Chapter Ten: Regain
Well, he knew one thing for sure: Danny Phantom wasn't in the Real World right now. Plasmius took the chance to slip out into the Real World through a portal he created (one of the abilities that the complete Dan Phantom had that came from HIS powers) and went to the ice-block that Danny had left outside the barrier. "Useless, pathetic…" He muttered, holding out a hand. "I have no need of you, simpleton, but your sword and horse will come in handy." A blast of fire formed in his hand and he put it against the ice-block, melting it away.
As the ice melted away, he looked at the sword with a satisfied smirk. The sword that could banish one to their worst fear, the sword that could make even Clockwork suffer such terror, and it was going to be his. He wrapped his hand around the hilt and pulled it out, swishing it experimentally.
"I…am…free!" Fright Knight explained, forming beside him.
Plasmius glanced at him before turning to him fully, red eyes flaring. "His Majesty Pariah Dark is very disappointed in you, Knight. I have been given your position as General of his armies and I have chosen to take your sword and your horse. You will not object, and you will hand over the Night Mare without complaint."
"But—"
"I said 'you will not object', didn't I?" Plasmius said warningly. "I don't need to trick you into stabbing a pumpkin to defeat you, Knight."
Fright Knight clenched his fists. "Just because you're powerful and in the King's good graces, doesn't mean you can—"
"Lord Pariah has given me FULL control of his army!" Plasmius said, raising his voice. "I was under the impression that that included YOU! And if you're useless to me as a warrior, then you will be my stable boy and squire!"
"S-Squi—" Fright Knight bowed his head and removed his sheathe, holding it out. "If…it is what the King…commands."
Plasmius smiled and took it, tying the sheathe onto his belt before sheathing the sword. "Now, your horse."
Fright Knight summoned his Night Mare and then gripped the reins, walking her to Plasmius. "As you wish."
Plasmius gently stroked the Night Mare's muzzle and then gripped the reins, climbing onto it. "Get on, Knight. We have to plan our next move."
Fright Knight nodded and climbed on behind him, gripping Plasmius' belt as the horse tilted in flight, going back into Plasmius' portal.
.
"You realize, of course, he still hates you." Skulker remarked to Danny as they flew to the Ghost Prison. "Even if we managed to talk him out of your sentence, he's not going to just hand over something like that."
"Yeah, I know. I'm prepared to fight, but considering how we have freakin' Pariah Dark to worry about, maybe he'll just join us in the fight and willingly let us borrow it to fix Dan Phantom." Danny replied.
"I thought you said this guy was some psychotic maniac?" Skulker raised an eyebrow.
"He was before, but the psychotic maniac part was taken from him." Danny looked at him. "I DID say that he was two ghosts in one body, after all."
"Still not sure how that would work, but were he still such a creature he would be great in my museum." Skulker frowned. "I doubt I could hold him, though."
"He got zapped by the Spector Deflector and then just ripped it off from around his waist. Nothing you had could contain him, Skulker." Danny shook his head, then landed in front of the prison doors. "Tell Walker that we want to speak with him. It's a matter of urgency." He told the guards.
The guards exchanged looks and then one of them went inside, closing the door behind him. The other guard watched them warily, baton tight in hand. He knew that these two could easily beat him up, but he still wanted to appear tough…
"Hey, Jake. How's the afterlife?" Danny asked.
"…" The guard frowned, still not relaxing. He would not submit to the half-ghost's attempts at "small talk"! He hid a sigh of relief when the other guard came back out and nodded, opening the door wider for them.
"Thanks, Bob." Danny said, walking past him with Skulker.
They walked down the hall and to Walker's office, where Danny knocked twice on the door. It opened and they saw Walker seated behind his desk, his fingers laced together as his rule-book lay on his desk.
"You said it was urgent?" Walker said, glancing up at them.
"Yes." Danny closed the door behind him and Walker. "I'm gathering allies to rally against Pariah Dark. He's back and gathering power in secret. I have a ghost that he tortured that barely escaped with his life to give us this information, and that ghost has a cracked core and can't recover." He placed his hands on Walker's desk. "I'm told you have a tool that can repair a cracked core?"
Walker frowned. "I won't just give it to you, punk."
"Walker, I don't care if you give it to me or not or even if you're the one using it. I want to know, are you with me or Pariah Dark?" Danny said firmly.
"What'd you bring the Hunter for?" Walker asked.
"In case I needed backup for when you tried to kick my butt. I'm hoping, though, that we can preserve our strength for the battle against Pariah Dark and join forces. You have an army, Dora has an army, Frostbite has an army, and I have my army of ghost-fighting humans as well as countless ghost allies. With our combined forces, Pariah Dark doesn't stand a chance." He held out a gloved hand. "So, what do you say? Are you willing to help us kick Pariah Dark's butt?"
Walker stared at his hand silently, then closed his rule-book. "Pariah Dark is planning to make everyone bow to his twisted whims like before. That's against the rules." He took Danny's hand and shook it, standing up. "Where is this ghost that was tortured?"
"He's being protected in Amity Park. I have a ghost shield in place to protect it, but ghosts can walk around inside." Danny nodded. "Skulker is going to join Ember and Youngblood in rallying together the rest of our allies. You and I are going back to Amity Park."
Walker nodded and went to his files cabinet. "Wait outside the office, punk."
Danny nodded, walking out and closing the door before turning to Skulker. "That went better than expected."
"Bringing up Pariah Dark was a good move." Skulker nodded, running his hand through his hair. "The fun part is going to be avoiding Pariah Dark's forces as we rally everyone else."
"You better go, then." Danny grinned, nudging Skulker's side. "Your lady awaits."
Skulker nodded, walking out. Danny sighed happily; glad that Skulker's every step didn't make some kind of machine noise now. Getting him his human appearance back – which actually looked a lot like what he always made his machine body look like – had earned him both Skulker and Ember as allies, since Ember was ecstatic that Skulker's body wasn't just a machine. He'd left after that, since it was clear that they wanted their privacy and were about to tell him to go.
He was distracted from his thoughts by Walker stepped out, his hand slipping from his jacket pocket. "Lead the way." Walker said, shutting the door.
"You know it." Danny smiled, but led him out anyway.
.
"Danny's back!" Dani said, poking her head into Clockwork's room. "He brought Walker!"
"He…brought Walker?" Dan looked at Clockwork, confused.
"…Strange." Clockwork agreed.
Dan nodded, climbing off the bed and walking out the hall, Clockwork curiously following. Dani led the way to the living room, where Tucker, Walker, and Danny were waiting. He looked at Clockwork nervously and then moved behind him, letting the older ghost enter the room first as Dan tried to hide himself in the collar of his button-down shirt.
"You're going to have to come out sooner or later." Danny remarked. "Don't worry, Walker's an ally. He's not going to hurt you."
"…Okay." Dan stepped out, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he recalled the last time he and Walker had had a "conversation" – it didn't end pretty. Walker came out alive, but badly wounded. He knew that this Walker wouldn't even know him, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty.
Walker had a cup of coffee in his gloved hand and a device on the coffee table. It kind of resembled a tazer… "Is this him, Phantom?"
"Yeah." Danny nodded. "Dan, come closer and sit down." He gestured to the chair closest to Walker's seat.
Dan looked like he wanted to do anything but that, but silently obeyed Danny's order and sat down where he was directed, his gaze on the table.
"So, apparently you were the first to find out Pariah Dark woke up." Walker said.
"He attacked Clockwork's tower…I don't know who woke him." Dan replied, glancing at Clockwork taking a seat next to Danny and Dani. "There were a lot of faces I didn't recognize there..."
"What did he do to you?" Walker asked. "I heard about your cracked core, but what else? How did you escape?"
Dan clenched his fists. "I didn't 'escape'. He threw me through a portal so I would fade out in the home that I failed to protect from even myself. If Tucker hadn't come then…" He closed his eyes. "The things he did to me…I would rather not say."
"Who is on his side?" Walker asked. "Who did you recognize?"
"Amorpho…Plasmius…Fright Knight…I think I saw the writer guy there, but I don't really know him…"
"Ghostwriter?" Danny frowned. "We aren't on the best terms, I know, but to think he's with Pariah Dark…that could be a problem."
"Plasmius is back?" Walker looked at Danny.
"Different Plasmius. The Dan Phantom I fought was a merging of Phantom and Plasmius. This is just Phantom; his Plasmius was ripped out of him by Pariah Dark." Danny explained.
"I see. What if our Plasmius comes back?" Walker asked.
"We call him 'Vlad'." Danny shrugged. "Since his Plasmius doesn't go by it anymore."
Walker shrugged. "Very well. So, about your cracked core…?"
"We're calling him 'Dan'." Danny offered helpfully.
"Dan." Walker raised an eyebrow, then picked up the tool. "I warn you, this is going to hurt a LOT. And while I do enjoy the screams of punks, you yourself haven't done anything to deserve this kind of pain that I know of."
Dan nodded. "How…how do we use it?"
"Shirt off." Walker said, turning on the tool. It hummed to life, sparking at the tips.
Dan looked at it nervously and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his chest. Walker nodded and then gripped Dan's shoulder with one hand, the other moving the tool to Dan's chest. He felt the heat before it touched him, and as it burned into his skin he let out a scream of agony, his body jerking with the pain of the tool's use as Walker held him still, his grip firm.
"H-Hey, this is supposed to HELP him, right?" Tucker asked, standing up from his chair.
"Do not interfere, this is the only way we can repair his core." Walker said, holding the tool and Dan in place.
"No wonder you kept it, if it causes THIS much pain." Danny grimaced.
"Please, make it stop!" Dan pleaded, tears slipping down his cheeks beneath his long hair. "It hurts!"
"Just a bit longer." Walker informed him. "Once this red light turns green and it automatically shuts off, it'll be done."
"It hurts!" Dan cried.
Dani bit her lip worriedly, looking at Clockwork. "Is he gonna be okay?"
Clockwork sighed. "We can hope. There are many paths in life, young Dani."
Walker felt Dan firmly, and after a bit Danny went behind him and began to gently massage his shoulders to relax him. Though it didn't help with the pain any, it did the job of distracting him and he leaned his head back into Danny's chest.
"There." Walker's device changed from red to green and it powered down, the Warden removing it and putting it back in his jacket. "Now, try using one of your powers."
Dan nodded, going intangible and surprising Danny, who quickly moved his hands back. "…It worked."
"Now all you need is some rest." Walker nodded, standing up. "Punk, show me out."
"Yes, yes." Danny left the back of the chair, motioning for Walker to follow him. Walker got up and did so, the two disappearing into the main foyer.
"How do you feel?" Tucker asked softly.
"…Tired." Dan admitted. "Very tired."
"Think you need help going back upstairs?" Tucker stood up and walked over to him.
Dan nodded, holding up a hand. Tucker took his hand and helped him stand, smiling. Dani and Clockwork also rose from their seats in case he needed assistance, but Clockwork decided that he was doing okay with just Tucker and silently walked behind.
They got to Dan's room and Tucker gently helped him sit on the bed. "You okay from here?" He asked gently.
Dan nodded, then blinked when Tucker buttoned up his shirt. "Uhm…that's not really necessary. I'll be changing out of them later."
"I'll come get you for dinner." Tucker said, rubbing his hair before walking to the door. "Sleep well, Dan."
Dan nodded, still staring at the door when Tucker closed it. Then he crawled over and climbed under the covers, letting out a contented sigh. With his core fully healed, he could feel the energy he'd gained flowing and the core was pumping out more to help him recover.
Aww, I almost feel sorry for the Fright Knight. Almost.
Well, that hurt like a *car drives by playing loud music*! Seems to have fixed him, though, so yay for that.
Now Dan can stop being a weepy-face always sitting in bed. Get some confidence, boy! ~ Zone