Hello, folks! Got quite a few reviews this time, thanks very much. Well let's head to Chapter 10! Danny and Sam aren't too far from Dilbert's lair, let's hope Danny can hold out.

Danny and Sam were still flying through the Ghost Zone, but it was slightly different. Danny was now in the Specter Speeder, resting from all the battles he had been in so far. Sam smiled as she saw Danny relaxing for the first time all day. She thought, If Danny rests up, he'll be in better shape for whoever rears their ugly head next.

Danny had rested for about ten minutes when the blue mist came out of his mouth, waking him up. Danny sat up, "Okay, I'm ready to go now."

Danny flew out of the speeder, ready for who showed up next. He shouted, "Come on out! Show your ugly face!"

"Who are you calling ugly?" shouted a voice from Danny's right. The ghost who shouted it flew towards Danny. She had plenty of makeup, long silvery hair, and she was holding a guitar. It was the ghost Danny wished he had rage issues to take out on.

It was Ember.

Danny furiously glared at her, "Ember. Do you know it's wrong to toy with other peoples' emotions?"

Ember smirked, "Maybe. But maybe I don't care. Let me think. Mmm…no, I don't."

Danny growled, "Maybe you will care when I kick the crap out of you."

"We'll see about that, dipstick," said Ember, turning the dial on her guitar to a fist. She strummed a note and a blast came out, hitting Danny. Danny quickly recovered and fired an ectoplasmic blast at her. Ember dodged it and flew at Danny, trying to punch him.

Danny grabbed her fists and tried to push her hand back. Just like three months ago, the two of them engaged in a test of strength rather than a test of speed or skill.

As they pushed, Danny asked, "How did you even get your power back? Don't you need human emotions?"

Ember answered, "Dilbert gave me some kind of potion that made me powerful again. And I can't wait to use it to finish you off. That idiot Klemper was shouting my name over and over for a whole month!"

Danny just grinned, "You wanted people to chant your name. I was just helping."

Both foes continued to push, neither getting much of an advantage. Finally Ember rolled her eyes, "This is getting old." Then she went intangible and went through the ground. Danny, who was still leaning forward, fell down.

Danny looked around and shouted, "Cheater! Where did you go?"

From behind Danny, Ember reappeared and said, "Wouldn't you like to know, dipstick." Then a blast came out of her arms and Danny was trapped in a swirling vortex. Ember laughed, "Once you're out of the way, I'll be back in the real world, rocking the whole world all over again. Only you won't be able to stop me, dipstick."

Sam had fear in her eyes as she watched Danny trying to break through the vortex, but it was impossible. Thinking fast, she took control of the speeder and flew it toward Danny.

Neither Danny nor Ember saw Sam coming as she hit the vortex and it shattered, freeing Danny. Danny shouted, "Thanks, Sam!"

Ember grinned, "Aw, how sweet. The little lovebirds are helping each other."

Danny and Sam both shouted, "We're not lovebirds!"

Ember ignored them, "But this should make things a little easier," as she turned the dial on her guitar to a heart, then strummed a note. The blast hit Danny and Sam and they were both blown backward.

Danny noticed something different. Last time Ember had tried her love spell, he had felt a tingling inside him before feeling his heart soar. Now he felt nothing. Sam felt the same way.

Ember stared at them, confused, "What? But you two should be lovesick!"

That's when they remembered they were both wearing the Fenton Phones, which filtered out ghost noise. Danny shouted, "Ha! These Fenton Phones drown out your spell! We're both unaffected!"

Ember growled and flew towards Danny. Danny flew towards the top of the speeder and hid behind the antenna. Danny quickly grabbed the antenna and pulled hard until it popped off.

Ember smiled, "You want to make it a swordfight? I'll be happy to oblige." With that, Danny and Ember kept trying to get a hit in, but neither was able to.

Frustrated, Danny mumbled, "Where's Tucker's bad singing voice when you need it?"

Danny then divided into four and they all fired ectoplasmic blasts at Ember. She was hit by all four and was blown backward, but she didn't fall. The four Dannys finally flew at Ember. One punched her in the stomach. Another kicked her in the leg. The third kicked her in the shoulder. The remaining Danny punched her full in the face.

It was all too much for Ember, and she finally fell. Danny formed back into one and pulled out the thermos, then opened it, "Your songs are good, but your fighting stinks." Ember was sucked inside, and Danny closed the thermos.

Danny sighed, "Phew. That was a tough one."

Sam said, "Great job, Danny! You really showed her!"

Danny shook his head, "I wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't busted me out of that vortex. Thanks."

Sam smiled, "No sweat. Now let's go."

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Closing in on the pair was Jack and Maddie. Jack was growing rather impatient, "How much farther do we have to go?"

"How should I know?" asked Maddie, "I don't even know who this Dilbert guy is."

"Well, whoever he is," said Jack, "when we get there, we're gonna tear him apart in a million different pieces."

"Jack, for now, can't we just concentrate on finding him?"

"Fine."

"Good. By the way, did you happen to see Danny when we got to our house?"

Jack looked surprised at hearing this, "No. Why?"

Maddie suddenly looked fearful, "You don't think…? Danny?"

"Suffering spooks! Danny's been kidnapped too!"

"Let's go Jack! We've got our boy to save!"

Fearing that Danny had been kidnapped, Jack and Maddie turned the speed up a notch and kept going.

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Oblivious to Jack and Maddie slowly closing in on them, Danny and Sam were slowly approaching Dilbert's lair. Danny was constantly looking around in full alert, not wanting to be caught off guard.

From the speeder, Sam said, "Danny, try to be calm. I know we're almost there, but you got to remain in control."

Danny sighed, "You have no idea how difficult that is. All that's left before Dilbert is Skulker, and I'm getting all nervous waiting for him to show up."

Suddenly a voice said, "And how would you be if I did show up, ghost child?"

"Well, I'm not sure if…nice try, Skulker!" Danny shouted turning around and saw Skulker floating in front of him.

Skulker smiled, "I had no doubt you would make it this far, ghost child. It makes me more eager to have you as my prey."

Danny growled, "Are you sure you want to be the predator of someone who always kicks your butt?"

Skulker replied, "We'll see who's butt is kicked after this, child!" Skulker then fired a net at Danny. Danny went intangible and the net went through him.

Danny sighed, "When are these ghosts gonna learn that firing nets at me just doesn't work?" Then he fired an ectoplasmic blast which hit him dead on. Skulker fell to the ground but quickly got up. He then said, "Try this on for size, child," as he tossed a small cube toward Danny.

Danny looked at the box and quickly recognized it as the box Skulker had used at his parents' college reunion a while back. Danny was ready for it and fired an ectoplasmic blast at it. It shattered to pieces.

Danny grinned, "You don't think I was your toughest prey if I didn't know what you did and didn't pull before do you?"

Skulker angrily fired another weapon at him, grazing Danny on the shoulder before he could get away. Danny divided into four and said, "I'm ready for you now."

Skulker just grinned, "Oh, are you?" Then he fired a different weapon at one Danny. A bullet shot out, then suddenly divided into four bullets. They hit the four Dannys and he suddenly formed back into one.

Danny shouted, "Hey! What was that?"

"This cancels out your duplication abilities, even though it's only temporary."

Unflinching, Danny flew at Skulker and tried to punch him. Skulker dodged it and grabbed Danny, then flew him down to the ground. Danny struggled to break Skulker's grip, but he couldn't.

Skulker then projected his glowing blade. Danny gasped, "Heh. I forgot you had that."

"And this time," said Skulker, "there's no Vlad around to stop me. In other words, you're finished, child."

Sam gasped as she watched Danny being held at his mercy, "Oh, my god. Come on, there's gotta be something."

Skulker grinned as he pointed the blade at Danny, "Any last words, child?"

Just then, a voice rang out, "He may not, but I do!" Then a beam of pink light flew out of nowhere and hit Skulker, knocking him out of the way. Danny gasped at who he saw, one of the last people he expected to see.

It was Valerie.

Wow! Valerie's arrived and she's here to help out! But will they be able to defeat Skulker? Danny has another one on his side to help him fight the fight, but will it be enough to beat Skulker and Dilbert? Find out in Chapter 11!