Their footsteps echoed against the ruins as a musty, burnt smell wafted through the air. Vlad and Valerie made their way into one of his old laboratories. The one Phantom had destroyed was on the west wing of the castle, but this one was deeper underground and was housed under the east wing. It’d been a couple days since the incident, so Vlad was capable of walking around. He wasn’t fully healed though, and in doing this expedition, he was going directly against doctors’ orders. He was supposed to be resting.
“Hey Mr. Masters?” Valerie broke the silence. “How did you find out Danny was half ghost?”

The man looked guilty for a moment before putting his fake confidence back on. “Ah! Well... I first discovered Daniel’s secret when he and his family came to visit me for a college reunion I threw. I witnessed him transform after... ah. A battle he had with another ghost. I later promised to keep quiet on my end. You know, out of the kindness of my heart…”

As the two made their way in, Vlad’s eyes lit up. Surprisingly, it was mostly untouched! With a relieved sigh, the man limped over to a control panel and typed in a code. “Now that you’ve got something to ponder, hopefully you’ll have far less questions about this next part…” Vlad whispered under his breath. With a final button press, part of the wall opened, revealing a large glass pod; and inside, floated a familiar figure.

Valerie’s jaw dropped. “Danny?! Why do you have a clone of-?”

Vlad quickly cut her off and raised his hand as to tell her to silence. “I’m prepared. Let’s call it that.” He marveled at the boy in the test tube; the way the clone floated there so peacefully sleeping. It's steady breathing through the oxygen mask, and its calm expression was a stark contrast to the state he’d last seen the original Danny in. With a look of guilt, Vlad placed his hand on the cold glass. The man’s eyes told a thousand words that he’d never have the courage to actually say out loud, but their volume was loud enough for Valerie to sense in the pods’ reflection.

He was hurting. And in more than just his raw wounds. Vlad stayed there for a moment before snapping out and glancing down at the small screen on the control panel. It appeared to show readings from the clone, but even to Valerie, who had no knowledge of that kind of thing, they looked off. Vlad sighed and explained that something was wrong with the clone Danny. It was unstable and weak. It would die soon if they couldn’t find a way to strengthen it. Unfortunately, Vlad’s originally planned method of stabilizing them required DNA from Danny mid-morph, but now… yeah. That wasn’t happening. Luckily, he'd managed to create quite the mess in the other lab while doing the procedure. There was almost guaranteed to be ectoplasm from Phantom left around where he fought his human half, and as for getting a sample from said human half…. Something told Vlad he wouldn’t mind. It should work just fine if they were to mix those two DNA samples together properly. So, reluctantly, they headed off to the other laboratory. Valerie was tasked with retrieving the ectoplasmic residue, especially from the Ghost Gauntlets. Vlad on the other hand, had a much more difficult and quite frankly disturbing task. The man cursed under his breath as he forced himself to walk towards a specific, and kinda smelly pile of rubble. Rounding the corner, he flinched; looking away instinctively. But he needed to accept the job- it was for the greater good. He reluctantly walked over and knelt down beside the torn corpse. The body lay motionless, the once-vibrant skin now dulled to a pallid shade, covered in cuts and burns. Sunken eyes stared vacantly into the void, their pupils now glassy and unseeing, while a faint odor of iron and rot clung to the air, mingling disturbingly with the stale scent of the room. Around the edges of the mouth and nose, traces of dried blood clung stubbornly; a stark reminder of the violent end. Patches of deep crimson had settled into the fabric of clothing, seeping outwards like a dark, sinister flower where Phantom had attacked. Vlad, while feeling sick at the sight, couldn’t help but stare deeply into the boy’s eyes. Yes, they’d had their differences in the past, and fought many times, but he found himself wanting nothing more than the teen to suddenly catch a breath and flicker back to life right where he lay. But it wasn’t going to happen. The deep, bled out gashes along his body made sure of that.
Against his better judgment, he reached down and gently held Danny’s cheek; rubbing it softly with his thumb. The corpse didn’t react, but Vlad could’ve sworn it’s haunted eyes relaxed while being comforted. “Shhhhh…” The man whispered soothingly. “It’s alright little badger. I’m so sorry for what’s happened. I’m fixing this… I swear.” He pulled out a needle from his back pocket and inserted it into the stiff arm. With a heartbroken sigh, the syringe filled with deep purplish red blood. It was old, but only by a few days, so it should still work for their purposes. Vlad stroked Danny’s dirty, black hair for a moment before standing up and turning to leave. But right as he was, he turned back briefly; eyes betraying him and springing a leak through his otherwise determined expression. “When this is all over, you’ll get a proper burial. I promise.” Then, he limped away to meet up with his assistant.

Later, at lab B, the two ghost hunters were working on mixing together both the samples each of them retrieved. The mixture swirled in the blender-like machine; a tornado of glowing green and muddled crimson. Eventually, something changed chemically within it and it turned white, which according to Vlad, meant it was done. Pouring the concoction into a gadget hooked up to the test tube, the liquid inside the glass cylinder emanated a strange glow; as did the clone. However, after a while, it subsided. The readings almost immediately shifted on screen, now even displaying a strong heartbeat monitor on the upper left corner. The clone Danny was alive. Valerie didn’t actually know how to feel about that. To be completely honest, she was still a little weirded out by the fact that it existed in the first place. Regardless, no point in questioning it now. Suddenly, an alarm rang from a device on her wrist, flashing red. Valerie frantically tapped a few buttons to silence it, then her eyes grew wide. “There’s a ghost attacking Amity Park!”

Vlad’s attention broke from the clone. “Check the security system. I updated it so that you can access the cameras around the city.”

Valerie nodded; doing as commanded. The screen on her wrist flickered on, showing an angle of Oak Street through what it labeled ‘Camera 1”… A few people ran by, but no sign of the ghost. She flipped through the cameras until finally, at 24, it showed it. Valerie gasped. “Danny?! How did get all the way to Amity Park?!!”

“Fast flight most likely, but…” Vlad looked conflicted. “As much as I desperately want to move on to the next phase of the plan, the clone’s not nearly ready yet. You’re gonna have to fly over there and stop him. Perhaps you can find some way to contain Daniel for the time being.”

Valerie nodded. “Whatever you say Mr. Masters. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that, she hopped on her hover board and rocketed off. Vlad turned to the test tube once again; his eyes glued to the figure sleeping inside.

“Soon…”

Far away in Amity Park, the students of Casper High were just informed of a ghost drill, so they did the one thing they weren’t supposed to do- leave the building. For most of them, a ghost attack was just a fancy excuse to get out of school early. Legally, a citywide emergency counted as one of the events in which the school couldn’t stop children from leaving. However, the rule was in place mostly for parents picking them up… not for skipping classes. Regardless, majority of the children were far from the building minutes after the drill was sounded. The new teacher that replaced Mr. Lancer was an absolute doormat compared to him, so this behavior would likely go unpunished too. Bonus points! Right? More or less leading this escapade, unsurprisingly, was Dash. Living up to his name, the boy darted down the street with two others following closely behind. Eventually, they came to a stop, hiding out in an alleyway beside the bakery and post office. At this part of town, the ghost attack was a lot more evident. People ran away screaming and lamp posts were knocked over. Chaos… but the teenagers assumed they’d be fine in their hiding place. Besides, the ghost boy would take care of it. He always did! Dash peeked around the corner, just in time to almost get smashed by a piece of flying debris. Like lightning, he pulled his head back around the corner and frantically backed further into the alleyway. As he did, he tripped and fell over a discarded box from the post office next door. Paulina and Kwan, the two that’d followed Dash, cracked a smile at his blunder, but then went back to looking slightly concerned. Kwan looked out to see that they were now alone in this part of town. Nobody ran past, and no voices could be heard nearby. The only noise was the sound of whatever ghost was attacking. “Hey guys… I’m starting to think that we should really go somewhere else. I don’t think we’re safe here. Somethings wrong.”

Dash, who was still on the ground, trying to appear like he fell on purpose and wanted to be there, chuckled. “What’s wrong Kwan? Ya scared?”

Paulina shook her head. “Yeah. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure the ghost boy will come to our rescue!” Hearts appeared in her eyes as she thought of him. Her entire body language was NOT subtle about her crush. Dash rolled his eyes at that, but she had a point. The hero always swept in and saved the day! Inviso-bill WAS running unusually late today however. Kwan might have a point. Something about this attack definitely felt off.

Suddenly, out of the box Dash tripped over- and had been half lying on for the last 5 minutes- a spirit rose up. It looked tired. It glanced down at the destroyed box then at the teens. “Hey! I was sleeping in there!” He yelled. “Don’t you kids have any respect for privacy?!”

The color drained from Dash’s face for two reasons. One, there was an angry ghost hovering in front of him. And two, it’s yelling made the attack noises stop. The attacker heard. It knew where they were. “In any case- BEWARE! For I am the Box Ghost!!!” it picked up again; possibly even louder than before. “I shall teach you fools a lesson in-”

WHOOSH

The Box Ghost was immediately cut off by a second apparition diving down and smacking them into a concrete. Dash and the others ran out of the alley, panicked. But looking back, Paulina’s eyes lit up and she stopped in her tracks. “It’s the ghost boy!”

The two jocks stopped and turned, acting rather relived that was the case. Phantom had Box pinned down and unable to move. The teen growled as he looked down; straight into Box’s eyes.

“Hey man, I didn’t even do anything! I was just taking a nap when-”

The phantom roared in the spirit’s face, grabbed him by the ankle, and threw him out into the street. Landing next to him violently, the boy blasted him with an energy beam, sending him tumbling further. In obvious pain, the Box Ghost floated up, shaking. “Look kid, all you had to do is say ‘beat it’ and I woulda! This is just bogus!”

Phantom hovered above the cowering spirit with a bitter snarl. “Fine then… BEAT IT!!!!” Phantom’s voice roared with the last two words; shaking the street.
With that, the Box Ghost went intangible and dropped through the road as fast as he could.

The three teenagers assumed that Phantom had just once again saved the day, considering that the supposed rampaging ghost was nowhere to be seen anymore, so Paulina happily skipped over. “Wow Ghost Boy! That was great!”

Phantom slowly floated back down and tilted its head at the girl as she approached. It swore her bright smile should’ve made it feel something- and perhaps at some point in time it did- but not anymore. It didn’t feel.
“Nice new look by the way! I love how you did your hair! It looks so pretty!” Once again, the hearts in her eyes were evident. She leaned in closer, obviously attempting to get a reaction. Phantom huffed, scowling at the girl. It observed her fragile human body and thought about how easily it could snap her like a twig. This pitiful human posed no threat… but the approaching boy on the other hand…

Dash ran over with a stupid smile on his face; waving down the spirit. He complimented the phantom, saying how he knew he’d save the day- completely unaware of who the teen really was. If only Dash knew the things Phantom was… what it was now. He’d regret every time he ever bullied Danny Fenton. It wondered if Dash would feel bad knowing that Danny was dead now. Probably not. But then again, he was human; susceptible to pitiful emotions. Unlike Phantom…. It was stronger- better than that now. It had no need for such foolishness, so it flew away, landing on a roof several blocks away. From its perch, the boy could easily make out the shape of a familiar building. It let out a low growl as it’s ghostly body moved towards it without consent. Fenton Works. His… home. Wait. No. No, Phantom doesn’t have a home. Not anymore. This building meant nothing. It was just a stupid looking structure. So then… why was it so alluring? Why did he keep getting closer?! WHY WAS-.. he inside?.. Inside this half empty building. Photos that used to line the walls were gone, as was practically every other trace of the family that used to reside there. It reminded Phantom of itself in a way. This place that was once filled with joy and love, filled with memories of a beautiful family, now was stripped of it. Slowly, it began flying up the stairs, coming to a stop at a white door. It was simple wood, nothing special about it, but it radiated an energy unmatched. Phantom’s breathing became heavy and fast as it fazed through the closed door and stared at the room inside. It was empty- but it didn’t used to be. Just like Phantom. It plopped down on the tiled floor, feeling a strange sense wash over him. The boy felt… tired. Not rage like before… just… tired. So it curled up and drifted off to sleep.

The floor was cold...

It felt nice.