In his human form, Danny walked through the wall of Skulker's lair. He quickly looked around,
but saw no one. He returned to ghost form and became invisible.
He drifted up near the ceiling and took a better look around. He was in a large room with cages set in rows and columns. It was well-lit, the inhabitants clearly visible. He drifted over and took a closer look at a cage. 'Iron,' he thought. 'No wonder they haven't escaped.'
He drifted down the first row, looking in each one. There was one ghost per cage. Many of them were humanoid, or animals. Several made his eyes hurt to look at. Then he saw a short humanoid ghost with spindly arms and legs and a large head with huge black eyes. Danny had been interested in UFOs for a while, and he recognized the ghost as an alien called a "Gray". It was surprising to learn they actually existed, and even more suprising that one was here. Then it occurred to him that there was no reason why Earth should be the only planet with ghosts, and the Ghost Zone was as infinite as the living universe.
The Gray seemed to be staring directly at Danny, even though he was invisible, and it turned its head to follow him as he drifted by. But it said nothing, and made no other movement.
He continued through the room until he came to the end of the inhabited part. Beyond that sat empty cages to the back of the room.
'I must have missed her,' he thought, an turned back to the front. But a glimpse of color caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He flew between the empty cages to the very back of the room. There, in the far corner, was his quarry.
Desiree was in a small cage that was barely wider than she was, and barely taller. She had turned her lower, "smoky" half into legs, and stood on the bottom of the cage. The cage was so small that she had little choice but to stand as still as possible. There was no way for her to sit down, and hardly any movement would bring her into contact with the iron bars, and the pain from them.
As Danny approached, he saw she was softly weeping.
Using his new ghost power, Danny looked intently at her.
'She isn't evil,' he thought with relief.
"Desiree?" he said quietly.
"Who is there?" she asked quickly, "Skulker?"
"No, it's me, Danny Fenton," he said, and became visible.
She stared at him. "The ghost child," she said. She stood a little straighter. "So, it wasn't enough to capture me in the living world and send me to the Ghost Zone. Now you are here to laugh at my misery, and make my torture worse."
"No, I'm here to rescue you," Danny replied.
"Well, enjoy it while you can," she said harshly, "Because someday I will get out of here, and I will... uh... what did you say?"
"I said I'm here to rescue you. How do you open this thing?"
"RESCUE ME?" she said, hope appearing on her face, and just as suddenly replaced with suspicion. She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
"We need your help," he replied, looking at the cage.
"Need my help?" she echoed.
"Yeah. Look, I'm going to get you out of there, and all I ask in return is that you come with me, listen to the problem, and make a fair and honest decision if you will help or not."
"And if I choose not to help, you will wish me back into this cage," she said.
Danny shook his head. "No, you'll be free to go."
She stared at him. "You swear this?"
"Yeah, I do," he replied without hesitation.
She was silent for a few seconds. "Done. The bargain you offer is more than fair," she said.
"Great," said Danny, "Now how do I get you out?"
She nodded at the wall. "There is a set of buttons over there that control the cages. I am in the Punishment Cage. It is labled like that."
He drifted over to the wall, and found the control console. Each cage was numbered, and each had a toggle switch labled "Open" and "Close". The Punishment Cage had a more complex set of controls, that made it larger or smaller, taller or shorter. He found the correct switch,
and turned it to the "Open" position.
The top of Desiree's cage swung open, and she drifted up and out of it. She spread her arms,
and turned her lower half back to smoke. A huge grin was on her face. She flew over to Danny,
and opened her mouth. But before she could say anything, there was a sudden blare of sirens and warning lights flashing.
"Oh, great," said Danny.
Desiree was panic-stricken. "What do we do now?" she asked, looking around fearfully.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" boomed a voice from the front of the room.
"SKULKER!" said Desiree, grabbing Danny's arm. "We are doomed!"
Danny suddenly grinned. "No, we're not!" he said, and began flipping switches to "Open".
Ghosts of all shapes and sizes flew out of their cages. There was mass confusion, and Skulker ran around screaming, and trying to recapture them all at once.
"Come on, this way," Danny said, pointing toward the far wall. He turned invisible, and Desiree followed suit.
As they moved toward the wall, they kept an eye on Skulker. The other ghosts had suddenly gotten the idea to gang up on him. They surrounded him, and advanced toward him. Skulker merely grinned, and waited for them.
At the wall, they turned visible. "How do we get through?" asked Desiree, "He has a magic ghost shield on the walls to prevent escape."
"I have an idea," said Danny. "I don't know if this will work, but I hope so."
Danny turned human. "Quick, get inside of me," he said. Confused, Desiree did so. Danny proceeded to walk through the wall with no trouble.
"Okay, you can come out, now," he said, and she did.
"I am impressed, ghost child," she said, "And I will hold to our bargain."
"Call me Danny," he said, returning to ghost form, "And follow me."
He flew over the hill, and back toward where the others were waiting. Desiree followed closely.
Behind them, the alarms were still blaring, and the sounds of fighting could be heard.
Danny pulled down the microphone from the Fenton Phones he was wearing. "Tuck? Sam? You there?"
"Go, Danny," answered Tucker.
"Mission accomplished," said Danny, "And we're heading back. Turn on the beacon."
"Roger that. See you soon," replied Tucker.
A beeping sound came from the Phones, which grew louder in a certain direction. They flew in that direction.
Distances and time act strangely in the Ghost Zone, and while it seemed to take them an hour to get there, it also seemed to be just over the hill. They landed beside the vehicle, where Tucker, Sam, and Ember waited.
Using wood from a nearby stand of dead trees, they had made a ring of stones, and started a fire. The fire was an eerie green, but warm. Danny returned to human form, stepped over to it, and warmed his hands. Sam handed him a jacket, which he put on.
"So what happened?" asked Tucker.
"I found her in an iron cage so small she couldn't move without touching it. I got her out,
and freed all the other ghosts he was holding," answered Danny.
Ember shuddered appreciatively.
"How did you end up there?" asked Sam of Desiree.
"Vlad Plasmius captured me, and sold me to Skulker," she replied.
"One more score to settle with him," muttered Danny.
Desiree looked at him. "It is of no consequence," she told him.
"What? You don't mind being treated like that?" asked Sam.
Desiree shrugged. "I am a harem girl. I have been sold before. And punished when I failed to please my master. I am used to it."
"Well, we're not, and it's not going to stand," said Sam.
"You will seek revenge on my behalf?" asked Desiree, confused.
"Vlad has a lot to answer for," answered Sam.