Intermission 4 : A Fight With A Knight And Maybe A Scream Or Two
Dedicated to Ghost for idea.
Danny floats above Amity Park, high enough that his city is a blur of twinkling lights and happy sounds. Groups of adults and children, wearing costumes of all shapes and colors, trek through the night, traveling from house to house, ringing doorbells and collecting candy.
He spins over onto his back so he can watch as the last rays of sun disappear below the horizon.
It will be time soon, just of few minutes more, and Danny's not afraid to admit (only to himself, he won't burden his friends with his worry) that he's nervous. This will be proof of his claim, if he comes, and then things will be normal – well, for him at least – until December.
Because once this, The Second Right, as Clockwork calls it, is over and done with, no ghost, not even the worst of his enemies, will be able to so much as touch him until the end of The Third Right, which wouldn't be till the Winter Solstice.
That being said, the only thing he'll have left to worry about is his work with the Justice League (and his homework, but who's counting that?) and their sidekicks.
(Honestly, he didn't see why the other teen heroes had such a thing against being called "sidekicks." It wasn't like the adults were being derogatory about it.)
The sun finishes it's downward trek and a chill roles up his spine as his Ghost Sense goes off.
It's time.
"DANIEL PHANTOM."
Danny turns at the sound of his name in the undead and unnamed tongue of the Ghost Zone, finding the ghost he had been waiting for behind him.
He takes a deep breath that's unneeded in this form, and pushes a bit of energy from his Core to his vocal cords so he can speak the same language.
"FRIGHT KNIGHT, SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN AND LOYAL KNIGHT OF THE KING. GREETINGS ON YOUR SPECIAL DAY. MAY THE ETERNAL HAND OF TIME KEEP YOU IN IT'S FAVOR."
The Fright Knight floats before him on top of his mount, the Alicorn Nightmare, his black armor hiding all but his glowing green eyes in the shadow of his helmet, and his purple fire cape flowing in the wind.
"AND MAY THE ANCIENT ONES SMILE ON OUR MEETING." The knight returns, then dismounts his steed. "THE MASTER OF TIME HAST TAUGHT THOU WELL. DO THOU KNOWEST WHY I HATH COME TO THEE?"
Danny dips his head, and does his best to appear stoic and calm. Here we go. He thinks. "I DO."
"THEN LET US BEGIN." The older ghost draws his sword and points it at him. "DANIEL PHANTOM, THOU HAST PASS The First Right, WITH THE DEFEAT OF THE FORMER KING OF THE INFINITE REALMS, PARIAH DARK. BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST, HIS THRONE NOW IS YOUR'S. BUT THE PEOPLE UNDER THIS CHARGE ARE NOT WEAK, AND WILL NOT SERVE A WEAK KING. AS THE SWORN SERVANT OF THE THRONE, IT FALLS TO ME TO TEST THEE. AS SUCH, I CHALLENGE THEE, DANIEL PHANTOM, TO A SWORD FIGHT. IF THOU WINS, THEE WILL PROCEED TO The Third Right, AND BECOME EVER CLOSER TO GAINING THE THRONE. IF THOU LOSES, THOU WILST LOSE ALL CHANCE OF GAINING THE CROWN, AND I SHALT NOVE ON TO TEST THE OTHER POSSIBLE KING. THE FIRST TO REACH THIRD BLOOD SHALL WIN. DO THEE AGREE TO THESE TERMS?"
Danny reaches up and pulls Drako Kanalo from his back to whip it to the side. He pushes some of his ectoplasm into it, changing it's shape into that of an English sword, and allows the energy to continue up his arm and over the rest of his body, changing his clothes from the light cotton he had been wearing into lightly armored leather and metal.
He gazes at Fright Knight, making sure to meet his eyes. He wouldn't lose this fight. "I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE."
Fright whips his own sword, the Soul Shredder, to the side. "SO BE IT."
They float forward, and passively cross their swords, charging ectoplasm into the blades. At the place they touch, a sphere of green energy forms, growing out to encompass the area around them, ensuring that no one can interrupt them until this fight is over.
They both float away from each other and lock eyes again. They bow, then fall into their ready positions.
As the full moon comes to eclipse them, they charge.
Danny immediately finds himself falling back on the instinct that fighting with Frostbite's and Princess Dora's peoples had instilled in him as he focuses on dodging, parrying, and striking back. He's really glad that Clockwork had warned him or else he would not be prepared for this.
He loses himself in the fight, using the solidity in the sphere to run and jump and slide nimbly around his opponent. He's... honestly kinda surprised by how well he's doing. Fright Knight is known as one of the best swordsmen in the Zone, the fact that Danny could hold his own against him spoke of how much he had improved.
Finally, sweat trickling down his back and two Bloods each, Danny manages to get Third Blood first, by slashing Fright's thigh.
With that strike, the ectoplasmic sphere around them fades away, and the Spirit of Halloween falls to a knee in mid-air.
"THE CHALLENGE HAST BEEN WON." The ghost knight says."UNTIL THE END OF The Third Right, AND THOU PROVEST THY WORTHYNESS, MY SWORD," he holds up the Soul Shredder in both hands and bows his head as he offers it to Danny. "IS THEE'S TO COMMAND, MY PRINCE."
Danny takes the sword and places the blade on one shoulder, then the other. "RISE, FRIGHT KNIGHT, SERVANT OF THE KING. AND TAKE YOUR SWORD. STAND AT THE SIDE OF YOUR FUTURE RULER, AS IS YOUR SWORN DUTY."
The sudden cheering from down below startles Danny. He looks below, to see that the fight had gathered quite a crowd, possibly the whole populace of Amity Park, and Danny feels equal parts embarrassed and proud. He had just become the Heir to the Ghost Zone in front of his entire town, and judging by the News crews gathered around, maybe the entire world. Even if they didn't understand what exactly was going on, it was still a big deal.
Danny turns back to Fright Knight, who had risen to his feet and stood to Danny's right, and smiles at the full ghost. "Thank you, Fright Knight. You are dismissed. Have some fun on your Holiday, and I'll see you on the Solstice."
"Until then, Heir Phantom." He says, then the older ghost calls to and mounts his steed, disappearing off into the night.
Danny quickly returns home, and climbs into bed. With the fight over, Danny could finally focus on the other reason for his nervousness.
A few days ago, Danny was with the Team, who had joined Black Canary and Green Arrow for a patrol in Star City. There, Danny had seen the Canary Cry for the first time, and had been reminded of his own Ghostly Wail.
So Danny (with a bit of nudging from Clockwork) had approached her yesterday to see if she would be willing to try and help him.
The problem is, every time Danny used the Wail, he couldn't stop it. It completely drained every last drop of ectoplasm out of him. Only once he ran out could he truly stop the attack. But without any ectoplasm left, he transforms back to human.
He isn't sure if he can trust the superheroine with his secret. Well, he wasn't until he learned that she did more for the Team then just training and back-up den mother.
She also works as the Team's counselor/therapist, and, when Danny approached her, had given a vow that she wouldn't talk about what he wanted to anyone unless it was life threatening.
So tomorrow, he would be meeting with her at the back of Mount Justice, where he would tell her his secret and, hopefully, the help he desperately needed to control his Wail.
Now if only he could get his mind to settle down so he could get to sleep. (Sigh.)
~! #$%^&*()_+
Danny hovers an inch or so off the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with the adult hero waiting patiently in front of him. It wasn't really working.
It's just after noon, and the sun is high in the sky over Mount Justice. He's in a clearing in the woods behind the mountain, trying to bring up the courage to tell Black Canary, who had taken time out of her day to come meet him, why he had asked her here.
Shakily, he takes a deep breath, and meets the heroine's blue eyes. "You won't tell anyone about this, right? Not even the other heroes?"
She nods. "I promise, Phantom. No one but the two of us will know what happens here today."
Danny nervously figits with his fingers, and begins to talk. "So, ah, the first thing you need to know is, well, I've...not exactly been telling you the full truth. You see, I'm not, exactly, fully, dead." He winces, waiting for her to start demanding explanations, or say that it wasn't possible.
After a few moments of silence, where there is no loud incredulous shouting, Danny peeks out from under the brim of his hat, to find the heroine looking at him wide-eyed. She takes in a deep breath, then looks him in the eye.
"I believe you." She says, and Danny feels a weight he didn't realize was there lift off his chest. "Please, continue."
"I-it was a lab accident," Danny admits quietly. "I got electrocuted while being doused in ectoplasm. Ever since, I've been fighting ghosts and trying to get control of my powers. I still slip at times while not in Ghost Form." He takes another deep breath. He could do this. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you. I have an attack, like your Canary Cry, only, I can't... really... control it. And it... kinda... drains all my energy, and I can't stop it until it does. Without any energy left, I transform back into my Human Form." He looks at her pleadingly. "Can you help?"
She smiles reassuringly. "I don't know, but I can certainly try. First things first, I want to see what you can do." She walks to him and stands next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry about the forest, most of the trees got replaced with fakes after a spar gone bad between Superman and Flash, so just scream into the trees and once your through, we'll talk."
Danny nods and takes a few steps away from her. He braces himself, fills his lungs with as much air as they can take...
And screams.
The sound of a thousand tormented souls wailing in despair comes out, accompanied by waves of green ectoplasm that almost immediately begin to tear at the ground and uproot trees. Like always, Danny tries to stop the Wail, and like always, nothing he does effects it.
Danny falls to his knees as he feels the Wail latch strongly onto his Core, eating through all the energyhe has. Finally, Danny feels the cool breeze-like touch of his Transformation Rings flow over his body. A moment later, the Wail had spent the last of the energy in his Core, and Danny kneels there on the forest floor, panting and breathless.
It only takes three seconds for his Core to start reproducing ectoplasm again as it feeds from both the food he had for lunch and the worried/startled/impressed emotions coming from behind him.
With a sigh, he shifts for his knees to almost sitting criss-cross.
"Phantom," Black Canary is suddenly there, kneeling next to him and placing her hand on his shoulder, worriedly searching his face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he pants, "just... need to... catch my... breath."
She nods and settles back on her heels. "Well, I can see why you wanted the help. And the secrecy. I'll start working on something, but for now, I think we should start with some breathing exercises, and we'll go from there."
Danny nods, glad to finally have some help with this.
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
Once again, this chapter is dedicated to Ghost, who had the idea of the League helping Danny with his powers. Thank you so much, Ghost.
Answers to reviews.
PhantomGoat13 : Thank you! Here it is, hope you enjoyed!
DinoPirate : He does, but sometimes you just need a trusted adult authority figure to tell you "good job". I'm not saying that Danny wouldn't accept such approval from his friends and sister every once in a while, but what he really wants at that point in time, is for his parents or Clockwork to be there with him.
hrisi292 : Nothing that I know of :) Danny doesn't know who Luna is, nor what she does. All he knows is that she reminds him of the night sky, so there was nothing to fanboy over. Sorry. (Shrugs)
Thank you all for reading, and let me know what you think, or if you have any ideas, in the comments.