Jake sat down in the back room of the electronics shop.
"I should have stayed and helped!" Jake complained as they waited for Danny to catch up.
"Don't worry Jake, Danny will be fine. He's dealt with Skulker plenty of times," Tucker reassured Jake as he tapped absent-mindedly on his PDA. Jake shook his head but didn't say anything else. He hated feeling this helpless. Lao Shi served tea to the teens, hoping to calm his grandson. Fu dog was watching the skies from the roof.
"Danny's been gone a while. Are you sure he's alright?" Trixie remarked worriedly. Sam and Tucker looked at each other and wondered what to say. Danny was taking a long time to catch up.
"Relax, I'm fine," Danny remarked as he made himself visible. Spud screamed and fell off his stool and Trixie and Jake scowled angrily at Danny.
"How long have you been there?" Jake demanded.
"Just got here. Led Skulker halfway across New York and got a little lost on the way here. Sorry Jake but Skulker escaped before I could use my thermos," Danny answered calmly as he changed back to his human form.
Lao Shi smiled and left the teens alone to tell Fu dog that Danny was back.
"How did he get away?" Trixie asked, still angry from the scare.
"He shot my thermos out of my hand and ran for it. I had to fly fast to stop the thermos getting wrecked on the sidewalk," Danny answered. Jake frowned.
"I knew you needed help," Jake muttered dejectedly. Danny scowled indignantly.
"I didn't need help, I was fine until Skulker got smart. Don't worry Jake, Skulker will be back. Just be careful. Like don't open your locker or go down a dark alley alone," Danny retorted defensively. Jake raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"So did you get that ghost?" Fu dog asked loudly walking into the room on his hind legs. Sam, Tucker and Danny stared at Fu dog, with open mouths.
"Stop looking like that at me! Do I stare at you?" Fu dog ordered, indignantly. Sam and Tucker quickly complied, while Danny smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, I've seen a lot of things but a talking dog is certainly the… most out there," Danny apologised rubbing the back of his neck, before holding his hand out to Fu dog.
"Hey, no problem. You guys are taking it better than Trixie and Spud did. But then again I did pretend to be a puppet once, so I can't blame 'em. So what kind of things have you seen?" Fu dog replied, shaking Danny's hand amicably.
"Well, evil, talking plants, the people of the Far frozen… there's Wulf I guess," Danny recalled.
"Wulf?" Jake asked, eager to open a discussion not about Skulker.
"A friend of mine," Danny answered.
"He's a ghost werewolf I suppose. He talks in Esperanto," Tucker added helpfully.
"He can rip a hole through dimensions and make portals from the human world to the Ghost Zone and the other way around," Sam replied. Jake and Fu dog nodded, impressed.
"How did you meet Wulf?" Spud asked.
"Actually, when Walker, Ghost Zone's warden of the ghost jail, used Wulf's ability to try and get revenge on me. Wulf helped me instead. He's free now. Haven't seen him for a few months," Danny recalled.
"There's a jail in the Ghost Zone," Trixie repeated. Danny nodded bitterly.
"Yeah, Walker made up a load of rules and he arrests anyone that breaks them. Let's say we got off on the wrong foot when he arrested me and I arranged a prison break," Danny informed them with a frown. Jake stared at Danny for a second.
"You were arrested," Jake remarked.
"I was in the Ghost Zone trying to find a present my dad was going to give my mom after I blasted it through the portal by accident. Walker found it and arrested me for having it," Danny elaborated with a sigh.
The conversation progressed until they all had to leave. Trixie, Spud and Jake went home to have dinner and get the little homework assigned done. Danny, Sam and Tucker found somewhere for dinner, Sam's treat, and returned to the hotel before curfew and did their homework. After Dash and Kwan fell asleep, Danny changed to his ghost form and quickly patrolled Jake's neighbourhood, hoping that Skulker might take a shot at him. However no such luck. Danny returned to his bed and quickly fell asleep.
So, back to the lull before the storm I'm afraid. But things will get a lot more exciting soon, guarantee it.
Until the next chapter.