Chapter 18

They quickly moved into their battle stances, but this time they had each other's backs as the ghosts started to swarm around them as the Fright Knight kept on firing in the hope of hitting either one or both of them.

Having fought with Plamius and his gadgets countless times, however, Danny knew he'd have found it quite easy to fight the Fright Knight if it weren't for all of the other ghosts swarming them.

An alarm suddenly went off and Danny's eyes suddenly widened in horror as he realized that his parents had arrived on the scene along with Jasmine, Sam, and Tucker.

His father immediately aimed at Plasmius, but Jasmine stopped him as she noticed that he was helping Danny, instead, she motioned to the Fright Knight, and Danny realized that she must have pointed out that the two of them were fighting the Knight and the other ghosts.

Neither his dad nor his mom seemed happy about it, but they didn't fire anything their way anymore and Phantom nodded at Plasmius as they worked to try and get the device away from the Fright Knight.

They took turns attacking as the massive amount of ghosts around them became less, and Danny could only assume that there was a whole bunch of ghosts cramped into a Fenton Thermos.

Danny let out a wail that sent the Fright Knight crashing into one of the buildings, but he simply got up again and returned to the fight.

It took some time for Danny to realize that there weren't any other ghosts around them anymore and he was relieved about it until he heard Jasmine's cries blend with Sam and Tucker's in a resounding, "NO!"

He turned to the side to see if they were being attacked, only to see them stopping his dad from shooting at them.

It was only for a moment, but it was enough for the Fright Knight to get a hit in and Danny howled in pain as he was hit with a large surge of electricity that caused him to lose his hold on Phantom and return to his human form.

The last thing he heard was Plasmius' roar, but then he knew nothing more.

$$$$Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters$$$$

Plasmius could swear that he felt it as Phantom got hit and his darker side roared in unison with him at the pained howl that Phantom let out before he lost his hold on his transformation and passed out.

He'd heard Jasmine and Danny's two friends call out, but he hadn't expected Phantom to get distracted during a fight and as he saw the reason why Danny got distracted in the first place, he promised himself that he was going to teach his dear 'old buddy' Jack a lesson once they finished this.

He knew that Danny's parents had seen who Phantom really was when he lost his transformation, and he hoped they realized just what they had been trying to do to their own son the entire time, but he didn't have any time to think about it further as he charged toward the Fright Knight in anger, only to have to dodge the beam again.

A tricky move from the Fright Knight had him dodging out of the way and behind a pillar, waiting for the Fright Knight to show himself so that he could blast him, only for his body to suddenly turn cold as his mind suddenly caught up with him and he quickly jumped out from behind the pillar to get to Danny, but it was too late.

The Fright Knight had already grabbed Danny and he somehow tore a portal through the portal before disappearing into it, leaving Plasmius to release a roar of pure fury that scorched the Earth before he stormed toward Jack, not even realizing that he'd released his transformation half way as he grabbed the man that had fallen to his knees the moment Phantom had changed into Danny, "Do you know what your idiocy has just done! You better pray that your son is alive when I find him, or else this world will have something much worse to fear than just the Wisconsin Ghost!"

With that, he turned back into Plasmius, his more vampiric features finally leeching out and fully blending with his own as he finally accepted that part of him.

His horns grew longer, his claws sharper and his entire form seemed to grow larger, but he didn't pay any attention to any of these things as he phased through the Fenton house and into their basement before nearly ripping open the gateway.

He only had one thing on his mind and that was to get Danny back into his arms.

$$$$Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters$$$$

Danny wonders for a moment whether Sam and Tucker had taken him clubbing again as his head threatened to kill him with pain, but then he slowly started waking up and he almost wished he hadn't as he found himself in a cage dangling right next to a throne that could only be occupied by the ghost that Vlad had told him about.

The Ghost King.

Honestly, the guy didn't look like much, but then again, after fighting Plasmius more times than he could count, it would make sense for other ghosts to seem inferior.

Not that any of the ghosts seemed to realize that he was awake as he hadn't moved since his head was killing him, so he tried to listen in on the Ghost King's speech instead, "None of you have proven yourselves worthy to be my guard as none of you have proven yourselves in honorable combat. But I have a solution for that. The Fright Knight has captured the one called Phantom and soon you will all have a chance to test your skill against my new pet. The ones that succeed, will be in my guard."

Danny rolled his eyes and tested his connection with Phantom since he knew it was dangerous being human in the Ghost Zone, only to have to forcefully keep his body still as he realized that it was as if a barrier had been removed from between them that he hadn't even noticed until it was gone.

He saw movement to his side and could only just make out the Fright Knight standing there with the device in his hands.

Maybe he'd become immune to the effects?

One could only hope.

He heard the cage door open and sprang into action, turning into Phantom and hitting the ghost with a blast to the face before sending an icy wail into the crowd, causing most of the ghosts to flee as they saw that three-quarters of them were frozen already.

Instinct had him block an attack and he was surprised that it had been the Ghost King himself that attacked, instead of the Fright Knight, yet Danny still struggled against the weight of the weapon as he realized how strong the ghost actually had to be to earn the title.

He knew he would be able to fight on even ground with the ghost, so he had to resort to tricks to try and defeat it, but it wasn't enough and he was running out of tricks until a familiar, yet furious, roar echoed through the palace and Danny couldn't help the feeling of excitement that ran up his spine.

Plasmius!

Though the Plasmius that came through the roof looked a lot different and Danny couldn't help the words that left his mouth, "Damn, how many forms do you have?!"

Plasmius spared him a glance and a relieved smile before he noticed the injuries that Phantom had received from fighting with the Ghost King, and a red sheen covered his eyes completely as he seemed to lose all sense of reason.

Danny wanted to jump in and join the fight, but a hand settled on his shoulder and startled him, causing him to fall into his battle stance as he saw the Fright Knight, who held up his hands to show that he hadn't drawn his weapon before he spoke, "You're still drained from the long-term affects the neutralizer had on you. His core would have already burned it out of his system, let him take care of it."

Danny frowned, "Wait, so are you a good guy or a bad guy."

The knight shrugged, "I'm just the one that ensures that the one on the throne is there to take care of the ghosts of this realm. Tyrants typically never last long."

Danny's eyes widened in realization, but he had to dodge as a green blast hit the place where he'd just been standing and he looked up to see that the Ghost King had realized that Plasmius was trying to protect Danny, so he was trying to hit him instead, seeing as Plasmius was thoroughly thrashing him at that point.

Apparently, an enraged Vlad/Plasmius was even too much for the rumored Pariah, go figure.

Danny rolled his eyes and looked at the Fright Knight, "Sorry, I've never really been the type to let others fight my battles for me, only with me."

He charged the Ghost King from the front at the same time as he noticed Plasmius charging him from behind and their movements seemed to sync as they both let out their strongest blasts, catching the Ghost King in the middle.

Unfortunately for the Ghost King, very few ghosts could protect themselves against both the extreme heat and the extreme cold and it wasn't really much of a surprise when the steam cleared and all that was left of the old king was a sticky pile of goo, to which Danny scrunched up his nose before he suddenly found himself in Plasmius' arms, "You were trying to defeat him by yourself! Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Wait, you were expecting me to wait around like a damsel in distress? When have I ever done anything you expected me to do?"

Plasmius leaned back slightly and rolled his eyes with a sharp grin, "Only when you fall into my traps it seems. How did you manage to make the effects fade away so fast though?"

Danny grinned and pointed to the knight standing a few steps away, "Turns out Fright Knight was done working for a douche. He recalibrated the machine before he shot me with it, then dragged me here because he knew you would follow and that we would kick the Ghost King's arse."

Plasmius didn't seem happy about it, but he nodded at the Fright Knight, who nodded back and Danny decided to take it as some weird code form of asking whether they were neutral now before Plasmius tightened his arms around him to fly off, only for the Fright Knight to stop them, "You defeated the Ghost King, the two of you are now the new rulers."

Phantom and Plasmius looked at each other before turning to the knight, "Thanks, but no thanks."

They then flew off without listening to another word and the Ghost King sighed as he picked up the objects from what was left of the old king while muttering to himself, "Like it or not, you are the rulers now. But I will give you some time before you return to settle into your duties. The Earth won't exist forever, after all."

Meanwhile…

"Vlad, you can let go of me now…as nice as it is being in your arms again, I'M NOT SOME DAMSEL IN DISTRESS! I can fly on my own." Danny actually pouted as Plasmius simply tightened his grip and ignored him, but that is when he noticed the tense set of Plasmius' shoulders and it dawned on him that the other halfa was taking his kidnapping a lot more seriously than he would've thought.

He decided to settle down instead and this seemed to shake Plasmius from his thoughts faster than the yelling did as softly kissed Danny on the forehead, "Sorry, I can't seem to let go of you right now. I truly feared finding your lifeless body once I arrived since Phantom had been locked away and the scenarios running through my head were…unpleasant, to say the least."

Danny nodded in understanding and leaned a head on Plasmius' shoulder as exhaustion finally caught up to him, "They were going to run a colosseum type of gig with me as the main contender so I'm not complaining."

A thought occurred to him and his eyes widened, "The others! Are they alright?"

Plasmius let out a huff of irritation, "They are alive, though for how long I don't know."

Danny narrowed his eyes, "No maiming or killing."

Plasmius almost let out a whine, "They were the reason you were captured, well Jack was, and…"

Danny wanted to say something, but Plasmius kissed him to keep him quiet, "…they know about us now. Both of us."

Danny went almost deathly pale, but Plasmius shook his head, "As much as I don't like Jack, once it was revealed that Phantom was you, he simply dropped to his knees in shock. There was no denial, no theories about a ghost possessing you or anything. In fact, I think they knew on some level. The resemblance between you and Phantom is quite distinct for those who know you."

Danny looked up at Plasmius, "And if they don't accept me?"

Plasmius shrugged, "Then we find out whether Space Paste tastes better or worse than The Nasty Burger, or we take over the Ghost Zone like the Fright Knight suggested. I'm not picky, I just need you by my side."

Danny smiled a goofy grin and they made their way home.

Although, as much as he wanted to cuddle up with Plasmius at that point, his parents, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were there waiting for them, and although they easily accepted that they were halfas due to his parents' experiments gone wrong, it took a bit more talking to explain why neither of them seemed to be able to let go of the other.

Strangely enough, Danny's family and even his two friends seemed to accept their relationship easily enough, as well as the fact that Danny had decided to move in with Vlad, but neither of the halfas realized that it soon meant that the mansion would become everyone's go-to place to meet for anything and everything, much to Vlad's ever mellowing irritation.

And by everyone, that even meant Skulker and Ember and a bunch of other ghosts, and Danny was surprised when his parents only started fighting the ghosts that made problems in town instead of trying to annihilate all ghosts.

Neither of the two halfas really minded the visits though (well Danny did have to make up for the interruptions quite a few times, but come on, both of them enjoyed it), and Danny found that he was glad that he'd been bored enough to stake out a warehouse full of boxes since that night had changed everything for him.

A light nip on his shoulder startled him from his thoughts as he watched the stars and two strong arms wrapped around him, "You alright?"

Danny nodded with a smile, "I'm here, with you. Why wouldn't I be?"

He could feel Vlad grin against his cheek, "Oh I don't know, maybe because we have an anniversary dinner waiting for us in the Planetarium and instead you are hiding away out here?"

Danny's eyes widened as he scrambled to get out of Vlad's arms, but the man picked him up instead and he whined, "Vlad! I need to get you the present I got you!"

The man chuckled, "Which I very much want to see, but later, for now, dinner is prepared and I have another present that I want to unwrap very very slowly."

Danny was confused for only a few seconds before he hit Vlad lightly on the shoulder, "Hey!"

But he couldn't seem to keep the smile from his face as Vlad leaned in, "Happy Anniversary, Little Badger."

Before his lips were captured in a kiss, he managed to whisper back, "Happy Anniversary, Fruitloop."