Well guys, I hope you like reading, because there's a lot here. Also, greetings from Prague!
Review replies;
SOLmaster: What can I say, I like tanks. XD As per the amulet...you'll see. :) Thanks for reading!
Zim'sMostLoyalServant: It seemed like something Jimmy would do. :P Thanks for reviewing!
TweenisodeOrange: ...and there was thunderous applause. :D Thanks for the review!
Chapter Nine: The Chamber
The tank was a slow and bulky monstrosity, but it handled well on the dirt track into the canyon where (the map said) they would find the Orb Chamber. Jimmy stood out of the commander's cupola and surveyed the way ahead, directing Danny, Valerie and Sammie in the use of the armoured vehicle.
At last, with a late-afternoon sun descending above them, the tank reached its destination and ground to a halt. The group climbed out, and Sammie looked through her binoculars at the entrance.
"Jackboots," she snarled, "They beat us to the Chamber!"
"I knew this would happen," groaned Danny.
"Looks like they're not gonna be alone for long," added Valerie, pointing back down the road. A great cloud of dust was being kicked up, far away.
"Looks like the Red Guards," nodded Jimmy.
"I knew that would happen also," groaned Danny.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Sammie, "We can't just fight our way in there."
"Maybe we don't have to," mused Danny, "I have an idea..."
"This is the worst idea ever," groaned Valerie.
The group were being frogmarched by a soldier into Walker's camp, their hands tied.
"Trust me," hissed Danny, "I know what I'm doing. I saw this in a movie once."
"Well, that just fills me with confidence," deadpanned Valerie.
Danny glared at her.
The soldier arrived in front of Walker's tent. The ghost warden himself was standing outside, barking orders to his men.
"Sir!" barked the soldier, "We have Dr. Phantom."
"Excellent work," nodded Walker, "Dismissed, Private – I'll handle them from here."
The soldier saluted and marched away.
Walker towered over his captives, grinning nastily.
"I trust that you'll want to leave this place alive," he sneered, "If you hand me the map, we'll be sure to leave what's left of you alive for the scorpions."
"I'm afraid I can't give you the map, Walker," replied Danny, coolly.
"And why not, punk?" demanded Walker.
"Because I burnt it."
There was a very long silence.
"You did...what, Phantom?" snarled Walker, his pale face reddening in fury.
"I burnt it," repeated Danny, "Because without it, you need us to get you through the traps in the chamber, and therefore can't kill us."
"We can improvise," snapped Walker.
"With the Red Guards about an hour out?" quizzed Danny, "I don't think so."
Walker pondered for a moment.
Then he lifted his palm and fired an ectoblast.
Valerie lurched, and clutched her stomach. She fell to the ground as Walker gave a cruel guffaw.
"Ecto-poison," he sneered, "Fatal to humans after one-hour of exposure. You give me the Orb when you find it, and I'll heal her."
"You sick creep..." growled Danny.
"Insurance," shrugged Walker, "Now – lead me to the chamber, Doctor."
Danny glowered as he was untied.
Medieval revenge strategies were, at the core of it all, very simple.
If a rival lord offended you in any way, no matter how minor, you burnt something of his. If your lady was offended – burn crops. If your king was insulted – burn houses.
Forcing you from your throne was the worst offense of all, and the obvious and fairest response would be to burn the rival lord's land and everything in it.
In Prince Aragon's case, the rival lord was Danny Phantom, and his land was the city of Amity Park.
Aragon strode down Amity Park's main street, watching in satisfaction as his brainwashed dragons smashed the city before him. This was suitable revenge – and the minute Phantom appeared before him, he would lose his head.
"Enough, Aragon!"
Aragon turned, enraged. How dare someone try to order him about!
Sam stood at the end of the road, clenching something in her hand that the Prince couldn't make out.
"You!" snapped Aragon, "I thought I had you under my control!"
"I escaped," replied Sam, "And I got some questions."
Aragon snarled.
"Why the heck are you working with Plankton?" demanded Sam.
"...who?" asked Aragon, tilting his head.
"Sheldon Plankton!" repeated Sam, "The guy who made your helmets!"
"The control helmets?" mused Aragon, "I got them from a fellow in a white suit and a hat, not this 'Plankton' knave."
"Don't play dumb with me," snarled Sam.
"I sincerely do not know whom you are talking of," replied Aragon.
His eyes glassed over suddenly, and his expression became distant.
"Aragon?" quizzed Sam.
Aragon shook his head, and pointed at her.
"Enough!" he thundered, "You'll pay for demanding questions of me like that!"
He grabbed his amulet and activated it. With a bright purple glow, he transformed into a gigantic black dragon, poised for the kill.
"Two can play at that game," Sam grinned, attaching her own amulet to her neck.
There was another glow, and Sam changed. In seconds, there stood another dragon, this one a dark purple with green areas along the scales.
The dragon that had once been Sam looked down at herself.
"This is pretty awesome!" she exclaimed in a slightly deeper voice then her usual.
"Insolent wench!" thundered Aragon, "How did you manage to steal..."
"Enough talk," snapped Sam, "Let's do this."
Danny walked ahead, Jimmy behind him, Sammie carrying Valerie on her back behind them, and Walker and a soldier behind them with ectoguns.
They made their way into the vast, cave-like entry to the chamber and into a small passageway, at the entrance of which lay a pile of headless skeletons.
"Nice," sighed Valerie, slightly deliriously.
"You first," snapped Walker.
Danny gulped, and he and Jimmy crept forward.
"What did the map say here?" asked Danny.
"Duck," replied Jimmy.
"That's helpful," deadpanned Danny.
"No, look," explained Jimmy, pointing,
A small engraving of a duck was etched on the right hand wall, while the left was a simple brick wall. If one looked closely, they could see the edges of a door behind the duck.
"I'm not sure whether I should love or hate Frostbite for that pun," groaned Danny.
Jimmy knelt down and crept over to the duck.
With a thunderous roar, the top of the left hand wall slammed into the right, missing Jimmy's head by a millimetre above his hair.
The boy genius gulped.
"Well," he shrugged, "That's the first trap."
He pushed on the duck and it moved aside, revealing a small passage they could crawl through.
Sam and Aragon soared high above Amity Park, their claws locked against each other as they struggled to gain the upper hand in the fight.
Roaring terribly, Aragon let go of the violent embrace and doubled back in the air, preparing a burst of dark flame in his jaws. Foreseeing this move, Sam ducked under the jet of flame and responded with her own, striking the Prince in the stomach.
Aragon rebounded with a pounce, forcing himself into Sam's abdomen and sending them spiralling towards the earth. Sam struggled to get free of his grip as the evil dragon roared closer and closer to the ground.
At last, just a few hundred metres above the city, Sam escaped Aragon's grasp. Flying above him, she launched into a swoop against the medieval ghost and smashed her talons into his face, sending him hurtling into a factory.
Sam flew over him and crossed her arms as Aragon crawled out of the wreckage.
"Had enough?" she smirked.
"I have not yet begun to fight!" thundered Aragon.
He leapt into the air and tackled his foe.
Danny and Jimmy walked into a second chamber. Before them was a sentence, written in Latin, with a word missing in the middle.
"What now?" asked Danny.
"We have to identify the missing word," replied Jimmy.
"And what's the sentence?" asked Danny.
"...I before something except after C," read Jimmy.
Danny facepalmed.
"I before E, except after C?" he quizzed, "Was this made for a preschooler or something?"
The room rumbled, and the wall lifted up, revealing another passageway.
"That was too easy," grinned Jimmy, "At this rate, we'll be there in..."
He stopped.
The duo stood before a great chasm, with only small rocks to grab to get down.
'Jimmy," groaned Danny, "Never speak again."
With a thunderous crash, Aragon forced Sam into a large tower, causing a large part of its wall to collapse.
Sam shook her head and blinked dust from her eyes, just before Aragon sent a tail whipping in her direction. Ducking quickly, Sam responded with a kick that burrowed into Aragon's abdomen and sent him flying backwards.
With a tremendous crash and a cloud of smoke, the evil dragon slammed into the street, digging a crater as he tumbled down the tarmac. He came to a rest just outside of City Hall.
Sam flew over him again, scowling.
"You done now?" she demanded.
Aragon snarled.
"This is ridiculous!" he bellowed, "Dragons – come forth!"
Sam looked up, and gulped. Four specks appeared in the sky, turning into bucket-headed dragons as they got nearer and nearer to the ground. Within seconds, the brainwashed dragon forms of Spongebob, Cosmo, Wanda and Poof appeared before her, prepared to fight.
"This is gonna suck," groaned Sam.
Carefully, Danny lowered himself down the last gap between the rocks he was supporting himself on to solid ground. He mopped his brow and gave a sigh of relief.
"Finally," he grinned, "That's the last one, isn't it Jim?"
There was a brief silence.
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy stood, holding a flaming torch and staring at something ahead of him in awe.
Before the duo was a small altar, made of purest silver and etched in symbology not ever Jimmy could decipher. Atop the altar was a small, fist-sized golden ball, glowing as if it were its own source of light.
They had found the Orb of Power.
"We did it!" grinned Danny, "Now we just have to get back to Valerie and..."
There was a tremendous bang and an explosion in the roof above them. Down the rubble that had once been then roof ran a large collection of soldiers dressed in both grey and green, led by three very familiar figures.
Walker and Ember strode confidently towards them as Bullet held on to Sammie and Valerie.
"Nice work," commented Walker, "But I'm afraid things have changed."
"We made an alliance, baby-pop," nodded Ember, "And it doesn't include you."
Danny buried his head in his hands.
"I knew this would happen," he groaned.
Well, I wonder what this registers on the this-is-bad-o-metre...