Chains rattled as Danny scrambled to grab at the key. The object got away, into the shadows. He couldn't get very far, and the shackle cut into his ankle once more.

"That was the key! Skulker put where I couldn't reach, it to mess with me. You have to get it!"

Alex and Tucker shot off to retrieve it as Sam made a beeline for Danny, dropping the bat along the way. The first thing she noticed was the small areas of blood on the ground around him. His leg was injured, and his hands were all bloody.

"Danny! Are you alright?"

Danny stared up at her with a look.

"Sorry, standard question."

"My leg hurts a lot though, Sam. How much time is left?"

"How did you know about the time limit?"

"From Skulker. How much time is left, Sam?"

"About ten minutes. Danny, can't you phase through the chains with your powers? Or phase through by being a human?"

Alex and Tucker had taken out their cell phones to get more light in and find the key. The weak lights lit up Sam and Danny's faces, barely. Sam noted the frustrated expression on her friends face.

"He used one of Vlad's weapons to cancel out my powers, and I think this chain is keeping me from phasing through anything as a human."

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Danny was unable to warn the group of the arriving ghost due to his temporary loss of power. Yassen, more or less, simply floated through a wall cast in shadows. He spent a few seconds observing the scene.

Alex and the other boy were searching in the shadows across from him, using their cell phones as lights. Unknown to the assassin, Alex's shoes had scanners, and could have picked up the intruder in an instant. Luckily, for Yassen, the ghost was floating a few inches off the ground.

Yassen came up with two choices:

Either fire of a few balls of energy at the kids to make them nervous and then panic,

Or take the "prize", and see how Alex would react.

How about a combination?

Yassen created a small green flame in his hand, and then held it up high.

"Skulker's here!" a panicked shout, most likely from the boy with the glasses. Alex wasted seconds firing shooting the darkness with his ring. Yassen had already moved by then, knowing that an attack would come from Alex, taking the flame with him. This brought him closer to Danny and Sam.

"That's not Skulker," Danny said, getting to his feet, Sam following.

"You have a good eye." Yassen said evenly, keeping his face to the shadows. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?"

"You may call me Cossack."

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Alex and Tucker quickly set back to finding the key. They kept an eye on Yassen, but they couldn't waste time staring at him. Alex rolled his eyes when Yassen told Danny his name.

"I found it!" Tucker hissed in Alex's ear, ecstatic.

"Great!"

They rushed back to the others. Yassen was leaning against a stalactite, and Danny and Sam were staring at Tucker. Yassen seemed to be completely relaxed, almost lazy. Alex knew he could have killed any of them in a second, and his current attitude was nothing more than a façade. What was he going to do?

Tucker ran to Danny, unlocking the shackle and high-fiving his hand.

Yassen shot forward as the shackle fell away from Danny's ankle.

Alex jumped at the ghost, wrapping his arms around his waist. The Specter Deflector zapped once more into life. He stopped Yassen just as he had gotten a hold on Danny, knocking Sam and Tucker aside. The ghost visibly cringed in the face, but gave no other signs of weakness away as he kept his death grip on the raven haired boy's shoulders. The shocks from Alex's belt did nothing on Danny; his powers were still out for at least five more minutes.

Danny's blue eyes widened at the sight. The ghost was sparking from the severe shocks from the belt. How could he have so much control? Even Vlad couldn't handle it! He tried to break free, only resulting in Cossack releasing one arm, which he used to blast Alex away. Alex landed at the opening of the cavern, holding his chest in pain. The rock at the edge gave away, and Alex slipped, almost falling out. He lunged forward, back into the cavern, and received another shot from Yassen. Tucker snatched Sam's bat from the ground and swung it at Yassen, missing as he went intangible in a plume of black smoke, taking Danny with him for the moment. Sam leapt to her feet, flicking blood away from a wound on her shoulder as she waited for Yassen to become tangible once more. Alex, clutching his torso, aimed his ring and fired, the shots passed through the black smoke form.

Danny kicked Yassen hard in the knees several times, and finally broke free, tearing his shirt in the process. As he released himself from Yassen's hand, he regained tangibility. Yassen wasted no time hitting him in the stomach with ecto energy, knocking him back. So much for humans being the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. Skulker must have done something to his island to prevent anything like that happening.

Yassen kept himself intangible, knowing that they couldn't touch him in that state, not even Danny. He had cut that ability off when he broke away.

Sam ran over to Danny, helping him, and taking her bat back from Tucker. Tucker went over to Alex, shielding him. The moment was tense and silent, broken only by the chirping of Alex's phone.

Someone was calling him.

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Tucker felt his jaw drop in disbelief as Alex pulled his phone out and answered the call. Not only did the guy have service, but he was answering a call at that exact moment, of all times!

"Hey, it's Alex-"

"Alex Rider!" Jack Starbright practically roared, "Where are you?! The Fenton's are worried sick! Is Danny with you? And his friends?"

"We're all here, Jack. Can I call you back?"

"What? No! Alex, where are you?"

"Ghost Zone."

"What?!"

Alex could hear Jack restate their location to other people, most likely the Fenton's. The phone was passed by Jack to someone else, and Alex took the time to check the clock on his phone.

Two minutes!

"Alex honey," Maddie Fenton said seriously, "How did you even get in there?"

"Mrs. Fenton, I'm really sorry, but I have to go!"

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Maddie heard the line die, and she shut the cell phone in frustration. The kids had been missing for hours, in the Ghost Zone!

"Maddie, where are they?" her husband asked, showing a bit of maturity. "Are they alright?"

"I-I don't know." Her lips trembled with worry. Jack Fenton wrapped her in a bear hug.

"We'll get them back." He said. Jack Starbright remembered the large metal door set in the wall of the lab. This was the portal, to take you into a realm full of spirits.

Why would anyone want to go in there? Had Danny been leading a small tour, only to go too far?

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Jazz had overheard her parents and Jack talking in the kitchen. Danny and the others were in the Ghost Zone, and if her guess was correct, they didn't just waltz in. She silently snuck down to the lab, picking up a small disk and a medium sized box before walking to the Specter Speeder and hopping in. As she turned the machine on, the portal door opened. She revved the engine, gaining the attention of her parents, before shooting through the portal.

She quickly left the safety of the human world behind as the green world engulfed her. When she could no longer see the portal hole, she opened the window. The small disk she had taken was an invention in the making. Her father had created it to locate any ghost, anywhere. The tracking part of it had already been completed, but her father had lost interest in it and moved on to something else. Knowing him though, he would go back to working on this piece in at least a month or so. Jazz made an alteration to it, tying her hair ribbon to it so she could see it easier.

For now, the tool would serve her. Jazz stood, pulling her arm back as she prepared to through the disk.

"Okay. Find Danny Phantom!" she cried, hurtling the disk out into the open. She slammed the window shut and shot the craft forward just as her tracking devise whizzed ahead, ribbon flapping.

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AN: If you can guess what the disk weapon thing is supposed to be in a future episode, you get a cookie! :3