The Next Day - Jazz
If Danny wouldn't talk to her, maybe his friends would. The next day at school, Jazz cornered Sam and Tucker in the hallway and interrogated them.
"Don't you think he's been acting weird?" she asked. The two exchanged glances. "I mean, haven't you noticed how gloomy and negative he's been lately?"
Tucker said, "Uh, Jazz, we're Danny's friends. That means we keep his secrets from you."
Maybe money would help. Tucker had always been greedy. Jazz pulled a $20 out of her purse and handed it to him. His eyes lit up.
"Although…" he said.
Jazz's hopes were crushed by Sam, who snatched the bill from his hands and gave it back to Jazz.
"We've all got our problems, Jazz," Sam said. "I know you're worried, but Danny's okay. He keeps some things to himself, but it's not like he's doing anything criminal."
Just then, the fire alarm went off. The three looked around as the sprinklers poured down on them.
"That had better not be Danny," Jazz said sourly.
Danny
"It wasn't me!" Danny said in Mr. Lancer's office. Ms. Spectra stood behind Mr. Lancer in his chair. "Someone must have attached my backpack strap to the alarm."
"And how did they do that without you noticing?" Mr. Lancer asked.
"I–I don't–" Danny said.
"Hey, Mr. Lancer!" Ms. Spectra said brightly. "It was an accident. But we're going to take that accident and make it an acci-don't and learn from it so it never happens again!"
"But–" Danny said.
"No buts," Mr. Lancer said. "You could learn a little bit about school spirit from Ms. Spectra here. When I was in school, I got the same advice. And look how I turned out!" He struck a spirited pose.
Danny was fuming. This was so unfair! His hands balled into fists. But if he did anything, he would get into more trouble. He was just going to have to take it. Like a loser.
He resisted the urge to growl, but his face still screwed up into a scowl.
"Now, now, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said, "I want to see you smile! It's Spirit Week!"
Danny gave him a full-toothed smile. Or maybe it was more of a grimace.
Mr. Lancer frowned. "I suppose that'll do."
"I'll take care of it from here, Mr. Lancer," Ms. Spectra said. She ushered Danny out the door so quickly he hardly had time to process. They went into her chilly office. Leaving the door open, she rummaged through the bottom drawer of her filing cabinet.
"Ah, here we are," she said after a while. "Change into this. I'll wait in the hall." She put something on her desk and left him alone in her office.
Danny warily examined the costume on the desk. It took him a moment to realize the biggest piece was a giant baby diaper. With it were an oversized top hat, knee-high socks, and a sash that read "Spirit."
He looked around for cameras but saw none. Then he remembered the window in the door and taped a paper over it. After he was sure of his privacy, he changed out of his pants and put on the diaper and socks. What a dumb punishment. Whatever was happening, it was dumb. He pulled the sash over his head, donned the top hat, and opened the door for Ms. Spectra.
"And this is supposed to help me, how?" Danny grumbled.
Ms. Spectra adjusted the sash. "We're gonna help you overcome your fear of being called a baby."
Danny sat, his emotions spiralling into depression. "I'm not afraid of being called a baby. I'm afraid of… being called a loser," he admitted.
"Ahh," Ms. Spectra said, "and therein lies the problem. You care too much about what other people think."
Of course, at that moment, Dash and two other jocks walked in carrying boxes.
Dash said, "Where do you want us to put these banners up, Ms.–"
They stopped short when they saw Danny. Dash grinned.
"Hey, guys, check it out," he gloated. "It's the Casper High Spirit Baby."
The three laughed.
"Of course," Danny groaned. He slumped, and Ms. Spectra put a "comforting" hand on his shoulder.
After School
Danny, Sam, and Tucker went to Elmer's Pharmacy, a convenience store, after school. Sam and Tucker got ice cream cones (Sam's being tofu), but Danny didn't want any. They sat at a round table, discussing Danny's punishment. Danny had his chin cupped in his hand.
"Man," Tucker said, "it was brutal making you wear that stupid baby suit. I could hardly watch. Though I did get some good digital pics." He pulled up a picture on his PDA to show Danny.
"Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?" Danny asked.
"Danny, come on, you know he's kidding," Sam said.
"Ah– Yeah, I know," Danny said, dropping his head into his arms. "I don't get it," he went on, and sat up again. "Why am I so depressed and angry all the time? That shrink was supposed to be helping me. Ever since I started talking to her, I've been feeling worse."
Jazz, of all people, walked up to the trio. "Hey, Danny, how's it going?"
Danny frowned, "Like you care. Just go away, Jazz." His ghost sense went off, and he moaned, "Oh, no."
He looked over at the beauty counter, where Paulina powdered her nose, a store clerk watching her. The green ghost popped out of the floor behind Paulina.
"Gotta keep Jazz busy," Danny muttered, thinking fast. He sprang to his feet and glared at Tucker and Sam. "Yeah, well, if you're gonna take her side, then you hang out with her, too!"
Grabbing Jazz by her shoulders, he shoved her into his chair. "Here, take my seat, you've already taken my friends." He rushed out a side door, looking for a place to transform.
"Danny, wait!" Jazz yelled after him. He trusted his friends would keep her back and ignored her.
Jazz
"Danny, wait!" Jazz jumped up and ran after Danny, too fast for Sam and Tucker to react. She reached the door and peeked through. "He went this way. I'm sure I can head him off."
On the other side of the door was an alleyway. Jazz looked around and found Danny deeper in, his back to her. Before she could get close, there was a flash of light focused around her brother.
Jazz stood there, baffled. Did she…? Did she really just see that? Did he really just… transform? He looked like the ghost who saved her from the giant hornet.
"Danny?"
He didn't hear her because he flew. She stared after him, her brain putting the pieces together. The clumsiness, the secrets, the brooding, were all because he was a ghost! But when–?
Tucker and Sam were in the alleyway. Jazz got excited and ran toward them.
"Did you see that?" she raved. "Tell me I didn't see what I just saw."
Tucker cringed. "It's not what you think, Jazz."
Sam pushed his ice cream into his mouth and said, "Of course it's not. Ghosts aren't real. Jazz, you sound like your father."
Jazz blinked in confusion, then glared at them. Their words came back to her.
"He keeps some things to himself."
"We're Danny's friends. That means we keep his secrets from you."
Her eyes went wide. Of course! They were covering for him. No way they would be straight with her.
Sam asked, "Jazz?"
"Oh. Oh, of course!" Jazz laughed unsteadily. "My parents are such loons, it's rubbing off!" She checked her watch and babbled on, "Oh my gosh, is it that late? I've gotta work on my Spirit Week speech." Running toward the parking lot, her mind went wild.
When did Danny become a ghost? It must have been the portal accident. He'd been acting strange ever since then. Dodgy and cagey.
Wait, if he was a ghost, did that mean he was… No. Don't go there. Danny was alive. Of course, he was! The thought of her baby brother being…
If he was alive–which he was–and a ghost, that must mean he was half ghost. Right? But… what did that mean?
And all their parents' theories about ghosts! They believed ghosts were evil. Danny didn't seem evil. He was angrier than he used to be, but he saved her! An evil being wouldn't have saved her… would it? No, their theories must be wrong. It wouldn't be the first thing they were wrong about.
Jazz couldn't tell them about Danny. That would prove disastrous. Of that one thing, she was sure.
As she got into her car, she smiled. This could be good for Danny.
Danny
When Danny got back, Paulina and the store clerk screamed at the green ghost and fled. Danny zeroed in on the ghost and kicked him into a rack of sunglasses.
Landing in front of the ghost, Danny said, "I know you need your makeup, but you're just gonna have to wait your turn."
The ghost backhanded him, and he went flying. The ghost followed up with an ectoblast, which Danny barely dodged. More ectoblasts hurtled Danny's way, and he avoided them all.
Store patrons ran screaming through the exits. Good. They wouldn't get in the way. However, Tucker and Sam came back in. Why weren't they with Jazz?
While Danny was distracted, the green ghost punched him into a wall display of backpacks.
"You're not very good at this, are you?" the ghost goaded.
Danny got to his feet. "Yeah, well, maybe I don't need to be to beat you!"
The ghost grinned and melted, shifting his form into a wolf. Lunging at him, the wolf bit into Danny's tail and cornered him.
"Then again–" Danny muttered, grimacing.
"Hey, get away from him!" Tucker said.
The wolf turned toward Tucker and Sam.
"Or don't," Tucker said weakly. "Seriously, it's open for discussion."
Danny couldn't see his friends get hurt. Anger surged through him, and he growled, "No! You leave them alone!"
He tackled the wolf ghost, and they rolled, power switching between them until the ghost landed on top of Danny. Danny struggled to get up, but the ghost had his arms effectively pinned.
"Oh, look," the ghost mocked. "The little loser ghost has a few baby helpers."
Danny's eyes twitched in fury. "Do… not… call… me… a loser!" With the added rage, he managed to throw the wolf ghost off him and into a glass display case. He shot an ectoblast, but the ghost dodged, and the blast destroyed the case instead.
Melting back into his original form, the ghost said, "Well, that's enough damage for one afternoon. Ta-ta!" He flew through the ceiling and out of sight.
Tucker looked around at the completely destroyed store and said, "I sure hope they're insured."
Danny finally noticed the giant mess he had caused, and his shoulders slumped. Anger drained out of him and was replaced by heavy sorrow. "Great, he got away again. Another ringing endorsement for the town screw-up." He flew off, leaving Tucker and Sam behind. He didn't feel like talking to them, or anyone.