Danny is in full darkness, unable to distinguish between up and down. In addition, Danny feels as though he is wedged between two rocks; he can't recall this place being so small that he was unable to move his arms or legs. This puts him in the most uncomfortable position imaginable if he is truly stranded here. That will be a just punishment for him, he supposes. All Danny could really do was wait for the portal to the Ghost Zone to open. He hopes he didn't need to hit another button before doing this.

It's also the worst moment for him to be by himself, thinking alone and in the dark. Danny didn't want to be reminded of his failings, but it was too late; like the ghosts he'd fought over the years, his memories had returned to haunt him at his most vulnerable moments.

Is there any reason why all of this had to occur in his final year of high school, as if the previous three years hadn't been difficult enough? Danny felt as though God, or whatever was watching over this harsh world was punishing him; he was rapidly losing his sense of reality. Nancy seemed to have a keen sense of mind-reading, and Dash was correct—despite Danny's reluctance to acknowledge it—based on the facial expressions Dash displayed. Nancy didn't probe too far into him, but she was aware that he was vulnerable to threats against his family and friends.

Nancy could only know these things if she was following them, but the real question is, how long has she been observing them? These spirits were able to, well, creep up on him. He wasn't sure if this was just his ghostly sense going wild or if there were other factors at work. Is it possible to circumvent a ghost's capacity to detect paranormal activity using their sixth sense?

Another thing that crossed his mind was how he was going to defeat Nancy and whether it was too late. Over the years, Danny has faced numerous formidable spirits, but he has never seen a ghost quite like her. She was correct that she was unlike any other ghost that Danny had encountered; her aura was, to put it mildly, rife with malevolence. Danny recalls that she called herself a poltergeist, and he wants t know exactly what that means. He'd have to question Sam when he got out of here, if he ever did. However, such knowledge did not help him think of a means to defeat her.

Just as Danny was about to give up, a small swirling vortex flashes into view. His eyes opened wide, realizing that it had succeeded. The Ghost Portal grew until it filled his entire range of vision, and then it abruptly pulled him through the dimensional entrance. Before Danny realizes it, he is plummeting through the Ghost Zone and heading towards what appears to be a club.

No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to slow his descent for some reason. He's drawing near the building; in a desperate attempt to get away, Danny flaps his arms like a bird. Not even a second later, he crashes through the club's roof. With a loud thud, he crashes onto a card table, scattering playing cards and poker chips everywhere. Danny groans loudly before slowly rolling off the table with another grunt.

Danny curses under his breath at the agony shooting through him. The past few days have seen him endure a great deal of cruel treatment. He'd be handicapped by the age of 25 if he continued on this path. It took a while for the sensation to return to his body as he crawled on all fours toward a table that he could use as support to rise up. His body is lifted several feet above the floor by a hand that catches the back of his neck before he can even stand.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

Danny is confronted with the worst collection of ghosts he has ever seen: missing teeth, misshapen and malformed body parts, rusted and mismatched cybernetic prosthesis, crooked smiles, and unpleasant body odor. Skulker and Freakshow seemed like models in comparison to this motley crew of freaks.

"You just ruined our annual poker tournament!" a tall and lanky ghost bellowed.

"The craziest thing just happened; I was flying when I was shot out of the sky by a pirate ship!" Danny professionally lies. "And I couldn't use my powers so I fell all the way down onto your poker game!"

"Bullshit," another freak calls out.

"Guys, you gotta believe me!" Danny pleads with his hands folded. "I think he's still nearby, we should go get him and teach him a lesson about ruining poker tournaments!"

"Yeah!" They all called out in unison.

Danny grins mischievously. Hook, line, and sinker. These folks were so easy to fool that Danny almost felt sorry for them. Almost. Just as he turns to bring them outside, a snarling cybernetic ghost that Danny is all too familiar with appears in front of them. Speak of the goddamn devil.

"What the hell is going on here?" Skulker demanded.

"Oh Skulker, this ghost was about to take us to beat up the pirate that ruined our tournament!" a short and stocky ghost answers gleefully.

The ghost is thrown across the room like a baseball by Skulker, who snatches him by the chest piece. With a frightening stride forward, a furious Skulker turns back to face his gang and Danny Phantom. He gives everyone in the room a devilish glare, and the team steps away from Danny at the same time.

"I leave for five minutes and y'all clowns are following some pipsqueak?"

"It's not like that sir; we were going to take care of the problem because we knew how much the poker tournament meant to you," the tall and lanky ghost preaches.

In an instant, Skulker is upon the specter, his dagger beneath the terrified creature's throat. "Not as much as loyalty," he growls.

"Forgive me…"

Skulker turns his back on the terrified ghost and comes up to Danny Phantom again. Why, on this day of all days, did this brat have to appear? This runt had to stick his nose into Skulker's affairs as soon as he'd discovered his vocation—and perhaps his purpose. Skulker casts an annoyed glance at the one who got away.

"Get the fuck out of here, whelp," he snarls stepping past him. "And don't let me EVER catch you here again."

"As soon as I learn where here is," Danny retorts. "I don't know where I am; I'm lost."

Skulker's eyes expand in response to what the child says, before narrowing again. "Not my problem; go back where you came from."

"Sorry for disturbing you," Danny apologizes as he moves toward the exit. "Do you happen to know a ghost by the name of Negative Nancy?"

Skulker pauses before he responds, "Who?"

"Nevermind," Danny dismisses.

Skulker frowns as he watches the young ghost leave his establishment, but his visage softens for a minute before hardening once more. Skulker looks across at his crew.

"What are y'all staring at? Set this shit up again!"

Danny is lost, hopelessly lost. He didn't recognize anything, but it didn't really matter because the Ghost Zone shifts so drastically on a regular basis. He continued to fly straight since he had no idea what to do. It would be best if Danny kept to himself; his brush with Skulker was extraordinarily fortunate; Danny could not afford to meet a genuine malevolent ghost. He was pressed for time and had no idea what time it was.

There's a chance he'll be lost in this terrible place forever, and an even greater risk that his world will have been destroyed by the time he crosses over to the realm of the living. Danny senses that Skulker was withholding information on Nancy, but he was reluctant to find out more after the former adversary let him go. Danny was not in the mood to push his meager luck.

Danny wanders about the Ghost Zone for what feels like hours or years, but he's not really sure because time moves differently here. What he does know is that he is growing tired and hungry. His only breakfast consisted of a protein bar and a smoothie, and that was who knows how long ago. Even though he slept more than he has in years last night, he was still sluggish when he woke up. The adolescent travels past numerous strange-looking doors, each of which leads to a different location inside the Ghost Zone. It's possible that one of those doors leads to the outside world. If most of the doors weren't booby-trapped, he could try to open as many as he could.

Danny looks around him and remarks on how quiet everything is—he could hear a pin drop. His suspicions about the absence of noises and ghosts soon surfaced. Even the rows of doors stopped. He pauses his flight for a minute, scanning his immediate surroundings for potential dangers. Things in the Ghost Zone usually get quiet when something bad is about to happen.

All of a sudden, a low, steady hum—like the sound of an energetic device—replaces the silence. Danny follows the noise warily, curious to find out what it could be. He drifts past some big floating rocks and notices the source of the commotion, which was a blue, massive whirling gateway. Like a black hole, the strange doorway sucked up anything that got close enough to it. It was unlike any portal he had ever seen in the Ghost Zone. It had power emanating from it unlike anything else.

Danny comes to the conclusion that this has to be the anomaly that Clockwork was referring to—the perilous portal that was letting strong spirits from other universes out. Malucard and all the other supernatural beings wreaking havoc in his town originated from this place. Danny considered charging through that gateway and destroying whatever was producing it, but doing so would only place the young ghost in greater trouble.

He must concentrate on the current task at hand. Which includes finding a route home, defeating Negative Nancy, and bringing Dash back, whichever comes first. Therefore, despite how serious the issue is, the anomaly is not given top consideration. His ghost sense goes off just as he is ready to turn around. Danny watches as a figure shoots out of the portal at a fast speed. Unable to control their flight path, whatever it is crashes into a residential large floating rock in the Ghost Zone.

Danny hides behind a second floating rock and peers out to determine whether this UFO is an ally or an enemy. He waits a few minutes to confirm that nothing is following whatever crash landed in the Ghost Zone. Danny approaches the UFO cautiously, maintaining his vigilance. He realized as he drew nearer that it was a person—more precisely, a woman with dark hair. Danny notices that the woman is wearing what appears to be a comparable version of his outfit after examining her more closely. The woman with dark hair snaps to attention, swinging to her feet in a defensive position as she notices Danny is standing over her.

"Who the hell are you and why do you look like me?" the woman demands.

Danny steps back, raising his hands in surrender. "That's my line."

"Shadow, kill him," she mutters.

"Excuse me-"

Out of nowhere, a gigantic black claw suddenly lunges at Danny, making him bend over backwards like he's in a limbo competition. He bounces off his right leg and cuts left, avoiding another claw. Danny leaps off the ground to avoid another claw reaching through the floor at him. Is there a ghost in the world that does not attack immediately? He was not in the mood to fight, nor did he have the time.

"Wait!" Danny shouts. "Can we just talk?"

"I have nothing to say to a ghost!" she retorts.

Danny is shocked to see the woman's arm transform into a powerful laser weapon. The weapon charges with a green light before launching a powerful blast of green energy toward the teen.

"Then how about a human?" he roars, reverting back into Daniel Fenton.

"I wish for my attack to freeze!" she bellows.

Danny's in awe of how the woman's simple order freezes the energy beam in place. The enigmatic woman clomps over to Daniel, grabs him by the collar of his shirt, and gives him several sniffs. The strange behavior of the ghost soon took Danny from awe to confusion.

"Umm?" Danny said awkwardly.

The taller woman drops him to his feet. "You're not lying…"

"Why would I be lying about that?"

"Then you're just like my son-"

"I don't have time to talk," the boy rants. "I need to get back to the real world and stop Negative Nancy before she-"

The woman interrupts, "Did you just say 'Negative Nancy'?"

"You know her?"

"KNOW HER?" she barks. "She killed everyone that I loved!"

"And she's about to do the same to my world if I don't get back in time."

"If you're here and she has fully manifested into your reality then I'm afraid there is nothing you can do."

"BULLSHIT! I will beat her and I will protect everybody!"

The woman widens her eyes, then smiles at the young man's tenacity; he reminded her of her younger self, before that terrible ghost took away everyone she ever cared about. She wished she could assist the boy, but she had to prioritize getting her son back.

"Good luck to you then," she warmly said as she began to walk away.

"Wait," Danny calls out.

For some reason, the woman stopped.

"I know you don't know me," he starts. But can you please help me?"

"No," she sharply retorts. "I'm sorry but I must look for my son."

"Your son?"

"He's trapped here all by himself and I've been worried sick about him."

"What's his name?"

"Benjamin."

Ben is sitting on the ledge of the building's roof, casually chewing bubblegum. His gaze is fixed on Daniel Fenton's house across the street. The young adolescent is awaiting Danny's arrival so that he can offer an apology for last night and perhaps enlist his assistance in his endeavor. Other than his parents, he hasn't really seen anyone leave the house. After spending the last two hours here, he hasn't accomplished anything. Taking up his binoculars, Omega looks through them at Danny's house. He scans the front door first, then lifts his head to check out the windows. Omega notices that the curtains are partially open, revealing a woman getting undressed. She looks familiar to him; it's the redhead who stood last night in front of that adorable ghost girl.

"Jackpot," he grins with a blush.

"Ahem."

Ben practically jumps out of his skin and throws his binoculars away in an attempt to show his innocence. Peering over his shoulder, he notices a human girl wearing sweatpants, a hoodie, and a gray beanie atop her head. Even though her messy black hair fell in her face, her evident natural beauty still shone through. Ben felt she looked a lot like Danny; he was beginning to wonder if everyone in this town shared the same appearance.

"Would you like to explain to me why you're spying on my sister?" she demanded.

Sister? This dude had not one, not two, but three beautiful sisters? He's the luckiest unlucky man on this planet.

"I wasn't spying."

"Uh huh," Dani mocks as she crosses her arms. "And I'm the first president of the United States, George Washington."

"Who?"

"Yeah I said the same thing," she mutters under her breath. "Anyway, explain yourself before I have to use dire measures on you," Dani rants. "Aka I'm gonna call the cops, but not before giving you the beating of a lifetime," the teenage girl threatens as she cracks her knuckles.

"Wait!" Ben shouts, putting his hands up. "Do you know when your brother is going to come home?"

"Whatsittoya?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm asking why do you wanna know when my bro comes home?" she snaps.

"Because we're friends and I wanted to know if he wanted to come out tonight," Ben lied.

Dani chuckles, "You? Friends with Danny?"

Dani quickly shifts into her ghost form. She stomps at the adolescent, a look of annoyance on her face. Even if she has to beat the living daylights out of this weirdo, she will get the answers she wants.

"Tell me who you are, why you're spying on my family, and why you wanna know about Danny?" she growls.

Ben puts his hands up and carefully backs away from the enraged girl, only to find his back against the roof's ledge. He hadn't expected the phantom girl from yesterday to be this girl. Being half-ghost, half-human, was something rare to Ben, and he'd found the second one here. It would be better if he merely explained that he wasn't originally sent here to pick a quarrel with the Fenton family.

"Listen, I need Danny's help to capture a ghost, well technically two of them."

"And what are two teenage boys going to do about ghosts?"

"I know your brother's secret, and I have a secret of my own."

For the first time, Benjamin Omega reveals his hidden identity to another individual. He didn't really have a choice, despite his mother's constant warnings not to trust anybody else with this secret. In the hopes that this may calm the girl down enough for him to speak, he transforms into his ghost form.

Dani looks at the youngster as if he has two heads, freezing in shock; she can't believe what she's seeing, another halfa? She believed herself and Danny to be the only ones. It gave her far more anxiety than the idea of some creepy random person watching her family. Ever since Vlad created her, she has been afraid of the unknown; she suffers from excruciating worry over the future. She remembers being afraid of whether or not she might destabilize, and she still is. She had several anxieties, including if Danny would embrace her as family, whether she would be welcomed into the Fenton home, and whether her secret identity would be revealed. Dani was afraid when people discovered Danny's secret identity; she had no idea what would happen to him.

The teenage kid standing in front of her is also an unknown part in all of this, but he revealed his secret to her, a complete stranger; she must swallow her dread in order to comprehend what drove Ben to do something like that. Ben isn't feeling well either; he is sick to his stomach. He pulled it off; he told someone who he really was. Ben felt alone and exposed for a brief while; he is afraid that something may happen to him now that he doesn't have a secret identity. Ben's stomach drops, and he vomits over the edge. Dani recoils, turning her back on the nasty visual.

"Fuck dude," she said with a gag of her own.

"I'm sorry," Ben groans. "That usually never happens; I hope that doesn't fall on anyone."

Ben wipes his mouth with his sleeve after spitting out the flavor of puke. Throwing up in front of a pretty girl has had to be one of the top ten most embarrassing things.

"Like I said, I need Danny's help."

"I don't know if he'll be so willing to help you after the beatdown you gave him yesterday."

Ben sighs, "That's why I came to apologize."

"He may not admit it but my bro holds a grudge like no other," Dani warns.

"Great, was I supposed to bring a cake too?" Ben jokes.

Dani laughs, "Probably would have helped your case; double chocolate and he would've forgotten the whole thing."

For the first time in her life, the pleasure of laughing restored the young woman's sense of normality. She laughed with the boy like she was with any other normal girl, one who didn't fight ghosts and went to parties and school. Dani longs for that kind of life, but the likelihood of it materializing grows dimmer by the day. Then she wakes up to the fact that she would never have a regular life and that the person she was laughing and standing next to may still pose a threat to her family—this person was by no means a friend.

Her frown returns, and Ben notices the shift in feeling coming from her. Neither he nor Dani came here looking to make friends. Ben needs to concentrate on the work at hand if he wants to ensure that his carelessness doesn't result in any more fatalities.

"My name is Ben," he extends his hand out for Dani to shake. "And I need your brother's help."

Dani grips his hand in a firm handshake, "Dani," she greets. "Can I be of any help?" Dani asks.

"I don't have a choice."

Dani flies with Ben as they scour the city for hints related to Ben's mission. The youth told Dani that the ghost that shot up a city block and killed multiple people was from his world. Ben didn't quite grasp it either, but he described it as he saw it: a large doorway sprang up in his Ghost Zone, and a couple ghosts were intrigued enough to investigate. Omega has no idea how a doorway could have united two different realities.

"How is that possible?" Dani interjects.

"No clue."

Ben goes on to explain that another ghost from his realm was the cause of the mall fire. He had no idea the mafia spirit had crossed over into Danny's reality. Ben was chasing Voodoom when they started fighting near the portal; the last thing he recalls is being sucked into the vortex and landing on some random sidewalk here. He's not even sure if more spirits from his realm have traveled over, or if the portal closed after him. Omega figures he should focus on capturing these spirits and getting back home instead of worrying about that at this point. Speaking of home, he can't imagine how concerned his mom is about his absence.

His mother had established firm boundaries for him and was a rule-follower no matter what. With her, it was always the same—lectures, training, and confidentiality. Other than his little secret hobby with his mother, he didn't have many acquaintances or interests. It wasn't until he arrived here and witnessed Danny's ability to manage both a social life and combating ghosts that he realized how important having a social life was. He is a little jealous of Danny's situation here.

He looks at the girl flying to his left, and he finds her much more interesting. Dani is a very confident and affable girl, but she exudes a strange atmosphere. Ben felt that this might be restraining her in some way; he couldn't pinpoint what it was, perhaps something from the past? He is aware of this because she behaves in a similar manner to his mother: appreciative and joyful, but always on the lookout for the boogeyman.

They find themselves in the former industrial sector of Amity Park, which was once a thriving hub for resources but is now an unofficial, dilapidated, and decaying shelter for the homeless. They land on the rooftop of an abandoned building. Ben wrinkles his nose at the unpleasant odor of garbage and human waste. Voodoom would certainly hide out in a spot like this.

Omega takes a step closer, about to start his search, when Dani grabs his wrist. Casting a sidelong glance, he noticed the ghost girl's pale, ivory face. It appeared as though she would throw up at any minute.

"We have to leave," she trembled.

"What? We just got here and I need to look for Voodoom."

"I just can't be here right now."

"Dani, I don't know what's going on right now, but if we don't stop Voodoom then a whole lot more people are going to die."

Dani gnaws on her upper lip and sighs, "O-okay okay."

Ben guides the girl forward, enabling her to firmly hold his wrist. Omega wasn't sure what the young adolescent was terrified of, but at this point in time, it wasn't his place to find out. After thoroughly inspecting the entire deserted area, Ben and Dani came up empty-handed. This was where Voodoom's track ended, he was certain of it. But they double- and even triple-checked several areas. Ben was considering asking the homeless people if they had seen anything odd, but he decided against it because of the way Dani would always cling to his arm whenever they passed the tents that appeared to be empty.

"We've passed that tent three times," Dani muttered.

"That's impossible, we haven't finished the circle yet," Ben responds. "It must be another tent."

"No."

"How do you know?"

Dani pauses for a moment before speaking, "Because it has the same rip in the bottom left corner."

Ben pauses and examines the tent; she is correct—there is a tear in the lower left corner. Though he's curious how she saw that, it wasn't enough to persuade him that it was the same tent.

"Probably just a coincidence, we've been walking for hours."

"Check the next tent."

Ben gives a nod, and they carry on down their apparently straight course. The sun was beginning to set, so they had to move quickly. He may be a ghost hunter, but he didn't want to be out here after dark. As they get closer to a second tent, which is tan in color, Omega slows down and stops, letting the final remnants of sunshine dance on the plastic cover. Ben's gaze falls to the bottom left corner of the tent. This tent has a small tear that is identical to the last. What the hell is going on here?

Then everything came together like a missing puzzle piece. With the use of illusion and hallucinogenic magic, Voodoom possesses an inherent capacity to blend in with the surroundings. That explains how the ghost was able to move around the shopping center invisibly. And now for hours on end, the bastard had them going around in circles. Ben bites his lip in frustration, angry with himself for not seeing the farce sooner.

"I'm sorry," Ben admits. "You were right; I should have believed you before."

"Don't worry about it, nobody ever does the first time."

"Well they should, or they'll just end up regretting underestimating you."

After solving one issue, they ran into another right away. From Dani's perspective, they were unable to take action even though they were aware that their surroundings were illusions. Dani looks around, startled, and gasps when she sees the world go black and white like a vintage cartoon. Everything is a dimly lit past incarnation of itself. The ghost girl was terrified at first, but then she saw how beautiful it looked. Dani releases Omega's arm for the first time since they arrived at the location. She steps forward and spins around like a princess out of a storybook, gazing around her with wonder.

"It's called the Negative," Ben said as if reading her mind. "Or at least that's what I call it."

"It's beautiful…"

Ben chuckles, "Is that what you call it?"

"How do you do it?" she asks.

"It's a power I was born with; my teleportation and phasing is really me just moving in and out of this dimension," Ben explains. "The coolest part is that it's a mirror of this world without any of the creatures or people, including ghosts."

"So…"

"Nothing exists here except me."

Ben gestures for them to look past the tent that has reappeared to reveal a brand-new location. There's a long flight of concrete steps that descend to a factory building's basement. Where Voodoom settled down is now evident to Ben. They approach their new goal with renewed vigor and resolve.

Dani and Omega are standing at the foot of the stairs when he quickly nods to the ghost girl and sends them back to the real world. When they were back in the real world, nothing could have prepared Dani for the hatred that immediately filled her lungs like black tar. The heavy, evil air almost chokes her. Her flight or fight instinct kicked in, sending shivers down her spine and tightening her muscles. Ben tries to calm her down by holding her hand tightly. Things were about to get much worse.

"Don't be afraid, I got you," he assures.

They take one step forward, and her stomach drops. The disparity in atmosphere is nauseating. She continued to take step after step, her knees trembling. Dani had never felt a horrifying ambiance like this before—not even Vlad exuded such a depraved presence. Despite her best efforts to appear brave, she is overwhelmed by everything. She clears her mind of all bad ideas and recalls that she promised Ben that she would help him, and she always follows through on her promises.

Even when Ben extends his arm and shines a blue light from his hand, the long hallway remains pitch-black. As though everything were covered in blackout wrapping paper, they were unable to see two feet in front of them. Dani can feel the soft, mushy ground beneath her shoes, but she dares not look down. The tunnel stunk of rotten flesh and human feces, causing the girl to tear up. A gory scene greets Ben and Dani as they turn down a hallway. Ben's light flickered on the walls long enough to show off the human intestines, which were sprayed all over the place like graffiti. Graphic drawings and foreign phrases on the wall are visible to Dani through the viscera.

"This is worse than I thought," Ben comments. "He must have found subjects."

"Subjects?" questions the young girl.

"Voodoom doesn't have replenishing ectoplasm like usual ghosts, so in order to cast his spells he must refuel the tank…"

"And? What are his subjects?"

"The victims of the rites he performs in order to obtain ectoplasm."

"What happens to the victims?"

"Dani…"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ben chokes. "You're looking at them."

"Fucking hell…"

"When I noticed the abundance of empty tents, I figured it was already too late."

Dani scoffs, "Too late?"

"What do you want me to say?" Ben barks back.

"No hero says it's too late to save someone."

"Who told you I'm a hero?" he retorts with a straight face.

His statement caught her off guard, as Dani's eyes darted toward him in pain. Ben grimaces as he jams his hands into his pockets. It appears that their preconceived notions of one another were incorrect. A mistake that none of them will repeat. However, they couldn't part ways just yet; they both had work to do, and that was to put a stop to Voodoom. Even so, their motivations for doing it differed. Ben and Dani kept a slight distance from one another as they strolled into the darkness. Without a sound, they walked over mounds of flesh and decaying bones. Ben seemed unfazed by it all, and Dani kept her internal dialogue to herself. The two teenagers came to a fork in the tunnel, with both paths leading into complete darkness.

"We should split up," Dani suggests.

"Are you crazy?" Ben grumbled. "Splitting up now would be a death sentence."

"We're taking too much time! Time that possible survivors don't have!"

"So you think risking our lives for a possibility is the best course of action?"

"Yeah, it's a little thing called being a hero, you should read up on it," Dani said sarcastically as she pushed past Ben in the opposite direction.

"Stop," Ben commands sternly. "You walk down that hallway by yourself and you're dead."

"Excuse me-"

"Voodoom isn't like the fairytale ghosts you beat up on a day to day basis in Amity Park; by now I'm sure you know that, but marching blindly into his lair won't make you a hero," He continues. "It'll just make you another statistic."

"Look, I understand that but if we're gonna save these people then we need to hurry-"

A deafening scream reverberates throughout the tunnel, its high pitch resonating off the walls and into the distance. Ben and Dani swivel around, alert, toward the direction they just came from. Staring at them from the shadows were solid green glowing eyes. How the beast got behind them is beyond Dani's comprehension. The eyes became closer and brighter, indicating that the beast is getting closer to them. Dani was about to blast it to kingdom come when the thing appeared in Ben's light, revealing itself to be a person; a terribly decayed one, but a person nonetheless.

Dani hesitates at the last second, allowing the beast to leap at the two of them. The monster's torso blows apart like a piñata when Ben hits it with a ghost ray. The two get sprayed by chunks of decomposing flesh as if they were visiting a gory water park.

"T-that w-was a person!" Dani stutters in complete shock. "You just killed a person-"

"No it wasn't, not anymore," Ben answers coldly. "And if you don't want to end up like them then I would advise you NOT to hesitate again."

Additional horrifying screams emanate from the dark tunnel, signaling the entrance of more beasts. Though Dani wasn't sure exactly what they were, their human-like traits stood out the most. She is unsure if she is capable of killing another person. Not again. However, she could not stop the beasts from approaching, and that's when her survival instinct took over. Although Dani had no desire to murder anyone, she had an even stronger desire to live.

She uses a green energy beam to decapitate a zombie that is charging toward her. Ben smashes his fist through another beast's rotten face. There were a lot more than he thought. Ben recognized that they would be in danger of being overrun if they stayed here too long. He takes Dani's hand without thinking, and they dash down the dim hallway together. They must be drawing near to Voodoom if he has dispatched his minions to repel them.

Dani is relieved that they were no longer killing zombie humans, but she is even more terrified that they were simply racing farther into the dark tunnel without any thought. She heard the undead running behind them. The tunnel had become a convoluted maze with many turns and bends. The scent of death is growing stronger, and Dani wrinkles her nose, finding it difficult to breathe. How did she go from studying algebraic formulae to running from man-eating zombies to locate some ritualistic psychopath? It was kind of exciting, she had to admit, and it brought back memories of the crazy adventures she and Danny had.

Ben stops them on the brink of a massive, black hole, where the foul odor is at its greatest. They couldn't stop here because the flesh-eating creatures were still after them; they had no choice but to go over. Ben and Dani start to levitate as they cross the pit. The zombies try mindlessly to catch them, causing the undead creatures to careen over the edge. It was only a few seconds before Ben heard the wet slapping noise of bodies exploding on collision with the ground.

"That was close," Dani breathes.

"It's not over yet," Ben retorts, pulling them across to the other side.

Ben and Dani take a few strides further as the glow of dozens of torches illuminates the surrounding area. Dani shields her eyes from the sudden light, wincing. Since they arrived, they have been in total darkness, so Dani was apprehensive about the sudden presence of light. Ritualistic words and artwork covered the sickly gray concrete walls. People were shackled to the wall like animals; they appeared to be comatose and were laying in their own bodily waste. Dani was horrified as she gazed upon the severely injured individuals, a few of them were even younger than her.

"These…" Dani stutters.

"These are the subjects," Ben finishes with a solemn tone.

"We have to help them."

"Help them?" a new deeper voice joins the fray. "You can't even help yourselves."

The unknown voice echoed off the vast room's walls. Dani was unable to identify its source. Several more torches illuminate, revealing a figure seated on a stone throne. Ben gives Voodoom a menacing gaze, and Dani becomes uncomfortable seeing the ferocious ghost. There are alien markings and tattoos all over Voodoom's pallid skin. His legs and arms were covered in stitches, leaving Dani with the uneasy feeling that the ghost's appendages did not originally belong to him.

Dani is perplexed by the entire situation, if he was a ghost at all, considering her ghost sense did not activate when she entered this chamber. She thinks the man in front of her is human in some way, despite his disfigurement and discoloration. Her views on his humanity are contradicted by his use of ectoplasm, although that could be because of his ritual usage, as Ben had previously indicated.

"I'm more than enough for you," Ben snaps at the man.

"Maybe if we were back in our original world, but here the availability of souls is abundant!" Voodoom roars. "You are now nothing but an ant to me."

"Let's test that then," Ben growls.

"It would seem that you have more pressing matters."

"What are you talking about?"

"Negative Nancy has manifested in this world."

The air in the room felt colder even at the utterance of the name. Dani was clueless about the identity of this Nancy person. She gets her answer when she casts a sidelong peek toward Ben. The snowy-haired ghost boy is even more pale than usual, paralyzed in terror at the mention of the name. The absolute horror quivering in his blue eyes. Ben's deep-seated fear of Nancy was evident to Dani.

"Y-you're lying…"

"My boy, have you known me to lie?"

Dani felt as though her hand might break at any moment when Ben grabbed it with an iron grip. His grasp just gets tighter as she struggles to pull her hand away.

"Ben, you're hurting me," Dani keened.

"We have to leave now."

"Leave?"

"WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!" he shouts this time.

"I'm not leaving without helping these people!"

"They don't matter now! None of them do!" Ben fumed. "I mean this with every fiber of my being when I say this: every single thing in this universe is in danger now."

Dani is unable to articulate a counterargument, leaving her stunned. The serious expression on Ben's face convinced the woman that all he had stated was true, even though she could not have imagined such a strong ghost hanging around in her reality. She looks over at the unconscious folks, who if they left now would surely die. How could she possibly decide to forfeit the lives of these people? However, the possibility of many more fatalities has emerged. Dani merely hangs her head in shame because she is scared to choose.

"Ok," she mutters.