Ok, this officially had to be my favorite chapter ever. Seriously, as I typed it, I could hardly breathe. I love these self discovery chapters! X3

Jason: Ok, you had your fun but it was a huge pain in the butt if you were in my situation.

Silly Jason, you're simply a character of my story so I do as I please.

Jason: Grrr…

IMPOTANT: By the way, the rules of Alice's game had changed. Thirty minutes for Jason to escape her clutches. Anyways, Danny Phantom characters belong to Butch Hartman while the rest belong to me.

I was embraced by bitter coldness; it was almost like plunging into arctic waters. At the same time, I felt something course through me. It felt raw and different, and it was too strong to even push back. I tried to fight against it but it was no use. It was as if this thing was longing to be free; as if it was trapped. After the sensation had passed, I tried to look up but I couldn't. I was blinded by the light that had consumed me earlier; a light with no discernible origin. My hands were a bit shaky. My legs were rock stiff. My mind was hazy. I didn't know what was going.

"Perfect," I heard a voice echoing somewhere in the darkness, "You think you can just go and hide among the humans? What a terrible way to be a ghost."

Ghost?

I shook my head side to side. Nothing was processing right. I must be hallucinating.

"No? Pitiful, you must not know it then. It is a shame for any ghost to be among the human kind."

"You-you've got it all wrong. Can't you see I'm human?" I managed to say. I noticed the strange new echo in my voice. It was calm but powerful. I decided that it was nothing.

A childish laughter filled the air. "Fool, can't you see what you are?"

I then heard something clatter onto the ground. With my vision still blurred, I kneeled in order to find the object she threw at me. After my hand had finally landed onto something cold, I brought it closer to my face. It felt like some sort of metal object with jagged edges. Slowly but surely, I was able to focus my vision. It was no surprise to see a metal sheet in my hand but it was definitely a surprise to see what was staring back at me.

He looked like some sort of mutant. He had long and messy white hair and a pair of glowing green eyes. Also, there was this soft, white aura that was being emitted from him. As I stared into the metal sheet, I began to observe that he was copying my every movement. Afraid, I touched the metal sheet. He followed the same action. I covered my mouth in shock. He followed suit. When I realized what had happened, I immediately threw the metal sheet away and quickly moved backwards. I knew who he was. I just knew.

That thing in the metal sheet, it was ME.

"No… NO! This can't be me. This is all just a horrible dream," I cried out, particularly to whatever force that made me this way. As my panic grew, I didn't notice that my left arm had started to grow lighter. When I finally did feel the tingling sensation, I fell backwards. I quickly looked at my left arm to see what had happened and, to my complete shock, saw that my arm had gone THROUGH the floor. I pulled my arm out of the ground immediately and looked at it. I could still see my hand but it was translucent, able to see bits of the floor through it.

"Wha-what's happening to me?" I muttered to myself. In my fear, my mind began to form things that could explain what I had become, each theory more horrible than the last. I couldn't help it, my imagination was too vivid.

In the middle of panic, a cold hand had landed on my face and forcefully made me look up. As it did, I found myself staring into Alice's crimson eyes. "How blind are you? You're a ghost, not a human," Alice said with her eyes growing dangerously bright.

"A ghost?" I mumbled like a lost child.

"Yes, this is what you are," she said, gesturing towards herself. My heart, or whatever is in my chest now, fell. As the words slowly sunk into my brain, I felt another scary idea coming along with it.

So if I'm like her, does this mean I'm…

…I'M DEAD?

I wanted to deny it all, like I always would, but no, it wasn't the case. I was glowing, I was cold, and I was scared. I would've believed in anything, even in Santa Claus. As Alice looked upon my horrified face, a smile crept on her lips. Satisfied, she moved away from me. When we were just two feet apart, her hands began to glow. "Since we have everything cleared up," Alice said, her eyes suddenly turning manic, "you're mine."

When she lifted her tiny hands into the air, strange things began to happen. Shelves began to shake violently as toys flew out of their spot. As more of them began to gather and swirl around her, Alice pointed her finger at me and whispered a simple yet frightening command.

"Capture him."

Just like that, they stopped swirling and fell around her. Suddenly, the gravity of the situation hit me when one of the toys twitched. It was a small, generic teddy bear. When it looked up, I saw nothing but its cruel red eyes looking back at me. Soon, all the other toys followed its lead and they soon began to turn into an army of mini-zombies. I would've simply shrugged this off if it was a movie but this was real. There was no screen to separate us.

"You'd better run, my little playmate," Alice said cheerfully.

Almost immediately, I stood up and ran. When I did, it was as if every toy in the storage had come to life. Everywhere I turned, there would be toys grabbing my feet, pulling my leg or trying to reaching out from their hiding spot. Even a toy car managed to make me trip. If that didn't help, my new found powers contributed to me being nearly caught twice. One was when my legs disappeared. I had to stop and force it to turn back to normal. I even punched the side of my thighs in the hopes to turn it back. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the toys that were just behind my back. It was almost too late before I finally saw them and ran away again, ignoring my invisible legs. Fortunately, they turned back to normal in five minutes or so. Second was when my chest hurt. I don't know what caused to the pain but when I looked up, I saw Alice standing in front of me with most of the toys standing behind her.

"Dead end," she said with a smile. She lifted her arms and created a wave-like attack made out of toys. As I saw this, I turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could. I didn't notice how fast I was running because when I looked back, she was gone. As I struggled through the maze of shelves, I had officially decided I had lost my mind. This was insanity. I couldn't possibly escape this hellish nightmare. It didn't help when Alice began singing nursery rhymes that wrecked my train of thought.

"Two blind mice, two blind mice. See how they run, see how they run," Alice's voice teased me as it echoed through the darkness.

Even at my panic, I was suddenly confused. Two blind mice? What did she mean by…?

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"TONI!" I yelled at the direction of her voice. I had completely forgotten about her. I didn't even know how she managed to move after Alice had nearly choked her to death. Still, I had no time to question why. My mind raced. I had to get to her quick. In order to do that, I needed time to think. I walked towards what seemed like a good hiding spot and rested there, leaning against one of the empty shelves. Before I was even given the chance to come up with an idea, I felt a tingling sensation run through me. It took me time to realize what it was before I had hit the floor. When I tried standing up again, I cursed at my new found ability. Actually, I cursed at everything I was mad at.

"Agh, stupid, stupid, STUPID!" I yelled, "Of all the days when I thought I would have a normal me-time, Toni just dragged me out of the house and now look at where we are? I'm running around like a hooligan while trying to save both Toni's and my butts. If that's not bad enough I have…"

When it hit me, I realized I was so stupid that I immediately placed the palm of my hand on my face. I just remembered that I could go through stuff now. If I could try to control this ability, even for a while, I could get to Toni faster compared to navigating through this maze.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus as much as possible. "C'mon, c'mon," I muttered angrily to myself, trying to imagine the tingling sensation I felt earlier. For the first few minutes, nothing had happened. I couldn't concentrate because Toni's screams were making me more nervous and scared. When I had finally given up, I opened my eyes.

Big mistake.

At first, I really didn't feel any difference but when I tried standing up, something felt off. I looked down, only to realize that I was floating, so high up that I could see everything far below. I wobbled uncontrollably in the air, tumbling like a leaf in the wind. Trying to gain control, I 'swam' my way to a wall and grabbed onto the nearest pillar, clinging onto it like there was no tomorrow.

"Stay away from me! I don't want to play with you."

When I heard Toni's voice again, I scanned all over the place and tried to spot that honey-haired girl. Soon enough, I saw her backed into a corner with a broom in her hand as she began to hit one toy after another. In my point of view, she didn't look like she was going to win. Thinking quickly, I instinctively positioned myself into a crouching position against the wall, forgetting the fact that I was way up high since I only had one shot to getting her. I closed my eyes, silently praying that my powers would hold this off long enough. When I opened my eyes again, I looked at her, estimated how far she was and took the leap of faith.

"Toni, heads up!" I yelled as I flew towards her.

For a moment, Toni bore a confused look upon her face but her eyes widened when she saw me.

"What the…"

I grabbed her around the waist and, through some luck, she and I became intangible and it caused us to go to the other side of the shelf. Still holding onto her tightly, both of us violently tumbled across the floor─ rather painfully, might I add─ before we completely stopped. Coughing, Toni rubbed her eye before she looked up at me. I, on the other hand, was completely relieved to see that she was safe.

"Toni, you have no idea how…"

Before I finished my sentence, she punched me in the face.

"AGH, YOU… What the heck was that for?" I yelled angrily, immediately placing my hand over my nose.

Toni still looked scared out of her wits. She searched around for something until her eyes landed on the broom she had earlier. She grabbed it and got into a fighting position, pointing at me with its end.

"Stay back, I-I have a broom," Toni said as her voice shook uncontrollably.

"Toni, please," I muttered as I rubbed my nose, "put that thing down. The last thing you want to do is hurt me."

Toni seemed hesitant. She studied me for a moment but her grip on the broom barely faltered. After a while, she asked, "Why would I trust you? You could be like her."

My chest hurt again. I had forgotten that I was different now. Sighing, I replied, "Toni, it's me Jason."

When I mentioned who I was, I expected her to flip out and deny that I was even Jason. Bracing myself, I put my arms in front of my face as I heard Toni drop the broom. Before I knew it, I felt… hands on my cheeks. Looking up, I saw that Toni had knelt by my side, trying to help me up.

"Oh my God," Toni said as concern began to flood face, "Jason, how… why… what happened to you?"

"I-I don't know," I said, still a little shocked that she accepted everything that easily. "I-I just… turned into this after I saw the light."

"The light?" Toni asked. She avoided eye contact when I mentioned it.

"Aw, how sweet," said Alice's voice from the darkness, "too bad you only have ten minutes left to escape me."

As we both looked up, we finally noticed that we were surrounded by an army of toys. Meanwhile, Alice stood outside the circle, her hands glowing while she held it out in front of her.

"Let us go, you spoiled brat," I growled at her angrily as I gestured Toni to stay behind me.

Alice simply smiled at my insult. "It doesn't matter if I'm spoiled or not. Though, I have to admit that your efforts to evade me are quite successful compared to how other people do. Especially you, my little doll," she said as she motioned towards Toni. "It's a good thing to have your knight protect you now."

"Who are you calling doll?" Toni yelled.

Alice simply ignored Toni. "So, what will it be, my little knight," she muttered, fixing her eyes on me. "Will you save the princess?"

When I heard her mutter those words, I merely glared at her in disgust. I finally understood what this was all about. Toni and I were only toys in her twisted game, nothing more. I should know; I watch my sister play dollhouse and pretend almost in the same manner. Alice, however, was heartless. There were no plans for a happy ending in this world.

"You sicken me," I said as my hands balled into a fist.

"Sorry, but that's how I like to play," Alice said with her eyes transfixed on both of us, her impatience evident. "Hurry up before the clock strikes one."

I felt my whole body tense. I was too afraid; too angry to even make a move. I still had powers that were beyond my control and one false move would cause us. I could've failed in saving Toni and I.

Toni must have known what I felt because I her grip tightened. When I looked back at her, I was surprised to see her eyes full of determination. "Jason, you could do this," she whispered to me, "We're so close now. All you have to do is wing it."

Wing it. The moment she mentioned that word, an idea formed in my head. I didn't like it one bit but it was our only chance of escape. Grabbing Toni by her waist, I said, "Sorry, Alice, but it looks like it you're the one who's out of time."

Before she even had the chance to reply, I summoned all my concentration to flight. Unexpectedly, Toni and I zipped upward in an extremely inhuman rate. When both of us hit the ceiling, I looked down. Alice looked pissed off with my move. As she yelled at us angrily, she made a shoving gesture towards us. In my horror, all the toys began to compress together. I could already guess what would happen next. Holding Toni closer to me, I made a run for it.

I ran blindly away from Alice's crazy attack. It was like a laser that was made out of toys. I temporarily looked back, only to see that this attack was strong enough to create a crack across the ceiling. I could even feel the building shudder under my feet… or over, I wasn't really sure what.

Suddenly I felt something tugging my shirt. When I looked down, I saw that Toni was pointing at something. I looked at what she was trying to tell me and that's when my eyes widened. The door stood slightly ajar now. It must've been from the tremor Alice's attacks were making. When I had stopped running across the ceiling, I turned back─ only see Alice had stopped and saw what we were seeing.

"NO! NONONONO!" Alice cried while placing her hands over her head.

She began to fly straight towards us, deranged and angry. Toni hid her face in my jacket while I instinctively jumped and flew towards the door.

In the speed we were going, I believed that we were going to make it. We were a few feet away from the door. Six, Five. We were so close. We were…

In the middle of my panic, warmth washed over me. Before I knew what was going on, I could feel myself getting weaker and heavier. Unexpectedly, gravity came back. As we crashed onto the ground and skidded across the floor, I let Toni go in the process. When friction finally stopped me, I immediately looked up to see if she was safe. She looked unconscious but she looked fine. I also realized that she was outside as well. She won the game while I was still trapped. I was too weak to stand up so I began to crawl my way out.

"Not so fast!"

Something grabbed me by my backpack. I knew who it was. I couldn't look back. I just focused on clawing my way out.

"You can't escape me," wailed Alice as she tried to hold me back, "You have to play with me. I want to have someone to play with. Please!"

As I temporarily looked back, I saw Alice's eyes were full of actual dread. She didn't matter anymore actually. She was dead. Then again, I was…

"Jason, hold on!"

I was pulled back into the real world as I felt a pair of hands grab mine. As Toni pulled onto me as hard as she could, I felt a familiar sensation pass over me. The weight of my backpack had seemed to disappear as I was thrust out into the light. Toni lost her footing and fell backwards as well. When I saw where I was, I realized I had made it, too. We were free.

Suddenly, I heard a loud thump on the ground. When I looked what landed beside me, I saw my backpack. Both Toni and I turned back to see Alice standing in the shadows. For once, she wore a genuine smile.

"Well played, knight, well played," she said cheerfully, "I hope we play again someday. It was fun."

With one step back, she disappeared.

I didn't understand what just happened but I was too exhausted to even think about it.

"Toni, I think we had enough touring for one day," I said with my usual sarcasm.

When I looked at her, she looked surprised. I gave her a bewildered look.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Jason, are you ok?

I slowly nodded my head, not really sure how to respond to her question. "Yeah," I replied, "Why?"

"I mean, you were dead a while ago. Now you're..."

"What do you even…"

I stopped in the middle of my sentence. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my hair. I was so shocked that I was jolted awake and I immediately ran towards the window. Sure enough, I could see my reflection. The white hair and glowing green eyes were gone, and my black hair and violet eyes were back. I was me again.

"How…"

Before I even had the chance to ask, I fainted.

When I first woke up, I was greeted by the sun. I tried to block my eyes from its rays but it was a useless attempt. Giving up, I tried to put myself in a comfortable position. It seemed useless as well. My hands couldn't seem to find the ground even if I could feel the earth underneath me. When my vision finally focused, I finally saw where I was.

It was a small clearing. I was surrounded with nothing but bushes and trees, and grass was quite plush, if not a little too long. When I looked up, I saw that the sun was nearing the west as birds flew overhead. This was a spot I would usually find myself sketching, which was good because I remembered I had brought my drawing materials. When I tried to reach out for my backpack, I realized it was missing.

Where was it? I thought as I frantically began to search for it. When I looked next to me, I was surprised to see Toni, fast asleep. She looked peaceful, leaning against a tree. I decided not to bother her but my mind immediately when I saw my backpack right in her arms.

"Toni, what do you think you're doing with my stuff?!" I yelled at her, hoping my voice would wake her up.

Like a startled bunny, Toni's eyes flew wide open as she began to look around. It took her a while before her eyes landed on me. To my surprise, she looked defensive. Her clutch tightened on my backpack as she asked, "Jason, how do you feel?"

I gave her a suspicious look. "Why would you like to know how I feel? I feel fine."

Toni, still clinging onto my backpack, stood up and began to walk slowly towards me, as if making sure it was safe to come closer. When she was sure, she sat down beside me and, using her free hand, she reached out for my shoulder.

"Hey, what are you…"

As Toni's hands landed on my shoulder, I didn't feel… anything. I watched in horror and in fascination as her hands went through me.

"What are you, Jason?" Toni asked as she looked at me in the eye. "What are you?"

Right at that moment, everything came back to me. The toy store, the girl, our escape, my…

The feeling came to me again. The light emerged and, this time, I saw where it came from. There was a beam of light that appeared over my waist. Quickly, it began to form two bright rings and they began to travel in opposite directions, one going up and one going down. As they passed over, I could feel myself becoming stronger and colder. As the transformation completed, I saw the same thin halo of light that eerily floated over my skin. I could already tell what had happened to me. I almost screamed in shock but Toni immediately planted her hands on my mouth.

"Shh," Toni scolded me, "You don't want anyone to find you like this."

When Toni released me, I coughed and spluttered a bit. "Toni, seriously don't do that. I could feel the dirt inside my mouth."

"Jeez, sorry Grumpy McSnotty," Toni said as she rolled her eyes. "But seriously, you have me confused. You convinced me that you were dead in this form but… you switched back into a human as if it was nothing. I even checked your pulse."

"My pulse?"

Unconsciously, I placed two of my fingers under my neck. I partially expected for the regular rhythm of the blood flowing through my veins but there was nothing there.

I sighed, feeling dejected. "Well, whatever pulse you felt, it's not there anymore."

Toni looked at me thoughtfully. She then placed the bag down and reached out for my chest. I backed away for a bit, a bit scared but she seemed insistent checking. When her hands finally touched it, her frown grew.

"It's gone…"

I sighed as I began rubbing the back of my neck. Well, what a depressing day.

Suddenly, Toni grabbed my cheeks and pulled me closer to her face.

"But it's fascinating to see you like this," Toni remarked. "Seriously, I never expected something as cool as this to happen to me in a lifetime."

I frowned widened. It seemed like Toni didn't understand half of the situation. As I pushed her hands away from me, I stated, "Toni, it's not cool. Sure, I read a couple of superhero stories but they're all fictional. I don't even know how I turned into this. Even I'm surprised you're taking this whole thing lightly!"

Toni then sat in silence. She placed her finger on her chin, pretending to be some sort of detective. After a while, she snapped her fingers.

"I know! Maybe you got involved in some freak accident that you don't remember; maybe when you were a baby. Your powers decided to just show up now!"

I rolled my eyes. "That is highly unlikely. But…"

Toni stopped smiling as she looked at my face, now deep in concern. "What's wrong? Is there something about it that bothers you?"

"… this was the power that guy was looking for," I muttered in realization, remembering the dream I had before I came to this town.

"What guy? Jason, there's something you're not telling me."

I shook my head. I didn't want to consider my dream. "Forget about it, Toni. Just do."

Toni's eyebrows creased with worry. After a while, she then decided to change the subject. "Now that you have these powers, what are you going to do now?"

I looked at her. She was serious with her question.

"Ignore them," I said with a monotonic voice, "Try to control them. Forget this ever happened."

Toni frowned. "With what you pulled off with that little ghost girl, you could do more."

I stared onto the ground as she stood up and picked up my backpack.

"C'mon and change back," Toni said while she smiled at me, "I'm carrying your stuff home just in case your powers act up."