Uploaded 6/5/16

Chapter 18: Final Dance

Maybe tragedies really did happen in threes.

First in the warehouse.

Then again on the living room couch.

Bump.

Again on the football field.

"Danny?"

Or was that just—?

The thought vanished when Danny's head was jostled from its lean against the backseat window of the GAV. He righted his himself, blinked at the gloved hand gently shaking his knee, and followed dazedly as it retracted to grip the corner of the seat in front of him.

"Oh, Sweetie, were you asleep?"

Danny blinked again, finally focusing on the concerned features of his mother's face. Thrumming filled his ears and when he shifted again, a seatbelt tightened uncomfortably over his left shoulder. He brought his hand up to readjust it. "Sorry, Mom. Just spaced out, I think."

Maddie considered her son carefully. "Alright…well—" Another harsh bump gave the GAV a shake to the right. Maddie lost her grip on the seat and turned forward again. "Jack, careful!"

Danny looked out the side window, then leaned over to search through the windshield. Impressive evergreen pines towered over a gravel path as Jack attempted to guide the assault vehicle at an unusual crawl.

"Where are we?" Danny asked.

From the seat beside him, Jazz gave her brother a look. "That's what Mom was trying to tell you. We've pulled off the main road." She arched a brow and whispered, "You don't recognize where we are?"

Rolling his eyes away from Jazz's gaze, Danny realized Vlad's property wasn't nearly as recognizable from the ground as it was from the sky. He pressed his cheek against the window, suddenly weary of other creatures capable of spying from above.

"Hey." A poke in the arm brought Danny's attention back to his sister. "You never said why Sam and Tucker couldn't come with us. They normally wouldn't miss something like this. Are you sure you'll be alright without them?"

Danny huffed through his nose. The reminder didn't help his apprehensive mood. "They're still stuck at home," he said. Shifting, Danny reached into his pocket for his flip phone, but his face fell at the lack of new messages. "I don't think their parents are taking the news too well. It's been kinda hard getting a hold of them." He put the phone back in his pocket.

"They'll come around," Jazz assured. "Everyone will."

He gave her a half-hearted smile before returning to the window.

On the ride over, Danny had given perhaps a little too much thought toward wondering when he'd really get to hang out with his friends again. According to the local news, Casper High would be closed for at least a month due to repairs and classes would run into the summer to make up for the lost time. The situation stunk. He wasn't necessarily looking forward to being closely surrounded by hundreds of people who knew his secret, but at least Sam and Tucker would be by his side again.

Meanwhile, Danny's parents were making due. They'd talked extensively the day before and again in the morning. He'd explained exactly – at least to the best of his knowledge – how Phantom came to be, his powers, his enemies, his allies, and the ugly situations that had cast his ghost half in a negative light. Throughout their conversations, his parents had maintained their scientific skepticism of understanding while still managing to stay supportive. Even after the exchanges of countless apologies, Danny couldn't have been more impressed.

In light of those talks, his parents had begun to gather the idea that he used his powers regularly – even in human form – in lieu of mundane tasks just as Jack had predicted prior to the attack. When Danny confirmed this, his mother was particularly intrigued. Ghost powers had clearly been a part of Danny's life for a long time now; she and Jack simply wanted to be a part of it. So, Maddie had assured her son that he didn't have to hide his powers from herself or Jack so long as he remained responsible about it.

That encouragement came in handy a few hours later when the family was ready to leave for Wisconsin. The street was still spotted with reporters, making it difficult to travel unnoticed. Jack beamed when Danny meekly suggested turning them and the GAV invisible for a few miles to ensure they weren't followed.

Though Danny had made leaps of progress since yesterday, it wasn't to say their little family didn't have a long way to go before some semblance of "normalcy" was even a possibility. Still, after discussing secrets until Danny felt numb to the core, he felt relaxed enough to know that taking the time to adjust was about all there was left to do.

The GAV vehicle lurched again.

"Jack!" Maddie warned, glancing to check on her kids in the backseat.

"Woops!" the father boomed from the driver's side. His eyes flashed in the rearview mirror as he scanned the backseat as well. "I want to know how Vlad makes this drive. Lots of fallen branches here!"

"Oh I'm sure he simply flies right over," Maddie scoffed. She didn't notice her son's eyes go wide as dish plates. "Living in the middle of nowhere with all the money he has, he could afford to fly his helicopter to lunch!"

Jack didn't respond. Danny watched his father's brow furrow in the rear view mirror. The night before, when Jack had asked what Vlad had to do with the recent events, Danny had avoided the question like the glowing end of a Fenton Thermos. He'd told his parents that Vlad had given the Guys in White the location of a natural portal and nothing beyond that. In exchange for the information, Danny would keep true to his word with Vlad. The other half ghost's secret was safe. For now, at least.

The eldest Fenton's grip tightened on the wheel as he maneuvered the armored vehicle around another fallen log. "Mads, would you mind getting the Fenton Anti-Ecto Tracker? We should be getting close now."

"Vlad said we're looking for an access road to the south," Danny added.

Maddie dug into a bag at her feet and pulled out the device. She flipped a switch on the top, allowing a small, four-inch radar screen to come to life.

"So this will look for your serum?" Jazz asked.

Maddie nodded. "Correct. If the Guys in White are dispersing our anti-ghost serum through a portal, especially in large amounts, this tracker should lead us straight to their entire operation." She sighed, turning the device in her hand. "Unfortunately, this used to be the Fenton Ghost Tracker. With a portal nearby and the Wisconsin Ghost known to haunt this area, I really wish we'd had enough time to modify it a little better. Think you can sense him for us, Danny?"

When her son didn't immediately respond, Maddie twisted around in her seat to find him staring out the window. Shifting the tracker to her other hand, Maddie used the other to shake her son's knee once again. "Honey, are you sure you're alright?" she asked when she caught his attention.

Danny hummed, noncommittal.

"You know," Maddie started slowly, "you never mentioned the Wisconsin Ghost yesterday. He's so powerful. I would've thought–"

"Plasmius," Danny interrupted, looking back out the window to avoid his mother's eyes. "His actual name is Plasmius. And, yeah, he's… he's pretty strong."

Several seconds passed before Maddie realized her son was finished sharing his information on the matter. It was odd. Whether an enemy or a friend, Danny had no qualms talking about each and every ghost he could think of in their previous conversations. He seemed to think that the more they knew, the better prepared they would be. Yet, somehow, something about her son's history with this Plasmius made the ghost a special case. The thought made her throat sting.

Suddenly, a chill emanating from Danny's knee passed through her hand. Maddie brought it back, close to her chest, and watched her son's breath fog up the window.

"We're close," Danny said, his eyes hardening.

Jazz straightened. "There! Ahead on the right, I see a service road."

Moving at such a crawl, Jack had no issues guiding the GAV into the narrower drive. More broken and fallen branches suggested other, larger vehicles had recently made the trek.

Maddie sat forward again, studying the road before her in thought. Something about this situation with Vlad didn't feel right. Judging by her husband's unusual silence and focus, he felt it, too.

Her young son's behavior, however, was an entirely different issue. She had never seen him lose his temper the way he had after the phone conversation with her old college friend. Some pieces she'd found of the expired handheld were even charred in places. It begged the question: what on Earth had Vlad Masters done to invoke that kind of anger in her peaceful son?

It sounded an awful lot like the two of them had some kind of relationship she wasn't aware of, but she hadn't the faintest idea how or why. She had thought perhaps Danny didn't like the man simply because he had a thing for her, but this was more than just being overprotective. The informal way her son had addressed Vlad on the phone, the dismissive way he'd explained what happened…

In her lap, the Fenton Anti-Ecto Tracker began to beep and blink in time with a rotating radar line traveling around the small screen. A green dot faded in and out as the line passed over it, steadily moving toward her from the top edge.

A steal ball settled in the pit of her stomach.

"I feel it," Danny whispered. He unbuckled and crouched behind the GAV's open center console. "There's a portal ahead. Slightly left maybe?"

Maddie raised the tracker so he could see. "That's what I have. Drive careful, Hun."

Jack only nodded. His oversized hands gripped the wheel as he steered meticulously down the path, revving the engine only to scale unavoidable obstructions.

Soon, a shimmering white, all-terrain vehicle not unlike the GAV came into view among the trees. Pulling alongside it revealed a vast, open clearing filled with half a dozen similar vehicles and three times as many white-suited agents. At one end of the one acre campsite lay a ten foot pile of cut pine trees next to a large CAT excavator parked atop its trailer. On the other end, six white event tents oversaw tables full of lab equipment, massive containment devices and anti-ghost weaponry the Fenton family knew all too well.

In the center of it all, a ghost portal about five feet across swirled ominously, suspended some eight feet above the ground of its own accord. Even in the middle of the afternoon, it cast a thick, green light upon the metallic equipment around it. A large, frosted glass tank filled with gallons of orange anti-ecto serum sat next to it. Tubes supported by scaffolding structures and fed by a motorized pump directed the serum from the tank and over the bottom rim of the portal. A similar tank and tubing setup on the opposite side was filled with neon green liquid. These tubes split, forming a ring around the portal. Metal claws glowing green with the supplied ecto-energy protruded from the ring to grip the edges, aggressively forcing the natural portal to remain open. The entire arrangement, tanks and all, shone green in the presence of a ghost shield.

Even as the Fenton's Ghost Assault Vehicle rolled to a stop, the Guys in White hardly paid them a glance. Each one was busily clearing tables, packing equipment or shouting orders. One agent walked over to the tank of anti-ecto serum and tapped at a control panel while another agent standing on a portion of scaffolding appeared to be in the process of pulling the tank's hose out of the portal.

Silently overseeing the team as he stood perfectly still in his contrasting black suit, Vladimir Masters gazed on. Back straight, his hands were clasped neatly behind his back in a regal, albeit snobbish pose.

Danny was first out of the GAV. He slammed the door shut, catching the eldest half-ghost's attention knowing full well Vlad had sensed him long before that.

"Ah, there you are!" Vlad exclaimed in mock bravado as he made his way toward the family. Behind him at the far end of the clearing, a black helicopter with the DALV Corp. logo on the side proved Maddie's theory.

"What's going on?" Danny asked. His eyes followed a nearby white-suited agent headed for a GIW van toting a Styrofoam cooler covered in neon chemical warning symbols. The man returned a glare and a spiteful, "Ghost freak," as he passed.

"I pulled their funding," Vlad declared, coming to a stop before his self-appointed protégée. The corner of his mouth rose in a practiced smile. "After hearing the news, of course I can no longer condone research that could potentially harm the son of my old college acquaintances."

Danny stuffed his hands in his pockets. The man's expensive cologne wafted forward, tainting the rich, natural air. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Fruitloop," he returned without missing a beat.

Vlad's sharp eyes narrowed. Padding in his expensive Armani suit shifted ever so slightly. "Honestly, Daniel."

"Danny, honey?" The boy turned around to find his mother peaking around the back of the GAV. Her eyes were hardened in determination and Danny could feel Vlad's disappointment in the way Maddie completely ignored him. "I'm going to go ahead and get this antidote started before the portal closes," she said.

"Need any help?"

"Don't worry, I've got it!"

Vlad's lips thinned. "I see you've come prepared." He watched as Maddie effortlessly carried a fabric equipment bag and a two gallon tank full of acidic green fluid toward the portal. As she passed through the ghost shield, two GIW agents immediately approached her, but she placed her items beside a metal support beam and confronted the men. After a few sharp gestures (and surely sharp words), they stiffly moved away. Vlad raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed."

"They're quitting just like that?" Jazz asked as she came to stand next to her brother. Jack quietly hung back behind his kids. "Seems a little too…easy."

Vlad rolled his eyes and huffed dramatically. "I wouldn't say it was 'easy,' dear child. My flight landed early; I've actually been here for quite some time. In any case, I have informed the Guys in White that they are no longer welcome on my property; therefore, legally, they must vacate the premises immediately."

"Couldn't they just say the portal is a threat to public safety or something like that?" Danny asked.

"Ah, yes, they indeed tried that," Vlad smirked. "Unfortunately, I know a thing or two about ghost portals." He turned and gestured toward Maddie. "See that green tank over there? It's core plasm. Likely obtained from captured ghosts."

Like Technus, Danny thought. His heart stung at the memory of the ghost who burst into goop before his eyes.

"Ectoplasm that condensed and volatile will feed a natural portal with enough energy to keep the rift open," Vlad continued with a shrug. "It's quick and dirty, but gets the job done. Without it, the portal will close on its own."

"So it's their presence here that's causing the safety threat anyway."

Vlad nodded. "Precisely, Jasmine. You can imagine they were not happy. I would advise, Daniel, that you not further agitate them. I'll –"

"What did I do? They're the ones who – !"

"Ah!" Vlad chided, tossing up a rigid finger as he looked down on the boy. "I'll have my lawyers draft a bill to ensure your safety should they obtain funding by other means. It will take some time to process. Meanwhile, stay low. Do you understand?"

Danny was fidgeting in place. Crossing and uncrossing his arms, shifting his weight. He threw his hands up, gripping his hair. "What I don't understand is why you're pretending none of this was your fault to begin with! So how about you drop the act, kay?"

Vlad's sharp jaw loosened when Danny brushed by him, stomping off toward the ghost shield. Recovering, Vlad turned and stalked after him, unwavering in his path when Guys in White agents were forced to move around him as they bustled final loads into their vehicles. "Now isn't the time for your stubborn foolishness, Daniel! I am trying to help you!"

Reaching the edge of the ghost shield, Danny rounded. The older man had to stop quickly before he ran into the boy's pointed finger. "Don't even go there," he said, his voice low and absolute but not out of range of his approaching dad and sister. "You don't do anything for anybody else unless it benefits you!" Danny knew the man's game was an all but innocent one. A law that protected half-ghosts would protect Vlad, too, should he be outed in the future.

"Watch your tongue, boy," Vlad growled. "Those agents would be gassing your entire city next if I hadn't stopped them."

"Why help them, Vlad? Why show them the portal in the first place?"

"It was the right thing to do! How was I supposed to know your parents would give them a serum that destroys ectoplasm?"

Green filled Danny's vision. "Don't even lie! Of course you knew; you've got the whole lab bugged!"

"Say what?" Jack whispered. Jazz patted his arm.

"You made it so every single ghost in the entire Ghost Zone would frenzy out of my portal while you skipped the country with one of the only other ghost hunters who could've helped me!"

Vlad scoffed. "That girl is as much a danger to you as she is a help!"

"Only because you armed her! 'Oh, hey. I hear Phantom ruined your life. Here, take these ghost weapons!' We were friends and you turned her against me! Of course she feels terrible!"

"Vladdie, you…" Jack stepped forward, heartbroken, but a sharp tug on his hazmat suit halted the weakened father. Maddie stepped out of the ghost shield, having finished preparing the antidote serum for the Ghost Zone.

"You knew about my son before all of this even began, didn't' you?" she questioned, venom in her tone as she stared the businessman down.

Anger melted from Vlad's face at Maddie's accusation. "As a friend—"

"No, don't you dare stand there and lie to me. Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused my son? How many times we nearly lost him?" Maddie knew what she'd heard while Danny spoke to the man over the phone the day before. She'd kept quiet until now, but she'd had enough. Her arms rose, gesturing accusatively. "Your actions caused thousands of ghosts to overrun Amity Park. Each one of them looking for my son. Spectra, Walker, Skulker, Frightnight…" she listed, straining to remember the names of the ghosts Danny had told her about. Caught in the moment, she added one more she'd learned more recently. "Plasmius," she stated. "Did you know back when you sent hunters after him? When you put a bounty on his head?"

Vlad flinched.

Maddie took a breath and spoke more slowly. "Why didn't you say anything?" She brought her arms down by her side as she reigned in her anger, one hand coming to rest on the ecto-gun holstered against her thigh. She glared purposefully into the eyes of the despicable man who could offer no answer. "You're no friend, Vlad Masters," she stated, emotion vacant from her tone. "You're a monster."

Maddie expected some sort of sly retort typical of the conniving businessman. Perhaps regarding how it was her husband's serum that had caused the ghosts to flee in the first place. How it was her fault for not knowing their own son's secret and for hunting him as well. She knew it was true. She'd regret her actions over the last few years for the rest of her life. Still, it didn't stop her from despising the man for knowingly putting her son's life in danger. He should've kept him safe. He should've told them!

Instead, Vlad's mouth parted and his shoulders sagged. "M-Madeline…?" he stammered weakly. She didn't reply. Unable to look into at the hate-filled eyes of the love of his life, Vlad tore away, but his gaze didn't travel far. The ecto-gun on her thigh caught his eye. Slowly, Vlad's right foot took an unconscious step back.

Jazz's eyes went wide. She turned to her brother. "Do something," she whispered, pressing softly into Danny's shoulder blade. Jazz whispered again with rising panic, "Danny, you have to do something. Now!"

Maddie's brow knit together, confused by the man's actions.

But understanding hit Danny like a truck. Coming from his mother, it was a half-ghosts' worst nightmare for either one of them. The way she'd paused before saying 'Plasmius' sounded an awful lot like she was addressing Vlad, not simply naming another random ghost. Then she'd called him a monster and put her hand on her ghost weapon…

Danny's heart convulsed. His parents were suddenly in a lot of danger. They didn't know what Vlad was capable of, and it looked as though Vlad now believed they did. "No." Danny shook his head. "Vlad, wait!"

Rage replaced the man's fear in an instant. His fists clenched as Vlad rounded to the smaller boy. "What have you done?"

"Vlad, they don't kn—!"

The surrounding atmosphere twisted. Both the air pressure and the temperature plummeted as though a thunderstorm were on its way. "I held up my end of the bargain, Daniel," Vlad sneered, stepping closer.

Moving calmly, Danny positioned himself in front of his parents. "I know what it sounds like, but you've got to trust me."

"Do not patronize me, child," the older man chastised, teeth clenched and eyes freckled with red. "You have gone too far."

"V-man?" Jack whispered.

A sudden, loud honking made each of the Fentons jump. The family twisted around to find the last of the government agents climbing into one of the half-dozen assault vehicles and watched as they filed into the mouth of the narrow path that lead back to the main road. It took a full minute for the last vehicle to disappear behind the tree line, and during that time, no one moved.

Danny's mind reeled.

Sure, he was livid with Vlad. He couldn't help it. Once again, the man had plotted against him by showing the Guys in White where to find a portal to inject his parents' serum, which ultimately lead to the revelation of his secret and almost the loss of his life. But Danny didn't come here to start a fight. He'd thought that by keeping his parents out of the loop with Vlad, the man would remain complacent enough for them to arrive, administer the cure to the Ghost Zone and get out. No confrontation needed.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be an option anymore. Before everything had gone downhill over the last several days, Danny and Vlad's relationship had consisted of a very intense stalemate. The revelation of Danny's secret had certainly shattered that to pieces. Vlad had lost a great deal of leverage against the younger half-ghost and it terrified the older man. Danny could feel it. And he could feel just how desperate that made him.

When the last of the trucks could no longer be heard, Danny took a deep breath and turned back around. "Listen, Vlad… I—" He stopped when the exhale became visible and a chill passed over him. Danny snatched for his ghost half, but the transformation rings had barely appeared when an ecto-blast caught him in the side and sent him flying, his transformation failing instantly. He landed on his shoulder, momentum rolling him across the freshly churned dirt field until his back found an upright root nearly seventy-five feet away. Pain blistered in his side and shoulder.

"Look out!" Jazz screamed.

Before he'd even opened his eyes, Danny flickered intangible and fell into the ground. Dirt shifted around him – the result of a forceful impact upon the surface that he'd dodged just in time. He breathed in, letting the coolness of his ghost sense fill his head. The entity's powerful ecto-signature allowed Danny to easily identify and locate it.

Still intangible and underground, Danny let the cold energy flood his entire body, icing his pain and transforming him into Phantom as he positioned himself just below the source of his ghost sense. Danny gathered energy and rocketed out of the ground at max speed, turning tangible and grabbing a fistful of red cape on his way up. When he felt the fabric pull taut below him, he used his momentum to somersault, catapulting the other end of the cape over his head and only then seeing Plasmius' form sent flying across the field. In less than a second, the ghost crashed into the stacked pile of stripped pine trees, which splintered and collapsed on top of him.

Floating high up, Danny glanced back at the portal. Sure enough, Vlad Masters was still there, currently ushering his family inside the ghost shield much to his parents' reluctance.

Danny clenched his fists. Idiot. He'd taken his eyes off Vlad for one minute and the man had gone and made a clone right under his nose. By means of the ghost shield, Vlad had effectively separated Danny from his parents. Probably in order to find out whether or not they knew.

Clever.

Just then, the toppled wood pile burst into flames. Several logs shot into the air followed by Plasmius himself. The ghost looked up at Phantom, his spiked black hair disheveled and fangs bared in a crooked grimace. "Nice trick," he snarled, hands alight with energy.

"Hey, you started it," Danny said. He crossed his arms and nodded toward the shield. "I didn't tell my parents anything. You know that now, so let them go."

Slowly, Plasmius floated upward until he was level Phantom. He glanced down at the bubbled ghost shield as well, channeling his counterpart. "So it seems."

Without warning, Plasmius sprang. Phantom threw up a hasty shield just in time to block a volley of ecto-blasts. When the sparks cleared, Plasmius' glowing fist was too close to dodge. The shield shattered and his chest exploded with pain, throwing him back, but he forced himself to stay afloat.

Danny pressed a gloved hand to his chest. No blood, but his suit was torn in the center of his logo. At least his shield had absorbed most of the damage. "What the heck, Plasmius! I don't want to fight you!"

The older half ghost straightened. "Do you know why?" he asked, his face unreadable.

Danny knitted his brow. Something was off.

"Because you will lose!" Plasmius bolted.

Again, Danny couldn't dodge in time. When the older half ghost moved, Phantom shot upward, only for Plasmius to grab hold of his ankle. Danny yelped as his body was flung through the air faster than he could control. Before he could register where he was, his back slammed against thick steel that groaned and crunched behind him.

It felt like the bleachers all over again except this metal was yellow and shaped like a massive, fifteen-foot excavator.

Why couldn't the Guys in White finish taking all their crap with them?

"Danny!" Maddie screamed, her voice easily carrying across the field.

Blinking away the stars in his eyes, Danny used the cry to keep himself awake. "Ow," he groaned, freeing his arms from the crumpled metal. Amongst the blotches in his vision, the glowing form of Plasmius touched down several feet in front of him.

"Why?" Danny asked. He turned intangible and fell to the ground, just barely sticking the landing. "Why fight me, Plasmius? Why send every single ghost in the Zone after me?"

The questions only seemed to anger Vlad further. Without a word, Plasmius snarled and charged again, but Danny was ready. He fired a blast, forcing the man to throw up a defensive shield so that Danny could dodge swiftly to the left, then up and behind him. Eyes glowing a radiant blue, Phantom let loose a shower of ice. One shard of pierced his shoulder blade before Plasmius turned, screaming.

"Ah, you brat!" Plasmius yelled with a growl. Swinging his good arm wide, he extended his shield into a bubble not unlike a fuchsia-colored version of the ghost shield, but Phantom didn't let up. Shards of ice rained down upon Plasmius' shield, each one wedging itself into the dense energy until the shield eventually began to crack.

Then, Phantom clenched his fists and rerouted the energy within him. When he took a deep breath, his eyes were no longer blue, but a fierce green. He'd finish this.

Through a gap in the ice, Plasmius saw the change and reacted instantly. Before Danny could wail, an explosion rocked the air and Plasmius was suddenly inches in front of him firing an ecto-blast at pointblank range, sending Danny crashing to the ground, his form shoveling a crater of dirt just beside edge of the ghost shield.

Phantom groaned. His ears rang from the noise of the explosive blast. Bits of glowing ice sprinkled down like snow – all that was left of the iced shield Plasmius had just destroyed. His chest felt like the center of a bonfire, stinging sharply as though someone were adding splashes of accelerant with every breath he took.

With his good arm, Plasmius reached over his opposite shoulder and ripped the ice out of his muscle with barely a flinch and flung the shard away as he landed gracefully in front of his young adversary. Hateful red eyes glared down. "Why fight you?" he repeated mockingly.

The moment Danny met eyes with him, Plasmius dashed forward, grabbing Danny by the neck and slamming his beaten body against the ghost shield in one fluid motion. "To knock you down a few notches! That's why!"

"Son!" Jack screamed from within the shield.

"Danny!" Maddie and Jazz echoed.

Plasmius didn't spare them a glance. "How can you – a scrawny, spoiled child – control so much? One little half-ghost locks away the great Pariah Dark and suddenly all the work I had put into the Ghost Zone means nothing! You took everything from me!" The older half-ghost was practically screaming. His grip on Danny's neck was like a vice.

"Wh-What're you…doing?" Danny coughed, struggling against Vlad's grip. The stars in his vision intensified and his chest pulsed with pain. Warmth crept inward accompanied by a soft rhythm but he forced it down. He had to stay cold. If he transformed now, Vlad would really kill him.

"You don't get it, do you?" Plasmius sneered. "Not 'every single ghost in the Zone' attacked you, Daniel. You have allies. Powerful ones!" He chuckled sarcastically. "Enough to wage war upon every remaining ghost and win!"

Maddie screamed again. "Stop this, Ghost!" She could see the back of her son's jumpsuit, ripped and tinted green as it was forcibly pressed against the shield. She saw the Wisconsin Ghost's claws pinching the back of his neck and the heart-wrenching way his boots scrambled for a hold since they were too far from the ground and the bubbled shield was too curved for a good grip.

"The Fright Knight informed me of what happened in Amity Park," Plasmius continued. "You rallied the Far Frozen, the Zone's most notorious warrior race. The bipedal wolf who can create portals is a friend, I hear, and so is Dora, the Dragon Princess. With that kind of power, one could achieve anything. And it's wasted on a boy who refuses to believe he even has it!" His grip tightened with emphasis. In a desperate attempt, Danny brought his legs up to kick, but Vlad simply pressed his hand into Danny's torn chest, causing him to choke out a scream.

Maddie gripped her gun and went to step out of the shield, but her old college friend held her shoulder firmly. "Vlad, I need a clear shot," she explained quickly, confused that she needed to.

Vlad shook his head. "Please, you have to stay inside the shield, Madeline. It's dangerous!" The man snatched the ecto-gun from her grasp, threw it behind him and then grabbed Maddie with both hands before she could go after it.

"I don't care!" Maddie shrieked. "My son is in danger, now let me go!"

Removing his hand from Phantom's chest, Plasmius engulfed it in pink flames, emphasizing his counterpart's point. He leaned forward, watching as Danny's eyes widened with growing realization. "I should never have rescued you from that suit," he whispered darkly.

Jazz screamed high and loud. "Vlad, no!"

Ripping herself from Vlad's grasp, Maddie dashed out of the shield, completely unarmed but entirely desperate. Plasmius didn't care. In an instant, his attention was on her. His flaming hand moved her way.

Then a shot rang out. Time slowed as the bang's echo rolled across the empty field. Plasmius stumbled back, his mouth agape with shock before his form disintegrated in a cloud of pink smoke. Danny fell to the ground in a heap followed immediately by his transformation.

Maddie ran to him instantly. "Danny! Sweetie, are you alright?" She knelt down and checked him over, hesitating around his chest where the red oval pattern of his shirt slowly grew as it soaked with blood. The softness of his face and closed eyes made her heart race, so she quickly checked for a pulse. She sighed with relief and looked up. "Jack… Jazz, it's alright," she breathed. "He's unconscious, but he's still… Jack?"

Holding a smoking ecto-gun – the same one Vlad had thrown from Maddie's grip – Jack stood inside the ghost shield looking to be on the brink of tears, which said a lot about how awful her husband must be feeling. Jazz approached him cautiously and took the gun from his grip. He let it go freely.

"I figured it out," Jack said slowly, his voice cracking. "I didn't just mess up one portal… I messed up two."

Then Maddie saw. Lying on the ground was Vlad Masters, chest smoking and out cold, just like her son. She brought a hand to her mouth. "You shot Vlad with the ecto-gun? H-How did…?" She paused. "He's… he's like Danny." It wasn't a question. Vlad wouldn't have been affected by the ectoplasmic gun if he weren't a ghost. Or half-ghost.

She turned to her daughter, who didn't seem at all surprised as she walked out of the ghost shield. "That ghost… Plasmius… He was a clone. Your father shot Vlad, so his clone disappeared." The whole situation was just...dumbfounding. How could she not have known? How had her husband figured it out before she had?

Jazz nodded soothingly. Nothing else needed to be said. They'd talk more when Danny woke up. "Let's go home," she said simply, looking to both of her parents. "Together."

Carefully skirting the billionaire sprawled out in the dirt, Jack walked through the shield as well, joining his family. He bent to pick up his son with a graceful swoop that countered his lumbering size. "V-man, I'm sorry for what I did to you in college," he said turning, "but stay away from my son."

With that, Jack walked toward the GAV, his wife and daughter following close behind.

And that's it! I'm done!

Thanks so much to everyone who made it this far. I've been sitting on this chapter for a year, just hacking away at writer's blocks and difficult pieces, but I finished! *yaaaaay!*

I can't believe how far this story came. How many words, chapters and years I put into it. Even more, I can't believe the response from all of you. Being a first-time writer, I never thought this story would come this far and get this much praise! Thank you for putting up with my awful update schedule. Hands down, my classes are to blame. During the course of this story, I've been working on my dual engineering degrees and taking the hardest classes of my life! Now, I'm SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT! I'm applying for jobs now and so excited! Your reviews didn't just help me write, but they helped me study, too. From the bottom of my heart I can't thank you enough!

Just… AH! Thank you all SO MUCH! I hope to write for you again!

Love, SD