This is pretty difficult to understand, because some things are happening at the same time others are. I also noticed how it dwindles down in the end, but that's me. By the way, I kinda noticed this document editor won't let me put exclamation points and question marks next to eachother, so remember that that part is not me.

Note: I slightly edited this chapter after viewing "The Ultimate Enemy". The deviantart one will remain the same, so tough. Keep in mind, this is still set before season 2, when I started writing it. Find my change, I know you will, whether you readthis chapteror not.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

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The Spirit of the Ship

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Chapter 17: Friends in Need

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"Dear Diary,

After we had our ship destryed by a giant sea monster, we found the treasure the vase spoke of. We lost alot of things, including Don. In the treasure room, one of Danny's enemies, Skulker, ambushed him. Even worse, Gustavo turned traitor after getting that magical staff. And I learned that I'm somehow apart of Danny's future and was taken hostage, as were the others. Jack and Danny were able to escape, but I'm still prisonor. Gustavo and Skulker took me all the way to the Caribbean Islands, and they took another girl hostage. She must have some relations with Jack. Gustavo's changed completely, and I don't know what he has in store. Right now, he has me and that other girl han"

"Oh, no," Adriana said to herself. "Estoy fuera de tinta."

> > > > > >

As Danny and Jack were rushing over to Port Royal, they decided to engage in conversation to beat the boredom bug after some twenty minutes on Gustavo and Skulker's trail. "Rum runners used that island as a cache," Jack told. "They came past and I was able to barter passage off."

"So that whole sea turtle thing?" Danny started to ask.

"Of course it was a myth," Jack laughed. "I don't know how others believed that. I mean, do you know anyone who can grow back hair long enough to rope a bunch of sea turtles?"

Danny shuddered and said, "You don't want me to answer that question."

"Apparently, that means yes," Jack said, slightly disgusted. A clap of thunder then came. Confused, Jack said, "Was that thunder? At this time of year?"

"Gustavo!" Danny knew. "We're getting close." Almost after Danny said that, something came into view. It wasn't a town, rather it was elevated than grounded. Before Danny and Jack was a flat chunk of bare land, hovering just over Port Royal's pier.

"Did Gustavo do that?" Jack asked, bewildered.

"If he can open up a cave from its gut on day one," Danny said, "this is probably cake." After those words, the two heard a booming voice.

"Danny, Jack. I'm so glad you can make it. Come closer." Danny and Jack knew that voice belonged to Gustavo.

"But how can he...?" Jack was at a loss of words wondering what he just heard.

"He's probably using the wind to amplify his voice," Danny explained. Jack looked up at him, confused. "I don't get how it works either." The two flew closer to the big chunk of rock that floated in place.

As they came to a pretty close distance, Gustavo said, "Stop!" Danny did so and floated in place, carrying Jack by the arms. The two were able to see Gustavo, now equipt with a metalic strap (courtesy of Skulker) to hold the staff, on the rock, and what was just hanging in front of it. Being held by two earth-made hooks were two cages with people in them. Danny only knew one, but Jack was well aquanted with both faces.

"I'm glad you made it here," Gustavo began. "I was getting bored waiting, so I made this floating pad so all of Port Royal will know I'm watching them. Do you know what's in front of you? Your dearest friends. Danny, I'm sure you're familiar with Adriana, and Skulker told me that she's more than familiar with you. The ancestor of a friend of yours, I hear. And Jack, I know you're quite aquanted with the lovely Elizabeth Swann. You've told me all about her when we were adventuring for my prize. And now, their lives are in your hands. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones only if... you let one of them drop to the ocean." At that dreaded "D" word, Jack and Danny gasped in horror. "I'll let the other live, you have my word, but only if one dies first. Choose Adriana, and Danny's life could change forever. Choose Elizabeth, and just think how heart-broken Will will be. Or, you can both surrender to Skulker and I and, under my mother's name, I'll release them both. But if you fail to cooperate with any option, they both drown! It's up to you." Gustavo awaited their decision, wearing an evil smirk.

Danny thought long and hard, sweating bullets over what could happen should he make the wrong choice. Without a final option, Danny gave up. "Alright, Gustavo," Danny said, "you win. We give up."

Jack was shocked by Danny's answer. "Danny, you can't do this!" Jack warned. "You do know you're giving up, right?"

"Do we have any other choice?" Danny said, slightly angered by the fact that Jack was right. Danny slowly flew towards Gustavo's floating patch of land, his head hung low in sorrow.

As Danny was coming to Gustavo, Jack was speculating a way to get out of their losing situation. One thing he noticed was that the cages were hanging not too far from the pier. Only a half-second outside his second thought, he shouted, "Drop Elizabeth!"

"What?" Danny said, shocked.

"What?" Elizabeth said, worried.

"What?" Adriana said, disbelieved.

Slightly hesitant, Gustavo said, "...Okay." With that Gustavo stomped his foot and Elizabeth cage dropped once the rock-hook snapped. She screamed the moment gravity took hold.

"Jack, what are you-" Danny started to ask.

"Throw me at her cage," Jack quickly interupted.

"But why did-" Danny went.

"NOW!" Jack ordered. Without hesitation Danny twirled twice and chucked Jack at Elizabeth's falling cage. Darting for the cage, Jack pulled slightly to the left, not where he intended to go. Improvising, Jack grabbed one of the cages bars with his right hand, almost throwing his arm out of its socket, with his lunged body able to change the momentum of the cages drop. The momentum was enough to get Jack mostly where he wanted, because his gut got sandwiched smashing it into the thin side of the pier with Elizabeth in her portable prison slamming into his back, with her thrusted weight making the impact on Jack worse than if it was just an empty cage. Jack began to slide down, but not before grabbing the edge with his free hand. With Elizabeth now skinning on certain death, Jack mustered all the strength he had by swinging one leg on the pier, pulling his other up, then pulling Elizabeth back on dry land. Or dry, suspended wood.

"Jack!" Elizabth excitedly yelled to her savior, feeling lucky to be alive.

"We've really got to stop meeting like this, luv," Jack calmly said, with rough pants to follow. "Where's Will?"

"That awful man has him and Norrington trapped," Elizabeth explained. "They're in prisons made from the ground close to the smithing shop. We've got to help them!"

"Alright!" Jack said, suddenly ready for action. He picked up Elizabeth's cage and carried her on his back. "Try not to move. You'll send me off-balance, savvy?" With that he hustled to the smith's.

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Gustavo couldn't feel any worst, mostly for the fact that he didn't get Jack and the plan failed. Now Danny was floating in front of him, using only words as his weapon. "Gustavo, what's wrong with you!" Danny started. "Don't you think that staff's messing with you're head a little!"

"You don't know how long I wanted this," Gustavo said, showing dementia in his voice. "Not the staff, but the power. The ability to rule all with no one able to stop me. I sell paper for a living Danny! Do you think I was happy with that! I had dreams of this since I met Skulker!"

"Dreams!" Danny said. "This is more of a nightmare, what you're doing! Look, just let Adriana go, drop the staff, and we'll try and find some help."

"How about this?" Gustavo evilly suggested. "I keep the staff, drop this girl from a place where there's less peir to save her, and ruin your life?"

Danny was showing signs of anger at the man who he once called his friend. "You said-"

"I said I'd let one live! If you haven't noticed, Jack saved Elizabeth, and I have to keep my word. So if you excuse me, I've got a thief to drop."

"You sadistic little-!" Before Danny could let out another word, his rage drove him to a flying punch at Gustavo, which was interupted by a beaming shot from Skulker, who phased from onder Gustavo's hovering structure. Danny was blown back a long way and sent splashing into the ocean.

Skulker looked over to his ally and said, "Keep her alive."

"WHAT?" Gustavo was clearly unhappy with what Skulker wanted.

"If you kill her now," Skulker explained, "everything I worked so hard for will be ruined! I told you that she's a key link to that ghost-child, and whatever happens to her will corrupt everything! Move your rock over someplace just to keep him off-balance for me, but do not kill her." Skulker then rocketed off to where ever Danny landed to finish the job, not caring for how much Gustavo was fuming.

Skulker tracked where Danny hit the ocean. He found Danny, his fist anyway. Skulker backed up to recooperate. "Skulker," Danny tried convincing, "don't you see how crazy Gustavo's become? Why don't we just form a truce, beat Gustavo, then figure out how to get back to our time?"

"Interesting offer," Skulker said, followed switching his glowing green blade on his wrist. "I'll consider it once I've made you my carpet!" Skulker pointed his blade at Danny with a fierce look on his face.

"Fine then," Danny said, toughening up. "Hardball it is!" Danny threw a ball of ectoplasmic energy at Skulker, who easily dodged it and jetted towords Danny. With little second thought Danny tuned his head away with his arm in front of it. Skulker came slicing down at Danny, but his blade was oddly stopped. Danny also felt resistance in what Skulker tried to do. He looked up to see an ecto-sword of his own blocking Skulker's attack. Understanding his new weapon, Danny pushed Skulker back, which sent him several feet backwards. Danny grinned and said, "Things just got interesting."

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Jack was busy trying to rescue Will and Norrington. Using a shovel he picked up, he striked away wildly with its edge at the structure that held Will. With one more mighty strike, the bar Jack was hitting broke. It was enough for Will to slide out. When Will was completely out, Jack said "Free Elizabeth, I'll handle Norrington." Will took Elizabeth's cage to set her free. He helped build the cage, so he knew how to disassemble it.

As Jack was striking away at Norrington's earth-made cage, Norrington gave a greeting only a good rival could make. "Jack Sparrow," he began, "seeing how you're here, it can only mean you're the cause of all this. You know, there's othing more I'd like to see than you hanging from the gallows."

"First of all, you're welcome," Jack said, reminding Norrington that he was saving him. "Second, yes, I did get Gustavo to his staff. And third, maybe some other time. Once you're out of here, I'm going to do away with that traitorous snake."

"That doesn't look easy," Norrington said, looking over Jack. "If he's on that rock over there heading to Fort Charles, you're in for a very difficult fight."

Stopping in the middle of a pick, Jack looked behind him to see Gustavo was heading toward Fort Charles. He also noticed Danny facing Skulker, with a grim conclusion. "He still has Adriana." Jack throw the shovel down at the space between him and Norrington's prison. He ran off saying, "Free yourself, Commadore! This is important!" Norrington picked the shovel up and inside between the bars.

Will came out of the smith's soon after, with a now free Elizabeth. Will looked around and asked the only other person there, "Where'd Jack go?"

"He's going to Fort Charles," Norrington answered. "He said something about someone named 'Adriana'."

"That must be that other girl I was held hostage with," Elizabeth said.

"I'm following him," Will said.

"I'm coming with you," Elizabeth said.

"No, Elizabeth," Will said instantly. "I don't want to risk losing you again."

"I don't want to lose you either," Elizabeth said to her love.

"...Alright," Will finally considered. "Let's go." Will and Elizabeth ran to Fort Charles to help Jack any way they can, leaving Norrington, once again, on his own.

"You'd think this rank would come with respect," Norrington sighed to himself, picking at his cage.

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Skulker and Danny continuously knocked blades against eachother in mid-air. Danny was having a difficult time keeping up with Skulker and following Gustavo's chunk of mass, yet still provailed. The rivals crossed blades at eachother, interlocking their glowing, green eyes. Danny was able to kick Skulker in the gut, sending him a few feet back. Danny then threw his blade back, then made a slashing motion towards Skulker, sending out a green wave at him. Skulker tried moving away, but didn't react fast enough and got hit on the left side, pushing him back a little further. Skulker then took note of the damage. His side was cut open, with a wire or two spilt out.

"Looks like there's a kink in your armor, Skulker!" Danny taunted.

"Is that really the best pun you can come up with?" Skulker said, not finding the taunt very amusing.

Danny opened his mouth to answer, then stopped to think. "Yeah," Danny answered, "it is, actually." Danny then became serious again to continue doing battle with Skulker.

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(I decided here to have Adriana and Gustavo converse in English in this part, because getting it to sound right in Spanish would be time-consuming. They are speaking Spanish to eachother, keep that in mind. Think of it as that whole "Let's only speak English when no one else is around" thing they do in the "Rush Hour" movies.)

Gustavo, now with his rock relativly close to Fort Charles, watched anxiously at Danny and Skulker's fight. "Why don't you just kill me now?" he heard. He looked down to see it coming from Adriana, hanging miserably in her cage. "Why don't you? Practicly no one can stop you, or even want to try. You've won, Gustavo, why don't you just kill me now?" A slab of rock came out next to Adriana, slightly scaring her and making a platform for Gustavo to sit on to have some real conversation.

"Why, you ask?" Gustavo began. "Skulker told me how important you are to Danny. If you die now, I don't know what will happen, Skulker doesn't know what will happen, Danny doesn't know what will happen, and you won't know what will happen, because you'll be DEAD! But something will happen, and you'll just be hanging here for a very long time. And until Skulker finishes Danny, I can't do anything to you, anyway."

Suddenly, an idea sparked into Adriana's mind. "Why are you listening to Skulker, anyway?" she said, which instantly caught Gustavo's attention. "He's bossing you around while you've got the one item that makes you the most powerful person in the world. You deserve better than that. Stand up for yourself!"

"For once, thief," Gustavo said, "you're right. I'll take matters into my own hands." Adriana smiled greatly at what she just heard. "I'll do away with Danny myself. But don't worry. You'll be next." Adriana's smile quickly faded as she just heard how her plan backfired.

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Danny and Skulker attacked and blocked seemingly endlessly, as Danny kept himself and Skulker in front of Gustavo's eye in the sky to keep a better eye on him. Skulker decided now would be the time to play dirty. He retreated a few yards, which encouraged Danny to follow. Skulker turned around, now with a rocket launcher coming from his right shoulder, which he quickly fired. A missle was headed towards Danny, and, almost out of sheer instinct, he somersaulted rapidly towards it, like a spinning wheel of death. The missle hit the ecto-blade, slicing it in two and exploding behind him, but Danny wasn't finished. He continued spinning towards Skulker. Skulker tried blocking the attack, but a huge miscalculation lost him his right arm from the elbow joint down. Skulker screamed in anger over what what was supposed to be his lesser just did to him.

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Jack had finally made it to Fort Charles. He looked across to see Gustavo's eye in the sky. He remembered the place Gustavo was hovering, as it was the last place he saw Will and Elizabeth before today. It was directly across from him, but he noticed it was too far to jump it. Jack would be lucky if he could grab on to the edge by his fingers, but had to risk it. He promised Danny he'd help him help her. He took several steps back to get a good running start. He was ready to take off when a voice stopped him. "Jack!" Jack turned around to see Will and Elizabeth had followed him.

"Listen, you two," Jack said to them. "This is between me and him, and I don't want either of you involved in it. I made a promise to someone to help someone else, and the person who's making that rock float is keeping me from keeping that."

"So do you really think you can make that jump?" Will asked.

"No," Jack answered. "But seeing how I'm a man of my word, what other choice do I have?"

"Well, is there any way we can help?" Elizabeth asked. Jack looked at them, then at the rock, then back at Will and Elizabeth, to which an idea came to mind.

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"Face it, Skulker," Danny said to his hunter nemisis, "it's over! You're disarmed, ...disarmed, you've got no place else to go, so why don't we just call a truce against Gustavo and call it a day!"

"I'm not done yet," Skulker said. "One thing I've learned about hunting is to always have a plan B." Skulker lifted the only arm he had left, to which a small hatch open and something that appeared as a tazer with green prongs, which Danny knew all to well. "Even if you have to take it from someone else."

"The plasmium maximus!" Danny said, shocked. It was a device he experienced from his deepest rival, Vlad Plasmius. If it made contact with him, his ghost powers would be short-curcuited for a few hours. "How did you get that!"

"Please, I worked for the guy," Skulker mentioned, sparking a memory back to Danny. "You think I don't know where he lives so I can grab some interesting things? It's pretty amazing technology really. I may want toremember it, later." Too occupied with his new toy, Skulker was unaware Danny was flying away. He took quick note and followed.

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Gustavo was through listening to Adriana and stood on the platform from which he sat, then unhatched his staff and aimed it like a rifle. "Let's show Danny what Vulcan couldn't tell Jupiter about," he said, evilly as the head of the staff began to glow green.

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Danny continued to allow Skulker to chase him, throwing back ecto-waves and energy balls hoping to knock Skulker's stolen piece off. It was then he noticed Gustavo seemingly vulnerable, not even moving, as he stood on a platform. Danny figured it to be a good time to strip him of the staff and flew towards him, with his ecto-sword held back to knock it off. Danny, however, had no clue what was in store for him. Heck, Gustavo had no clue what was in store for Danny.

The staff was really charged up as Adriana could see, and she knew she had to take action soon. Danny was getting closer to Gustavo, so the best thing Adriana could do was grab Gustavo's leg and pull it off the platform. This made Gustavo lose his balance, almost his staff, and his aim. Whatever that energy was, it missed Danny by a hair as he halted just inches in front of Gustavo's platform. Danny looked back to see the energy go by and later stop to make a swirling spot in the sky.

"What the heck is-" Danny's question was cut short by a stinging pain. He had completely forgot Skulker was after him, and got the full effects of the plasmium maximus. He lost is ecto-sword in the shock, along with his ghost powers and, most importantly, his ability to defy gravity. Danny dropped, but not before grabbing onto the platform Gustavo had out.

Skulker should have been pleased with what he just did, but instead, he took his anger out on Gustavo. "I thought I told you to keep him distracted!" Skulker yelled.

"I got him distracted like you said!" Gustavo fumed. "Why are you taking your frustrations out on me, now!"

"I didn't want you to take any actions while I was!"

"Look at you! You almost have nothing left!"

"I knew I should've just taken the ghost-boy all by myself, but noooo, I had to use an idiot human to get him to me! I suppose you have some bright ideas, paper boy!"

"Just one!" With an electrically charged fist, Gustavo punched Skulker in the face with all his might. Skulker flew back greatly into the hole left in the sky by Gustavo, leaving only screams behind. The hole closed shartly after Skulker went into it. "I really enjoyed doing that." He looked down at Danny, now powerless and hanging on for dear life, and said "I'm going to enjoy this even more." He stomped on the fingers on Danny's left hand. Danny let go from the pain, with only one hand gripping the rock. Fortunatly, Adriana was able to grab Danny's loose hand, and strained to keep him from falling. She pulled Danny's arm up to a cage bar so Danny could get his other hand out of its current situation and clasped around some of the bars.

"What did you do to Skulker?" Adriana asked Gustavo, wanting an answer so it doesn't happen to her.

"Adriana," Danny mentioned, "this guy's controlling our fate by keeping us over the ocean from a really high distance. Now's not a good time to be asking que-" Danny stopped and reviewed what he just said and what just happened. "Wait a minute, that's it! That fifth power Vulcan didn't tell Zeus about is time!"

"Are you sure?" Adriana said.

"Don said," Danny started to explain, "that the fifth power can take out all the elements. Everything eventually dies down from time. I can finally get home!"

"That's nice to know, Danny," Gustavo added in, reattatching his staff to his strap. "It's too bad you'll be long dead before you can do anything about it!"

> > > > > >

"You ready!" Jack said from a distance.

"We're ready!" Will answered. At the edge of the fort, Will and Elizabeth were holding eachother's hands, ready to give Jack an extra spring in his step when he would jump over the edge.

Jack studied his target and concentrated hard. He darted off, running as fast as he could to the edge where Will and Elizabeth were. He put his foot to where their hands were, and Will and Elizabeth, with all they had, launched Jack up like a catapault. His limbs waving in the air, Jack's momentum was able to get himself clear across the gap between him and Gustavo. Jack rolled as he landed to soften the impact.

Jack looked around. Seeing the plain was empty, he shouted the name of his former shipmate. "GUSTAVO!"

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Wow, this is a LOT! Sorry if some stuff seem a little thrown in, like Skulker's new gizmo at a five-finger discount, but I'm trying to make the ending as B.A. as I can. Give me your feedback now.