Chapter Twelve: The Tale of the Rogues

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Well hello, my fellow DP fan, welcome back to the Phantom Saga. I am sorry about last chapter, not being up to my usual quality, I didn't to get into a lengthy court room scene and all that, and to be honest, I had the second half with Walker more planned out for longer that the first part, so, it happens, but hopefully this one is much better. Enjoy.

Anyway, On with the Show:

Soon after Danny had left the Warden's office, Walker's communicator went off. A look of puzzlement crossed Walker's face, as it was only a rare thing that the Council had reason to talk more than once a week, except for recently when Skulker was filling them in on information he had learned. He checked the hailing frequency to see which of the Council was calling, to his surprise, it was not the Hunter, who served as leader. It was the lovebirds, "odd," he said to himself, then he activated it, answering the hail, "Rogue three checking in, what's going on, Rogues 7 and 8?"

"We need to talk, about what we learned about Danny's evil counterpart," Kitty said.

"Want to meet in person?" Desiree asked.

"It would be best if we did," Kitty said.

"I have to finish the paperwork to finalize booking Plasmius, if you want to come down to my prison, we can talk in my office," Walker offered.

Then the voice of the Hunter came over the comms, "your paperwork can wait, this seems more important, considering how distressed I can tell Kitty is about this information."

"Is that an order, Skulker?" Walker's tone shifted, he hated when Skulker did this.

"Yes, it is," Skulker confirmed. Walker knew he had to submit to his superior's order, despite the fact that he and Rogue Two was once locked up in Walker's prison. Especially since he was trying to get the council recognized as legitimate form of government for the Zone.

"Alright, I'll be there," Walker cut off his end. Turning to his PA microphone, he summoned Bullet to his office.

"Yes, Warden?" Bullet asked as he walked into the office.

"I have business to attend to, you are in charge until I get back," Walker said as he stood from his desk.

"Yes, Sir," Bullet acknowledged.

"Oh, and keep your feet off my desk," Walker said as he headed out.

When he arrived at the usual meeting spot, he noticed that everyone was standing in a circle around the love birds rather than sitting in their chairs. "About time you got here," Technus remarked.

"Unlike most of you, I have a regular job to do," Walker said shortly, "what happened?"

"So the other day when we went to meet with Danny, he told us about his evil counterpart, and how he came to be and what happens to all of us in that future that does not exist now, but may as long as that ghost is still alive," Kitty started. Then she told them what Danny said, "Johnny is crippled and in a wheelchair, I don't really know what happens to me, just I became a bitter old woman, Skulker, you and Technus fuse to become stronger, to be able to face him," the Hunter and the Master of Technology looked at each other, in question. Neither needed to say what they were thinking, as both of them still had their own egos that currently wouldn't allow for them to join together. "Walker, you are out of commission, whatever that means, Ember, you let yourself go to seed after Dan uses an ability called a Ghost Wail to destroy your vocal chords, so you can't sing anymore," Ember clutched her throat out of instinct. "Spectra, you apparently are fine, as you were his girlfriend for some time, until you broke up with him after he destroyed Ember's vocal chords," Spectra crossed her arms in thought. "Box Ghost apparently got buff," Box Ghost remarked that he needed to start working out. "Most of the rest of you are dead and gone or rather destroyed entirely, everyone, except Desiree, that I haven't mentioned already is gone. Although, apparently, Dan didn't get to you, Lunch Lady, until some point after you and Box Ghost had a kid." Both future parents just looked at each other.

"What happens to me?" Desiree asked.

"Danny said that when he asked his counterpart that question, his only response was to smile a wicked, evil smile which conveyed his meaning," Kitty said. Desiree shivered in disgust, she felt violated.

"Well, what do we do now," Technus asked.

Skulker crossed his arms in deep thought, trying to process the information that Kitty had provided them with. When a plan had formed in his mind, "I think we need to pay the time master a visit, to confirm whether this information is true, and go from there," he said, the others agreed that it was a good idea, that way they can plan their retribution on the dark one from what he has or rather has yet to do to them.

As they flew to the Clocktower, their minds were racing in different ways, from horror and anger to a desire for justice and vengeance. When they arrived that the Clocktower, they slowly crept through the realm, wary that the dark spirit they had heard about would jump out at them, "Lord Clockwork?" Skulker called out.

"In my Observing room," the Lord of Time called back to them. As the group entered Clockwork's observation room, they saw the time master watching something on his time viewer, not even turning around to see them, "So, you now have learned the truth, about Daniel's evil counterpart, and have come to question me, go ahead, and ask what you have come to ask me," Clockwork said.

"Is it true that all this happened, or will?" Ember asked, her voice a bit shaky.

"Yes," he said to their horror, "and no, as the timeline that it happened in no longer exists, as I told you a few days ago. Dan now exist outside of time, and so, in some ways, that future may come to pass still, but not exactly as it had the first time, not if I have anything to say about it."

"Why do you allow him to continue to exist, if he such a danger, not just your ward, but to all of us as well," Spectra asked the question most of them were wondering.

Clockwork sighed, and shifted to his older form, "I did not want to have to reveal this, but Daniel and Dan must meet in a final battle, on an appointed day at an appointed time, to decide the fate of all worlds, Human and Ours," The Lord of Time told them, with solemn voice.

"Armageddon," Johnny said, flabbergasted in realization of what Clockwork meant.

"The End of the World," Ember said shocked.

"Judgment Day," Desiree said, in horror.

"Indeed, Judgment Day," Clockwork confirmed their fears, "Dan only lives now so that time can keep moving toward it, but once the fated day arrives, then he will not be needed once the battle is over. I will tell you I have a plan to sway things in Daniel's favor," the time master told them, trying to allay some fears, as he shifted form again.

"What happens when either of them win?" Skulker asked.

"Well, if Dan wins, Daniel is dead, the Earth and Ghost Zone will be devastated by his reign of terror, and what you know of the alternate future may come to pass. If Daniel wins, well, everything will turn out okay," Clockwork said, but to himself he added, 'and I will crown him King.'

"But don't you interfere with time to protect it so that things turn out the way they should turn out, as in everything turns out okay, why not avert that day," Ember asked.

"It has become a fixed point in time, and no, this is not one that can be rewritten, believe me, I would have done so already if I could," Clockwork's voice had a levity to it that conveyed that he was unable to do anything about the coming battle.

Then there was a sound of a dark laugh that sent a chill down the backs of every Rogue's Gallery member, even though they had never heard it before. "Well, well, well, what have we have here, a full reunion," the voice of the dark spirit came from the other side of the room, everyone turned to see the crimson eyes of Dan Phantom, and even the most stalwart among them were filled with a fear that could not explain, as even Skulker was chilled to the blob, Youngblood tried to hide himself behind a few of the others. As the dark spirit walked toward them, with an evil smirk on his face, his eyes shifted over all of them, some were held with a sick glee in his eyes, that caused some to shrink from his glare. "Ember, how's your voice? Johnny, how's the legs, Box Ghost, how's the kid, since you had to become a single father," the dark spirit taunted, his snake tongue showing as he laughed., his voice was haunting.

He stopped in his tracks looking at Spectra, "Penelope," the name slipped from the ghost's lips. One of the rogues pushed the named ghost to the front.

"I will never be your girlfriend, now that I know what you did to my friends," Spectra said, Kitty and Ember shared a look, considering that Spectra is not one to consider others as friends.

Dan's face shriveled up in anger, "If you will not willingly be mine, then you will be by force," Dan snarled.

"Dan! Enough, now away with you," Clockwork commanded. The Dark Spirit huffed and left the room. When he was gone, Clockwork sighed, and shifted into his older form, giving the impression of the effect that Clockwork was dealing with a lot of stuff and it is weighing on him. "You weren't supposed to meet him until Christmas, but now you have met him. You now see what I am worried about."

"What is your plan," Walker asked, his southern drawl in full effect, as he crossed his arms.

"That I can not say, for fear that he may overhear it, but rest assured, I have everything in hand, relatively," Clockwork answered, though he himself, was a bit concerned about the coming battle, as he could not interfere with it. "Is there anything else you needed?" he asked, wanting them to leave so he could get back to what he was doing.

"Will me and the Lunch Lady still have a kid together?" Box Ghost asked.

Clockwork smirked a bit, "its possible, but who am I to say?" he said a bit snarky, "one should not know too much about their own future after all," he turned serious, "now if there is nothing else, leave me to my work," Clockwork turned back to his time viewing portal. The Rogues quietly left the realm, in various states of unease.

Clockwork thought to himself, 'they will have a part to play in all of this, I will put them to work if I must,' a sense of dread overcame him, he raised his scepter toward the time portal to see what caused his distress, what he saw was not comforting, he saw Danny struggling to get to his feet, seriously hurt, and weak, but as he looked for the ghost that caused it, he only saw the Fright Knight. A look of confusion crossed his face, the Knight was powerful, sure, but Daniel has grown in strength greatly, "unless the Knight got the drop on him, there is no way that he could reduce Danny to such a state," he said to himself. Something didn't feel right, like there was something he could not see, which worried him, as there were very few ghosts that he could not see in his time viewer and one of which was in trapped in his tower, and three of the remaining others were his old friends. "Perhaps I need to pay the Knight a visit," he resolved to do so immediately. "Dan!" he called out, "I am leaving, don't do anything stupid while I am gone," he ordered.

"Not like I can do much around here anyway," Clockwork heard Dan huff out that response in bitterness. He ignored the other ghosts' tone and then left, to have a little chat with the Master of Fright.

With the Rogues

As they left the Clocktower, they were quiet, as that encounter left them uneasy, so what they had been told was true, and they had met the dark spirit they had been told about which in itself was a bit of haunting thing, when they were far enough away, they stopped on a floating rock to talk.

"That was unpleasant," Poindexter said, who hadn't spoken up in a bit.

"Yeah, that a bit too scary," Youngblood agreed.

"I now see why we joined together, Skulker," Technus said, the Hunter just nodded slightly, in his mind, ideas were turning, as things were seemingly starting to spin out of control.

When he finally spoke, he asked the question everyone was thinking, "what do we do now," he was bit demoralized, just as the rest of them were.

Kitty spoke up, "I think we should back the winning horse as it were, I think it is we all bury our grudges with Danny and move on, as it seems that he is our only hope to see our futures unscathed," she knew some of them would not like it, but she felt it was the right course.

"As much as I am loathe to admit it, I think she is right," Skulker said, his good leadership skills coming into play, some of the council looked at him with incredulous looks, "take what ever time you need to think it through, and make your peace with him, with Judgment Day looming, it is time we pick our side, and I would prefer the Whelp winning over his dark self, any day," Skulker advised/ordered them to do so.

"This is shaping up to be another Pariah Dark situation," Technus remarked.

"Except this Dan Phantom is far worse than Pariah ever was," Spectra said, surprising the group, "the King have been a horrible tyrant, but even he had his limits, lines he wouldn't cross, this one has no boundaries. Dark wanted to rule, sure he did destroy our homes, but there was a point behind it, to send a message, to submit to his rule or be destroyed. This one will destroy for the sake of destruction, I am now wondering how I even managed to be his girlfriend, did I even temper his rage at all?" Spectra wondered, also her training in psychology was showing.

"Alright, we have had long day, let us think on things and let us not meet fully until all of us have paid the boy a visit, dismissed," Skulker concluded and everyone went their own ways.

At Pariah's Keep

Clockwork floated down the halls of the ancient fortress keep that few dared to tread. Entering the Throne Room, Clockwork looked up at the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, "Never again," Clockwork muttered to himself, turning his gaze elsewhere in the room, he saw a pumpkin with a green sword sticking out of it. A grim look on his face, Clockwork grabbed the sword's hilt and gently pulled it out of the pumpkin. As the tip was drawn out, the pumpkin exploded and where it once was stood the Spirit of Halloween: The Fright Knight.

"Who dares to draw the blade of horror from its resting spot, to awaken the Lord of Fright?" Fright Knight bellowed, confused as no one was standing in front of him. He heard a throat clear from behind him. Fright Knight turned around to see the Master of Time floating there. "Time Master," he said with a slight bow of his head, "My sword, if you please," Clockwork stuck Soul Shredder into the floor back, instead of handing it to its master, the Fright Knight took the hint that this was not a social call "What are you doing here, and why did you awaken me?"

"Because I was viewing future events after a group of the regular foes of my ward visited me, and a sense of dread came over me, I looked into the future and all I saw was Daniel, very hurt, weak, struggling to get to his feet, and the only ghost I saw there was you, but you were not the focus," Clockwork said, a bit accusatory, as he circled the master of fears.

"Well, I mean, that seems a likely scenario…" the Fright Knight began, kind of put off by the gaze of the Lord of Time on him as he circled him.

"You turned on Pariah Dark in the end, aiding the opposition, and now I ask you to serve my purposes," Clockwork said, in a manner that it was not so much a request but a command.

Fright Knight knew better than to refuse an order from the Lord of Time, "what do you ask of me, my lord?"

"Nothing more than to stay out of it, I don't know what is going on, yet, but I want you to stay away from Danny Phantom, no matter what happens," Clockwork ordered.

"Okay, may I ask why?" Fright Knight asked, but the glare from Clockwork said all it needed to say, "Point taken."

"Where are artifacts of the King? Where is the Crown and the Ring?" Clockwork asked, taking the Master of Fright by surprise.

"What," Fright Knight asked.

"You heard me, where are they?" Clockwork asked again.

"Vlad Plasmius knows where the Crown of Fire is, he told me he would be in touch about something to do with it, but that hasn't happened yet," Fright Knight said.

"And never will, Vlad Plasmius has been split in two, his human and ghost forms separated and the ghost half is locked up in Walker's prison, I will interrogate him, now the Ring," Clockwork said, his tone implying that he was getting impatient, which was an unusual, repeated occurrence lately for him.

"I am not totally sure, as neither I nor Vlad recovered it after the battle, if I had to guess it is locked in the Sarcophagus with the King," The Fright Knight theorized.

"Damn it," Clockwork cursed, as it meant he would have to alter the timestream a little bit to get it.

"May I ask what you are planning with the artifacts of the King? Are you planning on anointing a new King?" The Fright Knight asked, a bit concerned.

"What if I am, if anyone had the authority to do so, it would be me, wouldn't it?" the Time Lord asked in response to the other's questions, to the Fright Master's shock.

"I don't disagree with that, but are you mad, installing a new king?" Fright Knight asked, but the look that Clockwork gave him answered that question.

"At the very least if he does not want the throne, then they will at least prove instrumental in tipping the scales in the coming battle," Clockwork said, almost trying to allay the Fright Knights concerns.

"Battle?" Fright Knight asked.

"You'll see, I will return momentarily with the Ring for safe keeping," and with a swish of his scepter, Clockwork was gone, leaving the Knight to ponder as to what is going on. True to his word, a few minutes later, the Master of Time returned, Ring of Rage in hand, which he handed over to the Knight, "keep it safe, keep it secret," there was a look in of concern and warning in Clockwork's eyes.

"How did you get this, stupid question you popped in and out, didn't you?" the Knight asked, to which Clockwork nodded. "I'll bring the Crown back as well, once I find it, remember my warning, Fright Knight," and with a swish of his scepter, the Time Lord was gone again.

The Fright Knight, still confused as to what just occurred, picked up his sword, strapped it to his hip, to took the Ring deep into the Keep and hid it away. Then he returned to the throne room and took a seat on the Pariah's old throne, as he did when the King was not around and the Keep fell to him to maintain, and thought.

At Walker's Prison

As Clockwork approached the Prison, the Gate Guards saluted him and let him in without a word, out of fear for him. Not even bothering to inform the warden that he was here, he stopped a guard and asked him where Vlad was held, the guard told him that Plasmius was being held in a solitary confinement cell, Clockwork floated down the halls to find that cell block on his own.

Walker was in his office filling out paperwork, still disturbed by what had happened earlier, when his intercom beeped, "What?" he barked in his signature drawl, as he had given orders that he did not want to be bothered unless it was a major concern.

"Sir, Lord Clockwork is here and he is going to see our newest prisoner," the frightened guard said.

"Let him be, not like we could stop him," Walker said, grumbling that last part, and lifted his finger from the intercom, a headache forming, the time master has become an annoying thorn lately, not like he could do anything about it.

Clockwork found which cell Vlad was in, and ordered the guards to let him in, which they did so, without question. Inside the cell, he saw how restrained the evil ghost half was kept, with ecto-chains binding his arms and feet and one around his neck keeping him chained to a wall. A small smirk flickered over the Time Master's face, but quickly faded. He got right to business, "Vlad Plasmius, I have come to question you, you will answer my questions," he said with authority to his voice. Vlad just looked up at his interrogator.

"Where is the Crown of Fire, you were the last person to hold it and I want to know what you did with it," Clockwork questioned him, Vlad remained silent, seeing no reason to help the ghost that ordered his predicament, as he had recalled hearing Skulker mention to Daniel that the Time Master ordered them to capture him. Clockwork had tried the polite way, and since that didn't work, he now took more aggressive measures, first he got up in the dark ghosts face, grabbed him by the head and asked again what he wanted to know, when that didn't work. "I tried the nice way, but it seems you have left me no choice," he said. It took Clockwork only ten minutes of light torture, well what he considered light as he had to really hold back as he sort of beat the information out of the prisoner.

"I left it being guarded by the beast that was guarding the Skeleton key that I had managed to tame, finally," Vlad said. With the knowledge he needed, Clockwork left the prison.

He knew exactly where to look, and when he came upon the stomping ground of the Behemoth that guarded the Skeleton Key, he was confronted by said ghost, that was snarling at him. All Clockwork had to do was snap his fingers and the animal creature ghost went docile, as if its master was displeased with it, Clockwork smirked a bit and withdrew from his cloak a treat that he was carrying as he usually fed this creature, when he did his inspections of the Zone. He gave the treat to the animal spirit and patted its head and went past it to the case it was protecting. Retrieving from it, both the Skeleton Key and the Crown of Fire, and took his prizes with him. He dropped the Crown off with the Fright Knight to keep safe, but kept the Key for himself, having fashioned it into a necklace and hid it around his neck under the cover of his cloak. He returned to the clock tower, satisfied with what he had done that day, but his sense of dread did not ease entirely.

Things were moving in ways he did not like, as he could not predict which path time will take, only that it will take one of those paths, but he was taking the steps necessary to try to avoid the worst of them, or so he thought.

Well there you have it people, Chapter 12 of our tale, Danny's rogues have met Dan, and are terrified of him, and have decided that they have to choose a side in the upcoming battle, also Clockwork is moving on his plans to try to tip the balance of power in Danny's favor, and we met the Fright Knight again, who will have a role to play soon.

I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to where this is heading, and don't worry, the idea of Danny writing a book is still happening, don't you worry, just that this tale has expanded way beyond that and so the new title is more fitting.

See you all next time, for Halloween Costume Ball.

The Emperor is out. Peace.