"I know you probably can't understand me," the ghost said in a firm voice, "but you will have to leave immediately." Danny stared at her in shock, and Jazz stared at her in confusion. The girl waited for a moment, and her hands started to glow green. "I guess I'll have to do this the hard way."

"No, wait! We understand!" Danny said quickly, recognizing the ectoplasmic charge she was building. Both girls turned and stared at him and said synonymously:

"You do?" and "What?" Then they both looked at each other and back at Danny.

"Danny, why are you making weird noises?" It was Danny's turn to be surprised. "Weird noises?" He asked.

"I couldn't understand a thing you just said."

"I...er..." But he didn't get a chance to answer, as the Ghost girl now floated a few inches from his shoulder staring at his eyes.

"Human's can't understand me yet," she said. "I haven't learned how to communicate with them yet, only to understand them." She leaned closer, and Danny leaned away. "So why can you?" He didn't know what to say, so he just smiled and stuttered a little more.

"Wait, I know!" The girl suddenly grinned, and leaned even closer. "You're a Ghost in disguise, aren't you!?"

"Er...I guess you could say that," Danny nodded.

"That is sooo cool!" the girl smiled and grabbed his hand, shaking it enthusiastically. "My name is Clarice, and this is a great experience for me! If you stick around, you'll have to tell me more about the human world! I've never been there personally, and I've heard so many things about it from other ghosts. I really want to visit there, but not until I'm ready, so I don't end up with an overload like most ghosts do and-"

"Woah," Danny said, "slow down." He scratched his head.

"Danny?" Jazz looked at him questioningly, but he didn't notice.

"So, who are you exactly?" he asked Clarice.

"Well, I'm a new ghost, haven't been around for more than a few years, so I'm hanging around here building experience."

"Oh, right," Danny nodded.

"Danny?" Jazz asked a little louder, but again, he didn't respond.
"My name is Danny and I--"

"DANNY!" Both he and Clarice turned and looked at Jazz. "What's going on here?!" Danny and Clarice exchanged glances before Danny stepped forward.

"Sorry Jazz, but this is Clarice. Clarice, this is Jazz. I...er...think I've been listening to the Ghost Gabber too much. Apparently I understand ghosts." He could have kicked himself for coming up with such a lame excuse, but Jazz seemed to buy it.

"You know," Clarice looked back at him, "If you're a ghost, you can stay. But she's got to leave."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Well, most of the Ghosts that live around here were here before this porthole thing got opened. They just want to live their afterlives in peace. Kind of difficult with all these weird ghosts coming in and outta here, let alone humans. We already know about a few humans that cross this line regularly, although I've never met them personally."

"Oh, is that so?" Danny asked, putting on a fake grin to cover his uneasiness. "So, why are humans bad?" Clarice looked at him as if to say "duh", but explained anyway.

"It's just different, and people panic. Besides, ever since that one public enemy half ghost boy led the rebellion in the local prison and let all the convicts out, we've been kind of wary of humans." Danny's discomfort suddenly increased.

"I see," he said, glancing around quickly. Then he motioned for Clarice to get closer. you do me a favor, and help us get back to the porthole?"

"Why don't you just fly there yourselves?" She asked.

"Well, I don't want her to know about the whole ghost thing," he nodded to Jazz who now seemed content to watch on uneasily.

"Oh, hush hush," Clarice nodded. "Right. Sure, if it means that I can stop a problem before it starts, I'm all for it." She grabbed Danny's hand again, and held her other out for Jazz. Jazz took one look at it, and backed away.

"It's okay, Jazz. She's going to take us back." Jazz looked at him, and then at Clarice, and slowly reached her hand out.

"You're friend isn't very trusting, is she?" Clarice looked down at Danny.

"Well, she's had some...er...interesting encounters with Ghosts," he smiled, and hope it didn't look too put on. Clarice just shrugged and smiled at Jazz, who relaxed noticeably.
"Hang on," Clarice grinned.

"What did she--" They took off quickly, and Danny's Stomach ended up somewhere in the vicinity of his knees. "SAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!" Jazz yelled, finishing her sentence.

"She said hang on," Danny shrugged apologetically at his sister, who glared at him.

"Danny, when we get home, remind me to hurt mom and dad." Danny nodded and gulped, preferring not to answer her comment.

"There it is!" Clarice called back to them. Ahead, Danny could see the familiar distortion of the porthole as it came into view.

"Great!" He called back and showed a thumbs up.

"Jazz, look, the portho–" He was cut off as he and Clarice ran into an invisible wall several yards from the porthole. Jazz, however encountered no such problem, and continued to float towards the anomaly.

"NO! DANNY!" She called to him.

"Jazz!" he yelled back, but she was unable to answer as she disappeared through the porthole, leaving Danny in the Ghost Zone, with a girl he'd just barely met, and no way out.