A special thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: JDPhoenix, GallyHoshi, AlisSilly, Shimegami-chan, Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse, Grey Raven North, Catadmin, Wushu, Purple Person, Nobody Famous, passing4insane, and Mystitat. Responses will hopefully be out by next morning. D

Questions

Danny wasn't in first period on Monday. Sam tried not to be surprised, but she was beginning to wonder how big the Specter Speeder was, if he was still distracting ghosts from a smuggling run.

However, he appeared at lunch, just like usual … only this time, he had another boy in tow. "Hey, Sam. Sorry I missed you this morning. I, er, slept through my alarm." He sat down, motioning for the boy with him to sit too. "This is Tucker Foley. Tuck, Sam Manson."

"Hi," the boy said, altogether too cheery for Sam. He was black, wearing thick glasses and a red beret. "Nice to meet you, Sam." He didn't do it too obviously, but he was definitely eyeing her body. "Very nice to meet you."

"Ew, are you hitting on me?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not for sale, you know."

Danny laughed. Sam glared at him. "I met Tucker this weekend. He lives two doors down from me," Danny said. "He's part of the … you know."

Sam blinked. "Really?" She looked back at Tucker, this time observing him in a new light. "You hate Pariah, too?"

"Not so loud," the boy protested, ducking his head a little. "Man, how lousy would it be if we were busted sitting in the cafeteria?"

"You're in my PE class," Sam realized.

"Well, duh. I've lived here my whole life," Tucker snorted. "I'm in your science class, too. If we actually had school dances, you'd be the first person I asked," he snorted.

"Thanks, I think," Sam answered, unsure what to make of Tucker. She'd never made a point of knowing everyone in school, after all. "Well, Danny, I missed you this morning."

"Really? Why?" Danny bit into his sandwich.

"'Cause I have a story to tell you." Sam launched into the tale of her overshadowing experience.

Danny seemed to take this in stride, but Tucker was clearly intrigued. "Wow, a ghost on the loose that Pariah doesn't like, personally? Crazy," he said enthusiastically.

"I'll bet it's the same one that the goons have been chasing around all week," Sam snorted. "He claims he was here before Pariah, but this is the first time I've seen him. And he seems to have taken a very personal interest in me for some reason." The thought of having been overshadowed by her ghost stalker was a little sickening.

Danny was concentrating on his food unusually hard.

"Walker's never had a problem capturing a rogue ghost before," Tucker said thoughtfully. "I wonder why this one is so much trouble?"

"You mean there are other rogue ghosts?" Sam asked. "Danny told me that there are ghosts that don't like Pariah and probably want to fight him, but … how would you know how much trouble Walker's had with them?"

"Sam, I'm a techno geek," Tucker answered, wearing the label proudly like a badge of honor. "Just about anything you want to know about ghosts can be found on a computer somewhere in Amity. It's all just a matter of knowing how to get to it." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "And I happen to have a record of all of Walker's ghostly inmates."

"I told you Walker had a ghost prison," Danny suddenly interjected.

"Hey, great!" Sam cheered. "Can I see it? Maybe it has that ghost kid on it."

"Sure! I'll show it to you tonigh—well, maybe tomorrow," Tucker amended. "There's a thing I have to go to."

Sam remembered belatedly that the resistance was meeting. "Right, me too."

"Me three." Danny polished off his sandwich with gusto. "Could be worse, though. At least Pariah's not where I'm going."

Sam grinned at that.

She didn't, however, mention that she'd noticed the dark circles under Danny's eyes.

&

"All right, all right! Everyone sit down, listen up," called Mr. Baxter. The little pocket of resistance members wrapped up their conversations in whispers, then took their seats.

Sam found herself sitting between Tucker and Danny. Danny had slept through History, much to Sam's amusement. She wondered what on earth he'd been doing the night before.

"All right." Mr. Baxter pressed his hands together and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "For the first time in years, we have a fighting chance. The Fentons have been smuggling in ghost-hunting equipment, and hopefully within the next six months we'll be ready to start ejecting the ghosts from Amity."

"But we're in the Ghost Zone. What difference does it make if we eject ghosts from Amity? They'll just come back in," protested Lancer.

"Actually, we have a solution for that!" This was Maddie, who stood up with a placating motion. "We're working on creating a Ghost Shield! We will use it to encompass Amity, then eject the ghosts from the town."

"Fantastic!" Mr. Gray looked excited by this news. "But … if it's powered by electricity, it would be simple to disable."

"It won't be powered by electricity, silly," Maddie said cheerfully. "We're making a generator that is powered by ectoplasm."

"How will that help? It's the enemy that's ectoplasmic." This was from Elliot.

"Oh, ah," interjected Jazz, "It's okay! The Ghost Zone has tons of ambient ectoplasm! Anything powered by ectoplasm should have plenty of power!" She sounded slightly panicked.

Danny shifted uncomfortably.

"Even if we put up a shield around Amity, Pariah Dark will just come after us – and we can't stop him indefinitely, can we? We want to get out of the Ghost Zone, not just live in a shield," said Mr. Foley.

"Uh, actually, I have a hint about …" Danny trailed off as all eyes turned towards him.

"Go on, Danny," encouraged Jazz, nudging him.

"Uh, I have hint about where Pariah Dark gets his power," Danny said slowly. "He has the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire."

"What are those?" Sam wanted to know.

"Together the two artifacts give the wearer power that's like a hundred times greater than their natural power. And Pariah is pretty strong naturally," Danny explained.

"So? We can't stop him, then," protested Mrs. Baxter.

"We're working on that one, too," boomed Jack. "The Fenton Suit is already a quarter done!"

"But the interface is glitchy," Maddie threw in, her tone cautioning. "It may be a while before it's ready."

"It's a suit that enhances the wearer's abilities 100 times, just like the Ring and Crown," Jazz added, clearly sensing the congregation's confusion. "Hopefully it'll give us the edge we need to get the Ring and Crown away from Pariah!"

"And if we do that? What then?" asked Mr. Foley.

"Pariah Dark was locked away in a sarcophagus by a group of ghosts called the Ancients over 1000 years ago," Jazz answered. "If we can locate the sarcophagus, we can lock him away in it again, after we get his sources of power away from him."

"And we'd need the Skeleton Key to do it," Maddie added.

There was a moment of silence.

"That's a lot of 'if's," Tucker said quietly.

"Well, for the first time, we have a plan," Mr. Baxter said, clearly trying to sound cheery. "At least it's a start."

&

The next night found Sam at Tucker's house. Danny had made a brief appearance at the front door, pleading 'hide me!', but when his parents appeared around the corner he looked defeated.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, rather incredulous at Danny's behavior.

"Oh … nothing …"

"Doesn't look like nothing," Tucker grinned.

"Danny! Honey! Don't you want to help us test the Fenton Foamers?" cried a distraught Maddie, pounding up to Danny's side.

Danny gave his new friends a pleading look, but there was nothing they could do in the face of parental authority. Sam made a weak protest along the lines of needing help with her History homework, but Jack shot her down cheerfully.

"That can wait! The Foamers can't!"

Danny was led away, apparently unhappy. "Well …" Sam trailed off. "That was strange. Even for Danny. And he's pretty strange," she remarked.

"He's pretty close to his family," Tucker observed.

Sam shot him a look of incredulity. "Close to his family? That looked more like outright terrified."

"Well ... most of the time he's not like that," Tucker said. "I mean, you should have seen him this weekend! He and his sister are like best buds."

"Yeah? Speaking of which, isn't she like sixteen? Shouldn't she be going to our school?"

"Danny says she's starting next week. If she doesn't get started soon, though, you know she'll be pushed into working for Pariah," Tucker remarked.

"I know," Sam had said darkly. She stared after Danny's family. "I wonder what will happen when the Fentons are forced into working for him, too."

But now they were parked in front of Tucker's computer. "Toldja I had the whole Walker database on my computer," Tucker said proudly.

"Impressive," Sam said, narrowing her eyes and absently twisting the new silver ring on her middle finger. The ring was a gift from the Fentons; it apparently worked like the ring that Mr. Baxter had forced Sam to wear at the first meeting, and prevented overshadowing. "Wear it all the time," Maddie had instructed. "But if you do have to take it off, don't worry! Ghosts can't detect it, and if they put it on your finger, they'll accidentally expel themselves!" Tucker was wearing one too. Sam hadn't seen one on Danny's finger, but she thought there was a good chance he had something else that prevented overshadowing – probably something cooler than a thick, dull-looking ring.

"Very impressive," Sam reiterated. She started scrolling down through the listings. "Lunch Lady? The Box Ghost? Skulker? Who are these ghosts?"

"I think most of them were haunting Wisconsin," Tucker answered. "There was some thing I found on an old database about ghost attacks like right around the time that Amity disappeared into the Ghost Zone. Everyone thought Wisconsin was next to go, but then the ghosts just disappeared."

"Walker got 'em. If they're in jail, then they don't work for Pariah, do they?" Sam remarked, scrolling down. "Hey, look at this. The records say that most of these ghosts have had at least one jailbreak in the last four years."

"And they're all back in jail. So?"

"Just find it kind of weird," Sam answered. "Hey … a wolf named Wulf. That's who Danny said attacked him last Thursday. Wait … I think I've seen him … but it was a while ago."

"Look, it says he's on probation – Pariah Dark has him commissioned," Tucker pointed out. "Weird."

"The power to tear holes in the dimensional fabric?" Sam raised her eyebrows at the fine print. "That'd be so useful – if he'd use it for us!"

"But he doesn't. He uses it for Pariah." Tucker rested his head on his desk. "Looking through this just made me wonder, you know? There's only four ghosts that actually have personality that follow Pariah, and we don't even know the name of one of them."

"Maybe I've seen him. What's he look like?" Sam asked, starting to scroll down again.

"Black hair spiked like horns, red eyes, blue skin … wears all white and a red cape. Mom says we've only gotten glimpses of him."

"I think I have seen him," Sam said, turning to look at Tucker. "He's been at a couple of Pariah's parties, but all he does is just grin and then disappear." She sighed. "Maybe my mom and dad's computer would have some information about it, but I can't break their firewall!"

"A firewall? That's it?" Tucker snorted. "Sam, I could have that down in an hour. You just name the time and place."

Sam blinked at him. "You serious?"

"Two words, Sam, two words: Techno Geek." Tucker grinned. "Breaking into computers is what I do."

&

"Well, this has all been very informative," Sam remarked an hour later, "but the ghost boy isn't on here."

"You're sure?" Tucker asked, scrolling to Johnny 13. "It's not him?"

Sam shook her head. "He has white hair and green eyes – and he doesn't ride a motorcycle. At least I haven't seen him on one."

"Hmm. Maybe he's not a fugitive, then." Tucker rubbed his chin. "I dunno. I promise I'll look into it for you, though."

"Thanks, Tucker." Sam smiled at him, and Tucker's answering smile was self-conscious but genuine.

"My pleasure."

&

Two days went by relatively without incident. Danny had begun staying present throughout the school day, which apparently prompted some of the more popular people, including Kwan, to take an interest in him. Well, to be truthful (Sam admitted to herself), a lot of people had taken interest in Danny, and she had found herself boosted into a slightly more popular status as people kept asking her about him (where is he? Has he told you where he's from? Why did he come here?). Tucker, too, experienced this boost of popularity, which he took to like a fish to water. Unfortunately, this did not turn up any love interests for him.

Since Monday, Sam had quickly learned that Tucker wasn't interested in her specifically. He was interested in every girl on campus. How she had missed this she didn't know, but Sam chalked it up to 1)being highly anti-social and 2)not having ever held a significant conversation with him until Danny showed up with Tucker in tow.

She was beginning to wonder if she was more shallow than she thought she was.

In any case, as Sam had realized early on, Danny was extremely high-strung. This probably accounted for why, when he was startled by a squeal from Star when he walked by, he dropped his tray and ruined her shirt and skirt with his chocolate milk.

"Hey!" Star gasped, staring at her shirt, and then, much to Danny's visible horror, she burst into tears.

Sam hid a snicker behind her hand. Tucker looked on with wide eyes.

Danny was stammering something about being sorry when Kwan loomed over him. Unfortunately, the social rules of high school still applied on some level in this manic city, and Kwan was required by unspoken law to defend his sometimes-girlfriend's honor.

"You ruined my shirt!" Star moaned. "Kwan! Do something!"

Kwan looked disappointed by the idea, but he grabbed Danny by the back of his shirt (he was scrambling to offer napkins) and hauled him away from Star. "Dude, that was so not cool," he professed.

Danny looked frustrated. "I said I was sorry a billion times!" he protested.

"Sorry doesn't fix her shirt!" Kwan took a deep breath. "Sorry, man, but on principle, I gotta pound y--!"

He never got any further than that, because Danny had punched him in the chin.

Sam halfway stood up, wondering if a fight was about to break out. Kwan staggered backwards, grasping his jaw. "What was that for?"

Danny still had a fist cocked, but he looked panicked. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'll pay for the outfit if you want."

"You punched me!" Kwan gasped.

"You punched him!" Sam, Tucker, and Star all spoke at the same time, then stared at each other.

Danny looked between the four of them with visible exasperation. Sam had a moment of déjà vu, but she couldn't identify why, exactly. "I just – just wanted to stop the fight before it started," he explained, his voice dropping limply as he deflated.

"Well, looks like you succeeded," Sam said slowly.

Principal Ishiyama was on the move.

"Daniel Fenton! Kwan Oh! In my office!" the lady thundered.

"Busted," Tucker mumbled to Sam.

&

"Detention for a week, starting tomorrow?" Tucker slapped his forehead. "Dude, that is bogus."

"It doesn't matter, anyway," Sam added. "You could do whatever you wanted and it still wouldn't matter. You'll still have the same job when you get that diploma."

"Sam, stop thinking like that," Danny said, his gaze fixed on the sidewalk in front of them. "In a year Amity will be part of the real world again, so it does matter."

"You're awfully optimistic," Sam remarked, raising an eyebrow.

She saw a thin smile flicker on Danny's face. "Well, I am the one closest to my parents' experiments all the time. I totally believe in them, even if it is 'a lot of if's'," Danny quoted Tucker. "Mom was telling me that – well … maybe we should talk about it someplace else."

"How about your place?" Sam suggested. "You could show us the cool stuff your parents are working on."

"How about not?" Danny sighed. "Not that I don't want to have you guys over, but can we wait for, oh, a couple days? Just until everything's organized," he promised.

"Then how about my place?" Tucker suggested. "I've got the latest version of Doomed."

"You got Doomed IV?" Sam asked, amazed. "Even I don't have Doomed IV!"

"You play video games?" One could almost hear the 'but you're a girl!' tacked onto the end.

Sam glared at Tucker. "What, because I happen to have boobs and wear a skirt I can't play a video game? Get a grip," she snapped.

"No, no!" Tucker waved his hands in front of his face. "You've got me all wrong! I think that rocks!"

"Then it's a date – not literally," she added, just in case. "Danny?"

"Pass," Danny sighed. "But tomorrow for sure. I'm supposed to paint my sister's room today."

"Ooh," Sam and Tucker both made faces. "What color?" Sam asked.

"Pink. Bright, bright pink," Danny answered.

He laughed at Sam's face and waved farewell.

&

Four hours of productive Doomed time later, Sam was walking home. She felt strangely satisfied. For the last ten years of her life she'd had only minor acquaintances at school and no friends to speak of; she'd felt cut off, oppressed. Now, she had friends. She had found a cause.

And apparently, all this just in time for the utter eruption and disruption of the relative normalcy of Amity.

She was still a good three blocks from her house with ten minutes to spare before curfew when something invisible slammed into her side. Sam yelped, sent tumbling out into the street; she put out her hands to stop the somersaults and they landed on air.

The air grunted, and the culprit flashed into visibility.

"You!" Sam said incredulously. "Why are you here?"

The ghost boy coughed hard, grimacing. "I never went anywhere."

"Ugh, you know what I mean," Sam snapped.

A car horn blared.

Sam looked up in horror to see a car coming over the hill (one of the few still in use, since gas was … well, very expensive to say the least). There was no way she could get out of the way in time. She gasped, and a cold hand latched onto her arm tightly.

The brakes on the car screeched, and there was a whoosh of air – then silence as the car came to a screeching halt. Sam opened her eyes a crack.

Her nose was an inch from the rear bumper.

Did that car just drive right through me? Sam wondered, patting herself down. She was okay. There was no busted Sam body laying anywhere, so she hadn't just turned into a ghost. She was okay!

"You're welcome," came a dry voice, and Sam realized abruptly that it was the ghost boy talking to her.

"You did that?" she asked.

"Nope, it was the other ghost holding you by the arm," the boy answered softly. "Oh—crap--!"

Out of the car came Kwan Oh. Well … his body, in any case. Even as he stood up, the basketball star collapsed as none other than Walker himself stood in front of Sam and the ghost boy.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Walker clicked his tongue impatiently. "Don't you ever take the hint, kid?"

Sam's eyes flickered back to the ghost kid, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. "I-I—er …"

"And you," Walker said, his gaze shifting slightly towards Sam, "It's past curfew. You're not in your home. That's against the rules."

Sam gaped at him. "No fair! I still have five minutes!" she pointed to her watch.

"Your watch is wrong," Walker answered calmly. "And I'm terribly sorry about that. I'd love to let you go, but I can't. I've got to obey the rules too." He snapped his ghostly fingers.

"Don't think so!" In a sudden burst of power, the ghost boy's arms wrapped around Sam and they shot upwards. Sam let out a startled yell, supported awkwardly by an arm around her back; she wrapped her arms around the ghost boy's shoulders for security.

"Put me down!" she gasped.

"I'll leave you at your parents' place," the ghost boy answered. "After I've shaken them off our tail--!"

"Stop him!" It was Walker's voice, and Sam peeked over the ghost boy's shoulder to see amongst her whipping hair the ghost flying towards them, followed by a small army of goons.

There was a gut-wrenching change of direction, and suddenly Sam was staring at a retreating wall, and another retreating wall, and another – she turned her head and let out a little scream as the ghost boy didn't hesitate, flying towards a wall at top speed. She closed her eyes at the last second, but there was no impact, and Sam opened her eyes in surprise.

"Intangible," the boy panted. "This won't fool him for long, but--!" He squeezed his eyes shut, his speed ebbing just slightly, and abruptly another ghost boy split off from the ghost, identical down to the last detail. The duplicate peeled off and shot off through the sky just as they exited the building the boy had flown through, and Sam saw a squad race off after it.

"What was that?" she asked breathlessly, shouting over the wind.

"Doppelganger, something like that," the ghost answered. "No questions right now. Talk later." He took another hairpin turn.

And abruptly, the wild roller coaster ride came to a stop. There was no time react as a net came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around both Sam and the ghost boy. Sam grunted, a sound echoed by the ghost, and there was a hard impact with the ground, Sam and the ghost both tumbling end over end several times until they were a tangled mess within a tangled net.

Sam groaned aloud as they came to a halt, reaching up within her limited mobility to grasp her head. "Ugh …"

But the ghost kid was shaking his head frantically, his eyes on the ghosts now starting to surround the net. "Don't do it! Don't do it, I swear I'll come qu—Aaaugh!"

Sam barely heard his cry of pain over her own, as the net electrocuted her.

She slipped into unconsciousness with her cheek resting on a cold chest.

Tbc

So I had a question: is anyone curious enough about Danny to want a companion story from his point of view? I'm just wondering.

Thanks again to everyone who is reviewing! You have no idea how much you've made my day(s). And thank you especially to everyone who hits that little review button again. D