Danny arrived in the kitchen, where every appliance was on. From a hand mixer to the microwave, coffee grinder, toaster, and even what appeared to be a coffee mug warmer were all making some form of hissing or whirring noise. The coffee grinder, in particular, was deafening.
The fridge shook violently from side to side, spilling food onto the floor in droves. Once it was empty of food, it stopped shaking, and suddenly the pixelated face from before appeared on the refrigerator's touchscreen panel.
"This wasn't the tangible form I'd been hoping for," Technus said, flapping the other side of the refrigerator door in disgust, "but I suppose it is a start."
"And the end," Danny said. "Hold still!"
As he raised the thermos again to fire it in Technus' direction, the toaster flew off the counter and sailed toward his head. Danny only ducked in time but was soon assaulted by all manner of electronics, flying through the air of their own accord.
"Did you just try to kill me with the Brave Little Toaster!?" Danny cried as he deflected and dodged everything from the hand mixer to the microwave.
"Give up your foolish attempts to defeat me, child!" Technus roared. "First, I will download the data contents of this advanced refrigerated ice box. Then, the world!"
As the ghost cackled, Danny felt the butt of the coffee grinder smack into his shoulder blade, knocking the thermos from his hand. He cried out on instinct, but there really wasn't much pain. Once again, he marveled at the strangeness of being a half-ghost.
Danny ducked beneath an electric kettle, shot a milk frother out of the sky, and after the KitchenAid standing mixer slammed into him, he was knocked back into the opposite wall.
"For the love of…" he sighed, rubbing his chest where it had hit him. That thing had weighed a ton!
He didn't have much time to recover. Just as he got his bearings, the microwave came careening at him. He ducked just in time for it to shatter against the wall. It fell to the ground, lifeless, and thankfully, no longer a threat. While on the floor, he scrambled to look beneath the kitchen counters to find the thermos. Then he heard Technus' cackles stop.
"What?" Technus screeched, confused. "Eggs… milk… bread… what is this list of nonsense?!"
"A shopping list," Danny said, his fingertips brushing the thermos beneath the kitchen island. "That refrigerator data is a family bulletin board."
"No!" Technus hissed as Danny struggled. The refrigerator doors banged open and shut in frustration. "This data is useless! Where are the secrets to the internet!?"
"I shut the WiFi off, you pathetic excuse for malware!" Tucker appeared in the kitchen archway. He was holding the household router and modem in each hand. "Try finding a connection now!"
Danny finally caught the thermos and stood up. "Nice one, Tuck!" He pointed the thermos at Technus, who still eyed it confusedly.
"What is that piece of technology?" Technus asked.
"State-of-the-art, Fenton ghost-catching technology," Danny said proudly, and he pressed the button.
Like normal, Danny felt the thermos catch something and begin to reel it in, like a fish on a hook. He felt the powerful resistance of Technus, who wailed and shook the entire kitchen with his fury. He screeched like the coffee grinder and growled like the hand mixer, But even with his powerful new refrigerator form, he was no match for Maddie Fenton's thermos.
Danny felt Technus leave the refrigerator and become suspended in the pull of the thermos. He held on tight - he wouldn't let Technus get away.
When the ghost's presence finally entered the thermos, Danny capped it quickly, and everything floating around the kitchen fell to the floor. Tucker ducked before the hand mixer could hit him in the head, and Danny finally went intangible, so everything phased through him. Why hadn't he done that before?
"I have got to get smarter in these fights," Danny said with a sigh.
"We have also got to get the hell outta here, dude," Tucker reminded him. "911 is on its way. I didn't know what to tell them besides there had been a break in. Possible injuries. Anonymously, of course."
Danny surveyed the kitchen - once perfectly organized and polished, now a total disaster.
"You know, that was probably a good call. I'd believe it."
Danny grabbed Tucker by the arm and hauled him out of there without warning, turning them both intangible and invisible and stealing away out the side wall of the house. They raced down the street, holding onto each other before they were far enough away to turn visible again. In the distance, the sound of sirens wailed.
"We have to get back to school," Tucker said. "We need an alibi just in case."
"Go without me. I'm sending this thing home."
"To the Ghost Zone?" Tucker asked. The words felt weird on this tongue. So far, they had been calling it 'the other side,' but now it had a name. That place… the afterlife. It was called the Ghost Zone to the locals haunting it.
Strange, Tucker thought. "What do you think Technus meant by that? That you hadn't been there yet?"
Danny glanced down at the thermos in his hands. It didn't weigh any more than before, even with a ghost inside, but something about it still felt heavy. It was like he was on the brink of something new, something exciting, but also quite possibly very dangerous.
"I have no idea," Danny said. "But I need to find out."
…
WEDNESDAY
Danny didn't return to school that day or Wednesday. Tucker constantly checked his phone, but no texts came. Sam was anxious, and she spent lunch hours tapping her foot on the linoleum tiles. After having already yelled and fought with Tucker about how they shouldn't have done something so dangerous without her, she had gone totally silent.
Little Halloween ghost earrings dangled from her ears, making Tucker feel guilty and sad. This was Sam's favorite time of the year, and he and Danny had made her worry. Watching her pick at her food with a look in her eyes that seemed so very far away was worse than the scolding, but Tucker had no explanation to give her for Danny's absence.
On Wednesday night, Mikey texted Tucker that he was sorry he scared him with his panicked texts from a few days before.
He wrote: I dunno what happened, but I guess we got robbed, and maybe they hit me in the head. It's all… fuzzy. White noise.
Tucker didn't like the 'white noise' comparison, not after Technus had said as much to them before. He hoped there were no lasting side effects to the VR trance they'd been in, but Mikey seemed fully recovered so far.
At eSports that Wednesday, Tucker kept a close eye on Mikey. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for in a strange, ghostly side-effect - memory loss, possession? - but he finally graduated Mikey's number in his phone to a "favorite," just in case. Mikey took this to mean that he and Tucker were finally best buds. Tucker wasn't opposed to spending more time with the guy, but he only had two best buds… and one of them had totally ghosted him.
…
THURSDAY
Thursday morning, five days before Halloween, Danny returned to school.
"Where have you been!?" Sam pulled Danny into a hug, and he held her for a few seconds longer than normal.
"You'll never guess," he told her.
Tucker could guess, and the - pardon the pun - haunted look on Danny's face confirmed his suspicions that he crossed his arms. On his own face was that angry and worried expression that parents get when their kids have put themselves in danger.
"You totally went in, didn't you?"
"Just a peek," Danny admitted. "I had to, Tuck."
"You really didn't. Not without us."
"Yes," Danny said, finally releasing Sam, who looked confused. "Without you."
Sam looked between the boys. Danny looked exhausted but not guilty, even though Tucker was staring daggers at him.
"What are you two talking about?"
"Come on," Danny said, "Not here."
He led them out back to the empty football field. The October wind bit at their faces, and Sam pulled her emergency locker hoodie over her hair. Tucker pulled his cap further down over his forehead. Danny stopped and gestured for them to sit on the bleachers, so they did.
"What's happening?" Sam asked. "You're freaking me out."
Danny paused, his eyes staring at something far, far away.
"I'm not gonna lie," he said quietly, "you should be a little freaked out."
Danny began when they were settled, shivering in the wind that would obscure his voice as he told the tale.