I'VE MADE A FORUM FOR THIS STORY AND MY OTHER DANNY PHANTOM STORIES. CHECK IT OUT IF YOU WANT.

I recently went through and updated/edited all the previous chapters! I tried to make certain parts less cliche.

As I've stated before, Keep an eye on my profile for the latest update news, etc.

It's been a while huh? I don't have much to say other than going through life stages takes a lot of one's attention. That and I've been trying to get myself inspired to write and have been trying to work on personal writing projects. I hope I can get more regular again with updates, though I don't think it'll be as frequent as it once was. I still want to write and finish these stories though. I still do plan to finish them eventually.

As a final note I just want to say how thankful I am for all of your patience. I have no idea how that helped ease my stress levels. Thanks guys.

Alright, that enough from me. Here's a chapter you've been patiently waiting for.

zzz- normal separation

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

Mental thoughts, past speech, or distant speaking unless indicated otherwise

"With great power comes great responsibility." ~ Uncle Ben, Spider-Man.

zzz

Casper High. Physics Class. 9:40 AM.

For the most part, the week had been fairly calm with only a few disturbances to speak of. There had been a couple of ghost creatures that had wandered out of the Ghost Zone and caused an issue, there had been a bit of a traffic problem because of people trying to enter Amity to check out the international news for themselves, and well, Danny was still having trouble with Dr. Marlowe. He walked in after having to stay out of class and take care of a ghost bear that had been sniffing around the school. Almost immediately, Marlowe's gaze found him at the entrance to the classroom.

"Glad you could join us, Mr. Fenton." Danny grimaced slightly.

"There was a ghost bear thing. I had to take care of it." Marlowe hummed slightly.

"So, you say. Detention after school, Mr. Fenton." Danny tensed up. He was supposed to help his family welcome his relatives that were visiting for a couple days, in what could only be considered the most awkward family reunion ever. They were pretty much only visiting because of him and Dani after all.

"But I thought the-" Danny tried to express, remembering the mandate Lancer and Ishiyama had helped create.

"It's a suggestion, not a law, Mr. Fenton."

"What the hell, Dr. Marlowe!? The dude just said he fought a grizzly bear ghost thing! Cut him some slack!" T.J. suddenly interposed.

"That is quite enough. Sit down and be silent, both of you." Marlowe replied and turned to start writing on the board. Danny shook his head and sat. He glanced over at T.J. and gave a smile of gratitude. The teen gave a silent thumbs-up. What Danny didn't see was that T.J. was texting someone on his phone.

"Can anyone tell me the difference between Matter, Mass, and Weight?" Marlowe spoke up and class began.

Casper High. 3:15 PM.

Danny had already told his little sister to get home as well as for his friends to not wait up for him. Mr. Lancer had offered to talk to Dr. Marlowe, but Danny had told his new favorite teacher that it wasn't that big of a deal. He certainly didn't want people to start disliking him because everyone started to treat him specially or different.

Danny was silent as he walked into the Physics classroom and took a seat as Marlowe was organizing papers. "I'm here, Dr. Marlowe."

"That is evident, Mr. Fenton." Danny felt his eyes glow slightly against his will. Did this guy have to be so condescending? Technically he'd always been this way to some small degree, but it had certainly intensified towards him after his secret had been revealed. Danny frowned and shifted slightly. He then pulled out a notebook and pencil and started doodling. He had finished all his homework already. The only other thing he could do would be work on some ice sculptures for Fundoo, but Danny doubted that would go over well with Marlowe. So, he settled for doodling the time away. That is, until Marlowe's hand slammed down on Danny's notebook, crumpling the drawing he'd started of Cujo and giving him a minor heart-attack.

"Sir?" Danny asked in a sheepish voice, not sure how to handle the situation. Without a 'bad guy' to fight or person to save, Danny really didn't like conflict.

"Is there a particular reason you're wasting you time by doodling?" Marlowe asked and slowly retracted his hand.

"I finished my homework, sir." Marlowe huffed.

"Very well. Then sentences it is." Danny blinked as Marlowe walked towards the board. "I want you to write-"

"Hey Danny." Danny and Marlowe both turned to see a small group of students standing in the hallway. Dash, Kwan, Star, T.J., Alroy, Tyson, and Brad were standing at the back. Kwan had been the one to speak out, but it was Star that stepped forward. She moved and sat in the chair. The others followed suit.

"What are you doing?" Marlowe asked, getting frustrated by the interruption.

"It only seems fair that we have detention too. After all, if Danny didn't do what he did daily, then either we would be late to school ourselves or worse," Star responded. She looked over at Danny, who was starting in bewilderment at them. "So here we are."

"Ms. Hudson, you and your group will leave immediately."

"You going to make us?" T.J. asked as the jocks nearly simultaneously folded the arms. Brad was possibly the most intimidating out of the group though, seeing as not only was he as large as a jock, but his ballcap gave his eyes an ominous shadow over them.

"We're not here to stop the detention, Dr. Marlowe. We're just showing proper support to our fellow student," Star explained.

Marlowe stared at them for a while before he huffed.

"Um, what did you want me to write?" Danny asked, still unsure as to what he should do. Marlowe frowned.

"Take your seat, Mr. Fenton and be quiet." Marlowe then sat at his desk and went to work on whatever papers he'd been grading. Danny frowned before he turned to walk back to his seat. He glanced at the students that had come and when he had their attention, he smiled.

Amity Park. 4:15 PM.

"You guys didn't have to do that." Danny suddenly expressed as he and Star's group walked out of the school together.

"Neither did you." Danny turned, surprised to have heard Dash be the one to speak. He locked eyes with Dash for a moment before he smirked.

"Touché." He was still surprised to see Dash grin back.

"Well, it was wrong so we made it right," Brad piped in, to which Kwan nodded. Danny got a softer look on his face.

"Thanks, really."

"I just thought a feather would knock ol' Marlowe over." Alroy added, causing everyone to let out some more chuckles. Danny's core vibrated happily and he smiled before he sighed.

"I hate to say it, but I've got to head home. My relatives are having an impromptu visit this weekend."

"That's fine, Danny. I think David is visiting you guys this weekend too?" Star asked.

"Yeah, Sunday I think."

"Alright, bye Danny. Bye guys."

"Bye."

"Later!"

"See ya!"

Danny started to walk away as the teens separated, only to be called back by a voice. "Hey, Fenton." Danny turned to see Dash nearly right behind him. The boy was staring at the ground before he glanced up into Danny's face. "Just wanted to say, I'm sorry, ya know?"

Danny paused for a moment, trying to wrestle with his thoughts. A part of him appreciated what Dash had done this afternoon, what he'd tried to do in the Ghost Zone, and even what he'd done during the Reality Gauntlet fiasco, but another pettier part of him wanted to tell Dash to shove off. He'd beat Danny up before, swirlied him, humiliated him, teased him and just mostly made his high school experience just that more unpleasant in general. Then it turns out he could've gotten Dash back at anytime and that he was Dash's hero. Even though he'd tried to get everyone to get along in the Ghost Zone, there was a part of him that didn't want to let that frustration go. Would this have happened if Danny had just been a normal high schooler? No, Dash would've gone on with his bullying.

Just as suddenly, that anger decompressed. So, what? Maybe Dash would've continued to torment him if he'd been normal, but maybe this was a part of Dash's story, that he happened to go to school with Danny Phantom. Not only that but Dash had tried to start fixing up his act in the Ghost Zone before Danny's secret had been revealed. Then he suddenly thought of Vlad, how anger could be so very poisonous and Clockwork, who'd reminded him to keep giving others second chances. Even if Danny still felt it wasn't quite fair, he really did want to bury the hatchet and start something new and maybe that was truly the biggest difference between him and Vlad.

"I won't say it's okay, cause that's a lie, but I do forgive you." Danny finally said and held out a hand to Dash. The jock blinked before he gave a faint smile and shook Danny's hand.

"Now I know what it means to be strong. Thanks, Danny." Danny felt his core warm up without being hot. It was vibrating like whenever he kept someone safe. As Danny made his way home, the smile didn't leave his face until he saw the extra cars in front of Fentonworks.

"Great, looks like the family's all here. Yay." Danny grumbled and marched up to his home.

FentonWorks. 4:35 PM.

He was worried that this wasn't going to be very pleasant when he walked in. Even before then, he could hear the voices of everyone with his sensitive hearing from outside the front door. What he saw when he entered was all the adults, sitting in various places like the couch and some of their chairs. The talking stopped as he'd entered and he looked at his Grandpa Morton, Uncle Benji, Aunt Jennifer, and Aunt Alicia. Maddie smiled at him and walked over towards him and the door.

"Hey sweetie, how was school?" Danny smiled back a bit and shrugged.

"I got detention from Dr. Marlowe, but well I'll tell you more about it later. Short version is some friends came and supported me."

"Dr. Marlowe, again?" Jack asked, a frown crossing his face. While not all of Danny's teachers supported him like Lancer, Tetslaff and others, none seemed to be causing as much of an obvious stink about it as Marlowe. The others were at least silent in their dislike of the situation.

"Yeah. It's okay though, um…" Danny paused and left his backpack by the stairs. He walked over to Grandpa Morton and chuckled a bit nervously. "Hey Grandpa." While the man looked similar to Jack, he had a harder face that wasn't quite as used to smiling and fully gray hair. The older man, stood, cutting Danny off, before he placed both of his large hands on Danny's shoulders. A smile caused Morton's eyes to wrinkle.

"I'm proud of you, Danny." Danny blinked in slight surprise at the gesture; he hadn't been sure how his Grandfather would react.

"Dad." Everyone glanced over to see Benji, who had very dirty blond hair and also had a similar body type to his brother and father, frowning, which caused Morton and Jack to frown.

"As great as it is that he's been helping people, we can't forget about the problems this causes. We were talking about consequences, remember?"

Danny glanced over and saw a crushed look enter his father's face. He felt his eyes glow slightly in frustration. His parents had suffered enough from their guilt. Benjamin was acting as if his parents weren't already feeling guilty about the various consequences of what their son was now.

"Not to be rude Uncle Benji, but I think mom and dad understand the consequences. I was the one that didn't obey and walked into the portal. They could've only done so much," Danny expressed as Morton's hands slid off his shoulders. Jennifer glanced at him and seemed to keep staring for a moment before looking back at her husband. Danny was trying to ignore brunette woman's scrutiny for now.

"Daniel, I know that," Benji expressed, showing a bit of sadness. "I just-" He glanced over at his brother.
"Jack, why didn't you listen to me and just become a paleontologist like I did? It's what we both wanted for so long."

"I know, but then Maddie-" Jack glanced over at his wonderful wife before he let out a breath and shook his head. "I just don't know what would've been best."

"I'm just worried about our boys…" Jennifer spoke up suddenly. "I just… I don't want them to be caught up in this." Danny frowned, that made sense. Who knew what people would do to anyone in his family to get to him? Maddie glanced over and saw Danny's face grow troubled.

"Danny, how about you visit with your cousins? I think Danielle was playing video games with them." Danny glanced at his mom and started to decline because he felt he needed to be responsible for this like his parents were being, but he stopped himself. His mom was smiling but he could tell she was worried for him. He let out a breath and nodded.

"Okay." He looked at his family and waved at them briefly, seeing Alicia give him an eager thumbs up that, while strange, made him smile. He walked up the steps and started through the hall as he heard voices pick back up again in the den. He opened the door to his room to see his little sister sitting amidst three boys and they were all playing a racing game. The boys were his younger cousins. Alan was older than the other two and had the same hair as his father, and a similar build to a younger Danny. The other two were the twins Cooper and Jaylin and they were brunettes like their mother.

The younger teens and kids paused the game. Cooper and Jaylin were the first to speak. "Because you can stretch your body, can you technically lick your own elbow?" Cooper blurted and then grinned excitedly.

"Danielle said that you can both take a spork out of your stomach if you swallow it," Jaylin added. Danny rose a brow and glanced up at Dani, who shrugged sheepishly. He then looked at Alan, only to see the boy was studying him. Danny looked away from the older cousin and nodded to Cooper and Jaylin.

"Yes, to both."

"Ahhh, sweet!"

"Wow, gross!" Danny looked at Alan, who was smirking in amusement at his brothers. The boy glanced back at Danny and shrugged.

"I know we don't see each other much, but for the record, I'm glad you're okay." The group of teens and kids went back to playing video games and chatting idly to catch up with each other. Danny of course didn't reveal every little detail, but it was nice to bond with his cousins again.

FentonWorks. 5:35 PM.

The next couple days passed benignly. Grandpa Morton, Alicia, and Benji's family all left for their homes by Sunday morning, Sam, Tucker and Valerie had visited a few times while the family members had been in Amity, so they could meet each other, David had come later on Sunday for their second visit, and Star's group had combined to sit with Danny's typical lunch group on Monday. It had been a bit awkward at first but had ultimately become somewhat relaxed. Valerie and Star had started talking again as well and both had seemed better for it. Though Paulina and some of the other popular girls like Megan and Dinah hadn't shown up in a while, Star didn't act as though they weren't still talking so the subject was left alone. Tuesday had seen Brandon and his friends join the table as well. The process of everyone starting to learn more about each other had begun.

After school on Wednesday, Danny came home and was prepared to get ready for more guests. The Kappels and Eldridges were going to officially meet the Fentons and have dinner. Jazz had come home from college for the meeting, seeing as the Fentons would be going to the White House the coming weekend. Dani, well Dani was nervous.

"There's no ectoplasm in the food, right?" Dani asked as Danny and Jazz watched their younger sister pester their parents.

"No dear, there shouldn't be."

"What do you mean, shouldn't be?"

DING DONG!

Danny glanced at Jazz before he chuckled and walked towards the door. "I'll get it!" He marched up to the front door and checked through the blinds quickly to see if it was the Kappels or Eldridges. He opened the door to let Ash and his parents in. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Kappel." The couple smiled as their son glanced around Danny, to try and spy Dani.

"Hello Danny, thanks for letting us in."

"No problem." He walked them through the den to the rarely used dining room they owned, the breakfast table wasn't nearly big enough for everyone. Jack, being Jack, immediately walked up and shook both Richard and Milly's hands, excitedly.

"Nice to meet cha!" Richard smirked at Jack's greeting, while Milly seemed slightly weirded out.

Ash glanced at Dani, who blushed and then face-palmed.

"Jack, dear. Don't forget to let go!" Maddie spoke up from the kitchen. Jack grinned sheepishly and let the two adults' hands free.

"It's nice to meet you too, Jack." Richard expressed calmly, while Milly gave a slightly uncertain smile. Danny glanced over at Dani to see her muttering something to Ash, both were standing really close to each other and laughing a bit. He cocked his head in slight confusion. Danny heard Jazz call out that she was getting the door, seeing as the bell had been rung again.

Then the Eldridges walked in. Jace's father looked almost exactly like a bigger version of him, if only a bit more serious in the face. Jace's mother had blonde hair made into a braid that was resting over the front of her shoulder and blue eyes.

"I'm Daley Eldridge and this is my wife, Carmen." Daley expressed plainly, not giving away much emotion. Carmen gave a pleasant smile to Jack.

"Hey, Daley, Carmen." Richard greeted as Milly walked over to give Carmen a hug. Danny turned when he saw Jace wonder over closer to Dani and Ash.

"Where's your sibs?" Ash asked Jace.

"Babysitter has them. Have you told-" Jace began only for Ash to shush him. Dani glanced over at Danny nervously and waved anxiously when Danny raised a brow. As everyone finished with greetings and Jazz helped Maddie finish dinner, everyone migrated towards the dining table. Danny rose both brows when he saw Ash and Dani try to secretly hold hands. Oh.

The meal continued on in a fairly normal fashion, which was a bit suspicious to Danny, seeing how dinner at home hadn't ended normally since he was… well now that he though about it, he couldn't actually remember a time where it ended normally. Let's see, the food was fine, he couldn't taste any ectoplasm in the food, nothing was coming alive, his ghost sense wasn't activating…

As much as he wanted to talk to Dani about Ash, he still did want the dinner to go well so that her friends' parents wouldn't try to place a restraining order on Dani or the Fentons like Sam's once had.

Things continued fine after that, Danny even got to talk about some topics he was interested in like astronomy and bowling. All the Fentons did their part to explain ghosts and what they knew as well as some things about Danny and Dani, which was a bit awkward but seemingly went well.

Then suddenly, Danny and Dani both turned towards the direction of the lab doors, just as a ghost cat raced through the wall and landed on the dining table. A bark resounded through the house and Cujo bounded through the wall in his large form, snarling and chasing the cat. The cat leapt from the table just as Cujo plowed through it, upending food, utensils, plates, and unfortunately some chairs.

As soon as it had started, it was over. Fortunately, Danny had been one of the only two people knocked over, but Jace had been the second.

"I guess that explains why you mostly let him roam the Ghost Zone rather than keep him around," Ash spoke up and glanced at Dani. This broke the silence, causing Daley and Carmen to rise out of their chairs to check on their son. Danny picked himself up and lent a hand to the younger boy.

"Well that was exciting," Jace laughed. Dani only groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Are you alright, Jace?" Carmen asked, brushing some food unsuccessfully from his shirt and hair.

"Just fine," Jace replied. Danny sighed and he noticed Jazz start to pick up some things with Jack. Maddie was checking on everyone and apologizing.

"I'll go find Cujo before he causes trouble around town." Danny saw his mom nod, so he turned and transformed all at once. After he'd left through the wall, Dani grimaced at the mess. Ash bumped her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. I was getting a bit bored anyway." They glanced over and saw Richard pull out a cigar and chuckle.

"Talk about a good watch dog."

"Richard…" Milly groaned at her husband's humor.

"Here…" Carmen expressed and started to help pick up the last things on the ground. Daley shook his head slightly.

"I know this stuff is real, but it's different when you see it actually happen." He glanced up when Danny came back through the dining room wall with a schnauzer-sized dog in his arms. It was green and panting happily.

"You wrecked the kitchen, Cujo." Danny grumbled and the dog stared somewhat stupidly at the people there and wagged its tail furiously. Dani walked closer.

"Bad dog." Cujo answered by licking her face. "Ugh."

RING RING RING!

Danny groaned. "Now what?" He pushed Cujo into Dani's arms and marched over to the phone. "Hello? Whoa. Whoa! WHOA! Tucker, slow dow-"

Everyone paused and looked up as Danny stopped talking and the room got silent.

"What?" Danny whispered. "Okay… I'll, I'll call you back." The phone clicked and without a word, Danny rushed into the den. Everyone glanced at each other before they heard the News on the TV. They wandered in and stopped in front of the TV as the newsflash played on.

You heard right, apparently, this afternoon, Vlad Masters appeared and turned himself in to officials near one of his old Wisconsin homes. Here's the footage.

The footage showed Vlad appear in front of his Wisconsin estate with his hands held up. Several armed groups of people, including a SWAT team and the GIW, were seen pointing weapons at him. It wasn't seen who shot the ghost weapon, but something similar to a stun gun slammed into Vlad's side. He cried out in pain as it electrocuted him and caused him to fall to his knees. Agents and officers swarmed him and them the footage was stopped after a government official got the cameraman's attention and forced him to back away from the scene.

After all the drama from Daniel and Danielle Phantom's hearings, it's now a big question as to how Vlad Masters will be dealt with. He's supposedly broken many laws ranging from theft to kidnapping. Regardless, we'll be here to provide you with the most up to date News on the story. Back to you, Trisha.

Danny quietly muted the TV and slowly looked over at his parents. His mom seemed stunned and conflicted, while his dad… His dad looked somewhat heartbroken. Then again, while Danny had had his own interactions with Vlad as his bias, he'd not known the man his father once had. Jazz had always told him something about how love is hard to erase even when you think you aren't supposed to love someone anymore.

The Kappels and Eldridges said some quiet goodbyes as Maddie saw them out. They mentioned that they had had a good time and that they were happy to have met the Fentons. Meanwhile, Jack was sitting on the couch staring at the ground. Jazz was trying to give quiet support, Dani was sitting on the stairs in silence and Danny was keeping a vigil near his family, having his own thoughts.

He didn't know what to think of Vlad really anymore. The man had hurt him, so many times and in so many ways. The part of him that wished for justice, sung with the idea of Vlad getting what he deserved for all the bad things he'd done. A smaller part of himself though, just kept whispering doubts. His obsession. He was alone. He'd felt betrayed. Ten years without my ghost powers have only shown me what a fool I've been. Danny furrowed his brows and sighed before falling back into the plush chair behind him and resting his forehead on his palm. He just didn't know.

Ghost Zone. 6:43 PM.

Frostbite had said that the ghosts that would be coming to the White House to help him represent the Ghost Zone were meeting at Tykr'aal's region. As Danny felt the air in the zone start to get hotter, he switched to his hot core for comfort. The large pyramids started to dot the land before Danny eyes and he smiled as he saw Tykr'aal's people moving about the bazaars and streets below him. He glanced down as he flew close to Tykr'aal's palace and waved when he saw Adil and his caravan of Djinns. Adil and his fellow merchants waved back as Danny passed and entered the palace.

He was greeted by Sek'haal, also known as the Lioness among her people. She had very feline features and tan fur that dusted her shoulders and head. A long tail waved behind her and she wore similar clothing as her father. "Greetings, svil."

"Hello, Sek'haal." Danny returned as he landed on the marble flooring. He still didn't know what language Sek'haal sometimes spoke so he honestly wasn't sure what svil meant.

"Mother and father are with the other guests. Through there," Sek'haal gestured to an archway behind them. "Good luck, uirvmw." The ghost then left through the way in which Danny had come. The halfa nodded and then flew into the next room.

"Do you have to be so indifferent about it?"

"I find it entertaining to be honest." Danny landed and smiled even though there were two other strangers in the room. Frostbite, Pandora, Dora, Tykr'aal, and a female ghost, that must be Sha'yala, stood before him along with the two strangers. Sha'yala turned and nodded to Tykr'aal before exiting. He watched as the ghost that looked similar to a female Tykr'aal left, before turning to the others.

"Hey everyone."

"Welcome, Great One." Frostbite replied jovially. He turned and gestured to the two strangers. "These are the other two leaders that have decided to join us in the Human world, Loki and Amatheia." Danny blinked in surprise before looking at the two strangers again only to notice they looked the same.

"Um…" One of the women, garbed in a flowing dress that resembled the aurora and had mother of pearl eyes, glared at the other.

"Honestly, Loki." The second women that looked identical only chuckled before transforming into a man with aristocratic features and titian colored hair. His eyes were blue.

"Can't take a joke, Amatheia? Honestly." Loki returned, his voice changing to match Amatheia's voice tone.

"Whoa," Danny expressed, being surprised by how easily Loki could change his voice.

"It's a fun trick, huh?" Loki expressed and winked.

"Loki is the ruler of Asgard, which includes areas like Valhalla-" Frostbite began to explain only for Danny to interrupt.

"Wait, I though Odin was the leader of Asgard. I remember that much from mythology classes in school."

"Ah…" Loki grinned. "That is of course my greatest prank of all…"

"Huh?" Danny asked in confusion.

"Odin and Thor don't exist. I made them up." Loki explained. "Didn't think people would take it so far."

"I, on the other hand, am Amatheia. I watch over a portion of the Dead Sea. I am queen of the mermaids and men and caretaker to Leviathan." Danny nodded.

"Should've figured…" Danny muttered, thinking of mermaids and their elusive nature in lore.

"Regardless, we have something important to talk to you about before we meet with this President of yours," Frostbite intervened. Danny grew a bit nervous when he noticed all the ghosts getting a bit solemn.

"Something wrong?"

"No, Daniel. We're just concerned how you'll take it," Pandora answered. Danny felt his nervousness increase.

"What is it?" He watched as Frostbite knelt before him. At first, he thought it was because Frostbite wanted to be eye-level with him, but something twisted inside him when he saw the others start to kneel as well.

"Danny Phantom, Savior of the Ghost Zone, Bane of Pariah Dark, the Ghost Zone asks for it's rightful king to take his place on the throne."

There was a bright flash of light, and Danny idly noticed his transformation rings flowing over him before his legs went numb and blackness took over his vision. The last thing he heard before passing out what Frostbite's worried cry of his title, and Loki laughing.

Walker's Prison. 7:05 PM.

Dan grumbled as he looked through the piles of most wanted posters in Walker's drawer. Walker had of course been more than aggravated when he'd walked in to find him in the warden's chair when the ghost had entered his study. Dan had merely given him a nasty and wicked grin while Walker had fumed and simply had no choice but to turn and leave.

Let's see…

Witch from Gloaming Grove? No. A hunter like Skulker but was slaughtering every prehistoric ghost animal he could find on the Epoch Lands? Neh. Oh…

Dan grinned as he studied the picture on the poster. A rōnin that was causing trouble in the Emperor's Empire? Sounded fun. Dan conjured some ectoplasm and watched as it morphed into a flaming sword. The green flames flickered in Dan's eyes.

When Walker returned to his study, the Dark Phantom was gone.

Amity Park. 3:45 PM.

"So, wait… Frostbite said you're supposed to be king of the Ghost Zone?" Valerie asked as she walked beside Tucker, Sam, and Danny after school. All four were in shock, but none so much as Danny who seemed to be drifting into silence almost every two minutes.

"Apparently, Pariah Dark uttered some type of challenge or something, and because I was the one to mostly defeat him in combat, I won the right to the crown," Danny answered without looking.

"Really? It's dependent on syntax or word choice?" Tucker asked.

"I think. I was a little spacey when they were explaining it to me. I had just passed out too."

"I know nothing we say can really help, but we'll be here," Sam spoke up and tightened her grip on Danny's hand, giving it a squeeze. Danny gave a small smile back.

"I know… I just can't imagine. I don't know what they're thinking. A portion, if not most, of the Observants must be furious; maybe that's why they wanted to waste me in the first place."

"I wouldn't put it past them," Sam replied.

"We're forgetting something else important here. If Danny does take the crown, it'll help with Ghost-Human relations as well as the fact that Danny's international position won't be as tenuous. He'll hopefully be a king of a sovereign people," Tucker stated. The teens looked at Tucker before Sam blinked.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tucker, you're a genius."

"Hey!"

"But guys," Danny interrupted the possible friendly argument. "That's only if I accept… and…"

"I wonder if Clockwork knew," Valerie muttered. "Or I mean…" Everyone grew silent, trying to puzzle together what to do.

"How am I supposed to become king for the Ghost Zone when a bunch of it's denizens want to end me?" Danny asked and kicked a tiny pebble of concrete that had been separated from the sidewalk.

"You have a bunch of supporters now too though. Maybe even more than you think, according to Pandora," Sam reminded him. Danny let out a sigh.

"Yeah."

"You guys are leaving for the airport tomorrow, right?" Tucker asked. Danny nodded. The plan was that Clockwork was going to send the visiting ghosts to D.C. through a portal.

"Yep."

The group grew silent as they neared the Amity Park cemetery. As they passed by, Tucker paused and caused the group to stop and look at him. Tucker was looking into the cemetery.

"Is that, Mr. Lancer?" Tucker asked, causing the rest of the teens to also look into the cemetery, only to see that in fact, Lancer was sitting on a small stool in front of some graves.

Danny looked at the others. He connected to them mentally.

I wonder why he's here.

Well, to visit a grave. Tucker answered plainly.

Not funny. Sam responded with a slight mental glare.

Guys, he's getting up. Valerie suddenly interrupted, causing Danny to cut the conversation off and look up at where Lancer was. He was looking at them in slight surprise, before he gave a sad smile and held a finger up as if asking for them to wait.

They waited until the teacher had gathered his things and met them at the entrance gate.

"Hello, everyone." Lancer greeted and the teens greeted him back.

"Are you okay, Mr. Lancer?" Valerie suddenly asked and the other teens glanced between the two. Lancer nodded solemnly.

"Yes, thank you for asking Ms. Gray."

"Sorry if we disturbed you."

"No, I was just visiting with my late wife and daughter." The mood shifted abruptly. Danny was struck almost dumb at the revelation.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Lancer," Sam replied.

"Thank you. I had quiet a bit to talk to them about," Lancer expressed and gave Danny an amused look, who recovered a bit from his surprise and rubbed his neck nervously. "Don't be too concerned. They've been gone quite a while now. Not that I don't miss them dearly. My daughter would be twenty by now I believe." There was a sorrowful silence before Danny suddenly hugged his teacher. Sam, Tucker, and Valerie were gifted with the surprised look that came to Lancer's face at the friendly gesture.

Danny wasn't sure what to say, maybe something about him being glad the teacher was here? Thank the two deceased women for Lancer's time? All Danny was sure of was that Lancer was important to him as one of the only human mentor-figures who genuinely cared about him. That, and he knew what losing everything felt like, even if for only a moment.

"Mr. Fenton?"

"Sorry-" Danny expressed and backed away. He shrugged and decided on- "You know us Fentons, we're huggers." He gave a sheepish smirk. Lancer smiled back.

"The thought is appreciated." Lancer nodded and then said goodbye before turning to walk away. The teens did the same and started heading back into the main part of Amity. They were nearly to main street before they heard the engine of a plane above them. The teens glanced up at the same time to see a terrible sight.

"Oh no." Sam muttered in horror. A flash of light to her right told Sam that Danny had transformed.

"Get to the house and tell Dani! I'll need help!" The others didn't even hesitate before turning and bolting towards FentonWorks. Danny rocketed into the air, eyeing the flaming and obviously crashing passenger plane. Fear clenched in Danny's gut, screaming at him that there was no way for him to get there in time.

Unknown Location. 3:55 PM.

Vlad stared at the ceiling of his plain cell. Other than the bed and a toilet, the only other noticeable thing in the room was a digital clock that showed the time and date. The ex-billionare rubbed his still tender side where the ghost weapon had struck his body like a taser.

Well he'd done it, supposedly done what most people would call justice or the right thing to do. He'd turned himself in. Vlad pulled out a picture of himself, Maddie, and Jack. It wasn't the one he'd torn, but another similar one. He gazed at it for a long while, contemplating the people he'd known in college.

He wasn't sure what to do. He knew he had questions for Jack and Maddie. But…

He also didn't feel like this was justice, though he wasn't certain of his judgement anymore. He scowled slightly as a GIW agent dropped a bottle of ectoplasm in the food slot. The agent only sneered and then marched away.

They had only given him one true meal a day so far. Vlad stood up and walked over to retrieve the supplement. He let out a sigh of tiredness when his stomach growled hungrily.

Amity Park. 4:00 PM.

His mind was working quickly, trying to figure out the best plan for saving such a large group of people from severe injury or death. The problem was, that the plane was moving to fast for several of the plans he had in mind. He felt the best option was have everyone hold onto him and use flying and intangibility like he did when Youngblood and Ember teamed up to steal the adults. The problem was that he'd have to get everyone to hold onto each other and time it to where he wouldn't lose his energy before they were a safe distance from the ground.

He needed Dani. In a moment, he made a decision. He'd grab onto the hull and try to slow it's decent, then he would try to hold on until Dani arrived. He could support the plane while Dani organized everyone to grab hold; then when he knew they were ready, he'd let go and help Dani with holding the intangibility.

Please let this work.

Danny slammed into the hull and began trying to exert his ghostly aura over it. He could feel the weight of the plane become lighter and he started pushing against the energy of gravity pulling on it. He hoped Dani came soon, because he couldn't do this forever; he would then be left with the full weight of the aircraft on his shoulders.

He glanced over at the flaming engine and focused, causing a beam of ghost ice from his eyes to freeze over the engine and the flames engulfing it.

Danny! Danny let out a relieved mental sigh as he continued his struggle.

Dani, I need you to get inside the plane and calm everyone. Then ask them to huddle around you. Once we're close enough to the ground, I'll let go and come inside to help you turn everyone intangible and phase them through and to safety.

Okay! Dani zoomed inside and was immediately faced with hundreds of passengers looking at her with fear. Babies were crying; adults were crying and screaming. Dani was worried that she would mess things up. She'd been helping Danny with ghosts, but this was her first time trying to stop a disaster of some kind. What a first experience. "Everyone, please, huddle around me! Me and my brother have an idea!" Dani turned to look at a flight attendant that was behind her. "Please! I need you to instruct everyone to make a human chain! The pilots will come last, okay!?" The terrified young woman nodded and grabbed a microphone for the speaker system.

Dani watched and tried to control her nerves as people started to stand in the shaky plane and link up one way or another. She glanced at the flight attendant. "Is there a way for the pilot to tell me how close to the ground we are!?"

The attendant nodded and then said something to the attendant behind her, who knocked on the door. A moment later the second attendant turned to her. "We're about to pass over a forest. The pilot thinks we'll scrape-" The young man was cut off when everyone shifted and tripped as the plane rocked. People screamed and the sound of impacts against the hull and metal screeching almost drowned out everything else.

Everyone! GRAB HOLD NOW! She focused hard and started to encase everyone in intangibility. She was worried she wasn't strong enough to cover everyone fast enough, until suddenly Danny appeared in front of her and linked up with her.

THIS IS IT! Danny shouted and then helped cause the intangibility to race over all the humans. Suddenly, the sky was above them as they started to float down. Danny groaned slightly as he felt his power failing. There were just so many people and they were still too high up. Just a minute more, Dani!

He didn't receive an answer but he could feel Dani's energy still trying to flow through everyone. Danny flinched when he heard a thunderous roar followed by an explosion. He glanced over and saw a large ball of flames a distance away; he then looked down and noticed they were about five feet from the ground. They dropped the last three and a half. He heard everyone talking and crying in relief as he crumpled to the ground.

The lights from his and Dani's transformation rushed over them and they rested on the ground, breathing deeply. One of the pilots leaned down and asked if he was okay. Danny only nodded. He glanced at Dani and gave a shaky smile. "Good job, Dani."

Dani looked up at him and gave him a breathy laugh in return. "Thanks. You too."

They both tried to lean up when paramedics, first responders, and News vehicles started to arrive. Danny noticed the Fenton RV screech to a stop and Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and his family hopped out. Maddie made it over first and grabbed the two in a tight hug.

"I'm so proud of both of you." Jack and Jazz joined the hug and when it broke, Sam grave Danny her own tight hug.

"We really were going to die." The Fentons and friends looked up and saw a young woman staring off at the ball of fire in the distance, noticing that the first responders and News vehicles were starting to realize that the passengers on the plane were in the same field but far away from the plane. She glanced at the two halfas.

"You saved our lives." Danny watched in silence as the rest of the people on the plane started to look at him and his sister in thankfulness. He felt Sam give him another hug.

"Told you you're a real superhero." Danny felt warmth fill his core from the gratitude around him and the love coming from his friend and girlfriend. He buried his face in her shoulder and let out a relieved sigh.

Thanks again for your wonderful support and patience.

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I won't be answering questions from reviews on this chapter as I've lost track of that and combing through the reviews would be tedious. If you had a burning question from before or have a new one now, go ahead and ask and I'll get to those questions through PM or in the next chapter.

God Bless ~NoSignal