The above artwork does not belong to me.

"No!"

Jazz's scream of denial ripped through the air. She ran to Danny's fallen body. "Please don't be the original, please don't . . . don't . . ."

Ford ran to the portal's console, but Dan beat him there. "You'd better hope that he's alive in that portal," the ghost growled, "or you're all dead." He shut down the machine.

The other body lay on the table motionless, its eyes closed. Dan looked over it slowly, then laid a hand on its arm. He scowled.

"This was the duplicate!" He turned to Mabel. "You killed the original body. You killed Danny!"

The gun dropped from her hand with a clatter. She fell to her knees. "I-- I--"

"I can't merge with a dead body!" Dan shouted. His aura glowed red, and he advanced on her. "You destroyed my chance of survival. Now I'll destroy yours!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw movement on the table, but she was too focused on the murderous ghost in front of her to really notice.

Did she deserve to die after killing her friend? Would being dead make all this guilt and panic go away?

Dan's hands were encased in pure energy. "Say goodbye, you pathetic--"

He stopped suddenly, his eyes wide as loud thump sounded throughout the island.

Behind him was Danny, weak and barely able to stand. He was holding a piece of the metal framework of the portal in his hands, having just smacked Dan with it. "Pick on someone your own size," he growled.

Dan gaped at his younger self. "But-- but you're inside a duplicate. You can't survive, you need--"

"Energy," he said weakly, "I know. Like the energy of the ghost zone." He placed a hand on Dan's arm. "Or the energy that you've been hoarding inside of you for the merge."

The evil ghost narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't. You'd kill me. You can't kill me."

Danny offered a sideways smirk. "I've already died once today. I don't see a problem with biting the dust a second time."

Green light flowed from Dan to the halfa, draining him. Danny's skin lost its pale complexion, and he looked stronger every second. "That won't work!" Dan snarled painfully. "You'll never survive!"

Danny let go. The dark version of himself fell to the ground. Dan was just an empty husk. Dead.

For a moment, no one moved.

Ford slowly walked over to the machine and typed in some calculations. "Technus, the guy who built this, left a failsafe," he murmured. "The portal will implode if I enter an emergency program. Let's get out of here."

Danny, who was now filled with energy, took a deep breath. "Everyone hold on to me."

Hesitantly the group formed a circle around him. Ford finished inputting a final few digits and ran to them.

Danny looked down at the two bodies on the floor. One, Dan, didn't have a single visible wound, but his face was contorted with rage. The other, his original self, was staring at the rip in reality above them in shock.

The three bloody, ragged holes in the other body's chest made Danny's own muscles ache. He felt as if he'd healed, but he suspected that he may have the scars from all of his various injuries. If that was true, he wondered whether he now bore the mark of bullets.

Slowly stepping out of the circle, he reached down. Gently, he closed Dan's eyelids, then those of his original body.

Jazz put a hand on his shoulder. "We have to leave, little brother," she told him softly. "Before it's too late."

Numbly he nodded and walked back into the center of his friends. Each placed a hand on one of his arms, and he willed them all to go intangible and float out of the pit, through the cave and back outside.

He collapsed silently in the grass, tired once more.

A deep, low hum sounded under the ground. Then the earth shook for a few seconds, everyone bracing themselves. When it was over, Danny breathed a sigh of relief. He could no longer sense the gateway to the Ghost Zone. The portal had imploded and was gone.

For a few long minutes, no one spoke. Danny breathed slowly, feeling as if he were forgetting something. He remembered and beckoned Mabel over to him.

Nervously, she walked closer. "I-- I'm so sorry, Danny, that was a horrible thing to do, I killed-- I killed--"

He smiled gently. "You didn't kill anyone. I'm still here. In fact, it looks like I'm the only one who really hurt another person and since it was Dan . . ." The teen's eyes were hollow, but his face held an expression of dry humor. "I guess that makes it suicide, doesn't it?"

Mabel couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But I chose to risk killing you," she said, her voice cracking as tears streaked her face. "I shot you. Aren't you mad at me?"

Again, he smiled. "Of course not. You did what I told you to do. Besides, if you hadn't fired, we would be in some pretty deep doo-doo."

He touched her arm. "But Mabel, that isn't the reason I wanted you to come over here. The shifter is still inside of you, isn't it?"

She nodded slowly. "I've been fighting it."

"Well, you're pretty strong then. But you don't have to anymore."

He turned intangible and flew through her, pushing the shifter out along with him.

The shifter growled, but it was so weak it could hardly move.

Ford walked up to him and handed him a Fenton thermos that he had somehow aquired. "I figured it wasn't strong enough to hold Dan, but it'll help you here."

Danny thanked him and trapped the shifter. Now the only loose end to tie up was the septem tigris that was somewhere in the woods. They'd have to do something about that.

Danny stumbled on his feet, breathing slowly. The absence of pain in his ribs felt strange, but he welcomed the respite from agony. He was just happy to walk again.

Jazz was still worried about him, as was everyone. "Danny," she said, "I hate to ask this now, but does this mean the duplicate is dead, not the original?"

Her brother rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, no, I'm inside the duplicate body." Their faces were horrified.

Dipper was the first to speak. "But-- that means--"

"No, no, I think I'm stable," he assured them. "I infused myself with all of Dan's energy. He used to be me, a halfa, so all I needed was his life support. Of course, he's dead now, but I hardly care. It's not as if I killed someone with friends or a family."

His calmness at murdering his future self was nearly as alarming to the others as the fact that he did it at all. But none of them could possibly understand. Dan wasn't supposed to ever have existed. After his last defeat, he was just a fragment, an anomaly. The malicious ghost represented everything that Danny feared and hated, all his worst nightmares condensed into a physical form. For the halfa, killing such a creature was necessary if he wanted to move on with his life.

The teen could never fully communicate that to anyone else, though, which he was strangely okay with. Some things he didn't want to explain.

Soon enough, all eight of them made their way back through the treacherous woods to the Mystery Shack, eager to return home once again.

I know I know, I said I'd update two or three days ago, but I have been bu-u-u-sy. Like really. Homework, packing, sleeping. Busy. And now, after three consecutive flights, (*groan*) I present to you the second-to-last chapter of Phantom Falls. Within a few days, the final part will be up.

I hope you've enjoyed this journey so far. I know I have! Also, don't forget that I have a suprise announcement (*nudge nudge wink wink*) after it's finshed.