I do not own Danny Phantom.
A Dark Arrival
Danny rubbed his sore arm and scowled as he flew through the empty space of the Ghost Zone. Muttering curses under his breath he glowered at Clockwork's citadel. He phased through and stormed across the foyer and slammed the two thermoses on the shelf and put his hands on his hips as he glanced around the empty citadel. The only sound was the ticking of the many clocks.
"Coward," Danny growled. He spent the entire trip to Clockwork's lair prepping an argument and now no one was even there.
Danny sighed cast one more glance around before phasing back into the Zone. "You are going to kill me one of these days Clockwork."
...
Darkness growled, his gloved hand tightening around his staff. The crystal shone with the elements wind, water and earth. The other three elements had yet to be in his reach. His minions failed to retrieve the orbs from mere children. So it seemed it was all up to him.
"Are we to depart master?" Light questioned. She and the other five corrupted elements floated behind her nervously, black eyes flashing in the dim light.
"Yes. But leave the children to me. I cannot rely on you to do the simplest of tasks, so just make sure those three meddlesome teens are distracted and weak for when I make my arrival. Can you handle that?"
"Yes Master," Light muttered.
"Good. And as an extra precaution, I shall send an army of ghosts with you. I may as well begin my raid on this puny planet, and I shall make this Amity Park my example on what happens when you cross the great Darkness!"
Dark energy formed in his hand. A second later a wave of darkness flashed through his dark portal and sailed through the Ghost Zone, corrupting every ghost within.
...
Danny floated through the green space as he tried flying home as fast as he could. He dumped Vlad on Clockwork's hands because the Master of Time probably knew it was coming anyway and it was a small piece of payback for Danny. Vlad could get extremely irritating.
The halfa froze in the middle of the Zone as a large dark wave came roaring towards him. "What the-?"
It soared right past him, and his Light Belt sparked and glowed even brighter for a second or two before dulling again. Danny widened his glowing green eyes in horror as he realized what just happened. "Oh...crap!"
If that wave was restricted to just the Ghost Zone-which Danny really hoped it was-then every ghost in the place would be corrupted.
"Oh...crap!"
...
Skulker frowned as the belt around his waist sparked before settling down. Ember stared at the dark wave in surprise as it passed them and continued on. "Whoa. That can't be good."
"I think it's a signal of sorts," Skulker mused.
Ember shrugged and slid her guitar strap over her back. "Or that jerk is getting an army of corrupted ghosts...wait. Does that mean we have to help the dipstick?"
Skulker frowned. That was the last thing he wanted to do. But the whelp did save his girlfriend like he promised. And he was a hunter that went by honour. He had a debt to repay. "Yes, I'm afraid we do."
"Can't I just send him a thank you card or something?"
"Ember..."
"Alright, fine. I guess it'd be a good way to get revenge." Ember's turquoise eyes glinted dangerously as she readied her guitar.
Skulker grinned. "I love it when you act like that."
Ember cast a crooked grin his way. "Thanks babe. Now come on. We got some elemental butt to kick!"
...
Tucker glanced up from the lab table. He and Technus had been working all night trying to get the tech ghost's idea working, and it was about halfway done. Sam frowned when Danny catapulted through the Fenton Portal and hastily closed it.
"What's going on?" Sam asked worriedly.
Danny panted, laying on the floor and casting fearful glances at the closed portal. "Darkness...just cast...a wave of dark energy...and now I think...every ghost in the Zone...is corrupted."
"Except for Skulker and Ember," Tucker reminded Danny.
"No time for corrections Tucker! This is bad!" Sam nervously wrung her hands. "Darkness is starting his war on Earth and we're the starting point!"
A loud clap of thunder caught their attention. Danny nervously moved and peered through the basement window. "Um...the sky is purple and black. And...There's a dark portal glowing in the sky. I think Darkness found a way to get the ghosts out."
Sam groaned and ran a hand through her raven hair. "We can't slap a belt on them all!"
Tucker slid a cardboard box out from under the metal lab table. "Just take out the strong ones first and then worry about the rest later."
Danny and Sam caught the gold belts tossed at them. "What are you doing Tucker?"
"I'm going to stay here with Technus and we're going to finish this thing," Tucker said determinedly and picked up a wrench.
Danny and Sam glanced at each other. Sam sighed wearily and hastily clipped on a pair of Fenton Phones and tossed some to Danny. The halfa clipped them on and phased out the roof. Sam jogged up the lab stairs muttering, "I'm too old for this."
Technus turned around and arched an eyebrow. "Do you seriously believe we can finish this in time?"
Tucker shrugged and cranked a bolt into place. "It's either attempt it and be victorious or die. I like the first option better myself, personally."
...
Clockwork removed the blue time sphere from his body and glanced at the two thermoses on the table. Daniel had looked ready to tear his head off, but the Master of Time needed the boy to move on and be ready for the battle.
The first part anyway.
Clockwork floated over to his many time screens and regarded one of them. It showed many ghosts flowing into Amity Park, wreaking havoc. Danny and Sam hesitantly exited Fenton Works and crept along the street. A ghost shield immediately appeared, protecting Danny's home and the two techgeeks inside it.
"This should indeed be interesting," Clockwork mused.
...
Sam slipped down an alleyway and hugged the belts to her chest. Danny had separated, believing they could both cover more ground. Someone tapped her shoulder and she let out half of a surprised shriek before a hand hastily covered her mouth.
A shiny and cold metal hand in particular. Sam scowled and shoved the hand away. "Skulker? What are you doing here?"
"Be grateful baby pop. We're here to help. And this is a onetime thing."
Sam glanced at the rocker ghost as she appeared beside her boyfriend. "How'd you get here?" she questioned.
"We slipped in through the dark portal," Ember answered. "What's the plan?"
Sam tossed them a few belts. "Snap these around the stronger ghosts. Take down the weak ones, but don't take them out."
"Beware!"
Sam didn't remove her glance from the two ghosts in front of her as she lifted a hand and easily blasted the Box Ghost into the brick alley wall with her fire ball. "Box Ghost? Weak. I took him down, but I didn't take him out." She wandered over and dragged the Box Ghost over to the dumpster. She shoved the unconscious ghost in and slammed the lid shut.
Ember smirked and nodded before flying off. Skulker rolled his eyes and followed her. Sam watched them go and continued on. A slimy green ghost materialized in front of her. "Hello, elemental warrior."
Sam watched as the ghost turned into a large hornet. "Ah, Bertrand. You are classified as a weak one."
She powered up fire energy into her hands and slammed it into the shape-shifting ghost. He crashed into the dumpster and splattered into a green mess on the wall. Sam wrinkled her nose and exited the alleyway. She came upon the sidewalk and froze when a familiar voice spoke.
"That's a mighty fine power you have there. Too bad setting fires are against the rules."
"Walker," Sam muttered and turned around. She quickly ducked the dark energy shot at her and thought quickly. "Yeah, I guess you're pretty strong."
"Dang right," Walker growled and rapidly shot ray after ray. Sam threw up a wall of fire and the rays fizzled in the intense heat before dissolving. She then slammed the fire into Walker. He went intangible and the fire passed through him. She narrowed her violet eyes and created a ring of fire around Walker, making it stretch so high he wouldn't be able to fly out of it.
Walker hissed in irritation and stormed through the flames in his intangible form. When he came out the other side, the fire warrior was not there.
"Up here!"
Walker glanced up. Sam hung from the light post, belt latched between her teeth. She quickly dropped down and landed on Walker, allowing her to snap the belt on him.
"Aagghh!" Walker screamed as the light sparked through him. Sam didn't get up until the ghost went out cold. She paused for moment and stared at his hat. I've always wanted one of those.
She snatched it from his head and slipped it on. "Punk!" she snapped at him before jogging away and preparing to blast any ghosts that dared mess with her.
...
Danny floated through the dark sky and thanked the fact that his parents had taken Jazz on a cross country trip to 'heal her mind'. He had politely declined, saying he had much catching up to do at school.
He blasted as many ghosts as he could to allow the citizens to run to a safe haven. Most of them were pretty easy.
"Ghost child. It is time to meet my children."
Danny looked down in time to see a vine whipping toward him. He went intangible and it passed right through him. Undergrowth rose up and glowered at him. The halfa threw up a light shield to block the dark rays thrown at him.
"So Undergrowth chooses to use his normal powers and dark powers," Danny thought aloud. "Dark energy is weird stuff."
"Do you fear me?" Undergrowth hissed, vines rising up.
Danny sighed. "Dude, I'm the light element. Do you not remember what happened last time?" He raised a gold glove-covered hand and created a pulsing ball of light. He threw it in the air and it exploded, sending dazzling and blinding rays in every direction.
"Aagghh!" Undergrowth withered under the intense light. When he was small enough Danny retracted the light and clapped a belt around the nature ghost.
"That would have been a lot harder if I didn't have light powers," Danny mused and flew away, leaving the pained plant ghost to wonder what the heck was going on.
...
Ember and Skulker hovered above Amity Park, studying the attacking ghosts with surveying eyes. "How about Vortex?" Ember asked.
A flash of orange fire illuminated the dark sky, followed by a blast of white light. Skulker arched an eyebrow. "I think that Goth girl took care of him."
Ember frowned and continued to peer below. "How about...Spectra?"
"Seriously?"
Ember was about to retort when blue flames nailed into her and sent her crashing into a roof below. Skulker whirled around and widened his green eyes at the two dragons looming over them. One was purple and black and the other was light blue and green.
"The dragon siblings?" Ember asked, rubbing her head as she floated gingerly back up beside her boyfriend.
"Yeah," Skulker muttered. A barrage of flames shot towards them and Skulker threw up an ecto-shield. Missile launchers popped out of his armour and they shot out, shooting for the two dragons. Ember cranked up her guitar and slammed some chords.
The green fist nailed Dora and the missiles crashed into Aragon. Aragon hissed in pain and flew up. Dora knocked her tail and Ember was sent once more into the rooftops below. Skulker avoided the flame balls tossed at him by going intangible and firing lasers. One of them hit Aragon's wing and the dragon hit the ground. Ember hastily got up from the hole she made in the roof from her fall and flew down. She snatched the gold amulet from around his neck and sighed with relief when he went back to his cruel and ruthless ghost form.
"Yo! Get the amulets off!" Ember hollered and waved the piece of jewellery in the air. Skulker nodded and tried firing Dora down. Ember snapped a belt around Aragon's waist and smiled in satisfaction.
A missile hit Dora in the middle of her right wing and she careened off course, shrieking loudly. Ember flew over and yanked the amulet from around her neck. Dora returned to her ghost form and Skulker slipped on a belt around her waist. After the painful electric jolt she went unconscious.
"Not bad!" Ember grinned. She held the amulets up and studied them. Skulker snatched them from her hands and stuffed them in his pocket. "Hey!"
"The last thing I want is for you to turn into a dragon when you get angry," Skulker said flatly. "These things belong with those two. It's how it was meant to be. You wouldn't want someone taking your guitar would you?"
Ember hugged her guitar to her chest and widened her turquoise eyes. "Since when do you get all logical and fair?"
Skulker paused. With a scowl he muttered, "This is what I get for hanging around the whelp too much."
...
Tucker wiped a streak of sweat and grease off of his brow and studied the contraption before him. It was a small aerial-like device, with an antenna at the top of the silver and white base. It had a little gold knob at the top and a simple switch at the side. "You think this will work?"
Technus sighed in exhaustion. "I am Technus! Everything I create works perfectly!"
Tucker arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He turned on his Fenton Phones and contacted Danny. "We're ready for you."
"Alright. I'll meet you on the roof," Danny replied.
Technus flew Tucker up to the roof and the techgeek set the device up. He held out his P.D.A and scanned the sky for Danny. When the halfa came near, Tucker took a deep breath and dismantled the ghost shield.
"Will it work?" Danny asked tensely as the corrupted ghosts instantly made a beeline for Fenton Works.
"We'll find out, won't we?" Tucker answered and gestured to the machine. Technus flipped the switch and nodded. Danny inhaled deeply and placed his hand on the base. He charged up his light energy and made it flow into the machine.
Danny's glowing green eyes widened when the knob on the antenna began sparking wildly. "Uh...Sam?"
"Yeah?" her voice filtered through the Fenton Phones.
"You might wanna take cover."
The small machine vibrated violently. A huge blast of light exploded from the antenna and sailed across Amity Park.
Pained screams from ghosts filled the air as the light struck every corrupted ghost. As soon as the machine activated the blast it went off. Danny retracted his hand and gaped. "For something so small it sure packs a punch!"
"Mission completed." Tucker grinned and high-fived Technus.
...
Sam slowly crawled out from underneath a dumpster and pulled a strand of old spaghetti from her raven hair. She stared at the unconscious ghosts littering the streets of Amity and shook her head in disbelief. At least they wouldn't be interfering any time soon.
"You okay Sam?" Danny's voice crackled over her Fenton Phone.
"Yeah." She glanced up and noted Skulker and Ember were coming towards her. "And so are the two spectre lovebirds."
"Good. We'll see you back at Fenton Works."
...
Sam, Danny, Tucker, Technus, Skulker and Ember stood on the stone steps leading to Fenton Works. Danny scratched his head and stared at the still ghosts. "How are we supposed to get them back to the Zone?"
Tucker grinned and held out a thermos. It was a bit different from the ones Danny was used to. It had a red button, blue button and a green button. "The red button is for major retrieval. There should be enough power to suck in every ghost here."
Danny stared at the new red and black thermos in surprise. "When did you make this?"
"A while ago. I call it the Foley Thermos. But it's the only one I have."
"Original," Sam commented with a smirk.
The three ghosts floated behind Danny as he pushed the button. A massive wave of blue light shot out and engulfed most of Amity. Every spectral being in the radius of the thermos was sucked in.
"Sweet." Danny grinned. He floated inside and opened the Fenton Portal. "I don't think Darkness will try that again."
He pushed the release button and the ghosts all flew back into the Zone. He locked the portal back up and glanced at Technus, Skulker and Ember. "Can you guys man the machine on the roof? Just in case?"
"I guess so," Ember muttered. "But after this I'm gonna kick your butt, understood?"
Danny smirked. "Looking forward to it."
The three ghosts phased back to the roof. The three teens went back outside and Tucker activated the ghost shield again. "Will that machine work on Darkness?" he asked.
Sam shook her head. "Those ghosts were corrupted by darkness. He is the darkness. It can't be removed."
"But it can be taken down." Danny narrowed his glowing green eyes. "And I know we can do this."
...
"M-master?" Light asked hesitantly. She and her companions made it back to the castle before the major wave of light hit.
Darkness snarled and whirled around. "You fools! I ask one thing of you and you can't do it! I told you to make them weak. Instead they have a new weapon that makes anyone I corrupt turn back to normal!"
"We will not fail you this time," Earth said firmly.
"No! You idiots will stay here. If you so much as put one foot out of this castle, you will regret it. Understood?"
"Understood," six voices whispered in shame and humiliation.
"Good. I have had it. No more waiting around. I am going to rip those elements from their bodies no matter what. They will regret the day they crossed Darkness!"
His staff slammed to the ground and a portal opened up. He scowled darkly and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"The time has come."