They had not flown for long before they found what was assumed to be Reaper's home- which didn't turn out to be much of one-. It resembled that of a burned down house that had nothing left but the basic foundation and the charred remains of what was probably furniture. The remains of the house sat on a fairly large island with several tall pillars of rocks jutting out of the ground like a forest.

"What happened here?" Sam asked.

"Reaper's partner murdered him by setting his house on fire with him in it," Raven answered.

She nodded, feeling a brief sense of empathy for him.

"Doesn't give him the right to kill," Robin returned. "Even if it is ghosts he's killing."

The Teen Titans, Sam and Danny stood amongst the ruins, studying everything intently. They had found no sign of Reaper so far and guessed that he had not been there since he had escaped, which unfortunately meant that this would be one of his next stops, giving them little time to plan.

"We could fan out around the rocks," Cyborg said. "Set a trap over here in the house."

"What kind of trap?" Danny asked.

"Uh… I don't know. We need something that will immobilize him."

"Danny could freeze him," Sam suggested.

"That might work, but we need a backup plan in case it doesn't," Robin said. "Any ideas?"

"Why would Reaper come here?" Sam asked suddenly, the thought having been eating at the back of her mind for quite some time now.

No one answered.

"Isn't it kind-of dumb of him to come here? Wouldn't he suspect a trap?"

"It doesn't matter why he's coming and it doesn't matter if he does suspect a trap," Robin said, "He's coming and we need to be ready."

--

It was eventually decided that if the freezing didn't work that they would lead him to some booby-traps placed systematically around the island and suck him into the thermos. They were so strongly advised not to fight him that it left them with little options, so they could only hope that one of their plans worked.

The teens had paired up and left in opposite directions to place the booby-traps. Cyborg and Robin had paired up and Raven insisted on going alone, which had left Danny with Sam, to his relief. He hid the small devices Cyborg had given him behind boulders, buried in the dirt with a specific rock over it so that he could identify it. All the while, he listened to Sam obsess over the question she had asked earlier.

"What is the point of coming here? Did he leave something?"

"I don't know," he answered distractedly.

"He's got to be smart enough to suspect something. Why risk coming here?" she asked to no one. She looked at Danny and for the first time since they had separated with the titans noticed that he hadn't been listening.

"You didn't hear a word I just said did you?"

He answered the same answer he had been giving her for the past ten minutes; "I don't know," then stopped and turned around. He smiled impishly at her.

"It's not funny, Danny. This is important!" she said as he began to laugh.

"Sorry… go on. I'm listening," he said, clearing his throat and looking at her jokingly serious.

She rolled her eyes at him and opened her mouth to continue when her eyes diverted up past him. She froze, her eyes widened and she whispered slowly, "Reaper…"

Danny stopped and whirled around, his hands tightening into fists in preparation for a fight. His eyes went wide as they traveled up the figure before him until he met with the red eyes staring down fixedly at him. For a few seconds, he couldn't move, momentarily stunned by the beat-less heart on his chest. He looked stronger than he had when Clockwork had showed him; he was more muscular.

Reaper stared down at him with a wild look in his eyes, arms raised above his head, hands holding the staff pointed blade down towards Danny's chest.

The second he had lost cost him. He jumped to the side as Reaper brought the blade down, slicing a long gash into his arm. Danny grasped the wound in pain, but had little time to fully recover before Reaper was attacking him again with fast waves of his staff. Danny began backing away, ducking from the blade while subconsciously hearing screams and shouts from around him.

He felt the wind of the blade that glinted from a non-existent light as it was swung across his stomach, inches away from penetration. He stumbled backwards, losing his footing, which gave Reaper a brief opportunity to strike. Missing once more by inches, he created a slice leading up from just above Danny's chest to his collarbone.

The duel didn't last more than ten seconds before the titans had run up, distracting the crazed phantom momentarily. He turned from Danny, the blood-lined blade dripping as he faced the new enemy approaching. The titans did not fight him, as instructed, but instead tried to divert his attention on them (the first plan having already failed for Danny's injuries; he stumbling backwards and leaning in pain against a pillar for a moment to recover) and lead him to their traps.

He was disinterested in all of them, staying close to his injured victim and only ever walking a few feet away to strike at his new assailants.

Robin threw several freeze disks at him, but Reaper managed to jump out of the way of each with a fair amount of ease, only mildly affected by the attack with some frost on his arms and legs.

For some reason, Reaper seemed undeterred by the new attackers. He nonchalantly dodged the blue rays of the gun on Cyborg's arm, and casually stepped aside as Raven lifted pillars from the ground and sent them hurtling towards him, though he was a bit more vigorous in his defenses against Robin's freeze disks.

The fight became more difficult when Sam ran to the Specter Speeder and grabbed the thermos. She aimed it at him and activated it, a blue ray bursting from it. Reaper flew away from this quickly, an unusual nervousness in his eye.

As soon as Danny had regained enough strength to begin shooting ice-blasts at him, they actually began making him retreat, jumping away and hiding behind pillars.

At one point, Danny thought for sure he had seen another ghost somewhere off in the distance, watching the battle, but he wasn't quite sure.

Reaper glanced at the five attackers thoughtfully for a moment, studying them rapidly before dodging away from another attempt to suck him into the thermos. He landed a few feet away from the ray only to be blasted in the arm with ice, immediately freezing it. He gasped and jumped behind a pillar, growling in annoyance. He stared at his arm and then lifted into the air.

Robin watched him fly off into the Ghost Zone and turned to Raven, who picked him up by the arms and began chasing after him. Danny meanwhile took the thermos from Sam.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Stay here," he said.

"What?!" she asked indignantly.

Ignoring her, he flew to the Specter Speeder, grabbed the Ghost Gauntlets, stuffed them into his backpack and then went off to grab Cyborg. Presently, he flew off after Reaper, who would occasionally glance back to see if they were still following. They were right behind him and closing the gap quickly. He flew past doors and islands, dodging blasts of ice and blue, green and black bolts –though being sure to slow a little when he began to lose them- when he had last stopped, opened an ancient-looking door and shut it behind him.

Raven and Robin were the first to enter after him. They came into a seemingly endless hall filled with pillars and shadows. Reaper was nowhere in sight; probably hiding behind one of the ancient stone pillars in the dark, cold room.

"Now what?" Raven asked.

Robin looked behind him. "Raven…"

She turned and both of them stared confusedly. Where there should have been the door they had just entered through, there were only more pillars with no sign of any of the four walls that were certain to be around somewhere.

"Where'd the door go?" Robin asked.

Raven looked around the room and put a hand on one of the pillars. "Reminds me of the time Mad Mod trapped us in that school."

Robin cringed at the memory and began looking around. "He wouldn't have come in here unless he knew how to get out…" he paused in thought. "We find him we find the exit."

Raven nodded in agreement and began following him through the dark hall.

--

Danny and Cyborg flew in a few minutes after Robin and Raven had and found the exact same thing. Endless rows of pillars in a dimly lit, enormous hall.

"Whoa…" Cyborg said, gazing at the sight before them with his mouth open. He glanced around. "Where are Robin and Raven?"

Danny shrugged uncertainly, unconsciously making sure that the Ghost Gauntlets and thermos were in his bag. He scanned the pillars, but could not see Reaper or the other two titans.

"That's weird…" Cyborg said nervously. He turned to check and see if maybe they left, when he stopped, trying to grab the handle but only feeling air. "Whoa! Where'd the door go?!"

Danny turned around and frowned. Something didn't feel right and it gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Let's look for the others," he said.

"And the door."

"Yeah."

"Wanna split up? We could cover more ground that way."

"Not really. What if we get lost?"

"Start shooting and I'll do the same."

Danny nodded in agreement and went to the left while Cyborg went to the right.

--

He could see them; he was watching them. He hid behind the pillars, peeking out from behind them to watch his prey walk through the halls aimlessly. Like a game of chess, he was close to checkmate. So close. He would get the king soon, but for now, he needed to take out the queen. He glanced down at his frozen hand irritably and created a red glow that burned through, making water drip onto the floor. He flexed his fingers, and then picked up his staff from the ground. Watching the two titans pass the pillar he stood behind, he snuck out and began following steps behind them.

--

Robin and Raven crept through the hall, taking great care to check each aisle before passing it, which was extremely tedious. Suddenly, Raven grabbed his shoulder.

"Robin, look," she said, pointing to a puddle a few feet away from them. They approached it cautiously. As they got closer, they could see it was a puddle of green blood, though there was no body to own it. Robin knelt down in front of it and touched it lightly with his glove. "It's fresh."

"Danny?" Raven asked.

"I don't think so," Robin said. "It's been here for about an hour."

"Who then?"

He glanced around. "Whoever used to live here," he said, looking down at the puddle again with a frown on his face. "We walked into a trap."

--

How they were going to find anyone in the unidentifiable forest of pillars was uncertain, but nevertheless, Cyborg did his best to search without getting the attention of Reaper. He occasionally threw green blinking trackers out into the hall in hopes that Robin and Raven would find them, but none of his efforts had proven very fruitful.

He was fairly quiet, singing a song in his mind as he walked to keep himself entertained when a figure stepped out from behind one of the pillars. By the size, he was immediately assured it was not one of his companions and began firing blue bolts at it. Reaper stumbled backwards at every hit, dodging occasionally when he got the chance. Cyborg continued to shoot and when it looked like he had had enough, went running at him at full speed. Reaper's eyes lifted as he approached and side-stepped seconds before impact. Cyborg whirled back around and began throwing punches, which Reaper blocked easily. As a missed punch to the face swung narrowly by Reaper's face, he grabbed the fist, went intangible and pulled out some wires.

Cybrog's hand crackled and sparked and was unable to function properly anymore. "Not cool, man!" he said, turning to face the phantom again. Realizing that face-to-face combat was not a good idea with this particular foe, Cyborg jumped back and began firing at him again from a distance. A grin had appeared on Reaper's face as he began running behind pillars to escape the blasts until suddenly he disappeared. Cyborg went around the pillar he had last seen him at, but there was no trace of him. Suddenly a strange sensation came over him. His being fought against it, trying to make it leave, but was powerless to. He heard a crackling, snapping noise and moments after fell to the ground, unable to hold himself up anymore. "What the-?!"

Someone came around to the front of him and knelt down to stare at him, head cocked to the side like an animal. Cyborg looked up, his head being the only thing he could move, to see Reaper, grinning down at him wickedly. He held a handful of wires and metal in his left hand, which he dropped in front of him.

"One," he said, then stood and left, disappearing behind one of the pillars into the darkness.

--

Robin and Raven had found several more puddles of blood after the first. The last puddle was the fourth, which meant that Reaper had been killing more quickly than originally thought. Robin was a little on edge with the knowledge that Reaper had the upper hand, and it made him hurry his pace. At this point, his prime objective was to find him and take him down. The exit could be found later.

They walked quietly, hearing nothing, seeing nothing, for what felt like hours. They could have been walking around in circles since they had come in, but with everything looking so similar, it was hard to say.

Suddenly they heard a rustle a few pillars away. Robin looked and stopped Raven. "Did you hear that?"

"No."

He gestured with his index and middle finger for her to follow and began walking cautiously towards where he had heard the noise. As they approached, he gestured again for her to go to the other side. She nodded and both went around on opposite sides of the pillar, hoping to ambush whatever lay behind it.

Suddenly he heard movement behind him. He whirled around and threw a freeze disk. He saw a flash of movement and threw another, then another beside him. He heard Raven somewhere, though he couldn't see her, speaking the words of battle; "Azarath Metrione Zinthos!"

He heard a crashing noise and then silence. More movement in the distance to the left of him and he threw another, hearing a shout as he did so. "Robin!" When he at last took a moment to see what had made the noise, he saw Raven, frozen solid. He stared at her, anger welling up inside him to the point that he turned red. He twisted around and began scanning for Reaper.

"Two…"

He whirled and swung his bo-staff, which was blocked immediately by Reaper's bladed staff. They stood there for a few seconds, holding this position a few moments more, before at last Reaper stepped to the side, making Robin fall forward. Catching himself, he stepped back as Reaper's cane came crashing down where his neck had once been. He raised his cane and lunged for his stomach. Robin brought his bo-staff down on the cane and guided it away from him. He then jumped up and kicked Reaper in the chest, sending him backwards onto his back.

He stood back up, glaring wildly at him. He raised a hand and fired red ecto-blasts at him. Robin jumped away, using the pillars to push off of to get out of the way. Encircling him, he finally jumped down, leg extended to kick him again. Reaper grabbed his foot right before impacting his face and threw him around. Robin hit one of the pillars and fell to the ground. Reaper walked over to him and, raising his cane, he brought it down on his head. When he didn't move, he stepped over him. "Three… Now for the king."

--

Danny had had no luck in his search. He couldn't find the door and he couldn't find any of the titans. He lost track of Cyborg… how long ago had it been? An hour? Two? It was impossible to tell, for he had no way of telling time.

Suddenly he stopped, spotting something beside a pillar. As he came to stand in front of it, he looked down at a green puddle of blood. He stared at it curiously, wondering what ghost had been killed when his unspoken question was interrupted by a whooshing sound. He ducked down, the blade cutting a few hairs off of the top of his head. Rolling forward through the blood- which he had not intended to do- he jumped back up to his feet and turned to face his attacker.

Reaper stared at him nastily, eyes wide with the thrill and adrenaline of death and blood. He swung his cane at him again, making him jump back once more. Danny extended his hands and shot ice at him, freezing him instantly. Sighing in relief, he looked around and began firing ecto-blasts into the aisles, hoping the titans would see them. He subconsciously wondered over how easy it had been to immobilize him, but didn't think very hard on it. The thought only reentered his mind when he was stumbling backwards from a punch in the jaw. Regaining his footing, he looked up at Reaper, who had melted his way through the ice. A puddle of water had formed at his feet.

Danny gazed at him, a sudden sense of fear making his heart thump loudly in his head. In the back of his mind, he was thankful that Sam wasn't there. He faced him, setting aside his fear for the time being to fight.

Reaper made the first move, throwing yet another punch. Danny moved away from it and threw one of his own, but missed barely. Not wanting to take any chances, he reached behind him to pull the thermos from the backpack and maybe even the Ghost Gauntlets, but Reaper lashed out at him with wide strokes of his cane.

Danny distractedly began defending himself as best he could, though it was difficult, for Reaper had begun to back him up towards a pillar. A little farther and he'd be back to back with it. Needing to regain some ground, he threw a wild punch. Reaper moved his head to the right and grabbed his wrist. In the same motion, he pulled him and threw him over his shoulder. Danny landed on his back with a thud, the air being knocked out of his lungs for a moment.

Stealing the opportunity, Reaper raised his cane and brought it down over Danny's chest. Quickly he grabbed it just above the blade inches from his skin. Each time his chest lifted, it lightly touched the tip of the blade. He pushed with all his strength, trying to get it away. His arms shook as he got weak from the struggle. Reaper pushed down wit the full strength of his body and finally managed to penetrate skin. His victim's eyes shut closed in pain as blood began to seep from the wound and roll down his body. Grinning with pleasure, he put more power into it, making the blade sink deeper into the flesh. "Restless spirit," he said with an echoing voice, like there was two of him speaking, "I've come to end your suffering."

Danny screamed, a sensation overcoming him dizzyingly. He had always heard of people's lives passing before their eyes before their death, but had never experienced it, until now. Everything he could remember, and some things he had forgotten about, began flashing in his mind like an old movie clip. As it played, his mind began to dwell on Sam. He remembered the fake-out-make-out, their real kiss a few months ago and felt some strength return to him. He pushed the blade a little out of himself, feeling the sting and grinding his teeth to hold back more screams.

Reaper stared down at him with irritation and stepped forward, now using his weight against him. The blade slipped through the gash again. Blood had begun to flow freely, allowing the phantom to fully comprehend the oddity that had been nagging at the back of his mind. The thing that had made this particular kill different, the thing that had made him somewhat uneasy; red and green blood, a beating heart appearing as he began to slowly slice downwards. He paused at the sight, gazing down at it uncomprehendingly. "You… breathe?" he asked to himself, dumbfounded.

Suddenly Reaper appeared to teleport out of his sight. The blade was gone from Danny's body, and Reaper was now turning away from him, glaring at something viciously. Danny weakly looked to see what it was that had distracted him. He felt a pang of relief and hope well up inside him as he stared at the familiar face of his best friend Sam, standing next to Tucker, Starfire and Beast Boy.

"Let him go!" Starfire said warningly, eyes glowing green.

"I wish you had not come here, my friend," Reaper said to her, ignoring the other teens completely, almost like he didn't know they were there. "I don't wish to kill you."

"No one is going to die today," Starfire said, lifting into the air. Reaper followed after her and both began firing a rainfall of red and green bolts at each other, flying behind and around pillars as they went. The eyes of both opponents glowed; Starfire's a bright green, Reaper's a fiery red.

As the fight continued above, Beast Boy, Sam and Tucker ran to Danny's aid. Their eyes involuntarily wandered down to the wound on his chest that was bleeding dangerously fast. Sam quickly got over her disgust in the urgency of the situation and looked around. "I need something to clog it with. Now!"

Tucker hastily threw off his shirt and hat and handed them to her, his eyes never leaving the gruesome injury on his friend.

Danny's breath had become extremely shallow and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He felt tired. So tired. And strangely numb. The figures bending over him became hazy, the voices foggy. The only thing he could comprehend clearly was Reaper, who he saw fly past occasionally and shout in anger as he chased Starfire around the hall. Oddly enough, he could see him even with his eyes closed. Was that related to the experience he had had earlier? Was it another curiosity of death? His mind was too muddled to fully contemplate the question.

Sam pressed the material against the wound, making him gasp harshly.

"Sorry," Sam said, but continued to press.

As he watched the fight unfold before him, Beast Boy joining in eventually to help Starfire, his eyes began to close until he had at last lost consciousness.