DarkFoxKit: *Comes home, flops onto the couch* I hate coming home when it gets dark...

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Quickly goes over to Fox with a warm blanket* Are you okay? It's pretty chilly outside and you aren't that big so it's easier for you to get cold fast.

DarkFoxKit: I'm fine. I do have some pretty thick fur. *Snuggles in the blanket* How were you today while I was out?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I was doing pretty good. I finalized one of my New Year's Resolutions, which is to get in touch with my emotions better.

DarkFoxKit: *Perks up at this* Oh? That sounds like a good New Year's Resolution. I usually don't have one of those. ^^'

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Well a resolution is kinda like a present to yourself. Speaking about presents, whatever happened to my Christmas present? The ominous sounding one that apparently needed an incantation.

DarkFoxKit: Ooooh… um… well, it's not ready yet. I still have a few bugs to work out with it.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Lets out a silent sigh of relief while giving a look of disappointment* That's too bad. Here I was looking forward to that awesome present. Oh well, guess it'll have to wait till next Christmas.

DarkFoxKit: No way, just because it's late, doesn't mean I have to wait until next Christmas. It'll be done soon. You're going to love it~

*One of Onyx's eyes started to twitch*

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Has her teeth clenched together* Great… can't wait…

DarkFoxKit: *Sniffs the air* Are you cooking something?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I was making some tacos as I know it's one of your favorite dishes.

DarkFoxKit: Oooh! Oh, but… I… uh… ordered pizza for dinner.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Has a disappointed look on her face for a split second before forcing a smile* Oh… well, I guess you can have it for lunch tomorrow.

DarkFoxKit: Oh, but I-

*The doorbell rang.*

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I'll get it! *Rushes over to the door*

*When Onyx opened the door, she was suddenly drowned in pizza boxes*

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Ahh! So much pizza! *Gets buried under pizza boxes* Fox! Help!

Andy: *Comes over to the piles of pizza boxes* … Fox, did you get my dad to order again?

DarkFoxKit: Um… maybe?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': HALP!

DarkFoxKit: I just figured that Onyx would like some pizza, and since she's a big girl, she would need a lot of pizzas to fill her up~

Andy: You realize that you'll have to clean all this up, right?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I CAN'T BREATHE!

DarkFoxKit: You could take some home with you, Andy, I'm sure your parents would love to eat some.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Will one of you help me already!?

Andy: Oh! Sorry about that, Onyx!

*DarkFoxKit and Andy tried to pull the giant dragon out of the pizza box avalanche. It took a bit before they finally managed to pull her out, Onyx was covered in cheese, pepperoni, sausages, and other toppings*

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I'm… I think I'm gonna go take a shower.

Andy: *Takes some of the cheese off and tastes it* You should eat some of it before you do, it'd be a shame to waste all this.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Whines* Don't eat from me like I'm some plate!

DarkFoxKit: *Was already eating off of Onyx* Mmm, didn't know dragon scales go well with pizza~

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Squirms* Stoppit!

Andy: Perhaps I should go check on the tacos to make sure they don't burn. You two… uh… have fun.

DarkFoxKit: *Wags her tail while she continues to eat off of Onyx* Why don't you tell our lovely readers to get to the chapter? I'm sure they're eager to get to it than watch a fox eating pizza off of a messy dragoness~

Andy: *Grabs the camera and turns it away from the weirdness towards himself* Hey everyone, go ahead and read the chapter. Hopefully Onyx will be clean by the time they need to do reviews. If you have any questions or comments about the chapter, leave them in a review. Otherwise I hope you all have a great couple weeks until the next update. Oh! Also go check out Fox's new story, Crusaders of Dusk. It's a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon story with a couple of interesting twists right from the start.

Chapter 82: Finding More than a Cure

I can't believe what Danny is doing. Even after I warned him about what could happen if he tries to change the past! I guess it's true what they say… Fentons always have to learn the hard way… I sighed to myself as I was flying through the Ghost Zone and heading in the direction of Clockwork's tower as fast as I could fly, my legs had already shifted into the ghostly tail. I just hope that Danny really did go to Clockwork's tower, or I could be going in the completely wrong direction.

What if I am going in the wrong direction? What if Danny isn't heading to Clockwork's tower at all? What if he decided to go somewhere else to get help? No, going somewhere else doesn't make sense… Danny would definitely go to Clockwork instead of anybody else… But what if I'm already too late and the black knight got him?

Images of what could happen flashed before my eyes. I became scared for Danny that the black knight might try to eat him or his core or whatever. There had to be a reason why the black knight ambushed Danny, knocked him out, and took him somewhere. Whatever the reason may be, I won't let them take Danny away.

I saw something black and white ahead of me that caught my attention. Ironically, white was a rare color in the Ghost Zone, that was either a rare type of ghost, or it was Danny. I flew towards the black and white shape. The closer I got, the easier it was for me to recognize the shape as Danny. Good, Danny hadn't gotten to where the black knight would ambush him, and he's not flying as fast as he can, so I can catch up to him.

I kept flying as fast as I could. I realized that I was being a little reckless, but I didn't want to take the chance that Danny would suddenly take off even faster, then I wouldn't be able to catch up to him at all. I was also worried that black knight could be nearby.

"DANNY!" I shouted when I got in close, but I realized one little problem with this plan. I was flying so fast that I wouldn't be able to stop without causing immense whiplash, and well, I didn't want Danny taking off before I could catch him.

Danny turned for a second just before I crashed into him. Both of us went spiraling through the Ghost Zone for several feet, but I was clinging onto Danny like my lifeline. When we finally managed to stop flipping around, Danny frowned.

"Andy? What the heck was that for?" Danny demanded.

I was still holding onto Danny's arms. "To make sure you didn't go flying off on your own! What the heck are you even doing out here, Danny? You know how dangerous it is to be in the Ghost Zone by yourself!"

"I was going to talk to Clockwork," Danny informed.

"You're going to talk to Clockwork… is that all you were planning to do?" I asked. "If so, why did you leave without me?"

"Because I know you wouldn't have let me go had I told you," Danny responded. "You would've started trying to point out everything that could go wrong while we're away or what could happen while we're in the Ghost Zone."

"I only pointed out what could go wrong if you tried to change the past," I sighed. "But yes, the Ghost Zone is generally a dangerous location for us. Especially if one of us decided to go alone, like you were doing."

"I'm sorry, bro, but I couldn't just sit around and watch our friends die!" Danny raised his voice. "Especially when I know that there is someone who can most likely help. And if the Ghost Zone is so scary, why are you here? How did you even find me?"

"I had a vision of you in here, getting ambushed by the black knight, and getting taken away," I answered. "That's why I was in such a hurry to get to you that I ended up crashing into you."

"Wait… you saw me getting ambushed by the black knight?" Danny blinked. "Here?"

"Yes!" I frowned.

"Then we should move," Danny stated. "If the black knight is going to ambush me here then let's go somewhere that isn't here, like Clockwork's tower."

Before Danny could move, however, I quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. Well, I tried to grab his arm, but I ended up grabbing his tail instead. "Wait!"

Danny looked back with an annoyed look. "What is it now?"

"If we're going to Clockwork's tower, then we should go invisible and quietly. There's no guarantee that black knight won't still attack you just because I'm here," I suggested, letting go of Danny's tail.

"If we go invisibly, we'll have to go slowly." Danny shook his head. "We should fly to Clockwork's tower as fast as possible. Time is of the essence, Andy, and I'm not going to waste time unnecessarily just so we don't possibly get attacked by the black knight."

"Danny, we're not- Danny!" I couldn't even get a word in because my brother flew away quickly.

Darn it, Danny! I know you want to save our friends, but it wouldn't kill you to listen to me! It would kill you to not! I growled as I quickly flew after my hasty brother.

Danny's going too fast, I'm already falling behind. I frowned. I think I'm rusty… Danny had been fighting for the past few weeks while we were at that other realm, while I had lost my ghost powers during that time...

"I definitely chose the right twin to be a potential apprentice."

I stopped when I heard a sudden voice, and looked around, before looking up to see the black knight floating there in a new set of full armor. "You… who are you? What do you want with Danny?" Potential apprentice? She wants Danny as her apprentice?

"Does your hearing not work?" The black knight asked.

"I heard you just fine. But I don't understand why you want Danny as your apprentice," I clarified. "Surely there are other ghosts you could train as your apprentice or something." I better watch myself, this knight's aura feels strong, almost as strong as Scarlet's...

"There are other ghosts, yes, but none are as unique or as powerful as your brother," The black knight informed. "Firstly, he is a halfa who has been granted a gift. Secondly his ghost half is that of a child, meaning his potential is limitless at the moment."

I was trying to think of what the black knight meant by Danny being a halfa who had been granted a gift. I doubt she meant the same thing as me or Vlad, since she seemed interested in Danny, not me.

"You have a similar gift, but sadly you are nowhere near your brother's level," The black knight continued. "While yes, you have quite the limitless potential at the moment, you squander that gift and potential by acting cautious and not pushing yourself. You seem like the type to barely take risks. While your brother is the type who would work hard on a project that may fail, but he is trying nonetheless because he has hope, you would rather work on things that have a guaranteed success."

I frowned, knowing that she was likely insulting me, but I was more interested in what she was saying. "What do you mean by 'gift'?"

"Do you truly think you and your brother would've survived whatever turned you into halfas without some kind of protection?" The black knight asked.

I narrowed my eyes. That accident again? The one that always seemed to be destined to happen to Danny no matter what I did? I don't know what kind of science or genes had to happen for it to work, but I never thought too much about it, especially after what happened when Danny tried to turn everyone into halfas that time...

"Do you really think that you would've only half died in whatever event happened had there not be some sort of 'guardian angel' looking out for you?" The black knight questioned. "Think about it, what is the likelihood you would have only half died in any sort of accident?"

"There shouldn't have been one," I answered, remembering when I thought Danny was dead when I discovered his ghost form.

"Rumor is that there wasn't just one 'accident' though," The black knight chuckled. "Some ghosts say that something happened to Danny at one point that turned him back to a full living human mortal. If those rumors are true, then that may explain why Danny has been known for longer than you and you aren't as strong as him. It would also explain why you became a halfa so long after Danny did. Tell me, how was it?~"

"I know that by saying this I'm in danger of angering you, and getting myself killed, but that's none of your business," I huffed.

"Oh, you are mistaken, child." The black knight laughed. "I'm not here to harm anyone, if I was, we wouldn't be talking. I should also clarify my question… how was it to die alongside your brother? Well… half die."

"We didn't half die… we're half ghost, but we're not literally half dead," I pointed out. Or so I tell myself that...

"How do you think ghosts come to be, child?" The black knight inquired.

I frowned, not wanting to answer that question. It was true that people only became ghosts when they died, it was why I thought Danny was dead for the longest time. "Well, what we are doesn't make us dead. It's not possible to be half dead or half alive."

"Yet you and your brother are half living examples of the contrary," The black knight pointed out. "If you were to meet a reaper of death, they would be confused by what you are and would have absolutely no idea what to do with you. You and Danny are walking, floating, talking paradoxes that shouldn't exist, yet you do."

I shook my head. "We're getting off the subject. Who are you?"

"My name is Vesper," The black knight introduced. "I'm a black knight who is looking for an apprentice or two that will be unique and unlike any apprentice any knight has had before."

"And you chose Danny?" I frowned.

"I have two potential apprentices already in mind~" The black knight, who was apparently named Vesper, clarified.

She didn't show much interest in me. But I remember her looking at Juliette when we fell into the arena… so it's likely either Juliette or Scarlet she's talking about. I concluded before paling. Oh… this isn't good. What's going to happen if she manages to get her hands on Danny and Juliette? Or possibly Scarlet?

Vesper was smirking at me, probably relishing in my slight horror. I brought out as much courage as I could muster to narrow my eyes in defiance. "None of them would ever become your apprentice." Sure, I say that, but I know how disturbingly easy it is to brainwash or control another's mind. Still, that doesn't mean I can't make sure it doesn't happen.

"For someone who likes to look to the future and think about it, you are quite quick to deny a possible inevitability," Vesper scoffed.

Does she know about my visions? Or does she just mean about me thinking about the future? I wondered. "Why are you even telling me all this anyways? Wouldn't it just be easier to quietly take the people you're considering as your apprentices than to tell someone about it? Or perhaps you're so confident I wouldn't be able to do anything about it that you just want to brag about it to me."

"Wrong on both accounts," Vesper replied. "I'm telling you because I would like a challenge. I want to see what you, Danny, and your allies do to stop me from trying. I want a fight, that way when I get to Danny, or whoever else I may want, the victory feels all the sweeter and fulfilling~"

"I see…" I quietly responded. Does that mean she won't stop until she gets what she wants?

"Now, unless you have anything else you wish to discuss, I shall be heading back to my domain," Vesper remarked.

There were a lot of things of what you said that makes my head run with questions. But discussing those with you is the last thing I want to do. I glared.

Vesper chuckled. "Oh, how terrifying~"

"You're not going to try a sneak attack on us since you just declared you wanted a challenge, are you?" I asked.

"No." Vesper shook her head. "Even I have standards. And those standards include not attacking someone after making it clear I wouldn't as well as not interfering with someone set on a course to saving family or close friends."

Then was my vision wrong? Or did Vesper not know what Danny was doing when I saw that vision? I wondered to myself.

"I hope you and your brother finds what he is looking for when he reaches the master of all time," Vesper remarked as mist began to appear around her.

I blinked as I watched Vesper disappearing into the mist, before the mist dissipated. "Well… that's a cool way to teleport…"

I shook my head to get rid of the distraction. I'll have to put what Vesper said in the back of my mind for later, for now, it would be best if I caught up with Danny before something else happens. I quickly began flying to Clockwork's tower.

It didn't take me long to reach Clockwork's tower, but I was worried that Danny might've already gotten Clockwork to take him back in time. When I entered the tower, I quickly flew up the stairs to get to the room where I usually saw Clockwork. I was surprised to see Clockwork talking to Danny, I would've thought Clockwork would've already sent Danny back in time by now.

"For the 15th time, Daniel, I shall not be sending you back to the accident to stop it from happening," Clockwork stated, using Danny's full name to show he was getting annoyed.

"But Sam and Tucker need-" Danny frowned.

"I understand what is at stake, Daniel," Clockwork interrupted. "I understood after the first time you told me, but sending you back in time will only cause more problems than they will solve. Not just for you and the world, but specifically for myself…"

"What do you mean?" Danny asked. "I mean how much could this actually change?"

"A lot," I answered, coming into the room.

"Andy? Where've you been?" Danny questioned when I landed beside him.

"Talking to the black knight," I replied. "Thanks for leaving me back there by the way, I really appreciate it."

Danny frowned a little. "Did you say you were talking to the black knight?"

"Yes, I was," I confirmed. "Her name is Vesper, and she's interested in having you and possibly Juliette as her apprentices."

"Well great…" Danny grumbled. "Yet another problem to add to the pile."

I put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Danny, take a deep breath and let it out. You're not going to get anywhere being so agitated and tense."

"I was hoping you would be able to talk some reason into Danny," Clockwork remarked. "He was pretty dead set on having me send him back to the past, which I explained was absolutely not going to happen."

"It probably didn't help that you already did that for me a while back," I sheepishly admitted.

Danny frowned a little. "But what about Tucker and Sam?"

"They can be cured in the present, not the past," I said. "But maybe we can find out the cure if we go back to the root of the cause of the ecto acne."

"What?" Danny blinked.

"You may have been on the right track when you thought about going to the past to the point where Vlad got his ecto acne, but instead of interfering with it, maybe we can study it. See what caused the ecto acne in the first place. Doctors create medicine to combat diseases often by using things like the virus itself to fight against it or have the body develop an immunity towards it," I explained before looking at Clockwork. "Does that sound reasonable? Could you let us study how Vlad and our parents made their mini-ghost portal?"

"That is something I can do," Clockwork answered with a grin. "Viewing the past is harmless compared to going to said past."

Clockwork pushed a button on his time staff before waving it to the time window. Danny and I looked into the time window to see Mom, Dad, and Vlad in their college days. They looked similar to how they do now, but also different, and younger. The 80s were a different time back then, it was interesting to see how different. But we focused on the lab, where our parents and Vlad were making the mini-ghost portal. Of course, since I wasn't a genius on science technology, most of what they did or said went over my head.

However, there was one thing that stood out to me. When it got to the point where they were just checking their calculations, that was when I saw it.

"Jack, did you remember to pour in the ecto purifier?" Mom asked Dad.

"On it, baby!" Dad answered back as he was looking at his clipboard, not really paying attention to what he was grabbing on the table.

Danny's and my own eyes widened when we saw Dad grabbing a can of diet cola instead of the container that had the ecto-purifier, and Dad began to pour it into a machine that was hooked up to the mini-ghost portal.

"How foolish…" Clockwork sighed. "Your father was so caught up in what he was reading that he was paying little attention to his actions. This is why most labs with chemicals usually do not allow for outside bottles or cans of liquid."

Everything that happened after that, happened as Dad said before when he told us of Vlad's accident. But it was something to behold seeing it actually happen instead of just hearing about it. That green blast that hit Vlad in the face just looked so painful that I actually winced.

After Vlad showed he had ecto acne, Clockwork waved his time staff over the window, causing it to turn green and blank.

"So, did you find what you were looking for?" Clockwork asked as he shifted to an old ghost.

"Diet cola… it was seriously diet cola?" Danny blinked in disbelief.

"Yup, guess we now know the cure," I chuckled. "And we didn't even have to go back in time to stop Vlad from getting the ecto acne."

Clockwork gave a nod as he raised his staff a little. "Now you need to return that information to your family as quickly as you can."

"Thank you, Clockwork." I smiled before turning to Danny. "Hey, if you're going to fly as fast as you can, would you mind dragging me with you? I'm a bit rusty since I hadn't been able to use my ghost powers for a few weeks."

"Oh… yeah…" Danny sheepishly replied.

"No need for you two to fly back~" Clockworked smirked as he shifted into a child ghost before he brought down his staff.

There was a flash, and suddenly Danny and I were floating just outside of the Ghost Portal.

"Huh… that works." I smiled.

Danny nodded, giving a small smile himself, before we both flew through the Ghost Portal. As soon as we were in the lab, we turned back to our human forms, and raced upstairs.

When we came into the quarantine room, we saw that Vlad, Tucker, and Sam looked incredibly weak. Mom, Dad, and Jazz were trying to help them any way they could. Dad was pounding on Vlad's chest, though Vlad was so weak he could barely muster a small flinch. Jazz was wiping Sam's face with a washcloth.

"So… does this mean… we won't even… get to have our… 15th birthday party?" Tucker weakly asked.

"You'll get to have your 15th birthday, Tuck, don't you worry," Danny assured as we walked in.

"Danny, Andy, what are you two doing in here without hazmat suits?!" Mom snapped.

"Because they aren't contagious," Danny answered. "Andy and I did some research and managed to pull up very old security camera footage from your school's lab and we figured out what gave Vlad the ecto acne."

"Old security camera footage?" Dad blinked. "Where did you get that?"

"The internet," I informed. "Dad, instead of pouring in a bottle labelled 'Ecto Purifier' into a machine, you poured in diet cola."

"Diet… cola…?" Mom frowned before she quickly pulled out some papers and studying them. "Oh… my… Andy's right, Jack! We couldn't identify the impurities because we didn't know what to look for!"

"I guess it's just like Dad to pour diet cola instead of Ecto Purifier into his machine," I chuckled.

Dad gave a sheepish grin. "Uh… well, now we can make a cure!"

"I'm already on it," Mom said.

I was glad that we didn't have to wait long for Mom and Dad to create a cure. Mom was mixing up some kind of purple chemicals together with a can of diet cola into a container. I watched with bored fascination at the bright purple liquid bubbling in the container. She then poured the liquid into three separate glass cups. Danny took one of the cups, Jazz took another, and I took the last one.

Danny was helping Sam drink the liquid, while Jazz was helping Tucker. I went over to Vlad myself. Even though Tucker and Sam were in a pitiful state, Vlad looked even worse, likely because he had the ecto acne a lot longer than they had. Vlad was paler than usual, and he looked like he had blacked out earlier. Mom came over to help me with Vlad, she opened his mouth and lifted his body up while I poured in the liquid, hoping that he got it all down.

Once that was finished, we laid Vlad back down into the bed. Danny and Jazz came over to us, and we all waited. I was worried that maybe we might've been too late or the cure wasn't the right one, but thankfully, I didn't have to worry about it for long. The ecto acne began to clear up quickly on their faces, and color began to return to them as well.

"Thankfully it isn't taking too long." Mom smiled.

"Vladdie! You're cured!" Dad shouted cheerfully.

"That's great, Jack. But don't yell, my head is still pounding," Vlad groaned.

"Sam, Tucker!" Danny hugged Sam, before he went over to Tucker and hugged him as well. "I'm so glad the two of you are okay."

"Yeah, you really had us worried," I added.

"I'm feeling better, but still a bit weak…" Tucker groaned. "I think I need some meat."

"Trust me, the last thing you need is meat right now," Sam grumbled. "I do still feel weak myself though."

"Yeah, it's probably going to take you a few days to fully recover," Jazz stated. "You were just cured from a fatal disease after all."

"Which we wouldn't have had if it wasn't for…" Sam started to say angrily before she stopped, glaring at Vlad.

Danny and Tucker also glared at Vlad, knowing what Sam meant. I just gave a small frown, Jazz also just frowned.

"I knew you would come through for me," Vlad said with a smirk. "All it took was the right motivation."

Dad looked over at me and Danny. "Maddie and I are going to be leaving the room quickly to get out of our suits and get cleaned up."

"I'm also going to prepare some food for you both as you are no doubt hungry," Mom added. "Vlad, would you be staying?"

"As nice as that would be, Maddie, I should get back to Wisconsin," Vlad answered. "I'm doing an important project."

"Yes, you should be," Danny hissed slightly, trying to sound normal. "Wouldn't want to keep you away from your important dairy king businesses, would we?"

"That's really too bad, Vlad, it would've been nice to have you over for dinner," Dad sighed. "Jazz, you want to join us? You should remove your hazmat suit too and get cleaned up."

"Oh, yeah, I should do that," Jazz answered, though she did glance over at us in slight concern before she followed our parents out of the room.

"Unfortunately, I am still pretty weak from recovering," Vlad spoke up. "So perhaps you could just let bygones be bygones?"

Danny looked at me and smirked. "What do you say, bro? Should we let bygones be bygones?~"

I blinked at Danny. I knew that look in his eyes. "What… exactly are you planning to do?"

Danny walked over and whispered. "Say 'bye' to Vlad before we make sure he's gone and on his way back home~"

"Oh, well yeah, I guess that's fine," I answered.

Danny nodded before he extended a hand to Vlad.

Vlad looked at Danny's hand for a moment. "Is this a gentleman's gesture, Daniel?"

"You wanted bygones to be bygones, didn't you?" Danny asked. "Don't we have to shake on it in order to make it official?"

"You're really just going to let this go?" Sam questioned.

"It seems you're finally starting to mature, Daniel." Vlad smiled before he took Danny's hand.

Danny, however, didn't shake Vlad's hand. Instead, Danny transformed into his ghost form and went intangible, turning Vlad intangible as well.

"I told you, fruit loop, my name is Danny," Danny stated as he flew through the wall towards the street.

"Wah?" I was surprised at what Danny did, before I quickly turned myself intangible and hurried through the wall myself to see what was going on.

I saw Danny throwing Vlad high into the sky with his ghostly strength.

"Bye now, Vlad!~" Danny yelled. "Maybe this time you should stay gone!"

I knew I should've expected this from the look Danny gave earlier, but it still surprised me that he used his ghost powers to throw Vlad halfway across the world like that, especially when he was just recovering from a fatal disease. I didn't even know Danny could throw people like that.

Had Danny always been this aggressive or was it just towards Vlad? I mean Vlad did almost get our friends killed, but still… that was a bit too aggressive, even for Danny. I wondered to myself. Then there was what Vesper said before about Danny. It always seems there's a large gap between me and Danny. Due to what happened in the other realm, Danny's gotten a lot stronger, while I'm barely just catching up again. I really should talk to Scarlet about this.

Danny turned around, and noticed me standing there. "Hey, bro, I don't know about you, but that made me feel a lot better."

"Did you really have to throw a previously sick and dying man so hard like that?" I asked.

"Yup." Danny nodded. "If I had a choice, I'd have liked to aim for a prison so he could fall into a cell or something as that's what he deserves."

"Don't you think you're being a little… too aggressive?" I inquired softly.

"Andy, that man has nearly killed our family, split our family apart, and killed our friends on a number of occasions," Danny pointed out. "He should be grateful I don't start shooting ghost rays at him as soon as I see him."

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. "I guess you have a point…" Am I really being too cautious? Do I really don't like pushing myself or take risks? Is that why I'm so much weaker than Danny?

"Let's head back inside, bro," Danny said. "Make sure Mom and Dad don't make anything weird for Sam and Tucker to eat."

Despite what almost happened, everything went back to normal fairly quickly, well as normal as things could get around here. After dinner, Tucker and Sam went back home to let their parents know they were alright. I was glad that Sam's parents didn't know that their daughter had almost been done in by a fatal ghost disease, otherwise they would've likely had our parents thrown in jail or something, thinking it was their fault.

But that night, I couldn't sleep. Danny appeared to be sleeping just fine, but I just laid there in my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Hope probably noticed, since she sat up from my bed.

"Something troubling you?" Hope asked.

"Yeah…" I sighed.

"What's going on?" Hope questioned.

"A lot has happened…" I replied. "Danny's been acting more aggressive lately, and then there was that black knight…"

"Tell me everything then, since you have trouble sleeping," Hope suggested.

I nodded, and began to tell Hope what had been going on, how Danny treated Vlad, how I spoke with Vesper and what she said about being interested in Danny as her apprentice, and lamenting a little how much I've fallen behind due to losing my ghost powers for a few weeks.

"Sounds like you've got a lot on your mind," Hope replied.

"No kidding…" I blew up my hair a little.

"Perhaps you need a vacation," Hope stated.

"I don't know, I think maybe I need training…" I sighed. "I may not ever be as strong as my brother, but maybe I can get stronger in a different way…"

"Didn't you already try that?" Hope asked.

I sat up from my bed. "It doesn't mean I can't try again."

I got out of my bed and walked over to the dresser.

"What are you doing?" Hope questioned as I opened the drawer.

I picked up the pocket watch, seeing it glow slightly.

"What are you going to do with that?" Hope inquired, tilting her head a little.

"I want to test something," I said quietly, gripping onto the watch. If this watch can show me the future… could it show me what I want to know? Please, I need to know, what's going to happen to Danny in the future? Is Vesper going to take him? Is something else going on?

The watch started to glow brighter. I wasn't sure why, but I pulled the watch up to my forehead.

I suddenly saw Danny being taken away by Vesper in an unknown location. I saw Danny being saved by Scarlet. I saw Juliette and Danny being knocked out by Vlad. I saw Danny covered in red mist. I saw Danny crying out for me in worry and fear. I saw an unfamiliar girl talking to Danny, who looked like she could be related to Danny. I saw Danny smirking at me before he took me somewhere.

I lowered my hand, taking the watch off my forehead. I shook my head, feeling a slight headache from all those visions that had suddenly flashed through my mind.

"Are you alright?" Hope asked in worry.

"Y-yeah… yeah, I think so… just a small headache," I answered, a little disorientated.

"Perhaps you should put that watch down…" Hope frowned.

"This watch… I think it can help me see what I want to see into the future," I theorized. "I… don't have enough control to be able to see exactly what's going on in the visions, but I can make out the visions somewhat. I may need them."

"It may be dangerous though," Hope pointed out. "Are you really willing to risk your health and safety to see more of the future?"

"You're the type who wouldn't take risks." I heard Vesper's voice say.

"Yes," I answered firmly. "I won't ever get anywhere if I don't. I haven't been very useful in combat, I need something... anything that can give me an edge in battle or in general. Seeing the future is something I can do, I might as well take advantage of that."

"But you could get hurt…" Hope replied worriedly.

"That's fine. No pain, no gain," I said before I put the watch around my neck.

After I put the watch around my neck, I summoned my transformation ring, which split horizontally, and I was in my ghost form. The watch didn't disappear along with my PJs when I changed.

"When Danny wakes up, tell him I'm at the opera house," I instructed. "Since it's the weekend, I don't have to worry about school tomorrow. I doubt I'll be sleeping any time soon, so I might as well use my time productively. I'm going to ask Scarlet to train me for a bit… and hope that maybe I can be more useful in battle."

"But you're not useless in battle, you've already improved from what I've heard," Hope protested.

"Not enough, Hope… not enough," I said quietly before turning intangible and flying through the window.

The watch glowed a little, and I gripped onto it with my hand. "First I'll tell Scarlet and Juliette about Vesper, then… I start training."

With that in mind, I flew towards the opera house.

Reviews

haloguardian452: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Is clean of pizza toppings* We definitely have plans for our own specials going forward. Right now we're saving most of our original ideas for what we're calling Season 4, which will be all original adventures for Danny and Andy. And of course we will have more non-canon 'movies'.

DarkFoxKit: Now if you want to know when, the original ideas for season 4 is… well, after season 3 of the canon show. And as for specials or 'movies', those are reserved for the end of each season. So after season 2 finishes, we're likely (no promises yet) going to have a movie/special. Of course, these specials/movies are counted as canon in the story, so be sure to read those.

Auguste the Clown: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': While it's great to get suggestions from the readers, we don't really appreciate being told what we should do. Just as a reminder, we've usually finished the chapter we're posting a few weeks if not a few months in advance.

As for the actual episode we have, we decided to go a different route that made more sense. We kept in mind the differences between our Danny and the canon Danny and went off of that. We also made sure to factor in how Andy would have an affect on Danny.

DarkFoxKit: And not to mention how Andy himself affected the story. Like we told Mana before, this isn't an overhaul like the last episode was, but it was changed due to the most logical decision. It may not be the most… flashy or fantastic of changes, but it was one we felt made the most sense.

Raidentensho: DarkFoxKit: We do have plans for the dragon mark later, though it won't come into play for a while. Though keep in mind, that someone who has the potential to gain these dragon marks will get the marks if they touch one of the dragon amulets, they don't necessarily have to use the dragon amulets for them to gain the mark.

Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Things are never chill forever, otherwise it wouldn't make for a fun story to read.

Mana: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We definitely went a different route than the canon episode. Like was said to Auguste, we didn't feel the route of the canon episode made sense for our characters.

Tucker becoming the Student Body President will definitely get him whatever experience he needs to become the Mayor of Amity Park if he does go for it. It might still happen, it might not, it depends on how we want to handle things.

DarkFoxKit: *Rubs paws evilly* Oh, we have something special planned for the Phantom Planet episode, just you wait and see~ Heh, the black knight definitely became an interesting character. We originally made her as a rival to Scarlet, and someone as a dangerous champion for Danny to face off, but she kinda became her own character. It'll be fun to get more into her character once her role becomes more relevant. Also, Happy New Year's to you too!

mysteryfan4ever: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Vlad, as with everyone else, has the potential to change. And Andy believes that with the right nudges and assistance, Vlad could go from his evil self to being a good guy who could help them in the future without having ulterior motives.