The raven haired boy woke up, feeling weak. He grunted, looking at himself in the mirror. Small, sickly. But familiar, nostalgic, too. He stood up, on his wobbly little legs, and headed downstairs, feeling famished - and he had every right to be. He hadn't eaten in a century.

He went to the cabinet, and grabbed a box of cereal. He frowned. As a ghost, he had no need to eat, or drink, or sleep. With these new (and old) needs, he felt that much more weak. But the needs had to be fulfilled. At least, until he could become full ghost again.

He got a bowl (somehow he remembered the location of the bowls) and poured the cereal. He began to eat it dry, realising that he wasn't just hungry, he was famished, starving, almost. With his hands, he dug into it, shoving handfuls into his mouth.

He heard footsteps, and halted. There was his sister, Jasmine, who looked quite startled at him. Not out of fear. No, hope. Something no one had looked at him with for a long time.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, inwardly cursing. "I was just really hungry. I haven't eaten in a hundred, uh, hours." A bad lie, but Jazz let it slide. In fact, she wrapped his arms around him.

Not expecting this, he froze, before he realized it was a hug. This, too, he had not gotten for a while. It felt so nice... He felt tears begin to brim in his eyes.

After a few minutes of hugging in silence, his sister spoke. "It's going to be okay, you know that, right?"

He nodded gently, letting go. Why am I acting like this? It must be the human part of me... And he kinda liked it. Having emotions again was nice. Especially relief, and happiness.

Until his ghost sense went off. Instead of the red swirls from his nose he was used to, it was his original blue puff from his mouth.

"You should probably get that," Jazz almost whispered.

He didn't want to. But the smallest part of him did. "Take care. Going ghost," he muttered, clenching his fists, and a white ring formed around his waist, splitting into two that went in opposite directions. As they passed over him, his outfit changed into the simple white and black hazmat suit of his youth, and his hair became white. No fire, he found, with dismay. Oh, well.

He went intangible, and phased through the wall to outside, looking for ghosts. And there they were - Skulker, Technus, and Box Ghost.

Danny's eyes widened, before they flashed a dangerous crimson. This would be a piece of cake... The ghosts back in his timeline were much more dangerous and powerful than these ones. But he felt a wall, blocking him off from his true power. A push would knock it over, but... He had been listening when Clockwork said his body was a shell, and he could burn through it easily.

"I am the Box Ghost! Bow down before me!" proclaimed the box ghost, to two ghosts who just weren't listening.

Technus was helping Skulker modify his armor. "So, which one does which again?" asked the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone

The tech ghost let out a frustrated sigh. "This one -"

He fell silent, when a figure appeared before them. Danny Phantom, the halfa, the ghost boy, who had gone missing for three weeks today.

"So, the little runt finally decides to show up. Good, I've been looking forward to a challenge!" Skulker says, a grin on his face.

Danny's eyes flashed red. "Challenge? You're no match for me. In fact..." He took a deep breath, before he let out a ghostly wail, sending the three ghosts tumbling backwards. He stopped in seconds, feeling they got the point.

"Face it, kid, you're no match for the two of us!" said a dishelved Technus.

The Box Ghost counted on his fingers. "Wait... Don't you mean three of us?"

Too invested in watching the exchange, Danny never saw the pink blast coming. He found himself flung against the concrete, and let out a cry of pain.

There he was, Vlad Plasimus, in all his ghostly glory. He stared at Danny with a lopsided, evil grin, and those red eyes.

"Big mistake," Danny muttered, duplicating himself once, twice, three times! The six of him let out six ghostly wails, all at Vlad, and the "Wisconsin Ghost" found himself flying much similar to how Danny had been just moments ago.

The six Dannys reformed into the one. The boy was tired already. He felt a heat all over his body, and found he was sweating. "That's it... No more mister nice guy," muttered the ghost boy, and he dove towards the four ghosts that dared mess with him. He began shooting at them, rapidly, again and again, a violent crimson in his eyes.

"D-Dan?" called a hesitant voice behind him.

Sam. Her violet eyes, staring at him, so afraid. He looked down, at a puddle, and saw his reflection. He looked just like himself, just like Dan, with the red eyes, the blue skin, the fiery hair. He glanced at the four ghosts behind him, beat up. Vlad had been knocked unconscious, and was in human form now. Skulker's armor was completely destroyed. Technus' body was all bent out of shape. Box Ghost had never looked worse.

I did this, he realized. He softly landed on the ground, noticing his was floating. He glanced back at the girl, his red eyes having no hatred, but empathy.

In silence, she only stared at him, bewildered. He hated that look, he realized. Especially on Sam. He still loved her, he realized. The human part of him... And seeing her hurt, by none other than himself, was the lowest blow he could feel.

He went intangible, and flew back to his house, to his room, to think, to brood, really. Things were easier as a ghost, he knew. But now? Things were complicated.

The master of time let out a relieved sigh. For a moment, he believed that Danny would kill those ghosts, he would keep going. But he had done the sensible, right thing. Well, maybe leaving Sam like that wasn't right, but it was better than some of the alternatives...