Wow, I feel so slow. But it's hard saying goodbye to this story, as this is the next to last chapter before it ends. But, enough tears, here's to my reviewers:

Alex: Thank you for your review. I love reviews like yours. Sam's feelings are definitely turned more resenting because she just gets tired of everything. She wants Danny to be normal and he knows he can never do that.

Stargazer920: I remembered. It's all part of the story that comes later. But thanks for noticing that anyway.

Divagurl277, Kats02980416, Bunny Girl

The Fuzy Llama: Every time you review me, you crack me up. I swear it's the highlight of my day to read some of your reviews

Thanks to all! Here's chapter seven!

Chapter Seven- Sword Strike

Danny backed away, slightly relieved. They couldn't harm him here. This was the ghost zone, somewhere humans were ghosts.

"You think that do you boy?" the psychic ghost asked, walking towards him. "You think that all my potion did was take away your powers? You've got another thing coming."

Ember struck first, her guitar swinging towards him. He jumped backwards, but it ended up barely brushing him.

He gasped. The ghost woman had put something else in the potion; now he could be touched in the ghost zone. He had been a fool; tricked by his own gullibility and stupidity.

He turned around and began running the other direction. But before he got four steps, Desiree appeared in front of him, smiling darkly.

He backed away and felt two hands on his shoulders before he was thrown into onto the ground. He rolled over and yelled. Pulling back just in time before he went over the ledge of the marketplace's grounds. He stood up, staring into the dark oblivion that lie beneath him.

A cold chill went down his back and he flipped around to see Ember and Desiree surrounding him. He couldn't move forward, and couldn't go backwards. Which was what their plan exactly was.

"See you later ghost kid," Desiree taunted.

"We knew we'd get sweet revenge sometime," Ember chanted with her. She lay her hand on her guitar strings while Desiree prepared to strike herself, placing her hands out in front of her.

Danny jumped backwards as there was a flash of light. He felt himself fall and swung his hand out. Capturing it on it something hard and sharp, he gripped a large jagged rock.

He hung onto the rock, his legs swinging back and forth in the air. Reaching up, he tried to get his other hand to latch onto another section of the rock, but it crumbled away.

Suddenly, his feet hit something beneath him. He looked down, distracted, to see something large pull up underneath. The rock fell away and he landed on top.

The side door of the Specter Speeder opened. Danny jumped down, back flipping into the center of the Speeder. But even his basic skills were gone and he barely managed to get inside.

He looked up and saw Ember staring at him angrily.

"Tucker, drive!" he yelled, not bothering to see if it was him driving.

The Specter Speeder shot forward and Danny swaggered backwards with the sudden jolt of force. There was a hand in his face.

"Need a hand?" Tucker asked. Danny grabbed onto it and swung himself up.

"Tucker? Then who's-" he started. He looked up and saw Sam's amethyst eyes in the rearview mirror, staring back at him. And he couldn't help but notice that they showed signs of definite concern.

"What are you doing?" Tucker asked.

Danny closed the door of the Specter Speeder, but before he could answer there was a crashing noise above him and he was thrown back against the wall.

He looked up and saw a deep cut into the ceiling of the vehicle, and through the crack, he could see Desiree's red eyes staring back at him.

"Sam, drive faster!" he yelled.

"I don't know how," she said shakily as the thing jolted again.

Tucker staggered up to the front. "You help Danny in back, I'll drive!" Still holding onto the wheel tightly, Sam climbed out of the seat and was replaced by him. He took the wheel and the Speeder shot off again.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I was going to ask you the same question. What's going on?" she asked.

There was a whooshing noise and the door to the Specter Speeder opened, Ember smiling evily at them.

Danny held onto one of the ceiling rails, feeling his body sucked outside with sudden and strong force. He closed his eyes, only to snap them open again when he heard a piercing scream.

"Danny! Help!" Sam shouted.

All he could see was her hand, hanging by an inch on the floor. Without caring about his own life, Danny dropped down to the floor and curled his feet around the back of the door.

Sam screamed and her hand let go.

He caught her, holding on tightly. With the strength he had left he pulled her up and then latched onto her other hand, and brought her back into the zooming vehicle.

"Danny, go ghost and get them away from us," Tucker suggested, as the Speeder jolted again.

"I can't," he said, looking above.

"Huh?" Sam asked.

"Look, there's the Fenton Portal up there," Danny pointed. His parents' portal loomed ahead, only about twenty feet.

But as the Specter Speeder jerked again, it began to slow down.

"What's happening?" Danny asked.

"It's running out of gas," Tucker exclaimed.

"Can we make it?" Sam asked, worried.

"Yeah, sure if they don't hit us again. Fat chance for that though," he replied, staring out the side windows. But the two female ghosts didn't come after them. Instead Ember threw up her arms and something flew towards them.

A box phased through the ceiling and landed with a clink on the floor of the Specter Speeder. On it was a large parchment note.

Sam picked it up first and read it aloud.

"Take everyday. The bottles will refill themselves so you won't ever have to come back. Never come back or we will kill you."

"Danny, what does this mean?" she asked.

"It's a long story," he said reluctantly. He rubbed his sore shoulder, which now felt like it was on fire. At least some good things came from this. Sam, well, at least acted like she had forgiven him, and he had gotten away…..for now.

"And now we have time," Tucker said from up front. He pulled into the portal and parked inside the Fentons' lab.

Turning off the ignition, he looked backwards.

Danny took a deep breath, looking at their expectant faces and sighed. "I got rid of my ghost powers," he said at last.

There was a moment of silence then-

Sam and Tucker burst out laughing.

"That's a good one Danny. How long have you spent on that one?" Tucker asked, still cracking up.

"Well, I've been thinking. And I figured since you know, everything that's happened to us, we deserve a break. Sam, you were right, I can't spend the rest of my life fighting ghosts. I have to worry about my future. And Tucker, you were right too….you guys have been waiting a long time, so now we have it," he said.

The laughter stopped instantly.

"Wait, you were serious?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah," Danny said.

"But, why?" Sam asked.

"I thought it would make you happy," he said, exasperated.

"I didn't mean-- So, you got rid of your ghost powers because of me?" she asked.

"You said you were tired of ghosts. I was doing what I thought you wanted. And maybe I'll miss it, but I think I can handle it."

"Again, I didn't mean it that way."

"So what did you mean?"

"I don't, I don't know," she said. "But not this. Remember I said, your powers make you unique, and unique is good? Just because I was tired of them, doesn't mean-"

"Look, I was trying to make you happy. I want to know why you aren't," he said.

"You don't get it do you?" she yelled. "You don't understand what it's like to be trapped inside somewhere, where you can't breathe, you can't get out. It feels like you're dying. You don't know what that's like!"

"Oh, I don't?" he asked sarcastically.

"You're a ghost. You were a ghost. It was different. This was different. Because now it's me, and you don't know what that's like."

"I would if you would tell me," he demanded angrily.

"And why should I tell you? What I do with my life, is no longer your business," she said. She opened the door of the Specter Speeder hard and jumped out, then stormed off.

Danny yelled in frustration and sunk down to the ground. This was what he got from living two lives? Anger, yelling, resentment. He couldn't be Danny Phantom anymore. This change was for the best. Sam would see that….she had to sooner or later.

"So, back there, you didn't-" Tucker began to ask.

"No, Tucker," he said.

"Danny, look. I don't know how you two are feeling. I honestly don't. But it's late. We should just sleep on it and worry about it later," he suggested.

Danny hadn't heard a better plan. Tucker climbed in back and held out his hand again. Danny took it and stood up. They climbed out.

"Listen to what I said. I'll talk to Sam," he said. He smiled awkwardly at his friend. "I'm sorry about your powers."

"Don't worry about it. It's probably for the best," Danny replied. Again, the usual immature Tucker's words were helping.

They walked up the stairs. They didn't notice a pair of eyes watching them.

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"Danny, are you alright?" Maddie asked when she got home three hours later. He jumped, totally zoning out. His red haired mother came and sat down beside him and placed a hand to his forehead. "You're awfully warm. Do you feel okay?"

Jack Fenton came in, watching them from the entrance to the living room.

"Not really," Danny replied sadly.

"Why don't you go to bed? It's almost three o'clock. I'll call the school tomorrow and tell them you're not coming. You look terrible hunny," she said.

He nodded, biting his lip.

Maddie stood up and ran her fingers through his hair. "Come on, sweetie." He leaned onto her and walked upstairs.

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Danny slept in the next day until six in the evening. He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Jazz sitting on his bed.

"Jazz," he groaned, rolling over.

"Sorry. Didn't think you would wake. Mom and dad are going to another convention tonight. They said tonight was the last night. Yeah right," she said. She coughed, pressing a hand to her throat.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Define okay," she said, laughing. "I think you're getting me sick."

"I'm not sick," Danny announced.

"So you stayed home for no reason?" she asked.

"Never mind."

"Again. I don't get you. One of these days perhaps I will," she said.

"Did you find your Geography book?" he asked, determined to change the subject.

"What?"

"Your Geography book. You came in here and accused me of taking it remember?" he said.

"Oh, oh yeah. Forgot. Yeah, I did." She stood up. "I'm going to make some dinner. Would you like some?"

"Nah, I've got some things to do," he said.

"Okay…….Guess it's dinner for one," she said, fake laughing. "Well, come down if you want something," she said. She waved and left the room.

He crawled out of bed and pulled on a new shirt, staring down at the blood stained one he wore yesterday. He had to take some more of that potion; it was nearly the time it had been yesterday when he had gone into the ghost zone to look.

Rushing downstairs to the lab, he pulled open the door of the Specter Speeder and the box still lay untouched where it had been. This was probably the safest place to keep it for now; to be sure he hid it underneath one of the seats in front, but before took out a vile.

He looked at his watch. Since it was only five minutes after six, he still had an hour and fifteen minutes before he could take the next one.

One minute down…..

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An hour and fifteen minutes later, Danny stood by the kitchen sink, holding the glass vile in front of him. He twirled it, watching the creepy looking liquid, back and forth between his palms.

"Here goes," he whispered. He downed the vile, resisting the urge to spit out the revolting, disgusting tasting drink.

He swallowed with difficulty and tossed the vile into the garbage can. He headed down to the lab, again unaware of the eyes watching him.

The portal's doors were closed, but that didn't stop him from opening it. He stared out at the zone, and what used to freak him out, now amazed him. He could truly see it without actually looking for ghosts. But it was cold, and he shivered.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice.

Danny turned around to see Jazz staring at him at the bottom of the stairs. She walked over to him, looking inside the Ghost zone.

"It's pretty isn't it?" she asked.

"You've seen it?"

"Duh. I was just down here yesterday. It's pretty cool and peaceful. So she says," she said.

"Who?"

"What?" she asked, staring at him.

"You said, so she says, what did you mean?"

"Oh. I did? Damn," she said, staring down at her fingernails. She looked up and threw her arm out, catching Danny in the chest and throwing him backwards.

She turned to face him. "It amazes me how idiotic your family is. This poor girl was just standing there watching. Dangerous thing to do. Especially when one's taking out his revenge," she said evily.

"You're the Knight," Danny said, crawling backwards as she kept advancing towards him.

"Catch on quick, don't you?" She closed her eyes and with a flash of green light appeared the sword in her hands.

"So innocent this family is. Well, you weren't. But you are now. And that horrid girl didn't even appreciate what you did for her. What you did for us all," she said.

"So you chose Jazz?" he asked.

"Like I said, she was just standing there, staring into the ghost zone. Didn't see me coming until I was five feet in front of her. Too late to close the portal, too late to do anything but watch and learn as I took over her body." Her voice turned hoarser as she spoke.

"And now it's time for my revenge. Stupid human. You never should have messed with me. Now you're powerless, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

The ghost inside Jazz smiled darkly and held the sword, preparing to strike.

Danny stood up courageously.

"Wanna bet?"

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Yet another cliffhanger. Chapter Eight: Mending, coming soon!

Lateraina Wolf