It was one of those nights that left the half-ghost restless and agitated.

He had long since opened the window of his bedroom and flown into the darkness, his ghost tail whipping behind him. There were many nights like these where Danny would scour the city for potential ghost activity. Tonight was not such a night. Tonight the boy simply wanted to think.

It was surprising to him, just how relaxing flying could be, making it a perfect condition to ponder whatever was on his mind. When he had first gained his ghost powers, he put much concentration into flying, his human instincts telling him 'danger!' and that he would fall from the sky at any moment. Now he put no more thought to it than when he walked. Flying was arguably more suitable for thinking than walking, however, as there were fewer things to run into up in the sky than there were on the Earth, should he become so lost in thought.

And tonight he was, indeed, very lost in thought. He was thinking of the day's events, occurring just hours before, leaving them still fresh in his mind. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, the blackouts, or Technus's peculiar behavior. Technus - a ghost he thought he knew so well, a ghost he knew as so predictable, so arrogant. But he wasn't so sure of that anymore, not after what he had seen in the ghost's lair. Never before had a confrontation with Technus left him so conflicted, so confused. Plenty of times it had left him annoyed, angered even, but never puzzled. A part of him was scared by that. Had Technus really become something far more dangerous than before? And if so, what did that have to do with what was happening now?

Danny floated, suspended in the air, his arms casually behind his head as he gazed up at the stars, as if they had the answers he was looking for. He thought of the time Technus had nearly taken over the world, the strategy he had used. He had laid low, something he hadn't done in previous attempts at gaining control of the world's technology. He had waited until the last moment to reveal himself, which had inevitably been his downfall in the long run. Had he stayed quiet the entire time, and had he not sent Valerie's suit after him - which had been what had sent the alarms in Danny's head that indicated Technus was indeed up to something - would he have succeeded that day? He didn't like thinking about it, nor did he like thinking about the other close calls he's had with other ghosts - Undergrowth, Vortex, Nocturne... Vlad, just to name a few. There were plenty of times he could have slipped up, something could have happened that would have decided a different fate for the world, but it didn't bode well thinking about.

Instead, he thought about the conversation he and his friends had with Technus, what his personality had been like during that conversation. He definitely had a darker tone about him, one that made Danny a bit nervous. Sure, the ghost of technology had gotten angry with him before - he couldn't think of many ghosts who hadn't - but never before had he felt... threatened, by that anger. Had you asked him months before if he associated Technus with the word 'dangerous', he would have laughed. However, things have changed in those months, and Danny knew he could not afford to be cocky, especially considering what was going on.

Rolling over midair on his stomach, his chin resting on his crossed arms as if he were at home lying on his bed, he considered just what role Technus had to play in this game. Oh yes, he knew the ghost was involved somehow, whether he was the one responsible or simply knew some secret he wouldn't tell. Regardless of what role he played, Danny was certain that he did play a role. That much, to him, was obvious; the way the technological ghost behaved during their confrontation, and merely the fact that he was the ghost of technology. To believe that he knew nothing of the situation was either far too trusting or far too ignorant, and Danny was neither. So it would seem, indeed, that Technus not being in some way related to the situation was out of the question.

The real question was, how exactly was Technus involved in all of this? Normally Danny would assume the ghost took the entire responsibility when something like this happened - and for a while he had - but while his behavior had told the halfa he was somehow involved, something about it also told him that he wasn't the one to blame. Danny couldn't place a reason for why he felt the way he did, but that didn't impede it in the slightest. Call it some ghostly instinct, but the gut feeling he had was strong, and there had been many instances where his gut had proven right.

That, however, didn't make it any less confusing. Sighing, he looked down at the town below him. What had once been a vast field of lights had vanished, replaced by a cold darkness that only the light of the moon could partly dispel. Flying forward now, he began a sweep of the city, similar to that of his nightly vigils. There wasn't any activity to be found, ghost or otherwise. Still, it was in his instinct to keep watch over the city he knew and loved.

Eventually floating to touch down on a sidewalk, he looked casually about. The windows of the countless houses revealed no light in the dwellings. This wasn't odd, as it was past midnight and most of the town's citizens were asleep. What was odd, was the distinct lack of light given off by the streetlights, making the street hauntingly black. Looking about the place in the dead of night made one realize just how much a power outage can change everyday life.

Giving the dead streets one last look, the ghost boy flew into the darkness, returning to the place he called home. He pondered his flight, internally wondering if he was any closer to having an answer than he was before he had flown from his window. He had considered many details, tossing them about in his head, searching for some way to perhaps just find a clue. But in the end, he wasn't any closer than he had been. It was still the same; Technus might not be the cause, but he's involved. Danny sighed. At least he felt pretty confident about that. So many more questions were unanswered, but at least it was a start. Pulling himself from his thoughts, the boy looked up and found he had reached his destination. An aerial view of one's own house might seem so foreign to most, but to Danny it was a part of his life as half ghost.

Phasing quietly through the wall, he noticed the soft glow of a candle sitting on his nightstand. The room flashed green for a moment before returning to the flickering orange of the tiny flame as Phantom turned to Fenton. The boy smiled softly at the small source of light, probably left by his mother, or maybe Jazz. Just a little gesture it was, but it made him feel safe, at home.

He quickly changed into his nightwear before slipping silently into bed, the warmth of the blankets making him realize just how tired he was. He watched the orange light dance on the ceiling for a short while before falling into a peaceful slumber.


Jazz was sitting at the kitchen table when her brother came down the stairs, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. As he walked into the kitchen, his sister greeted him, "Good morning, Danny."

"Morning," came the tired answer. He instinctively opened the fridge door, only to frown when the inside remained dark. Oh, right. Shutting the door to the fridge, the teen walked over to grab a box of cereal. So long as the power remained out, the cereal would remain without milk. That was going to take some getting used to; morning rituals were hard to break.

Sitting down with his breakfast, excluding the spoon entirely, in favor of picking up and eating the bits of cereal one at a time, Danny stared off into oblivion, seemingly deep in thought.

It was broken, however, when he asked, "Where's mom and dad?"

"They went out this morning," Jazz replied. "Still not back yet."

Danny nodded, returning his attention back to his food. He sat quietly, mindlessly emptying his bowl. Try as he might, he couldn't stop thinking about the situation. His sister might call it obsessive compulsion, but when the world is at stake, who wouldn't be? Glancing up at said sister, he wondered if she could provide any insight. Ghost hunting wasn't really her thing, granted, but she was aspiring to be a psychologist, or psychiatrist, he never really understood the difference. So surely she would be better at judging a change in someone's personality than him? Even if the said 'someone' was a ghost.

"Jazz?"

"Yes, little brother?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, not sure how he wanted to put it. "I've been thinking lately... Say someone's personality were to.. change. And this person might be hiding something, but you can't really tell anymore because..." Danny trailed off, seemingly too deep in thought to even finish his sentence.

Setting down her book - of which Danny noted was very large and thick, rivaling an Encyclopedia - Jazz calmly and, in a very serious manner, asked him, "Is this about Technus?"

Part of him wanted to smirk for her actually getting his name right, but the urge died quickly. He simply nodded.

His sister bit her lower lip, tapping her fingertips on the table in thought. "What do you think he's hiding?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "I just feel like he's not telling me everything."

"Well why would he? The two of you aren't exactly on good terms," Jazz pointed out. She leaned back in her chair slightly, steepling her fingers and staring at them contemplatively. Looking up from them to her brother, she asked him, "What exactly do you mean when you say his personality's changed?"

"Well, back then, Technus pretty much did used to tell me everything, " he told her. "He liked to shout out his plans all the time. But it's not just that, it's..." He seemed to be thinking of how to describe his thoughts. "Everything about him is different. He used to be.. well.. kinda crazy." He looked up to Jazz to see if there was any sign of judgment on her face, but her face was calm, collected. She nodded for him to continue, which he did. "He was always so sure of himself, so.. eccentric. He's changed before, though, into - almost a machine-like person. He was more rational about things, he despised emotions..."

Danny took a moment to gather his thoughts again before continuing, "But now he's different again. Not like anything from before. I don't know if it's because he's changed or if it's just because I confronted him about this. But it has to be more than that." He was talking more to himself now. "I've never seen him so.. agitated before. It was.. it was kinda scary," he admitted.

Jazz had never taken her eyes off her little brother. She'd listened attentively, hiding a small, worried frown behind her folded hands. Whatever was happening, it was affecting her little brother, and she didn't like that. She was interested, however, in what he was saying. She thought for a small while, thinking over what he'd said.

"So you think he's hiding something because of the way he reacted when you confronted him?" she verified.

He nodded mutely.

Jazz silently thought things over. There were many things that ran through her mind that just couldn't be put into words. To her, the 'original' version of Technus sounded like someone who took a great deal of pride in his work, and wanted to be recognized for it. Whether it was a need for recognition or a compulsion to speak his mind, so to say, she couldn't possibly know. However, from this, she did have a hunch of the 'newer' Technus's behavior.

"I think," she spoke after a while of silence, "that he doesn't like people seeing him as something he's not." She looked up from her folded hands to her brother and continued. "From what you've said about him, we could assume that he likes recognition. I think it works the other way around as well. I think he doesn't like being blamed for something he didn't do."

Danny looked up at his sister almost hopefully. "You don't think he's the one that's causing this?"

Jazz shook her head. "It doesn't add up. I don't think he would've admitted to have done it if he had, but from what you've said he had a pretty strong negative reaction when you accused him of the blackouts. If he had done it, I think he would've felt pride, joy even, perhaps. But what you described?" Jazz shook her head. "If you had done something you were proud of, would you be infuriated if someone asked if it was you?"

"No," was all Danny said. It made sense, it really did. His gut feeling and Jazz's psychological analysis both returned the same results - Technus wasn't to blame. But if not him, then who? And what was he hiding? Danny was sure there had to be something, he just didn't know what. Like Jazz had said, why would he tell him everything? They were enemies. Enemies didn't whisper secrets to each other.

Looking up to his sister, he said, "Thanks, Jazz. For everything."

"No problem, little brother."