A/N: To anyone who hasn't reviewed yet, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Chapter 14: Fight Progression

Sam dreamed of swirls of darkness, and then suddenly woke up to a woman with black eyes staring over her.

It was Freyja.

"Ah," she said, licking her lips. "I was hoping you'd die for good this time, my dearie."

"You wish," Sam spat out, then tried to get up out of the woman's lap. A sharp pain in her side prevented that, so she laid back down.

"If you want to heal, sit still. It'll only be a few more minutes." Then Freyja started playing on her small lyre. So that ominous music in her dream wasn't her imagination after all. Strangely, as it played she felt better.

She looked around instead of thinking on it more. She had clearly fallen on the ghost island below. Bluish plump grass surrounded her and blew in the wind. There was a faint smell of pumpernickel in the air. It was like they weren't in the middle of some ghost war.

"Sam! Are you okay?"

Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw Jazz – followed by Tucker and the other ghosts on their team – swoop in.

"Apparently I will be in a bit," Sam groaned.

The group landed and approached.

"Who's the hot lady of darkness?" Tucker commented, only to get a sharp elbow from Jazz.

Freyja smiled. "So you're the one who chanced upon my labyrinth. I didn't place those rumors for nothing, but you were smart enough to follow up on it. I am glad you didn't fall short of my expectations."

"Labyrinth…what?! You're the sorceress chick? Dude, I should have gone in with Danny after all. Aw man."

"A pleasure," Freyja said with a slight head tilt. Boy, was she as creepy as ever. "Ah, the pieces are collecting, and soon, the meeting of destiny! Come now, children, we don't have much time." With her sing-song voice, she sounded like she was truly enjoying this.

Jazz interjected. "I don't know about how much time you think we have, but right now my baby brother is fighting alone and I want to help him. We all do. Sam, is she on our side?"

Sam replied, "Seems like it? Either way, she's one of the ones Pariah has to destroy to fully dominate the Ghost Zone so."

Freyja giggled. She then got up, holding Sam in a princess hold before addressing the rest. "Follow me. We'll be meeting the other individual crucial to the plan. If we're not in time, the strings of fate will be oh so unstable. Although I am quite curious where that will lead, I would not like to die. Wouldn't you?"

"Let's go already?" Jazz suggested with an eye roll.

"Do you only care about yourself, lady?" Sam muttered.

With a snap of Freyja's fingers, strings gathered and wrapped around Jazz, Tucker, and Sam's waists. "Young student," she said to Poindexter. "You lead these valiant ghosts in the eastern area. At the right time, I will need your mirror." A small spider crawled out of her fingernail and jumped onto Sydney's ring finger, then latched on.

"Neato!" said Sydney, admiring his new ring.

Freyja grinned.

"Now, I'll tell you about the plan on our way. With the way things are going, we cannot merely leave things up to chance."

-1-

Pandora reached her hand into a box and brought out a bow and arrow. "This arrow is coated with the poison of the frogs in the box of disasters. I never did get around to making more, as it requires opening my cursed box and hunting the dratted things. You do not want to know how fast they multiply."

"Ah, I'd imagine not," Vlad said awkwardly, floating in his ghost form. In fact, he didn't even know why he was bothering to help at all. Well, he did actually know: no matter what he said, he didn't want to look like a coward in front of the little badger. Over time, he had begun to view him as not a son he wished to obtain but a nephew he wanted to look over.

His mother was still hot though.

Pandora cleared her throat, clearly impatient at his staring into space fantasizing.

"Ah, yes, hand it over," Vlad said, ignoring his blushing cheeks. He dipped it into the vial of ectoranium serum he had successfully prepared, along with a healthy serving of blood blossom extract. In fact, it took him risking everything going in his human form to the Ghost Zone to get it. He just knew that he could use this to get a few favors from the little brat; at least in time for his next scheme.

He opened his hand to reveal the ring of power. He was saving it to dominate the world himself; that was the whole reason he had manipulated the boy – and his young pawn Valerie – in the first place, years ago. But no, a shadow ghost just had to attack. Ah, such was life.

He reluctantly handed his precious ring to Spectra's greedy hands.

"Finally," she said in a creepy voice, caressing it and then placing it on her finger. Dark flames covered her like a shawl. "I feel more powerful already." He much preferred her human form, so her shadowy ghost form helped to make things impersonal.

He wanted to slap himself for a moment. No, I must stay devoted to my dear Madeline.

In order to regain his calm, he said, "So according to plan, you, Spectra, will go in and confront your brother and restrain him enough for Pandora to shoot him with this disabling arrow. Once he is reduced to his former power level, the young Phantom can defeat him with the crown's powers."

"Speaking of the crown," Spectra said with glee. "I wonder how his mind's holding up? He probably has about half an hour, give or take, even with all our precautions. I wonder if I could have a ta-"

"No," said Vlad and Pandora at the same time.

"This mission is more important than satisfying your stomach, Spectra," Pandora said sternly. "I'm sure there will be plenty of misery before this battle is done."

"Yeah, but…fine."

Ignoring the immaturity displayed, Vlad added, "The problem is that as with any battle, interruptions can occur at any time."

"Relax," Spectra said, flinging out her hand. "My brother and I have a sibling rivalry that goes way back. And he'll pay for what he did to Bertrand." Her smile suddenly transformed into a frightening face.

Pandora spoke regally. "I have already sent my army to a key point the Observers have mentioned. Trust in my experience in war. At the very least, he shall not spot my arrow until it is too late. I am excited. Even though it's been a century since I've used this thing, but oh well."

Vlad caught that.

Spectra cracked her knuckles. "I'll even let you get into the action, Plasmius. How generous am I?"

After looking at them both, Vlad simply replied, "Yes, I trust you both."

Just after he thought he was done here. Drat. He really didn't want to fight that thing again, but here he was. And he too had a bone to pick.

The boy had better not lose. I'm giving up everything for this.

-2-

Jazz glared at the mysterious female ghost who was telling them what Vlad and the other ghosts were up to. In that time, Skulker and Ember caught up with them.

"…and they should reach Kired in another few minutes. If anything, you're latecomers," Frejya said. "By the way, I'm not a fighter so I'll be staying here."

"But you fought Danny," Tucker chipped in.

"It was the best I could do to prove a challenge dearie. Trust me; I had no chance against the halfa." She shook her head, and then turned to Jazz.

Jazz, in turn, exchanged glances with Tucker and Sam, who nodded. Then she turned to Skulker and Ember.

"No promises," Ember said, rolling her eyes. "But I thought about it, and I'm really tired of being in love with you. And the glasses kid. Help me reverse it, and at the very least I'll stay out of your way."

"You got it," announced Tucker. "Should we set up the hoverboards again?"

"I just need someone that knows how to play guitar. Skulker's useless." She glared at Skulker, who put his hands up in defense.

Tucker and Sam gave blank looks.

"I know the theory," Jazz said. "I'll give it a try."

Although she raised an eyebrow, Ember handed over her guitar.

"What don't you know, Jazz?" Sam said with a smile.

"I've tried a lot of things for hobbies."

"It's the E minor, then the B minor triad, and finally G A B. I've already turned the dial."

Jazz looked at the guitar. She was a little rusty since she had memorized the chords back in tenth grade, but she managed. The expected sound waves shot out over the group, and Ember briefly sparkled.

"Ah, I hate you again. Thanks a bunch, dipstick." Ember snatched back her guitar. She then sped off and Skulker rushed to follow.

"Well," Tucker sighed. "That's that. Time to join the party?"

With that, the group went to the center of the fighting. Once they arrived, she saw a surprising sight.

"What's Dark Dan doing there?" she said.

"That's Dark Dan?" Sam asked. "He looks like a more muscular, adult version of Danny. With elf ears."

"That's basically what he is, to keep it simple," Tucker said. "What's surprising me is that he's helping."

Jazz crossed her hands. "That's not too much of a stretch, considering how big this threat is. Well, let's do what we can for now."

She eyed a group of ghosts trying to go for Danny, as well as Valerie and the Box Ghost fighting against the Fright Knight and his goons.

Tucker and Sam grabbed their guns.

Jazz said, "Tucker, you're with me. Sam, back up Valerie."

"Aye, aye, sir," Sam replied with a wink.

Sam sped off, but Jazz stayed put.

Tucker looked at her with confusion. "Jazz? Aren't we going to head for the ghosts?"

"Danny can handle it, I'm sure," Jazz said, and then turned to Freyja. "You're not seeing the full picture. If Kired is out for blood, he is going to get past Danny, even if Dark Dan is there."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because this woman's expression tells me so."

"Ah, our psychology genius," Freyja said, clapping. "I'm really glad you're here. Clockwork told me how in one reality, you rushed in to help Danny fight and died tragically. Of course, this drove the poor boy insane, and alas…total destruction!" She sure looked happy about a bad ending.

To Jazz, this whole battle seemed more and more like a chessboard. It was all about moving the pieces in a way where you had the advantage. The goal here was to lure Kired into thinking he had won…and then, checkmate.

After some silence from Tucker, it seemed like he had finally caught on. "Okay, I think I've got it. So our goal here is to protect the lady from Kired. At least, until Vlad's part of the plan kicks in. Then Danny can kick his butt!"

"Bravo, children!" Freyja said, clapping again. "Do your best. I do hope you'll last long in this reality. It's the only one we've got, after all. And to do that…I hope you won't mind if I borrow your body for a while, young man."

"You mean, overshadow him?" Jazz said, then put a hand in front of him. "I mean, I understand if you mean to hide yourself… how about me?"

"No, Jazz," said Tucker. "I'm totally cool with a hot chick overshadowing me." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Jazz put a hand on her forehead. "Why do I even bother with you. Since you don't even care, do whatever you want, lady."

She felt like an idiot for liking him, which was why she would never admit it. She knew that him flirting was a defense mechanism in an attempt to cover for his low self-esteem, but she wasn't a fool to think she could fix him. No, he would have to decide to work on that on his own.

Freyja didn't delay. Now Tucker stood there with a cocky expression and glowing black eyes.

"Follow me," she said. "I'll even be a dear and tell you what you want to know."

She flew off suddenly. After pausing for a bit, Jazz revved her hoverboard to catch up.

"You mean, how Sam's involved in your plan? Even after thinking about it, I don't think she's so important that you had to interfere and give her such a horrific experience. She's just like me and Tucker. As much as I hate to admit this, we don't matter much for this fight. "

"It's always the little things that are ignored, dearie." Freyja winked, but since she was in Tucker's body it felt like a joke.

Jazz was beginning to think this witch was just playing around with her.

They stopped at a small spec of land – no bigger than 6 square meters. It had a few spiky purple trees with red globular fruits that littered the space, and a random bench in the center. It was close enough to see Danny's fight clearly…she estimated 20 yards away. It was strange how this place was untouched by the battle, although clashes were going on around them.

"What's the deal with this place?" Jazz asked her, only to get a raised eyebrow. Freyja silently walked to the bench, and Jazz followed. "Hey, asking questions is what I do. I am naturally inquisitive."

"And so you are. Because what you see here only exists for the moment." She snapped her fingers, and the bench swung out like a door, with a black pool beneath it that was like a vacuum. In seconds, the whole space was enveloped, and they were sucked in.

"Welcome to my lair."

She could only see the glowing eyes in the pitch darkness.

-3-

Valerie could feel the sweat running down her back, but she couldn't panic. All she could do was listen for the sound of clanking bones.

She thought she could handle it, she really did. However, the Fright Knight's powers did not go well with hers. Her suit had a limited amount of energy, and before today she never really knew its limits.

250 shots. She had shot down that many stupid skeletons before she couldn't fire another blast with any of her weapons. Her suit flashed a message on her face screen with an obvious "Low on Fuel. 0%. Entering charge mode" message.

Ah, I'm screwed.

Her breathing quickened as she was surrounded in seconds. It was like they knew and were leering at her vulnerability.

"Buckle up," she yelled nervously before putting up her fists. "I am not going down without a fight!"

It had taken ten minutes for her to get used to the skeleton soldier's movements, but by that time she had sustained some injuries that were killing her if she lost focus for just a second. She had run out of juice for her weapons long ago, but conveniently borrowed a saber and used that.

She quickly sneaked a peak at her suit's watch – which had a power meter. Currently, it was at 5% charge. The suit worked to regenerate by being placed in the ghost zone while not being used. Before – when she still worked for Vlad – his vultures picked it up at night and returned it in the morning, fully charged. With that estimation, it took at least six hours to charge fully; time she did not have. However, she didn't need a full charge. She just needed enough to give a wallop full to the Fright Knight. On these peons, she would have to use guts…and that choreography she learned when she was Peter Pan in the seventh grade school play.

It was too bad these goons weren't letting her stall for time.

Four skeletons grabbed her sword and shoulders, preventing her from striking as more surrounded her from the sides.

"Come on!" She cried, refusing to clench her eyes. "You'll hit your pals acting like that. Cowards!"

Then, a green laser blasted at the ones holding her down. She quickly slashed at the attackers, then dodged a badly aimed laser shot. With a smirk, she turned towards where the blasts came from.

"Sam? Right on time. And, please watch where you're aiming that thing."

"Sorry about that," Sam said, then navigated over to her. "I'm in all sorts of pain right now."

"Two can join that club. Either way, let's keep going."

With Sam watching her back, it was a huge relief. Getting this suit charged didn't seem so impossible after all…not that she couldn't have managed alone.

"Guh. So much effort to crush a human child," yelled the Fright Knight.

"Oh, getting tired of your men dying on you? No, wait, they're already dead." She really hoped fighting alongside Danny all these years didn't cause his bad fighting banter habit to rub off on her. Oh well; at least it was funny to her.

-4-

"Didn't I tell you not to butt in?" Dan yelled. Even though he used to be like him, Dan still could not understand that child. But then again, he didn't want to.

Danny blasted Kired while he was focused on Dan, causing him to blast at Danny angrily.

"What makes you think-" He paused to dodge – "I'll listen to you? We don't even have to cooperate. We need to take him down, and it's not the time to hog the fight."

"Yada, yada, I don't need you!" Dan let out a wail at Danny, but since he happened to be behind Kired, it hit Kired.

"You two…bickering…" Kired cursed madly. "Fine. You think you two can handle this? Go right ahead. No one stands in my way."

Kired spread out his hands and released his energy. Instead of an energy blast, it was like billows of smoke that soon spread over the whole space.

Danny breathed in, then started coughing. "Dan! Don't breathe-" He was quickly enveloped in the smoke.

Kired laughed and sped off.

He was in a pickle, wasn't he. Save the brat or follow the pain in the butt that wanted to take over the world before he could.

…He really hoped he wasn't getting soft. There was a reason why he had to keep Danny alive, for now.

But whatever this smoke was, he really didn't want to chance things if it could affect ghosts too.

He smirked, knowing he had to wait for something to come along. Either the flow was with Danny Phantom, or not. And he would know soon enough.