Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.
Title: In Interesting Times
Author: unknown20troper
Rated: R
Warnings: Male/male smut, anal, non-con or dub-con (Dan/Clockwork), AU, profanity
Pairing(s): Dan Phantom/Clockwork, Dash/Tucker
Summary: King Tuck AU. Tucker is stuck in Egypt's past by Hotep-Ra, and Dash is transported to the land of the Vikings in the same time, and mistaken for their royal heir. Tucker becomes Dash's slave when the Vikings, manipulated by Hotep-Ra, plunder Egypt and take him back to their heir.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcomed. Please tell me if get the canon details, characterization or anything else wrong. Also, I just realized that I kinda got part of the chronology wrong, since Infinite Realms comes after King Tuck, meaning that Danny probably shouldn't have even heard of the map yet.
Chapter 4: Far Frozen
Danny flew through the Ghost Zone, past many floating mini-world islands which he took no time out of his day to admire and never felt inclined to, anyway. He held onto Sam, having been desperate enough not to bother with vehicles or anything else for his fully human… friend, he supposed, not wanting to get into the details of his feelings or hers, right now.
He dodged other ghosts whenever they approached him, and hoped his major enemies would take no notice of this. After all, without one of his trio and the fairly useful yet sometimes seemingly random Infiniti Map, he was at a disadvantage, weakened by the losses.
He breathed a sigh of relief once he reached the mini-world island known as the Realm of the Far Frozen, despite the obviously low temperature, which caused him and Sam to shiver.
A native of the area approached him, white fur shaking as he moved. Danny failed to recognize this particular Far Frozen, but he knew it wasn't Frostbite, simply because he lacked the air of calm wisdom possessed by the first Far Frozen Danny met.
"The Great One has returned!" the Far Frozen called out to anyone in earshot, and some that weren't. "Come everyone, the Savior of the Ghost Zone has returned!"
What seemed to be all the inhabitants of the Far Frozen flocked towards Danny and Sam, causing Danny to blush, and Sam to give them a leave-us-alone-we-have-something-important-to-do-and-don't-need-a-crowd-around-us look. A few stepped back, but the majority stayed where they were.
"Guys, we need to talk to Frostbite," Danny said, almost stammering. "You can fanboy, fangirl, paparazzi me later."
The crowd retreated, and several of them began announcing Danny's request. Eventually, the familiar Far Frozen native walked through the crowd, at a pace not at all fast enough for Danny and Sam.
"Great One, your humble servant should do what for you?"
Danny winced. "Uh, Frostbite, the Infiniti Map is lost. And one of my friends needs rescuing, but without the Infiniti Map…"
"The Map? Lost?" The Far Frozen native gasped.
"Yeah. Dash – who likes to spend his time kicking my ass, and playing football – nabbed it, and well, it took him who knows where, which I hoped was, well, here." He paused, frowning. "And Tucker was stranded in Egypt by Hotep-Ra."
"The Infiniti Map is not here, and the only humans I have seen here today are you and the girl. When you find what you seek, remember not to let it out of your grasp the next time you have need of it. In the wrong hands, power is deadly."
Sam groaned. "So, off to Clockwork we go!" She paused, rolling her eyes. "Dude, we know about the disastrous effects of power in the wrong hands. After all that's happened, how couldn't we?"
The young yet burly Viking crouched in the bow of the ship, behind the spoils of a previous raid. He wished that the longship wasn't so open, that it could have another level or something else of that sort. His blond locks scraped against a wooden bar as he adjusted his position.
He watched the treasure get taken out of the ship by those that acquired it, and the female relatives of those said people. He readjusted himself again, curling into a ball. He refused to let them prevent him, Torsten, son of the jarl known as Magnar, from exploring, raiding or doing anything else.
Eventually, after lots of moving around, internal prayers to the entire pantheon and attempts to seem invisible, all the treasures were out of the ship and all the men were back in it.
Torsten grinned when the ship launched into the water, and the men began to row. The ship cut in the water, going at a speed that didn't qualify as fast but wasn't exactly monotonous either. The waves swept against the shore and the ship, adding slight bumps to the ride. The wind blew, though his position blocked him from most of it. The men discussed various subjects over the sounds of the wind and waves. The exciting part hadn't come yet, but this was decent.
Hours passed and the shore receded from sight until it seemed only to be a dream. Torsten almost sighed in relief when that happened, since it meant the excitement he sought was getting closer, though not much closer. The men just gazed almost longingly at the stern, then gave a fierce look to the sea ahead.
Just then, lightning struck out of an approaching dark cloud, despite the sky previously being a clear blue. "Thor?" gasped the men, sounding both worshipful and confounded.
Torsten made an effort to stay silent, and be neither worshipful nor challenging.
A map appeared in the air, with a path marked on it, saying, 'the ones that reach here will earn a honored place in Valhalla.' The map dropped into the hands of Torsten's father, Magnar, the leader of the men. Torsten watched his father examine the map, wondering if he'd take up Thor's challenge. Of course, his father did. "Exploration and conquest are our lifeblood. Valhalla is worth having, especially if one's place in it is honored. We will reach the land Thor challenges us to conquer!"
The men whooped in agreement, and Torsten felt tempted to.