Tucker braced himself as the sizzling noise increased, but he felt nothing. Not even a tingle. He peeked open one of his eyes, saw the map face lights blinking on and off rapidly and small blue strings jumping from it to his finger, yet still he felt nothing. Was he maybe numb? Or... what if he was already dead and he was reliving this moment over and over?

"TUCKER OF AMITY PARK HAS LOST ROUND SIX," Blaine stated, his mechanical voice booming.

Tucker moved his finger away, looked at it and then at the map face again curiously.

"HMM... THERE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A MALFUNCTION. HIS VITALS HAVE REMAINED STEADY."

"I'm... alive?" Tucker asked, looking at each hand as though for the first time. "Woohoo!"

"CHEATER. INITIATING COMPENSATIONAL METHODS," Blaine said.

Tucker looked up at the roof. "Huh?"

There was a loud whirring.

--------

By the time they had separated, Cyborg had switched places with Sam, taking the motorcycle so that Beast Boy would have someone a little lighter to carry. Sam helped out with some of the navigating, but for the most part, they had no idea where they were going.

"If I were a psychotic serial killer ghost... where would I put my hostages?" Beast Boy thought aloud.

"Close by," Cyborg said.

"Think we should just circle the island and see if we can find anything?" Sam asked.

Cyborg shrugged. "I don't know."

Sam sighed. "Do you think they're okay?"

"Oh yeah. Robin's a tough guy," Cyborg said, "He wouldn't let anything happen to them."

Sam nodded, but couldn't push away the fear. What if something went wrong? What if they couldn't find them in time... What if Danny cooperated?

--------

Danny took a step back as Reaper took a step closer, which made the red-eyed phantom laugh. "Come now. Let's see that heart," Reaper said, arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture, his eyes seeming to flash in a blaze.

Danny stood still, his mind whirling. Sam and the titans still needed time. Again, he blurted out whatever had been on his mind. It had had some effect before. "Did she love you?"

The blaze in his eyes grew to a point Danny thought he could feel the heat emanating from them from where he was standing. Reaper raised his free hand and fired a red blast at him, sending him several feet backwards and onto his stomach. He struggled up, wrapping an arm around his chest in pain.

"You're going to regret that!" Reaper said, scowling, eyes blazing as he walked quickly and steadily towards him.

Danny got to his knees, opened his mouth and, without really thinking it through, let out his Ghost Wail. The green rings and waves come rushing from his throat and towards the oncoming phantom.

Reaper stopped mid-walk, stared at the waves curiously for a moment, and then was pushed backwards. He threw up his arms in front of his face and tried to regain his footing, but the wail was too strong, and was beginning to push him clean off the island.

Danny was quickly growing tired, but he held it. They still needed time and this looked like it was working. He struggled to keep it going and keep from transforming, but at last, it was too much. The wail ceased and he morphed into a tired and weak Danny Fenton.

-------

The whirring continued, growing louder and louder.

"He's overloading!" Robin shouted. This was the part he had guessed would come. They were nearing the door (that was if Blaine hadn't lied about it) and the game was coming to an end.

"TIME TO DOOR: THIRTY SECONDS... TWENTY-NINE SECONDS... TWENTY-EIGHT SECONDS... CARE FOR A MASSAGE? I WON'T PLAY SILLY GAMES... TELL ME SOME RIDDLES... WHY DID THE BABY CROSS THE ROAD...?...ROAD...? ROAD...?"

"Robin! What is happening?!" Starfire shouted over the noise, clapping her hands over her ears to drown out the whirring and booming voice of Blaine.

"RIDDLES! TELL ME RIDDLES... RID-D-D-LES..."

"I think he's having a nervous breakdown!" Robin shouted.

"What?!" Tucker shouted.

"I WON'T PLAY SILLY GAMES, GU-" The whirring intensified and blue strings of light came bursting from every electrical point of the cabin.

Raven grabbed everyone together with the help of Robin and formed a telekinetic shield around them.

"DIE! DIE!"

-------

Danny raised his head wearily and looked in the direction Reaper had been. He saw a large crater from his wail, but no sign of the red-eyed ghost. He turned to a sitting position, putting his hands on his knees and breathing tiredly. That was stupid, but it looked like it worked, probably not for long, but it might have bought Sam and the others more time. That was all that mattered.

"Interesting little trick..."

Danny whirled and looked up at Reaper, who was now standing right in behind him. Danny knew the wail had gotten him, but he looked perfectly untouched. That really wasn't your best wail, Danny thought to himself bitterly. And even if it had been, I don't think it would have worked.

"But you've just broken your part of the deal," Reaper said dangerously, looking down at him with a wide grin, "and when I'm finished with you... I'm going to break mine."

"Shadow!" Danny shouted, his voice cracking near the end.

Reaper stared down at him with a curious look at first, but then glanced up as movement caught his eyes.

Shadow rushed out from behind a boulder and rammed himself straight into Reaper, knocking them both over. Shadow immediately began thrashing and throwing punches at the red-eyed phantom, who looked both surprised... and enraged.

Danny got up weakly and hurried off to hide behind a boulder to gather up his strength again. He didn't know how much longer he and Shadow could "stall", but he doubted if it was very long. He looked up into the Ghost Zone and frowned. Still, there was no sign.

-------

"We must get off of Blaine!" Starfire shouted.

"I WON'T P-P-PL-PLAY SILLY G-G-GA-GAMES. TIME TO DOOR... EIGHT SECONDS... SEVEN SECONDS..."

"Raven! Open the door!" Robin said.

Raven turned to the door, which was immediately engulfed in black and torn away from its hinges. Quickly, Raven grabbed Tucker while Starfire grabbed Robin.

"INITIATING COMPENSATIONAL METH-METH-METHODS. DIE, DIE, DIE, INFERIOR BEINGS! DIE! TWO..."

"Go!" Robin shouted.

Raven and Starfire flew out, holding their passengers by the arms as Blaine made an abrupt turn that looked like was going to knock him over, but instead, it threw him off the track and threw him into the desert sand like a rocket. It hit a dune, crumpling up as his boxes crushed the front in a sandwich.

Raven and Starfire landed, putting their friends down as well and looked behind them... Blaine hadn't been lying.