Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note (02/02/2018): Sorry for the delay, been suffering from writers block. But I did come up with a possible Danny Phantom crossover I might try writing in the future. I was in a Fatal Frame mood so I started to draw something with crimson butterflies and bandages fading into film reels, but when the guy I was drawing looked like a slightly older Danny -as in him being like 16 or so- I posted the drawing on my Deviantart account. I even made a poll asking you readers to vote on your favorite idea for a possible plot! I won't be writing that for awhile, if at all if there's no response or I just don't have the time but still, feel free to visit my main profile here and cast your vote! And with that, onward with the story! Oh! Don't forget to leave a review if you like what I came up with too for this chapter, or one letting me know if you didn't and how I can improve or fix it...

~Chapter 18~

I Am You, But Are You Me?

(Chapter inspired by In The End by Linkin Park)

When the real Vlad fell silent, completely taken aback by what his past self was saying, he almost didn't notice when the shadow version of himself currently manifesting itself in Owen went rigid all of sudden. When the younger Vlad noticed this though, his eyes widened and he warned, "There, look! Something's happening..."

"Well it's about time," Following his gaze Vlad frowned as he approached Owen, ignoring his college self altogether as he reprimanded the boy. "You should have told me what you were planning beforehand. If you had taken any longer I had half a mind to-"

"Vlad, get out of here-! Now!" Owen suddenly choked out, still unable to move but at least he managed to expel the shadow from his body and return from that vision.

As for the shadow itself, which was slowing taking form behind him, it was furious when it didn't manage to get what it came for and take full control of Owen's shadow which unlike Vlad's wasn't one of the heart, but a different part himself. The bad news was that it had already successfully taken part of another shadow hostage and was fully prepared to use it against the necromancer child...

And that shadow, was Vlad's.

Taking notice of the shadow being now forming behind Owen as the oily reddish-black vapor from earlier gathered together like it should have the first time, Vlad scowled and transformed into his ghost form, intent on doing away with it and putting an end to this nonsense. But only after resisting the sudden urge he felt to obey his urgent request due to the literal power of Owen's voice compelling him to leave the room. That's when Vlad finally noticed what form the shadow was taking and watched with a sort of morbid fascination.

Only once before had this shadow version of Vlad physically appeared, a dark entity fueled only by pure rage on the verge of becoming a wraith. Which yes, considering the nature of these living shadows that were basically only physical manifestations of the evil residing in their host and not actual creatures born through any 'natural' means, it seemed like an apt phrase to use from now on. Vlad wasn't aware of it himself when this happened mind you but it happened when both Daniel and his female clone destroyed his prized clone that the true spark of his unrestrained malice began to form in the pit of his heart. A deep raw loathing for both the original and the little failure that it even overshadowed his hatred of Jack Fenton, if only for a moment.

And quite literally it had only been there for an instant but his ghost form had turned solid black just like this being before them now. A shadow as black as the void marking the death of a star in the heavens. The only distinguishable feature was its solid red eyes that mirrored his own and fangs. Was this the core of the miasma? If so, why was Owen telling him to flee? Didn't he want Vlad to face his darkness? Or had something gone wrong and this wasn't just any shadow of his past feelings after all...?

"Owen Ravenwood what is the meaning of this!" Vlad demanded in a irritated yet worried tone, quickly grabbing Owen the moment the feathers disintegrated and the blue flames went out with an audible whoosh to get him well away from whatever this thing was.

Still a bit disoriented from pushing the parasitic entity out of his body -which had now resumed its normal necromancer form that glowed an ethereal blue- Owen shook his head, allowing himself a hallow laugh. "Looks like I was right, that thing isn't the core of the miasma after all. We've been had, Vlad. It's actually a-!"

With a warped version of his own voice the shadow launched itself at them, aiming for the real Vlad's ghost core with a gnarled hand. Meanwhile the young phantom of Vlad's college self began to flicker out of existence.

Shoving the real Vlad aside with all his might Owen took the brunt of the attack, crashing into the nearest table. Knocking over test tubes and other such things which clattered to the floor. Instead of reaching for Owen's core as he intended to with the real Vlad, the shadow one suddenly clamped his hands around Owen's throat and laughed wickedly as the child writhed beneath him, struggling to escape his vice-like grip.

"You didn't honestly think you stood a chance against me, did you? You're just a child. A child who has gotten in way over his pathetic little head. That being said, shall I go ahead and 'finish the job' as you advised I do the day we met?" His fingers then began gripped his windpipe tighter until all Owen could see were stars and a blackness edged into his vision. If he didn't know any better, it would have almost looked like Nocturne's starry form was dancing before his waking eyes.

The real Vlad of course recovered quickly and shot a blast of ectoenergy at the shadow, throwing it off of Owen. Coughing, Owen tried to pull himself up off the floor but sagged back down again a few seconds later. Lucky for him his powers did the same thing that they had in Nocturne's Keep when he punched the glass with his bare fists, converting his flesh into necroenergy if only for a moment to prevent his bones from breaking. It would seem that the same principle applied to other area's of his body if too much pressure was applied to his skin at least when a ghost or wraith was involved and it wasn't too instantaneous of an attack. That's the only thing that kept the shadow Vlad from snapping his neck, right then and there...

Smirking at his intended target, the shadow Vlad laughed evilly when the real one grunted as if he'd been struck at the same time. How could that be? He never saw anything! Unless-

"Owen, close your eyes! Computer, enhance the lighting by 100%!" Vlad shouted, covering his own eyes with his cloak.

"Enhancing lights," the computer replied promptly to his command then all of the lights in the room hummed softly as the entire laboratory became unbearably bright.

In response, the shadow Vlad shrieked in pain and quickly fled into the nearest shadow, dispersing its form again. Though the only place with any shadows at the moment was unfortunately the staircase leading back upstairs to the rest of the castle.

This time, the real Vlad felt no pain so this shadow being was somehow still connected to him but it could only hurt him through their connection if he dealt physical blows, which unfortunately his ectoenergy counted as. The light however, hurt this creature and that was how they were going to have to destroy it. Either that or Vlad would have to help Owen do it himself which he would rather not.

Pausing only long enough to make sure Owen was alright, Vlad narrowed his gaze then took off after the shadow. Vlad tried warping to the top of the stairs in hopes of cutting it off, but it was too dark to see anything else since rerouting most of the power to his laboratory had turned off everything else in the mansion that wasn't essential.

After scanning the narrow staircase but finding nothing Vlad snarled, his eyes glowing red while his fist left a small crater in the wall next to him. "Butter Brickle! OF COURSE we just had to be fighting some sort of wraith-like-shadow-being at NIGHT of all times. I'll never find where it ran off to with the castle like this!"

This realization didn't stop him however and Vlad sent out several duplicates to turn on every possible light in the castle that was still functioning. Knowing this would take awhile, Vlad was about to go back down to the laboratory when a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he whirled around, ready to attack it only to find himself face to face with his college self again who was carrying a barely conscious Owen up the stairs who was still rubbing his sore throat.

With a slightly annoyed groan, Vlad was about to instruct his past self as he would any other duplicate when something in his eyes stopped him. "Why are you looking at me like that? Take Owen and get him out of here while I finish this! I will not STAND being tricked like this in my own home and letting that...THING get away with hurting my son." Vlad snapped, not wanting to tarry here any longer while his enemy was still somewhere nearby.

"Why do you think I'm still here? Whatever that thing is, it's not us. I can feel it. It feels too much like that demonic signature we've been trying to train ourselves to sense. That shadow, it's been here for awhile now, sustaining itself with your negativity. But it didn't reach it's pique until you felt a greater hate then what you felt towards our former best friend. Unless you destroy the root of that anger, you won't destroy this shadow. It knows all of the best hiding places here. And it knows how to disperse itself so that none of our devices can detect it, not even the new ones. The boy isn't safe here especially now that its finally taken physical form."

"Don't tell me that like I don't already know!" Vlad snapped, all of his anger and frustration coming out in force. "I swear, having to confront all these...WEAK human feelings is more trouble than it's worth! And having this whole angel on one shoulder and devil on another whispering in my ear is getting old! I've tried to tell Daniel this over a thousand times too. The world is NEVER so black and white. Now, are you going to do something useful or are you going to keep attempting to be my guiding angel? Because if not, then I'm not afraid to put an end to you after all for being such a pest. I hate the very sight of you after all this time. He was right about one thing, I've tried SO MANY TIMES to bury you, to bury the past yet always it comes back in one way or another to stripe away whatever happiness I've managed to hold onto. I thought I had already proven myself to be a better man and now you're telling me all this? That I still have unfinished business? My god! Why is it that no matter how hard I try someone or something ALWAYS gets in the way? First Jack, and now this Lilith and her stupid underlings are trying to take the first good thing to come into my life in years! Her AND most of the blasted ghosts in the entire Ghost Zone! Just how is Owen any better off with me then he was at that blasted orphanage if I cannot even expunge my own shadow?!"

"Vladimir Abram Masters!" his college self shouted, his white hair bursting into flame instead and his eyes glowing a solid but steady arctic blue. "You listen to me and listen well, though we may share memories and feelings the only one who is real in all of this is YOU. I am what you could have been just as much as that shadow is. In fact, do you know why I'm still here? Why HE is still here? The answer is simple. You have not let go of us. We're not the ones holding you back, that is all your doing. In fact I wonder if the reason that the most evil ghost ever to exist still does...is because you're the one who might throw away everything to escape the pain. Not Owen. Not Daniel. But you. So the question becomes who are you? Vlad Masters? Vlad Plasmius? Or are you a father who would do most anything to protect his child...?"