Chapter Sixty Nine

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"It's been over twenty-four hours since we took the ghosts. Nobody's coming and we're getting rid of them in about an hour. When are you going to give up?"

"Never sounds good. Does never work for you? Because never works for me." Danny near grunted the last word out as he slammed his fist into one of the cage bars again, biting back a scream at the pain that it caused. "What are these made of?!"

"They're doused in blood blossoms and you have the vines wrapped around everything else. You're not getting out of this so just stop it before I shoot you again!"

"Oh, please, if you wanted to shoot me again you already would have done so. The first time weas for the cameras and you made sure it'd knock me out so I stopped hurting." At the surprised look, Danny snorted. "What? You believe the rumors about me being an idiot, too?"

"I never thought you were an idiot, Danny." Yeah, right. "I didn't! I cheated off of you in science for years." The attempt at the joke was weak, but it still had Danny at least giving a small smile. Valerie returned it, eyes misting over again. "How'd it turn out like this?"

"That's a long story." One he didn't have time- Time. "You captured all the ghosts?" Valerie startled, giving him a slow nod.

"Well- Yeah. Except for the tiny Dani, yeah, we got them all. Way more than I thought." The clans, then. They had stolen the clans and Danny couldn't wait for them to learn that mistake.

"Have you seen a ghost with a purple cloak? Blue skin, red eyes, a scar over one eye and a clock in his chest? One of those old grandfather clocks. He sometimes changes his appearence from, like, kid to adult to grandparent, stuff like that?"

"I- That's really specific." Giving her a sharp look, Danny frowned as Valerie immediately shook her head. "No, we haven't seen anyone like that."

"Anyone with just white hair and blue skin?"

"You mean besides you?"

"Hey, my skin isn't blue." Just to make sure, Danny glanced to his skin, pleased when it wasn't. "No one like that with red eyes, though?" At the shake of her head, Danny smirked. "You didn't get all the ghosts."

"For the last time, yes, we did! We even got Vlad- You know, the guy who gave me my weapons and lied to me about what he was?"

"He's gotten better." Wincing at the look, Danny gave a nod and, yeah, he'd give her that one. "I know it sounds lame, Val, but he's changed. All the ghosts have changed. What you're doing would be like killing the other people who live in Amity Park!"

"No, Danny, it's really not." Why was she so stubborn. Punching at the bars again, Danny growled and he needed out of here. If Clockwork wasn't here yet and he hadn't been seen then the Observants were forcing him to stay out of it. Clockwork served an oath, too, and to break it probably wouldn't mean good things. "Give it up, already! You're tearing yourself apart!"

"If I see them hurt then that will tear me apart!" He needed to get out of here, because if they really meant all the ghosts then that would mean them, too. "How can you do this when you've seen just how human they are!"

"Because I've seen how human they aren't! Do you think I don't remember what you all are capable of! I don't care if you're 'human,' you have powers that could kill us in seconds! What's to stop you from using that on us!"

"What's stopping you from pulling that trigger on me?" Danny watched as the gun shook in her hands again. "One thing wrong with your theory. If I've been a ghost for years, then why did I let Dash keep beating me up?"

"I…" Valerie closed her mouth, looking as if the thought had just occurred to her. "You could have beat him up yourself."

"And I didn't." Danny was running out of time. He could feel it. "Valerie, please. You know this isn't the right thing to do. You've always done your best, so why can't you see that this is all wrong. For god's sake you're following the orders of a ghost right now!"

"I- No, I'm just- I'm just doing what I think is best." She didn't believe in it, though. She couldn't if she let Elle get away. "The ghosts hurt you for years. Why are you trying so hard to save them?"

"Because I know what it's like to be scared and alone. I won't let anyone else feel that way when I can stop them. Do you… Do you know why I became Danny Phantom? Now how, but why?"

"You have an obsession, obviously. Going around acting like a hero and pretending you're saving the day." She didn't even believe her own words, anymore. "Why did you do it. If what you're telling me is true and you're still Danny, then why did you put yourself through that?"

"Because I could fight back." Danny felt his power thrumming under his skin, just out of reach and so, so close. "I got these powers for a reason." Clockwork had made sure he kept his life and given him these powers because he saw something in him. "Sometimes bad things happen and you can't stop them. When you have a way to stop them and you don't fight back, then the bad things happen because of you."

"Danny-" The entire world shook and for a second Danny thought it was some new torture Walker had come up with. Then he saw Valerie's surprise. "What the fuck-" Whatever light was in the lab flicked off and left them in completely darkness, Danny blinking as Valerie shined a flashlight around- Ah, her phone. "What did you do!"

"I know I'm good, but not I'm that good." Power outage? Maybe they had failed in setting up whatever was meant to kill the ghosts. Good, that would- Wait. Danny knew this energy. He knew this energy so well and… "You idiots."

"What?" Valerie's gaze snapped over to him, Danny only letting his smile grow into a laugh as it felt like the entire building shook. "What are you doing!"

"You guys are idiots. You didn't take them, first?" Andrew and Randy. They hadn't been captured. "Walker didn't notice that you guys didn't have them?" She still didn't get it. "Andrew and Randy. The Priest of Death and White Fang. The Ghostwriter and the Mercenary. The most goddamn powerful ghosts in the entire Ghost Zone besides a few others."

"What are you talking about! We took every ghost there was!" Not if they hadn't found them. It had been night, though, and they had to have known where Vidya was, but- Oh. But maybe not Liz.

"What do you know, guess we are pretty lucky." A portion of the ceiling fell down, Valerie ducking and scrambling out of the way. The sounds of fighting filled the room, Danny laughing once again.

"No- Two ghosts can't do this much damage. The entire building is meant to ward off ghosts!" She had a point, so- Danny tilted his head, frowning as he heard screams from people that sounded familiar. Humans. There were humans here and there was a lot more than just the agents up there. "The citizens."

"I told you. The ghosts are a part of Amity Park, too." To be fair to Valerie, Danny was just as surprised. He knew the ghosts had friends, but it sounded like half the town was up there and fighting. Amity Park really was becoming a part of the Ghost Zone, or at least they were becoming a ghostly town.

"No… No, they're ghosts. Why would they fight back so much- They're ghosts. They're dangerous! People have almost died-"

"They're family, now. Whatever they were before is gone." The ghosts were no longer 'ghosts.' They had been humans even then, just lost. They weren't lost anymore. "Valerie, please, this may be your last chance."

"To what? Bow my head, say I'm sorry, and be welcomed back with open arms? I don't think so." Picking the gun back up from where she had dropped it, Valerie shined the light in his eyes with one hand and aimed the gun at him with the other. "Life isn't like the movies, Danny."

"You're calling me Danny." Seeing her ready to yell, Danny quickly shook his head. "Not Phantom. You're not calling me Phantom, but Danny. Please, Val, I know you're still you. You were just trying to help."

"I was protecting them." Valerie's hand stayed steady this time, but her voice shook. "I lost everything, Danny, and I thought I should stop, but then I saw how much danger the other ghosts could cause. I was protecting them."

"And you did great. You saved a bunch of people, Valerie, you were amazing, but you don't have to protect them from ghosts like the ones upstairs. You should be protecting them from ghosts like Walker. He wants to kill his own kind, doesn't that tell you anything?"

"I just wanted to protect people and make things right." God, Valerie thought she was all alone, but Danny knew that feeling so well. "I didn't want it to be like this."

"It doesn't have to be. You don't have to let it be like this! Help me and we'll get out of here. I'll help you explain, we can fix things, you can fix things. We can make it right." Danny wiggled his arm through the bars, wincing even as he smiled and held his hand out. "It's not too late, Val."

"I…" The gun slowly lowered, Valerie's finger resting on the safeguard rather than the trigger. "Danny-" A blast of green light lit up the room and Danny's eyes widened as Valerie screamed and was blasted back across the room.

"Valerie!" Snapping his gaze to Walker, Danny growled as he tried to reach for his powers. "You monster."

"Ever take a look in the mirror, boy?" Walker threw something at the cage, Danny seeing a glint of red and metal before his cage door opened almost anticlimactically. Danny didn't even get to wonder about it before Walker was reaching in and dragging him out, throwing him to the floor and making him scream as he landed on one of his wounds. "You're coming with me."

"What's- What's the matter? Afraid of losing." A kick to his stomach had him near blacking out, Danny hanging on through sheer will as he glared up at Walker. "It's all come crashing down, hasn't it?"

"Like I said, it's hard to find good help. I ask for one simple thing. Capture all the ghosts." Through the darkness, Danny just barely saw Walker reach for something before a shot was fired from an ecto-pistol, Danny biting his tongue hard enough to bleed as the shot was fired into his leg. "Apparently we have different definitions of the word all."

"Aw, two ghosts have you running scared?" The look that flicked over Walker's face was terrified. "Unless it wasn't just them who showed up." The only ghost that could cause fear like that in Walker… "He didn't need to see you to know what you did."

"Those Observants were right when they called him trouble." Another shot hit his other leg, Danny biting off a scream and no. No. He would not give Walker that pleasure. "What's the matter, ghost boy, no more screams?"

"If you're going to kill me then just do it." Except Walker had shot at his legs? Why would- Oh, no.

"If I'm going down then I'm going to make sure you never cause trouble again." Walker stepped forward and kicked over Valerie's phone, the light shining in the room and showing a thick, black stick in Walker's hand- Vine. It was one of the vines. "Made and reinforced it myself. I'd say this isn't gonna hurt, but I was never in the habit of lying."

"You're going to lose." Danny was going to die. The fighting was still going on upstairs, it was pitch black, and no one was going to find him in time. Danny was going to die. "And you're forgetting I'm half-ghost. I can come back-"

"From something that's meant to destroy your core, too?" He… "Far as I can recall, there's only three of you lab rats. How do you know what happens next?"

Remember the burns on Andrew's hand that were still there, Danny only stared and he was going to die, wasn't he? Yelping as Walker grabbed his shirt and pulled him up, Danny stared as the vine was raised high and all he could think was that he'd never see his family again. He was going to die-

The vine came down and pierced flesh and hit bone, Danny staring with wide eyes at the pure red blood that dripped down onto the phone's light. The pure red blood that dripped down dark skin.

Valerie stood beside him, arm outstretched and lip torn between her teeth as she glared at Walker with tears in her eyes, "I won't let you kill my friend."

"Why you little traitor." Walker ripped the vine out, Valerie screaming and Danny rushing to catch her to try and stop the bleeding. "Fine, I'll take you both down-"

"No, Elias, you won't." A blast of pure energy sent Walker across the room, Danny staring as blue auras covered Valerie and Danny both and lifted them off the ground, the same energy wrapped around Valerie's arm and stopping the bleeding as well. "You, little Phantom, find far too much trouble."

"Hey," Danny laughed weakly, clutching at the gloved hand that brushed his hair back, a purple cloak settling around his shoulders. "Trouble finds me."

"Clockwork!" The three looked to where Walker stood, uncaring of the ceiling that began to come crashing down around them, ghosts speeding in and Danny marveling as their auras lit the dark. "This is none of your business."

"You made it my business when you took him. As well, you made it theirs." A blast of dual energy - green and red - fired into Walker's back and sent him flying to the other side of the room, Danny amused as he thought of that old game when you bounced a ball off of walls. "Vladimir, Elle."

"That's for hurting my cousin, you jackass!" Elle flew over to Danny's side quick as a flash, biting her lip as she hugged him close. "Idiot."

"Thanks for the concern," Danny laughed, wincing at the hug but staying quiet. "I'd hug you, too, but my hands are kind of tied."

"I believe I can solve that." Vlad stood in front of him, taking his gloves off carefully and sparing Valerie hardly a glance. "Hello, Ms. Grey."

"Chill, Dad, I told you, she let me go." Ah, sounded like an argument they had earlier. They really were getting the hang of the whole family thing. "Do you have a key or something?"

"Or something," Vlad mused, setting his hands on the cuffs, Danny raising an eyebrow as red energy- Wasn't Vlad's energy pink? "And I rather believe I'll leave the 'chilling' to Daniel." Groaning along with Elle, the sound changed to a gasp as the metal began melting off his wrists. "Do you really think I never took it easy on you?"

"Holy shit, I'm so glad I never pissed you off." Ignoring the complaint about his language, Danny sighed in relief as white rings wrapped around him, his own energy letting him float in the air instead of Clockworks. "Finally."

"No- No! I will not let you defeat me!" Turning to see Walker standing up with his energy in his hands, Danny held his arm out to stop Vlad and Elle from moving forward.

"Let me take care of this." He felt more than saw Andrew and Randy land on either side of him, Danny grinning wild and fierce as he let his powers build. "Get behind me."

"I will take you down if it's the last thing I do, Phantom!" Huh, he finally learned his name, did he?

"I told you, Walker. I made a promise." Sucking in a breath, Danny braced himself before releasing every scrap of power he had and screaming.

Just as he promised himself, he brought it all crashing down.