And this is it, the finale! Much thanks to all who have been reading, it's been quite fun writing this. So, I hope you enjoy:

Chapter 6: Can't Stop Falling In Love

"...Sam..." Danny whispered her name again while looking down at the blacked-out girl in his trembling arms. She looked so peaceful...but Danny didn't have time to reflect on how pretty she looked unconscious – after all, looking peaceful was also a sign that one was dea--.

Danny shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn't think like that. She was alive. She had to be alive.

Danny didn't know what he'd do if she wasn't.

He then noticed her torso slowly lift and drop, which eased some of the infinite worry in the halfa's mind. She wasn't dead. Still...what happened? Or rather, who happened? Logically, it had to be a ghost that did this; the luminous green was a dead give-away. And Danny had a feeling he knew who it was that staged the attack.

Tucker interrupted Danny's sinking feeling by running over and kneeling down next to his two friends. He looked at Danny solemnly. "Listen, I'll get Sam someplace safe, you go find the thing that did this to her," he whispered. He put an accent on the word "thing" so Danny would know Tucker knew it was a ghost without Tucker actually saying it. Since if Sam's friend found out, that would NOT be a good thing.

In exchange for avoiding that bad turn of events, though, Tucker and Danny were greeted with a more sinister one. Tal's voice was barely above a whisper, but the eerie calmness of it chilled the boys to the bone.

But the contents of that voice froze them to their souls.

"There will be no searching necessary, Mr. Foley. Your ghost has been among you this whole time."

Danny and Tucker slowly directed their gaze upwards. Their eyes went past the older boy's legs and middle body, all of it normal looking. His devilish grin was as human looking as theirs would be.

Their appraisal of his body stopped cold on his eyes. They weren't emerald, but a brilliant green, which radiated back at them. The exhale of the two boys stopped in their throats, and Tal threw his hands up and laughed in their faces. While Tucker let a curse breathe from his mouth and Danny's already explosive temper mixed with his desire for revenge at Sam's attacker, Tal's human look shimmered and faded, leaving the purple-garbed ghost Danny had fought two nights ago in his place. The ghost pointed at Danny and had a stare down with him as he spoke.

"I told you I'd be back with a new mind game, Phantom. And here I am. As for you, Mr. Foley...please get Samantha off the dance pad so I can explain the rules of the game to Fenton." Mental whispered.

"Game!" Danny yelled, the ring of blue passing over his body. "Is that what she is to you, just part of a GAME!"

Mental made a move to speak, but Danny cut him off.

"Tucker, get Sam out of here and get the thermos so you can pick up what's left of him," Danny stated coldly, before flying at Mental, who phased into the ground. Tucker nodded, picked up Sam, and started running towards the exit.

"No one harms Sam and gets away with it!" Danny yelled, charging at his surfaced enemy once again. The halfa's hands shimmered with the barrier-breaking property they had obtained during the last fight.

His foe smiled. "Except you, right?" he taunted, flinging a barrier downwards. It smashed onto the back of flying Danny and sent him to the ground, which he phased through. Although the halfa was no where to be seen, Mental continued speaking anyway, his tone accusatory.

"I mean, think about it! Your constant drooling over Paulina in front of Sam? How tactless are you! I may have knocked her unconscious, but that's nothing compared to the anguish you've put her through time and time and time again with your puppy dog stare and superficiality. I, personally, fail to see how Sam could have kept her friendship with you intact for so long, let alone a crush! But, I suppose you don't care. After all, 'you're not lovebirds' or anything. And Foley, stop moving." Tucker promptly ran into a green barrier, and fell to the ground. Sam's body dropped a few inches away.

"And Fenton, don't try and phase her out of here. You do and I'll make sure you never get her memory back." Mental threatened.

Danny became visible, stopping himself from continuing to do what Mental warned him not to do. A look of remorse was painted on his face as he looked at Sam. It hardened as he turned his gaze to his ghost foe.

"My words sting, Fenton?" he taunted.

"What did you do to her memory?" Danny asked icily, ignoring the comment.

"Didn't pay attention to the screen, did you? 'Memories♥ by dj samm.' Samm, as in Sam M – Samantha Manson. And that heart next to "Memories" obviously means that they were her love memories. I'm a mind ghost, see, I can do that. Did you notice how they were all of you?"

Danny nodded, his eyes narrowed, and the ghost continued. "Well, I couldn't just let you have a sneak peak at her mind, and then just leave and let you act on the fact she likes you. I mean, I'm here to destroy you, not help you. So, those steps I was doing to that song of hers? Memory deleter steps. All those lovely thoughts of you, gone at the stomp of my feet. Simply put, she loved you, but when she wakes up, she loves you not. In fact, she won't even know who you are."

The ghost gave the two boys a twisted grin. "I love messing with peoples' love lives. So fun."

Danny gritted his teeth, and balled his fists. "You're a sick freak. How dare you mess with her mind. I'll--"

"Spare me, Phantom," Mental interrupted, peering at the halfa over his spectacles. "Even if you pound me to a pulp and send me to the Ghost Zone, it's not going to bring her back. This isn't some sort of fancy lingering ghost spell, like Desiree or Ember." The ghost's voice became more scolding, almost as if it was insulted Danny even implied it.

"I, unlike them, realize that powers that affect you humans are much more effective when they don't go away as soon as we hit the Ghost Zone. Her memories are mine, kid, and the more you go off raging and charging into battle, the more I'm apt to just leave here and not give you the chance to bring her memories back, although she might be better off not--"

"You can bring them back!" Danny interrupted, now paying close attention.

"I can. And that's where the game lies, Fenton." He paused before continuing. "You want her memories back, you play me on the machine. I pick the songs and difficulties, you have to beat me in any one song."

Tucker couldn't suppress a laugh, while Danny had a "you've got to be freaking kidding me" expression painted on his ghost face. "You want me to play you in DDR for Sam's mind. What kind of fight is that? Are you nuts?"

"Hello? My name is Mental, we had this conversation before. And yes, my game for us to play is DDR. I needed something in which you can't pull out some freaky little halfa power on me and win. Since, if you agree to the game, you'll lose your mind as well if you can't beat me." the ghost replied ominously.

"My powers aren't fr—wait, you'll erase my mind if I lose?"

His foe smirked. "Correct, Phantom. Still so eager to save your girlfriend now?" Mental taunted.

Danny glared at him. "She's not my girlfriend," he denied. His tone was a curious one. The denial in his voice was lame, as if he didn't mean it. And the teen couldn't keep a tone of disappointment from his words, as if he was sorry she wasn't. "Fine, I'll play you in your twisted little game, and I'll beat you, too." The halfa stepped onto the dance pad, as did Mental.

"I knew you'd see things my way," Mental mocked. "Ready to lose the game, Sam, and your mind as well?"

Danny rolled his eyes. The ghost was so lame. "Please. How hard can this thing be?"

Mental just chuckled. Danny's body tensed up and his jaw dropped as the arcade seemed to disappear, leaving him, Mental, and the machine floating somewhere in the Ghost Zone.

"What th--"

"Like the scenery? I find it more comforting."

"You find the Ghost Zone comforting?"

"As for your difficulty question, I have four words for you. Paranoia Survivor Max Oni."

"Danny? Danny! Hey, Inviso-Bill! ...Crap, he can't hear me." Tucker sighed. This was getting freakier by the minute. Things were weird enough until Danny had got this expression of shock on his face. And then those two said they were in the Ghost Zone, but how could they be when they were standing right in front of him? And neither of them could hear him, either. Which was annoying, since Danny had utterly failed that first song, and was now enduring a verbal lashing by that Mental thing, without any moral support.

Tucker looked down at Sam. If she were awake...well, no, she wouldn't be giving moral support to Danny. Her mind was gone. And soon, Danny's would be too – all that ghost had to do was pick two more ridiculously difficult songs, and Danny would be finished!

"And I'll lose my two best friends," Tucker thought sadly. And there was nothing he could do about it. He had tried to escape again once he found out that the two ghosts were seemingly oblivious to his presence now, but he was met with another barrier.

Tucker was about to lament further, when he heard a pained groan from the floor. He looked down, surprised. "Sam! You're awake!"

Sam shook her head, and slowly got up. "Ugh...I feel like a pile of bricks just fell on me." she groaned while rubbing her forehead.

"Actually, I think it was an ectoplasmic ghost shield," Tucker corrected. Sam responded with a glare.

"I'm sure that information will help me in everything I do, Tucker," she quipped. She then caught sight of the ongoing battle. "...Who's the purple-clad ghost and why is Danny fighting him?"

"The ghost is named M—why do you know Danny's name?" Tucker asked. He was stunned—Sam wasn't supposed to have a recollection of that.

Sam just stared at him. "Tucker, Danny's my best friend, and you're asking me why I know his name?"

Tucker blinked. "Fine, I'm sorry! Just listen. That purple ghost up there is named Mental, the real form of that guy you've been hanging out with all week. He played your 'I love Danny' thoughts on the DDR screen, knocked you unconscious, said he'd erased your mind, and got Danny to play against him for your mind. If Danny loses, he loses his mind. Except, you still have your thoughts, so apparently he just lied to get to Danny." Tucker then exhaled.

Sam stood stunned. "Wait...that ghost is Tal? And he's trying to erase Danny's mind? And he showed my feelings to Danny!" she practically shrieked.

"Yep," Tucker responded lamely.

"We've got to get Danny off the platform!" Sam said, mainly to herself. She ran towards the machine. "Danny!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sam..." Tucker warned.

She was almost there when she was suddenly stopped by another barrier. When she hit it, though, a voice started talking into her head.

"Relax, Sam. Fenton will be just fine. By the way, I'm sorry for having to knock you out. It was part of the plan."

"How will everything be just fine when you're going to erase his mind! And what 'plan'!"

"I'm not going to erase his mind. I just need him to think he is, as I needed him to think that you had lost yours. Just sit back with Tucker and watch the show –the finale is coming up shortly, and I know you'll love the ending."

"Like I'm going to trust you!"

"Listen, Sam. You're the first real friend I've ever had. You provided a foil to my over-zealous wit, you're the first person I've ever felt I could talk to about things. You're the first person I've told that I'm not romantically interested in the opposite gender. I'll never do anything to harm you, nor anyone you care about. I promise. Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you in a few."

Sam sighed in frustration, Mental's voice leaving her. She looked at Tucker.

"Apparently, we just need to watch. Danny's not in any danger," she replied softly.

"How do you know that?" Tucker shot back.

"Tal told me."

"Hello? That's the guy who's trying to erase Danny's mind in the first place! Of course he'd tell you that."

Sam turned to watch the boys on the dance pad. "I trust him."

Danny gasped for air while sitting on the pad. This was insane! How was he supposed to even attempt to beat this crazy ghost when all the songs were super-fast? His ectoplasmic legs felt like lead. And Mental's insults after Danny failed abysmally weren't helping.

Said ghost looked down at Danny with disdain. "Pitiful, pitiful work, Phantom. It looks to me like you aren't even trying."

"I am trying, excuse me if I can't move my legs at Mach 2." Danny retorted bitterly.

"Really, you're trying? That must be why you stop in the middle of a stream you can't sight-read, letting your lifebar drain out and making you fail. Or maybe that's because you don't give a damn about Sam. Hehe, that rhymed."

"No, that's not it...I just--"

"--like Paulina better, and would rather not have Sam nagging over and over about liking her, so you figure if you don't remember Sam, nothing will stop you from getting Paulina!" Mental accused.

Danny stood up, his expression angry. "That's a lie. Paulina is nothing compared to Sam." he spat.

"Your performance indicates otherwise."

"It's true!" Danny shouted, his temper rising ever further.

"Then say you love her, Fenton! It's already obvious you like her, but let's hear you say it!"

Danny glared at the ghost. It was true, he did love her. But...saying it would be denouncing the facade that he had tried to portray for months. The "We're not lovebirds" part. And even if he did say it, Sam still wouldn't know who he was, let alone love him back.

"Your silence speaks volumes, Fenton." Mental taunted, snapping Danny from his thoughts.

"Would you shut up already!" Danny irately commanded. His whole body was glowing.

"Now that I know you only like Sam as a friend, yes," he responded.

Mental turned away, and was about to select the final song when he heard Danny whisper.

"I love her."

The ghost turned back around to meet Danny's intense gaze.

"...I can't hear you, Fenton."

"I love her!"

"That doesn't seem like conviction to me, halfa!" Mental egged on.

"I LOVE HER, YOU TWISTED LITTLE WORM! AND YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME!" Danny shouted, his and Mental's faces pressed close together, their noses almost touching.

"THEN DON'T TELL ME THAT, YOU DOLT, TELL HER!" Mental shouted back. As he did, he pointed to where Sam stood. The illusion of the Ghost Zone dropped, and Danny's head snapped to Sam's body. His eyes locked with hers, both wide with surprise.

And not caring that she wasn't supposed to know who she was, he took a breath. "I love you, Sam."

And not caring that she was doing this in public, Sam stepped smoothly onto the platform, pushed Danny back until he was leaning on the machine, and pressed her lips softly to his.

And both of them didn't care for much of anything at the moment, other than each other.

A few hours afterward, the four were sitting on solitary hill a bit outside of the city, watching the sun set. Tal, who had gone back to his human disguise, had just finished explaining everything to the three friends. The whole time, Tucker was cracking DxS jokes and Danny and Sam had their fingers laced together.

"So, you were sent here to set us up?" Sam asked, a bit amused at this revelation.

"Yep. I must say, it wasn't that hard. You two already liked each other, all I had to do was push Danny in the right direction."

"I still don't get why you had to insult me when you were pretending to be my voice of reason," Danny grumbled.

"Nor why you had to drag us to an abandoned building," Tucker added.

Tal smiled. "Well, it wouldn't have been a good thing if Danny and I showed our ghost forms at an arcade filled with people. And frankly, it's fun to give you crap, Danny."

Danny gave a scoff, to which Sam just smiled and ruffled his hair. That perked him up quick.

Tal stood up. "Well, I have something to take care of, so I'll leave you three friends to yourselves. Feel up to doing something Saturday?"

He was met with a unanimous chorus of "Sure!", to which he smiled, said goodbye, then went invisible and flew off into the orange sky. He had not one, but three friends now. And he was going to make sure he didn't lose them.

At Casper High, he opened the communication window, his face meeting the faces of many eager ghosts.

"Status report, Mental? Was your mission successful? How should we go about putting that miserable whelp in his place?" Skulker asked.

Mental smirked. "I'll let you guys find out for yourselves," he replied.

The eyes of the ghosts narrowed. "Don't cross us, boy, you know what will happen."

"Yes, but see, I'm on the side of Danny Phantom now. And since he's beaten all of you before, I don't think I have anything to worry about." Mental then smiled.

"He's also much easier on my eyes than you all are. Can't wait to see what he looks like in three ye—ah, I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyway, ta, Council. And make sure your psychological plans actually work next time. I mean, killing his hypothetical girlfriend does have the drawback of having a raging halfa on your hide. Idiots."

And with that, shut the window and left, leaving an angry Council in the Ghost Zone.

He flew aimlessly for a bit, before deciding where he wanted to go. Sinking down invisibly, he looked through Sam's window. She was in her pajamas, and was climbing into bed. Upon closer inspection, he could see a smile beaming from her face as she went to sleep.

"Good. Those nights where she'd stay up crying over him are gone now. Hehe...lucky Sam. She's quite the individual, isn't she? Gothic, environmentalist, URV, and the only girl in the entire world with a half-human, half-ghost boyfriend.

He watched her a bit longer. As he did, his smile grew wider and wider. He chuckled, before turning around.

"Sleep tight, Sam. And remember, you'll always have two specters protecting you."

And Tal flew off into the night while grinning back at Sam's room, where a young halfa tenderly gave his love and girlfriend a goodnight kiss.

End.