Chapter 12

Yeah, so I found out last week about the episode coming out about the weather ghost. I pretty much freaked out and ran around my dorm room in celebration. Is it really any wonder why?

I realize the email system for the site was wonky this past week. If you didn't get a reply, I apologize. Tell me if you didn't and I'll give you like a double reply or something.

And…I believe there were a few of you wanting the return of Sam and Tucker…?

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

:-) :-) :-) :-)

Tucker: (To Danny, after he sees Skulker flying above them) Skulker? He's hunting you again?

Jazz: Again? As in more than once?

Danny: Jazz, take it easy. There's a rhythm to these things. Ghost attacks, we exchange witty banter, I kick ghost butt, then we all go home having learned a valuable lesson about honesty or... some such nonsense.

Jazz: (Taking notes on her clipboard) Attack. Banter. Kick butt. Lesson. Got it. So, why isn't he attacking you?

Danny: (Sees Skulker fly right past them and into the Axion building) No attack? What? He's ignoring me?

:-) :-) :-) :-)

Lilith narrowed her eyes. "Do we really want a repeat of last time we met?" She challenged the Fright Knight, charging up and ecto-blast. Danny looked torn between helping his daughter and making sure his friends were alright.

"Go help her." Jazz told him. "I'll make sure Sam and Tucker are okay." Danny still looked divided about the issue, but knew that he had to fight. That was his job.

Jazz turned to Skulker. "You and I need to have words." She glared at him. "In the meantime, monitor the controls. I'll see if I can help the process along a bit." She said, rushing over to the containment pods.

Skulker growled. He was helping his prey and they were yelling orders at him. There was something inherently wrong with that, but if he was going to get anything out of this it would come later. He had promised Lilith he would help. But after freeing the original whelp and the other annoyance he was beginning to regret that promise.

Upon seeing that both of the half-ghosts were going to fight, the Fright Knight became a bit worried. The girl he could probably handle, but her father was a completely different story.

"Okay, how are we going to do this; the easy way, or the hard way?" Danny asked confidently, preparing his own attack.

"I am here to do my job. You will not escape." The Fright Knight said with as much bravado as he could muster. He knew what he was in for. But if he backed out now, the results from Plasmius would be much worse.

Danny smirked. It wasn't a necessarily nice smirk. "Good. I have too much aggression built up anyway. I think you're the perfect one to take it all out on before Vlad makes me angrier." He didn't wait for a reply back.

The battle was brutal, if you could even call it a battle. It was so one-sided you could pretty much call it a beating. Lilith didn't even need to get involved. She and the other kids often had to close their eyes lest they have bad mental images in their head. Skulker looked like he was enjoying it over in the corner, mostly thankful that it wasn't him and the gorilla this time.

"Ah, I like this whole hitting thing…" He grinned with maniacal glee.

"As long as it's not my dad he's hitting." Box Lunch said dryly as she crossed her arms. "I've heard stories..."

"Keep monitoring the controls, Ghost X! If they go even a little bit critical Sam and Tucker are done for!"

"Stop calling me that!"

Soon Danny had finally tired of beating up on the Fright Knight. The former general of Pariah Dark's army wasn't looking very good, for a ghost at least.

"Fenton thermos," Danny demanded his hand outstretched. Ted obediently gave him the device with an awestruck look on his face.

Danny mindlessly popped the cap open and sucked the Fright Knight into the thermos. "He won't be bothering us again." He said landing on the floor again with a satisfied smirk.

He rushed immediately over to his closest companions, giving the thermos back to Ted who fumbled momentarily with it. The kids shrugged and stayed mostly silent.

"That was sooooo cool!" Stacy squealed. Or maybe not so quiet.

"I didn't get to shoot anything! Why haven't I gotten to shoot anything yet?!" Ami complained.

Ted shook the thermos on a whim. "I wonder if they can feel that….?"

Lilith ran over to her dad as her friends talked, complained and hypothesized. "Are they going to be okay?" She asked.

As if to respond to her question there was a sudden, jerky movement from the direction of Tucker. Indeed the man had come to terms with the fact that he was in the real world and seemed to be doing fine…

"AH! Where am I?! What's going on?! Who are you?!" Tucker screamed as he sat upright and pointed at the first person he saw.

Box Lunch had a bored look on her face. "I could tell you, but you wouldn't like it."

"Tucker! You're okay!" Danny exclaimed happily as he ran over to his best friend, giving him a giant hug of joy.

"I guess…but man do I have a massive headache…wait, DANNY?!"

"I suppose I owe you an explanation. But we've got to get out of here first and wake up Sam." Danny said sheepishly.

"Dude, you were missing for five years. You bet I get an explanation." Tucker said in his 'I'm right' tone and at the same time, crossing his arms in satisfaction.

"Actually Uncle Tucker…it's been fifteen years now." Lilith told him in a mirror of Danny's last tone. It was amazing at how much she recognized him, even though she had last seen him when she had been four.

Tucker gawked. It was amazing he had recognized her. "Lilith?! You…you…you…"

"I grew?" She suggested helpfully.

"A lot of stuff has happened, Tucker…" Jazz tried to explain.

"That mean it's been…it's been ten years! I've been asleep for ten years!" He stopped his tangent as he came to a sudden realization. "I blame Vlad, right?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah"

"That's all well and good guys, but can we just get to the point here?" Sam asked. She was sitting up looking rather annoyed. She was rubbing her head as it seemed she also had a headache after waking up.

"Sam!" Danny said joyously and ran up to her. He didn't see Tucker give him a sendoff and then roll his eyes.

"Oh, get a room…" He mumbled.

"Mom!" Lilith also went to her side as they helped her up.

Sam stared at her daughter for a while then back at Danny. "Well, I see you two have been busy." She said sarcastically. It was her way of coming to grips with what had happened.

"Yeah. Now we just have to get out of here. Then we can have things the way they were supposed to be." Danny said, giving Sam a tight hug.

"I missed you mom…" Lilith said in turn, her moist eyes threatening to open up any time soon. She had so much she wanted to say and talk about, but Lilith stopped herself short of rambling on. This was neither the time nor the place to do such things.

After that Sam got a good look at her daughter. "Look at you; you're so grown up now." She said proudly, giving her a short, but meaningful hug as well. "But three questions," She said seriously. "What do you think of eating meat?"

Lilith thought about the creature from cage 587. It hadn't been the first or the last. "I don't eat meat…" She said a bit confused at the question.

"Good." Sam said contently. Danny looked on in confusion and amusement. "How do you feel about zoos?"

"Now wait just a second!" Skulker butted in. Sam may not have meant to do that, considering she had no idea where Lilith had been for the past ten years, but Skulker knew a jab at him when he heard one; even an accidental one. Box Lunch grabbed him off to the side before he could protest.

"Get away from the family reunion Frog-boy. It's partly your fault anyway." She scolded him.

"I swear I will have your pelt Pest…" Skulker sneered.

"You keep on thinking that buddy…" She told him equally, floating up to his eye level.

Sam gave Skulker an odd look, but didn't get a chance to ask why and what he was doing here. "Not good." Lilith responded quietly and carefully, not looking at Skulker for good reason.

"Last question," Sam said. She paused slightly for dramatic effect. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No!" Lilith instantly responded, very much shocked at the question.

"That's what I thought. All is well Danny. She's normal." Sam said suspiciously, eyeing over to her group of friends then reassuring her friend and husband.

"I'm glad you have a weird definition of the word 'normal'." He responded lightly and with a slight laugh.

"Hanging out with you, it was bound to change." Sam sad in playful retort.

"You should talk." Danny grinned as he responded back in the same manner. It was pretty much just like old times.

The room had calmed down a bit. Sam and Tucker were brought up to date on the events and Jazz exchanged words with Skulker. The other kids stayed out of the way.

"You know." Box Lunch started. "It's moments like these that make me realize how lucky I've been. It makes it all worth it."

Ted smiled. "I think I know what you mean."

"So is it all over then? That seemed a little too easy…" Stacy asked.

"Stacy, no don't…" Ami cried, but could not stop her innocent question on time.

"What…is the meaning of this?" A very, very angry Vlad Masters stood in the open doorway. Cam squeezed in past him to the group of kids.

"Sorry." He said catching his breath. "I tried to stop him, but he remembered me from the basement lab. He caught on way quicker than I thought he would."

"Vlad" Danny said in a low voice acknowledging his presence.

Vlad seemed more amused than anything. "Ah, you've broken free at last." He said proudly. He scanned the room. "And Skulker, you're the last ghost I expected to be here unless…ah I see now." He said with an amused smirk. "You were the one hiding Lilith from me, weren't you? It all makes sense now." He said as he wandered the room freely, examining the occupants. Skulker gave away nothing, as all the adults did the same.

"And of course we have the loyal friends, the newer ones…" He said, stopping by the kids with very frightened looks on their faces, Box Lunch with a glare. "And then the original…isn't this quaint." He said noticing Sam and Tucker awake. "I suppose then that this is the final showdown, eh Daniel?"

"Whatever happens tonight ends it all Vlad. You spoiled my childhood. You've taken away the best years of my life. I'm just thankful my daughter had the guts I didn't so that I can at least live my life my way." Danny said with all seriousness. Lilith gained a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Very well then." Vlad consented. He transformed in front of them all into his own ghost form. "It would be only fair if I asked you one more time Daniel. Will you join me?"

Danny stared as he walked up to face Vlad Plasmius. His facial expression was blank, and then he smirked. "The answer is no. Just like always. Sorry, Vlad. I only eat Fruit-loops, I don't work for them."

Vlad smirked back equally. "There is that old saying 'you are what you eat'."

Danny cracked his knuckles. "I guess we're both crazy then. Suits me fine."

"Uh…" Lilith started. "Is this supposed to happen?" She whispered to her mother.

"It's called witty banter." Jazz supplied for her before Sam could say anything. "It's good stuff." Sam sighed heavily. This was the last thing they needed to be talking about.

"Can we focus on helping Danny?" She told her sister-in-law.

Jazz frowned. "But…witty banter is part of the sequence, it's always there…"

"Don't listen to your aunt, Lilith. She's crazy." Sam said in a bored tone.

Lilith nodded dumbly, not knowing what else to do.

"I trust you remember this little device." Vlad said to Danny holding up the Plasmius Maximus. "I realize it would be rather unsportsmanlike to use this however…" He said, turning it on without looking at it. "A victory is a victory."

Danny smirked. "That's what I love about you Vlad. Having an archenemy with the same weaknesses is very useful. That stupid thing could be used both ways, remember?"

"Unfortunately…" Vlad admitted with a frown as he did remember. "That mistake won't be happening again, but I'll give you a sporting chance anyway…Catch, Daniel." He said throwing the device at him.

Danny was caught off guard as he tried to catch it. Vlad had used this moment of distraction to launch his first attack and the battle began. The Plasmius Maximus lay on the floor, still on. Danny tried to shake off the older man from the grip around his neck. It wasn't very pleasant.

To get away he sent a short, but relatively harmless ecto-blast at Vlad. This annoyed the eldest half-ghost, but didn't faze him at all.

"You're going to have to try harder than that Daniel. I thought I taught you better?" Vlad told him with a smile as they continued to fire at one another.

"It must have gone out the other side of my brain. I was C average, remember?" Danny said back, not really caring now that he was far out of high school. "Although, as I'm sure Your Stalkerness knows, I eventually brought my average up to a B." He finished with a mock bow.

Vlad frowned. "Yet you still remember everything your idiot father taught you. Some help that was to you. You can still join me you know."

Danny stopped in mid-air. "Man. You are obsessed. Will you just give it up already?" The two resumed the fight, and for the first time, clashing equally in air.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Lilith asked. She was getting a bit antsy not doing anything.

Sam shook her head. "As long as I can remember Danny has tried to face Vlad on his own. I don't think we want to interrupt him, but I know what you mean. Trust me, Tucker and I have tried."

"And as long as the other ghosts are in the thermos, we have nothing to worry about." Tucker said.

As irony would have it, at almost precisely that moment Danny and Vlad slammed into the wall next to the majority of the kids. Stacy was caught off guard, who ran into Ted who in turn dropped the thermos.

The release button was activated and the ghosts that had been trapped inside, escaped.

"That was not Fiji!" Exclaimed the first of the three vultures.

"You're telling me. I've had better from those cramped masseuse machines at the mall." Said the second vulture.

"Ah crap." Ted gaped.

"Well, that's not good." Sam said. Again with sarcasm, as if there were no other way to deal with the situation.

"Yeah, it's totally like the time you dropped the thermos, Sam." Tucker continued to reminisce without a clue.

Sam raged. Jazz put a hand on her shoulder, but didn't say anything as they had to soon duck out of the way to avoid Danny and Vlad hurdling past them and into another wall.

The Fright Knight was also coming to terms with his newfound freedom. No sooner had he decided that now would be a good time to leave before he got mixed up some more trouble, Vlad noticed.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots! Get them!" He said after blasting Danny into the wall. Danny bounced right back at him.

The last vulture finally came out of the thermos. "They told us we'd be able to retire at 65 years; here we are, still working at 2, 034 years old. We aught'a sue!" The other two seemed to agree with him.

"How about after we make trouble?" Said the second. "We'll get paid, and then we can retire somewhere in Fiji."

"Yeah okay, lets go." Agreed the first, as they then began to swoop down on the gaping audience.

"What do we do?! What do we do!?" Ted panicked as he fumbled around with the thermos. To his surprise it started to rattle again.

"I thought it was empty!" Cam said, leaning over his friend's shoulder.

"Maybe it's just broken?" Stacy supplied.

"No, it's not broken." Said Sam quickly, pulling the kids away as the vultures nearly missed. "It's just rusty. There's another ghost in there!"

"How does that work? We only caught those four!" Ami complained.

"Less talking, more running!" Lilith said flying into her friends before the Fright Knight could take a swing at their necks.

"Hallway!" Tucker called, opening the door and letting the kids out. "Aren't you coming, Sam?"

"I'm staying." Was all she said.

"Oh, no you're not." Tucker said, pulling her away through the door. "Danny doesn't need potential hostages in the room. Vlad's not above that and you know it…" He said in a warning tune.

"He needs someone else in there." Lilith expressed desperately.

"I can help him!" Mother and daughter said at the same time.

Tucker stared. "Okay. That goes on the 'yikes' list…" He concluded. "I'd love to be in there too, but the best way we can help Danny is to stay out his way."

"When did you get so intelligent Tucker? You're actually thinking things through. What did Vlad do to you? It may have actually been a good change." Sam said a bit impressed.

"Ha ha very funny Sam." Tucker said blandly.

"All we need to do now is foster this new found sense of competence. I can help you with that." Jazz offered.

Tucker raised an eyebrow, but didn't get a chance to comment.

"It won't matter, I've locked the door. The two will continue their fated battle alone." The Fright Knight said, phasing through the wall.

"Guys! The rattling is getting worse!" Ted called out from a distance, barely holding on to the crazy thermos.

"I though only toasters from Denmark did that…" Ami said, finding amusement in peril.

"This isn't the time!" Cam panicked as the Fright Knight smiled wickedly. "Crazy ghost with a really sharp sword!"

"Stop freaking out! Humans…" Box Lunch mumbled as she titled the thermos away from herself with her pointer finger as a precausion.

As the group argued Lilith quietly slipped out and phased through the wall and back into the room where Danny and Vlad were still battling it out. No one noticed her missing presence as they were not only busy with the Fright Knight, but also a crazy and not working thermos and three ghost vultures adorned with fezzes.

"Everyone split up!" Sam yelled, taking charge. Tucker, Sam and Jazz bolted down the hallway, the Fright Knight following them closely.

"I'm going after them." Ami said. "They'll need some equipment if they're going to have any hope of winning." She said as she took off after them.

"Ami, wait! I'm coming with you!" Stacy yelled after her. "I've got the lipstick!"

This left Cam, Ted and Box Lunch with a seemingly malfunctioning thermos and three ghost vultures that could potentially cause a lot of hurt.

"What do you think we aught to do with these three?" The first one asked the other two.

"Whatever it is, bring it on." Box Lunch said, rolling up her sleeves. "I got this one, boys. Get the thermos under control and don't aim it at me unless you want me to rain some doom upon you later!" She warned the two of them.

"Ah, it's one of those younger kids. No respect for their elders these days…" The third one groaned.

"Then we'd better teach her a lesson." The second one sighed. "I'm too old for this." He complained.

"It's gonna blow!" Ted yelped finally not able to hold it any longer. He and Cam took a large step back from it.

Box Lunch ignored the boys and smirked. "Well, it's about time I get some real action." She formed an ecto-blast in her hand, box-shaped of course. "Beware." She said evilly as she wound her hand back.

It was at that moment the last ghost popped out of the thermos and ended up ramming into the vultures, sending them through the wall. "I AM THE BOX GHOST! Keeper of all sacred things cardboard and square! You do not know who you are messing with, for I cannot be kept within the…"

"DAD!?" Box Lunch shrieked, thoroughly embarrassed enough to stop her attack. "What are you doing here? More importantly, what were you doing in the thermos?!"

"Wait a second." Cam said, puzzled. "How can a ghost…?"

"Finish that sentence and I'll stuff you so full of cookies you'll never be able to eat them again." Box Lunch glared in warning. "Some things are just better left unanswered."

"But…"

"I said some things are better left unanswered." She stressed.

Cam was finally silenced, but Ted also shared his unfinished question. Neither was satisfied.

"Box Lunch? What are you doing here?" The Box Ghost asked his daughter the same question as he floated up to her.

"Dad, I've been missing for the past seven months and I'm here. Any guesses on where I was?" She said, annoyed.

The Box Ghost blinked. It was all the answer she needed. "I'm surrounded by idiots!" She screamed in frustration. She didn't notice the vultures were back, just peeking through the wall.

"I try to do one great thing in my life!" She started, punching the first vulture without even realizing it. "I finally get the chance to show the world I'm not some carbon copy, that I'm an individual!" She continued, shooting an ecot-blast at the next vulture in rage. "And all that happens to me…" She kicked the third. "…is that I get kicked around like some nobody! I'm sick of being just like you and mom!" She told the Box Ghost as she turned around to take a swing at all three vultures at once.

When she was done ranting, the vultures were lying on the ground. Ted calmly took the thermos and put them back inside of it.

"Girl…for a ghost, you have real issues." Cam told her. "You ever think about talking to Jazz about it?"

Box Lunch seethed as her eyes flashed crimson. "I'm a ghost. I'm supposed to have issues!" She yelled.

"Three down. One to go." Ted interrupted just in time. "Let's catch up with the others." He said, running down the hallway.

"Right behind you buddy!" Cam called after him, mostly to get away from Box Lunch as fast as he could.

"Ha! You need not fear, daughter of mine and strange human children. My cardboard boxes of vengeance shall rain down do-…" The Box Ghost was not able to finish his sentence.

"Good grief dad, stop talking." Box Lunch said shortly. "We've heard it a million times! Even Lily is sick of it, but she never says anything because she's always so poli-" She stopped talking in mid-sentence. "Lily…where is she?" The young ghost panicked.

Back in the research room the battle raged on. Neither looked like they were going to give up soon. Lilith finally decided she couldn't stand on the sidelines forever.

"Dad, I'm coming!" She gave waning before coming in. No sooner had she floated off of the floor that she was in the middle of the fight.

Vlad has seized his chance. "You should have listened to your father's friend, my dear." He told Lilith as he held on to her tightly. She struggled hopelessly to get away. "Thank you for the help."

A/N: Oh, I'm sorry, is that a cliffhanger?

How the Box Ghost got inside the Fenton thermos…there are some thing that are just better left unexplained. He's the Box Ghost. That's really all the explanation needed.

Shoot! I only have one more chapter done! I've got to stop typing the epilogue! I'm going into my panic stage. Give me inspiration for past scenes! I need to type those next!

A large Michigan lake-effect snow (and that's a lot of snow) thanks to: Meagaisnttheworld, Rishi-Rishi, katiesparks, ectoenergy, DP fan and hermie-the-frog. You guys are awesome!

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!

-Unrealistic :-)