Seeing is disBelieving

by pearl84

Cowritten with Truephan. Rated T. Before PP. Ghost OCs. Caught in the crossfire between Time and Existence, Danny and Vlad are forced to face the Master of Time, the Defenders of Existence, a new Enforcer, and, ultimately, extinction. Full summary inside

24. Ch24: Escape is More Than an Illusion

A/N: truephan here: *Man, I am very dizzy! What happened?*

*You got in the way of me and pearl's Vlad muse when we were hashing out this chapter, dearie! You're lucky to be alive!*

*Gasps* If that's what happened, then you're right! But are you sure I'm not dead?*

*Well, dearie, I can't vouch for your jokes on this one, but even though you're a bit roughed up, I think you'll survive enough to at least make it to the bottom of this chapter for more comments!*

*Oh, really? Gee, thanks, Ms. Hyde…uh, I think!*…..

Oh, hi there, dear readers? You here? Well, first of all, before I forget: Happy Independence Day, America! She's a grand old country….

*Ms. Hyde's eyes narrow* *Are you talking to me, dearie?*

"*No, the country, you know, the USA! Honest! You're not THAT old! *GULP!*

*truephan fends off Ms. Hyde*

*grunting* And before I forget even more stuff, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. *smiles sheepishly while still grunting* It's, uh, well, very long! We just didn't want to break up this important chapter. But, hey, remember how short the last chapter was? Think of that chapter as being that slow steep climb upward to the very topmost part of those crazy roller coasters you love. You know the ones, but especially the ones that have a teensy-weensy, itty-bitty little turn at the topmost arc until you're suddenly plummeting straight down at a billion miles of minute. Well that little tiny turn on top was Chapter 23. But the rest of that wild, crazy ride? Well, that would bethis chapter! Enjoy!

*still grunting!*

Pearl: *Straps on belt* YAY! I LOVE roller-coasters! Vlad muse on the other hand…. Heh-heh. Oh, well it's his and Ms. Hyde's fault that this is as wild as it gets! Lol! Yeah, I'm already hyped up from the editing and craziness our muses put us through; so might as well take off! Warning, though, for all you readers. BIG drop ahead. Take a deep breath!

See you all at the end of the ride… *winks*

Disclaimer: We do not own Danny Phantom. But the OCs belong to us! Indeed so!

---

Chapter 24: Escape is More Than an Illusion

---

Holding their Observant weapons securely in their hands, Skulker and the three teens prepared to leave Iluzisto's quarters. They had had that close call with Iluzisto's almost discovering them; but as a result, they had discovered the evils spirit's Observant weapons in his hidden closet. They were now more than ready to continue…

Jazz had made sure that the closet looked as if it had been undisturbed—at least from the outside; and Tucker had no longer wanted to insist that they take those three 'Real World items' with them. They weren't important right now. He could always tell his friends about them at another time.

But just before Sam could open the door at the entrance of the Prison Head's room, Skulker placed his hand on hers, halting the girl in her task.

Sam looked up at the cyborg ghost, frowning with both irritation and confusion.

But Skulker quickly answered that look with his own scowl before saying, "We must wait a moment!"

"The coast is clear. What's the problem?" Sam asked impatiently.

The hunter narrowed his eye a bit as he answered, "I will be the one to decide if it is safe to proceed. Remember we are solely relying onmy hunter instincts."

"Yeah," Tucker added with a slight moan. "All my techno stuff is completely useless here now!"

Skulker frowned over at the human boy before he sighed and bitterly added, "Your male friend speaks the truth. And… I hate to admit it, but even my upgraded suit is no longer responding. I fear timeless magic is at work again. Somehow, it disrupts all technology."

"Fine, then," Sam replied, rolling her eyes a bit. "Lead the way, O mighty hunter."

Skulker scowled again at her sarcastic tone of voice. But he then pulled his eyes from her. He didn't want to be responsible for what he might do if she continued to challenge him. Instead, he focused his attention on their mission and carefully creaked opened Iluzisto's room door again, sniffing the air.

"There are lots of obstacles in the way between them and us. It may be difficult," the hunter muttered mostly to himself.

But Sam heard him and tightened her grip around the Observant weapon even more and quickly said with resolve, "Who cares one way or the other what's in our way? Let's get going!"

One of Skulker's eyebrows rose in admiration—but not surprise this time—at the girl's words. This female whelp was very impressive indeed. He could smell her determination. And the look on her face instantly told him that nothing would keep her from succeeding in their objective.

Still looking right into the cyborg's eyes, and raising up the weapon in her hand, Sam continued, "You said that these weapons are powerful enough to fight the Observants. Well, that's what we'll have to do if it comes to it! And among the four of us, we might just have enough combined power to rescue Danny—and Vlad—and still be able to fend off those other spirits!"

Skulker smirked in approval and smugly said, "I definitely like how you think! And I believe that you may be right!"

Even as Sam's face fell a bit at the cyborg ghost's compliment, Jazz immediately added, "I agree with Sam! But let's not try to invite guards' greeting us if we can totally avoid them, okay? I vote to remain in as much stealth as possible, until the last possible moment."

Skulker smirked again, "I like how you think, too! Pure hunter instinct!"

Jazz smiled weakly, but Skulker turned away from her and looked at Tucker, who merely nervously nodded in approval with everyone.

"Okay, then, that's our new plan," Skulker finally said. "The hunt is still on!"

And seeing and smelling nothing of immediate threat, he gestured quietly to the kids and they followed him out.

The Ghost Hunter and three teens reflexively and nervously scanned all around them, but Skulker kept smelling the air, scanning for any whiffs of new trouble brewing ahead...

And once again, the cyborg ghost led the way out toward the far door they had first spied in this hallway. That metallic door was now to their left and down the hallway. Without a word, they moved as silently as they had before, keeping their senses on high alert.

Once they reached that door, Skulker quietly placed his hand on the knob and tried to open the door. But it was locked!

Skulker immediately stopped and quietly grumbled to his companions, "This does not bode well for our stealth plans!"

"Then, we are going to have to make it up as we go," Sam replied, quickly stepping forward before turning to Jazz.

"Can I please borrow that?" she asked the red-head, pointing to her head.

"Uh, sure," Jazz said with a bit of hesitance, though Sam didn't grab her headband as she thought she would.

It took less than quarter of a minute before Sam lowered the twisted bobby pin, wiggled it deftly into the lock, grasped the handle, and pulled the door just slightly ajar.

Skulker was floored.

And seeing his expression, Tucker smugly replied, "What? You don't think this is the first place we've broken into, do you? Sam's a whiz at safecracking!"

Skulker finally smirked softly, clearly impressed. He turned to the raven-haired girl and quipped, "Hmmm. If the Ghost Boy was not already my favorite prey, I'd hunt you."

The boy's eyes widened before he chuckled nervously and pulled Sam back away from the ghost "Yeah, uh, moving on!"

Skulker just watched evilly after the kids before grabbing the knob and slowly opening the door wider.

But then, the loud creaking sound it made sent dreadful chills up and down the three teens' spines. Had they been discovered?

All four looked at each other, instantly knowing that it didn't matter if they had been discovered. It was now or never!

Skulker didn't hesitate; and using his suit's claws which luckily could be operated manually, he grabbed onto the kids and turned them all invisible as they quickly went through the metallic door.

Skulker instantly smelled the hybrids scent even stronger in this new place. And their eyes confirmed to them that they had indeed found the entrance to the prison.

They waited for a moment to see if the loud noise the door had made had attracted any unwanted attention. Luckily, everything was as quiet as before.

Even so, as the kids and the hunter began to move forward through the prisons corridors, they soon began to randomly run into guards floating by. And they would tense every time. In fact, Team Phantom would hitch their breath, fearing they would be heard and discovered in spite of the invisibility cloaking them.

But Skulker was nervous, too; though he didn't show it. He could feel it getting harder and harder to hold his invisibility in this prison… He suspected once again that timeless magic was somehow involved in this, and maybe it was stronger in this part of the Observant's compound because this was a prison. That would make some sense. After all, he actually used his suit to enhance his powers and he wasn't able to access his suit's technology at this point. Also, because this was a prison, perhaps the Observants would have to use whatever means to keep their prisoners unable to use their powers well and keep them under control. But he decided not to comment about it, since he was still managing to control his powers…

Finally, after several nerve-wrenching minutes, they made it to another door without incident. However, as they went through the door and entered the new hallway, still following Skulker's lead, they saw it was lined with prison cells; but these cells were all solid metal doors, except for a small barred window at the top center of them.

Sniffing out the air around them, Skulker suddenly uttered, "This is not good news!"

"Please don't say that!" Tucker whined, having some difficulty controlling the tone and volume of his voice. However, he still managed to keep his voice down.

The Ghost Hunter ignored the boy and continued, "I can smell Plasmius and the whelp's scent coming from that direction," he said, pointing towards another regular door at the end of this cell hall they were in. "But I can smell that at least one of them is very weak; but since both of their energy signatures are not at full strength and there are other signatures interfering with my estimate, I cannot be certain of which one is the weaker."

"Oh, man! That is soo not good!" Tucker added, his face frowning with obvious anxiety as he looked to Jazz, who also frowned with concern.

Sam bit her lower lip in worry. She sure hoped that Danny was not the one in worst shape. Still, she set her jaw in determination and said, "Then, all the more reason for us to keep moving!"

"Yeah," Tucker agreed. "But, um… Skulker, I think you should make us invisible again; you know, to avoid being seen."

"What are you talking about, pup? We are—" But Skulker instantly stopped talking when he realized the boy was right. He had lost invisibility!

Skulker frowned before concentrating and attempted to turn them all invisible again.

"Is… something wrong?" Jazz asked hesitantly.

"Of course not!" Skulker whispered harshly, just barely remembering to keep his voice down. Even if there were no guards around this area currently, didn't mean they couldn't show up at any second.

But then the hunter backtracked and said, "Well, yes, I…" He sighed in frustration. He really hated to admit the truth, but now he couldn't ignore it or hide it…

"You know how my suit is not responding because of the affects this timeless realm has on technology?" Skulker muttered reluctantly.

The kids nodded.

"Well, because of my….unique body. My ghost powers begin to… wane without the energy boast from my suit…"

Team Phantom's eyes widened in alarm.

"But no matter!" Skulker said quickly with renewed vigor. "The hunt is still on! We will just have to be more cautious as we travel the rest of the way. And as you said, whelp," he continued, pointing at Sam. "We have the Observant weapons. We will fight our way through if we must!"

"Finally, we agree!" Sam said with a renewed smirk.

They moved forward. But as soon as they were on the other side of the doorway, and after the door had closed on its own, they saw they were yet at another prison hall with solid cell doors. But then, the foursome froze. They heard loud talking echoing down this new hallway which, fortunately, must have masked the noise of the closing door through which they just past. They could only hear snippets of words since the hall full of doors eerily distorted the sound. They weren't even sure how many entities were involved in the apparent conversation. They could clearly tell, however, that some of the words they heard were spoken in anger.

All of the sudden, they heard what sounded like an ectoplasmic blast! And then another!

Tucker unconsciously and excitedly blurted out what was on their minds, "Those sounded a lot like an ectoplasmic blast! Maybe that's Danny!"

Sam instinctively darted forward when she heard what Tucker had said.

"Wait!" her companions yelled, charging right after her.

Skulker caught up with her in a heartbeat and quickly captured her with one arm, before wrapping his other hand around the girl's mouth to gag her objecting cry and expected resistance. He held firm, stopping both of their movements right outside a door to their right.

He hurriedly whispered into her ear, "I understand the slight error in judgment. But it is not something I would have expected from such a resourceful human as you! That is not the Ghost Boy. My sense of smell tells me he and my employer are not even in this cell hall. So, calm yourself. What we hear up ahead is very likely more foes."

Just then, Jazz and Tucker came up to their side, tensing at Skulker's action. But, really, knowing Sam, they knew that the cyborg ghost had no choice but to do that. So, they said nothing and waited.

As soon as Sam had heard the Ghost Hunter's comment, she stopped struggling and firmly nodded her head in agreement with him.

And as soon as he released her, the foursome heard more sudden voices. But this time, since they were a lot nearer, they clearly could make out what they were saying.

"My rank is higher than yours! So, I say it's your turn to keep watch of this sector!"

"I already took watch earlier today! Why don't you do it?"

The kids and Skulker looked at each other, now sure they were indeed foes. The arguing ghosts were guards….

"How dare you! I will teach you your place!"

There was another ecto-blast; but this time, a third voice entered the argument.

"Desist at once! If the Master Prison Head finds you two squabbling, your punishment will be severe!"

"You are right!" the first voice, supposedly the higher ranking guard said angrily. "I shall seek out the Master Prison Head this instant and tell him of this worm's disrespect and refusal to fulfill his duties!"

"Not if I tell him first of your disrespect and disregard for your duties!" the other challenged.

And then the teens and ghost saw someone coming at them!

Skulker panicked when he reacted instinctively and tried to turn invisible or intangible and confirmed that he could do neither anymore. "Girl, quick! We need a place to hide!" the ghost then hissed quietly to Sam.

Sam instantly turned to the cell door closest to them and pulled out the bobby pin from her pocket before inserting it into the locked keyhole.

Skulker barely waited for the soft click before he yanked the kids with him into the open door and closed it behind them. He didn't care to know how the guards' squabbling ended.

But, unfortunately, when they turned around, they wished they hadn't been forced to escape in here.

They were now face-to-face with a four-headed creature, something even Skulker had never encountered before!

---

"Foolish abomination!" Okulo thought angrily as he hurried to Iluzisto to report Danny's attack on him. All the young crossbreed did was ignite the beginning of the end! And that meant that now was the time for his plans to come to a head, starting with that young crossbreed's getting it more than good from the Prison Head!

Still upset, Okulo rushed through the shortcut to where he knew Iluzisto would be. It wasn't the far door to this part of the prison, the one he had first used to come to see the crossbreeds. Instead, he had taken the first door that presented itself to his left. He could not wait to see that defiant and disrespectful crossbreed wither up right in front of him!

Moments later, Okulo finally caught up with the Prison Head. Iluzisto, who had his back to the Prison Liaison, was alone and just leaving the High Tribunal Chamber which was in another building quite a bit of distance from the trial room and prison.

"Master Prison Head!" Okulo called out, only to be interrupted by the illusionist spirit.

"What are you doing here?" Iluzisto hissed, his reddened eye now pulling itself out of the back of his neck and glaring at whom he thought was one of his guards. But then, when he saw who it was, he quickly got a hold of himself.

But Okulo was still too upset to realize that Iluzisto had just insulted and reprimanded him. Instead, he hurriedly blurted out, "The prisoners! They attacked me!"

Iluzisto's eye widened, but he still growled, "The prisoners? Which ones? And what do you mean that they attacked you?"

"The crossbreeds did! And just look at what the younger one did to me!"

Okulo immediately showed the Prison Head the fairly large, charred hole in his gown and his still smarting singed head.

But Iluzisto didn't care about the Liaison's injuries. He muttered, really to himself, "The younger crossbreed? But I thought he was totally incapacitated! And since when can he use his powers?"

He grunted in irritation as he further thought, "Looks like I underestimated that youngling yet again! He must have recovered somehow! But has he gained his full powers? Curses! I have let myself be tricked again. But it will be the last time!"

Suddenly, he grabbed Okulo by his shoulders at his next thought. Iluzisto jerked the younger Observant around, moving him roughly in order to inspect the damage caused by the younger crossbreed.

The Liaison to the Prison gasped at the rough handling, but was still so upset he didn't resist the Prison Head.

Iluzisto still couldn't believe it, and when he had finished with his inspection, he then uttered out loud, "How can he do this unless he has totally recovered?"

"The younger prisoner has indeed fully recovered," Okulo answered him, "My orb has confirmed it!"

Suddenly Iluzisto's eye glazed over in deeper thought as he let his mind whirl about Danny. "But then, how could he do all this damage to this fool unless he could somehow overcome the neck restraint? Maybe that means he's not only at full strength, but like the older crossbreed had done before, his powers must somehow be able to overcome the effects of the neck restraint. That is actually very good news. If they are strong enough to expand their energies for defense, then they must be ready for my taking! Yes, it is time that I fully absorb his and the older crossbreed's energies! My plan will be pushed up ahead of schedule, then! That is also good! My patience has finally come to its fruition!"

His eye finally focused back to Okulo. And then unconsciously, yet tightly wrapping his angry hand around his black weapon, Iluzisto angrily asked, "But they did not escape?"

Still rattled by the incident, Okulo answered with a slightly trembling voice, "N-No, n-no, Master Prison Head! I still think that they are in their cells!"

Iluzisto composed himself a little, finally realizing that he had just spooked the Liaison and he could not afford to do so. "Forgive me, Master Liaison. I am just upset that the prisoners were so forceful on you. I should not have been so laxed in my duties, even when they include seeing the High Tribune like I did just now."

Okulo shirked back a bit; but then he suddenly remembered what the young crossbreed said to him….

If you really are the supposed 'mastermind', then, what's in it for you? Or, are you just kidding yourself, and the truth is that you're just being tricked by Iluzisto?"

Okulo instantly narrowed his eye in displeasure, quickly composing himself when he thought about where Iluzisto stood compared to him. He raised his orb menacingly at Iluzisto, who took a step back in surprise. "That is no excuse, Iluzisto! Do not ever again talk or touch me as you have! Or, I will remind you of your place!I control your core and therefore you answer to me!"

Iluzisto cringed when he felt his core burn with the glowing orb in Okulo's hand; but thinking quickly, the Prison Head, slightly lowered his head as he replied, "You are right, Master Liaison. I was only greatly upset with your news!" Iluzisto seethed for effect, "How darethose crossbreeds attack an Official of the High Tribune! Let us not waste any more precious time, Master Liaison. Let me have the honor of avenging your defilement! It is time that we show these rightfully caged crossbreeds once and for all which is the superior race!"

Okulo's eye widened, but with pleasure this time and he quickly lowered his orb. "You are quite right, Master Prison Head. And I command you to make sure that the prisoners pay for their insolence!" Okulo added, now fully calmed by the illusionist spirit's flattery yet again. Still, it was quite pleasing to the spirit that Iluzisto had finally noticed how important he was. It was about time. Besides, he wanted to be there to see that brazen younger crossbreed pay.

"But I wish to accompany you when you fulfill your duty to me," Okulo began, his voice more staid, only to be interrupted by the Prison Head.

"Forgive my intrusion once more, Master Liaison," Iluzisto said, choosing his words carefully. "But I would not be fulfilling my duty having you witness such a scene that will undoubtedly happen. However, I will be sure to save the younger crossbreed from final extinction until you can witness his execution, not as the Prison Liaison, but as the new High Tribunal!"

Okulo's eye widened even more with his surprise and pleasure. Iluzisto was clearly even more eager to do his bidding! But before he could comment, Iluzisto spoke again.

"And do you not think that you should return to the High Council's room, not only to be ready to take the authority, but also as to keep the High Tribune and his petty cohorts unawares of anything improper? After all, it would be prudent to keep the daily routine as ordered as possible until we are ready, do you not think?"

Okulo quickly nodded and said, "Wise observation, Iluzisto. You do well by yourself in securing my position!" But he then paused and added, "But I want the crossbreeds, especially the youngest, punished immediately!"

Iluzisto's eye almost curved evilly with how easily Okulo was eating everything right up. But instead, he narrowed his eye a bit and replied to the liaison, "I will see to it myself that the crossbreeds are secured from escaping. But, of course, I must do it in stealth until we are ready! Then, when the time is proper, we will punish that younger freak for his disrespect against you, Master Liaison!"

"Yes! I want to be present when those abominations finally get what they deserve!" Okulo said darkly. But then he nodded to Iluzisto and added, "Very Good. Do as you have said."

Iluzisto's eye conveyed a sense of full compliance in it toward Okulo before the Prison Liaison scurried off to his own duties.

But as he watched the other Observant go, Iluzisto's eye danced a bit, pleased with himself for having so easily tricked that one. Even still, his eye narrowed at his next thought. It was time to pay the crossbreeds that final visit and get from them that last amount of energy he needed to set the next part of his scheme in motion. Yes, victory would be sweet; and revenge sweeter…

With that thought in his head, Iluzisto hurried off towards the prison. He usually preferred to take back a shortcut of which he only knew to get to the crossbreeds, but he needed to first speak to a few of his more loyal guards about those 'next sets of plans' he had in mind. So, the Prison Head used the usual prison entrance.

He didn't have to venture far when he spotted one of his higher ranking officers.

"Trupo," he called to his subordinate.

"Master Prison Head," the guard answered back respectfully.

"I have an order for you. I would like you to gather all the officers of this prison and have them meet me at the Round Hall. I have further orders of great importance for all of you," Iluzisto commanded.

The officer bowed his head in understanding. "I will complete your orders, Master Prison Head.".

"Now," Iluzisto began with a more elated voice as he turned his mind to getting to the crossbreeds. But whatever else he was going to tell his guard was interrupted by a third voice.

"Master Prison Head."

Iluzisto's eye narrowed with the familiar and mocking voice. He turned to face it and confirmed that it was indeed one of the Observants'guards. But not just any guard. The one who dared mock him on his way to the crossbreed's trial just some days back!

"Antovid….," Iluzisto growled in distaste.

The Observant guard somehow managed to convey a smirk with his eye before saying in a smug voice, "I bear a message from your superior: the High Tribune Justeco. He wishes for your immediate presence."

"Again?" Iluzisto hissed.

"Again," Antovid answered with a teasing chuckle. He glanced at Iluzisto's wrist bands, chuckled mockingly again before turning his back on the Prison Head without another word and leaving the prison—or, as he thought of it, this scum-infested cave.

Iluzisto's eye turned red and his hand began to cackle with his energy as the Observant guard retreated. But instantly realizing his error and knowing he could be caught, he calmed down and his energy seeped back inside.

"Yes… revenge will be sweeter," Iluzisto thought darkly. But suddenly remembering his officer was still present, he turned his attention back to him. He instantly saw Trupo was staring back with a fearful expression, clearly having seen the energy in his hands.

However, Iluzisto knew his guards were loyal to him. So, he ignored the incident and turned to that more pressing matter still in his mind.

"Trupo. I want you to check on Prisoners 484 and 485. I was informed of a disturbance with them. Take a few guards with you. I want them restrained and strung up when I return, which I hope will be shortly."

"Yes, Master Prison Head," the officer replied before finally leaving to do as his leader wanted.

Iluzisto, too, took his leave. But as he floated back into the High Tribune's chambers, underneath, the illusionist spirit was seething at having to wait.

He was sick of that fool!

Still, with no other choice but to delay his plans with the crossbreeds yet again, he soon arrived at the Observant leader's private office.

Iluzisto pushed back his anger and put on a calm look before entering.

And seeing the Prison Head, Justeco quickly addressed him, "Iluzisto, there you are. What delayed you? Well, no matter. I need one more moment of your time, if you please."

Not wanting the High Council to learn of this development with the crossbreeds and thereby grow suspicious, Iluzisto replied, "At your service, Honorable Tribune."

---

Danny, having realized that he had put his foot way in it after attacking Okulo and revealing his ability to access part of his powers, had already returned to Vlad's side, insisting that they had to escape. Trying to get a hold of himself, Danny then said, "Okay. We gotta get these collars off so we can get out of here! I definitely don't want to hang around and find out what I know Iluzisto will think about all this!"

But then Danny jolted when he saw that the older hybrid was still in his human form. He hesitantly asked, "Uh, do you think you're gonna be able to do this, Vlad?"

"I'm not sure how much I can do at this point, Daniel, but I'll try to," Vlad replied with a slight groan. But then sighing, he slightly gestured for the boy to come closer and weakly said, "Come. Help me up."

Danny was shocked at the older hybrid's request, especially now when he noticed just how paler the man's face was. But he silently complied just the same and helped the man up.

Once Danny was sure that Vlad could sit without losing his balance, he sat next to him.

Without another word, Vlad turned into Plasmius, hitching in the sharp pain that had struck at him with his transformation.

Danny bit his lower lip when he noticed just how dull Plasmius' ghostly aura was, and that it was flickering a lot. But at least, this time, the man was able to hold his ghost form.

Still, they said nothing as the older hybrid reached for Danny's collar and Danny hurriedly grabbed it as well.

"Okay, ready?" Danny asked with concern.

But this time, Vlad merely nodded.

Danny bit his inner lip again in worry at the older hybrid's lukewarm response, but concentrated nevertheless. His hands lit up right away. But as the seconds past, the boy could easily see that the older hybrid was barely putting out any energy. And his aura was beginning to flicker even more.

Then a moment later, Plasmius' oddly blue energy prematurely faded until it totally snuffed out completely, and he groaned at the effort as he unwittingly turned back to being human.

"Okay. Okay, we'll just think of something else, that's all!" Danny insisted, now fretful on what this would mean, especially since this last effort also drained him more…. And there was just the slightest throbbing in his core now…

But Vlad looked up at him, his eyes no longer able to hide the weakness reflected within. "I'm… sorry, Daniel. But now I'm sure I cannot help you anymore. It seems that the 'we' has become a 'you' again."

Danny didn't like what he was saying and protested, "C'mon, cheesehead, it's not over until…"

Vlad suddenly glared, stunning the teen into silence, especially when the man just as unexpectedly hissed, "Is your head that hard, boy? I'm done, do you not understand? It's time for you to face the facts and look to yourself now! Think ofyourself for once in your blasted existence!"

Danny quickly stood from the man's side and weakly glared, feeling insulted, but also hurt with the older hybrid's harsh words.

"Why? Because that's what you would do, Plasmius?" Danny snapped bitterly.

"Oh, please, boy," Vlad answered in disgust, gripping at his chest as his anger heightened his pain. "Don't you start patronizing me with any of your pathetic heroic blather about our 'being in this together', because we never have been! We've only been 'working together' because it benefited the both of us—not because you or I care about the other. So, save your breath and maybe that'll be enough oxygen to get you to use that dormant brain of yours!"

Danny gritted his teeth in spite of his seeing through the man's ruse. And, darn it, if the man wasn't right again! He wasn't going to waste his breath arguing with Vlad! But he also wasn't going to give the man the pleasure of being left behind, either.

Without another word, he left the older hybrid's side and moved to his cell door. He didn't see Vlad look away with a troubled and saddened expression on his defeated face.

However, as the boy stared worriedly through the bars at the dim hallway, he suddenly got a desperate idea. There was only one thing he could think of that might work—if it even could, that is…

He had not tried to use his Ghostly Wail yet…. But he knew that if somehow it was possible for him to use it, he would not only weaken even more than he was when he used both his ice and ectoplasmic powers together, but he would end up like Vlad. And then he and Vlad would definitely both be sitting ducks!

But he had to try! They needed to be able to at least get out of this cell to have a remote chance of escape! And even if it meant losing the remaining energy and strength his core had left, he had to give himself and Vlad that last chance!

He was about to muster his energy, when he heard a loud ruckus just down the hallway!

He gulped.

Someone—NO, lots of someones were coming—again!

---

Team Phantom and Skulker's jaws briefly fell open at the sight of the monster before them. Its massive, and tailless, orange-green scaly body blocked the light emanating from a small blue torch just behind it, eerily casting a dark, ominous shadow upon the four intruders. As if that wasn't intimidating enough, each of its undulating imbedded and different-colored heads squared themselves in front of each of its foes, hissing threateningly at them. Each of the necks of those heads strained at their shared, thick trunk, and tried to counter the large, blue collars restraining their powers.

The teens and the Ghost Hunter tensed, their mouths finally closing, when they could see that all sets of the creature's eyes were of the same color, glowing with their greenish-orange hue—and all of them keeping their angry glare locked onto the humans and the cyborg.

The foursome reflexively backed away from the creature when its black head neared them, moving until their backs hit against the solid door. But what they didn't know and couldn't see was the creature, in spite of its threat, was chained to the wall and hadn't attempted to move its body or its four clawed legs toward them. And what they also didn't know was that this was the very same creature named Kvargvid to whom Clockwork had spoken a couple of days ago and Iluzisto enjoyed torturing…

Still, the ebony head hissed, "Has he now sent you to torment me?"

Before any of the four intruders could even attempt an answer, the slate-colored head silently motioned to the bile-colored one, which immediately breathed fire of the same hue down upon them. But, because of the restraining collar at its neck, the flames would not have reached their intended victim anyhow.

But the four intruders didn't know that.

Nevertheless, the three humans yelled and scrambled out of the way.

Skulker, however, held his ground and fired from his Observant weapon. The purple beam quickly countered the green flames, but did not snuff them out.

Still firing, the Ghost Hunter reached for a switch that he was saving just for emergencies. And this certainly qualified as one! He activated a mechanical override separate from the technology, which allowed him limited access to some of his weapons. He fired an ice ray at the short-range flame, effectively snuffing it out with the weapon he had produced from his suit.

Once more, the green head threw more flames at his attacker.

This time, Skulker did notice that the flames were falling a bit short of their target. So, he jumped closer to his foe before shooting another ice ray.

The ray engulfed the bile-color head and it coughed at the slightly bluish-green mist, which was all that remained of the green fire.

But in the next instant, the ebony head smacked into the blue one, smearing its yellowish-grey ooze on it, which was quickly absorbed within the blue head and subsequently gave it a burst of energy. The sapphire-colored head needed no other goading to attack, and then countered with its own ice ray.

And since Skulker was even nearer to it and was not expecting this development at all, it effectively froze the cyborg ghost, taking him out of the foray.

In the meantime, the three teens were making their own attempts at repelling the creature. But in reality, they really hadn't had the chance yet because the black and red heads had been keeping them scrambling from either being rammed or attacked.

Unfortunately, Jazz had dropped her weapon in that commotion; and the creature's black head immediately saw that. He quickly pressed one of his front feet down upon it and dragged it under its body, before crushing it to pieces under one of its heavy back feet and now leaving the older teen defenseless.

In the meantime, just as the blue head had frozen Skulker, Sam had been able to get nearer to help the Ghost Hunter. She instinctively aimed and shot that blue head with her Observant weapon, even if it were too late to keep the cyborg ghost from being frozen.

The blue head screamed in pain, and its cry was quickly joined by a similar panged scream from the black head. A moment later, the blue head dropped to the ground, knocked senseless by the ray.

The three remaining heads shrieked, enraged with the injury of their brother. Their undulating movement increased ten-fold and their eyes flared with an intensity to mirror their ire.

The three teens gasped at the creature's reaction and the fact that they, too, had lost one of their own companions. And now they had another anxious thought. They didn't know which would be worse at the moment: to be eaten by this thing, or to have a bazillion guards barging in with their own weapons, alerted by all this commotion.

Nevertheless, Sam and Tucker didn't hesitate to fire back at the three remaining heads, while Jazz kept close to Sam. But since the heads weren't slowing their movements at the moment, all the rays went wild and completely missed their targets.

The onyx-colored head unconsciously smirked at how easily he and his brothers confused their foes. He motioned to the emerald and scarlet heads and they increased their winding, zigzag movements, searching for an opening in which to attack these small pests. And with its wild undulating movements, the beast's now aggressive dance was not unlike the Hindu god Shiva, whose multiple arms rising and falling in his dance for steering the destruction of the universe.

And then, the black head saw his chance. He quickly brushed against his red and green brothers, smearing them once more with that energy-producing yellowish-grey substance while keeping his eyes set on the still armed Tucker and Sam.

In the next moment, the red head reacted and opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp, jagged, and blood-red teeth. Tucker gasped when several of those teeth suddenly pulled themselves from the jaw in which they had been not even a second later and thrust themselves at him.

Once a few teeth were thrown at the boy, the creature instantly twisted its scarlet head at the females and flung even more teeth at them.

All three teens yelped and spread out as they scrambled once more to get out of the path of the daggers.

All three were successful in avoiding getting impaled; but with his frantic moves, Tucker stumbled and fell and his weapon was thrown out of his hand. Jazz immediately ran to his side. She helped him up and grabbed the weapon just moments before the green, fireless head attempted to smash them.

It was then that Sam saw her chance and aimed her weapon at the red head, which had shot another set of teeth at her. A purple beam poured out of her Observant weapon which immediately vaporized the daggers.

But just as the green—and now black—heads attempted to strike Tucker and Jazz again, the red one shot more teeth at Sam.

The girl shot at them again, but her attempt went wild and she had to leap quickly out of the way of the red spikes. But this time, she pulled herself around a full 180 degrees and effectively zapped her scarlet foe. But her strike had only grazed it and it shrieked at the pain.

"Leave us be!" the ebony head loudly demanded, but he, too, was in obvious pain from the girl's attack. But he also sounded panicked, which he was.

And in his panic, he pushed against the green head while the red one shot more of its teeth at Sam, and then at Tucker and Jazz.

The three teens again had to move away. But that was enough of a distraction for the ebony-colored head to strike at Sam. This time, it made contact and whacked the young teen into the nearby wall. The girl groaned as her body fell to the ground, made senseless by his attack.

"Sam!" Jazz screeched as the scarlet head shot more of its daggers at the fallen girl.

However, Sam was spared from further harm when a large purple beam intersected with the path of the creature's teeth, instantly destroying them. That beam, fortunately, had come from Tucker. He immediately followed up with another beam, which this time, squarely hit his scarlet foe. It fell to the ground next to its still incapacitated blue brother, while the ebony head shrieked in pain. But then, Tucker's eyes widened when he suddenly noticed something important.

In the meantime, steam was rising from the green head's nose and mouth. Its orange-green eyes flared as its fire power returned. And now, the two remaining heads concentrated their efforts. The black one pushed against the bile-colored head, goading it in its attack. It didn't hesitate to throw its flames at Tucker; and this time, it hit the boy's weapon, engulfing it in fire.

Yelping in both fear and pain, Tucker dropped the weapon and darted away before another beam of fire could reach him.

Jazz, meanwhile, had scrambled to Sam's side. She quickly grabbed the unconscious girl's weapon and aimed at the flame-throwing head. But she was so upset and worried about Sam that her shot went wild. Yet her effort didn't matter for the green head had moved out of the way even as the beam completely missed him.

The ebony head immediately took advantage of the distraction and violently whipped his head toward Jazz with the intention of smashing her as he had Sam. But the older teen saw him and pulled away, dropping to the ground to avoid his strike. The black head missed her, but effectively struck the weapon in the girl's hands, knocking it completely out of them.

Jazz gasped as the weapon flung across the floor, sliding pell-mell along it.

The black head immediately dove for the weapon, but then, he turned to the frantic cry nearest to him. He turned to see what the commotion was about.

Now that his friends were in danger, and in spite of the fact that he was as defenseless as the girls right now, Tucker was now acting in desperation. The teen boy continued to wave madly and shout at the beast, trying to distract him from his friends.

And he was successful.

The creature's ebony head immediately signaled to his green brother, which shrieked with rage. It did not hesitate to throw more of its flames at the boy.

Tucker yelped but was able to avoid the flaming stream. But then, another idea struck him instead and he immediately ran toward Skulker, yelling all the way to the Ghost Hunter, especially when he could see from the corner of his eye that the green head was tracking him. When he was finally in front of the still frozen cyborg ghost, Tucker turned back to the beast and standing his ground this time, yelled, "Over here, you putrid, moldy-colored jerk!"

Jazz gasped in fear at Tucker's actions; but right now, she couldn't do a thing about it. She wasn't about to leave Sam wide open to any more attacks and sat next of her, guarding her with the wrist ray gun she had removed from her unconscious friend. But then, Jazz screamed in horror when those enraged flames shot directly at her male friend!

But, Tucker jumped out of the way at the last second and the fire enveloped Skulker instead! An angry mist instantly erupted around the frozen Ghost Hunter.

Jazz's eyes widened when she suddenly saw the blue and red heads beginning to stir. She gasped in dread.

But then, her eyes turned to Tucker once more. The boy had seen and was now diving right to the Observant's weapon that had been earlier shoved out of Jazz's hands.

The creature's darkest head also spied what the male was doing and immediately signaled the other three heads to attack the boy.

But much to the surprise of the black head, just after Tucker had retrieved the weapon, the boy had charged right at him, instead of any of the other heads, or running away. The remaining ones immediately wailed in confusion. If they attacked the boy now, they would surely hit their ebony brother.

That hesitation by the beast's three colorful heads was what Tucker was hoping for. In fact, he was now certain of his plan as he aimed his weapon right at the ebony head.

"All right! We've got you covered!" Tucker firmly said. "Now, call off your other guard dogs—uh, heads!"

But instead of obeying the teen, the coal-colored head lunged right at him.

Tucker yelled, but before the darkest head could strike, three beams suddenly pierced the air, precisely hitting the red, green and blue ones. Those three shrieked in pain before collapsing to the floor. They lay senseless.

Tucker twisted around to see that it was Skulker who had fired those beams with his Observant weapon, obviously having finally fully recuperated from his unconventional defrosting by the fire power from the green counterpart of the creature.

Meanwhile, the ebony head then also bellowed with the pain of all three of his brothers' blow and fell to the floor in a daze. But he was still conscious.

Tucker ran up to him and still aiming the weapon at him, smugly asked, "Had enough?"

Now the creature cried, "Please, I yield! You and your army of illusions are too formidable, especially with my diminished strength! But if I am destroyed, my brothers will be destroyed, too! They are lost without my direction or the energy I alone can provide to them! Nor can they speak their wishes unless it is through me."

Tucker gulped. This creature had not been at full strength during this entire time? But he shook the thought away when the beast's other comment came into focus. He then replied, "Destroy? Who said anything about you being destroyed? I just wanted you to give up! And I kinda figured you were the head—uh, head, which is why I went after you and not the others when I finally got the chance."

"You are very clever, my master," the creature said as he lowered his eyes.

Tucker smiled with pride at the compliment. But then, he smirked, "So, do I have your word as a gentleman—uh, creature—to surrender?"

By the time the beast looked back up, both Tucker and Skulker still had their weapons aimed at him. He sighed and said in a hush, "Yes!"

Skulker smiled at the victory and said to Tucker with more glee, "I have been teaching you something after all!"

Tucker just rolled his eyes. "Dude, you've been hanging around with Vlad for too long," he then said a bit dryly, recalling how Danny had on several occasions complained to him and Sam about Vlad saying stuff like that to him and it getting on their friend's nerves!

Skulker's eyebrows arched up, looking completely affronted. But then he frowned in mild irritation when the boy further smirked at him to show he was purposely messing with him. Still, the hunter was not about to admit to the human whelp that he had indeed sounded a bit too much like his employer.

"Keep tempting me, pup, and you'll find yourself at the top of my hit list when all this is said and done," Skulker challenged with a small evil smirk.

Tucker chuckled nervously and raised his hands up, saying, "Hey, come on, dude. I was just joking. Oh, look! I forgot about the girls! Let me go check on them," he then added before he immediately darted toward them. By the time he got to them, Sam was just stirring.

"Are you all right, Sam?" he asked in worry as Jazz and he helped the goth girl up.

Cradling her head, she groggily replied, "I think so. What happened? And where's the monster?"

Her eyes then drifted over to Skulker, who was standing in front of the defeated creature as a hunter posing for a trophy picture. All three teens then walked toward him.

"Okay, now that everything's calmed down and everyone's okay, let's get out of here!" Jazz quickly suggested.

"You are not illusions of our oppressor, then?" Kvargvid gasped, both shocked and relieved at the same time.

"What are you talking about?" Tucker asked, now remembering the first comment the beast had made after he had surrendered. "We're just humans…with, uh, one ghost."

"I see," the leader said, slightly bewildered. Then why were these beings here? Still, he knew he had given his word of surrender to the shorter male and needed to speak more to him about that…

"But, my lord," the leader of the heads sadly said, bowing his head and addressing Tucker, "Are you not going to punish us more or command anything of us? Though we are a ghost from another dimension, and you are no illusion, we still feel bound to you since you have defeated us. And under the laws of our realm, I and my brothers are now your servants."

Tucker smiled in delight and uttered, "You mean, I have more minions again?"

"TUCKER!" Jazz and Sam angrily said.

"Just kidding, guys!" their male friend began, looking at his female friends with a sheepish grin. But then, he looked at the creature and seeing that it seemed so crushed, he suddenly felt pity for it. He glanced back at his friends and lifting his index finger, insisted, "Wait a minute!" He then turned back to the creature and said, "Look,… uhm, you do have a name, don't you?"

Before the beast answered, he groaned a little when he was suddenly aware that his other three heads were slowly rousing. When the ebony head was satisfied that the other three heads had recovered, he finally replied, "Yes, master, it is Kvargvid the First. My brothers are of the same name except for being numbered such as, yet differently than, I. But I am the only one who speaks, so we take no mind to the same name."

Tucker continued, "Okay, uhm, Karg-vid, we're really sorry for all of this. We never wanted to hurt you; but you see, we got in here accidentally. And you did attack us before we could explain, you know. But, we're searching for a friend that we think is a prisoner here by mistake."

"We understand such plight," Kvargvid remarked, "We are condemned to all eternity though we are innocent of the charges. We were also brought here by mistake, the victim of betrayal. But forgive us, for that is too long of a story. But also please pardon us for attacking you. Our oppressor here regularly sends imaginary creatures to torment us, and we thought you were such."

The foursome nodded, accepting his apology, but then frowned at his first comment.

After that, Kvargvid drew his head nearer to his body before motioning with his head. He then said, "But yet, we are still betrayed by our oppressor. My brothers and I are at a disadvantage when our tormentors come because of these restraint collars, and because of the chains that binds our hind legs. So, you see, we could not really give you a decent fight, and are doomed to endless torture for all eternity."

The foursome looked at each other, all frowning in both chagrin and relief from the same thought. They were glad they had not fought this creature at its full strength and unbound!

Nevertheless, Kvargvid added. "Still, we wish to apologize once more. You are the first creatures we have seen in much time passed who showed us pity in our agony."

Now the three teens frowned in pity, and reflexively looked at and searched each other's eyes.

Skulker, however, kept a poker face. His only thoughts were now about regretting that he could not add this creature to his collection. Still, he said nothing.

Then, Tucker began to ask his friends, "Hey, guys…"

"Yes!" Jazz and Sam both chimed in, but Skulker frowned in confusion.

But then, Tucker walked up to the cyborg ghost and said, "Doncha you think we can zap those collars and chains without hurting Karg-vid, Skulker?"

"What are you talking about, whelp?" Skulker began with a frown. "We have no more time for this, especially when I do not understand why we have not alerted the whole Observant realm of our presence after this little unplanned battle of ours."

"I can tell you the reason for that, master," Kvargvid volunteered.

The teens and the Ghost Hunter immediately turned their attention to him.

All four of Kvargvid's heads blinked in surprise at first, but the black head continued nevertheless, "All the solid cells in this prison are sound-proof! That way, we prisoners will never know if we have strength in numbers." He paused a moment and swallowing a sudden lump, added in a slight hush, "And it is also so that no one else will suspect anything when Iluzisto tortures his prisoners."

"ILUZISTO?" the humans and the Ghost Hunter all gasped at once.

Their response made all four of Kvargvid's heads startle, but the black one still answered, "Yes, forgive me, but though I did not tell you the name of my and my brothers' oppressor, it is quite obvious that you, too, know and fear his merciless name."

Everyone in the cell fell to silence.

Then Kvargvid, begging the obvious, spoke once more, "As you can see, no one has discovered that you have come into our cell. You have not failed in your objective to find your friend."

"Advantage us—again!" Skulker grinned.

But then, Tucker looked at the beast and said, "And we have at least two of the Observant's weapons left. So, we will not fail in helping another friend." He then turned to Skulker and added, "We aren't going to fail in that objective, are we, Skulker?"

Skulker narrowed his eyes in irritation, and then growled, "I will not argue the point, pup, especially since I can plainly see that you will fully intend to do so in spite of my objection. So, I might as well make this quick and just comply."

Tucker smiled in relief, but before he could reply, Skulker added, "I am not certain if these weapons will do the job. After all, those neck restraints look very strong. But if the weapons will work, just make sure your aim is accurate; and as soon as the smoke that results slows, dispel your beam!" He then growled more seriously, "And then we will make haste to leave once our task has been completed!"

"Okay!" the boy replied. But as he looked up at the large four-headed beast, he gulped. He knew that Skulker could easily float up there, but he couldn't reach those large neck braces! He then uttered hesitantly, "Uhm, Karg-vid, you could please, uh, come down here?"

Skulker couldn't help but grin at the irony of this large, powerful beast bowing to a scrawny, young human.

Still, he joined Tucker at the boy's side and they immediately started on their task as the girls watched on.

But, much to the surprise of the boy, he had just activated his weapon and touched the first neck brace to destroy it when it instead justpopped open!

"What the….?" Skulker said, voicing what Tucker had also thought.

The two easily removed the other three neck braces in the same manner, the locks easily clicking open with a single hit.

The foursome looked at each other, perplexed at this oddity.

But then Kvargvid fell silent with his own thoughts. So much made sense to him now. Everything he had done in the past. Everything he had said not too long ago. He had known…At last, his and his brothers' hope had finally been rewarded! And… at the hands of three human children and a foreign ghost, no less!

"We are humbled that you all have taken enough pity on us to grant us freedom," Kvargvid replied, all four of his heads bowing in appreciation.

"Let us finish granting you that freedom, first, before giving us your gratitude," Skulker replied with a smirk, though internally, he found it ironic that for the first time in his after-life he was releasing a unique specimen—and not capturing and locking it up. Ironic indeed.

The large creature was speechless during the rest of the process of his being released, stunned by these strangers' gesture; and in hardly any time, the neck restraint and chains that had kept Kvargvid prisoner were completely off.

Skulker frowned with determination and growled, "We have wasted too much time! Let us go!"

The three humans and ghosts quickly went to the door. Skulker grabbed the knob, only to find that it was locked! Obviously, then, it must be a self-locking door.

"Whelp, your bobby pin!" he commanded to Sam, quickly snapping his fingers at her.

Sam gasped as she frantically searched her pockets, "I must have lost it in the fight!"

"And I don't have any more of them!" Jazz fretted, already frantically searching her head.

"Why can't we just use these weapons to blast out, then?" Tucker suggested, holding his Observant weapon steady.

"With our apologies once more," Kvargvid finally spoke up, though he was too weak to walk toward them much. "But you will then create that unwanted clamor, since the Observant weapons do not try to hide their sound, especially when you will be blasting out into the hallway. However, my third brother would be honored to assist you, especially since he will not make any noise in the process."

The beast waited for Tucker to nod before the green-colored head unleashed its green flames, which quickly melted the lock. The door slowly and barely swung ajar on its hinges after that.

But before the beast could utter any kind of 'thank you', or the three teens could wave their quick 'good-bye's', the Ghost Hunter had grabbed all three of the humans and quickly left the cell, leaving the former prisoner free.

But then, Skulker had an idea and turned back toward the door for a moment longer… Yes, this could be helpful….

Kvargvid blinked in confusion when he saw what the ghost took with him. But, again, before he could even express his gratitude, let alone ask a question, the ghost and children had left his cell.

He and his brothers then glanced at each other and he could hear in his mind that they all agreed on their current thought: they were forever indebted to their rescuers.

However, as Kvargvid made his next decision and tried to move out of their cell, he faltered and sat back on his hind legs. It had been so long since he and his brothers had been able to move their legs much or used any of their ghostly muscles to any great extent that he realized that he and his brothers were very weak.

"It seems we will need a moment to recover, brothers," Kvargvid said out loud with a troubled sigh, while his brothers cooed back in agreement and encouragement.

---

It took Team Phantom and Skulker at least another ten earthly minutes to find their way out of the cell hall in which they had encountered Kvargvid, then reach the circular foyer, which was the center of the prison, and finally find the cell hall that they had been searching for. Luckily, they had not run into trouble thus far.

"Whelps, it is this way," Skulker whispered, taking another whiff of the air to make sure the scents of the hybrids were indeed coming through the cell hall in front of them.

But it looked as if the foursome's luck had run finally out, because they were still several feet from the door they intended to go through when one of the adjacent doors in the same central, circular foyer began to creak open!

If only they had known that Trupo and the guards he had gathered had been just behind that door, getting ready to fulfill Iluzisto's previous orders in regards to the hybrids, then the foursome would have made sure to have completely avoided this group.

In fact, Trupo had just rejoined his group after having ordered the guards to wait for him just in front of the door leading to the circular foyer while he got the shackles from the prison's supply room, which was just down the hallway from Iluzisto's prison office.

But the instant he pulled the door open and entered the foyer, he froze in shock when he spied the foreign ghost and three young humans. Incredible! How did they ever get in here?

It only took the prison officer a second before he jolted out of his shock and screamed, "Guards!"

Skulker and the kids cringed only slightly, before Skulker fired his Observant weapon right at the prison guards. But, fortunately, the mentioned guards were trying to fit all at once through that bottleneck exit, going as far as accidently knocking the leading group down and blocking the entrance.

And taking advantage of that, the hunter yelled to his companions, "This way! Hurry!"

The three teens immediately scurried right on the heels of Skulker as he headed toward the door that would lead them to the hallway that had the scent of the hybrids.

They all piled in even as the door slammed shut behind them on its own. But they knew it would not hold off the guards for long. In fact, they could already hear their angry voices closing in.

The group of rescuers had at last made it to the hybrids' location. But now, they had been discovered. And they had absolutely no doubt that the real fight had now begun….

---

Fearing the worst at hearing the commotion coming right at him, Danny turned his bed to its side. He pushed it against his cell door and waited behind it, ready to fight as long as he could to prevent anyone—or anything—from coming through his cell door.

He glanced briefly back at Vlad and could see that his eyes were closed and the man was still very pale. And so under the circumstances, that could mean only one thing: the man was completely drained of all of his spectral energy and was unconscious.

Danny gulped at the thought, but then gritted his teeth before muttering, "Okay, Fenton, this is it! Don't screw it up as badly as you did with that putrid Okulo, uh, even if this collar doesn't give me any other option anyhow."

He steeled himself, ready to charge and shoot his ectoplasmic energy beams at the last moment in order to conserve as much as his energy as he could.

He then mumbled, "But, it doesn't matter that I don't have all of my powers. I won't let these jerks have the pleasure of watching me get obliterated all nice and quiet under their control! This time, I'm gonna make you creeps hurt where it counts and even after that, I just might be able to get us out of here, too!"

He listened, startling a little when he heard ectoplasmic blasts erupt. He peeked around his bed, confused that the foray still seemed to be much farther down the hallway. And it wasn't getting nearer.

Just then, he heard running footsteps coming down the hallway. He frowned, confused even more about that. Why didn't the guards just fly at him instead? In fact, did they even have feet? But he threw those thoughts away and charged his energy beams nevertheless, ready to blast whoever—or whatever—they were. And just when it seemed to him that those footsteps were close enough, he quickly soared upward, aimed and fir-

—jolted to an abrupt halt.

"Sam? Jazz?" he yelled, his energy orbs instantly dissipating with his shock.

"Danny!" the girls shouted back, both relieved and excited.

"Y-You're a-alive?" he stammered, floating downward, still stunned with the emotional shock. But then he shook his head in disbelief and shouted out in anger, "That can't be right! No! This must be another one of your putrid illusions, you jerk! But I'm not falling for it this time!"

Jazz gasped when her brother charged up more of his energy, seemingly ready to fire upon them!

Sam frowned at his actions, having no idea what he was talking about. Still, she firmly interrupted him, "No time!"

She immediately aimed her wrist ray right at the lock in the door and fired upon it.

Danny stared down at what the girl was doing, confused by her actions and still shocked over seeing her and his sister alive. If this was an illusion as he thought, why was the lock beginning to sizzle and smoke under her assault? Why would his illusion be trying to break him out?

But in spite of what Sam's wrist ray gun was doing to the lock, the ray wasn't strong enough to destroy it. And it wasn't even loud enough to provoked Vlad from his stupor.

Sam growled in irritation, but quickly adjusted the setting and poured more energy into it. She wished that Skulker had let them bring more Observant weapons!

And then Jazz gasped and turned toward the hallway. The ruckus that had been behind she and Sam was starting to get louder—and closer!

"Hurry, Sam!" the older girl shrieked. "I don't think Skulker and Tucker can hold them off for much longer!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" she angrily growled back, but she was not upset with her friend. She was upset that the lock still wasn't yielding. She finally said in desperation, "Darn it! This lame thing just isn't strong enough! GRR! Danny! Can't you help or something?"

But Danny just stared at her. This just had to be a trick. They were gone. He saw and felt their dead bodies! Maybe….maybe Iluzisto was trying to make it seemed that he was going to escape, only to be ambushed by the creep later and have his energy drained, like what first happened when he and Vlad did get out of their cells!

And then he startled at his next thought: escape is only an illusion.

"You're not real," he whispered, feeling both numb and his emotions rising again. But still believing it was still Iluzisto trying to torture him, he glared and shouted, "I'm not falling for your sick tricks again, Iluzisto!"

Jazz and Sam gasped when energy formed around Danny's hands again in a threatening matter. What was wrong with Danny?

Sam, who was closest, paused in her struggles and quickly addressed her confused friend.

"Danny, I don't know what that spirit has been doing to you; but this isn't some trick! I'm here! Jazz and Tucker are here! We came to get you out!"

But Danny just looked more distraught. He wanted to believe it was them, but he just knew they weren't real—it wasn't at all logical, especially when Iluzisto's cruel words were still echoing in his head…They were dead…and if they weren't, they couldn't possibly have been able to get in here!

"Danny! We've got no time for this! You have to believe me! And I need your help! Please, we've been friends since we were little kids! You know me! Look at me! It's me, Danny!"

She stepped forward, ignoring the blazing green energy ready to fire upon her, even when she could feel the angry heat kissing her skin. She still didn't hesitate to grab the bars and lock her eyes with his.

The boy stared deeply into his friend's eyes as his mind slightly eased and he let his heart take over. No trick could mimic the Sam he knew this well. No trick could capture that glow of caring and determination in those amethyst eyes.

"Sam?" Danny whispered, extinguishing his energy orbs and reaching a hand out through the bars before grabbing one of hers.

"Yeah," she said with a warm smile.

"You... came... I-I thought you were dead. That Jazz and Tucker…"

"Danny, look, it doesn't matter right now! We have to get you out! Or we all really are going to be dead! So, come on! Snap out of it!"

Her words jolted Danny out of his shock and he quickly let go of her hand and with newfound determination said, "Maybe between the both of us we might be able to break this lock after all! Better stand a bit out of the line of fire, Sam!"

"Okay!" Sam hurriedly replied, immediately side-stepping from in front of the lock before activating her wrist ray gun again and firing it once more at the lock.

As soon as Sam had moved, Danny didn't hesitate to activate his weakened energy and began to pour it into the lock from his side.

But right then, a loud alarm went off through the prison and the kids froze in dread. That terrible sound raked up their spines. And they knew it was not good news!

Sam and Danny quickly doubled their efforts, while Jazz nervously urged them on.

However, that noise of the cracking lock and the sound of the alarm began to finally prod Vlad back into consciousness, groaning as he stirred.

Suddenly, Danny spied movement right behind the girls. He concentrated harder, ready to adjust his aim toward that movement if needed. But just as sudden, he began to feel dizzy from the effort and his core began to throb again. He then realized that taping into his inner strength, would, after all, only last so long without replenishing his physical needs and with his neck restraint still on. Even so, he gritted his teeth, determined not to let his drain of energy distract him. He tried to throw away all thoughts about that as he tried to pour more of his energy into the stubborn lock, while keeping his eye on whatever other trouble was in store for them.

In the next moment, however, Danny finally saw—Tucker! And of all ghosts—Skulker! But their backs were to him and they were obviously quite busy in their own task, which was trying to hold all the prison guards at bay. However, it looked as if the two males were having a very difficult time doing that and were slowly backing up toward the girls and his cell as they fought on.

And then Danny saw a large, thick black ragged-edged makeshift shield and Skulker was holding it!

The hunter had acquired his make-shift shield when he yanked the door off of Kvargvid's cell before they had left that area. He had had a hunch it would come in handy, especially when his suit was barely working and his ghost powers were all but useless. And Skulker was right. The shield was now protecting them from the attacks of Trupo and his guards, whose numbers were steadily growing after that alarm went off. But the makeshift shield was being shot to pieces with each new purple energy beam that assaulted it from the other side.

Skulker then turned a little toward the girls and hissed, "Hurry!"

"It won't bulge!" Sam yelled, even as the lock had reddened and was shuddering under the bombardment of the outside and inside beams of green energy.

Danny's head was beginning to spin and the pain in his core was getting worse from his effort, but he continued to drive his energy into the lock. It just had to yield!

Jazz, now desperate with a wild idea, yelled toward her male friend. "Tucker, use the Observant's weapon to break the lock!"

"I can't!" Tucker yelled back, grunting with the effort. "We're holding back too many of them!"

The beret-wearing boy then gasped when Skulker's shield began to buckle!

Oh, now they were in really big trouble!

---

Meanwhile, unaware of the chaos currently in his sound-proof prison, Iluzisto silently groaned as he continued to listen to the drab High Tribune in spite of his desire to return to the prison and finish off the crossbreeds…

Finally, he could take no more of the incessant blathering. And with as much retrain and aplomb as he could muster, the Prison Head suddenly interrupted the High Tribune right in the middle of his sentence.

"….Forgive me, Honorable Tribune...But I have kept you from your more important duties for far too long. And you know that I must also attend to mine at some time, or the Council will wonder…."

Justeco blinked his lone eye in surprise at the abrupt comment by the illusionist spirit, but he quickly replied, "That is quite all right, Master Prison Head. And you are quite right, and I appreciate your consideration. But, I still have not resolved the issue of your… 'enhanced' authority, if you know what I mean. The Council is still concerned about that, which may call for more drastic measures."

Iluzisto, of course, knew he was speaking about all that power that they didn't normally give him. It was meant to be temporary—and controlled... Still, he pointed to his wrists and assuredly said, "And as you know, Honorable Tribune, this prevents that power from becoming too raw, if you know what I mean."

Justeco's green eye relayed relief. But he was fooled, since Iluzisto had slowly but assuredly been gaining even more raw—and potent—power in spite of his restraints, all thanks to the crossbreeds…

Indeed, each of the crossbreeds' power was unique. Any other ghost's energy would merely be absorbed and added to his 'reserve' of power. But the crossbreeds' powers actually enhanced those already stored powers. And more than that, they didn't lose their effectiveness even when he used some of his powers. In fact, those powers seemed to make that energy reserve grow in both power and amount.

The Tribune replied, "Yes, of course. So then, the matter is resolved. After all, as soon as the half-ghosts' sentencing is carried out tomorrow, I will restore your bracelets to minimum power usage as before—as we previously discussed. It should leave the Council at ease. And since we are in agreement, it is time to pursue our duties once more."

"As you wish, Honorable Tribune," Iluzisto said with a slight bow of his head. "We will soon see each other again…." But he completed only to himself, "…. just, not as you think."

With another bow to Justeco, the Prison Head quickly turned away, and when he was out of eyeshot quickened his pace toward that shortcut to the prison of which only he knew….

However, when he finally made it to his intended location, he froze in sudden horror at the chaos and the sound of the emergency alarm ringing throughout his prison.

But his disbelief didn't last long.

"NO!" he exploded in pure fury before rushing forward.

---

Jazz gasped. She was still weaponless through this all and now she and Sam were wedged right in the middle of their retreating male companions and the unyielding cell door!

There was no way out!

Suddenly, Danny groaned; and his energy orb unwittingly disappeared as he fell to his hands and knees. He could barely keep his head up from how lightheaded he was now feeling and he gripped at his chest from how much it hurt. Had he not been so in need of calories or if the neck restraint been off, he might have been able to damage the lock. But he could tell he was getting to that limit that Vlad had already passed. His core couldn't take much more!

Sam didn't stop from her task, though she now swallowed a large lump when she could see how drain Danny looked.

Vlad was finally awake, but not alert. He, too, felt too dizzy to even attempt to move, much less, help in what he could only vaguely guess was another prison escape attempt—though he still had no idea who was leading it. His blurry vision didn't allow him to distinguish any of the people outside the cell.

In the meantime, Tucker and Skulker pressed onward against the prison guards, even as Skulker tried in vain to keep his shield steady and forward.

And just when it looked as if the shield would shatter at any second, Tucker's eyes widened in dread when his eyes wandered a bit further behind the assaulting guards. He then gasped. He could see the distinctive black, needle-like tipped weapon jutting up and down, as it weaved its way through the thick group in front of him. His heart skipped a beat.

Iluzisto was coming!

Nevertheless, he increased his efforts.

And just when the shield finally shattered and the human boy and the Ghost Hunter were forced to shield themselves from the scattering shards as they rained down upon them and the guards. But right after, a very loud crash and then an even louder scream pierced the air—farther down the hallway!

Tucker's eyes now widen in fear and then astonishment when he suddenly saw that dozens of prison guards behind the ones in front of him and Skulker were now being thrown here-and-there, pell-mell in the hallway. And then, he spied other guards being frozen, and then flames of green fire were charging right into even more others. Finally, he saw red arrow-like projectiles pinning many of the remaining guards to the wall. And then the rest of the ones pulled away from him and his group, trying to counter this new force.

But when he saw more ice-rays being fired, Tucker instantly knew what was happening and whispered in surprise with a growing smile, "Karg-vid…"

---

All the while that Team Phantom and Skulker had continued in their efforts to locate the hybrids, Kvargvid had been in his cell, still trying to recover enough strength to escape. Then all of the sudden, he heard a loud alarm go off.

The creature startled and quickly rose on his four legs as the black head gasped out, "Brothers! The alarm! It only goes off when there are major escape attempts! And our rescuers… Oh, no! They must have been caught!"

The three other heads whined in worry back at their black-colored brother, clearly as distressed as he was.

"Yes, you all are right." He told his brothers. "We have remained here long enough; it is time to take action against our oppressor and aid our rescuers!"

And as his brothers nodded in agreement and their powers began to leak from their mouths, the black head narrowed his eyes; and pushing back any remaining weakness and fear, Kvargvid charged out of his door-less cell.

He raced down the hallway, heading deeper into the prison. Fortunately, there were not any guards around this area, since they all must have been busy with the escaping prisoners. But when the creature was about to destroy the door leading to the circular central foyer which he knew from listening to Iluzisto would lead further into the prison, he heard noise coming from two doors to his right. He stopped a moment and peeked through the small window imbedded in the door and saw a slew of prison guards heading toward the doorway directly across from him.

Able to fully access his powers now without the neck restraints, the creature turned invisible just as the guards raced out of the door, all going towards one specific door in the circular foyer. That's were his rescuers had to be!

At that moment, Kvargvid lost invisibility and quickly remembered how the timeless magic in the prison made ghost powers unreliable here. Still, he was strong now and nothing would stop him from helping his new friends.

But he had to hurry! His bile-color brother quickly vaporized the door in front of him and the area around it with his green fire, making the hole big enough for him to get through.

This, of course, got the attention of some guards that had been just on the other side of the destroyed door; but Kvargvid used their sudden surprise of seeing him loose to his advantage and had them all flying further into the hall with a ball of fire from his green-headed brother.

Because of his large size, it only took him a few steps to reach the now door-less cell hallway and plow through it.

Most of the guards were still busy trying to fight the small force keeping them from reaching the hybrids to notice what had been looming upon them from behind. In fact, not only had these new guards not expected an attack from behind, but Kvargvid had also been able to catch the large group of guards and Iluzisto, who had used the shortcut to arrive to the scene prior, by surprise.

And now, the full-strength beast had unleashed his terrible power onto his oppressors, creating a terrifying confusion among them!

Even Iluzisto was not immune to the creature's fury. In fact, the Prison Head had been caught as much off-guard by Kvargvid's increase in strength as had his guards.

And Tucker could see the black weapon that had been so visible before suddenly jerked downward amid the mass of prison guard ghostly bodies.

But the boy also knew that they didn't have much time.

"C'mon!" the bespectacled boy commanded Skulker, and the two of them rushed to the cell.

"Okay, Sam, let us try!" he yelled to the girl.

Sam, though exhausted from her efforts, hadn't stopped in shooting her beam into the lock even when Danny had collapsed. She just didn't want to yield.

Jazz quickly wrapped one of her arms around Sam's shoulder before pulling the wrist ray gun from her hand and then immediately pulling her out of the way of Tucker and Skulker.

In the next instant, Tucker and Skulker fired upon the door with their Observant weapons and the cell door instantly evaporated. Without hesitating, all four rescuers piled into the cell. While the humans rushed to help Danny up, Skulker flew to Plasmius' side.

Tucker immediately spied the neck collar on his friend and gulped. He just knew that this collar was not going to be as easy to take off as Kvargvid's, because he was sure Danny would have already gotten it off….Unless…like the four-headed beast had said, that neck brace greatly inhibited his best friend's powers. So not good.

And that only meant that he had to use this Observant weapon to get it off of him, like he had used it on Kvargvid's collars. Still, he was worried at seeing how badly his best friend looked and hoped he could zap the much smaller collar off without hurting Danny more.

"Quick, Danny! Let me zap that putrid collar off of you!" he said as he rushed to his friend's side.

But just as Tucker was about to fire into the collar, Skulker commanded, "NO! That collar is too small and with all that very hot firepower, you will most certainly take the whelp's head with it!"

"Then what can we do?" Jazz asked in a panic as she and Sam struggled to hold up the weakened Ghost Boy.

"You need to pour the energy slowly into it, but we have no time. We will have to take them as they are," the Ghost Hunter insisted as he readied his Observant weapon in one arm and tightened his hold on his employer. He then started to move out of the cell and toward the only exit he could see: which was toward all that ruckus!

But then, Danny finally aroused enough to just hear what Skulker had said. He then hurriedly mumbled after his next thought, "N-No, we gotta get these collars off now! Or, we won't recover! Tucker, quick! Fire into my neck brace! I know what to do!"

Skulker halted and turned, just as he heard Tucker protest.

"But, Danny!" the boy cried in distress.

But this time, his friend firmly cut him off.

"Trust me, Tuck! Do it!" Danny commanded as he gripped either side of his neck brace, leaving a small exposed area.

Tucker didn't argue any more. He drew closer and moved the tip of the weapon in that open area while Jazz looked on in a panic and Sam bit her lip in dread.

Purple energy immediately spewed into the collar, instantly flaring hot with its power, threatening to shear the young hybrid's head off just as Skulker had warned.

But Danny instantly summoned his ice powers.

Tucker's eyes widened when the energy didn't just not blow his friend's head off, but that cool steam was emanating off of the collar even as that open area was beginning to melt!

His best friend had been able to produce enough of his ice power on the surrounding area to counter the tremendous heat and destruction just enough to destroy only that intended area.

And since Danny had been also pulling on the collar while pouring his cold energy into it, he could tell when the collar was yielding…

A few moments later, there was a sharp 'crack' and Danny knew he had been successful. Tucker quickly extinguished his weapon before wiping all the sweat that had formed on his forehead with a sigh of relief.

Already feeling his strength almost instantly returning, Danny flung the collar off of him and then ran over to Vlad.

"Get out of the way, Skulker," Danny quickly commanded, too focused on what he needed to do to be polite.

Not that the hunter really noticed the boy's abruptness when he knew things were urgent, and he quickly moved without protest.

Danny grasped at the man's collar and now renewed in strength both from the effects of the atmosphere and his righteous anger, he grunted as he charged more of his ice power into the collar until it was frozen to brittleness. With another determined grunt, he poured his strength into the collar until it finally broke in half!

With a hateful growl, he angrily flung it toward one of their cell's walls, and it shattered to pieces. He had despised those collars as much as he despised Iluzisto!

But a sudden pang in his chest snuffed the teen's fury and he then stumbled now that the effort had drained him a bit more and Sam and Jazz lunged to support him.

And now that his neck brace was off, Vlad could feel some of his own strength returning. And it helped dispel the man's dizziness.

Vlad couldn't believe his eyes when his vision finally cleared, but he could only mumble, "Skulker? But… how? No, you can't be… real…"

"No time!" Skulker frantically said as he moved forward again. He lifted Vlad to his feet, but Skulker was still supporting him around his back and under his shoulders.

And too stunned and weakened to protest, the older hybrid did not resist, though he was still trying to figure out if this was an illusion or not.

The cyborg quickly hurried to the others and yelled above the intense noise, "Let us get out of here!"

No sooner had he said that when a furious cry startled them all.

"KVARGVID! YOU INSOLENT FOOL! HOW DARE YOU? I WILL DESTROY YOU FOR THIS!" Iluzisto screamed.

And right after, they heard a roar of immense pain!

"Karg-vid!" Tucker yelled, instantly recognizing it. "We have to help him!"

"No, we have to go! He made his choice!" the Ghost Hunter insisted.

Tucker frowned in anger at the cyborg's words; and tightening his grip on the Observant weapon, dashed toward the melee where Kvargvid was, blasting at any of Iluzisto's guards he saw. The large creature had somehow managed to push the fight with the guards and Iluzisto out of the cell hall and into the foyer; but Kvargvid was clearly now in serious trouble!

Sam then ran up to Skulker and yanked his Observant weapon that he was still holding in the hand that was not supporting Plasmius, and charged after Tucker.

"Sam! Tucker!" Jazz frantically yelled. But since she was still supporting her slightly woozy brother, she could do nothing.

But at hearing his friends' names, Danny pulled his head up and tried to focus his eyes. He then caught a glance of Sam as she dashed off, firing her Observant weapon.

That was all he needed to see.

Once more, he desperately commanded himself to dig deep, even deeper into his inner strength. In a heartbeat, he felt a surge of strength, though he could tell that it was not optimal and he could feel his core protest. Still, he quickly—yet gently—pulled himself from his sister's arms before soaring upwards and toward his friends.

Jazz watched helplessly as her brother headed down the hall and toward the battle. But then, she hurried over to Skulker and Plasmius...

The older hybrid eyes quickly grew wide when he found Maddie's daughter looking right at him.

"He looks bad," she muttered to Skulker.

"This isn't real," Vlad muttered, giving Skulker a glance. "Escape is only an illusion…."

Jazz bit her lips, realizing that the man's mental stability was as bad as her brother's. What had that awful spirit Iluzisto been doing to them?

But upon hearing the commotion of battle intensified, everyone, including Vlad, turned their attention to it. Even when they couldn't see much of it, since it was now taking place past the hall they were in, it sounded bad.

But right then, Vlad's head finally cleared enough and he realized this was no illusion. He reached up and reflexively touched his neck. His collar was gone! He had been feeling some of his strength strangely returning and didn't know why. But now he did. And he didn't care how the collar had gotten off but when he looked back up and saw Danny's sibling looking back at him, his mind jolted to full clarity.

It was real! And Skulker was also here! Somehow, the hunter and Daniel's loved ones must have come to rescue them. They actually had a chance of escape! But by all the noise just ahead of them, that escape included a battle!

The man glanced around him even more and saw that the cell door was gone and so was Daniel. The boy must be in the midst of that battle, then! But Daniel's core was as compromised as his own. And that would mean that Daniel would need help!

Even though he was still weak and could not even turn ghost at this point, Vlad's own willpower renewed and he began to push Skulker's grip away.

"Plasmius? What are you….?"

Taking a big breath in and mustering more of his returning strength, Vlad pulled himself to an unsteady stand and said with determination, "I might be out of ghost energy, but I'm not out of this game yet, Skulker. Give me one of your weapons."

The hunter frowned, but then silently complied. He turned another mechanical switch and a small compartment sprung open, revealing a small gun in it. The ghost quickly unstrapped the gun and handed it to his employer.

Vlad's eyebrows creased in order to focus his eyes enough to cock the weapon and activate it. He then glanced at Jasmine, who looked surprised by his efforts.

"Come on, girl. Let's go help your brother," he told her, his own newfound determination the only thing keeping him strong.

Jazz smiled weakly, raised her small weapon up, and hurried after the man with Skulker right behind them.

---

From his higher vantage point, the young hybrid could see what was happening. Just ahead, a large strange creature was being attacked by Iluzisto and several of his prison guards who had survived the beast's initial assault.

Yet, the beast had still managed to drive his oppressors back into the central area of the prison. Unfortunately, with the more wide open space of the circular area, the creature was open from all sides and Iluzisto and his guards were not hesitating to take advantage of it.

Danny had no idea that this very creature had been the one Iluzisto used to trick him into believing he had touched his friends and sister's dead bodies. And that…. he had been in his very cell, where he found the symbols and strange word 'thera' below it.

Finally, the Ghost Boy finally spotted his friends! Tucker and then Sam were fast approaching that scene, blasting at any prison guard they saw.

"I'm not even going to ask," the young hybrid muttered, still confused why that creature had been helping them. But he could ask his friends about the ghost later, when their lives weren't in danger!

Danny quickly narrowed the gap between his friends, and immediately opened fire upon any other prison guard that tried to counterattack.

Sam and Tucker instinctively knew when they heard and saw their friend's ectoplasmic energy beams shooting from above and behind them that somehow Danny had recovered enough to come to their aid. Encouraged by this, they increased their efforts.

Finally, the three best friends were close enough to set Iluzisto in their sites. Without hesitating, all three fired upon the evil spirit.

Not expecting such a blow since he had been concentrating on subduing Kvargvid, Iluzisto screamed as his body was thrown against the nearby wall at the insult of the combined power of the teens.

As the Prison Head's body slid to the floor, he slowly re-focused his eye and gasped when he saw who had attacked him.

But when Iluzisto further saw how the young crossbreed had no collar on and was using his powers freely, the Prison Head's eye turned a brighter red, even more furious; but now, determined to get the teen. There was no way he was letting his ticket to freedom get away!

And seeing the illusionist spirit's hungry and angry stare, Danny briefly froze in fright; but Iluzisto's next words jolted the teen into action.

"Seize the Ghost Boy!" Iluzisto barked out at his guards.

Danny glared darkly at the Prison Head, and didn't hesitate to fire again at the evil spirit.

But upon seeing the amount of energy the young crossbreed poured out towards him, Iluzisto briefly paused in surprise; but then quickly aimed his weapon at Danny.

Still, that slight hesitation in the Prison's Head response time was enough, and before the illusionist spirit knew it, he was not only being attacked by the teens once more, but now Kvargvid had also renewed his efforts with all his power!

Not usually having to defend himself against such a massive force of energy all at once, the Prison Head struggled to counterattack and his mind was too shocked to even use his illusions in defense. But the opposing team didn't let up; and a moment later, Iluzisto and the rest of his guards were pummeled so hard against the far side of the hallway that he they crashed through the solid wall at the end of it. That attack left the Prison Head on the floor on the other side, unable to muster a retaliatory blow at the moment.

Danny, who was beginning to feel dizzy again, still plunged down toward his friends. He quickly scooped them up and twisted himself in a tight arc before flying back to his sister and the others.

"C'mon, Karg-vid!" Tucker yelled as they turned; and the beast stomped right after them.

But just as the young hybrid and his two friends and Kvargvid were approaching the others, Danny was surprised to see Skulker, Jazz,and Vlad running towards them.

"Vlad!" Danny gasped, not believing the man was awake. But just as he said this, the teen readily gasped again and stumbled with a more fervent bout of dizziness. He gripped his chest yet again and knew that he had outspent this round of extra energy, but he also knew that they could not waste anymore time.

"Daniel, you remember what I told you about pushing yourself and how you could permanently damage your core, right?" Vlad said with a frown.

"I don't have a choice, Vlad. And you are one to talk!" Danny retorted after taking a weak, shaky breath. It was more than obvious the man was forcing his own body as well.

For once, Vlad had nothing to retort back.

Knowing time was of the essence, Danny quickly looked at his friends and sister and said, "Thanks, guys! I don't really care how you all got in, but I'm hoping it's the same way we're going to get out!"

He then frowned in worry when four sets of frowns 'answered' him.

"So, that's not an option. Uh, just great!" he groaned.

But Vlad quickly spoke up, "Then, we will just find a new option. Or, rather, we could try a previous option in the direction of the trial room…," he added, smirking at the young hybrid this time.

But while everyone looked confused, the teen grinned, instantly remembering the vents in the trial room and the directions Vlad had given him to escape! He also thought that with the weapons Tucker and Sam were using, they could easily bust a wider hole in it and get everyone out…except that strange beast. But that was the best thing he could come up with, given the circumstances.

Recharged a bit by Vlad's idea, Danny then commanded, "C'mon, guys! I think we know of a way to get out!"

But suddenly recalling something in his murky mind, Vlad grabbed Danny's shoulder and commanded, "Daniel, wait."

The boy looked questioningly at the other hybrid, but the man quickly said, "Do you remember what happened the last time we tried to escape this prison? We got lost, Daniel. There is some sort of illusion over this place that turns this place practically into a maze."

"He is right, child," Kvargvid suddenly interrupted. "The illusion makes the doors move and change locations. Only our oppressors can find a way out of this place without getting lost!"

"Then. what are we….?" Danny began fearfully, only to be interrupted.

"Just a moment, Ghost Child," Skulker said, sniffing the air. "Yes… I can still smell our fresh scents…" And seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, the hunter smirked and said, "If there is a visual illusion in this prison, then let us not use our eyes. I can smell us out by 'retracing our scents' They are fresh enough here in the prison at least."

"That's right! Then, let's go!" Vlad immediately ordered.

And knowing that they had hesitated in moving too long, no one argued with the older hybrid. They all quickly ran after Skulker, who was following their scents as they raced down the hallway.

The kids and Skulker saw how they were moving through different doors than they had used to get to the hybrids. But they could tell by their surroundings that they were going the right way, since they recognized the halls.

Kvargvid also realized they were returning back in the direction of his cell. Still, he followed, determined to aid his rescuers.

But just when they spotted Kvargvid's cell ahead, they heard noise in the distance coming towards them! Other guards must have been alerted and the reinforcements were heading their way! And then, they all could see the top of Iluzisto's infernal weapon again, and hear his furious yell bellow toward them! Somehow, the Prison Head had caught up to them and had cut them off from the front!

In the next instant, they could see a large red dragon charge right out of Kvargvid's cell and then lunged at them.

But Danny's head quickly cleared a bit more when he recognized that cell; and since he had already been in there once before, Danny knew that there had been no dragon in it, but it must have been that strange beast instead since it was definitely large enough and its entrance had been destroyed. That meant that the dragon was just a desperate illusion Iluzisto was throwing their way until he could reach them!

Kvargvid cringed in fear! He just knew that he and his brothers would be destroyed by such a violent creature!

But that wasn't all. Now they could not use the same way that Skulker and the kids had used to get into the prison because Iluzisto had cut them off and in turn had now blocked their escape route.

The rest of the escaping companions stood still, unsure of what to do.

But then, Skulker turned his head toward the door, which resembled a mere solid cell door, directly on his right and took in a deep whiff. He thought that smell was familiar. He muttered his thought out loud, "Iluzisto has been through that door before but is not there now!"

Jazz frowned. Of course Iluzisto wasn't behind that door! He and his guards were closing in on them from the front! And now by the sounds of it, there were more guards coming from behind; so they couldn't even race back towards the foyer!

"Looks like a regular solid prison cell door," Danny replied back to Skulker, confused by what the hunter was trying to get at.

But once again, Skulker quickly spoke up. "Yes, it seems like it. But Iluzisto clearly took a shortcut to head us off. So, he must have 'back-ways' through this prison. And I distinctly smell his scene—and only his scent—through this door. ...Worth a try?" the hunter asked the others.

"YES!' they all yelled before Kvargvid quickly broke down the metal door for them.

They ignored Iluzisto's scream of fury as they darted in, except for Kvargvid who struggled to get his large girth through but still pressed forward.

Skulker grinned when he instantly saw that he had been right and that the appearance of the door had just been a trick to make others believe the door just led into a cell. But he and the others could clearly see this was no cell—it was a hallway; but not one like any they had gone through thus far!

The hallway they were now following was more like a murky corridor found in catacombs made of solid concrete with no doors or windows. It was definitely meant to be a hidden passage!

Still, all they could do was continue to follow Skulker as they raced through the long concrete passageway. The hunter could only hope his other hunch was right and that this led somewhere besides a dead-end. But as they were nearing the end of the murky tunnel, they heard more commotion and turned their heads back. They all gulped when they realized the guards and Iluzisto had caught up to them enough that they could now see them again coming at them!

"Blast," Vlad muttered, sounding as nervous as everyone looked at the sight.

However, just as the escapees finally reached the end of the tunnel and spotted a single door, they gasped at a sudden loud roar behind them.

That red dragon illusion had now reappeared and it was lunging towards them at lightning speed!

Skulker grabbed the handle of the door and found it locked. He then fired his gun at the metal door; but it barely made a crack in it. The hunter growled before he turned his head back to look at the large creature that had been helping them; but he could see it was the last one of their group and it was struggling to just get through the tunnel clearly not meant for a ghost his size.

"Girl, quick! The door!" Skulker said, turning his hopes on Sam.

But the girl quickly reminded him in a loud and nervous voice, "I lost the bobby-pin, Skulker! Remember?"

The hunter cursed to himself, knowing they were trapped again if they couldn't get through this locked metal door!

Meanwhile, a cry of pain sounded from Kvargvid as the dragon finally reached him and attacked with its large jaws. And since Kvargvid couldn't move, let alone turn to defend himself from the illusion, all he could do was thrash as his heads snapped back at the red dragon.

Vlad gasped as rock began to rain down above them with the large ghost's thrashing.

"Daniel, freeze the door!" Vlad suddenly yelled at the teen, remembering how he had done that during their first escape attempt—and hoping it would work now.

The young hybrid didn't even hesitate and flew to the front of the group and quickly did as he was told.

The older hybrid then looked at the hunter; and nodding knowingly back at his ally, Vlad and Skulker didn't even blink as they aimed their guns on the frozen door.

But finally catching on to what they were doing, Danny quickly made a shield in front of the door just as his two enemies fired at it. As if it had been made of glass, the door exploded into pieces of frozen metal shards, which harmlessly fell to the ground thanks to the teen's shield.

"Let's go!" Danny yelled as he dropped the shield and flew out of the passageway they had been trapped.

And as the rest of them ran out, Kvargvid, who had still been battling with red dragon, sent a desperate message to his blue and green heads. They instantly combined forces and produced a wall of thick mist around him. And the moment Iluzisto lost sight of the four-headed creature, the red dragon illusion vanished.

Knowing the mist was already dispersing, Kvargvid didn't waste any time and pursued his companions out of the tunnel, carving out a hole large enough to accommodate him with fire from the green head.

And knowing that he was the last—and the largest—in the group to flee, Kvargvid twisted tightly back as soon as he passed through the remnants of the door and commanded his brothers to fire upon the large hole with all of their powers, quickly caving in the tunnel's exit. Fortunately, that was enough to effectively seal their escape route—for now.

But now they found themselves in another foyer, this one more oval-shaped; but, somehow, it was different in other ways than the prison's one. This foyer wasn't as dark or murky as the one in the prison. It was actually very bright and clean.

"I think we made it out of the prison," Danny said with a growing smile.

"I think you are right, Daniel," Vlad said and pointed at the nearest door. "These doors are different than those in the prison. We are at the connection between the prison and the Observants' territory. And since we are out of that maze-of-a-prison, then I am sure now I can lead us back to the trial room and then to the exit out of this wretched place!"

Danny nodded, finally recognizing some of the things around them; but the kids and Skulker also began to realize they had been here, too. It was where they had stumbled upon Iluzisto room. They were indeed out of the prison.

But with no time to celebrate that triumph, since they were not out of the frying pan yet, Danny took the lead this time and he quickly pointed at the door they always took to get to the trial room.

"C'mon! This way!" he said and flew to the door, which was thankfully not locked.

The escapees entered the new hall and moved quickly through it, but Kvargvid, who didn't want to use his powers to carve a wider passage for fear of hurting his allies, only used his own scaly mass to slice through loose rock and crash through parts of the wall as he squeezed through. Every once in a while, however, the vibrations from his efforts would at times cause parts of the ceiling to rain upon the others just ahead of him. But Danny reflexively formed a shield around the group, keeping everyone safe without losing their pace.

Fortunately, however, the passageway became wider and higher as they moved forward. Before anyone knew it, they found themselves in another, but much larger, dimly-lit hallway lined with odd-shaped doors.

Kvargvid sighed in relief as he wrenched himself through the final portal, loosening even more of the structure surrounding it. But he didn't care now that he was in this much larger hall. Even still, his large frame scraped along the edges, tearing at the walls and ceilings and scraping the doors as he pushed through.

"Now what?" Skulker impatiently asked, when he saw that the Ghost Boy had abruptly stopped. He sniffed the air. There were vague scents that he and the boy's companions had been here. But with all the whirlwind of all those prisoner guards also being here all at once and since it had been some time since he the humans had been through here, then he wasn't sure which way to go anymore. But he definitely also could smell that the younger hybrid was unsure as to where to head next.

However, Vlad, whose memory and sense of direction finally came into more focus, recognized this hallway. It was the one where all of those odd doors with the different symbols on them were. He brushed past the hunter and walked up to the teen before answering his ally.

"That way. It leads to the trial room," Vlad said, pointing in the direction they needed to go.

But Danny quickly glanced at him when he heard the weakness in his voice. All their running around had clearly taken a toll on the man… The teen still didn't know how he was managing to stay on his feet.

Still, the teen knew this was no time to argue with the older hybrid. Truth was, he was pushing himself just as much.

The teen nodded and again led the way to his right. But the escaping party hadn't gone very far at all from the passageway they had just left when Kvargvid screeched in excitement, his brothers mirroring his anticipation with their own increased movements.

"What is wrong, Karg-vid?" Tucker asked in worry as he stopped in his tracks.

Everyone else also halted.

"I am sorry if I startled you, master…"

"Friend," Tucker firmly corrected him just as Danny and the others doubled back to Tucker's side.

"Yes,…friend! But I remembered this hallway shortly after we had entered it! It has been far too long since I have been here, but I am certain!"

He then motioned with his ebony head toward a very large and wide purple door just to his left. He then continued, "This is the place! All those years of puzzling over everything have not been in vain. All those years of marking my cell so I would not forget! I listened to everything our captors said. I saw all that they wrote. I searched and searched my mind until I was certain of the answer. And now, I just know this is the entrance to our beloved Thera—our home! I am sure we were taken from our homeland and brought to this dimension through that door." Then touching the symbols with his snout, he excitedly answered, "Let me translate to your human language. There is the 't', the 'h', the 'e', the 'r' and the 'a' right there! Don't you see them? The door points the way itself!"

Tucker frowned in confusion when he looked at the strange symbols on the door. Still, he smiled when he realized what this might mean. He quickly told his friend, "Well, then, what are you waiting for?"

"Thank you for understanding. Be assured that I will rectify the wrong done to me with justice—and mercy!"

"Go, my friend!" Tucker gently urged.

Kvargvid smiled in appreciation before he quickly and determinedly said, "I hope you find your home….View Thera!" The door instantly swung open and without another word, Kvargvid exited through the large purple door to his world dimensions away.

The moment he passed through the doorway, the door slammed shut.

But while the others frowned in slight confusion over Kvargvid's remarks, Danny's mind suddenly raced, any remaining dizziness instantly clearing after he heard the beast's explanation and saw what he did. The teen pulled out the piece of paper which he had scribbled all those symbols he had seen in Kvargvid's cell. He stared at the symbols: ð- ζ -ǿ- ς and then: Ћ- Ж - ǿ- П - Д.

And then he looked at the symbols adorning the door through which the large creature had gone: ð- ζ -ǿ- ς on the first line and Ћ- Ж - ǿ- П - Д on the second.

He furrowed his brow and pressed his lips in concentration. And then it hit him! Those symbols! They were the same! And Kvargvid just said that the second part, 'Ћ- Ж - ǿ- П – Д' spelled T-H-E-R-A. Thera! The word he saw written under the symbols in his cell!

That meant these symbols did spell out words! But… what did ð- ζ -ǿ- ς—the first set of symbols—spell out?

Wait. Those four symbols. He had seen them not just here! And not totally different or random ones! And he had seen almost the exact symbols—when Spektanto wrote his name: ð-ζ-ǿ-ς-ǿ-П.

Somehow, they were connected. But how? And if they did spell things out and the symbols could be translated into letters, then what did these other symbols say?

The Ghost Boy's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud noise—no, two sets of loud noises! And those two groups of loud sounds were now coming from the front of the group—which led to the trial room and their planned escape route—and the second group of sounds were to their back from the foyer connecting the prison to this place. The guards must have made it out of the destroyed shortcut or somehow found another way out because they were clearly coming. And that meant they were trap in this hallway from both ways!

They were about to be pinned in!

Hearing all of the ruckus making its way to them quicker than any of them would want, Jazz frantically yelled, "Try all the doors!" She then yanked on the knob of the door nearest to her.

Danny, Tucker, Sam, Vlad and Skulker also reflexively pulled on the knobs of other doors, including the one Kvargvid had used…

"Locked!" they all anxiously announced at once.

Danny growled in irritation and charged up his ectoplasmic energy and fired. His beam didn't even nick the door! But remembering something else, he tired freezing it; but the cold energy didn't even cling to these doors! His face fell as he said, "And my powers won't touch it!"

Skulker also readily tried his own powers; but it was of no surprise that he couldn't even form an ecto-blast in his hand. Without the power of his upgraded suit, he couldn't do anything to the doors! All he had to rely on now were his weapons! But they weren't even scratching the doors! Heck, not even the Observant Weapons helped at this point!

But then, in desperation, Danny was suddenly hit by an idea. Acting on his hunch, he yelled, "This way!" He immediately took off to his right again, toward the trial room, glad that at least the noise in that direction sounded farther away—for the moment.

His companions ran blindly after him, uncertain on what they could possibly do now that they were getting bottled in.

And then younger hybrid stopped in front of the door that had intrigued him when he was first aware of this hallway on the second day of his and Vlad's trial. The one with what looked like sunlight shining underneath the bottom.

He looked at the symbols on the door again: ð-ζ-ǿ-ς and Ћ-Ж-ǿ-П-Д and then down at the paper where he had scribbled how Spektanto wrote his name: ð-ζ-ǿ-ς-ǿ-П.

The rest of his party came up to him moments later, puzzled on why he stopped here.

"Daniel… What…What are you doing?" Vlad panted out. "We need to keep going! Perhaps we can fight our way into the trail room before they completely pin us in!"

But then hearing the noise echoing in the hall become more thunderous, Skulker had a hunch why the Ghost Boy had halted—though in reality he was wrong about that hunch. "I think we're too late, Plasmius."

The older hybrid frowned in worry, but sharing a glance with his ally; they nodded at each other before Skulker firmly said, "Whelps! Form a circle and face outward. Here, we make our final stand!"

The teens quickly obeyed the ghost, but then turned to Danny and frowned, puzzled that he hadn't joined the circle.

"Daniel!" Vlad called at him.

"Wait, Plasmius! I think I can figure this out!" the teen snapped back, before focusing back on the doors.

"What are you talking about?" Vlad yelled back—or tried to in his weak voice.

The teen heard his friends and sister and even Skulker calling to him as well, but he ignored them and turned and narrowed his eyes on the many locked doors around him. "Darn these Observants with their dumb doors and symbols! Why can't they just observe things and stop all this nonsense? Don't they know that windows have the best vieewwwss…"

He stopped dead at the thought. And then his mind sped up again. View. Doors. And then a lightning bolt flashed in his mind, when he suddenly remembered how Spektanto first introduced himself to him and Vlad: 'I am the Appointed Defender. My name is Spektanto, which means 'viewer' in your language.' Spektanto's name meant 'viewer'—two letters more than 'view'. Just like the written symbols for Spektanto's name, ð-ζ-ǿ-ς-ǿ-П, was only two symbols more than this group of symbols that were written on the first line of each door: ð-ζ-ǿ-ς!

It had to be! Spektanto's symbolic name translated into 'Viewer'. So, the first lines in each door read 'view'! Of course!

And then, there was the beast. And he left to his world through that other door! The second symbols—Ћ-Ж-ǿ-П-Д—spelled out Thera! But what about this door with the light under it? The symbols on this door, this smaller one that looked like a normal door from his world were: ǿ-Д-П-Ћ-Ж. They were the same symbols used to spell out 'Thera', but in a different order…

He frowned in thought before his face suddenly brightened with his hunch. He rearranged the letters in his head…

"That's it," he cried, turning to his companions in excitement.

He then scrunched his face in confusion to see them all huddled in a tight circle, ready for a fight. But then, he heard all the noises converging on them and knew why.

Still, he smiled as he grabbed the door's handle, the one with 'ðζǿς' on the first line and ǿДПЋЖ' on the second line written upon it and the light shinning from under it, and said with a slight chuckle, "Change of plans, guys! This is the way out!"

All the others turned to Danny just as he turned the handle; and much to his chagrin, it, too, was locked!

"Danny, what are you doing?" Jazz yelled. "Those doors are locked!"

But before Danny could reply, they heard a blast in front of them. The guards had broken through!

Everyone gasped when they saw beams come their way, but readily ducked to avoid them. But at that instant, about a dozen guards broke through and ran at them with guns blazing.

"Daniel!" Vlad exclaimed, which was followed by the boy's friends and sister's shouts of warning when they saw Danny, who had been the most exposed, get tackled by two of the guards.

But before they could do much, the rest of the group were face-to-face with the remaining ten guards. They quickly fired and attacked with what they had.

And while Skulker punched one of the guards in the face, Tucker and Sam, who had the remaining two Observant weapons, placed themselves in front of Jazz to protect her, even though she was now firing with Sam's wrist ray gun as well. They quickly took down three guards; but then, a fourth blasted the gun out of Tucker's hand.

"Tucker!" Sam exclaimed, firing at the ghost about to hurt her friend.

Meanwhile, Danny grunted as he tried to fight off the two ghosts on top of him. Since they had tackled him from behind, they had managed to pin his hands behind his back.

"Get off!' he yelled angrily, but he couldn't do much more than struggle in his still weakened state.

However, a blast suddenly came his way, slamming into one of the guards on him and knocking the ghost senseless.

The other gasped when he looked up and saw a gun in front of its face, courtesy of Vlad.

"You are not taking us down this easily!" the man declared.

But just when the man was about to blast the other ghost away, a blast came his way and hit the small gun in his hand, destroying it. Vlad hissed and quickly turned to face whoever had just attacked him, only to be blasted in the chest!

"Vlad!" Danny exclaimed, while everyone gasped when they saw the man slam into the wall and slump into unconsciousness.

Danny growled and somehow found the strength to grab the guard on top of him and hurl him off. He then quickly stood, narrowly avoiding a blast from the other guard in front of him. But when the guard was about to fire again, Jazz, who had picked up the weapon Tucker had dropped, quickly took aim and finished off the remaining guard.

Danny blinked at his sister. She actually had hit something other than him for once!

But the young hybrid did not have time to say anymore, since he suddenly heard a sudden volley of blasts from behind! And when he looked, the teen realized it was Skulker, who had just fired several missiles in the direction the guards had come from, which was in the direction of the trial room and their escape route. The force tore large boulders from the ceiling and walls. They collapsed into a pile in the middle of what once was the passageway.

"That should hold them for a little while, even when I'm all out of missiles that I can manually activate right now!" he grumbled.

But the teens gasped. Now they were really trapped! Their escape path was gone, and the only way to go was back towards the prison—towards their doom!

Nevertheless, the defenders didn't forget the downed older hybrid and they ran over to him. But since he was closer, Danny got to him first.

The teen's eyes widened at the sight of a red liquid staining the unconscious man's clothing. "Oh, crud," the boy muttered in dread.

"Move, whelp!" Skulker demanded as he knelt beside his employer and looked for a pulse. The ghost readily frowned. "He's still alive… But we need to get out of here soon, Ghost Child, or he is done for…That is, if we are all not done for first," he corrected soberly.

Danny frantically searched his mind for some kind of alternative plan.

But just then, there was another loud blast, this time behind them.

The guards had broken through the collapsed shortcut and had entered the hallway through the foyer that led into this hall in which they all now were!

And that meant they were very near—too near! And Iluzisto would be among them!

Everyone gasped, but then Skulker picked up Plasmius and placed him against the door which had the light shining from under it. He took an aggressive stance in front of his employer as he commanded, "Get ready for another fight, whelps!"

Danny's eyes darted quickly around, anxiously looking for something that could help them. Just then, a small stone fell from one of the walls. Skulker had a good idea, after all! And now he remembered that Kvargvid's large body had scraped against the walls and ceilings and loosened some of their structure!

As he flew toward the pursuit of his quick plan with everyone but Vlad running behind him, another idea suddenly surfaced when he thought about Kvargvid and about what the beast did and said in order to get through that door to his world.

"Wait a minute!" he reflexively uttered and all of his companions looked at him in confusion and anxiety. "That's what I was doing wrong!"

"What?" Sam desperately urged, wincing when she could tell the guards were getting even closer from the far end on the other side.

Danny smiled in triumph and replied, "Kvargvid wasn't just reading 'View Thera' out loud, he was saying it; because we have to say it!" He then pointed to the door with sunlight under it bearing the symbols: 'ð-ζ-ǿ-ς and ǿ-Д-П-Ћ-Ж', which was now much further away from everyone but Vlad.

"We have to say: 'View Earth' and the door will open!" Danny excitedly said

But just then, the Ghost Boy gasped when he could see guards flying toward them from the way of the prison, like hornets shooting out from the small entrance of their threatened hive. And they would be ramming right into them before they could reach the door home! "Hurry! Get them out of here, Skulker! I'll hold them off until you can get out!"

"But, Danny!" Sam objected just before Tucker grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door.

"C'mon, Sam! He'll be back in no time!" Tucker firmly replied.

But Sam kept her eyes glued on Danny even as Tucker was pulling her along.

Danny quickly flew over to the rubbles of the passageway and reflexively dodged the next few purple beams the prison guards threw at him. He immediately fired back, hitting his mark each time.

He then flew to the ceiling and pummeled it with more of his energy rays. It shivered under his assault even as he had to dodge yet more Observant energy beams.

Large chunks of rocks and debris then rained down upon the guards at the entrance and they screamed and fell back.

But the guards didn't stop firing even when Danny sent more beams into the ceiling and rocks. This time, in spite of the fact that more of the debris was falling upon them, the guards hit their mark and Danny grunted in pain at the powerful force as it slammed him into the nearby wall.

The teen ghost slid down to the ground and lay in a momentary daze. But then, as he shook his dizziness away, he gasped when it looked as if the guards would get to him at any moment.

In the next instant, however, several purple beams fired at the guards in a direction that no one would have guessed.

Danny looked in that direction. There was no mistake. Skulker, Sam, Tucker and Jazz, who had left Vlad near the door to their world, were racing toward the melee, their weapons blazing!

Skulker immediately flew up to the rousing Ghost Boy and snipped, "Since when do you tell me what to do, whelp?"

But the cyborg ghost didn't wait for Danny's answer as he charged into the attacking prison guards.

Danny and the others also didn't waste their time arguing as they joined the assault.

In no time, while Sam and Tucker had beaten back the rest of the guards as they shuttled through their bottleneck of an entrance, Danny and Skulker had continued to pour their energy into the walls and ceiling around the old entrance to the passageway in the hopes of resealing it.

Finally, the ceiling and walls exploded under the boy and cyborg ghosts' combined power, stirring up a large cloud of dust and debris in its wake. When the dust had finally settled, the two ghosts sighed in relief when it seemed that they had been successful at caving in the hallway from the prison side as well.

But then, suddenly, oddly, the angry noise also corked behind the rocks came to an abrupt halt.

Perplexed, Danny landed on the ground at the base of the sealed entrance. He reflexively touched the large boulder in front of him, only to discover that his hand went right through it!

"It's a trick!" he exclaimed in warning.

But before he could react, the 'caved-in hall' blurred and a black weapon suddenly thrust right through the 'large rock' and its sharp tip rammed right into the teen's central core.

Danny immediately screamed, feeling something finally shatter inside him and the small pang in his chest turned into a mind-numbing agony as Iluzisto, who at this point had obviously created the illusion that the entrance had been sealed, activated his weapon with the intention of siphoning off all of Danny's energy.

"You will give me what I want now, Ghost Boy!" Iluzisto said darkly before the spirit angrily and hungrily plunged his weapon further into the teen, goaded by the smoke and vibration that were erupting around his wrist restraints!

"Danny!" Sam screamed, reflexively firing right at the illusionist spirit with her Observant weapon.

The force of her blow was enough to repel Iluzisto back, but it was too late for Danny.

Iluzisto had fulfilled his intention!

Sam and Jazz immediately dropped their weapons and ran up to a now unconscious Danny, who suddenly reverted to his human self; but there was no white rings. His ghost form had… peeled off, starting from his hair turning black to ending with his ghost suit flickering away into his current prison clothing.

But still in danger, the girls didn't take time to think about it and they instantly grabbed him by both of his arms and dragged him out of the way.

They gasped when they saw the illusion of a sealed entrance disappear, with Iluzisto in its stead.

"Now, Tucker!" Sam screamed, not stopping for a moment from dragging her friend from the entrance.

Tucker needed no other cues. He opened fire again, rapidly firing at all angles of the surrounding ceiling and walls.

Skulker quickly joined him and this time they didn't stop until they were sure that the entrance was fully caved in.

"Let's go!" Skulker then commanded. He instantly scooped up all of the teens and flew as fast as he could toward their escape route.

Just as he reached the door with the sunlight under it and the still incapacitated Vlad on the ground and leaning against it, the cyborg ghost could now hear noise coming from the makeshift barricade he had made before their fight with Iluzisto and his force just now. And that barricade had blocked the force of guards heading toward them from the direction of the trial room after turning the corner in the near distance. And that would only mean that those very real things wouldn't take long to break through!

He pushed on the mechanical override to his arm extensions and jolted when it was smashed and jammed from all of the fighting!

Now desperate, Skulker punched on the doors of each of the compartments that held his arm extensions. He yanked each of the four arms out, quickly scrunching each of their 'two-finger hands' around Jazz, Tucker, Sam and Vlad. In some ways, then, it was fortunate that the arms were stiff from having no computer available to command them. He then threw the still unconscious Danny over his shoulder and turned toward the door with the sunlight coming out of it.

"I hope you're right, whelp!" he said to the senseless Danny.

Suddenly, there was a chorus of voices as Skulker, Sam, Tucker and Jazz saying the same thing, "View Earth!"

An instant later, the door flew open. In a heartbeat, all six of them plunged head first through the entrance, and the door slammed shut behind them.

Meanwhile, the guards who had been coming from the direction as the trial room finally broke through Skulker's temporary barrier. They searched all around. But all they could see was a little bit of sunlight which was still shining under the brown door just ahead. They didn't know that just before they had arrived, the escaping group had just gone through it; and that it had immediately shut and locked once more.

So, none of the guards had suspected that they had escaped through that door. After all, the foreigners couldn't possibly read their language and figure out that 'ð-ζ-ǿ-ς' and 'ǿ-Д-П-Ћ-Ж' written on that door translated to "View Earth" in the human language. And that was the Observant's secret way to and from that dimension and, really, all the dimensions that existed, since each door around them led to different ones...

Still, this set of guards hastily searched the area, only to hear a loud explosion coming from the part of the hall just a little further down in the direction of the jail.

Their lone eyes widened in dread when they saw Iluzisto standing in their midst. Now that he had absorbed all that he needed of Danny and Vlad's energies, he was even more powerful—and had more than enough strength to do what he had been waiting for during all of those centuries!

As his red eye curved with malice and victory, he raised his now glowing purple hands in front of his face, watching as his wrist restraints began to crack, unable to hold back his powerful energy anymore.

And as his wrist restraints completely vaporized into black metallic ashes, he raised a hand and released a fearsome blast at the barricade made by all the teens and Skulker and finished destroying it with another deafening 'boom'.

With a quick flick of his wrist, he wielded his staff; and a tremendous bolt of purple lightning lit up the entire area, which violently shook the hallway. Several loosened stones fell from the ceiling or off the walls.

All of the guards quivered at the magnitude of this demonstration of the illusionist spirit's powers and they dropped their weapons and fell to the ground, prostrating themselves in front of him in fear.

The area blurred and flickered with his illusionist powers now at full capacity and Iluzisto's lone eye concaved even higher in triumph as he cackled, "And now, all my plans will be fulfilled!"

---

The moment the group of escapees had gone through the door, they were jolted by an unexpected surprise.

They were suddenly…. plummeting!

But Skulker instantly reacted when he realized what was happening. And though they were temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight, he quickly stopped their fall, hovering in what they could now see was the bright, beautiful, earthly sky…

At first, Skulker hesitated, his eyes searching the horizon for something, anything.

"We have to get away from here!" Tucker suddenly exclaimed.

Skulker then addressed him, "Agreed. I see a small cave in the distance. It may offer us some shelter and stealth until I can figure out where we are!"

Everyone nodded, except for the still senseless Vlad and Danny.

Once they got into the cave, Skulker released his hold on everyone, making sure to lay Vlad and Danny carefully down. In the meantime, Danny's friends and sister hovered around their unconscious human friend, trying to get a response out of him. They were a bit thankful that his chest wound wasn't bleeding any more. But they knew he was badly hurt and looked very pale.

It took a good ten minutes before Danny finally opened his eyes with a soft groan. Jazz and his friends sat down beside him, both relieved even as they were exhausted.

At first, the group remained silent as Skulker attended to Vlad's injury and just made a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding. It would have to do until they got to his employer's home. But the thought quickly turned the hunter's attention to the console on his arm. He needed to find out where they were… And he was suddenly encouraged when the PDA on his arm band had suddenly lit up!

Sam then turned to Danny; and gently placing her arm on Danny's arm, whispered, "Are you all right, Danny?"

Tucker and Jazz turned to look at them both when they heard Sam.

Now a bit more alert, Danny smiled weakly, "I'm not sure. I really feel awful. My chest is killing me, and I could sure use a buffet-load of food right now," he quietly replied, before glancing in Vlad's direction and unconsciously placing his hand to his still hurting chest. "But I don't think I'm in half as bad as shape as Plasmius right now!"

If only he knew how wrong he was….

The group looked at the incapacitated older half-ghost, and all the teens except Danny startled a little when Vlad suddenly groaned a little, but stayed out.

"Once we can figure out where we are, I will bring him to his castle—and to the medicine you both will need," Skulker replied.

In spite the whelp's trying to pretend he was doing better than his employer, it wasn't by much. Skulker had seen what Iluzisto had done and he could smell that the boy was very weak. He would also need time to recover. Though, the ghost boy did have an advantage over his employer. And that was his more active core. Not to mention, his employer had a pretty bad injury in his human form, which was probably why he wasn't waking up.

But with a good amount of rest and nourishment, the teen's core would most likely replenish its lost energy before Plasmius would—or, he could only guess. He wasn't sure how injured the child's core was.

They would only truly know the extent of the hybrids' injuries once they got to his employer's home, where the man had the proper things to examine them and heal them as much as they would need …

Danny briefly closed his eyes, fighting to stay awake. But he then breathed in a bit before suddenly opening his eyes and telling his friends and sister, "Thanks, guys. I don't think I could have lasted another day in that place." He glanced at Skulker and added, "You, too, Skulker. You really saved me and Vlad back there..."

Skulker almost smiled at how sincere the child sounded; but remembering he was a hunter and emotions were for the weak, he grunted; and looking back at his PDA on his arm, he muttered back, "I was only fulfilling my duties to my employer."

Sam rolled his eyes and answered her half-ghost friend, "That translates to 'you're welcome' from him, Danny."

Skulker quickly scowled at the girl, but she ignored the ghost and further told Danny, "And, you know you don't have to thank us."

"Yeah, Danny," Jazz agreed. "We couldn't have done anything else. We were so worried about you, little brother!"

"Yeah. You have no idea how glad we are to have you back," Tucker said with a smile.

Danny smiled back at them, but there was some sadness and fear in it as he remembered how he thought Iluzisto had...

Danny swallowed and said back, "You guys have no idea how happyI am to see you, too–to see you're all okay."

"Whelps! Stop crowding him," Skulker suddenly scolded Team Phantom before adding to Danny, "And you, Ghost Boy, need to stop talking and rest."

The kids just rolled their eyes, but listened to the ghost and fell quiet. Danny was about to close his eyes again when right then, Tucker suddenly—but gently—helped Danny to a sitting position and shoved something into his friend's hands.

Danny looked down at the granola bar and a huge smile broke out on his weary face. "Right now, this is better than pizza! Thanks, Tuck!" he said, though his voice was hoarse.

"Well, you know I only allow friends to break into my 'emergency food' pants' pocket," Tucker quipped back with a half-smile.

The humans softly laughed and Skulker smirked before they all fell to silence once more.

Though he was very hungry, Danny was surprised how even chewing was more of a task for him in his weakened state than he thought; and all he could do was slowly munch on his granola bar. Even still, he stopped after a few bites and swallowed before he lowered his head. His head was spinning again, and he knew he was going to fall back into unconsciousness. Still he sighed in relief at his next thought, even as he felt himself drift away:

Freedom—at last!

And it tasted even better….

For now.

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A/N: truephan here: Are ya'll as exhausted as I am? I finally wrestled down Ms. Hyde…And this chapter was exhausting, too! I almost thought the hybrids weren't going to escape! But, really have they escaped when their central cores are so damaged? Meh-heh! You'll just have to stay tuned. And, oh, while you're waiting, be sure to push that little blue button down below. There will be fireworks just as if it were Independence Day! Uh, not really. But we would like you to light up our night with your thoughts! Happy Independence Day, America!

Pearl: Yes, Happy Independence Day, USA! Not where I was born, but I've lived in the U.S. since I've been three; so it's my home and I love it!

But I also have another shout out for Invader Johnny! Heh! I didn't think we'd post this chapter this weekend; but since we did, then…. HAPPY ONE-DAY-LATE BIRTHDAY, MY FRIEND! I wish you many more and many blessings for your life. Don't worry; I still owe you that dedication I promised you for later. *winks*

Well, phew. I am very glad we got this chapter done! I also had to stuff Vlad muse in a thermos, so that Truephan and I could finish this. But as she said, our hybrids have escaped at last! A true triumph—that came with a price. Now, we have to hybrids with very damaged cores, which is still to be seen if they will recover. And a….illusion-creating and full-poweredspirit on the loose… Yeah, things are about to get even more interesting….

*winks* Ta for now, dear readers! We look forward to your thoughts!