… I'm just gonna say 'I got a job as a freaking housekeeper at a hotel' and leave it at that as to why this is late.

Also, community theatre.

I don't own Danny Phantom, or I'd probably insert more parapsychology nonsense into the series (which may or may not become present later).

ENJOY!

ROYAL GAMES

The four pairs trudged forward towards the pillars, a bright orange line that nearly matched Jack's jumpsuit and the swimwear from before in front of them. Danny and Tucker in particular weren't excited. Tucker was a computer geek, he didn't do rope climbing. Well, he could, but speed was another factor in this game, and unlike his fingers on a keyboard, his legs didn't do 'fast'. Danny knew this and really, really hoped that Tucker wouldn't get eliminated because if Danny had any hope of actually beating Vlad at a strategy like this he was going to need all the help he could get.

Nathan, personally, felt like humming a funeral march. Not only was he paired with Jack Fenton, he was expected to climb a pillar and then pull Jack Freaking Fenton up said pillar. Yeah, he might as well scratch his name off the board now. Sure, he could lift a tuba up and march around no problem, but Jack weighed much, much more than a tuba.

Mikey was… not hopeful on being able to get Valerie up, being as he had literal noodle arms. No, seriously. Noodles.

Mr. Lancer had very feeble hopes on getting Mrs. Fenton up, but then again, who knows. Maybe he'll surprise everyone and not get eliminated by sheer dumb luck.

Ann looked over the eight as they reluctantly lined up with a pillar and got ready, the elimatees more or less ready to run and the top four hoping for the best from their partners, although some-Jack-were more optimistic than others. "Ready Contestants?" A low but otherwise agreeing noise came up to Ann's height. "Then, ready, set… GO!"

There was a loud noise, the clock started ticking, the audience cheered, and all four thought they were going to die before the end of the hour. See, the distance was fairly short to the pillars, and even the most un-athletic could probably make it just fine. They even got a ladder for the pillar!

… They really should have been more suspicious.

The rope ladder didn't look the safest as is, attached only to the top of the pillar and otherwise free to go as it pleased. That in itself sucked a little bit, but the next thing was what really threw them in a loop.

The damn thing was greased and slick, without much grip to it. Added to the sweaty hands of at least two of the Competitors, and while no fall would be fatal, it would really freaking hurt.

Why did they agree to this again? Right, ghosts. You don't argue with them. You just don't. If one tells you to climb a greased ladder, you climb the damn greased ladder.

And so they did. With difficulty.

Tucker was having the best luck. Hunting ghosts and having Sam 'the coach from Hell' Manson help you shape up in gym helped a lot, not that he'd ever admit it. He'd taken to a strategy not copied by the others—gripping the ropes of the ladder rather than the rungs, only ever having the arch of his shoes on those if he could help it. Next was Lancer, still a distance from Tucker's height, whose calloused hands from teaching helped a little in grip. Nathan was not far behind Lancer, marching band having also toughed his fingers, albeit not by much. Mikey was last, having almost hilariously smooth hands and struggling to grip the stupid ladder. He'd really much rather be holding a camera and filming the whole thing, not being part of the action…

Unsurprisingly, Tucker was first to the top. He checked his end of the climbing rig, tossed the needed equipment down, and slammed down on the red button. Danny rushed over as fast as he could, ignoring the loud cheers of the crowd, and quickly went through everything he knew about climbing…

Not much, save for the quickly-put-on helmet. Luckily, it seemed more or less self-explanatory. Legs here and here, around the waist here, loop thingy in the front, attach the ropes with the metal thingies no one cared to remember the names of, and done. Hopefully he did nothing wrong. Danny looked up to Tucker, who gave two thumbs up as a question. Danny nodded, tugging lightly on the ropes he gripped. Tucker nodded back, immediately going to try to pull Danny up.

Tucker wasn't struggling, per say, as he had in fact had to carry Danny around before, but Danny was around 120 pounds, and Tuck was expected to lift that with a rope and pulley. It wasn't exactly the easiest.

Lancer made up to the top at about the same time Nathan slipped and fell—with little injury, save for bruises—and quickly got the equipment ready and shoved it over, pushing the button as it fell. Maddie raced up, harnessed up, and impatiently waited for the teacher to start pulling. Nathan got back on the ladder, and after some struggle, got to the top, though by this time Danny was almost halfway up and Maddie was at least a few feet off the ground. Mikey got up there seconds after, despite all the small falls he had had over the period of time it took to get up there. Nathan, despite knowing it was a lost cause, got his equipment ready and the button pushed as Mikey huffed to catch his breath. Mikey practically collapsed onto the button as he watched the climbing equipment fall, not quite caring that he had a time limit on this.

Despite Mikey taking his sweet ol' time with it, Valerie was ready to pulled far before Jack was, and surprisingly, Mikey was having a little success with getting her up, though Val definitely was stretching what 'little to no help from person B' meant.

If it weren't a little sad, it'd have been funny to watch Nathan try to pull Jack up as Jack shouted encouragement and Nathan considered what words he could say in front of his parents, his teachers, and national television without getting in trouble.

"Danny, would it kill you to keep out the extra fries?" Tucker said as soon as Danny was in semi-reasonable hearing distance.

"Yes it would," was Danny's deadpan reply. "I'm growing and need all the food I can get. Food is fuel Tuck."

Tucker stopped actively pulling to glare down at his friend. "Spoken like a true hero," he said sarcastically, purposely jostling the rope to give Danny a hard time. Danny wasn't really fazed. He flew around and got thrown into buildings, what's a little unstable rope climbing?

Finally, Tucker managed to pull Danny over the final lip of the pillar, much to the cheer of the audience, and they pushed down the button before high fiving. Tucker then collapsed good-naturedly onto the floor of the pillar, Danny sitting beside him.

Mr. Lancer almost had Maddie up on the platform. He wasn't sure how, he wasn't sure he cared, but he was getting there. Valerie was about one third of the way up, which was further than either her or Mikey expected, if they were to be honest with themselves. Nathan almost fell off when Jack suddenly jumped to try to help, and Nathan was nearly pulled off by the rope as it followed Jack's short decent.

The crowd was still a little ecstatic that any of the Competitors had made it to the top. "And that's three points each to Tucker Foley and Danny Fenton," Ann could be heard over the noise, but only just. Danny waved, slightly shy, at the people and Tucker gave half-hearted waves from his—in his opinion—comfortable position on the platform.

A few minutes passed, Tucker eventually sitting up with Danny and giving a few more, slightly more awake, waves and both boys gesturing excitingly to Sam and Jazz when they spotted the two. The crowd got excited again as Maddie was almost to the top and Valerie was, again, really surprised at being nearly-but-not-quite two thirds of the way up. With a final pull, Lancer pulled Maddie up to the top and they both pushed the button, Maddie waving as Lancer, in a move not dissimilar to Tucker from earlier, collapsed against the button podium.

Cheers were heard throughout the stadium, Ann's voice once again booming across the field. "Two points each to William Lancer and Madeline Fenton!"

Almost immediately, much to everyone's surprise, Valerie and Mikey hit their button. They didn't know how Mikey was able to pull a full-weighted human up a rope, but neither questioned it. The crowd cheered again, Ann announced that each got a point, and the final buzzer for the hour went off. Danny winced at the loud sounds, squinting over to where Mikey and Valerie looked surprised at the feat they accomplished, before realizing that the event was now officially over.

Nathan didn't even act surprised, having just sat down and begun playing a handheld game roughly twenty minutes ago, Jack pulling out some needlepoint out of nowhere at around the same time.

The crowd cheered on as well as the other competitors, Ann letting them go on for a few minutes as the victors of the round eventually got enough energy to wave about and be absolute hams to the people and news stations. Eventually, though, Ann floated out to the center of the arena, high above everyone's head as usual. "Well, our winners of this mini event are Tucker Foley and Danny Fenton, second being William Lancer and Madeline Fenton, and finally Mikey Baker and Valerie Grey. Unfortunately, this means our last place goes to Nathan Lester and Jack Fenton. This means that Nathan Lester is our first elimatee of the game."

Nathan wasn't even fazed, shrugging as he continued on his handheld.

"With that," Ann said, "you all are free to enjoy the grounds as you please." Ann floated over to the rather apathetic Nathan. "Now, a quick word with you, and you'll be free." Nathan looked up and put away his game, shrugging as he stood.

"Wait," Mikey called from the next pillar over. "How do we get down?"

If Ann had a mouth, and therefor the ability to smile, they would have. "Get creative."

And then they left.

Danny looked at Tucker, shrugged, and leapt off the pillar, his rope acting as a slight swing (as it really only gave about as much as the tower was tall). Valerie and Maddie both dove off after. Nathan attempted the ladder, only to fall and wind himself. Mikey swore he wouldn't do that before doing exactly that. Mr. Lancer carefully crept down the ladder, it still being slick but not as bad as before, and Tucker simply grabbed the rope Danny went down with and slipped down as fast as possible without giving himself rope burn. The four who weren't elimatees unharnessed themselves, leaving their equipment at the base of the structure. Nathan gave a short wave before walking towards where Ann and Tim waited to talk. Mikey walked off, not really friends with any of the others. Valerie hesitated to leave, but seeing as Danny was her ex, although a friendly ex, she decided to go meet her father outside the arena.

"…Well," Tucker said quietly. "Whose up for corndogs?"

The others looked at each other, shrugged, and went to go get Jazz and Sam (who would, in fact, have a tofu dog) from the entryway.

As Danny left, he couldn't help but drift behind and look over at the rest of the arena. He felt… unsettled. The boy couldn't place it though. He shook his head, decided it was probably just all the excitement of the day, shrugging it off as he went to join the others in their mission to slowly clog their arteries with terrible (terribly delicious) carnival food.

ROYAL GAMES

You know, I never expected to enter into google 'how much does Danny Fenton weigh' and I expected even less to get an actual answer. It could be just a fan speculation but it's the only thing I got so… 120 pounds. Huh. Also, if you're wondering, Tucker at the very least carried Danny into the hospital during the thing with ghost bugs and Spectra… Doctor's Disorders, I think. Though you could argue that Danny can make himself as light as he wants (since he can fly as a ghost and sorta hover for a second or two in human form), and if that's the case, then the ropes are ghost proof—IE, Danny can't help Tucker pull him up at all.

Also, it should be noted that I don't even like corndogs. I do however absolutely love funnel cake.

So, as usual, send in questions to the Question Tent (reviews) or ask the Bowtied Observant Tim using their inbox (pm me or specially marked reviews). Ann is more or less unavailable, but if you ask I'm sure I can gather them up to answer a question if need be. Pretty much all those details are in Chapter Two on the bottom AN.

No one guessed what Tim's name came from, so I'm going to continue asking—where did I get Tim's name from? I'll take two answers, but one is slightly more correct than the other. If you get it right, I'll be sure to give a reward (extra points, a battle, an event, a character, a headcanon, etc etc, we'll discuss details).

As always, you can enter any headcanons, fanon characters, fanon things, events you want, battles you want, anything you want, and I'll be sure to read and at least consider (if you win the Tim challenge, though, we'll actually discuss putting the requested thing in and how that'll effect everything).

Thanks again to paigemeable because seriously guys she helps a ton.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS!