Thanks to all my reviewers: New Ghost Girl, Miriam1, Artgirl4, Invader Johnny, sciencefreak330, Amethyst Ocean, TexasDreamer01, Cantdecideonaname, and goth.one! I'm very grateful for all of you! Here's a nice big chapter to show my appreciation (It was 6 pages on word!).

Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all sat at the Fentons' kitchen table. Their eyes were going back and forth as each pair was following Danny who was pacing the room. Every now and then he'd stop and look up at them like he was about to say something. But then the words wouldn't come and he'd look down and start pacing again.

It was the morning after that long night which started with his and Jack's encounter with Skulker and Ember and ended with his, Vlad's, and Maddie's little adventure in the Ghost Zone, an off-day for Vlad's sessions, and therefore time to sit his team down and tell them what was up. The only problem was . . . he couldn't figure out where to begin. Everybody knew about his parents' little escapades last night by now, but they were waiting for Danny to explain what was going on and, in his parents' case, what had happened before that now led to this.

Sam got fed up with the pacing and suddenly stood up. She purposefully got in Danny's way so that when he turned to pace in another direction he walked right into her. Having successfully broken his concentration, Sam grabbed her boyfriend by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"Enough!" she said as his eyes met hers. He stared at her with a why-me? kind of expression. "Whatever you're trying to say, just say it! It can't be that bad. We can handle it."

Danny flicked his eyes over to everyone else seated at the table and then back at Sam. He spoke quietly so that they couldn't hear him, "I have to explain the whole Ghost King incident to them."

Sam's eyes widened. "Oh," she said, unsure of what else to say. She relaxed her grip on his shoulders so that it was more comforting than restraining.

"Yah," Danny said miserably, "I just . . . don't know where to begin."

Sam stared at the basement doorway behind him, lost in thought. "How about," she said, dropping her hands from his shoulders so she could grab his hand, "you start with what they already know, hear from them first. Maybe that will make it easier."

Danny gave her hand a squeeze and nodded with a smile. "That sounds good. Thanks."

"No problem," Sam said and returned to her seat.

Danny took a deep breath. "Do you guys remember the massive ghost invasion that forced you to put a ghost shield over almost the entire city?"

His family members all nodded.

"Okay, what exactly do you know about it?"

"There were a lot of ghosts," Jack mused, thinking back to the incident, "so many that all we could do was put up the shield and get everyone in town under it. Vlad was in town then and your friend and her father were with us too. They helped a lot. We were working on our suit that could magnify the wearer's power many times. I think it disappeared after that." Jack continued to look deep in thought, which made him look pained.

"You were there," Maddie chimed in, "I mean you were there as Danny Phantom so we didn't know it was you. I saw you fighting alongside Vlad and Valerie on the football field; though at the time we didn't know it was them either. You guys were fighting this really big ghost and one that looked like a knight with a sword and horse." She too stopped and stared at the wall, lost in thought.

"'Kay, good," Danny began hesitantly, "Well, that was because that really big ghost you saw, Mom, was unleashed in the Ghost Zone. See, he was trapped in this thing, the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, because he claimed to be the king of all ghosts and he was ruthless. These really ancient ghosts imprisoned him a long time ago with no intention of letting him out. But he . . ." Danny drew the words out in order to figure out how to not incriminate Vlad, "got out," he said carefully, "and so all the ghosts in the Zone fled to our world to escape him." Danny paused to make sure his parents were keeping up. They nodded.

"So in order to fix everything the king had to be put back to sleep?" Maddie clarified.

"Exactly," Danny said with a smile.

"What about the knight?" Jack spoke up, "The ghosts last night mentioned a Fright Knight?"

"Right," Danny said, getting into it, like he was telling a scary story around a camp fire, "not a Fright Knight, the Fright Knight. He served, and apparently wants again to serve, the Ghost King. He carries a sword that with one touch can send you into your worst nightmare."

"And you fought these guys?" Maddie said wearily.

The hard part of his task made itself known again, causing Danny to hesitate. "Well, yah, I mean, someone had to. And like you said Vlad and Valerie were helping. Though, I really didn't want Val to help. She got seriously injured because of her involvement. I mean it wasn't her responsibility, she didn't-,"

"Uh, Danny?" Sam cut in. He turned to her. "Save it for Valerie."

"Oh right, moving on," Danny continued, "so the Knight can be bound in a pumpkin using a spell, which is the only way I see out of the mess we're in now. See, the ghosts that talked to Dad and I said that the Fright Knight is planning to release the Ghost King so that they can try to take over the Ghost Zone and our world, like they almost did last time."

"And you believe them?" Tucker asked before anyone else could comment.

"No, I didn't," Danny admitted, "which is why I went to a friend of mine last night with Mom and Vlad to verify the rumors." He stopped, suddenly unsure if what to say next.

"And he, who I'm guessing is Frostbite, said . . ." Sam prompted.

"Frostbite confirmed it," Danny stated. He let the words hang in the air.

"So what do we do now?" Jazz broke the silence.

"Well, we have . . . allies," Danny offered.

"The ghosts are offering their help ahead of time? That's nice," Sam commented.

"Wait, you didn't finish the story," Maddie said, "How did you get the king back in the sarcophagus?"

This was the part of the conversation that Danny had been dreading the most so he was quite grateful when the sound of a cell phone ringing interrupted the conversation. It was his, which was odd since everybody who usually called him was right there in the room. He looked down at the glowing screen once it was out of his pocket. He didn't recognize the number but he answered it anyways, happy to take a break from the stressful conversation.

"Hello?"

"Danny! I'm glad you picked up!" Vlad. That's right, he had given his number to Vlad. And he'd forgotten all about it since Vlad had never bothered to call him before today.

"Yah, what's up?" Danny asked into his cell, a little worried.

Everybody just watched as Danny listened intently to what the mysterious caller was saying. They noticed Danny's expression change from curious, to guarded, to pleasant, but no one bothered to interrupt and ask what was going on. They knew Danny would tell them when he was done and most of them were still trying to process everything Danny had just explained.

"No way," Danny said into his cell with a bit of a smile, "yah I bet." He looked around the room and his eyes lit up when they passed over the air vent low on the wall, blowing AC into the kitchen.

"Hold on just a sec," he said into the phone while he walked over to his mom at the table.

"Hey mom, can I borrow that real quick?" he asked nonchalantly as he pointed to an ecto-gun on her belt.

Maddie was confused but she held the gun out to her son with a dubious "Sure."

"Thanks," Danny replied as he took the weapon from her and walked over to the vent. He clicked the magnitude of the blast down to low before kneeling down and sticking the barrel of the ecto-gun through the slits in the vent and firing a single blast.

A loud crash could be heard coming from the basement/lab, followed by even louder groans that Sam and Tucker recognized immediately as ghosts.

"Huh, looks like you were right," Danny laughed into his cell before thanking Vlad and hanging up.

Danny walked back over to his stunned parents and handed his mom back her gun. (That sounds so weird.)

"Danny, wha-?" she began, but was interrupted by more groaning from the two ghosts now lumbering up the basement stairway.

"Was that really necessary?" Skulker asked as he tried (without success) to fix a dent in his suit's shoulder.

"Yah, dude," Ember agreed, rubbing her backside, "totally uncool."

"Well that's what you get for eavesdropping," Danny replied coolly.

"We weren't-," Ember began, but was silenced with a single look from Danny. He was not happy.

"What were you doing bothering Vlad?" he demanded, letting his eyes flash bright green to show them that he meant business. His full attention was on the two ghosts in front of him and no longer on his family and friends behind him. The tense little meeting he'd been having had made him edgy.

"We were just-," Skulker tried, but Danny held up his hand to stop him from trying to make up an excuse. He then rubbed his hand over his forehead and sighed.

"Look," Danny began in a stern voice, one that somewhat surprised his parents, "if we're really going to make this whole being-allies thing work then you can't do things like this."

"Things like what?" Skulker asked, trying to sound innocent. Guess what? He failed.

"Things like listening in on my private conversations and going to see Vlad behind my back," Danny answered.

"We weren't doing that behind your back," Ember said cheekily.

"Oh really?" Danny shot back, "Cuz I believe Vlad said that your exact words were, 'Don't tell Danny we were here.'"

"That was a test," Skulker stated.

"A test?" Danny echoed.

"Yes," Ember insisted, "to see if he really is all that loyal to you now. And congrats, apparently he is."

"Not only did he tell you what we told him not to tell you," Skulker took over, "but he somehow knew to warn you that we were coming here to spy on you." His tone was accusatory.

"We didn't tell him that part, nor did we even plan it in advance, so explain that Mr. No Secrets," Ember demanded, crossing her arms. Somehow they had managed to turn the tables, putting Danny on the defensive.

"Oh what, you think I've got spies on you? Please," Danny said, folding his arms as well.

"Then how do you explain the whole shooting-at-us-through-the-vent thing if Vlad didn't warn you?" Ember asked.

"Vlad did warn me," Danny explained, "and that shouldn't come as a surprise to you. Vlad is still Vlad. I may have changed his outward appearance, but, I mean, isn't this what he would have done before? Figured out your next move even before you do?"

"Hm," Skulker considered this as he had had plenty of experiences with Vlad when he was evil, "that's true. Only now he's not using it to his advantage. He's letting you use it for yours." Skulker seemed amazed at what he just said.

"Yah, lucky me," Danny said trying to shrug it off so that the full impact of what was going on didn't hit the ghosts, "and for the time being, us. Now can I get back to–?" He motioned to the gaping parents and ready-to-pounce-if-he-needed-them friends.

"Oh right, sure, go ahead," Skulker said and went back to fooling with his dented suit. Ember leaned back against the wall and slid down to a sitting position.

Danny gawked at them. "Uh, no, I mean leave," he said objectionably.

"But you were just getting to the best part!" Ember complained.

"Yah, the part where we save your hide," Skulker said with a grin.

"You did not save me," Danny corrected hotly, "you showed up barely in the knick of time to fight the skeleton army and left me to take care of the King, you know, the hard part."

"Whatever," Ember scowled, "besides I wasn't talking about that part." She shot Skulker a look for speaking for her. He was gonna hear about that later. "I meant the part where Dipstick has to tell his parents how he single-handedly brought down the Ghost King." She gave Danny a smirk to let him know that she had not appreciated the blast from Maddie's gun or the little lecture that had followed and so now he was paying for it.

Danny gave her an eye roll and turned back to his team after muttering, "Fine, you can stay." He closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. When he opened his eyes he saw worried faces looking back at him.

"Alright, any questions before I continue?" he asked then quickly snapped around, "Not from you two." Skulker shut his mouth.

Danny turned to face to his family and friends again. They all stared blankly at him. Maddie suddenly spoke up.

"Did you . . . you didn't . . . take the suit . . . did you?"

Danny winced and looked down at his shoes for a minute. He looked back up and answered her slowly and directly.

"I took the suit. I put on the suit. I used the suit to defeat the Ghost King."

"Then Vlad stole the suit," Tucker finished for him. Danny shot him a you're-not-helping glare.

"Yah, but then Danny and I blew up the suit so he couldn't fix it and use it anymore," Jazz chimed in. Danny sighed.

"I was trying to keep Vlad out of this," he explained.

"What?!" Ember exclaimed from her spot on the floor, "That's kinda hard to do considering the whole thing was his fault!" Danny shot her a death glare and she pouted.

"Wait, back up," Maddie suddenly said, "didn't the suit drain you like it drained your father?"

"Eventually," Danny said vaguely. His mom just kept staring at him. "Remember, Vlad 'found' me?" he said using air-quotes, "I passed out right after I got the king into the sarcophagus and Vlad locked it."

"Oh . . ." Maddie got a far-away look in her eye, then returned to earth, "Oh, you were exhausted that whole day and during the week that followed."

"Yah, it wasn't that fun," Danny admitted.

Maddie gave him a sympathetic mom look.

"What about the whole thing being Vlad's fault?" Jack said emotionlessly.

"Well, I don't really know what he was trying to do, but he's the one who woke up the king and knight in the first place," Danny said solemnly.

"He wanted to be king of the Ghost Zone," Skulker stated plainly.

Ember snorted, "He wanted to be king of everything."

Danny opened his mouth to say something mean to them but couldn't do it. They were speaking the truth. His parents would have to accept Vlad's past or they could never fully accept him in the future.

The room was silent.

"We have to go," Skulker suddenly announced.

"What, you guys on a schedule?" Danny teased, "Places to haunt, people to spy on?"

"Clever," Ember remarked, standing up, "But he's right, we were supposed to ask you if you had come up with a plan yet and report back."

They looked at Danny expectantly.

"A plan, right," Danny said, sounding exasperated, but when he spoke again his voice was clear and authoritative, "We're gonna want to strike before the Fright Knight has a chance to unleash the Ghost King, if that's possible. So I need to know if we can find where he is and take the fight to him. Putting him on the defensive isn't the greatest strategy, but it's better than waiting around for him to come to us with the king, agreed?"

Skulker and Ember nodded.

"So find the Fright Knight?" Skulker clarified, "That's all you need us to do?"

"And the spell," Danny replied, "We're gonna need the spell to lock him in the pumpkin again."

More nodding.

"Alright, see ya, Whelp."

"Later, Dipstick."

They were turning to go. Danny cleared his throat in the oh-no-you-don't kind of way. The two ghosts looked back at him.

"And from now on-," he started to warn.

"No spying," Skulker finished for him.

"We got it," Ember said with an eye roll.

Then they were gone. Danny turned back to his family and friends. His parents were kind of gaping at him.

"They," Maddie finally got up the nerve to say, "They . . . listened to you. They took orders from you."

"Well, sure," Danny said, attempting to shrug this off too, "I mean, they know the consequences."

His parents just blinked at him.

"The consequences being that we stop being allies," Danny explained, "and, believe me, they don't want that."

Maddie thought about this. Danny, whether he would admit it or not, held some degree of respect from the ghosts he dealt with. She knew he was good at what he did, but it had never occurred to her that he might be so good that other ghosts were capable of treating him as an equal. The thought both comforted and scared her.

That's it for now! And that was a lot! Don't know when I'll be back, rest of break's kinda busy. Sorry. Believe me, I won't be enjoying myself too much. I have to go to a Latin competition. :p