Danny walked down the halls of the school next day, observing everyone. The school had been re-opened when his dad couldn't find any ghosts, but everyone was more afraid than ever. Besides Tucker, Sam and himself, he doubted that anyone didn't have a good-luck charm on. Even more symbols had been put up around the school, repairmen working on the hole in the roof under another cloudy sky. More murmuring was going around, and several kids hadn't shown up at all. About the only one who remained calm besides Danny and his friends was Mr. Lancer. Danny's thoughts were changed abruptly when Dash grabbed him and slammed him up against some lockers. Both of his arms hit the slash marks on Danny's chest. He wanted to scream, but managed to keep from looking more stunned than usual during one of Dash's attacks.

"Hey, Fenton," Dash snarled; he seemed particularly vicious today, "Gloomy day outside, isn't it?"

"Uh, yes, it is!" Danny agreed, "It's been like this the last two days but still, it's gloomy..." he smiled weakly.

"Probably gonna rain," Dash pressed Danny against the lockers harder, "My game's probably gonna be cancelled."

"Oh, yes! I'm sorry about that, but since there's nothing I can do about it, why don't I just l..."

"Speaking of games, Fenton," Dash let go of Danny with one hand to make a fist, "I'm pretty upset about that ghost wrecking my trophy. I'm thinkin' he goes to this school!"

"What? The cat-thing? C-Come on, Dash!" Danny was getting really nervous now; it seemed like he and Dash were the only ones in the hallway, "Don't you think we would have..."

"I meant the other ghost," Dash wasn't laughing, "And as I recall, the cat- thing gave him a bad cut across his chest!"

"What? You seriously think I..." Dash hit Danny in the chest as hard as he could. Danny managed to suppress the scream in his throat, instead grimacing through clenched teeth as he would have if he didn't have those cuts. Dash hit him three more times, and each time the pain grew worse. But Danny managed to hold it back.

"Darn it!" Dash threw Danny aside, "That leaves all seven as duds!" he marched away. Danny slowly stood back up. Thankfully, his cuts hadn't started to bleed again.

"OK, the bad news," he said to himself, "Dash is angry over a stupid trophy and suspects me. The good news: he didn't find out," the bell rang, and he slowly got up and headed for his own locker.

---

"And so, class," Mr. Lancer was saying, "In light of yesterday's events, Mr. Fenton has kindly offered us the use of his Ghost Catcher," Danny hadn't been really been paying attention until he heard that.

"We've made a space for it so it can be mounted like the rose windows of old cathedrals. It's waiting outside the room and I'd like to have two volunteers to take it upstairs," no one raised their hands, "Mr. Fenton!"

"Huh?"

"This is your father's device, so surely you would know all about it."

"Well actually, my dad hasn't really..."

"It's settled then. Ms. Manson, you can assist him," they both got up and started to wheel the Ghost Catcher down the hallway. Sam noticed that Danny was staying as far away from it as he could while still helping to move it.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Last time I got too close to this thing I got split in two."

"Huh?" that didn't make sense.

"I went through it, and then Danny Fenton fell to the floor and Danny Phantom was still flying around in the air. I came back together, but this has been high on my list of things to avoid ever since."

"Oh," she stuck her hand through it; nothing happened, "So this thing can catch that cat-ghost if it comes back?"

"Probably, but I doubt it's stupid enough to jump right through it," they got it upstairs to the workmen who were supposed to install it.

"Hold it there," one of them said as they started to leave, "Your teacher called up to say you's were coming to drop the thing off. Says you's the son of the guy who made this, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but..."

"Would ya' mind helpin' us out with it then?" Danny sighed and walked over to help them set in the space that had been carved out to make room for it.

"Steadyyyyyyyyy..." someone was saying, "Steady...watch out, kid!" it accidentally tipped over, about to fall on Danny, who dropped to the floor as fast as he could. Fortunately, the top of the Ghost Catcher hit the wall, so it didn't land on Danny and separate him again.

"You OK, kid?"

"Besides my heart rate...yeah."

---

At lunch, Tucker looked even more tired.

"I don't understand it," he yawned, "I couldn't fall asleep last night. I didn't watch any TV, counted sheep, drank warm milk...nothing worked! I don't get it!" Sam rolled her eyes as Tucker fell face-first into his sandwich.

"So your dad built that thing why?" she asked Danny, changing the subject.

"He and Mom were sick and they thought it was a ghost virus," Danny shrugged, "It's on my list of things to avoid, but it did come in handy when Tuck got turned into a ghost. I'm not really worried about that as much as I'm worried about Dash."

"Dash?" this was the first Sam had heard of it, "Why are you worried about Dash?"

"Besides the bullying?" was what Tucker meant to say, but with his face still in his sandwich, all that came out was "Mresides rhe rulling?"

"He's upset over that dumb trophy and he knows the ghost that wrecked it goes to this school."

"Rhe mrat-mring?"

"No, me! And I'm one of his suspects!"

"Mrid mre..."

"No. Not yet, anyway," Danny sighed and propped his head up with his hands.

"This has not been our best week," Sam commented, and both Danny and Tucker agreed.

---

"I overheard Dash talking with his jock pals," Sam said as the three walked down the hallway, Tucker eating the sandwich now, "They have seven suspects, and you're one of them," she pointed at Danny, "They couldn't find out if anyone had been cut by the cat-ghost. Now they're gonna try to get whoever the ghost is to confess."

"Do you know how they're gonna try that?"

"Well..." Sam didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it, "Yeah, but..."

"How?"

"They're...they're having popular girls date them and try and get them to crack," she said quickly.

"Who'd they get to date Danny?" Tucker asked through bites of his sandwich. They could tell Sam definitely did not want to talk about this.

"They got..."

"Yoo-hoo! Danny!" they heard someone shout.

"Paulina," Sam hissed under her breath.

"Hi, you!" Paulina walked over to Danny, who was nervously smiling, and not because of his normal reasons when Paulina was around.

"Uh, hi. Look, I can't really talk right now because..."

"You're busy?" she was trying to look as alluring as possible, "With what?"

"Well, I...that is," Mr. Lancer walked up.

"Mr. Fenton! I'd hate to interrupt, but could I see you in my office for a moment?"

"Yes! Of course!" Danny smiled weakly at Paulina again before heading off to Mr. Lancer's office, closing the door and breathing a sigh of relief. Mr. Lancer eyed him strangely.

"Don't ask," Danny said.

"Very well. Have a seat," Mr. Lancer motioned to the chair across from him by his desk, "Danny, I must tell you that I'm concerned for you and your friends in light of these ghost incidents."

"You are?"

"Well...you know what your parents do, right?" Danny nodded, "I can't imagine them being well-liked among paranormal beings. Seeing as how that strange ghost yesterday was after Ms. Manson, I'm worried that you may become the victim of the principle 'guilty by association.'"

"Oh," Danny was shocked; he had never seen Mr. Lancer express concern for any student, save maybe Dash, Jazz, and a few other star students, "Well, thanks, but I wouldn't worry about it. My dad's got plenty of stuff to protect us with."

"Well, as long as you feel safe in the school. Now we can move to the other topic, more in line with my expertise; your grades," he went from concerned to stern in no time at all, "Over the last few months they've gone from Bs and Cs to D- and falling. What's going on, Mr. Fenton?" Danny didn't have an excuse.

"Well, I've...it's just...y'see...I've been...kinda busy. And it has nothing to do with my social life, because you've seen that I have no social life whatsoever."

"True. However, that still does not change the fact that your grades are in decline. Do you know how much this next test is worth, Mr. Fenton?"

"Not really..."

"Well I don't think I have the heart to tell you. If you get anything lower than a D on this test, I'm afraid you could be looking at having to repeat my English class next year..."

"WHAT!?"

"Unless you keep your grades up the rest of the year or attend summer school," he looked over some papers, "I would suggest studying extensively for this test."

"How extensively?"

"All night," he put the papers away, "Thank you, Mr. Fenton. You're free to go," Danny left the room, sighing.

"Superstitious fear towards ghosts going around, Dash trying to find out about my powers, his using Paulina to get information, strange cat-ghosts, my normal ghost-catching and now this test. I don't know how this day could possibly get any..."

"Danny I need you help me out," Jazz ran up, "This whole place has gone nuts because of that cat that was in here yesterday. Everyone thinks it's a ghost! I need you to pass around this pamphlets and keep Mom and Dad out of here!" she ran off. Danny read the pamphlet. It said, "The Cat was not a Ghost."

"Yep," he sighed, throwing them way, "It just got worse."

---

Danny sat in his room, looking over all of his notes for Mr. Lancer's English class. School had only been out a few minutes, but it seemed like he'd been looking at this stuff for hours. He, Sam and Tucker had agreed not to go out ghost-hunting until an hour later than normal, but that put his 10:00 curfew harder to met. Now some strange bell sound was coming from the street.

"Danny!" his dad shouted, "Where's that noise coming from!?"

"Outside," Jack ran into Danny's room, looking out the window, "You! Who the heck are you and why are you making all that racket!?"

"I am the Ghost Watch! It is my job to watch for ghosts tonight and alert the neighbourhood if I see one!" Danny felt his pencil slip from his hand.

"Oh! Well then, carry on! If you see anything I'll be out faster than you can say Yorktown!" Jack headed downstairs, and Danny grabbed his phone, dialling an number quickly.

"Sam? We've got trouble."

---

It had started to rain and storm for the third night in a row. Danny flew just over the ground, phasing through all the rain. Sam had an umbrella and her leather coat; Tucker had an umbrella and the Fenton Thermos.

"Bring 'em on!" he was shouting, "I'm wide awake!"

"Finally," Sam muttered. They stopped as Danny flew higher and circled the block a few times.

"Nothing around here," he said. They had decided not to look for ghosts in their neighbourhood or by the seaport. If they had gone by the seaport they might have caught The Box Ghost, but they figured that there was as much anti-ghost stuff there as there was at school, and a place as crowded as the seaport was not a wise place to be. As they headed down another street; an older one, one of the few that still had a brick road; blue ectoplasmic smoke came from Danny's mouth.

"Where is he!?" Tucker was jumping around, "Bring him on!"

"Shhh!" Danny and Sam said at once. They could hear the sound of a horse walking. An eerie green glow appeared up ahead. There was a ghost horse and a ghost rider, the horse giving off the glow. The rider looked like Orlando Bloom at the end of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. The rain fell right through him and his horse as he reached for something on his belt. He pulled out a ghost-pistol and fired it at Danny, who barely dodged. The rider took off down the street, Danny right behind him. The rider got off the brick road and headed up towards Danny's neighbourhood. Danny tried to get in front of him and force him to turn a different direction, but the horse was fast. The rider and horse suddenly phased through the road, disappearing underground, while Danny flew into plain sight of the Ghost Watch. The only consolation was that this wasn't his exact street.

"Ghost!" the Ghost Watch shouted, "Ghost! Ghost! Ghost, there's a ghost on the street!" he took off running, shouting at the top of his lungs and ringing a bell as loud as he could. The lights all over the neighbourhood went on. Danny didn't stick around for people to start coming out. He flew off, checking the clock tower. It was 9:53. He flew faster, but the word had gotten around quick. Some people started throwing things at him as he flew around, trying to dodge other things. He saw Mr. Lancer run out, in awe. Even worse, he saw Dash.

"Hey!" he heard Dash shout, "That's the ghost that wrecked my trophy! Get back here!" Danny took off down another street, Dash coming up from behind. Danny flew well above the ground, but he couldn't go home with Dash following him.

"Come down here, ya' wimp!" Dash jumped up, trying to grab hold of Danny's ghost-tail. The shouting continued for a while, then suddenly stopped. Danny looked back to see that Dash had been knocked on his back, a black umbrella lying on top of him. Sam and Tucker had immediately gotten out of sight, thankfully. Danny checked the clock again; 10:00.

"Oh, man," he stopped abruptly as he reached his street. Sam and Tucker were there, talking to Danny's parents.

"Kids, what in the world are you doing out here on these ghost-infested streets at 10:00 at night!?"

"Oh," Tucker didn't have an excuse, "We...uh,"

"Heard the Ghost Watch and came to get you guys!" Sam smiled weakly.

"Oh. Well, did you see Danny? He's still not back from his walk..." Danny flew down behind a building, made sure no one was looking, and went back to normal, walking back.

"What's with the noise?" he asked.

"I don't know, but there'll be more noise once we take care of that ghost," Jack eyed Danny suspiciously, "You're late again! You know your curfew and you know that these streets are infested with ghosts!"

"But..."

"No buts! Get inside! When I take care of that ghost, we're going to have a discussion."

"I have a..."

"Save it!" Jack ran off with Maddie, and Danny sighed.

"This can't be good," he walked inside, Sam and Tucker heading home. Watching from the street corner was Velkan.