Again, another long month of keeping readers waiting. I'M SORRY!

Lots of school anime-moments. They're uh, yeah that's a fanfiction story tale for another day. But what you're here for is Danny Phantom stuff right? RIGHT?
Yeah well, here's part 3 of 'The Hunt Is On'. Seriously, I didn't mean for it to be four parts long. But it is and, well, here it is.

I already have the fourth part typed up so hopefully it won't take a month for me to post up the next chpater ^^
Meanwhile, I'm becoming a Junior soon! ugh I'm getting old. I need to do something exciting. Like, super fanfiction-level exciting like jumping from aa cord or flying a plane. Eh, I'll think of something.

Read, review, don't break your ankles skateboarding. Please.

xlx

Just when Wendy thinks she's finally gotten the hang of having ghost powers, everything starts to pile up on her life out of no where. She must master a new ghost technique all the while keeping on the run from the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. Will Wendy be able to pull it all off or will this cause too much pressure over the simple teen? In a side story, Sam's mother and Wendy's grandmother is coming to Amity park, and they must act as presentable as possible for her.

CHAPTER 10: The Hunt is On Pt3

I sat on the school steps in the hallway, holding a makeshift ice pack on the side of my head with my bag next to me, Nett standing against the wall with his phone. It was after school now, so no one was present in the halls with us. Shane walked up to me with a cup of water and offered it to me. "You should drink something," he advised. "Something tells me with all your carelessness lately you haven't been eating much."

"Or sleeping," Nett added accusingly.

"I eat!" I retorted, holding my cup of water carefully. "And sleep... a little."

Shane and Nett exchanged slight glances before Shane turned to me again. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"I got... a lot." He rose a disbelieving eyebrow. "... Two hours."

"If you say you were busy training or studying I'm going to strangle you," threatened Nett, half jokingly anyway.

"So what if I was? I can finally perform intangibility so that means I'm getting better. And with the test tomorrow I can't-" Shane's facial expression caused me to shut up immediately. It was something similar to that of my mom's face when I did something wrong and I won't fess up. Since when can kids make that face. I took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, I know I'm hurting myself doing all this but hey, the self-torture's almost over."

"Just sleep please?" Nett asked.

"Yeah, ditch class and hide in the girls bathroom or something," Shane shrugged, only for Nett to give him a look. "What? It works."

"I can't sleep you guys," I spoke, ruffling my hair with my hands. "I mean, I almost floated during lunch, and I'm always almost caught by my mom in the morning." I sighed and hung my head. "Most teenagers snore or drool or sleepwalk, but no I FLOAT." I burried my tired head into my hands. "Besides, I can't go to sleep even if I wanted to. I still have to look out for Skulker."

Shane went and sat down next to me, not really knowing how to comfort a lost girl, but he tried. "Say... if you think you can spare an afternoon, why don't you go out somewhere? Let yourself have some fun - relax a little from all this."

"Oh but I-"

"Don't even try and get yourself out of this. As your superior when it comes to thinking straight, I order you to get your bookworm head, out of studying and disappearing, and to go and get fresh air," Shane ordered.

"He's got a point," Nett agreed.

"Guys I don't think that-" I suddenly saw my breath, and we all knew what that meant. I looked up expectantly at the two.

"This guy has the worst timing ever," remarked Nett.

"I've gotta hide," I thought aloud, hugging my cold arms and turning invisible, however like a broken light I flickered back into daylight. I noticed my still visible color in a panic. "I can't turn invisible."

"Too tired," Shane reworded as we all stood up ready to run. I felt a little wobbly on my feet, but I fought against it. "Can you run?"

"Who cares run anyway!" Nett said as Skulker appeared down the hall, the three of us dashing off. We darted down a corner and had to almost run into Crissy, causing Nett to come to a halt and me bump into Shane's back. Ow much?

"Ah, if it isn't the dweeb duo and my M.I.A boyfriend," she said, closing her locker. I did my best to give a glare but I just felt like fainting after that run.

"Crissy! Uh, what are you doing here?" Shane spoke, trying to be convincing from our forced-to-hide panic.

"Just putting away my soccer sneakers," she said suspiciously, but finally noticing my glare she decided to add to the reason. "Hey, why don't we head over to the Nasty Burger, just you and me?" she asked flirtatiously as she put her hand on Shane's shoulder. "I heard a couple of the others are there. I bet they'd love our company."

"Run-ay from the scary thing chasing us-ay," Nett mentioned over the boy's shoulder, only for me to glance over at him.

"Um, sorry Crissy we gotta run," Shane apologized as he ditched the star soccer player, Nett grabbing my dreary arm and pulling me along. Eventually we had made it to the front of the Capser High building and went to catch our breath there, knowing we didn't really have much time to do so.

"Man, I finally know how to turn invisible the right way but I have no energy to do it," I self-scolded. "Skulker's gonna be here any second what do we do what do we do what do we do?"

"Not much in your state," Nett commented, taking my red bag from my possession and tossing it to Shane. "Shane, take Wendy and hide somewhere far from here. I'll distract the ghost while you get her to safety and, hopefully back to sanity."

"WHERE ARE YOU!" shouted Skulker's approaching voice.

"Hurry!" Nett ordered.

Shane nodded. "Good luck," he bid as he took me and ran opposite directions from Nett. As I was dragged over to a bush, Shane and I jumped behind it and we stayed put, watching from our hiding spot. Within seconds Skulker appeared outside in front of the school where we once were and caught sight of Nett, who caught the ghost's attention, miraculously.

"Yo hunter dude! Betcha can't catch me!" hollered Nett. Skulker arched his eyebrow, and Nett responded with making taunting faces, pulling his eyes, shaking his tongue while stretching his mouth with his fingers. You get me, right? Obviously that provoked Skulker enough to make a face that a body-builder would scream from. "NANA~" Nett continued, slapping his behind facing Skulker.

Skulker growled, floating up from the ground and aiming his arm. "You're next."

Nett's eyes widened. "Uh-oh." From the unusual safety of the bushes Shane and I watched as Nett ran his fastest from the ghost. Secretly I wondered how no one else had noticed yet up to now all that was going on outside Casper High.

"You think he'll be okay?" I asked out loud.

"Folly can take care of himself. Come on, we've gotta get you out of here before Skulker finds you."

As Shane took hold of my arm again we escaped from the bushes and ran across town. The running killed my legs at the moment and I felt like collapsing, but for the sake of my life, I think I could deal with it. Though I was a little curious as to where we were running. We were still hiding weren't we? "Shane where're we going?"

"We need to go somewhere Skulker would never expect to find you, so that rules out most of the city."

"And therefore to...?" Shane stopped to a halt at the end of the curb and once I caught my breath, I saw the gate entrance to a place I haven't been in a long time. The time it took to register in my mind kind of went on for a while, too. "The park?"

"Nett may be acting as live bait for Skulker but he isn't going to run all the way out here," Shane said. "Can you still run a bit further?" I nodded and as if I were about to faint Shane instantly took my arm by instinct. We ran across the street not watching if there were cars, and I call that a lucky shot.

Within the park, despite running for our lives, I took in the scenery around. There were barely any kids around, mostly old people on walkers or canes, so most of the place was fairly empty. I could remember this place, and I bet Shane could, too. This was the park that we used to play in when we were little. With all the years of thinking negatively towards Shane I barely ever thought about this place, maybe not ever. Last time we were here together we were playing tag along the playground area. And now here we are, running again... from a ghost... Wow.

The tiredness of this all was beginning to get to Shane too, despite how much he tried to hide it in front of me. Allies or not we still weren't exactly on perfect terms. "I forgot how big this place used to be."

"Yeah..." I responded, holding my stomach with my free arm. If there was such thing as over-pressuring your body, I think I an finally understand what that feels like. The further along we got into the park the more I noticed its changes more than its memories. The large fountain that used to be in the center of the park was now run down and dry, broken. There were no more flowers and countless broken branches were on the ground along the grass. Even that old rope swing that used to hang from one of the strongest trees were broken.

'Shane and I used to play on that swing a lot.'

We even passed by the playground, now old and rusty and probably to hazardous to play around in. The condition of this place saddened me, but I was too distracted with the quickly dissipating energy. Eventually (and finally) Shane reached his intended destination. We had run all the way to the other end of the entire park, near where a large field of trees were. I knew this place. I always referred to it as the 'forest part' of the park because there were so many trees grouped together in one area. Mom never liked us going here because she thought we'd get lost. And honestly, I think she's right.

Again Shane and I stopped at the top of a hill to catch our breath. This time I couldn't help but let my knees collide with the grass. My breaths were heavy and I didn't know how much further along I could walk, let along run down this hill. Normally since I was in front of Shane I'd be trying to get back up on my feet and say 'I bet I can run faster than you, Johnson!' but for what it's worth, I think I'll just swallow my pride and call it a day.

Shane, recovering obviously much quicker than I, noticed my current condition. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm just fine," I glared. Stubborn. You're supposed to say no and carry me, stupid. "Just a little bit farther you said, right? Come on, let's just get there and-" I had tried to stand up but my knees seemed to have adjusted to, um, not working. When I fell back on the grass, Shane caught me this time with both arms instead of a stern grip on just one.

Without saying another word back to me, Shane took my arm and lapped it over his shoulders as he made sure he was holding me up right. "You're gonna owe me a lot on Monday, got that Manson?" he said in a less serious and motivated tone than he usually would. All I could manage to do was nod and we were on our way, carefully down the grass hill. At the forest area Shane guided me slowly, maneuvering around the countless trees. Tiny sparks of sunlight creeped past the leaves which I knew would soon turn orange and crisp.

Once we walked for a good ten minutes into the place, Shane decided that this was a good enough hiding spot to keep away from Skulker for a while. Beside a large tree we sat down on the grass exhausted, me more than him. As I was about to fall sideways Shane in front of me kept steady shoulders, making sure I was still conscious. "Manson, hey, talk back to me you still good?"

I swallowed. My throat was dry. "Mhm," I replied. That was a fat lie, though. "How long am I gonna have to hide out here?"

"That depends how long Nett's willing to keep up the chase," Shane said, sitting himself down. "I guess he'd text me if something happens."

Poor Nett. I owe him a lot, too. "Okay."

In silence Shane observed my facial features. My eyes weren't focused on generally anything, and they looked droopy, too. My hair was still messed up and with the run before, I looked even worse. With a furrow of his eyebrows Shane fixated his stare on me more, forcing me to look back at him with a trying-annoyed look. "What."

"Just checking, you know, to make sure you're not dead."

My face didn't change, but I glanced down tiredly. "Ha. Ha." Shane didn't respond with a witty remark, and I was forced to look back up at him, only to see him still starring at me curiously, as if I were a strange alien. "Can you cut the starring? It feels weird."

"Sorry, it's just... You look tired."

"Oh? I was trying so hard to hide it," I told monotone. With that sentence Shane made a half smile. It showed I was getting a little better, but only barely. I glanced to the side in preparation for what I'd say next. "I... guess I kind of have to say... thanks - for bringing me here."

With me giving him a thanks, Shane tried to hide is surprise. Even I was, a little. Looking away himself he stood up and turned his back, dusting off his pants. "Don't mention it," he tried to say as cooly as he normally would, but glancing over hs shoulder he saw my head turning sideways, me beginning to nod off. With a sigh the boy walked over to my left and sat down next to me against the tree in a more laid back manner. "You know you could sleep. You just ran over a mile in less than half an hour."

"I can't sleep," I said calmly, still fighting back the urge to drift away. "Skulker might come and I..."

"That guy won't bother coming all the way out here to look for you. So quit whining and go to sleep."

"It's not just that," I argued, attempting to hit his shoulder. It ended up pretty pathetic, the way it tried to punch him. It didn't even do anything. "I'm... afraid. Of sleeping."

"You're afraid of sleeping."

Using the last bit of energy I had, I pulled up my legs and hugged them, resting my head on my knees. It's quite comfortable, actually. "I don't know what my deal is with always seeming to float when I go to sleep, but I just do. I can't help it and I always have to watch myself." It took me until now to realize I was actually letting out my inner thoughts to Shane of all people. And he was actually listening to me, like, like he was actually concerned. "And I just... yeah."

"That's all?" he said back, making me glanced to the side at him. With a response like that you tend to get a little curious. "Geez, you really are a pain, Manson."

"Gee thanks," I mumbled with an eye roll to the other side. But at that moment I suddenly felt a pulling pressure around my shoulders and before I knew it, I was leaning to my left, my head in a somehow more comfortable position than on my knees, now instead against Shane's shoulder. I also just realized that his arm was around my shoulders, that having been the thing to tip me over towards him. "Um..."

"Shut up and go to sleep," he said on a bossy tone, probably in an attempt to make this situation less awkward than it was.

Secretly, this was a LOT more comfortable. (Like I'd admit it, though). "But, b-but what about floa-"

"Why do you think I have my arm around you? To put the moves on you? I don't think so," Shane said with a scoff in his usual mean attitude before going to a softer more person-to-person tone. "Just relax for once. Besides, if you end up at Danny's like you're about to fall into a coma, he'll pin the blame on Folly and me."

"But what about Skulker? What if he does find-"

"Pft, that guy?"

"Please don't say you can take him."

"Honestly no I don't think I can take him," he said bluntly. Then he went to take a deep breath. "Listen, this is hard for me to say, and probably hard for you to hear but," I listened intently. I didn't know whether to wish I was sane enough to fully comprehend him, or to wish for a tape recorder. "But..."

"But...?"

Man this really is hard for him... Ha. "Okay I'll deny this later but-"

"Save it," I interrupted with a subtle laugh. "I think I get what you're trying to say and that's enough for me."

"But seriously, though," he said. Whatever he wants to say I guess he really wants to get it off his chest. "Point blank, I won't let you float up like that."

"You sure seem like the type who'd want to," I said with a slight frown and a downwards glance. Shane tried to hide a sudden wave of guilt that overcame him when I said that line. "Come on, admit it. Despite all this weird crud I got us all into, I still hate you - you still hate me, and if it wasn't for me about to die on a silver platter, you'd probably push me off into space just to give me a good scare."

"Well I - uh..." Here we go again. 'uh'. "I don't... hate you, I guess."

"Is that so," I said sarcastically.

"...I won't let you float up into space okay?" he repeated in assurance. "Sure we don't exactly get along anymore but, I'd never do something like that."

He said anymore, didn't he... "We used to get along a lot back in the day didn't we..." Realizing what he just said, he couldn't really take it back could he, especially when he meant it. "You sure you won't let go?"

"Positive."

"You wouldn't right... even if you could?"

"Believe me I could if I wanted to." Shane felt my body shudder and somewhat regretted saying that part. In doing so he pulled me closer. "I'd never do something like that," he uttered quietly.

"Promise?" I yawned, finally feeling the sands of sleep wash over me.

After a short science he replied, "I promise," he said. "And I won't let Skulker get to you either, so you don't have anything to worry about for a while. Just promise me that you'll use this time for yourself and get some decent shut-eye alright, Manson?"

My eyes had already come shut. "And... you...?" I asked drearily. "I'm sure you have better things to do than -insert yawn here- babysit a geek..."

"Nah, it's fine. I'll probably owe you anyway for all the dumb superhero stuff you'll have to do in the future."

A low-energetic chuckle. "Aw, a compliment."

"You know I'll-"

"-deny it later. I get it I get it," I said with a trying laugh. Man, I'm smiling and laughing with Shane Johnson. I really am out of it. "Shane?"

"Mm?"

"Thank you," I said faintly, finally drifting off into the world of sleep. Shane had glanced back down at me from that last word and kept a firmer grip around my shoulders. From that point on Shane had kept to himself in our solitude. Thinking, waiting, watching. Sometimes he would find himself catching stares at my sleeping figure before shaking his head to try and rid himself of some appearing thoughts.

Minutes turned to about an hour of my resting. And a peaceful sleep it truly was. The air I was unconsciously breathing never felt more cleaner, and strangely enough, no bed could compare to the sleeping position I was in right now. I honestly did feel safe in this space.

There were times when Shane would feel my empty body start to feel as weightless as a balloon then start to pull upwards. Only then did he use him arm to keep me closer to him in an attempt to keep me grounded, all the while trying not to wake me up. It wasn't long until Shane had begun to feel a little sleep himself, though. But he was well enough to fight against the urge so he could keep awake. By probably the seventh look down at my face, he noticed a loose strand of my black hair loose in front of my face that must've fallen a while a go. Absentmindedly he pushed the strand behind my ear with careful precision, and then took a good look at my peaceful, innocent expression, wandering thoughts roaming his mind.

By the second hour around, I was still sound asleep, Shane responsibly keeping guard for me. However in the midst of the distracting quietness, he saw a strange cloud underneath his vision, and when he glanced downwards he saw small gusts of fog coming out of my mouth when I breathed out. Suddenly his eyes widened and he drastically shot his head in all directions. With that he had no choice but to shake me, as much as he wished he didn't have to. "Hey Manson, wake up."

"Mgm, what."

"Come on this is no time for me to play your mother. We've gotta go. Skulker's here."

"What?" Realizing my ghost sense was off again, I was instantly wide awake again and I shot to my feet. "Wow, I can stand on my own again."

"Yeah congrats let's run!" Grasping my arm again like last time, we ran off into the trees in an invisible ghost chase. I was still somewhat tired but much better off than before. As we ran, I tried to sense where Skulker's presence could be coming from. For all I know we could be running straight towards him. "He's right behind us," I gasped, causing Shane to run faster.

Eventually we ended up in a wide clearing in the middle of the woods. No where else to run but back, and at the moment that wasn't exactly an option. "Great, a dead end," Shane cursed. "Now what do we do?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"We're running from a ghost. I turned to a ghost for help. Not that weird."

With some last minute thinking and pressure, I turned my head, sensing Skulker flying closer in our direction with great speed. "Guess I'm winging this, too."

"What are you-" Before he could finish his statement I quickly grabbed his hand in mine and went ghost in the blink of an eye. This transformation was swifter than any of my previous ones, probably due to circumstance. But nonetheless once I had, I focused my energy into turning us invisible. It was like a wave of clear paint came over the both of us. Shane looked at his blue-lined hand in pure awe, then back at me. "What..."

"Yeah we're invisible. Now come on." Running back the way we came I tried to run a different route away from Skulker's. "Sorry Shane. I'd fly but-"

"It's fine. Just keep running," he told. For once I was the one taking the lead in our chase. It was probably due to my energy boost in my ghost form. "But what about you? Turning objects invisible is one thing but a whole nother person?"

Truthfully he had a point. Running while invisible with another invisible person was taking a lot more out of me than I thought. But hey, this or die. I should be able to pace myself with this. "Geez, I wish I knew just where Skulker was."

"WHERE ARE YOU, GHOST GIRL!" echoed Skulker's voice, making a couple of birds fly out of the trees.

"Found him," Shane muttered, making me sprint faster. "Hey slow down! Some of us are still human in case you've forgotten."

"Well sorry for trying to save us from being pelted!" With the quick run, we hid behind a large tree to catch out breaths, still holding hands and keeping invisible. I felt my sight become dizzy again like last time, and I was forced to grab my head in an attempt to prevent a headache from coming along at the worst possible time.

Shane saw this and with his free hand helped me stay up. "That's it, turn us visible again. This thing's draining you too much."

"No way. Skulker will find us then."

Shane's eyes narrowed and he racked his mind for possible solutions. At the moment there weren't any. The next thing I know, I found Shane's grip in my hand loosen and his footsteps begin to back away. Once I got what he was trying to do I tightened my hold on his hand and turned to him with a urgent warning look. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Exactly what you think I'm doing. You only have enough energy to keep yourself invisible. Now let go."

"No I will not let go," I snapped as Shane tried to get out of my grip. "If Skulker sees you-"

"He'll what. Skulker's only after you, smart one."

In the middle of our argument, Skulker's figure appeared, flying tangible through the trees. Shane and I instantly shut up, even holding our own breaths to keep from being detected. "I know you're here, ghost girl. I can smell your fear."

Since when can you smell that? While doing so, I felt my head go through another sharp pain and I was forced to clasp the side of my head again. Both Shane and I began to flicker between visibility and invisibility, as Shane had observed. That signaled that my energy amount was quickly running out, for the both of us. With mirroring thoughts, Shane exchanged a look with me that told me exactly what he wanted to do. I was against it, but I knew I had to stay invisible, and Shane wouldn't forgive me if I let myself go.

With that, Shane's fingers loosened through and away from mine. I tried to hold onto him as much as I could but he just slipped away, and his entire body became visible again while mine remained clear, my hands grabbing onto some nearby boulders to keep from floating up. I could still feel his gaze upon me though before he mouthed run and turned back to Skulker. "Hey Skulker!" he shouted.

His orders told me to run but my feet remained glued to the floor. Skulker turned with that exaggerating huge gun and found the boy well hiding his fear. Just the sight of the guy scares me. "You, you're not the ghost girl."

"Duh," Shane replied.

Skulker marched up to Shane and I felt myself back away a bit in cowardice. How I hated myself for leaving Shane's side, the guy who practically saved me. Skulker lowered his intimidating glare towards Shane's, who just as well kept a hard stone outlook towards the ghost. 'Idiot' was what I meant to mutter to him but I was forced to stay still completely.

"I know you," Skulker started. "You're that other boy the ghost girl hangs around with."

Shane did his 'pft' scoff. "And obviously what you don't appear to know about are breath mints."

With a intimidating growl, Skulker picked Shane up by the shirt in threat. "Tell me, where she is," he ordered.

"Like I'm supposed to know what 'ghost girl' is supposed to refer to," Shane expressed. "Now put. me. down."

"Heh, spunky. A lot like another ghost boy I once knew." Skulker's frown returned. "Hm... If anything, the ghost girl isn't one to leave her friends behind, am I right?"

Shane fought the urge to look in my direction from where I was watching in horror. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Just shut up, Shane," I muttered in worry. Doesn't he realize the more he talks the more he's getting himself in for. "

Skulker chuckled. "I know you can hear me ghost girl!" he began. "And obviously you won't be coming out any time soon whatsoever. So, I'll give you a little time to think. Come back tonight to this spot if you want to see the boy alive again." My throat caught itself as I tried to keep myself from turning visible again just to save Shane. "Whether you know this boy or not is none of my concern. Even if he was just a stranger caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, I doubt you'd let any innocent human into harm's way." Skulker held up his arm gun to Shane's chin. "And then if the boy was your friend, well, I doubt really you'd want that either." Skulker smirked and activated his back jets. "See you at sun down, ghost girl."

As is jets began to spit out fire, Skulker took off, holding Shane under his large mechanical arm. I tried to fly up after them, but I only managed to get as far as a ten-foot high tree branch before they were off in the skies. Shane looked back down towards me before they disappeared to wherever, and I couldn't keep my yearning expression from fading away. With a defeated and confused, hanging face, my body turned visible once more and I punched the branch I was on in anger.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"What do you mean she's not here?" Nett argued with Danny.

"That's just it. She's. not. here," Danny continued. Before Nett could make a smart-witty comeback, the two heard echoing footsteps coming from the basement staircase. And from its shadows I appeared in my human form, tired and worn. There were tiny rips and tears in my clothes with a few scratch marks in my skin.

"Wendy?" Nett jumped. He ran over to me and threw y arm around his shoulders for support as he helped me walk over to a chair Danny pulled out. You know I'm beginning to hate how I appear to be treated like a fragile old lady, lately. "What happened to you?"

"Skulker, he found us," I said in disappointment with myself, Nett handing me some water. I let it all come down my throat as some fell through my chin.

"At least you go away right?" Nett asked.

"Yeah, barely," I scoffed. I looking up at Danny with a fierce look. "And you! What the heck kind of tests do you keep giving me anyway?"

"What'd I do."

"Ugh, all you boys are all so stupid!" I yelled out in a fit, making Nett and Danny exchange confused looks.

"Uh, Nett, you think you can give Wendy and me a moment please?" requested Danny. Nett offered to oblige, but not before sending Danny a wary look. With that, Nett left us and back upstairs. Danny landed down in front of me and placed his white-gloved hands on my shoulders, lifting my chin up. He first noticed my red puffy eyes as I avoided to make eye-contact. "You alright?"

"Do I look alright?" I uttered. "Why'd you have to send Skulker of all people after me? Sure I know I'm supposed to perfect this whole ghost thing in a year but that's later! I can't face Skulker yet."

"Sure you can. I wouldn't have sent him if I knew you couldn't."

"Well I CAN'T, okay Danny CAN'T. I still can't fly outside, I can't shoot ecto rays through my hands, and I can't fight some big mechanical muscular dude who 'wants my pelt at the foot of his bed'." Yeah Danny, argue with that. I breathed out, lowering my head again. "I'm sorry, Danny. I just... "

"Oh," Danny sighed, pulling my sitting figure into a hug. The man wrapped his ghostly whimsy arms around my back and set my head down inside the collar of his shoulder. It's like when you cry into a pillow, everything all muffled.

"Shane's gone because of me," I muffled into his shoulder in a sob. "I couldn't stay invisible for the both of us and Skulker found Shane. Now he's gone and it's all my fault Danny it's all my fault."

"Nothing's your fault Wendy," comforted Danny, feeling somewhat remorseful himself. "And besides, it's just a test. Whatever threats Skulker made against you aren't for real."

"I know but what if they were?" I cried, my shoulders shaking as Danny tried to calm me. "If I were ever really in a situation like that in real mortal danger I wouldn't be able to protect anyone! And then they'll all be gone because of me because I couldn't do anything and I-!"

"Shh," Danny stopped. With my words all let out I just cried for the rest of that moment. "I'm sorry Wendy... I shouldn't have expected so much out of you like that... I guess I figured that since you were just another halfa that, well... you would've been just like another halfa I knew."

I stopped my sobbing for a momentary pause and I lifted my head. "The ghost boy?"

"How do you know about him?"

"Skulker talked about him when he was shouting for me in the woods," I said with a tiny laugh.

Danny urged a smile. "According to a lot of the ghosts I know, there used to be this halfa ghost a long time ago. He was just about your age, high schooler who knew nothing about being normal after finding out about his powers."

"What happened to him?"

"He went through all the same things you're going through," Danny told. "Except he didn't have anyone to teach him. He had to learn his powers all by trial and error. All the ghosts he faced, they were for real."

"That must've been tough."

"I guess it would've been," Danny said, our conversation back on a normal level. "It'd be nice if we could find him. I bet he'd be a lot better teacher than I am to you right now."

"Nah, you're a good teacher too, Danny," I giggled. "And sorry for lashing out at you like that. I know you're just trying to help me."

"Well I am," Danny admitted. "Going by things out of the blue never really works out perfectly in the end. That's why I want you to go by fake danger for now. Face the real danger when you're ready."

"Will I ever be ready?"

"Hopefully you'll never have to be ready to face any real danger at all," he laughed as he ruffled my black hair. I laughed and I leaned over to give him a squeezing hug, catching Danny off guard. "Heh, I worry about you sometimes."

"Thanks," I grinned, feeling much better. "My mom worries about me, too. But since we're so busy half the time I don't get to have these kinds of talks with her anymore."

"You talked to her about ghosts and risking your life on a daily basis?"

"No," I laughed. "But we used to talk to each other about everything. Ever since high school started I guess we've just drifted a while. Then there's my grandma ugh I forgot about her."

"Tough family."

"Yeah..."

"And your dad?"

I looked up at Danny and his face turned into one of confusion. I don't blame him. I didn't say anything at the first couple seconds. "My mom said that my dad died when I was little. I don't really remember anything about him so I guess it's okay now." I noticed Danny's distraught face. "But in a way you're kind of like a new father-figure to me."

"I assume that's a good thing?"

"Heheh, yeah, it is."

We smiled. "So you know what you're gonna do now?"

"I-" No you don't. "Uh..."

Danny's face returned to its original stoic outlook. "You should go get Nett."

"Right," I concluded, getting out of the chair and running out of the lab. But at last minute I ran darted back to where Danny was and gave him one last quick hug before running off again like the strange child I was. Danny blinked at the confusion of it all, but gave a small faint smile in the end.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"We're going to what?" Nett extorted, however he grunted when I threw a heavy backpack at him which he had barely caught.

"I told you, we need to save Shane tonight," I said as I emptied my school bag of its notebooks and text books, filling it with things like bandages and food.

"I still don't see the point in sneaking out this late if it's just some stupid test," Nett uttered annoyed. "You're the one who said that nothing bad gonna happen to him anyway since Skulker's apparently not a real bad guy. Can't we just wait until morning so we can have a good excuse to skip school?"

I sent a 'what?' glare at the boy before zipping up my red bag. "Skulker wants me there, tonight, and I'll be there."

"Yeah 'I' meaning you and not me."

"Well I can't go alone. I'm a defenseless little girl going into the woods at night. I'm not gonna be stupid and go unaccompanied."

Nett blinked. "Alright, sure, fine, have the super-powered girl take along the B-average nerd as her faithful sidekick."

"You know you want to save Shane, too," I taunted.

"Not really?" he said unsure. I gave a short chuckle before Nett sighed and sat at the end of the bed. "Don't you forget that you're not the only one sneaking out. I had to lie to my dad."

"You've done it before."

"Yeah but I'm getting used to it! That's not cool, man. Before you know it I-I might steal a ratchet set from the mechanics store and say I paid for it! I'm turning, into a FELON."

"Sure you are superman now hurry and hold this for me," I ordered, tossing him the Fenton Thermos.

Nett, obviously having faster reflexes than me, caught it and looked at the thermos. "I'm beginning to feel like the abused one in this trio." He placed it into my bag. "So what are you gonna tell your mom, anyway?"

"Nothing," I scoffed, getting a sweater from my closet. "With my grandma still on red alert there's no way my mom's gonna let me out of the house at nine to camp somewhere."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"Do the old-school stuff," I replied as I set a range of pillows under my covers.

Nett watched behind me. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Hey, I'm sure whoever invented this trick must've had this thing work out at least once. Doesn't mean it can't work for me." I finished adjusting the bed and rushed over to my window.

"Why are you so determined to save Shane, anyway?" he asked me. "I know the three of us are kinda good now but..." Nett noticed by the look on my face how uncomfortable the topic made me. With that he put on a sly, teasing smile. "Admit it, Wendy, you feel scared for Shane."

"Nuh uh, this is just a payback thing, that's all. He helped me out so now I have to help him." Well that was true... sorta. I moved my curtains opened my window. "He made a promise to protect me back there... And then for him to just end up being the one getting taken away while I could just watch is just... It's just not something I leave to resolve itself." Nett appeared to take my answer. "Now hurry up, it's gonna be a long run to the park."

"We're gonna run all the way there?" Nett asked as I held onto the drain pipe outside. "Are you mad woman? You think I'm gonna carry all this stuff and run with you in this urban city at night?"

"Um... yeah."

"Wendy are you trying to get us killed?" Nett yelled down in a harsh whisper as I slid down the pipe. I landed safely on the ground. "This town at night's full of, of, armed robbers and weird people and, what if we get jumped or something? I'm a nerd! NERDS GET JUMPED!"

"Your with me, you weenie. Now hurry up and climb down. I'll protect you from the little gangsters so we can fight the real bag guy with the giant multiple guns circuited into his arms."

He frowned, climbing out the window. "Joy," he replied, only for him to loose his footing and fall all the way down to where I landed. A crash ensued, of course. "I"m okay!" he announced.