The sounds of fierce battle echoed up the stairs to where Danny had finally stopped. The stairs were just too steep. His legs felt far too heavy to take another step. Fortunately, he had finally managed to get above the fog level, so he didn't have to worry about the Malice anymore.

He heard a cry of pain; it sounded like Darwin. Something, probably a slayer, screamed from above him. He strained his ears, but everything was quiet. Torn between joy and unease, he remained where he was. Maybe his other half had won and would join him shortly.

Te odio, Silver whispered. Do you know what that means? It means, 'I hate you.' I thought he was just teasing when he said it.

"Why?" Danny finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind since they first met. "Why…you? Why this? Why any of it?"

I don't know what you're saying to me. I can't hear you anymore.

The boy stood and began trudging up the stairs again. He wasn't very surprised to see her on the landing, although it did startle him. They stared at each other for a few minutes until he dropped his gaze and moved past.

I lied, you know. I could never hate you.

He almost stopped involuntarily, but he merely stumbled and kept climbing. The pity was back. He knew his other half would probably have called him weak, but he didn't care. He just wished he understood, or at least that Jazz was there to explain. Or that his ghost half was there so he could properly hate her again. Or…

Oh, who even cared? None of that was happening anyway.

He was so tired. It was getting close to dawn again, but he couldn't stop, not while he was so close. He stumbled and fell to the steps where he simply lay for a while. His feet hurt; he didn't want to think about how long he had been walking.

How do you intend to beat me, anyway? I'm incorporeal, now. You can't touch me, but I can touch you.

As if to prove her point, an invisible hand shoved him hard. He scrambled for some kind of hold as he rolled down the steps and abruptly slammed into…well, nothing, really. He simply floated in midair for a few seconds until Silver decided to drop him. He must have hit his head during the roll because his headache had spontaneously become worse. He was probably sporting a set of bruises to rival anything Dash had ever given him. He didn't want to see his reflection right then.

"Wow, you look pretty," said a dry voice.

"You're alive!" he exclaimed, whirling around.

Phantom stared at him for a second before breaking out into good-natured snickering. "No. Not exactly."

Danny waved him off dismissively. "You know what I mean. Are you okay?"

The ghost wasn't in much better than he was. Ectoplasm bled freely from multiple gouges and gashes. He wore an especially nasty-looking scrape just below one eye. Unlike the human, however, Phantom's wounds were visibly healing, though at a very slow rate. He glared wrathfully up at the next landing where Silver stood exuding an aura of superiority. Having acquired both of their attentions, she vanished.

"Do you know how much farther it is?" Danny asked quietly.

Phantom shrugged. "Not too much, I think. Of course, I was flying on the way down. I'm too weak to carry you back up."

"I figured that. Come on."

Danny trudged upward until he finally collapsed a few steps from the top; Phantom landed carefully barely a step above him. They watched the opening onto the machine room: one with trepidation and breathing heavily from exertion; the other in mild irritation at the stupidity of the whole situation and not breathing at all. After a moment, they looked at each other. It was somewhat awkward to stare at themselves, and they quickly looked away.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Danny started hesitantly. Phantom raised an eyebrow in question. "What did you…do to her?"

The ghost sneered and laughed once, harshly. "Not much of anything, really. She just went a little crazy when all her voices disappeared. Not that she wasn't crazy to begin with."

The human boy sighed with relief and stood; his counterpart drifted back into the air barely a second behind. They weren't exactly ready for anything they might face, but they couldn't waste anymore time. Coming to a silent agreement, Phantom went intangible and poked his head out first. He froze, then slowly and carefully reached over to grab his human half by the front of his shirt and pulled him out. The second Danny cleared the stairs, he was shoved rather hard behind some large machine that might have controlled the clock hands. He had no time to ask what that was for as the ghost quickly followed, going intangible the rest of the way to dive through him rather than crash into him. He carefully peeked out to see what they were up against.

It might have been human at one time; now, it looked more like a melting wax doll. Blood and some clear liquid ran down the front of its body, which had been burned away as though by acid, exposing its internal organs. A single, large red eye was left intact on its face, and it bulged out from the socket as though being pushed from behind.

"Deadeye," Phantom all but growled.

"But where's everyone else?" Danny hissed back.

"Knowing Silver? Probably home in bed." They shared a noise of pure disgust. "Look, I'll fly out there. I don't think it can hurt me if I'm intangible. You shoot it down with that thing."

The boy hefted his rifle and nodded, then got as close to the edge of the machine as he dared. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard his other half's idea of witty banter and shuddered. It was definitely a bit more vicious than he would have liked, but it was clearly effective. Shots rang out as Deadeye tried to hit the rapidly moving Phantom.

He leaned out, then pulled back as a bullet rang out. It embedded itself in the floor mere inches away. After a few moments, he tried again with much the same result.

"Dude! Shoot him!" Phantom yelled.

Danny leaned out again, this time on the verge of tears from fear. Once again, he was nearly shot. He was beginning to understand why they called the malefactor "Deadeye."

"Danny!" his ghost half yelled, sounding on the verge of panic himself.

"I can't!" Danny called back. He flinched as Phantom cried out; one of the shots must have hit after all. He gripped the rifle more tightly and resolved that this time he would take the shot, and then he was panicking for a completely different reason.

Phantom was just about to yell for him again when he ran screaming from his hiding place. After a moment, even Deadeye seemed to forget the battle as fog crept slowly across the floor like a living thing. Apparently, even the ruthless malefactor was afraid of the Malice.

The ghost threw himself out of the way as Diego crept forward and casually shredded the sniper. It turned in his direction briefly, then, somehow detecting Danny's presence, turned away. He mentally cursed himself for breaking the boy's only weapon against that thing, ineffective as it may have been.

Danny backed himself against a wall trying to escape the Malice. He slid down it, shaking uncontrollably. He was truly terrified that if Diego caught him this time, he wouldn't survive. He clenched his eyes tightly closed and waited until a blast of ectoplasmic energy crashed to the ground just a little too close for comfort.

"I said leave him alone!" Phantom roared, enraged. Danny scrambled out of the way as his other half tried to physically wrestle the Malice into submission. It didn't work out, and he shortly went flying into the far wall.

The boy tried run to his counterpart; something caught him by the shoulder. He saw everything Silver had ever done to Diego, including making him party to a few of her murders. He knew everything she had ever done; he was her sole confidante. He had watched as she electrocuted Kev. He had been hiding nearby when she finally killed her only rival, his father. She had blown his half of his head off.

He had listened with disgust as she related the tale of her first murder, that of her mother. He didn't want to know about the drowned girl or headless boy, but she had been so happy to tell him. It was as though she had done some great deed. Most of the children who died during the flu epidemic had been her doing. She had killed inmates for pleasure and to stay in practice. She had even told him that Hermes let her turn the gas on for him when he committed suicide.

And he had stayed through it all, hating himself for not simply killing her. He had watched her play her game and said nothing out of cowardice. When the land had finally risen up in rebellion, it was like a sign. It was a sign that it was time, that he could finish her at last…

"Meryll!" he said frantically over the radio. "You have to hurry! Please!" He waited for a response that never came, but that didn't matter anymore. He knew she was on her way. After all, the only allowed to torture him was her.

He ran to the cellar to wait for her; he knew she wouldn't be long. It was easy to hide in the darkness. Once, he saw an inmate run by, but the man didn't see him. After a while, he saw her. "Diego, lover!" she called, concerned. "Where are you? What have they done to you?"

"Right here!" he snarled, lunging out to clamp the heavy iron shackle around her wrist. She gasped in alarm, then smiled slightly and made a token effort to fight him off. Obviously she thought this was some new game, but that was okay. It made his job easier, and she'd figure it out soon enough.

"Now, what?" she nearly purred as he clamped one last chain around her throat. Maybe that was a bit of overkill, but she was a witch. The whole island knew it, just as they knew that iron was the only way to beat a witch.

"Now?" he laughed. "I'm leaving. I'm leaving you alone."

"Alone, but…" She trailed off as he actually started up the stairs. "No! You can't leave!"

He stopped, and she sighed with relief. It was just a game after all. Then he hit her hard across the mouth. "You're an evil demon witch!" he spat. "You're the Silver Devil!" He hit her again.

When he left for the second time, he didn't even slow down as she cried out, "Don't leave me alone!"

Danny was vaguely aware that something had hold of him, but he no longer cared. The images, the stolen vitality…it was too much. He let the darkness close around him.

A/N: Thanks to Anomaly25 for pointing out my Spanish goofup. That is right, this time, isn't it?