AN: Hi friends! Heads up, my dad has been reading through my old chapters and pointing out things that need to be fixed, so I'll be uploading improved versions. It doesn't really change anything, just some typos and grammar stuff, but it will be happening for all my chapters so just be aware I guess.

Speaking of my dad, he has actually written a couple books. You can look him up on Amazon, he has two books on there. His name is Dale Britton. I think his books are cool, so if you need something to read, you can check those out.

I love this chapter. It was so much fun to write. I am loving this guys.

Also I don't own Danny Phantom or Rise of the Guardians. They would probably be a lot sadder if I did! :D

Danny flipped through the air, carving up the clouds into spirals, zig zags, and other interesting shapes. Jack followed behind him, filling in the newly created empty space with snow and ice. The two flew in a well-practiced dance, weaving in and out of each other's paths, brushing against each other, but never once colliding. For once, there was no banter or laughter. There was simply pure joy as they interacted with nature and each other in a way no one else could.

Danny landed lightly on a rooftop, taking in the landscape. It was beautiful, newly fallen snow dusting the trees and houses. It was still early, so the snow had not yet been disturbed by people making their daily commute to work. It glistened in the moonlight, making the landscape look as if it had been covered in thousands of diamonds.

Jack came to a stop next to Danny just as the sun began to rise. The whole world lit up, and both boys smiled. Jack threw an arm around Danny, who leaned into him. They were both glad to be back in the world together, spreading fun and beauty the way only they could. It had been too long since they had been able to dance with the wind and snow, and they were glad for this chance.

The boys stayed still in that position until the sun fully came up. Finally, they shook themselves back into movement, taking flight and heading back toward Jack's lake. They had told the children to meet them there in the morning. They were both extremely excited about what they had planned for the children today. They wanted to do something extra special to make up for the time that had been confined to the North Pole.

When the attack came, it was completely unexpected. A net came out of nowhere and hit Jack, knocking him from the sky. Danny froze in midair, stunned. He spun wildly, searching for the source of the attack. All he saw was a group of men gathered around a van. There was no one else. Danny wasn't even sure what he was looking for. He couldn't think of any spirits that used glowing green nets. The last time he had seen a net like that was when…

Danny's train of thought was halted as another net was launched at him. He went intangible on instinct, only for the net to catch him anyway. He hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of him.

What the… he thought, struggling to escape the confines of the net. He heard a scream and twisted his head to see Jack, trapped in his own net, twisting violently. Danny realised with horror that electricity was running through the net. The shocks kept up until Jack finally went limp.

"Jack!" Danny yelled. He charged up his fists with ectoplasm, desperate to get to his friend, but before he could act, his own net sparked. He cried out as electricity surged through his system. He had forgotten how much getting electrocuted hurt.

Danny fought through the pain and released the energy he had built up in his fists. The net was blown away and Danny staggered to his feet. Recovering quickly, he flew over to Jack, intent on protecting him. Danny wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he was sure that Jack could not be hurt again. He couldn't handle it, not so soon after last time.

He was struggling to pull the net off of Jack's limp form when a whining sound from behind him made him freeze. Danny's mind raced. He knew that sound. He used to hear that sound on a daily basis. But that had been such a long time ago. It couldn't be…

Danny slowly straightened up. He braced himself, before turning around.

Only to find himself staring down the barrel of an ecto-gun.

Danny swallowed, his eyes flicking past the gun to take in the man holding it. It was one of the men who had been gathered around the van earlier. In fact, as his gaze wandered, he saw that the rest of the men were similarly armed, and they surrounded him.

"Hands in the air, freak!"

Danny's eyes flew back to the original man. He slowly raised his hands, his thoughts going a thousand miles an hour. Danny could only think of a few times when he had been more confused, which was saying something because he had spent a significant portion of his life confused. Adults didn't see him anymore. He wasn't exactly sure when it had started, but unless he did something really crazy, adults tended not to notice his ghost form. Their eyes just slid over him as if he wasn't there. Jack thought it was a gift from the Man in the Moon, to allow Danny to hang out with him and help with Guardian work. Danny wasn't so sure, but he didn't bother to really think about it. That was simply the way it was, and he was content to live with it.

But now, there were all these adults staring at him. Even worse, they were looking at Jack. Danny could understand them seeing him, but Jack? That made no sense at all.

The men didn't seem to care about what made sense as they walked up to Jack, being sure to keep their weapons trained on Danny. They pulled the net off of Jack and yanked his body off the ground. When one of them pulled out a collar, Danny jerked forward, only to be halted by the cocking of three different guns. He watched helplessly as the men snapped the collar around Jack's neck.

Danny didn't know what to do. If he had been by himself, he could have escaped easily, but he couldn't leave Jack, and he wasn't confident in his ability to get both of them out of there, especially with Jack unconscious. He was trapped.

Danny watched warily as a man approached him with another collar.

"If you think I'm just going to let you put that on me, you are sorely mistaken."

The original man grinned.

"I don't think you are going to let me put it on. I know you will. Unless you want your buddy there to pay."

When Danny hesitated, the man pulled a remote out of his pocket. He pushed a button, and Jack's body started to jerk as he was shocked. Even though he was unconscious, he began to let out wimpers of pain.

"Jack!" Danny yelled, horrified. He wasn't entirely sure how a spirit's body would react to electricity, but he doubted it could be good. "Okay! Okay, you can put it on, just stop!"

The man stopped the electricity, and gestured the man with the collar forward. Danny had to shove down every instinct in his body as he allowed the man to secure the collar around his neck.

As soon as the collar closed, Danny collapsed to the ground. Everything felt wrong. Breathing became extremely difficult, and his vision grayed out a bit.

"Wh- what?" he gasped, struggling to lift his head. His vision focused just in time to see the first man's face right in front of him.

The man grinned. He seemed almost ecstatic.

"Finally…" he breathed.

Danny's brow furrowed as he tried to understand what the man was talking about, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus. He found that just staying awake was too difficult for him, and his vision went from gray to black.

The last thing he saw before he completely passed out was the men manhandling Jack's body into the back of the van.

Danny woke slowly. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened. He blinked, trying to clear his head. Suddenly, all the memories came rushing back, and he sat bolt upright.

"Jack!"

"It's okay Danny. I'm right here. Calm down."

Danny followed the voice, finally spotting Jack. He was sitting across from him chained to the wall. It was at that point that Danny noticed he was similarly restrained. He yanked on the chains holding him, but they stayed put. He tried going intangible and was not surprised when it didn't work.

He looked around the room they were in. Actually, room was a bad word for it. If he had to guess, he would say they were in the back of the van he had seen earlier. Each side of the wall had a bench, with a series of handcuffs chained to the wall. So far, only two were in use, the ones holding Jack and Danny.

Danny huffed in frustration before turning back to Jack.

"Are you okay?"

Jack shrugged one shoulder.

"I've been better. I think one of my shoulders is dislocated, and my staff is gone, so that sucks."

Now that he looked closer, Danny was able to see the pain lines etched into Jack's face. He growled. Jack wasn't as sturdy as he was. Danny's body was supported by ectoplasm, while Jack's was just a normal human body. A powerful, immortal body to be sure, but one that responded to blunt force trauma a lot more than Danny's did.

"How are you?" Jack asked after the silence had stretched an uncomfortably long time.

Danny let out a long breath.

"I… don't feel so good."

That was probably an understatement. Danny felt as if the air was three times thicker. He could barely breath, he felt nauseous, and his vision kept flickering. He felt absolutely terrible.

Still, he knew it would only worry Jack to know that, so he gave him his best grin.

"It'll be fine. The other Guardians will notice we're gone supper quickly. They'll find us, and when they do, they will never let us out of their sight again."

Jack grimaced. "Wonderful. Couldn't these psychos have waited until the Guardians had calmed down a little before they kidnapped us?"

Danny was about to respond, when the van slowed. Both boys turned toward the doors, waiting to see what was about to happen. The doors opened and, two men climbed into the car, dragging two struggling figures behind them.

Neither Danny nor Jack said anything as the men chained the two figures into the next pair of handcuffs. Both felt too poorly to be antagonizing their captors at the moment.

The new captives clearly did not feel the same. They were both screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, twisting and fighting, not letting up until both men had exited the back of the van.

Later, Danny would blame his late recognition on the fact that he felt absolutely awful, but at the time he was too shocked to really think about it. Once the two figures calmed down a bit, he realized he knew them.

"Skulker? Ember? What are you guys doing here?"

Both figures froze, giving Danny a good look. It really was the mechanical hunter and his rocker girlfriend. Danny hadn't seen them since he left Amity Park, and to see them now was… honestly just weird.

"Dipstick?" Ember spun her head to look at him. "No freaking way! We had no clue you were still alive! Where have you been kid?"

Danny really wished he could rub his head. This was a very confusing day. Ember seemed happy to see him. He had not expected that.

"You know… around. Seriously though, what are you guys doing here. We aren't anywhere near Amity. At least, I don't think we are."

"You are correct, ghost child." Skulker cut in. "Ember and I left Amity years ago. We have been exploring the world."

"Just exploring?" Danny asked suspiciously.

Ember laughed. "Don't worry twerp. I gave up on world domination years ago. You're little clone was too good at her job. Finally, it just wasn't worth it to fight her. She lets us hang around as long as we don't cause trouble. Much better than fighting all the time."

Danny got an odd look on his face at the mention of Dani, but he shook off his melancholy and forged on.

"How about you Skulker? Still the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter?"

Skulker sniffed. "I will always be the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. But I have mellowed over the years. I no longer feel the urge to hunt constantly. Ember is enough for me."

Danny made a face. "Gross. Still, I guess it is better than you trying to skin me alive and putting my pelt on your bed or whatever."

Jack, who had been listening in bemused silence up to that point, suddenly spluttered.

"Excuse me? What is this about Danny's pelt?"

Ember and Skulker turned to Jack, looking at him for the first time.

"Who's your friend?" Ember asked, giving Jack a once over.

"Oh yeah. Guys, this is Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun."

Both ghost's eyes widened.

"A spirit?" Skulker said. "Well no wonder we never ran into you. Most ghosts try to avoid spirits."

Danny tilted his head. "Why?"

Ember snorted. "They are so pretentious. They think they're better than us because they 'came back for a righteous purpose' while we just stuck around because of unfinished business. Jerks."

Jack groaned, smacking his head lightly against the wall. "Ugh, that is such a spirit thing to do. They are seriously the worst. This is why I've always liked ghosts better."

At Ember and Skulker's shocked faces, Danny grinned. "Jack isn't your typical spirit. In fact, I feel like he gets a pretty similar attitude from a lot of the more boring spirits. They think he's a troublemaker."

Jack was about to respond when the truck stopped again. They all fell silent as another ghost was dragged onto the truck. None of them recognized the new ghost, and she refused to talk to any of them. The mood became more somber at this reminder of their situation.

"How did they get you guys, anyway? You were never that easy to catch."

Ember and Skulker glanced at each other.

"We were caught by surprise." Ember confessed. "Most human ghost hunters know to leave peaceful ghosts alone by this point. We just never expected to be attacked."

"What about you?" Skulker asked. "No one could catch you back then. You knew all the tricks to getting away. I should know, trying to catch you was exhausting."

"Same as you guys I guess," Danny muttered, but his glance at Jack gave him away.

Jack's face crumbled.

"It was my fault, wasn't it? You could have gotten away, but you wouldn't leave me."

"Jack…" Danny trailed off, not sure what to say. He couldn't lie to Jack.

"You should have left me." Jack meant his words, but Danny could hear the fear behind them.

"Never." Danny said fiercely. "Jack, I will never leave you alone. No matter what."

Jack looked at Danny gratefully, but he didn't say anything. Silence fell over the group as they all worried about where they were headed.

Hours passed. Slowly, the truck began to fill with more and more ghosts. Some came in groups, but most were alone. Eventually, every set of handcuffs were filled. Yet still the truck drove on.

Conversation started up again as the prisoners became bored. Soon after the last ghost was loaded up, Jack and Skulker were in a deep conversation about who would win in a fight, Superman or Wolverine.

Danny was laughing at their antics when he noticed Ember staring at him.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

Ember shook her head slightly. "Nothing, it's just…"

She hesitated before continuing.

"Here we are, captured by an unknown organization, heading off to some uncertain fate, and yet this is the happiest I have seen you in a long time."

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "It's been a long time since you last saw me Ember. A lot has changed."

"I know," Ember said with a smirk. "That's kind of my point."

When Danny didn't smile back, she sighed.

"Look. I didn't really notice it at the time, but comparing you now with how you were right before you left, the difference is obvious. You were fading kid, and fast. When I first met you, you were full of spirit and fire, ready to take on whatever I could throw at you. That kind of went away over the years. I guess I'm just glad to see you get some of your spunk back."

Danny stared at the floor of the truck, refusing to make eye contact. Finally he spoke.

"I was having a hard time those last few months in Amity. I was failing school, and my parents were always mad at me for skipping class and missing curfew. And I was so tired. If I had known that I could give up sleep back then, I would have done it in a heartbeat."

Danny leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. "Still, I could have handled all of that. I did handle it for a long time. It was just… my friends. They started expecting too much. They wanted me to fight better, cause less damage, do better in school, actually hang out with them. It felt like nothing I did was ever good enough for them. I know they didn't mean it that way, but it hurt. Then I found out I wasn't ever going to age, and I just… I couldn't deal with that on top of everything else. So I ran away."

Danny let out a bitter laugh. "That's right. The great Phantom ran away. You must think so highly of me."

"I wish I'd known."

Danny's eyes popped open, and he spun to look at Ember.

"What?"

Ember smiled sadly.

"I wish I had known you were doing so badly. I would've tried to help you."

Danny looked around, as if maybe Ember was talking to someone else.

"Sorry, are you talking to me? I'm pretty sure you hate me. At least you said so, multiple times."

Ember laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Do you know what the reaction of the Ghost Zone was when you disappeared."

"I would have imagined celebrations and general chaos." Danny muttered.

Ember chuckled at that. "Yeah, you would think so, but that wasn't it. We were worried. Don't give me that look! We were. The GIW were still active back then, and you had just disappeared. No one could find you. We were afraid they had finally caught you."

"Nope. Just me, wallowing in my misery." Danny tried to smile, but it came off as more of a grimace.

Ember nudged him with her shoulder. "Hey, none of that. We really did miss you. Things weren't the same when you were gone. You know, I had no clue you used to play with Young Blood til years after you were gone. He told me that he still misses those playdates to this day."

"Youngblood…" Danny smiled at the memory. "He really just needed someone to pay attention to him. Once I started listening to him and playing with him, he stopped causing trouble. He wasn't such a bad kid once you got to know him."

"It wasn't just him. Lunch Lady told me that if you'd still been around, she would have wanted you to be the Godfather of her baby. She ended up picking Klemper."

Danny stared at Ember in undisguised horror. "I'm not sure if I should be honored or completely disgusted."

"Yeah, that was pretty much how I felt at the time. The point is, I could go on. Technus, Poindexter, Kitty and Johnny, they all missed you. Heck, even Amorpho liked you, and he only cares about himself."

Danny wasn't sure how to respond to that. He opened his mouth- to say what he wasn't sure- when the truck slowed to a halt. All conversation stopped as the assembled ghosts (and Jack) looked at the doors. There were no more spots to be filled, so they knew that they had reached their final destination.

Danny swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

"Ember?"

"Yeah Babypop?"

"I'm scared."

"Me too." she whispered as the doors opened, revealing what was in store for them.

At the same moment, deep underground in a pit made of nightmares, a gray man gasped as a wave of fear hit him.

Pitch Black jolted to his feet, the book he had been reading dropping from numb fingers.

"Danny!"

AN: Wow. This is my longest one, yet I got it out really quickly. In all honesty, I've been writing this chapter in my head for days, so I just had to transcribe it. Still, pat on the back for me.

So. The real question now is, how bad do you guys want it to get? I have three different levels of severity for what is about to happen. The worst one will probably require upping the rating, while in the least severe they would get rescued before anything too bad even happened. Middle ground is talking about bad things, but not showing them. Let me know what you want, and I'll go with that.

And with that, I bid you adieu. For now… *scary laughter*