Part 5

Writer's Note: I apologize for the delay. Not only was this chapter slow in coming out, but I was then distracted by Resident Evil 4. Well, having finished introducing Bitores Mendez to Mr. Shotgun, Ramon Salazer to Mr. Magnum, Krauser to Mr. Knife, and Lord Saddler to Mr. Rocket Launcher, I have now finished this part!

Damn you though, Chainsaw Maniacs! Damn you! Burn in hell!

---

Familiarity, as the saying goes, breeds contempt. Or something in that vein, as Danny stood where he was, Anubis' declaration echoing over and over in his head. He wasn't thinking as clearly as he usually could, but he was sure that expression had something to do with how he felt.

It appeared that he wasn't going to have to fight Sizzle again. She was trapped in the orb Anubis possessed, and despite the spirit's warning, it appeared that Danny was in the clear…so to speak. If he did what Anubis said, Sizzle would never bother him again. And from the way she continue to scream and snarl at him, that would probably be best. Any humanity she had she had lost long ago: she was a cancer, a virus on the mortal plane, desiring only to destroy as many lives as possible. No, she was worse then a virus. A virus commanded no malice when it invaded, sickened, and sometimes killed a living being: it only wished to survive itself. Sizzle only wished to kill and destroy because of a contradictory mess of fears, pains, hatreds, and rages, which in the end came down to one thing: she couldn't be saved or redeemed, only stopped.

Anubis was giving him the chance to finally put an end to it all.

But…

Another expression was that of the ends justifying the means, a phrase used to question the actions a man or party has taken in order to achieve certain results. Danny remembered a classroom debate on the AIDS crisis in Africa where two students had argued vehemently, without prejudice or sadism, that due to a combination of certain factors in Africa, in the end the best way to deal with the AIDS crisis would be for other countries to just seal Africa's borders and wait until people smartened up or died off, as evolution would intend it. The two students (Danny couldn't recall their names) had provoked a lot of reaction, a lot of it vehement in and of itself, and most of it revolving around the ends not justifying the means. Sure, you COULD seal up Africa…but was the potentially outright genocide of a continent the only way to rid it of a deadly disease, and who watches the watchmen and gets to decide who lives and dies? While Danny had remained silent (he was tired and didn't feel like arguing), something that had occurred to him was that it was hard all around in that kind of decision. The idea for such a choice would be to find the best person for the job, while in a sense the best people would be psychopaths and people with personal agendas (racism, profit, who knows what else) as they would be the only ones motivated to stick to their decision. If you weed those kinds out (and that in and of itself seemed wise), you were left with someone who had to take the weight of such a horrible 'necessity' onto themselves. How would you feel if you were told the only way to save people was to kill others? What kind of a good person could make such a decision? What would be inflicted upon them, if only by themselves, if they did?

Danny hadn't argued his theory and had mostly forgotten about it…until now. Now it was staring him in the face.

Much like the two student's African argument, it seemed deceptively simple. They had argued that Africa was a black hole of ignorance in these matters (Danny wasn't going to give their claims absolute credibility…but they did have a point or two) and the only way to stop the spread was to basically let evolution take over: people either learned just how to avoid the HIV virus or died from being unable or unwilling to. And if Africa really was so hopelessly backward (their words, not Danny's), maybe that's what should happen. They should get what they deserve, so to speak.

The moral issues seemed far less murky here. Sizzle was a murderer, a violent and insane sadist, who was irredeemable and hated Danny with such a furious, unwavering passion that Anubis for the first time in his existence couldn't do his job without Danny's aid. She would never stop. She would do everything to hurt him, and once he was gone she would turn her fury onto something else. There was no argument here. She had to be stopped.

But…

The phrase 'Go to hell' had become so common that it was as likely to be used with friends and lovers as with enemies. It was, after all, just words. It was, in a way, a familiar phrase. Familiarity breeds contempt. And when contempt is bred for something, one ceases to remember just what words mean.

Danny was being told to make those words reality.

He was being asked to send something, despite all its horridness, that still thought and felt, into a place where, if you believed a variety of religions, one would suffer for all eternity. Many people had tried to capture what hell was like, from the aside of the Roman poet Virgil to the writings of Dante and John Milton to the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch to the drawings of Todd McFarlene to the studios of Id Studios and Dreamcatcher Interactive, perhaps attempting to dispel any fear they might have had over the supposed realm of the sinners and damned by giving it a set form.

But those were just words and pictures.

If Anubis was to be believed, he was asking, no, telling Danny to send Sizzle to the real deal.

And…

"You seem troubled child." Anubis said, even as he continued to slowly wave his arms, tracing symbols in the air. "Fear not. This will requite no great effort on your part. I will open the gateway, I will condemn the soul. All you have to do is will her to go. In that action, you will turn her connection to you against her, and she will be damned, as she has earned, removed from your life forever." Anubis said, as the symbols in the room lit up even more, and the ground before Danny and Anubis began to smoke. "However, this will not be like flipping a switch child! You will have to exert SOME power! But you have more then enough power, ghost child! So raise your hand, and put an end to this chapter in your life!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sizzle howled. "YOU THINK HELL WILL HOLD ME? I'LL BE…ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Sizzle cried as Anubis zapped her again.

"She deserves this as much for her ignorance as for her crimes. You have only been allowed what you attained, fire spirit, because you slipped through the cracks. But you are in my grasp now, and there is no escape!" Anubis said, as he raised his hands. "I shall open the portal, child! Whatever you do, do NOT look into it! It is not for mortal eyes to see!"

"But…" Danny said.

"We have little time Phantom! Even now your enemies seek to free her! We must condemn her, for all our sakes!" Anubis said.

And the ground suddenly cracked open.

And it washed over Danny. He thought he'd experienced all the kinds of heat he could in his war against Sizzle, but this…this was brand new. It was heat, but it was also a smell…and a sensation of despair…and things so alien Danny's body couldn't properly process it.

Wails emerged from the hole, horrific sounds beyond all human ken. Crouched in her hiding place, still frozen in confusion and shock over what was going on, Valerie felt, rather then heard the noise wash over her…and then she was yanking her mask off as she began vomiting uncontrollably, her body reacting violently to the presence of what lurked beyond that crack.

Danny was smart enough to remember what Anubis had said though, as he kept his eyes firmly upraised, looking up at Anubis, whose staff now floated in front of him as he raised his arms again, energy flowing around him and coursing around Sizzle's orb…and behind and nearby him was Sam, still stuck in her own orb. Apparently it offered some protection, as she wasn't throwing up like Valerie…but that might be because she had her fingers in her ears and her eyes closed tight. Whatever lay beyond the hole, it scared her to death, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

"The passage is almost complete! Begin, Danny! Before it's too late!" Anubis said.

Danny stared at the judgment spirit…and then he was suddenly aware of a strange giggling noise. But he wasn't making it, Anubis' face may as well have been carved from stone, Sam was cringing away, and Danny had no idea Valerie was there (leaning behind a wall, dazed from her sudden attack of vomiting)…it was Sizzle.

She was looking at him. The rage was still there, but mixed in was a bitter humor and…

Dear god, she had a condemnatory look in there too. Of all things…

"So, this is how it ends, boy?" Sizzle said. "Doing what the big man tells you, to get rid of me? Well, go ahead boy. Do it. It's what your breed does. Hell is hell, whether in the towers of brimstone or at your hands. Go do it, boy. Because you damn well know what will happen if you don't." Sizzle said.

Danny stared.

"OH DON'T WIMP OUT BOY! I SURE AS HELL WON'T WHEN I'M ROASTING YOUR WHOLE TOWN OVER A SPIT!" Sizzle shrieked. "I'M YOUR SHADOW BOY! I'M YOUR HEART OF DARKNESS! AND I WILL CONSUME YOU-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sizzle screamed as she was once more rent to pieces by Anubis' gesture.

"Let that be the last time we must hear her speak." Anubis said. "The connection is forged boy. It is time. My judgment is passed. Carry it out."

Danny stared for a few more seconds, and then gulped.

What choice did he have?

Sam risked opening her eyes to see what was happening.

As she saw Danny raised his right arm, briefly flex the fingers…and then concentrate.

Greenish energy began to flow out from his arm, even as likewise power began to flow from Anubis.

And Sam realized that it was really going to happen. Danny really was going to get rid of Sizzle.

On that, she had no idea how she felt.

But she knew how Danny felt.

He was trying to be strong, to be emotionless. He was just doing what had to be done. There would be terrible consequences if he didn't.

And yet…she could see what was going on inside him.

Even now, faced with perhaps his greatest enemy, after all that happened…he felt for her.

At the end of that terrible battle, for a moment when she had thought Danny was dead, Sam had remarked that he was too good for this world. And in some ways, that was still true. That had always been the difference between Danny and the Titan Savior. Danny still had a belief. Savior's had long died, replaced by a cause.

But beliefs can be terrible things…

Sizzle had reformed again, but she didn't yell and scream. Instead she just looked at Danny.

She spoke not a word, but Danny heard it all.

Go on boy. Do it. Be a MAN.

The shrieks rose up from the hellhole…

"I will get out." Sizzle did say. "When I do, you'll wish you went here in my stead, boy."

"Ignore her. It is just about done. One last push…" Anubis said.

And Sizzle's orb began going down.

"Never be rid of me boy. Never. Ever. You goddamn, wretched, disgusting, MAN." Sizzle said, as she descended…

And Danny, from his peripheral vision, could swear he saw hands rising up to meet her.

"…No." Danny said, and lowered his own.

It all faded away, instantly. The runes, the flame, even the crack in the ground, as if it had never been.

And Anubis recoiled, his staff clattering to the ground.

Sizzle floated there, near the floor that had moments ago been a gateway to something far worse. She did not speak however. She seemed…confused.

Sam blinked, lowering her hands, even as Valerie, sensing herself that things were 'back to normal', so to speak, shot a quick jet of fluid into her mouth from a water bottle to get the sour taste out. She quickly spat it out and slipped the bottle back into her backpack even as she slipped her mask back on and leaned out to peek in on this development.

It didn't take long, as Anubis recovered, and as he looked at Danny he held out his hand, his staff flying into it. He did not look happy.

"No?" Anubis said. "Did you misunderstand something I said, ghost boy?"

"No. I understood just fine." Danny said.

"Then you clearly made an error. No matter, we have time to…"

"No."

Anubis' eyes narrowed.

"Do not tell me you are saying what I think you are saying."

"I won't send her to hell."

Sizzle burst out laughing, and then screamed again as Anubis zapped her.

"You WON'T, boy? Or you think you can't? Because you can boy! You are destined for great power! It lies within your hands! Have no doubt about it!"

"I don't doubt I could do it." Danny said. "I won't."

A pause.

"YOU WHAT!?!" Anubis bellowed. "Have you lost your mind child!?! Have you forgotten what I told you? What your foes seek for her? Do you think we have time for this nonsense? We must judge her, lest she escape and destroy everything you hold dear, and quite possibly the world! This is not a matter of choice!"

"It is NOW!" Danny yelled back. "You said it yourself Anubis. She's stuck here because of me. That means I have a say in it. And I won't send her to hell."

"…Oh child." Anubis said, his tone going from anger to a mixture of pity and disgust. "You think you're being noble. I'll tell you what you are child: YOU'RE A FOOL! Thinking that going against what you truly want somehow denies it. Your soul holds no secrets from me, Danny Phantom! I can see through it like it was made of glass!"

What did he call him? Valerie thought. She knew the ghost boy's name…but at the same time it was like there was something about it she hadn't noticed before, a thought nagging at the back of her head, even as she devoted her attention to the angry Anubis.

"You think I can't see what she awoke in you, child? The rage? The hate? The desire to destroy her to save yourself and others? It is not the mark of a righteous soul to deny such things, it is the act of an idiot! And a dangerous idiot at that! Ideals bring about as many downfalls as deviances, ghost child. Surely you know that. Stop denying who you are! Do what must be done! Judge her!"

"…No."

"WHAT?"

"You're not lying Anubis. You're right. Those things…they're a part of me." Danny said, as he raised his hand. Remembering what he'd done with it, and not just to Sizzle. As a closed fist, he'd wrecked havoc on the worst of the Ghost Zone, and he'd done it without a pang of doubt or regret.

But there was a difference between throwing a few punches and sucking something up in a Thermos and…what he'd seen. What he'd felt.

"But they are not ME." Danny said, lowering his hand. "This is MY choice: I say there HAS to be another way."

"Another WAY?" Anubis scoffed. "Are you suggesting I have made an error?"

"No…I guess not."

"Then judge her!"

"Judging her doesn't mean she has to go to hell!"

"SHE IS PURE EVIL, CHILD. Are you suggesting that you can rearrange the moral compass of all existence? You are mighty, ghost child, but NO ONE has that power! We must all obey it!"

"There HAS to be another way!" Danny pleaded. "You said it yourself! There are countless realms! Can't you send her to a lifeless one or something, lock her up in it?"

"You think she would stay there?"

"Why would she stay in hell?"

"Hell has taken her breed for untold lengths of time. She is just one of many. It WILL confine her! That is why she must go there!"

"…I won't." Danny said.

"…Then what do you SUGGEST? Speak swiftly child, lest her bonds be broken by your enemies and she cooks the tongue out of your head before you finish."

"…There must be a way!" Danny said. "Send her…somewhere else!"

Anubis was silent for a bit.

"Do you…have the GALL…to tell ME…the SPIRIT OF JUDGMENT…that I should reverse my sentence? That I should send her…the other way?"

"…No. Even I'm not that forgiving." Danny said. "But there must be other places. I don't know of them, but you surely must! Send her to a lifeless dimension…like Limbo? Does Limbo exist? Send her there! Or…Purgatory? Does that exist? Maybe…she could go there. Maybe…if she spent enough time there…she could…"

"DO NOT BE ABSURD!" Anubis bellowed, as the whole building shook.

"Then send her to Oblivion! Destroy her entirely! But I will NOT send her to hell!"

"WHY?"

"…."

"You make such a claim, yet you cannot even verify why. Stop listening to your mind, child. It may as well have been the same when your species crawled out of the primordial ooze. You may be destined for a higher power, but your knowledge is all too human. Low. Worthless." Anubis said. "My judgment is cast. It cannot be changed or denied, UNLESS YOU PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING! If you do, then all you know and love may be forfeit! Stop being stupid, child! Do what must be done!"

"………………………………"

"What do you want?" Anubis said. "Do you want assurances that it will not burden you? I can assure you it will not. It is the divine judgment, as pure as anything you will know." Anubis said. "Is that not motive enough? Or are you human in another aspect and desire more?"

"…I…"

"You may try and transcend your nature, Phantom, but I have known more humans then you ever will. I know what you can and cannot do." Anubis said. "Very well then. Do what must be done, and I will assure you success in life. In any and all aspects. You desire fortune? Fame? Happiness? Or will you go lower and settle for a life spent in a cause that does not shower you with misery and burden? Just do what must be done, and it will all be yours. I give you my promise."

"…You could do that?"

"If I could not, I know those that could. I am, after all, so much more then a ghost." Anubis said.

Danny thought it over. Anything he wanted…

…Didn't he deserve it?

Hadn't he done enough? Was it so wrong to be a little bit selfish?

Heck, it wasn't like Sizzle had done him any favors.

He should…

Anyone can hold up a world Danny…

Sam stared at Danny, as the words came to him, recalled…as he looked at his hand again.

Just do it the easy way…

…It takes a true Atlas not to shrug.

"…No." Danny said.

Anubis said nothing.

"I won't do it Anubis. It's…just not me."

Anubis stared at Danny, his face unreadable.

And then he sighed.

"I have seen so much throughout my many centuries." Anubis said. "I have faced threats so grave they could have snuffed your world out in a heart beat. Never once have I ever questioned anything I have ever done…until now. For the first time in forever, I question myself, Danny Phantom. Because of you."

"…So…you can do something?" Danny asked.

"…No child."

The blast flew from Anubis' ear/horn-crown and blew Danny across the room with a scream.

"DANNY!" Sam shrieked. Sizzle was still a disorganized mess, but she still managed a chuckle.

"I do not question my judgment child. THAT, is ABSOLUTE." Anubis said, as he set himself down on the ground in front of the Sizzle orb and began walking towards Danny. "No child, what I question is why I ever bothered to try and work with you. You, and your asinine moral code, denying who you truly are…you are defying your real self, and in that interfering with the order of things! There is no choice in this matter, Danny Phantom, and I question why I ever allowed the idea to be raised! But I will make amends for this oversight, child, by settling things back to the way they are. By any means necessary. If you won't do what's right, then I will CONVINCE you of the necessity." Anubis said.

Danny got to his feet, his chest burning and his eyes blazing.

"You know, even when you were talking sense, I didn't much like you. And I can see why now." Danny growled. "You want a convincing argument? TALK TO THIS HAND!"

And Danny lanced forward, punching for Anubis.

Anubis grabbed him by the wrist in mid-blow.

"And so you show you truly understand NOTHING."

Anubis hurled Danny away like he weighed nothing, smashing the doors leading to the courtroom to splinters as he crashed through, Anubis following after him with a calm but firm step that spoke of unbelievably bad intentions.

"Perhaps that had jarred some sense into you." Anubis said as he approached Danny, as he once again got to his feet.

Danny's eyes blazed, as green ectoplasmic power exploded on his hands.

"Or perhaps not." Anubis said sadly.

Danny slammed his hands together and fired a giant blast at Anubis, striking him dead on. As he vanished in an explosion of power, Danny fired another blast from his right arm, then his left, then slammed his hands together and sent a spray of four more blasts into the explosion, sending small debris flying away from the attack that and tousling Danny's hair. He lowered his arms, panting in rage.

The smoke cleared.

Anubis didn't have a mark on him: the only thing that showed any damage was his cloak. His expression was a strange mix of anger, annoyance, and pity.

"Do you STILL NOT UNDERSTAND?" Anubis snapped, as he thumped his fist on his chest plate. "I am the Spirit of Judgment! My armor is not composed of earthly metals, of mortal materials! It is forged from righteousness itself! It has borne the brunt of the most hideous weapons, had endured the most vile and destructive spells, has stood before the fiercest and most violent attacks and defiance attempts, and has never suffered a scratch. And I am not newly imbued with my power like the fire spirit child! I was striking down the gravest evils of existence while your idiotic species was still learning how to throw rocks! You cannot win, boy! You can't even hurt me." Anubis said.

"SAYS YOU!" Danny yelled, and charged again. Anubis blocked his kick, but Danny spun away from the block and lashed out, kicking Anubis in the side.

And just like Anubis said, he felt like he was kicking a mountain, the impact ringing up his leg, and before Danny could do anything Anubis had grabbed Danny's foot, and as Danny screamed Anubis swung him up and slammed him down into the ground, shaking the whole building.

"DANNY!" Sam screamed.

"Stop this pointless insubordination boy. It will only get you hurt more." Anubis said.

"NO!" Danny snapped, leaping up and coming in swinging again. His fists slammed against Anubis' chest plate, but the impact hurt him far worse then it did Anubis, as he reached out and grabbed Danny by the shirt.

"As you wish." Anubis said, and slammed his head forward, headbutting Danny between the eyes and sending stars shooting his vision, even as Anubis released the grip on his staff and lifted Danny up like he weighed nothing and hurled him upward, Danny's back slamming against the ceiling, the impact knocking the wind out of Danny as he fell back down…right back into Anubis' hands, as he thrust Danny down and slammed his stomach against his knee. Greenish spittle flew from Danny's mouth from the impact, as he hit the ground and curled up into a fetal position from the pain.

Anubis reached down, grabbed Danny's leg, and spun, hurling Danny back through the shattered doors to the main courtroom and through the doors leading back outside as well.

"Danny! DANNY!" Sam continued to scream. Anubis glanced behind him, and then he made a gesture. Sam stared, and then continued to yell Danny's name, not realizing her voice could not longer be heard outside of the bubble. Anubis called his staff to him and strode out the door.

Danny was on the stairs outside, in the process of getting up. He was clearly in pain, but the spark of defiance still shone brightly in his eye. So, this was how it was going to go down? Anubis was going to pound on him until he did what Anubis wanted? Screw him. And Anubis might have shrugged off everything he had done so far, but he still had his greatest attack, as he inhaled.

"I would not recommend it." Anubis said. "If you utilize your voice technique, I will not be harmed, but the same might not be said for your friend Sam. It may shatter her sphere, and hence her body…and if her sphere broke, then Sizzle's would as well…and if she escapes, I will not be able to capture her again for some time."

The defiance was replaced by a look of despair, as Danny realized that for all he knew, Anubis was right. The Ghostly Wail was powerful…but he couldn't limit its range: it would potentially smash anything in front of him…including Sam. And Sizzle's prison. He couldn't use it.

Yet. Because Sam wasn't always going to be behind Anubis, and Danny had beaten ghosts without the wail. He'd just kick it old school, as he yelled and streaked towards Anubis again, who snorted in annoyance…

As Danny turned intangible and flew through him, clearly taking Anubis by surprise, and before the spirit could turn around Danny exited through Anubis' back, spun, and lashed out with a kick to the back of Anubis' head.

Anubis didn't budge, and Danny's eyes went wide.

Cloak swirling, Anubis whirled and tried to grab Danny, but Danny was already diving between Anubis' legs and leaping up behind him, and as Anubis turned around again Danny lashed out with another slicing kick, this time aiming for the side of Anubis' head.

It proved as impenetrable as the back, and before Danny could do anything Anubis slashed out his arm and backhanded Danny, sending him crashing down the stairs.

"I would express admiration for your attempts, except I've seen it all before, and much better, and grew tired of it long, LONG before I knew you, Danny Phantom." Anubis said. "Enough. My judgment must be carried out."

"Not…by…me…" Danny said, as he pulled himself to his feet again, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. Anubis' eyes narrowed.

"You still persist?" Anubis said. "Very well."

And Anubis lifted his staff, and as Danny watched the scales on them began to enlarge and morph, the staff itself growing larger as well, as the scales transformed into twin stone orbs, perfectly smooth, each nearly the size of the orbs Sam and Sizzle were kept in, a pair of wrecking balls…

Wrecking balls…

Danny remembered. The damage to his house. His hurt parents. It had looked like a fleet of engineering vehicles had taken a trip through the place…but it wasn't a machine that had done the damage, it was Anubis himself, most likely with that very staff. He'd tried to destroy Danny's life, just because he needed to perform his damn judgment…

HIS judgment…

Danny's eyes glowed green once more, and then he shot into the sky with a scream, Anubis' head looking up to follow him.

Explosions consumed Anubis as Danny cut loose from the sky, firing down a storm of ecto-blasts. Dust filled the air.

And then the balls came shooting out from the cloud, flying up towards Danny at the end of a long chain. Danny barely dodged to the side, and zapped down to the ground, flying into the cloud of dust as it cleared and ramming both fists into Anubis' chest.

It felt like he broke all the fingers in both his hands, but Danny was raging with adrenaline and ignored the pain, spinning away from Anubis as he tried to punch him. Anubis' twin morning star balls retracted back to his staff, as he then swung the staff up and down, Danny dodging to the side as the balls shattered the steps where they struck. Danny fired a blast into Anubis' stomach; it didn't make a dent, as Anubis fired his own blast in return from his eyes, Danny spinning away from it again, as Anubis lifted his staff and swung the spheres out, missing Danny as he dodged once more, the balls smashing down one of the tall pillars that stood on the stairs in the front of the massive courtroom. Danny flew backwards as he charged power on his hands and fired off twin blasts, which caught Anubis and exploded once more. But once more, Anubis didn't budge an inch, and Danny could see his armor was unmarred. But Danny wasn't done yet, as he turned intangible and phased through the ground, going under and swooping up behind Anubis, but Anubis had seemingly read the move as he swung around, swinging the balls, but Danny had stayed intangible and the orbs swung through him…

But they didn't leave him unaffected, as Danny suddenly felt like he had been punched in the gut. His concentration disrupted, Danny phased back into reality…

As Anubis swung his staff back and forward, the orbs flying out and slamming into Danny, sending him flying backwards with a scream as they both struck and pushed him, as he finally crashed into another one of the courthouse pillars, a spiderweb of cracks shooting out from around him as Anubis yanked back the orbs, even as Danny began to slump down from the impact…

As Anubis flew forward and rammed his shoulder into Danny's torso, sending the cracks shooting up the whole pillar. More green flecked saliva flew from Danny's mouth as the impact ripped through his whole form: he thought he felt a rib snap, before his muscles locked up and his whole body went limp, slumping against Anubis.

Anubis stepped back, grabbing Danny by the shirt as he started to fall and slammed him against the pillar again, causing dust to rain down from the pillar and ceiling above it.

"Do you honestly think I have not battled those who could slip from the bonds of reality? That I would not be prepared for such a thing? You disappoint me child." Anubis said. "I know how to cause harm. And your form, whether fused with ghost or not, still possesses a few hundred bones. I have, of this moment, only damaged a few of them. So let me put this in mortal terms, boy: I can still hurt you a great deal more if you refuse to do the right thing."

Danny stared into Anubis' stern face.

And then he spat in it.

"It's not the right thing, it's YOUR thing. You've been doing it for so long, you can't see any other options. NO." Danny snapped.

Anubis' eyes narrowed again, as Danny's spittle suddenly and abruptly evaporated.

"You blasted FOOL…" Anubis growled, as he swung his morning star staff back again…

And a blast of red power struck his hand: while the armor remained unmarked, the impact still seemed to loosen Anubis' fingers, as he dropped the staff. He turned his head to look at the shooter.

"So, our uninvited guest finally shows her face." Anubis said as Valerie floated there on her jet sled, her laser wrist cannon retracting back into her suit. "Did you miss your target? I was under the impression that your relationship with this imbecile was less then cordial." Anubis said, as he turned around to face Valerie, dropping Danny in front of him. His bleary eyes looked up as well.

"Valerie?" He whispered.

"No, I don't like that bastard. Not at all." Valerie said.

And with one swift motion, she suddenly had her ectogrenade launcher out and aimed.

"But one, I'm the one who's going to settle his hash, and two, after all the stuff I've heard you say about judgment, I've decided I don't like you either." Valerie finished, and fired once more, a laser energy blast shooting from her weapon.

Anubis held up his hand and whacked the blast aside, and Danny found himself needing to roll out of the way to avoid the deflected attack, even as Anubis flew up into the air, for some reason leaving his staff behind.

"You would enter combat with me, after all you've heard, all based on a concept of dislike? And you deny my observation that your species are all fools? Who are YOU to denounce the will of the Spirit of Judgment?" Anubis snapped.

"You wanna know? Fine. You say you've been around for most of history. You know what I see when I think of history and judgment? When I see her?" Valerie said, pointing to the statue down below. "I see a bunch of white people smiling for a picture, like they're having a picnic, posing next to a body hanging from a tree. And I see juries setting new speed records in acquitting these sights, backed up by judges who wanted to get back to their bedsheets. I see this happening again, and again, even TODAY, because it's easier to judge then change!"

"…You would take a segment of the history of your breed…and try to apply it to describe my divine mission?" Anubis said, honestly sounding offended.

"It's what I know." Valerie said, as her barrel twisted. "And if that's what you embody, then as far as I'm concerned, YOU can go to hell!" Valerie yelled, and fired off several rockets.

When the explosion cleared, the only sign of damage was Anubis' somewhat more tattered cloak.

"So be it then. You talk about how those in need never saw what was righteous. Well, you shall not be so 'unfortunate', as you will now see the hand of righteousness, as he rains divine fire upon your foolish head!" Anubis declared, and fired gigantic beams of ectoplasm from each of his hands. Valerie's jet sled barely managed to dodge them, as Valerie swooped around and opened fire on Anubis' back, blowing a hole in his cloak but not harming the armor and weapons beneath, as Anubis whirled and blasted power from between the horn-like ears of his helmet again, catching Valerie in the chest and sending her falling to the ground, her arms losing her gun in the process.

She flipped over and landed on her feet though, even as Danny managed to get back to his. She glanced at him.

"You really stepped in it this time, ghost kid. And I thought defying me was stupid." Valerie snapped.

"Valerie…" Danny said.

"Save it! I haven't forgotten what you did! But I can't cash my check on your ass if this self-righteous bastard breaks your bank first!" Valerie said, as she yanked her grenade-like ghost bombs from her belt. As Anubis descended from the sky, she hurled them at him. All the explosion did was rip his cloak up more.

"Equally stupid. What a couple you make." Anubis said disdainfully.

"I'll show you who the stupid one is! You wanna mess with me? YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Valerie declared, and snapped out twin laser pistols as she peppered Anubis with shots.

Anubis stood there under her barrage for several seconds before power blasted from his eyes again and blew the guns out of Valerie's hands, causing her to recoil with a yell of pain. Danny's eyes widened in concern, as he almost went to help her…but in the end he didn't need to, as Valerie looked from her burned hands to Anubis, and despite the mask Danny could still see the anger radiating from her eyes.

"Lot more where THAT came from!" Valerie yelled, as cannons snapped up from her backpack and shot concentrated energy at Anubis, who vanished once more in an explosion.

That he walked out of, not even a scorch mark adorning his form.

"And all of it utterly ineffective." Anubis said, and fired another blast from his helmet ears. Valerie did a leaping cartwheel to the side, snatching up her ectogrenade launcher, and even as she twisted the barrel once more she aimed and fired, shooting out a grenade that exploded over Anubis and covered him with slime. Had he been a normal ghost, this would have incapacitated and perhaps even wounded him.

Anubis boiled it off within a second.

"You're not worthy of my celestial weapon." Anubis said, as he reached behind him. "You need not judgment, for you stand in its path! Only one fate awaits those who do such a thing! EXECUTION!" Anubis thundered, as he withdrew a gigantic axe, its double-headed blade the size of the average door.

"It's not the size, asswipe." Valerie said.

Laser blasts shot Anubis in the back, and as he turned to strike at their source Valerie's jet sled zipped past him, as Valerie leapt onto it, even as she snapped out her ecto-boomerang and let it fly at Anubis' head.

It shattered into pieces, much to Valerie's dismay. She'd hoped it would at least make a notch.

But Anubis' 'Execution Axe' would most likely make much more then a notch if it hit her, and Anubis clearly had that in mind as he lanced at Valerie. Valerie did a tight turn and dodge as Anubis cleaved through another one of the pillars, and then she flew through the open door that Danny had exited through earlier, firing twin mini-rockets from her wrists. They exploded on Anubis, once again not harming him, as he paused to take a brief look around. No sign of Danny, but Anubis wasn't worried. Danny couldn't get Sam out of her prison orb without risking harm to her, and he certainly wasn't going to run away. Anubis would deal with him, as soon as he got rid of the other annoyance that was interrupting his judgment.

Danny was behind a pillar, trying to gather himself. He ached all over, especially in his chest, but he knew he had to help Valerie. She may have hated Danny Phantom, but Danny could see that she and him clearly though enough alike to see something wasn't exactly kosher with Anubis, even if said lack of kosher was just that he was a giant jerk who only believed in his way or the highway, and while Valerie, pardon the pun, certainly had spirit, Danny knew she didn't have a chance against Anubis. Well, Danny might not have a chance against him either, but he'd be damned if he just stood by and let Valerie fight by herself…even if they weren't…

Sam certainly wasn't expecting to see Valerie fly into the room, though Valerie didn't hear her surprised expression at this, as Valerie flew backwards, letting the jet sled's automatic pilot and navigation system weave her through the wreckage of the courthouse, so she could concentrate on shooting at her target.

And her target wasn't disappointing her, as Anubis flew in through the doorway, swinging his axe, a cutting slice of energy flying from it and missing Valerie as it sliced through the ceiling, and as Sam watched, wide-eyed, Valerie zapped Anubis with one of her wrist gauntlet lasers and then did a tight twist and flew through a hole in the wall, Anubis on her heels. Sam watched them go.

And realized that she hadn't heard a sound. It appeared her bubble had been cut off from the outside world…

And where was Danny?

Valerie bobbed and weaved down a wreckage-strewn hallway and then zipped through a hole in the ceiling, disappearing around a corner as Anubis flew up after her. She zapped through several other hallways, Anubis always on her heels, as she took a potshot at him every now and then, waiting for the right moment, as she flew down some stairs and down another hallway…

And emerged in another courtroom, this one smaller, but large enough, as Valerie hit the brakes and aimed, her systems locking on as her jet sled cannons, wrist missiles, and backpack cannons all popped up and armed themselves…

Anubis flew through the door.

And Valerie opened up, Anubis vanishing in another massive series of blasts, the shockwaves washing over her and the room…which produced loud groaning and cracking sounds from the structure. Valerie didn't need any kind of clue-in to what that meant, as she turned around and ran (well, flew) for it as the room began to cave in, burying Anubis in rubble as she flew through the door. She zipped down the hallway, whirled around, pulled out her ectogrenade launcher, and aimed at the door, ready if Anubis came out.

"Please." A voice said from behind Valerie. Her guts filled with ice, as she tried to turn…

Anubis' fist shattered the dark lenses in her mask and sent her flying off her ride and across the hallway, bouncing a few times before she came to rest, losing her weapon again. She groaned as her vision swam.

Anubis looked at the jet sled, and then brought his axe down on it. Or tried to anyway, as the sled flew up and zipped over him. He glanced behind him, and then turned back to Valerie, who was getting back up and yanking her damaged mask off. With a snarling yell, she swiftly grabbed at her belt and then sent several whirring discs down the hallway, the razor blades spinning in at Anubis.

They all splintered on him, not making a mark. Anubis glanced down, as if he was amazed Valerie still didn't get the hint.

How much of the supposed hint she didn't get was made apparent as Anubis looked up again to find Valerie right in front of him, leaping up with a yell and snapping off a kick at Anubis' face.

Anubis swatted her to the ground, and then lifted his axe up to cleave her in two…only to find it catching on the ceiling. As he yanked it free, Valerie flipped up and kicked Anubis in the chest…and then hopped away, yelling and clutching her ankle. Anubis chuckled at this fact, and then tried to swing the axe in a roundhouse swing…only to find the axe catching on the walls and slowing down the blow, allowing Valerie to duck under it, as she snapped out her wrist lasers and fired twin blasts at Anubis' face.

Anubis blocked them with one hand, and then with a yell he stomped his foot, sending out a shockwave that threw Valerie off her feet and caused the walls and ceiling to crumble around him. Only Valerie's agility saved her from being crushed by rubble.

"You may be a natural at battling ghosts, girl, but you haven't a hope here. Leave now and I will have no reason to destroy you."

Valerie stared from where she crouched/knelt on the ground.

Then she reached behind her and grabbed up her Ectogrenade launcher.

"Then I guess I'll give you a reason!" Valerie said, and fired her last rockets into Anubis. Then she noticed how hot the barrel on her weapon was: it needed a brief cool-down. She slipped it into her backpack as her eyes watched the dust.

"So you do wish to die?" Anubis' voice came from the smoke. "Then your desire shall come swiftly!"

A powerful blast flew from the smoke, and Valerie leapt up to dodge it…and then found the axe swinging at her as Anubis charged in and slashed.

And Valerie fired the last of her wrist rockets at the spirit, the explosion throwing her backwards and out of range of the slash, but the missiles didn't slow down Anubis at all, as he continued to charge down the hallway at her, swinging the axe back as Valerie hit the ground, flipped backwards…and then Anubis was on her. Her axe tore through the wall on Valerie's right as she dodged, and then twin ghost shields sprang up on her arms, oval spheres of protection as Anubis swung back and impacted them, the slice's collision driving Valerie back but not harming her.

"Thank you Clone Wars." Valerie said, and leapt in, kicking and punching, using her in-close range to keep Anubis from swinging his axe and blocking his attempted hand blows with her shields as she kicked and punched at his joints and crotch.

But they were as heavily armored as the rest of him: there were no weak points to exploit. But Valerie wasn't going to let that get her down, as she whirled away from another punch…too far away. She was now in range of the axe.

And Anubis promptly introduced her to it, as he swung the axe up and brought it down to once again try and cleave Valerie in twain.

Except she wasn't standing there any more: she'd zipped back in inside Anubis' range and under his arm, and as he swung down she grabbed him and yanked with all her might, using Anubis' own momentum and every bit of leverage she could to hurl his body over her.

Anubis went.

As his hand grabbed her by her vest.

"AHHHHH!" Valerie screamed, as instead of being thrown Anubis flipped and landed on his feet and instead threw Valerie, tossing her through a door in the hallway. He called his axe, dropped in order to do the move, back to him, and headed after Valerie.

Valerie pulled herself from a pile of rotten wood: Anubis had tossed her into an old conference room of sorts. Damn. She didn't have much ammo left. The beating she'd given Anubis would have left twenty different ghosts all begging for mercy, but he wasn't showing a bruise.

Well then, he was overdue for one, as she looked up and saw him, the strange look of pity and arrogance on his face regarding her attempts, and her rage washed over her as she leapt up, her backpack lasers snapping out and firing off another blast.

Anubis swung his axe out, and another blade of energy flew from it, tearing through the blasts and dissipating them immediately before cleaving Valerie's cannons off above her head. Her eyes widened.

"I told you. You wouldn't listen. Now you shall suffer the consequences." Anubis said, as he swung the axe back.

Valerie got her shields up in front of her as the second axe energy blade flew. They took the blast…but not the impact, as Valerie found herself hurled backwards, her shields shorting out as she crashed through the wall behind her. The only thing that kept the collision from crushing her body to paste was that Anubis' first blade energy attack had flown on after slicing her cannons and already torn through the structure, which was doubly weakened by decades of neglect, but it still hurt like hell as Valerie crashed through and found herself back outside on the stairs, bouncing a few times before coming to rest.

Blood began running down from a cut on her forehead, and she coughed and groaned, trying to fight through the pain so she could get up and fight some more.

"Valerie."

The voice was familiar, bitterly so, and Valerie looked up to see Danny standing there. Oh, this was too much. First that damn Anubis handed her her ass, and then the goddamn ghost boy was there, probably out of some misguided sense to save her. Well, she didn't need rescuing!

"Go away!" She snapped. "I don't need your help you bastard! I'm just warming up!" Valerie said, as she tried to fight to her feet.

"But…"

"Cram it!" Valerie snapped.

And strangely, the ghost boy listened to her, as he turned and flew away. Valerie would have been surprised, had she not immediately found a new source for her attention: Anubis was coming.

She looked at her aching arms, and muttered a curse under her breath. Taking that slash had shorted out the whole system: all her wrist devices were useless to her now. Well, she still had her gun, as she pulled it out…as the motion send a fresh wash of pain through her, to the point where she almost collapsed.

"Look at you." Anubis said disdainfully. "In agony. Nigh-helpless. And you could all make it go away if you simply surrendered and left. Will you surrender?"

Valerie gave Anubis a very rude gesture.

"Of course not. You insist on fighting. And why? To deny my rightful judgment of a psychotic and evil force to the fate she had earned, due to some silly need to show mercy? My astonishment at your species' fatuousness grows by the minute."

And then a very loud cracking noise sounded behind Anubis. He arched an eyebrow, and then turned to see what it was.

"Then I guess we haven't got gotten it through your head!" Danny yelled, as the pillar came toppling down on Anubis. Danny's previous impacts with the pillar had weakened it enough for Danny to smash the top with a few painful blows (his ribs had killed him at first, but after focusing on it and trying to will the pain to go down he actually found it going down and vanishing. He'd figure out why later) and then when Valerie and Anubis had come back out Danny had gotten behind it and shoved with all his might, sending it falling down on Anubis' head with a thunderous crack.

Valerie stared, and then she saw that Danny had flown down next to her. Her eyes narrowed.

"I thought I told you…"

"Save it Valerie!" Danny yelled. "I know you don't like me, and you probably even have a good reason not to, but now is not the time! If we want to have any chance of beating him, we have to work together! We did it once, we can do it again, and after that you can kick my ass all you want, but for now, save it!"

Valerie glared at Danny, more at the fact of being silenced then any dislike of what he said.

"…All right. We settle this afterward. For now, we settle on him." Valerie said, as she yanked out a drained power battery on her gun and snapped in another one.

"And you better be able to keep up." Valerie added.

"Keep up…?" Came a voice from the dust cloud, as a shadowy form was revealed.

Anubis. He was still standing…and still facing the other way.

And Danny realized, with a sinking feeling, what that meant. It meant that Danny had dropped ten tons of thick stone on Anubis' head…and he hadn't budged an inch.

Indeed, as Anubis turned around, Danny could see his horn-ears were unmarred. What did he have to do to actually do some DAMAGE?

"You speak as if you have accomplished something! In reality, there is NOTHING you can do!" Anubis declared, as if he had read Danny's mind. "I am Anubis, the Spirit of Judgment! I am invincible! No one who has ever opposed me has survived! You are no DIFFERENT!" Anubis proclaimed, and then he slashed out his axe again and sent another deadly blade of energy flying at the pair.

Danny grabbed Valerie and flew up, both of them dodging the blade as it sliced through all the remaining pillars behind the two, and then Danny tossed Valerie into the air, as her jet sled swooped under her and grabbed her even as it unleashed a giant cloud of red smoke, obscuring the two.

Anubis floated up, his eyes alert.

Valerie flew from the smoke, heading straight for Anubis, as he slashed his axe at her, Valerie dodging the blow…and then turning intangible, along with her sled, and flying through Anubis. Caught off guard by Danny's overshadowing trick, Anubis whirled around and got a ectogrenade launcher ectoblast in the chest, even as Danny, out of Valerie's body now, flew in after the attack and fired off several punches into Anubis, driving him back a bit. Anubis didn't retreat long though, and Danny had to fly away from Anubis' attempted grab even as he fired his own blast into Anubis' chest. Anubis' eyes narrowed, and he threw his axe into the air and fired four blasts from his hands in quick succession. Danny and Valerie dodged them all and returned fire with their own spray of blasts and shots, consuming Anubis in explosions again. Anubis' axe came down again…and fell past the smoke cloud where he was, impaling into the ground.

Valerie lowered her gun, even as Danny flew around her, the two of them exchanging a grim nod at the fact of the uncaught axe.. Danny called more ghost energy to his hands, even as Valerie kept her gun ready and her finger poised over the trigger.

The smoke cleared.

Anubis was unharmed yet again, but his cool look of disdain and disinterest had faded, replaced by an intense gaze that wasn't quite anger but was getting there. His cloak was in rags, and with a quick gesture he reached up and snapped off the chain that held it to him, letting it fall to the ground.

"Well, it appears together you are more effective then apart. I must admit the ones I condemned have almost always been alone, their greed for power and their crimes having driven off all but the most fanatical devotees." Anubis said, as he raised his right arm.

And a few seconds later, his crushing morning star staff, the Staff of Judgment for a lack of a better term, floated back up to his hand.

"But this matters not! You are both still doom…!"

Danny and Valerie blasted Anubis together before he could finish his sentence.

The deadly orbs of stone flew out of the smoke a second later, Danny and Valerie barely managing to dodge them as they split up. Danny went around Anubis, while Valerie went above him, as Danny swooped in and tried to attack Anubis while his staff was extended…and learned the hard way that that wasn't the only way the staff could hurt him as Anubis slammed the rod part of it across Danny's face, staggering him, and with a powerful kick Anubis send Danny spiraling down towards the ground. Valerie swooped in like a dive bomber, firing her jet sled guns and ectogrenade launcher, and when Anubis recalled his staff and fired it off again at her, Valerie whirled away from the attack and swooped past Anubis…

As Anubis turned and struck her with a powerful blast attack with his free hand, sending Valerie and her jet sled lurching across the sky, as Anubis recalled his stone orbs and whirled as he lashed out with them again. The jet sled took the brunt of the impact, smashing it to pieces and putting Valerie in free fall.

To her credit, she didn't scream, as Danny flew up and caught her, breaking her fall enough so she could jump down to the ground without suffering injury: she wasn't going to be carried down like some damsel in distress. Anubis was down a second later, and without a word Valerie pressed a button on her belt and roller blades shot from her boots, rockets boosting her (with the blade keeping remarkable traction on the very rough ground) at Anubis as she fired a spray of shots from her gun. Anubis's crushing retaliatory swing missed her, and then Danny was there as he managed to finally land a blow on Anubis' exposed face, and then another one, before Anubis grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. Valerie zipped back, firing again, as Anubis swung out his staff once more, the orbs missing Valerie again as Danny flipped away and fired a few ecto-blasts. Anubis took them as he had all the others and zapped his eye beams at Danny, who dodged them and fired a twin-handed blast that exploded on Anubis, as Valerie zipped by again…

And a blast of power flew from Anubis ear-horns and blew up the ground in front of Valerie, causing her skates to catch as she flew through the air and right into Anubis' arm as he slammed it into her and sent her crashing down into the ground, so fast it was done before Danny could even react, and at the same time he had recalled his morning star orbs, and even as Danny leapt to attack again he was swinging them at Danny. Danny jumped over them…and leapt right into Anubis' eye blast, and if that wasn't bad enough, he proceeded to fall into Anubis' grasp as he released his staff and seized the rising and dazed Valerie with his other hand.

With a sickening crack, he slammed their heads together, before backhanded both of them at the same time and sending them both flying across the stairs again.

"Pathetic." Anubis said, calling his staff back. "One, two, ten thousand, I have never been denied children. You fight, and suffer, for no reason at all. Why do you insist on doing it the hard way?"

"Because…yours…is not…THE RIGHT WAY…" Danny managed to spit out. His vision was swimming, and he had to fight turning back into his normal, human form, which would be bad for an uncountable number of reasons in this situation. He started getting up, noticing Valerie was as well. She was a tough girl, but he knew that all too well.

"Not the right way? You act as if my judgment is fallible! I am not a mortal! My will has NEVER been wrong!" Anubis snapped, getting incredibly tired of Danny's defiance.

"First time…for everything." Danny said, as he wiped more blood from his mouth. Anubis' eyes narrowed.

"Do not attribute human expressions to my mission, you foolish boy. You have no idea what you say."

"Yeah, maybe. But it's my say."

"And mine, and no amount of abuse can beat it out of me." Valerie said. Somehow, this time, she'd managed to hold onto her gun, as she brought it to bear again.

Anubis snorted in disdain.

"You only say that." Anubis said.

And he swung his staff up and down, this time aiming not at the pair but at the stairs themselves, and as the weapon struck a crack of power lanced out from the impact zone and streaked across the stairs, zipping under Danny and Valerie before they knew what had happened.

As explosive power erupted from underneath them, blasting them and throwing them into the air at the same time, and even as they screamed Anubis flew across the distance between them and lashed out, punching Valerie down the stairs, and even as she struck the ground Anubis spun around and swung his staff in an upward arc.

"I let my actions speak for me!"

The balls slammed into Danny so hard it almost felt like his skeleton was going to rip out of his body, as the body contorted from the blow, blood flying from Danny's mouth, almost as if it was happening in slow motion…

And Anubis spun and slammed the balls across Danny's body again, and he flew through the air like a bullet, crashing into the statue of Justice and shattering it to pieces, though the stone was hardy enough so that Danny stopped there instead of just flying through it, the effigy crumbling, leaving only a dagger-like column of rock, as Danny collapsed to the ground in front of it, lying on his stomach and face, not so much in pain as he was fighting passing out, fighting against it, but he was too battered, he couldn't go out, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak…

The circles flashed over Danny, returning him to normal.

Just as Valerie was trying to get up from her blow. Her eyes went as wide as saucers.

"…Danny?" She said.

Danny's eyes fluttered open. Due to the damage exclusion between his human and ghost forms, he felt a bit better then he had before…before his eyes cleared and he saw Valerie staring at him…in shock…him. Danny Fenton.

And looking at her eyes, Danny felt his heart plunge into the abyss. No. Not like this. Not like THIS…

Anubis floated down in front of the two. Well, he'd beaten the fight out of the ghost boy, but he had a feeling that the girl wasn't quite done on her own little defiant path…she was just taking a brief detour…

"…Valerie…" Danny said, reaching out to her.

"…Oh god. GOD! How could I? Danny Fenton, Danny PHANTOM…MY GOD! How could I have not seen it? How could I have been so STUPID?" Valerie said, burying her face in one hand as all the pieces finally fit together. Danny's absences, the way the Ghost Boy always seemed to have the upper hand on her, how the Ghost Boy was always around if there was trouble at her school, their matching appearances…everything.

Danny had no idea what to say, as he pushed himself up, as Valerie agonized over what she had just learned.

"…Valerie…" He repeated.

"No!" Valerie said, looking up and cutting him off. "Don't say anything! Like you said…Danny…there's a more important thing." Valerie said, as she turned her gaze back to Anubis.

"Valerie…"

"Shut up Danny." Valerie said, and though there was anger in her voice, there was also confusion…and sadness. "I don't want to hear it. Not now…maybe not ever."

Danny had never been in a relationship before, and hence really had no idea how they went…but from the way Valerie's last words sounded, from the way they send a dagger into his heart…he had a feeling, more likely then not, that he'd just seen how one ended. After all, you couldn't build anything solid on a foundation of lies, could you?

Whatever Valerie was feeling was immediately swept away though, replaced by a new tidal wave of rage, as she glared daggers at Anubis.

"This is your fault! You…you ruined everything you bastard! Goddamn you! YOU BASTARD!" Was all Valerie could scream, as she charged at Anubis. He did not look impressed, as he raised his free arm.

"Enough of this." Anubis said, as purplish-red energy exploded on his hand. Danny's eyes widened.

"NO VALERIE! DON'T! HE'S…!"

Valerie leapt at Anubis with a battle cry, aiming her gun…

As Anubis cut loose with a gigantic blast of power, the attack utterly consuming Valerie, her battle cry turning into a scream as she flew past Danny and down the stairs, the blast exploding and blinding Danny.

"VALERIE!" He screamed.

When the dust cleared, Valerie lay on the ground, not moving, her outfit in tatters. Danny ran down and rolled her over. Not knowing what else to do, he checked for a pulse. What he found was strong…or so he thought, he wasn't a doctor. Valerie wasn't bleeding anywhere he could see, but she could have a concussion, or a spinal injury, or some kind of ghost something or other…but all Danny knew for certain was that she was hurt.

She could have turned and left, he realized. What reason did she have for staying, after what she'd learned? But she had…because she…

She believed it was more important.

"You see the consequences?" Anubis' voice came from behind him. Danny did not turn, even as his whole body went rigid. "You see the costs of defying my judgment? Do you really wish for it to go on? Have you not wasted enough time on your idiocy and blind morality?" Anubis said. "We may not have much time left Danny. The judgment must be made. So either change your mind, or…" Anubis trailed off as it washed over him.

One of Danny's hands was on the ground, and as Anubis watched he clenched it, the bare fingers digging lines into the stone.

"You…." Danny snarled.

He laid Valerie down and got up as he turned around, his eyes flashing green.

"You…YOU…YOU!" Danny screamed, and then he raised his hands and clenched them again, as with a scream a column of green power erupted around his feet, swirling up Danny and consuming him.

When it faded, Danny Phantom was back. And he didn't look any less angry, as Anubis cocked his head and looked at him. Apparently he had more in the tank then Anubis had assumed.

Not that it mattered.

"…I'll…I'll…I'll KILL YOU." Danny snarled.

"…You…will kill…me?" Anubis said, as if Danny had just declared he would turn the moon into a milkshake and the earth into fine swiss chocolate to sprinkle on it. In other words, like he didn't believe a word of it.

Danny would make a believer out of him though, as he slammed his hands together and fired off a blast of ectoplasmic power that was as big as he was, the attack striking Anubis with such force it shook the whole building, something Sam noticed inside as dust sifted down from the ceiling. What was going on? The only company she had was Sizzle, and since her orb was soundproofed now she couldn't hear anything the deranged fire spirit might be saying. Her few glances at Sizzle's orb though, seemed to indicate that Sizzle was strangely calm: she wasn't thrashing around or fighting against the orb any more. Despite all her insane bravado, maybe her close call with the burning gates had actually sobered her up to her situation. Or maybe she was so mad that Danny was technically fighting for her that she was frozen…or maybe she just was moving when Sam wasn't looking, Sam didn't know! What was going on?

Outside, there was little left of the stairs that had once lead up to the courthouse: only a giant outward facing crater in the stone structure. Danny stood there, taking deep breaths, some of his rage expended but still plenty more in reserve, just waiting for the right spark to re-ignite the flame.

"Your power is mighty, that is true boy." Came the familiar voice as the smoke cleared.

Danny couldn't believe it: while the area around him was completely destroyed, Anubis STILL didn't have a scratch on him.

"But it is also elusive and fleeting. I am fully in command of mine. It will prevail."

"SCREW YOU!" Danny yelled as he leapt forward, firing off a storm of punches at Anubis. Anubis was driven backwards as he tried to deflect all the blows, but Danny's anger caused him to overextend himself and when Anubis abruptly dodged to the side Danny flew past him…as Anubis whirled and slammed the morning star against Danny's back, sending him flying forward onto the front of the court house again, but unlike last time where the blow was absolutely devastating, Danny barely felt this one, running on high-octane rage, as he leapt up and spun around…

Only to find Anubis was thinking one move ahead, for even as Danny had been flying from the previous impact Anubis had swung back his weapon and sent it extending out, not after Danny but in a different direction, the chain stopping at a precise point, and as Danny had landed Anubis had swung the extended morning star out and around like an Olympic hammer thrower.

So when Danny had gotten up and turned around, the spin had almost been completed, as the orbs slammed into Danny's side and sent him flying, as he went smashing through the remaining pillars on the right side of the court house, causing the whole front of that side of the building to collapse into rubble on Danny's head.

Anubis flew up to where Danny had stood, retracting his orbs back to the staff.

As Danny flew from the smoke of the rubble, his outfit torn up but the rage still exploding through him, as he once again blitzed Anubis with rapid-fire punches, driving the judgment spirit back as he tried to defend himself, Danny hammering on him mercilessly and not even noticing if he was doing any damage, he was so focused in striking the blows.

Which lead to his downfall, as Anubis deflected one blow enough to rap Danny in the side of the head with the other end of his staff, and as Danny stumbled Anubis spun and kicked Danny to the side, and even as Danny flew Anubis charged up a blast on his hand and sent it exploding into Danny's back, causing Danny to go crashing through the conference room Valerie had briefly seen, through the hallway beyond, and into the room that was on the other side of the hallway, another court room, as Danny slammed into the judge's bench and was left sitting in the rubble.

"Again, not bad boy, but I've seen better." Anubis said as he followed, floating forward off the ground. "Do you still want to keep fighting? As of now all you have gained is pain and perhaps the loss of the first love of your life. It will only keep getting worse, child."

"You have no idea how right you are…" Danny growled as he pushed himself out of the wreckage. "Worse, FOR YOU!"

Danny fired a blast at Anubis: he dodged effortlessly to the side, and dodged again and again and again as Danny fired blast after blast at him before he leapt up into the air and swung his morning star down at Danny, Danny leaping backwards as the stone balls smashed a few benches and the floor to splinters and pebbles as he fired another spray of blasts, which Anubis avoided by doing an abrupt flip downwards, letting go of his staff. He landed and Danny attacked, trying a multiple-hit kick that Anubis blocked and countered by uppercutting Danny in the gut. Danny rolled with the blow though and flipped 360 degrees to fire another spray of blasts, blasts Anubis also dodged as he called his staff back to him, whirling the spheres overhead in a blur before he did a three-strike combo against Danny, Danny avoiding each attack as he fired off more blasts with each dodge…and left himself open to Anubis' horn blast, which blasted him to the ground through another bench.

"You're getting desperate with such energy expenditure child. Stop and do what is needed now, lest your heart give out."

Danny grinned fiercely.

"Energy expenditure?" He asked, as he got up and raised one hand.

And Anubis finally realized something: he hadn't heard any explosions from the missed blasts.

Because none of them had hit the walls. They had stopped after missing Anubis, and were floating all over the room, balls of ectoplasmic power.

Danny clenched his fist.

The balls closed in. This time, the blasts didn't miss their target.

The explosion shattered the whole room and sent the wall between it and the main courtroom where Sam was kept toppling down, as she shrieked in surprise.

Danny stood his ground though, breathing heavily again. That was a nice move, that one, he noted: he'd invented it for Flammadea, maybe it worked just as well on…

The giant stone ball came flying at Danny. Danny wasn't caught off guard though, and leapt up to avoid it…

He'd reacted too soon: it was only one stone ball.

The other one followed a second behind it…aimed right where Danny was leaping.

Sam's eyes widened as Danny flew into the room, though she couldn't hear his scream as he landed.

But she could definitely see what followed, as Anubis leapt into the room afterward, spinning his morning star above his head…and then sending the balls lancing down onto Danny before he could get up or move. Sam screamed as Danny was crushed into the floor by the impact, and began pounding on the sphere again, for all the good it did her.

The impacts were back to devastating, indeed it had been that way all along, but Danny was too hopped up on rage to notice, and now all the blows he hadn't absorbed, only ignored until he couldn't any more were coming back to haunt him again, as he agonized where he lay.

Which got worse as Anubis swooped down and planted a foot on Danny's chest. Danny let out a weak cry at the blow: in her sphere, Sizzle chuckled merrily. Finally, a front row seat.

"Yes boy, energy expenditure, because you can try all the tricks and subpar tactics you want, the ending is as set in stone as your body currently is! You will perform the judgment!"

"…No!" Danny said. "No means…NO!"

"You STILL defy me?" Anubis said. "What is WRONG with you? Have you gone mad? Need I release the fire spirit to bring you to your senses, as you watch her start all over again and wreck untold havoc before you once again bring her to her knees, if you even can? Or would you prefer the words of someone closer?" Anubis asked, and gestured at Sam's sphere. "I have removed the bonds, female. Tell your idiotic male companion what needs to be done, so we can stop wasting time and carry out what is needed."

The last sentence was the first thing Sam heard, though she immediately became aware of Danny's weak coughs, which just caused her to stare in horror.

"Oh come now woman, I've watched you, you've never been shy in speaking before, why start now?" Anubis asked. "Tell your male friend to snap out of his idea that anything can be accomplished by mercy! Judgment is the only answer, and it WILL be the only one. Tell him this, lest he TRULY arouse my anger." Anubis said.

Sam was silent.

"Speak woman! Do not think I will be hesitant to turn my power upon you if necessary!"

Danny's eyes popped open.

"What?" He said.

"Do not look so surprised child. I may have in some ways safeguarded her, but she is just a means to an end. If harming her is what it will take…"

Anubis felt that wave of power wash over him again, even as Sam spoke.

"Danny…" Sam said, and in that lone word she spoke volumes.

"Augh." Anubis growled in annoyance.

Danny's dual handed blast sent Anubis shooting upward through the ceiling, crashing through the upper floor and onto the floor above that, before he flipped over and landed on his feet. Danny followed him up a second later.

"So, you wish to dance this waltz again." Anubis said, sounding bored.

Danny fired a blast at Anubis' head: Anubis snapped his head to the side and it flew past it, blowing a hole in the wall beyond.

Anubis' eye blast didn't miss, as it blew Danny backwards and against the wall in the room, which was a generic office.

"You had no chance with your lady friend, and even less alone." Anubis commented, as Danny slumped to the floor. He looked up, his eyes flashing green.

"I'm NEVER alone." Danny said, as he set his legs, clenched his fists, and concentrated…

Anubis arched an eyebrow.

And Danny began to split, his body ripping apart into two separate Danny's…until about three-quarters of the way through it stopped. Danny(s) blinked, and then focused again…and sprouted a new head. Which spouted arms. Which sprouted ears.

"…Bit of advice child. Field testing a new technique is all fine and good, but if it leaves you open this long, you may as well give it up." Anubis said.

"…Give…up?" Danny said, and then let out a final shriek, as the head with the excess limbs vanished and the split completed itself, leaving two Dannys floating side by side. Finally, he'd done it. If he'd been in a less serious battle, he might have celebrated. At the moment, he (both of him) just wanted to kick ass.

"Hmmmph. This changes nothing. The dice have already rolled…" Anubis said.

"SNAKE EYES!" Danny(s) yelled, as one fired a concentrated blast and the other rapid-fire ones, as Anubis vanished in explosions again.

"You think doubling the amount of targets I have will change anything?" Anubis said as he flew from the smoke. "It didn't help your friend!"

Anubis' morning star smashed down where the Dannys were, as each dodged away…and then flew back, each grabbing one ball of the staff before Anubis could retract him.

"GO GHOST STINGERS!"

The energy traveled up through the orbs and into Anubis, shocking him with twice the power.

It didn't even raise a grunt from him, as he looked at the arm holding the staff, which was now wisping smoke.

"Interesting. It almost tickled."

Both Dannys jumped him, weaving in and out with punches and kicks, once again driving Anubis back, but twice the number of blows made the same number of dents: none. Anubis' armor remained pristine, as he fended off the storm of attacks.

Anubis' mistake was trying his same trick twice, as he grabbed for one of the Dannys.

Danny 1 just went intangible, and while he still felt something, it was much less then with the orb.

And it allowed Danny 2 to zip around Anubis and ram his shoulder into Anubis' knees.

Anubis toppled to the ground, as Danny 2 rolled away from him, even as Danny 1 jumped forward and thrust out his arms.

"Will this?"

The blast carved through both floors between Anubis, a spray of bright green that caught Sam's attention, though she had no idea what it was.

When the dust cleared on the upper floors, Anubis was gone.

"It can't be that easy." Danny 2 said.

"Yeah, but where did he…"

The floor exploded from behind the two Dannys, and they whirled and attacked, blasting beams of ectoplasmic power…at Anubis' floating judgment staff.

As Anubis floated up behind the pair through the same hole they had been looking through a moment before.

One Danny didn't even get a chance to fully turn around before Anubis slammed his fist across his face and then spun and kicked Danny into the wall on the left. The other Danny sprang to attack, but no sooner had he thrown a few punches them Anubis grabbed both his hands and violently kneed him in the gut, driving the wind out of him as Anubis grabbed him, violently slammed him on the ground, and then lifted him up again.

"Maybe you need to study your basic mortal mathematics more, but zero divided by anything IS STILL ZERO!" Anubis snapped, and hurled the other Danny across the room as well, the two crashing together and merging back into one, an experience that dazed Danny…and left him wide open to Anubis grabbing his staff and sending the morning star slicing across the room, the gigantic balls smashing Danny through yet another wall.

"ENOUGH." Anubis declared to himself.

Danny bounced across the floor in the new room a few times before flipping unsteadily to his feet. The exhaustion was already creeping back in, like a junkie whose fix lasted less and less time with each drug use, but Danny refused to admit it. He had to stop Anubis, stop him because…why?

…He didn't know. Except that in his heart, he was doing the right thing.

And the saying 'No good deed goes unpunished' was especially apropos here, as Anubis came crashing through the wall…not in front of Danny, but from Danny's side, which allowed Anubis to get around Danny's guard and collide with him, sending him flying before Anubis grabbed Danny by the hair and shoved him forward, ramming Danny's face into the nearest wall and dragging him along it face-first for several feet before Anubis hurled him onward, Danny tearing through the wall a bit more before he crashed through another. His face a mass of cuts, Danny tried to turn around…as Anubis crashed through the wall after him and fired off another blast of power into him.

The explosion blew down every single wall in the room.

Danny collapsed to the floor, his outfit even more shredded, as he tried to put together a defense, a plan, anything, as Anubis flew up and lanced his morning star down…but not at Danny. Instead, the ball crashed through the floor in a perfect vertical drop…and exploded out from under Danny, sending him flying up and crashing through the ceiling with a cry. Anubis retracted the staff and flew through the ceiling after Danny, who was still spinning in the cold night air…as Anubis zapped up to him and flipped backwards, kicking Danny even higher into the sky with a mid-air somersault kick, and even as Danny tried to figure out which way was up Anubis corrected himself and flew after Danny, his large form passing him just as Danny managed to stop spinning…

And then Anubis crashed down on him, feet first, right into Danny's chest as Anubis rocketed downward.

He smashed Danny through every floor in the courthouse there was, finally smashing down once more through the ceiling of the main courtroom and smashing Danny into the ground with an impact that knocked over and blew away everything in the room except the prison spheres. Sam screamed once more, and then the room filled with dust.

"…Danny!" She began to call after several seconds. "Dannnnnny!"

Danny could only faintly hear her: his vision and senses were mostly composed of darkness and pain at the moment. Anubis had driven him into the ground so hard he had made a small crater there as well, and he was still standing on Danny, one foot planted on his chest, as he looked down at the Halfa.

"Is this enough? Have I finally beaten it out of you?" Anubis said. "Are you ready now boy? Do you really want to see if your limits of suffering can be stretched any further? Or will you finally realize the truth in my words? The judgment is made, and you must carry it out, Danny Phantom. There IS no other way. Now accept it!"

Danny looked with hazy eyes up at Anubis. He didn't have any anger left, any power or defiance. He hurt too much for it.

But…that didn't change his mind.

"No." Danny whispered.

For the first time, Anubis finally looked stupefied.

"…Why?" Was all he said.

"…You…wouldn't…understand…" Danny wheezed.

Anubis stared down at Danny some more.

And then he relinquished his foot on Danny's chest.

"Danny?" Sam asked, looking down at her fallen love…yes, he was her love. It was finally clear. When she looked at all Danny had suffered, and yet he STILL refused to send Sizzle to hell…she realized she loved him, everything about him, the nobility that seemed so foolish to everyone…except perhaps, those who mattered.

Or perhaps that was wishful thinking, as Anubis stepped back, planting his staff down in the ground…and as Sam watched the orbs shrank back into the scales they had once been. Anubis looked deep in thought.

"…Not many have stood to the end."

Anubis turned and started walking away, and as Sam watched a new cloak suddenly seemed to spring from nowhere, settling out from his shoulders to replace the one Anubis had discarded. His armor remained undamaged in the slightest: it wasn't even all that dirty.

"Of all I judge, those who gloated over their power, screamed their defiance, declared their godhood and immortality…of all those who I broke down until there was nothing left, their pride shattered, their courage gone, their boasting words reduced to bleating cries for mercy…not many have clung to their beliefs. When the gates yawned open, and their sins came to be paid…not many still looked at me and declared what they were in the start. And in such a thing, you are one of a kind, Danny Phantom. You defy not my judgment, but the judgment of another, your worst enemy…all because you cannot live with the concept of her punishment. And why? I don't know. I thought you were just a fool…but I see that you are much more then that. And it simply won't do." Anubis said, and sighed. "I did not want it to come to this. I hoped you would see the truth in my words. But even lying there, a broken shell, you still say no. And as long as you do, your connection will keep Sizzle here. And if your enemies release her…then her own judgment, on you and your world, would be as terrible as anything I could do, and more. I tried to have you see this, but you will not. That leaves only one opinion. If I cannot perform the judgment with the connection, and you will not see the light…then I have no choice. I must sever the connection."

Sam had been uncertain of just what Anubis was saying until the last sentence, until he said it and held out his hand.

A few seconds later, Anubis' axe flew through the door and into his hands. Then Sam understand.

"AHHHH! DANNY! GET UP! GET AWAY!" Sam screamed. "RUN! RUN!"

"He cannot, child. He is far too battered for that." Anubis said.

Danny wasn't sure what was going on, as his body was pretty much stuck in the act of staring at the ceiling, but Sam's screams conveyed more then enough urgency, as he tried to get up…and found, like Anubis said, he could not. His body was too weak, too worn out to move in any more then tiny muscle jerks. He couldn't even summon the power to float up or turn intangible.

"I didn't want it to be this way Danny. You have forced my hand." Anubis said. "You should have listened. I am the spirit of judgment. I make no errors, I make no changes. My word, and my will, is as absolute as life and death itself." Anubis said as he stopped in front of Danny.

Danny managed to tilt his head a bit, and he saw the axe, and he realized that this had just turned into a full three part act. Anubis was judge, Danny was to be jury…and now Anubis was executioner.

"It will be painless, I guarantee that." Anubis said. "But that is all. Your species claims survival of the fittest…in the end you failed that test, Danny Phantom. Take that knowledge with you, wherever you may go."

Danny furiously tried to move again, but he just…couldn't…even with…

Anubis swung the axe up.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sam screamed.

And as Danny realized this was it, twin tears leaked from his eyes…

"…I'm sorry…" Danny said, to no one in particular and everyone.

The axe swung down.

And was intercepted by a glowing katana blade.

"Dishonorable dog! You would strike an opponent dead while he is down and helpless over a mere disagreement of opinion?"

Anubis looked in surprise at the new arrival.

"Who the devil are you?"

"YOU SHALL KNOW!" Minamoto Ieyasu yelled as he shifted his weight and yanked his blade upward upward, doing a complicated spinning maneuver that shoved Anubis' axe away and allowed Minamoto to kick him in the chest, driving him back.

"…Tom?" Danny said. He couldn't believe it. The samurai ghost had come out of nowhere and saved his bacon.

"I am Minamoto Ieyasu, child! Do try and remember that! And that goes for you as well, dog!" Minamoto said. "This boy and I have a battle to settle! I will not allow some ignominious cretin to rob me of it over such a low matter of a difference of opinion!"

"I AM THE SPIRIT OF JUDGMENT, YOU HALF-WITTED REMNANT!" Anubis roared. "MY SENTENCE CARRIES MORE WEIGHT THEN A MILLION YEARS OF YOUR MORONIC CODE!"

"I have heard nothing of you! And even if I had, it would not matter! In such words, you show how low your so called sentence really is! It knows nothing of honor and respect! A great duel should be over the better warrior, not over the attempt to force one's will on another! Perhaps that is the way many battles are fought, but as long as I exist, it is not how this battle will end, and it will not be how you slay this boy!"

"You defy me as well?" Anubis snapped.

"Defy now, defeat soon!"

"You're as foolish as him." Anubis said. "I am much more then a mere ghost or hybrid, meddler. You mean nothing to me. I can strike you down without effort. And do not think your already being dead saves you, samurai. I can cut you down as if you were alive, and this time there WILL be nothing left! Now STAND ASIDE!"

"I will NOT." Minamoto said, as he briefly spun his sword and pointed it at Anubis. "This boy and I will have our duel, and if you still insist on his destruction for your dishonorable will, you will have to answer to my blade!"

"Enough delay." Anubis said, and fired energy from his eyes.

Minamoto deflected the blast on his sword, sending it flying away from him. Anubis was clearly surprised by this.

"You strike from a distance, without any attempt to battle as a warrior! You disgust me! I shall cleave your head from your shoulders for this and all your insults!" Minamoto said, and leapt to attack Anubis.

Anubis got his axe in front of him to ward off the blows, as Danny watched for a few seconds and then tried to get up again. This time, he barely managed it, as he saw Minamoto's incredible blade skill clash with Anubis' power…and Danny had a sick feeling which one would come out on top.

"No…Minamoto! Don't! He's some high level spirit! He's too powerful! You can't beat him! This is my fight!" Danny yelled.

"No, Danny, it is now OUR fight! And I do not care if he is the hand holding up the strings of all existence! Power matters not! Only skill!" Minamoto said, and then he actually seemed to give weight to his belief as he drove Anubis back more.

Danny watched, stunned. It was almost as if Anubis was retreating from Minamoto…but that was impossible. What did the samurai have that he didn't? Was it because he was all ghost? Because Anubis hadn't watched him? Or was it because…

"MINAMOTO! LOOK OUT!" Danny screamed.

It was a setup.

As Minamoto swung his sword down, seemingly driving Anubis to one knee…as Anubis took one hand off his axe and blew on it, a black flame of some kind flying from his hand and into Minamoto's face, and as the samurai recoiled Anubis surged back up, shoving the katana blade the ghost wielded up and away and then spun…

"NO!"

The axe bit deep into Minamoto's side and chest, almost cutting him in half, as the samurai ghost made a noise of surprise and pain. Faint green ichor leaked from the wound, as Danny watched in horror.

"Actually, you imprudent vestige of a lost cause, power is all that matters in the end. Skill, honor…meaningless trappings. All they lead to is exactly what you are in your last moments: pointless sacrifice."

Minamoto's eyes looked down at the deadly wound…and then they returned to Anubis' face, their fierceness not dampening but actually intensifying.

"Not…ENTIRELY!"

And Minamoto stabbed his sword down, piercing into Anubis' axe before a gigantic blast consumed the two warriors, causing Danny to recoil.

"Tom…" Danny said, looking at the smoke…and then he was aware of something landing at his feet. He looked down.

Minamoto's katana.

Danny knelt down to look at it…and hence was immensely startled when Minamoto's face swam out of nowhere. But it was no longer attached to his body: it was part of some kind of vaporous green mist…and the features were already beginning to fade.

"…Danny…child…I fear we will not be able to settle our battle…" Minamoto whispered.

"Wait wait, hang on, there must be…"

"You…cannot do anything. I was recently…dispersed…I sought you too soon after I had re-gathered myself, my form…was not fully reincarnated…and with the wound the dog struck…I cannot hold myself together any more…I will cease to exist…"

"…No…" Danny said.

"…If…I do not do…what I do now. Danny…I am going to join my sword. It will be the only remains of what I was…blame not yourself…I may not come to…the end I sought…but my blade will remain…I know it…will be used…by someone whose soul is as sharp as it…use it…child…strike down the so-called judgment spirit…for what we had…what you still held…even in the face of hell itself…"

And with that Minamoto faded completely, the mist sinking into the katana and vanishing. Within two seconds, it was totally gone.

"It just continues on and on, doesn't it?" Anubis said, and Danny looked up.

The explosion had cleared, revealing an unharmed Anubis, though his axe was destroyed. He looked at it and then tossed it away.

"You defy me, and you lose. How much have you already lost, Danny Phantom? You, your friends, your family, your would be love…even your respected opponents, all have suffered for your defiance. Is it worth it all, Danny Phantom? For HER?" Anubis said, pointing at Sizzle.

Danny glanced back at the fire spirit, and then looked back at Anubis.

"…This isn't about her any more, Anubis." Danny said. "This is about YOU and ME. What you've done to me…and believe me, my 'defiance' is the least of your problems." Danny said, as he reached down and took Minamoto's blade up, standing to his feet, which clearly surprised Anubis.

"You rise?"

"Yes." Danny said, and pointed the sword at Anubis. "AND YOU'RE GOING DOWN."

Anubis stared at Danny for a few more seconds, and then he shook his head.

"I have absorbed virtually all knowledge in my divine mission…words from one your poets occur to me now." Anubis said as he reached behind him. "'There is sorrow enough in the natural way…why do we always arrange for more?'"

And Anubis pulled a new weapon from his back, a weapon whose blade snapped out and expanded. It was a sword of his own, a sword that was bigger then Danny himself.

"If you continue on, Danny Phantom, there is no turning back. I WILL kill you. And do not delude yourself that you can do the same. You cannot kill what was never alive to begin with. All you can do is hope to survive its wrath. Stand down and accept my judgment Danny, or my wrath will prove to be beyond your survival."

The two stared at each other.

"You know…the words are different, as are the motives, but you know who said the same thing to me?" Danny said, and pointed behind him. "Her."

Anubis arched an eyebrow, not sure what Danny meant.

"So tell me Anubis…you think you'll be next to her in your own sphere next time?"

Anubis understood that well enough, and his eyes flashed with rage, as the entire building began to shake, as various colors of power swirled up around him.

Danny stood there, sword in hand, and though he didn't see it Sam did, as greenish-white energy began swirling around Danny as well. She'd seen this once before. She had a rough idea what it meant.

But she still had no idea if Danny was going to survive.

A life, so to speak, had already ended.

And before it was done, another would as well.

To Be Concluded