Two days later, Vlad had taken Danny for a walk in the gorge, which was weird for Danny since Vlad doesn't often take Danny for walks. They came to a spot where there was a small tree providing a small bit of shelter over a rock.
"Now you wait here, your father has a marvellous surprise for you" Vlad said.
"Okay what is it?" Danny asked.
"Now if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise. Besides this is just for you and your father, you know a sort of father/son thing. Now I will go and get him" Vlad said and then began to walk away.
"I'll come with you" Danny said, but was stopped when Vlad said, "No! I mean please just wait here at this rock. You wouldn't want to end up in another mess, like you did with those rogue ghosts"
"You know about that?" Danny asked.
"Danny everybody knows about that, but it was a good thing your father was there to save you. Oh by the way, just between you and me, you might want to work on that little Ghostly Wail of yours" Vlad answered.
"Okay thanks I guess" Danny said.
"Oh before I go, here's your water bottle. You don't want to get dehydrated and don't worry you'll enjoy this surprise. It's simply to die for" Vlad said with a smile as he gave Danny his water bottle and then flew off in his ghost form.
Danny sat there, shrugged his shoulders and then took a drink from his water bottle, unaware that Vlad had added a tasteless chemical that'll short circuit his powers for three hours and it would take effect in less than 10 minutes after consumption. Up above the gorge just neat where Danny was waiting, there was a whole herd of wildebeest's grazing on the grass.
Near the heard was Ember, Skulker and Behemoth waiting for Vlad.
"Oh man I'm really hungry. I gotta have a wildebeest!" Skulker exclaimed.
"Stay put Skulker. Now did you cover every single one of them with blood blossoms?" Ember asked.
"Yes. We're all ready to go. Are you sure I can't just hunt one of the sick ones?" Skulker asked hungrily.
"NO! We wait for the signal from Plasmius" Ember answered.
She then looked up and saw Vlad floating there, she nodded to the others and they went to put their plan into action. Meanwhile Danny was still waiting down below for his dad and Vlad to come back, he was kind of pouting at what Vlad called his Ghostly Wail.
"Little Ghostly Wail" Danny muttered mocking Vlad. He stood up and walked around for a second feeling board, he then saw a chance to practice it.
He transformed into his ghost half and began to practice, first it came out weak, he tried again and it became a little bit better, he then tried one more time and this time it came out a whole lot better. He smiled and then turned back into his human half, his smile suddenly dropped when he felt the ground beneath him shake and he could hear the sound of running, he looked up and then gasped in shock and fright as he saw a herd of wildebeest running into the gorge as a stampede.
He began to run away from the animals and tried to transform into his ghost form so he could fly out of the gorge, but for some reason he couldn't so he kept on running for dear life. Up above Ember, Skulker and Behemoth finished scaring off the last of the wildebeest and watched as their plan came into action right in front of them.
A few miles from the gorge, Jack and Jazz were flying around checking the kingdom. Jazz stopped and turned around as she noticed dust coming from the gorge.
"Oh look Sire, the wildebeest herd is on the move" Jazz said stopping Jack and gestured towards the gorge.
Jack looked at the gorge in confusion and said, "That's odd, the wildebeest don't usually go on the move at this time"
Vlad then came up to them in a panic and exclaimed, "Jack quick! Stampede in the gorge! Danny's down there!"
"Danny?" Jack asked with now concern.
Meanwhile Danny continued to run from the stampede, the wildebeest caught up with him and he was almost trampled on, he started to feel a burning sensation coming from the scared animals, but brushed it off as he saw a dead tree standing and climbed to the top of it. Jack, Vlad and Jazz flew to the gorge at top speed, Jazz then went ahead and flew into the gorge to find Danny, and she stopped as she saw Danny holding onto the tree for dear life.
"Jazz help me! I can't go ghost for some reason!" Danny screamed in fright as Jazz flew as close as she could.
"Your father's on the way! Hold on!" Jazz exclaimed and then went to tell Jack.
Jack and Vlad stood on the edge of a cliff side in the gorge and looked around for Danny, Jazz then came up to them and gestured to where Danny was as she exclaimed, "He's there on that tree! He can't go ghost for some reason!"
Jack watched as Danny was starting to fall off the branch and yelled out, "Hold on Danny!"
The branch was starting to break as the horns of the wildebeest kept hitting the branch, Danny then began to scream in panic as he nearly fell off. Jack wasted no time and flew in the stampede to save Danny.
"Oh Vlad this is awful! I'm gonna go get help!" Jazz exclaimed in panic, but before she could leave, Vlad secretly sabotaged her hover board and caused her to hit the wall unconscious.
Jack continued to fly through the stampede, he kept feeling a burning sensation from the scared animals, he then noticed that most of them had blood blossoms attached to them and it was starting to make him feel weak. He turned around and began to head towards the branch, but he was knocked down by one of wildebeest and fell to the ground. He got back up and watched as the branch broke, Danny was about to hit the ground until he was caught by Jack's arms and he began to fly through the stampede.
Meanwhile, Vlad followed them on the ledge of the gorge to smiling as his plan was working. Jack became weaker and weaker by the blood blossoms, another wildebeest hit Jack and caused him to drop Danny. Danny quickly stood up and began to dodge the wildebeests, until he was picked up by Jack again, he jumped up to a small cliff at the wall and placed Danny on there. He was about to climb up himself but was suddenly carried off by more wildebeests.
"DAD!" Danny screamed.
He stood there and waited for Jack to come out, he began to panic when he didn't emerge for a bit when suddenly Jack jumped in a last attempt to fly and grabbed onto the wall. Danny sighed in relief and watched him begin to climb, Danny then began to climb himself to meet Jack at the top of the cliff.
Jack struggled to climb as he was becoming weaker and weaker by the minute, he looked up and saw Vlad standing there with no emotion.
"Vlad! Brother help me!" Jack begged as he began to lose his grip on the cliff.
Vlad stood there for a second and then grabbed his hands tightly, Jack gasped in pain for a second and looked at Vlad in confusion, Vlad then smiled evilly and said, "Long live the king!"
Jack eye's widened in fear and then Vlad then released his hands and watched him fall. Jack screamed as he fell into the stampede, Danny then saw him falling and screamed, "NOOOO!"
Later after the stampede cleared, Danny began to look everywhere in the gorge to find his dad. It was hard to see since there was dust everywhere, he tried calling for him but no answer came. He then heard the sound of running and watched as one last wildebeest ran through, his eyes widened as he saw his dad lying on the ground near a broken dead tree. He walked over and looked at him, he looked like he was asleep but he wasn't moving at all.
"Dad? Are you okay?" Danny asked as he shook him, but no answer came from him. He then placed his hand where a ghosts core would be and couldn't feel it's warmth that usually came from it, he tried shaking him again but nothing worked.
He began to tear up as he began to realize he was dead and not sleeping. He panicked and then began to yelling, "Help! Somebody! Anybody! Help!"
But no-one could hear him, he began to cry and looked at the body of his father once more. He then fell to his knees and cried his heart out; his father, King Jack Fenton is dead. As he continued to cry, Vlad came out and looked at the two of them.
"Danny, what have you done?" Vlad asked in a soothing concerned tone, making him believe it was his fault.
Danny stood up and said through sobs, "There was a stampede and he tried to save me, it was an accident I didn't mean for it to happen"
Vlad pulled him into an embrace as he said, "Of course you didn't, no-one ever means for these things to happen. But the king is dead and if it weren't for you he'd still be alive"
Danny looked down and believed Vlad's lies, thinking it was his fault. Vlad then faked a gasp and said, "What will your mother think?"
Danny began to panic and asked, "What am I gonna do?"
"Run away Danny. Run! Run away and never return" Vlad said.
Danny looked at his dead father once more and then fled from the scene, Vlad watched him go and then Ember, Skulker and Behemoth appeared behind him.
"Kill him" Vlad ordered and then the three rogue ghosts flew after him.
Danny continued to run until he reached a dead end, he still couldn't fly because his powers were still not working. He looked behind him and saw Ember, Skulker and Behemoth looking at him with the intent to kill.
Danny panicked and climbed through a small space in a wall, barely dodging Skulker's blade from hitting him. He ran and then stopped again as he came to an edge of a steep cliff side, that lead into a field of glowing ghostly thorns. He then saw as the ghosts came out of the hole and realized it was the only way to escape, so he jumped and rolled down the cliff side.
He then landed in the thorns and began to climb out of them, getting pricked and cut by the sharp barbs. As Skulker flew in front, he gasped as he recognized the thorns, it was one of the type of plants that ghosts can't phase through, and he slid on the ground in an attempt to stop and just stopped at the edge. He sighed in relief and then felt Ember bump into him, and suddenly was pushed right in as Behemoth came behind Ember.
Skulker then jumped up in pain as he hit the thorns, Ember and Behemoth began to laugh hysterically as Skulker came out of the thorn pit wincing in pain as he was covered in thorns. Ember stopped laughing as he saw Danny running in the distance as the sun began to set.
"Hey there he goes! There he goes!" Ember exclaimed.
Skulker pulled a few thorns out of his hand and said, "So go get him"
"There's no way I'm going in there! You want me to come out looking like you? Cactus butt!" Ember exclaimed.
Skulker finished pulling the last of the thorns from his body and said, "But we gotta finish the job"
"Won't matter, without food or water he's as good as dead out there anyway. And if he comes back, we'll kill him" Ember said as Skulker stood beside her.
Skulker smiled at that and then yelled out to Danny, "Hey whelp you hear that? If you ever come back, we'll kill you!"
Later that night, all the people and ghosts of Amity were in mourning over the loss of Jack and Danny. Vlad had told them all about the stampeded and how it killed Jack and supposedly Danny. Maddie was in tears as Jazz comforted the grieving mother and widow and Pamela had done her best to comfort Sam who cried for the loss of her best friend, one of the few people who accepted her status as a Goth.
"Jack's death is a terrible tragedy, but to lose Danny my only nephew it is a deep personal loss. So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne" Vlad said faking his sorrow.
All the people and ghosts suddenly gasped as rogue ghosts started coming from everywhere, but Vlad simply announced, "Yet out of the ashes of this tragedy we shall rise, to greet the dawning of a new era. In which now all the rogue ghosts and citizens of Amity come together in our great and glorious future"
In the distance, Clockwork shook his head at this and knew that this wasn't going to end well for Amity. He returned to his lair and sat in mourning over the loss of his friend Jack and for Danny as well, he looked at the picture he painted and with a heavy heart smudged it a little bit.
AUTHORS NOTE:
This was probably the saddest chapter I've had to write. When I first saw the Lion King as a kid I cried at this scene. For those who got confused at the end of the chapter, I know that Clockwork can see everything in the future but let's ignore that.
Mikaela2015