Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, not me. If I owned it, I wouldn't have stopped after just 3 seasons!

Sam and Tucker ran as fast as they could back to the Specter Speeder. They needed to regroup and rethink their plan. (Not that they had a plan to begin with, but you get the idea.)

"Okay, let's look at the facts," Tucker said. "We came here to search for Danny, but when we find him, he's a ruthless gladiator. Guess the only thing left to do is make a run for it."

Sam whacked him upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"We're not abandoning Danny!" Sam said. "He's our friend! Besides, if we leave him behind, Jazz will wring both our necks."

"Good point," Tucker agreed.

"Now, we need to sneak in there. They usually kept barracks under the arena. It was place for the gladiators to prepare before a fight. I'd bet my inheritance that's where they're keeping Danny."

"How big is your inheritance?" Tucker asked. Sam glared at him. "What? Anyway, how do you know some much about Roman stadiums?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Unlike you, I stay awake during history."

A few minutes later, they came up to the southern wall of the Coliseum and phased their way in.

"I am seriously loving the whole 'humans are the ghosts in the Ghost Zone' rule," Tucker said.

They walked for several feet, then phased through the floor. The two found themselves in a dark room. So dark, that if this was a real cartoon, the only thing we could see would be their eyes.

"You know, for a guy who self-indulged on a huge stadium, you'd think he'd be able to afford interior lighting," Sam said.

"Tell me about it! I can't even see my hand!" Tucker agreed. "Hold on, there's a flashlight on my PDA."

While Sam waited, she heard a growling noise.

"Tuck? Please tell me that was your stomach."

Tucker didn't hear her. "Okay, turning on the flash light."

The room filled with a bright light, and they could see it wasn't a room. It was cage, and they weren't alone.

"GHOST LION!" Sam shouted, and to Tucker, that seemed a little obvious at this point.

They quickly phased through the bars of the cage and ran down the hall, and just in time too. The lion slammed into the cage door, trying to get his escaped meal.

"What... is it... with... Romans... and lions?" Tucker said, gasping for breath. They were now in a hall lit with green torches.

"Don't... ghosts... glow?" said Sam, also gasping. "How did we not notice?"

"Hey, what're you doing down here?"

Sam and Tucker turned to see several guards in Roman armor.

"Uh... we're looking for the bathroom?" Tucker said uneasily.

The guards looked at each other, then pointed their spears at them.

"Run?" Tucker suggested.

"Run," Sam agreed.

On cue, they screamed loudly and charged forward, phasing through the guards.

"They're humans!" one guard shouted. "Stop them!"

Sam and Tucker continued to run.

"I think we lost them!" Tucker said.

As soon as he said that, two gold belts shot out of nowhere. One belt snapped around Sam's waist, the other around Tucker's. The two glowed for a moment, then the glow morphed into the white aura most ghosts had.

"What are these things?" Sam shouted. She tugged at the belt. "It won't come off!"

"I like bling as much as the next guy, but this is ridiculous!" Tucker added, also tugging at the belt.

The guards caught up with them. "The belts are secured on them. Grab them!"

The guards did so.

"Wait, they can touch us?" Sam said. "They shouldn't be able to touch us!"

"You're in Lanista's arena," one guard sneered, holding two electrically charged staffs. "You play by his rules."

He jabbed the staffs into their chests, knocking them out.

Sam opened her eyes and found herself lying on a cold floor. Tucker was lying next to her, unconscious. They were in some sort of dungeon.

She nudged Tucker. "Tucker? Hey Tucker, wake up!"

Tucker snapped awake. "Chocolate star!"

Sam gave him a weird look. "Star and the chocolate milk dream again?"

Tucker nodded. "You know it. Moving on. Did we get captured, or did I dream that too?"

"No, that was real," Sam assured him. "What I don't get is how they were able to touch us. Humans are ghosts in the Ghost Zone, right?"

"Usually. But not as long as you wear those belts."

Sam and Tucker yelped in surprise. They turned to a figure sitting in the shadows. The figure stepped out into the light, revealing to be Lobelia.

"The belts make the whole 'humans are the ghosts' rule null and void," Lobelia explained.

"Who are you?" Sam asked.

"And better yet, are you single?" Tucker added. (What? For a ghost, Lobelia was kinda pretty.) Sam elbowed him in the stomach.

"I am Lobelia, Lanista's greatest warrior and gladiator," Lobelia replied. Then she gained a bitter-sounding voice. "Or at least I was, until he replaced me with that ghost whelp and threw me down here to rot with the rest of the trash!"

Sam and Tucker narrowed their eyes.

"Err, no offence," Lobelia added in a rush.

"The ghost whelp?" Sam suddenly realized. "You mean Danny? What happened to him? Why isn't he trying to escape?"

Lobelia sighed and sat back down. "When Danny Phantom was first brought here, Lanista pitted him against me. I lost, but he refused to finish me off when Lanista ordered it."

(The next scene is a flashback. It's back when Lanista first took out the collar.)

"Lanista wanted a gladiator who would not hesitate, so he placed the Collar of Mars around Danny Phantom's neck," Lobelia voiced over.

(Lanista places the collar around Danny's neck. The collar glows and sends a red charge through his body. Even though the flashback has no sound, it's easy to see that Danny is screaming in pain. Lobelia looks away. Danny stops screaming, and opens his eyes. They are now red, and he smiles in a sinister manner. End flashback.)

"When the Collar of Mars is worn, it removes all feelings of kindness and compassion within the wearer," Lobelia explained. "They become war-like, living only for the glory of the arena. Once the ghost boy had been changed, Lanista threw me down here."

"I haven't even met this guy yet, and I already hate his guts," Sam said.

"You should hate his guts. I know I do. Lanista is obsessed with his sport," Lobelia said. "In life, he was a famous gladiator. He defeated every opponent thrown at him. A few more fights, and he might have even gained his freedom. But one day a lion got out of its cage... well, the rest is ancient history."

"So, what is he gonna do with us?" Tucker asked.

"Knowing him?" Lobelia said. "If he doesn't feed you to the lions, he'll probably make you fight in the arena. It's been awhile since somebody actually died in his gladiator fights."

Now Sam and Tucker looked more worried.

After a few minutes of silence, Sam asked, "Lobelia, if you hate Lanista this much, why'd you stick with him until now?"

Lobelia shrugged. "I don't know. Sense of loyalty? But now I see I was a fool. He's a selfish, idiotic, and only showers every other month. I've captured so many innocent ghosts under his command! I've sacrificed so much!"

"Does that involve how you lost your eye?" Tucker asked.

Lobelia stopped ranting and pointed at her eyepatch. "What, this? No, this happened back when I was first learning how to use a spear. You have to be careful where you point those things."

"I bet," Sam agreed. "So now what? We just wait for Lanista to come and send us to our doom?"

"In a depressing nutshell, yes."

Sam slouched against a wall. "Swell."

"Dying in fight against somebody stronger than me, with a group people watching it as entertainment," Tucker pondered aloud. "Somehow I knew this would be how I would go. Only I always figured it would happen at school."

Later, in the arena, the stands were more packed than usual. Word had gotten around that humans would fighting in the next match, so ghosts from all over had flocked the Coliseum.

Lanista stepped out on the balcony, looking extremely pleased with himself. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our special guests; two human teenagers!"

The platform brought Sam and Tucker into the pit. The chains on their bodies fell away.

"These two will face impossible odds! Will they survive a battle with my greatest warrior?" Lanista said, riling up the crowd. He chuckled. "Unlikely."

Two guards brought them weapons. One gave Sam a mace and a net, while the other gave Tucker a spear and a shield (a heavy one, considering the moment he took it, he fell over).

"Who do you think he'll make us fight?" Tucker asked Sam.

A gate on the other end of the pit slid up, and who stepped out made the crowd roar.

Sam grimaced. "Survey says; the guy we originally came here to save."

Danny gave his former friends a brutish smile. He unsheathed his sword and pointed at them. "I don't know if you planned on winning, but this will be a short fight."

The three kids met up at the center of the gladiator pit.

"Danny! It's us, Sam and Tucker, your friends!" Sam pleaded. "Do you really want to hurt us?"

Danny's wavered for a second, his eyes looking a little greener. But they immediately returned to red. "I'm sorry, but I do not know of any Sam or Tucker! All I know see are two humans who will face a bitter end by the cold steel of my blade!"

"Yikes, he must be under mind control," Tucker groaned. "Danny was never this corny, even on a bad day."

"Are we ready?" Lanista said chipperly. When Sam and Tucker shook their heads, he said, "Splendid! The match can now begin!"

As soon as he said that, Danny grabbed Sam by the ponytail and threw her behind him.

"I will slay the male human first," Danny announced. "He seems the weakest and most infirm of the two."

"Hey!" Tucker protested. "I resent that!"

Realizing that Danny actually met to waste him,Tucker proceeded to run for his life, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Danny just snickered. "They always run."

Danny ahead of Tucker, heading him off. Tucker aimed his spear at him, but Danny fired a ghost ray from his finger, snapping it in half.

"Uh, best two out of three?" Tucker asked hopefully.

Danny just smiled and readied his sword. Sam ran up behind him suddenly, tossing her net over him. Her muscles straining, she managed to swing and throw him.

"Ow!" Sam winced. "I think I popped my shoulder."

Danny curled into a ball and released a pulse of energy, shredding the net. He stood up. "Very clever. But I will not be defeated so easily!"

Tucker spun around around, and threw his shield.

Danny dodged it. "Ha! That was a pathetic maneuver! A shield is for defense, not offe-ACK!"

The 'ACK' came from the fact that the shield had ricocheted off a wall and knocked Danny in the head. The audience roared with laughter.

"Nice move," Sam commented, impressed.

"Thanks," Tucker said. "I saw it in a movie once."

Danny got back up, his eyes now solid red in anger. "That... was... unwise."

He tossed aside his sword aside and placed his palms together. Between them, a huge ball of crackly green energy formed. He stuck his hands out in front of him, and fired a giant ghost ray.

Sam and Tucker jumped out of the way, barely avoiding getting roasted. The ray hit the stands, sending several ghosts flying.

"Phantom, could you try not blasting the customers?" Lanista scolded. "It's bad for business."

Danny flew into the air, did a loop, then sped at his former friends. He grabbed Sam, spun her by the legs, then let go, sending her crashing into a pile of broken weapons.

"Sam!" Tucker shouted. But before he could run over and help her, Danny picked him up by the shirt, threw him on the ground, and placed his foot on his chest.

"Now, to deal with you," Danny said, charging his hand.

Sam scrambled out the pile. "Oh no, Danny's gonna waste Tucker! There's gotta be something I can do!"

That was when she noticed a scythe in the pile. She looked at Danny's collar, then back at the scythe.

"Oh. Duh," she realized.

She picked up the scythe and ran towards Danny. Just as Danny prepared to waste Tucker, Sam swung the scythe.

"NO!" Lanista shouted.

In one clean slice, the back of the collar split and fell off Danny's neck.

"Danny?" Sam asked, cautious.

Danny stopped what he was doing. His red eyes faded back to green.

Danny held his aching head. "Augh... what happened?" He looked at his strange attire. "And why aren't I wearing a shirt?"

"Uh, Danny? Do you mind?" Tucker said weakly.

Danny noticed he had been standing on Tucker, and immediately stepped off.

Sam walked over and placed a comforting hand his shoulder, while Danny helped Tucker stand up.

Danny looked around, the scowled. "Wait, now I remember. Lanista... the collar... did I hurt you guys?"

"Not any worse than what we got in gym," Sam assured him.

"Put it out of your mind," Tucker added. "Now, when were you gonna tell us that you had a Florida shaped birthmark? That's cool!"

Danny quickly covered the mark with his hand.

"Collar or not, you will finish this match!" Lanista hollered, pounding his fist on the balcony railing.

The crowd screeched in agreement.

Danny dropped his hand and glared at Lanista. "How about instead making me fight my best friends, I fight you instead?"

The crowd gasped and chattered in confusion.

"Uh, Danny?" Tucker whispered. "What're you doing?"

"It's going to be a distraction," Danny whispered back. "You guys met Lobelia?"

They nodded.

"While I fight Lanista, go free her and find the ghost shield's main power source. Disable it, so the shield shuts down and all the prisoners can escape. Think you can do that?"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, then nodded again. They proceeded to edge away.

Danny turned back to Lanista. "So how about it, Spartacus? Wanna go a round with the champ?"

Lanista bared his teeth, wanting to call his guards to kill the insolent teen on the spot. But with his audience's murmuring, he knew doing that would make him look like a coward.

Lanista took a deep breath, smoothed back his hair, and smiled. "Very well. I accept your challenge. But how about we make things a bit more interesting?"

Danny glanced to the side, watching Sam and Tucker sneak away. He needed to keep Lanista's attention, so he decided to humor him. "Depends. How 'interesting' are we talking?"

"If you win, I'll let you and your friends go free. Heck, I'll let all of my captives go free."

"And what if I lose?"

Lanista smiled more evilly, his eyes glowing red. "If you lose... you're mine."

Sam and Tucker stopped sneaking and gasped. Danny gestured for them to keep going, so they reluctantly obliged.

"You'll remain here as my gladiator, for all eternity," Lanista went on. "Do we have a deal?"

Danny had no intention of keeping such a ridiculous deal, but he couldn't let Lanista know that.

"I need to buy Tuck and Sam time," he muttered to himself. To Lanista, he said, "Okay, sounds like a deal."

"Excellent!" Lanista said. He waved his hand over the arena, and the ghost shield temporarily disappeared. The audience scattered, along with the many guards. Once they were all gone, the ghost shield reappeared. "Hope you don't mind, but I'd prefer this to be a private battle."

"What, you don't want witnesses for when I kick your butt?" Danny taunted.

"Whoever said that you'd be doing the butt-kicking?"

Lanista's whole body began to glow. His frail body expanded into huge muscles, ripping apart his toga and revealing Roman armor underneath. His ugly teeth grew into sharp canines, and he began to grow in height. A weird fish-like helmet appeared over his head, in his hands came a giant sword and shield.

Lanista had become a 50-foot tall retiarius. (For those of you who don't know what a retiarius is, Google it.)

Danny stared in absolute awe.

"ANY LAST WORDS, WHELP?" Lanista boomed.

"Yeah. I think I finally understand why this place doesn't have a roof."

"What happened to all the guards?" Tucker asked as he and Sam ran toward Lobelia's cell.

"You're complaining?" Sam asked.

"Good point."

After running a little further, they came upon a wooden door with a slot in it.

Sam opened the slot. "Lobelia, are you in there?"

"Sam? Is that you?" Lobelia's voice replied.

"Yeah. Danny's fighting Lanista, and we're getting you out of here," Sam said. "Is there a key for the door?"

"The guard had it."

"And the guard is gone," Tucker groaned. "Now what?"

Sam sliced the lock off with the scythe from earlier. (Where she had been keeping it, Tucker did not want to know.)

Lobelia rushed out of her cell. "Does Danny require assistance?"

"He'll be fine. We already have our marching orders," replied Sam, tossing away the scythe.

"Lobelia, how would you like to help us bring down the ghost shield and ruin Lanista's day?" Tucker asked.

Lobelia paused, then smiled. "It would be my pleasure."

Danny crashed into the empty stands, due to being thrown by Lanista.

"You know, somehow I thought fighting him would be easier than this," Danny groaned as he struggled to stand up. "At this rate, I'll lose and have to be his personal pit monkey forever."

"DONE ALREADY?" Lanista boasted. "I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!"

Danny got back and flew as fast he could toward Lanista's head. At the speed he was going, the punch he threw caused Lanista to topple over, partially crashing into the ghost shield.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Danny proclaimed.

Lanista whacked Danny with his shield, sending him flying into the ghost shield.

"YES, BUT THE SMALLER THEY ARE, THE QUICKER THEY ARE SQUISHED."

Danny peeled his face off the shield. "How about you just cool it!"

Danny's eyes glowed icy blue as he tapped into his ice core. He blasted ice from his hand, covering Lanista's whole body.

Danny panted and wiped his forehead. "I don't know if it's art, but I like it anyway."

He turned to go help Sam and Tucker, when he heard a cracking noise.

Lanista broke from the ice, extremely angry.

"Oh, come on!" Danny shouted.

Lanista brought his sword down on Danny. If Danny had not quickly split into two people, he would've been sliced like deli meat.

Danny became one person again. "Hey! Watch where you swing that!"

"SURE! HOW ABOUT FROM NOW ON, I TRY TO ENSLAVE YOU IN A LESS VIOLENT MANNER?"

"Thank you!" It took Danny about five seconds to realize what he said. "No, wait, I mean-"

Lanista lifted the visor of his helmet, and shot two ghost rays from his eyes. Danny barely had time summon a shield to protect himself.

"Sam... Tucker... hurry up...", Danny said to himself, struggling to keep his shield up.

"The shield's generator is right down this hall!" Lobelia exclaimed.

They ran down the hall and came to a huge room.

"Whoa!" Sam and Tucker shouted in awe.

The generator itself was nothing special. It looked like a bigger version of what the Fenton's had. The power source was the impressive thing. It was a giant glass ball, filled to the brim with ghosts, who swirled around within its confines.

"Whenever a gladiator is given the thumbs down, they are transported to the generator, and serve as a power source for all eternity," Lobelia explained.

"This is horrible," Sam said. "We've got to free them!"

Tucker looked at the generator's controls. "This is pretty advanced stuff. Did Lanista build this?"

"He's smart, but he's not that smart," Lobelia replied. "He got it from an extremely annoying ghost who kept shouting his name and plans into the sky."

Tucker realized she was talking about Technus, but decided not to pursue the subject further. "Okay, I think I can shut it down with my PDA. Lobelia, how does this thing operate?"

"How the heck should I know?"

"You worked here!"

"I'm from the Roman Empire! The most advanced technology we had back then was indoor plumbing!"

"Tucker, you'll just have to try," Sam said, ending the arguement.

Tucker sighed, plugged his PDA into the generator, and got to work.

Danny fired ghost ray after ghost ray, but Lanista just kept holding up his gigantic shield.

Danny stared at the shield (the ghost shield, not the huge one Lanista was carrying). "What's taking so long?"

"What's taking so long?" Sam shouted at Tucker.

"This thing has a thousand encryption codes," Tucker explained. "This could take awhile!"

"We don't have 'awhile'! Danny is getting thrashed up there! Couldn't we just smash the glass dome?"

"Sam, it's not that simple!"

"Actually, it is that simple," Lobelia interrupted.

Sam and Tucker gave her a weird look and said, "What?"

"The glass is meant to keep the ghosts in, but it's completely vulnerable from the outside. A good hit with something heavy and it'll shatter."

There was a pause, and Tucker said, "You love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't you?"

"Let's go get that mace I had earlier and smash this sucker!" Sam shouted excitedly.

"I like you, Sam," Lobelia stated, placing a hand proudly on Sam's shoulder. "You would've made a great gladiator."

"Uh, thanks?"

Danny had resorted to repeatedly hitting Lanista, one punch after another. After a minute, he actually managed to knock his helmet off.

"Yes!" Danny shouted.

Lanista prepared to do the eye-laser thing again.

"No!" Danny shouted.

This time, the lasers found their mark.

Lobelia whacked the glass repeatedly with a mace.

"Don't pause between swings!" Tucker said. "You'll get maximum damage that way!"

"Don't tell me how to do my job!" Lobelia shouted back.

Lobelia gave one last mighty swing, and the glass shattered.

Lanista picked up a barely conscious Danny in his giant hand.

"LOOKS LIKE I WIN, WHELP."

All of a sudden, they both heard a weird fizzling sound. That was the sound of the ghost shield dissipating.

"WHAT? NO, THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Think again, Marc Antony."

Danny released a pulse of ecto-energy, making Lanista let go. He flew upward, and got right in Lanista's face.

"My friends just deactivated your shield," he said. "Which means I now have some elbow room to do this!"

He took a deep breath, and heck broke loose.

"HOOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLL!"

Danny's ghostly wail ripped through the Coliseum, sending it toppling to the ground. It caused Lanista to fall over, and most of the arena fell on him, burying him.

He kept the wail going for another few seconds, until he finally had to stop to rest. His weakened state caused his hair and eyes to return to normal color, but Danny quickly switched them back to their ghost colors.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Lanista dug his way out of the rubble. He was now back in his scrawny , yet now currently beat up, form.

"That... little... brat," Lanista growled, dusting himself off. "When I get my hands on him, I'll-"

"You'll what?"

Lanista turned to see Lobelia, Sam, Tucker, and an army of angry looking gladiators.

"Oh, Lobelia!" Lanista said fake-cheerfully, acting all buddy-buddy. "How nice it is to see you! You're not still mad about me throwing you in the dungeon, are you?"

Danny landed next to Lobelia and his friends. Together, they all crossed their arms as the other gladiators began to gang up on Lanista.

Lanista looked more nervous, but kept up the fake cheer. "Gentlemen, gentlemen! Is this really necessary?"

"Does it bother you?" Lobelia asked.

"Yes, it kind of does," Lanista replied.

"Then it's necessary," Danny said.

Lobelia and Danny then pointed at Lanista, shouting in unison, "Get him!"

Lanista screamed and flew into the sky, an entire army of angry gladiators chasing after him.

The group watched as the chase flew out of sight.

"How long do you think they'll be chasing him?" Danny asked.

"It's a big Ghost Zone. Probably forever," Lobelia replied.

"Now that the crisis has passed, let's move on to more important matters," Tucker said. He turned toward Danny. "Dude, put on a shirt."

Danny looked at himself, then covered his chest in embarrassment. Everyone laughed.

A little while later, Danny and his friends were standing by the Specter Speeder. Danny was back in his usual ghost outfit, while Sam and Tucker had lost their stupid belts.

"Looks like we're ready to go," Sam said. "Goodbye, and good riddance."

Danny smirked in agreement, then flew over to Lobelia, who was surveying the wreckage.

"The Coliseum in the human world survives wars and battles for 2000 years, while the one here is destroyed in 2 minutes by a teenager," Lobelia said.

Danny shrugged. "I'm... sorry?"

Lanista just smiled and turned to face him. "Don't worry about it. And as long as we're apologizing, I'm sorry I kidnapped you and hurt your sister."

"Apology accepted," Danny said. "See you around?"

"I certainly hope so," Lobelia said. "You are a great warrior, Danny Phantom. I look forward to fighting once again by your side."

On that note, Danny returned to the Specter Speeder, and he and his friends sped away.

"And that's how you pin a weaker opponent," Tetslaff declared, practically crushing Danny.

It was a couple days later. Danny was finally getting his education in wrestling, whether he wanted it or not.

Danny got up and staggered over to his friends.

"This is cruel and unusual," Sam said, looking Danny over.

"Well, I skipped two days of PE, so my punishment is being Tetslaff's practice dummy," Danny replied. "And I kinda deserve it. I shouldn't have abandoned you guys in the first place that day. Are we cool?"

They paused they smiled and said, "We're cool."

"So anyway, what did you tell your parents about the whole kidnapped thing?" Tucker asked.

"I told the truth. I said I was kidnapped by a ghost. Only then I said that it let me go when I told it that my parents were the greatest ghost hunters in the world."

"So you escaped punishment and inflated their egos? Nice." Tucker gave Danny a high five.

"Speaking of ghosts, do you think Lanista will come back for revenge?" Sam said. "Cause I wouldn't put it past that twerpy little freak."

Danny shook his head. "I don't think so. He'll be a bit too busy to be anymore trouble..."

Lanista swept up some rubble with a broom. "This cruel and unusual punishment!"

Lobelia was on a lounge chair, holding one of those tanning mirrors and sipping from a fruity-looking drink. "Trust me, your punishment could be a lot worse than cleaning up the entire arena. By yourself."

We see an aerial view, and the arena is utterly destroyed. It's clear that a clean up will take awhile.

Lanista surveys the mess, looks at his broom, then tosses it over his shoulder. "Oh, fiddle Styx!"

Unfortunately, his broom hits one of the lions, angering it. It roared and tackled Lanista.

(Scene irises out on a cartoon fight cloud, sounds of Lanista's pain being heard.)

DONE! DONE DONE DONE! Hope you all enjoyed this. Stay tuned! I may have other DP storied soon.