He couldn't go fast enough.

Plain and simple. The ecto-pack (or the Fenton Ecto Rocket, as it had been labeled) kept him going forward, but at a fraction of the speed that he normally flew through the Ghost Zone. That ten-minute flight had stretched to almost half an hour already, and he did not like being in the Ghost Zone when he felt so vulnerable.

Change! a voice kept urging him in the back of his mind...the same voice that had been there since the wrist-guard incident. He ignored it, despite its persistence. You know you want to, it teased and taunted, almost like a fleeting shadow only he could see or hear.

Instead of responding to it, he focused on his position, and adjusted course slightly, positive he was headed in the right direction. At least he was sure about something.

"Still," he said quietly to himself, "maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. If I run into someone--"

"Hello, ghost child," a familiar, deep voice stopped him dead in his tracks as Skulker appeared directly in front of him.

Danny cringed. "Like him." Quickly, he reached for an ecto-gun on his belt and brought it out, pointing it directly at the metal-clad ghost hunter. "Get back, Skulker!" he said with more bravado than he felt.

Skulker merely raised an eyebrow and studied him for a few seconds. "What brings you to the Ghost Zone as a human?" he asked, keeping his distance.

The question caught Danny slightly off guard. "Er...I was just testing out some new machines my parents made."

Skulker rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's not it. I've seen you use all of these devices before, or at least heard of them." Realization suddenly dawned on his robotic face. "You can't use your ghost powers, can you?" That quickly, Danny felt his stomach harden into ice. For a moment, he almost wanted to look behind him to make sure Klemper wasn't floating behind him, but he didn't dare take his eyes off of Skulker. The ghost hunter wasted no time. With a booming laugh, he raised his arm and sent a net flying at Danny, who yelped and fired at it while throttling upwards, hoping to miss the net if the ecto-blasts didn't work.

They didn't.

The net absorbed the gun's energy as it sped towards him. For a moment, he thought he might've dodged successfully, until he felt it hit his feet, taking his upwards momentum and throwing him forward...directly into Skulker's outstretched hand.

The metallic hand closed around Danny's neck and held him fast, barely allowing him to breathe. Skulker raised an eyebrow at him, half smirking, half disappointed. "All too easy."

He shook his head at Danny's struggle to break free. When he reached for another weapon, Skulker saw it and tightened his grip around Danny's throat. Instinctively, he brought his hands up to the hand in a vain attempt to loosen the robo-ghost's grasp.

"You know," Skulker brought him closer with a sigh. "You're pretty helpless without your powers and your friends. Where are they, by the way?" He looked behind him as if expecting to see someone sneaking up behind him. "I would have expected them coming to your rescue by now."

"I--" Danny gasped. "They..."

"Why aren't they here, ghost boy?"

"Tucker...," he choked out and squeezed his eyes shut as his best friend's smiling face flashed across his mind. Then, another face followed directly behind it, a face with shockingly violet eyes framed by black hair.

His eyes snapped open, glowing a deep red.

"Sam..." he said, not noticing the strain it took to say the word. "Jazz," he growled as his sister's face completed the parade in his imagination. "You know," he said to the other ghost as a confident smile crossed his face, "You shouldn't have said that."

"Why--" Skulker started, but was cut off as an ecto-blast from his captive's hands sent him careening backwards into a nearby rock formation. Danny didn't even realize he'd pushed the throttle yet again, following after the flailing, dazed ghost while charging up another ecto-blast in his hands. A cruel laugh escaped his lips as he closed on his captor turned prey. He shot his hands forward, catching Skulker just as he was beginning a recovery.

The ghost screamed a long, metallic cry of pain, but the ecto-blast didn't stop until most of his circuits had fried, and he found himself barely able to move.

Finally, Danny let up, and Skulker fell, smoking, to the ground below.

"And he says I'm easy?" Danny scoffed, following directly after. "Any last words?" he asked, slowing down to hover just above Skulker's fallen body.

"When," the mechanical head lifted up, "when did you start taking lessons from Plasmius?"

"I never..." Danny started, but faded off and looked down at his hand. "Oh man." he continued to stare at his black glove as his eyes faded to blue. With everything that had just happened, he hadn't even changed forms, thankfully.

Skulker looked away, and sat, cringing, waiting for an opportunity to eject from his suit. When the expectant blast never came, he managed to turn the head up to look at where Danny had been floating above him, only to see the empty Ghost Zone.

"Huh?" he asked. An arm flopped, failing to obey the impulse to scratch his head.

Then, counting his blessings, he decided to get to work at salvaging the suit.

He also put a note in the database: "Do not mention the ghost child's friends during the next confrontation."

Still more than a little shaken, Danny floated down to a particular door with a mailbox outside of it. He'd never seen it before. Had there always been a mailbox there, or had he just been too caught up in his own problems to notice it?

With another sigh, he floated in front of the door for a few seconds, still trying to calm himself down, and glancing back to see if Skulker had decided to follow.

He only saw empty space.

"Good," he muttered to himself. "The last thing I need is one of my enemies chasing me around." With one final deep breath, he knocked loudly on the door, then waited for an answer.

He didn't have to wait long before a young woman with green skin and fairly long, dark hair opened the door, blinking bright green eyes in surprise.

"Danny," she said, not bothering to hide her shock.

"Er, hi," he muttered, suddenly realizing how stupid he must look.

Seeing his nervousness, she smiled and opened the door, stepping forward to face him more fully. This brought her red leather jacket-clad, t-shirt and jeans-clothed frame into full view. Danny couldn't help but smile. Out of all the ghosts he'd ever met, Allie had been one of the most normal...taking into account that when he had first met her, she had been levitating objects around a pawn shop. Still, she had a human look, but also a human personality when she wasn't thoroughly ticked at someone. She had also been one of the few ghosts to listen to him, and actually accept him as a friend.

He didn't consider her close. More of an acquaintance really, but she was one person he knew wouldn't shoot, arrest or zap him on sight.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking past him, obviously looking for anyone accompanying him. "Alone?" She blinked. "And in human mode! What are you, insane or desperate!"

"Um..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I was actually looking for Clarice..."

Allie blinked and shook her head questioningly. "Why would you look for her here? This is my lair."

"Because she was here last time I came..." He cleared his throat.

"Oh, right." Understanding washed over her features. "Yeah, she'd come by for a visit when I had to leave on the spur of the moment, so she stuck around. Why?"

Danny cleared his throat. "Well I...er...uh..." What was he supposed to say? 'Hi, I've been turning back into an evil ghost lately that wants to take over the world and the ghost zone. Can you help me?'

"Is everything all right?" she asked, her voice suddenly concerned

Danny sighed. "No."

"What's wrong?"

"I...I just wanted some advice." He slumped, again feeling utterly deflated.

"On what?" He looked up to see Allie watching him like she sincerely wanted to help. That did brighten his mood slightly. Emphasis on the word "slightly".

"It's difficult to explain..." He forced a smile.

"Try me."

Danny blinked. How was he supposed to tell all of this to someone he barely knew? And a ghost, no less. Still, he needed help, and he felt like he could trust her. With another sigh, he shoved his reservations back and opened his mouth.

"Well...did Clarice tell you why I came by last time?"

The black-haired ghost blinked and shrugged. "Yeah. She told me everything. And," her expression suddenly turned mockingly annoyed, "she'll be happy to hear that you're alright."

"Heh." Danny forced an embarrassed smile. "Er...um...sorry." Allie snickered, but gestured for him to continue. "Well, actually, it has to do with that."

"With what?" She looked at his hands. "She mentioned something about...red gloves magnifying your powers. You got them off, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah."

"But..." she prodded.

"In the last few days I've been--"

"Wait," she held up a hand, causing Danny to look up at her again.

"What?"

"This sounds like it's gonna take a while. Why don't you come in?" She smiled and stepped aside. Danny felt a small smile touch his own lips.

"Thanks," he responded and floated in.


Nope, no big cliffy here. :D Feel loved. Anywho, I already have my next chapter back from my beta reader, so I'm going to be getting it up Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Let me know what you think! Luv and Hugz!