The Ghost Zone swirled with greens and blacks in a mesmerizing kaleidoscope mixing with a whirlpool. The Box Ghost flew through it at high speeds until he crashed into a tree on Skulker’s island; falling to the ground in a heap. Ember and Skulker watched from several feet away, confused yet already done with Box’s bs. Reluctantly, they walked over and helped him sit up. “Dang. You look awful.” Said Ember. “What did you do?”

Skulker’s eyes narrowed. “You bothered the ghost child, didn’t you?.. I thought we’d made it clear that we were going to leave him alone for a while. The whelp lost his entire family in an explosion for crying out loud! Even I’ve put my hunting him on hold.”

Box shook his head, arguing that yes, he’d gone to the living world, but not to bother Danny. He just wanted to curl up in a nice box and take a nap. He did that far more often than he cared to admit. It was just relaxing for him, okay?.. It made him happy. He was rudely interrupted however, then almost immediately got assaulted by Danny Phantom. “The child was crazy, man! He just attacked me out of nowhere! He looked so angry too.”

Ember shook her head. “Box- he’s probably just grieving. That’s why we’re leaving him alone. Remember...?”

The Box Ghost floated up higher than them; still looking freaked out. “You guys don’t understand! This was so totally different! His entire appearance changed. He’s got these pointy ears and fangs and his hair is like fire! But the look in his eyes… that was the scariest part. It didn’t look like him anymore. But I swear it was!”

Ember and Skulker exchanged shocked glances. It sounded like Box was describing… no. It couldn’t be, surly. Maybe the accident left Danny in worse shape than any of the Ghost Zone had thought.

Elsewhere, Vlad sat by the test tube, sleeping. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but his wounds were hurting, so he decided to rest. That relaxing eventually led to him dozing off. Again, unintentionally. However, he was startled awake when a loud beeping blared out from the control panel. Frantically, he got up and started panicking; assuming there was something wrong with the clone. But it was far from that. To his relief, the readings showed that not only was it stable, but it was ready. Vlad’s eyes drifted to the boy, almost in disbelief that he was carrying out this plan. Carefully, he pressed a button on the control panel, and the test tube slid out, maneuvered by a mechanical arm. The glass cylinder turned on its side and was placed on the ground. With a puff of steam, the pod opened, and the boy inside stirred. Vlad gently helped him sit up out of the cloning liquid and removed the oxygen mask. The moment he did, the boy took a sharp breath, too exhausted to really move, but at least it could breathe. They were slowly taken out of the tube and placed on the floor in front of Vlad. The boy was soaked, and the way that he was lying there gave the impression he was just saved from drowning. Danny let out a tired groan before opening his eyes and looking up at Vlad. His eyes looked pained and scared, as if he’d just woken up from a horrible nightmare. Weakly, Danny reached out for Vlad, who swiftly took him in his arms before he could crumble again. He knelt there with the clone in his arms feeling it burrow his face in his upper arm. Danny’s shaking hands gripped his suit tightly and he regained some strength, but a new issue caught Vlad’s immediate attention. Crying. Daniel sobbed into Vlad’s shoulder; holding tighter than ever before. The man was greatly confused for a moment before thinking of a possible answer. Maybe some of the ectoplasmic residue Valerie found in the lab was from after the phantom merged. The ectoplasm likely still carried all the painful emotions the original Danny felt, but now, in the body of a clone that had no memory context to said emotions, it came out worse. It was confused and scared. Vlad felt awful, especially after everything that happened in the last few weeks.
__

A month prior-

The halfa had been in his study looking up research when the phone rang. It was from a number he didn’t recognize, but it was definitely out of Wisconsin. Taking a chance, he’d picked up. The voice on the other end of the phone was a young woman. “Hello? I’m calling for a Vladimir Masters?” She sounded strict and calm, yet a sense of nervousness broke through.

Vlad contemplated what this could be about as he replied. “Yes, this is he. What seems to be the problem?”

The voice continued. “My name is Officer Cole from the Amity Park Police Department. I’m calling with some difficult news, and I want to ensure you’re in a safe and comfortable place to talk.”

Amity Park..? Oh boy- what trouble was Jack trying to drag him into now… This wouldn’t be the first time his antics landed him in jail and he tried to use Vlad as a bail ticket. That’s where he was expecting this to be headed.

“I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, but there has been an incident involving the Fenton’s. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that they have passed away. All except for Daniel. This was the top emergency contact number.”

Vlad froze; nearly dropping the phone. “WHAT?! HOW DID-?!!?”

“I understand this is incredibly painful to hear. They were all involved in an accident caused by an explosion. They-.”

“Where’s Daniel?!” Vlad cut the woman off suddenly. She responded, telling him that yes, he’d survived, but he was still injured. The boy had been rushed to the hospital as he was found unconscious and pretty banged up. The fear that the explosions shock wave had caused internal damage was high, but thankfully, it didn’t seem like that was the case. It was truly a miracle. Vlad fumbled for a notepad and pen while balancing the phone in-between his shoulder and ear. He wrote down the hospital address and bid the lady farewell as he hung up the phone. This was too much to process at once. Jack and Maddie were.... dead….?

Wait-

MADDIE WAS DEAD!?!!

This had to be some type of mistake, or maybe a bad dream? YEAH! That must be it! A dream! A horrible, awful, evil dream. He tried desperately to wake up by pinching himself, but to no avail. This was reality. He was awake… she was gone. They were all gone. Well, no- not all of them. Swiftly, the halfa transformed and darted out through the roof. Vlad soared over the city at unimaginable speeds, proving how skilled he could be when faced with something he wanted bad enough. It only took a few hours till he reached Amity Park, promptly landing outside the hospital and transforming back into a human. Vlad fixed his windswept hair, tying it back up in a ponytail; then straightened out his suit. Nothing could save him from the fact he looked physically exhausted though. That flight had taken a lot out of him. Bracing for emotional impact, the man walked in, going immediately the front desk and inquiring the receptionist about Danny. Once he had all the information he needed, Vlad made his way up to the 4th floor and found the boy’s room. On a chair inside, sat the woman he'd talked to over the phone. She filled him in on everything regarding the accident. Six casualties occurred at the fast-food joint. Jack, Maddie, and Jazz Fenton, as well as a man named Ron Lancer. The two others were Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, Danny’s best friends. Vlad didn’t know what to say or feel. No wonder they’d called him out of all people… he was the only one the poor kid had left. Danny was asleep in the hospital bed, bandaged and looking like he was having a nightmare. The police officer was dismissed and Vlad sat by the bedside in a chair he pulled from the corner. This didn’t feel real. Part of Vlad still chose to cling to the idea this was all a dream, even though he knew it was wrong. “It’s alright little badger.” The halfa reassured in a whisper. “I’m here.”
____

Back in the present, Vlad held the clone Danny tightly in his arms as it calmed down; whispering the same thing. When the boy regained his composure, he broke away from the hug and questioned what was going on. Of course, clone or not, it wasn’t exact. This Danny didn’t have the memories of the original. However, that freed Vlad up to make some.. personal refinements…

At Amity Park, the phantom slept dreamlessly on Danny’s old bedroom floor. It might not have been him anymore, but it still found some strange ounce of solace being in the empty environment. Just outside the bedroom window, three ghosts peeked in. Ember tilted her head in confusion as she watched Phantom sleep. He really had changed as Box said. It didn’t look like Danny Phantom anymore. Skulker pulled back from the window, looking almost concerned and disturbed. “He’s gone full Pariah mode… We need to stop this.”

Box Ghost, who neither wanted to come but tagged along anyway, questioned what Skulker meant; pointing out that the boy wasn’t doing anything bad right now. The large cyborg glared. “Not yet. But the past repeats itself. It's bound to be downhill from here.”

Ember glanced back at the child through the window. “You really think he’s going into Overcharge mode like that? He’s strong, sure, but Danny’s only a kid. Not to mention only half ghost.”

The three spirits continued their conversation, unaware that Phantom had just been woken up by his new ghost sense. It perked up and hissed when it noticed the intruders, flying out and immediately tackling Box to the ground again. “Oh, COME ON MAN! Why me?” The spirit protested in annoyance. The other two knew the answer, but they weren’t going to say it. Purely out of respect for the situation. If it was any other time, they would have a thousand percent made fun of him. Phantom snarled as it glared daggers into Box’s eyes. The burning ruby’s held a desire to rip him to shreds, but it hesitated once Ember called out. Phantom whipped around, firing off an ecto-blast, but Ember countered it with her guitars’ sound wave. “Look kid, we didn’t come to fight! …Surprisingly.”

But that didn’t deter Phantom. Not a single bit. The boy lunged forward, a blur of spectral force propelling it toward Skulker. The hunter barely had time to go intangible, and the beam of ectoplasmic energy missed him by a hair’s breadth, leaving scorched pavement in its wake. Skulker faded back in with a growl. This was looking bad. Ember struck her guitar, channeling the energy into a swirling ball of fiery light. She launched it at Phantom, hoping to disorient it, but it expertly dodged. “What’s wrong with you?!” It roared. “Why can’t you just leave me alone for five minutes?!!”

“Listen closely whelp…” Skulker walked forward, weapon around his wrist secretly charging. “We didn’t come with the intention of violence. We came to warn you. What you’re doing is going to end in a whole mess of trouble, so if you could just-”

But Phantom didn’t hesitate. It soared into the clouded sky, an echoing roar escaping from its mouth as lightning crackled around it like an angry storm. Skulker had no choice at this point, so he unleashed the energy net from his wrist and it darted towards the boy, tangling him up and electrocuting it. The ghost teen crashed into the street, still entangled and struggling in the glowing green web. The two ghosts, since Box had fled like a coward, walked over to the kid. “Danny, you need to stop.” Ember stated firmly, her voice piercing through the tension in the air. “This isn’t you.”

Phantom’s spectral form shimmered with rage, a mix of emerald green and foreboding darkness. “That name doesn’t belong to me anymore,” he growled, eyes glowing fiercely red as he launched toward them like a comet; destroying the net. “I’m NOT Danny. I KILLED DANNY!”

What?! What was that supposed to mean? The two spirits were justifiably pretty caught off guard by that statement. Perfect. An opening. Clenching his fists, the boy released a shock wave of energy that sent Ember and Skulker crashing across the pavement.

Skulker, armor battered but determination unbroken, shot up using his jetpack. His lime green mechanical eyes locking onto the Phantom. “You’ve gone insane ghost child!” he yelled, deflecting an onslaught of blasts with an array of gadgets programmed to counter attacks. “You think this madness scares us?”

Ember gritted her teeth, pushing her hair out of her face as she powered up, her ponytail burning bigger and hotter. Flames danced around her as the girl flew up to flank the teenager. Ember conjured a wall of fire, trying to contain Phantom. “How many times do we have to tell you!? We don’t want to fight! Something’s horribly wrong with you! We’re trying to help.”

The ghost boy whispered words that chilled the air around the battlefield. “Help?... NO ONE CAN HELP ME!!!” With a swift surge of energy, he dispersed her flames, sending them scattering like fireflies in the night, leaving Ember gasping as she barely dodged his newest assault. The phantom’s breathing was heavy and fast, and its face was contorted in rage; eyes glowing a fiery red. Just then, a massive beam of red light shot down Phantom, sending him tumbling into the asphalt. Valerie rocketed in on her hover board, aiming at the two remaining spirits with the bazooka. Skulker growled. Fine. The humans want to deal with the apocalypse? Let them try.

“We were just leaving.” The ghosts faded away, supposedly going invisible to make a sneaky escape. Valerie lowered her weapon, tuning her attention to the one she used to call a friend. Kinda. The hunter landed next to the boy and pulled out a Fenton Thermos. Phantom remained there, breathing heavily on the ground like a wounded animal. Its eyes stayed shut, as it showed no signs of realizing the young girl was even there. It just looked… hurt. Valerie began gently kneeling down, but was thrown backwards by the ghost suddenly springing up and hissing at her. Without even thinking, she unscrewed the thermos and aimed it at the spirit. Phantom’s eyes grew wide as it witnessed the world around it flash colors and swirl like a whirlpool. Then darkness. It couldn’t move. It was just… dark. Wait- No way did it think what just happened, happened. Did she-!?

Valerie’s hands shook as she stared at the smoking thermos that she so tightly gripped. “Oh Danny… I’m so sorry. But you left me no choice.”