The Start of it All
Drunk on the power inside of him, Dan hardly gave it a thought before he shoved the Key into the triangular keyhole of the Sarcophagus and turned it. The cage opened slowly, and it revealed Pariah Dark. The size of the large and armored ghost didn't intimidate Dan. His body was buzzing too much for him to care.
Pariah Dark opened his one eye and slowly stepped out of the Sarcophagus, both steps making the room shake with his weight. "Who dares?" he bellowed, his voice echoing.
"Uh, I guess I do," Dan greeted, floating high off the ground to look Dark in the eye. "Name's Dan Plasmius, and I'm gonna take that Crown of yours." He smirked.
Dark narrowed his one good eye, and the next thing that Dan knew, he was several miles above the red castle, his head pounding.
Dan looked down at the castle, now in ruins. The pain of whatever happened was finally enough to jostle the only part of his mind that wasn't drunk on power. "I think I screwed up," he whispered, quickly making a duplicate.
A green and pink streak tore out of the castle, and Dan turned invisible and launched himself towards the castle, leaving the duplicate for a distraction. He couldn't have the Crown right now, but obviously, it was just an issue of power. Maybe that sword offered something.
Dropping down through the newly-opened roof, Dan found that purple-armored knight described in Skulker's tales: The Fright Knight. And the owner of that Soul Shredder of a sword. The Knight ripped his sword out of the stone wall that it was stuck in, and he looked around, obviously sensing Dan.
It didn't seem like he would give up that sword willingly, but maybe Dan could convince him.
Coming out of hiding, Dan said, "So how is it? Serving under that tyrant?" making his voice falsely pleasant.
"Just fine!" the Knight roared, throwing a large purple blast towards Dan.
Dan didn't bother to deflect it, and allowed the powerful blast to hit him squarely in the chest, his core quickly absorbing it and leaving him unaffected. The Knight's glowing eyes widened in shock as Dan drifted closer to him.
"You sure? Because it doesn't look like it," Dan pointed out as the Knight swung at him with his sword. Dan easily dodged it. "I mean, you were locked in that pumpkin for centuries just because you worked with him. To me, it sounds like literally anything would be better." Fright Knight swung at him again, and Dan dodged. "Surely, you and I could work out some kind of deal."
The Knight hesitated, his eyes narrowing. "A deal?"
A bright red blast landed between them, shattering the floor and throwing them apart. Dan used the momentum to launch himself upwards. With one last look at the Fright Knight, Dan made a partial fist with his hand with his thumb and pinky finger sticking out and put his fist to his ear like he was talking on the phone. "Call me! We'll talk!" he invited before taking off away from the castle and back towards home. He might have been a little high, but he was aware enough to know that he had to get out of there. And that didn't stop him from laughing over the fact that he still had the Ring.
His core was so sensitive right now that it wasn't difficult to sense the incoming blast. He turned to see the red line of energy coming towards him and prepared his core to absorb it.
But it seemed to be too much for even him. His core couldn't absorb all of the energy, and the blast actually hurt him. All of his skin burned, and it was so unexpected that his ghost form was forced away, and he reverted to his human form.
Something glinted, catching Dan's eye. The Ring! It must have slipped off when he got hit!
Dan grabbed at it again and again as he was thrown through the air from the blast's momentum. After far too long, he finally caught it.
Looking ahead of him, Dan spotted the still-open Fenton portal, and before he could slow himself down, he went straight through it. He hit a wall and slid down to the floor of the lab. "Dan!" someone shouted.
Dan tightened his grip on the Ring and managed to open his eyes, finding his parents standing over him. "Dad," he muttered before losing consciousness.
"Dad?" Jack whispered. He then threw his hands up into the air. "Yes! He's accepted me again!"
"Jack!" Maddie scolded.
Jack put his arms down instantly as Maddie picked her son up from the ground. Maddie placed him on an examination table, and Jack joined her as they looked him over. They used both their human and ghost tools to ensure that he was alright, and miraculously, he was. Other than a few minor burns and bruises, he was alright.
Dan wasn't unconscious for long. He tightened his grip on the Ring once more before opening his eyes. "Are you alright, son?" Jack insisted.
Dan nodded slowly. "Yeah," he sighed as he sat himself up with a grunt of effort. "Just sore."
"What happened?" Maddie demanded, her voice wavering with worry.
Dan spotted something behind them. It looked like a giant pair of metallic pants. He pointed to it and asked, "What the heck is that?"
Jack glanced towards it before turning back to Dan. "I can tell you about that later. Tell us what happened."
Dan sighed and put a hand to his aching head. "I was doing mapping, and I came across this castle. Turns out that it housed some all-powerful ghost that didn't like me coming close. I tried to absorb the blast as I ran off, but it was too powerful for my core."
"Your absorption of the blast must have negated most of the damage," Maddie explained.
"I heard about this ghost from an ally of mine in the Zone. He's extremely dangerous," Dan continued.
"How dangerous?" Jack asked.
"According to the history my ally explained, he's one of the oldest ghosts around, and he ruled the Ghost Zone centuries ago, devastating it," Dan surmised.
Jack and Maddie both tensed. "It sounds like we might have to fight him. Since you disturbed him, he might come after you," Maddie said.
"Good thing I'm working on this!" Jack announced, gesturing to the large, metallic pair of pants behind him. "I call it the Ecto Skeleton! It uses a series of neural receptors to amplify the user's abilities one hundred fold!"
"How operational is it right now?" Dan wondered.
"The pants part of the suit is ready for testing," Maddie answered. She opened her mouth to say something more, but she was cut off by a sudden loud alarm.
Maddie and Jack shared a worried glance before taking off towards the stairs. Confused, Dan slid off the examination table and followed after them, shoving the Ring into his pocket along the way. He ended up in a small, hardly used room that had nothing more than an empty dresser with a bust of Jack on it and an old picture of their family hanging on the wall. It was the bust of Jack that was beeping. The eyes were flashing a deep shade of red. Jack grabbed the top of the bust and pulled back on it, lifting the hair up and revealing a large, red button.
"What on Earth is going on?" Jazz questioned as she entered the room with a book in her hands.
Jack pressed the red button in the bust, causing the picture of their family to split in half and open up. What was revealed was a green and black screen labeled "Ghost Zone Radar". It had small, green images of Pac-Man like ghosts that got closer and closer to the source of the radar with every blink.
"Galloping goblins! It's the Ecto Exodus Alarm!" Jack exclaimed, his eyes wide and his teeth bared in his tensely-clamped jaw.
"The ecto what-y what?" Dan and Jazz asked simultaneously.
"The Ecto Exodus Alarm," Maddie repeated. "An alarm that only goes off if we're about to face a massive ghost invasion!"
"I'll call Vlad!" Jack said, whipping out his cell phone. He quickly dialed Vlad's number and put it to his ear. "Vlad-" Jack yelled, only to be cut off by Vlad himself.
Dan could faintly hear Vlad's voice on the other end of the line explaining, "I already know, Jack. I got the alert on my phone, and I'm already on my way. Head down to the portal and form a defensive line. How's Dan?"
"It looks like he got caught up in it," Jack answered. "He was attacked by some unknown, powerful ghost, but he wasn't too hurt."
"Good," Vlad responded, his voice glad. "If he's alright, get him downstairs, too."
The line clicked faintly with Vlad's hang up, and Jack turned to his wife and kids. "He said he's on his way and to get downstairs and form a defensive line," he repeated.
The family all nodded and took off towards the door of the lab. Maddie grabbed three ecto guns off of the display rack by the door and handed one to Jack and Jazz as they passed. Maddie and Dan followed after them, Dan transforming as they went. Once they got to the basement lab, they all stood in formation in front of the open portal. Dan was in the middle, two pink blasts held at the ready, Maddie was on his left, and Jack and Jazz were on his right, their guns trained on the portal.
A sudden cold in Dan's throat alerted him to Vlad's familiar presence, and a second later, that same half ghost dropped through the ceiling and into the basement, facing the portal. "Everyone ready?" he asked with a tense voice.
"Yes," Maddie answered.
As if on cue, the floor began to shake. A cacophony of ghostly noises and rumbling came through the swirling, green vale of the portal, and it grew more and more intense by the second. Jazz quietly whimpered with her increasing nerves. "Hold steady, Jazz," Dan whispered to her.
The shaking and rumbling suddenly silenced, causing everyone to tense even more.
A small blue head poked through the green entrance and stared at them, making Jack and Maddie lower their guns slightly in confusion. The ghost raised its blue arms and shouted, "Beware!"
Vlad laughed a little. "Only you?" he said.
A blue-white beam tore itself through the green vale of the portal and struck Vlad square in the chest. Skulker followed the beam and rested his boot on top of Vlad, crushing him.
Jack, Maddie, and Jazz instantly fired on Skulker, but their blasts didn't land. A green shield appeared in front of him, blocking the shots.
Skulker turned back towards the portal, saying, "I told you there was a way out through here."
Various heads appeared through the portal, ones that Dan recognized from Vlad's taped fights with them. Ember, Walker, a shadow blob, a ghost octopus, and soon, those heads blasted through the portal in an endless, powerful stream. The force of the ghosts threw Jack, Jazz, and Maddie out of the way, and Dan rolled towards Skulker as the ghosts passed him by. The ghostly noises they were making were so loud that it was all Dan could do to not cover his ears against them.
"Skulker, what's going on?" Dan demanded.
"The Ghost King has only been freed for a few hours, but he's already destroyed most of the Ghost Zone," he explained. "We're just escaping with our afterlives."
Vlad suddenly grabbed Skulker's newly repaired leg and turned them both intangible. Vlad dragged Skulker upwards, through the ceilings and walls and out of sight, Skulker's sudden scream echoing behind them.
"Let's follow them," Maddie ordered.
Maddie, Jack, and Jazz rushed up the stairs, and Dan followed Vlad's exact path until he ended up outside. Dan saw Vlad throw Skulker forward and wind up a punch. Dan started forward to prevent Vlad from hitting his friend, but someone else got to it first.
A large dragon talon reached down and blocked Vlad's fist. "I know this might sound a little fishy," a voice said. Dan followed the sound and found a black and white fourteen-year-old boy with a bowtie and glasses riding atop the dragon. "But Skulker isn't the bully here."
"Bully?" Vlad wondered as the dragon released his hand. "What're you talking about? What're all of you running from?"
"His name is Paria Dark. The king of all ghosts," Ember answered, her voice grave.
"And while we may be in a hurry," Skulker said, placing his fist into his other hand in threat, "we'll always have time for this."
The hundreds of ghosts surrounding Vlad all began to bombard him simultaneously with punches, kicks, and blasts.
Dan's heart caught in his throat, and he rushed forward to help as much as he could. He blocked several blows with shields and absorbed energy blasts into his core. He made ice walls and shields as fast as he could, but they broke too quickly. Neither he nor Vlad could get a blast or even a punch in. There were just too many ghosts.
Vlad and Dan were thrown to the ground, cracking the pavement. The landing and fight seemed to be too much for Vlad, and he lost grip on his ghost form, reverting to human. Dan managed to hang onto his ghost form, but he was still exhausted and aching so much that he couldn't move from where he landed. He watched as the tornado of ghosts above them dissipated and took off in all different directions.
Jazz, Maddie, and Jack all appeared at their sides. "Are you guys okay?" Jazz asked, panicked.
Both Vlad and Dan looked at her with irritation.
"Sorry," Jazz muttered. "Standard question."
Maddie and Jack offered Vlad and Dan their hands. Vlad accepted Maddie's, but Dan dismissed Jack's offer of aid and forced himself onto his side and with a grunt of pain, onto his feet. Jack froze, and then dropped his hand with a barely audible sigh.
"What was that about?" Maddie wondered.
"There's some kind of all-powerful ghost terrorizing the Ghost Zone," Vlad answered. "All of the ghosts are terrified and just trying to stay alive."
"It must be that same ghost that you encountered, Dan," Maddie pointed out.
Dan nodded. "I'm sure it is."
"He's called Pariah Dark, and he's apparently the king of all ghosts," Vlad further clarified.
"Ghosts have a king?" a new voice interjected.
The group turned to face the source of the noise and found Tucker and Sam approaching.
"Apparently so, but I suggest that we get inside and activate the ghost shield," Jack suggested.
"Wait, that won't hurt Danny, will it?" Jazz wondered.
"No," Vlad said. "As long as we stay in human form, we'll be unaffected."
The group-including Sam and Tucker-ran inside, and Maddie charged for the ghost defenses. She pulled back a decorative curtain in the living room, revealing a silver box with a red button. Maddie slammed her hand on top of it, and a green veil dropped down outside.
Maddie instantly turned to Jack and ordered, "We need to continue the work on that battle suit!"
"How soon can it be operational?" Dan asked.
"All the programming is done," Jack answered. "All that's left is to put it together and test it. You can help me."
"Why?" Dan wondered. "Wouldn't Vlad be a better help?"
"It would be good to have you down near the portal," Maddie pointed out. "You're more powerful than Vlad, so having you be our first line of defense is the best plan."
Dan nodded. "Alright, then."
Dan and Jack went down to the lab, and Jack instantly got to work. Not knowing much about building ghost equipment, Dan's aid only extended to handing Jack various tools. When not handing his father something, Dan slipped his hand into his pocket, fingering with the powerful Ring inside. Messing with the Ring simultaneously made it more difficult and easier to focus. It made his entire body tingle with energy, but it was also somehow relaxing to hold it.
"Dan!"
Dan jumped and let go of the Ring. He looked down at his father who was down on the ground with a wrench working on the top part of the Ecto Skeleton. "Hmm?" he wondered.
"Can you hand me that whatcha-ma-jig-it on the table next to you?"
Dan glanced towards the table and found what he was looking for. He picked it up and went over towards his father. He leaned down and handed it to him. Jack took it from Dan's hand without a word, his eyes narrowed in focus.
"How much longer?" Dan asked.
Jack looked up at him. "Quit pushing me, Dan. I'm working as fast as I can."
Sudden shaking nearly made Dan lose his balance. His ghost sense alerted him to an incoming, powerful ghost, and the loud neighing that was coming from the other side of the portal clued him in on who the ghost was.
"Can we pick it up a little?" Dan wondered, his voice shaking slightly. If this Knight was here, Pariah Dark must not be far behind.
Maddie came charging down the stairs as Dan backed away from the portal. "What was that?" she demanded.
"Could be me," Jack offered as he stood. "I had Huevos Rancheros for breakfast!"
Half of the door to the Fenton Portal was kicked off, barreling towards Dan and Jack. Dan took a step to the side, allowing Jack to be slammed by the door and thrown to the floor.
"Jack. Look out. The door," Dan said with a small smile on his face, barely able to contain his laughter.
"Go and find the King's Ring," the Fright Knight's voice ordered.
Legions of ghostly skeletons poured out of the half open ghost portal. In a panic, Dan concentrated and turned the Ring in his pocket intangible, letting it fall down through his trousers and into the floor under his foot. He wasn't sure if the skeleton ghosts could sense the Ring or not, but based on the way they were running and flying through the lab's walls, they must not be able to.
"Jack, we have to shut that portal," Maddie ordered.
"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Jack retorted, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
Maddie charged for the switch that would shut the portal, reaching for it. But then the Fright Knight grabbed her wrist, holding her above the ground.
"Hey!" Jack and Dan both shouted.
Jack yelled, "Let go of the woman I love!"
And Dan ordered, "Let go of my mother!" He turned towards Jack. "Is any part of that suit operational?"
"Well, the pants part, but it's not calibrated yet," Jack answered. "Using the suit could kill you."
"Well, then, maybe you should try it first. It is your battle suit," Dan insisted.
The Fright Knight raised his Sword and thrust it forward, shooting a bright green beam of energy towards Dan and Jack. Jack jumped towards Dan, throwing them both out of the way of the beam.
"That it is, Son," he agreed. "It's time to kick a little butt." He charged towards the waiting Fenton pants and readily jumped into them. "And these are just the Pants to kick it in! Neural receptors engage." Jack pressed a red button on the waistband of the metal pants, causing a line of metal spike to come up and place themselves along his back. If they were painful, he didn't react. The receptors wrapped themselves around his waist and arms as the suit beeped that it was ready to fight.
Jack turned to face the Knight, and the Knight threw another green beam from his Sword towards him. Jack dodged and began to literally run circles around the Fright Knight. He was so fast that Dan could barely keep track of him.
Jack charged towards the Knight again, repeatedly kicking his arm until he released Maddie, and she fell to the floor.
"The kick is up," Jack narrated, reeling his foot back. When he released the kick, it was so powerful that it launched the Fright Knight upwards and out of the lab. "And it's good!"
Jack laughed proudly and Dan and Maddie approached. "No one can touch me while I'm wearing the Fenton…" The suit gave off a distressed sound as Jack's words trailed off. "The Ecto Skeleton...weakening...me."
"Jack!" Maddie exclaimed as her husband began to sway on his feet. She caught his arm and supported his girth. "The suit's draining you like a battery!" She looked up at Dan. "Dan! Help me get these Pants off Jack!"
"Nope!" Dan instantly protested, putting his hands up. "Sorry! That's all you!"
Dan turned his back on his parents as he quickly left the lab. When he made it to the stairwell, he paused, looking back into the lab. He placed his hand on the wall and concentrated, passing his intangibility through the walls and floor and giving it to the Ring he had hidden. Using his telekinesis, he drew the Ring through the floor and up into the walls, ultimately bringing it back to him. He smirked proudly and looked down at the accessory. Who knew such a little thing could hold so much power?