Chapter 6: Colossus

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of

winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he's sure of

losing." Geroge Eliot

Chapter 6: "Colossus"

(Friday-January 15, 2010)

"Okay…Let me get this straight…You… the Guys in White…want to buy Fenton Works?" Danny's eyebrows could not rise any higher.

"That is correct." GIW #1 nodded.

This unpleasant meeting had come without warning. Danny had actually been studying at the time. Vlad had hired some of the best tutors in the world to help Danny. They were all terribly strict, but it was still better than high school.

Imagine Danny's surprise when the GIW came rushing into the room guns at the ready. At first, Danny thought they figured out his secret, but he soon learned that was not the case. Apparently, they only did that out of habit and wanted to talk to Danny…alone…in the living room…Yeah, that didn't sound good.

"…Didn't you guys, like, mock my parents constantly until, and probably after, their death." Danny mumbled the 'and probably after' part to himself.

"…We have recently decided that your parents work was…ingenious." GIW #2 looked pained to say that last word.

"Alright, Mr…Okay what are your names, anyway?" Danny wasn't sure what to call them. GIW #1 and #2 wouldn't work…well it would in Danny's mind, but Danny doubted that it would work as well out loud.

"You can call me, Agent K," GIW #1 said. He was an African-American man with a shaved head. Like all GIW, he wore a white suit, black tie, and dark sunglasses.

"You can call me, Agent O," GIW #2 spoke. He was a Caucasian man and also wore the GIW uniform.

"Riiiggghhhttt…Okay, Agent K and Agent O, what in God's green earth gave you even the passing thought that I would sell you Fenton Works?" Danny asked angrily.

"We thought the check would be a large factor." Agent K scratched the top of his head.

"You do realize that Vlad is one of the richest people in the world? It's not like I'm in that great of financial need." Danny pointed out the obvious.

"But none of it is your own money." Agent O retorted.

That was actually a good point. Danny actually had no money himself. It was all Vlad. The very generous check that the GIW were offering was very appealing. Very appealing. Having his own money would help Danny in the future, for sure. The cost of selling Fenton Works was far to high, though. So, no money for Danny.

"You have a point Agent O,but I don't see the need of having my own fortune packed away. I don't think he will just cut me off any time soon. Well, as long as I don't do something too stupid. So, I do not see the need to sell Fenton Works to you, or anyone else really." Danny gave them a small glare.

"And that's your final answer?" Agent K asked.

"Yes…yes it is," Danny nodded his head.

"Well, that's to bad. We had hoped that this might end in a civil way, but you have forced our hand." Agent O frowned and gained a threatening look.

"How so?" Danny was quite curious.

"If you refuse to sell Fenton works then we will have to take it by force, Mr. Fenton," Agent O crossed his arms and glared down at the young man.

"And how will you do that, Agent O?" Danny fought hard to laugh at them. They were no where near threatening.

"By arresting you, Mr. Fenton," Agent K smirked.

"Arrest me? On what charges?" Danny was in disbelief. Did they think that would actually work?

"Well, lets see…" Agent K pulled out a notebook. Apparently, they came prepared for this scenario. "Illegally carrying and concealing a firearm, possession of dangerous radioactive equipment, intentionally putting other people in danger, terrorist activity (terrorist activity?! What the hell?!), consorting with ghosts, and purposely interfering with a government investigation."

"What the crap?! I haven't done any of those things!" Danny rose from his seat.

"Really? Did you not carry and use an ectoplasmic weapon that you invented yourself to Mr. Luthor's holiday party?" Agent O smirked.

"…Yeah…" Danny acknowledged.

"That counts as concealing an ecto-weapon, which uses a form of unknown radiation and is very dangerous when used near civilians. A few calls and I'm sure a few people would be will to press charges for you putting so many lives on the line by using an unregistered weapon." Agent K smiled triumphantly.

"Hehe…You're spouting out a bunch of bull. You and I both know that the Anti-ghost Act has given a lot of leeway to anything that can be used to defend against ghosts. And considering that I saved a bunch of people and all of those thugs are still alive, there is no way any charge you make against me concerning the Fenton Pealer 2.0 would stick." Danny was really glad that Vlad made him read through all the ghost related laws for his government study.

"There is still the charges of terrorism, consorting with ghosts, and purposely interfering with a government investigation!" Agent O shouted. It was obvious that they were getting frustrated with this whole scenario.

"Okay, enough of this!" The door slammed open and Vlad walked in. Danny could easily see that he had lost his temper. His eyebrows arched down. His lips formed a snarl. His eyes shone with anger and disdain. The Vlad who patient and slow to enrage was gone. In his place was an enraged powerful billionaire half-ghost and he was looking for blood.

Danny was so glad it was not his blood Vlad was looking for.

"Mr. Masters we informed you that we needed to talk to Mr. Fenton alone. We do not appreciate your eavesdropping and your interruption." Agent O reminded Vlad.

Danny wondered if they were actually stupid enough to anger Vlad even more.

"Eavesdropping? Eavesdropping!? You arrogant fool! You dare say that to me in my own home?! I only agreed to your terms because Daniel said he could handle this himself, but your recent accusations are unacceptable. You are making false accusations against a person who is under my protection. I will not allow this." Vlad looked absolutely murderous.

"The charges are completely viable, Mr. Masters. Mr. Fenton's family-" Agent K was cut off.

"Daniel's family?! You are actually bringing Daniel's family into this?!" Vlad was now turning red.

'Oh crap! They actually are that stupid.' Danny grimaced. A calm Vlad was danger. An angry Vlad would destroy his obstacles without remorse.

"You are charging Daniel on false claims you made up against his family? Are you serious or are you that stupid?" Vlad glared at the two agents as he voiced Danny's thoughts. His glare caused the two men to take a step back.

"Mr. Masters, we do not appreciate-" Once again Agent K was cut of.

"Personally, I don't care what you appreciate. I'm rather tired of all the unwanted guests that having been barging into my home as of late." Danny really hoped he wasn't talking about Klemper. The blond ice ghost had been over a lot lately.

"So, I'll keep this as simple as possible. I'm sure you have plenty of charges that you would like to accuse Daniel of. All of the are completely false, otherwise you would have just arrested him to begin with instead of trying to negotiate with Daniel about Fenton Works.

"Thus, this is what will happen if you arrest him. As soon as you walk out that door, I will call everyone of my very expensive and very good lawyers who will storm your office with a vengeance. They will advice Daniel to not say a word and will shut down your case completely in a matter of hours, in the worst case scenario of course of course.

"Then, they will look into why an innocent youth, a tragic survivor at that, was persecuted and apprehended by the government for no reason. After that, the media will be informed of what happened and you will have enough bad publicity on your hands that the government, maybe even the President himself, will be looking into the Guys in White program.

"They will search your exploits very carefully, and they will find all the dark secrets you have hidden. I'm sure they're very bad, too. And faster than you can say sugar cookies, you two will be jobless, whether by the GIW using you as a scapegoat or the entire program being shut down.

"In the end, the only thing you will be hurting is yourselves. So, I will ask you this. Are going to arrest Daniel, or are you going to leave quietly?" The smile Vlad wore looked positively evil.

Both of the GIW agents were now very pale. They seemed to understand the situation very well.

After a quick glance to Agent K, Agent O said, "W-we un-understand p-perfect-ly, Mr. Masters."

"Very good," Vlad turned to his young charge who was looking at him in awe.

"I believe this meeting is over." Vlad nodded Danny and began to walk to the door he originally entered from.

"Actually, there is one more thing I'd like to say." Danny spoke more to his mentor than to the two government agents.

Vlad turned and gave Danny a curious look, but said nothing. The GIW were still trying to regain their composure, so they remained silent also.

"Vlad had all my parent's financial files transferred to me a few weeks ago. So, I know almost everything they sold to you. There are a few…classified things that were left out however.

"From what I understand, you have enough ecto-weapons to last you…ten years at least. So, you don't need my help with that department. Yet you still threatened me to get Fenton Works. Why would you do that?" Danny asked.

He didn't give them a chance to answer. "Now, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can see what you want. You want to destroy all ghosts. That is pretty obvious. But to do that you will need more than that, you will need a way to get to them. A Ghost Portal. Or more specifically, the only Ghost Portal (besides Vlad's, but they didn't know that) in existence.

"Now that obtaining mine is no longer an option, you probably will try to make one of your own. Good luck with that, by the way, my parents spent years trying to make one. You might get one to work, however, not that it will last long." Danny mumbled that last part.

"If you do, you will most likely do something stupidly easy like trying to destroy the entire Ghost Zone. Now I want you to listen carefully. The Ghost Zone is a world…universe…whatever, that is connected directly to the human world. If one goes, the other goes as well.

"So, you can understand why you should not do something moronic like…blowing up the Ghost Zone's core with a nuke or something. Because that would be something that even Jack Fenton had enough sense not to do. And if you try to do something like that, then well, you have less common sense than Jack Fenton did." Danny gave them a sharp look.

They shared another look. "Why should we believe you? You might be trying to protect the ghosts." Agent O pointed out.

"Why would I want to do that? I was raised to hate ghosts and they killed my friends and family." Danny gained a look of hatred. It wasn't really directed at ghost in general, but more as to one ghost. To him.

After one more look, Agent K said, " We will take that into consideration."

"Good," Danny smiled triumphantly. He and Vlad then escorted the two agents to the door.

"Wait, before we go," Agent O looked back at Danny. "When we mentioned consorting with ghosts, we were talking about Danny Phantom. He has been known to show up at your old school and the old Nasty Burger."

"There have been a lot of ghost attacks around there." Danny pointed out the obvious.

"True, but it is also where you used to spend a lot of time. It is only a suspicion, but we believe that there is a connection between one of the children and Phantom." Agent K adjusted his glasses. "If we find out its true and it turns out to be you…then there will be consequences and not even Mr. Masters can help you."

"Well, then it's a good thing that I have no connection to Phantom." Danny rolled his eyes, but inside he was a little worried.

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

"Don't worry about me. I'll be here and if you ever need to contact me, don't."

Dani sighed in relief as she walked into the door of her home. It had been a long day at school. She didn't expect school to be great or anything, but it just so boring.

Even worse, all the kids there were really nice to her. Not good friends nice, mind you, it was more like sucking up. They were all being sweet and kind because she was rich.

They all wanted to be her friend because she was very wealthy and thus popular. Dani could care less about that though. Popularity bored her. It was not fun. It meant that you had to be normal, and normal was very boring.

She ignored the suck ups for the most part, but they were persistent. Really, all she wanted was a friend who didn't care about her money, father, or family name. She hoped that she would find one soon.

Until then, she would just suck it up and endure the boring school day.

"Cujo! I'm home!…" Huh? Usually the puppy came running. Where was he?

"Cujo!…Dad!" Dani called out.

"Neither of them are here." Danny's voice sounded from the living room.

"Where are they?" Dani entered the living room to find Danny in ghost form studying reading…weird. At this time, Danny would usually be done with all of his studying.

"Vlad went out on a business meeting or something. Cujo had to go out earlier because we had… guests." Danny stated.

'Oh, that's why he's still working on his school work. He didn't get a chance to do it earlier' Dani thought.

"Cujo might be back, though. He could be upstairs with Klemper and the other me." Danny finished his explanation and went back to his work.

"You're a duplicate?" Dani was surprised.

"Yep. The real me's got three of us duplicates in the house right now. I'm studying. One's in the basement working on a new project. One is doing fighting drills. And the real me is upstairs with Klemper playing Call of Duty…jerk, he sticks me with the work…" The Danny duplicate mumbled the last part.

"Is that why you are in ghost form?" Dani asked.

"Yeah, we…I…can't do duplicates and be in human form. But we're home and we…I…whatever needs to get this work done. I hate studying literature." Danny groaned.

"Oh, that's right. Danny remembers everything you duplicates do, right?" Dani questioned.

"Yeah, but it really drains and weakens him…us…you know what I mean. So, just doing this is actually building stamina." Danny confirmed.

"Wow…when do I get to make duplicates?" Dani already knew the answer.

"When you're older." Danny said instinctively.

"That's what you and Dad say all the time…" Dani pouted.

"For good reason." The duplicate turned back to his book.

"Hrumph! Fine! I'll go see the real you and Klemper. Maybe they won't be mean." Dani went ghost and floated to the ceiling.

"You do realize that the real Danny and I are exactly the same." The Danny duplicate rolled his eyes.

"Silence! I kill you!" Dani shouted as she passed through the ceiling.

"I'm a duplicate. You can't really kill me," the duplicate mumbled.

Dani floated through the hall to get to Danny's door. In most cases, she would just faze into a room, but there were a few unspoken rules in the manor. One very important one was to never faze into anyone's bedrooms or the bathrooms without checking in first. This was for very obvious reasons.

When she got to Danny's room she knocked, "Hey Danny! Can I come in?"

"Sure," Danny voice sounded out.

As she fazed into the room, Dani took in her bother's room. Danny's room was rather well kept for a teenage boy's bedroom. There was no clothing on the dark carpet covered floor. The king sized bed on the right side of the room was made but had a few ruffles in it. The walls were lined with space, band, and superhero posters. In the corner, Danny's desk and his computer had several empty pop cans off to the side.

On the left side of the room was a large entertainment center. A wide screen television with surrounding speakers was hung up on the wall. An X-Box 360 and several games were on the shelf under it. A long circular couch curved around the entertainment center. Danny and Klemper were sitting on said couch and were in the middle of a Call of Duty match.

It was actually one of the smaller rooms in the manor, but it was still bigger than most apartments. Danny had said that he already had more room than he knew what to do with and that any larger room would look almost empty.

"Hey Dani! Danny and I are playing a game! Do you want to play?" Klemper shouted at the girl as he focused on the screen.

"No, not right now…" Dani took this moment of distraction to observe the two.

Over the past two months, Klemper had changed dramatically. The ice ghost's original problem was that his clingy personality drove everyone away. After Dani and her brother put in the effort, Klemper had evolved. He was less loud and took the whining sound out of his voice. He no longer hunched over and now could stand with confidence. His more predominate physical features actually seemed like they were fading, too.

Dani wondered if the characteristic of a ghosts personality and appearance had any connections. It was entirely possible. Ghosts drew their power from raw emotions. Maybe there appearance had something to do with it, too.

With the negative side of Klemper becoming less…obvious, the positives began to shine. Dani had quickly realized how kind and gentle the blond ghost was. He cared so much about the world around him. Even if the world seemed to despise him.

Klemper was also extremely loyal. For a long time, he was completely focused on gaining a friend. Now, all he cared about was keeping the ones he had. At first, he came off as needy, but slowly he became more and more of a good friend. Dani didn't doubt that Klemper would gladly walk into the fires of hell to help a friend.

"Throw a grenade!" Danny's shout to Klemper drew Dani's attention to him.

Physically, Danny had changed a lot since Dani first woke up from her pod. He was now taller and buffer, a result of the constant training and fighting he had done the past few months. His normal clothes had become to tight, so Vlad had bought him a new, wardrobe. He now several darker shirts and black hoodies. Dani had asked him if he was going Goth, but Danny just walked away.

Also, Danny's dark hair had grown longer than he had ever let grow before. Dani could no longer see Danny's ears or the black of his neck. Danny's bangs were usually very long and wild, and now that was especially true. Dani could barely see Danny's eyes most of the time.

'I wonder if he did that on purpose?' Dani question in her mind.

She had noticed several times the pained look Danny gained in his eyes at odd times. It only lasted for a moment. In that moment, Dani could see a pain in Danny's eyes that her young mind could not understand, then there was coldness. Danny's eyes would turn dead…no pun intended.

It frightened Dani.

Dani knew about the "incident." How could she not? It was all over the news. She knew about Danny's life before he lived with her and Vlad, but she didn't really like to think about it. She didn't like thinking about her brother not being her brother.

It may be selfish, but…Danny belonged to her. He was her brother. It hurt her to think about Danny belonging to another family. Because if he still had his family, would he still love her?

Dani hoped so.

"You okay, Dani? You kind of spaced out…" Danny looked at his clone. Their match seemed to have ended and now both boys were looking at the young halfa.

"Oh…yeah, I was just thinking about school." Dani flopped down on the couch.

"Did you have fun today?" Klemper question.

"Psh! No, it was boring as crap!" Dani complained.

Danny snorted, "I told you so. But you said I was being a kill joy. You want to know what the real kill joy is?"

"School?" Dani mumbled.

"School." Danny nodded.

"Well, at least you don't have to go to it." Dani pointed out.

"…."Danny said nothing.

"Hey? Is Cujo around here?" Dani looked around the room.

"He was with me earlier," Klemper stated, "We had to leave when the Guys in White showed up, but he went off on his own, so…"

"The GIW were hear!?" Dani shouted in surprise.

"Sigh…Yes, they were here. They wanted to buy Fenton Works." Danny rubbed his temples.

"You said no, right?" Dani asked.

"Of course…but they were persistent, I'm glad Vlad helped me out." Danny stood and walked over to the computer.

"What did Dad do?" Dani was curious.

"He owned them," Danny smirked as he looked at his computer.

"…can a parent really own someone?" Dani thought out loud.

"Sure, I know for a-" Danny paused as he suddenly went human and collapsed.

"Danny!" Klemper and Dani yelled as they rushed to the fallen halfa.

"What happened!? Are you okay?!" Klemper asked as he helped his friend up.

"Yeah…I'm just…out of energy…the duplicates…drained me…they disappeared…when I… ran out of…energy" Danny struggled to get out his sentence.

"You're really pale. You need to lie down." Dani tried to get Danny to his bed, but he resisted.

"No…not right now…need to go to lab…now!" Danny hissed.

"But-" "No buts, Klemper….my duplicate was…working on…something…I need to be there…" Danny gave the blond ghost a hard look, but it was really weak.

"…Okay, Danny. But after that, you need some rest." Dani compromised.

"…Lab…food…then rest…" Danny mumbled.

"Agreed." Dani nodded to Klemper and Danny.

The three ghosts quickly fazed to the basement lab. The lab had hardly changed over the past few months. The only difference was the now working ghost portal and the messy work station at the side.

"The work station…" Danny said weakly.

"Okay," Klemper helped (basically dragged) Danny over to the work station.

"Thanks…" Danny mumbled as he used the table to help him stand.

"What were you…the duplicate working one?" Dani raised an eyebrow.

"When…I run out of energy…I turn back into a human…I wanted…to make a disguise devise…to make sure…no one would see…Phantom become Fenton." Danny sat in the chair at the station and picked up what looked like belt. He inspected it.

"Is it okay?" Klemper asked.

"Yeah…my duplicate nearly finished the first adjustments… but he didn't close the energy core…I just had to make sure that it wasn't damaged…" Danny looked at the belt. "Dani, could you go to the…the tackle box under the table…Inside are some emergency water and energy bars…I need some…"

"Sure," Dani got the box and brought it to Danny.

Danny closed the belt's energy core and placed it on the table. "Thanks." Danny said to his clone as he took an energy bar and water bottle from the box.

"Why did you make a belt instead of a ring?" Klemper asked.

Danny finished a bite of the bar and took a huge gulp of water then answered the ghost. "Your ring is meant to be discreet. Because of that, it is somewhat easy to break. I will only use mine during battle. This belt will be a lot tougher, when it is ready, so it will not break."

"It's not ready?" Dani questioned.

"No, it still needs to be completed and tested. I won't take it to the field without being sure that it will work…" Danny finished his bar and stood up. He was a little shaky, but he could stand.

"Does it work like that Specter Deflector thing?" Klemper examined the belt.

"Very close. When I activate it, it will take a minute to set up the disguise. But it does not protect me from ectoplasmic energy. It is mostly just to make sure, my identity remains secret. As I said, though, it is no where near ready and I still need Vlad's help in setting up the last adjustments, but it will be ready by the time I have a hard fight… Hopefully." Danny smiled shakily.

"Alright, you've checked on your thingy. Now you have to get some rest." Dani glared up at her older brother.

For a moment, Danny marveled at the glare. It was one that he had seen multiple in his childhood. It was Sam's glare.

Any argument died in Danny's now very dry throat before it could even be formed. "Okay…I-I'll need some help getting to my room.

Amity Park was in ruins. Smoke rose to the sky. Screams of pain filled the air. The very earth seemed to be bleeding. It was complete hell on earth.

"No…it can't be…I can't…I wouldn't…" Danny collapsed to his knees as he took in the destruction.

"You wouldn't, but I would." A familiar deep voice made Danny's pulse speed up in fear.

Slowly, Danny turned and looked at his greatest fear. He stood there. Everything about him was the same. The red eyes, flaming hair, and perverse version of Danny's suit remained untouched. Dark Dan stood proud and strong.

"It's impossible…You could not have escaped Clockwork." Danny barely whispered, but Dark Dan heard him.

"Oh, you would be surprised at what I could do. I destroyed the world after all. You didn't think I would have prepared for Clockwork? I was prepared for any scenario. And because of that, the old man is dead." Dark Dan's sharp teeth shown through Dark Dan's evil smile.

"No…He can't be…he controls time itself." Danny could not bring himself.

"No being is untouchable, with a proper plan, even a titan can be taken down." Dark Dan began to walk to Danny.

Danny shook in fear as a terrible Haunting Aura hit him. Unlike Danny's aura, Dark Dan's was not produced by grief. It was pure rage, bloodlust, and terror. Danny couldn't even think properly let alone go ghost.

"It is quite funny, don't you think. Clockwork's own death was a result of his compassion for you. If he had just killed you, then I wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to get close. I tried for years to get close, but catching a being that manipulates time is hard to corner. But now, he is dead and nothing can stand in my way ever again." Dark Dan stopped merely a few feet away from Danny.

"…The Justice League-" "Will soon be dead. I have Vlad's intelligence, you know. I made sure to take out the more dangerous members quickly and quietly. They never expected a ghost to learn their secret identities and take them out while they were weak.

"The Kryptonian is so weak to Kryptonite. It's sad really. And if you take away the bat, then all that is left is the man. And the Amazon princess…well, I had fun with her." Dark Dan's evil smile grew.

Bile ran up Danny's throat at the implication, "You sick monster!"

"You're just insulting yourself." Dark Dan's eyes bored down at Danny.

"I am not you and I will never be you! I'd rather die!" Danny shouted to his alternate self.

"That can be arranged." Dark Dan grabbed Danny by his head and lifted him up in the air. "I no longer need you, Danny. I exist outside the time stream. You know what that means?" Dark Dan laughed.

Danny shook in fear.

"You should have know I would come back. You should have prepared better. Because I, all this, is inevitable." Dark Dan's forked tongue slipped out as he laughed.

"Goodbye, Daniel. You have outlived your usefulness." Dark Dan then squeezed Danny's head will all his might. Then, there was only darkness for Danny.

"No!" Danny bolted upright as an alarm blared in his ear.

For a moment, Danny didn't recognize where he was. His mind went into flight of fight mode as he thrashed around. After a moment, however, he calmed down enough to realize where he was.

"Dream…just a dream." Danny groaned as wiped the sweat off his brow. He had that same exact dream…nightmare…several times now. It had cause many sleepless nights.

As he gained his bearings, Danny realized that his alarm was actually going off. Turning, he saw that it read 6:05 P.M. Danny had set it to go off at six as a reminder to get ready. That means that he had slept through the alarm for five minutes.

"That was one deep sleep, Daniel." Vlad stood at the doorway. "That alarm was starting to annoy me, so I decided to see what it was."

"…How long were you there?" Danny asked as he shut off the alarm clock and stood up. He was still in his normal clothes. 'Must have passed out when I hit the bed.' Danny thought as he tried to get the wrinkles out of his clothes.

"I arrived only a moment ago." Vlad didn't mention Danny's freak out. He either didn't see it, or he was being polite by not mentioning it.

"…Sorry, I guess that using the duplicates so long really drained me." Danny rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes, Danielle informed me of what happened…You should more careful. You know that when you are out of energy then you are defenseless. You won't be able to…oh, what do you call it? 'Leaving ghost'?" Vlad mocked his battle cry.

"You know it's 'Going ghost'." Danny glared at his mentor.

Vlad laughed. "Of course it is."

Danny sighed as walked past Vlad and out the door. "Whatever, I have to go meet a friend at the mall."

"Are you planning of flying?" Vlad questioned.

"No, I feel better now, but I don't want to push my self too far. I'll just walk." Danny didn't stop walking as he addressed Vlad.

"In that case, I'll drive you." Vlad's voice sounded behind Danny.

"Billionaire half-ghost is gonna do what now?"

Danny dried not to hurl as he tried to endure Vlad's terrible driving, 'Unng…Are all drivers from my parent's generation terrible, or is it just the ones I know?'

What made this worse was the fact that this wasn't the Fenton R.V. No, this was a Lamborghini. Now, while Danny loved this car. It was the ultimate stasis symbol. But it wasn't exactly the safest vehicle in the world. Compared to the Fenton R.V., the Lamborghini was like being in a tin can going over 70 miles over the speed limit.

"…You didn't have to drive me…" Danny mumbled to Vlad.

"No, I didn't, but it is always good to be early when meeting a girl." Vlad smiled knowingly.

"How'd you know it was a girl?" Danny asked.

"Daniel, the only male friend you've been around is Klemper, and he went back to the Ghost Zone when you passed out. That only leaves either Miss Grey or that Ember girl." Vlad grinned knowingly.

"How the hell did you know about her?!" Danny shifted in his seat.

"Apparently she has been talking about you a lot. Gossip travels very quickly among ghosts. They don't have a whole lot to do usually." Vlad chuckled.

"Great, just great. That's what I need. The whole Ghost Zone knows my business." Danny grumbled.

"Is that any different from high school?" Vlad asked.

"…actually, no…That's sad…" Danny grimaced.

"Yes it is…" Vlad glanced at Danny from the corner of his eye.

They were silent for a moment. Vlad focused on driving. Danny focused on trying not to focus on Vlad's driving. Danny was failing badly, too.

"Did you take a look at the disguise belt? I worked on it today." Danny wanted Vlad's opinion on the newest project.

"…Not bad. It was very well done with someone of your experience. You have improved, but you are from your parent's or my level. We will need to make some adjusts…okay, a lot of adjustments, but you got the core of it ready." Vlad tried to be gentle with his explanation.

"…So it was basically slightly above sucking?" Danny clarified.

"Basically, it was very above 'sucking,' as you so elegantly put it. But it is no where near great, yet." Vlad confirmed.

Danny sighed, "So the same as the Portable Fenton Crammer, Fenton Pealer 2.0, and Klemper's disguise ring…"

"No, you have gotten better, but to be great you need time and experience." Vlad tried to cheer up the younger halfa.

Danny gave his mentor a weak smile, but anyone could tell it was fake.

For the rest of the trip, both of the halfas said nothing. And after almost reckoning about ten times, Vlad finally pulled into the mall. Before he got out Danny said. "Vlad."

"Hmm?" The elder halfa responded.

"You've put up with a lot for my sake over the past couple of months. There is only so much guilt will make you do, yet you've been teaching me about my powers, combat, strategy, and constructing ecto-weaponry. Not to mention all the crap with the media and the companies interested in Fenton Works…This might seem rude, but I have to ask. What's in it all for you? Since I've known you the only things you do will benefit you in the end, but this…I don't see where you gain anything." Danny questioned his mentor.

"…You might be too young to understand, Daniel. When your father…when the accident happened, my life was ruined. I was hospitalized for years. I was disfigured, poor, and lacked a college degree. All chances of me living a normal life died…and then I got my ghost powers.

"With my powers I could fix everything. I could use my powers to gain billions of dollars. I could use that money to fix my disfigures. I could use my powers to make myself one of the most powerful men in the world, and yet I was not happy.

"One day you will get to the point where you will want to fall in love and have a family, Daniel. Heaven knows, I tried. It was not hard to find a woman who was willing to date a handsome billionaire, but they meant nothing to me. In the end, they were all…" Vlad tried to form appropriate words. " meaningless, shallow flings. They were pleasurable, but it never lasted.

"And it all came back to my ghost half. I could not move on to my old feelings for your mother. Yes, I know that disgusts you, but you of all people should know how hard it is for a half-ghost to move on. That was why I did everything I did. I wanted Maddie and a family of my own. And when you came into the picture you became part of an obsession that I would do anything to fulfill." Vlad rubbed his temples.

"Really? I didn't notice." There goes that teenage sarcasm again.

"…Yes, I was rather extreme. I even stared to work on an A.I. Maddie and clones of you." Danny grimaced at the A.I. part. That was extremely creepy. "But when the explosion happened, the door had finally closed. Maddie was gone and all I had was my regrets over her, you, and your father. With that door closed, however, millions more opened. But I couldn't bring myself to go in any of them that would abandon you and the little clone girl that adored me as a father.

"Now, I won't say that I'm a good person now, Daniel. I still have my own share of darker dealings going on, but I'm trying to be a better person. For my and Danielle's sake at least. And I'll tell you what, Daniel…" Vlad closed his eyes and gained a peaceful look. "I'm finally happy with my life. I may have my share of regrets and grief, but I have never been more at peace with myself. That is what I gained, Daniel. Peace."

Danny wanted to be angry and jealous at Vlad. He had gained happiness only after Danny had lost everything…but how could he be. Vlad had suffered ten years and now it was over. He was finally happy, and Danny couldn't help but be happy for Vlad. It didn't matter that he had to suffer for former enemy's happiness. That was what it meant to be a hero.

"I'm glad that something good has come out of all of this at least." Daniel gained a sad smile. "Thanks for the ride, Vlad…"

As usual, the mall was full of noise and activity. When Danny first entered the mall, he was a little overwhelmed. It had been a while since he had allowed himself to be surrounded by so many people at once.

And of course, this experience had to go south really fast.

"Hahahahah!" a group of teenagers were all laughing and standing at the mall's entrance as Danny was entering.

"That nerd totally had it coming." A voice of a tall blond jock that Danny always dreaded to see every day at school sounded from the group.

"Totally! It was hilarious when you pushed him into the fountain." A beautiful Hispanic girl agreed with the jock.

"He'll never bother us again," A pretty blond girl with flower clips in her long straight hair mocked.

As the group continued to chat, Danny gave them a side glance. The A-list were a group of athletic and good looking teenagers who felt as they were entitled to walk all over the normal people. For a time, Danny was a part of this group, but that was when Kitty was overshadowing Paulina.

"I hope the Nasty Burger gets rebuilt, soon." An Asian jock with short hair commented. "I've been really craving a Nasty combo meal."

Nasty combo? Was Danny the only one who noticed how weird that sounded? Granted, he had eaten one…or ten… before, but he was surprised that no one had ever commented on it.

"Yeah, but for now let's just go get a pizza. I'm starving." Dash grinned and the group turned and began to walk by Danny.

None of them even glanced to the teen as they walked past each other. If they did, they might have recognized the part of Danny's face that wasn't hidden by the hood.

After they were gone, Danny looked over to the fountain. There was a large puddle and a trail of water leading away from the fountain. The guy must have went to dry off.

Danny sympathized with the guy. He had his share of humiliation at the hands of the A-list. Yet, even though they were all in the same boat, the unpopular persecuted each other almost as badly as the jocks did. It didn't matter who you were or what group you were in. If you were different, you were open to persecution.

It was one of the reasons the unpopular didn't just stand up to the A-list as a huge group. It always confused Danny, too. Why did a fantasy nerd (no offense) hate him? What had he done? He must have done something, because the cruel words and sneers couldn't have come from no where.

Yet that was not the case. Humans were always looking for a reason to hate each other. It was part of their very nature.

Suddenly, Danny was pulled out of his thoughts as he tripped and fell face first to the ground. Danny groaned as he flipped over on his back and looked at what tripped him. Both of his shoes were untied.

"…I tripped over my one shoe laces. Smooth, Fenton, smooooooooth." Danny mumbled to himself as he got on one knee and began to tie his shoes. Weird, considering that Danny had tied a knot in his laces so they wouldn't get undone.

"Fenton? As in Danny Fenton? The billionaire ghost hunter kid?" A voice said in front of him.

Slowly, Danny looked up. In front of him was a girl with a heart shaped face and long black hair pulled up into a pony tail. Her green eyes sparked with a sense of mischief and joy. Her skin was tanned and there were a few freckles on her nose. Her torn jeans and thin pink hoody hugged her curves.

In all, she was very good looking.

"…and if I say yes?" Danny asked slowly.

"Then I will continue with my of evil plan of asking you if you are okay. Then I would ask you for an autograph before you disappear into the crowd liked and ecto-ninja." The girl smiled.

"An autograph? " Danny questioned as he stood up.

"Yep! You're a celebrity, Danny Fenton!" The girl smirked. "Don't act like you don't know. Your name is everywhere these days."

"I haven't done anything-" "Wrong, Sir!" The girl interrupted him by shoving a her right index finger in his face. "You saved Lex Luthor's Holiday Party."

"It was my fault they were the-" "Details, details. You went all badass on them and now your name is up in lights." The girl giggled.

"If you say so…what's your name, again?" Danny rubbed the back of his head.

"Jenifer, but everyone calls me Jenny." The girl said in a sing-song voice.

"Well, I'll just call you Jenifer, because I'm nobody." Danny smirked.

"Didn't we just have a similar conversation to this." Jenifer tilted her head.

"But nobody's perfect. And I am nobody, so I am perfect." Danny chuckled at his bad joke. For some reason he felt at ease with this girl. It was as if their personalities just clicked.

"A perfect klutz is more like it." Jenifer rolled her eyes.

"Oh, low blow. You shouldn't judge me on that. I could have sworn I tied my shoes. Forgetting one is me being an air-head, but two…They must have come undone." Danny shrugged.

"That's some bad luck." Jenifer covered her giggles by placing her hand in front of her mouth. Her face was even turning red. Danny couldn't understand why she was doing that. His fall was comical, but it was not that funny.

"Yeah…" Danny then remembered why he came to the mall in the first place. "Oh! I'm sorry, but I'm meeting a friend, so I need to get going."

"Alright, I'll let you go, but on one condition." Jenifer held up one finger for emphasis.

"Condition?" When did this become a negotiation?

"I just moved here with my mom, and I really don't know my way around. I need you to show me around." Jenifer tilted her head cutely.

"Why me?" Danny asked.

"You're a lot more fun than anyone else around here. The girls only talk about make up, and the guys just look at my breasts the entire time I talk to them. And you've only glanced at them twice! Congratulations, you are not a complete pig." Jenifer smirked.

Danny did not know how to respond to that.

"So, I'll tell you what." Jenifer lifted up a phone and started to tap on it. "I'll put my number in your phone. And you will call me in three days. That's the rule right?"

"Hey! How did you get my phone?!" Danny shouted.

"You dropped it when you face planted," Jenifer stated in matter of fact manner.

"Oh…" Danny's face reddened.

"And hear…you…go!" Jenifer gave Danny his phone back.

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later…I guess." Danny waved and turned to go.

"You better…and have fun with your friend. Make sure not to say anything stupid." Jenifer told Danny.

"Don't jinx me." Danny chuckled.

As Danny walked away, Jenifer's smile grew a little darker. For a single moment, her green eyes flashed pink as she whispered to herself, "…No promises…"

Danny sighed as he sat down on the bench. The previous distractions almost made him late, but he made it right on time. He was glad for that, too. Danny didn't think Ember was the type of person who liked to wait.

"You were almost late, Dipstick." Ember glared at the halfa.

"Sorry, I ran into some distractions today." Danny gave her an apologetic look.

"Doesn't matter. If you were even a second late, I would have left." Ember glowered.

"Sorry." Danny didn't know what to do to please her.

"You didn't do nothing, Babypop. But you were close." Ember leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs.

The both were sitting on a bench in the center of the mall. Many people were gathered by a shop with a television running. It seemed that the Red Huntress was fighting an unknown ghost. Normally, Danny would rush off to stop the ghost, but Val could handle herself and Danny knew better than to blow off Ember.

"For a while there, I thought you were avoiding me. It was almost a week until we met again after New Years after all." Ember looked over at the halfa.

"You were causing a public disturbance." Danny remembered how Ember caught his attention last week.

"Hey! No one was complaining about the free concert as it was going on." Ember defended herself.

"They were all brainwashed." Danny pointed out.

"So? I didn't do anything that television hasn't been doing for decades." Ember smirked.

"They've been using ghost powers to hypnotize fans into cheering and rioting?" Danny asked.

"Yes." Ember nodded.

Danny sighed again.

Ember then continued her recap. "Then when we finally meet again, you act as if nothing ever happened."

"What? I just asked you what you were doing." Danny was confused.

"Exactly, you came in all serious. You didn't even check me out." Ember pointed at him.

"I was supposed to?" Danny was shocked.

"Of course. You don't think I dress like this to get ignored, do you?" Ember raised an eyebrow.

"…Well no, but I thought you were just going with the whole 'punk rock' thing." Danny rubbed his chin in thought.

Ember ignored Danny and went back to her story, "So, because you were being so rude with the ignoring me for a whole week thing, I just had to give you a wake up call."

"You blasted me to the roof of the nearest building." Danny remembered.

Once again, he was ignored. "And afterward, you were shocked by my generous greeting and sign of forgiveness."

"You mean when you stuck your tongue down my throat?" Danny said this mostly for himself. He knew when a woman wasn't going to let him argue.

"Like is said, 'generous greeting and sign of forgiveness'." Ember smiled in remembrance.

Danny decided that he wanted to continue the rest of the story. "And after five minutes, you finally pulled away and demanded that I take you on a date right there and then. You dragged me across town to take you shopping and to buy you food. And at the end of the night, you wrote your number on my arm and told me to call you the next day or you would castrate me…I am still shocked by how good the reception is in the Ghost Zone."

Ember just laughed, "Hahahah, yes! Glad you did call me though. I don't dig guys with no balls."

Danny grimaced, "Oh, your hilarious."

"Yes, I know. But I was surprised when you asked to go to the mall. I figured a good second date would be going to the movies. It's dark in the movies." Ember smirked seductively.

Danny fought a shiver, "Look, Ember. I didn't call you for that. I just…what is this exactly? What am I to you?"

"I don't know. I guess you would be my boyfriend." Ember shrugged her shoulders.

"You say that so nonchalantly…" Danny folded his hands and looked down at the ground.

"What? Do you want me to proclaim a burning heart of passion? A love song? A deep confession of my desire for you?" Ember mocked him.

"No…I just…I didn't think that being a boyfriend would happed after some kissing and one date." Danny explained.

"How do you get to be a boyfriend then, Love muffin." Ember once again made fun of him.

"…I don't know, but this…it doesn't seem like what it should be. I mean, I stopped you from taking over the world twice and neither of us have any real feelings for each other. We just have some…sexual tension." Danny tried get the words out right.

"First, I already said that the whole taking over the world thing was my bad. And second, what's wrong with sexual tension? I'm attracted to you and you're attracted to me. We hook up, have some fun, and see where things go. Thousands of relationships start out like that." Ember rolled her eyes.

"And thousands of relationships fail because of that. Neither of us have any emotional ties to each other, and yet we already almost got to second base the last time we made out." Danny remembered the goodnight 'kiss' they had before Ember left on their last date.

"Are you complaining?" Ember raised both her eyebrows.

"No, I've enjoyed every moment of it." Danny admitted.

"Then what's your point?" Ember looked confused. "You enjoy this. I enjoy this. It's not like we're hurting anybody. And screw anyone that says otherwise. Tell me, do you want me?"

Danny answered truthfully, "Yes."

"Do you want to be in a relationship with me?" Ember asked.

Once again, he said the truth, "Yes."

"Do you want to just have some fun and forget about life?" Ember questioned.

"Yes." Dear God, that was the truth.

"You want to date me. Then the answer is simple. Let's go catch a movie and not watch to movie." Ember stood and gestured to the area where the movie theater was.

Danny closed his eyes. Every part of him wanted to say yes to that. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to go with Ember. All of his logic told him that this was a good idea. And the loudest part of him, the ghost half, was urging him to get up and follow the girl.

The halfa remembered how he felt after spending time with Ember. He had never felt so carefree. All of his troubles were burned away for a few brief moments. It was incredible. It was addicting. It was something that his entire being wanted to experience again.

…But…

What would his mom think of that? What would Jazz think of that? What would Sam think of that?

Danny already knew.

"…No…" Danny firmly stated.

Ember gained a shocked look. Slowly, she sat down on the bench. She seemed to be at a loss for words, and Danny couldn't blame her. He was still shocked that he said that.

"Ember. Any dating relationship we would have right now would be about me being selfish. I would just use you and not care about your feelings at all…And that is now how you should be treated.

"In the space of a few months, I've been used by a jealous ghost girl, been dumped by a girl that I've really grown to care for, and watched all of my friends and family die right before my eyes. I am not ready for a relationship like I would have with you.

"I want to be selfish. I really, really do. But that would be wrong. It would be against everything I was taught and everything I stand for. So, I have to say no. I have to deny myself this luxury and pleasure, because that is what a hero would do." Danny couldn't bring himself to look at Ember, so he stared at the floor.

"…"Ember said nothing for a long while. So they just sat there in sile- "Ahhh!"

…Well, that moment of silence was short.

Every one was crowding around the nearest televisions. They were all yelling and shouting about the Red Huntress and how she seemed to be losing her fight. It seemed to be bad, too.

"I'm sorry, Ember. But it seems that I have to go. I hope you don't hate me too much right now." Danny nodded to the ghost girl and turned to run to the bathroom. As he ran, he didn't notice Ember's eyes following him the whole way.

"I'm going ghost!"

Finding the battle was not difficult. It wasn't like there were a bunch of explosions and smoke coming from all over the city. Only one huge area had those…

"Whoa," Danny mumbled as he flew to the battle. "I really hoped that's just Val losing her temper."

And like always, his hopes were crushed. Well, more like blown to pieces.

"Agh!" The Red Huntress groaned as she flew up in the sky toward Danny.

"Got cha!" Danny said as he caught to ghost hunter.

"Ung…What took you…so long…stupid ghost," Val groaned again.

"I figured you could handle it. Besides, you never seem happy when I interrupt your fights," Danny pointed out.

Red Huntress gave an unladylike grunt as her board came back to her so she could fly on her own. "I'll make an exception this one time. This ghost is tough."

"Didn't get a chance to use that red thermos of yours?" Danny reference the red…not-Fenton…thermos that Val cared.

"He broke it." Val mumbled.

"…He broke a piece of ghost hunting equipment that was made so a ghost can't break it?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"Yep." Val nodded.

"This just keeps getting better and better by the minute." Danny complained.

"Oh, shut up. I've been the one fighting him and you don't see me complaining. You ghost pansy." Val insulted him. Obviously, she still held a grudge. Even if Danny Fenton asked her to play nice.

"Hey!" Danny was offended.

"Get ready, ghost. He's coming and if you get in my way, I'll just have to shoot you too." Val glared at him.

"Whatever." Danny rolled his eyes and prepared for battle.

"Hahahahahahahhahahah!" A deep, gravely voice laughed. "What's wrong girl?! The battle's just beginning!"

The being floating towards them was huge. He stood…err floated… at the same gigantic size as the Ghost King and seemed to be a wall of muscles. Unlike the ghost King, however, this ghost seemed far more… less regal in attire.

The ghost had forgone any clothing above his torso, but had a loose black hakama pants. His black spiky hair rand down to the middle of his back. His crimson red skin was covered by blue tattoos that formed a swirling pattern. Various scars covered the ghost's body but the most obvious one was the scar running down from his shoulder across his chest to the middle of his ribcage.

The ghost's blue war paint covered face was twisted into a gleeful smile. His white teeth were in full view. His black eyes gleamed in pure delight. In all, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Oh! The one called Phantom has arrived too! Hahahaha!" The ghost lifted his arms to the sky and flung his had back in laughter. "This might actually be fun!"

"Who are you?" Danny asked. He had no idea who this ghost was.

"You have never head of me? I am called Colossus the man who makes the very earth tremble in fear!" Colossus gestured all around him for emphasis.

"Never heard of you," Danny and Valerie spoke in unison. Of course, this annoyed Valerie and caused the ghost hunter to glare at the ghost.

"Eh?…Maybe my nap lasted longer than I thought…" Colossus rubbed his chin in thought. "Hey, what year is it?"

"What?…It's 2010..." Danny said weakly.

"…Well, crap…Didn't think I slept that long.." Colossus sat down in midair. "Knew I should have ordered a wake up call… Oh, well. I suppose the world has forgotten about me. A few hundred years will cause that to happen."

"What's with this?!" The Red Huntress shouted in anger. "A minute ago, we were fighting to the death and now you're making ghost small talk."

"That's racist." Danny glanced at the Huntress.

"What! How is it racist?!" Val's face was turning red.

"You didn't have to call it 'ghost' small talk. Even if we are dead, not everything we do can be described by the word ghost. How would you like it if I said you were having a human temper tantrum." Danny accused the girl.

"Shut up!" The girl glared at Danny. "Shouldn't we be more focused on the evil ghost destroying the town!"

"Evil? How am I evil? I was just standing there and you attacked me? Not that I mind. I love a good battle." Colossus grinned.

"You were causing mass panic." Val turned to the giant ghost.

"So a few frightened humans were screaming in panic. It wasn't like I actually did anything." Colossus stood…floated…you know what I mean!

"It only happened because you were there ghost!" Val snapped at him.

"Phantom's right. You are racist." Colossus shook his head.

"Thank you!" Danny cried. Finally someone agreed with him.

"…Okay enough of this. Are we going to fight or what?" Val raised her wrist gun.

"I don't see why we-" "Of course! That's why I came here in the first place!" Colossus yelled above Danny.

"Huh?" Danny gave him a shocked look.

"I was having such a good sleep, but then my home started to shake and crumble around me, so I decided to go out on a walk…I do wonder how it was destroyed. I made sure that it would not brake under normal circumstances…

"Anyway, I decided to see what had happened while I was asleep and I found out about you. A young ghost not even a year dead defeated my rival, Pariah Dark. You can imagine my surprise and excitement. A new challenger has come to the battlefield." Colossus' grin turned vicious.

" The Ghost King's rival…You came to fight me?" Danny slowly took a battle stance. If this guy was telling the truth, then this just took a turn for the worse.

"You…that ghost hunter beside you…maybe even this Superman I have heard about. I don't really care. All I care about is the fight." Colossus cracked his knuckles. "But the time for talk has passed, now. So, are you going to fight me one-on-one or two-on-one? It doesn't matter to me."

Danny turned to Val. They both knew how powerful the Ghost King was. Even with the Fenton Exoskeleton, Danny still needed help to win. And if this ghost was even close to that power, then…

They needed to work together.

"I have a Thermos on me. If we can get him off guard for even an instant, I can capture him." Danny said evenly.

"Sound's like as good a plan as any." Val growled. She was obviously angry and ready to fight.

"All right, let's do this."

"Just don't get in my way, spook,"

"…as you can see, Danny Phantom has arrived and is now helping the Red Huntress fight the unknown ghost. They seemed to be trying to talk it out for a second, but the fight has continued…" "Danielle, what are you watching?" Vlad's voice distracted Dani from the news.

"Danny and the Red Huntress are teaming up to fight a ghost." Dani didn't turn from the television. It was too interesting to turn away.

The news was filming the fight from a nearby building. They were a good distance away from the camera, but Dani could see the fight at least.

The fight had begun with Danny rushing the large ghost. He had sent a barrage of punches and kicks at the giant of a ghost. Each blow, however, was blocked by only one of the ghost's massive arms.

While Danny was up close and personal, the Red Huntress was fighting at a distance. She had sent several blasts at the tattooed ghost, but they were all batted away with the ghosts free arm.

Suddenly, Danny began to glow blue. Using his ice powers, Danny began to try to freeze the ghost. This plan soon failed, however, when a sudden burst of energy of…not ectoplasm…it looked like…clear raw energy. A shockwave.

As Danny was flung backwards, the large ghost turned his attention to the Red Huntress. He was met with several ecto-blast and missiles. None of them had any affect on him as another shockwave stopped them cold in their tracks. Then in a burst of speed, the ghost was right in front of the Red Huntress.

The Red Huntress' instincts saved her, though. She leaned back as soon as that first punch came in. Then to gain some distance, she allowed gravity to take control and she began to fall to the ground.

That was when Danny came up behind the ghost, thermos in hand. It looked as though the ghost was about to be captured, but it was not meant to be. The ghost tuned and hit Danny with a vicious back fist. In an instant, Danny was sent flying to the ground below

This caused the thermos to fly into the air. Nonchalantly, the ghost caught the thermos. As he examined it, the Red Huntress came up to the ghost.

Just as she was about to hit him, though, the ghost suddenly lurched up. As the Red Huntress soared under him, the large ghost did a front flip. Using that momentum, the ghost did an axe kick to the unprotected ghost hunter. And just like with Danny, a huge shockwave sent the Red Huntress soaring to the ground.

"Oh no!" Dani shouted as she watched the female vigilante fall to the ground.

"…That is Colossus." Vlad walked past Dani and the couch to get a better look at the television. "He is a very old and powerful ghost. Many think that he was born out of man's desire for war and conflict. An S-class type of ghost born from an idea…At their level they have no chance of winning."

There was no noise from Dani.

Colossus glanced between the place where his opponents fell and the Fenton Thermos. He seemed to have an internal debate, until he gained a look of disgust. With a brutal snarl, Colossus crushed the thermos in his massive hands and let the pieces fall to where the two vigilantes had fallen.

"This doesn't bode well for them," Vlad noted.

Dani was still silent.

"Luckily, there is a low chance of him killing them." Vlad said. "He was rumored to be very honorable in battle. He always walked away when his opponent couldn't move anymore. They might me hurt, but they will live. Otherwise, I would step in my self and drag them out of there."

Dani was once again silent, which was a bad sign.

"…But, now that I think of it, they might have insulted him by using the Fenton Thermos. He was rumored have a large sense of honor. Comparable to a samurai, really. Maybe, we should go stop the fight before it ends badly."

Even at the suggestion of battle, Danielle still said nothing.

Mental alarms blared in Vlad's mind. "Danielle?" He turned. No one was there. Danielle was gone. "You've been gone since I started talking, haven't you?"

Well, there was only on thing to say in this situation.

"Oh, Butter biscuit!"

"Ugrnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…." Danny groaned as he pealed himself off the ground. "Okay, I'm officially in pain."

Turning, to go back to the fight, Danny caught sight of Valerie falling towards the ground. Danny launched himself to the ghost hunter. He barely caught her before she hit the ground.

Carefully placing her down, Danny examined her for injuries, "Red…Red, can you hear me?" She did not respond. She was unconscious.

"Hey, Phantom! Are you okay?" Danny did not want to hear Dash Baxter right now.

Danny didn't look up from Val but still answered. "Yeah, but Red's not doing that great."

"Oh! Mi amor! It has been so long!" Paulina kneeled by Danny and checked him for injuries. "What can I do to help."

Danny's first instinct was to tell them to take Val and go, but that might jeopardize her secret identity. "Yeah, I have an important job for you all," Danny looked up at the A-list. "Red will wake up in a second. Go warn everyone on this street and tell them to get as far away as possible."

They all shared a look and Kwan said, "You got it."

Danny sighed as her turned back to Val. Suddenly he felt a pair of hands grab his head and pull him into a pair of soft lips. "Stay safe, Mi amor. I shall await for your victory." With that, Paulina turned and began to do what Danny had asked her to.

'I really need to have a talk with her. I don't think she understands what necrophilia is.' Danny did not look forward to that conversation.

Suddenly, bits of scrap metal fell on top of Danny's head. Carefully examining the metal, Danny realized that it was a part of the Fenton Thermos. Which meant that it was now destroyed and capturing Colossus was now impossible.

…crap…

"Coward!" Colossus slammed down on the ground not twenty feet in front of him. "I allowed you to fight me two on one and you just try to contain me! I had thought that you would be a worthy opponent, but you are nothing but trash."

Colossus raised his hand and began condensing shockwave energy into his hand. "I can't stand cowardice pieces of trash like you!" Now regular ectoplasmic energy began to condense with the shockwave.

"Wait!" Danny stood protectively in front of Val. "She's unconscious!"

"I don't care. She challenged me. If she had fought honorably, I would have just walked away, but my honor is now insulted. And I cannot allow that. It doesn't matter if it was a man or a woman. They are equal in my eyes. And they can all die equally." Colossus pointed the condense ball of death toward the two.

In a desperate attempt to save Valerie, Danny draped himself over her to stop most of the blow. Luckily, that was unnecessary. For just as he was about let it fire, a large green dog tackled him "Grrrrawwww!"

"Cujo!" Danny shouted in surprise.

Because of the collision, the ball of destruction flew straight up in the air. It went high above Amity Park and then exploded. Even from such a large distance, Danny could still feel the force. That blast would have destroyed him, Valerie, and the entire block easily.

"Arg! Stupid dog!" Colossus picked the dog off him and slammed him into the ground with a shockwave for extra measure. Cujo yelped and whined in pain from having his ribs crushed.

"No!" Danny yelled as he saw Colossus go for the killing plow. Cujo couldn't die. He was Danny's dog.

And Danny was not going to allow someone he cared about die again.

In anger, Danny launched himself at Colossus at speeds he didn't know he could reach. An instant later, Danny launched an ectoplasmic covered fist at Colossus.

Colossus blocked it, of course. The unusual thing, however, was when Colossus was sent flying by Danny's attack. Not too far in comparison to how Colossus threw Danny, but it was still a large distance.

"Don't you dare hurt my dog!" Danny snarled.

Colossus landed in a kneel several yards. He looked completely shocked. How could such a young ghost gain so much power in an instant. Colossus even felt a Haunting Aura for a second!

It was not like he was injured, though. He barely felt the blow, but still... Maybe he misjudged the young ghost.

Danny picked up the now shrunken Cujo and quickly brought him by Valerie. This was not a good situation. Both of them could not fight like this. He would have to try and protect them and fight Colossus.

Fortunately, that problem was solved in moments. A black and white dot was flying towards them. From a distance, it looked like a duplication of Danny, but it was not so. It was Dani.

"Danny!" Dani shouted at her brother as she flew to the battle field as fast as she could fly.

In any normal circumstance, Danny would be angry that Dani was there. She was not allowed to go out in public as a ghost, but now was an exception. Now was a life and death emergency.

"Dani…" Danny did not take his eyes off Colossus. The large titan of a ghost was just standing there, observing, but Danny was still on alert. "I need you to take Cujo and Red Huntress out of here. Get them as far away as possible."

"But I came to help you. If we work together, we can beat him." Dani glared at Colossus.

"Dani…" Danny knelt down beside his sister. "Even with your help, there is no chance of victory if we have to look after Cujo and Red. Get them out of here and everything will be okay."

Dani looked like she wanted to protest, but one look from Danny caused the complaints to die in her throat. "…Okay, Danny." With that, Dani picked up the hunter and the dog and began to fly away.

"You had the injured taken away and decided to fight an opponent you can't defeat on your own…very honorable. You have a second chance now, Phantom. A clean slate. We shall restart the fight and see if you are worthy." Another wild grin formed on Colossus' face as he slid into a battle stance.

Danny glared at Colossus. "Don't think I will fight the same as before. The area is clear of civilians and I no longer have to hold back because of a teammate. I will win."

"Such confidence… almost cocky really. Alright, then. Come and let's see if that confidence is deserved or not!" Colossus shouted as he rushed towards Phantom.

Danny rolled to the side and barely avoided the shockwave punch to his head. As quickly as possible, Danny made three duplicates of himself and they began to attack Colossus.

'Thank god that I regained all my energy back before the fight.' Danny thought. 'I wouldn't have a chance like I was earlier…I still might not stand a chance, anyway.'

The real Danny attacked from a distance, while the duplicates had a more frontal attack. Duplications however had a huge side affect. They drained the majority of Danny's power. Thus while Danny did win in the numbers game, he lost completely in the power and speed game.

Nevertheless, Colossus only had two arms and could only block two of the duplicates at a time. As the constant waves of attacks assaulted him, at least two of the blows hit. It would have been an achievement, if they did anything other than annoy the large ghost.

Suddenly, a wave of irritation and lust for battle hit the three duplicates as Colossus released his Haunting Aura. For a second, the three duplicates faltered, and that was all Colossus needed. He brought his arms together and charged energy in his entire body. Then with a loud roar, Colossus sent a large shockwave out around him in a burst and destroyed all three of the duplicates.

But that was what Phantom wanted Colossus to do. Because they were destroyed, a portion of the duplicates energy went back to Danny. Just in time for Danny's ace in the hole.

The Ghostly Wail.

Standing a good distance away from his enemy, Danny already had taken a large breath of air into his barely needed ghost lungs as Colossus launched himself toward Danny. At this rate, Colossus would crash into the Ghostly Wail at point blank. And with that, the fight would be over, whether by Colossus being defeated, or by Danny exhausting himself. Hopefully it would be the former.

Just as Danny was about to let his strongest attack from the past and future out, he felt a wave of nausea hit him full force. The previous exhaustion Danny had felt earlier that day had returned. His own body was telling him that using the Ghostly Wail was impossible right now.

So, as he stood there, completely vulnerable from his failed attempt at attacking, Danny realized his situation. He was out of energy and nearly defenseless. Colossus was attacking. In about one second, a massive roundhouse kick powered by powerful shockwave would land on his left side and destroy him.

In other words, Danny was now officially screwed.

In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Danny braced his arm against his side and prepared himself for the attack. Then, the kick made contact and Danny felt his body shatter into pieces. The kick was already powerful enough to be considered above superhuman level. Add the shockwave, and the blow was powerful enough to make even Superman feel pain.

Danny first felt his arm shatter, first. Then his left ribs snapped. Last, all of the organs that would be necessary later as a human were torn to shreds. And then the pain.

Searing, unspeakable pain surged through Danny's entire body. It was a pain that Danny was familiar with. A pain that Danny had felt only once. The pain of a slow and terrible death.

Because of this pain, Danny didn't realize that the shockwave was pushing him down the street. He also didn't notice when he hit the truck and caused it to crash . The half-ghost didn't even notice when all his ghostly energy focused on his destroyed organs in an desperate attempt to keep him from dying instantly when he turned back into a human.

Danny didn't know how, but somehow he pealed himself out of the ruble and began to walk back to Colossus. Maybe, it was instinct. Maybe, it was stubborn pride. But nonetheless, Danny stumbled and limped back to his opponent.

Colossus had no expression as he watched Danny. He gave nothing away as the boy with a torn and destroyed jumpsuit hobbled over to him.

When he got in front of the giant ghost, green blood pored out of Danny's mouth. For a brief moment, Danny's eyes met Colossus'. In that moment, Danny drew whatever energy not working on keeping him alive and said, "…Screw you.."

Colossus gained a huge grin. Was he amused? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was raising his giant fist right in front of Danny's face. Then, Colossus stuck out his index finger and poked the halfa.

That was all it took for Danny to fall back, defeated and broken.

It difficult for Dani to carry both Valerie and Cujo. They weren't heavy for the young clone. It was just awkward. Their body weight kept shifting and considering how much bigger Red Huntress was compared to Dani, it was quiet an unusual experience.

She managed to get them halfway across town, however. It was a slow process, but hey, the tortoise wins the race in the end, right?

"…Ung…" Red Huntress groaned, but she didn't open her eyes. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out, so Danny asked me to get you out of the battlefield." Dani remained focused on flying.

"Danny…Phantom…Colossus!" Red Huntress jerked and cause Dani to lose her grip. Luckily, Red Huntress could materialize her hover board under her feet and did not fall to her death.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Dani shifted Cujo, so she was cradling him.

Red Huntress glared at the ghost, "I'm going back to fight. Can't let Phantom have all the glory… Wait! Who are you and why do you have that stupid ghost dog?"

"Don't call him stupid! He's my puppy and-" "Boom! Crash!" Loud noises from the battle field interrupted Dani.

"Doesn't matter right now." Red Huntress turned. "There's a ghost out there that need his ass kicked."

"No!" Dani blocked the hunter. "Danny said he would handle it. If you go back now, you might get caught in a Ghostly Wail!"

"A Ghostly what, now?" Red Huntress raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about that." Dani diverted the subject. "But right now, Danny is going all out and if I can't be there to help him, then you can't either." Dani pouted.

"What are you a child?" Red Huntress questioned.

"Well, duh! I'm like ten!" Dani rolled her eyes.

"This is stupid!" Red Huntress glared at Dani. "You can't stop me from…" Red Huntress stopped and began to shudder.

Soon after, Dani began to tremble, too. A wave of despair, anger, and hopeless caused her to freeze. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. In her arms, Cujo began to whimper and wine.

Slowly, Dani managed to float over to a nearby. As soon as her feet met the roof, she collapsed. She couldn't take these feelings they were suffocating her.

Dani was so out of it, she didn't even notice the large flash of green light and explosion from the battle sight. Then just as quickly as they hit, the feelings faded.

It was almost as they were never there. For a brief moment, Dani wondered if she imagined them. A side glance to the nearby Red Huntress, who also too refuge on the roof, told her that it actually happened, though.

For a few minutes, the two tried to regain their composure. Slowly, they both began to stand up.

"What was that?" Dani wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"…a Haunting Aura…Phantom's Haunting Aura…" Red Huntress growled. She then hopped on her board and began to head where Phantom was.

Dani glanced over to Cujo and whispered, "I'll be back boy." She then rocketed after Red Huntress.

'Please be okay, Danny.' Dani prayed.

(Play: Headstrong by Trapt)

Laying on his back, Danny tried to stay awake. Almost any other person would have passed out from pain. Yet, he still fought on, because if he passed out, he would turn back into a human. If that happened, Danny knew he would die. And Danny refused to die like this.

"…" Colossus had said something, but Danny couldn't understand it. His mind couldn't concentrate enough to discern the words.

Suddenly, Colossus turned on his heel and began to walk away. That was good. He wasn't going to finish Danny. Why, Danny didn't know, but he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Suddenly, something caught Danny's attention. It was a small devise that Danny usually kept hidden in his suit. It was Tucker's PDA.

Danny must have dropped it sometime in the fight. Obviously, it happened before that last shockwave blow, because it was completely intact. Thank God, for small…

Crack! The PDA shattered as Colossus' massive foot stepped on it. The monster of a ghost didn't even feel the metal and glass as he continued walking.

It took Danny's tired mind a moment to realize what had happened, '…PDA…Tucker…He broke…He broke Tucker's PDA!'

Suddenly a wave of emotions flowed throughout Danny. Everything Danny had suppressed and froze over for the past few months came back with a vengeance.

New energy flowed through his body. Using all his willpower, Danny rolled onto his stomach and tried to get up. It seemed futile, though. How could he could he pick himself up with one arm and noodle legs. Why was he trying to anyway? He couldn't do anything to Colossus anyway.

There was no sense to it. It was physically impossible.

Danny glanced once again at the shattered PDA and grit his teeth. What made sense didn't matter. What was impossible no longer mattered. All that matter was that Tucker's PDA was now broken. The only thing that Danny had left of Tucker was gone!

Power surged through Danny as he crashed his right hand on the ground and pushed himself into a kneeling position. Then with a glare to the back of Colossus, Danny let everything burst out.

For months, Danny tried to use his Haunting Aura, but he could never bring it out on will. It was a power based solely on how much power and emotion a ghost had. With Danny suppressing all his emotion, using a Haunting Aura was impossible, but now it couldn't be contained.

Danny's Haunting Aura blasted out like water from a broken dam. And in an instant, it rolled out through half the city.

Colossus stopped and turned around in shock. Beads of perspiration, or whatever a ghost had, made its way down his brow. He had never felt such an Haunting Aura. It was powerful and had such a large radius…and it wasn't fading!

Slowly, an excited grin formed on Colossus' face once again as. Now this was a challenger!

Danny raised himself up to a stand and glared at Colossus. He could feel that his innards were now knitted back together again. He was now out of critical condition and that was enough.

It would be nice to be able to use his left side, though.

"Hahahah! How do you do it? I defeat you and you come back stronger than before!? Fantastic!" Colossus roared as he wiped his brow. He activated his own Haunting Aura to make negate Danny's, but

Danny said nothing. He had no energy to waste on talking right now.

"It doesn't matter! All that matters now is the fight! This time, I'll make sure you stay down!" Colossus charged at Danny.

Danny merely stayed where he was. Any tactician would tell him to move out of the way, but Danny was now beyond reason and thought. His power was making him move solely on instincts, now.

As Colossus rushed to Danny, miniature shock waves absorbed into his right hand. He was focusing his power to one large blow. In fact, Danny could see the clear energy radiate off his hand.

Colossus then formed his hand into a chop and sent it straight down to Phantom. As the hand came down, Danny jumped into it. To many, it would seem suicidal, but Colossus just grinned at the challenge.

Just as the chop was about to hit him, Danny turned into a green mist. For a single moment, Danny had become practically invincible to all physical blows. That was all the time he needed, too.

The chop passed through the mist and headed to the ground. The mist solidified back into Danny. The halfa then poured as much energy as he could into his right arm and threw a punch to Colossus' defenseless face.

Right as Danny was about to make contact with Colossus, the titan's shockwave went of behind Danny. Using the blast as a springboard for extra momentum, Danny punched Colossus with everything he had.

Boooooooom! Danny's fist exploded with green energy as it hit the giant of a ghost.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Danny yelled as his blow sent Colossus flying into the air, high above Amity Park.

"Urgnnnnnnnnnnn" Phantom groaned as he hit the hard pavement face first. With all the emotions and energy gone, white rings formed around Danny and changed him back into a human.

Danny laid on the ground unmoving. His right arm, burnt and smoking from the final blow, was still in front of him just like it was when Danny hit Colossus. That was the only place he was burnt at least. The rest of his body was covered in bruises and sores.

Danny could not feel the pain, however. There was a good chance that his body had went into shock. Hopefully, someone, preferably someone who already knew his secret, would come help him soon. He probably needed medical attention.

At least, Colossus was defeated, though. That blow had combined Danny's blow with Colossus' shockwave. There was no way anyone could…

"Hahahahahahahahahahhahah!" If Danny wasn't completely numb (both emotionally and physically) he would have been filled with dread.

Cra-crack! It sound like something was being pushed back into place. It mush have been Colossus' jaw.

"Now that was a real puch! I will be feeling that for weeks!" Colossus yelled in glee.

Danny could do nothing. 'I can't see anything….Are my eyes closed?…no…No, everything's just blurry.'

"You're alive. I can see you breath, Phantom" Colossus stood in front of Danny from the sound of him. "I don't know if you can hear me, but you need to listen."

"You have earned my respect today. You fought with everything you had and more. That is the way of a champion." Colossus sounded very happy.

"You will be angry with yourself for losing. I won't be stupid and tell you not to be. Only a weakling will be content with a loss." Danny wished he had to energy to do something other than listen.

"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.

"You might not agree with my ways. I live to fight, and will always seek out opponents, but I have pushed myself to my limits. And that is what you will have to do.

"I have heard a lot of what happened since I took my nap. I have only learned a little of this new world…the fact that a Ghostly Presense is now called an Haunting Aura is one, but I have heard of the new champions in both this planet and the Ghost Zone.

"If you wish to follow the path of the hero, that is your choise. But! Be prepared. I am only the first challenger you will have to fight on your path. Granted, not all of them will be as strong as me, but most of them will not have my sense of honor and pride.

"They will kill you and anyone in their way, so be prepared, Phantom…Oh! Don't worry about me. I won't be back here for a while. I need to see what this new world has to offer! Stay safe, Phantom. I wouldn't want my new rival to die on me!" Then it was silent. Colossus had left.

With his opponent gone, Danny allowed himself to gracefully pass out.

"Red!… Wait!….Would you listen to me!" Dani shouted to the ghost hunter.

They were currently heading to what looked like ground zero. Road was basically destroyed. Craters were everywhere. Many spots were scorched. A truck with a large indent in it was even crammed in the side of a building.

"The fight's over. Calm down, little ghost girl." Red Huntress surveyed the area.

"Little! Who are you calling little?! Just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't have feelings you jerk!" Dani did not like to be called small.

"Would you shut up! If you hadn't noticed, this was a very serious situation. People could be hurt." Red Huntress kept looking for any injured civilians.

"No way! Danny had the street cleared while you were unconscious. I saw and heard a bunch of kids saying that he told them to evacuate everyone!" Dani nodded her head.

"…He did?" Red Huntress asked. "He never seemed that responsible."

"You'd be surprised." Dani harrumphed.

"Whatever. Where did the spooo…k." Red Huntress was looking directly at the largest crater on the street. "Danny? Oh no! Danny!"

Red Huntress flew to the crater, and Dani followed. She didn't see what…Oh good God have mercy.

Danny laid on his stomach in the center of the crater. He looked like he had been run over by a semi. His clothes were torn and teared, so Dani could see the various bruises and welts on her brother. The worst things were his arms, though. His left arm was broken and was lying at a weird angle. His right arm was completely burned from his shoulder to his fingertips.

Basically, he looked like he'd been through hell.

"Oh Danny." Valerie knelt by Danny and carefully rolled him over.

"Is that guy okay?" Dani pretended not to know him.

"No!" She seemed completely distraught as she sat and put his head on her lap. "We need to call an ambulance…Wait. Why is he here? Phantom wouldn't let him help, even if he had ghost hunting equipment. And he's so injured. It looks like he was in the middle of the fight. But Phantom…Danny Phantom…Danny Fenton…never appear in the same place…Phantom started fight and at the end Fenton was in his place…Oh…OH!…"

'Oh crap! The gears are turning!' Dani mentally paniced.

"And you…" Red Huntress turned to her. "You look like Danny…you are ten…you know Danny well according to your words…Dan-Danielle Masters?"

She looked like a lost puppy now. Her view of reality was now crushed. Nothing made sense to the poor ghost hunter now.

Dani could only think of one thing to do.

She waved her hands in circular motions and said, "You didn't see anything…"

"…Yes, yes I did." Valerie said.

"Okay, not even I thought that would work…The story is really funny actually. You're just gonna laugh and laugh." Danielle paused hoping for a reaction. She didn't get any.

"…Alright, but be patient. It's a looooooooooong story…"