Author's note: the italic text within the story describes "spash pages" like the way many Danny Phantom episodes depict fight scenes. I actually drew one of them, a link to which can be found in my profile. If anyone else wants to draw the other three, feel free! (lol)

Chapter 3

Danny, Jazz, and Maddie all stand in front of the Fenton RV, gawking at a truly bizarre spectacle: Jack, flat on his back, clutching a football with Vlad sprawled atop him, disheveled hair flying wildly, free of its customary ponytail. Before anyone has a chance to recover from their shock, Vlad leaps back to his feet and snatches the football back up from Jack, tossing up into the air and catching it again with a smile and a flourish.

"Jack my man!" he booms in a jovial voice, devoid of any hints of the hatred he previously held for his old college friend, "I see you still got the old moves! Come on, lets go play!" he waves the football enticingly before Jack's eyes. As Jack picks himself up off the ground, Penelope Spectra appears in the doorway.

"But Dear," she points out, "you're still wearing your suit. You'll ruin it." Jazz and Danny trade shocked looks as Vlad ponders that for a moment, then his face brightens with a genuine-looking smile and he points a finger at Spectra.

"You're right!" he exclaims, "Here!" and with that, he strips off his suit-jacket, pale grey hair waving in the breeze in a very Fabio-esque manner, and tosses it into Spectra's waiting hands. He grabs Jack and they run off toward the football field around the back of the castle. Maddie, Danny, and Jazz watch them go, open-mouthed in surprise. Maddie, the first to recover, then turns to face Spectra with a skeptical squint and plants her fists on her hips.

"So...where's Vlad?"

Spectra sighs quietly, and motions everyone to follow her inside. Maddie and Spectra chat quietly as they walk in, Jazz and Danny watching their every move like hawks. After a few minutes of nothing spectacular happening though, they're both bored. Jazz leans in close to Danny and whispers to him "Do you think Dad's ok?"

Vlad stands with one foot planted in the middle of a laid-out Jack's back and spikes a touchdown into the end zone. (see image)

Jack, holding a football, body-checks Vlad into the goal post.

Jack lies flat on his back, Vlad running up and over him like a ramp.

Jack runs clean over Vlad, planting his face in the grass.

Spectra's smiling face suddenly appears in between the two of them, causing both of them to jump.

"I'm sure Vlad and your father are just fine." she purrs at them. Danny and Jazz exchange worried glances as Spectra withdraws to chat with Maddie again. Maddie greets her with a frown that's a mixture of confusion and slight suspicion.

"So...how did you and Vlad meet?"

Spectra's eyes roll toward the ceiling briefly, apparently lost deep in thought for a moment. "Oh," she starts, then her gaze drops to focus on Danny, and she smiles at him. "Danny, could you be a dear and take this down to the laundry room for me?" she says as she hands him the suit-jacket she was still holding. Danny scowls back at her, the unpleasant memories of the last time he was sent off on an 'errand' in this house springing to his mind.

"Oh no, I'm not falling for..oof!" he suddenly cuts off, having been elbowed in the ribs rather hard by Jazz. She grabs him by the arm before he can recover and pipes up, "Danny really shouldn't be wandering around such a large house by himself, I'll go with him!" With that, she takes off, practically dragging Danny along with her.

Maddie and Spectra watch them go, one with an expression still laced with slight suspicion, one with a wistful smile that fades away to a hint of remorse. Still staring down the hall after them, Spectra remarks "What wonderful children you have, Madeline."

Maddie smiles somewhat uncertainly, "Thank you, and you can call me Maddie, if you'd like."

Spectra's smile brightens again, "Thank you, Maddie. Vlad tells me that you and Jack are ghost hunters?"

At the mention of her favorite subject, all suspicions are forgotten, and Maddie smiles enthusiastically, "Why yes!"

"He also said you've even vanquished a ghost in this very house?" Spectra continued.

"Oh yes!" responds Maddie, ecstatic at the chance to talk about ghosts, "That happened during our class reunion..." Maddie goes on and on and on about the class reunion, Jack, and the Wisconsin Ghost, totally forgetting that her own question had never been answered.

----------------------------------------------------

Danny and Jazz wander down a long hallway, trying to find the laundry room and glad of the chance to talk to each other alone. Jazz ponders for a moment, then remarks to Danny "Now according to your files, Spectra is a ghost, and she feeds off negative emotions to keep herself looking young, and..." Jazz pauses for a second and scowls, "...she tried to kill me!"

Danny glares back at her indignantly, "Hey! Didn't I tell you to stay out of my computer!"

Jazz rolls her eyes and replies "This is serious, Danny, we can talk about your privacy rights later. Now, Spectra is a ghost, right?"

Danny smirks, "Yeah..." sarcasm and annoyance practically drip from that single word. "why?" he continues in a much more normal tone of voice.

"Then why hasn't your ghost sense gone off?" Jazz asks, arms crossed.

Danny blinks a few times in sudden surprise, "Huh?"

"I've been watching, and I haven't seen your breath the whole time we've been here. See? Having me around is helpful!" Jazz smiles proudly.

"Uh oh! That is not good!" Danny shoots back in a worried tone, "The only way she wouldn't trigger my ghost sense is either if she weren't a ghost anymore, or if she's figured out some way to block it."

"But how..." Jazz starts, then Danny's and Jazz's eyes both fly wide as the same thought hits them at the same moment...

"VLAD!"