CHAPTER 9: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
Loss is one of the greatest torments that humanity can suffer through. Going through much effort to make a connection to another human being, to invest personal feelings and sacred time with a person, to make them a part of you, is not something that can be separated so easily. When it is unduly separated from outside forces beyond human control, it leads to greater detriment and negative emotions.
Danny Fenton has the faced torment of loss for many months, damned to live out the great pain of five people close to him; his parents, sister, and two best friends, during the turblulent years of adolescence when one is still unsure of their own identity and place in the world.
Vlad Masters has taken him under his wing in attempt to make amends to a friendship he once shared then betrayed with the parents of the orphaned boy, and he has tried to give him an outlet by directing his rage and his ghost powers towards his own financial enemies, simultaneously giving the two a chance to bond together.
It had started to show results for awhile, but it soon turned to trouble when Danny began turning his powers towards lethal measures on said enemies.
To see the boy who had made himself into the famous superhero beloved by many start to contemplate taking lives on a whim, knowing of his once-good heart and kind deeds as a hero, was nothing short of a living terror on his hands. But what had terrified him even more was the solution that Danny had proposed to remove the pain that he was feeling:
Take out his human side, and only leave the ghost side.
Hearing the idea come out of Danny's mouth was reason alone enough to believe him to be going insane, but following through with it made him question his own sanity even more. Nonetheless, it is his own debt to the Fentons that give him the strength to consummate their son's wish.
His own years as a young man were spent studying the afterlife and the world from beyond death, blurring the lines of magic and science under the work shared with the Fentons to create the first dimensional breach to what is now known as the Ghost Zone. It is that same knowledge that he applies to the project to surgically remove the soul of Danny Fenton from his body, as per requested.
Currently, Danny Fenton sits strapped to an operating table with various machines monitoring his life status, with Vlad Masters attired in a surgeons' scrubs. On his hands are a pair of gauntlets by his own design, intended for the use of separating the body and soul without bringing harm to either.
Looking on the idle Danny Fenton in the operating table, he watches how the boy rests peacefully under the anesthetic being fed to him. The sleep-like state he is in almost makes him appear at peace at last, but he knows that it is not the truth. Looking with almost disappointed eyes, he hopes, after fulfilling the duty asked of him to separate his body and soul...
...that it will be the truth that he will be at peace.
Raising his gauntlets in the air, out from Vlad's surgical tools protruded sharp spikes, designed and intended to phase through the living flesh of a mortal human to remove out the immortal soul beneath. He sincerely hopes that what he does will be best for the boy, and gives a silent prayer to no specific deity, hoping that his thoughts will simply be heard, in hopes that his work will succeed.
Beyond the body of Danny Fenton he reaches, past the skin and bone, past the natural and into the supernatural. He grabs ahold of the spirit that carries the consciousness and dreams of Danny, reaching past his heart to touch his true heart, as if feeling the closest connection with his ward at last.
Still does he hold uncertainty with his action, and even regret that began to bleed from his eyes, but still does he push through to finish what he has started. The act is now akin to separating conjoined twins so that one may live on while the other dies, and the separation is a terrifying thing both to the surgeon and patients.
He pulls and takes out the soul of Danny Fenton, holding in his hands the separate being now in his hands. Pulling out an entirely new creature from the body it had gestated in for a long time, what he holds now is a new being from Danny Fenton entirely; a newborn dead boy.
The newborn Danny Phantom, still carrying the form of his past self, now rests in the hands of Vlad Masters, who looked upon him with a disturbed sense of fear. The creature in his arms had on it a look of pain of its own, taken out of its womb and forced into a world of pain, not unlike a living baby boy.
But while a newborn baby boy has little thoughts and feelings in its head just yet, this newborn has plenty of his own.
Believing that this separation would be the key to taking away the pain that he felt from the loss of his family, Danny Phantom finds that the pain he ran from had carried with him into the afterlife he sought. The solution he believed would be the freedom he desired was but a pipe dream, damning him to live out his pain in another life again.
More than carrying with him his pain and sorrow, also included among those emotions were the growing sense of sadism and desire to inflict pain upon others. In this realization of his own emotional state, Danny Phantom knows that there is another solution to resolve the emotions that he feels:
Inflict it on others.
He began on the doctor who had delivered him through his birth, Danny Phantom removed Vlad's hands from his spectral body, throwing him across the room and slamming into a wall. The gauntlets designed to pierce through living tissue and reach the soul beneath had slipped off his hands, falling to the ground.
Noticing the unintentionally discarded gauntlets and their former user, Danny Phantom felt an idea began to fester in his undead mind; the thoughts and ideas that constituted his body changing to drive him to a new intent. Knowing well of the ghost half that existed in Vlad Masters and his own power, an idea began to grow in his mind that turned to a question:
If he were to inflict his pain upon others, would it not be of aid to gain more power to fulfill that goal?
The question soon turned to an answer as he took the gauntlets for himself, casting a shadow over Vlad Masters and he smiled intently on the cowarding man of science. Having only an intent of giving what was once a troubled boy a home and a life, Vlad sees only now that all he has done was create a monster. In his moment of fear, he becomes a modern-day Frankenstein; a post-modern Prometheus.
And the monster he had created, much like the monster created by the original Frankenstein, turned on its creator in revenge for giving it a false form of life. Taking Vlad Masters in the air, he ripped the man in half with his hands; the gauntlets separating the body and soul by the names of Masters and Plasmius.
Having his own spirit torn out from his body, Vlad was trashed against a wall, watching his own ghost do the same. With no more need for the gauntlets, Danny Phantom discarded them, flying directly into the spiritual body of Vlad Plasmius shortly after, gestating itself within.
The image of Danny Phantom overtook the one of Vlad Plasmius, containing the spectral form in his own. However, his attempt at becoming the dominant persona had led to greater challenges for him to overcome, starting with the sudden surge of power that came about their fusion.
Unable to bear the unbelievable amount of power that he had taken for himself, Danny Phantom found his form fluctuating and changing with great pain; every second that his spectral body existed filled with an undying agony brought upon by his own desires for power.
His skin, once a living color of pale, turned to a blueish-gray tint only seen on that of a corpse with cracks splitting open. His hair, once a snow white, turned to a living hellfire that scorched on his head with all his anger and rage fueling it. His eyes were once wide open with a full glow of green that overtook all appearance of eyeballs, but that, too, had ended, but only due to his eyes finally shutting.
Conversely, Vlad Masters' eyes were wide open to the unspeakable transformation unfolding before him, bearing witness to the birth of a new god of his own creation. The horror and unnatural sight that he now sees is one that he fully understands as one of his own creation, and his alone...
...and that fact gives him just as much regret as it does terror.
Soon, the agonized screaming and pain comes to a stop, with the newborn composing itself at last, coming to a full awareness of its place in the world. It knows that it is a new creature with a new heart, but it is surprised to find that it does not have new desires, regardless of its rebirth.
Still does he feel the need to inflict his evil on the rest of the world around him, but moreso than before does he have this feeling. His own growing sense of sadism seemed to strengthen with the evil heart of Vlad Plasmius intertwined with his own, making his motivation to hurt and kill all the stronger.
And the first creature that comes into his sights to harm... is his past self.
Like Vlad, Danny Fenton, too, has watched the birth of this creature, and his soul has been part of the components needed to breed the creature, a mother to the beast where it grew inside of him, and Vlad his father who contributed his own information to see that the new being could grow and be born.
But this is not what he takes notice of when he sees the newborn look upon him. Instead, what he realizes is that what part of him he was seeking to remove had carried the emotions that he sought to eliminate from himself; the pain that he tried to shed by separating his human half staying in his ghost half instead. Ironic it is that his desired outcome had succeeded, not only in an opposite manner than originally expected...
...but it would also come with a permanent end with the death of his body, as the newborn himself plans. The creature looked down on the cowering Danny Fenton, watching him slither into a corner out of fear, feeling a look return back to him from what his soul had now become.
The newborn returned the look he received with one of curiosity, lowering his arms in some form of disarmament. Looking on the terrified Danny Fenton, he knows the connection that he has with the boy, knowing that he was once part of the full being that constituted the young man, and the experiences they shared as one, including the loss of their family.
He somehow knows that his human half was free of the loss and pain that he was stuck with, instilling in him a jealousy and anger over the failure of the experiment. With all manners of absolute power running through his veins and nothing to stop him from using it, he finds the first victim to unleash his anger onto.
Leaning forward with a pair of sinister red eyes, the newborn's mouth opened to let out a threatening hiss, along with a snakelike tongue that slashed at the air.
What followed was a large explosion of ectoplasm that laid waste to the mansion belonging to Vlad Masters, with no more trace of Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom to be found. All that was left was the newborn, taking to the sky in its new path of destruction that it set upon itself.
It laughed all the way in its flightpath, eager to continue unleashing its wrath.
The newborn had been free to cause as much terror as it wished, soon making its way to an adulthood in its afterlife as Dark Danny. Soon after confronting a past version of Danny Phantom in this time, it had been damned to an indefinite imprisonment in the domain of Clockwork, until his eventual freedom and reintroduction to the world as Demon Phantom.
He has new plans to quell his taste for death and destruction, but that now requires a quality he did not have before: Patience. Determination is another required trait, but it is one that he has had more than enough of all his existence, and still it stays with him now.
But the same cannot be said of some of his new allies, who do not share his dedication and enthusiasm.
"Are you really sure we need him? I know plenty of other guys that could cause a good, big mess for you and tear shit up no problem." Ember said.
"I don't want monsters, I want soldiers. Soldiers that understand orders and can be controlled." Demon Phantom said.
"But why him? Out of all the ghosts in the 'Zone?"
"Why? Do you question my judgement?"
"No. He's my ex-boyfriend. Not exactly looking forward to seeing him again. Like, at all."
Though having no care for romantic affairs any further, Demon Phantom allowed himself a snicker at Ember's complaint.
"Set aside your concerns, child. Simple emotions such as love are not our concern anymore. Ours now are the end of life itself. And there is no better person understanding or equipped for that purpose... than a hunter." Demon Phantom said.
The Ghost Zone is home not only to many of the lost souls that pass on to the realm from that of the living without end, but also the worlds they have made for themselves to take comfort in the endless void they now exist in. Trapped in a world nothing short of a prison, there is no place for the undead to go but the worlds that they make for themselves.
On a floating meteorite in the void is home to a thick jungle filled with flora and fauna long since extinct on Earth, made a game trail and hunting ground for its sole resident. That sole resident is the ghost known as Skulker, a ghost who spends his endless days of unliving hunting the living.
Before, animal and beast were the game of his choice, which he hunted with great pleasure. When his life had come to an end during the hunt, man became his next game, specifically the single man of Danny Phantom, making himself a constant opponent to the young superhero.
Now, unable to return to the world of the living again, he hunts the most dangerous game: The undead.
With an infinite amount of prey at his disposal, he has hunted many of his fellow ghosts and sent them to oblivion, death beyond death, content and satisfied with the prey he has at his disposal. Now, he currently makes his next hunt on his island, just as he has done many times before.
Today, his prey is the ghost known as Technus, once known as the man named Nikolai Technus.
In his time of living, Nikolai Technus was a genius inventor, creating concepts beyond then-present human understanding that gave birth to the many modern-day people take for granted. An innovator ahead of his time, he was ultimately brought down by big bankers and their petty interests, seeking profits over the good of humanity.
In his afterlife, he swore to exact his revenge on those who destroyed his dream, being a vengeful force against capital greed. In his many years as battling the boy superhero Danny Phantom, he began losing sight of technology's purpose for the good of humanity, becoming nothing more than a common ghost enemy like the rest.
Here and now, in the thick jungle of Skulker's Island, these factors no longer matter. There is only one thought, one mantra that runs through Technus' mind: Survive. Here, he is not in his environment in this thick jungle, outside of his element of technology and power without any technology to manipulate, and without any external help, making this trial to survive a true test of his abilities.
Running through the jungle, Technus' first challenge to overcome is not his hunter, but instead his hounds sent on the mission of wearing down his prey before his ultimate kill. On his heels are not any normal manner of bloodhounds or canine, but instead the ghosts of velociraptors.
The deadly hunters chase after their target, the voracious monsters never ending their pursuit of their prey, showing no signs of giving up their pursuit or finding any reason to slow. With no more mortal bodies to either of their beings, neither Technus nor his prehistoric pursuers grow fatigued nor ever will, making their chase carry on and on without end.
During his run, Technus saw a tripwire come into view between a set of trees, prompting him to avoid it. However, still having the pursuers of the raptors persist on his trail, he instead sought to use the trap to his advantage, choosing to deliberately run towards it with the intent to set it off.
Setting off the tripwire on the jungle floor, he triggered the trap, causing several poisoned darts to fly toward him. Having just barely enough time to react, Technus dove to the ground, managing to duck away from the onslaught of venomous darts, and instead sent them into the spectral bodies of the raptors instead.
The clever act spared him many bites and thrashings from the undead dinosaurs, but not yet had he fully found his freedom. Hearing the sound of a motorcycle thundering through the jungle, he knew he still had the master of the hounds on his trail, sending him to continue to run.
Despite running as quickly as he could to find freedom, he instead set off another tripwire, putting all his flight in vain. The instant his foot was caught on the wire, he was allowed one moment to process the mistake, believing for one split-second that his mistake would lead to nothing, and the trap was a mere dud.
His beliefs of safety are soon shattered, however, as a large log fell down from the trees on a vine, heading straight toward him. The log hit Technus with full force, knocking him back several feet, hitting a rock, knocking all the breath out of him and leaving him unable to move or defend himself.
As Technus laid on the ground in pain, unable to move or fight back any longer, he heard a loud engine roar in the distance, growing louder and louder by the second, signifying the approach of a coming threat. Needing to get away, Technus used whatever control of his arms were left, trying to crawl to an area of safety.
Despite his best efforts to find any semblance of safety, his best efforts are not good enough.
Finally, after several struggling attempt of survival, each moment packed with anxiety, the source of the loud roaring noise reached Technus, revealing both the threat and the last sight he will ever see before he sees oblivion. The threat is, of course, none other than Skulker, the undead manhunter.
Skulker stood over his defeated prey on a large chopper bike; the source of the thundering roar that previously echoed throughout the jungle. The bike was decorated with the bones of his past prey, including skulls that hung on the side of his bike with the names of their past owners written on their foreheads, including the names 'Lunch Lady', 'Sidney Poindexter', 'Kitty', 'Youngblood', and 'Ghost Writer', to name a few.
Stepping off his bike, Skulker, taking out a large metal hook, dug it into the body of Technus, piercing him through the shoulder. Technus screamed as he took the stab through his astral body, but his screams did naught to bring forth mercy or hesitation from the hunter.
Skulker ended the torment by dragging Technus against a tree, standing over the defeated ghost and taking in the sight of his prey in its state of capture.
"You truly are the weakest prey I've ever had the dishonor of hunting, Technus. I can't believe you stood a chance against that Ghost Boy in the old days." Skulker said.
Despite Technus' intense fear, he did his best to camouflage his fear with a facade of superiority, shouting out an attempt at intimidation.
"I am Technus! The master of all things mechanical! You are no match for me, you savage brute! I am-" Technus began to say.
Technus' sentence was interrupted by Skulker stepping on his neck, ending his rant with a gurgling grunt.
"Take a look where you are, Technus. There is no technology here except my suit; nothing here to help you. You are out of your territory. There are only trees and shrubbery here. This is my natural habitat. My territory. This is my world. This is my game reserve, and you are my game. You're in the jungle, baby. You're gonna die." Skulker said.
Keeping his boot to his neck, Skulker's metal bodysuit extended a gun from his arm and put it to Technus' head, ready to finish off his game and claim his trophy.
"Now, try not to struggle so I don't break anything. I plan to make your pelt a nice decoration on my wall next to Penelope's body." Skulker said.
As Technus clenched his teeth to brace himself for the coming pain of oblivion, he had a certain realization with Skulker's last choice of words.
"Wait a minute, did you say: 'Penelope's body'?" Technus asked.
"Of course, it's my trophy. I hunted her as I did you. And won as I did with you." Skulker said.
"But you didn't keep her alive? Er... undead?"
"I stopped keeping live prey 7 years ago. Too much cleanup. Now, stop stalling and take your death like a-"
"But why just leave her body lying around? What about taking her pelt? Isn't that what you usually do?"
Unable to avoid the topic of conversation any longer, Skulker put himself at an uncomfortable position from the question, leaving himself unable to answer clearly.
"Well... uh... I... didn't with her." Skulker said.
"Well, then, what were you doing with her body this whole time? Just leaving it sitting around?" Technus asked.
Not wanting to answer the uncomfortable question, Skulker appeared more nervous as Technus asked it, realizing that a very dark secret of his was about to be uncovered. Losing his concentration on the hunt, his foot began to come loose from Technus' neck.
"Well, I, uh... I was planning to... um..." Skulker stuttered.
Upon realizing what insecurity was causing Skulker to trip over his own words, Technus realized the truth at last, coming to a disgusting conclusion. Taking notice of Skulker's flustered state from the topic being brought up, Technus prepared to speak the accusation out loud, hoping it would gain a way to free himself.
"Oh, I see now. You've been having a little... 'fun' with it, haven't you?" Skulker asked.
After hearing his deep, dark, and disturbing secret spoken out loud, Skulker's metal suit showed a heavy blush of embarrassment, making him step off Technus altogether and free his foot from his neck. Gaining concentration back for one moment, Technus bought himself time to plan a means of striking back.
"Well, Ember and I broke up, and I have needs that..." Skulker stammered.
"So, tell me, what's it like having sex with the corpse of a corpse if you're already a corpse? Necro-necrophilia? Super-necrophilia? Necro-ectophilia?" Technus mocked.
Angered by Technus' quip, Skulker was quickly brought out of his state of embarrassment to that of an enraged one, instantly putting his focus back to the task of finishing off his prey. No longer having time on his side, Technus quickly took to the hook in his shoulder, trying to pull it out as quickly as possible.
"Oh, just die, you useless scum!" Skulker said.
Skulker pressed his weapon hard against Technus' head, making him squirm in fear before he was sent to oblivion. Before Skulker was able to use the weapon and consummate his hunt at last, however, he soon found his attempt to take Technus' afterlife come to a strange turn.
The gun that was pressed up against Technus' head began deconstructing and disassembling on the spot; its pieces floating into the air. Unsure what to make of the strange turn of events, Skulker looked to the flying pieces in confusion, finding that confusion taken further when more and more pieces started to come loose from the rest of his body.
Stepping back in fear over the loss of his suit, Technus, pulling the hook out from his body, gave the explanation to the phenomenon, gathering the pieces for himself.
"What are you doing?!" Skulker asked.
"You said it yourself: The only technology on this whole island is your suit. And I said to you: I am Technus, the master of all things mechanical!" Technus said.
Disassembling his entire warsuit from his body, Skulker's metal body was stripped away to nothing, leaving nothing to his form but a small, angry, green blob. No longer appearing intimidating without his suit, even his voice a high-pitched mockery of his former self, the same could not be said about Technus now.
Reappropriating the mechanical parts of Skulker's suit onto his own body, Technus reconfigured the suit to suit his own needs, putting all of its weapons on display, and pointing them all straight at the now disarmed and denuded Skulker. From just a simple mockery turned to his own advantage, the hunter has now become the hunted.
With no more weapons to fight back with, Skulker can do nothing but cower in fear over his new victor; his high-pitched voice pleading for mercy now.
"N-No! Please! I just wanted to hunt! I just enjoyed the thrill of it!" Skulker said.
"Capitalists like you are all the same. You endlessly pursue selfish thrills and pleasures for no other end other than to satisfy your puny little lives. It was men like you that put my own work to a stop and impeded centuries of scientific progress for the rest of the world. All you see in opportunity for technology is cheap fun by harming others. Allow me to show you how effective technology can be used for the good of others, starting with sending you to oblivion!" Technus said.
"There's no need for that. I have uses for both of you." A voice said.
Interrupted from their altercation, both Skulker and Technus looked to the source of the voice, looking upon Demon Phantom, accompanied by the Fright Knight and Ember McLain, all watching the ordeal. Not expecting the sudden company, both looked to the group in surprise, unsure how to take their presence.
Ember, having overheard the confession from her ex-boyfriend, was not happy in the slightest at the revelation, deciding to break the silence by addressing the matter.
"Ember? What are you doing here? And why is the Fright Knight here, and who's this guy that looks like Danny Phantom? And how did you get so thin again?" Skulker asked.
"I don't think you're in a position for friendly questions right now. You left me for a dead body? You have some serious issues, metal boy." Ember said.
"Well, you got so fat on me. You looked like a slob. You just weren't doing it for me anymore-"
"Oh, my god! Is there a time when looks aren't everything to a guy?"
"Well, it wasn't just your looks, you just got to lay there while I had to do all the work! My metal body can only take so much!"
"Oh, so that suit's good enough to fight off Danny Phantom with, but when you and I have sex, it can only take so much? And that's another thing, what was with that suit in the first place, anyway? You compensating for something? Now that I see you again without it, I guess that's a 'yes'."
"Are you accusing me of having a small-?"
While Skulker and Ember bickered over their failed relationship like two immature children, Demon Phantom and the Fright Knight grew extremely annoyed with the idiotic conversation, looking to each other in disbelief that the events occurring before them were real.
After several minutes of torment on his ears, Demon Phantom grew fed up with their fight, putting an end to the inane bickering.
"ENOUGH!" Demon Phantom screamed.
With his voice backed up by the power of the Ghostly Wail, Demon Phantom's scream shouted so loud, it pierced the eardrums of all the ghosts on the island and all others within several miles of it, even blowing several trees off the island into the infinite void of the Ghost Zone.
The scream had at last put the bickering to a stop, but it had not been without its own unintended consequences.
Elsewhere in the Ghost Zone, Danny Phantom continued on his search for the source of the anomalous spike of ectoplasmic energy, unsure what he would find within the dimensional realm. Alone in his search, he has nothing to rely on in his search save for a small ghost tracker and the navigation of the Infi-Map.
To be in the Ghost Zone alone once again in such a long time almost feels like a new experience to him; a case of jamais vu he never thought he would experience. The constant expansion of the underverse and years of change made the flight a new experience altogether for Danny, leaving him to rely on his wits and technology in order to see his mission succeed.
Trying to locate the source on the ghost tracker, however, he caught himself in something of a rut; not able to find the source of the energy on his trackers despite his best efforts. Despite many hours of searching through the realm, his efforts unable to bear any fruit.
The failure brought him more frustration than most of his other emotions, but it still had his own anxiety and fear of the threat pushing him on.
"This is crazy. An amount of ectoplasmic energy that high, how is this thing not finding it? I swear, mom and dad really lost it somewhere. They wouldn't know how to make a good ghost tracker if it hit them in the face." Danny complained.
As Danny lamented over his seemingly defective technology, his particular choice of words were made prophetic as a large leaf hit him in the face, catching him off-guard as the flora struck him. After overcoming the initial surprise of the leaf hitting his face, Danny removed the leaf from his face, taking a look at the object more carefully.
Confused about its origin and its seemingly random course through the Ghost Zone, he looked into the void, trying to deduce where such an object could come from.
"A leaf? What the hell are leaves doing flying through the Ghost Zone? Are the waste disposal ghosts all on strike?" Danny joked.
Upon thinking further on why a leaf would be in the Ghost Zone, Danny consulted the Infi-Map again, checking on any locations that may be host to any flora and fauna. Sure enough, lying only a few miles away from him was Skulker's Island, known for its plethora of extinct plant life.
"So, not-so-good ol' Skulker's in trouble? Maybe he won't mind a quick visit if he's got any helpful information." Danny said.
Taking the unintentional mental command of its user, the Infi-Map began to transport Danny to the island, sparing himself time on his journey.
"Whoa, I forgot how effective this thing is! Beats the airline any day of the week. Hope this all goes well, at least. Ah, what am I saying? It's only Skulker. How bad could things get?" Danny wondered.
Once again prophetic to his words, perhaps more antithetical than hopeful, things for Danny prepare to go from very bad to much worse on Skulker's Island. Having stopped the prior argument between Ember and Skulker with an unnatural shout that let out a force not unlike a nuclear bomb, destroying much of the plant life in the vicinity, he now found the air clear again for civil conversation to begin.
Attention to him came back at last when all present ghosts released their hands from their ears, previously protecting them from the loud scream. Now having the complete attention of the two ghosts named Skulker and Technus, Demon Phantom conversed with the two, preparing to make his next offer for them to join his group.
"That's better. Now, you've got an awful lot of questions, I noted. Shall I explain myself better so that you may have your questions answered?" Demon Phantom asked.
"Quite a scream you've got, pal, but you wiped out half my hunting grounds. And you brought my ex-girlfriend here when I don't want a damn thing to do with her. Why do you think I care about who you are and why you're here? Why shouldn't I just mount your head on my wall and be done with it?" Skulker asked.
"I don't see how you plan to do that when I've got all your weapons. He saw me clearly defeat you. There's no way he'd ever want you. If anything, he's here for me, not you." Technus said.
"You? You wouldn't even have those weapons if I hadn't-"
"AHEM." Demon Phantom said.
Hearing the loud voice in which Demon Phantom cleared his throat with, Skulker and Technus once again went silent, listening to the powerful ghost talk at last.
"I am from another time, and I plan to overtake the worlds of the living and the dead. I came here because seek I servants; four horsemen to my apocalypse that I wish to unleash upon the Earth, and I choose you." Demon Phantom said.
"Really? And what makes you think I'd be willing to be your slave?" Skulker asked.
"And why would you choose him over me? I have mastery over all things mechanical, I would be of far greater use to you than him!" Technus said.
"I want you both. As one." Demon Phantom said.
Meanwhile, Danny Phantom arrived to Skulker's Island as the Infi-Map granted him, placing him just outside the island. Flying behind the towering skull-shaped mountain on the top of Skulker's Island, Danny took a strategic position to observe the island and see what troubles were unfolding below.
Discreetly crawling up from behind the island's mountain, he peered down to witnessing the events unfolding, coming in late to a play he caught only part of. The sight of many destroyed trees and other natural growth was an unusual sight to see on the island, but what he saw down in the middle of the destruction was one that brought him only partial confusion, but fear more than most:
Demon Phantom, knowing him previously as Dark Danny.
Upon seeing his evil counterpart, Danny's jaw immediately dropped, not ever expecting to see a him ever appear again following their last encounter. Believing the creature to be erased from existence and long gone from his own memory, to see him again brings him fear and terror unlike he has ever experienced before.
So much so that his own words of fear cannot even leave his mouth, but instead linger in his mind.
No... No... Not him... It can't be... I stopped him... He shouldn't exist... Danny thought.
Not understanding Demon Phantom's statement, Skulker and Technus looked to each other in confusion, not understanding what he meant.
"What do you mean, 'both as one'?" Skulker asked.
"You, Skulker, use a suit with the most advanced technology to hunt your prey; and you, Technus, are the master of technology. Doesn't it seem obvious?" Demon Phantom asked.
Before either of the two could answer, Demon Phantom grabbed the minuscule form of Skulker, squeezing it in his hand like a dog's chew toy.
"Alone, you are weak. A hunter without a weapon..." Demon Phantom began.
Turning back to the surprised Technus, the self-proclaimed master of all things mechanical looked on to Demon Phantom with uncertainty, not expecting what to come forth from the megalomaniacal being. Skulker, likewise, was caught in absolute fear and confusion; his form nearly crushed in Demon Phantom's hand with no signs of freedom.
"...and a weapon without a hunter. But, together..." Demon Phantom continued.
Demon Phantom then drove his fist into the body of Technus, carrying with it the small form of Skulker, merging the smaller being inside the larger.
"...YOU ARE WAR INCARNATE!" Demon Phantom said.
Having merged the two ghosts together as one, Demon Phantom caused a painful transformation between them both, causing Technus to scream in pain as the separate soul was forced inside his own. Grabbing at his head and his stomach, he writhed as the change began to take hold on his body, unable to withstand the strange and bizarre metamorphosis he was forced into.
As the transformation took place, Danny continued watching from behind the mountain, shocked at the events he was witnessing and unable how to process them.
The metal and machinery surrounding Technus, like a caterpillar surrounding itself in a cocoon, engulfed and encapsulated him completely, leaving him unable to get free or stop the transformation. The machinery no longer began to conform to his own body's image, but instead that of Skulker's suit again, with his face showing out of the lot once again.
Technus' face appeared once again in the torso of the new being, letting out a scream as it dissipated into a green glow as energy began to flow through the rest of the body. Soon, the green glow extended to the head, letting out a burst of flames behind the face of Skulker as the transformation came near its end.
After the pain fusion between the two came to an end, the two once-enemies came together to create an entirely new being, one born of Skulker's viciousness and Technus' genius. This new being now had a green glow to his suit and several new weapons, armed to the teeth with more weapons than anyone could carry on their body or even imagine.
While not noticed by the others, Ember McLain found Skulker's new look more appealing than she was expecting, overriding her own angered feelings towards Skulker, and finding herself to have something of an ectoplasmic discharge come over her, discreetly pretending to sneeze to camouflage her actual reaction.
With the transformation now over, the new being stood from the ground, rising before its creator for questions regarding its change.
"This power... flowing inside me... What have you done to me?" The ghost asked.
"I have made you two one. You are not Skulker, and you are not Technus. You... are SkulkTech." Demon Phantom said.
Hearing a new name given unto him, SkulkTech smiled in gratitude of his gift, showing gratitude of his new powers and abilities.
"Yes, such power! I could have never imagined such power before! All the hunting I can do! The scientific advancements I can achieve! Such passion and knowledge, and it's all mine!" SkulkTech proclaimed.
"Yes. It's all yours. But you are all mine. I did not give you these powers without concern for myself. As I said, I still need you both as one. There is much that I must do in order to see life come to an end at last. After all, for such a gift you seem to appreciate so much, to use it to serve me in return seems like the least you can do in return, doesn't it?" Demon Phantom asked.
To further show his appreciation and pledge his allegiance to his new master, SkulkTech bowed before Demon Phantom, allowing his own hunter's code of honor to take over to allow a move of obedience. Watching the breed of two former enemies bend their knee to him, Demon Phantom let out an enjoyed smile, taking pleasure in the new dominance he was establishing.
"Thank you for this gift, master. I swear my allegiance to you. From now until the day you no longer need me." SkulkTech said.
"Good. From now on, you are my horseman of War. My ultimate weapon and destructor." Demon Phantom said.
"Horseman of War, huh? I like that."
"Yes. After all, every war needs a general."
"I only ask one thing of you in return, master. What is your name? You remind me of the Ghost Boy, Danny Phantom, but you're not him. My scanners show me that your ectoplamic levels far outmatch that of the boy's, nor match his body's memetic makeup."
"How observant you are, SkulkTech. In one timeline, I was known as Danny Phantom, but my timeline no longer exists. There has been a change which has led to the circumstances of my existence as an anomaly to time. My name is Demon Phantom."
"Demon Phantom? I take it originality is not your strongest suit."
Before responding to SkulkTech, a red mist began to come from his nose, taking his attention away from the topic at hand. Looking out to the Ghost Zone to see who could be the cause of his sudden detection of another ghost's presence, he caught in the corner of his eye his former self, Danny Phantom, looking down from the mountainside.
Keeping his attention to SkulkTech, he answered his new horseman's question, all while simultaneously keeping his attention on Danny.
"Perhaps not, but redundancy has always proven time and time again to be effective and expedient... as evidenced by the arrival of a certain individual and a tool in his possession of my needs." Demon Phantom said.
On the mountain which Danny observed the events below from, Demon Phantom flew behind Danny at a speed so fast he could not be seen by even his eyes, catching him off-guard and gripping his arms around his former self, bringing him down to the ground to the others.
Despite Danny's struggles to be free, Demon Phantom's grip was far too tight for him to escape, giving him the first sign of his newfound strength in his absence. The fear and anxiety that he already had from the returning enemy grew with the hold he was caught in, unsure how he would be able to battle the creature himself.
Upon reaching the ground, SkulkTech, Ember, and the Fright Knight readied their weapons, preparing to kill Danny Phantom once and for all without hesitation.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is: The Dipstick. Long time no see, asshole. It's been awhile since you trapped all of us in here by making the whole damn Earth uninhabitable for ghosts." Ember said.
"All your new forces and armies have been keeping us trapped in this damned eternity without freedom for far too long. Of all the days I have lingered in the domain of the Ghost King, lamenting over my duties to keep him locked away, it was you I put the most blame on for my predicament." Fright Knight said.
"I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to make you a trophy at last... and how long I've hated you for keeping my own technological progress from continuing. I'm twice the man now, and twice as able to kill you, with twice as many reasons to do so now!" SkulkTech said.
Following up from their complaints and threats to the hero, the ghosts prepared to use their weapons on Danny, having full intent to get their revenge. Before they could kill him, however, Demon Phantom raised his hand, stopping them all before they could carry the act through.
"No. We won't kill him. Not yet. We will kill him in due time. All is moving according to plan." Demon Phantom said.
"What?! We've got him right here, what are you waiting for?" Ember asked.
"I agree, my liege, one swift cut to his neck will end all opposition to our quest." Fright Knight said.
"I third that, not to mention I want to finally have his pelt on my wall." SkulkTech said.
"I said no! We will kill him when it is time to kill him. I have other plans to make him suffer first. Ones that go beyond the freedom of a simple death. For now, he has brought us the next piece of our plan." Demon Phantom said.
Much to Danny's distress, Demon Phantom took the Infi-Map from his pocket, grasping the tool for himself.
"No! Give it back! Let me go!" Danny yelled.
Demon Phantom complied with his request by tossing Danny to the ground, keeping his horsemen back to allow him the time to get back up.
"As busy as I am on my own agenda, I suppose I have time to entertain your requests. I shall make you a deal: Defeat me, and you shall have your map back." Demon Phantom said.
Intent on putting an end to the threat as quickly as he discovered it, Danny accepted Demon Phantom's challenge, wasting no time by immediately firing several ghost blasts straight at his chest. Despite the quick frequency in which they were fired, none of them had any effect on its target whatsoever, as Demon Phantom had deflected the blasts with a single hand, whimsically dismissing the attacks in mockery.
Surprised as he was to see his attacks shooed away so easily, Danny did not allow it to stop him, instead deciding to take a different approach of attack. Charged up his hands with ectoplasmic energy, he rushed straight towards Demon Phantom in flight, throwing several punches to aimed at his chest.
Once again, the attack had no effect on its target, but its effectiveness showed to be even less effective than before. Having no need to even lift a single finger to retaliate, Demon Phantom dodged away from each strike at super-speeds barely perceptible to the human eye, much less Danny's undead eyes.
Carrying on his embarrassingly ineffective attack, none of his punches still making a single landing, Danny achieved nothing other than a waste of his energy and laughter from the other ghosts. Having his own agenda and finding little entertainment and far more boredom with the affair, Demon Phantom grabbed both of Danny's hands and twisted them upwards, bringing him to his knees and groaning in pain.
"It seems your lack of challenge has left you weak; your so-called peace I hear you've brought on the Earth has made you grow old and slow. To think that I actually lost you you last time." Demon Phantom mocked.
"Give me some credit, I'm in my 20s and I'm married. Wait 'til you see me have kids, I'll probably have a beer gut and be on the couch watching football and cable news 24/7." Danny joked.
Demon Phantom responded to the joke by delivering a sharp kick to Danny's face, knocking him on his back. Barely able to hold on to his consciousness, the few hits he received already began to take a toll on Danny Phantom, leading him to struggle to get off the ground again.
"I see you always remained the joker, scoffing off all your threats with a smile and a witty comeback. But we both know it was all just a facade to camoflague your moments of weakness, don't we, Danny?" The Demon asked.
"Camouflage this, Snow White and the Three Stooges." Danny said.
Danny turned himself invisible by turning invisible, hoping to allow himself a means of conducting a stealth attack on his enemy. Still not taking the threats and attacks of his target seriously, Demon Phantom smiled and laughed at the attempt, finding it childish more than actually worth his attention.
"Oh, you think you'll get me with a little sneak attack? Your attacks so far have been embarrassing enough, you think you'll fair much better just because I can't see you? I've got news for you, Danny. Not only can I still see you perfectly fine, but, even if I didn't..." Demon Phantom said.
Demon Phantom reached out his hand and seemed to grasp around the open air, gaining the sound of choking out from the air he grabbed at. Soon, the seemingly open air had began to take form as Danny Phantom again, showing the half-ghost hero start to appear once again in the air.
"...I still know every move you're going to make on me, because it's what I would've done." Demon Phantom said.
Continuing to hold Danny Phantom by the neck, Demon Phantom tossed him into a nearby rock, sending his back impacting against it and unable to get up again easily. Clearly unable to fight him by conventional means, Danny no longer sought to resort to his own abilities, but instead relied on technology to save him.
"Oh, yeah? Well, if you really know everything I'm gonna do, then you should know that there's no way for you out of this!" Danny said.
To follow up on his threat, Danny reached for the Fenton Thermos on his belt, only to find that it was missing. Upon looking back to Demon Phantom, he saw that his dark half was holding the thermos in his hand, giving a smug smirk as he held up the tool. No longer having any more means of fighting back against his enemy, Danny looked on with a look of defeated terror.
"Ember, dear, would you do the honors?" Demon Phantom asked.
Demon Phantom subsequently threw it to Ember, who caught the thermos with care and immediately followed her orders by removing its cap, pointing it directly at Danny Phantom. Caught within the beam of the Fenton Thermos, Danny was soon trapped inside with a scream, despite his best attempts to get away and his cries of help.
Once trapped inside the thermos, Ember closed the cap on the canteen, smiling down on it in victory.
"How's that feel, dipstick? After getting trapped in that damn thing so many times? You know how crowded it is in there?" Ember asked.
Demon Phantom took the thermos from Ember, preparing to throw it out into the Ghost Zone, beridding them of Danny Phantom temporarily.
"Don't worry, I'll throw you back in your precious home, giving you just enough time to bid your goodbyes to your family before I destroy them all." Demon Phantom said.
Taking to the Infi-Map, Demon Phantom scanned it to find the nearest ghost portal that would lead him back to Fenton Works, quickly finding a convenient location on the map. Following its directions to ensure his throw would land as intended, he scanned out into the void of the Ghost Zone to locate the portal, finding it soon within his sight in the distance.
"Oh, and Danny? Please do me a favor and have them put up a big fight for me. I would hate to show up to the party and not have any fun." Demon Phantom said.
After carefully aiming his throw, Demon Phantom threw the thermos deep into the Ghost Zone, where it came through the portal opening straight into Fenton Tower, sending Danny home just as intended. Temporarily removing the concern of Danny Phantom, he took back to his own affairs, preparing to gather his final horseman.
"What shall we do now, my liege?" Fright Knight asked.
"Yeah, what's next on the agenda?" Ember asked.
"Now, with the Infi-Map in my possession, we retrieve the last and most important horseman: Death." Demon Phantom said.
"And who're we getting for Death? I've pretty much killed off most of the good ones. Walker, Wulf, Undergrowth, Vortex, I got 'em all." SkulkTech asked.
"Not all. There is one more, perhaps the strongest of all of us."
"Yeah? Who's that?" Ember asked.
Demon Phantom took the Infi-Map and opened it, preparing to order it to take the group to the location of their last recruit.
"Let's just say he's like a father to me." Demon Phantom said.
Looking down at the map, Demon Phantom spoke out his order, commanding it to transport him and his group to his intended horseman of Death.
"Take us to Vlad Masters." Demon Phantom said.
Obeying his command, the Infi-Map took the group of four across the Ghost Zone and even across the stars themselves in the journey to Vlad Masters, sending them on an unintended journey to the distant planet of Carcerem. Being transported across both the distance separating the Ghost Zone from Earth and Earth from the rest of the universe, the journey they begin is long, and it will remain long.
But Demon Phantom remains patient in his journey, and allows himself a smile during his transport.