Notes: This is an SAO and DP crossover. Somewhere I saw a thing for it called Ghost Zone Online, so this spawned centered around that. It's a DP, SAO AU essentially. I'm pretty proud of this one-shot. The game mechanics I feel were explained well enough in the story, but if something's not clear, feel free to lemme know.

Note 2: If you'd like to send in a DP one-shot prompt or request, be it crossover or otherwise, feel free to do so. I'm pretty much able to do anything as long as I recognize the fandoms (doesn't mean I will, though).

Fandoms: Sword Art Online & Danny Phantom

Word Count: 2094

Rating: T

Genre: Adventure & Thriller

Characters: Danny Fenton, Sam, Tucker, Vlad

Warnings: Swearing. Unedited, so pardon any mistakes.

Lair 23. That was the Lair he had received ice manipulation abilities. The ice manipulation wasn't something any other player had been gifted with, but there were rumors of someone able to manipulate fire.

In all honesty, Danny didn't give a shit about the supposed Fire Ghost. All Danny wanted to do was get out of the goddamn game so he could see his family. Sure, it was cool, being with Sam and Tucker on the massive MMO known as Ghost Zone Online, but it didn't change the fact that he was constantly homesick.

GZO had been released April 4, 2024 by DALV Corporations. The creator, Vladimir Masters, had been an old friend of Danny's parents and had given them two sets of the game for no price. Vlad hadn't taken into account both of his parents lack of interest, so it got passed on to Jazz and Danny. Jazz, who deemed video games were useless, decided to let Danny use the second console to play with his friends.

Tucker got his second one, while Sam had no problem affording her own.

When the game went online, it was safe for about a total of two hours before they all realized they were trapped in the Ghost Zone with no way out. The only official way out was to pass all 100 Lairs within the Ghost Zone, the high-leveled ones deeper in and requiring keys from the previous Lairs.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were their own party and had been since day one. Half the players were randomized to be ghosts, the other half were randomized to be humans. Danny - though his username was Phantom - had been assigned the status of a "Ghost" in the system. Ghosts were typically more powerful. They could access Ectoplasm Skills, certain Weapons Skills, and, depending on how they used their status upgrades, could gain unique powers through quests or defeats - like when Danny defeated Pariah Dark on Lair 50, returned to Lair 23, only to be worshipped by the previously incredibly dangerous mobs known as Yetis. In which Danny was given the Skill of Ice Manipulation, a branch from Ectoplasm Skills.

Sam and Tucker were randomized as humans, but it didn't hold either of them back. Tucker's weapon-creation status and knowledge of the game itself, all the twists and turns, made him one of the best info-breakers in the game. He gave out carefully chosen information to carefully chosen people. While Tucker's weapon usage left a bit to be desired, he was incredibly talented at smaller guns, daggers, and defensive maneuvers than a lot of the higher-level humans who focused on big weapons, big damage. Sam, however, was known as Chaos in the game. She was arguably the best human player there was. Her Chaos armor was near indestructible and her skills with Tucker's personalized weaponry made her a force Danny would be hesitant to challenge.

Together, the three of them were known as Team Phantom. They deliberately ignored any guild that tried to recruit them, only forming allied relations with a few of the larger ones, and occasionally assisted other parties. They were independent, but could be counted on for being at every boss fight and being some of the major players involved.

Phantom, especially. He was a major force to deal with, even if he couldn't take on a boss alone. Except Pariah, when him, Sam, and Tucker had stumbled upon the boss' room and been taken by surprise. Danny had nearly died in that, barely escaping the four percent of his health. Pariah had demanded to be challenged independently. If Danny didn't have the power-boosters he'd saved up from previous Lairs, he would've been long since dead within the first few minutes.

The most powerful guild in the game was run by a player known as Plasmius. Plasmius was, unsurprisingly, a ghost. He was also the one rumored to have Fire Manipulation. The guild itself contained a ton of various parties: The Blasters, Guys in White, Caged Animals…

They had tried to get Team Phantom and they had failed miserably.

Of course, that was about to change.

"Plasmius just PM'd me," Tucker mentioned, letting out an annoyed sigh. "He wants help locating the boss room for Lair 67."

Because Phantom and Plasmius had gotten off to a very rocky start at the beginning of the game, Danny typically refused any and every request Plasmius had unless it had to do with the boss fight. Danny might have considered lending Plasmius a hand in locating the room, but Team Phantom was on Lair 59 with Pandora's party.

Plasmius or Pandora? The decision wasn't really hard to make.

"Maybe tomorrow," Danny brushed off, gathering a small amount of ice in his hand. He was in the middle of a spar with the other ghostly player. He fired, missing clearly, and Pandora swooped down with a sword only for Danny to take the remaining ice energy and shift it into a shield. It cracked under Pandora's massive Strength status, but Phantom leapt back in time for it to not matter.

"He's pretty insistent," Tucker mentioned. "Something about Clockwork?"

"Clockwork?" Danny paused, head turning to Tucker. Pandora took full advantage of the distraction and sliced him clean across the chest, cutting the ghost's health down by fifteen percent. "Hey! That's unfair."

"We're sparring," Pandora stated smugly. "You can either surrender and talk about this, or take me seriously."

"He surrenders," Tucker attempted to answer for him.

"Funny," Phantom said, rolling his eyes. "Give me ten minutes."

Pandora grinned. "Don't underestimate me, Phantom."

"Yeah, yeah." Phantom smirked, another ball of ice energy forming, only this one had a glowing center. "Let's get this over with."

Two hours later…

Tucker was giving him the evil eye and Sam looked annoyed.

Danny scratched the back of his neck, his health points gaining from the forty percent they had been at. "I won?"

"We're searching for the boss room," Sam concluded, crossing her arms. "It's no longer a question. Plasmius offered a gold grant to anyone willing to join."

"We have a shit ton of gold already."

"Clockwork also is working to locate the boss room."

Danny blinked. "Oh. Okay, then we can help."

Clockwork was a party that they'd work with quite often. It was a series of three family members who joined the game together, all picking names related to time. The youngest, Gear, was thirteen and human, the middle, Midnight, was twenty-seven and human, and the oldest, FatherTime, was sixty-one and a ghost. FatherTime and Danny had an odd relationship.

Around Lair 53, Danny had all but given up. He quit Team Phantom and had gone to Lair 40 to accept fate in the game when he met the eldest member of the team. In the game, age didn't matter, and FatherTime made that clear when he defeated Danny. The elderly ghost had sat down to talk with Danny, told him that he was only trapped in the game if he let himself be trapped, and then gave Danny a push in the right direction that led to him discovering Lair 23 and his Ice Manipulation.

Danny looked up to FatherTime. If the Clockwork party was assisting in the search, Danny had no problem joining.

Thus, fifteen minutes later, Team Phantom was on 67. Plasmius made it a point to approach them, a satisfied smirk on the blue-skinned ghost's face.

"Phantom! I'm so glad you agreed to assist in the search," the guild leader began. "We've been looking all week and quite a few of the searchers have decided to take a break. There's still a massive portion of the Lair unmapped."

Phantom hovered up so he was eye-level with the red-eyed ghost. "Awesome. If you could send us the portion you have mapped, we'll check out a location farthest from you."

"There's no need to be so sinister, my boy."

Phantom's eyes narrowed.

"I'd be perfectly willing to give you the map if you would so kindly agree to join the guild."

Phantom threw his hands in the air. "I knew it! It's always about getting us to join, isn't it?"

It was always about that. Ever since Phantom had run into the ghost at Lair Four, when Plasmius had just been starting up the party, Plasmius had invited him to join. Constantly. By the time Phantom had flat-out declined and told him to fuck off, Plasmius had tried other methods. Bribarry. Blackmail. Hell, the crazy guy had even attempted to manipulate Sam and Tucker into the guild so that Phantom would follow. Key word: tried.

"Of course, Phantom. You're the second most skilled ghost in the game; you'd be a highly valued and respected member, as well as given access to the best materials and weaponry."

"He has the best weaponry," Tucker intruded, placing his hands on his hips. "I'm pretty good at what I do, Plasmius."

"Only because Technus showed you the little secrets," Plasmius sneered at the human player. "Or did you forget?"

"I remember," the tech geek said with a smirk. "I also remember how I kicked his ass in a challenge."

Plasmius moved away from the teen a small distance, sneer still strong. "Right. There is that small detail."

"Face is, Plasmius," Phantom continued, "There's no way we're joining your guild."

"Are you certain?"

"Positive."

The red-eyed ghost let out a sharp laugh. "Then how about a challenge? Let's fight, Phantom. First player knocked down to fifteen percent health looses. You lose, you join my guild as my subordinate."

Plasmius knew how to play his cards. He knew that if he tried to drag Sam and Tucker into the deal, Phantom would back out in a heartbeat. The kid would never willingly force his friends to do something because of a mistake.

"And when I win?" Phantom added, raising an eyebrow.

Plasmius' eye flickered. "I'll never bother you about it again."

"Not good enough."

"And I'll let you in on a few other… ghostly secrets."

"I don't have any desire to be trained by you. You've offered me that before, Plasmius."

"You're aware of Danielle, yes? The young girl?"

Phantom's blood ran cold. "What?"

Danielle was a little kid, no older than ten, who had ended up in the game and had been a temporary member of Team Phantom. The ghostly child had been incredibly skilled and resourceful, but ultimately left them on one of the lower floors because she met some other kid named Youngblood. Danny still had a soft spot for the little kid, as did Sam and Tucker. Danielle had been easily manipulated before and it pissed him off thinking that Plasmius could've learned about her.

"Ah, so we're on the same page."

"What have you done with her?" Phantom demanded, coming dangerously close to Plasmius' face in a leer. Plasmius merely smirked.

"Nothing to harm her. She's in my guild. More so, she's in my party, along with your little friend the Red Huntress. If you defeat me… I'll let her leave. No questions asked." The red eyes narrowed. "And no lingering relation."

The known thing about Plasmius' guild was that, once you pissed them off, you were dead. Somehow, the guild had made deals with Red Parties, or killing players, who would hunt down anyone who quit the guild without permission as well as anyone who ticked Plasmius off the wrong way.

Plasmius had sent two groups after Team Phantom. One had been to merely kidnap them, the other was to kill Sam and Tucker and kidnap Danny. After Phantom had brutally beaten both of the Red Parties, no one else seemed willing to accept the job. Even Skulker, the player who enjoyed attempting to kidnap Danny for Plasmius, was more hesitant in his attacks against the ghostly player.

If Danielle and Red Huntress were with Plasmius, then they both knew the things that would happen if they tried to leave without permission. If Danny defeating Plasmius would give them both a chance at freedom, then…

"You have a deal."

"Bullshit!" Sam burst out, taking a step towards Danny. "You can't do something like this for them."

Danny snapped around so fast it sent Sam to the floor. "I know you don't like Red, but I'm her friend. If her and Danielle are under Plasmius' control, then I'll do everything I can to get them out." The vibrant green eyes grew more illuminated as the ghostly teen turned back towards the guild leader. "Let's get this over with. I'm going to really enjoy kicking your ass."

Plasmius merely grinned.

Fin.