Haha haha haha... What's a regular update schedule? *sweatdrop* Have I ever mentioned that I occasionally fail at life? And that I'm still only human?

So yeah...

One rather unexceptional night, Danny as nearly asleep when he felt a sudden chill, his ghost sense going off as he exhaled a plume of frigid air. Sighing heavily, he got up and very quietly got to his feet.

"I'm going ghost.' he muttered half-heartedly, the rings spreading as usual, covering his body as he transformed from human to ghost. "Hopefully this won't take too long… I have a test tomorrow." Phasing through the wall, he slid outside and looked around, not seeing anything immediately ghostly. "I have to chase it down… Uhg…"

He flew out, looking around for traces of a ghost, but after ten minutes was he was in Amity Park and had found absolutely nothing. Almost ready to give up, his ghost sense went off again and a tree branch moved, a blue glow coming from it.

"Blacks and bays and dappled grays." a light voice sang as Danny floated up to get a look at the ghost. "Coach and six white horses." It was a female ghost, with long white hair and pale blue skin to contrast her glowing green eyes. She wore a white fitted shirt that showed off her bellybutton and a flowing white skirt that fluttered in a nonexistent breeze as a obviously sleeping bird was seemingly drawn towards her. "All the pretty little horses." Her voice was higher this time, and Danny felt drawn to her as well, floating closer. "When you wake you shall have…" His shoulder touched a branch and it rustled loudly, making them both gasp as the bird slipped out of sight.

"Whoa." Danny whispered and the girl rounded on him, her pupils almost disappearing as she rather quickly shot a blast at him. He snapped out of his trance and dodged, returning fire as the ghostly girl. "Who are you?" Danny half yelled, not liking how she still seemed attractive. "And how did you get here?"

"So if you think your life is complete confusion." she half-whispered half-sang, twisting away from his blasts. "Cause your neighbors got it made… Just call me please, the Grand Illusion. And deep inside we're both the same." Her pupils came back and she turned invisible, putting Danny on the defensive. "I don't want to fight." Her voice was quiet and Danny felt air move past him, spinning and landing a solid punch to her gut as she shimmered back into view, doubled over. "That was not kindly…"

"Neither was attacking me. It happens." Danny swung at her again and she became almost serpentine, dodging by stretching her body away and then quickly wrapping herself around him, too quickly and pinning his arms to his body. "Get off!"

"I am not your enemy." Illusion insisted, her pupils now entirely gone, leaving soulless green eyes. "Don't fight me, because you won't win." Danny concentrated on his hands, holding his breath before releasing a huge bolt of energy, blasting the girl away. "That was not wise."

"Yeah, you keep saying stuff that's a not." Danny said, his hands still blazing as the girl reformed to a normal shape, her eyes back to normal. "Maybe you should not be here."

"I'm telling you, I don't want to fight!" the girl said, her hair beginning to spin around in a wind that still wasn't there. "Just… Just stop, I'll leave if you let me…" Her voice was absolutely enchanting and Danny felt himself weakening. Maybe she wasn't such a bad ghost. "Just leave me alone… Just listen to me…" And suddenly she was in his face with a glowing hand, a vibrant blue-purple that neared Danny's head. "You can't defeat me…"

"I'm going to try." Danny muttered, and her eyes widened as he pushed her away violently. "What are you doing?" She stopped and glared, almost pouting. "How do you do that with your voice?"

"Years of practice." the girl hissed softly. "Years of begging and pleading until I became perfectly convincing… And you're the only one who can resist it…" The corners of her eyes sparkled and she flew at Danny, pulling a single string out of her skirt and transforming it into some kind of lizard still made entirely of string. "Why can you do that?" The lizard turned back into a string and wrapped up Danny's arm, something he immediately began to pull at. "Why!"

A solid blast of what felt like air slammed into Danny and he lost his grip on the string as he shot an ecto-bolt back at the source, getting a gasp in return. He flipped once, just once, and then looked back up, staring at the girl.

"I'm going to fight you." Danny said. Looking at her intensely. Something about her just made him angry, her just wanted a fight. Maybe it was because he was tired or maybe it was because he just didn't know anything about this ghost, but she somehow made him feel disappointed and edgy, like he really wanted to hit something. "Unless you'd like to go back to the Ghost Zone by yourself."

"I'd be more than pleased to." Illusion said, the wind now forming a near tornado that affected only her. "I just don't think that's possible." Her hair and skirt twisted, cocooning her body and with a flash of light, she vanished entirely.

"What was…Aw man…" Danny muttered, rubbing the side of his face, his anger swiftly replaced with exhaustion. "Why do I have the feeling that this is not going to be the last time I see her?" Floating around for another moment, Danny flew home swiftly, transforming back and going back to sleep, knowing that he would be unhappily groggy in the morning. "Stupid ghosts…"

The next morning, he was indeed unhappily groggy and pulling on his closet, he was reasonably distracted. Ghosts were annoying enough, but new ghosts meant new motives and new fighting styles and several random attacks all unreasonably close together.

"Ghosts are… Ugh." Danny muttered, running a lazy hand through his still messy hair. "Alright Fenton, let's try for a good day…"

"I can hear you talking to yourself!" Jazz shouted through the door, and Danny sighed, yanking his shoes on a bit more forcefully than was entirely necessary. "You know, I recently read an article about self communication, I really think it could help you if you'd like to read it I still have a copy." Shaking his head and still groggy, Danny walked to his door and pulled it open, Jazz standing in mid-knock, her fist raised.

"Jazz, I don't want to read it, so don't ask again." Danny said, just as Jazz opened her mouth. "And, why exactly where you standing outside of my door?"

"I just happened to be walking by and was in no way checking on you because I heard you come back in at four last night." Jazz said all very quickly.

"Uhm… Wait, what?"

"Oh darn, I have to go, ah, iron the dog bye Danny!" With a rather rushed hand gesture, Jazz turned and dashed down the stairs, leaving Danny blinking for almost a minute.

"…We don't have a dog." Danny said finally, taking a step back and closing the door, slowly counting to ten and then reopening it to a very normal view of the wall. "We definitely don't have a dog. All is well."

A healthy swig of orange juice later, Danny began the eternal search for his jacket. Somehow, he managed to misplace it daily, and in a new spot every time, which meant that as it grew colder, he was constantly searching for it.

"Where's my jacket where's my jacket." Danny muttered to himself, humming slightly. "Where are you sneaky magically escaping jacket? I want to find you…" He stopped humming for a moment, noticing a very high-pitched noise, almost too high to hear. "What's that noise..?"

What looked like a steel ribbon suddenly appeared just in front of him and flattened into a wide band, glowing red before latching on to him with enough force to knock him over. Surprised, Danny fell back silently and it took him a good second before he began to struggle. In that time, his mother had appeared out of nowhere and just as he tried to push it off, the thing tightened and then vanished, leaving Danny gasping.

"Oh Danny sweetheart, all you alright?" his mother asked, her hood down and the now harmless looking ribbon in her hand. "Jack! Something's wrong, the Specter Detector prototype just attacked Danny!" He said up a bit shakily, climbing to his feet and checking his arms and ribs. They seemed unbruised, which was good. "Ja-ack!"

"I'm coming Maddie!" he called, appearing in the hall just a moment later. "Did something actually happen this time? Did we find a ghost?"

"No, just Danny…" His mother looked up, like she was trying to remember something. "Isn't it odd that so many things attack Danny?" She pursed her lips as Danny tried to slink away. "I feel like I know this…" Just then, Jazz came tromping down the stairs rather loudly, arriving at the landing.

"Is everything alright?" Jazz asked, as the strip in her mother's hand gave a tug. "I heard some crashing-Ah!" The ribbon jerked out of Maddie's hand and shot forward, wrapping around Jazz's face with a rather sure amount of force.

"Hey, get off!" Jack shouted, grabbing at the ribbon as Jazz stepped back, clawing blindly at the strip. As soon as he touched it, the ribbon shrank harmlessly and he pulled it away, holding each end tightly in his fists. "Jazzy-Pants, Danny-boy, stay back. There's something wrong with this one."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Danny said, taking a winded and confused looking Jazz by the shoulders and leading her to the door, all thoughts of his jacket forgotten. "We're going to school now." His parents were busy whispering over the faintly twitching piece of harmless looking cloth. "I hope they destroy that one…" Danny muttered, opening the door quickly while looking over his shoulder.

"Oh no Danny." Jazz muttered, just as the ribbon gave a rather violent twitch.

"Oh, so sorry I swear I was about to knock…" The ribbon slid between his father's fingers and Danny whipped his head around to see Illusen standing in the doorway, the two clicking just as the ribbon hit her full force just under the ribs, knocking her back and down the steps.

"No!" It was unclear, later, who yelled it or even how many of them yelled it, but at the time it seemed that was all Danny could think, all he could hear. Before Illusen even managed to stop looking as shocked, his mother had shoved past him and ripped at the ribbon, it shrinking immediately as she stuffed it into her pocket, helping Illusen up.

"That has never happened before we have no idea what went wrong are you alright you're not hurt are you?" Maddie asked, all very quickly as Danny, Jack and Jazz hurried down the stairs. It was an unspoken rule of malfunctions that they only effected the Fenton family and absolutely no one else, not ever. "We're going to fix it right away I had no idea that the prototype would be so flawed can you breathe alright?"

"I'm fine." Illusen said, her hand holding her ribs as she breathed rather heavily. "I'm just a little surprised, that's all… What on earth was that?"

"Its supposed to be a Specter Detector." Jack said, exchanging a very communicative glance with his wife. "Apparently its just a human detector… Are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh fine, fine." Illusen insisted, waving her hand dismissively with a rather odd smile on her face. Her breaths made tiny cloud with each huff and Danny somehow felt unreasonably worried that she was hurt. "Stuff like this happens all the time, I should have known when I heard the frequency, I'm fine." She straightened up, her backpack jerking her shoulders back as she did so. "I was, uhm, just going to ask Danny if he wanted to walk to school with me?"

"Uh, yeah, one sec." Danny said, turning and finding his own backpack quickly and sliding it on. He turned back to Jazz giving him a rather peculiar look, which he easily ignored as he hurried down the stairs. "Bye Mom, Dad, Jazz! Let's never mention this." He took Illusen by the arm and began walking quickly, making sure he was out of earshot when he whispered to her, "Let me start by saying that I am so sorry. Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"Yeah. I'm unusually great." Illusen said, still holding her ribs. "Did your mom say that was a Specter Detector? I don't think." She took a deep breath, a hitched breath. "I've ever seen anything that flexible. It looked." Another shaky breath covered with a laugh. "like it was swimming, did you see that?"

"Yeah, I saw it right before I dodged madly." Danny said, looking at her sideways. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes downcast, but she was still grinning. "Are you fazed at all that an evil ribbon attacked you?"

"It was a surprise, nothing more." Illusen said, looking downward as if her feet were thrilling. "I've had much stranger hit me at worse angles. Ghosting conventions can get really wild." Her eyes slid up wards and her eyes met Danny's quickly. "Besides, whatever that was looked great… Even if it did seem flawed."

"It was wrong, completely." Danny said, feeling tired again. "It's the first thing since the vacuum that's attacked Jazz and nothing's ever gone after someone who isn't in the family."

"Really?" Illusen asked, her eyes widening. "Never… Did you say it got your sister too?" Danny nodded and she shook her hair violently, like a dog shaking off water. "Oh amazing, what do you think is wrong with it?"

"No clue." Danny said. "I just hope it doesn't get me again. Or anyone else, especially not you." He somehow felt guilty, like it was his fault that his parents' wayward device had gone after her.

"I'm sure it won't." Illusen said. "These things have a habit of working themselves out."

They arrived at school and Illusen slipped away to her locker as Danny made his way to homeroom. There, he noticed a huddle of popular girls, all whispering and giggling softly, Paulina and Mary Sue both highly visible. Danny skirted around them and took his seat, finding Tucker already distracted beside him.

"Hey Tuck." he whispered, hoping he could get past Tucker's vacant expression. "Tucker, pay attention." He wasn't the only one distracted by the girls; it seemed like every other boy in the class was starting at them, dazed. "Tucker!" Danny hissed, poking him just under the ribs.

"Ow what?" Tucker asked, blinking and looking at Danny. "Whoa, that was weird."

"Yeah, and so was my night." Danny replied, wanting to tell someone. "Some new ghost showed up last night and Tuck, this is a problem. She's like a weird enchanting snake thing and its creepy."

"Snake?" Tucker asked. "Dude, that sounds serious. Aren't snakes generally bad news?"

"Its more the hypnotizing ability that bothers me." Danny muttered, thinking back to the eerie weightlessness he had felt under her spell and how easy it was to just listen to her words. "She like… sings. Its just weird."

"What's weird?" Sam asked, leaning over Danny's shoulder. "Why are you boys conspiring instead of staring vacantly at the girls like every other guy in the room?"

"Don't forget the girls." Tucker quipped and Danny looked up to see that even the girl looked mesmerized now, moving around Paulina and whispering lowly. "They must be talking about something really cool…" His voice trailed off and he turned to stare at the girls just as Danny heard hints of the whispers. "Wow they're distracting…"

"Hey guys." Illusen slid in beside Danny, looking just very quickly at the popular bubble, whose attraction seemed to be growing stronger. "Some kind of cool meeting, like important gossip or something?" She brushed her skirt flat and Danny looked away, focusing on her instead. "I was never any good at keeping up with popular gossip, but hey, I'm sure if its important I'll hear it eventually."

"It doesn't sound important." Sam muttered, looking at the almost sparkling cluster. "I can almost hear it… Maybe if I were closer…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Illusen whispered, and Danny, Sam and Tucker turned to face her simultaneously, making her jump slightly. "I-I mean, you never know when the popular forces are trying to suck your soul out." She laughed nervously and began twisting her hair around her finger. "Oh wow, it smells like cookies all of a sudden."

"Chocolate chip." Danny said, seeing the popular crowd immediately break apart as Kwan walked in with a large plate of hot chocolate chip cookies, little steam clouds wafting behind him. "Why are there cookies this early in the morning?"

"An excellent question Mr. Fenton." Lancer hissed, and Danny jumped slightly, surprised that anyone had been lurking behind him. "The most important question is, are there any for me?" Walking forward, Lancer made his way to Kwan and quickly received a cookie.

Illusen sighed quietly and the class fell back into their normal patterns, though Mary Sue, Paulina and Star kept passing pink-papered notes the whole time. Everyone acted as if the gossip pool had never happened, and when Danny mentioned his ghostly nighttime meeting, Sam seemed more distracted than concerned.

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream Danny?" she asked, putting a spoonful of sprouts into her mouth as Danny shook his head. "I mean, she sounds weird, but there's nothing very ghostly about this ghost… No vengeance, no modus operands, nothing your parents did wrong. It seems off."

"Are you talking about this morning?" Illusen asked, and Danny jumped again, cursing his inattentiveness. "So sorry, didn't mean to startle you, I can leave." He turned to see that she was sitting next to him rather comfortably, eating a sandwich. "Or just not talk much."

"No no its fine." Danny muttered. "Uhm, what do you mean about this morning?" There was no way she could have known about the ghost attack, or else she would be far more suspicious of him.

"Oh um, that thing at your house." Illusen said quietly, waving one hand. "With the attack ribbon and… stuff." She looked at him sideways, looking a bit worried as Danny felt relieved, remembering that yes, evil ribbons had attacked her that morning in a relatively ghost-unrelated manner. "So yeah…"

"Attack ribbon?" Sam asked, leaning forward. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, it was one of Dad's failed inventions." Danny said dismissively. "It sorta… tackle-boa constrictor grabbed a couple of people. Like Jazz and Illy. And me."

"It hit you?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows and her ponytail at the same time as she looked back at Illusen. "Really? Are you alright?" Illusen nodded quickly, biting at her sandwich. "Why did it start attacking, did a ghost show up or something?"

"No, it just attacked everyone who wasn't Mom or Dad, which is weird but not important." Danny said, wanting to talk about the ghost. This was a big problem and Sam seemed just not to care, even though he wanted her to. "Uhm, I think Mom is fixing it, maybe getting help."

"Uncle said she brought it over." Illusen said helpfully. "Also said it tried to strangle him. It seems like it would be a bit dangerous for ghosts if it ever really got up to working condition… Well, if the sensors could be adjusted." Slowly, Illusen pulled out her notebook and began writing, quick slow scrawls that seemed to quicken as she curled her knees in towards her chest, balancing the notebook on them.

"Something is really weird Danny." Sam whispered, leaning in towards Danny's ear, casting a sidelong glance towards Illusen. "Something is just up. Things don't feel right, and you have to admit, your parents normally don't make stuff that dangerous. I think we need to check things out."

"There's nothing to check out." Danny whispered back. "Except maybe the" He looked at Illusen, who seemed to now be ignoring them. "thing I was talking about earlier." Sam just rolled her eyes and Danny rubbed his shoulder distractedly. "Look, I think I'm just tired, there's probably nothing wrong."

"You're probably right." Sam said, looking down. "Its probably nothing."

"Hey guys!" Tucker said, sitting next to Danny and smiling, pulling his hat down. "Didn't miss anything important, did I?"

Not too bad, right? More stuff will happen soon, I promise! And the next update is coming in less than two weeks, for real this time. No more school to drag me down!

~ Natalie