Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. I would never dream of making money off his work, this is but one fanatic's homage. So please don't sic the rabid lawyer hordes upon me, there's not much for them to sue out of me.

Author's Note: It was bound to happen, that I would hit a point where I couldn't manage an update-per-week. Hopefully this will tide you over until my next update, in which more buttkicking will take place. Also, one of my plot bunnies has matured to story-in-planning. Yes, there will be a sequel to Jeremiad/Anathema, a third-person psychodrama titled Benediction. For the record, Aragon was a real pain in the butt to write- there isn't a whole lot to go on his character in Beauty Marked, so I ran with what sounded good. Anyhow, as always, comments are appreciated!

Chapter 5 - Capture

"Resisting arrest, conspiring to escape jail, assaulting an officer, several charges of assault and battery, destruction of private property, disturbing the peace, repeatedly driving an unregistered vehicle in the Ghost Zone, breaking and entering a restricted area, operating a real world vehicle without a license, possession of real world contraband, use of illegal recording and communications equipment, owning anti-ghost weaponry without a permit, carrying a concealed anti-ghost weapon..."

I sat in the chair I'd been forced down into, scowling and largely ignoring the prison warden rattling off the impressive list of my charges. It was infuriating, being captured so easily by Walker and his men; it was more infuriating that after my battle with Valerie and her little goon squad I was too weak to fight the ghosts off.

"I would have let you off easy with just a thousand years, punk. But you kept giving me problems." Walker slapped his rulebook shut. "And my problems are your problems. I think three afterlife sentences without possibility of parole is plenty. Got it, punk?"

"You won't keep me here." I retorted flatly, confident in that truth. My strength would recover, and then the jailor would pay for this indignity.

"I think otherwise. Your little half-human trick won't work this time. I've got a special cell made up just for you." Walker retorted, motioning to his guards to prod me from my seat.

I declined to mention to the obnoxious warden that I was a far cry from half-human now, no longer a so-called "halfa", to use that stupid Poindexter's term for it. At best, I was perhaps one or two percent human still, little more than dregs of my past existence that still cling to me and allow me to take on the appearance of my weakness. I didn't resist as I was forced to my feet and half-dragged to my cell. I would wait, I had little choice in the matter. I couldn't fight my way out, weakened still from my aborted destruction of my past. But in time, my wounds would mend, and I would delight in demonstrating how useless Walker's idiotic rules really were.

My cell was not terribly remarkable, a barren cube of stone perhaps six feet across. The only amenity was a clearly uncomfortable bunk that I sat down on as soon as I had been shoved unceremoniously into the little room. I could see the expanse of the Ghost Zone beyond the tiny barred window, apparently my cell was near the outer walls of the prison. Ignoring the warden who stood watching me as I surveyed my new surroundings, I raised one hand and launched a small ecto-blast at each of the walls and the bars in turn. The green beams merely dissipated on impact, doing no damage to the stone.

"Nice, isn't it?" Walker gloated as I scowled at him through the bars. "You can't phase out of there as a human or as a ghost, and I made sure it was blast proof. You're not going anywhere, punk."

I glared daggers at his back while he walked away, presumably to tend to other tasks involved with running a large-scale prison. So I would have to wait until I was recovered before I could blow the walls away. Sure, small-scale blasts were apparently deflected by the walls... but I rather doubted that the walls would remain standing after a massive explosion compromising their stability. Until then, I was stuck in this place, stuck thinking about all the happy and unhappy memories attached to it. My first time in the lock-up, and the daring escape. My parents' anniversary, all the hassle with retrieving that present I had carelessly blasted through the portal. The portal that Valerie had forced me through before sealing it behind me, trapping me in the Ghost Zone so that Walker was even able to ambush me.

I sat on my bunk, brooding and contemplating my options. Once I was out of Walker's jail, I would need to find a way back to the real world so I could finish what I had started in Amity Park. Valerie would burn for this, I would make sure she paid dearly for her offenses, for ruining my last hope. But as I thought about it, I realized my conundrum was greater than I had first considered. The Fenton portal was closed to me, but in the heat of the moment I had forgotten that the cheesehead's portal was likely little more than bent and slagged steel and electronics, I rather doubt it survived the detonation of his castle. With both portals sealed, I had no certain pathway from the Ghost Zone to the real world.

The thought of being trapped in the Ghost Zone until I could find a natural portal was extremely displeasing. There had to be some way back, more certain than the dumb luck of opening a door. To think I had been so stupid as to even suggest that to Valerie when Skulker had dragged us both to the Ghost Zone for his own amusement. Perhaps Johnny 13 still had the wreckage of that portable portal generator, or maybe the biker had even obtained a new one. Before he died, my father had complained about things disappearing from the lab.

I had plenty of time to plan and ponder. With my injuries, my recovery was long and tedious. Walker's men certainly did nothing to help the process, either. Every additional injury was one more reason they would all burn. Every smug remark the warden made to my face was one more way I would tear him apart. From what I saw of the mess hall, most of my other enemies had not been recaptured, or perhaps they had made deals with the warden. I wouldn't need help to escape this time. Even as I recovered, I knew I would continue to grow stronger, a trend shown clearly in those first faltering steps in my weakness months ago. It was a clear sign that I was growing stronger at a rapid pace, initially being barely able to fight off a couple of mindless ectopusses to fighting the ghost king on nearly even terms. I was already far stronger than I had been then; I wouldn't doubt I could possibly take on the ghost king himself, without the aid of the exo-skeleton my parents had built.

The day of my escape came several months later. I likely could have effected my escape months before I chose to, but I wanted to be positive that when I broke free that I would be able to bring the prison down completely. Not to mention I wanted to be certain that there would be nothing left of that rulemongering idiot warden when I departed.

It started simply enough. Walker was smirking at me in my cell, rubbing it in that he had won, that I would rot in his prison. I glared death at him from where I sat on the edge of my unused bunk.

"Glare all you want, punk." Walker sneered at me. "But that's not getting you out of my prison."

"You know, you're right." I stood up slowly, savoring the moment, my fists at my sides already glowing with green energy. "Glaring won't get me out of here."

To his credit, Walker did take a step backward away from the bars. "You and I both know that you can't blast the walls apart. There's no way for you to get out of there."

"Oh, I know I can't break the walls." I smiled, pointing both my palms at the floor. "But I don't need to. Tell me, Walker, is this cell rated to contain a multiple-megaton explosion?"

"What-?" The warden's surprised query was cut short by said multiple-megaton explosion, a delightful blast several times more potent already than the one I had used to fell the cheesehead's castle. And almost all of it contained within a tiny little room six feet wide. I saw Walker leap to one side, the white tail his legs had become barely singed by the explosion directed out past the bars of my cell.

I turned tangible after the explosion and most of the smoke had cleared, leaving my cell and the hallway beyond it hazy with green smoke. Walker peered out from wherever he had run, raising one bony eyebrow at the massive series of holes blown in the walls, a straight line of demolition starting with the wall that had been across the hallway from my cell. The warden looked at that, then to my cell, at the bars that still stood between me and the ghost, at the walls still around me.

"Impressive, punk." He admitted once he found his voice. "But still not enough to get you out of... there..."

The cause for his sudden drop in confidence was simple enough. I walked up to the bars, smirking the entire time, and flicked a finger against the steel. With a clatter the entire wall of bars fell over, pulled from their footings when the explosion had literally raised the roof. I strolled through the gap at a casual pace, smiling at the thought of making my mental image of the prison in ruins a reality.

"Mm... Oh dear, did I break the rules, Walker?" I snickered at the bad joke.

An alarm was already sounding throughout the prison, and I heard the guards running- alright, flying if you really want to be technical- to the source of the disturbance. Walker straightened, pulling some sort of ecto-green billy club from his belt. In moments I was surrounded by similarly-armed guards. Hah, they honestly thought they stood a chance?

"You can't take all my men on at once, punk." Walker growled, indicating me with a wave of his baton. "Get him!"

I laughed as I dodged and countered the first several attacks. It was truly a delightful warm-up exercise after months of restraint. I will admit that Walker's goons were nothing if not well-coordinated, flanking me and trying to assault me from all angles. Too bad for them that they underestimated my power quite severely. I grabbed one of the guards by the tail and swung him in a wide circle, bowling several of the others over before I released the ghost's tail and watched him careen into the wall.

"Is that really all you idiots have got for me?" I sneered, forming a pair of large green blasts, pointing one at the floor, the other at the ceiling. "Really, I could defeat you all quite easily. With one hand behind my back, if you'd like."

"What are you slackers doing?" Walker shouted uselessly at his men, the smartest of which looked to be thinking of retreating.

"Hey, Walker." I snickered, drawing the warden's attention. "I think I'm about to break a lot more than just your rules."

With that, I launched my blasts, laughing when they detonated. Mortar and brick went flying in all directions, propelled into the distance by the shockwave generated by the large green-tinged mushroom cloud. I heard several startled, pained shouts as guards and inmates alike were blown everywhere by the blast. I surveyed the aftermath with a satisfied smile. Walker's prison was in shambles, bits of the flooring and ceiling still raining down in a faint clatter from having been blasted so high. Walker had somehow avoided the explosion, for he floated down from above, a look of utter shock plastered on his bony face at the sight of his precious prison, his bastion of order against the chaos of the Ghost Zone, now little more than a giant pile of rubble.

"You're gonna pay for this, punk." Walker growled at me, slightly more of his accent slipping into his tone and betraying his rage. "You won't last long enough to serve your sentence!"

I sidestepped as the ghost launched himself at me, his attack missing entirely. I really had angered Walker, the warden usually had such an air of smug calm about him. Oh, but then again, watching everything you care about go up in a gigantic explosion does seem to have an enraging effect on a person. Just look at me, after all!

"You know, Walker." I said in a conversational tone as I continued to almost carelessly avoid his flurry of attacks. "Funny how little all your rules amount to in the end, isn't it? All it takes is one person to ignore them, and then they mean nothing."

The ghost said nothing beyond an angry shout, and I finally grew bored of his barrage. Yawning, I shot forward and caught Walker's next punch rather than evade it. We locked eyes for a moment, and I grinned widely.

"You really don't amount to much without all your useless lackies, do you?" I sneered, charging an ectoplasmic blast in my free hand. "And useless things shouldn't be allowed to exist."

Walker's eyes widened, but the ghost said nothing. I was surprised he was still struggling against my grip and not cowering in fear. I was even more surprised to feel his foot suddenly plant itself at an unpleasant velocity in my midsection. I cringed and staggered slightly, but didn't fall or loosen my grip on the warden. He began to show fear when that last ploy failed, but did not plead the way Dash had. He looked me in the eye, defeated but still proud.

"I think I'll just skip the whole judge and jury part." I growled, pointing my blast at that defiant face. "I think I like the executioner part the best, too."

The only sound was the blast and subsequent explosion- Walker made no utterance at the ectoplasmic energies that had to have been tearing him to pieces. Funny, you would think it would be impossible to kill something that was already dead. But I was pleasantly surprised to find nothing left of the ghost when the blast cleared. The idea of not simply defeating, but of completely destroying all my enemies was terribly pleasing. At the very least, such a diversion would be an enjoyable way to spend the time while I searched for a way out of the Ghost Zone.

With that in mind, I took off into the void, leaving the pile of rubble quickly behind. It would certainly be beneficial that these ghosts that had troubled me in the past should be destroyed. Then I could better focus my efforts on Amity Park. I could make certain Valerie got what she deserved, what they all deserved. To think that I had trusted Valerie, had wasted so much time swooning over Paulina, and had put up with so much abuse from Dash. No more, I no longer had any reason to hide my identity, nothing left worth protecting.

I spotted a castle in the distance, I was clearly in some part of the Ghost Zone I was unfamiliar with. I figured I had nothing against the denizens of the old stone hulk, so long as they didn't get in my way. I paused as I flew by the massive gates, considering an idea. Perhaps the locals might know of a route to the real world. It certainly couldn't hurt to inquire, so I flew through the huge entrance. I was almost immediately accosted by a troop of guards, their armor vaguely reminding me of some sort of goofy bird.

"Halt, who goes there?" One of the lackies demanded of me, pointing his spear threateningly. Well, perhaps this wasn't such a grand idea.

"Who's the loser in charge here?" I countered, crossing my arms.

My attitude must have offended them, given the chorus of gasps and indignant remarks I heard whispered. The apparent leader of the troop cleared his throat and responded to my blunt inquiry, his disdain clear.

"This is the realm of his royal Highness Prince Aragon." The ghost declared. "And you will show the proper respect or face the consequences!"

I snorted at that. "I'll show respect where I wish. Fetch this prince then."

"You can't just walk in and demand to see His Majesty!" The guard yelped.

"Can't I?" I retorted, my voice turning increasingly dangerous. Without further word, I raised one hand, a green blast quickly incinerating the guard. "Now, with that idiot out of the way, let me talk to this prince guy. Unless you'd rather face the same fate?"

The fools looked ready to fight, I'll give them that. I stood my ground, most bemused by their fool courage. With an angry chorus of threats the mob of ghostly knights charged forward, swords and javelins ready to rip me to bits. Until they crashed into the large square shield I formed to deflect the useless bits of ecto-steel. It was most comical the way the entire squadron pancaked into the green barrier before falling in a clumsy heap.

"You idiots bore me." I dispersed my shield and pointed both hands at the ghosts, vaporizing them and a sizeable portion of the castle's outer walls with a large ecto-beam. It took care of the weak little guard ghosts easily. Given the enraged bellow from within the stone fortress, I could only assume I had gotten the attention of the mighty Prince.

"Who dares to attack my castle?" I heard the voice of the ghost snarling from within, shortly accompanied by an angry hiss and the sound of something rather large stomping through the rubble.

I was expecting some prim and pampered prince to emerge, perhaps with an entourage of more guards and waving a scepter in a threatening manner. That was not precisely what happened. I looked up as the prince emerged from the blasted wall. And up. And up some more. No one had bothered to mention that this Prince Aragon guy was a bloody dragon. A rather impressively powerful looking one, at that, all black and purple scales, ecto-green fangs, claws, horns, and other painful looking spiky bits.

It wouldn't be the first time I dealt with a dragon ghost, though I confess that the blue one was much less imposing than this wicked behemoth. It glared balefully at me, accurately assessing that I was the source of the earlier explosion. "Do you realize who you are dealing with, boy?" It hissed.

"I think that lack is mutual, Scaly." I retorted, lifting into the air so I was level with the thing's very angry face. My, those fangs were quite large at close range. "Your goons annoyed me. Maybe you'll be more helpful?"

The beast blinked in momentary confusion. "Yes, they are rather irritating..." He mused before glaring at me again. "You had best have a worthwhile reason for blasting my castle!"

"Do you know a way to the human world from here?" I demanded, cutting straight to the chase.

"If I did, I would not be telling it to such a foolish knave." The dragon snarled, apparently set already on hating me. I can't imagine what for, I'd only destroyed his guards and put a grand new door into his lair. He opened his jaws wide, the roar flattening my hair against my head as he spat a blast of blue fire at me.

I split in half as I dodged left and right of the fireball, momentarily surprised by the instinctive maneuver. It did not come quite as easily as I recall it being for the cheesehead, but I had forgotten about that little duplication trick until just that moment. I smiled slightly at the revelation- in my weakness the duplication ability had always been just beyond my reach with the sole exception of my battle with the ghost king, when my powers were amplified considerably by that battle suit. It was satisfying to know I finally had harnessed that skill as I stared at myself across the twenty or so feet of empty air between the two of me.

The dragon prince seemed surprised by now having two targets. He seemed a great deal more surprised when I darted up and fired a blast of my own at his face. The beast jerked his horned head to one side, avoiding the blast and snapping at me with those giant fangs. I chuckled and evaded the blows, taunting the dragon. I might have let him go had he not gotten hostile, but now he fell firmly into that rather large category of beings that simply had to be destroyed.

"Too used to having your guards do your dirty work?" I sneered, veering to the side and sidestepping another one of those large blasts of fire. The prince continued trying to hit me, a flurry of fire and fangs. For such a large ghost, he was surprisingly nimble in the air- I actually had to put some effort into predicting and evading his blows.

While his attention was on me, I was also sneaking up behind him, my second self having apparently been forgotten in the behemoth's rage. This was excellent for me, yet one more way I could gain the upper hand in my efforts. I crept in close and took hold of the dragon's tail, mindful of the spines near the tip. Then I yanked the slender tail with all my impressive strength, stalling the beast midair and making him yelp with surprise as I spun him up to a good speed.

"Unhand me!" The prince growled, trying to arc his serpentine neck to get a clear shot at me.

"Whatever you say, Your Majesty." I retorted, my tone making the title an insult of the highest order. I checked my aim before unhanding the dragon's tail and letting basic physics handle the rest. Regardless of how nimble you may be in the air, with the kind of mass the dragon prince had, there was no stopping his trajectory. I smirked at the plume of dust that spread into the air when the black monster smashed into the castle, doing further damage to the structure.

I landed nearby, my two selves reuniting into a single entity. "You ghosts are all alike." I sneered, walking toward the felled creature, noticing the ambient light glinting gold on something around that scaly neck. "All talk, and no action."

As I got near the stunned dragon, I realized the gold glint was light reflecting off some sort of medallion. I remembered my last encounter with a dragon ghost, that cursed amulet that could turn the wearer into that blue ghost dragon. Was this similar to it? If so, removing that trinket would in theory reduce the mighty beast to little more than cannon fodder. I smirked as I strolled over to the beast and took hold of the medallion, pulling on it until the clasp gave way and the thing fell into my hands.

The effect was immediate and impressive. With an angry howl, the monstrous dragon shrank in size, leaving a dazed figure perhaps only twice my height. He was certainly no Prince Charming, with a thorny crown and torn robes that matched his dragon form's scale armor. His face was nothing impressive either a large chin and pinched beak of a nose, all an unflattering pale blue color. He staggered to his feet, realizing he was now at a severe disadvantage.

"So, Prince, do you know how to get to the real world or not?" I inquired, lazily tossing a deceptively tiny ball of green energy between one hand and the other.

"I know of no such thing!" The man denied, brandishing the short blade he had strapped to his belt. He really did seem indignant at the thorough trashing I had already given him.

"Well, then I suppose I have no further use for you." I retorted, wondering what the ghost thought he could do with that useless blade of his.

"Have at thee, fool!" The prince growled, leaping forward in what appeared to me some sort of fencing stance. So he knew how to properly use that bit of pointy steel, did he?

"Oh please." I chuckled, sidestepping the first several slices. "You couldn't beat me in your oversized lizard form, do you honestly think you can do better with that tiny sword than with those massive claws?"

The ghost said nothing, lunging forward again. I saw his free hand shoot out as he passed me, felt my grip on his medallion contested as he snagged the chain. So that was his goal, was it? Retrieving the obvious source of his power so he might stand- pardon the pun- a ghost of a chance against me. I tightened my grip, smiling when the taller spook's effort to pull the medallion free failed. "What are you?" He gasped, staggering when I jerked hard on the medallion and pulled him off balance.

"Your annihilation, that's what." I retorted with a sneer.

"I think not!" The prince readied his weapon, absolutely bent on fighting me to the bitter end. I sidestepped the thrust of his blade.

I'm not certain, but I believe I heard a female shriek from the portion of the castle that was still standing when I swept in, one fist charged brilliant green with energy and slammed it home in the ghost's face, sending him sprawling gracelessly to the floor, his sword skittering away on the rough ground.

"Well, obviously you thought wrong." I smiled widely, the energy surrounding my fist shifting to form the now-familiar large blast that was certain to leave little more than a smoldering crater where the ghost lay. "Ta!"

"No-!" The ghost's protest was lost in the explosion, the splash damage from the detonation bringing down weakened parts of the castle, and cracking and battering walls that had been sturdy.

I floated into the air to survey my handiwork. I really did have a knack for property damage, a natural talent that could not have come from either half of me. It was such a delightful sensation, doing such damage with my power. Surely there was nothing in the Ghost Zone that could stand against me; and once I found a way back to the human world, there would soon be no one left there who could raise a weapon against my power.

How was I to know that I was being observed at the time? A missile slammed into my back and sent me tumbling.

"You didn't think you could hide from me, whelp?"

I recovered quickly and faced one of my longtime rivals, glowering at the metallic armoring and that irritating smile.

"Skulker." I declared, a wicked little grin coming to my face. I was going to enjoy this.