A/N: GUESS WHO'S BACK?! I'm sure you guys would much rather jump into the story, so I'll talk to you at the bottom. Enjoy!

Vlad's POV

My vision faded to nothing more than seeing spots in the darkness as Daniel and I were sucked inside a swirling white vortex. The Infi-Map must have had an upgrade, because it was not as I remembered. I had noticed when Daniel took the map out of its protective case. It seemed newer, not so fringed and wrinkled. There were no more tears or stains in the paper. It didn't seem nearly as fragile or tattered. And if I was right, it also didn't seem to be enjoying my presence.

When we were far enough away from the Far Frozen, I could suddenly see again. Daniel and I were hanging onto the map as it carried us to Clockwork. I couldn't imagine that the map could actually take us to the time ghost if he himself did not want us to be there. He knew Daniel needed assistance, so he was giving away his location, if only for a short while.

I was apprehensive about meeting the time ghost. I knew if he was to decide that he didn't like me, I could never win in a fight against him. How does one win in a fight against a ghost who could control time? You can't. And this is what made me nervous. If I couldn't overpower the time ghost, how could I protect Daniel if that's what it comes down to?

"Vlad? Are you okay?" I heard the sheepish voice to my left. Daniel was looking at me with a confused look on his face. I sighed. I didn't want to upset the boy by letting him know I wasn't thrilled about meeting his friend; especially when his friend is more powerful than both of us combined. But Daniel needed to know the danger here, even if he doesn't want to know it.

"Daniel," I started, looking down at the purple wooden doors and the endless green vortex underneath us, "you should know how dangerous this is." I let my sentence trail off, giving him a chance to let that sink in. However, that is not what happened. Daniel had other plans in mind, plans such as mumbling under his breath and chuckling at my statement. "Daniel? Why are you laughing? What did you say?" Daniel chuckled again and shook his head back and forth.

"Vlad, not everything is life-threatening. Believe it or not, there is some good in the world." He said. I rolled my eyes. Things existed that Daniel did not understand. There is more than one way to hurt someone. One could hurt a person emotionally, mentally, and physically. But between horrible, disgusting things such as rape, murder, abuse, neglect, and much more, how could Daniel possibly say that there is some good left in the world? Yes, it is possible he is naive to these things, and if that is the case, I would like to keep it that way. Of course, keeping him ignorant would mean I would need to protect him more. Everybody knows you can't trust anyone these days.

"It must be nice in your world, Daniel." I reply, sighing. It's true. Living in a world with no transgressions; that would be wonderful. He doesn't know the ugliness the world has to offer.

"What's that supposed to mean, Vlad?" Daniel asked, his eyes narrowed and a bit of venom was in his words. Daniel changed which arm was holding onto the map so that he could hit me easier if I said the wrong thing. I followed suit.

"It means, Daniel, that you don't see the world the way it is. Certainly you're old enough to know what's happening, but your mind doesn't process it that way. Instead, your mind compensates for the evils by making up some back story to the crimes and making them appear innocent. For example: let's say you were to come across a lady being robbed of her purse. Yes, you would help her, but you would make up some story as to why the robber stole the purse in the first place. You may decide he's trying to get money to save his daughter from cancer or something, when in reality, the man wanted money to buy drugs and alcohol." I lectured.

Daniel only stared into the green abyss, refusing to make eye contact with me. I stared at him, knowing he could feel it, and continued, "It's a harsh truth, but the truth is harsh, sometimes."

I couldn't help but to regret my words when Daniel's demeanor did a complete one-eighty. Instead of rolling his eyes at my protectiveness, he seemed disconsolate. I wanted to take back my words. The last thing this ill-fated boy needed was more bad news. And I especially didn't want to be the cause of his sadness. I didn't want to mention it outloud, but besides his friends, I was the last one Daniel trusted. At least, I believe he trusts me.

I glanced over at Daniel, wondering what was going through his mind. I can only pray he wasn't thinking about anything bad.

The longest seconds of silence I've ever experienced passed until Daniel finally spoke.

"Whatever, Vlad." It wasn't much, but I took it as a good sign. Hopefully he'd stop thinking about it and let his mind wander to other things that are a little more important right now.

It was silent as Daniel and I hung onto the map, waiting for it to finally slow down. Daniel made no move to start another conversation, and I was fine by that. I couldn't tell how long had passed, however, until the map did a sudden 90° turn and I had almost fallen off.

Recovering from the sudden turn, I shook my head to try to reorient myself with where we were headed. Of course I was trying to memorize the way, who wouldn't? I'd be a fool to not do so.

"Vlad, look!" Daniel shouted over the rush of the wind in our ears. He was pointing to a large medieval-looking tower. It was made of black stone -obsidian maybe?- and surpassed the rest of the citadel in height until it came to a fine point at the top. The rest of the castle almost horseshoed around the tower. I could hear a constant ticking noise, and wondered if it was inside my head or not. I knew I would grow tired of it quite quickly.

"Is that it?" I asked, staring in marvel at the dark-looking castle. It was impressive, even to me. I couldn't imagine Daniel's reaction when he first encountered the Time Master's abode.

"Yep. That's it." He answered simply as he stared ahead. I wondered what was going through Daniel's mind; although I had a pretty good idea. I was sure it was hope. Hope that all of this would come to an end. Hope that his life could be normal again.

The map carried us to the courtyard before slowing down and allowing us to let go. Once steady on his feet, Daniel grabbed the map and rolled it up to put it in it's protective case. I studied the courtyard.

It was a decent size, nothing special. It was made from the same grey rock that inhabited every isle in the Ghost Zone. Small, spikey inclines of the rock pointed toward the sky in various places as if they were going to skewer the green swirls around the island. Other than the murderous-looking rocks, however, it seemed placid.

"We're here. Where is he?" I asked myself. Daniel walked up next to me with the case slung over one shoulder.

"I don't know. He usually greets me." Daniel replied without knowing my question had been rhetorical. I looked around the courtyard once more, waiting for something to happen.

I eyed the place suspiciously. Something just didn't feel right. It looked like this place hadn't been touched in ages. I wondered if the Time Ghost had done that purposely or not. Knowing our luck, however, I sighed knowing I'd need to tell Daniel that the ghost might not be here.

"Daniel,"

"No. Shut up. I know he's here." Daniel said with anger, his eyes flitting around the courtyard and up at the castle, looking for a sign. "He's just got to be..."

My heart ached. He sounded so defeated. I knew it wasn't right to put so much hope into this ghost. I knew it was only going to end in tragedy. But I did it because...I don't even know anymore. I guess I just liked to see the fight come back to Daniel. His eyes would shine with the refusal to give up when he had hope, so I let him have it. Even if, in the back of my mind, I knew you couldn't rely on a ghost.

Now, Daniel's close to tears again and it's my fault.

"I'm sorry, Daniel." I said, not knowing what else to do. I studied the ground.

"No. No, I'm not giving up yet. I told the map to take us to Clockwork, and that's exactly what it did. He's here, Vlad. I know he is." Daniel said, angry determination filling his voice. I couldn't let him have false hope again.

"Dan-"

Cutting myself off, I stayed silent and gestured for Daniel to do the same. I heard someone clapping behind us. It was a monotonous slow clap, like someone was taunting us. I turned around at the same time as Daniel.

Floating there, in clear view, was none other than the demon that I created.

"Dan?" Daniel whispered. "But...but the map..."

"Brought you to me." Dan said boredly, an evil smirk plastered on his lips.

"But this is Clockwork's castle!" Daniel yelled. I couldn't put a word to his tone of voice. It was heartbreaking. That one sentence was the sentence that broke him. That was his last shred of hope shattering as he stared at the ghost in front of him that wasn't Clockwork. No, in the time ghost's place was the pernicious demon that was trying to kill us.

Smiling at Daniel's sentence, Dan spoke in an even, malicious tone, "Yes. Yes I suppose it was Clockwork's castle, wasn't it? I must say, I'm impressed with my memory of it's whereabouts. Wouldn't you agree?"

Daniel fell to his knees. He wasn't crying. He wasn't scared. He just had a blank expression on his face. His eyes, however, told me the story.

He gave up.

I put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, even though I knew it wouldn't do much, and spoke to the ghost, "Where's Clockwork? Surely he wouldn't let you, of all people, find his castle."

"Who needs to find it? I knew where it was. I was living here for three years. And Clockwork is...out of service at the moment."

"What do you mean?" I asked, having no clue what would be said. Is he suggesting he fought time and won? I shuddered, my grip on Daniel's shoulder tightening.

"I mean," Dan held up a thermos, "he's getting his just desserts."

Before I could register anything, the demon flung the thermos over the edge of the island into the eternal green abyss. I watched it flip as it fell, the shiny silver and neon green metal disappearing forever.

"No!" Daniel yelled. Without hesitating, he leaped over the edge after it.

"Danny!" I tried to go after him, but the demon got to me first, throwing the first punch at my jaw.

"There, now it's one on one. Much better, don't you think?" He said, smiling condescendingly.

I could no longer think rationally. Fury was filling my veins and flowing through every muscle, fueling my energy for this battle. I knew that one of us wasn't making it out alive.

I blasted him and teleported behind him, knowing I'd get the element of surprise when I snapped his neck, but that's not how it went down. The demon absorbed the shots I'd thrown at him and then turned around right when I got there. He grabbed my neck and pushed me up against one of the pointed rocks, lifting me off the ground.

"Now, really, V-man, did you honestly think I wouldn't be four steps ahead of you?" He said as I gasped for breath, trying to pry his hands from around my neck. "It's sad, really. How the mighty have fallen. You're so pathetic and defenseless now, and it's all because of that damned boy. You've lost your mojo, Vlad." He smiled and threw me to the other side of the courtyard.

I struggled to push myself up, only managing to brace myself up on my elbows. I was still trying to breathe when he started walking toward me. How in the world do you beat a ghost like this? How do you even begin? He knew all my moves. He knew all my tricks. He knew everything I knew.

I teleported away from him when he reached down to grab me. I was behind him again, but learning my lesson from last time, I stepped to the side. When he turned around to punch me again, I now stood behind him and blasted him with all the strength I had.

The ghost flew over the courtyard until a rock stopped him. He broke it when he hit it, but I supposed that was just one less rock to worry about skewing myself on.

He shook his head and stood up. "All right, I'll give you that one." He said as he began walking to me again, cracking his neck. "I hope you know this means I will no longer be nice."

"You might want to work on your nice skills." Dan smiled and let out a chuckle. I glared at him. He was playing with me, I could tell. I knew he could overpower me, so why is it taking so long for this fight to really begin? What was he waiting for?

It was then that he shot some electricity frozen in ice at me, and hit me square in the chest. Being eletrocuted and frozen at the same time wasn't the best feeling I'd ever experienced.

Not giving me time to recover, he punched my jaw and kicked my abdomen, sending me to the ground. I put up a shield to block another ice-on-steroids blast, and he seemed somewhat agitated by that.

"C'mon, Vladdy, let's be men about this. Fight me." Inside the safety of my shield, I had a chance to think. He was right, of course. If I didn't fight, he would never be hurt or destroyed, which I would love both. But I couldn't fight him alone. I needed Daniel's help.

That thought sent me over the psychological edge. Danny wanted to kill himself because this demon was alive, he lost his family, his friends, and now he's free-falling through the Ghost Zone to save one of his last allies, maybe dying in the process.

This...this thing...needed to perish.

I let down my shield and sprung at the ghost, able to punch his nose and shoot an electrical charge his way. Not giving him a moment to recuperate, I again blasted him. I made copies of myself, giving each the weapon they had when I was triaining Daniel. I gave myself the electrical sword again, and together we charged the demon.

When he saw all this, he laughed. He made duplicates as well and each one destroyed my own. He merged back together and smiled.

"Are you done, now? Can I just kill you, or do you plan to keep this up?" He yawned. "It's getting past my bedtime."

"Hey, Dan! If anyone is going to kill Vlad, it's gonna be me."

I smiled when I saw Daniel floating over a rock. He had his arms crossed and he was actually smiling.

"Ah, Danny, how nice of you to join us. Please, take a seat next to Daddy. We have much to discuss." Daniel narrowed his eyes and blasted the demon from behind. Dan simply sidestepped it, somehow knowing the shot was coming without needing to turn around. Danny then flew over him and landed next to me.

"Did you get the thermos?" I asked.

"Sorta." He answered as he watched Dan like a lion watching its prey.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Now's not the time to talk, Vlad. I beat Dan before, I can do it again. All we need to do is place him outside of time itself."

"Oh. It's that easy?" I guffawed sarcastically.

"You two talk too much." Dan announced obnoxiously. Dan narrowed his eyes at me and blasted me in the head. The last thing I knew, I hit the ground and fell into unconsciousness.

Danny's POV

"You dick!" Was the only response I could think of. I rushed over to Vlad and kneeled beside him to get a better look at the damage. His entire head was covered in blood. Fear and worry flowed through my veins as I heard Dan's deep voice.

"My apologies, but I needed to talk to you alone, Danny." He said with that stupid smile on his face. I got back up and clenched my fists.

"If it doesn't involve your painful death, then I don't care."

"Ah, but that's just it, Danny, it does involve me dying. Isn't that what you want?"

"Wh-what?"

"All you need to do is play your part, Danny, which you've been doing pretty well at, might I add."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Why do you think all of this has happened, child? Your parents turning on you, losing your friends, and, perhaps, everything you know. It's to make you angry; make you into a devil-spawn. It's to make you into my perfect protegé."

"You want me to team up with you." I said matter-of-factly. It was still processing in my mind, and I just couldn't grasp the concept. "You've been pulling strings this whole time, from the very beginning." This made me mad. It was a horrible feeling; the feeling of not being in control of your own fate. Of not knowing whether the mistakes you had made were really your fault or someone else's. I had lost everything, he was right about that. But it was because of him that I had lost it.

"Ah, and Pinochio finally sees his strings. You see, I knew now would be the best time to put my plan, which I'd been working on for three years, by the way, into action because I knew Vlad would get his new power and thus create me. All I needed to do was find a way to get him inside your head. What better way than to mess with your emotions and make him concerned about you? I played you like a fiddle, Daniel, and you were very easy to play, might I add."

"You were that voice in my dreams." I couldn't get anything else out. I was shocked to the point I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I could still feel, however. And all I felt was this indescribable rage.

"Uh, duh? That should've been easy for you to guess, but you're just too dimwitted, I suppose."

I charged him. Built up rage fueled me as I shot blast after blast at the demon. The look of surprise in his eyes told me I'd caught him off-guard.

I didn't let up my attacks. I shot and shot and shot until I felt too weak to shoot. That's when I started punching and kicking, admittedly taking a cheap shot at his groin, but hey, you do what you must. I punched and kicked some more and screamed profanities.

"Enough!" He yelled and made a shield and exploded it outward so I was blown back. I was on my back on the ground, bracing myself up with my elbows. His tactic hadn't fazed me in the least.

"You have gotten your chocolate in my peanut butter for far too long, kid." He somehow made that sound evil. He was weakened though, I could tell. Blood covered his entire body and bruises littered his face. He had a black eye and he was favoring his right hand. I let myself hope it was broken.

Dan was standing over me now, charging a blast with a mixture of electricity and ice in his left hand. He was making it stronger and stronger. I eyed the blast, knowing where he was going to aim it.

"It's time for you to play your bloody part again, Danny, or this here blast is going to kill both you and Vlad."

"Kill me, then. But let Vlad go."

"No."

I glared at him. But honestly, what could I do? If I wanted to keep the last person who loved me alive, I'd have to do what Dan said. I couldn't lose Vlad. I'd lost everyone else. Everything else. I just couldn't lose him, too. If I lost him...I'd join him again wherever it is dead people really go. I just can't live alone.

I looked Dan in the eyes as he continued to make his blast stronger and stronger still. I bowed my head to my chest.

"All right. You win." I breathed out. My voice had come out shaky and small; pathetic.

"Thought so." Dan smirked as he absorbed the blast back inside himself. "You won't regret this, Danny." He muttered and turned his back on me to walk away, knowing I'd follow him.

"Yeah. I will." I whispered slowly, defeated. Truly defeated.

I picked myself up off the ground and hugged myself as I slowly walked after Dan. I stared at the purplish-grey rocks on the ground as I walked. I felt defeated. Shame and guilt controlled my every thought, making my heart pound in my chest harder than usual.

I looked up to stare at Dan's back. He wasn't even checking to see if I'd follow him, the cocky son-of-a-mother. Dan flew into the air and away from the isle.

I sighed. What could I do? I looked once more at Vlad. He was still unconscious, about a month's worth of dirt, dust, mud, blood, and ectoplasm all over him. His once white HAZMAT was now a dull brown color, the red parts a deep burgandy.

I continued to study Vlad, not noticing the hard look I was giving, not to him, but to Dan. I may have been looking at Vlad, but I was glaring at Dan. He was responsible. I clenched my fists. I wondered where this feeling of stubborness and refusal was coming from. But it didn't take long for me to realize. It was Vlad. His clothes aren't what inspired my sudden new and improved defiance. It was the look on his face. Even unconscious, he had a stern look, like he was beating the crap out of Dan in his dream. He was still fighting.

And if he was still fighting, I had to, too.

A/N: I really do appreciate you guys being so patient. And I'm truly sorry to leave you hanging for so long. A lot happened and, well, you know. I haven't abandoned the story though. And guess what? Only 2 chapters left! I've already began writing them. I hope to get everything done by February. In the meantime, I hope you liked this. Please review!