Spectral Encounter
Category: Danny Phantom
Type: Action/Adventure
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I do own Alex Strife, my half-ghost.
Summary: Amity Park is in the presence of yet another half-human-half-ghost child... But is he friendly? Or is he like all the other ghosts Danny faced? Also, what is this strange energy stirring in the Ghost Zone?
Key:
Narration
"Speech"
'Thought'
Alexander Strife, a typical young teenager living in Amity Park. At least he is now. He used to live in Tempest City. No one's ever heard of it. His dad was offered a better job here in Amity Park. So his family moved. But, what Alex's parents don't know is that, due to a portable Ghost-Zone gateway mishap, he's half-ghost. Going by the name of "Specter", he fights evil ghosts in secrecy. Sound like anyone we know?
In the skies of Amity Park, Danny Phantom flies across the city, performing a last-minute inspection for enemies from the Ghost Zone. He communicates with his friends Sam and Tucker via Fenton Phones. "I don't see anyone out here. Looks like we're all clear for the night.", Danny states, flying high above Sam and Tuck.
"Great! And all before curfew!", Sam exclaims.
Suddenly, a cool blue mist flows from Danny's mouth. "Uh-oh! False alarm!" Danny prepares himself for the worst.
A ghost with snowy-white hair, giving off a blue aura, flies by and stops dead in his tracks in front of Danny. "Great! I'm already up to my neck in ghosts! Do I have to take YOU out too?", the ghost says bluntly.
"What do you mean, 'too'?", Danny questions.
"I don't have time for this!", the blue-glowing ghost says before zooming past Danny and flying off.
"Hey! I'm not done with you!", Danny shouts.
Sam, having witnessed the scene, suddenly speaks. "Who was that?"
"I wish I knew..."
"Huh? What'd I miss?", Tuck speaks up, having been playing a game on his PDA.
Danny then realizes, "It looked like he was running from something..." And was he right! All of a sudden, Danny comes face-to-face with... "Skulker!"
"Evening, punk! I believe we have some unfinished business!"
Danny assumes battle position. "Ready when you are!"
Skulker readies himself, until the PDA on his armor begins to beep. "Huh? Go to zoo and examine nightly behavior of purple-back gorilla... Oh, come ON!" Once again, Skulker's armored jetpack activates itself and autopilots him to the zoo.
Danny looks up at Skulker jetting off and chuckles. "For once, Tucker did some good with that PDA of his!" Danny floats down to the ground, deactivating his ghost form. "Hey, Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's call it a night, huh?"
"Okay, but what about that other ghost?"
"Hmm... I would say that we should forget about him, but that'd probably be a bad idea... I say we keep our eyes open."
Tuck's eyes trail a bit from his game. "No, seriously! What'd I miss?"
The next day at school, Danny meets the others at Casper High School. "Hey, guys! So, Tuck, you find any info on that ghost I met last night?"
"Well, no...", he says dejectedly. "I looked up practically EVERYTHING I could find about the ghosts of the Ghost Zone!"
"Well, actually, I found a little something...", Sam interjects.
"YOU did?" Naturally, Tuck couldn't believe his ears.
Sam looks at him with contempt. "Uh, hello? Filthy rich, remember? My parents always buy me the latest in computer software!"
Tuck quickly looks away in sadness. "Technology... Thou hast failed me yet again..."
Danny and Sam back away from him, thinking for a minute that he was weird. "So, what'd you find, Sam?"
Sam takes a piece of printing paper out from her backpack. "Just this... It says here that his name is Specter. Unfortunately, that's ALL it says. There's absolutely no data on him! It's like he appeared completely out of nowhere!"
Danny examines the photo. "Hmm... Out of nowhere..."
Sometime during algebra class, the teacher writes an equation on the board: 6X - 5 55. "Now, can anyone answer this one? Um, how about you, Danny?"
Obviously, Danny panics. "Oh! Uh, um... I..."
Cutting off Danny's stuttering, a student raises his hand.
"Oh! Yes?"
"6X minus 5 equals 55. Add 5 to each side of the equation, and the result will be 6X equals 60. Divide each side of the equation by 6. The answer is 'X equals 10.'", the student answers, straightening his glasses.
All of the other students simply stare at him agape, even though the equation wasn't that difficult.
"Very good, Alex.", the teacher compliments.
Danny leans over to Tuck and whispers. "Who's the genius kid?"
"Oh, you don't know? That's Alex Strife. He's pretty smart."
"So I've noticed. But why haven't I noticed him sitting there before?"
"Maybe it's because you're always fighting ghosts and you're too busy thinking about the next one that escapes from the Ghost Zone."
"Really? Have I been fighting ghosts for that long?"
"Danny Fenton! Tucker Foley! Is there something you two would like to discuss?", the teacher asks boomingly.
"No, ma'am!" Danny and Tuck sit quietly in their seats for the rest of the class.
Eventually, the bell rings, and Danny, Sam, and Tuck meet in the hallway. "Man! That was a close one!", Danny begins.
"I'll say! What were you two talking about anyway?", Sam asks.
"That Alex Strife kid. Heard of him?"
"Oh, him? Ah, there's nothing special about him. He just understands the material. Like me!"
Just then, the threesome notices Alex by his locker. Dash Baxter walks over to him. Just as Alex opens his locker, Dash slams it shut. "Hey, there, Strifey!"
"It's not 'Strifey'. Just Strife."
"We need to talk homework. History homework, that is. You got it?"
"Oops... Sorry, Dash. I don't have it. I must've been too busy... DOING EVERYBODY ELSE'S!"
"You know, you've got a big mouth, Strife! Y'know where that mouth belongs?", Dash asks, proceeding with shoving Alex into his own locker. "Well, my work here is done!" Dash pretends to dust off his hands and walks away with his hands pocketed.
Danny, seeing this, gets angered. "That Dash! Always picking on the smart kid! We oughta help!"
Walking over to the locker, Tuck uses his PDA to scan the lock for the combination. "23 right, 15 left, 36 right! Heh. Didn't know my PDA could do that, didja?"
Sam rotates the lock's circular tumbler and opens the locker. "Alex, you okay? HUH!"
Danny notices Sam's bewildered expression. "What's wrong, Sam?"
"The locker's empty!"
She was right. Alex was in the locker for a second, and now, he's gone. "That's impossible!"
"Maybe a trapdoor?", Tuck suggests.
Danny and Sam look at him unbelievingly.
"What? It's possible! Hmm...?" Looking past Sam, Tuck spots Alex walking casually. "Hey, there he is!"
"How'd he do that?"
"I'm tellin' ya! Trapdoor!"
Meanwhile, Alex walks off looking at Danny, Sam, and Tuck examining his locker. "Good. They don't suspect a thing..."
Later that day, Danny faces off, once again, against the Box Ghost.
"Ha-ha! I am the Box Ghost! I shall seize this world of its cubic magnificence!"
"You know, you really should pick your fights better, buddy!", Danny says, charging up a simple ectoplasmic energy blast.
"You underestimate me, young half-ghost, for this time, I have come prepared!" Box Ghost reveals a watch on his left wrist. Pressing a button on its side, a suit of armor completely covers him. "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Bow before me, for I am now...the Box Knight!"
"Oh, that's original!", Danny states, unimpressed.
Box Knight materializes a cube-shaped flail and swings it at Danny. Danny grabs onto it with ease, also yawning, and uses it to swing Box Knight around, then down to the ground. Box Knight lands with a loud crash, clearly dizzy from the intense ride.
"Who gave you that armor, Plasmius? 'Cuz that would explain the tackiness!"
Box Knight regains his composure. "Grrrr... You haven't seen the last of me! I am the Box Ghost-- er, uh... I mean, Knight! BEWARE!" With that, he vanishes into thin air.
"That guy never ceases to amuse, does he?"
Returning to human form, Danny rides home on his motor scooter, thus ending his daily routine of fighting. His sister, Jasmine, greets him on his way in. "Hey, Danny. You have a visitor."
"Thanks, Jazz. Who is it?"
"Some kid named Alex. You know him?"
'Alex? How did he find out where I live?'
Alex walks down the stairs to greet Danny. "Hey, Danny. Um, you know that you have pictures of ghosts in your room, right?"
"What're you doing here, Alex? On top of that, what were you doing in MY room?", Danny roars.
"Hey, I got bored! Anyway..." Alex straightens his glasses. "Your parents tell me you're having trouble in algebra."
"Huh? Hmm..."
Danny recalls to when his parents had seen his last algebra test. He had gotten a 50. They weren't too happy about it... They had said they were going to hire a tutor for him, but he didn't think they were serious.
"Oh, crud..."
Alex laughs boisterously. "Looks like you're stuck with me! Let's get started..."
...Eventually, Danny falls limp onto the couch. "No more... No more... My brain can't take it anymore!"
Alex glances at his watch. "Danny, it's only been five minutes..."
"That long, huh? Time for a break!" Attempting to dash for the kitchen, Danny zips up from his seat, but Alex grabs the edge of his shirt and pulls him down to sit.
"Danny! How're you gonna pass any other algebra test if you don't study, or at least pay attention?"
'Sigh...' "All right, all right. Let's get this over with."
"Good. Let's move on to variables..."
Meanwhile, in the bowels of the Ghost Zone, a familiar fire burns brightly... "Good... My power's almost returned. Beware, Amity Park! Ember's makin' the comeback of a century!"
After about 3 hours, Alex starts to pack up. "Let's call it a day for now. Besides, it's getting late."
"Okay, cool. See ya tomorrow, Alex."
"Later, Danny.", Alex finishes, leaving through the front door of Danny's house.
Danny's parents walk into the living room from the kitchen. "So, how'd it go?", Mattie begins.
"Eh, it was okay. Alex says I'm a quick study."
"Glad to hear it! So, this Alex... Is he a ghost?", Jack asks with a grim expression.
"Uh, no...! And even if he was, how would I know?"
"Well, the Fenton Ghost Detector in the basement was detecting some strong ghost energy in the house.", Jack adds.
'Oh, boy...' "I think you two have had too much coffee! How 'bout some dinner, huh?" 'Oh, yeah... Smooth...'
"Good idea, Danny!", Mattie exclaims, walking back into the kitchen, leaving Jack alone with Danny.
Jack gives Danny a strange look.
"What?"
"You're SURE he's not a ghost?"
"Dad, trust me: if he were a ghost, you'd be the first to know!" 'Or mom... Whoever's smarter...'
During his walk home, Alex whistles a happy tune to himself. But just then, a cool blue mist flows from his mouth. "Uh-oh. My ghost sense. Something's up!"
The ground begins to shake. Fire hydrants burst. Stray cats and dogs run away in fear.
"That's DEFINITELY not a good sign!"
Soon, pillars of blue flame rise up from underneath the concrete streets. On top of one of these pillars, a figure with flaming blue hair stands tall. "Hello, Amity Park! Guess who's back!"
"That voice! It can't be!"
It can. And it was. The person standing on top of the fire pillar... was Ember!
The next day, during algebra class, the teacher was doing attendance. "Samantha Manson?"
"Here."
"Tucker Foley?"
"Here."
"Danny Fenton?"
"Here."
"Alexander Strife?... Alexander? Is he absent? What a shame..."
Something stirs inside Danny. 'Alex absent? That's not right...'
"Very well... Dash Baxter?"
"Here..."
Danny glances over at Alex's seat. 'Something's wrong... Alex was just fine yesterday, and now he's absent?' Suddenly, his ghost sense kicks in. 'What? Here? Now?' "Miss, may be I excused?"
"Oh. Um, sure, Danny, just take a hall pass..."
Taking the pass, Danny heads out the classroom casually, but then makes a beeline for the restroom. Inside, he leaps out the window.
"Going ghost!"
Shouting this, a green ring of energy circles around him. This ring travels up and down his body, morphing him into his ghost form, Danny "Phantom".
Soaring into the sky, Danny tracks down the source of where he sensed ghost energy. He finds a ghost girl with blazing hair in the sky, carrying half an electric guitar. "That girl... Could it be?"
The girl, standing before a small building, speaks to herself. "Long time no see, Amity Park. Maybe too long..." She feeds energy into the electric guitar half and fires a spectral fireball from it, blowing up the building.
"Hey!"
Turning around, the girl comes face-to-face with Danny, and unexpectedly smiles. "I was wondering when you'd show yourself, dipstick!"
"Of course, Ember, again with the dipstick thing!"
"'Ember'? I tossed that stupid title aside a whole 20 pages ago! Just call me... Blaze!"
"Blaze? Oh, come on! Are ALL of my enemies comin' up with new, even cheesier names?"
"Say what you want, baby pop! But as for me, I'll let my ax do the talking for me!"
"What, that? You expect me to think that thing is effective?"
The guitar half emits a light-violet aura. "Well, don't take MY word for it!" She fires a spectral fireball at Danny, knocking him back considerably.
"Whew! Okay... So, Ember's got some new moves! Well, I've got some new moves, too!", Danny states, creating an aura around his hand. "Try this!" Danny attempts to punch Blaze in the gut...
...but she catches his hand with her own. "Saw ya comin' from a mile away, kid!" She then uses her guitar to smack Danny down to the ground.
"Ow... That actually hurt..."
"And that's just the opening number!" Blaze shouts, bombarding Danny with spectral fireballs.
Underneath the smoke, Danny is defenseless as the fireballs strike his body with unrelenting force. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!"
When Blaze finally lets up, she winks at Danny... "Well, I'd hate to play and run, but I've got other business. Later, ghost kid!" ...and flies off.
Danny lies motionless in his human form, with burned skin and scorched clothes. "Ohhhh... She got so powerful... How am I supposed to beat that?"
Danny struggles to get to his feet and activates a new device on his wristwatch. Pressing a button on it, an energy ring appears above Danny. The ring travels down his body, fixing his clothes and making it look like he'd never fought. "Thank you, dad! Who'd have thought he'd invent something that actually works? Well, besides the Fenton Ghost Peeler... If I hurry, I can make it back to class."
Hurrying back to class, Danny takes his seat, and the teacher just shrugs off the fact that he had spent 10 minutes in the "bathroom".
"...Something's up, you guys!", Danny states to Sam and Tuck in the hallway. "Alex was my algebra tutor last night, and today he's absent. Then, my ghost sense kicked in and I went to see who it was..."
"The Ghost Lunch Lady?", Sam interrupts.
"Skulker?", Tuck also interrupts.
"NO! It was Ember..."
Tuck's stomach suddenly churns. "Oh, man, I'm reliving it!"
"So, what happened?"
"Apparently, Ember doesn't need live audiences to be powerful anymore! She practically tore me up!"
"And yet, you don't have a scratch on you.", Sam points out.
Danny displays his wristwatch. "My dad's Fenton Healer. If a human takes any injury from ghost energy, it instantly eradicates that injury. So far, it's his coolest invention!"
"That's tight!"
"Still, it doesn't explain why Alex didn't show today. I say we visit him after school...", Danny advises.
Only several hours later, Danny and his friends head over to Alex's humble home. Danny knocks on the front door, and Alex's father answers. "Oh, hello. Can I help you?"
"Afternoon, Mr. Strife. We're Alex's friends from school. We came over to drop off his homework."
"Oh, that's nice of you. Alex is upstairs in bed." Mr. Strife unexpectedly sighs. "Still a shame what happened to the boy."
Danny, Sam, and Tuck look at each other in worry and hurry upstairs to Alex's room. They find him in bed, as Mr. Strife had said, with a cast on his left arm, another on his right leg, a bandage wrapped around his head, and several burns on his face. "Oh. Hey, guys. What brings you here?", Alex greets the worried trio.
Tuck looks at Alex in both shock & disgust. "Alex, what happened to you?"
Alex chuckles at them. "I was on my way home from Danny's house and, as fate would have it, I slipped and fell into an open manhole cover." He was quite proud of his story.
"Ouch.", Sam envisions.
Danny places Alex's homework down on the desk by his bed. "Well, we came over to drop this off for ya."
"That's cool of you guys. Thanks."
"Well, we hope you feel better soon.", Tuck says, leaving the room.
"You coming, Danny?", Sam asks before also leaving.
"In a minute.", Danny mentions, staying behind. As Sam leaves, Danny takes a seat on Alex's bed.
"Something wrong, Danny?" Alex feels uncomfortable as Danny examines his face. "Uh...What is it?"
"The burns on your face... They're ghost burns, aren't they?"
Alex stares at Danny wide-eyed. "How'd you know that?"
"My parents are experts on ghosts. They taught me how to detect residue of ghost energy. So, how'd you get those burns?"
Alex clasps his hands together. "Well... You're right about one thing. I did get these burns from a ghost. Her name's Ember..."
The name Alex mentioned causes Danny to gasp.
"The reason she gave me these burns is because... I..."
Danny begins to feel uneasy. "Tell me, Alex..."
"It's because... I fought her."
"WHAT? HOW?"
"If I told you, you'd never believe me.", Alex says with a smirk.
"Try me.", Danny says with the same smirk.
"Okay, you asked for it." Alex ghosts his left arm out of his cast.
Danny gasps again.
"I'm half-ghost."
Danny starts to laugh.
"What's so funny?", Alex says, ghosting his arm back into his cast.
"You're wrong. I do believe you, and do you know why?" Without a moment's hesitation, Danny transforms into Danny Phantom.
"Whoa..."
"Because I'm half-ghost too."
Alex raises his eyebrow. "Y'know, I look MUCH cooler in my ghost form." His remark causes them both to laugh.
Sam and Tuck walk back in the room. "Hey, Danny, what's taking you so--" Sam notices Danny in his ghost form in front of Alex. "Danny, what're you doing?"
Danny waves his arms in panic. "Hey, hey! It's cool, Sam. Alex's a half-ghost too!"
Alex waves to Tuck and Sam with a half-ghosted arm.
Sam & Tuck gasp to learn of this. Sam takes out the picture of Specter he had printed a couple nights ago. "I thought the ghost in this picture looked familiar! You're Specter!"
Alex laughs happily. "Looks like I'm found out, huh?"
"But why keep it a secret, Alex?", Tuck mistakenly asks.
"You have to ask, Tuck?", Danny says, to his oblivious friend. But then, something strikes him. "You said Ember, right?"
"Right. Why?"
"That means I'll have to fight her again. She got so strong!"
"...Which is why you'll need this.", Alex cuts him off, handing him a ghost belt.
"What's this for?"
"A belt portal.", he states while straightening his glasses again. "I developed it myself. The button on it will open up a gateway into the Ghost Zone instantly. The portal will suck up ANY and ALL ghost energy that it senses nearby. The portal also automatically closes after about 12 seconds."
"Cool! This is a lot better than my thermos!"
"Keep it. It's a gift. Y'know, for bringing me my assignments."
Danny replaces his old belt with the belt portal. "Sweet! Now I'll be able to send Ember back into the Ghost Zone with no problem!"
"What're we waiting for? Let's go!", Tuck exclaims, dashing out of the room, Sam and Danny following him close behind.
'Good luck...' "Hmm?" Alex notices Danny's original belt on the ground. Upon picking it up... "Hey! There's ghost-energy-healing technology in this belt! I wonder..."
Downtown, Ember, or "Blaze" as she calls herself now, is holding a live concert of destruction. Using her once-favorite guitar to destroy everything in her path, she does it all with an evil smile. "Hello, Amity Park! TELL ME WHO YOU LOVE!"
Clearly, everyone was too busy running and screaming to pay attention.
"Ahhhh... This sounds SOOO much better than 'Ember, Ember!'" All of a sudden, a powerful ectoplasmic energy blast from behind knocks her to the ground. "Ohhhh... Grrrr... Who's the dead man that did that?"
Danny Phantom stands tall in the air. "That would be ME!"
"You just don't know when to quit, do ya, shorty? Well, I can fix that!", she responds, firing a more powerful spectral fireball.
Danny, in an attempt to block, crosses his arms in front of him, unexpectedly creating a ghostly force field, similar to that of Vlad Plasmius. "Whoa... That went well..."
Blaze, wide-eyed at Danny's new power, clenches her teeth as her hair becomes even fierier. Firing a barrage of fireballs, Blaze almost loses control of herself.
Danny continues to block the fireballs off, but his force field's power starts to weaken. 'Darn it! I can't hold her off forever!'
Sam panics as Danny's power weakens further. "Danny's in trouble! What do we do?"
Tuck also panics. "How am I supposed to know?"
At that moment, a voice coming from behind says, "Mind if I help?"
Turning around, Tuck and Sam spot... "ALEX!"
"You didn't think I'd miss the party, did you?"
"But, how?"
"Danny's belt has a type of restoration technology..."
"The Fenton Healer!"
Alex raises an eyebrow. "Sure... Let's call it that..."
"Danny's in trouble! Do something!", Sam shrieks.
"I plan to, but first, Tuck, hand me your PDA!"
Tuck does so, obviously not knowing what was about to happen. "Okay, but what are you gonna--"
"A few twists here, a couple turns there, and... DONE! I've added a special feature to it. Now, Tuck, when I give you the signal, I want you to aim your PDA at... that pillar right there!"
"Under the Water Tower?"
"Exactly! I'll try to stall Ember for as long as I can! Just wait for my signal!" Alex pockets his glasses and assumes his position... "SPECTER UP!" ...Alex transforms into his ghostly alter ego, Specter!
Meanwhile, Danny's force field finally powers down. "Oh, man..."
Blaze laughs raucously. "Looks like you're all outta juice! I think it's time for my encore!" Blaze charges up a massive fireball to about the size of a wrecking ball. "You ready for this?"
As soon as Blaze says this, a blue ectoplasmic energy blast strikes her back, dispersing her fireball. "You know, Ember, everyone's REALLY tired of hearing you talk!", Specter boasts.
"Alex! Uh, I mean, Specter!", Danny shouts in excitement.
"You ready for this, Ember?", Specter says, getting ready to fight.
"For the last time... IT'S... BLAZE!", Blaze screams in rage. She dashes at Specter and swings her guitar.
'So fast...', Specter thinks just as the guitar comes into contact with his side. "AAAARRGGGGHHHH!"
"You like that?", Blaze also boasts, not expecting an ectoplasmic blast to strike her back. "Ugh! YOU!"
"Bet you weren't expecting that, were you?", Danny shouts, his right hand glowing green.
Turning around, Blaze faces Danny. "You got in my way for the last--"
Cutting her off, out of the blue comes Specter, who locks Blaze's arms and head in a sort of sleeper hold. "Heh... Like I said, everyone's REALLY tired of hearing you talk! NOW, TUCK!"
Given the signal, Tuck then aims his PDA at a pillar suspending the Water Tower, firing a thin energy laser. "Whoa! What'd you do, Alex? Whatever it is, I like it!"
The laser cuts through the pillar, collapsing the Water Tower right on top of Blaze and Specter. When the steam clears, Specter holds up an almost-unconscious Blaze. "Heh... All right, Danny, open the gateway."
Danny presses a button on his belt, sending forth a beam of light, which stretches open a vacuum into the Ghost Zone.
Specter tosses Blaze towards the vacuum, but just then, her hand grabs his leg, vacuuming them both. "WHAT? WHOA!"
"Alex!"
As of now, Specter is clenching tight onto the gate's edge with Blaze clenching tight on his ankle. "If I'm goin', I'm takin' you with me!"
"Yeah, yeah - you and everybody else!" Specter uses his other leg to kick Blaze loose. She's sent flying into the Ghost Zone. One problem down.
"Alex! I gotcha!"
"NO! Danny, if you get anywhere near the gateway, you'll be sucked into the Ghost Zone with me!"
"But what about you?"
"Don't worry... No world chock full of ghosts can hold me... I'll find a way out in no time..."
Danny, Sam, and Tuck all couldn't believe what he was saying. Specter winks at Danny just before the gateway's 12 seconds were up, and it fully closed shut.
"NO! ALEX!" Danny presses the button to open another gateway. "...Huh? What's going on! NOTHING'S HAPPENING!"
"It's powerful technology... Maybe it needs to recharge...", Tuck states what may be true.
A tear escapes Sam's eye. "Don't worry, guys... We'll get him back!"
Danny nods, but then stares into space. 'Alex...'
It was only several hours later... Danny, Sam, and Tuck had all returned to their respective homes... Danny couldn't stop thinking about how foolish Alex was to let himself be sucked into a world where no one but ghosts thrive. "Darn it, Alex! Why'd you do it?"
A long sigh, and Danny heads into the basement.
'I could've done something... Anything! But I didn't...' Danny takes a long look at the Fenton Ghost Portal. Danny begins to make his way up the stairs, until...
...There was a pounding at the portal. "What the?" As the pounding got louder, Danny prepares for anything, transforming into Danny Phantom. "Whatever's trying to get in here ain't gettin' past me!"
Then, there was a muffled voice. "Danny!"
Something inside Danny stirs. "That voice... Alex, is that you?"
"Danny? DANNY, OPEN UP!"
It WAS Alex! He was alive! Danny returns to his human form and rushes at the console to open the portal. As the doors slide open, a figure jumps through. Quickly, Danny re-closes the portal. The figure, with white hair, dressed in black, wearing a familiar belt, was on the ground panting like a canine. It lifts its head... "Nice work... Partner..."
"Man, you gave me a real scare for a while!"
"Yeah, sorry about that..."
"Blaze must've given you a hard time, huh?"
"Yeah - her and several other THOUSAND ghosts. Just one thing: they all thought I was you!"
Danny and Alex start laughing, relieved that the fight was finally over.
The very next day, Danny, Sam, Tuck, and Alex all return to school. Right after algebra class, Danny and the others pack their backpacks. "So, do you think yesterday's battle was anything like a workout?", Danny then asks.
"Well, you could say I got a couple 'burns' and bruises. Heh."
Suddenly, he appears again, popping out of the teacher's desk. "Ha-ha! I am the Box Knight! Kneel before my knowledge of all things cubic and 3-dimensional!"
Danny and Alex look at each other. "May I?", Alex asks.
"He's all yours."
"Specter up!" Alex transforms into Specter. "Anyone for canned ghost?"
Box Knight stares stupidly & worriedly. "Uh, beware?"
THE END