Edit: 6/5/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter.

I hope you enjoy this one.

zzz- normal separation

ooo- dream or vision separation

Mental thoughts or distant speaking

"True friends are those who came into your life, saw the most negative part of you, but are not ready to leave you…" ~ Paraphrased from Michael Bassey Johnson.

ooo

"Oh, you are not?! Using your powers to get back at people you don't like? Throwing the first punch? You are more like me than you know!"

"What's that? Is that- is that free will?"

"I think it's too late. Bye Danny… Thanks for…"

"Aha ha ha ha ha! Oh, you are such a child! You promised?"

"What? That I used two fifteen-year-old pawns to turn a knight and topple a king? It's chess Daniel. Of course, you don't understand."

"But then, you never really did…"

ooo

Danny woke up with a gasp and took a few deep breaths. It had been a while since he had had a nightmare like that and he worked to try and calm his anxious nerves quickly. It helped that Tucker was already sitting on his bed fiddling with his PDA until the dark-skinned boy had noticed his friend was awake.

"Oh good, I wasn't certain if I needed to wake you up. You were like squirming, but you weren't screaming like you have before. You okay, dude?"

Danny blinked at his friend before he smiled ruefully. "Yeah I'm good. Just an unpleasant nightmare. Nothing… big I guess." He looked around the bunker and noticed everyone else was sleeping soundly. "What time is it?"

Tucker smirked before he yawned. "Four fifteen in the morning. We're scheduled to leave here in a couple hours. Lancer should be up in another thirty or forty minutes."

Danny's face fell. "You didn't have to get up, Tucker. You've got to be tired."

"And you aren't?"

"Touché."

Tucker shook his head. "Dude it's okay. I mean yeah some more sleep would be nice, but I couldn't sleep when I felt you all emotionally distressed."

Danny blinked. "Wait, you felt…"

"I think our physic link thing we have with you and your telekinesis is getting stronger. I bet you like fifty bucks that Sam woke up and is worried. Valerie probably even felt something, even if she didn't wake up."

Danny looked down at the sheets around his waist and sighed before swinging his legs over the side. "I guess we get dressed before everyone?"

"Sounds good. I definitely want to get a shower in before everyone else and before we leave, since we won't be seeing indoor plumbing until the trip is over. See? No harm done. Your insomnia can be useful!"

Danny only chuckled lightly and smiled at his best guy friend with appreciation. "How about I let you go first. I won't even cheat like I do with Jazz and fly through the walls."

"Thank you for your kind consideration. I had planned on using a thermos to stop you."

"Tuck!"

Tucker only laughed as he disappeared into adjoining shower room. Danny started to gather his own clothes for the day and made sure to find the bug spray in his bag. Parachuting into Arkansas to return his parents' anniversary gift had taught him to never come to a place like this without it. He'd itched for a week. It wasn't ten minutes before Tucker came out and Lancer started to stir. Danny hurried off to take his own shower, while Lancer checked over the schedule. Norman and Brandon had started to wake up by then and were chatting with Tucker to get more awake.

Danny came out after that, drying his hair with a towel. Soon the rest of the boy's bunker started to stir and get up. It was somewhat odd, just because it was sorta peaceful. Either everyone was too busy trying to get ready or they were too tired to cause even a small amount of drama yet. Danny was sure it wouldn't last long, but it was enjoyable for the time being.

Lancer eventually opened the bunker's door, permitting students who were outside to mingle and vice versa. Sam immediately walked into the guys' bunker and spotted Danny before walking over.

"Are you okay?"

Danny smiled before Tucker spoke.

"Told ya dude." Danny frowned slightly and then looked back at Sam. He was interrupted again by Tucker.

"I had it. Just a nightmare is what he said," Tucker answered the girl's question before starting to stuff the last of his things in his large pack.

Sam rolled her eyes and looked at Danny. "Is that true?"

Danny smiled again and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine Sam. I was surprised to wake up to Tucker sitting on the foot of my bed, but yeah I'm good."

"Nightmare?" Valerie asked once she walked up. She glanced over to see Tucker trying valiantly to cram one last bit of clothing into his pack; he'd started trying to jump on the pack to close it. She smiled fondly and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah it happens. I think I would be worried if I didn't have them from time to time," Danny spoke and then yawned. "We still have coffee?"

Sam smiled. "Wanna cup?"

"Oh please. Me too," Valerie nodded.

So, the four wandered outside after Danny had subtly used his super strength to pack his and Tucker's hiking packs. They placed their four bags in a pile as they started to kindle one of the pits in the encampment. It would be another thirty minutes before everyone gathered to hear what their plans were for the day as well as the rules while they were in the wilderness.

Sam had pulled out the coffee, powered creamer and sugar while they waited for the water they'd gotten from one of the faucets to boil. Soon the four friends were drinking coffee, Sam and Valerie had theirs black, Danny had a bit of cream in his and Tucker had dumped a tad too much cream and sugar into his for any of his friends' tastes. They ended up even fixing a cup for Mr. Lancer, Mrs. Tetslaff, Norman, and Richard. Danny had thought he'd seen Paulina and Dinah look at their pot longingly but wouldn't be caught dead receiving hand-outs from the losers.

Danny and his friends were able to put up their pot and everything, by the time everyone had gathered. They pulled out their own granola bars for energy and slipped a bottle water each into the pockets on the sides of their packs.

Mr. Lancer and Mrs. Tetslaff got everyone's attention and started to talk. Mrs. Tetslaff started talking first.

"Alright ladies." The guys in the large group all frowned in annoyance when she didn't add, gents. "This is what we're going to do for today! I know this trail like the back of my hand, so for the first day, we're going to travel, with some breaks at predetermined times, before we reach a meadow next to the trail that is a well-known place to set up tents. This is where we'll stop for the night."

She paced a bit and turned sharply to face them once more. "Here are some important tips. First, make sure you're wearing some kind of bug spray or deterrent, unless you want our time together to be the worst days of your life."

Paulina raised her hand and Mrs. Tetslaff sighed. "Yes, Sanchez?"

"But bug spray is greasy and smelly and gets in my moisturized hair." Star, Megan, Lesley, and Dinah all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Tough shi-" Tetslaff started but then saw Lancer send her a glare. "Tough stuff, missy! It's either the grease or the welts, your choice."

Paulina pouted in frustration as Tetslaff continued. "Now where was I, oh yes! Poison Oak and Poison Ivy is next." She looked over everyone. "Can anyone tell me what Eastern Poison Ivy looks like?"

Sam immediately raised her hand.

"Yes, Manson?"

"The plant tends to have groups of three leaves going up the branch complete with leaflet stems. The leaves have serrated type edges as well. The vines do not twine up trees and have hairy appendages that are aerial roots."

Tetslaff smiled slightly. "Exactly correct, Manson. Now anyone know about Eastern Poison Oak?"

Norman rose his hand next.

"Yes Mr. Brown?"

"They are short shrubs that have leaves shaped similarly to oak leaves, however they had downy hairs that make it look velvety. They tend to be found in gravely areas."

"Very good. Next, I hope everyone brought some sunscreen. Fourth, when we stop at certain places and find sources of water there are some things to remember. First, always… ALWAYS boil your water. Unless you want to be puking your guts out and-or getting a case of the backdoor trots, Boil boil boil! Now another thing that's more of a preference is to make sure to get clear water. You can boil muddy water and make it drinkable, but it will be warm muddy water no matter how much you boil it. Clear water, boiled, will taste better. In my opinion though, some mud gives it flavor!"

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie all shared a withering glance as Tetslaff rambled on. The four of them knew these things, mostly from either individual experiences or necessity.

"Next, buddy system. Make sure to stay with at least one other person. A single human being can survive on their own, but their sanity might not if left in the wilderness for too long."

Tetslaff put her hands on her hips. "Do not approach wild animals. We are not visiting a petting zoo. Be mindful of snakes that are quite amazingly camouflaged in this environment. Do NOT eat any plants or mushrooms of any kind unless you have permission from one of us after properly identifying the specimen. I think Lancer said something about this being possible extra credit for any of the science courses." She gave everyone a hard look.

"Last but not least… EVERYONE, will be carrying their own weight. We have quite a way to go, but by the end of this trip you will know a sense of satisfaction from having conquered this trail! UNDERSTOOD!?"

Everyone nodded.

"UNDERSTOOOD!?" Tetslaff tried again.

"UNDERSTOOD!" Everyone yelped back.

"Good, Mr. Lancer… anything you want to add?"

Lancer coughed and stepped forward. "Well you already heard about identification being a possibility for extra credit for science courses. I've taken the liberty of also making my own idea for English courses. If you'd like a fifteen-point increase in your marks, I would like a short piece of writing or a poem that reflects the spirit of Henry David Thoreau or Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is due the Wednesday after we get back home. That's all... Oh! And behave."

Everyone nodded at that as everyone else who hadn't pulled their packs onto their backs, did so. Lancer and Tetslaff did the same. With Tetslaff taking the lead and Lancer trailing to the back, the group made off towards the trail.

"Onward, to the rawness of the wilderness!"

Danny sighed through a smile that was on his face. He was hopeful that sometime during the trip and after, he could rack up some of those bonus points for his grades. He'd learned quite a bit about plants from Sam, sometimes voluntarily and other times involuntarily. He'd gained a bit of interest in botany after the whole fiasco with the Blood Blossoms in Salem and wanted to make sure there weren't any other plants or things that could harm a ghost. The only other flower that did damage, that they knew of, was the legendary Aglaophotis, a supposed member of the peony family. During their own studies, they'd actually gotten the opportunity to learn about some of the foliage of the Ghost Zone as well. Turns out the Lotus trees mentioned in Homer's Odyessy are somewhat abundant there, making lost travelers, desperate for the fruit, more likely to stay in the Zone until a ghost or the zone itself drained them of their life. There was Man-eating trees and Vampire Melons too. There was also Raskovnik plant which allowed ghosts to unlock or uncover anything, if they were fortunate enough to discover a large patch of it; sort of like a temporary one-use Skeleton Key. During their time of learning all these things, Sam had even added Ghost plant or Indian pipe plants to her greenhouse. Even Tucker had thought it was neat, given his aversion to plants and vegetables in general. As for the writing Danny could do for English, well… Danny could be pretty deep when he wanted to be. It shouldn't be too much to get a good deal of credit from these opportunities.

"Sometimes Tetslaff reminds me too much of my Aunt Alicia…"

"Now that would be embarrassing. To run into her…" Tucker murmured.

"Don't even joke about that," Danny hissed.

Tucker only smiled as the four fell into a comfortable pace close but not at the back of the line of students.

zzz

Amity Park. 10:00 AM.

"So, what's it like, you know… to fly?"

Dani paused from her next bite into the Nasty Burger she was holding. She was hanging out with Ash and Jace and they'd been awkwardly but slowly starting to get used to the idea of knowing Dani Phantom. Jazz had informed her that it would possibly take a bit of time, since Ash and Jace didn't have history with her like Sam and Tucker had had with Danny before his own accident.

"Flying?" Dani asked and stared down at her dripping burger in thought.

"Yeah you know, like flipping through the air and stuff," Ash continued. Jace was quiet and simply listening. He could be very observant at times; it seemed to be his defense mechanism to most things he was intellectually unfamiliar with. Unlike Jazz, who flipped out regarding things she didn't know or got wrong, Jace got very quiet and serious and would ask questions only when needed.

"Flying is… well… I think you'd have to ask Danny about that… I mean…" Dani was slightly panicking. She'd been born with the ability to fly, being a half-ghost since birth. Danny would be the one that could say what the difference between not flying and being given the ability to fly was like. She had to say something though. "Well… The best way I can describe it is that it's like swimming only you don't have to hold your breath. It's much colder though than being in the water, especially the higher in the air you go."

Ash nodded and popped a fry into his mouth. "What about ice powers? Can you make stuff with it? Like swords and weapons and things?"

"Well technically yes, but I'm still learning to do some of that from Danny…"

"How come he got a handle on his powers quicker than you?"

Another tough question. Dani racked her brain for something, anything. She smiled and perked up when she found a reasonable answer. "He had his friends and sister to help him practice and test his abilities. When I went back home to Arkansas after visiting, I had no one to help me, so I got behind in my abilities. Danny's been a great help though."

Ash smiled. "I'm starting to understand why you didn't mind my white hair now." He gave her a mischievous smirk which caused Dani to color slightly, though she didn't understand why. Jace sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well yeah…"

"It also explains why you thought I was your brother when we bumped into each other."

"Yep."

Ash nodded and looked over at Jace who smiled. Ash glanced back at Dani with a grin. "Well what do you think your brother and his friends would say to having a couple new members to Team Phantom? Or is that too much to ask, being the noobies and all?"

Dani looked at them in surprise. She'd had the slight worry that they had come here to hang out because they were scared of her and what she'd do if they stopped talking to her. She'd been partially expecting them to maybe say that they'd keep her secret but didn't want to be her friend anymore. This question was definitely a surprise.

"Part of Team Phantom?"

Jace shook his head and elbowed Ash. "I told you you'd be jumping into things too quick. There's no way-"

"Of course!"

Jace and Ash froze and blinked at their friend. Jace opened his mouth. "Wait what?"

Ash grinned like a Cheshire cat and glanced at Jace sideways. "What was that Jace? Did you hear that? I think she let us into Team Phantom."

Jace grumbled something that sounded like, '...preventing Ash and his ego from growing like a weed.'

"Of course, Danny will probably flip out and try to tell you all the horrible ways you could die to make you reconsider since he's so afraid of someone getting hurt and Sam will probably give you a few death threats to make sure you stay quiet. Jazz will try to give you a silly code name and mom and dad will most likely make you feel awkward in some way… Cujo will probably slobber all over you..." She looked back at them after staring at the ceiling. "But other than that, I'd love you guys to be a part of my world."

Jace smiled and Ash grinned. "Do we get to shoot stuff?" Jace slapped the back of the boy's head.

"Do you have to always be so one track-minded?" Jace asked in frustration.

Ash grabbed the bottle of ketchup and turned before squirting a bit of it at Jace's shirt.

"ACK! ASHTON P. KAPPEL, YOU ARE THE MOST ANNOYING- HEY WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE RUNNING OFF TO!?"

Ash had yanked Dani out of the chair after his trick and ran out of the door of the restaurant, seeing that they'd already paid for the fast food.

After a couple blocks, the two stopped and bent over to catch their breath. They'd both been laughing the whole way.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Ash snickered.

"Yeah, like DUR!" Dani replied and made a face of shock.

They waited quietly and caught their breath some more before Dani spoke again.

"Do you think he'll find us soon? Or should we go back and get him?" Dani asked.

Ash blinked. "Are you mad!? He'll figure out some ingenious way of embarrassing the crap out of us. The only way I've ever kept my head above water for knowing him for so long is because I can surprise him."

Dani smirked. "Are we admitting, Mr. Kappel, that we aren't quite as clever?"

Ash flushed red in embarrassment. "I'm clever! Just not… you know… strategically so."

Dani laughed and then Ash started to laugh more softly.

"Okay, okay, we'll go find him. He'll probably be at a laundry mat. He can't walk around for more than five seconds with that shirt on so long as it's stained," Ash spoke.

"That's very true. Except when in fact I'm not forced to wear that shirt."

A water balloon smashed into the back of Ash's head after the two teens heard the voice. Water dripped down the back of Ash's neck and back along his spine and sides, even his rear and pant legs were soaked. His face turned tomato red in embarrassment, coupled with frustration.

"Have an accident, Ashton?" Jace asked as he stepped out to where they could both see him. There was no stain on his shirt.

"How'd-" Dani started.

"I anticipated his antics. I have a spare shirt in my satchel," Jace replied swiftly.

Dani narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you're good…"

"It's a called a backpack, Jason K. Eldridge…" Ash murmured.

"Oh, so now we're using full names. Am I in trouble?" Jace asked and batted his eyelashes.

"You started it! You used my full name first," Ash replied.

Dani started to laugh at their bickering, until she gasped and a wisp of blue ice came from her mouth. Both boys turned to face her.

"Huh-oh."

"Yes Huh-oh indeed Ghost girl!"

The three kids whipped around to look at the darkened alley behind them. In moments a strange robotic being emerged from the shadows. He was mostly grey with some blue and green accents. He had a lean build with sharp shoulders, fingers, and boots. His design was similar to the Red Huntress' armor and his head was shaped similarly, only much thinner. Two green eyes glowed within the Y shaped opening on the helmet and a tiny brain floated in the liquid housed in the top of the helmet's shape.

Dani furrowed her brows and scratched her head as she transformed.

Jace and Ash shared a look. "Still going to have to get used to that." Jace only nodded.

"Who the heck are you, Tin can?" Dani spoke and floated off the ground some as she pulled her thermos from her discarded bag.

The robot watched her carefully and didn't seem worried about her holding the thermos.

"Of course, you would not recognize me… I am Technus 3.0, Master of all Technology." Right after he'd spoken, Technus aimed his arm at Dani and fired a laser beam. It struck the young half's chest and sent her plowing into Ash and Jace and forcing them to tumble onto the street.

Dani gasped when she saw that Jace and Ash were semi-hurt and trying to stand. Technus was already aiming again, only this time rockets popped up on either side of his arm. She flung up an ectoplasmic shield at the last moment as the rockets exploded against it.

Dani was confused. Technus? Technus was funny, blabbed on about his schemes, was sometimes as easy as point and suck with the thermos. Technus wasn't… like this.

"Technus? Is that really you? What happened!?" Dani yelled.

Technus only smirked with his eyes since he had no mouth. "Ah ghost girl, why… I've updated. Mellowed out even more of my lingering human emotions. I've also gotten better at not saying what my plans are. Like right now, other than destroying you… I will not disclose what my next course of action will be."

Dani blinked in worry. "Crap… this isn't good."

"Dani? Who's the pin head?" Ash asked.

"PIN HEAD!? PIN HEAD!? WHY YOU LOATHSOME CHILD! HOW DARE YOU!?"

Jace glared at Ash. "Nice… make the robot with the genus level intellect, whose carrying as many rockets as the U.S. military, even more driven to make us nothing more than a stain on the street."

"Guys, not now!" Dani yelped as Technus started to fire his laser beam at the shield. The place it struck started to heat up and cause an orange melting spot to appear. "Yikes!"

It was then the three kids as well as the civilians who were hiding nearby, heard the screech of tires and saw the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle tearing down the street. The RV stopped and Maddie and Jack jumped out, guns blazing and hoods up.

"Get ready to meet Fenton Bazooka, you Technological Terror!" Jack yelled out.

"Ash, Jace… Go to Jazz in the RV, she'll help you. Ms. Phantom," Maddie spoke, addressing her daughter as Phantom in public, and aimed her double blasters.

"Yes?"

"You ready to fight and are you aware of which ghost we're facing? This one doesn't look familiar."

"MORTAL FOOL! I AM TECHNUS 3.0, MASTER OF ALL TECHNOLOGY!"

Maddie blinked behind her googles. "Technus?"

"He updated," Dani sighed.

"Very well," Maddie nodded.

"BONZAI!" Jack suddenly roared and started to fire. Technus growled and jetted out of the way of the blasts, using the jets hidden in his feet.

Maddie dashed forward, into the fray as she tried to actually hit the ghost with her slightly better aim. She landed a few good hits, as Dani flew up and started to fire ice beams at Technus' feet, hoping he'd crash to the ground without his jets.

Inside the RV, Jazz, Ash, and Jace watched the battle once Jazz had checked their minor injuries.

"So, we just sit here?" Ash asked.

"Well, I'm not trusted with the thermos for a few good reasons…" Jazz murmured but then smiled. "I've got to keep you guys out of trouble though."

"We wanted to join you," Jace explained. "Join Team Phantom."

Jazz looked at them both in slight confusion and then worry. "I can't really be the one to… I mean it's not like a club."

"We know. The risks are high, but we still want to help," Jace returned.

"Yeah! Dani's doing it." Ash gestured out the door. The three grimaced when Technus fired a batch of rockets at Dani and caused her to crash into the storefront she had been fighting in front of.

"She also is super durable and has super powers," Jazz replied.

"Yeah? Sam, Tucker, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton and even you fight sometimes."

"We have experience."

Jace frowned and looked at Ash. "She has a valid point Ash. As much as I want to… we can't just jump in and help. We might become a hinderance."

Ash furrowed his brows in determination after he watched Dani fighting so more. She was sweating and dirty now; some of her hair had slipped from her hair-fix and was getting into her face as she flew and fired large blasts of ectoplasm at Technus.

"We have to start somewhere though," Ash expressed in earnest before grabbing what looked like a weapon and running out.

"Oh, damn it all, Kappel!" Jace growled and grabbed something himself before bolting out of the RV and past Jazz. She remained sitting and blinking in surprise. Her eyes drooped.

"Why do I even try anymore?"

Jazz leapt up and snatched the Fenton Peeler before running outside.

Ash was firing a wrist ray at Technus who either easily dodged or barely felt the small weapon's blasts. Jace was trying to figure out how the Jack-o-ninetails worked.

Technus eventually got annoyed by the wrist ray's tiny attacks and turned away from Dani, Jack, and Maddie to face Ash, Jace, and Jazz.

"Child! You are barking up the wrong tree, dawg."

Ash froze and blinked before looking at Jace. "Is this guy serious with his lingo?" Jace only shrugged.

"I guess that's one thing of yours that didn't upgrade!" Dani shouted before she successfully took out Technus' feet jets and made him crash to the ground. He growled before glaring at Ash.

"You distracted me, child. You will pay!" Technus rose his hand as Jazz and Jace dove out of the way into two separate shelters, behind the RV and an overturned car. A flash of light and an explosion later, Ash was gone.

"NOO!" Dani cried out in horror and grief as her green eyes started to burn green with emotion.

"Foolish child. Now you, Dani Phantom, will be distracted by those silly human emotions you try so hard like some ghosts to hold onto."

Dani growled before she roared and blasted Technus right in the chest, forcing him into the ground. She kept up the attack until Technus was able to fight some and aim an arm at her.

"Prepared to be ended, girl!" A blast from the side surprised everyone fighting. It forced Technus to miss his laser's shot since it'd struck his arm. "What!?"

Everyone looked over and saw Ash was standing near the alleyway, the side of his shirt was burnt. "I don't think so."

"Take this, ghost!" Jack shouted and fired. The bazooka's shot hit its mark and Technus howled as his body was sucked into the tiny hole to the Ghost Zone that had been formed. Jace and Jazz popped out from behind their shelters as Dani flew down to the earth and stared at Ash, who was smiling back.

"How'd… I thought…"

Ash chuckled nervously. "I practically threw myself into the alleyway and landed in a pile of garbage and trashcans." He looked up at everyone. "He still got the side of my shirt though…"

Jazz walked up and looked to see in fact that Ash had no wound where his shirt was burned.

"Well that's a relief," Jace sighed.

Maddie looked around and started to shoo people away. She would've done that before the fight since people needed to learn to not crowd these happenings, but she'd been too busy coming to Dani's aid.

Ash smiled sheepishly up at Jack. "Could I use your shower, Mr. Fenton? I don't think my mom would be happy to see me walk into the house with a burnt shirt. She'd freak."

Jack grinned and slapped the back of Ash's shoulder blades, making the boy wheeze. "Of course! Anyone that can fight a ghost is welcome in our home."

"Thank you, Mr. Fenton," Jace smiled. He looked at Ash. "You're lucky I also have a spare of one of your shirts."

Ash narrowed his eyes at his longtime friend. "Why the heck do you have one of my shirts?"

Jace tried not to grin. "No reason… and if there had been some less than pleasant plot I had had planned, you'll die never knowing what it might have been."

"You scare me sometimes."

"Good, that's the desired effect."

Dani only laughed and then hugged Ash tightly, making the boy make a surprised noise.

Maddie and Jack paused and gave each other a look. Jazz locked eyes with Jace and they both gave each other a raised eyebrow look.

"Don't scare me like that again."

Ash gulped and then hesitantly returned the hug. "Okay, but no promises."

-smack-

"Ow." Ash muttered after Dani had slapped the back of his head.

"No promises makes the Okay not mean anything!" Dani huffed.

"You mean it nullifies the meaning behind the first response," Jace inserted.

"That's what I said," Dani spoke and blinked.

Jace sighed. "Never mind."

Ash smiled and looked at Maddie and Jack. "Maybe if I knew some cool moves…"

Jace face-palmed.

Maddie smiled brightly now that she and her husband had removed their hoods. "Well I could say that you and your friend Jace wanted to learn karate from me. I teach Dani, Jazz, Danny, and now Tucker and Sam often. Valerie already is a ninth-degree black belt."

Ash grinned. "Yes please!"

Dani sighed. "Are you sure you want to do this? Once you're in… the ghosts make sure you are never out. You'll be targeted."

Ash frowned and then looked at Jace. A silent message passed between the two boys.

Ash had been a little afraid when he'd found out his newest friend was part ghost and actually involved with fighting other ghosts. At first, he wasn't sure if the Phantoms were evil or not. His parents had always been in the middle about the whole thing, happy if Phantom could keep evil at bay, but ready at the drop of a hat to let someone destroy Phantom if he went bad. When Dani Phantom had appeared and flew around happily with her cousin, Ash had started to think that ghosts were more complicated than how people saw them. And now, after still talking and hanging out with Dani as well as seeing firsthand what happened during one of the fights, he knew his answer.

Jace had been wary to say the least. Unlike Ash though, he'd always had the question in the back of his mind that asked, what about being dead made something or someone evil? So, he'd used his observational skills from the start, seeing that Phantom was capable of great strength and acts of good. If he'd been truly evil, then he would've done much worse in his bouts of wrong-doing. Finding out Dani was indeed a Phantom too, was a shock, but Jace was one to watch after his friends. It had always been his role to watch after others, mostly his three younger brothers of ten, seven, and three years of age. He'd guarded Ash in his own way for as long as they'd known each other and Dani was going to get the same treatment. He knew his answer.

"We're sure." They answered simultaneously.

zzz

Ozarks. 12:04 PM.

"Look. Aren't they beautiful?"

Danny carefully stepped over a branch on the path they were walking on before looking up at his girlfriend's voice. Everyone had stopped walking to watch the group of three doe graze and stare at them. Eventually the largest one started to move away and the other two followed.

"The white-tailed deer. There is one other species in Arkansas that belong to the Cervids grouping, but it's unlikely we'll see it," Lancer spoke up.

"Hmmm venison," Tucker murmured before Valerie sighed at him. Sam was giving him a death glare.

"They're such beautiful creatures. Is meat and eating things all you can think about?" Sam grumbled.

Tucker shrugged. "I've been hiking for a few hours now and well I'm hungry. I'm also a meat connoisseur, if you haven't forgotten."

Sam just rolled her eyes. Before something else caught her eye. "Oh, look a Fox Squirrel."

Everyone in the group turned and saw the rodent dashing to a branch before leaping and grabbing onto another.

Melanie smiled and looked at Sam. "You know a lot about animals, Sam."

Sam smiled back. "Of course. I don't eat anything with a face on it for a reason."

"Oh, I just thought you were afraid to get fat," Paulina announced from behind, causing her girlfriends to snicker.

Danny grumbled under his breath before he smiled and have turned. "At least she eats healthily, Paulina."

Paulina gave Danny and glare and the two were stuck like that for a few seconds before Dash growled. Sam glared at the larger boy in turn.

"Enough," Lancer spoke up.

"Yeah, I know everyone's stir crazy and tired from hiking but we've just got one more hill to get over before we reach our first day's camping site. Come on, maggots!" Tetslaff shouted as everyone groaned.

If it hadn't been obvious before, it was now. A semi-noticeable gap formed between Danny, his friends, Brandon's friends, and Melanie, and the A-listers. TJ, Brad, Stan, John, Freddie, and Richard kept mostly to their own group. They started talking about baseball when Brad initiated the discussion.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Tetslaff led them off the trail slightly when they spotted a large meadow. She turned to face the students.

"Okay, this is what I want to see. Fix up some lunch for yourselves if you're hungry enough, then set up your tents and gear for the night. Once that's done, I'm going to give you all a lesson in starting a campfire, with and without a ready source of fire. Understood?"

Everyone nodded at their teachers before walking out into the meadow to choose their spots. Once Danny, Tucker, Valerie, and Sam had decided theirs, they sat down next to their packs to rest and eat first. Sam started pulling out the ingredients to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Jam? That doesn't need a fridge?" Tucker asked as Sam passed him his sandwich.

"Certain kinds, no. If the preserves have enough sugar in them then the water that normally helps things spoil is trapped," Sam answered after passing one to Danny.

Once she had made one for Valerie and herself, she pulled out two apples and cut them in half. Each one got a half. That sat and ate in comfortable silence, even when Tucker pulled out some jerky, stating he had to have some meat even if he couldn't have as much as normal. He shared some with Danny when he asked for some.

They glanced around to see some people eating and others finished with whatever they had had and working on getting their tents up. They eventually started getting their own tents up without much issue except for Tucker getting wrapped up in his own, once, which prompted a few laughs from his friends. Once they were done with their own tents, they walked over to help Brandon and some of the nerds fix theirs up, to keep Dash and his goonies from laughing at them.

It was during this time that Danny noticed Dash of all people, having trouble with his own tent. He wasn't too sure where the poles went and connected.

Danny closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. He was starting to wonder if he liked to torture himself. He walked over and addressed Dash.

"Dash, do you need some help?"

Dash stopped and looked up to see Danny looking at him in what? slight concern? He scowled.

"I'm just fine, Fentonio! You must be pretty good at this since your hick cousin was from here before your family adopted her!" Dash growled out.

Danny growled angrily and turned on his heel. He marched back towards his friends muttering under his breath. "Bardus stultus. Quare et contumax esse crudelis? Si quis habuit idea! Ego iustus volo ad auxilium." (Stupid fool. Why does he have to be so stubborn and cruel? If he had any idea! I just wanted to help.)

Sam frowned when she heard Danny talking in Latin while angry. He probably wasn't even aware he'd slipped into a different language. "Danny, shush. I know he's an idiot, but you can't talk in Latin any more. Not here."

Danny perked up and snapped out of his mutterings. "I was…"

"Yeah."

"Oh, oops. He just said some stupid comment about Dani being from here."

"I understand," Sam replied.

"So now what? Tucker asked and leaned back against a large rock that was near their four tents which had been linked together as they'd planned a month before.

"We wait until everyone's done and then Tetslaff will be teaching us about starting a fire," Valerie returned with an amused smile. Danny only chuckled as an extremely tiny orange ember flickered into existence on his index finger.

"I could always start a fire," Danny smirked.

Sam laughed. "You sound like a pyro, Danny."

Danny blew out the tiny flame and laid down. "I wonder if we could find a good place to fish. I brought the Fenton Ghost Fisher. It can catch ghosts, but it's still a working fishing pole."

Tucker laughed in amusement. "Ha! Never thought of that. Fish... meat..."

"Students!"

Everyone turned to see Lancer and Tetslaff near the center of the ring of students and their tents. The teachers had also set up their own.

"Okay, first we've got to build the structure to hold a fire safety."

Everyone looked down and saw that this part of the meadow was a bit rockier.

"We need to clear away as much of the foliage as possible. Then dig a bit and make a barrier around the hole with dirt or stones," Brandon offered.

Tetslaff looked in surprise at Brandon. "Excellent work Mr. Masterson."

Tucker nudged Brandon to congratulate him and soon Brandon was feeling pride rush through him since his friends were happy for him.

"I used to be a Squirrel Scout for the Amity Park division," Brandon added.

Tetslaff nodded, "Excellent. Now I need some strong abled bodied persons to go gather wood while the rest of us build the pit."

Danny, Dash, Valerie, and Freddie were the ones sent out to get fire wood. It wasn't much longer that they came back; Dash saw Danny and Valerie carrying a couple piles a bit bigger than his and Freddie's and scowled.

The fire was built and put up and everyone stepped back as Tetslaff went through the steps of starting the fire without a source. She showed them a couple methods, including the use of steel wool and a battery as well as bending light into a fine point. After the demonstration was over, she took a flint stone and told them it's usually just better to make sure you had a flint whenever you went somewhere.

It didn't take long for the fire to start burning and warming them. It was getting late in the afternoon by now and Lancer told them that they could explore, so long as they came back to base before sundown.

"There are two easy things to identify that I wanted you guys to taste," Sam spoke as they walked into the woods. Melanie had overheard what Sam was saying and wanted to see for herself. Being in the outdoors had made the other girl curious to learn more about it.

"Ugh, plants," Tucker murmured.

"Some mushrooms can taste like meat sometimes you know," Valerie supplied.

"Really?"

Danny chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"So, you have a greenhouse and grow a lot of the food you take to lunch at school?" Melanie asked Sam.

"Yeah, some of it isn't edible though. I have considered adding these to my garden, but they're fairly common anyways," Sam replied. She stopped and smiled. "Here we go." Everyone watched as she bent down and started to pick some mushrooms off of a fallen log. "These are Oyster mushrooms, see the gill-like stalks and how they look like oysters?"

Sam rose again as she directed everyone to follow again. They paused when Danny stopped walking. In front of them were several weeds and ferns that made up the undergrowth. His eyes focused on some Dandelions.

"Hey Sam?"

"Yeah Danny?"

"Were you heading towards the dandelions? They're edible, right?" Danny asked and rubbed the back of his neck.

Sam beamed. "You were listening! Yes, that's the other thing I was going to show you all."

Danny kneeled and plucked some of the plant before they all started walking back towards the meadow. A light orange tinge was starting to color and world as the sun started its descent. As soon as they got back to camp, Lancer noticed the foliage in their hands and approached.

"Oyster Mushrooms and Dandelions, sir," Sam spoke.

Lancer focused on the plant and fungus before nodding and smiling. "Very good Mrs. Manson. I think that's worth at least two points each."

Sam shook her head. "I identified the mushroom Mr. Lancer, not the fact that Dandelion is edible."

Lancer rose his brows when Sam glanced at Danny.

"But Sam you were going to do the same thing."

"And you beat me to it."

Lancer nodded and spoke. "Two points each then. two for Manson and two for Fenton."

Lancer then walked off as they walked over to the fire. After some work and learning that Danny as well as Jazz could actually cook fairly well since his parents weren't gifted in that area, the small group was enjoying a small bit of cornbread, chili, for anyone but Sam, and the mix of oyster mushrooms and dandelions that had been grilled.

It wasn't much longer after that that night fell and everyone was gathered around the fire. Danny had a bit of left over fire wood and was hacking at it with his pocket knife he'd brought. He cut himself once during the activity, though no one noticed the cut heal within a couple minutes. Sam kept asking him what he was trying to carve, but he wouldn't say. He knew he'd never actually tried to make sculptures without use of his cytokinesis before, but wasn't it just a matter of making his hands do what his mind could? When he made his ice sculptures, they didn't just immediately form from the thoughts in his mind. He had to carve them, take and add things to them as separate steps and actions mentally. Now in this case he just had to do the same with his hands and remember that he couldn't add to the wood like he could ice.

"Fenton, I didn't know you could carve wood," Brad spoke up when he noticed Danny carefully witting at the wood, now.

Danny looked up and smiled a bit. "I've done some other… uh… sculpting before, but I wanted to see if I could work with wood since there's a lot of it here. It probably won't turn out too well."

Lancer narrowed his eyes at the way Daniel got slightly evasive when talking about sculpting. Why wouldn't anyone want others to know about their artistic gifts?

"What are you making?" Norman asked.

The A-listers had stopped gossiping for a time and watched the losers, nerds, and neutrals… talking peacefully together, even if the neutrals weren't sitting close to the others like the losers and nerds were.

"Uh well… I was wanting to make a doe. I'm worried about making thin legs though so maybe I'll connect the legs to some foliage or something to make it sturdier," Danny replied as Sam's eyes lit up.

"Oh, you got inspiration from seeing those white-tails didn't you?" Melanie offered.

"Yeah. I guess you could say they embody part of the spirit of this place," Danny replied and then smirked.

"I wanna see it when it's done, okay Danny?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, same here."

"Me too."

Danny looked around at the people talking and shrugged sheepishly. "If you like, but I'm telling you it's not going to be much of anything. I've never used wood before. I might even scrap this attempt before long if I doesn't look right."

Everyone asking seemed fine with that. The A-listers started whispering amongst themselves. Soon after that, everyone started to slip away into their tents to get some sleep. Lancer was the last to go into his own tent, since he wanted to make sure no one was left outside in the night.

It was several minutes later and Lancer knew he had something on his mind that wouldn't let him sleep yet.

He'd never known of Daniel to show any kind of artistic ability or preference before. If he had, he'd never shown it. He knew Samantha was semi-gifted with drawing, just from the glimpses of doodles he'd seen on her notes before, but Daniel hadn't ever seemed to stay at school long enough to show anything like a knack for the fine arts before.

Another small memory entered his mind. He remembered seeing Samantha walking around school with a necklace made of some kind of crystal. He'd even over heard from some students, that were more in the know, mention that Daniel had made the piece on his own. It was rumored to be made of ghost ice, which couldn't melt by normal means.

Suddenly a strange collection of thoughts started to come into Lancer's mind. He was suspicious of Daniel and his friends hunting ghosts, Daniel had supposedly made a necklace from ghost ice, Daniel seemed to like sculpting…

Lancer's eyes widened. "Could TheEidolon's sculptures be made of ghost ice?" Lancer went over in his head how Daniel could possibly have learned to carve with the ice that seemed as hard as diamonds. Just short of trapping the ghost and forcing it to make things for Daniel, which seemed to not be within the gentle Fenton's personality to do to something even remotely that cruel, he would have to have access to something that could melt the substance. His parents were ghost hunters so they had to have something that could do the job. Daniel may even have friends that were ghosts, given how his friends supported the Phantoms so much…

Lancer quieted his mind and listened to the crickets and small frogs singing in the night air. Though Daniel and his friends were still an enigma…

Had Lancer just figured out that the identity of TheEidolon, was in fact, Danny Fenton?

zzz

Amity Park. Vlad's Mansion. 9:55 PM.

The mansion was quiet and empty. No movement or life wandered the halls. Down in the secret lab of the mansion's walls, the doors to the Ghost Zone portal remained closed, tight.

Even so, a dark purple almost black amorphous shaped being slipped right through the closed door as easy as the Box Ghost. It soundlessly floated through the several hidden rooms that made up the lab, until it's non-eyes noticed the dome housing the Crown of Fire.

It floated over to the dome and reached out to touch it, before receiving a nasty shock. The being didn't cry out in pain however. It simply slipped into the floor and crawled through the tiniest of shadows on the dome and its support. Now partially within the dome, it snatched the crown and placed it on its head.

The being's one semi-formed arm, which housed the Ring of Rage, was joined by his right arm becoming more formed and solid, his chest and body all became more humanoid, even if he remained small and almost young in appearance.

It slipped away through the shadows again and hissed once it was safe to look at itself in a nearby mirror.

"I… I imprinted after him?" The being growled in frustration before it noticed it was melting some, after talking and manifesting its anger. "I must be patient still… I need a body… a true body… then I can use it to grow a more solid and sturdy form. Then Humanity shall fall to Malus."

Malus let out a cut off dark chuckle before turning and flying back through the portal and into the Zone.

So, did you all like it? I hope so. Oh, and by the way if you were curious about Technus' new form, look up Technus on the Danny Phantom Wikia. If the show hadn't been canceled, they had planned for Technus to upgrade in Flirting with Disaster. Take a look at the concept sketches at the bottom. That's Technus 3.0. :) I don't think I've seen anyone use him (at least in the stories, I've read).

Thanks Everyone for your reviews and kind words! You have no idea how much they help. Any support at all makes writing easier. Of course, I make it my mission for it to never have an effect on how long it takes for me to get a chapter posted.

Anyways, thanks! Until next time,

~NoSignal