He was eating breakfast when he had felt it. A strong burst of magical energy had disturbed his senses, and whatever it was, it was powerful.

Zatara wanted to give it no further thought beyond of what it could have been. There were others in the magical community who were constantly messing around and while it wasn't a daily occurrence, it wasn't rare either for him to pick up on their activity.

"What's wrong, Papa?" his daughter inquired from across the table, intrigued as to why her father had just suddenly and deliberately set his cup of joe down before he had even finished it. Once a mug of coffee was in his hands, it did not go anywhere until it was completely empty.

"Nothing, dear," he replied in his thick Italian accent. A lot of the time people had trouble understanding him, especially when the old man flew into a fit of rage. Then the English would be completely substituted for his native tongue and Zatanna would have to act as interpreter as it took him a while to fully calm down.

"Why don't you clear the table and get ready for school? The bus will be here soon."

"Sure thing."

As Zatanna began doing so, the old man got up and left the kitchen and went to his own private room.

It most likely was just nothing, but Zatara couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. That burst of energy felt faintly... sinister.

Just as he was about to look into it some more by meditating and finding the source, his JL communicator went off.

"Zatara speaking," he answered almost immediately. On the other end, he could hear Green Arrow and Batman arguing over something or other. With a sigh, he merely disconnected the line and dressed in his costume.

He didn't know what the situation was, he didn't need to. He just knew that he was needed back at the Watchtower.

Which meant that he would have to put the investigation on hold for an indefinite amount of time. Convincing himself that it was probably nothing worth getting too concerned over, the entire situation was soon forgotten about.

While it may have slipped from the Magician's mind, it was the only thing on nearly every ghosts' mind.

They all knew what it had meant the second they registered that blast of energy.

The Fright Knight was free.

And while his personal release meant no harm to them as he usually preferred to wreak havoc among the living, judging by past experiences, his release usually meant that it would soon be followed by Pariah Dark's. The ruthless Ghost King.

Skulker growled, having been made anxious and nervous over the rumors.

He would have to tell Plasmius over these recent turn of events. The hunter lamented over this fact, as his boss was almost always less then pleased to hear from him.

"You think he's coming back? The Ghost King?" a small, girlish voice asked from her spot on the sand. They were both in Skulker's island-theme'd lair. His little slice of heaven in the Ghost Zone.

The hunter turned his gaze over to Ember, who seemed less nervous than him and more like she was already lightly accepting the fact that a totalitarian dictator was going to rule over their lives.

"No," was his immediate reply. He took it back just as fast though when he realized it wouldn't do anything to make her feel better.

"I don't know," he finally admitted and walked over to her. He took Ember's hand and squeezed it lightly.

"I'll call Plasmius now and we'll get to the bottom of this. Don't worry," he assured with a small smile, and pressed a knuckle against her chin to make her look up at him. She searched his eyes looking for strength that she so desperately needed.

It was rare for any two ghosts to actually find solace within one another as they have. Johnny and Kitty were the only exception to this rule before Ember and Skulker hooked up. It had honestly surprised them just as much as it had surprised everyone else.

She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be right beside you," she stated and interlocked her fingers within his as a show of her support. They didn't agree on a lot of things, she often poked fun at him, and their arguments could literally raise the dead. But they wouldn't want their hectic relationship any other way.

"For the last time, next time we go to visit Hades in the Underworld, an "I.O.U." will not suffice for us to get across the river of Styx," Batman had stated, rather sternly at the hooded, blonde lounging against the computer terminal.

Green Arrow, in turn, simply rolled his eyes behind his mask and disregarded the Batman's warning. Having just returned back to the Watchtower from a rather pressing mission, he was tired and frustrated enough as it was. He didn't want the Dark Knight ripping him a new one just because he forgot to pay the toll.

Anyway, the mission was still a success, they had repaid Hades his favor. Granted, having a showdown with the ferryman wasn't in the plan, but still. In the end, everything turned out OK. Which was good enough for Green Arrow.

Unfortunately, neither Plasmius nor Batman seemed to take on his view as both were rather annoyed at the moment. Though he suspected that the ghost was more annoyed at having to go at all and then having to deal with the both of them more than he was with the archer.

Actually, the more thought Queen put into it, the more it seemed like Plasmius was rather enjoying the fight. He had more or less taken the mission over from there and had beaten the ferryman a lot more than was necessary as an outlet for the ghost's pent up frustrations finally presented itself.

Which was perfectly fine with Queen as far as he was concerned. Overkill was underrated.

"Well it's not like I usually make runs to Taco Bell for an 89 cent burrito while I'm in costume. Why do even keep spare change in your utility belt, anyway? Did you run out of giant pennies to keep on display?" the blonde fired back, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed dangerously at this, an effect that had lost its impact on Green Arrow long ago. The archer always seemed to bring out the worst in him, and Queen knew that. For him, it was easy and fun as hell to piss off Batman. And not a lot of people got to say that, so he took a lot of pride in his ability to do so.

"Preparation, Queen. When it comes down to it, that could be the difference between life and death."

"So... I'll die if I don't have a penny on me at all times?"

Before the argument could go on for any longer, a familiar teleportation-hole appeared in the middle of the room as an aged magician stepped out of it.

Zatara seemed perplexed, to say the least.

"About time," Plasmius had finally spoken up for the first time upon returning to the Watchtower, "You deal with them," he said sourly and with that stormed out of the room.

Green Arrow watch his retreating form with interest.

"Huh. Wonder what's his problem?" he asked, only to be met with glowering scowls from both Zatara and Batman.

"What?"

Vlad was happy and more than grateful that his shift was finally over. Not only could he not stand to be around those dolts for more than a few minutes at a time, but about an hour ago he had received a rather urgent message from an... acquaintance of his.

Skulker rarely ever contacted him, rather it was the other way around. If the mechanized ghost was reaching out to him, it had to have been important. Or at least it better be.

Plasmius stepped in the Zeta-Beam Portal which lead back to his office in Wisconsin. He finally had the thing hidden with some wood paneling, which was a rather flimsy cover-up and made his once lavish office to appear smaller and more cramped.

It was only a temporary disguise and he planned to have Skulker install a cloaking device of some sort. Ever since the Portal was put into his office, Vlad had gotten much more concerned with security. More than he already was considering he lived in the middle of nowhere with a secret lab devoted entirely to ghost technology hidden deep underground as a sub-basement.

The maids already knew they weren't allowed into his office, but suddenly the locked doorknob didn't feel as safe as it used to. He would have to install tighter security around his home. Or just have Skulker do it.

Speaking of which...

"This had better be important. You know better than to contact me," Plasmius demanded, taking out a bottle of brandy and a snifter from a hidden drawer of his desk.

The mechanized ghost was standing across of him, leaning against the wall as he watched his "boss" fill the glass to the very brim with the expensive alcoholic beverage. He inwardly groaned at this, Plasmius rarely ever drank so much unless he was in an exceptionally bad mood.

One that was about to get worse once he announced his news.

"I assure you it is," he muttered as Vlad politely sipped his first drink of the cognac. The powerful half-ghost cocked at eyebrow at that and made a gesture for him to go on.

Skulker sighed and finally blurt it out.

"I assume this means that you hadn't felt it earlier, but... the Fright Knight has been freed."

Vlad nearly choked on his drink as he set the glass down, coughing all the while. Skulker watched, steeling himself for the interrogation that was sure to come.

"But- That's impossible! I personally destroyed that blasted pumpkin myself!" he spluttered, demanding an explanation. After the whole incident with Pariah Dark, Vlad had tried to recruit the Fright Knight under his own command. The ghost; however, did not seem to keen for that idea.

Unable to gain the Fright Knight's allegiance to him, Vlad sought to merely get rid of him. It was dangerous to keep a ghost more powerful than himself around, so he once again trapped him and disposed of the pumpkin to prevent him from ever being freed again.

"There are other ways to summon him. My best guess is that some human fool released him for their own personal gain."

"How on Earth could a human call forth the Fright Knight?"

"I've heard rumors that a minion of Freakshow's was seen in the Ghost Zone around the castle. It seemed that he was looking for the sword. Since it's highly unlikely that Freakshow would want anything with him, he must have been working with someone."

Vlad began drinking more of the brandy, to calm his nerves. There was no use in getting upset and panicked, he had to approach this rationally.

"It doesn't matter who or why. What matters is that the Fright Knight is loose."

"Who might set loose Pariah Dark, don't you think?"

Vlad snorted at this and downed the rest of his drink before pouring in some more of the amber colored cognac.

"Doubt it. Last time I saw him, he didn't seem too eager about serving for another master. He wanted to strike out on his own."

"So... Pariah Dark will remain trapped?" Skulker breathed, with Vlad either not caring enough or too occupied with his thoughts to notice how truly relieved the mechanized ghost had been made.

"As far I'm concerned," he muttered distractedly, hand on his chin and head faced off to the side. His eyes gazing into the distance as a million scenarios went through his head.

"Right now, our only concern is the Fright Knight. With that pumpkin gone, we won't be able to trap him again."

"Right... so what do you suggest we do then?"

Plasmius heaved a heavy sigh, and began sipping his drink again. Knowing the Fright Knight, he was probably scheming for some kind of dramatic and treacherous plot to bring the world to its knees and cause torment everywhere he went.

"We wait for him to make the first move, see what he's up to. And when he does, we'll confront him."

It wasn't his best plan. But certainly not the worst either. Worst case scenario, if things got too bad then he would have to call the Justice League in for help.

Maybe he couldn't bring the Fright Knight down himself, but he was almost certain that with the aid of the rest of his legion this problem would simply go away.

Later, he would wish more than anything that he knew how completely wrong he was.

AN: First off, my apologies for the wait.

Second off, I realize that the Ember/Skulker scene may have came as completely random and out of nowhere, but I always really liked that pairing. Even if it started and ended in the same episode on the show.

Third off, I also apologize for the severe lack of Danny and friends. I just needed to get this chapter out of the way first.

And finally, I realized that I really fricken' love Zatara. And it's not just because of his awesome Italian accent... OK, it's totally because of that.

Also, I hope that I didn't make the relationship between GA and Batman come off as too hostile. I pulled a lot of their relationship from Batman: Brave and the Bold. Which was basically a lot of friendly rivalry.