Blackness Phantom
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.
Kei: Welcome to another installment of Blackness Phantom. Hopefully, you weren't waiting too long for such a short chapter.
The Ninth Darkness: The Follow Up to the Challenge
"Mom, I'm okay!" Danny says as he breaks free of his mother's grasp. He and his friends are currently inside of Fenton Works' living room with his parents and Jazz; they had to show up here after the news broadcast the battle with the ghost king.
"Danny, how can you outright fight him?" Maddie asks. The serious tone in her voice is overridden by her worry. "He teleported the entire town the last time he was here, and you fought him to a standstill."
"Stand still? He practically almost re-killed him!" says Sam this time.
"Yeah," begins Tucker, "but you kinda went a bit berserk back there."
"Berserk?"
Sam and Jazz hmm in unison thinking about that fight. A thought then comes to the older sister: "Now that you mention, Danny usually makes a lot of stupid jokes when he fights. But he got super quiet later on…"
Being more silent, Danny remembers something back when he fought. 'When I was fighting, I felt this incredible power awaken within me. But, the more I drew on it, the more I kept fighting…' Words from the fight return to his mind.
"Clockwork is vastly intelligent, even more so than myself. If he made a plan he wouldn't let anyone figure it out unless he wanted them to, and since you're so unaware of your power you're nothing more than a pawn."
'What didn't he tell me?'
"But this is so awesome!" shouts the techno-geek with awe towards the fact at hand. "Danny was able to defeat Pariah Dark! Everyone else will be a piece of cake afterward!" He then flinches when Maddie makes a grunting noise. "You know if he gets the okay."
"We'll see." As she speaks, the half-ghost in question snaps his fingers trying to amass his ecto abilities. He gets a few sparks, but nothing amounts from it. "Danny?"
"Nothing. I think I better get some rest," he says before getting up.
As he heads up the steps, his tight jumpsuit wearing mother sighs with a heavy heart. Jack pats his wife's shoulder. "It's okay."
The tired half ghost's feet drag along the steps as he ascends to the top floor, disappearing from everyone's sight as he nears his bedroom. As one foot goes in front of the other, his baggy eyes take in Desiree's beautiful form awaiting him at the top. Looking into her eyes his heart clenches at the recognition of worry for him. "Desiree…"
She speaks no words, but once he reaches the chocolate goddess she reaches out to hug him. His head plants into her chest close to her heart, the rhythmic beats of her heart touching deep into his own. "Go get some rest. You deserve it."
"Thank you," he says, returning a hug of his own. She looks down at him, her lips curling into a smile. Those eyes follow his weary form as it disappears behind the door.
Inside his room he plops onto his bed, his left hand hitting the floor hard. "My god I'm tired." He raises that same hand, summoning the ring that would pass over him. But when he does, it short circuits and disappears. "I can't go ghost… maybe if I get some rest…"
He stretches himself up to reach his lights, but once he's up he falls back on his bed.
Later that night as everyone goes back home, a lone figure walks through the halls of Fenton Works. This person reaches the steps and tiptoes down into the basement, before reaching the computer system. After pressing a few keys the screen shows in red letters 'soundproof on,' allowing our mysterious person to walk towards the Ghost Portal.
A hand stretches out towards the hazmat suit just next to the portal before throwing them on. This person then reaches for the panel just right to the gateway and presses some buttons. The portal's innards begin sparking, and our intruder rushes into it. A rush of jade light washes over this mysterious person, accompanied by a scream.
The rest is silence.
Elsewhere…
Zalam sits in a dark alley within Amity Park. Reading a book, despite the fact that there's no light, he waits patiently. "Hmm… These are nice sites."
He pauses when he hears something move and tosses the book aside. He looks to the darkest area of the alley, seeing red lines in the form of cracks. "So, are we all here?"
"We are now." From behind the dark swordsman, a familiar, female voice appears. He turns around to see a woman with dark chocolate skin walking up. She has hair as blue and dark as night and wears a teacher's uniform. The blouse is opened just enough to not burst from her voluptuous figure, and her golden eyes focus on Zalam.
"Oh, Mahara. Guess you picked out a nice body."
"Shut up Zalam." She stares upon him with a malice strong enough to melt steel.
"She's so unlike the rest of you gods, who still haven't found bodies." A skeletal hand reaches up and grabs the god of darkness by his arm.
"Flesruoy rof kaeps! Dlrow laer eht gniretne su rof selur eht wonk uoy; ytiniffa thgir eht htiw eno tuohtiw ton dna, ydob a ssessop ew sselnu mrof niatniam t'nac ew. Mih dna uoy ekil ton er'we."
"Alright, get off me Huo!" Zalam pushes the arm away, noticing the burns on his own. "We'll keep distracting them so no one realizes what we're up to. But for the time being, find bodies."
Another voice speaks this time. "Su liaf ton od, hsiw uoy sa. Regnol yna mih liaf t'nac ew." The red cracks disappear.
Mahara huffs before stepping away, flipping her hair aside with the right hand. "I'll go find Bloody. You stay out of trouble; you're the only one who knows where the Soul Pen is."
Morning…
"What happened?!" Jack stands before the ghost portal, seeing that it's been turned on. "The Ghost Portal has been activated!"
"Someone turned it on…" says Maddie as she surmises the situation. "Someone must have known about the portal and used it to gain ghost powers like Danny. Or a ghost turned it on to be able to pass through."
"Now we'll have to shut it off and turn it back on again to get ghost powers." Jack reaches for the controls to turn it off, before turning to his wife. "We'll try it tomorrow to get a good charge."
"Jack…" By the steps, Jazz stands watching her parents converse. Her mother continues saying, "Maybe we should wake Danny up first and let him know."
With a nod, the mature older sister heads up the steps in a hurry. She reaches her little bro's room, and after a gentle knock gets no answer. "Danny?" She reaches for the knob to turn, slipping. "Freaking doorknob." She grabs it again and turns, revealing her brother left in that same position.
"Danny? Wake up!" She goes to his side and pats him on the shoulder, only to receive no response. He remains in that position unconscious while she tries to awaken him. She even pushes him over the bed, and he's asleep. "Could that fight have tired him out that much?"
Later…
In her father's castle within the Ghost Zone, Reina Dark stands before the Observants. Numbered in a throng of five, the eye ghosts glare at the princess of the Ghost Zone, who steps down her staircase with the Fright Knight by her side.
"Bear witness you foolish observers; with my father defeated in battle, he has lost his right to rule. His next of kin, myself, shall take the reigns and become the undisputed Queen of Ghosts."
She draws the Melibur and aims them at her crowd. "No longer shall any of you call me princess; that shall be my first decree."
"I deny it," speaks the first Observant.
"I as well."
"Eye is what you're going to lose if you use that pun again," she says in a groan.
"We cannot accept this," says a third. "You cannot just claim the title of the king of this realm even IF you're Pariah Dark's daughter. There are customs to achieving that title, and when his right to rule was threatened that expanded to his entire family."
"In other words, you're still a princess." The fourth one says this, and almost immediately a golden blade pierces through him.
"Is that so…then are you expecting me to expose my belly and let that boy take command?" Her eyes turn a dark olive shade.
"It's not that simple either." The first one says, the only one unaffected by the impalement of one of his own. "He may be a ghost, but he's also alive. The living can't rule over the dead! In a time like this, control reverts back to us."
She pulls her blade away, and her victim falls to a knee. The female ghost then sheathes her sword and walks away. "How would I regain my right?"
"The same way your father attempted to."
With a groan she makes a turn, her large hair flipping to the left as she ascends the steps. The Fright Knight extends his hand, his blazing hair blowing in the wind as he commands. "Leave now. She will handle your presence another time."
Taking that into account, the Observants make their exit disappearing. With them gone, the knight flies high up to follow his new ruler. The Fright Knight finds her in the inner chambers of the castle staring out a glassless window. "Fright Knight, you probably expect me to fire you for your insubordination."
"My what?"
"I'm well aware of your deal with Plasmius. You would work with him to set yourself free from working for my father."
"Why would you believe such a frivolous-"
"STOP LYING!" Reina turns around to face him, shocking the black knight when he witnesses tears. "The only way he could have been there to absorb my father is if someone knew we were there, and that he was weakened."
As Vlad Plasmius' hat absorbs the power of her father, Reina watches in horror as her old man disappears into the hat. The ghost vampire places it back atop his head and laughs as he brims with red energy. "Plasmius!"
"Our power is overflowing!" he says loudly, as his form begins to change.
Reina flies in drawing her blade, slashing at him. It makes contact with twin blades extending from his left fist, and a flood of information enters her mind. "We will leave you alive for the most part. Right now we're after him, for what he did to me before." Vlad then disappears.
"The Melibur has power over memories, and that one slash told me more than I needed to know. They're acting sooner than I thought, and we've lost the man who sealed them away before. The last thing I need is a soldier who can only focus on his freedom!" She slashes at him, an attack blocked by his Soul Shredder. "I would destroy you if not for your strength. I need it for later."
"My lady-" She pushes his sword away with her own before slashing diagonally upward. This attack cuts into his armor, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. She then aims her free hand's index and middle finger, releasing a blast of crimson ecto energy. The color of blood covers him entirely, sending him plummeting through a wall.
Reina slowly walks towards the new exist, flexing the bones in her hand. There she sees the Fright Knight floating in pain, clutching the damage on his armor. She raises her sword and cuts open a hole through space. "Head to the real world. Gather an army of those five we talked about. I'll find Dunames in case. And we'll begin the test tomorrow. Once we're ready, we'll hunt him down."
"But what about the boy?"
"That battle taught me three things," she begins, sheathing away her sword. "First, our enemies cannot be beaten with our current strength. Second, Clockwork has worked on a plan beyond my expectations using that boy. Third, Danny Phantom has more than blood and ectoplasm in his system, and he can't control the power it's given him yet."
"What?"
"Let's greet him when he wakes up."
Elsewhere…
In a store for hunting activities, Skulker sits calmly in a chair among hiking gear, antlers, and crossbows while tinkering. He groans as sparks release from his armored self. "Gotta keep working. Or else I'll never be able to match that child."
"Then maybe I can provide some assistance." The dead hunter raises his head and looks at Technus floating just overhead. "I want to get rid of that brat as well, and I was already no match for him before."
"So you want a team up?"
The scientist wags his finger, his face more serious. "I prefer a collaboration. In the end, neither of us can defeat him on our own, and he's just gonna get in my way! What do you say?"
"I have a better option." The two turn to see a tear in the fabric of space time, where the Fright Knight appears. The very presence of the Halloween rider sets them off on a bad way.
Technus prepares his electric staff. "What do you want?"
"Another decree from your worthless owner again?"
The Fright Knight draws the Soul Shredder and points to them. Flames erupt from his weapon, increasing the temperature in the atmosphere of the room. "So I suppose you do not wish to murder that young snot?"
They lower their weapons at that. "I only work alongside those who can further my goals, and I can make it where we can benefit off each other. What do you think?"
Yusei: With this chapter over, we'll be working on the next. Chapter 10 will have us reveal more of the Ghost Sheriffs, and a familiar team of six shall make their return.
Cielo: Shall we reveal who our mysterious intruder is?
Julia: Nope. The readers'll have to figure it out themselves.
