Chapter 11: Nyx

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Human nature is not black and white but black and grey." Graham Greene

Chapter 11: "Nyx"

(Wednesday-March 3, 2010)

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sledgehammer beat into the tire that was in the training room. Sweat pored down Danny's face. His arms ached from the continued abuse. He was dead tired, but it was still not enough.

Stopping his training for a moment, Danny looked over at the window. The sun was rising. He had yet another sleepless night.

Ever since his fight with Nocturne, Danny had been plagued by a case of terrible insomnia. It was ironic really, he couldn't sleep because he had to kill his dream life. It was also sickening and disgusting but still ironic.

The only way Danny could force himself to sleep was to work himself to complete exhaustion. His work ethic increased by over 300%. Danny quickly became far more efficient in his inventing. His armory was almost completely filled by now. Besides that, Danny also spent hours upon hours training. In fact, he looked up training methods such as this to help exhaust him more quickly.

It had worked at first…until his stamina skyrocketed with his work ethic. His powers even made his human half stronger. He could spend days awake and his body would not tire. The biggest problem, though, was mental fatigue. While his body could easily handle the strain of staying awake, Danny's teenage mind was not strong enough yet and was beginning to weaken. As a hero, he needed to be sharp enough to be aware in battle. His mind was exhausted and it was showing.

Even when he did pass out from exhaustion, the nightmares bombarded his mind. The images of his family's death, Dark Dan, and his dream world dying arrived every time Danny closed his eyes. Unfortunately, that was the best sleep he could get and Danny accepted it…He hated it, though.

Deciding to get back to work, Danny raised his sledgehammer and once again brought it down. Thud! Thud! Thud!

It was going to be a long morning.

"Another boring day…" Spirit mumbled as she flew to her school.

The past few weeks had been terrible for the young halfa. Danny was always in a bad mood. Her dad had become extremely overprotective of her. Wulf left to travel across the country. Klemper was spending most of his time in the Land of the Far Frozen. Cujo was always sleeping. Worst of all though…There had only been a few ghost attacks!

After the Nocturne Crisis as the news had come to call it, the atmosphere was extremely tense. Every channel was reporting about the week where the whole world was asleep. Everyone was looking at Amity Park after Batman and Red Tornado explained what had happened.

While ghosts may be compulsive and thoughtless sometimes, they recognized threats to their safety when they saw them. Almost all of them knew that the humans were on edge and that keeping a low profile was the best plan. As such, all of the ghosts were either staying in the Ghost Zone or keeping themselves hidden in the human world.

This might be viewed as a good thing to Danny and Valerie but not for Dani. Life was boring without ghost attacks. Sure there were still fires, robberies, accidents, and natural disasters to deal with, but those rarely happened in Amity Park. What was the point of being a hero if there was nothing to do?

Danny had said, "To protect the people who can't protect themselves…even if they don't want or need it right now."

Valerie had said, "To give a symbol of hope to anyone who needs it."

Her dad had said, "…I'm not the person to ask…"

Spirit sighed. "I guess I'll just have to suck it up. Nothing I can do about it…"

Hovering invisibly over her school, Spirit glared down at the building. She really didn't want to go there today. She needed some excitement or she was going to pull her hair out!

"Ah!" A shout caught her attention. "My car!"

Looking over to the commotion, Spirit instantly burst out laughing. Her least favorite teacher Mrs. Crabb was stressing over her car which was covered in graffiti. The white car was covered in black swirls and in words that said things like "school sucks!" While Spirit was a hero and should feel offended…she couldn't help but laugh. Mrs. Crabb definitely deserved it for being so mean.

"Who did this?!" Mrs. Crabb glared around the crowd that formed around her. All of the students cowered while the teachers and staff tried to calm her down.

"Jena…" Dani's principal Mr. Moots tried to calm the teacher down.

"Don't Jena me!" Mrs. Crabb screeched. "Which hooligan did this?!"

There were murmurs across the crowd. No one seemed to know.

"I don't know how any of the students could have done this, Jena." Mr. Moots examined the car. "I was out here five minutes ago and everything was fine…and I don't know what this graffiti is made of…" He rubbed the graffiti. "It obviously isn't paint. It couldn't be this dry after only five minutes…"

"Then who did it?" Mrs. Crabb grumbled.

"That I do not know." Mr. Moots shrugged.

Spirit would have continued listening to her teachers, but suddenly her ghost sense went off. The half-ghost thought, 'Well, that explains who did this…'

Looking around, Spirit saw a flash of black coming from the other side of the school. Rocketing over the roof, Spirit smiled. Now this was what she was talking about! Finally a ghost to fight!

Spirit heard giggling from the front of the school. Deciding to grab the ghost's attention, Spirit shouted. "Hey!"

The unknown ghost stopped what she was doing and turned toward Spirit with a smile, "Hey, how's it going!?"

"Um…okay?" Spirit shrugged.

"Good!" The ghost then turned back to what she was doing. The girl ghost looked like she was about the same age as Spirit. She had blue skin; short, spiky purple hair; and purple eyes. Her upper body, torso, arms, and hands included, was covered in gold and silver armor which reminded Spirit of a medieval knight. The girl was also wearing a dark black pants that had several rips and tears around the knee and ankle parts. Finally, the girl's feet was covered by sandals.

"What are you doing?" Spirit questioned.

"Making this boring school pretty." The girl smiled. Her gauntlet covered hands were surrounded by black shadow energy. She then pointed her hands at the school building. The energy blasted from her hand and began to make drawings on the building. Like with Mrs. Crabb's car, there were a lot of black swirls and simple phrases.

"Why are you doing this?" Spirit asked.

"I was bored." The girl stated simply.

Spirit could understand that.

"Wait…" The girl turned to her and grinned. "You're Spirit!…except your clothes are different than the pictures I've seen."

Spirit looked down at her new attire. After what had happened with Nocturne, Spirit decided that she could use a change of pace. This time she changed a lot more than before. Spirit had abandoned her bandana allowing her hair to be free, but her scarf was still in place.

The halfa girl now had a loose white skirt reaching down to her mid thigh. Underneath the skirt was black spandex pants. The pants went all the way down to Spirit's knee

The girl was now wearing a black and white bomber jacket with a black shirt underneath it. The right arm of the jacket was sleeveless allowing the alternating white and black rapping tape to be shown going from her shoulder all the way down to her gloved hand. Unlike before, Spirit no longer had the "Spirit" symbol on her clothing. Instead, she went back to the infamous DP on the left side of the jacket.

This change was brought about because of Spirit's near defeat. Originally, her look was to help hide her similar looks to Phantom, and at the same time signify that while there were similarities she was not under him and that she was her own person.

After that whole ordeal though…she would gladly wear the DP. She would show that she was proud to be Phantom's partner and would gladly state that she was under his protection. Not to say that she couldn't take care of herself, but…she was a member of Team Phantom and she was proud of it.

Even if he was not exactly stable right now…

"Is it a crime to change my look?" Spirit asked.

"No," The girl shrugged. "But it's rare for you people to change your looks. It's notable."

"You people?" Spirit didn't understand what she was talking about.

"Heroes. Goody goodies. People who put themselves in harms way for stupid people who don't have the guts to stand up for themselves." The girl explained.

"What's wrong with that?" Spirit was offended.

"Nothing I guess…" The girl turned around again and began her work again. "If you like that sort of thing…"

"And you don't…Umm." Spirit realized that she didn't know the girl's name.

"You, Girl Scout, can call me Nyx." The now identified Nyx stated proudly.

"Girl Scout?" Spirit was a little offended.

"Yeah, you wear a uniform and help old ladies cross the street. So, you're a Girl Scout." Nyx explained as if she was talking to toddler.

Spirit huffed. "I am not a girl scout."

"Then prove it." Nyx challenged. "Help me finish my art."

"But…" Spirit looked at her school. She didn't like this place, but she couldn't just defile public property. "This is wrong…"

"Says who?" Nyx questioned. "That mean woman deserved what she got and this school is sooooo bland! I'm just making the world more beautiful."

"You're the one that did that to Mrs. Crabb's car?" Spirit tried to appear mad, but couldn't hide her smile. "That's…"

"Funny?" Nyx suggested with a smirk.

"…Yes…" Spirit admitted.

"Exactly!" Nyx cheered. "It's funny! So help me finish my art!"

Spirit mentally struggled on what to do. On one hand, she knew that Danny would never approve of her using her powers like this. On the other hand, though, she really wanted to do this. It would feel greet to finally get some payback at the boring school.

Glaring at the school, Spirit made her decision. She lifted her glowing green and finished the swirls that Nyx halfway finished. The two girls quickly covered the front of the school in shadow and ectoplasmic drawings. After they finished, both girls laughed and admired their work.

Nyx grinned. "Kukukukuku! It's beautiful!"

"Hahahhahahhahaha! Yeah it is!" Spirit beamed.

"Then why stop here!" Nyx smirked mischievously. "Come on, let's make this whole town pretty."

"Wha?" Spirit was surprised by this. Messing with a school was one thing, but doing it to the whole town? "But…I, uh, have to go to school…"

"Psh!" Nyx rolled her eyes. "Just skip! It's not like it will hurt anyone."

"But Danny will be mad at me…not to mention my dad…" Spirit mumbled.

Nyx made a fart noise. "Who cares what they think? They sound boring."

"They can punish me though." Spirit pointed out. "If they find out that I skipped school…"

Nyx groaned. "Do you see this." The blue ghost pointed to the school. "This art will keep them distracted alllllllllllllllllllllllllll day. They won't notice you're gone."

"I-uh…." Spirit glanced back at the school.

"Ugn! Whatever, Girl Scout!" Nyx turned and began to fly off. "Do what you want. I, however, am going to have fun!"

Spirit looked back and forth between the school and Nyx. Skipping school wasn't right, but Nyx was right. They'll probably just send the students home anyway. On the other hand, she didn't want to disappoint Danny, but…She wasn't a girl scout!

"Hey, Nyx! Wait up!"

Phantom felt powerful arms grab his. From the cry, he instantly knew who was behind him. The master of time was here to intervene.

In his fury, Danny shouted, "You save him, but not my family!"

"I'm not saving anyone." Clockwork stated. "I'm here to give you a choice."

"I made my choice already!" Phantom screamed. "He deserves to die!"

"He does," Clockwork nodded. "He has perverted the purity and innocence of dreams. He tried to conquer the world. He had wronged everyone…you especially. But you don't have to cross this line."

"Why shouldn't I!?" Phantom felt tears run down his face. "My life is a curse! Everyday is torture! Now, it will get even worse then before! Now seems like the best time possible to cross that time."

"Remember your promise!" Clockwork yelled. "You promised your family that you would never become that monster! You promised your little sister to be there for her! You promised to not let this break you!"

Danny stopped struggling.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. You must think that I'm hypocritical." Clockwork apologized. "Despite what they think, I don't answer to the Observants. I answer to a higher power. We…the world… needs you to be strong. It needs you to be a hero. So, please, don't do this."

Phantom was silent for a moment as he thought this over. Looking down at the frozen face of Nocturne, Phantom was suddenly hit a wave of terrible anger. This piece of trash deserved to die!

"Rawwwwwww!" Phantom brought his blade down as hard as he could. The blade sunk into Nocturne's head and green blood splashed onto Phantom's-

Danny woke up from his nightmare by jumping nearly a foot in the air. "Ah!"

Sweat pored down Danny's body. He was trembling uncontrollably. The dream had been so life like. Not to mention the fact that it was once close to becoming reality.

Danny groaned as he realized that he was in the lab. Rubbing his eyes, the halfa stated. "Must of dozed off…"

Looking down at his station, Danny saw the now completely completed Tucker Phone. He and Vlad had finished programming the software a few days ago and it was now ready to go. Danny had been testing it, but apparently passed out after a while.

"Better get to work on the main project…" Danny looked to the corner of the room which contained what he and Vlad had been working on as a long term project for months.

The Fenton Exoskeleton stood massively over all the computer that was connected to it. It was no surprise to Danny that Vlad had the Exoskeleton. It had to go somewhere after the battle with the Ghost King, of course. What did surprise him, was the new design changes that Vlad had planned out.

Vlad had essentially designed a way to fix the Exoskeleton's main problem. He and Danny created an ectoconverter to act as an endless power source. This was enough for a ghost to use, but there was another problem for humans. The suit would push the human body 100 times past its limit. To fix this, Vlad got bloodstream nanobots from Axion Labs to control the user's breathing and heart rate.

To tip it all off, the two halfa's had begun to add various other weaponry to the suit. Rocket launchers, machine guns, grenades, and various other guns were added to the suit or were going to be added. They had also began working on trying to get the suit to fly.

As it was now, it was the perfect battle suit. That was the problem, though. If any meta-human or ghost got control of the suit, then they might become almost invincible. Fixing this problem was simple. Only someone that was human and didn't have the meta-gene could control the suit. Thus the only way for a halfa to use the Exoskeleton was to be in human form and to not use any of his powers.

The reason for this was simple. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. If someone already incredibly powerful was suddenly made 100 times stronger…the mental stress might not be able to keep up. When Danny used the suit and became powerful enough to rival the Ghost King, he had a purpose and was kept under control. If he was like Dark Dan, though…All that would result is destruction.

Danny rolled up his sleeves. The Exoskeleton needed more work. He needed a distraction from the dream. It was a perfect combination.

"Time to go to work…" Danny mumbled.

"Time to go to work!" Nyx cheered as she peeked around the corner to see the nearby office building.

"Work?" Spirit questioned. "I thought it was art?"

"Sure! It's all those things work, art, fun, destruction…" Nyx explained.

"Wait…" Spirit thought she heard wrong. "What was that last one?"

"Fun." Nyx stated.

"Oh," Spirit wasn't entirely convinced. "Okay."

"Alright," Nyx whispered even though she could yell and no one besides Spirit would hear her right now. "You remember the plan?"

"You never told me a plan." Spirit raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, right…I forgot." Nyx nodded to herself.

Spirit face palmed.

"Okay, then here's the plan…" Nyx focused shadow energy around her and fired the ball on the ground. The ball hit the ground and changed shape into a black cat with red eyes. "I'll make a bunch of my babies to cause a distraction. Then, we'll go in and redecorated the boring building."

"What?" Spirit shifted uncomfortably. "We're going to do it inside?"

"Well duh," Nyx rolled her eyes. "They won't be able to see it while they work if we do it outside! What? You having second thoughts, Girl Scout?"

"No, but I-" Spirit was cut off.

"Great!" Nyx made a few more of her shadow cats. "You go up to the roof. When I give the signal, you move."

"What's the signal?" Spirit had to ask.

"Oh…" Nyx gained a wide devilish grin. "You'll know it when you see it."

Spirit didn't like the sound of that but nevertheless flew up to the roof. As she went, the halfa girl couldn't help but think that this wasn't such a good idea. These people were just trying to work. Was it really alright to do this just for fun?

She thought about this for a minute, but that was all the time she got. Suddenly, a ball of black energy rammed into the side of the building. The wall was partially destroyed and coved in the shadowy substance.

Spirit stared at the building for a moment then said. "Guess that's the signal…"

The halfa girl fazed into the building and looked around. The humans inside were scrabbling toward the stairs and elevators. They all seemed absolutely terrified.

Spirit stopped and watched for a minute. This didn't seem fun anymore. They were scaring people and destroying buildings. It all seemed wrong.

"Kukukuku!" Suddenly, Nyx fazed through the floor. She blasted all the walls with her shadow energy. "This is fun isn't it?!"

"…" Spirit remained silent.

"What's wrong with you?" Nyx questioned. "You haven't done anything yet."

"This seems wrong." Spirit gestured around the room. "We're terrifying people and destroying stuff. Not that I don't like occasionally braking stuff, but all this…it's too much."

"What?" Nyx seemed confused. "It's not like we're hurting people or anything."

"Not physically, no, but…" Spirit trailed off.

"Psh! You sound like my mother!" Nyx whined. "Come on, Girl Scout! You're supposed to be fun!"

"I am fun!" Spirit growled.

"I don't believe it…" Nyx whipped her head side to side in denial.

"Fine!" Spirit's right foot was encased in green light. She kicked at the wall and sent an arc of green energy toward the wall. The halfa girl then sent two blasts right above the downward scorch, thus making a frowning face. "Does that satisfy you?"

"No!" Nyx grinned and spread her arms out. "There's still a whole building to redecorated."

Spirit grimaced. This wasn't going to end well.

"Please, Danny, you need to listen to me." Harriet Chin's voice sounded through Danny's Fenton Phones.

"I am listening, Harriet." Danny mumbled as he worked on the right arm of the Fenton Exoskeleton. "But all I'm hearing is a bunch of bull crap."

"It might sound that way from your perspective." Harriet calmly explained. "But for the rest of the world, it's common sense."

"So, common sense is to start giving humanity a new way to kill each other." Danny rolled his eyes.

"No, it's to protect humanity from the ghosts." Harriet clarified.

"You keep thinking that." Danny sighed as he began to install a retractable blade on top of the suit's gauntlet. "I know what will happen if I start selling weapons, and I can tell you this…It won't be peace."

"So we should all live in fear of world threatening ghost attacks?" Harriet questioned.

"A year ago, humans mocked my parents for even believing in ghosts." Danny stated. "Now there scared silly by them."

"Danny, a ghost almost conquered the world." Harriet reasoned. "They have the right to be scared."

"The key world is almost." Danny firmly pointed out. "Phantom and the Justice League handled it."

"Barely," Harriet mumbled. "They barely won from what I heard. Plus only Batman and Red Tornado were actually there. The rest of the Leauge was just as defenseless as the rest of us."

"Good," Danny examined the newly installed blade. "They should learn that their not actually gods walking among us. They can bleed and die just like the rest of us."

"I thought you supported the League." Harriet sounded surprised.

Danny sighed again, "I do. I've just noticed how…arrogant they look sometimes. Not all of them, mind you, but I can see it in some of them. They think that they're better than us regular mortal."

"What makes you think that?" Harriet asked.

"I recognize their body language…" Danny shook his head even though no one could see him. "I saw it all the time when I went to school. It may just be a little bit of overconfidence, but they hold themselves as though they are untouchable, and trust me on this no one is untouchable."

"Which is exactly why the rest of the world needs your weapons." Harriet reasoned. "The Justice League is not invincible. We need to be able to protect ourselves."

"My answer is still no." Danny didn't budge.

"Danny…" Harriet sighed. "Why are you selling all the Fenton merchandise, then? The Fenton Phones, Fenton batteries, and something about a new cellphone that's coming out in a few months…Is this really what you want to do? Make appliances? Does that uphold your parent's lega-"

"Don't you talk about my parents!" Danny snapped. "They worked hard for years and were never acknowledged for it. Don't sully their names by using them in this conversation."

"…I'm sorry…" Harriet gasped out in horror. Offending him was obviously not her intention.

"I know, look…" Danny began. "I know that the world will get ecto weapons eventually. I'm not stupid enough to believe that they won't. Some person will figure it out eventually…probably soon too, but until then, Fenton Works does sell those appliances and nothing else."

"…Okay…" Harriet was obviously disappointed.

Danny stopped his work and sighed once again. He looked over his Exoskeleton and all the work he and Vlad had done. "If it makes you feel better…I'll send you a gun, but only if you promise not to tell, show, or sell it to anyone. Alright?"

"Thanks…that would make me feel better." Harriet gratefully said.

"Glad to hear. Now you know my statement on this stuff. The story's yours. Your editor will be happy." Danny smiled a little.

"Well, here's the thing. Because of all your interviews, I've gotten a job offer somewhere else. The pay and benefits are really good. So, I'm packing up and moving." Harriet explained happily.

"That's nice." Danny went back to work. "Where is this new job."

"New York City! Apparently, I'm going to be working with some guy named G. Gordon Godfrey."

"This will be the best prank, yet!" Nyx exclaimed as she looked down at the traffic below them.

All day, the two ghost girls had been causing chaos around towns. They had destroyed a lot of property. A lot of conflicts were started by overshadowing a few people. Plus there were a few incidents where walls were turned invisible.

Spirit felt terrible about all of it.

This was not what she wanted to do with her powers. She did like to get into fights, pull harmless pranks, and occasionally breaking stuff. All of this was crossing the line, though.

These people were innocent and didn't deserve to be treated like this. Spirit tried to bring this up several times throughout the day, but was cut off by Nyx every time. Nyx swore that it was all fine as long as nobody got hurt. Spirit believed her at first, but it was slowly fading with each prank.

"What are we doing?" Spirit asked nervously.

"Look at them," Nyx gestured to the slowly moving vehicles. "They're all moving so slowly. They might as well not be moving at all."

"I don't like where this is going…" Spirit mumbled.

"What was that, Girl Scout?" Nyx asked.

"Nothing." Spirit quickly got out.

"Uh huh…" Nyx turned back to the vehicles. "So, we'll go in invisibly, mess with the engines, and watch as the humans freak out."

Spirit frowned. "What is the point of this, anyway?"

"The point?" Nyx raised an eyebrow. "I thought we covered this? It's 'funny'."

"It's not so funny for them…" Spirit pointed out.

"So? They'll get over it." Nyx shrugged. "What matters is that we're entertained."

"But we're making them miserable." Spirit looked down to the cars below.

"Miserable?" Nyx shook her head. "This is nothing. A little property damage, a good fright, and some mild anger will not kill them. Trust me, I'm not going to even hurt them."

"…" Spirit mulled it over. "It's still wrong."

"What?" Nyx tilted her head to the side. "You've been doing stuff like this with me all day."

"I did, and I feel terrible about it." Spirit frowned. "I know better than to use my powers like this. I'm no saint, but I've been taught better than this. I should have never even done that to the school."

"But you did." Nyx pointed out.

"I know, and I'm willing to accept the consequences for it." Spirit agreed.

"You're not going to blame me?" Nyx seemed surprised.

"No." Spirit shook her head. She remember the various conversations she had with Danny. "I'm responsible for my own actions. You may have been pressuring me, but I was the one who did what I did."

"Hmmmm…." Nyx's eyebrows dipped in thought. "How noble of you."

"Maybe…" Spirit didn't feel noble. She still felt bad. "I just can't do this anymore."

"You mean won't." Nyx sighed. "Fine then, Girl Scout. You're out. I get that."

"Thanks," Spirit smiled.

"So, now you can run off, Girl Scout." Nyx turned toward the cars. "I'm starting to get bored, and I hate boredom. I'm going to go cause a little chaos and have some fun."

"You're still going to mess with the cars?" Spirit was surprised.

"Uh, yeah." Nyx stated as if it was obvious. "I don't need your help. I just wanted some company, but if you don't want to have fun, I can't force you. Go and do your girl scout things. I'll be here."

Spirit began to turn away. Halfway, though, she stopped. She had already had several regrets from today. Leaving and not interfering would just add another.

"I can't leave just yet." Spirit looked at the shadow ghost.

"Oh?" Nyx turned back around. "Why's that?"

"I can't let you do this." Spirit stated. "I have to stop you."

"Ah?"

Jap. Jap. Cross punch. Upper cut. Hook. Hook. Hook. Danny continued to strike the punching bag. He felt pain in his knuckles. They were rubbed raw and bleeding a little. That didn't matter to him.

"Hah…" Blue smoke burst out of Danny's mouth. That was weird. No ghost would attack him at the mansion. Plus he was used to Klemper and Cujo's presense. That only left…

"pant…huff… Ember.. pant…How's it going," Danny turned toward the siren ghost.

"Pretty good, Baby Pop." Ember was leaning up against the far wall. "It's been a while."

"That it has…" Danny wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Woah! Your knuckles." Ember got a glimpse of his hands.

"Yeah," Danny looked down at his bleeding hands. Green energy began to cover his hands. Soon, the wounds slowly began to heal.

"Wow, that's a neat trick." Ember observed as Danny's wound healed.

"Yeah, it's a new one," Danny walked over to a nearby cooler. "You want a drink?"

"It's about time you asked." Ember smirked.

"It's only been a few seconds since you got here. When I was supposed to get you a drink." Danny inquired.

"Having one ready as soon I got here would be nice." Ember suggested.

"I suppose," Danny shrugged as he threw her a water. "I might have been able to do it if you told me you were coming. You haven't been by in a while."

"Meh." Ember took a large chug of the water. "I knew you needed some distance."

"Oh?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Ember nodded, "You needed some time to cool off after the fight with Nocturne."

Danny was silent.

"I know how ghosts work. We don't let things go well." Ember snorted. "I bet those human girls you hang out with wouldn't leave you alone."

Danny nodded. He appreciated Valerie's and Jennifer's company, but they didn't understand. Jennifer out of ignorance. Valerie out of…her being Valerie. Even Dani was a little annoying at this point.

"You've had some time to let out some steam, so…" Ember slid down the wall and sat down. She patted the space right next to her. "Let's talk."

Danny sighed, but nevertheless with cooler in hand he walked over to Ember. Sitting down, the halfa said, "For the record, I don't want to do this but I know you won't let this go... Alright, but do you mind if I eat while we talk?"

"Only if you give me some of the food." Ember gave him a "give me" gesture.

"Fair enough," Danny handed her an apple. "Alright so…"

"I heard about the dream." Ember got right to the point.

"Blunt much?" Danny mumbled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ember gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did you want to make pointless small talk first?"

"Don't patronize me." Danny glared.

Ember chuckled. Taking a bite out of her apple, Ember said, "Well?"

Danny sighed again, "Who told you anyway?"

"Plasmius," One word was enough.

"Of course," Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "The dream…it was a perfect world for me. Everything was great. My family and friends were alive. Vlad and Dani had a woman to complete their family. And Sam was…Ugn…"

"Ah…" Ember simply nodded.

"Yeah, sorry," Danny looked down.

"Don't appologize." Ember lightly smacked him upside his head. "It was a dream and we're not…"

Danny decided to let that go. "I had to kill it. That perfect world had to die to save this one…"

"I can't imagine…" Ember admitted. "I doubt I could that."

"It was hard." Danny's face saddened. "It hurt so badly, but I did it."

"Why'd you do it?" Ember asked.

"I heard Dani yelling for help. I couldn't leave her for my own selfish reasons." Danny explained.

"There's that hero thing again…" Ember closed her eyes.

"I know it annoys you, but-" Danny was cut off.

"No." Ember stated. "I've actually grown fond of it."

"Really?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, its real and sincere." Ember let out a deep breath. "I like that you stay true to what you say."

"Its not easy." Danny admitted. "There's many times that I want to give up. Now more than ever."

"The best things in this world are difficult. You staying a hero…and… other things." Ember trailed off.

Danny instantly knew what she was talking about.

"Did I ever tell you how I died?" Ember asked.

Danny eyed the siren ghost, "No…"

"Probably, I've never told anyone before." Ember mumbled.

"You don't have to tell me." Danny told her.

"I know, I want to." Ember looked at the ceiling. "When I was alive…I wasn't all that popular."

"I know the feeling." Danny admitted.

"Yeah, it sucks." Ember sighed. "All I really had were my dreams of becoming a rock star. But one day this guy-a really cute guy too. He had these-"

"Please, I don't need to hear that." Danny groaned.

Ember chuckled evilly and grinned. "Yeah," Her grin fell. "Anyway, he asked me to go to the movies with him. I was so excited that I was probably jumping for joy. The night of the date, I spent hours getting ready and made sure to get to the movies early.

"I was there a half hour early. I was so ecstatic that first half hour. The next hour I was still on cloud nine. The hour after that was worse. And it only got worse from there. Damn…I was so naïve. I kept saying, 'He's just running late.' I waited there all night like an idiot." Ember sighed.

"I would have done the same." Danny comforted. "Well…you know if it was a girl who asked me out. I'd probably not be as excited if a guy asked me. Flattered, maybe, but not excited."

"Nice save," Ember gained a dismal look. "When morning came, I dragged myself home. I was so tired, I passed out as soon as I got home. Next thing I know…I'm a ghost."

"What happened?" Danny questioned.

"There was a fire." Ember explained. "I was so tired that I slept through it…I didn't make it."

"I'm sorry," Danny consulted her.

"I was so mad." Ember frowned. "I blamed the guy. I blamed myself. I blamed everyone and everything. I thought about going out and killing the guy, but…I couldn't. It took me a while for me to cool down…like you. Afterward, I discovered my obsession. To be the greatest rock star to ever live.

"I tried, but I took it too far." Ember shrugged. "Tried to rule the world. Got the attention of some wanna be hero. Was defeated…twice. Ruined my chances of finishing my obsession."

"I-I had t-to st-top you." Danny stuttered nervously.

"I don't blame you for stopping me." Ember placed her head on her knees. "I was my fault…but what happened to you wasn't your fault. It was Nocturne. Don't blame anyone else for it. Not you. Not Dani. Not anyone. Okay?"

"Okay…" Danny smiled. "I'm still gonna be angry for a while, though."

Ember snorted, "Of course! It'd be weirded out if you weren't."

They sat there in silence for a moment. Both teens were comfortable in their thoughts. After a few minutes, Danny broke that silence. "You know…I might be able to help with the rock star thing."

Ember raised an eyebrow. "You? You don't really have a sense for music."

"What!? I do to!" Danny was insulted.

"Psh! No way. All your music is so dark and depressing." Ember rolled her eyes.

"It is not!" Danny shouted.

"It makes want to run into a dark room and cut myself." Ember deadpanned. "I wonder who got you into that crap…"

Danny just grumbled under his breath and sulked.

"But I suppose that I should listen to your suggestion." Ember mumbled. "I've got nothing to loss."

"I appreciate your faith in me…." Danny sulked. "Anyway, I'm sure that Vlad could pull something off and get you back in the game if I asked for some help."

"You'd do that?" Ember eyes softened.

"As long as you don't try to take over the world again." Danny deadpanned.

"I won't!" Ember rocketed to her feet.

"Alright," Danny stood also. "It won't be that hard to convince him. With your talent and voice, you'll be a great success and earn him a lot of money."

"You really believe that I'd be a success?" Ember felt touched emotionally.

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "Even without your powers you have a great voice. Plus your guitar playing is top notch. I always did like your songs…except for that crappy easy listening."

Ember groaned, "I know. But it was the only way to get those adults to listen. They have no taste."

"And as long as you don't do that, I'm sure you'll be a success." Danny encouraged. "You can even use your powers if you want. Just don't go too overboard and make everyone obsessive over you."

Ember pouted. "You take the fun out of it…"

"That's the whole hero thing working in…" Danny turned back and began to walk to the punching bag.

Before he got too far, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was slowly turned At first, he thought that Ember was going to pull him into a passionate kiss. Imagine his surprise when all Ember did was lean in and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're something, you know." Ember remarked. "I came her to give you some support and in the end, you're the one comforting me…Thanks."

"You're welcome." Danny smiled gently.

"Hey," Ember smirked evily. "I heard that Plasmius is out of town. Your sister isn't home yet, and Klemper's still in the Ghost Zone. That means this place is empty…"

"It is…" Danny gave her a knowing look.

"A lot of guys might want to take advantage of this situation…" Ember suggested.

"A lot of guys would…But we talked about this…" Danny reminded her. "Especially now…I think it's worse now…"

"Alright." Ember took a step back. "But I'm still using this opportunity to teach you a thing or two about music."

"Oh, will you?" Danny was amused.

"Yeah, let's start by going over what we call the oldies…" Ember was about to continue but was interrupted.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Of course…" Ember sighed.

"Sorry," Danny apologized as he walked over to his phone. "Hello?"

"Danny, there's a problem." Valerie's voice sounded urgent.

"When isn't there a problem?" Danny rubbed his eyes in annoyance.

"There have been weird disturbances all day. I thought that I could handle it, but now…it involves Dani." Valerie explained.

"What is it?" Danny gained a serious look.

"She and some girl ghost are floating above the city. Danielle looks like she doesn't need any help right now, but…" Valerie paused. "I thought that you would want to know."

"Thanks, Val." Danny acknowledged. "I'll handle it. You can go home and relax. I know that I put a lot of the patrol duty on you lately…"

"Thanks, Danny. I'll talk to you later." Valerie then hung up.

Danny turned to Ember, "Yeah, soooo…."

Ember sighed, "Go."

"Thanks, I'm going ghost." Danny turned into his ghost form

"Don't thank me," Ember smirked. "I'm still gonna be here when you get back. Can't let you get away from my lessons that easily."

"You can't let me?" Nyx raised an eyebrow.

"No, I can't." Spirit nodded.

"And what will you do to stop me?" Nyx inquired.

"…For once, I don't want to fight." Spirit admitted. "I think that you're a good person. You're just a little selfish."

"Like you're one to talk." Nyx commented. "You've been pretty selfish today."

"…Please leave." Spirit asked nicely. "Go back to the Ghost Zone."

"Ah, naw!" Nyx shook her head. "I'm still bored and if I go back home, my mom will be mad. I need to delay that as much as possible."

"…Then I guess there's only one way to stop you…" Spirit concluded.

"Oh!" Nyx gained an excited look. "You mean you want to fight! That's even better than pranks!"

Shadow like energy began to dance around the girl. She took a defensive stance. Then a good portion of the energy transferred to Nyx's hands.

Despite herself, Spirit felt her blood boil. "Okay, then. We fight. If you win I'll leave you alone. When I win you go back to the Ghost Zone."

Nyx snorted. "No, when I win, you'll have to go to the hospital. Then I'll go and have some more fun!"

"In your dreams!" Spirit rocketed toward the shadow girl and fired a ectoplasmic covered fist. The punch was blocked with a shield of shadow. Before Spirit could react, Nyx forced the shield to explode outward sending the hero girl back.

Spirit quickly corrected herself, but was too late. Nyx had created two shadow cats to attack Spirit. The cats latched themselves onto the halfa and began to scratch her. Through the pain and annoyance, Spirit gathered energy around her and sent it all out in a burst. The shadow cats were instantly destroyed.

Spirit looked up just in time to see Nyx sending a shadow covered fist at her face. Spirit diverted the attack to the side and send a ectoplasmic powered roundhouse kick to Nyx's midsection. Nyx blocked the attack, but the force of the ectoplasmic blast caused her to be sent flying to the side.

Spirit then sent a barrage of ectoplasmic blasts to the shadow ghost. Each one made contact and exploded. After several blasts, Spirit stopped and admired her work. There was only one problem.

Nyx was no where to be seen.

Suddenly, Spirit felt arms wrap around her neck. Nyx was behind her and began to choke her. The halfa struggled against the shadow ghost, but couldn't free herself. Luckily, the choke had no effect. Spirit didn't need to breath as a ghost.

"Do you really think that you could beat me?" Nyx questioned. "I've been training all my life. You've only been training for a few months from what I heard. There's no way for you to win."

"Guh…You…may have more training…but I have…real battle…experience!" Spirit let go of Nyx's arm with her right hand. The halfa girl reached her hand around right in front of Nyx's head. A blast of ectoplasm rammed into Nyx's face and caused the shadow ghost to let go.

As soon as she was free, Spirit gathered as much energy as possible to her left foot. Spinning around, Spirit sent a powerful side thrust to Nyx's midsection. The shadow ghost was sent soaring back.

Spirit took a minute to gather herself. She had to admit that this was the hardest one on one fight she had ever fought. Winning wasn't going to be easy.

"Urg…" Nyx groaned as she clutched her stomach. "Okay…I'll admit it. That was a good move."

"Thanks…" Spirit acknowledged. "You're not a total wimp."

"Kukukuku," Nyx giggled. "Alright, then. Let's try this again."

"Yes," Spirit agreed. "Let's."

"There you are…" Phantom spied the two girls a few blocks. It took merely a few minutes of searching for Phantom to find the duo. Their fight wasn't exactly subtle.

Watching Spirit get out of the rear naked choke, Phantom debated on whether or not to intervene. Spirit seemed to be holding her own. He would just wait and see where things went. If she won, then he would let it be. If she lost…he would make sure she didn't get any permanent damage.

"Kukukukuku!" Phantom heard a familiar laugh from behind him on a nearby roof. "Hey, Phantom! You came to watch the show too!"

Phantom turned and saw Klarion the Witch Boy. The halfa remembered his mentor's warnings about the Witch Boy. Vlad explained how Klarion was a lord of chaos and how he used magic to fight. Magic could harm ghosts exactly the same as everyone else, so he would have to be careful.

"What are you doing here, Klarion? It's been quiet here. No chaos." Phantom eyed the being before him.

"Or there is plenty of chaos." Klarion smirked as he petted his cat. "It's just contained right now."

"You mean their fight?" Phantom gestured to the two fighting girls.

"Something like that…" Klarion chuckled.

"Hmm…" Phantom didn't take his eyes off the lord of chaos. "There is potential in them, yes, but…"

Phantom looked over at the fight with his peripheral vision. The fight seemed pretty even, now, but it could easily turn one way or another. He needed to be ready in case things went south.

"You're not thinking of interfering, are you Phantom?" Klarion questioned. "That would be naughty."

"And if I am?" Phantom was somewhat taken back by use of "naughty."

"Well, then," Klarion placed his cat down. "I might just have to stop you, kukukukuku…"

"There's no reason for us to fight." Phantom stated.

"Oh! There are plenty of reasons!" Klarion grinned. "Most of them involve blood and breaking stuff!"

"Not good enough…" Phantom sighed and turned away to watch the girls fight.

"And here I thought you were tough…" Klarion sighed dramatically. "I guess what happened with Nocturne messed with your game."

Phantom froze.

"I mean, everyone knows that you were captured. Batman told the world almost everything." Klarion grinned evilly. "They know that you escaped, but they don't know what you had to do to escape."

Klarion began to pace back and forth. "What dream did that old snooze fest force on you?"

Phantom twitched.

"Were you king of the world?"

Phantom shook.

"Were you the master of a beautiful harem?"

Phantom trembled.

"Were you alive? Kukukukukukukukukuku! How pathetic!" Klarion laughed at the trembling ghost. "Are you gonna cry?"

Phantom turned. He was still shaking, but it obviously not out of sorrow. His eyes showed the deep rage he had been feeling for days. "Okay…you wanted a fight…"

Energy flared around Phantom as he snarled, "I'll give you an ass kicking!"

"I'll give you a but kicking!" Spirit kicked an arc of green energy at the shadow ghost.

Nyx ducked under the arc and threw a couple of shadow balls toward the halfa girl. Each shadow ball was intercepted by a couple of Spirit's ecto blasts. The explosions from the collisions caused smoke to spread across the sky.

Despite not being able to see, both girls flew toward each other with fists at the ready. In the smoke, both girls landed several blows on her opponent. The smoke finally dispatched when the girls caused another explosion by using their energy in their struggle.

Both girls glared at the other. They were both covered in scratches and bruises. Neither faltered, though. They wouldn't back down.

"This is fun!" Nyx cheered.

"I agree with you there…" Spirit admitted.

"You were right, I really don't have a lot of real battle experience. But I have had a lot of spars. They were the funest part of life, but my mom always had them controlled. But this…is real battle." Nyx smiled.

"It's great." Spirit nodded.

"That it is…Break over!" Nyx launched herself at Spirit.

Spirit responded by forming a spherical shield around herself. Nyx hailed away at the shield with multiple blows. Slowly, cracks began to form in the sphere. Deciding that defense wouldn't work, Spirit canceled her energy to her shield and lunged backward.

After the shield shattered, Nyx sent several blasts of energy at the halfa. Spirit gracefully dodged each blow, but was surprised when the blasts formed into three shadow cats. The cats lunged at Spirit's back, but were all destroyed by Spirit's fists.

Using this opening, Nyx formed large shadow hands. Holding them above her head, Nyx spread the arms wide. The shadow hands spread out. Swinging her arms toward the halfa girl, Nyx sent the shadow hands toward Spirit.

"Gah!" The hands grabbed Spirit. They covered her from her ankles to her neck. Slowly, the shadow hands began to squeeze Spirit trying to crush her.

"Gah!" Klarion's magically created hands grabbed Phantom. They covered him from his ankles to his neck. Slowly, the magic hands began to squeeze Phantom trying to crush him.

"What was that about you kicking my ass?" Klarion mocked.

"Don't get cocky!" Phantom covered himself in blue energy and caused the hands to freeze. Struggling against the ice hand, Phantom shattered his constraints. "I'm done with my warm up, so it's time to cool down."

Phantom sent several ice blasts at Klarion. The Witch Boy responded by sending several red magic balls to intercept the freezing ectoplasm. In an instant, the attacks canceled each other out.

Phantom then tried to close the gab between him and his opponent. Forming an ice broad sword, Phantom slashed down at Klarion with an arc of blue energy. Klarion was instantly frozen.

Phantom stopped and stared, "Well…that was easy."

Boom!

Red magical energy burst out from Klarion's frozen body. The force of the explosion caused Phantom to fly off the roof. When he landed on the street below, Phantom instantly got up and prepared himself for the next attack. Unfortunately, he was not prepared for what happened next.

A column of red magical energy appeared at the halfa's feet. Desperatly, Phantom turned intangible. The column then rose upward and covered Phantom. The attack only lasted a moment, but that was enough. When the energy fade, Phantom was scorched and bruised.

"Kukukukuku!" In a swirl of red, Klarion appeared in front of Phantom "Too bad, so sad!"

"Guh…" Phantom groaned and fell to one knee. "What was that? I turned intangible."

"Magic has that effect on ghosts." Klarion explained with a huge smirk. "It's one of the few things that render ghosts helpless."

"Ha…good to know…" Phantom looked over his injuries. "Dumbass magic…"

"Ha!" Klarion chuckled. "It's that magic which put you in this state!"

"Really?" Phantom smirked. "You sure?"

"Wha?" Klarion tilted his head to the side. "What are you-Gah!"

Suddenly, another Phantom fazed through the floor and punched Klarion in the jaw. The Witch Boy was sent barreling through the air. Phantom followed this up with several blasts of ecto energy.

Suddenly, the injured Phantom disappeared in a puff of green smoke. The real Phantom yelled, "Ever hear of duplicates?"

"Ever been on a merry go round?' Spirit grabbed Nyx by her armor and twirled her around as fast as she could.

Using all her strength, Spirit threw Nyx down onto a nearby roof. The shadow ghost crashed on the roof and left a large crater. Spirit too this moment to come up with a game plan.

She was running low on energy, but so was Nyx. It wouldn't be long before they were both fatigued. Spirit had to beat Nyx before that happened. The young heroine had no experience fighting without her powers.

"That was a good one!" Nyx dusted herself off.

"Thanks…" Spirit acknowledged.

"Alright…" Nyx stood and smirked. "This has been fun, but-"

Crack!

Both girls turned to see what that noise was. Nyx's impact had caused a poriton of the roof to crumble. A hung chunk of concrete fell of the side and fell. The worst part was that it was falling right above the cars stuck in traffic.

"No!" Spirit was about to go and stop the concrete, but she never got the chance.

Nyx had already caught the falling ruble. She had created another shadow hand and used it to stop the ruble. The shadow ghost then lifted the ruble onto the roof and let it go. Spirit could tell that doing that took a lot of Nyx she looked exhausted.

Slowly, Spirit floated down to the roof. "Why did you save them?"

"Idiot…" Nyx mumbled. "I told you, I don't them hurt or nothing. I was just having fun."

"I…" Spirit paused in shock.

Too bad though, that was the opening that Nyx needed.

"Sneak attack!" Nyx blasted Spirit with a wave of shadow energy.

"You jerk!" Spirit growled, "I was giving you time to rest!"

"I'm all rested up!" Nyx grinned as she sent multiple shadow balls at Spirit.

"Raw!" Klarion sent red lightning at his opponent. The electricity struck Phantom on the chest and shocked him.

Phantom groaned and clutched his wound. Great, now his clothes were turn again. He just got them fixed!

"I'm getting tired of this…" Phantom mumbled. It was weird. No matter what he did, Klarion remained uninjured. It was frustrating.

"Really?' Klarion chuckled. "I can do this all day!"

'But how?' Phantom wondered mentally. 'I've dealt almost as much damage as you have.'

Phantom did have to admit that Klarion was extremely powerful. More powerful than he was right now, but he had some weaknesses. He had no hand to hand combat experience, and he was overconfident.

Usually, Phantom could use that to his advantage, but…Klarion seemed to be immune to injury. Ice, ecto blasts, and basic strikes had no effect. It was frustrating.

'How do I beat him?' Phantom questioned mentally.

"Kukukukukuku!" Klarion laughed. "Are you done?"

"He may not be done!" An angry female voice called out, "But you are Witch Boy!"

Both Klarion and Phantom turned and saw fearsome sight. A woman who stood at the same height as Colossus had approached them. She had blue skin and was wearing a gold and black Greek dress. On her head was a Greek helmet which while it protected her head, it still showed her red eyes and long purple hair. There was so much hair that it stuck a foot above her helmet and down to her knees.

Another distinguishing feature was her arms. There were four of them. They each had two black bands on them. Two of them were crossed in front of her. One held a spear, and the last one was behind her back.

"Pandora!" Klarion hissed. "You're not going to ruin my fun again!"

"Your fun only leads to death and destruction, Klarion!" Pandora's voice boomed. "I will not permit you to go near Nyx!"

"She's just as much mine as she is yours!" Klarion's face twisted demonically. "I want her back!"

"Nay! You shall not corrupt her to evil, heathen!" Pandora slammed her spear down in emphasis. "Now leave!"

"No! You can't make me!" Klarion pouted.

"Really?" Pandora smirked. The hand behind her back came forward to reveal Klarion's cat.

"Teekl!" Klarion yelled in outrage. "You call me a fiend!? You're threatening an innocent kitty!"

"This demon is not innocent!" Pandora began to squeeze the cat. The cat howled in pain, but that was normal. The weird thing was that Klarion's form blurred for a moment.

"Leave Teekl alone!" Klarion cried.

"I shall release the demon as long as you agree to leave!" Pandora glared.

"Fine!" Klarion agreed. "You old hag!"

Pandora threw the cat toward Klarion. Klarion desperately caught the animal and cradled it. "Are you okay?"

"Meow!"

"Now, be gone!" Pandora bellowed.

"Whatever!" Klarion glared, "I was getting bored anyway!" Then with a blaze of red, Klarion and his cat were gone.

"Dumbass magic..." The halfa growled. He would have wondered what exactly happened, but he now had a new problem. The giant ghost in front of him was slowly walking toward him.

Phantom was about to go into a defensive stance, but was stopped by Pandora. In an instant, her face went from full of rage to kind and caring. Talk about mood swings.

"Are you alright, Phantom?" Pandora asked with a motherly voice.

"Uh…" Phantom said intelligently, "I don't know…"

The fight had gone to a complete standstill. Both girls were sending attack after attack toward her opponent. Neither were gaining the advantage, but both were near exhaustion.

"Ha!" Spirit blasted a ball of energy at Nyx. Nyx dodged to the side and let the energy ball fly past her. She then focused shadow energy into her hands.

Nyx slammed her hands on the ground. The shadow energy spread out and made a beeline toward Spirit. A shadow column bust up from under Spirit and knocked her into the air.

Nyx tried to follow this up by doing a knock out punch. As she grew close, though, Spirit twirled around and kicked Nyx on the side of her head. Nyx stumbled back as she tried to see past the stars buzzing in front of her eyes.

Luckily, her vision cleared enough for her to block the barrage of punches that Spirit sent toward Nyx. The two girls continued to try to punch each other's brains out for a few minutes. Finally, both girls decided to separate and gain some distance.

Glaring at the other girl, both Nyx and Spirit felt their exhaustion begin to catch up to them. Deciding to end this fight, both girls gathered as much energy as possible around them. In a blur, both girls rocketed toward the other. Each deciding to do a all or nothing move.

Just before the could make contact, though, a pair of hands grabbed each girl by their right ears. The girls instantly dismissed their energy attacks and winced in pain. They both looked up and say a tall blue skinned woman above them.

"Mom!" Nyx cried in fear.

"Mom?" Spirit question in shock. "OW! This is your mom?"

"Owowowowowow!" Nyx chanted in pain. "Yeah…Mom! Please, stop!"

"You deliberately disobeyed me!" Nyx's mom yelled. "You won't be going anywhere for a long time after this!"

"I'm sorry!" Nyx cried.

"You're only sorry that you got caught!" Nyx's mom shouted. "Not that you went against my wishes!"

"Is there a difference? OW!" Nyx yelped after a particularly hard pull on her ear.

"Why are doing this to me!?" Spirit cried. "I don't even know you!"

"Oh…" Nyx's mom realized what she was doing and let go of Spirit. "I'm deeply sorry, dear. It's a force of habit."

Spirit rubbed her ear. "It's, uh, okay…"

"Hey, Spirit," Phantom's voice called from behind her. "You okay?"

"Danny!" Spirit shouted in surprise. "What are you doing here…and what happened to you."

"I heard that you were in a fight. I came to help, but I, uh, was distracted." Phantom shrugged. "Luckily Pandora helped me. Thanks again, Pandora."

"Don't mention it." Pandora smiled gently. "Your opponent…can be a bit of a handful."

Phantom nodded. Looking over at Spirit, he smiled, "Are you alright to fly home? If not I could help."

"I think I'll be fine." Spirit stated. "But…um…there is something I need to tell you…"

Phantom blinked, "Okay, I'll see you at home."

As Spirit was leaving, she looked back at Nyx. The shadow ghost was still struggling against her mother. Their eyes met for a moment. In that instant, both girls glared daggers at the other.

They both knew that the fight had ended in a tie. Neither would complain, but they both weren't happy about it. Both would try to make sure next time was different. Deciding to be mature about it as possible, Spirit did the only thing she could.

She blew a raspberry at the shadow ghost.

"Now listen here, young lady." Pandora addressed Nyx. "You have caused a lot of trouble today."

"I was bored!" Nyx cried.

"That is no excuse!" Pandora's rage scared both Nyx and Phantom. "There is a lot that needs fixed." Pandora then whistled.

Responding to the call, a satyr and a minotaur flew from a nearby roof. They both bowed to Pandora. "Yes, Milady."

Pandora scooted Nyx toward the two creatures. "Take my daughter home. She is to stay in her room until I arrive. I still have business to attend to."

Both mythical creature ghosts nodded and did the task that was given to them. As they escorted Nyx, the shadow ghost looked over at Phantom. She yelled, "Tell the Girl Scout that our fight isn't over. Okay, Upstart!?"

"Upstart?" Phantom questioned.

"My daughter likes to give people nicknames. She must be talking about your recent fame in the Ghost Zone." Pandora clarified. "Your exploits have caused quite the stir. It is not often that such a young ghost could gain the attention of so many S-rank ghosts."

"Hmm…" Phantom nodded. "Are you one of said S-rank ghosts."

Pandora nodded. "I approve of your work. It is nice to see the younger generation work to contain the evil in the world." She then sighed. "That Torch and my daughter prefer things to be more destructive."

"So Nyx is your daughter?" Phantom questioned.

"Indeed," Pandora smiled. "She's quite the handful sometimes, but I have taught her the necessary morals of the world. Her…chaotic nature gets the better of her a lot, though."

"I think my town saw that today…" Phantom noted.

"Yes, do not fret, dear." Pandora comforted him. "I shall send some of my people to help fix what was destroyed. It is the least I can do."

"Thanks," Phantom gratefully said. "So, you're one of the six ghosts that sealed the Ghost King right?"

"Ah…" Pandora nodded. "That's correct. But that was a long time ago. Now, I merely keep to myself in the Ghost Zone."

"How did you know Klarion?" Phantom questioned.

"…" Pandora paused for a moment. "You have surely heard my title 'Controller of Chaos'."

"Yeah," Phantom nodded, "Torch mentioned it once."

"It has to do with my box." Pandora explained. "I created a box to contain the worst evils of the Ghost Zone and the Human World. This bettered the world, but not everyone was happy. Klarion is chaos incarnate. He wants this world to be anarchic. I try to stop him. We have fought many times over the centuries."

"Why did he say that Nyx was his?" Phantom instantly regretted this question. Pandora's saddened features made him wince. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No…" Pandora shook her head. "With Klarion's apparent interest in you, you deserve to know. Our last battle was almost a decade ago. It was a battle of the ages. After a while, I gained the advantage and tried to trap him in my box. In desperation, Klarion tried to use my own power against me.

"He tried to create a monster using both my and his energy. In a way, he was trying to make controlled chaos. That was his mistake. Our energies could never get along in the way that he wanted. Instead of a monster, he got a baby.

"He was so shocked, that I managed to get the advantage over him. He fled and left the baby on the battleground. At first I debated on whether or not I should kill it. The baby was designed to be my end and would undoubtedly bring only destruction if let be. Then, I got a glimpse of the baby.

"She was so beautiful. She was so innocent. She was so perfect. I instantly fell in love with her the way only a mother could. I decided to raise her myself. It was not an easy task to raise a child of chaos, but I did it. I even managed to give her appreciation of life and the rights of every living individual. Some lessons did not sink in as well…

"I tried to tell her not to enter the Human World. With Klarion out here, it's dangerous for her. If he can't control her, he'll destroy her. But she had to come see the world for herself. Luckily, I think your presence in this city deterred Klarion." Pandora noted.

Phantom's eyes widened. "But I couldn't even hurt him."

"Maybe not, but even Colossus has admitted the incredibly potential in you. One day, you could rival all of us in power, skill, and ability. Klarion senses this potential and is cautious. Not to mention the alliances you have with Colossus, Plasmius, and Frostbite. Plus, Torch considers you his equal. Or…maybe it's something else completely . It is hard to predict Klarion's actions and motivations." Pandora explained.

"I'm not allied to Colossus." Phantom pointed out.

"He calls you his rival." Pandora noted. "That is as close to an alliance with Colossus that anyone can get."

"Well…I'm glad I could help. Even if I didn't really do anything." Phantom shrugged.

Pandora laughed gently. Then, with a mother's smile she added, "You fought Klarion and protected my daughter. Even if it was inadvertent, I would call that a lot."

Phantom blushed. "Thanks…"

"I thank you, young hero." Pandora knelt down and held out her spear with two hands. "I wish to offer you my spear as a show of good grace between us."

"I can't accept this." Phantom waved his hands in denial.

"Of course you can." Pandora said sternly. "It will show that like the others, I am allied with you…Plus, I've got a hundred of them back home, so I won't miss it."

"I'm…honored." Phantom bowed to the ancient ghost.

Pandora chuckled, "You have earned it by your actions, young hero. Keep up the fight. Your influence is more than you know."

"So, you ditched school, destroyed public property, caused several arguments among families, and picked a fight with Nyx?" Danny asked in surprise.

After returning, Danny took Pandora's spear to the vault. He was about to take his music lesson from Ember, when Dani asked to talk to him in the living room. Imagine his surprise when Dani told him exactly what happened today.

"Yes, I needed to tell you." Dani dropped her head in shame.

"I'm…surprised." Danny mumbled.

"I know. I did bad things." Dani pouted.

"No, that you actually told me." Danny admitted. "You would have gotten away with it. Your school was closed after all the destruction. There were no witnesses. I wouldn't have even asked you why you were fighting Nyx."

"My conscience wouldn't let me leave it alone. I had to tell you." Dani explained.

"Well, then…I'm proud of you." Danny knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What?!" Dani cried in shock. "You're proud of me?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "You told me the truth when you didn't have to. You showed great character by doing that…I doubt I would have said anything if it was me…" Danny chuckled.

"But..but…I did those bad things." Dani stuttered.

"We all make mistakes. What made you different was that you admitted to them and are going to make up for them." Danny explained.

Dani groaned. "Here comes the punishment."

"Well, duh." Danny flicked her on the forehead. "You knew it was coming."

"Yeah…What is it?" Dani whimpered.

"Tomorrow after school, you're going to help Pandora's people clean up the mess you made. Then, you're grounded for this weekend." Phantom stated.

"…That's it?" Dani questioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Danny grinned. "You wanted more? Cause I can give you more."

"Nonononononononon!" Dani rapidly shook her head. "I'm good. It's just that I expect worse."

"You lived up to your mistakes." Danny stated. "Cleaning it all up is a given. The grounding is just because Vlad put me in charge while he's gone and would freak if I didn't at least ground you a little."

"…Thanks, Danny." Dani smiled.

"No problem, you little trouble maker," Danny ruffled her hair. "Now if you excuse me, I have some music lessons to attend."

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!" Ember yelled impatiently from a couple rooms away.

Both halfas laughed at that. Yes, it was a happy ending today. It was the perfect end to a thrilling stor-

Ring!…stupid phone…

Danny sighed, "I'll get it…"

He got up and walked out the room to the phone. While he was gone, Ember walked in the room. "Now I think he's just trying to procrastinate."

Dani laughed. "Yes, he'll do anything to get away from the big bad music lessons."

Ember snorted. "You think his music sucks, right?"

Dani nodded, "Oh completely."

Suddenly, Danny in ghost form flew into the room. In a panicked voice, Danny shouted. "You're punishment is on hold! Go back your bags, now!"

"Wha?" Dani's eyes widened in shock.

"What's wrong Danny?" Ember was concerned. "What about our music lessons?"

"They can wait!" Phantom hurriedly yelled. "This is an emergency! Dan, go pack now, please. I need to book some tickets to Star City."

"Why?" Dani questioned.

"Vlad's in the hospital!" Phantom panicked. "The doctors say that his face is covered in green acne!"