Nothing funny for this chapter. It's- just that heavy on me. I suppose writing to music does that?

Thank you all for your continued support. Truly.

WARNING: violence and blood.

10. Darkness

If you ever asked Danny later what had happened to Vlad, he would have told you he "yeeted that asshole out of the house."

It sounded funnier than it was. It also did not tell the whole story.

Phantom stood in front of the house with green eyes blazing and hands glowing brightly as his nemesis laid on the concrete. It was clear he was enraged, teeth bared in a snarl and ready to fire a ghost ray at a moment's notice.

Vlad, though- Vlad was seeing red, almost literally.

This... this child.

He honestly believed he could protect his family and his friends from whatever the hell came to attack them, believing he could still be a big damn hero and save them. Vlad's hand clenched up, the fingers digging into the skin as he trembled on the concrete. He could feel it; he could feel the anger inside of him welling up, he could feel his eyes flickering as he gritted his teeth.

His hair fell past his face, his panting growing heavier.

Vlad closed his eyes. What did it matter now? The boy had told everyone what had happened, and he had held a family hostage without anyone coming to their assistance but their child that they had hunted for months. The boy wanted nothing to do with him, his mother loathed him, his father... who knew what Jack thought about it?

He exhaled through his teeth, feeling his body pulsating.

He was unaware that his ghost form was flickering in and out of sight, coinciding with his emotions; Phantom clenched his fists, watching the phenomenon and keeping his hands out. This was a first for him, for any of them. He knew his family was watching behind him, but right now, his focus was on the man on the pavement.

"…you…"

The flickers between Plasmius and Masters were terrifying. Each time Plasmius was next seen, he was looking more and more ragged.

"...you little... b̷̜͙̂r̶̙̝̃ȃ̶̪t..."

Phantom blinked. Something was wrong; something felt off about this entire thing, and he was not sure what it was. Maybe it was his flickering form, maybe it was the fact he had not gotten up yet from his onslaught. Maybe it was the hair too; whatever it was, something was very off about this situation now. The teenager had his hands glowing, staring at the man on the ground. "…Vlad?"

The hair fell in front of Vlad's face, eyes flickering dangerously again. Each glimpse of his ghostly entity was more and more ragged, beaten and battered than before- the cape was ripped, as were parts of his outfit. There were glimpses of skin, cuts and bruises shown. There was dried blood, both green and red. The pristine hair that had been kept perfect over the years was flickering and getting longer and greasier, falling in front of his face much like his human side.

It was terrifying.

Maddie stood next to Jack, watching the transformation as well with throat clenching up. She kept her ecto-pistol trained on the man on the floor, trembling. "...what the hell is going on?"

Jack shook his head. He was still too stunned to speak; his brain was processing the events of what had happened. There was still adrenaline pumping through him, but he could not speak. That said- he had never seen this phenomenon before with any ghosts before.

Maybe Vlad was different because he was half-ghost like their son, but the question remained: why in the world was he shifting forms? How was he shifting without transforming?

Vlad snarled softly, the two rings splitting down his body finally as he dropped his head. The adrenaline through his body mixed with the blood, his mind ringing. It was the same emotion as the cabin, a burning rage that would not be extinguished unless he was unconscious. Slowly, the hybrid pushed himself to his feet with fists clenched and glowing red now, no longer the magenta they once were.

He glared at the teenager and bared his fangs, his once-pristine hairstyle now long and past his shoulders much like his human half. He raised a hand to his face with the light bathing it in a hellish glow. "You want to play hero? We can play hero."

With a roar, Plasmius dove for the teenager with an energy strike.

Phantom's eyes widened as he dove out of the way and jumped into the air with his own hands alight. "Up here, asshole!" He swerved under the other hybrid and fired an energy blast at him, keeping himself between Plasmius and his family. Plasmius was pushed back, and Phantom flew up to him with a green-infused fist of his own. "You gonna put up a fight this time?"

Plasmius's eyes flashed once again, flying back from the uppercut with his right hand glowing. Almost as if he were on the ground again, the hybrid flexed his fingers before clenching them into fists and taking an offensive stance with his feet. "Only if you stop running," he snarled softly.

"I think I'm done running from you," Phantom growled back. "I'm sick of running all the time, dealing with your constant crap…" He seemed to land on the air itself as well, keeping his right fist close and his left hand open and out. Something seemed to spark around him- it was a strange energy of sorts, eyes flickering briefly. That emerald green seemed to shift to a darker green, the body surrounding with the same darker energy.

It was not something akin to Dan Phantom at all, but it was something darker than how he normally felt. He would have been more afraid of this energy, but right now? He was just pissed.

"…think you can handle a teenager, old man?"

Unfortunately for Phantom, while he had gotten an upgrade of sorts- so had Plasmius. While it was not entirely what the teenager had gotten, he was just as enraged.

There were no words necessary; the man seemed to push off the air and threw another energy strike at the teenager, which Phantom moved swiftly out of the way from. Phantom threw his own energy strike at Plasmius, his fist crashing into the man's cheek and cutting it open. There was a deep gash on the side of his face, blood already coming from the wound.

Plasmius snarled softly, his hand glowing as he flung an energy ray at the teenager. He dodged it easily before encountering an undercut to his midsection; it was accompanied with a fiendish snarl. The hand glowed before an energy ray blew back the boy several feet. Phantom went head over heels and no time to react- Plasmius was on top of him with another punch to the face.

It sent the teenager hurdling towards the concrete, yet he managed to land on the street with a soft grunt on his feet. Pain rocketed through his frame, but he ignored it. He leapt again for the skies, hands aglow before he thrust them in front of himself and shot a beam of dark green energy at the other hybrid.

The man absorbed the energy and thrust it right back at the boy, who barrel-rolled to the right and readied another right hand at the billionaire.

There was no need for words.

Phantom thrust his hand at Plasmius once again before the man gripped it tightly in his own glowing left hand and held fast. There was a darkness there that swirled unlike anything Phantom had seen; the sight caught him off-guard, his own dark aura flickering before Plasmius slammed a left punch home to Phantom's nose.

There was a sickening crunch, followed with a scream of pain. Plasmius released the boy's hand before he slammed a left kick into his chin and whirled around. Phantom went flying, the other hybrid soaring after him with hands alight. The teenager reached up to feel his nose, wincing.

Broken. Broken and very bloody and painful. He really was not playing around.

Phantom looked back down at the others.

…his family.

With a growl, Phantom did a spin mid-air as Plasmius launched another assault at the teenager. His hands were alight with energy once again, and he fired a ghost ray point-black to the billionaire's face. The blast sent the man back, and Phantom charged after him with his lower half morphing into a tail. He was picking up speed.

His energy was becoming darker once again, as were his eyes. In fact, they were almost fully enveloped in the dark green color akin to Plasmius's own as he threw his hand forward once again with a roar.

"…has he… ever been like this?" Maddie mumbled.

Jazz shook her head. "Not like this." Her own voice was hushed, watching the two combatants from the apartment with her parents. "I mean, when he gets mad, he gets the scary green eyes going, but- never like this."

Jack winced, pulling Maddie closer to him as they kept their eyes up to the skies. He could not say anything, watching his son and his… friend?

Former friend.

That was what bothered Jack more than anything. It was not his son being half ghost; he could handle that much right now; he could take that sort of news. It was the other half of the equation- it was Vlad Masters turning out to be the Wisconsin Ghost. His old college roommate had been the one who had trapped him almost a year ago, the one who had tried to take Maddie for his own.

The ecto-acne, the Ghost King and bringing Danny back from the Ghost Zone… and Danny.

Danny had been fighting Vlad, and he never questioned Vlad about anything. He had trusted Vlad, god dammit. He trusted his old college roommate, the Billionaire of the Year, whom he thought was his best friend- and for what? Seeing Danny- no, Phantom- get the shit beaten out of him for whatever grudges they seemed to have with each other after so little time…

It hurt. It hurt so much to see his friend- former friend do this.

Danny hurt so much more, though. He must have had a reason. They must have had a reason for the hatred between them. Even though Jack hurt, even as he watched his son fight his best friend, he swallowed hard.

Danny never deserved this.

Was this his fault? It must have been. It had to have been. It had to have been his fault.

Jack pulled Maddie closer, and she inhaled sharply. "C-careful…"

"He's gonna make it, right?" he asked softly. "He's gonna win, right?"

She kept her grip on the ecto-pistol. "Which one?"

He exhaled slowly. "…our son."

It was a war.

Neither of them was winning, but- they were not losing either.

Phantom panted heavily, smearing the blood on his face under his nose and clenching his fists still. Plasmius remained airborne, his cut on his face no longer bleeding. That was now coming from his mouth; he bared his fangs, the blood staining the inside of it as well and eyes blazing with that fury, never once fading. Plasmius was not ready to give up.

Neither was Phantom, though.

The teenager snarled again, but it was weaker. Plasmius almost smiled. Almost.

He would have if he were not so angry. All that remained was that anger, that fury when he saw the boy in front of him still flying. Still breathing. Still alive.

Phantom ruined everything.

Plasmius roared now, both hands open and glowing with that sick red energy as he dove for the teenager. Phantom braced himself, though, and the two of them collided head-on with Plasmius grabbing the boy by the neck and beginning to squeeze.

Phantom's eyes widened before narrowing again and reaching to grab Plasmius's own. The man showed his fangs again, barely a whisper as he began to push the boy towards the earth once again. "I̷ ̷own̴ ̶y̴o̴u̴.̷"

"…f…fuck… you…"

Phantom's fingers began to dig into Plasmius's skin, unaware that the impact from him flying down was coming at a frightening speed. He briefly turned his head before eyes widened, adrenaline bursting through once again. With an iron grip and closing his eyes, the teenager took a deep breath…

…and rolled in mid-air on top of the bachelor now, with him hurtling towards the concrete and pushing his speed higher. Higher. Faster.

Stronger.

His eyes opened again, the dark green still evident and pupil-less. There was something else, though; his hair had gotten almost longer. As if the teenager had grown a slightly thicker head of hair, it was fluffier. There was the snow-white color still, but it had tinges of green and red blood on the fringes now. He snarled once more, fangs now evident as well.

There was the crunch of a body to the blacktop, dust flying as the two hybrids skidded to a stop. Jack shielded Maddie from the sight, using his body as the protective cover. Jazz raised her arm to her eyes, turning around to see Sam and Tucker stumbling from the house. "Guys!"

"What happened?" Sam asked, rubbing her left arm and wincing. "What…?"

Tucker wiped his glasses and slid them back on his face. His eyes widened at the settling dust and seeing Phantom on top of Plasmius, choking him with fingers gripping the skin and… "…holy shit."

Sam frowned before she looked over at the rubble, her face morphing from worry to fear. Genuine fear.

Danny Phantom was gripping Vlad Plasmius by the neck, his suit ripped apart and blood in his hair. Plasmius was trying to keep his own grip on the boy's neck, but it was clear Phantom was winning. He towered over the elder man, gritting his teeth and showing fangs; Plasmius's grip loosened only just. "You… idiot b̴̘͙̩̦͂̋̍̀͜͝ơ̸̼̎̏̏̉y̶̧̥̗͛͐…"

Phantom would only respond with pulling Plasmius up off the dirt pile and slamming his head into the man's own. Plasmius howled, releasing Phantom's neck in the process. It seemed to be an invitation of sorts, for Phantom released one hand from his neck. There was a red mark where the grip was, but it did not matter. Plasmius had no time to react before a fist came crashing into his face.

Followed with another. And another.

And still another.

Jazz turned away from the sight, covering his mouth. Sam began to walk towards the two before Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder. He knew; he knew Sam would not be able to stop this. She tried to jerk away, but he gripped it tighter. "Sam."

"D-Dammit… let go…! Let me—"

"Sam. Look."

The Goth glanced over to see Maddie breaking away from Jack, dropping the ecto-pistol and tripping over herself to the pair on the ground. Jack struggled to follow her, stumbling with each step from the bonds that had burned into his body.

Phantom's frightening energy did not deter her from reaching out to collapse on his back, holding him tight. Tears were rolling down her face as she hugged him tightly; he struggled to throw another punch. Plasmius was out cold, blood oozing from his mouth and the cuts on his face. The woman ignored the dark energy around him, holding fast.

This was her son. This was their son.

Slowly, the dark green around him began to disappear. The pupil-less eyes receded, shifting slowly back to the emerald green his friends were so accustomed to seeing. The hair receded as well, the blood disappearing and instead leaving a dirty white in its wake. Phantom placed his fist on the rocks next to Plasmius before being pulled back into Maddie's arms.

Jack grimaced as he kneeled behind the two family members, Maddie holding her son tightly.

Phantom panted softly, feeling his eyes burning. Tears rolled down his cheeks, closing them and trembling.

There were no words needed; tears spoke louder than anything then.