Candeh- I appreciate the people who've IMed me. :D Hope you like the new chapter! (And for those of you that are wondering, I do like Vlad. But I like Danny more, and always will, and still think they should make a PG-13 version of Danny in spandex. I'll be waiting, Nickelodeon - and the other channels I watch that would actually, maybe consider it. ;)

Chapter 13-

"Vlad?" Sam said, startled to see Vlad behind her, climbing and stumbling through the dark and up the stairs to Danny. "What do you want?" Of course, Sam had already known it was him all along, but Paulina looked at Vlad as if he were to attack any moment. When Vlad caught her eye, she looked away, as if she wasn't looking at him at all.

"I'm getting Daniel," Vlad said, pushing aside. "He's in trouble, I-" and Sam cut him off.

"You?" she asked, laughing through mascara tears. "Saving Danny?"

"Yes," Vlad said, stopping. "Are you coming?"

Sam looked at Vlad, smiled quickly, reassuring herself that he was truthful. From the look in his worried eyes, and almost looking inside his head, she could tell he was, and ran up after him, turning him around by the shoulder, making him wobble a little. "We could use you."

Vlad smiled, eyes bright, and Paulina finally spoke up, "You're the guy on my dad's magazines!" And Vlad's face went pale. He knew everyone had known him, and now he knew that everyone had known he was a ghost. He looked away, scared at what she would say.

"We should get going," he said, running up the stairs again, his mind racing over Maddie and Jack, and Danny, and then people of Amity Park knowing about him...and Danny. He sighed, shaking his head to himself, running at constant speed even though Paulina kept talking.

Her voice was quaking because of the crying, but excited. "You're a ghost."

Vlad didn't say anything. Sam turned around, shooting Paulina a begging look for her to just shut the hell up, but in a nice way; she had apologized. Paulina looked down, realizing how this sounded, and then at the back of Vlad running up the stairs.

"You're like Danny," Paulina said. "We've all seen you...you're not exactly a hero."

She raised an eyebrow and Vlad turned around sharp. "If you don't mind, Daniel is up there and we should get going, but if--"

Paulina cut him off, "And if you're like Danny, Mr. Masters," she kept her face stony, looking a few times at the stairs below her so she wouldn't fall right through. "Amity Park needs you." She listened for a second, thinking of something meaningful to say, and then sighed. She had obviously thought of something, but then again, it wasn't as meaningful as she had hoped it would sound. She nudged Sam, hoping to think of a better one.

Sam looked at Vlad, all three of them teary eyed. "Can you hear that?"

Vlad listened, not taking his eyes off them, "You're stalling," he said, a part of him feeling that if she had said something meaningful, it would ruin himself and he wouldn't know who he was anymore.

"It's Amity Park," Sam said.

Vlad wanted to cover his ears. He just wanted to get Danny out and save him. He wanted to go back to Maddie and Jack. He wanted to go home, sit in his chair, and be featured on the cover of magazines with no one knowing he was anyone else but Vlad Masters. Not Plasimus.

"And the wind," Sam said. "It's almost calling your names. Danny's too."

Paulina sighed. "That sucked."

And Sam laughed, mind suddenly on Danny again, running up the stairs past Vlad.

Vlad stood on the step, blank faced, and then ran up the stairs. He wasn't himself anymore.

Danny's POV:

"Vlad? Sam? Paulina?"

"Danny!" Sam said, coming over to hug me lying on the floor. She pushed aside Walker who was standing over me, fists clenched. He smiled, seeing Sam's gratitude for me, and laughed, not bothering to push her back aside.

Paulina ran to the other side of me.

Vlad stood in the doorway.

I got up, and Sam and Paulina got off me, grabbing me by the hands. I grabbed theirs, looking at Sam and smiling, looking at her eyes, and then at Vlad.

"Go," Vlad said.

"No," I said.

"GO!"

"NO,"I shot back.

Vlad looked at me, shocked I had yelled at then doubled himself, without transforming into his ghost form. He spread out, eight Vlads in the entire room. The all walked towards Walker, who looked confused by this, and then smiled.

"Clever, Plasimus."

Vlad shot a long green laser at Walker who shot back against the wall. He got up quickly recovering, and expressed a resentful look. He looked at me. I fired another ray at him, and he fell back again. Walker got up, and the Vlads went back into one.

"You ruined me," Vlad said.

"Well your back to your old self," Walker said, laughing.

Vlad shot a blast of red laser at him, and it sent it through the wall. Vlad stepped through the hole it made, and I did too, still holding the hands of Paulina and Sam.

"You ruined Danny," Vlad said.

Walker laughed. "I know, it's just terrible."

"You ruined Amity Park," Vlad said.

I looked at him, shooting multiple blasts at Walker who was flying back against the wall, startled. I went up to Walker and punched him a few times and he looked at me, disbelieving. "Get off me," he panted, lifting me up.

"Sam, Paulina," I said. "Go downstairs and get the thermos."

"You don't have it with you?" Sam said, shocked.

I looked embarrassed for a second, hoping that that it would even work. The thermos has sucked in bigger things than Walker, but nothing this complicated. I sighed. "Paulina, go with her."

Paulina nodded and ran out of the room. Sam stalled for a second, and then ran out, head in her hands. I turned to Walker.

"A thermos?" Walker said. "You think you can stop me with a thermos?"

He laughed and looked at Vlad, who was standing by me, looking at himself in a broken mirror.

"What's wrong, Masters?" Walker said.

I swung a punch at Walker, but missed, and another, but missed again and then a ray, but it bounced off Walker sending me flying back through the hole into another room.

"How long you look in that mirror, Plasimus," Walker laughed. "It's still going to be you."

Vlad looked in the mirror longer, and then at Vlad, laughing. Vlad was laughing hysterically, his hands rushing through his hair, and both Walker and I stood back, shockingly.

"Vlad?" I said, "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" Vlad said. He stepped towards me, grabbing my shoulders, pulling me towards the mirror. "Danny, I'm over."

He kept laughing, and then Walker laughed. I looked in the mirror.

Vlad looked at his reflection, laughing, and then at Walker, laughing. "I'm over."

It was then I knew it was over. But whenever there's an ending, there's a beginning.

Although Vlad couldn't hide it, I knew that I couldn't hide who I really was, and Amity Park was in trouble. Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton. Me. I couldn't believe all these years I had been so afraid of everything. Of my life. Or my school. Of my parents. Of me. I had stopped running, intentionally or not, and there was still a chance that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom could try to make it better. I closed my eyes, looking at Walker.

"No, Vlad," I said, my eyes flashing. I pushed him away, shrugging off my reflection and looking at Walker. "But he is." Danny Phantom's back.