Out front of the school of Casper, the school prepared for its 'Spirit Week Centennial' which celebrated one hundred years of spirit in the school as Lancer... was using a trampoline to bounce in cheer and pose. "Casper! High! Spirit! Oomph!" He crashed to the ground, in front of Jazz Fenton, but was no less deterred as he remarked with looking up. "Ahh, Spirit Week. I love it so." He continued as he stood up. "The pomp, the circumstance, and mostly the spirit sparklers!" Just as quickly, he whipped out a photo of his younger days as a 'cheerleader' in Casper. "Jasmine, did you know I was a cheerleader when I went to school here?"

"Really? Weird. No clue." She answered as she pushed the photo down as she spoke. "Look, can I talk to you for a minute, Mr. Lancer?" They headed inside as Danny got into trouble. "About my brother Danny?" His ghost sense went off and paused before spotting the ghost in the room that belonged to a 'Spectra Penelope', jumping into a locker and changing. "He's been acting really strange lately. Like he's not himself anymore." He phased through and confronted the ghost before the pair brawled as Jazz continued. "I'd talk to him, but I'm his older sister and he's just going to think I'm being bossy. And if he doesn't get some help, if he doesn't talk to somebody, all that frustration he's repressing could come out the wrong way." Danny fired several ecto-blasts, but missed as the ghost just growled at him and took off, Danny raising a brow as he revert back just as the door opened and both groups looked surprised before Danny moaned at the ruined state of the office.

"Okay, somewhere in my sentence is an exclamation that I didn't do this, but I got nothing, sorry." Lancer grabbed him by the collar and yanked out into the hall to wait for the new counselor to arrive and see what the young Fenton did...


Jazz was the one who broke the silence as the trio had waited on the counselor, Spectra dressed in red business attire, shades involved, but it was the green eyes that were strange. "Is it always so cold in here?"

"Of course!" Spectra answered as she dialed it from 'Cold' to 'Colder' before turning to face the small group. "I find that cold temperatures keep the mind icy sharp." She adjusted a bit of the office a bit as she continued. "And don't you worry about this mess of an office, either. Stuff happens! No biggie. Right, Jasmine?"

"It's Jazz. My friends call me Jazz."

"Yeah, well, your brother calls you fink!" Danny hissed at her as Jazz tried to be understanding.

"Danny, I'm just trying to help. Come on, we used to talk all the time."

"Yeah, when I was eight and you weren't a fink." Danny countered with venom, he just couldn't believe this, Jazz WANTED him to talk to someone!? She had better luck just reading her books as Lancer cut in.

"That's more than enough out of you, Fenton. Get to class while Ms. Spectra and I decide what your punishment is." Danny scowled toward Jazz before stomping off in a huff as Lancer commented on Jazz's own skill. "Unlike her brother, Jazz is one of Casper's best and brightest. She'll be giving the keynote pep speech at our centennial Spirit-a-thon on Wednesday."

"Right on! That's why I'm here." The counselor answered as she gestured to the photos behind her, no one noticing how she just smiled, but her charges look like they are in the dumps. "To pump up the pep, one student at a time."

"Jazz, Dr. Spectra is a highly respected motivational speaker and teen therapist. She's agreed to help pump up the volume on that old Casper High spirit this week." A short midget of a man entered with a disinterested look as Spectra introduced him to them.

"And this is my assistant, Bertrand." Jazz waved, but the man just sniffed to Jazz's falter as Spectra continued. "Jazz, we're gonna have a super week! Wait'll you see what we have planned for the Spirit-a-thon! Right after your speech, show her, Bertrand,-" The large pad in hand was flipped over with the word 'Casper High' spelled out in dominoes "-we'll set off this domino chain that says 'Casper Spirit'. Dominoes represent how each person's spirit affects the next person they touch. Slammin', huh?"

"If by slammin', you mean weird, then yes."

"And the spirit sparklers go off afterwards... right?" Lancer asked as Spectra sated the interest.

"Oh, you bet they will." From nowhere, she pulled out a pair of sparklers before waving them around while on the desk. "After all, what's spirit week without spirit sparklers?"

"You know, you're a little over-peppy, but my brother might benefit from talking to you. But he's so mad right now, he'd never listen to me."

"Yes, well, he'll listen to me." Soon, Danny was pulled back to the office and he was very cross before he paced himself. He looked up and breathed, his breath... He stopped as the cold was in the room, but he could see his breath as he scowled before settling back down, he needed to know what exactly was going on before he made a move from the 'Happy Chair' as the door opened to Paulina coming out with Spectra as well.

"So, you're saying my popularity is, like, completely dependent on my beauty?" Danny raised a brow at how unhappy Paulina was sounding as Spectra was dismissive.

"I'm not saying it's fair, sweetie. But if you feel like you need something, like, a lot of makeup, I say go for it! You're the only you you've got!" She turned as she called. "Danny, come on in!" She headed back as Danny followed behind as he cast a glance to Paulina who looked so... different, like a different side was exposed, a vulnerable one as he took a seat and huffed with a shiver.

"I can't believe my stupid sister convinced Lancer to make this my punishment. And can we please turn up the heat in here? I can see my own breath!"

"Wow, you do complain a lot. Hm." Spectra shrugged as she continued. "Well, your sister did say you could be a bit of a baby." Alarms were ringing in Danny's head as he exclaimed.

"What?!"

"Sweetie, it's not your fault she thinks you're a loser." Danny furrowed his brow in disbelief, was this truly how Jazz felt about him or... were the words being instilled in his head, the thought shattering them from him and he played along.

"Wait, Jazz called me a loser too?"

"Hey, those are her issues." Spectra remarked as she stepped behind Danny. "I'm not saying you're a loser, Danny. I think you're a great kid!" She placed her hands on his shoulders and Danny felt the drain as he spoke again.

"Then why do I feel so miserable?"

"You know what I think?" Spectra continued as she got down to his level. "You might be a mess, but 'mess' is just the beginning of 'message'! Now go out there and be a better you." Danny got up and headed out, reinforcing his thoughts of 'I will, without this depression' as he left, the door slamming behind him before he lightly hugged the wall and eavesdropped the conversation. "Marvelous." The click of something made Danny think a compact was opened, so whatever Spectra was doing involved her appearance as a second voice entered the fray, likely Bertrand, the creepy little man.

"Why are you wasting your time on a messed up kid when we've got a big to-do planned for Wednesday?"

"Yeah, but Wednesday's still a couple days away. Hmm. Teen misery is the nectar that keeps me looking fabulous." The compact closed as Spectra continued. "And that Fenton kid is like a walking spa treatment!" From the corner of Danny's eye, he watched the little man goop down and turn into the ghost that got him in trouble in the first place.

"Hmm, then maybe I should up the ante." He transformed into a big hornet thing and Danny took off as silently as he was watching, they had a ghost problem, one dealing with misery, maybe Cedric could help somehow...


Danny didn't want to lie to his friends, but he needed to play 'dejected and angry' from his time with Spectra, keeping the pickle ghost's voice in his head as Tucker inquired. "Dude, you OK?"

"I'm fine. I can't believe my sister told that shrink I'm a loser." Sam was, at least, a bit skeptic as she asked.

"Are you sure Jazz said that? That doesn't sound like Jazz to me." The pair shared a look and Sam knew the answer, Jazz DIDN'T say a single thing, only Penelope's word was given as Jazz arrived in greeting as she walked toward them, bringing them to a stop.

"Hey, you guys. What doesn't sound like Jazz to you?" Danny frowned, the standard if Cedric hadn't helped him control his emotions a bit more would have been a scowl, the fourth friend at 'home' and tutoring Talia on some manners of the modern day as Jazz commented. "Still mad?"

"Wow, you are the smart one, talking to her loser brother." Jazz got defensive as she exclaimed.

"You are not a loser!" Danny smirked and somehow Sam and Tucker felt the joy in Danny as well as Jazz approached him in concern. "Danny, I know you're angry, but I'm worried about you. Ever since the accident-"

"Jazz, I know you think you're helping, and I'm sure when I'm older, I'll appreciate it, but right now, I don't." Danny cut her off as Jazz countered with irritation.

"You have to talk to somebody, Danny. You barely have any friends." Sam and Tucker frowned as Jazz continued. "Besides these two. And you have absolutely no extracurricular activities." The pair of friends shared in whisper of 'Unless you count the ghosts' and 'Shut it', Danny hearing it as he focused on Jazz.

"Well, maybe this is me now, huh? Not everyone's pumped up full of spirit all the time, you know." Suddenly his ghost sense went off as he quietly exclaimed. "Ghost sense? I don't see anything." He started to shake as Jazz grew worried for him.

"Danny? You're shivering." Interested in getting some distance before something bad happened, Danny shouted as he took off out of reach.

"Leave me alone!"

"It's worse than I thought." Jazz commented before a random kid grabbed her arms and shouted in terror as he pointed the other way.

"A freakishly large hornet!" He screamed and slammed the locker door that he jumped into, yelped at his now-slammed leg that was sticking out before Jazz gasped and people ran for it as the 'freakishly large hornet' came into sight from around the corner and looked at Jazz to which she screamed, but was snatched up and licked across her face, it was DEFINITELY real before another voice shouted.

"Back off, ghost bug!" The bug looked up before phasing through a door with a white-haired boy in pursuit, phasing through as well as Jazz yelped.

"Ghost bug? Wait a minute, that was a ghost? That was two ghosts?" The chase ended in the schoolyard as Danny remarked to his foe.

"Somebody called for an exterminator?"

"My, you are clever, aren't you? Swat this, big boy." Danny was not sure how to feel about that, but Betrand came at him with the stinger and, while first instinct was to guard, Danny slid to the left before slamming a fist into the abdomen, the bug yelped from the intense punch. "What the heck, you were ready for that!?"

"It's not so tough, when you know how to fight." Bertrand made to strike again, but Danny threw up a shield as the bug went slamming into it before Danny quickly pulled out the Thermos and spoke again. "Alright, pal! Time for you to-" He stopped as the bug was nowhere in sight before he face-palmed. "Gone. Great. Another bad guy gets away." He motioned as he continued. "No, it's the same guy, so he should be still here, just in hiding." He huffed, heedless of Jazz peering out to him as he remarked. "Maybe Jazz was right. Maybe I am a bit of a loser, though not her words still." He took off in flight as Jazz turned away in shock.

"A ghost?" She started to beam as she exclaimed. "Wait'll I tell Danny!"


"What do you mean, you didn't see a ghost?" Jazz inquired as she found and cornered Danny at the dinner table as he slumped a bit forward in listening before giving his 'input'

"It didn't look like a ghost to me. It just looked like a big bug. So I ran." He bit back the final line of 'Like a looooser.' and used a different line. "You know, like all of the non-believers of ghosts."

"I was right. You're not going to listen to me, are you?" Danny propped his head as he replied.

"Nope." He added to it as he explained. "I have more... troubling things on my mind right now, Jazz, than some 'giant ghost hornet'."

"Well, you don't leave me any choice." Danny cocked a brow before he straightened up in surprise as Jazz CLEARLY just involved their parents with the problem with a shout. "Mom! Dad! Can I talk to you about Danny?

"What? Jazz, no!" Both of the Fenton folks rushed in with Jack holding a new weapon in hand, reminding Danny of those phaser weapons from the movies.

"Is there something wrong with Danny?"

"Is there a ghost involved?" Maddie got all up in Danny's grill as she inquired.

"Is there something you want to talk about?"

"That involves ghosts?" Danny was grasping at straws as he stammered.

"I...I..." He stopped before he redirected the conversation, his problem was 'nothing' to Jazz ACTUALLY seeing a ghost now, was it? "...Actually, yes. Jazz thinks she saw a ghost today." He smiled with some smug as he continued. "Tell them, Jazz." Jazz looked trapped from the statement as Maddie exclaimed.

"WHAT?" Maddie switched over with a leapfrog over Danny and getting into Jazz's grill as she exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It would have been a good chance to try out the portable Fenton Ghost Peeler." The tool gleamed as Jack explained it out. "It tears ghosts apart atom by atom!" He aimed it and pressed a red button on it which adorned Jack Fenton in a full suit of metal and a clear face-plate before he overbalanced and toppled onto the table, destroying it as Danny got up with a cheer and spoke.

"Well, enjoy your chat!" Jazz just groaned at the subject change that just happened, she wanted to get to the bottom of this whole thing and why Danny was not just... avoiding any details about what was happening in his life...


Since Cedric was still not in school, (but still passing his classes SOMEHOW), Jazz turned to the next best things, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, as she cornered them as they were weirded-out on how Jazz just decided this and spoke. "Don't you think he's been acting weird?" The pair exchanged a glance as Jazz continued. "I mean, haven't you noticed how gloomy and negative he's been lately?"

"Uh, Jazz, we're Danny's friends. That means we keep his secrets from you." Tucker was a simple soul to get details from as Jazz reached into her purse and offered twenty dollars, the dollar sign appearing in the tech boy's eyes as he spoke. "Although..." Sam, just as quickly, snatched the bill away and gave it back to Jazz as she spoke, the tougher of the two friends from Jazz's current position.

"We've all got our problems, Jazz. I know you're worried, but Danny's OK." Danny was close by as he walked over to the drinking fountain and drank from it as a strap from his pack was taken and put on the fire alarm as Sam continued. "He keeps some things to himself, but it's not like he's doing anything criminal." He paused before reaching behind, stopping with a grimace as he shouted to the pair.

"Hey guys!" The trio looked over, just as confused as somehow, Danny's pack was on the fire alarm handle and if he had tried to walk off, he would have pulled the alarm. "A little help here?" They nodded as they helped him out, Jazz just imagining what would have happened if Danny did walk away, it would have been a mark toward criminal as the whole school would have been doused in water and called who knows how many people out to investigate...


That didn't help him as he found himself in the worse position with a sigh, somehow getting roped up in it as he questioned with an unhappy look. "And this is supposed to help me how?" He was dressed in knee socks, a sash of 'SPIRIT' over his t-shirt, and a diaper with a black top hat on his head as Spectra remarked.

"We're gonna help you overcome your fear of being called a baby." Danny sat down as he directed his thoughts elsewhere.

"I'm not afraid of being called a baby. I'm afraid of... being called a loser."

"Ahh, and therein lies the problem. You care too much what other people think." That example came from the entrance of three jocks, their leader Dash as he spoke with the trio holding boxes.

"Where do you want us to put these banners up, Ms.-" They stopped before Dash smirked and remarked. "Hey guys, check it out. It's the Casper High Spirit Baby." They all laughed as Danny huffed with resign.

"Of course." He slumped forward and Spectra touched his shoulder, her aging features slipping back to youth, something she didn't notice that Danny did, a smirk a bloom in his heart, she was a ghost herself and she would face the ultimate foe, someone who KNEW how to fight...


Calling up Cedric, Danny gave a location as he changed back and played the depressed fool as the trio, still out and about, overheard Valerie and Kwan talking at the counter for ice cream. "I don't know. Ms. Spectra says I worry way too much about material possessions."

"At least you'll have them. Spectra says I'm going to grow old, broke, and alone." The pair walked past with the trio at a table, Tucker enjoying his ice cream, Sam with a square of tofu on her cone as Danny cocked a brow on how exactly that worked with propped chin as Tucker mused about the baby suit.

"Man, it was brutal making you wear that stupid baby suit. I could hardly watch. Though I did get some good digital pics." He showed his PDA to Danny of one picture where he was being laughed at before he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Danny, come on, you know he's kidding."

"Ah- Yeah, I know." Danny huffed as he mused, he was perfectly fine now that he knew the trick and easily countered the demeaning remarks and comments of Spectra's as he mused. "I don't get it." He voiced as he sat back up again slightly. "Why am I so depressed and angry all the time? That shrink was supposed to be helping me. Ever since I started talking to her, I've been feeling worse." The moment was shattered as Jazz arrived and walked up to them in greeting.

"Hey Danny, how's it going?" Danny played the crossed game as he replied.

"Like you care. Just go away, Jazz." His ghost sense went off and he grimaced. "Oh, no." He glanced over to Paulina, where the feeling was coming from, as she was powdering her face and scolding the elderly store clerk, but the real threat came when Bertrand emerged from the flooring behind her. Danny quickly thinking up a plan of action, but first...

"Gotta keep Jazz busy." He glanced over to his friends and shortly regretted what he was going to do to them as he glared at them with accuse. "Yeah, well, if you're gonna take her side, then you hang with her too!" He, just as swiftly, switched places with Jazz as he continued to play 'hurt' and be dramatic. "Here, take my seat, you've already taken my friends." He raced off through the back door of the pharmacy before Jazz recovered enough to yell.

"Danny, wait!" Jumping out of the seat, she raced after thim before Sam exclaimed as well.

"Come on!" She snatched Tucker's wrist and both rushed away so fast that the tofu cone was still spinning as Jazz made it to the back door and pondered.

"He went this way." She peered through with a cracked-open door as she wondered what Danny was up to. "I'm sure I can head him off." She stopped as there was a level of determination in Danny's eyes as he peered about the alley before a white ring formed around him, traveling across his body and leaving in his place the SAME ghost that she saw save her from the hornet and float there, she gasping to his unheard departure as he took off to the air and flew, the pair of Sam and Tucker traveling up the alley as they looked up as well before Jazz finally found the words that she couldn't muster at that moment. "Danny?!" By that time, Jazz fully emerged from the cracked open door and gazed up in surprise before her presence was finally noticed by Tucker then Sam as she went off in total shock. "Did you see that?" She exclaimed as she rushed over to them. "Tell me I didn't see what I just saw."

Tucker was cringing as he exclaimed. "It's not what you think, Jazz." Taking that moment, Sam slammed the ice cream that Tucker still had in hand into his mouth as she spoke up.

"Of course it's not. Ghosts aren't real. Jazz, you sound like your father." Jazz looked at them in question before growing suspicious about their behavior before their echoes filled her head.

'He keeps some things to himself.'

'We're Danny's friends. That means we keep his secrets from you.' That stopped her from flipping out with widened eyes, they knew now that she SAW Danny transform into... what, a ghost, a semi-ghost? Maybe Cedric could grace her with some details later when she found him, but for now she could see and know that what Sam and Tucker were doing was covering for Danny, TRYING to dissuade her from believing in ghosts when she was NEARLY the menu item for a big bug ghost, that can change someone's opinion about it. Sam spoke up to Jazz's silence.

"...Jazz?"

"Oh. Oh, of course!" She faked a laugh as she continued to follow the train of thought, playing along to their hopes. "My parents are such loons, it's rubbing off!" She blabbed on and checked her watch. "Oh my gosh, is it that late? I've gotta work on my Spirit Week speech." She ran off and the pair finally let out a breath as Danny flew in to Bertrand's creepy loom, Paulina cluing in as she started.

"Do you mind? I was here-" She whispered the last in terror. "-first?" Bertrand roared and both Paulina and clerk screamed as Danny zipped in and knocked Bertrand away as the ghost growled at him before Danny sassed him.

"I know you need your makeup, but you're just gonna have to wait your turn." He blocked a backhand attempt and soared to the side as an ectoblast vaporized a book display, that action causing panic in the shoppers as Danny dodged some more while getting a few good shots in before he was bashed into a wall of backpacks.

"You're not very good at this, are you?" Danny got up as he sassed back.

"Well, we can't ALL be perfect, now can we, Deli Pickle?" Instead of joy of getting the frustration of a teenager, Bertrand growled as he took on a wolf form and leapt at Danny, caught the ghostly tail that Danny got for speed and managed to corner him as he mused with concern. "Then again-"

"Hey, get away from him!" The wolf faced the pair of friends and got ready to attack as Tucker quickly stammered. "Or, don't. Seriously, it's open for discussion."

"No! You leave them alone!" Danny tackled the wolf and they rolled before Danny ended up underneath the wolf as it mocked him in his attempts to get up.

"Oh, look. The little loser ghost has a few baby helpers." That should have set Danny off at such an insult...

...But he didn't as he remembered something else that he could do; painful, but it was WELL worth the attempt. "What does that make you, the dwarf of misery?" This surprised the wolf as Danny thrust his hand and blasted, the green blast brighter and he stifled a whine of pain, but the canine yelp of pain was worth it as he continued. "Any more insults you want to try?" He aimed and Bertrand dodged to the side, the blast not leaving Danny's hand as the wolf slipped back to its pickle-like form and remarked.

"Well, that's enough damage for one afternoon." He flew out of the ruined pharmacy with a phase through the ceiling. "Ta-ta!" What no one noticed was Jazz looking at the site, her eyes lingering on the spot where the ghost disappeared off through before landing her gaze on Danny as Tucker remarked to the damages.

"I sure hope they're insured." Danny looked dejected than before as he groaned.

"Great, he got away again. Another ringing endorsement for the town screw-up." He flew off and the pair of friends shared a look of upset, but no more than Jazz watching him fly away with an unhappy look, how long has he been suffering without anyone knowing his problem really...?


Night fell over the Fenton household as Danny tampered with his untouched food as he thought about it a bit before Jazz walked in and stared, this drawing his attention as he questioned. "What?"

"Nothing." She answered as she walked over, leaning forward to survey him closer before pinching him, he yelping as he exclaimed again.

"Ugh! What?!"

"Nothing!" Danny raised a brow as he rubbed his pinched arm, it was painful... could ghosts fully feel pain, that was something they needed to know as she spoke to his frown and taking a seat at the table. "Uh, so, uh, Danny, I know I've been kind of hard on you lately, but you know I think you're great, right?"

"Yeah right. That's not what I hear."

"Then you've heard wrong." Danny hummed as Jazz continued. "Look, I know you think I'm pushy and I'm a know-it-all. I know you think I can be a jerk sometimes..." Danny just smiled at her as Jazz huffed. "...You know, you can stop me at any time."

"I know, Jazz." She sighed as she continued.

"All I'm saying is I'm your sister and I care about you." She rested a hand on his shoulder as she continued. "And even though you don't think I'll understand, you can talk to me about anything." Danny looked to the side as he pondered it, it would be far better to have someone else know his problems and be willing to listen.

"Um..." Suddenly, there was a loud crash, startling the pair of them as they ran over to see that the couch was now destroyed and smoking in the living room while Jack was in the armor of the Peeler and Maddie observing as well.

"I'm just saying, if we can find that ghost at Jazz's school, we're gonna peel that ghost like an onion!"

"Well, we can't completely vaporize it. Don't you want to at least examine the remains?" Danny looked shaken before he noticed the hand on his shoulder, the first impulse to shake it off while Jack hid his own thoughts with a look of solid determination.

"I don't feel like really talking about it. It's complicated." He slipped free and crossed his arms in sulk as Jazz answered with resign.

"Yeah, I'd imagine not." Still, she walked over and planted a kiss on top of his head before walking away, Danny surprised before a smile lit up after her as he mused.

"Thanks, Jazz." he stopped before he reacted how any little brother would react to their sister just kissing them on the cheek or head. "Oh, gross!"


The trio headed through Casper High and stopped at Danny's locker before Sam spoke to the changed atmosphere. "Uh, is it just me, or is this the worst Spirit Week in the history of Casper High Spirit Weeks?" It was true as the students all looked depressed and miserable as the trio caught a few conversations that were less than joyful for Spirit Week.

"Another day, another twenty-four hours closer to a career of pumping gas."

"At least you'll have a job. Apparently, I'm gonna end up a hobo. I didn't even know they had hobos anymore!" That was Dash and Kwan standing around as the pair of Paulina and Valerie walked past.

"Did you know wrinkles can start emerging at your mid-twenties?" Danny added to it as it seemed a bit TOO setup.

"And to make it worse, we're all gonna have to sit through Jazz's idiotic speech when she tries to put the 'I' back in 'spirit' or some other nonsense." They glanced down to find that Jazz was just as happy as usual as Danny commented. "What the heck is she so happy about?" Sam shrugged as she spoke up.

"Don't ask me. I'm usually the sour one around here. But compared to everyone else, I'm the goth bird of happiness."

"Me too! And we're the only two people in this school who haven't had a session with Dr. Spectra." The puzzle click into place as Danny spoke up with the same realization. Each one of the depressed people had attended a meeting with Spectra and grew more miserable as the puzzle continued to his own understanding.

"Wait a minute." He grabbed Tucker's PDA and checked it for something to support his theory. "Let me see something." He opened one of the photos that had him in the 'Spirit Baby' outfit as Tucker stammered.

"Uh... I was gonna delete that."

"Glad you didn't. Look at that." At first glance, nothing stood out, but looking closer and Danny giving a zoom, his breath was seen and blue as he continued. "I kept thinking I was seeing my breath. That it was cold. But what if that's my ghost sense? What if Spectra is somehow making people more miserable? What if she's a ghost?"

"Only one way to find out." They headed out before stopping at a surprised sound.

"How are you so impossible to just get to the bottom of!?" Danny, Sam, and Tucker shared a look before they glanced into the office to find Cedric; a look of neutral displeasure on his face, arms crossed, and clearly having the home-field as Spectra looked really... terrible, hair frizzled, body shaking in disbelief, and hands gripping the wood with a confused rage that they dug down before Cedric spoke.

"I have dealt with SO many therapists in the past that I can see where the twists and turns can be found. You don't even hide your intentions to digging down for my insecurities, that's a terrible role for such a vain person."

"VAIN!?" Penelope's eye twitched as the human form slipped away and was replaced by a black specter as she screeched in his face. "You will not tell me what you believe, you runt! HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY WEAKNESS THAT I CAN DRAW FROM!?"

"Because I have long resolved my own issues and I have come to depend on those that I have faith in. Now get yourself together before I make a move." Spectra, just as quickly, shut down and slipped into the seat in the human form as she cleared her throat, the trio surprised to the change as Spectra spoke.

"You are a foe I have never faced, and you clearly know how to face my ghostly power, what is it that you have need from me?"

"That's a tall order and I will speak about it, but for now, I'll leave you to your own devices, but know that you should be more careful of who knows." Cedric got up and headed out, the trio bracing against the wall as they caught a bit more from the pair.

"You understand that I can't exist without negative emotions, I need it, boy."

"So what... If you could get energy from both the negative and the positive, would that give you a better role and make you less hostile to the world around you?" Cedric left and Danny waited before he transformed, sending the pair off to the gym as he contended to learning more of Spectra as she stood in the center of the room, heedless of the invisible hybrid watching, with a green swirl in the air before she motioned it in, her youth returning as she breathed, sitting on the desk as she mused.

"Ahhh. Man, that's good. I'm gonna miss these kids." She shifted through the files on the desk, Paulina and Valerie on the top instead of his friends as she mused. "They're a waterfall of misery." Bertrand arrived from one of the walls and Spectra spoke as she inquired. "There you are. You hooked up the device?"

"Of course. And when the spirit sparklers go up, vaporizing the only chipper kid left in the entire school, there'll be enough misery and anguish in that room to keep us looking young forever!" Danny quietly gasped at the vile plan before the bell rang, drawing all of their attention before Spectra spoke again.

"Well, there's the bell. Shall we go hear a speech and bum some more kids out?" The two merged together as an orb of ecto-energy and zapping out of there as Danny landed with turning visible again as he made to piece out who would be the target. He looked through the files and saw everyone, including Cedric, Sam, and Tucker, but they were not involved with Spectra from the get-go or couldn't be affected, so who...

He stopped and searched once more before it was apparent that one was not involved and it was the one before him as he exclaimed her name, his sister's "Jazz!" He took off to find Spectra and her aide, they were not going to get away with this...


The cheer in the gym was lackluster as Lancer yelled at the dismissive behavior. "Hey! What's the matter with you kids! You call that a cheer?" He took a pair of pom-poms before cheering with enthusiasm. "We've got spirit, yes we do! We've got the spirit, how 'bout you!?" But no one said a thing, the sound of crickets the only sound heard if any as Jazz commented from the podium.

"OK..." On the path of the gym, Bertrand and Spectra conversed as he asked.

"After we've destroyed everything, you up for a cappuccino?"

"Ooh, that's a marvelous idea-" Suddenly, Bertrand was blasted and Spectra glanced over in surprise to Phantom hovering in the hall behind her as he spoke.

"I figured it out, finally. You feed on misery, don't you?"

"I'm sorry, can I help you?"

"No, I'm sure you can't. You can't help anyone except yourself." She lunged, but he dodged out of the way before hovering behind her as he spoke, her rage slipping to amusement to Danny's words. "You find that one thing that a kid's most afraid of - their future, their looks, their confidence -" He paused before puffing out his chest as he continued. "...and you pick at it and pick at it while your snippy little ghost assistant feeds on it!"

"Hey!" Bertrand yelped as Spectra just clapped.

"Very good." Her green eyes flashed red and Danny readied as she exclaimed. "But I fear you've missed a few details!" The ring of fire that formed around her erupted into violet smoke and she emerged as the specter as Danny was ready, but he was knocked out of the school by Bertrand, who took the moment to change to his wolf form and tackle them outside while back in the gym, Jazz started her speech on the podium, Tucker and Sam a bit skeptical to the twin rays that were set up for the 'spirit sparklers' and a wide array of dominoes set up for the speech and time.

"In this, our centennial year, we pay tribute to the past with these ceremonial dominoes, each of which will fall into the next and finally trigger the ceremonial spirit sparklers." Silence filled as Jazz gestured to the rays before Lancer spoke up with a small cheer.

"Woooo!" Sam and Tucker gave off uneasy 'wooo's' before Lancer reached down and knocked the domino, the reaction apparent as, outside, Bertrand slammed Danny into a tree and ridiculed him.

"You thought you were going to stop us? You? You're just a frightened little kid!" He made to swipe at Danny, but the hybrid slipped away through the tree and left Bertrand confused before he was slammed back with a punch from underneath as Danny paused before he was grabbed from around his neck by Spectra as he yelled.

"Let go of me!"

"Why would I do that? Your doubt, your misery, it's delicious." She forced them to fly up to the window that looked into the gym and the toppling dominoes. "And the best part is, as soon as that silly speech is over, and that last domino falls and the sparklers vaporize the speaker, we'll leave you here to take the blame. And by the time I'm done with you, you'll be sure it was all your fault!"

"Man, I am so tired of you dumping on me." Danny growled as he continued, casting a glance to his sister. "And I am so tired of dumping on myself. Jazz never did that, even when I was mad at her." His energy built before he used it in a burst to blast Spectra off. "And I won't let her down!" Spectra called out to her partner.

"Bertrand! Sic him!" The wolf charged out from the building and changed into a ninja to which Danny gave a flat look of boredom as he pulled out a pair of nunchucks, whirled them, and readied as Danny mused.

"I so don't have time for this." He pulled the Thermos off his back and uncapped it, absorbing Bertrand as he yelled.

"No! Aaaahhhh!" He capped it and shook it with a single word for the minor victory.

"Arg..." Spectra screeched as she lunged for him.

"You're through!"

"And you're done telling me what to do!" He dodged in flying against her and snatched her by the tail before hurling her into a nearby dumpster, giving a smile before he exclaimed. "Jazz!" He soared through as the final dominoes hit the switch and the rays readied to vaporize Jazz before Danny crashed into her, turning her intangible as well and passing through the next wall as the podium was reduced to ash before the pair landed in the back hallway and stared at each other before Spectra snatched Danny again and pulled him into a storage room as she next seized his head as she lectured with bitterness her venom.

"Look at you." He tried to catch her, but she whacked the Thermos out of his hand as she continued to dig into his own being and doubt. "What are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?" Jazz arrived to the doorway with fists clenched in anger as Danny exclaimed.

"Both! Uh... neither! I don't know."

"You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy!" Danny glowed green to which Spectra stole from as she just let him drop and mock him in his dazed state. "Who cares for a thing like you?"

"Excuse me." Danny looked up in surprise and Spectra with the same surprise as Jazz continued. "I don't know this kid, but I hope it's OK if he gets a second opinion." She held up the Peeler and activated it as armor started to encase her before she commented with some surprise. "...This is weird." The suit sealed and she fired at Spectra, the specter screaming as her own skin was shredded off her and reducing her to a wizened old woman as Danny answered in surprise, it ACTUALLY did peel Spectra like an onion.

"Talk about having nothing within." Spectra felt her features before screeching in a more aged voice.

"Aaahh, nooo! I am nothing without my youth!" She screamed as Danny retrieved the Thermos and sucked her in as the armor returned to the Peeler as Jazz commented.

"Hey, it worked! But it's still weird." She walked up to Danny as he paused from flinching before he spoke with a short stammer.

"Uh... uh... Thanks, Jazz, and I'm sorry for being so hard on you these few days."

"No problem, I'm glad that you are... willing to talk about it, but first..." She paused before taking on a look of fake fear. "Ahhh. Ghost." Danny face-palmed with a smile as Jazz headed over to the door and turned as she spoke. "You'd better go." Danny breathed with a nod before he turned, slamming into a stack of boxes as he commented.

"Oh. Uh, right." Turning intangible, he took flight and Jazz turned back as she mused.

"He can tell me about it later."

"Miss Fenton," Mr. Lancer came bounding down the hall as he exclaimed. "you're needed." Jazz paused before following to the flow of cheers with her name, surprised that the somber depression disappeared completely as she even caught Tucker yelling that 'she's OK' before Lancer continued. "Ahh, everybody's mood has lifted, as though some gloomy malevolence has been shooed away." Danny waved from the bleachers and Jazz smiled as Lancer continued as the pair of them waved back to the cheering party. "Your disappearing act worked marvelously. They've got their spirit back." Jazz commented in returned as she too was glad for the change.

"They're not the only ones, Mr. Lancer. They're not the only ones." Later, at that night, Jazz watched as Danny flew high and enjoyed the air around him as she smiled with a small turn and nodded as she then took out a meeting time, meant for her and Danny's friends...


How Danny and Jazz were going about it was that he would tell her and they just move on, they were not ready for the detailed presentation that Cedric had set up, he all serious while his... 'girl?' was cracking up with clasped hand and widened eyes. "...While most people would disregard this very notion of existing on both sides of the wide spectrum of human and ghost, there is a unique sub-type in the blood of several humans that possess the right levels of exposure that a sudden surge of ten to fifteen hundred volts of ecto-plasmic energy would not pull them into the Zone or kick them into the Real World, but create a unique species known as a Demi, able to live fully as human with reduced bio-metrics and exist as a ghost with all the unique abilities that their cores and the addition of the spinal 'Leylines' can provide." Sam and Tucker were just as in awe and disturbed about it that Cedric had taken one of the science labs and converted it into his presentation as he continued. "Ghosts are naturally bound to the form that they both covet and hold dear unless a severe change was pressured on them, but both sides age and develop the same if they wish it in the Zone and naturally in the Real World, there is further detail about an epidemic throughout the Zone, dated back to a thousand years and finally fading out, that has rendered ghosts unable to..."

"LA LA LA LA LA!" Danny yelled suddenly with covering hands as the girl lost it, toppling to the ground and pounding the floor in fits of laughter as Sam groaned with a blush and Tucker just moaned with covering his face with the hat fully as Jazz just rested her face in her hands as Danny continued. "I'M NOT LISTENING, I'M NOT LISTENING!" Cedric huffed as he stopped and rested his hands on his hips as he spoke, doing little to stop the girl from laughing.

"Now that's hurtful, you wanted me to give Jasmine a place in our small group about this big secret and I am giving it!"

"In a Sex Ed lesson!?" Danny exclaimed as he jumped to his feet in desperation. "I would have been just okay with just showing her and having her relating my appearance with being Phantom as well, but this is TOO MUCH!"

"Though... VERY informative..." Jazz cleared her throat as she stood up as well and spoke. "I just want to know what we could be facing if it ever comes down to it, maybe work on my own skills since this is going to be a recurring event for Amity." Cedric sighed as he answered.

"Okay, okay, I can narrow it down." He turned and tapped the laughing ball as he spoke. "And Talia, you know that I was just working with what you shared with me."

"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE GOING TO BE SO IN-DEPTH ABOUT IT!" She continued to laugh as Cedric rubbed his temples before turning to the group as the tension lessened.

"Okay, then I'll get to the big subjects and, if you want reference later, just ask or write it down, need to keep it memorized somehow." With that, Cedric went over it and skipped the awkward slides, how did he manage it like a teacher in the first place and make it so interesting that their attention was fully on what he talked about...?