Jazz peeked around the door to her sister's room to find her sitting cross-legged on the bed, apparently deep in meditation. Every few seconds, her form would shimmer slightly, and once or twice, she even became downright foggy. "Uh, Danni? What are you doing?"

"Trying to learn how to shape shift," the ghost girl answered without opening her eyes. "I refuse to stay like this forever."

"Ah…" Jazz said, smiling slightly. "Well, Mom and Dad just called to say they'll be late getting home. They met some ghosts at the mall." Snickering quietly, she backed out again.

Danni fell back on the bed as soon as the door was closed again. She wasn't even certain she could shape shift, let alone figure out how so quickly. Elegy and Fiona had gotten into her world somehow; there had to be a way back to theirs. Maybe if she could find it…

Well, she wasn't sure what would happen then, but it was better than sitting around. She transformed again, and flew out over the town. The problem would be finding them, of course. She didn't know much about them, but she did know where Elegy liked to hang out when she was in town.

The café was mostly deserted when she poked her head through the ceiling. She located her quarry just leaving and followed at a decent distance. It was definitely strange, though. The last time the woman didn't know she was being followed, she had walked with a somewhat vacant look, like her mind was in another world. This time, she had a very purposeful stride, even taking the time to sneer at people who got in the way. It was as though it wasn't even the same person.

And what if it wasn't? Elegy had said she had other creatures like Fiona. What if that was one of them? But then, where was the real Elegy?

She watched the lady walk through a door and drifted lower. The windows were boarded up for some reason and paper covered the glass door. Unable to see in, she followed, hesitantly, into a painfully familiar shifting green landscape. "The Ghost Zone?" she muttered. "But how-"

Her confusion was brought to an end by the sound of laughter behind her. "Did you ever have the feeling that someone up there was toying with you? That your life was nothing but entertainment for a greater being?"

"Who are you?" Danni demanded.

The woman rolled her eyes. "I am Nocturne, the dark half. That fool Elegy treats this place like a wildlife reserve. She's always going on and on about maintaining the canon universe. But I say let them rot! Why have a universe under your total control if you can't have a little fun with it, hm?"

Danni charged her fists with ectoplasmic energy and fought off the sudden, infuriating desire to cry. "What have you done with her?"

Nocturne smirked. "Oh, I think you've got worse problems than the welfare of someone who's been toying with your life for four months." Then she was gone, along with the door.

The ghost girl looked around, painfully aware that she was lost in the Ghost Zone with no one to turn to and no idea of how to get home. The area looked vaguely familiar, as though she'd been through once or twice, but it gave her no clues as to which direction the Fenton Portal was in. That, of course, was assuming she could even get through with Walker's goons standing guard on it. Picking a direction at random, she drifted off in the hopes that she would find an area she knew.

Nocturne...Nocturne and Elegy...the musical theme was not lost on her. They could have been twins; maybe they were? It would explain why Fiona had chosen to present herself as his twin. Or maybe Elegy had split personalities; that would have explained the "dark half" comment.

Wasn't that a novel by Stephen King? Was it some kind of clue? Or was she reading too much into things in a desperate attempt to understand why?

She had never felt like her life was under a microscope before, but the woman's comments had put her on edge. She could almost feel someone staring over her shoulder, waiting to see what she would do next. A furtive glance confirmed that it was just her imagination.

Where were all the ghosts, anyway? Granted, the Ghost Zone wasn't a hotbed of activity, but there were usually one or two spirits floating around. The mental picture of a handful of her enemies gathered around a television screen to watch her exploits crossed her mind, and she forced it away. She was just being paranoid.

And wasn't that the point, after all? To whittle away her comfort and peace of mind for whatever game Nocturne had cooked up? No one was watching her! This was all just an elaborate plot to...do something...she wasn't sure what exactly, but she would figure it out.

However, in the meantime, she needed to figure out how to get home. She tried to count the number of allies she had in the Ghost Zone, and realized that there were only two people she could trust, three if Kat was still around somewhere, and no way to reach them. That had never really occurred to her before, that almost every ghost in existence wanted her dead…or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

Her increasingly nervous ruminations were interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle as it slowed down to pace alongside. She glanced over at the two chuckling ghosts and tried to hide her embarrassment. "Yes?"

"Do…" Johnny 13 trailed off to laugh at the sound of her voice. "Do you need a ride?" Behind him, Kitty was trying to maintain a bit more tact.

Danni considered telling them she was fine. She didn't exactly trust them, but they weren't trying to kill her. "Uh, maybe you could just point the way back to the Ghost Portal?"

"Oh, come on, Danni," Kitty said, holding out her hand. "Hop on! Johnny can get you there a lot faster."

"Yeah, come on, man. Oh, sorry. Ma'am." He rubbed his shoulder where his girlfriend smacked it, still laughing.

Danni sighed. "So how many of you know about this?" she asked hesitantly, uncertain she really wanted to know.

Johnny pretended to consider the question for a moment. "Oh, only…everyone!"

"I'm going to kill Kat…"

"I hope you mean Electra," Kitty teased. The two lovebirds laughed again at her expression; they knew exactly whom she meant. The ghost scooted closer to her boyfriend and patted the seat behind her. "Come on. I promise we'll stop laughing."

Johnny scoffed and muttered something like, "No, we won't."

Although Danni seriously questioned her sanity, she climbed up behind them and held on as Johnny took off at a speed that bordered on reckless. "So you know about Walker's barricade, right?" the biker yelled over the roar of the engine.

"Yeah, but it's the only way back!" Danni replied.

Kitty twisted around slightly to look back at her. "There's another portal. We can take you there."

"I know the guy who owns it. We're not exactly friends. So how'd you guys know where to find me?"

"We didn't!" Johnny answered. "This is our usual turf!"

"We were just driving by when we saw you," Kitty continued. "And I told Johnny to pull over. He wanted to just drive by, laughing."

Yes, that sounded like Johnny 13. Apparently, the Influence had not yet reached the Ghost Zone. Maybe Nocturne hadn't actually been planning to throw her there, which brought up an interesting question: had any of this actually been planned? And what would it mean if her tormentor were improvising?

Probably nothing.

"Hey!" Danni exclaimed, struck by a sudden epiphany. "Do you guys know where to find Electra?"


"You sure you don't want us to stick around?" Johnny asked, clearly anxious to be off.

The ghost girl shook her head. "Nah, I can get home from here. Thanks for the ride." Kitty blew her a kiss behind Johnny's back as they sped away. Danni took a moment to grin before turning back to the door. It was rather nondescript, entirely non-threatening, and it was with great trepidation that she reached out to knock.

"What?" yelled a voice from the other side. Danni cringed; she'd been afraid of that. The nondescript door was flung open to reveal the self-titled technological genius in all his fury at being interrupted. He took one look at Danni, and all traces of his foul mood vanished into laughter.

She was becoming entirely too used to that response. "Where's Kat?" she demanded, glaring.

Technus, still laughing, leaned against the doorframe and shook his head. "I didn't believe it when she told me," he chortled.

Danni folded her arms. "Is she here?"

"What are you asking me for? I'm not her keeper."

"You're her father, aren't you?"

Her enemy snorted. "Kat's a grown woman. I've got more important things to worry about." He chuckled again. "I feel like I should fight you now, but I'd rather just laugh." And he very pointedly did just that. The door slammed shut.

Danni sighed in aggravation and pounded on it again. "What now?" Technus demanded.

"Can you at least tell me if she's still in the Ghost Zone somewhere?"

"You are sorely trying my patience, ghost child! Go askSkulker!" The door slammed a second time.

The day just got better and better.