"So, you couldn't find the hunter?" Phantom asked.

"Negative: Not a single trace. Question: Didn't you plan this out?" HK responded.

"No, what gave you that thought?"

"Explanation: You seemed to be really prepared for this. Also, it was a showcase of power and rather savage comment."

"Pal, I specialize in making savage comments," Danny deadpanned, before sighing and leaning back on his shuttle seat.

Phantom put a hand on his chin. His moment of triumph was darkened by assassination attempt. Thankfully, humans distrusted each other so much that they didn't blame the accident on him. It was a close call, the votes were placed almost precisely equal. Danny made sure to know who was voting. Against joining were monarchs, whose rule was being questioned, communists, whose dreams of communistic world were shattered, and those who had the last ruling term, because as they say 'After us even flood may happen'. Others were on his side. Of course, as a precaution Phantom possessed a few of his opponents. And now, Earth was a part of the Empire.

But his thoughts were on that particular attack. Dissidents were actually capable of getting through the blockade, sneaking in and attacking. He had to start investigation.

When they entered the hangers, Phantom quickly strolled out of his transport, but to his surprise, he saw Komand waiting for him. Before he could ask an obvious question, the woman raised her hand.

"Relax, Dani is sleeping," she explained. "I have to talk with you. It's important."

Danny blinked. "Of course..." he said slowly, following her into the corridor. "What happened?"

Komand sighed. "My father has escaped. He probably had conspired with others."

"Probably isn't the proper word. It's bluntly obvious," Phantom rubbed his temples. "It just keeps getting better."

"What happened?" Komand asked.

"Well, they hired an assassin, but he miserably failed. He planted a bomb under our shuttle, but I sensed as such and removed it. How did he get there is another question..."

"You think there can be loyalists in the fleet?"

"I don't think, I know. After all, we enlisted everyone willing without too much thought..."

"Wasn't their background checked?"

"We only checked if they are mental. I thought that after war purge we eradicated them. We have to start from high ranks, relying on those who sided with us since the beginning. They rely on my rule, shall I be gone, they will come after me. Their loyalty is unquestionable."

Komand nodded as they started walking. "So, how did it go?"

"Pretty well, we will sign a few treaties later when they finish their paperwork. We must begin excavating the ectoplasm immediately, I have already given the orders."

The Empire didn't stop businessmen from becoming richer, but the companies which specialized on excavation of resources were nationalized and now belonged to the government. It brought billions of credits to the treasury.

"So, you already know how to use it?" Komand asked.

"As a replacement for ion cannon for now. I didn't have time to think up how to implement it for turbolasers. Sadly, our scientists don't know what to do with ectoplasm, I gave them the blueprints, but they have yet to find out the details. That's why Axion Labs are getting governmental funding from now on, becoming an IRB branch. And I just remembered...I have to visit someone."

"Who?" She raised her eyebrow.

"She is a skilled fighter, and we kinda have a history together."

"What kind of history?"

"Valerie blamed me for ruining her rich life, leaving her father jobless, and making her lose her status. And, one lonely fruitloop decided it will be a good idea to give someone with defeated mental state an advanced weaponry. The funny thing is, we dated while she tried to hunt me down. In the end, she decided to end our relationship so she could fully dedicate her time to hunting me."

"That's...weird..."

Danny snorted. "You telling me."

"Wait..." Komand stopped. "You had a girlfriend?"

Phantom's face gained a deadpan look. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well...yes," she smirked at his expression.

"You are cruel, Komy."

The door in front of him opened and they quietly entered his quarters. Danny smiled at seeing his Little Phantom on the bed. He lied nearby without making a sound, while Komand observed him and sat on the armchair. Danny slowly brushed the girl's hair away from her peaceful little face. After some time he looked at his apprentice.

"How long has she slept?" He whispered.

Komand shrugged. "About five hours."

Danny nodded. It was more than enough for a healthy half ghost. Which meant that she was going to wake up soon. But what every person does when he or she is about to wake up? They start shifting non stop. Dani started moving, going as far as lying on top of her father, across his stomach. Danny tried not to laugh, because then her pillow would start moving beneath her. He tried to slowly move from his predicament, but Dani didn't let him. All the while Komand snickered at the situation, as she received a glare from the young father, which didn't look threatening at all.

After a few minutes the girl started to open her eyes slowly. She rubbed them with her small hand, looking at the opposite direction from her father. She looked at Komand, confusion clear on her face, and the woman pointed at something behind the girl. Dani looked behind and her eyes snapped open widely as a huge grin appeared on her face.

"Hello there, sleepy head," Danny smirked.

Dani immediately proceeded to give him a bonebreaking hug with a happy squeal. "Daddy, you are here!"

Phantom chuckled and kissed her forehead, returning the hug. "Did you sleep well?"

The girl nodded. "Mhm! I'm hungry."

Danny laughed, before getting into seating position. Technically she was born a few days ago, and the newborns do just that. Eat and sleep, sleep and eat. "Let me take a shower and we will go out, how does that sound?"

Dani suddenly started pushing her father off the bed. Phantom yelped and was caught completely unprepared.

"C'mon, c'mon, faster!" She rambled impatiently, making Danny get on his feet.

"Coming, coming," he laughed, before looking at Komand. "You may go take sleep, too."

She smirked and rose from her seat. "Just watch yourself," the apprentice waved her hand, yawning loudly.

"Bye, Komy!" Dani waved her hand with a grin. Komand waved to her too, smiling softly, and went out of the room.

Danny told the girl not to go anywhere, before entering the bathroom with a pack of clothes. He quickly washed himself up, and the ice cold water had a magical effect. He phased off the remaining water and dressed up in black T-shirt and blue jeans. He had a plan, but it required one more thing. When Phantom came out of the room, he walked to his daughter and kneeled to her eyelevel.

"Hey, Dani, wanna see one superpower?"

The girl got stars in her eyes. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Turn away...now look back."

Dani looked back and saw that Danny now had black hair and blue eyes. Smirking at the confused girl, Danny picked her up.

"Prepare yourself, kiddo, and watch another trick."

A second later both of them were engulfed by a smoke, before they reappeared in FentonWorks. Dani looked at him in childish awe, with her mouth and eyes wide open. Danny poked on her nose, before putting her on the ground. Phantom then took her small hand and together they left the building. Phantom family walked down the street, and its youngest member was looking around in curiosity. It was her first real visit to the outside world.

"Daddy, where are we goin'?" She suddenly asked.

"Well, you wanted to eat, and I want too. But I only have Imperial currency, and humans haven't yet started using them."

Speaking of, the small ingots previously used for payments were melted down because of how impractical they were. While in treasury they were kept as big ingots, in usual lives people used special credit cards or Imperial coins, which were made of three sorts of precious metals. Phantom used Roman names, since Yuthanean names already were somewhat similar. So, there were aureus, denarius, sestercium, worth hundred, fifty and twenty five credits respectively. Also, there were much cheaper credit chips for smaller operations.

But the girl didn't know how things worked, so she just let her Dad to do what's needed. Since the coins used precious metals, he was able to exchange them to dollars. Thousands of dollars, after blockade inflation, there was nothing you could do about it. Then they walked to one particular restaurant.

"Ah, Nasty Burger, long time no see," he mumbled.

Dani grimaced. "Nasty?"

Phantom shrugged. "It's better than it sounds."

Once inside, he made an order, and to his surprise, Dani didn't want any meat. Phantom chuckled at that, she was like mini Sam. He just asked for a salad, french fries and soda for her, taking a burger for himself, along with a can of coke. When the breakfast was ready, the small family sat at the table and started to eat. Danny chuckled at seeing how fast the girl was guzzling down the food.

"Easy there," he said, and Dani looked up at him with a full mouth. "If you eat so fast, your stomach won't fit anything."

"Undershtood," she responded.

"And don't talk with your mouth full," Danny laughed quietly, before sipping his drink.

It was a nice change from numerous alcoholic beverages. Advanced civilizations had analogs of tea and coffee, but not the sparkling drinks. Suddenly, he heard the sound of doors opening. Out of curiosity, Danny looked there, his eyes widened and his jaw clenched. Of all times to be here! He saw two buffed men, one was a blond with blue eyes, another was an asian with raven black hair. Both were wearing red and white jackets. They haven't changed much, Danny noted, before looking away.

"I'm telling you, it was just freaking awesome!" Dash said in awe.

"You are saying that for an entire hour, dude," Kwam deadpanned.

"Doesn't change the fact that Phantom is awesome. I can't believe he is the Galaxy Emperor, or something, it's so cool."

Danny rolled his eyes. Yep, the jock hadn't changed at all. But, the disguised Emperor ran out of his luck.

"We will be able to travel in space now...Hey, look at that," Dash said slowly, smirked and approached the family. "Long time no see, Fentina, how have you been?"

Groaning internally, Phantom kept a neutral look on his face. "Rather well," he responded coldly.

"Jeez, why so hostile?" Dash kept that stupid grin on his face, leaning on the table. Seeing Dani's fearful expression, Phantom narrowed his eyes, and his look sent chills down the jock's spine.

"You are interrupting my breakfast," Danny menacingly.

"Oh, look how brave we are..."

"Dude, calm down," Kwan interjected. "He lost his parents a few days ago, remember?"

Danny snorted and crossed his hands. "Yeah, would you kindly to leave? We have more important things to do."

"Like what? Babysitting?" Dash smirked, glancing at Dani.

"I consider babysitting the heiress of the country you now live in rather important task."

Just as back on Hyperion, silence settled around. No one would have believed his words, if not for the obvious resemblance Dani possessed. Only one known person had glowing green eyes and snow white hair. Dash backed off, much to Danny's pleasure.

"So I thought," Danny saw that Dani was done with her food. "Have a good day. Take a sestercium," he flipped a coin and Dash caught it.

Dani took her father's hand and snuggled closer to him. The girl didn't like all the attention she was getting. Soon they walked out of the building, before going down the street. Danny felt his child's discomfort.

"Hey," Danny kneeled to her eyelevel. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Dani shifted on her feet, and her big green eyes looked at him. "Why that people looked at me like that?"

Older Phantom chuckled, putting hands on her shoulders. "Because they are surprised, dear. You will have to get used to meeting many new people."

"Why?" She tilted her head.

"Because you are a princess, Dani. And being a princess doesn't mean that you will only sit in castle waiting for the prince. I rule this country, and I will need help once you grow up a bit. Will you help me?"

Dani gave a determined pout. She nodded and hugged him. "Of course, Daddy! When I will be a big girl, I'll help ya. Swearsies!"

Danny laughed and hugged the girl back. There are no words to describe how he loved his little Phantom. Giving the last peck on the forehead, the ghost let go of the baby girl, before they continued walking. Danny's mood lifted considerably, Dani's adorableness had this effect on people.

Soon they reached the apartment building, and Phantom hoped Valerie hadn't moved out. Otherwise he would have to resort to database. And he hated digging in the database. Danny was there once, when he and Valerie studied together. On the inside, building seemed to be really rundown. He really understood why Valerie hated him for that. His offer was going to be welcomed, he had no doubts about that. Reaching the required floor, Danny knocked on the door.

It was opened by an aged dark skinned man with gray hair. His eyes widened in shock at seeing visitors at his

"Danny, it's good to see you!" He smiled. "What brings you here after all this time?"

"Hello, Mr. Gray," Danny smiled in response. "May I come in?"

"Oh, of course, come inside."

Phantoms complied and entered the apartment. A few seconds later they situated on a sofa in a living room. Dani was sitting on an armchair eating sweets Mr. Gray happened to have. It was the only way to make her sit still. The man kept giving her occasional confused glances.

Phantom looked at the older man.

"Where is Valerie?" he asked.

"She should return soon. Valerie has been searching for a job for a while. But with this crisis not many people seemed to be eager for new employees."

"I see...And your job?"

"I used to work in Axion until recently."

Danny flinched. He had a suspicion why he stopped working there.

"Does that have something to do with the invasion?"

"I was fired a week before it. Now I have no regrets after hearing about what happened there. I used to work in security, after all."

"Yeah, it would have been nasty," Danny mumbled, mentally sighing in relief.

"But what happened with you, boy? There was no sign from you for the entire year."

"Well, I got quite busy. But, I became quite wealthy by assuming high position in the Imperial Government. You can say, I have connections in the capital,"  Danny made a sip of offered tea.

Damon's eyes were wide as saucers.

"And why are you here?"

Phantom smiled mysteriously. "I'm on official task from the Emperor. I'd like to tell more when Valerie comes here."

Then they heard the sound of door unlocking.

"Dad, I'm home!" Valerie shouted.

"I'm in the living room, sweetie! Here is someone who wants to see you."

Raising her eyebrow, Valerie took off her muddy boots and went there. The living room was made so she didn't see the visitors at the beginning. But Danny did see his former girlfriend. She had chocolate skin and green eyes. Her haircut had changed from long curly one, giving Phantom flashback about rather unfortunate adventure. Her hair were now short and were combed just like in the version of future Danny was in once.

"What's going on, Dad..." the young woman asked, walking into the room.

"Hello, Valerie," she heard a low baritone and turned to the voice source.

Danny grinned, putting the cup on the table, while she was staring at him, not being able to say anything. "Long time no see."

She literally jumped on him and hugged the ghost. Dani looked with curiosity at the exchange, before attempting to throw a sweet in her mouth. She failed, but decided to keep trying.

"Oh, god, Danny, you are alive!" Valerie cried.

Phantom flinched almost invisibly. He wasn't exactly alive.

"Nice to see you too, Val. How are you?" Danny asked, before the woman let go of him.

"How are YOU?" She responded. "You were gone for a year! Fentons said that that filthy piece of..."

"Valerie, language."

Valerie's lips thinned. "That Phantom killed you."

Danny shifted on his place. 'They seem to blame everything on me,' he muttered mentally.

"I'm fine, Val, more than ever," the ghost smiled, putting hands behind his head. "This year has been rather eventful," Danny's look became serious. "Ugh, alright, here goes nothing. I have to tell you one thing, but promise you won't freak out."

"Wha..."

"Promise me," Danny interrupted.

"Alright, alright, I promise," Valerie raised her hand in scout's honor. However, she was worried about the reasons of Danny's concern.

Phantom sighed. "Fine, do you remember when I started acting...weird?"

"Yeah, it was...in the beginning of Freshmen year."

Danny nodded. "There was...an accident. Having a lab in your basement was a disaster waiting to happen. When Jack and Maddie made a portal, it didn't work, and I decided to try to fix it. They put the on button on the inside. Being zapped with thousands bolts of electricity was not nice," he continued, despite Grays' horrified faces. "But I was saved. The pure ectoplasm of the portal got inside of me and supported life in my body. It had a...side effect, though."

"I was able to become a ghost, and then come back to life by a mere snap of my fingers. And...my ghostly appearance is familiar to you too well..."

Taking a sigh, Phantom dropped the illusion, earning several gasps. Thankfully, Valerie was unarmed, so she won't do anything because of a sheer whirlwind of emotions.

"Yes, Val. I am Phantom. I was him all along."

"No, th-that's not possible!" Valerie was in denial.

"You want proofs, don't you? We had our first kiss on top of a broken wheel. Once when we studied, I accidentally found a certain journal, which led to a very awkward situation..."

"What?" Damon asked, but Danny didn't pay attention.

"And finally, a few days before my dissappearance you have told me about being a Ghost huntress. If I wasn't Danny you were friends and were dating with, then how come I know all those things? Please, I beg you, don't react like my parents did. Why do you think they lied to the people that I murdered myself out of the blue? Because they needed to hide the evidences. To hide what they were doing with me for three painful months," Danny glanced at his daughter. "I would have shown you, but not in front of her," he whispered, forgetting that Dani had a sensitive hearing as well.

"Shown what, Daddy?" She tilted her head.

Grays stared at the girl, then at Danny, then again at the girl.

"I'll tell you when you grow up, sweetie," he smiled weakly at her, before turning back to Valerie. "And I'll explain the situation with Dani later. Considering you don't throw me out now."

Valerie looked down on the ground. "I'm so sorry, Danny. I...I tried to...oh god," she rubbed her hands in shame.

"Hey, don't worry about that, Val," Phantom put a hand on her shoulder. "You had reasons to be angry, even if it was an accident. Have you found a job?"

"No," she shook her head. "I haven't."

Danny smiled. "That's why I'm here, though. You happened to be friends with the Emperor, which opens a lot of doors for you. Mr. Gray, I have a place where your talents may be useful. Imperial Research Bureau needs a renovation in security. No ghost dog will bother you this time. Thirty thousand credits per mouth, luxury apartments on Babylon, for which you won't have to pay."

"Isn't that a corruption?"

Danny smiled. "Then make yourself worth that spendings. That means it won't be a corruption. Do you agree?"

"Of course, ehm...Your Highness?"

Phantom laughed, "Just Danny will be fine. I have an offer for you as well, Val. Coming back to our fights, I couldn't help but find using armed hoverboards quite effective. This is what we may use on the future battlefields."

"You wanted peace, isn't that what you said?" Valerie raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, but wars are inevitable. Even now, my legions are crushing yet another local state. They have declared war on us, and I had to move most of my fleet to the battlefield. Our victory is imminent now, when their fleets made of junk are crushed by our brand new and shiny Star Destroyers. Still, techs are what brings victory in Galactic wars. So, I'd like to not only purchase the techs Vlad made for you, but to employ your services for a special division."

"Danny," Damon crossed his hands. "I will never permit my daughter to fight in a war."

"Dad, I'm an adult now, I think I have right to decide what to do," Valerie responded.

"I am not proposing that, Mr. Gray. The future troops of that division will need an instructor. And Valerie can fit this role just fine. What do you say, Val?"

"Well," she hummed in thought. "Still better than work in a Nasty Burger."

Danny laughed. "And they say C.A.T. decides the future. But, you know what, the soldiers should come to respect you, since you will be younger than most of them. They respect me because I led them through civil war. I have a small, almost harmless operation around here. And don't worry, Mr. Gray, I'll be there as well. The transport connection with the rest of the Empire will be established in a few days, I recommend to pack your belongings. You have my farewell, I'll contact you later," Phantom left a communicator on the table. "Common, Dani, let's go."

Dani moaned, dropping the bowl from her belly. Phantom snickered at the sight. Her mouth and the area around was brown from all the chocolate. "Looks like someone ate too much," Danny chuckled, taking off his white glove and using it as napkin. The girl raised her hands, non verbally asking Daddy to carry her. Phantom smiled and complied to her request. Dani snuggled closer and put her head on his shoulder. Damon smiled as well, it reminded him a lot about the time when Valerie was a little girl.

Two Phantoms left the apartment, before Danny teleported back on his ship.

Next few days passed almost unnoticeably. All the time the Emperor was too busy with bureaucratic processing. It was a true torture, and sometimes he thought that the war would have been much easier. Mass protests broke out everywhere. In some places they were a huge minority, in others, he had to deploy soldiers to maintain order. But his forces were stretched thin across the planet, and the local police had to help the new government.

Also, he did hide a few things from the public. It wasn't that painful for most of them, actually. Several billionaires found that their property was confiscated. Their business was built on wars, some sold weapons, some got resources for free. One bastard destroyed the economy of a small country, turning people's lives in hell, becoming a few billion dollars richer. Most of them kept their money in gold, since it was more stable. Better for the Emperor's plan. Another thing which added...enthusiasm...was the fact that some of them had sponsored the GIW, and that was not because of good intentions. He will make them pay.

But it wasn't the matter at the moment. He was distracted from his musings by the adjutant running into his camp tent.

"Your Highness," he kicked his chest with his fist. "The operators say that the project is ready to be launched."

"I'm coming," Phantom said, putting away the datapad.

The ghost removed his legs from the table, before standing up and following the soldier. Walking out of the tent, he was greeted by a construction site. Phantom purchased from the town ownership a big piece of land. Fenton portal was too small for launching a huge industrial project. That's why he ordered to build the required constructions. Cooperating with IRB, Danny created machines for harvesting ectoplasm from the Ghost Zone air.

Outside of that dimension were planned mineral processing plants. It will create thousands of working places, Amity Park will become a one factory town, since this place will need to supply the entire Empire. He planned a similar facility in Bermuda Triangle. But first, they had to build a big enough portal. It was fifteen meters in diameter, and the number of warning signs was alarming. To launch the gateway they needed a lot of ectoplasm. Thankfully, the Far Frozen had provided enough.

Phantom passed the soldiers, who stood in formation already. They were supposed to march straight to the other side once the portal will be opened. Phantom stepped on the platform and approached the elderly man in black lab coat. On his chest he had an IRB badge, which looked like a sign of atom, with three letters written inside of it. Banality, but it was good enough.

"My lord," the man greeted. "We have finished the construction according to your blueprints."

"Tell me something I don't know," Danny snorted and smirked. "Alright, turn it on, we have to do it quick."

The man nodded and pressed a few buttons on the console, contacting the other members of the maintenance crew through the communicator.

"I hope you haven't put the on button on the inside," Phantom commented, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Of course, not, Your Highness."

With a pull of the lever, the portal started sparkling with electricity, before the green and black abyss started to swirl inside of it. Phantom smiled in satisfaction.

"How long can you maintain it opened?"

"Judging from our data, it should be enough for twenty four hours."

"Send an excavation team, along with the fifth division to guard them. Take as much as you can and come out."

Soon they will be able to maintain it opened 24/7, but for now they had time limits. The yuth scientist nodded, before the Emperor turned to face the prepared soldiers. There were two thousand men, not including people driving twenty walkers. The walkers were modified, and were now walking on six legs instead of two, they now weren't that tall. They were armed with one main battery on the roof, four smaller ones on the front wall, two on its back. Also, there were shooting positions on the flat roof.

Phantom smiled at them. "Soldiers, behind that gateway lies a world like no other. The world inhabited by very territorial beings. You have been equipped with special weaponry, because the locals are resistant to blasters. All of you must follow special rules in order to survive. First, do not break the formation. I know it is obvious, but please, follow this instruction like never before. Do not touch plants, do not fire at the life forms unless they attack. And the last thing. DO NOT open the doors. You will understand when we will be there. Movement formation!" He ordered.

Danny stepped down and was greeted by Valerie. She was wearing black and red armor made from light, but strong compound, while carrying her helmet in her arms. Danny patted the woman on back and smiled.

"Ready to fight for your country?" He asked teasingly.

"I don't even know what you are planning to fight against," she deadpanned.

"We will take over Walker's prison."

"Seriously, all this army just to take one prison?"

"Yes, our number superiority is unquestionable. It is more of a showoff, actually. We will show our military might, which will scare most of the hostile ghosts and make the more neutral ones...more cooperative."

"When have you become a strategist?" She muttered.

"I guess I always had it inside. When the opportunity came, it was exploited. Anyways, wanna ride in a walker?"

They went inside the front walker and sat there, and the squad started moving through the portal. Danny kept telling directions to the driver, since no maps were made yet. The soldiers outside felt uncomfortable. Their ruler was right, they had never seen anything like this before. The ghosts were shocked to see an entire army moving through their world. No one had ever seen an organized army ever since Pariah's rule. There were only small tribal skirmishes. They flew away, trying to get away and planning to tell the others.

After half an hour of moving, Phantom was able to see the prison. He ordered the soldiers to stop.

"Are we in firing range?" He asked the driver.

"Yes, sir, we are ready to fire at your command."

Danny nodded, humming in thought. The prison had several walls. The front one had only one small entrance, it was the thickest and the tallest. No prisoners were kept there, they were only let out for a walk there. However, since Walker was so obsessed with rules, he wouldn't have let them out a few hours sooner. Which meant Phantom could blow that wall to oblivion. He doubted it was made to block the massive bombardment.

Walker didn't know that when Phantom visited, he left a communicator in his room. The warden heard beeping beneath his table. Confused, he took the device and pressed a glowing button. Danny's hologram appeared. The young ghost grinned.

"Hello, Walky, if you are watching this, I am being on a short distance away, along with an entire army. And no, this isn't prerecorded message. I offer you to surrender, otherwise it will get nasty."

Walker growled. "Jokes like that are against the rules, punk."

"I follow only Imperial laws. You are not going to surrender, are you?"

"Not a chance, punk."

"Have it your way," Phantom said. "Batteries, turn the front wall into rubble!" He ordered, before the communication was over.

'Batteries?' Walker asked mentally.

Suddenly the entire ground started to shake violently. The warden almost fell on the floor, but regained his position rather quickly. He ran to the window, but from his place he was able to see only red blasts high in the air, right before they hit the wall. Walker gritted his teeth and gripped the edge of windowsill. Then another ghost barged in. He had purple skin and an eyepatch over one of his eyes.

"Walker, we are under attack!"

"I can see that, Bullet, rally all the guards we have immediately!"

Phantom removed binoculars from his eyes, before looking at Valerie.

"Alright, Val, see that forming hole?" At her nod, Danny continued. "Take a squad of troops and attack there. We will flank them using number superiority. I'll attack from the front. Got it?"

"You are the boss here," Valerie shrugged, before taking on her helmet. She then hit her leg with another, before hoverboard appeared beneath her feet. She flew to the required positions, not seeing a smile on the Emperor's face. He looked at the wall and noticed its almost complete destruction. Only hills of broken stones were left in several places, which was perfect, since it was, even if little, high ground.

"Cease fire!" He commanded.

The batteries fell silent. Phantom jumped off the walker and stood in front of the troops.

"Walkers, start moving, Stormtroopers," a green sword materialized in his hand. "Charge!"

With enthusiastic yells the soldiers ran right behind their ruler, clutching recently made ectoblasters in their arms. They ran to the destroyed wall, and in a few jumps ran up the small hill, before being greeted by intense fire. Walker's guards were armed with police sticks, which could fire ectogoo. They were armed only to capture, not kill. That's why several soldiers were trapped and fell on the ground. However, it put the Stormtroopers out of the game just as effectively.

They, on the other hand, fired from their weapons. The guards hid behind the police shields, which blocked blaster fire. The prisoners who had the windows out to the street watched with marvel at the transpiring battle. Some tried to find a way to escape, while the entire security was occupied.

Phantom deflected several blasts, before pushing the entire firmly squad forward. The shields weren't protecting them anymore. Those who could still move started to retreat backwards. Then much to their surprise, they were fired at from behind and above. Valerie was firing down at the retreating ghosts, cutting off any retreat. Finally the sixty remaining guards were surrounded.

Danny clapped sarcastically, making all of them turn towards him.

"Congratulations, you stood your ground for...ten minutes, nice," he noted. "Where is your boss, though? I don't see him anywhere."

"We were simply ordered to fight you," one of them said.

"Seems like Walky doesn't trust you well enough," he shrugged. "But I have an offer, and I hope you are smarter than the warden."

"I have a better idea."

Walker became visible, pointing a revolver at Phantom's temple. "How about I end your miserable existence?"

"Stand down," Danny commanded, seeing his soldiers turning their weapons at the warden. "And where is your go-to boy? Ah, yes, he is pointing another gun at my chest. Would you kindly to show yourself, Bullet?"

The ghost became visible as well, holding another revolver in his hand, confused about how Phantom knew where he was. Ghost sense didn't work in the Ghost Zone."

"This is what we are going to do, your men get out of MY prison, or we'll make a few holes in your body."

"Or what?" Danny asked innocently. "Shoot me and my soldiers will turn you into a puddle of ectoplasm. You won't dare."

Walker growled as Phantom made a valid point.

"Let's solve this issue personally. If you and Bullet beat me, we will leave. If I win, you step down from your position. How does that sound?"

The warden contemplated the issue. Of all the possibilities, it had the biggest chance of positive outcome.

"Fine, punk, but no funny tricks."

Suddenly Phantom was grabbed in a handlock behind his back. Alright, that part was unexpected, Danny had to admit.

Walker was about to kick him in the face, but Phantom jumped and kicked the warden in his jaw. A loud crack was heard by anyone, along with Walker's yell of pain. Even though the skeleton was absent from the ghosts' body, Walker actually WAS the skeleton, partially at least. While the warden backed off, Danny kicked Bullet with the back of his head, before they swapped positions. Now Phantom held the ghost in a deathly grip, while pushing the rest of his body forward and pinning the ghost to the ground. When Walker regained his composure, he was shocked to find that the stark haired man was about to rip Bullet's hands off.

Before the warden could do anything, Bullet screamed in pain.

"Oh, stop being a crybaby. Remember numerous times you two nroke my hands," Phantom said.

Valerie stared at his display of brutality. Danny surely had changed, and some of that changes weren't exactly right.

Walker charged an ectoblast, but Danny summoned a shield which blocked it. He finally let go of Bullet, before approaching Walker. He avoided several shots from revolver. It fired usual bullets dipped in ectoplasm. It could cause serious damage. Once in range, Phantom threw a kick at the warden. Walker blocked the hit with his free hand, and tried to fire at Danny's gut. He pressed the trigger, but suddenly the gun exploded in his hand. He made a few steps back, clutching his burned palm.

"What. The HELL?!" he exclaimed.

"Simple, I didn't let your gun to fire by keeping bullet inside of it," Phantom grinned. "Now, you better surrender..."

His hand glowed with crimson red color, and every ghost stared in shock, awe and fear at the biggest display of power the ghost can ever show. Walker couldn't believe that the punk was so powerful.

"Because I won't give you ANOTHER chance."

"I...I surrender," Walker hissed through gritted teeth.

Phantom smirked, before turning to the guards. "You heard him, gentlemen. From now on, this prison and the territory of ten miles in radius belong to the Sith Empire. I'll send Walker's replacement soon. You won't be workless, all you need to do is kneel before your Emperor."

That tactic always worked perfectly. Give people the choice while they actually had no choice.

A.N. I know there wasn't much interaction between Danny and Valerie,  but it is to come. Also, someone gonna be jealous.