Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't care. Writing this for free.

AN: It has been real long since I updated, so sorry if you forgot the finer details of this fic. Last chapter I wrote a summary of the whole thing (minus what happened in that chapter, obviously), so if you are lost go back to the last one and read that... also, I believe that last chapter is worth reading at least twice because is one of the best chapters I have ever written in any fic. It was a fun chapter.

I don't know if it's any comfort, but I want to reiterate that NO FIC OF MINE IS ABANDONED UNTIL I SAY SO. And this one is certainly kicking.

That said, I will try to make this (if not good enough for the wait) at least passable.

Chapter dedicated to ChameleonGiant, who wrote a review almost longer than the fic itself... Super belated merry Christmas \(^v^)/

Date of publishing: 31-05-2017. Self Betaed.

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Chapter 8: The Discovery Before Christmas

Nicholas S. North smiled wildly after getting to punch the unknown white-haired spirit that had trashed his workshop. The notion the spirit seemed to have that he had been kidnapped was miffing, but the attitude of wanting to fight was something North could recognize right away.

Before this Danny Phantom could regain his breath after North punched his stomach, the Guardian of wonder had already delivered a follow up blow to the teen's head. The intruder flew backwards, body bouncing for a moment of the wall behind him. The teen recovered fast for the blow for the most part, blasting a beam of green light that would have clipped North in the shoulder if he hadn't moved in time.

The follow minutes made obvious that Danny Phantom was more of a mid-long range fighter, and that the closer quarters were working in North's favor with his kicks and punches and whatever furniture he could get his hands on.

The boy was good, the Russian would give him that, but not good enough to defeat Saint Nicholas flanking him along with Toothania and her twin swords; much less so with both Guardians having extra help by Jack and Bunnymund, throwing ice beams and boomerangs respectively.

In the end, it was Sandy, who had stayed out of the fight for while, who managed to land a ball of golden sand that sent their foe into instant sleep. Green eyes closed shut and the spirit fell from his hovering with a thud. Once the body had hit the ground, a group of Yeti swarmed the room with ropes in hand, and tied up the intruder until his black one-piece was barely visible between the restrains bounding his arms and legs into place. The yeti gave a cheering roar, but the victory was short lived: a bright halo of white light surrounded the boy's waist, making them jump out of the way of an attack that never came. Instead, the halo split up in two rings, one traveling towards Danny Phantom's head, the other towards his white boots. By the time the lights sizzled out of existence, the intruding spirit was gone, leaving an alive teenager with raven black hair.

Danny Phantom was Daniel Fenton.

"WHAT?!" Bunny and North exclaimed at the same time.

"The boy is a spirit? How is that possible?" Jack inched closer poking the unconscious boy with his foot.

"I do not know. But after what he did to my workshop I am putting him on Naughty list." Jack Bunnymund snorted at North's words.

The male guardians (those who could speak) began arguing for a couple of minutes before a skittish Toothania flew to their midst, "Erm, guys. I think he is waking up."

"Urghh, did anyone wrote down the name of that monster truck that rolled over me?" Daniel Fenton groaned from the floor.

"Not really," Jack drawled.

The teen opened his eyes abruptly, the startled blue eyes looking quite different from the furious green eyes that glowed eerily during their fight.

"How can you be spirit, boy?" North questioned.

"I..." Danny's forehead was damp with sweat, his breathing coming into panicked pants. Fortunately, the boy regained his composure in a few breaths, eyes going from horrified to challenging. "I'm what it's called 'none of your business'. Now spill the beans; what do you want?"

"Huh?" the confusion was shared by all guardians.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't have an agenda. I saw you outside my place, then Mr. Furry over there was stalking me until the creepy weirdo in black went and knocked me out- and where do I wake up after that? Here with you. So for all I know you are all out for my head. So I ask again, What do you want me for? A stupid plan to conquer the world? Or maybe you plan to rip me up molecule by molecule?"

That was... certainly a colorful assumption.

North swelled up momentarily "We do not want to bring harm, Daniel. We are GUARDIANS! WE HELP PROTECT WONDER, DREAMS, HO-"

"I'm gonna stop you there," Danny interrupted. "First, it's not Daniel, its Danny. Second, I do not care who you are or any of that. I only want to go home. So, if I tell you I believe you are only interested in doing good deeds and filling the world with rainbows, do I get to leave?"

"Sure," North declared, taking the other guardians by surprise.

"I knew it wouldn't be so easy- wait, what? You serious? So I can walk away from here and you won't come after me guns blazing?"

"Oh, you sweet child, of course not!" Toothania fretted.

"Right..." Danny Fenton trailed. "So, um... this is where we say goodbye?"

"No," North denied.

"But you said!"

"We said you can go. We have no right to keep you here, you are child! and children ought to be with parents on Christmas! But you are in grave danger, so guardians will follow to protect you from Pitch Black."

"Pitch Black?" Danny inquired.

"The darkest being in the world. A spirit of fear and nightmares... the Boogieman."

Upon hearing the last two words Danny could not restrain the laughter. Boogieman, really? "The Boogieman doesn't exist."

Bunnymund scowled "You are wrong there, mate. I assure you he is very real. He is also a very powerful being, you cannot face him on your own."

"I will take my chances," Danny stood up, the ropes falling through his body. "Now, about the leaving part..." The Easter Rabbit eyed the teen with an unimpressed look.

"You don't understand!" the Guardian of Hope insisted "Pitch is-"

"The big bad guy, Yada yada yada. I get it, geeze. I'm not stupid. And the guy is after me, for world domination. So, of course, I get Santa Clause, the Easter Rabbit, the Bird Queen-"

"Actually, It's the Tooth Fairy!" Toothania pipped in.

"Tooth Fairy? Seriously? Very well: Santa, Easter Rabbit, Tooth Fairy, Santa Junior and... glittery baby Jesus?"

North looked towards Sandy, his chubby little face going deep red.

"The little guy is the Sandman," Jack Frost hurried to rectify "and I remember telling you my name is Jack Frost."

"Yeah, whatever. We going now?"

Nicholas S. North was hard pressed to believe that a son of Jack Fenton could behave this horribly. Nick sighed in exasperation. It was a feat, really, to have Santa get pissed off to this extent with Christmas less than half day away. "I'll bring a snow globe."

Danny Fenton rose an eyebrow, but otherwise remained blissfully quiet.

Of course, then North almost got an apoplexy when he saw the whole snow globes cabinet blasted, the whole lot of globes shattered on the floor and mixing with the remains of the wondrous ice train he had built and magicked to travel all around the ceiling. There was no doubt, Daniel Fenton was bad for his blood pressure.

The fact that the teen was part of the Nice List up to that day was a true wonder.

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It took North half an hour to scourge a snow globe from his half-melted desk on the corner. This globe had been kept apart from the others as a memento of their last victory against Pitch... and probably the only one to survive Daniel Fenton's trail of destruction. Thankfully, most of the presents had been stuffed into the slide days ago, so all that was missed was the last week's quota, along many tables, decorations, and a cringe-worthy amount of injured yetis and elves, not to mention North's dear snow globes... OK, maybe describing such a thing as "only" was a bit of a stretch, but if all the yetis worked at break-neck pace for the remaining time, then no child should be left without a present. Hopefully.

Now, while North would be freaking out about having this disaster happen on his workshop so close to the deadline, he was aware that Pitch Black having regained his old power was the most pressing issue right now. And if Daniel Fenton was the Boogieman's target, then the guardians' best bet to intercept him and defeat him again was to shadow the irritating teen... and, North needed to remind himself, they also needed to protect Daniel.

Hopefully the other guardians would be able to protect the teen when North left to deliver the presents to the children of the world. And the delivery was something that needed to be done. After all, Christmas was the most important of holidays by far. He was certain being unable to deliver those wondrous presents would do more damage to children's faith than not finding hidden eggs ever could.

"READY?" North asked his fellow guardian and a moody Daniel Fenton, "LET US GO!" the snow globe created a blue swirl that showed the image of the little town of Amity Park, more specifically a brick house with a green UFO thing on the roof.

They were standing in front of Fentonworks in a blink.

And blink they did when they arrived. There was a darkness creeping all around the town: the shadows from the posts and buildings seemed to twist eerily, the last minute shoppers that usually littered the streets were completely absent, and the Christmas decorations were not glowing with a rainbow of little colors, instead flickering with a gray light that made the walls of the houses and the once lush-green trees of the street gain a sick parlor. Fentonworks windows were cracked and dusty, the welcome mat on top of the stairs was stained ectoplasmic green and the house's door was open.

"NO!" Daniel Fenton screamed, his attitude of antipathy and confrontational angst replaced with panic for the well-being of his family. Then, Daniel rushed towards the building. "Mom! Dad" Jazz! Where are you!?"

The Guardian of Wonder saw as Jack Frost's eyes widened, "Wait, don't go in it might me-" Jack yelled and made a grab, but Daniel's arm phased through Jacks finger like they would smoke. It was hardly a novel feeling for the Winter Spirit, North was sure, since Jack had spent so long without any believers. But, the more relevant bit was that Daniel was inside the house before any of the guardians could react. North ran after him as did the others; but only Jack, who was the closest, was able to follow the black-haired teen before the door shut close, trapping the two inside, and the rest of the Guardians out.

Then, thousands of shadows converged and wrapped around the building. A mocking evil chuckle filled the air and the Guardians got to see a flash of a cruel smile and yellow eyes before it sunk into the wood of the door where Jack Frost and Daniel Fenton had vanished.

"We need to help them!" Toothania declared with her twin swords out and tried to cut through a shadow so dense it had become solid. The swords sunk into the shadows as though it was made of pitch, and she struggled with all her might trying to get them out.

"LET GO OF SWORD!" North yelled but it was too late. The shadow that had wrapped around her swords got a hold of her hands and pulled her in.

Toothania was gone.

"Toothania!" Bunnymund and North yelled at the same time.

Sandy, unable to speak, settled on letting out a silent, golden tear.

There was little time for the guardians to lament, though. As if sparked to life, the pitch-like shadow began to boil, then the bubbles turned into shadow tendrils that moved to attack them by the dozens.

"RETREAT!" North ordered, and the guardians that remained ducked and rolled and parried as they tried to get away from Daniel's house. Bunnymund was the fastest male guardian, so he got further ahead and used the distance to stop and throw a boomerang that was about to wrap around North's left shoulder. Sandy was dancing out of the way of the tendrils with great dexterity, also shielding North during their retreat. The shadows continued to chase for several meters, twisting around corners even when the Fenton's house was out of sight.

The group had managed to gain some distance from the pursuing shadows, but those weren't slowing down.

It was a matter of time before the Guardians got tired from sprinting at full speed.

"We need a plan, North!" Bunnymund threw another boomerang. Now he had only two left.

"I AM THINKING!"

And then... North tripped. The big man went down hard, his big, muscular bulk allowing him to stand up fast, but not enough.

"NORTH!" Bunnymund screamed, while the Sandman twisted back towards the attacking shadow. Silently, the Sandman's sand turned into a scissor that cut the tendrils. It succeeded, but the area of contact of the sand with the shadow began turning black, the corruption spreading like liquid poison until there was no golden left.

North turned look at Sandy as the little guardian fired sand over and over. Then, when the Guardian of Dreams had gained enough room for something more elaborated, he rose his chubby little arms, and a a waterfall of sparkling shielded them all from the attack.

The Sandman turned around to see them with a sad smile. It clicked then: there was no way for all of them to get out of there, so Sandy was going to buy them time to retreat and make a plan to rescue the ones that had fallen.

But they couldn't loose Sandy! Sandy was the strongest of them all! And now that Toothania and Jack were out of the picture... North and Bunnymund had no chance to winning against Pitch by them-

"Out of the way!" An unfamiliar voice called from behind North. A female teenager with purple eyes (Samantha Manson, his mental Nice List supplied) ran towards the cracking, stained, once-golden shield; on her hand, a metal bazooka glowed an eerie green. North was sure she could see him... until she ran through him and kept going forwards. "Hey, little guy, duck!" She warned, a meter wide, green beam of light firing from the weapon the second Sandy's shield shattered. The beam blasted dozens of black tendrils in a go. The hole they left behind was filled fast as the others re-arranged themselves.

A second beam of green, this one a foot long, filled the air blasting a handful of tendrils. Then another beam, and another, and another, the blasts of green been all over the place as though she was shooting at random, failing to land more often than not.

"WRONG WITTY BANTER!" Samantha yelled towards Jazz before the bazooka blasted for a second time with great accuracy. "Now, come-on, we are retreating!" She grabbed a wide-eyed Sandman by his ankle, and began dragging him like a balloon all the way to a mansion that the Guardians hadn't noticed during the fight.

"TUCKER NOW!" Samantha yelled once she, Jasmine and Sandy had crossed the gates of the mansion. It was a matter of luck that North and Bunnymund hadn't been left out of the green dome of light that encased the mansion. The shadows that had been blasted before, regrouped and reformed, crashing against the green dome to no avail for several horrifying seconds before giving up and retreating back from where they came.

It had been a close call.

"You made it!" A dark skinned teenager listed as Tucker Foley smiled with relief.

"Good timing there Tuck."

"Thanks, Sam. You did good with the ecto-bazooka as well!" she smiled back.

North recognized Jasmine's look as an expectant one. Clearly, Samantha noticed as well, because she added, "Well, I can't take all the credit, Jazz helped a lot out there."

Jasmine beamed and wrapped Samantha in a hug.

North hated to interrupt such a nice bonding moment, but they really needed answers. "Thank you for help. We could not do it without you."

"You know what!? I think we make a great team!... oh, I know, we need a name!" Jasmine continued happily.

"We don't need a name, Jazz," Samantha rolled her eyes.

North realized then... none of them could see or hear him.

"Sorry to interrupt ladies, but we really need help, HEY!" Bunnymund ended loudly. No reaction. They could not see the Guardian of Hope any more than they could North.

"Of course we do!" Jasmine declared heatedly.

"No, we don't" Samantha disagreed "we have been a good team for a while and never needed one."

"Exactly, you were only a good team. But a name will make the team great, and I have the perfect name for it, we will be called the Ghost-G"

"Sorry to interrupt," Tucker Foley cut in, "But we have more important things to focus on... remember, like the ghost you brought in? The one that might know Danny's whereabouts?"

"Right!" The two females turned towards Sandy, who made eye contact with both North and Bunnymund before turning back to the teens eyeing him.

Neither of the three teenagers could see nor hear North and Bunnymund... but they could see the Sandman.

The realization that a group of teenagers could see Sandy would have been a lot more shocking if they hadn't met Daniel Fenton before. Regardless it came as a surprise that they could at all.

"They do not see us all," North declared in disappointment. He had believed they would since the shield had only blocked the way after they all made it into the house, but it seemed that had been a simple matter of luck. "Things are in your hands Sandy." The Sandman, who had been looking towards North for guidance nodded once.

A golden question sign floated on top of the Sandman's head.

"Try to make them believe in us," the Guardian of Hope requested.

"GREAT IDEA!" North beamed.

Sandy shrugged in their direction. The three teenagers followed the Sandman's line of sight.

"Is there someone there?" Jasmine Fenton asked. Sandman nodded.

And so began a game of charades that might help tip the balance in the battle of light versus darkness.

A cu-cu clock on the wall chirped. It was 11:00 pm. There was only an hour before Christmas.

To Be Continued

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AN: My idea of making a Toothania POV? Didn't work. I tried and tried, then got frustrated and decided to walk away to tackle it again latter... the result? Well, I accidentally (and by accidentally I mean not on purpose at all) ended up getting Toothania the hell out of the way for most of what's left of the fic.

But, as I said, it was an accident: a totally convenient, happy-dance worthy accident.

REALLY IT WAS! The chapter practically wrote itself and, before I processed what I was doing she was swallowed by a sandpit of black shadows... subconscious resentment, I think?

Anyway, now that she is (accidentally) out of the way, I'm pretty sure I will be able to update again this year. It will probably take a while because 1) I need to fix Pitch POV which I didn't like when I re-read and 2)Next chapter has too many paths it could take.

It would be awesome if you help me narrow down which will be the next POV

A) Danny

B) Jack Frost

Both options have so much potential... and I love the two character a lot... tell me in a review? I'm also game for all the verbal punches you might send my way... only, don't punch too hard: if you knock the author it would take the author longer to write... same happens if you bruise the author or make the author cry.

...yeah, I'm also shocked to discover that I'm petty enough to threaten for softer punches :D

But seriously, sorry again for the delay. But, as I said in the first AN: no fic mine is abandoned until I say its abandoned. See you all around.