She was careful. Everything about her screamed ghost hunter, and Danny felt himself burst into a cold sweat. He didn't want her to turn that scrutinizing eye on him. He wanted her gaze to fall into that of a concerned and loving mother. He wanted his Mom back. He wanted her to hold him in his arms and make everything better, because that's what Moms were supposed to do.

But she was never going to do that again and he knew it. The careful click of her nails on the table was enough to warn him not to dally—she was here for business and for just how long, they both didn't know. How long was Vlad going to be out for the day and leave them alone? It couldn't be long, and they both knew it, though Sam had snuck Maddie through the back corridors, so no one could say they knew where she was.

Danny shifted nervously on his bed, wringing his hands. The Plasmius Maximus was sitting on Maddie's lap like a ton of bricks and Danny's eyes constantly went to it, just to make sure it didn't somehow gain a life of its own and jump out to attack him.

Hey, it was Plasmius' invention, it could do anything.

Danny decided that they'd wasted enough time and he opened his mouth to speak. "Mom—."

"Maddie." She cut off harshly, her eyes narrowing dangerously as her hand twitched to the device on her lap. Obviously, she no longer wanted him to associate with her on such familiar terms. Taking another deep breath and swallowing nervously, Danny corrected himself.

"Maddie…" He started. The word felt heavy on his tongue, like lead and paint, and he didn't like saying it. Her name was mom, and no matter what she did, he'd always see her as Mom. "I…I have a plan to stop Vlad." There, there was a spark of interest in her eyes—not much, but something to tell him that she'd at the least listen to his story, even if it seemed she wasn't paying attention. He knew her well enough to know that.

"But—" here was the part where he wasn't sure if she'd comply; she'd always been faithful to Jack, and now Danny was going to ask her to betray him? How could he have been so stupid? Of course she'd never willingly betray his father! This wasn't going to work! How could he have believed it would?

He was so stupid! He'd lost his edge in ghost hunting, that's all. His mother was going to laugh in his face and walk away, and he'd lose every last bit of a chance that he had. This was it. It was over. He'd ruined every last chance the people in that mine had, and he'd done it all selfishly. Maybe if he'd just used the Wail on Vlad and gotten it over with…

"But?" Maddie asked, calmly and quietly, but with an unmistakeable hint of impatience that made the question more of a command.

"But I need your help." He looked down at his hands on his lap, taking a second to get his mind together. He could do this. If she said no he could just come up with another plan. Yeah, he could do that. Closing his eyes for a minute he straightened his face before lifting his head, meeting his mother's eyes square on in all seriousness.

"I need you to distract Vlad." Danny knew it was now all or nothing. If she denied this, then his plan was done and he'd have to come up with a new one. He had enough confidence left in her that he knew she wouldn't tell Vlad his plan to dethrone the tyrant—at least not unless he were torturing her, and Danny highly doubted Vlad would do that to Maddie. "Distract him in any way possible," Danny emphasized, and he knew that Maddie got the reference because her eyes widened and a slight blush touched her cheeks. Danny felt sick. He knew that Vlad must have forced himself on her and it killed him inside that he couldn't do anything to stop it.

Or that Maddie would even want him to do it. With the way she was acting towards him right now, he wasn't sure she'd even let Danny help at all. But he had to try and she was his best bet. If it wasn't her…he might have to use Sam, and that would be—he couldn't even think of it. "Please…." Danny begged, watching her carefully.

She seemed to ponder it, her eyes half closed as she thought about the implications and conditions she'd have to do, and quite possibly working with him. Working with Phantom, a being she hated.

He could almost see the gears turning in her head before she finally sighed. "Alright," she relented, her hands relaxing slightly on the weapon on her lap. "What do I have to do?"

Danny lit up, a small smile on his face. She was actually going to help him! It was more than he could have asked for and more than he expected just a mere few seconds ago! "It's kind of easy, well—nothing's easy when it comes to Vlad, but you know—um," he shrunk under her glare, reminded yet again that she was no longer the woman who would bring him hot chocolate in bed when it was particularly cold night. "—O-okay, so it's a little difficult but I'm sure you could pull it off, Mom—er, Maddie…I…I just need the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. That's all I'm asking. If I can get those away from him, I can use their power to make myself stronger than he is, and I can defeat him."

Maddie nodded to herself, but her eyes were still cold and hard to read. Danny tried not to look in them for too long, scared of what he might find there. He heard a soft sigh, "Alright, Danny." She finally said, and Danny was frankly surprised to hear his name being uttered. "I'll try. As long as you think you can get us out of this situation. I hate to say it, but you're the last hope we've got."

Her words stung, but Danny tried not to show it. "Thanks." He said as Maddie got to her feet and went to the servants stairs, knowing that if Vlad caught her here, she'd be in trouble. "For everything, it will all work out, I promise." Or I'll die trying, Danny added silently as his mother gave him a look over, from head to toe before shaking her head and entering the stairwell, closing the door with a soft click.

At this point, Danny was half-heartedly hoping he'd die trying. He had no family left, and Sam was distant, too broken to even be her anymore. At least he knew that if he died, he'd have tried his hardest to change things.


This part of the Ghost Zone was barren. Nothing came here, out of fear for what rested in its very center. Fright Knight cautiously rode Nightmare forward, his horse snorting with restrained energy. It was a war horse, not a travelling pony, and it wanted to fight. It could sense where they were, and knew that that meant they'd soon be able to dive into battle. Or so it thought.

Fright Knight kept a tight hand on the reigns as his other clutched the Soul Shredder, his eyes darting to the massive red creature beside him as he neared his target. "Behemoth," Fright Knight said quietly, pulling Nightmare to a stop. "When I awaken him, I will need you to restrain him until we have properly portrayed our situation and asked for his help."

The creature nodded his head, fangs dripping saliva and his four arms clenching and unclenching in its eagerness to continue their mission. "Very well," Fright Knight said, turning to the object before them.

Four massive rocks, intricate details carved into them were floating in a circle around the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, giant, heavy chains trailing from each rock to the Sarcophagus, holding it in place and shut, while each rock and chained glowed a dull blue. The magic from the rocks was meant to keep the magic of the Sarcophagus going, even though it was lacking the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, holding its occupant inside.

Fright Knight gave one last look at Behemoth, before getting off of Nightmare and floating close to the Sarcophagus. Gazing down at the prison that held his master, Fright Knight lifted the Soul Shredder high above his head, tip pointing down, and impaled it directly in between the links of chain.

There was absolute quiet for a moment as the blue energy raced up the sword, over Fright Knight, and then dissipated into the air, and the Sarcophagus began to shake. Sound seemed to race back as a massive crack split the tomb in two, and Fright Knight was thrown off, dust billowing up from the broken remains of the ancient relic. Behemoth darted forward, grabbing the ghost inside and holding him tight against his chest.

"Who dares to disturb me!?" Pariah Dark bellowed, writing against the beast holding him. "Let me go, you mortal fool!"

"My master." Fright Knight bowed as best he could while floating in the air, glad to see him back. "We have many things to discuss."