It's been two weeks since his children were born. He had high hopes of simply playing with them, finishing all the school he missed, and marrying Sam the proper way. But what was he doing now? None of the above.

Danny ducked down as Liu Ren aimed a kick at his head. Most of the halfas had cleared out of the city and only a few remained. And they seemed to be taking turns attacking him. Tucker Tech was a few feet away fighting a halfa in a yellow ninja outfit. They were in downtown Amity Park. The buildings were being rebuilt after the brief halfa war and the street was actually in good repair. Well it was before the fight had broke out. Danny Phantom flew back and stood back to back with Tucker. They had been fighting since noon and it was now almost night. Their two opponents barely looked tired.

"Surrender! You can not hope to mach the combine skill of Master Liu Ren and Master Yun!" A four-foot ghost was floating over the battlefield. Blue skinned and looked like an ugly elf. His name was Bard and he was the fights official commentator. "If you would just see how hopeless the situation was, you wouldn't hesitate to surrender."

"Shut up!" Tucker Tech threw out his left hand and twin beams of blue energy shot from them. Before they could hit the small ghost, Liu Ren shot upward and blocked with a small energy field.

Yun took the moment to dash forward and ram his knee into Tucker's gut. As the halfa bent down in pain, Yun spun around and connected a spin kick to his jaw. Tucker flew across the street and crashed into a lamppost. "Fool! Don't take your eye off the enemy."

"Thanks for the advice." Danny's hand clamped onto Yun's yellow masked face. His hand exploded with green light and blasted the ninja halfa back several feet. He clutched his face and howled in pain. Danny barely had time to turn around before a blue fireball slammed into him. He stumbled, but remained on his feet. "Don't you guys take lunch breaks?"

"I will display your broken body before my master!" Liu Ren shot at him.

"Thanks for the imagery." Danny slapped his hands together and a bright green light filled the street. Everyone except Danny was blinded and he used the time to escape with Tucker.

"Damn him! Why do you run coward?"

Danny and Tucker ducked down several alleyways before sitting down in a narrow passage in between two buildings. Both returned to their human forms. "That could have gone better."

Danny nodded in agreement. The halfa attacks were farther apart than in the past, but they were stronger. Liu Ren was strong, but he had almost doubled in power since Tucker beat him back at the hospital. Yun was a new one. "Some how they are getting stronger. And they're doing it fast."

"Well I'm out of ideas." Tucker rolled his shoulders and fixed his glasses. "It doesn't help that you're distracted."

Danny couldn't argue. He had two ghosts hell bent on finishing him off. Dan was lurking around somewhere and Inferno was simply waiting for the agreed upon time. He had kids to worry about and to top it off; Sam had been bedridden ever since she came home from the hospital. "I guess!"

"You want to head home. You haven't slept in days."

"Do I look that bad?" He looked like he had been beaten for three days. His clothes were in disarray and his eyes looked almost sunken. Tucker was silent and Danny managed to smile. "Let's go! Maybe I can get a small nap in."

They pair stopped in front of a large house that stood at the edge of town. It was two stories tall and made of black and white stone. Designed by Tucker and his parents, it was also the most advanced ghost bunker ever built. An impressive ghost shield that enveloped the house instead of surrounding it. Even the halfas couldn't penetrate it without actually taking down the shield and walls. Other defenses were placed through out the house and it was the only place Danny could feel he could leave Sam and be reassured of her safety. Danny and Tucker walked to the door and punched in their access codes. The shield over the wooden door deactivated and the door opened. The two walked inside and the door shut behind them. An older man with white skin wearing a butler suit appeared and bowed.

"Welcome home sirs."

"Hey Reginald! How is Sam?"

"The mistress condition has not change I'm afraid. Your sister is in the lab."

Danny nodded. "Thanks!" Danny was reluctant to allow Sam's parents to hire them a butler, but he had grown on him and he was thankful someone was here twenty-four seven. Danny walked passed, towards the staircase that led to the basement.

Tucker headed for the living room and the game consoles. "Can I get a soda?"

"At once sir!"

"What have you found out?" Malice was sitting in his lab. On a large screen in front of him was Ember. The ghost turned halfa was sending him a report on the girl's condition. Malice's eyes scanned the data that appeared on a smaller screen next to him. "I see! So this is why the girl was able to manifest those ghost powers. Her very DNA was altered slightly to better accommodate the children."

"Is that why she is sick?"

Malice nodded. "Parts of it. A second strand of ghost DNA is in conflict with the one she got from Phantom." He stroked his chin. "Where did this second strand come from?"

Ember's mind was full merged with Jazz's and she scanned what memories she could. "Wherever it came from, Jazz doesn't know."

Malice simply shrugged. "It doesn't matter." A small smile appeared on his pale face. "But I can use this. This problem is relatively simple to fix." He chuckled. "The blood samples I got from the hospital have allowed me to increase the power of my forces, but I still need the children. This is just the leverage I needed."

Ember looked away. "I have company! Orders?"

"Stay hidden and go ahead and tell Phantom the real problem. Maybe it will provide clues into this mystery." Ember turned into Jazz and the screen shut off. Malice leaned back in his chair. "Events are unfolding rather oddly. I better be extra cautious."

Danny stepped into the lab as Jazz shut off her computer. The basement of his house had been turned into a large lab for Jazz and his parents when they visited. "Any word?" Jazz nodded and waved him over. His sister's new look still bothered him a bit, but she acted more or less normal.

Jazz turned on another screen. "Two strands of ghost DNA are fighting each other within Sam."

"Fighting?"

"It is a figurative term. One strand is trying to overwrite Sam's original DNA, while the other, which is yours by the way, is trying to overwrite the ghost strand."

"I'm confused!"

Jazz sighed and rubbed her eyes. "How about this?" She took a deep breath. "Sam is stuck in between human and halfa form. Neither her body nor her mind can take the strain from being in mid transformation. It is killing her."

Danny bit his lip. He understood that just fine. "Anything you can do?"

Jazz shook her head. "I've tried everything I could think of." Jazz stood up from her chair. "I give her a month at best."

Danny turned around. "Thanks" He ran out of the lab.

Danny found Sam in their room with the children on the bed with her. Sam looked drained, her eyes had lost the sparkle they use to have, and her hair was tangled. She looked up and smiled. "Hey!"

Danny forced a smile and walked over. "You should be resting."

"The children were crying! Plus I have been sleeping for the better part of a week now." She picked up Riker and slowly rocked him. "And I don't want to miss a second of our children lives."

Danny nodded and picked up Lilith. "Yeah!" Danny knew he had to tell her, but he decided to wait until the children were asleep. Best to let her enjoy every happy moment she could. And, Danny wanted to enjoy this too. A quite time with his family. Deep in his mind, he knew that moments like these were going to get fewer and far between.