I am SOOO sorry, guys! This was delayed, and then, for some reason, I forgot to put it up and thought I had... (shakes head) I deserve a few flames from you guys, but I hope you like the chapter.

Chapter V

"Danny isn't here?" Anna asked with a concerned frown. She was standing in the doorway of the most conspicuous house in Amity Park, complete with a neon sign and some kind of device precariously perched atop of it that looked suspiciously like a UFO. She'd arrived at Danny's house to deliver his bag, only to find that he had yet to return home.

"No, he hasn't come home yet," said the girl who had answered the door. She was two years older than her and had long red hair held out of her eyes by an aqua headband and wore a long sleeve black shirt and aqua pants. Anna presumed that she was Danny's sister. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Well, I just wanted to give him back his book bag," Anna said, handing the bag to her. "You see, Mr. Lancer wanted me to tutor Danny after school, and he'd left to go to the bathroom, and then there was the ghost fight… Well, I went out in the hall and found his book bag. I thought he'd probably ran away and left it." The girl's eyes widened at the mention of a ghost attack.

"Um, okay then," she said worriedly. I'll tell him you left it when he comes home. You are…?"

"Anna McCallahan," Anna told her. "Well, okay, then." The door closed as Anna turned to walk back down the stairs leading up to the house. It was widely known that the Fentons were ghost hunters, especially in a town that was constantly attacked by ghosts. Was that why Danny's sister seemed worried about the ghost fight? Or was she more worried about Danny?

You didn't see a black haired boy when you flew off with those ghosts, did you? Anna asked Laekaveth.

Well, no, but I wasn't exactly paying attention… But, Anna thought, if he hadn't returned home, where could Danny be?

Danny attempted looking at his hand, just to make sure he was still invisible After determining that he was, in fact, see through, he floated backwards and through the wall. Once in another room, he floated upwards through several floors to reach the roof, until… He hit his head after going up one floor too many. He said "Oomph!", and rubbed his head where he'd hit it. What was going on? He wondered. Why couldn't he phase through?

"I'd recognize that voice anywhere," came a sly hiss from behind him. Danny didn't even have time to move before a sharp pain erupted in his back, and the familiar white rings appeared around his waist. Vlad still had the Plasmius Maximus. "Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, what on earth possessed you to break into my house?" Danny fell, a couch breaking his fall. He scowled at the red-eyed apparition floating above him.

"If you must know, it was an accident," he said through gritted teeth.

"Really? Was it? Or was it destiny?" Vlad floated closer. "My offer still stands, Danny. You can accept now or regret it later. But not very much later."

"And my reply still stands, Plasmius." Remembering that he still had the Fenton Thermos, much to his relief, Danny brandished it. He yanked off the top and pressed the button. The blue light merely pulled at Vlad's clothes. Vlad smirked evilly.

"You think that contraption could hold me?" He said with mock disbelief. "You really are naïve, Daniel." The Thermos, and Danny's last protection, was blasted to the opposite side of the room by a well-aimed ecto blast. Danny rolled off the couch and onto the floor with a wump as a second blast incinerated where he'd just been. Climbing onto his hands and knees, he hurled his body forward to dodge another blast. He managed to climb to his feet and run out the door of the room.

Upon finding a flight of stairs, Danny decided to take the short way down and slide down the banister. He was thrown into the air by the moment he'd built up sliding down and the slight curve upward at the end, but still managed to land on his feet and resume fleeing.

"You can't run forever, Daniel," came Vlad's haunting voice from down the hall. "You can only run for so long before I catch up." It was obvious he was taking his time, as he didn't believe Danny could escape to somewhere he couldn't get at him.

Thankfully, that staircase brought Danny back to the ground floor. So, Danny thought, I must be right above the lab. And in the lab was the portal. He'd rather chance fighting Skulker than Vlad, so that seemed like as good a way as any to escape. He just had to get back down there…

Danny spotted a door to his right and took it, opening into what looked like a study. There was no doorway going down that he could see. He was about to run back out when a golden football on the mantel of the fireplace glittered in the corner of his eye. Just to make sure, he tried moving it.

"Of course," Danny said as the fireplace moved to reveal a flight of stairs. "The secret passageway always opens when you move the figurine on the mantelpiece." He took the stairs this time, and the passage closed behind him.

Vlad entered the room just after the fireplace had settled back into its original position. He was starting to get aggravated. After taking a quick sweep of the room, he concluded that Danny was not there. He couldn't have figured out the way into his secret lab, right?

Down in the lab, Danny rummaged through the various objects that looked suspiciously like inventions his parents had made. He'd found some kind of plasma gun, and after dubbing everything else useless, opened the portal. With he gun tucked into his pocket, he went to walk inside the portal when the amulet caught his eye. After debating with himself, he opened the glass case and took it, putting it into his other pocket. What the heck, he thought, one less thing Vlad had, the better. He walked back through the portal he'd mistaken for his parents'.

Again, I'm REALLY sorry! Please R&R, though.