Disclaimer: If I could own DP, I would. But sadly, I don't have that kind of money. Or lawyers.

Happy 2012, everyone!

Chained

Chapter 25

Danielle stared uncertainly at the vast lands and mansion before them. "Well," she said nervously, "here we are. Vlad Master's property." She let go of their hands, and Tucker and Jazz materialized onto the human plane, their feet softly crinkling the grass. "He's got a ghost shield around everything and human security measures lining his house." Soft rings of light encircled her waist. She stared at them helplessly, her blue, humans eyes wide. "Sorry guys, but I can't fly us through without setting off an alarm."

Tucker analyzed one of the high-tech DALV security posts, which were situated every twelve feet along the property's perimeter. "I think this is where I come in," Tucker said, pulling out his laptop from his shoulder bag. "I haven't worked with Dalv Tech in a while, but if I can disarm the ghost shield without triggering a security breach, then I think you'll be able to transform again and fly us through the human security."

Jazz lowered her binoculars. "Perfect timing too," she said. "Doesn't look like anyone's home. All the lights are off, and Vlad's limo isn't parked outside the front."

Tucker's eyes narrowed as he held the laptop and entered in a long digit code. Immediately, firewalls and "access denied" screens popped up. "Looks like he's upgraded his software. I can't get past the security with the binary of 'Madeline Masters' anymore. It's recognizing my laptop as a foreign computer." He paused in thought. "I need manual access."

Danielle peeked over Tucker's shoulder to stare at the screen. "But how can you get that access if we can't actually get inside?"

He turned and gently shoved the laptop into Dani's hands. "I'll have to trick the system into thinking we are the remote computer." He cracked his knuckles and dug into his shoulder bag, haphazardly pulling out a small drill, a clamp, and wires. "Now stand back, ladies, because I'm about to be awesome."

Dani shot an uncertain look at Jazz, who simply shrugged in return. She turned back to Tucker. "Are you sure you won't set off anything?"

"Positive. Now watch and learn from a master." Tucker kneeled beside DALV Post Thirty-Four, and he lined the drill bit directly underneath the power box and computer screen. Then, gently, he drilled into the inch-thick metal. With a sufficient hole made, he pulled the drill out and began wrapping the wires from his bag around the clamp. "The big wire in there is the one that completes the circuit back to the computer inside Vlad's security room. If I can physically hook my computer to it, then it won't know the difference between me and Vlad's computer. It's kinda like," Tucker paused in thought, "splitting a router."

Jazz frowned. "Don't you think Vlad would've secured his property from a physical hacker?"

"He's a mad scientist with too much money," Tucker shrugged. "I'm a hacker who gets paid to set up systems like this. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

He returned to the job at hand and carefully strung the wires through the drilled hole. With his free hand, he grabbed his PDA from his pocket and hooked it on the LCD screen of the post. He pushed a few buttons and calibrated the PDA to the system. Within seconds, Tucker was greeted with the sight of the post's metallic insides. With the help of the visual, he pushed the wires upward, and the clamp locked onto the hardwired main line.

In Dani's hands, the laptop screen fizzled into a "Welcome to DALV security" mainframe.

"Hey," Danielle said, eyes bright, "that's pretty cool."

Tucker smirked and stood up, dusting off his pants. "Yep," he said triumphantly, "I'm just that good. Now we've got complete access to every system here, including the ghost shield. I'll take my laptop back now."

Dani handed him back the laptop and helped Jazz pick up all the drill bits and extra wires, knowing time was short.

With a couple of clicks and commands from the computer, a great sigh overcame all the posts, and the invisible ghost shield powered down, along with numerous other security measures. "Okay, Dani: give it a shot," Tucker said, looking over his laptop screen and encouraging her forward.

A little hesitant, Danielle transformed and floated past the posts. No alarms. No lights. When nothing at all happened, a bright smile lit her pale face. "Awesome!" She grabbed hold of Tucker and Jazz and turned them intangible, flying over the acres. Tucker, eyes wide, barely managed to grab his shoulder bag in time. "Maybe this'll work after all!"

Jazz felt herself grow nauseated by the speed at which her surroundings passed, but she tried to smile to heighten Danielle's enthusiasm.

And undetected, the three snuck into the mansion through the second story. Danielle slowed her pace, on alert for any butlers or servants. "Hope no one's here."

But as time passed, they realized the entire building was truly empty. As they flew through the rooms into the maze of corridors, Tucker shuddered. "Damn, this place gives me the creeps. Like, hospital creeps."

"Like you would know," Danielle scoffed. "Try being created here, and then we'll talk about creepy."

"Oh, I don't think it's too creepy yet. Just football propaganda and décor that suggests a superiority complex," Jazz surveyed. "Vlad hasn't changed a bit. Which means his lab should still be in the basement, right?"

Danielle took the hint and dropped them down to first floor, then below ground level. "Yep." Smooth metal machines and arsenals glinted darkly in the shadows. Cold.

It felt cold.

The half-ghost hid a shiver and steeled herself to the sight of her birthplace and near final resting spot. "Yeah, it really hasn't changed."

"Hello, pet." Vlad's soft voice swept over her in cold love. His gloved hand stroked her wild, white hair. "Can you hear my voice?"

She gazed up at his face and searched her instincts. Who was this man? "F-father?"

He smiled brightly. His fangs glinted in the ethereal glow of his power. "Yes. And you're my darling daughter. My precious heir."

Danielle shook herself out of it and pulled Tucker and Jazz out of intangibility. "Okay guys, tell me what we're doing. How can I help?"

"We need to hack into Vlad's security on the portal, for one," Tucker said, sitting down in the command chair at the main controls and staring at the buttons.

"You don't have to do that," Danielle reminded him. "I got your back on this." She leaned over Tucker's shoulder and typed in a small numeral sequence, which unlatched the metal doors.

But her fingers froze when her green eyes caught the sight of a flat platform to her right. She swallowed hard and turned away from what Vlad had strapped her to years ago, blinking hard. She backed away from the console, allowing Tucker to take over. She had to get away from that spot. "Blue one. The blue button opens the portal when we're good to go."

"No, I plan to melt you down and study your ectoplasmic remains!"

Horror and betrayal trailed tears down her face. She struggled against her bonds. "But…but don't you love me?"

Her father, no, Vlad, laughed cruelly. "Love? How could I possibly love a failure like you? You disgust me!"

"Are we ready yet?" Danielle said, hiding the nervous shake in her voice. "This place is getting to me."

"Not quite." Jazz pulled an ecto-blaster from the arsenal, staring at it in curiosity. "We need as many weapons as we can get." She threw it to Danielle. "Here, you might want one too."

The younger girl held the weapon uncertainly, for the most imperceptible tremble in her hands shook the blaster. "Look, I know we need weapons, but I really don't think we should be taking these. When Vlad gets back, he's gonna know someone was in here. And he might come after us."

"We're already gonna be in trouble when he finds out his portal's been opened," Jazz reasoned. "So what if we take some weapons too? We've got bigger problems than a disgruntled billionaire with a crush on my mom."

"With ghost powers?" Danielle stressed, skeptical. "And who started the CGIA in the first place?"

"We'll worry about it later," Jazz said firmly. "Right now getting to Danny is our objective."

"We can always blackmail Vlad with the fact that he named his computer and his cat Maddie," Tucker piped up, still looking at his PDA. "How's it coming along, Jazz?"

"Almost done," the woman replied, gathering a few more weapons from the armory and stuffing them into Tucker's shoulder bag. When nothing else could possible fit into the compartments, she stood up and pushed her fiery bangs out of her eyes, stuffing the strays underneath her bright blue headband. "Okay. I think we're good with weapons."

Tucker looked down at the control panel. "Uh, which button was it, Dani?"

"The blue one."

"Right." He pushed one final button on the control screen, and Vlad's portal hummed to life, gears retracting the heavy metal doors back. The green glow wisped throughout the entire lab. The temperature dropped a considerable amount of degrees.

Tucker pulled out his PDA. "Okay guys, got this calibrated to track the CGIA so we don't run into them and trigger their instruments." He turned to Danielle. "But you wouldn't be able to just…teleport us to Danny's location, would you?"

She shook her head. "I can only do small distances. But I can fly a lot faster."

Tucker nodded, and his eyes softened for a minute. Although Danielle had lived on her own for years, she'd never been pushed to her limits. "You gonna be okay at top speed for a while, then?"

The younger girl gave him a hard look. "Better believe it. Clocked out at 190 for six hours straight."

"190?" The techo-geek raised both his eyebrows, duly impressed. "Damn, that's faster than Danny. How do you manage that?"

She tried to smile. "I dunno." She shrugged. "He's got strength, and I've got speed."

"From the coordinates and your speed then, we should arrive at Danny's location in about fifteen minutes." Tucker glanced down at his PDA. Then he looked back at Danielle. "…Seriously? 190?"

The half-ghost raised a brow. A spark of mischievousness animated her pale features. "What, you don't believe me?"

"Alright, guys." Jazz holstered her own ecto-blaster and hardened her eyes. "I'm ready. Operation: SD is a go!"

"…SD?" Tucker echoed dryly.

"'Save Danny?'" Jazz replied matter-of-factly. "What'd you think I meant?"

"I dunno, it's just…you couldn't think of anything better? SD sounds like Scooby Doo."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "SDP, then? Save Danny Phantom?"

Tucker gave it thought. "Still not great, but better." He paused. "Better than naming a dog Ghostey, anyway."

"Oh, will you give that a rest?"

Danielle sighed and grabbed the two. "Come on, guys. We gotta get to Danny!"

And the three, sufficiently armed for battle, disappeared into the swirling energy of the Portal with a sonic boom, Danielle's power core glowing brightly at the strain. She tightened her grip around the two humans' wrists and catapulted them through the Zone.

The strange air of the Ghost Zone felt like smooth silk against the travelers-far better flying conditions than the human world. Tucker and Jazz breathed easy, even at Danielle's top speed.

Doors and structures blurred by.

"Okay, I'm syncing our flight path to the coordinates of Danny's location, and-wait," Tucker paused, teal eyes narrowing in concern. On his PDA, the strength of Danny's output frequencies suddenly froze and diminished. "Guys, we got a problem. I'm losing my lock on Danny."

Danielle's eyes widened. "What? Why?" She instinctively pushed herself harder to fly faster. "He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No. Cryo-stasis," Jazz cut in, remembering the call with her mother. "They must've put him in cryo-stasis by now. That would seal his ecto-signature from us."

Tucker gave her a weird look. Then it hit him. "Right. Danny turning into Dan." He swallowed hard. "So it's really happening, huh?"

"I'm afraid it is," Jazz replied, eyes worried. "The only good news is maybe the CGIA will have a harder time tracing Danny's location."

Danielle turned her neck, confused. "…So wait, who's 'Dan?'" she asked.

No one answered her.

Tucker looked down at his PDA again. "Uh, hey, so it also looks like the Guys in White are about 20 clicks away right now. We need to veer left to stay under their radar."

"How fast are they going?" Jazz asked.

"About seventy-five miles an hour. We're gonna make it there way before them."

Danielle huffed. "…Guys, seriously. Who's Dan?"

Vlad stepped out of his limo and knew immediately something was wrong. His dark blue eyes narrowed. "Someone's been here." He turned to the driver. "Go ahead and park this in storage." He added, "And take the rest of the day off."

The chauffeur nodded and tipped his hat before rolling up his black window. The limo revved into drive and disappeared down the long pathway to the parking garage.

Vlad dusted off the sleeves of his business jacket and walked to his doorstep. The biometric scans immediately recognized the gait and weight of his walk, and they triggered the door to unlock.

"Welcome back, Mr. Masters," the house said. "DALV security measures disabled in your absence."

He narrowed his eyes. "Which ones?"

"All measures pertaining to perimeter ghost shield and inner ghost portal."

Vlad's eyebrows furrowed. "Not what I was expecting. House, give me an I.D. on the individual who disabled my security."

"Negative. No data available."

He raised a regal brow. "Huh. Then perhaps my lab will better debrief me."

The billionaire glanced around then transformed, sinking through floors to find himself in the heart of his lab. As suspected. The Ghost Portal was opened.

Sharp gears turned in his mind, and his red eyes swiveled to the large console by the Portal. "Why would someone disarm my house only to break into the Ghost Zone?" he mused. "Surely this was no ordinary thief." He turned to the console. "Maddie," he called out, "roll security disc 307, between times 2:00 and 5:00 PM. Reinitiate all security measures."

"Yes, sweetums," called the computer's chipper voice. "Reinitiating DALV security systems to one-hundred percent. Formatting security disc 307 for viewing purposes." One wall of the lab sparked to life with four large LCD monitors. The recording fizzled and then cleared into a colored screen, echoing the layout of the lab, empty and untouched.

"Fast-forward to any recorded instances of someone inside my lab."

"Okay, my love!"

The computer sped through hours of taping. Then, dark shadows appeared on the screen, and the computer played the clip.

"Maddie, pause. Magnify."

As he stared at the shadows of Danielle, Tucker, and Jazz sneaking through his lab, a cold frown pulled at his lips. "Well, well, what have we here?" His claws tapped against the console. "My disowned mutant and her two little friends?"

He stared at their lips, eyes narrowed. The lack of audio on the recording left their rushed dialogue to Vlad's imagination. But the name 'Danny Phantom' repeated itself one too many times to be coincidental. "What's going on?" Vlad wondered darkly.

Unless…

"Maddie, open up the Danny Phantom files and secure data regarding his ectoplasmic signature. Sweep all sectors of the Ghost Zone for his signature."

"Sweetheart, my data processors suggest such an action to be illogical, as extinguished ghosts do not possess ecto-signatures."

"Maybe Danny isn't as…incapacitated as we believed," Vlad said. "Now run the sweep."

"As you wish, darling." The computer hummed with the strain of the work, whirling thousands of terabytes of information per second.

"Ectoplasmic signature currently unavailable. Last known location for Danny Phantom's ectoplasmic signature resides in sector 271 of Ghost Zone, as mapped out by you, dear heart."

Vlad's gaze darkened in cold surprise. "The dimensional rift? That's certainly not the CGIA base, now, is it?"

"Of course not, my deliciously intelligent conqueror."

Valerie stared at the computer. "We've got movement about ten clicks away. Too small to be CGIA of any kind. Maybe two, three people?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm also getting a large ectoplasmic signature coming from one of them?"

"Ghost or human?" Maddie questioned.

"Could be either one," Valerie replied. Her face twisted. "Or both."

Maddie hummed, tapping a pen against her leg. "How fast are they traveling?"

"Pretty fast; about 200 miles an hour."

The older woman bit the inside of her cheek in thought. "Let's intercept them, see who they are first. They may be ghosts trying to escape the Zone before the CGIA arrives, in which case maybe we can convince them to stay here and help us." She moved to stand, but Valerie stopped her.

"No, Mrs. Fenton. You stay here. You're needed to man the computer and keep me updated on the Guys in White." Valerie stood up. "I'll take care of this myself."

"Man, what gives? We haven't seen anyone for miles. This place is more abandoned than a ghost town," Tucker commented as they ventured deeper into the heart of the Zone. A smirk lit his tired features. "Get it, 'ghost' town?"

"I dunno what's going on," Danielle replied, eyes shifting uneasily. "But I can feel the CGIA. They're sending out something now…like a wave. It feels like me or Danny's power, but different. Metallic."

"How far away?"

"Far. The feeling's pretty faint." Danielle hid a shiver. "But it's kinda freaky. And I don't like it."

Tucker looked down at his PDA. "Well, maybe we can change that soon. We're here. This is where the tracker locked on Danny."

Up ahead, the fabric of the Ghost Zone twisted and warped behind a large smoke screen of fog. No doors existed around the strange wave-barrier. "In that?" Danielle questioned. "That warp thing?"

"Hey, Mom said something about a dimensional rift," Jazz remembered. She gazed ahead at the otherworldly portal. "I…guess this is it?"

Tucker looked a little green. "Man, why do I get the feeling it's gonna be a bumpy ride? Why can't dimensional rifts just be a door or something?"

Danielle inhaled a deep breath. "Well, no time to float and find out. Here goes nothing!" And she tightened her grip as they flew towards it.

Suddenly, the portal expanded and wrapped around them, throwing them into a tunnel of currents and colors. Tucker and Jazz shut their eyes as the entire world around them shook them down into another.

And in a matter of seconds, they dropped onto hard rock, in the shadow of a great building.

For a few seconds, no one said anything. Then Tucker groaned. "Damn," he grabbed onto the ground beneath him and pushed himself up. "I think I just made a Tucker-shaped pancake. In what? Concrete?"

Danielle pulled herself out of a crater, holding her head. "Well, that wasn't so bad. Gotta work on that landing, though," she said weakly. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Jazz rubbed her elbow and moaned when she tried to sit up. "Just a crick."

Tucker stood up and grabbed his bag and fallen PDA. He readjusted his glasses. "Hey, guys, check it out. The Specter Speeder." Behind him, Jazz and Danielle stood up.

The Specter Speeder sat in one of the other craters, looking a little worse for wear. "Looks like we're in the right place then," Jazz added.

The three gazed at the strange dimension around them, at the gigantic building before them, and at the warping stairs on each side.

Then it hit Tucker.

"…Aw, shit." He backed away. "Oh, guys, it's a hospital. A freakin' hospital! I hate hospitals!" He swallowed hard. "Oh man, oh man…"

Jazz pushed him forward. "It's not a hospital," she said. "It's an ice cream parlor."

"Yeah, right," Tucker scoffed, eyes wide. "Like I'm gonna believe that."

"…A modeling agency, then?" Jazz supplied dryly. "How bout that?"

Tucker squeezed his eyes shut. "With Victoria's Secret models?"

"Sure, Tuck. Whatever makes you feel safe."

"Well, you know that doesn't make me feel safe, just better." He paused in thought. "I don't even know if I'd go in for models."

"How about for Danny?" Jazz said. "You know, your best friend who needs your help because he's been a prisoner for two years?"

Tucker winced. "Oh man, that hurts deep." He stared up at the hospital. "For Danny?"

"Yeah. For Danny."

Movement out of the main entrance into the hospital caught their attention. " Uh, guys, we're not alone!" Danielle warned. Gathering herself, she stepped before Tucker and Jazz to protect them, palms sparking with energy. "Stay behind me!"

But what surprised them even more was who came to greet them. Curves in red appeared from the shadows one-hundred yards away, holding an ecto-blaster.

Tucker squinted. "Valerie?"

The closer she got, Valerie re-holstered her weapon, almost in shock. "Jazz? Tucker? What are you doing here?" Her sharp eyes turned to Danielle. "And who's that?"

Danielle nervously smiled, trying to hold back from running away. The Red Hunter terrified her. "Uh, hi?" she swallowed hard. She laughed off the ectoplasm charging in her palms. The sparks died in the air. "Oh man. Thought you were someone trying to kill us."

"We're here to help, Val," Tucker cut in worriedly. "We saw the CGIA mobilizing back in Amity Park, and we figured you guys could use us."

Valerie crossed her arms. "Why does she look like Phantom?" she demanded, not even paying attention to Tucker.

"I'm a clone," Danielle said honestly, trying to hide her nervousness with a weak smile. "Danny is my progenitor."

Valerie blinked. "Clone?" She paused. "A half-human clone?"

"…Uh, yes?"

"But you're a girl." Valerie was always one for tact. "And you only look a couple years younger than me. You can't be a clone of Danny."

"My aging process was accelerated in the beginning, but now I age like everyone else," Danielle supplied. Her green eyes shifted with self-uncertainty. "And me being a girl was a fluke."

The Red Hunter tilted her head, staring at the younger girl in strict curiosity. "Did the CGIA do this?"

"Oh, I'm not from the CGIA," the girl corrected hesitantly. "Vlad Mas-uh, Plasmius cloned me from Danny."

"You mean that creepy vampire ghost?" Valerie made a face. "Figures." Then, her face softened, but her gruff voice echoed, "You got a name?"

"Yeah: Danielle. Or Dani with an 'i.'"

Valerie's mind raced with possibilities. "Can you fight like the real Danny, then?"

Danielle's face reddened. "Well, not exactly. But we do share a lot of the same powers."

"Look," Tucker cut in hesitantly, "as much as I love reunions and mingling, we're wasting time. We gotta saddle this place down right, and the CGIA is about to bang on our doorstep." He turned to Valerie. "This place got a security room?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll take you guys back. Mrs. Fenton and Sam are already there."

"Sam?" Tucker repeated. "Our Sam?"

"What other Sam is there besides Manson?" Valerie replied, sarcastic.

Relief washed over Tucker. "Great. Jazz said something about Sam putting Danny in cyro-stasis. She doing okay?"

"Yep," Valerie said shortly. "She's fine. See for yourself."

Tucker's eyes lit up as he walked into the large control room. "Sam?" he called out.

She glanced up from a computer. Her tired gaze filled with bright recognition. "Tucker? Oh my God, Tucker!"

He ran to her and picked her up into a tight bear hug, the two best friends reveling in the presence of the other.

"Mom!" Jazz gasped in happiness and came running into the room.

"Jazz?" Maddie's voice hitched in relief.

Jazz threw her arms around her. The mother and daughter embraced tightly. "Oh, my darling," Maddie whispered. "I'm so glad you made it safe."

"How's Danny?" Jazz whispered, leaning against Maddie's strong shoulder.

The mother inhaled a shaky breath. She leaned her head against Jazz's. "He's in stasis, honey."

Valerie stood off to the side, watching the old best friends and Jazz and Maddie. She felt like an outsider. A part of her even steamed in jealousy.

She'd never had deep relationships with her old friends. She'd never had a mother.

But when she looked over at Danielle, she noticed the same longing expression on the ghost's face.

Jazz pulled away from Maddie. "Are you doing okay?"

"I don't know, Jazz." The mother tried to smile, but it wore thin on her stressed face. "I'll feel a lot better when Danny's safe and sound." Her purple eyes gazed over at Danielle, who stood awkwardly at the entrance beside Valerie, and she started in surprise at the sight.

"Oh my goodness," Maddie breathed.

Tucker adjusted his glasses as he sat down at the mainframe. "Okay, so we've got two hours before the CGIA gets here, ten weapons, and six people on our side. Great." He swallowed hard. "We're really gonna win, guys."

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Valerie demanded. "It's not like we have a lot of options right now."

"What is the plan, anyway?" Jazz cut in gently. "I mean, do we even have one?"

Valerie turned to Jazz. "I'm gonna confront the CGIA. Tell 'em that Danny Phantom is my responsibility as Mayor Masters' head ghost hunter. That should put me ahead of the whole operation."

Jazz frowned. "And so the whole CGIA's just gonna agree to that and let you have him?"

"No. I'll have to go back to Amity Park with the CGIA, with Danny. But I can protect him."

"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking: will the CGIA agree with you? Do they still see you as the leader?" Jazz pressed. "Mom said something about your idea earlier. But if they've got a new leader, it might not work."

Valerie didn't answer.

"Are you the leader, Valerie?"

"I was. I still am," she eventually replied.

Jazz gave her an odd look, unsatisfied. "Yeah, maybe we should think of a couple back up ideas. Just in case."

"I agree with Jazz on this one," Maddie added, purple eyes heavy. "We've come this far, and we can't fail now for lack of planning." Her hands wrung themselves. "My baby's life is on the line here."

Valerie huffed. "Guys, I told you. I got this. We don't need another plan, because this one's gonna work. And what's another option, anyway? Fight 'em straight on?"

"Well," Jazz supplied, trying to be helpful, "we could forge some documents from Mayor Masters and-"

"-The Guys in White stopped listening to Mayor Masters a long time ago," Valerie cut in. Some of her haunting memories came back, of Danny's broken body slung against cages. "Masters told them to simply hold Phantom captive, but look what they did to him instead."

The idea died in Jazz's throat, and she bit her lip.

Valerie continued. "Masters never visited the complex, never talked to 'em in person…and a lot of things happened because of that." She paused and shook herself out of the past. "So they're only gonna listen to another human being they know. Someone who's right there that they can't just shove in a file folder, alright?"

"Well, I don't know about you guys," Sam said, her purple eyes dark as she crossed her arms, "but I didn't just about get killed to turn Danny back over to the CGIA." She leveled gazes with Valerie. "Something doesn't sound right about that. And even if your plan did work… what happens after it?"

"What do you mean, 'what happens?'" Valerie raised a brow.

"Say they let you take Danny back to base," Sam said. "Say they put you back over the whole operation. The agency still exists. The people who nearly killed him would still be free to try it again, and I know you wouldn't be able to clear Danny's name from their hit lists. Even if you managed to free Danny, they'd never let him go." Sam's eyes narrowed. "And dammit, Valerie, you've seen what they did to him. You've seen it."

The Red Hunter swallowed. "Yeah. I have."

Sam stepped forward. "Pretty sickening, huh?" Her hands shook. Her sleeves could not hide the bandages where Phantom's claws had torn her skin, and everyone could see the rough patchwork done to the collar of her shirt. "And you've seen what Danny's like now."

Valerie's confidence faltered. "So? I can still-"

Sam laughed bitterly. "-So it's a hopeless idea! Don't you see that? If the Guys in White take one look at him now, they're gonna believe that he really is a monster! They'll never give you total jurisdiction over him." Her voice hitched. "And they'll destroy whatever's left of the Danny we know, providing Danny doesn't kill them first."

The Red Hunter fell silent and then sighed, backing down. "Look, as much as you think I'm a bitch, I'm trying help, okay? And I care about Danny too, so don't act like I can't." She pursed her lips. "You got any ideas better than mine, Manson?"

Sam fell silent. Her purple eyes faltered. "No." A part of her cracked open enough for all to see the turmoil within her. "I don't."

"Then what do you want us to do?" Valerie said. "Because we can't just walk out there without a plan!"

As the tension escalated, Tucker stared at the computer before him in deep thought. "Uh, hey, anyone know what's the signal reach on these computers?"

Jazz took the opportunity to cut in before Valerie or Sam could snap at each other "Signal reach?"

"Yeah. I dunno about you guys, but I have an idea." He messed with his PDA, forcing it back on a wireless setting. "Every hospital usually has some sort of wireless frequency line through which EMTs can send and receive messages. Most hospitals I know have frequencies that reach the boundaries of their service area." He looked up at Maddie. "You know anything about this hospital, Mrs. F?"

"It caters to the entire Zone," Maddie supplied, wishing she had more to say. "I suppose it's one of their strongholds."

Tucker bit his lip in thought. "So that means, maxed out, the frequencies must be able to reach everywhere." A sneaky smile twitched his lips up. "Oh baby, this is gonna be good."

Sam was the first to back him up. "And so what's your plan?"

"Gonna send out a distress signal over the whole Zone," Tucker said excitedly. "I mean, can you feel the tension? Ghosts aren't gonna be able to say 'no.'" He turned to Danielle. "Dani, you know what I'm talking about. You said it yourself earlier: you can feel the CGIA here. These ghosts know something's about to go down. I'm willing to bet a lot of them would want in on a fight with the CGIA. And I wanna let them know we need the back up."

"But," Maddie said hesitantly, "wouldn't that bring in all the ghosts who hated Danny?"

"Yeah," Tucker said. "But you and I both know they hate the CGIA more." He entered in the distress code. All the computers synced together, wires humming with one unified cause, waiting for Tucker's signal to unleash the final command.

"So, more ghosts." Valerie crossed her arms. "Great."

Sam shot her a dark look. "Shut it, Valerie. Tucker's got a point. If we have to face the Guys in White in a battle, we're gonna need the help." She turned back to Tucker. "I say go for it."

Tucker glanced around at the room. "Everyone else? Yes?"

The nods from all in the room solidified it. Eventually, even the grudging Valerie relented. "Fine. Whatever." Tucker turned back to the computer keyboard and pressed 'enter.'

On the outside of the hospital, multiple satellite-like devices pulled out from the roof and hummed with the command from the control room.

The distress signal echoed deep into the farthest reaches of the ghost dimension, bouncing off cliffs and mountains and floating doors. The hum shook the foundations of the cemeteries, singing a stressful chord that rang through the unending abyss like a dog whistle.

Slowly, the entire Zone shifted to answer the call.

One hour and forty minutes left.

A/N: Holy cow, this story's a monstrosity. It keeps expanding in ways I didn't originally plan it to. It's like it's alive. Or something. O_o

So here's chapter 25! Almost a filler, but not quite. The rest before the fight, the calm before the storm…We're nearing the beginning of the end, everyone!

If anyone's got any ideas for the story, I'd love to hear 'em. :)

Song Inspiration: Middle Class Rut- "Busy Being Born (Prime Remix)" and Vanilla Ice- "Ice Ice Baby." Yeah.

Chapter updated: Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 5:00 P.M.

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