It was night time in Harmonia, as Danny Phantom was flying on his own through the sky, on the hunt for someone specifically. That someone being a ghost known as Fright Knight. A ghostly dark knight that rode on a bat-winged ghost horse & was the former servant of the Ghost King, Pariah Dark. After a while of flying, Fenton spots his target, as the specter is accompanied by Vlad's three vulture ghost henchmen.
Danny: You're not getting away from me this time..
The half ghost proceeded to divebomb downward, knocking the knight off of his horse & landing onto a rooftop of a building, as he pins his foe down & knocks away his sword Soul Shredder.
Danny: Finally got you! Now tell me where Vlad's whereabouts are! Now!
But luckily for the Fright Knight, his stallion swoops over to kick Fenton off of its rider. The knight then picks his sword back up & powers up, ready to face the foolish hero.
Fright Knight: So, you're still fighting for your foolish rightful cause. What are you now, in your 20s or something boy?
Danny: 21 & a half! And I'm gonna make you pay for what you've done before!
Danny Phantom charges forward with his fists glowing green ecto energy, as he starts throwing hands at the knightly ghost who blocks the attacks. The opponent then swung his sword, as Fenton uses his own energy to create a makeshift shield to block Soul Shredder, preventing it from using its effect to transport people into a pocket dimension where they face their fears. As the ghost guy did so, it left him a bit vulnerable to a strong kick to the right side of his ribs, causing him to get pushed back & picked up by the vultures, who proceeded to flung Danny around. They do so for a while, til the phantom shakes them off & grabs one of them by the tail, whacking them into each other. Danny would then proceeded to throw them towards Fright Knight, but he just weaves to the side & shoots lasers out of his eyes that knocks Fenton into a wall.
Fright Knight: How pathetic! I would end you here & now, but Plasmius needs me for something more important!
The knight climbs back into his horse, as he & the vulture ghosts take off into the night sky, as Danny gets up & groans from this loss. He had no choice but to fly back to base.
—The Next Day—
Over at United HQ, SpongeBob, Timmy & Jimmy just now arrived at the base, only to be surprised by their pal Danny patching himself a bit while trying to use NICKS to keep looking for any sign of Fright Knight.
Timmy: Wow! Dude, you ok?
Danny: I'll be fine. Just gotta fuel up on some grub & then I'll be gone.
SpongeBob: Gone? Where are you going?
Danny: It's none of your guy's concern. Got my own things to deal with.
Jimmy: Hang on now, what's all this about? You need to tell us what's going on with you.
Danny: I said it's nothing! I need to deal with Vlad & Fright Knight on my own! I won't make that mistake again!
Timmy: Again? What do you mean "again"?
Fenton sighs a bit in frustration & puts his hand on his head, as he was hoping to not tell his past to them. But it seems he has no choice.
Danny: You guys know how I used to want to be an astronaut? And why was I working at Nasty Burger? Well it began around the near end of my highschool life. With Vlad's time as mayor of Amity Park ending & lesser ghosts showing up, I had more time to study & hang out with my friends Sam & Tucker. As I was about to go to college, my family got attacked by Fright Knight while I was gone. They're fine, but the one that got hurt the most was my dad, as he suffered some injuries that make it hard for him to use his right arm anymore.. They got injured because I wasn't around to help save them.. That's why I gave up on college & my dreams to have a part-time job at the fast food joint so that I can always be on the lookout for any threat that dares come close to my family. Hell, the only reason why I even left was because of Vlad's return to office & followed him all the way here to Harmonia. That's why it's my responsibility to stop him & Fright Knight on whatever evil plans they've got & protect my friends & family! No matter what!
SpongeBob: Hang on now! You don't have to face this burden all by yourself!
Timmy: Yeah dude. I get the jist of what happened to you & your family, but you can't just face these threats on your own. We got your back.
Danny: Why are you guys going out of your way to help me?
Jimmy: Well we may not be statistically best friends yet, but we are at least allies & pals that care about your feelings & help out in whatever way we can. So let's sit down, relax, & come up with a plan.
—Later On—
It was night time at the Harmonia docks, as Fright Knight & the three vulture ghosts arrived at a spot to meet up with some thugs from Metroburg.
Super thug 1: You got the cash ghost face? It wasn't easy bringing this much Thundertanium under the Hero League's noses.
Vulture 1: Yeah yeah, we got what ya mooks want.
The knight throws a big backpack full of stacks of dollar bills into the arms of one of the goons, as they begin counting it to make sure they received the right amount.
Fright Knight: Now, show us to the cargo.
As they lead the way for Vlad Master's minions & business partner, the United had already staked out the area thanks to NICKS notifying some suspicious activity going on here earlier.
Timmy: Thundertanium? What kind of ridiculous name is that?
Jimmy: It's a very highly strong metal alloy that's hard to break down. It was named after the strongest superhero around the time of its discovery, Thunder Man.
SpongeBob: Which means it's bad news if Vlad & the Syndicate get their hands on it, right?
Danny: Definitely.
The super thugs open up the doors to a cargo haul, showing the ghosts the rare materials Plasmius paid good money for.
Fright Knight: Excellent. This is more than enough for my partner & his team.
Super thug 4: Hang on now. I feel like you should give us something a little extra for all this hard work.~ After all, we've barely had any success ever since our boss man King Crab was arrested by Hero League.
Fright Knight: You want something extra? Well here is something for you!
With one slash of Soul Shredder, the crook that tried to haggle some more doe from the ghost was suddenly gone, now in a pocket dimension facing his worst fears.
Vulture 3: Anyone else wanna get greedy or what?
The other three super thugs back up, not wanting to face the knight's wrath. Just then, the United jump into the scene, as the three vulture ghosts get blasted away by Turner's magic blasts from his wand. Danny & SpongeBob face the Fright Knight, while Timmy & Jimmy face the crooks.
Timmy: Three random goons? This is gonna be easy.
Just as he said that, the three thugs activate their powers. The first one had their arms become solid stone, the second had fire breath, & the third transformed his head into a rabid goat head.
Jimmy: Um, pretty sure it won't since they're random goons FROM Metroburg.
Timmy: Crap.
As the two students took on these super villain goons, the ghost & talking sponge started swinging their punches & kicks at the knight. The opponent dodges their attacks, but soon Danny was able to strike their back, pushing them into a few crates. The Fright Knight emerges & starts to trade blows with the two, as SpongeBob gets sent flying & Danny gets pushed back, trying to keep himself on his legs.
Fright Knight: Still trying to seek revenge ghost boy? Ha! I shall smite you while you're blinded by your rage!
Danny: Not anymore. I'm gonna stop you & Vlad's plans with the help of my new pals!
The knight then goes to swing his sword towards him, only for Danny to catch the blade with his right hand & uses his freeze powers to start engulfing Soul Shredder & Fright Knight's arms together in ice. The ghost guy then punched his opponent in the face. As the specter slowly gets back up, Danny inhales deeply, before letting out his Ghostly Wail attack. The powerful sound waves push surrounding cargo containers around, as the Fright Knight was caught in the middle of the strong force, being pushed to their limit, as well as his sword's. Eventually not being able to tank the raw power, Soul Shredder shatters into four pieces. Danny soon stops, as he felt a bit drained from using such a strong move. Just as the knight gets back up & glares at the ghost guy, the vulture ghosts get thrown close to him, as they were beaten by the square sponge.
SpongeBob: Alright you spooky spook, we got you now!
Fright Knight: Not this time fools.
The ghostly knight then grabs the three bird ghosts by the neck, as they go tangible & phased into the ground, escaping.
SpongeBob: Barnacles. I thought we would get em.
Danny: Don't worry SpongeBob. We'll get 'em next time.
He pats SquarePants on the head, as he learned from the help of these guys, they'll someday stop Vlad Masters for good. Just then, the fourth grunt appeared, as he was in a fetal position after experiencing his greatest fears thanks to Fright Knight's sword.
Super thug 4: Squirrels… So many squirrels…
Speaking of which, Jimmy & Timmy had just then taken down the three other super thugs, as the pink hatted wand user creates a rope to wrap them up nicely so they can't escape. Their two companions soon came back to them with the fourth goon.
Danny: Well Fright Knight & Vlad's bird henchmen got away, but we luckily stopped them from getting the Thundertanium.
Timmy: And we took down these guys too, so I guess we can still call this a win for tonight.
The genius had already contacted the authorities a second ago, as police sirens started arriving on the scene to take the goons & return the metal alloy to Metroburg.
—Meanwhile—
On the outskirts of the city, the Syndicate had made a new base, as Calamitous & Plankton were fixing up what looked like a pair of four mechanical suits connected to the Crown of Fire, while Vlad Plasmius talked to his henchmen about the recent failure of the mission.
Vlad: So you three birdbrains & Fright Knight failed to get the materials we need?!
Vulture 2: We didn't expect those United youngsters to foil us.
Vulture 1: We at least snuck away a few ingots of it here.
Vlad: I don't care! You three get out of my sight!
The half ghost shoots a few ectobeams at the Vultures, causing them to flee out the room.
Fright Knight: What about our deal? How will you help me repair my sword Soul Shredder?
Vlad: I don't have time to fix your silly little toy! I have my hands full with having Calamitous plot a rescue mission for Denzel Crocker.
Fright Knight: I agreed to allying with you after the Ghost King was resealed cause you promised me greater power!
Vlad: Yes yes. And be patient my armored confidant, for I got an important meeting.
Plasmius then turns human, as he begins leaving the room.
Vlad: And it involves a certain individual named… Dib Membrane.~
{To be continued}