Danny marched angrily down a quiet street at night somewhere in Europe. He had had it with Jack Frost. He was not going to be controlled again. Not after what happened. He was done obeying higher powers. He stopped and glared at the moon.
"You want me as a guardian?! I refuse! You don't control me!" Danny shouted furiously at the moon.
"I agree. Who wants to be a guardian?" a silky smooth voice echoed through the abandoned road. Danny turned to the voice and scowled as Pitch Black glided towards him through the shadows. His body disappearing in the shadows making only his face and hands visible.
"What do you want Pitch?" Danny demanded.
"My my, we are angry. I only want to be friends," Pitch retorted. Danny glared at him. He reminded him a little too much of Vlad.
"Cut to the chase. As you can see, I'm not in the mood for games," Danny growled. Pitched grinned a toothily grin.
"Very well. I propose we team up. Together we can spread fear and get rid of those guardians too," Pitch suggested. Danny scoffed.
"No deal," Danny answered. Pitch blinked in surprise.
"But you're the Spirit of Fear. Don't you want to be seen? To be believed in?" Pitch inquired. Danny shook his head.
"I don't work that way Pitch. For the guardians, they need to be believed in. I can only be seen by those ready to face me, ready to face their fears. You obviously don't understand me if you think that this deal would be something I'd want," Danny explained, the rules were different for beings like the guardians or Pitch, they could see him no matter what. Pitch scowled. Danny turned to leave.
"I understand you better than those guardians, Danny. I know what you're powers do. And I know that you care about those children," Pitch called, bringing Danny back into the conversation.
"Danny, together we can get what we want. I want to be seen and you want to help children overcome their fears. We're the perfect match. We would be unstoppable," Pitch offered. Danny stepped closer to Pitch and glared at the king of nightmares fearlessly with his eerily mismatched eyes.
"Let me make this clear. I'm not interested. I'm not going to take orders from you, the guardians or the Man in the Moon. I work alone. And I work for myself," Danny explained in a dangerously calm and soft voice. Pitch took a small step back and smiled nervously at the teen.
"I understand. But perhaps I could convince you to take a break from your duties. Just a few days, until after Hallowe'en," Pitch suggested. Danny's scowl deepened suspiciously.
"Why would I take a break?" Danny inquired. Pitch smiled.
"Because you're powers will interfere with my plans," Pitch answered. Danny shook his head.
"You're not very convincing Pitch. I think you need lessons in negotiating," Danny remarked. Danny turned to leave again.
"I wasn't finished. You know how powerful fear can be Danny. Fear can paralyze people, scar them for life, even kill," Pitch called. Danny stopped dead in his tracks.
"I know you care for those children Danny. I've seen which ones you've taken an interest in. Ones who are already scarred by fear. Diana, Stephen, Lola… need I go on?" Pitch informed him. Danny slowly turned to face Pitch. Both eyes glowing angrily. Pitch grinned.
"Do I detect a flicker of fear from the Spirit of Fear?" Pitch mocked. Danny set his jaw.
"What do you want Pitch?" Danny managed to demand. Pitch smiled.
"I want you to take a break from your duties for the next few days. You can come back after Hallowe'en. If you refuse, or you return early. I will plague those children you've taken a liking to," Pitch decided. Danny clenched his hands into fists.
"Why do you want me out of the way?" Danny asked. Pitch nodded.
"I suppose as long as you keep your end of the deal, you can hear my plan. I think you'll find it intriguing. I tried to get rid of the guardians six years ago. But I was thwarted by children! So this time, I'm not attacking the guardians directly. I'm going to use my fear to extinguish all hope, wonder and dreams. Then I can finally get what I want," Pitch revealed vaguely.
"How?" Danny prompted. Pitch waggled a finger at him.
"Ah ah ah, I'm not telling you the details. So do we have a deal?" Pitch replied and held out a hand. Danny stared at the hand.
"One condition. If I find out a single child has been harmed because I wasn't there, I'm no longer bound by your deal. One child gets hurt, and I'm coming back," Danny announced. Pitch nodded.
"Very well, don't hurt children. Noted. Now do we have a deal?" Pitch agreed.
Danny took a deep breath and took Pitch's hand. Danny could feel the waves of fear flowing through Pitch's being. Certainly enough to frighten a child to death. Danny wasn't affected as much as another person would be because of who he was. He pulled Pitch closer.
"If you go back on your word Pitch, you'll learn why the name Danny Phantom was feared throughout the Ghost Zone. Understood?" Danny hissed. Pitch laughed.
"Understood. But I'm not dealing with any Phantoms. I'm dealing with a Spirit of Fear that no one can see," Pitch replied, not seeing the true threat lying in Danny's words. Danny dropped Pitch's hand and took a step backwards.
"Guess I'm taking the rest of the week off. If you need me, I'll be somewhere cold and isolated," Danny announced and vanished in a puff of green mist. Pitch looked up at the moon.
"Nice try. But you can't stop me this time old friend," Pitch informed the moon, smiling triumphantly before sinking into the shadows.
And we have the reason why a new guardian is needed. So, no one has put two and two together about who Danny used to be. That will be explained later on.
Until the next chapter.