A/N: Oh my. Has it really been 39 days since I've updated? I am irrevocably and exhaustively apologetic for my longer-than-usual hiatus. A lot of things have occurred since July 16th. I celebrated a birthday (well 3, but only one was mine), I went on a mini-vacation, and I joined a sports team that practices for 2+ hours a day. All of these are certainly contributions to the real reason I have been away. That real reason is, unethically, school.

"You have to go to learn."

"You won't be able to get a job without it."

"You must take it seriously."

"You have to get into a good college."

"WHY CAN'T YOU GET A 2400 ON YOUR SAT?!"

For those of my readers out there who are regrettably still in high school, I am certain you have heard one if not all of these sayings that adults love to tell. It has, of course, not helped my workload that I've filled my schedule with all AP and honors courses. I've been doing work up to 11:30 at night, and have yet to have a moment to myself where I can sit down and write a damn chapter! For that reason, I would like to get the next chapter out soon, but cannot make any promises.

But more onto this chapter...

I've been writing this since April, and am so excited that I finally get to post it! I hope the length made up for the wait (it's ~8.2K words). There are features of it that I wish I could tweak a bit, but I've decided you all have been waiting long enough. I hope it has some intense moments and some slower-paced ones. I did put a lot of effort into this chapter, but fighting and fight scenes aren't my strong point so I apologize for that. Please do review and tell me if you liked it :)

"STFU with this damn author's notes, The Element Of Air, and get on with the chapter!"

You're wish is my command...

From the end of the road, Danny could already see the beginnings of the mansion. In the already secluded area – far away from the main road, the school, and even City Hall, a dark and narrow pebbled path began. The way was covered with dark and looming trees – so thick that almost no sunlight was allowed to enter. Vlad had once said that the lack of sunlight would ward off any "trouble making teens" as he often supposed that everyone had a reason to be afraid of the dark. And how could you not be when things like Vlad Plasmius roamed then?

Danny, knowing what had to be done, ventured into the dark and creepy forest. The tall yew trees branched over the passage way. These depressing trees were accompanied by knotty ilex, which appeared just a few feet shorter. As Danny continued, he even saw mossy oak trees that must've long exceeded 100 years of age. If Danny squinted very hard past the thick expanse of trees, he even noticed a few twisted trees that appeared possessed or haunted, perhaps. Looking up, Danny saw that the moon was just visible. Its light appeared to accumulate a ways in front of Danny, a little further ahead of the road. He took a big breath, and flew faster to reach the pool of moonlight.

The light was soon directly in front of him, and Danny realized that this was the area that the forest must end. This was, after all, only the second time Danny had been to Vlad's mansion and everything certainly looked different without the rays of the sun. The moon's glow gave it a far more eerie look. But now, Danny could clearly see the expanse of Vlad's property.

Perhaps it was knowing that this could be the place of his death or perhaps it was the way the moon reflected from it, but Danny wanted to take it all in. This place seemed extraterrestrial in its beauty, and a haunting thought crossed Danny's mind that perhaps he wouldn't mind dying here. But then he remembered that if he were to die here, it would be at the hands of Vlad Plasmius – the haunting Fruit Loop who loved to mess with his life – and the thought seemed less grand.

He continued to travel towards the large abode, and a thought occurred to him. Vlad had always struck Danny as both snotty and proper, but mostly: paranoid. He must have some kind of guard system to protect himself and his house. After all, Vlad made a lot of enemies and he never liked cleaning up after his own dirty work. Skeptically, he moved forward on the path, and as he did he was able to see the residence for all its surreal beauty.

The driveway, he could tell, curved to the left slightly, and allowed space for several vehicles to be stored. The pebbled area, however, was home to only one car, which Danny doubted Vlad ever actually drove. The ivory finish of 1956 Cadillac was too smooth to have driven on an actual road. It was sleek; it was white; it was old; it was poised; and it was expensive. Danny mused that perhaps the Fruit Loop had more in common with his car than he'd like to admit.

After traveling past the extensive drive way and the fancy car, Danny turned to the left, and quickly noticed all that he had traveled. Behind him stood the dark path with the looming trees, but now, looking back, he could also see that an eerie fog appeared like a veil on the exit, and soon his vision was completely obscured behind him. He wondered if it was a trick of the moonlight or if an actual haze appeared suddenly. Danny hoped for the former, but somehow the latter seemed more appropriate.

Then Danny's ghost sense went off. He gasped and whipped around. He calmed down when no ghost was behind him, but still decided it was time to stop his observing, and flew closer to the house itself. By nature, he also flew closer to the stunning car he'd previously spotted. Danny wondered why such an expensive car was kept out in the driveway. Sure, it was more flashy and noticeable without a car cover or garage for its protection, but wouldn't the rain and snow beat up the seemingly flawless exterior.

Danny, so puzzled by this, decided to fly to the left towards the parked car instead of straight ahead toward the mansion. Once he was closer, he noticed that the Cadillac had a faint white aura to it, as a ghost has. Danny backed away instantly and realized that that was an answer to two questions he'd already had.

One, why was such a nice car being kept out of the garage; and two, why did the mansion have no security?

This was no regular car; it was a ghost car.

Danny assumed that, like the Box Ghost, there must be a ghost out there with a critical obsession for an inanimate object that he would go so far as to inhabit that inanimate object. In this case, that obsession appeared to be cars.

Danny could be arrogant and cocky, sure, but he wasn't stupid. He couldn't beat a car. He could go intangible and fly away from the ghost-car, but that could come back to bite him when he was dueling Vlad and the car decided to come out to play. He knew he had to battle this ghost right now, but he didn't want to battle the car, so he first had to figure out how to get the ghost out of the car.

An idea occurred to the young ghost boy, so he quickly turned intangible and flew inside the car. Sitting before him was the ghost that had previously given off the ghostly glow that warned Danny. The ghost wore solid white pants and an almost solid white shirt. The exception to the uniform color was the left chest where a single vertical stripe of both blue and red lined up, just an inch apart. In the center of the two stripes, stood a rectangular patch with some kind of lettering, but Danny couldn't make it out at the angle he was. He decided that that small detail didn't matter in the long run.

The ghost also wore a patch of the American flag on his upper left sleeve, and on his right, two chevrons: one blue and red. The ghost had both white-gloved hands on the Cadillac's steering wheel. His head, which was encased in a solid black helmet with an opaque screen over his glowing red eyes, was staring intently out the windshield. It was no wonder that the ghost hadn't spotted him before. The ghost was occupied with the front of the car which faced the front gate of the mansion, not where Danny was. He realized it was a simple coincidence that he hadn't flown directly to the front door step. If he had, this ghost would've had the advantage of surprise. But circumstances had given Danny that opportunity.

Still invisible, he took a seat in the passenger seat to the right of the ghost. He immediately turned visible once again, and said to the ghost, "Someone forgot to check their rearview mirror."

The ghost snapped his head to the right with surprising speed, but Danny was quicker. A quick upper cut to the chin had the ghost sailing out the roof of the car. Danny emerged a moment later, and whipped his head to and fro. He could not find where the ghost had been sent. Either Danny was stronger than he knew or the ghost was very weak. He turned left and right, looked up and down, but the ghost was nowhere.

Then Danny felt it.

Crack. Something had just slammed into the back of his neck. It pushed him to the ground, but he caught himself with his hands. On reflex, he quickly turned around, and found the lost ghost.

"Okay, enjoy getting me that time, because it won't happen again," Danny told him, and pushed himself off the ground with his feet. He headed – arms outstretched – towards the ghost. At the correct distance, he hurled a ball of ectoplasm at the ghost's head, which sent him flipping backwards.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. The ghost did quite a few backwards somersaults through the air, but was finally able to stabilize himself again and floated upright. Danny threw another ball of ectoplasm. This time, since the blow hit at his gut, the ghost was sent straight back, where he landed against the spotless Cadillac.

Danny, with a practiced hand, whipped out the Fenton Thermos from his belt, and aimed it at the helmeted ghost. The familiar vacuuming white light emerged from the thermos, and illuminated the ghost. The ghost, although its mouth could not be seen behind the thick helmet, let out a howling scream – a blood-curdling, high-pitched shriek – as he realized he'd lost without a fight. Danny knew that defeated scream very well. It was usually a ghosts dying effort to get away from the suctioning of the light, but Danny knew there was only one scream that could break through the thermos, and it was his own ghostly wail.

Soon, the scream of the ghost was evaporated, and Danny closed the cap to the thermos.

That was also when he realized who the ghost was.

"He was a racecar driver!" he exclaimed to himself. "That was his deal with the car, and the outfit. I should've asked for his autograph," he chuckled to himself at the thought, but swiftly clipped the thermos back onto his belt, and continued his flight to the large, entrancing mansion.

As Danny walked up the haunting steps past the driveway but not yet to the porch of the mansion, he took in all of his surroundings. This was, after all, the first time he'd been to Vlad's new residence. Ever since his first home was destroyed, Danny did not felt it necessary to pay his arch enemy a visit.

The steps, unlike the drive way, was concrete and cemented over with an old finish. Danny was grateful for the crack-less pavement as it allowed for a quiet entry. Once he stepped onto the last step, he turned to the left. That was the direction of the house, and Danny knew it was the right way to go, even though the backyard looked much more inviting than the front.

Danny assumed that an old ghost did not have very many hobbies, so the Fruit Loop must have taken up gardening. This was the most logical explanation for the grand yellow rose hedge that bordered the backyard. The bush stood 6 feet tall, and began at the east side of the house, broke for only 4 feet that allowed entrance, and then continued to loop around the perimeter of the yard. The yellow rose arch that presided over the break in the hedge must've gone up to 8 feet, and Danny liked those chances better than the entrance to the house.

To his left, the way of the house, the concrete porch stretched past the large French doors of the mansion, and seemed to end with the west side of the house. Danny flew over to stand directly in front of the doors. He stopped his flight to take in his surroundings.

The mansion was extravagant.

The glass French doors were pristine, and bordered with long wood beams. The ebony wood scantlings ran up both sides of the door frame, and a lintel lay across the top. Lining the deep hues of wood were squares of windows. Danny was able to clearly see the foyer of Vlad's new mansion through these portholes.

The atrium opened up into a vast staircase that seemed to go so high Danny could not even see where it ended. Symmetrically to the right and left of the front door were two more windows. Each had shutters of the same ebony wood.

The outside walls of the house were an elegant cream brick that made a deep contrast with the dark wood. Above Danny's head was the balcony's floor, he presumed. The balcony was suspended by vertical joists of the cream coloring. To his right was the east wing. The east wing was nearest to the garden. As he flew over, Danny realized it was almost identical to the front doors but in smaller proportions.

Strangely, the west wing, which was to his left, was very different. It was of course still in the same coloring scheme as the rest of the house, but it was a different style. Instead of the vertical beams supporting a balcony like the other two entrances, this wing did not appear to have any balcony.

Danny flew over and saw that the west wing had only one floor. This floor was equally as tall as the east wing, which had two. Of course, Danny did not miss that the front of the house was almost double the two outer wings. Although, by the looks of the windows, the front of the house was also only one floor.

Danny pushed himself off the ground, and flew over the house. He wanted to have a comfortable sense of his surroundings before beginning the fight. It appeared the southern most end of the house, where Danny had previously stood, was the largest. This piece of the mansion was a large rectangle that went far back. The two side wings, however, only continued for half of the main part of the house. The wings then broke off into two cloisters in the opposite direction of the house. Two separate gardens were located in the void that the rectangle of walkway made. Separating the two gardens was the main house.

The covered pathways and the main house all met at the back of the house in a covered circle, which Danny could only guess was an exit and a back door.

Danny, seeing that this mansion wasn't so confusing and large as it had earlier seemed, decided to find a way to sneak in.

If defeating Vlad was going to be on his agenda tonight, he'd have to make sure he had the element of surprise.

The only question now was how he was going to obtain it…

…

Vlad was standing fixed on the cold, limestone floor of his bedroom. He breathed in the crisp winter air, and exhaled loudly. Closing his eyes, he continued this; it centered him and did not allow his mind to wander. He had to stay focused on one thing.

Tonight's the night.

Tonight – this glorious night – would finally mark the end of Daniel Fenton. He would no longer have control over his life; no longer could he destroy the small hope that still resides inside him: the hope that one day, he could rule the world. He would no longer be overshadowed by large, bumbling oafs. He and he alone could sweep Maddie off her feet with his power. She could be his queen to the world. He would claim her, mate with her, and most importantly – rid the world of all memories of Jack Fenton. This coincidentally included his nemesis, the child ghost, the immature teen: Danny Phantom.

And after tonight that name would mean absolutely nothing.

He opened his eyes, but continued to focus on his breathing. He turned to gaze into the fireplace south of his bed. The twisted and convoluted flames entwined with the blazed wood. The corrupted inferno was safely contained inside the stone fireplace. The only part of the fire that shown away from the chimney was the perverted shadows that danced along his iron bed frame. The flashing red reflections seemed distorted and warped. It wasn't a fantasized image of earthly fire, but the reality and destruction that the flame truly is. And Vlad was enveloped in it; completely submerged in its power. For a moment, his own eyes blazed the same fiery color before returning to their hominid blue.

The greatest part of battle was of course the strategically made plans, and that was where Vlad had the upper hand. The young ghost boy did not have the mental capacity to outwit Vlad Plasmius, the millionaire mayor. No, he definitely did not.

Vlad of course knew that the young boy had physical strength that Vlad could only hope to one day gain back, but he also knew that his highly developed brain would replace his dearth of brute muscle.

Yes, he was positive of that. He was going into battle very confident this night.

…

Danny soon discovered that the entirety of Vlad's mansion was ghost-resistant. In his ghost form, none of the doors would allow him access. This of course meant he'd have to knock on the door in human form, and allow Vlad the advantage.

Danny sighed. This was humiliating! He'd tried every type of entrance: door, window, gate, chimney.

Chimney.

He hadn't tried the chimney after all! He quickly flew over the house, and found 9 chimney pipes sticking out of the roof. He sighed. Which one would lead him to where he needed to be? Danny then realized with shocking horror he had no idea where he needed to be.

Taking a wild 22% chance, Danny flew into the narrow entry-way in the West Wing. It was surprisingly the only one of the chimneys that was lit, which meant Vlad had to be near it.

Danny turned intangible, and made his body very straight. The black smoke engulfed him, and Danny was forced to hold his breath. He made it to the bottom and found himself kneeling in the rapid fire. But that wasn't all he'd found.

Standing before him with his eyes closed, and his hands behind his back was none other than Vlad Masters.

Yes, Masters. Plasmius was still in human form. Danny thought this was the perfect opportunity. Without warning, he pushed away from the chimney mouth – remaining intangible until the very last second.

Then, using a great deal of his strength, he formed a large ball of sticky green ectoplasm, turned tangible again, and shot it at the Fruit Loop's face.

The white haired man began to claw at the goop stuck to his face. His motions were jerky, and ungraceful compared to his usual well-mannered self. He seemed to finally get a grasp on the situation however because a blinding light hit Danny's eyes right before he could look away. When he turned back, Plasmius was before him, no longer incapacitated by the green ectoplasm.

Danny readied himself. This was the beginning of the end.

Vlad shot first. The ecto-blast escaped from his open palm in a cone of pink light. Danny sprang up and the burning energy missed his legs by just an inch.

"You'll have to be quicker than that Plasmius," Danny teased, a little too soon.

Right after the older man's name left his lips, Vlad counteracted with a fierce ectoball that hit Danny square in the chest. The force sent him backward until his back collided with the wall. He gasped for breath. The angle and strength that his back had hit knocked the wind out of him, and he clutched his chest where the actual blow had struck. He had not been expecting that.

He looked up with dazed eyes to see Plasmius hovering over him and smirking unpleasantly. "Now, now Daniel let's not get too cocky," he said.

Danny pounced up. He aimed both hands at Plasmius, and shot a very powerful ectoblast his direction. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he forced more power into the blow. He finally felt his strength diminishing, so he was forced to stop.

The blast had left him panting, and when he looked up to see what had happened to Vlad, he found the older man completely unscathed. He was holding up his ecto-powered pink shield to protect his entire body.

That hit had taken a lot out of Danny, and yet it did absolutely nothing to Plasmius.

Danny, panicking, thought of the first move that came to mind. He turned invisible. He raced towards Vlad. His hands clutched around Plasmius' throat. And he sailed.

Danny pushed Plasmius through the wall. He didn't have enough time to go intangible, and the wall cracked and broke with the force the old man's back had collided. The next wall was approaching quickly, but Plasmius turned intangible for this one. This time they both sailed straight through. Only Danny wasn't done yet. He kept a firm grip on Plasmius and they each went through 4 rooms. Until Danny finally let go.

Vlad tumbled on the green grass of his east courtyard. He landed against the tall rose bush, and when he stood, Danny could see his white suit was now stained green from both the grass and ectoplasm dripping from the thorn wounds.

"I don't recall allowing you to destroy my house," Vlad screamed. Before Danny could even form a thought process, Vlad swung a right hook at his head. The super strength sent him flying towards the cloister of columns.

He saw the column approaching. He knew he needed to go intangible. But his brain couldn't form the connection quick enough. With a slap, Danny's front side made contact with the white marble column. Vlad's punch was so strong that the column shifted forward and now stood at an angle. Danny flipped backward, and landed smack on his back.

He groaned from the pain. It coursed to his nose, which had cushioned his forehead, thankfully. But not enough. The pain on his forehead was making his head dizzy, but he kept blinking, not letting himself pass out. His chest had taken the worst beating of all. It hurt to sit up properly, but Danny had to. He had to keep going.

Adrenaline pumping, Danny pushed himself off the ground in one fluid motion. He whipped around, and felt snot dripping down his nose. He rubbed his gloved hand against it, and winced from the contact. When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in ectoplasm.

His nose wasn't running from a cold, it was dripping in bright green ectoplasm.

"Giving up already Daniel? Good. I'll still have time to have tea before bed," Vlad's voice made Danny come back to the current situation.

No, was all Danny could think. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't. He had to go on. If not for himself than for the people that he loved.

"You wish," Danny sneered.

He shot disks of ectoplasm in Vlad's direction. Vlad blocked every one with his forearm, and remained unharmed while Danny continued aiming.

Left. Right. Left. Right. Danny threw his disks.

Right. Left. Right. Left. Vlad blocked.

Vlad was advancing. Danny needed to think up a plan and quick. By accident, Danny's left hand slipped, and the disk of ectoplasm came in contact with Vlad's forehead.

He was left dazed for only a second, but that was enough time for Danny. He began shooting icicles one by one into the ground. He threw them at precise angles so they crossed and barricaded each other then set a few on top so Vlad couldn't escape from the icy cage.

Now it was Danny's turn to smirk. He used one of the powers he did not share with Vlad to trap him into one spot. It wouldn't hold for long, but Danny wondered if it would hold for long enough that he could trap Vlad in his Dad's invention.

There was glass-breaking shatter.

It obviously would not hold for long.

"Clever move, boy, but too foolish. Ectoplasm melts ice," Vlad cackled. And lunged toward Danny.

Danny didn't know what to do. He immediately began flying the other way. He was faster than Vlad that was certain, but how long would he be able to outfly him?

He felt something clasp around his ankle.

Clearly not as long as he had hoped. He was being pulled back towards Vlad. Danny couldn't see well enough to be sure, but he assumed Vlad had snatched him with some ectoplasm, and then yanked it back toward him.

He was spun around. His eyes were now level with bright red ones that looked vindictive and menacing. "Why are you even trying?"

He threw Danny towards the ground with surprising strength. A loud scream filled the night air, and Danny realized it was his own voice.

He hit the ground with a thud, and felt something crack in his back. He moved to get up, but Vlad was already pinning him to the ground with his own weight.

"Why did you ever think you could take me?"

A jab to the jaw. Danny groaned.

"Are you arrogant, idiotic, or perhaps both?"

A fist collided with the left side of the young boy's face. All Danny could do was moan in agony.

"Although what else could one expect when the oaf Jack Fenton contributed to your making?"

He no longer just sensed the tasteless yet still present ectoplasm in his mouth. He was receiving a metallic vibe on his taste buds and immediately realized that blood must be coming up into his mouth. This always happened when the line between the two forms was slowly becoming more and more blurred. As the opposites collided, physical changes began to occur. His green eyes became tinged with blue to form a bit of a teal while the ectoplasm pumping through his veins was mixed with blood.

And then, time itself began to slow down.

Danny blinked once, and when he opened his eyes he saw a gloved white hand coming closer and closer to his face; it was clenched tightly and looked unmovable.

Danny tried to stop the blow, but Vlad had his hands and legs pinned to the floor. The only thing that could freely move were his mouth and eyes. And last time he checked, he couldn't throw ectoplasm from either of those.

But maybe there was something he could do…

Danny patiently waited for Vlad's punch to come closer and closer to his face. He watched and willed himself not to flinch away. Just as the uppercut was headed for his chin, Danny blew. Hard.

An icy cage trapped Vlad's hand. Vlad hadn't been expecting this since he'd already had the ghost boy pinned for some time. He was of course quickly able to recover, and burned the ice off his hand, but Danny was quicker.

By the time Vlad had looked back, Danny was gone. He'd turned intangible, and had flown right above him. His head was spinning slightly, and he was scared that he'd lost a lot of blood, but he had to keep going.

He turned tangible while still behind Vlad, and sent a powerful ecto-blast kick that landed straight in the toosh of the Fruit Loop.

Plasmius spinned with the punting power, and crashed back first into the wall opposite them. His back splatted on the wall, his head pointing to the ground. He was awkwardly sprawled as though being hit with a fly swatter. He hung there for a second before gravity sped up with him, and his legs flipped over his head.

He needed only a moment to recover. After that, he was back on his feet, and ready to further the fight. Danny, sick of the wall breaking his fall, pushed off the ground to take this fight to an aerial level.

Plasmius was quick to follow. He shot off the ground, and the two faced each other. Eyes glared into opposing orbs; the two half-ghosts were strategically planning their next move.

Vlad was the first to act. He shot ectoplasm straight for Danny's head. But Danny was quicker. He dashed out of the way, and flew a bit toward the ground. From the lower angle, Danny hurled an ecto-blast at Vlad's face. The upper cut contacted with Vlad's chin, and Danny heard a crack from the blast, and immediately realized the blow had dislocated the man's jaw. Danny cheered to himself at the small victory.

But Vlad wouldn't let that small setback delay his fight. He took only a moment to recover, and immediately splashed Danny with a gush of goopy ectoplasm. He was able to fly out of the way, but Vlad kept gushing the pink fluid. The dense goop landed on Danny's right shoulder, and began to weigh him down. Before long, Danny realized he would have to fly down; he lacked the energy to remain flying with the extra weight. Unless…

He speedily went intangible, and appeared again in the blink of an eye. He didn't want to use the energy he could save for other endeavors on something as trivial as intangibility. This burst of being invisible did exactly the trick. The ectoplasm shed away, and Danny was able to support his weight again.

But not for long. Flying took too much effort in his languid state, so he quickly returned to the ground. Better fly down willingly than pass out and crash, right?

His feet hit the grassy terrain at the same time as Vlad's. There was nothing else he could to. Vlad had outsmarted him in every move he had tried to make. He was going to lose. He was exhausted and tired and bloody and Vlad was as polished as ever.

His heavy eye lids blinked slowly, and it was then that Danny decided he wasn't going to go down without a fight. He was going to do everything in his power to stop Vlad, and that could easily mean… sacrifice.

He inhaled deeply, allowing all the oxygen in the cool night to fill his lungs. His diaphragm expanded. His chest grew. His mouth was wide open. When he was satiated with air, he let out a long ectoplasmic yell. His ghostly wail.

It was suicide. The technique would leave him too tired to fight Vlad off anymore.

But it was also his last option.

…

Kim sat by herself in the corner of the living room. She hated feeling like this; all alone. But then, alone hardly covered what she felt at that moment. She felt betrayed and heartbroken and above all hurt. Simply, hurt.

She had trusted the ghost boy, and she had gotten burned.

Tears prickled at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. There was no way she was going to cry over a boy. Absolutely no way at all. She was stronger than that. Or at least, she had to be…

She was so deep in thought that she hadn't even noticed two white sneakers in cargo pants approach her couch.

"Hey KP, I didn't see you at dinner."

The voice brought her back to the present. It was his voice. Always happy and glad to be alive. Kim wished she shared that optimism.

She stared intently on the floor. She didn't want to look up at his flat blonde hair. If she did, he would see her weakness. See her crying. She wanted to wrap her arms around his scrawny frame and cry into his chest, but that wasn't an option. She had to be stronger than that.

"I wasn't hungry," she told him simply, thankful her voice did not crack.

"Are you okay, KP?"

Damn it. He'd noticed something off. It must've been that she had stared at the ground while answering him. She knew she'd have to look him in the eyes if he was going to believe. So she had to pull herself together.

She blinked a few times, and slapped a smile on her face. She looked up to meet his gaze.

"Everything's fine," she lied through her teeth.

Ron's eyes immediately widened. He had seen. He had noticed her tear-stained cheeks and watery eyes. She was angry, but she was also thankful.

He immediately sat down next to her, put his arm around her, and let her cry into him. The contact had made those tears plummet. They fell and collapsed and poured down her ruddy cheeks.

"Talk to me," he said simply.

"He doesn't want me," she said with a shaky and sniffly voice.

Ron pulled away, and made her look him in the eyes. "Who?" he begged.

Kim looked away. His brown stare was piercing and she couldn't look into his eyes.

"Danny," she uttered.

Ron tensed, and Kim immediately regretted telling him.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Ron told her, angrily.

Kim just sat there. She wasn't in the mood for the 'you're amazing and great' speech quite yet. But that wasn't where Ron was going.

"Kim, he's crazy about you!"

"Obviously not; he said he wasn't making a commitment if I didn't live here, Amity Park."

"But Middleton is your home!"

Kim nodded. "I know," was all she could say.

Ron immediately stood up, and began walking out of the deserted living room, towards the stair case.

Kim wanted to stop him. She wanted to call him back and tell him not to make the situation worse, but she didn't. She knew Ron would never listen. He was passionate about this, and he was going to mortally embarrass her by talking to him.

Kim should care. She should want Danny to know that she hadn't sent Ron to talk to him, so she should go up after him, but it was like that wasn't even an option.

Kim would rather Danny hate her then to ever have to look in those beautiful blue eyes again.

Not a minute later, Ron came pounding down the stairs.

Short talk, was all Kim could think.

She didn't even ask how it went when he came back down, and she had a feeling he didn't want to tell her. He didn't even stop to talk. He sprinted to the kitchen, and was out of sight the next moment. Kim was okay with this. She really didn't want to know how the short conversation went.

Then a shout rang from the kitchen. An angry and passionate shout that sounded an awful lot like Ron.

"Okay where is he?"

Kim heard a bit of mumbling but the response itself was inaudible.

"Phantom! Where'd he go?"

And that was when it came crashing into her:

He made her stand aside while he talked to Vlad.

He had told everyone that Vlad wanted a truce – something every one found hard to believe.

He had been in a weird mood for the rest day – a depressed and sad face while everyone else was joyful.

He went straight to bed.

He had broken up with her.

But he hadn't just broken up with her.

He had said it funny.

Almost like she had to squeeze it out of him

"There's just too many obstacles, and if we don't end it all now, it'll hurt us so much more"

Too many obstacles?

He was going to fight Vlad!

Hurt us so much more?

He thinks it'll hurt me more if he gets himself killed with Vlad than if he does the dirty work himself and calls things off.

How stupid could that boy get! Doesn't he know that he can't take Vl –

Something Kim had said had just settled with her: "if he gets himself killed".

Danny couldn't manage Vlad on his own. Even she knew that!

With the sleeve of her shirt, she wiped away any more evidence of tears and ran to the kitchen.

The bright fluorescent light easily illuminated all of room. Ron was standing – still rigid with anger. Jazz was seated at the table, drinking a cup of tea. She was talking with both Sam and Tuck.

Jazz was talking – explaining, more – calmly to Ron:

"I'm telling you Ron, Danny's upstairs in his room – asleep. Heaven knows the little guy doesn't get enough. He's fine! Where would he have gone anyway?"

Kim spoke up before anyone else could.

"He went to fight Vlad."

4 bulging eyes stared at Kim.

"You're kidding."

"How do you know?"

"Why couldn't I see this!"

"We have to go after him!"

Tucker, Ron, Jazz, and Sam all started talking. It was Kim in the end who had to direct the conversation back to more… pressing details.

"We don't have time for this. Listen, I have no idea when he left, but I haven't seen him since–"

"…since around 3'oclock…"

The residents of Amity Park all blinked at her; Ron put his angry face back on, but a glance from Kim made the mad expression go away. Sometimes, a lot could be said with just a blink of an eye.

"We need to go after him," Sam declared.

"I agree, but we can't just go. We need a plan. Vlad might be smarter than us individually, but we have something he doesn't: a pack, a group. We have the numbers in this situation," Kim was saying.

"We'll definitely be needing Valerie…" Tucker thought aloud.

"And Dani if we can find her," Jazz added.

"Wait, Da–"

"I couldn't help but overhearing," a new, sultry voice entered the room. Everyone whipped around to find Valerie standing in the doorway.

"I'm in," she declared.

"And I know how to find Dani."

…

Not 10 minutes later, the six teenagers were walking down stairs into the lab. Jazz had just used her thumbprint to open the portal. She turned back to the black teenager.

"Okay, Val, go in, and get Dani. We'll all be waiting out here ready to go. And please hurry. For Danny's sake."

Valerie gave a curt nod. She readied herself for the ghost portal. The last thing she heard was a frantic and questioning voice.

"Will someone please explain to me why we're looking for Danny when we already know he's at Vlad's?"

Kim was in a panic about that, and Valerie could all but smirk. Then she jumped inside.

She'd been into the Ghost Zone a few times; the first being with Phantom when Skulker had handcuffed them together. It was at first scary being with such a dangerous ghost in his element, but Valerie soon learned to accommodate.

They had been able to make it out by working together, and since then – and especially when the ghost kid (who at that point she did not know was Danny) told her there are some good ghosts in the world. She had wanted to find more ghosts like Dani Phantom. And she had. Actually, Dani had introduced her.

This ghost was calm and peaceful. She did not care about the mortals on earth. She was one of the few that recognized their two worlds were co-dependent. It was a fact that most ghosts frequently forgot.

This ghost was smarter than those unformed ones, and she was prettier, too.

Her name was Pandora.

…

"Will someone please explain to me why we're looking for Danny when we already know he's at Vlad's?"

"We're looking for Dani, with an i,"Tucker explained patiently.

"Wait, 'Danny with an i'?" Kim repeated.

"Yes, as in D-A-N-I. Dani. She's sort of like Danny's cousin," Tucker told her.

"Okay, okay, okay. So Danny – as in Fenton – is a half-ghost who has a cousin who, what? has halfa powers, too?" Kim questioned.

Tucker glanced nervously at Ron, who, frankly, looked clueless.

Kim saw the worried look, and immediately interjected, "He already knows, it's okay."

"You told him?!" Sam had heard the end of that conversation and immediately interjected.

"Danny and I made that decision together, actually! But thank you so much hounding me," Kim snapped. She wasn't in the mood for Sam's games. Not today, anyways.

"What gives you the right to tell Danny's secret to people?" Sam accused. "And not just to anyone, but this moron."

Kim immediately grew angry. "Don't call my friends morons! I've known Ron my entire life! He's not a moron."

"Before you came along, we managed to keep his secret a secret between just the 4 of us. Now you come, and all of a sudden the whole world knows!" Same seethed.

"Ron is not the whole world!" Kim yelled back.

"Who are you to Danny, anyways? Did you bat your pretty eyelashes to get his 'permission'? Maybe yank your shirt down a bit. He'd do anything for you, and you played him!" Sam was just throwing insults at her.

Kim's eyes began to tear up, but she'd be damned if she was gonna cry in front of Sam.

"Well I was his girlfriend, for your information," Kim shot back.

The entire room was silent. Sam had nothing more to say to the ginger girl. Tucker and Jazz – who had been getting weapons together and were ignoring the screams – turned to look over at Kim.

"Girlfriend?" Tucker asked.

Kim's eyes were full of horror. Had Danny never told them? Maybe he didn't break up with her because of Vlad. Maybe he really just didn't like her. Maybe it was all a trick of her heart…

Kim was grateful when she didn't have to answer: Jazz's voice filled the room. "What do you 'was'?"

It was just a whisper. Like she was too scared of the answer. Kim didn't want to answer; in a way, she felt like she didn't need to. She stared at the ground, suddenly very interested in the tile flooring.

"Wait… there's no way, Kim. Danny was crazy about you! Take it from us! We were the ones he kept talking about you to! He was so into you," Tucker told her encouragingly.

"Well clearly we all misinterpreted…" Kim was still staring at the ground. Two huge combat boots approaching her made her look up.

Sam's eyes were no longer filled with anger. The odious eggplant orbs had turned into a much lighter palatinate. Her expression was no longer full of hate but rather full of compassion and empathy.

"I'm sorry," was all she said, and Kim immediately recognized that the their little fight was over. To prove there were no hard feelings, Kim flung her arms around Sam's neck, and although she was tense at first, Sam soon relaxed into the hug.

She felt a hot breathy whisper against her ear:

"He did it because of Vlad. Believe me: I know my best friend."

Kim could only nod. She seriously hoped that that was the reason.

Suddenly, two long yellow-sleeved arms wrapped around the two girls. Kim enjoyed the touch while Sam groaned. Jazz walked up, too, and placed her arms around the ginger and Goth girl. Ron came running over, "Hey! I wanna be a part of hug! Don't forget me!" And he joined in, too.

They all embraced one another, and it wasn't until the sound of the portal door opening that they all had to pull away.

"Did I miss something…?" Valerie asked through her red helmet.

Dani was in tow behind her, but she quickly phased through the Red Huntress – causing the curvy girl to shiver.

"Hey guys! Val explained the whole thing on the way over! I'm so excited! Let's go kick some Fruity-Butt!"

The vivacious teenager sprinted to Kim, and extended her arm. "You must be Kim. I'm Dani – with an i."

"So I've heard…"

They shook hands, and then the effervescent one ran to the blonde haired boy, and extended the same arm. "So you're Ron!"

"Sure am!" Instead of shaking her hand, he gave her a nice high-five, and exclaimed, "Boo-yah!"

"Boo-yah!" Dani repeated.

Ron eyed the girl. They were going to get along just fine…

"Are we ready to go?" Valerie asked.

They were indeed. They loaded into the Fenton Specter Speeder, and Sam took control. She flew up, silently going through the roof into the clear black sky. Tucker then brought up the plan.

"Okay, we need to go over what we're doing when we're getting there. Jazz, Sam, Valerie, Dani, and I can take on Plasmius. He can't fight us all at once. Besides, Danny would have hopefully gotten a few punches on him.

"Speaking of, Vlad most likely got a few hits on Danny. If he can't fight any more, then we need to get him out of there. He'll resist of course, but he'll die if he stays. That's where you come in Kim. If and only if he cannot fight, your mission is to get. him. out. If we're lucky, he'll be only be a little roughed up, but my instincts tell me that isn't the case."

"What do I do?" Ron piped up.

"Just… keep the engine warm. We might have to make a speedy departure." Tucker told him awkwardly.

"Aww… But I wana help," he whined.

"I know, but you might just… get in the way… You just lack the proper experience in ghost fighting," Jazz told him with a sad smile.

Ron slumped his shoulders, but obeyed nonetheless.

"Any questions?" Tucker asked.

"Yea I have one," Kim asked. "Where do I bring Danny. If he's injured he'll need a hospital. But I can't leave you guys here and take the Specter Speeder."

The three Team Phantom teenagers exchanged nervous looks.

It was Sam who spoke from the dashboard. "We can't bring Danny to a hospital…"

Kim was confused. "Why not?"

Jazz – by far the smartest of the group – took this one:

"It's a bit intricate. You see, when Danny became a ghost, ghost DNA literally bound itself to Danny's genetic code. Ghost chromosomes are weird, you see. They dissolved into Danny's blood, making it have ghost particles even in human form. Likewise, when Danny's in ghost form, there are still miniscule cells of human blood in his ectoplasm. If you imagine Danny's body as the bridge between the ghost world and the human world, then it makes a little more sense. His two halves are codependent. They need each other to survive. The two parts of Danny aren't enemies as some may think – rather they are symbiotic. The two sides help the other survive. So, when his ghost-half is in trouble, the other half will pump blood into his veins to keep him alive, or vice versa. It's why he can go so long without food or rest; why he can take so many blows before really going down. 99% of the time it's good thing; the reason he is still alive. But the other 1% of the time it's bad. He can never go to the doctor or the hospital. If we took him to the hospital, they'd need to get some blood work done. If they took a sample of his blood, they'd realize just how bizarre he really is. Next thing he knew, he'd be waking up a science experiment."

"We can't let that happen," Kim agreed. But the question had still not been answered. "So where do I take him?"

"You'll have to bring him here to the Specter Speeder. There are a lot of hospital-like features on this thing. You can monitor his body temperature, heart rate, the works. We just have to move quickly so we can get him somewhere that will treat him."

"And where's that?" Valerie demanded.

The 3 teenagers were silent.

"I can do it," Kim stated.

"What do you mean?" Sam spoke up for the first time. She was still intent on driving the Speeder.

"I wouldn't call myself a doctor, by my mom is a brain surgeon and she's certainly taught me a lot. Even made me go to a few med-school camps. I've had to mend a few of my broken bones, too, so I'm sure I know what to do. I can do it,' she repeated.

"You're sure?" Jazz asked hesitantly.

"I'm Kim Possible," she said defiantly. "I can do anything."

Kim and Ron were the only two confidently smiling by her statement, though none were in objection.

Though even they had to quit smiling when Sam spoke up once more:

There were a few bumps and every one unwillingly jolted forward. If that didn't convey the scary inevitable, her word's definitely did.

"We're here."

The airship was so silent that Kim could hear her own heart beating.

...

Danny collapsed forward. He tried to catch his fall with his arms, but had no more strength for that. He lay face down in the dirty garden, and listened to his weakened breathing. It was hard for him. He struggled just to inhale. The contracting of his diaphragm left his gut throbbing. It was over. It was over.

He heard a sound coming from in front of him. With the last ounce of strength he had left, he looked up. Vlad had just stood up. It looked like he'd stumbled a bit and held his head, but then it could've been from his blurred vision.

He collapsed back down on the dirt-covered ground. His eyes fluttered close, and he was going to slip away when he decided to look at the tangible world just one last time. He saw exactly what he wanted to.

A cute little red head running toward him. Her hair bouncing against her shoulders. Her small waist twisting with each stride. Her toned calves pushing off the ground. The vision seemed mystic and hazed around the edges, but it was her. And it was all but worth keeping his eyes opened those last few moments.

Dying like this wouldn't be so bad. At least he got. To see her. One last. Time.