A rock skipped across the water. Eight smacks before falling underneath the blue depths. Another rock chased after it. Twelve skips before sinking in the reflected tree line across the lake.

Danny exhaled. Picked up another rock, crushing it smooth with his ghostly aura. He looked back out across the water. With a flick of his wrist, the rock propelled out towards the center of the pond. Jumping to avoid its inevitable drown.

The first skip. Sure there was a long way to go. The pond was huge. But it felt possible. Just one skip at a time.

Second skip. Didn't cover as much distance as it would of liked.

Third skip.

Fourth skip.

Fifth skip.

Sixth skip.

Seventh skip. Half way there to the other side.

Sink.

"Me too, little buddy." The child collapsed on his backside. He leaned onto his elbows and tilted his head towards the sky. A hazy, light blue. Not a cloud to be seen. Three more years until college. He could do this. Danny looked down at the rocks he sat amongst. He'd thrown fifteen thus far. None made it to the other side. A chill ran down his spine.

"You all got crazy parents too, I assume?" Prodding the others for answers. Receiving nothing but silence to better hear his own thoughts. He laid down entirely, eyes closing.

'Molecule by molecule!'

Danny waved a hand slightly to try and dismiss the thought.

'Sweetie, we really should try to keep him alive, at least for awhile. Better to divulge all his ghostly secrets.'

Danny's eyebrows furrowed together.

'How are we going to hold it down to a dissection table when it has so many ghostly powers?'

'Don't worry. I've been figuring out how to ghost proof a lot more than just our ghost catchers. It really won't be a problem.'

'I can't wait to poke at the jars of organs!'

Danny groaned, rolling himself onto his side. He poked a rock with his finger. "You're the it. You're a rock. We're supposed to say it when talking about you." He spoke plainly to his new friend. Then sat up grabbing the stone but not bothering to smooth it out. Another breeze hit him, his teeth chattered. He hurled the object at the pond.

Sploink

The water came up to form a drop that cascaded back down after the rock, forming a few extra ripples.

Knees pulled up to Danny's chest to give his head a place to rest. Dad had come up to him today. Asked him to help make a trap inside the house for Phantom. Guess mom tracked the flight patterns and discerned that Phantom had the most traffic inside the house. Hearing Jack's tirade was...

Danny pushed his face into his knees. Sometimes dad really missed the mark. In more ways than just target practice. Danny had asked for the topic to be dropped multiple times. Pleaded to not have to make a trap for the hero of amity park. Begged for a different way to bond with his old man. All these attempts made the older male realize one thing. His son didn't know how dangerous ghosts were. Danny didn't want to relive the talk his dad gave him an hour ago. The news critics couldn't have hit half as hard of blow on Phantoms unorthodox way of heroism if they wanted to. The man was relentless in battering Danny in issue after issue with Phantom's ability to get other people hurt.

A tear fell down Danny's cheek. More chills assaulted him. Jack was a good person, Danny was sure. But was it so much to want, was it so much to wish, "I wish Vlad were my father." He hated that man. There was nothing he wouldn't fight about. But maybe if Jack was a halfa or even understood what it was...

Desiree was not a woman to hesitate. When she got out of the ghost zone she knew only one desire for herself. Revenge. She'd find the ghost child and beat him so far down he'd be unable to get up. However, it had appeared someone already did that by the time she arrived.

She discovered a boy so mentally deluded he was talking with pebbles like they were people. He was neither his sarcastic, nor energetic self. She didn't recognize the boys aura. If her eyes had been closed, she was sure she'd be convinced she stumbled across the wrong halfa. His broken spirit reminded her of another.

She didn't realize how long she sat there watching the boy ignore her presence until he uttered his wish. It wouldn't be fair to face the boy in current conditions.

A hand rested gently on Danny's shoulder. Before he could react Desiree gently spoke, "So you wish it, so it shall be."

Phantom replaced Danny's human half where he sat. Body twisting to shoot an ectoblast at the spirit but she was already gone.

A second passed before Danny's shoulders relaxed and he slowly put his hand down. "What?" He whispered. No response came. He quietly got to his feet, "Hey! Come out and fight me like a man! Er, woman as the case may be."

There was a tingling in Danny's left leg. He flinched. It seemed as though it had fallen asleep. But the feeling wasn't contained to the spot. It spread to his right leg and he zoomed up into the air as he realized his feet would no longer support his weight. The sensation kept expanding, up his torso, across his arms, entering the cheeks of his face. It became so intense Danny couldn't identify where his body was in space. A rag doll of a boy fell back down into the ground, eyes closing as his consciousness escaped him.

Daniel dreamed of a darkness so intense it made his raven black hair jealous.

The lump that shifted in the bed only covered twenty percent of the entire area. What started as the occasional movement or twitch turned into thrashing. Danny jolted upright, gasping for air. He was confused for a moment. It took an extra second for him to familiarize himself with the scene before him. If the obscenely large balcony and bed frame didn't give it away, the thread count of the sheets certainly would have. With that thought he slowly released his clutch on the blankets. His eyes narrowed. Deftly getting to his feet he walked over to the rooms bureau. It was adorned with spaceships and science magazines. He picked up a macaroni rocket, examined it, and placed it back. There were sticker stars plastered on the walls and ceiling. Posters with Neil Armstrong and the NASA logo were placed between the stars. This was... Messed up. As if cages weren't enough, now Vlad thought he'd go back one step to bribery?

Danny looked down. He was in pajamas... ... his eye twitched at the implication of that. He kicked the bedroom door open and stampeded down the master staircase. "VLAD YOU BETTER SHOW YOUR FACE! You think this is funny!?" Danny slid against the slick tiled floor barely saving his balance.

"Daniel?" Vlad poked his head from the dinning room, "You should be changed before coming downstairs you,"

Danny let out a loud scream at him, "You're an awful person!"

Vlad's face contorted slightly, "Excuse me, young man? You will remove this fresh attitude from yourself now or else you'll be attending school without breakfast."

"You can't keep me here!" Danny retorted, "What is it? Huh?" When Vlad didn't immediately respond Danny narrowed his glare. "Huh!? Nanochips again!? You think you can control me!?"

"My boy, I'm not sure what you're--"

"ANSWER ME!"

"Do not raise your voice in this household." Vlad walked over to Danny with such presence it made the boy feel small. He shrunk back wishing his mouth had been a little smaller. "I don't know what's gotten into you but I believe you need to go back upstairs, get changed, and restart your day."

Danny gave a small nod. He barely registered himself walking himself back to where he started. Opening up his dresser and changing into his clothes. The next he knew he was sitting across from Vlad. A maid placing a warm bowl of cream of wheat in front of him. He picked up a spoon and began to stir the hot cereal.

"Are you alright?"

"What?" Danny looked up.

"You've been stirring that for a solid minute now."

"Oh." Danny lifted the spoon to his mouth before hesitating. "Is this poisoned?"

"Your imagination never ceases to amaze me. Why would I poison you?"

"..." the wish. Daniel pressed his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut. Give a hard nod, "I see."

"You see?"

"Nothing." He shoved the spoon in his mouth. This was going to require a trip to ClockWork to fix. Danny spent the rest of breakfast wondering how the oldest young ghost was doing and how he would react to Danny's plight.