The Last Hunt

by Bananation

College life led Danny, Sam and Tucker on separate ways. Now that their studies are over, Team Phantom returns to Amity Park, but with other priorities and their eyes on their future. However, an evil awakens in the Ghost Zone and puts life as they knew it at risk of extinction, forcing Danny to relive his worst nightmare and make tough decisions.

28. All Against One

- Now we are everyone.

Download's voice caught everyone's attention, making them turn. Dan watched as he and 4 other Guys in White walked… no, they limped in to completely close the crescent in front of him.

- Nice to see you, bud. - Trash yelled at him.

The younger of the Masters' Blasters returned his greeting with a wave of his hand.

- Are you done? - Dan scoffed.

- We're just getting started, monster. But we'll be done with you in a minute. – Jack replied.

A sadistic smile formed on his face. "One minute?" He thought. Wow, humans truly overestimate their own abilities.

- Shall we time it?

Dan looked around them all, from right to left. He could smell the fear and nervousness in each of them. He could also see the tremor in their hands, as they held their weapons close to their chest, as if it would give them the stability their limbs couldn't. He tentatively stepped forward, making all of them take a step back. He smiled and decided on a surprise attack.

He placed his left-hand palm up and a small white flame formed. He spun and shot a flame across the entire crescent, from right to left to distract them. The operatives stepped forward, pressed down on their belt buckle, and a sphere of blue energy engulfed them, shielding everyone from the fire. But by the time they dissipated the fire, Dan had already flown into an operative and with a kick sent him flying backwards, until he collided with the face of a building in the distance, staining the entire facade with blood and the inert body falling seconds later.

They broke their formation by taking evasive action and firing in Dan's direction, who just smiled. Operative H charged at him with his ship and everything, hitting him head-on. He yelled and sped up as fast as he could. Dan held onto the front of the ship and was trying to slow it down, but it was managing to push him back. He could feel them shooting him in the back and in a moment of utter fury, he managed to lift the vehicle into the air and plunged it hard into two operatives who were attacking him at point blank range.

With a punch broke the windshield of the ship and forcibly extracted the crew member, throwing him into the air. He took the ship again and turned it around before throwing it against two other operatives, where only one was lucky enough to dodge the blow, crushing his partner. He turned to the left to see a group of 4 approaching and shooting at him, so he disappeared. He reappeared behind them and struck the side of the head of the nearest operative with his mace.

As the others turned, he decapitated one with his sword; he spun on his own axis to use both weapons on another's torso, ripping open his abdomen and breaking his ribs; and impaled the last one with his sword. Valerie had managed to catch H in the air, who asked her to fly around Dan. She drew a sword and prepared to pounce on him as soon as she got close.

Dan watched them and threw the mace at Valerie, who managed to dodge it. However, the sudden move sent H flying towards Dan, who met him with his sword and split him in half by the waist. He reached his hand and the mace returned, taking a trajectory that struck Valerie in the back and knocked her off her speeder. The girl looked up in time to see him leap at her, mace in hand. She rolled to the side to avoid the blow to her head, and the rumble shook the ground slightly.

Before she could counterattack, Trash came up with a portable machine gun and started shooting at him, giving the brunette time to get to safety. Dan shielded himself with his arms and took every shot, until his eyes glowed an intense white and he shot fire at him. Reacting in time, the blonde pressed a button on his wrist and a shield materialized, protecting him from the attack. However, Dan walked towards him and when he was close to him, he ceased his attack and fired a lightning bolt with the ring that went through his shield and through his chest.

Fed up with being shot at, he flew over the area and used his ghostly wail on everyone present, knocking them over and leaving them stunned. He returned to the ground and had to kneel to recover from the effort he had put into it. He still hadn't fully recovered from that explosion and using that power had worn him down. He looked up and analyzed the situation: the humans were annoying, but his priority was to get rid of the speeder that, by far, was the one that inflicted the most damage on him.

Jazz was repairing the speeder's electrical systems that had been damaged by the attack, and when she looked up, she saw Dan smiling at her. Hastily she reached out her hand and pressed the button that activated the speeder's shield, but for this Dan had already flown towards her and pushed the vehicle into the nearest building.

- Boo. – He told her with a smile when he saw her panicked face.

At that moment the shield activated, sending an electrical shock to Dan that affected him in his weakened state. He yelled and removed his hands from the speeder before glaring at the redhead inside. It took him 3 punches to destroy the shield and when he finally smashed the crystal, Jazz was ejected from the roof of the speeder. Dan followed her with his eyes until a beep forced him to look at the dashboard.

The speeder's self-destruct threw him several meters backwards, rolling on the ground and ending up kneeling on the ground, one hand on his chest. Furious, he looked up at the sky to see Jazz descending slowly on the parachute, while she struggled to pick up the weapon that she had caught with her feet when she almost dropped it. He went flying towards her, but felt something wrap around his foot and hold him back. He looked down and saw Jack, Maddie, and two other operatives holding him up with a rope. Between the four of them they pulled him and smashed him against the wall of the nearest building.

He didn't take any damage from that attack, so he raised his foot and cut the rope they were holding onto. He threw the mace at them and they managed to dodge it, moving two to the right and two to the left. Having split them apart, he flew towards them and threw a punch at Maddie, but Jack pushed her away in time and he took the blow to his chest. As he was about to finish him off, an operative jumped on his back and was about to take the crown, but realizing his plan, Dan fanned the flames of his hair and they ended up engulfing the operative.

Before the horrified look of his companion, the poor man walked screaming in pain at being burned alive. The operative, trembling, scrambled away. However, Dan formed ice stalagmites that ended up impaling him. Jack began to spit blood from the broken ribs and the internal damage he had received. Maddie ran to his side and held his head for a few seconds, removing the mask of her suit to look at her husband in the eyes. With tears in her eyes, she grabbed the gun from Jack's belt and ran off to attack Dan, who was taking on another contingent of Guys in White.

- Maddie!

Shouting his wife's name made him cough up blood violently and alerted Dan, who grabbed the last two living operatives of that contingent by the head, placing his hands on their faces.

Having immobilized them, he turned his head 180° and with the same speed shot beams from his eyes at his once mother and killed her instantly. Two holes in her chest pinned her down before she could say anything or even shoot. First her arms fell to her side, then her head dropped from her, and finally her body crashed limp to the ground.

Jazz's scream caught Dan's attention, and he turned the rest of his body and head to face her. With the operatives still alive in his hands, he froze their heads and then smashed them together, destroying them and letting the bodies fall to the ground where mounds of blood spurted. To his right, many operatives came out against him, firing all kinds of weapons, but his gaze was fixed on the redhead. Without looking at them, he extended his hand and ice spikes flew towards them. The few who survived by taking refuge behind the wreckage of Vlad's ship were killed when Dan hurled an energy sphere into the ship's fuel tank, causing an explosion whose column of fire and smoke rose beyond the surrounding buildings.

From his left, a figure tried to tackle him, managing to move him a little. When he looked down to see who was holding him, he took a punch to the jaw, then another to the cheek, another to the abdomen, and finally a kick to the side of his face. When there was distance between the two, he saw that it was O in the Fenton ghost peeler. O opened fire with the gun at his wrist and Dan charged at him. O threw a punch that Dan dodged by splitting in two to come back together behind the operative and there, he was met by three more Guys in White.

He dodged the first's attack, spun around behind him, and used both hands to break his neck; as his body fell to the ground, he used the palm of his left hand to strike the second operative who charged at him, but rendered it intangible before making contact with his head. He dragged his hand vertically inside the operative's body and when he pulled it out through his abdomen, he brought all of the man's organs with him, dropping them on the ground.

He ducked to avoid being hit with an ectoplasm sword by the third and used his frozen breath to immobilize him. He returned his attention to O, who was running against him. Dan reached his hand back, causing the mace to destroy the ice sculpture that was the operative before it reached his hand to hit O with it right on the side of the helmet. Already on the ground, Dan grabbed him by the suit and flew towards the building behind him. He turned them intangible so they could go through the building, but he returned to his normal state as soon as he crossed the wall. O had been halfway across the wall when Dan made him tangible, splitting his body in half in that instant.

Making an effort, Dan increased his size and with his foot he crushed 4 operatives who were regrouping. When he returned to his original size, he had to kneel for a few seconds due to the overexertion that this power had meant. A missile hit his right shoulder, causing him to roll on the ground for a few meters. When he looked up, he used his eyes to shoot beams at the other projectile that was heading in his direction, detonating it in front of him and creating a smoke screen. Dan scattered it with his left hand and reacted just in time to parry with his right hand Valerie's speeder that was going to impale him with two frontal blades.

Another missile hit him, but this time on his back and sent him back onto his knees. In front of him, Vid and Download were approaching on motorbikes. They slammed on the brakes and they both shot forward, firing at him with everything they had. Dan became invisible and disappeared, causing the two to activate the ectoplasm vision in their visors. Download turned to his right and saw Dan come into view and charge at him with an energy sphere in his hand. He ducked and dodged the onslaught, but Vid wasn't so quick: rendering the sphere intangible, Dan grabbed her by the chest and hurled her into the sky. The woman's scream in panic at the high-altitude fall was replaced by an explosion as the energy sphere Dan had placed inside her detonated, scattering her blood and rests across the battlefield.

Paralyzed by the death of his partner, Dan seized Valerie's speeder and ripped it in two. He spun to face him and threw both ends at him with all his force, impaling him against the wall of the building: one blade piercing his abdomen and the other through his right shoulder.

Valerie fired another missile at him that Dan now managed to dodge by tilting his head. The brunette tossed her gun aside as her ammunition had run out and she stood still for a few moments. She pressed buttons on her wrist and moved toward him. Dan raised an eyebrow when he saw her start to run towards him. Electricity pooled in Valerie's fists and when she was mere feet from Dan, she jumped.

Dan greeted her with a punch, but when his fist was close to the girl, a sphere of energy formed around her. Dan's left fist was repelled by the shield and knocked him back a few steps, while Valerie's shield was destroyed and had thrown her backwards. However, the suit formed a jetpack on her back and went flying against him. Taking advantage of the opening in his defense, she landed two consecutive punches to his enemy's face, before Dan turned serious and dodged each of her attacks.

As she punched him in the face, Dan caught her wrist with one hand. But two blades came out of her suit that almost pierced his eyes, had it not been for the fact that he stretched his neck back. As a last resort, Valerie tried the same thing, but this time against Dan's legs, but he transformed them into a tail just in time. He gripped her wrist hard and spun her around in the air to slam her to the ground. The impact knocked the air out of the girl and left her arching her back and trying to run away from him as she tried to catch her breath. But Dan wasn't done with her yet. With force, he crushed the girl's wrist, who burst into cries of pain from the cracking of her bones. Dan reached down and took her head in both hands.

- Goodbye Valerie.

Dan began to press Valerie's head, causing the girl to scream even more as she felt how her helmet began to hurt her head. With her one good hand she tried to fight her assailant, but to no avail. Her legs were shaking from the breathlessness that caused her to scream as her diaphragm still failed to restore, but she couldn't help herself as she felt the glass shards from her helmet bury themselves in her face. The screams continued for a few more seconds, until the crack of Valerie's skull indicating that the girl was already dead, splashing blood across Dan's face.

Still smiling, he straightened up again and looked behind him at the small group of survivors. Of the entire army that was facing him, there were now only five left. He would finish them off quickly to move on to the main course. He looked at the 4 operatives in front of him: completely terrified and to some degree, psyched that they were about to die. In the blink of an eye, Dan was gone and reappeared behind them. He grabbed the two from the center and flung them into the air, materializing his sword to pierce the heart of the one to his left and disintegrate the one to his right with lightning.

With no one left to interrupt him, he made his way slowly and torturously towards the redhead who had dragged the body of her mother against the wall of a building. The sound of objects smashing against the floor notified him that gravity had done his job with the last two operatives. Jazz grabbed a gun and started shooting at him, but Dan made holes in his body for the attacks to go through. However, his attention was diverted when a stone passed through his head from the nape of his neck and exited through his forehead. He looked down to see the stony material fall in front of him and when he noticed Jazz covering her mouth with both hands and stop firing, he looked back.

- Stay away from her…

Dan turned around and started laughing when he saw who was responsible.

- I thought I had already killed you! – He said with amusement.

Jack could barely stand up and blood kept coming out of his mouth. His skin was already pale and he was making a superhuman effort to stay conscious.

- You did… - He paused to cough up blood.

Dan smiled and looked at the ground before walking towards it. He looked Jack in the eye and clapped as he walked forward.

- Oh, please, Jack. Do not be dramatic! She was just your wife… - He said excusing himself.

Dan stopped in front of Jack and smiled at him.

- But if it's any consolation… I can make you meet with her again. How does that sound? – He patted his cheek with his left hand before resting it on his shoulder.

- No ghost… messes with my family… without me doing something… about it.

Dan inhaled deeply and looked up at the sky for a few seconds.

- We'll see about that.

The grip on his shoulder increased and Dan's features darkened. Afterwards, he impaled Jack's chest with his fist. Jack Fenton's gaze never left Dan's eyes. He didn't scream, he didn't grimace…he just died. With his left hand he pushed Jack's body back, freeing his other hand. His entire forearm was smeared with blood and, in his fist, Mr. Fenton's heart. He watched it for a few seconds, then looked away at the corpse of the orange giant, and finally threw the heart into a small pile of fire a few meters from him.

"Now... where was I?" He thought to himself as he turned around and saw the redhead standing. She kept crying, her eyes were red and, in her features, there was no fear or anger, just resignation.

- So... What is my diagnosis... doctor?

Dan held her arms up in the air as he walked toward her with a smile.

- A: Psychopath? B: Sociopath? C: Schizophrenia? Or will it be D… All of the above?

Jazz forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat and closed her eyes. She held up her trembling hand, the one holding the gun. But instead of pointing straight ahead, she placed it on her temple. The tears flowed more intensely and her body trembled more violently. When she felt the cold metal on her skin, she closed her eyes with all the strength she had left and pulled the trigger.

But her finger didn't find the trigger. In truth, her hand no longer felt the weapon. Alarmed, she opened her eyes to see Dan standing a few inches from her. She looked to her hand and watched as Dan made his hand tangible and visible, showing that he was holding the gun and had made it intangible when she was about to shoot.

- Did you think it would be that easy?

Her blue eyes met Dan's red, who dropped the gun to the floor and grabbed her neck with both hands. At first, he didn't exert any pressure, he was just accommodating each of his fingers around her skin. Although ghosts were cold, she could feel the warmth of her father's blood around her neck, in parts of her face and in some drops that trickled down her chest.

- Before you go… - He whispered. – I want you to know that I enjoyed doing this.

- Danny...

The words caught in her throat as the pressure in her throat gradually increased. Jazz's hands slammed into Dan's forearms in a futile effort to break free, her body shaking from the lack of oxygen supply and her eyes looking directly at the ghost. As she gasped, the veins on her face began to stand out and her skin took on a reddish color. On the other hand, Dan just looked into her eyes without any expression. Effortlessly, he lifted her a few inches off the ground to watch her kick, then smiled at her. Jazz watched him throw his head back and open his mouth. At such close range, the ghostly wail yanked the girl's neck back further than anatomically and physically possible, and with a crack, her body froze in his hands, rocked only by inertia and momentum from his attack.

He separated his hands and the girl's body fell in front of him with a crash. He smiled knowing that the last thing those dilated blue pupils saw was him.

He turned to admire his artistic masterpiece: fire, ruins, destruction, death…and blood. A lot of blood. 7 years, he had to wait 7 damn years locked in that stupid metal container waiting for his chance to unleash his vengeance on this world. And though he had come close to dying at one point, he had survived. He closed his eyes and very carefully caressed his face with his bloody hand.

He felt the warmth of the viscous red liquid and let the sensation overwhelm all his senses. He walked around the area with a smile and opened his eyes when he was away of the mess. Calmly, he sat on the ground and turned to see the destruction he had caused. The fire, for lack of things to consume, was almost extinguished and a cloud crossed the sky, blocking almost all the moonlight and leaving the city plunged in darkness.

It had been a good day.

Sitting up, he closed his eyes and began to channel the power of the crown and the ring, gradually beginning to recover. Time was completely irrelevant to him, but after several minutes, he felt the presence of someone approaching him. Mist came out of his nose and his eyes widened as he recognized the presence that was getting closer and closer to him and he stood up, ready to confront it.

- You know… To be the master of time, you have a bad habit of being late.

Dan turned and saw him. Accustomed to the dark, it was not so difficult for him to distinguish the silhouette of the ghost. Clockwork was several meters away from him, calm and without any particular expression on his face. Dan inspected himself and, although his skin had healed, his suit was still torn in several places. He sighed and looked back at him, preparing to attack him. Clockwork perceived his intentions and decided to speak to distract him a bit.

- You've caused a lot of damage in the short time you've been free.

- Hmm.

- Have you had enough?

Dan tilted his head slightly to look at him with a raised eyebrow. He alternated his gaze between Clockwork and the scepter.

- For you, I'll make an exception.

He raised the palm of his hand and a white flame appeared. Clockwork smirked.

- You know? I had a lot of trouble figuring out what your goal was with all of this. – He pointed out his surroundings. – In fact, I wasn't the one who discovered it.

Dan relaxed and closed his palm, extinguishing the flames. He put both hands on his back and straightened up.

- Really? – He raised an eyebrow. - And what would that be?

Clockwork smiled again and held out the staff.

- At first, I thought you wanted to be like me and take my place. But... let's say that doesn't go with your personality.

Dan nodded with a smile.

- From there I understood that you only wanted my power. Unable to be affected by time, the ability to manipulate it around you sounds… enticing.

- That's a gross simplification.

- But am I wrong?

- I never said that. - He smiled.

Clockwork took the staff of time with both hands and brought it closer to him, watching him with a smile.

- What would you do with that power? – He became his adult version.

- Skipping this conversation would be the first thing.

- I'm afraid the future is no longer within my reach.

- Oh. - Dan smiled. – I see… Another great darkness.

Clockwork was alarmed by his words and gripped his staff more tightly, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Dan. He started laughing and walked to the side.

- Is that why you hid? – He looked at the floor while he spoke. - Because you lost your clairvoyant abilities?

- How do you know about the Great Darkness? - He said seriously.

Dan stopped and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He smiled realizing that Clockwork knew less than he thought.

- I assimilated Pariah Dark. And his knowledge with him. – He started walking towards Clockwork. - I know everything.

- Then you know we can still stop you.

- I already took action on that matter. – His smile widened.

- What are you…?

- You see, while you kept awake to keep the pathetic human world alive, you neglected your own kind.

Clockwork looked down at the ground as Dan continued to speak.

- My armies should already have significant advances in the conquest of the ghost zone.

- You were then...

- A distraction? No. I just made the most logical decision to save time. Besides, I knew that Daniel was the quickest way to get your attention. As humans would say: two birds...

- Back then, we didn't have much of a chance either.

- I am stronger than just Pariah Dark… and you are not that strong anymore.

- In that case… it's good that I have help.

Dan watched Clockwork smile and saw how a blue sphere appeared in the sky, a few meters behind them and revealed his young version. Danny stayed for a few seconds in the sky, inspecting his surroundings until he glimpsed the fire from Dan's head. He quickly descended and was a few meters behind the master of time. Seconds later, another sphere appeared and Vlad flew towards them, falling behind Danny.

- I thought you wouldn't come. – He whispered to Vlad.

- I like to take my time. – He answered Danny.

Their attention was drawn to Dan, who was laughing.

- You're still missing 3 more ghosts to try the same as that time… - At no time did he stop seeing Clockwork.

- That can be fixed. – The blue ghost smiled.

- You know? - He put his hand to his chin. - I knew you had been manipulating time, but I didn't think you wasted your power saving your pets.

- What a welcome. – Vlad ironized.

Dan finally turned to look at the newcomers with a bored expression.

- Dan. - Danny called him. - You…

- It's King Dan now. – He interrupted him. – Try it with a bow.

Danny sighed before continuing to speak.

- You asked me to kill the child in me… Well, I did. A man…

Dan held up his hand to stop his speech and rubbed his eyes with his other hand, a resigned expression on his face. "That's on me, I should have foreseen this" He thought as he looked at him seriously.

- I wasn't talking to you, Fenton. – The seriousness on his face made Danny not understand what he was talking about.

- You…

- I was talking to Phantom. - He wanted to laugh. – And I definitely didn't mean it metaphorically. It was literal.

Danny was confused. Fenton and Phantom were two sides of the same person. His features hardened as a brief memory crossed his mind. Those days when the Fenton Ghost Catcher had separated them, with a different personality in both. Dan smiled when he understood what the boy was thinking.

- We made him special. - Dan started. – We gave him powers; we added emotion to his life… we even got him dates. Twice. And how did he pay us? He cheated on a test, lost everything… and blamed us for it. That's not fair, is it?

Danny started to fidget and took a step back, but Dan started to take steps towards him.

- You wanted to end your pain and you decided to get rid of the only thing that made your existence worthwhile.

- That never happened.

- Then why am I here? – Danny's silence allowed him to continue speaking. – I suppose that Vlad never told you what happened to your human version, am I wrong?

Danny shook his head and Dan smiled.

- He was still weak from the anesthesia, but that didn't stop him from crawling like the cockroach he was into a corner of the lab. – He closed his eyes to relive the memories. – He was trembling with fear when he saw what you were… and he dared to point a gun at you. Twice he tried to kill me in less than a minute… so I did what anyone would have done. I detonated the ammunition in his gun, causing half the lab to explode along with it…and then I flew away. – He opened his eyes again. – For the first time, I was free.

Danny clenched his hands and opened his mouth to answer him, but he beat him to it.

- So, kill him. – He looked into his eyes. – Only then can you be free. I say this from experience.

- If I gave you advice, would you listen to me? – Vlad whispered to Danny.

The boy glanced at Vlad and vigorously shook his head.

- Never.

- Then don't listen to that guy. I recognize my strategies everywhere.

Danny nodded and mentally thanked him. He sighed to relax and looked back at Dan, who was shaking his head and had put his hands on his waist.

- Don't be surprised when he tries again.

- Why would I do that? - Danny replied.

- Because you are about to live all that again. The fear... the anguish... the desolation... the pain.

Coincidence, luck or fate… it didn't matter which one he believed in, but at that moment the clouds that covered the moonlight dispersed. With a smile, Dan raised both hands and the flames behind him reignited, brightening the landscape further. Clockwork frowned and quickly stepped in front of Danny.

- What…?

The words caught in his throat as he saw the horror play behind Dan. His brain was only capable of recognizing a limited amount of blood, so he had a hard time making sense of the postcard in front of him. Besides, his attention was always diverted to a specific point: the corpse of a member of the Masters' Blasters impaled on the wall of a building now painted with his blood.

His hand began to shake involuntarily as he continued to scan the scene. Even Vlad had been paralyzed for a few seconds. His nature made him tougher in the face of scenes like that, but even he knew this had crossed too many boundaries. But the hardest moment for him was seeing the body of someone leaning against the wall of another building. A woman, blue suit, reddish hair... and two holes in her chest.

Vlad held onto Danny's shoulder in front of him, who was disgusted to see so much death. The boy fell to his knees when he saw an orange jumpsuit lying in a pool of blood and was unable to take his eyes off it. He wanted to speak, but the words would not come out. He felt his tears trickle down his cheeks, though he didn't remember starting to cry. When Vlad lowered his face so he wouldn't see Maddie, he could identify Valerie's outfit near a small flame, but he couldn't figure out what had happened to the poor girl's head.

- What have you done? – He whispered, trembling with pain.

- I proved them wrong...

Danny glared at him with total anger and his eyes flashed an intense green, but Clockwork placed his staff on his chest to prevent him from going at him in a fit of fury. Danny took it to push him away, but Clock insisted.

- Easy. – He whispered to him.

Danny now looked at his ally angrily.

- They said it would only take a minute… - Dan said, turning to see the scene. - But I like to take my time.

He smiled when he saw Vlad's red eyes glare at him.

- You will be surprised to know that Jack left like a real man. – He told Vlad. - Not a single moan when I ripped his heart out.

Seeing him raise his bloody right hand was the last straw for Danny. However, Vlad held him tighter by the shoulder and Clockwork used his powers to freeze his movements. Danny was about to explode. He cursed Dan for what he had done, he cursed Clockwork for freeing him and he cursed Vlad for stopping him.

- If it's any consolation... everyone suffered. And a lot.

- I'll kill you! Do you hear me?! I'll kill you!

- Except Maddie. She died before she knew it… - He started to laugh. – But I can't say the same for Valerie…

- Let me go! Let go! I'm going to kill him! I have to kill him!

- Or Jazz… - Danny's eyes widened at the mention of his sister's name. - She said your name…before I snapped her neck.

Danny's body began to shake and his sobs were audible to everyone. His voice now sounded like a plea instead of a command.

- Please... let me kill him...

Dan squatted down and looked at Vlad in the eye. He was doing his best not to look upset, but he could see through his mask. With Danny shattered, he looked up at Clockwork.

- I think you'll need more reinforcements. - He stood up again. – You're once more missing 5 ghosts to try again.

Clockwork looked back and saw that indeed, those two were not prepared or in the necessary mental state to be able to challenge Dan.

- Let's say you win… - Clockwork turned to see him again. – You conquer the human world and the ghost zone. What happens after? What would be the purpose of the new king?

- Then… - He took two steps towards him. – I would return to the past to do it again. When I conquer all, I would return another day and repeat it for all eternity.

- It sounds boring…

- That's why I wouldn't return to the same day. – He smiled. – I would go back to yesterday to destroy it all, then the day before yesterday, then the day before and the day before… I can't wait to kill them the day they were born. Both of them. Destroy all timelines...

Danny looked up and met Dan's cold gaze.

- Sam? Tuck?

The boy's cracked voice was no more than a whisper that barely reached Dan's ears. A part of his brain told him that he didn't need to ask, he didn't need to torture himself like that, but he needed to satisfy his curiosity. He needed to know if he still had people to fight for.

- I haven't seen Tucker, but Samantha... she was next to me when they detonated the bomb.

Danny's heart clenched at Dan's words and he closed his eyes. He had failed Sam too. He had failed everyone. And it was all his fault.

- So… are you ready to kill him, or do you prefer to wait for him to try first? – The silence lasted for a few seconds. - Do you want to die with him… Danny Phantom?

- Danny...

It was a whisper, but he heard Clockwork's voice calling him. He looked up and saw the blue ghost, who had turned to see him directly.

- Do you trust me?

Did he trust him? That was a great question. Clockwork had released Dan early and had done nothing to stop the carnage in front of him. However, he had saved all the people in Madison, had helped him countless times, had stopped Dan as long as he could, and now he was there with him, ready to fight for the future.

- Y-yes.

- Then keep your hope up. And use it to give you strength.

Danny looked at him defeated. He had just lost everything and he was asking him to have faith? He wanted to yell at him, he wanted to be mad to him for asking that. But what threw him off balance was when Clockwork winked at him. Thereupon, he pressed the button on his staff.

- Hope? - Dan mocked. - I didn't know you were so romantic.

Dan grew serious and his fists began to glow a blue flash and steam around him, while his eyes began to glow a deep red. He started to walk towards the three of them, but after four steps he stopped, suppressing the frightening look on his face to look up at the sky.

- Is someone there?

The sound of a voice behind them broke their concentration on Dan and slowly they all turned back.

- Is anyone listening? I have news…

Danny and Vlad frowned as they saw Valerie a few feet from them, floating on her speeder and heading toward them.

- The target is alive... but Phantom and Plasmius are also here. – The girl said on the transmitter. – Hurry up.

- Val?

The girl shifted her gaze to Danny, who was walking slowly towards her with an astonished face. The girl was taken aback when she saw him reach out a hand towards her and quickly slapped it away. Her face was visible through the glass and Danny saw her raise an eyebrow and point her gaze in front of her.

- The target is there, Fenton.

Not understanding what was happening, Danny turned around and watched Dan turn his back on them and inspect his body. Danny didn't care that Dan was no longer bathed in blood, he only cared that the horror scene in front of him was gone. The blood, the bodies, the flames…everything was gone.

- Was that you? – Vlad asked Clockwork.

The blue ghost just turned to see both of them and smiled at them.

- As I told you… use that hope to gain strength.

The engine of a vehicle caused the 5 to turn to the front and see the Fenton truck stopping at the side of a building, from where Jack, Maddie, O and other operatives came out.

Dan turned his face to look directly at Clockwork. When he had his full attention, he just smiled and bowed his head. He started clapping and laughing as two motorcycles pulled up to the far right of where he had fought minutes before. To Danny and Vlad's surprise, two more ships appeared, Jazz driving one of them. Danny's smile widened as dozens of Guys in White began arriving at the scene from every street, all armed and pointing their guns at Dan.

- Everyone in position. – They listened through Valerie's transmitter.

- Go, Danny.

Danny nodded to Clockwork's words and together with Vlad, they became intangible and disappeared into the ground.

- You too, Miss Gray.

- How do you know my name? – She asked curiously.

- That is a question for another time.

He gave her a smile and the girl just nodded. Cautiously, she activated her speeder and flew up to join Vid and Trash. At that moment, Danny and Vlad materialized in front of the army of ghost hunters.

- We're waiting for your command, Danno.

Danny looked at his dad with a smile and nodded to him.

- Don't let it go to your head, Daniel. It's for the only occasion. – Vlad whispered.

The boy closed his eyes and sighed, releasing the tension. He widened his eyes with a look full of determination and a serious expression. Clockwork materialized between him and Vlad, forcing Dan to turn around to face them.

- I must admit that you played your cards well, Clockwork... - He made a small face. – A time loop… you really are very creative when you put your mind to it. However… there is a small flaw in your plan.

- And what would that be? – Clockwork replied.

- That I don't mind killing them again. – He smiled.

- I'd like to see you try!

The female scream caught the attention of everyone present, who looked up to see a visibly angry Danielle, who was hovering above them with her arms folded. Thanks to the girl's small distraction, Sam took the opportunity to emerge from the ground, next to the cabin of the Fenton specter speeder. Seeing the black smudge in her peripheral vision, Jazz turned and got the scare of the life when a plant-wrapped Sam in a black suit looked back at her.

- So, boy… what's the plan? – O whispered to him.

- We don't have to worry about them thanks to the loop… - Danny started.

- Not really. - Vlad interrupted him. – Clockwork was always his goal and now that he is here…

- He will go for it and could undo the loop to kill everyone permanently.

- Then we have to be extra careful.

- We just need to distract him. – Clockwork intervened. – Someone is missing to join the party.

Danny was silent as he thought.

- Very well, then…

O interrupted Danny as he placed the microphone on his radio in front of him. Slowly, he took it in his right hand and watched as O returned to his original position: eyes straight ahead, gun drawn and pointing at Dan.

- Dani, Vlad and I will go directly against him. The rest will attack him keeping their distance from him. If you have a way to immobilize or restrain him temporarily, go ahead. We have to keep him away from the other side of town. – He paused for breath. – I can't guarantee that we will all get out unscathed, but for the greater good we must try. Protect whoever is next to you and whatever you do… don't let them get close to Clockwork.

They all turned to see the blue ghost that was next to Danny and nodded.

- You got it, little bro... I mean, Danny. – Jazz said on the communicator.

Dan watched them with a smile and inhaled deeply. Now they were the ones who had to go on the attack and, unfortunately for them, he was in better condition than the first time he killed them. He exhaled slowly and inspected them from left to right.

- Will you stay behind? – Danny asked Clockwork.

- We already played defensively... now it's time to offend.

Clockwork returned his gaze to the front and temporary variants of himself appeared next to him.

- On my mark. – He said into the microphone.