Third Person POV

Danny groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, wincing as the light caused his current migraine to get even worse. He tried to stand up, but found himself unable to. After trying a few more times, Danny was soon wide awake and came to the realization that the reason he could not get up was because his wrists and ankles were bound to the chair he was sitting in. No, not chair, throne. He was sitting on the throne in Phantom's Keep in his Ghost Prince form, with the Ring of Rage glowing menacingly on his finger.

Danny began to panic, trying desperately to remember how and why he was at the castle, but his memory was drawing a blank. He and Fright Knight had been on their way to get his friends so they could talk to Clockwork about Vizier trying to control Danny through the ring and then...

The doors to the throne room swung open with a flourish, startling the young halfa out of his thoughts, and in floated a familiar, wrinkled face. "Ah, you have finally awakened, your Highness," Vizier said gleefully, hurrying to Danny's side.

Suddenly, Danny remembered everything. Flying to school, being ambushed by shapeless creatures, seeing Vizier and then nothing. "You?!" Danny cried out, pulling desperately against his restraints, "What do you want from me?!".

Vizier frowned, "I am merely helping you fulfill your destiny, my Prince; to lead the Ghost Zone into a new age of prosperity, just as your predecessor had attempted." Vizier's expression turned grim as he continued, "Pariah and I were so close to making everything better, taking back the Ghost Zone from the Ancients, then everyone had to interfere..." he trailed off, leaving an air of awkwardness.

The frail looking spirit looked over to a very confused Danny and smirked. "But now, there is a new King that can change all that," he said, regaining his former eerie composure.

Danny pulled against his restraints, desperately trying to activate his powers, to no avail. "Hate to break it to you, Vizier, but I'm the reason that Pariah isn't parading through the Ghost Zone right now. So you can understand my lack of enthusiasm when it comes to being his replacement," the halfa taunted.

Vizier's eyes flashed a dangerous before he calmed himself. "Your hesitation is understandable, my Prince," he whispered, closing his eyes. He floated closer to Danny, reaching into his cloak. He was barely a breath away from the young hero when Vizier opened his eyes to glare at Danny, "and also most annoying," he finished, removing an ornate box from his cloak. He opened it to reveal the Crown of Fire.

Danny gasped and back away from Vizier as much as he could (he was tied to the throne after all). "Have no fear, young Prince. Once the Crown is united with the Ring, you will reach your true potential. And I, your loyal adviser, will be here to guide you to the path of greatness," he coaxed, removing the crown and placing it above Danny's head.

"Whether you want it or not."

Hey, it's Normal Line Break. Just checking in to see if you readers are all good. I made a resolution to be kinder. It may not last long but eh, you take what you can get. Enjoy the rest of the chapter *awkward smile*.

While Fright Knight tended to the wounds the Observants had gained with the help of Tucker and Sam treated Fright Knight's wounds that had reopened due to his constant movement, Clockwork stared at his viewing screens, adjusting the time on his staff constantly and stroking his elderly form's beard.

"Careful, old friend," Nocturne warned, though his words seemed mocking as he floated to Clockwork's side, "you only get one relic after all." He finished by tapping on Clockwork's staff. "Speaking of which...," the starry spirit pondered, stroking his chin.

Clockwork sighed, cutting off Nocturne before the Elder Spirit could utter his question, "I collected all the ones I could find, yours wasn't one of them," he answered quickly, shifting to his elderly form. 

Nocturne rolled his eyes, but let the subject go. He could tell his fellow Elder Spirit was not in the mood to be tested. "So, your other half has the Crown, the Ring and the Prince; and his coronation is to take place today," he started, "What are we going to do?"

"Stop him," Clockwork answered quickly, floating from screen to screen as multiple different timelines played on the screens at dizzying speeds. "I have seen every possible outcome, our chances of victory are all but guaranteed."

"That's sounds like a good thing," Sam chimed in, taking a break from helping the Observants and bravely standing close to Nocturne, "but you don't seem too happy about this." Granted, Clockwork never really seemed happy about anything but the young goth girl had a sense for emotions that were the opposite of happy.

The Time Master furrowed his brow at the goth, shifting to his toddler form. "As I once told Danny, the way I see time is like an aerial view of a parade. I see the twists and turns it may, or may not take," Clockwork began to explain, turning back to the screens. "But this does not mean I can completely know what future is the one that will come to be. I do have the ability to interfere but it comes at a price." The image on the screen that Clockwork was currently floating in front of rippled until it held the face of a very familiar foe;  Danny's future evil self. 

Sam gasped which caused Tucker and Fright Knight to look up. Tucker rushed to Sam's side, staring in disbelief at the screen. "Don't tell me that creep is back too?!" Tucker cried out, gripping his beret tightly.

Clockwork shook his head, shifting to his young adult form. "I took my chances helping Danny overcome his dark future. I meddled and now I am paying the price for it, by putting Danny in danger," the Elder Spirit mused.

Nocturne scoffed, "So what? You want to throw yourself a pity party? By the Creator, what has happened to you, old friend. Does that human truly mean that much to you?" he questioned. Nocturne's casual way of throwing out the idea that Clockwork shouldn't help Danny had Sam glaring daggers at him and hovering her hand over her Fenton Wrist Ray with Tucker right behind her to give her backup. Even Fright Knight had ceased tending to the Observants' wounds to rest his hand on his sword, the Soul Shredder.

Sensing the growing hostility, Clockwork pinched the bridge of his nose. He floated down to rejoin the group and shifted to his elderly form. "That human is more important than you realize, Nocturne. Someday, you will understand," Clockwork scolded. Nocturne frowned but backed off and the hostility in the air faded. "Now, we haven't much time," Clockwork continued, heading to the doors leading out of his chamber with his guests in tow, "we must attack now, before the hour of Danny's coronation or else we will be too late and your friend will become the next Pariah Dark."

"This should be easy, right? One bad Elder Spirit, guy, versus two good Elder Spirits, a ghost knight and two professional ghost hunters?" Tucker said, brushing off his shoulders confidently and showing off his non-existent muscles.

Nocturne's booming laughter filled the halls of Clockwork's Tower, causing the technogeek to jump. When he had finally stopped laughing, the starry spirit wiped a tear from his eye, "Oh dear, I didn't realize humans could be so stupid they were funny!" he chuckled. 

Tucker frowned, "You got something to say, smart guy?"

Nocturne loomed over Tucker, his blood red eyes staring deep into Tucker's blue eyes. The teen felt the world around him disappear until it was just him and Nocturne, trapped in a void of endless nothingness.  "Two human hunters are barely a match for a mere blob ghost, your ghost knight is wounded, and my powers are certainly strong but I am nowhere near my full potential as I have not had them for longer than your entire family has been alive," Nocturne growled, his voice echoing all around Tucker. "Not to mention, the only one who can put an end Vizier is Clockwork. Such is the Ancient's Law."

Tucker felt his mouth go dry and found it hard to breathe. He scrambled backwards, away from the piercing eyes that drove knives into his soul, but found no escape. He had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He was... nothing...

"TUCKER!"

A voice screaming his name caused Tucker to sharply inhale, and proceed to cough as the rush of oxygen into his body was too much for it to handle at that moment. When Tucker stopped coughing he saw Sam kneeling next to him, glaring up at Nocturne. Next to Nocturne was a very angry Fright Knight holding the Soul Shredder to the starry Elder Spirit's throat.

"I advise you to not bring harm to the young Prince's friends. For you will have me to answer to if you do," the ghost knight said coldly.

Nocturne rolled his eyes, "How completely un-interesting. Can't any of you take a joke? I'm only the Elder Spirit of Mind after all. I can't hurt his body," he explained before slinking away to float next to Clockwork, who apparently had just ignored the whole ordeal.

The Elder Spirit of Time was running every possible outcome in his mind. They would only have one chance to save Danny and fix everything, but they had to do it within the realm of possibility or risk making everything worse. After much more silent deliberation (or as silent as it could get due to Nocturne constantly antagonizing the other three beings in the room which led to very loud arguments), Clockwork had made his decision.

Gathering the other four members in the room, he began to explain his plan. They were to attack immediately. Nocturne and Fright Knight were instructed to be bait, to draw out any tricks Vizier had and fight them off while Sam, Tucker and Clockwork slipped past the castle's defenses and reach the throne room. Clockwork would deal with Vizier while Tucker and Sam tried to get to Danny.

"One addition to that plan," Sam interrupted, "we should bring in Jazz." 

Tucker looked at his gothic friend in shock. Never in a thousand years would he have guessed that Sam would suggest that they include Danny's cheery older sister in a mission, especially not after the last time she tried to help them and ended up only capturing her brother in the Fenton Thermos.

Sam rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "I'm almost positive she already knows about Danny being the next Ghost Prince and she's probably not going to be too happy to hear that we left her out of a mission that defines her brother's fate," she explained. 

The others had to admit that she had a point. They made a quick stop at Fenton Works to grab Jazz (who was extremely angry at not being told about Vizier until now but that anger quickly changed into rage after hearing that he had Danny). The three humans geared up with a multitude of Fenton Ghost Hunting equipment and piled into Specter Speeder. 

Sam and Tucker did their best to catch Jazz up on everything that had happened, Fright Knight being Danny's bodyguard, Vizier's plan, the Elder Spirits and Nocturne, while Jazz listened intently as she went through a roller coaster of emotions. Jazz knew that Clockwork was bad news, but she kept those thoughts to herself as apparently he was the key to saving Danny. She'd chew out the Elder Spirit later, after she locked Danny in the Fenton Thermos for a few hours for not telling her about any of this.

Fright Knight joined the humans on the Specter Speeder to conserve as much energy as he could before the battle as his wounds were still healing. Though that may have been a mistake as he was just badgered with questions by Jazz.

Nocturne and Clockwork flew alongside the Specter Speeder in silence, with Nocturne stealing a glance at Clockwork every now and then. Clockwork shifted to his toddler form and blurted out, "What is it, Nocturne?". He was tired of the 'secret' glances and wanted to make sure Nocturne was going into this battle with a clear conscience.

"Well, since you've asked," Nocturne began, floating in front of Clockwork while keeping up with the Speeder, "You mentioned that the boy is quite important to you, but never why. I'm just curious about what kind of human can pierce the cold heart of the Time Master," he finished with a smirk.

Clockwork glared at Nocturne. "Maybe... I see something in the boy that you don't. Well, not yet at least," he replied, refusing to say anymore. Nocturne tried to pry out a better answer, but Clockwork had fallen silent.

Admitting defeat, Nocturne returned to Clockwork's side. "Just make sure you put an end to Vizier for good this time," he grumbled.

True to his vow of silence, Clockwork did not reply. In his mind though, he was already imagining all the ways he saw Vizier being defeated, silently hoping that the path they were currently on would lead to the future where at least one of those ways would become reality.

A/N: Hello all, I hope you all are doing alright and staying safe. I'm sorry for the slow updates, I'm trying to get better. A lot is going on right now but I swear this story will finish. Also sorry if this chapter is a little short or boring, the excitement will come next chapter. As the book nears its conclusion I am already starting to prepare for the new Phantom Prophecy sequel. Thank you all for your continued support and remember to wash your hands! See you all in the next one!