We Are Phantoms

by DarkFoxKit

The sequel to My Brother's a Ghost. "My name is Andrew Fenton, but call me Andy. I'm a 14 year old boy, twin brother of Danny Fenton. If I had known what kind of fate awaited me in the future... I probably would've freaked out. My brother and I, we're more than teenagers... we are heroes, we are defenders. We are Phantoms."

98. Chapter 97: A Test of the Heart

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Fox! Another crate of those Rimurushions just arrived! Why are you ordering so many of them?! I know you said you wanted something comfy to relax on while you're recovering, but at this rate we'll have to dedicate an entire room to these!

DarkFoxKit: I didn't order them! I didn't even know those existed in real life!

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Then who has been getting these for you?

Andy: *Walks in with a phone in his hand before looking up and noticing Fox and Onyx* Oh… uh… hey, guys… I see you've been getting a lot of… packages lately.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Andy… something you'd like to tell us?

DarkFoxKit: Did you get all this?

Andy: Uh… well, sort of? I only ordered one though, I'm not sure why there's so many.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Did you order a single one or a single entire shipment?

Andy: They said it was just a single… oh… it said huge bundle… my bad!

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Facepalms* We're confiscating about half of these for myself and Fox then. Especially because you shipped them here and not to Fenton Works.

Andy: They were supposed to be a gift for Kit… you know, to help her feel better during her treatment.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Why do I feel that isn't the only reason?

DarkFoxKit: *Is already laying on one of the big Rimurushions comfortably* -w-

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Chuckles* We'll talk more about this later, Andy, for now I think we should get to the story before Fox falls asleep.

Andy: Might be a little late for that, but alright.

---

Chapter 97: A Test of the Heart

"Tell me when you are ready to continue," The wolf instructed.

I took a deep breath, remembering I was still wearing the gas mask. Why am I still wearing this? I was already 'infected' when I got scratched earlier.

I took off the gas mask, happy to breathe in fresh air, well fresher than artificial air anyways. I turned off the gas mask and stuffed it into my pocket for now, planning to give it back to Echo later. I noticed that having the gas mask on for a while built up the saliva around my mouth. I grumbled before wiping my saliva away with the back of my hand. To my alarm, however, I noticed that the saliva on my hand, before I wiped it off, seemed to have a faint white glow. I narrowed my eyes in confusion for a moment, wondering if it might be the lights of the hallway that was giving it the faint glow, before wiping the saliva off on my pants.

I let out a small sigh. "I'm ready to continue."

Two Dannys suddenly appeared, which surprised me as it had been sets of three up until now. They were both in human form.

"Hey, bro," Both Dannys greeted.

I looked at the two Dannys. I just had to ask each of them a question to find out the real one, just like I had done with the last few people. I approached the two Dannys and tried to think of a question that I know only the real Danny would say.

"What do you use your powers for?" I asked after settling on a simple yet effective question.

"I want to help everyone that I can with these powers," The first Danny answered. "These powers, while they were a bit hard to control at first, have given me the chance to be a real life superhero who saves everyone."

"I want to use my powers to help bring about a happier, safer world," The second Danny replied. "I believe that my powers may hold the key to a true utopian world."

I blinked. Both of their answers were different, yet I have heard Danny say both to me before. I squinted my eyes at them. The first Danny sounded like he just wanted to help, while the second Danny sounded like he wanted to help, but in a more aggressive way. Chad felt alarmed.

When did I first hear Danny saying he wanted to bring a happier, safer world? A utopia world? I paled a little as I looked at the second Danny. No… no, no, no, no, it can't be!

The second Danny smirked a little. "Looks like you're figuring it out, bro~ Guess I don't need to keep using this weak form anymore~"

I backed away, fear clenching my heart. I numbly felt Chad trying to do something, but it was hard to tell with how strong my fear was. "No… no, no, no!"

"Yes, bro. Yes~" The second Danny smirked before blood red and black rings appeared around his waist before splitting.

I wanted to scream at him to stop, but my voice wouldn't come out of my throat. I suddenly felt weak in the knees. I felt incredibly cold. A feeling of hopelessness went through my body. I could still feel Chad frantically pumping some kind of emotion to me, but it was hard to feel anything from him right now. The more Danny changed, the more I felt sick. I wanted to throw up.

By the time the transformation was complete, Corrupted Danny, a being from my nightmares, was floating right in front of me. The Corrupted Danny from this world frightened me, yes, but he was from a different world, he wasn't my brother. This Danny… this was my Danny, my brother, the one who nearly took over and merged the worlds together.

"Awww, would you look at that, I left you speechless~" Corrupted Danny teased before he leaned in towards me. "You know… you turned back time, separating me from Danny, but you never knew what happened to me after. I could've gone inside you, or maybe I went dormant inside Danny. Or who knows, perhaps both~ Wouldn't it be so much fun for both you and Danny to be 'corrupted'?~"

"No!" I squeaked out, wishing I could run and hide, but my body refused to move.

"But you know as well as anyone that it's a possibility," Corrupted Danny pointed out. "All three are actually very big possibilities since you two were the only ones around at the moment you turned back time. Quite ingenious of you, by the way~ Turning back time to before Danny and I fused to become what I am."

I suddenly wished I kept the gas mask on, because it became hard to breathe.

"Oh, and I just realized~ You're one of us now too, aren't you?" Corrupted Danny smirked.

"No!" I yelled in defiance. "I will never be one of you!"

"Look at you," Corrupted Danny snickered before he poked my side with his sharp nail, making me flinch away and nearly fell on my knees. "You're already well on you way there with all those microcores that were injected into you in the hallway below~"

"What do you want from me!? Why do you keep haunting me!?" I snapped.

"I want you to join me, bro~" Corrupted Danny grinned. "Just like the Danny of this world wants his brother to join him, I want you to join me."

"Stop this!" The other Danny intervened as white rings appeared around his waist and split. "You may be a Danny but you do not have the same kindness and caring that Andy's Danny does. There's a reason he considers you corrupted, and that's because you act like a villain!"

"Oh?" Corrupted Danny looked at the normal Danny Phantom as if he just said something amusing. "Funny, coming from the boy who became this 'corrupted' version of himself."

"That's the thing though," The other Danny smiled. "I haven't become you and I won't. Because I am a manifestation of how Andy sees Danny. And that's as a brother and a hero who would never fall to darkness."

I found myself looking between the two Dannys. Corrupted Danny sneered while Danny Phantom gave him a cocky grin. Both of them were my brother, yet they were both very different as well. One was harsh, less forgiving, willing to go through extremes for his goals. The other was welcoming, very forgiving even towards his enemies, and always trying to help people the best way he could. It would be easy for me to say that Corrupted Danny wasn't my brother, that he was someone else entirely.

"But despite what Andy wants, it just isn't realistic," Corrupted Danny spoke up, holding out a red gloved hand, and a crimson red energy began to glow from it. "Danny had fallen to the darkness before. Even if it wasn't dramatic or big, there had been times Danny did things out of revenge, like pranking Dash. Or he used his powers to peek into the girl's locker room. Nobody is truly pure, and everyone can and will fall to the temptation of evilness, no matter how small or harmless it may seem."

"Even so," The other Danny countered, one of his hands glowing green. "Andy wants to see Danny as an unbeatable hero, and I am that representation. So take my word for it and don't try to fight me."

"Fight you? No, I won't fight you," Corrupted Danny said as a red ball of ecto energy appeared in his hand.

"Don't try to destroy me either, or corrupt me," The other Danny replied.

"I'm not, I'm just doing a little something to show our little little brother~" Corrupted Danny smirked before the ecto ball changed its shape. "I'm sure I told him already, but while I was imprisoned in Tucker's little world of gladiators, I did work on some ecto manipulation."

My eyes widened as I saw the ecto ball in Corrupted Danny's hand transformed into a model spaceship, the same model he had worked on for months before the accident.

The other Danny raised a brow before chuckling. "Trying to prove that you're the 'real' Danny? If so…"

The other Danny easily formed the model spaceship in his hand. "I can do that too."

Then Danny Phantom gave me a kind, welcoming smile before he held out his free hand. "Don't worry about him, bro, you can come with me and we'll get out of here."

"Heh, yeah, sure," Corrupted Danny rolled his eyes before he looked at me and smirked. "What's the matter? Too scared to trust me? Too afraid to admit I am your brother?"

As the two argued, I slowly began to realize this was the game. The game was to figure out who was my real brother. I looked at Danny Phantom, seeing his smile, his confidence, his assured attitude that everything was going to be okay. He would promise to defend me from Corrupted Danny. Corrupted Danny gave me a harsh look.

I walked towards Danny Phantom. He had to be Danny, there was no way Corrupted Danny was Danny at all. Danny would never do any of the things Corrupted Danny did.

I was stopped by an onslaught of danger and warning emotions from Chad that broke through the numbness. That was the only thing that stopped me from taking Danny Phantom's hand. There was something Chad knew that I didn't, or rather, that I didn't want to know.

I frowned as I looked at Danny Phantom, then looked at Corrupted Danny again. There was no way the real Danny could ever be someone like Corrupted Danny. Except he did. He did become Corrupted Danny.

"Come on, bro, what are you waiting for?" Danny Phantom urged as he extended his hand even more.

I wanted, so badly, to choose this Danny Phantom. He represented everything I believed Danny was and would always be. A pure hearted hero who would always do the right thing. But, as Chad kept giving me warning signals, I had to think realistically. Danny, while he was pure hearted, wasn't perfect. He could and had fallen to temptation, he had been evil before, he was capable of being evil, as everyone is. And he had become Corrupted Danny, whether I want to admit it or not.

As much as it hurt my heart, I pulled my hand back to my chest and took a step back from Danny Phantom.

"Bro? What's wrong?" Danny Phantom asked me in concern.

"You…" I looked up at him, giving a sad smile. "I'm sorry… but… you're not real…"

Danny Phantom gave a sigh before looking at me with a sad smile. "I wish I were… but you're right, I'm not."

"I knew my brother would figure it out~" Corrupted Danny smirked. "You would've made a great partner by my side, bro."

I didn't look at Corrupted Danny, he still terrified me, but it was easier to know that he wasn't actually Danny. My Danny was still somewhere in my world, likely unconscious in a government facility. I felt Chad trying to comfort me.

"Come on, bro, you have to take my hand to finish this test," Corrupted Danny pointed out.

I frowned, I didn't like the idea of putting my hand in Corrupted Danny's. That would have been a half death sentence for me. Corrupted Danny held out his hand, showing his sharp nails in his gloves. I hesitated as I held up my hand. Chad was trying to encourage me, which helped me a lot more than I would admit to. I looked away as I grabbed onto Corrupted Danny's cold hand, hoping that he didn't suddenly decide to pierce his nails into my hand.

"Well done, bro. Seriously. Nice job figuring out that I was the real one," Corrupted Danny said, though he sounded like he was back to normal. "Up next is the hardest challenge of all."

What could be harder than Danny? I questioned before I looked back at him, and was surprised to see he looked like normal Danny Phantom now, the claw-like nails were gone, the red was now white again, the only unusual thing about Danny Phantom were the crimson red eyes. He looked almost like how he did when Freakshow was controlling him with his staff. But I noticed there were some red streaks in Danny's white hair. It would've looked cool if I didn't remember what those red streaks represented.

"Did I really pick right…?" I found myself asking when I looked at this somewhat unfamiliar form of my brother.

"Yes, you did," Danny replied. "You know there's a possibility that the corruption is still in Danny and could surface at any time. Be careful with this next one, bro."

Then both Dannys vanished. The wolf looked at me with a bit of a proud smirk.

"Looks like you're on to your final test," The wolf commented. "Tell me when you are ready for it."

I dreaded to think of what could be harder than facing Corrupted Danny, and then having to accept that he was indeed my brother. Maybe it involves everyone I know and love in one package?

I frowned, but I knew I had to steel myself. I couldn't quit now, not when I was close to winning this wolf's game.

"I'm ready for the final test," I spoke up.

"Very well then." The wolf nodded before I felt a splitting pain in my head.

I hissed as I put my hands on my head, feeling the pain getting worse with each passing moment. It felt like half of me was being torn out of me, and it hurt like hell. I wasn't sure if I let out a scream or not, but suddenly, the pain was gone. I blinked open my eyes, seeing two Andys.

Wait… TWO MES!? What!? Why? I frowned in confusion. "What is the meaning of this? Surely finding the 'real me' is not the actual test here. I am the real me!"

"You are correct. That isn't the test," The wolf acknowledged. "This test is a test of the heart. You have to face one of your worst fears here. And only after you get past that fear can you tell me who the real you is."

I furrowed my eyebrows at that. Okay… I think he means it metaphorically. Which Andy is actually me? That's… gonna be a little weird.

I looked at the two Andys, both of them waved to me as if this was just a normal thing. I could ask them anything, I highly doubt it would make much of a difference. Since the wolf did say that this was a test for me to face one of my worst fears, I decided to go for that question.

"What are you most afraid of?" I asked the two mes.

"Corrupted Danny," They both answered at the same time.

Well, I pretty much just wasted that question. I deadpanned.

"You can ask another question just this once, if you would like," The wolf offered.

I was a little surprised at that generosity, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when said horse's mouth could fit an actual horse in it without any issue.

Now what to ask them? I wondered to myself. The wolf said I was supposed to face one of my biggest fears. But I already sort of faced that with Corrupted Danny. So it can't be Corrupted Danny that the wolf is talking about. What am I afraid of other than Danny turning corrupted again?

I frowned as I remembered how I reacted when I became a halfa. I looked at the two other mes again.

"What do you think of doing when someone gives you a hard time?" I asked.

"Well it depends," Both started.

"One option is to walk away and ignore it," The first me said.

"Another is I can try to talk it out with them and see why they're giving me a hard time. After all, a bully is just a friend you have the chance to make," The second me continued. "Then there's the last option, which isn't always preferred. Trick them into thinking they really affected me so they perhaps rethink their ways. After all, if you can't befriend a bully, you should at least make them see it's not okay to keep bullying."

"Yeah, those are both good ideas," The first me agreed. "I'd also suggest going to an adult."

"That is also a great option," The second me concurred.

They both sounded like me, and sounded like something I would do. I could not really determine much from those answers, even though they said different things, both of them agreed.

How am I supposed to find out which one is… the 'real' me? They both sound exactly like me. I frowned. Is it possible I missed something? Or maybe I don't know myself as well as I thought.

"I will allow you one more question," The wolf spoke up. "If you can't figure it out then. I would suggest flipping a coin."

I raised an eyebrow, but the wolf had a point. If I couldn't tell who was who, I might as well leave it up to chance. But I hoped it wouldn't come to that, so I thought hard about what my last question should be, what could I ask that would get one of them to reveal they weren't like the real me.

"Remember what I said before," The wolf commented. "This is a test of the heart, regarding one of your worst fears. You tried asking them what they're afraid of, but what about yourself?"

Oh… the way I worded my question… he's right. I'm the real Andy, I was supposed to be asking them what I was afraid of, not them. I realized. Would that be enough to work…? I hope so, otherwise I might lose this game.

I looked at the two mes… no, the two Andys before me again. "What am I afraid of?"

"Corrupted Danny," Both answered again.

I frowned and was about to ask the wolf for a coin to flip, when suddenly, one of the Andys spoke up.

"However, it isn't just that," The second Andy continued. "You're afraid that if Danny, someone who is a pillar of light and strength, could become corrupted… where did that put you? Someone who isn't as strong as Danny, or as fast, or as courageous? Could you be corrupted more easily? Less easily? Or… have you been corrupted this entire time without knowing it?"

I was surprised at hearing the second Andy going into detail about the other fear I had, the fear I've had since the second accident. The first Andy didn't say anything more.

But while the second Andy said more, it didn't really confirm he was the real me, just that he was being more informative. I suppose though, that maybe because he pointed out the other fear I had, that did have some credibility of him being the real me. It was the most I had out of the 3 questions I asked.

"You know, it would be incredibly hard to identify if you are corrupted," The second Andy went on. "According to Danny, he was feeling his normal self the entire time leading up to his corruption. Even while corrupted he could've been thinking that he was his normal self trying to help the whole world. So… where does that put you? Can you tell for sure that you aren't corrupted? How do you think you'd be able to tell if you were?"

I was surprised at the sudden question. I wasn't even sure if I was supposed to answer it.

"Of course I'm not corrupted," The other Andy suddenly spoke up for me. "If I was, don't you think I would've ruined or tried to rule the world by now?"

"Who says being corrupted means wanting to rule or destroy the world?" The second Andy inquired. "Where is it written down that someone who is corrupted has to act any different? Or look any different? For all we know, the Danny back in the other world or the Andy here could be corrupted. We didn't see or hear anything different with them."

"That's ridiculous, by that logic, everyone could be corrupted," The first Andy argued. "Corruption wouldn't make a person think the same. They would be thinking far more differently, even if they don't realize it, and their actions would start to hurt people, especially those around them."

"How would you know? Have you been corrupted before?" The second Andy asked. "Do you have experience with being corrupted that we don't know about?"

"No, I'm happy to say I haven't. I just know what being corrupted actually means. I never did anything wrong, not on purpose anyways. All I've ever done was help my brother save Amity Park and the people living in it. I may not be perfect, but nobody is. How would that make me corrupted?" The first Andy pointed out.

"Who's to say being corrupted actually means what you're saying it means?" The second Andy raised a brow. "For all we know, corrupted could just mean set on a single goal, like helping out Danny no matter the cost to us."

As the two Andys were arguing, I was becoming less and less sure as to who the real me was. I began to look at the first Andy. He made logical sense, asking questions about the ridiculous claims, and pointing out the flaws in them. The second Andy seemed adamant that corruption could mean anything, and it was very possible that I could be corrupted already.

The first Andy pointed at the second Andy. "Why are you so adamant about the corruption? Are you actually corrupted yourself?"

"If I was, how would I know?" The second Andy countered. "Like we've noted, when one is corrupted they aren't necessarily aware. For all we know, you could be corrupted. Or that one could be."

At that the second Andy pointed at me.

I glared back defensively. "I'm not corrupted!"

"Remember what Danny said before," The second me responded. "You and Danny were the only ones there. The corruption very well could have gone into you. After all, think about how you've been acting more like Danny lately. You've been more confident, more risky, more adventurous. Sure you've had your challenges, but you've still acted differently than normal."

At that, I paused.

"Let's not forget that you used to hate the very idea of using your special powers, yet you've gotten used to using them on a daily basis now, even for the smaller things that you swore you would never use them for," The second Andy added.

I paled as what he said was true, I had gotten comfortable with using my ghost powers even though I had sworn to only use them when I needed to. What if he's right? What if that corruption that was in Danny is actually in me? Do I have any proof that it isn't in me? What if Chad is that corruption!?

Chad, thankfully, didn't try to comfort me. I had the feeling that if he tried, I likely would've freaked out even more.

"Yeah right, don't listen to this guy," The first Andy rolled his eyes. "You know you're not corrupted, stop letting him talk you into something that isn't true."

"Doesn't me trying to 'talk him into something' make me the 'real' one between the two of us?" The second Andy asked as he looked at the first. "After all, Andy has always been filled with worries and questioned his every move for the longest time. Is Danny dead? Is there a way to bring him back to life? Should I tell Mom and Dad? Those are all questions he asked himself in the first week of Danny's accident."

"Perhaps, but he eventually got through it all, didn't he? All of that made him stronger, he's more confident now. It's only natural that with experience, comes confidence. He is the brother to Danny Phantom. He's found powerful allies who are willing to help and teach him, there's no reason for him to worry anymore." The first Andy smiled at me. "And even if you are still worried, you know you have others who will help you in a heartbeat."

This Andy felt confident, welcoming, self assured. I envied him, I wanted to be like him. Not having to constantly worry about every little thing. Like with Danny before, this first Andy held out his hand towards me.

"You can take my hand, and be the best confident you that you could be to face off against the Corrupted Danny of this world," The first Andy stated.

I wanted that confidence, I needed that confidence. I knew I would.

"Or you could be me," The second Andy commented as he stood there. "The you that's cautious, smart, and knows when to fight battles you can win."

I didn't like this second Andy all that much. He felt more paranoid than just cautious, and the way he worded 'knowing when to fight battles I could win' sounded like he was a coward as well. The first Andy was brave, I knew he would be able to defend everyone, just like…

I paused as realization hit me. Just like Danny… this Andy is who I wanted to be… and I wanted to be like Danny, the heroic Danny. But just because this is who I wanted to be… it doesn't mean I am that…

I remembered how Vesper told me that I wasn't worth being one of her apprentices because I didn't like to take risks. While I didn't think about it at the time, those words did cut me deep. I was paranoid, and I was a coward. I was only able to be a 'hero' because of Danny. Whether the corruption was actually there or not anymore, that didn't actually matter right now. It was all paranoia talk from my own fears and worries.

I looked at the second Andy, he represented my fears and worries, even if I didn't want to admit it. He also looked like a mess, like Echo did. I looked back at the first Andy, the Andy I wanted to be.

"Sorry… but… you're not really me, are you? You're… you're more of a Danny than you are me," I said quietly.

"Why would you think I'm not the real you?" The first Andy asked in response.

"You're confident, self assured, you don't let the little things worry you," I pointed out. "That's… unfortunately not me… that mess over there." I pointed at the second Andy. "That's me."

The first Andy frowned a little. "And that makes me any less real how? Whoever said that only one of us was real? I may be a dream version of you, but that you could still exist within you, just waiting to get out."

I blinked at that. "But you can't both be real, I have to choose one or the other. Since you're a dream version of me, I can't pick you."

"And who says either of us are real?" The second Andy inquired.

I blinked before looking at the second Andy.

"Heh…" The second Andy chuckled. "I mean look at yourself realistically, take off your negative goggles for a moment. True, you can be paranoid, but do you really think you're that paranoid? Do you really think you're a coward? Do you believe what Vesper said to you?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. This doesn't make any sense. How could neither of them be me? I don't think 'neither' is an answer. It was 'find the real you'. I doubt it would be a trick answer like that.

"But you're the closest thing to the real me that I currently am," I pointed out.

"Well, if you think so, then you can take my hand," The second Andy replied, holding out his hand to me.

"But are you sure you want to take his hand? After all, you could still gain my confidence," The first Andy pointed out.

Which is the right answer!? I was wracking my now pounding brain.

Then Chad sent out some reassurance to me. That allowed me to calm down enough to actually think. I remembered how the wolf wanted me to word my third question. I wasn't supposed to ask them what they were afraid of, I had to ask them what I was afraid of. They were both extremes of my personality, the heroic one, and the paranoid cowardly one. But there was one Andy here who fit the real Andy perfectly.

I turned away from both Andys before I looked at the wolf. "The real Andy… is me."

"Indeed." The wolf nodded.

The other two Andys smiled before disappearing. I groaned, feeling like something just pounded itself into my head when they disappeared.

Jeez, I could see why that was the hardest test. Why would I think that the actual me was the right answer when I always had to pick between the people that appeared before me until now? I grumbled, rubbing my head.

"Well he won your stupid game!" I heard Twitchy shouting from the cage, which made me jump because I had pretty much forgotten that she and Max were here. "What happens now, you big mutt?"

"You two will go free~" The wolf smiled. "You've been here for long enough for me to serve my purpose. However, there is someone here who wishes to see you. And before you freak out; no, it's not Danny."

I was glad to see the cage door opened up, allowing Twitchy and Max to get out. While my mind may not be fuzzy, I did still feel pretty hyper. I was itching to fly around the entire castle. Now that the tests were over, it was easy to tell how much my core was pulsing, tempted to activate itself. It took me some effort to keep it from doing just that.

"That someone is actually me," A feminine voice said before the world around us began to shift. "And I am here with an offer for you, or a suggestion."

All of us looked around, surprised that we were back in the hallway we were in before the colorful turnabout took us to where that big wolf was. The big wolf was gone now, and in its place was a floating black furred anthro fox ghost. They appeared to be wearing some kind of maid outfit.

"I am Kassandra," The black furred fox ghost introduced. "And I am the Head Maid of Amity Tower."

"What do you want from us?" Max cautiously questioned.

"We just got out of a cage from a giant wolf, we are in no mood to deal with this right now," Twitchy hissed.

I just felt both hyperactive and tired at the same time.

"I wish to offer you an-" Kassandra started before she looked at me with a frown. "Actually, first things first, I need to see you in one of the rooms immediately as it's a matter of safety for you."

"No, you aren't taking him from-" Max started before Kassandra interrupted.

I glanced down and rubbed my nose a little, feeling a bit of liquid running from it.

"Look at him!" Kassandra snapped. "He's both tired and full of energy. That's not normal or safe for any kind of body. Oh geez, it's more serious than I thought. His nose just began to bleed. His body might be destabilizing due to one of the traps of the lower floor. If he wasn't injected with any micro-cores, then the high amounts of ghostly energy he was injected with need to be removed before he passes out and potentially has a brain hemorrhage!"

Max and Twitchy both glanced over at me.

"I am simply going to drain the excess ghostly energy from him," Kassandra promised. "I give you my word. After all, King Danny would be outraged if someone got actually hurt inside Amity Tower."

"She could be lying," Twitchy said.

"But what if she's not? Look at the kid, that's not normal. He also just went through an emotional experience to help us escape," Max pointed out.

"I am not lying," Kassandra replied as she caught the attention of both Max and Twitchy. "Trust me."

Both of them frowned, but I was surprised that Twitchy nodded as well as Max, I didn't think they, especially Twitchy would agree so fast, even if there was a chance that Kassandra was telling the truth.

"Just make sure he's healthy. I'm pretty sure that goat girl would set us on fire if her boyfriend got hurt," Twitchy requested.

"Wait… what?" I blinked at that comment, holding my nose with one hand.

---

Back in the throne room, Juliette was still massaging the King of Ghost's back, doing her best to help the boy relax…

(Andy: Jeez, Juliette, do you think you've got enough information there?)

(Juliette: *Frowns* Is that still not how it's normally done in your novel?)

(Andy: It's just too long. You're only supposed to be letting the reader know you're writing this part, not what you're doing in detail.)

(Juliette: Ohhh. So it's supposed to symbolize only a perspective change instead of catching the reader up to speed. I understand now. I apologize for my mistakes.)

"I should probably rest my arms for a few minutes, my little Snowflake," I chuckled as I slowed down my massaging of Danny's back. "My arms are starting to get a teensy bit tired."

Danny gave me a bit of a lazy look. He then stretched himself out before he floated off of me and sat down on the couch next to me.

"So, Juliette, what were those plans you and Scarlet were talking about yesterday? You seemed pretty excited about it, but I was too busy to listen at the time," Danny asked curiously.

"Oh… well…" I scratched my head a little. "It might not be the best time to bring it up, considering you're trying to relax right now."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "But you usually love it when I have time to hear what you have to say."

Thankfully, before I had to answer, Echo came back.

"I… apologize for interrupting, but there is some… news I must tell Princess Juliette," Echo said.

"Ahh, pardon me for a second, little one." I smiled softly as I stood up. "Considering my new servant seems distressed enough they forgot to bring back water, I will quickly go see what news they bring. After which, I'll come back here and tell you about the plans, if you feel you want to know~"

Danny studied Echo for a moment, and I could see Echo stiffening a little under his brother's eyes. Danny then shrugged. "Fine, go. I'll be here, waiting."

I could just feel Echo letting out a silent breath of relief.

"Thank you for your understanding, my Crimson Kitten~" I giggled before I headed towards Echo, stepping out into the hallway. I fully closed the doorway, knowing I could open it back up.

As soon as the door was closed, Echo started pacing. "Oh gosh, this is bad, really, really bad. I thought this was a possibility, but I didn't think it would be this bad!"

"Echo calm down," I instructed. "Tell me what's going on and use a quiet voice."

Echo took a deep breath and let it out before he turned his attention to me. "I went to go check on the teams. There's a room not too far from here that shows monitors of every camera in the castle. I… didn't like what I saw. Both of our teams were captured, and taken by the maid ghosts. They're likely either infected or are going to be infected. This situation is looking pretty hopeless right now. I should've had my informant gather information on the latest traps before going on this stealth strike."

"Wait… does that include the team Andy is on?" I frowned, worried that Andy could've gotten captured and perhaps brainwashed.

"Yes…" Echo confirmed, crossing his arms. "It looks like he ran into Fro-..."

I blinked, seeing how Echo cut himself off there for a moment.

"We'll have to assume that they're all infected and we're the last ones left," Echo sighed.

"Can we even complete the plan with just the two of us…?" I asked, feeling like Freakshow might've won by sending us to this world.

"There's still a chance, Juliette. We win this game by catching Danny off guard. All you need to do is touch the page, right?" Echo said. "Danny still doesn't know that you're… you know… so you can easily get over to the throne and find the page there. Then you and your Andy can get out of here, hopefully you might be able to get the core out of him before it brainwashes him."

I couldn't help but frown. "That's how… Andy and I would 'win', but… what about you?"

"I… I do have at least one shot with the cube that should trap Danny and put him into stasis," Echo answered. "If I can't do that while he's distracted, then… I guess this is my world now. At least I can finally stop being on the run."

"I…" I frowned more. "I can't accept that for you, Echo. I know this isn't my world, but from what I've seen this isn't the world you should live in. Is there any chance that the teams could get free and come meet up with us? Or is it really only the two of us?"

"Depending on how potent the infection is, there is a possibility they could fight their way out and get over here before they turn into halfas. But the chances of that happening is… slim at best. Most of the traps in this castle that causes infection are extremely potent, it could turn an average person into a halfa in under ten minutes," Echo sighed before he looked at me. "So… if you want to try to wait for one of the teams to get here, we could try to stall Danny for ten minutes. If nobody comes by then, we'll have to assume the worst and put our back-up plan into place."

"I'd prefer to wait, at least a little," I replied. "I want to have hope that at least one of the teams will fight for their freedom. That at least one of them will get here and help us."

Echo rubbed his eyes for a moment, before he moved his head around like he was sore. "I understand… but the longer we wait, the more risk we take. Danny is bound to get suspicious at some point, even you can't know everything what the other you here has been doing."

"I understand your worries, Echo," I acknowledged. "However, I can stall if you can tell me what plan Juliette and Scarlet were coming up with. Because Danny was interested in that and you seem to know quite a bit."

"I wasn't there when they made this plan, Juliette, how am I supposed to know?" Echo sighed.

"Your informant? Or your future visions? That is how you found us, wasn't it?" I questioned in response. "I mean you seemed to be pretty aware of Danny's movements and all that, so something like a conversation or plan should be a piece of cake for you."

Echo grumbled a little. "My future visions don't work like that, I can't have them whenever I want. My informant couldn't possibly get the information since this was something Juliette likely told Scarlet in private. If I had to guess, it likely might have something to do with improving something that would make Danny's life easier and less busy. The Juliette here is always thinking of his health, considering Danny has a tendency to neglect himself when he's trying to finish a goal or has his mind on something, which is about 99% of the time."

"So… just come up with something in regards to his health?" I raised a brow.

"Yeah, perhaps, that might be the easiest way to go," Echo answered. "I don't know if you noticed while you were… massaging him earlier, but he was pretty thin."

Echo looked down at himself. "I… guess I am too, but food is kind of a luxury when you're living life on the run."

"Hmmm…" I gave it some thought. "Then perhaps… yes, I could very much see that being a possibility. However, you will have to help me with this. And perhaps get those maids you were talking about to join in. If we do this, I could buy us all the time we need as well as get his guard down. It would also help you reach full strength."

Echo raised an eyebrow at me. "What do you have planned?"

"We're going to throw a feast." I smiled.

---

Back with Andy

I was looking at the ghost head maid who took me to an empty room. I was expecting something like a doctor's office since she was insistent on my health, but it was just a big, wide, empty room.

"You need to have all that excess energy siphoned out of you," Kassandra stated with a sigh. "There's a few ways that can be done. You can start using your powers rapidly… or I can drain the excess energy from you. And there is one more way, but I'm not sure that would do us any good."

I stared at Kassandra. "W-what? What… powers…?"

"You have powers, I can tell, whether they are ghostly or not I am not able to tell," Kassandra explained. "If you started to rapidly use those powers, you could potentially drain the excess ghostly energy stored within your body. If you don't, your physical body as a human will destabilize and disintegrate."

I couldn't help but shiver at that, the blood drained from my face. My body could destabilize and disintegrate!?

I didn't like the idea of using my powers in front of Kassandra, and I liked the idea of her draining me even less. I didn't trust her to not completely vampire all my energy. "You said there was a third way?"

"Injecting you with micro-cores," Kassandra informed.

Okay, yeah, no, I don't need or want anymore micro-cores, thank you very much. I frowned.

I felt my nose dripping with bits of blood again. I sighed, I knew I had to do something before I end up dying all the way like this. I could only pray that if I transformed, my ghost form wouldn't make the hoodie I was wearing disappear.

Even though I didn't know if Kassandra could see me while I was invisible or not, I turned myself invisible because I felt a little bit safer to not be easily seen before I transformed. Of course this alerted Kassandra that I was capable of using ghost powers.

"I see, so as I suspected, you are already a part ghost," Kassandra observed. "Though are you a true halfa? Or something else?"

I hoped that by turning invisible, she wouldn't be able to see the transformation. The second I tapped into my core, I was already transformed. That was the fastest time I had ever gone ghost before. Now that I was in ghost mode, I immediately began to zip around the room. If Kassandra could see me, I would've likely looked like a very bouncy, super fast, blurry rubber ball that was going all over the room. At some point, I gathered my ghost ray into my hands while zipping around. The ghost rays felt so powerful that they almost burned my hands. I didn't fire the ghost rays, but I was hoping that if I kept them on my hands, they would help burn away the excessive energy.

"Hmmm… perhaps I have a fourth option," Kassandra spoke up as a pedestal began to rise out of the floor in the middle of the room.

I was still zipping around the room, but my attention was on her. What does she mean 'a fourth option'? And what's with the pedestal?

An orb formed on top of the pedestal.

"You can put your hands on this orb and channel your energy into it. The energy will be transferred into Amity Tower itself," Kassandra explained. "Once you are back down to a safe level, you can simply take your hands off the orb and all will be fine."

I frowned as I stopped zipping around in favor of getting a better look at the orb Kassandra was gesturing to. I didn't trust that orb. The orb itself wasn't all that special, however there was a green and purple energy swirling around inside the orb that made me feel worried. I quickly looked away, not wanting to change the orb possibly brainwashing me.

"No, I'm good," I spoke up despite still being invisible.

"This is the quickest way to get rid of the excess energy," Kassandra replied. "Meaning there is less chance for your body to fall apart. And then after that, you can go about doing whatever intruding you and your friends were going on about."

"If you know we're intruders, then why let us go so easily?" I questioned, still not trusting that orb.

"Because I'm interested in what you plan and know that the King could easily swat you all into submission if he so chose to~" Kassandra smiled. "Or perhaps because you three are uniquely interesting and I want to have you part of my personal staff when you do fall."

This ghost maid was disturbing on a different level. I decided to fly further away from her, not wanting to take a chance being too close to her in case she planned to do something.

I'm not touching that orb, nor am I trusting Kassandra. I frowned to myself.

"Look… I can tell you're starting to bleed more…" Kassandra sighed. "I can smell the increase of iron in the air as well as see the puddles of blood and ectoplasm starting to form. If you don't want to die then you have to use this orb."

What? How am I still bleeding? I asked myself, not feeling like I was losing blood.

But I couldn't help but worry that I might be bleeding without noticing it somehow. I knew I shouldn't listen to Kassandra since she was part of the enemy here, and she could just try to use me to help power this castle. But another part of me was screaming in panic and fear, I could die if I didn't listen to her, and not only would I be leaving Juliette alone to try to finish Freakshow's messed up game, I would be leaving my friends and family behind, and to the Guys in White's mercy. I had far too much to lose, I couldn't allow myself to die just because I was a little suspicious.

I found myself flying closer towards the orb. I hesitated, still thinking this was a bad idea, or that it was a trap. But that part of me was still screaming at me, I couldn't afford to die here and now because I got too careless. And what does it matter if your powers were used to power up the castle? You were already stupid enough to get caught in the traps in the first place.

"Look, if I wanted to kill you, don't you think you already would be dead?" Kassandra pointed out.

"I'm not worried about you killing me, I'm worried about you brainwashing me," I huffed.

"Oh, well I don't need to brainwash you," Kassandra replied nonchalantly. "That's the purpose of this floor. Traps that stall or stop intruders while the unhearable brainwashing plays on a loop, slowly wearing away at the will of any being that steps foot on this floor."

I was floating right in front of the orb when Kassandra said that. My eyes went wide as panic started to settle into my brain. "WHAT!?"

In my haste and shock at this news, my hands pounded on the orb in frustration. "What do you mean this floor brainwashes people!?"

"I said exactly what I meant," Kassandra chuckled. "There is a constant loop of brainwashing audio that cannot be picked up normally. Instead of someone hearing it, it directly affects the body of the listener. After long enough, they'll be loyal to King Danny, his generals, and his trusted servants. It's why your friends so easily agreed to let me help you."

I had forgotten about the orb as dread settled into my stomach. My hands gripping the smooth object in worry and fear. I didn't notice that the purple swirls started to get bigger and brighter than the green swirls in the orb. Oh my gosh! If we've been exposed to this audio brainwashing since we got on this floor, then we could already be partially brainwashed and not even realize it! What if I'm going to just become this Danny's loyal dog before I could even get to Juliette!? I could already be considering that now for all I know! Maybe I shouldn't have hidden my ghost powers, it would've been safer for everyone if I could've just taken us all straight to the throne room! We're all going to end up as Danny's slaves now!

As if to remind me to breathe, I felt Chad sending several reassuring signals to try to calm me down before I had a full blown panic attack.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six," Kassandra counted down. "Five, four, three, two, one. Okay, you can take your hands off the orb now."

"Wah!?" I yelped as I quickly let go of the orb as if it had burned me. What is wrong with me!? Am I crazy!? I was holding onto that orb this whole time!? That's it, I'm dead, I am d-e-a-d!

"Relax," Kassandra ordered. "Take some deep breaths, calm yourself, and turn back to your other form. And yes, that is an order. Once you're calm, I get your friends and give you an offer that should help you get to King Danny without any trouble."

I didn't know whether to be relieved or cry at the fact that I did start to calm down at Kassandra's orders. It just confirmed that I had already been brainwashed enough to follow orders as I followed every step.

I noticed that I was visible, I had likely lost my invisibility during my freakout earlier. The hoodie was still on me though.

"That'll be the last time I'll give you orders until you fully submit to King Danny," Kassandra promised as she headed for the door. Kassandra opened it before sticking her head out. "Would you two mind coming in here? I have an option for you to get right into King Danny's throne room without any difficulty."

We have to get out of here! The longer we stay, the more brainwashed we'll be! I frantically screamed at myself.

Chad sent out feelings of calmness and soothing.

You're right… you're right, Chad. I can't let myself panic like this. We have to remain calm. We can get through this, we just have to remember our goal. I took a deep breath and let it out to calm down.

I heard footsteps coming this way. I quickly changed back to human since I didn't want them seeing my ghostly aura that was shining outside of the hoodie I was wearing.

"How are you feeling, Andy? Is everything alright?" Max asked me when he and Twitchy walked over to me.

"Y-yeah… yeah, everything… is as alright as it can be…" I answered, trying not to shout that we had to leave right now.

"He lost a little bit more blood, but it wasn't enough to be dangerous or worrying," Kassandra informed. "Now, the option I have for you all is that you dress up as servants and I will escort you to the throne room. Once you are inside, you can try whatever plan you three are here to try. I am willing to do this because life in Amity Tower can get quite mundane and this is interesting enough to keep me satisfied for the next decade."

"It seems kind of suspicious that you would just let us go to your king's throne room like this just because you're bored," Twitchy noted. "This kind of thing screams trap. However, considering that we were already trapped, I'm willing to take my chances. I just want to get to the throne room already."

"Look, if I wanted to trap you I could make the door disappear and sink down to the next floor. Or I could've left you with King Danny's pet familiar," Kassandra pointed out. "I'm interested in seeing some fun, hence why I'm offering to help you. If you don't want my help, you can face the rest of the traps on this floor, get the key, and by the time you do you'd be fully transformed and or brainwashed."

"Didn't you hear me? I said I was willing to take my chances whether this was a trap or not," Twitchy grumbled in annoyance. "I don't care for your reasoning or what you 'could have' done."

"I have to agree with Twitchy, we're tired, and since you're offering us an easy way into the throne room, we're willing to take it, or half die trying," Max agreed.

"Good." Kassandra smiled before rectangular shapes slid up from the floor. "In those closets you will find servant outfits, specifically of the maid and butler variety. There are more maid outfits than butlers as King Danny has female servants for the most part."

Kassandra tilted her head a little before pointing at Max. "There's definitely a butler uniform in your size. However…" She looked at me. "You might have to wear one of the maid outfits as there aren't butler uniforms for anyone quite as small as you."

Oh sure, cross dressing, yeah, let's add that to the pile of crud I have to deal with today. I thought glumly to myself. "Um… am I allowed to keep my hoodie on?"

"No, you are not," Kassandra answered.

I frowned, the hoodie was the only thing keeping my face hidden, and I rather nobody saw my face. "... Um… does the maid outfit come with a mask at least?"

"Hmmm… I could get you a mask, but it isn't standard," Kassandra replied.

"As long as I can see and breathe out of it, and it covers my face, I don't care," I stated before realizing how bad that could backfire. "Oh, and as long as it doesn't stay stuck on my face or is enchanted or something in anyway."

"Heh, it will be enchanted, but it'll only be to help make you seem and sound more feminine," Kassandra replied before looking over at Twitchy. "One your size should be in the closet marked A-13. And for the butler uniform, S-2."

---

Back in the throne room with Juliette

(Juliette: There we go, I think that is what you are looking for!)

(Andy: Yes, that's perfect! … The readers can see this, can't they? Who's writing this down!?)

(Juliette: The speech-to-text program you are having me use considering I don't quite know how to use computers.)

(Andy: Turn it off if you're not writing anything! It's adding unnecessary text to the chapter!)

(Juliette: I… haven't turned it off since you had me start.)

(Andy: … Welp… editing is going to be a nightmare…)

"So, my Little Snowflake, instead of just telling you my idea, I was thinking of putting it into action." I smiled as I walked back into the throne room, the orb on the door pricking me once again, making me figure that it was indeed just part of the safety procedures. "Tell me, do you think you've been taking care of yourself health wise? I have given you countless scoldings about keeping track of your health, but those scoldings never seem to fully stick."

"Well, I'm sorry, but there hasn't been much time for me to focus on eating, or sleep, not when there's so much to do, and little time to do it," Danny huffed.

"Danny, there is always time to take care of yourself," I retorted. "Eating and sleeping is one of the things you should be focusing on. There's a reason you have so many generals, little one, you need to delegate your responsibilities more. You know we would all go above and beyond to help you if it meant you would take even 5 minutes to help yourself."

I could hear Echo snickering a tiny bit though he covered it up by clearing his throat.

Despite Danny's intimidating appearance, he gave a very normal Danny-like pout. "Come on, Juliette, what do you think you're even going to do? Get Nocturne to force me to sleep again? Have Scarlet chain me to the chair and force feed me again?"

I crossed my arms and raised a brow. "Do I need to do those things?"

"I would rather you didn't, I had fallen behind on those days," Danny sighed. "Look, if I really needed to re-energize myself or give myself some nourishment, I would just use Dad's Ecto-Dejecto and drink extra ectoplasm as a boost. It's always worked for me."

"Oh no, little one, that only satisfies your ghost half," I scolded in a stern tone. "You need to satisfy your other half as well. Which is exactly why we will be having a small feast in this room. You will eat and drink, as will my new servant, and you will only stop when you are full. I know you are the King of Ghosts, but I am putting my foot down on this subject as a caretaker, as a friend, and as an elder who knows better."

Danny blanched a little. "I may be 'king' in title, but I function as more of the world's manager… don't know why everyone keeps insisting on calling me 'the king'. It had a nice ring to it at first, but I just find it too… I guess pompous?"

"Danny… don't you dare start avoiding the subject." I scowled. "Do you understand what will be going on?"

"Come on, Juliette, is there really time for a feast? Do you know how long those take to set up?" Danny groaned.

At that I looked Danny dead in the face and held up a hand before coating it in flames. "Do I need to spank you for complaining and arguing?" Really, really hope this is what the me of this world acts like.

Danny furrowed his eyebrows at me. I was worried that maybe I might've screwed up.

"Spanking? Did Scarlet teach you that?" Danny hissed darkly.

"No," I replied as I extinguished the flames. "It's something I knew from my childhood. Even a princess can still be spanked."

Danny took my hand and lowered it. "Listen, Juliette, I will eat whatever food is on the table and drink whatever is in the cup, if you can get everything set up in about 15 minutes."

I smiled and lightly gripped Danny's hand in mine. "Good thing I already had my new servant spread the word when I was out in the hall. Food and drink should be arriving at any moment. Also, I am sorry for having to pull the 'stern, no-nonsense' card. But you know this is a topic I find of the utmost importance. In my eyes your health is more important than anything in the universe."

Danny sighed a little. "Perhaps you should be focusing on having to deal with two of me soon, or rather, deal with another most likely stubborn half ghost teenager who may not always take care of himself either."

Echo nearly had a coughing fit when Danny said that.

"Oh, I already have plans in mind for Andy." I grinned.

"Good, glad to hear it, so he can suffer your healthy tactics with me~" Danny smirked.

My grin became a full beaming smile. "Yep!~"

I could hear Echo groaning a little.

"Tell me, Danny," I began as I looked at Danny. "How do you think Andy would react if he saw you like this? And do you think you would have enough strength to hug him?"

"He doesn't like me like- oh, you mean health-wise?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

I raised a brow. "What else could I have meant, Danny? Now you have me curious."

"He really doesn't like this me," Danny sighed, gesturing to himself. "I actually look normal as a human, but I haven't had time to go into my human form much these days. But even then, I know Andy wouldn't come near me. He ran away from me, he's scared of me, scared of the utopia I tried so hard to make and maintain over the years. I'm hoping that once all his resistance teams are captured and turned, he will come back, tired of running, and allow himself to be welcomed by his friends and family again."

"From what I heard you've backed him into a corner already," I commented. "Meaning it should only be a matter of time before Andy finds himself here. And when he is here, I'll rub his hair at the same time I rub yours~"

I could hear Echo making some kind of noise, but I couldn't tell what it was or what it was supposed to mean.

"Heh, yeah, hopefully that'll be soon," Danny remarked. "Okay, so how about that feast?"

I looked over at Echo. "Will you please go check if the first round of food and drink will be arriving soon?"

"Yes, Princess Juliette," Echo answered with a bow before he hurried out of the throne room.

Danny couldn't help but give a small smirk. "Seems you've taken a bit of a liking to your newest servant there."

"You know how I can be with my servants. Each of them is precious to me," I responded.

"That's true, you were always such a big softy," Danny chuckled. "We- as in my friends and I, always try to treat everyone as fair as possible as well. Always making sure everyone has all the food and water they would need, making breakthroughs with medicine and cures for diseases, those are important these days since viruses have evolved over the years, so much so that could be dangerous to halfas. It hasn't been easy, especially when a few countries refuse to get along with each other, but nothing worth is ever easy, right?"

I blinked a little, not sure how to respond to what Danny had just said. I know that this Danny has some kind of brainwashing ability, but that makes me question why he didn't just use that ability on all the countries of the world. If Danny had wanted to, there wouldn't ever have been a chance for a resistance. Could… is it possible that Danny didn't do that because he didn't want to risk brainwashing his brother? That he wanted to show Andy that just because he had an ability to assert complete control, he didn't plan on using it?

I started to wish I could've seen what the Danny from my world was like when he was in this form, so I could've compared the two.

"So… while we're waiting…" Danny looked at me. "Could I have more petting time?"

"I don't know, can you?" I asked, knowing for a fact that any version of me would try to correct someone's grammar.

"Yes, I can." Danny smirked, likely having heard that correction many times before.

"Well good, then you can pet yourself." I smiled.

"Or I can pet you," Danny retalitated. "You've got soft fur that's just begging to be pet."

I stared at Danny. Uh… wait… really? Nobody has ever wanted to pet me before… "Um… well, you asked if you could have more petting time. I haven't been pet today, meaning it wouldn't be more with me."

"Oh? You haven't been pet today?" Danny frowned. "You know what? We'll have to fix that~"

Before I could argue, Danny was already petting me. I had never been pet before, not since I became a ghost, so I was taken by surprise by how the petting felt. My entire body locked up, the area Danny was petting became more sensitive, and I could feel my tail swishing back and forth quickly. I noticed that as Danny continued to pet me, the world around me began to fade away.

I had completely lost track of time. Nothing around me existed anymore except for me, Danny, the couch, and the wonderful sensation of the loving strokes of Danny's hand. It was obvious that Danny knew what he was doing with how he was petting me.

I only snapped out of the heavenly sensation when the sensation itself stopped. The world came back into existence as I realized the door was open, and there were more ghosts coming in. I wanted to pout, wishing the experience could've lasted longer, but I stopped as I forced myself to remember the missions at hand.

These ghosts that came in were wearing maid and butler outfits. One of the maids, I noticed, was shorter than the others, they were wearing a full maid dress, but what caught my attention was the light blue and white fox mask that was covering their face. None of the other maids and butlers were wearing masks. I did frown, however, when I saw Max and Twitchy among the group.

Did… did they completely fall to the brainwashing or whatever other traps there were…? Or… is this a plan to get up here? Did they take one of the maids hostage? I inwardly questioned as I looked at the group. "Please, bring the food forth. Oh, and Echo, please come eat as well. You need your strength to be able to serve me properly." It'll also let you get super close to Danny.

"If that is what you wish, Princess Juliette, and if that is okay with King Danny," Echo said softly.

"Yeah, it's fine with me," Danny shrugged. "You're looking almost as thin as I am."

I noticed the maid in the mask was looking over at Echo for a moment, before they turned their attention back to the others, bringing in several carts full of food and drinks. The spread itself looked delicious, it also smelled wonderfully good.

"I might have some myself, even though I don't need to eat food in order to survive," I chuckled. "After all, it's been a while since I've participated in a feast."

It would appear that Danny and Echo likely hadn't eaten much in days, because they were both pretty much inhaling their food. While Echo was eating, he was making sure to keep his hood pulled up so his face wouldn't be revealed.

I grabbed a small bit of food and ate it myself. It was as delicious as it looked and smelled, however I only ate a little.

I looked around and glanced at Danny before I cleared my throat a little and coughed twice. While coughing, I scooted away from Danny and towards the pitcher of water that was on the table. I could only hope that if Twitchy and Max weren't completely brainwashed, they would catch my signal.

To my relief, they did. Twitchy took out a blue box from her dress's pocket, and discreetly pushed it across the table towards Danny. Danny blinked when he saw the strange blue cube that was suddenly slid in front of him, before the cube suddenly expanded and trapped Danny's entire body inside fields of blue energy.

Several things happened at once. Danny let out an angry shout in the cube, the real maids and butlers started to panic, Echo quickly stood up and shouted at Max and Twitchy to grab the cube, while the masked maid ran over to me.

"Juliette, it's me Andy," The masked maid whispered to me.

I blinked at that. "What? But… you look and sound female."

"It's the mask, it's apparently enchanted to make me sound more feminine," The masked maid groaned before they lifted the mask to let me see their face.

I saw that when the mask was lifted, the maid's feminine form looked more masculine.

"Andy! Juliette!" Echo suddenly called out to us. "Glad to see you're okay, Andy. You and Juliette better find that page, I'm certain my informant said it was near the throne, or maybe on it… possibly in it."

I nodded and stood up. "Put the mask back on."

Andy nodded before he put his foxmask back on, and both of us hurried towards the throne.

---

From Andy's POV

I had never felt so scared and thrilled in my life. Okay that wasn't technically true, but I definitely felt like I was going to pass out when we had walked into the throne room and I saw Corrupted Danny again. But there was something different about this Corrupted Danny, he looked more tired, and less malicious in a way. It was weird.

But when the trap was sprung, I was relieved to see that it was working. However, I couldn't help but feel like this was too easy. Despite the fact I had to go through an entire game with a giant white wolf, and almost died, I still felt like this was too easy. I wasn't sure if I was being paranoid or if my gut was warning me about something. Danny was more of a gut listener though.

As Juliette and I began to run towards the throne, however, something red suddenly grabbed Juliette's foot.

"What?!" Juliette shouted in surprise and alarm as she spun around and saw there was a red chain connected to her ankle.

Juliette then got pulled back all of a sudden, everyone was shocked. The red chain was connected to the blue cube that had Corrupted Danny inside it.

"How…?" I questioned in confusion.

Juliette was floating over the cube, unable to fly away due to the chain. Then Corrupted Danny started laughing as he walked out of the cube. Corrupted Danny didn't even need to go intangible, he just simply walked out of the cube as if it wasn't there. To make things worse; he looked energized.

"Looks like it's game over." Corrupted Danny smiled before glancing at Echo. "It's nice to see you again, bro."

"Let me go!" Juliette shouted as she created a fireball in her hand and tried to break the chain around her ankle.

"What!? How!? We had him!" Twitchy screamed.

"This isn't possible!" Max frowned. "Did our technology fail?"

"No." Corrupted Danny grinned at them. "It's not that your technology failed, it worked as intended, you were just told differently about what they did~"

"Danny!" Echo frowned as he boldly walked up to his brother, pulling his hood off. "Let Juliette go!"

"Juliette!" I called out, not sure if I should get any closer or not.

Corrupted Danny gave a sigh before he created two duplicates, the duplicates grabbed onto Twitchy and Max before they could think of retaliating or escaping. I paled a little, being reminded of how hopeless the situation became.

"So, bro… well done." Corrupted Danny smiled. "Looks like you won. You got you and at least one of your resistance members into my throne room."

"What?" I blinked.

"The hell are you talking about!?" Twitchy snapped.

I looked over at Echo, who completely took off his hoodie.

"Echo, what is he talking about?" I asked, suddenly feeling very unsafe around the other me.

Echo gave a small frown. "Come on, really, Danny? You're spoiling all the fun. I wanted to see where this would go."

"You have them trapped and powerless. There's nowhere it could have gone," Corrupted Danny pointed out.

"It's the principle, I at least wanted to keep going until you 'caught me' too." Echo rolled his eyes. "Whatever, it's already done and over with."

It was then that I understood. Those times when Echo talked about being infected and why he didn't want others to scan him; he already had a core. Doing seemingly stupid things like keeping all of the resistance's maps in one computer… that was a deliberate sabotage. The gas mask- WHAT THE HECK WAS IN THAT GAS MASK HE GAVE ME!?

"Echo… what's going on? Why are you talking like you're… buddies with the King?" Max asked, looking desperate.

"I'm not buddies with the King," Echo chuckled. "I'm his brother. As for what's going on, the end of a game between him and I."

"You… you can't be serious, Echo! This isn't a game! Your brother is the enemy here! He's trying to turn everyone into a brainwashed halfa! … Have you been brainwashed already?" Twitchy snapped.

"Brainwashed?" Echo frowned as he looked at Twitchy. "No… I'm not brainwashed."

"Then you must've been infected! There's no way you'd be treating your brother like this if you weren't!" Max spoke up.

"Oh… well you do have half a point there," Echo chuckled. "I am infected. But I was infected before I even started the resistance. I was one of the first people to become a halfa. Danny and I spent time and effort making sure that the 'infection' would be as safe as possible. I used one of my abilities to look at the future and saw that without my help, the world would've been filled with full ghosts that had no mind of their own."

Max and Twitchy looked horrified.

"You've been… playing us for fools!?" Twitchy shouted.

"I haven't been playing you, no," Echo replied. "I will admit, I was using you all and giving you all false hope. And I will also admit that I was the one who sabotaged all the near breakthroughs in cures and immunities for the infection. I was doing all that because Danny and I were playing a game with each other. I would try to form a resistance to fight him to make things entertaining. And he would fight this resistance in the hopes of beating them and winning our bet. Our bet was simple, I bet that I could get myself and someone that works under me into the throne room. The stakes aren't that big or anything, they're not even all that important that I feel I need to mention them."

Neither Twitchy nor Max spoke, both of them just hung down their heads in defeat. I was slowly backing away. This was dangerous, I didn't know if there was anything I could do for this world anymore. The best thing I could do now was get the page and get Juliette and myself out of here as quickly as possible.

"Oh don't look so down," Echo started. "This was the inevitable future for you and it's for the best. You may hate me now and feel like the world is crumbling around you, but you'll be able to better judge everything after things have become normal."

The duplicates began to drag Max and Twitchy away, likely to fully infect them. I felt bad for them, but I wasn't sure if anything I could have done would help. Even if I could get them away, they would still be on the run until they were caught. Maybe… some worlds are meant to turn out this way…

With Max and Twitchy gone, however, Echo and Corrupted Danny turned their attention to me. I stiffened in fear.

"So what are we going to do with this one, bro?" Corrupted Danny asked, making me pale.

"Heh… I think it's fair you get to see his face before we do anything," Echo chuckled before he suddenly vanished.

I blinked before I felt a presence behind me. I gasped as a hand ripped the fox mask off of me. In a reflex, I grabbed onto the fox mask and pulled it away. Echo chuckled towards me as my face was exposed and my body shifted back to normal.

"Huh, didn't you once tell me we would eventually have guests from another world?" Corrupted Danny asked as he looked between Echo and myself.

"That I did." Echo nodded in confirmation.

"That would explain this Juliette and him," Corrupted Danny acknowledged before smiling. "So what are we going to do with them?"

I was trying hard not to panic. I frantically looked between Corrupted Danny, Echo, and Juliette, whose ankle was still chained up. I looked back to see the throne. What if Echo was lying? What if the page was never here to begin with? But… it's our only lead. If I don't try to get the page now, then we're… I don't know what we are, but I know it's nothing good! If I could just get the page…

While the two corrupted brothers were talking, I pumped whatever ghostly energy I had into my flight and made a beeline towards the throne. My body shifted into my ghost form during this, and my feet immediately morphed into a ghostly tail. I almost reached the throne when my body suddenly stopped. I gave a confused look, nothing physical was holding me, but I soon realized what was. My body was glowing red, one of the corrupted brothers was using telekinesis to keep me in place. They turned me around so I would be facing them. Echo's right hand was glowing red.

"Come now, Andy, it's rude to fly away while there is a conversation that you're involved in is going on," Echo scolded.

The fact that Echo's ghost energy was red made me want to throw up. My ghostly energy was usually green, so the fact that Echo's was red, just like Corrupted Danny's ghost energy, led me to believe that Echo also had a corrupted form. I just prayed, for the sake of my sanity, that he wouldn't transform in front of me. I didn't think I would be able to take it if I saw a corrupted version of me staring me down.

I tried to look braver than I felt as I furrowed my eyebrows at them. "What do you want from us? You know we're not from this dimension, and we need to get back. If you two are really just trying to create a peaceful utopia, then you understand that it's important that we get back to our dimension."

"If you keep us here, you will doom our reality!" Juliette snapped as she dissipated the flame, the chain undamaged.

"We want to have a little fun with you two, it's not every day we get to meet another version of people we know," Corrupted Danny chuckled.

"So here's a new game for you two; try to get the page before we catch you. Do you think you can do it?~ Don't worry, we won't use duplications or telekinesis," Echo remarked.

"That's not fair," Juliette narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not built for speed like Andy and you two are."

"Oh? You know, the Juliette here has ways to outmaneuver us, so you should be capable of doing that too," Corrupted Danny said.

"That's not how that works. Just because the me from here is capable of it doesn't mean that I am capable of it!" Juliette shouted.

Corrupted Danny rolled his eyes before he looked at me. "You know it is a shame that you never petted Juliette, Andy. She could use some of that R&R~"

Juliette frowned at that and glanced away.

"Pet Juliette?" I blinked, a little confused. "Why would I pet… nevermind. Would we lose the game if one of us gets caught?"

"Nope, you only lose if both of you get caught," Echo answered before he moved me towards the door, which was a bit far from the throne.

"Oh…?" Juliette smiled, her expression surprisingly turning mischievous. "I can work with that."

Corrupted Danny moved Juliette to the door, putting her next to me. "Then we'll explain the rules. My brother and I will start at the throne, you two start at the door. We will defend our throne. We won't come after you until you reach the middle mark of the room, we will only shoot ghost rays at you until then. Once you reach the middle mark, that is when we will fly after you two. If you get hit by our ghost ray, or we manage to touch you both, then we win. You can use barriers or duplications, we don't win if we touch the barriers or a duplicate. You two will win once you can find and grab a page."

Echo rubbed his neck a little. "We will be limiting ourselves, since it would be far too easy if we used our full powers to catch you two. We won't use duplications or telekinesis. We'll just be using our basic ghost powers."

"I think you're also sore and tired, bro," Corrupted Danny noted.

"Yeah… comes with being out in the wilderness for almost a month straight. I'm so getting a hot bath and a Juliette's massage time tonight after this…" Echo grumbled.

"What do you plan on doing to us if we lose? Are you truly going to doom our reality?" Juliette inquired.

"If you're lucky, you won't have to find out~" Echo grinned.

Juliette sighed. "Fine. We get to go all out while you are limited."

Juliette then looked at me. I didn't look very sure. I remembered all too well how powerful Corrupted Danny was. Even though they were handicapping themselves, I doubted that we would be able to get the page without getting caught.

"Are you sure we can do this, Juliette?" I questioned.

"We don't have any other choice, Andy," Juliette replied before smiling. "Can we have a moment to talk with each other before we start this game of yours? A minute or so to strategize?"

Corrupted Danny snapped his fingers and the red chain on Juliette's feet disappeared. Echo's hand stopped glowing, and I was free from his telekinesis. Both Juliette and I were at the door at this point.

"You two are free to plan out as much as you like. As long as you don't step forward, the game will not start," Echo explained. "As soon as you do take a step forward, however, that is when we will start firing our ghost rays at you. We won't give you two a break after that."

"So use this time wisely~" Corrupted Danny smirked.

I felt small, I was sure that nothing we could do would be able to get through these two. I was still afraid to see Echo transformed, and I know he would transform once the game started. I still couldn't believe he had played us like that.

"We can do this, Andy, let's just use our heads," Juliette assured before she leaned in towards me and began to whisper.

---

haloguardian452: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, sometimes the story or elements of it can get weird. Try not to let that stop you from enjoying it though. As for the mini cores making Andy act like he's on drugs, it's more like it's making him very hyperactive. Have you ever been very hyper? It's very hard to think straight, you start to act like you're on sugar rush, to the point that it can make you seem like you're on drugs. Too much energy made Andy too hyper to be stable, though thankfully he was able to use up some of the excessive energy during the tests, so he's able to start thinking straight again. Though the giant wolf creature can seem intimidating, there is something about it that made Andy feel like it's not an enemy, which was why he saw it as cute. It will be explained much later on though.

RedHood001: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It was really fun to write out those tests in all honesty. And yeah, those fakes were made up of a bunch of different things; his hopes, knowledge of the fakes, imagination regarding them, and more. While it is kinda sad that they are fakes and that Andy knows it's fake, I think it was good for him to get in this practice of actually talking to Maddie.

While they were tests, the fakes were still made up of parts of Andy, meaning they would definitely give him encouragement and support.

As for the wolf giving off 'villain by circumstance' vibes, you are not too terribly off. I have to agree with you that I enjoy 'bad guys' who are genuine and have more depth to them than 'I want to take over the world and reign supreme!' or 'I am evil, ha ha ha.'.

Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Well… things can surprise you, but we'll let you see what happens..

Dp-Marvel94: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yeah, hyper Andy is incredibly fun to write~ Cause it means he's no longer completely that logical person that he is. Glad you enjoyed those tests, it was fun to write out.

Mana: DarkFoxKit: It makes sense in the show's lore how a human's belief could affect how their spirits would be once they've passed on to the afterlife, or in some cases, are reborn as ghosts. We like to imagine different reasons why, as it helps make the lore of the story even more fascinating.

I am actually surprised Sam didn't try to lead an angry mob against Vlad's 'progression' in that episode, if anything, that would've been the perfect time for her to use her 'Whip Up an Angry Mob' ability that Pamula had stated before. But I guess Sam figured it wouldn't do any good against Vlad and his influence over the town, that's my guess to why she didn't do anything other than complain about it. We don't have any plans for that scene ourselves right now as we're focused on what we're doing currently rather than what's in the future, but when we get there, you'll see what we'll do.

Which is why I'm excited for when we finally get to season 3 ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I love the character focus seasons, and I still do, more than season 3, but the fact that season 3 has more focus on the lore itself means that we will be able to let loose and focus a lot more on the lore as well. We'll finally get to implement a lot of things I saw from other DP fanfics and incorporate it here without it seeming to come out of the blue. Seasons 1 and 2 helped the characters get into their new roles, and season 3 will show them what their world is like.

Hehe, well we do have certain plans for the Fentons soon, but we won't say what it is to avoid spoilers. I feel like the Fentons are both hard to like and dislike, due to their big hearts to save people, they obviously do care about protecting others from the malicious ghosts, unlike the Guys in White. But their own hatred and bias for ghosts make them unreasonable when it comes to talking to the good ghosts or Danny himself while in his phantom form. I feel like the show could've easily remedied that had they ever truly stuck with Danny revealing his identity to his parents. But oh well, guess that just means we get the opportunity to do what the show didn't.

I'm usually not one to care about a 'Reverse Role' thing that much unless it's a one off thing just to see it from a different perspective, but I prefer it if characters stick to their roles that we know them for. As for Gravity Falls, it was originally planned to be a co-written story with Key2DestNE, but I haven't heard from him in almost a year and a half now, so I guess that idea is pretty much dead. I also haven't watched GF in a while either. Anyways, it's still been a struggle just to write this story due to circumstances, but we still hope to continue updating even if it's slow. Thank you for your reviews and encouraging words, as well as interesting ideas.

I will at least tell you that my original ideas for the DP and GF crossover involved My Brother's a Ghost Andy before he and Danny talked about Danny being half ghost, and Andy meets with Dipper when the Fentons go to Gravity Falls. Dipper talked about a ghost haunting the area, which perked up Andy's interest to learn more about it. That's about all I had at the time though.