Edit: 6/5/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.

zzz- normal separation

ooo- dream or vision separation (could be a past event of some kind)

Mental thoughts or distant speaking

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." ~ Jimi Hendrix

zzz

Ghost Zone. Edge of the Green Haze. 3:10 PM.

Though Dan preferred destruction, it did not necessarily mean he didn't find certain things beautiful. There were probably a few things that he found beautiful that others wouldn't, like revenge with a cruel and perfectly utilized twist of irony, fire burning a city or town as the sun set, and mud, blood, and numerous other stains marring Guys in White suits or war machines. There were also, however, things that other people might actually find to be just as beautiful as he did. For example, the shores of the Dead Sea in the Ghost Zone.

Compared to other pieces of land within the Zone, the one that encircled and held the expanse of the Dead Sea had to be one of the largest if not in fact the largest land masses. It was slighter larger than the Atlantic Ocean and ranged in climates across the vast lands and its islands and shores. It was kind of weird to think of an island of land on water on an island of land floating in ether, but here it was.

"Now… I'm at least getting close to the colder areas…" Dan murmured, not quite willing to part from the view yet. The 'water' in the Dead Sea was a dark green-blue which wasn't too far off of what the actual ocean looked like, at least for Ghost Zone standards. The waves however, would cause dim ripples of glowing blue to shine. It was similar to bioluminescent waves in the real world, but instead of phytoplankton it was simply the ecto-energies making up the 'air' and 'water' mingling with each other. In this region there were no islands in sight, except for some icebergs that were partially melted. He looked down when a turquoise seal with a third eye rose to the surface and lazily watched him.

Dan ignored the creature and simply watched the pulsing of the waves for a few more minutes. He almost accidentally let himself fall into trance state when he was alerted by a few sudden noises. The seal dove back into the water quickly and he could feel rumbling of some type of fight in the distance. He let his ghost sense out and got the same ping that had lead him there. An eager smile broke across his face and his fangs glistened. "Finally, some action." He faded into invisibility before flying in the direction of the fight.

It wasn't too long before he came across an interesting sight. A large Viking like ghost with white-blue skin and orange-red hair and beard was battling against a massive serpent made of ice crystals.

The Viking had iron carved armor lined with fur, no helmet of any kind, and a large shield in his left hand and hefty war axe in his right. The serpent was wrapped around a large spire of ice, growling at the other ghost. It seemed to be made of hundreds of ice spikes. The only smooth looking place on its body was its stomach, though it had ridges for the sake of friction.

"Come down and face yer fate, cowardice serpent!" The Viking yelled out. The serpent eyed him and gave a hiss but nothing more. The man growled in returned and struck the spire of ice like a tree with his axe.

Dan watched as the serpent shot out a pressurized stream of cold fog. It struck the warrior's shield and frosted its metal rapidly. The serpent gained some confidence and finally slunk down to the ice field, still blasting out the icy fog.

Suddenly, through the fog, the serpent didn't see the wild swing that completely severed its massive head from its body. It screamed out and its body began to thrash. The Viking started to see an ice spike grow out from the head and try to reconnect to the body.

"Ah noh you dohn't." The Beserker smashed the new ice with his boot and leaned down closer to the beast. "Now, where is yore master? I know there is a much larger serpent in this sea. I want the Leviathan!"

The serpent merely snapped its maw.

"Very well."

Dan watched without emotion as, whom he figured was no doubt Brynjar, smashed in the creature's head with his shield and then sliced right through the core that was revealed. The beast's body began to turn into green slime before evaporating into the Zone's ether. Whatever soul it may have had was no longer connected to this plane and had moved onto whatever place was in store for it.

The Viking let out a short unneeded breath and a small fog came from his nostrils. Dan decided it was time to attack. Without warning or bothering to ask if he was even the right guy, since the Dark Phantom didn't care, the invisible Dan slammed bodily into the supposed Berserker.

The Viking ghost let out and grunt of irritation and pain when he smashed into and through a nearby icy structure. Dan faded into the visible spectrum at that point. "Brynjar the Berserker, you're wanted by Walker for crimes against the Zone."

Dan frowned slightly when he heard a deep throated laugh echo from the fog around the shattered ice mound. "So, the fool has sent another money grubber out to be vanquished at my hands. It's ardly even worth my time." Brynjar stepped through the fog and came face to face with the floating Dan. "So then, who be the new guy, eh? Well son, what's yer name?"

Dan landed softly on the clear and white ice field, kicking up a small ring of ice crystals. "I'm your next challenge. The money is a great bonus, but I don't really value such things. I'm more interested in crushing my opposition. That is my reward." Dan watched as Brynjar's expression changed from mocking and aloof to a bit more serious.

"You seem awful confident. What are ya anyway? You don't really look like one of those Vampires from the Gloaming Grove, even if you do have the chompers for it. Are you one of those Dragonkin like Dorathea or an Elf with them ears?"

Dan snorted at all the guesses. "None of the above."

"Then what are ya?"

Dan grinned, exhaling a bit of steam. Brynjar looked down and noticed that the ice around the ghost's feet was starting to look a little soft and slushy. "I'm just a phantom I suppose." Dan could no longer control the curling of the corners of his mouth, causing a more maniac looking grin to show itself. He was getting excited and after so long of not destroying something or fighting, pardon him if he didn't have as much patience for his normal crafty scheming. He wanted cool ectoplasm smeared on his gloves.

"A phantom, hm? Very well, come then Phantom and see if you can bring me a good death!" Brynjar declared. He barely was able to throw up his shield in time before a torrent of blazing hot ghost fire from Dan's palm pushed against it and tried to lick around the corners of the round piece of steel.

Dan split into four copies and flew over. Each copy took turns in knocking the shield back enough to launch some powerful punches to Brynjar's head and chest. With the warrior a bit stunned, Dan reclaimed his copies quickly before blasting the ghost with a breath of super-heated fire. The phantom slowly landed, never stopping the assault before snapping his mouth shut and preforming a round house kick directly into Brynjar's chest. He was spiked into the ground and dung a trench for at least the length of a football field before coming to a stop.

Dan snorted, displeased in the lack of effort he'd put into this so far, and lifted up slightly to float towards his downed opponent. I've fought humans with more persistence and grit. That was a sad fact indeed. He finally reached Brynjar and looked down into the trench, seeing the ghost was completely covered in debris.

"Hmph. I don't think you really understand what you're dealing with."

The Berserker moved, pulling himself out from underneath the large pieces of ice. Then Brynjar slowly looked up, red coloring the entirety of his eyes. Dan watched as a dark red aura blazed around the icy warrior. "I don't believe you do either, boy." Then the Berserk Brynjar charged, swinging his axe down in a full arc.

zzz

Casper High Courtyard. 3:34 PM.

Danny was in a good mood after talking with Ishiyama and Lancer, as were the rest of his and Dani's friends, until they exited the building and forgot that the entire world knew who they were.

Team Phantom froze when they saw the twenty plus trucks parked out front, hailing from multiple news stations and multiple countries.

"Well damn," Dani muttered.

"Dani…" Danny warned.

"Oh, come on! I'm only a couple years younger than you!"

"Technically you're barely four…" Tucker murmured, only to get a glowing green stare from the girl.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Look!"

"Dépêchez, ici." (Hurry, here.)

"Schnell, schnell." (Quick, quick.)

"Karera wa asokodesu." (They're over here.)

"Joe, get the camera."

Danny felt his body tense as several reporters and their cameramen suddenly descended upon the little group.

"What really are the extent of your powers?"

"Is it true that you could take over the mind of any world leader?"

"Was wissen Sie über die Spielzeuglinie ToysForAll produziert denken?" (What do you know about your toy line produced by ToysForAll?)

"Anata ga shibō shita baai wa dono yō ni mada ikite imasu ka?" (How are you still alive if you died?)

"How does it feel to know you're a copy of another human being?" Ash gave the reporter who asked that question of Dani, an irritable look.

"Sont vos yeux brillent? Le font-ils tout le temps?" (Are your eyes glowing? Do they do that all the time?)

Danny's eyes were glowing brightly and he wasn't too pleased about the questions that were being thrown Danielle's way. He grabbed onto his friends tightly as Dani did the same for hers before speaking, "Nescio vos linguis utuntur expectatis anglicus et ego modicum agri ludent aequat. Non comment. Non comment. Non comment. Et sic porro. Vestris quaestionibus respondebitur in tempore opportuno. Vale." (I don't know the languages you're using except for English, so I'll level the playing field a bit. No comment. No comment. No comment. And so on. Your questions will be answered in due time. Goodbye.)

The teens then vanished into thin air and, unbeknownst to the reporters, phased right through them.

"Why'd you speak in Latin, Danny?" Dani asked.

"So, they'd be distracted and wouldn't try to immediately ask more questions," Danny expressed. "I'll answer their questions after I've talked at the White House. They can wait until then."

The group landed around the corner from Valerie's house, seeing as she was the first person they needed to drop off. Though there were a few people milling about, trying to most likely corner her to ask her questions about being the Red Huntress and having membership on Team Phantom or about her Dad's relationship with Vlad or Axon, she assured them that she would be okay.

Tucker was next and he simply asked to be phased through his roof and into his room. The second to last stop was Ash's house where Jace would be waiting for his father to pick him up in a couple hours, since both his parents worked. Ash's mom actually let them in, seeing as there wasn't a crowd outside of their house like some of the others.

"So, you're Danielle?" The woman asked. She was trim and mild looking. Her hair was dark brown and just above her shoulders in length. Her eyes were also brown and looked over the young girl slowly and analytically, though not necessarily with ill intent.

Dani froze up a bit and nodded slowly. She felt the extreme need to change back into her human form.

The woman looked over at Danny next. "And your Daniel, right?"

Danny's face changed a bit and he held out his hand. "Yes, ma'am. I'm Danielle's brother."

"Well… I think we all know you're a bit more than that."

Danny's hand faltered and Ash looked at his mother in mortification. "Mom!"

She smiled slightly, though one could see the slight nervousness in her actions. "I didn't mean any disrespect. It's just a lot to take in. Ash really seems to care about you all."

"Milly? Who's at the door?"

Ash's mom looked behind her and shouted. "Richard, it's Ash's friend Danielle, and her brother Daniel and his girlfriend, Sam."

A man with dirty blond hair with hazel eyes came around the corner, as he worked to tie his tie. He studied them for a moment before moving to clasp Danny's outstretched hand. "Mr. Kappel."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Danny nodded.

The man hummed slightly and looked at the group. He walked over to a plate that had some type of baked sweets on it. "They seem good."

"Richard?" Milly asked.

"Hell, they're probably more normal than you and I were during our Woodstock years." Richard's voice muffled at the end while he bit down on some type of cookie.

"Rick!"

"What? you know it's true." Rick's eyebrow lifted and he pointed to his son with one finger. "I'm not happy about you running off to gawk at those government loons when they came for your friends here, but so long as you don't do drugs, don't get someone pregnant, and don't wake us up at some ungodly hour unless you really need to-"

"RICK!"

"Then I'm good." He paused and nodded. "And like we said before, you're going to continue those defense courses with the Fentons and we'll be having dinner with them soon."

Danny blanched. "Oh God."

"Don't worry son, your sister called us up out of the blue and warned us. I can't guarantee I'll be able to stop the dad joke train though."

Ash was so pale that he was starting to match his hair color.

Rick walked over to Milly who was hiding her face in her hands and kissed her cheek. "Love you, thanks for the late lunch break. I'll be back at eight, hopefully."

Milly sighed and then smiled. "Love you too." She then noticed him reaching for another sweet and swatted his hand. "No sir! That's your sixth one. You're watching your cholesterol!"

"Shoot!" Rick yelped and trotted to the door to escape his wife. "Later, kids." The door then snapped closed. She looked over at the kids and saw Dani was thinking hard about something.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"What's Woodstock?"

Ash yelped and shook his head, pleading with Danny.

"Oh, now I just want to know more."

Milly watched as the friends talked and gestured wildly and with complete freedom with each other. A smile graced her face.

zzz

Danny and Sam were the last two walking around Amity after school. Dani had gone home after dropping off Ash and Jace and had started helping Jack with some type of invention.

Sam had reminded Danny of something they needed to do.

"I wonder if he figured it out."

"I mean it's possible, but it's not a completely straight forward jump. It still requires a bit of thought."

Eventually, Danny, in human form, phased himself and Sam into the back of the Art Gallery. Danny stumbled out of invisibility when he saw what Fundoo was painting. "Oh my God."

Fundoo perked up in surprise at the voice before his eyes widened. "You've returned."

Sam simply stared at the painting in amazement. It was a full portrait of Danny Phantom, in the same position as the one sculpture Danny had commissioned for to Fundoo. His tail was curled as he flew into the sky, arms falling behind and face pointed at a full moon, causing the white of his suit and hair to match up with the moon's glow. Small dark shapes and yellow dots below indicated the buildings of Amity.

Fundoo put down his brushes and palette and walked over slowly, a smile gracing his face. "Do you like it, Mr. Eidolon?"

Danny didn't bother to act surprised. He smiled, laughed a bit in nervousness. "I don't know. I mean I think you're a great artist, but I can't really imagine people staring at a painting of me."

"Hey, at least it's not a giant-ass statue or something," Sam remarked.

Fundoo hummed. "Humble too, yes? Like many of the ancient tales about heroes, mentioning both their hubris and the value of humility."

Danny coughed into his hand.

"I figured out why TheEidolon has been unable to supply anymore figures."

"Yeah."

"It's a shame, they were flying off the shelves before."

Danny cleared his throat. "About that. I do want to keep making them."

A hope seemed to light in Fundoo's eyes. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, just… I don't want to advertise them as being made by Phantom, okay? I know that's tempting, but I was hoping-"

Fundoo nodded his head fervently. "Yes yes! I understand! You want to keep up the mystique!" He tried to move his painter's smock in front of the lower half of his face to emphasize his point.

"Uh, sure."

"So, I'll continue to message your lady friend and we'll return to the same pattern as before?"

Danny nodded and then paused for a second. "Would you mind taking sculptures from my sister as well? She could use the practice."

Fundoo grinned. "But of course! She'll need to give me a few samples and come up with a pen name too."

"Yeah."

Sam wrote something down and gave it to Fundoo. "Here's one of my email addresses. You can send orders through this. Don't share it."

"Understood, my dear." Fundoo smiled at them both. "It's incredible really. To literally have the gift to make art straight from one's very soul-"

Danny blinked, confused and yet oddly touched by the man's words. He'd almost expected the man to have tossed paint and other things at him, telling him how he'd cheated by using his powers to make art, not paint a giant portrait of him and talk as if he was the pinnacle of what it meant to be an artist. "Thanks…" Danny spoke in a quiet and slightly awed tone.

After a few more words and farewells, the couple left the Gallery and started walking through alleyways, trying to avoid most people.

Danny looked over at Sam, walking beside him and seemingly at peace, the complete opposite of what he was feeling. Though things had been showing improvement and possibilities for a better future, everything was just so crazy and he was starting to feel bad for pulling his family, friends, and his friends' families into his troubles. He didn't want to drag everyone down with him. As much as he knew they all cared about him, it still bothered him. He let out a quiet sigh. Of course, the girl immediately heard it and took notice.

"What's wrong?"

Danny frowned a bit and stopped walking. "What do you think would've happened to all of us if things had stayed normal?"

"Come again?" Sam replied, feeling her eyebrow arch up.

"If my parents had never tried to make a portal to the Ghost Zone."

Sam hummed. "Well then there's the possibility that the world would've been defenseless against supernatural take over from someone like Pariah Dark or any other nutcase."

Danny was silent for a moment, absorbing what Sam had said. After a moment of quiet, Danny spoke again. "And us? What do you think would've happened to us? I mean, we're going to be watched like some kind of celebrity couple." Danny's eyebrow's furrowed in irritation. "I don't like the idea that everyone I know and care about has to be a sideshow alongside me and Danielle." Danny started to speak in a mocking voice. "Oh, hey look it's that Tech guy that's friends with the Ghost Boy. Hey, there's that girl who has a dead brother. Hey there's the goth that gets to have a dead boyfriend."

Sam put up a hand. "Whoa, you know I'm not into all that jazz. I like the dark, mysterious, and unique, not the bizarre and disturbing."

Danny nodded and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, but the world doesn't know that." He paused again. "I just don't want our relationship to be in danger of being ruined by tabloids and the masses. You know? In case we actually…" Danny swallowed. "Had a future together…"

Sam nodded to everything Danny said, before looking at him when he mentioned the possibility of their future and a million topics and things that could symbolize that popped into her head. "A future, huh?"

Danny glanced at her and sighed. "I mean, I know we care about each other a lot and stuff."

Sam noticed at how he was trying to dance around saying certain things, namely, marriage, family, and anything else of the matter. After having to worry about so many ghostly things in just the last half year or so, the two had hardly had the time to think about the future as they were just fine living in the now with each other.

Danny sighed at his girlfriend's unchanging face and slid to sit on the ground and against the wall of the alleyway they were in.

After a moment, Sam sat and slid down to sit beside him. There was a big silence before Sam finally spoke.

"I don't believe in true love." Or at least I didn't see it as something that could be remotely possible, but you make me wonder…

Danny flinched at his girlfriend's voice and looked over at Sam, though she made no move yet to look back at him.

"I thought it was just something that people tell you early on so that you don't feel like there's no hope. I still kind of feel that way. I don't believe in love at first sight. I know I didn't fall in love with you when I first saw your eyes or your smile. Even if they were nice, there were probably a lot of people in the world with pretty blue eyes and a happy smile on their face. I was somewhat enchanted or maybe intrigued by how willing you were to accept me, given how I was dressed and how I behaved. I thought you were somewhat foolish in that respect. I wonder if your mom thought the same thing about your dad…" Sam let out a breath and looked at Danny. "I want to sit here and tell you that we'll live happily ever after and that we'll last, but I'd only be telling you what I was maybe hoping for. We'll just have to keep trying." She grasped Danny's hand softly. "I don't know what you want me to say, but I'm not going to lie to you. I'd never lie like that, about something so important. I also thought of marriage as a trap, mostly for women, but men apply too. Stereotypes go both ways you know?"

Sam slowly leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're still my best friend. I wanted to be your friend after you let me join you and Tucker." She paused. "The point I'm dancing around here is that, I want to be around you. I want to stay here, by your side. Whatever that means in the long term, we'll have to decide together and nothing anyone says or does should make the smallest bit of difference in those decisions. Let people play their games if they want."

I've seen every part of you and nothing anyone says could alter my perception of you.

Eventually she felt Danny's other hand wrap around their joined ones and his head lean more heavily into her scalp. His right cheek was somewhat mushed into her hair. "Thank you."

Her head turned up to look at him and he met her with a gentle kiss. After they parted, he gave her a smile that was somewhat cheeky. "Do you want to go for a ride, see where the future takes us?"

"Why not?" Sam asked, watching as Danny transformed and scooped her up into his arms. He took to the sky, going invisible so that they could travel in peace.

Sam knew that Danny would always need someone to guide him and assure him. He simply cared to much about the welfare of others at his core, even before becoming half-ghost. She didn't mind being there to help share that burden for him, partly because she'd somewhat caused it and partly because he was her friend.

She guessed the best thing about the two of them was that they understood each other's fears and preferences. He knew she had a strong will and that she sometimes got too carried away and she knew that he could get irritable when stressed or worried and that he sometimes got frustrated and wanted to be appreciated.

And though she had told him she didn't believe in true love, Sam couldn't really figure out when it was that she had started to question her own beliefs. Being around Danny and Tucker had changed her in a lot of ways, perhaps she wasn't' as pessimistic as she used to think and maybe she didn't see kindness as being naive anymore. She hoped that she'd done something similar for him in that regard, maybe that he didn't have to fit into any mold someone tried to make for him, though she couldn't be sure unless she asked.

Sam would hate to admit she'd grown soft or lax about any of her opinions she'd harbored closely for so long, especially up until she met Danny and Tucker, but if she had the choice of who was the one she'd let soften her heart, it would Danny Fenton.

I think being around someone like you, someone who's my friend, someone who knows me so well, someone whom I love, above all things, sets me free.

zzz

Crossroads Park University. 3:55 PM.

She wasn't exactly sure what she had expected. She'd theorized many different reactions from people, ranging from avoidance and fear to stalking and extreme curiosity, but the truth was not quite any of those extremes. Everything was oddly normal. Yeah, she did get a few people who'd ask questions, but everyone else kind of didn't bother her. She rationalized it was either because no one had noticed her yet or because people just didn't even want to get involved in either way, positive or negative.

"Jazzy, you keep looking at everyone like you're expecting them to suddenly assault you."

Jazz blinked and looked over at her one friend she had made while at college.

"That and you're crushing your poor textbooks. I mean I sometimes wish I could put mine in a trash compactor but seeing as they cost a small fortune, I restrain myself."

Kaitlyn was a dirty blonde haired young woman with emerald green eyes. Her hair was about medium length, not long like Jazz's was. She often wore a white t-shirt with different pastel colored long-sleeved thin cardigans over it along with jeans or in the current case, shorts, because of the good weather. She was a good friend to Jazz and was able to listen to her psycho-babble as Danny called it as well as have deep moral discussions without trouble. At the same time, she could be silly and tended to help push Jazz out of her books to go see a movie or have dinner out.

So far Kaitlyn had only asked some questions about Danny and everything else, just apparently so she could be on the same page. After that, the girl had mostly been seemingly untroubled by the whole thing. She actually understood why Jazz would keep something like that secret. Jazz was just thankful that her friend was still her friend and was even trying to distract her from the stress she'd been under.

"I know. I know. I just can't pretend like there isn't a possibility they could suddenly change their approach."

"Lordy, you're wound tighter than a spring…" Kaitlyn sighed.

"I'm just prepared."

"You can't prepare for life. It just kinda happens." Kaitlyn looked down a bit to lock eyes with Jazz. "Exhibit A, your brother becoming a half-ghost. Can you look your friend in the eyes and tell me that anyone could've ever predicted something that crazy?"

Jazz grunted in annoyance. "I hate it when you're right."

"Nah, you just hate it when you're wrong. That's okay though. I'll be the one to break you from that habit." Kaitlyn chuckled softly to herself when she heard Jazz sigh in exasperation. The girl decided to take her friend off guard. "Alright… so this David guy, what's he like?"

Jazz's eyes immediately bugged out of her head and she spluttered. Kaitlyn couldn't help but grin almost maniacally at the scene. Hook, line and sinker. "How do you know about him!?"

"I went through your phone."

"What!?"

"Nothing is sacred in bestfriendhood, chica."

Jazz huffed and folded her arms. "He's my family's lawyer. I'm staying in contact with him in case something comes up that we need his help for."

"Mmm Hmm. I'll pretend I buy that."

"Kaitlyn, seriously? For all you know he's like a fifty-year-old lawyer!"

"I watch the news, child. I saw him sitting next to your sibs. I've got to say, he's sort of book-smart like you but has a bit of athleticism to him. I can totally see it."

Jazz groaned and tried to mush her face into her books. "Stop."

Kaitlyn opened her mouth to say something but was halted when her eyes locked onto something else. Jazz looked up as she heard a new voice.

"Mrs. Fenton? Can I talk with you in private?"

Jazz observed as one of her favorite psyche teachers, Dr. Hall, held the door to her office open and looked at them both with something close to unease. Though Jazz couldn't necessarily say where the unease came from.

"Oh, uh sure, Doctor Hall."

Kaitlyn smiled at Jazz with a bit of empathy mixed with support. "I'll talk to you back at the apartment later."

"Okay, see ya." Jazz watched her friend disappear down the hallway before she turned to face Dr. Hall and follow the woman inside her office.

After a few moments of getting seated and sitting in absolute silence, Dr. Hall finally let out a sigh.

"I'm not sure how to go about this…"

Jazz felt one of her brows lift against her will. "Yes, Doctor?"

"You can call me Lucy if you like, Jazz." Lucy sighed and leaned back in her chair. She then chuckled a bit darkly. "I wonder if it's even considered patient confidentiality in the case of a dead man…"

Jazz furrowed her brows, still at a loss as to what this was about.

"I had several sessions with Mr. Masters right after he'd gained his fortune, or well, stolen it."

Jazz felt her eyebrows rise a bit in surprise. She then shook her hands in front of her face before pinching the bridge of her nose. "So let me get this straight. You actually counseled Vlad Masters after his accident?" Jazz looked back at her professor fully and seemed to be intrigued.

Lucy let out a breath. "Yes. I had concluded that he was Narcissistic, but he became angry. He threatened to ruin me and then stormed out." She looked back up at Jazz. "I had no idea…"

Jazz felt sympathy surge through her. It her attempts to become a psychologist, Jazz knew very well the kind of fear that was there regarding misdiagnosis or being unable to help someone. "Professor, it's not your fault. There's no way you could've known. The idea that someone could be both alive and dead at the same time allowed a young teen to hide his own secret from the government, from Amity, and from his own parents and classmates for nearly four years. We weren't taught about ghosts before my parents came along and really, we've only just started to learn the truth behind ghosts because of my brother. My parents are learning things about their world and culture every day."

Lucy nodded slowly. "They have their own psychological spectrum, don't they?"

"Yes. It is different from ours, but not that different." Jazz leaned back in the chair she was sitting in.

Lucy hummed. "Do you have any theories about Vlad?" Jazz looked up at Lucy in surprise before the woman continued. "I don't know why, maybe it's only because the new developments as of late, but I feel as though that particular case was one I regretted the most. I've had several people leave without asking about further treatment or aid, some I even knew probably would be alright perhaps, others not so much, but him… I just knew something was wrong. I do know that gut feelings have no scientific basis-"

Jazz almost couldn't help but smile. Kaitlyn had always told her the reason why Dr. Lucy was Jazz's favorite professor was because she went into fits of babbling like Jazz did.

"Professor?" Jazz asked, halting the woman temporarily. "What's really bothering you?"

Lucy let out a sigh. "I suppose most importantly, I feel like learning about the psychology of death and ghost sentience is going to be the next big step in the psychological community. I want to understand how they think and feel both full ghosts and even how half-ghosts are effected by their ghostly other half." She toyed a bit with a pencil that swirled within a cup. "I want to better understand why a Narcissistic man, who appeared to have an outlet for his negative emotions in his job as a businessman, would feel the need to destroy all of that. I want to know how greatly this other half of his altered his mental state over the years."

Jazz furrowed her brows a bit. If her professor was just trying to further her studies and get into the big times by being the first to publish a paper or research on the hot topic, then she wasn't sure she should completely trust the woman.

"I'm not sure, professor. I haven't interacted with Vlad's full self as much as my brother has." Jazz had almost let herself accidentally slip into talking about how she theorized Vlad hadn't let many people near him at all but stopped herself.

Lucy let out a breath. "I suppose. Either way, if you ever need any assistance with your studies, then let me know if you want."

Jazz stood up. "I'll think about it. Thank you, professor."

Lucy gave a half-hearted smile, though she tried to appear professional as always. "No problem, dear."

Jazz made her way towards the door and closed it behind her when she exited. She paused before completely leaving when she thought she heard Lucy talking to herself. Jazz pulled away from the door, unsure what the woman was talking about. She shook her head and walked off, heading in the direction of her and Kaitlyn's apartment.

zzz

"So, she was kinda creeping and asking about Vlad?"

"I wouldn't say that… She was just curious and I'm a little suspicious." Jazz sighed as she dropped her book bag and collapsed on her bed. Kaitlyn was laying there too and reached over to pat the other girl's scalp.

"It'll be alright little one."

"Can you take anything completely seriously?" Jazz asked with a grumble.

"Not often. It's a charming feature of mine."

Jazz moaned slightly. Before anything more could be said, Jazz's cellphone rang. The girl looked over and saw her phone about to vibrate off her bedside table. She grabbed it and flipped it open to answer. "Hello?"

"Jazz?"

Jazz almost sat bolt upright, nearly nailing Kaitlyn in the jaw when her friend had tried to peak and see who was calling. "David?"

"Oops, looks like Price Charming has called. I'll let myself out," Kaitlyn teased, dodging a flung arm in her direction. She trotted over to the kitchen that separated their two halves of the apartment before straying towards the fridge.

"Who's that?"

Jazz laughed a bit nervously. "Just my roommate."

"Oh. Anyways I've been looking at some things you were concerned about, regarding Danny's visit to the White House and those officials that had visited recently."

"Oh yeah?" Jazz felt her face turn more serious. David then went through a long list of different legal things regarding government and international laws. Ultimately, he offered to help tell Danny about most if not all of the research he had done, so that the younger man would be prepared when talking with President.

"I'm thinking that option is the one that will be less complex and fit most easily into international law. When do you think I should talk to your brother?" David asked.

Jazz hummed, trying to organize everything in her mind. "It's another couple week until the scheduled date. So maybe this coming weekend would be good. I can drive home for the first session stay here the second weekend and then travel home for the actual trip to D.C."

"Seems reasonable. I'll pencil it in."

"Thanks again, David. You've been a literal life saver."

"No worries. I intend to see your case as far as need be and the rest of my services will be mostly free of charge."

"No! We can't let you do that."

"Jazz, do you know how many calls my office has been getting since your brother's trial?"

"Oh."

"That and really, I couldn't with good conscious let you and your family go adrift after the trial or use your current need against you to get your money."

Jazz relaxed a bit. "Thanks, David."

"You're quite welcome."

Jazz chuckled a bit and rolled her eyes. "This is great. I mean, Lord knows we need a lawyer in the family…" Her eyes widened at the silence at the other end. "I MEAN FOR! FOR our family!"

David on the other end, living in Indianapolis, felt the slightest flutter in his chest from her mistake. He chuckled a bit, perhaps seeing Jazz in a different light now. "I'm happy to do it. I'll be in touch, Jazz. Tell your family I said Hi."

"Yeah. Bye."

The line then went dead and Jazz smacked her forehead. "Danny was right. I am a spazz."

"OH MY GOD! 'A LAYWER IN THE FAMILY!?' JAZZ I LOVE YOU!" Jazz groaned and looked over at her friend, who was appearing to have some type of laughing seizure on the floor. "THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!"

"It was a small word slip."

"Maybe perhaps a Freudian slip?"

"Stop."

"Nope." Kaitlyn finally pulled herself from the ground and walked over, holding several letters in her hand. She stopped in front of Jazz's bed and shifted through them before plucking one from the stack and handing it to Jazz. "Here, it's for you."

Jazz smiled and grabbed the letter. She eyed all the others in Kaitlyn's hands and saw the sad look on her friend's face. "Not even one?"

"Not even one. I guess my story isn't as interesting as I hoped it was."

"You know countless famous series were declined by publishers and editors before they became classics or world renowned, right?"

"I know, but it certainly doesn't feel promising when you're holding seven declination letters."

Jazz let out a sigh. "You'll get there. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, I still got a few others I'm waiting on. So, there's hope still."

Jazz nodded happily at her friend's returning optimism and opened her own letter. After a moment, the student was trembling slightly and Kaitlyn looked over her shoulder to read. The other girl's eyes widened before a smile split her face. "Jazz… That's wonderful! Oh my God, girl!"

Jazz blinked and looked up at her friend. "This is some sick prank isn't it?"

"I would not do something that cruel."

Jazz stared at the letter before her, that clearly read that the famous Psychological Study journal, had accepted her volume on Ghost Envy and was eagerly awaiting the second volume. Her work had been approved and was set to be published.

"Jazz?"

"I've got to start working more on the second volume and then there's the hope that my study on Ghost Obsessions will be accepted. I've got to get to work!" Jazz yelped and practically flew from her bed and over to her desk space, where piles of books and pages of her own research and data were spread about crazily.

Kaitlyn laughed and turned to head towards the kitchen again. "I guess I'll have to make sure she eats at the very least."

zzz

FentonWorks. 4:35 PM.

Danny saw his home in the distance as he grew closer. Sam had already headed home and he was in a better mood after their talk. They'd even discussed taking the time to go on a date sometime soon. Danny briefly wondered how Tucker and Valerie's relationship was doing, after the whole drama with Damon and Valerie's suit. His thoughts were nixed when he saw a couple of reporters in front of his house. Cujo was sitting on the stoop and Danny saw the puppy's ears perk up. Hopefully, Cujo wouldn't attack the reporters if they moved towards Danny. The slightly larger Cujo, which was something Danny still hadn't figured out, yapped and rushed down the steps, stumbling on the last one before running to jump into Danny's arms.

"Hey, buddy! Where you waiting for me?"

"Bark! Bark!" Danny was rewarded for his question with a wet kiss.

"Mr. Fenton!" Danny glanced up to see a few regional news stations move towards him.

"Guys, wait. Don't do this while Cujo's near."

The reporters surprisingly listened. One asked the obvious question. "Why?"

"He's really protective and he might think you're attacking me. Your questions will be answered eventually."

The reporters looked hesitant, but one last look at Cujo's unblinking red eyes that were locked onto them and studying them, finally caused them to relent.

"Come on, let's pack up, everyone. We aren't getting anything today."

Danny watched as they moved away. He glanced down and scratched between Cujo's ears. "Love you, buddy." Cujo looked back at him and whined before resting his head on Danny's shoulder. It was almost like a dream come true in some ways. Having a four-legged best friend had always been one of Danny's great childhood desires and as a bonus, he didn't require nearly as much maintenance other than training. Danny walked up the stairs to the front door and slipped inside after unlocking it with his house key. "I'm home!"

"Danny!"

Danny placed Cujo on the ground, watching as he ran towards the sofa and leapt up onto it to have a trance rest. He saw his mother move towards him with a beaming smile plastered on her face. "Okay, what's up? You look like you found the cure to cancer or how to obtain world peace."

Maddie gave Danny a slightly unimpressed smirk before opening her mouth to speak. "I just got a call from Jazz. Not only is David being very helpful and providing his services for free for this point on, but guess what?"

Danny felt a smile creep onto his face at the news about David before he was surprised by his mother playing the guessing game. "What?"

"Jazz's volume on Ghost Envy was accepted by the Psychology Study Journal. They said they'd publish it!"

Danny felt his mouth drop open in slight shock before a large smile made its way onto his face. "She deserves it. That's great! I guess her book worming paid off, huh?"

"Danny…"

"Ah come on, I'm kidding."

Maddie smiled before another thought came to her. "By the way, I got a call from-"

The two paused when they heard the phone ring. "I'll get it!" Jack bellowed. They heard him pick up the phone and then let out a greeting they weren't expecting. "Pops?"

"Wait, Grandpa Morton?" Danny asked.

Maddie looked at her son. "We've been getting calls from family, as you can imagine. Alicia called earlier when we were waiting for your trial, Jack's brother Benjamin called a few days ago, and now apparently your Grandpa Morton. We're going to be having some company soon. I think they're mostly concerned but also wanting answers I guess. I'm not sure what to tell them to be honest."

Danny sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Are Uncle Benji's wife and kids coming too?"

"Probably. You haven't seen them in years…" Maddie trailed off. She then gave a bit of a half-smile. "We have to be careful what we say since we have to wait until the meeting at the White House to set some things straight. I hope everyone understands if we have to be vague."

"Uncle Benji might get impatient."

Maddie merely nodded as Jack said goodbye to his father and put down the phone. He turned to them both. "Looks like everyone's coming." The family was interrupted again by the phone ringing. Jack picked it up and listened. Slowly, Maddie and Jack saw the man's face contort into one of quiet anger. "Well frankly, I'm going to have to ask you to shove it. Have a good day." Jack then calmly snapped the phone back into its receiver.

"Who was that, honey?"

Jack scowled slightly. "No one important." He looked into his son's questioning eyes and his face softened. "I want you and Danielle to be safe out there, Danno. There's some real kooks out there."

Danny immediately had an idea of what had happened. "Yeah. I know dad. We will."

Jack nodded absentmindedly before a smile split his face. "Hey son, you want to help me with a new invention? Me and your mother recently started studying the material that makes up your jumpsuit and the clothing ghosts seem to wear. At first, we thought it was like a second skin, but we nixed that idea after some field study. Not only do half-ghosts seem to use it like actual clothing, but full ghosts do too. Though it is also obvious that it's not normal clothing."

Danny blinked before putting a hand to his chin. "I never really thought about that, but you're right. Okay, let's go."

Maddie smiled as she watched her two men walk down into the lab together. She let out a breath before moving towards the kitchen. She reached into the cupboard to get a bowl to start dinner, when she heard her youngest clear her throat.

"Hey, mom?"

Maddie turned and put the bowl down with one arm at the same time. "Yes, Ellie?"

Danielle smiled a bit but wasn't able to hide her uncertainty. She sat down at the dining table with a small frown. "I…"

Maddie sat down with her. "What's wrong, dear?"

"Can you tell me… about boyfriends?" Maddie watched as Danielle's face lit up like a firecracker due to embarrassment. "I know Danny and Sam are boyfriend and girlfriend and I think I know what that means, but…"

Maddie hummed slightly. "Can we start with you telling me what you know?"

Danielle blinked then flushed a little again before beginning to speak. "I know about my body and how it works. I figured that out on my own and then Sam and Jazz helped me with it once before my second run in with Vlad." She twisted her mouth a bit. "I'm not completely sure I know much about boys… which is ironic since I was supposed to be one." Dani snorted. "I also don't know much about the actual relationship part…"

Maddie smiled slightly as she listened. "Well I'm going to take a guess that this was brought on my Ash, wasn't it?"

Dani spluttered slightly. "No! I mean, why him!? I don't like him at all!" Dani cried out, her voice getting faster and higher as she went. Maddie merely rose a brow and watched as Dani deflated. "Okay… maybe."

Maddie chuckled a bit and patted her daughter's hand. "Let's go to the Ops center and have a talk. It's better since it'll be less likely we'll be interrupted by the boys."

Dani smiled and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, mom."

zzz

Ghost Zone. Dead Sea: Arctic Zone. 4:01 PM.

They'd been going at it for nearly an hour. In that time, Dan had been nicked a few times by the berserker's axe blade and green ectoplasm was now dripping from lacerations down his front and right arm.

"Is that it then? You ready to turn tail yet?" Brynjar hissed. The red aura was still clinging to his form and his eyes still glowed a dark red as well. The Berserker himself had burn marks on his left arm and a couple claw marks near his upper chest and base of his neck.

Dan scoffed. "You saying that, makes me wonder if you're starting to get tired yourself, Berserker." Dan narrowed his eyes as the Berserker lifted his axe and swung it. A blast of ice and wind raced close to the ground, causing the ice there to crack. Dan teleported away from the blast at the last second and shot towards his opponent for another round of brutal fighting.

"Yer just another rabid beast I aim to put down!" Brynjar screamed and swung with his shield, striking Dan in the head.

A high-pitched buzzing echoed through his head because of the molecules in his ectoplasmic body were vibrating from the blow.

Monster!

Look at his skin!

Hades!

I knew he was no good!

It's time to put you down for good, Ghost boy.

PRoTect thEM pROteCT ThEm ProtECT… ME.

White corneas started turning black as ink, irises began to shrink and glow a more sinister red rather than crimson, cracks started to open in the skin closest to his scalp and mane of fire. Dan roared before his fist snapped the Berserker's shield clean in half. Another wild swing of his clawed hand resulted in a gash right through the Viking's chin and up through an eye-socket. Dan then took a breath and let out a Ghostly Wail.

Brynjar felt like he was experiencing a second death. Fear raced through his core; he could almost feel his very atoms being stripped from his core's field of influence. He heard the ice crack loud enough to sound like thunder and it seemed the Zone itself shuttered at the very sound of this Phantom's attack. Then it was over and Brynjar couldn't help but think that yet again he wasn't given a good death. He lay motionless on the ground and struggled only briefly before he was being tossed through a portal. Brynjar laid on the purplish grass, feeling his core ache and whine in stress.

"Brynjar the Berserker, as promised."

Walker stood right next to the crater in the wall that had been caused by Dan tossing Brynjar through the portal and into the prison courtyard's wall. The warden was both surprised by the sudden entrance and pissed because of the damage once again he'd have to have his guards repair. "I can see that, Dark Phantom."

Dan lifted a brow as the cracks and black in his eyes began to recede. "Dark Phantom?"

"You aren't our Phantom and you obviously have a different way of doing things," Walker insisted. "I have to categorize you somehow…"

Dan snorted and turned slightly, though never letting his eyes leave Walker. "I don't care what you call me." He narrowed his eyes. "I just want my money."

Walker growled slightly before walking forward and reaching into his breast pocket. Several other guards worked to restrain the still somewhat dazed Brynjar. Before long, Dan had received one point three million dollars in a round wad. He honestly had no clue what he would do with it though; it wasn't like he was willing or ready to go into the human world to spend it, not to mention there was nothing he cared to really spend it on. He slipped the money into his jumpsuit near his neck; he'd think about it later. Currently, he was more excited about the spike in power he'd regained. He'd actually used his Wail without passing out. "I'll be back again for another poster. I'll expect a welcome party fit for a king."

Walker scowled as Dan turned to fly away. Within moments, Dan was just a speck in the green sky.

Deep in the prison, inside of a solitary confinement cell, Brynjar sat cross-legged on the floor. He looked at his hands in the dim light his own glowing eyes provided, seeing as ghost prison didn't require his type of cell to let light in or allow him time out to stretch his legs or eat. Brynjar hummed. "Next I escape, I'll bea comin' fer you, Dark Phantom. You will be able to provide me with an honorable death like no other." He closed his eyes then and replayed the haunting sounds of that Ghostly Wail over and over in his mind.

zzz

East Dackot. Neighboring City. 7:30 PM.

It was all his fault. He should've known from the start that that freak son of those ghost hunting wackos was a strange thing like a half-ghost.

And because of that thing and ultimately its ghost hunting parents too, he'd been reduced to this. How could his parents have known that Vlad Masters was also a half-ghost and had done illegal acts? Apparently, no one cared, seeing as they were losing all their investment money from Vlad's fall and anything they had left over was being used for lawyer fees. Apparently, a lot of people were suffering now that Vlad's business practices had been laid bare for the world to see them as they truly were.

Nicolaas Bakker paced in his attic at a rapid clip. The things that incensed him the most though was how that freak of nature, Daniel, had managed to hypnotize or lure Samantha and her family into his good graces. He was simply seeing red from even thinking about it.

He halted abruptly in his pacing when his foot struck something small, hollow, and wooden. He glanced down and saw a strange mask. It was shaped like a cat's face and had large almond eye holes and a menacing looking grin. He remembered that his once butler had once warned him about the old thing.

"It's some strange item that's been in your family for generations upon generations, I daresay it's some dark ritualistic item from long ago. Do be careful with that… thing… master."

Then he heard the voices again. The very whispers that had attracted him to his attic the last few days in a row.

It's time to play a game. To be the puppetmaster rather than the dusty humble puppet… a mere dream or is it…

He had no clue what it was talking about.

Play… play… play…

Nicolaas felt a shiver run up his spine and he was finally able to run away and down his attic stairs. It bothered him that it was getting harder and harder to run each time.

After it was left alone, the mask's eyes glowed a faint green and a faint light grey silhouette of some human form faded into view near the mask, wearing a matching big toothy white smile.

So, there's the second chapter I wrote out. Again, I hope you all enjoyed it. I hope I also did a good job with the timing and writing of Danny and Sam's talk. I rewrote that talk several times, trying to get it right. I tried to make it not too terribly cliche or anything.

NoSignal to All: I just wanted to thank you all so much for your kind words, support, and understanding for my Hiatus. I was able to get through the semester with greater ease because of your kindness. Thank you all so so much. And welcome to all the new people that have found this story. I'm so glad I can entertain.

~NoSignal