The Witch Doctor Incident

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Chapter Eight – The Fight Continued

Danny struggled up, bracing his back against the cold stone wall. He lifted his head to meet Nuodov’s burning gaze inches from his own wide green eyes. “It’s over boy,” she spoke softly as she pulled a long knife out of the folds of her skirt. The dark blade glittered in the light of their combined auras as she raised it before plunging it into his chest.

“Danny!” Janet breathed out in horror, pulling her legs out of the rubble and stumbled towards them. Nuodov’s smile dropped as her knife struck nothing but stone. She let go of the hilt, blade sticking out a heaving chest. Her eyes traveled up a pale neck to the coldest blue eyes she ever witnessed. Sweat poured down the pale face, black hair a complete mess. Without meaning to, she stepped backwards in astonishment at the pure hatred pouring out of a set of blue eyes.

“You just fucked up,” the rough, steady voice came without the echo. A hand reached up and wrenched the knife out of the wall, the blade clean. He tossed it to the floor and blasted it with almost white energy. It shattered, metal crumbling to dust.

“You’re human!” she screeched, off balanced and stuck on that single point. Without answering he fired again, knocking her back. She stumbled before catching herself, face slacking with shock. Danny took a step forward and she flinched back, eyes riveted on his human features.

“Now how come every one is surprised when I do that” Danny Fenton asked, his other hand pushing back raven hair from his forehead. “They freeze, point, and state the obvious. Didn’t any of the other ghosts warn you? Most of them know I’m half human. Maybe you should get better intel.” He swept past the surprised witch and moved to help Janet stand.

“Where’s the Thermos?” he demanded as soon as she was able to stand on her own.

“Over there,” the dazed woman turned while motioning to the pile of rubble she pulled herself out of. He started towards the spot, wanting to end this as quickly as possible.

“Shit,” Smith swore, tugging at his shoulder. Danny turned around and repeated her curse, the ground lacking one evil ghost.

“She’s still here,” Danny told her, blue eyes darting back and forth. With a snap bright rings appeared and Phantom, still clad in a black t-shirt and jeans, stood in place of the human teenager.

“How?” Janet stuttered, hands waving at his changed form. Danny smiled sheepishly.

“I’ll explain later. I bet you have some questions.”

“A few,” she scowled. Danny let the smile drop and his mood cooled, everything concentrating on watching out for the missing ghost while Smith turned her attention to the small object pulled from her belt. He could hear stones shift and settle as Janet’s scanner beeped softly.

“The remnants from the Gremlins are interfering with the signals,” she mumbled as she touched the screen. “I’m not picking her up. You sure she’s still around?”

“Oh yeah. She’s not going to give up that easily. Can you look for the Thermos while I keep an eye out for her?”

The huntress nodded and began wading through rock, human legs passing through the rubble almost like the debris was merely an illusion. Danny took off into the air, hovering to get the lay of the land. His first impression of the room stayed true. It was bigger than the high school gym, ceilings a good two stories high while the room spread out and away. The remains of stone targets and statues littered the ground, breaking up the open space with piles of rock or half-formed walls, some over ten feet in height. The ever-present torches lit the outer walls, spaced evenly apart but left darkened, shadowed places towards the center of the room. It created a warren of hiding spots for the Witch Doctor.

Spinning in a slow circle the room looked the same in any direction. A mass of rocks and rubble, short walls and the haze of dust from destroyed gremlins and damage in general. At no point could he catch a glimpse of white hair or bright skirts.

A soft rustle was his only warning before he felt a pain from a narrow red beam jab into his side. He grunted and turned to face the Witch Doctor hovering only meters behind him. “Are you done have your little panic attack and ready to give up?” he bluffed, hoping to keep the woman’s attentions on him rather than his human partner searching below. He couldn’t afford to the delusion that he could beat her fair and square. He was tired, injured and already gave up the surprise of his human half leaving him without any surprise advantages, she knew most of his tricks.

She snarled at his question and her fists clenched and unclenched. He could catch glimpsed of wicked nails that begged to tear through his ghostly flesh. With a curse she attacked, red light flying from fingers and arrowing towards his wounded side. He twisted and the attack slammed his shoulder. Still spinning he swung out a hand and caught the red beam, his green energy overpowering the red and shocking her. He followed and kicked her, glancing off a hip and pushing her back. He smirked and took off to the other side of the room and she snarled and chased after like a demented cat in a game of cat and mouse.

“Danny! Get back here!” Janet finally shouted from the mist after a few harrowing minutes of dodging. He dove to fly only feet above the walls and rocks with Nuodov literally on his tail. Flipping midair he dropped to the floor, transforming mid-fall. She passed through his human form and twisted to avoid one of the countless half walls. With her distracted he ran though the debris trying to reach Janet. Chanting rose around him and he dodged left as ectoplasm snaked past him. Slipping, he twisted around turning a fall in into a sloppy handspring. Nuodovs voice wound its way around, the ectoplasms following the voice.

He almost let out a sigh of relief when he caught a glint of red hair. He ran past Janet before sliding to a stop. The ectoplasm rushed past him, disappearing deeper into the room, leaving him alone with Smithy.

“Get her close and I’ll take care of her,” she snarled.

With his orders he sprinted to a semi-open space nearby. Danny almost tripped over a lone, maimed gremlin, forgetting completely about the creature and not realizing that they had made their way back to where the fight started. While Danny danced out of the reach of its claws he searched for the Witch Doctor. He wiped sweat off his face and swayed dizzily. They had to end the fight now before he passed out; an event he knew was looming in his future. Debating whether it was worth the energy to transform back into Phantom or stay human he stayed still. In the background he could hear Janet getting into position.

Eventually Nuodov appeared out of the mists. She looked less serene than when this little fight had started. He laughed at her, hair in tangles and knots around her dark, purple face. Small splatters of red and green flecked her shirt and were lost among the dizzying patters of her skirt, no longer the composed women he first seen in a grainy security camera.

She circled around him, red eyes completely fixed on his face. Taking comfort in the fact that she couldn’t touch his human form he also focused on her. She fired the first shot, easily ducked. Inching closer she fired again and again. As he dodged and returned his attacked he almost missed her reaching into her shirt, her hand clasping something small. Without warning she threw it and only a hastily made shield stopped the object, a small vial. It bounced and shattered on the ground with a small curl of noxious smoke. She cursed, eyes transfixed on the failed attack. Taking the chance he moved closer for a personal attack of his own.

With great satisfaction he punched her, green ectoplasm flaring around his fist and connecting with her delicate cheekbone. The ghost swung back but her hands passed through his neck harmlessly. A kick propelled her away, causing her to fall and tangle up with the last injured gremlin leaving her vulnerable.

“Now Janet!”

Smithy stepped out into the open and powered up the Thermos but Nuodov didn’t stay down. She tore the gremlin’s arm out of its socket and threw it at the huntress. The limb knocked the Thermos right out of her hands and into the debris fog. The Witch Doctor then plunged her hands into the creatures’ chest. It disintegrated, leaving her stained with a dark red ectoplasm that sunk into her skin and tinted her white aura a sickly crimson. Then she turned and set her sights on him, red eyes gleaming with a new, feral light.

Danny broke away, running towards Janet but Nuodov tackled him, nails tearing at his stomach and chest as she fell on top of him. He struggled and finally squirmed out of her grasp, turning back into Phantom as he shot into the air. Blue bolts peppered the witch’s face, keeping her grounded and giving Danny a chance to vanish as Janet ran.

“What the hell just happened,” she panted, doubled over and not looking at her half ghost companion.

“I’m gonna bet that the red ectoplasm is what gave the gremlins the ability to touch humans.”

“And now she can touch us too!” she hissed, upset at this new change.

“What happened to the Thermos?” he had to ask. She shrugged helplessly and waved a hand to the side to one of the piles that he was beginning to loath. “You’ve got to be joking! We lost the thermos again?”

“We so need to put a tracker or something on the stupid thing.” This was starting to feel like a bad comedy routine. You lose the thermos, you find the thermos, you lose the thermos…but instead of the end of the act, it would be their end if they didn’t find the damn thing. Janet stood up and visibly pulled herself back together. Nearby they could hear the ominous swishing of the Witch Doctor’s skirts along the broken floor.

“Try to keep her distracted when she appears,” Janet whispered while pulling out one of her guns. “I’m going for the Thermos.”

Nodding, he flew back up into the air, pushing back an annoying strand of white hair trying to block his vision. Within moments the ghost appeared and fired, adding his green blasts to Janet’s blue bolts, making the ghost duck behind one of the numerous piles of debris. Then they began a new game, not cat-and-mouse but a deadlier find-the-needle-in-a-haystack, substituting the thrice-cursed thermos for the needle.

They took turns, one firing and distracting the ghost (who couldn’t hide as well with the red aura surrounding her) and the other crawling and slinking through rock piles and fog looking for a hint of metal or green. During his turn as a distraction Nuodov decided to knock out the ceiling just above the rock piles he was firing from.

He transformed the stones passed harmlessly through his human body. Sweating at the strain of firing ectoblasts in human form, he dodged a wide shot. His hand brushed across a stone the size and shape of a baseball. Shrugging to himself, he hefted the rock and whipped it right at the Witch Doctor’s head. His aim was a little off and the projectile struck her shoulder.

He ducked behind a mostly intact wall, praying Janet would take a shot while the ghost cussed. The whine of the ectogun and a grunt of pain let Danny know that Janet found her mark. Using the distraction, he crawled through the rubble, hands groping for the Thermos. Right now they were at a stalemate. If either human or halfa tired out the witch’s chanced of winning grew. If only Danny could find the Thermos they could capture her, ending this once and for all.

Scooting farther, he emerged from a pile and finally got a good look at Janet. She glanced in his direction but all he could do was mouth ‘no luck’. Her forehead wrinkled in anger as she took potshots at the witch. He made his way closer, noting the fatigue straining her face. She wasn’t as injured, only a couple scratches, but she was wearing out as well. He tapped her shoulder to gain her attention. She nodded her head towards the ghost and he took over, firing concentrated blasts as Smithy crawled around the ruins in a desperate search for the thermos. It was harder to fire when in human form but he didn’t want to be subjected to another ceiling collapse.

As Janet moved, he shadowed her, trying to stay between the huntress and the increasingly pissed off ghost. Nuodov continued her assault, sometimes getting close enough for a couple hits before either she pulled back or Danny was able to retreat. They kept it up until during one close encounter he stumbled and got up just seconds too slow and she was right there.

She dug her claws into the front of his shirt, lifting him up and not letting him get away. Blue eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to scream. One hand let go, slapping across his face to stop the wail. He swung to the side from the force of the hit. Using the momentum, he pushed off her chest, her nails gouging his skin and ripped through his blue shirt but he still managed to pull out of her grasp, falling to the floor. Ignoring the red staining his clothes and her hands, he dove into the rubble and out of her reach.

“I am tiring of your games, Boy,” she snarled, flexing bloodstained fingers. Her skirt flared as she spun round and round, eyes searching for an advantage. He stayed crouched, quietly panting and trying not to move. He could see the red eyes darting back and forth as she paced. He huddled mostly inside the rocks, hoping for the ghost to turn her back so he could attack again.

Nuodov kept moving closer and closer till she spun around… and dragged Janet out of her own hiding spot. Smityh struggle, trying to pull away from the inhumanly strong hands holding her. The Witch Doctor let go long enough to move her grip from Janet’s arms to her too fragile neck. She coughed and fought the strangling as Nuodov lifted her up and cut off her air supply almost completely. She raised and eyebrow as the smaller woman struggled, fingers clawing at the death grip.

“Let her go!” Danny ordered as he stepped out into the open.

“Now boy, I know you won’t risk using your scream.”

“Put her down or I will destroy you,” he tried sounding brave but fear for the huntress leaked out and colored his voice.

“Danny… do what… you… you have to!” Janet gasped out.

“I told you to put her down!”

“Alright,” she slowly lowered her arms until Janet’s toes touched the floor while cruel hands still choked the human. Finger by finger she let go, Janet almost collapsing as she was freed and only held up by the claws now digging into her shoulders. Barely on her feet, she looked up and her green eyes widened.

“Danny!” she cried as the air vibrated.

“No!” he gasped as he ran towards the pair. The boy fell the same time Janet did. He wretched and gagged as she lay limply across the floor and as Nuodov turned away, her eyes the soulless black of her ‘soul shredder’.

Anger turned his eyes green and he transformed just from the strength of the emotions.

“Oh, is the little boy angry because I damaged his friend? Or is the reaction of a pet whose master just died?”

No words forced their way past his lips. Instead a bloodcurdling wail ripped a path straight to Nuodov. She dodged to the side as sound waves destroyed the walls behind her.

Righteous fury pushed him, making him attack with everything, every ability, every skill he possessed. Potion bottles were knocked from her grasp, a spare knife fractured by one of his blasts. The woman’s red eyes became dilated with panic as he broke her shields, shrugged off her attacks and continued to attack again and again. A lucky shot, an almost glancing red beam, caught him in the old knife wound Thor had stitched. He fell to the ground in agony, fury lost as abruptly as it had appeared. The Witch Doctor panted behind him as he struggled to bring his arms underneath his body to brace him. His hands brushed loose rocks and metal as the ghost chuckled.

“Kid, this has been one of the best battles I’ve had in decades. It’s a shame that it is over.”

Danny whimpered as he felt the air vibrate, the prelude to her soul shredder. Painfully, his hand grasped a metal object lying nearby as he struggled to rise.

“I promise it will only hurt for a very short time. Give up boy. I won.”

“I’m not going to let you hurt any one else.” He managed to make it to his hands and knees, back still to Nuodov.

“How?” she asked with a cruel laugh.

He forced himself up onto one foot, one knee still planted on the ground as green ectoplasm and red blood make the stone floor slick underneath. His eerie green eyes burned as she laughed.

He spun around pointing the Fenton Thermos straight at her bleeding face and soul black eyes. Her laughter morphed into a screamed agony as light erupted from the object and the vacuum dragged her inside. Dust and small stones swirled around, pelting Danny’s chest and face. He didn’t loosen his two-handed deathgrip on the Thermos to protect his eyes as the ghost faded. With one last screamed epithet in her mother language Doctor Patricia Nuodov, former physician and infamous Witch Doctor disappeared into the thermos, defeated.

Danny depressed a small button and a half-dozen clicks came from inside the Thermos permanently locking the lid as Jack Fenton designed it to just before this whole mess and the last metallic snicker created a prison for the witch. The silence that followed was deafening and he hugged the Thermos to his chest shocked that the fight was over. His breath caught in his throat as he remembered.

Janet.

By habit the Thermos’ strap found its way around his shoulder as he ran, stumbling towards Janet. He tripped the last couple of feet falling next to the huntress. He crawled to her side and shook her.

“Janet?” he called out. “Come on Janet. It’s over. We won. The bitch won’t hurt anyone anymore. Wake up, Janet! Please,” his voice broke.

“Janet… Oh God...”

He broke down. Pulling her up, cradling her against his bleeding chest, her head rolling on his shoulder. Crying harder he rocked her back and forth just like she had done in the past. But she lay limply in his arms, unresponsive to both words and actions.

Janet Smith was gone.

Epilogue