A/N: Thanks to everyone for being patient with me! My computer is now fixed and I now know it is bad to thermal out a laptop…life lessons there! I also was attacked with another plot bunny…damn them to hell I say! Oh well, I wrote three of those while writing this one so…not really fair, but I'm not updating those yet!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I think I was punished a bit for the late updating, but I hope everyone out there can forgive me and keep on reading! Nothing else really to report…enjoy the chapter!

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Ashes to Ashes

Part Thirteen: Burst

Sam watched with a morbid fascination as the two spheres of ghostly energy, one a sickly magenta and the other a bright green, meet each other in the sky; her hand clutched the pendant about her neck as she watched. She felt a sense of detachment as the heat from the collision filtered down from the sky to breeze across her face, like she was watching the scene safe from a movie theater or in a dream. She briefly wondered if either opponent high above could appreciate the beautiful light show they were creating…a myriad of dancing colors that almost seemed to express their own pain, regret, and anger. Despite the circumstances, and the logical voice screaming in her head to move, Sam let a small smile drift across her features as the sparks flew in the air above her, beginning their descent down to the ground.

It was only when she felt strong hands grab her arms and yank her down did she realize that it wasn't a dream…Danny really was fighting above her and the pretty lights were nothing of the sort. The smile fell off her face and she covered her head as ricochet fumes of ectoplasm rained down around her and the form beside her known as tucker Foley. The blast was deafening, and Sam mused grimly that it probably covered up the screams released from her and Tucker's throats. Another instinctual reaction that changes nothing, but seemed appropriate given the situation.

"I think Danny got his memory back!" Tucker yelled as he rolled out of the way of another stray beam, a sardonic smile playing across his face as he looked back up towards the battle.

"I'd say that's a good observation, Tuck," Sam yelled back, pushing up off the ground and letting her own lilac gaze drift up as well. "Anything else you'd like to point out, Captain Obvious!"

"Only that we should probably move instead of sitting here watching, like geese in hunting season! And you should probably get a weapon or something!" Tucker pulled out the Fenton Thermos and started sucking ghosts that weren't paying that much attention into the container, all the while inching closer to where Valerie had landed. The girl was still lying prone on the ground, half covered in the rubble from crashing into the neighbor's side wall. She hadn't moved since Vlad's blast sent her careening there, and Sam was pretty sure she saw red liquid forming beneath the poor girl.

Sam didn't bother to give Tucker an answer as he, for lack of a better word, mowed through the remaining ghosts who accompanied Vlad to the Fenton house toward the fallen fighter. She knew she would only distract him right now, so she sprinted into the house to grab some kind of weapon so she could help out. The amethyst wasn't reliable as a weapon…and Danny couldn't afford to have a distraction either. Luckily for the raven-haired girl, there were various Fenton weapons littered all about the front room, probably gadgets that Jack hadn't been able to cram into the Fenton Assault Vehicle, so she didn't have to waste time by running down into the lab. She grabbed a Fenton Blaster and also a belt of what looked like hand grenades, securing the latter around her slim waist. The grenades were actually Fenton Ecto Bombs though, and would provide some good defense if she and Tucker got trapped in a corner while protecting Valerie. As she headed out the door, Sam paused and picked up the Specter Deflector belt, for some reason left behind because of lack of time, and hurried outside to help Tucker. The belt could help Valerie as the very least, Sam thought as she rushed across the sidewalk.

It didn't take long before a few ghosts aiding Vlad swooped down on her, but Sam blasted each one with aim only four years of ghost hunting could grant. She ran, ducked, and blasted her way through the blasts and ghost beams to Tucker, handing him the Deflector and taking over for him with the blaster as he strapped it around Valerie. He returned beside her and began sucking up the ghosts Sam stunned after a minute or so.

"How's Val?" Sam asked loudly after there were only a few ghosts left who had followed Vlad here. Tucker had also grabbed Valerie's forgotten beam canon and was using that in concert with the Thermos…he was actually surprisingly dexterous.

"She's still out," Tucker hollered back, not tearing his green eyes away from the scene before him for even a second. "A few bruises and cuts here and there…I think she may have broken her wrist too. She's got a nasty bump on the head and a gash in her right arm as well…I got her out from under the rubble, but I haven't been able to move her anywhere safe yet!"

Sam didn't need to look over at her friend to know how worried he was about the huntress…she could hear it in his voice and see it in how fiercely he fought off the last of the invaders. She was worried about the fearless Valerie Grey too…they had just regained a friend and couldn't afford to lose another now! The veteran ghost-fighters finished off the last ghost, besides the two battling in the air for supremacy, after another minute or so…it was surprisingly simple. The ghosts acted as if they didn't even care if they lost…as long as Plasmius won…it seemed almost cultish to Sam as she witnessed their behavior. But why would ghosts join a cult with Vlad as the leader?

Sam turned her eyes back up to the flashing lights, trying to figure out why Vlad has chosen now to attack…and why he had employed the likes of Mance Riley in the first place? As terrifying as the battle was, it was amazing to watch as Danny and Plasmius shot blasts at each other, and then turned around and avoided each of those blasts. It looked like a stalemate from her vantage point…

But it really wasn't.

Vlad was toying with him, Danny was plenty aware of that, and the recently recovered hero didn't know how much longer he could play the game…especially when Plasmius decided to full out attack. There was the fact that he had just recently regained who he even was to contend with, coupled with the gaping feeling of inadequacy that revelation came with. Plasmius didn't have that problem…and he was at full strength; Danny woefully wasn't. He could hear Vlad taunting him, and recognized it for what it was, but now he couldn't help but agree with him.

The main problem, as many would discover after the fact in a wonderful moment called hindsight, was that with regaining all of his memories on how to fight and who exactly he was, Danny also gained every single moment of failure as well. They were relatively minor things that happened all throughout his life that he had gotten over quickly, things he hadn't dwelled on that had been so trivial he had shrugged them off. However, all bunched up together and shown to his mind like an unstoppable slideshow it was overwhelming. It was facing every half truth and lie about himself, every moment where he had disappointed, angered, or even hurt his family and friends and it left him shaken and unsure.

So, the problem was when he heard Vladimir Plasmius spew those hurtful words about how he would fail and endanger his loved ones even further, Danny found himself starting to agree. An angry side of him was protesting valiantly, and was probably the reason why he hadn't been beaten to a pulp yet, but the rational side of Danny's brain knew it wouldn't last. So, the words that cut deeper than any ecto blast could kept coming along with those blasts; and he couldn't avoid both. Danny swirled his ghost body around two more blasts, desperate to gain some kind of leverage on the other half-ghost…desperate to keep his waning endurance from failing completely. It didn't work though, Danny mused bitterly to himself as a particularly nasty blast hit him dead center and sent him crashing into the waiting ground below. It hurt like hell, especially considering that his ribs weren't completely healed from Martino's beatings, but he managed to get up as if nothing was wrong. He was met with two very concerned eyes though, but for the first time in weeks, he recognized them.

"Tucker, Sam," Danny gritted out as he wiped away green ectoplasm that substituted blood away from his mouth and formed a blast in his other hand. "You both need to get out of here before Plasmius decides to total the entire street. You're both just sitting ducks to him right now…find my parents and stay with them."

"Sure, Danny," Sam replied callously as she narrowed her violet eyes. She hated it when he got it in his head that he alone had to face down everything; the lone, sacrificial hero. "I'm sure it's much safer with your parents in the center of town where most of the ghosts are! Don't you dare play the martyr now after I just got you back!"

"Sam's got a point dude," Tucker replied grimly he glanced sideways at the unconscious Valerie in his arms, having retrieved her from the rubble while Danny had crashed. "Besides, I'm not leaving you here by yourself to face off with this…uh this…"

"Crazed up fruit loop?" Sam supplied helpfully, a smile dancing across her features for a second at Danny's nickname for Plasmius. Danny completely ignored the self-patented insult though, and that wiped the smile right off quicker than anything else could….why was he acting so cold?

"Yeah, that," Tucker quipped as he saw Plasmius float down gradually to their eye level. He backed up, cradling his precious cargo close to try and protect the vulnerable girl.

"Both of you need to get out of here now!" Danny hissed as he levitated his own body and let his eyes glow a furious green. He felt as if his limbs were on fire, about to give out any minute, but he had to keep fighting damnit! He had his parents his sister and her boyfriend, Tucker with Valerie in tow, and all those damn townspeople who could never decide if he was a hero or not to protect.

Sam…he had to protect her!

Danny turned all of his attention towards Vlad Plasmius, who was now hovering about ten feet away from him with a confident smirk on his pale face. Danny let out an almost feral growl at the sight…that madman needed to be stopped before more people got hurt. He was the only one alive, in a matter of speaking, able to beat him…there never was anyone else. He let all of his anger flow through his body, letting it provide the adrenaline and energy he needed…he could summon the anger like the voice in his head told him too, and for now that would have to do. He couldn't summon up hope yet…

All the thoughts of failing were pushed aside for the moment…they wouldn't help right now. He made the ectoplasm on his hands glow brighter, the green and white fire dancing together trying to summon up the purple light once more, and he narrowed his glowing eyes. He was making sure Vlad was going down before he destroyed anymore of the town, and should his anger fail, he had a fail-proof back up plan. The world would probably be less confusing without him there anyway…

"Now don't you look fearsome," Plasmius cooed as he blocked three of the four blasts sent his way. The fourth hit him, but it felt like a punch to the face, nothing more. "That temper of yours just seems to get worse over every passing year. Have you considered counseling, Daniel? You surely could find a reason to go now beside the temper…how did you enjoy Mr. Riley's company by the way?"

Danny felt himself go rigid at the mention of his and Jazz's captor, and he tried to force away the alien feeling of hands that belonged to an associate of Mance Riley. He thought he heard Tucker and Sam yell at him to move, but he found his limbs wouldn't obey….it didn't surprise him when a pink blast sent him spiraling into his garage door. He thought he heard his head crack too and was about to see if the wetness on the back of his neck was real when another hand closed around his throat and pinned him to the surface. Both of his hands instinctively went to try and pry the cold, pale hand off his throat, and before the clam, logical voice in his head could even speak…Danny wasn't against his garage door anymore. He was surrounded by four dark walls that were composed of a cold steel and he could practically feel the hands again. He began to struggle violently, using his legs to kick out at his assailant, but the grip only hardened.

It's going to happen again…It's going to happen again…

"What do you see, Daniel?" Vlad whispered sibilantly, smirking further when the brush of his lips against the terrified boy's ear made him freeze. It seemed like Martino had practically succeeded in breaking the boy…it wouldn't take much more to crack the boy completely, and that was something that Vlad Masters had no problem finishing. He would have to do it quickly though, before the boy pulled off something unpredictable, a precedent he had set forth too many times. "Were you scared when Mr. Martino would look at you? Did you scream when he touched you, Daniel? No, not you…you probably glared back at him to mask how terrified you really were…but he knew, didn't he? Just like I know that right now…who do you possibly hope to save if you couldn't even save yourself?"

Vlad's smile widened even farther when he saw the angry green of the boy's eyes flicker back to blue, and he let out a soft cry of protest…it would break the heart's of most but Vlad felt only the thrill of near victory. He was starting to chip away the fury that had propelled the boy until now, it wouldn't take much more too—

"Leave. Him. Alone. Plasmius!" a determined voice shouted at the older halfa just as a bright, violet light smashed into Vlad's side painfully. The red-eyed halfa let out a surprised grunt as he went careening into the street, wincing as he made hard contact with the hot asphalt. He pushed himself up and swiveled around to find out who had dared to attack him when he was so close to destroying the boy's will. His eyes widened in mild surprise with what he saw, but the surprise melted into a sneer as he glared at his attacker.

Standing in front of a shaking Danny, who was struggling to get back into a fighting stance with the bespectacled boy's help, was a petite, slip of a girl. Her white dress was covered in green goo, ash marks, and grass stains, but it still clung to every one of her curves in a way that made his eyes widen. The boots she had on clashed, yet matched what she was wearing perfectly and were also covered in green ectoplasm. Her black hair was in disarray, and she had dirt marks on her face…but her eyes were burning as brightly and in the same hue as the pendant around her neck. Her arms were spread wide, and her stance seemed to express her determination to protect the green-eyes halfa. She really did seem prophetic, Vlad mused to himself as his crimson eyes focused on the stone gleaming on her neck.

"My dear girl," Vlad said pleasantly as he brushed some of the rubble off of his white suit. "Do you honestly think that you have any chance against me? Even with the aid of Merlin's jewel you are, sadly, no match for me."

"How did you know about--" Sam began, her voice laced with surprise and suspicion.

"Oh, I know a great deal more about that little trinket than you or your friends do, Samantha," Vlad answered with a smile, so focused on the girl he didn't see green eyes narrow dangerously and alight with fire again. "And I know quite a bit about you as well, more than your parents, more than your friends, more than your dear Daniel, and even more than you do."

"I don't believe you," Sam replied with a roll of her eyes, smiling sardonically at the embittered, old man. "Your stupid lines may work on some people, but they won't work on me…you know nothing more about this stone other than it can shoot blasts from time to time, like you saw at Mance Riley's compound two months ago." Vlad's eyes widened in surprise and Sam plowed on, letting Danny regain the little strength he had left. "You're not the only ones with allies in the Ghost Zone, Plasmius…and our allies are more powerful than yours even if they aren't as numerous."

The two stood at a stand still for a moment, simply content with staring each other down, but Vlad's patience only held out so long before he formed a bright blast of energy in his hands. Sam knew what he planned to do with it, and she could only hope that the nature of the gemstone would react to her danger…otherwise she would be in some serious trouble. This was needed though, for Danny's sake, so she stood still and defiant as the blast raced towards her, chin held high and eyes narrowed into slits. She could hear Danny and Tucker screaming for her to move, but she ignored them, focusing only on the bright glow that started to come from the amethyst.

Before everyone's eyes, including a shaky Valerie who struggled to sit up from inside the Fenton house, a bright purple dome encased Sam completely, absorbing the blast Vlad had sent her way into itself and flaring violently. The dome collapsed and formed a long rod like shape in front of the still, unmoving girl before absorbing back into the gem about her neck. Vlad's mouth opened in slight annoyance before he formed another blast in his hands, but that blast never got shot off. Plasmius was sent sprawling back into the street by a flaming green blast, followed by a furious looking Danny Phantom who glared down at Plasmius with a look that bordered on hatred. You see, Vlad Masters forgot the number one rule for all superheroes…mess with the girlfriend and prepare for an ass whooping despite tremendous odds and fatigue.

Danny blasted Plasmius back into the air and flew up after him, delivering yet another blast that sent the older halfa reeling. His eyes had completely been engulfed by green, leaving no irises or whites left, and he grated out his warning, venom dripping from his voice. "If you want to fight me Plasmius, that's fine, fight me. But, if you EVER try to harm Sam again I swear to God I will kill you."

"Bold words, Daniel," Vlad spat back, dodging another blast sent his way, eyes glowing red with both anger and humiliation. "Do you think you can back them up?"

"Try me."

So he did. The two fought ferociously in the air above Amity Park, weaving in and out of buildings and streets as the two battled for supremacy. Danny could see the fight between Amity Park citizens and Vlad's ghosts, and he wanted to help them, but he knew he couldn't…he had to keep Plasmius focused on him instead of Sam and her pendant. He was starting to wish he had never given her the damn thing. His anger and thirst to make Vlad pay for trying to kill both Sam and Valerie was still burning brightly, but he felt it start to ebb as the hopelessness of the battles below waged on. He could see his schoolmates and teachers fighting alongside ghosts against other ghosts, but Vlad must have been planning this for a while because there were just so many of his!

There were dead bodies, both undead and once living alike, that littered the ground, but everyone kept fighting. He could hear some people cheer for him when they saw him fighting Vlad up in the sky, meeting him blow for blow despite the despair he felt at the situation growing inside him. He supposed he could empathize with them to an extent, they hadn't seen the ever 'infamous' Danny Phantom in over two months…it probably was uplifting to see their vigilante fighting once again, especially when the circumstances were so dire.

But, it didn't help him any…the rage he felt at seeing Sam get blasted at was fading away and he slipped up on a block, resulting in his face getting bashed in by the other halfa's fist. It hurt, hell everything hurt right now, but it didn't hurt as much as the shock wave Vlad seemed to send through his body…that was new. He wiped at the ecto blood leaking from his mouth again, and tried to call on more energy but was sadly shot down when Vlad mustered up enough energy to split into two different Vlads. Now he had to fight two on one with failing reserves…this just wasn't his night. He said night because earlier that day he hadn't known who he was and had a nice make-out session with Sam…those parts were all right, this just sucked.

The two duplicates shot blasts at him, one of which he dodged, but the other caught him in the shoulder and sent him spinning for a second. One of the Vlads dove at him, but Danny evaded easily, only to get hit by the other one, both laughing insidiously in his ears as they pummeled him from both sides. Finally, he had enough…he couldn't take it anymore. He was going to end this, and he didn't care if it killed him…at least it would be over. Danny fixed one last cold glare on the Plasmius's and sucked in a deep breath, emitting an echoing scream that sent waves of ghost energy rolling into everything. He faintly saw a ghost resembling Johnny 13 push an Italian young man with dark hair to the ground and he saw ghosts all around the ducking people get incinerated by the force of his Wail.

He could feel the power eating him up from the inside like it had when he used it against Martino, and Danny silently prayed that he didn't kill anyone here today. He kept it going though as the Vlads were forced to form one again and then forced into the ground by the shockwaves, even after his voice gave out he still kept the waves coming. Finally spent, Danny dropped from the sky and landed with a thud on the ground; he was too spent to even lift an arm…maybe he had overdone it.

"Nice-nicely played Da-daniel," Vlad gritted out as he forced his battered body off the ground, leaking ectoplasm everywhere just like Danny. "Self-sacrifice for a to-town that doesn't even like…like you. I bet you're parents wo-would be proud…to b-bad you lied to th-them for four years eh? They wo-would have accepted you, Daniel, but…but you di-didn't trust th-them. Funny how things wo-work out isn't it?" The beaten form limped over towards the still form of Danny Phantom and sneered down before floating limply into the air. "And you know what? You still didn't protect anyone…not even yourself. I'll be back for your body later Daniel, but…but right now I have bu-business with Miss Manson."

Danny groaned out a no as Vlad took off slowly back towards the Fenton house, trying to shift onto his feet but only succeeding as far as his hands and knees. His voice wouldn't work properly and tears began to cover his cheeks as he watched Plasmius disappear into the smoke that had descended over Amity Park like a dense fog. He vaguely felt two pairs of arms, one warm and the other cold, lift him up off the ground and then one, the warm pair, cradled him against its own body as a brace and began moving the opposite direction he needed to go. He tried to struggle, and tried feebly to make some sort of noise that didn't sound like a wheeze or groan to get his body brace to turn back towards Sam, Tucker, and Valerie…but the person didn't listen. The person, a man maybe, kept whispering that everything was going to be all right, and that they were going to find his parents, but none of that registered in the broken boy's mind.

All that registered was the fact that he was about to lose the one thing in life that made him feel alive…and it was all his fault.

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"Mom?" Jazz whispered as a haunting wail filled the air and made everyone cringe and duck. She had just arrived with Kitty beside her parents, who were fighting with other parents near City Hall and explained how Danny was fighting Plasmius over Casper High when the scream filled the air. It seemed to last forever and then it stopped suddenly, and Jazz glanced up to see something drop from the air a few miles away.

"Oh, Danny," the red-head whispered as she and her parents got back to their feet. Maddie looked ready to cry, knowing from everything her daughter had told her, that Danny had just caused that…it sounded so full of pain.

Jack glared at the sky, seeing nothing but pain for the man who once he had considered his best friend. It was fine for Vlad Masters to hate him that was okay. It was okay for Masters to try and kill him, and even to try and ruin his relationship with Maddie…but it was not okay for him to try and harm his children. And that cry that filled the air was what condemned Vladimir Masters in Jack Fenton's eyes…later it would be known as the day that Jack and Vlad were no longer friends.

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"Oh, poor Ghost-boy," Paulina Sanchez whimpered as the cry ended. She had been helping Dash Baxter, Kwan Ishi, and some other football players fight off the ghosts near the Nasty Burger with some weird looking ghosts, all dressed in armor and hair the color of rainbows. She shed a tear for the love she now knew would never love her back; she had accepted that as she got older, but couldn't escape the harsh pain that reality brought.

"Dude…did he just kill himself or what?" Kwan asked in a quiet voice, earning nothing but a shrug from most of the other jocks around him.

"No," the woman with black eyes said from above, gripping the pommel of her swords tighter as she gazed out towards the residential area of Amity Park. "But he did sacrifice his power to help another…now all we must do is wait for her to finish what she started nearly three months ago and get rid of the ghosts plaguing your city."

"I hear that sister," Dash Baxter growled as he readied the Fenton Blaster his parents had bought him for his sixteenth birthday, along with a car. They said it would come in handy and it sure did…now he would help out that ghost boy for all he had done for the school and him. "Let's get this party started then!"

And so they did, not knowing that they helped a boy whom they ridiculed all throughout high school.

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They were scared…they all were. The last hope against the coming tide was floundering and the Heir had yet to discover her heritage. They couldn't be cursed with using the Abomination…could they? No, it would not come to that. A pair of wings, glittery and translucent, folded back against the figure's back as he watched his people witness the tragedy they could do naught to help. No…they had too many burdens to carry as it were…they had to trust in the human spirit and will like they had once long ago…

Blinking large, all navy eyes the same hue as his wings, Rale just hoped it would be enough.

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Mikey watched in horror as Danny unleashed that awful wail, pulled to the ground by Johnny 13 at the last minute with a warning to cover his ears. He didn't need to be told twice. Afterwards, he watched in horror as Jazz's little brother plummeted and landed with a thud on the ground…the he watched the other thing hiss words to him before flying away. He hadn't wasted time; he and Johnny helped Danny off the ground when he proved he couldn't do it himself, and braced the battered body against his own.

When they headed off where Kitty and Jazz had flown towards, Danny had tried to mumble something and tried to pull away, but Mikey murmured into the boy's hair, a boy who really didn't even know him, words of comfort. He didn't fool himself into thinking they helped Danny at all, but they helped him as he trudged towards Jazz and her family.

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Sam watched in grim fascination as the wail stopped sending shockwaves throughout the city. Tucker was holding a still dizzy Valerie, both watching in horror from the safety of the Fenton home as a familiar green flare burst and fell to the earth. She could feel the pain he was in, and she could feel the fear he had for her, but she didn't know how to reassure him that it would be all right.

Oh Danny. She thought to herself as she gripped the pendant and rose from her seat to face what she knew was coming. You always do so much for everyone…so much that you almost got yourself killed…you can't die yet Danny…not yet. I just got you back and I don't want to give you up so soon. I don't know what to do yet…only that I can do something. Let me…

"Sam…" Tucker whimpered out as a very bedraggled looking Vlad Plasmius floated down the street, clearly heading for their house. Sam knew what he was thinking…that Danny was dead and Vlad had won. But, she knew that wasn't the case. She flashed Tucker her customary smirk, leaving him with a confused then shocked look as she strode out the door to meet the deranged halfa. She smiled at him, the same way she used to smile at her parents when they thought they could force her to do something she didn't want to and took off the pendant. She dangled it in front of her face and said in a clear and challenging voice, "You want this Plasmius? Come and get it."

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A/N: Review por favor!