Note: Ghosts who are invisible can see other invisible ghosts, otherwise they go by unnoticed.

Chapter 26:

New equipment was lined up on the multiple lab tables. Old and forgotten ideas were thought up again. They had been built remarkably fast and were very effective at what they were made to do. Already existing weapons were taken apart, rebuilt and triple their original power.

They were ready, except for one little detail of course.

Jack Fenton looked on as his wife tinkered with the last of the weapons. It was a small device, one that could easily fit in a small pocket. Even Jack didn't know what it did.

This and the Fenton Tracker, the device used on Danielle, had been Maddie's pet projects, as the Speeder had been his. She tweaked one last component, set down her tools, and lifted up her goggles.

"There, the Annihilator is finally finished!"

"You mean the Fenton Annihilator, right Mads?"

"Of course, Jack!" Maddie exclaimed, happy with her achievement. "Our arsenal is finally complete! Now we can go back into the Ghost Zone and destroy that Phantom for killing our boy!" She exclaimed, fitting her new device into one of her utility belt's pockets.

"Of course, Sweet Cheeks! That Phantom punk will pay!" The eccentric man bellowed while smiling at his wife, although the smile never reached his eyes.

Maddie smiled back and went to put her tools away. Jack glanced up at the lab clock. "Come on Mads, let's go eat first. Can't focus on sending that spook into oblivion on an empty stomach!" He yelled, earning a laugh from his wife.

"Of course," she agreed. Maddie put her tools away and made her way up the stairs with Jack following close behind. His grin fell off his face. He knew he had to tell his wife. Had to try to explain something that even he didn't understand fully.

On the main floor, Maddie started cooking breakfast, but Jack decided to sneak away. He needed to talk to his daughter.

Being as quiet as a man his size could be, he snuck upstairs and headed to Jazz's door. Jack was just about to knock when he heard his daughter speaking on the other side. He couldn't help but listen in.

"No, I know it would've been easier, but I'm sure he already made one," he heard from the other side. There was a brief silence then Jazz started talking again. "Everything will be fine, we already discussed this. You, Tucker, Valerie and I would be the ground team." More silence. "Yes, Sam, I know Valerie has her hoverboard, but she's only supposed to use it when it's absolutely necessary."

Jack knew he should just knock on the door and stop eavesdropping, but he couldn't pull away from the curious conversation.

"Sam. Sam! Everything will be okay. Danny can take care of himself. Look, meet at my house in half an hour, we'll talk about it more then."

Sam and Jazz said their goodbyes on the phone. Jack knew his time was running short. He raised his hand and knocked on the door. A few seconds later Jasmine was in the doorway.

"Dad!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Jazzy-pants! Can I talk to you?" he asked in his usual bubbly tone.

"Of course." She turned around and went to sit on her bed. Jack closed the door behind him and made himself comfortable on the bed. The furniture protested under his weight but neither he nor Jazz seemed to notice, or care.

After the bed's squawks of protest had ceased, Jazz decided to speak up.

"What's wrong dad?" she asked gently.

Jack sighed. "You knew."

"What?"

"You knew about your brother, and you never told us."

"That's what this is about?" Jazz questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"How come you never told us?"

"It was his secret, he never wanted you to know. And when you finally did find out, you decided he was dead to you. You want to kill him!" she accused.

"Your mother wants to kill him," Jack almost whispered. It was weird for Jazz to hear him sounding so dejected.

Jazz hesitated. "You lost me."

The ghost hunter sighed. "When your brother told us, well, it was a shock, to say the least. It was completely unheard of; half-ghost, half-human. Who would've thought? That night, after he and Danielle fled, I asked your mother if he was still in there somewhere. If Danny wasn't... dead." He said the word like it pained him to even think of using it in the same sentence as his son's name.

"I had hope, even after that conversation, that my son was still there somewhere. When we went into the Ghost Zone and interrogated him, it renewed my hope. It also got me thinking, and the other day I finally figured it out. Fenton and Phantom are the same person, one didn't take over the other. Danny's a hero, and I couldn't be prouder."

"I never thought you would be the one to figure it out," Jazz smiled.

"Your old man is smarter than he looks," he returned.

He was? Jazz wondered in her head, by aloud she said something different. "But, why did you decide to tell me you really knew?"

"Because I want you to help me convince your mom. But first, explain to me this whole Dan business."

Jazz nodded and tried as best she could to relay what Danny had told her. It was no easy feat; it led to many questions and backtracking, but he finally got it. Dan was Danny eight years into the future, an alternate future. One that he had prevented.

His son was so brave.

"Well, now that that's cleared up a little, let's go talk to your mom," Jack said with a huff.

"Let's do it," Jazz replied with a smile.

Father and daughter headed down the stairs together with a common goal between them. They walked into the kitchen, and Maddie turned to them.

"Oh, Jazz, you're up! Perfect, breakfast is ready," Maddie said with a smile on her face, but seeing as neither of the two were making a move to eat, her smile quickly fell. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, starting to panic. There was never a time when Jack didn't seize every opportunity to eat them out of house and home.

"Nothing, Mom, nothing!" Jazz soothed. "We just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, okay then."

They all left the dining room and went to the living area and sat down. Jazz in a chair, Jack and Maddie on the couch.

"This is important sweet cheeks, and we'd love it if you could keep an open mind."

"What's this -?" Maddie asked, but Jazz cut her off.

"Remember when Danny told you about Phantom?"

"You mean when Phantom finally revealed himself?" Maddie spit out with a glare. "Yes, I remember."

"No, Mom, see that's just it. Phantom is-"

Before she could get her point across, a loud alarm filled the house. Everybody instantly tensed and Maddie shot up out of her seat.

"The Ecto-Exodus Alarm," she gasped.

Jazz's eyes widened. "Oh no."

Maddie swiveled to look at her daughter. "Is this what you were trying to tell me? Of course! It makes sense, after all. You were fooled by him as well."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"He told you he was going to get an army and attack us! And you - knowing he actually was a lying piece of putrid protoplasm - wanted to tell us!"

"What?! Mom, no!" Jazz tried, but Maddie was already running for the lab.

"Maddie, no!" Even Jack tried, but he couldn't deter her either. They had no choice but to follow her into the lab.

"Jack, help me grab some of the weapons. We need to warn the populace. Tell them to take shelter."

Jack and Jazz shared a helpless look, and Maddie ran over and dumped an armful of weapons into her husband's arms. Then, grabbing more weapons, she grabbed the keys to the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle and then turned to her daughter.

"Stay up in the Ops Center, you'll be safe there." She sprinted up the stairs leaving Jazz with an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't worry Jazzarincess, I'll make her see sense." Jack put on his big goofy grin to reassure her.

"Be careful, Dad. Maybe convince her to stay out of this one. Danny's got it covered."

Jack nodded but didn't say anything else, and he bounded up the stairs after his wife. Jazz just sighed and waited for her brother to emerge from the portal with his army of ghosts.

Everyone was gathered at the center of the Far Frozen Village waiting for further instruction. The air was filled with nervous excitement, and no one really knew what to expect.

Everybody quieted when Danny made his presence known. He looked around, looking at all his allies; some friends and others... not so much. But the only thing that mattered today was the fact they were all here to help take down Dan.

Permanently.

Danny was standing in front of all these ghosts, about to give the most encouraging speech of his life. He was extremely nervous. Dani was next to him, although that did little to calm his nerves.

The ghost boy cleared his throat. "Well, uh, first I want to thank everyone for being here. I know a lot of us haven't seen, well, eye to eye in the past, but you're all here now, and that's all that really matters. We all have a common goal; prevent Dan from taking over Amity Park. If he does that, who's to say he won't take over the Ghost Zone as well?" Danny paused and took the time to look at everyone individually. Their determined faces filled him with courage.

After a few moments, he continued. "I'm going, to be honest with you guys. This will not, by any means, be easy. That's why I've decided to assign each of you to a target. It'll make things easier, and hopefully, it will be over faster. If you see one of your allies in need, help if you can. Those of you who defeat your opponent early, again, help an ally in need. I have thought this through multiple times, and Dani helped me, but if any of you have a problem with who your opponent is, I will try to fix it. Any questions?"

Everyone looked at each other, but no one spoke up.

"Okay then, let's get started. Frostbite, you take down Walker and have your army take down his guards. If any of your men don't have a guard to fight, have them assist our allies. Able, you will take down Bullet."

Frostbite and Able both nodded and turned to talk to their comrades. Danny turned his attention to the other ghosts present.

"Dora, your focus will be on Technus. Pandora, yours is Fright Night. Youngblood, you go for Spectra, and Amorpho, you go for Vortex." The four nodded and moved out of the way so Danny and Dani could continue to assign foes.

"Johnny and Kitty, you'll go after Desiree, while you, Klempler, go after the Box Ghost -"

"Then will you be my friend?" Klempler whined in his nasal tone.

"Yeah, sure," Danny replied, distracted. "Anyway, Lunch Lady, your target is Undergrowth, and Wulf, you'll be going after Nocturne." Realizing his mistake at Wulf's blank look, he quickly translated. "Wulf vi iros post Nokta."

Wulf grinned and replied, "Volonte." Danny just laughed.

"Well, considering that's all of us, there's no one to take down Ember or Skulker. Frostbite, maybe a couple of your men can deal with them."

"My apologies, Great One, but there may not be enough of my men to even withhold Walker's guards."

"What about me?" a voice piped up from behind him.

"Danielle, we discussed this. You'll be in the sky, helping Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie on the ground, and others in the air."

Dani huffed and mumbled something he couldn't quite catch.

"Hey, Dipstick!" a familiar voice called out from the sky.

"Great," he mumbled. Louder he said, "What do you want Ember?"

The teenage rock star landed in front of him. "Why else would I be here?"

Danny gave her a blank stare.

"I'm here to help!"

Danny looked skeptical. "What's the catch?"

"What? A girl can't switch alliances without there being a catch? Just tell me who I'm fighting Dipstick, and we'll get this show on the road!"

Danny sighed. "Well, I guess it works out; we have an even number of people now. But you'll have to fight Skulker."

Ember gave a devilish grin. "Perfect."

Jazz was pacing, she had called Sam and Tucker a while before, telling them to get over to her house as soon as they could manage. Knowing that Danny was going to show up any minute was nerve-racking enough. A million and one scenarios were running through her mind, and half of them ended badly, much to her dismay.

At this point, she had to wonder if her brother was crazy, but she knew that he felt he had to do this – it was his moral obligation. It wouldn't be the first time his hero complex took over. Yet, she had to wonder how it allowed him to let other ghosts aid him in his battle. A battle that he felt was his alone.

Sighing in frustration, the girl stopped her pacing and looked at the glowing portal. Was it her imagination or had it gotten a little cooler in here?

Just as that thought entered her mind, Danny and Dani came through the portal and landed on the floor of the lab. The girl gave a little gasp and ran up to her brother and new sister.

"Where is everyone? They didn't back out on you, did they?"

Danny couldn't help but laugh at his sisters' assumptions. "No, they're waiting for the go-ahead. Are Mom and Dad out of the house?"

Jazz nodded. "Be careful little brother, they went out to warn everyone about the incoming ghost attack. They may be the forgotten factor in your plan."

"How did they know we were coming?"

"The Ecto-Exodus Alarm. Remember?"

"Right," Danny muttered. He then straightened up. "I guess we'll just see what happens. Is there any chance you'll reconsider staying out of it?"

"Nope, you're stuck with us Danny," she said with a smile.

"I kind of figured but promise that if things go to hell in a handbasket, you'll get out of there."

"Do I have a choice?"

Danny shook his head.

"Fine, but only if you promise that won't happen," his older sister said.

"I can't promise you that Jazz."

"I know," Jazz said quietly. Then she said, "Don't forget some thermoses, you may want to keep some of those guys in there a while."

"Yeah," Danny replied somberly, as Dani sprang into action to grab as many thermoses as she could find.

Once she was finished, she returned to Danny's side who relieved her of some of her burdens. There was a moment of silence as the three siblings stood there taking in the quiet until one of the Phantoms couldn't stand it any longer.

"So, are we gonna stand around, or are we gonna kick some butt?"

Jazz and Danny both chuckled, and Jazz went to give both her siblings a hug. "Be careful."

"You too and remember to tell Valerie to only use her hoverboard when absolutely necessary."

"She's not going to like that, you know."

"I know," Danny grinned.

With that, they broke away from their hug and the two Phantoms floated back into the portal, only to reappear a few seconds later. Only this time, they had a large number of ghosts filling in behind them. The basement was becoming a little crowded, and when Danny was sure everybody was in, he turned to them.

"Okay, Dani and I will be passing around thermoses. Please try not to suck anybody the enemies your fighting into it!" Danny told his team as him and his younger sister gave them to most of the ghosts."

Once finished with that task, he addressed the group. "Alright then. Everybody ready?" he asked in the most positive tone he could muster. All ghosts gave their collective response. "Then let's go get 'em!"

He nodded at Jazz, and she nodded back. With the temporary goodbye in place, Danny turned both invisible and intangible with everyone else following suit. Within a few moments, everyone was gone, and the basement was restored to its normal temperature.

"Please, please be careful," Jazz whispered even though he was already gone.

Sam and Tucker were running as fast as they could. Which really meant Sam was running and Tucker was lagging behind, yelling at her to slow down. Now was one of the many times where the goth was standing with her hands on her hips, not even close to being out of breath. Tucker, on the other hand, was slowly catching up and wheezing.

"Hurry up, Tucker, we're almost there," she said impatiently, tapping her foot.

"Just, hold on," the tech geek said in between breaths, his hands on his knees.

"It's a wonder you're able to catch ghosts."

"We usually have our scooters," Tucker said miserably, still between breaths.

Sam just rolled her eyes and started walking forward at a quick pace. Tucker begrudgingly followed only to take a few steps and run into her.

"What the...?" Tucker asked taking a few steps back. Sam only pointed up to the sky, her mouth open in awe. Tucker looked up to see what she was gawking at, only to join Sam's jaw on the ground.

A stream of ghosts was flowing out from Fenton Works with Danny leading the mob. It didn't take that long for the army to disappear, but the two friends were standing there for a few minutes longer, staring at the now empty blue sky.

Surprisingly, it was Tucker who came back to his senses first. He grabbed Sam's arm and sprinted the rest of the way to Fenton Works. The two ran to the basement and found Jazz flitting around strapping weapons to her Hazmat suit.

She looked up momentarily at them and threw them two suits and weapon belts, like the ones on her parents' modified jumpsuits. Sam went to ask her what was going on, but the redhead held up a hand to silence her.

"No talking, just put those on and grab as many weapons as the belt will hold."

It was a rare occasion when Jazz gave orders so the two did as told. Within five minutes the trio had both old and new weapons at their disposal.

"Where are we headed?" Tucker finally asked, and Jazz started trekking up the stairs.

"City Hall. That's the most likely place they'll be. After all, it is Dan's new haunt and he's been waiting for this."

Tucker and Sam just nodded, even though she couldn't see them. The trio headed out the door prepared and ready for battle.

Danny led his troops across town, receiving various looks as they went. Looks of renewed hope, desperation, and even anger and fear were the most profound. Danny could understand all the looks he was given. He left his town in its time of need, and they were desperate for their hero to come back. Now that he had, they realized that they were angry with him. He had left them to run and cower. It also made them realize how much they depended on the ghost boy.

The fear, though, that's the one he hated to see most. Dan had broken the town - literally broke most of the town - and now, seeing Danny Phantom only led their thoughts back to Dan Phantom, the evil menace he would eventually become. They didn't know Dan was from a different timeline. They only saw him - Danny Phantom - as the person he was going to turn into.

He hated it.

After all of this was over, he needed to set the record straight. He is not evil and is never going to become evil. He tore his eyes away from the broken people living in a broken town. But he still heard the cries of anguish and joy; sometimes enhanced hearing really sucked. Trying as hard as he could to ignore all the shouts from below, he set his sights on his target.

City Hall. The most likely place Dan would be, Danny stopped and turned toward Frostbite who was right behind him.

"Tell everyone to go invisible, I'll be right back," he whispered. The ghost yeti nodded and started passing on the news. Some of the others heard his orders and went invisible right away. Danny turned his attention back to City Hall.

Turning himself invisible and intangible, Danny flew into the building. Room after room he searched, all turning up the same result. Empty. Everyone single one of them was devoid of life – and/or death. He searched again and again. After the fourth time though, he decided that nobody was here. But if Dan wasn't here, then where was he?

Danny went back to his awaiting ghost army and told them of his findings. He scanned the roof and streets for good measure, but nobody was around. It was deserted.

"What now, Great One?" Frostbite asked. The ghost boy ran a hand through his snow-white hair.

"I have no idea. He wants this to be a show, open to the public. What better place to do that than here? Unless he wants to hit me where it hurts," Danny mused. "School, but I could care less about Casper High. My home, but let's face it, Dan isn't stupid. The only other place I can think of is..." he trailed off. "Of course!"

He took off without another word. Everyone else floated there confused until they came back to their senses and followed him. They didn't fly very long, but when they got to their destination they were stunned.

What importance would the Nasty Burger have to an evil ghost?

But Danny knew.

Of course, he knew. The Nasty Burger is what started it all, of course, he thought it should end here as well. The teen looked around and found Dan, standing on the roof looking bored, but no less smug than usual.

Danny dropped his invisibility, and Dan's sights locked on him. An evil grin spread across his face, he floated up a little higher, but Danny stayed a little higher yet.

"Finally! I figured you'd be here right away. Then again, I also thought that maybe you had second thoughts about leaving your precious little town forever."

"The only one leaving forever is you," Danny quipped with much more confidence than he felt.

Dan chuckled, a dark evil laugh that sounded like rocks being ground together. "Danny, Danny, Danny. Your pathetic banter amuses me. Empty threats. See that's the difference between you and me. You make threats; I make promises. Do you remember what I promised you the last time we last met?"

Danny narrowed his toxic green eyes and blood-red ones stared right back. "Promises are meant to be broken."

Dan laughed again. "Well then. Let us test that theory. Our men can fight amongst themselves, I really don't care. I just want the pleasure of tearing you apart myself." Dan smiled revealing sharp pointed fangs, and one by one his army started appearing.

Danny turned back and gave the slightest nod in the general direction of his army and one by one they started appearing as well.

"Now that we're all here... Let's get this party started," Dan growled with a sadistic side smile. And just like that, the battle had begun. Everyone converged together, the sky was being lit up by hundreds of different colored beams of ectoenergy.

As Danny was busy marveling at his team, Dan took the opportunity and sent an ectoblast toward the unsuspecting teen. The force of the impact catapulted him into a building. He recovered quickly, however, and sent a barrage of ecto-blasts to his opponent. Dan dodged them quickly, progressively moving forward with each dodge. Before Danny knew it, Dan was in arm's length of him, and he grabbed Danny's boot-clad foot and threw him into a blue vehicle on the street below.

Getting his bearings back from the collision, he shook his head and looked to his right, only to see Dan moving from parked car to parked car setting off the car alarms.

"Too easy," Dan spoke over the shrill noise. "At least make it a challenge for me!"

Danny smirked to himself. "You got it," he murmured and disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam ran all the way from Fenton Works to the City Hall with minimal complaints from Tucker. They had called Valerie after leaving the house, and minutes later she showed up on her hoverboard. Now, standing there looking up at the clearly vacant building, all the blame was going to Jazz.

"Jazz, you said they'd be here!" Tucker whined.

"No, I said it was the most likely spot they'd be," she defended. "I never guaranteed that this is exactly where they'd be," Jazz huffed.

"Well, whatever. We need to find Danny and help him!" Sam said anxiously.

"Where do you suggest we look?" Jazz asked.

"Well, where's the most likely place Dan would want to fight Danny? It seems like he would want to make it somewhere that was personal," Valerie offered.

"That could be a lot of places. We should split up," Tucker said with an air of finality.

"No, that would take too long," Sam snapped, getting a little frustrated.

"None of us really know what happened in the encounter between Dan and Danny, but he's told us stories, so maybe we can come up with a lead."

"Great idea, Tucker!" Jazz praised. "So, let's see. Danny cheated on the CAT."

"Somehow leading to the explosion of the Nasty Burger, killing me, Tucker, Jazz, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, and Mr. Lancer," Sam continued.

Tucker nodded. "Then, not being able to handle the pain he went to Vlad and he ripped out his humanity-"

"Wait!" Valerie stopped him. "The Nasty Burger. It started there, Dan wants it to end there, too!" As if to prove her point, a faint crash was heard, followed by multiple car alarms.

All four shared a look before sprinting to the place of battle. It didn't take them long considering the Nasty Burger wasn't very far away, but it was obvious they had missed the opening ceremony. The sky was filled with the different colors of ghosts and energy blasts. The greens, blues, and whites of the ghosts. And the pinks, reds, blues, greens and so many other colors of different ectoenergy beams. It was an awesome sight, to say the least.

"Do you really think this a good idea?" Tucker asked.

"Not really," Jazz answered without hesitation.

"We can't just back out," Sam reasoned.

"But it looks like Danny has it handled," Tucker said thoughtfully.

"True, but it could easily become uncontrollable. We're going to help." Valerie said.

Sam looked at her a little surprised. "I agree with Valerie. If you and Jazz want to go back home, nobody will stop you."

Jazz straightened up. "No, we'll help. Of course, we will."

"Uhh." Jazz nudged Tucker. "Yeah, what she said."

"Then we all agree. Let's go," Sam stated with finality.

With that, the four entered the battlefield.

"Hurry up Jack! the town will be destroyed by the time we get to them!" Maddie yelled at her husband, sitting on the edge of the car seat. She kept looking from the road to the ghost tracker to make sure the ghosts hadn't moved, and that Jack was going the right way. He had already taken three wrong turns on the way, not to mention he was being unusually cautious while obeying all of the street signs.

"Sorry, Mads! I guess I'm a little out of it today."

Maddie narrowed her eyes. He sounded distracted. Was he hiding something? No, Jack was an open book, he never kept things from her. But the female ghost hunter was so deep in thought that she didn't realize the vehicle had stopped moving and her husband was looking at her.

"Why'd we stop?" she asked once she realized they were at a standstill.

"Mads," Jack sighed. "I need to talk to you, it's really important."

"We'll have plenty of time to talk after we send Phantom into oblivion," Maddie reasoned, clearly confused.

"No, Maddie, we have to talk about it now. You see, it's about Phantom." He hesitated; he didn't want to tell her. He knew she would freak out on him for proposing such an absurd theory, but it had to be done.

Maddie's gaze instantly hardened. "What about him?" she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Well, he isn't just a ghost-"

Maddie snorted. "You're right. He's also a thief, a liar, a master of disguise, and a murderer!"

"I thought that was all ghosts," Jack pointed out quietly.

"Him more so than others! Did you forget what he did, Jack? He posed as our son for who knows how long, when in fact, our son is dead. Remember that, Jack? That rotten piece of ectoplasmic scum killed our Danny!" she cried.

"Maddie, are you listening to yourself? This is crazy talk! Open your eyes! Danny Phantom is our son! He's protecting this city. He's a hero!" Jack defended.

"Okay, say he isn't all those things. Say he isn't evil. Answer me this, Jack." She spit out his name like someone would spit out rotten food. "Why is he protecting us from himself?!"

"Because it isn't him!" Maddie's eyes narrowed even further. "Okay, it's him, but it isn't him. It's his future self!"

"Therefore, killing him now would do us all a favor," she hissed. She picked up her ectoblaster, got out of the assault vehicle, and slammed the door behind her.

"He's from a different timeline!" Jack yelled, but Maddie didn't seem to hear. "Madeline!" he screamed.

That made her pause; he never called her by her full name. She shook it off and kept moving forward, weapons hanging from her hip and a bazooka in her arms. She didn't look back. The ghost hunter had other things to worry about.

Jack, however, kept looking forward. Staring at the vanishing figure of his wife. The man sighed and slumped in his chair. Maddie had always been so headstrong and determined. He had always loved that about her, but now it seemed to be her greatest weakness.

Running a hand over his face, he did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed a weapon and left the Ghost Assault Vehicle behind. As crazy as it sounded, Jack Fenton was going to go help a ghost. His son. And he would protect him as best he could. Including, possibly, from his son's own mother.

Edited and Revised 7/25/19

AN: So, this wraps up the last of the revisions. There were so many typos it was a little ridiculous and embarrassing. But hey, live an learn. Little errors always tend to be around no matter how hard we try to proofread but there should be a lot less now! Throughout this revision processes I have fell in love with this story again and I'm really excited to finish it! I've also added about 6,000 words to the story as well! Please know that the fundamental story has NOT changed. Things have been added for clarification, transition, descriptions, etc. To everyone who has read this story either for the first time or for the fifth time, YOU ARE AMAZING!