Just Another Meteor Freak

by jadedbluerose

Clark Kent has seen many strange things in his life; he's an extra terrestrial living in a town of meteor infected humans. But in the aftermath of the second meteor shower he discovers a cousin with his own strange past. What will the Kryptonian do when Danny Fenton arrives, bringing the ghosts of his own mysterious past along with him?

32. Shadowed

Chapter 31

Shadowed

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny sighed, passing the red gem idly between his fingers. Clark had handed it to him two nights before, apparently having taken it off Graham when he saved Lex and Lana. Danny wasn't sure what to make of that, and Clark wasn't talking. Danny was aware that something had changed for Clark, and he wasn't sure if it was solely due to finding out that Lex and Lana were together. The one good thing was that Danny himself was starting to feel better; the visit from Wulf had provided something of an answer to why he was sick, even if Danny didn't like the ramifications.

The anthropomorphic wolf in question had headed back into the Zone the same day he had arrived, not that he'd ever stayed around for long in the past. Wulf hadn't been able to visit for long, the effort to find Danny this time had left him needing the energy-rich Ghost Zone atmosphere a lot sooner than usual. But Wulf had stayed around for the better part of a day to keep Danny company while he was feeling sick and for that he was truly grateful. Wulf had promised to come back soon, and now the wolfish ghost knew where Danny was it probably wouldn't be so hard for Wulf to find him.

Danny shook his head, setting the Eudialyte down on the open alchemist's journal before leaning heavily back against the sofa loft. He was supposed to be studying for his exams, but between his own sickness and the business of the past few days, the exams sort of faded out of importance.

"You know, I've spent the last few days trying to drag your cousin out of the loft." Chloe's voice cut through the silence of the barn, a soft warmth that broke through the icy fog clouding his mind. "I really don't wanna have to add you to the list."

"Hey Chloe." Danny smiled, opening his eyes as the blonde took a seat on the far side of the trunk. It was disconcerting to be on low power like this, he still couldn't feel people's auras, and trying to touch on any of his other ghost powers was still beyond him. His stomach had settled, though, but only to the point where he could drink hot chocolate. The thought of eating anything from the Real World still made him feel a little green.

"That's the..." Chloe trailed, gesturing towards the red gem on the book.

"Yeah, Clark got it off Graham in the hospital." Danny answered.

Chloe frowned, her lips pressing together tightly for a moment before she spoke. "Not that I like the idea of Clark playing the klepto card, but it's probably better here than handed into the government with the rest of Graham's stuff."

Danny released a sharp breath, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "You're probably right." He commented, idly picking the gem up once more and rubbing the red stone with his thumb. "What I don't get is why Graham used it like that in the first place."

"Probably for the same reasons as Simone did; power, greed, lust." Chloe shrugged. "It's just like the meteor freaks, they have power and they want to use it to get ahead. Not everyone is like you or Clark, Danny."

"What does that even mean?" Danny moaned, venting his own internal frustrations. "People should just be people, it shouldn't matter if they have powers or not. But every time we meet a meteor infected person or someone gets one of these gems... they turn out to be psychopaths."

"That says more about the people they are then the powers they have." Chloe replied evenly. "I mean, look at Victor Stone, he turned out alright."

Danny shook his head tiredly. "I dunno." He said, his eyes fixed on the glimmering red of the Eudialyte in his fingers. "Does he count? Or does he qualify as like me, like Clark? None of us are fully human, so do we even qualify? I mean..." Danny groaned unsure how to continue, and silence stretched between them, drawing taught as a bowstring.

"Humans can't have ghost powers." Danny murmured quietly after a minute. He sighed, the red gem in his fingers glimmering in the afternoon light. "That's what my mom always used to say. And I used to believe that she meant that humans physically can't have ghost powers. But what if it's more than that? What if there's something about being human that just can't handle having that sort of power, not in a physical way, but built into human psychology?"

"Hey," Chloe consoled, coming to sit on the sofa next to him and taking his hand in hers. "Don't give up on us just yet. I mean, sure, there's a good few bad people out there, but..." Chloe paused, shaking her head momentarily. "It's the bad ones who are the most visible, but there's probably a lot of people out there that just want to live their lives, and some likely even want to do the right thing with what they've been given."

Danny half smiled, realising that... well actually he'd just sounded like himself two and a half years ago, terrified of the Dairy King who informed him that some ghosts just wanted to be left alone. All that time ago he'd asked the question from a human perspective, and now he was asking it from a ghost's. He blinked, shaking his head and leaned forward, closing the book and leaving the red gem on top of it.

"Can I ask what you ended up doing with the Turquoise?" Chloe asked casually as she withdrew her hands from around Danny's other hand.

"I gave it to my guardian in the Zone." Danny replied carefully.

"Oh?" Chloe pressed, raising an eyebrow. "And who qualifies as the guardian of Danny Phantom?"

Danny rolled his eyes, turning slightly so he could look at her full on. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Danny delivered with dark seriousness before cracking a smile. "He's a very private ghost, and he prefers his secrecy. As it is most, of the Zone thinks of him as a myth, and I don't think he wants the Real World to find out he exists."

"It's not your secret to tell." Chloe replied, but there was a strange twinge of hurt in her understanding eyes. "Does Clark know?"

"No." Danny replied. "He knows I have a guardian in the Zone who is a very strict tutor, but he doesn't know who he is. For all they say that 'dead men tell no tales', we're a very secretive society."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him, but the smile fighting its way forward on her lips told Danny that it was okay. Chloe picked up the gem, holding it speculatively in her fingers. "So you're gonna take this to your... guardian in the Zone and then what?"

"Dunno." Danny shrugged. "He'll keep it safe. I mean, all four of them have the potential to be used for good, and have been in the past. I looked into it, did you know Graham's dad was a real gung-ho humanitarian type? Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Portugal, Somalia... he was huge, he helped rally up support like no one else could, spearheaded a couple of projects himself."

"And he used the Eudialyte to do all that." Chloe pressed, looking at the gem with a strange sort of awe in her eyes.

"It would definitely have helped." Danny replied, "But now, after Simone and Graham... I think I'm gonna have to find the other two. For all the good the gems could be used for, they're far more likely to be abused. And that's setting aside that I think it's abhorrent to use them in the first place."

"You really don't like the idea of people abusing their power, do you?" Chloe asked as she set the gem down again. And Danny got the idea that she was talking about far more than just his own personal world view.

"Can you blame me?" Danny asked. "I mean, I get yours and Clark's scepticism about Lex, really I do. But the fact of the matter is that for now, a lot of what he wants is actually for the greater good. Sure some of his methods are a bit... okay, a lot underhanded, but I figure he just needs someone to show him the right direction."

Danny shrugged. "When you consider the fact that my arch-enemy was a half-ghost corrupted by his own power, and half my enemies follow down the same path..." Danny sighed, shaking his head. It was easier to focus on his enemies, not his own internal conflicts. "I've seen too many people using power to hurt others, just because they can, to not be sceptical about power."

Chloe cocked her head to the side, an evaluative look on her face. "You know, when I first found out about Clark, I thought he was amazing; not because of his powers, but because he used them to save so many people's lives."

Danny half smiled. "You're not gonna go quoting Warrior Angel on me now, are you?" Danny asked, sending her a wry grin. Because he got the message, it wasn't the power that mattered so much as how it was used. "Actually that reminds me of something Pariah Dark said." Danny commented after a moment.

"Yeah?" Chloe prodded. "From the news stories I wouldn't have thought he'd be one to give big lessons on ethics."

"Actually, it's something he said when we were fighting;" Danny answered with a shrug. "'Having that much power, it's a burden, isn't it?' I mean, he was just talking about mom and dad's ecto-skeleton suit, but I guess the message sorta stuck."

Chloe blinked. "You know I think that's the first time you've actually told me about Pariah Dark."

"It's the first time I've told anyone about Pariah Dark." Danny replied. "I mean, everyone in Amity Park remembers getting sucked into the Zone, but it's not exactly my fondest memory."

"Even though it was the first time you were credited as a hero in the papers?" Chloe asked.

"That was just a side effect." Danny dismissed. "Truth is, around that time I was a bit... well, let's just say I wasn't using my powers entirely responsibly. But then Pariah came, and I was the only one who stood a chance against him, even if I wasn't as strong then as I am now. He was cruel, vicious... the stories I've heard since then make Hitler sound like a saint."

"He was that bad?" Chloe asked.

Danny sighed. "He ruled with an iron fist, and it wasn't exactly as though they could just wait for him to die. He destroyed, corrupted... eradicated anything in his path. I mean, for all the horror Hitler wrought worldwide, he started with wanting to bring national security back to Germany; stabilise the economy and bring the country out of the poverty induced by the First World War. I could never condone what he did, but at least he had a purpose. Pariah was just asserting power for its own sake."

"And Zod?" Chloe asked, her voice slightly strained, but Danny didn't know what with. "That time we came back from the Fortress, you said you found out about Krypton from touching one of the crystals."

"That was only half true." Danny confessed with an awkward smile, his hand absently coming to the back of his neck. "I did learn a bit from... well, I kinda fell through the crystal panel rather than touching it. But most of that I already knew from my guardian." Danny shrugged, going back to the question Chloe had asked. "As for General Zod, he's cut from the same cloth as Hitler, I think. I mean, he started with noble intentions, but he became corrupted by military power... although the environment on Krypton during the Fall was a lot different to Earth during the Holocaust."

"Does Clark know...?" Chloe made a vague gesture with her hand.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Clark knows what Clark wants to know. I'm not the one who he should be talking to for Kryptonian history, I'm happy to answer questions if he asks 'cos he needs them. But technically speaking I'm not supposed to know about Krypton. If he wants to know the full story he should be talking to Jor-El."

"Except that he doesn't trust Jor-El." Chloe retorted with a cold frown.

Danny rolled his eyes, picking the gem up and shoving it in his jeans pocket. "And I'm not about to take a way for Jor-El to earn his trust." Danny answered dismissively. Truth was that Danny thought things might go better if Clark and Jor-El had an opportunity to talk like reasonable people, but they were both too hard headed to give that a chance. Danny frowned, choosing to ignore his own private musings and instead offering Chloe a hand up from the sofa. "Wanna stay for dinner? I'm making stir fry chicken for Aunt Martha and Clark if you want some."

"I thought you were still sick." Chloe retorted, looking at him askance.

"It's a ghost thing, Chloe." Danny replied, gesturing her to lead the way. "Just because I'm not up to eating doesn't mean I mind doing the cooking."

Chloe smiled at him, her green eyes sparkled amusedly in the moonlight. A gentle warmth caressed his core, the vaguest echo of her sunlit watery aura reaching out to him. Danny felt a small smile come to his lips as the blonde ducked down the barn stairs. "You coming?" She called, her voice echoing up from beneath the loft as Danny followed her down the stairs. "'Cos I gotta admit, after all this talk about power, I wanna see your awesome cooking powers in action."

Danny fought back a grin. "Yeah, well, beware my stir-fry chicken of pure evilness as I cook your tastebuds into submission." He teased, adding in a mock evil cackle as he walked in step beside her. In the moonlight Danny could see the blonde fighting down her own smile as she gave him a friendly shove, leading the way into the yellow farmhouse that had become his home.

Line Break

Clark frowned as he walked out the sliding doors of the hardware shop. There was a strange tension in the air, and it seemed like he wasn't the only one to pick up on it. The air seemed to flex with something like static, and Clark looked up into the cloudless sky trying to find the cause. However there was nothing, and while the air seemed to swell with the tension of a brewing storm, the clear blue Kansas sky held no answers. Clark's frown deepened as warning bells rang in his head loudly.

On the street around him a number of people paused in their movements, stopping to look in the sky and frown when they saw nothing there. There was nothing, no visible or physical sign that anything was amiss other than the feeling of wrong that seemed to intensify the longer anyone was aware of it. Clark shook his head, shoving the paper bag of supplies on the passenger's seat as he swung himself into the truck.

Clark started the truck, pulling cautiously away from the curb and beginning the trip home. Danny was in school, taking the first of his final exams. At least, that's where he was supposed to be. And his mom was somewhere off in Topeka working on her latest bill with Lois, rallying up support. Clark's plans for the day were a lot less significant, consisting mainly of fixing one of the fences and working on his dad's old motorbike.

As he was driving through town he slowed, idly noting a chill in the air that had not been there before. He peered through the windscreen, watching as the sky above slowly turned grey, a blanket of heavy clouds gathering overhead. Clark drove through the thick traffic around town, becoming more anxious as it slowed to a near halt. Something was wrong, and he could feel it on a primal level that everyone nearby seemed to be picking up on. Clark pulled over, stepping out of the truck and joining many of the people on the side of the street looking up at the sky.

The clouds were darkest towards the north, over near the school. Clark frowned, locking the door behind him and walking back through Main Street, easily pushing through the crowd of people who had all stopped to stare. It was alarming, never in all his life had he seen people pause in their daily routine like this apart from during the tense lead up to the tornadoes at the end of his freshman year, or when the army rolled into town announcing the arrival of the second meteor shower.

Clark shivered involuntarily, coming to the end of the business part of Main Street and pushing himself towards the school. The closer he got, the darker the clouds became, verging on a shade of purple that could only be supernatural. He rounded a corner, moving from the small suburban homes and to the large red and yellow emblazoned building that was Smallville High.

Despite how warm the day had been, there was now a marked chill in the air. But despite the nearly tangible tension in the air there was nothing visibly wrong. The walls were intact, and despite the gathering purple-grey storm overhead there was nothing to explicitly identify what was wrong. The bell rang, the sharp clanging sound making Clark jump, even from where he stood outside the school gates. The eerie atmosphere had him tense, and he had no idea where to find the cause.

He saw the front doors open as the students pooled out the door, eagerly anticipating their lunch break. A number of the senior students were coming out more tiredly than their younger peers, clearly in the post-exam state of exhausted defeat that prevailed after a particularly difficult test. Clark frowned, idly searching the crowd for a mop of raven hair among the seniors. Five minutes passed and the crowd thinned, but Danny apparently wasn't using the front exit today.

Clark sighed, unwilling to trespass onto the school premises during school hours. He had hoped to find the cause of the disturbance, but any further investigation would likely only cause a disruption to the students, and remembering his own exams he knew that that would be the wrong thing to do for all involved. Clark turned away, electing to head back into town and ask Danny about it later; if anyone knew what the cause of the meteorological disturbance was, it would be him.

Then everything changed as the storm broke. A loud peal of thunder cracked through the sky, but there had been no lightning to cause it. Clark froze, turning to look up at the sky that had darkened to a violet shade of purple with the school at the epicentre.

"Danny Phantom!" An overpowering voice called, crackling through the air and vibrating through Clark's chest with dark malice. "Come forth. Twice you have slighted my honour, impugning upon the sanctity of both the Knights Code and the Ghost's Code of Power. I hereby demand you answer the call, and act in accordance to those duties you have subscribed yourself to."

There was a tense breath as the voice rolled out from the clouds. The speaker remained unseen, sending a tremor of fear through the students milling outside the school as Clark approached. He paused once more, eyes searching for his raven-haired cousin in the crowd. With a challenge like that issued, Clark had no doubt that Danny would come running, no matter that he was only just recovering from whatever had made him so ill earlier in the week.

It was only out of the corner of his eyes that he caught him; Danny was racing through the pool of students at the side of the school, ducking and weaving through the confused crowd as he made a mad dash back inside the school building. Clark followed him with his x-ray vision, noting the lethargy in his movements as the boy ducked into a janitor's closet and disappeared from Clark's sight.

A deep cackling resounded down from the sky, colder than the glacial fields that stretched around the Fortress. "Is the Great Danny Phantom afraid?" The voice demanded, and suddenly a dark figure emerged from the darkened cloud bank. At first Clark thought he was watching a shadow, the dark figure blended in with the sinister purple clouds in the sky. But as the figure solidified Clark saw more. The figure was masculine, clad in pitch black armour. His dark helmet shadowed his face completely, leaving only two narrow green slits visible as eyes. Around his shoulders hung a cloak of billowing indigo flames, flickering down in violent fury.

"Phantom!" The ghost commanded, his dark voice resounding tangibly through the air. "The Fright Night calls; and you shall take up my challenge!" The world seemed frozen as the ghost ripped off a flaming silver gauntlet, throwing it heavily to the ground in a clear sign of challenge. The gauntlet landed just in front of the school's front steps, silver flames licking up from the metallic glove as it scorched the pavement. The students backed away, and even Clark felt uncertain about approaching. No matter how sick Danny had been recently, this was a ghost thing, and Clark knew very little about the politics behind the Fright Knight's declaration of anger.

Those green eyes narrowed in an angered snarl, Danny wasn't here yet and Clark was getting worried. The dark knight scowled, pulling a bright green broadsword out from his hilt. The sword looked menacing, electric green flames danced along the metallic edge, and the sight of the blade sent an involuntary shiver down Clark's spine. He wasn't the only one affected; even the bravest of students were backing up close to the school's walls, taking whatever comfort it could give.

The ghost overhead snarled, his impatience rolling off him in tangible droves. And somehow his next words left a dark chill in Clark's stomach as he saw the true menace of the dark ghost shine through.

"Young ghostling, I require recompense,
For honour demands a trial hence.
The gauntlet now has been lain down,
And mires a curse upon this town.
Young ghost child, thou shall heed my call
Or watch, remiss, as thou charge doth fall!"

The ghost concluded his recitation, his voice cold as the dark incantation wove its chilling spell over every witness. There was a tense breath, and the world seemed to still as Clark's gaze trailed between the gauntlet out the front of the school and Fright Knight.

"Never thought you to be one to implement the Knight's Code, Fright." A voice called, mocking and familiar as a head of white hair emerged on the school steps. "'Course, now I know exactly what that is, I know just how much you've violated it. I accept your challenge." Phantom smirked, his white cloak billowing lightly in the breeze as he bent down to pick up the flaming gauntlet. A cheer rose from the students, all of them taking heart from Phantom's presence.

Clark however was worried; months of living with Danny had taught him a number of Phantom's tells. Whatever front the boy put on, he wasn't well enough to be fighting this ghost, and in his eyes Clark could see a deep running layer of fear. Phantom was secretly terrified, for all that he was putting on a brave front, and up against a ghost of this calibre Clark didn't know how much help he himself could be. But Phantom smirked defiantly, even as the gauntlet vanished from his hands to reappear on the Fright Knight's wrist.

"Your terms?" Phantom asked, floating up to hover opposite the Fright Knight. Clark saw the dark knight's eyes flash smugly, but it was clear that Phantom was not about to back down, his green eyes were a swirl of mischievous defiance.

"Trial by blade to third blood." The knight decreed. "No powers 'till first blood is drawn."

"Goin' a little old school, are we, Fright?" Phantom retorted. "I accept your terms."

"This is a matter of honour, Phantom." The knight replied smoothly. "You have proven yourself wily and capable only of underhanded trickery. Honour demands fair trial, in accordance with the Knight's Code."

"Whatever you say, Fright." Phantom shrugged, but the grin on his face betrayed him. "Can I ask what slight you believe I've done you?"

"You vanquished my first liege on unequal terms, whelp," The knight replied with an icy snarl, sending a chill down Clark's spine as he watched from below. "And that transgression is enough. However you further mock the order of Power by eradicating my second liege's influence in our world. Twice slighted, I shall not offer you opportunity for a third. Draw!" The knight finished in a horrendous roar his own green blade came to rest at the ready in front of him.

Phantom was barely given a moment to draw his own blade before the battle begun. The smaller boy ducked beneath the blade, twirling out of the way as both ghosts landed lightly on the ground. Phantom's silver blade flashed silver in the light as he twisted around, blocking a heavy blow. Clark took a deep breath as he watched his cousin, still awed at the skill he possessed with a blade. The fight was moving towards the back of the school, and Clark wasn't the only one who followed the two ghosts in awed curiosity.

There was a loud thud in the distance, and a flock of birds flew from the tree line as Phantom came to a skidding halt at the edge of the forest at the back of the school, having being thrown away by the black knight's rebuff. The white haired ghost stood up, appearing through a cloud of dust as he returned to the challenge. Their blades clashed again, clamouring with an unearthly resonance as Phantom attempted to throw back the green tinged blade. Thunder cracked overhead, a bright flare of purple light joining in the disjointed symphony of clanging metal in the air.

Phantom was good with a blade, Clark had seen that when the boy fought the yeti ghost Frostbite many months before. But this battle was a different intensity, and from the breathless snarls the two ghosts emitted it was even more ferocious than anything Clark had ever seen before. Each movement was executed with deadly accuracy, and Clark could see the calculations going on in both ghosts' eyes. Already a large crowd had gathered on the peripheral of the fight, drawn by the surreal majesty of the struggle.

Fright Knight groaned, and a loud cheer emerged from the crowd as an oozing green slit appeared on the dark knight's arm. But the knight was not affected by the wound, and the battle moved to a higher intensity. Phantom was thrown back as he was assaulted by a fiery blast of purple, skidding heavily against the ground. The crowd gasped as the knight took full advantage of Phantom's position, drawing a matching line of green on Phantom's upper arm.

Clark frowned at the dark look in his cousin's eyes, feeling as though some scale had just been tipped. By the tree-line Phantom snarled, standing up and raising his blade towards the knight. Green eyes flashed feral from beneath his messy white mop of hair, and the boy's nostrils flared in agitation as he struck out towards the black knight.

A resounding boom split the air, and a bright flash of white light enshrouded the forest-line as a bolt of lightning soared from Phantom's fingertips towards the black-armoured ghost. Clark's eyes widened as he stared at the younger boy. He knew that the half-ghost had some electrokinetic power, but not to that extent. Phantom himself seemed temporarily unhinged by his own actions, the boy frozen as he stared at his own fingertips.

The dust settled, and the whole scene seemed temporarily frozen. But that did not last, the violet-cloaked ghost stood determined, advancing on the shell-shocked younger ghost. In an instant there was a long cut to the boy's other arm, oozing thick green. Clark cringed on his cousin's behalf, now worried that the boy was not coming out of this as easily. Concerned, Clark sent a blast of his heat vision towards the fight, hoping to save his cousin before he could get any more hurt.

The blast thudded into the knight's shoulders, but did little more than singe the silvery shoulder plate. "Who dares interrupt the Fright Knight?" The ghost snarled, turning around momentarily to study the crowd with a loathsome look in his neon green eyes. "Phantom, this battle is between us, and further interference from any mortal is to their own peril."

Phantom shook himself out of his delirium, sending an almost imperceptible glare towards Clark. "I accepted your challenge, Fright Knight, in accordance with the Knight's code. There will be no further outside interruption, this I solemnly swear." Phantom sent one more disapproving look at Clark, somehow having picked him out in the crowd, and gave the tiniest shake of his head. Clark frowned, not completely understanding why the younger boy wouldn't want help, but the two ghosts had started again, leaping into the sky and pulling away from the school and towards the forest.

There was a moment's silence from the gathered crowd before one of the teachers managed to call the students back to order. For their own safety they were returning to the inside of the school, but Clark himself was no longer a student. On the edge of his hearing he caught the clamour of battle as the two ghosts drifted further from the school. Clark followed, noting the intermittent flashes of purple and white that lit the sky, making the daylight look dim in comparison.

Clark was worried, trying to figure out what it meant that Phantom was using lightning. It could be that like him, Danny got powers whenever they were needed, but he'd already had some limited electrokinesis before this. It could be that the power was just getting stronger, but Phantom had seemed genuinely surprised at the intensity of the electrical surge. On reflection, it had looked more like Phantom was trying to use an ecto-blast, but then where did the lightning come from?

Clark paused as he heard a loud crash not far away, and the sound of splintering wood echoed back through the trees as Clark raced towards the sound of the fight. He caught up to the two ghosts as they floated over the river, engaged in a deadly dance. Two pairs of neon green eyes flashed as the metal of their blades released a surge of sparks. Phantom spun, deflecting the bow and diving into the opening that gave him. Fright Knight hissed as a line of ectoplasm appeared on his thigh. They were two for two now, and whoever made the next hit would win.

A sudden ringing chimed through the clearing making Clark physically jump. The two ghosts overhead were not distracted, but Clark pulled out his phone as it rang more insistently. Of all the times for someone to call, Clark couldn't quite believe the timing.

"Clark, where the hell are you?" Clark pulled back, keeping half an eye on the fight as Chloe's irritated voice came over the phone.

"Near the river at the back of the school," He replied. "I'm guessing you heard that Danny got challenged to a duel."

"Third hand." She replied tersely. "I heard from Lana who picked it up from Lex's security guards. They've issued a yellow alert to the whole county. How is he?"

Clark frowned looking up at the sky as another bolt of white lightning arched the distance between the two ghosts. "He's not given up yet. But they've landed two hits each. I'd tell you it's too dangerous and to stay away..."

"But you know I wouldn't leave either of you behind?" Chloe finished for him. "I'm on my way, see you in a few." The phone cut off, and Clark shoved it back in his pocket. His eyes were fixed to the sky, where the two ghosts fought like medieval warriors in an unrelenting battle of skill.

Line Break

Chloe panted as she stumbled through the forest. She hated this, being left out of the loop this way. She had originally planned on spending the evening at Lois' apartment, keen to escape her dorm room for the night. But Lana had called her when she was three miles out of town, advising her to stay away since apparently Phantom was engaged in a dangerous sword fight with a second medieval looking ghost near the school. A second phone call to the current editor of the Torch had told her that the second ghost had called himself Fright Knight, and that the two had been fighting since the start of their lunch hour.

So Chloe had sped up, hoping to be there for Danny and somehow knowing that Clark wouldn't be far away. The blonde tripped, stumbling heavily over a tree root and getting a dark mud stain on her jeans. One of the reasons she'd moved into Metropolis was the simple fact that the urbanised environment was clean. But if Danny was hurt she wanted to be there to help, and so she was able to put her personal qualms about the forest aside.

Panting heavily she came to the river, stopping at the side of the red-jacketed form of Clark Kent. Taking in a deep breath she looked up to the sky, and froze at the sight. Phantom was engaged with a black armoured ghost, a fiery indigo cloak billowing around him. But Phantom moved with majestic fluidity, demonstrating a level of grace that she'd only heard of. He'd mentioned that he'd been in a tournament in a medieval era area in the Ghost Zone, but Chloe had never imagined the fiercely determined level of elegance he used to block and attack his foe.

They seemed equally matched, neither gaining on the other, each matching the other blow for blow. Where the dark knight left an opening, Phantom took it, only to be parried away by a swift jerk of the green sword. Where Phantom gave a gap in his defences he quickly turned it on Fright Knight, forcing the dark knight back once more. The clashing of blades interlaced with loud canon bursts of lightning, streams of purple fire and white electricity piercing the distance between the two in an unrelenting match of strength.

"You never told me Danny was this good with a sword." Chloe hissed to Clark, trying to calm her fluttering heart as Phantom narrowly dodged a slice to his neck.

"He didn't want people to really know." Clark dismissed. "There's not much place for an active knight in our time, and where is he supposed to say he learned? I'm more worried about the lightning."

Chloe frowned, studying the fight in a new light. Phantom was holding back, reticent to use anything but the blade. And every time he released a lightning bolt he looked worried, it was almost as if he physically couldn't use anything else, but knew he had to defend himself with something. "You think something's wrong?" Chloe asked, briefly looking her dark-haired friend in the eye before turning her attention back to the fight.

"Danny can't use electricity, not like this." He replied concernedly, and Chloe saw the deep seated worry hidden beneath his stoic facade.

"He's been sick lately; maybe it has something to do with that." Chloe suggested.

Clark frowned, shaking his head idly towards her. "I don't think so. He has been working on low power the last few days, I mean you saw him. This has to be something else."

Chloe frowned, acknowledging the truth in that statement. He'd been practically dead on his feet just a few days before, and had complained about how he could barely touch his ghost powers. It cut an impossible contrast with the powerful figure battling in the sky above them. Lightning cracked between them, and a physical vibration thundered through the air around them. The brightness triggered something in Chloe's mind; a memory of a news cast over a month previous.

"Vortex." She murmured, matching her memory of the weather in Metropolis to Danny's new attack.

"What?" Clark asked, meeting her confusedly in the eye.

"Clark, when was the last time Danny used his powers in a fight?" Chloe asked, her eyes darting between Clark's blue eyes and the two ghosts in the fight.

Clark frowned. "He opened a portal a week or so ago, why?"

"But he hasn't used any of his offensive powers, he wouldn't have known." Chloe realised. "Something happened in that fight, he said it himself after he got back from Vlad's. We thought it was just leftover from the GIW; that it would go away but what if...?"

"What if it affected his powers." Clark continued, staring up into the sky with widened eyes. Chloe had to avert her own as the green blade swung perilously close to Danny's neck. "You think that this new lightning thing comes from Vortex?"

"It's possible." Chloe shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself absently. "Danny is a fighter, with everything that's happened to him it's amazing that he's not a psychological wreck. But he's been pushing so much back lately that he wouldn't notice if something was wrong." Her eyes creased in concern as she looked up to the two ghosts. Despite how evenly they were matched it was clear that Phantom was tiring, a thin sheen of sweat coated his brow, and his hair stuck thickly down against his skull.

A dark cackling filled the air, the Fright Knight pulling back with a sense of menacing finality.

"Twice you claim the valiant win
But tainted honour lies therein
You claim virtue but act the fool
False knight; thou shall not win this duel!"

Chloe shivered with that dark announcement, her eyes fixed on the indigo cloaked ghost. His green blade drew back, and with a terrible sense of finality, drove hard into Phantom's chest. The boy shuddered, falling limply away from the blade. Chloe watched, stunned as the white haired boy fell, his cloak billowing out beneath him like a broken cloud. Phantom's silver sword fell free of his hand, dissipating in an ethereal green mist. It seemed as though the world slowed down around her as she watched the boy plummet through the air, sending a glistening wave of water splashing out around him as he collapsed beneath the rapid waters of the river.

Chloe was frozen by the riverbed as she saw a flash of blue light beneath the surface, but couldn't fathom what that meant. She stood helplessly as Clark ripped off his jacket beside her, casting it aside as he dove into the river after him. She watched, stunned as Clark pulled a ragged dark-haired Danny out of the water, lying the boy by the riverside and pressing against his chest as he tried to make the boy breathe.

Danny coughed, sputtering out a small pool of water, and Chloe snapped free of her dazed state. She raced over to crouch by the boy's side, feeling for his faint pulse. He was breathing in quick pants, his heartbeat fluttering rapidly by his standards. Clark ripped off the boy's shirt, both of them keen to take care of the damage, but whatever the blade had done it had only left a tiny mark. The wound wasn't even bleeding, but Danny was still unconscious.

Chloe sent a fearful look at Clark, not knowing what to do. Danny was in serious trouble, and nothing else mattered. The boy's eyes were fluttering rapidly, and Chloe's eyes creased in confusion. He'd fallen unconscious in battle, but this didn't look like someone who had been injured in a fight. She'd brought home an unconscious Lois more than once and knew that injury induced unconsciousness looked very different to this.

"It looks like he's dreaming." Clark commented, noticing Danny's quivering eyelids himself.

Chloe shook her head, thinking through all the symptoms. His pulse was too fast for a dream, his breathing too irregular. Even as she watched over him, the boy's breathing hitched, and Chloe's heart leapt in anxious sympathy as she waited for the next breath. "More like a nightmare." Chloe replied, sending a worried glance towards Clark, the two of them sitting in helpless vigil at Danny's side on the broken riverbank.

Line Break

There was nothing. No sensation, no concept of up or down, forwards or backwards. Nothing.

A strange sense of claustrophobic agoraphobia touched him, rippled through him. It was a bizarre sensation, to know and yet not know. But at the same time it was familiar, a feeling that he dimly recognised as the disembodied experience of being trapped in the blank nothingness that was the inside of the Fenton Thermos. There was nothing; no light and no dark, and nothing to call blackness or whiteness. Only the vacant expanse of emptiness that was impossibly restrictive and simultaneously all encompassing.

It was a type of... nonexistence, where everything from the outside world became irrelevant. For there was nothing, and there could be nothing, and in this space all that mattered was nothing. Sometimes there were occasional echoes, dim interruptions where the outside world reverberated through enough to influence the oblivion, where the physical form of the Thermos had a direct impact on the experience of the nothingness. And sometimes it was possible to hold entire conversations from the inside, providing that the mind could escape the soothing embrace of the void.

But this time was different, and Danny's mind idly noted this as his non-corporeal body stretched against the endless bounds of the prison. For all that the Thermos was confining, this time there was a sort of hollowness to it, a distant sense that this time he was further disconnected from the Real World than he ever had been before. And even as he found himself stretched out in the endless oblivion, he felt it crushing in against him, making him feel disoriented, helpless.

Suddenly there was a light, and unlike any other time he had been in the Thermos he felt the pressure release as the lid was pulled off, highlighting a pale white circle that floated somewhere above his head. But something was wrong, and now he could feel the impossibly smooth insides of the canister, stretching up around him and pulling the halo of light further away. Danny frowned, running his hand against the wall as he followed it around, unable to pull himself out of the confines of the cylindrical canister.

Seconds passed, or hours, as he threw himself desperately against the walls, but he could find no purchase to allow his escape. He slumped down, his back pressed heavily against the metallic wall in defeat as the pale halo floated tauntingly, miles above his head. Danny blinked as a loud swinging noise pervaded the silence, the dauntless beating of a metronome and the steady ticking of a clock. It became louder, louder, moving from barely audible to the horrendous power of an overpassing jet, pounding angrily around him, against him, through him.

Danny clenched his fists to his ears, spinning around his cylindrical prison cell for any escape. But the walls were just shadowed silver, perfect in their seamless construction, and there was no way out. The beating intensified to an overpowering roar, making his ears feel like they were about to bleed from the torture of the noise. The sounds of his own screaming interlaced with the beating as his whole body collapsed under the agonised pressure of the incessant ticking.

Danny threw himself against the wall of the Thermos, heavily colliding with the metal in his agonised throes. The thermos jarred, tilted, and suddenly the capsule fell, tipping over with a loud metallic clang that echoed all around him. And Danny was falling, tumbling free of the capsule towards the impossibly pale white light.

He collided with the ground with a hard thump, falling in a boneless heap. Danny gasped, drawing in a deep breath as the cool air passed through his lungs. He lay there, forever, for an instant, breathing. The sound was gone, and all that was left was silence. Danny breathed; the steady rise and fall of his chest steadying him, preparing him. His eyes fluttered open, fixing on a grey ceiling, marred with dark stains that fluttered dimly on the edges of his memory.

He stood up, blinking dazedly as he tried to orient himself. It was the lab, his parents' lab. But it was different than he remembered. The room itself was pale, as though the colour had been bleached out. And it was empty, cold. And while Danny somehow knew that the lab was destroyed, he also knew that this was it. How it used to be, but different. Danny staggered out of the main lab and through to the small adjacent bathroom, acting on blind muscle memory as he tried to figure out what was going on; his movements a distant echo of the day he first had the accident that made him half-human.

Danny slumped against the sink, staring at the stained porcelain and somehow knew that this wasn't how it was supposed to be. It was too bright, too grey. The colour was washed out and everything felt tainted. Danny looked up, his eyes fixing on the mirror, but he immediately pulled back in shock. His shoulder blades impacted with the closed wooden door, and he stared terrified at the figure in the silvery glass.

The teen had pale skin, nearly translucent. A white cloak swung lightly off his shoulders, but the inside lining was a shade of violent red that made Danny shudder. Danny took a dazed step towards the mirror; a silver-white fingerless gloved hand mimicked his movement as he touched his fingers to the cool glass. He jerked back, realising that the figure was indeed him. He licked his lips, and the figure copied the movement, lips drawing back to reveal twin sharpened eyeteeth.

Danny gasped, meeting the figure in the eyes. He blinked, so did the teen in the mirror, the boy who was him. But Danny didn't want him to be. The boy's snow white hair flickered violently, a writhing pool of impossible flame atop his head. But it was the eyes, those cold, red, merciless eyes that sent Danny's mind reeling. Eyes that were his in a horrific future. Eyes that sought only bloodshed. Eyes that flashed with a violent lust, a vicious mockery of the spilled blood they promised.

He drew back, whirling away from the mirror, from the man that wasn't him, couldn't be him, had never been him, and yet somehow was him. He threw the door open, tearing out of the bathroom and into the hallway, steely lockers on either side as he walked through the vacant school corridor. Danny frowned, somehow knowing that he wasn't in the Lab anymore, and now he was in Casper High. Long corridors stretching forever, as the Smallville Crow peered down at him, beady black eyes staring blankly at his back.

Danny moved silently through the school, unsure of where he needed to be. There was something he was forgetting, something that he needed to do. But he couldn't remember, and as he walked through the darkened hallway he found he didn't want to. A bird cawed, and Danny looked over his shoulder as two dark birds flew over him, a crow and a raven, side by side. They paused, flittering beside each other as they came to sit on top of the lockers at the end of the hallway, their intelligent red eyes urging him to follow them.

He padded after the black birds, the occasional caw urging him on faster as he attempted to keep up with them. But they were pulling away, flying further along the row of lockers each time they lifted off. And soon Danny was alone as he raced through the vacant hallways of the school. The bell rang; a shrill interruption to the quiet. And Danny knew he was going to be late for his exams. He had a practical lab coming up, but he was going to be late if he didn't hurry. Danny sped through the hallways, rounding the corners until he came to the staircase that led to the basement, to where the biology lab was being held because the supplies were there. Danny threw the doors open, needing to get to his exam.

The lab was brightly lit, the whitish green light so intense that Danny needed to close his eyes. But they adjusted quickly, and he soon found himself in a brightened lab, pressed against the wall as white robed men shuffled around. But their attention wasn't on him; it was on the figure on the far side of the room. The man was chained to the floor, bound in place by bright green handcuffs, red jacket in ragged tatters and a trail of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Clark Kent's eyes stared accusingly at him, heated with anger and betrayal. And suddenly they were alone in the room as Clark's eyes pooled with hatred towards him. "You betrayed me!" Clark growled, straining against the chains that tethered him to the floor. "You left us!"

Danny shook his head in confusion. He hadn't... he would never. "I was trapped." Danny defended.

"Trapped?!" Clark scoffed. "You abandoned us."

Danny felt his head shaking as he stepped across the room, desperate to find some way to save Clark. But his cousin only growled at him, lashing out against the chains.

"Don't touch me." Clark spat caustically, his eyes flashing with such violent hatred that Danny flinched. "You've done enough."

"What did I do?" Danny whispered confusedly. "What happened?"

"You forgot us, Danny." Clark hissed, but his voice suddenly sounded like his friends, his family, haunting him with the echoes of the dead. "You forgot everything we went through, too caught up in your own self righteousness and you forgot us."

"No..." Danny denied, stepping back.

"You forsook us, Danny." Clark spoke once more, his dark eyed stare harrowing Danny to the core. "You left us behind, and now we can't escape."

Danny watched helplessly as a white coated man appeared at Clark's side, a syringe pulling an ounce of blood from his cousin's bound arms. They were using him as a lab rat, Clark had been caught, and it was his entire fault, he wasn't there, he hadn't saved him. Clark was going to die because he wasn't good enough, wasn't strong enough. Danny reached out once more, hoping to offer what little help he could, but Clark only snarled at him once more.

"Don't." Clark growled, glaring darkly at him. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? Wanted someone to suffer the way you have, feel the pain that you have. Or is it just that you wanted something to protect, and when humans weren't enough you had to find something bigger?"

Danny fumbled backwards, unable to speak, unable to deny the accusation. "I'm right, aren't I?" Clark hissed, his nostrils flared in roiling disgust. "You're nothing but a ghost; driven by your obsession, letting nothing get in the way. You'll put people in danger just so you can protect them afterwards."

Danny tripped, falling heavily to the ground in his attempt to back away. He wanted to deny it, he needed to deny it... it wasn't true. But his voice wouldn't come, and deep down he wondered if there wasn't some truth to it. If that was the reason he always denied being called a hero. After all, it was his obsession that drove him, impacted every facet of his life. Even when he was injured from a ghost fight he'd still go out to stop malevolent ghosts, delirious from pain he'd follow the urge, the impossible need to Protect. And not even a week ago, his ghost powers completely inaccessible he'd forced himself to save Clark, his ghostly obsession overriding every human instinct.

He gasped, struggling to pull himself onto his knees so he could at least see his accuser's eyes. "That's all you are, Danny Boy." Clark spat. "Whoever you are, whatever you think you are, everything you do is because you're a ghost." Clark strained against the chains, the metal jarring against Danny's senses as the links clanged together. "You're nothing more than a parasite, aren't you? Feeding off us. Using us. You betrayed me. Betrayed us."

"No!" Danny denied, finally finding his voice as he shakily stood to his feet. "I would never...!"

"Oh but you would, Danny Boy." A velvety baritone voice replied. And suddenly it wasn't Clark opposite him, but Dan Phantom. The evil ghost appeared to be in his early twenties, with ashy blue skin and bright crimson eyes. And now he stood a bare inch taller than Danny, his hulking muscles straining against the dark contortions of his black and white suit. The black lined white cloak billowed out around his shoulders, a flickering mimicry of the iridescent white flames that emanated up from his scalp. "Wouldn't you? In an instant. You know it; deep within yourself you can feel it. You play their friend but would cast them aside if only it meant you could justify it with protecting them."

Danny gasped as the ghost sneered at him, dark crimson eyes leered at him as his lips parted, and revealing two sharpened fangs which glistened in the now red light of the lab. "What's wrong, Danny Boy? Afraid to hear the truth?" That forked tongue mocked coldly with false sympathy. The ghost smirked, those blood red eyes flashing as a pool of red enshrouded the ghost's aura, completely disintegrating the chains that bound him.

Danny was paralysed as his dark future self stalked up to him. And although now they were nearly the same height, the sheer malicious power that swirled around the dark ghost left Danny helpless. A sinister mocking laughter reverberated through the room, echoing off the walls and barrelling deep into the recesses of Danny's soul. "You poor child." The ghost murmured, coming to stand right in front of Danny's eyes so that all he could see were twin pools of swirling red. "So deluded by your own beliefs. The only difference between you and me is the fact that I realised something. One vital thing that makes the whole world make sense."

Dan Phantom grinned, pressing a black gloved hand against Danny's chest, right over his core. The older ghost's touch was light, almost gentle, and his eyebrows arched in something akin to sympathy as the ghost leaned in to whisper in his ear. "The world is your enemy, Danny Boy. And the only one worth Protecting is yourself."

Danny tried to step back, shaking his head adamantly. "You're wrong!" He shouted, but Dan just smiled sadly down at him.

"Oh, Danny Boy." The ghost whispered, his gloved hand moving from Danny's chest to rest firmly on his shoulder. "You know I'm only telling the truth. There is no one in this world worth more than you, no one who won't betray you, no one who could love someone like you. You are a ghost, Danny. But you're entirely too human to belong in that world, and in the end all you will have left is yourself."

Dan laughed; his dark voice echoing around him as the blue-skinned ghost stepped aside, waving his hand out over a decimated landscape. Bloodstained ash was smeared over barren hills, and piles of desolate waste jutted up to a blood red sky. White lightning lanced viciously overhead, splitting the sky into a spider web of violent crimson and brutal white. A cold wind blew around them, and Dark's black lined cloak enshrouded him in the wind. Danny shook his head, stumbling away from the dark spectre, piecing his way down through the bloody piles, picking his way through ashy filth as he fled from the malevolent ghost.

"You destroyed me, Daniel." A voice whispered on the wind, and Danny froze at the bottom of a pile of bones, shifting a skull aside to reveal a battered Vlad Masters. "You stole everything from me." The man gasped. "All I ever wanted was a son, and you took that away. How can you call yourself a Protector when you destroy all that you touch?"

Danny pulled away, crashing into another pile of bones. "You lied to me, Danny." A younger voice echoed, and Danny gasped as a bloodied Lex Luthor emerged from the ashy bones. "I welcomed you with open arms and instead you betrayed my trust." Lex staggered as the bones fell around him, collapsing in a dusty heap as Lex spat his last words. "You're not even human."

Danny ran, darting frantically through the towering piles of waste, of ashy bones, all smothered in a horrendous layer of crimson ash. But there was no escape; every time Danny paused another voice came to him, cruel, accusing. Everyone he had counted on, everyone who he thought believed in him. And their voices melded together, taunting in their cruelty. A breathless scream tore from his lips as he tripped, falling into a pile of bones and ash.

"You betrayed me, Danny." Clark's voice whispered. "I trusted you with everything, looked at you like a brother. But you're not. You never were. You just used me, like you used all of us. How can you stand to live with yourself when you corrupt everything you claim to Protect?"

Danny gasped, pulling himself to his feet as a dark figure floated in front of him. But this didn't look like Dan Phantom. He was younger, only just out of boyhood and his cloak was red lined white. Instead of the latex suit Dan wore, this figure was clad in a solid black loose fitting medieval tunic. Silver-white fingerless gloves encased his fingers and a ruby encrusted sword swung from his hips. The teen's lips parted, revealing sharpened eyeteeth that glimmered in the red light, nearly translucent pale skin looking almost a human pink beneath the crimson sky.

Two scarlet eyes glimmered lustfully at Danny as the Dark Phantom's pale pink lips drew back in a twisted grin. "Hello me." The Phantom smirked, stepping up to Danny so their chests were bare inches apart. "It's time you embrace who you're supposed to be, Danny. This reality, it's inevitable."

The Phantom reached out, sharpened fingernails digging into the flesh of his chest and Danny gasped, pulling helplessly away. "There are only two choices open to you, Danny Boy." The dark Phantom commented, prowling up to Danny menacingly. "One, you can tirelessly save them again and again, throwing all that you are to Protect two races who can never hope to understand you." Phantom paused, idly surveying his fingernails with casual indifference. "Or you can embrace yourself, step up to your full potential, your true power and realise that the only one who deserves your Protection is yourself."

Danny clutched at his chest, green and crimson blood staining his fingertips as he tried desperately to staunch the bleeding. "Tick tock, Danny boy." Phantom commented, his red eyes glimmering with untapped bloodlust. "It's time to choose."

Danny drew a halting breath as he staggered back from the burgundy eyed ghost. "I choose them." Danny murmured, meeting the ghost in the eyes as he finally found his voice. "Every time. I choose them."

The Phantom smirked, his red eyes swirling with a dark malice that sent an involuntary shiver down Danny's spine. Danny wasn't even given a chance before that ruby studded blade swept out at him, and Danny only barely managed to dodge around the nearest pile of bloodstained bones. There was a loud crash from beside him as the blade dug into the pile just beside his head, the Phantom landing a blow, bare inches from his skull.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, Danny Boy." The Phantom commented, pulling his blade back for another blow. "You say you choose them, but that means nothing if you won't defend yourself." Danny ducked under another strike as the silvery blade swung where his neck had just been. "Draw!" The Phantom commanded, and Danny suddenly felt his own blade in his hands, emerald jewels glimmering familiarly in his hand as he parried away the Dark Phantom's next blow.

"You love this, don't you?" Phantom commented, pressing forward with the sharpened blade, and Danny noted that the only difference between this one and his own was the colour of the gems on the handle. "The fight, the exhilaration you get from facing an opponent, the sheer power." Danny swung his own blade, the two clashing in an explosive shower of sparks.

"I'm right, aren't I?" The Phantom mocked, a dark smirk glimmering in his crimson eyes. "You need this, the power you get from defeating those weaker than you. That's all you want, more power." Phantom laughed, striking out at Danny and slicing deep into his left arm. A spatter of blood pooled onto the ground, and Phantom's blade gleamed with speckles of blood. "And in the end it doesn't matter if you think you're protecting them. It's all for you, your own power, your own pride."

Phantom cackled, his sharpened teeth flashing bright against the red background of the sky. And the sword swung, as though in slow motion as it flew through the air; a perfect arc, swinging deftly towards his neck in a flawless killing blow. And Danny closed his eyes, waiting for the relief of oblivion, the cool air swirling around his face as he waited for the end.

His heart beat. His human heart. And alongside it he could feel his core pulse. His ghost core. Two forces, never meant to meet, never meant to cooperate, but somehow working together harmoniously, in perfect synchronisation. Human. Ghost. Danny breathed, the cool air filling his lungs, filling them, sustaining him, restoring him. He smiled, and slowly his eyes flickered open as once more he found his strength.

"Everything I am is for them," Danny replied, smiling as he moved his own sword to block the fatal blow. "My heart, my core, my powers. Everything. And it doesn't matter what strength I draw from that, because it's all for them." Danny grinned as he moved his hand, casting Phantom's ruby studded sword away. "I'm not ghost and I'm not human. I'm a halfa, and it doesn't matter to me what it takes, because I will PROTECT them all, until the very end."

With a burst of energy Danny surged forth, his green jewelled blade driving firmly into Phantom's chest as he ended the battle. There was a sharp cracking sound, and Phantom splintered, long fissures rippling out from the point where Danny's sword had pierced. The cracks spread, emanating out with a loud clinking noise, spreading like the web of a spider. There was an anxious breath; the entire world seemed to be drawn out in tension, and then it collapsed. Like a mirror breaking before him, Phantom shattered, disintegrating into a silvery mist that enshrouded him; and Danny found himself falling once more into the darkness.

Danny gasped, cold late April air filling lungs that felt like they were lined with glass. He jerked up, eyes reeling as he tried to centre himself again. He felt a large warm hand on his back, supporting him, and even though he couldn't feel his aura, Danny knew that Clark was there, with him. On his shoulder he felt a smaller hand, and Danny blearily made out Chloe's worried form sitting right beside him.

"Breathe, Danny." The blonde suggested, her hand rubbing a comforting circle on his shoulder. "Just breathe, you're gonna be okay." Danny nodded, taking a deep breath and focusing on where he was. He could hear water running nearby, and looking to his right he saw part of a river. The three of them were sitting on the soft pebbles by the riverbank, all weathered by the running water. The trees hanging overhead covered them all in dappled shadow, the green a comforting contrast to the blood crimson sky of his nightmare.

Small arms were suddenly wrapped around him as Chloe pulled him into a crushing hug. "God, Danny. You scared me." Danny sent her a half smile, lightly returning the hug before realising that every single muscle hurt like hell. A grunt of pain must have passed his lips because Chloe pulled away, gently brushing the hairs out of his eyes.

"Your eyes..." She commented, and Danny trembled, recalling the horror of crimson eyes staring back from what appeared to be his own reflection. "They're whirling..." She continued, her voice small and confused. Danny wanted to ask, but he was too afraid to. His heart was still pounding in his chest as the dread images of that... nightmare danced before him. He could feel, now, with absolute certainty that none of it had been true, but it had all felt so real, so intense. And Danny couldn't help but wonder at the haunting echoes of that red and white cloaked alternate Phantom.

Slow clapping echoed suddenly through their clearing, and Danny struggled to his feet as the Fright Knight made another appearance. Danny was weak, he knew that, but he needed to be ready. After all that he had just gone through he would let the dark knight slay him where he stood rather than risk him hurting Clark or Chloe.

"Well met, young Phantom." The knight commented, throwing Danny completely astray. He blinked confusedly, taking in the knight's clearly non-aggressive stance opposite him. The silence stretched, and Danny got the sense that the knight was smirking from beneath his shadowed helmet. "Well met indeed." He finished smugly, and Danny recognised the traditional Ghost Zone lines for a conclusion to a duel.

The Fright Knight held out his hand expectantly, and Danny hesitantly took it, shaking hands with the dark knight despite his mounting confusion. "Given the circumstances I will disregard your slight to our conventions." The knight commented lightly. "Well done, young ghostling."

Danny pulled away, searching the knight's green eyes confusedly. "What...?" He managed to gasp, but found that the action brought about a dizzying wave of pain that silenced him.

"Long ago I promised you would face my vengeance." Fright replied conversationally. "Much time has passed since then, you have grown and the challenges you have faced mark you as exceptional."

"But I thought you were mad at me..." Danny stammered, squinting his eyes in pain. "For Pariah and... Plasmius."

The knight shrugged. "You know as well as I that Pariah betrayed my trust and I thus defected to Plasmius during the battle against Pariah Dark. He was not fit to rule and was thus defeated. Such is the case for Plasmius, you proved yourself to be greater than he and hence Plasmius was vanquished."

Danny creased his eyes, still confused. Apparently he wasn't the only one; Clark's voice filled the silence. "So why did you pick a fight with him?" Clark asked. "If you weren't mad at him for defeating either of those two, why bother?"

Fright momentarily turned his attention to Clark, surveying him with a calculating gaze before his green eyes widened. "I had not believed that any Kryptonians survived after the Fall." The knight commented. "I hold no quarrel with you, Kryptonian, but your interference in our duel was neither honourable, nor appreciated."

Danny watched as the knight shifted, studying the hilt of his blade. "As for why I should deign to fight the young ghostling, while it is true that Phantom has proven himself superior in wit and power to my two previous lieges, his valour in conduct had yet to be tested. Now it has."

"Wait, this... all of this was a test?" Danny interrupted, not sure whether to be relieved or angered at the admission.

The knight shrugged noncommittally. "Since we first met you have grown, now you are nearing your third death-day and are a much greater ghost than the young Halfling I first encountered." Fright replied levelly, meeting Danny in the eyes, and Danny could sense the sincerity in his words. "There is much you have faced, and much that you will yet face alone. You were never meant to win our duel; the challenge was in what you faced within your own mind. It takes strength to face your fears, but it takes Courage to stay true to your ideals when you yourself are the one to bring them into question."

Fright paused, briefly looking over Danny's shoulder towards Clark and Chloe before returning his neon green eyes to Danny. "Honour, Valour, Dignity, Nobility, Loyalty, Courage. These pillars are the foundation of the Knight's Code, a code by which I swore to live in life, and continue to do so in death. These are the criterion you yourself swore to uphold when you took up the title of Knight in our world."

Danny bit his lip awkwardly, unsure of what to make of that declaration. "However," the dark knight continued, apparently oblivious to Danny's confusion. "This test was more than just determining your worth as a knight. You proved your Valour, Dignity and Honour in your defeat of Plasmius, and your Nobility in the lessons you learned from my first liege. And for you, Loyalty is a necessary aspect of your being. You have now proven indisputably your Courage, and as such you have proven your worth to me."

Fright Knight kneeled, his head bending in a brief deferential bow before he stretched his hands out as if in prayer and met Danny in the eyes. "I, the Fright Knight, Lord of Fear, Spirit of All Hallows Eve, doth henceforth pledge my allegiance to you, Lord Danny Phantom, Knight of Aragon, Spirit of Protection. I solemnly swear that I will henceforth be faithful to my lord, never cause him harm, and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit, in accordance with the laws held sacred to our world and in accordance with the Knight's Code. So I do solemnly swear."

Danny blinked. Twice. Completely thrown off kilter. It sounded like the Fright Knight, one of the most powerful and feared ghosts in the Ghost Zone had just sworn allegiance to him. Danny gulped, unsure of what to say, what was supposed to come next. "Arise, Fright Knight." He said unable to say much more and weary on his feet from both the fight and his own sickness. "Thank you."

And that was all that he could say; his voice vanishing in the surreality of the entire situation. Fright stood up, and Danny got the distinct impression that the knight was smiling from beneath his helmed. The knight once more held out his hand, and this time Danny grasped it in a brother's grip, fastening his hand around the ghost's gauntleted wrist, somehow knowing that this was expected. He felt a brief fluttering against his core, a sense of finality, and the strange formation of a new bond before the knight stepped back.

"I shall bid you farewell for now, ghostling." The knight commented, nodding significantly towards him. "Know now that you need only call, and I shall heed your word." His fiery cloak flared, wrapping briefly around the black-armoured ghost before he vanished in a cloud of bats. Danny took a step backwards, nearly crashing into Clark who appeared right behind him. His cousin clasped a supportive hand around his shoulder, helping Danny stay on his feet.

"What just happened?" Chloe demanded, coming to stand in front of the both of them, her green eyes rounded in dazed confusion.

"I think the Fright Knight just swore his loyalty to me." Danny breathed, staring at the spot Fright had occupied bare moments before. His head was throbbing as a pounding headache made itself known. Any strength he had garnered from the fight was escaping him, and he found himself leaning more and more heavily against his cousin for support.

"He nearly killed you." Chloe rebuked.

"Can't kill what's already dead, Chloe." Danny replied wearily. "Besides, the Soul Shredder only forces you to face your greatest fears."

Chloe frowned as the three started making their way through the forest, Danny mostly relying on Clark for direction. Silence built between the three of them, but it was Clark who broke the silence as he helped Danny over an eroded tree root. "So what is your greatest fear?" The elder dark-haired young man asked; his voice subdued and cautious.

'Myself' he wanted to say, but something held him back. "Power." He replied quietly instead, vocalising the simplest part of his fear. "How it's used, and what happens if it's abused." He gulped, his eyes lost in memory. Because it wasn't just Dan Phantom that he'd faced in that nightmare reality, it was himself, what he could become if he let himself fall. And that was without Vlad's intervention. Dan Phantom was no longer a possibility for him, not now that Plasmius didn't exist. But the boy in the mirror... that was him; or at least some facet of him that would be all too easy for him to fall into. "What happens if I abuse my power." Danny murmured, not sure if he was talking to his friends or himself.

Danny's eyes closed harshly as he tried to steady himself. He pulled himself out of his cousin's arms, stepping away from the Kryptonian. "I need to see Cl... my guardian." Danny commented dazedly, pulling away from the two and leaning heavily against a tree as he struggled to stay standing. He knew he wasn't thinking properly, that he was both battered and sick, but his head was pounding painfully. And through the pained fog all he could think of was Clockwork.

"Danny, no." Chloe urged, clasping her hands around his arm and sending a fresh wave of pain running through his tired muscles. "You can barely stand."

But Danny wasn't paying attention as he subconsciously pushed himself into intangibility, acting more on base instinct than rational thought. With the last vestiges of his ghost energy he forced himself to summon a portal, falling through the pool of swirling green and into the expanse of green that marked the Ghost Zone. But that had taken the last vestiges of energy, and with a strange sense of homecoming he welcomed the darkness and knew no more.

Line Break

Soft ticking echoed all around him, pulling him from the darkness. Phantom's eyes fluttered open and he breathed a sigh of relief. He felt rested, restored. And an ache in his core that he hadn't even been aware of was finally soothed. He smiled, his white cloak shifting gently, the soft material falling off his shoulders as he sat up. He smiled, noting that he was on the purple Victorian sofa of Clockwork's library. The gentle clock ticking that had awoken him up dimmed pleasantly into the background.

"Young Phantom." Phantom smiled as Clockwork's grandfatherly voice echoed through the room. "I am glad to see you are well."

"Thank you Clockwork." Phantom replied, managing to stand up.

The purple-cloaked ghost frowned, shifting to his elder form. "You need to be more careful with yourself, Danny. You almost strained your core to exhaustion."

Phantom blinked, the events of the last few days running quickly through his mind. "I needed to speak with you." He replied.

"I know." Clockwork acknowledged. "And I also know that nothing would have stopped you coming to visit. However, I cannot always be there to save you, Phantom. You know this as well as I."

Phantom nodded mutely. "But I still needed to talk to you."

"And thus your human perseverance overcame any of your ghost caution." Clockwork sighed, gesturing Phantom towards a small coffee table where a plate of cookies and hot chocolate were lain out. "I believe you have something you wanted to give me."

Phantom nodded, digging into his human half gust enough to pull the red Eudialyte out of his pocket. Cautiously he set the gem on the table between them, unsure of what he wanted to say now that he was in his mentor's presence, and in a state of mind to be able to hold decent conversation.

"You were right," Clockwork commented, now in his twenty-year old form as he conversationally plucked a cookie from the plate, "when you said that these gems hold equal power to be utilised towards good and evil."

Phantom sighed, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged in the sofa. "I just... I don't know what to make of these gems." He confessed, feeling once more the fourteen year old being lectured on morality. "They're so powerful, and have been used more for good than how Graham and Simone used them. But at the same time..."

"You feel torn, seeing both the human and ghost sides of using the gems." Clockwork surmised. "On the one hand, it is a horrific abuse of the core of one of your own kind, but on the other it is a form of human magic, designed to improve life for mankind."

"Something like that." Phantom admitted. "But it's more. I see people using them, abusing what they're meant for and I can't help but wonder..."

"Danny," Clockwork consoled, his red eyes arched in sympathy. "If there is one thing that I have taught you, it is that our choices are our own. Every being in our world, every living being in the Real World, must choose their own path. Every being is given power both to create and to destroy in their own way, but the choice of how to use this will always be their own."

Clockwork sighed, looking Phantom significantly in the eyes. "As have you, young Phantom. You have seen the rotten fruits of what could be if you chose the darker side of your powers, and unlike many you have used the gift of a second chance as it was intended. For that I am proud of you, but the choice was always your own to make."

Phantom nodded slowly, uncoiling himself enough to pick up a cookie. He knew this conversation inside and out, but it was a topic that always worried him. He knew that Clockwork had given him a second chance, and he equally knew that he was still free to make his own choices. But it didn't make it any easier to accept the possible consequences. He sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his hands in his face.

"You are worried that you have too much power yourself, aren't you, Phantom?" Clockwork gently urged.

"Of course I am." Phantom retorted, his own inner turmoil making its way into his voice. "I go from barely able to scratch my ghost half to lightning bolts within an hour, the last time the GIW got a read on me I was a level nine, and now suddenly the Fright Knight wants to serve me?!" Phantom shook his head, confusion and anger bubbling to the surface. "It's like the whole world's gone crazy. I mean, Fright Knight was loyal to Dan Phantom, and now... and I've never been able to control lightning. Fighting Fright, I couldn't use anything else, lightning was all I had."

"Calm yourself, Danny." Clockwork comforted, resting a hand on his shoulder and soothing Phantom's growing hysterics. "The Fright Knight is a loyal knight; he seeks those of worthy power to swear his allegiance to. It was always a certainty that he would come to test you, but it was up to you as to whether you would earn his allegiance. That he has done so this way shows more of your own values than as a useful predictor of the future."

Clockwork drifted over towards the bookcase, not truly looking at Phantom as he continued to speak. "As for your intensified electrokinetic powers, they are principally due to your fight with Vortex. His final attack on you infused you with some of his own powers, or rather some of the neutral energy from his core. Had you discovered this affect immediately it could have been nullified, but you were captured by the 'Guys In White'."

The purple cloaked ghost turned back to Phantom, his red eyes sad, filled with remorse. "I am sorry for what you had to endure in their hands, Danny. There are many times I regret being unable to interfere, but few more so than what you suffered there. In order for your core to survive it had to integrate every bit of ectoplasmic energy available. That electrokinetic power is now as much a part of you as your own cyrokinesis."

"But that's impossible." Phantom argued, shaking his head vehemently. "An Ice Core can't take on Electora attributes any more than it can take on any other core type. It doesn't work like that."

Clockwork smiled knowledgably at Phantom, coming to sit opposite him once more. "For most ghosts this is true; a core belongs only to one element so to speak. However, in rare cases the ghost can become too powerful for one single element to sustain them, and in such circumstances an 'Inner Core' develops to stabilise the ghost's energy. This Inner Core is neutral, classifiable as something close to a Norma Core, but on a more powerful level."

Phantom cocked his head in confusion. "So you're saying I have this... 'Inner Core' thing, and that's why I was able to handle energy from Vortex's power?"

Clockwork nodded sagely, shifting into his toddler form. "Yes, young Phantom. That is exactly what I am saying. This system is what allows the high powered ghosts to bend the rules, stretching beyond the natural limitations of their core type and branching out into other avenues."

Phantom creased his eyebrows, fixing Clockwork in the eyes. "You have an Inner Core, don't you?" He pried, curious to know more about his mentor. And the idea of an inner core would be easier to swallow if he knew how it worked for his guardian.

Clockwork nodded, smiling at him. "My core is a Magus core, but it is my Inner Core which allows my mastery of the time stream. Time itself cannot be bound within the confines of one element, touching on all and none. As a Magus Core, I can see the time stream, what was and what could be. However the power held within my Inner Core both bolsters my own natural ability, and allows me direct influence over the time line. It is due to your own inner core that you were able to accept the electrical energy from both Vortex and from Clay Fulgur, some months ago. I expect that given time you will find many of your own powers make sense knowing this.

Phantom nodded slowly. It felt like a lot to take in, and it would probably take him a while to get his head around the concept. But at the same time... he had wondered how it was possible for him to summon portals or use electricity once he found out about his ice core. Simple physics said that electricity couldn't conduct through ice since there were no free ions to carry the current, plus electrokinesis in any form belonged to the Electora Cores. And making portals to anywhere he wanted in the Zone was a power for a Magus Core. Given that, what Clockwork was suggesting did make some sense.

"But I can't just use lightning bolts all the time." Phantom moaned, shaking his head in worry. "That's not my power, Clockwork. I don't want to be like that."

"And you will not." Clockwork consoled. "Much like when your cyrokinetic powers came in, you need to give yourself time to learn control. Your cousin will likely be able to help with this, having learned to control his heat vision on his own. More than that, you should seek audience with either the court in Valhalla's Gates, or with the Raijū of the Chaos Clouds. They are the representatives of Electora Core ghosts, and may be able to help with your instruction."

Phantom sent his mentor a grateful smile, acknowledging that the elder ghost was probably pushing the limits of his permitted duties by giving him that sort of advice. He stood up, preparing to leave, but paused when he remembered his illness over the last few days. "Um, Clockwork." Phantom asked, once more unsure of himself as he turned to face his mentor. "You wouldn't happen to know..."

"Your illness over the past few days is a normal part of your third year." Clockwork replied evenly. "It is harder on you both because of your human half, and because you live in the Real World. Without a steady source of ectoplasmic energy, your ghost half began attacking your human half for sustenance. You are the first true halfa, Danny, and many of the changes your body must endure are difficult even for a full ghost to bear."

"Thanks." Phantom replied, shaking his head dejectedly. If nothing else his suspicions had been confirmed. He already knew that ghost and human biology weren't meant to mix, but after everything he'd gone through, it was debilitating for something as simple as insufficient ghost energy to bring him down the way it had. Once more he turned to leave, moving out of the library and through the main viewing room.

"Before you leave," Clockwork commented, touching Phantom's arm lightly and making him pause. "Your human eyes will still show the changes your body is going through. I would suggest you recreate your ice contacts while you remain in our world, unless you have decided that now is the time to reveal your true identity."

Phantom laughed, sending his guardian a quick grateful smile. As suggested he summoned two icy contacts, idly noting that that was probably all that Chloe had meant when she referred to his eyes earlier. It was comforting to think that; while he had been worried to see the nauseating mix of blue, green and silver himself, the three were far better than the crimson eyes his mirror self had had in his nightmare.

"Oh, and Danny." Clockwork called out as Phantom opened a portal back to the storm cellar. "Be wary of the ghosts of the past, not all are as they appear."

Phantom blinked, but it was already too late as the portal closed behind him, leaving him alone in the darkened storm cellar as he switched back to human. He frowned, musing over Clockwork's riddle, but he supposed, like most of his guardian's advice, it would make sense in its own time. Shaking his head he sighed, realising that now he was feeling better he would probably owe both Chloe and Clark a big explanation.

Danny cringed, mounting the earthy stairs as he left the cellar. Noting the high position of the stars in the sky, he headed over to the yellow farmhouse. Things were changing, and Danny wasn't sure that he was ready to handle the new responsibilities he was being given. But like everything this week he mentally steeled himself. This was just another test, and he was going to have to face it head on.

AN; Well that was entertaining. I hope Danny's nightmare made sense... but it was fun to write all the same... lots of fun... too much fun.

I haven't watched a Fright Knight episode in forever and a day, so I hope he felt in character. I got him where I needed him to be so I'm happy.

I'd also like to send a huge thanks to Fluehatraya, TheTragicHero and Topaz Skye, whose encouragement and ideational inspiration greatly assisted me in finding the muse for this chapter. Thank you!

Thanks for reading,

Bluerose