Danny stood, gaping, at the doors of Shibusen. The school was more enormous than he could have ever imagined; the entrance was vaguely reminiscent of Shinigami's face enlarged on a much bigger scale, and the entire school reminded Danny of how small and insignificant he was.

Death the Kid had been explaining – in a condescending manner, of course – the basics of how the school worked as they walked. Apparently it was composed of pairs of weapons and meisters, who collected the souls of evil people off Shinigami's list. When ninety-nine regular souls and the soul of one witch had been collected by the weapon, the weapon could then evolve into a Death Scythe, which was far more powerful. However, the pairs of weapons and meisters had to work specifically well with one another, or, in other words, their "soul wavelengths" had to match. Most people worked in groups of two; it was rare that groups of one meister and two weapons – like Kid, Liz, and Patty – would exist, but their soul wavelengths matched up well enough for the three to work together. Danny couldn't see how anyone could work as a partner with Kid, since he was having enough trouble working with him as it was, but apparently Liz and Patty had grown up on the streets and were thus attracted to people of a higher class, like Kid, and were able to be open enough to him to support him through his often neurotic outbursts. To each their own, he supposed.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to follow me in?" Kid asked impatiently. He was standing at the front door of the school, tapping his foot with obvious irritation.

Danny straightened up. "Sorry about that, I was daydreaming. Lead the way."

Mumbling something incoherent, Kid opened the doorway to the school and walked inside, Liz and Patty flanking him on either side. Danny followed him obediently. As they walked through the hallway, Danny's head turned constantly to gaze at the strange architecture and people.

"Kid!" a voice cried from the end of the hallway. "Who's that? Is that a guest? He better not make more of a commotion than me!" The owner of the voice, a conceited-looking boy with spiky blue hair, rushed up to meet them, trailed by a helpless-looking girl sporting a long black ponytail.

"He's just visiting," Kid replied. "This," he said "is –"

The boy interrupted him. "I can introduce myself! I am Black*Star! My greatness will surpass all someday, and I will even surpass God! This is my partner Tsubaki, and together we will rise above all mortals!" He grabbed Danny's hand with his own and shook it vigorously.

"…Good luck with that," Danny said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

"I don't need luck!" Black*Star shouted. "I have skill, natural talent, and dashing good looks."

"…I'm so sorry about my meister," Tsubaki apologized, her expression suggesting that she was powerless and that this situation happened often. "He's a little… loud, and disregards others around him." She held out her hand for Danny to shake. "I know Black*Star said this already, but I'm Tsubaki. It's a pleasure to meet you. Are you a friend of Kid's?"

Danny wasn't sure how to reply to this. "In a sense, I suppose," he said finally. "I'm Danny Phantom. I got lost and ended up here in Death City somehow. Kid sort of, er, attacked me yesterday, because my uniform wasn't symmetrical, but now we're on semi-friendly terms. He's my escort." He took Tsubaki's hand and shook it, noticing that her grip was far less firm than Black*Star's aggressive handshake had been.

Tsubaki smiled. "I see. You actually look a bit like Kid, with the matching uniforms and all."

He groaned. "He told me if I didn't change into it and become more symmetrical, he wouldn't escort me around. I'm aware I look like a doofus."

She laughed. "It's okay, don't worry about it. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck on your trip here!"

"Who's that?" another female voice asked from behind Tsubaki. "Is he new?" Another girl emerged, with a boy Danny assumed to be her partner right behind her. The girl had green eyes and pigtails, while the boy had spiky white hair and slouched as he walked.

"Yeah, I'm just visiting," Danny said, tiresomely having to introduce himself once again. "My name's Danny Phantom, I'm, uh, half-ghost, and Kid is acting as my escort right now."

The girl nodded, not fazed in the slightest. "All right, then. I'm Maka and this is my partner, Soul."

"Nice to meet you," Danny said, refraining from making a confused comment about the name, and shook both their hands.

A noise that sounded a bit like rumbling began to approach the group, intensifying with each passing second, and Danny stared blankly at the man creating the noise, rolling towards them down the hall on a swivel chair. He had to be one of the most bizarre people Danny had ever laid eyes on. Everything about him appeared to be stitched together – his lab coat, the shirt underneath, even his face. Not only that, but his head appeared to have a giant screw sticking out of it. As he approached them, he appeared to be turning the screw and adjusting something, glasses flashing with every movement. To say that Danny was slightly intimidated would be an understatement.

"That's Dr. Stein," Tsubaki explained. "He's our teacher."

This wasn't what Danny had expected at all.

"He's also obsessed with dissecting things," Soul added, speaking for the first time. "Although he looks serious about something else right now. Hey, Stein, what's the matter?"

Stein attempted to stop his chair, but one of the wheels caught on something at the last second, and he was thrown out of his seat gracelessly. Tsubaki instinctively sidestepped out of the way, leaving Stein to plow into Danny and knock him over. Without stopping for an apology, Stein scrambled to his feet, leaving Danny dazed and wondering if the madness of Shibusen would ever end.

"You all are being called on to participate in an emergency mission," Stein began sharply.

"Yay, a mission!" Patty interjected cheerfully.

"…Apparently there's been some sort of invasion of creatures with evil souls, and they're terrorizing the entire city," Stein continued with some annoyance. "They came out of nowhere, because even Shinigami-sama hadn't noticed them to put on his list until now. We need you to exterminate them before they cause any more trouble."

Kid nodded. "What kind of creatures?"

Stein looked thoughtful. "We're not really sure… they all appear to be some kind of evil ghost… some kind of spirit."

"Ghosts?" Liz screeched. "We have to go fight ghosts?"

Danny suddenly felt guilty.

"That kid you just knocked over –" Soul said, finishing the sentiment that Danny, who was still in the process of rising from the ground, had been about to voice – "said he was a ghost. And he's new around here. And we're suddenly having some kind of weird spirit problem."

Not liking where this was going, Danny sighed. "You're right… this must be my fault. I'm sorry."

"Hmm," Stein said, but he was now staring at Danny with interest.

"Kid almost gave you that boy to experiment on!" Patty said with a broad smile.

Flinching, Danny turned to stare at Kid. That must have been what his "other plans" had been. From the sight of Stein, he could only assume that the experience, if Kid had gone through with it, would have been chilling. Kid merely shrugged apathetically.

"Hey, I'm not sure if I caused this ghost invasion," he began hurriedly, attempting to ignore everyone's eyes fixed on him, "but if I did, I'm really sorry. Ghosts do tend to go wherever I go."

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is," Maka said. "We just need to take care of it."

Black*Star looked at Danny with disdain. "I can't stand that you're getting so much attention from this!" he whined. "Let's go kick some ghostly butt! I'll lead the way, shining with the brilliant light of my own awesomeness!"

"W-wait a minute," Tsubaki pleaded. "Shouldn't we form a plan first?"

"Tsubaki would normally be right," Stein responded. "But in this case, there's not much of a plan we can form when a wave of spirits is heading right towards us. We just need to act, and fast."

"And I'll be the fastest acting of them all!" Black*Star shouted, running down the hall towards the door.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki cried after him. "Wait up! I'm your weapon!" She dashed after him frantically.

There was a silence, then Maka spoke up again. "We should follow him." Murmurs of "Yes," and "Let's go!" were passed around, and the group, including Stein, followed.

Soon, the only ones left in the hallway were Kid, Liz and Patty, and Danny. The silence between them was stifling.

"Do things like this happen often?" Danny asked hesitantly. "I mean, obviously, based off your guys' reactions, massive ghosts attacks aren't common, but are you often called off on missions like this?"

Kid shrugged symmetrically. "Sometimes, I suppose. We go on missions anyway. That's our job." He paused, then added, "Usually, though, they aren't caused by people we know." With one last patronizing glance back at Danny, Kid began to walk forward. "You better come with us to help. This whole mess is probably your fault anyway. And if you mess up that suit or your hair in the battle, just know that there will be serious issues. Okay?"

"I suppose," Danny grumbled, following the shinigami despite himself.

"Don't mind him," Liz said, coming up from behind Danny and startling him. "He might seem pretty uppity at times, but he's a loyal friend and good person…mostly. You learn to get used to him after you fight with him for so long."

Danny nodded. He had a grudging respect for Death the Kid, despite his strange obsessions with things that appeared to be pointless to the rest of the world. His fighting skills were impressive, to say the least, and he seemed to have a strong sense for justice when he wasn't tying it to whether something was symmetrical. Plus, both of his partners seemed to like him, and they themselves seemed fairly normal.

"Kid's a weird guy," Patty laughed. "But he's entertaining! And that's why he's fun."

The ghost boy smiled. "You're right. The least I can do is help him, since he tries so hard to protect this place. Kid!" Danny called after the shinigami. "I'm coming with you to help fight the ghosts!" Everything had been happening so fast lately; he had gotten lost in Death City, nearly killed by someone who was now his escort, and had met several extremely interesting characters. But despite all this, he was trying as hard as he could to keep his head above water and manage. Now he had brought something of a chaotic disaster upon this place without meaning to, and he figured it was his duty to clean up the mess. After all, that was his job, right? To fight ghosts? He had even slipped the Fenton Thermos in his pocket when he switched uniforms. He was ready.

"Of course you are," Kid replied. "By the way, when you blink, your left eye closes a split second after your right. It's very unseemly. You might want to work on that."

Danny grinned. "Okay, thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

The two boys and the twins left the building to find the rest of the group – Black*Star, Tsubaki, Soul, Maka, and Stein – waiting for them. "Where have you guys been?" Black*Star demanded jokingly. "I've already exterminated all the ghosts and taken a walk around the city's entire exterior in the time it took you to leave the building! We've gotta pick up the pace already! Although I know that it's impossible for normal people to keep up with my greatness."

"Black*Star…" Tsubaki begged halfheartedly, but she was smiling.

Danny suddenly stiffened as a wisp of what appeared to be blue smoke escaped his mouth – his ghost sense. "There are a lot of ghosts coming," Danny said nervously. "I mean, like, maybe a hundred, maybe twice that. And they're headed right towards us!"

"You can sense souls?" Stein asked, curious.

He shook his head. "No, but I can definitely sense ghosts. And I'm sensing a lot of them right now."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Soul demanded. "Come on, we've got to get to them before they destroy the school!" With a flash of light, he transformed into a huge, crescent-shaped scythe, patterned with a spiky red-and-black design. Tsubaki transformed into her weapon form as well, two small sickles connected by a large chain.

"Liz, Patty," Kid ordered. No more needed to be said, and the twins became guns once again.

"What's your weapon?" Danny asked Stein, feeling left out and oddly desperate to talk to someone, even thought Stein was bizarre.

"I don't have one," Stein replied. "I can fight using my soul wavelength alone as a weapon."

Although Danny didn't really know what was going on, he was still impressed. "You can do that?"

Stein grinned eerily. "Only if you're extremely skilled."

"Let's get moving!" Black*Star cried, running off into the streets with Tsubaki.

The rest followed suit, all traveling by foot, including Danny. As they got closer and closer to their target, those who could sense the ghosts – Danny, Kid, Stein, and Maka – became more troubled. The power was immensely great, and thus so was the threat to the city.

Maka sighed. Sometimes, she felt slightly envious of Soul and Black*Star, blithely charging into the situation with confidence brimming because they had no idea what lay ahead.

As the group neared a corner, they noticed that bright green lights appeared to be lighting up the alleyway in flashes. They appeared faintly at first, then intensified as the group neared them. No one was speaking; everyone was concentrating on the target ahead, and had too much adrenaline to say a word. The only sound was of their own breathing.

Black*Star, who was leading the group with Tsubaki , was the first to reach the ghosts. As they rounded the corner, Tsubaki gasped. "Oh God…"

The rest of the group followed suit, and one by one they were stunned to a halt. Viewing the sight in front of them, their feeling was mutual – winning this was definitely not going to be as easy as they thought.