A/N: I got this idea literally a few days after Man Behind the Curtain, and I've wanted to start it for a while. This will actually be a challenging story for me to write, so hopefully I'm able to do it justice! (Yeah I'm crazy, starting another story right.) A minor thing to mention: assumption/slight alteration that after PP the whole world didn't find out his identity, only the locals and some world leaders. Also, this takes place around 2007, and Danny & co. are 16. I sincerely hope that you enjoy this tale as much as I do.

Review so I know people are interested in an update!

Chapter 1

If anyone had asked an Amity Park resident a few weeks ago about their opinion on Danny Phantom, they would have responded with high praise. Hero of the World. Protector of Amity Park. A local legend.

Danny Fenton was definitely something local alright. On the day of the Disasteroid, or what the worldwide media dubbed "The Almost End", the worldwide experts met for a conference after he and the ghosts saved the planet. There, they reached a consensus to keep Danny Phantom's true identity a secret. Jazz delivered a speech on why it wouldn't be beneficial for the health of a sixteen year old boy to be such a public hero, and it would actually hurt his performance. Additionally, it would be better for all countries to dismiss this as a fictional special, and continue to relegate ghosts to mere myth. Danny was surprised at how persuasive she was, but after all, she did get into MIT with a full scholarship for Psychology. It did help that they felt indebted to him.

The problem was Lance Thunder, the charismatic yet egotistical news anchor at Amity News. Danny was on a date with Sam at the park so he didn't find out until it was too late. After Tucker wrapped up the rewards ceremony for Danny Phantom, Lance convinced his parents to go on an exclusive interview after going on and on about how much he admired them and wanted the whole town to have some insight on their new developments. It was only a matter of time before his father let it slip, especially since Lance was an expert at softening people up. Danny couldn't blame his father, for he was naturally weak to praise and had never lost his youthful gullibility. In Danny's opinion, Lance should have been a criminal investigator, because all he did was complicate Danny's life.

Luckily for him, Tucker was able to use his honorary mayoral status to help him out. It always paid to know people in high places. Tucker had been chosen by majority to be the Mayor to replace Vlad Masters since he had delivered a succinct presentation to the world that day, and his plan was successful. Never mind his age, they just wanted someone who could get things done, at least until the upcoming election. Tucker was successfully able to compress the Sunday Night Bulletin to just the local news broadcast, which was an incredible accomplishment in the digital information age. The gag order wouldn't hold for long however.

He held an emergency conference to the town on air, telling them the worst case scenario of what would happen if they posted it online and word got out about Danny's identity. The government would become interested in his unique biology and he would no longer be able to be Amity's hero, instead being reduced to a lab rat. No longer would they have someone protecting them from ghostly mischief. They would have sold him out and stabbed themselves in the back.

Danny was there, waiting silently on stage left while Tucker advocated for him passionately. He felt honored that he had such a great friend watching out for him.

At Tucker's gesture, he reluctantly walked up to the podium so he could speak for himself. He shakily leaned to the microphone and gulped; he was uncomfortable in front of so many eyes, even though it was so easy to feel confident as Phantom.

"Be yourself!" Tucker said, giving him a wink.

He cleared his throat, and then directed his attention to the crowd. "Eh...Hello everyone! As you know, and have seen on TV, I'm Danny Phantom…and Danny Fenton."

He didn't know if it was hot or if the spotlight was getting to him, but he could feel the sweat piling up. He pulled on his collar in hopes to loosen up.

"I'd really appreciate it if you could never talk about this to other people, or I could be in danger."

Looking around, he saw familiar faces: Mr. Lancer, Paulina, that part-timer from the Nasty Burger. They were all patient, letting him speak without interruption. He stood a little straighter.

"And no matter what, I'll always do my best to protect this town that I love, as much as time allows. You know, with school and all. Thank you."

He quickly retreated to the side again, and Tucker delivered the closing speech. He was afraid of the crowd's reaction, so he winced when he heard the first waves of applause.

He was so grateful. Their sincerity reached the crowds, and he never found any videos or articles online. He wasn't trending, and no one was calling him for interviews or research studies. His peers at school went crazy for him though, making some sort of 'Phan-club' that was led by Paulina and Dash of all people. It was so different to be treated like he mattered for once by the popular kids, but his popularity was one of a different sort. He was treated like an ideal, like someone they admired that was suddenly one of them. The popular kids apologized to him for everything and changed their tune the very next day of the reveal. Sam had some snarky words to say about that.

Everywhere he went in town it was a big debacle. People took pictures, asked him for autographs, and asked him odd questions, like if he still went to the bathroom normally. He couldn't even go to Nasty Burger with Sam and Tucker without a crowd forming, asking for pictures and autographs with his ghost form so they could put it on social media. People kept trying to touch him to the point where he felt harassed, and Tucker was forced to act like his bodyguard when Sam wasn't around. Eventually, things calmed down and while people were happy to see him, they treated him as just a normal teenager, albeit one with a moderately sized following.

Not everything went smoothly though. He still was expected to balance schoolwork and ghost hunting, though the teachers were more lenient to him and his friends on having to leave class suddenly. His parents were considering selling low-grade weapons to the town so they could defend themselves from spectral entities to lessen his burden, but after comparing it to the growing firearm problem, they decided not to since even ghost weapons could hurt people.

Dani revealed herself to the general public as Dani Phantom, his 'loyal' sidekick. There was no good reason to reveal her human half. After discovering her existence, his parents tried to convince her to live with them as a family but she insisted on maintaining her independence. That said, his parents prepared a room for her in the attic and she started staying with them most nights. His mom took it upon herself to start homeschooling her so she could one day enroll at the high school, or at least get her GED. It was kinda funny; even though she was his clone he wouldn't have figured that just missing one chromosome would result in such a difference in smarts, at least in his opinion. She was proving to be closer to Jazz than to himself. It also brought a different dynamic to the Phantom fan base; while he appealed to screaming teenage fan girls, Dani struck a chord with the kids. After all, she hadn't grown much in the past year.

Dad had told him about leaving Vlad to rot up there in space, and he couldn't blame him after betraying that innocent loyalty he had for 'V-man'. At first Dad was glad; he pulled out all the pictures he had of Vlad and threw them in the dustbin. A few days later though, he was filled with regret and pulled them back out. He used the ship still in possession to fly back out there, since enough fuel remained. He returned downtrodden, with the oxygen helmet Vlad had worn out there and the picture of Maddie that was underneath it. The asteroid he was on must have had enough gravitational pull that the items weren't sucked away into space. Apparently there was no body.

Dad was bedridden for weeks, believing that he had driven Vlad to suicide and left him there to die. All he would say during that time was that Vlad's last words were haunting him. He thought that even if he had betrayed his trust, he could have put it aside and come to an understanding, and maybe they could have had a real friendship. Danny couldn't believe he was actually sad that Vlad died, when he would have gladly ruled the world if he succeeded in saving it from destruction. He actually wasn't that bad of a mayor, considering everything, though he was a bad person. And who knew, if he had come back he surely would have lost everything, but maybe he would have become a better person that way. Oh well, he was gone now.

The elections a few months later saw Mayor Vasquez reassuming his old role with much fanfare, and Tucker sadly returned to being a normal student. It still was something that would set him apart on his resume though, and it gave him instant bragging rights. His picture giving a speech at the podium was his phone background. Jazz went off to a dorm at college – after a semester she decided it was too hectic to balance college life with home life – and he hated to admit it, but it was lonely at home without her. There was no one else around to balance his parents' craziness. There was also a changing dynamic, as he and his parents sometimes hunted ghosts together. He still was getting used to the fact that he no longer had to hide anything from them.

Then his relationship with Sam unraveled. Sam slowly became despondent during their dates, and then started making excuses for why she couldn't spend time with him outside of school. She didn't even want to kiss him anymore. He stayed up most nights wondering if he had done something wrong, or if his fan girls were bothering her. Since they now sat with Tucker and Valerie at lunch, he had to pull her aside so he could get some answers from her.

"Sam," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder lightly. "We've been kind of distant lately and I don't know if I'm done something wrong or what, because you won't tell me. Whatever it is, if I can make it up to you…"

Sam wasn't meeting his eyes at all, instead looking beyond him. She put her hand on her arm and bit her lip. "Look Danny, I've been thinking and while I do like you, maybe I don't like you as much as I think I did. I don't like kissing you anymore; I don't feel anything at all."

His throat was dry. "Well, I mean that's okay, I'm probably a bad kisser, or maybe you're not a kisser. I won't kiss you anymore."

"I mean Danny…" She grabbed her shoulders. "I think I want to be just best friends, not dating. I like being close to you, but I don't want to be intimate anymore."

His hands started to shake and he blinked back tears. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "O-okay Sam, that's okay. Let's break up. I'm glad you still want to be friends with me, I don't know what I'd do if you said you didn't want to see me anymore." He couldn't hold them back anymore, and Sam gave him a hug.

"I'm sorry Danny, but I really think this is for the best." She let go, finally looking at him in the eye with a slight smile. She was crying too. "We're still down for hanging with Tuck later, right?"

He nodded. "See you later."

He stood there, long after her figure disappeared down the halls.

It took him a while to readjust to not being able to hold Sam's hand between classes, or give her a kiss on her cheek during lunch. Paulina grabbed at the chance to ask him out, but he declined. He didn't know if he'd ever get over it, since his feelings for her hadn't even begun to fade. Every time she smiled at him, he couldn't help but stare and smile back, no matter the conversation topic. In the hallway, he found himself standing close to her and hoping to brush by her, desperate for a bit of contact. It finally got to the point where Sam stopped shying away from him and they could be close again and hold hands sometimes. They could casually flirt without meaning, and it was okay. He knew now what Sam must have felt when she crushed on him all of that time. He wanted more, but he was still satisfied to be near her, to know her, to laugh with her.

The only plus to not dating was that he had more time to hang out with Tucker, and Valerie. After the Disasteroid, Valerie informed him that she had connected the dots in regards to his identity not long after she found out the truth about Vlad Masters. They reconnected and became good friends, and Tucker was overjoyed that she joined their table. Danny wondered if Tucker still liked Valerie; he did feel somewhat bad in the beginning when he was dating Valerie, since Tucker did like her first. It was too bad though, as Valerie started dating some senior named Wes on the basketball team. He didn't know Wes personally, but had seen him around and even though he was popular he never bullied anyone, so he seemed like a nice guy.

Tucker didn't question it when Danny told him about the breakup, and Danny credited him for being able to help dispel the awkwardness between him and Sam the first few weeks until things settled down. He really didn't know what he would do without Tucker these days, as Tucker kept his weekends occupied with fun gaming. Sam still played with them on occasion, but there were some games that she was really hardcore about and got mad when they weren't playing their characters 'correctly'. She was solely responsible for their group being so highly ranked since she pushed them so much. A fun fact was that their group was actually composed of four members, including Mr. Lancer who was a natural gamer.

Valerie was the odd one out, however. They all chatted together during lunch, but she was more of a maverick and preferred to hunt ghosts alone. Plus she dated pretty frequently, leaving them few opportunities to hang out after school. She told him something else one day that he didn't quite understand: that he, Tucker, and Sam had a deep sort of bond that was hard to intrude into. He had known them for a long time, true, and he shared all his highs and lows with them. He was himself because his friends were by his side. Maybe that was what she meant.

-2-

It was just another ordinary Saturday. The four of them were finishing up their sandwiches at the Jojo's Diner when their discussion on the supernatural went in an interesting direction.

"You know," Valerie said after swallowing a pickle. "This whole time I thought ghosts were part of the afterlife or from some kind of purgatory." She took a sip of her iced Earl Grey.

Danny slurped his root beer. "My parents just thought of them as some kind of phenomena they needed to study, creatures without feeling that acted on instinct."

"And yet, another species?"

"They're essentially aliens from another dimension," Tucker said, typing something on his HP tablet.

"Which is wicked cool," Sam added.

"Speaking of which," Valerie said. "I'm not trying to start anything but I'm curious here. What do you guys believe? Spiritually."

Tucker spoke up first. "That's no problem. I'm Christian, so's Danny, we met at the same church as kids. At least I think he still is, though he hates Christmas."

"I said I'd be better this year man, thanks to Ghostwriter messing with me. Yeah I still am, though my family stopped being churchgoers after 4th grade," Danny said, chuckling as he picked up another fry, dipping it into the ketchup on his place. "We're not so big on it; my parents got tired of those preachers who ask for tithes every sermon. Plus they use all their time being gung-ho about ghosts. And you, Val?"

"Eh, I'm not so big on religion. I prefer to focus on the day to day."

"That's okay," Tucker said. He reached for his Roy Rogers.

Valerie grinned. "What about you, Sam?"

"Messianic Jew." She stirred her straw in her Mountain Dew with a bored look.

Tucker gave her a blank look. "What's that?"

"The first word is a big giveaway." At Tucker's eventual look of epiphany, she added, "Gotta give myself another reason to like Christmas, right? My parents are cultural Jews though, so while we celebrate the holidays they've never forced me to go to a Synagogue. I did some research on my own this year, and now I am what I am. Plus, it's uncool, which is cool."

"Well that's new," Danny said with a chuckle. "What happened to being the expert of all things dark?"

"Dark and creepy? Yes. Occult…It's called middle school and boy did I learn my lesson; that stuff is evil. Danny and Tuck know the whole deal."

Oh, he remembered well the only time Sam said she was wrong was after she used the witch's guide to magic to try summoning a demon. Apparently whatever she summoned tried to drag her to heck, and it took both him and Tucker to get her normal again. As goth as Sam was, her middle school self was much darker, and she had the hair and piercings to match. He wondered how Sam ever joined their group in the first place, other than the fact that they were all misfits.

He met Tucker's eyes and they both nodded at the memories.

Sam continued while daring them to mention it with her eyes. "Ghost stuff, supernatural artifacts? I'm still game. I mean, we live it every day right?" She took another gulp of soda. "Okay guys, never say I'm a health nut again; I'm already feeling the buzz."

The group laughed.

"So Val, how's Wes these days?" Danny asked. "If it's okay to ask. You've seemed down lately when I catch you two in the hall."

Wes was a guy on the basketball team a year ahead of them. He had never gotten a chance to talk to him personally until after the big reveal, where Wes bragged that the two of them had a similar taste in hair styles. He was a jock but not uptight like Dash's crowd, which was pretty likeable in his opinion. From what Valerie said, the two hit it off after the game one Friday night. Now they had been together for about as long as his breakup with Sam, and Valerie was full of half complaints half praise for Wes all the time. Guess it was official. He was surprised she was branching out from fully focusing on ghost hunting though. She smiled more.

"Don't worry it's fine. Yeah, same old with him. He's still super cheap, it's annoying. I mean, he's richer than I used to be, because trust me I've seen how much allowance he gets based on how much is in his wallet, and the most he's bought me for a gift is a sundae at my own job. On Sundae Friday."

"But it's only two bucks on Friday," Tucker commented. "Man, that's cheap. You still paying for the dates?"

"Yep. When I ask him to pay, guess where I'm going? Somewhere where he knows someone and can use their employee discount. I'm not much of a fine dining person but at least take me somewhere nice once in a while. Remember that spaghetti place we went to Danny?" Danny nodded. "That place isn't even that pricey, but the most Wes would do was split the bill. Whenever I bring it up we just fight about it."

"Well that stinks," said Sam. Valerie gave her a look of agreement.

After they finished their food, they stacked the plates and cups and Sam grabbed the receipt to go pay at the front. Tucker got another drink in a to-go cup.

"Well," Valerie said while they walked out of the glass doors, causing the bell to jingle. "I feel like I'm getting to know you guys better."

"Me too!" said Tucker. Danny and Sam nodded.

Then some lady with a lot of bags bumped into Danny, almost knocking him over.

"Um, excuse me?" Danny said, brushing off his pants. The bags had probably been on the ground, for his pants had a smudge of mud on them.

"Excuse you! Kids these days, no respect!" The short, stout woman tilted her wide brimmed pink hat and a peppered brown curl fell out of it over her face. She looked about sixty, as her scrunched face was covered in wrinkles and frown lines and an overdose of powder.

"Hey, I'm not in the wrong here." Danny pointed at her. "You're the one who ran into me. I don't know how that's setting a good example for the youth if you're so sour."

She sat down her bags and put her hands on her hips, trying to make herself as big as possible as she leaned up to him. "Ah, I know you. The half ghost kid who thinks he's something. Gonna lecture me like you're somewhere higher? You're no hero. Just wait until they find out who you truly are. Kids are all violent these days, no respect, no morals!" She huffed. She picked up her bags and walked away down the street.

Danny felt his eyes flaring up and struggled to calm down.

Tucker snorted. "Man, what's her problem?" He gave Danny a pat on the back. "Don't let it get to you man."

Sam sighed, staring at the woman's retreating figure. "Guh, what I'd give for these people not to be around."

Danny nodded. "It would be a much nicer world, that's for sure." He shrugged. "But hey like that's gonna happen." He heard a buzzing noise; it was coming from the diner's security camera. He wondered why it drew his attention.

A cold wind blew down the road, bringing a few straggling leaves with it. He bent down slightly to zip up his jacket. Even though he had an ice core, it didn't make him any less sensitive sadly. In fact, it seemed to charge his core, so he usually ended up having to make some ice crystals at home later to relieve his chill. His dad liked to use them for his root beer.

Valerie jolted him out of his thoughts by patting him on the back. "Chin up, Danny." She glanced at her watch. "I've gotta run, I've got the night shift, see you guys later!" They waved and she ran down the sidewalk.

-3-

The sun was about halfway down as they walked through the park on the way home, tinting everything in a reddish glow. All of a sudden, he shivered then felt frosty breath force its way past his lips; a ghost was near.

His friends noticed and went on high alert. All three slipped on their Fenton Phones and Danny transformed into Phantom.

A whistle pierced through the air. There on the path was a pudgy ghost with a safari hat and a typical mailman uniform, wearing a satchel full of letters. A ghost wolf ran past them to answer the call.

"Good boy," the ghost man said in a slight Scottish accent, patting the wolf on the head as it panted and wagged its tail. Then he turned to face the three with glowing yellow eyes. "Got mail?"

"I'll handle this, guys," Danny said quietly to Tucker and Sam. "Get somewhere out of sight."

"No, we'll back you up-" Sam said before Tucker cut her off.

"Shh, of course we're going, we'll be behind the bushes with the Thermos." Tucker took Sam by the arm and started pulling the resisting girl back.

The wolf growled.

The mail man grinned, his hand still atop the wolf's head. "Ah, Homer, it's the sound of prey. Go ahead, get 'em."

"On second thought…" Tucker said as the wolf licked its lips. "We'll distract the wolf so you can concentrate on this guy."

The wolf bolted towards them.

"Tucker let's run!" Sam yelled. They ran off into the distance.

Danny stared at the mail man; he was a ghost never seen before. Was he new? "So, it's just us now. Gonna tell me your name before I take out the trash? It's all spam mail these days anyway."

"Letters are made to be read, laddie. Even an advertisement is written with care and love."

"Not after the Industrial age, I'd say. Didn't you get the memo?"

"No, there was no memo with my name on it. Maybe it'll arrive by post next week." Apparently this guy didn't get jokes. "The name's Mr. Speedy, it's my motto. Right on time, fast and prime."

"Right…well let's get this over with as fast as possible. You can pick the fast option, which involves going into the Thermos without a fuss, oh and calling your wolf back so he stops chasing my friends. Or, there's the slow and painful option, where I pound you so hard you'll be Mr. Sorry."

"I was just going to deliver these letters, see." He pulled out a letter from his satchel, then opened it and a screaming ghost popped out. "Makes for a great party favor. But if you get in the way of my delivery route, I'll pack you like a package. And you know what happens to packages. They get delivered."

"No really? I thought the Box Ghost takes them. Did you know he's your biggest competitor in the industry? I think I like him better."

Danny fired a blast at him, knocking the satchel off his shoulder. This set off Mr. Speedy, who pulled out a knife from his back pocket that grew three sizes in length once he poured his energy into it.

"I really hope you're not trying to give me a paper cut with that thing," Danny said while starting to sweat. Just great, they always pull out the weapons. Why the weapons?

Speedy dove in slashing with a bright smile, and Danny blocked with a mini shield. He parried the next blow and shot an ice blast, which Speedy absorbed with his sword. Did he just give his enemy a power up?

The ghostly mailman cackled. "This letter opener is multipurpose, all weather rust resistance, high quality workmanship, lifetime warranty!"

The sword took on an icy glow. Danny made a shield to block the next blow but it cut through it, freezing the rest of his shield. He managed to catch the sword with his hands, and the sword sliced into his palms.

Danny laughed awkwardly. "Did you order that in the back of the weekly coupon ads, because they're overpriced and they lie."

He put in more energy than usual to reinforce his fist and then hit him in the chest, sending Mr. Not Smiling Anymore through a couple of trees. He flew towards him to see if he had been incapacitated, when he heard Sam's scream echo through the trees.

"Sam!" He turned towards the sound and then started flying towards it when he was struck from behind. His mind blanked out for a moment until he felt himself collide with the ground. He rolled around to look up; he had fallen through a couple of tree branches on the way down. His back and arms ached, but he managed to crawl to his feet. He wiped at some liquid dripping down his head, probably sweat.

He would have to trust that Tucker could protect Sam. This guy floating in front of him needed to be taken care of first.

The sword's glow faded into a yellow glow once more.

Seems like that sword can only hold power for two minutes. If only I could get him to drop that sword…

There was a way, but he needed to get his head on straight. Making duplications made him somewhat sleepy, so he didn't like to do it often. He ducked behind a nearby bush and cloned himself, then had the clone blast at him and throw some taunts.

The ghost dove for him with the sword then slashed him in the neck; once Danny combined with his clone that would hurt. Danny snuck behind him and grabbed at his hands, leaving him open for his clone to punch Mr. Speedy in the gut. His grip loosened only slightly but it was enough; Danny snatched the sword and then reabsorbed his clone. Even though he knew the pain was coming, he felt the slice form on his neck, though it was shallower than the one his clone suffered.

"G-give it back!" Mr. Speedy cried, punching Danny in the jaw. Danny dropped the sword accidentally but thought fast and blasted it, shattering it to pieces. "NO!"

"Well that's that then." The ghost threw a punch at his head, which Danny avoided by tilting his head to the side. "That sword fuels your power." He unhooked the Thermos from his belt and took off the top.

"In truth, I was going to send a letter to my brother. You should watch out for-"

Mr. Speedy was speedily sucked into the Thermos, and only a slight wisp of smoke was left behind.

"His brother?" Danny shook the thought out of his head and then sped towards his friends.

Sam was leaning against a tree, holding Tucker's pullover to her side. Her face was contorted and covered in sweat, and there was a violent scratch mark down her cheek.

"Sam!" He said without thinking, landing at her side to inspect the wound.

Sam shrunk away with panic in her eyes. "Danny, don't touch me okay!" He stopped short and then she turned away from him slightly. "I'm okay, that stupid wolf decided to try to bite me. Before that we were blasting at him but he wouldn't stay still. I just had to be the bait. Don't worry about me. Tucker's got him in the Thermos."

Tucker nodded at him while holding the Thermos up.

Danny turned back to Sam and knelt down. "How can you expect me not to worry about you? There's no way, please don't be like this right now. You're hurt." Sam turned back around then winced. She withdrew slightly, allowing him to check out her injury. He lifted the sweater off then sighed in relief. "Based on what Tucker's shirt's absorbed, looks like the bleeding's stopped at least."

"Still hurts a ton though," Sam muttered then bit her lip.

"Of course it does," Tucker said, walking over with just an undershirt on top and the Thermos. "Especially since that thing didn't want to let go, even when I kicked it. I ended up just sucking it up, probably should have done that immediately. I wish I could have taken it for you Sam." He sat down on the other side of Danny.

"Nah, I'm made of tougher stuff," Sam said with a laugh, before hissing. "Lucky for me I don't need to go to the doctor this time."

"Are you sure?" Danny said, and she nodded. He hated when she was so stubborn. She didn't even have any ghost powers to heal a bit faster…although of course his powers weren't invincible either. He still had bruises from last week's Skulker chase.

Tucker then turned to Danny. "Man, you know your head's bleeding. Want my undershirt?"

"I think I'm okay Tucker." Danny laughed nervously and then put a hand to his head. "I think the bleeding's stopped anyway." He turned back to his human form and unzipped his jacket so he could wipe his head with his long shirt sleeve.

"Yeah you're better off Danny. Knowing Tucker's fantastic hygiene, hopefully I don't get an infection from this shirt," Sam quipped.

"You're lucky; I just put it on from the wash this morning." Tucker grinned like it was something to be proud of, then shivered.

Sam motioned for Danny to back up from her and then shakily stood. "Since it's a ghost it probably doesn't have Tetanus, so let's just go back. Don't want Tucker to catch cold." Danny and Tucker shot her a glare. "I swear if it starts getting worse at all, the doctor's a phone call away, I'll handle it."

Tucker sighed. "Always so tough, Sam. You can show a little weakness sometimes you know."

They walked down the lamp-lit pathway, with Sam in the middle. He couldn't help but keep his eye on her, if just to make sure she was making it okay. He immediately shot his hand out to grab her when she stumbled on a branch, and she leaned on him slightly in response. It was tingly and warm, but he didn't resist when she let go to walk unaided once more. When they reached the fork in the road, passing a dark patch of trees, a man came out of the bushes. He had medium length hair with ruddy features. He had the average brown eyes and hair, but a chiseled figure possessing finesse. He didn't notice them at first, and almost tripped back when he did.

"Eh, hello kids. Getting close to curfew?" He rubbed the back of his hair, flipping his ponytail into view. He seemed like the next-door type.

"We're on our way home," Danny replied curtly. "I think it's late for anyone period?"

"Yep. I'm about to head home myself."

The man put his hands in his pockets – he was wearing red gardening gloves – and grinned widely.

"How about you do that," Sam said, then tugged on Danny and Tucker. They walked away quickly.

-4-

The next day, Sam came to school with a normal black t-shirt that didn't show her midriff and a medium sized bandage on her cheek. At Danny and Tucker's raised eyebrow, she pulled up her shirt somewhat, revealing bandages.

"You really don't expect me to parade my injuries all over school right?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"No, of course not," Tucker said, with Danny nodding.

Danny withheld the urge to scratch his neck. His head wound had healed, but the slices on his palms and neck were still irritated. Maybe it had something to do with that sword. He had put bandages on them, but it hurt to grip with his hands and he wanted to pick at his neck scab. Even if he healed fast he still didn't want to cause a scar.

With nothing especially to do before school began, they slipped into Mr. Lancer's classroom. As long as no ghosts popped up, he was definitely on time for homeroom.

Mr. Lancer was seated behind his desk watching the news. His eyes darted briefly towards them, then back to the TV set.

"Good morning, Mr. Foley, Ms. Manson, Mr. Fenton."

"Morning!" They replied.

"Did you hear about the body in the park? They just discovered it this morning. Simply tragic."

Before Danny could respond, Mr. Lancer turned up the volume with the dial.

"This is the site where Emily Wilson was found this morning, at 3AM. Witnesses state she was last seen walking home from the mall, where she loved to shop and dine at the downstairs eateries. It is unknown just who did this horrific act. She was found with deep gashes all over her body, and had been deliberately posed much like a sacrifice. Not well liked in the community, neighbors, family, and members of the checkers club she frequented tell of her bad personality and cruel language. Considering this, it is likely that she must have angered the wrong person. Currently, a forensics team is combining the scene in search for clues, and once complete, a police investigation will commence. This is a sad day in Amity Park. It is advised to make sure to be home before midnight until the killer is behind bars. This is Tiffany Snow."

Once the old woman's face flashed on screen, he immediately recognized her to be the one from last night.

What did Sam say? And he said it would be a better world without people like that.

But he didn't want this. Even if she was rude, why would someone kill a helpless woman like her?

He hoped the truth would come out soon, so her family could have justice.

With the police working so hard, surely they would find who did this to her.

Right?

"Hey, Mr. Lancer," said Paulina, who raised her manicured hand.

"Yes P-"

Without giving Mr. Lancer a chance to finish, she immediately continued, "Do you think it's connected with the poor doggies the other day?"

"What dogs, Ms. Sanchez?"

A few of the other girls gave the teacher disapproving comments.

"You don't know about the poor doggies?" Paulina glanced at Sam, who immediately got up in a fury.

Sam raised her hand just to be polite, but her passion for animals must have fueled her to speak. "The past few months, not just stray dogs, but also cats have been turning up dead in the sidewalk. The police at first suspected nothing, but I always thought it was strange. Now they finally investigated, and these animals are being murdered."

"I do seem to recall this piece of news." Mr. Lancer clearly did not want to look uninformed in his own classroom. "Ahem. Ms. Sanchez, you may be correct. They say that killers usually start with animals."

"Danny," said Paulina with her charismatic eyes. "Can you investigate this?"

"He will!" Sam volunteered him. "We have to protect the animals. And find out who's attacking old people…"

Danny sighed.

He fought ghosts, not human criminals.

Leave it to Sam to get me over my head.

Well, he could try to look around, even if just to assuage his guilt.