3. Promises, promises.

Once again Danny was glad he could fly. The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky as he soared over Amity Park; the overfull school bus driving down below him. The whirl of a rocket engine sounded behind him and Valerie, on her sled, came up beside him.

"Race ya, Phantom." She saluted and shot of.

Danny chuckled and accelerated. "Oh, you are so on!"

They zoomed towards the looming structure know as Casper High. Neither of them aware that a certain Hunter was watching them closely from a nearby rooftop.

The Hunter's mouth twisted into a menacing grin. "It's time I fulfilled some promises, Whelp."


The school bell's shrill sounds echoed through the building, ushering the students towards their respective classrooms. Danny and Valerie found there friends in the exodus of students and together they walked towards their first period.

"You seem happy." Sam observed as they entered the classroom. Lancer was already dotting down some boring lesson on the blackboard.

"I slept well." Danny couldn't help but be happy. "No ghost attacked –" A wisp of blue air escaped his mouth and he sighed. "Never mind."

"You jinxed it, dude." Tucker clapped him on the back. "Good luck." He and Sam sat down at their desks and started staring at the board.

Valerie arched her eyebrow. "Where is that ghost anyway?"

As if on cue Skulker materialized, floating above the startled students.

He only smirked before saying: "Run." Then he let loose with a series of ecto blast that had the students duck beneath their desks and Lancer curse in book titles.

"Distract them." Danny hissed at his friends as he went invisible, in the chaos of shouting and fleeing students, no one noticed him going ghost and even before the flash of light had left the room Danny lunged at Skulker. The Hunter had anticipated his move and went intangible; letting Danny zoom through him. Danny, who hadn't anticipated that, crashed face-first against the blackboard. He slid down and hit the floor.

"Mr. Fenton," Lancer hissed from beneath his desk. "I would appreciate it if you didn't destroying my classroom."

"I'll try." Danny grunted as he shot up and fired off an ecto blast.

Lancer sighed as the blast collided with what was probably a desk, judging by the sound of splintering wood.

Another blast hit something metallic and Danny shouted: "Get your metallic ass back here!" And then the classroom fell quite. Lancer dared a glance over his desk; his eyebrows dropped as he beheld the smoking ruin formally known as his classroom.

He sighed again. "There goes my end of year bonus."


Danny chased Skulker through the school and cornered the ghost in the cafeteria. "You're getting sloppy, Scrapheap."

"On the contrary, Ghost Whelp." A glowing, green net fell from the ceiling, trapping Danny.

"What the – ?" Danny tried to phase through, but of course that failed.

"Like it? I made it myself." Skulker glowed of pride. "Now," He summoned a green glowing knife from his arm. "I'll fulfil my promise."

"Capturing me and using my pelt to decorate your bedroom?"

"That too. But I meant the other one. That I would never stop hunting you!"

Danny eyed the net and the knife. "You can't really fulfil that promises if my pelt is decorating your wall, right?"

Skulker blinked confused. "Um,"

"Let me save you the trouble of hurting your brain, spook." Valerie blasted through the double doors of the cafeteria, guns blazing. A shot to the chest send Skulker flying backwards, straight into the Mystery Meat cooking pot. Valerie pulled the net away, freeing Danny.

"Where have you been?" Danny asked indignant.

"Oh, cry me a river." Valerie shot back. Somewhere in the kitchen Skulker was getting back to his senses. "Let's capture him already."

Danny felt around his waist then chuckled nervously. "Um,"

Valerie crocked her eyebrow. "Don't tell me you forgot."

Just as Danny thought he would break under the Red Huntress's judging stare, Sam and Tucker ran into the cafeteria. Tucker carrying a Fenton Thermos. Danny took the thermos from Tucker and flew towards the kitchen area where Skulker's suit was sparking from the Mystery Meat gravy. A blue beam enveloped the Hunter and sucked him in. Then he soared back towards his friends and turned back human.

"Piece of cake."

"You would've been sliced if it wasn't for me." Valerie gave him a reprimanding look. "Mister I-Get-Defeated-By-A-Net."

"And-I-forgot-a-Fenton-Thermos." Tucker added.

"Again." Sam finished.

Danny held up his hands in defense. "Alright, Alright, I get it. Let it go, already."

Sam smirked. "Not a chance, Elsa."


Danny entered his house to the familiar sight of Jazz reading a book titled: The Psychology Influence of Persuasion.

"Jeez, Jazz do you ever do something fun?

"This is fun, Danny."

"Yeah right. If you need me, I'll be down in the lab." He wiggled the thermos for emphasize, but Jazz was already distracted by her book.

The lab was still a mess, but most of the damage from the Fright Knights attack had been cleaned. Then again, the lab was mostly a mess. His mother was bent over some papers, while his father was happily tinkering away with some new invention or other. We he entered the lab his mother pulled the hood of her jumpsuit back to greet him. "Hello sweetie, how was school?"

"Great. I only got attacked once." He showed them the thermos as he made his way towards the portal.

"Who was it this time, son?" His dad asked, putting the invention aside.

"Just Skulker." Danny placed the thermos in the machine next to the portal and a second later the machine bleeped and the thermos screen read: empty. "He Mom, Dad. Has Willow returned already?"

His mother shook her head. "I haven't seen her."

Danny swallowed away the dread that started to form in his stomach. "Oh well. She did say the Observants weren't the fastest ghosts in the Zone." He forced his lips into a smile. "I'm off to Sam's for a Dead Teacher marathon."

"Alright. Have fun, Honey." His mother was already back to shuffling through the papers as Danny left the lab.


"I still have the feeling she's hiding something." Danny whispered to his friends over lunch the next day. "It's been two days since she left for the Observants and she still isn't back. What if she was taking prisoner for some crime we didn't know anything about?"

"Danny we know what crime she has committed." Sam put a piece of lettuce in her mouth.

"Enlighten me." Valerie prompted.

"She fought side by side with Pariah Dark the King of all Ghosts." Tucker answered lightly, like it was no big deal.

"Wow. That is," Valerie searched for words. "A lot to digest." Her face told Danny she hadn't forgotten the Ghost King. "But she's better now, right?"

"She said the spell of the Bound broke the moment Pariah was imprisoned in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep." Danny admitted. "And she can't lie, so it must be true."

"See? You worry too much." Sam grabbed his hand under the table. "Relax."

"Yeah. Alright." A cold breath escaped his mouth. He looked at it as if it had offended him greatly. "Darn it."

"Missed me, Whelp?"

Star was the first to notice the ghost. She nudged Paulina and together they screamed and fled. Followed closely by the other students.

"Jeeze, those girls shriek louder than a Banshee." Sam grunted as she covered her ears.

"Sense and Sensibility people! What's going on here?" Mr. Lancer stormed into the cafeteria, only to come face to face with the self-proclaimed Greatest Hunter of the Ghost Zone. Danny went ghost and Valerie suited up.

"You know," Danny floated up to face Skulker and crossed his arms. "He has a point. What are you doing here?"

Skulker shot him down with an ecto blast from his arm mounted gun. "Hunting you. What did you think I was doing here?"

"Real clever, Buckethead." Danny sprung up and fired a few ecto blasts in rapid succession. The Hunter dodged, but one blast hit him square in the chest and flung him against the wall.

Mr. Lancer joined Sam and Tucker, his mouth hanging slightly open. "Does this," He waved towards the two fighting ghost. "Is this the normal procedure?"

"Ghost attacks, exchange witty banter, kick ghost butt?" Sam asked arching her eyebrows. "Yeah, pretty much."

Danny threw himself at Skulker and both ghost phased through the wall and out of sight. Valerie sighed and followed, zooming off on her sled.

"So…" Mr. Lancer stared at the now empty, cafeteria. "What happens now?"


"If you're such a great hunter then why do you keep running…um flying, away?" Danny rocketed through the hallways once again, chasing the 'Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter'.

"You'll be surprised, Ghost Child." Skulker grinned menacing as he suddenly whirled around and connected his fist with Danny's skull. Danny hit the row of lockers hard. Blinking the stars from his vision he saw the Hunter standing over him, pointing something at him that bore an uncanny resembles to a Fenton Thermos, only with red instead of green markings.

"Surprised?"

"Kinda, yeah." Danny blinked, feeling slightly nervous. "Since when do you own a thermos?"

"None of your business, Whelp!" Skulker pressed a thick finger against a button and the thermos powered up with a shrill whine. Danny stared down the thermos's business end as the inside slowly started to glow a burning red. Sparks sprung from the devise as the whirling intensified. "Say your farewells, Ghost Child." Skulker's smirk dropped when the thermos gave a pathetic whirl, sputtered and died down; the red glow vanishing. Danny picked himself up, shaking uncontrollably with laughter.

"Oh man, for a second there I thought you had me."

The thermos powered back up and a red beam shot out, sucking Danny in with a startled yelp.

"What was that you were saying?" Skulker slammed the cap on the smoking thermos and rattled the thing for good measure. "I win, Whelp." His eerie laughter echoed through the halls of Casper High as the ghost vanished from sight, but not before the Red Huntress came shooting around the corner.

"Danny!" Valerie jumped of her sled and fired a shot, but the ghost had disappeared. With Danny. "Dang it!" She kicked the nearest trashcan.

"Valerie, what happened?" Tucker came running towards her with Sam, bearing a face of true fear, close behind.

"That Hunter Ghost took Danny." Valerie explained pointing at the spot Skulker had been seconds ago. "I was too late." She said it like she couldn't believe it. "I-"

"It's okay, Val." Sam looked like she was ready to rip someone's still beating heart out. "Skulker will pay for this."

"What are we waiting for," Tucker was already typing something on his PDA. "Let's go!"


They stormed into the Fenton lab, startling the resident Fentons. Jack accidentally set a stack of papers on fire with his soldering iron and Maddie doused the flames with a fire extinguisher before turning to the three teens.

"What is going on?" She pulled the hood from her face when she saw their worried faces. Mother instinct kicked in immediately. "Where's Danny?" They all started talking at the same time. "Okay, okay. One at the time."

"It's Skulker. He's got Danny." Sam explained.

"I think he sucked him up with a Fenton Thermos." Valerie added. "It sounded like it, anyways."

"And now we've gotta go in to Ghost Zone to get him back." Tucker said, eyeing the Specter Speeder from the corner of his eye.

"But do you know where to find him?" Jack asked, coming to stand behind his wife.

"I already calibrate my PDA to lock into Danny's ecto signature." Tucker showed him the screen where a red dot was moving fast.

"Alright, but you kids do not go into the Ghost Zone alone." Maddie chided.

"We've already been in the Ghost Zone, like, a million times." Tucker swallowed when he saw Maddie's reprimanding look. "But of course you can come too, Mrs. F." Jack coughed. "And Mr. F."

"Let's go already." Sam was already standing inside the Speeder. Valerie was already buckled up in the back seat.

Maddie took the controls and the Spector Speeder raced forwards through the Portal. Jack Fenton had a look of childish wonder on his face as the green and black void of the Ghost Zone moved by outside. Maddie stared in awe at the floating purple doors, green glowing windows and the occasional floating island.

"This is so different from what we first expected." Maddie sounded like a kid in a candy store. "But of course we already knew the Ghost Zone would be made up of mostly pure ectoplasm."

"Mads look at that!" Jack pointed at large floating island covered in jungle and dominated by a giant skull-like rock. "I wonder what that could be."

"That," Sam's eyes burned with rage. "Would be Skulker's lair."

"Then let's save my Baby Boy!" Maddie floored the accelerator.

"Yeah…You know…To help him." Jack added, probably in an attempt to save Danny's reputation. The three teenagers snickered. They would never let him live this down.


Danny had tried everything, but the cage didn't budge. Skulker had outfitted the cage with a green glowing anti-phasing shield that worked for ghost and humans. The only thing he could do was glower at the ghost that'd put him there and then make fun of Skulker's interior design choices. Although Skulker's home was a cave his style in decoration was the complete opposite of what Danny had expected. The floors where covered with rugs, patterned with bizarre bright colored animal-like designs. There were plants and flowers and some stuffed creatures and skeletons. But the walls. The walls were various shades of neon blues and greens and the most surprising color of all, hot pink.

"Nice colors, Tin Plate."

Skulker's narrowed his eyes. "Ember chose the colors."

"So you let yourself be bossed around by your girlfriend?" Danny grinned.

"Shut it, Whelp, or I will decorate my wall with your pelt."

"Are you sure your girlfriend would agree with that choice?" Danny ducked aside as an ecto-blast hit the bars of the cage.

"Now," Skulker turned around. "Time to open the exhibition."

"The what-now?" Danny's cringed as his voice squeaked. "He! Get back here Trashcan!" The Hunter's deep laugh echoed through the cave as he left his lair. Danny grabbed the bars of his prison and tried to bend them with all his might. He could've sworn faith laughed at him as the bars didn't budge. Danny slumped back, but shot right back up as a shot went off outside and Skulker was blasted back inside and against the hot pink wall.

"Don't you worry, Honey!" His mother voice called over de Speeders speakers. "Mommy's here."

Danny groaned and debated just going invisible. Skulker picked himself up and summoned his shoulder guns. He shot Danny a look, grin forming on his metal face.

"Don't you dare, Bolthead."

"I'm sorry Whelp. I can't hear you over the sound of your mothers rescue." Skulker was too busy laughing he didn't see Maddie Fenton, black belt extraordinaire, summersault her way into the cave while shooting off the Fenton Bazooka. The blast send Skulker crashing back into the wall, enlarging the crack that was already there. Sam, Tucker crouched behind the cage.

"Dude, you are in trouble." Tucker fished his PDA out of his pocket and started to work on the shield. In the background Skulker was trying to dodge the Fenton's ecto blasts. Well, Maddie's ecto blasts. Valeria was zooming around the hunter on her sled, but Maddie seemed perfectly capable of beating Skulker up on her own, so she dismounted and joined her friends.

Danny groaned. "Tell me about it. Skulker is going to brag about this forever."

"Forget Skulker." Sam tried to hide her grin. "Your reputation was pretty much destroyed when your mother went to rescue her 'baby boy'."
Danny closed his eyes. "Just kill me now."

A metallic click sounded and Tucker cheered. "Got it." The greenish glow vanished around the cage and Danny was out in a second, his fists glowing with energy.

"Time to reduce that Tin Can to a heap of scrap met-." He stopped mid-air, the ecto energy extinguished. Maddie Fenton was chasing a terrified armor-less Skulker around the cave with a blazing ecto gun. Jack cheering her on from the sidelines.

Valeria put her hands on her sides and grinned. "You were saying, Ghostboy?"


As they made their way back through the Ghost Zone Danny, back in human form, had to listen to Tucker repeat the story of his capture over and over again. Each version more detailed than the last.

"That's enough, Tuck." Danny emphasized every word, but his friend didn't get the hint. Sam and Valerie tried not to laugh.

"Well, I think you've been very brave, Honey." Maddie threw him a smile from behind the wheel. Danny groaned and debated going invisible. He would never hear the end of this. He closed his eyes, but if he had been more attentive he would've seen the shadow observing them as the Speeder shot through the Fenton Portal.


And that concludes episode 3. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, please leave a comment if you enjoyed.

Stay tuned for the next one!

"The Psychology Influence of Persuasion" was written by Robert B. Cialdini, PH.D. I have no idea what's in it but it sounded like something Jazz would read.