Skeletons

Disclaimer: I couldn't possibly own Danny Phantom, because I've never had a job writing such a cool show for television!

Thanks go to Luiz4200 for reviewing. Yeah, I guess he was too loud. :)

Merry Christmas everybody!

Danny couldn't resist but show off at his party. He was excellent at hitting balloons with his ectoblasts, and walked right through his friends to get to the refreshment table. He'd even flown in a few loops.

Doing the loops was an accident. He'd never worked on flying, he'd just gotten so much energy from the party, that he'd instinctively thrown himself backwards through the air and flipped over, resulting in two airborne loops.

"Wow! I didn't know you worked on flying, Danny m'boy. Do it again! C'mon, let's see you do it again!" shouted Jack excitedly.

Still hovering in the air, Danny said, "I didn't work on flying, Dad. It was an accident."

"It was really good for an accident," Maddie told him, impressed.

Danny smiled, "Yeah it was, wasn't it? I think I've almost got a hang of it."

At that moment, several skeletons phased into the Fenton Lab."Danny Fenton," the highest-ranking skeleton said, "you are under arrest."

Nervously, Danny asked, "For what?"

"The king's orders are that you are to be interrogated, and then beheaded. If you turn in whoever's been training you to use your powers, we might consider giving you a chance to say goodbye to your loved ones."

Another skeleton looked around, saw the decorations, and asked, "What's this, a little party? Is this party being held because of your training? I see what's going on, the people here must be the ones that trained you. I'm sure the king will want to see them."

The skeleton guards seized Danny, Jack, Maddie, Sam, and Tucker.

As they approached Dark's castle, the skeleton holding Danny veered away from the others. "The king won't be seeing you until tomorrow," he explained. "You're going directly to your cell. Your torturer, I mean assistant interrogator, will fetch you tomorrow at dawn, and you will be executed at noon."

They flew into the dungeons. Dark's dungeons were crawling with mice and stank of their verminous odor. Little light could squeeze through the walls. Chains hung threatening on the walls, as if they were about to come to life and seize their victim.

"I know it's hard to see, but do you notice that there's no rust around here, ghost boy?" the skeleton asked. It was all Danny could do to nod his head, 'yes'.

"Do you know why there's no rust around here?"

Danny shook his head. "We keep things here well oiled, so that they can be used at any given moment. I don't want you getting the idea that we won't chain you to the wall if you make too much noise."

He laughed. "Feel free to scream. Some of that is permitted, we'll only come after you if you disturb the castle staff in their work."

The skeleton unlocked a cell. As hard as he could, he tossed Danny down on its filthy floor. He locked the cell, and laughed, "So much for working on your powers, huh Fenton?"

Danny pulled himself to his feet, and called, "Get back here! Can't I at least know what's going to happen to my Mom, Dad, and friends?"

He reached forward to rattle the cell door, but his hand went right through it. Danny looked at his hand for a moment, before realizing what just happened.

"That's right," he said softly, "humans go right through things in the Ghost Zone, and I'm human! I can get out of here and go look for my parents and Sam and Tucker."

Danny paused, wondering why he was put in a cell without a guard. No one was watching him, so it wasn't likely that anyone would notice if he left, until they came to fetch him. That was good. He'd have a bit of time to look for his friends and family before anyone would notice he was gone.

"The ghosts didn't think this through very well," Danny reflected. "Didn't they realize I could get out?"