Jazz blasted away at the shadows. They writhed and squirmed under the fire of her ghost peeler. Whatever this thing was it certainly wasn't a ghost she was familiar with. Tucker was by her side with his own blaster. Wilson fired away with a wrist ray by her feet. It took everything she had to keep the darkness at bay. For every inch she knocked it back it crept in three.

She found Sam running from a shade clutching a rather ancient looking book tightly. She and Tucker immediately placed themselves between Sam and the shades. The fired into the encroaching darkness.

"You okay there, Sam?" jazz shouted.

"I'm fine," Sam panted as she tightened her grip on the book, "You got any spare weaponry?"

"There's a spare wrist ray in the glove box in the car," Sam darted for the vehicle. A black spike shot at her. Wilson tackled Sam's leg sending her tumbling to the ground. The spike narrowly grazed her in the arm burrowing itself in the concrete. A creature rose staring them down. Its countless eyes coldly and maliciously staring them down. Dozens of spikes formed around them preparing to strike them dead.

Jazz tensed. This wasn't good. She was pretty sure the peelers armour wasn't going do much against this. She steeled herself for what she believed to be inevitable.

But then the shadows retreated. They seemed to suck themselves back. They frothed and boiled as they absorbed back into the ground. Puddles of darkness evaporated into nothingness. An eerie stillness took over the parking lot.

Jazz quickly scanned the area for her brother. The sun filled sky revealed nothing but rolling clouds. And a circling raven. Julien and Danny were nowhere to be found in the empty parking lot. Her stomach sunk.

"Swiftshadow!" Wilson sprinted to a still dark form on the curb.

Swiftshadow lay motionless on her side. Her face was carted into an expression on to absolute terror. Her teeth bared in a terrified silent snarl. Terrified eyes stretched wide open. But there was something wrong with them. They were a glassy pale green with a slight glow. they were supposed to be bright blue.

"Come on girl, wake up," Wilson began shaking and poking he face. She however remained unresponsive. Jazz knelt down and placed her hand on the dragons side. A racing heart and short panting breaths pulsed beneath her hand.

"She's Alive. Probably just under some ghostly influence,"

"Ghostly? I don't think whatever that was was any form of ghost," Tucker said.

"It wasn't," Said Sam.

"Then what was it?" Asked Tucker.

"I'm not completely sure, some kind of deity named Malic Korvoth," Sam tried to explain.

"I don't care what that thing was," Wilson said, "I just wanna know how to snap Swiftshadow out what ever trance he put her in,"

The raven circling above croaked loudly as it swooped down.

Swiftshadow walked alone in the darkness. Her shoes seemed to be resting on nothing at all. It seemed to stretch on forever. It reminded her of the white place where the wolf spirit resided, except it was black. solid black. A dark eternity. Oblivion.

She wandered around for what seemed like an eternity. She half sure time had no meaning here anyway. Where ever 'here' was. Perhaps she was actually truly dead this time. Now that was an unnerving thought. She hoped that wasn't the case. Then again the last thing she remembered was being suffocated by those dark tendrils.

Something in the distance caught her eye. A white figure in the distance. As she approached she realized it was a wolf. Not just any wolf either. It was Moon. Swiftshadow choked. It couldn't be. Her numb legs both wanted to freeze and race to the wolf at the same time. Tears burned the corners of her eyes.

"Moon?" Was the only word that escaped her lips. It felt like she had swallowed a tennis ball and it lodged itself in her throat. She staggered on feet that were barely able to hold her. The white wolf turned face her. Swiftshadow halted.

"Why couldn't you save me?" Her voice cut through the silence like gunfire. It sucked the breath from Swiftshadow's lungs. A bloody gaping hole appeared in Moons chest. Her eyes were empty hollow sockets.

"I-I'm s-sorry. I tried-" Swiftshadow half stepped back.

"Why?" Moons fur seemed to peel off as her emaciated body fell apart. Bone and muscle turned into dust.

Swiftshadow lunged, "please don't leave me," She begged. But the only thing she managed to catch was Moons skull. She could only helplessly stare with shaking hands as its dust too fell through her fingers. She fell to her knees as tears poured from her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" A familiar voice sneered, "It's not like she meant anything to you,"

Swiftshadow looked up too see Jack, Miko, and Raf standing before her. All of them wearing faces of contempt.

"What are you talking about? She meant everything to me,"

"Really? Is that why you forgot about her?" Jack said.

"like you forgot about us?" Miko accused.

"I didn't forget about you,"

"You forgot me," Her brothers faceless form emerged fro the darkness. His shoulders slumped in dismay. "Why'd you leave me?"

"Yeah, why'd you leave us," Raf asked, his kicked puppy dog eyes drilled daggers into her soul, "were we not enough?"

"It- It was never you," She clawed for a defence, but each one seemed flimsy and brittle. Shattering into pieces before having a chance to form.

"look at you, your a freak, an affront against nature," Her brother chided.

"What?" All words failed and left her. Her talons were as numb as her wings and tail. She didn't recall transforming.

"A perfect specimen for my lab," An enormous hand descended upon her. The fingers closed around squeezed the breath out of her. Jack, Miko, Raf, and her brother disappeared into the void below. The hand took her up and up. A large singular red eye opened before her. Shockwave.

Panic set in. Memories flashed inside her mind. Strapped down on a table. Numerous needles buried deep into her soft flesh. Strange liquids pumped into her veins turning them into molten lava while her body felt like it was plunged into a vat of liquid nitrogen.

"LET ME GO!" she thrashed. The hand shattered. She fell. Down, down, down into darkness. Her wings had abandoned her as she was once more in human form. She was fell for what seemed like an eternity.

She hit the floor. It didn't hurt. Not really. Her senses were tingling and her body shaking. She needed out of this place. She needed to escape. To run. Flee.

A door materialized out of the darkness. Swiftshadow darted for it. She wasted no time in entering it. she slammed it behind her and rested herself on it. She took several deep calming breaths before taking stock of her surroundings.

It was uncomfortably bright. She had to squint as her eyes adjusted to the newfound light. A kitchen greeted her. Shining marble counters and wooden cabinets greeted her. A large sliding door led to a view of darkness. Blurred out picture frames hung on the walls. A part of her remembered this place. Familiarity sent waves of nostalgia through her.

Her brothers graduation cap sat on the table. She reached out for it, but was shocked to find not sharp claws and scales but soft pale flesh. She had gotten so used to seeing her claws that seeing then in their original state is a bit jarring. Delicate nails in place of metallic claws. Fine wrinkles and couple of freckles. It was bizarre seeing them so normal looking.

She turned her attention back to the graduation cap. A distant memory stirred. That's right, her brother had graduated university a couple days ago. There was a party. He'd given her his cap and started the next chapter in his life.

Grandfather had gone to bed early, complaining about a headache. He should've been up by now. He was usually up by seven. It was long past noon.

A dark hallway branched of the kitchen. A couple of potted plants guarded the entrance. Something was wrong. A creeping sinking feeling swelled in her gut. She carefully stepped toward her grandfathers room and lightly rapped on the door. he didn't like being roused from his naps. Silence was her only answer.

"Grandpa?" She half whispered as she creeped the door open. A motionless figure lay on the bed. She stalked into the room and approached the bed. She hesitantly reached out. she rolled the his body over only to be met with a grinning skeleton.

She stumbled back shrieking as she felt herself being yanked back. the world around her shattered into pieces. Falling apart and dissolving back into darkness. she fell onto her back gasping.

"You have been through a lot, for one so young," A rich deep voice spoke. Swiftshadow looked up to see a man. He wore a flamboyantly purple tailcoat suit. A short cane clasped neatly in his hand with a top hat on his head. His skin was so dark it almost matched the night sky. She couldn't help but think magician when she looked at him.

"Who are you?" She said as she pushed herself back onto her feet. She couldn't help but feel that she seen him somewhere before.

The man chuckled, "I have gone by many names, but you may call me Crawford," He made a slight bow as he introduced himself.

"What is this place,?"

"We are simply inside your very mind," He said with a wry smirk, "The horrors that you have witnessed are simply machinations of your own subconscious dredged up and given form by Malic Korvoth's power,"

"So how do I get out of here?"

"It is quite simple my dear," He said with a coy softness, "You first have to realize what you are experiencing is no more real than a dream."

"Okay, but I think i've already done that," It did make things make more sense she realized.

"Next you have calm down and relax and focus on a joyful memory,"

"Does it matter which one?"

"Not particularly." said Crawford, "So long as it either brings happiness to one's heart or gives you something to strive for. Though if you wish to continue your journey, I highly recommend confronting you past turmoils and insecurities in the waking world. Doing so will remove some of Malic's power over you."

She took a deep breath as she stilled her shaking hands. She still could not get over the feeling that she seen him somewhere before. The memory of Abby's vision flitted through her mind. She must have said something cause Crawford began chuckling, "I wondered if that little girl had shown you anything. May her spirit find peace,"

"You were the priest!" That was two hundred years ago. How was he still alive? What was he?

"Simple guise to fulfill a job," He smirked, "Now as much as I would like to reminisce on past memories, it's time for you to return to the waking world,"

The memory of her and brother playing on the swing set filled her mind. Just the two of them in a carefree world. No aliens, magic, spirits or ghosts trying to kill them. No world saving quests. Simply just a brother and sister without a care in the world. A world she hoped to return to.

Her eyes snapped open. Golden sunlight filled her vision as she bolted up gasping. A raven croaked somewhere above. Several voices shouted her name. Everything was both all too bright and all too loud. She struggled to find a grip on reality.

"Are you okay? Swiftshadow?" Someone's words managed to reach her. Wilson.

"I think so," She said as her vision cleared. Jazz, Tucker, Wilson, and Sam surrounded her. Concern etched on their faces. She looked up to see a raven perched on a streetlight. It winked at her before fluttering off.

Vlad was in the midst of calibrating the extraction chamber when the doorbell rang. Daniel may of destroyed most of his cloning research, but he managed to salvage enough to make another attempt. He never gave up on his dream on having a perfect half ghost son. If this was successful he may be able make an entire family of his own.

The purple raven diamond glimmered on its pedestal. If his research was correct, it would grant him the power to not only take over Amity Park, but the world as a whole. He first needed to figure out how it worked.

He gazed upon a monitor that was hooked up to a camera on the front porch. Julien Hart stood upon the front step with a bratty smile. A victorious glint resided in his eyes.

"This should be interesting," Vlad thought to himself. He half dared to think that this brat was able to capture Daniel. Even if he did, Vlad had no intention of handing over the gem to the brat.

Vlad split himself in three ways. One duplicate stayed in the lab to finish with the preparations. Another to negotiate with the boy. The third ready to over shadow him and force him to leave empty handed.

Vlad grinned. He loved it when things came together his way.