A/N: I apologize for the delay with this chapter. A whole lot of my energy and time had been taken away due to finals. But, here it is.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. It belongs to Butch Hartman, Billionfold, Viacom, and Nickelodeon.
Danny had made mistakes in the past. He was the first to admit this. One of those mistakes was the anti-Christmas rant that had ended in disaster a year and a half ago thanks to him arousing the ire of the Ghost Writer.
However, he always worked hard to amend his mistakes. Which is why, just before the annual truce ended, Danny went to Walker's prison and insisted the Writer be released. Though the concept of forgiveness was foreign to the now ex-warden, he honored his request in the spirit of the season. Following that, Danny apologized. The Writer forgave, and that was that.
However, during the apologies the Writer mentioned that his library held nearly an infinite amount of knowledge about the Ghost Zone, which leads us to our present scene.
The bespectacled ghost heaved a large stack of books onto the oak table of his library. "Alright, that's all the books I have on the Ghost Zone's ancient artifacts," he said, pushing some of his disheveled hair out of his face. "Perhaps there's something about this mystery gem of yours in them."
"Uh…usually this ghost stuff is an excuse to get out of studying," Sam groaned. She, Danny, Valerie, Danielle, and Youngblood were all seated at the table, ready, though unwilling, to research. "Danny, can't you ask Clockwork about this instead?"
"Already tried. The Observants have his hands tied in the matter. They don't want him assisting me more than he has to," the halfa sighed, reaching for a book.
"This bites," Youngblood whined. "How did I get stuck with this job?"
"Quit complaining, there's no reason why you can't help us with this," Danielle snapped.
"Yes there is, I have dys…dys…"
"Dyslexia," Parrot offered.
"Yeah, that's it. I can't read."
"Actually, all these books contain pictures of all the artifacts they list," the Writer said, "So you'll still be able to help them," he finished, handing him a book.
"Aw man," the ghost pirate groaned.
"Quit complaining," Danni said. "If we work, you should have to work."
"Why?"
"Because if you don't, you'll just be lazy."
"I've never met anyone who couldn't live with that," he said.
"Just work," the girl snapped, glaring at her friend.
"Why don't you make me?" Youngblood snapped, glaring back.
"Will you two please not argue…" Danny began.
"Yoink!"
"Hey!" Danni cried, placing her hands on her head where her red cap had been moments earlier. "Give it back!"
"Come get it!" Youngblood taunted, flying out of the room at top speed. The youngest halfa quickly transformed and gave chase.
"Hey, be careful!" the Writer cried. "There are a lot of fragile things around here!" he screamed as he gave chase.
"Ah, those kids," Valerie shook her head. "They really like each other."
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked. "Half the time they're trying to kill each other."
"Trust me, Danny, at their age there's not much of a difference."
Suddenly, a loud thump sounded from the other room.
"Hey, Youngblood, don't get too rough with Danni," Danny shouted into the room. "I don't want her getting hurt."
"Oof!" the buccaneer grunted as his friend tackled him to the ground.
"Give me my hat!" the girl demanded.
"No way! Parrot, help me!"
"No thanks," the bony bird said as he rested on the top shelf of a bookcase.
Youngblood was rewarded for his valiant efforts with a punch to the gut, then to the face, effectively stunning him and giving him a black eye. With that, the girl grabbed her hat, placed in on her head, and marched out of the room just as the library's owner rushed in.
The pirate, meanwhile, was still stunned, with pain still apparent in his body.
A girl beat me up…
A girl beat me up…
A stupid girl beat me up…
…
I…I…I think I'm in love.
"Vhy are ve still vorking for this guy?" one of the vultures asked
"Yeah! I'm two thousand and ten years old. I'm too old for this kind of thing!" the second one complained.
"Maybe because the guy with the fancy-pants sword would chop us up into Thanksgiving dinner if we even tried to leave," their leader reminded.
"Yeah, but this guy's last plan almost got us all killed a few months ago," the second argued back.
"Will you guys just put a sock in it!" a fourth ghost snapped. This one would be recognizable to Jack, Maddie, and Danny if they had good memories. It was the very same ghost that Vlad had deliver the false mother-son science symposium letter, then fly the plane used in his ill fated plan from more than a year and a half ago. "I don't like this either, but we don't have much of a choice, now do we?"
"Quit your bickering!" the Knight demanded as he entered the room. "You should be preparing for the inevitable battle against the ghost child's forces!"
"Hey, why are you still serving Plasmius anyway?" the mailman asked. "You're too powerful for him to control easy, why didn't you bail with Skulker?"
"I have a pact with Lord Plasmius," the Knight explained. "I never dishonor my arrangements after I've entered service."
"But you betrayed the Ghost King," the lesser ghost pointed out.
"I never agreed to service with him. He forced to be his knight. I don't believe a single of Lord Pariah's soldiers served him for any other reason than fear."
"Yeah, well, are you sure serving this guy is any better? His last plan almost destroyed everything! Are we sure we really want to give him all this power?"
"I'd rather be destroyed with honor than live one day with shame."
"Oy. We get some philosophical nutjob," the lead vulture muttered.
"Enough conversation," the Knight ordered. "Continue preparing for battle. Since they captured my steed, Lord Plasmius says they might be here before the morn. We must slay the child and all who are loyal to him in order to make room for the new order."
Three hours of research from five different people had produced no results. Well, four different people, anyway. The fifth, Youngblood, was sitting at the edge of the table, holding an icepack to the black eye that Danielle had given him, much to Danny's amusement.
"I found it," Sam said, catching everyone's attention. The rest of the group gathered around the plant girl's book to see an ancient drawing of the gem that had been stolen hours earlier.
"The Gem of Absolution," Sam read, "was forged soon after the Reality Gems were. This magical artifact will break down the power barriers in any object and allow its holder to access the full amount of power within anything and reach new levels of control with it."
"Power barriers?" Valerie asked.
"Hey don't look at me, I don't know what it means," Danny shrugged. At that point, the Writer entered, carrying a load of books.
"Hey, do you know what power barriers are?" Youngblood asked rather bluntly.
"Oh, well, they're something that resides in most ancient artifacts," the scholar explained, peering around his books. "The Observants were fearful of many sources of power back then. That being said, they used their own temporal powers to put up barriers that would block many attempts to access the full extent of whatever they were guarding. Only truly powerful ghosts like Pariah Dark could easily pass these barriers."
"So…Vlad has a gem that will allow him to access the full power of an ancient artifact?" Valerie questioned. "What artifact could he have?"
After a moment's contemplation, Danny's eyes widened in horror.
"The Crown of Fire."
Vlad watched as the brilliant red gem he had stolen glowed. Within three feet was the Crown of Fire, its flames eternally flickering, taunting the eldest halfa with the power hidden inside. For so long the power within the crown had been just out of reach.
But that would all change soon enough.
It would take hours, the Knight had said, but that didn't matter to him.
Soon he'd have what he needed to fulfill his destiny.
It had been a restless sleep for Danny. After the unpleasant revelation at the Ghost Writer's library the world-renowned hero had been more anxious than ever to get to Plasmius and stop his plan. Waiting for the call from the DGA that they had located the Knight had been agonizing, and he wanted to be ready to mobilize as soon as the call came through. Which is why every member of Team Phantom was sleeping at FentonWorks that night.
Danny had been laying in bed when his cell phone went off. Youngblood and Amorpho, who were sleeping on cots elsewhere in his room, were awoken too. The boy snatched the phone and opened it.
"We got him," Kaufman's voice came from the other end. "The Knight is in Wisconsin, in Vlad's old castle."
After a split-second of contemplation, Danny's eyes went wide. The Dairy King…
"Everyone rise and shine!" Danny yelled throughout the house. "We're going to Wisconsin!"
It had been a quiet trip. Everyone was rather nervous about facing Plasmius, especially Danielle, who remembered what Vlad had almost done to her. Still, there was a united feeling of payback. Vlad had done cruel things personally to almost all of them, and there was a want to get back at him, regardless of how much some of them told themselves revenge wasn't the right way to do things.
Finally, after a few hours' flight in the very cramped Specter Speeder, they were outside Vlad's castle. As they stepped out into the grass of the large estate, they found that a DGA vehicle already parked in front. Standing in front of it were Agents Kaufman and Marmel, ectoguns ready.
"Ah, Mr. Fenton, we've been waiting for you," Kaufman greeted.
"Wait, they only set two guys to help us? I would have thought Hartman would have wanted a whole army of Agents to take down Plasmius."
"Oh, others are coming," Marmel explained. "But they're still getting mobilized. They decided to send an infiltration team in first. They figure the sooner we can stop this thing, the better."
"I'd have to agree," Maddie said, readying an ectobazooka on her shoulder. "Let's get this over with."
As they walked up the lawn, every member of Team Phantom was thinking different thoughts.
Danny was on edge. He knew Plasmius' nature. If it truly was the oldest halfa that was behind these events, then this would be quite a fight. Vlad was merciless when angry and desiring revenge, which he would almost certainly be now. Add to that the power of the Crown of Fire and thing's weren't looking good. He stole glances at Danielle, Valerie, and his father. They would definitely seek their own personal vendettas against the hated foe. Simultaneously, Vlad would want to put them down as well. No matter how much he tried to assure himself, worry swelled in Danny's heart. Could he protect them?
Sam wasn't sure how to feel. She had very rarely been face-to-face with Vlad, all the hatred she had for him stemmed from the fact that he had done horrible things to the boy she loved. To her, this was an ordinary mission, just with the danger rating higher. She thought of her parents. They had been horrified when they learned that their little girl was going to face the infamous ghost that had held the world hostage. She could tell they hadn't slept the night before when they arrived at FentonWorks just before they left. She knew they were in the Fentons' living room with Ember, anxiously waiting for their daughter's return.
Jack was angry and ready to tear Vlad apart. His ex-best friend, out of a personal grudge, had ignored so many years of loyal friendship. While it would be a lie to say that the Fenton father didn't still feel guilt for what the former billionaire had become, he acknowledged that, in the end, only Vlad could be held accountable for his actions. As he readied his gun, he vowed to make him wish he had stayed in space.
Maddie was angry as well, but for different reasons. Vlad had done horrible things to her child, the boy she had loved, nursed and raised. Like a mother hawk, she still ferociously protected her young, even though he had far outgrown the need for it. All she knew was that Plasmius had done horrible things to Danny, and he would be punished accordingly.
Jazz was beginning to question the wisdom in her coming along. Out of the entire team, she acknowledged that she was probably the least skilled. She had only faced Vlad once, and it had been the Ectoskeleton that had done most of the work. But she couldn't let fear stop her. She was a big sister, and she had a duty to look out for her little brother, no matter how hard it was, and that's exactly what she was going to do.
Danielle was pulled in two directions by her fear and anger. Vlad had been so horrible toward her, and betrayed her so badly, that she wanted nothing more than to punch his teeth out. At the same time, she was afraid. She had seen her former father's ruthlessness first hand, and knew full well what the hybrid wanted to do to her. But she stayed, wanting to fight, but anger was only part of what was fueling her desire. Danny had trained her like she had asked the past few months, and he had repeatedly told her how proud he was of her. Still, she couldn't help but still feel guilt. Her older brother still needed to repeatedly come to her rescue. Not this time. She would prove to her brother, and herself, that she could be the hero he always said she could be.
Youngblood had only been face-to-face with Plasmius once. After Masters' Blasters had caught him, the evil mastermind had let him loose. After looking at him, he threatened that if he left the Ghost Zone before his plan was through, he's be destroyed. The pirate ghost was sent back to his home, scared and humiliated. He still had some fear of Vlad in him, but something persuaded him to come along. That something was Danielle. While he'd never admit it, the young clone was his best friend. And, though he tried to deny it, he actually cared that Vlad had done so much to her. For some reason, he wanted to get back at the halfa for them.
Valerie was angry. Her temper was always a problem, and it was surfacing again. No matter how much she thought back to the warning Danny had given her at the Washington party months ago, she couldn't deny it: she wanted revenge. While she was trying to get into a professional mindset, her personal grudge was seeping through. That scared her more than any ghost could ever hope to. What if Danny was right? What if her vengeance was turning her into something like Vlad? She temporarily pushed those thoughts out of her head. She'd have to deal with them later. Right now, she had work to do.
Amorpho had no real opinion. His sole source of anger was the fact that Vlad had nearly destroyed them all in his mad quest for power. In actuality, he was thinking less of the upcoming battle and more of the fame that would come of being involved in the battle.
Kaufman and Marmel also had no real strong feelings. This was a routine mission, albeit a more dangerous one with higher stakes.
They were halfway up the lawn when it happened. The Knight phased through the front door.
"Halt, knaves! You are not welcome in Lord Plasmius' domain!"
"Yeah, well we don't give a damn!" Valerie said bluntly. "Move it before we vaporize you!"
Instead of honoring that request, the Knight spoke. "All of you, forward!"
With that, several creatures phased through he walls of the castle. They were the same abominable creatures that the original four Fentons recognized from Vlad's ill-fated plan to win Maddie in the Rockies long ago. "These creatures are quite the abominations, but useful in large numbers. And you cannot make them turn on us; my lord has breeded them with less sentience this time. Prepare to suffer our wrath!"
By the time the Knight's short monologue was finished, the lawn was filled with hundreds of hybrid experiments, all hungry for flesh and ectoplasm. It was Kaufman who gave the first order, directed at Danny. "We can take these guys; you find Plasmius."
"Got it," the teen hero answered, plowing through the enemies with Valerie, Danielle, and Jack right behind him.
"Fools!" the Knight yelled as he situated himself between the castle and the charging group. "I'll slice your heads off your shoulders before I allow you entry!"
The ancient warrior was answered with two powerful blasts, courtesy of Youngblood and Kaufman, which knocked him into the ground. Taking advantage of the temporary opening, the four ghost hunters ran inside.
"Quick, to the basement!" Danny yelled as he and Danielle grabbed their human teammates and phased them through the floor, "that's where Plasmius' lab is."
Vlad, in his ghost form, watched in anticipation as the Gem did its work. His eyes were only torn from the sight by a sensor on another computer telling him he had an intruder. He turned to see…
"Don't move, Vlad," Danny commanded as he and the others had blasts pointed at him.
"Ah, what luck. The four of you are at the top of a very long list of people that I need to eliminate. Jack Fenton, you ruined my life. Danielle, Valerie, I can't very well allow your betrayals to go unpunished. And Daniel, you committed the worst act of all, stealing my destiny!"
Danny cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about," he snarled as he powered up an ectoblast in both palms. "It's time we ended this, once and for all!"
With that, he let loose two powerful ectoblasts at his four greatest enemies.