Notes:

I have to be honest with all of you: I was not fully convinced about the last chapter when I posted it. Needless to say, I was kinda worried about your response. So, I really mean it when I say: THANK YOU! You guys rock out loud.

Anyway… here's a new chapter. The beginning is about what happened to Fenton while he was in the empty classroom (in case you don't get it right away).

Chapter 9: Red Eyes

Block my thoughts.

Block my thoughts.

Block my thoughts? How the hell am I going to do that? Maybe if I put my mind to think about something else. Something random. Like… let's say… oranges.

Yeah… that's it! Oranges. That's a very random thing. Even the Ghost Writer thought so when he…

Oh, crud…

How is it that I can link something as common as an orange to an enemy I had when I was Danny Phantom? Whether it was in a dream or not…

Ok. I have to think of something else.

Music? No. That will remind be about Ember.

Movies? No. There's those two times with Desiree… the first when Tucker became a ghost at the movies and the second when Sam made a wish after Tuck and I turned her down with the premiere she wanted to attend.

Food? No. Lunch Lady.

Boxes? No. Box Ghost.

Computers? No. Technus.

Animals? No. Vlad's pets and Skulker's box of oddities.

(Sigh)

Bet that leaves me with no other choice: childhood memories.

Danny Fenton sat comfortably on the floor with his back against the door of the empty classroom. Phantom had just left a couple of minutes ago so he still needed to think of ways to spend his time before his ghost half came back with his friends.

He sighed and passed his fingers through his black hair. Maybe I should start with the oldest memories I've got.

He closed his eyes and started remembering things such as the first time he met his two best friends, the time he broke his leg while climbing up a tree, the day his parents took him to the carnival when he was eight, or the countless occasions in which he and Jazz used to play and even fight. All of them were good memories he hadn't thought about for a while.

This last bit reminded him why he hadn't thought about all of it: the accident in the lab. Whether it resulted with him in a coma or with ghost powers, it was until now that he evoked those recollections.

He tried to avoid any ghost-related memory brought to his mind, but failed miserably. Before he could give up on the matter, a voice nearby startled him.

"About us," the familiar voice coming from the hall said.

Danny leaned closer to the door to listen attentively to whatever his ghostly counterpart and his friends were saying. He pressed his ear against the wooden surface of the door.

"Us?" three other voices asked in unison.

Fenton was curious about whatever Phantom was trying to do. He raised an eyebrow as he listened about how the boy posing as him said he wanted to talk about the current love triangle with Sam and Valerie. The eavesdropping boy couldn't stop his face from blushing.

What the hell is he thinking? Who on Earth asks two girls to make a decision like that? Although, I must say it was a good way to convince me he's real. I would NEVER hallucinate doing a thing like THAT.

Seriously… what was he thinking?

The next thing Fenton heard was a click from the knob and he fell out of the room to the floor. His wide eyes met the still blue ones of his phantom half.

"So... convinced?" Phantom asked as he let the two rings transform him back to his ghastly self.

He was tangible this time, he spoke with my friends, AND he brought up a topic I would never consider talking about. So, am I convinced? Given to all the weird things that happened to me as Danny Phantom, I shouldn't be so surprised if he's telling the truth about the ghost who wants to destroy us.

"Ok… I believe you," Fenton replied simply. He then took Phantom's gloved hand and stood up.

Once on his feet, Fenton shot him a nasty look. "You do know you didn't have to bring up the whole thing with Sam and Val, right?"

Phantom just laughed as soon as the human teenager said that.

What's so funny about that? I mean it. He didn't have to bring it up. (Sigh) Ok, I believe there are far more important things to be dealing with right now. So, I have to ask…

"What are we going to do now?"

"He's going to be busy with what I just told him," Phantom informed Fenton.

"Yeah. But… What. Are. We. Going. To. Do. Now?" the human half asked slowly, thinking that the ghost just ignored his previous question.

"You go on and take your place. Act as usual. Meanwhile, I'll try to find how to get out of this trance or whatever it is. I mean… there has to be a way we can communicate to the outside, right? I don't know. If I could get control of our mouth so we can at least mumble something. I'll see what can be done," the ghostly hero said and was about to phase through the ceiling but Fenton stopped him.

"Wait…" he started. The boy then shifted uncomfortably. "What if there's no way to make our minds merge? Or what if we never wake up? What then?" Fenton asked, not hiding his fear.

Phantom's expression was a cold and serious one. "Maybe you don't remember this, but I'm the Danny who never gives up. YOU still have that in you. That's how you should know that we are going to succeed one way or another. I told you before and I'll say it again: I would never think about giving up on you. We are a team. Together, we'll beat that mind-twisting fiend," the ghost stated.

Fenton blinked a couple of times and then began to chuckle. Phantom raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" Ironic how it was now the ghost's turn to be unable to find what was so amusing of the situation.

"Who says there's no "I" in team, right?" Fenton replied with a smile.

Phantom rolled his eyes. "You're late with that remark. The other half of your mind already thought about it," he said with a smirk and then took off. "I'll drop by later." The ghost phased through the ceiling and left the human boy alone.

Fenton just sighed and started walking towards the cafeteria. I hope he's right… There must be a way to get out of this.

The rest of the day went on almost as usual. Danny spent some time with his friends (who were still confused about the whole conversation they had earlier with the one they thought was Danny), he then went home with Jazz (who didn't talk much on their way to FentonWorks), he locked himself in his room, and avoided everyone for the remainder of the day.

He didn't have any homework but he supposed his ghostly foe was so distracted that he forgot about it. So, Danny found himself with nothing to do but wait for Phantom to return.

As the boy rested on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he supposed it was safe to 'unblock' his thoughts considering that the evil ghost was probably busy trying to figure out what to do with Danny's love life.

There has to be something I can do. No way am I leaving Phantom alone with all the work. If this ghost has been centering his power towards me, then I could be the key to stop whatever he's trying to accomplish.

Let's check the facts according to Phantom:

1) It's a ghost. 2) He split our minds. 3) He's trying to destroy us. 4) He gets weak if he uses too much energy. 5) He's using me to vanish Phantom from existence.

So… if I hold on to my ghost half, he will remain intact. We would be stronger. What if all it takes for our enemy to fade is just some concentration? Like… trying to unmask his charade or something. Seeing is believing, right? But what if not believing is not seeing? If we refuse to believe his lies, the dream-like prison he created should fade. Then, maybe, just maybe, we could go back to normal.

It's worth a shot. I should tell Phantom as soon as he comes back.

Danny continued staring at the ceiling and tried to imagine it was not there. He tested his theory but nothing happened. He tried with something smaller and less complicated like a coin he had in his pocket. He could've sworn he saw the quarter blur a bit, but nothing else happened.

With no real activities for him to do now that he knew that everything surrounding him wasn't real, he got bored and slowly fell asleep.

…

It was dark. He couldn't see a thing. The air was cold and the wind brushed past his face. He was mostly numb but somewhere in his lack of sensation he recognized a familiar feeling: pain.

His head ached and his throat was sore, just like it felt when he released his Ghostly Wail. He then realized why everything was so dark… his eyes were closed.

Slowly, trying to ignore the pain, he began to move his eyelids to see where he was. He knew so far that he was resting on a hard surface. It almost felt like the pavement. His vision was blurry but he managed to focus on a figure kneeling by his side. It was a shadow-like creature wearing a black cloak. Its intense red eyes were directing their gaze on the boy.

'Very hard to miss…' Danny thought dryly. He remembered he has said the exact same thing not long ago and gasped at the sudden realization.

"You're him!" he said in a raspy voice.

The creature, who had his hands held over Danny as if he were absorbing the boy's energy, began to glow and his red eyes were the last things Danny could see before losing consciousness.

…

Danny woke up startled. He sat with a bolt on his bed and immediately looked at his surroundings.

Did I dream that or was I able to do what I think I did?

Just then, Phantom flew quickly into the room with an alarmed expression. "Something's wrong. I think he knows what we're trying to do. I can feel his energy turning stronger all of the sudden," the ghost boy said concerned.

Fenton was still in shock after his dream. He turned to face Phantom and looked at him directly in the eye. "I think I know what happened," the human started softly. Phantom listened attentively. "I think I was able to reach the real world but he sent me back to sleep or whatever this is."

"What? Are you serious?" the ghostly hero asked in surprise. The other Danny nodded. "What did you do? How did you manage to wake up?"

The human boy remained silent for a couple of seconds. "I just went to sleep and found myself lying on the street with a creepy guy kneeling next to me. But I don't know how I did it or who that was," he replied honestly.

"If he really knows, we're screwed," Phantom said.

Before any of them could add anything else, a knock on the door snapped them out of their thoughts and interrupted their conversation. Both of them looked at each other.

"Danny, open the door. We need to talk," the voice of Jazz called from outside the room.

Notes: Sorry for the cliffy and for any confusing moments. And sorry about the length.

Save Danny Phantom from cancellation! Check at the bottom of the previous chapter for ways to help.