Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, the characters, or the series that solely belong to Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon, and Viacom International. I just own my characters that I create unless I say otherwise.


All Out War part 1

Deep in the Ghost Zone, there was a certain lair that had barren trees and ghostly crows that perched on them. Meanwhile, a certain ghost in a white jumpsuit, black boots, gloves with a cape who had pale blue skin, crimson red eyes, fangs, pointed ears, and black hair that was oddly shaped was lingering about before going towards a castle. The ghost in question was Vlad Plasmius or in his human form, Vlad Masters.

Plasmius enters the chamber of the castle that had a sarcophagus of an unknown kind

"Here we are. Pariah's keep."

He passes by a pumpkin that had a sword impaled inside it.

"Home of the Fright Knight and before that..."

Plasmius uses a key and sticks it into the nose of a skeleton that held a red orb containing a metallic green ring with a skull on it. The orb melts, causing the ring to fall into Vlad's hand.

"The Ghost king! And here I am, Vlad Plasmius..." he puts on the ring. "With all his power in the palm of my hand."

Vlad tries to activate the ring but there was no reaction to it. At first, Vlad was confused before he sees a symbol that resembled a fiery crown on top of the head of the sarcophagus as he remembers a little detail.

"Oh, of course!"

Vlad approaches the sarcophagus with the key in his hand

"The Ring of Rage only works when one wears the Crown of Fire."

Vlad inserts the key into the lock of the sarcophagus and gives it a twist. Outside, the crows feel the presence of something horrible and evil that they fly away in fear while screeching. Back inside the keep, the sarcophagus slowly opens as Vlad watches

"Separately, they are nothing, but together they give you unimaginable power."

The sarcophagus fully opens to reveal a ghost inside. It was enormous in size, had green hair, clad in full body armor, complete with a cape. The helm was red in color and had two horns with only one of them broken. There was an eye patch over the left eye. On top of his head, there was flaming crown. The ghost opens his right eye that remained uncovered before he steps out of the sarcophagus, much to Vlad's shock as he stared with wide eyes.

"Who dares...?!"

"Oh, hello." Vlad floats up to Pariah's eye level. "Plasmius; Vlad Plasmius. Uh...did I mention I'm a huge fan of your work"

Pariah Dark simply glares before he suddenly blasts Vlad out of the keep which shatters the roof of the castle in a process. The ghost king proceeds to pull the sword out of the pumpkin. While the blade glowed, the pumpkin glowed as well before it spins and then explodes to reveal another ghost in medieval armor with a violet flaming feather like appendage on the spiked helm, a flaming cape and green eyes.

"The Fright Knight lives!"

The Fright Knight was caught by surprise as his sword was impaled into a pillar next to him before he hears an all-too-familiar voice.

"To serve...me."

The knight sees his true master as he bows to him

"King Pariah! You're up!"

"And perhaps it's time to remind you..." Pariah turns around to see the opening where he blasted Vlad. "And that intruder who rules this place!"

Outside of the castle, a beaten Vlad regains consciousness

"I've got to get out of here before he..."

Pariah Dark suddenly appears before Vlad Plasmius at incredible speed with red energy trailing behind the ghost king, much to his horror.

"Finds me!"

"You have freed me from my sarcophagus." Pariah said as he grabs Vlad and lifts him up. "And thus woken from the forever sleep."

The king moves Vlad to reveal his arm, only to find the ring was not on his finger.

"You're not the one who woke me! You are a duplicate!"

The duplicate disappears before Pariah looks around in wonder.

"So...where...?"

Suddenly, Pariah realized where the real Vlad is as he got seriously angry.

Back inside the castle, Fright Knight was pulling out his sword from the pillar as Vlad said to Pariah's minion

"Oh surely you and I can work out some...sort of deal."

"A deal?" Fright Knight asks in curiosity.

Pariah blasts his way into the castle to try and catch Plasmius.

"Call me. We'll talk." Vlad said before flying away in haste.

However, Pariah still manages to charge up an energy blast before he shot Vlad Plasmius, knocking him out as black rings appear and split apart, turning him back into Vlad Masters.

Inside the basement of Fenton Works, Jack and Maddie were busy working on a new invention. It appeared to be some sort of armored pants that were high-tech and it had a structure that represented a human spine. After connecting a few power cables, Jack activates it before he and his wife stood back while the machine powered up. Then, the pants started to jog in place as the cables separated themselves.

'Sweet! The Fenton pants are charged and operational." Jack comments.

As they approached the machine, Jack adds

"I'm telling you Maddie, when this new Ecto-skeleton is finished, it'll be able to beat back any ghost. No matter how powerful!"

While Maddie inspected it, she comments with worry

"Yeah, but the interface is still glitchy and dangerous, Jack. We need to work the bugs out before..."

Suddenly, Maddie was interrupted when a battered human flies of the ghost portal and lands on the floor in front of her and Jack. They recognize him as Maddie shouts

"Vlad Masters?!"

A barely conscious Vlad weakly says these words before passing out

"Jack. My fat, old friend. Help me."


At Casper High. It was typically an ordinary in the campus.

Or so it seemed...

In an area of the hallway, Danny was closing his locker door before he turned around to meet up with Sam, Tucker, and Mariko. However, Dash locates him and approaches the ghost boy.

"We need to talk, Fen-turd!"

Danny rolls his eyes with an annoyed sigh

"What do you want now?"

"Thanks to your girlfriend, ratting me out with that disc, I'm in serious hot water!" Dash shouts.

"That's on you since you're the one who broke into my house in the first place." Danny counters. "Consider yourself lucky that your butt's not in prison."

Dash got angry at that. Right when the jock was about to grab Danny, the ghost boy quickly grabs the jock's wrist, lifts it up, and uses a free hand to deliver a strike to the chest with an open palm. The blow had enough force to send Dash into some lockers behind him. Dash was bewildered at first before he charged at Danny and threw a punch

Only for Danny to bob his head to the left to dodge Dash's right fist.

"Huh?"

Dash tries a left hook, but Danny leans back, causing the jock to miss again.

"What?!"

Dash threw more punches, but Danny kept dodging them.

"Hold still!"

Dash's shout caught the attention of several students nearby, including Sam and Tucker as they saw Dash attacking Danny. Dash charged at Danny, attempting to tackle him, but the ghost boy simply moves out of the way and trips the jock with his foot. When Danny turns around to walk away, Dash grabs his shirt from the back and pulls him in. Right when Dash was ready to throw his fist, Danny shouts in annoyance.

"Will you give it a rest?!"

Dash was confused that Danny shouted at him with no fear.

"You're...you're not scared?"

"Why should I be scared of you any longer? It's not my fault that karma finally caught up to a bully who is afraid about becoming a bum after senior year!" Danny replies with a glare.

Dash lost his temper as he shouts

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT CRACK!"

Suddenly, someone grabs his fist from behind.

"MR. BAXTER!"

It was Mr. Lancer, who noticed the commotion and saw what was about to happen. Clearly he was angry as Dash was now horrified when he saw the teacher behind him

"M-M-Mr. Lancer...?!" Dash stammered in fear

"What do you think you're doing to Mr. Fenton?!" the teacher demands, keeping his grip

"I...uh..." Dash stuttered at first before he shouts looking at Danny. "It was his fault! He said that I have no future!"

Danny rolled his eyes with a scoff before he said

"That was after you attacked me! You're just mad because you're not getting off scot free anymore!"

Dash growled before he hears Mr. Lancer shout

"BAXTER! LET...HIM...GO...NOW!"

Then, a certain female voice spoke up

"It's unwise to disobey Lancer-sama."

Dash looks at the source. To his horror, there stood Mariko a few feet away from behind Danny. Despite wearing a blue crop top that exposed her midriff, black jeans, and her usual mid-calf low-heel boots, the Japanese girl was ready to jump in and fight if Danny was harmed. The other students looked at Dash in disgust, as did a few former members of the A-Listers, more specifically Star as the blonde girl wondered why she joined their group at all.

Reluctantly, Dash released his hold on Danny. As the ghost boy walked towards Mariko, he lost his cool once more. Just when the jock broke free of Mr. Lancer's grip and puts one foot in front of the other to throw a punch to the back of Danny's head, Mariko got in the way so fast that Dash was caught off-guard. Instantly with an open palm, the Japanese girl struck Dash in the nose so hard that it causes the jock's head to tilt backwards. Despite holding back to ensure not to break it or draw blood, it was still more than enough to inflict serious pain.

As Dash held his nose and let out a muffled scream of agony, Mariko grabs the jock by the arm and flips him onto his back as Dash grunted from the impact before she pins him with her foot to his chest. Dash looks at an angry Mariko who looked at him in the eye.

"Leave. Danny. Alone!" she grimaced angrily.

Dash nods, despite being in pain.

"Ms. Watanabe, let him go." Mr. Lancer said

Mariko takes her foot off of Dash before Mr. Lancer grabs the jock by the wrist as the boy got up. Right when Mr. Lancer was about to take him to the office, he hears Mariko speak up.

"Lancer-sama..."

The teacher looks back at Mariko before she said

"I'll surrender myself to disciplinary action since I got involved."

In the crowd, Paulina hoped that Mr. Lancer would consider her offer. Much to the Latina girl's chagrin, he said

"Considering that you were only defending Mr. Fenton, it will not be necessary."

Mariko was surprised before she replies as he leaves

"Yes sir."

While Mr. Lancer dragged Dash to the office as everyone else returned to their business. Mariko asked Danny in concern

"Are you okay Danny-kun?"

"I'm okay." Danny replies with a smile.

As Danny and Mariko shared a hug, Paulina glared at the Japanese girl before she closed her locker and left.

With class still an hour from beginning, Mariko was at her locker before she hears huffing, as if someone was running away. Looking to her right, she sees Valerie Gray frantically looking around before she runs into the girls' restroom while she quickly said to the Japanese girl

"Don't tell him I'm in here!"

Once Valerie shut the door, Mariko hears a male voice, one that belonged to a boy who had glasses, blue eyes, light brown hair, in khakis and a green sweater with an alien head on it. He carried a photo of Valerie as he called

"Valerie?! WHERE ARE YOU?! It's only three years until senior prom! WHY WON'T YOU SAY YES?!"

Inside the restroom, Valerie silently prayed that her location doesn't become known while in the hallway, Mariko felt bad about Valerie's misfortune. The Japanese girl felt she should mislead him as she said to the boy

"Nathan, was it?"

The boy in question turned to Mariko.

"Have you seen Valerie?!" Nathan asks in desperation

"I just saw her..."

Valerie was horror stricken, thinking that her cover was about to be blown.

"She said something about going to the football fields and..."

Mariko didn't finish as Nathan instantly bolts past her as a gust of wind blew through her hair, like the sound barrier just broke while the Japanese girl just stared awkwardly. Once Nathan was out of range, Mariko entered the restroom and said

"He's gone."

Valerie emerged from her hiding spot as she breathed a sigh of relief and said

"Thanks. I don't know how much more I can take."

"You're welcome." Mariko replies.

Soon, Mariko felt Danny's presence as she turned around with a smile as the boy smiled as well

"How did you know it was me? I could've been somebody else." Danny says playfully.

"I recognized your footsteps, Danny-kun." Mariko playfully replies while hugging him.

Then, Danny noticed Valerie as he got curious

"Did something happen?"

"Ease up, Fenton." Valerie says

"I was only helping Valerie give Nathan a misdirection." Mariko explains.

Danny understood since he knew that Mariko would never lie to him; not now, not ever.


After school, Valerie, Danny, and Mariko were running through the neighborhood before they took a turn in an alley to hide behind the side of a dumpster.

Only to see Sam, hiding there as well.

The goth girl points at Danny with a worried look

"Helping Mariko."

She then points to Mariko.

"Helping Valerie."

Sam points to Valerie.

"Hiding from Nathan." Valerie says while glancing at Nathan who just ran by. "You?"

Sam points to her right as the teens hear a woman's voice calling out

"Sammy-kins!"

Pamela was seen by the teens as they all hid. The woman was carrying a hideous pink dress with hearts on it as she ran past them, looking for Sam while shouting

"At least try it on!"

They take a peek to see that she's gone. Soon, Danny sees Fenton Works at a distance.

"Come on." Danny says. "You all can hide at my house."

As the teens ran to Fenton Works, Sam whispers to Danny

"So what's up with this? Why are you two helping her?"

"My girlfriend's helping Valerie." Danny replies. "I just volunteered to help her out."

Sam was still getting used to the idea of Mariko being Danny's girlfriend. Nearly a month has passed after the incident with Youngblood, Danny and Mariko willingly entered a relationship with one another. However, the goth girl knew that Mariko genuinely values Danny and cares about him, so it only bothered her slightly. Sam shook off her thoughts before she whispered

"Well be careful. The last thing you want to do is invite your archenemy to your house."

Once Sam opens the door, Danny was horror-stricken as he gasped. Sitting on the couch was Vlad Masters playing chess with Jack as Jazz sat next to him while reading a book.

"Ah. Hello Daniel!" Vlad greets.

"Too late." Sam comments.

Then, Vlad notices someone new as he asked

"And who might you be?"

Mariko instantly got a bad vibe from this man. Despite that he looked like gentleman, the Japanese girl sensed a sinister intent, especially since Danny gave her information on him. Soon, Mariko said with a suspicious look

"That's on a need-to-know basis and you don't need to know."

"What are you doing here?!" Danny demands.

Then, Maddie pours hot tea onto Vlad's leg as the man howled in pain from the hot liquid.

"Totally valid question." she says in suspicion.

"Still steaming?" Vlad asks

"You have no idea." Maddie grimaced, looking like she wants to pummel him

As the Fenton woman walked away, Vlad replied to Danny

"I was just, you know, passing through."

Vlad puts his empty tea cup on the table as he adds

"Until I saw that marvelous battlesuit and thought since I can't destroy Jack and take it, I suppose I'll steal his secrets right under his nose."

Jack was oblivious to Vlad's statement as both men shared a laugh while the present company simply blinked in confusion. As Maddie arrived, Vlad asks

"More tea, please?"

Instead of pouring tea into the cup, Maddie pours the hot liquid on to Vlad's head as he once again howls in pain. While Maddie and Jack walked away from a glaring Vlad, Sam silently leads Valerie and Jazz to a different area of Danny's house.

"I don't what you're up to Plasmius..." Danny says as Vlad wipes his head with a cloth before he corrects. "Actually, I do. You just told me."

"That's right!" Vlad says in response with a glare. "And if you say a word, I'll...!"

Before Vlad could finish his threat, Mariko slams the back end of her blaster upside the man's chin which knocks him down before the Japanese girl spin cocks it and aims at point blank while pinning Vlad with her foot. The man was shocked at the fact that this girl was armed and he was unaware.

"Threaten Danny-kun and you'll deal with me!" Mariko threatens.

Vlad rose an eyebrow at that threat before Mariko said to him

"Yes. I know who you really are."

"Oh really? Then, how is it that you don't know that Danny Fenton is really Danny Phantom?!" Vlad points a finger at Danny with a smirk

To Vlad's shock, Danny simply crossed his arms and says with a smug smile

"She already knows."

However, Mariko sensed something suspicious as she got one knee on Vlad's right side while still aiming her blaster, much to his confusion, and then slowly glides her hand a few inches above Vlad's body from the man's head. Once the girl's hand was above the chest, Mariko quickly inserts her hand into the jacket and grabs an object from the pocket.

Opening her hand, Mariko sees that the object was a metallic green ring with a skull on it. As she stood up, a suspicious Mariko asks a glaring Vlad while showing the ring

"Where did you get this?"

In another room, an alarm started going off as Jack and Maddie noticed in an instant. The object that looks like Jack's head was blinking lights in the eyes. Opening the top to reveal a button, Jack pressed it which causes the family portrait to turn around and reveal a radar screen behind it. The Ghost Zone Radar picks up heavy activity closing in on the epicenter.

"Galloping goblets!" Jack shouts. "It's the Ecto-Exodus Alarm!"

"The ecto-whaty-what?" the teens asks

"The Ecto-Exodus Alarm!" Maddie replies. "An alarm that only goes off when we're about to face a massive ghost invasion!"

Danny gets worried before he tells Sam to stall his parents as he and Mariko run to the basement. Sam trips Jack when the man was about to run to the basement. Jazz drops her book on purpose, causing Maddie to slip and slide into an open closet. All the while, Valerie runs to the outside in order to gear up.

Down in the basement, Danny and Mariko reach the lab as the ghost boy transforms while the Japanese girl holsters her blaster as she activates her katana and kunai before putting on the belt. The two wait at the open ghost portal until the last possible as Mariko draws her sword, ready to fight.

Suddenly, Skulker pokes his head out of the portal before he shoves the two teenagers aside. He looks back while he said

"I told you there was a way out through here!"

Then, Ember, Walker, Johnny 13's shadow, and the Box Ghost poke their heads out as well before every ghost flew out of the portal as Skulker shouts

"Go. Go. Go. GOOOO!"

After Skulker flew out, Danny follows him in hot pursuit while Mariko runs out of the basement to get to the outside of Fenton Works. Once Danny corners Skulker and was about to throw a punch, Dorathea, in her dragon form stops him while Sydney Poindexter was riding her as a means of transportation.

"I know this might sound a little fishy, but Skulker's not the bully here." Poindexter says.

"Bully? What are you talking about?" Danny asks

He looks towards the other ghost above him as Danny asks

"What are all of you running from?"

"His name is Pariah Dark, the king of all ghosts!" Ember replies.

"And while we may be in a hurry, we'll always have time for this..." Skulker says with a grin.

However, before Skulker could make a move, a kunai dagger connected to an energy cable on the pommel, pierced him in the chest. Suddenly, the ghost was instantly reeled in to a waiting Mariko before she kicks him when Skulker got in range. While Skulker got up, Mariko holsters her dagger with one hand while drawing her katana with the other as she ran to him. Once she got close, the Japanese girl delivers an uppercut slash to the chest, damaging the cyber armor and then cuts off Skulker's right arm with a single stroke.

When Skulker looks at his arm on the ground before looking at Mariko who was ready for more, he reconsiders his decision as he quickly said with a sheepish grin

"On second thought, it's best to run away and live to fight another day."

Skulker grabs his arm before he and the other ghosts fly away in haste. Mariko watched carefully before she sheathed her sword when the ghosts were no longer in sight. As Mariko catches up to Danny, he transforms upon landing before she asks

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know, but I think Vlad is now the least of my worries." Danny replies.

Mariko takes the ring out of her pocket to take a look at it while Danny looks at it as well.

"Somehow, I think this ring has something to do with it." Mariko says in suspicion.

"I can't help but think the same thing." Danny comments.

At a distance, Vlad was watching the two ominously as he put two and two together, figuring out why Mariko was protective of Danny and she was let in on his secret.

"So Daniel, you've found your true love, eh?" Vlad comments in a sinister smirk. "She may be of some use to me after all. Now that the Ring of Rage is in her possession, you'll be too busy protecting one another and thus making the battlesuit easier for me to snatch." he stomps on a gargoyle head, making it fall.

Back in the Ghost Zone, the Fright Knight was talking to 3 skeletons, dressed in Roman, Viking, and soldier regalia

"Your armies are amassed?"

The skeletons grunt as they salute the Fright Knight in response.

"Then on my orders..."

Pariah Dark was right behind the Fright Knight as he bellowed

"On MY orders...!" the Fright Knight turns around to face him. "Go that world, bring the Ring to me, and to those who stand in your way...show...no...mercy."

The Fright Knight and the skeleton army bow to Pariah Dark. Then, the Ghost King overlooks his entire army as they grunt like they were chanting to Pariah before they went on the move.


The next day at Casper High, it was lunch time as Tucker asks

"Dude, are you okay?"

Danny glares at his friend before Tucker instantly says in an apologetic tone.

"Sorry. Standard question. Late night?"

Danny yawns in exhaustion before he replies

"Of course it was a late night; every ghost I know- and a million more that I don't- ARE LOOSE!"

A ghost octopus phases through the floor before taking Danny's lunch and then disappears. After it leaves, Danny adds

"Not to mention, I couldn't sleep because my archenemy was in the guest room next to me."

Suddenly, they hear commotion 45 feet away away. When they approached the source, they see Paulina and Star in what appeared to be a heated argument. Also, in the blonde girl's hand, there were items that looked familiar to them.

"What do you mean you're ditching us?!" Paulina demands.

"You heard me!" Star said. "I'm tired of being your little satellite and sick of being in this little group!"

Star shoves the membership cards into Paulina's hand before she says

"I quit!"

Paulina was flabbergasted before she gritted her teeth and said

"Fine! Then, go on being among the losers!"

However, both girls hear a different voice speaking up.

"Honestly, who are you to control or reprimand Star's decision?"

The two girls see Mariko with her arms crossed and her glare focused on Paulina.

"Mind your business, Mariko!" Paulina says

"On the contrary, I'm making it my business." Mariko counters.

Star was surprised that Mariko was actually stepping in to help her, despite what happened when the Japanese girl first started coming here.

"Honestly Paulina, it doesn't matter how you slice it, but you've got a lot of growing up to do." Mariko says with an unamused look.

Then, she adds

"On top of that, it's Star's life, not your own."

Paulina storms up to Mariko with fists clenched as she said

"You've got a lot of nerve, speaking to me that way."

The Latina girl's body language was a dead giveaway for Mariko to understand that Paulina was ready to thrown down.

"Fighting me will prove nothing." she says

Sam, Tucker, and Danny were impressed at her words as the goth girl said

"Wow. Zen much?"

"Too bad Paulina won't understand it." Tucker comments.

The African boy called it right as Paulina stared at Mariko before she asks

"What do you mean?"

"Meaning that you'll gain nothing from a pointless fight." Mariko says with her hands in her pockets. "Except for making a fool out of yourself."

Instantly, Paulina snapped. The Latina tries to claw the Japanese girl who just bobbed and weaved fluidly causing Paulina to trip and fall upon missing her shot. She glared at Mariko who was smiling smugly before Paulina tried again, throwing several punches and even swiping her nails in an attempt to scratch Mariko. However, the Japanese girl simply and fluidly dodged her opponent's attacks in a way that her movements made it seem like she was dancing flawlessly, despite that Paulina was attacking her.

Paulina threw another punch at Mariko who simply jumped over the Latina girl. Right when Paulina faced her and was about to attack again, Mr. Lancer showed up as he shouts

"MS. SANCHEZ!"

The Latina girl was instantly shocked that she got caught by the teacher.

"What's going on here?!" he demands

Then, Star spoke up on Mariko's behalf before the Japanese girl could say anything.

"Honestly Mr. Lancer, Paulina was attacking Mariko." she gestures to the crowd of students. "These witnesses can tell you."

They all nod in response, verifying Star's claim before the teacher dragged Paulina, who was shouting in protest, to the office. Once Lancer was fully out of earshot, the rest of the students gave Mariko a thunderous applause for standing up for Star. Then, the blonde girl approached as she said in gratitude.

"Thanks for that."

"You're welcome." Mariko says with genuine appreciation.

All the while, Danny could only smile at Mariko for standing up to Paulina without any fear or hesitation. In another part of the cafeteria, Valerie could only stare as she witnessed the entire exchange before seeing Mariko hugging Danny. The African girl was happy that Star has decided to leave the A-Listers for good since the blonde girl can openly hang out with her now. However, she couldn't help but wonder how a wealthy girl like Mariko is the complete opposite of the A-Listers and she would genuinely be interested in Danny.

In the hallways of the school, Mariko was walking to her locker until she sees Valerie running in fear. Knowing what it was about, the Japanese girl quickly opened the door of an empty classroom so Valerie could get in and hide. Once the door was closed, she quickly leaned against the lockers and pretends to inspect her nails when she heard Nathan's footsteps quickly approaching.

Right when she sees him with a begging look, Mariko simply points to her right with her thumb. As soon as she did, Nathan runs in the direction while calling Valerie's name. Once it was safe, Mariko knocked on the door three times before Valerie emerged from her hiding spot.

"That's the second time you've helped me." Valerie comments in surprise. "I thought rich girls don't associate with anyone "below" them," she used air quotes "much less help them."

"I'm nothing like those other people." Mariko replies.

Then, Valerie remembers something before she asks

"That reminds me, why did you start liking Fenton in the first place?"

"Because he is the first boy who genuinely wants to be with me, for me." Mariko replies.

Her answer surprised Valerie as she blinked before Mariko continued

"When I first met Danny-kun, he didn't know who my father was or my origin. When I told him, not once did Danny-kun try sucking up to me. I can see that has a kind heart."

Valerie's jaw dropped at that. She was honestly surprised that Mariko was truly the complete opposite of the A-Listers since the African-American girl was once part of their group until she and her family became poor. Soon, Mariko continued speaking

"Lately, I've been seeing that Danny-kun truly valued his friends, family, all of those he cares about. In all honesty, I like Danny-kun for his heart."

Valerie was at a loss for words before she whispers to herself

"Then why has Fenton been mean to me?"

Unfortunately, Mariko heard that before she replies

"Perhaps the way you've treated him in the past is what drew his ire towards you," she sees Valerie gasp in shock. "Yes. Danny-kun told me the animosity between you and him and how it started."

Valerie started to feel bad, especially since Mariko has been helping her hide from Nathan, despite on how she's treated Danny in the past. Soon, Mariko spoke up.

"Look. I have no animosity towards you since you've done nothing wrong to me. As long as it's kept that way, you and I will have no problems."

Valerie smiled before she and Mariko shook hands.


Back at Fenton Works, Jack was working on the upper half of the battle suit as if he was repairing the underside of a car, with Vlad simply watching him.

"Vladdy, my man. Could you hand me that watchermajigit?" he asks

Vlad hands a gadget to Jack as he said

"Here you go, old chum."

When Jack continued the assembly, Vlad stands up and leans against the suit before he asks

"Any idea when this suit might be finished?"

Jack slides out to face Vlad as he said

"Quit pushing me V-man, I'm working as fast as I can."

Suddenly, while Jack continued working, a sound comes from the ghost portal; one that sounded like a horse neighing. Vlad hears and becomes very nervous

"Can we...pick it up a little bit?" Vlad asks nervously.

Then, Maddie enters the lab as she asks

"What was that?"

"Could be me." Jack says as he stands up. "I made huevos rancheros for breakfast."

Suddenly, the sound is heard again as the door of the portal bursts open. The door hits Jack, knocking him to a wall when Vlad stepped out of ther way.

"Jack. Look out. The door." Vlad says with a smug smile and faux warning.

Near the portal entrance was the Fright Knight on his evil pegasus-like steed, the Nightmare as he commands while pointing his Soul Shredder sword

"Go, and find the King's ring!"

As the skeleton soldiers charge out of the portal and phase through the walls to begin their search. Maddie goes up to a pinned Jack as she says

"Jack, we have to shut the portal."

"Yeah! I'll get right on that." Jack says as he struggled to get the heavy metal door off.

Right when Maddie was about to reach for the switch to seal the portal, the Fright Knight stops her as he grabbed her wrist and held her up. It got Jack angry and gave him the strength to push the door off of him

"Hey!"

As Jack got ready to fight, he and Vlad shout simultaneously

"LET GO OF THE WOMAN I LOVE!"

Jack was surprised that Vlad shouted the same thing as he looked at him in surprise before his friend quickly in a faux innocent tone

"Like a dear friend."

Vlad looks at the top half of the Ecto-skeleton before he asks,

"Is any part of that suit operational?"

Jack ponders as he says

"Well, the pants part, but it's not calibrated yet. Using the suit could kill you."

Vlad smiles before he says

"Well then, you should try it first. It is your battlesuit."

When the Fright Knight fires a beam from the Soul Shredder, Jack shoves Vlad out of the way which also pins him to a wall.

"That it is, V-man." Jack says before he glances in another direction. "It's time to kick a little butt."

Jack jumps into the mechanical pants as he says

"And these are the pants to kick it in!" he presses a button. "Neuro-receptors, engage!"

A mechanical spinal cord connects to Jack's back before it spreads, connecting to his arms. Then, he confronts the Fright Knight, ready for battle. The ghostly knight fires an energy blast, but Jack dodges it, faster than any normal human before he runs around in circles. Suddenly, Jack quickly and rapidly kicks Fright Knight's arm, freeing Maddie. After landing, Jack runs up his opponent as he said,

"The kick is up...!"

He boots the ghost as if he was a football, sending him phasing through the house and flying.

"AND IT'S GOOD!"

Suddenly, as Jack boasts his success, he starts feeling severe fatigue as he drags

"The Ecto-skeleton...is...weakening...me."

Jack was about to collapse but Maddie stops him from falling as she shouts in horror.

"Jack! The suit's draining you like a battery!" she turns to Vlad. "Vlad, help me get these pants off Jack!"

Instead, Vlad walks away as he said

"Nope, sorry. That's all you."

Maddie frowns at Vlad for refusing to help his supposed friend.

Meanwhile, the skeleton army were tearing apart the city as they were searching for the Ring of Rage. As they continued to terrorize the city with innocent people fleeing, Poindexter took a peek from the rooftop of another building

"Those poor humans." the nerdy ghost said. "They're being overrun by ghost bullies."

"Oh, who cares about them?" Ember says in response. "That is the Ghost King's crew. He's on his way here."

Skulker, now fully repaired, adds

"Which means we have to camouflage ourselves." he takes a peek as well. "And you hear that? That's confusion and panic. Which means it's the perfect time to find our hiding place."

The other ghosts, except Poindexter, smile evilly in agreement.

Then, the ghosts spread out to find suitable places to hide. The Lunch Lady ghost took over the Nasty Burger as her territory. At the box store, a couple requested a lot of boxes. However, the Box Ghost phases into view before he bellows

"NEVER!"

The couple scream in fear.

In a store called Guitar Palace, Ember was there as she said to a group of teens

"Hey kids. Here's a little ditty I like to call...GET OUT OF MY NEW HOME!"

She strikes the chords of her guitar which shatters the glass, causing the teens to flee as one of them shouts

"SHE ROCKS!"

At a hunting goods store, Skulker had his weapons drawn, aiming at a few shoppers as he said while retracting them into his armor

"Away humans!" he sits on a camp chair. "This is Skulker's lair now!"

The men fled the store while Sydney could only watch before he said while phasing in

"This is not on the square, Skulker." he turns around to face Skulker. "We're pushing those people from their homes. We're no better than the ghost king."

"No one lives here. It's a store." Skulker counters.

Then, Skulker fires an arrow from a crossbow which pins Sydney to a wall by the shirt as the ghost nerd said

"This seems oddly familiar."


As the skeleton crew were passing by Casper High, Danny accidentally ran into Dash once again as the bully grabs him by the shirt.

"Well, well, Fenton. No teachers snooping around or your girlfriend nearby." he sneered.

Danny rolls his eyes before he warns

"Dash, I'm not in the mood right so get lost!"

"Don't think so, runt!" Dash said before he smiles mockingly. "Unless you think you can make me."

Danny glares at Dash as he said

"You've asked for it!"

Suddenly, Danny uses two fingers and delivers a hard jab to Dash's eye. The jock released his hold as he cried out in pain while putting his hands over his eye. Then, Danny did a sweep kick to knock Dash off his feet. The bully could only stare at Danny in shock as the ghost boy glared at him with his fists at his hips. Then, both boys hear a familiar feminine voice speaking up

"Well done, Danny-kun."

They see Mariko smiling proudly at Danny as she walked up to him.

"I think you're ready for some complex techniques." she paused and holds up a finger in a "just a moment" gesture. "Excuse me a sec?"

Then, the Japanese girl pins down Dash with her foot while giving him a menacing glare like she was more than ready to tear the jock apart...literally as she hissed

"Consider yourself lucky because I will do worse to you."

Right when Mariko took her foot off of Dash's chest, the jock ran away while his hand was still on his eye that Danny jabbed. Instantly, when it was just two of them, Vlad Plasmius phases through the wall as he taunts.

"Really Daniel? I was expecting you to use your powers against your foes."

Danny instantly transforms before he fires a blast at his archenemy, sending him flying through the roof.

"Since you're one of my foes, you qualify." he quips before phasing out of the school.

All the while, Mariko runs to see Sam and Tucker with Valerie. Before the Japanese girl could say anything, Tucker's PDA started beeping before he pulls out his device and looks at the news that was being broadcasted about the ghost activity all over the city.

At Fenton Works, Jack and Maddie see the news as well. Despite being severely weakened, Jack was about to speak but Maddie interrupts

"Jack. You're still wiped out from the Fenton Pants. I'll get Danny and Jazz."

"That...works...too..." Jack weakly drags.

Back at Casper High, Danny confronts Vlad in the football field. However, the evil ghost holds up his hands and says.

"Calm down, Daniel! I didn't come here to fight you. I have other things to worry about!"

Suddenly, Vlad gets blasted from the left side. Then, Danny sees Mariko in her ninja garb and armed with her weapons, spin cocking her blaster with a glare as she said.

"I find that highly debatable."

Then, the Fright Knight grabs Vlad and lifts him up

"The King's prize! Return it!"

"I don't have it, not anymore!" Vlad counters. "But, if you join me..."

Suddenly, both of them get blasted by Valerie in her ghost hunting gear. However, she sees Danny and decides to go for him and attack.

"I've been waiting for this!" Valerie sneered as she aimed her blaster

However, she hears a sound, like something piercing metal. Looking down, Valerie sees a kunai pierced into her hoverboard and it was connected to an energy cable on the pommel.

"What the...?!"

Instantly, the dagger pulls on the vehicle, knocking Valerie off as it crashed. The huntress looks to see Mariko was the one responsible for the attack as the cable retracts the weapon before she holstered it. Valerie confronts her as both girls aimed their blasters at each other.

"Why are you protecting him?!" Valerie demands

"Why are you after him, Valerie?!" Mariko demands

Valerie's eyes widened behind her visor as she gasped before asking

"How did you know it was me?"

"I recognize your voice." Mariko replies as Danny lands next to her while she lowers her mask. "Now, I'm going to ask again, why are you after him?"

"That ghost is the one who ruined my life some time ago!" Valerie replies while pointing at Danny. "He was the one responsible for my past troubles!"

Careful not to reveal Danny's identity, Mariko asks in faux suspicion

"Is that true, Phantom-san?"

"If you let me explain, I'll tell you the whole truth." Danny suggests.

Valerie was flabbergasted as she shouts

"You're seriously going to let him talk?!"

"That's my call." Mariko replies before turning to Danny. "Go on."

"Look" Danny begins. "There was a ghost dog lurking around the Axion Labs, trying to reclaim his squeaky toy. I didn't know at first, until I found and gave it to the dog." he raised his hands to his chest. "I never intended to make her father lose his job, honest."

Mariko was silent for a minute before she smiled. The Japanese girl knew that her boyfriend wouldn't tell a lie as she said.

"Since you say that you didn't intend to make her father lose his job, I believe you."

Danny was shocked as he asked

"You believe me?"

Mariko nods in response. However, Valerie lowers her weapon before she grimaced

"I still don't trust you..." she glances at Vlad. "or your spooky friend."

"That ghost in white is not his friend." Mariko verifies while lifting up her mask to put it on.

"And you don't have to trust me!" Danny adds while extending his arm. "Just fight with me!"

Valerie was hesitant at first, before she shook hands with Danny.

Meanwhile, every parent in Amity Park arrive on the school grounds. Maddie jumps out of the Fenton RV as she asks Sam and Tucker off frantic

"Kids, have you seen Danny?"

"He's with Mariko." Sam and Tucker say simultaneously.

Then, Valerie's father, Damon shows up and asks

"Kids, have you seen Valerie?"

"She's with Mariko." Sam and Tucker reply before Sam adds. "Who's also with Danny."

Suddenly, Kenji Watanabe arrives as he asks

"Has anyone seen Mariko?"

"She's with Danny." Sam replies

At the football field, Danny, Mariko, and Valerie team up to confront the Fright Knight and his army. While Mariko fended off the skeletons with her katana, Danny and Valerie took turns landing a strike on the medieval ghost. Then, after Vlad lands the final blow which knocks him down, the Fright Knight gets up as he says

"Fool! All I wanted to do was seize the Ring and return to Pariah's keep!" the Fright Knight fully stands while the other grimaced at him. "But now, you give me no choice!"

The Soul Shredder's blade ignites into flames as the Fright Knight prepares to thrust the sword into the ground

"By the authority vested in me by my Lord and Leige...!"

The knight plunged the sword into the ground before an energy beam shoots into the sky and a wave of ectoplasm spreads, causing every skeleton soldier in Amity Park to freeze. Suddenly, the energy beam begins to spread over the city, forming a dome while everyone watched in horror as the Fright Knight announces

"I claim this town, now and forever, under the banner of Lord Pariah- The King Of All Ghosts!"

Outside the dome, the energy forms the image of Pariah Dark, the King of all Ghosts.


To be continued...


Starfire14: Hope this is to your liking.

Batrenz: Thanks.

ghust95, Ultra X-45: You'll see how it will play out

Dragonrule: Glad you liked the previous chapter

NiteOwl18: Thought it would be hilarious for Youngblood to get disciplined.

Dreams Come True 996: Yeah. Their rules suck in my opinion. I hope the start of how Mariko and Valerie interact with one another. There will be more in the second part and you'll see how things will turn.


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