THE MONDAY AFTER

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does.

EPILOGUE: LESSONS LEARNED

Danny, Tucker and Sam tip-toed quietly down the stairs and entered the Fenton Works basement laboratory. Danny's house was dark and quiet - Jazz was studying at the library and a haphazardly scribbled note stuck to the fridge told Danny his parents had run out to get more supplies - but the kids didn't feel like making any unnecessary noise. Danny approached the wall next to the opening of the Ghost Portal where a machine stood ready to perform its function; Tucker and Sam held back, watching silently. With a heavy sigh Danny plugged the Fenton Thermos into the machine and pressed the button, releasing the mold-ghost-monster-creature-whatever-it-was into the Ghost Zone. They could hear its roaring howl as it was sucked out of the Thermos and expelled into an unknown realm. Its cries faded, and an unannounced, but still observed moment of silence followed.

"I hope it'll be okay in there." Sam's quiet voice echoed through the cavernous lab.

Danny turned to where she and Tucker still lingered in the shadows.

"Yeah," he said. "Me, too. I'm sorry the talking-it-out thing didn't work, Sam. It really was a good idea, and it worked on the Box Ghost earlier, but . . . I dunno. Maybe I did it wrong . . ."

"You didn't do it wrong, Danny," Sam assured him. "It just didn't work this time."

"Yeah, talking doesn't always work, you know," Tucker added. "If it did, we wouldn't have wars and stuff."

"I guess so," Danny replied. He walked back over to the stairs, and sat down on the third step up. He rested his elbows on his knees and sighed. Tucker and Sam stood before him. "I guess I just feel kinda bad for that creature," Danny continued. "This whole thing wasn't its fault, and yet, it was the one that paid the price. I mean, its mother gets ghost powers, which I guess was kinda my fault in the first place, then she gets destroyed cause she's growing where she shouldn't be, and her final wish to her . . . children, I guess you'd call it, was to get back at the guy who did it. What choice did it have?"

"It could've said 'no'," Tucker said quietly. "It coulda walked away. Or, slimed, or oozed or whatever. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, Tucker, I do," Danny said. His lips curled into a slight smile, but it faded quickly. "But it didn't do any of those things."

"And it didn't want to compromise," Sam added. "You tried, Danny, but it refused to release Lancer; it refused to even consider it! What choice did you have? None! You couldn't just let that thing hurt our teacher!"

"Sam's right, Danny," Tucker said. "You gave it your best shot, but in the end, you had to fight it and defeat it."

"Yeah, I know," Danny said, a slight smile returning to his face. "You guys are right. I did all I could do, then I did what I had to do."

"Exactly!" Tucker exclaimed. "And, look on the bright side: Mr. Lancer's gonna be okay!"

"I'm not sure how bright that side of it is, Tuck," Danny said with a smirk. "There's still the matter of a book report I never finished!"

"Could you use a little help?" Sam asked.

"As a matter of fact I could!" Danny said as he pulled himself up by the handrails and turned to head back up the stairs, followed by Sam and Tucker.

In another dimension, the newest inhabitant of the Ghost Zone floated aimlessly through the strange, swirling, misty world. Though disappointed in its failure to avenge its mother's death, the Creature began to feel more at ease in its new environment than it ever had in the other world. It bumped up against a solid object, and it pressed itself against the hard surface, exploring it. It was smooth in places and rough in others, like a large rock. The Creature settled itself into the various cracks and crevices, and relaxed. It was comfortable. It was safe. It was home.

The End