DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM
"To find at least one of the Relics and destroy it!" Danny drew Striker out and activated the generator, causing the blade to glow a fierce bright red. "Or if we can't destroy them, bury them somewhere where no one can find them. Either way, we prevent the Wizard King's return." Danny said with resolve.
"Where did you get that!?" his parents demanded recognizing Skulker's sword. Danny didn't respond, mainly because he still felt guilty over his role in Skulker's death.
"Are you serious?" Dr. Rand said with a chuckle. "Sanctuary has been studying the Relics for years now and they've never found a way to destroy them. As for burying them, what do you think we've been doing locking them in the vaults."
"He's right Danny," Valerie said. "Items of power can only be destroyed at the source of their creation or by another overwhelming power."
"And since no one is more powerful than Pariah Dark, nothing is strong enough to destroy the Relics." Danny finished. "Still I have to try."
"What ever floats your boat weirdo," Dr. Rand laughed.
"Speaking of boat, we need to get back," Valerie reminded Danny. Danny nodded and deactivated Striker.
"Danny wait, you can't do this!" Maddie pleaded.
Danny shook his head sadly. "Yes, I do. I was the one who unearthed the Ring of Rage, I was responsible for its power, and I was the reason Skulker died." Silence filled the room as everyone stared at Danny.
"Wait, what do you mean you unearthed the ring?" Jack asked with great concern.
Danny hesitated, but eventually decided to tell them. "Me and Dani were playing and we stumbled across a cave. Inside we found the remains of a treasure hunter. On him we found this ring. We didn't know it at the time, but it turned out to be the Ring of Rage."
"You didn't use it didn't you?" Jack asked fearfully. Danny didn't answer but merely looked at his right hand before leaving the house. That gave his parents all the answers they've been dreading. The Fentons chased after their son only to lose him as he and Valerie blended into the crowd outside. "Maddie, we need to find Danny!" Jack said with desperation.
"Right," Maddie agreeing with her husband. The two ran down to their basement and started gathering their old Hunter's gear most of which looked rusted and shoddy.
"You know if you agree to come back to Sanctuary we can hook you up with some of the latest gear." Dr. Rand offered.
"I told you we are never going back to Sanctuary. We are just getting our son back!" Jack insisted.
"Fine, but if you change your mind, you know how to contact us." Dr. Rand laughed as he exited the premises.
Just outside of the city, Danny, Valerie, and Cujo were getting their carriage ready for the trip back to the boat. No one said a word to each other since leaving the Fenton house. Not even Cujo who didn't understand what was going on but simply picked up on everyone's mood so he kept quiet. "Well isn't this a depressing sight," a voice called out to them. Reacting quickly, Danny pulls out striker, Valerie drew out her collapsing crossbow, which already had an arrow loaded in it, and Cujo started growling at the intruder. "Please I mean you no harm," Dr. Rand pleaded raising his hands.
"What are you doing here?" Danny demanded.
"Just wanted to tell you that your parents are 'Hunting' you." Dr. Rand snickered.
Valerie gave Danny a concern look, not knowing what to say in this situation. Danny tried his best not to show any emotion, but it was clear that this news was bothering him. "Is that all?" he asked finally.
"Not really," Dr. Rand said pulling out another controller. After pressing the button, their carriage suddenly unlocked itself and several of the hidden compartments opened up. Not only that, but a couple of the weapons launched out landing within arms reach of either Danny or Valerie.
"How did you do that?" Danny demanded.
"I believed I explained the controller back at your house," Dr. Rand said.
"What he means is, how did you set one of those things on our carriage!?" Valerie clarified. She didn't like the idea of someone messing with her stuff like this.
"Oh no, I did no such modifications. Those were already installed." Dr. Rand insisted.
"Huh?" Danny and Valerie gasped in confusion.
"This carriage is one of the original prototypes installed with the controller units; but somehow it was 'accidentally' sold to you. I was instructed by Technus himself to give you the controllers and the instructions for it." Dr. Rand explained handing Danny the manual. "But I can give you tutorial if you prefer," Dr. Rand offered.
"No thanks, we can manage just fine!" Danny said rudely. There was something about this guy that Danny didn't trust. Cujo reciprocating Danny's attitude, started barking at the old Maker.
"Alright, alright, I can take a hint." Dr. Rand said slowly backing off. "But if you need help, just Fox me." he snickered before leaving.
"Good riddance, he was really bugging me." Valerie shuttered.
"Hey Valerie, I been meaning to ask, but what is this Fox?" Danny wondered.
"Oh right, we've never needed to use the Hunter's communication network so you've never seen it." Valerie realized. "The Fox towers are all over the world, I'm not really sure how they work, but somehow they can send messages across great distances in a matter of hours using the power of light." Valerie explained as best she could, since she really didn't understand how they worked herself.
"Sounds almost like magic," Danny said causally.
"You take that back!" Valerie warned pointing her crossbow at Danny's head. While it is not uncommon for people to think that the Hunters might actually be using magic, it still vexes her to hear such accusations.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Danny apologized. "It's just that sometimes I wonder if there is a difference between magic and technology."
Valerie was about to explode, but calmed down after reminding herself that Danny was never formally trained. "I understand your confusions; but trust me, if we survive this hunt I will teach you the fundamentals and you will see the truth about technology." Valerie promised. "So are we going to use this?" Valerie asked holding up the controller. Personally she didn't really care what he was going to do, but she is curious to hear his answer.
"Fifth rule of the Hunt: tools are tools, regardless of where they come from." Danny quoted. Which is basically Hunter's talk for 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'. Looking at the manual he saw that there's a special slot in his gauntlet designed to hold the controller for easy access. Without saying another word, he attached the controller to his gauntlet, displaying his resolve to use it.
"Good answer," Valerie said with approval putting her own controller on her gauntlet. For the next couple of days, they went into seclusion; mastering the controllers and coming up with strategies on how to use them in combat situations.
On the third day, the trio hurried back to the ship where they found Spectra waiting for them. "Darling, where have you been, I've been so lonely without you." Spectra cried.
"I've been visiting some old friends," Danny said coldly. Spectra glanced over to Valerie awaiting some kind of explanation, but Valerie simply looked away avoiding eye contact. Spectra my not like the relationship that those two had, but she was enough of a woman to know that nothing intimate happened between them, yet. "Well the good news is that they've just about finished unloading the ship, so we can leave for Plasmius as soon as Bertrand gets back." Spectra informed him. "Speaking of which, where is that fool?" Spectra griped. It was bad enough that Danny was no where to be seen, but with Bertrand gone as well, there was no one for her to boss around.
"I'm right here!" Bertrand said running down the road.
"Where have you been? You should have been back with that errand days ago!" Spectra demanded.
"Sorry, but I was caught up in a bit of a crisis. There were these bandits on the boarder to Plasmius. I believe they were the Wulf's Pack!" Bertrand reported. Everyone paused by this revelation. The Wulf's Pack, we former servants to a shape shifting wizard. Due to the wizard's distrust of humans, and needing servants to see to his every need, the wizard transformed all of his pet animals into anthropomorphic slaves. Then one day, for unknown reasons, whether it was primal instinct or act of rebellion, the animal slaves turned on him. After the death of their master, the anthrops led by a giant werewolf named Wulf scurried into the wild. Since then they have been rumored to attacking several caravans, often just stealing food. So travelers would often leave an offering of provisions so that the Wulf Pack or any other wild animals don't attack them during their travels. Recently however they've started stealing treasures as well; but considering how they can't really buy anything, it is believed that they are just drawn to shiny objects like most animals. As such Hunters like the Grey Ghost and others were once hired to hunt the creatures down, but somehow they were able to elude them.
"Well it's a good thing we have such a dependable bodyguard here," Spectra commented grabbing hold of Danny.
"I will do my duties," Danny swore trying to push Spectra away.
After the ship was unloaded, the cargo was placed several wagons that they had rented. Since they're hiring plenty of horses for this trip, there was no need for Cujo to pull their carriage in his monster form. The little puppy sat up front ecstatic to be the passenger this time instead of the beast of burden. Youngblood assigned a small group to watch over his ship while the rest were to accompany him and Spectra to meet with the Master. The group traveled for several days, leaving the customary food offerings out at night, but didn't see any sign of the Wulf Pack. Then one day as they were passing through a forest on the boarders of Plasmius, Cujo started growling at the trees. Trusting his companion's senses, Danny signaled the caravan to stop. Nervously, the pirates all drew their weapons, while Valerie pulled out a bag of fresh meat. Just then, without warning, these giant bunnies came jumping out of the trees, bouncing all over the place. Hopping on the pirates and smashing on the carriages alike. Valerie threw the sack away hoping to draw the creatures, but since bunnies are herbivores they have no interest in meat products so they ignored the offering. Leaving her with no other option other than to use her auto-crossbow to pick at them one at a time. Cujo in his monster form started barking at and chasing the bunnies. Danny was about to reach for Striker, but he'd forgotten that he locked it in the carriage for save keeping. So instead he used the cable launcher on his gauntlet to hook one of the bunnies, forcing it to the ground. He then extended his arm blade was about to stab the creature when... "Es mi nein destraha!" the rabbit cried. Danny immediately stopped his attack just a hair away from the rabbit's head.
"You can talk?" Danny said in astonishment. He wasn't familiar with the language, but he could swear that he's heard it somewhere before. But before he could interrogate the rabbit any further, these giant moles came busting out of the ground, cutting the rabbit free.
Watching the battle from behind the trees, Wulf could see that, between this girl shooting arrows and the boy's skill with a rope, his pack was in trouble. Wulf gave a piercing howl, signaling the bunnies to fall back. Hearing his howl the bunnies and the moles gathered their injured and retreated back into the wood. But before Danny or the pirates could pursue, these anthrops bears, cats, and one fiercely look Wulf stood in their way. "Keel esta gee erie?" Wulf growled.
"What is that blabber?" Youngblood griped.
"I don't think it's blabber," Danny said still trying to remember where he's hear this before.
"Whatever, won't matter for long! Eat This!" Youngblood yelled raising his peg leg and firing a magical bolt at Wulf. Wulf simply caught the beam in its mouth, swished it around for a bit before swallowing. "I didn't mean that literally!" Youngblood cried almost wetting himself.
"Keel esta gee erie?" Wulf repeated, only this time sounding more threatening.
"I got it!" Danny jumped, finally remembering where he's heard this type of talk. "Vilkani keels kee am," Danny said to Wulf. All of the animals gasped in shock at the fact that some human not only understood them, but actually responded back.
"You know what they are saying?" Valerie asked clearly impressed with him.
"Sort of, I think they're speaking in Esperanto. The secret language of the Jesters. Tucker tried to teach it to me, but I never really had a knack for it. So I only know a few phrases." Danny explained.
"Well asked them what they want, so we can get going!" Spectra demanded. She didn't want to be late delivering the goods to the Master.
"Now how did that go?" Danny whispered to himself. "Um, Keel estas unas?" Danny asked the anthrops.
"Eastas, unita um vita mehico ungri meho." Wulf answered. This prompted Danny to started laughing uncontrollably.
"You have no idea what he just said, do you?" Valerie retorted.
"Not a clue," Danny confessed. Naturally causing everyone groaned in annoyance.
"Mi cusa si muy dennario," Wulf said with a wide grin.
"What did he say?" they all asked Danny.
"I'm pretty sure that he just said that we are all invited to be special guests for dinner," Danny gulped as he translated best he could.
"Special guests as in company, or as in main course?" Youngblood cowering as the anthrops started closing in. The humans and wizards looked questioningly at each other not sure what to do next. That's when Cujo took the initiative, cautiously walking towards Wulf, Cujo sniffed him for a few seconds. The dog then reverted back to his puppy form and started barking approvingly.
"Well that answers that," Danny said putting his weapons away. After all he trusts his little friend's instincts. Valerie was the next to put her stuff away, but kept her hands ready to draw them out at a moment's notice. The pirates were a little more reluctant, but eventually they also put their swords down.
"You better be right about this," Youngblood warned as he resheathed his sword. Only to regret it as Wulf extended his claws and slashed out at them! Off in the distance, the anthrops could be heard howling at the moon.