Disclaimer: Danny Phantom, the world set within it, and the characters in it are not owned by me - that privilege belongs not only to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon, but also just as importantly to the vast team of co-writers, co-directors, animators and all other staff who laboured over its creation and development. Without their efforts this fanfiction would not exist, and neither would a good portion of what struck me in the first place in one of the most childhood-defining cartoons in my life.

Hi all, sorry if you saw the latest chapter and found it was a duplicate ... u.u that's on me, here's the actual chapter 25

Even for someone as rich as Vlad Masters, it only made sense that his schedule was as immovable as diamond, with basically every day being the same. Meal times were set at regular times every day, Vlad retired to bed at the same time every day - 10pm - and even bathroom times were at fixed intervals each day.

Comparing the mayoral mansion to his own personal mansion back in Wisconsin really showcased how much of a downgrade that Vlad had to take upon himself. Gone were the towering lime-green marble walls with hallways adorned with invaluable ornaments that led to hallowed rooms of useless uses. I could not help but ponder if he felt like it was worth it - to trade in the almost obnoxiously exaggerated regality of his old mansion, for the standard, more muted and hollow space of this mayor's mansion. Knowing him, I would have erred on the side of no, but to have the chance to completely destroy me… obviously that much was enough for him. Just thinking about it made me furious and of course, rather melancholic, but at the same time, I was sure most of the rest of Amity Park would have done the same thing.

It was perhaps extremely fortunate that Vlad himself was half-ghost, which basically meant that he had no choice but to purposefully relax some of the rules to ensure that the anti-ghost measures would not catch him either. As a result, snooping around for his routine was a little easier than expected for having such an official political title. And thus, it was remarkably easy to find the hole in the ghost shield surrounding the mayoral residence where presumably Vlad entered and exited as he liked, and the interior had literally no surveillance or detecting machinery for invisible ghosts - like me.

It would be obvious to conduct the plan when he was most vulnerable - when he was asleep. However, the guard switching was probably one of the most crucial parts to this whole thing - Vlad ,as expected, was heavily guarded for basically the entire day. Even if I could confront Vlad myself, their guards would surely come in to kill me. The only point in which he was least likely to be guarded was at the switch at 2am - and even then, it was not like the guard was liable to falling asleep, from what it looked like.

I really had no choice - it was difficult for Tucker to find, but he eventually was able to get the chloroform.

Perhaps it was a miracle that for all this while being on the inside of the mansion, I had managed to escape detection from Vlad and the rest of the cabinet within the mansion. But I knew that such a miracle would probably run its course the moment I decided to actually confront him face-to-face. I don't think I took Vlad for the type to sleep with both his eyes closed, so even entering his room was a delicate process in and of itself.

Briefly I considered how invasive this was - and how, if caught, it would probably tarnish my already soiled reputation further and lump another pile of dirt into my grave. But it became quickly apparent to us that we had no other option here - and besides murder in cold blood, this was about the best option we could have gone for. Besides… this was Vlad we were talking about, anyway. You know, the guy who was somehow hellbent on making me as miserable as possible?

I knew I had no time to lose. The faster I could do this, the smaller of a window he had to maul me. But nevertheless, the moment I phased into his room, completely pitch black save the dim moonlight streaming through the window and one night light at the corner next to his bed, it was impossible not to stop, and fully take in the sight of him just - completely vulnerable, completely open to any attack. It filled me with a sense of power that was obscene to the point of nausea.

God, nausea? Why didn't such a reflex strike me when, for example, I kissed Paulina? In that sense it was truly evasive of logic. But Tucker's voice within my headphones was enough to snap me back into reality.

I laid the device on his nightstand, clenching my fists together after turning it on. I sucked in as much oxygen as I could through my nostrils, and flew over to overshadow him.

I supposed that I should have felt surprised for how easy this had been so far, and kept my guard up enough for any counter-attack. But with a quick shove, my body was thrown back into the other side of the wall, and as I struggled to open my eyes and overcome the blunt trauma of the impact, I could see Vlad saunter menacingly yet casually towards me.

"Well then… long time no see, Daniel," he greeted, dusting off his pajamas. "How's it like, being the mortal enemy of the world?"

I heard an epithet muttered from the other end of my earbuds - either Sam or Paulina. "Time for Plan B…"

"Oh, it's positively wonderful," I seethed, as I got to my feet. "But you would know, wouldn't you? Being my executioner and all?"

"Oh, Danny, don't you think if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so by now? One warrant for your arrest and one ghost detection test and I would have had the city grovel at my feet."

"You know why." I readied a battle stance, my fists in front of my face. "And I bet that you'd have more to lose than I do."

"That's nothing a little power can fix," he casually rebutted, his attention directed towards his fingernails. "You haven't seen the things that money and politics can buy."

My body stiffened. To some extent, he was right - besides, if he really wanted to gain popularity, he could order the search amongst the rest of the city, then hunt me down anyway while remaining on the top of his ivory tower safe from detection. It was a thought that hadn't quite crossed my mind, and yet the state of things begged the question:

"So why haven't you done it yet?"

"What, you think I want to kill you?" he raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think? Wow, if so then I had no clue why you didn't approach me sooner, you know."

"Why not, then?"

"Well, since you're here, I might as well tell you," he continued. "At this rate I would love to have your mother here in better proximity with me. You being a common enemy that they can fight is just the perfect deal."

No longer my mother, I thought in my head. "And my father?"

"Well, if he… were to suffer any undue consequences from anything else, that would be unfortunate, but so be it, I guess," he said nonchalantly.

"So that's your plan?" I spat in disgust. "You let those people get to the top and somehow get with Madeline? Even though she wants to kill all ghosts, including you?"

"Well, there is the added benefit of watching you suffer trying to weasel your way out of it," he admitted, chuckling. "Unless… you know, you're still keen on denouncing your father and working together with me."

In my head I knew that this was impossible for two reasons - the obvious one of Madeline being in the same household as me no longer being possible, and the fact that I'd already denounced Jack. But the other one being that… this was Vlad we were talking about here. If him overshadowing those voters to get to where he was right now was any indication of his character, it was one that… well, maybe a few weeks ago I might have been open to. But right now, there was no way I would assent to that sort of nonsense.

"But of course, I'm sure you're here for a reason," he said, putting his hands behind his head in relaxation. "I don't suppose you came just to talk. Unless you really want to join me, in which case, we would have to bring out the paperwork and-"

"I don't think you've left me a choice." The muscles in my back tensed as I raised my fists in front of me. "If you won't call off this whole thing… then we'll settle this with our fists."

He eyed me for a few seconds, as if examining me for my post - and, unprompted, he laughed heartily. "Oh, this must be your most hilarious joke ever, Daniel," he roared. "You, think you can fight me? I don't think 4 years beats 24 years worth of training and experience, and you know it."

"You hard of hearing, old man?" I taunted him. "Every cornered animal eventually bites back. Or are you going to go down without a fight?"

"You're actually serious," he said, still not quite believing that it was a fact. "You want to fight me?"

I nodded wordlessly, trying to look at him without paying any attention or diverting my eyes to the device at the end of the table opposite him.

"You know, Danny," he said. "You're inviting death, you know that? Would you really come all the way to give what the people want anyway?"

"If shit goes down like they are right now, I'd basically be inviting death anyway," I told him, my heart starting to pick up the pace. "Unless you're going to call off the warrant right now, you-... we can settle this right now."

"You really want to settle it like this? This is your last chance. If you want to die, there are far less painful methods to do it yourself, you know that too, don't you?"

I bit my tongue - how long was he going to keep stalling? "Do you want me to hit you first or what?"

He raised a suspicious eyebrow at me. Of course, to get where he was, I knew Vlad was a little more intelligent than I sometimes gave him credit for. Even as I kept my eyes ahead, I couldn't help but think that perhaps he had figured it out, and was toying with me. My palms started to accumulate sweat, and saliva began to pool at the back of my throat.

Please, just don't look there… just don't look there… just don't notice anything…

"If you insist," he finally said, and instantly my heart began to race. Sure enough, the familiar pitch-black rings appeared around him, and almost slowly to the point of overplayed drama, they diverged across him, his pajamas now turning into his usual white, black and red suit. The same tormenting grin still remained on his face, even more menacing with his eyes fully crimson and his hair slicked into horns.

"So Daniel," he challenged, flicking his index and middle fingers back and forth at me with his palms up. "Would you like to do the honours?"

I sucked in a deep breath. This was going to be the tricky part. I hadn't actually thought so hard about whether or not Vlad had any outside defensive measures - well, to be honest, if there weren't many measures to prevent entrance, preventing exit was probably less of an issue. But I knew in my head this was do or die. I could almost feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, hearing the small cheer of victory in my earbuds as we moved to the next - and final - phase of the plan.

"Nope!" The word tripped almost hastily out of my mouth as I grabbed a smoke signal from my waist. "See ya!"

For a moment, as I fled the scene upon the explosion of smoke, I could taste the old me. The old, cheeky, sarcastic young, newly christened hero of the city - or at least self-proclaimed to be, in the few moments that I stayed in that room. The moment I left, of course, I could feel that old me kind of vaporize into a cloud of cowardice - even in this path of trying to carve my own destiny, it felt like just doing some bare minimum. But at this point I had no choice, but to fly, and fly away as fast and as far away as I could from here.

I escaped through the small hole in the anti-ghost shield surrounding the premises, and while still remaining invisible, flew away as far as possible. I didn't have to look back to know that Vlad was probably pursuing me, high on my tail, and God knows if I could lose him.

"Talk to me," I barked urgently through the earbuds. "Any sign of him?"

"He just left the mansion," Tucker informed me, based on the ghost radar that was situated on my back. "The forest is to the right, maybe there would provide some visual cover?"

"Roger."

I ducked into the greenery, occasionally looking back to see where Vlad was on my trail. I supposed that I shouldn't have been surprised to not be able to see anyone behind me - but if anything, that injected a new dose of panic within me. I tried to focus on the breath leaving my mouth - the fact that it was of lukewarm temperature, and continued to be lukewarm no matter what direction I darted as I phased through tree after tree, branch after branch.

As the trees began to give way into a clearing, I halted in my tracks. My breath had started to go warmer again. "Did I lose him?"

"His trajectory is a little… I can't quite discern it anymore," Tucker bemoaned in frustration. "It's beginning to… to peter off…"

"It doesn't matter, Danny, don't stop!" Paulina yelled over the intercom. "Go, please, go!"

Her urgency stirred me to turn invisible again and flee the clearing for my life, and the moment I lifted off, I could hear a ray of ectoplasm fired at the spot that I had rested at. Nope, still on my tail.

"Danny, fire to your left!"

I did as Sam instructed, not exactly peering back to fire off a defensive, warding shot of my own. The few seconds after I fired it, my trajectory still in a directionless zigzag through the trees, I could feel my breath get colder. My mind was running a mile a minute, without any chance of thinking about whether or not firing would throw him off or pinpoint me back to where I was.

"I'm firing at him," I declared through the earbuds.

"He's on your right," Paulina said, and without thinking twice, I shot a laser from my finger in that direction. When I felt my breath get warmer again, I began to operate completely on autopilot mode, and kept firing laser after laser after ray in the general direction. I could hear Tucker protest at first, but Sam and Paulina kept shouting the directions that Vlad was in the vicinity of. It seemed to work - my breath started to get hot again, and by the time I heard:

"He's gone."

For the first time, I felt the sweet, sweet wave of relief - and above all, victory.

I quickly raced back in the direction of Paulina's house. Over time I could feel my breath lose whatever last strains of cold that was present, as Tucker relayed to me that he was likely going back and retreating back to his ivory tower. Yet still I could not ignore the nagging feeling that was in my chest that something… something was missing.

When my mind replayed the last few moments that I was in there, when he transformed in front of me and I felt that giddy feeling - was that going to get immediately shattered by some awkward mishap? My head started to swirl in despair - if that were truly the case… Vlad would just turn me in without any hesitation. I'd already given him the permission to kill me.

No, this had to work. This had, had, had to work. I had nothing else in me to offset any mistakes. I had to just… just hope and pray.

I phased through the house and floated into the study room where the three were situated. "You got it?" Sam queried.

I peered down at my chest, and immediately my eyes popped open. "Uh…"

Paulina peered over, and frowned. "Well… at least we have another."

Sam shook her head. "It doesn't really matter, we have the clearer one right? It should be okay."

I gingerly tore off the adhesive spy camera that I had stuck onto my jumpsuit. Good thing we had a back-up. Or rather, the back-up had been the one to have fallen off, in this case, but it'd be the sentiment should the main camera have been the one to have fallen off.

Promptly, Tucker snatched it from my hands and quickly plugged it into his laptop. From the corner of my eye I could espy Sam crossing all of her fingers - even her thumbs hooked into one another to consist of another pair - and Paulina fiddling with her hair over and over.

The footage was rather grainy, starting from when I had been forcefully thrown across the room before I could overshadow Vlad, but as Tucker fast-forwarded the video captured, the golden moment was as clear as day.

"Oh thank sweet baby Jesus," I heard Sam sigh in relief as Tucker snipped the footage to a clip of simply the transformation, and instinctively, my hand reached for Paulina's, whose attention was too fixated to the screen to notice.

A thought struck me that nearly debilitated me - my hand reflexively squeezed Paulina's. "Danny?" she said. "What's wrong?"

I opened my mouth briefly before closing - was it worth even telling her? Or wouldn't it have been better to just have stayed quiet, tell a white lie, let it move on?

No. I was done being dishonest - at least, taking some steps away from that, anyway.

"I was just thinking… do you think Vlad will just out me anyways? How… is this going to work?"

Paulina stooped down to me. "We've done all we could, Danny," she assured, placing a hand on my shoulder. "If… no. This will work out. You need to have some faith."

"Faith…" I chuckled humourlessly. It's been a while since I had faith in anything. But simultaneously, I knew that at this point, it was really all I had.

I looked into Paulina's eyes, finding the same, albeit slightly muted, determination that she always had within her. With every time I saw her it was like the warmth of protection, the ease of mind and assurance that everything will be okay. But this time, it was much more than just that - it was a duty, a freshly fueled desire to reciprocate that feeling for her too. For me to defend her - and frankly, not just her - and to make sure that everything that had been built between us was safe… more importantly, that I could see her smile again, and for the joy between us to continue to prosper.

I put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "You're right," I concurred. There was no "if". There was only a world where this had to work.

I sucked in a deep breath. Baby steps.