On the inside the Royal Barge was much nicer than on outside. Well, judging from the princess' attitude, Danny guessed that she got used to luxury. Thankfully, he wasn't given some janitory, but a very nice room to stay with a king-sized bed. Phantom definitely died again and gone to heaven. The entire ride went nicely. Without any storms so far, and even without Azula trying to burn him down. Probably because he hadn't bothered her...much.

Most of the time Danny was reading the scrolls he had 'borrowed' from the Royal library. It's not like the Fire Lord would miss a few books consisting the basics about the world. He had searched for information about Omashu. Apparently it was one of the most protected fortresses of the Earth Kingdom. Danny was baffled about how their fortresses were even penetrable, the earthbenders could just raise another wall after the previous one was broken. Thankfully, the scrolls had the information about how that system worked. So, Danny spent the time by planning the assault. After all, his future depended on its results.

In the last day of the trip Danny noticed that the crew was summoned to the deck for some reason. Phantom shrugged and, after some time of contemplation, decided to check what was going on. He flew through the ceiling and became visible on the open air. There he saw soldiers standing in two lines to the left and to the right from the princess. They were dressed in red and golden armor, with closed helmets.

"My brother and my uncle had disgraced the Fire Lord and brought shame to all of us," Azula told the soldiers as she strolled forward. The soldiers noticed the half ghost, who was leaning at the wall, trying to stay away from two grannies who looked ready to start decaying.

"You may have mixed feelings about attacking members of the royal family," the princess continued. "I understand. But I assure you, if you hesitate, I will not hesitate to bring you down. Dismissed."

The soldiers went back to doing their own things, and Danny walked straight to her.

"Incredible, you make the most inspiring speeches," he said sarcastically.

She sighed. "And the day began so well," she grumbled. "What do you want?"

"Nothing in particular, I was just curious, and my back had started to ache from all the sitting on one place."

"You rode a sea lion yesterday."

"Exactly. Yesterday. It was more like an exception. Besides, that thing tried to eat me all the time."

Before Azula could make rather obvious remark about her true wish, the captain called for her from behind. Danny decided to leave, so he slowly sinked through the ground. Soon he returned into his room and flopped on a chair. What was he supposed to do until sunset, the ship was supposed to arrive only by then.

Danny was proved wrong when he saw a land out of his window at noon. When Phantom visited the bridge to clarify the situation, the captain told him that Azula ordered him to ignore the strong tides, and threatened to throw him overboard if he doesn't obey. For some reason, Danny wasn't surprised. Unlike the princess, he could understand the officer's concerns. That rustbucket looked like it was ready to sink any moment, but Danny kept his opinion to himself, not willing to offend the pride of their fleet.

The ship had reached the port, and Azula had called for the ghost teen. With a look of disbelief Phantom entered her chambers.

"You have a talent of summoning me, Your Majesty," he said with a grin. "What can I do?"

From her seat near the mirror, Azula rubbed her temples. "I need a break from you."

She threw him a small tube, which was used for message hawks.

"Inside is a message from the Fire Lord. Give it to a commander of the army, and they will be obliged to follow your orders. I expect Omashu to be conquered by the time of my arrival."

"Are you not coming?" Danny asked in confusion.

Azula shrugged. "I am, but you go ahead. I have another job to accomplish."

"Tracking down your relatives, I presume?"

"That's none of your business, servant. I don't care how you get there, but you better do it quick."

"You just have to make it complicated, don't you?" Danny crossed his hands, causing the princess to smirk.

"What? Our mighty King of Ghosts can't make it to the battlefield alone?" She teased.

Danny shrugged and approached the door. Suddenly a devious grin appeared on his face, which went unnoticed by Azula. "Says the one who walks around with her own small army."

He opened the door and hid behind it, protecting himself from a raging blue inferno. He patted his shoulder and extinguished what managed to get through the edge of the door.

Danny entered his room, before putting the message tube on a table. He took a deep breath.

"Going ghost," he whispered.

With a loud whirring sound and a blinding flash of moonlight, a pearly white ring appeared around his waist, before splitting in two and traveling up and down. When they finished their path, Danny looked much differently. His hair became whiter than snow, and his eyes started to glow with deathly green color. The clothes also changed, instead of hoodie and jeans was a tight one-piece black jumpsuit, with a white 'DP' emblem on his chest. His sneakers were replaced by white boots, and his palms were hidden beneath white gloves.

Danny looked at himself in a mirror. "I've almost forgotten how it feels like," he mumbled under his nose.

He took a map from the table and scrutinized it. He had already marked a route to Omashu, which went through the mountain territory. The fastest way to get there was by air, which was precisely why Danny had changed into ghost form. He could fly faster in it and his increased stamina allowed to travel longer. Still, flying on higher than average speed, namely hundred miles per hour, he could get to Omashu by the night, and that's without breaks, which was not a part of his plan.

Phantom took the message tube and tied it to his belt and rolled the map back intl scroll. He became invisible and intangible, before flying out of the ship.

Once right below the clouds, Danny regained a vertical position and took a deep sigh of satisfaction. The biggest thing he missed about his ghost form was flight. This feeling, when he could deny the laws of nature and ignore gravity. Shaking his head slightly, Danny unrolled the map again and flew in required direction. He smiled as the slight wind blew into his face and ruffled his pearly locks. He flew above several settlements, not worried about being spotted. Maximum that people were able to see was a black dot.

It was a long way north, and by sunset Danny got really bored. There were only mountains around, dry gray mountains. Besides, he left without lunch, so Phantom was also hungry. And with only rocks everywhere, there wasn't much food around. Sighing, Danny landed on a flat rock and put a hand under his chin.

"What shall I do..." he muttered.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling nearby and saw a paperbag lying nearby. Raising his eyebrow, Danny looked inside and his face gained a deadpan expression.

"Clockwork," It was not a question, it was a statement.

Of all the things to help him with, it was only a food from cheap fast food restaurant. Thank you, All Powerful Time Lord.

The half ghost sighed and shook his head. Phantom just took out a burger, situated on the edge of the cliff and started to eat. Once he made the last sip of soda, Danny got on his feet and fired a green beam at the package, leaving only ash from it.

"Protect the environment, kids," he mumbled, clenching his fist and extinguishing green smoke coming from his palm.

Phantom took off the ground and continued his path.

The flight came to an end about ten p.m. Phantom saw multiple lights on the distance, which meant he had found the Fire Nation camp. He landed on a short distance from it and turned human again. He went towards the lights and soon were greeted by a bunch of red tents with unmistakable fiery coat of arms. Danny didn't make it far, because he was immediately spotted by a passing patrol. And since he obviously was not a local, much less an armored soldier, his presence caught their attention.

"Hey, you!" One of them called.

Danny looked like he didn't give a damn. Oh, wait...

"What are doing here?" The soldier asked.

Phantom shrugged. "I have to see your commander."

The soldiers burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, ignoring narrowed eyes of the ghost teen. The one in charge looked up from the ground, wiping a tear from his eye, and saw a tube right in front of his eyes. He flinched, recognizing what it was.

"The Fire Lord's orders," Phantom said coldly, as his eyes flashed green for a brief moment. The patrolmen thought it was a trick of light. Danny hated when someone tried to make fun of him.

The soldiers paled after learning that piece of information. "Uhm, this way, I'll show you the road, just don't tell anyone," the captain said.

Danny's look softened a bit. No, he won't tell. "I'll think about it," he said nevertheless, just to get the best results.

The soldier walked in certain direction and the ghost teen followed. All the while he was receiving multiple confused glances, but since there was the captain near him, they weren't worried. The oficcer gestured for a tent.

"General is inside," he said.

"Thank you, return to your duties now," Danny flashed a slight smile.

Phantom entered the tent, and noticed several people inside. One in particular stood out from the rest, because he wasn't wearing any armor, only rich robes. The mid aged man had gray hair, tied in a high asian bun, along with a short beard. The entire HQ looked at the newest arrival in confusion.

"Hello there," Danny smirked.

"Who let the kid inside?" The commander asked harshly.

Phantom gasped dramatically, putting a hand on his heart. "That's what I get instead of welcome," he deadpanned, throwing a tube with a message, which was caught by the man.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why not message hawk?" The man asked, unrolling the scroll.

"It would have been too slow. Just half a day ago I was on the ocean shore," Danny crossed his hands.

"And I recommend to choose your words carefully," his smirk grew wider at seeing the man's shocked expression once he read the message through. "You are talking to your superior now."

"Y-yes, forgive me, Your Majesty," the man bowed slightly, as the other officers read the message themselves. "I'm General Ukano, the loyal servant of the Fire Lord."

"I certainly hope so," Danny nodded. "Pleasure to make an acquaintance, and please, call me Phantom, I'm not a King here."

Ukano was a bit surprised at the royal's humble attitude, and not only him. Danny ignored their confusion and looked at the map lying on a table.

"So, do you have a plan already?" Phantom asked curiosly.

"Uhm, no, we have only blocked the supply lines. There are three miles to Omashu, and we will have to go around that mountain behind us."

Danny rubbed his chin and hummed. "How many earthbenders do they have?" He asked.

"Our intelligence reports about at least thousand, not mention three thousand of garrison non-bending soldiers," Ukano reported.

"And how many do we have?"

"About the same amount, but we have twice as much firebenders. Besides, we have trebuchets and catapults."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have whole ten divisions?"

"Well, we needed to cover all roads to the city. Even if there is only one gateway, there are different roads leading to it. We had to spread our forces to block them without coming into line of sight."

"I see," Phantom drummed his fingers on the table. "I can open the gateway for you and cover the forces until they get through."

"But there is an entire army!" Ukano exclaimed in shock.

"The Fire Lord wants to see a true power his ally wields. And I shall demonstrate it," Danny grinned as his eyes glowed green.

Everyone flinched in surprise and gulped, that kid was damn scary. Phantom didn't pay attention to it.

"My task is not to beat entire army, just hold them away from the city gates and help our troops to get inside without any threats. Open fire from all machines you've got on my signal. It will assist me and keep the enemy soldiers occupied."

He received a nod from a person responsible for the 'artillery'.

"Are there any secret passageways we can use?"

The commanding officers looked at each other and shook their heads. "Not any we know about," Ukano responded.

"And the sewers? Their trash must go somewhere."

"You aren't really suggesting to use them for a surprise attack?" The general asked hopefully.

"First we need to know where those sewers are...Hmm, what about our opponent, the King I mean."

"He is a rare nutcase. Guess being more than hundred years old does that to people."

"That makes our job complicated. From experience I know that crazy fruitloops are dangerous and unpredictable. Besides, being crazy doesn't mean you can't be smart," Danny shrugged. "Anything else?"

"There are rumors saying he is an extremely powerful earthbender."

"Ah, worthy opponent, good. Anyways, that's what we are going to do..."

On the next morning Phantom was to be presented to the soldiers. However, an image of a teen in ridiculous, by their standards, clothes would have given a wrong impression. Thankfully, Danny was tall for his age, not a giant like his father, but enough to let him wear standard ligjt armor. It included leather neck guard, a combination of shoulder pads and armored collar and a leathern, sleeveless robe, and heavy boots. There was also a helmet, but Danny decided against wearing it. Other than that and lack of personification he would add later, he liked what he wore.

Danny stood in front of the soldiers, who looked confused. The light armor the ghost teen had chosen wasn't exactly a sign of high ranking officer. And judging from Ukano's fear and respect, they assumed that's who Phantom was, which wasn't far from truth.

"Soldiers," the teen called, "First of all, let me say good morning. But that is only pleasantry you will get for now. I am Daniel Phantom, your newest commander."

His eyes flashed green, and in relative darkness everyone could see their neon glowing.

"I have been asked by the Fire Lord to lead this assault. And for such important task as this, our combined efforts must bring us swift, decisive victory. In front of us lies Omashu, a city, which had never fallen into enemy hands through all its existence. We are about to change its flawless record, and you have been given an honor to be written down in history. You haven't come here to just sit on one place waiting until a huge city runs out of food. This war has been going for too long already, and I believe that many of you would rather go home than waste time in this barren wasteland. Good luck to you, men, may the Ancients watch over you in this fight."

Danny turned around and walked off. Ukano followed him, while the officers of lower ranks started passing his orders.

"I'll get us inside the city," Phantom said to the general. "When I give a signal, open fire from everything you've got."

"Understood...sir, may I ask you a question?" Danny waved his hand and prodded him to continue. "Why didn't you tell them who you are?"

"You mean WHAT I am? Please, the rumors will tell them that by the end of this day. I doubt they will follow some teen who appeared out of blue. I may be the King of Ghosts, but my authority ends where the Fire Lord's begins. They serve him, not me, so I act on his behalf."

Phantom stepped forward and in front of the general. "Return to your duties."

Ukano bowed and returned to the troops.

Omashu sure looked unique. Multilevel city, which looked a lot like mountains around it. It was riddled with special lines used for passing messages and small cargos, Danny read about this in a scroll. It didn't have any gates, earthbenders raised and lowered part of the wall. That was the most complicated thing about the city.

But its position surely confused the ghost teen. Usually cities appear and grow on important tradeways or rivers. It was, again, a middle of nowhere. This city was built on a piece of rock, surrounded by seemingly endless pit, where you can throw everything, starting from unwelcomed visitors and ending with cabbages. This fortress wasn't even blocking path to any other important cities. Its capture was supposed to hold a symbolical meaning.

The soldiers took marching formation and moved after their new leader. After some time Phantom raised his hand, ordering them to stop.

"Continue to move on normal pace and wait until I get rid of the guards," he called, before turning to the general. "When you see my signal, charge as fast as you can, don't worry about the walls, just get there."

Ukano nodded and Danny dissappeared, much to everyone's shock. Danny, still invisible, floated on a wall and landed on it with a soft thud. He looked around and noticed several half asleep soldiers. They were leaning on their spears, with barely opened eyelids. Phantom approached one of them, before landing a hit on the soldier's weak spot, knocking him out.

Unfortunately, his comrade noticed it. The guard jumped in surprise, clutching his spear. Phantom was still invisible, so he only saw a result of the half-ghosts action.

"Who is there?" he called.

"Boo," he heard a whisper nearby.

Danny appeared right next to the soldier, before knocking him out as well. Phantom then took the two and they became invisible with him. The ghost teen carried the guards down the wall and put them inside a forgotten alleyway. If they remained on the walls, most likely they would have been killed. Danny didn't want to be a reason of that.

He needed to find earthbenders responsible for opening Omashu 'gates'. And by logical assumption, they should have been right above the only path inside. Phantom phased inside a small tower on top of the wall. There were two men in light green and golden robes, without any shoes to let them have contact with the element they utilized. Unlike their non-bending comrades, those soldiers were widely awake.

"Hey, I'm telling you, people say the Avatar destroyed the entire Fire Nation fleet," one of them said in excitement.

Phantom slowly approached the two, but he couldn't help but be interested in a topic of their conversation.

"I think it's an exaggeration. Maybe the Water Tribe played their part in it," another bender responded, earning a shrug from his comrade.

"Think whatever you want. Hopefully the war will end soon."

"Looks like there is one thing we all can agree with," they suddenly heard an unknown voice.

The guards turned around and faced a teen boy standing behind with an innocent expression on his face. However, it was his armor what caught their attention.

"Who are you, kid?"

"The Fire Nation saboteur," Danny said with the same innocent expression.

The soldiers immediately took battle stance. "How did you get in here?"

Phantom shrugged, crossing his hands. "I have my ways. Your city is not completely locked away from the outside world. So, are you going to open the gates for our army or not?"

Their eyes became wide as saucers, before they ran to the window to look closely. Indeed, they saw an army approaching.

"Now, I'm afraid, you are about to lose your precious city."

The guards hit the ground with their feet and small rocks flew in the air. They threw the projectiles at the ghost teen, but they simply flew through his body. Danny smirked.

"My turn," he grinned as his hand glowed with deathly green color.

Double green blasts erupted from his palms, but the earthbenders raised covers, fighting not only the ghost teen, but their surprise and confusion as well. When the walls went back into the ground, one of the soldiers was greeted by glowing green fist. He yelped in pain and stumbled back. Danny sidestepped another thrown rock and threw an ectoblast in response. It hit a metal chestplate, so the soldier was only pushed into the wall. Phantom raised his hand and the guards were surrounded by green glow, much to their fear. Suddenly, like if some invisible hand grabbed them, they were thrown under the ceiling and stuck right there.

Danny chuckled. "Can't bend without touching the ground, huh?"

"What the heck?!"

"I believe fighting otherworldly beings is not your speciality," Phantom murmured in amusement.

"Guards!" They yelled, but Danny only grinned.

"That's what I hoped for."

Immediately even more soldiers ran inside the tower. Phantom swung his palm and the earthbenders flew into the new arrivals, making them fall off their feet. Danny quickly retreated back to one of two doors to outside. He exited the tower, closed the door and his hand glowed with icy blue color. He fired the same colored beam, encasing the door under thick layer of ice. He heard how the guards tried to break through, unaware about the obstacle.

Grinning, Danny flew on the opposite side, freezing that door as well. When they started barging through that door as well, Phantom rolled on the ground and laughed loudly. Taking a deep breath, Danny got up on his feet. He wiped a tear from his eye and fired an ectoblast in the air. The blast flew high, before exploding. From his position, Ukano saw the signal. The general turned to the troops.

"Soldiers, move out, double time!" He called.

Division increased its pace and ran to the walls. At the same time, trebuchets and catapults saw the signal as well and ignited oiled wrappings on the rocks, before launching them from their positions.

Meanwhile, in the King's chambers, the ruler of Omashu was blissfully snoring on his rocky bed, with one hand hanging from it. Suddenly Captain Yung barged into the room, and the doors let out a thunderous sound, enough to wake up the old man. The captain had raven black hair and beard, and wore green robes with black armor plates, along with long edged green hat.

"Your Majesty, we are under attack!" He shouted, before the room shook from impact.

The King had messy white hair which looked like someone electrocuted the man and he didn't care to fix them. He had a few dark spots on his skin and very big bags under his eyes.

"Who would attack at such time? I haven't even had my breakfast," he grumbled quietly. "I'll be right there!"

Captain nodded and ran out of the room to join his troops. Bumi dressed himself in ridiculous green clothes and horned hat he came to like so much. He then hurriedly proceeded out of his palace, before meeting with the captain. He indeed saw a battle down there. Fire Nation soldiers were moving through the streets, higher and higher, approaching the top. A few fireballs flew past him and hit the walls.

"How did they get inside?" The King asked in confusion.

"I...I don't know, they just...went through it!" Yung exclaimed, completely exasperated.

Suddenly, something caught Bumi's eye. A boy with raven hair, who would have been unnoticed, if not for how he thought. Bumi saw how the boy's hand glowed blue and ice shards flew out of it. It buffled the old man, since when the Fire Nation recruited waterbenders? He then noticed that the boy couldn't hit any vital part. Couldn't or didn't want...

The boy also showed wonders of acrobatics, he was very fast, and the earthbending was too slow to get him. After jumping over another rock he pushed it to the ground in order to protect the allied soldiers. Then he fired beams of green energy, causing minor explosions. Not only him, but all the soldiers stared how he easily beated squads of soldiers. But Bumi noticed something. All fallen soldiers didn't have any fatal wounds.

"Your Highness, what shall we do?" Yung asked his king.

"I know what to do. Nothing!" The old man exclaimed, before starting to cackle, letting out a few snorts.

Danny kicked the nearest soldier, before blasting another one. When he saw even more of them approaching, Phantom swung his hand and ice barricade appeared right in front of them. It made them stop, and Danny was about to continue his offense, when he heard a cranky voice above.

"Hey, down there, we surrender!" The king shouted.

The fight slowly reduced in hearing range. No one could believe the guy's words. Danny turned to the nearest Fire Nation soldier.

"This is the King, I take it?"

"Yes, sir," he responded.

Danny hummed in thought and the soldiers looked at the commander in expectation. It could be a trap for all he knew. Phantom came up with an idea.

"Stand here and don't attack until provoked, am I clear?" Danny asked and received a nod. "Pass the message to the others."

Everyone then stared in shock and awe when Phantom got right next to the king in a few jumps from one roof to another.

"Well, well, aren't you a bit young to be put in charge?" Bumi asked with innocent smile.

Danny crossed his hands with a neutral expression. "Age is irrelevant for my kin. I can be a few thousand years for all you know."

"Your kin?"

"Ghosts," Danny's eyes glowed again. "I'm already dead, why shall I die from being old?" He shrugged. "I'm here to discuss the terms of your surrender."

Bumi rarely could be surprised, and now it was one of those moments. Yung was rather skeptical about the statement.

"Your Majesty, we can still fight, just let us!" He exclaimed.

"And cause even more deaths?" Phantom raised his eyebrow.

"This is a war, these people are ready to fight your armies and die," Yung stated proudly.

"They are not exactly my army. It was just the Fire Lord's request. I lead his army to victory here, he helps me, fair exchange."

"What could you possibly want with him?"

Danny narrowed his eyes. "This is my business. Anyways, you have my word that your soldiers will remain unharmed as long as they don't take any further hostile actions. Same goes for civilians."

"Your words mean nothing to me," Yung hissed, grabbing Phantom's collar.

"Since when YOU are the King of Omashu?" Danny asked calmly. "It is not for you to decide," he smiled innocently.

Bumi decided to intervene. He read about ghosts once, and they were known to be quite vengeful. He didn't want a good man to become a victim of this same vengeance. "Of course, lad. I agree to everything. Yung, please."

Shaking in rage, Yung still complied. 'This isn't over,' he thought.

Danny meanwhile kept smiling. Not much because of the Fire Nation victory, but because he was one step closer to his home.