A/N Hello everyone, I know I'm posting this a day later than I normally would, but my life has been pretty chaotic this week making it much more difficult to work on the story. But I do have the next chapter ready to go, and things are really starting to heat up with everyone. Hope you all enjoy what comes next, as we get more into the final act the more intense it's going to get. Please enjoy, and remember at the end to leave a REVIEW!

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Ember was staring straight ahead with narrowed eyes, eager for Skulker's lair to come into view as she kept flying onward. She glanced back every thirty seconds or so to make sure the speeder was still there and hadn't fallen behind. Thankfully it was still keeping up just fine. As she rounded another floating mountain she knew they were starting to get close, and the closer they got the more determined she was getting to find that tin can and tear him apart bare handed.

"As soon as I find that bastard and get my guitar back I'm going to make him wish he'd never been unborn," Ember scowled to herself out loud. They were about to pass Kitty and Johnny's realm on their path to Skulker's so she could try to get their help as well.

Ember had one and only one thing on her mind, finding and saving Danny. Her mind kept flashing back to last night and how amazing it had been before Skulker got the jump on them. For some reason it seemed almost every time she and Danny were having an amazing moment together, someone or something came around and got in the way to ruin it. New Years was a rare exception, but more often than not this kept happening and Ember was beyond sick of it.

"The world better get it through it's head that Danny and I are meant to be and nothing will ever come between us," said Ember to herself lightly. As she rounded another floating forest, she saw Kitty and Johnny's realm come into view, with Skulker's lair only a short distance further beyond the ghostly horizon. "Good, time to bring on some more firepower, maybe after I get done crushing Skulker, Kitty can give him a special kiss."

Heading straight for the realm door, Ember wanted to make this fast so they could keep moving. Looking over her shoulder she pointed to the door she was moving towards so the others would know to stop with her. She started to extend her arm to grab for the handle, deciding to skip the knocking. After all Kitty had burst into her realm when it was an emergency, so Ember was thinking she'd do the same.

"ATTACK, GET THE TRAITOR!" came a cry from above, causing Ember to stop where she was and look up.

Descending on her quickly were about two dozens ghosts that looked like they meant business. They didn't seem like they were all that menacing as they were all just a plain green color without any noticable features, just green and mostly formless, similar to Johnny's Shadow but clearly not as powerful.

"Oh great, the minor leaguers," said Ember to herself as she braced for combat. Even without her guitar these pitiful ghosts shouldn't be too tough. Charging up at them Ember confronted them head on, punching the closest one hard in the 'stomach' and sending it flying away like a cannonball. "You punks want a piece of me, you picked the wrong time because I have a LOT of anger to let out, and I'm more than willing to give you all a bit of it to warm up."

As Ember engaged with the ghosts trying to attack her, moving from one to the other as they were charging, the others in the speeder had stopped and were observing. Jazz had stood up and was pressing her hands against the glass.

"Ember, we have to help her," she cried looking down at Sam and Tucker, who didn't look nearly as worried. "Can't we fire something at those ghosts to stop them?"

"Um, Jazz, I don't think she needs our help, are you seeing what she's doing to them," said Tucker with wide eyes while gesturing back outside.

Jazz slowed her breathing a bit and looked back outside. Since she didn't have any actual experience with all this ghost stuff, her instinctive reaction was to get worried. But once she looked again and calmed herself it was pretty apparent that Ember wasn't having any trouble on her own with these ghosts. She'd punch one then kick another, keeping them all at bay. While Ember was fighting, Tucker pushed a button on the console to expose a receiver so they'd be able to hear what everyone outside was saying.

"Take THIS," screamed Ember loudly as she blasted a large pink ecto ray towards several of the ghosts with both of her hands. This made the beam extra wide and large enough to envelop five of them, sending them well beyond their eyesight over the horizon. Ember floated a bit higher to confront the remaining ghosts facing her. "Anybody else want some? If you're smart you'll tuck your tails between your legs and get lost. I will not hesitate to vaporize all of you so I can save my boyfriend. Your pitiful afterlives mean nothing to me compared to having him back in my arms."

All three pairs of eyes in the speeder widened as they heard Ember's words, a little nervous by how fierce and serious she sounded.

"Holy cow, guess her hair isn't the only thing that's on fire," said Jazz, thinking maybe she should offer Ember a therapy session when this was all over.

"Well technically those ghosts are formless and don't have tails or legs, but I guess the point still remains for what she said," said Tucker shrugging.

Sam meanwhile was keeping her thoughts in her head, and after her talk with Jazz she was finding her thoughts on Ember shifting more and more. It was getting harder and harder to stick to her guns about hating Ember and seeing her as nothing but a conceited diva that only cared about herself.

Meanwhile Ember had had more than enough of this distraction and wanted to move on. But it seems the other ghosts weren't.

"REINFORCEMENTS," shouted one of them as it turned to call somewhere behind them.

Ember groaned as she dropped her head a bit, her fury quickly rising higher.

"Seriously, I don't have time for this crap, how many of you do I have to blast before you'll..." Ember was suddenly silenced by what she saw coming their way.

Everyone in the speeder now saw what was coming too and froze as well, suddenly much more concerned than they were moments ago.

Charging towards them in the air was a giant woolly mammoth ghost with a few more formless ghosts riding on it's back. It looked quite eager for a fight as it was coming very fast with its tusks, which were huge and very jagged.

"Oh shit," said all four members of the rescue party simultaneously.

"Take no prisoners," called one of the ghosts from the mammoth's back as they were charging right at Ember.

Ember snapped back to her senses as the mammoth was approaching, quickly flying out of it's path right before it could run her over in midair. Aiming another ecto ray at it she fired as hard as she could, hitting it in the side. But it was completely inneffective and the mammoth just kept raging as it shifted it's course to come after her again.

"Oh crap this is so not good," said Ember as her concern levels were rising rapidly, taking off to avoid the mammoth and it's jagged tusks.

She tried aiming over her shoulder and firing again and again, but none of her blasts seemed to be capable of fazing the overgrown mass of muscles. It's ghostly fur just seemed to absorb her blasts and make them completely ineffective. Now the humans in the speeder were also looking worried as they sped after them.

"This thing has weapons doesn't it, can't we shoot it," said Jazz while leaning forward against the console.

Sam punched a button without answering to fire up the speeder's own blasters, firing right at the mammoth. But the same thing that happened with Ember's blasts happened to them as well, the ghostly fur just absorbed it and nothing happened. Ember tired to zig zag around all the floating things around them to shake the rampaging animal, but it seemed that it was more than capable of keeping up as it stayed in pursuit. Flying around a rock formation, Ember looked back and saw that the ghost was actually gaining on her, causing her to panic a little more. Looking back in front of her she tried to think of an idea quickly, but she hadn't realized she was flying right towards another floating forest. She tried to pull up but her momentum was too strong as she grazed the top of the trees, knocking her flight pattern off and sending her toppling downwards until she landed on the floating island in a crash.

Turning around and having lost all her speed she now saw the mammoth in a rampage coming right at her, about to squish her under it's giant person sized feet. Her mind went into overdrive trying to think but it had become too shocked to process any thoughts as she put her arms up to shield herself in vain, bracing for the bone crushing impact with her eyes closed.

The mammoth started blowing through it's trunk loudly, a trumpet sounding blow as it was about to crush Ember. But moments before it was about to squish her, the trumpeting suddenly stopped and it went quiet. Ember was still bracing to be squished, but when it suddenly went quiet and nothing hit her, she peeked her eyes open, and somehow the mammoth was gone. But the ghosts that had been riding it were still there. They looked just as confused as Ember did.

"Wh...what happened?" demanded one of them as they all started looking around for their giant companion.

"Well I always found elephants, or in this case mammoths, to be quite the space consumer. So I thought I'd go ahead and clear some that space up for us," came the voice of Kitty, who was smirking off to the side. Once Ember looked over and realized she was there, Kitty gave her a wink while putting a tube of lipstick into her pocket. "Saved by a kiss."

Ember saw Kitty putting her lipstick into her pocket and quickly deduced what must have happened. Kitty had made the mammoth disappear with one of her vanishing kisses.

"Kitty you are an absolute afterlife saver," shouted Ember happily as she charged at her, hugging her best friend tightly in thanks.

"Anytime sweetie, I'd never let an overgrown fur ball take you away from Danny like that," said Kitty putting her arm around Ember's shoulder as they both looked at the remaining ghosts. "Luckily it was a male otherwise it wouldn't have worked. Anybody else want a kiss, no need to be shy."

As Kitty raised her fingers to her lips as if she was going to blow another one, the remaining ghosts quickly turned around and flew off in a frenzy, their arms stretched in front of them and moving as fast as their formless bodies would take them.

The others in the speeder were suddenly catching up as well and saw that Kitty was there. This made Kitty wonder what was going on.

"Um, something I need to be filled in on? Why are all of you here, and where's Danny?" asked Kitty as she realized he wasn't with Ember or in the speeder with the others.

Now that the surprise attack was over Ember was getting her mind back to the real reason they were here, and how she needed to bring Kitty up to speed quickly so they could get back to saving Danny.

"Kitty I need to get through this quick so don't talk," said Ember seriously as she took hold of Kitty's shoulders. "Skulker attacked Danny and myself last night and took him. I don't have time to go into the specifics, but we need your help in saving him. We're on our way to his lair right now. Where's Johnny?"

Kitty's expression suddenly changed from confused to distraught. Her eyes shot open in shock at Ember's words as she realized how terrified she must be right now.

"Oh my afterlife, that damn bucket of bolts," said Kitty angrily with clenched fists. She was ready to jump on board to help right away, but unfortunately it was going to have to be just her. "I'm not sure where Johnny is right now, either working on his bike somewhere or at a ghost bar drinking, and I don't know which one. But by the sound of it we don't have time to go looking for him blindly."

Ember slammed her fist into her other open palm, glad they found Kitty but wishing they could have gotten both.

"You're right, we don't have time, we have to get moving," said Ember as she looked towards everyone in the speeder, nodding towards them to signal they were ready. "Okay let's go, Skulker has a universe of pain coming his way."

With that Ember and Kitty took off side by side with the speeder behind them, Skulker's lair just up ahead.

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Danny was looking all over while Plasmius was currently out of the lab, seeing if there was anything that he could possibly give him an idea of what to do. There was lots of mysterious equipment and machines all over the place, but nothing that looked like it could be helpful to him. All he could do for the time being was take in his surroundings and try to form a plan on what to do if he were to get free somehow. Every now and then he would again hear some kind of roaring coming from wherever behind the walls in another room. He certainly wasn't in a hurry to find out whatever all that was about. Meanwhile Ember's guitar was still sitting on one of the examination areas where Plasmius has been doing who knows what to it. Since Danny could barely lift his head while restrained he wasn't able to get a good look at anything he'd been doing. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming his way as Vlad walked back into the room in his human form.

"Well that was another good session of testing, making a lot of progress," said Vlad out loud dramatically to himself, clearly wanting Danny to ask what he meant.

"Getting tests on the tumors that are all over your brain I take it?" said Danny hatefully. "I imagine your brain is more tumor than organ at this point with the decisions you've made in your life."

Vlad just simply smirked and closed his eyes smugly while walking behind Danny's head.

"Oh my dear Daniel will that clever teen wit of yours ever stop being amusing? I guess it's good to have a defense mechanism," said Vlad while pushing a button to make Danny's table sit more upright and reveal wheels under the four legs. "How about you come with me and I'll show you what I've been up to."

Vlad started pushing Danny's table forward and into a different room of his lab, passing what appeared to be plenty of isolation tubes with specimens of some kind floating in them. Danny saw how deformed a lot of them were and it was horrifying. He was starting to feel like he was in some kind of mad scientist's lab, which actually was kinda true.

"Sheesh, are you trying to make ghost Frankenstein or something?" said Danny looking back and forth. Vlad simply shook his head at this statement.

"Oh my Daniel you truly are a C student aren't you, probably even lower in literature," said Vlad smugly again. "Frankenstein was the name of the doctor, not the monster. By that logic I would be Dr. Victor Frankenstein and I'm creating my ghost monster. And actually I guess you're not that far off to be honest. Though rather than monster, I'm creating a far superior...well, you."

Danny's ears perked up at that last part. What the hell did that mean, a better him? Looking around a bit more he saw that he was being pushed towards one more isolation tube, and when he saw what was in it his eyes almost shot right out of his head. It was himself in his ghost form before Ember changed his suit.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" screamed Danny while looking at whatever this copy of himself was.

"It's your clone Daniel, quite impressive wouldn't you say?" said Vlad while putting his hands together in admiration.

Danny's whole body completely stiffed up as he stared at the being floating in whatever that liquid was in the chamber, his clone with it's eyes closed and not looking conscious at the moment.

"You sick off the charts crazed fruit loop," said Danny in disgust. "I know I've called you that before, but apparently I had only seen the surface of how far you insanity truly went. Why in the name of hell are you cloning me, and how?"

"Well my dear boy, you see once I use your girlfriend's guitar to get what I want, I simply won't have the luxury of keeping you as my son, you've proven far too defiant for that. I could just use the guitar's power on you like I will for your mother, but your powers make it simply too risky that you will at whatever point break free or try to resist or whatever side effect that could cause an inconvenience to me and your mother. So quite simply, I've been working on creating the perfect ghost clone son that will take your place. Completely obedient and the perfect son to be honest. As to how, actually that wasn't all that complicated. My plasma bugs have been able to collect samples of your DNA numerous times, which has been necessary since there have been many failed attempts leading up to now. But now perfection is so close, and once a few more tests and experiments are run he will be completed and ready to take his rightful place at my side as my heir along with your mother."

Danny wanted to throw up every organ in his body right now from listening to everything this insane man was telling him. He was so disgusted he'd lost his voice and couldn't say anything in response. This however seemed to please Vlad.

"Well I think that's enough for now little badger, we must wait for either Skulker to send word that he has disposed of your dear Ember, or for a rescue party to show up looking for you. Either way I'll be more than prepared, so how about we let your upgrade rest in silence. I also have very much been enjoying tinkering with that fascinating guitar."

As Vlad pushed Danny back into the other part of the lab, Danny felt like he was in a house of horrors looking at all the failed experiments of his clone in the test chambers beside him.

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Ember had been filling Kitty in on the details of what happened the night before as they were approaching Skulker's lair, speaking quickly and finishing just as it was coming into view on the horizon. As she finished talking Kitty was now looking almost as murderous as Ember.

"Don't worry hun, we're gonna teach that pest a lesson and get your man back," said Kitty as they both zeroed in on the island that Skulker lived on.

Looking over her shoulder, Ember pointed the island out to the others in the speeder and made a beeline for it, landing in the opening along with Kitty. Tucker stopped the speeder right next to the girls and everyone got out holding their respective weapons.

"Well, this is Skulker's lair, but how do we find him, this isn't exactly a simple house?" said Sam looking in all directions. Nothing but a jungle looking forest covered the land here.

"Well I've only ever really seen this place from above in passing so I'm not really familiar with what's actually here," said Ember quickly scanning the area, wanting to find him immediately. "But since he does love his hunting hobby it's a good bet that there would be a lot of booby traps here, so be on guard.

"Okay, let's all stick together and tread carefully," said Jazz as she slung the Fenton bazooka over her shoulder and stepped beside Ember.

Sam stepped up beside Ember on her other side and the two locked eyes for a moment, recognizing that while they weren't fond of each other, they were ready to ignore all that for the greater good. But Sam was also having conflicting thoughts that Ember didn't know about the whole ride here, and also after they just locked eyes.

"Alright ladies, let's get moving," said Tucker stepping out first, apparently trying to be the big man since he was the only male present. He made it about ten steps before he realized there was a root in front of him and he tripped over his own feet trying to avoid stepping on it. This only resulted in my falling right through it since he was a human in the ghost zone.

All four ladies walked right up to him with their arms crossed and frowns on their faces.

"Ready to stop showing off Indiana Geek?" said Kitty while shaking her head.

Tucker tried to play it off with a chuckle as he got back to his feet, but the damage was more than done.

"Ok, sorry, I'll get serious now, saving Danny is the only priority," said Tucker while brushing himself off.

The five of them created a little separation between each other as they all started walking into the trees, moving slowly so they could check all around where they were stepping. Knowing Skulker there could be any kind of trap for them to trigger. Kitty ended up flinching pretty harshly when she stepped on a stick, causing everyone to freeze and look in her direction.

"It's okay, nothing here, just a stick," said Kitty letting out a sigh of relief.

*Pew pew pew pew pew

Suddenly everyone heard some kind of launching sound that made all their eyes shoot open. Looking over their heads it was apparent that at least five missiles were coming right for them.

"Everyone look out," shouted Sam as they all dove away from where they were, getting out of the blast radius just in time as the missiles hit the ground.

Ember looked back where they hit, sneered, then looked back into the trees as she got up.

"HE'S HERE, EVERYONE AFTER HIM," shouted Ember loudly and full of rage as she charged forward fearlessly. Now that she had found Skulker the only thing going through her mind was getting her hands on him and making him pay for taking the one she loved. "I'm coming Danny, don't worry."

As Ember charged forward without even waiting for her colleagues she cleared a number of trees and bushed, and once she did she came into a clearing just in time to see another blast heading right for her face. Moving her face with just a moment to spare, she looked where it came from and her eyes were blazing just as much as her hair. Skulker was right there floating in midair.

"I figured it was possible you'd show up here looking for me if I wasn't able to come back fast enough," said Skulker smirking. "And I'm happy to see that you brought friends, I do like having extra mice to play with."

Ember wasn't listening or even bothering to respond. She launched herself right into the air and at Skulker like a beam of light.

"I AM GOING TO RIP THE HEAD RIGHT OFF THAT SCRAP HEAP YOU CALL A SUIT," screamed Ember in fury, staring at Skulker's eyes like a hawk.

Skulker saw her coming and barely had enough time to dodge since she was moving so fast. And since she was moving so fast she ended up propelling herself right past him and was now having trouble stopping her momentum. Skulker had lowered himself down to the ground while dodging and landed on his feet watching Ember try to stop herself. What he didn't see was the other four members of the group emerging from the trees and launching their own attacks at him.

"SKULKER, WHERE'S DANNY," screamed Sam as she punched her fists together with the gauntlets and her eyes narrowed.

Turning his neck back to the four of them, Skulker smirked realizing Sam was one of his visitors. Turning his head back and forth from her to Ember, he figured he'd enjoy this.

"Well well, isn't this a pleasant surprise, the girlfriend and the jealous friend wishing she was the girlfriend working together, my how tasty this is," said Skulker, causing both of the girls to glare at him, but not for the reason he was imagining.

"Exactly, which means we're both willing to do whatever it takes to save him, now where is he?" demanded Ember preparing to charge again.

"Seems to have slipped my mind, if only I had a memory bank in this suit, oh well," said Skulker shrugging dramatically.

"Well Sam and Ember aren't the only ones determined to save Danny, he's also my little brother and nobody has the right to hurt him, so take this," said Jazz as she aimed the Fenton bazooka right at Skulker and fired. Kitty added an assist by firing an ecto ray of her own right at him.

"If there's one thing I won't tolerate, it's my BFF having the best thing that's ever happened to her taken away," said Kitty beside Jazz, a unique pairing considering their history when Johnny tried to make Jazz Kitty's new host.

Skulker quickly looked a little worried seeing two blasts coming at him from two different angles. Diving to his side just in time he brought his aiming goggles out to lock another round of missiles onto the two girls that had just fired at him.

"Insolent women, meddling in affairs that doesn't concern them, I'll send them back to the kitchen where they belong," said Skulker right before he could fire.

He paid dearly and very painfully for that last crack. He hadn't even seen Tucker charging at him with the Fenton rod. Winding up big, Tucker swung his weapon hard into the side of Skulker's suit and sent him flying like a line drive baseball.

"Watch your mouth when talking about women," said Tucker seriously with a clenched fist. "There's no way women as strong as these four will ever become stereotypical housewives."

As Skulker crashed and slid through the dirt, Kitty heard his words and took a little interest.

"Oh, mmmm, maybe I could use Tucker sometime if I ever need to make Johnny jealous again," said Kitty rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Jazz quickly looked at her to discourage this.

"Oh no, no no no do not do that," said Jazz rapidly shaking her hands. "I heard what he said too, but believe me dealing with the 'Foley charm' is not worth that, even if it worked and did make Johnny jealous."

Kitty smirked at Jazz a little bit before they both looked over at Skulker as he was getting to his feet. Both ladies fired again at him before he was able to recover, sending him into the air in a large explosion. Sam was running as fast as she could right towards his projected landing spot and had both fists clenched.

"Ember, I'm sending him your way," said Sam to Ember up above, who nodded and flew over to a spot a bit above where Skulker landed. "Little metal on metal action, take this you rust heap."

Sam swung her fist hard right into Skulker's face, striking him down into the ground with a loud thump. Taking a few more punches against his body, Sam was putting every last ounce of pent up frustration and worry for Danny into her punches. Grabbing him around the throat and lifting him up thanks to the enhanced strength of the gauntlets, Sam swung a huge uppercut so hard against Skulker's chin that he was launched straight into the air like he was spring loaded.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh," cried Skulker as he was flying straight up, right into Ember's own waiting fists.

Getting as much force as she possibly could, Ember launched herself straight down to meet Skulker's rising body, connecting with overwhelming force against his head and driving him right back down towards the ground. The impact of her fist against his head was so strong that it left a huge indent in the metal. Yet somehow Ember didn't seem like she was affected by the impact at all despite not wearing any kind of protection on her hands. She was running on pure adrenaline and determination right now.

*CRASH

Skulker was slammed into the ground with the maximum amount of force by Ember, a huge hole now in the ground where the impact was made. Ember didn't waste any time lifting him out of the hole and running him right over to a tree, slamming him against it.

"WHERE'S DANNY," shouted Ember right into his face, the fire in her eyes raging just like her hair. "You better tell me right now before I REALLY lose it, because I'm still holding myself back believe it or not. Only reason I'm still doing so is so you'll tell me where he is."

Everyone else closed in on Ember and Skulker, keeping their weapons trained on the ghost hunter who looked like he was in a world of pain right now.

"Ugh...to hell with all of you, the whelp is as good as finished whether I tell you or not," said Skulker lightly with an angry wince.

Sam stepped forward, not in any mood to take any of this tin can's crap. She balled up her fist and punched as hard as she could right into his gut, eliciting another huge groan of pain.

"Ember's not the only one whose fury you need to worry about, like you said we're actually working together on this one, which means neither of us is pulling our punches," said Sam now standing right beside Ember. The two momentarily looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Skulker, despite the pain he was in and his suit being severely damaged, still seemed like he wasn't ready to just tell them.

"He he he, well then it really sucks that the two of you are going to lose someone you care about so much," said Skulker taunting them.

Sam clenched her fists together so much her fingers were cracking inside the gauntlets. But before she could take another swing she felt the ground start to slowly shake beneath her boots all of a sudden, momentarily causing her to lose her balance. Looking around, she along with everyone else realized something was happening to Ember. Suddenly she was a real sight to behold. Her feelings and determination to find and save Danny were becoming so overwhelming it seemed like her body might explode. There was only one thing on her mind as she was processing everything.

'I have to save Danny, I love him too much to lose him, I love him more than anything,' thought Ember in her mind. She didn't care what it took or what it cost, she was not going to lose the one she loved.

Suddenly Ember's body was starting to lightly glow a radiant blue color that matched her hair. Everyone present noticed and was now looking at her, Sam having stopped focusing on Skulker and relaxed her fists. As everyone was watching Ember, the glow around her body was getting stronger, and her hair was flaming up bigger and more wild. Ember was still staring right at Skulker against the tree, stepping forward slowly towards the now terrified looking hunter. She didn't know what was making her feel all of this or how it was happening, but at the moment she didn't care and instead planned to fully use it. Raising her fist up, she punched with all her might at Skulker, hitting him in the shoulder of his armor. But this time she left more than a fist indent, she punched his arm clean off. Sparks and wires could be seen where the arm had been punched clean off the body, everyone's mouth dropping at what they were seeing and in shock. Ember didn't even stop to wonder how she did it though, she wound up and punched again, and again, and again. One by one she punched all of Skulker's limbs off until he was just a metal torso and a head.

"Ahhhhh, what have you done to me," screamed Skulker as what was left of his body fell to the ground.

Ember's glow around her body and her raging hair were so bright and out of control now that she was about to start a forest fire. Balling her fist up one more time, she punched her fist right through the armor again. This time when she pulled it out, she had the real Skulker clenched in her fist and was squeezing him tightly like he was a stress toy. She brought him right in front of her face and made sure he understood she wasn't bluffing.

"Nothing, let me emphasize that, NOTHING, is going to keep me from saving Danny you snot mother fucker," said Ember roughly, letting her overwhelming feelings for Danny fuel her mind. "So you better tell me now where he is, or I'm going to crush you into nothing with my bare hand. Keep in mind I'm not a hero, so you better believe I'll do it."

Skulker was trying to wriggle his way out of Ember's fist, but it was all in vain. She had a complete iron grip on the pint sized ghost and wasn't letting up. Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Kitty were all watching, too shocked by Ember's display of strength and power to do anything to interfere. Sam in particular couldn't believe how out of this world she seemed.

'How the hell is she getting so strong, she was never this powerful even when the whole world was chanting her name,' thought Sam in disbelief.

Skulker seemed to get the message, looking into Ember's eyes and seeing nothing but fury in them. He stopped trying to squirm out of her fist and gave in, realizing his only way of getting out of this with his afterlife intact was to tell them what they wanted to know.

"Plasmius has him, at his mansion in Wisconsin, he's got your guitar as well," said Skulker in his natural squeaky voice now that he was out of his armor.

Everyone's expression was quickly changing to match Embers, except Jazz.

"Who's Plasmius, I'm not as in the loop on this stuff as the rest of you?" said Jazz looking from one person to the next.

Sam was the one that answered, not even looking away from Skulker as she did so.

"He's a bitter old man that's a half ghost like Danny, you know him better as Vlad Masters," said Sam clenching her fists again.

Hearing this was not something Jazz was prepared for, her mind going into shock as she did and thinking what this meant.

"Vlad Masters, my mom and dad's old college friend, he's behind all of this?" said Jazz in disbelief, suddenly remembering the ghost that she saw at her parent's college reunion, reaching up and clutching her hair. "So that ghost from Wisconsin that we saw at his house, that was him all along, holy crap."

"We need to get to Wisconsin as fast as possible, who knows what he's doing to Danny right now," said Tucker in a panic, retracting his rod and attaching it to his belt.

Ember was still clutching Skulker in her fist and glowing like a lantern while staring at him, contemplating whether or not she should end him once and for all even though he told them where to find Danny.

"Ember, come on, we have to move," said Kitty stepping forward and putting her hand on Ember's shoulder with a little shake. Ember looked over her shoulder just a bit when Kitty touched her.

"You're right, let's go, we got what we came for," said Ember, but keeping Skulker in her clutches and positioning him so that her grip was covering his mouth, muffling his cries to be released.

Everyone hurried back to the specter speeder as fast as they could and hopped in, all of them this time. This was a rare case where Ember was willing to teleport, but she didn't know where this mansion in Wisconsin was, and teleporting all of them back to the human world would drain her and leave her too weak to fight. So instead she took a seat in the back of the speeder, keeping a good grip on Skulker the whole way.

"Hey, on our way back to the portal slow down at a certain point so I can drop this blob of snot somewhere," said Ember as she walked up to the front to point to a certain spot on their map.

Tucker gave a nod as he fired up the speeder and took off back towards the human world, everyone strapped in for the ride. Ember had taken a seat in the back, and Sam was moving back to join her, sitting on the opposite side so they could look at each other. Their eyes met and they stayed silent for a few moments before Sam broke the tension.

"That power you showed back there, everything you just did, that came from your feelings for Danny didn't it?" asked Sam lightly. During the short time they'd hurried back to the speeder, Sam had been thinking of what could make Ember so strong, and it seemed there was only one explanation.

Ember stayed silent, not answering Sam at first. She looked back at Skulker struggling in her fist before back to Sam, nodding at her.

"Yes, I don't know how exactly, but all I could think about back there was how much I love him and how badly I want to find and save him," said Ember lightly. This was the first time the two girls had ever been able to talk calmly to each other at all without wanting to destroy each other.

Tucker, Jazz, and Kitty could all hear what was being said in the back, immediately going quiet so they could hear, too curious not too tune in.

"This whole time I was so sure that everything about you was some kind of illusion, that you couldn't possibly love him for real," said Sam carefully. "But after everything I just saw you do, combined with everything that's happened over the last few months, I don't think that anymore. I can see that you really do love him, don't you?"

Ember nodded in response, a tear almost falling from her eye due to her concern for Danny and whatever he could be going through.

"More than I ever thought was possible," said Ember. She was about to elaborate on that more before Tucker made his voice heard.

"Ember, we're about to fly over where you wanted me to, just up ahead," said Tucker pointing. Ember stood up and positioned herself over the trap door of the speeder.

"Hold that thought for a moment, time for this one to make a new friend," said Ember sneering at Skulker. "Have fun in your new home."

Ember smirked at Skulker as Tucker pressed the button to open the trap door, revealing a large opening beneath them.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

The whole speeder shook for a moment as a giant red ghost came into view beneath them. It looked like a gorilla had been fused with a worm, and was the size of a ten story building. Also it had four arms rather than two. Skulker realized where this was going and was once again trying to squirm out of Ember's grip more than ever.

"Let this be a lesson to you, never try to get between two people in love," said Ember as she wound up and threw Skulker through the trap door right at the giant red ghost, who opened it's mouth and swallowed him as if he was a simple piece of candy.

"So, what just happened to him?" asked Jazz looking out the window to try and see the giant ghost as they kept flying off, closing the trap door.

"Don't really know to be honest, but he's going to be stuck in that ghost's belly for a while," said Ember sitting back down. "When and if he ever gets out, he'll think twice before he pisses me off again."

Sam looked back at Ember as she sat back down, wanting to get a better understanding of what was going on.

"I know you and I have had a very ugly attitude towards each other, I used to think you weren't capable of loving or ever truly caring about anyone but yourself," said Sam while pulling her knees to her chest. "I can't say that I don't still have strong feelings for Danny myself, but I can see now how much you love him and that he loves you too, so I'm sorry for everything that's happened."

Ember looked back up to meet Sam's eyes, seeing the sincerity in them for the first time ever. She couldn't say she was thrilled to know that she still had her own feelings, but it seemed like she was going to put them aside.

"I think it'll take a little time for us to get a point where we can truly coexist considering what happened when you came to my realm, but I think at some point we can get there," said Ember while crossing her legs together. "With everything that's happened to me in both my life and afterlife, trusting people isn't something I do easily. Danny was the first one to ever show me what it felt like to have someone that actually cares about you."

"Danny is the first one to ever care about you, how is that possible?" asked Sam while raising an eyebrow. "Surely you had family or friends that cared about you when you were human right?"

Ember narrowed her eyes a bit again thinking about that. Everyone in the front seat also winced a little bit, Jazz not as much since she also hadn't heard about Ember's backstory yet, but figured this was a touchy subject.

"When I was alive, I had nobody," said Ember sadly. "I was a lonely girl that was barely even noticed by the whole world. Everyone either ignored me or just acted like I didn't exist. My own parents barely even gave me the time of day and made it seem like they preferred I was never born."

Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing. Never in the entire time she'd known about Ember had she ever pictured her as a lonely girl that had basically been shunned by the world. She'd just always imagined a diva and brat that expected everyone to focus all their attention on her because she was so great for whatever reason.

"So you...were an outcast just like Danny, Tucker, and myself?" said Sam, her entire image of Ember changing on the spot. Ember nodded again in response.

"My real name is Amberline Lanes, and I haven't said that out loud in so many years," said Ember, surprising herself even at her admittance. "I was so lonely growing up, all I ever wanted was for someone to notice me and acknowledge that I existed and mattered. But I never got that from anyone, so I was miserable and lonely all the time. Singing to myself and playing my guitar were the only things that ever brought me comfort. Then one day, I actually thought everything was changing. I was asked out on a date by this guy Michael at my school. Only it all turned out to be a lie since he never showed up for the date. I waited all night getting my hopes up foolishly, eventually going home in tears. I wasn't even sure if my parents were home when I got there, I just went up to my room and laid on my bed until I fell asleep. And I never woke up."

Sam was hanging onto every word of Ember's story, so were Tucker and Jazz from the front seat. Tucker had heard implications of what happened to Ember from Danny, but never the whole story. Jazz had been just as in the dark as Sam was on this topic, though she did remember when Danny had vaguely hinted at Ember's past when asking for advice on how to tell a girl he liked her. Apparently there were about ten more layers to what Danny had said that night. All three of them were suddenly feeling nothing but sympathy towards Ember.

"So the night you thought you had that date...is also the night you died?" asked Sam to clarify, which Ember nodded at, blowing her mind with what this meant She started speaking more to clarify to herself than to Ember. "That means the one time you thought someone was finally noticing you, he got your hopes up and made you feel worse than ever, and then shorty after you..."

Sam didn't have any will left to say anything else as she lost her voice right then. All she could do was stare at Ember now that she knew everything that she'd gone through and all the emotional trauma she'd had to endure over the years of both her life and afterlife. Then when Danny finally came along and showed legitimate feelings for her, she learned what true happiness was. So of course she was willing to do whatever it took to keep that from being taken from her, making it so clear now why she had been so defensive when Sam had accused her of putting Danny under mind control to love her.

"Wow, and I thought we had it bad being outcasts in school, but at least Danny, Sam, and I always had each other to watch each other's backs," said Tucker lightly to himself, also completely blown away by Ember's story. He was processing it all as they were approaching the portal. "Okay ladies, we're heading back to the human world, hold on as we make our way through the house."

Everyone took a good hold of something to keep themselves steady as the speeder blew through the portal and into Fenton Works. Flying up the wide staircase and towards the door, Jazz hit a button on the console. This button activated a function in the front door, lowering it into the ground and dropping the whole front wall like a castle drawbridge. Flying out into the open sky the speeder zoomed up and away, turning north immediately. Once they were high enough to clear the buildings Tucker hit the turbo button and fired up the engine to full blast, shooting off into the sky like a fighter jet.

"We're coming for you Danny, hang in there," said Jazz urgently while looking at the horizon. Somewhere north her brother was being held and she wouldn't rest until she got him back.

Ember and Sam had both stood up to walk towards the front of the speeder together, each with their own thought going through their mind about Danny and how they were going to save him.

Due to time being of the essence so they could get to Danny as fast as possible, the complete lack of subtlety means Jack and Maddie had seen everything. They were in the kitchen enjoying a late breakfast before they planned to head down to the lab when this all happened. Now they were rushing to the lowered front wall to see their speeder flying away.

"Doggone ghosts, how dare you steal from Jack Fenton," said jack shaking his fist at the sky. "I'll track you down and get my speeder back before you know it...but first I need to finish my Fenton flapjacks."

His expression changing from a frown to a smile, Jack rushed back to the kitchen while Maddie looked irritated, pulling a remote from her jumpsuit to raise the wall back up and have the door come back out of the floor.

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A/N I'm going to try to keep my notes here at the end shorter than I have been since I've gotten a bit carried away with them lately. I do have plenty to say about this chapter, but II've been having a really rough week so instead I just want to inform all of you of my current situation. My wife is pregnant and my first and biggest priority is taking care of her. I recently started a new job that makes me more available at home, and I signed up for Rover as a side hustle. So with my new job, side hustle, and my wife expecting, keeping up with this story has moved pretty far down on my priority list. That doesn't mean I will not be making the effort to keep it going, but updates could possibly take longer than they have been and I might not be able to keep my current pace of posting every Friday morning anymore. I will do my best to write whenever I can because I do REALLY want to finish this story, it's come so far and I love it so much. For now I hope you all loved this newest chapter, I'm excited for more, and as always please remember to leave REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!