Eight
The day after they found the page, Danny awoke to blue mist forcing its way out of his throat.
From then on, it was like a switch had been flipped.
Danny had gone from very few ghost fights to quadruple that, all within a day. The ghosts themselves were not much of a challenge.
Vlad's still holding off, he knew. There had to be a reason why the fruitloop went the whole week without sending any of the usual threats after him. Instead, it was ghost snakes, ghost bears, blobs, and some low level humanoid ghosts that were probably easy pickings for Walker.
The only advantage they had was the sheer number of them. And if there was one thing that had not gotten less tedious in his life as Danny Phantom, it was tracking down ghosts to suck them in the Thermos.
Worse, even, was how frequently his parents had been seen around town. Mom often used her "new and improved" Fenton Bazooka, whose portal making capabilities had been strengthened. While that was helpful in sending the ghosts back to the Ghost Zone, he still had to stay out of her reach so she wouldn't nail him with the thing—if only by accident.
Which brought him to the other weird thing about this week: his parents.
Mom and Dad were as zealous in their ghost hunting as ever—but they left him alone. Oh, sure, they still glared at him when their eyes met and called him at best "Phantom," never the full "Danny Phantom." But even that was a massive shift from before.
It started when he had just managed to stick a few ghosts in the Fenton Thermos. The ground had rumbled as his parents had shown up in the Ghost Assault Vehicle. They took out their weapons, which whined as they powered on.
Danny froze. "Uh, it's fine. I'm not causing any trouble. Remember when you helped Pandora? I mean, the blue ghost woman with four arms?" Sure, they hadn't exactly teamed up with Pandora but they had not even threatened to turn a weapon on her. That had been the occasion that made him hope they'd begun changing their views on ghosts, at least a little.
"Quiet, ghost boy," said his mother as she twirled her own weapon. It was the green double-bladed beam sword that they'd sometimes called the Fenton Spook Sword but usually left unnamed. As she brandished it, ready to begin, she shouted at him, "Well? What are you floating there for? Shouldn't you be ghost hunting?"
A hopeful feeling arose within him. "You mean we'll work together?"
"For now, ghost punk," Dad called, aiming his gun at a nearby ghost as it rocketed toward him.
Mom knocked out several ghostly enemies with a few thrusts of her weapon. "But stay out of our way, Phantom."
He saluted her. "Sure thing." His face gained a hesitant smile as he went back to capturing ghosts.
It had been the most surreal ghost fight in awhile. The only not great part was that his parents had demanded the Thermos and its contents back.
"We are the only ones with a stable portal," Mom pointed out. "Unless you have some way of making them?"
"No." As cool of a power as that sounded, he didn't need it right now. "And I can get them in the Ghost Zone my own way."
"With our property?"
"Yeah, ghost kid, want to explain why you have that?" Dad demanded.
"I'll give it back!" he insisted. "Just let me send them back to the Ghost Zone first."
They had not liked that, but he'd flown off too fast for them to catch him, then turned invisible before landing in a safe alley, morphing human again in a dumpster. As much as he hated having to hide ghosts from them, he couldn't trust that these ghosts wouldn't somehow end up in Vlad's grubby hands. Not unless he got their permission to use the Portal as Danny Phantom.
And wow, the fact that that was even a possibility now blew his mind. But he knew it would take effort to get to that point. So he was not surprised when pretty much every time he saw them after that, Mom used the Bazooka. Though they did not chase him as much anymore, he still got out of there as fast as possible before they could interrogate him over his FentonWorks gear. Jazz keeping them busy with "family ghost hunting bonding" was a huge help.
At dinner a few nights in, Dad was fawning over Vlad again, and let this slip: "He's giving the ghost boy a few days before he lets his new special force of ghost hunting police—and us, of course—" (he beamed) "step in. Isn't that great, Danny? He's being way too good to the ghost kid!"
He didn't disagree. And Vlad did nothing without a reason.
Danny handled the ghosts. On a couple of occasions, he was joined by Valerie, if at a distance. It was interesting, he thought, teaming up with Valerie, as they sucked ghosts in Thermoses, with no sign of their truce ending. Definitely made things easier.
Jazz joined him once, too, though she mostly stuck by their parents.
When Valerie asked him, the first day, where Sam and Tucker were, he smirked. "Making friends." He swerved left, avoiding a flashing ghost ray.
She sighed through her Fenton Phones.
"Oh, that's right," Danny said, uppercutting a ghost before freezing it solid. "Tucker's taking you to see Technus. You want to meet my dragon princess friend next?"
"You're pushing it, ghost boy."
Yeah, Danny thought she could be convinced to meet Dora. They had already worn her down more than he had imagined.
Though Danny acted blasé as he spoke about it, his body was wracked with tension and anticipation.
But you trust Sam and Tucker and Valerie, don't you? he asked himself.
He did and he would have to continue doing so. There was no room for doubting.
Not if he wanted to beat Vlad at this game.
They're strong. They've got this, Danny told himself. And he surged up in the air, searching for the next ghost.
Tucker knocked on the door three times.
The door flung open immediately. The green-skinned ghost was dressed in her usual pink cafeteria uniform; the white apron was, as always, spotless. Her eyes studied Tucker as she floated in front of the Specter Speeder.
"What is it?" she demanded.
He cleared his throat. "May I speak with you, ma'am? It's about something we think you would be interested in. It involves Danny Phantom."
Danny's name caught her attention. "Come in, dear. But don't disappoint me."
Wouldn't dream of it, he said to himself. He hopped from the Specter Speeder. He remained in midair; the Lunch Lady levitated him to the door. Sam gave him a thumbs up, which he returned before turning back around.
The ghost led him inside. His nose immediately filled with the glorious smell of meat; he inhaled it with satisfaction. As he took a look around, Tucker blinked. He had expected a perfect recreation of Casper High's cafeteria. Instead, it looked like one big house with multiple small kitchen enclaves. Even more astonishing was that they were not alone. There were other ghosts, all dressed like some kind of food worker: a butcher, a chef, even someone in a Nasty Burger uniform cooking over a sizzling stove.
He tried not to think about that as the Lunch Lady set him down on the floor, then guided him to a room that was a small kitchen space with a bed off to the side, closing the door behind them. Green light gleamed from a lamp on the nightstand.
"The Box Ghost said that you have found a page of Sojourn's journal," the Lunch Lady said.
Straight to the point, huh? Exactly how he liked it.
"Yeah, we've got one," Tucker confirmed.
"Where is it? I must have it!"
"Whoa." He held up his hands in a calming motion. "No need to freak out. We'll let you see it, but you've got to agree to Danny's alliance, including his truce."
The ghost's powerful energy receded. "And what are his terms?"
He explained.
She regarded him for a moment. "If I agree to this truce, am I still allowed to spend time in Amity Park? To serve food?"
They were still working on that he knew better than to refuse her. "Uh, sure. I'm sure I'll want some. I'm a meat lover, too."
The Lunch Lady pointed out, "You're friends with the one that Undergrowth likes."
Tucker had to fight a scowl—both at the mention of Undergrowth and being reminded of the time this very ghost had gone after his friend—but managed to keep the genial smile on his face.
"I am. So is Danny Phantom. She's learned. She's not going to change the menu again. She just wants to make things a bit more welcoming for environmentally friendly vegan types."
The Meat Monster sniffed in derision. "Bunch of hippies."
"Yeah, but they sure know how to throw a party, right?"
Tucker waited for a moment. He knew he had the advantage, with access to Fenton tech and being able to phase his way out of an attack. Sure, this may be her turf but he knew his way around the Zone. He'd been here enough times.
"Very well, human boy," she finally said. "I've not attacked your town very often and I do miss being able to see it without being shoved into that Thermos. And that Plasmius has done nothing to earn my loyalty. Can you believe he won't even come to the Christmas party no matter how many times we invite him?" She shook her head, coming off like a disappointed grandmother.
Actually, he could. It was weird to imagine Vlad Masters attending a ghost Christmas party.
"But I digress. I will join Danny Phantom's alliance. He at least won't try to keep me from my meat."
"Nope, definitely not," he assured her.
She smiled. "Then we have a deal." She reached in her pouch. "Want some meat?"
He licked his lips. "Lady, you never have to ask."
The ectoplasmic recreation of Casper High was ironically the opposite of a ghost town. It was filled with students who hovered not far from Sam and Tucker, eager to protect their school's most popular student.
"You want me to join the halfa?" asked Sidney Poindexter, eyes narrowed behind his circular glasses.
"Absolutely," Tucker said.
"Why should I?"
"We've found a page," Sam told him. "And we know how to track them."
Poindexter blinked. "Like wow. Wouldn't have expected that."
"So, are you in?"
He thought about it. "Well, I don't wanna join Plasmius. He's just a bully, and he released Pariah Dark." The ghost visibly shuddered. "That Phantom guy is different. Sure, I thought he was just a bully when I met him, but he's not been too bad. Plus, if you really got a way to track pages, then it's made in the shade." He offered his hand.
The last Sam had heard, Ember was dating Skulker. Despite that, she knew for a fact that they did not live together.
Finding Ember's lair had not been difficult. She lived not far from Johnny and Kitty's door, and, unfortunately, close to Spectra's. The door's ectoplasm-based wood looked in new condition. Compared to the other doors drifting in the same direction, it was wider, with thicker grooves.
After having been dropped off by Tucker and Valerie, when no words other than "Can we talk about Danny?" were exchanged, Sam followed Ember inside.
She found herself in a large concert hall, with a stage and microphone sitting proudly before her. A spotlight shined down, brightening the whole area. Ember flew over to her microphone, gesturing toward the seats.
Sam sighed, sitting down close to the front of the stage. It was comfortable, at least; she relaxed in her chair.
"What did you want, Goth girl?" said Ember, her voice resounding around the entire space.
"You heard about Danny having a page, right?"
Ember chuckled. "Who hasn't? It's been all over the Ghost Zone ever since the Box Ghost showed back up, shouting it to everyone. So what? You want me in on your little alliance?"
"Yeah."
Ember summoned her guitar and strummed a few notes; ghost rays did not manifest, nor were the hypnotizing effects there. "And why should I do that? Sure, I'm not gonna work for Plasmius but why would I work for Danny Phantom?"
"Other than offering to help you find the Elsewhereness? It'd give you something to do. Tucker and another ghost hunter we work with are talking to Technus and we're hoping he could hook us up with some cool upgrades so that this thing Danny's parents invented that can track the pages' ecto-signatures could be transferred to all our stuff."
"And?"
"And," Sam said with a smirk, "you don't like following anyone's rules. I get it. Well, these aren't really rules. They're just things we'd like you to do but you can back out at any time. It's a truce, an alliance. But Plasmius? He has rules. And if we don't all work together, he'll try to conquer the whole Ghost Zone, including the Elsewhereness, and then you'll be stuck following him for the rest of your afterlife."
Ember studied her. "You really get it, don't you?" She sighed. "Ever since I became a ghost, all I wanted was to be known, appreciated. To be free to be myself."
Sam nodded. "I know what it's like to have to deal with people you love not seeing you, just seeing the version of you that only exists in their heads and refusing to believe you can be anything more. I get what it feels like to want to be acknowledged by everyone." She didn't like to talk about it much but there had once been a time when she had wanted to be popular. Of course, those days were long gone and she now took pride in her infamous reputation but there was no point denying her past. "Though you could have caused less trouble. I didn't forget all those people you brainwashed and kidnapped or when you tried to help get rid of all the men."
"Aww, I was just having a good time." Ember's tone was shameless. "It gets real boring in the Ghost Zone. Or it used to, anyway."
Sam rolled her eyes. No point expecting more than that. This was Ember she spoke to, after all.
As she waited, Sam examined the ceiling. It was decorated with a plethora of white signatures that glinted like starlight.
Finally: "You really think you can find the journal?"
"We're gonna put all our effort in. And, yeah. I know we can."
The two sat in silence for a moment. Ember strummed her guitar some more, head hung down, eyes closed. Then she turned back to Sam. "So, where do I sign up?"
"Depends. You ever hung out with Princess Dora?"
"You better be sure about this," Valerie growled at him.
"For the last time, it'll be fine," Tucker said.
Tucker didn't bring up the real reason why she was asking again—seriously, they had had this argument at least four times already—because, as tough as Valerie Gray liked to come off, she was uncomfortable.
They rode together in the Specter Speeder. Sam had been dropped off to see Ember, so that left the two of them alone to head off to their own destination. She had scooted to the other end of the seat while Tucker operated the controls. He thought she'd be capable of flying it herself if he explained but he preferred it this way. It gave him something to do, something to focus on other than all the other stuff he didn't like thinking about regarding Valerie like missed dates, getting captured in Axion Labs, and all those times she hurt Danny.
So, really, he was grateful for her choice to keep the argument going.
"How did you talk me into this, Foley?"
He grinned at her. "With my patented Foley charm?"
"Try again."
He shrugged. "I mean, you're not going to let a ghost spook you too much to deal with your suit, are you?"
"Of course not! But you already looked it over and got out the tracking devices."
"The ones I could find," Tucker admitted. It always hurt, having to acknowledge that he was not the actual best at what he did. But he came close. "And it's Technus's suit, so if there's anything else in there, including ones he put in, it won't be hidden from him."
"But—" She stopped. "You're right."
"I am?" He coughed into his hand, deepening his voice. "I mean—well, of course I'm right. Look, Valerie, I know I act like a fool half the time but I'm not dumb. I know you're still not comfortable with trusting ghosts. I get it. You think I want to deal with Technus? But you know what's at stake."
"Yeah," she whispered.
Tucker understood. Sure, he did his best when he was with Danny to keep his friend's spirits up—always necessary to keep Danny from having another self-doubt moment—but he was worried too. Arming Amity Park's police force unnerved him; his parents had raised him with a healthy distrust of the government and what ran through it, including the police. The fact that they could now more effectively harm his best friend justified it more than ever.
But Vlad himself was scaring him. Tucker's fear of Vlad went back to at least the time the fruitloop had purposely infected both Tucker and Sam with ecto-acne. All the horrifying stories Danny had told him about the guy made it worse. And to think he was literally trying to get control of ghost Heaven now? Forget Vlad with the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage. This was the real worst case scenario.
He imagined similar thoughts rolled through Valerie's head, though worse, considering her own complicated history with the mayor.
The Specter Speeder's navigation system announced that they had reached their destination. Around half a dozen doors floated before them. Tucker pointed out which one they were headed to.
"How does that thing know which door, anyway?"
Tucker's expression was smug. "We've been mapping the Ghost Zone for the last year, so all it took was a little hacking and, bam, Specter Speeder's map includes what we know about lairs and Realms."
"And you're sure Mr. and Mrs. Fenton won't notice?"
"They haven't noticed yet, have they?"
He pulled the Speeder up to the door and, with Valerie's help, knocked on the door.
It swung open, revealing the familiar ghost. His green skin seemed extra colorful today. The mullet was still here.
"Well, well, well," Technus said in his annoying nasal voice. "What have we here? Two children, one who is friends with the ghost child and the other is the girl who hunts him. How fun!"
Valerie scowled at him.
Tucker forced a smile onto his face. "Hey, Technus! Long time no see. Mind if we talk to you about some stuff?"
"What kind of stuff, child?"
"Sojourn's journal . . . and her suit."
Technus's glow brightened as he gestured behind him. "Come on in." Since the door was part of the lair, Technus, gripping the ends of the frame, stretched the doorway enough to allow the Speeder to fly inside. They left it hovering off to the side of the room as Tucker made his pitch.
Getting the ghost to agree to Danny's truce was easier than expected. Though, now that he thought about it:
"You haven't attacked the Human World in a while, have you?" He only remembered one other time after he'd tried to use the Axion satellite.
Technus shook his head, typing at his keyboard at his desk. Several computer monitors surrounded him as he swiveled in his chair. "No. I've been far too busy plotting my next move. Technus 2.0 failed, so I've settled into 3.0. But now this news about the journal has diverted my attention."
Technus accepted Danny's terms, promising to not cause any trouble. He even offered to help upgrade everyone's equipment to make page tracking easier.
"What do you want in exchange?" asked Tucker.
The self-proclaimed Master of Technology gave a predictable answer: "I want to examine my work." He tilted his head in Valerie's direction. "And I want access to Human World technology."
Tucker thought he should ask Sam to help cover that expense, then turned to the girl who sat on the other end of the room, back straight, eyes scanning the space. It was basically every technogeek's dream room: every shelf was filled with tech gadgets. Screens covered the walls. "Valerie? You ready?"
He watched her count to ten before she rose from her seat. Her armor slid around her.
Technus got up himself, floated over to her, and reached out to touch her shoulder. She flinched but allowed him to do so. They both became engulfed in a deep forest green, numbers dancing across their bodies. This lasted for a few moments, then the green melted away.
Valerie's suit retracted. She crossed her arms in front of her. "Well?"
Technus chuckled. "Well, children, be happy that I am working with you. Because if Plasmius was still offering me something, I could shut you down."
"Wait, that's why my suit didn't work that night?"
Technus nodded. "Plasmius came to me some time ago. He offered me to join his plan. I said no, but he threatened me. So I gave him some shut-down codes. But I, Technus, am good enough at what I do that I can easily change the codes so that only you can turn it off."
"Will you?"
He smiled. "How long are you willing to wait? It may take some time."
She glared at him. "Just do it before I change my mind."
Tucker settled himself for a long wait, glancing at his PDA screen. But, hey, Technus was on their side. He considered that a job well done. Then he turned his Fenton Phones back on. He'd been working on improving the distance they could pick up a signal. No better time to test it.
"Hey, Sam? If you hear this, we're going to be a bit."
"Why don't you go ahead?" Tucker suggested after they had passed through the lightning arch.
The Box Ghost glared at him, hands on his hips. "You just do not want to be pummeled."
He nodded. "Yup, that's right." Shameless of him? Of course. But he had no regrets. He waved. "Go on."
The ghost sighed, then turned translucent, proceeding to fly through the maze.
Tucker held his breath before he visualized himself as nothing more than what he was: a collection of atoms that made up cells which made up his body. And since this was the Ghost Zone, that meant that his own matter could, with effort, ignore any matter that wasn't a Real World item.
Standing up straight, eyes closed, he counted to ten, slowing his heartbeat down. Then he pictured himself as if he were a pop culture ghost—just an incorporeal being, floating aimlessly. His body tingled from head to toe. Smirking, he sprinted through the labyrinth's walls, waving to the Minotaur and any other creatures he passed.
At last, catching sight of the Box Ghost and Pandora, he released his intangibility. The woman was yelling at him, both sets of arms wildly gesturing in front of her as she pointed her spear in the poor ghost's face.
"—and still you come to me with Danny Phantom's name on your lips! For shame! Whether true or not, nothing you say will sway me."
Tucker slowed his pace down to a jog as he smiled up at the ghostly woman. There she stood, on the ground at the head of her maze, in her full glory of flaming purple hair and blue skin. Tucker suspected that her general intimidating appearance would not be lessened if her golden helm were removed. She towered above just about any humanoid ghost Tucker had seen in person other than the Fright Knight (though Danny had mentioned that Pariah Dark had been even taller than either).
"Hey, Pandora!" he called, finally passing the Box Ghost. "I know you're not really in a listening mood but maybe you'll hear me out?"
She calmed visibly—even her hair had lost some of its blazing fire as she offered him a motherly smile. "Hello, Mr. Foley dear. It's been a while since you helped me get my box back." She glared at the Box Ghost again, making him wince. Then she faced Tucker once more. "While you and those who helped Danny Phantom are always welcome in my home, I must ask why this disrespectful thief is here."
"Not my idea," admitted Tucker, "but he told you the news, right?"
"Yes, he did say that Daniel has found a page of Sojourn's journal. Why, I haven't seen so much excitement regarding those pages in centuries."
"Well, Boxy here is part of Danny's alliance."
She looked unimpressed. "You are aware that his bounty has not exceeded fifty American dollars of human currency, yes?"
"I know, I know, but Danny's got other allies. He's just the first."
Pandora considered him. Then she gestured behind her. "You may as well come inside." She got in the Box Ghost's face again. "But you will touch nothing, hear me?"
"Yes, ma'am," the Box Ghost cried.
Pandora, with Tucker's permission, gently grabbed hold of him and flew him up to her castle as the Box Ghost floated behind them.
Once they passed through the doorway, they went through a long, open hallway with Greek art adorning each wall lit by blue torchlight. The room after that was full of weapons—obviously a detour to intimidate the Box Ghost, which worked like a charm. Finally they settled in a room nearby. Despite the ancient Greek theme the Realm had going on, this looked more like a modern room with its leather sofa, chandelier illuminating the space, and flatscreen television set that hung from the wall opposite the doorway.
Pandora let them take the sofa while she stood.
He laid out the terms of Danny's alliance; the Box Ghost wisely kept his mouth shut. The woman regarded him with interest.
"Have you seen any other pages?" she asked.
He nodded, explaining about Dora.
"Ah. The princess is correct about the clues being similar, though the portals they can create mean that even having overlapping clues, the pages remain useful. We have a page in this Realm that we use to leave the Ghost Zone for the Human World, though we use it sparingly."
"Uh, do you know what the location is that it's supposed to take you to?"
"Yes," she said, sighing. "But here is where I must inform you that Dorathea's information is a bit limited. The pages are supposed to take you to the location that is pictured but you do know that the Ghost Zone is ever changing?"
The Ghost Zone is constantly shifting. Frostbite had said that. After seeing the natural portals open and close and, more recently, the river and that island with the forest just vanish, he believed it more than ever.
"Yeah."
"Well, Tucker Foley, have you ever wondered what happens when a Realm dies?"
He gasped, blinked, and suddenly he understood. "They take you to Realms or lairs that are gone?"
The Box Ghost added, "What about if someone built a new Realm over that?"
She silenced them with two raised hands. "To an extent, yes, they take you there—but you wind up in a dead Realm that looks as it did when Sojourn is rumored to have visited. Though, as you'll know, counting time is complicated in the Ghost Zone."
Tucker agreed with that. Not every Realm or lair had a day-night cycle, the Ghost Zone did move but it didn't seem equivalent to Earth's orbit around the Sun, there was no guarantee that every ghost used the Gregorian calendar, and weather was optional.
"As for you . . ." Her gaze snapped to the sheepish Box Ghost, who was twiddling his thumbs in his lap. "It is generally not considered a good idea to try to reach the original locations for exactly that reason. You could be trapped that way."
Tucker remarked that that sounded like what had happened when they'd found their page. After describing it, Pandora agreed.
"Now you see the danger of these pages," she said. "Everyone thinks of them only for what they could produce but they're not harmless. Now, tell me more."
He talked about the allies they had gathered so far, the Fenton Object Tracker's capabilities, and what was going on back in Amity Park.
"I accept the terms of Daniel's alliance," said Pandora at last.
Tucker grinned. "Great. If you know any ghosts who want to join, we'd appreciate it."
"Most of my friends are unlikely to want to get personally involved," Pandora admitted. "But I do believe my friend Nin will be interested. And some of hers could indeed be of great use." She gestured for Tucker to stand and walk over to her. When he had, she spoke again. "I assume that, like the dragon princess, you would like me to offer asylum to people here?"
"If you're willing. But yeah. That would be great."
Pandora eyed him. "You want to ask something else."
"I just don't know if it's really rude. And my mom and dad raised me to have manners." Most of the time. Especially when in the territory of a powerful ghost.
"We are in a truce now. I will let you know if I don't want to answer. Ask."
"So, are there other ghosts like you? Greek mythology? I mean, Danny said he met Medusa and others like that, so you're not the only one in this specific Realm. But are there other Greek Realms with similar ghosts?"
"I would be careful what you call mythology," Pandora said. Her tone was amused. "And your answer is yes. As I have had greater access to the Human Realm and socialize with more ghosts, my home is out in the open rather than behind one of the Doors, like many of my people." Tucker heard the capital letter in the word.
"Could you introduce me sometime?"
"Perhaps someday. Anyway, I suppose now is the part where we shake hands?"
"Yeah," said Tucker. He held out his hand again.
Finally, she shook it.
"Will you shake my hand, too?" the Box Ghost asked.
"No."
Ah, he loved the sound of Daniel fighting ghosts in the morning.
Oh, sure, the boy could be an annoyance and he really did burn with rage when he thought of how many times he'd thwarted his plans. And yet, when he watched him battle, he remembered why he had chosen to relinquish his cloning goals after Danielle had gotten away. While a fully stabilized clone would have Daniel's immense power, what made him so appealing was not simply his DNA and ghost powers—it was his personality. And while Vlad was up to date enough to know how personality traits were inherited, they were still influenced by their environment. Oh, sure, the boy would need some training but he had several good traits: loyalty, determination, bravery, intelligence, and charisma.
Plus, being honest, he loved the challenge. The boy would either be his or he would be destroyed. Vlad had come too far to settle for anything less.
He turned away from the window. A quick sweep of his curtains and a button pressed to inform his assistant not to disturb him later, he waited.
Then four ghosts flew in through his ceiling, their ghostly glows casting shadows around the room. Three of them were green vultures; each wore a fez on their heads. The fourth was a tall ghost armored with purple flaming flames dancing across his back, creating a cape and wreathing his head like a crown.
The Fright Knight crossed his arms. "I have returned, Plasmius."
"Yeah, so have we," said a vulture.
"I see," Vlad said. "Do you have anything to report?"
"We heard rumors of a page near the Remnant," said another vulture.
"And another hidden in one of the Egyptian Realms."
"And you, Fright Knight?"
"Pandora, as I've said, has one, and if she does what I think she will and she contacts some of Those Who Remain, that will give the Phantom whelp more information—and power."
A problem for sure. Pandora was someone he had known to never enrage. He had been even more convinced after she'd shown up to help recover her box and its contents. Viewing the security footage of the evils contained in her box, watching her in action, and being reminded that she had created it, that she had dared to take on such opponents, had shown that her formidable reputation was well earned. The fact that Daniel had convinced her so quickly meant their friendship would continue. This was the consequence.
But he had some advantages of his own. After all, when Jack and Maddie had been here, his "good friend" had been all too willing to explain everything about his latest invention. Oh, sure, Vlad had his own trackers but it was always good to compare his work to the Fentons'—even Jack was not a complete moron.
And there was his other favorite pawn to consider. Oh, yes, it was time to visit the Grays.
"Any word on recruitment?"
"We think Aragon's coming around," the middle vulture said smugly.
"Still working on that Maker," said the rightmost vulture.
"No sign of Nocturn, though," the leftmost vulture said. "Or Desiree."
It took all the careful practice he'd had to not sneer at the name Nocturn.
"But we've heard rumors that Danny Phantom dealt with some ghosts that never entered the Ghost Zone and think that they're a decent option."
"Reasonable." Plus he had a few allies that he had met over the last two decades. "Do you still believe you can get through to Undergrowth, Fright Knight?"
"If he has not changed, he will be easy," the Fright Knight said. "And your little pet project? Won't she turn on you?"
"Of course she will." Like humans, ghosts were so very predictable. Even more so, really. "But by the time that she does, it will be too late. Vultures, continue your work. Fright Knight, I will see you at my manor later. I have business to attend to. Meeting adjourned."
The ghosts turned translucent and vanished from the room.
Valerie arrived home from school, ready to join Danny on patrol that afternoon.
She had taken the bus home, rather than summon the suit. While Technus said that it was safe now, she was still hesitant to use it out of combat situations while she familiarized herself with all the codes the ghost had provided. And also because knowing it was a ghost suit still sent shivers up her spine when she thought about it.
She unlocked the door with her key, pushing it open. Then froze.
Because sitting next to her father on the couch was Vlad Masters.
"Valerie," her father said, noticing her. "Say hello to the mayor."
"Hello, my dear," the mayor said.
Valerie managed to stutter out her greeting as she pushed the door closed and strode into the room.
"Mayor Masters," Daddy continued, "was just talking to me about the new ecto-weapons he's providing the Amity Park Police Department."
Masters smiled. Smugness shone in his eyes. "Yes, I have two of my companies working on providing the equipment but there's a special project that I believe that only the best and brightest of Axion Labs can bring out. And I want your father to be in charge of it. Isn't that wonderful, Miss Gray?"
And it was then that Valerie knew that the game had only just begun.
Author's Note: Just to get this out of the way, this was the last of the chapters that was written before I read "A Glitch in Time." And while I can confirm that absolutely nothing from the plot of that will make its way into this fic, I do have at least one scene planned which will use some of the lore that introduced. But I will leave an author's note before that chapter so you can avoid any spoilers.
I have to say, it's more fun than I expected writing Tucker. And while Vlad isn't on the level of my favorite supervillain (and villain in fiction in general, really), the Marvel character Doctor Doom, he's still a cool character to play around with. And this chapter is where we start getting my takes on a lot of our favorite ghost characters.
And I will close this by thanking all my readers, whether you've just clicked once and didn't like it, those who read a chapter or two, those who read them all, those who've left feedback, etc.