Honestly, it was not the first time that something like this had happened, but it was still something as the auditorium was packed and a speaker in a dress and a over-sized ring started to sing out. "Girls, do you dream of being a princess?" Most of the female body stood up in cheer as Sam just moaned in boredom.
"No."
"-Of wearing beautiful gowns and jewelry?" The speaker asked while showing over the huge ring as Sam spoke again.
"No."
"-Of charming and beguiling that special prince?" She batted her eyelashes with hands clasped as Sam just groaned.
"...and gag." She answered in pointing to her mouth as the speaker continued in her speech.
"I'm Dora Mattingly, and I want to make sure that dream comes true for one of you sweet, young ladies." Dora spoke in walking over to a large rope off to the right and pulled it to bring down a banner with the text of 'Miss Teenage Happy Princess Beauty Pageant' on it as the students cheered and clapped as Dora continued her speech. "That's why I'm bringing my 'Miss Teenage Happy Princess Beauty Pageant' right here to your school." Sam groaned with a hand to her cheek as she grumbled.
"I hate this more than I hate the morning sun."
"What's wrong with beauty pageants?" Tucker asked as Sam glanced over to him while Topaz, Talia saw the same thing and just slumped away as Cedric just sat much the same.
"Other than the fact they turn girls into shallow doormats and boys into drooling idiots? Everything!" She exclaimed as Tucker continued.
"But it's got a swimsuit competition!"
"That's a bad reason to like them, Foley..." Topaz answered before she sat back down as Dora continued.
"I need a worthy and chivalrous knight to select our princess!" Just like that, MOST of the guys sprang up to be selected as Tucker, being one of them, exclaimed in glee.
"Oh, man! Danny would love this. Where is he anyway?" That answer came form outside as Danny was fighting some sort of ghostly executioner as the ghost swung his axe at the heroic Demi as he shouted in dodging.
"Hey! if you needed something, you should just axe. Get it? Axe?" The executioner pulled out a lasso and tossed it, catching Danny's feet as he replied. "Okay, you don't like axe puns, noted..." He yelped as the ghost dragged him down toward the school as he pondered to himself.
'What the heck is this guy doing, what even is he after...?' Back in the auditorium, Dora continued her speech as she looked over the members of males wanting the chance to be a judge.
"Our princess must appeal to the masses, so she shall be chosen by a common boy - Someone average and bland." She started to go through them as she mused. "Too popular." There goes Dash. "Too athletic." Kwan was out of the running. "Too nerdy." Game over for Mikey as Dora paused on Tucker when he cut in. "Too-"
"Handsome? Smart? Intelligent?"
"-Annoying." She headed off as the trio behind Sam pumped their fists in please while Sam just smiled to that notion, though she hid it well. Sadly, it also allowed the pair of ghosts to crash in, Danny unwittingly reverting back as Dora sorted through. "Normal, Dull-" Danny screamed in a crash as the executioner's lasso seemed to have released him and he flopped on the stage, but that got Dora's attention as she exclaimed with raised hands before gesturing to the dazed Danny. "You! You're perfect!" Danny was confused as to what he jsut entered himself into while, something else was going on in the Ghost Zone, more exactly within a realm trapped in medieval times...
Danny wasn't even sure what even was going on as a number of girls waved to him as he took everything in, even the banner for a 'Beauty Contest'. "Hi, Danny." He paused when Paulina approached with a dish fill of cookies.
"I baked some cookies for you!"
"I did your math homework!" Star answered as well with a large amount of paper in hand as Danny tried to sway it away.
"Now, ladies... you can't influence the judge with cookies and- whoa!" He took a second look before asking. "Is this homework done all the way through next semester?"
"Mhmm!" Star nodded with a smile as Danny smiled back with a cool look.
"This mildly pleases me." Dash, on the other hand, didn't look pleased as he snatched Danny up and spoke.
"Hey Fentoid! It's only been two hours and I'm already tired of you hogging all the hotties!"
"Dash, I am the judge, I am meant to be cooed over for one of these fine ladies to be chosen as the winner, they are just trying to motivate their victory, speaking of..." Dash frowned as Danny glanced to Cedric who was following behind while Tucker was to Danny's side. "Vice-Judge, I would like to put a bounty of three points on Dash."
"Reasons?"
"To see the commitment of these ladies, let's see how you run, star quarterback."
"Oh... I didn't think that through." He really didn't as he quickly dropped Danny and ran for it as he now had a horde of angry females after him as they shouted.
"GET HIM!" They faded down the hallway as Tucker exclaimed.
"It's like a dream! Every girl totally wants to date us."
"Us?" Danny asked with amuse as Tucker just continued.
"Hey, as the judge's best pal, I'm entitled to a little spillover." He pulled out his PDA to scroll through a number of names when he spoke to the girl beside him. "Want to go out, uh... Ashley?" She was annoyed with that she she retorted.
"Yeah, right!"
"Judge's best friend." Somehow, that worked as she leaned close with hands on his shoulders and a smile.
"Pick you up at seven?"
"Seven." Danny and Cedric rolled their eyes as Ashley headed out as Tucker continued to scroll through the names as he continued.
"That means I should be free around nine for..." His reaction on the landed name and picture was surprise as he exclaimed. "SAM?"
"Yes, Sam." Sam answered form beside them as she answered the large question in the surprise. "I signed up for the stupid pageant." Everyone gasped that the resident goth was applying herself to the pageant before Tucker burst out laughing.
"What is this, April Fools Day? You hate this contest!"
"I'm not doing this to win-" She answered as she pulled the beret over Tucker's face. "I'm doing it to make a statement." She paused before asking the pair of guys there. "Why didn't you laugh as well, you guys?"
"Meh, I have been your best friend for a long time and now I am in a love triangle with you and Topaz." Danny answered with pocketing his hands. "I find you and her very beautiful and very independent, so whatever you are going to do, that is what you are intent on doing."
"Besides, unlike Tucker..." Cedric answered as he continued to check his clipboard and also making a digital chart for the contest. "The two of us will be judging you, based on Dora's guidelines, we have to be non-biased and treat all of this just the same, if we allow emotions to control us like lust or desire, we are no good as judges." Danny nodded as Sam smiled as she spoke.
"Thanks, now time to make a statement..."
"Well, here's a statement." Dora spoke as she gestured to Sam's appearance to the group of girls at the football field. "It says 'I'll never win in this outfit'." Sam glared as Dora continued. "Still, Ms. Manson has a point." The organizer said as she strode across the line of girls as they watched her. "You girls are unique individuals with strong opinions and independent minds."
"You're darn right we are."
"It's my job to make you forget that and mold you into happy little princesses." The girls cheered as Sam just went to displeasure as the first exercise was under way, balancing a book atop your head, except Sam just read the book and caused a domino effect of knocking the books off their heads as Danny mused with Cedric.
"Old-fashioned method of balance and proper stature.
"Yet, it is also worth noting that you need to keep the book ON your head, not be reading it.
"Dating her Saturday." The pair looked at him as he continued to be the pick-up guy. "Dating her Sunday."
"Really...?" Both inquired before Danny's sense went off and the Headsmen erupted form the bleachers to float over the field as Danny exclaimed. "If we live that long!" He glared at Tucker as he continued. "Could you try doing that when I'm a little less popular?!" Cedric followed Danny in jumping into the hole made and both Phantom and Exorcist emerged before blasting the Headsman, catching him in the back. The girls on the field were going over smiles and, of course, Sam tried to make it bad with fanged fake teeth, but Dora was not having it while Danny and Cedric contended with the Headsman before saving a pair of students from a falling tree, but the moment they took their eyes of him, he disappeared as Danny was confused as to what even happened. The girls did the make-up, Sam and Paulina getting countering looks before the walking portion, Sam's combat boots a force to reckon with, but Sam caught a glance of something, it almost looked like red eyes and forked tongue before Dora stormed off and Sam tried to make her concerns known to her friend and 'boyfriend'.
"I'm telling you, there was something weird about Dora."
"Hmmmhmm." Danny hummed as Sam continued.
"Ghostly weird." Sam whispered as Star was massaging Danny's back before he replied.
"Thanks, Star, where did you learn to massage like that?"
"At the Spa, I was so interested in it that I wanted to at least learn how to do it."
"Cedric, two points for Star." Cedric nodded as Danny looked back to Sam. "Look, even if you want me to investigate Dora on 'ghostly past times', I can't without giving rise to suspicion and so far, Dora has been tame, or rather tame unless you accidentally did something wrong in her books." Sam frowned as he continued. "It will be fine, just keep on the down low and try to learn more carefully, as for me and Cedric, we have judge duties that need doing right now, see ya!" Cedric nodded to her as the pair headed off. Sam sighed before she smiled with a answer.
"I'm glad we had this chat, you guys." They took a seat with Paulina for comments, Tucker TRIED to get a recording of the speech before Cedric just pulled out his pen and pierced the device to Tucker's fear as he spoke.
"Foley, we talked about this, you want to be demoted as female beat target number two?"
"N-No...!" Danny's ghost sense went off as he spoke.
"Looks like we have bigger things to handle." Students ran for it as a barrage of arrows flew across the room as an archer ghost fired, Danny leaping behind a cutout to block the arrows at him while Cedric just maneuvered before both changed and Danny called out. "Where's Talia and Topaz, they should also being helping us out here."
"I know, but for some reason, they were not around to help deal with these ghosts, like a code of honor or something, honestly, I'll ask them when I find them." Danny nodded as a pair of arrows came for them and they caught them as he uttered a single word.
"Ha!" He stopped as both of them had dynamite on them before Danny continued. "Dynamite, aren't you a little TOO medieval to be using a western tool of excavation?"
"Doesn't matter here." Both were blasted into the wall as the room was emptied as Paulina spoke to the slumped Phantom.
"I'm still totally into you, but I can't let Danny Fenton know. He's the judge with his friend." She screamed with resuming the run as Cedric commented.
"That was weird..."
"Yep." Both primed and fired, launching the archer out before arriving as they blasted at it. "Dude, you're seriously cutting into my very limited, girls are flirting with ME time." The archer got out of the way before barraging them once more, Cedric deploying a shield to block the shots as Danny got pin into the billboard before he phased through and came form behind to snatch the quiver of arrows form the ghosts as he mocked. "Ha! You're not so tough without your arrows!"
"You rid his arrows, not his ability to hurt you." That was added to a strike with the bow as Danny moaned as the archer picked him up.
"Now he tells me..." He was then used like an arrow and flung into the steps, reverting back as he watched the archer just flee, Cedric bolting over to his friend, instead of giving pursuit, as he mused. "I don't know why these spooks are going all medieval on us, but I'm gonna find out." He stopped as a pair of girls greeted them and he switched back over, intent on keeping the cover for now. "As soon as this pageant is over." Danny was lifted up while Cedric paused as he raised a hand, he getting a link and seeing it too on his visor, it was Dora, looking... at Danny in the ring as she exclaimed.
"You see? The boy is distracted. The ring masks me from his ghost sense, he suspects nothing." The image changed to a blue-skinned princeling as he scolded Dora.
"Which is more than I can say about the girl!" Cedric didn't look the looks of him right now as he scoffed. "Perhaps next time, you should just walk up to her and scream 'I'M A GHOST'!" The image changed to Dora getting her foot stomped on and Cedric could see the change as well as Dora pleaded with the princeling.
"Please! Please forgive me, brother! I didn't think-"
"You're not suppose to think! You're suppose to keep it away from the ghost boy until show time! So DO IT!" Sam saw it all, but Cedric spoke to the hidden face, who was hiding in the rafters.
"Talia?"
"Indeed." The genie Demi answered in a whisper. "And it would seem that we have found our source and its holder. The prince is Prince Aragon, Heir of the Aragon Realm within the Infinite Realms and the ring is the Observer's Eye, a ghost relic that can coat a ghost in human form and disguise them from any form of ghost sensor."
"So what are you and Topaz going to do?" Talia watched as Dora headed off for the contest as she spoke, Topaz nodding as well.
"Topaz and I will be making our way to Aragon, we will need to blend in and discover Aragon's plans before it becomes dangerous for us all. Be warned, Aragon is a realm trapped in medieval times, so any technology from the modern world will be useless to fight him."
"Doesn't explain the TNT..." Cedric glanced to Danny as he was guided in. "Alright, I'll keep an eye out here, love you and be careful."
"Please, a harem dancer and a musician into a kingdom of male dominance, we will be fine, Cedric, and... love you too." The link cut and Cedric huffed as he looked ot the sky, hoping to see the pair heading for Fenton Works for the Portal.
'Be careful...'
Tucker tried to muse on their final date-able time as Danny shook his head before Sam quickly approached him in exclaim. "Danny! Don't go out there. Dora is..."
"An insult to modern women? A throwback to the dark ages?" His ghost sense went off as the executioner returned as Danny mused bitterly. "And speaking of dark ages..." Danny took off to go ghost and chased the executioner as Sam tried to call out.
"Danny, wait!" But someone stopped her and she exclaimed to Dora there. "Miss Mattingly! I didn't hear you!"
"You'd be surprised how dainty your footsteps can be, when you don't wear combat boots!" She shouted before calming down and taking Sam's wrist as she spoke. "Come, we mustn't miss the pageant." Cedric glanced to Dora before he resumed working as Danny called out to the executioner.
"You know, I was really hoping we could bury the hatchet!" The ghost hurled his axe as Danny dodged and called out. "Miss!" But the axe stopped and spun right on back as Danny continued. "Or... perhaps not." He flew with the axe flying after him before he went intangible and slipped through a billboard for the axe to get stuck in as he called out. "Later, dude, it's been a slice." He shouldn't have closed his eyes as a series of arrows pinned him in a net as he groaned. "Okay, well, it's official, I'm all out of axe puns." He grimaced as the two ghosts made their way to him while, back at the contest, Lancer tried to sing as the girls walked in their gowns while Sam pleaded with Dora.
"Miss Mattingly? I realized I'm not cut out to be a princess, so I'll just be going..."
"Nowhere..." Dora answered with snatching Sam's arm before her amulet...
"Oh my gosh... I'm REALLY in trouble now..." Sam exclaimed as the amulet was too familiar as Dora shifted into the blue dragon that she turned into once and it belonging to someone that Cedric was familiar with, Princess Dorathea.
Back with Danny, the executioner raised his axe before stopping in surprise as Danny pleaded. "Wait! Don't I get a trial? A phone call? A last request? Come on, cut me some slack!" He paused with a smile. "Hey! Another axe pun!" The bell tower rang out and the ghosts abandoned the fight as Danny powered the net off before he exclaimed. "Oh man! I'm late for the pageant!" He took flight and arrived to judge as Cedric whispered to him.
"You're late!"
"Sorry, I got caught up with the Headsman and his archery buddy. Where's Topaz and Talia?"
"They said they would be investigating those ghosts, they are currently in the Ghost Zone." He nodded as the talents went on, but all of it was something anyone could do with proper training before it was Sam's turn and she spoke.
"I'm Sam Manson and my happy princess talent is..." Dora gave an evil look with her dragon eyes as Sam finished. "...Goth Haiku." And thus, she went into it. "Despair without end. Dora's a ghost! Utter blackness, nothingness. Dora's a ghost! DORA IS A GHOST!" Danny just shook his head as he spoke in a huff.
"So that's your big statement? Dora's a ghost? I mean what... wait! Dora's a ghost?" He booked it as Cedric followed, saving the results for later as Lancer spoke in his bard attire.
"Good sire judges, how thou made thy decision?"
"SAM!"
"Yay verily, let it be proclaimed that the Happy Princess Crown shall be decreed to... Sam!? Are you unwell?" But that was not the reason as the spotlight hit Sam and all stopped as the pair of Dora and Sam arose into the air on a platform.
"SAM! NO!" But it was too late as she was fitted with the crown and a green light filled the area before they disappeared, Danny aghast that he just dropped his girl into the clutches of some evil ghost while Topaz and Talia, now in more medieval attire, blended into the crowd as Aragon made his decree.
"My loyal subjects, at long last, the wait is over! Your prince has finally selected his bride!" He turned to the cheers of his people as Sam appeared in front of Dorathea as she caught the last part and exclaimed.
"Bride!?"
She was soon trapped in a tower as Dorathea mused. "Oh, cheer up, dear. You're going to be a princess!"
"Cheer up!?" Sam exclaimed as she was being fitted with something. "I'm hauled off to the Ghost Zone and about to be married off to a stranger!" The corset fitting was tight as Dorathea worked on it as Sam continued, swiping Dora away before trying to leave, only for the crown to stop her as it formed a field and blasted her back as she continued her rant. "Oh, and let's not forget about this lovely feature to my crown, it won't come off!" She tried to pull it off as Dora laughed.
"It's no use, child. Only Prince Aragon can remove the tiara, you are bound to him forever." Sam dusted herself off as Dora continued. "Isn't that wonderful?" She raised a brow to Sam's denial as she spoke.
"Well, Prince Aragon need to get his head out of the middle ages! It's the Twenty-first Century."
"Not here." Sam's eyes in confusion as Dora explained. "In this realm, all time stands still. Not that you care, but this is no fun for me either. I have to make you a princess or the prince with have my head." Sam hummed before a pink dress was dropped on her by two ladies in waiting and Dora sighed. "We're doomed." Neither of them noticed as Sam's right arm, hidden under the dress folds suddenly pulsed green and started to creep like vines across her arm.
While in the Real World, where the trio would have been facing a horde of angry girls for the wrong choice, all were brought low as Danny SHOUTED with authority that he was TRYING to save Sam from a ghost and that his decision was NOT influenced by emotions, they parting and agreeing to postpone the results until Danny returned with Sam, the trio taking the Specter Speeder into the Ghost Zone as he huffed. "This is pointless. We don't even know if Sam is IN the Ghost Zone!" The Speeder countered that as it spoke up.
"Real World Item detected." They glanced to an image of Sam as Cedric pointed out.
"It must be her watch."
"And now we do." The Speeder headed in a direction and they gasped to the size of the door there as Cedric spoke.
"That must be one of the domains of the Ghost Zone, the Kingdom of Aragon."
"Wait, how do you know, Cedric?"
"I researched..." They passed through as Cedric continued. "And we should be lucky that technology got us this far."
"Good old-fashion technology." But the Speeder shut down and they dropped like a rock as Danny asked.
"The times here are frozen in the medieval ages and any tech shuts down because of it?"
"Yep..." They glanced to Tucker as they spoke as one.
"You are an idiot here." They skidded across the waters of the river before crashing in the woods, Cedric still conscious as he made to shift to a comfortable spot to recover a bit more, his armor receding and encasing again to his smile, tech doesn't work, but anything ecto-plasmic powered just gave him free range.
Back up at the Castle, Sam winced as a glass slipper was put on.
"OW!" She breathed before asking Dora bout the whole thing. "Why does the prince want to marry a human anyway?" Dora answered it.
"My brother wants to possess that which no-one else has, a human bride. That's why he forced me to make your friend friend the judge, surely a half-ghost would select the perfect human bride." Sam exclaimed with standing up on the glass slippers.
"You got to be kidding. That makes about as much sense as..." The glass slipper didn't stand for it any more and shattered as Dora huffed with broom and dust pan somehow.
"Glass slippers?" She sighed in swooping the pieces up. "I know." He reached the door and glared at Sam. "But the prince always gets what he wants." She left the room as Sam huffed.
"Oh really?" She glanced to the table and beamed as she found the ink. "Then I'll just have to be what he doesn't want." She reached for the ink before something else stopped her, the room growing humid as a voice echoed in her mind and she dropped to the ground gripping her head, the green pulsing under her sleeve.
"At lASt!" The trio of boys shook themselves awake as Tucker inquired.
"What... happened?" Danny glanced back to Tucker as he answered, having heard Cedric explain that the Exorcist is unaffected by the realm as it is not powered by modern tech, but by ecto-energy.
"The ship just stopped working, just like Cedric said." Tucker held up his PDA as he moaned.
"My PDA too! What is this place, some kind of tech-free zone?" Danny spotted a poster and tore it off the tree as he exclaimed.
"Oh man, we've got bigger problems!" Back at the castle, Sam groaned as the air was somehow killing her, gripping her chest as the voice continued.
"afTER AlL THIS tiMe, MY pOwEr Has FOunD aN HeIr." The dress started to tear apart as Sam whined in pain, the room changing as her body was summoning something and the outside of the castle saw a current of vines and plants surged up and through the tower before finding her as she plead.
"What... the heck is..."
"DEnyIng yOUR BirtHRIGht, ChilD, IT maTTErs liTTlE, YOU haVe NO conTRoL, NOt In a FIRst AwaKENinG." She tried to find her voice before it was too late, she screamed and the plants surged, all of the ghosts yelping and running as the castle shook to the frenzy of pants and growth, Aragon himself howled as the forces and peasants shattered to the onslaught.
"What is going on in my kingdom, who dares attack this place!" Dora stumbled on her way to Sam to find out where this power of plants was coming from as she caught sight of her brother enraged, transform into his black dragon form and besiege the plants to destroy them, but they drove him out and bashed him for each step he tried to take before she arrived and she gasped, Sam was in misery as she glanced to Dora, but only one eye was still violet and dripping with tears, the other was an orb of green and a figure started to shift from the vines and roots in the room as Dora cupped her mouth in disbelief and shock.
"Oh, Ancients... Not here, not now...!" She bolted away as the figure laughed with heart as Danny, Cedric and Tucker made trek before the whole ground shook and they exclaimed.
"What was...!"
"What the...!"
"That wasn't me...!"
"Cedric, Danny, Tucker!" They looked up as Topaz and Talia arrived, Talia landing before rushing into Cedric's arms as he exclaimed.
"Talia, what's going on, what is...!"
"It's bad, VERY bad." Topaz answered as she landed and breathed, hand to her chest as she tried to pace herself. "We were in the castle, trying to figure out a way to get Sam out of there, despite the crown only being able to be removed by the blood of Aragon, when the whole place shook, we heard Sam scream, but we couldn't get to her in time when the town, the castle, everything there was consumed in roots and plants." Their eyes widened and they took off to the castle to see it being covered in plants before Danny exclaimed.
"Uh, guys, what is that?" They turned to where he was pointing and sure enough, something was forming from the plants fighting a back dragon, slow, but it was sure as Talia stumbled back in surprise and shock.
"N-No, it's impossible... he was banished, removed from his power!"
"Talia! TALIA!" Cedric exclaimed as the Demi looked at him as he shouted. "What is that, exactly!?"
"That... that..." She gripped onto Cedric, Topaz even surprised as there was a look of pure terror in her eyes. "That is Pariah's Master of the Lands, his creation to create beings equal to that of the Ancients when he arose to power, that is Undergrowth!"
"Undergrowth!?" Topaz exclaimed as the figure fought the black dragon in the skies. "I thought that Undergrowth was a kiddy ghost's story, to scare ghosts into slumber in their own homes!?"
"No... he is real, real and a monster." Cedric rubbed her back and she breathed easier in the medieval garb. "...Undergrowth is known as the Dark Master of the Lands, Pariah created his essence to be that of the ground so that no resistance would come from the land or underground to strike at him. He devotes himself to being the master of all life and that is all of the plants that we have come to know, it covers the world as trees, grass, plants, all living plant life." Indeed, the trees started to gain more life form the dead bark as Talia spoke once more. "I just... don't understand, he was banished by the Ancients to never haunt the realms of the Infinite Realms again, how is he here now!?" Cedric looked before he gripped tight and answered.
"Because he isn't..." All looked at him as he spoke, releasing Talia and stopping to look at the battle and the plants forming and reforming. "It must be... It has to be..." He nodded as he turned to the members. "Come on, we need to hit up the castle, my theory will be wrong if we don't check it out!"
"You want us to go in there!?" Topaz shouted and Cedric nodded before she gave in and nodded. "Got it, I'm not happy about going, but we don't have much to lose here." Talia regained her focus and nodded as well.
"Yes, this couldn't be the real figure, it must be some form of echo, we must find the source of its power."
"Let's not forget Sam, she is still trapped in there."
"Of course we will." Five bolted in, Danny and Tucker getting some armor on to protect them a bit better before they started to blaze through the thicket and plants, ghosts paying them little heed as they pressed on, Talia leading the way.
"This way, Sam was brought to the moot tower to await her arrangement." But they were halted as more covered the passages and Cedric grimaced.
"We can clear this out, but how are we going to help Sam, what even set this off?"
"The tiara..." All froze and turned to Dorathea floating there, having spotted them and followed as she spoke. "The tiara is a one-way portal into the Ghost Zone and it binds the one wearing it to the eldest of the Aragon bloodline, but I didn't realize that something else was awakened."
"I don't think any of us expected this to happen, Dorathea." Cedric answered, Danny wary of Dora since it was likely she was the one hosting the contest. "We need to find her and undo this before anymore gets out of hand, I take it your brother is the one getting his butt kicked out there."
"Indeed." She nodded as she spoke once more. "We must hurry, who knows what damages will remain if we linger anymore." They rushed to the room burned away the plants to find Sam, silently screaming as it seemed like the green was taking over before the pair of Danny and Cedric rushed over, Danny gripping her right arm while Cedric had her left.
Talia turned to Dorathea and inquired. "Can't you remove the tiara, your brother is out there and I know we can't depend on him, don't you have the same power as him, a princess is much more than smiling, looking pretty, and living happily ever after." Dora frowned as she took her amulet in hand. "Your brother has ruled this realm with an iron hand, shouldn't you make a change, make it better, no one wants to remain under the sway of darkness."
"True, we do share the same power..." The thought entered and stayed as she exclaimed. "Which means I should be able to do..." She rushed over before gripping the tiara. "THIS!" She started to pull as the skull cracked before she pulled it free and Sam gasped as the figure shouted.
"NoooOOOOoooo!" The plants started to recede and Sam toppled, her clothing changed to a black dress with violet highlights, a green-violet leotard underneath it before he eyes fluttered to life, one violet pupil and one lime-green pupil as she whispered.
"Danny...?"
"Shush, it's okay, Sam, you're okay..." She dozed off as Aragon recovered and roared, spotting the group on the town.
"THAT IS MY BRIDE YOU TOUCH, MONGREL!" Cedric was the first to react to the charging dragon as he took flight and punched the side of the incoming beast, knocking it aside and into the woods as he shouted.
"Then perhaps it is time that SOMEONE dethrone you!" He took the fight to the beast as the party gathered around Sam, Topaz holding a flame to her, Talia hold a wind to her, and Danny's touch was like ice as Dorathea spoke.
"It would seem that power drained it too much, she will need to be healed carefully and that means that none of you will be able to move from this point."
"Then what are we going to do about Aragon?" Dora wore a determined look as she spoke.
"I think it is time that this princess to stop dreaming and starting doing!" She leapt out of the window to let her amulet empower her into her dragon form and took flight to fight her brother, Cedric crashing, getting pinning as Aragon exclaimed.
"You maggot, your death will be slow and painful!" He made to chomp Cedric before a blast of fire knocked him to the side as Dora arrived, he exclaimed in rage. "DORA, YOU IMBECILE! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"What I should have done ages ago!" She blasted him again and landed as she started to rant. "Sixteen hundred years of doing your bidding! Sixteen hundred years of suffering your insults! Sixteen hundred years of...!" Her jaw was clasped shut as Aragon emerged form the fires to yell, Cedric breathed before he channeled his power again.
"Those fools that dared to steal my bride has been filling your head with their modern ideas! You think that I will...!"
"YEAH!" Both turned as a empowered fist clashed with Aragon's face as the form of energy Cedric used, but now towered on equal ground as them. "YOU WILL BEND, THIS REALM HAS SEEN ENOUGH OF YOUR GREED AND YOUR WRATH!" Aragon growled before he gasped, in the center of the being was a cog with the initials of 'CW'.
"Th-That emblem! Impossible! Clockwork would never...!" His throat was grabbed and the being lifted as he continued.
"CLOCKWORK ISN'T HERE, YOU FACE THE ARCHON!" He tossed and clapped, dazing the dragon before ripping the amulet off, reverting him back to normal as Dora took flight and circled before she spoke, taking the flames away from the landscape that he had destroyed.
"I think it's time we took this realm out of the dark ages." The Archon dropped Aragon onto the ground as Dorathea blazed away the darkened skies as the party looked up to the light steaming through as he yelped.
"What is that?"
"Time moving forward and you have a lot of catching up to do." Danny answered as they gathered themselves and headed out, even saving some ghostly ladies in waiting from suffering the Foley. Dorathea watched as the Specter Speeder headed out while her brother was locked up for now, her thoughts went elsewhere and she personally made a letter for Clockwork as she pondered something.
'Lord Clockwork, I have reason to believe that Undergrowth is alive somewhere and I ask that we take the proper measures to stop him, also we must find his counterpart as well before they do more damage...'
The pageant was back underway as Danny spoke. "I would like to announce the Miss Teenage Happy Princess Winner, many of you thought I chose Sam, but that is false, I apologize for that." He cleared his throat before reading the results. "And thus, the princess of our contest is...!" He gasped and everyone looked to him in surprise as he spoke. "I don't believe this upset, Star Strong is the winner of the contest by ONE point!" All gasped as Star was also in shock, Paulina just the same as she shouted.
"How... how is that possible!?"
"I don't know, Cedric was making the point system and Paulina is at thirty four while Star is at thirty five." All cheered in awe as well as the other members of the contest, even Paulina, before Danny added. "But, wait, Cedric also left a message for the winner." He cleared his throat as he spoke again to their attention. "For any girl wanting to take the crown, even in last place, for a single day, all they must do is 'destroy' the five point target." They looked confused before Danny finished. "And the target's identity is..." He unfolded the paper and raised it high in the air. "Tucker Foley!"
"WHAT!?" The African techie grimaced at the red-eyed demons glancing back at him as Danny finished reading.
"From Sunday to Saturday, for two weeks, Tucker Foley will be assigned five points to be taken down, he can only be taken down ONCE and he MUST admit it publicly, so..." Danny smirked as Tucker's cool guy act was now getting its payback. "I suggest you start running, Tucker."
"DUDE!" He yelped as they took after him and Danny folded the parchment, swiftly putting the crown on Star before turning to Sam as she asked.
"Want to get a double veggie-veggie at the Nasty Burger?"
"My treat, Sam, let's go, Tucker is going to 'pay for his misconduct as a 'wing-man of a judge'. So yeah." His screams echoed into the night as the pair headed off, the new vine tattoo pulsing softly with Sam's new green eye, what a tale to talk about now at Fenton Works...
