What Lies Within

One

Maddie looked down sadly at the two teens in the glass cages.

"I'm so glad it worked, Jack..." she said to her husband. Jack nodded and hugged his depressed wife close.

"This was worth it. I can't believe this whole time, he was-"

"Mom! Dad!" Jazz Fenton skid to a stop as she took in the large gym, and her parents surrounded in their own inventions.

Her eyes widened as she saw the two unconscious teens in the glass cages. "What have you done?" she breathed, her eyes watering.

"Why did you do this? WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU?!" She lunged for the glass cubes, but her father pulled her back.

"Jazz, don't. We only wanted to help him-"

"HELP HIM HOW?! By ripping him in half?! He's your son, you shouldn't-"

All the yelling was pulling teachers and students from their classes and into the gym.

"-experiment on him because it is not going to help you figure this out! Put him back right now!"

The teachers and students were shocked by that. The Fentons wouldn't experiment on their own child, right?

"Stop it!" Maddie yelled, tears streaming down her face.

"I couldn't just leave my baby like that...that freak....." she whimpered.

Jazz lunged at her, "Take that back! He is not a freak!" Jack pulled her struggling form back once more.

"That is exactly what I've been trying to tell her!" Jack exclaimed.

"That ghost was obviously possessing our poor Danny-boy! So we pulled him out!" he said happily, gesturing to the two containment units.

The crowd looked into the cages and were shocked to see two unconscious teens: none other than Daniel Fenton and-

"Holy crap, is that Phantom?!"  Somone in the crowd alerted the Fentons that people were watching them.

Jazz took that moment to reach down and grab a random invention and throw it at the glass containers.

Phantom stirred.

All was quiet as they watched the two boys slowly awaken.

Fenton woke first.

He sat up, but hit his head against the top of the cage.

"Huh? What the...?" Fenton rubbed his head and gazed through the glass.

He dropped his hand as he saw his mom and dad, who was holding back his sister. He looked around, seeing his classmates and teachers and all those inventions....

It was then that he knew....felt, that something was wrong. Something was missing.

His eyes traveled directly next to him and he saw something that he had never wanted to see again.

Phantom lay groaning in a unit of his own, with a gloved hand over his eyes.

Fenton went to reach for him, but his hand met a wall of glass. He pulled back his arm and hissed in pain as an arc of electricity ran up his arm.

Fenton then did something that the onlookers did not expect.

He let out a sob and pulled his legs to his chest, his dark hair covering his face.

Phantom opened his eyes at the sound. He sat up and whacked his head, much like Fenton did.

"Huh? What the-" Phantom stopped and stared at his gloves hands.

"Oh no. No, no no no no...not again..." he whimpered. He looked at the crowd of people. His eyes zeroed in on the Fentons.

"YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Phantom screeched at them. His fists glowed green as he pounded on the glass.

When his hands touched the glass it lit up blue and he screamed in agony.

Fenton sobbed harder.

"We just wanted our Danny back instead of you always controlling him!" Maddie screamed at him.

"What do you mean, YOUR DANNY?! YOUR DANNY IS DEAD!" Phantom yelled. Fenton screamed and pulled at his hair.

Jazz pulled herself free from Jack's grip.

"Stop it, Phantom!" she slapped her hand against the glass.

He glared at her through the glass. "Its true. THEY killed him! As soon as they pulled us apart, they ripped him in half! I was never controlling anyone!"

"Phantom stop! They didn't mean it! They didn't know-"

"Of course they knew! THEY DO KNOW, CAUSE HE FREAKING TOLD THEM, AND THEY DIDNT BELIEVE HIM, AND NOW THEY'VE KILLED HIM!" Phantom pounded at the electrically charged glass, ignoring the pain in blind rage.

"HE TOLD YOU! HE TRUSTED YOU, AND YOU MURDERED HIM, YOU BITCH!" He screamed at Maddie, who was crying and shaking her head.

The crowd watched silently. This was not the Phantom they knew....

"PUT US BACK! WE NEED TO BE TOGETHER! PUT US BACK, PuT uS bAcK, wE CaNt bE aPaRT! FIx ThIS! fiX IT!" Phantom's voice started to gain a spectral echo, and a bit of his Ghostly Wail leaked into his pleas. He continued pounding at the glass between the two units.

"LET ME OUT!" Fenton screamed and started pounding on the wall too.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! I CAN FEEL HIM, PLEASE! PLEASE, LET ME OUT! I DONT LIKE IT! LeT mE OuT! pLeAsE! I CANT TAKE THIS, leT mE OUT!" he sobbed. With both boys pounding on the glass, it started to give in.

Jazz gasped and backed away as the glass gained a giant crack.

"That's impossible! That glass can withstand a hurricane!" Jack said.

Everyone stumbled back as a flash of colors nearly blinded them. The sound of shattering glass filled the air.

The students and adults blinked the light from their eyes.

It was hard not to notice the eerie silence.

Fenton and Phantom stood in a pile of glass shards.

Phantom pulled Fenton into a hug, and Fenton sobbed even harder.

"H-He told them, and-and I could feel it...he knew that they would do this.." he stuttered.

"They just won't listen. And they never noticed him, never even payed attention to him." Phantom said harshly.

Fenton pulled away and wiped his eyes. "W-We can still fix it, right Phantom?" he asked uncertainly.

Phantom crossed his arms and snapped, "Well you said you could feel him right?"

Fenton chuckled nervously and held out one hand.

Phantom glared at Maddie and Jack once more, then took his hand.

Their clasped hands glowed white. Fenton's eyes lit up blue, and Phantom's toxic green eyes glowed brighter.

They disappeared, and soon after, so did everyone else.