Chapter XCIX

"You know, for as long as you've been able to fly, I don't think you've ever taken us up here," Tucker said in a matter-of-fact way.

"For as long as I've been able to fly, I've been trying not to get killed by everyone else who can fly," Phantom replied from his perch at the edge of Terror Tower.

"Well at least nobody's trying to kill you now," Sam said as she cast Tucker a warning glance.

Tucker rolled his eyes, but took the hint. "So . . ."

"Look, you guys don't have to beat around the bush," Phantom resigned. "I'm going to need to talk to someone about it eventually."

"How do you figure?" Sam asked.

"Jazz and Mr. Falluca have a buddy system going on. He tells her anything she wants to know about me and visa versa," Phantom sighed. "So she'd eventually find out and badger me until I cracked. At least this way, I'll be able to know what I'm going to say before I make a fool of myself."

"Well ok," Tucker cleared his throat. "This is the second ghost kid you've fathered. At least that we know of, anyway."

Phantom cringed at the thought of more of his offspring flying around somewhere without a father.

"Look, we don't know what you want us to say," Sam admitted. "Just tell us what you're thinking and, you know, we'll go from there."

Phantom nodded. "Walker really scared me. He still does, to be honest. Not because he's insane and super strong and stuff, but because he was my son. I couldn't begin to imagine what kind of monster I had to be in the future to make him hate me so much."

The ghost floated up off his ledge and turned to face his friends, sitting on the roof with them.

"And after I fought him the first time, I thought to myself: If I ever have kids, I'm going to make sure I'm a good father to them. I'm not going to let them turn into another Walker. And, it wasn't like I wanted this clone . . . crisis to happen, but it did. There wasn't anything I could have done to reverse it, so I thought, you know, it's kinda early, but what the heck? I can get a jump start on being a good dad."

"But dude, you're only fourteen," Tucker said. "I mean, sure, some kids our age have to deal with this stuff, but you shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself."

"You know, I don't think I've seen you really, truly happy since you got your powers," Sam said, straying from the topic.

"Huh?" Danny looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"You've been worried about your parents finding out your secret, then you had to deal with the other crap like Spectra, Plasmius, Valerie, the Turpetrator, Walker, now your other kid, I mean," Sam threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "I'm supposed to be the gloomy one here!"

"You know, despite the fact that her logic is selfish, she does have a point," Tucker said with a grin. "You have so much stuff to worry about and you're letting it drag you down."

"How am I supposed to not let it get to me? I mean, ok," Phantom held an arm up to stop Sam from jutting in. "I do worry about a lot of stuff I can't do anything about, and you're right; it isn't doing me any good. From now on, I'll try to, I dunno, not care as much or something."

"That's the spirit!" Tucker cheered. "Who says you can't be a typical teenager and a super hero at the same time?"

"But," Phantom looked from Tucker to Sam to the roof he was sitting on. "I can't just forget about . . . my son. I felt something between us, like a bond. I could feel when he was happy when I held him and I could feel when he was scared when Technus . . ." he trailed off. "The other stuff isn't going to bother me from now on, but I can't just let him go that easily."

Sam patted her friend's knee. "We'll find him, Danny," she reassured him.

"Yeah, think about it; he's your kid," Tucker said with a grin. "He'll find his way out of a jam if he's anything like his old man."

Phantom chuckled. "Thanks Tuck. I sure hope so."

"Look, we'll give you some time to think," Sam gestured to the door that led down into the hotel. "We'll head home. Call if you need anything, ok?"

"Sure." Phantom nodded and waved as his two friends disappeared down the stairwell.

I'm sorry, Daniel, we were unable to reestablish the bond with your son.

We did our best.

It just wasn't enough.

I figured as much.

Again, we apologize.

You guys don't have to. It's not like you did anything wrong.

But we will make things right at the earliest convenience.

If you even think you might be able to get him back, Phantom sighed and rubbed his eye, you do whatever it takes.

Perhaps you should ensure that his mother doesn't attempt to slay you first.

Phantom looked to the sky and saw Valerie headed at him; much faster than what he figured was safe. But Valerie had become quite experienced at maneuvering her Banshee Board through the skies over Amity Park. With catlike grace, she leapt from the board just as it passed over Phantom's head. She landed in front of him as her vehicle sped away.

The two looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Phantom wanted to squirm under her expressionless gaze, but his others calmed him; physically, anyway.

"Look," he started. "I'm not even going to try to relate to what you had to go through yesterday. I have no idea what you went through, and I guess it was partially my fault-"

"You guess it was partially your fault?" Valerie hissed.

Phantom's others kept his outward appearance calm and dignified. Phantom himself wanted nothing more than to break down and apologize in a bubbling heap of pity and tears.

"I know you have no idea what it was like, but I'll try to put it in perspective for you," the Huntress sneered. "Imagine you just got over the death of your mother, and the person you held accountable for so long was starting to look like a good guy. But then, out of the blue, that person does something that has absolutely nothing to do with you and before you know what happened, you're forced to bring his baby into a world you don't even understand yourself."

"Now hold on," Phantom said in defense. "You think I wanted to get you pregnant? I had just gotten over the fact that I even played a part in your mother's death when we started being, if nothing else, neutral. And then this happens," Phantom waved his arms off to the side. "And you think that you're the only one who suffered?"

Valerie took a step closer and grabbed Phantom by his collar. "What you went through was nothing compared to what I experienced."

"How would you know?" Phantom whispered. "Valerie, I could feel his happiness when he saw you. I could feel his happiness when he saw me, and when Technus took him away, I could feel his terror. It was the last thing I felt before he was gone."

Valerie's hand dropped from Phantom's collar. She looked at him in awe. "You . . . felt it too?"

Phantom stared at the girl with a stupefied expression. "You mean-"

Valerie dropped to her knees and peeled her mask off, tossing it on the roof. Phantom knelt down beside her as she cried into her hands.

"I had no idea," she whispered as tears poured down her face. "He was so happy! He was just a baby – our baby! And now he's – he's – oh God! He's gone, Danny! He's gone!"

"He's alive," Phantom said softly as Valerie looked up. "He's alive, and we're going to get him back."

Valerie looked up at Phantom. Her eyes were misty from the tears she had been struggling to keep from flowing down her face. "How?"

Phantom stood and scratched the back of his neck. "It . . . might take some time. But I felt something through our bond last night. He's alive, and he's in . . . good hands."

"Who's? Who has him?"

Phantom sighed. "His brother."

Walker peered over the end of the solid redwood desk, taking a pause from his work. The office before him was usually bare, but sitting in front of his new piece of furniture was an unusual contraption. It looked like a bright green box, but without a top. The four sides were made of a type of mesh netting, and the padded bottom was elevated slightly off the floor.

Inside the playpen sat a small infant who was playing with one of his toys. Every time the object made a musical tone, the baby squealed in delight and clapped his hands together. Each time that happened, Walker couldn't help but grin.

"I see the joys of fatherhood haven't cut too deeply into your schedule," Technus observed from the door. The ghost's arm was in a sling and a large bandage was wrapped around his forehead. He hadn't escaped from his bout with Phantom as unscathed as he thought. "Thought I'd drop by to see how the little guy was doing."

Walker kept his eyes on Technus as the ghost floated over to the infant's playpen. The baby didn't seem to recognize him as the ghost who stole him away from his parents the day before and looked at the green skinned specter with wide, curious eyes.

"He appears to be in excellent health," Technus grinned at the baby, who gurgled in amusement. His ghostly white tail wagged slightly. "Have you been feeding him that formula I acquired for you?"

"No, he refused to eat it," Walker replied. "Desiree has offered her . . . maternal services to help nurture the child until he is ready to be weaned onto your formulas."

"Has he been fed recently?" Technus asked.

"For an infant, he feeds surprisingly sparsely. But I feel that his durability is simply one of his many powers."

Technus raised an eyebrow, which arced over the rim of his sunglasses. "Many powers?"

"This is my younger sibling; my brother. He is destined for great things, and for great power." Walker maneuvered around his desk and scooped his sibling up into his arms. "Someday he will help me destroy our father," Walker held the baby under its arms and brought their faces close together. "Isn't that right? Isn't that right?"

Technus gawked at the sight of the massive, powerful, and possibly deranged Walker cooing at a happy little ghost baby like it was his own son.

"You are going to be initiating phase one of your missions soon," Technus recalled the information from his mind. "Code name: Reality Wars?"

"That's correct," Walker cradled his brother in his arms. "My associate needs to acquire one more artifact before we can proceed, and he is already making headway."

"You do realize that the artifact in question belongs to Plasmius," Technus said.

Walker was about to reply when he felt his brother wriggling uncomfortably in his arms.

"Fascinating," Technus murmured as the baby's movement ceased. "Plasmius," he said again. The baby began squirming once again, making distraught noises that sounded very close to crying.

"What are you doing?" Walker sneered as he rocked his younger sibling gently back and forth.

"It appears that I was not able to completely purge his techno-organic form. His mind must still retain memories from Phantom."

Walker glared at Technus with murder written all over his features. "What exactly does that mean?"

"Your brother is also a second generation clone," Technus explained. "Any memories it would have from Phantom are likely to be severely distorted or faint. He will probably not be able to distinguish them as he grows older."

Walker set the infant down in his playpen and grinned as the baby resumed playing with his toys, seeming to have forgotten the events of the last five minutes.

"As I was saying, once your associate has obtained the last artifact from," Technus paused, not wanting to upset the baby or Walker any further, "her, where will you send the child?"

"Bullet has promised to take care of him until my campaign has ended. He will learn the ways of a warrior from Bullet's people and become my successor."

Technus nodded. "Well I must depart. Pla, er, she has agreed to meet me for a business proposition, and it would be very rude of me to decline."

"Wulf will not be too far away if you require assistance. Remember, you work for me now."

"How could I ever forget?" Technus smirked. "Farewell Walker, and farewell to you too-"

"Amorpho," Walker finished the techno ghost's sentence with a proud grin on his face. "His name is Amorpho."

"A fitting name for him. Good luck in your endeavors; we shall meet again soon," Technus bowed and left the room leaving the two siblings alone.

One Week Later . . .

Skulker reported to the lower level of Plasmius' laboratory as he usually did whenever he was tasked with monitoring some ghost creature or another. When the mercenary entered the dark room, he noticed with some degree of curiosity that the center tank did not contain a ghost creature of various compositions. Inside floated a suit, much like his own.

"Is it my birthday?" Skulker asked as his sensors detected Plasmius entering the room. "Or is this my payment?"

"I assure you, it is something else. Something much more significant," the ghost woman said with an edge to her voice. Skulker thought it was eagerness, but he couldn't figure out why.

Technus floated out from one of the computers in what Skulker could only guess was his new form that he took on while in GIW custody.

"Not too long ago, Phantom and the Huntress became the proud parents of a darling new young ghost. He was subsequently handed over to Walker by this traitor," Plasmius glared at Technus. "I was unable to send anyone into Casper High to retrieve the infant. Technus was working for Walker and you were busy elsewhere."

Skulker remained silent. He did not like where this conversation was going.

"While one of my greatest opportunities for study slipped through my fingers," Plasmius looked at her hands in disdain, "you were too busy creating a personal security device for your niece!"

Skulker tensed, expecting Samantha to be dragged out before him.

"Need I remind you that she already has one? And Phantom does an excellent job, might I add."

"I was observing a course of action that, at the time, I feared would place her in harms way without Daniel to save her."

"Yes, that course of action was the presence of Daniel's clone in my newly installed security system at Casper High; the installation of which you were supposed to oversee personally!" Skulker watched as Plasmius floated around the tank, keeping her eyes on the robotic suit inside. "Well I've reached a conclusion."

"And what might that be?" Skulker asked, not allowing his vocabulator to betray his nervousness.

"Your loyalties are clear; you would rather serve Samantha. I cannot have turncoats managing my operations."

Skulker looked at Technus, who shrugged.

"Technus is a special case. He's the one who built that suit. He's the one who built the Spectral Separation Unit, and he's the one who will remain loyal to me long after your services are no longer required."

Skulker was hit by a beam of energy fired from a retractable turret concealed in the shadows of the ceiling. He felt his suit tumble to the floor and the corners of his vison went dark.

"Which, incidentally, starts now."

To Be Continued

A/N: Ok, the end of Doomed is finally here. It might be short, but I must say, I'm pleased with how this segment ended.

I really tried to make Valerie hate Phantom again, but I just couldn't do it. She already was starting to warm up to him after the bounty hunter invasion and then she gets impregnated with his child. I mean, if she turned on him right then and there, who could she possibly have been able to talk to in the hopes of them understanding? And I felt like the icing on the cake would be for them to share the bond with baby Amorpho. She wouldn't know how to deal with that alone and neither would Phantom. They need each other right now. Maybe I'll make them hate each other later on. Right now, they're more like uncomfortably acquainted strangers who have to learn how to love in order to make things right. More on that some other time; this isn't The Young and the Restless.

And egad! What happened to Skulker?! Well the answer lies in my DeviantArt page, so go check it out. Next chapter, we explore Danny's relationship with his father in a segment that has actually been pretty solid and finalized since I started writing this whole story. I've tweaked it a bit, added some new characters and whatnot, but Paternal Instincts should be well received (at least I hope it is).

And I totally have a girlfriend! No, I don't. I'm kidding.

It is my duty to inform you that, due to some emotional trauma I am experiencing right now (my job) I am uncertain if the next two segments leading up to the start of the Reality Wars will be of the same caliber as the previous ones. That's why I've called in a professional to help me out. Ladies and germs, please give a warm welcome to the disarmingly beautiful and stunningly talented Cordria! She has agreed to beta-read Paternal Instincts, so expect this chapter to totally blow you out of the water. I went into my pool just so that I could experience that literally.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, especially Shining Zephyr, Vorago Atrox, darkbunny92, inukagome15, Silverline Scimitar, Fulcon, phantoms-allie, Billy D., and Acaykath.

FALCON - PUNCH! - Captain Falcon