A/N: This is late. I'm sorry, but I figured that I should try and wrap this story up sometime this year. Anyway, this would have been longer, but updates have been so awkward, that I thought that this would be enough for now.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

Watching his mother get married to the man whom she hated – who he hated – was hard to watch. Still, the young halfa stood by Vlad's side and tried to glance at the ground. Only when the shock that originated from the bottom of his spine alerted him to his arch enemy's disapproval of his actions.

"I now pronounce you man and wife."

Correction – of his now step-father's disapproval.

Letting out a scowl, he quickly looked away when they kissed. Once again, he thought about how it all came back to him losing his powers. If only he wasn't feeling pathetic and useless then maybe he could have changed things.

When his mother pulled away and placed the back of her hand to her mouth in disgust, Vlad let out a triumphant smirk. Maddie gave him a steady glare – letting him know that this was only for appearances. Vlad's eyes sparkled in delight, signifying that he was fine with that, at least for now.

A cheering erupted the three from their thoughts and instead focused on the small collection of people that had gathered around. For the sake of keeping things traditional, Danny's aunt from his mother's side was in the crowd, although she was shaking her in discouragement the entire time.

The teenager went to move but stopped when another shock erupted through his spine. He tried his best not to let out an inhuman growl. Only his family knew his secret, he didn't want his mother's side of the family to know that he was the same entity as the one that had enslaved humanity.

Instead, he resolved to stand still. Deciding to wait until Vlad's footsteps to echo around the room that was drowning with innocent people – that, and his enemies of the ghost zone. One false move, and he could have an army that he was defenseless to fight against on him in an instant. Of course, he wasn't sure how great he would be in his ghost form because of almost a month of being forced to stay as his human self.

He didn't need to wait long, not when Vlad wanted to gloat.

"It appears as though I have the right to formally call you 'son' now," Vlad stated proudly, standing beside Danny who clenched his fists in response.

"I think you're missing a 'step' in there somewhere," Danny's witty response came out before he had time to think about his answer. Another shock was sent through his spine, and he let out a cringe of pain as he stepped forward from the agony. Putting out a hand to comfort this abused spine, he sent Vlad a heated glare.

Vlad let out an 'amused' smirk, although the young halfa knew that he was the farthest thing from amused. The thin line that quickly consumed the smirk confirmed his suspicions. Vlad took a step forward and placed his hands in his suit pockets. "Care to rephrase that, son?" He emphasized, looking at Danny for any kind of objection.

He wanted to test the young halfa's patience, but Danny wouldn't abide to his silent demands. Danny bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying something he would regret in the near future. Vlad seemed pleasantly surprised with his reaction and patted the teen's shoulder.

"I just might make an obedient son out of you yet," he thought out loud, his tone almost seemed to be slightly cheerful at the prospect of having Danny – the rebellious, heroic teenager – finally become submissive and under his control. The young halfa gave his step-father a long stare before Vlad was called over to greet some of the guests.

With Vlad's retreating footsteps, the teenager brought his teeth off his tongue, and he could taste the copper flavor. He was bleeding from biting down too hard – but he couldn't risk being shocked again. How long before he was at his limits and he would try and fight the man in retaliation?

His mom couldn't afford the consequences to his actions, and he sure as hell didn't want any more of the human staff being killed because he couldn't control himself. Not to mention, he was completely powerless and at the mercy of Vlad – the older halfa had made sure of that when he first entered the mansion on day one.

"Don't hold your breath…" Danny whispered as soon as he knew Vlad was out of the enhanced hearing range. He watched the older hybrid make casual conversation with some of the guests – all of whom were sweating, nervous at saying something offensive to the man by a slip of the tongue. He glared daggers at the man before he started to walk away.

Only for something heavy to weigh him down from his suit pocket.

His eyes widened in realization – Skulker had slipped something into his suit jacket when he had 'bumped' into him. The teenager nonchalantly placed his hands in his pants pockets before walking towards the nearest bathroom.

What better time to investigate than when Vlad was distracted and didn't suspect him of trying anything. No, the older halfa was feeling radiant and he practically gleamed with triumph. Everything was going his way today, and he didn't even think that Danny would still and try to find a way to win.

Keeping a straight face, he passed a group of ghosts on his way to the bathroom. When he tried to secretly give a look towards Skulker, the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter pretended that the young halfa didn't exist.

Darting his eyes to the front in a millisecond, it was then that Danny knew that whatever was stored inside of his suit pocket – it could mean absolute death for the hunter. That meant that either this thing could help him out of his current situation, or it could backfire.

Exiting out of a side door, he had made up his mind.

He slid into the bathroom and locked the door before slowly turning to approach the mirror. Silently, he was hoping that Skulker was trying to reconcile with him – to show that he still had pride as a hunter.

He reached his hand into his suit pocket.

Valerie was on high alert, walking onto the main street of Amity Park from an unnamed alley. She still wasn't any closer to finding out where Dani was, and that meant that her mission was becoming less and less meaningful.

She thought that she would find her – that maybe if one of them was in trouble, the other would come to the aid and try and help. Because deep down, they had both wanted to do the right thing, even if she hadn't seen that up until a month ago when she found out the secret of Danny Fenton.

She understood why he would keep in from her – she would have too if the roles were reversed. He had every right to keep that secret, and she couldn't blame Sam and Tucker, it wasn't their secret to tell.

The sound of an engine brought her out of her thoughts, and she slowly backed up into the shadow of a building. She tapped the middle of her chest, and her red suit became black. Tucker had really helped her with this covert mission, and she realized that she needed to thank him when she got back to base.

Bullet was riding on a hover board, almost identical to the one that she used. It would make sense – she got her supply and ghost hunting gear from Plasmius, and he was ruling the world with the help of Walker's goons.

As soon as the ghost disappeared, she let out a sigh as she emerged from the darkness.

Looking up at the sky, she wondered how everything went to hell so quickly.

"I will survive through this," Valerie promised, running down the street with determination in her eyes. She jumped in the air and let her hover board become active. Gliding around in the air, she still stuck to the shadows of the building. "Come on, Dani, where are you?" She asked herself out loud, the desperation in her voice let the teen girl know that this wasn't just a normal ghost hunt.

This was life and death.

He pulled out the piece of machinery and found that it was actually just a visual recorder. This made the teenager more curious, and he glanced to the locked door. That wouldn't stop Vlad from suddenly barging in, and he felt as if his time was running out.

And it was.

If Vlad turns around and doesn't see that he's there – he'll get suspicious, and then Danny will never have any free time to see what's on there.

Yet, why did Skulker give it to him? What could possibly be on here that Vlad didn't want Danny to see?

Slowly turning on the 'on' button, the screen displayed Skulker at his island in front of his house. Danny's eyebrows raised at that – and here he thought that Skulker lived in a small shack. Turns out it was actually a pretty accommodating home.

"Alright, Whelp, here's the deal," Skulker's gruff voice came from the recording. Instantly the teen rolled his eyes, so he wasn't here to help him? I guess the thought was a bit too far-fetched, considering that he captured him without his powers. "I was ordered to destroy an object."

That made the young halfa more interested, he unwillingly leaned in closer to better hear the device. It wasn't needed since he had enhanced hearing from his ghost side. The action still made him feel more human – and right now that all he wanted.

"Plasmius was vague on his orders – but I found it…" He trailed, looking back at the house with guilt before looking back towards the camera. "Or should I say 'her'," he added, and when he stepped away, Danny recognized the person right away.

She was busy playing with one of Skulker's trapped prey. When she threw a piece of food in its direction, it glanced at the food before running away. The girl let out a frown before flying after the creature with a determined smirk on her face.

"Danielle?" He mouthed, still cautious about how close Vlad was to catching him in the act of going behind his back.

Skulker stepped back into frame, and Danny was instantly trying to see past him. Danielle looked fine enough, she seemed to be running around the yard in her ghost form. And it didn't seem as if she had any injuries or anything.

So what was the hunter ghost getting to?

Danny knew there was an ultimatum in there somewhere – with Skulker there always is.

"But I couldn't…" Skulker trailed, looking down at the ground in shame before looking back up, "She's just a small ghost child," he stated, shaking his head, "How could I just-?" He asked, and before he continued anything else, there was a loud boom from behind him.

"Oops!"

"Ghost child #2, I swear if you-!" Skulker yelled, and the transmission ended.

Danny let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Danielle was safe, and that sent a wave of relief over him. He had thought that she wouldn't be in the vicinity of Amity Park when Plasmius' rule took place, but she was in the end captured by Skulker.

On Plasmius' orders…

Without knowing it, his hands spontaneously lit up with green ecto-energy and the device combusted into flames. Danny moved his hands away and let the ashes fall to the ground. He was beyond angry – he was absolutely pissed.

He took a step forward, but stopped.

He couldn't confront Vlad about this – no, then he would know that Skulker betrayed him. And right now Skulker was an asset that he didn't want to ruin. Letting out a sigh of frustration and running a hand though his hair, he took a step back.

Placing his foot out, he smothered the ash into the ground and covered his tracks.

He still wasn't any step closer to getting out of this, but at least he knew that Danielle was safe. And that was one person that he didn't need to worry about anymore. But there were still so many people on that list; he didn't know who he should worry about next.

To be continued…