Me: And I'm finally back!

Dani: Yay! Now I get to come into the story!

Me: Yup.

Dani: Wait… are you serious!?

Me: Nah. I just wanted to get your hopes up. It's time for some Jazz/Tucker and Vlad/Pandora romance.

Dani: *eyes glow green as well as her hands* I'LL KILL YOU!

Me: *unamused look* Really? You're that easy to fool? Yes, you're coming in this chapter, just not in the way you may think. No, calm the heck down and be good before I make good on my earlier statement.

Dani: Well, okay then. Why didn't you just say so?

Me: *facepalm*

Danny: So, uh, where you been? It's been forever since you have written anything.

Me: Well, real life can be an absolute nightmare sometimes, as I'm sure our readers are very aware. But I'm back and will be trying to get more chapters out so that I do not disappoint everyone.

Ember: Well, I for one am glad you're back. I need some sugar from Babypop and you haven't written me some yet!

Danny: Yeah! I mean *cough* um so Dani is gonna be in this chapter, huh?

Me: Yup, and don't think I didn't catch that are you looking forward to a little smooch with the flaming blue bonfire over there.

Danny: I don't know what you're talking about.

Ember: Oh, really? So you didn't just shout 'yeah' when I said I wanted some sugar?

Danny: *Sweat drops* Can we get on to the next chapter now?

Dani: And so, we do a brief recap simply because Garis actually had to go back and reread everything so he could remember where he was going with this-

Me: Hey!

Dani: *takes a deep breath* So Danny died - which was sad and was met by Clockwork in the GZ - soon after which he met Pandora who is Clockwork's daughter and she takes him in and becomes his ghostly mother and we learn that Nocturne and Undergrowth are her siblings and now Danny's uncles and also that apparently Clockwork has a sweet tooth for scones - Pandora then hosts the annual Christmas party which lo-and-behold Danny finds that he actually enjoys, if only because he met his blue bonfire, yeah shut it Danny it's a funny nickname - after the party Ember and Danny leave and enjoy each other's company so that they can talk and get to know each other *cough* sounds like a date to me *cough* and in doing so they discover a portal and find that it leads to Danny's old house and where he died – they leave after being caught by Jazz who promptly faints – then they run into Tucker in the park - the three start to talk and Danny and Tucker fall right back into their friendship and suddenly they are attacked by Sam who is crazy fruit loop - when things escalate a little too far Vlad joins the group and is surprised to see Danny's ghost and Ember there and even more surprised by the fact that Sam attacked them - finally Tucker has enough and knocks her out and takes her home promising to catch up to them with Jazz - after they are all at Vlad's mansion they talk and Vlad reveals his Halfa status to Danny, then Pandora finds them after looking for Danny - Vlad comes to Danny's rescue and offers them a place to rest for the night and flirts with Pandora - then makes breakfast for everyone in the morning - after a nice breakfast and a tense conversation about Danny's parents and Jazz's place to stay, the three ghosts take their leave though Vlad's ghost portal but not before Vlad asks Pandora on a date.

Me: Holy- did you just do that in one breath?

Dani: No sweat. I may look twelve, but I have the energy of a four-year-old!

Me: Hmm that gives me an idea…

Dani: *gasp* What are you planning, you evil fiend!?

Me: Fiend? Really? You couldn't come up with something better than fiend?

Dani: You get my point. What are you planning!?

Me: As clockwork always says, "everything comes with time".

Dani: I hate you…

Burning Bridges

Manson Mansion,

Ida Manson was a kindly woman, down to earth, generous and loving; everything that could be expected of a grandmother. However, right now she was worried; Over the past few months, she had begun to notice changes in her granddaughter. Sam had become very reclusive and no longer talked to her the same way she used to. Young Danny's death had affected Sam badly but she thought if she gave her time then she would come to her to talk. She hadn't and it worried her to no end; Sam was short with everyone, hardly talked to her other friend, Tucker, anymore and was letting her schoolwork slide in her endeavors to help with the growing ghostly crisis.

However, not all the ghosts that came through were deserving of this. Yes, some were violent, but not all of them; In fact, one ghost had even helped her carry in her groceries when he saw her struggling one day and had been visiting her every once in a while, since. He would come and keep her company and help her around the house; He was a very friendly ghost and made it his mission to do everything he could to help her in every way. The only thing he asked for in return was for a friend and Ida had been happy to oblige him.

Yes, Klemper was a very good friend to her, helping her up and down the stairs, fetching things for her when she was making dinner, and helping the butler, Jared, with some of his duties as well. It was funny to her that Jared would go to do one of his many jobs only to find that it was already done. Speaking of Klemper.

"Hello Ida!" Klemper greeted as he floated though her study door. He no longer wore his pajamas, but rather a nice pair of slacks, some good shoes and a white polo shirt. All in all, he looked very smart. "How are you doing today my friend?" He asked.

"Well hello, Klemper! I'm doing just fine; A little worried about my granddaughter is all." She replied with a smile.

Klemper schooled his expression to not reveal his true feeling toward Samantha Manson. He had seen her many times around the house and he didn't like the feeling he got from her. He was friendly by his very nature and his obsession, but something held him back when it came to her; A feeling of deep foreboding always latched on to him whenever Sam was around.

"I'm sure she will be alright, Ida." He said warily, "If what you told me is true, then she just needs some time to come to terms with what has happened in her life."

Ida smiled at him, knowing that he was only saying this to make her feel better. At one point, she would have believed his words but she knew him enough now to know how he truly feels about her Sam. Wary, nervous, and a little frightened, Klemper usually approached everyone he met to ask if they could be friends but he never did with Sam. In fact, if Sam was ever around, he instinctively became invisible so that she wouldn't see him.

It pained her that her friend didn't trust her granddaughter with his well-being, but she couldn't really blame him either. Sam had become very zealous in her pursuit of ghost hunting and had made no sign of being friendly to any of them. It worried her, thinking about what would happen if Sam ever ran into Klemper, if he had missed that she was there.

"I hope you're right, Klemper. I really do. I don't know how much more of her attitude I can take." She replied sadly, "I understand rebelling against your parents. It's what all teenagers do, but to actively push them aside and show no consideration for them at all? That's too much. She is even doing it to me now. I don't know what is going on with her anymore." She sighed, her heart heavy. "Losing Daniel took a heavy toll on her, but she refused to talk about it to anyone. She won't even talk to her friend Tucker anymore; She seems so lonely now."

Klemper listened intently as Ida laid her worries bare; It saddened him to see her like this. He wished so badly that he could help her but knew he couldn't do much. Then a thought came to his mind. What if he could prove to Sam that not all ghosts were as bad as she thought? Maybe let her see him helping her grandmother every now and then. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was a good idea. He decided to run the plan by Ida, just in case she didn't agree with him though.

"Ida, I have an idea, but I want to run it by you first," He stated, "I think it might help with Sam's attitude." He then went on to talk to her in detail about his plan and as he did, Ida's eyes widened.

"Are you sure you wish to do that, Klemper? She may take it the wrong way and think you are trying to harm me! I know you only wish to help, but with how closed minded she is about ghosts right now, are you sure you want to take that chance?" Ida asked, worried for her friend.

Klemper thought for only a moment before he made his decision; This was to help his friend and he would do anything for his friends, "I'm sure, Ida."

*One hour later*

Ida was in the mansion's library with Sam, reading a book, when she gained a sudden idea. She got up and explained she was going to get a certain book from one of the shelves, a book Sam knew very well. Both her and Sam also knew that the book was on top of one of the tallest shelves in the library, across the room. Sam motioned to get up and help her, but Ida waved her away saying that she already had help. Sam sat in confusion, having not heard nor seen anyone else in the library. She then heard her grandmother softly speaking to someone else, then returning with the book in hand and shrugged, realizing someone must have been in the library after all and had gotten it for her. That was, until she heard Ida say thank you and someone else who wasn't there say your welcome in return.

It was at that moment when everything went bad. Sam jumped to the worst ever possible conclusion: A ghost was haunting her grandmother and had some sway over her, preventing her from speaking about it; or was even threatening her grandmother in some way!

Sam jumped up and pulled an ecto-gun from her boot, firing it directly at where the voice had come, from not noticing that her grandmother had screamed for her to stop. The beam slammed into the invisible Klemper, knocking him into the far wall. Furious that her suspicions had been confirmed, Sam marched over to him, repeatedly shooting him as he was down, screaming, "How dare you go after my grandmother, you ectoplasmic scum! You twisted, evil, post-human consciousness. I'll make you regret you ever came out of the ghost zone!"

Ida had not expected this; this kind of violence from Sam was new and it was absolutely horrifying. "Sam, stop! You are hurting him!" She screamed as she wheeled herself over toward Sam and Klemper. The terror in her heart only increased when she saw Klemper's glow begin to dim and him start to lose his shape.

Sam didn't even respond as she continued to blast Klemper again and again, the look of pure hatred on her face never diminishing. When she saw that the ghost was almost faded, she stopped and approached with pure venom in her eyes. "This is what you deserve." She stated as she fired point blank between his eyes, never registering the tears in his eyes as he wept; never hearing the sobs of her grandmother as she lost a dear friend at the hand of her own granddaughter.

Ida was broken. The last time she had seen treatment like that had been during the holocaust. And that treatment had just been delivered by her own granddaughter. She said a small and quiet prayer for Klemper's spirit and asked Yahweh to please allow the poor ghost into Shehaqim, as he had suffered enough in his life and afterlife. She gripped the Star of David in her hand so tight that her knuckles turned white. Enough was enough. She had thought that there was a chance to reach Sam; to bring her back before it was too late. Klemper had believed it too; he had been willing to help her, despite his fear of Sam. He had even come up with the idea to show her different sides of ghosts, but she had acted out of pure hatred, never once considering the being that she had ended as being anything other than, as she called him, ectoplasmic scum. Never once treating him like any form of person.

Ida's face darkened. She knew what it was time for; she had hoped she would never have to utter the words she was about to deliver as she took out her cell and dialed her son's number.

"Hello? Mother? What's wrong? Why are you calling me? Where are you?" Jeremy Manson asked, panicking at his mother calling him while in the same house.

"I'm in the library with Samantha. I need both you and Pamela here right now. No excuses, just get here. It's about Samantha." She replied curtly, hanging up without waiting for a response.

Sam, who had been staring at the spot that Klemper had faded from finally registered that her grandmother was behind her. She turned and rushed to her grandmother, intending to ask if she was okay and if the effect the ghost had on her mind had been removed, only to stop dead at the cold look of fury on her grandmother's face.

"Grandma Ida, what's wrong? Are you ok? Is that ghost's power still working on you?!" She asked, "Why do you look so angry?"

"QUIET!" Ida exclaimed in cold fury, then pointed to a chair, "Sit."

Sam had never heard her grandmother sound so angry before it scared her and so she went to the chair and sat without arguing. She wasn't sure what was going on here; Grandma Ida should have been free of the ghost's influence and so should be happy knowing she was no longer a slave to the ghost's malicious intent.

Suddenly, the library doors burst open and her mom and dad came flying in the room, worry etched upon their faces, only to stop dead when they looked at the expression on Ida's face. Jeremy cringed; he knew that look and it never boded well. The last time he had seen that look was when his brother had left; he still didn't like to think of what happened that day.

"Ida, what's wrong?" Pamela asked nervously. She had never seen her mother in law look so angry.

"We need to talk about Samantha." Ida stated coldly, "This vendetta against ghosts of hers has gone too far."

Sam blinked, shocked, "Grandma, that ghost was manipulating you into doing what it wants. It was only a matter of time before it did something-"

Ida turned toward Sam with a fury the likes of which had never been seen by the Manson family, "If you finish that sentence Samantha, so help you, your fate will be worse that what I have already decided! You have just ended a being! You acted no more human than the Nazis that persecuted our family during the Holocaust, simply because he was a ghost! I will have you know that Klemper has been helping me out for the last 3 weeks! He has been nothing but friendly and all he asked for in return was a friend. The transformation he had undergone in the time I had known him was in no small way miraculous; he became a good friend and an even better confidant. It was actually his idea to try to show you that not all ghosts are as you view them! I went along with it, thinking that there was hope that we could bring you back from all this. Do not think that I have been blind to the things you have been doing; the crusade that you have been undertaking on ghost kind! What makes him evil, I ask you? The fact that he died? The fact that he is a ghost who has done absolutely nothing to me, your father, your mother, or you!? Or anyone else in this house for that matter!

She took a breath. Jeremy hung his head, the fact that all of this had gone on under his nose and he hadn't even noticed shamed him. Pamela also looked ashamed; she hadn't even realized what Sam had been doing but apparently her grandmother had. And to top things off, their daughter's actions caused the loss of Ida's friend, who only wanted to help bring her and Sam close once again.

Mr. and Mrs. Manson looked at each other, having a silent conversation. They then both nodded as they came to a decision.

"Mom, I know that Pam and I should be ashamed and we are sorry that you have been dealing with this on your own. I'm sorry that we haven't been more helpful with helping Sammy deal with her grief. We should have done more and now its cost you a close friend and so… with that in mind, we have agreed that you will be the one to decide Sam's punishment. No matter what it is, Pam and I will stand by it." Jeremy said with finality and thus sealing Sam's fate. He knew the punishment that Ida was likely to dish out; it would be the same which she had bestowed upon his brother.

Pamela started to cry; she knew that whatever was about to happen, it was something that she wasn't going to like.

Sam was in shock, "B-but...what are you talking about? Why am I being punished? You're acting as if I did something bad! It was a ghost! It was only a matter of time before he did something to hurt us! They are all like that! Why are you defending it?!" Her voiced raised louder and louder as she got over her initial shock, becoming angry.

Ida glared at her granddaughter, "No, Samantha, he was not evil. The only one who has committed an act of evil today here is you. You have ended a being's existence for no other reason than that he was a ghost!" She made a noise of disgust, "And to think that my own granddaughter was capable of such racism! And the worst part is you don't even know what you did was wrong! I thought you had been taught better!"

Sam glared right back, shouting, "How dare you! I am not a racist!"

Ida was done; she had had enough. "This is over! I have come to a decision; you are hereby disowned. Samantha, you will get no inheritance and you are no longer welcome in my home. I will not have a Nazi in my own home, nor in my own family. You have until the end of the day to pack your things. You will be driven to an apartment and your rent will be paid for 6 months. After that, you are on your own." She stated coldly and with that, she promptly turned and left the library to mourn for her friend.

"WHAT!?," Sam screamed. "She can't be serious! I'm being disowned for defending my own family?!" She was beyond angry at this point. She looked at her parents, "Can't you guys do anything?!" Her voice was desperate as she pleaded, "You know I only did it to protect her!"

Her father looked down; he loved his little girl but after hearing what his mother said, he knew she was right. Sam had acted purely out of hatred, not out of concern for others.

Her mother was crying; she knew there was no changing Ida's mind and that if Ida said it, then that's what was going to happen. They had already told Ida that they would stand by her decision and now they had no choice but to do just that. Even though she was not born into the family, she was part of it and when a Manson gives their word, their word is their bond.

Finally, Jeremy spoke, "No, Sam, we can't. We told her it was her decision and that no matter what it was, we would stand behind it. She is right, Sam. You don't even realize that what you just did was wrong and what's worse is that you don't even realize how much you hurt your grandmother today." He looked her in the eye and Sam knew then that they wouldn't and couldn't help her.

"But I was defending her! It was only a matter of time until the ghost got what he wanted from her and then did something terrible! Every single one of them is the same! They are all pure ectoplasmic scum!" Sam raged.

Her father frowned; his mother had been right. Sam had just said almost word for word what the Nazi's had once said to his own father and grandfather. Meanwhile, her mother stood with her hands over her mouth, speechless at what had just come out of her daughters' mouth while fresh tears stung her eyes. Never had she heard such racist comments.

Narrowing his eyes, Jeremy spoke with a cold tone that his daughter rarely heard him use, "I think that's enough; you have more than proven your grandmothers' point. I think it's best if you do what she said."

Sam was beside herself; how could they all be such fools to trust ghosts and to side with them over her! Well, if she wasn't wanted here, FINE! She turned on her heel and stomped out of the library, running until she got to her room. She grabbed her suitcases and started packing. Within fifteen minutes, she had finished and was heading down the stairs. She didn't even give anyone a chance to say goodbye as she slammed the door open and closed behind her. She looked at the driver and the car before deciding against it; if she was leaving, she was leaving on her terms, not theirs. She opened her phone and dialed up the two people she knew would take her in in a heartbeat.

"Hello?" Said a female voice.

"Hello? Mrs. Fenton, it's Sam."

*Clockwork's tower*

Clockwork stared at his time screens, watching events unfold in many different universes. One, however, had caught his interest. Something wasn't right about it. As he watched, his horror grew and his heart broke, looking upon the scene that lay before him. He needed to know what had transpired for something so horrific to occur so he reversed the flow of time to see exactly that.

*Past*

It has been two years since the events of Phantom Planet, but nothing was good about what happened since. The GIW, having proof that Halfa's exist, had basically outlawed Danny from staying in the human world. They had banished him to the GZ, to live among his enemies, with his little clone, Danielle.

For the most part, his enemies left them alone; Ember had even taken pity on him and Danielle after Danielle had told her what happened. She had spread the word around the Ghost Zone and many of the ghosts were outraged to hear that after all that Phantom had done for the humans, they had still ousted him from his own world and had shown no appreciation. The ghosts may have no great love for Phantom, but at least they appreciated the fact that he had saved their plane of existence. They had decided to give him a few days before heading back to the human world so that all could recover and celebrate.

While that was good, the bad was just about to start. Sam and Tucker were tried for treason for knowing Danny's secret and not alerting the proper authorities, thus 'endangering humankind'. Both were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Neither would talk to their jailors about what knowledge of the Ghost Zone they possessed. Tucker held out until his body could take no more; he kept Danny's secrets till his maker called him home. Sam, due to her family's money, was able to be bribed out of prison but was never the same again. Everywhere she went, she had a haunted look. No one knew what had happened while she was in custody, and no one wanted to know. However, they all agreed that it was because of what happened to her friends.

The Fentons were a little more fortunate than Sam and Tucker, but not by much. They hid all knowledge that Jazz knew anything about Danny's secret and destroyed all their work to protect Danny from it. Jazz even destroyed all of her notes and psychological data concerning Danny and his enemies and allies.

The GIW were furious when they discovered that everything was gone; the Fentons had even destroyed the Ghost portal and all blueprints. hey kept everything of Jazz's involvement to themselves and any evidence that could have pointed to her was also destroyed. The Fenton matriarch and patriarch were arrested for aiding and abetting ghosts and allowing a fugitive to escape, as well as destroying any means of reaching where he had escaped to. They were tried, but they were found not guilty. Luckily for them, Sam had had her parents buy the jury. She and Tucker were doomed but she didn't want the Fentons to join them. As there was no evidence, Jazz was never arrested. After the house and everything had been seized, Jazz and her parents had moved to her aunt'ss to get away from it all. It hurt her that she had lost her brother, but at least she still had her parents and they were safe, which she knew was all that would have mattered to Danny.

*present*

'Well that explains things,' Clockwork thought to himself as he continued watching the time screens. 'But how did this happen' as he looked back at the still time screen he had been looking at before.

He returned his attention to the past, Danny and Danielle living with Ember, Skulker and Danny having an argument about Skulker's treatment of Ember, the resulting fight that took place, Danny almost ending Skulker's afterlife after he shot Danielle by accident during said fight, the stay with Frostbite as Danielle recovered, Ember staying by Danny's side through it all, the joy they had when Dani recovered, the confusion of when she came out of the healing tube at 3 years old – Frostbite explaining that her healing required Danny's mid-morph DNA, resulting in Dani reverting back to her natural age by fixing Dani's DNA, them raising her over the next year together and becoming a couple, the release of Dark Dan-

Clockwork stopped the time screen, realizing with horror what he was witnessing. He started the time screen, dreading what he would see. Dan had been merciless after regaining his strength, destroying any ghost who came across his path, until he finally found Danny.

Dan had held nothing back; He destroyed every defense that Danny put up, pummeling him into submission until he was barely alive, in human form, bleeding out from the hole in his chest. He then turned toward Ember, who had just arrived, hearing the commotion, with a look of pure malice upon his face, his mouth twisted into an evil grin.

"Well. Well. Well." He stated in his deep voice, "The siren became his mate then. Well, it looks like I'm gonna get to relive my past after all." He laughed as she tried to attack him with her guitar, dodging until he finally he caught the instrument in his hand and broke it in half with sheer strength. She looked at the broken instrument in her hands with tears in her eyes, then gasped as he grabbed her by the neck, "Say good bye, Rockstar." He gave an evil smirk before he opened his mouth, firing a Ghostly Wail point blank in Ember's face, all the while electrocuting her with his Ghostly Stinger.

When he finished, the ghostly rocker was no more. Danny let loose an anguished cry, watching the woman he loved become nothing more than ash, but could do nothing more than simply watch, subdued, with tears running down his cheeks. He had never felt such agony in his heart; too much to bear. He tried with all his might to stand, only to be met with the sight of Dan's boot flying into his face. His neck turned so violently that it threatened to break and he blacked out for a moment.

"Pathetic, excuse for a Halfa, you are." Dan sneered, "All those heroics, for what? To be ran out of your own world? To come to the Ghost Zone, to live as a ghost? No appreciation for what you did? I told you all those years ago there was no future there." Dan crouched down in front of Danny, poking at the bleeding wound on the boy's chest, eliciting a whimper of pain, "I bet your wondering why I'm willing to kill you now, aren't you?" He asked, "Well, that's simple. I belong outside of time. I don't need you to turn dark anymore. I just want to make you suffer; I told you a long time that I was inevitable. Well, guess what your time is now up. You're dying Daniel. And you want to know what's gonna happen next?"

Danny managed to look up at his most hated enemy in defiance, with all the hatred he could muster and spat in his face. He wouldn't give Dan the satisfaction of knowing that he had broken Danny to his core.

Suddenly, Dan slammed his fist though Danny's chest and straight through his core/heart.

"Next, I'm gonna walk into that house and I'm going to do to that little girl what I have just done to you," Dan finished as he pulled his hand from Danny's chest, his heart and core still in his hand. Dan then stood and walked toward the house to end the last of Danny's life, Danielle.

Clockwork knew he shouldn't; he knew that there would be consequences for this action...but he could not and would not allow a now four-year-old ghostling from any timeline be killed, let alone in such a horrific way. Call him fickle, but he had a soft spot for children. To make sure, he quickly browsed the timeline of this reality and established that it would change very little of the outcomes should Danielle survive. And so, he removed Danielle from that universe's timeline and interposed her in the current one.

'It's a good thing I have free reign this time,' He thought, 'The Observants would have my head for that...'

Suddenly hearing a pop behind him, he smiled as a child's cry was heard. Just as he had predicted, she was younger because of the time transfer. Instead of four she was now two years old, and he found himself thinking, 'How in the Ghost Zone am I going to care for a halfling baby?'

Daniel was too young to take her in just yet; maybe after a couple of years, but not currently. Then he smiled; why not make her the child of his grandson and his beloved in this timeline? He investigated their future and decided on the perfect place to put Dani in the time stream.

"It's a couple years away, but I think that is a perfect spot for her to come into their lives." Clockwork smirked, stretching out. "All is as it should be." He said as the tiny toddler vanished with a pop.

And Scene!

So, I know I said that this would be about Tucker and Jazz but hear me out: I know everyone was wondering how I was bringing Dani in and I think I found a way that works, hence why I put it here. I think there will be about… 2 more chapters of filler and then we will have the time skip.

Dani: I'M TWO?! And how is that introducing me to the story?! I'm basically gonna be useless! I'm a two-year-old Halfa who isn't even actually doing anything yet!

Me: Dani, what did I say at the beginning of the chapter?

Dani: That I was gonna be introduced!

Me: And?

Dani: ….not in the way I might think…

Me: Exactly. Now, I did this chapter for 2 reasons. 1, for Dani, and then 2, I wanted to give a little info on what's going on with Sam. We have been pretty focused on the Phantom family for the last few chapters. I wanted to shine some light on what's going on with her, so now that I have accomplished that, we will be moving on to Jazz/Tucker and Vlad/Pandora next chapter. Then after that, will be the moment you have all been waiting for Danny and Ember's first date and boy do I got something planned for you.

Jazz: Before we go, fun fact that I'm sure some of you may be curious about: Yahweh is the Jewish God and Shehaqim is the third circle of Heaven in the Jewish belief. Oh! And did you know that Yahweh is...

Me: Jazz, we need to go. You can give us a Theology lesson later...maybe...

Jazz: ...Fine...