I don't own Danny Phantom! I hope you all like this update. The first chapter of this arc is a little heavy, so be ready! I'm not sure when the next update will be. My winter break ends on the ninth, and I have a hard semester scheduled. But, I swear I won't vanish for months on end this time! I'll try to update at least once a month!

Also, sorry if there are some errors in this chapter. I published it faster than normal, so I may have missed some of the errors.

Oh, Vlad will appear in the next chapter! I know a lot of you are wanting to see what he is planning!

Mischievousness grins and snaps his fingers. Inside the cages, small objects, papers and pictures appear. In Dash's cage, decapitated Teddy Bears appear, causing the jock to rage. Nobody hurts his Teddies! Paulina's cage gains another distorted mirror, only the image is worse than before. In this mirror, Paulina appears as to be an old lady; the grey hair and wrinkles terrify the vain girl. Her looks are everything to her; without them, she's just another face in the crowd! Star, however, finds her cage filled with mementoes of all her failures. As long as she can remember, she's been second best, forever doomed to live in Paulina's shadow. She's the second prettiest girl, the second most popular girl, the second place in everything. That's all she's ever been, and she fears it is all she will ever be. Similarly, Kwan finds his cell filled with items representing his position as second best. Like Star, Kwan fears he will never leave second place, forever trapped in Dash's shadow. In the nerds' cells, failed papers and broken collectables appear. Lester finds photos of Valerie rejecting him, and his heart breaks at the images. Valerie, however, is surprised. Her cell fills with images of Phantom and Fenton. In every photo, Danny fails at proving his innocence. Staring at the images, Valerie feels the tears slowing traveling down her face. Sniffling, Valerie wipes away her tears. Maddie and Jack, however, are confused with the images that appear in their cages. Pictures land around the room, all showing their son being targeted and hurt by their ghost hunting equipment. One picture even shows him about to be dissected! On the back of the pictures, observations are recorded in their handwriting. Numbly, the Fenton parents realize the picture show them experimenting on their son, and the Fentons feel their hearts break. Mr. Lancer finds his cell filling with complaints from teachers and parents. Each letter points out how Mr. Lancer gives the popular kids special privileges while he unjustly punishes the unpopular kids. As expectant, Sam and Tucker find themselves in empty cells. Glancing at one another, they mentally determine that Danny must be protecting them somehow. Though, Mischievousness than looks at them and grins. The Freak Duo gulp, suddenly worried. Within seconds, Sam finds herself covered in pink paint, and Tucker watches as fake electronics are smashed before his eyes.

Cries of outrage and horror soon fill the room, and Mischievousness giggles in delight. Chaos is wonderful to the trickster, and the human's reactions are simply delightful. Mischievousness's eyes darken into an emerald, and a twisted grin spreads across his face. "Oh! The fun has just begun!" Mischievousness chuckles, shaking his head as he stares at the panicking humans. Mischievousness saunters toward his toys, his eyes turning more catlike with each step he takes. Before he can reach the humans, however, the door bursts open, the bang startling the demented emotion. Luckily, the break in concentration causes all the 'harmless' pranks to disappear, though the humans remain trapped in the cages. A new emotion walks in, and instantly Mischievousness blinks. When he opens his eyes, the catlike eyes are gone. Mischievousness shakes his head as if clearing his mind, and he stumbles back. His hands grip the sides of his head, and he squeezes his eyes shut once again. Before he closes his eyes, however, the humans notice that his eyes are clouded with pain. Whimpering, Mischievousness backs away from the newest emotion. The new emotion walks over to Mischievousness and gently places a hand on his shoulder. Instantly, Mischievousness relaxes, though his face distorts in confusion. Blinking, he glances around the room in confusion. When he looks at the class, his eyes are a lighter green than before. Once he sees the trapped class, his face pales. "Did I do that?" Mischievousness asks while taking a step back. His voice is surprisingly meek, and the previous crudity is gone. Honestly, the emotion seems to deflate. His eyes dim, and the poor emoticon begins to chew on his lip in worry. Tears even begin to well in his eyes.

Sighing, the new emotion draws the groups attention. "Yes, you did. It's not your fault though, Mischievousness." The new emotion says gently. The emotion hugs Mischievousness, and he allows the distraught emotion to cry on his shoulder. "You've never been this malevolent before." The emotion hesitantly continues. "Tell me, what caused this to happen, brother?" Mischievousness is crying too hard to respond. Thus, the humans use the time to examine the newest emotion.

The new emotion is the same size as Phantom, and looks extremely like him. Though, the emotion appears a little bit paler than the normal Phantom. Actually, the emotion looks a little sick. If the humans didn't know better, they would assume the emotion is the real Phantom. Slowly, however, the humans notice the minor differences between the emotion and the real Phantom. The emotion's eyes are teal instead of green. It almost looks like the emotion is wearing green contact lenses over blue eyes, though they quickly attribute that detail to their imaginations. After all, why would an emotion need to wear contacts? But, the more observant humans notice a few black hairs mixed in with the emotion's white hair. It kind of looks like the emotions is wearing a white wig over top of black hair. Luckily, most of the humans, once again, ignore the strange sight. After all, why would an emoticon need to hide their hair color? Maddie pulls out the black book, and she begins to search for the emotion's identity. But, the process is broken by the new emotion speaking. "Mischievousness, I know you are upset." The emotion whispers as he pulls back. Mischievousness wipes away his tears and sniffles. "But, you really need to let the humans go now. I can make sure none of them hurt you." The new emotion waves a hand in the humans' direction, and Mischievousness instantly flushes.

"Yes, Humanity." Mischievousness finally says. His voice is horse, and he honestly sounds like a scolded child. With a snap of his fingers, the cells vanish. Unknowingly, the students all move so they are behind the Fentons. Maddie and Jack, of course, notice this development and nod. Mischievousness notices the humans' reactions as well, and he moves to hide behind the new emotion. Sighing, Mischievousness looks down and his bangs cover his eyes. The distraught emotion kicks the ground as he quietly speaks. "I'm sorry." After a moment, Mischievousness looks up at the humans. All the students, besides Sam and Tucker, are looking at his fearfully. Valerie watches with poorly hidden contempt. Mr. Lancer's face is blank, but the emotion can still tell the man is afraid. Yet, Mr. Lancer also pities Mischievousness. The Fentons, however, are preparing to attack. When Mischievousness makes eye contact with the Fentons, he instantly looks down.

Mischievousness continues, his voice weaker than before. "I really don't know what happened, Humanity." The Fentons gasp when Mischievousness names the new emotion. Many of the students seem surprised as well. How can a ghost have humanity? Isn't humanity something humans have and ghosts lack? The Fentons claim that ghosts lack humanity, and that is why all ghost most be evil. Since Phantom has humanity, the Fentons must be wrong! Before the humans can continue thinking, Mischievousness continues. "I'm never usually mean or cruel like this. I've always been a prankster, but I would never use a person's insecurities against them. I already know what that feels like. So, why did I do this?" As Mischievousness speaks, his voice cracks. By the end of his statement, Mischievousness is crying once again. Humanity sighs and chews on his lib worriedly. Quickly, he hugs the distraught emoticon again. Mischievousness begins to ramble as he bawls, the poor emoticon clings to Humanity. "Something is different with me. I don't feel the same, Humanity. I remember my body getting stiff, and the next thing I know I was frozen in place. It was terrifying, especially since I could still see even though I couldn't move. But, a few minutes later I could move again. Since then, I've felt different. I almost feel twisted. It's not normal!" Humanity holds Mischievousness, cooing words of comfort. Gently, Humanity rocks the distraught emoticon, and he soothingly rubs the emotion's back as well. Slowly, Mischievousness calms down a little, though he continues to sniffle.

Humanity pulls back and glances at the humans. "Do you know anything about what is going on?" Humanity asks. His teal eye shine with worry. His eyes dart around the group, and then he frowns thoughtfully. Slowly, his eyes travel over the group once again. "Where is Happiness? I thought he was the emotion guiding you through our mind." Humanity asks as he tilts his head to the side. Mischievousness shuffles, grateful that the attention is finally off him. Slowly, he backs away and sits down against the opposite wall. After a few minutes, the emotion stops moving and a strange look appears in his eyes. Unfortunately, no one notices Mischievousness's strange actions.

Surprisingly, Kwan answers. "Happiness and the Love Quadruplets froze while we were traveling through Loves' room. We've been alone since then." Kwan glances at his classmates. When he realizes no one else is going to explain, he continues. "I don't have any idea about what is happening to Phantom's mind. But, Insanity believes something is malfunctioning in the helmet Phantom is wearing. That's all we know. Well, at least that's all I know. " As Kwan explains, Humanity pales. The emotion begins to sweat, and his ghostly aura even dims. Eventually, he places a hand on his stomach as his face distorts in pain. A whimper startles the humans, and they watch in shock as Humanity begins to shrink. Within seconds, Humanity is under three feet tall, and he is crying. Once the emotion stops shrinking, he finally looks healthy again. But, he continues to cry and panic. Kwan panics and walks forward, Star instantly follows. Star picks up the small emotion and hugs him. Humanity blinks in surprise before he clings to the girl. Sam frowns, a little irritated by the girl's actions. Since when has Star been kind? Before Sam can continue pondering, Kwan asks. "Dude, what's wrong?" Many of the students repeat Kwan's question, and the humans nervously glance around the room. Maddie and Jack glare at the crying emotion, not feeling a single ounce of pity for the crying child. Luckily, even the A-Listers are smart enough to realize that they are in a lot of danger. If Phantom's Humanity is shrinking, then they definitely have something to worry about.

Mischievousness begins to laugh, though the sound is more distorted than before. The crazy laughter startles many of the humans, and a few of the students squeal in fright. The humans turn around and look at the emotion, and they instinctively step back. In fact, Humanity even whimpers at the sight of Mischievousness. The emoticon's appearance is altering, and the emotion now appears more demonic. Mischievousness looks less like Phantom and more like the more malevolent ghouls now. His ears are now pointed. His pupils turn into catlike slits. His hair is messier, adding to the emotion's disheveled appearance. The emotion's outfit is tattered, and the once vibrant colors are now dull. Lastly, his fangs lengthen. Honestly, the emotion looks rather evil.

Before Mischievousness can attack, the now child-sized Humanity jumps out of Star's arms. "Runs!" Humanity yells while he herds the students, teacher, and the Fentons out of the room. Slamming the door shut, Humanity creates a barricade in front of the door. Seconds later, Mischievousness begins to pound on the door, demanding to be let in. Obviously, Humanity ignores the emotion, and he sighs in relief. Then, Humanity turns around and looks at the humans, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "Something is very wrong with Phantom's mind." Humanity reluctantly admits. Slowly, Humanity wipes away his tears as he continues to speak. "We need to get you out of here! I'll stay with you guys. I should still have an impact on most of the emotions, though my ability to influence them will be greatly reduced." Without waiting for the humans' response, Humanity starts crossing his domain. However, Maddie stops and glares at him. Surprisingly, Maddie's eyes soften for the briefest moment. While Maddie will never admit it, Humanity briefly reminded her of her own son.

Maddie glares at the frantic emoticon, her maternal instincts conflicting with her ghost hunter instincts. After an internal debate, Maddie schools her facial features. "Why are you so panicked?" She questions sternly. Humanity groans, both hands coming up and tugging on his hair. His eyes dart around the room, and they linger on the doors. Before he can think of an excuse or run, Maddie adds. "We are not moving until you explain, you ectoplasmic abomination!"

Humanity looks up at Maddie and sighs. He runs his hands through his hair, his eyes dimming with tears. "I feel disconnected." Humanity finally admits, much to the humans' confusion. Maddie signals the emotion to continue, and Humanity reluctantly does. "I'm Humanity. I directly influence all of Phantom's emotions. So, I usually can feel the other emotions, even emotions like hatred."

Unexpectedly, Jack interrupts, his voice an odd combination of disgust and fascination. "I doubt you really represent Phantom's Humanity." Jack scoffs, shaking his head in exasperation. Humanity frowns, but wisely remains silent. "Obviously, ghosts can't have humanity! But, this connection theory is interesting. That must be why the emoticons are able to express emotions that are not their designated emotion." Jack continues theorizing, much to the students' annoyance. When he finally stops talking, Maddie smiles fondly at her husband. Then she glares at the emoticon, who quickly continues his explanation.

"Something is forcefully altering Phantom's mental and emotional states. That's why the emoticons are changing. Whatever is causing this will turn Phantom evil if it isn't reversed soon. I'm scared for Phantom, the town, and you guys." Humanity sniffles, one hand coming up and wiping away his tears again. Humanity's form briefly glitches, though the emoticon doesn't notice. The humans, however, notice and exchange warry glances. How long will Humanity survive this reprograming?