Warning...another cruel chapter-- Thanks for the reviews everyone,they mean a great deal, especially those with criticizm.

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The sound of a ringing telephone pulled Jack from the realm of his–for once– peaceful sleep. He sat up groggily, wondering briefly why he was on the floor of the lab before the day's events came rushing back to him. Suddenly, the world seemed more dismal than ever, and he almost couldn't force himself to the phone. The thought that it could be Maddie, and that he could apologize to her, pulled his black-gloved hand up to grab the ghost-shaped, cordless phone that they had kept in the basement for years.

"Hello?" he asked, realizing with a cringe how utterly depressed he sounded.

"Jack?" For a moment, his hopes rose as he recognized the voice on the other side of the phone.

"Maddie?" he licked his lips. "Maddie, I–"

"Jack," she interrupted. "I still need some time to think, okay? I just wanted to let you know...Vlad's in town. He took me to dinner, and, after a long talk, I've decided to take his offer to let me come to his house. He's going to help us find Jazz."

For several seconds, Jack couldn't say anything. He'd known Vlad since high school, and they'd been buddies ever since. He'd always considered the skinnier, more manipulative man to be his best friend, even knowing the feelings of animosity the billionaire had towards him since the accident in college. He'd never stopped hoping for their eventual reconsiliation...although he almost regretted such thoughts now. He'd certainly never felt towards anyone (let alone his best friend) what he was feeling towards Vlad at this moment.

"Jack?" Maddie's voice pulled him back. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Look, I want Danny to come with us. We're sending a plane ticket that I want you to give to him as soon as he gets home, okay?"

"I–I–" he stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"Goodbye, Jack," he heard her say softly before the phone clicked and went dead. He felt it slip from his hand and clatter to the floor, and did nothing to prevent it. How could he? His world had basically come to a complete halt.

His son didn't trust him, his daughter was missing, and his wife had basically run away with his best friend, not to mention that he no longer felt any surety at all in himself because of the stupid dreams that he kept having. How could all this have happened? He found himself asking over and over again in his mind; but no matter how long he sat there, slouched against the wall and staring blankly ahead, no answers came to mind.

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"That's funny," Danny blinked at his cell phone as he landed in the street a few blocks from his home. "The line's still busy."

"Is that abnormal?" Nora asked, speaking for the first time in several minutes.

"Well, yeah," Danny flipped the cell phone down, and shoved it into his pocket as he detransformed behind a dumpster. "Come on," he jerked his head to show the direction, and started off towards his home.

Nora simply nodded and followed, for which he was thankful. No doubt she was wondering how true everything he'd just told her really was. Sure, she said she believed him, but how much trust did anyone really put into the word of a 15-year-old boy? More importantly, he'd been questioning if he really remembered everything as it had happened. Jazz had told him once that people twist things subconsciously to deal with them better. He hoped that wasn't the case with this situation.

Finally he stopped in front of his house, and started up the steps, a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach driving him on. Something felt...wrong here.

"You've got to be kidding me," he heard Nora say, and turned around to see her staring up at the large luminescent sign that flashed "Fenton Works" and the equipment literally welded onto the roof of the house. Danny couldn't help but smile.

"My parents are...a little eccentric," he said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"I can see that." She blinked and shook her head before following him into the house.

"Well, it's normal in here," she commented, looking around in slight surprise.

"Heh...yeah, um..." He looked back at her, and bit his lip. "Could you...go invisible for a while?" he asked. "My parents don't take too kindly to ghosts..."

She looked down at him, her face once again expressionless. "Hence the reason you haven't told them about yourself yet?" He nodded, and looked away. "You said they were fanatics...I didn't realize exactly how fanatical they are from what you sead."

"Yeah." Danny looked around warily. "Er...to go invisible, just think it...I guess, and you will...I think."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "That's helpful." He shrugged with an apologetic look on his face, and watched as she closed her eyes, and slowly vanished from view.

"Perfect." He flashed a thumbs up in her general direction, and was about to head down to the lab to see if one of his parents was there, when his cell phone rang.

He quickly opened it as he stepped into the kitchen, looking around and seeing no one. "Hello?"

"Danny?" a whispered voice came over the line. He recognized it immediately.

"Jazz?" he practically yelled. "Where–"

"Danny, listen to me!" she hissed. "He's been sending the dreams!"

Danny's face went from ecstatic to utterly confused. "He who? Send what?"

"A ghost! With blue skin, red eyes, fangs and pointy hair. I haven't seen him or Alesha for a while, but he's the one that's been sending Mom's bad dreams...and yours too, I think."

"Plasmius," Danny growled, and he felt his eyes glow green with anger. "How is he sending them?"

"I found this little black and red block...and when I touched it, I saw the dreams that you and Mom described to me. There were others too...I think Dad and Alesha have been getting bad dreams also..."

Danny paused, leaning against counter for support. Again, it all led back to Plasmius. How could that son o–

"Danny, I've got to go," Jazz whispered hurriedly. "I don't know where I am, but if you can get me outta here, I'd REALLY appreciate it. It's a castle. Bye!"

"Jazz! NO! JAZZ!" he yelled at the phone, but to no avail. The line went dead, and she was gone.