Phantom: Hey everybody!

Trainer: Sup?

Phantom: We just went and saw The Hobbit for our dad's birthday. I read the book like my brother and parents after they coxed me to try it. I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed both. I loved Fili and Kili.

Trainer: I know! They were so much like us.

*Trainer mumbles something that only Phantom hears and they both giggle and blush*

Phantom: I GET FILI!

Trainer: I GET KILI!

Phantom: Now that that's settled, I am proud to announce a few more things.

Thanks to everyone that has ever reviewed, favourite-ed, followed or supported us throughout the story so far. I'm going to mention you guys at the bottom! So look forward to it. ^w^

OMG! I've gotten 5,428 views for this story! I'm so happy and the number just keeps rising! I was going to say this when it had reached its first thousand, but I kind of forgot…

Trainer: Fail.

Phantom: SHUT UP!

This will either be my last or second last chapter during this break. If it is my last, then I'll see you guys once I'm back in school. Either way, I have one last thing to say to all of you…

Both: HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Trainer: Please enjoy the following chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!

Chapter 14: Why me? Part 1

Frostigi looked for an opening to escape, but quickly found that there was none. He was surrounded. George stood before the young Familiar – not needing anyone to help him on that side. Derek was one his right looming over him – which was actually scary. The man could actually be intimidating; who knew? Carl stood to Frostigi's left and he assumed that his best chance at escape was by pushing the driver over, but he wasn't going to do that. He was like Danny – had a sense of right and wrong – and knew that that wasn't right, no matter how much he wanted to escape. Finally, to his back were Bennie and Jasper who watched him for any sudden movements.

Patricia and Martha had floated down to the ground to get a better look at the mysterious boy since they saw him transform from a badger into a boy.

The two leaned over the two gardeners and Patricia cooed, "He's so cute! Aw, what's a cute-y like you doing around here?"

Martha joined in the cooing and said, "You're right! He's more than cute; he's adorable! How old do you think he is?"

"My guess is twelve. He looks about twelve to me," Patricia said.

Frostigi looked between the two girls and frowned. They were talking about him like he wasn't even there! "You know, I am still here! I'm not invisible… well, not currently. And technically, I'm fifteen," the Familiar mumbled.

Patricia and Martha were stunned into silence and an awkward quiet fell over the room. Frostigi blushed from embarrassment and said, "Um… awkward turtle?" and he made the hand movement while smiling sheepishly.

Jasper tapped Frostigi on the shoulder and did the same movement followed by several others. To which Bennie, Jasper and Frostigi began to laugh. Bennie and Jasper paused and Bennie asked, "You know sign language?"

Frostigi nodded and said, "More like bits and pieces. I'm able to understand for the most part as well as speak, read and write Esperanto and English." He smiled at the two gardeners while his tail swished from side to side. "Oh, by the way! Thanks for helping back in the greenhouse," he added.

Bennie and Jasper nodded and Bennie replied, "No problem, but we still want to know one thing."

Frostigi's tail flicked out in anxiousness and asked quietly, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was, "And, what would that be?"

"Who are you? Not that we don't appreciate you helping Danny like that or anything, it's just that we work for Master Plasmius and he doesn't take too kindly to intruders," Bennie replied.

At the news of the boy helping Danny with something that happened in the greenhouse, everyone – minus Niane – gasped and started asking questions. Frostigi was lucky to even hear parts of them as they all spoke.

"Oh my Ghost! Is the young halfa –"

"– alright? Please tell me that nothing bad happened to Danny! He likes to talk with me about cars! I would hate to see –"

"– the boy hurt again. I hope he didn't lose that not I gave him earlier. We were going to –"

"– visit him or have him come here to the lounge to speak with him. See how he's doing. Ask –"

"– how long he'll be staying with us? Oh, I hope he and Master Plasmius are on better terms."

It went on for a few minutes before Frostigi heard one voice that he recognized. The person had asked, "What happened in the greenhouse anyways?"

Frostigi looked around and paused on Niane. She was staring at him intently and he thought he recognized her from somewhere, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Everyone else stopped asking questions and talking about Danny and looked at Niane.

George spoke up and said, "That's a good question, Niane. What did happen in there? Bennie, Jasper, do you know? You two where there - where you not?"

The two gardeners nodded and Bennie said, "We don't know what exactly happened. It started off like any other day. We started our duties in the greenhouse and were tending to the plants in the human part of the building when Master Plasmius –along with Danny and those other three kids – came into the building. Danny smiled and waved at us, the girl in all black seemed amazed by the place, the tallest girl with red hair was helping Danny move around, the other boy just walked with the group, but looked like he might scream if something jumped up in front of him, and Master Plasmius lead the group."

Bennie paused and everyone nodded in understanding. Jasper made some hand motions and Bennie nodded.

"Jasper says that Danny looked better than he had a few days ago. Maybe Master Plasmius had done something else to help heal him. Anyways, like I said, everything was pretty much normal this morning," Bennie continued. "We were about to tend to some monkshood when the group went into the back room towards the ghost plants. The next thing we know, we had to duck underneath a table with black bryont and convolvus minor/bindweed!"

Everyone gave the gardeners a strange look that said 'care to elaborate?' and Bennie and Jasper's cheeks grew whiter as they blushed.

"Right, sorry, that probably wasn't the best explanation. Something happened in the room the group went into and after we hear some of them yelling these balls of energy started to exploded all over the place," Bennie elaborated.

Martha and Patricia hummed before they asked, "don't flowers have meanings behind them? Perhaps there was an omen about them and you didn't realise it."

Bennie frowned and said, "I don't know. What about you, Jasper? Do you know?"

Jasper made some more hand motions and Bennie face-palmed when he finished.

"You have got to be kidding me," Bennie said. He turned to everyone else and said, "Monkshood means beware, or that danger is near. Black bryont means to be someone's support and convolvus minor/bindweed means uncertainty. Anyways when we hid under the table, this guy," he pointed to Frostigi, "came in and asked what was going on. He ran in after we told him and then he came running out again, but with the three kids that went in with Danny and Master Plasmius."

Everyone stared at the little Familiar with expressions of shock, relief, and scepticism. Bennie quickly wrapped up the story by explaining that the explosions had stopped and when they looked into the room, the younger hybrid was passed out in the older hybrid's arms. Then they were told to lead the three teens out to their vehicle before they returned to the house and to their duties in the greenhouse. They didn't even know where Frostigi had been until a few minutes ago.

Another awkward silence filled the room as everyone turned their attention back to Frostigi. To say he was scared was an understatement; he was terrified. These ghosts didn't know him and thought he was an intruder. And he knew that intruders – no matter where you come from – are never treated nicely.

George reached out a hand to the little Familiar and Frostigi closed his eyes waiting for something horrible to happen, but nothing did. All of a sudden he felt someone ruffling his hair and he just had to see what was happening.

He opened his neon green eyes slowly and saw that it was the ghost chef that was playing his hair. Not only that, but he – and everyone else – was smiling at him. "Ok, who put me on loopy-gas?" Frostigi wondered.

"Well whoever you are," George said to the boy, "thank you for helping the young halfa. From the sounds of it, you're just looking out for him. But you shouldn't be sneaking around this place."

Derek and Niane nodded. Carl then said, "Yeah. If Master Plasmius spots you around here and he doesn't know you, then he won't hesitate to attack. You're lucky he hasn't come after you since the whole greenhouse thing."

Frostigi chuckled and said, "Vlad already knows that I'm here. He's the one who brought me in the first place."

Everyone stared in shock. Well, all except Niane who already knew about this through her connection with Vlad. Several questions ran through everyone's heads; Vlad had brought him here? Why? What did he need this boy for?

Their thoughts, however, were interrupted by the sound of a stomach growling. George looked at Frostigi who merely blushed in embarrassment. George chuckled and said, "Well, it looks like someone is hungry. It's nearly lunch time, how about we get you some lunch, hmm?"

Frostigi's expression lit up at the mention of food. He hadn't eaten at all since he transformed from a book and he was starving. Frostigi nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, please. I think I might die if I don't eat." This was emphasised by another round of his stomach growls.

Everyone laughed and followed George to the kitchen. Niane was the last to leave the lounge. She couldn't help but smile as she saw that she didn't need to do anything to help Frostigi out of that sticky situation. However, that didn't mean that she could relax as of yet. Frostigi was a trouble maker, and trouble makers always find new ways to get stuck in unwanted situations.

Niane giggled at her own thoughts before following after the rest of the staff. She would need to have a word with Frostigi when they were alone. Niane heard her 'sister's' shriek followed be very young laughter that could only belong to the little Familiar.

"Clockwork, give me strength?" Niane pleaded to the open air before she went to find out what had gotten Martha and Patricia to scream.

Danny woke up from a dreamless sleep. He was still wearing the black sweatpants and white t-shirt he had found in the closet with Jazz's help. It hadn't occurred to either of them to go digging into the bags that Team Phantom had brought or the fact that Vlad still had a bunch of clothes in Danny's size. Danny and Jazz could worry about that later.

Danny got up, wincing slightly when his movements pulled on some of the wounds that were healing at a slower pace. The next thing to happen was Danny looking around the room he was in.

"My room? Wasn't I just in the greenhouse with Vlad, my sister and friends?" Danny said to himself with a scratchy voice.

Wait… He spoke out loud. He spoke… Out loud. He. Spoke. Out. Loud! Danny blinked before realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "I HAVE MY VOICE BA-ARG!" Danny started to exclaim, but grabbed his throat again as pain shot threw the tender area. "Ok, only partially back," he mumbled almost as a whisper.

Danny moved over to the edge of the bed which instantly got the attention of both animals on the other side of the bed. TJ and Maddie barked and meowed respectively before jumping and circling around the injured boy.

"Ok, ok, easy you two. I'm still injured if you haven't noticed," the younger hybrid said. TJ either didn't seem to notice or just didn't care since he continued to bark happily at his owner. Maddie, on the other hand, seemed to notice Danny's discomfort and just meowed at him from the floor.

Danny smiled at her and leaned down to pet both of them. TJ leaned into the touch and wagged his tail. When Danny went to pet Maddie, she looked at the hand before jumping up his arm and stopping on his shoulders.

"Maddie, you little devil. You tricked me. No wonder you and Vlad get along so well," Danny scowled at the cat. He then smiled. He couldn't stay mad at her. "Why do you have to be so cute and innocent?" he asked. He received a meow in response. "And I'm talking to a cat," he mumbled as he stood up.

Maddie balanced across his shoulders while TJ followed the boy wherever he went. Danny went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up as best he could. It's not as easy as you think it is when a cat restricts the movements of your upper half while a dog restricts the lower half.

After washing his face, combing his hair and then trying to get the comb back from Maddie after she stole it, Danny decided that he should eat something. He had been asleep for who-knew-how-long and was actually hungry.

The young hybrid made his way down the hallways to the stairs and into the main hall before finally arriving at the kitchen. He could have just phased through the floor of his room, but then the two animals who refused to leave his side would most likely be left behind and try to hunt him down. Danny was sure that they could do that since they both knew hybrids pretty well.

As soon as he looked into the kitchen, he found all of Vlad's ghostly staff lounging about talking to… Frostigi? Danny wondered where he went, but he guessed he now knew. Frostigi and the others didn't seem to notice Danny in the doorway as they continued to talk.

"Here you go, Frostigi," George said as he placed a plate of sandwiches and a bowl of fruit in front of the ninja boy.

Frostigi stared at it with wide eyes and said, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou… Thank You!" Just when the little Familiar was about to dig in, TJ barked causing everyone to turn in the direction of the sound.

Danny didn't think that Frostigi's eyes could get any wider, but they did when their eyes met. Frostigi's mouth fell open and everyone else seemed to have a similar shocked or stunned expression.

Danny chuckled and said in a soft, scratchy voice, "You know, if you keep your mouths open like that, you're going to catch flies."

Everyone immediately closed their mouths – well, all except Frostigi; whose mouth turned into an open grin. Frostigi leapt from his bar stool and pounced on Danny. Not expecting the sudden tackle, Danny fell over with Frostigi still clinging to him while Maddie jumped off to avoid falling and TJ barked at the Familiar for making such a sudden movement.

"DannyDannyDannyDannyDANNY!" Frostigi cried out in joy like a little brother who just realized that their sibling or parent just walked into the room and had to show them something that they thought was amazing. "You're ok, and you can speak! Well, sort of, but you get the point. Areyouok?; WhatdidVladdotoyou?; Areyouhungry?"

Frostigi was talking so fast that Danny could barely make out what the boy was asking. Danny leaned on his elbows and said, "FROSTIGI! Calm down. I'm not dead you know… ok, not true, I'm half dead, but you get the point."

Frostigi looked at Danny with teary eyes, but then he punched the hybrid in the arm. "OW! Hey, what the hell was that for?!" Danny asked now annoyed.

"Stulta despistado fantomo (1)! You nearly gave me a heart/core attack in the greenhouse," Frostigi yelled as he hugged Danny, burying his face into Danny's chest.

Danny sat up with Frostigi still in his lap and put an arm around the Familiar. "First off, I'm not stupid. Second, why are you so upset? It's not like I died back there, right? What doesn't kill me makes me stronger? And thirdly, could you get off me? You're kind of heavy," Danny stated.

Danny tried to stand, but was only able to once Frostigi relented on his grip and got up too. They made their way back to the stools that Frostigi had been sitting on earlier and took their seats. Danny then leaned over to the smaller boy and whispered, "We'll talk later about what happened."

Frostigi nodded and went back to his meal slightly satisfied that Danny was ok. Danny looked around at the other beings in the room and blushed when Martha and Patricia 'aw-ed' at the little interaction between the two boys.

George leaned on the counter and smiled at Danny when he got his attention. "So," he said. "It's good to finally see you walking around, young halfa. What do you want? I'll make anything to celebrate."

Danny smile and said, "how-," Danny coughed when his voice got stuck. He then tried again with a little more success. "How about some pasta? Something warm would really help my throat problem."

George chuckled before replying, "Alright, I'll have it to you in a few minutes. Oh, and Danny?" Danny looked at the ghost chef in the eyes and wondered what the man… uh, ghost wanted to say. "Glad to see you again," he said before moving into the actual kitchen to work on the lunch.

Danny smiled and turned to face everyone else. Before he could even get a word out, Martha and Patricia smothered him a double hug.

"Oh, Master Danny, we are so happy to see you are alright," Martha cried.

"Yes, you gave us quite a fright when Master Plasmius brought you in and you were on the brink of death," Patricia added.

Danny flailed, trying and failing to get out of the embrace. Derek, Carl, Niane, Bennie and Jasper all laughed at the poor predicament that had befallen the young halfa. Frostigi even stopped eating with a ham sandwich hanging out of his mouth while he stared at his owner. Frostigi started to laugh, but instantly regretted it when he started to choke on the food. He hit his chest a few times before the sandwich finally went down and he let out a relieved sigh only to laugh again at Danny.

Danny's face turned into a mixture of red and blue from embarrassment and lack of air respectively. Finally, he managed to gasp, "Martha… Patricia… can't… breath."

The two maids immediately let go of the boy. He gasped in a few deep gulps of air and smiled weakly at them. The two blush and backed away mumbling their apologies. Danny merely smiled broader and said, "Good to see you two too, but maybe… maybe next time could you just take turns acting overprotective?"

Everyone laughed. Right then, George came back with a plate of pasta. "Eat up, young halfa. There's plenty more where that came from."

Danny looked towards the food and his stomach instantly made the decision before his brain did. Danny started to eat his food, savouring each and every bite. He had forgotten how good the ghost chef's food was.

Everyone else decided to eat something as well before they each had to return to any of their duties. Danny and Frostigi finished their meals in record time and asked George for more. The ghost chef was more than happy to oblige and served them another helping.

Danny and Frostigi happily ate their fill and then both let out a sigh of satisfaction. Carl chuckled and said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were brothers."

Danny and Frostigi cracked open one of their eyes each and stared at the ghost driver before looking at each other and smiling. "Well, I don't know about brothers, but I could definitely see us as relatives," Danny said.

Frostigi started to laugh so hard that he fell off his stool and was then promptly tackled by TJ who began licking the boy's face.

"Gah! Somebody get this dog off me! Gah, Danny! HELP!" Frostigi exclaimed.

Danny watched from his own stool and said, "I don't know. If you're going to end up being near me all the time, since I have to presume from your little freak-out earlier that that will end up happening, then you are going to need to be on good terms with TJ." Danny laughed when lay across the Familiar's chest, effectively trapping him to the floor.

In a few seconds, Danny was on the floor too and called TJ off before the Dalmatian walked over, sat down and wagged his tail happily. "Did you like your new playmate?" Danny asked. In response, TJ barked happily.

"Well I certainly didn't. You know, I was clean before you decided to give me your personal bath," Frostigi growled in discomfort at the dog.

TJ just barked louder and panted like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Well, look on the bright side," Bennie said.

"What bright side? I smell like dog breath now. I'm gonna need a bath now," Frostigi protested.

Derek chuckled and replied, "well, at least be grateful that you were bigger than him instead of being your badger self. Otherwise he or even Maddie could have gotten the better of you."

Frostigi turned bright red at the valid point and remained quiet. Everyone laughed except for Danny. "What are you guys talking about? Frostigi hasn't turned into a badger as far as I know," said the hybrid.

"Oh yeah, you were upstairs when it happened. We found him in the lounge under your room as a badger and when he got scared, he turned back into this form. We thought he was an intruder until he, Bennie and Jasper cleared part of it up," Carl said. "Hey, are you ready to play some games?" he then asked.

Danny titled his head. "Um… sure, but why?"

"Derek gave you a note at breakfast. You didn't read it did you," Niane said while smiling at the hybrid. She had seen everything happen through Vlad's eyes so she knew that Danny had most likely had the note still, but never got the chance to look it over.

As she guessed, Danny blushed and admitted, "Um… I never looked at the note. Sorry. With everything that happened and with Vlad sticking by my side all morning, I never found a good opportunity to look at it." Danny pulled the note out and wanted to slap himself for forgetting about it; especially since he had woken up with nobody around to try and read it before him. Danny unfolded the paper and began to read:

Danny,

Later today, we'd all like to meet with you and play a few games. Bennie and Jasper really wanted a rematch in that card game 'signal'. We also want to see what other games we can beat you at. Niane was simply amazing when she brought you down in chess and we've been practicing.

We were thinking around lunch or the afternoon if you're feeling up to it. If not, we completely understand. Meet us in the lounge or kitchen if you feel up to the challenge.

Signed, your ghostly staff/friends.

P.S. we placed a wager on whether or not you would read this note.

Danny finished reading and had to try and hold in his laughter at the final sentence. He looked up from the paper and said, "Well, who won the bet?"

At the mention of the bet, some of the ghosts cheered and said that everyone should pay up while others groaned in defeat. The ones who won consisted of Niane, George, Martha, and Derek, while the losers were Carl, Patricia, Bennie and Jasper.

Danny smiled and asked, "What did the winners get anyway?"

Derek smirked and said, "Since we don't bet with money, we decided that the loser had to do something special for the winner."

Patricia said that she had to do one of the chores that Martha hated doing, which, coincidentally, was a chore that she also hated. When Danny asked what the chore was, both replied that it was helping Bennie and Jasper clean the outer grounds of the estate. Normally they didn't do it, but occasionally they were needed to help.

Carl had to bring a special request back from the Ghost Zone the next time he was there. When Danny whispered/asked Carl what the request was, the ghostly driver told him that it was actually no big deal. It was just to get a certain suit from a seamstress. Apparently, shortly after Danny returned to Amity Park, Maddie had done a number on one of the suits that Derek owned. Since Derek didn't visit the Ghost Zone as often as Carl, the bet made it so that Carl could pick it up for him. Danny shrugged and thought that Carl was right; it wasn't that big a deal.

Bennie and Jasper were trying to convince the youngest maid and the chef that they should do something for them like the bet intended, but the two argued that it wasn't necessary. When they said that they could grow anything for them in the greenhouse, George immediately brightened at the idea and said, "I could always use some rhubarb. I could finally make a strawberry-rhubarb pie." Niane relented and said that she always loved roses, especially red ones. The two gardeners smiled and said they would be more than happy to grow them.

Danny smiled and said, "I thought bets were supposed to be horrible for the loser. You know, like losing money or having to do some sort of ridiculous challenge?"

Carl laughed and replied, "Normally, yes. How did you know? Have you ever made a bet?"

Danny blushed and whispered in his hoarse voice, "Maybe."

This got a few heads to spin. Jasper instantly started to motion something and Bennie translated. "He wants to know what your bets have been and if you've either been the winner or the loser."

Danny blushed even harder and croaked out, "um… I don't know, it's kind of gross and embarrassing."

"Aw, come on. We're all friends here. Besides, I'm sure that we've seen worse things in the Ghost Zone than you could tell us happened here," George added playfully, finally coming into the conversation.

Danny looked for a way out, but found none. Everyone could easily catch him in his state since they had full access to their powers as well as TJ and Maddie blocking his way physically. Danny sighed and said, "Fine, but you asked for it. You can't regret asking."

Everyone nodded in agreement, so the young hybrid began speaking, "Ok, so I have been in a few small bets with my friends, but that was usually for a few dollars. Just something simple like 'which ghost did I have to skip class to fight?' or 'who will win this round of this game?' and my least favourite, 'what does Dash want with me now?'"

When Danny got a bunch of confused looks, he said, "Oh, right! Dash is the quarterback of my school's football team. He's also the school bully, and I'm his favourite target."

"Well, why not fight back? You certainly could with your abilities," Martha pointed out.

Danny's face fell slightly and he explained, "Well, I could, but that wouldn't be right. Just because I can, doesn't mean I should. Plus, before I got my ghost powers, I was known as 'weak little Fenton', the kid who was a loser and bottom of the social ladder."

Niane smiled, "well, I don't agree with you when you believe that you should just take it, but you are right in saying that you shouldn't use your powers to get even."

Danny smiled and for a minute he looked like Vlad when he said, "Now who said that? I've gotten even on him a few times. What can I say, I can't control my actions once my emotions have a say in the matter." Danny looked at the ceiling thinking about when he stuffed Dash's teddy-bears or Fenton Paper into the boy's locker. Dash could only prove that Danny had done one of them, but he always blamed Danny when something bad happened to him.

Niane shook her head, but Carl asked, "So, besides those money bets with your friends, did you do any other kinds of bets?"

Danny frowned and turned a little green at the memory. "Yeah," Danny said. "But I don't think I'll ever be able to live it down. Quick note, don't let yourself get talked into a bet like this. It was around Halloween and my grades had fallen pretty low. My teacher said that if I wanted to bump up my mark I had to help with the Haunted House charity event. Unfortunately, Dash was also flunking the course and had to help too. When Mr. Lancer left, Dash said that he could make a scarier Haunted House than me and said that I was too much of a chicken to participate. I let my pride and anger get the better of me and I told him that I could make my room twice as scary as his. He smiled at me and said that we should make a wager. At first I didn't want to, but the idea of my showing him up was too great, so I accepted.

My friends tried to help me, but they said I wasn't scary and that my attempt was pretty bad. Sam found something about the Fright Knight and how he was the ghost of Halloween. Excited about the possibility, I flew through the Ghost Zone and apparently into Pariah's castle for the first time. I found the pumpkin that held the ghost knight's sword and took it. Man was that a bad idea. I used it to make my room of the Haunted House scarier, but it also meant that I unleashed the Fright Knight.

The dude came and found me, and I was about to win the bet too. But he had to ruin it by taking the sword back and slashing my teacher, Dash, and my best friend – Tucker – into their worst nightmares. After I defeated the ghost by putting his sword into my friend's Trick-or-Treat bag – which was in the shape of a pumpkin – all the people that Fright Knight had slashed came back. Bad part was that the fight destroyed my room and Mr. Lancer disqualified me; making me lose the bet, but at least the town was safe."

When Danny was finished, everyone was laughing. Carl wiped a glowing tear from his eye before asking, "So, you never told us what the bet was. You lost, so what did you have to do?"

Danny turned a visible green this time and held back the acidic bile that wished to escape his stomach. When he gained control again he said, "The bet was that the loser had to eat Dash's gross underwear."

Everyone gaged and 'ew-ed' at the idea. George looked appalled overall. He couldn't even imagine someone eating something so vile.

Danny nodded in agreement. "Being a teenager in high school, I had to do it to save some of my dignity or be called a wimp for the rest of my school life. I can honestly say that I have never made that rash a decision again."

Danny got off the stool and said, "Can we play those games later? I kind of wanted to just walk around for a bit."

"Sure, we can wait. Just don't scare us half-to-full-death. We don't want to see you in a bloody mess again," Derek said.

Danny nodded and left the room with Maddie on his shoulders again while TJ stayed on his right. Frostigi waved to the ghostly staff before following after the young hybrid.

Vlad had been in his study and, more recently, his lab since the little episode that happened in the greenhouse. He noticed that Frostigi had left a while ago, probably bored of watching the older man work. Vlad smiled. If the Familiar had stayed just a little while longer, than he would have realised that Vlad was doing research on him and the books.

Vlad had just finished another search of the weird writing found in the Far Frozen caves, but it came up negative… again. The older hybrid had tried verifying it with several languages on Earth and some dead ones found in the Ghost Zone, but none matched up. Maybe a word here or there, but not the entire section.

He had tried French, Russian, German, Hebrew, Egyptian, Japanese, Chinese, Mandarin, Latin, Greek, Spanish and several others that he couldn't pronounce. Not one matched the odd writing.

Vlad rubbed his temples. Perhaps it was time for a break. The billionaire looked at his wrist watch and found that it was a little past lunch. At the sudden realisation, Vlad's stomach growled and he made his way out of the lab and to the kitchen.

He was about to enter the main hall when he decided to make a quick detour by the younger hybrid's room and check up on him. "Perhaps Frostigi had gone to the boy's room to rest," Vlad thought.

He changed direction and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Little did he know that as soon as he turned down the hallway at the top of the stairs did Danny, Frostigi and the two animals leave the kitchen and headed for the den.

Vlad opened the door to peak in, hoping as to not wake the boy if he was still asleep. Vlad listened for any movements, but frowned when he didn't hear anything. He didn't hear any breathing, movement or even a steady rhythm of a heartbeat. Growing worried, Vlad opened the door all the way and rushed into the room. Said room was empty except for the messy bed that Vlad knew he had left the boy in.

Vlad left the room and started searching for any signs of the boy. He was almost to the main stairs when he heard someone gasp, "What are these things?!"

Vlad quickened his pace and soon found him in the den, where Danny, Frostigi, Maddie and TJ were surrounded by the creatures that Skulke had shown the older hybrid and which Danny had fought back at the Nasty Burger.

Vlad quickly took in the scene. Frostigi had his sword drawn and was holding it up, occasionally blocking a green claw from swiping at them. Maddie and TJ were hissing and growling at the smaller blue creatures whenever they tried to move closer. Finally, Danny was at the centre of the circle looking very angry, surprised and maybe even fearfully at the creatures.

One of the humanoid creatures jumped at Frostigi, who blocked, but then another one jumped at Danny. Not being prepared for the attack, Danny closed his eyes and held his hands up as protection.

"DANNY!" "DANIEL!" Frostigi and Vlad yelled respectively, both trying to get to Danny in time. Danny waited for the blow, but it never came. Danny opened his eye just a crack to see the creature be blasted back, but not in the way he had expected.

Danny opened his eyes all the way and saw that his hand was glowing green, but he hadn't shot an ecto-blast. Instead it had been a green ball of energy appearing right in front of the creature, which exploded when it had been close enough. Danny stared and then smirked. "I don't know what just happened, but I like it," He said before making another green sphere appear in the air and whipping it at another clawed creature.

Frostigi smiled and with a small battle cry joined the boy in fighting. Vlad transformed and helped as well.

They were almost done when Danny suddenly gave a surprised cry, getting everyone's attention. Frostigi and Vlad froze at what they saw. Danny was being restrained by two of the humanoids while five of the smaller creatures started pulling him into the ground.

"What the hell are you mmphr!" Danny cried as a green ecto-gag formed over his mouth.

"Daniel! Stop allowing them to phase you into the ground!" Vlad growled, but then recalled the information that Skulker had gotten. The smaller creatures could disappear into the ground as shadows and couldn't be attack when like that.

Realising that this was what they were doing, Vlad shot towards the cluster holding Danny and tried to pry them off. Before he even managed to get one, Danny made one more muffled scream before he and the five mouse-like creatures disappeared into a shadow and left.

Vlad growled and destroyed about ten of the offending creatures before they vanished from the room. Frostigi looked around frantically for any traces of the teen, but found none. He turned to Vlad and asked, "What do we do now?"

The older hybrid turned to the Familiar and said, "We track them down and rip them apart for kidnapping Daniel."

Frostigi nodded and followed Vlad to his lab. The billionaire moved over to one of the computer and typed in a few commands. A second later, and Skulker's image filled the screen.

"Skulker!" Vlad all but yelled to the hunter ghost.

Fearing that the vampire-ish ghost had called to yell at him for allowing the whelp to be harmed, Skulker started to ramble, "L-l-look Plasmius. It wasn't my fault what happened! I swear it! H-h0-he's the one who took the hit for me. I didn't-"

He didn't get to finish since Vlad cut him off. "Not now, Skulker. I don't have time for your excuses or your rambling. I need your help in tracking down Daniel! He was just ambushed by those… hose creatures that attacked you! They took him somewhere and I can't find it. I need you here NOW!"

Skulker was shocked for a moment. Someone else had captured his 'prey'? NEVER! Skulker nodded and said, "I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll leave immediately."

Vlad nodded and replied, "Hurry." With that, he ended the communication and waited for the hunter to arrive.

Meanwhile, Danny was being dragged unwillingly as a shadow to the woods next to Vlad's castle. When they finally emerged and returned to a solid state, Danny was woozy and just about ready to pass out for the second time that day.

"That was worse than teleporting for the first time," he thought as he got his bearings. Danny looked around and found that he was at the river he had always gone to when he felt like being alone when he had stayed here.

Danny was so out of it that he didn't notice some of the humanoids tie him to a tree while using ecto-ropes until it was too late. "Damn it!" he thought to himself. "Note to self: train to keep focused in dire situations."

Danny glared at the creatures. They glared back and a few even showed their claws as a threat. The staring contest ended abruptly when a black/purple portal opened. Danny watched as a figure emerged from the void and into the small clearing.

His eyes widened when he realised who it was: Koŝmaro Magiisto.

The first thing he noticed was that Koŝmaro looked weaker and that his arms was bandaged and in a sling. The second was the creature on his shoulder; it looked like the other small blue mouse-like beings, but it looked a little more purple than the others.

Koŝmaro walked further into the clearing and the portal he had walked through was closed. He looked around and his pupil less red eyes stopped on Danny. He turned to one of the humanoid creatures and said, "I told you to watch them, not capture them. There is a huge difference."

The creature said something that Danny assumed was an apology and the ghost magician nodded. He then turned back to Danny and said, "Well, since you're here, why don't we get to know each other better, hmm?"

He then started to move slowly closer to Danny, like a predator does its prey. Danny's eyes widened in fear before he closed them shut and refused to open them. He heard a deep chuckle that just kept getting closer to him until it was right in front of his motionless form. All the muscles in his body tensed when a cold gloved hand caressed his face, tilting it this way and that before it settled for cupping the side of his face.

Danny gulped and felt sweat bead down his face. He continued to keep his eyes shut and clenched his teeth.

Koŝmaro watched as the boy before him squirmed and tried to get his face away from his touch. The ghost magician smiled wickedly and said, "Come now, I'm not going to hurt you this time." He started to caress the child's cheek again and when Danny tried to turn away, Koŝmaro gripped him firmly into place. "Ah, ah, ah," he said condescendingly. "Don't you know it's not polite to not look your guest in the eye? Come on, open your eyes."

Danny refused and when Koŝmaro saw this, he frowned. He then smiled again and sent a small shock into the boy's body. Danny made a muffled yelp and quickly opened his eyes to try and find the source. A second later, Danny and Koŝmaro were staring at each other; Danny with big fearful blue eyes and Koŝmaro smiling in victory with his own gleaming red eyes.

He smiled at the tied up teen and pat his raven hair. "See," he said. "That wasn't too hard, eh Danny-boy?"

Danny shrank away from the offending hand and repressed a shiver from going down his spine. He then thought, "He could be Dan Phantom's relative… or I guess, my relative." The only person to ever call him 'Danny-boy' was Dan, and he would rather forget it than have to remember it.

Koŝmaro, on the other hand, laughed at the younger hybrid's reaction. The end of his long, braided, blue flame hair flared as he laughed. It reminded Danny of his future evil self as well as Skulker and Ember, but mostly Dan.

Koŝmaro leaned in closer to the paled boy's face and said in a voice that did send a shiver down Danny's spine, "We're going to have such a fun time, you and me." Danny watched and listened in horror as the older being began to laugh again, but this time like Dan.

Danny closed his eyes, failing to hold back his tears of fear. Koŝmaro caressed his face again and wiped away some of the tears before saying, "Oh, don't cry. Like I said, we're going to have some fun."

Danny kept his eyes shut while the other ghost spoke. Danny couldn't fight back, he was too drained from the previous fight and woozy from the little ride the mouse-like creatures took him on. He was trapped. "Someone please help me," Danny pleaded, but all that was heard was his muffled cries.

Phantom: Hey, so just a translation from earlier guys.

(1) Stupid clueless Phantom!

Phantom: Glad you guys got to the bottom. Sorry that this is only part 1, but I didn't want to lose the suspense!

Trainer: But I want to know NOW!

Phantom: well, you're just going to have to wait.

Trainer: hmph!

Phantom: so do you guys have any New Year's Resolutions?

Danny: I want to get better grades. God knows that I need to.

Sam: I want to *blush* spend more time with Danny.

*Danny blushes too*

Danny: Same here Sam!

Tucker: Lovebirds. I want to get some new technology and maybe spend more time with Valerie.

Vlad: I don't think it's any of your business to know what I want to do this year.

*everyone stares at Vlad*

Phantom: Maybe it's not the best time, but –

Trainer: DOG PILE ON VLAD!

Vlad: GAH!

*Phantom and Trainer high five on the side lines*

Vlad: you know I'm going to have to even the score because of this.

Both: we know.

Phantom: Thanks everybody!

Trainer: And Happy New Year!

Both: thanks to everyone who has supported us. We encourage you all to review!

Special mentions

Thanks to the 5,466 viewers who chose to read 'Ghostly Reunions'.

Thanks to the following that have fav-ed this story (love ya!):

AllWatcher, Blackwolfhunting , Chrome Nagi Dokuro, Cynder3601, DeReZzeD ArI, DragonsFlame117, Dreamer Mitsukai, Gemini97 , Kira Sema, Onio, PhantomGirl1223, PinkLettuce , PrincessBetty, SKIPBEATfanfanfan, Shadow The Assassin, ShadowedFang , Soldier's Requiem , SpiritTrainer , The Literary Lord, blackjay48, , dinosaurusgeek , history101, jbcm8925, jeanette9a , megayugiohlover , whisperofthemoon , xXxCravingPepperonixXx , zoeshade

Thanks to the following that have chosen to follow this story:

AllWatcher , Athina Dark-Angel of Death, Azawrath and Dusk, Bananahsplit, Baracudaz, Chrome96Dokuro, Chrome Nagi Dokuro, DannyPhantomluver2, DragonsFlame117, Dreamer Mitsukai, Garniella , Gemini97, GoddessWarrior, HP Girl 28, ItSmellsLikeAllstate, JesusFreak19, Lightningpool, NebulaLuna30, PinkLettuce, PrincessBetty01, SailorSea , ShadowedFang, Siberian Hawk, Soldier's Requiem, SpiritTrainer, The Dp Fangurl, , dinosaurusgeek , history101, jeanette9a , katanne92813, maltese, megayugiohlover , pearl84, truephan, twihard5000

Thanks to the following who have ever reviewed:

Emo respect and love, Gemini97, jeanette9a, history101, The Dp Fangurl, EmberMclain13, truephan, Azawrath and Dusk, pearl84, PrincessBetty01, Athina Dark-Angel of Death, DragonsFlame117, twihard5000, Guest (reviewed in chapter 7), maltese, Shadow The Assassin, Tedlovestxranger, dinosaurusgeek, Garniella, Guest (reviewed in chapter 10), PinkLettuce, DannyPhantomluver2, Guest (reviewed in chapter 12)

Finally, Special thank you-s!:

pearl84, thank you for writing your awesome stories. I probably would have never started reading Fanfictions or writing this story for that matter if it hadn't been for you.

truephan, thank you as well for writing your awesome stories. I just love them. And thank you for all the criticism for my first ever Fanfiction. It means a lot.

Gemini97, thank you for being there all the way from the beginning. You and I were just starting out and it meant so much to me that you and I became friends because of this. ^w^

To jeanette9a and history101, like Gemini97, you guys have supported me in this endeavour since the beginning, so I thank you. I couldn't have done it without ya!

Finaly thanks to my sister SpiritTrainer who laughed right alongside me since the beginning. I know it's confusing, but I'm Phantom Trainer and she is Spirit Trainer. She used to be called Pokebudy, but changed it. Just to make it clear though; PT is mostly about Danny Phantom and ST is mostly about Pokemon! Got it? Good.