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

Note (02/07/2018): Before you ask, no I did not name this chapter to reference that Fatal Frame crossover I might write. I started naming this chapter "Echo" when I realize I already had another chapter called that back in "The Grimoire." In fact a lot of my other stories have chapters that usually end up with similar names. Whoops! Heh, at least I caught myself before it happened again this time. Also, just an fyi, the stuff in bold font is stuff Owen has written down since Vlad's not letting him talk anymore at the moment. Now without further ado, enjoy the latest chapter!

~Chapter 20~

Butterfly Effect

As expected, Clockwork said his peace and then promptly left Dan alone with his thoughts. And to the evil ghost's dismay that was quite literally the ONLY thing he could do to occupy himself, think. Recalling the young girl Dani's words, Dan berated himself for making such an obvious mistake when he failed to recall how the girl called his younger self her 'cousin,' not father. So that meant she wasn't some future child of his which was a relief to be perfectly honest. The screams of human children just didn't have the same ring as it did from adults, and some part of him often found himself scowling at the sight of a sobbing child for no particular reason when he attacked a different hapless little town like Amity Park. That annoyed him to no end.

At any rate, Dan was also convinced that due to how often she spoke of being 'unstable' it was either because she was a human who had been forced into a similar accident that gave him and Vlad their powers or...that idiot older halfa actually had the GALL of cloning him after all. That was the only logical explanation. Especially since he REFUSED to believe the crazy halfa managed to win Maddie Fenton over and have a child. Besides, this child's ectoplasmic signature didn't feel even remotely like Vlad's. It felt so much more like his own...which is what caught his attention in the first place.

Now the girl's skepticism when she spoke of the elder halfa made sense. She viewed him as her 'father' simply because Vlad was her creator and had most likely imprinted the idea into her tiny brain to ensure that the child would feel loyalty only to him. From the sound of it however, at least Dani knew better now and was a lot more wary of other ghosts as a result. Specifically ones that reminded her of that man, which is why young Dani sounded so fearful when Dan spoke to her in a similar fashion.

Dan scowled at the thought. As much as he relished being evil, there were times that he despised just how much of Vlad's personality and mannerisms he'd 'inherited' when their ghosts halves merged. It had taken him years to completely dominate the 'Vlad' side of him so that he could happily say that he was far superior in every way to that pathetic excuse of a man. But on the other hand, some old habits never changed...

There were many times Dan considered finally just killing the stupid old man who was the cause of so much misery and many headaches, yet for whatever reason, he could just never be bothered to do it in his timeline because Vlad wasn't even a worthy challenger anymore. Vlad might as well have been a corpse already because of how broken he was over not only failing to 'save' him from becoming this. On top of that Vlad also realizing just how much of a scum bag he really was back when he DID have powers and how the acceptance he'd always sought was already within his grasp in the form of his college buddy who never once doubted the man.

If only because that pathetic eye sore wasn't even remotely a threat to Dan he left the brittle old human alone for the most part. Although Dan did amuse himself a few times in the later years of his creation by hacking into the former billionaire's system to speak to the man personally and cordially thank him for making him the most powerful ghost in both worlds. And Dan did this if only to watch the color drain from the man's face watch gleefully as the small flicker of hope behind his already dead eyes when he realized Dan was only toying with him...died.

At least Valerie remained ever the defiant one and made for excellent sport. Dan had to admit she managed to get the upper hand on him a few times, but much like when they were young it was mostly just sheer luck and not skill on her part. Well, not at first anyway. She did manage to make something of herself eventually, verging on even becoming a genuinely competent ghost hunter and kept that sad little town intact and out of his reach. Even so the huntress failed to realize that it was ONLY through Dan's graciousness that she hadn't died horribly ten times over.

Whenever Dan managed to knock the human huntress out cold he enjoyed seeing what new toys she had in her arsenal then shorting them out before leaving Valerie there to regain consciousness and realize she had failed yet again to defeat him. Really, it would have been all too easy to just kill the thorn in his side that was the Red Huntress, but total world domination is just SO boring without a worthy adversary. And perhaps that is exactly why the previously half-ghost fruitloop from his childhood would never bring himself to hold true to his own death threats of killing him too. The elder halfa wanted a challenger, though sadly in the end, he taught his young rival a bit TOO well and it let to his ultimate defeat.

Lately, Dan found himself thinking about the memories he'd absorbed from the elder halfa more and more often and quickly noticed that somehow the 'feelings' towards them were changing. He didn't like it. It was as if the Vlad from his timeline was trying to give him a guilt trip somehow by silently imploring him to see that there was still some humanity left from HIS human side. But time and time again Dan rejected it, he refused to accept that human weakness back into his heart. Dan didn't have a heart, he crushed it years ago and no amount of pleading was going to make it start beating again...

While Dan adamantly tried to deny that he could actually relate to some of this half-ghost girl's plight of not knowing who to trust, Dan did. He claimed to have no feelings but then, weren't anger and hate emotions too, though negative ones? Dan claimed to know himself so well but for some reason he was beginning to feel a change in himself that he wasn't consciously making. So what in the world was going on? Why were these damned feelings resurfacing now!? If this was somehow Clockwork or that brat's doing he'd-

As Dan was angrily pondering this, he blinked in surprise when he felt a strange sort of tug pull on his ghost half and his vision blurred until it settled on an image of none other then the current Vlad. If he had had any control Dan would have blinked in surprise seeing this unwelcome blast from the past. Yet, the alarm in the man's eyes intrigued him. Since when was Vlad Masters one to show his emotions so openly? Let alone those of fear?

It quickly became obvious that he was looking through the eyes of another so whomever Vlad was looking at, they were the cause of his distress. Well, this is much more entertaining then staring at nothing, Dan grinned, listening and watching this fascinating scene unfold.

For now the 'why' or 'how' of it didn't matter to him, Dan just wanted to see how this whole thing played out. That, and Dan was interested to find that he could actually FEEL what the man in front of him was feeling, recall his bitter memories, and he could sense his thoughts...more or less. What an odd sensation.

Hearing a warped version of Vlad's voice come out of the mouth of whoever this person was, Dan strained to hear what was going on since he also kept hearing the muttered phrases of things Vlad must have said sometime in the past that were whispering in the background. But Dan did smirk a little when he heard the voice mock, "...there's the real Vlad we all know, the bald-faced liar! The worse lies you tell though are clearly to yourself though. You don't believe that even for a second. Which is precisely why you tried so hard to get Daniel to join your side. It was not only to protect the naive boy from the truth that his own parents would likely have disowned him or worse if they discovered his secret, but to claim the son that should have rightfully been yours. After all, why should that pathetic human man be blessed with a half-ghost son when you were already half ghost BECAUSE of the same man? He doomed his own son to suffering through the same half-life we did! Who knows what will become of us now. Will our human bodies wither and die with age like the rest of the human race? Or will we be cursed to wander the Earth as living corpses? Do you know? And what about Owen, will he remain with you that long or will he abandon you the moment his parents souls have been freed? Now that we have the perfect son, no one is going to take him away from us. Surely you feel the same? Now that you have him, aren't you afraid he'll realize what a monster you are and run away again...?"

Who in blazes is Owen? Another pet project? Dan thought darkly, actually feeling Vlad's heart clench in fury and uncertainty at this 'shadows' cruel words. Whoever that boy is, he's obviously important to the fruitloop and his parents are likely- Brushing aside his own flash of unwanted emotion at the mention of lost parents, Dan tried to keep listening and watching what was happening. But after that one phrase stuck out, everything became too muddled together as the combination of feelings, memories, sights, and sounds became too chaotic for even Dan to keep track of. Therefore, with a huff all Dan could do was wait for this strange experience to pass...

Eventually his patience was rewarded and his vision faded back to normal which unfortunately meant he was staring at blank walls again within the Fenton Thermos. Still, that was certainly unexpected to say the least. What was Clockwork playing at this time showing him something like that? Had he dozed off without realizing it and saw some sort of vision thanks to the time ghost? Somehow Dan doubted it since Clockwork never cared to show Dan anything before but rather play his little word games with their double meanings.

No, Dan had a strong feeling this Owen boy was to blame somehow for this though he wasn't entirely sure how but the other presence he felt in that room was very powerful and it was coming from the one who was overshadowed by, well, that shadow being that was unmistakably connected to Vlad. And besides, if Dan remembered anything about his former archenemy it was that he never settled for just bringing anyone into his life. They had to be worth the trouble and worthy to stand beside him.

When Vlad Masters had wanted something, he took it, and anyone who stood in his way did not live to regret it. Back then though, in Dan's distant past, what the man wanted more then anything was to obtain the perfect half-ghost son. Before the older hybrid's college crush died in the accident Dan knew Vlad desperately wanted Maddie Fenton to join his side as well. For Vlad to have given up on THAT to get his hands on this boy in this new timeline surely meant this young boy had to be something special indeed. And if Dan was going to have any chance of forcing or convincing his own still-evil 'father' to help him exist permanently in this world...then the boy was the key to doing just that.

It was understandable that Owen was feeling tense because not only was Vlad upset with him right now, but he also felt like crap AND was struggling to maintain the spell holding the other Vlad's form together. Speaking of which, the other Vlad had taken on the role of the real one's assistant while the older hybrid treated Owen's throat.

And all the while Owen kept silently berating himself for letting this get so out of hand. He had been so sure that this would work and really hoped that he was wrong about the other presence he felt hiding in the miasma. If Owen had to guess that demoness probably cast some sort of Shadowmancy spell before confronting Vlad that day so that should she fail to capture Owen, this shadow would be waiting for just the right time to catch them off guard. Either that, or someone else had cast that spell while the two of them were in Salem and set this new trap for him. Owen shuttered at the thought. Well, that and because of the ice pack he was holding to his swollen throat.

His troubled gaze soon fell to the older man on the opposite side of the room while Vlad prepared a few shots and some clean bandages. No one can safely say they like shots -unless they were a weirdo that enjoys feeling pain- and Owen certainly wasn't looking forward to them. Which shouldn't be all that surprising since a few were glowing for some reason, but he trusted Vlad and tried not to worry about it too much. That and Owen literally couldn't even voice his concerns anyway since Vlad would send him a death glare every time he tried to utter a single word. In fact, as soon as they teleported into the infirmary Vlad abruptly handed him a notepad to write on and instructed him to write down his 'proper' explanation there while he got everything ready.

With a painful sigh Owen did just that, annoyed that he couldn't hold the pad still with his other hand that was currently holding the ice pack in place. Honestly it felt sort of pointless since Vlad's other self, the one his own spell created, pretty much explained it all already. Looking over at the other self in question, Owen was amazed by how much his appearance had changed the longer he manifested using his power to sort of...crystallize Vlad's true feelings. Sometimes even Owen found himself in awe of the things he could do with words alone.

He saw how slowly the other Vlad changed from his troubled college student version to a confident paranormal expert whose ghost-half form was almost nothing like the current Vlad's. In fact, maybe that's another reason Owen was feeling so tense, because his father-to-be didn't like being compared to this alternate version of himself at all and kept shooting this other self pointed glares when it stated something that was painfully true. It Vlad feel like and almost wonder if the shadow version was right, maybe he was a monster and embraced this darker side of himself much too easily back then. Because that was the easiest path to take rather then face the pain and deep sense of loss.

Owen shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do when the real Vlad finally came over and silently took the notepad from him to read. Vlad's frown only deepened when he saw that what the boy wrote was hardly any different from what the other Vlad had deduced. But at least it cleared up a few things, such as Owen having studied this spell before on his own and therefore not needing to go back to those pages to confirm it. The sly little fox, maybe Vlad was teaching the boy a little too well to plan ahead for things like this...

After silently cursing the fact yet again that he didn't know the first thing about practicing the arcane arts, the real Vlad sighed and handed the notepad back. Then he scolded, "I still wish you would have told me. Then we could have avoided this mess altogether young man. But now, thanks to your unnecessary risk, we're stuck at an impasse. From what you wrote, if this 'light' side of yours that you created for me loses his form then it will make taking down this shadow without harming myself much more difficult, correct?"

Owen nodded slowly, his gaze turning back to the two glowing syringes on the counter. Sensing the boy's discomfort, Vlad's light-side smiled softly and explained, "There's nothing to be afraid of my boy. Think of these as ghostly antibiotics to help your body heal faster. After all, like the young hybrid and my other self here, you too count as a sort of half-ghost from what I understand. Your blood already rejects and purifies any negativity in your system so it stands to reason it won't reject anything we give to you that will actually be beneficial to your health. Your Vlad has used these two serums before on on himself as well so trust me, they're perfectly safe."

Glaring at his other self, the real Vlad grumbled, "I was just about to tell him that myself."

Raising a brow, his light-side smirked, "Oh? But I thought you just did. I am a part of you after all, so surely that counts as 'you' telling him. Honestly, and here I thought I was the one who as insecure as our college self I first appeared as and not the other way around. Even so..." he sighed, giving the real Vlad a meaningful look, "You're only making this harder on yourself by rejecting me too Vladimir. Owen created me based on all of those feelings you've kept buried in your heart that even now that you've welcomed him into it, you can't help but see me as an unwelcome reminder of everything you wanted to forget. Hasn't sunk in yet that I am essentially the exact same thing as his own Ancestral Memories, only in a tangible form? I am a physical manifestation of your desire for love, your sincere feelings of regret, your guilt, and your joy, but most of all...I am a mirror designed to show you a possibility that never came to be back then because of the choices you have made in the past. But with Owen's help, I'm sure that what you see before you can become a reality. Only if you choose to change though." He chuckled and then with a sly smirk he added, "And quite honestly, if you're so worried about keeping our dashing good looks I wouldn't worry. Your physical appearance has very little to do with your feelings but rather is simply a result of how your body adapted to our ghost DNA. After all, we ARE the first half-ghost to exist created by an unstable ghost portal so it makes sense that our ghost half in in fact more ghost-like then Daniel's. Besides, nowadays both human and ghost women alike can't help but faun over a handsome vampire ghost. Which is very much unlike back when we first got our powers and they feared the very sight of us. "

Tapping the real Vlad's shoulder before he could reply, he saw that Owen had wrote: "I really wish I could laugh right now because you should have just seen the look on your face. It was priceless. And ironically very true. A lot of girls are into vampires and bad boys for some reason which even I think is weird."

Rolling his eyes and hiding the slight blush on his cheeks with a cough, Vlad replied, "Yes well, that's one way to put it. Now if you two don't mind I'd like to continue so I can contact one of my allies to keep watch over the castle tonight and make sure that shadow doesn't try to attack us in our sleep. Speaking of which, Owen? Just how much energy is it going to take to...maintain this fellow?" He asked, nodding towards the other Vlad.

Frowning that Vlad wasn't amused by the playful joke they made just now about vampires to break the tension, Owen put the ice pack down and started writing again. When he finished Owen held it up and they read: "I don't know, but what I do know is that maintaining him like this in a physical form is really wearing me out. It'd be a lot easier if you would just accept him as a part of you more then as me and let him take refuge inside your heart for awhile. That way he can protect you from the shadow's influence directly and I can focus the rest of my energy on trying to get better. After all if we get a surprise visit from the social worker, it'll all be over if she thinks you tried to strangle me..."

Picking up one of the syringes while he gathered his thoughts and tried not to look too terribly worried despite knowing perfectly well that Owen could already tell, the real Vlad smiled tiredly and finally said, "Very well. If that will help put your mind at ease then I'll allow it. On one condition. This light-side you've created for me, his existence doesn't mean you've left yourself wide open to possession in exchange, does it? Tell me the truth."

Grimacing, Owen bit his lip, then finally gave in and after a minute or two show them what he wrote: "No, it shouldn't anyway. It's more like I'm extending the same protection I have from being possessed by dark entities to you. It's sort of like how I can heal ghostly wounds just as easily as I can use my powers can harm or repel ghosts too. I just have to change the intention behind what I want to use my powers for. Like if I need to use them to defend myself, to protect someone, to hurt my attacker, or to heal an ally. So yeah I'll admit that my immunity to possession might be weaker then usual, but as long as you don't reject his presence since he's sort of a part of me too and he's made of my necroenergy then everything should be fine. Vlad, please, I'm asking you to trust me on this. I know I didn't tell you the truth about what I was planning to do but, I was worried you'd have the same reaction you are having right now if I was right about there being something else hidden behind the miasma that has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. Like I said, I can't risk stopping this spell to counteract that shadow until this is all over. And its really up to you how quickly that happens. I don't think I'll be able to create something like this again without doing exactly that, putting myself at risk because this light-side of you is only as strong as my conviction to help you face up to the things you've done in the past and what you're afraid the future holds for us. And I don't want to risk turning you into what I turned Azrael into because he was obsessed with protecting me. I can't. Because unlike him, you're still alive. And you have so much more left to live for..."