Danny was unsure at exactly what point he fell asleep, but when he awoke, the sun was high in the sky, and the power had gone out.

Again.

He climbed out of bed and stretched, then ran downstairs to eat. There was no one home, which was fine with him. After a quick breakfast, he reverted to his ghost form and fled the house. He expected to find Sam and Tucker in the park, and was not disappointed. He truly could not understand what they liked about Soul Fire. The more he heard, the more painful it was to listen to.

He paused to hover and stare for a few minutes at his first glimpse of the band's setup. The humble little stage had been turned into a veritable outdoor amphitheater. Half a dozen speakers towered above the stage, and monitors displaying the lead singer from various angles were in ample abundance. The band's main theme seemed to be machinery and pyrotechnics; he wasn't even sure what half of those unidentified gadgets were for. They seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever, except to be decorative. High above center stage, the band name flashed in neon lights, while sparks flew everywhere just for the effect.

"Can anyone say, 'Over the top'?" Danny muttered in disgust. Fortunately, he wasn't here for the show. There were people everywhere, but their eyes were fixed on the stage. However, if he landed behind them, he would never get through to Sam and Tucker, who were close to the front. Granted, he could go intangible, but he would rather not do that around so many people. Finally, he went invisible and flew down to get their attention.

"Hey, guys, I need your help!" he said right next to their ears. They turned to look at each other, then continued around to look in the general direction of Danny's disembodied voice. They seemed angry. "Oh, come on, guys! You're not still mad about that detention, are you?"

The two exchanged glances again. With a hateful glare, Tucker pulled a Fenton Thermos out of his backpack and activated it. Danny was so startled that he almost didn't dodge it in time. He dove into the ground and came back up, visible again, behind them. "Tucker, Sam, it's me!" he exclaimed desperately.

Suddenly, someone nearby shouted, "It's the ghost kid!"

And farther back into the crowd, someone who sounded suspiciously like Paulina yelled, "Get him!"

"What?" Danny flew a few feet higher as the crowd surged forward. "Wait!" He lurched back as Tucker tried to capture him in the Fenton Thermos again. "What's going on?" he shouted in disbelief. Practically the entire town had turned against him. He dove slightly to avoid getting captured for a third time and shot over everyone's heads. At the edge of the park, he turned back for a moment to see that they were trying to follow, shouting things like "Destroy the ghost kid!" or "Burn him to the ground!"

With a groan of despair, he flew higher. It seemed like everyone around him had suddenly decided to betray him, and he couldn't figure out why. He couldn't go home, now; Sam and Tucker would be able to find him there. After some deliberation, he made his slow, depressed way to the clock tower and landed on the roof.

"First, Kat," he muttered. "And now this." He sighed heavily and dropped to the stone surface to wrap his arms around his knees. "What is going on? What did I do?" He dropped his head onto his arms. The answer was nothing; he had done nothing. Was it possible they thought he was behind the town's troubles? That would certainly explain everyone's sudden detestation.

He stood angrily and began to pace. That was completely ridiculous! Sam and Tucker, at least, should know him better than that. As his friends, even if they suspected that he was causing the blackouts, they should have given him the benefit of the doubt and a chance to explain. Instead, they were being completely unreasonable! It was almost like-

Danny gasped and stopped short in his pacing. Suddenly, it all made sense. The familiarity of the lead signer, the way her band had risen to the top so quickly, the fire-based theme, the fact that even Sam had become obsessed with the music even though Danny hated it…

The fact that everyone had suddenly turned against him…

Even the rhythm of their song sounded familiar, now that he thought about it. It sounded suspiciously like a song he had heard once before.

"Ember…" he growled. He threw himself from the roof and rushed back toward the park. Kat hadn't caused any real trouble yet; she could wait.

As if Danny needed any further proof that his pop rock-singing nemesis had brainwashed almost all the kids in town, he was treated to the tail end of her trademark song, "Remember" as he got closer. "Tell me who you love!" she yelled joyously.

"Not you!" Danny yelled back over the chanting.

Ember turned quickly and, with a malicious grin and a burst of blue flame, banished her disguise. "I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out, dipstick!" she remarked.

Rather than respond, Danny charged fists first at the would-be Kiss imposter, who made no move to defend herself. He quickly realized all was not right, but was saved from having to figure out what could be wrong when a cable sprang to life, wrapped around his ankle, and slammed him backwards into the stage.

"Ha!" exclaimed the supremely annoying voice of Technus from a nearby speaker. "Weren't expecting that, were you, ghost child?"

"Ember…and Technus?" Danny muttered, astonished.

The two ghosts were "kind" enough to let him get to his feet before Ember played a chord that threw him to the ground again. Not one to fall for the same trick twice in a row, the ghost boy became intangible and sank below the stage. He heard Technus ask where he had gone; in answer, he erupted from the stage directly below Ember, knocking her into the air and sending her guitar flying. However, he was given no chance to press the attack as, with a metallic squeal of protest, one the display supports became animate and swung straight at his head. He shot skyward and succeeded in dodging the blow only to find himself bound by some kind of energy. Within a few panicked seconds, he was staring into the claustrophobic darkness of the Fenton Thermos.

"Tucker!" he yelled as he attempted to throw himself against the walls of his prison. "Sam!" He had no idea if they could even hear him. "Guys, snap out of it! I'm your friend!"

He went on in that vein for a long time. After a bit, he stopped wasting his breath and concentrated on trying to break free, but it was impossible to move. His parents had captured him in the Ghost Weasel once. To borrow Ember's description, it was like the Taj Mahal compared to the Fenton Thermos. At last, he gave up; maybe he could find his way back once they dumped him into the Ghost Zone.

They were going to, right?

Blind and deaf inside the Thermos, he had little sensation of anything going on outside. He thought it felt like he was being jostled around, but that could be contributed to any number of things, including an overactive imagination. He had just decided that the Thermos was cruel and unusual, and was beginning to panic from worry and claustrophobia, when he felt a bang and was forcibly shoved out into a swirling green nightmare-scape. Once he recovered his senses and balance, he whirled around and began blasting the door of the Ghost Portal.

"Well, well, well," said an entirely too satisfied voice. Danny did not want to turn around; some part of his mind insisted that if he ignored the voice, it would go away. There was a moment where childish instinct warred with logic, but he finally turned to look up into the wrathful-yet-amused eyes of Sheriff Walker. "Danny Phantom," Walker went on. "You're under arrest. Take him!"

"But I'm not a ghost!" Danny yelled uselessly. He shot twin energy blasts at the two cops who moved forward to apprehend him and flew straight up.

"Resisting arrest!" Walker called after him. "Assaulting an officer of the law! You're really racking up the centuries, punk! Keep it up, and you'll be spending the rest of eternity in my prison!"

"I don't belong here!" Danny argued. He fought off another cop and managed to find a clear avenue of escape.

"After him!" the sheriff ordered. "Don't let him get away this time!"

He glanced back just in time to avoid being caught by the energy restraints all of Walker's officers were equipped with. It was almost like they were expecting him, and he had a feeling they were. Ember and Technus knew he would come investigating the park, eventually; of course, they would have a plan for his capture. He cursed his stupidity at having walked right into a trap.

Floating doors zoomed past as he continued to evade arrest. He considered ducking through one, but he couldn't know what lay beyond and didn't have time to find out. He desperately dodged around, using the doors as meager cover while Walker continued to yell after him.

Suddenly, a door opened directly in front of him. He skidded to a stop and started to go around, but his hesitation allowed one of the cops to finally hit him with a restraint. He slammed into the open door head first and was treated to a dizzying view of green and silver until he was dumped unceremoniously onto a hard metal surface.

"That's aiding and abetting, Technus!" yelled Walker from outside the door.

"You're out of your jurisdiction, Sheriff," Kat yelled back. "I'm claiming sanctuary!"

There was a pause, followed by, "That's a lab, Miss Technus! Not a church!"

"I'm an ordained minister!" Kat shot back. "If I say it's a church, it's a church!"

There was a slightly longer pause, then, "A church is a place of worship!"

Danny turned human to break free, then turned ghost again and stood. "What's happening?" he asked.

"A wanted felon can claim sanctuary inside a place of worship," Kat replied before turning back to the door. "The rules say worship; they don't say of what!"

There was very long pause. Danny could just imagine Walker, frantically flipping through his rule book, trying to find a way around Kat's loophole. "Are you really an ordained minister?" he asked.

She grinned impishly and shook her head.

"Fine!" Walker interrupted. "What do you worship in there?"

"Science, of course!" Kat replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe it was.

Neither of them could quite hear what Walker grumbled, and that was probably for the best. They did hear him order six of his officers to stand guard around the perimeter. After several minutes of silence, Danny sighed. "Why are you helping me?"

Kat seemed perplexed. "Why wouldn't I? We're friends, aren't we?"

"Friends don't attack each other!"

"I would never attack you unprovoked, Phantom," Kat replied coldly. "I have given you no reason to mistrust me."

Danny laughed mirthlessly. "The school cafeteria, Miss Technus! You blew out two of the lights and electrocuted me!"

"I have not left this lab since I brought you here!"

"Then who attacked me, huh?"

Kat's eyes sparked angrily. "Do you honestly think I'm the only gremlin in the Ghost Zone? Any number of ghosts could have done that!"

"Name one!"

"My father!"

Danny stopped. He was getting that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach again. Kat drew a glowing circle in the air between them. "Get out!"

"Kat, I-"

"GET OUT!"

"But your dad-"

"I know full well what's going on, ghost child," Kat said. "I figured it out this morning. I was going to help you. Now, you're on your own."

Danny hesitated the barest fraction of a second longer. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. Before she could respond, he flew through the mini-portal and into the alley by his house. "Darn it, Fenton," he chastised himself. "No wonder I don't have any friends…"

He shook his head; he could wallow in self-pity later. Right now, he needed to find some way to deal with Technus and Ember. He went invisible to dash into his house, pointless since there was still no one home. He hadn't seen them at the park, but he hadn't been looking, either. He sighed dejectedly as he realized that he couldn't even trust Jazz now. The only person he could trust, he had completely managed to alienate. He continued to berate himself as he dropped through the floor into his parent's lab.

There wasn't much there that he could use. The Ghost Catcher would be perfect for separating Technus from his host machinery, but it was far too impractical to carry. The Ghost Bazooka would be nice, but his mother had apparently taken it. He picked up a new Fenton Thermos and passed over the ever-tangled Ghost Fisher, the Ghost Weasel, the Ghost Grabbers…

Naming everything off like that, Danny chuckled. His dad sure had a one-track mind. Seeing that there was nothing else that could help him, he sighed and took off for the park again. This day was not going to end well.