"Danny" The dark haired teen jerked as a hand landed on his shoulder then relaxed as he realized that it was only his girlfriend, Sam Manson, eyeing him with a look of slight concern "…you okay?"

He stared into her lovely violet eyes for a few moments before glancing away again, letting his gaze flint nervously around the room. "Not really, no."

Tucker appeared at his left and elbowed Danny jovially, "Come on man I'm sure it'll be fine"

The halfa nodded but didn't seem convinced as he focused his attention on his father, who was currently standing in front of his science class pointing out the various weapons on the newly modified Specter Speeder 2.0.

It was only this morning that Danny discovered the scheduled field trip to the Ghost Zone that Mr. Lancer and his parents had planned for the class. He, Sam, and Tucker had all come in late the day they'd first announced it thanks to an impromptu visit from the Lunch Lady and nobody had seen fit to inform them. Danny's permission slip had been signed by his parents without his knowledge and thanks to Sam's exceptional signature forgery skills (obtained from years of her parents barring her from doing anything fun) both she and Tuck were able to hand theirs in just before they'd hopped on the bus and headed to Fenton Works.

"…This baby has been upgraded to hold about twenty people, outfitted with several ecto-weapons and a portable ghost shield. It's also got a new ecto-converter that turns ecto-energy into fuel, in a place like the Ghost Zone it's like an infinite battery that's guaranteed to never run out."

Mr. Lancer stepped forward, "You mentioned weapons are you sure that this trip is going to be safe?"

"Of course it's safe," Maddie Fenton replied, stepping out from behind the Speeder to stand beside her husband, "we've rerouted all weapons controls so that they can only be accessed from the driver and passenger seats, the ghost shield is guaranteed to keep out any spectral entities and the doors are airtight to protect against ectoplasmic contamination. The entire vehicle and everything in it has been triple checked and is ready for launch."

Mr. Lancer eyed the vehicle dubiously for a few moments before nodding slowly and motioning for the kids at the front of the crowd to begin boarding. Danny, Sam and Tucker lagged at the back of the line and were the last to get on; taking up residence in the back of the vehicle shortly before the doors sealed shut.

Jack sat down in the driver's seat and flicked on a switch, making the engines hum as they started up. "Everybody strapped in?" he called over his shoulder, receiving only a few half-hearted replies, though the apparent lack of enthusiasm did nothing to faze him as he shifted the Speeder into gear and pressed a button on the console. The ghost portal slid open and Jack gunned it, sending them through the swirling vortex and into the Zone.

The class crowded around the windows and pressed their hands to the glass oohing and aahing at the swirling green sky. At the back of the Speeder Danny unzipped his backpack and handed Sam and Tuck a pair of Fenton phones and wrist rays which they quickly slipped on.

"Well you came prepared," Sam commented dryly as she eyed the ecto-pistols and thermos stuffed in among crumpled papers and books.

"It was all I could grab," Danny replied, "I still can't figure out how they managed to convince the school to let us do this."

"Something about 'educating our youth on the growing ghost problem,'" Tucker said.

Danny sighed and ran a hand roughly through his hair, "I can't believe this is actually happening."

Sam scooted closer and brushed her shoulder against his, twining their hands together at the same time. Ice blue met violet as she gave him a small smile that made his heart jump. "It'll be fine Danny, just like your parents said nothing can make it past the portable ghost shield and even if it could this thing is loaded down with weapons, there's nothing to worry about." The teen hero smiled softly and shifted closer so that they were leaning against each other, "You're probably right."

"Might want to tone down the PDA guys, might disrupt Sharon's signal," Tuck said, gesturing to his technological 'baby' with an obvious smirk on his face. Sam's cheeks grew rosy and she used her free hand to punch Tuck in the shoulder, which got a laugh from Danny and a fake groan of pain from the techno geek.

While the three teens had been engrossed in conversation the rest of the class had quickly grown bored of the endlessly swirling green sky and numerous oddly shaped doors. Some had reclined back in their seats, choosing to converse with their friends while others were still staring out the windows in moderate interest as the endless expanse of the Ghost Zone continued to pass by.

"Do you think we'll see Danny Phantom?" Paulina asked excitedly, staring out the window as if he would appear the moment she looked away.

"I hope so, he's the reason I decided to come on this stupid trip in the first place," Cassie replied, "what do you think Star?"

"It would be cool to see him," she said, "he is the hero of Amity Park after all."

Jack let out a deep laugh from the front of the Speeder, "The ghost kid is no hero, he's just a putrid pile of ectoplasmic scum."

Maddie nodded, "He's done plenty of nasty stuff while he's been 'protecting' the town but everyone seems to overlook that and focus only on his so called 'heroics.' He's really no better than the rest of these ectoplasmic scumbags and that's what this trip is meant to teach you, know thy enemy."

Nobody really had anything to say to that and conversation between the teens and ghost hunters died down until Mikey spoke up. "What are those doors?" he asked.

"We aren't sure," Maddie answered.

"Your ghost experts and you don't know?" Dash asked, rolling his eyes at the 'Freaky Fenton's' as the A-listers had taken to calling them. The subtle jab made Paulina and Cassie giggle while Kwan cracked a grin.

"We haven't explored very much of the Zone to be honest, it's possible that the doors may lead to another portion of the Zone or even an alternate dimension. There's no telling where it might lead and without the normal laws of physics present there's no telling what could be lurking behind the doors. They could be simple decorations but it's better not to chance it without more observation."

Dash shrugged disinterestedly at the answer while Mikey glanced back out the window. "I wish that we could get a closer look" the science geek mumbled.

At the back of the Speeder a blue wisp slipped out between Danny's parted lips. "Oh no," the halfa groaned. The Speeder's alarm went off, flooding the interior with red light as several weapons extended from the vehicle and trained on the lone figure in their path.

"Ghost!" Jack and Maddie shouted.

"Nothing to worry about folks we've got it!" Jack continued as a murmur rippled through the crowd. They all clustered around the windows again while the orange-hazmat clad father gripped the controls in preparation to open fire. Danny stood from his seat and shoved his way through the throng of people, grabbing ahold of the passenger seat as he gazed out the windshield. The figure was distinctly feminine with green skin and long dark hair. The halfa recognized her instantly.

"So you have wished it…"

"Oh man, mom, dad, we need to-"

"…and so it shall be!"

The Speeder was suddenly flying through the air, spiraling out of control. People shrieked and screamed, grabbing onto whatever they could reach to try and keep from being thrown. Danny latched onto the back of his parent's seats and held on as they rammed into something, creating a bone jarring impact before continuing their downward descent. Something else hit the left side, making the vehicle swing right. A loud crack suddenly sounded and rushing air clawed at Danny's legs as they were hit again and everything went dark.

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With a groan Danny slowly opened his eyes. It took a moment for his vision to come into focus and another for his mind to process what it was that he was seeing.

The Speeder was completely trashed.

It had been split down the middle. Shattered glass peppered the ground around the warped frame along with other debris, which consisted of several chunks of the outer shell that had been stripped from the hull and a few unidentifiable lumps of grey that had to be some of the seats.

The halfa heaved himself to his feet, hissing in pain and glancing down to see a decent sized chunk of metal lodged in his calf. Deciding to save treating the injury for later he half-jogged, half-limped over to the wreckage and peered inside.

"Anyone there?" he called out, stepping over shredded scraps of metal as he made his way toward the front.

"Over here."

He spun around and found Valerie and Star trapped under a pair of seats. The dark haired teen rushed over to the two girls and lifted the tattered pieces of leather and metal. They both crawled out and he let it drop back down.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

They both nodded.

"Good, we need to look for the others."

Over the next half hour they managed to find Paulina, Cassie, Kwan, Dash and Mikey. Both Fenton parents and Mr. Lancer showed up about ten minutes into the search, having been thrown from the vehicle just like Danny. Aside from Danny's leg Mr. Lancer appeared to have a broken arm while Mikey had scraped by with a sprained ankle and a decent sized laceration running from elbow to wrist. Other than that everyone was alright.

"We need to start looking for the others," Mr. Lancer said, "I'm not going to leave my students alone in this – this…ghoulish wasteland."

"We agree Mr. Lancer," Maddie replied, "only half the Speeder is here, meaning that other half crashed somewhere else, though if it did I'm not sure how we're going to find it."

"From the direction of the crash can't you estimate where the other half might've landed?" Valarie piped up from she was resting.

"Well, that is true but without proper knowledge of how the Ghost Zone operates we won't be able to get an exact location-"

"Gilligan's island, I thought you two were ghost experts are you trying to say that you've never been here before?"

"Well…" Jack said, glancing at his wife, "…no we haven't."

"We were really only going to explore the area surrounding Fenton Portal," Maddie rushed to explain, "we ran several simulations in the lab before we left and all of them predicted that it would be safe, we even added extra weaponry and the ghost shield just to make sure."

"Lot of good that did," Dash grumbled from where he sat next to Kwan.

"So you have no idea where we are and no idea how to find the others?" Lancer asked.

Jack and Maddie reluctantly nodded and Lancer sighed in frustration.

Danny stood near the wreckage with a thick bandage wrapped around his still bleeding calf. He fingered the Fenton Phones, glancing over to make sure everyone was preoccupied arguing before slipping behind the destroyed remains of the Speeder and pressing the call button.

"Guys, you there?" he asked.

"…Danny?"

"Sam, are you okay?"

"Yea, Tuck and I are fine."

"Is there anyone else with you?"

"We have Aless, Nathan, Kate, Rory and Trev," Tuck said, "Rory might have a concussion, Aless has a nasty cut on her leg, and Nathan seems to have a busted hand but otherwise we're all okay."

"What about you?" Sam asked.

"We've got everyone else, Lancer has a broken arm and Mikey has a sprained ankle but nobody has anything worse than that," Danny answered, deciding to leave out the injury on his calf. No need to worry them unnecessarily when it would probably be healed in a few hours anyway. "Where are you?"

"Floating island. I can see the Ghost Writers place in the distance," Sam said.

"Crud…we're out near Skulkers place that's the opposite side of the Zone."

"And a long way from the Fenton Portal," Tuck added.

"Okay what are we gonna do?"

"I think we should meet up in the Far Frozen."

"And admit that we know the Zone well enough to get there?" Sam cut in.

"I don't like it either but we don't have a lot of options," Tucker responded.

"What about convincing Danny's parents to trust a ghost?"

"I'll think of something to tell them, Tuck's right we don't have much of a choice. Besides, Frostbite and his people have been working on replicating the Speeder since we last brought it and they're the best when it comes to medicine. If you're near the Ghost Writer then it shouldn't take you more than a day or two to reach Pandora right? She could probably give you a lift over to the Far Frozen."

"What about you?" Sam asked, "your gonna' have to sneak by Skulker and Walker."

Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "No choice, there's no other way to reach the Far Frozen."

"At least not unless you want everyone to know your secret," Tucker said.

The halfa chuckled humorlessly, "Oh yea, in front of my ghost hunting parents, the Huntress, and all the A-listers how fun would that be?"

"As fun as hanging out with Vlad," Sam said.

"Ha! Or being locked in a broom closet with Klemper and the Box Ghost," Tucker added.

They all laughed at that one.

"Okay, do you have enough supplies to make it to Pandora's?"

"We managed to find a few boxed lunches so we should be fine."

"Good, we got med-kit and some of the emergency rations that my parents keep stashed in the Speeder, they might hold until we reach the Far Frozen. Are your weapons okay?"

"Still operational for the most part, my wrist ray got a little roughed up in the crash but it still works. We managed to find your bag too so we also have the ecto-pistols and the thermos," Sam said.

"Even better, let's keep in contact and check in every few hours."

"Roger," Tucker replied.

"Be careful Danny," Sam said.

He smiled at the concern in her voice, "I will and you both be careful too. See you at the Far Frozen."

They all clicked off and Danny turned to go back to the others, nearly colliding with his mom as she came around the corner.

"Danny where have you been, you should be resting not walking around on that leg," Maddie bent down to examine the bandage, placing a concerned hand on his shoulder as if she expected him to collapse at any moment.

"I'm fine mom," he said, which was the truth. Being half ghost made his healing abilities far greater than those of a normal human; he could already feel the skin beginning to knit back together under the bandages. Ah, thank god that the endless supply of ecto-energy in the Ghost Zone helped speed up his recovery.

In the time that he was gone all the A-listers had gathered together while Valerie and Mikey sat on the fringes, Star was situated between Valerie and Kwan. Lancer had taken up residence on a rock parallel to the students and looked a bit annoyed to be sitting next to Jack Fenton, who was snacking on one of the granola bars from the emergency rations they'd salvaged.

Aside from the murmured conversation between the A-listers nobody else was talking and the argument about what to do next seems to have died down for the moment. Danny sighed and stopped, making his mother look back at him questioningly and give a light tug on his shirt, no doubt wanting him to sit down and rest his still injured leg.

"I know the way out," he said suddenly.

Everyone jerked to attention, all eyes on him with expressions varying from disbelief to mild surprise. Danny resisted the urge to cringe at the sudden attention, having to squelch the impulse to revoke the statement by saying that he had been kidding and remind himself that this was the only way to make sure that everyone got out alright, which is all that matters in the long run.

"And how would you know that Fenton?" Dash tossed out accusingly.

"I've been here before."

Everyone gasped.

"Daniel James Fenton how did this happen?" Maddie cried out, looking both angry and astonished as she glared down at her son.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and tried to appear sheepish, "I was cleaning the lab and accidentally knocked your anniversary present into the portal...after I got it out I guess that I just got curious and kept going back."

"And how long has this been going on for?" Maddie questioned, still looking angry.

"A while now, me, Sam and Tuck have…uh…borrowed the Speeder a few times and gone exploring."

"You brought Sam and Tucker with you too!?"

"Yea and I know where we are."

Turning away from his still fuming mother Danny pointed in the direction of a floating island off in the distance, "If we keep heading that way we should be able to make it to the Far Frozen in two or three days tops, that's where we'll meet Sam, Tuck, and everyone else."

"How do you know they'll be there?" Mr. Lancer asked, standing from where he was situated on the rock to join in the discussion.

Danny pointed to the Fenton Phone still in his ear, "Sam, Tuck, and I all snagged a pair before we left, apparently they managed to find everyone else and are going to meet us at the Far Frozen."

Maddie opened her mouth, probably either to scold him or ask another question. Not wanting to deal with the imminent interrogation Danny quickly continued, "Everybody should probably get some rest now, we aren't gonna be able to take many breaks once we start moving."

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"Be careful Danny."

She could hear the smile in his voice as he replied, "I will and you both be careful too. See you at the Far Frozen."

The line went silent and the Goth teen turned back to their little group. Everyone was huddled at the center of the small island they had landed on, some nursing injuries while others were glancing around nervously. She shared a look with Tucker, who gave a short nod.

"Okay people, we're going to have to start moving," Sam said, "we have a destination and it's gonna be a day or so until we reach it."

"How do you know where to go?" Trev asked.

Sam leveled him with a glare and he stared back defiantly despite the chill that went down his spine.

"We've hung out with Danny for years and know more about the Ghost Zone then all of you combined, you can either stick with us or stay here and try to figure a way out by yourself. Guess which option gives you a better chance?"

Everyone stared silently at Sam looking equal parts surprised and fearful. She was usually aloof and snarky, taking anything anyone threw at her and tossing it back ten times stronger. The commanding woman in front of them was both foreign and familiar at the same time.

Aless was the first to stand, "I'm with you guys, rather have someone with at least some idea of what they're doing leading me around then wandering by myself."

Kate hesitantly stood with Aless, keeping a step behind the bold blonde as she nodded, "I-I agree."

Nathan and Rory also stood with Rory keeping a hand on Nathans shoulder for balance. Trev glanced around before scowling and standing as well. Sam gave a short nod, "Good, now we need to work on finding a way off this rock and over to that path." She pointed to a narrow road that seemed to continue endlessly in both directions.

"We're about 100 feet from it and there's a chance that I can calibrate the thrusters with my PDA," Tucker said, tapping furiously on the device, "they should work long enough to get us close."

"How close exactly Tuck?" Sam asked.

He glanced up from his work and met her eyes, "Not close enough so that we won't have to jump."

"Alright," she turned to address the rest of the group, "Looks like we're gonna have to jump, Aless how's your leg?"

"Fine now, I used some stuff from my bag to fix it up."

"What kind of stuff?" Nathan asked, eyeing the torn fabric of her pant leg.

She hesitated a moment before answering, "My mom is really into herbs and essential oils and stuff, I always carry a little with me and I used it to disinfect the wound."

"What about the blood?"

"Used a pad."

Trev scrunched up his nose, Nathan blushed and sputtered out a few jumbled words while Rory laughed, quickly stopping when it made his head throb. Kate looked embarrassed. Both Sam and Tuck smiled. As usual Aless's expression remained detached, unreadable, and almost bored.

"If it's gonna' take a minute for Tuck to get those thrusters working we should probably have a look at everyone's injuries," Sam said in the wake of the following silence, "I have some medical experience, we can work on that while Tuck does his thing. Aless you're with Rory, try using a scrap of cloth and a water bottle to ice down his head, it's the best we can do right now."

"Roger."

Both girls knelt down beside Nathan and Rory, working on their respective patients while Tuck continued fiddling with the remains of the Speeder.

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"My feet are killing me," Paulina complained for about the hundredth time since they'd set off.

Danny sighed and tried to ignore her, trudging on ahead at the front of the pack while continuously glancing at Skulkers Island and praying that the hunter didn't notice them.

"Maybe you shouldn't have worn those stupid heels then!" Valarie snapped, seeming to have finally lost patience with the whiney Latina.

Paulina snorted, "How was I supposed to know that we'd have to walk?"

Valarie mumbled something under her breath and turned back to the path, probably finding the effort it would take to respond better spent walking.

Mr. Lancer made his way to the front of the line and lightly tapped Danny on the shoulder, "Uh Mr. Fenton why is it so important that we hurry through here? We have plenty of supplies and there doesn't seem to be any danger…"

Danny's eyes flickered briefly to Skulkers Island before he sighed and pointed to it, "There's a ghost that lives on that island, not very friendly and not one that you'd want to run into. If we stop and he spots us we'll be in some serious trouble, which is why we need to get through here as quickly as possible before he-"

A sudden wisp of blue hissed out from between Danny's lips and he cursed silently before whirling around to find the aforementioned hunter hovering above them with a smirk adorning his mechanical features.

"Nice of you to drop by whelp," Skulker said raising the ecto-blaster attached to his wrist, "now prepare to furnish the foot of my bed!"

A bright blue beam shot out of the ghostly weapon. The halfa teen pushed his teacher out of the way and jerked back just as the blast hit the spot they'd just been occupying. "Once again, ew, and I like my pelt right where it is thanks," Danny shouted as he sprinted down the path, leading Skulker away from the rest of the group while firing shots from his wrist ray. None of them hit and the hunter laughed at the pathetic resistance, swooping low and making the half-ghost dive out of the way. Curling into a ball Danny rolled with it and sprang back to his feet just in time to dodge one of Skulker's mini-missiles.

"Is this all you've got?" the specter taunted, firing several blasts from the cannons on his robotic forearms.

Skulker was suddenly blindsided by Maddie, who had brought out the portable light-saber like device that she'd used to fight of the hoard of ghosts at Vlad's and bashed it into the back of Skulkers head. Meanwhile Jack pulled an ecto-gun from his belt and shouted: "Eat laser ghost scum!" before firing a volley of shots at the hunter.

Upon landing from a mid-air flip Maddie turned and made to lunge at Skulker again but this time the hunter was ready and managed to grab the staff, using his superior strength to whip the ghost fighter into her husband. They both went spiraling backwards and Skulker returned his attention to Danny.

Glancing briefly at his family and classmates the teen pursed his lips, 'I guess I've got no choice…'

Still dodging Skulker's fire Danny jumped, adding just a touch of flight so that he was directly in front of the hunter. Grabbing onto both mechanical wrists Danny placed his feet firmly in the center of Skulkers chest and pushed. The addition of his ghostly strength tore the arms from the rest of the mechanical body. The specter jerked back while Danny fell, doing a mid-air flip and landing on his feet. One of the arms fell from his slackened grip. Wielding the other like a club the halfa charged Skulker, who had activated both blasters attached to his shoulders and continued firing.

Danny zigzagged back and forth across the path to miss the shots and brought the arm down on Skulkers head, receiving a double dose of blaster fire at close range the exact same moment. The dark haired teen was sent spiraling backwards and rolled with it, digging his heels into the ground to get his bearings before ditching the arm and lunging again. Skulker recovered and took aim with the shoulder blasters once more.

At the last possible second Danny dropped to the ground and slid between Skulkers legs, springing up before the specter could turn around and wrapping his arms around the hunter's metal neck. Skulkers jet pack flared to life and they both shot into the air, swerving back and forth as the ghoul attempted to knock him off.

"Release me whelp!" Skulker shouted angrily, taking a sharp turn that nearly sent the halfa flying.

"Not happening you overgrown tin can," Danny replied, gritting his teeth and adjusting his grip around the ghostly hunter's neck before twisting it sharply to one side.

A garbled noise escaped Skulkers mouth as the jet pack powered down and they both started to descend. Wrenching the head from the rest of the body Danny leapt from the mechanical suit just as it hit the ground. The force of the landing made a piece of the path break off and it, along with the suit, fell into the endless abyss of swirling green below. Danny curled his body around the head and hit the ground, skidding several feet before sliding to a stop. He sighed heavily and took his time standing, using one hand to brush the dirt from his jeans while the other held Skulkers head.

"Danny!"

He glanced up to see his mom rushing toward him with the others following close behind. She grabbed both his shoulders, eyes scanning for new injuries and locking on the torn and singed portions of his clothing, evidently he hadn't dodged Skulkers blasts as well as he'd thought. "Are you alright sweetie?"

The halfa teen nodded and held up Skulkers head, reaching inside and receiving a collection of horrified gasps and disgusted shouts. "Relax everyone," he said, pulling the struggling hunter from the metal helmet and holding him up so that everyone could see, "the metal armor was just a suit, this is the real Skulker."

"You insolent fool! Release me! I am the greatest Hunter in all of Ghost Zone, you will all fear me!" The little green blob shouted angrily, "I will take all your pelts and use them as wall decorations!"

Several people cringed at that, seeming disgusted by the threats while Danny merely rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah just do us all a favor and take a hike." Winding his arm back Danny chucked Skulker further back the way they'd come, adding a bit of his ghost strength for good measure.

"We should all get moving," Danny said, turning and continuing down the path without a second glance at Skulker, "we'll take a rest once we get a bit further down."

The halfa set a somewhat speedy pace and hoped that his urgency coupled with the surprise that everyone was obviously feeling at his display would stave off any questions that they felt compelled to ask. Unfortunately he wasn't that lucky. Five steps later a hand latched onto his shoulder and he turned to find his mother's violet eyes burning into his own.

"Have you fought that ghost before?" she asked.

After slight hesitation he nodded, "Ran into him during one of our explorations, he's a hunter that likes to capture 'rare' creatures and 'put them on display.'"

"And you fought with him? Knowing that he was dangerous?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck habitually, "We didn't exactly have a choice."

Maddie looked thrown for a moment, like she didn't know what to say. "We need to get those injuries looked at, you just sit down and – Jack! Bring the first aid kit!" she finally said after several silent moments, twisting her neck back to shout at her husband. Jack Fenton, who had been staring wide-eyed at his son caught between shock and a trace amount of pride, suddenly jerked to life and fumbled to grab the first aid kit that had dropped to the ground during the fight.

Pushing gently on his shoulders she tried to get him to lower himself to the ground but he remained standing and stepped away from her gentle grasp. "I'm fine mom, their just grazes is all and we need to keep moving."

"Just grazes, you got shot in the chest!" she cried, pointing to the smoldering remains of his shirt.

Danny cursed silently, remembering the close range hit from Skulkers blasters. It was true that it did hurt, maybe broke a rib or two but they hadn't punctured any of his organs and it's nowhere near the worst he's ever had. They'll likely be mostly healed by the time they make it to the Far Frozen anyway.

"That ray is equipped to hurt ghosts not humans," Danny lied, "I only got knocked back by the force of the blast I'm honestly fine."

Maddie's hands grasped the torn edges of his shirt and started to pull them back, "Then you might have a broken rib, here let me-" Danny grabbed both his mother's wrists and pulled them away from his shirt, shooting her a reassuring grin.

"Really mom I'm fine, a new shirt would be nice though anyone got one?" he asked, directing the question to the people standing behind his mother.

Kwan raised his hand, "Yea I've got one."

Danny walked around his mother and made his way over to the football player, "Really? Thanks."

Kwan only nodded and pulled a simple white T-shirt from a drawstring bag that he'd been carrying. Danny recognized it as a gym shirt, thankfully clean, and accepted with another gracious thanks before moving back to the front of the group and turning away to change.

A collection of gasps rose from the crowd as what was left of his red long-sleeved shirt fluttered to the ground and he quickly pulled the fresh shirt over his head before turning to face them with a smile painted on his face and a silent prayer that none of them would ask.

"Lord of the Flies, Mr. Fenton" Lancer gasped, "where on earth did you get so many scars!?"

Danny inwardly groaned, 'Of course, of course they would ask…'

"Would you believe me if I told you that I've been ghost hunting?"

"Wait that's why you've been coming home late and not showing up for your classes?" Maddie said, almost loud enough to cover Jack's sudden exclamation of "THAT'S MY BOY!" from where he stood next to his wife. A swift elbow to the ribs made the Fenton father quiet down but he still looked mildly pleased to find out that his son was a ghost hunter.

Danny laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah…Me, Sam and Tuck have been hunting ghosts."

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Dash stood at the back of the crowd, eyebrows reaching for his hairline as he stared at Danny Fenton, the wimpy little nerd that he'd wailed on for years who now seemed like a totally different person. Without his baggy long-sleeved shirt everyone could plainly see the well-toned muscles that rippled beneath his skin and the scars that crisscrossed his arms. Dash hadn't gotten a very good look at his back, Fenton had pulled Kwan's shirt on too quickly for that, but he had managed to make out long slashes and a few paint-splatter shaped marks, almost like he'd been too close to a bomb when it went off. They had all been a slightly lighter shade than his skin which was already pale.

The obvious scars and muscle clearly indicated that Fenton was no stranger to fighting and after watching him take down that mechanical ghost Dash could only wonder: 'How have I been beating him up all this time?'

Fenton had attacked that ghost without any hesitation, every one of his movements were confident and precise. He had torn the ghost's arms off for goodness sake! Jumped a good ten feet in the air to do it too. The display was almost…inhuman.

Dash had long since lost count of the amount of times he'd shoved Danny Fenton in his own locker over the past few years, pushed him around in the halls, punched him just because he could, the list goes on. The scrawny nerd that he'd always recognized as his walking stress relief punching bag suddenly seemed like a distant memory when compared to the teen standing before him. The usual quiet demeanor that defined Fenton was nearly gone, the confident kid that had just taken down a flipping ghost bare-handed and barely batted an eyelash at the blaster injury he'd received from it standing in his place.

Fenton was trying to talk his mom out of treating the blaster wound he had received and insisting that he was fine, Mr. Fenton jumped in a few times and insisted but he continued to brush them off until they finally backed down. It was then that Danny restated his directions from earlier, get a little bit farther down the path before stopping for a break, and continued walking. Dash glanced at the faces of his friends as everyone fell back into step behind their guide, catching looks of disbelief and astonishment that he was certain were mirrored in his own expression.

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Sam and Aless had succeeded in patching up Nathan and Rory. Kate had managed to scavenge two smooth pieces of metal to use as a splint for Nathans hand while the sports tape Rory had been carrying held it together. Aless tore a piece from her shirt and instructed Rory to hold the water bottle to his head along with the cloth to try and lower the swelling. It's far from perfect but the best that they can do with the resources they have.

"Why are you carrying sports tape anyway?" Aless asked, eyeing the roll as Rory stuffed it back into his pocket.

He smiled in response, flashing rows of perfect white teeth and cutting a dimple in his cheek, "I got used to carrying it around when I was in Track and the habit hasn't left yet."

Aless raised a brow at that but looked mildly interested, which was a step up from her usually unemotional expression. "Well it's a handy thing to have at least, might not want to get rid of that habit once this is all over could save someone's life one day."

Rory was still smiling, surprisingly undisturbed by the morbid way she'd said that. "After all this I'm thinking you might be right."

Nathan stepped up from where he had been sitting a few feet away, still looking shell-shocked from the crash. "T-thank you for this," he held up his bandaged hand and both teens had to repress a grimace at the sight of purpling skin under the haphazard first aid.

Rory's grin brightened again when he returned his attention to Nathan's face but anyone paying close attention could see that it was forced. "No problem man I'm glad to help."

Trev snorted from where he was slouching across from them. He'd been brooding since Sam had told him off an hour ago, giving everyone the cold shoulder. The childish behavior had made the Goth roll her eyes in mild exasperation. Given that he is one of the few uninjured members of their motley crew he could have at least tried to do something productive.

"Of course you would be glad to help. Showing off for the chicks I bet, nobody smiles as much as you in a crap situation like this without having a serious mental issue."

"Better than the guy sitting there and doing nothing," Aless shot back, scowling at the disgruntled jock.

"Says the witch carrying potions around in her bag. Thought that playing pretend went out of style back in elementary school?" Trev sneered.

"At least I'm doing something. What's the matter big strong jock? Is all that muscle too heavy to enable you to get off your lazy butt and help or are you too busy pouting like a five year old to even consider something so beneath you?"

Nathan stared disbelievingly at the goading smirk that had taken over Aless's face (the first real change of expression many of them had ever seen in her) while Rory outright laughed, clutching his head in pain a moment later and forcing himself to suppress his mirth. Trev's face had quickly gone from disgruntled to downright angry. His cheeks burnt crimson; whether it was from embarrassment or anger nobody could really tell, and he opened his mouth to shoot back a reply when Sam's voice suddenly cut through the building argument.

"Almost done Tucker?" Sam asked.

Tucker nodded, "I'm about to start em' up, everyone had better hold onto something."

Trev shot Aless a glare and grabbed onto the rock he'd been sitting on. She responded with a satisfied smile before wrapping her hands around a piece of the Speeder's doorframe, which they had stuck into the ground to provide a handhold for the ride. Rory and Nathan followed her lead, Nathan wrapping his right arm tightly around the pole instead of using both hands. Sam and Kate sat down beside Tucker and took ahold of the remains of the Speeder as he fired up the thrusters, making them all lurch forward uncomfortably before slowing to a languid pace toward the path. The thrusters died when they were about ten feet away, but the rock continued to move.

"Looks like I got the trajectory wrong, this thing is gonna pass right over the path," Tuck said, unhooking his PDA from the Speeder and springing to his feet.

Sam followed and motioned for everyone to stand, "We're all gonna' need to jump!" she said, positioning herself at the edge.

"Are you nuts?" Trev shouted, "there's no way we'll hit that."

Sam's burning violet eyes met his and this time he recoiled slightly, "Follow us or drift endlessly in the Ghost Zone, your choice. Now everyone we all need to jump at the same time, on three!"

Everyone gathered together behind Sam, knees bent expectantly as they waited for her call. "One…two…THREE!"

They all jumped and hit the path as the island they'd been on floated past, the base dragging against rock and leaving a thick scar in the narrow road. Kate screamed as she hit the ground. Sam tucked and rolled. Aless tried to shield Rory from most of the fall while Nathan protectively clutched his hand to his chest. Tucker landed on his hands and knees. Trev face planted into the dirt.

"Everyone alright?" Sam called out once the chaos had passed.

Several voices called out in confirmation while they checked over the injured. Kate scrambled up from where she'd landed at the edge and made her way over to Trev, who was rising onto his hands and knees several feet away. "A-are you alright?" she asked, grabbing his arm and trying to help him to his feet. He jerked out of her grasp and replied with a sharp "Fine" before standing and walking away.

"How's your head?" Aless questioned Rory, lightly brushing her fingers over the bump as she helped him stand.

He flinched at the contact but replied, "Fine, what about you any new injuries?"

"None," she said without taking her eyes off the bump.

Pulling the water bottle from her bag and the scrap of shirt from her pocket she handed both to him and allowed him to lean on her shoulder as he stood. Both made their way over to join the rest of the group in the center of the path.

"Nathan's hand is fine, didn't get jarred in the fall," Tucker called out after inspecting the injury, "anyone got any new aches or pains?" he asked.

Everyone shook their heads and he nodded in return, motioning for them to follow as he turned and started walking down the path. "We need to hurry and start heading to Pandora's it'll be one heck of a walk and we need to meet Danny and the others at the Far Frozen as soon as possible."

"Um…" Kate called out, twiddling her thumbs nervously, "I've heard you mention the Far Frozen a few times…what is it?"

"It's a frozen island on the other side of the Ghost Zone inhabited by an advanced race of yeti people. Their leader, Frostbite, has a soft spot for Danny and I'm sure that he'll give us a lift back to the Fenton Portal," Sam answered.

"Y-yeti people?" Nathan questioned, glancing around nervously as if expecting them to suddenly appear out of thin air.

Tucker laughed and turned to face the nervous teen, "Don't worry Frostbite and his people are the nicest ghosts we know and it's like Sam said they really like Danny so they'll definitely help us out."

Sam chuckled, "Ah, a boy and his snow monster."

"Is there a greater love to be found anywhere?" Tucker added in.

Both teens shared a grin and a short laugh at the inside joke while everyone else just stared at them quizzically. Conversation died down from there and they walked for several minutes in silence before a noise finally broke it.

"Will you be my friend?"

Sam and Tucker whirled around and madly motioned for everyone to hide behind a boulder set off to the side. They all scrambled behind it just as the temperature dropped and a blue-skinned ghost wearing striped pink and white pajamas suddenly appeared on the trail. He glanced around in confusion, almost like he was searching for someone before his eyes landed on the boulder.

He smiled and floated over to their hiding place, peering around it and coming face to face with the familiar Goth. "Will you be my friend?" the ghost asked in his usual high-pitched whiney voice.

Without answering Sam lashed out with her wrist ray, sending the ghost flying backwards. He recovered from the attack and inhaled deeply, only to be cut off as Tucker nailed him with one of the ecto-pistols. Sam followed up with her another shot from her wrist ray while Tuck continued firing. Dazed and fighting a losing battle Klemper haphazardly dodged the attacks and eventually flew away with a cry of panic. Both Sam and Tuck kept their weapons trained on him until he disappeared into the distance.

"What the heck was that!?" Trev shouted as everyone began to cautiously exit from their hiding place.

"Klemper, he always goes around asking people if they want to be his friends."

"W-why didn't you just answer?" Kate asked.

"If you say yes he never leaves and if you say no he tends to get a bit…violent."

All eyes widened at that and suddenly everyone was very grateful to have Sam and Tucker with them.

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"Mind if I take one of those ecto-guns?" Aless asked Sam a while after they'd gotten back to walking.

The Goth glanced at the blonde out of the corner of her eye, "Can you shoot it?"

Aless grinned, "My family night used to be a trip to the shooting range once a week, show me how to fire it and tell me how hard it kicks and I think I can handle it."

Sam couldn't help but crack a grin at that, "Alright."

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Upon glancing at Mr. Lancers watch and realizing that it was almost midnight back in Amity Danny finally declared that they had found a suitable resting place for the night. Several people slumped to the ground with exhausted groans, too tired to contemplate the fear and anxiety that they probably should be feeling when sleeping in the Ghost Zone.

Star, Paulina and Cassie all pulled off their shoes and started fussing over their blisters, which Maddie was gracious enough to treat with the first aid kit. Mr. Lancer took a seat parallel to the students and Jack sat down next to him, shooting the teacher a cheerful smile before proceeding to blather on and on about his most recent invention. Lancer was too tired to be exasperated.

Dash and Kwan had collapsed next to the girls and were chattering quietly, shooting glances at Danny periodically during their discussion. Valarie was still hanging out on the fringes of the group, staring off into the endlessly swirling green sky of the Ghost Zone.

"You okay?" Danny asked Mikey, who had moved farthest from the group and was seated on a small rock several feet away from the nearest person.

"O-oh y-yea, fine" the nerd replied.

"Are you sure? You can tell me if your ankle hurts you know and it won't help any if you try and hide it, that'll only make it worse."

Mikey looked away for a moment before glancing back at Danny, who was wearing a look of intense understanding and concern. Swallowing lightly a sheepish grin took over the redheads face, "Well it does hurt a little…" he admitted.

Danny laughed and helped him up, leading him back over to the rest of the group and asking his mom to take a look at the injury before wandering back out to the fringes and facing the path that they were taking. Lancer watched the exchange, momentarily tuning Jack out to marvel at Danny's sudden change in behavior.

When Mr. Lancer had first met Danny at the start of his freshman year he had immediately pegged him as a smart kid. He wasn't perfect but the lowest that he ever gotten was a C and that was a rarity. Daniel Fenton had always been a little shy but he was happy too, that much Lancer could tell whenever he'd happen to see him laughing and joking with his friends as they walked down the hall.

Roughly three months into the school year all that had changed. Danny started coming in late and missing assignments. Lancer gave him detention and extra work both to encourage him to do better and try to help him bring up his rapidly declining grades but it didn't seem to help. He started coming in with dark circles under his eyes and every once in a while Lancer would spot a bruise or a cut under the collar of his shirt or sleeve. Sometimes they would be openly displayed on his face.

The thought of parental abuse had occurred to him and Lancer called the Fenton's in for more than one parent teacher conference to discuss their son's performance. Between getting to know them a bit better and talking to Jazz Lancer determined that they might not be the best parents but they certainly weren't violent. Several theories as to why Danny behaved this way popped into the teachers head: bullying, peer pressure, affiliation in some less than savory occupation, but none of them ever quite fit right in the puzzle that is Danny Fenton.

Thinking of Danny and his friends as ghost hunters made more sense than any of the theories Lancer had been able to come up with but there were still a few unexplained variables. Danny Fenton is obviously very physically fit, which is apparent from both his physique and the way that he moved when he was fighting the ghost earlier. So why is it that he's failing gym?

Miss Tetzlaff constantly complains that Fenton and Foley are her two worst students, yet here Danny is taking flying leaps that are borderline impossible and sprinting with the speed of a professional runner without even breaking a sweat.

Shaking his head Lancer glanced at Danny, who hadn't moved from his place standing in the center of the path, almost like he was staring at something invisible to the rest of them. His shoulders seemed broader and he stood up straight rather than slouching. To Mr. Lancer he looked like a completely different person, someone confident, compassionate, a leader.

Lancer's eyes slowly moved to scan the rest of their little group, noticing that he wasn't the only one watching Danny. Maddie had long since finished her work on Mikey and was also staring at her son, Dash and Kwan would occasionally glance up at him as they conversed quietly together, even the girls gave him their attention once in a while (though Lancer suspected that was more to 'appreciate' his new physique than anything).

The dark haired teen suddenly spun around to face everyone and they jumped at the sudden movement from a person who hadn't so much as twitched for the past several minutes.

"Alright you should all get some rest," Danny said, flashing them all a calm smile, "I'll take the first watch"

All bone weary and in no position to argue everyone bobbed their heads in agreement. Jack and Maddie attempted to overrule their son and take first watch themselves but Danny managed to politely turn them down after a great deal of prompting, which they eventually surrendered to.

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It took about an hour for everyone to fall asleep and once he was sure that they were all out Danny called Sam and Tucker.

"How's it going guys?"

"As well as can be expected," Tucker replied sounding as tired as Danny felt, "we just passed Dora's kingdom about an hour ago, we should really go and visit her later, see how she's doing and all."

"I second that," Sam added, "feels like it's been ages since I've seen her."

"And here I thought that corny jokes were my forte."

There was a sudden crackle of static and a voice that sounded like Tucker's shouting 'Ouch!' over the line.

"Anyway we just sat down for the night. As far as improvising medical treatment we've managed to get Nathan's hand in a splint and use some stuff that Aless happened to be carrying to patch up her cut. A cold water bottle and a scrap of cloth are the best we've got for Rory," Sam continued.

"Nice work guys, has anyone had a nervous breakdown yet?"

"Trev might if he keeps talking back to Sam, I swear she almost tossed him off the path when he asked her how much farther it was gonna be."

"That was only after he asked me the third time" Sam said innocently, "Besides if anyone is tossing him off the path it's probably gonna be Aless, she's starting to get annoyed with him too. Didn't help that he blew Kate off after we made it onto the path either."

"I saw that, he's getting to be a major pain maybe we should've given him to Klemper."

"You guys ran into Klemper?"

"Yea, tried to hide unfortunately he found us and we had to chase him off, didn't even need to use the thermos this time. What about you, manage to sneak past Skulkers without a hitch?"

"I wish," Danny groaned, running a hand through his hair, "I ended up having to fight him and as if that weren't bad enough I had to borrow Kwan's gym shirt when mine got totaled."

"Oh man, how'd you explain the scars?" Tuck asked.

"They only saw my back and arms, managed to keep my mom from trying to check out the injuries I got fighting Skulker-"

"You got injured fighting Skulker?" Sam interjected, "where and how bad?"

Danny chuckled lightly, an elated feeling rising in his chest in response to the concern in her voice. "I'm fine Sam got grazed by some blaster fire and took a double blast from his shoulder cannons to the chest but it didn't do much damage."

"What damage did it do?" she pressed.

He hesitated a moment before replying, "I think I've got a bruised rib or two with minor burns but it's nothing major, probably be gone by the time we get to the Far Frozen."

"Remind me to blast him with the Fenton Bazooka the next time we see him," Sam said.

"Dually noted," Tuck replied, "but for now I guess that we're all right on schedule, where are you guys right now Danny?"

"Just outside Walker's territory, we've stopped for now and I'm probably gonna set the pace hard tomorrow. After running into Skulker I would rather not have to deal with Walker too."

"Good call, especially when you can't use your powers."

"No kidding," Danny replied, "It would majorly reek if I had to break out of Walker's prison again, with a bunch of others and without my ghost powers."

"Come on, not even you are that unlucky Danny."

The line fell silent for a few moments.

"…Did you seriously just say that Tucker?" Sam asked.

"Just trying to be optimistic!" He cried out defensively.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "All that optimism probably jinxed me."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Sam replied dryly, "but all the same…be careful, I don't want to hear about any more injuries or I might just have to scratch Skulker off my list and shoot you with the Fenton Bazooka instead."

Danny chuckled at that, "No promises Sam but I'll do my best."

He heard her huff indignantly over the line, "You don't have to dress those wounds of yours you stupid halfa…"

"Uh guys, remember what I said about your PDA short circuiting Sharon? Well there's so much floating around the radio waves that I think it might be disrupting my signal-"

"It's the Ghost Zone Tuck you can't even get an outside signal here!" Sam shouted.

Danny could only laugh.

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The next morning Sam and Tuck woke everyone early and had them all moving minutes later. Rory was, unfortunately, still suffering from a concussion and thus got no rest the night prior, he was practically being dragged by Aless and Nathan, who had volunteered to make sure that Rory didn't kill over on their trek to Pandora's Acropolis.

Trev naturally complained the entire way; questioning anything that the two ghost hunting teens (especially Sam) said and did. This didn't earn him any brownie points from either Sam or Aless, who were both ready to chuck him over the side and leave him to the ghost vultures by the time they finally reached their destination.

"Where's this stupid 'magic pathway,'" Trev asked impatiently, glaring at Sam and Tuck as they calmly munched on a pair of sandwiches they'd scavenged from one of the lunchboxes found among the wreckage of the Speeder.

Tuck took his time swallowing before he replied, "For the fifth time Trev it's only supposed to appear from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM human time and it is currently…" green-blue eyes dipped to check the digital clock on his PDA, "…11:56, we still have four minutes left."

Trev scowled and resumed his pacing, glancing up every few seconds like he expected something to have changed. Everyone else was sitting on the path enjoying a meal and trying not to anticipate the appearance of the secret path to the home of the mysterious Pandora, who both Tucker and Sam insisted would be willing to help them.

During their long trek their guides had explained that Pandora was actually the Greek legend and, just like the people of the Far Frozen, had a soft spot for Danny. Trev had asked why all these ghosts seemed so attached to an unassuming nerd that acted as the school punching bag (mostly monopolized by Dash but occasionally borrowed by the other jocks after a particularly bad game) and the air had immediately shifted. Neither of the ghost hunting teens had been willing to say anything after they stated that they had made ghost hunting a hobby and after several failed attempts at prompting an answer out of them, followed by one very graphic death threat from Sam, the conversation died down. A few minutes later Aless started asking Sam a few more questions about Pandora, which led to a discussion about Greek Mythology. Kate eagerly joined in and the tension had disappeared along with the silence.

Nobody had asked any more questions about Danny Fenton's affiliation with the ghost populace but they couldn't deny their curiosity on the subject.

The four minutes dragged by slowly until finally it materialized. Small chunks of floating earth no bigger than a kitchen sink were clustered together to form an unstable looking path that curved toward Pandora's Acropolis. Each piece had at least a foot or two distance between them and some zipped back and forth randomly without any apparent pattern in mind.

Sam groaned, "Why can't it ever be easy?"

"I guess Pandora doesn't want just anyone wandering up to her place huh? The instability of the path must act as a kind of security system to keep any random idiot who just so happens to find it away," Tuck said.

"Even though ghosts can fly and don't need to walk to get around," Aless piped up as she stepped up with Rory and Nathan to stand beside Sam.

Nobody had a response to that one.

"Whatever it's the only option we have anyway," Sam finally said, sticking one foot out to snag the nearest rock. She wavered slightly but managed to shift her weight forward and get a good foothold. Everyone sighed in relief as Sam straightened and glanced back over her shoulder, "It's no big deal, heck of a lot easier than jumping from that floating rock onto the path." The Goth took another jump and landed on another rock a few feet away with hardly a wobble and continued down the unstable path.

"Aless, Rory and Nathan are going to have to be at the back," Tuck said, "I'll be bringing up the rear so Trev and Kate you two are next."

"And why exactly are you hanging back Foley?" Trev asked angrily, glaring down at the techno geek like he had no business giving him orders.

Tucker sighed like an exasperated parent scolding a whining child before drew himself up to his full height which was, to everyone's surprise, a few inches taller than Trev. Throughout the trip Tucker had been calm and slightly comedic, not as much as he usually was but just enough to assure that depression and fear didn't take root in their tiny group.

Now Tucker glared down his nose at Trev and the boy found himself stepping back at the intensity flowing from his blue-green eyes. "I'm staying at the back to help in case Nathan, Aless or Rory slip while their trying to cross. You can either follow Sam or go through Pandora's maze, though I doubt you'd want to meet up with any of the centaur and minotaur ghosts that guard that place. The reason we're taking this way in the first place is because we aren't sure that all of Pandora's guards will recognize us. If you want to risk getting fried by an ecto-blast be my guest but we've wasted enough time listening to your useless complaints, either listen to us or get lost."

With that the dark skinned teen shoved Trev aside and motioned Kate forward. She stared wide-eyed at Tuck for a few moments before glancing at the ever shifting pieces of earth. "A-are you sure it's s-safe?" she asked.

"It's as safe as we can get right now," Tucker answered, "don't worry, just stay with Sam and she'll keep you out of danger."

The smile that he shot her was oddly reassuring and she found herself nodding in spite of the nerves coursing through her veins. Glancing up at Sam, who was impatiently shifting from one rock to the other waiting for the next person to begin crossing, Kate took a deep breath and hopped onto the first stone.

Trev followed after her, still shaken by the intense display of authority by Tucker mere moments ago, with Aless, Nathan, and Rory right behind him and Tuck bringing up the rear. Sam, Kate and Trev moved at a moderate pace with Sam feeling out the safer stones and having the others follow behind her. Aless, Nathan and Rory had to move slower and stumbled more than once because they couldn't always see where their feet were. Tucker would always shoot out a hand to steady them or yank them backwards whenever one of the rocks under their feet started to crumble, which didn't quite stave off their fear but it helped.

They had just reached the marble steps of Pandora's castle when the alarm on Tucker's PDA went off. Eyes widening the techno geek rushed to shove Aless, Nathan and Rory up and onto the steps. They all stumbled off the final rock and made it to safety right as the earth gave way. Tuckers feet flew out from under him and he let out a short scream before managing to snag the edge of the final step, holding onto it for dear life as the endless abyss of the Ghost Zone yawned beneath him.

"Hold on Tucker!" Sam shouted, weaving around the others to get to him.

The marble was hard to grip, too smooth without anything to latch onto, and Tucker felt his hold loosening. His hand slid from the step and he felt gravity take over for a moment as Sam screamed – something latching onto his wrist at the last possible instant. Blue-green met hazel as Trev gripped Tuckers wrist, the other hand clutching the steps as he tried desperately not to be pulled over.

"Grab him!" Trev shouted, "If I try to pull him up on my own we'll both fall."

Both Aless and Sam suddenly appeared at his side and grasped Tucks arm, using their combined strength to pull him up and onto the marble steps. For a few seconds no one spoke until Trev let go of a light chuckle, "Man, thank god these steps are so freakin' huge," he said, "never would have had the leverage to pull you up otherwise."

"Why did you do that?" Tucker asked, "I thought you were ticked that Sam and I have been telling you what to do?"

Trev was silent and seemed to think a moment before responding, "You know, I'm not exactly sure. Ask me when this whole mess is over, maybe I'll have the answer then."

He shot Tuck a wolfish grin and the techno geek couldn't help but smile in turn. "Deal."

From there they all stood and made their way up the steps, wanting to be as far from the edge as possible. Everyone but Sam and Tucker gazed at the grand marble steps and fifty foot tall octastyle Ionic columns with awe as they passed under the entablature and into the portico. Once there Sam stepped forward to knock on the equally enormous wooden doors, which immediately flew open to reveal a giant woman wearing a long golden skirt and a black and yellow tunic. A golden battle helmet rested upon her head with fire the same magenta shade as her long hair burning on top of the gold and black headpiece. In one of her four arms she held a long staph that was illumined in a ghostly blue glow.

"Who dares to disturb me?" She shouted, angry red eyes narrowing on the small group at her feet.

Everyone but Sam and Tucker shrunk back at the malevolence in her voice.

"Pandora?" Sam called.

The giant's piercing glare fell upon the source of the voice and her face softened immediately, a smile taking over her features.

"Sam, Tucker it's so very good to see you," she said then noticing the additional humans asked, "who are your friends?"

The Goth teen smiled and gestured to the less frightened but still cautious group huddled at the edge of the portico, "These are our classmates, there was a small accident and we're kinda' stuck in the Ghost Zone. We came to see if we could get a ride to the Far Frozen."

Pandora nodded in understanding, "I see, well why don't you all come in so that we can talk. You look exhausted."

The Greek ghost turned and swept into her home, leading them past several column shelves housing ancient statues and pottery. Everyone but Sam and Tucker went back to staring. Less than a minute of walking later had them all in a finely furnished sitting room with a long coffee table and a marble chair carved with intricate designs and completed by red satin lining.

"Come and sit down, please tell me more about your predicament."

Several smaller chairs suddenly appeared and the students hesitantly sat down. A pretty servant girl with pale green skin and a plain white peplos suddenly appeared with several cups of tea, setting them gingerly in front of the seven humans before presenting a slightly larger one to her mistress.

"Thank you Ouranós," Pandora said kindly.

The girl inclined her head before scurrying out of the room.

"So tell me Sam what exactly has happened and why isn't Danny with you?"

The Goth teen explained their situation with occasional interruptions from Tucker and Pandora listened intently, nodding thoughtfully when they finished.

"So you wish to borrow one of my carriages in order to meet Danny in the Far Frozen?"

Both Sam and Tuck nodded in confirmation and the Greek ghost smiled, "As if you would even have to ask, I would imagine that you're going to ask Frostbite for a ride to your Portal yes? I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you all again."

The rest of the group cheered while Sam and Tucker smiled happily at Pandora, "Thank you so much for this," Sam said.

Pandora waved her hand dismissively, "Just make sure to come with Danny for a special visit, he comes to see me twice a month already but that hardly seems often enough sometimes. I'll have the carriage ready for you later on today; I hope that you'll make use of my hospitality until then."

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"Man this is awesome," Nathan said, awed by the various plants growing in Pandora's garden.

"No kidding, are all of these ghost plants?" Kate asked, gesturing to a patch of purple and orange blossoms in front of her. Somewhere in the hour or so that had passed between having tea and wandering the newly planted garden the shy girl had lost her stutter.

Pandora nodded, "I had the Box Ghost gather several plant species from across the Ghost Zone and plant them here, as it turns out he makes a marvelous gardener."

"How's he doing with his service to you anyway?" Sam asked.

The Greek ghost narrowed her eyes in obvious distaste, "He's getting there but after what he did I'm almost convinced that a thousand years of servitude is too light a punishment."

"A thousand years!?" Kate exclaimed, "what the heck did he do?"

Pandora huffed and crossed two of her four arms across her chest, "He stole my most prized possession and used it to wreak havoc on your hometown."

"Seems like a good punishment to me," Trev piped up from where he was loitering near a pair of carnivorous looking flowers.

"Uh Trev I don't think you should be standing there-" Aless started to warn the oblivious boy a split second too late. One of the giant buds closed around his waist, hauling him up and into the air. He let out a scream when he felt his feet leave the ground and turned his terrified eyes to see Sam, Tucker, and Aless all aiming ecto-weapons at him and the crazy ghost plant.

"Ah wait!" he shouted, "don't shoot you might hit me too!"

There was a thud and Trev dropped, hitting the ground with an audible 'oomph' before flipping onto his back and crab walking away from the writhing creature.

"Bad plants!" Pandora scolded, having hit the creatures with the end of her staff, "you know better than to attack a guest."

The flower almost seemed to shrivel under her intense glare and if Trev didn't know better he could have sworn that he heard it let out a soft whine before Pandora turned her attention to him. "Forgive me; I have yet to properly train them, they still don't know how to behave."

"N-no problem," he replied, not entirely sure what else to say.

"What's wrong Trevton little tongue-tied talking to a Greek legend?" Aless said as she meandered past him, purposely taking her time and flashing him a wide smirk as she walked.

To everyone's amusement his face flushed at the comment and he glared after her, "Don't call me Trevton!"

Sam chuckled lightly at the exchange and watched as Trev got up to chase after Aless, who was comically dancing just out of his reach with surprising ease for someone wearing leather hiking boots. Trev got tired quickly enough and Aless was declared the unofficial winner of…whatever it was that they'd just participated in. Everyone was too busy laughing to really give a name to it.

"Never thought I'd see them having so much fun in the Zone," Tuck said as he sidled up to stand next to Sam. She nodded in agreement, briefly comparing the happy teens of now to a few hours ago when they were all scared nearly witless by their predicament.

"Did you call Danny by the way?" Tuck asked.

"I thought you did."

Tucker snorted, "That's your privilege as his girlfriend not mine."

The Goth teen scowled at the techno nerd and opened her purple glossed lips to give him a scathing response when there was a sudden call across the garden and Tucker jogged over to answer it, obviously eager to get away from the imminent verbal (and possibly physical) punishment his friend had been about to dish out.

Sam glared after him before moving to the edge of the garden and placing the call. "Danny are you there?"

She frowned when a minute passed with no response and tried again, "Danny…I'll fry you with the Spector Deflector if this is a joke…"

Deep down she knew that Danny would never play a joke like this, not in such a serious situation with people's lives on the line at least, but holding onto the smallest shreds of humor kept the concern building in her gut from overflowing. Another few minutes passed and he still didn't reply, which made the concern turn into a panic that flashed brightly in front of her eyes like an array of sirens.

"Seriously Danny this isn't funny anymore, answer right now or I'm gonna finish killing you when we get back to Fenton Works!" Sam shouted into the receiver, catching the attention of Tucker and the rest of her peers.

The techno geek rushed over to the still-fuming Goth, noticing the spark of true worry in her violet eyes that would have been masked to anyone else by the apparent anger that creased her features.

"What happened?" He asked.

She turned toward him fully, mouth set into a grim line, "I think that we might have a problem…"