The world around Phantom spun in a dizzy static. Everything was so dark and corrupted- yet it had no idea how it got there. Last it remembered, it was just lying on a small floating rock, hidden from view. Maybe it fell asleep? The spinning finally stopped, revealing a still, black void. It seemed to have a floor, since the ghost found itself sitting on it, but there wasn’t at the same time. If there was any type of floor, it was invisible. Phantom stood up and looked around at the empty room with intrigue. Or at least the boy tried to, because his white hair kept falling in his face. Without thinking, they pushed it away several times before the realization hit. A mirror like shard of glass appeared next to them, and what did it see? Danny Phantom. No pointed ears, fangs, or pale skin… it was just HIM. “I… I don’t understand. That can’t be right. I’m... I’m not Danny!” Phantom paused as he examined the reflection. “But if that is true, then why do I wear his face? And still dawn his logo upon my chest? If I am not this fool, then I must find some way to prove it!”

Then, through the darkness behind them, two cheery voices called out the name of the boy it swore it wasn’t. Phantom stiffened. He knew those voices. The ghost boy turned to see Sam and Tucker- unharmed and wanting HIM to come closer. “Come on man, don’t you wanna go hang out?” Tucker questioned.

“You must have had a pretty bad nightmare.” said Sam. “You don’t look so well.”

The ghost floated back cautiously. “I don’t know what trick this is, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for a siren song.”

“What are you talking about?” A new voice chimed in. Phantom spun around to see Jazz, Jack, and Maddie standing on the other side of it. They were surrounded. Maddie tried walking closer, face showing nothing but love and compassion. “Danny, my sweet baby- what’s wrong honey?”

Phantom tried backing up, but it couldn’t go far, because its so-called friends were on the other side. It didn’t know why, but panic began to set in. The ghost felt it’s heart race, its vision blur, and it was no longer in control of its breathing. Jack and Jazz moved in closer as well, and soon all of them began asking what was wrong. Phantom floated there, stuck as the only thing it began hearing was that stupid name! Danny, Danny, Danny!!! That’s all they seemed to say! How many times did the spirit need to repeat itself!?! The energy seemed to be building up inside of it, like pumping a balloon so full of air it was about to burst. And burst it did. “ENOUGH!” With a shockwave of pure power, everyone was blown backwards. When the boy regained its composure, the reflection, now showing up on the ground had changed. HE was gone. Well, mostly. It still wore his face and his logo, but the eyes told a different story. Looking up at the people HE once cared about, the ones IT had just hurt, the boy cracked. A wet blur formed around the base of their eyes, but its mind was too busy reeling to notice. Jazz sat up, looking at the ghost in both fear and concern. “Danny?...”

The spirit huffed. Their demeanor shifted as their eyes closed and they turned away. It went from distraught, to conflicted, to resolute in a matter of seconds. “No.” Its eyes snapped open and out of its palm shot a shockwave of energy. The blast destroyed whatever unholy doppelganger sorcery was going on, leaving only the ghost boy alone in the void. It stood there in silence- staring blankly at the void. It should’ve moved, cried, screamed, did anything given what it had just done, but it didn’t. Instead, it smiled. It wasn’t even happy and yet it smiled. The teen floated off the ground, but not purposefully, it appeared more like something was picking them up by the scruff. Phantom let out a small chuckle, then another, then another. It felt so cold inside- there was no reason to find anything funny- but that’s why it did. Phantom’s growing, manic laughter echoed menacingly within the void. Then the boy, in this moment of insanity, had a thought. HIS job was to protect those who he loved; that was his purpose. But now they were all dead. Both in reality and in their mind. It had no purpose… there was no reason for it to even exist! Yet there it was! Perhaps its purpose had changed! Maybe it kept on existing because of that purpose! Phantom’s laughter subsided as it took a few breaths to calm down, but the wide, crazed smile still lingered. Destruction… that’s why it existed. Phantom liberated itself from its humanity, but others around it still seemed to cling to the idea this wasn’t the case. They called it DANNY- they tried talking to it like it would stand to reason- they looked at it like they believed it didn’t want this. But it did want this! Phantom WASN’T about to talk things out, and for the thousandth time- It. Was. Not. DANNY! A massive shockwave of energy exploded from it as It opened its eyes. It was still under that floating island in the Ghost Zone? It had been dreaming? Or perhaps something deeper? Regardless of what it was, it was awake, and more charged than ever before. If destruction was truly its purpose, then it was about to make good on that promise…

5 minutes earlier, Skulker had called Technus up on his wrist communicator to inform him of the victory. The scientist seemed to be outside of his laboratory now and flying somewhere. “You what!?”

Skulker held his head proudly, only glancing away to look at Ember flying Young Blood off to safety. “Technus, the ghost child has been destroyed.”

The scientist appeared to halt mid-flight. “WHAT?! Skulker, define destroyed?”

“Made nonexistent via the use of weaponry.” The cyborg answered stoically.

Technus seemed frazzled as he continued flying towards wherever he was going. “Skulker, I built that suit, there’s practically nothing in your arsenal that can vaporize another ghost! Most of the weapons act more like stun guns than anything else- YOU requested that. Because you, and I quote- ‘like to take care of the last part on your island’…”

The robot looked away slightly embarrassed, confirming that, yes, that conversation did in fact go down. As for the last part, it’s not necessarily easy to make a pelt out of ghosts, so he does prefer to do it alone on his island. Technus sighed. “Alright then, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me ask you this again…. Where. Is. The. Ghost child?”

Suddenly, an echoing explosion erupted from under the island, sending Skulker stumbling to stay upright. The tech ghost glanced away from the camera with shock as he hung up. From where it was below the island, Phantom rocketed up, straight through the boulder. Skulker gawked at the boy floating in front of him. Its eyes burned brighter than before, clearly more resolute in its demeanor. It knew what it wanted. “Hello Bonehead.” It uttered. “How would you like to be my first official victim of my reign?”

The cyborg growled. REIGN? Oh God, it really went there, huh? “I must admit whelp, I’m a little joyed that you’re still standing. I was beginning to think our hunt ended… anticlimactically.”

Phantom smirked. This was going to be fun; tearing him apart.

“You’ve gone feral, Phantom,” Skulker rasped, trying to project confidence he didn’t feel. “I’ll subdue you yet!”

Phantom simply tilted its head, a slow, unsettling movement. It didn’t respond with words, only a silent, taunting laugh that echoed through the desolate landscape. Then, with blinding speed, it launched itself at Skulker. Phantom’s fists became blurs of ecto-energy, smashing against Skulker’s armor, sending sparks and clangs into the air. The cyborg retaliated with energy blasts from his cannon, but Phantom weaved and dodged with impossible agility, its red eyes never leaving its foe. It swiped an ectoblade across the front of Skulker’s armor, leaving a deep gouge that hadn’t been there a second ago. He growled irritatedlly, glaring down the child.

“PLASMIUS!” Box shouted as he burst through the wall, leaving a slight slimy outline of himself where he entered. “The ghost child is a serious threat man! I went to the Ghost Zone to grab my emergency emotional support box, and I saw him using this… this... thing! It was like a red laser that went all- WHOOSH- and then it… I’ve never… Ah! This thing can kill ghosts!!!”

Vlad stood unmoving, perhaps too shocked to do so. “A what?” He broke out of his trance and pondered. “Well, if he’s fused with my ghost half, perhaps he inherited some of my abilities. I had a move that could burn through ectoplasm in a concentrated beam, but considering I’ve shot myself in the foot with it before and I regenerated, it was never lethal. Then again, I never really used or perfected  that move since it drained me quite a bit. Maybe he found some way to amplify the effect?” Vlad glanced over at the movement he sensed behind him and tilted his head as he fully turned to see what it was. “Daniel? What are you doing?”

The clone was walking up to the control room with what looked like an old notebook full of sticky notes and ravaged by several spills; Valerie following. His eyes changed when he saw Vlad, they didn’t light up like they used to, instead they appeared to hold an air of sadness. Ever since he'd found that family photo downstairs, he’d been acting different. If asked, the boy would still willingly hug Vlad or show other forms of affection, but he didn’t cling to him like a lifeline anymore. Danny became more independent the longer he lived, which was both good and bad for Vlad. Independence could lead to rebellious nature, and the last thing the man needed right now was TWO rouge Dannys running around; refusing to listen. The clone spoke as he walked over to a section of the control panel and started flipping through the book like he was cross referencing something. “Well, I found this book mom and dad, I mean, Jack and Maddie kept a lot of their notes in. Mostly Maddie from the looks of the handwriting. I’m trying to find the emergency protocol system that it mentions in here.”

Valerie crossed her arms as she too checked the notes then turned to face Vlad. “It could be useful for when Phantom comes back. Now that my dad and I got power back online, we can-”

The disgraced halfa sighed, looking over at his lab grown doppelganger. “My sweet little badger, I-”

“PERFECT IDEA!” Box cut off Vlad and got right in Danny’s personal space. “The evil child is so totally gonna destroy us if we don’t have a plan! Phantom IS coming back, and really soon! I suggest you guys all find a good box to take shelter in.” The ghost spawned a box in his hands and sucked himself in as it dropped to the floor.

The three humans watched the unmoving, glowing blue box in silence for a moment before Valerie spoke up. “You heard the spook. We need to get our butts in gear and fortify this place. Maybe round up a few helpers for the fight.”

Vlad looked conflicted, perhaps a bit concerned by the plan. “While I admire your fighting spirit miss Gray, Perhaps it’s in our best interest to NOT endanger the townsfolk…?”

“Look, you might not live here, but Amity Park is our home, and we’ll do anything to defend it!” The girl stood tall, with Danny positioned similarly beside her. The boy was acting like he lived there to hold the same spirit, which both worried and intrigued Vlad. Maybe this was yet another instance of the clone taking on a feeling from the original, even though there was no memory context to tell them why he felt that way. The way the clone worked was truly a fascinating mystery. The man cursed under his breath- there was no talking the kids out of this, was there? By the way they carried themselves, the answer was most likely no. Vlad sighed.  “Perhaps we do need to be ready for another attack. But if we’re doing this, I expect nothing short of utmost maturity from you. Understand?” The two teenagers nodded, promising to be responsible for playing their part. Danny glanced down at the note book in his hands. The page it was flipped to was labeled- “Emergency Ecto Protocol System: EEPS (In case of severe ghost attack emergencies)”… The several notes detailed about the functionality and features of the system, which even came with little doodles next to the parts Jack wrote. He scribbled all over his work, just like Danny. The original would always draw stars and planets on the blank spaces of his homework. “Alright Val, I’ll find out how to activate the EEPS, while you work on seeing who down below wants to help out with what.” The girl nodded and rushed downstairs, leaving Danny alone with an increasingly more stressed Vlad. The boy looked up at his maker. He was tuned out, almost disassociating. He hadn’t showered in days, he was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans since practically all his fancy stuff got blown up, and his hair was down in a mess. Danny reached into his pocket and held out the item he retrieved from it for Vlad to take. “Here you go by the way. I found it in a drawer when I was cleaning up the lab. I figured you’d want it.”

Vlad peered down at the item in the boys’ hand; taking a moment to register what it was. It was a hair tie. Just a simple black elastic band covered in mesh. It must have belonged to either Maddie or Jazz back in the day. The man smiled warmly as he took it and tied his hair back; just how he liked it. “Thank you, little badger. What would I do without you?” Danny smiled back, but it dropped to a confused shock when his stomach growled.  Vlad looked just as blankly, if not with a tint of guilt. “Ah. Yes, well,” he cleared his throat and stood tall, “we might need fix that as our first objective.”

WHOOSH!

In the Ghost Zone, Phantom zipped by like a rocket, throwing attacks as it went.

Skulker dodged, launching a volley of spectral nets. Phantom simply blasted them away, each touch dissolving the traps into shimmering dust. It lunged, a glowing streak of green against the darkness. With the force of a car on top speed, its fists cracked into Skulker’s armor. The impact sent the hunter reeling, careening off the floating rock and tumbling into the void below where he landed on another. It let Skulker scramble away, a slow, taunting grin stretching across its face. The boy watched Skulker frantically adjust his gear, learning from each near-miss, each close call. Skulker’s movements were becoming less frantic, more deliberate. He was slowly understanding Phantom’s attack patterns. It was a fascinating process; like watching a lab rat struggle in a maze. The ghost teen floated upside down in amusement as it watched its foe charge up an attack. But before the hunter could make a move, Phantom did. It unleashed a barrage of ecto-blasts that sent chunks of rock flying. Skulker anticipated its moves, dodging with a newfound agility, his metal boots clattering across the rocky terrain. Frankly irritated with the level of difficulty, he launched a counterattack; a blue beam of energy aimed directly at its chest. Phantom, bored with the predictable attack, simply phased through it, materializing behind Skulker with a flash of green. “Pathetic,” it whispered, a breath of cold, spectral air on the back of Skulker’s neck. The cyborg jumped back and turned to face the attacker, but it was too late.  It raised its hand, a swirling vortex of green energy gathering around its palm. This was the end. Skulker, caught off guard, braced himself… But just as the blast was about to be unleashed, a shimmering, blue shield materialized between them, the energy ricocheting harmlessly into the void.

“Looks like you could use a hand!” Technus’ cybernetic voice boomed, his body floating protectively in between Skulker and Phantom. He glanced around the area then to Skulker. “Where’s Ember and the snottbrain?”

“Ember took Young Blood to safety after he was compromised.” Replied the cyborg.

Technus rolled his eyes, then focused them on the ghost teen with a mixture of calculation and concealed fear. “Stand down.”

Phantom’s grin widened, it’s red eyes gleaming with even more sinister amusement. “Technus…” it said, the name dripping with malice. “I’ve already promised Skulker he’d be my first victim. You don’t want to take away that honor, do you?”

The tech ghost growled, readying his gauntlets for the imminent attack. And just as predicted, the boy almost immediately lunged towards the duo. Technus held up the gauntlets and Phantom was almost immediately stopped dead in its tracks, almost like it weighed nothing compared to them. The ghost boy was flung back, and it watched on in utter disbelief. It growled as it took notice of the pair of gleaming, silver gauntlets – intricate networks of wires and glowing processors pulsed within their frames. They were clearly designed for one specific purpose: to counter Phantom’s power. That was NOT a part of its plan… “What the hell are those supposed to be?!” It snapped.

“Glad you asked.” The spirit smirked. “I, Technus, designed these bad boys specifically to take care of you! I call them P.E.G! My phantom eradication gauntlets. Aka the object of your demise! Now cower before my might!”

…. Yeah… Sure. Whatever he that guy thought he was on, Phantom wasn’t having it. This was becoming more of an annoyance than fun, and it didn’t appreciate it. “Die.” Its voice was a distorted grumble, laced with a chilling malice as it shot a blast of green energy at Skulker. The hunter dodged, leaving the blast to vaporize a boulder, but Phantom was already moving, a blur of black and white slashing through the air.

Skulker, improved reflexes be damned, only just managed to evade the second attack, his armor scored by the phantom’s ectoplasmic, wolverine-like claws. He fired a volley of nets, but Phantom ripped through them with a roar. Technus rolled his eyes; he knew that Skulker’s pride would get the better of him. That’s why he decided this was the best time to intervene. He dropped to the ground, his feet impacting the rocky surface with a crunch. “Enough games, Phantom!” he boomed, raising his gauntleted hands. “Time for you to face technology’s superior will!”

The teen turned, red eyes locking onto Technus. It grinned again, like it was showing off its sharp teeth. “Oh, you think your little toys will matter?” As it launched itself at the man, he raised his hands. The gauntlets lit up purple, flowing through crevices of the gloves. P.E.G exploded with power, glowing brighter as they came into contact with the full force of Phantom’s attack. Green met violet, a clash that threw off sparks of electricity and shook the surrounding area. A pained, guttural screech echoed through the Ghost Zone after the collision, but within seconds, the fight continued. Phantom shook off an attack that had left it in a decent amount of pain and growled. This was stupid! NO ONE DEFEATS IT! The two went at each other again, but this time, at the last moment, Technus dodged and used his gauntlets extendable claws to slash the very fabric of the Ghost Zone. A rift popped open, glowing and pulsating as the boy faced it with awe. How did he-?! Before the ghost teen could finish the thought, the scientist tackled it through. They tumbled through the chaotic colors and landed hard on the asphalt of Amity Park’s Main Street, the portal snapping shut behind them in a shower of static. Glass shattered in every which way as the two crashed through a storefront display, sending mannequins flying. Phantom was momentarily disoriented, surprised by this sudden shift in location. They rolled around in the broken display window, each attempting to pin the other until Technus got the upper hand; slamming Phantom into the ground. It snarled, its eyes blazing. “You! How did-?..” Then, its eyes drifted to the claws of the gloves. “Those… those are Wulfs claws! You sick, twisted weasel! I thought I smelled dog on you. You speak of protection, but you’re no better than me!”

Technus continued to hold the child down in a wrestle. “Oh, shut your yap! They grow back. But what you’ve done to Desiree is irreversible! You’re a monster hellbent on destruction for the fun of it! No matter what you claim your reason to be. You’re not Daniel- don’t think I can’t tell. You’re full ghost.”

Phantom laughed, wrestling the other spirit to the bottom of the pile; turning the table. “Finally someone even remotely intelligent! You’re right old man, I’m not Danny- not anymore. Plasmius separated his human half from his phantom per his grief-stricken request to make the agony go away. The moment I was liberated, I fulfilled his wish. I killed the humanity that drove the suffering, and poor little Fenton went out with it.”

The tech ghost flipped the boy off of him and pulled back in disgust. “Ew…” He shivered. “And you have the audacity to call me messed up?!” Technus held up the gauntlets and blasted a purple ray towards it, but it dodged. With a hiss, it rocketed up and sent a barrage of ecto-blasts down like it was raining bombs. The technology ghost went intangible and dropped through the ground, reappearing behind the boy and slashing at its back. Phantom screamed out in pain as it zipped up to a nearby roof. The claw marks across its back dripped with green liquid, but slowly, they sealed back up. Still, the area stung. It hissed at its enemy, then dove into the semi-collapsed building. Technus, with a frustrated growl, blasted a hole in the wall, following close behind. Inside, the building was a maze of twisted rebar and crumbling plaster. Regardless, bits of life still remained within, like furniture and a few unfortunate potted plants. Echoes of the teens whereabouts bounced off every wall, making locating it near impossible. Technus glared as he surveyed the crumbling structure around him. He paused, waiting for the sneak attack he knew was coming. He expected the kid to jump him any moment from behind, but it never came. “What’s the matter? Scared you’ve met your match?”

…nothing.

Then, out of nowhere, Phantom came rocketing up from below, pushing Technus through several ceilings until they came breaking through the roof. The tech ghost flipped through the air, stabilizing several feet away with a snarl. He immediately retaliated with an energy blast, but it was met by a similar strike from Phantom. As the two beams collided with an explosion, the building shook, making it crumble completely. From the other side of town, The Box Ghost was woken up by the collapse from inside his box. Grumbling, he floated out and looked through the control room window. “Oh no…” From the distance, what looked like two glowing orbs were weaving around the buildings and crashing against each other. It was like watching two fireflies battle. Box felt his nonexistent heart drop. Phantom was back! This wasn’t good… they weren’t ready yet!