Chapter 12
Phantom is silent when he enters the main tent but Freakshow still turns around to greet him. He's been waiting.
"Ooooohh," he leers. "King Phantom! It's so wonderful to finally have you in my presence."
Phantom doesn't respond. He stares at Freakshow, his eyes glowing a bright red. They were the same shade as his staff.
"You know," Freakshow said with a sigh. His smile turned into a grimace as he gripped his weapon harder. "You ruined my life. You defeated me, and threw me in jail. For years I rotted at the bottom of the food chain. People called me a circus freak, forced me to do tricks for them. But you, you went on living. You didn't think about me again after you threw me in prison. You never thought twice about ruining my life!"
As he spoke, his voice rose higher and higher, fueled by anger and resentment. Phantom stood there listening with a blank expression on his face.
"Kneel," Freakshow hisses. Phantom does so, with the slightest bit of hesitation. It doesn't go unnoticed by Freakshow.
As soon as Phantom is down on one knee, Freakshow pulls his knee back and send his foot into Phantom's face as hard as he can. Phantom flies back, hits his head on the ground, ectoplasm leaking from his nose. Freakshow walks over, his staff glowing brighter.
"Listen, little ghoul," Freakshow says as he kneels down. He places his knee right over Phantom's throat, pressing down ever so softly. "Don't try to fight. Because if you do," he leans down, placing more pressure on Phantom's throat. If he wasn't a ghost he would probably be worrying about air. "I'll end you."
Freakshow stands up, grabbing Phantom's icy crown as he did so.
"What is this crown for?" He asks, looking it over. He can feel the cold through his gloves.
"It's my sign of power," Phantom replies. His voice is far away, with a slight echo to it.
"Power? What are you, prince?"
"I am King Phantom, ruler of ghosts."
Freakshow's eyes widen as he turns back around to Danny. "King of ghosts, you say?" He asks. Phantom nods. "So, if I were to command you, I could command the others."
"The ghosts take after my personality. They are able to say no."
"Not if I use this," he holds up the staff. "With you under my control, I can have both of these worlds."
As Freakshow fell into a cackling mess, Danny watched. And a part of him on the inside hurt. His chest was in physical pain.
Don't let him do this! A voice in his head yelled at him. Is it his voice? His thoughts? It sounds familiar, but he can't quite place it. He wanted to listen to it. Something about it felt right. But when he looked at Freakshow's staff, that voice in his head was drowned out.
He rubbed at his chest. The pain was slowly starting to grow, and it was uncomfortable.
Freakshow watched him for a moment before coming up and putting a hand on his face. He made Danny look down into his beady red eyes.
"If you fail me, Phantom," he snarled, "I will not only destroy you, but everyone you love as well. Now," a wide grin spread across his face. "Summon them."
Danny nodded, and opened up several portals around them. He held out his hands, and they pulsed with green energy.
He stood there for hours on end, pulsing and waiting, until finally swarms of ghosts showed up. As soon as they would start arriving, Freakshow would put them under his control.
He cackled as more and more ghosts started pouring into the tent. And this wasn't even a fraction of them.
"Go," he told them. "Go, and get Amity Park ready for me!"
The ghosts mimicked his cackling as they flew up in a spiral, leaving the tent in a frenzy.
"Don't stop until I have every last ghost under my control," he snarled. Danny remained motionless, but he did continue to do as he was told.
Clockwork watched his screens as the tent filled with green. He only knew where Danny was by the glowing red eyes, and he frowned.
Outside of his windows, there was a swirling green mass that was not the sky, but Danny's loyal subjects coming to him. Clockwork could feel the pull as well. He was powerful, but there was no way he was going to be able to resist the King's Call for very long. And he knows that once he's out of that portal, he'll be under Freakshow's control, just like all of the others.
He sighed as his form shifted to an infant. He would not interfere, because he knew what would most likely happen next. He trusted Daniel, and he trusted the Avengers. They are going to find him.
But for Daniel, it will be at a great cost.
He will lose his peace of mind. He will lose an old relationship for the rest of his afterlife, but he will gain a new one soon after this.
But he may lose his life.
But Clockwork knew, even as he felt himself being pulled out of his tower and in with the other ghosts, that even if his life was on the line, for Daniel it was worth it.
Because Daniel would sacrifice everything for his people.
