Endgame

by pearl84

It's said that every hero needs a final, epic battle. Danny is about to discover his 'perfect ending' was only the 'calm before the storm'. But in chess, the endgame is what matters. And playing against your worst enemy, means relying on your arch-enemy to win. Sequel to Checkmate. One yr. after PP.

21. Chapter 20: Me, Myself, and Phantom

Hey, my dear readers! I know… It's been forever! I am so sorry! I had a lot of you reaching out to me asking me about the next chapter. I didn't reply because I had no idea when I would be done with this one. My job keeps me super busy. Guess that comes with being an adult and having a real life outside of writing for a cartoon show. But I still love doing this, and I will do my best to finish this story and DoaS. But don't worry; if I would stop writing, I would let you guys know. I would not leave you hanging. But the goal is to finish this someday; so as long as you guys stick with me and are patient, I will get this done.

Well! This one is a pretty interesting chapter. Next one, will be even better! Lol!

Quick recap since it's been forever:

Vlad managed to convince Danny to put his family and friends under the Spell of Forever Sleep. And seeing the threat his evil self posed on his loved ones, the boy went through with the man's plan with the promise that Vlad would wake them back up after they got his ghost self away from Dan and fixed his situation with being split.

During his visit to Amity, the older hybrid had to confront the evil creature that had almost done him in at Clockwork's tower. It had been a challenge as the man was still feeling the consequences of that near-death encounter. His damaged core was a cruel reminder of the danger he was in. And yet, Vlad still somehow managed to trick Evil Phantom, pull out Danny's ghost half using the gauntlets, and make it back to Wisconsin.

But… he did lose something valuable in Amity Park. In exchange for his life and the success of his plan, Danielle all but lose her own. She sacrificed herself to save the father that never loved or wanted her. Vlad is still unable to comprehend, let alone, accept the girl had done such a thing for him.

Now, in Wisconsin, Vlad's focus is once more on Danny—specifically, his ghost half. But the question the man needs to know is:

Is the ghost he pulled out of that evil creature still Danny Phantom?

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom characters. But OCs are my own. And the wise spirit book, Libro, belongs to my dear friend Truephan

---

Chapter 20: Me, Myself, and Phantom

---

Danny's mind was blurry and confused; yet, oddly, at the same time, he thought he could recall just about everything. Brief flashes of incoherent images assaulted his disjointed mind, which felt similar to how he felt immediately after his copies had merged back into him after he had duplicated. He would have a couple seconds of uncertainty as his brain tried to take in his copies' recollections and feelings. Only, what he was feeling now really wasn't the same at all. Instead, he felt as if he was stuck in a kind of 'limbo', like he had two sets of memories that couldn't mesh with each other.

He last remembered Vlad putting that sleeping mask on him and telling him he would return soon. But he also had this graphic picture of being trapped in this horrible darkness; and just as he felt it would devour him completely, a jolt of pain brought him out of it and into blinding brightness. He vaguely recalled feeling this pressure and pain around his chest as he looked into Plasmius' red eyes before he had lost all awareness.

And now… he was back. He suddenly was back in Vlad's old castle, in his old lab, and staring back at the man's human form. But what he couldn't understand was… why he was trapped in some… glowing plastic box—or, at least, that's what it looked liked.

"What…?" Danny spoke up again as he placed a hand on a wall of his confinement. But then he frowned as he looked back at Vlad, and asked instead, "How did I get here?"

Vlad didn't reply at fist; but he slowly got off the stool he had been sitting on and carefully approached the ghost boy.

"What?" Danny demanded impatiently at seeing the man scrutinizing him like he was some creature from Mars. "I got something on my face, fruit loop? What's with the look? And why am I in this box?"

"Daniel?" Vlad asked, unsure.

The teen raised an eyebrow this time. "Yeeah?"

What was with the guy? Did he suddenly forget his name or something?

The older hybrid frowned deeply at his response; yet he still asked a bit more composed, "How are you feeling?"

Danny looked around at his surroundings again before he shrugged. "Okay, I guess… Did you get my ghost-half back?"

Vlad, who had been studying the boy's appearance, quickly darted his eyes back to the teen's own. He raised an eyebrow at him as he answered, "I believe so…" And gestured at the ghost boy to look at himself.

Danny frowned in confusion at first. What was Vlad trying to hint at? Wasn't he his normal human self? However, when he finally looked down at himself, he gasped. No, he wasn't human! He was in ghost form! No wait… Something wasn't right…Hadn't Vlad gone to Amity to get his ghost-half back because he was… split? And if that was true, that meant….'

"I'm… back. I'm okay," he muttered to himself. He suddenly grinned back at Vlad and said, "You got me out. I'm fine!"

"Are you?" Vlad asked seriously.

Danny's smile faltered. "You don't think so… Is this why you're keeping me trapped in here? Vlad, I feel fine."

"You realize you are not whole, right? Your human half is still unconscious on the lab table in the simulation room," the man said to him.

Danny hesitated. "Y-Yeah…" But the truth was he had not realized right away. And he also had not realized at first he was the ghost part of himself. Aside from his disjointed mind, he did not feel any different. He didn't feel like he was split—unlike the past times he had separated from his human half. Should he be concerned about that? He felt fine.

Vlad clearly noticed his uncertainly, and asked, "What do you last remember?"

Danny instantly rubbed the back of his neck. "You said you were going to Amity Park to get my ghost-half back."

"I told your human side that," Vlad answered. "What else do you recall…?"

Danny hesitated again before he answered, "I remember you pulling me out of my evil self."

Vlad's eyes widened a bit. "I wasn't aware you were conscious when I pulled you out."

Danny moved his hand from behind his neck and rubbed his face tiredly. "I guess I was partially awake. It's a blur. I don't remember a lot about being trapped inside him. I mostly remember being here… with you and my family and friends. I guess my human and ghost parts are connected mentally. That is what you said, right?"

"Right," Vlad answered; yet he did not seem convinced for some reason.

This time, Danny shot him an annoyed glare. "What's that supposed to mean? And why do you keep staring at me like I'm some alien? Isn't it a good thing my ghost-half is okay?"

"You mean that 'you are okay'," Vlad corrected him.

"Yes! Same thing, Plasmius!" Danny exclaimed in frustration. "Look, I know you love scrutinizing everything to come up with your little theories; but I'm not in the mood for it right now. I feel fine, which is awesome because that means I can just merge back with my human self; then I can bring my friends and family out of that spell, go kick my evil self's butt back into the thermos, and finally be done with this nightmare! So, please, stop playing 'fruit-loop scientist' with me, and let me out of here."

"Daniel, I cannot do that," Vlad answered seriously in spite of the boy's cheek. "There is something wrong with you."

The boy's annoyance melded into fear. "What do you mean 'wrong with me'? With my human half… or with…?"

"With you, my boy—with your ghost half."

The ghost boy frowned as he looked himself over again before staring back at the man. "But I don't feel like there's something wrong. I'm being honest. I feel good. I feel normal."

Vlad shook his head. "That is the very problem, Daniel. You should not feel 'fine' or 'normal'. Daniel, you are still split, and you have been for a few days now. You should feel awful."

"But I've split before, and I never felt awful. Okay, sure I acted weird because my mind was split, and my two halves wanted different things at the moment; but I didn't have any consequences from it."

"I told you—or, rather, your human-half at least…" Vlad shook his head at the oddity of his words before he continued, "I told you that was different because you split willingly and you did that with one of your parents' devices—which we won't get into how dangerous that was—but now, you were forcibly pulled from your human side, and have been unstable for days. And worse, you have been within another being who was attempting to destroy you. Do you understand? You should feel far from fine!"

The ghost boy fell quiet but then he shook his head. "Maybe I was just lucky..."

"I felt your core," Vlad cut him off. "You do not feel like you should. Something is off with you and until we can determine what it is, I cannot let you out of that containment box."

Danny quickly looked anxious. "And how long will that be? You can't just…"

"Vlad?"

The older hybrid's eyes darted to the lab's entrance, and he frowned deeply at seeing the teen's human-half standing there. He seemed a bit lost; but he looked better than he had when he first left him.

But before the man could answer, the human Danny finally noticed his ghost-half.

The teen's eyes widened before he quickly moved over to the containment box and placed his hand against it. "You did it! You brought him back!"

The ghost boy, in turn, smiled and placed his hand on the wall, mirroring his human-half's actions.

Vlad looked between the two before he gripped the bridge of his nose and muttered to himself, "This is bizarre even for me."

"Can I let it out?" the human Danny asked with excitement.

"It?" Danny Phantom asked appalled as he glared at his human-self.

"Sorry," the human boy replied with a meek smile. "Are you feeling okay? Here, let me get you out."

"No!" Vlad quickly exclaimed; and moving over to the teen, he yanked him away from the release button.

"Hey!" both Dannys exclaimed at the same time.

But Vlad ignored it, and told the human teen, "I already told you he has to stay in there!"

"No, you didn't! And why? He's fine! Shouldn't we be happy he's okay? That means I can just merge back with my ghost self, bring my friends and family out of that spell—"

"Dude, I already told him all that," the ghost boy cut him off.

"Well, how am I supposed to know that?" the human teen answered as he looked back at his ghost-half with annoyance.

The young Phantom just shrugged. "It just sounds creepy that you're repeating my same exact words from moments before. Though I think you would have gotten the memo via our brain's link or something."

"Beats me. I just woke up. Sorry that I didn't get the memo."

"Enough!" Vlad snapped when he saw the ghost boy open his mouth to retort.

The two Dannys quickly scowled at the man, but kept quiet.

Vlad realized his head was throbbing already. But he just sighed deeply before looking sternly at the two teens. "I need you to listen to me for once. We cannot just merge you two. Your ghost side may look physically intact, but there is something wrong with him; and until I can determine what that is, we cannot do anything else. I do not even dare begin the process of trying to convert your ghost DNA back to human DNA. We need to wait. It seems you two are stable for now; so we can give this at least until tomorrow, alright?"

"Fine," they both said.

But then the human teen asked, "But does he need to stay in there? It seems wrong."

"Yeah, it's not like you can't watch me outside of this box," the ghost teen added with a small frown.

The human teen felt the same wave of impatience as his ghost-half as he agreed, "Yeah, Vlad. He's not going anywhere."

Vlad's eyebrows creased. "I do not think that is a good idea…" But seeing the two teens stare pleadingly at him, the man sighed again. "Fine… You can let him out."

The two Dannys grinned in triumph; and the human-half quickly pressed the release button.

In an instant, the ghost shield around the box dropped, and the ghost boy turned intangible and flew out of there.

"Finally!" he said with a small twirl in the air before he landed next to his human counterpart. "I don't think I could have taken being trapped in there another minute!"

"You were not in there that long," Vlad answered with a raised eyebrow.

The ghost kid shrugged before looking over at his human counterpart and commenting with curiosity, "I never thought I'd be going through this again…"

"Tell me about it," Fenton said with a sigh. But then he suddenly studied his ghost-half as he hesitantly asked, "You do feel okay, right? No feelings of… melting? Fading away into nothing?"

The young Phantom rolled his eyes, but crossed his arms and answered, "No, do you?"

"Why would I feel like that?" the human teen asked, matching his frown.

"'Cause we're supposed to be the same person, remember? I think we can establish that if you feel fine, I feel fine." He glanced at Vlad, only to notice the man carefully watching him and his counterpart.

"And he wonders why we call him fruit loop," the ghost boy added.

Vlad narrowed his eyes a bit on the ghost teen, but then turned to leave as he said dismissively, "I will be in the upstairs lab. I need to create another batch of the DNA synthesis solution."

"What happened to the first one?" Fenton asked, confused.

Vlad visibly tensed for a second before he answered emotionlessly, "I lost it."

The two teens watched the man go before looking at one another.

"So, what now?" the ghost boy asked.

"I guess we just wait for Vlad," Fenton answered with uncertainty. But then he smiled sadly as he added, "And hopefully we can bring everyone back soon."

"Back?" the ghost boy said slowly.

"Yeah. You know, wake them up from the spell?" the human teen answered a bit confused.

"Right…," the young Phantom replied slowly. He hesitated but then said, "Can we go see them?"

Fenton nodded and headed up the stairs leading out of the lab. He led them towards the simulation room, unaware of the confused look on his ghost half's face.

When they got there, the young Phantom froze at seeing his friends and family on hospital-like beds and unconscious.

"Vlad did this…?"

"Yeah, with the Order's Crystal," Fenton answered. But then he paused and added surprised, "You don't remember?"

The ghost boy almost jolted before he stuttered, "I-I—Yeah! Just… Everything is blurry. I get fragments of things."

"You think it's because we're split? Like not all our memories transferred?" Fenton asked, unsure.

The ghost teen just shrugged before he approached his mom. He touched her forehead for only a moment before he pulled back his hand. He glanced at the others. His eyes lingered on his older sister before looking back at his human side.

"We can't keep them like this. How sure are we Vlad will wake them up?"

"He has to," Fenton answered with a deep frown.

"He'd better," Young Phantom whispered.

"I'm also worried about Danielle," the human teen added with a sigh. "She left with my parents to Amity Park and she hasn't returned."

The ghost teen frowned; yet didn't reply. But then he suddenly grinned and asked, "Hey, wanna go flying?"

Fenton raised an eyebrow. "Now?"

The young Phantom quickly nodded as he added, "Why not? Better than moping around. Come on!"

Before the human boy could answer, his ghost-half grabbed him from behind his arms, turned them intangible, and flew them out of the castle.

He flew them up super high, and the two teens sighed at the view below and the feel of the cool air.

"Man," Fenton said. "I didn't realize how much I needed this…"

"Right! I wish I could stay up here forever!"

"But… maybe we should be careful. Vlad says something's wrong with you."

The young Phantom rolled his eyes. "Vlad always says something's wrong with me. Look, I'm not too quick to believe what he says. And you shouldn't be either. He lies to us all the time, remember? Besides, I feel just fine. If something was wrong, I doubt I'd be able to use my powers. I probably be some blob of energy or something as equally disturbing. Maybe… Maybe we just got lucky."

Fenton looked up at his ghost counterpart. "What are you saying? Do you think we could just… merge again? That we don't have to give up our ghost powers?"

The ghost boy bit his lip. "I think that's what I'm saying. I mean, if there's a chance we could keep being… us; then isn't it worth the risk?" He glanced up at the setting sun and added, "Wouldn't you risk everything to keep… this?"

Fenton didn't reply; but he knew he didn't need to. He was sure his ghost-half could feel that he agreed.

The young Phantom sighed before he suddenly flew down and landed beside Vlad's outdoor pool. It looked just like it did before. Fishes and all.

But ghost teen ignored it as he said seriously, "We need to decide what we're going to do. Vlad can say all he wants; but it's my—our—choice."

"What exactly is our choice?" Fenton asked bitterly as he stared at the pool. "We could listen to Vlad, get rid of our ghost powers, and live long enough to powerlessly watch our evil-self destroy the world—that is, if Clockwork's crazy wife doesn't burn us to a crisp first. Or we could… risk merging. We could risk… dying. Then who's going to protect our friends and family? It's not much of a choice…"

The ghost boy didn't answer this time. Instead he sighed, and briefly realized his human-half had done the same.

"But how are we supposed to defeat him without ghost powers? Or at least try?" the young Phantom asked softly.

Fenton frowned. "I don't know… But I do know I am going to try."

The ghost boy's eyes slowly narrowed as he glared at the moving creatures in the aquarium surrounding the pool. "Well, we won't be able to try by continuing to hide from him. I say we take the fight to him, and end this once and for all!"

"I'm not exactly happy with just sitting here, either, you know?" Fenton answered a bit defensively. "I know he's out there destroying everything—destroying my home and hurting people! But there's nothing I—we—can do about it right now!"

"This is all Plasmius' fault."

Fenton quickly looked at his ghost-half. For some reason he didn't like how he had said that.

Right then they heard a loud bark, and the two teens looked over at the garden nearby to see TJ barreling towards them.

"TJ!" the two teens exclaimed in surprise.

However, what they had expected to happen did not.

Instead of the dog jumping on either one of them or licking their faces, the dog planted his front feet firmly on the ground inches from Danny's ghost-half and barked aggressively at the ghost.

"TJ!" the two exclaimed again, while Phantom nervously lifted his hands up in front of him. He didn't dare move another muscle, because he was honestly afraid the dog was going to lunge at him at any moment.

Fenton finally reacted and quickly grabbed TJ by his collar. "Whoa! TJ, stop! What are you doing?!"

TJ snarled again; but at hearing his master's frantic voice, he seemed to snap out of it and quickly cowed and whined as he looked up at the human boy.

"What's wrong with him?" the young Phantom asked fearfully. "It's like… he doesn't recognize me."

TJ quickly turned his eyes on the ghost teen at hearing him speak; but though he didn't become aggressive again, he was staring at the teen with utter fear and distrust.

Lowering his gaze, the ghost boy took a step back and rubbed at one of his arms as he whispered, "Maybe… Maybe there is something wrong with me…"

The human Danny frowned deeply as he did his best to ease the nervous dog. But looking back at his ghost-half, he replied, "Look, I'm sure he's just confused. He probably doesn't understand why there's two of us. Not to mention, he's been through a lot. Our evil-self tried to hurt him."

"But what does that have to do with me?" the young Phantom asked with a bit of frustration. "I don't look like my evil-self! I'm nothing like him!"

"Would you chill out! You're not helping!" Fenton snapped as he felt TJ tense under his touch.

The ghost boy frowned before he bent forward a little and said with forced excitement, "TJ, come! Come here, boy!"

TJ stared at the ghost boy. The conflict the dog felt was clear as day as his ears stayed pressed back and took a step forward before taking two back.

"It's me," the ghost boy all but begged as he squatted and extended a hand towards the dog. "You know me, TJ. Come on. Please?"

TJ crawled towards him with a whine before licking nervously at the boy's extended gloved hand.

The ghost boy moved just a bit closer so he could pet the dog's head. TJ's tail began to wag though he still seemed wary of the teen.

"See? It's fine. He's just confused like I said," Fenton said with a small relieved smile.

Phantom continued to pet the nervous dog; but didn't reply.

---

Vlad made it to his secret lab—or what used to be his secret lab. There wasn't much left of it, except for some ghost weapons and some of the things Maddie and Jack had brought back from their home.

He frowned as he pulled out the Guys-in-White's dart from his pocket and looked at it once more. However, he didn't linger on it this time and just set down the dart on the nearest table. He couldn't think about Danielle anymore; just like he refused to think about Stephanie or Annabelle; or about his destroyed life and how he would be forever hunted. He couldn't worry about his ailing core. He couldn't worry about Skulker's banishment by the hand of the Fright Knight. He had no time for any of it. And… he knew if continued to linger on 'what could have been', he would lose whatever mental and emotional strength he had left.

So, he continued further into the lab, determined to keep his mind focused on what he solely needed to do.

Vlad grabbed the ecto-dejecto serum the elder Fentons had retrieved from Fenton Works. Luckily, there was still a bit left. He would need to mix the serum again with some of his own core energy, which he also had some from when Stephanie had pulled that sample from his core.

It was getting very late, though, and he should probably eat and get some rest. But he had little appetite. And he knew after what happened in Amity Park, sleeping right now would be impossible.

Besides, even if Daniel appeared somewhat stable now, there was still that issue with his ghost-half. Vlad didn't know what to make of it. The ghost boy looked intact… and yet everything he knew and everything he felt said otherwise. How could that be?

Of course, he had thought of the possibility of just merging the boy back together. As long as both halves of the teen were willing to merge, then it was technically all a matter of them, well, coming together. But it was just too risky. The boy could die if something really was wrong with his ghost-half.

And yet… if he was honest with himself, Vlad was more afraid of what Daniel's demise would mean for him than anything else. The man knew he had lost just about everything at this point. All that kept him going right now was his one goal to assure Daniel made it through this—that at least he wouldn't be adding the demise of the only other being like him to his list of unforgivable sins.

All this was his fault. He didn't admit it out loud. But he knew it was. And as much as he wished he could, he simply couldn't leave Daniel alone now. He needed the teen to recover—to truly be well. In spite of all the anger and resentment between them, Vlad did not want the boy to die. It seemed hypocritical coming from the man who had hurt and placed the teen in harm's way so many times. But it was the truth. He had lost everything. He couldn't add Daniel to that list—not that he had not lost the boy in some way already.

"Perhaps tomorrow I can take a sample of his ectoplasm," he muttered to himself. "It might shed some light on what is really going on with the boy's ghostly side. Whatever it might be, I need to find out so that I can perform the DNA transformation procedure tomorrow."

The man's face sobered even more as he added, "That creature is going to come looking for us; and with Fright Knight at his side, he is sure to know where we are. I cannot risk that monster finding Daniel before I can stabilize him."

Vlad walked over to a fridge at the far end of the lab; and as he pulled out a glowing transparent serum tinted slightly red, he further said, "This must work. It is the only option left."

---

"Do you have any information to share with us, Serenity?" the Head Ancient asked soberly. "It has been days in the timeline, and all we have seen is the continuing deterioration of all Existence."

The Spirit of Order regarded the Ancient clan, but still answered their leader, "Yes, I, too, have seen and felt the realms' instability. And I am using my powers to keep Time and Order as stable as possible under these circumstances."

But Horris pressed on, "And for how long will you be able to do this? Not even all our power combined could stop Existence from collapsing now that the Natural Order has been broken."

Serenity's eyes darkened; but her voice still came out calm as she said, "I am aware. My only intention is to keep it stable long enough for me to be able to… remove the causes of this chaos."

"The hybrids?" Horris asked with an annoyed tone. "And why is it that they remain a threat? You assured the clan you would take care of them."

Serenity watched as the others nodded in agreement. She seemed to hesitate; but then said with the slightest smile, "The elder one lives…That changes everything."

"How so?" Horris asked impatiently.

"And would that not complicate matters?" the Spirit of Truth suddenly questioned.

But then, Amoris, the Spirit of Love, added, "I can also sense you are pleased about it. I do not understand."

"The answer is simple," Serenity answered, "Although they are more chaotic together, they are also more vulnerable. Their inability to be near each other without trouble allows me to influence them without much opposition. That is why the elder crossbreed's being alive is of important news. They will be each other's surrender to me."

"Are you certain? Do we have time for such a gamble? And I mean that literally," the Spirit of Life and Death asked gravely.

Serenity paused again. But this time, the room grew slightly hotter as she coldly asked, "Would the clan prefer that I just destroy them, then? Turn them into a pile of ashes that will disperse in the wind?"

"The clan agreed to grant you time to 'fix' them," Horris answered with a deep frown. "Why would we now go against our accord, especially when we could have easily destroyed them from the beginning?"

"Precisely," Serenity answered. "The clan agreed to allow me to do things my way. And that is what I am doing. I assure you… I am well aware of what is at stake. I am aware of how the Natural Order is crumbling as we speak. Nevertheless, I know what I am doing. I will fix these chaotic creatures… Or we will wipe them off the face of Existence."

"What of that… evil spirit?" the Head Ancient questioned. He still did not like the thought of a spirit being 'evil'. It was unheard of.

"The abomination?" Serenity replied and the air grew heavier. "I am also handling him. I have spoken with that creature. He is not as… mindless as I had expected. He seems to understand it would be of no benefit to him if Existence fell apart. He wants to take full control of Time. I have given him enough information to set him on the path to achieve this."

The other Ancients looked at each other with uncertainty. Having this creature control Time was a great risk. But Time needed a Master, or all Existence would be lost.

"How close is he to succeeding?" Horris asked seriously.

Serenity sighed as she wrapped a hand around the crystal on her neck. "He grows stronger. I can feel his power wrapping around Time… It will not be too long."

The female removed the crystal from around her neck and watched as it levitated above her open hand. "Once he takes control… Order will be bound to Time once more… As I will be bound to him."

"We are aware," Horris answered. "But he will also be bound to you. It will allow us to have some control over him. At least long enough to find a spirit who is truly worthy of being called the Master of Time."

"It will not be so simple," Serenity answered soberly as her crystal reformed around her neck again. "That creature holds part of Clockwork's essence within him. How will we force him to give it up?"

"We will find a way. For now, we need him to keep Existence from crumbling. As for those half-mortals…. Do what you must with them, Serenity; but do it soon. All of Existence is literally running out of Time."

The Spirit of Order nodded. "Yes… I feel it…"

---

Fright Knight sighed deeply as he finished feeding his injured mare a few leaves from an Ives plant he had found on Skulker's Island. He had managed to grab a few of its leaves before the plant had been destroyed by his Master along with every other flora and fauna on the island.

"Do not fear, Nightmare… You will survive," he assured the mare as he guided her to the edge of Pariah's Keep.

He was relieved to know she would recover after what his Master had done. It was unlikely the mare's wing would regenerate back, but he was thankful she had managed to pull though. He was sure Skulker had had a hand in it. And that only made his guilt heavier to carry.

But what he was about to do weighed even heavier on his ghostly core.

Just as they made it to the edge, a large figure appeared in the atmosphere. And it soon glided down on large wings before it transformed in a flash of light before the ghost knight.

"My princess," Fright Knight greeted with a bow.

"Hello, good sire," Dora greeted back with a small smile. "I was a bit…baffled you sent for me. We have not had too many encounters before… I must admit, I am still a bit confused…"

"I can understand. You do not remember our past. At least not yet…," Fright Knight replied before he pulled out a book from a pouch on his mare's saddle.

It was Libro.

"A spirit book?" Dora gasped out. "Where did you get this?"

"He came to me soon after all this chaos began. His name is Ombre," the male ghost said soberly. "He is a wise and old spirit. And a loyal friend to another spirit I once knew. Take him. He will provide the answers which you seek… and of those which you do not know. But also…"

Fright Knight's eyes saddened as he further said, "I ask you take my mare with you. Keep her safe. Give her a kind home."

Dora's eyes widened a bit, but then her eyebrows creased again. "I will gladly do so. I have made it my mission to help any ghost and creature I can. It has been my oath in hopes to make amends for my brother's selfishness. And yet… I still do not understand… Why summon me, sir knight? We barely know each other, even if you seem to think otherwise."

"You are mistaken," Fright Knight answered. "You do not remember because a terrible spirit made it so, but we know each other very well… I watched you grow… Your father, before he became made with power, loved you and your brother. And… so did I, princess. I was your family's guardian. I was yours…"

"My guardian…?" Dora whispered, confused. "How is this so?"

"As I said, Ombre will explain…" Fright Knight answered, only to squelch a gasp and cringe as a red hue lit up his body. "My master calls… You must go. Take Nightmare and Ombre. I implore you… Keep them safe."

Dora opened her mouth as more questions came to her lips; but seeing the desperation of the ghost knight, she instead just nodded.

"I will do as you have asked, sir knight. But please… whatever lord you serve now, be sure he is worth serving. I know too well what it is like to have one's will and freedom taken and bound. But I assure you, sire, we do not have to accept it. A child taught me to fight back. And I pray you find the inner strength to do the same when the time comes. Good luck to you. And I do hope we see each other again."

Fright Knight nodded. "Thank you, princess. I am forever in your debt."

He turned to his horse and placed a hand on her nose. "Be well, my mare. I wish you green pastures and a long afterlife. Now, go. I release you from my command."

Nightmare whined back, but when her master turned and left, she snorted and moved as if to follow, only to be held back by her reins.

"Come now. I will not harm you," Dora said gently.

Nightmare struggled for a bit; but knowing it was her master's will, she soon gave up with a mournful neigh.

Taking her dragon form, Dora carefully used her powers to levitate the flightless ghost Pegasus with her. But she also made sure to keep the spirit book safe.

She flew past a few ghost homes and erratic portals until she came to a Nova field. However, she noticed with growing worry that the Novas were no longer spinning. And some had lost all their glow and energy and had turned black.

They were dead. But it wasn't the first time she had seen such a troubling sight. It seemed to be happening more and more. Along with that, entire islands were crumbling, and the energy in the zone was… weakening.

Dora did not know what was happening, only that it was of great concern. If something did not happen soon, she feared her ghostly home would be lost.

"Heaven help us," Dora whispered as she glanced at the sad mare alongside her.

---

"You're not going to eat?" Fenton asked his ghostly counterpart.

The ghost boy shrugged. "I'm not really hungry. Must be a 'ghost thing'."

The human Danny frowned and opened his mouth to reply; but his ghost-self cut him off.

"I'm gonna head back to the lab. You can come find me when you're done," the young Phantom said already floating out of the kitchen.

However, just before he could exit, George appeared.

"Hey, young halfa! Are you—?" But the male ghost stopped when he realized there were two 'Dannys' in the room.

"Yes, there's two of us," the human teen said with a smirk. "You're not seeing double, George; don't worry."

"Oh good!" George answered and placed a hand on his chest in relief. "I thought my vision was going for a moment."

The human teen chuckled; but it weakened when he noticed his ghost-half just staring at George with this strange intensity in his eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" Fenton asked.

The young Phantom stared at George for another second before looking over at his counterpart, and carefully replying, "Yeah… I'm gonna go."

The human teen raised an eyebrow as his ghost-half flew off.

Right then, the other ghostly servants—except for Niane— appeared through the wall connecting the employee lounge.

"Hey, kid! Good to see you awake!" Carl said with a grin. "How about a card game with Derek and me?"

Danny smiled. "Sure."

George frowned. "The halfa's gotta eat."

"Food? Not a bad idea!" Carl replied as he sat down at the table and began to shuffle the cards without looking at George. "Make us something good, old man."

George scowled. "You better not make a mess in here."

Derek smiled weakly at that. "I'd be more worried about Martha and Patricia, George," he said pointing towards the kitchen's sink.

George gasped when he saw the two arguing maids putting potted plants on his counter around the sink as they argued about how much water plants required.

"Yeah," Carl added with a knowing smirk. "I heard Bernie and Jasper told them to take care of the plants until they returned… They said something about putting the plants in the fridge to keep them fresh."

"What? Martha! Patricia!" George called out as he hurried over to the two maids.

Carl chuckled and told Danny, "What makes that funnier is that I'm not even making it up."

Danny and the two male ghosts laughed.

Meanwhile, the ghostly version of Danny floated into the lab where his loved ones were. He and his human counterpart had come in here earlier to check up on everyone. They had talked about the spell, and how guilty they felt for having to do that to them.

The ghost boy of course had agreed. The sooner they could wake them up, the better. But… there was one thing that the teen had noticed when he had been here with his human-side.

Actually, he had noticed it from the moment he saw TJ.

Danny knew this was his family and friends. He knew TJ was his dog. He even knew who George was… but the feelings associated with each one seemed to be missing within him.

He knew he cared about them, but he didn't feel it.

The ghost boy tried to think about the other times he had split himself to recall if he had felt this same emotional detachment; but… he didn't recall it. Sure, the whole time with the 'fun Danny' and 'hero Danny' fiasco he had felt more focused without his human-half. But it had not cut his bonds with those around him. He had feelings—or, at least the feeling to protect others. But now… he didn't really feel what he knew he should feel.

As he looked at his friends and family now, he at least felt somewhat worried by his lack of emotions. Or, he thought he felt worried. He started to wonder if it was more 'knowing he was worried' than actually feeling it.

There was another thing he didn't want to admit to his human-half:

He realized he was missing memories as he talked to his human-half; but he also had memories that he 'shouldn't' have.

For example, he had memories on how his evil-self had destroyed other ghosts in that alternate timeline. He had memories on how his evil-self had brought down almost the entire world. How did he have these memories? He had only known about these events from when he met Clockwork… Yet his memories were clear enough as if he had been there.

Danny didn't know what to make of it.

The ghost boy sighed deeply as he approached Sam's unconscious form. He studied her for a moment, but no specific feeling came to him.

"Maybe it's just some weird side effect from being split for this long…Maybe once they wake up I'll be able to…"

The ghost boy trailed off as he got an idea.

That's it. He needed to wake up his loved ones! Just how seeing his human-half was helping him regain some of his memories; maybe he needed them here with him to help his feelings also return. And why not wake them up now anyways? He was no longer trapped inside his evil-self, so the danger to his family and friends was no longer there, right?

No reason to wait. In fact, things could be resolved faster with their help. Maybe they even could find a way for him to merge with his human half instead of giving up his ghost power. Vlad wasn't always right anyways.

Danny frowned. "But I do need him to undo the spell." The ghost boy rolled his eyes before he decided to go talk to the fruit loop.

He actually found the older half-ghost in one of his living rooms, reading some glowing book.

"Vlad," he called as he walked further into the room.

The man looked up; but he seemed briefly surprised to see the boy's ghost-half instead of his human-half.

And before Danny could ask what he came to, the man asked, "Where is your human counterpart?"

"In the kitchen," the ghost boy replied dismissively. "Look, I've been thinking. Maybe we shouldn't wait to undo that spell on my family and friends. I mean, maybe my parents can help you find another solution to, well, 'fixing me'.

Vlad looked him over briefly before answering, "What exactly do you expect your parents could do? Do you really think if there was a better solution to your situation I wouldn't suggest it myself?"

"Honestly? No," Danny answered, crossing his arms.

Vlad looked briefly annoyed as he answered, "Well, that is too bad because you have no other choice but to trust my judgment."

Danny scowled as the man went back to reading his book in an attempt to end the conversation. But the teen was having none of that.

"What exactly are you afraid of? That I'll melt and that it will be on you?" the teen challenged. "Well, I wouldn't worry, fruit-loop, because I told you I'm fine. And I think if I merged again, I would still be fine."

Vlad suddenly slammed his book closed and glared at the teen. "You are not merging with your human counterpart. I will not allow it."

"Why? Because it doesn't benefit you?" Danny spat back.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Vlad snapped. "What possible gain would I have from keeping you powerless when there are two demented spirits after both of us? I told you, if there was a way to let you safely merge again with your human counterpart, I would have told you already. But there is not. Your only choice is to get rid of your ghost genes and become fully human."

"And then what? Who is going to stop my evil-self and Serenity? Who is going to fix your mistakes?!"

"My mistakes?!" Vlad stood angrily. "I might have accidently let that monster loose after you foolishly locked him in some thermos; but that 'thing' isn't my mistake! Just because he stole my ghost-half in some alternate reality does not make him my responsibility! That thing is you! He is your mistake—not mine!"

"Don't worry. Unlike you, I own up to my mess-ups. And I plan on stopping him," Danny said through gritted teeth.

Vlad knew they were going back to arguing about the same things; but he was tired and the boy could be so blasted ignorant!

"Good heavens, you can be daft, boy! How in the blazes are you going to stop that creature?! You didn't stand a chance with him at full power—much less now when you aren't even whole! You know what you should be thinking about instead of these delusional ideas of merging and stopping an invincible spirit? You should be thinking about keeping yourself and your loved ones safe, Daniel! You should be thinking about keeping far away from that creature long enough to 'hope' some miracle happens to save us from the same pending future you tried to avoid! Open your eyes, boy! That future is inevitable now! He is going to destroy this world and there is nothing you can do about it except stay out of his way!"

"I can't believe you!" Danny exploded. "Is that all you can say to me? You're really just going to let him destroy the world? You're not even going to try?! The least you could do is help me stop him!"

"Help you stop him?" Vlad repeated before throwing his head back and laughing cynically. "Oh, you really are daft!" He looked back at the teen with annoyance as he retorted, "And how are we going to 'stop' him, pray tell? Oh, I know! We'll throw a ghost thermos at his head, because you sure are not going to capture that spirit in it!"

"Fine! I don't need you! Just undo the spell and wake my family, Plasmius!" the ghost boy demanded as his hands fisted against his sides.

"I don't think so," Vlad answered before he sat back down and opened his book again.

"What?" Danny growled lowly as his eyes began to glow brighter.

The older hybrid rolled his eyes, yet answered off-handedly, "I said, 'no'. I will wake your family when I deem it necessary.

"I'm serious, Plasmius. Wake. Them. Up… Now," the teen said darkly.

"I'm almost impressed. Maybe in a few more years you will be able to scare my cat," Vlad said dryly as he lifted his book in front of his face to block the boy from his sight.

There was a brief silence; and for a moment, the man had thought the teen had gone off to sulk. But then he heard a snarl; and before he could react, the ghost teen ripped the book from his hand, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him against the nearest wall.

Vlad saw stars burst into his vision; but as he blinked them back, he instinctively grabbed the hand crushing his wind pipe; yet he could only stare in shock at the furious Danny Phantom.

"You listen to me, fruit loop!" Danny hissed, squeezing harder as he pressed the man against the wall. "You are going to wake up my family right now; because if you don't, I'll do it myself after I destroy you!"

"Daniel…," Vlad wheezed out as he noticed he could not pry the teen off him. "Your eyes… Your eyes are red!"

Danny's ire abruptly left him as quickly as his eyes turned green again. His grip loosened yet he did not let go of the man's neck. Instead, he just stared at the older hybrid in a mixture of disbelief and fear.

Vlad shoved him away as he coughed a bit before looking back at the teen with wariness. "You were trying to kill me…"

The ghost boy shook his head as he took a step back. "No…" he said before he gripped his hair and squeezed his eyes closed.

Vlad tensed as he saw the ghost boy was struggling with something. "No…? Daniel? No, what?"

The ghostly teen stilled before he let go of his hair and looked back at the older hybrid with bright red eyes.

"No, I am not trying… I'm going to," the ghost boy vowed darkly before he suddenly lunged at the man.

Vlad jolted, but managed to turn intangible in time to avoid the teenager who slammed into the nearest coffee table, breaking it in two.

But the older hybrid immediately turned into his ghostly self when the red-eyed ghost boy floated back to his feet and charged his hands with ectoplasm.

"Apple turnover! Sometimes I hate being right!" Vlad exclaimed as he raised a shield to protect himself.

The blasts went astray and exploded against the walls, making holes in them and shaking the house a bit.

Vlad threw his shield forward. But the ghost boy turned intangible and went right through it. He lunged at the man, who was not quick enough to dodge this time.

The two fell on the closest chair which fell back with them on top.

The commotion, however, did not go unnoticed. And the human Danny along with Carl and Derek came running into the living room.

"What the heck's going on?!" the human boy exclaimed.

Danny's ghost-half had his hands around Plasmius' neck again; but the two still turned their eyes to the human teen.

"Daniel, get out of here! Your ghost-half has lost it!" the man gasped before he managed to kick the ghost boy off him.

The young Phantom yelped in pain as his back and head hit what remained of a coffee table. But scowling back at the older hybrid, he hissed in response, "Don't listen to him! He's a twisted jerk! He's trying to trick us! He's not helping us at all! And he doesn't plan on waking up our family and friends!"

Fenton frowned deeply at the man. "What's he talking about, Vlad?"

Getting to his feet, but not letting his guard down, the older hybrid looked at the ghost boy. He noticed his angry eyes were still red. And yet… besides that, he seemed to show some logic and even restraint. At least he was talking and not attacking at the moment.

Vlad honestly didn't know what to make of it.

"I bet he probably can't bring them back. I bet he's in on it with our evil-self," the ghost boy accused darkly. "Well, I'm not letting him get away with it."

Dark green energy poured into the ghost teen's hands as he added, "You should have gone and hid under that rock when you had the chance, Plasmius… "

The older hybrid tensed. The comment rang with too much familiarity to what the evil Phantom had uttered to him back in Amity Park. He didn't like it one bit.

"Daniel. Carl. Derek," Vlad said gravely as he carefully watched the now slowly advancing ghost boy. "Leave."

"What? No! Look, I think you're overreacting!" the human Danny answered as he looked nervously between his ghost-half and the man.

"Oh no, he's not overreacting," the young Phantom answered with an evil smirk. "I'm going to waste him. So, you really should go… It's going to get messy."

Fenton's eyes widened at his words. "Wait… What did you just say?" he asked in disbelief.

The ghost boy didn't answer and quickly threw two charged ecto-blast at the older hybrid. In turn, Vlad absorbed the attacks into his outstretch hands and threw them back at the ghostly teen.

Danny's ghost-half gasped as he was sent crashing into an entertainment system.

But at the same instance, the human Danny also cried out in pain, and dropped to his knees.

"Young halfa!" Derek and Carl exclaimed.

Vlad did not notice what had happened right away. He was dealing with his own pain as he clutched his burned hands against him. The attacks had been too strong, and his core was too weak.

However, at seeing the suffering human Daniel, he cursed under his breath. He had forgotten the boy's halves were connected. He had just hope they were not this connected.

Danny's ghost-half growled as he recovered; he turned intangible and flew back, readying himself for more battle.

But before the two ghosts could go another round, the human Danny gasped out, "Stop!"

Vlad looked uncertainly at the human boy; but the teen's own ghost-half had his eyes fixed on the older hybrid.

"No! I won't stop! I've had it with him messing up my life! All this is his fault! And I'm going to make sure he never hurts anyone else again!" the ghost boy growled back.

Fenton stood up and raised his hands in front of his ghost-half in hopes of calming him down. "Look, you gotta calm down!"

"Daniel, get away from him!" Vlad hissed.

But ignoring the man, Fenton added nervously, "I know he's a jerk, but you can't waste him!"

"Why not?" his ghost-half demanded.

"Because it's wrong! Because…" Fenton suddenly trailed off as he finally noticed something crucial. "…Why are your eyes red?"

The ghost boy's eyes narrowed, and he pushed his human-self aside, "Move! I'm going to make him pay for ruining my life! For lying to me! For hurting my family and friends! For Clockwork! For EVERYTHING!" he screamed.

But when the ghost boy raised his hand to fire another blast, the human boy grabbed his wrist. "No! I won't let you do this!"

The ghost boy suddenly turned his red eyes on his human counterpart. "Want to run that by me again? You won't let me?"

"Daniel…" Vlad spoke up with actual worry in his voice this time. "For once, listen to me and leave… There is something wrong with your ghost-half; and we need to get him back in the containment box. Do you understand?"

But the ghost boy's eyes narrowed even more at hearing this. "Oh, I get it. That's what you want isn't it, Plasmius? To make me powerless so you can kill my dad and steal my mom… And you…" He glared at his human counterpart. "…You want to help him."

Fenton jolted at the look his other-half was giving him, "What? No! Look, you're not thinking straight… Just calm down. This… This isn't you—us! Just… Let me help you!"

"I don't need help! I'm fine!" the ghost boy yelled and his aura flared brighter. "Don't you get?! Plasmius wants us to think there's something wrong with me so that we get rid of our ghost powers—like the last time! He wants to destroy us, just like Valerie and everyone else who has hurt us! I say it's time we teach them ALL a lesson!"

Fenton froze in quiet alarm. "What are you saying? You want to hurt Valerie?"

"She deserves it!" the ghost boy snarled. "She betrayed us! It's her fault we couldn't stop our evil-self in the first place! It's her fault and it's HIS Fault!" he screamed pointing at Vlad. "THEY BETRAYED US!"

The house rumbled this time, and Fenton took a step back.

His ghost-half noticed and his angry eyes focused solely on him again. "You don't believe me? No, you're against me…"

"No…calm down," Fenton answered nervously as his ghost-half took a step forward with ill intention. "I get it. You're mad. Me, too. But… I don't think that justifies acting like this! Look, if you want we can—Vlad, wait!"

The ghost boy shouted in surprise when the older hybrid took the opportunity to sneak up behind him and grabbed him from behind.

"Daniel, quick! There is a thermos in the lab! Go get it!" Plasmius ordered as he fought to keep the ghost teen's hands restrained and cancel out his powers with his own.

"Let go of me! I'll destroy you!" the ghostly teen screamed furiously.

"No..." Fenton answered in disbelief.

"Confound it! Daniel!" Vlad shouted.

The ghost boy yelled angrily again before something even more shocking happened:

A set of black rings appeared around his torso and transformed him into the younger version of his evil-self—minus the fiery hair.

Plasmius yelped as a force of energy threw him back, while all the human Danny could do was stare in horror at the figure before him.

"Oh my gosh…"

This couldn't be happening! How was this… possible?

The ghost boy glared darkly at his human counterpart as he whispered, "Figures you wouldn't understand… You were always my weaker side… It's why Plasmius always won… why I always got pushed around… Well, it ends now. You know what I'm going to do?"

Fenton shook his head in denial, yet he could feel the evil intent coming off his ghost-half. This couldn't be happening!

"I'm going to get rid of you, too," his ghost-half said darkly. "If you're against me, you will die, too. I don't need you or Plasmius. I'll stop him myself!"

Fenton gasped and covered his head as a blast came his way. But just as quickly a dome of pink energy protected him.

"You fool!" Vlad yelled at the ghost boy as his shield vanished. "You cannot destroy your human-self! You are both still connected! You destroy him—you destroy yourself!

"Oh yeah?" the ghost boy challenged before he suddenly teleported behind his human counterpart and restrained him from behind. "How about we try it?"

"Hey! Let go!" Fenton shouted in fear.

"You are not doing anything!" Vlad assured him darkly; but the words didn't come from the man in front of the teen.

The ghost boy gasped as he realized too late Plasmius had duplicated. And before he could react, Plasmius grabbed him by the neck and threw him across the room.

The attack should have at least slowed the ghostly teen down; but he just became even more furious; and getting back up, lunged at the older hybrid.

As the two ghosts fought, Fenton quickly ran over to where Carl and Derek were watching by the living room's entrance, both frozen in fear.

"I need a thermos!" Fenton said with a gasp of pain. He could feel his ghost-half's injuries; luckily, the older hybrid seemed to be holding back.

Right then, Vlad cried out as he was blasted back, just before Danny's ghost-half shoved him into a wall again and grabbed him by the neck.

The man gasped as the ghost boy's hand glowed and burned his neck as he struggled to pry him off again.

"I see why you like to see your enemies this way…," Danny's ghost-half said with a dark smile as he squeezed harder. "Makes you feel empowered, doesn't it? To know you hold your enemy's life in your hands…? To see them at your mercy? To hurt them like all the times you hurt me? Do you remember, Plasmius?!"

"Yes," Vlad wheezed. "I also remember why you lose to me every time…"

The ghost boy gasped as a knee slammed into his gut before Vlad turned the tables on him and wrenched him off the ground by his neck.

"And by the way, yes, it is empowering," Vlad hissed angrily.

Phantom's eyes exploded with rage, before his entire body began to glow red. And then…

Vlad cried out in pain and cradled his pounding head after he was forced to let go of the teen. It felt like his skull was cracking in two!

The ghost boy's red eyes were bright solid orbs as he glared down at the older hybrid who had dropped to his knees.

"You will never win again! I won't let you!" the ghostly teen sneered.

Plasmius opened his mouth to scream, but the pain was so intense, nothing came out. All he could do was grip his head as whatever power the boy was using tore into his mind.

"What's he doing to him?" Derek whispered fearfully.

Carl gasped before grabbing the human Danny by an arm, and exclaiming, "You have to do something! You have to stop him!"

"I don't know how!" Fenton answered in alarm.

"D-Daniel… Daniel… Stop…" Vlad panted as he collapsed completely on to the ground.

"You'll never hurt me again… No one's going to hurt me ever again!" the ghost boy whispered darkly.

Not sure of what else to do, Fenton ran over to his ghost-half, and stood between him and the older hybrid.

"S-Stop! Stop it! You're going to kill him!" the human teen yelled in fear.

"I know…" his ghostly counterpart answered as his hateful glare stayed fixed on the suffering man.

"D-Daniel…" Vlad gasped out, getting Fenton's attention.

"I can't stop him! I don't know what to do!"

Plasmius didn't reply. Instead he struggled to move closer to the human boy.

Fenton gasped as the older hybrid painfully grabbed his ankle, "What are you…?"

"I-I'm sorry, my boy," Plasmius breathed out before he poured currents of hot electrical energy into the human boy.

Fenton screamed in agony, and his ghostly counterpart immediately mimicked him.

Vlad squeezed his eyes shut and continued to pour out his energy into the boy until the he passed out.

At that same moment, the boy's ghostly counterpart also fainted, and black rings returned him to his normal ghostly look—as if nothing had happened.

Plasmius groaned and collapsed back on the ground, still clutching his throbbing head. But the pain had stopped. Thank heavens it had finally stopped!

"Sir!" Carl and Derek exclaimed and finally ran over to their former employer.

"Oh man, what was that?" Carl asked nervously "It was like some mind voodoo or something, right?"

"Carl!" Derek reprimanded.

"What?" Carl complained.

"It's… It's fine. I'm…ughh fine…" Vlad muttered before he unwittingly changed back to his human side. And yet, he slowly got to his feet and looked down at the two unconscious teenagers.

"Derek, get me a thermos. Carl…Find Niane," he told the two ghosts.

As they left, Vlad reached down and pressed two fingers against the human Danny's neck.

He let out a sigh of relief at feeling a heartbeat. But he knew he had really hurt the boy. Humans were not as tolerant to ecto-energy as ghosts were.

"Curses!" the man exclaimed. He ignored his massive headache as he picked up the human boy and set him on his half-destroyed couch.

He then looked at the unconscious ghost. And there was actual fear in his eyes.

"Here, sir! I found it!" Derek announced.

Vlad quickly grabbed the thermos; and used it to suck in Daniel's ghost-half.

Right then, Niane appeared, looking very nervous.

Vlad instantly glared at her. "Where the blazes were you? Daniel almost split my brain in two with your blasted powers! Why does he still even have them?!"

Niane shook her head. "I do not know, sir. I'm sorry. I felt what was happening too late… I couldn't block him."

"Are you saying he could fry my brain and there is nothing you or I can do about it?!" Vlad exclaimed.

"He… You both have a unique bond… I told you I could only block him for so long… I am sorry, sir."

Vlad growled before he stormed off towards his lab. He quickly released the ghost boy into the containment device which blocked his ghostly powers, and made sure to ramp up the ghost shield.

The older hybrid watched the ghostly teen reform but was still unconscious. And though he looked harmless now, the man was sure of one thing:

This was not Danny Phantom.

Vlad hesitated, but still turned away and headed back to the living room.

He found Niane already tending to the unmoving human teen.

"Leave," Vlad ordered as he took the cold damp cloth from her.

She quietly nodded and left.

Vlad rubbed at his head for another moment before staring down at Danny again. He shook his head as he inspected the boy's ankle and found a bright welting burn in the form of his handprint.

He had not wanted to hurt the boy; but if he had not, he was sure he would be dead.

"I supposed this is what I get for mocking your 'scary eyes'," Vlad muttered humorlessly. "But I never expect something like this…"

---

Valerie sighed deeply as she looked at her unconscious friend on the hospital bed. As if having her dad in here wasn't enough; now she had her friend, who she cared about like a sister, barely clinging to life.

The doctors, of course, asked a bunch of questions. She pretty much told them the truth; and she was somewhat surprised they believed her. Then again, everyone knew Danny and Danielle Phantom—and everyone knew she was a supposed clone of Danny Phantom.

They were keeping her in an induced coma until they could bring in a genetics expert in hopes of finding a way to help the girl. But with Amity on lockdown, there would be no external help for a while. There was no leaving Amity, either.

Pretty much, the town was trapped with a crazed, evil ghost; and the world was too afraid to risk the creature turning his rampage to the rest of the world.

Valerie was sure the government and its ghost hunting agency were working on a way to control the situation. But whatever they were planning wasn't happening quick enough. Then again, after all she heard from Danny, his friends and family and after what she had seen, she honestly was starting to really believe that that monster was unstoppable.

"Honey?"

Valerie turned and saw her father standing with the help of a walker in front of the door.

"Dad? What are you doing out of bed?" she quickly asked, worried.

Damon smiled. "I am feeling better. And the doctor said I could start trying to stand and walk a bit.

"But… your leg is broken," she continued, unsure. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Don't worry, Valerie. Really, I feel much better," he father assured her. "Besides, I wanted to come see how your friend is doing."

Valerie sighed deeply. "Not good, Dad. They don't know if there is anything they can do for her. And if there is, it would have to be in the hands of a genetic specialist… And there isn't one in Amity Park."

"And I am guessing there is no transportation outside of this hospital right now?" the man said with a troubled frown.

"Yeah," Valerie confirmed as she glanced sadly at her younger friend. But then, the girl added with confusion, "Why did she do it, Dad? After all Vlad Masters has done to her…. How could she have…?" The girl shook her head. "She shouldn't be here, Dad. That shot was meant for Masters. Not her… Not her."

"She is a brave girl," Damon answered with a sad smile. "It takes a strong person to forgive someone who rejected and hurt them. But ultimately, Mr. Masters is her father, Valerie. Perhaps not in the conventional way… But he was the first thing she knew… She loved him. In spite of everything, she still cared about him; and that is why she must have done what she did."

"He doesn't deserve her sacrifice," Valerie replied bitterly.

"No, he does not. But we don't always love someone based on whether or not they deserve it. Some loves just… is."

Valerie didn't reply this time. Deep down she understood. After all, she would do anything for her own father. But… Masters was undeserving of Dani's love. He might have created her; but he was no father. A father didn't do the things he had done to her.

And yet… Valerie couldn't deny the man had looked guilty and troubled over what had happened to Danielle. Sure, it was too late, but at least the guy had finally shown some concern for his daughter.

And speaking of which, that girl Annabelle, also cared about Vlad Masters. Valerie was sure she would also do anything for him, too. But why? What did they see that she could not?

Or maybe she had seen it at one point. After all, she had once looked up to the man. After her father, Vlad had been the closest she had ever trusted someone. He had seemed to care about her. He had helped her father. He had supported and understood her when her own father had not.

But it had all been a lie… hadn't it?

Valerie internally cursed the man. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She hated him for all he had done. Even if he had helped her and her father, it did not take away all the lies, all he had done to Dani, and… all the times he had turned her against Danny.

Maybe she just wasn't as good as Danielle or Danny; because she just couldn't forgive him like they could. She didn't want to forgive Vlad Masters.

Right then, there was a knock on the door.

Valerie and Damon turned their heads and were surprised to see the Foleys and the Mansons at the doorway.

"Maurice? Jeremy?" Damon questioned, surprised.

"We have been looking for you and your daughter," Maurice said as the four adults walked into the room.

"Yes, last we heard of our Sammy, she told us you were in the hospital. That you had been very hurt by that evil spirit on the loose," Jeremy further added.

"That is true. But I am doing better now," Damon replied. "Thank you for coming by."

Tucker's mother smiled, "We are glad to hear and see that. Tucker had been so worried. He begged us to find you." She frowned a bit sadly as she added, "He also wanted to make sure… Valerie was alright."

The girl lowered her gaze, but still answered, "I'm okay, Mrs. Foley… But…" Looking back at the hospital bed, she added, "…Danielle isn't."

"What happened?" Tucker's mom asked in alarm as she moved closer to the unconscious girl.

"Sammy didn't say anything about Danny's cousin being in the hospital, too," Pamela further spoke up as she, too, went to the young girl's bedside.

"She got hurt by those… those jerks-in-white," Valerie answered angrily. "She wanted to stay with me." The girl sighed sadly. "I should have gone to help her sooner."

"Tucker told us we need to try and get out of Amity Park," Maurice said seriously. "He said to try to get as many people out."

"But we can't move Danielle from here. And I'm not leaving her alone," Valerie quickly said.

"My daughter is right. We can't leave this poor girl alone," Damon answered.

The other parents nodded their agreement.

"So, then, what can we do?" Tucker's mom asked worriedly.

"We can still try to help people out," Jeremy answered. "We can help for as long as possible. Until my daughter, Tucker, and the Fentons can get back."

"But… Danny is powerless," Valerie said, trying to hide the guilt that surfaced again. "What can he and the Fentons, or any of us, do against such a powerful spirit?"

"Young lady, we cannot lose hope," Pamela said with confidence. "If anyone can find a way to stop that monster, it is my Sammy and her friends."

"Yes, Tucker, Danny, and Sam have fought against the odds before and won," Jeremy added. "I have no doubt they will find a way to stop that thing."

"Yes, I believe it, too," Tucker's mom answered.

"And the Fentons are ingenious people," Maurice added. "They are going to find a way. We are all sure of it. In the meantime, we do what we can here."

Damon nodded in agreement, but Valerie kept quiet.

Her dad then asked, "When was the last time you heard from your children? Is there any news on when they will return to Amity?"

The parents instantly frowned.

"Unfortunately, we have not heard from the kids or the Fentons for a couple days now… We are a bit worried about that," Maurice admitted.

"Yes, we keep calling Sammy's phone, and she doesn't answer," Sam's mother added with worry.

"We just have to trust they are safe and will come back soon," Tucker's mom reminded everyone.

Damon sighed, but then said with a smile, "I am not in the best condition, but you can count me in. I'll help in whatever I can."

Valerie quickly looked up at her dad in surprise.

"What about you, Valerie?" her dad asked with a knowing smile.

Valerie looked unsure at first, but then glanced back at her unconscious friend. She had promised Danielle she would help. That she would fight. But at seeing what had happened to her, her determination had crumbled again. But… she had promised her friend.

With a deep breath, Valerie finally nodded. "Yeah, I'm in, too."

---

Danny woke with a jolt; but then cringed as his muscles painfully spasmed.

"Ughh…," he groaned when it was followed by a nauseous feeling creeping up his throat.

"Side-effects of being electrocuted… It will pass," Vlad suddenly spoke up.

"How about the feeling of my organs being liquefied? That'll pass, too?" Danny croaked out while he cradled his head.

"I had no other choice, Daniel," the man answered with a deep frown.

"Yeah, right... Where's the bathroom?"

Vlad just pointed towards the closest door.

Danny only barely realized this was his 'old room'; but said nothing and got up on his feet, only to yelp in pain as he favored his left foot.

This time, the older hybrid actually cringed as the boy scowled at him. "What the heck, Plasmius? Were you trying to knock me out or barbeque me?"

"You try to control your powers while your brain is being fried!" Vlad snapped as he shot forward and grabbed a bottle of aspirin from a nightstand. As he took out two pills, he added annoyed, "Not to mention, I warned you about letting him out. I knew something was off with him the moment I felt him. He…."

The man suddenly trailed off as the boy suddenly limped quickly to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Vlad frowned at the sound of the boy throwing up. It concerned him greatly. He wasn't sure if it was due to being shocked, or a reaction from the aftershock… or that he was becoming unstable again.

With a sigh, the man walked out of the room and went to the next room over. He entered the bathroom, and searched the medicine cabinet until he found an anti-nausea medication.

When he returned, he found Danny sitting on the bed, looking sickly and pale.

The man didn't say a word and just walked over to the nightstand, and poured a glass of water. He then let the two anti-nausea tablets dissolve into the water before returning to the boy.

He quietly offered him the fizzy water and two aspirins.

Danny just glanced up at him before accepting the medications. There was another minute of silence as the teen waited for his dizziness and sickness to ebb somewhat.

"He's right to be angry, you know," Danny suddenly muttered. "About how you start things and then don't even own up to it, let alone try to fix anything. It's easy for you to run away and hide while I'm stuck cleaning up any disaster you start."

The boy's troubled eyes stayed on the half-full glass of water as he whispered what was really bothering him, "After everything… After all my effort… I still turned into him."

"No, my boy. You still have a choice," Vlad answered soberly. "Your ghost-half is lost; but that does not mean you have to be, too."

"Yeah," Danny answered quietly. "But without my ghost-half, I can't stop him."

"Daniel, even with your ghost-half you cannot stop him," Vlad said with a tired sigh. "That creature is nothing like anything you or even I have faced. He is a spirit now. He cannot be destroyed. Do you not see?"

"I do!" Danny answered with some frustration. "I get it! But you're asking me to let go of my only attempt to try to save the world from him! You're asking me to give up! And I can't!" The boy gripped his hair as he added, "I can't do that!"

"Daniel, your ghost-half is not you anymore," Vlad said gravely. "It was merged with that evil creature for too long. It has absorbed part of him somehow… If you merge with that… thing, it will destroy you. You want to do what is right for the world? Then you must get rid of your ghost powers. And if you are really set of stopping that evil spirit, then you will have to find a way without your ghost powers!"

Danny hesitated before saying, "What you're saying does make sense… especially after what I saw... But… I don't know, I… I still feel he is me—that he's a part of me. I felt how angry he was at you, and how much he wanted to… destroy you. But he also felt confused and afraid. Like, he knew that wasn't really him."

Vlad sighed deeply. "I do not know what you felt. But I know what I saw. I know that is not your ghost-half, and we are out of time. I am just about finished with the serum. We will start the procedure as soon as I am done. Meanwhile… get some rest."

The man didn't wait for the boy to reply, and walked out of the room. He shook his head as he thought of what was happening.

Daniel's ghost-half's transformation was very unexpected. Was it possible that the creature was somehow still linked to the boy's ghost counterpart? But then, that also must mean that he was also linked to the human teenager!

No, there was something missing in all this. Something he had overlooked.

As Vlad headed down the stairs, he was interrupted from his musings by Derek.

"Sir? George wants to know if you will be eating?"

"In a moment, Derek. Could you also bring something up to Daniel? I do not believe he is well enough to come down."

"Of course, sir."

Vlad continued towards his lab; but when he walked in, he froze at seeing Danny Phantom sitting against the wall of the containment box and staring at him.

He forced himself to relax, and moved closer to the ghost boy.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

But the ghostly teen quickly lowered his gaze and stayed quiet.

Vlad studied him a moment before asking, "Do you remember what happened?"

The ghost boy let out a shaky sigh and nodded. But when the man said nothing else, the teen looked up fearfully at him, and whispered, "But I-I didn't want to… I just… I was so angry, and it doesn't make sense because… I-I can't feel anything else… Just anger, hate, and… darkness. I couldn't control it… I wanted to destroy you…to destroy my human-half. He told me to…"

Vlad tensed at that last comment. So, he was right. Somehow, part of that creature was still tied to the ghost boy; or worse, part of him had now become part of Daniel's ghost-half.

It would explain his lack of empathy, and the uncontrollable feeling of rage. It was what that monster was made of. No human emotions. Just the emotions that came along with a vengeful spirit.

"Tell me the truth… Who are you?" Vlad asked.

The ghost boy stared fearfully back at him. "I… I-I don't know. I… don't know anything. I just… I know I'm not me… I'm not Danny."

"Not completely…," the man answered, "You feel disconnected from your human- half, I'm sure… And yet, it bothers you. And I believe you when you say 'you did not want to hurt me or your human counterpart'. So, there is still some of your old self inside you."

"But for how long? I can't control this… darkness in me now; what if it only gets worst? What if I hurt someone? What if I hurt my family or friends? What if I end up becoming another evil ghost someone needs to stop?"

The ghost boy shook his head. "No… No I can't let that happen. You can't let that happen!"

Vlad raised an eyebrow. It was odd to see two sides of Daniel with two completely different viewpoints. That in itself wasn't normal.

"What are you saying?" the man asked, though he was sure he had an idea.

Danny Phantom stood up and pressed a hand against the barrier as he said with desperation, "I want you to end me. You can't wait any longer. You have to do it now."

Although Vlad was partially glad to see at least one part of Daniel understood what needed to be done, he didn't like the way he said it. Is that what he thought? That he was going to 'end' him?

"Vlad, we can't wait any longer," the ghost boy said with more desperation at sensing something in the man hesitating. "Look, we don't need to tell my human-half. I… I don't want him to see me, and I don't want to see him. Just, please. Just do it."

"Daniel, I understand that you prefer to keep your human-half out of this—and I would, too. But I cannot do any procedure on you without him being a part of it. He must be unconscious and in a stable condition while I work on you. Otherwise, it would be a painful procedure for you both."

"I don't care!" the ghost boy suddenly exploded, much to the man's surprise. "I want you to do it now!"

Vlad frowned at seeing the boy shaking. He was afraid and worried… Not in a ghostly way… It was human emotions this time. And yet…

"Do it, Plasmius," the ghost boy demanded with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Your eyes are red again," Vlad muttered in response.

Danny's eyes slightly widened as they turned green again before he quickly backed away to the opposite side of the small enclosure.

Vlad didn't know why, but he suddenly doubted his decision. It should be the opposite, really. Seeing the boy's dark glare again should be all the more reason for him to remove the boy's ghost powers. But the ghost's human reactions… He could still see 'Daniel' in this…ghost.

"My human-half is never going to agree," the ghost boy suddenly whispered, his head lowered in defeat. "He doesn't want to get rid of me. I…" He paused before adding sadly, "I don't want to be 'rid of me'. This is a part of me—of who I am. I-I know I've wanted to get rid of my powers in the past—and I even did it at times. But each time, I've lost part of who I was. I felt… empty; and I don't want that… We don't want that."

"There is no other way, Daniel," Vlad said, but he was also reminding himself.

"I know," Danny answered, squeezing his eyes closed. "I'm too dangerous to merge with my human-half…And I rather live with the emptiness the rest of my life than to be responsible for another evil being released into this world… You're right. I still have a choice."

"You heard?" Vlad asked, surprised.

"I won't turn into him. Not now. Not ever," the ghost boy said with determination.

Vlad sighed but nodded. "I am almost done with the serum. Just give me a few more hours."

"Just hurry," the ghost boy answered.

---

Agent Chrome quietly watched as his men searched through the debris left behind by that creature. It had been too close of call for him and his men. It had only been by some miracle that they managed to escape the helicopter before it came crashing down.

But aside from the threat on his life, Agent C was infuriated at the loss of the older half-ghost. He had been so close to capturing Vlad Plasmius. If it had not been for his freak-of-a-clone-daughter and that monster ghost on the loose, he would have had the elder hybrid—and probably even Danny Phantom—by now.

Now, he was back to square one, and that powerful creature was destroying Amity more and more with each day that passed.

At this point, the leader of the Guys-in-White had thrown everything he had in their arsenal at the creature, and nothing fazed it. He could not even believe that the serum he had concocted to destroy ghost DNA had no effect on that monster. How was that possible? How could any ghost be so resilient?

All very good questions; and even better reason why they had just returned to where they had last confronted this monster. He needed some kind of energy or ectoplasm sample of that creature, He needed to know what it was, for he was beginning to suspect the Phantom-like ghost was no ghost.

For some time now, all sorts of theories suggesting that ghosts weren't the only spectral-type entities within the Ghost Zone had been bantered around. In fact, some of those very theories had been developed by the Guys-in-White themselves. They had done more than their share of experiments and such with all the resources they had at their disposal. Yet, even with all of their hard work, they never had any concrete evidence of any of those theories.

But, Agent Chrome was beginning to suspect that he might be finally getting that concrete evidence.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The voice of one of his commanders pulled Agent C from his musings.

"Do you have any information on Plasmius and Phantom?" Agent C asked before his subordinate could say anything else.

"I just heard back from the operatives I sent to Vlad Plasmius' old home in the Rockies; but they found no signs of activity there. The other locations on our radar also have come up empty for both half-ghosts."

Agent Chrome hesitated before he asked, "And the castle in Wisconsin?"

"It is owned by one 'Stephanie Hue'. We would need another warrant to search the property. And if you recall, we had a big legal battle to get an approval the first time after Vlad Plasmius became a fugitive of the law."

Agent Chrome frowned deeply. Oh, yes… He remembered that battle well. They had tried everything to not only get a warrant to search the place, but also take custody of the castle. But that woman had a real good lawyer on her side… The most they were able to do was search the property, which of course, came up empty for any ecto-entities or even weapons.

Agent C was sure that Hue woman or even Vlad Plasmius himself had hid the evidence. They had not even found a ghost portal; and the ghost hunter was certain the elder half-ghost had had one.

And now… Agent Chrome was sure Plasmius and Phantom were hiding there. It was the only place that made sense. It was the only place Masters knew his division would have difficulty getting close to.

He frowned in frustration. He would have those two soon enough; but right now, he knew that he had a bigger fish to fry. His face then melded into determination as his mind churned with its new train of thought.

"I guess it is time to make a few phone calls to those in higher power…," the head GiW muttered. "We also need help… I hate to say it, but we will not be able to take down this powerful ghost on our own. Perhaps our sister division in Washington has some new weapons that could be of use against that creature…"

"I sure hope so. It seems nothing even weakens that monster," his commander commented with worry.

"Yes… It—"

"Sir! I found it!"

Agent Chrome quickly looked over at the operative running over to him. "I think this is it! Our scanner is not identifying the ectoplasm!"

"Where is it?" Chrome asked with urgency.

His operative wasted no time and led him towards a destroyed building, which was surrounded by several more ghost hunters. They had been working on moving the debris in hopes of finding what their leader had wanted.

"It is not much, as lot of it was destroyed by the heat and debris, but it might be enough," the operative whispered excitedly.

Chrome leaned in carefully to a small crevice in between pieces of concrete and debris. He squatted down when he spied the green glow and carefully touched the small puddle of ectoplasm with only one finger before bringing it back up.

He smelled the green substance and then he tasted it.

"This definitely is not hybrid ectoplasm. And it doesn't seem to have come from a weaker ghost… This might just be it," Agent Chrome agreed. He then commanded, "Give me an extractor."

One of the hunters quickly handled him a syringe-like cylinder made of glass and framed in metal.

With practiced ease, Chrome placed the tip of the extractor in the puddle of ectoplasm, and carefully sopped up the fluid. It definitely was by luck they managed to find it in time before the ghostly substance dried and vanished.

All the same, it wasn't much. By the time he was done, he only gathered about three ccs. But it would be enough.

"Time to find out what that thing is… Or more importantly, how to destroy it," Agent C said darkly.

---

The human Danny had slept through the entire night; but the nightmares had been torture. His tired and hurt body had finally had enough around five in the morning. He had been tempted to go look for his ghost-half, but had been afraid to see him again after what had happened.

Instead, the teen went to look for his dog before heading with TJ to the simulation room to check on his family and friends.

An hour later, the boy was still in the simulation room just sitting on the ground with his dog while he watched his unconscious loved ones.

The entire time he was there, he tried to imagine what his parents, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker would say about his current situation. Would they also tell him to get rid of his ghost-half? Or would they want him to hold onto his powers?

He had promised his family he would never turn into him. And it was the one promise that had kept him going when he felt like giving up many times in the past. But, ironically, it was why he hesitated to get rid of his powers now.

In that future, he got rid of his human-self. Now… he was about to be rid of his ghost-half. Wasn't it in essence the same thing?

He felt like he was giving up… just like that Danny had given up. But really, part of him had already given up, right? Somehow, he knew what his ghost-half had said to Vlad. His other half wanted Vlad to carry out getting rid of his ghost powers.

The human Danny understood why. And if he was honest with himself, he also felt it was the 'right choice'. But how many times had he thought he was making the right choice and it wasn't?

He really wished his loved ones were awake.

Regardless, he did have a choice to make. He could be rid of his powers and avoid the chance of another evil version of him; but in turn, be powerless to stop his future evil-self from destroying the world a second time. Or… he could take the risk of losing his life, or worse, turning evil… but still have the chance to save the world…

"Daniel."

"It's okay, TJ," Danny said quietly when his dog growled with the older hybrid's entrance.

"You need to eat," Vlad said, but did not get any closer to the boy or his growling dog.

"I'm not really hungry," the boy muttered.

"Yes, well, you still have to eat something. I finished the serum last night. And though I decided to give you the night to rest and recover, we have waited long enough to do what needs to be done."

Danny didn't answer at first; and Vlad began to think he might just have to force the boy to do this. But then with a sigh, the teen quietly nodded and stood.

"I'm not eating," Danny said stubbornly as he walked past the man.

Vlad was so thankful the boy was finally willingly going along with the procedure to remove his ghost DNA that he didn't bother to argue with the small detail. The teen could eat after.

The human boy went straight to the bottom lab and walked over to the containment unit holding his ghost-self.

As Vlad moved around to get the machines running, the human teen frowned sadly at seeing his ghost-half huddled in the corner with his head buried in his bent knees.

The human Danny opened his mouth to speak, but his ghost-half beat him to the punch.

"I'm surprised you're even looking at me," he mumbled quietly without moving from his position.

"You're still me…," Fenton answered.

The ghost boy finally looked up and asked uncertainly, "Am I? I tried to waste you and Vlad."

Fenton looked away but he answered, "We also tried to hurt Tucker and Sam when Freakshow controlled us, remember?"

"What are you saying?" the ghost boy asked.

"Daniel," Vlad called, and the teen looked at him. "Come, I need to get you ready."

But the boy didn't move; and instead looked back at his ghost-half.

"Daniel," Vlad said again, sounding a bit worried this time.

"You once told me I could never turn into anything I didn't want… Did you mean it?" the human teen asked the man almost desperately.

Vlad's eyes flashed with doubt. Yes, he had said that once. But… wasn't the ghost teen in that containment device proof that his words were untrue? But… he had meant it.

"I did mean it," Vlad answered. But when the boy lowered his eyes, the man approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel… think of this as a second chance, my boy. You will finally be free of all those responsibilities you have always believed you had. You will be an average teenager with a possibility of whatever future you want."

"You love to confuse me," Fenton replied bitterly. "You have always told me to accept myself—to 'embrace my ghost powers'; and when I finally do—when I finally understand what that meant—you tell me to let that go! And what future, Vlad? My evil-self is going to destroy the world, remember?"

Vlad shook his head tiredly. "What do you want me to say to you, Daniel?"

"That you're sorry."

But it had not been the human Danny that had said that. It had been his ghost-half.

Vlad looked over at the ghostly teen, who was staring back at him with a deep frown. But the man then turned back to the human boy, who was actually avoiding eye contact with him. He clearly had not wanted the man to hear that.

But instead of saying what the boy wanted to hear, the man said instead, "That will not change anything. And I did mean what I said. 'You cannot turn into anything you do not want to,' and I will hold to it… But you forget what that means. It is a choice, Daniel. And that choice…" he said firmly pointing at the boy's ghost-half, "Means risking all you ever stood for. Are you going to do that?"

The human teen didn't answer, and the man replied, "I did not think so. I will give you a few minutes to 'say good-bye' if that is what you feel you need to do."

Vlad didn't wait for a response, and just walked off to the opposite side of the lab again.

Fenton watched after him before he muttered bitterly, "I've always wondered how he lives with himself."

"What a coincidence… I have always wondered the same exact thing."

Fenton looked back at his ghost-half, and genuinely smiled at seeing the smug smile on the other teen's face. That was more like him.

Fenton placed his hand against the containment device, and his ghost-half did the same thing. "We had a good run, didn't we?" he asked as his smile melded into a sad one.

"Yeah… I like to think I did more good than harm with my powers," the young Phantom answered.

"Yeah, me, too," Fenton said with a surrendering sigh. "But, hey, we'll figure out a way to stop our evil-self. We can't give up." He paused before repeating with sudden conviction, "I can't give up."

"I can't give up," the boy's ghost-half repeated as he felt something from his human-half. But then his eyes widened fearfully as he realized what it was. "Wait… No. What are you doing?"

Fenton didn't answer and moved over to the control unit in front of the containment until. As he searched for how to do what he wanted, the teen answered with conviction, "I don't care what Vlad says. I'm not getting rid of my ghost powers. Not this time. Not ever again."

"But… he…" the ghost boy began as he nervously looked over at the older hybrid in the distance.

"No," Fenton cut him off firmly. "We can't turn into anything we don't want. And you believe it, too; because it was the one thing we learned with the fruit loop. He's right about one thing. It's our choice—my choice. I won't turn evil. I promised. And I also promise we're going to stop our evil-self. Together. As one. As me. As Fenton and Phantom."

The ghost boy looked back at his human-half, and for the first time since he escaped being trapped within his evil-self, he felt like himself again. He remembered again. He could feel again.

And he felt the same desire as his other half.

"Let's do it. Let's merge back," the ghost boy said, sounding as sure as his human-half looked.

Fenton smiled at him before he returned to the controls; and this time, he finally found what he was looking for. He pressed the button, and with a flash of green light, the ghost shield dropped, and the unit unlocked.

"Yes!" the human boy excitedly whispered. He then moved over to the small door, which opened with a hiss, before he stepped into the unit.

"So… how do we do this? We don't exactly have the ghost catcher… and I don't think we could walk through the portal together, right?" the ghost teen said, scratching the back of his neck.

Fenton frowned when he realized his other-half had a point. "Uh… Well, Vlad said as long as both our halves are in agreement, we should be able to merge… So, maybe try to overshadow me like last time, only…not?"

"But—"

"What are you doing?!" Vlad suddenly exclaimed as he grabbed the boy by the arm and yanked him away the ghost boy.

"Let go, Vlad!" the human teen demanded, pulling his arm away. "I'm not going through with this! I'm not getting rid of my powers!"

Vlad stared at him in disbelief for a second before he exploded. "Curses, Daniel! How many times must I explain this to you, you don't have another choice!"

"Yes I do!" Fenton yelled back. "I'm merging back, and I'm going to go stop my evil-self! I'm not giving up, Plasmius! And nothing you can say is going to make me change my mind!"

"Then, you have lost your mind," Vlad said angrily. "You cannot merge back with this ghost!"

"I'm not just a ghost! I'm human, too!" the ghost boy suddenly jumped in. "I'm him. I'm me! I'm Danny"

"He's me," Fenton added with determination.

"You will die," Vlad said firmly.

"I'm going to try," the both of them said together.

Vlad looked between the two teenagers, who looked like mirror images except for one being human and the other a ghost. But the man knew that look—that stubborn determined look.

The man shook his head as he muttered mostly to himself, "I should have just kept you both asleep and done this without your knowing…" He suddenly looked back at the human teen and the man's eyes turned red as he added, "I guess that means we'll have to do this the hard way…"

Fenton gasped as the man suddenly grabbed him by an arm again, and yanked him out of the containment unit.

"What? No!" the ghost boy exclaimed as he tried to move forward to help his other half.

But Vlad had expected it; and instantly blasted the ghost boy back. In turn, the human Danny dropped to his hands and knees as the wind was knocked out of him as he also felt the attack.

Vlad turned into Plasmius, and threw the human boy over his shoulder. He then moved over to the control unit and locked the containment unit and reactivated the ghost shield before the ghost boy could recover and escape.

"Vlad," Fenton wheezed. "Stop. Y-You can't do this! You can't make me do this!"

"Actually, Daniel. I can. And I will," Plasmius answered with conviction. "I will not let you kill yourself because of your need to be some martyr hero!"

"Darn it, Plasmius! It's not your choice! Put me down, you jerk! For once in your life, stop trying to control me!" Fenton yelled as he began to kick and punch the guy restraining him.

"I wouldn't have to if you weren't so blasted foolish," Vlad muttered.

"That's my problem!" Fenton snapped back. "You can't—!"

"Plasmius!" the ghost boy suddenly screamed, and this time the man did pause and look back at the trapped ghost. "Let him go! I won't let you do this! This is my life! This is MY CHOICE!"

"No, it's mine now," Vlad answered back coolly before turning back and heading to the table he had prepped.

"No! Stop!" the two yelled.

"You're no good to me dead, boy," Vlad muttered mostly to himself before he threw the boy down on the hard table.

Fenton gasped but quickly tried to jump off, only for the man to hold him down by his arms. Still, the teen struggled with all his might.

"Hold still, Daniel! Stop being so blasted difficult! I'm trying to help you!" Plasmius snapped as he continued to struggle with the boy.

"Help me?! You jerk! You're trying to leave me powerless! You can't do this!"

"You. Are. Going. To. Die!"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"WELL, I DO!" Vlad screamed back.

Fenton suddenly stopped struggling and looked at the man in surprise. He didn't know why Vlad's admissions of caring about him always left him paralyzed. But maybe because they were so rare, and when he did say it, he could tell he meant it.

"I need you to understand," Vlad said almost desperately. "I cannot let you merge again. Your ghost-half doesn't have your same spectral signature or energy. I felt it. His genetics could have even been altered. Do you know what that means? It's like trying to transplant an organ into an unmatched recipient or giving you a blood transfusion without your incorrect blood type. Your body will reject the merging. You will die. And I cannot let that happen…"

"It won't…," Danny answered just as desperate. "I felt him, too. I know he's me. He's still me."

Vlad shook his head. "I wish that was true… I wish… I could take all this back…"

"But you can't," Fenton reminded him. "So, the least you can do is let me make this choice. Let me go, Vlad. Please. Let me do this."

The man stared at the pleading teenager before…

'Click'

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Vlad said with finality as he locked the first restraint around the boy's left wrist.

"No… No!" Fenton shouted as he grabbed and wrestled with the restraint with his free hand. But the man easily pulled at that hand and locked it in place as well.

"No, no, no! Vlad, stop!" the human teen shouted as he felt like his whole world was crashing around him.

But the man didn't answer anymore. His face was determined as he moved to lock the boy's legs in place. But the teen thrashed and kicked at him.

"NO! Plasmius, let him go!" the ghost boy also shouted, adding to his counterpart's desperate cries.

But none of it made any difference. All too soon, the man had the human boy's legs locked on the operation table, too.

As Vlad turned away towards a nearby gas tank and a mask next to it, Fenton twisted against the restraints. He couldn't help but whimper since all that did was cause him pain, while the panic inside him continue to build. He couldn't believe what was happening. Was Vlad this low as to force something so awful on him? He was literally about to destroy part of him!

Fenton could barely look over at his ghost-side who was kicking and pounding on the ghost-proof containment unit.

But when the two halves' eyes met, Fenton renewed his efforts to break free. He shouted and pulled on his restraints with his whole body, only to fail. Exhausted, he briefly stopped struggling and just panted.

But at seeing the man return with the hissing mask in hand, the human boy froze in terror. The memory of that other future and how similar all this looked came crashing into him like a cold tidal wave.

"Vlad, please. Please, don't! Don't do this to me!" he begged in a panic. He was struggling so much his wrist were growing raw. "Please… Please VLAD!" But when the man brought the mask over his face, he squeezed his eyes close, and screamed, "I won't forgive you!"

Vlad stilled.

Danny opened his eyes as tears swelled in them as he shakily whimpered, "If you do this to me, I-I won't forgive you. Not…Not for this."

The man soberly looked at him for a moment before nodding, "I'm aware. But I rather you hate me the rest of your life… than for you not to have one."

"No," Danny begged and gulped in some air as the mask was put over his face.

Seeing the boy holding his breath, Vlad rolled his eyes. "You really are making this a bigger deal than it is. I'm not going to kill you, Daniel. You—"

"YOU EVIL JERK! LET. HIM. GO!" Phantom exclaimed furiously before two black rings changed him into the teen version of his evil-self.

Vlad glared at the ghost who began to attack the containment unit with such force that the vibrations could be felt throughout the entire laboratory.

"I'LL DESTROY YOU FOR THIS YOU SADISTIC JERK!"

"Look at him, Daniel!' Vlad exclaimed to the human boy as he grabbed the teen's hair and forced him to look at his ghostly counterpart. "DOES THAT LOOK LIKE YOU?!"

Unable to hold his breath any longer, the boy gasped out, "I-I can't turn into anything I don't want."

"I lied!" Vlad shouted in the human teen's face before he angrily let go of his hair.

"I swear… I'll tear you apart if it's the last thing I do!" the ghost boy growled with a voice so dark and loud that it sounded as if he was right next to Vlad and Fenton.

Vlad regarded the ghost who at the moment looked nothing like the boy he knew. The darkness in this creature was not his own. It wasn't Daniel. It was another monster. And the older hybrid refused to be responsible for letting another out into the world.

"This is why you must get rid of your powers," Vlad told the creature. "We both know Daniel would never even think of destroying anyone."

He looked back at the human boy who had his face turned to the side. The gas was clearly beginning to affect him.

"You cannot understand it now," the man added soberly, "But in a moment, you are going to thank me for this…"

"Vlad, please," the human boy weakly breathed out.

"Just relax, Daniel. I promise you will be just fine. You will wake up again before you know it. Oh, come on now," the man added with a tired sigh at seeing tears leak down the boy's face. "No more drama, Daniel. Just go to sleep."

He glanced over at the boy's ghost-half, and though it had gone deathly silent, it was still glowering murderously at him with those unrecognizable red eyes. He could tell the gas was also starting to get to the ghostly teen, too; but not as quick as the man had expected… It was odd that…

Vlad's attention went to the human boy when he felt him grab his wrist and weakly squeeze him as some sort of plea.

The man frowned deeply, yet he sounded more troubled than anything else as he said, "Danny, stop fighting it. This will be easier on you if you just let go."

The boy quickly turned his head away from him in an attempt to shake his head.

"Fine…," the man said with a tired sigh before he reached over to turn up the gas

"Your stubbornness, Daniel… It really—"

"Master Plasmius?"

Vlad turned around, and raised an eyebrow in surprise at seeing Niane at the entrance of the lab.

"Yes?" he asked curiously.

But the ghost girl didn't answer right away. Instead, she bit her lip as she looked between the human boy tied to and on the verge of passing out on the table, and the ghostly teen looking more disoriented by the second.

"Niane?" Vlad asked again with a frown.

But at hearing her name, the human Danny seem to regain some awareness and he weakly pleased, "N… Niane. H-Help… me… Don't… let him..."

"Ignore him. He does not know what's good for him," Vlad interrupted as he shot the human boy an annoyed look. He was starting to lose his patience with the teenager again.

Niane sighed sadly at seeing the boy's head loll to the side. She would have been sure he was completely unconscious if it wasn't for the ghost teen's being still somewhat alert. But right then, the black rings returned. And as the ghost boy returned to his usual appearance, he collapsed to his knees with a groan.

She had been watching all this unfold for some time through her brother's connection. But she had forced herself to not interfere—to keep away as she had always been instructed to do. She could not interfere… and yet, she also couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that overwhelmed her logic and desperately urged her to come here…

"Niane!" Vlad suddenly snapped at her. "What is wrong with you? What in blazes do you want? I am extremely busy if you cannot tell!"

As she stared distraughtly at the older hybrid, the nagging feeling… or more like a nagging memory, echoed strongly again in her mind:

"Niane… I trust the boy's judgment," Clockwork said confidently.

"I'm sorry, sir…" Niane whispered. She looked back at the boy and his ghost-half before the hesitation left her face. Her eyes suddenly glowed a brighter red as she said in a determined voice, "I'm really sorry, but I cannot let you do this."

---

Next update: Dawning of the Sun. ETA: Before the end of the year *hides