A/N: AH! I am officially updating in a TIMELY FASHION! Only 9 days later and a whole 'nother 4000+ word chapter! WOW! Please let me know what you think of this chapter! I love when people review!

Ron ran to the front porch of the great big house. He panicked when he realized Kim had sent him off without a key to the front door. He hopelessly looked to his pal Rufus for ideas, but Rufus was one step ahead.

He scampered to the floor, climbed up the door frame, and pushed on the handle. The door creaked open, and Ron was thrilled. "Rufus!" he exclaimed. "Buddy you did it!"

Ron supposed that Vlad didn't feel the need to keep his house locked if he could just boom- -bang-pow his ghost powers at any burglar or thief.

They ran inside, and shut the door behind themselves. He turned to his best buddy once more. "Okay, Rufus! Come on use that sniffer! We gotta find this guy's lab."

Rufus stuck his nose to the ground and violently began to crawl around in circles, searching for the right direction to go. Finally, he came to stop and stood up.

"Rufus! Lead the way!"

But Rufus didn't go anywhere. He sat down on his naked pink butt in defeat, and sighed. He couldn't smell any laboratory anywhere.

"Hey, it's okay buddy. We can find it. Don't give up, yet! We haven't even started looking."

Rufus stood back up, and scampered onto Ron's shoulder – a clear sign that he was ready to begin.

They began to ascend the grand staircase. The ebony wood steps were so black that in the shadows, Ron couldn't see where the next step was. One can imagine that that plus a bumbling teenage boy were not a good combination. At the second step to the top, Ron didn't raise his foot high enough and he tripped, falling forward onto the second story hallway. His face slapped the black ground, and Rufus went flying from his shoulder and skidded towards a large door.

"Ahh!" Ron exclaimed while falling. He didn't even have time to catch himself with his hands, so his chest took the full force of the hit.

"Ehhhhhh!" Rufus cried as his butt slid across the smooth floors.

Ron moaned in pain, but eventually got up on his hands and knees, and crawled to Rufus.

"You okay?" he asked. Rufus appeared a bit daze, but was going to be okay. Rufus stood up, too, and noticed that he had hit the door so hard it opened a bit. Before Ron could stop him, Rufus scampered inside.

"Rufus!" he whispered after him. This room gave him the creeps. It was too quiet to be snooping in a mean old man's room. This seemed, to Ron, like a recipe for disaster.

Ron stepped forward when Rufus didn't respond, and the minute his foot crossed the threshold, a dozen lamps turned on. The room appeared to be pressure-sensitive, and could tell when someone had walked in.

Ron was too busy thinking about the pressure-sensitivity to notice what the room even contained. It wasn't until Rufus pulled on his pants leg that he really opened his eyes.

Surrounding the two friends was at least 20 pictures of… Danny's mom? At least that's that Ron assumed. She had seen this woman's picture all over Danny's house. She had short brown hair and large blue eyes – just like that girl Jasmine's now that he thought about it.

Every wall was covered with a portrait of her. Some were obviously from her younger days when she wore a perm and a jean jacket, and others were clearly from the present day in her tight-fitting hazmat suit. Even Ron couldn't help but notice her curves. No wonder Vlad was so obsessed.

Meow.

Ron snapped his head back at that sound. A Persian white cat was standing in the door way with large, curious yellow eyes. It seemed to be gazing at something behind him, and that's when he realized Rufus was still on the floor. Ron swiftly scooped him up and placed Rufus on his shoulder. But the cat continued to stare. It was like he was looking through Ron. Or maybe something behind him…

He suddenly got the feeling he was being watched, and quickly turned around. A wavering image of the woman on the walls was floating behind him. He first assumed it was a ghost, but then realized it was nothing more than a holographic image. It couldn't even touch him.

But that didn't make it any less creepy…

"You're not my Vladdy-Kins…" the holograph realized. She spoke with a fuzzy voice.

"Er, no I'm not. Funny, he he…" Ron said as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. He was at a loss of words.

"I'm not sure what he'll want me to do with you. Oh well, I'll just have to wait for him to get back. And that means, you can't go anywhere." With a huge, bright smile that made the hair on Ron's neck stand up, the hologram instantly shut the door just by motioning with her hand.

Ron was clearly wrong. This was a very high-tech computer image. It appeared she controlled the house. Ron had to play smart if he was going to get passed her.

He then realized that if Maddie Fenton was Vlad's obsession, and he programed her to be just like the real Maddie Fenton (who presumably loved her children), then he could use that against her.

"Er, wait. I came here to ask for your help!"

"My help? What could you possible want with me?" the image asked.

"I need your help for Danny."

The computer's turquoise eyes opened to three times their usual size.

"Danny? Is he in trouble? Has he been injured?"

"Er, yes. Very badly. Do you by chance know where the basement is? Or, er, the lab? It has the equipment I need to help him."

"Of course I know where it is! I'll do anything to help my poor little boy. Follow me."

The door she had previously closed instantly flew open, and she floated out of it. Ron followed closely behind her. They descended the staircase, and went to the cupboard directly under the stairs. She magically opened that door as well, and walked through. Ron and Rufus followed, and they all descended down a dark spiral staircase. Ron couldn't see his hand if he held it up to his eyes. A small light began to appear at the foot of the staircase, and with it clanging and banging. Ron wondered what on Earth could be going on down there.

Boom. Ron began to sprint towards the light to find out what the sound was. He emerged into the chrome basement just in time to see Vlad and Kim already down there. The fighting was intense, and Kim appeared to be ducking and dodging the entire time.

There was a shatter of some glass beaker, and Kim ducked to the left. That one was close.

She and Vlad had been performing their little dance for a while now, and both were beginning to wear out.

Flash, duck.

Strike, cover.

Boom!

"RON! What took you so long!" Kim shouted in between going intangible.

"KP! Hang on, I'm coming!" Ron began to run to help his friend, when she put her hand up to stop him.

"No, Ron, the portal. CALL WADE!" she reminded him of their plan.

"Oh right, okay, KP."

He took out the kimmunicator, still able to see flashes of pink from his peripheral, and put Wade on the screen.

"Wade! I need your help…."

Ron began his explanation of Danny's powers – the young boy was particularly curious about the way the ghost species had latched itself onto Danny's DNA. He talked about it as quickly as he could, and then held the kimmunicator up to the mess of colorful wires that the portal was hooked up with. Wade, as usual, knew exactly what needed to be done. He began to tell Ron exactly what to unplug and where to replug it.

Meanwhile, Kim continued to struggle with Plasmius. The two continued to move around. Plasmius would strike, Kim would dodge by going intangible. She tried to veer him away from Ron so he could quickly work. .

Finally, Plasmius used his strength to fling a hot-pink splurge of ectoplasm her way, and it made contact with her suit for the first time. She could feel the suit circuit, and knew immediately she'd made a critical error. She willed herself to go intangible, but it was no use. The suit was fried, and Kim had no idea why.

"Foolish girl," Vlad began. "You're suit could never hurt me. I designed it! My ectoplasm is its cue to shut down. It's useless now."

Kim racked her brain for ideas, and then realized she still had her fighting skills. But that wouldn't last very long against a ghost. She needed Ron to hurry up with the portal.

She dashed over to him, missing his ectoplasm by just a hair. "Ron!" she said from across the room. He turned to look just as Kim was forced to move again. She jumped up to the wall and positioned herself between the ceiling and the chrome wall. The metal was slipperier than plaster, however, and she wouldn't be able to stay there for long.

"Yeah KP?"

She was forced to move again after another blast of ectoplasm. She now squatted on one of the many metal counters.

"How's it coming?" she sounded irritated, and she definitely was. Ron was taking just a little too long to work the wires. She could just hear Wade's knowledgeable voice emitting form the kimmunicator's speakers. She wished he could figure this out just a little quicker than he was.

Kim saw the pink blast in the reflection of the chrome surface she was on. She quickly cartwheeled to the left to get out of the line of fire, and rolled a bit until she was safely off the countertop and now behind the big barrier.

"Not so brave without your super suit, are we Miss Kimberly?" Vlad's voice was callous and angry. His voice had a cool component that irritated Kim more than the anger.

"You wish," she sneered at him. This only intensified his rage, and he flung another shot of ectoplasm.

Through the blast, Kim heard Ron yell, "It's ready KP!"

That was all she needed to hear. She lunged through the air – directly through the pink fire – her right leg already extended and at an excellent angle. He wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared. He'd miscaulcated. And that was a first for one Vlad Plasmius.

She contacted the direct center of his chest. The blow was too powerful for his old bones. It pushed him back. Further and further and further back until he made contact with the open portal. His body was thrown into the empty portal, and it looked like he was going to bounce right back out. Only Ron was quicker. He had already flipped the switched.

The entire machine lit up in an electrical surge, and the deafening noise blocked out all other sounds. Even still, through this powerful buzz of electrical currents, Ron could hear Vlad's screams. The sound was louder and more blood-curdling than anything he had heard before. But it ended soon with the hum of the portal, and a fragile and weak Vlad was left in his place. He kneeled on all fours, struggling to get up. He collapsed back onto the ground, but finally mustered the strength to kneel without his hands for support. He tried to come to a standing position and while he struggled eventually was able to stand as long as he could support himself with the wall.

"What…" he began, but his voice was caught in his throat. "What have you done to me?" the expression on his face was one of pure terror.

"I've taken away your ghost powers. You're just a regular human like Kim and me," Ron folded his arms, and gave him a look that revealed none of his emotions.

But Ron's smug look soon evaporated. The moment "Kim" crossed his lips he remembered she had just purposefully flung herself through hot lava-like ectoplasm.

"Rufus!" he called. "Tie him up. I gotta help KP." Rufus saluted the freckled boy, and began to wrap rope around the limp old man by holding one end in his teeth.

Ron dashed over to Kim, "KP," he whispered. She moaned after hearing her name, and pinched her face from the pain.

"My leg," she whimpered.

Ron looked down at Kim. She was clearly talking about her right leg. The super suit had been burned clean off, and the leg itself was swollen, red, and raw.

"Kim, I'm gonna get you out of this, okay?" Ron told him, sincere concern flooding his eyes. He had never seen Kim this hurt before.

"It's my leg," she said through clenched teeth.

"I know, KP, just hang on, okay?" Ron's voice was full of urgency. The only thing she could do was nod her understanding.

He scooped her up into his arms, and cradled her. He made sure to keep her right leg as far away from his body as possible. The burned skin would be irritated by his pants.

"Rufus," he called over to the young naked mole rat.

"Mh-hm?" Rufus' head popped up and his ears turned towards Ron.

"Leave him here buddy. C'mon," she jerked his head to the spiral staircase and Rufus led the way. The trio slowly ascended the staircase. Rufus, albeit, was much quicker than the others, but that's because Kim was becoming increasingly heavier in Ron's arms.

"Hang in there, KP," he kept whispering encouragingly.

Once they emerged from the top of the spiral staircase, Ron and Rufus both broke into a sprint. Three years of fleeing from bad guys had trained Ron well. Even with Kim's added weight, he was able to dash across the front foyer to the front doors of the mansion, and out on to the porch. He ran through the grass to the general area that the Specter Speeder last was. Only now, he couldn't find it.

"Tucker!" he called out. "Sam! Jazz! Anybody! Help!"

The airship immediately came into view. Dani Phantom was the first to rush out, and accept Kim with her arms open.

"Give her to me," the young girl urged.

Ron struggled to safely transfer Kim, but managed in the end. The young girl flew up to the Specter Speeder and phased through its walls. Ron ran to catch up with her, and finally went up the stairs.

Inside the ship was chaotic. Danny was still asleep and on the floor. Sam and Tucker were sitting near him, both with terrified expressions. Jazz was on the phone, talking urgently. Valerie meanwhile was already tending to Kim's wound. Ron frantically looked around. He had no idea where to even start.

It wasn't until Valerie called to get his attention that he even looked at someone other than Kim.

"Yeah?" he asked the young black girl.

"What happened to her?" she inquired.

Ron sat on the ground, still a little shocked at what really did happen.

Jazz flipped her phone closed and looked at everyone around them. They all waited for her to say something. Anything, really.

"Mrs. Possible is on her way," she told the group. Her large turquoise eyes were wet with tears. She looked down at the two wounded soldiers.

"Kim, what happened?" she address the fully alert – and severely in pain – girl.

She shook her head silently, and point at Ron. Her breathing was shaky. Jazz was no doctor, but she knew that wasn't good for any one.

"Deep breaths, Kim," she advised. Kim nodded her understanding, and began to breathe deeply, but continued to struggle.

"So what happened, Ron?" Jazz now asked the freckled, blonde boy.

Ron began to tell them everything. How he was supposed to find the lab, but got delayed. How it was his fault that she was currently injured so bad. He didn't forget to add how Rufus had tied Vlad – powerless and ghostless – up in the lab. They were all shocked by how Kim managed to do that.

Valerie looked at her quizzically. "Wouldn't her suit protect?"

She was right; the suit was supposed to protect her. But the leg of the suit that had come in contact with the ectoplasm had melted away. But Ron had no idea why either, so he just shrugged.

Kim opened her mouth to speak for the first time. "Vlad's… ectoplasm…" she panted. She struggled to form a single sentence. "circuited suit."

Jazz snapped her fingers, "Oh course! Why didn't we think of that? He made the suit!"

"I thought of it!" Dani screamed from behind the dashboard of the Specter Speeder. Ron had nearly forgotten she was there. "Why does no one ever listen to me?!"

"Sorry, Dani…" Jazz shuffled her feet in embarrassment.

"Whatever," the preteen said, rolling her eyes.

"Mh-teh…." A mutter was heard in the silence.

Every stared at the ginger who was still struggling with coping with the pain.

"What?" Jazz got closer to her to hear what she was saying.

"'ateh," came another mutter.

"We can't hear you, Kim," Jazz told her, patiently.

"Wat…ter…!" she finally spit out, making sure to enunciate. "For my leg," she told them.

Jazz looked quizzically around the room. He didn't know what she meant by water for her leg. It was clear by everyone else's expressions that they didn't either.

"Oh my god!" Dani exclaimed, exasperated. She clearly thought she was surrounded by idiots. "She wants us to soak her leg in cold water! That's what you do with a burn!" she folded her arms, and muttered under breath. "Am I the only one with a functioning brain?"

Valerie was clearly not in the mood for her attitude, but she didn't say anything and decided to swallow her pride.

"I would get it," Dani told everyone. "But we don't have anything to put the water in. Not to mention, the only way to get cold water is by cooling it ourselves. I don't have cooling powers. The only one who can do that is…" Dani's voice trailed off. The only person who could possibly help them out was currently worse off than Kim and fast asleep.

"I can help," a voice that hadn't been heard in a while spoke up.

All heads whipped around. Everyone was confused, surprised, and amazed.

The halfa's eyes were still closed, but he had a bright smile. It was that cocky and all-knowing smile that they hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Danny?" Jazz rushed to his side. "You're awake?"

He laughed, but the shaking in his chest caused pain to flow to his side, so he stopped. "Have been this whole time," he slyly smiled at them all.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sam urgently asked of him.

Danny didn't have an answer to that, actually. He supposed it was because he was enjoying sitting there and thinking, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense. Maybe he just didn't want to have to start answering their questions. Why did you think you could handle Vlad on your own? What made you consider that as a good idea? You should've known we'd want to help!

Yes. As a matter of fact, that was exactly the reason. But he couldn't tell any of them that, so he only shrugged, and didn't say a word.

"It doesn't matter," Ron geared their attention back onto Kim. "Danny. Kim needs your help."

Jazz got the hint, and decided to question Danny later. Right now, Kim needed their full attention. "Can you cover her leg in ice? She got burned really bad."

"How did she get burned?" Danny asked, but he already knew the answer. "I can't believe you. All of you. How could you let Kim go after Vlad alone? Why would you do that?" anger flooded him and gave him more strength than before. He even decided to try to sit up, then flinched when he realized anger didn't magically heal his ribs.

He didn't even wait for an answer. He was waiting no time in helping Kim. "You guys have to bring her here. I can't reach her."

Dani flew to her side, and lifted her into her strong, halfa arms. She laid Kim, who was biting her lip and clenching her fists, trying to ignore the pain, down next to Danny, and gave him space.

Danny placed a gentle touch on her forehead, and smiled at the beautiful girl. He stroked her ginger hair with his left arm, and ran his right hand down to her right leg. "It's okay, Kim," he whispered.

His hand approached the raw flesh, and he forced all his energy into his right hand. The hand glowed a supernatural blue. The light just barely touched Kim, but as he moved his hand down, everyone was amazed by the icy layer that now coated her burned leg. She stopped biting her lip. She let her fingers relax. And she stopped moving so much. She relaxed into Danny. Her breathing slowed, and Danny smiled. After all the help she had been to him, it felt nice to return the favor.

Finally, her leg was entirely encased in a thin layer of ice, and Kim was able to finally catch her breath. The cool numbing sensation was calming to Kim.

"Thank you," she breathed, and relaxed into his hand, still stroking her hair.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to her, and she immediately sat up. "Ron! Did we get him? Is Plasmius gone?"

Ron folded his arms, and confidently looked at Rufus, sitting on his shoulder. "We got him, KP. We got him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Plasmius? Gone?"

"KP, Rufus, and I kicked some Vlady-butt that's all."

"He isn't 'gone, right?" Danny's wide teal eyes suddenly filled with panic. "He's… he's still alive. The human part, I mean."

"We reversed his ghost powers," Kim softly told him with a small smile. Her eyes were slowly drooping. With both the adrenaline and pain fading, Kim was now realizing how exhausted she was. "Does anyone have the time?" she asked the group.

"3:30," Tucker was the first to respond, always carrying some kind of handheld device.

"You two should both be sleeping," Jazz told them. "Kim's mom is on her way. She'll be here pretty soon."

"When she gets here, make sure she focuses on Danny," Kim told Jazz with anxious eyes. "She'll want to help me, but she can't. The only thing she can do for me is some burn-cream. Danny has serious injuries. You have to make sure she keeps her priorities straight."

Jazz nodded, but a sudden thought occurred to her. She wondered at first if she should even bother with saying it, but realized it would be disrespectful to not ask aloud.

"Isn't your mom going to be surprised to see Danny Fenton, though?"

Danny realized, as his heart hammered, that Kim's parents still didn't know about the two of them dating.

Dating… Kim…

He had broken up with Kim just 6 hours ago. It seemed like days ago, and yet he was sure that Kim remembered it vividly. He had ruthlessly tried to keep her in the dark. He had to talk to her before her mom arrived. If he didn't, when would he get another shot?

He looked around at the entire group, and tried to think of something he could say to get them all to leave.

"Where is Vlad now?"

"Sitting in his lab alone," Ron told them nonchalantly.

"He's what?!" Tucker started and stood up abruptly. Five pairs of accusing eyes looked his way, and Ron suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"He could hardly stand when Rufus and I left him," he explained.

"You guys have to get down there now!" Danny said urgently. "Kim and I'll be fine. GO!"

Sam and Tucker seemed hesitant. "Danny, you two shouldn't be alone. Neither of you can fi–"

Danny gave his two friends the most irritated and yet perceptive look either had ever seen. They realized in a second that he wanted everyone out. And if they were going to do anything, they were going to grant their best friend his wish.

"Let's go, guys," Tucker told everyone.

And everyone followed. Dani closed the door behind her, and Danny hoped they would be okay for only just a moment before turned his head, and putting his full attention onto Kim.

"You did that on purpose," were the first words that came out of her mouth.

A/N: R&R!