Behold! The last chapter to Fading Remembrance. First off, I am REALLY sorry about the length. Please forgive me. It took me a couple of days to finish this and I like the way it came out. But then again, it's really up to you to decide whether you like it or not.

Also, plenty of battles here. Loads and tons of action. I was listening to evanescence for the final battle. It's really weird how music can set different moods. Buy hey; it helped me write butt-kicking scenes a lot quicker so . . . why not?

One more thing, I got mixed up and put the wrong sneak peek for chapter 20. Sorry, I have a list of my sneak peeks and I had a few for 20, but I got mixed up and thought it was a part of 21. I corrected it, not that it makes much of a difference to you now. You can just read the chapter.

Okay, I would like to say thanks to all of my reviewers for the final time for this fic. You guys rock!

iloveJesusJohnnyandDanny: LoL. "awesome" pretty much sums up 22 pgs worth of words. I never knew that. It's good to know. All right, to answer your question. . . Where are Jack and Maddie when you need them? Maddie and Jack will arrive, you can be sure of that. But the question is, does Danny want them to? Now that everyone's seen him transform, it's going to be a little difficult. And don't worry, this may be the last chapter, but it's REALLY long so . . . enjoy it.

Blues59: Sorry for the long update, but hey, at least you've got a long chapter now. I hope you like it!

Boongdaba:LoL, I tried my best not to make it suck. Enjoy.

Jenna Dax: Thanks for pointing out the sneak peek mistake. I appreciate it. Anticipate no more. The final chapter has arrived.

JK rulez: LoL, Danny's . . . well, Danny. He can't give up. And yes, I know about the sneak peek now. Thanks for informing me :)

Cali: Don't cry :( The chapter is here. Yes it's the last one, but hey, it's long. Look at the bright side, no more cliffies!

Arabic Blessing: you guys really pay close attention to the chapters. You're the third person to correct me about the sneak peek. Thanks :) Oh and, the finale has arrived. You've been ready for days. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. But hey, the longer the wait, the longer the chapter . . . It might take a while for you to finish it. I hope you're prepared.

Sasia: LoL Okay, okay, don't hurt me. I'm sorry that I left you guys with such a horrible cliffhanger, but hey, the wait is over. So what are you waiting for? Read pple!

Purrbaby101: Attack the cliffhangers! Rebellion! LoL, don't worry, that was the last one. If you liked the battle scenes there, wait until this chapter. It's double the action. Say hi to your cat for me!

Katiesparks: o.O LoL! Your reviews always make me laugh . . . and wonder. I fear the zombies, but fortunately, I have a computer screen to separate myself from them. Yes! Thanks technology.

Maki-sama: You read the entire 20 chapters in one day? Wow . . . I'm impressed. Thanks! Let's see how long it takes you to read this one.

Ohka Breynekai: That's right. One more chapter, and this is it. I will continue to write fanfiction. I already have a story idea planned. Its summary is in my profile. As for Danny getting his powers back, you know what that means don't you? Lots of payback.

Phantomshadowdragon: Zeith is one of the ghosts from chapter 4 of Amity's Hero. LoL, yes, it would probably be best to avoid getting Sana angry. She's got a temper. And no, Danny won't ask Clockwork to change it. He won't ask anyone to change it ;)

Fading Remembrance

Chapt 21- Fading Remembrance

Danny's mind clouded with emotions, but they were all set aside as he stared, dazed and transfixed at the giant screen. This could NOT be happening. There was a light chuckle from behind, but he did not turn around. There were no words to describe his mood at the moment.

Scared, furious, shocked . . . all combined to make him feel as if an immense pressure had fallen on him.

Evieor's eyes flashed angrily and he bent his arms back.

"Have you forgotten our battle?" he snapped, waking Danny suddenly from his thoughts. The halfa jumped slightly in surprise and turned around, only to be knocked back into the air by another tremendous force of black energy.

This time, however, he recovered instantly and stretched out a hand. Landing on it, he flipped back onto his feet and ground his teeth. All of his frustration had just found an outlet . . .

He cried out in anguish and focused all of his stress on his attack. Evieor saw it coming and took to the air. Danny held back his attack. Instead of releasing his anger, he felt as if he had just drawn it back in. Narrowing his glowing blue eyes, he jumped up and took off in a flash of vibrant white light. Rings of the light trailed behind him as he accelerated.

Flying at 120 mph, he managed to catch up to his enemy in no time. Evieor noticed the teenage ghost behind him and sped up. Danny fell behind and pushed himself to go faster.

There were a few cries of surprise and he looked down. They had flown right over the large crowd. Adults were all pointing at the sky in both awe and anger. Most of them had forgotten to raise their weapons as their gaze remained transfixed at the new center of attention — him.

Danny looked back ahead and noticed Evioer change his course. He narrowed his eyes and turned as well, descending ina curve. The wind whipped against his face violently and he held his arm out in front of him. He wasn't used to flying at 120 mph.

And to no surprise, he felt a strange jolt and began to lose control. The wind was too violent at a dive with such immense speed. It was throwing him off course. He swerved a little to the left and right and tried to pull out of his drop. Everything around him became a blur and he didn't know what was going on. Everything was moving too fast. It was all streaks of different colors blended with the dark bluish black of the nighttime sky.

Danny finally managed to pull himself back, but the force of the rushing wind pushed him violently forward with another sudden jolt. He felt himself hit something very hard. His eyes shut immediately and he cringed, but soon, everything became soft. He let his arms float loosely beside him and waited. He felt weird. His body was becoming heavier and a cold sensation went through him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a very blurry blue color. It was moving in gentle waves. He looked up and saw the surface of the water.

He had landed in the lake of the town. It was located near the outskirts of town, but still not as far as the mountains. There were a few buildings still in view, though they were very distant. Of course, Danny only knew this from memory. He wasn't able to see it now.

Realizing that the water was now choking him, he quickly swam up and poked his head through the calm surface, making a splash and taking in a very deep breath.

To no surprise, Evieor was floating just above him. Danny's mouth twitched and he stared back with same look of loathing.

Without hesitation, the older ghost raised his arms high in the air and then brought them down. Danny took a deep breath and then pulled himself back under the water. He swam a little to the right and managed to evade the giant black blade that had cut into the silt and dirt of the lake bottom. Another few streaks of black ectoplasm hit the water and he became intangible. They went through him and hit the floor. The sand diffused and began shooting up from various areas at the impact.

Danny, still holding his breath, was about to fly back up when a sudden rush of water pushed him. He rolled over several times and accidentally exhaled. Quickly closing his mouth, he regained balance and looked up. Once again, another force hit him and he was pushed against a forming wave. Water was rushing in from all ends to add to it and he was caught in the middle. It rose high into the air and he could feel himself being lifted out of the lake. Just as suddenly, it came tumbling down. He tried to fly out, but it was impossible. He was shoved back into the water and the rest of the wave came crashing down on him, pushing him further in.

Now desperate for air, Danny ignored the sting and swam back up. After about three seconds of struggling, he finally reached the surface again and splashed around like a fish on land until he regained balance.

Surprisingly, Evioer wasn't amused. He stared at Danny as an inferior. Allowing anger to take control, Danny pushed out of the water and shot into the air at full speed. He bent back his right arm as he flew and Evioer prepared to make a shield. However, the glowing light of ectoplasm didn't come. He waited for it as the halfa approached — and that was probably why he was caught off guard when Danny's fist suddenly made a powerful contact with his jaw.

His head bent back at the impact and Danny flew past. Before Evioer could even place a hand to his wound, the halfa flew back down and created two powerful blue beams from his eyes. They hit the ghost in the back and sent him plummeting into the water. This time, a large splash was created. Danny crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

The water began to bubble and his vigilance rose. An angry figure rose out of it and screamed furiously. Danny unfolded his arms and created a shield, but a faint glow caught his eye and he realized that he had made the wrong move.

Evieor's purple hand burned through the shield and made a direct and painful contact with Danny. He pulled back immediately just as Evieor returned his hand and then punched again, this time sending the halfa flying through the skies.

Danny clenched his teeth in agony and tried to reach out and touch his face, but his entire body felt numb. The wind was hitting him forcefully as he fell back. Within only a matter of seconds, a tremendous amount of pain spread through him as he collided with several solid objects, shattering each of them around him. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in a brightly lit room in yet another unfamiliar building in Amity Park. To the right was a small door that read "Main Hall".

Slowly and carefully getting up, Danny stumbled back and leaned against the wall. His spine felt shattered and he realized for the second time that night he had fallen through (and shattered) a window. Cringing slightly, he pushed off the wall and stretched. Fortunately, there was no glass in him.

"It's a nice little feeling isn't it?" a voice Danny knew all-too-well asked from above. "To keep falling and get back up." He looked up and glared.

"You get used to it after a while," the younger halfa shot back. His rival smirked and descended. Stepping carefully onto the floor, he walked around the fragments of glass and stepped up beside him.

"I hate it when you do that," he muttered angrily. Danny remained where he was. Vlad was only inches away from him, but he wasn't going to back down.

Both ghosts turned their heads to the shattered window when a faint chuckle disturbed the silence. A tall and dark figure flew into the room and landed, but Danny was only focusing on the faint purple glow.

Vlad stood up straight and smiled as Evieor approached him. When the two ghosts were side-by-side, they turned back towards Danny and smirked. The same purple light lit up in Plasmius' hand and they both prepared another punch. Danny, however, jumped up and flew over them as their fists collided with the wall, creating two large holes that burned and expanded. They turned around and looked up.

"Two against one. And you think I'm weak?" Danny said to them.

"You won't win. Give up!" Vlad shouted, but Danny merely smiled.

"I'll do what I want when I want," he replied, receiving a scowl. Without another word, Plasmius rose into the air with Evieor following behind. He fired a red ectoplasmic blast, but Danny didn't dodge.

He narrowed his eyes and they flashed entirely blue. A silver-blue shield appeared in front of him and repelled Plasmius' attack. The halfa ducked and it went into Evieor who raised his purple hand in defense. As soon as the red-ectoplasm touched it, it disappeared.

In turn, Evioer raised his hand high into the air and then brought it down as if playing a chord. A giant black fist appeared and charged at Danny. Once again, the teen seemed unamused.

He held out a hand and absorbed the attack. Both Evieor's and Plasmius' eyes widened in shock. Danny raised his other hand and transferred the energy to it. Then, he brought it forward and released a blue fist twice the size of the original. The two ghosts separated and the fist passed between them. Turning their attention back to Danny, each raised their hands to create their own energy blades, but the fist returned and hit them both from behind.

Danny smiled and looked down. Plasmius was the first to recover. He looked up and slowly got to his feet, stumbling forward a bit before regaining balance.

"You — you took that from me!" he said angrily. Danny shrugged.

"Well, you could do it, so I knew that someday I'd be able to also. And hey, I'm in my PE mode. Why not try it out now?" he said with a smile.

Plasmius' eyes flashed angrily and he shot two beams from them. Danny evaded the attack, but another blast hit him from behind and he shot forward and collided with the wall. He slid down onto the floor and shook his head.

"What the—"

"That was me," Evieor said, appearing right beside him in a black blur. He closed his hand around the neck of Danny's white suit and pulled him up into the air. In a puff of red smoke, Plasmius appeared beside them with his cape wrapped around him.

Thrusting the cape out of his way, he raised his glowing hand and punched Danny's chest. The teen cried out, but he did not remove his hand.

The DP symbol embedded on his suit was beginning to tear and soon the light had reached his skin. In desperation, Danny kicked out and managed to make contact. The pressure was removed from his torso, but the pain ceased gradually. Plasmius looked up angrily and waved his hand. Apparently, that was what Danny had kicked. He clenched his teeth menacingly and approached.

The teen halfa closed his eyes and took several silent deep breaths. When he looked up, his eyes were entirely blue. Plasmius stopped in his tracks and looked down at Danny's chest. A white light appeared around the wound and then disappeared, leaving nothing but a faded mark on his skin.

Just as soon as the wound had healed, another white light appeared, though this time as a ring around his waist. It separated into two and then each moved in different directions across his body. When the upper ring passed over his torso, the suit was no longer torn and the DP symbol had returned.

There was a cry and Evieor quickly pulled his hand away. Danny slid down the wall and landed limply on his feet. He put a hand to his head and then slowly turned his gaze to his rivals. Vlad was standing wide-eyed beside Evioer who was now grasping his hand tightly as if he had just been burned.

"You continue to amaze me Daniel. Never, in all my years as a ghost, have I been able to accomplish this," the older halfa said as he took several steps forward. Danny bent his knees slightly and clawed his hand as a blue flare emerged from his palm.

"That's because you're on the wrong side," he said back as he thrust the blue ectoplasm at his nemesis. To his surprise, Vlad was not expecting the attack and had no time to block it. It made a direct hit and threw him back several feet. He slid across the floor and stopped only a few inches away from the wall on the opposite end of the room.

Without hesitation, Danny turned his head immediately and saw a black blur. Allowing his reflexes to kick in, he opened his hand and forcefully pressed it down into the ground with another beam of ectoplasm. The tile cracked and jutted out in many different ends and the dark ghoul was thrust into the air directly at him.

The halfa stretched out a hand, grabbed Evieor's wrist, and spun around once, throwing him into the wall he had been held up against several minutes ago. It, like the floor, cracked. Several small pieces of white stone fell from above and landed in front of Danny. He looked down and saw them by his feet before turning his gaze upward. His eyes widened and he let out a frightened gasp.

The ceiling was cracking now too. A long jagged line was steadily moving across the surface, breaking into smaller branches and allowing dust to fall from within the cracks. Danny took a step back, and then another. Gradually, larger pieces began to fall. He continued stumbling back until he was right beside Evieor leaning against the damaged wall. The crumbling stopped for a second and the white dust cleared, leaving a full view of a pile of rubble. Then, suddenly, he heard a faint click and looked up. Another large portion of the stone cracked and fell. He put his arms over his head and slouched as it headed straight for them.

Plasmius stepped back and leaned against the remaining wall, staring ahead at the scene. A large piece of the ruined ceiling now lay in the same spot his ally and enemy had been. A smirk set upon his face and he stepped forward when the debris had stopped falling. An ally had fallen, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to get over if his rival went with him.

Slowly approaching, he bent slightly forward and waited. A faint gray light caught his eye and he got back up immediately. A head appeared out of the stone, and then shoulders, a torso, and the rest of Evieor's body. He phased through it and levitated to Plasmius, landing right beside him.

"Don't let your guard down. I saw him becoming intangible. I'm almost positive he phased through it," he warned, unaware of his partner's thoughts not too long ago. Plasmius nodded and glanced around. Everything was silent. The two ghosts stood still, but they still heard nothing.

"He probably ran," the taller one stated, turning his back on the rubble and beginning to walk. Plasmius turned to follow, but curiosity getting the better of him, he glanced once more and then turned back to the stone. He raised his hand and blasted a flare of red energy that disintegrated it in an instant. Evieor looked over his shoulder and Plasmius stood up straight with a satisfied grin.

An unconscious boy lay sprawled out on the floor spotted in white dust and a few pebbles. His right arm just beneath the elbow was scraped and bleeding. His cheek was cut as well, although it was minor. His eyes were shut and he remained deathly still.

Plasmius' hand lit up again and he raised it, preparing to finish off his opponent once and for all. Evieor, however, pushed him aside. He regained balance and glared furiously, allowing his eyes to flash red.

"What was that for?" Vlad hissed.

"I'm finishing him off," he replied.

"No," the vampire-like ghost replied stubbornly. "I'm taking credit for his demise."

"Stop bickering with me and get out of my way before he wakes up."

He stepped forward, but Vlad ran in front of him and blocked his way. Two red flares appeared in his hands and he gritted his teeth.

"We'll finish him together," he said. "Either that or I finish him."

Evieor stood still, his eyes fixed on the ghost before him. He wanted more than anything to kill the boy who had been stressing him for the past three weeks. He wasn't going to allow Plasmius to stand in his way.

However, time was running out. Knowing Phantom's luck, someone would probably arrive to help him. If he didn't do it now, he might miss the chance.

Narrowing his eyes, he nodded reluctantly and stepped forward. Vlad stepped out of his way and turned to approach the fallen hero.

Suddenly, a powerful force hit him from behind and sent him flying forward. He landed in the rubble beside Danny and groaned. Lying on his stomach, he pushed himself up with his hands and then stood up in a sort of slouch. His hands lit up again and Evieor did the same.

"You rat," the halfa whispered angrily. "How dare you hit me when I have my back turned!"

"That was me," another masculine voice said from behind before Evieor could speak. Both ghosts turned to the opposite end of the room. Just then, another green blast was fired from a different angle. This time, however, it targeted Evieor. He crossed his arms before him, but the beam was too fast. He was thrust back toward the window.

Vlad clenched his teeth and, with his fists still raised, looked back at the two figures before them. He recognized them immediately.

The woman took out a tube of red lipstick and traced two dark red lines over the faded ones before aiming her bazooka again. She wanted to leave her mark on the weapon for some reason.

"Maddie," he said, hinting jealousy toward Jack with his tone. The orange clad man stood beside his wife with another weapon raised. It was thinner and sleeker than hers and had a long tube of green ectoplasm over the metal.

Evieor jumped back to his feet and clenched his fists angrily. He managed to get a good look at the two people and understood immediately.

"Why am I not surprised?" he mumbled, though loud enough for them to hear. Maddie and Jack raised their brows and glanced at each other. The dark figure stood up and allowed his hands (still clenched) to fall to his sides as he examined them closely.

"The Fentons . . . here to rescue their son."

He turned his gaze a little to the right to looked at the limp figure at Plasmius' feet.

"Somehow, you always get lucky," he muttered to himself now. Then, raising his hands again, two radiant purple flares appeared. "Not this time."

Maddie and Jack caught on immediately and prepared to fight back.

"Get Danny!" Maddie ordered. Her husband, who was already halfway across the room, gave her a thumbs up and ran toward Vlad, who entered a defensive position.

Maddie fired her weapon at the ghost, but a wall of black energy appeared around him and reflected the attack. She tried again, but it was no use. He put his hands together and joined the separated flames of energy. The new rounded blast was now steadily increasing size.

She looked back at her husband and gasped. Plasmius had created a blast of his own and it knocked Jack back several feet. However, he got back up immediately and ran forward again. The ghost narrowed his eyes dangerously and prepared another attack. Maddie raised her ecto-gun up again and used her free hand to support it as she took aim.

"Get out of the way!" she yelled. Jack stopped running and looked back. Plasmius followed his gaze and gasped. Maddie pressed down on the trigger and fired. A beam of green ectoplasm shot forward and would've made contact with him had he not jumped up and avoided it. Instead of landing, however, he flew toward Evieor.

"Kill the brat," he hissed as he passed the ghoul. "I have bigger things to attend to."

He continued flying until he reached the window. Without another glance, the ghost took off into the nighttime sky to wreak havoc on the outside world, but Maddie and Jack were not focusing on that now.

Evieor's round mass of black energy was now big enough to hold both of them. His eyes turned completely black and he gritted his teeth. With a tremendous amount of force, he brought his hands down and threw the blast at Danny.

Maddie didn't have a chance to scream. Her mind told her to do one thing — run. She leaned forward and began sprinting as fast as she could. However, at first, it seemed as if her entire body had gone into slow motion and everything around her seemed to be slowing down as well.

She could Jack up ahead and dashed faster, time seeming to speed up slightly. The light colored room had suddenly turned completely dark, but she reached out anyway into the nothingness.

The darkness pressed heavily on her eyes as she bent forward and closed her fingers around something. And then it caught up with them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Goth pushed her way through the crowd of panicked citizens. There were a few incidents where a ghost had either caught up with her or she was knocked down by a person trying to reach safety. It was starting to get frustrating, but she always got back up immediately to continue her search.

"Tucker!" she cried out, exasperated. "TUCKER!"

Finally stopping to catch her breath, Sam bent forward and rested her palms on her knees. She took several fast breaths and coughed. Suddenly, something rammed into her and sent her falling to the floor painfully on her side. She groaned and titled her body to push herself up with her hands when she heard a scream.

"Tucker?" she whispered, looked up. Sure enough, the dark skinned boy came rushing towards her with Danny's unconscious sister supported on his shoulder. He got down on his knees and reached out a hand. She took it and both of them got to their feet.

Before Sam could say anything, Jazz moaned and opened her eyes slightly. She raised her head a little off his shoulder and looked at them with half-closed eyes.

"Where's Danny?" she mumbled. Tucker turned to Sam and she felt a rush of guilt take over.

"I-I don't know. He'll be okay, though," she assured, hoping she could believe what she had just said. Jazz tried to stand on her own, but her knees buckled and she fell. Tucker reached out and grabbed her arms to pull her up before she hit the ground.

"Take it easy," he said. "We've got to get you home."

"No," Jazz protested, trying to stand up again. She pushed Tucker's hand away and tried to balance herself. "I need to help him."

"Jazz, there's no way you'll be helping him in this condition," Sam argued when the older girl finally managed to stand up straight. She clutched her ribs and moaned slightly.

"He needs me," she said.

"You'll just be getting in the way," Tucker told her. "Come on, we've got to get you home."

"And when you're well rested and feeling better, you can help him," Sam added before Jazz could argue. She looked at the Goth and Sam felt another rush of guilt.

If she stopped Danny in time, he'd still be here and Jazz wouldn't have to worry.

"Jazz—" she began, but Tucker cut her off.

"Look out," he said, pointing at the sky. The girls looked up and noticed a tiny black figure flying many feet above them. They were able to make out a cloak swaying loosely behind him. Sam turned her gaze to the direction he was flying from and noticed a light colored building.

"City Hall," she mumbled.

"Huh?" Tucker asked, turning his attention to her.

"He came from City Hall," she repeated.

"What was he doing in City Hall?"

"That must be where Danny is," Jazz guessed.

"Oh—"

Suddenly, a loud explosive noise spread through the sky and rose high above the noise of the crowd. The three teens (along with everyone else) covered their ears and cringed.

A wave of black energy became the center of attention as everyone focused on City Hall. The entire building had exploded in the mass of darkness.

One of the remaining three squares remaining on the public plasma screen T.V. had faded to black.

"DANNY!" Sam choked, beginning to feel tears forming in her eyes. It felt as if someone had just grasped her heart very tightly and wouldn't let go. She took off in a dash and ran toward the obliterated building. Tucker and Jazz both reached out to grab her, but she ran around several people and out of their reach.

"Sam, wait!" Tucker called as he sprinted after her. Jazz tried to keep up, but her wounds had prevented her from doing so and she ended up falling behind. However, knowing where they were going, she continued slowly.

Everyone stared intently at the scene, remaining silent. People were letting their guards down, and were therefore unaware of the pair of gray eyes that had appeared behind them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Danny let out a soft moan and opened his eyes just barely. Everything was a blur, but he could already see that something was wrong. A mixture of white and black was all he was able to make out before his vision cleared. Blinking several times, he sat up and gasped, instantly wishing he hadn't done that.

Nothing could describe what he was feeling now. Even after replenishing his stamina from the power-enhanced mode, he had managed to obtain all of these new injuries. And that was from only one battle. How on earth was he going to win this war?

Maybe if he could try to get into his PE mode again, he would be healed. Danny looked at his hands and gasped. His gloves were still black. And his suit, though torn and tattered, was still white. He was still in his PE mode, but how?

"Who cares," he muttered to himself as he got up, once again trying his best to ignore the pain. Two figures lay beside him and he recognized them immediately.

"Mom! Dad!"

Dropping down to his knees, he began trying to wake his parents, but they wouldn't move. He shook Jack's shoulders, but his father remained unconscious.

"Wake up!" he tried. It was no use. His parents were in a world of their own now, free from all the problems he had to face right now. Deep inside, he wanted to be just like them now — sleeping without a care in the world. Gradually getting his strength back . . .

"That's it!" he said excitedly, raising his hands in front of his eyes. He had healed himself before when Plasmius used his power against him. It would probably be harder and less effective now that he was weakened, but it was still worth a shot.

Summoning all of his remaining energy, Danny focused on healing. He made sure not to heal himself instead. After severe concentration, his hands began to glow white. He placed a hand on each of his parents' backs and took three deep and soothing breaths. In a way, he was starting to feel some of his own energy returning.

After his last breath, he removed his hands away from his mother and father and then watched carefully. To his disappointment, nothing was happening. He leaned closer to try to see if any one of them was moving, but they remained still, breathing very faintly.

There was a faint click from behind and he turned around quickly, wincing as he did. Something wasn't right. The shadows of the pieces of rubble from the fallen building weren't shaped right. Not only that, but every other shadow was facing a different direction. He examined the first ones carefully and then jumped back in fright as one of them twitched. Two eyes appeared and blinked several times before it rose out of the ground. Its back was hunched until it appeared fully and then straightened itself out. Danny's mouth was open slightly and his eyes were wider than usual. He crawled back a little as more and more appeared, rising from the ground as the first one had.

Due to his averted attention, he did not notice the movements behind him. Maddie and Jack had woken up and looked around very drowsily. However, when they saw the ghosts approaching their son, they got to their feet immediately and ran in front of him. Danny looked up in surprise as his parents defended him. His father looked at the floor in hopes of spotting his weapon, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Mom, Dad . . ." Danny began.

Jack looked over his shoulder and reached down, pulled Danny into his arms and then turned back to Maddie.

"Come on, there are too many now. We don't have anything to fight with."

Then returning his gaze to Danny, he smiled and began running in the opposite direction, right back to the center of the remains of town. Maddie followed without hesitation and the shadow-like ghosts chased after them.

Some glided, others ran, and others sunk back into the ground and traveled through it like fish in water. Either way, they were catching up fast.

One tried to wrap itself around Maddie's ankle, but she noticed and jumped up and it ended up grasping nothing. She ran faster and caught up to her husband who seemed just about ready to faint. He was panting heavily and began to slow down.

"Jack, keep going," she tried, but he was now practically walking.

"I-I can't. Maddie, take Danny and go."

Danny looked over his father's shoulder and saw the sea of black approaching them. He fired an ectobeam and hit about ten of them at once.

"You go, I'll catch up later," he said as he jumped out of Jack's arms.

"Not a chance," Maddie argued, pulling him back when he tried to run toward the enemy.

"But Mom—"

"You are my son and you will do as I say," she intervened, pulling at his arm and beginning to run again. "Come on Jack."

Very reluctantly, Jack began to run again, though he was now behind his wife and son. Danny wanted to phase through his mother's grasp, but he knew her too well. She would ground him for the rest of his life if he disobeyed her at a time like this.

They turned the corner and passed a few more homes before the battle came into view. However, what they saw made all three stop with their jaws hanging.

Plasmius, Skulker, Ember, Spectra, Aragon, the Fright Knight, Walker, his goons, Bertrand, the shadows, and about a hundred other ghosts Danny didn't know were now gathered all together, shooting at anyone who wasn't on their side. Danny wasn't able to find Evieor with them, but he wasn't complaining about that.

On the ground, directly beneath them, were the citizens of Amity Park, Desiree, Sana, Kitty, Johnny 13, Dora, the Box Ghost, the Lunch Lady, Kujo, Wulf, a few of his canine-like friends, a portion of Walker's escaped prisoners, Vlad's mutated monstrous ghosts, Sidney Poindexter, Klemper, Valerie, and Star.

The scene was completely hectic. Red vortexes of light everywhere, sucking in any ghost that came into contact with it into the GRC, multi-colored blasts from all directions, ice, giant ectoplasmic fists, rockets, missiles, ectoplasmic shields, and pretty much any other offence or defense they could muster.

Both sides were going all out for this battle. The only problem was that Danny's army was unstable. The humans were fighting any ghost they saw, including the ones on their side and the ghosts were just fighting, not bothering to watch out for who they were hitting. Vlad had the advantage of his army being pure ghosts. However, Danny could see that his allies were giving it their all.

Sana, who was in the air, was throwing out red blasts repeatedly. Within two seconds, she had knocked down six of their enemies. Then, swiftly turning around, she aimed several more. Klemper was breathing out ice at anyone who came near. They froze instantly and the Lunch Lady, making sure that they were enemies, targeted and destroyed them. Skulker and Ember had joined to work together and were fighting back-to-back. He shot missiles from one end and she played her guitar and knocked her opponents into the air.

Desiree, however, had managed to separate them. Then, swinging around, she thrust her tail at them both and knocked them off of their feet. Ember dropped her guitar and landed on her back with a groan.

She shot an angry look at Desiree as the genie raised her hands high above her head to cast a spell. However, Sana appeared at her side and offered to finish Ember off. Desiree nodded in agreement and headed in a different direction.

The darkly dressed ghost got to her feet and faced her new rival. Sana narrowed her eyes and Ember laughed.

"Show me what you've got," she called as her hair rose higher by a few inches. It didn't take long for Sana to realize that her rival's allies were cheering for her. She clawed her fingers and emitted a red flame from each hand. Ember did the same, emitting her own blue ones. She beat Sana to the attack and fired. However, the younger teen ran a few steps to the side and evaded the attack. It targeted Skulker and knocked him down while also causing him to miss the shot he had aimed at Dora.

After dodging the attack, Sana threw out her two flames and Ember prepared to jump out of the way. However, the two red balls of fire landed at least three feet away and she let out a laugh.

"You've got a nice shot," she commented sarcastically. But to her surprise, Sana smirked. She rose up into the air, saluted with two fingers, and took off. Ember raised a brow and looked down, letting out a shocked scream at what she saw. Her guitar was lying several feet away, broken to pieces with a faint red smoke emerging from it.

"Jazz!" Maddie called as she pushed through the crowd. She had to duck twice to avoid being hit by ectoplasm. Danny formed a shield to repel most of the attacks, but it faded quickly. His attention was on too many things for him to focus on one defense.

"Stay close," his mother ordered as she pulled him closer. It was surprising how she was looking into the face of Danny Phantom and yet, she was acting as if nothing had changed since he left the house that morning.

It's not exactly the Danny Phantom she's used to seeing, a voice in the back of his mind said, reminding him once again that he was in his PE mode and looked slightly different, including the blue eyes.

"What's that?" Jack asked worriedly, looking up at the sky. Danny looked up as well. Sana, Desiree, Kitty, Johnny 13, Dora in her dragon form, and Sidney Poindexter (riding on her shoulders) were all fighting one ghost — Vlad. To little surprise, he was holding up pretty well. Desiree had managed to hit him once, but he got her back just as quickly. Soon, several more ghosts were ignoring their previous battles to join their allies in fighting the halfa. Slowly, Vlad was starting to lose to the great difference in numbers.

However, the abandoned ghosts below were beginning to fight with him now and another battle was forming higher up. Fortunately, most of the ghosts on Vlad's side had joined him and left the people free to fight without distractions.

"It's only him left," Danny said to his parents as they continued to search for Jazz. "If we can get rid of him, the others won't be a problem."

"What about the other one?" Jack asked when all three finally stopped.

"He's gone," Danny assumed. "I think that last blast took him out."

"I highly doubt that," Maddie interrupted. "He's impervious to many things. My bazooka couldn't even send him into the Ghost Zone. All it did was knock him back. He's not like the others."

"Because he has more powers than the others," Danny replied. "He takes all of their powers and mixes it with his own energy. Maybe his signature is different than the average ghost."

"I don't know what it is, but I'm not going to take my chances and let him find us. We have to get Jazz now and go home."

"No!" Danny said, finally pulling himself out of her grasp. She turned around with a confused look on her face. He stepped back.

"It'll never end if we run. We have to stop him now," Danny urged, pointing up at the sky toward the town's public enemy #2. "That's the only way to get rid of this alternate Amity Park."

At this, both of his parents seemed at a loss. However, Maddie grabbed his arm again, but he phased through her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "but I've come too far to give up now."

Without saying another word, Danny took off, leaving his parents looking bewildered.

"Mom!"

Both Fentons turned around to find their daughter, Sam, and Tucker running towards them. Sure enough, they were being followed by the same creatures that they had lost several minutes ago.

"Jazz!" Maddie opened her arms to embrace her, but Jack noticed the various injuries on her and turned to Sam and Tucker.

"What happened?"

"Ghosts," Tucker replied panting. He looked over his shoulder at the approaching shadows.

"This isn't good. We're outnumbered. We need to get Danny and get out of here," he called to his wife who was now kneeled down beside Jazz as they pulled out of their hug.

At those words, all three teenagers averted their eyes. They looked back in the direction they were running from and Maddie raised a brow.

"Jasmine?" she asked quietly. "What happened?"

A tear rolled down Jazz's cheek and she quivered slightly.

"D-Danny's gone," she choked, no longer fighting back the tears. Maddie and Jack turned to each other confused and then looked back up the sky.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Danny ascended through the air toward the two groups of ghosts. He passed the first one which mainly consisted of a mixture of shadows and a few members of his army and was now able to see the main battle going on a little higher.

Skulker, Desiree, Sana, Technus, Kitty, Johnny 13, Dora, Aragon, Poindexter, the Fright knight, Walker, and Spectra were all joined in the fight. Of course, Vlad was the strongest and, with the extra help, was now taking down Danny's allies easily.

"Get back!" he ordered Walker as he fired two powerful beams of red ectoplasm. They hit Sana and Desiree and sent them falling. Danny stopped in the air to try to reach out to them but they were too far and he couldn't catch them. Both girls crashed into the ground hard and remained there. His eyes narrowed in anger and he turned back to Plasmius. For some reason, he was actually beginning to feel very protective of his allies, despite the fact that they would return to being his enemies if they won.

Feeling his anger growing, Danny sped through the air again and charged at the other halfa. Plasmius sent another two beams that threw back Johnny and Kitty (who were about to take down Skulker). They regained balance and flew back at him. He smirked and held out his hands again. His ghostly aura had become more luminescent, but they were too blinded by their rage to notice.

Plasmius' aura created a bright light that covered his entire body. When the flare disappeared, his arms up to the elbows were glowing with red ectoplasm. By the time the approaching ghosts had noticed he had already released the blasts, which formed together to create one massive one.

Johnny and Kitty held up their hands to create a shield, but the blast easily broke through it. Both figures disappeared within the light with one last scream as it descended upon the citizens. They panicked and began running out of the way as it crashed into the ground. The force of it sent several people flying ten feet through the air before they landed at least five yards away from it. The blast had wiped out an entire block and left a huge crevice in the ground. Johnny and Kitty, no doubt unconscious, were caught between stones and dirt.

Vlad sneered in satisfaction and then laughed. He turned to face his allies but instead saw a black fist soon followed by several stars. Aragon flew down and caught him on his back before he could figure out what had happened.

However, after following the gazes of his partners, he was soon able to spot a familiar teenage ghost kid hovering above them all with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You!" he hissed angrily. That was pretty much he only thing he could say. He stuttered a bit and then rose off of Aragon's scaly back and back into the air. "How are you still alive?"

At this, Danny's expression turned fierce and his eyes reverted to their blue entirety. Vlad was taken aback by his reaction, but he kept a straight face and flew up so that he and his nemesis were now at exact eye level.

The remaining ghosts had separated and went to join their group leaders, but the halfas held out their hands to signal for them to stop.

"I can handle this," Vlad said to them, now speaking very seriously. They got the hint and backed away, each one turning their attention to Danny. His army had backed down as well on his order. Vlad raised a brow.

"You're actually going fight alone?" he asked, amused. Danny scowled.

"I'm not fighting alone," he said back. At this, Vlad laughed.

"Oh that's right, you've got your friends standing by you no matter what, right?" he mocked, but Danny's expression did not change.

Instead, he got into his fighting stance and simply said, "Yes."

Without hesitation, he released a powerful blue beam at Plasmius, but he phased through it and became tangible when he was only inches away from Danny's face. However, he was expecting that and threw a punch which made a direct hit with Vlad's face. He fell back and roared in anger, aimlessly shooting another ectoplasmic blast.

Danny held out a hand and absorbed the attack. Then he released the same blast through his other hand and it targeted Vlad. The vampire-like ghost raised one of his hands, emitted a purple glow from it, and disintegrated the blast in a second. Still charging forward, he aimed a punch at Danny with the same hand, but the white haired ghost took in a deep breath and then yelled, releasing powerful waves of energy.

A deafening wail shattered the serenity of the starry skies and sent an earsplitting noise down on the citizens, averting their attention from the battle below to the new one up in the sky between the town's two public enemies.

"Danny?" Sam whispered, unsure if it was really him, but the familiar ring of blue light that had just appeared confirmed it. It traveled in opposing directions up and down his body, transforming him out of his power-enhanced mode and back into regular Danny Phantom.

Plasmius was thrown back from the force of the attack. Danny continued his wail until his transformation. He felt his energy rapidly depleting and put a hand to his head immediately. Now that he was back to his normal form, things were going to be a lot harder. It'd be best to avoid another ghostly wail.

Maddie narrowed her eyes in anger and clenched her fists. She turned around to face the three children behind her.

"Go home you three. Jasmine, I want you to activate the Ghost Portal."

Jazz looked at her quizzically and then back up at the battle.

"But Danny needs me—"

"I know," her mother cut her off. She grabbed her wrist and began to run. Jazz followed closely behind and left Sam, Tucker, and Jack very confused.

"Maddie, wait up!" Jack called after her as he took off behind them. Sam and Tucker looked at each other and then back up.

"Come on," Sam said, pushing forward through the crowd of scattered people. They were now running as blasts exploded around them.

"Sam, we're going the wrong way," Tucker called as she dragged him toward the center of the crowd.

"No we're not. Can I borrow this?" she asked quickly, pulling a weapon out of a passing woman's hands. It was loaded with red ectoplasm and she smiled.

She brought the weapon up to her eye and aimed. Tucker stepped back and looked up.

"No way! Sam, you might hit Danny."

He ran forward and pushed the GRC down before she could fire.

"Tucker, I had a clear shot."

"You don't know that," he replied. "They're moving too fast. You might miss."

"What're you talking about? They're not moving at all!"

As soon as she said this, Vlad flew forward and bent his arm back. He emitted a red blast and pressed it forward into Danny. He took the hit and fell back.

Plasmius wrapped his cape around himself and disappeared in a puff of red smoke. He reappeared behind Danny and, swinging the cape back over his shoulder, created another ghost ray. Danny became intangible and phased through the older halfa before he could release the attack.

Danny regained control and flew back towards his rival. Both ghosts created another beam of energy and green mixed with red in a colossal explosion that sent them both speeding back through the air. Vlad crashed into the town billboard and Danny flipped through his fall and landed smoothly on his feet. He took off again and fired another blast, though Vlad became intangible and dodged it.

While he was distracted, Danny created an energy blade. It dove into the ground and advanced on the malevolent ghost. He once again emitted the familiar purple light from his hand and held it out in front of him. It made contact with the blast.

The purple coloring of Vlad's power mixed with the blue of Danny's energy blade and it leaked through the blast like blood in water. Eventually, the purple reached Danny's hands and he cried out in pain when it touched him. He pulled his hands back and the energy blade disappeared.

Danny bit his lip to try to take his mind off the pain, but it was no use. His palms were bleeding green blood. He looked up and clenched his teeth.

Plasmius curled his glowing hand into a fist and held it before him to prepare a defense for any other oncoming attack. Danny felt a searing pain spread through his eyes and closed them immediately. Then, remembering the familiarity of the feeling, opened them again just as two green beams were fired out of them and towards Plasmius. He flew forward to face the blast head on.

Danny's eyes widened in suspicion and confusion. Why was he heading straight for it? Plasmius' hand flashed again, but this time, the purple glow spread up his arm like his other blast. He held his arm out in front of him and flew directly into the two green beams.

They exploded on impact and he continued flying, going right through them. Danny was unsure of what was going on. All he could see was an explosion up ahead. Then, suddenly, Plasmius emerged from the green light with his arm still out in front of him. He cried out in fury and swung his hand across Danny's chest.

The young ghost screamed louder than he knew he could as the agonizing light cut across his torso, slashing his suit and burning his skin. He pulled back immediately, but green blood was already emerging from the wound.

There was another flash of light, though this time it was a bluish white. A ring had formed around his midsection. He was changing back.

"No," he muttered through gritted teeth. He pushed the rings back together and they disappeared. By the time he looked up, Vlad was already charging. He raised his hand to create a ghost ray, but another bream of green ectoplasm hit him from the side and threw him off balance.

"What the—?" he said angrily, turning to see what hit him. Danny looked around as well and caught sight of the Spectre Speeder. Maddie was in the driver's seat and Jazz was riding shotgun. His mother reached forward to activate something and he noticed a gun-like weapon protrude from the roof of the vehicle. It glowed green and then fired an electric-looking beam of ectoplasm. It hit the ghost again and he fell further through the skies.

"And of course, someone has to come to young Daniel's rescue," he snapped angrily, receiving a look of hate from Danny. He ground his teeth and closed his hands into fists.

"Do us all a favor, Vlad," he said agitatedly, staring eye-to-eye at his opponent, "and put your money where your mouth is."

Allowing his anger to take control, he held out both of his hands and created an ectoplasmic blast. Releasing more energy into it, it increased in size and force and ended up being more painful than Plasmius had expected. For the third consecutive time, he was thrown back through the air, though this time, it hurt a lot more.

There was a faint change from dark to light and Danny looked up at the sky, as well as everyone else beneath them. It was the same, but he could've sworn he saw something.

"Danny, look out!" Jazz said through the speakers. He turned his gaze back to what happening before him and noticed Plasmius headed toward him.

He raised his fists in a fighting stance, but then his rival split himself into three others. Now up against four, Danny was beginning to get panicked.

"Get out of here!" he ordered his mother and sister, but Maddie just scowled at the four ghosts surrounding her son. She undid her seatbelt and reached into the backseat for something. Jazz took over the wheel.

"Allow me," one of the four Plasmiuses said as he aimed a ghost ray at the vehicle. Jazz narrowed her eyes and swerved to the left as he released it. Danny, however, created a green shield in front of it and repelled the attack. He then cried out as three blasts hit him from behind.

The Plasmius duplicates were floating around him. They each fired another ghost ray, but Danny crouched down and formed a circular shield around him. The three ghosts were expecting him to do that and rammed into him. His shield faded away and he stumbled through the air, clutching his chest.

They laughed, charged again, and shoved him, though this time they did not let go. He could feel them pushing him down and no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free. His mind was too worried to focus and intangibility and he ended up collided into the ground with his already aching back.

The three Plasmiuses stood up above him and each of their eyes flashed red. Danny closed his own and phased through the floor before their blasts could reach him. He appeared behind them and created a blast of his own.

They all turned around in surprise at his quick recovery.

"Daniel—" one of them began, but Danny released his blast and swung his hand through the air so that it hit all three of them.

They disappeared with a combined shout. Danny stepped forward cautiously. There was no one around and everything seemed calm. Suddenly, a red flare hit him from behind again and sent him falling forward into the ground. He sat up immediately, clutching his chest again, and looked over his shoulder to find none other than Plasmius.

"You've had your fun," he said quietly. "But now I'm fed up."

He reached a hand towards Danny. A red glow appeared in the tips of his outstretched fingers, but instead of releasing it, he raised his hand slowly higher. Danny gasped as he felt his entire body being lifted. He tried to struggle but it was no use.

"Let go of him!" Maddie shouted out angrily. Her voice caught his attention, but he did not turn around. Danny saw a jet pack strapped to her back.

"Look out!" he called over Vlad's shoulder. Maddie turned around to find the Plasmius duplicates standing behind her.

"He can split himself into three other forms?" she wondered aloud.

"Don't touch her!" Danny said angrily. Vlad smiled.

"Oh but Daniel, why would I? After all, she is the love of my life."

Danny raised a brow at his tone, but his mother's shriek caught his attention and he looked back at her. One of the clones had grabbed her from behind. She narrowed her eyes and kicked up, managing to get him in the nose with her knee. When he released his grip, she threw him over her and turned to the remaining two. They advanced on her, but she rose into the air with her jet pack.

Thinking fast, she reached into her black pouch and pulled out the Jack-o-nine tails. They separated, but she aimed at the one nearest to her. It wrapped around his torso and she spun around, swinging him into the second duplicate. They both disappeared, leaving the one she had flipped earlier. It aimed a blast at her jet pack, but she took it off and fell to the floor. The blast collided with the jet pack and caused a small explosion. In the puff of smoke, Maddie got down on the ground and swung her leg around and kicking his ankles. He tripped and fell over. Then, taking out a laser lipstick, she aimed it at him and burned a curved and thin line through the duplicate. It disappeared, leaving only the original levitating Danny.

"I'm going to say this once," she warned, tightening her fists. "Let go of my son."

Finally, Plasmius turned around to face her and laughed. Danny, who now had his back to her, looked over his shoulder to keep her in his view.

"Maddie, when did you become so protective of the ghost boy? Just a few days ago, you would stop at nothing to completely destroy him. And now you're threatening me to try to save him? How touching."

Maddie glared, but she couldn't help but feel guilty. Everything he just said was true. For about half a year she had made it her ultimate goal to get rid of Danny Phantom, no matter what it took. And yet, here she was, standing right in front of him (or technically behind since his back was now facing her) and only now did it occur to her that it was her own son she was trying to kill all this time. The same boy she had given life to, and she had tried so many times to take it away from him.

Danny's eyes widened in surprise. Maddie's tightened fists had become softer. She was breathing shakily and trembling. Her eyes were wet and glossy and many tears had fallen down her troubled face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to him. His eyes were full of sympathy at this point. He didn't know what to do.

"Mom—"

Without warning, Plasmius released his control over Danny and he fell to the ground, very confused. When he looked up, Vlad was already heading towards Maddie. She took a few steps back, but did not do anything to fight back. Her mind was still on the weighing guilt.

Danny got to his feet and called out to her again, this time loud enough for her to hear. She turned to him, still teary eyed.

"I forgive you — for everything. And I don't blame you for doing your job. To be honest, I'm guilty too. I kept my secret from you thinking that you would try to hurt me if you knew, but I was wrong. And if I knew you better, we could've avoided all of our past conflicts . . . well the ones involving Inviso-Bill anyway." She gave a small grin at the fact that he had called himself the name they both knew he resented. However, it disappeared just as quickly and he continued speaking. "But after all the effort you put into trying to get rid of Danny Phantom, you're going give up now and let the real enemy get away?"

Those words got through to her. She gave him another weak smile which he returned and then faced her oncoming attacker. Her expression turned fierce and she stretched her fingers and shook her hands a little to ease her tense. Then, bending her knees slightly, she held her arms before her in a fighting stance.

"Don't even try, woman; I'm a ghost," Plasmius called out to her when he reached out to grab her. She narrowed her eyes and flipped back. He grabbed the air instead as she landed on her hands and then, instead of completing the flip, kicked out and hit him in the side of the head. He stumbled back and blinked a few times.

"And I'm a ninth degree black belt," she replied, returning to her stance. "What's your point?"

Danny appeared behind Plamius with a satisfied grin and prepared to assist his mother in the battle, but Maddie, who was on the opposite end, beckoned him away.

"I've got this one, dear. You just sit back and relax."

Before Danny could argue, both Plasmius and his mother ran towards each other and began their battle. He rose into the air and reached out both hands. They began to glow and Maddie jumped up. A shield formed in the place she was standing but she managed to avoid it. Once in the air, she spun around twice, kicking out with each leg each time. To Danny's amazement, she had managed to hit Vlad both times. He fell into the ground head first.

"Go Mom!" he cheered. Maddie gave him a thumb up and returned to her fighting stance, though this time her fingers were straight instead of curled into fists. Plasmius pushed himself up from the ground and turned around to face her. He wiped a little green blood from his scraped cheek and frowned.

"Not bad at all, Maddie," he complimented, receiving a scowl from her. "I think I've held back long enough."

At this, both Danny and Maddie raised their brows in confusion. Vlad smirked and began walking up to her.

"If I can't have you," he said quietly, glancing at Danny as well, "then nobody can."

He held out both hands, one facing Maddie and the other at Danny and fired two beams of ectoplasm. The young halfa gasped and created a shield around his mother. It reflected the beam, but he was left unprotected and took both hits.

"Danny!" she shouted as he fell to the floor, clutching his wounded chest again. Then, throwing an angry look at Vlad, she ran toward him and cried out in anger. He raised his hands in defense, but she grabbed them with her own, swung them over her head, and appeared behind him, still holding his hands though this time against his back. He phased through her grasp, but she hit the back of head with her palm, jumped up, and kicked him in the back, sending him falling face first into the ground while she did a backwards summersault and landed perfectly.

"Do not touch my son," she warned. Plasmius narrowed his eyes and stood up. His hands were glowing.

"Bring it on, woman," he snarled.

Danny stood up several feet behind her and emitted his own ectoplasmic energy. Maddie hadn't noticed the extra backup, but Vlad did. He glanced over her shoulder at the boy and then looked back at her.

"Danny!" a familiar voice called from behind him. His eyes widened and he gasped and turned around. Sam and Tucker were running up to him. He looked back at his mother and Plasmius and then ran away from them, trying to keep Sam and Tucker from entering the battle.

He dashed toward them and the three friends stopped in front of each other.

"Sam, Tucker," Danny whispered, relieved to see them okay. Instead of a reply, both of them ran closer and embraced him tightly. He stumbled back in surprise, but then wrapped his arms around them and returned the hug.

"Danny hurry. The town's in trouble," Sam said when they pulled apart. "There are ghosts everywhere."

"What else is new?" Danny mumbled.

"No no no," Tucker corrected. "There are ghosts and about a hundred more shadow ghosts."

"Shadow ghosts?" Danny whispered. His eyes widened in fright and he turned back to them.

"Guys, the shadow ghosts! They were following me too!"

"Um . . . okay," Tucker said, not catching on. Danny sighed in frustration.

"Don't you get it? They're still coming . . . on someone's command. But they follow orders from one ghost. Only one ghost."

His friends looked at each other with confusion and then simultaneously their eyes widened and they turned back to him.

"Crud . . ."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The dark night skies were lit up by the several stars up above and the luminescent moon. It cast light upon the blackened streets, only to reveal several dark figures slithering through the ground.

There were several shouts from up ahead as people one by one hit the ground, their weapons falling and shattering beside them. Light drops of rain were beginning to pour down on them from the cloudless sky, adding more to the confusion of the alternate town.

A metal suited ghost floated above them all with his arms crossed over his chest. He nodded his head once and the hoard of ghouls behind him sprang forward to attack the fallen humans again. They gasped in fright, but another group of ghosts (much smaller than it had been when the battle began several hours ago) stepped up to cover their injured allies.

A faint smile formed on Skulker's face when he saw his group stop at the sight of the newcomers.

"So, you've finally learned to work together," he called out to them. "It's a little too late now, I'm afraid."

"This ends now," Desiree retorted as she glided forward with her hands glowing a light shade of red. Simultaneously, the ghouls behind her all stretched out their hands and emitted their own energy. Skulker's smile widened and he looked down at the floor.

The slithering shadows rose up above the ground around Danny's army, startling a few of the humans, but the last five or six specters in the group surrounded the people and covered them. The shadow ghosts, however, were not interested in attacking. They moved around the crowd of Danny's allies and appeared beside Skulker's group, ready to attack.

At this point, they were greatly outnumbered. Sana, who was standing right beside Desiree, scanned the crowd and then turned to her friend.

"There are about four hundred of them now and thirty-five of us," she estimated.

"What happened to the others?" Desiree asked. They were missing a few.

"Plasmius got to them," the red-haired teen replied, putting a hand to her head. "And I'm still feeling a little light headed from his last attack."

"We can't let them win," Dora said. She stepped up to the front of the crowd, though this time as a human. She was exhausted from the nonstop battling.

"But there are only thirty-five of us," Poindexter reminded her.

"Thirty-nine," Valerie corrected, stepping forward with her ecto-gun raised. Jack and Star were right beside her and Jazz, in the Spectre Speeder, was hovering above them.

Some of the fallen people were now beginning to get up. Those without weapons stood close to others, but they refused to run. Eventually, everyone was back on their feet looking very exhausted but determined. Valerie hopped onto her flyer and rose high into the sky. She loaded her weapon and aimed it at Skulker.

"Bring it on!" she called. As if on cue, Skulker's allies charged forward and began firing blasts. However, Danny's army, now being the more resolute ones, began fighting with every bit of power they could muster.

Within only seconds, three large blasts had wiped out about a quarter of Evieor's army. Once down, the people took the chance to capture and seal them in the GRC's.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker sprinted across the streets of Amity Park. Each one of them was panting heavily, but they continued to run. Danny took the lead and began looking around, hoping to reach their destination soon. For some reason, he could feel his energy returning. Eventually, they took a turn and began running up the hill in hopes of getting a good view of the rest of the town.

He began to slow down and Sam and Tucker followed suit. They stepped forward and looked down. To no surprise, another battle had already begun. Further down was nothing but darkness and the endless abyss below it.

"Come on," Danny called. He ran forward and jumped off the edge, leaving his two friends behind as he flew straight into the battle.

"Uh, we'll go the other way," Sam said, knowing he couldn't hear. Tucker nodded and they turned and ran down the hill to go meet their friend.

Danny flew through crowd and averted several passing beams. He caught sight of Valerie up ahead and sped up. She was fighting an ectopus. It grabbed her weapon with one of its tentacles and pulled it out of her grasp. She stumbled forward a little and then stood up again to take other, but it rammed into her and sent her flying backwards. She was thrown off the flyer and fell headfirst.

Danny gasped and flew down to try to catch her. She tilted her body back into a flip so that she was now falling with her feet towards the ground, but he caught up with her anyway and took hold of her waist just before she landed. He failed to stop in time and ended up hitting the floor anyway, but he pulled her up above him first so that only he took the hit.

Valerie, who was now lying halfway on his chest and halfway on the floor, pulled out of his grasp and stood up.

"Danny?" she whispered, bending down to get a closer look. He opened his eyes and moaned. She stood back up to give him room to sit.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She smiled and nodded, reaching her hand out.

"Yeah thanks," she replied, pulling him to his feet.

"'I'm surprised you even care'," Danny imitated in her voice. She laughed.

"Nah, now I know you care."

Danny was taken aback by her response.

"Wha-what made you change your mind?"

Valerie hesitated to answer. She look down at the floor and shrugged. Then she turned her gaze back to him, looking straight into his gleaming green eyes.

"I guess I do trust you. Apparently more than I knew."

She smiled at him and he smiled back, continuing to stare at each other, unaware that a darkly dressed girl was watching them in the distance.

"I've got a battle to finish off," Danny said, finally looking away. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he wasn't feeling the usual warmth that he felt when looking in Val's eyes.

"We've got a battle to finish off," she corrected, summoning her flyer. He frowned and looked at her with a much more serious expression.

"No, it's too dangerous. I'll take it from here," he insisted, but Val was too stubborn to go down that fast — and he knew that. Just as she opened her mouth to argue, he flew past, grabbed the jet sled, and flew up into the sky, stopping about fifteen feet in the air to look back at her.

"Hey!" she shouted angrily. He chuckled mischievously and saluted, receiving a glare. "I'll get you for that ghost kid!" she called.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Danny replied before flying off.

"Danny!" Tucker called when Danny had flown over. The halfa stopped and descended.

"What's up," he asked.

"I can't find Sam," he said worriedly.

"I'm right here," Sam said, startling him. He shrieked and jumped back, clutching his heart.

"Don't — do that," he panted. It was hectic enough with the ghosts everywhere.

"Here, hold this," he said to his Goth friend, handing her the flyer. He took off and she grinned at the device.

"She's gonna kick his—"

"Ghosts!" Jack shouted. He ran in front of Sam and Tucker and aimed one of his many ghost-related devices at the three ghouls approaching them. "Get back kids," he ordered.

Knowing all too well what the Fenton inventions were capable of doing, the two didn't hesitate to move out of the way. There was a blinding green flash, several shrieks, and the usual, "Take that you fiends!" before he took off running again.

"Come on, we've got to help Danny," Tucker said to Sam. She nodded in agreement, but a raged Valerie dashed toward them and caught her attention. She sighed and held out the flyer.

"Here," Sam said while the teenage girl tried to catch her breath. She looked up, took it, and took off without a word. Tucker seemed very confused, but he didn't get a chance to ask when Sam began running after her.

One of Walker's goons held out a glowing green rod and pointed it the floating vehicle. Jazz noticed and flew out of the way. The green beam emitted from it hit one of his allies and knocked him into Skulker.

"Watch it!" he yelled, pushing the guard off of him. The ghost narrowed his eyes and pointing his own rod. Skulker stepped back and pressed down on his wrist. Two midsized cannons appeared from the armor on his shoulders and he prepared to fire. However, Walker appeared between the two ghosts and called down his guard.

"The last thing we need is to start fighting against each other," he snapped at them both. "Incase you haven't noticed, they're winning."

Skulker let out a laugh and his weapons returned back into his suit.

"You're joking right? It's four hundred versus—"

A bright green light interrupted him and all three ghosts turned to see about ten of their allies being vaporized with one last shriek. Skulker's eyes widened and he turned back to Walker.

"That was me," Danny called. They turned their attention to him and, in unison, narrowed their eyes in anger.

"You again!" Walker growled. Danny smiled and held out a hand.

"Me again."

A green flash escaped his palm and knocked the three back. Walker hit a street lamp. Walker got to his feet immediately and clenched his fist. Danny raised a brow, but a red flash beat him to it and hit the ghost from the side. He let out a shout of surprise and then rage as it pulled him into a metal device. Another two beams were fired and Skulker and the guard were the next to be pulled into the GRC.

Sam twirled it around her finger casually and nodded at her friend. He smiled back at her and ran forward. Suddenly, her expression changed to fright and she shouted, "Danny!"

He turned around and saw a red flash. Thinking fast, he bent his knees, picked his feet up off the floor by about an inch, and held out a hand to create a circular green shield around him. It destroyed the beam and he stepped back onto the ground to see who had fired it.

Sure enough, it was one of the humans. He had blonde hair and a mullet and was holding the GRC up threateningly. Danny remembered seeing someone like him wearing an anti-Danny Phantom shirt during the last war.

"Great, more friends," he muttered to Sam. She scowled and stepped in front of him.

"Back off!" she demanded, but the attacker did not move.

"Step away from the ghost, Samantha," a voice ordered. She cringed and turned her head slowly to the right only to find her parents there. A group of people were now forming around the two teenagers with raised weapons. Danny looked around nervously.

"Mom, Dad, it's Danny," Sam called to them, but her mother's only reply was, "We know."

Sam's eyes widened in shock at what she was seeing. Her own parents were ready and willing to tear apart her best friend. She bit her lip and turned her GRC on her parents.

"Leave him alone!"

"Don't raise your voice at me—"

"You leave him alone!" she yelled again, firing a beam at them. The flash caused them to shield their eyes while she grabbed Danny's wrist and ran. The crowd around them shouted in anger and began chasing them, but it did not last long when another group of people stopped them. Jack was in the front.

"Back away from my son," he ordered.

"Your son's a ghost and it's your job to get rid of him," one of the opposing members argued. Jack's temper was steadily rising.

"He's done nothing wrong. It's that Plasmius ghost that we should be going after. Stop fighting each other. We're not going to get anywhere by going after Danny."

"What do you know?" an angry woman shouted from behind Mrs. Manson.

"A lot more than you," Jack retorted. He turned his back on them and his fellow Danny Phantom supporters followed.

"Thanks Dad," Danny said as he ran up to his father to embrace him.

"Don't thank me yet, Son. You've still got a lot of explaining to do."

Danny pulled away, sighed, and muttered, "Yeah, I was afraid of that."

"But first," Jack said with a mischievous smile as he held up his weapon.

Knowing all too well how off aim his father's shooting was, Danny immediately ran out of the way. There were numerous green flashes behind him and several ghostly wails.

Soon, the whole area was lit up with different colored flashes of energy as both sides battled severely. He too began shooting out ectoplasm, trying to avoid hitting anyone on his side. It was hard to be so careful when everyone was moving so swiftly. One second he saw an ectopus and then the other Kujo was running after it barking menacingly.

Everyone was moving too fast. A red beam passed in front of him and then another behind. Finally, the third hit him and sent him spiraling through the air. He landed on the cement of the sidewalk. His eyes flashed green and he looked up angrily, but all he could make out was gray and beige smoke.

"Sam!" Danny called. "Tucker!"

With all the noise of the crowd behind the smoke, he couldn't hear if one of them had replied. It was like a constant buzzing in his head. He put his hands to his ears, gritted his teeth, and shut his eyes tightly. This was definitely going to give him a migraine.

Suddenly, a faint image flashed through his mind. And then another. Danny screamed and fell to his knees, now pressing against his ears as hard as he could. No matter how hard he tried, he could not open his eyes. The images kept coming. They were getting clearer and moving more rapidly. He could see two gray eyes appearing consecutively and then people running. Bright flashes of red and green light were appearing everywhere and then two connected, creating an explosion.

The explosion led to a different image — a little girl falling on the street, trying to avoid people's feet as they ran past. A woman ran by, pulled her into her arms, and took off. There was another flash and he saw a giant black beast in a green sweat suit being hit by an energy beam. He stumbled back, regained balance, roared in anger, and dashed forward. Jumping into the air, he reached both paws out to reveal several sharp claws. The image faded again and was replaced by another.

This one was of two figures. One of them fired an ectoblast, but the second jumped over it. She twisted over, landed on the ground with her hands, and swung her legs over, managing to lock her opponent between her ankles, and then threw him off balance. He fell the floor, landed one on of his hands, and pushed himself back up.

The image faded to black and Danny, who had ground his teeth due to the splitting headache, finally pulled his hands away from his head and took a few deep and calming breaths.

"DANNY!" someone screamed desperately. Danny's head shot up immediately and he looked around.

"Huh? Wha—?"

"You'll be at my mercy soon enough, Danny Phantom."

The voice sent chills down Danny's spine and he rose to his feet immediately and glanced around.

"Danny!" the first voice shouted again. He gasped and turned around instantly to follow the direction it had come from. However, a black mass of energy formed in the smoke and a head appeared out of it. Two sharp fangs headed straight for him and he leaned back to try to avoid the attack, but it was too late. They pierced his skin and went through him. He cried out in anguish. It felt as if every nerve in his body had been burned and his molecules were shifting.

And sure enough, the blurry yellowish color of the smoke disappeared and was replaced by the sharp midnight blue of the nighttime sky. He landed hard on his stomach on the disturbed grass.

For a minute, everything seemed quiet. The breeze was soft and calm, despite what was going on further down in the town. But something didn't seem right. How'd it suddenly become so quiet? He lifted his head off the grass and let out a gasp. The same pain he had felt a few seconds ago shot through him and he fell back down, gritting his teeth in agony. But the longer it remained still, the faster it began to subside until he was able to get back on his feet.

Maddie was up ahead, wearing some sort of silver metal gauntlet on her right hand. Claws were protruding out of it. Plamius was a few feet in front of her on hands and knees. He was clutching his chest for some reason.

It was hard to tell what was going on from his distance. They seemed like miniscule figures to him. He looked down at his own chest and saw the bloodstained tear on his suit where Plasmius had cut him. If that left a scar . . .

Gathering his strength, Danny began walking forward. There was a faint crack beneath him as he stepped on a twig and Maddie's eyes immediately turned to him.

"Danny!" she called, abandoning Vlad and running over to him. She pulled him into a tight hug and he felt his legs tremble at the force. When she finally released him, he swayed on the spot for about a second until she pulled his arm to keep him from falling.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" she asked, putting a hand to his forehead.

He pushed it away gently and mumbled, "I'm fine. What's with Plasmius?"

Maddie turned to look over her shoulder at the crouching ghost. He was trying to get up, but each effort ended in him falling back down. She held up her gloved hand and Danny backed away slowly. It was his usual reaction to seeing any of his parents' new inventions.

"Your father and I built this one after the Ghost War last month. It's the new and improved Fenton Gauntlets. But we didn't finish making its pair. Well, anyway, to make a long story short, I severely weakened his ghostly aura and shortened out most of his powers. He won't be fighting back for a while."

"Good," Danny said, walking past his mother and towards Plasmius. "Then it's time to end this."

She nodded and followed behind him. Vlad looked up at his rival when he stopped before him. His eyes were hazed and he seemed paler than usual.

"Daniel," he managed to whisper. He said the name with pure hatred, but Danny ignored him.

"It's over," he said simply.

"No, it's not."

Danny's head jerked up and his eyes widened in dread. Both halfas and Maddie turned around to find a tall dark figure approaching them. He stopped about three feet from away from Danny's mother. The light of the moon reflected on his gray skin, casting a shadow over half of his face while making the other half visible.

"In fact, it is far from over."

His voice sent chills down Danny's spine, but nevertheless, the halfa stood his ground. Evieor turned his gaze upon his fallen ally and smirked.

"Beaten at the hands of a human," he spat. "Pathetic."

Vlad's narrowed his hollowed eyes and winced.

"It's not over yet."

"For you . . . it is," the ghost replied. "You lost your chance. This is my fight now."

Danny shot him a fierce look and tightened his clenched fists. Evieor turned his gaze to him and took another three steps forward as he spoke.

"And this time, it's just you and me."

He raised his right hand and created a black string of energy. It wrapped around Maddie's waist and pulled her into the air.

"Let go of me!" she demanded, but he did not listen. He swung her further and released her when she was at least ten yards away. She fell back into the ground and sat up angrily. A small black dome formed around her. No matter how hard she tried hitting it, it would not budge.

Danny shot Evieor a look of pure hatred and emitted two green flares from his hands. Without saying a word, he sprinted forward, rose into the air, and swung his hands down. The green changed to blue and an energy blade crashed into the ground, but Evioer jumped up and evaded the attack. While in the air, he strung an invisible chord and a giant fist appeared and shot forward.

Danny, still holding the end of the energy blade his palm, titled his torso and swung his arms to the right, dragging the blade with him. It formed as a shield against the fist and both blasts exploded. Evieor swiftly sped through the air to avoid the blast, but Danny remained where he was and created a shield. The wind and excess energy from the explosion hit the barrier and went around it, leaving him unharmed.

When the blast had cleared, he dismissed the shield and looked around, still with a furious expression set on his face. There was a black blur behind him and he turned his head immediately to the right.

Sure enough, Evieor was flying at him at a speed of 140 mph. Danny held out an arm before him and blocked the ghost's punch. He then swung his other arm around and sent his own fist at his opponent.

Evieor made himself intangible and Danny's hand went straight through him. Then he made himself solid again and trapped Danny within him. The halfa struggled, but could not break free. Getting angry, he created a blast with his free hand and pushed it into his rival. He shouted in rage and pulled away while Danny phased through and released himself.

"Not a bad fighter when you're angry," Evieor commented, holding his face with one hand.

"You're not that bad," Danny said, still keeping his expression. His rival smirked and lunged forward. He glided to the right and evaded the attack. Then, appearing behind him, fired his own ghost ray and added, "Terrible would be more accurate."

Evieor hissed angrily, revealing his fangs and flew at the halfa to attack again. Danny narrowed his eyes more and waited. When the ghost was a foot away, he tilted his body back. Evieor flew over him and missed. Danny then kicked up and managed to get his enemy in the stomach. He threw him over and then fired another ghost ray that hit him halfway through his fall. He was thrust back with a jolt and landed in the ground, leaving a long trail behind him until he finally stopped.

Without hesitation, Danny turned over so that his stomach was facing the floor and emitted two green beams from his eyes. Evieor became intangible and they hit the ground instead, leaving a large hole.

Danny looked around, but his enemy was out of his view. Suddenly, something hard collided with his chin and sent him flying upwards. Quickly recovering from the hit, Danny turned over, expecting Evieor to try to hit him in the back from above. Sure enough, he was right.

The ghost had already aimed a punch, but the halfa caught it with his hand and emitted another two beams from his eyes. His enemy moved his head and dodged the attack, but Danny had grabbed a hold of his other hand and both ghosts were now trying to push the other back. It was easier for Evieor since Danny was below him and gravity was fighting against him.

However, just before he could push him down, Danny bent back and pulled Evieor with him so that they were falling headfirst into the ground. Still, they continued to struggle. For the third time, Danny created two beams from his eyes, but this time they hit the target.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Danny pulled away and flew back up. Evieor didn't have a chance to do the same so he tilted his body just enough for him to land on his back instead of his head. The impact caused a loud and massive vibration. Danny was able to feel it in the wind.

He looked down and expected to see his fallen rival, but when the smoke cleared, he was gone. He sensed a sudden movement beside him and turned around just in time to see a vision of black and grey. Evieor's fist collided with his face and sent him falling back through the wind.

Fortunately, Danny fell from a high height and was able to slow down before he reached the ground. The landing was smoother than it would've been, but he could still feel the familiar jab in his back as the pain from the earlier attacks that night shot through him. It disappeared instantly, but Evieor had enough time to reach him.

He flew down at full speed and pulled back his arm, curling his fingers into a fist. Danny looked up and gasped. Black energy appeared around his clenched hand and he brought it forward to punch.

The halfa bent down and covered his head. He created a shield just as Evieor released his attack. The beam turned into a vast blast that obliterated most of the ground around him. He could even feel his shield start to disappear and had to throw in extra effort to keep it from doing so. Finally, the blast ended, leaving a lot of dust and smoke floating around. Danny fell to his knees and took three deep breaths until the smoke cleared and he saw Evieor standing beside him. A smirk formed on his bruised face.

Danny narrowed his eyes and got to his feet. Shouting out angrily, he emitted a ghost ray, but Evieor caught his hand and punched him again. He fell back and ground his teeth. His vision was starting to get blurry. He blinked several times to clear it up, but then five cold fingers closed around his wrist and pulled him up. He held Danny's legs with his other hand and pulled him up above him.

Danny tried to break free, but as soon as the intangibility began to kick in, Evieor sent a shock through him. He cried out in agony and became tangible again.

"This battle is over," Evieor declared. "I've won."

He flew up into the air and stopped high enough for Danny to feel the wind blowing harshly against his skin, slapping him in the face like pretty much everything else that night. The rain was pouring continually. He closed his eyes and allowed it to wash away all of his rage. A faint smile formed on his lips as his worries slowly started to disappear.

His anger — his frustration — it was all weighing him down. Pressing down until he was left with no strength to continue. It wasn't his key to fighting better. After a few hits, the tables had turned completely and he was left struggling. But that wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

"I didn't come this far to be beaten by you," he said, phasing through Evieor's grasp. He looked up at his now empty hands and gritted his teeth in anger.

"Where are you Phantom?"

"Up here."

Evieor looked up and gasped as a green flash caught his sight. It hit him hard and knocked him several feet down. Just as he recovered from the first, another blast hit him. Danny continued throwing them at him until he was sure that he and his rival were a great distance apart.

"You missed me," Evieor whispered. He gasped in fright and turned around. The ghost was right behind him. He grabbed Danny's wrist and emitted a purple glow from his hand. It made contact with his skin and the halfa screamed. His shout echoed through the skies and Evieor laughed.

Danny could feel tears forming in his eyes from the pain. He wasn't even aware that he was still screaming. His mind was focusing on one thing.

There was a tap on Evieor's shoulder and he turned around. Three glowing fists made contact with his face and sent him hurtling backwards. His grip on Danny loosened and he pulled away. His entire wrist was green and he could feel blood traveling down to his fingers.

Suddenly, the vivid dark blue sky changed instantly to a softer and deeper color and several clouds appeared, pouring rain down on the town. The dark abyss had disappeared and a full view of Amity Park — the real Amity Park — was visible. Though it still seemed damaged and ruined in many ways, it looked almost all right compared to what it had been just a second ago with the effects of the constant battling.

Danny's heart rose with hope, but just as quickly, the darkness returned, along with the severe damages to the city. The sky was back to being a dull lifeless blue-black.

"What the heck?" Danny's voice echoed. He looked around and nearly screamed (had it not been for the fact that his throat was hoarse from his previous shout, he would've). There, right in front of him, were three other Danny Phantoms, all staring back at him, though without the green wrist.

"I-I did it!" he exclaimed gleefully, but the other three Danny's gasped and his smile immediately disappeared. Something hit him hard from behind and knocked him into the ground. His unstable clones returned to him and left him lying there as one Danny again. He moaned and sat up.

To no surprise, Evieor was hovering above him. Danny heard two pairs of footsteps and turned around in alarm. His heart lifted with bliss again at the sight of his two best friends.

"Need a hand?" Tucker offered. Danny smiled and stood up.

"Like my answer to that would change your minds," he responded. "How's the battle going?"

"Psh, we're kicking their butts," Tucker said happily. He looked up at Evieor and raised his weapon. "How's everything with Dracula?"

"He's not backing down. I've tried almost everything."

"What you're doing now isn't working," Sam stated. "You're just hitting each other. All you're doing is making yourselves weak. If you want to win this, do have to do what you did last time."

Danny raised a brow and looked back up at Evieor. He seemed to be watching them.

"What's last time?" he asked.

"The end of the first Ghost War," she told him. "That final attack."

He thought back to the end of the previous war and remembered the shield. But there was only one reason why he was able to end it that quickly.

"I had the town's support last time," he said. "I don't have that now."

"Yeah . . . but you've got us," Tucker reminded him, but Sam frowned.

"I don't know how we're gonna fight from the ground," she said. Danny's head shot up in remembrance and he smiled.

"Don't worry about that," he assured. He stretched out his good hand towards his two friends and concentrated on levitation. The first try was unsuccessful and he tried again, but still nothing happened. Sam and Tucker glanced at each other as he made another useless attempt.

"Darn it!" he shouted out in frustration, causing a surge of energy to pass through his fingers. His friends screamed in shock and he looked back at them.

Two clear orbs were suspended around them, almost like shields. They were hovering above the ground. Sam titled her body upward and it moved with her, carrying her higher into the sky.

"Whoa, I could definitely get used to this."

"Look out!" Danny shouted as a black beam of energy shot towards her. She panicked and he flew in front of her to block the attack.

Tucker joined them and fired his weapon. A green beam shot out of it and advanced on the ghost, but he disappeared and circled around them in a black blur.

Sam looked around frantically. He was starting to close in on her. Danny noticed and flew down. He pulled her with him as he dived and dodged Evieor as he lunged forward for the attack.

"Tucker—"

"On it," his friend called back, firing again. Evieor created a barrier of smoke before him and the beam phased through it. He then flew forward and appeared behind Tucker in less than a second.

By the time the teen had noticed the ghoul behind him, Evieor's hand had already closed around his neck. Danny started to panic. His enemy was targeting his friends.

"Leave him alone!" he yelled angrily. He let go of Sam and flew up to free Tucker, but someone else had beaten him to it.

A red beam of ectoplasm headed straight for the specter, but he held out his free hand and created a black shield. Danny flew past, grabbed Tucker, and moved out of the way as another beam was fired.

He looked down and saw Valerie heading straight for them with an ecto-gun. Just below her, a crowd was starting to gather. But this one consisted of only humans.

"What's going on?" Sam asked when he and Tuck reached her.

"I don't know," Danny replied, watching them attentively. All of Amity Park's citizens had all gathered below to watch the battle. Several of them were firing their own weapons. Evieor stretched his hands out and created a barrier around himself. The various missiles, beams, and other forms of energy hit the shield and exploded on impact. A thick gray smoke was beginning to form around it due to the explosions. They stopped firing and waited until it cleared.

Evieor let his guard down and looked back at them. Narrowing his eyes angrily, he raised one hand and created another black beam. The people began shooting again, but their missiles never reached him.

The black light expanded until practically the whole sky was hidden behind it. Gradually, the crowd began to diminish as people started running for cover. The fewer brave ones continued fighting. Even Valerie had enough sense to maintain her distance and returned to battling from the ground.

"No!" Danny yelled. It was him Evieor wanted. Not them. He flew down and emitted his own green ectoplasm. Evieor released his blast and Danny closed his eyes.

It collided with his shield and he jolted back a few feet. There were several panicked screams from below. He ground his teeth and stopped. He was pushing against the shield which was now holding back the blast.

Evieor screamed in rage and used his other hand as well. The blast grew steadily larger and he could feel it pushing down on him.

"Don't let him win!" someone shouted to him. He shut his eyes tightly and pushed harder. His whole body was beginning to shake. That blast was at least thirty times larger than he was. If he let it go, the remainder of Amity Park would be completely obliterated.

"I . . . agh! I can't!" Danny choked, slowly beginning to lose his control. His shield was beginning to fade, but he put more energy into it.

There were several gasps from below and the same voice shouted, "Don't give in to him, Danny!"

The shield began to move towards him, but he remained still. His arms were slowly beginning to bend and soon, his body was against the barrier. If he let go, not only would the town be destroyed, but he'd be the first to go.

Danny could feel the warmth of the energy against the side of his face. He was now lying flat against it, trying hard not to release it.

"What makes you think you can possibly defeat me?" Evieor's voice echoed in the back of his mind. He pressed his eyes shut tighter.

"Determination," his own voice replied. Danny tried to shake the noises out of his head, but it was no use. They were coming just like the images. Why was it that whenever he closed his eyes, this was what happened?

Because this is what you need to know, a feeling deep within responded.

But why?

"And what exactly is it that motivates you?"

Danny slowly opened his eyes.

"Everything I'm fighting for," he whispered aloud.

That was it. That was how he won his battle last time. And that's exactly what he was doing now. He couldn't lose. "I won't!"

"Danny!" Sam called out desperately. He blinked a few times and lifted his face off the shield to see her better. They were floating in the air, right beside his fading shield.

'Move out of the way!' he wanted to shout, but they couldn't. It was as if someone had stopped time around them, keeping them still.

Evieor . . .

Danny closed his eyes again and put his face back against his shield. Maybe, if he focused hard enough, he'd be able to reach Evieor's energy. After all, it was becoming practically one with his green barrier.

He put all of his concentration on trying to gain control of his opponent's blast. Slowly, it began to move. The sides of it were moving closer to the center, towards him and away from his friends. The people below began separating and ran aside as the black energy focused on one particular spot now . . . Danny Phantom.

"What's he doing?" Tucker said frantically. Sam's heart filled with dread. She knew exactly what he was doing but couldn't find the voice to answer.

A few times, her lip quivered. Tucker kept his gaze on his best friend and then gasped, figuring out what was going on.

Jazz looked up in fright. Her brother was the center of the blast, but she could tell that Evieor wasn't the reason why.

"He summoned the energy toward himself," she muttered to herself, now beginning to realize what he was doing. "Danny, NO!"

She tried to run towards him to make sure she'd take the hit too if he let go, but someone grabbed her arms and pulled her back. She struggled, but more people began to hold her.

"We have to stop him!" she yelled. "Stand beneath him or he'll—"

Danny took a deep breath and moved his face off of the shield. He turned his head to look at it, and at the black force behind it. It had taken a lot of strength to move Evieor's blast the first time and he wasn't going to risk doing it again, even though he felt stronger now more than ever. If he did this right. . .

Gathering as much courage as he could find within himself, Danny let go of the shield with one hand and held it up so that his palm was facing it, but was not against it. Then, narrowing his eyes, he removed the other hand and held it slightly over his head, tilting his body to the side. The shield disappeared at once, leaving nothing but darkness in his sight as it advanced toward him.

Tucker's eyes widened in fright and his jaw dropped.

"NO!" Jazz and Sam cried out at once. The people holding her back loosened their grip and stared wide eyed. She broke free of their grasp and ran forward.

Danny gritted his teeth and braced himself for the attack. In less than a second, the massive blast surrounded him and he disappeared within the black energy.

Jazz clenched her hands into fists and stood her ground, ready to take the hit next. The force of the wind blew her hair back and she narrowed her eyes, but her expression did not change. She wore a determined look, despite the tears that were now pouring out of her eyes. If it took her brother, it was going to have to take her too.

However, it never reached the ground. For some reason, the black mass stopped in midair, right after it made contact with Danny. Slowly, people began lifting their heads to see what was going on. Sam and Tucker leaned forward in confusion. Everyone's attention was now focused on that one scene.

Suddenly, the black energy began to move, startling a few of the citizens, though this time it wasn't heading towards them. It seemed to be getting smaller. Soon, it was small enough to reveal a shadowed figure.

Sam's eyes widened in amazement. She could've sworn it looked like Danny. And she was right.

Danny Phantom, still levitating in the same spot he had 'disappeared' in about ten seconds ago, was holding his hand out. His other hand was raised near his head and was curled into a fist.

Finally, the depleting energy disappeared into his outstretched palm. He had absorbed the blast. The figures below stood motionless and speechless at what they had seen. Even Evieor seemed at a loss.

Without warning, Danny screamed out in rage and swung his other fist forward, opening it up to release a very powerful green blast identical to the first except nearly twice as large.

Jazz shut her eyes immediately to avoid being blinded and turned away. Judging by the movements beside her, everyone else had done the same.

The only noise that could be heard now was her brother's furious cry as he unleashed Evieor's attack right back at him. And then, as expected, another scream was heard. Danny's rebounded attack had hit its target.

Evieor's gray eyes became completely black as he began to fade away. Waves of black energy were leaving his body and then soon, he disappeared as a flash of green light engulfed him. His last cry echoed through the firmament.

The green light gradually faded away, revealing a soft dark blue sky patched with many stars and a few light gray clouds. A gentle drizzle was descending upon them. Danny could feel wet strands of hair falling over his eyes. Just like before, the rain was washing away his wounds. He felt blissful floating there. It was over. They had won.

"Danny!" Tucker called. Danny was pulled out of his thoughts and turned his head to the left to see his two best friends, now gliding toward him. The orbs were starting to disappear. He reached out a hand and grabbed them both before they fell.

"Do you hear that?" Sam asked him as he pulled them up beside him. He listened carefully and realized that people were cheering —for him. It was a pleasant thing to hear.

"It's about time," said Tucker. Danny laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Congratulations, Halfa."

He turned around — pulling Sam and Tucker with him — and saw a group of ghosts floating around him. Desiree was the one who had congratulated him.

"Thanks," he muttered. "I couldn't have done it without you guys, though."

Sana turned away in disgust.

"Don't get sentimental yet. There's still one more thing we have to do."

Danny's heart skipped a beat.

"What?" he asked frantically. She smirked and rose higher into the air. He, Sam, and Tucker exchanged worried glances.

"Just think of it as gift for all of your trouble," the ghost called from above as she raised her hands. A dark red light appeared around her and soon, thick scarlet smoke. His eyes widened in realization and he quickly pulled Sam and Tucker close to him and formed a green shield around them.

He saw Valerie below doing the same, only her shield was created by one of her various gadgets. Star ran past her and called out to him, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. Suddenly, she fell to her knees, holding her head, as well as everyone else on the ground. Danny was familiar with this. It had happened to him before. Within seconds, the smog had formed around them all, separating them from each others' view.

There was another flash of red and he turned around. The force of it was so powerful it had sent him, Sam, and Tucker flying back. His shield disappeared right after it, but he didn't get the full effect of the attack.

"Danny?" he heard Sam say, but he was steadily growing weaker and loosened his grasp. He let go of them and continued to fall. He narrowed his eyes as the wind pushed against him. The breeze felt nice, but it was bound to end soon.

And then a searing pain spread through his head as his vision faded to black.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So what's next, ghost boy?"

"I made a promise . . . I made a choice to be the hero. And the hero never gives up."

"Not then, not now, not EVER!"

"Powers or not, I promise I won't lose!"

"I want you out of my way. Nothing more to it."

"So this . . . this is Amity's hero?"

"He kept talking about an army of ghosts before you came."

"Doesn't look like I have any other choice. I guess I'll have to fight back."

"I knew it! Never trust a ghost!"

"I didn't do anything to you! It was—"

"You-You don't think she might've . . . you know?"

"I'M GOING GHOST!"

"How on earth did you manage to pull that off?"

"No! We can't let them win."

"Life gets so complicated when you're a teenager."

"It's the only way. . ."

"Danny? Danny, get up!"

"Danny. . ."

Danny groaned and opened his eyes. A darkly dressed girl was standing above him. On the other side of the bed was an African American boy. He blinked and looked back at them, now able to see clearly. He looked around, noticing that the room was painted white and there were a few more beds around him, aligned neatly against the wall. Curtains were hanging around them. He and his friends weren't the only ones in the room.

"Sam, Tucker, what happened?"

Sam sat down on the bed beside him.

"I don't know for sure. One minute we were celebrating and then the next — are you okay?"

Danny, who had put a hand to his forehead, looked up at her and nodded.

"Yeah, just a serious case of déjà vu. What happened with Sana?"

This time, Tucker was the one to answer.

"We don't know. I remember I passed out. I woke up about thirty minutes ago. Sam was already awake, but you weren't."

"You landed on your head," she informed. "I was afraid you were never going to wake up."

"Well, it jogged my memory a bit," Danny said, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up.

"Speaking of memory," Tucker said quickly. "Something's wrong with the town. Your parents came in a few minutes ago to see how you were. I heard your mom saying something like, 'The whole thing is such a blur to me. All I remember is a battle. That Phantom kid was there.' It was really weird."

"She's not the only one," Sam added. "A few of the other patients woke up recently. They were talking with their parents. I heard Paulina's dad telling her that he woke up on the street outside and had to carry her here. The same thing happened with our parents."

"Wait, wait, wait," Danny said, now growing more confused. "You mean to tell me that people are forgetting everything?"

"Not everything," Sam corrected. "But they definitely don't remember that you're Danny Phantom. Dash woke up mumbling that he had a dream that you were the ghost kid."

"That one detail seemed to be hazy to them all. Sort of like a fading remembrance," Sam added. Danny smiled. He would have to thank Sana when he got the chance.

"So, everything's okay now," she said, looking out at the window. "Well, the town's still battered up, but a lot less than it was during the last few battles. What do you say we head down to the Nasty Burger and relax?"

"I'm definitely up for that," Tucker agreed immediately.

"Me too."

The hospital room doors opened and the three teens turned around. Maddie, Jack, and Jazz walked in. Their faces lit up when they saw him awake and all three of them ran to embrace him.

"Sweetie, you're awake. Oh thank goodness, I thought. . ."

Her voice trailed off and Danny smiled.

". . . that I'd be sleeping until the end of summer vacation? Come on, Mom, I've got ten months of school next year to sleep through. Summer's actually important to me."

That lightened her mood. She laughed and stroked his face gently.

"I'm so glad you're all right. You know, I had the weirdest dream—"

"Uh — I'd love to hear about, but not now," Danny interrupted quickly. If she spoke about it out loud, then his father and pretty much everyone else would've heard and realized that they all dreamt of him being Danny Phantom. And it wouldn't be hard to put two and two together after that. "Sam, Tuck, and I are gonna go hang out at the Nasty Burger. I'll see you guys later."

Before she could say anything to stop him, he jumped out of the bed, grabbed his shoes, and ran out of the room with Sam and Tucker. Once in the hallway, the three friends slowed down.

"Danny wait," Jazz called. By the time he stopped and turned around, she was already right behind him.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked softly. He shook his head and smiled. "So what happened, then?"

"Jazz, don't do this to me. I've already got a million things on my mind right now . . . not to mention the splitting headache."

"What heada—?" Tucker began, but he elbowed him. Jazz gave him an awkward look and then let it go.

"Fine, you can tell me when you want."

She turned around and walked back into the room while the three teens went in the opposite direction and headed for the main teen hangout of Amity Park.

"Hey, do you think Valerie forgot too?" Sam asked hopefully when they entered the restaurant. Danny looked over her shoulder and she turned around to see what he was staring at. There, a few tables away from the window, sat a teenage girl. The radiant glow of the sunlight peaking in through the glass left nothing but a silhouette. Danny squinted to try to make out the figure. He was pretty sure it was Val. As the clouds moved through the sky, the light soon began to disappear and Danny was able to confirm it was her.

She was reaching into a brown paper bag. When she looked up and noticed the three teens watching her, she smiled back and waved. Danny could've sworn he saw her wink before the light returned and shone in his eyes.

He turned away and saw Star walking with Paulina. They stopped at the register to take their order.

"Oh, I forgot to thank Star."

"Don't bother," Sam said. "She'll probably think it was all a dream anyway."

"They only dreamt that he was Danny Phantom. But the battle is still real to them," Tucker stated.

"And besides, she's known who I was even before this incident."

Before she could stop him, Danny took a few steps forward to greet Star, who was now walking over to a table with her meal.

"Hey Star. Listen, about the past couple of months, I—"

"Uh, not to be rude or anything," Star interrupted, "but why are you talking to me?"

Danny raised a brow at her response and asked, "What?"

She gave him one last look and walked away when Paulina arrived muttering, "Freak."

Now more confused than ever, he turned back to his friends, but they merely shrugged.

"Am I missing something?" he asked, sitting down at an empty table.

"Don't ask me, dude. I have no idea," Tucker said.

"Wait a minute! She was right next to Valerie when Sana used her attack. Val shielded herself, but Star was left wide open. She was the closest too," Danny whispered. "So she probably forgot more than the others."

"Ah, whatever," Sam said, obviously trying to get off the topic of Star. Danny looked up at her suspiciously and grinned. Maybe he wasn't so clueless after all. She stood up to order and the two followed, but he kept his gaze on her.

"Well, it looks like everything's finally back to normal," Sam said, turning to him. Danny immediately looked away and smiled. His cheeks were clearly red.

"Not everything," he mumbled. And to his surprise, her cheeks flushed as well.

"I'm sensing a little bond between you two," Tucker interrupted. Sam turned to him and glared.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" she snapped as Danny began dragging them to the counter.

"You know darn well what it means," Tucker teased as he followed behind. "You like him."

And to no surprise, that was followed by a smack from both of them.

"Hey, it's true," he said defensively, rubbing his arm. "You always have."

She raised her hand again, but Danny held her back.

"Ignore him or he'll never stop."

"I'm not stopping until you both admit that you like each other and always have."

"Have not," they said in unison, looking over their shoulders at him as they walked.

"Did too," Tucker insisted. Danny sighed and ignored him, but Sam didn't give in.

"Did not," she insisted childishly.

"Did too!"

"Nuh uh."

"Don't deny it."

"I'm gonna hurt you."

"Just admit that you did."

"Shut up!"

"Did — OW!"

"Didn't."

"Did," Danny muttered, a faint smile creeping onto his face as he looked back at his arguing friends who, apparently, had not heard.

The end of Fading Remembrance! But the beginning for Sam and Danny. Heh. . . For anyone who's wondering, yes I used quotes from both Fading Remembrance and Amity's Hero. Okay, well, once again, THANKS TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS! I enjoyed writing this for you. Please review and . . . well, it's 10:27 for me right now so Good Night!