Watch out for nightmares that seem weak, they are usually strong.

The Nightmare
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

Chapter 7 – Some Answers

The house was, once again, devoid of anything except himself. He wandered through the empty rooms for nearly a half-hour, thinking. It was obvious that he needed answers. It was, likewise, obvious that the creature that was taking his place had at least some of those answers. It was, finally, obvious that the creature was not currently present, and probably did not want to hand over the answers easily.

So it would come down to a fight. He stared down as his hand as he tensed his arm and willed some energized ectoplasm to it. Nothing. Even his ability to fly had vanished some time in the past few hours. The only thing he still had of his ghostly persona, other than his hair and eyes, was his slightly-transparent and glowing body.

If he had to fight, he wanted the fight to be completely one-sided. He had left the heroic "fair fight" ideal behind him years ago. He tramped down to the lab and started to collect equipment. A couple of carefully laid traps, an ecto-gun or two, and a "Ghost Containment Device" later, he was crouched behind the couch of the living room, waiting for the creature to walk through the door.

Three hours later, he was rubbing his sore back, and still waiting. He was just starting to think about going into the kitchen to get something to drink when his trap went off. He jumped over the couch, his ecto-gun pointed at the net that was dangling from the ceiling. The creature inside the net was struggling. It stopped when it noticed him approaching.

"Nice trap, ghost," it greeted him, a smile crossing its face.

He smiled back, but it was a tired smile with no happiness in it. "I want some answers. Don't give me trouble and I won't give you trouble."

"That sounds like a plan." It didn't seem terribly troubled by the fact it was dangling from the ceiling with a dangerous weapon pointed at it. In fact, it seemed almost pleased.

"Let's start with who you are."

Its smile grew, showing him every tooth it could. "I am you, dear ghost. I would have thought that was obvious."

He shook his head. "You are not me!" he hissed. "Answer me truthfully or I will use your head for a basketball." He blinked, startled by how much he had sounded like Skulker.

"Would you really?" it mussed, even going so far as to stroke its chin. "I fail to see that sort of maliciousness in you. Too bad, really. You might have really made something of yourself."

He moved the ecto-gun closer, so that it was pointed directly between the creature's eyes. When he spoke, his voice was cold and emotionless. "Who. Are. You."

The creature laughed, gazing at him over the barrel of the ecto-gun. "Perhaps you have something in you after all. Ah well. It really is too late for you." It placed its hand on the end of the ecto-gun and pushed it back at him. As he stumbled back, the creature leaned lazily back into the net and grinned at him. "You are trapped, my host. Trapped in a world of your own design. Such a nice world too." It gazed around for a moment, then leaned forward and met his gaze. "And, sooner or later I will find your weakness. Then your world will crumble, your soul will flee into the afterlife, and I will be all that is left. I will take your place. I will take your potential. I will be you." It dissolved into maniacal giggles.

"I'll stop you!" he yelled. He tried to remain confident, but his knees were going weak and his arms were trembling. This creature seemed far too positive of itself to be easy to defeat.

"A thousand hosts have told me the same thing," it giggled. "You are only the latest in the line. Far from the first, and definitely not the last."

"I'll find a way to stop you."

It stopped giggling, and stared solemnly into his eyes. "Of course there is a way to stop me. Every ghost has a weakness." It gazed at him, its eyes taking in the dazed expression in his eyes, the slumped posture, and the dim glow of his body. "I am near to finding yours. Too near for you to stop me." A merciless grin split its face. "But we need to keep this fun, don't we ghost? So I'll tell you my weakness." It thread its fingers into the mesh of the net and pushed its face into the net. "You need to find the key." Then it settled back again, watching him.

"A key?" he asked. "What key?"

"The key to you. The key to your power. It is something that you have always had, but never thought about. You have always carried with it you, but never touched it. You have always known this, but never told anyone. It is what will make you the most powerful ghost to ever have existed." It was silent as its words seemed to echo around the room for a moment. "That is your key." A gleeful light glittered in its eyes for a second. "That is also your weakness."

They stared at each other. Glowing green eyes into ice-blue eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, when Maddie walked through the door and started screaming at him. With the number of weapons he had dragged up to "fight" the creature, he decided it would be a better idea to make a swift exit than to stay and ask more questions. After all, she knew the ecto-weapons much better than he did. And she was a far better shot.

To be continued...

Remember… watch the pronouns. I've been very, very careful with them – Danny is ALWAYS 'he' and the creature is ALWAYS 'it.'

Disclaimer: The probability of me actually owning Danny Phantom is about the same as me writing a decent-sized chapter in this story (as in nil). Please enjoy.

If you like it (or if you don't) please review. Reviewing is what keeps me writing.