Maddie walked with Alicia through the deserted prison yard, trailing the kids. Danny took point, but he was flanked—guarded—by Jazz and Danielle. It looked practiced.

They'd done something similar often in the past, even if it wasn't with each other.

Maddie tried to take comfort in their familiarity, since she couldn't take any comfort from their surroundings. The prison felt oppressive, and she couldn't quash the feeling of dread that sat uneasily in her gut, save for when it decided to reach up and stroke her spine unexpectedly.

She couldn't even hear their footsteps.

Shouldn't she be able to hear their footsteps?

"Just square your shoulders and look straight ahead," Alicia muttered under her breath without looking at Maddie. "You let them know you feel this, you show that weakness, and they'll know they've got power over you."

Maddie swallowed her retort. Alicia wasn't necessarily wrong; for all Maddie knew, such a move would fool these ghosts. They couldn't all feed on—and therefore sense—human emotions. She knew they couldn't.

But any who could would know her terror in a heartbeat.

Was it paranoia that made her feel like she was being watched? How could she be sure when ghosts had the power to become invisible to her? How could she be sure when some ghosts likely had ways of watching others without being physically present? That wasn't a skill she and Jack were ever likely to see a ghost using, unless she counted when Technus had hijacked cameras, but that was a use of existing technology; something similar could still be an innate power. Just because they hadn't catalogued it, that didn't mean it didn't exist.

She was trying to trust Danny. She really was. She was doing this for him—for all of them.

That didn't mean she liked it.

This was the first time she'd walked freely in the Ghost Zone, and she was doing so after her husband had disappeared, blithely strolling into the lair of a ghost obsessed with a set of rules she didn't know, a ghost who would happily lock up her son—likely lock up all of them—if he put one toe out of line, and—

Breathe.

She needed to breathe.

She could do this.

The doors to the building ahead of them looked like reinforced iron, but though she couldn't see any mechanism to control them, they opened as Danny reached them. He walked inside with an air of confidence she wasn't sure he truly felt. She hadn't thought him good at lying until now, and on one hand, he still wasn't—she and Jack had long since decided to accept his excuses until he felt comfortable telling them the truth; joke was on them, it now seemed—but on the other….

Had he let her think him a terrible liar so she'd never guess the truth?

She never would have guessed it anyway. A human having the power to become a ghost while retaining their humanity—while remaining alive—went directly against anything she'd ever hypothesized.

Danny turned down one hallway and then another, finally stopping in front of a set of double doors (still without any sort of handle) at the end of the hall.

When they didn't open, he sighed and knocked.

This time, rather than a lack of sound where there should be some, this sounded too loud. Too echoey. Even considering Danny's enhanced strength in this form, the metal of the doors, the height of the hallway, the closeness of the stone—

Maddie's fingers itched for a weapon she didn't have.

The doors opened, revealing a tall ghost dressed in a white suit accented with black. Black fedora, black tie, black gloves, black belt, black boots, black—

"Danny Phantom," drawled the ghost. Walker, presumably. Maddie squinted; did she recognize him? Maybe. She might be confusing him with those government agents, but there been that one time when— "Come to turn yourself in?"

"You know I haven't." Danny lifted his head. "I brought in Vlad Masters and his accomplice Madeline for their crimes."

Walker raised an eyebrow.

"One criminal pointing fingers at another and hoping for mercy," he mused, "or one pointing fingers at an innocent who's been a thorn in his side?"

Danny huffed. "If your idea of leniency is one thousand years, I don't want to know your idea of mercy." He tilted his head. "Actually, knowing you, it's probably a swift execution. Or, like, destruction."

Maddie didn't find Walker's smile to be a comfort.

She feared Danny was right.

"I want to press the charges," said Danielle, moving up so that she was no longer half a step behind Danny. "Not Danny. Leave him out of this until you need his testimony." Her voice took on a sarcastic tone as she added, "Daddy dearest has broken your rules, so unless you intend to break your own rules, you'll have to try him."

Daddy dearest.

Vlad had meant more to Danielle in the past than she'd let on.

He hadn't merely been her mentor; he'd been her father.

Maddie swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat. Vlad had given himself a child, no doubt used her, and then tried to destroy her once she no longer—

Even the Vlad she'd known in college wouldn't have done that, and he'd been his fair share of ruthless back then when the situation had called for it. Most of the time, she'd only seen that side of him in friendly—and not-so-friendly—competitions, and she'd seen it when he was filling out the paperwork to apply for grants, but this….

Part of her still wished she could blame this on his ghost side, on Plasmius, even though she feared a portion of the blame more properly rested upon her and Jack for allowing Vlad to simply shut them out of his life for so many years.

If they'd persisted, if they'd maintained their friendship despite the accident that had torn it apart and turned Vlad into a veritable recluse, would things have been different?

Was it even worth thinking about?

"As executioner, judge, executioner, jury, and executioner," put in Danny as Walker finally stepped aside to allow them all to file into what Maddie assumed was his office. The doors snapped shut all-too-silently behind them without anyone touching them, and it was hard not to feel trapped. "No objections to the triple executioner part this time."

"Even if I employ it in your case?"

"Section M," hissed Danielle, and Maddie blinked. She'd figured the girl had been bluffing when she'd spoken to the guard earlier, but she didn't back down as the warden picked up the bright green book from his desk.

"Section M," he murmured as he flipped through the pages. "Section M. Ah, yes, here we go. No party—" He broke off with a frown and snapped the book closed without reading the rest aloud. Maddie didn't need to see Danielle's face to imagine her smug expression.

"We can testify in private or do it right here, right now," added the girl. "Whichever gets Vlad out of holding and into a cell faster. And Madeline into treatment, preferably. She's too obsessed with pleasing Vlad for her own good. He's definitely messed with her head. Not, like, literally poking around or anything. Just with his words." She quieted for a beat before whispering, "He's good at that."

"Bullet!" barked Walker, and Maddie jumped. She twisted around, parting ways with Alicia as the doors behind them opened.

The ghost who hovered on the other side was as noticeably different from the ghost guards as Walker himself, barring the fact that they all seemed to have the same build. This ghost's eyepatch reminded her of a pirate, but that notion was belied by the grey camo pants he wore. His skin had that same grey pallor, unlike the ghost guards' green, and the claws at his fingertips didn't seem to be mere decoration. They looked sharp enough to slice her throat with ease.

She shouldn't be thinking about that sort of thing.

"Guard these folks. I'll see them in interrogation individually." Walker's hand snaked out to grab Danny's arm, and he ignored Danny's yelp of protest. "I'll start with this one."

Jazz officially hated this plan.

Why had Danny coming been part of the plan?

She loved her little brother, but sometimes, like now, she also wanted to smack some sense into him.

He could have stayed on the Fenton Blimp. More to the point, he should have stayed on the Fenton Blimp. Why hadn't she pressed him when he'd mentioned hoping he wouldn't get thrown into a jail cell alongside Vlad? She'd thought it was a joke or at least an exaggeration.

Sure, technically he'd told her how much trouble he'd get in because he'd had the brilliant idea of walking into a prison when he was still a wanted man—ghost—person—whatever—but she hadn't…. She should have known he'd been serious. She should have known that that outstanding warrant remark by the guard earlier had been more threat than taunt. She should have pushed harder to make sure Danny didn't take a stupid risk like this.

Danielle was clearly more than capable of handling things by herself. Whatever trauma she'd been through, she'd pulled herself together for now and had put herself between them and the new ghost, Bullet. Walker's second-in-command, if Jazz were to guess. She couldn't see any such insignia, but then again, he wasn't exactly wearing a proper uniform.

Jazz didn't necessarily like putting all of this on Dani, as she should hardly be solely responsible for their protection in Danny's absence, but Jazz had also seen the expression on the ghost girl's face, and she'd known better than to argue.

"If we're not under arrest," Jazz pointed out, "we don't need a guard."

"Not being under arrest doesn't mean being free to wander the prison." Bullet eyed her, his assessing stare sharp enough to make her shiver. "I know your type. You'd try to find your way into a restricted area."

Jazz frowned. "I would not!" Not normally, anyway.

Of course, these weren't normal circumstances.

If it meant saving Danny, or at least having the chance to save him, she very much would, even if it meant putting herself in danger.

Bullet looked unimpressed. "No one leaves this room until it's their turn for questioning."

"We understand," said Dani, taking Jazz's arm to tug her away from Bullet and, presumably, the entire conversation. "I'll explain things to be sure."

Alicia raised her eyebrows and Maddie frowned momentarily before turning to Bullet and asking him questions—some of which Jazz knew he wouldn't answer; he had no reason to tell Maddie about the inner workings of this place.

Then again, curiosity might not be the only reason for the questions in the first place.

Dani pulled her down behind Walker's desk, so Jazz settled in beside the girl. "I can't draw you a map," Dani murmured, "but I don't trust Walker not to have his own agenda where Danny's concerned. We need to get him out of here." She paused. "How fast can you run?"

"With incentive like this? Fast enough." She'd make sure of it. And with the human ability to pass through walls like a ghost when she wished it here (or possibly without wishing it if she wasn't careful; in hindsight, she should've gotten that clarified, but the important thing now was that she wouldn't be stopped by a mere wall), she should be able to give whoever chased her a run for their money regardless. Jazz still didn't feel like she knew enough to go about this properly, but the crash course she'd gotten from Dani—with inputs from her little brother whenever he'd popped back to visit with them—would have to be enough.

It figured that Danny would go and get himself dragged off practically the moment they got here.

He had to have known this was a possibility regardless of whatever protection this Section M granted him.

This had to have been one of the reasons he hadn't wanted to come with them.

When this was over, they were having a talk, and he was going to tell her all the things he wasn't telling her now because he didn't want her to worry. She wanted to at least be better prepared when something like this happened—because with their luck, it would happen again. She'd never bet against it, not in these circumstances.

For now, though?

For now, she'd have to run. Dani might not be able to tell her where to look, but as long as she was quick and careful, fast enough and erratic enough in her path not to be caught….

Dani grinned at her, then said loudly, "That's why we need to stay here, okay? We'll do tic-tac-toe or something to pass the time."

Jazz smiled back, readying herself to run even as she said, "I call Xs."

Maddie wished she could have been surprised when Walker returned without Danny.

She wished she could have been surprised when Danielle went next with barely a token protest or when, come Jazz's turn with no sign of either Danielle or Danny, it turned out that Jazz was no longer there.

These kids were going to be the death of her.

Maddie had been separated from Alicia immediately, ushered off none-too-gently by Walker as Bullet held Alicia by the arm and practically dragged her down a corridor Walker swept Maddie straight past. The alarms were constant. Every door Maddie saw was barred, and they passed more than one pair of patrolling ghosts. Even the stairwell wasn't free of them, and Maddie had a sneaking suspicion that the doors were locking behind them as Walker took her higher.

Maddie could not see how this would end well.

She also rather doubted Sam and Tucker, copious experience dealing with ghosts or not, would be able to get them out of this one. If they hadn't been separated, Danny's plan of contacting them for a rescue may well have worked. Now, Maddie didn't want to count on it.

Then again, she had no choice but to count on it, as this hardly seemed like a situation out of which she could get herself and the others on her own.

The shove Walker gave her into the next room had her stumbling, which surely only made it easier for him to grab her hands and cuff her to the table. Maddie frowned, wondering if they'd even hold a human, given what the kids had told her about the Ghost Zone, but not wanting to test that theory before she got some answers. "Am I a prisoner now?"

"You've broken the rules."

"Which rules?"

The ghost shot her a glare. "You're an accomplice to a plot to undermine my prison and my authority. You claim to bring in a citizen's arrest with false accusations—"

"I believe your questioning would prove that our accusations against Vlad Masters are hardly false."

He ignored her. "—and I'm sure a little investigation will prove that you intend to break out at least one of our current prisoners."

Maddie narrowed her eyes. "Oh?"

The trouble was, she wasn't sure he was wrong.

She wouldn't put it past Danny to have an ulterior motive, especially if he had friends in here that he believed had been unjustly convicted.

And, from what she could gather of Walker, chances seemed to be good that anyone Danny thought wrongly detained or convicted had been so based on a mere misunderstanding as opposed to any actual wrongdoing.

Or there were rules that Danny didn't think should be rules, which also seemed likely.

Walker would hardly be the only ghost stuck in the past if he were operating from a rulebook that seemed full of outdated ideas of justice.

Granted, some of his rules seemed more arbitrary than outdated.

Walker moved to the other side of the table before planting his palms on it and leaning over so he could look down at her. "There has not been and will not be a repeat of the previous prison break orchestrated by Phantom. We've upgraded our security. He can't claim the sanctuary of the truce this time of year, and the rest of your family—sister, daughter, husband—and the girl are—"

"Husband?" Maddie interrupted. "Jack? You mean Jack?"

If he meant Vlad, she might very well be sick. Even if Vlad had been telling tales to try to save himself, surely he wouldn't have spun one so easily disproven. It didn't make sense. Walker had to mean Jack.

Didn't he?

Walker sneered. "I don't tolerate rulebreakers."

It wasn't a confirmation, but it wasn't a denial, either. Maddie squared her shoulders and didn't blink as she deliberately asked, "Where's Jack?"

"You aren't the one asking the questions," Walker growled, but it was answer enough.

He knew where Jack was.

Maybe he had Jack.

She should have asked Danny for a Fenton Phone. She wasn't sure what she'd done with the one she'd brought with her; had that come out of her pockets outside of Margie's? Had Alicia burned it? Maddie wouldn't have put it past her, if only because she'd have thought Vlad might have sneaked in something else on top of that bug. She wasn't entirely confident she'd even had it then, though. She'd packed it—she knew she had—because she'd specifically told as much to Jazz and Vlad.

But what if that was the reason she hadn't found it again?

If Vlad had tried to sabotage them, even back then, by trying to keep Maddie from communicating with the others….

She might be jumping to conclusions. She'd done that enough lately that it wouldn't surprise her. But regardless of whether Vlad had relieved her of it at some point or if she'd simply lost it or if Alicia had filched it to smash to pieces before throwing it into a fire, the end result was the same. She didn't have one when she needed one.

Even a bugged one would have been useful as long as it still operated as Fenton Phone and the message went through as intended. It would have given anyone listening time to prepare, but it at least meant her allies would have a chance to prepare themselves, too. If she had some way to contact Danny, to contact any of them, then maybe she'd be feeling a little less like a fish out of water right now.

Bravado was only going to get her so far, especially if ghosts understood complex emotions for more than the base purpose of manipulation.

"Why not? I hardly deserve to be under arrest. Vlad created a clone based on me, without my knowledge let alone my consent, and she attacked both me and Danielle on his orders."

"Did she? Or was any attack that allegedly took place wholly her doing? Even if she thought Plasmius might find it favourable, doesn't mean he sanctioned it."

"She—" Maddie stopped, leaning back in her seat as she realized she wasn't sure. She couldn't remember enough of what Madeline had said. "Look," she tried again, "even if you think Madeline was acting on her own, that doesn't negate the circumstances behind her creation. Isn't there a law against impersonating someone when you aren't a shifter?"

"Was she impersonating you?"

"She was dressed like me."

"Really. Because you're not wearing a suit like she is."

"Yes, but I usually am, so—"

"But you aren't now."

"I know, but—"

"The rules of the Infinite Realms don't hold as laws in the Real World. It's a different jurisdiction. Unless I'm after a convict, of course."

Maddie frowned. "Regardless, Madeline isn't my main concern. Danielle's right; I'd much rather Madeline gets the help she needs to come to terms with what's been done to her than see her thrown in jail without any sort of rehabilitation. From what I've seen, she's not thinking clearly. She's been misinformed. By Vlad. Surely you can't tell me what he's done to her is legal. Even her creation can't be legal!"

"It's not against the rules. Ectoplasm coalesces, merges, and dissipates all the time. Guiding that process is to create new ghosts is how some of those in this realm regenerate."

"But she's not just a ghost. She's human, too."

"She's ghost enough to fall under my jurisdiction when she's here. That's all that matters."

"But Vlad—"

"If you would like me to treat them as primarily human and follow the human laws," hissed Walker as he leaned closer to her, "then, as you're now in my domain, you would also be subject to those laws and could be held for your crimes."

Maddie swallowed.

She doubted it was an empty threat, especially if he had a place in here that could hold humans as easily as it could ghosts.

Besides, her reputation undoubtedly proceeded her, and he'd likely not missed the way everyone else had watched her. He wasn't simply guessing that she'd done something that had constituted a crime.

Crimes.

It didn't take much to guess what they'd be, but she wasn't so sure the punishment, were she found guilty, would be the same as what she'd face back home.

True, she hadn't seen much of this place, but she could guess what being held here would entail if Walker decided to play by a different rulebook and claim that it was exactly what she'd asked for.

And Danielle….

Maddie hadn't examined her, but Danielle—despite her ghostly status—likely bore the scars of her ordeal. Maddie knew what they would look like. She knew the story they'd tell. Her occupation would hardly be a secret amongst the ghosts of this realm, and even if Danielle and Danny didn't breathe a word—

Even if they kept silent, it might not be enough to save her.

Besides, she wasn't even sure they would keep silent.

What if, once they thought about it, they decided it would be better for her to remain here to face justice? With the ghosts all knowing their story, they wouldn't have to explain things they might want kept secret. It would be easier than trying her in the human realm—or safer, since there would be no question of secrets.

She would just be another person who'd disappeared.

Not unlike what they'd hoped would happen with Vlad.

But that was trouble in and of itself, wasn't it?

Vlad.

He'd have deduced their plans by now.

Even if Danielle and Danny didn't try to bring charges against her once they realized Walker would listen, even if they'd rather deal with this mess within the family, Vlad might volunteer to testify about her crimes. Making a deal to save his own skin at the cost of hers wouldn't be unlike him—would it?

She wasn't actually sure.

He'd sell out Jack in a heartbeat if his joking comments were any indication, but for all that he'd promised her the world in the past….

She didn't think he'd offer it up if her freedom came at the cost of his.

She'd already enjoyed freedom at the cost of his if she considered what had happened after the accident in college.

Maddie exhaled slowly. "Does that always work for you?" She tried to keep her tone as neutral as possible.

She failed, but at least it was only a little quaver. Enough to give her away, with her luck, but at least the incongruity of the question itself was enough to have Walker straightening up and eyeing her with suspicious confusion.

That had to be better than having him crowding her personal space, right?

"Try that again." There was more suspicion in his sneer than on his face, but he wouldn't be asking her—from the other side of the table, at any rate—if he'd realized that half her reason for the question was an attempt to get him to back off.

"Intimidation." She hoped she looked braver than she felt. "Threats. Separating people from their allies. The whole gambit, really. Does that work for you? Getting people to do what you want or to confess, saying whatever you tell them to say?"

He was undoubtedly glowering at her now. "You dare to sit in my domain and make such accusations?"

"It's hardly a mere accusation when you're employing the tactic," she observed lightly. "True, for all I know, you may be more subtle about it most times, leading people to say whatever you wish to hear through means they cannot always identify as manipulation, perhaps even convincing them to believe it in the process, but that's hardly an unheard of skill for a ghost to have."

She knew there was still some truth in her words, even if all ghosts were not the masters of manipulation she'd once thought them.

Judging by the warden's bald fury, he knew it, too. It wasn't simply the set of his features or the way he held himself; even as she sat, knowing she hadn't moved more than marginally since getting in here, her perception of the room changed. It grew smaller, more stifling, as shadows coalesced and began to boil around them. Walker himself seemed to grow.

Knowing it was all a trick, a display of power, did little to dispel the illusion—or the dread uncurling in her stomach and expanding to fill her chest with ice.

There was a decent chance that not all of what she saw was only an illusion.

Walker's voice filled the room, loud and deep enough to resound in her bones despite her ears insisting his was a cold, controlled tone and not the thunderous one it felt. "I am the executioner, judge, executioner, jury—"

"You already said executioner." She tried to be flippant even as she fought to keep herself still. Flinching would give herself away, and she didn't need to flinch. She'd faced down more terrifying ghosts.

Then again, she'd usually had weapons with her the other times.

"—and executioner, and those who stand in the way of justice will face consequences for their actions."

"Like Vlad?"

"I have not yet ruled on your allegations against Plasmius."

"Really? Because I rather thought that you decided every case you heard would end in a guilty verdict. Why else would you thrice declare yourself an executioner?"

The oppressive atmosphere lessened slightly as Walker smiled, though she'd hardly call it a pleasant smile. "That's my favourite part of the job."

"Then you're biased, as I was. Am." She could hardly pretend she wasn't still, even if she was far more aware of it now than she'd been days earlier. "I'm trying to acknowledge and overcome those biases of mine, though, and it doesn't sound like you are. No one who has reason to delight in a guilty verdict should be the one in charge of deciding someone's innocence."

"Contrary to your uninformed opinion, I do not issue my verdicts on whim alone. There are rules."

"The world is hardly black and white. That's true of the human realm, so surely it's true of the Ghost Zone. If you bind yourself to following the letter of the law—sorry, your rules—rather than their spirit, then you are opening yourself to exploitation by those who know exactly how far they can go and precisely how to twist their words or present their actions when their compliance is malicious at best and manipulative at worst." She stood, pulling free of the cuffs. They weren't made to hold humans after all. "I've known Vlad for a long time. He is more than capable of that. If you rule in favour of him, I'll know he was successful."

Walker lunged for her.

Maddie's hands curled into fists at her side as she focused, remembering what she'd been told about humans in the Ghost Zone, and let the floor swallow her as she dropped through it.