after their daughter’s suicide attempt a couple of months before. Instead, they modified the suits they possessed to fit the humans that went on the expedition.

Normally humans had an advantage in the Ghost Zone. They phased thru objects like they were the ghosts. Certain areas of the ghost zone could theoretically allow humans to interact with the environment, but that wasn’t the case in the main portions of the zone. Anderson had worried that the Witch Doctor would try to use this to her advantage, especially after giving the children that potion found in the tube at the Schraeders’ house.

Towns handed out the first suit and the next ten minutes were spent pulling on the jumpsuits and attaching weapons and other devices to track down ghosts in the area. Finally, the four humans stood, ready and anxious, by the hatch. Danny hovered near as Thor checked his suit one last time. On Anderson’s signal the suits turned on. Four pairs of feet sunk into the speeder’s floor, stopping only when they touched stone.

The hunters looked down in surprise. Smith lifted her foot and stomped down, sliding though the speeder’s metal floor and striking the hidden stone. “I told you humans were the ghosts here,” Danny exclaimed. “Humans go through ghost things. Ghosts go through human things.”

“The ectoplasm’s enough to let us through real world metal,” Thorton elaborated. “I wonder if this would work in the human realm?”

“I don’t think so,” the halfa said. “Physics are a little different here.”

“Ghosts know about physics?” Townsend asked.

“We have a job to do, people. Let’s get going.” Anders pushed past Thor and Smith and walked right thru the speeder wall.

“I love how cranky he is,” Smith said sarcastically before following. The remaining hunters shared a glance before exiting. Danny took a useless breath before he too left the speeder.

Once outside Anderson split them into two teams. He sent Thor, Townsend and Smithy to search the walls and area near the doors and speeder. Smithy’s hand covered a yawn and the three of them trooped over to the first pile of rubble. Anderson turned around and led Danny to the far end of the Throne Room, towards the Coffin of Forever Sleep. Passing past towering walls and debris, they climbed the stairs to the coffin. Danny floated around, looking for the clues he knew didn’t exist as Anderson searched Dark’s last resting place. As Anders continued to circle the platform, eyes solely fixed on the sarcophagus, the halfa gave up his half-hearted search.

“I wonder how they made this,” Anderson mused as a gloved hand passed across the hieroglyphs. Danny sat a few steps below, chin resting on his hands. From his position he could see the speeder. Danny could also see Townsend, Thorton and Smith at the far end of the Throne Room examining the wall. Their suits let off a glow, creating green auras around the humans easily noticed at a distance.

Behind him Anders stepped away from the coffin and joined him on the steps. “Find anything?” the hunter asked as he sat down.

Danny shook his head.

“Now what?” The man next to him looked to Danny for an honest answer.

“I’ve heard the story of Pariah Dark once, so this might be wrong,” Danny warned. “After the ancient ghosts trapped Dark in the Coffin of Forever Sleep, they destroyed the castle leaving only the rooms surrounding the Ghost King intact. What if parts of the castle remained intact, only not here? Does that make any sense?”

“It does, actually,” Anderson mused out loud. “There isn’t enough rubble around here to build an entire castle. A large section could have broken off and stayed in one piece.”

“With the drift, it could be out of sight,” Danny sighed.

“And in any direction,” Anders finished. “We’re back to square one.”

“Couldn’t we use the ‘real world item detector’?” he had to ask.

“It wouldn’t work. Whatever was in the witch’s bottle we found masks real world items. I bet one of the reasons she used the potion was to hide the children from our detectors.”

Their headsets crackled before Jacobs voice came over the link. “I’m getting weird readings in here, Anderson. The RWI Detector is picking up multiple somethings nearby.”

“Do you have any more information?” Anderson asked, even as Danny stood up, a bad feeling crawling over his skin. Silence filtered across the comm. For a couple of seconds before Jacobs responded.

“Whatever it is, it’s at both ends of the Throne Room.”

The air around Danny and Anderson froze. Anders stood up and cocked a silver ectogun while the strap remained on his shoulder, the trim glowing an evil red. A wisp of blue smoke curled past Danny’s lips as his right hand glowed with energy. Stones cracked to their left, crevices opening to darkness. Both Anderson and Danny shifted their aim to the wall. For a brief second, red eyes glowed from the shadow.

Snarls came from around them but it was the wall behind them that exploded, pelting them with stones. Before they could completely turn around the things were on them. Waist height and dirty gray, they looked like little demons, gremlins out of medieval literature. They were all claws and their overlarge mouths gaped and grinned even as they hit both ghost and human. Anderson ducked long enough to activate his comm.

“Jacobs, lift off,” Anderson yelled into his headset. The speeders engines glowed and it rose off the ground. It took approximately six seconds for the speeder’s engines to kick in and allow for movement. Only three seconds into that black webbing erupted around the speeder, dragging it down the ground. The wall next to the speeder collapsed, covering it entirely with rubble and trapping Jacobs inside. The dust from the fallen wall spread across the room, creating a dirty fog that hid Anderson and Danny from everyone else.

Swearing, Anders hit a button on his hip, turning off the ecto-suit even as he aimed the large gun, red light gleaming on the sides as it powered up. He held his ground until a gremlin punched him, deformed fist somehow connecting with the hunter, when any normal ghost would have slide through the human. Anderson flew past Danny, skidding to a stop too close to the broken edge. Danny fired a blast, throwing the gremlin over the side.

“We’ve got to get to the ground,” the half ghost yelled, the snarls of the gremlins trying to drown him out. The human nodded before hoisting his gun. A spray of red blasts drove the creatures back since the human immunity to ghosts failed already. Danny hovered and fired as Anders ran under him and down the steps. He watched until something slammed into him from behind. Little claws scratched his hip, forcing Danny to phase out and throw a blast into the foul thing’s stomach. Forcing back a disgusted shudder, he was thankful that the attacks were purely physical. The little demon spawn didn’t seem to have flying or ghost powers, but damn could they jump.

Danny floated up as four of the gremlins grouped together, each grin identical and showing off a horrendous amount of jagged teeth. They rushed him at once. Phantom barely had enough time to raise his hands and the creatures bounced off his hastily formed dome shield. He dropped the shield and swept his hand sideways, creating an arc of green energy, holding off the horde so he could make it to Anderson’s side. He continued to float a couple of feet off the ground as the hunter fired again and again, the air filled with red pulses and Danny’s green beams.

One little devil snuck through their defense and jumped, latching onto Danny’s boot with his teeth. Letting out a horrified yell, he kicked out with his free foot, catching the thing in the face. The teeth tore into his boot, leaving small gashes when it let go. Seeing the bloodthirsty smile directed at him, Danny didn’t hold back. His next blast was so bright it flashed white as it hit. The thing screamed before exploding apart, showering the halfa with dust and ectoplasm.

He went intangible to pass the demons and stpped at the exhibition leader’s side. “Does that thing always pulse or can you set it on a continuous beam?” he asked as he knocked back a persistent gremlin.

“It can do a beam, it just gets hot really quick,” Anderson said, sparing a glance for Phantom, surprised to see a feral grin on the so far docile ghost.

“Do it. Enough energy and these things burst apart like a piñata at a birthday party.” A grim nod and clicks were Danny’s only warning before the fireworks started. After Anders destroyed two of the gremlins, he turned away, concentrating to produce the strong white energy blasts. Evan as they destroyed the gremlins, they slowly backed up to the buried speeder. As they neared, hey could hear the rock settle and the whine of the buried engines.

Taking out his fifth gray demon, Danny couldn’t help but smirk. ‘Bam’…another one disintegrated and only two creatures remained, crouched just out of point blank range. Anderson’s gun whined as it powered up for another shot and Danny let energy form around his gloves, each aiming for the last of the demons.

Then indescribable pain hit Danny and he cried out, dropping to the ground seconds away from blasting the gremlin. The pain and wrongness tore him mentally apart and almost knocked him unconscious. Outside awareness coming back, he could hear Anderson call his name. Two dust clouds indicated what happened to the gremlins while he was filled with the psychological pain. Arms shaking, he pushed himself up, stomach churning for whatever he felt just a minute before.

“Kid, get up!” Anderson ordered.

“Oh, he doesn’t have to stand on my account,” an accented voice said from to the direction of the speeder. Danny staggered to his feet. The Witch Doctor stood only feet away with an evil glint in her eyes. Behind her, half a dozen gremlins crouched in anticipation. She lifted a hand and lazily pointed to hunter and ghost. With blinding speed, they ran and grabbed Danny and Anderson, pulling them in front of Nuodov. She looked just like the pictures, white hair strung with colored beads. The bright colors of her skirt stood out against a faded shawl and linen shirt. The dust in the air coated her skin, making it a lighter purple. Her red eyes crinkled as she smiled, not a pleasant sight.

“The ghost child and the great hunter, working side by side. A pity I have to end this before you try to take my children.” She ghosted a hand along Anders’ jaw. He tried to bite her, earning him a laugh fro the good doctor and a punch from one of the creatures holding him.

“Leave him alone,” Danny snarled out, trying to break the grip of the gremlins holding him.

“Oh, how could I forget you? You are such a unique little ghost.” She moved to the struggling half, grinning down at his distress. “Though I can’t see why you are so special.” She gripped his chin with her claw like nails, turning his head from side to side, inspecting him.

Danny waited until she turned away. His hands lit up with energy and his captors became twin dust clouds. He lunged, tackling the ghost to ground, pummeling her with glowing fists before she kicked him off. He jumped into the air, blasting away with his ectobeams. She brought up a hand, a shimmering shield absorbing the hits.

He fired twice more and then Nuodov retaliated. The shield dissolved before a ruby blast threw him to the ground. He stood only to find the Witch Doctor standing too close. She grabbed his shoulder and agony erupted in his abdomen. His eyes grew wide and he had to grab the other ghost’s arms so he could stay upright. That evil grin beamed down at him as she roughly pulled the knife out of his stomach. She held up the knife for him to see, the wicked blade dripping ectoplasm. Danny slipped down to his knees in shock.

“No…” he whispered, his voice failing him. He looked down to see green blood covering his jumpsuit and his glove as he pressed a hand against the wound.

“Phantom!”

A crimson blast caught the Witch Doctor by surprise, driving her away from Danny. Anderson hadn’t wasted time when Danny first attacked the doctor. He broke free of his captors, vaporizing them and the two spare gremlins. The last one showered dust and the air cleared right before Nuodov plunged her sacrificial knife into Phantom’s unprotected abdomen. Training kick in and before he could mentally comprehend the scene, Anders shot her and took up a position in front of Danny, protecting the fallen ghost.

“Stay back,” he ordered even as the woman floated off the ground. Her eyes flared in anger. This time she didn’t bother with fancy ghost powers or hidden weapons. She flew straight at the hunter, hitting him over and over. Anders fought right back. They broke apart, human gasping and the ghost looking worse for wear.

“Why are you protecting him?” she asked, confused. “I’ve watched you. You hate him.”

Anderson ground his teeth before growling out, “He may be a lifeless ghost but he’s trying to help and I’ll be damned to let a little thing like the lack of a pulse stop us from destroying you and rescuing the children. I’m not letting you have him.”

Nuodov stared at him, face twisting with bloodlust and anger. “You won’t give up and leave, will you?” Again she grabbed Anderson and jerking him forward so they were face-to-face, Anders’ gun slipping out of his hand dropping to the floor.

“I haven’t demonstrated my greatest power yet for the two of you. I’ll tell you what I named it.” She leaved close to Anderson’s ear as she stared right at Danny kneeling only feet behind the hunter. “My Soul Shredder,” her eyes turned pure black and the air vibrated.

Danny collapsed as the agony and wrongness returned. He wretched, sickened by what he felt. A dull thud sounded next to his head. Looking up, Anderson’s body lay inches from his face.

“Anders,” he cried out, tears forming in his eyes. The man lay limp, face turned towards his, his eyes closed and skin deathly pale. Danny crawled over, and once he was close enough, he shook the man’s shoulder.

“Wake up, Anders,” he whispered brokenly, tears falling freely down his face. The man never responded.

“You Bitch!” Danny shrieked, somehow surging to his feet. That sick look of pleasure still covered her face and he lost it. Stepping over Anderson’s body, he screamed. The shockwaves of his wail threw the woman into the broken wall she originally brought down onto the speeder.

Staggering to her feet, red energy gathered around Nuodov’s hand. Not giving her the chance to attack, he let out another short wail. This time as she hit the wall, he dropped to his hands and knees. He felt rings pass over him, black hair and red blood the only visible changes. Quickly he changed back and rose to his feet the same time the Witch Doctor did.

“We can do this all day if you want,” he said with more confidence than he felt. Dazed, the doctor shook her head. With effort, she call the handful of surviving gremlins and with a flash they disappeared. Danny collapsed next to the fallen hunter, even as two pairs of feet rushed over.

“Phantom…Danny! Answer me,” a woman frantically shouted. He opened his eyes to see Smithy over him.

“Smith…” his voice the softest yet.

“You have to get up,” she sounded frantic. “We need to unbury the speeder before that bitch returns.”

“Help me stand,” he ordered faintly.

She grabbed him and slung his arm over her shoulders. They hobbled to the exposed corner of the speeder and the black webbing encasing it. Reaching out with his non-bloody hand, small rings appeared around his wrist and transformed his hand human. Passing through rocks and a gap in the webbing, he turned the entire speeder intangible. The web and rubble passed harmlessly through. With incredible effort, the rings receded, leaving him in ghost mode as his body completely gave out.

Barely conscious, Smith dragged him into the speeder. “Help Thor,” she ordered a concerned Jacobs as she lifted Danny into a bunk. He could only lie there as Smith, Thor and Jacobs carried in Townsend and then Anderson’s body. Thor stayed by Danny as the other two mobile hunters ran to the cockpit.

“Where to,” Jacobs tight voice echoed back to Thor and Phantom.

“Any direction,” Smithy responded. “Keep making random turns until we find a door big enough for the speeder to fit through.” With the orders given, even as Danny’s eyes closed in pain and Thor put pressure on the abdominal wound, the speeder fled Dark’s Castle, heading deep into the ghost zone.

Chapter Four