Chapter 10: Nightmare

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble. And finally gets us to die with pride. Even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want most, even our dreams."

May Parker (Spiderman 2)

Chapter 10: "Nightmare"

(Monday-February 22, 2010)

The smell of bacon flooded Danny's nose as he groggily woke up. Smiling contently, Danny rolled out of his bed and walked down the stairs. The television in the living room was turned to the news, but none of his family were watching it. The noise from the kitchen told Danny exactly where they were.

"Good morning, Sweety!" Maddie smiled as she cooked bacon and pancakes at the stove.

"Hey, Mom. You're cooking bacon and pancakes on a Monday?" Danny asked as he took a seat at the table. "What's the occasion?"

"We sold a new invention last night!" Jack gave his son a huge grin. "Wayne Tech was incredibly excited about the uses of the Fenton Teleporter!"

"That's great." Danny smiled at his parents.

"Yeah," Jazz looked up from her psychology book. "You two have gotten a lot of business over the past couple of months."

Jack beamed, "It was only a matter of time before the world noticed the greatness of the Fenton's!"

"You got that right," Maddie giggled. "One family has the two best inventors in the world, the soon to be world-renowned psychologist, and the cutest superhero in the world."

Danny blushed, "Mom!"

Jazz laughed at her brother. She reached over and pinched his cheek. "Yep! You're the cutest hero in the world!"

Danny smacked her hand away, "Stop that!"

In truth, Danny loved the fact that his family knew his secret and still accepted and loved him. That was his greatest fear when he sat them down and explained what happened. The thought that his family might hate him terrified the young halfa, but now…now he was glad he told them. Their acceptance meant the world to the halfa.

Jack laughed. "Now ladies, no teenage boy wants to be called cut by his mother and sister…Although he probably wouldn't mind it if Sam called him cute…"

"Oh come on!" Danny cried in indignation. "Not you too, Dad!?"

"Sorry son, but you make it so easy," Jack said in between bites. "Especially since that girlfriend of your's has you completely whipped."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Jack." Maddie reprimanded her husband.

"Yes, dear…" Jack answered immediately.

"Like you're one to talk about being whipped…" Danny mumbled to himself as he began to eat his breakfast.

Breakfast continued as the family talked about their plans for today. Jack and Maddie had to prepare the Fenton Teleporter for shipment. Jazz was going to tutor after school. Danny on the other hand had not concrete plans yet.

"Tucker, Klemper, and I want to play some video games later, but Sam was dropping hints that she wants to go flying tonight, so I'll have to come up with someway to do both." Danny told his family. "But I have no idea if a ghost attack might interfere, so…"

"Well with Mom and Dad busy…you could always let the Red Huntress handle it," Jazz suggested.

"Meh…She would just hold it over my head…" Danny grumbled.

"Just make sure that you don't let your cousin fight alone." Maddie reminded her son. "Danielle is not ready for that yet."

"Yeah, Vlad would pop a gasket if he heard she was out alone." Jack commented. "Not to mention Elizabeth. She would never let her daughter out of her sights again if something like that happened."

"For good reason…" Maddie looked at her son with worried eyes. "A mother worries about her children…"

"Oh, Mom…" Danny knew what was coming. "We've talked about this before. You know that I can't just sit back and let the attacks happen."

"I know, but it's…it's just hard." Maddie mumbled.

Danny nodded. "I understand, but you know that I have to do this."

Jazz in an attempt to stop this depressing situation said, "Hey look at the time, I think that we should be heading to school soon or we will be late. Do you need a ride, Danny?"

"No, I'm good." Danny smiled. "I want to take a more aerial route."

Dani didn't know what happened. One minute she was peacefully beating the cra….tar (her dad's constant reminder about proper language was really hitting her) out of some ghosts while eating pie, the next moment she was lying in her bed with a broken helmet at the side.

"Wha?" Dani tiredly rubbed her eyes. "I was asleep?…Well, that explains the flying cows…"

Hopping out of bed, Dani noticed some unusual things. She was still wearing her day clothes. The clock said it was ten A.M, but it also said that it was Monday (She wasn't about to explain why she wasn't complaining about missing school. She didn't even remember lying down. Not to mention the weird helmet thing…

"How long have I been asleep?" Dani picked up the two pieces of the helmet. "Okay…strange metal helmet…I'm just going to blame Danny…DANNY!"

Dani stormed out of her room. Her intent was to giver her brother a piece of her mind. How dare he use a new invention to make her sleep all day!

Usually Dani would knock before entering her brother's room, but now she was angry. With great force, Dani slammed the door open and yelled, "You jerk! I know what you did!…"

No one was there.

This process continued a few more times throughout the house. She tried almost every room in the house that Danny usually went to. The training room, kitchen, bathroom (she was more cautious during that one), and the living room were all yelled into. The only problem was…

No one was there.

"Okay, now I'm a little miffed…" Dani grumbled to herself. She did not like being ignored.

Knowing that there was only one room in the mansion she hadn't checked yet, Dani decided to go down to the lab. Usually she would just faze through the floor, but something in her mind, an instinct, was telling her not to use her powers. While Dani didn't understand this feeling, she listened to it. So, she used the elevator.

…Impatiently that is…

Looking around the lab, Dani sighed. No one was here either. It was official no one was in the house…wait a minute…

"Why is there dust down here?" Dani examined the tables and mental. They were coved in a very thin layer of dust. This was very unusual. Her dad and Danny always kept the lab clean. They didn't want any dust influencing the experiments.

Yet, the lab was dirty. In fact, it looked as if the lab hasn't been cleaned in a week. What was going on?

"So…there is a lab down here." A female voice behind Dani drew the girl's attention.

"Who?" Dani turned and saw a girl who fit Danny's description of the 'bad luck thief' Jinx. "You're…"

"Stunning, beautiful, awe-inspiring?" Jinx smirked as she walked into the lab.

"I was going to say that you're not supposed to be down here." Dani slowly took several steps back. Anyone who didn't know the young female halfa would assume she was afraid. They would be wrong. The truth is she was slowly edging towards a nearby ecto-gun.

"I go a lot of places I'm not supposed to be." Jinx remarked as she looked around the lab. She turned her back to Dani in her self-imposed tour. The bad luck thief obviously didn't view Dani as a threat. Big mistake.

"Are….are you the reason my Dad and Danny are gone?" Dani questioned as she picked up an ecto-gun and pointed it toward Jinx. "Are you the one that put that helmet on me?"

"No, I'm the one that got it…" Jinx turned and saw the girl pointing a gun at her. "…off of you. It's not nice to point you know. Especially guns."

"Who said I was nice?" Dani glared at pinkette.

"Good point, but I would think twice about shooting me." Jinx commented. "Especially with that freaky sleep ghost out there."

"…Freaky sleep ghost?" Dani didn't understand. That didn't mean that she would lower her gun, though.

"It happened it here first." Jinx glared at the floor. "Some huge demon star ghost and his green devils started going around and putting everyone to sleep. They finished with the entire city in a half an hour. Then…they-they spread out further. There were so damn many of them. Enough for one hundred armies. They spread all across the globe.

"Most of the world didn't know what hit them. No one would think about…invisible sandmen fazing through their walls an putting them to sleep. People wised up when entire cities started to go silent, but it was too late.

"The ghost was smart about it. He attacked all the big hero cities first. I guess even the mighty Justice Leaguers needed to sleep…Anyway, with them gone, no once could stop the ghosts. No one had ecto-weapons and there was no time to come up with a plan.

"I was just lucky…which is ironic…I was…err…traveling when it got bad. By the time my plane landed here-" Jinx was cut off.

"Why were you coming here?" Dani glared.

"Doesn't matter." Jinx waved off the question. "All that matters is that I have been trying everything to fix this. I tried sneaking away from the city, but those sleep walkers always found me. I tried communicating to the outside world, but no one was answering. I even tried to break into Fenton Works."

"You tried to break into my brother's property!" Dani shouted.

"Keep you voice down. They might here you…" Jinx glance around nervously. It didn't matter to her that they were in a sound proof underground lab. "Yes, but it was not like I wanted to. It didn't end well, though… At first I came to this mansion to get Fenton, but…he wasn't here. Neither was Masters…. So getting them to let me in was a no go.

"You were here, but at first, I didn't think that you could help. No offense, but I thought you might just be a liability. Guess I was wrong." Jinx gestured all around her. "I figured that there was some lab in this place, but trying to find it might have attracted the sleep walkers' attention."

"So I was your last resort." Dani grumbled.

"Yes," Jinx answered honestly. "I no longer had any other options. I used my…powers to destroy your helmet. I need help to fix this and like it or not, its just you and me."

Dani paused for a second. "How do I know that you're not lying?"

"Look at the facts and evidence." Jinx pointed out. "The dust down here, the empty mansion, hell, kid, who do you think got that stupid helmet off of you? Santa Claus?"

Slowly, Dani nodded. She had to do this…but that didn't mean that she had to trust Jinx. "What do we do?"

"We need to use the equipment in this lab for any plan to work. My powers…" Jinx lifted here right hand. The hand was covered in pink light. "…work against those ghosts, but I would be completely overwhelmed during an attack to what I figured out is their main base."

"…Then the stuff down here won't help…" Dani looked around the lab. "Danny doesn't actually keep a lot of ecto-equipment here. He says he wants to have plenty of space. So he keeps a lot of stuff stored away."

"Where?" Jinx raised an eyebrow.

Dani bit her lip. There was actually a secret vault room in the lab. It was hard to access, though. You had to faze through a certain spot in the wall. Then there were DNA and voice scanners, all of which were set to the three halfas. Then you had to several passwords. Finally, a surge of ectoplasm was needed to unlock the door.

It was all very complicated, but Dani understood why there was so much security. Only some of the most dangerous and useful equipment was stored in there. The vault contained things from simple Thermoses, through Danny's ghostly item collection, to the most dangerous ecto-weapon ever created…the Fenton Exoskeleton.

Obviously, she couldn't reveal this vault without revealing some of her family's most guarded secrets, so Dani had only one more option. "We keep a lot of stuff in Fenton Works. I can get us in."

"But I thought…" Jinx scrounged her brow in thought. "Never mind, grab as many weapons as possible and let's go. We'll have to move slowly, so we won't draw their attention.

Danny yawned as exited the bathroom. He had just changed back into his human form. The halfa was hoping to get to school earlier than this, but the Box Ghost made sure to annoy Danny enough to waste valuable time.

"Hey, man." Tucker greeted his friend as Danny approached his locker. "I thought you were going to be late."

"Almost was," Danny commented as he opened his locker. "Why are Val and Dani never around when I could really use their help."

"It's what we guys do." Tucker grinned. "Wait on women."

"I don't know how to challenge that," Danny smiled as he grabbed his books. "But I wouldn't say that around Sam. She would freak."

Tucker snorted, "You are totally whipped."

"You are the second person to say that today you know…"Danny mumbled.

"The truth hurts, dude." Tucker joked.

"At least I have a girlfriend." Danny retorted.

"Woah, bro, that is below the belt." Tucker sulked.

"You started it, man." Danny playfully punched Tucker on the arm. "I just ended it."

"You do realize that I will have to get my revenge." Tucker pointed out.

"And you realize that I will have skillfully avoid all your revenge attempts and hit you back twice as hard." Danny argued.

"…I liked this banter thing more when you didn't have superpowers…" Tucker moaned dramatically.

"Hey, you have your tech and I…" Danny paused dramatically. "HAVE THE POWER!"

"You are such a dork…" Sam said as she flung her arm around her boyfriend.

"Sam! How long have you been here?" Danny's face flushed.

Sam smirked then kissed Danny on cheek. "Long enough to see you embarrass yourself."

"That could be any time between now and the time Danny was born." Tucker joked.

"Oh ha ha," Danny grumbled as he put his arm around Sam. "That's a good one Tuck. Remember this, though, you may have had your revenge…but revenge is cold." Danny's eye's glowed a cold blue for a moment.

Tucker shivered, "Yeah, I definitely miss the days where I could make fun of you at will."

The group laughed at the tech geek's misfortune. Danny loved times like this. He and his friends just hanging out and being teenagers. It was great…

…wrong…up…real…

Danny flinched. "Did you hear that?"

Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Hear what? Laughter?"

"No I heard…" Danny looked around. "I don't know what I heard…"

Sam chuckled, " You're messing with us, right? Come on you two. We have class and I don't want Lancer to get mad at us this early in the morning."

"Yes, Sam/Dear…" Both boys dutifully stated.

As they walked, Danny looked back. He could have sworn he heard something.

"There it is." Jinx looked out of the alley they were in and saw Fenton Works.

"About time." Dani grumbled. "We've been trying to get here for hours."

"I told you, we have to move slowly." Jinx glared at the younger girl. "If those sleep walkers see us, it's over."

It was true. Many sleep walkers were patrolling the city. The two girls had kept to the shadows in an attempt to stay hidden. It had worked, but it was a slow process.

"I know…I'm sorry…" Dani whispered. "I-I'm just worried. Danny and my Dad are gone. Why would the sleep walkers take them and not me?"

Dani remembered that Danny went into the Ghost Zone, but that was over a week ago. She didn't want to think about what his lack of presence in this situation. Plus her Dad was gone…Any girl would be scared at this point.

Jinx eyes turned soft for a moment. "I don't know kid. They moved all the people indoors and seem to take care of them. Maybe they just didn't care if it was the correct home?"

"…Maybe…" Dani agreed.

"Don't worry we will find your Dad and Dann-err Fenton." Jinx corrected herself

Dani caught this mistake, but said nothing. "Okay… Let's just get inside."

"Alright," Jinx looked outside the alley. "The coast is clear. Let's move now before more sleep walkers come."

The two sprinted across the street as fast as possible. Unfortunately, they were weighed down by the various ecto-weapons they were carrying. As such, they had to be careful not to drop said weaponry.

"Alright," Dani said as she unlocked the door. "Stay behind me. The security is activated and it will attack you if I don't deactivate it."

Jinx would later think back on this incident with what she would begrudgingly call fear. For as soon as Dani opened the door, the only thing Jinx could see was guns and weapons pointed at them. She would honestly say that this had to be the most security she had ever seen. And considering that she had broken into places like Wayne Tech and Star Labs, that was saying something.

"Presenting warning: Leave or be killed." A computerized voice warned.

"Negative." Dani answered. "This is Danielle Masters. Shut down attack system."

"Scanning." The voice instructed. Then a scanner light covered the young girl. It scanned her from head to two. "DNA trait F detected. Present password for voice recognition."

"…" Dani turned toward Jinx. The pinkette understood what she wanted. With a sigh, Jinx covered her ears. "The password is… Absolution."

"Password accepted." The weapons instantly disarmed and retreated into the ceiling, walls, and floor.

"Why is the password Absolution?" Jinx asked.

"I thought you were covering your ears!" Dani glared.

"Really?" Jinx raised an eyebrow. "You believed that? I guess you are ten…"

Dani gritted her teeth . If only she could go ghost. Then she would show this thief. "You jerk…"

"Yeah, yeah…" Jinx waver off the girl's anger. "You never answered. Why is the password Absolution?"

"I never asked…" Dani sulked over the fact she got tricked..

"Absolve means to free from guilt or blame…" Jinx noted then thought. 'Does it have to do with survivor's guilt…poor Danny.'

"Whatever." Dani grunted. "I'm going to see if Danny's here."

The halfa ran upstairs to see if Danny was there. Logically, it made no sense why Danny would be here and yet there was no ghost shield up, but that didn't matter to the halfa. She was afraid for her brother and father.

Dani checked all the rooms on the top floor. She had never been to the upper floors of Fenton Works, so she checked each room randomly. Each room she checked was empty. She kept checking until…

Dani opened the door to a room with various NASA posters. The halfa instantly knew it was Danny's old room. The bad thing was that Danny wasn't in the bed.

"Maybe he and Dad are in the lab." Dani mumbled to herself.

"They're not." Jinx appeared in the doorway. "I checked all over the lower levels. Even that basement lab. No one else is here."

Dani said nothing.

"Don't worry, we'll find him Dani." Jinx tried to comfort the younger girl.

"I don't need your comfort." Dani snapped. "Don't act like you even care about them! You don't know him so don't use Danny's name like you do."

Jinx paused for a moment. She seemed conflicted and hurt. "But I…" Dani didn't hear the last part because the bad luck thief mumbled it.

"Alright…I guess you're right Masters." Jinx turned. "Let's just get to the lab and find those weapons."

"…Wait…" Dani's voice caused Jinx to pause. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You did free me after all."

Jinx sighed. "It's alright…I know how you are feeling, but there is no time to be angry."

Dani nodded. "Yeah, we have work to do."

"As you can see. Grammar is a huge part of…" Mr. Lancer lectured his first morning class. As usual, Danny was having a hard time paying attention in Lancer's class. The reason had changed over the months though. It was originally plain boredom. Later it was fatigue from ghost fighting. But now…

Well, Danny was currently sitting behind his girlfriend and was having a hard time not staring…and there was the fact that they were texting each other.

Danny discretely looked at his phone. Sam's text read, 'Would you quit starring at the back of my head?'

'How did you notice?' Danny responded. She never turned around.

'Eyes in the back of my head.' Sam texted.

'U 2? I thought it just my mom and Jazz…' Danny mentally sighed.

'It's all women, Danny. We know everything J .'

'So I will never get away with anything?'

'No.'

Danny chuckled. 'Good to know.'

"Something funny about grammar, Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer inquired.

"Oh…" Danny looked up at the front of the class. "Yeah, you know…verbs…adjectives… It is all pretty hilarious."

"Uh huh…" Mr. Lancer obviously wasn't buying it. "What was I just talking about?"

"…Grammar?" Danny stated.

Everyone in the class laughed. Tucker grinned at him. Even the A-list students laughed, but Sam just rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. She was used to his sarcasm

Mr. Lancer sighed. "Just…pay attention."

"Yes, sir!" Danny saluted.

"Nice job, man." Tucker smiled. "Lancer has been off your back lately."

"Yeah," Danny looked at the bald teacher. "It's nice to have a teacher on my side for once."

Lancer had found out Danny's secret a while ago. He had, of course, freaked out at first. Luckily, Danny managed to calm him down enough to explain. Trying to live with his teacher knowing his secret was awkward at first, but it proved to be useful.

There were several instances where Mr. Lancer helped Danny. He vouched for Danny and worked with the halfa on the home work assignments. Sometimes, he even let Danny out of class without question.

This…wrong….up….not real…

Danny jumped. There it was again! He knew he wasn't imagining it! It was probably a ghost that was messing with him. Most likely, Skulker was trying to distract him.

Suddenly the fire alarm went off. This was actually a common occurrence in Casper High. There were not many fires, but there were a lot of ghost attacks and judging by Danny's ghost sense going of…it was probably the latter.

'That proves it!' Danny determined. 'The whisper was a ghost!'

"Alright people!" Mr. Lacer ordered. "Single file lines!"

"You know, Mr. Lancer," Tucker grinned. "It's funny that you used a fragment just after lecturing us on grammar."

"Yes," Mr. Lancer agreed. "It's almost as funny as you cleaning the erasers after school."

Tucker's smile fell. "I'll just…get in line."

Mr. Lancer smirked. "I thought so."

Danny approached the teacher. "Mr. Lancer."

"Yes, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer turned and instantly recognized that look. This was a ghost attack. "…I'll cover for you."

"Thanks!" Danny shouted as he ran down the hall and slammed himself into a locker. "I'm going ghost!"

"Alright…" Dani looked at Jinx after they collected the weapons. "What's the plan?"

Currently, the two were in the upstairs operations center. They had moved all the useful equipment they could to the ops center and had organized them. Some of them were too heavy to carry, but Dani grabbed a portable Fenton Crammer before they left the mansion. They would be able to take a lot.

The best part, though, was the portable ghost shield they found. It had a low battery capacity, but there was no doubt to its value. Becoming completely invulnerable to the enemy was an excellent strategy, but it could not be moved and used at the same time, so they would only use it during an emergency.

Jinx looked over what they gathered then turned and pointed out a map that she brought with her. "I scoped out the place where the sleep walkers seem to be originating from. I couldn't get too close, but there seems to be some power source in the center. The plan is simple: sneak in, destroy the place, and take the head ghost down with a bullet to the head."

Dani frowned. She didn't like that plan. "That's your plan? Seems like the suicide mission from Mass Effect 2...except with two people and no awesome space battles."

"Shut up, I haven't beat it yet…" Jinx stated. "Besides, I told you that this is my last resort. I tried every other possible option. This is the only thing I could think of. If you don't like you can stay here. This doesn't have a very high chance of success."

"…If only Danny and Dad were here…" Dani looked around the lab. "They would know what to do…"

"Well, I'm sorry, but they're not here." Jinx stated. "And this is all I've got."

Dani looked out the window. "Yah, don't worry. I'm on board."

Jinx nodded. "Alright, then let's go."

Just as Dani was about to turn, a flash of red caught her eye. At first she assumed it was a walker, but all walkers were green. "What is that?"

"What?" Jinx turned to the window.

"That," Dani pointed to the spot of red. It was in a nearby alley. "What is that?"

"…I don't know…" Jinx reached down into her dark purple boot and pulled out small tech binoculars. "I-I can't believe it…"

"What?" Dani almost shouted.

"That's Red Tornado!" Jinx was shocked. "That means… my messages were received."

"I guess it would make sense that Red Tornado would get your messages." Dani noted. "He's an android. He doesn't need to sleep."

"Yeah," Jinx grinned. "We can get him to help. This is great! With him we might…oh, no…"

"What?" Dani turned to the thief.

"He's not alone…" Jinx handed Dani the binoculars. "Look."

"…Batman and Robin…" Dani grinned. "This just got a lot easier! Right Jinx!?…Jinx?"

Jinx had taken several steps back. "No…I can't let him see me…If he does….Dad will be mad…"

"Jinx?" Dani asked again.

Jinx jolted. She seemed surprised that Dani was here for a moment. A second later, she recovered. "Sorry, I…have to go…"

"Go!?" Dani was indignant. "What about the plan?"

"The plan has changed." Jinx glared out the window. "I can't work with Batman."

"What? He's a hero!" Dani pointed out.

"And I'm not. I'm the opposite." Jinx turned and began walking away.

"So? They don't know that?" Dani argued.

"If Batman sees me, everything is over." Jinx looked down at the smaller girl. "I've worked hard to make sure no one knows about me and my powers. Red Tornado was one thing. He wouldn't examine my every move in extreme detail, but Batman…He will remember everything."

"So? The fate of the world is at stake!" Dani glared.

"I won't abandon the world…or you." Jinx knelt. She understood how Dani was feeling. "I will work in the shadows…at a distance that even Batman won't notice."

Dani was silent for a moment. "…Okay…"

Jinx nodded. "Alright. I need to go, but I need you to do two things for me."

"What is it?" Dani questioned.

"First, wait two minutes after I leave to contact them. I'll get out of the building and get a good distance away. Second, don't tell them about me, please. Tell them you sent out the signals. Do this and I won't hold my freeing you over your head." Jinx explained.

"Are you blackmailing me?" Dani asked.

"Yes." Jinx answered bluntly.

"…Okay, I can respect that. You've got a deal." Dani nodded. "But leave the ecto weapons. I don't want you taking them."

"Sigh…You caught me…Fine…." Jinx put her Fenton Crammer on the table. "Thanks. I should get going." Jinx got up and began to leave.

As she watched her leave, Dani realized something. "They won't let me go along with them."

"…No they won't." Jinx responded.

Dani sighed. "Huge bummer."

Jinx just laughed. "I bet."

After Jinx left, Dani waited two minutes impatiently. After she kept her promise, the girl smiled. In a flash of white light, Dani changed into Spirit. They might not let Danielle Masters go, but they would let Spirit the partner of Danny Phantom go help save the world.

"Time to get those heroes." Spirit turned invisible and flew down to the alley.

Phantom flew above the school. He saw the ghost faze through the roof. He wasn't sure why the ghost would get his attention just to leave, but…

The rockets being aimed at his head were probably a good clue.

"Hello, whelp," Skulker grinned. "Today is the day I mount you on my wall!"

"Skulker," Danny glared. "So it was you that was messing with me by using those strange whispers earlier."

"Huh?" Skulker paused for a moment. "Whispers? What are you talking about?"

That was strange. Skulker usually loved to boast about things. "…It wasn't you?"

"No." Skulker glared. "Enough with your distraction! I'll-Ack!"

"You should really pay more attention!" Red Huntress shouted as she blasted Skulker from the side.

"Ah, the girl." Skulker grinned. "Now I can kill two birds with one stone."

"Please," Red Huntress mocked. "You couldn't kill a bird with a rocket launcher!"

Skulker growled. "Silence!"

The hunter ghost fired his various rockets and lasers at the duo. Phantom brought up a barrier to protect them, though. The ecto shots didn't even cause the shield to falter a little.

Before the smoke could die down, Red Huntress rocketed off to the side. She opened fire on hunter. Skulker dodged all the attacks, but it left him open for Phantom.

"Arg!" Skulker's left arm was blasted off.

"Wow!" Phantom smirked. "You really do need to pay more attention!"

"Whelp, I will destroy you!" Skulker yelled out.

"Yeah," Phantom pulled out a Fenton Thermos and captured the hunter. "What else is new?"

"Well, that was easy." Red Huntress commented.

"Well, it was two against one." Phantom pointed out.

"Meh," Red Huntress shrugged. "He was the one that was stupid enough to attack the school we both go to."

Phantom chuckled. "You have a point."

This is wrong…up…It's…real…

Phantom glared around. There it was again. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Red Huntress asked.

"That whisper." Phantom clarified.

"You're loosing it, spook." Red Huntress joked. "It's probably just the wind."

"Yeah…The wind." Phantom wasn't completely certain, though.

Spirit had a hard time not shrinking under the glare of the Batman. Well, she thinks that he was glaring. The mask…kind of made it hard to tell…

"So you were the one that sent out that signal?" Batman asked.

"Eh…yes, sir?" Spirit cowered.

After approaching the heroes, Spirit brought them into the ops center. Off course, Robin inquired as to why a ghost had access to a ghost hunter's house, but Batman easily diverted the question by saying that she was a ghost hunter too.

Spirit was aware that the Batman knew Danny's secret. Thus, in tern, he probably knew her secret. Not that Danny told him, but if you figure one out, the other isn't exactly all that hard…just ask Valerie.

"Alright." Batman stated. His features gave nothing away, but Spirit had a feeling that he didn't believer her. "You did well, then. I had an assumption that it all originated from here, but after the army of ghosts overran my headquarters in Gotham, I had no way of tracking the signal from the helmets and could not follow the sleep walkers. Luckily, you're transmition told us that you were here. It took us a while to get here without drawing attention."

"Huh?" Spirit tilted her head in confusion. "Don't you have super tech or something? Why would it take you so long to get here."

Red Tornado answered. "The ghosts have overrun all known Justice League headquarters. I made it away because sleep is unnecessary for me, and Batman and Robin had technology to prepare them for this, but none of the other leaguers was as fortunate.

"In addition, because the vast ghost army has patrols over all the major cities, none of our teleporting technology is available. Flying would draw too much attention. Our only option was more discrete method of travel."

"Oh…" Spirit nodded in understanding. "You must be exhausted…"

"We'll deal with it." Robin reassured her.

"…Have we met?" Spirit examined the cute teenage boy before her. "Because it feels like we met before."

"No, but…" Robin scratched his chin. "I get that feeling too…"

"Now is not the time." Batman intervened before either child/teen could figure out where they met each other. "We need to find the source of all these ghosts and come up with a plan of attack."

"Indeed." Red Tornado agreed. "There will be no point of coming here if we can't learn who is behind this."

"I know where their main base is." Spirit stated.

All three heroes turned toward the girl. "You do?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Spirit walked over to the map on the table. "It's right here, I-uh…couldn't go alone. It would be suicide."

"Where are the ones known as Danny Phantom and Red Huntress?" Red Tornado questioned. "As I can recall, they normally assist you in situations such as this."

"I don't know." Spirit's head dropped. "I don't know where Phantom is. The last thing I remember is that he went to the Ghost Zone to deal with a problem. And Red Huntress…she's probably asleep too. You couldn't figure out a way to wake people up?"

Batman shook his head. "There was never any time or opportunity. Going to way up other leaguers would have but us in unnecessary danger. We had to focus on the mission."

Spirit nodded in understanding. "I get it…"

She would have been willing to tell them Red Huntress' identity if they had a way to wake her up. She could have told Jinx, but…Jinx was a thief and these guys were heroes. There was a huge difference.

"Alright, it's just us then." Spirit acknowledged.

"A four man assault is better than nothing." Red Tornado noted.

"Agreed." Barman nodded his head.

"Well…" Spirit looked around. "You can have your pick of the equipment here. It's not mine, but I'm sure that Fenton kid won't mind us using them to save the world."

Robin looked around the room excitedly. He was obviously fascinated by all the fancy tech. His mentor thought otherwise, though.

Batman shook his head. "No, Robin and I already have the equipment necessary to fight the ghosts. These…guns are unnecessary."

Red Tornado the spoke up. "Using these weapons will restrict my powers. I will forgo them unless you can install them into my body."

"I…don't think I can do that." Spirit deadpanned.

"Then I will make do." Red Tornado stated.

"Alright…" Spirit grabbed all the gear she had prepared for herself. "Let's go."

As the group left, none of them realized something very important. Three of them merely lacked the necessary knowledge to realize this critical error. Spirit, however, could have remembered, but with everything going on, no one could blame her for forgetting.

So as they left, no one realized that they left Fenton Works completely unguarded…

"I swear," Danny said as he, Tucker, and Klemper played video games in Danny's room. "I've been hearing these whispers all day."

"Is it a ghost?" Tucker asked.

"I don't think so," Danny answered. "My ghost sense would have gone off."

"Maybe you should just get your ears checked." Klemper suggested. "All those head blows cannot be good for you."

"…Maybe, but…it's not just that." Danny placed his controller down. "I've…got this weird feeling."

"Weird feeling?" Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Did you eat too many of your mom's cookies. You ate like eleven of them."

"No, It's not that…" Danny mumbled.

"Then what is it?" Klemper questioned.

"I feel…like something is off." Danny glared at his hands. "Like something is here that shouldn't be. I don't think it's a bad thing, but a deep part of me feels as if I'm just fooling myself into thinking that everything is okay…"

"I wouldn't worry about it." Jazz's voice came from Danny's door.

"Jazz, I thought I asked you not to eavesdrop on my conversations." Danny groaned.

"Sorry, but you were being very loud." Jazz obviously was sorry.

Danny sighed. "Alright, then o genius psychologist guru, what is your opinion."

"This all has to do with your ghost powers." Jazz stated as she sat on his bed. "After all your struggles, you finally found some peace with your being a half ghost. It seems wrong to you because the struggles of going through this alone have made you paranoid.

"Now that you have Uncle Vlad teaching you and Danielle and Red Huntress helping you, you are afraid that you will become too comfortable with this stability. You're afraid that if you relax you will get hurt or even get someone else hurt." Jazz explained.

"That does sound like you dude." Tucker pointed out.

"You are very paranoid sometimes." Klemper agreed.

"So what do you suggest I do?" Danny asked his sister.

"Just relax Danny." Jazz smiled. "You're too tense. Just let it all go and let things be."

"Yeah, Danny." Tucker playfully punched Danny's arm. "Chillax, man."

"…I guess you're right." Danny agreed.

"I know I'm right." Jazz stated. "I wouldn't be going to Yale if I was wrong most of the time."

Klemper chuckled. "She had to bring up the Yale thing again…"

"Relax…." Danny closed his eyes in thought.

"Yeah, just remember that Mom, Dad, your friends, and I will always be there for you." Jazz place her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"…Thanks, Jazz." Danny smiled at his sister.

"No problem." Jazz nodded.

"I would hate to bring this up and ruin your sibling moment, but…" Tucker looked at his PDA. "Aren't you supposed to meet Sam in a few minutes?"

"Oh crap!" Danny stood to his feet in panic. "You're right! I need to go!"

As the halfa fazed through the roof, he heard Klemper say, "So much for relaxing…"

"A mattress warehouse?" Robin raised an eyebrow as they sneaked into the ghost's hide out. "Why do all the villains hide in suck obvious places? They always hide in places that either involves their powers or gimmicks."

Spirit shrugged. "Maybe you should ask them?"

Robin smirked. "Maybe I will…"

"Focus you two." Batman scolded them. "We need to be silent and ready."

"Yes, sir." Both children responded.

Getting into the warehouse was very easy. The ghost obviously never thought that someone would wake up and come to his hideout. Spirit wasn't sure if this was confidence or arrogance, but considering that the whole world was asleep…maybe that arrogance was well deserved.

"What doesn't seem logical to me is that why this ghost is doing this He has everyone asleep and has his sleep walkers take care of them." Red Tornado stated. "What does he gain?"

"Some ghosts gain power by absorbing some thing like emotions." Spirit commented. "He's probably doing this to gain power."

"That is…unfortunate." Batman stated. "That means he is extremely powerful by now. It also means that we will have to use the element of surprise to take him down."

"Yeah, we can use a Fenton Thermos to…" Spirit's eyes wondered to a group of figures on a pile of mattresses. "…Klemper!"

"Spirit, no." Batman reached out to stop the girl. "Stay with the group."

"But those are my friends." Spirit looked at the figures laying on the mattress. Various ghost animals were on the mattresses. They all had the sleep helmets on their heads. "Well…those three are."

"I know, but it might be some sort of trap." Batman stated.

Spirit nodded. She may have wanted to help her friends, but being captured wouldn't help.

"What are they doing here, though." Robin asked.

"I don't know." Spirit shook her head. "They went with Phantom into the Ghost Zone, but…that means he must be around here too." Spirit looked around the various mattresses, but she couldn't find her brother.

"I don't see Phantom anywhere in the group before us." Red Tornado stated.

"Then…did the ghost…kill him." Spirit whispered.

"Doubtful." Batman reassured the young ghost. "This ghost didn't kill anyone so far. He just put them all to sleep."

"Then where is he?" Spirit asked.

Robin activated his gauntlet computer. "I can't tell you that, but I can tell where a large spike of energy is coming from…and I mean a huge energy spike. This is enough to power two Gotham's…."

"Then that is where we head." Batman stated. He then turned toward the girl ghost. "Don't worry. We will find your cousin after we stop the ghost."

"Okay…" Spirit mumbled.

The group continued to sneak around the mattresses. They could see the machine connected to the satellite. Just as they turned the corner to see the machine, the group was shocked by what they saw. Three large pods were at the center of the machine. Three sleeping ghosts were in the pods. Spirit didn't recognize the one with spiky black hair and red highlights. She recognized the other two, though.

"That's Danny and my Dad!" Spirit's eyes widened as she pointed to the two ghosts.

"That blue guy is your dad?" Robin asked in shock. He didn't even know that ghosts could have children.

"Yeah, and it looks like the ghost captured him and…Phantom and put them in that machine…" Spirit said desperately.

"You are correct ghost girl…" An echoing voice boomed across the warehouse. Suddenly, eight sleep walkers popped out of the floor, grabbed the four heroes, and pulled them out into the open. All four heroes struggled to free themselves, but they were incredibly strong.

Suddenly, a incredibly large ghost appeared in front of them. The ghost appeared like a demon with his down ward purple horns and red eyes with a single scar running down his left eye. His body seemed to be made of stars. But that was not the intimidating part. The ghost was so large that he almost reached the ceiling.

"I did capture your family." The ghost smiled and showed his sharp white teeth. "Phantom and Torch made their capture all too easy. Their fight pushed them to the point of exhaustion." The ghost then laughed. "To think that you actually tried to sneak into here without me knowing. I know everything now."

"Who are you and why would you do this!" Spirit yelled out.

"I am Nocturne the ghost of sleep." Nocturne explained. "And the reason I did this was simple. I gain power from people's dreams."

"We could have guessed that." Batman stated. "But I think the girl is asking why you captured these specific three ghosts like this."

"Ah, yes," Suddenly, the huge ghost shrunk down. He was still tall. He was about ten feet tall, but not anywhere as huge as before. "The reason I captured these three ghost is the fact that they are S-rank ghosts."

"S-rank?" Red Tornado questioned. "I was unaware that ghosts had such ranks."

"Understandable." Nocturne nodded. "The stronger ghosts usually never leave the Ghost Zone, so humans are unaware of their true power. You see ghost's true strength comes from their emotions, and these ghost have very strong emotions and thus…their dreams are incredibly powerful."

"So you captured them because their dreams give you more power than any other being on Earth." Batman concluded.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Nocturne gestured to Phantom and the ghost he called Torch. "These two and their allies had a huge battle. Technically, Phantom's group won, but in the end, I was a the big winner.

"After those two passed out, I was drawn there by the incredible power of their dreams. After I captured them, I came here to Amity Park and captured Plasmius." Nocturne gained a huge grin. "It was amazing. In an instant, I had all the power I needed to create a vast army of sleep walkers.

"I had to be careful, of course. If I drew too much attention at first, the Justice League would have found me and stopped me. So I discreetly attacked the cities which had members first. Ha! Even the all powerful Superman needs to sleep apparently. Then from there, the rest of the world was easy, but…it appears I missed some…

"Tell, me ghost girl how did you wake up?" Nocturne stared at the young girl.

"…I'm just awesome that way…" Spirit stated.

"I'm sure…" Nocturne. "Funny thing about dreams. They are the gateway to the subconscious. They tell what you want most…for example…

"The ghost girl who dreams of combat and desserts." Nocturne caused Spirit to blush. "Ah, but that is the merely the simple desires of youth. The older generation's are so much more ambitious…

Nocturne gestured to Torch. "Fame and glory."

Nocturne gestured to Plasmius. "Great power and a family he was never allowed have."

Nocturne gestured to Phantom. "Or even something as simple as gaining lost loved ones."

Spirit was silent as she heard about her family's dreams. This was wrong. He was taking their dreams and exploiting their desires!

"Your perverting the hopes and dreams of everyone in the world by using them for your own power." Robin growled.

"From your perspective maybe," Nocturne grinned. "But from mine it is beautiful."

"While I do not share or understand a human's dreams, I agree with Robin." Suddenly the sleep walkers holding Red Tornado were blasted away and destroyed by a concentrated tornado. "You must be stopped."

"Indeed." Batman's gauntlets glowed green as he slipped out of the walker's grasp, grabbed the sleep walkers, and destroyed them with swift strikes. He then threw some baterangs to destroy the sleep walkers holding Robin and Spirit. "He must be stopped."

Nocturne merely smiled. "You can try, but…" All around the the heroes, sleep walkers began to form. "I doubt that you will succeed. Now, let's get this over with. I have over nuisances to deal with."

"Sooooooo…" Danny looked at the sight before him. "You made us a picnic?"

Right now, the couple was on a high hill overlooking the city. The sun was setting and despite it being winter, the weather was pretty warm, especially with their hoodies. In all, it was very romantic.

"Yep," Sam stated as she sat down on the blanket. "You got a problem with it?"

"No no" Danny waved his hands in denial. "It just seems weird… especially on a Monday. You hate Mondays."

"That I do." Sam started to unpack the basket. "Which is why I thought both of us could use a pick-me-up. Now, shut up and sit down, you dork."

"Yes, dear." Danny dutifully stated as he sat down next to his girlfriend. "You know if you told me, I would have brought my own stuff. That way you wouldn't have to pack it all by yourself."

"If I told you, it wouldn't have been a surprise." Sam smiled.

"True." Danny smiled back and helped his girlfriend unpack. "So let me guess. Fruits, vegetables, tofu sandwiches, and…"

"Salad." Sam stated.

"That's just fruits and vegetables." Danny pointed out.

"No," Sam retorted. "It's also croutons, salad dressing, and Ranch."

"Ah, I see." Danny pulled out a container of lemonade. "I'll never figure out how you pack so much into such a little container.."

"It's a girl thing." Sam took a bite out of her sandwich.

"So you agree with me then." Danny ate some grapes. "I'll never understand."

"Knowing you…Probably not." Sam smirked.

"It's so nice to know that my girlfriend has such faith in me." Danny mumbled.

"Well, it did take you forever to figure out that I liked you." Sam argued. "Then it took you even longer to ask me out."

"If I remember correctly." Danny said inbetween bites. "You made the first move."

"Well if I didn't, we never would have started dating." Sam responded.

"I would have built up the courage eventually…" Danny weakly argued.

"I may be patient, Danny." Sam gave her boyfriend a bland look. "But I'm not that patient."

"You wound me." Danny faked cried.

"No more than the ghosts do every day." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess." Danny rubbed the back of his head.

This is wrong…not real. Wake up…

Damn. There it was again. He had thought he had dealt with this earlier.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Sam questioned.

"Why do you think that something is wrong?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"You've been acting weird all day." Sam explained. "I noticed it this morning."

"It's…" Danny thought about what Jazz told him. "…just been a weird day. I think I just need some time to relax."

"Well…" Sam smirked. "Valerie agreed to handle patrol for tonight and Dani can make up for the extra slack, \sooooo…."

"So what?" Danny grinned at his girlfriend. He knew what was coming.

Sam scooted up to her boyfriend. "Well, it's just you, me, and nature here. There's a beautiful sunset before us. And we have nothing to do but…relax."

"Or eat?" Danny playfully suggested.

"Right," Sam took a grape and plopped it into her mouth. "Do you want to eat grapes?"

"Yes," Danny leaned in close his girlfriend. "Yes I do…"

As Danny enjoyed himself, the whispers faded. That was it. All he had to do was let go. Relax and let things be. It was all for the best.

After all, what was more important than this?

"Hahahahahahahha!" Nocturne laughed. "You do realize that you fight is futile? I have absorbed the energy of an entire planet's dreams. I am now all powerful. I can make armies of sleep walkers to fight you."

Spirit glared at the sleep ghost. This fight was not going well. The hundreds of sleep walkers were incredibly strong and even when one was defeated, two more took its place.

After fighting thirty of them nonstop by herself, she was beginning to tire. The others weren't doing very well either. The past week of trying to avoid the walkers had obviously taken it's toll.

Batman's and Robin's equipment were holding the ghosts at bay. A green shield was around them and the equipment Danny gave them were cutting the sleep walkers down. This combined with their martial arts made them fantastic ghost hunters, but with an infinite number of enemies, Spirit wondered how long they could keep this up.

Red Tornado's powers proved to be effective against the ghosts. Most of them couldn't get close to the android, but some managed to scratch him. The android also tried to attack Nocturne and the machines, but the sleep walkers used themselves as shields. None of the tornados got close.

Spirit gritted her teeth. This was not going well. She wished that she had the portable ghost shield, but it was with Jinx's equipment and thus forgotten by the girl. Not that she would have been given the chance to use them. The barrage of attacks never seemed to stop.

"Ah…you had back up…Only one girl? I'm insulted." Nocturne turned his head to the left. A swarm of sleep walkers flew in that direction. "Too bad for you that one of my new found powers is an incredible sensory ability. No one can sneak up on me."

Spirit glared at Nocturne. He must be talking about Jinx. The thief must have been trying to sneak around the warehouse and get to the machine. Unfortunately, she was caught. That was her last hope. They had no more help coming.

"Give up now and…what's that?" Nocturne turned south and glared in that direction. "It can't be…why would he come here?"

'What is he talking about?' Spirit thought as her first slammed into a sleep walker's face.

Robin seemed to read her thoughts. "What?"

"…I'll divert all my sleep walkers to stop him…" Nocturne glared at them "After I deal with you…Sleep walkers form!"

The entire warehouse was filled with sleep walkers. In an instant, all four heroes were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Spirit struggled and fought, but there was nothing she could do.

That didn't mean that she would give up, though.

"RAW!" Spirit sent out a large blast of ectoplasm in all directions. The blast destroyed several sleep walkers, but hundreds more were already ready.

"Arg!" Spirit sent out another large blast. No, she wouldn't give up until the end.

Danny's head was currently resting on Sam's lap as she brushed his hair. He was now content and happy. The whispers and doubts were gone. All that was left was this moment.

This is wrong…It's not real…wake up…

Ignore it. It's just his paranoia. Everything was fine. Everything was finally perfect.

You're in denial.

He was not in denial. Denial would suggest that something was wrong. Nothing is wrong.

Everything is wrong.

'Great, now I'm arguing with a mysterious whisper.' Danny grumbled mentally. He sat up and caused his girlfriend to be confused.

"What's wrong Danny?" Sam asked her boyfriend.

"…Everything…" Danny stood up.

"What are you talking about?" Sam questioned in disbelief. "Everything's perfect."

"Yeah…" Danny agreed. "It's too perfect."

"Too perfect?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"My parents are successful, Jazz has already been accepted to Yale, everyone I care about accepts my powers, and …you're my girlfriend." Danny stated.

"Isn't all that what you want?" Sam didn't know what to feel.

"Yes," Danny answered. "This…is all I want. I am content, but…that's what's wrong. Something deep down is telling me that this is wrong. I-I think it's my ghost half. It's telling me to wake up. That something needs my help…"

"That sounds crazy." Sam stated. "Look around everything's fine."

"It looks fine, but…looks are deceiving…" Danny glared at his surroundings as he took several steps forward.

Yes. He's deceiving you. This is wrong. It's not real. Wake up!

"Please stop this, Danny." Sam carefully approached her boyfriend. "You're scarring me."

"Stay back, Sam…" Danny closed his eyes. "I need you to be quiet for a minute."

"But…" Sam began.

"Please, Sam…" Danny pleaded.

"…Okay…" Sam whispered.

Then there was silence. Everything was quiet. It was like nothing was wrong. Danny stood there for several moments, but nothing was wrong. Maybe he was wrong? Maybe he was just being paranoid?

Soon, Danny decided to give up. This was real. He was just being…

"Danny! Don't be fooled! Please, wake up! Please, help! I need you!" Dani's sobbing voice called out loudly all around him.

In an instant, the silence was broken forever.

After a few more bursts, Spirit pushed herself to her limit. She was completely out of energy. There was no way left for her to fight back.

The sleep walkers were all over her. The were completely restraining her. In a few moments, she would fall asleep. It was over.

She and the rest of the world would forever be asleep. They would live out their lives in some fantasy dream and would never wake up. To many this would sound appealing, but to her, it was terrible.

Spirit would never get the chance to grow up. She would never become a teen, fall in love, or get to live life to the fullest. She would forever be stuck in a juvenile dream, never allowed to wake.

Tears streamed down her face. It wasn't fair! She wanted to live! Why was her best not good enough? Why couldn't she save the day like in her dream? She…she…needed help.

"Danny…Dad…" Spirit sobbed. It was a quite sound. No one would be able to hear it.

"Danny!…Dad!…Help…" This sob was a little louder.

"Danny! Dad! Please, wake up!" The once was pretty loud.

"Dad! Danny! Don't be fooled! Please, wake up! Please, help! I need you!" Spirit was now screaming.

Nocturne laughed. "It's futile ghost girl. They can't hear you. It's over."

"NO! DANNY! DAD! SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP ME!"

It was all so damn loud! The buzzing! The screaming! The explosions!

Why was it all so loud! Danny fell to his knees. His mind felt as if it was about to explode! So much was going through his mind. Memories were trying to get out, but he was fighting them.

NO! DANNY! DAD! SOMEONE! PLEASE, HELP ME!

Then the dam burst. The memories flooded back in a giant wave. Pain crashed throughout Danny's body. It all came back to him.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Danny screamed as agony coursed through his body.

"Please! Even if you think I'm a fool for asking, I need to ask anyway. Will you train me? Will you teach me, the son of Jack Fenton? Will you instruct a naïve do-gooder? Vlad, will you help me become strong so that I will not fail like this again?" Danny pleaded.

"When you wake up, use your frustration and improve yourself. Learn to control that power you just showed, and you will surpass me one day."

"Mad? Naw. At least you acted like a real man and said 'no' straight to my face. Besides, I'm not one to give up so easily. Especially the things that are hard to get. That makes things even more fun and satisfying when you say 'yes'." Ember gave him a seductive look.

"Yes, it is." Jenifer gave him a look of joy. "You came to save me from a really dangerous place. You could have just let Phantom and them come get me. They have their powers to protect them. You're just a regular human. You could have died, especially because you had no working weapons. Not many people would go. I knew your were special, but this…It was awesome."

"Oh well, I tried. You should know, though. Other people will not be as kind as I was when asking you." Luthor smiled.

"…I do understand that. I was pretty hateful to both sides of you, at one time. I wouldn't have told you either, but…it's so hard to believe. Danny… you're dead." Valerie gained sad eyes.

"Are you okay, Dani?" Danny asked. "I am now."

"Good, because we will be watching you, Mr. Fenton. Be careful not to step out of line." Agent O smirked down at the teenager.

"YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!" Phantom yelled in victory. Falling to his knees, Phantom revealed in his victory. Finally, all of his training was finally showing some results.

"…I'm not a monster…" Danny didn't know if he was saying this to himself or her. "I'm not.."

All of their eyes, however, showed understanding. They understood that he did everything possible to save them. His family and friends understood that he could physically do nothing more to save them. All of them understood that he would never, never become that sick monster. And mostly, they understood that they were going to die. At that moment hot tears rolled down Danny's eyes. He had failed. The only thing he could do was cry, "NO!"

Danny felt hot tears run down his face as sobbed in despair. For the first time in months, he allowed himself to cry. His family and friends were dead. This world was a lie. It was all too much to take in.

"Danny…" Sam gentle voice sounded behind him. "Why did you scream? Why are you crying?"

"…Because you're dead…" Danny slowly raised his head.

"What!?" Sam took a step back in surprise.

"You, Tuck, Jazz, Dad, Mom, and even Mr. Lancer are all dead and it is my fault." Danny stood up. "I killed you all in my selfishness."

"What are you talking about!" Sam was outraged. "Look around you everything is fine! I'm alive!"

"This isn't real…" Danny wiped his eyes and repeated what his ghost side had been saying all along. "It's fake. I need to wake up…"

"I-I…" Sam began to panic as the entire world around her began to fade. "I don't understand."

"I'm sorry, Sam." Danny gave his dream girlfriend a hauntingly sad smile. "I have to go now. Dani needs me. Amity parks need me. Heck, the world needs me…I can feel it."

"But…but…" Sam was crying now. The revelation that she didn't actually exist had pushed the normally hard girl to the breaking point. "I can't be fake. I can feel. I can…love." She then gave Danny a longing look. "Don't leave me."

"I don't want to." Danny gently touched Sam's face. "Every fiber in my body wants this to be real, but it isn't. I've been happier in this one week than I have been since you died. I would give anything I own to stay, but I can't give up Dani or my responsibilities."

Sam grabbed his hand. "I understand. It wouldn't be you if you stayed here and let the world rot. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything." Danny agreed.

"Don't let this break you." Sam pleaded. "If we died and you are still the hero, then you have a will of steal. Don't let this, an illusion, be the thing that breaks you."

"…I'll try…" Danny mumbled.

"Thanks…" Sam then hugged Danny. "And also…don't let go until I'm gone. I don't want to fade alone."

"I'm here." Danny held her closely. "I won't leave until the end."

"Thank you." Sam mumbled into his shoulder. Danny could feel his shirt become wet from her tears.

They stayed like this for a moment. Both teens held on for dear life. The world around them quickly faded into nothingness. Then Sam began to fade. Soon there was only a black nothingness.

Suddenly, Danny was overcome by a wave of emotion. Grief, sorrow, agony, and a terrible rage consumed him. Then the halfa let it all out.

Spirit was completely defeated. The sleep walkers were holding her in place. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She had failed.

The sleep walkers were dragging her forward by her arms. When they stopped dragging her, Spirit felt a hand lift her lowered head to look up. The smirking face of Nocturne greeted the girl.

"Well, ghost girl you have earned by begrudging respect. You fought off my sleep walkers for a very long time." Nocturne stated. "Don't worry, you're about to go back to your dream world."

"I don't want that." Spirit gritted out as she glared at the sleep ghost. "I want reality."

"Reality is overrated." Nocturne turned to a sleep walker. "Bring the others here too."

The sound of dragging bodies and metal alerted Spirit of the fact that the others had been defeated. She idly wondered whether Jinx was captured or not, but ultimately the thought passed. She had to worry about herself right now.

"Relax, child." Nocturne's hand was covered in a light blue energy. "Your dreams will come true in a minute.

Spirit tried to pull away, but was too weak. The blue energy was merely a few inches away. In a moment, she would be forced into an eternal sleep-

Suddenly the hand flinched back as if it were burned. The sleep walkers were writhing in agony. Spirit could even see out of the corner of her eye that Robin was shaking, Red Tornado was sparking, and even Batman seemed to be sweating a little.

Spirit instantly recognized what was happening. She had experience that feeling before. It was a Haunting Aura…Danny's Haunting Aura. Why was it not affecting her, though?

Nocturne quickly turned toward the pods. Spirit turned her head and saw that the pods and the area around them were covered with ice. This confirmed Spirit's suspicion. Danny was awake!

Suddenly a blazing blue energy came out from Danny's pod. Spirit had to look away from the intense light. The girl then heard a crash. It sounded like the pod was forced open.

Slowly, the light died down. The blue light was still there, but now she could see Phantom. He was kneeling on the ground. He appeared to be shaking.

Phantom's head suddenly shot up. His neon blue eyes showed an intense rage. His face was twisted into an angry snarl. Spirit then realized why Phantom was shaking. He was trembling in a uncontrolled rage.

Phantom's eyes slowly swept through the room. His eyes landed on each sleep walkers. He took a good look at the heroes. The halfa glanced at her for a second, and Spirit felt fear as those hateful, angry eyes stared at her.

Then Phantom turned to Nocturne. He glared long and hard at the sleep ghost. A low growl came from the angry halfa's throat. He bared his teeth and said, "You!"

Phantom stood and gave Nocturne the most hateful look Spirit had ever seen. "That dream was your doing wasn't it?!"

Nocturne opened his mouth to says something, but was cut off by the sleep walkers groaning in agony. They didn't seem very tolerant of the Haunting Aura. Some of them even dissolved.

"It was!" Phantom growled. "You bastard! I'll kill you!"

Phantom rocketed at Nocturne at his top speed. With a loud shout, he slammed into the sleep ghost. The force pushed both ghosts up and up to the ceiling.

Crash! The two slammed through the roof. The hole was surrounded by ice. Looking at the hole, Spirit realized that they would not be coming back anytime soon.

The sleep walkers were now in disarray. They lacked a leader now. Batman and Red Tornado used this for their benefit. They began to destroy the sleep walkers in large numbers. Robin seemed too shaken up to move right now, but he looked like he was pulling himself together.

Spirit tried to get up, but merely fell on her face. In a flash of white light, she transformed back to normal. Luckily for her, though, she was wearing a disguise belt, so her secret was still safe.

Looking up, Dani saw the frozen pods. She tried to move toward them, but barely managed to crawl. Slowly, she tried to get toward the pods. Unfortunatley, some of the sleep walkers noticed her decided to stop her.

Dani's eyes widened in fear as the attack came at her defenseless form. "Ahhh!"

Phantom carried Nocturne a few blocks away from the warehouse. He wanted this to be away from Dani's innocent eyes. Deciding that he had made enough distance, Phantom crashed Nocturne into the street below.

The impact caused a small crater to form. Nocturne grunted from the blow. Phantom didn't stop there, though. He stood above the sleep ghost and brought a glowing blue fist into Nocturne's face with as much force as he could muster.

Phantom repeated this attack several times. While he did this, Phantom let his anger roll off him in the form of his Haunting Aura. It didn't matter anymore. He was far away enough from Dani so that the girl would not feel the aura. Not that it would matter anyway. This aura was concentrated this time. It was directed solely at Nocturne, the one responsible for Danny's agony and pain.

"Do you know what you've done!" Crash! Phantom's fist smashed into Nocturne's face.

"You made me relive my family's death!" Bam! Another blow.

"You exploited my deepest desires and dreams!" Slam! Frost formed on the ground around them.

"You used my feelings and dreams as your damn food!" Smack!

"You made me live through a perfect life only to force me to kill it!" Phantom roared.

"I'll tear you apart!" Phantom picked Nocturne up any threw him down the street.

Phantom then blasted the sleep ghost with his ice powers. The ground around Nocturne was freezing, but Danny could not see the sleep ghost himself. It didn't matter to him, though. All Phantom could think about was hurting Nocturne.

"Raw!" Phantom sent out one last large burst then stopped to regain his composure. "…Next time think twice before you allow your enemy to rest and heal up for a week…"

Looking down at the giant block of ice, Phantom nodded to himself. Nocturne was out of the picture. Phantom was not satisfied, though. He was going to up there and smash-

"Ah!" A lighter blue energy smashed into Phantom's chest and exploded. The blast caused Phantom's already torn shirt and coat to become almost completely destroyed. They were now just strings hanging off his body.

Phantom clutched his new wound. There were now several bruises and burns on his chest. The wound hurt incredibly badly.

"Foolish ghost boy!" Nocturne appeared out of the ice completely unharmed. "I have absorbed the dreams of three S-rank ghosts and the entire world! I am invincible!"

"We'll see about that!" Phantom roared. He formed a ice broad sword in his hands and lunged forward. Like with how he ended his fight with Torch, Phantom brought the sword down at Nocturne's shoulder. The sleep ghost merely brought his arm up to block. The sword met the arm…and shattered.

"What?" Phantom looked at the broken sword in shock. That attack had beaten Torch!

"See?" Nocturne grinned evilly. "I am all powerful!"

"Yeah, right!" Phantom sent a barrage of punches at Nocturne. None of them caused any effect.

Nocturne then raised an energy covered hand and backhanded the halfa. Phantom's eyes instantly saw stars. His ears rang from the pain as he flew down the street. He landed in a kneeling position, but instantly stood up. The half-ghost could already feel his face beginning to swell.

"Nothing you can do can hurt me." Nocturne stated as he slowly begn to approach the halfa.

Phantom glared at the sleep ghost. His ice powers and regular ectoplasm had no effect so far. He doubted that duplicates would help right now. Hand to hand combat was a no go…That left once option.

Phantom took a deep breath in and roared. His Ghostly Wail slammed into Nocturne and actually pushed the sleep ghost back. Nocturne gained a look of mild pain. He covered his face with his arms and coved himself with a blue light.

Phantom kept his attack up as long as he could. He put all he could into the attack. His week long rest had completely filled his reserves, so it was not that big of a deal. The bad thing was that it wasn't affecting Nocturne ta all anymore.

Stopping his attack, Phantom's eyes widened in complete shock. That was his strongest attack! It could easily defeated large groups of ghosts. It could easily destroy building. It even helped him defeat him! (Granted the element of surprise helped) How could it not work!

"I had heard about that attack." Nocturne stated. "I am impressed. Even with all this power, I felt some pain. You have earned some respect."

"How…It's impossible…" Phantom couldn't figure out what had happened. If that attack didn't work…What could he do?

"No, its not." Nocturne outstretched his hand. A large amount of energy covered his arm. It was so bright that Phantom couldn't look at it directly. "Yet I did it, because with everyone sleeping, I am a god!"

Phantom was about to make a witty retort, but a large blast of energy was sent out by Nocturne's hand. The blast was so large, it covered the entire street. Not only that, it was incredibly fast. Phantom barely had time to put up his guard before he was consumed by the energy.

The blast caused Phantom an unbearable amount of pain. It felt as if his entire body was being burned and stabbed. He tried to yell out, but his scream was silent. In an instant, his body was beaten just as badly as when he faced Colossus.

A second later, the blast ended. Phantom's coat, shirt, boots, and bottom half of his pants were completely destroyed now. His body was covered in bruises, burns, welts, and cuts. Smoke rolled of his body. Phantom didn't move though. He was till in the same stance and his arms were still guarding his head. His mouth was still open from the silent scream.

"Thus our fight comes to an end." Nocturne smiled. "Just in time too. Soon, that fool will be here. This was a good warm-up for that freak. But with this power…hahahehehe. I can defeat even him with minimal effor, but first I'll eliminate those bugs back at the warehouse."

Nocturne was about to turn to the warehouse when he heard something unusual. It was a sizzling sound. It sounded like bacon cooking. It was coming right behind him…right from Phantom!

Nocturne looked at the halfa and was shocked. Phantom's wounds were healing at an incredibly fast rate! The bruises fades. The cuts melded. The welts disappeared. In a few second, the ghost boy went from charcoal back into perfect condition.

Slowly, Phantom lowered his eyes. He glared at Nocturne. "That all you got?"

"Ha..ahaha…Hahahahahahah!" Nocturne laughed. "You have rapid regeneration? Now that I did not know!"

Phantom thought. 'Neither did I. It must be a new power…'

"But it has an incredibly high cost!" Nocturne laughed. "Your power is nothing compared to before. It may have allowed you to fight, but now there is no possible way for you to hurt me!"

"You dishonor his resilience, sleep ghost." A booming voice sounded behind Nocturne. "You laugh at such an excellent opponent? I look forward to destroying you."

Nocturne turned and growled. He knew who it was. He had sensed the freak coming long ago. The insects annoyed him enough to forget for a moment, though.

Phantom, however, was shocked at what he saw. He never would have dreamed that such a powerful past opponent would come to help him. "Colossus?"

"Hahahah! Hey there, Phantom!" Colossus grinned. "I can see that you have grown stronger since our fight!"

Dani's eyes widened in fear as the attack came at her defenseless form. "Ahhh!"

Luckily, the attack never came. A wave of pink energy destroyed the walkers before they could get too close. Dani instantly recognized the energy, and a wave of relief rushed through her body.

"Danielle," Plasmius knelt by his daughter and looked over injuries. "Are you hurt my dear?"

"No," Dani smiled up at her father. "Just tired."

"I see," Plasmius gently picked her up. "Good, because if that disgusting blob had hurt you…heads would be rolling."

"Dad…" Dani hugged her father.

Several sleep walkers attacked them, but they all suddenly stopped and crumbled to the ground. Dani was confused for a moment, but quickly understood. Her dad was using his Haunting Aura.

"You're safe now, my dear." Plasmius swiftly carried her over to a pile of mattresses, "But I must go. Daniel needs my help. This is not a foe he can beat alone."

"…Ok," Dani agreed.

As he walked, the sleep walkers around him all fell to the ground and dissolved. None of them could withstand the father's aura. Eventually, the sleep walkers understood what was happening and gave them a wide distance to walk.

"Do you have any ecto-weapons?" Plasmuis asked as he gently put her down.

"Yeah," Dani pulled out her portable Fenton Crammer.

"Good." Plasmius looked around the room to see Batman, Robin, and Red Tornado fighting. All the sleep walkers were now avoiding the two ghosts out of fear of Vlad. "Although, I do not think you will need them."

"Be careful, Dad." Dani warned.

"Don't worry, my dear." Vlad looked over his shoulder. "I don't believe that I will be going alone."

A large pillar of fire appeared in the warehouse. The fire destroyed several of the sleep walkers. "Who had the audacity to capture Torch! Was the costumed humans or the shiny red guy?! No! Torch sees Nocturne's sleep walkers before Torch! Torch will roast Nocturne alive for this crime!"

Nocturne grunted as Colossus's shockwave fist rammed into his face. The sleep ghost slid several meters back from the force. He was mostly unharmed, but Phantom could see that the attack hurt somewhat.

"Why are you here, you uncouth brute?!" Nocturne growled.

"Do you honestly think that I could ignore all this?" Colossus gestured all around him. "I'm no moralist, but you put all the humans to sleep to gain some damn power! You have no honor!"

"The time of honor has long since past, you fossil!" Nocturne sent several blasts of energy at Colossus, but the giant countered them with several shockwaves.

"Honor never dies." Colossus growled. He lunged forward and sent several blows at Nocturne. Nocturne blocked all the blows with his energy covered fists. After several blocks, Nocturne decided to strike back. His fist met Colossus's jaw.

Boom! A large blast of energy consumed Colossus's head. The force of the blast caused Colossus to skid back a few feet. Nocturne didn't stop there, though. He then formed a large ball of energy and slammed it into Colossus's chest. Again Colossus skid back.

Phantom could see that Colossus actually had a few scratches and burns. "Meh…That actually stung a little."

"Next time, I'll do more then…" Nocturne felt a hand tap on shoulder and turned. "What? Arg!"

"Don't forget about me!" Phantom snarled as his blue energy covered fist rammed into Nocturne's face. "I still have a grudge you have to deal with!"

Nocturne covered his face and lunged backward to gain some distance. This, however, gave Colossus the opportunity to send a roundhouse kick at Nocturne's side. The force of the blow knocked Nocturne into a nearby building.

"Let me deal with this Phantom." Colossus stated. "He will be a challenge even to me. You are not yet up to this level of combat."

"Doesn't matter to me." Phantom retorted. "He was my opponent first."

"Raw!" Nocturne shouted as he pulled himself up. Green energy blazed around him as the sleep ghost grew as tall as a building.

"Then you should prepare yourself." Colossus took a defensive stance. "This won't be easy."

"I know…" Phantom braced himself.

"I'll turn you to ash!" Nocturne lunged at them.

"That's Torch's line!" A large fire ball smacked into Nocturne's side and sent the sleep ghost tumbling.

"You too? I'll-Arg!" a pink energy disk rammed into Nocturne's face and exploded.

"You'll what?" Plasmius questioned. "Because I believe there is nothing you can do anymore."

Phantom looked over at his mentor. "Good to see you up."

"Can't let you have all the fun child." Plasmius grinned.

"What is Torch? Chopped liver?" Torch complained the lack of reaction.

"No, you're a piece of burned out charcoal." Phantom stated.

"Says the walking ice dispenser!" Torch pointed his newly formed scythe at Phantom.

"Hahahahahahahah! It is good the see that the new generation has formed rivalries!" Colossus laughed.

"The Great General is here?" Torch grinned. "Then Torch challenges you! If Torch defeats you here Torch shall gain eternal glory!"

"I love the spirit, young Torch," Colossus grinned. "But I don't believe now is the time. Our fight will be saved for later."

"Colossus is right." Plasmius mentioned. "We have to deal with Nocturne first and foremost."

"Then let Torch do his thing!" Torch covered himself in fire. "Torch will defeat him in seconds."

"It will not be that easy." Colossus argued. "I shall fight him. I have the most raw power and experience. Besides…my blood is boiling at the chance to fight someone so powerful! Even if the power is stolen."

"No!" Phantom shouted. "He's mine! I'm going to punch his brains out!"

"Daniel, calm down and think rationally." Plasmius ordered. "You already used most of your energy. You wouldn't be able to stand a chance."

"Silence!" Nocturne yelled and gained the attention of all four S-rank ghosts. "You couldn't defeat me even if you all attacked at once!"

The four ghosts looked at each other for a moment, nodded and said in unison. "Challenge accepted."

Of course, Dani didn't stay away from the action. There was no possible way that she could keep out an epic clash. Unfortunately, she knew that she couldn't fight right now, so she did the only thing she could. After resting a few minutes, she slowly sneaked around to the satellite.

Looking at the machine, Dani began to question what she could do. She was afraid that breaking the machine would backfire. She could try to hack it…but she had no skill in hacking. Who could…

"Need some help?" Robin landed beside her.

"Can you hack this?" Dani asked.

"Yeah," Robin activated his gauntlet computer. "But it might take a while and…"

"Waora!" Sleep walkers began to come at them.

"Them…" Dani took out a pistol from her Fenton Crammer. She shot the sleep walkers closet to them.

"Yeah," Robin continued to work on hacking. "Batman and Red Tornado can take care of the majority of them. That's why Batman ordered me to help you here, but I'm going to need you to hold these green blobs off."

"It would be my genuine pleasure." Dani continued to shoot the sleep walkers down. "But I would suggest that you hurry."

(Play: Impossible by Manafest)

"HA!" Torch sent a stream of fire at Nocturne. The sleep ghost met the stream with a wave of energy. The stream of fire was quickly overcome by the energy.

"Ack!" Torch was forced to lunge to the side to dodge.

Currently, all five ghosts were high above the city in order to fight at full force. This way, none of them had to worry about destroying the city or killing the innocent people. The fight had been dragging on for a couple of minutes now. The group of four did not allow Nocturne any reprieve to call sleep walkers. It was a constant barrage.

Nocturne was thrown to the side by one of Colossus's shockwaves. Before he could slow down, Phantom blasted him on his other side. Plasmius then came up right in front of Nocturne and formed two finger guns. An uncountable amount of rabid shots of pink bullets shot out of Vlad's and made contact all over Nocturne's body.

"Raw!" Nocturne sent a huge arc of energy at Vlad. Before it could make contact, though, Vlad split into two and dodged the attack with minimal effort.

Suddenly, both Torch and Phantom attacked Nocturne on either side. This time, Nocturne was prepared. He lunged backward and caused the sword and scythe to meet in a blaze of red and blue.

"Remember what happened during our fight?!" Phantom questioned.

"Torch remembers the backlash!" Torch grinned at what Phantom was implying.

"Then show Nocturne!" Both elemental ghost swiped their weapons in Nocturne's direction. The waves of blue and red melded into a giant purple wave.

"Arg." Nocturne was knocked several blocks away. He actually seemed to be injured after that barrage of attacks.

"This doesn't mean that Torch and you are friends." Torch remarked. "Torch still wants Torch's revenge."

"Later." Phantom growled and glared in Nocturne's direction.

All four ghosts then spread out around Nocturne. Completely surrounded, Nocturne didn't know what to do. Before he could get the chance to do anything, though, the four ghosts attacked. They sent waves of energy at Nocturne. The sleep ghost writhed in pain.

"Arg…" Nocturne glared at the energy. "Er….E….Enough!"

Clear blue energy burst out from all around Nocturne. The giant blast hit all four ghosts and knocked them away. Phantom quickly regained his composure an looked around.

All four the ghosts were now injured. They were covered in various scratches and bruises. Nocturne, however, looked even worse. Not even he with all the power from the dreams could withstand their barrage unscathed. But…

Smoke rose off of Nocturne. His injuries quickly healed themselves before their eyes. In moments, he would be back to perfect shape.

"This isn't good. I'm almost out of gas…" Phantom groaned.

"Torch feels that this isn't going well." Torch noted.

"This is what I hate about ghosts who are powered by outside forces!" Colossus shouted in outrage. "They never tier. It's annoying!"

"We'll need to cut off his power." Plasmius observed. "Hopefully the heroes back at the factory destroy the satellite soon."

"So that was your plan!" Nocturne was now completely healed. "You are merely buying time! Then I will finish this farce!"

Nocturne blurred out of their view. All four ghosts looked around, but couldn't see him. Suddenly a white light appeared above them. They all looked and were shocked by what they saw. Nocturne was covered by white ectoplasmic energy.

"No! It can't be!" Torch trembled.

"What?" Phantom question.

"Pure white energy?" Colossus's eyes widened. "I thought it was a myth!"

"A myth?" Phantom was confused.

"What do you mean?" Even Vlad seemed lost.

"In ancient times, white ectoplasm was the sign of absolute ascension!" Colossus explained. "Some even believed it was a signal of godhood."

"I don't believe that, but there is no doubt that it is a sign of great power!" Torch exclaimed. "Attack before he gets the chance.

"Agreed!" Vlad shouted.

Colossus sent a shockwave. Torch attacked with a wave of fire. Plasmius formed his energy into a giant ball and threw it at Nocturne. Phantom used his ice energy to send an ark of energy at the sleep ghost.

All the attacks made contact and caused an explosion. The bad thing was that they…were completely ineffective. The white energy formed a shield around Nocturne and protected him from the blow.

"Impossible…" Vlad mumbled.

"No…" Nocturne pointed his hand down at them. The white energy began to concentrate at the sleep ghost's hand. "It's not for a god!"

"You're no god!" Phantom exclaimed.

"I am now…" The energy around Nocturne's hand looked like a miniature sun. "The god of sleep and dreams."

"Brace yourselves!" Colossus shouted. Green energy burst out and surrounded him in a large blast. Slowly, it bled red. "I'll take the blunt of the attack!"

"Like hell!" Torch also covered himself in an armor of flames. "Torch will stop the attack!"

"Please child!" Vlad scoffed. He formed energy around his hands. It blazed and pulsed until it became completely tame under Vlad's control. "We will defend against it together."

Phantom knew there was not much more he could do, but still agreed. "Let's do this!"

Just as Nocturne launched his attack, as four ghosts braced themselves. The white blaze of energy was enormous, it could cover a fourth of the city. The attack rushed at them and quickly stuck all four ghosts. They all stood their ground and tried to stop the attack. Colossus did take the brunt of the attack. Second was Vlad. Then followed Torch and Phantom. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Are you done yet!?" Dani shouted as she blasted as many sleep walkers as she could.

"I'm sorry!" Robin exclaimed. "This takes time!"

"We're out of time." Dani pulled out another gun. All the others were out of ammo. "They're about to overtake us!"

"Almost there" Sweat pored down Robin's brow.

"Ah!" Dani exclaimed as she smacked her gun across the closest sleep walker's face. "They're here! I can stop them!"

"Three!" Robin shouted.

"Arg!" Dani was tackled by the sleep walkers. "Help!"

"Two!"

The sleep walkers began to charge at Robin.

"One!"

The walkers were almost on him.

Just as he was about to be cut down. Everything stopped. The sleep walkers were gone.

"Ahhhhh!" The four ghosts shouted as the attack began to push them down.

Suddenly, the attack stopped. Looking up, they saw that Nocturne was now looking at the warehouse. "No! My power source!"

Realizing what happened, Phantom grinned. "They did it!"

"Hellllllllllllllllll Yeah!" Torch celebrated.

"About time…" Vlad mumbled.

"Hahahhaha!" Colossus laughed. "Let's see you fight us now!"

Colossus then rocketed at Nocturne by using a shockwave to break the sound barrier. Nocturne snarled, "Don't get arrogant. I still have the power I already absorbed. I'm still a go-AHHH!"

Nocturne was consumed by a giant shockwave. The shockwave caused the white aura to waver and fade into green. Colossus shouted. "A god my ass!"

"You fool!" Nocturne exclaimed. "My power is…eh?" Nocturne was shocked when he felt something tap on his shoulder. Turning, Nocturne was shocked by what he saw. It was over one hundred duplicated of Plasmius. "Impossible!"

"No…" The Vlad's said in unison. "It's not for me."

Nocturne was then hit by a barrage of fists as all the Plasmius's began to attack. Each duplicate got one hit in before they disappeared in a burst. After all the duplicates disappeared, only one Vlad was left. This Vlad then fired a straight beam of pink energy at the sleep ghost.

Once again, the ectoplasm around Nocturne protected him. After the attack fades, so did the ectoplasm around Nocturne. He was now completely vulnerable.

Just how Torch and Phantom wanted him…

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Nocturne screamed in pain as dome of fire formed around him. He was almost immediacy covered in burns. This time, though, the burns would heal instantly. The damaged caused the sleep ghost to shrink back down to normal size.

Nocturne quickly came to his senses and decided to dispel the dome. He spread out his arms and sent out a burst of energy that blasted away the flames. In doing so, though, Nocturne left himself unprotected.

The first thing Nocturne saw was a mop of white hair. He then noticed the blue energy covering the hair and the body it was attached to. Finally, Nocturne realized that the should of said body was about to ram into at over 200 mph.

"Spear!" Phantom cried as he rammed into Nocturne. The sleep ghost coughed out green blood as the attack forced him and Phantom toward the street below.

The two landed in a heap. Nocturne lay there defeated, but that didn't matter to the blood hungry Phantom. He quickly mounted the sleep ghost and punched him in the face. Then he did it a second time. A third…fourth…fifth…and so on…

Phantom continued to punch Nocturne even after Colossus, Torch, and Vlad landed behind them. They didn't interfere. They understood what was happening and why it happened…or at least they inferred what it was.

Phantom didn't stop punching. Even after Nocturne's face was swelled and bleeding, Phantom kept hitting Nocturne. He was beyond angry. He was blind with rage.

"Daniel…" Vlad finally spoke. "He's defeated."

"He's not dead though." Phantom snarled.

"…" Vlad spoke again. "Are sure this is the path you want to take?"

"Yes!" Phantom went back to hitting Nocturne. "He killed them again!"

Colossus and Torch were silent. The knew about the Nasty Burger incident. They would do nothing to stop Phantom. In the same situation, they would do the same.

"No, he didn't." Vlad reached out to his student. "It was a dream. Please, stop this. Let's go home and get healed up."

Phantom looked up at his mentor. He closed his eyes…and formed an ice broadsword. Raising his sword, Phantom brought it down.

"No!" Vlad yelled.

Time out!

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 never get in this position again! 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, then he yelled. "Rawwwwwww!" and stabbed his sword down as hard as he could.

Time in!

Dani only heard one thing as Batman carried her to where her family was. She heard her father yell. She couldn't see what was happening, but she felt Batman tense up. Then she heard Danny.

"Rawwwwwww!" Then, she heard the sound of concrete being stabbed into.

"Put me down…" Dani whispered as she struggled in Batman's arms. The Dark Knight gently put her down on her feet and she saw what was happening.

Danny was sitting on Nocturne with a broad sword stabbed into the ground right beside Nocturne's head. Her dad was standing behind Danny with his arm reached out to him. The pod ghost that called himself Torch and surprisingly Colossus was there too. They had their arms crossed and were looking on indifferently.

Slowly, Phantom stood up. He was still looking down at Nocturne when he said, "Damn it…you're not worth it…"

Dani whispered, "Danny?"

Phantom looked up at her and she instantly wished he hadn't. His eyes were…so cold and dead. They lost all the spark she was used to seeing. He looked like…whenever his old family was brought up.

Her brother said nothing to her or anyone else. After looking at her, he turned away and began to walk. All three ghosts parted to let him pass.

Looking at Nocturne, Dani was shocked by the sleep ghost's condition. His left horn was broken. His face looked like a black and blue pile of potatoes…a very terrified pile of potatoes.

"Where are you going." Dani heard Batman ask.

Phantom stopped, but did not turn. "Don't know…Somewhere I can work out all this… aggression."

After he was gone, Dani's dad approached her. He picked her up and looked at Batman and the other heroes. "Thank you for protecting her."

Batman nodded.

"If you'll excuse us…I think it is time for us to go." Plasmius then turned to the other ghosts. "Thank you for your help…If you want to go back to the Ghost Zone, just ask."

Torch and Colossus were silent.

Soon, they were flying away. Dani asked, "Dad? What happened to Danny?"

"…He had taken several steps backward. He is in a dark place with no light and has no way out." Vlad frowned.

"Can we help?" Dani whispered.

"Right now…I don't think anyone can."