Hey guys! So i'm going to start off by saying that a lot of this is not going to be mine! Please don't go away and let me explain! This is a written adaption to the original fan comic posted on deviantART by The Alchemists Muse that has been discontinued. I've seen a few adaptions from this fan comic but none of them finished the story. I want to challenge myself to finish the story! So wish me luck! I'm going to aim to be consistent. Posting a chapter like once a month or week or every other week. I'm not sure what i'll have time for or want to do. It all depends on how much you guys enjoy it really. Because TAM(The Alchemists Muse) did not finish her fan comic, there is no ending. So I have resolved to finish it for her! I hope I don't screw up that wonderful piece of art. Anyway i'll tell you when she discontinued the story and when the story becomes my original work. If you want to read the comic, it's a really good comic(wonderfully drawn, written, and such) i've put a link to find the story. You can also find TAM's deviantART page too. I have not read the other fan fictions for this fan comic because I don't want to subconsciously steal their words, however I feel it necessary to give you the links to their stories. I searched to see if anyone had tried and when I saw they had I wanted to see if they had finished them. They have not finished theirs and it doesn't appear they will. But the link is there for you anyway. I personally plan on reading them when I finish this fanfiction. Tell me if they are good or better or what not. I mean you don't have to but if you care i'd like to know if i'm doing the fan comic justice or if I shouldn't even try. If you guys have any suggestions, concerns, questions, or what not either send me a message or post it in the comments and i'll get back to you. Reviews are good! Please and thank you! Most importantly I hope you enjoy the story! Less than three good readers!

Link to original fan comic page 1-2: : art/Asylum-pages-1-2-42255315

Link to The Alchemists Muse deviantART page: #

Link to other Asylum fan fictions:

story by A Musing Cat: s/3257071/1/Asylum

story by theE eKLeKitK avrge JoE: s/4611895/1/Asylum

Lunatics, psychotic, mental hospital, insane, mentally ill, loony bin, laughing academy, mad house, funny farm, padded cell, nut house, psychiatric ward, rubber room, mental home, mental health institution, bughouse, snake pit…mental….are you mental? Crazy. Are you crazy? Never! How could you be crazy? These white padded walls surrounding you, this straightjacket suffocating you, this laugher that echoes in your head, this isn't crazy.

You couldn't have gone insane. Who ever told you that you'd become mad? No. You didn't go crazy. You were never sane in the first place.

Asylum.

1) Noun: an institution for the care of people, especially those with physical and/or mental impairments (example being insanity), who require organized supervision or assistance.

2) the state of being safeguarded, particularly in a sanctuary.

Chapter 1

Light. He wasn't used to the light. No, it was always dark here. Always. So of course, he wasn't used to the light.

But now it spilled into his cell like milk and honey. Something so delectable he could almost taste it once again. The outside in small fragments of light inside his cell.

Then the sound. The door was opening, slowly, and footsteps followed. A change from the echoing silence that became so loud to him at first it shattered his eardrums. The dead silence that rang so loud it drowned out his own thoughts. Indeed, he was not used to the sound of someone else breathing.

He sat there on the floor. His legs spread out in front of him. The light ever so subtlety making its way in and the breathing and the footsteps following after.

"Huh?" He stated his confusion. A visitor? Drowsily he picked up his head and glanced at the visitor. "Are you…here to forgive me and get me out?" He asked. "Or did you come to rip me apart in vengeance?" He almost smiled in spite of it. "Valerie Gray."

The young ghost hunter glared at her former rival. He seemed stiff. He shrank from her, something she wasn't used to seeing. He was afraid.

She thought she would've liked seeing him in a cell. But elven years changed the phantom and not for the better. He hadn't had a decent hair cut in awhile. The white hair hung in his ghastly pale face and slightly shielded his sharp, green eyes. His body seemed so very frail. The straightjacket binding him made him look even weaker than his already pathetic state.

It was sickening.

But she was there for a reason. And no matter what she needed to get the job done. It was just Danny Phantom. A restrained ghost drained of his power.

She shut down her gear, transforming back into her civilian clothes. "None of the above ghost. Today is your lucky day." She said. Immediately he perked up. She saw his shoulders fall, his tense body beginning to relax. His eyes remained alert on her, he was being cautious even now, even when he could do absolutely nothing. "I have some questions and my employer informed me that you have the answers I need." She explained. She brushed off a little dust from her shoulder. Her eyes trained on him, she felt the darkness rising in her. She hated him. With every fiber of her being she loathed this ghost. "I need you in one piece for that."

"That's great! In that case, I'm really, really glad to see you!" The ghost exclaimed.

Valerie was caught off guard. "Huh?" She asked aloud, not meaning to. But it was suck a shock. His personality changed in seconds. He went from a tense and cautious prisoner to-to-to…. What? An old friend? It wasn't like they hung out together! They were enemies! What was with this friendly smile and happy eyes?

Phantom relaxed his body against the padded walls. "I mean, it's not like there are a ton of people to talk to around here, and I can't exactly go looking for someone to have a conversation with," he said. "So, really, I'd be happy to see just about anyone. But I'm real glad it's a friend." He offered a genuine smile.

Valerie was off her guard. She immediate tensed up her shoulders. "Friend? What the hell are you talking about?"

He gave her a tired look. She saw the eleven years look like fifty in his eyes. "You're my friend, and I'm yours. We used to play a game together all the time." He said. "You made it up and started it. We'd play, but I was the only one you ever played with."

He cringed a bit and suddenly changed all together. That smile was back. "I was glad when you started hanging out with other people too, though." He said. "Like that Star girl and Sam and-"

Valerie kicked Phantom's head right into the ground. As usual, she didn't hold back. Phantom felt his head spin in all different directions.

"Uhhh…what did you do that for?" He asked weakly.

"Don't you dare speak of things in which you had no involvement and act like you were part of it." she spat. Her eyes glaring at him on the ground. It was like kicking a sick puppy. And she always hated dogs.

"No," Phantom started to say, as he slowly began sitting back up and leaning against the wall, "involvement?"

Valerie watched as the ghost looked at the ground. A solemn look. One of many years of pain. Then she heard a chuckle. Softly at first but it grew louder and louder. Suddenly Phantom was in a laughing fit. And somewhere inside it frightened her.

What's wrong with him? He's acting insane!

She expected Phantom to be changed after spending eleven years in a GIW facility building. But she didn't expect him to be so strange. She didn't like this and she didn't like him.

"Haha..heh…right. No involvement." He agreed, giving her his best smile. She rolled her eyes. Phantom was annoying as ever, at least that hadn't changed. "Sooooo," he sang. "You wanted to ask me something?"

"Uh..yes." She said, momentarily forgetting her purpose for being there. "Yeah, I did." She already regretted her decision to go. How exactly had Mr. Masters convinced her to visit the menace in the first place? "You," She saw Phantom practically lean closer to her, hanging on her every word. She shivered. She really, really, REALLY hated him. She scoffed. "Did you ever hear of a ghost named Clockwork?"

He changed again. What was this? Did he like making her pissed? His body shivered and his eyes became that of a frightened child. "C-Clockwork?" He asked. "Ah..I-I ca- I don't" He paused, sitting there.

She growled. He knew something. But he wasn't going to just tell her. She had to get the information another way. "Hmph. Fine. Don't answer. I'll just go." She threated. "See you never."
She began walking away and Phantom heard her mutter under her breath, "What a waste of my time."

"Ah! W-wait! H-hey! Don't leave!" He begged. "Ah..Where did you hear that name. Clock, um-"

Valerie didn't flinch. She didn't look at the Phantom ghost behind her. "Not that I pay attention or anything," she began, "But a few of my targets have been muttering that name."

Phantom lowered his head. He began thinking aloud. When you are locked away for eleven years you tend to talk to the nearest person even if that person is yourself. After a few years it can become a habit. "Wha..why would a random ghost be talking about Clock…that guy?"

"Ha!" Valerie yelled, turning on her heels. She pointed at Phantom. "So you do know something!" She grabbed a fistful of Phantom's uniform and pulled his body up off the floor. "Spill it, ghost."

Phantom gave a nervous smile. "Um..he's..well..um-" She searched his eyes. She was finally going to get what she came for. "What do you want me to say?"

Valarie dropped Phantom, but he didn't falter. He gave her an honest look, something that made her stomach lurch.

"Cloc-that ghost- is different things to different people." He explained. "A rescuer, an imprisoner, an employer-"

"Right, so what is he to you?" She asked. Valerie watched as Phantom finally pulled himself off the floor. He gave her a sober look. "To me?"

Phantom tilted his head down. He looked so very tired. It wasn't like she cared; she just didn't want his melodrama to waste her time.

"All of that." His head looked up at the dim light in his cell. Ever so often it flickered. It had a rhythm to it.

Phantom noticed after a few years that everything had a rhythm to it. It was if the world depended on it. It swayed and breathed and lived to an unshaken pattern of sounds.

"My teacher, surrogate parent," he paused. The light flickered again. Valerie watched the years pass by second after pain staking second in Phantom's eyes. She didn't really notice before until she really looked at him. He wasn't just in a straightjacket, his entire body had binds all over it. She cringed. Phantom must be even more powerful than I thought. Or rather, used to be.

Phantom watched the time pass by as he always did. "And if need be, my executioner." He said.

He finally looked at her with a half smile. She blankly stared at him for a moment before reaching down. Phantom curiously watched as Valerie took off her boot before throwing it in the ghost's face.

"You're a pain in the butt, you know that?!" She scowled at him. Phantom felt his head spin as he gave her an innocent look. "I mean, don't you ever talk in complete paragraphs instead of fragments?!" She complained.

Phantom gave her the same look a child gives an adult when they don't know what they've done wrong. "That's it. Im out of here." She said and stormed out.

Phantom heard the sound of the door slamming behind her. He watched the door, waiting for her to come back. Any second now, he thought.

The door slightly opened and Valerie peeped out and glared at him. She snatched back her shoe and disappeared into the world behind the door.

Phantom smiled and sighed. "Ah well." He said. "Maybe I was just hallucinating again. All she did was kick me and throw her boot at me. The Valarie I knew wouldn't have done anything less than vaporize me.." He began to get lost in his mind again. No involvement? Oh, the past. "Still wouldn't mind seeing her again though.

"But," Phantom shrank down; he felt his head throbbing. "Ooowww! My head hurts!" He said. "Awfully solid hallucination."

Valerie Gray walked through the halls of the GIW facility building. To her it was more like an insane asylum. Padded walls, cells, and that eerie feeling. It reminded her of something out of a horror flick. She hadn't seen a horror movie in a long time. She hadn't seen any movie in a good long while. She missed a lot of things form the past.

It seems the capture of the ghost Phantom was the climatic moment of her life. There was the before and now here is the after. To be perfectly honest things were going a lot better for her in the before part.

Phantom was the one person she hated the most. He knew exactly what to do or what to say to push her buttons and not in the cute way. The annoying way. Still, he was an odd one.

Did he used to stalk her or something? He knew about Star and about Sam…Sam….she hadn't seen her in awhile. Not after it happened.

Danny Fenton. She always had the biggest crush on him. He was only seventeen, just a kid like her and Sam and Star- just a stupid, stupid kid.

That day was supposed to be the best day ever. She always knew he liked Sam and that Sam liked him. But he also liked Paulina too. In truth, he was a boy so he liked just about every girl he saw. But somehow he and Sam began to drift and she and Danny hung out more and more.

That one day he finally asked her out on a date. Then Phantom was somehow captured that day. She thought it was going to be the best day of her life. Her life long enemy was going away and her crush was becoming her boyfriend. But that night she thought he'd blown her off.

She waited for him outside the restaurant for a good twenty minutes when she finally went inside by herself and sat down. One hour, then two, then five…she waited and waited and waited….then the restaurant closed for the night and she walked home by herself in the dark.

Valerie had already planned it out. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, she did enough of that last night. She was going to walk into the cafeteria like she owned the place and she was going to slap him as hard as she could and embarrass him in front of everybody. No mercy. No one messes with her heart.

But he wasn't at school that day. Or the next or the next. Then she saw it on the news. Danny Fenton had gone missing and she hasn't seen him since.

Valerie clenched her fist. He may not have been perfect, but he was perfect for her, right? So why did Phantom take him away? Why did he always take everything she loved away from her?!

She picked up her bag and began searching for her cellphone. She's twenty eight now. Valerie Gray was a big girl, and big girls suck it up and vaporize ghosts or something like that. She dug for her phone. She had to call Mr. Masters and tell her the trip was a bust.

"Why did you deactivate your battle suit?" A voice said.

Valerie almost hit the wall. She quickly turned around to see Mr. K and Mr. O, GIW Operatives. God, she hated GIW Operatives. They sneak up on her all the time and quite frankly are very annoying and very secretive. The only reason she could even go into Phantom's cell was because her employer funded the place.

"Miss. Gray?" They asked simultaneously. She shivered a bit. They all seem like robots.

"Phantom was nervous for as long as I wore it." She explained. Valerie slung her backpack over her shoulder. "He only relaxed once he felt I was unarmed. And why should it matter? You think he would've attacked me or escaped? Didn't you say his restraints drain him to the point he barley has strength the stand?" She gave them a cold glare. "Well? Didn't you?"

"Did you obtain the information you wanted?" One of them asked. This is why she hated GIW Operatives.

"Hey! Don't change the subject." She said.

"Did you obtain the information?" The other asked as if she hadn't said anything. Valerie sighed. Ah well, it couldn't be helped.

"No." She said. "He started freaking out when I brought up the name 'Clockwork'. He pretty much clammed right up."

"Ah, so you found another one of his 'triggers'?" Another voice asked from behind her.

Valerie felt herself jump again. "Geez, what's with the sneaking up on people-" She stopped when she saw who the voice belonged to.

"Long time no see, Valerie. Hey guys, can I escort our guest as she leaves?" He asked. The man had almond eyes and a lab coat. He still had strong shoulders but had slimmed up in size since she last saw him.

"Permission granted." Operative K said and they left.

"Kwan? What are you doing here?" She asked.

Her friend smiled. "Oh! I'm a psychologist specializing in ectobiology."

"So you're a ghost shrink?" She asked.

"Er, sure. Close enough." Kwan and Valerie began walking through the halls. "In any case, how did Phantom react to your presence after you deactivated your battle suit?"

Valerie wrinkled her nose. "Well..uh he.. uhh…he acted happy. Almost like he was glad to see me." She said.

Kwan was surprised. "He did?" Valerie nodded. Kwan turned and rubbed his chin. "Bizarre. That makes two." He muttered.

"Okay, I understand bizarre but what do you mean by 'two'" She asked.

Kwan kept his hand on his chin. "Phantom normally acts almost feral when he responds at all. Most of the time he just seems to be in a stupor." He noticed Valerie's wide eyes and smiled. "But now it seems there are two people he is happy to see and becomes humanlike around." Kwan explained. "Those people are you," his grin almost became to wide for his face, "and me."

They reached the end of the hallway where the entrance to the facility was. Valerie noticed the car wasn't waiting for her. Tch. Typical.

"Okay," Valerie said, almost creeped out. It was almost as if Phantom knew her personally. And now Kwan? Who did this ghost think he was? "So what does that mean?"

He snickered and shrugged his shoulders. "No clue!" He said. "Only that it seems only you and I are the only ones who can talk to Phantom. And only for a little while at that." He claimed.

Valerie's ears perked up. She noticed that Phantom had seemed off. Odd, she remembered that ghost loved to hear himself talk. "Why's that?" She asked.

"He freaks." Kwan explained. "Hears the wrong word and clams up. Sometimes the word, his 'trigger', is common and simple. I think the term 'left arm' set him off once. Sometimes it isn't, though. There were a couple of times where he actually had hallucinations induced by the trigger being used."

"Wait, wait, wait! He HALLICINATES?!" Valarie asked. Damn them! Yet another reason she hated GIW Operatives. They didn't tell her a damn thing!

"They really didn't tell you about Phantom's mental state at all?" Kwan asked, a bored look on his face. He was treating this as if it were a normal thing!

Still, it was Phantom and she knew he had to be crazy. She just wished those GIW Operatives told her first. Valerie noticed that her ride has still yet to arrive and pulled out one of the chairs in the waiting lobby and sat down. "What's to know?" She asked.

"Phantom has been diagnosed by myself and others of having no less than two psychological disorders." He explained. "He has been diagnosed with chronic insomnia, hysteria, oneirophrenia," Kwan said. Valerie's eyes widened. Phantom was this messed up? ", and a minor from of schizophrenia."