The Soul Sepulchre Chapter 16: The Stone, a danny phantom fanfic

Hiya!

Hey all! Guess what? I relocated this semester… to France! Yay! XD Now honestly, I've been swamped in work and getting used to functioning in French 24/7. Not to mention this internet connection is as sketchy as it can possibly get (yay, wireless... *groans*). So this is the long and the short of things: I'm going to update as often as I can. Unfortunately, I'm not going to have time to respond to reviews for the next couple of months. I'm really sorry about that, but it just can't be avoided. I hope that won't discourage reviews though!

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all related characters are the property of Butch Hartman.

Enjoy!

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The Soul Sepulcher

-By Sholay

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Chapter 16—The Stone

Danny suppressed a shudder as the Hound's deep, resonating voice made his ears thrum.

He took a breath, reminded himself that Sam and Tucker needed him, and forgot his fear.

'Sam… Tucker' clenching his hands into fists, the halfa looked up and around; he couldn't see his friends anywhere. There was only air, trees and the ghost shield in front of him. The Hound's—Legion's—voice had called out to him from nothing. The beast was nowhere in sight.

"You have my friends," he called, straightening his back and putting as much authority as he could into his voice. "Let them go!"

There was a pause, and Danny felt his anxiety rising. Legion was not going to answer… It was ignoring him. Danny grit his teeth and florescent green fire exploded around his fists. If that monster was going to ignore him then he'd just have to blast his way through the shield…

'No.' This simple word, spoken in a tone that brooked no argument, made the teen stiffen. 'They offered their blood over the altar of Legion. Their souls belong to us now.'

"Then I'll just TAKE them from you!" And with a yell, Danny charged the glowing dome.

Smoke and shadow filled his vision and Danny halted midflight with a gasp. The thick, nearly tangible, stuff entered his nose and mouth—congealing on his tongue with a sickly sweet, taste that stuck in his throat. Gagging, Danny fell backwards until he was free of the darkness and back in clean air.

With a great whooshing sound of air being drawn in, the hazy outline of a massive dog's head formed from the shadows. Danny's eyes widened and he froze before that familiar sight of teeth as long as his head, and a maw that pulled back into a fearsome grin. Instinctively, his gaze averted from the creature's eyes, but when he saw that the beast was only an apparition of smoke—hazy and almost transparent—Danny figured it would be safe to raise his eyes.

'Such a strong soul.' The low, fearsome voice that bypassed his ears to echo loudly in his mind, sounded almost blissful. 'Just your proximity nearly allows us to leave our reliquary. Legion cannot wait to feast on such a soul.' The look the Hound sent Danny was one a starved lion gives a deer and the teen's face scrunched in revulsion.

"Jeez, now I know what a piece of steak feels like when Tucker's got it in his sights." Danny growled caustically to himself. Then, in a louder voice he addressed the monster "You! Hound, or Legion—whatever! Let Sam and Tucker go!"

The shadows twisted and writhed into each other as the Hound regarded Danny silently for a long moment.

'Tell me—you who exist as a very blasphemy against the natural order, son of Sin with a soul of diamond—tell me what you would give to free their souls.'

The question was unexpected and for a moment all Danny drew was a blank.

"Huh?"

'What would you give?' Its tone was sly.

And then Danny felt a burning pain in his shoulder.

Dropping several feet in the air, the teen clasped a hand to his shoulder as he cried out in surprise.

"You—!" His words were cut off by a sharp intensification in the pain. He cringed, curling into himself. His eyes screwed themselves shut. One hand was curled tightly into the spot on his shoulder and the other was fisted in long, snowy-white locks.

'Bow to me,' Legion ordered softly, looking down at the shivering half-ghost. 'Give me your soul.'

'Give in.' A voice that was not Danny's and was not Legion's whispered coyly in the young halfa's ear.

'No.' Danny refused. The pain increased, making his mind haze.

'Give IN.'

He felt his hands relax, against his will they began to lower, though he exerted all his will to stop them. He felt weak, and limp, though he was wound up tighter than a bow. His spin curved—

'No!'

A sharp crack split the air, followed by the piercing squeal of energy being released. Something flashed brightly—so intensely that Danny could see the backs of his eyelids light up—and then the beast screamed.

It was a plaintive howl, so bone-chilling—so human—that the hairs stood up on the back of Danny's neck.

Almost instantly, the pressure on Danny's mind and the pain in his shoulder died. Ignoring the sudden lethargy that seemed to grip his limbs, he wrenched his eyes open.

At first all he saw is shadow. Blinking, he realized that the Legion's dark tendrils of energy had, at some point, crossed the distance between himself and the beast. They had wrapped around him, embracing him.

Now, the darkness was receding. Danny was confused, but then he saw the crackling white energy and bright, lime-green ectoplasm hanging off the Hound in slimy globs. Someone had shot an ecto-weapon at the creature. The residual energy of the weapon was still sparking around the edges of the beast.

Then the realization of exactly who had shot the weapon hit Danny and his eyes widened in alarm, head snapping downward.

'Foolish human! You have made your last mistake. Be honoured in the knowledge that Legion themself will end your life today!' Energy, darker than the purest black, and filthy, separated itself from Legion and shot toward the small, surprised looking redheaded figure on the ground.

"NO! JAZZ!" Danny screamed as he sped down toward his sister.

He was fast.

But Legion's attack had gotten a head start.

He wasn't going to make it.

"Time Out!"

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'So you have come, Master of Time.'

When Danny came to his senses, he nearly plummeted headfirst into the soil with the excess momentum he had built up. Disoriented and panicky, his head whipped back and forth as he looked all around himself.

"Jazz? JAZZ? Where are—" Then he caught sight of the ghost floating next to him, and his sister, who was standing—an expression of shock etched into her frozen features—and the teen's face split into a relieved grin.

"Clockwork!" He cried thankfully; he wanted to fly over and hug the ghost, but restrained himself. Once again the Time Master had stopped time to save his family. Danny didn't think words were enough to express how grateful he was.

"I have." Leaving the unharmed Jazz on the ground, Clockwork rose high into the air, his deep purple cloak swirling around his current body—that of an emaciated, withered old man. Danny, not wanting to be left behind, also flew upward, rising above the treetops to float at Clockwork's side as the elder ghost stared evenly at the monstrous dog's head. The brilliant blue sky was utterly void of clouds and Danny thought it was an odd contrast to the dark shadowy tentacles of the Hound, which slithered in lazy curls around the green dome that encased the museum. "It has been some time, Demon."

'Demon?' Danny thought. He wondered if that was a category of life form, like humans and ghosts. Maybe that was why his ghost sense never went off around the beast…

'You have come to interfere in our work again, Ghost? You especially know the consequences of such actions.' Legion's voice was silky.

Danny looked between the two powerful beings: one a friend and the other an enemy. Did they know each other?

"I have come to give you a proposition." Clockwork answered blandly.

'Indeed?' The beast's voice was vaguely curious.

"In return for the souls of this boy's friends, I will give you this." And from within the folds of his cloak Clockwork drew out what looked, to Danny, like a miniature star.

The star—upon closer inspection Danny realized it was actually a stone—glimmered brilliantly as it lay innocently in Clockwork's palm. Danny had never seen anything like it before. It was beautiful: colours of the rainbow and every shade in between radiated off the stone. Small crevasses gave the light dimension and the radiance seemed to rotate and shimmer seemingly of its accord.

Something about the stone made it look alive to Danny, and as much as he was drawn to it, it also caused a deep discomfort to look at its light.

The desire in the beast's eyes was palpable as its gaze latched onto the stone and stayed there. For a long time, it just stared at the gem Clockwork was holding. But then it tore its eyes away and a crafty look crossed its beastly features.

'We will take your offer. But with a few amendments.' Clockwork didn't seem to be surprised by this and he nodded for the beast to continue. 'The two souls in question spilled blood over the altar of Legion; therefore they are our possession. We will take your Shard, in return we promise no harm comes to the two souls while they are in our care.' Danny was about to protest, but stopped when Clockwork raised a hand to silence him. Danny's mouth closed, but displeasure curled his lips.

"I will make no deal unless they're freedom is guaranteed." Clockwork said, and Danny's frown quickly smoothed away.

The beast seemed to think it over. It glanced at Danny, looking at the halfa in a way that made him fidget uncomfortably; then it looked back at Clockwork. 'You protect this Halfling, so you must know the power his soul possesses.' Danny's brow scrunched in confusion. Was Legion talking about his ghost powers? He looked to Clockwork, but the other ghost's expression was closed.

'The boy will bring us Jyoth pe Jyoth. Only then will we release the two souls.' Legion sounded smug.

"You ask a steep price for just two souls." Clockwork said carefully and shot Danny a warning glance when the teen bristled.

'We ask for a price that befits the capabilities of the giver.' The Hound answered smoothly. 'A lower price would suffice a lesser soul; but not his.'

"What you are asking is for the boy to hand you the world on a silver platter." There was an edge to Clockwork's voice and Danny's eyebrows shot up. "I will not allow that."

'It is not your decision to make.' The sly tone was back and Danny suddenly had the unpleasant experience of having both Legion's and Clockwork's penetrating gazes on him. He felt like a window. Crossing his arms tightly, he looked away, wondering why he suddenly felt so vulnerable.

Why did he get the impression that these two knew some secret they weren't letting him in on?

'We are generous. He has until the solstice to complete his task. If he fails, my children will feast on his soul in the lightless night.'

Danny's eyes bulged. "WHAT?!" He yelled.

Clockwork sent Danny a fierce frown and the halfa spluttered noiselessly.

'Well, what say you, Master of Time?' The beast asked pleasantly.

"As you said, Demon, it is not my choice to make." Clockwork said emotionlessly. Then the ghost turned to Danny, who felt that he'd lost circulation of his blood to his extremities. "Danny," He said solemnly. "This is the only way to get your friends back. Do you agree?"

Danny looked uncertainly at the elder ghost; but when the Clockwork nodded encouragingly, the teen gained confidence. He drew himself up, green eyes blazing with conviction, and stared fully into Legion's fearsome maw.

"I agree."

Danny was flying back to Casper High with Jazz perched on his back, her long hair waving like a banner behind them.

"So now what?" She asked.

"Now… I'm going to drop you at the school." Danny said distractedly, his thoughts elsewhere. "Then I have to go see Clockwork."

"Ok, I get that he saved us from that freaky ghost dog, but why do you have to go see him now?" Jazz asked, confused. When Clockwork had taken his time freezing spell off his sister, Danny had had to relay to her what had happened between him, the Hound and the Master of Time. Naturally, he'd left out a few details.

Meaning: he'd told her that Clockwork had popped up out of nowhere, saved them, then disappeared again; period.

"He's going to tell me how to save Sam and Tucker." Danny answered. And this was true. After Danny had agreed to Legion's deal, the beast had withdrawn. Clockwork had told Danny to meet him in the Ghost Zone before teleporting away, leaving Danny with too many questions, but no answers, running around his head and a very disoriented, very nosey sister.

Jazz let a few minutes pass in silence before she suddenly gasped loudly. The sound startled Danny and he jerked in his flight, causing his sister to yelp and scramble to grab his shoulders.

"What? What?" He asked. Then, realizing there was no impending danger he rolled his eyes. "Darn it, Jazz, don't DO that without a good reason!"

"Good reason? Good reason?" Jazz's voice reached a weird, squeaky pitch that she only used when Danny did something stupid like forget to study for a test or do an assignment or something. He immediately ran through a repertoire of all his school-related events, searching for something that would explain his sister's wackier-than-usual behaviour. He'd done the homework Sam and Tucker brought for him, there weren't any tests coming up that he knew of, and he'd been suspended for the last two days so—

Then the realization hit Danny and he groaned. He knew exactly what his sister was going to say.

"Danny! You're off suspension today! It's your first day of school since Tuesday. You can't miss it otherwise all the teacher will—"

"Jazz." Danny's voice was low and forceful. "I don't have time to waste on going to school. I don't care what you say, but saving Sam and Tucker is infinitely more important than sleeping through Mr. Lancer's recitation of A Midsummer Nightmare."

Jazz automatically jumped in to correct him. "A Midsummer Night's—"

"Whatever!" Danny exclaimed. "Look, if I can get them out of that demon's grasp even one second earlier, it'll be worth it, ok? So just lay off my case and let me do what I have to do."

"…" Jazz looked at the back of her brother's head sadly. And Danny was irritated to realize that he could actually feel her pity seeping through the back of his head.

"It's the right thing to do. And I'm the one to do it. You know that." His tone was final and it ended the conversation.

Jazz kept looking down at her brother's head, wondering at the long strands of hair—usually pitch black, but now a vivid white—and thin shoulders that should not have been able to carry her weight, no matter how many pounds she'd lost on her latest diet.

"Yeah…" She sighed and looked down before closing her eyes.

Rooftops swept by underneath them as Danny flew invisibly through the city. Jazz tried to gaze downward, to watch all the people and cars wiz by, but the vertigo made her a little light-headed—which is turn made her wobble, and caused her stomach to lurch uncomfortably—so she refrained from that activity. Eventually, another question wormed its way into her head and she felt that it was a topic to important to ignore for the sake of awkward silence and tact.

"Why did Sam want to try and take on that ghost alone?"

She felt Danny physically tense.

"I don't know." Was his short, tight response.

"You had another fight with her, didn't you." She didn't even really need to ask, it was so obvious.

He gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Oh Danny," Jazz sighed. "Let me guess, you were trying to protect her and she 'took it the wrong way'."

"Of course she took it the wrong way!" Danny suddenly burst out. "She always does; and don't think I can't hear you putting air quotes around that." He grumbled.

"Danny…" Jazz knew her little brother didn't want to hear her advice, but she had to set him right about this. "Look, Sam is strong and independent—"

"I know that!" He interrupted.

"I know you do; now just listen to me. Sam is also still insecure. She's always trying to prove herself. Her parents don't accept who she is, she's not accepted by the girls at school and now you, one of her only friends, is telling her she's not good enough to stand at your side."

"I did not tell her that!" Danny sounded appalled at the very thought.

"But it was implied." Jazz tried to soften her tone, but the cutting words still made her brother flinch. "I think that for Tucker and Sam, ghost hunting has become a part of who they are—same as for you. How would you feel if some supped-up ghost-hunter came along and told you to take a hike because you were a liability?"

"Are you kidding? That would be great!" Danny said cheerfully. "Then I could take a break from all this."

"Would you really be happy? Really?" Jazz knew her brother too well not to have noticed the massive hero-complex he carried like a chip on his shoulder. "Someone else always showing you up, never letting you do anything on your own. Someone who treats you like a child just because they're a little stronger than you?"

There was a long silence; and then Danny's head drooped. "Man, Jazz, do you have to make me sound like such a jerk?" He asked sadly.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad." She consoled, though her tone was firm. "I'm just telling you how Sam is probably feeling. It'd also help if you didn't just agree with her all the time."

"Huh?" Danny asked, confused. "Why? She's almost always right about stuff. And when I don't agree it's usually over something small; so it's not worth making a fuss over."

Jazz sighed and shook her head at her brother's cluelessness. "If you always agree, it makes the fights you DO have much more violent because you have all this built up tension and unresolved issues hanging over your heads."

Again, Danny lapsed into a thoughtful pause. "I guess… you're right." He said at length and, not having eyes on the back of his head, missed Jazz's momentary preening. "But I don't get why it all has to be so complicated… Why can't Sam accept that I want to protect her and leave it at that?"

"I think you know the answer to that." Jazz said pointedly.

Danny sighed. "I guess, I—Whoa!"

A sudden bolt of red energy whizzed by, passing Jazz's shoulder and Danny's arm by mere centimetres as the half-ghost took a sudden, violent turn to the left.

"GHOST!" Called an all too familiar voice, and Jazz looked up to see the Red Hunter hovering above them, aiming a massive gun in their direction. For a moment Jazz forgot they were invisible and cold fear gripped her heart. Her fingers curled into Danny's jumpsuit as she silently willed him to fly away so he wouldn't get hurt.

But after a second, the Hunter's gun swept away through the air and Jazz sagged in relief. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! SHOW YOURSELF!" The masked figure bellowed.

Jazz leaned downward, about to whisper something into Danny's ear when her younger brother suddenly took off, like an arrow released from a bow, speeding in the opposite direction from the hunter. Faster and faster, he accelerated so rapidly that Jazz unconsciously dug her nails into his shoulders.

"Are you Ok?!" Danny yelled over the rushing air as he jetted through the sky.

Jazz, hanging on for dear life, had to fight for the breath to answer. "YEAH!" She cried near his ear. Then, seeing his pained look at the volume of her voice, she spoke a little quieter. "I'm alright."

"Good! Then I'll let you down here."

"Whaaat?" Jazz screamed as he dropped in an almost vertical nosedive toward the ground. Stomach in her throat, she knew Danny would never crash, but her eyes still squeezed shut as the ground rushed up to meet them.

When the semi-expected crash never happened, she cracked open her eyes gingerly. Danny had landed softly on the ground and was now gesturing at her to jump off, which she did. He was just about to speed off—most likely to face that Hunter—when Jazz reached out to stop him.

"Wait, Danny—" She started.

"Look," He said impatiently. "I have to—"

"I know," She interjected. "Just be careful, ok?" She couldn't help but worry.

Danny sent her a lopsided grin. " 'Course."

And with a swift gust of wind, he was gone.

Jazz sighed—taking a moment to stare at the rapidly disappearing speck in the air that was her brother—then turned her head. From the edge of the alley where she was standing, she could clearly see the entrance to Casper High. The last dregs of students were trickling through the doors. She could still make the second bell if she hurried.

But instead she just stood there. Thinking.

And after a few moments she turned on her heel and heading in the opposite direction.

She would loose her perfect attendance record, but it was like Danny had said: some things were just more important.

"Hey Valerie, it's just me, Phantom. What are you—HEY!" For the second time, he had to do a quick scurry to avoid being hit with a laser. She'd shot at him! Twice!—though the first time didn't really count since she hadn't known it was him, he reasoned.

"What was that for?!" He yelled. "I thought we had a truce!" He didn't want to fight the girl, especially not now, while she was injured. Danny could see that Valerie's left arm was not in its sling, but it was hanging close to her body and she wasn't using it to brace her weapon.

"HAD is right, Ghost!" Valerie spat back from behind the imposing red visor that hid her face. Danny wished he knew who gave Valerie her new, deadly battle-suit, just so he give them a piece of his mind—and maybe ask them to make him one too.

"What? Why the sudden change?" Danny raised his hands up in a pacifying gesture then had to duck as a flash of red zipped over his head, singing a few hairs.

"Change?! I could ask you the same thing, Ghost!" Valerie said angrily. "You're the one who attacked me first!"

"Wait—what?" Danny gaped.

"Don't tell me you're trying to play the idiot now. You know very well what I'm talking about. Three nights ago you just show up out of the blue and start attacking me. What, has the recent drop in ghost activity got you bored so you have to start taking out your aggression on people? You useless jerk!" Valerie was practically steaming as she stood there on her board, but Danny was doing some quick mathematics.

Three nights ago—that was the night Dash's cat was hung. And Danny had come to the school to see if everyone was ok… That was the first day Valerie had shown up with her arm in a sling.

"Wait… Are you saying that I sprained your arm?" Danny asked incredulously. There was not way he could've done that! He was always careful when he fought her. And besides, he' hadn't fought Valerie that night.

Valerie seemed to tense and Danny saw her twitch her left arm further out of his sight. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said defensively. "I'm just fine!"

Danny knew she was lying, but he didn't push it. "Look," he pleaded. "I'm telling the truth; I really didn't attack you. Val—"

"Don't you dare call me that!" And she sent off a volley of shots that had him tumbling through an impressive set of acrobatics as he avoided them mid-air. "I bet you're the one who's been robbing those stores. And you're probably to blame for Dash's cat! I'm gonna waste you, spook!" She screamed as she cocked her weapon once more.

Danny knew a blind rage when he saw one. There was no way he'd be able to get through to Valerie while she was like this. Plus, he didn't have time to fight her. He had to get to Clockwork.

So he turned tail and ran.

After a few seconds of invisible flight without hearing the sound of guns charging and being fired, the halfa chanced a look behind himself. Valerie was there, but she had fallen behind. It seemed like she was having trouble flying without jarring her injured arm. For the first time, Danny appreciated the fact that she was injured as he sped away.

Danny was right on top of FentonWorks when he realized the Fenton Ghost Portal was out of commission.

Cursing his rotten luck, Danny hovered near the buzzing, neon sign that bore his name in fluorescent lights. He put a hand to his chin and squinted his eyes in thought.

He knew Vlad had a ghost portal in Wisconsin. But that was too far. Danny wondered if the man would have been obsessive enough to build one in his home in Amity Park.

'…Yes he would.'

In a few moments, Danny was standing in mid-air before Vlad's mansion. The house was huge and looked like something out of a mid 1800's movie with its wrought iron gates, numerous steepled roofs and arching windows. All it was missing were some ugly gargoyles perched on tall turrets to complete the gothic look.

Danny landed softly on the perfectly manicured, expansive lawn and looked around. He'd never been to this mansion before, but it strongly resembled Vlad's house in Wisconsin, a thought that made the teen wonder if the billionaire had ever rebuilt his old house.

Sniggering mischievously, Danny remembered how he'd tricked the Guys in White into demolishing the mansion. It might have been petty revenge, but that didn't take away from the fact that Vlad had totally deserved it after the cloning incident…

Quickly sobering, he looked up at the foreboding, wooden doors that were sunken into an arched formed of dark brick. He was going to guess that the lab was somewhere in the basement; so, without thinking too much about it, he turned intangible and flew into the house.

He hoped the elder halfa wasn't home.

The décor of the house was fitting for Vlad's personality—dark and sketchy with obvious indications of the man's obsessions. Everything was large and long: the ceiling reached upwards of two stories into a shadowy point. A long staircase, curved into the wall, was fashioned out of stained wood and polished to a shine. The furniture was luxurious and expensive; and of course, there was the ever present green and gold Packer's banners and the encased, priceless football signed by the team.

Danny tsked, shaking his head. He wondered what Vlad would do if he took that football. But, deciding that dealing with the resulting tantrum probably wouldn't be worth the laugh he'd get out of infuriating the man, he shrugged the idea away.

A low hiss caught his attention and Danny whirled to the side, expecting to see the older man standing there, a charged weapon ready in his hands.

But instead, Danny saw a rather fat, white cat standing to attention on one of the armrests as it eyed him with suspicious blue eyes and a poofy tail.

Humour rose up in the teen's throat and threatened to spill out in uncontrollable laughter. When the cat yawned, deeming him safe, and curled back up on the cushion with a smug mewl to take a nap, Danny lost his control and bent over, clutching his sides as he roared with laughter.

It took many minutes before he could calm down enough to wipe the tears from his eyes. Once he was sure he had mastered himself, he gave the cat a soft pat on the head and was unable to stifle a giggle when it responded with an adorable merp. Shaking his head, Danny turned back to his search.

Finding the laboratory was easier than the young halfa had expected it to be. He merely phased through a few floors and abruptly found himself in a room of metal and wires. Not bothering with the lights, the teen created a glowing ball of green energy and let it hang somewhere over his shoulder. The flickering light cast eerie shadows over the ground, dancing around the bright edges of metal tables and mutating into weird shapes as it lit up beakers filled with unknown fluids. Danny ignored all this and made his way further into the dark room, his white hair haloed in supernatural energy.

Rising from the shadows, the ghost-light suddenly illuminated a tall, empty tube. Danny stared at it for a minute, shuddered at the memories that surfaced, then forcibly tore his eyes away and continued on.

Finally, he reached the other end of the room and there, depressed into the wall, was a very familiar tubular device.

Danny let of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and grinned.

Heading over to the console, the teen leaned over the complex buttons and dials, bringing his ball of energy closer with an idle beckoning of his hand.

With the practiced ease that only came from being the son of two brilliant inventors, Danny started up the console and let his fingers fly over the colourful array of knobs and buttons. It wasn't all that different from his parent's ghost portal. In fact, it was too similar. Danny frowned. Yet another thing Vlad had probably stolen from his parents.

INPUT PASSWORD

"Huh…" Green eyes squinted in annoyance as Danny's breath left barely parted lips in a swift whoosh; his hands hung suspended over the keypad as his mind flew over all the possibilities. He had no idea what Vlad's birthday was… He thought about the cat he'd seen, but had no idea what its name was. He thought about putting his own name in, but that felt too egotistical—not to mention disturbing—so he refrained. The Packer's crossed his mind… But then a final thought popped up and Danny knew.

Swallowing, wishing he was wrong—yet knowing he wasn't—Danny typed in 'Maddie Masters'.

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

"Fruitloop." Danny puffed out between clenched teeth.

"Welcome home honey, what can I do for you today?"

Danny yelped and spun around—back slamming harshly into the edge of the control panel—at the completely unexpected sound of his mother's voice. When he saw what had made the sound, his jaw fell open and his eyes opened impossibly wide.

A transparent, holographic image of Maddie Fenton smiled sweetly at a spot over Danny's head.

'That—that—' Danny spluttered in his head. There were absolutely no words to describe his feelings towards Vlad's insanity at the moment. His mind was too busy screaming incoherently.

'Trying to clone me is one thing, but creating a holographic image of Mom to do his every bidding?!...EW! GROSS!' Danny wished he could un-see this.

"Is there something wrong, honey?" The fake Maddie asked and Danny cringed at the look of concern that came across her face. It looked an awful lot like his mother, and he did NOT want to know how Vlad managed to create such a close likeness.

Licking his lips, Danny decided to get this thing over with and leave before he could get even more scarred, if that were possible. Figuring he didn't want to chance responding out loud—Vlad probably had some voice-analyzing device—Danny walked over to the console and typed in the input to open the ghost portal.

The hologram broke out into a smile that was entirely too cheery. "Sure thing, sweetie!" Danny gagged.

When the ghost portal opened Danny raced through it so fast he probably strained the sound barrier.

And a little red light blinked away innocently in a high corner of the room, recording everything.

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End Chapter 16

To Be Continued…

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Okies! So… yeah, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I hope this update made up for that ^.^'

Now, as most of you will notice: this is the spot where I usually answer reviews. Unfortunately, from now until April (when I leave France) I'm not going to have the time to do this (not to mention that just accessing my e-mail can take anywhere from 2 minutes to an hour O_O (and that's when I HAVE an internet connection).); again, I'm sorry but I hope you will continue to review. I love reading all your comments and they really motivate me when I get stuck!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Adio!

Oh yes! And bonus cookies go to the reviewer who can tell me what language 'Jyoth pe Jyoth' is (or jyot pe jyot, if you like) AND what it means! ^.^