Danny watched in amazement as the dog started to shrink. First, the back legs began to shorten, then the front. The main body and head also changed in proportion to all four legs. The stark white fur became a pale brown and longer, darker puffs of fur grew around the neck, near the hind legs and on the tip of the tail. Its ears that had pointed up dropped down to the side of the head and expanded to rectangles of black fur.
"You don't see that every day," Danny commented and flew over to the shivering poodle. "This is Fluffy – Paulina's dog."
He picked Fluffy up in search of a collar to verify his claims. Sure enough, a perfectly fitted white collar was around Fluffy's neck. A shiny silver tag dangled with Paulina's name and phone number on it.
"I'm so going to take a note of that," Danny said, in reference to the number.
Something else was printed in black on the collar. Danny gently brushed the small amount of Fluffy's fur that partially covered it.
"'Paws and Claws'," Danny read and quickly came to a conclusion. "The new pet shop!"
Danny removed the collar from Fluffy and set her down. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
He allowed himself to become human once again. Fluffy yelped quietly in surprise of the two bright rings sprouting from Danny's middle and zooming over him.
He put the collar into his pocket, scooped up Fluffy and held her close to his chest. She trembled fearfully. He gently tickled the puppy under the chin with his index and middle fingers. She looked up at him with wide, almost grateful, brown eyes then snuggled up to the red oval on his white T-shirt.
Danny smiled and turned around the corner. Many owners looked for their lost pets. He felt a pang of guilt, since he knew where many resided. He carried on towards Paulina.
Danny tapped her on the back. "Paulina, is this your dog?"
She looked up from searching under a lunch table for her puppy. "Fluffy! Where did you find her?"
"She was hiding around a corner."
"She seems to have taken a liking to you."
Danny held Fluffy out for Paulina to take hold of; the puppy had fallen asleep in his arms. Paulina tenderly grasped her around the chest and cradled her as Danny let go.
Fluffy slowly opened her eyes and yawned. She let out a bark of appreciation for Danny. Looking up at Paulina, the puppy shifted uncomfortably in her arms and rested her head softly against her owner. Light puppy snores came from the mass of brown fur in Paulina's arms.
"Well Danny, I guess I'll see you around." Paulina flashed a potentially award-winning smile at him (or at least it seemed award-winning to him), turned and walked off.
"See, I told you the animals were dangerous!"
Danny looked over his shoulder; Tucker and Sam stood behind him. Tucker was now programming something into his PDA.
"Still scared of rabbits, Tucker?"
Tucker seemed to blush. "Not scared; wary."
Sam looked over Tucker's shoulder. "What are you doing on that thing?"
"Making a reminder."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "About what? 'Don't forget to be scared of rabbits'?"
Tucker pulled the PDA out of her view. "No. 'Don't forget: avoid rabbits at all costs'."
Sam rolled her eyes and looked over to Danny. "Everything okay?"
"Not exactly. The pets are transforming into monsters, and the only clue I have is this collar." Danny produced the collar from his pocket.
"'Paws and Claws'? Isn't that the new pet shop?" Tucker questioned.
"Yeah, I think we need to have a look around."
"I can't help tonight," Sam said.
"Why?" Tucker asked suspiciously.
"My Mom wants to take me shopping."
"But you like shopping with us."
"You've never been shopping with my Mom."
Both boys looked at her sympathetically. "Oh."
Danny smiled. "Do you think you can drag her into the pet shop?"
"Probably. Why?"
Danny grinned. "I have a plan."
-----
Sam sighed; shopping with her mother was never a fun thing to do, especially when she tried to persuade Sam to at least try something on. About ninety-nine point nine recurring percent of the time, that something was pink. It was almost depressing, even by her standards.
They wouldn't take too long in shopping, mainly because Sam's mother tried to visit every fashionable clothes shop in Amity Park within the space of an hour. Sam had also promised Danny that she would check out Paws and Claws, which she could easily do if she sneaked away from her mother.
Luckily, they were visiting the smaller shops and businesses. The fact that a smaller Abyss (compared to the one found in Amity Park mall) was situated there and, according to her mother, it dealt some of the best merchandise from the company in the city had nothing to do with it.
Yet another lucky coincidence was that Abyss was located a few blocks down from Paws and Claws.
"Mom?" Sam asked.
"Yes," came the reply from inside a rack of clothes.
"I'm... going to have a look around to see if I can find any clothes I like."
Sam's mother didn't even look out from the clothes. "Okay, don't wander off too far."
Sam turned and dashed for the door.
-----
Meanwhile, Danny and Tucker were in the Fenton laboratory.
"Are you sure he'll let us use this, Danny?" Tucker examined the Fenton Thermograph, to which Danny was making 'improvements'.
Danny stuck the last piece of red plastic coated wire down with a small piece of duct tape. "Sure. They've been modifying it all day. If we offer to test it with my improvements, they'll let us. Besides, it works fine, they'll never know-"
"Know what, Danny?" Jack's voice boomed from behind, startling the two boys.
Danny turned around, quickly hiding the Fenton Thermograph behind his back. "Know that-" He hung his head in feigned sadness. "Know that I was down here, making improvements to the Fenton Thermograph." Danny lifted his head up to meet Jack's eyes. He showed his father the invention, which simply had pieces of wire stuck all over it with duct tape. "I was going to test it for you, but I guess you probably won't let us."
"Danny, Danny, Danny. Of course I'll let you test it. All you have to do is ask." Jack put a hand on Danny's shoulders, covering them. "Thanks for improving the Fenton Thermograph for us. You must be a Fenton – nobody else would know how to improve the inventions."
"Thanks Dad!" Danny shouted; he was already halfway up the stairs with Tucker close behind.
-----
Sam looked around the pet shop. It wasn't very busy; only a few people were milling around, examining the animals for sale. The pet care items were located towards the back of the room, nearer to the tills.
The animals were located at the front of the room. Sam stood between the rabbit pen and ferret enclosure. She stared into the ferret enclosure. A couple of ferrets (one white, one brown) were tumbling about on the hay-lined floor. Another drank water from a bottle at the side of the cage.
It was a completely black ferret. Its fur shone smoothly in the light. Sam watched it- her adoringly. She stared back at Sam with two magnificently full lilac eyes.
Sam fell in love with the ferret at the sight. She ran out of the shop, back to Abyss hoping to drag her mother in to buy the creature for her.
-----
In the shadier parts of Amity, Danny Phantom held the Fenton Thermograph and scanned the area for ectoplasmic cold spots. He had scanned the rest of the town (starting with paws and claws) and, according to it, not a single ghost lurked anywhere.
He was about to give up on the thermograph when it started to bleep. He looked at the graph displayed on screen. The line was now red and dropping rapidly.
"I hope this thing is right," Danny muttered to himself before dropping on to the roof of the house that was registered by the Thermograph as 'HAUNTED'.