Silver holstered her pistol and bowed slightly, the same mocking gesture Haight had used when they were first introduced. "Meryll Santiago!" she said brightly. "It's good to finally see you in proper color, niño. When I walk about in astral form, everything has sort of a sepia tone."

Danny wasn't paying much attention. He dropped his head into his hands as his anger threatened to overcome him. Good or evil, he was still better than that. "What have you done to them?" he demanded in a low voice.

She narrowed her eyes; although the smile didn't leave her face, it now had a more predatory look to it. She gestured, and he hesitantly turned his head to see two marksmen take aim and fire. He cried out and started to lunge forward; Silver laughed.

"Ah, it never gets old," she sighed.

Ectoplasmic fire blazed to life around the boy's hands. "I played your game! Now, let us go!"

She shook her head. "No, no, niño. All games must have a final boss, one last fight; one last chance to lose." She closed her mouth and tilted her head downward slightly. And I am yours. No one beats Silver.

"What are you?"

"I am well and truly human."

"No, you're not," Danny argued. "You're a monster, same as the ones out there. And I will beat you."

For just a second, he saw a pair of marksmen standing to either side of her "astral form", and he realized why they were there. They were the psychic memory version of Cobra and Mongoose, which he found himself staring down the barrels of. "These bullets will hurt for real," she informed him.

"I'm sure they will." He threw up his shield as the explosives bangs announced the beginning of the fight. Twelve shots rang out, then nothing. While she reloaded, he let his shield drop and fired an energy blast. She had dropped one gun into its holster to reload the other. As she dodged Danny's blast, she holstered that one and threw her hand forward. It felt like something grabbed him around the neck and shoved him backwards into the wall.

He rubbed his throat as he regained his feet. "Your husband didn't abuse you, did he?"

Silver laughed. "Please, you think I would have let him?"

"That's why he chained you up in the basement, isn't it? You're the one who abused him."

Her eyes darkened considerably. "He called me plata diablo. Silver devil. He left me alone, but he didn't get very far. He has to stay with me now." She chuckled maliciously. No one leaves me alone.

They traded shots for a while, until Silver had to reload. This time, Danny took the opportunity to catch his breath. "You killed him?" he asked, hoping to stall for a little time while he came up with some kind of plan.

"Nothing dies here, haven't you figured that out yet?" She circled him slowly, and he turned to keep her in sight.

"Horace and Haight died," he pointed out.

"Nothing…dies here. Nothing. You saw Horace's grave; he's still walking around. Hermes left his body his behind, but he still lives. Doc is immortalized in his old patient records. The firing squad and their victims; the slave traders and their slaves; even the rats that consumed them live on, forever twisted together in some unholy existence. And now, you're here. I'll make you part of my existence, just like mother and father, Diego, and all the people who were pulled here before you. That's what I win."

"You're doing this to us because you're lonely?" Danny exclaimed, torn between horror and disgust. "You made me play this sick game because you're afraid of being alone?"

Even worse than that realization, however, was the look of honest bewilderment on her face as she asked, "Aren't you having fun?"

"Fun?" he yelled. "You think this is fun? No, no. I know you're having fun, but how can you possibly think…" He trailed off then at the hurt look she gave him. She really did think this was just a fun little game. She truly did not understand what she had been doing to him. He had met some ghosts he thought were crazy, but Silver was truly insane. No wonder Killjoy liked her so much.

She narrowed her eyes and smiled again, then she started to laugh. "Ah, niño. You're good at this; you almost got me. Stay and play with me. I'll bring more people, and we can play the game together."

He was suddenly reminded of the memories he had seen, all the times she had mentioned "the game". She'd been playing it her whole life. That's why everyone hated her, and why Haight said she had potential. The thought of it made him sick. "Just let us go," he said wearily. "I'm through with your game."

"Weren't you paying attention? You're not going anywhere. None of you are."

Silver had moved around in front of the chicken wire fence; now, she turned slightly and made a lazy gesture with one hand. Flames engulfed the back half of the attic.

Danny stopped thinking at that moment. With a wordless cry of rage and sorrow, he threw himself at his enemy. She seemed surprised when he attacked instead of giving up, but she seemed pleased as well. She ducked under his swing and holstered her weapons, then dropped to the ground and swung her leg around to knock him off his feet. He didn't even stop, but went momentarily intangible as he bore down on her.

They traded blows, but by then, Silver couldn't touch him. He had long since forgotten that his powers had been locked away; he simply reacted in the way he knew best. Left with no alternative, his opponent resorted to telekinesis. He was thrown against the far wall, but he'd taken much more severe beatings. He flew back across the room to slam into her.

"No!" she yelled, both mentally and audibly, as she finally realized that he did not want to play. "No one beats me! You can't leave me! Don't leave me!"

"Give me one good reason why I should let you live!" Danny demanded, hovering before her and hands blazing. He looked in the direction she pointed to see that the back half of the attic was completely unharmed…and empty.

"They're on the beach," she grumbled. "I was keeping the festers off them, but I'm not anymore. Run, niño."

He shot through the attic wall and angled towards the beach and the wrecked galleon. Even from here, he could see the first fester come out of the water. It was a large monstrosity with a cage covering its head, a ball and chain that replaced one arm, and gashes on its stomach, which rats periodically burst out of.

"Mom!" he yelled, as he got closer. "Dad! Jazz!" They didn't pay much attention, busy as they were trying not to be killed. He blasted one, but rats exploded from its carcass to attack his father. The festers were everywhere by then, and the rats were worse. He did the best he could, but there were far too many. By the time he destroyed the last one, his family…

He changed back into a human as he dropped to his knees on the sand and wailed.

A/N: I'm not responding to any reviews because that is no longer allowed, but I would like to say that the reason Silver has been leding Danny around is simply because it was part of the game. She wanted him to see those memories because she liked to watch his responses, and she was probably hoping he would figure it out.