Disclaimer - You know what it is, Butch Hartmann (The Bitch)owns Danny phantom, DC (which really stands for Dumb Comics because they ended the Teen Titans) owns the Teen Titans, and I (Zgogery[ The Best of the 3 up here because I don't turn my back on my fans]) own a few things as well
Ok, so I decided to make all the ghosts more hardcore, since in the show, at times, they seemed like a joke, and I feel that they should be a bit more sinister. Ok, now then . . . . . .
TO THE STORY
James stared wide eyed as he saw the Fright Knight protect him. He saw Walker call his goons, when a few dozen skeletons materialized between them and the Fright Knight, as Walker's goons stopped in their tracks. They all fled when they saw the skeletal soldiers approaching as Walker cursed. He flew away, eventually disappearing from sight as Fright Knight had the skeletons carry James back to the keep. James noticed that the castle was not in ruins as it had been when he had last been here, and that the sarcophagus of forever sleep was also imbeded in the floor under a layer of glass, instead of in a chamber behind the throne.
He saw Fright Knight approach a pair of pedastals, removing the crown of fire and the ring of rage, and making his way to James. He kneeled, holding them towards James, waiting for him to take them. James, meanwhile, was looking at him like he was crazy. "Uhhh, Fright Knight? Can you see clearly, are you sick or something? It's me Danny Phantom" James said, wincing when he said the last part. The Fright Knight looked up, and gave a hearty laugh. "I do indeed know who you are, my king." He seemed to think for a moment, before saying, "Do you know anything of the line of succession among ghosts?"
This threw James for a loop, who shook his head no, looking very confused. The Fright Knight sighed, before gesturing to one of the skeletons, who ran off. He returned a second later, giving the Fright Knight a large book. "Back when the ghost zone was new, Pariah Dark was chosen to be the King of all ghosts. He was a noble and just king, but was corrupted by one of his advisors over time. They poisoned his thoughts, and tricked the king. The ring of rage gave him ultimate lordship over his armies, and myself in the procss once he wore both and forced his will upon me. When wearing it, along with the crown of fire, we had no free will. That control was broken when you fought him, removing the crown. He laid siege to his own kingdom, oppressing the people, and ruining the ghost zone. Eventually a group of seven ghosts, their identities lost to time, banded together to fight the king. They led a resistance of thousands, and were all but defeated. In a last ditch effort, they assaulted the keep, imprisoning his armies within the castle walls, and I was cursed to be trapped in a pumpkin once the soul shredder was sheathed within it.
Those seven ghosts were all that were left of the resistance, and they fled deep into the ghost zone, beyond all comprehension. No one has ever found them or where they went, and many have tried. Before any of that however, before we all ruled over ourselves, with no constant leadership, there was a line of succession. The way they set it up was, if Pariah was ever defeated, all his lands, properties, titles, and any thing else he had would be transferred to the one who defeated him. You have been the only one to do so, since the ancients have faded into myth, and all searches have been for null. In the absence of leadership, it reverts back to the king's predecessor after a certain amount of time.
Eventually, Pariah regained control, but that was onlywhen he was awoken a few years ago. The final part of the line of succession was the requirements to be king. You must have been a ghost for at least 3 years, and have beaten the previous king. The anniversary of you obtaining your powers was 6 weeks ago, am I correct?" The Fright Knight explained. James nodded, as the Fright Knight continued. "So, you have defeated Pariah, and have been a ghost for 4 years and 6 weeks. You ARE eligible for the spectral throne (My own, made up throne, the link to a picture of what the back looks like is on my deviant art profile in my profile bio) and the position as King." He finished, with a tone that seemed to shout 'you can't change anything'.
James sighed, shaking his head. He sat there a moment, before his curiosity got the better of him. "So, I could go out, and get you all to capture my my enemies?" He said, just speculating on his abilities. The Fright Knight nodded, before kneeling in front of James, who sat down on the throne, still a bit uneasy. He took the two power items, and shakily placed the crown of fire on his head. He felt a surge o poser when he followed by placing the ring of rage on his right hand. He saw the skeletons kneel, as more of them appeared, kneeling, before the entire throne room was full of kneeling skeletal warriors. James sighed, before saying, "I need to think, please can I have some alone time?"
The Fright Knight looked up, before standing, and walking firmly out, followed by a marching skeletal army. He could hear them rebuilding the area around the castle, and sighed as he thought over all that had happened to him with this so far. He realized, 'I can't run Midnight, be Shadow, and be the king of all ghosts along with worrying Crystal with me being missing' He looked around, seeing none of the skeletons or the Fright Knight anywhere where they could see him, and went intangible and invisible. He flew away, and eventually found Clockwork's tower. He flew in, and went over to the Master of Time.
"Clockwork! Why didn't you tell me that I was destined to become the king of the Ghost Zone? I mean, I was just dragged off by the Fright Knight and given the power items, and given a history lesson! Why didn't you tell me?" The Master of Time sighed, before looking at the young monarch. "I didn't tell you because, young phantom, I felt you would be able to live your life without this bothering you throughout your life. I was wrong, which is rare. There is infinite possibilities, because, as you told your older self, 'the future isn't set in stone'. I did not expect this reality to be the one that took place, and I chose to allow you to live your life without the stress this would generate."
"Was that really your choice to make?" James said, not expecting an answer, before flying out, going as fast as he could. He flew past the castle, past the wreckage of his parents old portal, past a familiar bright purple football, and came to an old looking island. He flew down, dodging past several feral ghosts, and came upon a metal doorway. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a remote, and opening the door. The door split, as it revealed a portal. James flew through, seeing the familiar sight of his lab, and shut the portal. He put the remote away, before flying up and out, returning to the warehouse and the fight. He saw Inferno and Starfire fighting back sleepwalkers, and saw Raven attempting to destroy the device Nocturne was in.
He flew past everyone, stopping Raven, saying, "It won't do anything. Your wasting your time! he has to be woken up. I have to go inside. I have to go into his dream, and fight him. You can only wake someone when he is using his power by shocking them in their own dream. Now, go help the others. I can get this!" The girl seemed to consider it, before nodding, and heading out to help the other two. She saw Inferno throwing balls of fire, and shredding the creatures while Starfire picked off the stragglers. She sighed, before turning and seeing Shadow flying into Nocturne and, she assumed, his dream. She looked back at the duo, realizing the situation was under control, before flying into Nocturne, as everything went dark.
JAMES' POV
James looked around, before seeing the area darken as Nocturne appeared in front of him. He got out his scythe, and was about to lash out, when he saw Raven appear in Nocturne's mindscape. Nocturne, without even a glance in her direction, suddenly got her surrounded by sleepwalkers. They all approached, grabbing her as her magic seemed to not be working. He sighed, before flying at her, dodging Nocturne, and using his ghostly wail, forgetting about the power items he was wearing. He gaped, as the sleepwalkers all dissipated, as Raven floated there, her powers temprarily restored, it seemed, when Nocturne's power was beaten back.
She began to fly up, when suddenly, she began to fall, as James swooped down, catching her. She looked at him, as he put her down, before he flew back up to Nocturne. He smirked, getting ready to wail again, when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. He saw sleepwalkers dragging him back, and growled. He began to glow blue, as the sleepwalkers began to slow down. They stopped, a sheet of ice forming over them, as Shadow lashed out, shattering them. He turned to Nocturne, and got out his scythe and flew forward, slashing at the last second, then turning and leaving a duplicate in the break between Nocturne's form. The duplicate began to glow, before exploding in a blast of freezing cold energy as Nocturne collapsed, looking weak.
He struggled, leaning against a rock, before standing. He saw Shadow approaching, and a look of panic appeared on his face. James brandished his scythe, as it glowed with an eerie red aura, and sliced Nocturne in half horizontaly where he hd just began to regenerate. He saw Nocturne wince, as he tried to regenerate again. "You won't be able to regenerate for the next hour, now, tell me. How badly do you want to continue your miserable afterlife?" James said, glaring at the self proclaimed 'king of dreams'. The ghost looked at him, before grinning, and fading away. James looked around, realizing he had been tricked, and heard a vaguely familiar voice.
He turned, and saw Raven, obviously being overshadowed by Nocturne on account of the sleepwalkers not trying to kidnap her anymore, along with her glowing, and she was surrounded by the ghostly flames that Nocturne could conjure. He turned intangible, and flew through her, grabbing the, by now, massive ghost, and sending him crashing down in an valley within the dreamscape. James got up, throwing a ball of ecto energy intermixed with ice at Nocturne, before flying at the sleepwalkers, scythe out and ready to get started
TO CRYSTAL AND STARFIRE
Crystal panted, having used up a lot of her energy to take the brunt of the damage and draw the sleepwalkers attention. She was about to collapse, when she saw the signal tower controlling the sleepwalkers fall. She grinned at the trick James had told her about ACTUALLY working. She flew over, her opponents now gone, and saw the titan looking at the case with Nocturne in it with a look full of worry. "Don't worry, Raven and Shadow will be fine in there. I'm sure of it!" She said, trying to cheer up the other girl. They sat there, witing, as they gasped when the tower's rubble began to float, glowing bright red.
The light surrounding the piecs of debris flashed, before a shockwave of red energy flew at the two girls. Inferno grabbed Starfire, trying to get away, but it was to no avail, as the light washed over them, both losing consciousness. The two girls fell, not seeing the rubble mass together, as the glass on the tank repaired itself from where it had cracked, as Nocturne's immobile form smirked slightly. The tower summoning sleepwalkers rose, larger than before as the debris also incorporated bits of things that weren't originally iin it's structure.
TO JAMES AND RAVEN
James smirked as, when he was about to rip into the sleepwalkers, they disappeared, as he realized Crystal did it. He grinned, turning to Nocturne, who was looking pissed. He looked down at James, getting up and knocking him back. he grabbed the halfa, and brought him close to his face. He looked at Nocturne, as the ghost looked ready to use his power, when James gulped in a breath of air, and used his ghostly wail at point blank range. Nocturne stumbled back, lettign go of James, who flew forward, getting dizzy, while still wailing. He saw Nocturne holding his head, before the behemoth collapsed. James stopped, shutting his mouth, as he sluggishly descended, making his way towards Nocturne.
He flew up a bit, floating an inch or two off the grund, and made his way towards Nocturne's head. He saw the ghost trying to get up, and shot ectoplasm at his hands and feet, holding him in place. He got out his scythe, holding it at Nocturne's neck, whe he heard a shout from behind him. "Shadow! Don't kill him!" He, not removing the scythe, turned and saw Raven looking at him, a bt disoriented, but that was natural. She had just been overshadowed, and that could potentially disorient a person for a few minutes. "Why not? Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't end this ghost's afterlife!" James said, his anger at Clockwork for failing to tell him about the crown bleeding through into his words, as Raven winced.
"Heroes shouldn't end the lives of criminals, don't stoop to their level!" Raven said, as Shadow's eyes widened. He could see thousands of sleepwalkers forming behind Raven, as he began to realize that the technology must have been upgraded since he had stopped Nocturne last time. He looked down, and raised his scythe, as he looked at Raven, "No." He said flatly, turning back to the ghost in question. He swung down, when he lost his grip on his scythe. He saw Raven glowing with dark magic, his scythe in her hands, when she began to glow. "Shit! I forgot about the power levels of the staff!" He dodged to the side, sleepwalkers appearing out of nowhere, as the threat made itself known. He flew, as fast as he could, at Raven, grabbing her around the waist and flying in a vertical arc. He grabbed his scythe as she dropped it in shock from the physical contact, as he speeded up, energized by the staff and pure adrenaline.
He stopped, a few thousand yards away, as he let go of Raven, who, by this point, was still in shock over the contact. He turned to her, as he heard her start to speak. "Why did you do that, where are we, and what is THAT! I mean, that is no ordinary scythe, well, as ordinary as a scythe can be anyway. Well?" He sighed, looking at her, and said, "Later, we have bigger problems right now." He gestured to the oncoming horde of sleepwalkers, as her eyes went as lerge as dinner plates. He shook his head, before flying up, charging one hand with ice, and gripping his scythe tighter. He flew at the sleepwalkers, slashing left and right as he shot ice beams, all the while, trying to dodge their attacks. He grabbed one, before plunging his scythe into it's chest, slamming three more onto it, before letting ice flow through the blade, as they froze. He swung them like a club, destroying several of the others, before they shattered.
He was about to repeat his little trick, when they all began to retreat. He saw them all flying into Nocturne, who was growing at an exponential rate, as James gulped. He backed up, his scythe already glowing with a dull light which signaled it would retreat into it's necklace form soon because of all the power being channeled through it. He sighed, preparing for the worst, when Raven flew in front of him, the air around her crackling with energy. She turned to James, glaring at him, seemingly still peeved about him trying to destroy Nocturne. He flew up, gathering his energy, as an idea came to mind. "Get behind me, and cover your ears. Now!" He said to raven, leaving little room for arguing by the tone of his voice.
She obliged, as he stepped forward, mentally preparing himself. He flew up, before gathering up as much of the ambient ecto energy in their surroundings as he could, and slingshot himself at Nocturne, a distinct smell of burning ozone in his wake. He opened his mouth, arms held in front of him, and used his ghostly wail as he began to feel his energy drain. He threw ghost rays and ice beams into the mix, they getting intertwined with the wail, as it began to launch shards of ice, in combination with a massive ball of ectoplasm. Nocturne's eyes widened, as he saw this attack, shielding his eyes, as the light sped towards him. Nocturne looked up at the last minute, being hit full blast at point blank range with the attack, as the ghost collapsed again. James just kept going, throwing his most powerful attack's power, in combination with his other powers, at Nocturne.
The ghost fell to his knees, getting a face full of James' wail, before finally collapsing. The dream began to grow dark, as James and Raven collapsed, reappearing beside the downed forms of Starfire and Inferno. The two heroes rushed to their respective friend or teammate, and managed to drag them out of the warehouse. James looked at Raven, before saying, "Watch these two, I have to go take care of Nocturne. I mean it, stay here." he ran back into the warehouse, before, a few minutes later, the tower collapsed. She heard large quantities of swearing, as she could hear him fighting Nocturne, and smiled as she thought, 'It's good not to be the one saving the day for once.'
WELL, WHAT DID YOU THINK? i'M RREEEAAALLLLYYYY TIRED, SO FORGIVE ME IF THE CHAPTER IS A LITTLE SHORT, YOU KNOW THE DRILL
READ AND REVIEW
YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS,
GO!