The live broadcast showed the fight between the heroes of Amity Park against that monster. However, there didn't seem to be much hope that the Phantoms could win. She watched in horror as the poor ghost girl was electrocuted until unconsciousness in front of her cousin. She watched as the third ghost she didn't recognize was knocked out, then transformed into a person.

She took the cushion that was on her back and ended up hugging it. She leaned her back fully against the back of the chair and pulled her legs up, bringing her knees in front of the cushion between her arms. The shot had been taken from a considerable distance, but thanks to the lens that the cameraman was using, the clarity and sharpness of the image was very good. It was definitely Mayor Masters. That suit was unmistakable.

She immediately took her phone and texted Star, asking if she knew about it. After all, she was working with him. She put the phone on the couch next to her and looked at the screen again. She watched carefully as that ghost took Danny Phantom and put him on his feet. He seemed to be saying something to him and then…a kick straight to his chest had sent him into a wall.

She hugged her legs and put her chin on her knees, her eyes never leaving the screen. As he fell to the ground, a white glow surrounded the ghost boy, showing everyone watching the ghost boy's secret identity. The young man had fallen face down, which made it difficult to recognize his features. The reporter began to speak on the broadcast, speculating on the identity of that boy; but to her, there was no doubt who he was.

She knew very well that tousled but cute haircut, she recognized that black jacket that he had started wearing when he turned 17, and she had memorized the profile of that face that she used to look at when he fell asleep in class. That was Danny.

She fumbled across the couch for the television remote control and quickly froze the screen on the zoom they had made to Danny's face. The remote fell to the floor as she released it to cover her mouth with both hands as the audio of the transmission continued to play.

- Can anyone see it? – Lance's whisper was heard. – It seems that the ghost responsible for the attack disappeared into thin air. But the question now is: who is the young man behind the ghost boy? And above all… Wait! Apparently, there are more people on the ground... we have visual confirmation that the Masters' Blasters and some operatives form the Guys in White are...

She grabbed her phone and ran up the stairs to her room. She left the door open and began to search desperately among the things that she had stored in her closet. She quickly took out the yearbook and tossed it onto her bed. She opened it and began to leaf through it, until she found the world of photographs that she had hidden inside. Most of them were clippings from newspapers or magazines where they talked about the ghost boy and included photos. She put them down on the mattress and went back to inspect the closet, until she found the manila folder she was looking for.

She opened it up and pulled out the few photos she had of Danny. The one that her dad had taken before going to the homecoming dance with him, some that she had taken with her friends where the three losers came out in the background, and the ones that she had taken of him without him noticing her.

When he went to her house to work on the projects where she chose him as a partner, when she found him at the park or mall making a cute face… She had kept her crush on him a secret from school, claiming it was just a way of lure the ghost boy and, since she was popular and Danny wasn't, everyone believed her. Except for her group of friends, who thought it was a way to anger Manson. But Star and Sam knew the truth.

She took a photo of Danny and one of the ghost boy, and began to compare them. Now that she knew the truth, she felt foolish for never noticing the similarities. Same haircut, but different color; the same warmth in the eyes, but with irises of a different color; the same factions; same complexion, but different clothing; and if she remembered, their voices were similar.

She sat on the edge of her bed, with a picture of each Danny in her hands and staring off at one point in her room. A lot of things started to make sense around the mystery that Danny Fenton was. The secrecy that he always had with his friends, his absences and delays in school, the drop in his grades, his constant permission to go to the bathroom, his disappearances every time there was a ghost, the naps he took in the middle of class, the amount of unbelievable things that used to happen only to him, the cuts and bruises that came and went on his skin, why Danny Phantom advocated for Danny Fenton when he saved her, why the ghost boy appeared wherever he went…

Her phone began to vibrate on her bed. Several texts from Star were coming in. In order not to open the conversation, she only read the messages through the notification bar. Most of them were about Star panicking, so she decided to ignore them. She looked at the mess she'd made on her mattress, but she didn't care. She lay back looking at the ceiling, her hands on her forehead and trying to take in what had just happened.

Fenton was Phantom. The mayor was a ghost. There was an explosion and a fight. Danny lost. And he had almost died… her pulse and breathing skyrocketed the more she thought about that last thought.

She lost track of time until her phone started ringing. However, this time it didn't stop ringing. Message after message from everyone popular at Casper High: Kwan, Star, Kurt, Ashley…even Dash! And that he no longer lived in Amity Park. She ignored all the "OMG!" messages, or "Fenturd is the ghost boy!" to focus on Star's latest message. It was a link that, when opened, redirected her to the live broadcast. Only this time, it was a chase and, in the image, they constantly showed the danger bulletin.

The faces of Sam, Tucker, and Jazz appeared as accomplices in the escape of criminals Vlad Masters and Daniel Fenton, aka Vlad Plasmius and Danny Phantom, and in the kidnapping/cover-up of Dani Phantom. The more she listened, the less she understood. According to the Guys in White, Danny had caused the explosion of a secret facility that had claimed the lives of many people and Vlad had committed electoral fraud.

She dropped her phone on the floor and grabbed her hair with both hands, trying to discern between what was real and what was fake. Danny might be clueless, shy, oddly charming, cute…but murderous? He was always fighting ghosts, saving people and protecting the city. That's who Danny was, not what the news were saying.

Her mental conflict was interrupted when she heard someone knock… no, someone furiously banged on her door and rang the bell like crazy. She thought twice before standing up and going to open it. Her parents had gone out of town for their anniversary celebration and she had stayed to take care of their house, but with the city in chaos... Slowly, she left her room and walked towards the stairs. The pounding had stopped, but she could hear voices and the noise of a car engine.

She walked to a small table with a drawer and a vase, and from the drawer she took out the teaser her dad kept there. The bangs began again with the same intensity as she approached the door. Out of nowhere, they stopped and she heard a whisper from the other side of the door. As the voice became familiar, she opened the door enough to stick her head out and was met by green eyes that looked at her in surprise.

- Tucker! – She heard the scream of a girl. - What's...?

Paulina came out of her surprise when, from behind the truck, Sam appeared with a certain blue-eye boy, whom she was helping to stand up and walk. The goth froze when she saw her and all of her features hardened. Paulina looked around everyone. Tucker, Sam, Danny, Danny's sister and…also the mayor? She opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it. She returned her gaze to Danny, who was looking at her with pleading eyes.

- I know it's not the best time… - Danny spoke. – Let alone the best circumstances, but do you think we could hide here?

Tucker took the opportunity to get out of the door and go to the back of the truck to pick up Dani. Vlad only raised his eyebrow, not understanding the origin of the tension between everyone around him. Jazz watched her brother agape and Sam…she was seeing Danny as if he had grown an extra head. Why was Danny's idea of a "safe place" Paulina's house?

The Latina girl couldn't figure out how to put together a coherent sentence at the moment, so she just nodded slightly and opened the door all the way, stepping aside to let them pass. Feeling the raindrops, Vlad walked quickly to the entrance of the door, said "Miss" as a way of greeting Paulina and got lost inside the home.

- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... - Sam began to say.

- Sam… - Danny implored in a low voice. - Please…

- No! - Sam looked at Danny. – I may be desperate, but I still have dignity…

- Sam. Please. – He implored her. - Listen to me…

Tucker got out of the truck with Dani in his arms in silence as he watched his friends arguing, so he decided to walk as fast as he could to the house. Sam tried to pull Danny's arm off her shoulders, but he caught her with his free hand by the forearm with enough force to keep her from letting go, but not enough to hurt her. Jazz walked around them and avoided seeing them as she closed the back doors of the truck and got back into the driver's seat.

- I'm not going to stay at her home...

- Sam, we have nowhere else to go and she is probably the only person who will receive us...

- Then, stay with her if you want so much!

- Sam… - Danny was beginning to lose his cool.

- Could you swallow your pride for the first time in your life and accept someone's help? – Paulina said when she remembered how to speak.

Sam turned to see her quickly and murdered her with her gaze.

- Listen well, Sanchez...

- No! Listen to yourself! - She yelled walking down the steps and reaching the sidewalk. – Your friends are hurt and the only thing that matters to you is your own comfort.

- Shut up or I promise I'll destroy you.

- When? – She challenged her. - When you get arrested for being an accessory to a murder? Or while you're on the run so you don't get caught by the authorities? - She ironized, crossing her arms under her chest.

- Look Paulina...

- I'm not excited to receive you in my house either. But I'm mature enough to understand the context of the situation… So, grow the hell up Manson! - She told her already irritated.

The rain started to fall harder and Sam just sighed in frustration. He looked the Latina in the eyes again and she just responded by standing aside from her and pointing to the entrance of her house, while looking at her with annoyance. Sam tightened the hold she had on Danny's body, making him jump at the slight pang of pain and pulling him inside. She followed them and Jazz ran after her, taking cover from the rain. The truck began to move away from her residence.

- Valerie! Where are you going?

Valerie stopped when she heard her dad's voice behind her. She was outside of Axion Labs and she was already drenched, even though it had started to rain recently. She turned to look at her dad and bit her bottom lip.

- Home.

Her father watched her in silence, but extremely worried. He didn't want her daughter getting into trouble, and going out as the Red Huntress right now was asking the universe for trouble.

- Valerie...

- I need to think, ok? – She lowered her gaze.

- I know he was your friend…

- He ruined our lives. – She added.

- Val, that…

- I'm just going home, dad. – She turned around. – I'll let you know when I'm there.

Mr. Gray watched his daughter walk away in the rain. If he wasn't in working his shift, he would go after her. But he couldn't. Not now. Besides, Valerie needed to be alone.

By the time Paulina closed the door, everyone was gathered around the television. Vlad had picked up the remote from the floor and unfroze the image, watching the live feed. Not much had changed since the last time they'd heard it on the truck's radio. What surprised them was the speed with which their faces had ended up on the television screen. Irritated, Vlad turned off the television.

- Settle where you can. – Paulina said. - Foley, come with me.

Tucker was surprised before the shadow of a grin appeared in his face.

- Don't even dream about it, tonto. – She hastened to say. - I'll tell you where to put her. – She said pointing to the girl in his arms.

Paulina started to walk towards a room and Tucker followed her, accommodating in his arms the unconscious young woman. When she made eye contact with Danny, she just shrugged. Vlad and Jazz sat in the smaller couch and began to get rid of all the weapons they brought. Sam sat Danny in the longest couch. Danny grunted in pain at the new position and reached a hand to his right side.

- What's wrong with him?

Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes at Paulina's question, who was returning to the living room.

- He has a broken rib.

- We need to lay him down. – Jazz said standing up.

- Can you take him upstairs? – Paulina asked them.

- Why? Do you want to put him in your room?

- My parents', actually. – She answered Sam with the same ironic tone. – My mother is a nurse and she keeps some medical supplies in her room. – She added looking at Jazz.

The redhead looked at her brother and then at the Latina.

- We'll take him.

Paulina nodded and started walking towards the stairs.

- There may be something to help you with that too. – She told Vlad when she saw him squeezing his shoulder.

Vlad just nodded and stood up. Tucker returned to the living room and ran to help her friends to carry Danny's weight. When they got to the room, Tucker sat his friend on the bed so he could lie down, Paulina walked to her mother's dresser and from a drawer she began to take out bandages, gauze and a bag of painkillers. Jazz received the supplies and walked over to the bed.

- Here. – She said handing some to Sam. – Take care of Danny, I'll take care of him. – She pointed to Vlad with her head.

- I'll go back to the living room to monitor things. – Tucker said looking at everyone.

Sam turned to see him and nodded. He smiled weakly at her and left the room. Paulina watched as Sam and Jazz got down to business, and as much as she wanted to help heal Danny, she knew that for now she had another responsibility.

- The bathroom is behind that door… in case you need water.

The 4 turned to see the girl as she left the room.

- Sam…

- Don't talk. – She told Danny as she opened the bag of painkillers.

Danny just sighed. Sam was furious.

O and K returned to the Fenton house, where Operative L had temporarily set up camp while they were establishing a new safe zone. They got out of the vehicle and walked towards the door. There were agents on the street and vehicles surrounding the home. They entered the house and there were more agents installed in the room. L came out to meet him when he saw them.

- Any luck?

- No.- O spoke. – Apparently the mayor disabled the city's surveillance cameras and we lost the van.

- You're not the only ones. – L said scratching his eyebrow. – We monitored the phone activity of the fugitives without success. No post-attack phone activity was recorded.

- What about their location? – K commented.

- Another dead end.

O sighed and looked around. In the kitchen, he caught a glimpse of Jack Fenton's bright orange suit.

- Did they say something?

- They keep saying they didn't know anything.

- And you believe them?

- The desperation in their eyes is hard to fake.

- What about the new ghost? – K intervened after a while.

- We have no data on him. – He took a tablet from the table and showed it to them. – We've identified some familiar things about him, like the crown he's wearing, but we don't have any positive ID on him so far.

- Show the picture to the prisoners. Maybe they know something.

- We already did. In fact, it was thanks to them that we identified the crown.

- Show it to prisoner 0. He might know more. – K commented. – Until then, our priority is to capture Danny Phantom… Fenton… whatever. He must have information about this ghost.

L locked the device and nodded slightly. He returned to his makeshift work station, leaving K and O in the middle of the room. They walked towards the lab downstairs and found that the portal was closed and turned off. There were technicians working in the area, collecting evidence and sweeping the entire laboratory, so they decided to get out of there so as not to interfere with their work.

Tucker was doing research on his Tablet while listening to the news on TV. The good news was that they were still looking for them… the bad news was that they were looking for them. He tried to search for more information about Pariah Dark and his powers, but his search was fruitless. The king of ghosts was relatively unknown to humans because he had spent his entire known existence inside the sarcophagus...

- The sarcophagus! – He said snapping his fingers.

If he couldn't find a weakness in his enemy, he had to find weapons to even the fight. He took off his cap and scratched his head. He had to find something that would give them some hope. He lost himself in his little world until he saw someone place a glass of water on the table in front of him. He stared at the glass for a few seconds and then looked back to see the girl who had put it there.

- What? - Paulina raised an eyebrow while she held a tray with glasses of water in her other hand.

Tucker raised an eyebrow and looked at her strangely.

- We may not be close, but my parents taught me to be a good hostess.

Tucker opened his mouth, but Paulina just turned and headed up the stairs. The young man returned his gaze to the front, pleasantly surprised.

"Weird."

In the upstairs room, Vlad was putting his suit back on after Jazz had finished bandaging his shoulder. Meanwhile, Sam was finishing wrapping Danny's torso in bandages after applying pain-relieving cream. Danny winced at the last tug Sam gave the bandage.

- Done. – Sam stood up. – Now rest.

- Sam…

- And try not to move much.

- A broken rib can take up to 6 weeks to heal.

- You heal fast. – She replied quickly.

- Not that fast.

Danny wanted to meet her eyes, but she hid her gaze from him. At that moment Paulina entered the room. They all looked at her with a raised eyebrow when they noticed the tray with glasses of water that she was carrying in her hands. She just rolled her eyes and put the glasses down on the dresser.

- If you need something, just tell me.

Without further ado, she left the room again. Everyone's gaze went to the glasses, but only Vlad stood up to take one. He drank the entire content down in one steep, before putting it back on the dresser.

- And now what? – Vlas asked to the blue-eyed boy.

- He wants Clockwork. – He commented after a long sigh. – And he wants him by tomorrow.

- That's a trap. – Jazz commented.

- He'll kill us either way. – Vlad said dryly. – But if we give him what he wants, he might let us leave a little longer.

- Yeah, sure. – Sam mocked him. – He already assimilated the ghost king… why not give him also the master of time? I'm sure nothing bad could come out of that.

- For starters, we don't know where Clockwork is.

- And even if we knew, I doubt we could capture him. – Jazz added.

- Well, we have to do something and do it fast. – Vlad commented drinking water from another glass. – Sooner or later, the idiots in white will find us.

- In their state, I doubt they can do anything fast. – Sam mocked.

- Maybe we have an option.

- What are you taking about? - Danny asked.

Vlad looked at everyone and debated whether or not to tell them his WHOLE plan. He preferred not to…the morals of those children were too strict to move into the gray area of life. He looked down and placed the other empty glass next to the previous one. He still didn't know how, but he had to execute his plan discreetly if he didn't want to be stopped.

- The substance you stabilized Danielle with years ago.

- What about that?

- It works like a kind of… steroid for ghosts, if you will. We can use it to heal faster.

- Yeah… but I don't have any more.

- And even if we did, we don't have access to the lab. – The redhead recalled.

- And who said we need the lab? – He smiled.

Before anyone could speak, Tucker entered the room.

- Oh, y'all here. – He said looking at them. – I already know how to defeat Dan!

- You have a plan? – Jazz asked skeptically.

- Umm… it's not exactly a plan. – He said playing with his Tablet in his hands. – It's more like an idea… that could lead to a plan.

- Well, it's better than what we have. – Sam said discouraged.

- Really? What did you guys plan? – He asked.

- Tucker… - Danny insisted.

- Right. – He became serious. – I was thinking about how to defeat Pariah Dark when I remembered the sarcophagus.

- It will be useless. – Vlad commented. – We couldn't find the key.

- We don't even have the strength to lock him up again. – Danny completed.

- If you'd just let me finish… - He fell silent and Vlad rolled his eyes, while Danny waved for him to continue. - Anyway. That got me thinking: maybe we should look for mythical weapons to defeat him.

He was silent while he searched for something on his Tablet.

- And? – Sam said when the silence lasted longer than necessary.

- And I found the ultimate weapon against Dan... and it's perfect because he doesn't know of its existence. – He showed an image on the screen. – The reality gauntlet.

Tucker's excited face contrasted with the disappointed faces of the rest.

- Danny destroyed it, remember?

- Yeah. I know... that's why I said it was just an idea... - He said looking at the screen of his Tablet. – We would only need to find Clockwork, travel back in time… and easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Problem solved.

Sam rubbed her temples and Jazz held the bridge of her nose.

- Tuck… - His best friend called. – Dan wants us to hand over Clockwork. That why your plan...

- I say we do the ghost steroids thing. – The redhead interrupted him.

- I second that motion. - Sam added.

- Ghost steroids? What did I miss? - He frowned.

- Did he say anything else we should know?

Vlad's question was louder than the rest of the voices and all eyes fell on Danny.

- Well… - He scratched his head. – He said we needed to deliver Clockwork to him at Pariah's Castle…

- What else? – He insisted again.

- He mentioned something about killing the child…

- What? – Jazz exclaimed alarmed.

- It was a metaphor about growing up. – He reassured her. – He… he said that I would see how little my actions were worth.

- That's not true, Danny. – His sister defended him.

- Considering that they want me for being a murderer, I think he was right. - Danny's face fell. – And he said that he would hurt my loved ones… like he did with Frostbite.

- Wait. He fought Frostbite? - Tucker asked.

- That's what he said.

- Then why does he need us to find Clockwork? – Vlad said without understanding.

- Well… to find him. – Jazz said as if it were the most obvious.

- But if he defeated Frostbite, then he found the Infimap.

The original trio exchanged concerned glances, but decided not to panic.

- It is impossible. If he did, we wouldn't be here right now. – Sam started.

- Besides, Danny didn't know about the map until much later. Dan can't have memories of that.

- But I did. – Vlad sentenced. – I knew about it as a myth… but if he got to see it….

- I don't think it's convenient to worry about anything else now. - Jazz intervened. – If it hasn't been used, we have to assume it hasn't been found.

- But why didn't he find it? – He insisted again.

They were going to start arguing again, but Paulina's presence at the door silenced them. She was rather pale and she had a hand on her heart.

- Your… - She pointed towards the stairs. -... Friend, she woke up.

Seconds later, they observed Dani leaning between the door frame and Paulina's arm. The Latina was startled when she felt the touch of the girl's hand. Dani was still in her ghost form, but she was walking. She limped a bit, had a swollen cheekbone, and in general, her face was a continuous expression of pain.

- I told you to stay downstairs. – Paulina scolded her as she took her arm to stabilize her and help her walk.

- I'm sorry. I couldn't wait. – She whispered as she went to the bed.

Jazz moved to help Danielle and took her other arm. Danny moved to the edge so Danielle could sit down. Jazz released her and moved to stand next to Sam, while Paulina helped the girl lean against the head of the bed.

- I didn't expect that from her… - Jazz whispered to Sam.

- She even seems human. - She replied annoyed, crossing her arms.

Paulina looked at her sideways and Sam held her gaze.

- I'll get you an ice pack. – She told the youngest girl.

- Thank you. – She answered her with a smile.

They all watched Paulina leave before Dani could speak again.

- You have to explain a lot, Danny.

The boy just looked at the ceiling and sighed.

- It is a long story.

- We have time.

- Not really. – Dani turned to see Vlad in front of her, who gave her an ointment.

The girl looked at him suspiciously, then looked at the cream in his hand. She slowly took the ointment and then Vlad stepped back a bit. Paulina entered the room with a bag of cold gel.

- This is what you need to know. – Vlad said leaning on the dresser. – That monster comes from an alternative timeline. It is the combination between mine and Daniel's ghost half.

- Wait, what?

- That was the long story. - Danny told her.

- He was locked up, but he escaped and assimilated the ghost king. – He paused briefly. – Oh, and now he has unlimited power because he has the ring of power and the crown of fire.

- So, no pressure. - Danny joked.

All eyes were on the girl who had a funny expression on her face. She had her mouth slightly open, with one hand supporting the cold gel on her cheekbone and her gaze lost at her feet.

- Could you repeat me why we don't have time for you to explain that to me?

- He gave us an ultimatum. - Sam explained. – We have less than 24 hours to deliver Clockwork, or…

- I understand. – She wiped the gel off her face. - Do you have any plan?

- No. - Jazz answered.

- Actually… - Tucker began.

- I said no. – The redhead insisted again.

- I was talking about the ghost steroids you mentioned.

- It wasn't my idea, it was his. – She pointed to Vlad.

- Ghost steroids?

Never in her short life had she heard of it, much less from Vlad.

- The same compound that stabilized you in the past could help us in this situation.

- But you don't have anything to synthesize it with. – Dani observed.

- I don't have to synthesize it, just extract it. - Vlad replied.

- Extract it from where? - Sam intervened.

- Of ectoplasm weapons.

- That would leave us without the ability to defend ourselves. - Tucker spoke.

- Not from your weapons... from mine. - Vlad explained. – Since I found the empty vial that contained it in my house, I replicated it and applied it to the weapons I created to make them more powerful and effective against ghosts.

- But your lab was destroyed. – Dani said. - Besides, I doubt you can fly to Wisconsin undetected.

- How do you know about my lab? – He asked narrowing his eyes, but she didn't answer him. – Anyway, those are not the only weapons I have created.

Everyone understood the subliminal message in Vlad's words. Except Paulina, of course. She hadn't understood anything they said.

- You gotta be kidding…

Sam held her temples as he muttered unintelligible things.

- We know that this can end badly, right? – Tucker asked to everyone. – She might not want to cooperate…

- No… but she will definitely come. - Danielle said, putting the gel back on her face.

"Who is she?" Was all Paulina could think on.