"Danny!" Jazz said as she walked into FentonWorks, front door clicking shut behind her. Danny was sitting on the couch, hunched over, staring at his hands, "I—are you okay?"

He raised his head. "I'm fine." A strange note was in his tone.

She eyed him, "Are Mom and Dad home yet?"

"No." He answered honestly.

"Well, I'm going to be tutoring Dash Baxter here at home tomorrow, just wanted to let you know. We set it up today."

He was flabbergasted. Dash? In his house?

"I know how you must feel. I know he bullies you."

"Then why—"

"I plan to change that. He just needs a stern talking-to. Especially from me. Your sister. Nobody pushes around my little brother and gets away with it." Danny actually thought he could hear a hard edge. She was being…cool. Of course, that meant she had to ruin it a second later, "You can be there with me and we can talk it over like adults."

"Yek irvs ahl aur tel rewsa Dash."

Jazz stopped unloading her bag, looking at him with obvious confusion, "What?"

The sentence had been out of mouth before he realized what he was saying. "I-I said, I don't want to be near Dash, so no thanks."

"Well…alright. It's your decision."

No, really? He suppressed a sigh.

She went upstairs.

He was going insane. Babbling in gibberish every other comma. He didn't know what was wrong with him.

The next day came, a Saturday, and Danny avoided the kitchen like the plague. Dash and Jasmine were in there, the few times he did have to pass it by, he did not look in there. Instead, he flew invisibly past his sister and his bully, through the lab entrance door, phased through the glass window separating the lab from the rest of the house, and froze when he saw his father at work. He didn't make a sound. To his complete surprise, his dad opened the Portal and...sucked ectoplasm from it? With a vacuum-like device?

Danny watched in fascination. Was that what the Portal was for? Gathering ambient ectoplasm? Well, it did a lot more than that...but how could he tell them without them asking how he knew? A wisp left his mouth and he gulped, a rapidly familiar chill traveling down his spinal chord.

His dad finished his business and left the lab. Danny stayed put, turning tangible and visible. He could use his power so easily now. He wondered when that happened

Without further waiting time, a ghost exited the Portal. A shinny, green-skinned one, wearing black glasses and big white hair with silvery streaks in it. Despite the glasses, the way the ghost's eyes locked on Danny was unmistakable.

"Child! You have freed me! Technus, Ghost Master of Science and Electrical Technology!" The ghost raised its hands in a great show.

"O-oh no you don't!" Danny transformed into his ghostly form, charging full speed at Technus.

"Well, this is unexpected!" Technus said, with the most non-malicious emotion Danny had ever seen in a ghost so far. "But no matter!" He picked up a stray cord from the ground and whipped Danny with it, electrocuting him with his own ectoplasm at the same time. Danny grunted at the pain. He backed away once it ceased. Now, that? That was familiar.

You know what, thought Danny angrily, there's already one stranger in my house, and that's enough for one day!

He dove for the vacuum device his father had been using and flipped the on switch, aiming for Technus.

Technus's glasses shook and Danny saw a glimpse of shocked red eyes.

The device did its job.

It almost looked...painful. Danny shuddered when it was over.

He floated down till his feet hit the ground. Peace and quiet. Good. He transformed to human once more and left the vacuum where it was, unsure what to do with it now.

He phased through the observation room, walked up the stairs and was relieved to find no one in the kitchen. Dash and Jazz must have left. Didn't his dad know who Dash was? Why didn't he say anything? Resolving to ask him later, Danny decided to lounge in his bedroom the rest of the day.

That was, until Tucker called.

Danny answered his cell, "Hello? Tuck'?"

"Who else?"

"Good point. Hey. How are you?"

"I'm good, but..."

"But?"

"Is that ghost still chasing you?"

"No. I got rid of him. Long story."

"Sounds like it. Would you want to join Sam and me at the Nasty Burger?"

"Sure, why not."

Once there, Danny explained everything that happened which they missed. He was distracted near the end, however. Dash was at the fast food restaurant as well, handing out passes to his party. Sure as hell, Danny wasn't going to that.

He was surprised when Dash met his gaze and held it.

Danny blinked repeatedly. Uh...

And then Dash walked over.

"Fenton. Your sister convinced me to invite you to my party. It's formal dress. Here." He held out a pass.

Danny was...there was no description.

"T-thanks!" He took it.

"Whatever." Dash humphed. That was a bad sign. But at the very least, his sister pulled through with what she said she'd do. Sort of.

"Holy crap!" Exclaimed Tucker quietly when Dash was gone.

"Wow. I'd thank your sister if I were you." Sam said.

"Trust me, I will." Danny assured her.

Danny went upstairs and in the doorway of his sister's room, where she sat on the edge of her bed reading a book.

"Jazz! What did you do?"

"What, are you unhappy?"

"No. This is awesome!" He wanted to hug her, but that would be awkward, "Thanks!"

She smiled brilliantly. "You're welcome, little brother. I'm going too, did you know that?"

"Oh. No. Well. I hope you have fun." He was in a good mood.

"By the way, we're having a garage sale tomorrow."

"We are? Since when?"

"Since Dad announced it while you were gone."

"Huh..."

Down below, Technus was accumulating power.

Formal dress, Dash had said. Danny wore his suit again.

"Lookin' snazzy." Said Tucker as they met outside FentonWorks, where the garage sale was being held.

"Thanks, Tuck', what're you doing here?"

"My dad wanted to see if he could buy anything from you."

"Oh. Cool." Come to think of it, Danny thought he recognized the man in a vest looking through the boxes of stuff a little ways away.

"I hope I'll find something, as well." Said their first period teacher, Mr. Lancer's voice from beside them.

They both started.

"Mr. Lancer! What're you doing here?"

"I just said. I've been looking at this comb for a minute now." He held up the item spoken of.

"Don't you need hair for that?" Tucker jibed.

Lancer looked at him. "Good one, Mr. Foley, I'll remember that." He walked to another part of the sale.

Danny huffed a short laugh.

"The party's not till six," he said to Tucker, "So I still got time to mess around. What do you want to do?"

"I dunno, I don't wanna ruin your suit."

"I'll be fine," Danny insisted, "Seriously."

"Didn't Sam say at the Nasty Burger that she wanted to invite us over to her place sometime?"

Danny scrounged his memory, "She did."

"Wanna go there?"

"Sure. You call her, or me?"

"I can."

"Alright." Danny listened to Tucker talking into the phone and smiled when he hung up. From the sounds of it, it went well.

"She said she'll pick us up."

"You mean her parents will pick us up?"

"No, she said very specifically she would."

"Well...it doesn't matter." He sat down on a lawn chair and gestured to the empty one next to him. "Make yourself comfortable, dude."

"With pleasure!"