Phantom snarled at the sight of the ghost shield activating in the distance. “You!” It snapped at Clockwork. “You were being serious! You weren’t here to fight me- you were here to DISTRACT ME! What a filthy liar- you said you weren’t allowed to mess with the timeline further!”

“Such accusations should be kept to a minimum dear boy… I didn’t allow for anything to happen that wasn’t already set to. Like I said, I was just here to observe the time go by. So I suppose I should be parting for now. Wouldn’t want to get on a certain somebody’s bad side by overstaying my welcome.”

The boy huffed as Clockwork used his staff to warp out from sight. Likely returning to his castle in the Ghost Zone. It was within an invisible time bubble, so no temporal energy effected it. The first night out of the hospital, Danny had retreated to the Ghost Zone to mourn. He flew so far, he’d bumped into the castle, but didn’t go inside since he didn’t want to get involved with whoever lived there. Later, Vlad mentioned that while exploring at some point, the man had learned someone named Clockwork took up residence inside. However, the halfa never bothered looking further into it since none of his plots required it. Due to the conditions, the castle was likely someplace the master of time thought he could hide. Depending on how the rest of the week goes, that may or may not be the case for long. Phantom was pretty mad right now, and taking it out on ancient ghostly architecture sounded like a pleasant way to remedy that. But right now, there was a much bigger problem to deal with. It flew over to a building down the street from Fenton Works and landed so hard on the roof that it cracked. The boy glared at the building. Ew. It couldn’t believe it ever even considered trying to find comfort in its walls only a short time ago. The very sight of it made them sick. Especially the name. The name both stung and revolted the spirit. It hated everything about it… From the window, Valerie noticed Phantom perched atop the structure and called Vlad to inform him. The man cursed under his breath as he kept a close eye on the shield’s readings. They were stable, sure, but from his perspective, it was still Jack that built this. The likelihood of something going horribly wrong was higher just by that fact alone. Vlad glanced up just in time to see Phantom charge the dome. The moment it made contact, the boy was electrocuted and sent rocketing back into the building it came down from. Rubble clattered from the ghost as it slowly regained its footing and shook the dust off. Ug. It still worked. Vlad let out a sigh of relief knowing that the device was still fully operational. Jack’s ignorance was an absolute plague upon the man, but even if only for this one victory, he appreciated his innovation. Again, he found himself starting to miss the guy as if he DIDN’T curse him to a life of eternal entrapment to the ghostly plain. Though, perhaps that wasn’t the case anymore. If his ghost powers really did end up being lost forever, then in a sense, part of the curse could end up being resolved? In some bizarre way he’d grown to love them though. It was almost surreal thinking through that clearly. How messed up had he gotten that the idea of no longer being damned to the spirit world was now considered the unfortunate outcome? Vlad shook off the train of thought and over the communication device reassured Valerie that everything was working so far. Phantom continued trying desperately to destroy the force field for the next few minutes, but once it accepted it was futile, the boy flew as close as he could and smiled. “I hope you idiots realize you can’t stay in there forever. The family that used to live there is dead! No one’s inhabited that house in weeks! The town already shut off power to the building. That ghost shield is operating purely on emergency backup… But even so- I’ve been in there recently- it’s cleared out. There's nothing to eat or drink, and no power means no heating. It’s practically December. How long do you honestly believe half the city can last in there?” The phantom chuckled. “It’s only a matter of time before human weakness betrays you. But me?” It stood proudly as it landed on a nearby roof. “I can wait for as long as I need.” Their fangs shimmered in the light while it smirked down at the building full of cowering people. In its eyes, this was all an amusing game. Oh, what had it become?...

Vlad took a deep breath and let it out slowly; the reality sinking in darker than he’d ever imagined. Phantom was right- their time in the safety of the bubble was limited. Either they died in here or out there, but regardless of the outcome, it wouldn’t be pretty. The man turned to leave, but got jump scared by a figure behind him. “BEWARE!” It shouted.

Vlad practically fell backwards. He bent down, hands on his knees as he stood; trying to regulate his breathing. “Why would you do that?! You nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you even doing here?... Wait- how are you here? The ghost shield is up.”

The ghost floated around, turning almost upside down on his back. “I snuck in here with you. Also Ember said we needed to all use our unique abilities to deal with the situation. She assigned me the task of touching nothing but helping the humans in only a completely necessary case of emergency. So that’s what I’m doing.”

Sure. Helping by scaring one half to death! Which would honestly be ironic concerning who if he still had his ghost powers.  “Well perhaps Ember was correct in ONE half of her assignment.” The man muttered under his breath. The ghost gave him the expression of waiting; most likely for orders. He wanted to be told to do something. The Box Ghost was bored. Vlad glanced around, trying to find a job, but it was clear why the others didn’t assign them one, so he let out a light, defeated groan. “How about you stay far away from the citizens for one. It’ll almost surely cause a panic. That’s the last thing we need right now. Other than that, resume the ‘not touching anything’ part.”

Box perked up and saluted like a soldier with an order. “Aye aye, captain!”

Vlad rolled his eyes and started making his way downstairs. This was going to be fun…

Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, Technus was rummaging through a box of tools and scrap parts while near silently muttering something unintelligible to himself. Johnny 13 leaned against the cold, stone wall of the laboratory like he was bored. They were in Technus’ laboratory. It sat on a floating island made of dark rock speckled with various mineral deposits. The architecture was… interesting to say the least. It looked like a frankenstein creation of old monster movie castles and science labs. A permanent sheet of storm clouds hung over the island, readily awaiting the perfect time to throw down a dramatic lightning strike. Johnny questioned why exactly he was there instead of guarding the ghost portal entrance like he was told to. Technus rolled his eyes and turned to the young man. Because I needed someone to  help me test my invention! Besides, the gateway is closed off and your little shadow thingy can handle standing guard. 13 glared. “My shadow isn’t a THINGY! It’s a part of me. And for your information, he can’t stay separated from me for long periods of time. I’ve tried before… it doesn’t end well.”

“Well, he’s gonna have to learn to step out of his comfort zone then, because if we can’t stop the ghost child, nothings ever going to be the same.” The tech ghost swooped down and grabbed a sealed vile of glowing green plasma, then tossed it for Johnny to catch. “Come on dear boy, we need to get these gloves ready before the other less intellectual spirits fail miserably.” Johnny tilted his head. He was talking about Ember, Skulker, and Young Blood. The three that were on the mission to find Desiree so she could undo the starting point of Danny’s insanity. Did Technus really have THAT little faith that she’d make herself known? Or was he referring to something else?... Johnny had yet to experience it first hand, but he figured the ghost boy wasn’t as horrible as the other specters made him out to be. He knew Danny- there was no way that kid was capable of everything Technus described. After all, he was just 14…

Phantom’s small frame stayed perched on the roof of a building as it eyed the green death bubble around Fenton Works. It rolled over onto its back; keeping eye contact locked onto the shield. A small huff escaped his lips. Phantom was bored already. It had only been 20 minutes since the barrier proved too strong to break through, but it felt like an eternity. The moment the power cut, it would reduce the building and everyone inside to ash. It swore that. Vlad stood in the doorway of the control room, looking out at the crowd of people who managed to shove themselves in the Fenton’s old home. From within them, four faces he recognized. They seemed to be eyeing the clone Danny from across the crowd, but refusing to advance or even make their presence known. Reluctantly, Vlad moved towards them, asking if everyone was alright. One of the four noticed him and flagged him down. She was a slim woman with ginger hair and a dark pink, high-end dress. Her husband, who wore a black sweater vest and a white undershirt with blond hair, also seemed to immediately recognize him. Vlad forced himself over to the interaction and greeted them politely. The fancy woman held a not so cheery demeanor, but the lines on her face implied she used to smile excessively. “Mr. Masters, right?” she started. “I’m Pam and this is my husband, Jeremy. We met at the funeral. We were Sam’s parents, one of Danny’s friends.”
Oh… THAT’S why he recognized them! So then the other couple were the parents of Danny’s other friend, Tucker. Angela and Maurice Foley. He remembered talking to them while at the funeral, which he paid for, and expressing sorrow for their losses. The husband from the other couple spoke up. “So, you’re the one who stepped up to take care of Danny, huh? His new guardian?”

Vlad blinked. Huh. Technically, yes, he supports that was true. He WAS responsible for Danny….. and now he was dead. But as far as they were concerned, the poor kid was standing in his living room taking to Valerie right now. From what he could see, she seemed to look almost uncomfortable with whatever the topic was though. “You know,” Mrs. Foley added, “Whatever you’ve done seems to be working. Daniel looks a lot better now. He's actually interacting again. But we’re a little afraid of going over to talk to him.”

“We don’t want to accidentally bring up something that would hurt him. You know?” Mr. Manson looked over at the boy in sorrow. Vlad and the other parents followed; feeling bad for Danny. But only Vlad knew the truth. That wasn’t Daniel- and he wasn’t coping with his losses- because as awful as was beginning to feel, Vlad never told him. The man never saw any need to. The clone was never meant to replace the young halfa like he was beginning to. Vlad saw little to no point in sitting him down and explaining that the original Danny’s parents, sister, and best friends blew up. No point in explaining that he’d refused to eat, smile, or talk for days afterwards. It was hard enough having to deal with one depressed and practically suicidal teenager- he was NOT doing that again. But now that he knew there were people there who could easily start telling him things he didn’t agree to, he needed a plan. “Yeah. It's a fragile peace. Best not disturb him for now. Speaking of, if you’d excuse me…” the man slinked away and approached the two ghost fighting teens. Valerie seemed relieved at his appearance. “Daniel, would you mind coming with me for a moment?”

The boy smiled. “Sure dad.”

Vlad felt the cold in his heart melt again. He was never going to get used to that. Wow. Dad… still surreal to hear coming so genuinely from that face. The first Danny would never. Or at least, never within the time that he could. If the surgery never happened and Vlad dealt with the pessimistic child like a normal person, he might have eventually gotten there. Or at the very least, a genuine ‘uncle’. But that timeline, if it exists, wasn’t one he’d live to see. The man led the boy through the crowd of people and down into the lab. The two dead bodies of the agents were technically still down there, albeit just their burnt atoms since they were blasted and destroyed in the fight with Technus, but still. The two simply avoided the scorch marks on the floor as well as the blood stains. Danny seemed unfazed by that, and instead his expression turned to one of wonder. The brawl involving the tech ghost left the room in shambles, with gadget scattered and shelves toppled. It was a disaster in there, but Danny seemed focused on one thing in particular- the ghost portal. The kid seemed drawn to the contraption, as if a siren song that only he could hear emanated from behind those thick, metal doors. Vlad took notice and quickly spoke up. “Daniel, you’ll have plenty of time to look around later, but for now, the mission I’m assigning to you is cleaning up this mess. Everyone needs to do their part in this battle.” Vlad glanced over at the clock. “Though perhaps that can wait till the morning. How about you head to your room and get some rest?”

Danny started blankly at the man; confused. He too was perplexed by the reaction until it clicked. “Oh, right. First door on your left when you climb the stairs.” The boy nodded and began leaving, but Vlad added one more thing as he went. “And whatever you do, don’t talk to anyone. Um. Stranger danger of course.”
…

The next morning, the phantom was sprawled out on a rooftop, sleeping like a sunbathing cat. Of course, due to the energy storm it created over Amity Park, there was no sunshine, but at least it had stopped raining yesterday. Now the sky was just blanketed in dark clouds that would occasionally crackle with green electricity. No doubt Phantom and some others noticed the similarities between how the sky looked now and how it appeared when Pariah began taking over, but they had chosen to ignore it for the most part. This wasn’t  Amity Park’s first rodeo. Just another ghost apocalypse, no big deal… right? Phantom rolled over in its sleep and stretched. The only time the monster ever felt even close to at peace was when it slept. No dreams ever stuck with it, so it assumed that it couldn’t have them. But maybe it did? Maybe it calmed in slumber because it was dreaming of something beautiful. Perhaps in the escape from reality, Jack and Maddie held their baby sweetly in their arms and reassured them it was alright. Or maybe it dreamed about taking down cities? With the slight smile that crossed its face as it slept, nobody knows. Then suddenly, the peace was broken. A massive beam obliterated the roof the boy was resting on, sending it flying backwards and then crashing into another building. Vlad, who fell asleep in the control room above the actual building, jolted awake and panicked upon seeing the situation. Several armed, military grade, ghost fighting vehicles lined the streets. Along with them, over 50 agents in white. A cold chill ran down Vlad’s spine. They must have gotten an emergency distress signal from the two agents Phantom murdered and came with back up. The ghost boy growled as it attempted to break free from the rubble. “What is this?..”

An agent called out for the cannons to fire again, but this time, Phantom put up a shield right before they could make contact. The green glow from the ecto orb slowly made its way out of the dust cloud and dissolved to reveal a frazzled phantom glaring down at them from the crumbling structure; unharmed. They fired a third barrage on their commander’s orders, but it only collapsed the building further as the boy easily avoided the attacks by flying to another building. “Ugh. Really? More of you? Aren’t two dead government officials good enough?” it cracked a twisted smile. “You know what? Don’t answer that.”

The man in the front, obviously the one in charge of the operation, stepped forward. “Attention ghost boy! As your superior, I order you to stand down! We won’t give you more trouble than we already have if you choose to come quietly.” The sarcastic tone made it sound like he was lying. Which to be perfectly honest, he definitely was. Phantom chuckled as he floated down to meet him, landing only a few feet away. Several agents aimed their guns, ready to fire at any given moment, but the spirit pretend to ignore them. The commander took a weary step back.

“What’s wrong?” The ghost boy smirked. “You asked me to turn myself in, so here I am. Nothing to be afraid of. I’m only a kid.”

A few whispers and confused looks were exchanged between agents in the crowd. The leader remained understandably suspicious as he retaliated by asking that if it was so nonthreatening, then why  it was destroying the town. The spirit played pity. Oh, how he loved acting. Such a fun game he used to play with his enemies like Vlad. “Well, unfortunately for you officer, I can’t help it. You see, I’m just an average teenage boy, but because of a horrible accident, I’ve turned half ghost. And you know how ghosts are…” The kid floated upside down and got closer as it talked. “My ghost side is simply too powerful for me to control. Oh, but I’m sure Danny is in there somewhere… you wouldn't want to be responsible for shooting a CHILD,  would you?”

The man looked conflicted. “The M.I.W is not above destroying a ghost. But a living child might be out of our jurisdiction. If what you say is true, then come quietly and you won’t be harmed.”

The phantom snickered. “Aw- What I said WAS true! But not anymore. Glad to know the people running the show are truly this gullible.” With one blast from a handgun motion, the commander went flying back, crumbling to the pavement as his white suit turned crimson. The boys smiled dropped to a look of disappointment and boredom. “Alright guys, here’s the deal! We can do this the easy way, or we can this the hard way.”

Multiple people unleashed fire almost immediately, causing Phantom to have to rocket up and dodge. “I was hoping you’d chose that.” While midair, it sent a barrage of energy blasts down on the army, injuring multiple people and killing at least 3. Just then, one of the vehicles shot a missile with a red and black skull on the side. Phantom whipped around to dodge, yawning like he was bored, but it switched courses and dove back after the teen. Phantom’s heart dropped for a fleeting moment before it rammed into it and the explosion lit up the sky. Vlad, who was watching all of this go down from the control room, felt a cold rock sink in his chest. The fiery explosion reflected in his eyes like the sudden fear gripping his heart. “DANIEL!” He knew it wasn’t him anymore, but he couldn’t help it! The Box Ghost hovered beside him. “Do not worry human person!” he announced. “I’ll go check it out!” The specter went intangible and darted off, much to Vlad’s displeasure as he called out for him to stop.

Phantom groaned as it slowly sat itself up. It had been blown into an alleyway a few blocks away. “Crap. That one actually hurt.” It wiped away the green blood that dripped from its mouth and nose, looking at how it shimmered on its white gloves. That wasn’t good. An agent walked past the alley, clearly searching for it, so it went invisible to remain undetected. Red smoke puffed from its nostrils and the ghost boy twisted around to murder whoever dared attack it in its moment of weakness.

“BEWA- AAH!” The specter was pinned to the ground by the throat before it could finish the word.

Phantom’s eyes grew wide as it recognized the face of its foe. “What the hell are you doing back?! I thought I told you to screw off!”

Box panicked. “Hey man, this is the last city in the living world I wanna be in right now! I’m just here while the others finish up… um.” The ghost caught himself slipping and immediately shut up, but the damage was already done.

Phantom pressed harder in Box’s throat and held an ecto-blast to the side of his head. “Talk…” It growled.