Ignite the Soul Chapter 07 (Early Preview)

Chapter 07: Spirits Collide

Danny banked lazily through the cool night air. "Wow." The Han River reflected the light of the cityscape. Seoul was nothing like Amity Park. This was a metropolis.

Danny felt the familiar cold sensation from his core. He pivoted mid-air, scanning the cityscape. "Okay, where are you?"

He closed his eyes, concentrating. Years of practice had refined this ability from a simple warning system to something more like a compass. The sensation tugged him southward, toward a cluster of high-rises near what Zoey had called Gangnam. As Danny drifted lower, he felt another spiritual presence. He paused, hovering between two buildings. There was a distinct, sulfuric scent emanating from two separate directions. 

The fresher scent was coming from about a block west, while a fainter trail that he was initially following led further east. He weighed his options. Something was happening there right now. "Closer one first," he decided, banking sharply. 

Danny accelerated as he phased through a billboard advertising some Korean soft drink. Let’s hope that these ghosts were more civil than others he’s met.

#

Behind a convenience store in Seoul, a tear in reality opened. Claws emerged first. Five demons in total squeezed through the opening before it sealed shut behind them. 

They are drawn to the light of the nearly empty store. "Easy picking. Gwi-Ma will be pleased."

They crept toward the back entrance of the store, where an elderly couple was unloading boxes from a small delivery truck. The old man struggled with a heavy crate while his wife directed him toward the storeroom.

"Careful with your back, yeobo," the woman cautioned.

The largest demon licked its jagged teeth. "They may not be young souls, but the old ones are aged like a fine wine."

The old man hummed to himself as he arranged bottles on a shelf.

They waited for the old man to come back outside.

The largest demon crept behind the old man and opened its jaws unnaturally wide. A bluish glow began to emanate from the man's chest as tendrils of energy streamed toward the demon's waiting maw.

The old man froze, his eyes growing vacant. His wife seemed to notice that her husband hadn’t returned with the next box yet. "Yeobo? Are you…"

Suddenly, a white and black blur shot through the alley. The demon feeding on the soul suddenly found itself kicked hard in the face by a flying figure. The demon's head snapped back by the sheer force.

The stranger then grabbed him and phased them both through the solid brick wall into the adjacent alley.

The soul energy snapped back into the old man, who blinked several times.

"Oh my. I felt dizzy for a moment." He steadied himself against the truck.

His wife put a hand on his arm. "Perhaps we should finish this in the morning." With that, the old couple walked back into the store and began locking up.

The other two demons went wide-eyed and darted over the buildingl, abandoning their prey to follow their companion.

#

In the neighboring alley, Danny Phantom slammed the demon against the ground, his eyes glowing toxic green in the darkness. "Sorry to interrupt dinner," Danny said, "but soul-sucking is strictly prohibited in my book."

The demon snarled, revealing rows of needle-like teeth. 

Danny tightened his grip, visibly furious as he looked over the creature. While his ghost sense had detected something supernatural, this was clearly not a ghost like those he had encountered before. Its smell was sulfurous. "What exactly are you?" Danny demanded. "And why were you doing that to that old man?"

Before the creature could answer, scuffling sounds came from above. The other four demons had climbed over the building, dropping down into the alley with claws extended, surrounding Danny.

Danny tilted his head, studying them curiously. "Interesting."

The demons regarded him with equal confusion. One pointed a gnarled finger at Danny. It growled, noting Danny's black and white hanbok-inspired outfit that he'd adopted for his Korean visit. "Are you a defector from Gwi-Ma's forces?"

The demons examined Danny more carefully.

"He can phase through solid objects," another hissed, "like that blue tiger and bird that hang around that other human-turned demon who keeps singing dis-tracks about us. So annoying."

"A wandering spirit? But I don't see the marks," a third demon muttered, scanning Danny's exposed skin. "Though they could be under his clothing."

"I don't know who Gwi-Ma is," Danny replied, floating upward to keep all five in view. "But if they're your boss, we're definitely not friends. Now answer my question. What are you?"

"True followers of Gwi-Ma would know we are his demons," the largest one said simply, as if Danny should know this. "Only outsiders would be ignorant of his will."

Danny raised an eyebrow. Demons? These were nothing like the western depictions he was familiar with from movies and comics.

"None shall go against Gwi-Ma and get away with it for long," the tallest one threatened. "I can already tell a strong soul like yourself will be a worthy offering to his majesty."

"You know what? It’s been a while since I had a good fight," Danny’s hands glowed with green energy. "You guys picked the wrong night. I've been looking for a workout, and I could use the warm-up."

He reached into his hanbok and put on the Fenton Phones earbuds. He tapped his phone screen, scrolling through his ‘Slay list.’ A small smile crossed his face as he selected the track, ‘How It’s Done.’ "Perfect."

Zoey had started writing it back in high school, long before HUNTR/X existed, and Danny would like to think he helped her come up with a line or two. 

The lead demon lunged upward with its claws. 

Danny backed away, cracking his knuckles as the opening beats and intro played in his ears.

Visual Representation: How It's Done (K-Pop Demon Hunters) | Dead As Disco FIGHTSYNC!

"Ugh, you came at a bad time, but you just crossed the line. You wanna get wild? Okay, I'll show you wild"

The bass dropped, and the alley lights flickered green with each beat, pulsing with Danny's energy. The demon's claws slashed through empty air as Danny sidestepped, leaving a green afterimage. He then grabbed the arm and cracked the joint with a strike in time with the music before delivering a sharp jab to the demon's ribs that sent it staggering back.

"Better come right, better luck tryin', gettin' to our level..."

Two more demons rushed him from opposite sides. Danny's body phased into intangibility just as they converged, their bodies passing through. He reappeared behind them, grabbing one by its clothing and hurling it across the alley. Its body hit the wall with a satisfying thud that matched the downbeat perfectly. Danny reappeared behind the other, driving his elbow into its spine.

"'Cause you might die, never the time, tryna start a battle..."

A demon with serrated teeth lunged at Danny's back. He twisted in mid-air, one eyebrow raised in mock disappointment before performing a three-piece combo thrice on the guy. 

"Bleeding isn't in my blood, 뼈속부터 달라서..."

Danny pointed upward with the lyric, then pivoted his weight to deliver a roundhouse kick that connected with the demon's jaw. The creature sailed into a dumpster with a metallic crash that punctuated the Korean.

"Beating you is what I do, do, do, yeah..."

Danny rushed the demon who was initially trying to steal the man's soul and proceeded to punch his face to each syllable.

The demons regrouped. They spread out, trying to surround him again. The tallest one barked an order, and they all charged at once.

“Body on body, I'm naughty, not even sorry. And when you pull up, I'll pull up A little late to the party (na-na-na-na)”

The first demon recovered, charging toward Danny with its mouth stretched impossibly wide, revealing rows of needle-like teeth. Danny's hands glowed with swirling green energy as the pre-chorus built.

"Locked and loaded, I was born for this. There ain't no point in avoiding it Annoyed? A bit 불을 비춰 다 비켜, 네 앞길을 뺏겨"

The ectoplasm around Danny's fists intensified with each beat. He drove his right fist into the chest of the nearest demon. Danny spun toward the second demon, which had recovered and was now lunging for his throat.

"Knocking you out like a lullaby, hear that sound ringing in your mind..."

Danny launched into a three-punch combo. Left jab, right cross, then an uppercut charged with ecto-energy that sent the demon flying upward. The impact left a ringing sensation, like a bell.

"Better sit down for the show, 'cause I'm gonna show you how it's done, done, done..."

The first "done" had a spinning kick that slammed another demon’s gut. The second "done" propelled him in a ghostly dash through another before breaking a leg. The third "done" became an overhead slam that drove the largest demon face-first into the pavement.

By thyis time, Danny had to admit that these demons could take a hit and keep on trucking. The demons were still moving to fight, but he was just getting started.

“(Hey) HUNTR/X don't miss. How it's done, done, done. (Hey) HUNTR/X don't quit. How it's done, done, done.”

It seemed they called for backup as more demons started to come from a strange purple veil around him. Two demons rushed him simultaneously. 

“Run, run, we run the town. Whole world playin' our sound. Turnin' up, it's goin' down. HUNTR/X show this, how it's done, done, done.”

Danny mock-posed like he was on a stage, arms spread wide before suddenly shoulder-checking a demon into a flickering neon sign. 

"Yeah, something about when you come for the crown, that's so humbling, huh? 갑자기 왜 그래? 먼저 건드려, 왜? 이제야 포기해, what?"

A demon with curved horns scrambled to its feet and charged. Danny sidestepped and stuck out his foot, sending him sprawling face-first into a puddle.

"Heels, nails, blade, mascara, fit check for my napalm era..."

Danny struck a pose, one hand smoothing back his white hair. A demon lunged at him from behind, but Danny merely leaned slightly to the left without looking. 

“Nothing to us, run up, you're done up, we come up From sunup to sundown, so come out to play Won either way, we're one in a million We kill 'em, like, really? You want it? Okay”

The demon crashed past him into a flickering neon sign that sparked and showered them with electric rain, each spark hitting the ground in time with the beat.

"Heels, nails, blade, mascara. Fit check for my napalm era. Need to beat my face, make it cute and savage. Mirror, mirror on my phone, who's the baddest? (Us, hello?)"

Danny pulled his phone from his pocket for half a second, checked his reflection, and winked. 

The demon lunged at the apparent opening, but Danny made a finger gun with his other hand, shot a ghost ray at his phone, which reflected off and struck the attacker.

"Knocking you out like a lullaby, hear that sound ringing in your mind. Better sit down for the show 'Cause I'm gonna show you (I'm gonna show you) (I'm gonna show you) How it's done, done, done"

The pre-chorus returned. This time, he grabbed two demons by their collars and knocked their heads together on the beat. 

“I don't talk, but I bite, full of venom (Uh). Spittin' facts, you know that's How it's done, done, done.”

Now, this next line, he explicitly remembered reading this from her notebook.

“Okay, like, I know I ramble. But when shootin' my words, I go Rambo. Took blood, sweat, and tears, to look natural (Uh). That's how it's done, done, done”

In a flash, he phased through the ground and reappeared behind the largest demon. He flicked it on the back of the head like before blasting it point-blank with an ecto-ray.

The song seemed to be reaching a crescendo, so it was time to try something with a lot of flare. 

Danny floated in the middle of the alley. Focusing, ecto-energy began concentrating around his core.

"Hear our voice unwavering, 'til our song defeats the night..."

The green glow in Danny’s chest intensified. The demons below scrambled to retreat, sensing what was coming.

"Makin' fear afraid to breathe, 'til the dark meets the light..."

Danny drew his arms in toward his chest. The compressed energy started to vibrate in his body. From the few singing tips he accumulated over the years, he shouted with his full diaphragm while still harmonizing with the music.

A shockwave of green energy exploded outward like a cone. All the demons in range were lifted off their feet. He could already tell that those closest to the wail weren’t gonna get back up any time soon.

“(How it's done, done, done) Run, run, we run the town (Done, done, done)”

He dashed past them and to those attempting to get back up, each hit to the beat.

Danny vaulted over a demon, planting his feet on the wall and pushing off to deliver a flying punch to another.

“Whole world playin' our sound (Done, done, done) Turnin' up, it's going down (Done, done, done) HUNTR/X, show this how it's done, done, done.”

Danny phased through an attack, becoming solid just in time to grab a demon by its arm and swing it in a complete circle, releasing it to crash into its companions.

It was about time he finished this.

“We hunt you down, down, down (Down; Done, done, done) We got you now, now, now (Got you now; Done, done, done) We show you how, how, how (Show you how)”

Throughout the entire verse, Danny sent a flurry of blows to the beat.

Three demons remained standing, regrouping for one final assault. Danny grinned and cracked his knuckles as they charged.

"HUNTR/X don't miss, how it's done, done, done..."

"Done." Danny pivoted on his left foot, his right leg swinging in a perfect arc that connected with the first demon's face.

"Done." With barely a pause, he dropped low and drove his knee into the second demon's groin. As it doubled over, Danny clasped his hands together, charged them with ghostly energy, and brought them down on the back of the demon's head.

"Done." The final demon hesitated, seeing its companions fall. Danny’s fist glowed as he launched forward with a cracking haymaker.

As the outro played in his ears, the demons were lying on the ground, too hurt to continue the fight.

The demons lay scattered across the alley, moaning and trying unsuccessfully to rise. Danny straightened his hanbok and ran a hand through his white hair, taking a deep breath as the adrenaline began to subside. "And that's." A satisfied smile spreading across his face. "How it's done."

He lifted a hand to his Fenton Phones. "Hey, I just ran into something weird. Not exactly sure what I’ve got. It’s… arguably a ghost, but definitely not human. I’ll clean up here before I check out another location."

Danny then pulled out what appeared to be a small metal cylinder, roughly the size of a battery. With the press of a button, the device expanded to reveal a silver and green thermos.

"Not sure if this works on you guys," Danny mused aloud, "but it won’t hurt me to try."