Hey I updated faster! What do you know? Hope ya'll appreciate this and as long as I get responses, this can continue. Also, I used google translate for some of this stuff so I apologize if any of it is wrong. PLEASE READ THE A/N AT THE BOTTOM ITS IMPORTANT! Enjoy.=^-^=

Ch. 21 - A Lead

It was utter panic as the royal ghost dove down for the apparel as if it were life itself and he beamed when he touched it. The grin that spread on his face was terrible as he clutched between his bony fingers. "My amulet! Finally! Dora will rue the day she crossed me!" He quickly placed it around his neck and its glow followed soon after. "Now you humans will pay for getting in my way!" He shouted as his transformation set in.

Danny tried to cut him off with a tackle through the living room windows, but it seemed to have little effect. Even while only half transformed Aragon had the hide of a dragon. He finished his transformation as he fell and his broad wings caught him before he hit the ground. "Worthless peasants!" He bellowed as he flew up towards the roof. "You will bow to your betters!" He hovered in place in front of Danny who floated between him and the tower. "You too Phantom. You ruined my sister with your modern ideas, you and that woman!"

Danny raised a brow. "Says the guy who kidnapped her in the first place?" He said with all sarcasm intended. Aragon responded with a puff of fire which Danny easily dodged. His next move was not so obvious as he swung up his tail, which grazed Danny's arm. Danny grabbed it in pain, and the dragon took advantage by slapping down with his claw.

Aragon wore a smirk as Danny fell like a rock towards the water. "Take that knave!"

His victory was short lived, however, when a green blast struck his chest. "Yo scaly! You forget about us?" Cyborg wore a satisfied smirk when he saw the scorch mark left and a none too pleased prince. Beast Boy was the next to move as he took on the form of a Pterodactyl and swooped down at the dragon with his gloved talons. When he missed he turned into a leopard and landed on his back, swiping at him every chance he got with his ecto enhanced claws. Starfire joined Cyborg in laying down fire only she was coming from behind him.

Raven took her chance to check on Danny before a large, black, spiked tail got in the way. She stopped herself before it hit but barely. "You will do nothing of the sort wench!" The dragon yelled as he shook Beast Boy off his back. Raven's hands glowed with her magic as she recited her magic words. With one motion of her hands she wrapped his wings up and caused him to fall to the water himself. He struggled madly to break free and finally succeeded just before hitting the water. The breaking of her spell shook Raven a bit but she quickly recovered.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something break the water, but she couldn't tell what. Meanwhile, just below the waves, Danny sank down in a semi-conscious state. "Whipped are we? Well come on then." The voice felt like it was leading him to the surface and his alertness grew. "Hurry up now. If you change back like this, I could very well lose my connection."

Danny's eyes snapped open to see the form of a bony hawk floating in the water next to him, with its ethereal glow helping to distinguish it clearly. "Scott?" Danny asked as he felt his head.

"Of course you twit, who else?" Danny shook his head and now finally realized he was under water. He silently thanked the fact he could go long periods without air and flew up towards the surface. "So what's the plan?" Scott asked as he flew behind him.

"Plan?"

"Of course. You don't think you stand a chance alone do you?" Danny knew his words were true, Aragon was way too strong for a one on one fight as a dragon, but it did hurt his pride to hear it from an enemy.

"Yeah….. wait, what's the biggest thing you can turn into?"

Bones raised a hairless eyebrow. "Well….. I'm not sure."

"Could you try something as big as a dragon?"

Bones mulled it over a bit but nodded. "I can certainly try. It might take some time though, I've never gotten so big before."

"Alright, maybe I can distract him. We just have to weaken him enough to get that amulet off of his neck." Danny then took the lead as he blasted out of the water. He was just in time to see a green gorilla be squeezed in the claws of the malevolent dragon. Danny pointed both hands forward and fired at the large black claws. Aragon howled in pain as he dropped his prey. Starfire was quick in catching him and she flew him to safety.

"Yo Danny, you got a plan for this guy? You know him right?" Cyborg shouted while firing off another blast.

Danny kept his gaze on the shifty dragon as he responded. "If you can get the amulet off, then he's powerless!" Danny then flew at the dragon with a playful look in his eyes. "So Aragon, were you having fun!?" He asked as he grabbed the dragon by his tail. Raven used her powers to bind him again making him a perfect toy for Danny. "I know a few tricks too." He then flew off while dragging Aragon through the water. "This one's called walking the dog!" He then proceeded to swing him around like a top. "And this one's around the world!" He then let go leaving Aragon to careen into the water.

"Did you get him?" Raven asked while still on guard.

"No but it should give us some time. I need everyone to concentrate on the amulet. Otherwise this might not end." She nodded as he watched the water begin to stir.

Aragon burst forth from the water with a column of fire and he didn't look to be in a good mood. "Filthy worms! How dare you treat a prince in such a way! I will have you all hang upon my dungeon walls!" He barreled forward as fast as he could and just before he reached them he was knocked in the stomach from the water.

A large skeletal dragon had burst from the waves while now blowing smoke of its own from its nostrils. "How's this for big! Time to fight fire with fire!" He then breathed fire at the black dragon who only seemed more surprised than hurt. As he wrestled with the other dragon Aragon didn't even notice the winged reptile as it left a present on his snout.

Cyborg stood firm on the irate dragon's nose with his ecto cannon at the ready. "Booyah!" He said as he shot him right between the eyes. He recoiled in pain and Beast Boy caught the metal man as he fell.

"You will all pay for this dearly!" He yelled as he scratched at his eyes.

"I don't think so." Raven said as she waved her glowing hands in the air.

"I'd have to agree." Danny commented as he watched the dark energy envelop the amulet and yank it from his neck. The change was almost immediate as he shrank down to size and now Bones towered over him. Danny flew over with a smirk and his thermos. "So Aragon, how do you think your sister will punish you this time? It's not like she can just throw you out again." Before Aragon could answer a glowing aura appeared around him and he vanished without a trace. Danny went wide eyed as he looked around. "What the…..?"

"What happened?" Cyborg questioned from BB's back.

"I don't know….. he just vanished…."

"So anyone know what happened?" Beast Boy asked as Starfire helped him with the burn he got on his upper shoulder. She shook her head in confusion. "He seemed to just vanish…. It is most strange."

"You're tellin me." Cyborg said in a gripping tone as he watched a feed from the sick bay's vid screen. "I didn't even give him proper pay back."

"At least you got that awesome shot at him. I was just about to get mine when he disappeared." Grumbled Beast boy as he winced from the pressure of his bandages being tightened. "Easy Star!"

"Opps." Star responded as she adjusted them.

"Payback or not, he disappeared." Danny said as he tied off his arm.

Raven had just finished helping him with his cut and was rolling the extra gauze to put away. "And we need to figure out exactly where he went." Raven finished for him.

"Well, I at least got the amulet away from him. Without it he isn't much of a threat. On the other hand I'm not so sure this is unrelated to our other problem. If ghosts can disappear in the ghost zone, why not here right?"

"Exactly." They all turned to see the boy wonder standing at the doors to the medical bay. He wore a very serious expression as he walked up to Cyborg.

"Robin? You're back pretty early aren't you?" Cyborg asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, good thing too considering what just went down." He then turned to the vid screen. "Is this the recording of the whole thing? How did it start?"

Beast Boy used his good arm and scratched the back of his head. "I think it was Raven's room. I was walking past it in the hall when the guy just walked through the wall." Robin then turned to Raven with a confused expression.

"I wasn't in there." She responded to his silent question. "I was meditating on the roof."

Danny crossed his arms and added in his own defense. "He could have just entered at that point though. Chances are, he didn't originate in the tower."

"Then how exactly did he get here? The only portal around is yours." Robin questioned with a hand on his chin.

"That's the thing, it's not."

Both Robin and Cyborg were giving him weird looks. "Who else has one? It's not like they sell them on the public market." Cyborg responded with confusion evident in his voice.

"Yeah, but portals spawn naturally. I just happen to have one created unnaturally." Danny began, seeing his explanation was getting them slightly more confused. "See the Ghost Zone and the Human world are two sides of the same coin. They aren't separate but entwined together. There are many natural portals that form on the precipice between the two worlds." He explained with moderate confidence.

"Then why don't we see more ghost like that?" Cyborg asked. "And why is it that ghosts are still so uncommon?"

Danny gave a lite shrug. "Truth be told, I don't know. I got all that second hand. From what I could gather though, some places have a weaker boarder than others. A good example would be The Bermuda Triangle. Apparently portals open up all the time there."

"Wait, are you saying the legend of the Bermuda triangle isn't a hoax!?" Beast Boy said with a confused but interested grin. "That means I win!" He turned to Cyborg. "You owe me so many chore duties." Cyborg only gave him a sarcastic, disbelieving look in return.

Robin then stepped up to get things back on track. "So what happens to the people who go in?"

Danny scratched his head a bit. "Well, they'll come out pretty fast but in a different time and place. The Ghost Zone doesn't just span through space but time as well. You could very well end up stuck somewhere like Salem in the 1600's." Danny responded with a not so happy expression. "I recommend not testing it out for yourselves though."

Robin was taking the controls of the screen. "So what you're saying is that in general he can pull a ghost from anywhere on Earth or the Ghost Zone, and because it links through time they can pull them from whenever they want?"

Danny hesitantly shook his head. "Well, not time. I really doubt he'd be allowed to do that. If you think about it, pulling through time would require him to pull through 2 dimensions and I don't think the crystal is that strong. Plus Clockwork would prevent it in the first place especially since the other Observants would pester him until he did." Danny said with a far off angry expression. He then shrugged and crossed his arms. "Anyway I guess the first thing we need to do is find a way to track down the crystal right?"

Robin nodded as he stopped the vid at a point. "Yes and I think I have an idea of how." The screen showed the scene where Aragon glowed a bit before disappearing. He then pointed to it specifically while turning back to the other Titans. "You see that energy there? I bet it's an effect of the crystal causing that. If we use that then all we'd have to do is find a way to detect that energy."

Cyborg then took the controls and linked then to his arm. "So what you're saying is that we need an energy print. Then we can build some sort of detection device that will let us know where it's coming from."

Robin nodded to the cybernetic Titan. "Yeah, but we'll have to wait until the energy turns up again and we'll have a limited range for detection."

"I can probably modify the communicators to detect the energy. That way if any Titan gets close enough we'll know immediately and we can narrow down the location from there." Cyborg stated as he continued on the computer. He then took out his arm's adapter and turned towards the medical bay doors. "I'm gonna go see what I can whip up." He then left through the doors.

"I brought back the materials on the crystal, so maybe we can get some useful information from them." Danny said as he turned to Raven. "I'm probably going to need your help Raven. Most of it's in languages I've never seen." She gave him a silent nod as she levitated to the door with Danny not far behind.

Beast Boy let out a yawn. "Well you guys can do that. I for one am going to sleep before the sun comes up." Beast Boy said while rubbing an eye and heading out of the room.

Now it was just Robin and Starfire in the room as she gave him a slight blush. "You do not have a duty now yes? Could we then spend the quality time?" He found whatever will he had breaking under her forlorn gaze as he nodded with a soft smile.

"So, why do you know all these languages anyway?" Danny asked as he flipped through one of the only books he could read. He could see Raven's eyes shift as she read each page at a rather astonishing rate.

"I enjoy reading and knowing how to read in multiple languages tends to be helpful." She said without ever lifting her gaze. Danny thumbed through few more pages before rubbing at one of his eyes. "If you're tired, I don't mind carrying on alone. You did get up early yesterday." Raven said as she raised her eyes above the edge of the book.

Danny let out a yawn in response and nodded. "Yeah, but I don't want to just dump it on you. Even if I can only help a little, I want to do what I can." He turned another page and his face immediately morphed into intrigue. "What the….."

"What is it?" Raven inquired as she lowered the old book she had been thumbing through.

"This thing…." He said as he flipped the book around. "I've definitely seen it before….. geez, why do I keep forgetting such important things?"

The page depicted a blood red orb and a brief description. "Imperious Orb….. Once a powerful artifact in Necromancy. Only one has ever existed and its current whereabouts are unknown. Originally thought to be created by Alfons Faust more than 600 years ago….." She continued down the page quickly and silently with her brow raising all the while.

"So?"

Raven sat back and pondered it for a moment before responding. "I believe that may be related. According to that passage and this book here both that orb and the crystal where created by the same cult around the same time. Of course the crystal could be much older, but it says here that there is a good chance they had one." She said as she pointed to the page covered in forgotten script.

"Does it say anything about finding one?" Danny asked as he looked the page over in vain in an attempt to figure it out for himself.

"No…" Raven responded as she lowered the book. "I haven't found much of anything about tracking one down. There are a lot of passages even I can't read." She then closed the book in her hands and peeled open another one.

"I guess it can't be that easy huh?" Danny said as he took another look at the depiction of the orb. He gave a lite shudder before turning the page again. "Still, that thing gives me the creeps."

"So there wasn't anything at the spot?" Robin asked as he looked at the two speedy heroes through the vid screen.

"No, Senior Robin, nada." Mas replied.

"Había un montón de edificios antiguos, pero estaba vacío." (There were lots of old buildings, but it was empty.) Menos added in with a frown.

Robin sighed as he gave a bit of thought. It had been over a week since Cyborg had completed his detection program and this is the first hit they got. Mas and Menos were the closest Titans to the location but it seems they missed whatever was there.

"Alright, let me know if you happen to seeing anything." They nodded and the screen went black. Robin turned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Even this is turning out to be a dead end…."

"Relax Robin, I'm sure we'll get something." Cyborg said as he strolled in.

"I hope so. I can't imagine what this wackjob has up his sleeve."

Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I still can't really grasp what it is he's doing, but he's a criminal and they have to slip up sometime."

Robin gave his cybernetic friend smile. "Good point."

Cyborg nodded and then proceeded to pull out a chief's tog from thin air. "Alright, so dinner time! I'm makin my special 3 meat spaghetti!" He shouted with a grin before heading over to the kitchen area. Robin gave him a smirk before turning and settling down on the sofa.

Danny was flying through the ghost zone after meeting with Frostbite. He had spent most of the time just going over small things about what was going on and the like. He's come to respect the FarFrozen's council quite a great deal. He was just passing by a normal purple door when a shadow appeared on it. The halfa hadn't noticed but it had noticed him. He continued about in a nonchalant manner towards the portal to get home.

Once he landed at the cave entrance Cujo immediately ran to him though when he got close he started to growl. "Cujo?" The little green dog was on edge and began to growl at what looked to be nothing at all. Danny took a good look around to make sure, but nothing was all he could find for his trouble. "Alright Cujo, settle down." He gave the dog a pat on the head. "I'll bring you some leftovers later, sound good?" The dog then jumped happily at the mention of it, his earlier agitation gone with the mention of food.

Danny then made his way inside his portal where he was next confronted by an angry skeleton. "Where were you!?"

Danny rolled his eyes at his unfortunate roommate. "I told you I was going to be gone awhile."

The bony bird flapped his wings in agitation. "It was far too long! I could feel my energy waning while you were gone! Next time I'm coming with you!"

Danny raised a brow. "Over my dead body Bones. You're fine, so stop being so paranoid."

Bones scoffed at him. "Easy for you to say, you have your own power." He then flew back over to the dresser where he proceeded to sulk.

"Hey, it's not my fault you're like this, I'm just trying to help. I'm also trying to track down Youngblood cause believe me, I don't like our arrangement any more than you do." Danny then left through the door with not another word.

Bones, however, found himself turning back to the door with a worried expression. "Back to Youngblood huh?" He took a good look at himself and the rather large form he had and then thought back to the tiny parrot he once was. There was no comparison between the two, especially after he turned into that dragon. With a sigh he took off and phased through the ceiling.

Later that night Danny returned to get some sleep at a rather late hour. He didn't see Bones anywhere, but it wasn't a real problem for him. "I guess I won't have to worry about him nagging me to sleep tonight." Danny then morphed to his human form and changed into his pajamas. He was just about the pull down the covers when he felt a familiar cool sensation crawl up his spine and a mist escaped his lips. He turned with a green glowing fist to greet Scott just phasing through the wall. He was able to stop himself just short of frying him.

"Whoa! Be careful with that!" The bony specter shouted with less than a foot between him and the hot plasma ray.

"Oh…. Sorry Scott. I just sensed a ghost so I….. Yeah. Anyway sorry about that." The bird gave a nod and said little else about it, much to the halfa's surprise. He just flew over to the dresser, tucked his beak under his wing and went to sleep. It was strange for Danny who was far too used the being chewed out, complained at and talked half to death.

"Goodnight?" Danny said though it came out as a sort of question.

"Hmmm. Yeah, goodnight." Bones responded.

"Okay….. weird." He then shrugged it off and slipped under the covers to greet the sweet slumber that awaited him. The night went on peacefully for all in the tower but Danny.

He was battling a nightmare, or more specifically a memory. A none too pleasant one about when Vlad tried to melt Dani down into a puddle. "Breaking up is hard to do unless you have a button that does this!" Danny watched in horror as Vlad pulled down the lever and the waves of electricity shot through his younger cousin. She screamed out in pain as she begged for Danny to save her. He flew over to the binds, and as soon as he touched them a shadow burst forth from out of nowhere.

Danny flew back from the impact but was able to stop in midair. "What the heck?" He scanned the room until he noticed one out of place shadow being cast. He warily flew over and a set of piercing red eyes appeared.

"Hello ghost boy." A voice, seemingly coming from the shadow, said. "Quite the nasty nightmare isn't it?" It let out a chuckle.

"Who are you!?" Danny demanded as he lit up his fists with his glowing green energy.

"Yes, we've never met. My name is Nocturne, the ghost of sleep. I have also been referred to by you humans as The Sand Man. Am I correct in assuming you're the halfa the denizens of the ghost zone speak about?"

Danny nodded with a wary brow raised. "Yeah…. Why?"

The shadow then stretched up and took a humanoid shape. His body was very tall and seemed to reflect the night sky up to his head. His blood red eyes glowed fiercely and added to his mysterious form quite nicely. "Good, I wasn't quite sure when I saw you myself. You're nothing like I imagined. I figured someone strong enough to take out Arch Spirits like Undergrowth and Vortex would appear more formidable."

"What is it you want from me?" Danny questioned in a commanding tone.

The specter just bowed with one arm holding his stomach. "I have come requiring your assistance. Rumor has it you're not above helping ghosts even though you fight other ghosts often. I have lost something very important and have recently found who it was who stole it." He then held out his hand and a spherical stone appeared that almost resemble the full moon. "This the Somno Lapidem or the Sleep Stone as you may know it in the English tongue. It is a special artifact that I use to gather energy from human's dreams all over the world. I require this energy to survive but several months ago it was stolen from me."

Danny crossed his arms. "Then if you know who took it, you can get it back yourself."

Nocturne shook his head. "I tried, but in doing so I became captured by the thief. I am using an astral projection to communicate with you now. Of course I could escape had I possession of my stone, but without it I am nearly powerless."

Danny gave him a skeptical look. "So you want me to save you? How am I supposed to know if this is real? Not some crazy trick?"

"Well, I cannot say that crossing you hadn't crossed my mind. I thought about coming to the human realm to acquisition power by force over the humans to regain my power, but the portal was closed before I had the chance. It was only by chance that I found myself before the theif and even I'm not sure how it happened." Danny gave him a cold stare before Nocturne's grin finally fell and he sighed. "I can bear no proof that it's not a trick ghost boy, but I am not the only ghost he holds in his clutches. There are many more here with me, and there is even another arch spirit, being his latest acquisition. Have you ever heard of the Quetzalcoatl? It is depicted as a dragon bird in human culture."

Danny's cold tension warmed a bit as he took a good look at the ghost invading his nightmare. "Arch spirit huh? I guess I can see what I can do about it. Do you have any idea where you are right now?"

Nocturne shook his head again. "I can only offer you an image of what I saw before being moved to my prison." He lifted his hands and a blue mist erupted form them. They soon formed a misty screen which depicted the starry sky and a forest as his surroundings. The moon was barely covered by the couple of small clouds that held close to the sky. The only notable landmarks to be scene were a large mountain and a crumbling building before a red light pierced the shadows and the image evaporated. "That is all I can show you before I was imprisoned."

Danny took a moment to think over what Nocturne had showed him and over the prospect of even helping him. He knew of course that not all ghosts were evil, but many of the ghosts who came seeking him out, never did it without an ill-natured motive. He gave a sigh and turned to the tall specter. "I'll see what I can do about it, but I'm not making any promises, you didn't give me much… wait…. How many ghosts are there with you?" Danny asked as a realization fell on him.

Nocturne raised a brow. "I'm not all that sure. He keeps us in small groups."

Danny rubbed his chin a bit. "Is there a bratty kid or a snobby prince there?" Danny asked while still giving him a wary gaze.

Nocturne nodded. "There is one known as Prince Aragorn here in the same cell as me."

Danny's eyes widened. "Holy crap!"

Nocturne narrowed his eyes. "Something disturbs you ghost boy?"

Danny let a grin come to his face. "No, but I think this may just work out for the better."

A grin then found its way to the sleep ghost's face. "Ah, it would seem we share a common enemy then do we not?"

"It's looking that way."

Nocturne then nodded in approval. "Good, then as thanks I shall remove you from this nightmare." With a wave of his hand the background melted away and a new one formed. "Enjoy ghost boy." He heard Nocturne say in a slight echo as he soon found himself in his girlfriend's room. He turned to the tug he felt on his arm as the dream Raven took hold of it and leaned on his shoulder.

Okay, hope you liked it. I'm reeling the story in so now its gonna be getting into high gear. I don't think there will be any more tangents before the Titans face down their elusive foe. Also I would like to make a few key points about my story. 1st - The episode of Danny Phantom 'Frightmare' never happened. I stated earlier that only a few of the season 3 things happened. I also reworked his character just a bit. His personality will stay relatively the same but he won't be power mad, instead he'll be like alot of other cocky over powered ghosts. I don't plan for him to be a protagonist either by the way.

Also, someone asked for Mas and Menos to appear but it was bit late for my planning so I put them here. Sorry I couldn't give them a bigger part but I may be able to do some more with them later.

Thx for reading my latest chapter and I hope you will review to it as well. Fell free to direct me any questions you may have!=^-^=