DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM
In the top secret hanger of Sanctuary the engineers spent the better part of a day to remove any and all nonessential equipment and armor off the airship. So by the time they were done half the hull was removed making it look almost like a metallic whale skeleton. "Did we have to remove so much of the hull?" Danny shuttered. He once had to hunt a Bone Witch who conjured up a skeleton giant to fight against him. It was one of his most frightening missions to date.
"Well sir you did request that we make the ship lighter," the technician reminded him.
"Yes but"
"The super heated steam that the new boilers generate are pumped through those hoses you see traversing all around the ship. Even though the hoses are insulated, it still gets very hot, warping the metal within close proximity to it. The warping metal can and will effect the ship's aerodynamics as well as other functions. In order to prevent that, we would to either have to replace the hoses with stronger insulation or remove the metal plates near them. The latter being the faster option since you said you were in a hurry." the technician justified.
"I get it," Danny holding his head. All this sciency talk was starting to hurt his head. "So when will it be ready?"
"It's ready now," the technician informed him. "We just have to do some final testing to see if..." the technician paused.
"If what?" Danny gulped.
"If the airship won't explode in midair," the technician said bluntly. Causing Danny's jaw to drop. "You said you didn't want any safety equipment," the technician mocked him. "Hm, then again, maybe removing the hull is a good thing. The cold air in the higher altitude might serve as a natural coolant. That might keep the engines from overheating." the technician pondered. Danny gulped nervously. Blowing up 50,000 km up in the air is not how he'd want to leave this world causing him to have second thoughts about this. His opinion however is not shared by all.
"Are we ready to fly!" Jack screamed at the top of his lungs, carrying his favorite travel trunk. Following close behind him, his wife and Danny's mother Maddie, with a huge grin on her face, also looking like she's getting ready to go on vacation.
"Mom! Dad! This is not a pleasure cruise. It is a mission. You're not coming." Danny said bluntly.
"But but," Jack stuttered almost crying.
"Why?" Maddie asked.
"Well for one thing, weight is a very important consideration." Danny started off.
"Hey!" Jack objected. "Don't call your mother fat!" Earning him a cold glare from his wife that he completely missed.
"Besides I need something very important from you," Danny immediately followed up with in order to deflect the subject.
"What?" his parents asked.
"I need you to finish the steam suit. I have a feeling that we'll be needing that real soon." Danny requested.
His parents had this concern look on their faces. Their original design were based on old tech and Sanctuary has made many innovations that make several steam and spring machinery obsolete. So far despite having the best and the brightest assisting them, they've been have difficulty adapting the new tech into their plans. "Sure you got it son," Jack putting on a brave face to show his support for his son, even though he didn't agree with it.
"This will be our greatest accomplishment," Maddie giving a thumbs up while trying to keep from crying.
"Now that you're little family drama is done, how about giving me a hand with this?" Valerie asked hauling a couple of trunks on a cart.
"What, did you pack our entire carriage?" Danny joked.
"No this is all new stuff," Valerie boasted opening one of the trunks.
"Do we really need new stuff? We still haven't used some of the other gear we got last time." Danny complained, although he was obviously being mesmerized by the shiny new weapons and gear.
"True," Valerie agreed. " But since you're mom became the head of Sanctuary we got guinea pig status."
"Guinea pig?" Danny echoed curiously. Thinking that she's pulling his leg.
"Yeah, that means we get to field test the newer more experimental toys!" Valerie said excitedly tossing Danny one of the gauntlets. "Here try it out."
Danny reluctantly put the new gauntlet on. He had to admit that it felt lighter and more comfortable than the ones he usually uses. That's because his old gauntlets have spring devices for his switch blade and cable launcher. Which this new one doesn't seem to have. "It's very nice but I don't really see how this is an improvement," Danny said critically.
"Try twitching your finger," Valerie suggested.
Danny did as she said and to his surprise, a blade extended out without the usual kickback from his old gauntlet. "Whoa, how did it do that without a trigger spring?" Danny wondered.
"Magnets," Maddie answered catching the attention of the two young hunters. "I haven't caught up with everything yet but from what I was able to understand they are these special metals that have been conditioned to attract and repel each other. Using them in sync with each other we can create devices with few parts and thus making them smaller and more efficient." Maddie explained only to see that she lost them at some point of the lecture. "Let's just say it's a new innovation that will make some vast improvements to the technology we're used to." Maddie tried to simplify, but the blank stare of her son and partner showed that they still didn't get it.
Danny played with the gauntlet a bit before helping Valerie load their new gear into the airship. After they finished securing their stuff for the voyage, the technician called them over. "Sir I'm pleased to say that all the tests show that the airship will fly," the technician reported.
"Great," Danny cheered.
"However," the technician interrupted. "I urge you please don't push the boilers past 65%. Beyond that I can't guarantee you won't you know." the technician warned.
"Hopefully that will be enough," Valerie whispered.
"Now I'd like to introduce to you your flight crew," the technician said. Danny and Valerie looked around but didn't really see anyone other than the other mechanics already packing their gear and getting ready to leave the hanger.
"You?" Danny figured pointing to the technician.
"What? No! I'm not that crazy!" the technician gasped. Looking around he spotted a young man sitting on some equipment and writing something on a notebook. "GREG! You lazy good for nothing! Get over here!" the technician yelled.
"Oh right a way sir!" Greg saluted. Losing his balance he fell off the equipment he was sitting on causing the papers he was writing to scatter around. He rushed to pick them up only to bang his head as he was getting up. After that comedic routine that no one found funny, Greg approached them. "Mechanic workman 3rd class Greg Writer reporting for duty sir!" Greg introduced himself with a salute.
"Wait just him?" Danny wondered.
"Indeed," the technician confirmed.
"But even the smallest ship requires at least a crew of 30," Danny pointed out.
"True, but this is no ordinary ship. Thanks to modern steam technology and magnets; this ship can be driven by a single skylor. You see what I did there? People who sail on boats are called sailors and since we're going to be flying in the skies I called us skylors." Greg joked.
"We get it," everyone said dryly.
"But are you sure you can handle everything by yourself?" Danny asked. Again having doubts about this.
"Well it is true that you'd want a full crew to you know manually operate some things and do quick repairs, but for a simple test flight one is all you'll need." the technician assured him. "Unless of course you want wait and do this right?"
"No this is fine," Danny sighed. While he may have reserves about all this, he is quickly running out of options.
"Great then let's be off to the wide blue yonder!" Greg sang.
"Wait we still have one more passenger," Danny said. Jack's eyes immediately started to perk up hoping that his son will allow him to come along. Danny pulled out his dog whistle and blew on it. Responding immediately, monster Cujo came running in and started licking Danny's face. "Hey cut it out," Danny laughed.
"Oh he's worried about the weight limit but he's bringing that," Jack grumbled.
"Now now dear, you know how a boy feels about his dog," Maddie trying to comfort her husband but clearly just as disappointed as he is.
"Cujo revert," Danny ordered. Cujo then changed back into his puppy form.
"Are you sure you want to bring him?" Valerie whispered in Danny's ear. "He's already been compromised by Vlad."
"All the more reason to bring him. I want Cujo as far away from Vlad as possible. Hopefully the more distance we put between them will break whatever hold Vlad has on him. Besides Vlad's in prison and shackled in anti-magic metal. What can he do?"
Over in the prison, Vlad has been watching everything through Cujo's eyes. "Oh a lot more than you think," Vlad snickered with amusement. While the Ammorite prevents him from using any spells, it doesn't however block any natural abilities. Like with the telepathic powers of these special mind parasites called the Synoptic. The Synoptics are these small insects with a hive mentality. Every single one of them is telepathically link with the others allowing them to work in sync. For a long time Vlad experimented with them to see if he can use their mind reading/controlling powers to better control his slaves. Unfortunately the experiment proved to be a failure as he could barely handle having more than one mind at a time. However when Danny and the other Hunters attacked his base, they destroyed the Synoptic colony he was experimenting on in the process. Leaving Vlad with only two left. One he implanted in himself, the other in Cujo. Vlad finds that without the other millions of Synoptics voices distracting him, he can easily control one dog; and the best part is, with him chained in Ammorite none is the wiser.
Danny, Valerie, Cujo, and Greg boarded the airship. After doing the ceremonial christening with wine bottle, Greg started up the boilers. Slowly but surely the water turned into steam and then the steam was transferred into a second boiler to be super heated. Once it reached optimum temperatures, Greg opened the valves sending the steam throughout the ship. Everyone held their breaths again as the airship slowly started to lift off the supports and rise into the air. The technicians quickly opened the roof of the hanger to allow the airship to continue it's accent. Soon the silence was replaced by cheers as the airship rose above the buildings of Sanctuary on upwards.
On the ship itself the crew marveled at the bird's eye view of the hidden city. Despite knowing that the city is dirty and rusty, the view from above was breathtaking. As they were watching the view of the city getting smaller and smaller until it was completely gone, Danny couldn't help but notice that Greg was writing something in his notebook rather than piloting the craft. "Shouldn't you be flying this thing?" Danny asked.
"Huh? Oh don't worry, I've already locked in out course." Greg assured him. Danny looked over at the steering wheel and saw a crowbar jammed into it to prevent it from turning. "Now assuming we don't run into foul weather we should be at the Badlands within 2 to 3 days." Greg calculated
"Good, very good," Danny said. "So what were you writing just now?" Danny asked.
"This oh, you know logging the airship's performance, recording the readings, you know collecting data to see if improvements can be made." Greg hiding his notebook behind his back and starting to sweat heavily. A good sign that he was lying. Immediately Danny got his new magnetic gauntlet ready just in case. After finding out that Dr. Rand was a spy, Danny is no longer sure who can he trust.
"Funny because all you've done was look out the window. I don't recall you ever taking any measurements what so ever since we began this voyage." Danny accused.
"Alright you caught me!" Greg broke down crying. This was not the reaction that Danny was expecting, plus it was making him incredibly uncomfortable. "I was writing my poetry," Greg confessed.
"Poetry?" Danny gasped, again he wasn't expecting this. Greg nodded showing him his notes. "These are very nice," Danny complimented.
"You really think so?" Greg smiled. "I always wanted to be a poet or a bard but my parents were both mechanics and wanted me to follow in their footsteps." Greg ranted.
"If you wanted to be a poet then why did you agree to come with us?" Danny asked.
"Are you kidding me? The chance to travel with the legendary Grey Ghost and maybe chronicle their exploits is a golden opportunity that any bard would kill for!" Greg said excitedly.
"Funny, you say you want to write about us but you have yet asked me or Valerie anything?" Danny observed.
"Yes well I kind of gotten sidetrack with the view," Greg said pointing to the glorious landscape before them. "I just became the first poet who can write about how the world looks like through the eyes of the birds."
"It is breath taking," Danny agreed.
"So will you let me write your story? I can be like your personal ghostwriter." Greg begged.
Danny considered this. Had he asked him 5 years ago, Danny would have jumped at the chance to be immortalized in story and song, just like all his heroes; but now, after all the tragedy and horror he's endured, he's a bit hesitant to relate his tale to others. Especially if they're planning on recording it for future generations to read. The crew was so preoccupied with this discussion that they failed to notice the immediate danger fast approaching them. Fortunately Cujo's canine senses kicked in and started barking at Danny. "What is it boy?" Danny asked seeing his little friend frantic for some reason. Looking out the forward window he saw that they were heading straight towards a mountain. "LOOK OUT!" Danny yelped.
"Oh dear!" Greg cried as he turned the steering wheel hard to starboard along with adjusting the engines speeds to maximize the turn.
"We're not going to make it!" Valerie yelled seeing that they were still heading towards the mountain.
"Only one chance," Greg said as he started opening the steam valves labeled main cannons. From inside the bridge, they could hear the rusty screeching of grinding metal as the guns on the left side of the ship started moving. "Hope the steam pressure builds up fast," he prayed while watching the gauge. The moment the needle hit the red zone, Greg slammed on the fire button. The cannons all shot a huge bust of steam, the force of which pushed the airship hard right allowing them to barely avoid crashing.
"Good job," Danny praised breathing a sigh of relief.
"Always glad to be of service," Greg laughed nervously.
"Tell you what if you manage to get us to the Badlands alive, then I'll consider making you my ghostwriter." Danny promised.
"You can count on me sir!" Greg saluted.
"By the way what are those?" Valerie pointing to the cannons.
"Steam cannons, the main weapon of the airship." Greg explained followed by blank stares. "Have you ever tried to plug the spout on a kettle while it's boiling?" the pair of Hunters shook their heads. "Well as the steam pressure builds up, the plug eventually is pushed out with extreme force. The steam cannons uses that principle to fire large projectiles at a target. It's been calculated to be powerful enough to knock down castle walls with one shot."
"Weapons? I thought I said to remove all weapons?" Danny snapped.
"We did, well the portable ones anyway. These cannons however are connected to the steam system so they can't be removed." Greg explained.
"Why would Sanctuary even build this thing?" Valerie wondered.
"What do you mean?" Greg asked.
"I mean our purpose, the reason Sanctuary and the Hunters exists, is to hunt wizards but this thing. This ship is a weapon to conquer kingdoms." Valerie realized.
"Now I'm sure that the higher ups have no intention of that," Greg insisted but you can clearly hear the uncertainty in his voice.
"Well now that my parents are in charge I'm sure that they won't allow the people in Sanctuary to stray." Danny believed.
"I hope so, because I'd hate to think that I've been spending my life fighting tyrants only to replace them with new ones." Valerie said coldly. Obviously her faith has greatly been shaken by past events.
The airship continued along without any other incidences other than the bathroom problem. Apparently the builders never considered how to dispose of waste material, due to most water based ships simply threw theirs overboard, that the airship wasn't designed a toilet or trash compartment. While the boys had no problem peeing over the side, Valerie very much objected to the mere suggestion of it. Stating that they might be accidentally urinating on someone on the ground. To which they actually found that idea to be a bit hilarious. Before long they found themselves at the boarder of the Badlands.
"Wow that's a whole lot of nothing," Danny commented. He's traveled all around the world and he's never seen such a vast desolate wasteland.
"Yeah it definitely lives up to it's reputation," Valerie agreed.
"And so our valiant heroes stood before the cursed land, unaware of the horrors that awaits them." Greg quoted.
"I still haven't agreed to make you my ghostwriter yet," Danny said.
"I know, I'm just taking notes." Greg said. "Do you really believe this place is haunted?" Greg asked.
"Maybe it is maybe it isn't," Danny smiled.
"Either way we have a job to do," Valerie finished.
"Ooh that's good, I got to write that one down!" Greg said searching his notebook for a blank page.
As the airship flew into the Badlands, they all felt an eerie chill run up their spines. Danny instinctively reached for Striker, while Valerie extended her collapsing Bo staff, with Cujo started sniffing the air trying to make sense of what's going on, and Greg taking cover in a box made from Ammorite. During their long career as Hunters both Danny and Valerie have seen some strange things, but nothing could have prepared them for what they're about to witness.
"You shall never take my kingdom!" a dark voice echoed. The Hunters gazed in awe at the ghostly sight of Queen Pandora accompanied with what looked like 300 ghost minotaurs.
In a different part of the Badlands, Technus also encountered Pandora and her 300. "So it seems that even after death you and your army are still defending your kingdom," Technus mused. "But while this ruse have fooled some, I Technus master of technology and wielder of the Relics won't easily be fooled!" he declared.
Elsewhere in a dark room a young wizard watched the events unfolding in a giant crystal ball. Suddenly he turned into an infant. "So it has begun," he said becoming an old man.