Danny sat on the roof of Elmer's Pharmacy, invisible and with his tail dangling over the edge. He watched Tucker and Sam leave. He saw when emergency vehicles arrived. He ignored all that and pondered his fight, wondering how he could have done better. He kept repeating the ghost's last words. It seemed the ghost just wanted to cause destruction. Maybe there was nothing Danny could do to change the outcome.
Ugh. Maybe his parents were right. Maybe ghosts were evil.
But Helen wasn't even. She was simply concerned about the lunch menu. She may have been a rampaging lunatic at times, but in the end, Danny had been able to reason with her.
Maybe this ghost could be reasoned with, too. But how do you satisfy someone who just wants to make a mess? The only way to find out would be to try.
Still, he felt bad about the chaos. Also, the ghost hit a nerve when he mocked Danny's abilities. Would he ever get better?
Eventually, his stomach rumbled, and he flew home, still invisible. The kitchen was empty when he arrived, so he transformed right there. He made a microwave dinner and sat at the table to eat.
Halfway through, he looked up to see Jazz standing in the doorway. How long had she been there? He was sure he was alone when he got home.
"What?" Danny asked.
"Nothing," Jazz said, walking over. She seemed to be examining him, and then she pinched him.
Danny flinched and rubbed his arm. "Ugh! What?"
"Nothing!" Jazz repeated, but something was obviously on her mind. "Uh, so, uh, Danny, I know I've been kind of hard on you lately, but you know I think you're great, right?"
Danny bristled. "Yeah, right. That's not what I hear."
"Then you heard wrong. Look, I know you think I'm pushy and a know-it-all. I know you think I can be a jerk sometimes… You know, you can stop me at any time."
"I know."
Jazz sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "All I'm saying is I'm your sister, and I care about you. And even though you don't think I'll understand, you can talk to me about anything."
"Why should I believe you when you badmouthed me to Ms. Spectra?"
"What? I didn't–"
Crash!
Danny and Jazz jumped at the loud sound. They ran to the door dividing the kitchen and the living room to see what was going on. A plume of smoke rose off the couch. It was a good thing the fire alarms had been disabled years ago for this very reason. Their parents had a habit of blowing things up, Dad specifically. He was the one holding the new device in this instance.
"I'm just saying, if we can find that ghost at Jazz and Danny's school, we're gonna peel that ghost like an onion!" Dad said.
"Well, we can't completely vaporize it," Mom countered. "Don't you want to at least examine the remains?"
Danny and Jazz returned to the kitchen, where she put a hand on his shoulder.
He shrugged it off and said, "I don't feel like talking about it." He walked away to put some distance between them and crossed his arms.
"Yeah," Jazz said, "I'd imagine not." She went over to him, kissed the top of his head, and left the kitchen.
"Oh, gross!" Danny said. He sat at the table to finish his meal, which was now cold.
Jazz could be such a pain. But… she did deny his accusation earlier. But then why would Ms. Spectra say that Jazz had said those things? Danny ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
The Next Day
At school the next day, Danny and his friends stood in front of his locker. Every student who passed by seemed down in the dumps.
"Is it just me," Danny asked, "or is this the worst Spirit Week in the history of Casper High Spirit Weeks?"
Dash and Kwan slumped by, Dash complaining, "Another day, another twenty-four hours closer to a career of pumping gas."
"At least you'll have a job," Kwan said. "Apparently, I'm gonna end up a hobo. I didn't even know they had hobos anymore!"
Paulina and Valerie walked in the opposite direction, taking no notice of the boys.
Paulina said, "Did you know wrinkles can start emerging as early as your mid-twenties?"
Danny leaned against his locker and said, "And to make it worse, we're all gonna have to sit through Jazz's idiotic speech when she tries to put the 'I' in 'spirit' or some other nonsense."
Jazz turned down the hallway at that moment, skipping and smiling.
"What the heck is she so happy about?" Danny grumbled.
"Don't ask me," Sam said. "I'm usually the sour one around here. But compared to everyone else, I'm the goth bird of happiness."
"Hey, didn't all of this start with the mandatory counseling sessions with Ms. Spectra?" Tucker wondered.
"Wait a minute," Danny said, grabbing Tucker's PDA. "Let me see something." He found the pictures of him wearing the baby suit.
"Uh…" Tucker said, "I was gonna delete that."
"Glad you didn't," Danny said. He zoomed in on the picture where his breath was visible. "I kept thinking I was seeing my breath. That it was cold. But what if that's my ghost sense? What if Spectra is somehow making people more miserable? What if she's a ghost?"
"Only one way to find out," Sam said.
Danny nodded. "Cover for me."
He went to the boys' bathroom and looked around. No one was there. Good. He could transform without anyone noticing. He came out invisibly and headed to Spectra's office.
Spectra stood at the door, waving to a slumped-over student. She said, "Buh-bye! And remember, there's only an 'I' in 'misery' if you spell it that way!" She went into her office and slammed the door. Danny flew in after her, remaining invisible.
A cloud of ectoenergy surrounded her until she sucked it in. Her skin glowed and appeared to look younger somehow.
So he was right, Spectra was a ghost! Danny stayed invisible to see what she would do next.
"Ahhh," she sighed. "Man, that's good." She sat on her desk and rifled through student files. "I'm gonna miss these kids. They're a waterfall of misery."
The green ghost flew in through the wall. There were two ghosts?
"There you are," Spectra said. "You hooked up the device?"
The green ghost spoke, and Danny realized it was Bertrand. How did he miss that?
"Of course. And when the spirit sparklers go up, vaporizing the only chipper kid left in the entire school, there'll be enough misery and anguish in that room to keep us looking young forever!"
So that's their plan? Danny got ready to confront them, but the school bell rang.
"Well," Spectra said, "there's the bell. Shall we go hear a speech and bum some more kids out?"
The two merged into one blob of ectoenergy and phased through the door.
Danny felt his core tighten. "Jazz!"
He rushed after the two ghosts, turning visible. They were in the hallway by themselves, looking human. Danny shot an ectoblast at Bertrand, knowing he was the bigger threat.
"I figured it out, finally," Danny said to Spectra. "You feed on misery, don't you?"
Spectra fiddled with her glasses. "I'm sorry, can I help you?"
"No, I'm sure you can't," Danny retorted. "You can't help anyone except yourself."
She smirked and lunged at him, but he was too quick. Danny floated behind her and kept talking. She turned around.
"You find that one thing that a kid's most afraid of–their future, their looks, their confidence… and you pick at it and pick at it while your snippy little ghost assistant feeds on it!"
"Hey!" Bertrand said.
Spectra clapped. "Very good." Her eyes turned red, and a ring of purple fire surrounded her. "But I fear you've missed a few details!"
The fire turned into smoke, and Spectra transformed into an all-black version of herself. Bertrand transformed into a wolf, the same wolf from the convenience store.
"You're halfas?" Danny asked.
"Nope," Spectra growled. "Full ghost." Her hands glowed with ectoenergy, and Danny backed away.
"I don't want to fight you," he said, "but I will if you make me."
"Oh, let's tango, little boy," Spectra said.
Wolf Bertrand tackled Danny into the wall. They phased through to the outside. Bertrand pinned Danny to a tree.
"You thought you were going to stop us? You?" Bertrand said. "You're just a frightened little kid!"
He swiped at Danny, who phased through the tree just in time. Danny launched himself at Bertrand and punched him. Bertrand went flying.
Spectra grabbed Danny from behind.
"Let go of me!" Danny said.
"Why would I do that?" Spectra said. "Your doubt, your misery, it's delicious."
She flew up to the gym window, taking Danny with her. He struggled, but something about her wouldn't let him go intangible. He looked in the window to see Jazz giving her speech, a chain of dominoes at the base of the podium. Two scary-looking laser-like devices aimed right at her.
"And the best part is," Spectra said, "as soon as that silly speech is over, and that last domino falls, and the sparklers vaporize the speaker, we'll leave you here to take the blame. And by the time I'm done with you, you'll be sure it was all your fault!"
"Man," Danny said, "I'm so tired of you dumping on me. And I am so tired of dumping on myself. Jazz never did that, even when I was mad at her. And I won't let her down!" He gathered all of his energy into his core and then let it out in a huge wave, effectively throwing Spectra off him.
"Bertrand! Sic him!" Spectra yelled.
Wolf Bertrand reappeared and transformed into a ninja. He stood on a tree branch and flipped nunchucks around. Danny glared at his antics.
"I so don't have time for this," Danny said, and pulled out a Fenton Thermos. Uncapping it, he sucked Bertrand in.
"No!" Bertrand wailed.
With Bertrand taken care of, Danny grinned at Spectra.
"You're through!" Spectra said and lunged at him.
"And you're done telling me what to do!" Danny said. He grabbed her by the tail and tossed her into a dumpster. The lid slammed closed. Danny smiled to himself, then remembered his sister.
"Jazz!"
He went invisible and intangible and zoomed into the school gym. The dominoes were almost all knocked over, and Jazz watched ignorantly. No time to warn her. He had to act fast.
Danny yanked Jazz off the podium and into the hallway beyond. When he set her down, she blinked at him.
Before either could say a word, Spectra grabbed Danny from behind and pulled him into a storage room.
She pulled his hair and said, "Look at you." Danny tried to use the thermos, but she hit it aside. "What are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?"
"Both!" Danny said. "Uh… neither! I don't know."
"You're a freak!" Spectra sang. "Not a ghost, not a boy!"
Danny felt the now-familiar feeling of depression. Green ectoenergy radiated off of him and into Spectra. She dropped him, and he hit the ground, no longer caring about the fight.
"Who cares for a thing like you?" Spectra said.
"Excuse me," came Jazz's voice. Danny looked up in surprise. She held the new device Dad had been working on.
"I don't know this kid," Jazz said, "but I hope it's okay if he gets a second opinion."
She fired the weapon at Spectra. The black form peeled away to reveal her other form, which also peeled away, showing an older version underneath. Then another older version, then another, until she was shriveled up like a prune.
"Talk about having nothing within," Danny said, feeling his energy return.
Spectra howled. "No! I am nothing without my youth!"
Danny picked up the Fenton Thermos and sucked Spectra in.
Jazz powered down the Fenton Ghost Peeler and said, "Hey, it worked!" She walked up to Danny, who flinched. What did she want?
"Uh… uh…" Danny stuttered, trying to come up with the right thing to say.
Jazz dropped her smile and said, "Ahhh. Ghost." She ran to the door, but stopped and turned to Danny. Softly, she said, "You'd better go." Then she left.
Danny sighed in relief. He turned to go and smacked into a stack of boxes.
"Oh. Uh, right," he said to himself before turning intangible and flying off.