A/N: So…chapter 17! Yay! We start getting the GIW and meet our villain…or do we? *Grin* Hope you all liked the last chapter, even with how depressing it kind of was…
NinetalesSky: Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out, now won't you?
Chapter #17: King and Knight
Boots slam on tiled flooring. An alarm blares overhead, rhythmically washing the room in white. Glass doors slide open with a soft hiss to the similarly white room within, the walls lined with monitors.
"What's going on?!" Agent K frowns.
"Ghost Exodus, Sir," one of the lab techs replies.
"To where?" Agent O presses.
"Converging in Sector C-FF-38," he adjusts his glasses, "The last time we saw movement like this, Amity Park got pulled into the Ghost Zone."
"What information do we have on that position?"
"Very little…" his eyebrows furrow as he scans his data.
"Ecto-signatures?"
"Usually a group of similar signatures," he answers, his eyes widening, "And occasionally one other."
"Which one?" K already knows the answer – he's certain of it.
"Phantom," he answers, "He seems to visit this sector regularly."
"Prepare the jets," K orders, "We're headed to Amity Park."
-BREAK-
Blizzard – a humble servant of King Frostbite and an even more devoted servant of the Savior of the Ghost Zone, Danny Phantom – wraps the Observants' Robe tighter around his body, camouflaging his true appearance. He reigns his core in tightly, stifling the icy chill as best he can.
Flames dance overhead, wreathing pockets of pitch-black shadows. The only light within their depths comes from the red eyes glowing ominously in the darkness.
Blizzard swallows tightly, making his way across the rubble that was once the Observant headquarters. A few Observants mill aimlessly, their single eyes wide and locked in terror. As he passes by, he realizes that they're screaming quiet, breathless screams.
His core quivers, but he reigns it in again. He has a mission to accomplish.
Find out who wears the Crown of Fire.
He grows closer to the shadow ahead – Pariah's Keep, he's shocked to see. It's as though the island it rests on fell on top of the Observant Headquarteres, but that shouldn't be possible…
…should it?
He swallows the knot in his throat.
A shadowy wraith brushes past him, and he almost screams at the vision that fills his mind.
Blood, fire, death, destruction, loyalty to the king, only the king, all hail the king—
All hail King Phantom! He pushes through the vision. When he comes to, he realizes he's curled on the ground, his icy claws digging at his scalp.
What was that?
He hugs himself, trying to still his trembling form, until he can rise on his shaking legs. His core throbs loudly in his chest, despite his attempts to calm it.
He shuffles onward, towards the castle.
The door lies, cracked and splintered, on the ground. Skeletal thralls roam the inside. Blizzard allows some ice to creep from his soul, creating a thin, clear layer of ice that creeps along the walls and floor, freezing the skeletons in place.
He slips past them quickly, melting the ice as soon as he's out of their sight – if they stay frozen for too long, someone is bound to notice. The moment is too small, however, for the simple thralls to comprehend, and they continue on their routes unimpeded.
His feet are light on the floor, and sure on the slickest ice, and he passes by all of the thralls without any notice. He smiles at himself, proud to have once again proven his title among the Far Frozen as the Chief Information Specialist.
Blizzard had always been oddly small and thin – in fact, he's not much taller (relative to the rest of his kind) than The Great One, perhaps six inches or so. He'd found his name horribly ironic – blizzards were hardly a small matter. Perhaps he was supposed to be named 'Frostbite'. 'Blizzard' was a name more suitable for a king – a king like Frostbite – than the younger, wiry yeti.
He'd always been skilled with cryokinesis, however. While Frostbite ruled in sheer power, he was not a subtle creature. He could summon an iceberg in an instant, but he couldn't make it disappear just as quickly, without a trace.
He hugs the wall as he approaches the double-doors that mark the entrance to the Great Hall.
"Yes, My King," a voice rumbles.
Silence reigns.
"It seems we have some dissenters," it continues, "If it is your wish, I shall obliterate them."
More silence.
"Their ruler?" he laughs, "Who else, but your counterpart, My King?"
No one replies.
"…I am honored," Armor clinks on the stone, "That you have entrusted me with something so valuable. Allow me to raise a banner in your place, King Plasmius."
Blizzard glances around the doorway, seeing The Fright Knight kneeling before a throne. Purple flames wreath the form sitting on it, leaving him in shadow – but his silhouette cannot be mistaken.
Plasmius.
However, the yeti's eyes are drawn to something else.
The Crown hovers above the Fright Knight's helm, wreathed in dark power.
"I, with the power of the crown you have entrusted to me, will unite the Infinite Realms under one power – under you," he breathes.
The shadow remains, unmoving, upon his throne.
The Silent King.
-BREAK-
"That doesn't sound like him," the words fall from Danny's mouth before he realizes it. His blue eyes are widened in surprise, "Plasmius? Silent?!"
"He's almost as bad as Technus," Tucker frowns.
"He would never pass up the chance to stroke his own ego," Sam adds.
"I'm sorry I did not investigate further, Great One," Blizzard apologizes.
"No," Danny shakes his head, "If you'd stayed longer, someone could have found you. Then we wouldn't have anything. Good work."
The yeti beams with pride – he seems so much younger than the other Far Frozen, perhaps even close to the trio's age, relatively speaking.
"What of the intersection of the two islands?" Tucker inquires, "Shouldn't it be impossible? Lairs circle around a ghost's point of creation, and emanate their own energy field. This field repulses the other lairs like two magnets…right?"
"Correct, Sir Tucker," Frostbite answers, "It is troublesome indeed. It means that the Infinite Realms are changing."
"How?"
"That, Lady Sam," he answers grimly, "is the question."
"…Last time it changed, it was hardly for the better," Danny mutters quietly.
"I would not know," he confesses, "This land was not fully created when Pariah Dark originally took control. I was once told by Queen Pandora that it was a truly beautiful place, and that the Far Frozen was once a meadow."
"It froze over when Pariah Dark took over. I assume that when you became ghosts, your souls latched to the snow and ice," he continues, "If we ignore Plasmius for the moment–"
Sam raises an eyebrow in surprise.
"–the one wearing the crown right now is The Fright Knight. That means that it's his power we feel battering on the perimeter. It's his power that's influencing the Infinite Realms."
"He's a nasty threat," Tucker frowns, "He shouldn't be capable of acting on his own, though, not on a scale this large. It's one thing to terrorize Amity Park on Halloween. It's another thing entirely to lead a large-scale attack. He's a knight, he can't act without orders from his king."
"Which, last we checked, was Plasmius," Sam finishes.
"As you said, Tuck, he's a knight," Danny agrees, "Which means we won't get anywhere close to his king as long as he's in the picture. Pariah was still weakened from his duel with The Ancients when I fought him. The Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep locked him from time, after all. I'm stronger than I was then, but I'm not power-suit levels yet."
"So we need another power suit?"
He winces, "I'd rather avoid it, if I could…"
Frostbite watches the young halfa discuss with his comrades, his core rising to his throat. He glances out to the winter wonderland outside, at the small huts and tall spires of ice.
Please, do not let me lose this home too.