AN: Hah, I remembered to convert it to left alignment this time! Anyways, Blood of the Phantom Chapter Eight! Was going to write this yesterday, but I was feeling under the weather. D: Anyways, I like this chapter, I think. First battle chapter since my return! Huzzah! Please enjoy and review if you can!

Blood of a Phantom

Chapter Eight: The Prototype

"He's going home with me, where he belongs."

The group froze for a moment, all eyes on the new arrival. The girl ghost hung in the air near the speeder, as if waiting for some kind of reaction. She didn't really want to fight Phantom, because even with her father's assurances, she thought that she wouldn't be able to win. It would be nice if she could just convince him to come with her- maybe she could threaten the humans, if it came to it.

Phantom was the first to speak. "I think you're mistaken." He said slowly, watching her carefully. He didn't know who this girl was, just that she was giving of a similar power signature to his own. One of Vlad's prototypes, maybe? He could have sworn the man would have waited to break one of them out. He must have really wanted him back.

"I think you are the one mistaken." The female ghost insisted. "Whatever these humans have said to you, they are just trying to deceive you! Father is the only one who cares about the two of us! Why don't you see that?"

Ah, prototype it is. Phantom thought. "Look, the other ghost already tried that tactic." He told her. "So if you've come to take me back, you're just going to have to fight me for it."

Hesitation showed on the girl's face for just a moment, but vanished quickly. It was there just long enough for those inside the Speeder to catch it, however. Maddie's mind was already considering options. They had a powerful ghost shield on the Specter Speeder, but she didn't want to risk having the ghost follow them back to base.

She did notice that this new ghost had addressed Vlad as her father, however. That, coupled with how similar she looked to Danny, made her think that this was one of Vlad's prototypes. She wondered if Vlad had also used her DNA to help construct this one, but couldn't spare a thought for that for too long. There were bigger things to worry about.

"Fine then!" The girl ghost raised her voice, gathering her confidence. She would just have to catch him and bring him back. That wouldn't be too hard, would it? After all, father had said that his combat routines weren't complete yet, and she knew hers were. She had to banish the thought of a possible failure from her mind.

After all, if she won, maybe her father would allow her to remain out of storage. Never wanting to disobey him, she had gone into storage of her own free will, but always secretly wanted to stay outside, with him. If she succeeded in this mission, if she won, then there might finally be a chance of that happening.

That alone was enough to convince her that fighting Phantom was worth it. So, thoughts of winning his approval filling her mind, the girl readied herself to fight Phantom.

Phantom glanced back at those in the Speeder for a moment, before he flew outside of it, readying himself to fight. Maddie took her cue and activated the ghost shield on the Speeder, trying to back it out of harm's way. Although she wanted to get Jazz back to the base for treatment as quickly as possible, she was hesitant about leaving Danny behind. She didn't know if he'd be able to find his way back, and she didn't even know if he would win this fight.

She wasn't about to let Vlad take him from her, creator or not. She always knew that the man would have made a horrible father- that was part of the reason she chose Jack over him, in fact. Maddie had always wanted children of her own.

Phantom watched the ghost girl carefully, as if he was waiting for her to make the first move. "What's wrong?" He asked. "You aren't frozen in fear, are you? Not after all of that big talk of bringing me back?"

"I am not afraid!" The ghost girl insisted. "Let me show you!" Those words having barely finished coming from her lips, she charged up a powerful ectoblast, hurling it at Phantom. The ghost boy quickly evaded the blast, only to have her follow it up by another. He managed to avoid this one as well, though it was a bit too close for comfort. She knew what she was doing, that was for certain.

The ghost girl wasted no time in moving in, rushing at Phantom with all the speed she had. The ghost boy quickly flew above her, avoiding it, but she flew at him again, this time charging up another ectoblast and firing it off at him. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as he managed to dodge it once more. She would have to think outside the box for this one.

Phantom shot off his own blast then, which Danni avoided, firing back with another one of her own. Their power levels weren't that far off, he noted, though she seemed to be a little bit weaker than him. He wondered for a moment why Plasmius had scrapped her, since she seemed to be working just fine.

The ghost girl lunged at him again, this time firing two ectoblasts simultaneously. Phantom's eyes narrowed, as he narrowly avoided them. Wasting no time, he fired two of his own at the girl. She managed to avoid them, a bit better than he did, given her reduced size, but Phantom had not stopped moving and had followed behind his own blasts.

She felt his fist colliding against her chin, knocking her back in the air. She couldn't waste time recovering though, as Phantom was on her again. This time, she managed to raise an ectosheild, blocking her from getting at him. With her free hand, she charged up a blast and hurled it at him, giving a triumphant grin as this one managed to hit home, knocking the larger ghost hybrid back.

Shaking it off, he found himself having to go back on the defensive now as the petite ghost charged him, firing off a round of ectoblasts. He threw up a shield to defend against them, then used the shield itself to slam into her once she got close enough. The ghost girl was forced back, and Phantom took advantage of that moment, firing a blast at her.

This blast hit home, and sent the smaller girl flying back. Growing frustrated now, she forced aside her own pain to continue fighting him. She could take a blast like that, her father hadn't made her to be weak. Of course, she knew that he hadn't made Phantom to be weak either, so this battle might take a lot longer than she had first anticipated. Combat routines or not, he wasn't stupid.

Somewhere in all of this, her plans of threatening the humans fell unnoticed to the wayside. Her mind was focused on this battle, and as it continued to rage on, the more she wanted to win it by her own strength, rather than resorting to a dirty trick.

The two ghosts continued to exchange blows, both physical and ectoplasmic. Some of them missed, some of them hit, but neither of them were willing to give up. Phantom really didn't want to go along with this girl to be Vlad's puppet, and the girl really wanted to prove herself to her beloved father.

Gritting her teeth against a blast that had come too close for comfort, the ghost girl raised her arm to send off one of her own at her 'brother'. This was stopped, however, by her own body, as she noticed to her horror, that her arm was seeping ectoplasm. She froze for a moment, unable to keep a small shriek from escaping once she noticed that it was oozing from most of her body.

Phantom didn't seem to let this faze him, however, and fired off an ectoblast at her. Caught off-guard, the ghost girl was sent flying backwards, crashing into a nearby door. Groaning in pain, she noticed her feet were slowly starting to turn into a puddle of goo, dripping down on a floating rock down below.

What was going on!? She was turning back into ectoplasmic goo, from the looks of it. This hadn't happened before, she thought panicking, noticing Phantom's approach. To be truthful, however, she had never fought this much before either. She felt part of her heart sinking, her dream of impressing her father fading from her reach. There was no way he was ever going to consider her useful, not with a flaw like this!

What should she do?

Phantom grinned to himself as he flew towards the ghost girl. He didn't really know what was happening to her, but it was something he intended to take advantage of. Raising his hand, he prepared to fire another ectoblast, but a shout from the Speeder gave him pause. Turning to look at them, he realized that the Speeder was moving again, coming close towards them.

"Danny, stop!" Maddie put her head out of the Speeder, dropping the ghost shield for the moment. Valerie was keeping an eye on the girl ghost, one hand over her ectopistol, just in case this was some kind of trick to get their guard down. Tucker had moved in the back with Sam, and was helping keep Jazz's condition stable as best the two knew how.

"Danny, you've already won this!" Maddie called out to him. She realized what was happening to the ghost girl. She was clearly unstable, and was now starting to dissolve back into a puddle of goo. "Please, get in the Speeder, we can't wait any longer. We have to get your sister back to the base. She needs urgent treatment!"

Phantom seemed to hesitate, unsure of what move to make next. The weapon part of his mind told him to finish the girl off, but his human half told him to listen to his mother. The internal debate showed on his face, as he glanced back from Maddie, to the girl, then back to Maddie again.

After a moment, he dropped his arm, the ectoplasmic energy fading away. Giving a last long look at the young ghost girl, as if warning her against trying anything, he flew into the Speeder. He landed in the back with Sam and Tucker and gave Maddie a signal to move.

Although the ghost girl was becoming disoriented now, she noticed what was going on. They were going away, they were getting away from her. But the worst part, the worst part of it all, even more than knowing that she was doomed for storage again, was the feeling that the ghost boy had pitied her. Worse even than the thought that she might be fading from existence.

She wasn't even worth his time to finish off.

"Don't pity me!" She felt herself screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice carrying through the Ghost Zone. "Damnit, come back and finish this with me, Phantom!" She yelled, clinging to the door frame with all the strength she could muster. "Come back!" She screamed again, although the Speeder was gone from her vision now.

"Don't pity me..."

The world blurred in her sights then, and there was nothing more.

Back in the Speeder, Phantom sat down and let the rings of blue light move over his body, causing him to resume his human form. Maddie glanced back momentarily after seeing the flash of light, and smiled at the raven haired boy as he returned. She would have things to ask him when they got back, but now was not the time.

Right now, she thought, the most important thing is to get Jazz back home for treatment. Glancing now at her injured daughter, she felt her heart skip a beat, finally having time to take in the extent of the damage. She swore then, that she was going to find the ghost that did this to her, and rip it apart, until there was nothing left of it. Nobody, nobody messed with her children and got away with it.

And if she didn't do it, she knew that damn well Jack would.

With the injured Jazz on board, the Speeder had to go slower than Tucker's power boost now allowed it to. Though she didn't like the thought of staying in the Ghost Zone any longer than they already had, she also didn't want to risk causing further damage to Jazz. Switching the ghost shield back up, just in case, she glanced over at Valerie.

"Keep a sharp eye out." She told her, though the girl already seemed to be doing just that. She had her hands resting on both of her ectopistols, as if she expected something to jump out at them any second now. She too, was sickened to see the extent of damage that Jazz had taken, hoping that her friend would be alright.

She had already lost her father to this war, she didn't want to see anyone else she cared about leaving her.

The longer this war dragged on, Valerie knew, the better chances were for one of her loved ones to die again. She didn't want that. She knew that, especially now, now that the war had slowly started to move again from it's grinding halt, that people would start dying again. She thought for a moment that she would rather give up her own life than let someone else close to her die again.

It wasn't like she blamed herself for her father's death, or anything. She knew that the man had gone on the undercover mission on his own free will. She couldn't be more proud of him, really. After Plasmius had found him out, he had pretty much left the man for dead. And yet still, still, he had managed to steal a transport, and had managed to drive for who knows how long back to Amity Park. Valerie honestly didn't know what kind of inner strength it took for him to fight off his injuries for that long.

And when he returned, he made his way to the command center on his own, and reported in one last time. It was then, only then, had he finally passed away.

The information he had given them was the existence of the Phantom Project. It was invaluable information, the stuff that would insure that Vlad could not break the stalemate in his favor. And now, from the looks of things, a faint hope was growing inside her that they might have just gained their winning hand.

From the very thing Plasmius created to destroy them. The irony was not lost on her.

More than anything now, Valerie wanted to win this war. She had always wanted to, of course, but now, now, the desire was blazing inside of her, an inferno that could not be put out. They would win, they had to win. They would take back the human world for humans, and send the ghosts back where they belonged.

She was more determined now than ever not to let her father, not to let anyone's parents, friends, or family, to have died in vain.

They had to win.

Back at the base, Jack heard the clanging of the Ghost Portal's alert, indicating that something was nearing it. Making his way over to it, he opened up the portal, allowing the Specter Speeder to enter the old lab. No sooner than had the tail end of it come in, did Jack seal the portal, shutting it off once more, not wanting anything else to come out of it.

"Jack!" Maddie jumped out of the Speeder, not wasting any time. "Call for a stretcher, Jazz is hurt." She paused to look at him. "It's bad."

Knowing that now was no the time to ask questions, he quickly called for one. Valerie had hopped back behind the seat of the Speeder, and was helping Tucker and Sam remove Jazz from it, careful not to hurt her any more than she already was. Jack couldn't help but flinch at the sight of his injured daughter, and moved to help them lie her down on the floor once he was done with his call.

Danny came out of the Speeder last, grateful to be human again, as well as out of the Ghost Zone. Although it seemed he and his weapon mindset were slowly merging, Danny still preferred to be himself. His ghost form was too insensitive for his tastes, and he didn't like some of the thoughts that ran through his mind while he was in that body. He could feel and see everything his other self could, and most of it just didn't mix with his human personality.

Part of him even felt bad about leaving the young ghost girl back there. Half of him had wanted to bring her with him. Maybe if he saw how humans like Maddie and Jack and Jazz were, how they acted, maybe she would come to like living over here. He kind of got the feeling that Vlad didn't appreciate her that much.

Several minutes of anxious waiting later, a stretcher was brought down. Two medics carefully placed Jazz on it, and assured the Fentons that their daughter would be alright. She was in their hands now, and they would not let them down. The two nodded, letting them take their daughter away.

Maddie let out a sigh of relief now, glad to be home, and glad to have Jazz safely on her way to get help. She didn't delude herself into thinking they could save her mangled arm, but at least now she was certain that she would live. They had good medics here, people who really knew what they were doing. They had to, otherwise they would have lost many more lives than they already had.

"She's going to be just fine, Maddie." Jack assured her, putting his hand on her arm.

"I know, I know." Maddie placed her hand over his, giving him a weak smile. She then turned towards the others assembled in the old lab, realizing they were waiting for her to say something. "For now, just head on back to your quarters. I'll gather you all up for a debriefing in an hour. Valerie, can you help Danny back to his room?" She asked.

Valerie nodded. "Yeah, no problem. I'd be happy to." Part of her really wanted to follow behind Jazz's stretcher however, but the Fenton's orders came first. "Danny, come on, I'll help you back up."

She still wasn't sure what to make of his ghost form, yet. Glancing over at the raven haired boy, she thought that he was no different than from when she had first met him, however. She didn't like ghosts, really, but she wasn't half as irrational about it as Sam was at times. She had seen examples of ghosts that were not like the others, and it was enough to convince her that being a ghost didn't mean you were necessarily evil.

Besides, it seemed that Danny had proved that he intended to stay on the side of the humans back there. It might be a trick, granted, all part of an elaborate scheme, but somehow... she didn't think so. She wasn't always the best judge of character, honestly, but something about this just felt right to her.

"Um, sure." Danny paused, glancing over at the Fentons, before he followed behind Valerie. He too, felt very worried about Jazz. Although he still couldn't quite figure out why she had done what she did, being in his human mindset allowed him more insight on the situation. Was that what people did for those that they cared about? He wondered. That thought touched him deeply.

These people were willing to put their lives on the line for those that they cared about. Not all of them, maybe, but there were those among them who would do it in a heartbeat.

To him, that was amazing.

Jack hadn't been wasting his time during the several hours it took for the crew of the Speeder to come back. Instead, he had been busy seeking out the traitor amongst their ranks. Although he often gave off the impression of being a clueless buffoon, he wasn't half in charge of the rebellion for nothing.

He knew that Skulker had to be released by somebody. He had been there for several years, and nothing had changed since he was confined in his cell. No, this was an inside job. Somebody here was working for Vlad.

It didn't take them too long to figure out who it was, really. After all, she wasn't as clever as she thought she was. Now she sat, confined in a cell of her own, waiting judgement. It would not be pretty.

Vlad had played a card, but in the end, it was the rebels that managed to use it to their advantage. Oh, there may be other moles, it was possible, but for now, one of them, Paulina Sanchez, was locked away. Skulker had escaped, but he no longer held any more information for them.

It was a small victory today, and not without it's costs, but nobody really missed it's significance.

Twice now, the rebellion had one. They had not only captured Plasmius' weapon and turned it against him, but they had also managed to catch one of his moles.

For now, it seemed that the stalemate had broken in their favor.