Hey-o!

I'm back! And quiet sore and tired. But it's all good!

Here's... what is it now, chapter 16?

Yes, Chapter 16!

Sam and Danny stood in the den in Danny's house, arguing loudly to be heard over the noises of destruction coming up from the lab. Jack Fenton hadn't wasted any time and, from the sounds echoing up the stairs, was already dismantling the invention Einzel had used against his son.

"Danny, you need to stay here and rest." Sam scolded, her worried gaze looking over her tired friend's form. "I'll go get Tucker back. With this thermos and a lighter, it shouldn't be too hard." Sam pushed Danny down onto the couch. "You'll fall asleep on your feet, you already did before."

Danny stubbornly stood up again. "No, I'm coming with you." He wasn't going to let Einzel have another chance to take Sam away from him.

He tried to look energetic, even though it had been a huge effort just to stand up off of the couch.

Sam saw right through him.

"Dan-"

"I'm coming with." He repeated firmly. Sam sighed, Danny could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Fine, here's the thermos, I'll keep the lighter."

Danny nodded his head, relieved Sam had given up without much of a fight; he didn't have much energy left and he didn't want to waste it arguing.

"She's gone." Sam stated, the first rays of the sun shinning though the deserted alley. Danny slumped against the brick wall.

"What do we do now?" He asked, his sullen gaze staring blankly down the alley.

"We rest."

"And then…?"

Sam sighed, "Then we research Einzel."

It had been almost six hours since sunrise, and Jack was still working away in the lab, getting closer by the second to finishing his invention that would cure Danny. Sam paced around the kitchen impatiently.

Everything Einzel had done fit together perfectly now, but that knowledge still didn't make Sam feel any less helpless.

While Danny was still fast asleep, Sam had gone online and looked up the name Einzel. Much to her surprise, a whole list of pages had come up, filled with rumors and speculations on where the ghost had come from and the limit of her powers. But what made Sam so nervous had not been the descriptions of Einzels hypnotic prowess over males, but rather, the thesis that she was controlled by a particular object.

There was someone else controlling Einzel's actions, telling her who to attack and when. And if that someone was who Sam thought it was…

She looked impatiently up the stairs towards Danny's room. He really did need his sleep, but he would know more about the object… and if her suspicions were correct… then they needed to take action.

Now.

Her mind made up, Sam dashed up the stairs.

"Daaaanny!" Sam barreled through his door, practically knocking it off it's hinges. Danny shot straight up, throwing his bed sheets everywhere.

"Wha…? S-Sam?" He stared around, his eyes wide. "What happened?"

Sam marched over, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out of bed.

"Time to get up!" She yelled in a falsely cheery voice. Danny groaned, rubbing his eyes and relaxing a bit.

"I have something to show you." She added in an undertone. This got Danny's attention, any sleep that had been in his eyes now gone. His mind immediately went to Tucker.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice apprehensive. Sam didn't say anything, instead sitting down at his computer and turning it on. She turned around while it booted up.

"I couldn't sleep long, I was too worried. So I went online and looked up Einzel." Sam turned around again, typing in "Paulina Fenton" for the password. It was rejected.

"Oh, heh…" Danny pushed Sam away, hiding the keyboard from her view while he typed in his new password. Sam raised her eyebrow at his back.

"There." He stepped back, letting Sam have the keyboard again. Sam stared at him for a second, her eyebrow still raised questioningly, but he purposely avoided her look. Sam shook her head, bringing her mind back to more pressing matters. She'd question Danny later.

She brought up the page she had found while Danny kneeled down beside her.

"Here, read this." Sam pointed at a particular line, a line she practically had memorized from the numerous times she had read it. Danny leaned forward, his face illuminated by the screen.

"Some believe that whoever holds this powerful artifact can control Einzel, making her do whatever they wish." He looked at Sam, confused.

"What artifact?" He asked. Her eyes shot to the line above the one Danny had just read. Danny followed her gaze, reading the line silently. His eyes widened.

"The Crown of Fire?" Danny sucked in his breath, his eyes narrowing. "Vlad!"

Sam nodded her head slowly, her suspicions confirmed. "That's what I was afraid of."

Danny stood up and started pacing the room, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

"It must have been him that lured my mom away with a fake meeting, he wouldn't want to hurt her…" He paced for a while longer, thinking back over what had happened.

"I have to stop him." He said finally, looking determined. "He's gone too far this time." He glanced over at Sam. "Has my dad finished his invention, yet?" He asked hopefully. Sam shook her head.

"How long will that take your dad?" She asked. "Won't the effects of the blast wear off before he's finished?" Danny walked back to the computer and Sam.

"Well, when Skulker shot me the first time, it shorted out my powers even after a week had passed." Danny said, remembering his walk to Sam's house, and his guilt for leaving his dad alone.

"Einzel." Sam stated.

"What?" Danny tore his thoughts away from Vlad.

"That was really Einzel controlling Skulker."

"Oh… really?" He asked, looking at her. She nodded. "And my dad…?"

"Also her." Sam said, suddenly realizing something. That's why Jack had to chase us on foot, he wasn't possessed, he was hypnotized.

Sam absently rubbed the bruise the size of a rock on the back of her head, pondering. She noticed Danny looking at her, silently asking her to continue. She did.

"She caused everything, hypnotizing people and controlling them while she hid safely in her alley. Your exposure, your father, Tucker's betrayal…me." Danny glanced at her when she said the last part, then looked quickly back at the computer.

"Uh, Sam?" He said softly. She looked at him, her hands fidgeting nervously in her lap.

"…yeah?" She asked quietly, feeling guilty about not realizing that Tucker had been hypnotized, for walking right into Einzel's trap, for being so …so stupid! Sam yelled at herself. Come on, Sam! Tucker just happened to stumble upon us, in the middle of the forest, at night!

"Sam, I-I should have…" Danny choked on his words, scrambling to find the right thing to say. Sam laid a hand on his arm, stopping him. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"Danny, don't worry about it." She said, guessing that he had been about to apologize for not being able to help. "I can take care of myself." She added with a hint of pride, giving Danny a warm smile.

"Yeah, but I should have saved you!" Danny burst out, angry at himself. "I should have helped you! This is my fight, my responsibility! But I fell for her trap, I believed that you were gone."

"Dann-" She started, but he interrupted her, his voice soft but filled with emotion.

"Sam, I could have lost you." Danny looked at her pleadingly, his eyes reflecting the fear he had felt. "I thought I already had."

Sam's voice caught in her throat; what was she supposed to say to that?

Their little moment was interrupted by Danny's dad bursting through the already beaten door.

"Finished!" He yelled, holding up a green device proudly. Danny nervously straightened his shirt, trying to regain his dignity after practically jumping through the ceiling. Sam tried not to grin. Jack continued, oblivious as always.

"This little baby will cure you from whatever curse that ghost shot you with." Without waiting for a reply, Jack aimed the green fork like device at Danny, shooting him with a green blast of electricity.

Danny gasped, the green energy working it's way through his body. His felt his energy return in the wake of the green energy's tingling, and the familiar security of his powers reappeared in the back of his mind. He looked at his dad in astonishment.

His dad just grinned.

Holding his breath, Danny held up his arms.

"Going ghost!"

The room flashed white, two rings engulfing Danny.

Sam smiled in pure relief while Jack grinned proudly.

The rings disappeared, the light display gone. Danny Phantom stood before them, looking as energetic and determined as ever. He held up his white-gloved hand, looking it over. He easily called up a ball of green fire in his palm.

Danny grinned evilly, his fist clenching.

"Here I come, Vlad."

A/N: If these last two chapters bored you, then hopefully the next chapter will make up for it. …especially if you like action. Oh, and don't worry, I didn't forget about Tucker.

(Angel) Thanks! (Conan) Hmm, I never really thought about her family, just about before and then how she died. Ahh, I love those books so much! Especially when Tas is narrating, heh, he's my fav. (MasterP) Thanks! I need serious tutoring on romance writing, my guy friends are getting tired of all the embarrassing questions I keep asking them. Like, "What would you do if...?" They usually don't answer, but instead get all embarrassed and insanely interested in the game they're playing, which usually gives me my answer anyway! snickers I'm glad I got Danny's dad down! (MissM) Yeah, Disney did do a good job, especially getting Robin Williams to do Genies voice! Hmm, I haven't seen the show choir version... Is it good? (ObiQ) I gotta say, I love Vlad. He's probably the best villlian I've ever seen/read. And now you know her motives! Oh, and thanks...again! (EnigP) Er, well, yeah...kinda the same with this chapter... but NEXT chapter! Oh man, now that was fun to write! And get better soon! Ach, man, that thing has been circling around my school, but I have avoided it so far. dodges all of my sick friends' coughs (SleepW) For Track, of course! Heh, crazy people who DON'T like to run, what is wrong with you? Heh heh...heh... Hey, has Tennis started yet? Thanks, btw! (Crazy) Thanks! (CaptainD) Thanks! Oh, and I'll try... but you'll probably only see that in Vlad in the next story.

Oh yeah, this chapter is short on purpose. I was writing this and the next chapter as one whole chapter, which just kept going and going… So I cut it short there. The good news? I pretty much have the next chapter finished, I just have to go through and fix the billions of spelling mistakes. If I have enough time, I might even be able to post it tomorrow! (It will be late at night, though, as usual.) But at the latest, it will be up by next weekend. I promise.

Reviews are as amazing as running! (Aww, c'mon, you know that's pretty darn amazing.)