Only Half

Nightmares

The ghost boy soon enough became a blur of motion, as Danny plummeted through the air towards the Fright Knight. The ghost in question, however, maneuvered his horse to fly just directly overhead. Flying straight past where the Fright Knight had just been, Danny stopped in mid-air and groaned inwardly. Couldn't any of the ghosts he fought just be straight forward? If they came for a fight, why didn't they just fight instead of- Oof!

Caught off guard, Danny found himself rocketing back down to earth as he landed with a sickening thud. Above him was his opponent, who grinned malevolently, his sword having been the blunt object which struck the halfa down.

Soon enough, Danny flew out from the crater that had just been made beneath him from the crash. Speeding towards the Fright Knight again, he threw ectoblast after ectoblast, the green energy radiating from his palms and shooting out towards his foe. Though the Fright Knight managed to avoid the first two, the third hit him point blank. His horse screeched in surprise as its rider was thrown.

Danny smirked in satisfaction as he headed straight for the Fright Knight. Thinking on his feet – or rather, where his feet should have been, considering he was flying in a rush of speed at the moment and his ghost tail was showing instead – Danny threw three more ectoblasts at the already dazed Fright Knight.

It was just enough to send the guy barreling towards the ground, creating another crater to challenge the one Danny had just flown out of. Staring at the form which was standing up now, Danny continued to float above the ground, not chancing a sneak attack from the horse that seemed to be waiting above them for its rider. The equine in question bared its fangs at the halfa, and Danny winced inwardly before focusing his attention on the Fright Knight.

It didn't take much longer for the knight to revert to his best defense: his sword. Unsheathing the deadly, green, and glowing weapon, the Fright Knight laughed to himself and swung forwards with a mighty grip. Danny barely had time to maneuver out of the way, flying upwards in order to dodge the attack.

He thought it strange that the iron clad ghost wasn't trying to swing again until he realized why, a bit too late to escape. The demonic looking horse came galloping towards him through the air, and with a fell swoop, slashed Danny's backside with its front hooves. Danny cried out in pain, looking at his shoulder blade which was now bloody and torn.

The teen grit his teeth and set his jaw as he tried to compose himself for the next clash, and thankfully he'd taken enough time off to recuperate over the past few days for his ghost healing to come back into play again.

Danny's eyebrows lowered as his annoyance started to take hold. This guy had been a pain in his butt for too long now. It was time to show him why it wasn't wise to mess with Danny Phantom – or Danny Fenton for that matter.

Fuming, the ghost kid zoomed forwards, creating a sword of ice within his palms as he rocketed across the sky. He soon enough found himself looming over the Fright Knight, who had also decided that taking to the sky was in his best interest. The two shot forwards with swords in hand, feinting back and forth. The Fright Knight's precision was pristine; it seemed his moves could not be matched.

Danny's sword cracked after a few minutes, as his opponent's sword slashed through his own and the ice crumbled to snowflakes. Danny gasped inwardly, trying to create another sword but only having formed one a few seconds before he was whammed to the ground once more. In a blind fury, the halfa picked himself up and stood firm, preparing for the attack that may very well be do or die – and hopefully not literally this time.

With a huge intake of breath, Danny let out his most powerful attack: his ghostly wail. Teams of sound waves suddenly appeared from their source, sprouting like wild fire and moving towards their targets. Like crashes of the ocean against a cliff edge, the waves refused to stop, slamming the Fright Knight and his steed with no mercy.

The Fright Knight groaned in pain as well as anger, managing the strength to whistle loudly to his peculiar horse. The animal spirit nodded furiously before vanishing into thin air. Danny vaguely registered the disappearance but, but he ignored it for the moment do as not to break his concentration and therefore his attack. He chose instead to now focus all his attention on the Fright Knight.

Huge mistake.

Without any other warning, Danny cried out, breaking the ghostly wail. His attack against the Fright Knight immediately ceased as he fell to his knees in agony. The black ghost stallion was just behind him, whinnying with delight as the Fright Knight started towards Danny, his sword in hand. Albeit, he was stumbling quite a bit before he got his proper footing. But it didn't take long for him to regain it once more.

"It is over, ghost child," said the Fright Knight fretfully, as he brandished his sword to slice through Danny's core. Danny was doubled over in pain, as the wounds he had sustained from the horse bled anew. Maybe this wasn't supposed to go well after all. The ghost boy growled in irritation. The Fright Knight was nothing; if he was up to par with his strength and recovery, he could have beaten him by now and sent his butt packing back into the ghost zone!

Suddenly a voice interrupted the Fright Knight's swing. Just as the sword came down, slashing into Danny's arm, Jazz appeared at the other side of the street, yelling, "Say goodbye, medieval vermin!" Oh geez, that was so Jazz. Danny would have been laughing had he not been in total turmoil.

Just then a brilliant flash of light sucked both the Fright Knight and his equine partner into the Fenton thermos, and soon afterwards, Danny could see Jazz running towards him for support. Danny's vision soon became impaired, however, as his surroundings started to change.

Before him now was broad daylight, as everything seemed to glitch. His older, evil self stood before him, cackling. "You can't escape your destiny, Danny. You will always, inevitably, become me." Fire roared from all sides, and Danny was held back by his future self – the one who was supposed to be gone – as his sister was consumed by the flames. "NO!" he yelled in a sickeningly strangled cry.

"Danny, Danny! Snap out of it! Come on, little brother!" He heard Jazz speaking out of the corners of his subconscious. "J-Jazz... no..." he let out in distress, his eyes watering. "Danny, it's okay. You're alright."

The halfa blinked and suddenly the world became normal again. His future self was gone, the flames were gone. And Jazz was standing over him, cradling him in her arms. "I've called Tucker and Sam," she told him. "They're on their way." She looked at the huge gash that now resided on Danny's arm.

"What happened? I thought you were dying a second ago," said Danny painfully – though not the physical sort of pain. He was trembling beneath Jazz's grip.

Jazz looked shocked, but it was a sad sort of expression. So his worst fears were losing his family? She should have known... "Danny... the... the Fright Knight cut your arm with his sword before I was able to get to you."

Danny's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Wait, so does that mean...? What, how come I'm not in that alternate dimension it's supposed to take me to?"

"Well... I think you're flickering in and out of it," Jazz explained sympathetically.

Danny was at a loss for words. "But..."

Jazz explained further. "Sam said that the book about the Fright Knight she had when you guys first came across him explained the sword. How it only takes victims to the alternate dimension if they're sliced clean through the middle with it."

"So... so, what? I'm stuck in between then?" replied Danny nervously.

"I was hoping not, but... from what you just told me... It looks like I'm wrong. And I'm sorry, Danny. You know how much I hate being wrong..."