Chapter 26: King

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Chapter 26: "King"

(Sunday-May 18, 2014)

Phantom frowned as he looked through the magical portal to see the massive structure that was the Ghost King's castle. The large towering castle still looked strong despite the hundreds of years that it had been standing. Its red glow still gave the halfa feelings of nervousness even years after he last been here to combat the Ghost King himself. Despite this and the swirling green Ghost Zone around the castle, everything looked calm and normal.

"I still don't like this," Phantom mentioned with crossed arms. He was not very comfortable standing in le Fey's pocket dimension, "If Nekron really is in there, then I would prefer to have my entire Team here to help fight him."

"I understand how you feel," Morgaine le Fey stepped beside the halfa to look through the portal, "But that is not a possibility," With a wave of her hands, le Fey created dozens of more portals showing the various members of Phantom's family and friend group. The windows then moved to show the figures watching them, "As you can see, Nekron is ready for his next move. If you want to win, you have to strike first."

Phantom did not look pleased, "And why should I trust you on this? You already admitted that you worked for Nekron before."

Now it was le Fey's turn to look displeased, "I do not work for anyone, boy. I did what I did because it was amusing."

"Hey!" Dark Dan snapped at them, "Now is not the time to get into an argument. You think that I wouldn't collect everyone that I could? I have your and Vlad's intelligence, remember?"

"Yes, but I don't trust you either," Phantom argued.

"My Lord, I trust neither of them as well, but we both know that they are telling the truth," Fright Knight spoke respectfully, "There is too much fear in the fallen one's eyes for him to be lying."

"I'm not afraid," Dark Dan hissed.

"If you say so," Fright Knight brushed off Dark Dan's anger, "I know that you are worried about betrayal, but Constantine and I will be watching your back the entire time."

"Yeah, mate," Constantine was glaring at le Fey, "I've been keeping an eye on le Fey's magic. She's not altering the windows at all. All that shite is happening live. Those blokes are in danger."

"Alright…" Phantom nodded, "I trust you two. We'll move forward as planned."

Jinx stepped beside her lover to peer into the window, "Any chance of us getting an inside view?"

"No," Morgaine shook her head, "Nekron's powers are interfering. This is as far as I can get. But I can tell you that Clockwork is in there as well. His power is being used prominently as we speak."

Phantom stroked his chin in thought, "Then we have to move quickly to give him support and take advantage of the distraction. We'll need to be careful, though. Nekron probably set all kinds of traps."

"I can deal with them," Jinx let out a smirk and raised up glowing pink fingers, "A little bad luck and any traps he set will collapse in on themselves."

"Nekron is aware of your powers, though," Dark Dan argued, "He'll have people guarding the entrance. We'll have to push through them."

Constantine snorted, "Like that will be a problem. This group is just full of some of the heaviest hitters I've ever seen."

Phantom couldn't argue with that, "We should still keep our eyes peeled for trouble, though. If even half the stories I've heard are true, then Nekron isn't dumb enough to not put a few surprises in his wake."

Youngblood sat on the roof's edge of an apartment building in the center of Amity Park. The city below him was buzzing with activity while the sky above held a deep contrast of tranquility. Despite the calmness of the heavens above, the ghost's eyes were still locked on the busy lives occurring below him. He looked on fondly as new parents pushed a stroller along the sidewalk.

"Hey, Chuck!" Spirit called out as she landed behind the ghost. She was quickly followed by Cyborg.

Youngblood turned and smiled at them, "Hey."

"You rushed off after the toast yesterday," Spirit took a seat by her friend, "Something wrong?"

"No…no…" Youngblood turned his attention back down below. The new parents had disappeared, "I just wanted some time to think."

"What about?" Cyborg decided to remain standing.

"Just…What would it be like to grow up," Youngblood noted.

Spirit frowned, "Isn't that dangerous for you?"

"Not just for me," Youngblood said without thinking.

Cyborg raised his one remaining eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

Youngblood paused for a second and then sighed. It was time to tell them, "Do you remember when I told you about my mom?"

Spirit blinked, "Yeah, that was a long time ago, though."

"Well, you see, my mom…she kind of had a few mental issues. It wasn't genetic or anything, but she kind of had multiple personalities. Most were perfectly fine, but one of them was extremely violent and psychotic. Her name was Thorn, and she was a minor celebrity in Metropolis. When she fell in love with my dad and had me, though, that personality was suppressed."

"Okay," Spirit tilted her head to the side in confusion, "What does that have to do with you growing up? I thought your obsession to stay young was because of a promise you made to your mom, how does this Thorn personality influence you wanting to grow up?"

"It has everything to do with it," Youngblood explained, "You see. I realized that there comes a time when you stop caring so much about what your parents want and focus on what you want. And eventually every kid…wants…Oh my God."

Spirit watched as Youngblood's face twisted with shock, "What?"

Youngblood stood and pointed off to the side from what pulled his attention away from the conversation. The other two people on the roof followed his line of vision and were also shocked by what they saw. Cyborg's jaw dropped. Spirit followed the full ghost's lead and stood up as well. All three of their sights were locked solely on a figure that was standing on a rooftop that was a few blocks away from their current position. Said figure was staring right at them with accusing eyes.

Spirit's words came out in a stunned whisper, "Wulf?"

Dusk frowned as he circled around the church for what seemed like the hundredth time. He knelt down and examined the dirt another time. This was the last place his target had been seen, but there was no hint of him leaving the area.

Bumblebee, at bug size, flew down from above and landed on his shoulder, "Did you find anything?"

"No. There's nothing here," Dusk's eyes narrowed as he looked around once more, "Donna, did you find anything?"

Troia shook her head as she flew down as well and landed next to the half, "Nothing. No sign of a struggle."

"I can't find anything either. It's like Mal just disappeared," Dusk noted, "Maybe we should have contacted Cassandra? She's probably the best tracker we know."

"She's good," Troia admitted, "But if we can't find anything together, then I don't think she would either."

"Let's just keep looking, please," Bumblebee's voice was full of worry, "He couldn't have just vanished into thin air."

"Maybe he did," Dusk suggested, "I was kidnapped through a Boom Tube once. The Fright Knight said that there was no trace of me. The same think could have happened to Mal."

"Boom Tubes are pretty noticeable," Troia argued, "I think someone inside during the reception would have noticed. Perhaps another form of teleportation, though?"

"So my boyfriend was kidnapped through a portal?" Bumblebee didn't look pleased by the thought. She had searched for Mal for a solid hour after the reception before going back inside the church to ask for help. Only Dusk and Troia remained behind at that point, though. Luckily, they were willing to help her search. One long night later, Bumblebee was left with one sour attitude and no results.

"We should contact Raven or Zatanna and try to look for an energy signal," Dusk suggested.

"I've been trying to contact the others for hours," Bumblebee grumbled, "My coms aren't working."

Troia raised her hand to press her own ear piece. She winced when she was met with static.

Frowning, Dusk pulled out his phone only to see that his communication device wasn't work as well, "Damn it. This might be a trap. We should—"

Dusk's words were completely drowned out when a dragon's roar sounded through the area. Looking up at the source of the noise, the three heroes were shocked to see Aragon in dragon form rapidly approaching them. Opening his snout, Aragon let out a stream of fire that burned as hot as the flames of hell.

As soon as the unlikely group of allies landed on the path leading up to the looming castle of the Ghost King, they were instantly met with an attack. They were expecting a Black Lantern to block their path, but to their surprise, something different got in their way. Black inky monsters rose up from the darkness in front of the castle. Their bodies were constantly shifting like giant oozing globs. The only two things that remained completely consistent about them were their eyes of crimson blood and the daggers that seemed to take the place of their teeth.

Despite the strange appearance of the monsters, no one in the group of six hesitated. They instantly rushed forward and began to tear through the creatures. With the combined force of six major powerhouses, they easily destroyed the inky monsters. Things were never completely simple, though. Their combined power proved too much for the masses of Nekron's creations, but the numbers of the creatures continued to grow by the second. An entire army stood before them, and to their exasperation, the creatures they destroyed seemed to be regenerating.

After a full minute of cutting through the creatures, Fright Knight paused when he notices that Phantom was holding one of the creatures by what could be described as its neck. The halfa gave the monster a long, hard stared. He seemed to be confused by it. His face was one of remembrance.

"Lord Phantom!" Fright Knight shouted out.

Phantom blinked and destroyed the beast with a blast of ectoplasm, "Right, sorry."

"Keep fighting, brat," Dark Dan hissed out. Despite his body naturally taking over with his instinct to tear his enemies apart, his mind was thinking about the long term of the battle. It would take a long time for any of them to be tired with this type of fighting, but this was time consuming. Getting to the castle could take hours. His first instinct was to use his Ghostly Wail, but he never worked on controlling that power's strength. It would at the very least hurt his allies, and he still needed them to fight. He had to think of a way past the beasts quickly and safely.

His answer came from the women of the group. Morgaine le Fey raised her hand into the air and conjured a concentrated cloud of lighting. The electricity struck down at the very end of the sea of monster, right at the entrance of the castle. This created a large opening right at their intended goal. Jinx quickly acted on this opening. Raising her arms into the air, Jinx created swirling pink portals around her allies and teleported them all to the entrance of the castle.

Sweating and panting from the strain of teleporting such a large group of people, Jinx turned her attention back to the monsters that had followed their movements. Without missing a beat, she sent several hex bolts to keep the creatures from getting close, "Go! The old hag and I will hold them back!"

Morgaine pouted, but this didn't stop her from waving a hand and controlling the ground below the creatures to consume them beneath the magically rich earth, "Old hag…be careful, little girl. You don't want to make an enemy out of me."

Seeing that the two women were handling the situation just fine, the four men turned and rushed into the castle. This was fine with Morgaine. She didn't want to face Nekron. After all, she had met with Nekron multiple times. He was even stronger and more cunning than Dark Dan gave him credit. Truth be told, she had no idea what would happen as a result of this plan, but that didn't matter to her.

No matter what, she would get her entertainment.

Miss Martian hummed as she stepped through the halls of Mount Justice. Covered only in a bathrobe, the alien made her way to the kitchen. Once she turned the corner, she was surprised to see Zatanna sitting at the kitchen table. The magician was staring down at her steaming cup of coffee while absentmindedly petting the green cat lying on the table.

"Gar," M'gann spoke out dutifully, "Off the table."

Meowing in annoyance, the green cat jumped into an open chair. He then shifted back into his normal form, "I was just getting comfortable."

"Well, you shouldn't have been trying to get comfortable up there in the first place," M'gann's chastising came out in a more teasing manner as she made her way to the counter, "And you shouldn't just let him do what he wants, Zatanna. Give an inch and they'll take a mile."

"Oh…" Zatanna's eyes drifted up from her cup, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," M'gann poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down across from her friend, "Good morning by the way. I'm surprised you're here so early. Late night?"

"Something like that," Zatanna stared at M'gann.

"Hmm…" M'gann sipped her coffee, "I'm guessing by the lack of sirens that Zatara knows that you're here."

"Yeah, I told him. Force of habit and all that," Zatanna let out a sigh, "I don't want him to worry. He's been such a good dad to me, even when I was acting like a brat."

M'gann raised an eyebrow, "Okay, tell me what's wrong. You're acting weird."

"Have you ever thought about having kids?"

Whatever M'gann was expecting, it certainly wasn't anything like that. She choked on her drink and was forced to cough to clear her throat. Garfield just tilted his head in confusion at the question. His eyes drifted back and forth from his adopted sister to his magician friend.

After finally clearing her throat, M'gann gave Zatanna a concerned look, "Where did that come from?"

"Nowhere…It's just…" Zatanna bit her lip, "I was wondering if anyone else realized that we're getting closer and closer to the age where we'll have kids of our own."

M'gann's eyes widened, "You and John? Are you…"

"No! No, of course not," Zatanna shook her head, "I've just been thinking about it. Maybe it's cliché of the women to be thinking about it so young, but…It's kind of the reality, right? Kids grow up and have kids of their own. Have you ever thought about what it would be like?"

"Yeah!" Beast Boy let out a massive grin, "What's the chances of me becoming an uncle?"

M'gann gained an embarrassed look, "Well…Conner and I did discuss it once or twice. Nothing serious. We just wondered if we're even genetically compatible. But considering that I'm still pretty young by Martian standards, and Conner really hasn't been alive for that long, we just let it drop."

"I see," Zatanna nodded.

"If you really want to talk to someone wondering about kids, you should probably talk with Danny. He and Val used to talk about their future a lot," M'gann gained a misty look at the memory, "From what I remembered, they were concerned about genetics, their hero work, and just the stress of dealing with the new responsibility."

"Well, I thought I'd ask you because you're so good with Gar," Zatanna smiled, "I think that you'll make a great mom."

M'gann blushed, "W-well, thank you."

"I think you'll be a good mom too, Zatanna," Beast Boy spoke cheerfully, "You're really nice and funny. Maybe not on the strict side yet, but my Mom used to say…that she wasn't strict…before me…"

Garfield's expression deflated. M'gann and Zatanna shared a worried look. The magician reached out and patted him on the head, "Sorry, Gar. I didn't think about that when I brought it up."

"It's fine," Beast Boy stated hoarsely, "Better to remember her than let her memory fade, right?"

"Yeah," M'gann smiled, "Maybe we can watch some of your mom's old show tapes today? Superboy's working with Superman today, so he won't get annoyed at us watching them for the hundredth time."

"Cool!" Garfield seemed to be pleased with that idea.

Zatanna suddenly gained an amused look, "Maybe that's where you mom tendencies come from, Megan. Cheesy nineties sitcom parenting."

"Where else would I get it from? My Uncle J'onn?"

All three of them burst out laughing. To their surprise, though, the Cave's power surged at the exact same time. All of the lights went out leaving the trio in the dark. The laughter instantly died away.

"Really? Doesn't this place have enough power to light a city?" Zatanna questioned.

M'gann nodded, not that either of her two companions could see it, "Yep."

"Great. Please tell me one of you know how to fix the batteries to this place."

"That would be a no."

"The League usually handles it."

"Greeeeaaaat. Like we weren't being cliché enough," Zatanna noted, "Two women talking about having kids only for the lights to go out and neither of us knowing how to fix it. It's like straight out of a bad horror film. What's next? Some monster going to pop out and make us scream."

A light growling sounded through the room.

"Gar, please tell me that's you."

"Um…no…"

"Damn it."

Richard Grayson and Cassandra Cain stood behind the towering building that was Wayne Manor. Neither of them were looking at their home, though. Instead, their focus was on graves that stood as a monument mocking the many loses of those in the Batfamily. Primarily, both of their focuses were on the grave marked 'Jason Todd.' Cassandra's eyes also drifted to the two graves dedicated to her parents, though.

"So you don't think Danny was justified in killing the Joker?" Cassandra's hands drifted into her jean pockets.

Richard gained a conflicted look, "I just wished that he kept his promise to not interfere. Things would be less complicated if he did."

"He promised that Phantom wouldn't interfere. Danny Phantom did not interfere at all," Cassandra noted in an amused voice, "Next time, you should check the wording."

Richard sighed, "Why are you defending him anyway? I would have thought that you would blame him too much for what happened."

Cassandra's eyes were filled with confliction, "I'm not sure how I feel. Part of me blames him, while another part of me still respects him. It's a strange scenario after all. He was about to pull Mom out of the mission after all. But he did basically sacrifice her to save the world. Did he ever really care about her? After all, he was willing to let the entire world burn for Raven."

Richard reached up to scratch his cheek, "Danny…Danny's a complicated guy. Trust me on this. I've been in his head. Literally. He takes being in charge very seriously. Maybe a bit too much."

"I know," Cassandra noted, "That's why he did what he had to with Joker."

"That's…that's not what I meant…"

"I know, I'm just teasing," Cassandra stared at her parent's graves, "Truth be told, I can't bring myself to blame Danny all that much. Maybe it's our history. Maybe it's the way he charges in first to try and save as many people as he can. But I don't blame him. I blame Ra's Al Ghul and the Shadows."

Richard frowned at her words, "Cass…"

"If Dad didn't do what he did, I would have," Cassandra noted, "But I won't disrespect him by rushing to my death. Instead, I'm going to wait for the right time. Then, I'll make Ra's pay for killing my parents."

"You parents wouldn't want you to do that."

"Yes they would. As long as I could get away with it."

"Batman won't tolerate that line of thinking," Richard argued.

"Then maybe I shouldn't stay here," Cassandra argued, "Dad left me a lot of money and a lot of safe houses."

"Please, Cass. Think about…" Richard paused and tensed. Cassandra did the exact same thing. They both flipped away from the graved just in time to avoid the sneak attack that was aimed at them. Two figures crashed down right on the two graves reading Sandra Wu-San Cain and David Cain. The figures then rushed towards the two members of the Batfamily. Richard blocked the blows from his attacker, but Cassandra flinched when she saw the identity of her attacker.

"Mom?!"

Then, things went dark when Lady Shiva struck her daughter in the face.

It didn't take all that long after the assault group made their way into the Ghost King's castle for something else to go wrong. As they rushed through the torch lit halls of the castle, they were soon separated by a large wall of black energy. The Fright Knight and Constantine slammed into the wall and bounced back. Before they could recover, spikes popped out from the wall and tried to stab the knight and the exorcist. Luckily for the duo, the two Phantoms reacted quickly enough to stop the spikes by shattering the wall of black energy.

"Hello," Hotep Ra rounded the corner in front of the group of four, "I apologize, but I cannot allow all of you to pass."

"Just one of you?" Dark Dan raised an eyebrow, "Look who you're up against. You really think that you stand even a little bit of a chance."

"No, but fighting you is not my intention," Hotep Ra noted, "I'm just here to divide you. That's why I made this copy to distract you."

The Hotep Ra in front of them burst in an explosion of black energy. Dark Dan and Phantom created shields to stop the explosion from getting to them, but this prevented them from acting at was happening behind them though. The real Hotep Ra appeared behind them and used his Black Lantern ring to grab Fright Knight and Constantine in a bubble of black energy and throw them threw the side wall.

Both of the different versions of Phantom turned to see the hole in the wall. Fright Knight and Constantine were surrounded by different Black Ring duplicates. The knight and the exorcist immediately went on the offensive to fight against the mummy ghosts.

"Keep going, my Liege!" Fright Knight shouted as he sliced a mummy in half, "We will handle the Black Lantern!"

"Isn't the first time, I dealt with a demonic mummy and probably won't be the last," Constantine added while sending out a blast of fire from the end of his cane.

Phantom looked conflicted. He trust Jinx to handle the weaker monsters, but leaving his friends to fight a Black Lantern was different. The danger level was drastically different.

Dark Dan grabbed Phantom and pulled him forward, "Come on, you sentimental fool. They can hold of the Black Lantern while we deal with Nekron."

Phantom nodded and followed his alternate self. He trusted in his friend's abilities. Still, he couldn't stop himself from looking back. For some reason, he felt like this was the last time he was going to see them.

Kid Flash adjusted his goggles and looked over to his companions, "You ready?"

Raven held her hands out to keep the magical portals in front of and behind of the speedster steady, "Yeah."

Rocket's equipment sparked to life, "I'm good."

"Alright…" Kid Flash took a ready stance. The desert wind around him picked up and drifted sand across the abandoned area. They had come out for safety. Not only for civilians, but also for Wally, "Ready…set…go!"

In a blur of yellow, Kid Flash started his run. He raced forward and through the black portal in front of him. He immediately appeared from the other portal and rushed forward to the first portal once again. This continued as he began to pick up speed. Electricity sparked through him, filling him with more energy to run. Eventually, he just became a constant line to the people watching him move.

Things broke down after that. The same energy that had been empowering Wally suddenly turned against him. In a blast of light, Kid Flash was thrown off his path and flung high into the air. Before he could get too far, a kinetic bubble popped up around him, absorbing his momentum and keeping him from harm.

Rocket gently lowered him to the ground, "Well, that worked out great."

Artemis rushed forward and checked up on her boyfriend. As soon as the kinetic bubble around him dropped, she gave him a shoulder to lean on, "You okay?"

"Yeah…I was closer that time…" Wally noted. He focused on the archer's feature in an attempt to stop his head from spinning anymore, "Almost…I'm just missing something small…I need to try it again to figure it out…"

"You do realize that doing the same thing and expecting change is pretty dumb, right?" Raven questioned.

"I'm not trying to change anything. I'm just trying to understand the power," Wally argued and tried to walk onto his own.

"Babe, maybe we should wait for Danny…" Artemis suggested.

"No, he's going to be gone for a while, and I don't want to wait," Wally shook his head, "That's why I asked these two to help me. I'll be safe if they stay."

Rocket shrugged, "I'm okay with staying here."

Raven nodded, "The amusement of seeing you fail hasn't faded yet."

"Gee thanks for the encouragement…" Wally's eyebrow twitched.

"If you wanted encouragement, you should have brought some other people."

"Fair enough," Kid Flash moved back between the portals, "Let's do it again."

"Wally…" Artemis gave him a worried look, "You don't have to do this, you know."

"Yes, I do," Kid Flash gave her a determined look, "This is the first time that I've ever had anything that only I can achieve…besides ruining moments with stupid remarks. But with science and speed…there's always been someone better. Now, though, I can achieve something that no one else can, and I'm not willing to let that go."

"I…I didn't know you felt that way."

"I never said anything about it because it was silly. Especially to you. Everything you have is earned through training. I'd feel like a douche complaining about something so petty with you," Wally noted, "But now I have the chance to gain something with training on my own. Will you let me?"

"Of course."

Kid Flash stared at her, "Wow…That actually worked? Huh. I never knew I was such a good actor."

Artemis's face flushed, "You…"

"Told you, I'm the best at ruining the moment," With that, Kid Flash began to run. Artemis's cute blush and the other girl's laughter were on the front of his mind. All of them were too caught up in the moment to notice the dark clouds rolling above their heads or the familiar figure of a certain cult leader heading in their direction.

Colossus snored as he lay on his massive bed. His home was a building surrounded by giant pillars with engravings. The pillars held up a giant stone roof that lie parallel to the swirling green sky. Inside the building were simple furniture. Several engravings were spread across the room written in a language that had long since been forgotten by almost everyone.

The massive ghost slept on his back with his limbs spread wide in an odd show of vulnerability. His dreams drifted off into memories of past battles and battles he hoped to come in the future. He dreamed of one fight in particular. It would be both his last and his greatest bout. Colossus and one other figure would battle it out in an honorable, fair fight that shook the Ghost Zone to its very core.

It was a good dream, but it was one that Colossus was afraid that he would never get close to achieving. He was feeling his age more and more every day. Even celebrating Little Vision's wedding had worn him out. At this rate, he wouldn't make until that ultimate opponent appeared. If only Phantom would—

Boom!

Colossus's entire home crumbled beneath the force of a massive wave of green ectoplasm. The rubble tumbled on top of the giant ghost, burying him in his own bed. Still completely unharmed, though, Colossus blasted off the rubble with a wave of shockwave and freed himself from the darkness.

Colossus took a deep breath, "Normally, I'd take this with a grain of salt. Right now, though, I'm tired, a little upset, and dealing with a hurt back. Plus, this is the second time in a decade someone else destroyed my home. That's my job! No whoever it was better come out now and take your punishment like a real warrior!"

Two figures floated into Colossus's line of sight. The red giant's dark eyebrows shifted downward, "You two, eh…Hey, aren't one of you dead and the other locked up?"

Their response was to attack. Colossus just grinned as he met the attack with one of his own. This would be a good fight, but the two-on-one stipulation wasn't very honorable. The one of his dreams still seemed better. He could only hope that he would live to see it.

As soon as Dark Dan and Danny Phantom entered the king's chamber, they were struck with just how destroyed the room was. The walls and ground were completely destroyed and basically rubble. Pariah Dark's coffin was wide open with no sign of the Ghost King at all. Oddly enough, though, Nekron wasn't there like they were expecting.

"Damn it!" Dark Dan hissed, "Are we too late? Did Nekron run?"

"I don't know, but…" Phantom frowned, "Something's off. If anyone died, I should be able to feel the energy of it. But there's nothing. Maybe Clockwork teleported them away somewhere?"

"Away from us? Clockwork's entire plan was for us to work together," Dark Dan turned away from his alternate self to look for any hidden evidence, "Something's up. It must be a trick. Nekron's trying to get us to drop our guards. Check your little death sense again. Maybe Nekron's powers are messing with yours."

Phantom was silent.

"Hey, brat," Dark Dan whirled around in anger, "Don't ignore me…Oh shit…"

Phantom stood staring at a figure that was walking into the room. It was not the evil skeleton they were expecting. No, the figure was far too feminine and alive looking to be Nekron. The younger ghost look extremely rattled by the newest person in the room.

"Val?"

Valerie Gray smiled at her ex-fiancé, "Hi, Danny."

"You're dead…" Tears began to leak from the side of the halfa's eyes as he slowly reached out to the woman, "I felt you die."

Dark Dan instantly tried to intervene. Oddly enough, though, he found that he couldn't. His body froze up against his own will. Crimson eyes snapped down to his chest to see dark energy flooding from the upper portion of his torso. He knew what this was. Did Nekron know about his plan all along?

"No, Danny. You thought that I died. It was a test, and you failed. You just moved on and started to sleep with the pink slut," Val eyed him sadly, "Just like I knew you always wanted to."

"No! No, Val, it wasn't like that," Reason left Phantom as he saw Valerie's disappointed face, "It was so hard to get over you. I still think about you. I do, but I needed to force myself to move on. Yes, I always cared for Jen, but if I knew that you were alive, I never would have touched her."

"But you did, and you've grown to love her," Valerie noted.

"I…Yes, I love her now. But that's…It's complicated, Val."

"Would you chose her over me?" Valerie questioned, "That's all I need to know. If I was willing to take you back, would you choose me?"

"I…" Phantom reached to gently cup her cheek, "I do love you. So much. That's never wavered, but I love Jen too."

"So you want us both?"

"No! You know that I'm not like that! I thought you were dead!" Phantom shouted, "I just…I don't know what to think."

"Well, I know what I think. I think that you're a pathetic little boy that can't save anyone and can't remain loyal to someone you claimed to love."

"Val…" Phantom's heart shattered, "Please…I'm sorry."

"It's too late for sorry. You're dead to me," To Phantom's horror, Valerie's body began to twist and morph into the broken shape she was in at the time of her death. Then, her skin and muscles began to melt into a black goop leaving her skeleton to stare emptily into Phantom's eyes. Then, the bones crumbled just like Phantom's heart had just done.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" Nekron roared out in laughter as he appeared in a swirl of black energy, "The look on your face is so pathetic!"

Phantom stood facing away from the ghost of death. A truly horrified look was set right across his face.

"That was even better than I imagined!" Pointing a hand at Dark Dan, Nekron created an arm of energy to grab the alternate Phantom. He then shoved the only remnant of Danny's dark future into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. The skeleton completed Dark Dan's defeat by slamming the coffin shut, "You acted just like I thought you would. And when Dark Dan realized that his attempts to make himself stronger backfired...Ah, I can see why le Fey loves her entertainment so much."

Phantom's face twisted with anger. He turned and gave a look that would make most people piss themselves in fear.

"There we go. That's what I wanted. Get mad," Nekron pointed his scythe at the halfa, "That will only make this easier."

Kaldur leaned against the railing of Atlantis's royal palace. His eyes were focused downward at the sight of Tula and Garth working with some of the younger kids in the Atlantis's sorcery study. While still sloppy and undisciplined, the next generation showed a lot of potential. That was why La'gaan had brought Queen Mera out of the castle and seated her down in a comfortable chair at the sidelines. Everyone agreed that is would be best to show the Queen that the future was still waiting to grow up and that not all hope was lost.

"Something on your mind?"

Kaldur looked over to see that Frostbite had floated over to him. He hadn't even noticed, "I do not wish to talk about it."

"Ah..." Frostbite leaned against the railing and looked down at the courtyard as well, "In my experience, when people say that, then that's when they need to talk the most. But they don't know how best to word their worries."

Kaldur was silent.

"Don't worry. I won't press the matter," Frostbite spoke gently, "But do take note that I'm here if you change your mind."

"I...I..." Kaldur was silent for a moment before speaking again, "The king revealed something to me. Something that he kept hidden all of my life. He...he lied to me through everything we've been through together."

"I see," Frostbite nodded, "You feel betrayed."

"That and confused," Kaldur gripped the railing tightly, "My father is Black Manta, one of Aquaman's greatest enemies. The king took me into the kingdom out of pity, and then he took me as his protégé to keep an eye on me so that I would not follow in my father's footsteps."

"Are you sure those were his intentions?" Frostbite questioned, "King Orin has proven to be a noble man. Perhaps he wanted to give you the best life possible. One where you could choose who you could be."

"I...Perhaps..." Aqualad conceded, "But he still hid it from me for all these years. I've been his right hand for six years. Had I not proven my absolute loyalty to him? Why wait so long?"

"Fear," Frostbite answered gently, "He was afraid that he would lose you. You don't know what you mean to him, Kaldur. He looks at you like you are his own son. Look at his from his own perspective, perhaps he was afraid that if he told you, then you would never trust him again. But he has already lost one son at the hands of his enemy. After all these years, he realized that if he continued to hide it from you, and an enemy such as Black Manta revealed the truth to you, then you would be hurt a hundred times worse than right now. You might never would have looked at him again, and that fear was bigger than the fear of telling you the truth."

Aqualad's expression dropped, "You make me sound so...unfair."

"No, no, do not think that I don't sympathize with you, but everyone was a story and a motivation," Frostbite noted, "I like to take the approach of asking why people do what they do before judging their actions. What is the reason that people do seemingly unreasonable things? And what Aquaman's actions concerning you are definitely a bit unreasonable, but his motivations were not. He cares for you, and out of that care, he's made mistakes. Just like every person that's ever existed. So, be mad as long as you like, but do take note that nothing he has ever done has been to spite you. His actions are one of love, and love makes us all dumb, blind, and deaf."

Kaldur chuckled at that, "Fair enough. But there does leave the issue of telling everyone else. I...I don't know what they will think."

"If anyone let's this new development cloud their judgment of who you are, then they are not worthy of being your friend," Frostbite gave a large grin, "From the stories the Great One has told me, your Team will just shrug this news off. None of them will care. That's what a true friend would do."

Kaldur looked very much amused, "You are very good at this. You know that?"

"Of course," Frostbite laughed, "I was always the most reasonable one of the Ghost King's Advisers. Don't tell the others, though. They'll get mad."

"You secret is safe with me."

"Kaldur!"

The duo's eyes drifted down to see Tula swimming up to them. She stopped below the balcony and looked up at them. Kaldur answered the call, "Yes?"

"The students want to see you in action. I think it would be a good motivation for them," Tula smiled.

"I do not know," Kaldur frowned, "I am not in the best of moods."

"Please?" Tula looked at Kaldur with eyes that melted his heart.

"Okay."

Tula turned her attention to Frostbite. She swam up more so that her head was level with Frostbite's head, "What about you, Mister Frostbite?"

Frostbite chuckled, "I don't believe that I could show them anything that they could replicate."

Tula swam up further in her excitement, "You never know. You may inspire something new. After all, the greatest surprises in life—"

A black arrow flew out of nowhere and rammed through the back of Tula's head through her forehead.

"Come out...of...nowhere..." Tula's eyes lost their focus. Her body drifted sideways in the water as she floated lifelessly. Blood drifted up around the arrow of black energy.

Everyone just looked on silently in horror at the death of Aquagirl.

"Damn girl got in the way! Hope you enjoy the next minute, Frostbite, because that girl just saved your life!"

Pandora hummed to herself as she brought her sheers up and began to trim the hedges around her home. The architecture of her home was based on that of Greek culture, even if the building wasn't degraded as much as stone that was built in that time period. All around the pillars and gold laced shone was surrounded by vines and hedges. Her entire yard was one mass maze of plants and flowers. Even different statues and fountains were surrounded by flowers.

"So you are worried about Kitty?" Pandora's eyes drifted to Johnny 13 who was standing a respectful distance from the tall woman.

Johnny's eyes drifted across the yard to the stone bench where Kitty was sitting. She had a haunted look on her face as she examined her hands like they were covered in blood, "Yeah, this kind of thing has been going on since le Fey's attack. Things got better when everything was calm, but whenever there was a disaster...she kind of had a freak-out moment. I've been doing my best, but I think I need some help."

"Perhaps you should ask Spectra for help?"

"Who?"

Pandora mentally cursed. Of course he didn't know of Spectra. Only ghosts in the Council of the Elite remembered what Spectra used to be, "She's a psychiatrist."

"Oh...Kitty might not like that," Johnny noted, "She doesn't like being called crazy."

"I'm not saying that. Trust me..." Pandora's eyes drifted to Nyx who was using a chainsaw to trim the hedges instead of simple sheers, "I know the difference between insane and quirky. I'm just saying that she might benefit from talking to someone who she has not emotional attachment to."

Johnny didn't look convinced, "I...I don't think talking will help her. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that this is a different issue. That's why I came to you."

"Oh?" Pandora raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you see...I-I've been changing too. It's like I'm remembering that I should be feeling differently. So I think I get what Kitty is going through, but..." Johnny clutched his head, "God, my head hurts whenever I try to think about it."

"Interesting..." Pandora looked intrigued, "You seem to be remembering more from the times when you were alive."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Extremely," Pandora nodded, "Perhaps when Vision gets back, we should discuss it with her. After all, if it has something to do with disasters happening then this might lead to trouble."

"Alright," Johnny's eyes drifted off to his girlfriend again, "I just want her to be safe and happy."

Pandora smiled, "I can tell. Don't worry, I'll do everything I can to help you—"

Johnny frowned when Pandora tensed. He also noticed that Nyx had stopped her wild swings with her chainsaw, "Something wrong?"

Both Pandora and Nyx turned from the hedges to look up at the roof of their home. To their absolute horror, a familiar figure smiled down at them. Gently petting the cat in his arms, Klarion the Witch Boy gave a demonic smile that rocked the two ghosts to their core. In that moment, their worst nightmare had returned.

Phantom rushed towards Nekron with a punch ready to strike. Nekron raised a hand to block the punch, but that proved to be fruitless. The half disappeared in a blur. Before the ghost of death could even process this, a fist smashed into the side of his head and sent him flying into the far wall.

Shaking his head to clear the buzzing in his skull, Nekron managed to recover in time to bring his scythe up to block three different ice broadswords that were posed to stab him. Although he did block the attack, the ice was not completely halted. The coldness spread forward across his scythe and to his body. In a flash, Nekron was frozen in a block of ice. That quickly began to change as his dark energy began to eat the ice way, but Phantom was prepared for that.

The halfa rushed forward once more with his fist ready to shatter both the ice and the ghost in it. It was because of this that Nekron saw how Phantom managed to gain the advantage so quickly. His usual green energy was mixed together with a faint glow of white and gold. To be honest, Nekron didn't think that the Ascended Ectoplasm would come into play so early. Using Valerie Gray liked he did was more effective than he could have hoped. Now he had to push it further.

Phantom froze when another figure from his past appeared before him. Dressed in striped pajamas, the new blue skinned ghost was once an annoying enemy to the halfa. After a lot of change, though, the blonde ghost managed to grow to be one of his most reliable friends. What once was a hunched and ugly figure was now a fit and normal appearing ghost. This was especially shocking because the last time Phantom saw him, he had taken a fatal wound for the half-ghost.

"Klemper..." Phantom whispered in sadness.

Klemper smiled at the ghost. He looked to be ready to speak, but Nekron had intervened. Shattering the ice holding him, Nekron stabbed through the deceased ice ghost and sent an arc of black energy to hit Phantom away and into the other wall.

Phantom didn't seemed fazed by the attack. Klemper's appearance, though, enraged him further, "You...You can recreate the dead. You're disrespecting the people I loved..."

Nekron just smiled, "And what are you going to do about it?"

More of Phantom's energy shifted from green to the white and gold that was Ascended Ectoplasm. With an even greater burst of speed, he appeared next to Nekron again. A flurry of blows faster than Nekron could see rammed across his body. It was no shock to Nekron that his powers had not effect on the half-ghost. He could feel the life energy rolling off Phantom. Good, but that wasn't enough. Nekron knew that the Life Entity had prepped Phantom for this. He just needed one more push.

Once more, Phantom froze as a figure popped up. No, that was wrong. It wasn't one person this time. Six people surrounded him. For a long time, these people haunted his nightmares and insecure thoughts. They marked his greatest failure. His old family and friends smiled at him kindly. He knew better though. This was just one big ploy to get him to lower his guard. Well, it wasn't going to work.

"That's...That's ENOUGH!" White and gold energy blared off of Phantom in massive waves. The images of the dead disappeared before the great power of the Ascended Ectoplasm. Phantom's once green eyes flashed white and stared at Nekron with the fury and power of an angry god. Anyone else would have felt intimidated by the look. Not Nekron, though.

Nekron just continued to smile.

"That's it! The full power!" Nekron's voice came out as a giddy cheer, "I've been waiting years for this!"

"Waiting for what? Your death?" Phantom hissed and took a menacing step forward that seemed to make the entire room shake with his rage.

"Yes! That was always the point!"

Nekron's words gave Phantom pause, "What?"

"I am the ghost of death, as such I cannot die. That's how I lived before. As long as there is still a living person still alive, then I can't die. But if everyone's dead, then I can complete my obsession and die!" Black energy poured off of Nekron, "Now come to me! It's now time for the final step of my goal!"

Nekron lunged forward.

"It's time for the Transferal!"

Dora rushed through the front gates of the Ghost Zone's prison. She saw Torch and Ember seemingly in a panic. Well, mostly Torch was in the panic. Ember seemed worried, but she was not nearly as on edge as her brother.

"Torch looked everywhere," Torch hissed out loudly, "All of Torch's minions are missing. None of them would leave without telling Torch. Something bad must have happened."

"I know that you're upset, Trever," Ember placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "But you need to calm down. I agree that this is a seriously messed up situation, but blowing your top won't help. Cool down, dumbass."

"Alright, alright…" Torch tried to calm down, but he was still trembling in rage. Before he could snap something else out, he noticed Dora, "Oh…Dora. Torch is sorry, but this is not a good time."

"I heard," Dora had a hard look, "I think I know the source. I can sense my brother's energy in the Ghost Zone. I was coming for your help."

Ember's eyebrows raised, "Just your brother, or all the Black Lanterns?"

Dora fingered the amulet around her neck, "I don't know. I know when his amulet is activated, but that's about it. I'm not connected to the other Black Lanterns like I am with Aragon."

"Then we know where start," Smoke drifted off of Torch's seething form, "Let's go get some back up and beat some answers out of the pompous asshole."

Dora nodded slowly at Torch's response. She didn't exactly want to see her brother hurt, but she could no longer allow him to go around hurting people, "You're right. Pandora is closest. Let's—"

The conversation came to a complete halt as the entire prison compound began to shake and rattle. Surprised, the ghosts looked around to see that the walls of the compound were crumbling. Inky black creatures rushed through the hardened walls of the prison and rushed into the entrance courtyard. Hissing and moaning, the strange creatures with no real discernable form bared razor sharp and lunged themselves at the ghosts. They were met with a wave of crimson flames.

"Now is not the time to mess with Torch!" Torch roared and swung his scythe multiple times to burn through the creatures of death.

"What…What are they?" Ember actually sounded disturbed by this turn of events.

"I don't know," Dora's eyes shifted from their normal calmness to the look of a rage filled dragon, "But I get the feeling that my brother sent them."

Mary giggled as she knelt on the floor and played a clapping game with Box Lunch. Nearby on the plain couch, Billy and Lunch Lady were encouraging the young child. Off to the side, though, Freddy and Box Ghost just watched. They all were contained in a small apartment owned by Billy's Uncle Dudley. While Billy and Mary did grow closer over the months, Billy didn't want to leave his uncle alone.

This suited the situation just fine, though. Freddy or Mary's parents might have been more than a little freaked out at the thought of being in the presence of dead people. So, the simply furnished apartment was the perfect place for this little play date that Mary was dead set on having. It also helped that Dudley's lack of furniture emphasized the box shape of the apartment, extensively pleasing both the Box Ghost and Box Lunch.

Box Ghost smiled as he watched his daughter laugh in pure joy at the attention she was receiving, "Thanks for inviting us. Box Lunch doesn't get a lot of interaction with other people besides our close friends, and they always seem to be busy."

Freddy was also watching the scene fondly, "Not a whole lot of kid ghosts? Jeez…I realized what I was really asking as that was coming out of my mouth…"

Box Ghost chuckled, "I've looked into it. Child ghosts are rare. Very rare. Especially those around my princess's age. Human children usually lack the willpower to become ghosts, and ghosts rarely reproduce like my wife and I. That doesn't help us fulfill our obsessions, and life coming from people that are dead is extremely difficult to pull off."

"Then why did you two do it?" Freddy's voice was laced with curiosity.

"It's hard to say," Box Ghost scratched his chin with his regular hand, "I always wanted people to admire me. Maybe having a family helped with that, or maybe being a father just changes my priorities enough that I never cared about what I used to want."

Freddy's face dropped into a frown, "Being a parent changes you that much?"

"Oh, you have no idea."

"Jeeze," Freddy felt his heart twist as he looked as his girlfriend play with child, "You're worrying me here."

Box Ghost roared with laughter, "Don't worry, kid. You're really young. Even if you're still dating that girl in a few years, as long as you're careful, you won't be having kids before you're ready. Of course…" Box Ghost leaned in and teasingly whispered, "That's assuming that you'll live that long. I hear heroes have a big occupational hazard."

Freddy pushed Box Ghost away, "Well then it's a good thing that I'm out of the game—"

As if the gods of irony dictated it, in that exact moment, the far wall burst open in a surge of golden light. Everyone in the room dropped to the floor out of instinct. As the rubble pieces of rubble stopped falling and the smoke began to settle, Billy was the first person to jump to his feet. The word of his power were right on the edge of his lips when his mouth was covered in a golden band.

In a panic, Billy tried to pull the magical band. This proved fruitless, though. In this form, Billy lacked the strength to fight the magic of Doctor Fate in his normal form.

Another blast of golden light sent Billy tumbling away. After a few rolls, the boy stopped in an unconscious heap. The other residents in the room looked on in panic as their heavy hitter was defeated. This look only grew as the form of Doctor Fate floated into the apartment.

Freddy glared at the Box Ghost after he saw what he thought to be a dead hero approach them, "I blame you for this. You just had to joke about my mortality."

Phantom didn't know what to expect when Nekron lunged forward. He readied himself for an attack, but that never came. Nekron just threw his scythe to the side and tried to grab at the half-ghost. The opening was all Phantom needed to rush in and punch Nekron right in the skull which cracked before the force of the blow. Oddly enough, Nekron didn't even try to dodge the blow. Instead, he allowed the hit to land and used that to grab Phantom's extended arm before the halfa could pull it back. To Phantom's shock, the black energy from Nekron's arm shot over to his arm and began to wrestle against the Ascended Ectoplasm on his arm.

While Phantom was distracted with the energy transfer on his right arm, Nekron reached out and grabbed at Phantom's left shoulder. Just like before, the ghost of death's dark energy spread out from Nekron to Phantom's own body. It was then that all of Phantom's energy jumped out from his body and tried to push Nekron back, but the black energy was more than willing to push back.

"What is this?" Phantom demanded.

Nekron's head whipped forward to show his fractured skull, "Do you want to know the truth? The truth about everything? The reason so many people have an interest in you? It's because of the Life Entity. The day you first fought against death, the Life Entity took notice of you. It's rare for children, let alone new born babies to have such willpower. That's why it chose to fill your little body with life instead of letting you become a ghost. In that moment, you became the living embodiment of the line between life and death. Entity created you to be its protector from anything that would threaten it. Mainly me."

Phantom tried to fight against Nekron, but he fought that he couldn't move.

"That's why you gain power when Death is near. But that's also why you gain power when you were around my Black Lanterns. Like at the Sorcerer Initiative. So many of my Black Lanterns were around, and the Entity decided to pump you full of energy to protect you. And that's why it saved you during Trigon's invasion. Because you were still needed to save it. The Life Entity always knew I would return, so it made you into its Catalyst to stop me. After all, the fastest way to erase all life in the universe is to kill the source of life."

Phantom could only look on in horror as Nekron leered down at him.

"The Guardians of the Universe knew about this. That's why they hid Earth for so long. If anything happened to Earth, then the Life Entity would be exposed. Congratulations, Earthlings. You were right. The Earth was actually the center of the universe, and they were right about them being special. Being exposed to the Life Entity for so long gave Earthlings the genetic potential to become gods. Just like the ones living near the Source Wall. But that's also the reason only Earth has ghosts. You see, on any other planet, using the Reality Gauntlet like Savage did would have caused a backlash that would kill the planet. But the Life Entity protected Earth to save itself. The force of Reality cares nothing for life, though. The universe does not need living things to continue for it to survive, so it created a curse on Earthling. The curse of living on after death. And it used that curse to give life to me, the worst enemy for the Life Entity."

Despite the circumstance, Phantom found himself enamored by this story.

"Of course, that same curse saved the Life Entity the first time. Pariah Dark and his followers stopped me, but I can't die. I did destroy my old body and created the Ghost Zone as a way to keep an eye on the happenings of Earth, but I never went away. My consciousness existed beyond what anything living could see. And then I waited until finally enough energy was released through death for me to gain enough power to actually have enough will to start my plan. I bet you can guess the event which gave me enough energy to begin my return. The Guys in White War."

Phantom's face twisted with shock.

"That's right. Your crowning moment was the day that my plan started. I gathered Black Lanterns, tried to release as much energy as possible, and manipulated situations to get as many people as possible to die. The Life Entity knew about this, though. So it decided to create an army to destroy me once and for all with the power of Life. That's where you come in. During Trigon's invasion, the Life Entity changed your body to release its energy across the world and effectively give everyone the power of Ascended Ectoplasm to fight me. At the cost of your life, of course. You were always just a means to an end of the Entity, but you are so much more than that to me. You are everything, because truth be told, I knew that I would never be able to kill the Life Entity. The light was too strong for me to actually get close, but in its paranoia, it gave me the real key to getting to it."

"What are you talking about?!" Phantom felt fear grip his heart.

"My plan was always to lead up to this!" Nekron laughed in glee, "The GIW War brought me back! Freakshow's fiasco gave me back my body! Morgaine le Fey's attack gave me back my power! The Sorcerer Initiative made my army! And Trigon's invasion gave me enough energy for this! The Transferal! It's time, Danny Phantom! Give me your power!"

Black energy surged and began to weave its way through the Ascended Ectoplasm. Phantom felt a familiar wave of demonic energy from Trigon help push the black energy forward. Soon, his entire body was covered with the black energy that seemed to lovingly dance around the energy of life. Still unable to move, the half-ghost could do nothing as Nerkon's hands moved to his head. Skeletal fingers sunk into the sides of his head. Black veins rushed from the fingers and into Phantom's eyes and brain.

He had to fight back.

Memories of Young Justice began to fade from his mind. Who were those people in the strange clothing? Why did they look so happy to see him? No...no...he didn't know them.

This wasn't right.

His family was the next thing to go. Wait, he had a family? That didn't seem right? Dani...Joel...Vlad...Those names didn't make sense to him. They were nobody to him.

No...please don't take this from him...it was all he had...

Who was he again? Danny Phantom...what a strange name. Who would call themselves that? That was dumb. He was Nobody. He was Nothing. He was just a vessel.

Please...please...

He was Nekron.

Nothingness.

Vlad awoke to the feeling as a warm mouth against his neck. Eyes slowly cracked open and drifted to his new wife. The only thing covering the beautiful woman was their bed's velvet, silk sheets, and that was changing very quickly as the sheets slid off the woman's body, much to the joy of the new husband. Despite his desire to keep his eyes firmly locked on the form of his love, out of instinct, his eyes did drift across the honeymoon suit.

Their clothing was thrown randomly all across the fancy room. This included the hanging flat screen television and the mini-fridge that remained unopened because they had brought their own bottle of champagne which now sat empty on the bedside table. To Vlad's amusement, his own socks hung from the chandelier above them.

"Good morning, love," Vlad whispered as he brought his hands down her firm curves to her delicious hips.

Vision slowly kissed her way up his jawline while tracing the rock stone muscles on his torso. As her mouth reached his own mouth, she whispered a greeting of her own before hungrily attacking his mouth. The newlywed couple continued to passionately express their affection through both their mouths and their hands drifting across each other's bodies.

Reluctantly, Vlad gently pushed her away, "Love, I'd love to get an early morning start with you, but I'm famished and parched."

"I called room service. They'll be here in half an hour with a small buffet," Vision leaned in and gently bit his ear.

"Bathroom."

"You can hold it."

"Can I at least stretch first?"

"We'll stretch plenty soon enough."

Vlad sighed, "My pride hates to admit it, but I am only one man, my dear. Some things just don't –Woah!"

Vision's hand danced beneath the sheets as she sensibly mounted her spouse. She smirked as she got her reward, "You were saying?"

Vlad chuckled, "You always get your way."

"Of course I do. That's part of the reason you love me so much," Vision leaned down once more and brushed her lips lightly over his mouth once more, "Now, husband, I believe you have some duties to fulfill."

Vlad was more than happy to oblige. Like the night before, the room was filled with the noises of love and passion between two people completely in love. The sounds carried to the door, and anyone on the outside of the room would hear the muffled sounds of love making. In fact, someone was listening.

Madame Rogue disguised as a hotel employee halted her hand that was raised to knock on the door. She slowly lowered it and decided to wait for them to finish. It would be rude to ruin this moment of happiness. After all, it would be the last bit of joy the two would ever feel.

Poindexter panted and whipped his forehead of his perspiration. Exhaustion flooded him as he looked around the simple pocket dimension he created. Hundreds if not thousands ghosts floated unconsciously all around him. Like he planned with Clockwork, he had kidnapped all the ghosts that would be powerless in a fight against Nekron. He felt bad for taking people without permission, but if the plan didn't work out, then this would save their lives.

Then again, this was nothing new for him. He had manipulated so many people to take them to safety so they could fight in this battle. He could only hope that it would pay off. It now lied on Mal's shoulders to complete the task Poindexter set in motion. Poindexter prayed that he would pass Jericho's test.

Nodding to himself, Poindexter decided that he should now turn his attention to the human work. That would be a lot more difficult of a task. The Ghost Zone's ectoplasm helped amplify his powers, and there were a lot more humans than ghosts. That was really the only reason he chose to save the ghosts first. They were the fastest to get. Now, though, it would take some time to get…all the humans…

Oh no.

"I should have known," Poindexter spoke out, "But I never thought of it. I always heard that Nekron could just make monsters. But this…I never assumed that he could use you against me, Master Scribe."

Dressed in a purple blazer trench coat with simple grey clothing underneath, the Ghost Writer did not give off the impression of great strength. With a simple scarf around his neck, thick glasses covering his green eyes, and messy black hair, he looked rather nerdy actually. Poindexter knew, though, that behind the long goatee and gray skin was one of the most powerful ghosts to ever live.

"Master…" Poindexter allowed a tear to trickle out of his eye, "What I wouldn't have given to see you again on any other day. But in these circumstances…"

Scribe just looked on impassively.

"We have to fight, don't we?"

The Ghost Writer's silence said everything that Poindexter needed to hear.

"Alright…" With a wave of his hand, Poindexter summoned a keyboard to start typing. Scribe copied that motion to create a reality altering keyboard of his own, "Let's see if the apprentice has surpassed the master."

Fright Knight didn't know what happened. One second, he and Constantine were fighting Hotep Ra. The next second, Hotep Ra grabbed Constantine and pulled him into a black portal. Then, the entire castle shook. Everything went black for a full minute before things finally calmed down. The light from the torches returned revealing a silent and empty room. Not just that. The entire castle was eerily silent. He couldn't hear anything happening. Nothing from behind, and nothing from ahead. It was like the fighting had ceased all at once.

"Lord Phantom!" Fright Knight called out in fear. He rushed from the room and through the castle hallways until he reached the destroyed throne room. The knight rushed through the broken doorway just in time to see his master grab the lid of the Ghost King's coffin and effortlessly pull it off to reveal that nothing was inside. Phantom, covered in a halo of Ascended Ectoplasm, tilted his head sideways in confusion at the lack of a person inside the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

"My Liege!" Fright Knight called in relief at seeing his master safe, "What happened?"

Phantom turned to look at the knight. Smiling gently, he took several calm steps to the knight, "We beat Nekron, but Dark Dan didn't make it."

Fright Knight looked around only to see that besides the broken coffin and the halfa, the only thing left in the room was a familiar scythe. Walking over to it, Fright Knight grabbed the weapon and held it up, "Two birds with one stone? Well done, my Liege. You impress me more and more with each challenge you overcome."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that I overcame anything," Phantom held out a hand, "Can I please see that scythe? I think we should destroy it just in case Nekron can use its energy to regenerate."

"Of course," Fright Knight handed the weapon over without question. Phantom admired the weapon by holding it up into the light, "I must tell you, my King, that Constantine was taken by Hotep Ra. We should be able to track him—"

In a blur of motion, Phantom swung the scythe with such speed that Fright Knight wasn't able to even think about blocking with his guard down as it was. Coughing, Fright Knight stared down at the long blade that was now sticking through his chest, "L-Lord P-Phantom?"

"Oh, you're master's not here anymore, Fright Knight," Phantoms' white eyes bled into a sickening black, "You can call me Nekron."

Wheezing, Fright Knight watched as Danny Phantom began to change before his eyes. His battle attire switched into a long black robe that seemed to constantly be flowing like a river of black. Once tanned skin slowly turned an almost sickly pale. This was a deep contrast to the black markings that began to cover the still visible parts of his body. The black markings seemed to outline his bones emphasizing the man's skeleton. Hair once as white as snow bled black and extended to his shoulders and began to dance around constantly like flames.

"You...you possessed him..." Fright Knight whispered in horror.

"Exactly. Danny Phantom no longer exists. Now, there is only Nekron the Reaper," Nekron smiled wickedly. The sight of his master's face like that made Fright Knight feel sick, "And now I am finally complete. I am the god of death."

"God?" Fright Knight hissed. Hearing those words from the humble king made his ears bleed, "Bastard. You're no god."

"Oh really?" Nekron held up the hand not holding the scythe. A combination of Death Ectoplasm and Ascended Ectoplasm danced in unison around his fingers, "I disagree. My power is now literally untouchable, and I'll prove it soon enough. What is the name of Earth's greatest champion again? Superman? I believe I'll make an example of him first. That will put the fear of their new god into all the Earthlings' hearts."

Fright Knight shook his head, "It doesn't matter how powerful you are. You are not great enough to be a king, let alone a god."

Nekron chuckled, "And what, dear Fright Knight, makes someone great enough to be a king?"

"Passion. Humility. Servitude. Selflessness. Love. Hope," Fright Knight stated passionately, "That was the Ghost King before his corruption, and that is Danny Phantom. He who has all the power, money, and servants he could ever want and still call himself Nobody. That is a true king."

"Then I guess I'm the corrupter of kings. Because you see, I was the one that corrupted Pariah Dark. I placed my energy into his crown and ring. The more he used them, the more he slipped into madness."

"N-no..."

"Luckily for Phantom, his fall was not so slow and painful. I was quite merciful actually. He didn't feel any pain."

"No...You're wrong...Danny Phantom still exists...He's too strong for you...You could never destroy him!"

"Are you sure? Because I have complete control over his powers and body."

The Fright Knight gained a smug look, "Then...Why are you crying?"

It was true. Small beads of tears were slowly making their way down Nekron's face at the sight of Fright Knight being stabbed like he was. Realizing that the Fright Knight was right, Nekron's face twisted with anger. After wiping the tears away, he brought his free hand to the handle of his scythe. With a roar of rage, he brought blade of the scythe, cutting through the metal and flesh that was the Fright Knight. Green blood sprayed everywhere as Fright Knight was cut into two from his chest up to his right shoulder.

This did not stop the Fright Knight, though. During Nekron's distraction, he had brought his hand to his own blade. In a blur of motion, he unsheathed Soul Shredder and tried to stab Nekron in the head. Before he could finish the attack, he froze. Drinking in the sight of the Nekron possessed Phantom, he remembered his time with the king. He remembered all the times he witnessed Danny Phantom sacrifice for the good of everyone. His mind flooded with the images of all the tears, blood, and sweat Phantom had shed. All the kind words and friendly chats they had rushed before his eyes.

With a roar of his own, Fright Knight flung the blade away. Before it could hit the ground, it burst into flames and disappeared into the fear dimension that it sent people. He might not be able to slay the king, but he could ensure his successor would be armed with the best. All his energy now spent, Fright Knight tumbled back and fell onto the broken ground. Despite the blood and the pain, Fright Knight refused to go quietly.

"Long live the Ghost King!" Fright Knight roared as his body dissolved, "Long live Danny Phantom, the greatest king to ever live! Long...live...the king..."

Nekron looked on in disdain as Fright Knight dissolved into a pile of ooze, "Fool. That was just a small lapse. I'm still in control. And if Danny Phantom really is still in here at all, then I'll make him watch as I kill everyone he loves."