Chapter 10

After nearly crashing to the ground for what seemed like the millionth time because he was too tired and ill to think straight, Danny decided to take a break. He had been feeling more and more short of breath the longer he searched for his friends, and he suspected that soon he would pass out. On top of all that, he was totally lost. His situation seemed pretty hopeless at the moment. He sat down on a ghost rock and a few tears trickled down his face. Danny Fenton was not normally a boy who cried, but with all the things going on right now, he couldn't help himself. He was so busy staring at the ground and feeling sorry for himself, he didn't notice the dog until a rough tongue lapped the tears sliding faster and faster down his cheeks. Danny looked up, and could just make out through the tears an overeager green ghost puppy, wagging his tail excitedly. He chucked softly.

"Hey, Cujo, boy!" Danny scooped up the dog and held him close to his face, letting his tears fall into the ectoplasmic fur. Soon, though, he realized the sobbing was not comforting him, but instead making him feel more hopeless, and on top of that, more out of breath. He choked and gasped for breath to no avail. An overwhelming sense of panic overtook him. He tried to struggle against the drowning lack of air, take a nice deep breath, but he couldn't. He heard Cujo barking frantically as his vision blurred again, this time from lack of oxygen. He let go of the puppy and tore at his chest, trying to remove the non-existent bands of steel that were tightening across his lungs. Is this the end? Danny wondered through the panic. Am I going to die here, alone and lost in the Ghost Zone, with only a ghost puppy to witness my passing? Wait...that's it! Cujo! He can get help!

"Cujo!" he gasped, noticing the Fenton BOOmerang lying forgotten on the ground. He must have taken it with him without realizing it. "Find...Sam...and...Emily. And...Tucker...too. Lead...them...to...me." His hand stretched out weakly and clasped the BOOmerang loosely. He threw it-or more like dropped it-a couple inches away, which was all he could manage when he couldn't breathe. "Go...get it...boy." Danny could just make out Cujo's frenzied yipping before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

"Are you okay, Emily?" Sam asked in concern, for she had noticed that Emily was walking slower and slower. It was late afternoon, and they had been wandering around in the Ghost Zone nearly all day. Emily had no idea where her ghost crutches were. She suspected that the ghost who had tried to kill her had destroyed them. Unfortunately, traipsing through the Ghost Zone without her crutches was nearly impossible for her. Her feet were killing her. She hadn't complained before now, because she knew it was probably the only way they were going to get out of this hopeless situation.

"Yeah...I'm just really tired." Emily said quietly. Sam looked worried, but said nothing as they continued on. Both of them had a strange feeling they were walking in circles, but the battery on the flashlight had died long ago and there wasn't much light in the Ghost Zone to see by. Suddenly, a sudden voice pierced the unusual silence of the Ghost Zone, making Emily jump.

"You guys need some help?" Emily squinted through the darkness, but could not find the source of the voice. Sam shook the flashlight vigorously until it produced a dim light. It was just enough for them to see the speaker: Danielle, or Dani, Danny's "cousin". She was originally a product of Vlad's, meant to be a female clone of Danny Phantom. But she developed a mind of her own, and soon figured out, with Danny's help, that Vlad was planning to replace her as soon as he made a better clone. Since then, she had fled from the Masters' household, and hadn't been seen since. Until now, that was.

"Dani! Oh thank god you're here!" Emily gasped in relief. Sam said nothing, but merely scowled. She was still a bit suspicious of Danielle. After all, she did try to destroy Danny. But Sam couldn't be picky at this time, not when they were so desperate for the exact thing Dani offered: help.

"Can you get us a way out of here?" Sam asked. She just wanted things to be back to normal, for god's sake! But then again, when your best friend was half ghost, things were never normal. Danielle nodded.

"Yeah. Follow me." Emily let out a groan.

"How much walking do we have to do?" she demanded. Sam looked at her.

"Em...can't you just fly? You do have ghost powers, remember?" That was true, but Emily was ready for that suggestion.

"First of all, I'm not good at flying without my ghost crutches. I can fly, but I have really bad balance when I fly, just like when I walk. Plus, ever since Danny's been in a coma, my powers have been going haywire. I can never be sure anymore that they won't malfunction." Dani looked from one girl to the other.

"Danny's in a coma! Am I missing something here?" Sam sighed. It seemed it was up to her to explain things. She started to begin telling the story of how they had gotten themselves into this mess, but Dani interrupted.

"Hey, Emily, you want me to carry you? You look really tired." Emily blushed. Usually she would refuse any help, preferring to do everything herself. But she was on the brink of exhaustion and couldn't fight any longer.

"Sure...but can you really carry me?" Dani nodded.

"Sure! I have super strength and super endurance. My scum of a father made me to be superior in every way to the real Danny Phantom." And without further ado, she transformed into ghost form, changing into a sleek half black, half white hazmat suit. Her hair fell down her shoulders as she bent down and scooped Emily into her arms. Sam and Dani made sure Emily was comfortable before continuing to walk on.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

Tucker was tired. He had been chasing after Sam all day, and now he was tired, lost, and beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea after all. He sank down on a rock, and tried to figure out a plan. He could try and find his way out. After all, he did have that partially completed map of the Ghost Zone saved on his PDA. But then Sam and Emily both might be in danger. And he couldn't knowingly leave them in possible danger...could he?

Why were things always so complicated? Ever since Danny had become half-ghost, things had become incredibly complicated and confusing. There was never a straight, simple answer; it was always a maze of lies, deception, and cover-ups. God, if he thought he was confused, being a halfa's best friend, think of what Danny might be going through, being the actual halfa in question. He couldn't even imagine.

Ever since Emily had come into the picture, things had become even more complicated and out of control. Not that he was blaming Em for any of the things that had happened since the gang had met her, far from it. He loved Emily like a sister, and was amazed at her spunky spirit. He wasn't sure he could maintain that kind of an attitude if he'd been through all she had gone through. He hated seeing her tired. It was like a weak parody of a "normal" fourteen year old. She'd drag her legs, leaning heavily on her crutch. She'd get terrible muscle spasms in her legs that ached unbearably. And through it all, she still found the energy to smile and make a sarcastic remark. That was Emily for you. Go figure. Tucker could see why Danny loved her so much.

He pitied her, though he kept that thought private, knowing Emily would kill him if she ever found out. Her attitude was that disabled people shouldn't be pitied. Tucker could sort of see why. Pity must get pretty annoying. And speaking of annoying...what was that damn yipping?

A minute later, he found out, as he was faced with the overeager puppy Danny had dubbed Cujo, wagging his tail excitedly and holding the Fenton BOOmerang in his mouth. Tucker patted the ghost puppy absentmindedly, his thoughts still on his friends. A deep growl brought him out of his daydreams. Cujo the puppy had grown into Cujo the ferocious guard dog, still holding the BOOmerang in his teeth.

"Down, Cujo!" Tucker commanded frantically. A minute later, the puppy was back.

"OK, you've got my attention." he gasped weakly, sinking back onto his rock. "What do you want?" As a response, Cujo dropped the saliva-covered Fenton BOOmerang onto Tucker's lap. Tucker picked it up and wiped the drool off on his shirt, turning it over and over as if he'd never seen it before.

"The Fenton BOOmerang..." he said slowly, processing his thoughts. It was probably still keyed into Danny's DNA...it was worth a shot. Tucker stood up and threw the BOOmerang as hard as he could.

"Um...go get it?" he asked, unsure. The puppy gave an affirmative yip and obeyed, chasing the BOOmerang with great leaps and bounds. And Tucker had no choice, but to follow.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

About fifteen minutes later, Sam was finishing up her story.

"So I went after Emily because I didn't want her to get herself in danger, and I found Emily on the ground bleeding with that dagger sticking out of her chest! So then we were trying to find a way out of here when you showed up." Sam summarized. Dani nodded thoughtfully.

"Can I see the dagger?" she asked. Sam nodded and handed it over. Dani shifted Emily gently so she would have a free hand. Once she had the dagger, Danielle examined it thoroughly with her eyes, tracing the carved symbol on the handle with her fingertips. Her eyes widened with recognition.

"This is Vlad's symbol!" she squeaked. She was so shocked that she nearly dropped Emily, but recovered her just in time.

"WHAT!" Emily and Sam gasped in unison. Dani nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sure of it. After all he is my ex-father." Danielle put a snarl into the last word. She hated calling Vlad Plasmius her father. She shifted Emily again and showed the girls the symbol on the handle, a backwards P made into a V.

"Is Vlad a member of the Purists?" Emily wondered.

"Technically, yes." Danielle informed them. "He's half-ghost, but he pretends he's full ghost. After all, he would love to destroy Danny, and that's what these Purists love to do. He only joined after he heard that they were after Danny Phantom."

"Typical Vlad." Sam muttered. But before she could say anything more, her toe stubbed something soft. At that precise moment, the dim light from the flashlight went out.

"Typical. As soon as we actually need the light, it goes out." Sam muttered as she shook the flashlight trying to get it started again. Finally a faint light came from the flashlight, enough for the three girls to see what lay below them. Emily gasped, Sam went pale, and Dani looked horror-stricken.

"Oh my god!" Emily said softly. "It's Danny!" Indeed it was. He lay sprawled on the ground, eyes closed, face pale and slightly blue. He was in human form, although Emily suspected he had changed back when he passed out. His arms lay limply across his chest. But before the girls could do anything more, there came a noise and a minute later the Fenton BOOmerang sailed into view. Tucker came jogging along behind it, accompanied by Cujo, his tail wagging happily. Tucker looked down at Danny, and gasped. Then, he looked up and finally noticed the girls, who had been staring at him.

"What are you doing here?" all four teens demanded simultaneously.

"What are you doing here?" they answered each other in unison.

"I was looking for Emily. I found her, and Dani found us and was helping us find a way out." Sam answered first. "Now, tell me what you're doing here."

"I was looking for you. Cujo-and the BOOmerang-led me here." Tucker replied. Then all four seemed to realize that what they really needed to do was focus on saving Danny's life. Tucker knelt down beside his best friend, and after a minute, looked up, horror written all over his face.

"He's not breathing!"

A/N: Haha evil cliffie! I am so sorry I didn't update for months, I had no idea where I was going with this story. But now I sort of know, so the next update should be relatively soon. As always, review!