Disclaimer: I don't known Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does, I also don't known Mario Karts, Nintendo does but I DO have the game!

Like I promised you all this time I DIDN'T take me five months to update, are ya happy people?! Because I sure am!

See ya at the bottom!!

Chapter Eight:

--

Ember's Lair:

Three weeks later:

"Eh?"

"You took the words right out of my beak."

Currently the three guys were sitting in different places of Ember's kitchen, Danny was on a floating glowing chair, Youngblood was sitting on the table not caring that the ghost rocker recently cleaned it, and as for the parrot he was on top of the fridge.

Since Ember was not in the lair, Danny thought it would be a good time as any to ask something to the only other ghosts he knew, it was of no surprise that his foolish spur of the moment decision caught them off guard and had them all in a very uncomfortable unbearable silence.

…That never seamed to end.

After all it's not everyday that you partake in a friendly conversation of a sort with your sworn enemy, and let's not forget that the oblivious Phantom just had the nerve to ask them something so… unsettling.

It was so unlike him.

"Erm… could you please repeat that dude?" The young captain requested in disbelief "Because I'm pretty sure I did NOT hear what I just heard."

Danny rubbed his arm uncomfortably; "Maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth" He thought awkwardly "Well too late to take it back, might as well get this over with."

However things were usually easier said than done.

It took several minutes for the nervous hybrid to open his mouth.

The stares were not helping at all; it felt like they were judging him already.

That made things harder.

But he managed to talk.

"I just w-wanted t-to k-know what is a-a ghost?"

His foes still couldn't believe this bizarre turn of events.

"Why are you asking us this?" The Parrot asked suspiciously.

"Because I want a straight answer" Danny admitted meekly. "Since I'm not sure how Ember would react to this, so you have to promise not to tell her anything."

In the parrot's mind it was ironic that Danny was keeping things from his pseudo girlfriend while the youngest of the ghosts rolled his eyes "teenagers are so weird".

"Promised?"

Luckily for the clueless hero, neither of his friends/captives pushed the subject any further and simply nodded, agreeing to keep this between themselves.

Danny gave a forced smile.

Both villains thought of this as a mere moment of vulnerability or insanity on Phantom's part.

Nevertheless, they tried to answer his curiosity.

"Well according to what I know Phantom" The bird started to explain dryly "We are suppose to be roaming spirits of the deceased."

Youngblood had a "duh" expression on his face.

Danny surprised them yet again by shaking his head rapidly "That's not what I'm asking".

The ghosts glanced at each other in confusion then at the teenager in front of them.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand the question" The parrot said.

"Ditto for me."

Danny sighed and struggled to think of just the right words, to tell his friends what has been eating him up; he was in deep thought, desperate trying to say the right things, to ask the right questions.

Secretly the ghost boy felt that he wasn't making any kind of progress in getting his memories back.

He was growing restless.

Sure he was starting to control the burden that was his powers and thus he was getting stronger, physically but not emotionally.

All in all, his powers weren't going to give him the answers he wanted.

The strength he needed.

Those close to him were.

"Look, I know what the normal definition for a ghost would be but what I'm trying to say is….well… if… if… I'm considered one of you?

The teenager chewed his lower lip, uncertain if he should elaborate with his question.

After a few minutes he gave in.

"Am I a ghost to you guys?"

His friends gaped.

Both "pirates" opened and closed their mouths several times simultaneously, if this wasn't a serious moment they would look very comical right about now.

Unsure of what to tell their oblivious pawn, they finally shut their mouths, and in their minds they began to debate his question

In a technical sort of way Danny IS a ghost but in another more accurate one he isn't one because he lacked something that makes all the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone a true ghost.

An obsession.

…Something that brought them towards the living realm

And in their eyes Phantom didn't have one.

…Or so they believed.

"But is there the slight possibility that we're wrong?" The Parrot thought with slight interest "If he does have one then maybe I'll have to rethink this whole deal."

Youngblood however thought differently "Just how messed up is his head?"

In a way both ghosts were questioning their enemy's mental state.

It was obvious that before their foe got his amnesia he thought of himself more human than ghost but now… Now he probably wasn't so sure of what he was anymore.

That was surely driving him mad.

And sadly, they were right.

"Ghost, human, human, ghost, half-human, half-ghost am I one of them or against them?"

Only they knew.

"Am I friend or foe?"

That he knew.

"IM THEIR FRIEND!!"

However there's a little saying that goes like this "actions speak louder than words"; and in Danny's mind their silence said enough.

"Thanks for your time" He uttered emotionlessly.

Unable to take the silence any longer the ghost child had every intention to leave the kitchen, but as he was getting up someone finally spoke.

It was Youngblood.

"Why does it matter to you?"

Danny froze and slowly sat down again; he closed his blue eyes, puts his fingers over them and once again started to think of what to say.

Minutes passed.

"Well?"

The ghostly bird flew from the glowing fridge to his owner's head and shot him an annoyed glare "Has anyone ever told you that you need to be more patient?"

"Yeah…My parents" the child responded sourly.

The clueless hero quickly opened his blue eyes sharply, without even knowing it; his young friend just awoke certain emotions within him, a mixture of anger and sadness.

"… My parents…"

The fact that he was emotionally weak was now present.

And his tears showed it.

The boy's icy sapphire eyes turned green just then, "They left me to die…"

"But they are my flesh and blood" He whispered, trying to remind himself that these people that he didn't know anything about were still his family.

"They left me to die…"

"But they raised me."

"THEY LEFT ME TO DIE!…"

Every time Danny tried to think of something to defend his folks the betrayal of what they did to him came back and stronger each time.

It hurt to say the least.

The halfa just couldn't grasp the concept of how his oh so called loved ones just disown him right on the spot for NOT being like them… for not being a… complete human.

Despite this, Danny longed to know these unknown people; he wished to recall what it was like to actually have them in his life, to find out WHY they saw him as a freak of nature and not as their son or relative.

In a way he hated them and loved them at the same time.

His shattered mind said something but his heart said another.

He was contradicting himself.

He was so confused, so lost about his own feeling.

It was pitiful.

"Why… Why did you leave me?"

He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Why…?"

That was the question.

"But what was the answer?"

Danny's only hope to uncover this dark mystery was to figure out what lay deep in his subconscious, the bad news were that he just didn't know to do THAT.

It was scary to say the least.

But he still had something to hold onto… hope, hope that someday he would find out who he really was, and for now that was enough to help him get through this cruel time of his life or afterlife.

Well that plus the help from the people… correction, ghosts around him would be able to get him back onto the right track.

Oh how he really wanted to believe that, in truth Danny was fitful; he just couldn't imagine himself going on with his life without a past.

….Or without a future for that matter

The teenager shook his head quickly, that wasn't the most comfortable of thoughts.

That's why Danny was hell bent on finding out about his own life, he knew how he almost died, what the creatures from this realm and himself were capable of, but he wanted to know more.

But girlfriend told him that she just couldn't tell him everything that had happened all at once, according to her the shock would be too great for him to handle and it would set his mind into overdrive, destroying any chance of restoring it to its previous state.

Of course, the hero didn't know the true reason behind those words.

"Oh Ember…"

She tried to comfort him, saying that there was the chance that his memories would come back and if they didn't well he could always make new ones.

… With her.

That brought a wry smile to his face.

During the past three weeks Danny has gotten really close to his Ember, yes he was starting to think of her as his, not in a possessive way but in a caring loving way, after all he was not some obsessed psychopath who wants to own and control the woman he was growing so fond of.

"Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom, Hey Phantom!!"

"DARN IT PHANTOM, LISTEN TO ME WILL YOU?!"

The parrot shakes his head in disgust.

Unaware that Youngblood was trying to get his attention, Danny continued to with his train of thoughts "But do I really like her?"

He stroked his raven black hair in exasperation.

In Danny's mind Ember was someone who gave him a second chance at life and that eased his broken spirit, no pun intended but still the point was as clear as it could ever be, his life was shattered in so many ways, and Ember, a ghost with a troubled past no less someone who accepted him for who and what he was, actually came to his aid and pick up the pieces.

But did he really like her?

…. "As of now the answer is a yes."

Danny has sparred with her, he has gotten a bit used to Ember's somewhat weird behaviour, it usually showed when they were alone and he was being affectionate with her.

"In some ways we are so alike"

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, he immediately realized why Youngblood's question affected him so much, maybe on some level, internally he wanted to be a full ghost?

"That can't be it… can it?"

Danny looked down at himself.

Human

His hands unlike his other form had no ghostly glow, no ecto-energy coming out of them, just hands made out of meat and bones, not of ectoplasm.

The boy frowned.

Without a warning Danny then brought forth his ghost powers.

After having morphed from human to ghost and vice versa for more times than he cares to count the hero was no longer afraid of this ability, it became a part of who he was… it became dare he say it?... Normal.

Danny just sneered at the thought.

Before the white rings could finish with their job, Danny got up from his chair, ignoring the questioning stares both his companions were giving him.

The ghost boy phased through the door and went towards his desired destination… which was the restroom; he was going almost in a zombified state, not even noticing that he started to float.

"Hey Phantom!" Youngblood's voice reached his ears "What gives?"

Ignoring him Danny continued to float.

Once the hybrid made his way to the blue door he smiled, touching the doorknob he just wanted to make sure that it was available,

The teenager's cheeks reddened.

The door was opened, this was a good sign, slowly but surely he entered the restroom, closing the door behind him.

Danny either forgot or simply didn't care at the moment that anyone could go intangible with a care.

Once the young Halfa made sure he was alone, he placed both gloved hands on the sink, while staring at his own reflection in the mirror.

White hair, neon green eyes, tan skin, then there was his other form. Raven-black hair, sapphire eyes and pale Caucasian skin. Two different images and just one person.

It was creepy.

Danny puts his left hand over his cheek, as if touching himself would prove that he was really there.

"I have been doing this very often".

The same hand that was on his face slowly made its way into the mirror, he touched it, incidentally it was on the "same" cheek.

He scowled angrily at the reflection.

A tear came out.

It made its way down his face.

Danny hung his head, his white hair covering his eyes.

"Things shouldn't be this way" He said bitterly.

Danny squished his eyes shut, unable to handle the situation.

He wasn't going to break down; he was NOT going to break down. He refused to break down.

….Not again.

But he lost the battle.

He broke down.

Only this time no one was watching him.

Or so he hoped.

Danny vomited on the sink; he would have made the mess on the toilet except that Ember didn't have one.

One thing about being dead, you don't have the same necessities as the living.

The Half-ghost cleaned his mouth with his sleeve, and then he started to weep.

Angrily, the young half-ghost's first punched the nearest thing available.

Which happened to be the wall.

He made a dent on the bathroom wall but he didn't care, he just needed to get rid of the frustration and anger that was deep within him.

Danny hated being like this, an emotional wreck!

"I… want… to… remember!" He muttered in a hardened tone "I want… to… know… who I was… what… I am."

The hero crushed the sink with his bare hands, an exhausted sigh escaped his lips, slowly but surely Danny started to lift his head just to look at himself in the mirror again, silently hoping that this time he would look at his reflection in a different light.

But sadly, life liked to screw with the young hybrid, because his reflection was not the same one oh no, he saw his human half right in front of him, smirking.

Smugly no less.

"And how are we feeling today?" His other half asked coyly.

Danny's fist connected with the mirror.

But that wasn't enough.

He grabbed the offending object and threw on the floor with so much loathing and anger.

But that was only the beginning.

The mirror was still there.

Mocking him.

He wanted to destroy it… every… little…. Piece…. Remaining

Blast after blast followed afterwards, each hitting a shattered piece of the mirror.

And in each one of those pieces he saw eyes.

Eyes that without a doubt were taunting him

Sadly those eyes were HIS and no one else's.

In his dreams his ghost form appear to enjoy his suffering but while awake his human form was much worse.

Because it was a reminder of what the people that abandoned him wanted him to be.

A human being, nothing more nothing less

And now that Danny gave this some thought, he knew that he would never be that.

… Ever again

In an uncharacteristic moment from the teen ghost fighter, he felt disgusted and spat out "Some parents they were."

If his family renounced him for not being one of them then fine!

Two could play at this sick game; it was he who was going to turn their back on the Fentons.

He was Danny Phantom! Not Danny Fenton.

No longer a Ghost/Human hybrid.

Danny was a full ghost as far as he was concern.

"Yes I am"

"What are you?" Phantom asked.

"I'm a ghost!" Danny whispered.

"I can't hear you!"

"I AM GHOST!"

"And proud of it?"

"YES!"

A new presence made himself be known.

"Well this is something you don't see everyday."

Danny's eyes jolted in the direction of the new voice, his head turned in time to see the preteen pirate phasing through the walls.

"Go away" He growled his attitude less than favorable "I want to be left alone."

"Are you talking to me?" Youngblood asked childishly.

"Youngblood, I swear to god," Danny snarled dangerously "I am NOT in the mood for you or your crap right now"

"Whoa, looks who's cranky."

"LEAVE!"

But before the child could comply he noticed the mess.

And snorted

"Oh man, oh man Ember is going to kill you when she sees this."

"She'll understand" The older male said with confidence, his anger disappearing a bit "It's not like her home hasn't been destroyed before."

Danny shoots his friend a pointy look.

Youngblood smirked "true, but that's usually my doing not yours"

"And here you say she's going to kill me."

"Touché."

Danny looked at the ten year old weirdly "Do you even KNOW what that means?

"Not a clue"

The hero chuckled slightly "Neither do I".

"Sooo, what EXACTLY happened here?" The young villain couldn't help but ask.

"I was doing some thinking"

The pale ghost was incredulous "May I use that excuse next time I destroy something in the house?"

Both males shared a smirk.

"Sure, why not?"

Youngblood then uses his hook and lifts Phantom from the floor uncaringly "So what's your problem?"

Danny gave him a very dark glare "Not your business".

After a few seconds of glaring hatefully at the other something unexpected happened.

They started to laugh.

Despite their past differences, one being a hero and the other a villain these two came to be the most unlikely of friends.

Or brothers you could say.

During the three weeks these two have managed to baffle the only girl of the lair beyond belief, at one moment they trying to beat the stuffing out of the other and the next they were playing some bloody video games.

That often had Ember groaning and telling herself in annoyance "…Boys"

It became a sort of ritual between the three.

They were slowly growing on each other.

And that wasn't part of the plan.

Youngblood released the clueless hybrid and both of them touched the floor.

They walked out of the destroyed restroom and onto the living room where they planned to play a game for far different reasons.

Danny wanted to vent his confusion and anger away while Youngblood simply felt like doing something not related to the previous talk… if you could call what happened in the kitchen a talk.

Both teen and kid sat on the big couch that had seen better days, when Danny "arrived" it was almost brand new, now it looked like its been used for fifty years or so.

Danny and Youngblood got their controls and started to play Mario Karts, The Hero picked Donkey Kong while the bratty villain picked Yoshi.

"Ready to get you butt whopped again snot-punk?"

"Like that's gonna happen Phantom!"

Danny shrugged "I've beaten you like ten times in less than half an hour kid yesterday."

"Rub it in why don't you!?" Youngblood bellowed "AND DON'T CALL ME KID!!"

The hero gave him a cocky grin.

And they began to play.

"GIVE IT UP PHANTOM!!"

"LIKE HELL I WILL!"

"I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!!"

They were looking rather foolish since they were moving the controls of the wii as if they were trying to avoid getting hit by an oven.

Donkey Kong was currently in 3rd place while Yoshi was in first.

Youngblood smirked in triumph, he was sure that he was going to win this race.

Then a green turtle shell struck him making him lose control of his virtual car.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!"

Two characters passed him, one being Princess Peach and the other being his rival, after ten minutes they were in the final lap and had every intention of beating the other; in a rather comical turn of events they were tied.

But after a banana incident and a shrinking incident the ghost boy ended up being the victor yet again, this made him do a small victory dance which made the young captain start a tantrum.

"YOU CHEATED!!"

"Cheated, how?"

"I don't know!" The boy screamed "But you did!!"

Before Danny could crankily reply, a new voice was heard.

"Owwwwww"

"Oh excellent reply shark bait, you sound like your dying"

"That wasn't me dummy"

"It wasn't?"

"Nope, I don't have any injuries anymore remember?"

"Okkkkkkkkk, if that wasn't you and I know it wasn't me then who the heck was it?"

The moaning came again.

Both males were powering up some ectoplasmic energy rays, Danny from his hands while Youngblood from his eyes.

The teen ghost fighter made a "follow me" gesture using his hands, of course his young roommate having no knowledge of hand gestures simply looked at Danny weirdly and said "HUH?"

With annoyed look the hybrid mouthed the words "Follow me"

Youngblood understood that.

They quietly and slowly flew into the direction the voice came, not wanting to alert the intruder of their presence.

They phased out of the living room and into the kitchen.

No one was there, not even the dead parrot.

That was worrying.

"I think we could cover more ground if we split up" Danny suggested.

"You do realize that when people do that bad things happen!"

"Shhh!"

Danny covered the boy's mouth and eyes the place warily.

"Will you be quiet?" He scowled menacingly "Who know what got in here!"

"And I don't think I wanna know" The pre-teen's muffled voice replied.

Danny sighed "Look lets just search the place, who know maybe that bird of yours is pulling a prank on us and we're being paranoid"

"Doubtful"

The moaning came again.

Youngblood yelped and jumped, releasing the ecto-energy that has been within his green eyes.

It destroyed a lamp and it crashed making even a louder sound that was definitely heard all over the lair.

"Oops"

"Forget it" Danny growled exasperated "Let's just search the place"

Getting out of the dark room was easy for the teenager, for the pre-teen… not so much.

Youngblood stood still, it was ironic that a ghost would be afraid of anything but of course he wasn't thinking that.

He was thinking how to escape.

The pale child turned intangible and flew out of there at full speed.

While the young pirate was wetting his pants, Danny was phasing in and out of all the room that he was close to; the first place he searched was Ember's room.

"No chance in hell I'm going to have some… thing get even an inch close to her" The hybrid thought heroically.

Entering his girlfriend's room he noticed that everything in there was neatly made.

Nothing had been in here.

In a futile attempt to cover more ground, Danny tried to make a duplicate of himself, only to make a second head appear.

They looked at each other in pure irritation.

"Care for any more brilliant ideas Einstein?" The duplicate snarled.

"Shut up" The original Danny muttered.

Then of course the now two headed ghost entered his own room.

Without Danny's knowledge Ember had a verbal and non-verbal fight with Youngblood saying that there was no need to add more to her "base of operations" as the young brat had called their lair.

Ember was extremely pissed that the young villain would take possession of certain things in her home, but if there was one thing that she did not tolerate was anyone bossing her around.

And she made that quite clear.

However she let that subject go for now since it was quite obvious that for Danny was to be in any acceptable shape and to not add suspicions he needed to have the touch of a true home.

In other words a room of his own

After seven days of sleeping on the couch the ghostly diva had given her pseudo boyfriend his own place in their home.

"It isn't much but it sure beats sleeping on an uncomfortable piece of furniture." The ghost boy thought tiredly.

"Amen to that" the other head agreed.

Danny had learned a few days ago that everyone in the Ghost Zone had the ability to manipulate their own homes at will; and according to Ember it takes a lot of will power to get it right.

And when she did, the ghost rocker was unable to use her ghost powers for a while due to the great amount of strength that took to transform her small lair into a more acceptable one for her and her roommates.

There was only a bed, a desk and a chair, the several lack of anything else was due to his severe amnesia, in short he just didn't know what his own interest and dislikes were and that depressed him greatly.

"Not the time to think about that!" The duplicatesharply reminded Danny of the current task.

The original ghost boy made the other head disappear with an annoyed "humph!"

And continued to search for the intruder

Meanwhile Youngblood who was scared out of his mind was running in circles (not literally) he opened a random door and shut it behind him, then leaned back against it as if to hold it closed in case whatever was in the lair tried to get in and kill him.

Assuming a ghost could be killed.

"What are you doing?"

Youngblood yelped like a little girl.

And was humiliated when he saw who made the hair on the back of his neck stand "Oh it's you".

Despite the darkness of the room, both ghosts could see each other, no doubt thanks to their enhance eyes.

"I'll ask you again, what the hell are you doing?"

"Not your business Ember!"

The now revealed ghost roller her eyes "Whatever, just get out, I got stuff to do"

"What could you possibly do in the middle of a room in the dark?"

"Stuff."

I'm gonna turn on the lights"

Ember panicked "NO, DON'T!"

It was too late.

As soon as Youngblood clicked the switch, he was met with a horrible sight.

He gasped in horror "E-Ember….?"

She was on the floor, unable to look at her ally directly at the eye, "I'm fine, it's nothing I haven't deal with before"

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!"

Ember was in the worst condition of her afterlife, she had a purple eye; ectoplasm coming out of her arms and face, her pants ripped as if something tried to eat her clothes, her mouth was missing a few teeth and her hair, well she was missing a great chuck of it, but was disturbed the dead child the most was that the blue haired ghost had one of her writs in a cuff.

It was obvious that Ember had somehow cut the cuffs in half.

Youngblood couldn't believe his eyes, and when he thought that things couldn't be more frightening he eyed the floor and saw a puddle of green ectoplasm.

That no doubt came from Ember.

"What… who… did this to you?"

"Get this thing off me" She sternly ordered, pointing at the cuff in her left wrist.

"I'll get Phantom"

"NO!"

The captain stopped and glanced worriedly at his reluctant ally.

"Why not?" He asked hastily "I'm sure you need all the help available".

"…"

"Speak up will ya?!"

"I… I don't want to see him… not like this"

"Again I ask why not?"

"I think we have a problem" Ember said.

"You keep ignoring me and there WILL be a problem!"

Ember glared daggers at him "I'm serious pipsqueak"

Youngblood glared back "So am I."

The older of the two winced while trying to get up, she sat down again unable to get her body to stand since her legs couldn't hold the weight of her body right now.

With much difficulty, Ember rubbed both her arms, her hands now covered in her own green ectoplasm, but she didn't care, she was too concern over what happened to her.

And even though Youngblood wouldn't admit it, he was too.

After many, many minutes she finally said something that made her shudder in fright and froze the ectoplasm going through Youngblood's veins.

"I think someone is onto us"

"Please tell me that's just some joke to get back at me"

"I wish it was"

The pale child sighed worriedly and asked "Who?"

Ember gave him a serious look "The same guy who did this to me is looking for Danny"

"Someone we know?"

Ember nodded frightfully.

"Well?! out with it!"

"Skulker"

--

I believe what you all read here could be describe as a filler chapter simply because it was more about Danny's relationship with Youngblood than his relationship with Ember, I guess is tedious but it had to be done.

I mean for god's sake you can't expect Danny to be around Ember ALL the time, he has to develop a friendship with other people around him and since Youngblood is the only other ghost he knows, well I guess he didn't have much of a choice now did he?

But its also simply because that's what Amnesiacs have to do! They get to re-know the people around them.

And that's what I'm doing with Danny, trust me I had many different scenarios about how these two would become friends, but after so much thinking I got annoyed and gave up on them all, after all, this story is not gonna move any further if I make a scene for every little thing so that's why I flash-forward the story, the more time passes the more the characters develop.

That's why Danny and Youngblood are getting along just fine.

As for Ember well her relationship with Youngblood is the almost the same, but that will slowly change.

Trust is kind of a big issue for her and even though Danny has a blind trust in her, well she isn't so keen as to return the trust, because it takes a lot of her give her trust to anyone, specially after what happened to her as a child, plus I kind of think it's just hard for her to care for someone else since no one ever did that when she was alive… that is except her sister and now that she is slowly getting around those feeling its scares her because she doesn't know how to deal with them.

Anyway I'm going to let you all on a little secret.

This chapter was cut in half, I hadn't done this then you would all have read over 11 thousand words alone and I'm pretty sure that long chapters get annoying after a while.

Am I right?

Also, don't jump to conclusions simply because Skulker is onto Ember.

Sneakily: I may just be keeping you all in the dark after all.

Heh, well hope you enjoyed this new installment of the story and don't worry since the next chapter will be the second half of what I wrote here you can expect a real fast update this month.

So review then!

Invader Johnny Signing Off.