This is sorta a continuation of You're Not Alone. I thought of this one while watching an iCarly episode (the one where Carly and Sam get into an argument with the iCarly shirt). Well, read on, review and, most importantly, enjoy!

Disclaimer : I don't own Danny Phantom.

A Quarrel of Two Halves

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Rain was coming down in a gentle rhythm as it hit Danny's closed bedroom window. Danny was sound asleep, oblivious to the soft tapping. He was finally getting the rest he had been deprived of. His slow, peaceful breathing was in sync to the raindrops plummeting downward.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Phantom was sitting on the desk chair as he read a book. He would occasionally sneak a peek at the reposing teen while reading. A gentle smile appeared on his features as he silently laughed while gazing at him. The boy was curled up into a ball that was enclosed in its blanket cocoon.

He won't be waking up anytime soon, the spirit thought. I'll let him sleep a little longer.

He closed the book and phased down to the lab. His electric-green eyes spotted the stately, light-blue guitar that he used to play that song he heard on the radio. It lay in the exact position when the spook left it, untouched and unnoticed. He didn't realize that it was left behind overnight. How the others hadn't even notice the instrument down in the lab was completely beyond him.

Phantom picked up the guitar and checked it over to see if it was tuned. A single strum was proof that it was fine and as he was about to head to his counterpart's room, he glanced at the clock. It was 11:30.

The ghost was in the room in the blink of an eye. He found the teen still asleep and rolled his eyes.

Oh, man. Not again. He hovered just above Danny and shook his shoulder.

"Danny, are you awake?"

The sudden silence in the room, minus the slowly ceasing rain, made it a definite no.

Phantom tried again. "Come on, Danny. You don't wanna end up sleeping through the whole day, do you?"

All he got as an answer was his human half turning towards the wall. Phantom let out an annoyed sigh. Obviously, just shaking and asking him to get up isn't gonna work, he thought.

He looked down at the guitar he forgot that he was holding. Then, he looked at the sleeping Danny and back. A mischievous grin played on his lips.

I've always wanted to do this.

Phantom cautiously made his way towards Danny as he firmly held the instrument within his gloved hands. He made sure that he wasn't too close or too distant from him as he prepared his guitar once more. Satisfied, the spirit hovered close by the teenager's bed and strummed a loud, purposely off-key chord on the guitar.

"AH!" screamed Danny as he suddenly awoke from the noise. His body was so wrapped up in the blanket that he got tangled even more, rolled over, and fell off the bed and onto the floor. Phantom was on the verge of laughing but caught himself as his counterpart glared at him.

"Okay. I know I told you that you could wake me up if I overslept. But, did you have to wake me up with that?" Danny asked, referring to the guitar.

The white-haired specter gave him a sly grin. "Hey, you didn't say how I should wake you up," he retorted.

Danny finally got himself free from the covers while replying, "Whatever. I'm gonna go get ready."

He got up and placed the wrinkled blanket back in its proper position. He then grabbed his usual clothes and proceeded off to the bathroom.

Once Danny had gone and wasn't within earshot, Phantom finally let out the laughter that he tried so hard to extinguish.

The two halves walked along the sidewalk as they did their ghost patrol. Danny had the Fenton Phones, Specter Deflector and the Jack-O-Ninetails while Phantom had the Fenton Thermos. Both of them adorned wary glances in case one of those ghouls were to show up around the corner.

"See anything yet?" asked the ghost boy.

"No," Danny responded. "You?"

"Nope." Phantom sighed. They had been walking through the town for the past hour and not one single ghost appeared.

"Maybe we should head on home," he said turning around." I don't think there's gonna be a ghost attack anytime soon."

But he spoke way too soon for his ghost sense went off. Phantom turned around and gasped.

A giant ghost snake hissed as it gazed down at the scrawny human teenager before it. Its mouth was wide open, revealing a long, pink tongue and a pair of sharp fangs. Phantom fought this creature a few days previous and remembered getting bit during the fight. He knew those fangs weren't poisonous, but he didn't want to take any chances if it bit Danny.

The serpent slithered closer and since the boy was wearing the Specter Deflector, the young spirit couldn't fly him out of harm's way. And he didn't want to shoot it with an ecto-blast in fear of accidentally striking him.

"Danny, quick! Get out of there!" Phantom warned.

Danny had a confused look on his face. "What are you-" He was cut short when something moist landed on his head. He felt around his hair and grimaced as he brought his hand to his face. Wet, green ghost saliva was sliding down from the top of his head but he didn't pay attention to it as he stared at the slimy, green sample in his hand. "Ugh! What the…?"

His eyes widened when he heard a hiss behind him. He quickly turned to see the paranormal serpent right behind him.

"Ah!" he yelped as he stumbled backwards and fell into Phantom's arms. The Specter Deflector sparked with electricity as Phantom suddenly winced from the shock.

"Ouch!"

Danny heard him and promptly stood back up. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry. Just a small shock."

The snake let out a long hiss as it glared at the two boys.

"Ready?" asked Danny as he prepared the Jack-O-Ninetails.

"Ready," said Phantom as he adjusted the thermos.

The two split up in different directions. Phantom soared through the air while trying to grab the creature's attention. From down below, Danny was getting ready to use the whip-like device.

The young ghost teen fired a few ecto-beams within his range. "Hey! Giant, green and slimy! If you wanted to snack on something, I'd be happy enough to give you a knuckle sandwich!"

"And a little shock on the side!" Danny added. He threw back his weapon and lashed it towards the creature.

But when it was about to strike the snake, Phantom got caught in the crossfire and received the shock instead. He was wrapped in the metal cords as he yelped from the impact.

"Watch where you're aiming that thing!"

"Sorry!" Danny pressed a button on the device, setting his other half free.

Meanwhile, their adversary whipped its tail back and lashed it right at the boy. Thinking quickly, the young spirit sent another blast of green energy. The brunet rapidly ducked out of the way to avoid being hit.

Danny shot a glare at his counterpart. "Easy! I'm right here, you know!"

Phantom landed in between him and the serpent. "Well, if you would just move out of the way…" he started. He then unstrapped the thermos and aimed it towards the ghost snake.

Danny prepared the Ninetails once more and whipped it in order to snag the beast in place. However, instead of trapping the snake as intended, it hit the specter right in front of him. The surprise impact caused him to drop the ghost catching device.

"Ow! Watch it!" shouted the white-haired boy as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You watch it!" countered his human half.

Phantom glared at Danny threateningly before racing after the thermos. He looked up to see the paranormal snake slither away into the sky. He raced after it while uncapping the gadget. He wasn't aware that Danny was chasing in pursuit of the serpent as well, his own weapon at hand.

But it was too late for both of them for their opponent had turned invisible and fled the scene. The teenage specter skidded to a stop by the street's corner, only to get bumped from behind and fall to the ground.

"Danny, how about watching where you're going for a change?"

"Me? You're the one who was standing there like an idiot!"

The two slowly got up from the ground and brushed themselves off.

"Plus," the adolescent continued. "It's your fault we didn't catch that ghost."

The spirit adorned an annoyed look and turned. "My fault? No way. I would've been able to snag it if you listened to me!"

"Why would I listen to you?" scoffed Danny. "You're not so coordinated yourself, you know!"

Phantom rolled his eyes. "I dropped the thermos because you hit me with that Ninetails! So, it's pretty easy to see who's at fault here."

"Yeah. And that person's you," Danny said coolly.

"I am not the one to blame! It should be you! It was your fault after all."

"No, it's not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

Their argument continued as they headed home for the day.

Jazz was peacefully reading one of her psychology books on the living room couch. Her teal eyes were glued to the pages as she read. Unfortunately, her brain wasn't really absorbing a thing when her ears picked up a pair of angry voices towards the front door.

She looked up to see the door fly open to reveal the two quarreling teens. She sighed as she put down her book, got up and stepped in between them.

"Okay! What happened?"

Danny and Phantom looked at Jazz for a moment, then glared when their gazes met again.

"Well," Phantom began. "Everything was just peachy until a certain someone got in the way!"

"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong," Danny countered. "But I think that this whole thing could've been avoided if you had just paid attention to where you were aiming!"

"Look who's talking! You weren't so skilled out there, either!"

Danny took a step closer. "Hey! You almost fried me with one of your stupid ghost rays!"

Phantom also advanced closer. "Only because you wouldn't move! I swear, a person with a 'C' average or below would've been able to do something as simple as that!"

Another step closer came from Danny. "Are you implying that I'm not smart?"

His ghost half came even closer. "Oh, look who just woke up."

"Take that back!"

"Make me!"

At this point, they were both so close to each other that there was only about 3 inches of space between them and they were practically nose-to-nose. Jazz could tell that if she didn't do anything fast, this verbal argument could possibly turn into something more.

"Guys, how about-" She was cut off when the two boys got closer, if that were even possible.

They continued their squabble, their voices slightly increasing in volume. Jazz brought her hands to her ears due to a headache that she could tell was coming.

"You were the one with the Fenton Thermos!" shouted Danny as he poked his counterpart's chest. "I don't see why you're pinning this whole thing on me!"

"Um, hello," said Phantom as he gave Danny's head a few small knocks. "You made me drop the thermos, remember? I thought even you were smart enough to know that!"

Jazz tried to intervene again. "Guys, I really think you should-"

The two continued to ignore her.

"Well, maybe if a certain person had his hands practically glued to the thing and didn't let that ghost snake escape…"

"I let that snake escape?!"

"Thanks for admitting it,' Danny said as he made his way to the stairs, thinking that he won.

"I don't think so!" Phantom quickly grabbed the boy's arm.

"You're lucky that I turned this off," Danny said while pointing to the Specter Deflector that still wrapped around his waist.

"You're lucky that I don't beat you to a pulp!" countered the young spirit.

"ENOUGH!!"

The two boys ceased their squabble and turned to Jazz. She looked like she had a headache and she was way past annoyed with them. Who wouldn't be?

"I don't know how long you guys have been arguing, but this has to stop. And I think I know the perfect way to settle this…"

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Danny.

"You just had to ask that, didn't you?" Phantom sarcastically asked.

"I can't help it if I was curious," Danny snapped. "You should know that!"

The two teens were upstairs in Danny's bedroom. Jazz had locked the door with the aid of the doorknob's outer lock so neither of them could try and make a run for it.

"And don't even think about flying out of there, Phantom!" Jazz warned. "I already put up the Fenton Ghost Shield."

She heard a scoff from the specter. "Please. I know you don't really have it up."

"See for yourself," she said and went back to her book.

Believing that she was bluffing, Phantom turned intangible and took off through the closed window. However, his freedom didn't last long for he crashed into a giant, green dome that engulfed the entire house.

"Okay… So she did put it up."

He flew back inside while rubbing his right cheek where he had collided. He then heard his human side laugh just briefly after his collision.

"Oh, shut up, Danny!" he snapped.

An hour and thirty minutes later, Danny sat at his chair while trying to finish his homework. He got stumped on a math question and did the best he could to concentrate. He was about to turn around but instantly decided not to.

Phantom was floating in mid-air above the bed. He was in an ectoplasmic bubble that he constructed himself. He sat cross-legged in the air, arms folded across his chest and his green eyes closed. It looked as if he was meditating and the bubble he was in was sound proof so he wouldn't have to listen to his human side's frustrated groans.

Deciding that he might as well give up and ask, the brunet turned to face the specter before him.

"I know I'm gonna regret this, but can you help me with something?"

There was no response or movement within the bubble.

"Phantom?"

Nothing. Danny tried again.

"Phantom? Hello?" the teen asked once more.

Still nothing.

"You can't stay in that thing forever, Phantom!" exclaimed the boy as he knocked on the light-green circular shield.

The ghost felt the vibrations when the bubble was knocked upon and opened one eye then immediately closed it, clearly ignoring him.

However, Danny was persistent and pounded on the bubble in frustration. That rendered Phantom free from his silent paradise as he dismissed the shield that surrounded him.

"What do you want?" the spirit demanded. His arms were folded across his chest and his emerald eyes glowed in annoyance.

"I was gonna ask if you could help me with my homework, but I don't see why I should even bother."

"Same here," the specter countered.

Another hour passed and silence echoed throughout the room. The only thing that can be heard was Danny's pencil scratching on a piece of paper and Phantom tuning his guitar. No one said a single word to each other.

Why doesn't he just admit that he was in the way? Danny thought as he scribbled on the paper. He shot a quick glance to his ghostly 'brother' before turning away.

Phantom concentrated on his guitar, hoping it would sound perfect when it no longer needed tuning. Why doesn't he just apologize already? He strummed a chord, only to hear it still sounding off-key.

Danny flinched at the sound. "Sorry," he heard the ghost say. The boy simply nodded in response and continued his work.

That one word he said lingered in his mind and a frown sketched its way on the specter's features as he remembered how their argument started in the first place. They were both being stubborn and acting ridiculous towards each other the whole day. Phantom only apologized about the sudden startle he gave his twin, but the minute after he said that made him want to apologize for his ridiculous behavior. He sighed and played a melancholy chord on the instrument, not even caring that it was tuned or not.

This is stupid. I've been a complete idiot. He was only trying to help and I've been so stupid to not even see that.

He looked at Danny who had his back to him. Phantom sensed that the teen was still miffed at him and that made him slightly swell up with guilt and concern.

I think it's best to apologize. Yeah, I should do that. After all, he was just trying to help me, but I was acting like a jerk to notice.

The spirit opened his mouth to say something, but closed it immediately. Wait. He's probably still upset and he's too stubborn to even listen. He glanced down at his guitar. Maybe I could play something to get his attention. It worked yesterday. He checked the instrument and it sounded perfect. Taking a quick, nervous glance at his counterpart, he strummed a loud chord, startling the boy as intended. He was about to snap at him, but the ghost put up a hand to silence him.

"Now before you say anything, there's something I have to tell you."

Danny didn't say a word. He only had his arms crossed as he glared at the young phantom.

"I'm sorry."

The icy-cold stare transformed into one of confusion and shock.

"I'm sorry for starting this whole mess," continued Phantom. "It was all my fault. I've been acting like a complete idiot for not seeing that this whole thing was an accident and you were just trying to help. So, do you accept my apology? If not, I understand."

Danny just stared in awestruck silence at the spook. Now it was his turn to feel that guilt in his stomach. Wow. I can't believe it. He's taking the blame for all this. But why?

"Apology accepted," he finally said as he got up from his chair and stepped closer to the spirit. "And I'm sorry, too. I guess I was just being so stubborn to admit that… it was my fault, too."

"What? How is it- ?"

"If I had better aim on the Jack-O-Ninetails, which is still a horrible name for an invention, we would've been able to catch that ghost snake without any problems."

Phantom chuckled. "What's so funny?" asked the teen.

"Nothing. I was just comparing you with Jazz when she started helping us catch those ghosts, and frankly, I think she can handle that gadget a whole lot better than you."

"Hey!" protested Danny. "Should I even mention that you acted a lot like Jazz when you tried to figure out if anything was wrong with me last week?"

That made the ghost boy stop on a dime and blush a light shade of red. "Uh… that was… only because I cared, okay?"

"Uh-huh. I think you've been hanging around her a bit too much, don't you think?"

Phantom gave Danny a playful shove. "Be quiet."

Suddenly, a click was heard, followed by a knock. The boys glanced at each other for a brief second before answering, "Come in."

Jazz stepped into the room, a wary expression on her face. "Is everything okay in here?"

"Yeah," Danny answered.

"Everything's fine," Phantom added. "Why?"

"Well, I heard a startled shout and then it got really quiet on my way up here. I just wanted to make sure if things were fine." She looked at them with a satisfied look on her features. She then headed out of the room but stopped herself at the doorway.

"Oh. Before I forget, I deactivated the ghost shield while coming up here, so you guys are pretty much free to go."

"Thanks, Jazz," replied Danny and Phantom simultaneously.

Jazz nodded her head in response and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

"So," Danny started. "What do you wanna do now?"

The specter shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we could-" He was cut off by a light-blue mist emerging from his mouth.

"Go get that ghost?" finished the once half-ghost hybrid.

"It's like you read my mind." The ghost boy grabbed the Fenton Thermos while his human half reached for the Ninetails. Then, he took the boy's left hand and phased themselves out of the house.

Meanwhile, the ghost snake had reappeared at the park, frightening the inhabitants of the city in an instant.

From above, Phantom and Danny witnessed the running specs of the citizens and saw the culprit.

The creature was about to go in pursuit for its prey when it was struck by a white-green ecto-blast. It glared a deathly gaze as the two teens came into its vision, accompanied by a long hiss.

The two boys landed in front of the paranormal serpent, completely unintimidated by it.

Danny looked at the snake before looking at Phantom. "Ready, bro?"

Phantom smiled at the comment. "Ready, … bro," he answered with a wink.

The two brothers then went into action in pursuit of their own prey.

End.

I got a little quiz for ya, my fellow readers. Ready?

1.) Phantom played a loud, off-key chord on the guitar to wake Danny up. The same thing happened in what other show? Hint: the show is about two step-brothers.

2.) I got the title of this fic by thinking of the title of one of Charles Dickens' novels. What is the name of the novel I'm referring to?

3.) Phantom is meditating in his ectoplasmic bubble and Danny says that he can't stay in there forever. What show is this alluding? Hint: 2 creatures that study might and magic.

4.) The last 2 quotes are similar to the ones of what show? Hint: it's the same one that Question #3 was alluding.

Hope you enjoyed this piece. The quiz is just for fun (and to see if you paid attention to where I got some of the scenes from). For those who can answer these correctly gets a special virtual cookie. And I'm sorry for the length of this fic. But look on the bright side: at least it's shorter than its predecessor. Please review!

Lunazeta9