Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. I would never dream of making money off his work, this is but one fanatic's homage. So please don't sic the rabid lawyer hordes upon me, there's not much for them to sue out of me.

Author's Note: Okay, Dan is officially tied for first place with my Nationstates character Dawn Lifesaver for most depraved evil bastard I've written dialogue for. Amazing how well spending the better part of today a cold wet bundle of hate at a go-kart race can be channeled into evil behavior. Seriously, I want to shoot Dan myself. Also, Paulina surprised me this chapter. I didn't think she would act the way she ended up acting. My muse acts in mysterious ways, I guess.

Also, I have fanart! Katzklaw did a drawing of young Dan! (http/img219.imageshack.us/img219/9949/youngdan6pm.jpg)

As always, comments are appreciated!

Chapter 5: No Redemption

"Well they'll call you a hero or a traitor

But you'll find out that, sooner or later,

Nobody in this world is gonna do it for you

Do what you gotta do"

-"Do What You Gotta Do" - Garth Brooks

I kept my sled low, down between buildings, making use of any cover I could. If I was going to gather a small army, I had no room to be stupid about it. My first stop was the TV station. If I tried to rally the masses, I had to do it in a way that Danny wouldn't notice. And he was too busy with his rampage to be watching TV. I found myself growing more angry as I neared my destination, ignoring the startled looks of the few pedestrians I flew past. It didn't matter now that everyone would know I was the masked hunter- secret identities took a backseat now to stopping the disaster in progress.

I compacted my sled when I got there, and ran right on inside, ignoring my sore ribs. The receptionist tried to stop me at first.

"Where's the news desk?" I demanded of the woman, who was wearing the same tense expression I'd seen a dozen times already. "I need to make an announcement on TV!"

"Miss, I can't-" She tried to protest.

"Look, lady, see this?" I held up one of my guns, rapidly loosing my already short patience with the woman. "I'm a ghost hunter, and if I can't get my message out, then this town and everyone in it is toast!"

Such a seemingly minor confession, isn't it? Sure, my dad knew I hunted ghosts, Mr. Masters knew since he provided me my equipment, but I had never actually confessed to anyone before that moment that yes, I hunt ghosts. The woman offered me no more resistance, pointing weakly in the direction I needed to go. I would later learn that her son and his family had been among the victims of Danny's first rampage. At the time, merely content she'd cooperated, I ran in the direction indicated and burst through the sound stage doors, hastily composing my speech as I ran.

The crew were all too surprised by a teenage girl with a great big chrome hand-cannon bursting in to offer any resistance- the news desk people just stared at me as I ran in front of the cameras, panting from the exertion. I took one more deep breath before I stared right into the lens. "Okay, people! We all know there's a ghost running loose, and the police can't stop him." I mentally braced myself, my next sentence took a lot of effort to get out, knowing that there was no going back once it was uttered. "I'm Valerie Grey, and I'm a ghost hunter. But I can't stop the ghost by myself."

By now, my barging in had drawn the attention of most everyone in the building, and most likely the attention of everyone in Amity Park who was watching the newscast. I heard the surprised murmuring from some of the crew as I hefted my gun. "I need your help. If you can fight, meet me at the FentonWorks building. Please. I can't save the town alone. It will be dangerous, but if we don't stop him, he'll destroy everything. He told me so himself when he gave me this!" I gestured angrily at the ugly bruise on my face.

I gave the camera one more long level stare. "Avoid the destroyed areas if you can... stay under any cover you find... good luck. If we work together, we can stop him. We have to." I forced myself not to show any sign of the emotional turmoil I was feeling. If I could act like I hated Danny... well, maybe eventually the act would become real.

Without another word, I ran back out, leaving the newsroom flabbergasted. I think I caught one or two surprised thumbs-up from people in the hallway, but my priority was getting to FentonWorks and breaking in through the command center so I could get the front door open. I had to trust that people wanted to defend their town as much as I did, and that some of them would be able to make the journey and be able to fight in the face of that monster's terrible power.

I was surprised at the first several people to trickle into the Fentons' abandoned living room. Star, Paulina (which actually really surprised me), Dash, Kwan, and several other Casper High students. All segments of the student population were represented- the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, even the band geeks and faculty. More people joined the small crowd over the next hour, some looking battered and bringing horrible tales of close-encounters with Danny. Some had set out in small groups, but had lost members en route thanks to Danny.

"Okay people!" I called out, addressing the gathering. Several dozen sets of eyes turned to me. I was surprised and humbled by their expressions, ranging from fear to hope to a grim determination to match my own. "I don't think we can destroy that ghost."

"If we can't destroy it, why are we even here?" Kwan squeaked.

"I came because I thought the ghost-boy would be here!" Paulina glowered at me. "Wait... if you're that hunter that's always fighting him..."

I watched it dawn on the Latina while hiding a cringe. "Paulina, I didn't do anything to the ghost-boy. He always got away from me."

The only thing I did to him was chase him off and turn him into that monster we have to stop...

"Well, then where is he?" Paulina insisted. "The ghost-boy always comes to the rescue!"

I paused, uncertain what to say. I could have explained that the ghost-boy was Danny Fenton, and that the ghost we had to fight was the ghost-kid, but it felt wrong. I knew Paulina practically worshiped the ground Phantom walked on, and that most everybody else at Casper High held a favorable opinion of the town's most famous ghost. Heck, after that ghost invasion when the town was sucked into the Ghost Zone, most of the town saw him as a hero. It felt wrong to shatter that belief, after Danny had worked so hard to save all these people. It felt wrong, and I knew that such knowledge would likely only demoralize these people, and we needed morale badly.

"... The ghost boy won't be coming to the rescue ever again." I finally admitted, finding my shoes suddenly very fascinating.

That got a collective gasp from the gathered people.

"But he always fights to save people!"

"What happened to him?"

"What did you do with him!"

That last shout was tinged heavily with accusation, and I found myself surprised at the hurt in Paulina's voice. I'd always thought her fixation on the ghost was borne of some selfish, shallow desire, but the hurt in her voice seemed genuine. Startled, I forced myself to meet her accusing gaze.

"I didn't do anything with him. That ghost right now..." I faltered at the lie. "That ghost destroyed him. I saw it happen."

It wasn't quite the truth, but it certainly wasn't a total lie. The Danny I knew had been destroyed after a fashion by the Danny that now was.

Paulina recoiled. "He's... gone? Like, gone forever?"

I nodded, trying hard not to let the tears show that I felt welling up. "Forever. He suffered before the end, too. Badly." Again, another truth, though warped slightly so as to hide the complete truth.

Paulina bristled angrily, brandishing her fingers in a way faintly reminiscent of a cat, her manicured nails resembling wicked talons. "Count me in. I'll make that ghost pay for hurting Inviso-Bill!"

"Uh... didn't he call himself Danny Phantom, not Inviso-Bill?" Dash looked at the Latina oddly.

"Whatever he called himself, he's gone." I said hurriedly, hoping no one would suddenly figure out the Fenton connection. "It's up to us to save our homes this time."

"If Paulina's in... so am I!" Star declared, though she didn't seem to have the same degree of conviction that the more popular girl had.

"Me too!" Dash declared, slamming one fist into the other palm. He was pale from nerves I noticed, though I kindly didn't point out that his knees were shaking.

"I don't want my home to get blown up, yo!" Kwan whimpered. "How are we gonna stop him?"

Soon everyone in the room chorused their support. Nothing like a city-wide apocalyptic disaster to bring people together.

"We'll have to drive him back into the Ghost Zone. Follow me." I led them down into the basement where the Fenton Ghost Portal was, casting its idle green light on the floor. In the two weeks between Danny running away and his violent return, I had become quite familiar with the lab and command center. "We've got to lure him and drive him down here, and force him through that portal. And then close it behind him."

Under my direction, the lab was raided for ghost hunting weapons, and I shared liberally from my arsenal as well, wondering to myself if a group of misfits like we were would actually stand a chance against Danny. We had to, there was literally no other option. Once everyone had some sort of gun or other weapon, we began to lay the battle plan. We were immensely lucky, to be honest. Given what Danny had told me when he tried to kill me, FentonWorks seemed like it would have been a priority target- had he shown up while we were planning, we probably all would be dead.

The plan we eventually settled on was simple enough. As the most experienced fighter present, I would take the most dangerous task of leading him. I would use my jet sled, get his attention, and then run. The others would fan out around FentonWorks, flank him if possible, and prevent him from taking a different route. Once we got him down in the basement, he would have to be driven into the portal, which would have to be immediately sealed. Paulina surprised me again, by volunteering to stand point guard just outside FentonWorks, where she would very likely end up seeing combat. Apparently not wishing to be shown up by a cheerleader, Dash reluctantly also agreed to man that position as well.

I had the gamer nerds stationed on rooftops and upper-floor windows, armed with long-range weaponry. The cheerleaders got the melee weapons, while the jocks got sidearms of assorted kinds. The rest of the volunteers had an odd assortment of gadgets, gizmos, and assigned locations. The plan was hodgepodge at best, but what more could be expected of a bunch of scared kids and adults, all fighting in this nightmare scenario only because they had no other options? Once everyone was in position, I hopped aboard my sled, my aches and pains washed away by a fresh surge of adrenaline. I only had one of my smaller weapons- I didn't need heavy firepower this time- I needed a way to get his attention, and beyond that, all I required was pure speed. Paulina saluted me as I took to the sky, her expression dark, and apparently not minding the impressive weight of the large gun she had selected. Hers was the look of the avenging lover, though Phantom had never responded to her advances. I briefly wondered what she would have thought had she known that the object of her obsession was the shy "loser" she had scorned in the past.

I think it was an unspoken acknowledgment among the members of our makeshift army that there would be deaths. We just didn't know who, or how, or even if we would be victorious. I believe we had all settled our accounts, at least in our own minds, and had moved into a strange state of mind that exists beyond fear and beyond hope. No one wanted to go into this optimistic, only to have that hope crushed. It's a strange place to be, a grim state of mind. We were fighting the devil himself, or a passable facsimile thereof, and if we were going to die anyway, we were going to go down swinging.

Bracing myself to face Danny again, I pointed my sled toward the center of the rampage, where the explosions were. This was it, I honestly thought I was flying to my death. I stayed high, where I'd be in plain sight to anyone that looked up. Before long, I tracked the explosions to their source, and there he was. Even from my height, I could hear him laughing, a disturbingly cheerful sound in the midst of the cacophony of pained shrieks and explosions. I looked down and bit back a pained cry at the scene. The air stank of his most recent deed, the burning shell of what had been a bus masking the dozen or so corpses who had been on board it, people who had been only trying to escape town, trying to awake from the nightmare.

Amazingly, he hadn't noticed me yet. I guess the noise of my sled's engines was drowned out by the chaos of his rampage. It was as good a situation as I could hope for, so I aimed my gun and the two small blasters on my jet sled, training all of the weapons on the very dead center of the achingly familiar nested DP emblem. Soundlessly, I pulled the trigger and tapped the foot switch, the weapons spewing pink beams. Danny was more intent at that moment on the wreckage of the bus, and was caught square in the chest by the triple-blast and bowled clean off his feet.

Danny tumbled head-over-heels before slamming into a nearby wall, too surprised apparently to phase through it. I dove down to street level while he recovered and fixed that hateful crimson gaze of his on me. "So you finally crawled out of your hiding hole, Valerie?" He spat, floating into the air.

"You're goin' down ghost!" I snarled with a vehemence I didn't truly feel, taking a few more potshots at Danny before I spun my sled around and took off. I heard Danny howl with rage and knew he was giving chase, though I didn't dare turn around to look. I would have been killed by way of crashing if I took my eyes off where I was going. It was pure reckless flying, keeping low in the streets, blasting through narrow alleyways instead of taking to the open skies above the rooftops. I knew that I couldn't keep ahead of Danny in a pure drag race- sure, he could simply go through the buildings like they weren't even there, but then he ran the risk of losing sight of his target. By taking my chances down among the buildings, he had to follow the course I set, or lose me in either a cloud of debris or through a building. He didn't want to get ambushed a second time.

"Yes, run!" I heard him shout somewhere behind me. "Just like before, only I'm not going to be so forgiving as to let you escape a second time!"

I quickly dialed the Fentons' phone number on my cell phone- the ring would signal those stationed around the building that the ghost had taken the bait and we were on our way. The rest I had to leave in the hands of the volunteers, and hope that they didn't accidentally hit me by mistake. I knew that everyone was likely as twitchy as I was, and it was entirely possible that those hair-trigger nerves would go off the instant Danny and I came into view.

I saw the first green beams he fired in the reflections of office building windows as I tore by, swerving wildly to avoid them, and cringing at the explosions followed almost immediately by the musical tinkle of shattering glass. Danny was gaining on me despite my efforts, his speed had improved drastically, something I hadn't expected when I laid the plan.

"C'mon, go faster-! Go faster!" I urged through clenched teeth, ignoring the flashes of pain from my bandaged chest and ducking as low to my sled as possible to reduce drag and hopefully wring just a little more speed from my battered ride. It wouldn't be much longer before we got within firing range of the first snipers, and then the real battle would begin.

"Too scared to fight me?" I heard Danny taunting, smug amusement clear in his voice. "Or are you still too caught up in how we feel for each other? Hoping that I'll come to my senses and we can all live happily ever after!"

I cringed. Despite Danny's apparent madness, it still seemed clear to me that he was upset, somewhere underneath the cruelty, somewhere beneath the anger and the hate. I thought for just a moment that maybe, just maybe the shy boy still existed under that frightful facade, that maybe I could still reach him. I opened my mouth to call back to him, then shut it with an audible click of teeth, remembering the apparition of Sam from the night before, and the warning my own father had given me before that. That's not Danny, Valerie. Not anymore. ...Won't you feel worse if he destroys everything you fought to protect?

I pulled my sled almost sideways in a hairpin turn, and then we were there, in the shadow of the massive FentonWorks structure.

Two energy beams, one the trademark green of Fenton equipment, the other the pinkish-red of my gear shot down from the rooftops. One blast missed Danny, though barely, the other caught him in the back and sent him plummeting to the street with a startled yelp. Almost immediately a flurry of additional blasts rained down from above, many harmlessly striking the street, but several scorching Danny, making him yowl in pain.

"OPEN FIRE!" I bellowed over the maelstrom, wincing as the effort sent stabbing pain through my midsection. My jet sled clawed for altitude and I added my own volley of blasts from high above. For just an instant, it seemed surreal, almost like one of those tactical strategy games, where I had a bird's-eye view of the field, of my troops.

The illusion was shattered when Danny got to his feet, flinging his hands out in opposite directions, twin green ecto blasts careening into nearby windows, blowing the windows and massive chunks of the walls out. The first two casualties. The only mercy was that it had to have been quick- I never heard either of the snipers cry out.

It was difficult even for Danny to avoid all of the intense crossfire we'd set up, and I was pleased to note that for the most part, everyone was sticking to the plan. The most intense firestorm was farther from the building and slowly closing in, while I had specifically told those nearer the building to hold their fire until the ghost was in close. It was simple convenience for Danny to go to where there were fewer blasts to avoid while he returned fire, picking off the snipers and other gunners one by one. He didn't know the goal of our attack was not to destroy him, but to drive him. I suspect if he had realized what we were really up to, we would have failed.

"It's about time someone put up a barely capable defense!" Danny hissed, grinning like an absolute maniac the entire time, even as blasts struck him, scorching holes in his suit and raising ugly wounds that oozed green. I cringed every time I saw a green blast lance outward, knowing each one signaled the murder or mortal wounding of one of the volunteers. But slowly, he was being whittled down, slowly drawing near the building.

Knowing I could do little more from my present vantage, I fired both the missiles carried on my jet sled and dove for the command center atop the building. Once Danny was in range, I had to activate the ghost shield to trap Danny within a limited radius... probably the most dangerous part of the operation, fighting a caged animal.

I heard Paulina's shrill cry followed by the resounding WHUMP of that large ecto-cannon firing as I slammed the button and saw the familiar green dome of the shield rain down from above.

"Paulina-?" I heard Danny yelp, apparently surprised to find the Latina in the heart of a warzone. I heard his voice take on that sly, smug tone again. "Well, this is amusing... the ghost shield to trap me? All I have to do to destroy the build-"

"This is for killing Inviso-Bill!" Paulina interrupted the ghost, and I heard several more shots fired. I ran to the window, too short on breath to be able to help.

"How do you kill a ghost?" Dash looked dumbfounded.

Paulina shot the jock a dirty look. "Don't just stand there! Shoot him!"

Dash looked at the two ecto-guns he was holding, as if remembering just then he had the weapons. "Oh, right! Eat... whatever these things fire!"

Several of the other defenders approached the dome, but were limited in their firing by Dash and Paulina being in so close. Danny smirked, avoiding Dash's clumsy blows, but he was knocked flat by Paulina's cannon nailing him square in the face. I never knew that a really ticked off cheerleader could be such a good shot, but the fact of the matter is, were it not for Paulina and her surprisingly intense desire for revenge, I don't think we would have managed to drive Danny through the portal.

"I've had enough of you and Dash." Danny snarled as he recovered, turning intangible and disappearing into the ground.

"Look out!" I shouted from above. Paulina glanced up at the sound of my voice, only to get caught blindsided instead as Danny shot up through the ground, the back of his hand slamming hard into the Latina's face. She tumbled a good twenty feet and laid still where she landed, scuffed up and apparently unconscious.

With a feral grin, Danny turned his malign attention on the next-closest defender. To his credit, Dash stood his ground, visibly trembling as he raised his weapons and fired wildly. I tried to draw a bead on the ghost from the window, but I was trembling myself from my efforts, from pushing my battered body so hard so soon. But what choice was there?

"Isn't this an ironic reversal?" Danny smiled, showing his fangs as he stalked toward Dash. The ghost pointed one hand back behind him, a green blast tearing up huge slabs of the concrete and the street and sending them flying into the thick of the defenders, who had to scatter, leaving the jock and the ghost alone in their confrontation.

"Reverse this, loser!" Dash yelped, backing away from Danny as he continued to fire at the ghost. It was surprising just how effeminate the jock's voice could be when he was in a panic.

"'Loser', am I?" Danny laughed outright, launching forward and grabbing Dash's wrists, gripping tight enough that Dash had no choice but to drop the guns, yelping in pain. "How appropriate, Dash. Do you know who I am?"

"N-no!" Dash gibbered. "You're the ghost that... that killed Danny Phantom!" The jock struggled against Danny's grasp.

Danny threw his head back, howling with laughter at that, while Dash stared at the ghost with wide, terrified eyes. "That's the story Valerie is spreading? That's rich!" Danny spun, flinging Dash hard into a nearby wall, pouncing the taller boy in an instant, one hand now at the jock's throat. "I am Danny Phantom."

Dash's already wide eyes set a new record as he thrashed against the ghost's grip. "Th-that's impossible! He'd never do-"

"Never do what? Stand up to you? Hurt you?" Danny hissed, leaning low to stare Dash in the eyes. "Oh, wait. I forgot. Danny Fenton was the one that would sit back and take your juvenile abuse... despite having the power to put an end to your stupid antics months ago. But no, all he did was very rarely use his powers to embarrass you, to avoid your bullying. When he could just as easily have done this!" He raised his free hand, a massive green sphere of energy forming in his palm.

Dash gasped out in surprise as it got through even his infamously thick skull what Danny was getting at."Y-you mean... Fenton... he's the... he's you!"

I cursed myself soundly for my uselessness, unable to steady my aim from the roof in my exhausted state. I couldn't bear to watch, but couldn't tear my stare from the scene unfolding below.

"Give the boy a prize!" Danny sneered at Dash's terrified face. "Though perhaps it would be more accurate to say he was me. I'm no longer that soft-hearted fool. I get rid of those who get in my way."

"N-no! I'm sorry! I'll never do it again-!" Dash whimpered. "Please don't-!"

"I want you to know, Dash." Danny leaned close to whisper loudly in the jock's ear. "I'm going to enjoy this."

"NooOOOOOO-!" I winced as Dash's scream reached a piercingly painful pitch, cut off all too abruptly as the energy blast engulfed him. It was horrible. I never cared much for the overconfident jock, but he had been killed for my cause, and as an indirect result of my own actions. Yet another burden to my load of guilt.

Danny stood there laughing, almost daring the rest of the defenders to try and fight him after that display. I was the only conscious person near enough to have heard Danny's cruel taunt before he killed Dash, but after that display of power, everyone was hesitant to move against the ghost out of a sense of self-preservation.

He didn't see Paulina though, back on her feet and creeping quietly toward him. She glanced up at the command center, my gaze met hers briefly, and she nodded once, indicating Danny and then pointing down. I understood what she meant and got ready to fly my sled through the house to the basement on her cue. To this day, I don't know how Danny failed to notice the Latina sneaking up on him. She looked terrible, her previously flawless skin sporting a multitude of bruises and cuts from her flight, and an ugly welt visible beneath one eye, where Danny had hit her. Her expression though... I suppose there's more truth to the saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" than people it give credit for.

I started for the basement when I saw her take a running leap, pouncing Danny and knocking him to the ground. Her shout was clear even over the sound of the cannon firing right into Danny's back.

"THIS IS FOR TAKING THE GHOST-BOY FROM ME!"

He must have turned intangible to avoid the worst of the point-blank shot, because he slammed into the basement floor just seconds after I skidded to a halt at the base of the stairs. It took Danny a long moment to totter upright- I guess the accumulated damage was finally getting to him. We locked eyes then as I leveled the largest weapon I had at him- a massive gun with multiple barrels.

"So this is it." Danny remarked flatly. His tone didn't betray it, his red eyes did, full of hate. Hating me, hating the recently-departed Dash, hating the city he grew up in and the home he was raised in.

"You got that right, Danny." I growled at him. "Anything I might have felt for you... gone. You killed it, just like you killed all those people."

Danny didn't seem all too terribly perturbed by my statement, or the very large gun I had unsteadily trained on him. I couldn't have hit him from the rooftop, but there was no way I could miss him at this range. And the only thing to catch him was the glowing green portal wide open behind him.

"Amusing. I wonder, can you really shoot me, Valerie?" Danny crossed his arms. "Would you shoot your dear friend?"

"I wouldn't shoot my friend." I snarled. "But that's not a problem. You're not him."

Danny smirked at me as my finger tightened on the trigger. "Are you so certain of that?"

I gasped when I saw the white rings appear at his waist, one scanning down to his feet, the other over his head. I nearly lost it when the white and black bodysuit was again replaced with the familiar jeans and white t-shirt and I found myself staring down Danny Fenton. He stood there, smirking at me, his arms still crossed.

"D-danny!" My weapon lowered barely an inch in disbelief, taking a small step backward, my resolve thrown into sudden confusion. There he was, standing right there, the kind boy I believed was gone forever-

That monster isn't Danny!

"That's right... you can't shoot little old me, right, Val?" Danny smiled at me, taking a step forward. "We're pals, aren't we?"

No! Focus! That's not him! His eyes, look at his eyes!

I shook myself from my stupor and stared at Danny's eyes. They were still that wicked red, not the crystal blue of my friend. He had Danny's face, but his eyes were still those of that fiend. I forced myself to look only at his eyes and I raised my weapon again.

"We were once, Danny." I blinked away the tears I felt stinging my eyes at the painfully familiar sight of that sweet innocent boy- they slid to my chin and I steadied my aim. "But not anymore. Not now. Goodbye, Danny."

He started to open his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by my weapon firing a massive pink beam that caught him full-on. He shrieked once, a long, piercing wail as he tried to stand his ground, but weakened from all the hits he'd taken outside, he couldn't resist the force and was flung backwards, right into the portal.

Quaking, I slid to my knees, pointing my gun at what I thought was the control unit for the portal. One blast later, and the portal's green glow dimmed, the heavy yellow and black doors slamming shut across the now-silent device. Paulina was the first of the defenders to enter the building, and found me slumped on the basement floor, staring at the sealed portal.

"Did you get him?" The Latina asked, helping me to my feet. I nodded numbly.

"He's gone. I shot him through the portal... he can't get back through." I let my gun slide from my fingers. "For now, at least."

I knew the victory was short-lived. He would be back, I saw the hate in those eyes clear as day. Somehow, he would find a way back out of the Ghost Zone, more powerful than before, and he would try and finish what he'd started. It was only a matter of time. If we didn't prepare, we wouldn't be able to stop him a second time. I quietly bowed my head, too tired from my injuries, exhaustion, and emotional hurt, leaning heavily on Paulina for support as she helped me upstairs to share the news with the rest of the surviving defenders.

Goodbye, Danny. I'm sorry it had to come to this.