She Who Never Stops

by EGB Fan

Slimer's gone missing, and the Ghostbusters have some unwanted visitors appearing in their basement as if from nowhere. When one of them insists that he can help, they can only hope he knows what he's talking about.

3. Chapter 3

Extreme Ghostbusters/Danny Phantom: She Who Never Stops

Part 3

Kylie radioed Eduardo, and was faintly surprised to find that she was actually able to reach him - she had expected him still to be with Tucker in Danny's basement. However they were, Eduardo told her, on their way to the occult bookstore on foot.

"Politely excuse yourself," said Kylie. "Roland and Garrett are here - we're going to have a little talk in the Nasty Burger." Then, when Eduardo asked why the Nasty Burger, she said, "Because it's the only place in town you can find your way to."

Star was at the Nasty Burger again, this time with a large and athletic looking oriental boy, who was trying to persuade her to eat a few fries. Kylie bit her lip as she passed them, feeling bad about calling the girl anorexic earlier - apparently it just might be true.

"So who was that girl with the pink boob tube and the annoying voice?" asked Garrett.

"I think you mean Paulina," said Kylie. "It's hardly a boob tube. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondered," said Garrett. "I mean, she's not someone who could come between Danny and Valerie, is she?"

"Valerie?" Kylie looked positively shocked. "They're both the wrong girl for him."

"No way! That Paulina person obviously only likes his ghost half, but Valerie genuinely likes him for who he is."

"No she doesn't. The ghost is a big part of who he is, and Valerie hates the ghost. Sam, on the other hand, loves them both."

Garrett raised his eyebrows. "And she would be the Goth girl, I suppose. No wonder you're on her side. You feel an affinity with her, don't you?"

"No," said Kylie.

"Really? Only - y'know - she's a Goth who's in love with a guy who, from what you've told me, is maybe a little too insensitive to realise his own feelings…"

"This," said Roland, dumping a tray of burgers on their table, "sounds like a fairly pointless topic of conversation. This Danny's love life is nobody's business but his own - we should be talking about what to do with Vlad."

"Oh, yeah, well - the guy has a good point, you know," said Garrett. "If we piss him off now, we're stuck here. Oh, hi Eddie," as Eduardo approached.

"Good," said Kylie, sliding along her seat to make room for Eduardo. "Now I think the first thing we should do is fill each other in on what's been going on."

"Eddie," said Garrett. "Who do you think Danny should go out with? The pretty one, his best friend or the one who - "

"Wants to destroy him," Kylie cut in.

"You mean Valerie," said Eduardo, much to everyone's surprise. "I don't know. Danny seems really cut up about the whole Valerie thing, and he did say he only likes Sam as a friend - but before he told me about Valerie, I really thought there was something there."

Kylie scoffed. "He's blind - they are totally made for each other."

"Guys," Roland said irritably. "If we don't work out some kind of plan, we'll be able to see for ourselves what happens with Danny and his queue of admirers because we won't have any choice but to stick around."

"Oh, yeah," said Kylie, quietly giving herself a mental shake. What did she care about Sam's feelings for Danny, really? "Vlad wants to see the containment unit. I mean, hell, he probably wants to open it too - we cannot let that happen."

"We should just go home," said Eduardo.

Roland shook his head. "No good. He'll just follow us - he can get to the containment unit any time he wants."

"Well, look," said Garrett. "There's a Ghost Portal in Amity Park, right? So Vlad can't be the only one who knows how to create one. He mentioned a friend… Jack Fenton?"

Eduardo cocked an eyebrow. "A friend? That doesn't sound right - Jack Fenton has to be Danny's dad."

"Danny has a portal in his basement," said Kylie. "His parents made it, but quite honestly I don't think they'd know how to open one into our basement. They're smart enough to invent ghost-fighting equipment that really seems to work, but at the same time…"

"They're also totally clueless," Eduardo finished for her.

"Well," said Roland, "that's as may be, but there's no harm in asking. Come on." He rose to his feet. "Take us to this Danny's basement."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny, Sam and Tucker were sitting on the front step outside Danny's house. All three stood up on seeing the four Ghostbusters approaching, and Danny went to meet them.

"Where have you guys been?" he asked. "I thought you wanted to deal with this portal."

"Not to be rude or anything," added Sam, sounding slightly tetchy, "but that portal being there is no skin off our noses - as long as the green blob stays away - and we do have other things to do."

"Oh, yeah, I can see why he'd wanna go out with her," Garrett muttered to Kylie.

Ignoring him, Kylie said to Danny and his friends, "I'm sorry, guys. We ran into your Vlad, and now we've got some problems."

"Vlad?" said Danny, looking momentarily anxious, and then he suddenly seemed to notice his two extra guests. "Who are these guys, anyway?"

"Roland, and Garrett," said Kylie, indicating them in turn. "Guys, this is Danny, Tucker and Sam."

"Hi," said Roland.

"Danny, look, they've got some really cool equipment," said Tucker. "Maybe they could take out those Furies if we released them from the Fenton Thermos."

"Hey, yeah, maybe they could - Valerie seemed to think she could dispose of me in that thing," said Danny, looking at the trap Kylie was still holding onto.

"Are we talking about the remaining two thirds of those green girls?" asked Garrett. "We can take 'em out no problem. We've already got one in our containment unit."

"Anything we can do to help," added Roland. "You have been doing your best to help us with this portal, after all."

"Your Vlad was talking about closing it," added Kylie.

"Was he?" Danny's expression darkened. "Well, let's get down to that basement. We can let out the Furies, deal with them and then send you home straightaway."

Eduardo, in spite of being so quiet, was the first into the house even before Danny. Kylie and Roland followed, with Sam close behind, leaving Tucker to pull Garrett up the steps.

"Thanks," said Garrett.

"No problem," said Tucker. "Y'know, it wasn't very nice of your friends just to leave you here, if you don't mind my saying so."

"Not a bit," said Garrett, taking over control of the chair again once they were in the house, and making sure to lag behind the others a bit. "I generally prefer not to be helped, but I've never actually been able to master going upstairs on my own."

"But you can go down?"

"Easy."

"Sounds dangerous," said Tucker. "You should get yourself a mechanical stair lift. There's no problem that can't be fixed by technology."

"Oh yes?" Garrett raised his eyebrows. "You're into technology, are you?"

"Yep," Tucker said proudly. "I'm a techno-geek and I don't care who knows it."

"And Sam's the Goth chick who occasionally gets a little tetchy when things aren't going her way."

"Pretty much."

"Weird," remarked Garrett. "Y'know, we met Valerie." Everyone else was trailing into the basement, but he stopped just outside the door. "Twice. Danny knows she's the ghost hunter, I take it."

"Yes."

"But he's got the hots for her anyway, even though she's working for his arch-nemesis."

"Well," said Tucker, "Valerie's pretty hot. I almost took her to a dance once, but then Danny said I had to take Sam instead because she wanted to go, but I wouldn't so he overshadowed me and asked her on my behalf, and away went my clear shot at Val."

"Overshadowed?"

"Possessed."

"Danny can do that?" Garrett was clearly impressed.

"Of course he can," said Tucker. "He's half ghost. But anyway, to get back to Valerie, Danny doesn't hold the ghost hunting thing against her - she's just misguided."

"Ah."

"Do you need help getting into the basement?"

Garrett grabbed the wheels of his chair and, grinning, said, "I'm good."

He made his way precariously down the stairs, stopped, and stared incredulously at the sight that met his eyes.

"Eg- "

"Ssh!" Danny was suddenly at Garrett's side. "You don't know him. Roland's Tucker's cousin and he… y'know… looks after you."

Garrett started. "He what?"

"I'm sorry," said Danny. Then, catching Tucker's sour expression, "I'm sorry, Tucker - I had to say he was somebody's cousin. Look, your Spengler person ignored my advice and came here anyway, and now my mom and dad are screwing around with the Fenton Portal and goodness knows what damage they might do!"

"Oh, hi - you must be Garrett," said a woman - Danny's mother, presumably - in a very loud and slow voice. "Don't worry - you're in our basement, it's perfectly safe."

"Danny, she thinks I'm retarded," hissed Garrett.

"I'm sorry," Danny said again.

"Look at this, Tucker," and suddenly Jack Fenton was frogmarching Egon over towards Tucker, Danny and Garrett. "We've got scientists coming out of the Fenton Portal now. Isn't that amazing? He claims he's a ghost hunter too."

"I am a ghost hunter," said Egon. "And I am intrigued by this Ghost Portal, Mr. Fenton. I wonder if, rather than closing it at my end completely, we could find some way to - "

"What?" Roland looked scandalised. "I" - oh God, pretending he didn't know Egon wasn't going to be easy - "assume the main objective behind… whatever research you might do… is to protect the human race from ghosts. How is having a doorway into their world going to benefit anything other than your curiosity?"

"He's right, you know," said Kylie. "And I really think you should go back. Someone called" - Danny caught her attention, and shook his head frantically - "I, um, didn't catch his name - but he's threatening to close the portal at our… your end. Maybe you could figure out some way of trying to keep it open?"

"Or not," Danny said hastily, shooting an anxious look at his parents. "You could close it if you wanted to - why should any of us care about some dumb old portal?"

"Well." Egon looked over his shoulder at the Ghost Portal. "In that case…" - he cut a glance at Jack and Maddie, and then looked back at the younger Ghostbusters - "I think you four had better… um… be heading home as well."

"We can't," said Roland. "We promised Danny our help."

Egon cocked an eyebrow. "Does he need it?"

"It won't take a minute," said Garrett. "We'll be right behi-… We'll set off as soon as we're done - we'll be home in no time."

All of the Ghostbusters were beginning to get anxious about Jack and Maddie possibly becoming suspicious, and yet neither of them seemed to be picking up on anything.

"What's it to you if they go home or not anyway?" asked Jack. "You don't even know Sam and Tucker's cousins and their acquaintances."

"That's right," said Maddie. "They're just here to visit family - whereas you, on the other hand, are an unwanted visitor from a ghostly dimension."

"Yes, well." Egon was looking from Jack to Maddie, and back again, with an unreadable expression. "All right, I'll go. But I don't like it."

"We'll be all right, don't worry," said Roland.

"How did you find your way here, anyway?" Sam asked suddenly, looking at Egon.

"Oh, yeah, good point," said Danny. Then, cutting a glance at his parents, he added, "Not that we have any reason to suspect you couldn't find your own way through the Ghost Zone. Or… or whatever's on the other side of that portal."

Jack laughed heartily, and said, "Of course you don't, Danny."

"Yes, well," said Egon, looking blankly at Jack, clearly not sure what to make of him. "Slimer was my guide."

"A little green ghost," Jack said explanatorily. "It was horrible, Danny! It was small, but clearly deadly. I almost trapped it in the Fenton Thermos! But then I realised I had a wedgie, so I had to - "

"The Fenton Thermos!" Danny wailed, looking frantically around. "Oh my God, Dad, where is it?"

"Don't panic, sweetie, it's right here," Maddie said brightly, holding up the thermos and waving it around. Then suddenly, looking at her again, Garrett recognised her as the woman on Vlad Masters' screensaver.

"It's open!" cried Danny, running over to his mother and snatching the thermos from her hand. "Dad, did anything… you know… fly out of here when you opened it?"

"I wasn't really paying attention," said Jack. "It was a pretty bad wedgie, Danny."

Danny flinched. "Dad, don't. Well, look, these guys and I have to go… to… Garrett's Care in the Community meeting."

"What?" exclaimed Garrett.

"Dude, you remember," said Danny. "At the community centre? You do all that fun stuff, like… like wheelchair racing and… and stuff?"

Sam hid her face in her hands and muttered, "Oh my God, Danny."

"Yeah, right, sure, let's go," Garrett said sourly.

"Dude, wait," Danny hissed furtively, and grabbed Egon's sleeve as he started towards the portal. "You see what happens when you walk into my turf against my advice? You don't tell my parents stuff. I had this ingenious cover story and you almost - "

"Danny, come on," said Sam, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the stairs. Tucker followed them up, with the four young Ghostbusters close behind.

"You don't like Egon very much, do you, Danny?" Eduardo spoke for the first time since they had returned to the house.

"I just wish he'd listen," said Danny. "I may be young, but I've fought enough ghosts to know what I'm doing, and this is my patch. Just because he's some kind of genius or something doesn't mean he can just walk into my house and know exactly what to do when he gets here. Y'know," he added, stopping for a few moments when they reached the front door, "I had a flick through that book, and it sounds like he's pretty insensitive towards Janine. I liked her."

"Insensitive?" Sam cut in. "Insensitive how? Like, she's tried to let him know over and over again that she loves him but he just refuses to see it?"

"Well," said Danny, clearly not catching the irony in her voice, "yeah."

"Eduardo!" Kylie's voice, calling from the street outside, suddenly burst in on their conversation. "Whip out your PKE!"

Danny burst out laughing. "What?"

"Dude, there's a time and a place," added Tucker, and started giggling.

"My PKE meter," Eduardo said dully, unhooking the device from his belt.

"Oh, cool!" exclaimed Tucker. "Can I have a look at that?" and he snatched it from Eduardo's hand. "Hey, I wonder if I could get my PDA to pick up ghost energy like this."

"Psychokinetic energy," Eduardo found himself saying.

"We don't go in for jargon here," said Danny, keeping an eye on Sam as she went over to investigate Kylie's progress. "Everything's ghost something. Ghost shield, ghost ray, ghost sense, Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle… We don't need any ghost meter with my ghost sense. Y'know," he added furtively, still watching Sam, "Sam's always telling me what to do like that. She has very clear ideas about how I should and shouldn't use my ghost powers. I mean, come on, I save the town all the time - what more does she want?"

"DANNY, COME ON!" Sam was really having to yell at them, as she and the others were all some way down the street. "WE'VE GOT THEIR TRAIL!"

"What about Valerie?" asked Eduardo, starting off down the street, with Danny falling into step beside him. "I'll bet she's no pushover."

"She's not," Danny said earnestly. "She's a strong, independent, beautiful woman."

"You're really into her, aren't you?"

"Dude," said Danny, "I can admit my feelings. Y'know, I'm almost sorry your friends showed up - we'd never all fit in Jazz's car."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, we could be walking for - "

"I mean," said Eduardo, "why did you say, 'I can admit my feelings' like that?"

"Oh," said Danny. "Well, in that book - " and suddenly a trail of blue breath snaked out of his mouth. "Uh-oh. I'm going ghost!"

He ducked behind Eduardo, transformed, and then flew into the air.

"Danny, we totally saw that!" Garrett called up after him. "You should be more careful - what if there was anyone else here?"

Danny suddenly became invisible; they waited for a minute or so, and then he came back into view, flying towards them from the direction of yet another back alley.

"It's the Furies," he said. "And Plasmius."

Sam winced. "That doesn't sound good. You know how he is about revenge."

All four Ghostbusters wanted to ask who Plasmius was, but restrained themselves as two ghostly forms flew out of the alley. Roland, Eduardo and Kylie started to run after them, while Danny flew. He had to stop suddenly, however, when a black-haired ghost in a white suit suddenly materialised in front of him.

"Not so fast, Daniel," the ghost said, while Roland, Kylie and Garrett all skidded to a halt.

"Where did you send them, Plasmius?" Danny demanded angrily.

"My dear child, where do you think?"

"I am not a child! Let me pass!"

"Sorry, Danny, but I really would rather not," the ghost said coolly.

"You sent them after my dad, didn't you!" fumed Danny, balling his fists. "You lousy piece of…"

He stopped, evidently unable to find any words strong enough, and hurled a green ray at the ghost he was calling Plasmius. Plasmius lifted a hand, on which appeared a square crimson shield, and blocked the ray easily. He then grabbed Danny's wrist, lifted the boy up in front of his face and fixed him with a fanged grin.

"Daniel, your ineptitude never ceases to amaze me," the ghost taunted. "Have you still not learnt? I am twenty years more powerful than you!"

With these words, Plasmius somehow sent visible shafts of fork lightning through Danny's body. The boy started screaming, clearly in considerable pain.

"DANNY!" wailed Sam.

"HEY!" Roland, jolted into action by the sound of Danny's screams, ran towards them. "He's just a kid! Let him go!"

Plasmius stopped his assault and, still holding Danny by the arm, turned a contemptuous look onto Roland. Roland, not to be intimidated, shot a blast of proton fire at Plasmius' chest. The ghost cried out, dropped Danny and was sent careering into the nearest wall - where, on impact, he transformed into Vlad Masters.

"What the…?" gawped Roland.

"DANNY!" Sam cried again, rushing towards Danny's bruised body where he lay, and cradling his head in her hands. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," croaked Danny, struggling to sit up, and eventually managing it. "We have to get to my dad."

"Hey," said Eduardo, looming into view over Danny. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"About Vlad. I asked you who he was in the Spectre Speeder - you said he was just an old friend of your parents'. Why did you lie to me?"

"Huh?" Danny turned his head, and saw that Vlad Masters was strolling towards them, smiling evilly. "Oh. That."

"You didn't tell them?" asked Sam, incredulously.

"Curious," remarked Vlad. "Why was that, Daniel?"

"I'm not going to sit here and explain myself," said Danny, pushing away Sam's efforts to nurse him and rising to his feet. "We have to get to my dad. Now."

"And don't even think about trying anything," said Roland, levelling his gun on Vlad's chest as Danny once again took to the air.

"You surely wouldn't do anything foolish, Roland, would you?" said Vlad. "Why, for all you know, I might have closed your portal - and then how would you get home?"

Roland tried not to let his anxiety show. "And what would be the price of our going home?"

"Well, I wouldn't ask you to do as much as trap little Danny Phantom in your… um…"

"Trap."

"I would only ask you to let me go so that I can stop him from doing whatever he plans to do to those Furies, whilst at the same time watching their revenge on Jack."

"No deal," said Garrett, swooping in. "So we have to stay in Amity Park forever. Big deal. There's no way we're letting you treat a fourteen-year-old kid like that. Come on, Ro, let's go."

Danny was way ahead of them, but Garrett and Roland soon caught up to Eduardo, Kylie Sam and Tucker, and were sorry to find that they seemed to have missed quite a lot.

"…So the way Vlad sees it," Sam was saying, "Danny's dad turned Vlad into a freak and married the woman he loved while he was languishing in hospital for all those years."

"What did we miss?" asked Garrett.

"Sam was just explaining the situation with Vlad," said Kylie. "Apparently he and the Fentons were at college together twenty years ago, and Jack somehow persuaded Vlad to stick his head into an early Fenton Portal. Then, not only did Vlad gain ghost powers, but also some kind of… 'ghost acne', was it?"

"So we're told," said Sam.

"That put him in hospital for a while, and then he was living reclusively for years."

"But he's in love with Danny's mom, right?" said Roland. "It sounds to me like he's a very unhappy man."

"He is," said Sam, her expression darkening, "but that's no excuse for all the pain and misery he's caused. Did you see what he did to Danny? And the really tragic thing is that Danny's dad's so blind to what's under his nose that he actually thinks Vlad's his friend."

"Guys," said Kylie, looking at Roland and Garrett. "Sam and I did a little research into the Furies and what they do. Basically their names translate into 'the envious one', 'she who wreaks murder' and 'she who never stops'. We know the envious one is here - let's just hope the other isn't the one who wreaks murder."

"Look, don't worry - Danny'll handle it," Tucker said breezily.

"But what if he can't?" fretted Sam. "We have to get to him as soon as possible. If only there was - JAZZ!"

There was a collective intake of breath as Sam suddenly leapt out in front of a moving car, which screeched to a halt just inches away from her.

"Sam!" exclaimed Jazz, looking understandably spooked as she jumped out of the car. "What are you playing at? I could have killed you!"

"Who cares?" cried Sam. "Jazz, you have to give us a lift to your place, and step on it!"

"But Sam," Jazz said calmly, "we're at my place."

"What?" Sam turned her head, and saw that she was standing right outside Fenton Works. "Oh."

"Kylie," Garrett said quietly, as they all began to trail into the house once again, "the girl is obsessed. Any relationship with her could turn seriously nasty."

"She's not obsessed," Kylie said irritably. "She's just keen."

There was quite a bit of noise coming from upstairs, most probably signifying that Danny had met up with the Furies. Sam hurried in the direction of the sound, while Tucker began to search vaguely around for Danny's parents.

"Jazz, where are your mom and dad?" asked Kylie.

"They're probably still in the basement," said Jazz. She had been cutting a few curious looks at Garrett and Roland, but didn't ask to be introduced. "Let's look. What's going on up there, anyway?"

"The Furies," said Kylie. "Or two of them, anyway."

At that point one of the Furies fazed through the ceiling with her arms full of lovingly crafted and painted miniature rocket ships. She flew out onto the street with them, Danny following close behind and shouting, "Hey! It took me months to build all those!"

"He builds miniature rockets?" asked Kylie. "Aww, that's so cute!"

"I know, it's adorable," Jazz smiled indulgently. "He wants to be an astronaut someday."

"Ky," said Garrett. "I don't know about you, but I only counted one Fury."

"That would have been Megeara," said Kylie, as Sam started coming back downstairs. "So we're missing Tisiphone or Alecto - I wish I knew which she was. Honestly, I'm not sure these are the actual Furies - what would she want with a kid's model rockets?"

"We're going to the basement, Kylie," said Roland, who was studying his PKE meter.

"That thing'll always take you straight to our basement," said Jazz. "You might not find what you're looking for down there, but it's definitely worth a try."

It was worth a try indeed. When Jazz, Sam, Tucker and the four Ghostbusters went down to the basement, they found that the remaining Fury had Maddie bound and gagged in one corner and was currently attacking Jack with one of his own pieces of equipment.

"Jazz!" exclaimed Jack, when he saw his daughter. "Be an angel and pass Daddy his Fenton Ghost Zapper, would you?"

Jazz looked vaguely around the basement, but her attention was soon diverted when the whole room was spontaneously filled with noise and flashing lights. This went on for a few seconds - and then suddenly the Fury was gone, and Kylie was walking towards a ghost trap in the middle of the room.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jack, as Jazz ran to aid her mother. "That was seriously cool!"

"I think that might have been Tisiphone," said Kylie, picking up the smoking trap. "It's too bad we had to trap her on her own - now we don't have a trap left for Megeara. Never mind - we'll trap her in the Fenton Thermos and take her home in that."

"You're very confident we'll be able to get home," said Eduardo.

"Of course we will. Come on" Kylie started heading for the exit. "Let's get after Danny and Megeara."

Danny and Megeara weren't hard to find - they simply had to follow the green and red ghost rays being hurled over the houses a few hundred yards down the street. Kylie led the way, clutching the full ghost trap to her chest, still going over in her mind whether these disappointingly cartoon-like entities really could be the original Furies.

"Oh, look," said Sam, who was lagging behind, so that only Roland and Eduardo heard her and stopped. "It's Valerie."

"Valerie?" Roland cocked an eyebrow. "Something tells me this might be awkward."

"Awkward? No way! What the hell are you talking about?" blathered Sam, her left eye twitching slightly as Valerie approached. "Valerie, hi! How are you?"

"I'm good," Valerie said awkwardly. "I was just on my way to see Danny - I wanted to make sure he was ok after the ghost hunter incident."

"Oh, he's fine," said Sam. "You don't have to worry about him."

"I'd like to see for myself," said Valerie, beginning to eye Roland suspiciously. "I wondered what had happened to you guys. Is Garrett still around?"

"Um… he's here somewhere," Roland said weakly.

"Ah-ha. Roland, can we have a word in private, please?"

"What's that about, Eddie?" asked Sam, as Valerie led Roland out of their earshot.

"I guess she wonders what's going on here, since Vlad said he wanted us to help her get rid of Danny Phantom for him," said Eduardo. "But if you ask me, it seems like he went to an awful lot of trouble just for that."

"Thank goodness you didn't fall for it."

"I think there's more to this than meets the eye."

"I noticed you've been very quiet," said Sam. "You should tell your friends what you're thinking. I always tell myfriends what I think."

Eduardo shook his head. "They're happy thinking they know best. You see that look Roland's giving Valerie?"

"Is he giving her a look?"

"Yes. That's his I-know-best look. He's probably trying to convince her to cut herself off from Vlad, or something."

Eduardo wasn't far wrong. When Valerie had demanded an explanation, Roland had told her as much of the truth as he could without betraying Danny: he wasn't sure Mr. Masters was trustworthy, and Sam and Tucker had convinced him that Danny Phantom wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made out.

"You should cut him some slack," Roland said sagely, apparently oblivious to the increasingly dark look Valerie was giving him. "You know, just leave the ghost hunting to the experts and concentrate on normal stuff."

Valerie raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean, 'normal'? School? Friends? Boys?"

"Well… yes."

"Well," said Valerie, "first, Mr. Masters is a good man and I can't believe you'd betray him like this! Second, I'm doing just fine juggling school and ghost hunting and working part-time at the Nasty Burger. There's nothing else in my life: my friends all abandoned me when my dad lost his job and we had to sell the house, which by the way was thanks to Danny Phantom, and boys are a complication I just don't need. And third: have you seen what passes for ghost hunters around here? I'm the only one who has any idea what they're doing!"

"You're clearly stressed," said Roland. "I'm just worried about you."

"Well don't be," Valerie said curtly. "You've got no - Danny, hi!" as Danny Fenton approached, clutching the Fenton Thermos in one hand. "I was just on my way to see you. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine," said Danny. "It was just a little bump on the head, honestly."

"But that was really heavy!" Valerie objected. "I mean… it looked really heavy."

"Ugh, this could go on forever," said Sam, beginning to lead Eduardo and Roland to where Tucker, Kylie and Garrett had convened a couple of hundred yards away. "I guess this means he caught that other Fury."

This seemed a sound theory, which Tucker quickly confirmed: "That ghost lady is, once again, in the thermos. So I guess this means we're taking you guys home now, huh?"

"They don't need us, Tucker," said Sam. "Danny'll probably just take them home in the Spectre Speeder and then come back and watch a DVD with us. I think this is goodbye."

"Well…" said Eduardo.

"Hey." Danny drew up beside Roland, still clutching the thermos. "Thanks for distracting Valerie for me - it's so much easier catching ghosts when I'm not being hunted. So… I guess this means you guys are gonna head home, huh? Can I bring my thermos? I'd like to transfer this chick to your ghost prison."

Kylie raised her eyebrows. "Ghost prison?"

"Of course we'll put her in the containment unit, Danny," said Roland. "So I guess it's back to your place again, then."

"Hey," said Sam, falling into step beside Eduardo as they walked. "What are you thinking now? I'm getting some serious vibes off you, Eddie."

"I'm just wondering," said Eduardo, "where Vlad went."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Egon was sitting on the floor of the basement, consulting his own book, wondering if there was anything he could have forgotten that might be able to help him. Slimer hovered around anxiously, looking over Egon's shoulder, occasionally flying a few circuits of his body and making enquiring noises.

"I shouldn't have let them stay," said Egon. "If there was any chance they might not be able to get back…"

Slimer babbled something, and Egon looked up sharply.

"I'm not sending you in there after them. I don't want to lose all of you."

Slimer looked about to reply, but then suddenly started, and looked anxiously around. He glanced down at Egon's PKE meter, which sat on the floor by its owner, and started babbling again.

"It isn't a lot of use with that portal open - it's picking up ghosts all the time," muttered Egon. "Are you all right, Slimer?"

Slimer didn't answer, but instead flew slowly but determinedly towards the door. Egon watched him go, and then his eye was caught by the portal. He hesitated for a few moments, wondering whether reading his own book was in fact a complete waste of time. He had a feeling that he should be doing something to that portal, but then again he didn't want to risk closing it himself.

Egon then began quietly to chide himself - again - for not making them go back with him. So what if he blew Danny's cover story? It wasn't even a very good one, and both of his parents were clearly without much intelligence - it could hardly matter that much. Garrett had insisted that Danny and his friends needed their help, and yet Danny was half ghost himself and clearly used to such problems. He didn't need them, and he shouldn't have asked such a colossal favour of them.

The door swung open and Janine sauntered down the stairs, followed closely by Slimer.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"Terrible," said Egon. "Why didn't I make them come back, Janine? I doubt that boy would stay here and help us if he knew there was a chance he might not be able to get back home again."

"Oh, I don't know," said Janine. "He might, if the mood took him."

Egon looked at her curiously. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh… female intuition." Janine crouched down, very close to Egon, so that he could feel her breath on his neck.

"I am a little concerned about these ghosts," Egon went on. "Garrett told me they've been dealing with the Furies. As far as the legends go, the Furies have never taken their own revenge before, but now that Garrett and Roland have trapped one of them… I suppose that makes it our responsibility. Garrett convinced me as much, it seems. At any rate, I seem to have let them stay."

"You're very noble," said Janine.

"I try to be. But I can't ask them to be noble enough to be trapped forever in another dimension, all for the sake of a… a teenage ghost boy and his friends. Janine, I didn't even ask them what had been happening - why they thought the portal was in danger of closing. They seemed to want me to play along with the deceit against Danny's parents - I thought they knew what they were doing."

"Perhaps they do. I'm sure they don't need your help."

"I'm going back in there to get them."

"Oh, wait!" cried Janine, rising to her full height as Egon got to his feet. "You don't want to be lost in there with them, do you? I couldn't bear it, Egon!" and she started wringing her hands.

Egon blinked. "Janine, calm down."

"Stay here with me, Egon," she purred, her expression softening suddenly as she draped her arms around his neck. "Let's see this as a chance for us to spend some time together."

"Well, really," said Egon, pushing her away. "You're not very good at this, are you? I imagine that boy Danny's father could do better."

Janine's eyes flashed. "How dare you compare me to that fat useless oaf!"

"Who are you?" demanded Egon. "Get out of her. Show yourself."

Janine's voice suddenly changed deepened as she said, grudgingly, "Oh, very well." She then swayed slightly as a watery blue form trickled out of her, and Egon held out his arms to catch her should she fall. However, she was able to right herself within a few seconds of being released from her possession.

Slimer, who had been watching and listening in silence, screamed and made a quick escape through the ceiling.

"My name," said the ghost who had just left Janine's body, "is Vlad Plasmius. I was hoping to seduce you into giving me my way, Dr. Spengler, but apparently you have seen through my disguise. This woman is your only weakness, a certain book has told me - but apparently this aspect of your story is as embellished as the others."

"I know Janine better than that," Egon said tightly, reaching for his proton pack. He had taken it off some time ago, but kept it close at hand - it only seemed sensible, with the portal to the Ghost Zone being just yards away from him. "Now explain yourself. Your name is Vlad, you say. Are you the Vlad that boy Danny was talking about?"

"Oh, I daresay," said Vlad. "He and I are acquainted."

"What do you want?"

"A great deal, but as far as you two are concerned, my demands are simple. I want every ghost in your containment unit in the Ghost Zone. What I do with them after that is my business."

"You want to set them on Danny," said Janine, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Vlad raised his eyebrows. "Many of them would present an interesting challenge for young Daniel, it's true - but I am sure they have other uses."

"We never open the containment unit," said Egon.

"Oh, I know," said Vlad. "But it would be different this time. Here are my terms: I return your friends to you, at which point you and I together find a way to channel all of the ghosts in that device into the Ghost Zone. Once this is accomplished, I close the portal forever, and those particular ghosts never bother you again."

"Is that the only reason the kids are in your world?" asked Janine. "To keep them away while you try to get us to open the containment unit? Well that's pretty underhand."

Vlad shrugged, taking no notice of Egon as he slipped the proton pack onto his shoulders. "There was always a chance I might have to use them in this way, as bargaining tools - besides which I had hoped they would at least teach Danny Phantom a lesson from me, if not actually dispose of him. But now - your answer?"

"No," said Janine. "If you knew Egon at all, you'd never expect him to even think about opening the containment unit.Look," she added, in a calmer tone, "don't tell him I said this, but you would have done better to leave Eduardo here."

"I have considered my plan most carefully, Miss Melnitz," said Vlad. "Rivera, I have read, can be foolish at times, especially when a certain young woman sends a smile his way - but both of them, young and impetuous as they are, seemed to me less likely to see me for what I really am than you did, O Great Leader." He looked at Egon as he said these words, his lip curling sardonically. "I underestimated them all, it seems, and of course I didn't bargain on two of them meeting young Daniel before me - but no matter.

"You, meanwhile, Dr. Spengler," Vlad went on, "I had hoped could be distracted as easily as a younger man. I know that, if my lovely Maddie asked me to open any containment unit I might possess, I would do so unthinkingly. But this was not to be. It is fortunate for me, then, that your friends have rashly decided to stay in Amity Park. Surely, Doctor, in exchange for their return…"

"No," said Egon. "We are not putting that boy's town in danger."

"But your friends…"

"You're no danger to them," said Egon, levelling his proton gun on Vlad's chest. "Not with you trapped while I go in there and get them myself."

"Trapped…" muttered Vlad, looking vaguely around, and then suddenly he became invisible. Egon was momentarily thrown by this - and then suddenly his eye fell upon the ghost trap close to his feet, which at once became invisible also.

Janine gaped. "What the…?"

"Don't panic," said Egon. "We've plenty of traps."

"Of course," Vlad's voice echoed eerily around them, "I am not simply going to leave upon your refusal. I am determined to have those ghosts, and I do have other methods."

Egon cried out as a crimson laser cut sharply into his arm, severing the strap on his proton pack. The heavy piece of equipment became too much for one shoulder, and he had to let it fall to the floor.

"Open it," said Vlad, appearing in front of Egon… and behind him… and at either side, all at once. All four spoke in perfect unison: "Perhaps you'd like to open it, Miss Melnitz - or at least, you will if I torture this man for long enough."

"I don't think so," said Janine, and shot a blast of proton fire at the nearest Plasmius.

Vlad apparently hadn't expected this; three of his forms began to back away from Egon. The other - the one that Janine had hit - just disappeared in a puff of crimson smoke.

"A copy, I'm afraid," said all three Vlads at once.

Janine shot at one of them, and it disappeared. The next doubled over in pain when the proton stream hit him, cried out, and transformed into the shape of a thin old man. The remaining Plasmius duplicate disappeared.

"Janine, stop shooting!" cried Egon. Then, to Vlad, "You're… human?"

"A powerful weapon," said Vlad, through laboured breathing. "I must see to it that I have one for myself. I didn't quite realise its full force on my first encounter with such a device - the young man only fired it for a split second."

"I don't understand," said Egon.

"Oh," said Vlad, straightening up as his eye fell upon an object some hundred yards away from him. "My book. What a despicable little thief young Daniel is. Well, I have no use for it now - you may keep it. If the wretched boy had only left it where he found it, he might have had a chance to return your infuriating friends to you, but now I think…"

He tailed off, and started backing towards the portal, evidently having decided to abandon his designs on the containment unit.

"HEY!" cried Janine, threatening Vlad again with the proton gun.

"Don't!" Egon put a hand on her arm. "Janine, he's human."

"So what? He's a psychopath is what heis! He'll -!"

Before she could finish, the green vortex in front of them began to shrivel up like a deflating balloon, and quickly disappeared. By the time Egon and Janine reached it, they were beating their fists against the back of an empty cabinet.

To be continued…