Ahhh... Finally! Another chapter done! How long has it been? (looks at last update) Gaahhh! Two months? No, wait! MORE than two months! That's it! Unacceptable! (mentally slaps self in the FACE) Ow... Sorry...


Chapter 7- STOP!


He hadn't called Wraith. Yet.

He was almost… afraid. What she had said had surprised him greatly.

Am I really that powerful? he wondered, carefully not broadcasting his thoughts to Wraith.

Over the last few days he had practiced putting up barriers around his mind. Walls that no ghost- no one at all- could crack.

The halfa knew that she was still with him. She was always there, flickering on the edges of his vision, seemingly real, but not. He could also feel her presence, waiting patiently on the outside of his mind shield.

Danny had been flying around the city, invisible, for the last three days. He still didn't know what exactly he was looking for. He stopped over the park, scanned the scenery, and continued on.

--

The football field. Home of many, many beatings received from Dash and his goons. He allowed himself a grim chuckle. He still remembered the time when he had filled in for the team's mascot, the raven.

"Fill in for the mascot. It'll be fun. You'll meet cheerleaders."

That never happened, of course. He had ended up taking care of Dash's little big problem. And Desiree, he recalled. Tucker had been the one who had received the beating.

Did I apologize for that? Mmm… I can't remember.

He pulled his mind out of the past and into the present. He didn't see anything upon his first glance of the field, but, as he turned to leave, a familiar chill crept up his throat. He shivered as blue mist trickled out of his mouth.

"My ghost sense?" he said, perplexed.

He scrutinized the stadium, this time seeing the ghost. It walked nonchalantly across the field. Danny's sharp hearing caught the tune; it was something that sounded like the theme from an old soap opera.

He swooped down, saying, "Excuse me, but, can I help you?"

The ghost looked up quickly. Danny's brow furrowed; there was something familiar about the blond hair, blue eyes, and… football jersey?

"Dash?" he asked. The ghost looked confused, then nodded.

"Danny Phantom?" he said, awe and something like hope creeping into his voice. "You've finally come back! Please… Save us?"

It sounded more like a question than a plea for help. Danny landed, walking over to Dash's ghost.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Dash shook his head. "Wait- No! Get away!" he yelled, backing away. "I have orders… I can't disobey-"

Dash disappeared in an explosion of green and the sound of ripping cloth. Muscles bulged, showing through his now neon green skin. The beastly specter stared out at him from the inside of an undersized football helmet with creepy red eyes.

"-HIM!!!" It finished, roaring out of its carnivorous maw. With another earth-shaking roar, it barreled towards him.

Danny, still a little surprised, took the hit full force. The ghost- no, Dash-promptly tackled him, holding the halfa to the ground with his immense weight.

A decade. 10 years and the only moves in his repertoire are still old football tackles? Doesn't Pariah take the time to actually train his troops?

Danny was paying too much attention to the fight that he didn't notice that little remark.

With a grunt, Danny shakily lifted the heavily muscled ghost off of him and tossed him to the other side of the football field. The larger ghost, having all brawn and no brains, clumsily landed on his face, helmet plowing into the weed infested grass. He bellowed, getting to his club-like feet.

Again, he bounded toward Danny at breakneck speed.

Sighing, Danny froze the grass below the monster's feet, making a slippery path to slick for the bulky beast to run upon. With a yelp of surprise, it lost his footing and fell hard, his helmeted head hitting the ice with a crack. Spiderweb patterns spread out on the ice from where his head had fallen.

The large, green ghost groaned, head lolling to the side. Dispelling the old ice, Danny summoned new ice, shackling the monster to the field with icy manacles.

With some terrifying, maniacal joy, the halfa began to reach toward its head to pull out the monster, even though it was on the outside.

It worked last time, why not his time? he thought.

Danny, no! cried Wraith in his mind. He's a ghost now. It might hurt him!

Who cares? said the new, calculating voice.

When Danny continued, putting a silver glove-clad hand to the monster's forehead, Wraith appeared on the scene.

"Danny! STOP!" she begged.

Looking up at his face, she stared. His normally bright green eyes were dull, tinged with crimson around the edges.

Horrified, she reached into the monster's mind and awoke its not so ugly counterpart. The muscled ghost moaned, and slowly began to shrink into a ghost that could be recognized as Dash.

A little relieved, Wraith looked back at Danny, namely, his eyes. He straightened, and blinked several times. His eyes flashed a bright red, then were back to their usual green.

He blinked again, the seemed to realize what he was about to do.

"No…" he whispered.

With that, he flew away, filled with angst and confusion.

--

He landed outside FentonWorks. Intangible, he dove into the pavement, down into the lab.

Wraith pursued him. Also landing in the basement, she walked towards him, watching him key in the sequence to open the ghost portal.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"What do you think I'm doing?" he answered angrily. "I'm going to see Clockwork."

"But why?"

"You saw what I almost did back there!"

"Yes, but what do you have to go running to Clockwork for?"

"I need to ask him what happened. Wraith, something… changed, in my mind. Something changed for the worse."

She interrupted, "What kind of worse? Sick worse? Confusion worse?" When he didn't answer, she repeated, "What kind of worse?"

His answer was so quiet she couldn't hear it. Instead of asking again, she caught it from his mind.

Evil worse.

" I don't care how evil that was or what you were about to do, but you are not going to Clockwork," she said.

"And what's to stop me?" he retaliated. "You? Sorry if this offends you, but I could overpower you so easily that it's not funny."

She held up a Fenton Thermos, shakily pointing it at the halfa. "Danny, if you take one more step toward that portal, dammit, I will suck you into this Thermos," she threatened.

Danny saw that she was on the verge of tears; his expression softened. "What's wrong, Wraith?" he asked softly.

Her hands dropped to her sides, the Thermos clanging on the metal floor. "It's Clockwork," she said, voice catching a little. "He's… he's… he's gone, Danny. Dead. For good."

His eyes widened. He was about to talk, but she looked as though she would collapse. Danny walked over to her and put her arm around her. She leaned into his chest, sobbing, while he absentmindedly rubbed her back, gently.

"He was just… so important to me, Danny. He saved me, helped me when no one else would. And for that… they killed him. They had followed me, and I led them right to him. It's all my fault, Danny. It's all my fault."

"Shhh," he said. "It'll be ok."

He put his other arm around her, embracing her. She stopped talking, but her soft sobs could still be heard in the silent laboratory.

They slowly rocked back and forth, Wraith physically crying her pain, while Danny silently expressed his grief for his lost mentor.


Wait- what? Clockwork's dead? WHY DID I DO THAT??? (mentally slaps self in the FACE, again, harder)

I'm such and idiot :) Go ahead, slap me with reviews.

Thanks for reading.

-Flaming Water