So, this isn't going quite in the direction I thought it would. Certain elements from "Parental Misguidance" are becoming more prevalent. You don't have to read that to continue. I'm just bringing it up.

Chapter Five: The Break-Fast Club

"A soulmate is someone who appreciates your level of weird." - Bill Murray

I called the team - including Valerie, though she still insists on working alone - together for an emergency meeting. At least, that's what I called it to get them here as fast as possible. Meanwhile, my parents are testing the latest version of the Fenton Smoker, which completely incapacitated me the last time I was hit with it. Needless to say, the team didn't argue when I suggested having this meeting in the backyard, where we hopefully wouldn't end up in the crossfire. Keyword: hopefully.

My backyard is a very small, fenced in space, but it's never felt suffocating until now. I pace back and forth, too restless to stand still, and avoid my friends' worried gazes.

"So, what's this about, Danny?" Sam asks.

"Is it something to do with that Blairman-guy?" Jazz presses.

"Don't keep us in suspense," Valerie urges.

I stop pacing and force myself to face them. "I…I'm grateful for you guys." I lower my gaze and ball my shaking hands into fists at my sides. "Really, truly grateful."

"Oh," I can picture the grimace on Tucker's face, "I do not like the way you said that."

I swallow hard, but the lump remains. I know Paulina's right. I have been dragging these guys down. And, it's not just at school. How many times have they gotten hurt or kidnapped or brainwashed because they wanted to fight ghosts with me? Or in Valerie's case, fight ghosts because of me?

Images play through my head. Tucker inadvertently making a wish to Desiree because he was jealous of my ghost powers, only to be corrupted by the powers she gave him. Sam almost being forced to marry an evil ghost prince because I'd accidentally picked her as the winner of a beauty pageant. Valerie becoming Vlad's errand girl after I caused her blind hatred of ghosts. Jazz lying in a hospital bed, mere moments away from death, because my carelessness made her already fragile state so much worse.

No. This can't go on.

The words are a knot that I have to rip out of my throat. "I'm abolishing the team. You guys don't have to help me fight ghosts anymore. From now on, ghosts are my problem and mine alone. Y-you should just stay away from me. You'll be safer that way."

I am met with silence that lasts an eternity. When I can't stand it any longer, I look up, expecting to find relief, even joy.

Instead, I find shock, confusion, hurt.

Tucker is the first to recover. He gapes like fish for a moment before asking, "Am I the only one who missed something?"

"You can't break up the Ghost Getters!" Jazz cries.

"We're still not called that," Sam retorts before stomping up to me. "What do you mean 'abolishing the team?' You can't just do that! And, what's this shit about us staying away from you? What's going on, Danny?"

"Yeah," Valerie says, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm not even part of your team, and I'm pissed. What aren't you telling us, Fenton?"

I scan their faces, puzzled to see that each person shows some form of pain, whether it's the angry kind like Sam and Valerie or the "what did I do wrong" kind like Jazz and Tucker.

"I-I thought you guys would be happy," I say quietly. Sam rears back as if I'd screamed at her. "You don't have to put up with me anymore. I'm letting you go!" My eyes well up, tinting my vision green with ectoplasm and I know my eyes are probably black again, but I won't cry. These guys have dealt with too many of my problems without having to comfort the source of their grief. "Isn't this a good thing? I'm not making you get hurt anymore! I know the damage has been done. I know I can't go back and stop what's already happened, but-but I can still make things easier for you!" A tear leaks out. "Don't you get it?"

More silence. Then Jazz walks up to me, and Tucker and Valerie follow suit until I'm surrounded by these wonderful people I don't deserve.

"No, Danny, we don't," Jazz says, resting her hand on my shoulder. "Where is this coming from?"

"And, when have you ever made us get hurt?" Tucker asks. "Don't we choose to work with you?"

"Is it even a choice?" I counter, the words coming out shaky and broken. "You're stuck!" I bunch up my hair in my fists and choke back sobs. "You're all stuck in this-this hole I put you in! And, I can't pull you out of it, but - sniff - but I can at least keep it from getting deeper. I'm so stupid that Paulina had to tell me how-how I'm holding you back and - hic - and I'm as-as wanted as gum on your shoe-"

"What?" Sam snaps, startling me with both her outburst and the raw fury on her face. "I am gonna kill her! I am going to march to her house and kill her!"

Valerie gives her a side-eye and asks, "Wanna borrow a gun?"

"I don't think you guys are helping," Tucker says.

I sniff and swipe at my eyes and nose, desperate to pull myself together. "Isn't Paulina right? In school or out, someone is always after you guys just because you're with me."

"How does that correlate with you?" Sam asks pointedly. "Okay, admittedly some of the ghosts target us to get at you, but that's a rarity."

"But, it still happens-"

"Danny," Jazz says somberly, "if we wanted to walk away from everything, don't you think we would have by now?"

"You know how I was," Valerie says, sheepishly playing with her hair. "All gung-ho about ghosts being evil no matter what. Then, I found out about you and…I started thinking differently. Doesn't that mean something?"

Words fail me. I bite down on my knuckle as more tears form, clear human ones now.

"We love you, dude," Tucker assures with a sad smile. "And as for the ghost-stuff, we all knew what we were getting into. So, come on. Stop all this bull about ending the team and staying away from you. 'Cause it's not gonna happen."

I hang my head and cry as these wonderful people I don't deserve wrap me in their arms.

"Now, what's the agreement?" I ask the next morning as Jazz and I head out the door, school supplies in tow.

Jazz raises her chin with a confident smile. "We let you handle Blairman on your own."

We stop at her car. "And, any other ghosts that crop up?"

"They are exclusively your problem for the time being. The rest of us are on vacation unless a ghost attack affects us directly."

While I am more relieved than I can put into words that my friends don't really resent or feel held back by me, I still want them to take a break. They need it. Or rather, I need it. I believe them when they tell me that they stick by me solely because they love me. But, that doesn't mean I don't feel bad about how much danger they're always in.

There were arguments, but in the end, they all agreed to take time off from ghost-fighting. And, that's a massive weight off my shoulders.

We say our goodbyes and Jazz gets into her car and drives off. I walk down the street for a bit before ducking into an alley to switch forms and fly.

I don't get far before my Ghost Sense goes off. Since I know that I have plenty of time to get to school, I decide to forgo Duplication and handle this in person. I scan the area until I see a portal open up on the roof of the mall. I fly in that direction and stop once I'm close enough to see what's going on. Thankfully, it's nothing nefarious.

Eileen is standing - er, levitating - on the roof and watching as a spirit opens up a portal, enters the Ghost Zone though it, opens a new portal to return to Earth, and repeats the cycle. Said spirit is a girl Jazz's age who would have already started culinary school if she, you know, hadn't died at the tailend of last summer. She has glowing green skin, perpetually tangled dark green hair that hangs past her shoulder blades, and blood-red eyes that meet my neon green ones.

"Hey, Danny!" Mira Scott greets with a big grin. "Look what I can do!" She turns away and presses the backs of her hands together. When she pulls them apart, the atmosphere itself seems to rip open as a large yellow-green portal opens up. Mira flies into it, and it disappears only to reopen as Mira returns to this realm. "Neat, right? I was just showing off to Eileen."

"Whoa," I say, impressed and more than a little envious, as I reform my tail into legs and perch next to Eileen. "Portal Creation is, like, one of the rarest powers out there!"

Mira lands in front of us. "That's what Eileen told me."

"I'm thinking it might have been one of her base powers," Eileen says. "How else would she be such an expert if she only just realized she could do it?"

Base powers are powers ghosts have right out of the gate, no practice necessary. Unless you're me but, well, I am only half-ghost.

"Oh, yeah," I say to Mira. "The day we met, you said you fell through a random portal that brought you back to Earth. Now, you're saying it wasn't so random?"

Mira shrugs. "Well, it seemed that way at the time." She scratches her head under her striped beanie. "Looking back, I was pretty freaked out. All I could think about was getting out of the Ghost Zone. Eileen thinks it was the destination that was random and not the portal itself."

Eileen nods with her hands on her hips. "This will certainly make taking her on a tour of the Ghost Zone easier."

I look cautiously at Mira, who still lives with her human-parents who are accepting of their ghost-daughter and no I'm not jealous. "Are you ready for that?"

Mira pulls at her denim jacket. "Uh, just to find my lair for now."

I smile, remembering two other ghosts I know who can enter and exit the Ghost Zone at will. I don't know where Wulf lives, but... "Mira, are sure it's just your lair you wanna see?" She tilts her head like a curious dog. "There's this demon I visit on Sundays. They can open portals, too." Her eyes light up at that. "Maybe I could introduce you."

When Mira hesitates, Eileen adds, "I know who he's talking about. Their name is Reaper, and they're really nice. I think you'll get along. I could even come with you, if you want."

Mira tugs on her jacket some more. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt."

Eileen claps both of us on the back. "Then, it's a date! But for now, two of us need to get to school."

"Oh, can I come?" Mira asks with a sly grin at me. "I'd like a word with Mr. Movie-Star over here."

"Oh, boy," I say with an eye roll. We all take off into the sky. "You heard about that?"

Mira is below me, flying along her back. She puts her hands behind her head as if relaxing on the couch. "It seems to be all this town is talking about. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, for one thing," I say, "I don't trust the director." I tell them about Blairman's weird questions and that itch I felt when talking to him and Vlad. Then, I explain who Vlad is to Mira.

"Maybe you should back out of this," Eileen suggests. "It's starting to sound dangerous."

"But," Mira argues, "just because this Vlad-guy is involved, doesn't mean he's up to no good. He could just be helping his friend."

I'd thought about that. "Regardless, there's just something off about Blairman. Weird questions, I can handle. But, now he wants me to bring a ghost along for a mock-battle. I have a feeling that will translate to real battle."

We arrive at school and hover high above the courtyard. People see us and wave and call out greetings to me and Eileen, though mostly to me, with a few asking who our friend is. We all just wave back.

I'm about to head down there when Mira says to me, "I'll do it. I could use some fighting practice, anyway." She emphasizes this by punching the air.

"I don't know, Mira," I say honestly. "Like I said, it'll probably end up as a real fight. I don't wanna hurt you."

Mira waves off my concerns. "We'll just go easy on each other. Besides, who wouldn't wanna be in a movie?"

"Show of hands," I say. Eileen and I raise our hands. "I'm only doing this to show the world that ghosts are people too."

Mira pouts and puts her hands on her hips. "Well, I wanna help. Think of it as me repaying you for helping me when I first became a ghost."

I want to argue that she doesn't need to repay me, but I can see that she won't budge. "Fine. Just be careful."

"That goes for both of you," Eileen says sternly. "Stay close together and be very careful."

"We will, Mom. And, that was a sarcastic 'mom,'" I clarify. (Why didn't it feel sarcastic?) Eileen shakes her head with a small smile before descending and morphing into her teacher persona: a black woman with slanted eyes and a mass of dark curls on her head. I spot the A-listers gathered together and ask Mira, "Wanna meet my co-stars? You may as well."

Mira bounces on air. "Okay!"

"Word of warning," I say, "they're the popular kids, and they hate my human-self. Once I change back, they're gonna be pretty mean to me."

Mira loses some of that enthusiasm but raises two thumbs. "Noted."

We fly down to the group, who are all very happy to see me. But, Paulina takes one look at Mira and sneers. "Who is this?" she asks.

Mira is thrown off, and I curse myself for not mentioning Paulina's humongous, borderline obsessive crush on me. "This is Mira," I introduce. "She's gonna be helping us with those action scenes Blairman was talking about. Mira, this is Dash and Paulina. And, their friends whose names I do not know." So they think.

"Oh, I'm Kwan," the burly Asian guy says. He jerks his thumb toward the petite blond girl. "And, this is Star."

Star nods then gives Mira a too-innocent grin. "So, Mira. Are you, like, Phantom's girlfriend or something?" Paulina narrows her eyes further.

Mira chuckles and waves her hands in front of her. "Oh, no. We're just buds."

When Paulina barely relaxes, I inform her, "I promise you, there's no romantic subplot." Just to be a jerk, I bat my eyes coquettishly at her. She blushes and looks down shyly. Mira gives me a knowing side-eye. "Anyway," I go on, "I figured Mira here should know who she's dealing with. I'll just leave her with you. I need to get to my patrol-"

"Paulina! Hey, Paulina!"

Paulina groans. "I know that voice." We turn to see Sam running over with a big grin. Only I can see the hidden agenda in it. "What do you want-"

In a flash, Sam slaps Paulina hard across the face. The A-listers gasp. Mira asks what just happened. I can't answer because my mouth has fallen open.

Samantha Manson isn't a violent person. Sure, she'll go at it with a ghost or bop someone for being stupid. But just walking up to someone, even someone she hates like Paulina, and hitting them? That's not normal. And, we all know it, so none of us know how to react.

But, Mr. Lancer, who was close enough to have seen the whole thing, does. "Fahrenheit 451, Miss Manson! Get over here right now!"

Sam gives me a subtle grin before walking away to receive her punishment.

"That came out of nowhere," Star says. "You okay, Paulina?"

Paulina rubs the bright red spot on her cheek with an angry grunt. "Assuming she didn't bruise my face."

Dash glares at Sam. "Boy, Manson's real lucky I don't hit girls."

"Wonder what that was about," Kwan says curiously.

I think I know, and my heart swells at the knowledge.

After speaking with Mr. Lancer, Sam skips - yes, skips - back to us. She throws her fist triumphantly in the air and announces, "I got a week's worth of detention, and it's totally worth it!"

The other A-listers glower at her, and Paulina whirls on me. "Phantom, won't you please give me a hand here?"

She is not amused when I start clapping.

"So, you just walked up to her and hit her?" Tucker presses, leaning forward in his seat. "Just like that? Respect, girl!"

Sam shrugs modestly, her fork dangling over her pasta salad. "What can I say?" She nudges my arm playfully. "No one makes my friends cry and gets out unscathed."

I was in ghost-form until homeroom and Tucker forgot to set his alarm and was late, so we weren't able to meet up until lunch. A cold-front had come in, so we're eating in the cafeteria today.

A shy smile pulls at my lips, my hand perched to pick up my pizza slice. "I couldn't say it this morning, but I really did appreciate that. It wasn't necessary though."

"Yes, it was," Sam says. "Our agreement was to ignore ghosts, not bitches."

A cold wisp of blue floats out of my mouth. "Speaking of ghosts..."

Not a moment later, there's a loud crash as the wall bursts open, sending stones and debris everywhere. A few students sustained injuries, but I doubt that'll hold a candle to what the ghoul could do to them.

Ghouls come in all different shapes and sizes, though I've noticed that a lot of them resemble Earth animals. Because of this, it can be difficult to tell the difference between a ghoul and a completely sentient spirit.

Unless it attacks people for no reason and shows nothing but raw malice in its eyes. That's usually a clue.

This ghoul is in the form of a green lion with bright red eyes and a mane made of blue-green hair that crackles with visible electricity. It opens its jaws in a roar that shows off sharp yellow teeth. Predictably, everyone starts running and screaming as it leaps on to and crushes one of the tables. Immediately after, it headbutts another table that blocks the doors when it lands, trapping the remaining students and faculty. Sure, there's the gaping hole in the wall, but it's a little too close to the ghoul for comfort.

Valerie had been sitting by herself in the corner, studying for a test next period, and she shoots to her feet. She looks ready for a fight until she catches the firm look I send her way and remembers our agreement.

"I'm going ghost!" I whisper.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I duck under the table, switch to ghost-form, and fly into action. And no, I am not missing out on the Disney references this time.

"Hakuna ma-take this!" I shout as I blast a neon-green ghost ray at the lion.

A direct hit. The lion rolls off the table but just as quickly jumps back up. Finding its new target, it leaps and pins me down before I can react. It roars in my face, speckling me with ectoplasmic spittle.

"Yeesh!" I gasp, ignoring the pain in my back. "And, I thought Dash had bad breath."

"Hey!" Turns out Dash is still in the room, cowering in the corner with several others.

"Well, you do," I confirm. The lion leans in to bite my head off, but I let the icy energy roll up to my face and shoot twin beams from my eyes. The lion jumps back in surprise and tries to cough the ice out of its throat. I leap into the air and turn to Dash. "Might I suggest mouthwash?"

Meanwhile, the lion throws another table aside in its panic. Paulina screams as this one pins her against the wall. While the ghoul is distracted, I fly over and phase Paulina out from under there.

Instead of swooning over me like she always does when I do cool stuff, she glares daggers at me. "Oh, sure. Now you help me."

I can only respond with an indignant, "Um, you're welcome?"

But, there's no time to be annoyed. The ghoul finally hacks up the ice and is madder than ever. It sends bolts of blue-green lightning out of its mane and in our direction. I hold out my hands to create a shield over me and Paulina. Then, I try something Reaper showed me on my last visit.

I keep my shield active but grab the edges and throw it like a giant frisbee. The lion wasn't expecting this and gets nailed in the forehead and collapses, disoriented. A thrill runs through me when I think of how proud Reaper will be when I tell them how well I did that.

(It kind of feels like how I felt when I could finally show my parents a report card with more A's than not. I don't dwell on it.)

I'm about to pull out the Fenton Thermos, but an idea strikes.

"What are you waiting for?" Valerie shouts. She, Sam, and Tucker have been watching the whole thing go down. "Finish it off already!"

"Not yet," I say mischievously. "There's something I've always wanted to do."

I fly over to the lion and grab it under its arms from behind. Lucky for me, it's too confused to react. I can hear the African music in my head as I find an undamaged table. I step up the attached bench and perch one foot there and one on the table. The ghoul is too big for this to work like it did in the movie - the lion's legs scrape over the table - but I manage. With the most serious expression I can muster, I raise the lion high in front of me. Everyone laughs and claps their hands. Someone calls out, "It's the circle of life!"

But, the amusement dies when the lion starts growling. I scoff and remove one hand to dig out my Thermos, balancing my ghostly Simba on the table. "You saw the live action version, didn't you?" On that note, I suck the lion into the Thermos and pop the top on as my core purrs in my chest. "Long live the king," I conclude.

Everyone cheers and thanks me. I remember what Blairman said about choosing how to satisfy our Obsessions, and I duck my head as a harsh blush spreads over my face.

Suddenly, Eileen phases in through the blocked door while still in teacher-form. She looks frantic but relaxes when she takes in the scene and sees that no one was seriously hurt.

I hop off the table as she approaches me. "You're late to the party, Mama. Ms. Mae!" I correct even though I know she heard that.

Mama? Mama? That's worse than 'Mom!'

But then, I already call someone 'Mom,' so it would make sense for me to call Eileen something else.

Why is that my thought process? And, why is Eileen looking at me with so much affection that I want to hug her?

As if this couldn't get more embarrassing, everyone heard me. "Did he say 'Mama?'" "That's what I heard." "Ms. Mae is his mom? I thought they were just friends."

Turning invisible won't undo this, but it will certainly make me feel better. Before I can do that, Eileen calmly addresses the crowd. "He didn't say 'Mama.' He said 'Ms. Mae.' That is what I go by during school hours, after all."

The brief blank looks on all those faces are the telltale sign that Eileen just used Compulsion to save me from being publicly humiliated. Now, I really want to hug her. I smile gratefully, and she winks at me.

"I heard the commotion," Eileen explains. "Since I don't have any classes this period, I came here myself." Instead of sending one of her duplicates, she means. "Guess I missed all the fun."

And, there's my Ghost Sense again. "Apparently, there's still fun to be had."

I shoot into the air, ghost rays prepped, legs now a wispy dark gray tail that waves excitedly beneath me. The humans and Eileen are silent in anticipation. My core is back on overdrive, sensing the fear in the room. Do something, the feeling says. Keep them safe. It doesn't help that Eileen can't dodge or aim to save her life. That fact really ramps up the adrenaline, but I'm too enthralled in Obsession to wonder why that should make this much of a difference.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," I call. "I've seen a lot of Disney movies, and I know how to crack jokes about them."

"I don't know how you managed to make that sound threatening," a certain director says, gaining visibility as he lowers his camera, "but I got it on tape!"

I reluctantly regain my legs, drop myself to the floor, and dissipate the ghost rays. Even though I don't want to.

Hutch Blairman had been standing in the hole in the wall and now runs over to me, his camera hovering behind him. He grabs my hand in both of his and starts shaking it. "Never a dull moment with you, Phantom! I knew I picked the right star!"

More murmuring begins, this time with everyone recognizing the guy making my documentary. I yank my hand away, but Blairman doesn't mind. He's too busy reveling in the attention.

"Well, Blairman," Eileen says tersely. "It's interesting how you appeared just after the attack. The one with the ecto-rats too, if I recall." She punctuates this by releasing just enough of her disguise that her fake brownish eyes are replaced with her naturally vibrant red ones.

She's right. Blairmana did show up after the ecto-rats as well. How convenient.

Blairman blinks in surprise. "You're a ghost," he says, pointing at Eileen as her eyes match her human appearance once more. "I thought I saw you phase in here. That explains how you can be Phantom's mother."

No no no. Not letting this happen. "She's not my mother," I say with more difficulty than I care to admit.

"I'm not his mother," Eileen confirms, going along with it.

There's nothing to go along with because she really isn't my mother! What is up with me lately?

Blairman hums a laugh. "Please, Phantom. I heard you call her 'Mama.'"

That was on camera, wasn't it? Well, it's not getting in the documentary!

"No, silly," Eileen says as a flash of nothingness falls over Blairman's expression. "He called me 'Ms. Mae.' That's the name I use during school hours, you see."

Compulsion won't help when Blairman sees the footage, but I appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

Blairman scratches the back of his head. "Uh, right. My mistake." He raises an eyebrow at Eileen before shaking his head clear and leaping into the air. "Anyway, thanks for the bonus content. I'll see you after school." He spots Dash and Paulina and waves at them. "That goes for you kids as well."

"We can't wait!" Dash calls, his fists clenched in front of him. "Phantom introduced us to his friend who's gonna fight him. She seems like fun!"

Paulina just grunts, looking away. I guess she's still mad about Sam hitting her. Or, she's still convinced that Mira is my girlfriend. Could be both.

Blairman smiles approvingly at me. "So, you did as I asked. Fantastic! I can't wait to meet this girl. Oh, and FYI, I won't be picking you all up today. Something came up, so I'll just meet you at the same place as yesterday. Stay beautiful, friends!" We're not his friends. He and his camera fly off before I can tell him so in less kind words.

I turn to Eileen. "Do you think he sent the lion? And, the rats?"

Eileen rests a hand on her hip. "Here's my policy on this kind of thing." She ticks off the list on her fingers. "Once is dumb luck. Twice is iffy. Three is where it gets suspicious."

Words to live by. "I have a hunch it'll get suspicious real soon." As if it wasn't already.

The two of us check that everyone is okay, and I work a little Healing Touch on the injuries. Unlike with the ecto-rats, the damage to the humans isn't too bad. I can't say the same about the cafeteria. I block off the hole in the wall with ice for the time being. Shortly after, there is an announcement that the seniors, the only students who haven't had lunch yet, will have to eat either outside or in the gymnasium today.

After I pull the table out the way, Eileen and I usher the students and faculty out into the hallway. Tucker, Sam, and Valerie look back at me in question on their way out. I nod that I'm okay, and they nod back.

I know they're not worried because of the lion-ghost. But, I'm not getting them involved with Blairman. They're on vacation, and Blairman has nothing to do with them.

Dash claps me on the back as he walks out. "See you after school, Phantom."

Paulina, however, gives me a dirty look then turns her nose up with a haughty sound.

Okay…

"What was that about?" Eileen asks, watching Paulina walk away.

I shrug. "I have a feeling this is one of those times when the guy did something to the girl, but he doesn't know what it was."

"My advice: get her some of those chocolates shaped like roses. Flowers and chocolate rolled into one. The perfect apology gift!"

I chuckle and shake my head. "I can't tell if you're serious or not."

Eileen just smiles before getting down to business. "Well, here's me being serious. I want to come with you to see Blairman today. I don't like the way things are going."

Neither do I, but… "I'll be fine, Eileen. I've dealt with way worse than Blairman. I can handle myself."

"I know you can." Eileen ruffles my hair. "But, that's not gonna stop me from worrying. Let me know if you change your mind about me coming, okay?"

Mira is waiting at the school's entrance with Dash and Paulina when I arrive in ghost-form. "Looks like everyone's accounted for," I say. "Shall we?"

"Mira's carrying me," Paulina says crossly.

Um… I turn to Dash, who gives me a pitying look. I think he knows something I don't.

Mira just glances from person to person, as confused as I am. "I guess I'm carrying Paulina."

"Alright then," I say. I'll have to talk to Paulina about whatever this is. Not knowing is going to drive me insane.

But, it'll have to wait because my Ghost Sense just went off. Not long after, we hear sputtering, like a machine on its last legs. Down the street, rolls a red convertible with the top down and smoke pouring out of its engine. It slowly comes to a stop in front of the school. The driver bangs on the dash, begging his precious vehicle to move.

This might be a good time to mention that the driver isn't a human. Nor is he human-like.

He is a pale green blob with one massive red eye, a large mouth, and two tentacles for arms. And, he apparently owns a non-ghostly convertible. I've seen a lot of weird things since becoming a halfa, but this is a new one.

"Hello there," I say, walking up to the broken down vehicle.

The blob takes one look at me and screams, waving his tentacles in panic. "Don't hurt me! I-I don't mean any harm!"

After recovering from the shock, I raise my hands placatingly. "Whoa, whoa! Take it easy! I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise."

The blob calms but keeps his guard up. "Aren't you Danny Phantom?"

"In the flesh," I say with a slight bow.

What he says next completely baffles me. "I was told you hated other ghosts."

"What? Where'd you hear that?" The blob shrugs, not meeting my eyes. I say as warmly as I can and while ignoring a tickle at the base of my skull that I am becoming far too accustomed to, "I don't hate other ghosts. Look." I point behind me at Mira, who offers a friendly wave. "That girl's my friend, and she's a ghost."

The blob finally relaxes. "Sorry, Mr. Phantom. I heard that you fight off any ghost who comes here, and I didn't realize where I was until it was too late."

"You can knock off that 'Mr.' And, just because I protect this town doesn't mean I don't allow outsiders. Now," I knock my fist lightly against the car, "what's going on with this?"

"And, why does a ghost need a car?" Dash asks for me.

The blob looks around shyly. "Uh, I don't know. I've been to Earth a few times, and I think cars are neat, and this human-guy let me borrow one from his dealership." The blob purses his...lips? "But, now that I think about it, he might have been overshadowed. I can usually tell. I was just so excited to drive a car!"

"Sounds like you got punked," Mira says sympathetically.

"Could I take a look?" Paulina asks, already walking up to the hood. "I know a thing or two about cars."

Oh, that's right. She wants to be a mechanic. My core is buzzing with the need to help, but Paulina is better suited for this than I am. Besides, I just saved the school from a lion-ghost. My core will be fine.

When the blob pops the hood, a huge wave of smoke poofs out, and Paulina jumps back and hacks up a lung, waving her hands in front of her face. "I think - cough - I already know what's - cough cough - what's wrong."

Once the smoke clears, she starts digging around and spouting out all kinds of terms about engines and oil that fly over my head.

After a while Dash sighs. "Man. It must be nice to have a purpose."

"What do you mean?" Mira asks.

I shake my head, recalling what Dash said at Paulina's house. "This guy thinks that he isn't going anywhere after high school." I lightly elbow him. "You just gotta find something that clicks with you. Paulina found cars. I found astronomy and later saving lives."

"I found food," Mira adds. "My plan is to find my lair and turn it into a restaurant!"

This is the first I'm hearing of this plan, and I whole-heartedly approve. "Consider me a regular…"

I trail off when I spot a human-man my parents' age across the street. He leans against a street light, eyes locked on to his phone as if furiously texting someone. My gut says that's not what he's doing.

Vlad Masters glances up at me with a barely perceptible smirk.