Hi, guys! Listen, I am SO sorry for the LONG wait; things have just been so crazy around here that I just haven't found time. I kept putting it off during Christmas break, and then I realized it was over. Next thing I know, I'm swamped. Anyway, I've got time now. And hopefully so do you guys for reading this. Tune in to the new episode tomorrow at 9!

Let's get going! Chapter 8 is finally here!

Ghostly Competition

Chapter Eight: Vlad's Offer

For the rest of the weekend, our favorite trio stayed as far away from Amity Park Homeless Shelter as they possibly could. They didn't seem to want to discuss the topic of Steve living there, but they were all thinking about it. So they ended up discussing it anyway.

Which leads to Sunday morning…

"No one should have to go through that. It's just too excruciating for anybody to endure."

Tucker groaned, "Gosh, Sam! We've talked about this ever since we left that place two days ago! Can't we let this die down?"

"Tucker, how can you be so insensitive! It's a small wonder you can never find a girl to go out with!"

"Hey, it's not like you can do much better!"

"That's because I never make a fool of myself when…"

Danny suddenly shouted, "Oh, enough already! Stop acting like you know what that guy is feeling! If anyone is thinking about the loss he has taken, it should be me, since I can sort of relate!"

There was silence. Danny realized too late what he had said. He hadn't told anyone what happened when he was at Vlad's castle ten years in the future, nor even what occurred after that. Tucker and Sam stared at him with looks of confusion.

Tucker said, "What are you talking about, Danny?"

Sam said, "Yeah, how can you sort of relate to Steve? You haven't lost anybody close to you since your grandfather, and that was back when we were eight."

Danny sighed. He knew they had to know and he was a bit of a fool for not telling them.

He turned to them and said, "Do you remember a few weeks ago when we went to the future and met my future evil self?"

Sam folded her arms, "How could we ever forget? But it doesn't matter. We all made it back okay. You handed in the C.A.T. answers and now everything's fine."

Danny put his hand up, "That's only half the real story."

Sam raised an eyebrow, while Tucker said, "What real story?"

"You guys made it back okay once you took off Clockwork's time medallions…"

Tucker interrupted, "Actually, that was Sam who…"

"You know how Steve got ticked off when you interrupted his story on Friday? Don't make me do the same!"

Tucker was silent.

"After Sam got the time medallions off, I was going to do the same. But then he took my medallion and phased it inside me. Then he tied me up and threw me into the Ghost Zone and used another medallion to go back to the present, disguised as me."

Sam said, "So he was the one we saw after we got back."

"Exactly. In the Ghost Zone, I encountered a few of my foes. Well, how they looked in the future. Oh, you should've seen it. The Box Ghost was buff, Ember was fat, Johnny 13 was in a wheelchair, and…anyway, since I was tied up, I couldn't do anything and they started pounding me."

Tucker then asked, "So what does this have to do with you relating to Steve?"

"I'm getting to that. Then I started screaming, and then I saw I was doing the Ghostly Wail. They were all knocked out, and I was freed from the straps that held me. Then my parents' invention, the Booo-merang hit me. Jazz had discovered my future self in the present and sent me a note attached to her headband on the boomerang."

Tucker scratched his forehead, "How could it have traveled through the Ghost Zone for ten years?"

Danny sighed, "Tucker, if I knew, I would tell you, but I don't, so I won't. Anyway, the note said for me to head to Vlad's portal. So I did. And Vlad told me what happened that caused me to eventually become evil."

Sam asked him, "Didn't it have something to do with all of us being in a Nasty Burger explosion?"

"Yes. You guys, Jazz, Mom, and Dad. Then he said I went to live with him, saying I was miserable. He said I 'wanted to make the hurt go away'. He told me he removed my ghost half. Then he said he removed Vlad's own ghost half, and then went to overshadow him. Instead, they mixed. Vlad said that 'his evil side overwhelmed mine'.

With his voice trembling, Tucker said, "What happened next?"

"I asked about my human half, but he just said, 'Some things are better left unsaid'. I knew it was no good arguing."

Sam looked puzzled, "I don't understand. That hasn't happened."

"In a minute, Sam. I then asked Vlad to get the medallion out of me. He did, and I returned to the present, where you guys were already tied to the vat of nasty sauce by my future self. I fought him."

Tucker said, "But you didn't…"

"Quiet, Tuck. I was pounded, but then I used the Ghostly Wail twice and sucked him into the thermos. But I was too weak to get back and save you guys. The vat exploded. But I was lucky right there."

They both looked baffled.

"Clockwork appeared, took the thermos, and turned back time to when you saw me hand in the answers. That's why everything's hunky-dory."

Both Tucker and Sam were silent.

Danny looked stern as he said, "So if anybody should feel Steve's pity, it should be me. It technically wasn't me me, but it was still…me."

Sam put her hand on his shoulder, "I had no idea."

"I know," Tucker said, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Danny answered, "It was too hard."

"Gee," Sam said, "I wonder how Steve feels now that we know what he's gone through."

At this moment, Steve was sitting on a bench in the park, still thinking about the tale he had told the trio on Friday.

He sighed and thought, How am I going to be able to fight ghosts thinking about this? I could just let Danny do it…No! He wouldn't do as good anyway.

He stood up and said out loud, "I'm not gonna shut myself away like a little baby. I'll go about my business as usual."

A voice rang out, "A business man, eh? Well young Steven, I have a business proposition for you."

Steve's ghost sense went off as Vlad Plasmius phased through the ground and appeared in front of him.

"Hey," Steve said, "You're that ghost I fought with Phantom that one day!"

"Vlad Plasmius is the name. You must be Steven Reynolds, a.k.a. Steven Spirit."

"Don't call me Steven," Steve said, transforming into Steve Spirit. He fired a ghost ray at Vlad, who projected his shield and it bounced away.

Plasmius smirked, "I haven't come here to fight you, young man. I have other ideas in store for you."

Steve raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, all I ask is that you join me."

"What? Join you? Why would I do that?"

"Think about it, young man. You don't have a father, and I don't have a son. I happen to be like you. No friends, no family, and a half-ghost as well. I'll have at least one person to call my own."

"And what would I get?"

"In return, you get a real home in my luxurious castle in Wisconsin. And, I teach you all the powers I know. You could become much much stronger than Daniel than you are even now!"

Curious, Steve asked, "Well, what did you have in mind in using these powers for?"

"Oh, just ruling the world, stuff like that."

"You mean, use them for evil? Sorry, buddy. That ain't for me."

"Come now. In that, you would be destroying Daniel as well. Don't you hate him? Aren't you angry at him because he tried to prove he was better than you? That he now knows where you came from?"

Steve sighed and thought for a minute. He said, "That would make me so much stronger."

"Yes?"

"But I won't do it. My parents would be super ashamed of me if I ever used my powers for evil."

Vlad frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that, my dear boy. Well, I guess there's only one more thing for me to do."

"Let me go and destroy Danny instead?"

"Oh, that's for later. You are stronger than him, and no one will protect you, so it's you who I do away with today."

"But you said you didn't come to fight me!"

"Oh my dear boy, I don't mean half the things I say. Just like this. This won't hurt a bit." He fired a ghost ray at Steve, and it knocked him backward.

Steve fired back, but Vlad calmly dodged it. He then smirked, "Give it up, Steven. Your powers are nowhere near up to my level, and no one is coming to help you."

Oh boy! Now Steve finds himself in danger! Can he defeat Vlad Plasmius alone? Or perhaps Danny will be coming by? But now I've said too much! For the rest, please wait until Chapter 9!