Author's Note: I own nothing.
24 The Crumbling Castle
As Dani approached the castle she'd once thought of as the Fright Knights she could see that her problems had only begun. An army lay between her and the gate including what appeared to be the skeletons of two separate dragons. She took a deep breath before leveling a hand at the army. She'd intended to take out a few of them but the blast from her hand, icy white instead of the green she'd become used to, took out a full column of solders. She blinked.
"Ok that doesn't suck." She said flexing her hand. She wasn't even starting to feel drained yet, though the percentage counter in front of her now read ninety-eight instead of one hundred. She frowned as another column moved in to replace the one she'd just vaporized. "This is taking too long." She muttered and aimed another blast at the army. She couldn't waste all her energy out here, she would need it for the fight with Pariah. She let off another blast as the skeletons shuddered into movement and began to surround her. Several blasts from behind her distracted them all as the Specter Speeder slid into view. Sam and Tanya were sitting in the front seat. Dani shook her head, blasting a regiment of what appeared to be roman soldiers who made to attack the speeder.
"Get out of here!" She called and Sam shook his head.
"We aren't staying, we brought you some back up though." He called as the bottom of the speeder opened and green light spilled out revealing many of Dani's old enemies. She blinked as Ember strummed her guitar sending a line of soldiers to their knees.
"An excellent argument was raised, we're here to get you inside. After that you're on your own Baby Pop." Ember snarked as Technus and Skulker rushed past her blasting at the army. Kitty and Johny followed behind Ember, Kitty wielding a bat Dani recognized as her mothers 'anti-creep stick'. She nodded as the army's attention turned away from her and to the mob that her enemies were creating. She rushed through the guards at the gate and tore the door open sending the massive black wooden door off its hinges sailing into the wing of one of the skeletal dragons. The Specter Speeder rushed back the way it had come and Dani savored the last look at her friends. She turned to the still slightly dusty interior of the castle. It had not changed much since she'd last been here. She did not let herself stop now. Apparently the booby traps had been turned off. Pariah would have no use for them.
Dani had a plan. It wasn't a good one, she would admit that. Her chances were slim but she couldn't let that stop her. She kicked down the door of the throne room, Pariah was sitting there smiling as though he had already won.
"Here to pledge your fealty to the king are you whelp?" He demanded and Dani shook her head.
"Here to send you back where you came from." She said and Pariah stood and lunged without more preamble. They clashed, power shaking the stones around them. Dani was having some problems. The suit was working well, but she wasn't going to last long in it. It would drain her like a battery the longer she was in it. She had to finish this fast and to do that she had to not do this alone. It took only a thought and a flash of light for her to split. She'd been trying this trick ever since she first saw Vlad do it but she'd never succeeded until now. But now there were four versions of Dani Phantom fighting the ghost king and four battle suits helping them do it. Glancing down at the ticking gage in front of her Dani knew she didn't have long. Two of her doubles lunged past Pariah who laughed.
"You will not win this whelp why try!" He taunted and Dani and her remaining double blasted him together as the other two took down the wall behind Pariah, right on top of his head. It didn't do much, he phased through it, but Dani grinned as she spotted the item standing on a pedestal behind Pariah.
"I don't have to win. I just have to make sure you lose." She said as one of the doubles behind him fired, striking not Pariah himself but the flaming crown on top of his head, sending it flying. He cried out as the third duplicate threw open the sarcophagus, the crown clattering off into the shadows. He struck out vaporizing one of the doubles. Dani had expected that to hurt but it didn't and she didn't let herself get distracted by that. She would not be repeating the mistakes of whatever anchients had locked Pariah away originally. The two remaining duplicates seized Pariah by the arms and Dani darted forward seizing his glove and pulling it off ring and all. She had no time to fight with just pulling the ring off. The hand under the glove was wreathed in shadow and Pariah screamed his defiance sending all three of them flying. One of Dani's doubles regained her feet, the other duplicate slammed into a decorative spear and dissolved.
Throwing the glove aside Dani lunged forward as her last double seized the sarcophagus from behind and flew it forward. Pariah screamed his fists slamming into the suit. Dani felt it crack but ignored it, ignored the warning beeping coming from the console in front of her, ignored the sharp pain in her back. All she could focus on was getting Pariah back into the sarcophagus and back into his eternal sleep. It was only when she got him into the thing and slammed the lid shut that she realized the flaw in her plan. She had no way of locking the sarcophagus. She swore as she held it closed, her final double vanishing. She didn't know if it was because she no longer needed an extra set of hands or because she was close to losing consciousness. All she knew was Pariah was screaming and beating the inside of the sarcophagus and she was not going to be able to hold it closed much longer.
The meter in front of her ticked down. Five. She'd failed. She had fought so hard and would not be able to save her town. Four. Were those footsteps behind her? She couldn't turn to check. Three. If she was attacked now she knew she was done for. Two. She wondered what came after the afterlife. She'd never expected to find that out at fifteen. An arm reached above her and a click sounded. She glanced up and stared. Someone had just inserted a key into the hole in the sarcophagus. She turned as Pariah's cries fell silent and the sarcophagus fell still. One. She could not rise, nor did she bother trying. She was shaking as she spotted her rescuer. Vlad Plasmius stood there with the Fright Knight at his side.
"Vlad?" She asked her voice barely audible. "I… I don't understand." She muttered and Vlad shook his head.
"Understand what? That I used two pawns to turn a knight." Vlad said shaking her head. But Dani didn't hear what else he had to say the meter in front of her ticked down at last to zero and her world went grey as she fell forward.