'Hope is a bloody battlefield of disillusion.
It's gonna take Sacrifice.'
---
Recap.

Jazz: Danny you look exhausted. You should go home and rest.

Danny: You're right. After all those ghost attacks you could say I'm...

Jazz: Oh, Danny, please no.

Danny: pretty...

Jazz: For the sake of all that is right with the world don't!

Danny: dead on my feet.

Jazz: OH MY GOD!
---
And now the epic continuation.
---

Dash Baxter, 16 year old A-Lister at Casper High woke to a swirling green sky and pain. He sat up slowly and looked at his wrist, sprained but not broken. That was good he supposed. His attention then turned to his surroundings where his classmates were scattered on the rocky surface of a small floating island. Most were caught between semi-conscious and conscious, a few were still out cold. Amongst the conscious was Mr Lancer and Tucker Foley, one of the freaks, who, from what Dash could see, hadn't taken any damage. They were busy checking on others, Tucker making notes on his PDA.

"Stop whining, it's a sprained ankle! He's much worse than you." Came a distressed voice. Dash turned his head to see fellow A-Lister, Paulina Sanchez glaring at another of the freak trio, Samantha Manson. But Paulina wasn't pressing her point like she normally would and Dash could see why. Beside where Sam was kneeling was the final member of the freak trio, Daniel Fenton, lying very still. Dash stood up and made his way over, watching Paulina's expression lighten as he did. She no doubt thought he'd wait on her hand and foot. He dropped beside Sam who was uncharacteristically in tears. There he saw the reason why. 'Jesus, Fenton, how'd that happen?' He thought looking at the bloody and battered teen. Dash had stopped bullying Danny about half a year ago. He didn't know why but it just wasn't any fun anymore. And now looking down on the unconscious boy a deep pit of sadness filled him.

"Is he alright?" He croaked reaching out his good hand over Danny's mouth to check for breathing. His heart almost stopped when he couldn't feel anything then very gently a cool breath hit his palm.

"He took the impact for Tucker and myself." Sam wept. "The idiot."

"Focus. Is he alright?" Dash said. She looked at him strangely for a second before running her eyes over Danny.

"He's badly beaten, I can't tell more until he wakes up." She sniffled. Dash nodded and took off his jacket with some difficulty and used that to cushion Danny's head. Which surprised Sam. In return she made a makeshift sling out of some of the many random cloths on the ground for his wrist. She then helped Dash bandage Paulina's foot.

"Thanks." She said her voice breaking.

"He's a good kid." Dash said, surprising even himself. "Protecting you might seem stupid to you. But I'm sure to him it was very important. He needs you to be strong right now." She wiped her eyes and nodded. "Come on, lets go see if we can help anyone else. Paulina, call us if he wakes up."

"Fine." Paulina mumbled, greatly humbled by the fact Dash was siding with the freaks.

Tucker hugged Sam when he saw her and nodded his head towards Dash in acknowledgment. "He awake?" He asked.

"No. Paulina will call us if he does." Sam said.

"Alright. Star has a broken finger and Kwan is complaining about double vision. See if you can help." Tucker ordered, Sam nodding and walking away. Dash went to follow when Tucker held out his arm to stop him. "Not you. I need some muscle over here."

"Lead the way." Dash said once again surprising himself. Seemed dire situations allowed him to put aside school politics. They found Valerie Grey had her arm stuck under the teachers desk, it was heavy and would require two people to lift. Dash was able to move it with one arm making him swell with pride. "On three?" He asked. Tucker nodded.

Once the desk was moved Valerie sat up. "It's broken." She confirmed. Tucker gathered some sticks and cloth for a splint and was about to make it when Paulina's shrill voice called out.

"Oh, quick he's moving!" She seemed too scared for it to be normal.

"Go, I can wait." Valerie said. Dash and Tucker met up with Sam and ran over to find Danny thrashing violently. Sam gasped and dropped beside him.

"Hold him still, he'll hurt himself more otherwise." Dash said quickly pinning Danny's legs. Tucker and Sam each took an arm. Once he couldn't move Danny let out a scream of pure pain and his eyes snapped open. Dash almost let go at the sight of the toxic neon green that he saw instead of icy blue.

"Get out!" Danny screamed. "Get out!!"

"Danny!" Sam cried holding with all her might as he thrashed harder. Even Dash was struggling.

"Get out!" Danny screamed drawing a crowd. Everyone gasped as his eyes turned blue and a ghost emerged from Danny's chest. Danny fell limp panting heavily.

"What a strong will..." The ghost mumbled. He wore a tweed jacket with elbow patches and glasses and spoke with an English accent. Sam had never seen this ghost before.

"You! You tried to overshadow him!" She screeched throwing whatever she could find at him.

"What a dreadfully violent girl." The ghost sighed. "I didn't mean too. He fell on me."

"Liar!" Sam yelled trying to throw something else.

"Sam." Danny's voice was cracked, it sounded like it was painful to talk. "It's true."

"Seems I was a little stuck though. He has a remarkable will to have ousted me so quickly. What one would expect from a Halfa." The Ghost said.

"What's a Halfa?" Paulina asked from her perch.

"Why it's-" the ghost paused at Sam's glare and recalculated its response. "Simply someone blessed with the ability to fight possession."

Sam had lost interest by then turning her attention to Danny.

"Where does it hurt?" She asked.

"A shorter list would be where it doesn't." He wheezed. He tried laughing and then winced. "Oh, ah, laughing is bad... very bad. No laughing."

"Estimated damage." Sam demanded.

"A bruised rib- no wait two. Actually change that to bruised body. I'm a walking bruise. And there's a gash on my back that needs stitches I think." Danny replied. Dash shook his head. Trust Danny to be cracking jokes about injuries.

"I have a needle and thread." Sam murmured. "We'd need something to sterilise the needle though."

"I have a lighter." Dash offered.

"That'll work. Take off your shirt." Sam said.

"Whoo, yeah, Danny take it off." Tucker teased.

"Do I have to?" Danny said weakly. Sam gave him a stare that could whither a flower. He sighed and sat up, peeling a blood soaked shirt off, he was covered in numerous superficial cuts and one large cut that ran from his shoulder blade to his hip. But that wasn't why everyone was making sounds like 'ooh' and 'aah'

Danny was covered in scars, the most noticeable was a large burn scar in the middle of his chest. Dash leaned close seeing some green under the red blood. With a spare bit of cloth he wiped it away and gasped at the flaming green crown and sword tattooed on Danny's back.

"The hell Fenton, you have ink?" Dash cried a little jealous.

"It's a status thing." Danny said absently. Then his eyes widened and he began to splutter out excuses.

"Are you in a gang?" Paulina asked. "I mean you're really fit. It's actually kind of hot." She wasn't lying, Danny had filled out quite a bit, ghost fighting would do that, Sam and Tucker were also a lot fitter than they used to be.

"Define gang..." Danny said slowly.

"Shootings, drugs, money..." Dash said.

"Oh... well no."

"This might hurt... a lot." Sam warned. Everyone watched Danny grit his teeth as Sam began to stitch the wound. No one dared speak as she did. They were just taking in that there was a lot to Danny that they didn't know.

Once he was stitched and bandaged he stood up and looked around. "Well... we're in neutral territory." He mumbled. "A bit close to Skulker's island than I'd like."

"Mr Fenton, are you implying you've been here enough to know exactly where you are." Lancer asked astonished.

"Yeah." Danny held up a folded piece of paper. "I made a map."

"Care to elaborate?" Lancer asked.

"Not really." Danny looked back to see Lancer's expression and realised he'd have to give up something. "My parents have a ghost portal. What kind of curious teen would I be not to go have a look?" Apparently that was the answer Lancer was expecting because he sighed and shook his head. Danny pulled on his shirt and spun around once, Dash noticing his eyes would stop on certain landmarks.

"Alright... two ways to get to my parents portal. One is safer one isn't."

"The safe one, duh." Paulina muttered.

"It'll take about two weeks from here. We don't have the supplies. Unless..." Danny closed his eyes and frowned.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sam asked.

"Vlad's portal." Danny said opening his eyes. "That's a week away on foot but it goes past the castle. We can get supplies and maybe a lift."

"Only problem being..." Tucker prompted.

"We'd have to pass Walker's Prison." Danny sighed.

"So?" Valerie snapped. "I'll just kick the ghost scum's ass."

"Mrs Grey, that's highly inappropriate." Lancer scolded.

"And impractical. That'll just piss him off. I'm just hoping he'll let it slide this time since it wasn't our fault." Danny sighed. "Alright we're heading Due East. Any supplies are to be pooled into one bag. It's going to take a day and a half to get to Phantom Keep Castle if there's no ghostly interference."

"Why are you leading?" Asked and often overlooked but equally jerky A-Lister jock, Jerome.

"Do you know where your going?" Dash snapped. Jerome shook his head. "Does anyone else here know where they are going?" No one answered. "No, just shut up and move out."

"Wow, Dash, did you just-"

"Not now Fenton, I'm battling inner turmoil."

"Pretty big words there."

"Shut it Fenton!"

"Alright let's go!"
---

The class was in complete chaos. People complaining they were hungry, that they were sore or tired. Dash looked up ahead to where Danny was. He looked worn out too but also determined to keep going. Sam and Tucker were in a similar state. Night was falling, if they didn't stop soon...

"Fenton." Dash called jogging to catch up. Danny turned to him, his expression guarded. "It's getting dark, if we don't stop there's going to be a revolt and I don't know if I can stop it." Danny looked back at the group that was catching up.

"They can handle it." He said stiffly turning to walk again.

"No." Dash said grabbing his shoulder. "They can't. They've never been here before, they're hurt, they're tired. Some of the weaker ones are about to collapse. I know you want to get out of here but you can't drive them like cattle and expect them to follow you."

"It works for you." Danny snapped. Dash took a step back with a hurt expression and Danny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry. I'm kind of stressed out. There's a cave about 30 minutes up ahead. It's a safe place to rest. To sleep. Spread the word. Keep them going. I'm counting on you to keep them motivated. Can I trust you?"

Dash stared into the wary blue eyes and nodded with the sharpness of a soldier. He then turned on his heels to give the troops the news. Everyone picked up their pace except Paulina who was limping on her sprained ankle. She was too tired to even complain but she was falling behind. He walked up to her and with out a word scooped her up. She said nothing so neither did he. Just as Danny had said 30 minutes later a large rock formation came into view and a cave was etched into the side. Danny was waiting for them to catch up, his blue eyes shining eerily in the fading light.

"We rest here for the night." He said with a stoney expression. It softened when everyone collapsed in the cave. "I'm proud of you all." He said. "I know it's been hard. Your hurt. Your scared. Your being led by someone you usually wouldn't even talk to. But you've persevered. Another day of walking tomorrow and we'll reach the castle. There you will be safe."

"How do you know? It's a ghost castle. Aren't ghosts dangerous?" Someone called. He smiled. It was a smile that seemed to spread relaxation and reassurance.

"Every ghost is dangerous but so is every human. The difference is whether they use their abilities to hurt people. I can say without a doubt that any ghost housed in the castle won't harm you as long as you don't harm them. Remember, ghosts were once people. People who died. Most of those people aren't evil. Just misunderstood." Danny explained. "Now get some rest. I'll keep first watch. We're in Walker territory."
---
Dash woke to humming. He'd taken second watch and then Valerie had taken over but he'd fallen asleep near the entrance just in case. He peeled open his eyes to see Danny sitting on what had been dubbed the look-out-rock poking at the fire they'd made. He was humming. It wasn't a tune that Dash recognised but it was nice. Then Danny's lips parted and Dash froze as he began to sing.

Everybody has a story they must tell,
And you've got yours and I've got mine.
All the times you felt the pain and seen the glory,
It feels good to be alive.

Now I can hear the sound,
Of heart beats all around.
You know there's magic in the night.
Yeah,
When you feel all alone,
Like your so far from home,
Something always turns out right.

So here's to us.
And all the broken dreams,
That never came to pass,
We're still kings and queens.
Here's to all we loved,
That wasn't meant to last.
Here's to everyone,
Who said we never had a chance.
Here's to us.

Monday comes around.
You world is upside down,
Feeling good in the worst way.
Your stories just beginning,
Time we did some living.
I can't wait to hear you say;

It's on the radio,
It's everywhere you go.
The music's gonna save your life.
Yeah,
So come on clap your hands.
Remember when we danced.
And raise your glass tonight.

So here's to us.
And all the broken dreams,
That never came to pass,
We're still kings and queens.
Here's to all we loved,
That wasn't meant to last.
Here's to everyone,
Who said we never had a chance.
Here's to us.

The night feels so long,
When your hearts not,
Filled with song.
And may your dreams,
Never leave you.
Even when you've,
Lost it all.

So here's to us.
And all the broken dreams,
That never came to pass,
We're still kings and queens.
Here's to all we loved,
That wasn't meant to last.
Here's to everyone,
Who said we never had a chance.
Here's to us.

Here's to us.
To all we love.
And all we lost.
To everyone.
Here's to us.
To broken dreams.
And kings and queens.
To everyone raise your glass.
Here's to us.

Dash stared silently up at the boy he'd picked on for years. "He's something else isn't he?" Dash turned his head to see Valerie looking up at Danny with sadness and a hint of lust. He recalled the two having dated for a while. Danny exhaled, drawing their attention back to him, they watched as he smiled and brought his knees up to his chin.

"We'll be okay." He said reassuring himself. "We'll be okay."