When Tucker had finally arrived at Paulina's house, he found himself in a strange and somewhat hostile environment. The news surely had something to do with all of this, but he had no time to stay to catch up with the others.
- Jazz?
- She hasn't come back. - Danny explained. – At least not yet.
- Well… since I suppose that you all already know the news, I'll tell you something that I think you don't know yet.
- That Dan is using the current situation to make people sabotage the shield? - Sam replied.
- That Dan is getting into their heads so that they themselves hand us over to him? – Vlad said.
- Emm… yes, yes, and that he left the city isolated. – He answered. – He destroyed all the roads going in and out of Amity Park.
- So, no one leaves the city... nor can help enter. – Dani summed up.
- Yeah.
Danny was still holding his own on something. Since Sam had arrived, Paulina had retired to her room, leaving everyone downstairs. When Sam had asked questions, Dani answered them because Danny just sat and watched the sky through the window. He sighed audibly and stood up. He turned to Vlad quickly and turned into a ghost.
- We need to talk.
Vlad raised an eyebrow as Danny flew up and joined him seconds later. When they were both on the roof of the house, Danny finally spoke.
- What was your plan?
- What?
- Your plan. The one you freed Valerie for. What were you trying to achieve or what did you achieve?
Vlad looked serious for a few moments, which irritated Danny.
- Look, I'm not going to judge you for that. But I think if you risked doing something like that under our noses, it must have been for something really worth it.
- I sent a clone with Dan.
Danny took a few seconds to digest the news.
- Why?
- It was the only way to get closer to him without dying in the attempt.
- To do what?
Vlad sighed and removed from his suit a small device with only one button.
- What's that? - Danny asked.
- This… is a detonator. – He explained, handing him the device. – Thanks to a distraction, I was able to implant one of my beetles in the crown. That lets us know Dan's location in the Ghost Zone and in the real world. That's why they activated the shield.
- If this is a detonator, why haven't you used it? – He said looking into his eyes.
- It detonates a beetle, not a nuclear bomb. – He ironized. – It's a last resort. In proximity, detonating it would remove the crown from Dan's head… giving us a window of opportunity to reduce his power level.
- And whay…?
- What's the use of detonating it now? – He crossed his arms. – We can only apply that plan when we have a real advantage over him. Taking the crown from him and running away will do no good.
- Maybe… - He mused. – But we have to try.
- What?
- Without the crown he does not have unlimited power.
- Daniel...
- In his timeline, he managed to destroy the shields by developing the ghostly wail. If the Guys in White manage to calibrate the shield to withstand that attack, everyone inside the shield will be safe, giving them time to…
- What part of "we need a plan before attacking" you have not understood yet? – He told him losing his calm.
- Fine! Do you want a plan? Here's your plan: we take the crown from him and put it inside the shield, taking away his unlimited power and preventing him from destroying the shield, giving everyone time to build an exoskeleton and face him on an equal footing.
- And what will happen to us in your grandiose plan? Hmn? Did you think of that?
- Whatever has to happen!
- Damn it, Daniel. Understand at once! We are the only chance they have to defeat him... Chance that dies if the 3 of us do it.
- We don't have to die all 3.
Vlad looked at Danny without understanding what he meant.
- We both know that, no matter what we decide, Danielle is not coming with us. – The young man clarified.
Vlad's features relaxed as he understood what he was talking about. He corrected his posture and turned his back on the boy.
- Vlad… we are already dead. - Danny paused to calm down. – Since he revealed our identities, our lives went down the drain. But we can do this for them, give them enough time to mount a counterattack.
- Do you want us to sacrifice ourselves for everyone? – He said with a deep and calm voice.
Danny was silent as he thought about his answer.
– Tomorrow he will destroy another city and I cannot let him do it. I just can't. – He rubbed his forehead. – Regardless of what you want to do, I will go after him.
- You will die for nothing. – He answered after a few seconds.
- Maybe. – He sighed. – And then it will be your responsibility to do something.
Vlad just laughed and shook his head.
- That's not my style.
- It is when it comes to Danielle. – Danny stopped talking when Vlad turned to see him with a raised eyebrow.
No one said anything else after that point. The look they exchanged was enough to understand what Danny meant and how he had figured it out. And though it hurt his pride to admit it, Vlad knew that Danny was right.
- What do you have in mind?
Dan held his head hard as he tried to suppress a groan. He had returned to his castle in the ghost zone when the severe pain returned to him. When he couldn't take it anymore, he fell to his knees and screamed. The Fright Knight heard what was happening and poked his head into the room. Fearfully he took a few steps inside before stopping when the screaming stopped. Slowly Dan got to his feet and straightened up. He paused a few seconds while he watched his hands and body, then raised his face with a smile.
- Finally… - He whispered.
- King Dan? – He asked cautiously.
- Do not call me that again! - He yelled at him and threw the mace at him.
He managed to react in time to duck and avoid the impact that was aimed at his head.
- King Pariah? – He said surprised.
- And never forget that name. - He said, taking him by the armor and standing him up. – Now, we have work to do.
- What? – He said as Pariah threw him to the ground. - What do you mean?
- This Dan... - He spat out the name angrily. – He thinks that everything is a game. With the power we have, he should have conquered the entire human world by now… But he prefers to play with the minds of his victims before finishing them off. – He paused looking at the ceiling. - Under other conditions, I could respect him for that. Even admire it...
- What would you have me do, my king?
- Ready our armada. We have to attack while I still have control of this body. – He walked towards the exit before turning to look at his footman. – Once I have control of the world, I will deal with him.
The Fright Knight only bowed his head and stood up, ready to do what he had been ordered to do. At a slow pace, he left the throne room. Since he had made that deal with Vlad, he had chosen to stay away from the human world and strangely enough, he had found some peace in doing so, so he did not like the idea of restarting a conquest very much. For this reason, and despite the risk of being annihilated at that moment, he made the decision to send a warning to the human world. He just hoped they were prepared for what was coming.
- The first thing we have to do is secure the extra syringes. - Danny said.
Vlad took advantage of the fact that all the attention had fallen on Danny when he returned to the room with the others to take the rag with the syringes and put them discreetly in the back pocket of his pants. Before leaving for the guest room.
- We have to get your friends off our backs before we go out. - Vlad added.
- I got that.
Having everyone's attention, Danny explained to Sam what had happened earlier with Paulina and then laid out his plan of action for dealing with Dan. "Before the sun rises" had been the time he had set to go on the attack. They all tried to make him change his mind about how reckless that plan sounded, but he ignored them, arguing that only then could they count on Vlad's help. With the waters calm, he encouraged them to go rest so that the next day they would be in optimal conditions to fight. Everyone except…
- I just have a problem. – He paused. - I don't know how to deal with Danielle.
- I know how. – Vlad replied. – But I need her to be transformed for that.
Dani had stayed with them to go over the "plan of attack." The 3 had secluded themselves in the kitchen so that their voices would not interrupt the rest of the others. To lengthen the conversation, Vlad had mentioned the tracker and the conversation had turned to how to get the locator out of the hands of the Guys in White without compromising their mission. At one point, they could hear a noise coming from outside that put them on alert. Almost automatically, they all turned into ghosts, and Danny nodded discreetly at Vlad before turning away from them to look out the window. Dani fixed her gaze on the boy while Vlad walked around the table where they were.
When he was in the girl's blind spot, he withdrew from his cloak the Fenton thermos he'd picked up from the weapons pile and gingerly uncovered it. Danny returned his gaze to the girl, who was looking at him expectantly. Danny smiled weakly at her before Vlad whispered in her ear.
- I'm sorry.
Without giving her time to scream, Vlad quickly captured her inside the thermos and sealed the container. They both remained silent, trying to listen if there was any movement somewhere in the house in case someone had heard the sound of the thermos sucking the girl.
- Dealing with others will be easy once she's out of the way. - Vlad explained.
- We still have to deal with them. - Danny commented.
Vlad entered Tucker's room and noticed that the boy was already asleep, which made his task easier. Danny wasn't so lucky. He first checked on Paulina, who had fallen asleep while she was crying, and then went to check on Sam. When he stuck his head in the door, the girl turned to see him.
- Something happened? – She said as she inspected him.
Danny just shook his head and sat on the bed next to her, forcing her to sit down as well.
- We heard a noise and we are checking. It's no big deal. – He smiled.
Sam rubbed her face with both hands before turning to look at him.
- Today was a terrible day. – She commented.
- Hopefully we can change that tomorrow. – He answered her with a bit of optimism.
- You know? My parents…were going to sue you before the dome showed up.
Sam studied Danny's features, hoping her comment would get some sort of reaction. But the boy just remained serious and shrugged.
- It makes sense… I guess.
- What?
-Well… in their eyes, I am the one who dragged you into this…
- Danny, you didn't...
- I said in his eyes. - He interrupted her. – Besides it's not like they knew the whole story.
- Well… they already know "some" of the story. - She said, looking away. Seconds later, she looked up to see Danny looking at her curiously. – I may have told them how the story began.
- When you say story, you mean...
- This story. - She said pointing to the symbol in the middle of his chest. - I hope you don't mind. I know it wasn't my secret to...
- Don't worry. – He smiled at him. – At this point that doesn't matter much anymore.
They both smiled at each other and looked down. Sam wanted to talk about many things with Danny, especially to clarify the situation with Paulina and what had happened in the afternoon with her parents, but her boyfriend got ahead of her and stood up. She turned to see him and Danny cupped her face with both hands before kissing her.
- I love you. - He told her separating from her, before kissing her again. - And I'm sorry.
Making his hand intangible, he thrust it into the back of Sam's neck, knocking her unconscious. Danny sighed before setting her down on the bed and walking out of there. Before closing the door, he took one last look at Sam, hoping that it wouldn't be the last time.
- When we arrive, there will be a lot of people. - Vlad said.
- We'll have to be quick. - Danny commented. – You recover the locator and take the weapons; I'll take care of the guards and open the portal.
- Then take this. – He said handing him the thermos. – If your sister is still there, give it to her.
They left the house intangible and barely at street level to avoid detection. They weren't going fast enough to pay attention to their surroundings.
- Attention! – O shouted while he projected from his Tablet an image on the screen in the laboratory. – A few minutes ago, we received this image from the location of the sword, courtesy of the guards that were placed after the removal of the dome.
Everyone present earnestly looked at the writings on the grass in front of the sword. With flaming green letters, three letters had appeared.
He is coming.
- We don't know who is behind this or why we were warned, but given the current crisis, we must take it as an absolute certainty. – K spoke. – That is why we have to deploy all of our troops, with only a handful that will stay here to guard the facilities and keep them safe in case… well… shit happens.
Maddie and Jack looked at the crowd skeptically because they didn't understand the reason for the message. Dan had said that he would not attack them, he preferred to break their spirits with guilt so that they would voluntarily give themselves to him and out of nowhere, this message came out. What was the purpose of the first speech if he was going to ignore it? And why warn them if he wanted a surprise attack?
- There's something I don't like about this, Jack… - She whispered.
Jack just hugged his wife as he looked around the room.
- We'll stay. We have to watch the shield. – He told her.
After a few more words, the operatives started toward the exit until several vans entered the premises of the facility and parked in front of the main entrance. People, elegantly dressed, began to get out of the vehicles and rushed to prevent people from leaving.
- Nobody leaves here without our permission! – A man said running to prevent K from leaving the building.
- We don't have time for...
- Well, make time! – A woman shouted, who took him by the suit.
K watched her in silence with a raised eyebrow and his features hardened, causing the woman to immediately let go of him and hide behind the man who had arrived first.
- We are the emergency...
- We know who you are. – O interrupted him. – Now, move.
- Not until you listen to the will… of the people. – He said facing K and adjusting his suit. – After several hours of intense debate and deliberation, taking into account the opinion of spokespersons of civil associations and…
- Want to get to the point? – Jack shouted from the back, generating laughter in some of the operatives.
- The point is… we came to the conclusion that the shield must remain activated.
Agreeing, all the newcomers nodded and smirked. However, all the operatives sighed.
- Good. Now move. – K said.
As he started to walk, he was stopped again by the man, who quickly returned him to his starting position to continue speaking.
- We demand full control of the shield to ensure that...
- You have no authority to come and demand anything. - K interrupted seriously.
- The laboratories are owned by the state and you are not a military branch, so the power rests with us automatically. – The woman explained.
- The shield is private property, dear. – Maddie replied from the back.
- As representatives of the state, we give the orders and you obey them. Period! – Another woman shouted.
- I thought it was the "will of the people", not yours. – Valerie replied ironically.
Before an argument broke out at that instant, a man walked up to the front and yelled to draw all attention to him.
- We said that…- The man took out a weapon from his suit. - We will have full control of…!
Before he could finish his speech, all the operatives had their weapons aiming to the man, who ended up raising both hands in surrender. K immediately cut the distance between them and snatched the gun from him, disarming and discharging it before tossing it aside.
- Bad move, idiot. – O commented.
- Listen to me well! – K said to the crowd. – Do you want the shield to stay? Fine, it stays. Either way, it's useless against this ghost...
The revelation caused the entire emergency governing board to go silent with a serious expression.
- ...So, why don't you do something useful and go back to where you came from, and let us do our job, okay? In the meantime, move!
K shouldered the man past him, and most of the operatives followed close behind. O phoned the small delegation that was camped out at the Fenton house and notified them of the mobilization. Still inside the labs, the Fentons and the lab director returned to the command post followed by Damon, who stopped when he saw that his daughter wasn't following them.
- Valerie? – He called her seriously. - No.
- Dad…
- I said no.
- I'm not going with them. - She hastened to say before her dad interrupted her.
- Then what do you think to do? - He said, taking her by the shoulders and turning her so that she could see him face to face.
- I'll go find Danny and Vlad. - She confessed.
- Darling… - He said, shaking his head. – They could be anywhere in the city and if they…
- I know where they are. - She confessed.
Damon watched her for a second, processing what he had just heard.
- Did you lie to us? Why?
- By mistake, clearly. – She whispered as she moved away from him.
- Valerie...
- Don't worry dad. – She smiled at him. - I promise, if I can't find them, I'll get back here as soon as I can.
- I just… - He sighed. – Be careful, okay?
Valerie smiled at her dad and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
- Always.
Damon watched her leave and push a woman from the emergency government board when she got in her way, making him laugh. Slowly he joined the others in the command center. Upon reaching the room, Maddie asked him about the whereabouts of his daughter when she didn't see her there and he limited himself to forming the word "home" with his mouth without saying anything.
- Subjects! – Pariah shouted from the box towards his armies. - The day has arrived. Today we will march and conquer all the existing planes! Humans, ghosts… they will all bow to me by the end of the day!
The Fright Knight looked down and tried to ignore the shouts of the soldiers behind him. The place was pack and divided into 4 battalions was all the infantry of the king's army; at the head of each of the battalions was a commander, 4 in total, and in front of them all was he, as general and second in command of the king's armies.
He brought his attention back to the present when he saw the king's boots in front of him. He looked up to meet his eyes, and Pariah held out her hand to him. From the flames he materialized his sword and handed it over, though for a few seconds he hesitated to take it.
- You will command my forces here in the ghost zone. – He smiled. – Subdue those who resist, annihilate those who fight… leave no stone unturned until my banner is waved in all the lairs of the ghost zone. You will be my herald; you will bring my punishment and my revenge to all those who have forgotten their king...
The Fright Knight peered at the sword before returning his gaze to Pariah, who had turned and opened a portal with his hand.
- Won't you go with us?
- No. - He turned his face to him and smiled at him. – You will deal with the ghosts… I'll take care of the humans.
Danny and Vlad stopped in an alleyway a block from his house to discuss how to deal with the situation, but were surprised when they noticed that there were no vehicles outside the house and no guards at the gate.
- A trap? - Vlad asked.
- It could be… I don't know.
- Let's enter through the basement floor. If there is someone, that is where they should be.
Danny just nodded and followed close behind. Being below the basement, they both turned to see each other and immediately crossed the tile above them to materialize in the laboratory. They froze for a moment when they found no one there and became visible.
- The alarm didn't go off. - Danny murmured.
- I doesn't matter. We had a plan, so stick to it.
Vlad began checking the lab for the tracker while Danny went upstairs to find Jazz. On the first level of the house, Danny found all the Guys in White sitting in his living room, talking about something he couldn't hear. In an invisible state, he approached them and walked until he was in the middle of them all; the operatives were silent.
- Is it me or did the temperature just drop? – One of them mentioned.
They all quickly pulled out an ectoplasm detector from their suits, but Danny beat them to it, releasing a blast of ice that froze all the operatives. He became visible to inspect each of the operatives, until he found the locator hanging from the waist of one of them. With his intangible hand, he retrieved the device and looked at it for a few moments. He hung it on his waist and devoted himself to observing his house.
He still didn't understand why the alarm hadn't gone off or why the defense system wasn't firing at him at that moment, until a voice snapped him out of his musings.
- I deactivated them when they weren't watching me.
Danny turned to see his sister at the bottom of the stairs. He gave her a slight smile when he saw her safe and sound, but his face fell when he observed that she was serious.
- Why are you here, Danny?
- I… I came to look for this. – He pointed to the tracker. – And to leave this to you.
Danny walked over to her and handed her the thermos. Jazz took it and turned to see him with a raised eyebrow.
- There is a dozen of these in the house... why are you giving me this one?
- You will find out in time. – He said after a few seconds.
Jazz looked down, searching for the right words to say at that moment. She knew what that device was and what it was for, she had heard the operatives discussing it since morning. But before saying anything, Vlad appeared in the room carrying all the weapons that were physically possible for him to carry.
- You found it? – He paused at the sight of the girl. – Jasmine…
- I have it. - Danny replied.
Danny and Vlad exchanged glances to decide what to do with her, but Jazz beat them to it.
- Don't worry, I'm not going to stop you.
- No? - Danny asked curiously.
- I admit that I do not support this plan and I think it is really stupid…
- Get to the point, okay? – Vlad interrupted her.
- There is something you should know before you go looking for him.
Jazz uncrossed her arms and walked over to where the operatives were in the room. She dodged the ice columns until she grabbed a tablet from the chair and quickly unlocked the device. After a few seconds of searching, she clicked on an image and held out the device to both of them.
Danny took it and Vlad moved closer to him to look at the image. They both frowned upon reading the message written on that image and looked up at her.
- How long ago did they send this? - Vlad asked.
- 20 minutes maybe? That's why there's no one here.
- 20 minutes is too long. – Danny commented to the former mayor.
- It could be a trap. - Vlad replied.
- They thought the same, but they didn't want to risk not trying to defend the city. – Jazz commented.
- But the shield...
- It is insufficient. – The girl interrupted Vlad. – Apparently, Dan proved to them in the morning that he can go through the shield whenever he wants…
- What? – They both said in unison.
- I don't really know what happened... Mom was there. I only know that it has to do with the sword. – She pointed to the image. - It's from the Fright Knight, isn't it?
- Makes no sense. – Danny said, throwing the Tablet onto the chair. – Dan is psychologically playing with everyone… that's his style. He takes the time to enjoy the pain he causes…he never rushes it.
- But Pariah does. - Vlad whispered. – If Dan's customs are the combination of ours, it is not so far-fetched to think that his have already been combined with Pariah's.
- But it is a radical change of 180 °. - Danny debated. – Something else is going on here.
The room was silent for a few seconds as they pondered what was happening when a green glow slipped through the window.
- Damn it… - Danny whispered. - Where is the sword?
Jazz was silent for a few seconds, wishing his little brother would reconsider and refrain from going straight for the enemy, but she knew he wouldn't.
- Near the outskirts of the city. Passing Axion Labs.
- Let's go. – Vlad said.
At that moment, a Vlad clone came out of the lab carrying weapons which Danny immediately grabbed. Loaded and armed, he cupped Jazz's cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. When he broke away from her, he smiled slightly at her before asking her to stay safe and get out of there with Vlad.
After his little light show of a few seconds ago, Pariah Dark was ready to go. He surrounded himself with green flames to cement the attention he was receiving from the ground level viewers and increased the size of himself to be visible to all.
- HUMANS! Today you ran out of time, because your King has come to claim what is it's rightfully his. Everything you've built, everything you think you've accomplished…will perish before my might. A new era begins today.
All the Guys in White were in position, weapons in hand pointed at the figure in the sky ready to fire at the first sign that the shield was giving way.
- Everyone in position. – K said through the communicator to all his men.
- Run, cry, hide... Everything will be useless because I will not leave any stone unturned until my flames consume the last vestige of humanity in this world.
Danny and Vlad arrived at the rally point and stopped at the shield edge and turned to look at all the operatives.
- Danny Phantom. – O called him.
- There's no time for this. – He interrupted him. – You have to get out of here and evacuate all the people.
- We…
- There's no time, idiots! - Vlad yelled. - We can buy you some time to evacuate everyone in your path.
- But you have to go now! – Danny completed. – We will entertain him.
They both returned their gaze to the front and O quickly lowered his gun.
- Operatives. – He said through his communicator. – Spread out and evacuate everyone in the area. Quickly! Direct them to the opposite side of the city.
- Request support from all available security forces. – K said over the communicator. – We need all the help we can to make a fence around the evacuees…
All the operatives turned and ran in the opposite direction, except for K. He decided to return his gaze to the two ghosts preparing to fight, before sighing and reaching for his companions.
- And as for you protectors... they will be the first to feel my wrath. I will make an example of them… no, a warning to all those who want to get in my way. – He smiled. – Their heads will adorn my throne when this is over.
- Here we go. - Danny said, putting on some ghost gloves and clenching his fists, allowing a green glow to shine on his knuckles.
- Again. – Added Vlad creating duplicates.
- The doses?
- Safe near the condominiums a few kilometers from here. – He cracked his neck. – Just like the detonator.
- Any idea how to deal with him?
- Just one. – He turned to see him. – That's Pariah Dark… not Dan.
Danny was silent with a raised eyebrow. why did people have to be so cryptic when they wanted to express an idea? What was wrong with just saying what they meant? Seeing the young man's astonishment, Vlad rolled his eyes and looked ahead.
- Apparently his consciences are still separate entities. So…
- We have to make Dan fight his way out. – Danny concluded, satisfied.
- Easier said than done.
- And everything begins…- He clenched his left hand and his ring began to shine. - ... With a simple touch.
Pariah Dark smiled and struck the shield with his ring, releasing a blue flash across the city's sky.