A/N: Hello and welcome to chapter three! It's a bit late, but I think it'll be worth it. This is one of the longest chapters I've ever posted in my life! (sad, huh?) Make sure you pay attention while you read. There are some MAJOR plot points in this chapter.

Thanks to all who reviewed! And, without further ado, here is Chapter Three!


Chapter Three

Danny phased back into the school somewhat dejectedly, and without Tucker.

"Oh well… Hopefully, he'll turn up soon. I'll have to keep looking for him later," the half-ghost reassured himself as he reverted to his human form. Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps coming closer and closer, and soon, some girl he didn't recognize came sprinting around the corner.

"Oh," she said breathlessly after spotting him, "it's you. I could've sworn I heard the ghost kid's voice."

"Nope, he's not – hold on… You know me? I don't know you," Danny replied, confused.

"Well then…" she said, walking up to him with a smile. Then, she started acting like she'd never seen him before. "Hi, my name's Karli. What's yours?"

Okay, this kid is weird. "I'm Danny," he introduced himself, shaking the hand she proffered.

"Nice to meet you, Danny. Now, are you sure that Phantom's not here?" she asked him seriously. "Because I just saw him out on the football field a couple minutes ago."

"Nope. I haven't seen any ghosts today." I really have to start being more careful about who sees me… Suddenly, Danny noticed something odd about the girl's question. She had called his ghostly alter ego "Phantom." That was odd, seeing as most people called him Invisobill, the ghost kid, or the ghost boy. Well, I guess someone actually listened to me when I told them that my name isn't Invisobill.

"Okay then… Well, have you seen Sam? You know, the girl you hang out with?" Karli asked.

"No… Why?"

"Well, as far as I know, she's gone missing," the short girl replied.

"WHAT?" Danny exclaimed. Then, he lowered his voice as he said to himself, "Her too? Man, something has got to be going on here…"

"What d'you mean, 'her too'? Is someone else missing?" Karli asked suspiciously. Apparently, he hadn't spoken quietly enough.

"Um… No?" Danny's attempt at a lie didn't seem to convince her, judging by her skeptical face. He sighed. "Okay, okay. My friend Tucker's missing too."

"Hm… This is very odd, isn't it? That, of all people, your two best friends have disappeared?" Karli wondered. "Oh well, that's life! Full of seemingly well-planned coincidences…" With that, she smiled at him again, and walked away.

Danny raised an eyebrow. Seemingly well-planned coincidences? What was that supposed to mean? Did she have something to do with their disappearances? Did she know something that he didn't? Or was she just another innocent bystander in this mystery?

Then, the bell rang.

"Crud!" Danny muttered under his breath. He sprinted down the hall, intent on getting to his next class on time, hoping that, just maybe, he wouldn't get busted for skipping class.

His hopes were dashed as the intercom system came online with a buzz of static. "Danny Fenton, if you are in the building, report to the office immediately. Danny Fenton, come to the office. Now."

He sighed. "Well, so much for lying low," he muttered, remembering Tucker's advice from the previous day. The half-ghost stopped running towards his class and headed for the principal's office, dreading what punishment he'd have to endure this time…


"Ah, Mr. Fenton!" said Principal Ishiyama as Danny walked through the doors of the office. "So glad you decided to join us!"

"Yes Danny; we're both so curious as to why you decided to cut class," said Mr. Lancer, who was the only other one there (besides Danny himself, of course). Neither the principal nor the teacher looked very happy.

"Well, I – " Danny stuttered, trying to think of a decent excuse. "I… I, uh, didn't feel good?"

"Then why didn't you go to the nurse?" Mr. Lancer questioned skeptically.

"Because… I, uh… am… scared of the nurse's office?" Danny answered, thinking of Tucker.

Principal Ishiyama raised an eyebrow. Danny could tell that she didn't believe him. "Well, Mr. Fenton, usually cutting class would result in a week's worth of detentions, but I think I'll let you just report to Mr. Lancer's detention instead," she said.

The half-ghost was surprised. He had skipped three-fourths of a class period, and didn't even get any extra detention for it? Something was up, and he didn't like it.

"And we will be calling your parents," the principal added.

"Now, get to your class, Mr. Fenton," Lancer ordered. Danny walked out of the office, extremely suspicious.


After school, in the ambulance…

"Hey, I think she's waking up!" exclaimed one of the meds in the ambulance.

"Can you hear me?" another nurse said to the hitherto unconscious car crash victim, while leaning down so she wouldn't have to shout.

Without opening her eyes, the girl muttered, "Y-yes…"

"Good, good. Now, can you tell me your name? Or that of someone we can contact?" the same nurse questioned, taking advantage of the patient's consciousness. She mumbled something that no one could decipher.

"What was that?" the nurse said.

"Five… five… five," the patient said weakly. None of the three nurses knew what she was talking about. "One… two… two… one…" she finished, and then apparently fell unconscious again.

Suddenly, something clicked in the third nurse's brain. "I bet it's a phone number!" she exclaimed. "Call 555-1221! We might reach her family!"

The first nurse whipped out her cell phone and dialed the number immediately as the ambulance neared the hospital.


At the end of sixth period...

Sixth period passed in a blur for Danny. At one point, he was vaguely aware of Tucker and Sam's names being announced over the intercom, but he knew why. The school was alerting everyone that they were missing.

Danny was worried. He had no clue where they were. The half-ghost had thought and thought for the entire hour he was in class, and each idea he came up with was more unlikely than the last.

When the bell rang to signal the end of school, he trudged to detention. On the way there, he suddenly recalled Karli's words to him:

"Hm… This is very odd, isn't it? That, of all people, your two best friends have disappeared? Oh well, that's life! Full of seemingly well-planned coincidences…"

Something about those words seemed significant to Danny. It was almost as if Karli was trying to hint at where they actually were… But how would she know in the first place?

Then, a piece of the puzzle fell into place. Of course it was strange that Danny's two friends had gone missing. He was probably the only kid in school with real enemies that were after him (for revenge or otherwise)! What if Tucker and Sam hadn't just gone missing? What if they had been kidnapped by a ghost?

It made perfect sense. One of his enemies could have taken them as bait to lure Danny into a trap. As he entered Mr. Lancer's classroom, the half-ghost decided that he would have to continue thinking this over while in detention. His thoughts were shattered, however, as the teacher, sitting at his desk, spoke to Danny.

"Danny, come in and have a seat," he said, gesturing to a chair that had been moved to a spot right in front of his desk.

I don't like this… Danny thought, remembering how suspicious the teacher and the principal had been back in the office. He sat in the indicated chair and glanced expectantly at Mr. Lancer, knowing that he had more to say.

"Now, I don't know whether your friend, Mr. Foley, has told you about my little chat with him yesterday, has he?"

Immediately, Danny paled. This was going to be a long, hard, treacherous conversation, if Tucker was to be believed. He hoped that his lying skills were up to par…

Danny decided to try and play dumb. "Well, actually, no he hasn't," he replied.

"Then I suppose I'd better show you the clip we're going to be discussing," Mr. Lancer said, turning to his computer. A few seconds later, Danny saw an image of himself standing outside the school on the screen. The teacher pressed a button, and the scene began to play.

A determined look crossed Danny's face as a ring of light materialized around him. Then, a gravelly voice from off-screen said, "Ah, ah, ah! Careful! Secret identity, remember?" Danny looked straight into the camera, and with a small pop, the ring disappeared.

Mr. Lancer rewound the recording to the point where the ring was still around Danny's waist, and paused it there, leaving the image frozen on the screen.

"Care to tell me what that is, Mr. Fenton?" he asked, indicating the ring.

Danny shrugged. "I – I don't know… Maybe it's just a… uh… trick of the light? Or maybe it's some weird optical illusion?"

"Nice try, Fenton, but I'm not letting you go until I get some answers," Mr. Lancer said.

The half-ghost opened his mouth to reply, but then, his cell phone rang. Danny looked at the teacher, silently asking whether he could answer it or not.

Lancer sighed. "Go ahead. But you'd better be back."

The teen all but sprinted out into the hallway and answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi," said a feminine voice that he didn't recognize. "Is this 555-1221?"


A/N: HEEHEE! I feel so EVIL! Okay, mostly all of you figured out that someone got hit by a car. It was pretty obvious last chapter. I'd like to congratulate ur1crazedupfruitloop because they got it right! ALMOST!

So, please R&R! If you want, you can guess what might happen next, and I MIGHT tell you if you're right or wrong!

Thanks for reading!