"I don't need help," Danny moaned. "Come on, Jazz, I told you, stop treating me like a little kid. I'm in high school now. I have to do these things on my own."
"No you don't," Jazz pleaded. "You're never too old to get help if you need –"
Danny slammed the door in her face.
When he sat down to start, he realized he might have liked to have Jazz's help after all. He struggled in every subject in school, but math was definitely one of the worst. But he couldn't decide which was more humiliating: struggling, or the embarrassing act of admitting to his sister that he had been utterly wrong.
Maybe later he'd call Tucker or Sam instead, and they could help. Both of them were far better of when it came to school than Danny himself.
While he was feeling rather foolish contemplating this, his ghost sense went off. Knowing his parents were out of the house and he was home alone with Jazz, Danny morphed into his ghost form immediately. With ghostly enemies attacking him at every turn, one could never be too prepared.
The ghost in question phased through the door, and it turned out to be, not an enemy, but a small green puppy. It was Cujo, the ghostly guard dog that had once rampaged through Amity Park in search of his lost stuffed animal, and had, in the process, destroyed his classmate Valerie's life. This chain of events had thus transformed Valerie from a popular, wealthy girl into a ruined social outcast desperately trying to make money when she had none to spare. Filled with a deep grudge for the ghosts who had ruined her life – Cujo, and Danny, who Valerie assumed was his owner – Valerie had become a ghost hunter destined to bring constant misery to Danny's ghostly life.
Despite the lasting wave of destruction Cujo appeared to leave behind wherever he went, Danny had taking a grudging liking to the dog, who also assumed Danny was his owner. Cujo was overly energetic and acted bit dim at times, but being a guard dog, was a faithful companion. Besides, Danny acted a bit dim at times too, so he could sympathize.
"Hey, boy!" Danny laughed, as the small ghost puppy launched himself into Danny's arms. "You scared me for a moment. I thought you were gonna be someone who'd come to kill me. What are you doing here?"
Cujo merely whined shrilly and pawed at the boy's chest. Glancing down at the terrified expression on the ghost dog's face, Danny's relief quickly turned to unease. "What's the matter, boy? Is something –"
His ghost sense went off a second time. "You were trying to warn me about something, weren't you, Cujo?" Danny asked, his mood darkening once again. Setting the ghost puppy on his bed, Danny turned towards the door, now on high alert.
The figure that phased through the door was also familiar to Danny, and brought another wave of relief. It was Wulf, a canine-like ghost whose claws could rip through the air and create portals to another dimension. Danny breathed a sigh of relief; Wulf was also a friend.
"Wulf? Long time no see," Danny greeted him. "How have you been – ?" He cut himself off in alarm as the ghost turned to face him; his eyes, usually green, glowed a deep and menacing shade of red. The expression in Wulf's eyes was equally menacing, and his teeth were pulled into a snarl.
Walker's controlling him again, Danny thought. No, it can't be Walker, he didn't have these powers. He had controlled Wulf with an electric collar, but this was different. This time, Wulf seemed… possessed.
Before Danny could recompose himself, Wulf lunged at Danny, claws outstretched. The ghost boy cried out as he was flung to the floor. With utter panic, Cujo leapt off Danny's lap and cowered under the bed.
"Aren't you supposed to be a guard dog?" Danny muttered, but he didn't blame Cujo for fleeing – the gleam in his former friend's eyes was unsettling.
Sensing the shadow of Wulf looming over him, Danny attempted to roll out of the way, but nonetheless felt the sting of Wulf's claws as they closed around him. The ghost was faster than Danny himself, and what was worse, Danny couldn't break free from his grasp.
Wulf lifted Danny to eye level and hissed at him, then, with his other claw, cut a streak through the air leading to another world. To Danny, it didn't even look like he had opened a portal to the Ghost Zone, but rather to a new and entirely foreign dimension. Wulf's gotten stronger, he realized. Or maybe it's this thing that's possessing him that's making him stronger.
"My master told me to get rid of you," Wulf snarled in a voice that was slightly mechanical, and much more fluent in English than the old Wulf could have ever managed. "Have fun on your trip to another dimension, impure human scum!" The ghost swung back his fist to collide with Danny's face, and Danny yelped, feeling a sensation that was vaguely reminiscent of electrocution.
The last sight Danny saw before being tossed into the other dimension was Cujo, attempting to escape Wulf's notice by scurrying further under the bed. Wulf spotted him anyway, and laughed maliciously. "Now, to take care of your pathetic dog."
Danny blacked out.
