They singled him out among a crowd of people, pretending to be friends of the man whose form he'd been borrowing. He'd played along, waiting for the opportune moment to pull a prank that would get the original in trouble with them for weeks. The crowd was gone before he realized it, he'd been so intent on playing the game. That was when things went sour, when the two smiled knowingly and summoned their weapons.

Those weapons... They were unlike any he'd seen before, nothing like the ecto technology that the Fentons or even Technus used. One screeched at him to flee, its voice scraping at the inside of his skull; the other gibbered madly, gleeful for the coming fight.

Amorpho took on the shape of a falcon and flew away as fast as his wings would carry him. A shot from one—a harpoon gun of some sort, strangely low-tech for ghost hunting—grazed his wing as he darted out of sight.

Rust began to creep from the cut once he was well away, stiffening the joint so much that flying in bird form would become difficult before long. The injury carried over even to his normal form and twinged painfully as he shifted. He was in the open land between cities now, sheltering beneath a lone tree in a field of rippling grass. It would serve as a hiding place for now, while he figured out the next step.

The portal he'd come through originally was out of the question; it was one of the transient portals between the Ghost Zone and Earth, and had disappeared soon after he used it. He'd thought that since it didn't lead to Amity Park he'd be in the clear when it came to avoiding ghost hunters. Clearly he was wrong, and now he had to find his way to Amity Park anyway and hope he had enough strength to get to the ghost portal without being caught.

There was another sharp twinge from Amorpho's injury, followed by a dull steady throbbing. He looked down at the ripped sleeve and at the rust-like substance continuing to spread beneath it. Perhaps Phantom would be feeling merciful enough to help, it would certainly save a lot of trouble.


Danny finished editing what little information he had on the strange stag creature he'd encountered a few days ago and hit Save. It had gone by too fast for either Tucker or Sam to snap a picture of it, and Danny himself had been too shocked to even think of doing so. No reaction from his ghost sense even when he was right on top of it, too. Danny leaned back in his chair, his eyes still on the frustratingly small addition to his Ghost Files. The stag was still around as far as he knew, since he hadn't been able to put it back into the Ghost Zone himself. He'd have to keep an eye out for it.

"Danny!" Maddie's voice rang out from downstairs, breaking his train of thought. "Valerie's here to see you!"

The name was certainly a surprise, Valerie usually didn't visit since she lived in the next town over. Danny closed the Ghost Files and turned off his computer, then dashed out of his bedroom and down the stairs. He found Valerie in the living room, where his father was currently explaining his latest invention to her.

"—exposes a ghost's ecto-signature for easy tracking," Jack said proudly, showing Valerie a long sleek gun along with the connected tracking device. "I call it the Fenton Ecto-Tracer. This'll let us track those ghosts down no matter where they hide!"

"Hey Val," Danny said, interrupting his father's demonstration. "What's up?"

Valerie gave him a warm smile and got up from the couch, leaving Jack to continue work on his current project. "I wanted to share the good news in person. My dad and I are finally moving back to Amity Park!"

"That's awesome!" Danny said as he reached her. "What part of town will you guys be in?"

"This part," Valerie replied, giving him a mischievous grin. "We'll be moving into the house next door this week."

The reply genuinely took Danny by surprise. "Wait, seriously?"

"That's right. My dad got a raise and a big bonus recently, and the house was a low price for its size. Something about really annoying neighbors lowering property values," she said, giving the Fenton parents an amused sidelong glance—they were already too wrapped up in tinkering with the Ecto-Tracer to pay attention to the conversation.

"Yeah that house has been empty for a while," Danny said, just now recalling the day their previous neighbors had finally had enough of the Fentons' constant eccentricities. "And your dad's okay with living next to a family of ghost hunters?"

"His work involves guarding against ghosts anyway, so he figures it might be helpful for his job," Valerie replied with a shrug. "Maybe we could hang out sometime once the move is over?"

"Of course," Danny said quickly. "I'm actually heading down to the arcade soon if you wanna join us," he added, gesturing toward the front door.

"I gotta help with packing so I'll have to pass," Valerie said regretfully. "But I'm sure we can get a few games in once things have settled down."


The pair continued to dog him despite the distance he'd put between them earlier. He had no idea how they were able to do it. No matter the distance or the form, somehow they still knew where he was and what he was. The wound twinged again, making him flinch. Amorpho tried to brush the still-spreading rust away, to no avail.

Could the wound somehow be doing it? There were some ghost powers that worked in such a way but he'd never encountered technology capable of—

Amorpho shuddered as the realization hit him.

But they weren't technology... They were animate, alive in a way. One of them spoke to him, which could mean...

A twig snapped nearby, giving Amorpho a sudden rush of panic.

Would they do the same thing to him if they caught him?

Amorpho took the form of an owl and flew up into the canopy, his wingbeats growing clumsier with every movement. He wouldn't be able to fly at all before long.

He remembered now, those ugly old tales about humans binding ghosts to mundane objects so they could be used in their schemes. It had been decades since any fresh rumor of them had surfaced, yet here Amorpho was, facing two of them.

The next city was Amity Park. He had to get to Phantom, ask for help. And warn him about the two as well. They did not bode well for any ghost they came across.


Sam had her nose practically glued to a new book when Danny arrived at the arcade.

"Hey Sam." Danny gave her a wave and only received a nod in reply. He looked at Tucker, who rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"She's been busy since I got here," Tucker said. "Hey Sam, we're gonna play some games if you wanna drop in—"

"At the next stopping point," Sam replied without looking up from the book.

Danny stooped to get a look at its cover: the book was called 'The Wayfinder's Lantern' and appeared to have a young witch on the cover, partially obscured by Sam's fingers. "Must be good," he said as he straightened. Had to be to hold Sam's attention like this. He turned to Tucker. "Let's get a few games in, Sam can join whenever."

A few games stretched onto more, Sam following them around the arcade to take the nearest seat but never joining. Danny had to admit that it hurt a little, since this was supposed to be their time to be out and have fun together; Sam could always read at home, after all.

Even with the book put away on the ride over to Nasty Burger, Sam was light on conversation, too absorbed in thinking about the story to add much to what Danny and Tucker were chatting about.

"So what's it about?" Danny asked; the book had come back out of Sam's backpack the moment they sat down to wait for their food.

Sam gave him her full attention for the first time that day and grinned. "Okay, so there's this secret academy where students train to become witches and fight ghosts, and on the first day they're given a special artifact that they bond with and they get totally unique powers from it," Sam began, only pausing to take a breath before continuing. "The main character is this misfit girl and she solves mysteries in the academy and about ghosts with her friends. It's super engaging and relatable."

"Huh, that does sound like what we're doing, a little bit," Danny admitted.

"I can lend you the first book if you're interested, I already finished reading it."

"Um, sure," Danny said after a moment's pause. "I'll give it a try." No harm in seeing what it was about, after all.

"Aw come on, you can't both ignore me, what's even the point of being out?" Tucker said with a glare.

"I'll save it for when I get home," Danny assured him. "And maybe you could too?" he asked as he turned to Sam.

"Fine," Sam said with a sigh as she placed a black bat bookmark on her current page and closed the book. "Maybe you could read it too, Tucker. Then we'd all have something new to talk about together."

"I'm not sure it's really my thing, I'm more of a scifi guy myself," Tucker replied. "But I guess I could give it a shot once Danny's done reading it."

Their food arrived, and the three had just started to dig in when a squirrel landed on their table. They jumped to their feet, each pulling their food away from it before it could steal anything.

Rather than go after the food the squirrel looked up at Danny and spoke. "I need your help, Phantom. Someone's after me and they have awful things planned. I can't escape them much longer."

"Amorpho?" Danny said, having recognized the voice. "What, did you tick off the wrong person?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Not an unheard of possibility given Amorpho's hobby.

"I don't know, they just came out of nowhere. I've never seen them before." Amorpho looked around fearfully, and Danny noticed that one of his arms looked like it was rusting somehow. "Please just send me home. The Ghost Zone is the only place I'll be safe from them."

"Wow Fenturd, your friends are so boring you're talking to squirrels now?" Dash jeered as he and Qwan strolled up.

Amorpho glared at Dash, tail flicking briefly, then he leaped at the teen's face with an angry chitter.

Dash shrieked and jumped back just in time. "It has rabies!" he screamed, turning and sprinting back the way he'd come in record time with Qwan on his heels.

"Thanks," Danny said with a chuckle as Amorpho hopped onto his shoulder. "That saved us some time."

"If I could change the appearance of others I'd turn that boy into a toad," Amorpho said, glaring after Dash for a moment. "Or a pig, that works too."

"Sounds like an insult to pigs," Sam said. "And toads."

"Perhaps." Amorpho shrugged.

"Let's pack up the food and get going," Tucker said. "Your place, Danny?"

"We can hang out after I get Amorpho back to the Ghost Zone," Danny replied. "I'll go on ahead."


"Uh, Danny?"

Danny looked up from the seat in front of his computer and found Jazz standing in his bedroom doorway. "Yeah?"

"You know there's a squirrel on your shoulder, right?" Jazz said, raising an eyebrow as she pointed at Amorpho.

"Yep. You remember Amorpho, right?"

"Amorpho..." Jazz paused to recall where she'd heard the name before, and she glared when she found it. "You little—!" she began as she stomped up to Amorpho.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Amorpho said as he fell off Danny's shoulder. "It was a joke!"

"A joke? A joke!?"

"Jazz, shhhhhh," Danny said as he swung around to face her. "Chew him out a little quieter. I don't want mom and dad coming up here."

"They just went out on patrol anyway," Jazz said with a wave of her hand. She glared down at Amorpho again, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm so sorry and I promise I'll never do it again," Amorpho said, holding his paws up in a pleading gesture. "Just please don't let them get me, I'll be out of your hair the moment I can go home."

"So why haven't you tossed him into the Ghost Zone yet?"

"I tried as soon as I got here," Danny replied. "He just bounced right off, it's like a wall to him right now."

"It's this injury, I've figured out that much," Amorpho said, showing them his left arm and the rust spreading across it. "One of those weapons caused it."

The sound of the front door being opened and closed reached them, making Amorpho jump.

"Should be Tucker and Sam," Danny said.

The pair entered Danny's room less than a minute later and joined them at the computer.

"So Amorpho's still here," Sam said. "So that means?"

"Ghost portal's a bust. He says that weird injury on his arm is stopping him," Danny said, pointing down at Amorpho as the ghost held his injured arm up for them to see.

"Rust?" Tucker crouched down and squinted at it. "I didn't know ghosts could rust."

"Not naturally," Amorpho said, lowering his arm. "But there are ghosts who have that power."

"But you said you'd be safe in the Ghost Zone," Sam said. "Ghosts will just be able to follow you there."

"They weren't ghosts," Amorpho replied. "They were humans, but their weapons... Those were ghostbound weapons, and they're going to do the same to me if they catch me!"

"Wait, ghostbound?" Sam said, staring at him in surprise. "So like, ghosts bound to human world objects?"

Amorpho nodded.

"You know about these, Sam?" Danny asked. "I haven't found anything about them in our Ghost Files."

"That's because they're not in our Ghost Files, they're in my books!" Sam replied as she took 'The Wayfinder's Lantern' from her backpack. "Those are exactly the kinds of artifacts they give to the students in the story."

"Horror story, I should hope," Amorpho said with a glare. "Binding is not a happy occurrence!"

"There are times when it's good in the story," Sam said, a tad defensively. "Sometimes ghosts are too injured to survive in the human world, so they need to live in an object to recover until they can go home."

"Oh please, do you really think anyone owning a ghostbound weapon would just allow their tool to leave?" Amorpho said with a roll of his eyes. "Humans are far too selfish."

"Some humans," Sam corrected him. "And I can name plenty of ghosts who are defined by selfishness, by the way," she added, raising an eyebrow as she looked down her nose at him.

"So how accurate are these books, anyway?" Tucker asked as Sam passed him the book. "You're telling me someone's out there writing about an actual ghost thing just by accident?"

"Depends," Danny said. "Sam, can you tell us more about them? Amorpho can tell us if it's right."

"So I mentioned that the artifacts give a unique set of powers, right? It's tailored to the abilities of whatever ghost is living inside. Anything special they could do, the person bonded with it can do it too."

Amorpho nodded. "That is correct. And they can talk."

"That's right, all the artifacts are pretty much characters just like the humans." Sam accepted the book back from Tucker and stared down at the cover for a moment. "Do you think the author might've stumbled across some ghost lore we didn't know about?"

"We ghosts certainly don't like to talk about them, especially not to humans, so they must've found some human records of it if that's the case," Amorpho said.

"Alright so whoever's after Amorpho has freaky enslaved ghost weapons," Danny said as he typed up a new file labeled 'Ghostbound Weapons'. "And one of them makes things rust."

"It looked like a harpoon gun," Amorpho said as he hopped up on Danny's shoulder and watched him type. "I didn't get a good look at the other, but from its voice it was pretty far-gone. It was something big, not common for a human to be carrying around. I don't want to find out what it does." He shuddered.

"Hey, do those weapons you saw let them transform too? Like their clothes change?" Sam asked.

"I didn't witness that happening, but I do recall something about that in the old rumors," Amorpho replied.

"I think those books of yours might be required reading now, too. That is way too much to be just a coincidence," Tucker added.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "Man, now I'm gonna be stuck on the moral dubiousness of ghostbound weapons whenever I read these."

"How'd they even slip that past you in the first place?" Danny asked with a chuckle. "The ghosts are stuck in those objects, right?"

"The framing. None of the main ones in the book had it done without their consent, and whenever ghosts are bound cause they're too dangerous they never get used. There was still agency to it."

"I wonder who wrote these..." Jazz said as she looked down at the book in Sam's hands. "Are they an established author?"

"This is her first series, so she basically came out of nowhere," Sam replied. "She seemed pretty normal from the bio."

"Could she be a ghost hunter?" Tucker suggested. "Maybe she wanted to keep her real world experience on the downlow."

"Either way we still have those two other ghost hunters to deal with," Danny said as he saved the file. "Were there any weapons that made things rust in the books, Sam?"

"Not in what I've read so far," Sam replied.

A car honked outside and Tucker glanced out the window, then did a double-take. "Uh, guys?"

"What is it?" Sam asked, already wary.

"Would those weapon transformations make the humans look kinda like ghosts, by chance?"

"I mean that's kinda how I imagined it whenever I read—" Sam stopped short. "They're already outside, aren't they."

"Yep."

Danny jumped to his feet and shifted to his ghost form. "Guess we should go say hello!"

"Wait!" Amorpho said.

Danny picked him up and put him on the desk. "Stay here, I'll go down and—"

A grappling hook arced through the window, scraped across the carpet and held fast as it was pulled against the windowsill.

Danny rushed to the window and tried to dislodge the grappling hook before whoever was outside could reach them, but it was stuck fast and resisted his attempts at making it intangible. He jumped back as a large black-gloved hand rose up and came down hard on the windowsill, pulling the rest of the intruder up behind it.

Their first intruder's face was obscured by a black neck gaiter and yellow sou'wester hat, and his body covered by a matching oilskin coat; he looked enough like a ghost that Danny might've mistaken him for one at a glance thanks to the faint glow, but the presence he gave off was... Wrong. Danny couldn't sense him as a ghost at all. The apparent void beneath the hat's brim panned the room in search of its target—and found Amorpho on the desk.

Danny tried to blast him away from the window, but the hunter dodged easily with a tilt of his head. "Guys, get out of here," he said, gesturing for his friends and sister to step back. Danny dashed over to his desk, grabbed Amorpho, and hurled him toward the bedroom door. "Go!"

Sam caught the ghost easily and backed out of the doorway.

"Wait, so where's the other g—" Tucker began, his question cut off by the answer as something heavy made contact with the front door and shattered it.

Heavy footsteps sounded below, but not bound for the stairs. Apparently the other had a different target for now, which was strange—

The whaler pulled himself inside and took aim with his harpoon gun.

Danny jumped aside, narrowly dodging the harpoon. Rust spread around the place where it hit his bedroom wall and immediately fell away and disintegrated.

Tucker ducked into the hall behind him while Jazz hesitated.

"I'm gonna check downstairs," Jazz said, keeping her voice low as the whaler yanked his harpoon out of the wall by its rope and caught it in one smooth motion. "I have a bad feeling."

Danny deflected the next harpoon shot with an energy blast and dove through the floor. He looped out above the street and grabbed the whaler through the window, then planted his feet against the wall and hauled the man out and into the open air.

The hunter slowed in his fall and came to a floating stop just below, as if suspended in water. The spearpoint of the harpoon shifted into a grappling hook, which he fired past Danny and onto the Ops Center.

Danny fired at the rope. An explosion shook the Fenton residence, making it sway just enough that he missed. A sudden wave of panic and worry flooded him; Jazz had gone to check on the second intruder and Sam and Tucker were hiding somewhere in the house. Danny did a loop in the air for some extra momentum and came down hard on the whaler, forcing him onto the sidewalk and freezing his arms and legs to the concrete.

With one hunter immobilized Danny dove back inside his house, a nauseous sinking feeling in his gut.

There was no one on the second floor. He flew to the landing and stopped short when his parents jumped through the doorway, hiding just in time to avoid being spotted.

"Galloping ghosts! What happened in here!?"

"Quickly, Jack! The lab!"

Danny shifted back to human form and took the stairs two at a time as he ran down to join them, the worry building.

"Danny! What's going on here?" Maddie asked as they ran through the kitchen.

"Some weird guys showed up and broke into the house," Danny replied. "Jazz went down to check and—"

Something big hit a wall, making the house shake.

There was a brief struggle as all three of them tried to fit through the doorway to the basement. Danny squeezed through first and made it to the bottom ahead of them.

The lab was in ruins. Their second intruder stood at the far end of the room in front of the now-crushed Fenton Portal, dressed in copper hat diving gear and armed with a giant anchor. The helmet turned slightly now that Danny and his parents had their attention.

Danny looked to where their attention had been focused before and found Jazz, armored up thanks to the Fenton Ghost Peeler but partially buried by the remains of a cabinet. "Jazz!" Danny ran to her side and pulled the uppermost piece of debris off her.

"I'm okay." Jazz started to push herself up. "But the portal—"

"Yeah, let's focus on dealing with this jerk first," Danny said as he shifted another piece of debris. He had to find a place to hide so he could transform if he wanted to avoid both his parents and the diver seeing him do it.

Jazz got to her feet, pushing the rest aside with some difficulty; the left shoulder of the Fenton Peeler's armor had been crumpled from a heavy impact, impeding her movement. "Watch out, this guy's faster than he looks."

"Eat hot Fenton Missiles, ghost scum!" Jack yelled as he fired on the diver.

With a flick of their anchor the diver dodged the small barrage of missiles, which only added to the damage the Fenton Portal had already received. Another volley came from Maddie this time, which they deflected with their anchor. They widened their stance, and a large echoing bubble ballooned from their helmet as the air in the room rippled.

Suddenly Danny couldn't keep his feet on the ground. He drifted up as if held by water, not an unfamiliar feeling but shocking all the same on dry land.

Jack and Maddie yelped with surprise as they too drifted off the ground and floated toward the ceiling.

With the door clear the diver swung their anchor again, allowing its weight to pull them across the room with speed. They landed at the foot of the stairs and bounded up and away with their anchor slung over one shoulder.

"Get back here you soggy menace!" Maddie shook her fist at the now-empty doorway.

The buoyancy in the room suddenly receded, dumping everyone on the floor. Danny caught himself just before landing while Jack broke Maddie's fall.

"Jazz, Danny!" Maddie called as she climbed off of Jack. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Danny replied as he straightened.

"A little bruised, but okay," Jazz said. "I think I need help getting out of the Fenton Peeler, though," she added, looking down at the damaged armor.

Maddie dashed over with Jack on her heels. "It may take a while," Maddie said as she examined the damage. "That lab crasher will have to wait for now."

"And as soon as we're done we're gonna track that ghost down and show it what happens when you mess with the Fentons," Jack added with a wave of his fist.

"I'm gotta go check on Sam and Tucker," Danny said. "You guys can handle things here?"

"I think they've got it covered," Jazz said; Jack and Maddie were already combing through the wreckage in search of the tools they'd need.

A quick search of the house turned up no trace of Sam, Tucker, or Amorpho, which had him worried. Were they hurt? Did that whaler guy get loose and—

Tucker's ringtone sounded from Danny's pocket and he answered with a sigh of relief. "Tucker? What happened, are you guys safe?"

"Yeah we're okay, we're circling the city in the Specter Speeder right now. Turns out those ghost hunter guys can't fly so they haven't been able to catch us yet."

"Well that's a relief," Danny said. The hunters being unable to fly was certainly a lucky break. "How's Amorpho doing?"

"Still a squirrel, but I think he might be getting worse." There was a pause, apparently as Tucker looked at Amorpho. "The rust is spreading, we need to figure out how to get it off him."

"Would be great if we had any info on ghosts who could do that," Danny said.

"What happened after we got out? There was an explosion," Sam said.

"The second guy destroyed the Fenton Portal. Even if we do get the rust off Amorpho we won't be able to use it."

"And Frostbite has the Infi-Map right now," Sam added. "Which means..."

"We gotta use Vlad's portals if we want something local," Tucker finished.

"We'll figure that out when we get to it. I've snuck things past Vlad before, but first we gotta get rid of that rust so Amorpho can use a portal at all."

"Do you think Vlad's library might have something about that?" Sam asked.

"Even if it does I'm not sure how we'd find it without asking him," Danny replied. "Pretty sure I'm at my limit for checking things out of that library, not without owing him something anyway." And he did not want to end the day owing Vlad a favor.

"Well we can't stay in the Specter Speeder forever. Those guys keep finding us whenever we land," Sam said.

"Can Amorpho fly himself for a while?"

"I can't transform anymore," Amorpho replied forlornly. "Even if I could take a winged form I can't move my arm well enough to fly."

"Wait, hang on. Sam! What about those books you've been reading," Tucker said.

"There aren't any rusting ghosts in there."

"No but are there any that leave like, a lasting effect on people? Like a debuff or curse or something?"

"You know… I think I do remember something like that being mentioned." Sam paused as she thought about it. "Take over for a bit, I'll see what I can find."

"Can you lure them somewhere outside of town?" Danny asked.

"You got a plan?" Tucker asked.

"Maybe I can get them to back off for a bit, I won't have to hold back if I'm away from the city." And if he became so exhausted he was forced back into human form there were fewer people who might see as well. If he managed to beat them with a well-placed Ghostly Wail, all the better. "Sound good?"

"Better than being stuck in the Specter Speeder forever," Tucker replied. "Just be careful, dude. That rust stuff probably affects half-ghosts too."


Vlad stared blankly down at the notes in front of him, pen still in hand. It was hard to think after the week's worth of nights he'd had, plagued by old nightmares he thought long buried. The wretched old doctor still had plenty of pain to give him despite having died all those years ago.

He gave up on the notes and turned his chair around to stare out over the garden beyond, one elbow on the arm of his chair and his cheek resting against his hand. The recent dreams weren't the only ones on his mind, truth be told. That whole situation with Nocturne still bothered him, and not just because of the poor showing he'd had in the fight. He'd allowed cracks in his armor to show in that dream, in the name of getting out. Hopefully Daniel would keep his nose out of it, or forget it altogether after enough time. He didn't need the boy's pity, and he would certainly not tolerate it from Jack either.

They were too far gone. Too much time had passed for things to change. All the doting in the world couldn't make up for abandoning him back then, when he needed Jack the most. He could've changed things, swooped in and pulled off some harebrained scheme to get him away from his family before that doctor even showed up... Put something right after he sent Vlad there in the first place.

Vlad tried to push the thought away. It was something he'd daydreamed about before his hope gave out, that Jack would come to his rescue like he'd done before, but he never did. He never even came to check on him after the accident, and then he took Maddie away too. Perhaps Jack thought she'd visited Vlad enough past a certain point, or Maddie simply thought him not worth the effort either.

His cat Maddie jumping on his lap and settling in barely registered as Vlad fought to end the train of thought, and lost. Even in that wretched facility he'd held a distant hope of rescue for a time, before realizing he would have to rescue himself if he ever wanted to get out. The then-budding ghost powers had been a boon once he'd started to control them. But before that, when they were activating at random and he had no idea how to stop it... Things like turning invisible by accident ended with the irate staff putting him in isolation after being unable to find him for too long...

A cat claw dug into his chest as Maddie tried to play with the bow at his neck, finally breaking Vlad out of his ruminations. Vlad gently removed her claw with his free hand and straightened, grateful for the somewhat rude interruption. It never did him any good to dwell on what happened back then, at least not to that degree.

Vlad sighed and let go of Maddie's paw, giving her a small smile. "Looks like it's time to clip your claws again." He started to turn toward the desk, only for something outside to catch his attention; the distant but unmistakable silhouette of the Specter Speeder.

"Now what are they up to...?" Vlad said, half to himself and half to his cat. Any distraction was welcome as long as it removed him from his present musings, and since Danny's friend Tucker had gotten very good at flushing out his spying devices he had no idea what was going on at the Fenton residence. A little afternoon flight would be refreshing anyway.

Vlad stood and set Maddie down in his now-empty chair. He scratched her on the head as a little apology for the interruption of lap time, then shifted to his ghost form and flew out into the open air.

Catching up to the Speeder was child's play, and its occupants had no idea he'd dropped in for a visit thanks to his invisibility. Vlad settled himself in the back seat and took stock of what was going on: Danny's friends were here but he wasn't, with Tucker driving and Sam skimming through a book. Also there was... A squirrel, perched on the back of the front seat. Vlad raised an eyebrow and leaned in to get a better look.

The squirrel hobbled over to the window—one foreleg wasn't moving right—and peered out. "Look, they stopped following us!" the squirrel said. Ah, so some sort of ghost, then. That made more sense than the pair picking up an actual squirrel to take along with them.

"Really?" Sam extracted herself from the book and twisted in her seat to get a look. "Wait... Don't tell me..."

"What happened now?" Tucker asked, his exasperated tone suggesting this wasn't the first twist they'd met today.

"They're making a beeline for Vlad's house."

"How do they keep finding the ghost portals!?"

Vlad bit down on the exclamation that nearly made it out of his mouth and darted outside the Specter Speeder to confirm. Sure enough, two figures were indeed speeding just above the ground toward his house, pulled along by a large anchor as if it were a horse. They were definitely not on the guest list. Vlad raced back to head them off before they got the chance to break in; he couldn't have any of the trouble they'd made for Danny and his friends spreading into his house.


"Are you sure you're okay, Jazz?" Danny asked again as he watched Jazz roll her shoulder.

"It's nothing some ice and a good night's sleep won't fix," she replied.

"If you're sure." Sam's ringtone interrupted any further discussion and Danny picked up. "Sam? What's up?"

"So those guys that were following us? They're headed toward Vlad's place now," Sam said, cutting right to the chase.

"Vlad's— Are you sure?" Danny asked. This wasn't good. Either those two hunters were working with Vlad or they were out to destroy his portals too. "Hang on, I'm going to—"

"What's that? Did something happen to Vlad?" Jack appeared at Danny's side not a moment later. He had the sharpest hearing for subjects he was interested in. "Is that portal crasher after my buddy too?"

"He's uuh kicking everyone's butts at the arcade and Sam and Tucker wanted me to come help knock him down a peg," Danny said, the lie tumbling out of his mouth as he thought of it. The last thing he needed was his parents getting tangled up in this mess and getting in the way while he tried to deal with the ghost hunters—and he didn't want to risk them getting hit by that harpoon thing either. "So I'm just gonna go do that right now. Later!"

Jack didn't reply, but by the squint he gave him Danny could tell he didn't quite buy it.

Danny made for the door, hoping that his dad would at the very least start his search somewhere other than Vlad's house if he genuinely thought Vlad was in trouble. The odds were fifty-fifty, which was not promising.


Danny spotted the Specter Speeder first. It was hovering at some distance from Vlad's house, which Danny couldn't see yet. He made his way over and dropped into the front seat between Sam and Tucker.

"Hey Danny," Tucker said, keeping most of his attention on the controls. "So we've got good news and bad news."

"The good news is that those hunter guys aren't working with Vlad, the bad news is they're probably after his ghost portals too," Sam said.

"How are they figuring out where the portals are?" Danny asked in exasperation.

"No clue, but you better get down there and make sure they don't nuke Vlad's portals too," Tucker replied as he pointed at the scene before them: both hunters were fighting Vlad even now, and he wasn't exactly having an easy time of it given that he'd just been flung into a wall by the diver's anchor.

Danny dove out of the Speeder and flew just above the ground, taking the diver by surprise as they slung their anchor at Vlad and knocking them down. He followed up by grabbing the anchor by its chain, intending to carry it beyond the diver's reach, only to find that it was attached directly to their suit.

Something big hit him from behind as he dropped the chain and knocked him to the ground. Danny rolled to his left and narrowly avoided being crushed by the anchor, which was now acting without any direct guidance from the diver.

Danny jumped back into the air and backed away to put some distance between himself and the anchor.

"Finally arrived to clean up the mess your friends dragged onto my doorstep?" Vlad approached Danny, already rusting on his right shoulder and very unamused. "Care to explain what those two are?"

"Two humans using ghostbound weapons," Danny replied. He rolled in mid-air to avoid the whaler's harpoon shot. "Seen anything like them before?"

"I have not," Vlad replied, his attention still on the two hunters as he spoke. He conjured a ball of ectoplasm in his palms and hurled it at them, making them scatter as it exploded. As soon as the ectoplasm left his hands Vlad flinched and grabbed his shoulder, the rust spreading by centimeters as he did. "And just where did you manage to dredge them up?"

"I didn't! They showed up cause they were chasing Amorpho." Worry hung beyond the present exasperation; if these guys were enough to give Vlad a run for his money they were in trouble. "Now are you gonna sit there chewing me out or are we gonna deal with this?"

"They cover each other's weak points," Vlad said, rather than continue the argument. "Separate them and they'll be easier to defeat."

"Duplicates?" Danny asked; Vlad was strong enough, he should've done it himself already rather than indirectly asking for Danny's help like this.

"Not with this," Vlad growled, gesturing to the rust on his shoulder.

Danny dove under another harpoon shot and rushed the whaler. The diver lifted their anchor, only to face a barrage of ecto-blasts from Vlad that forced them away from their partner.

Things were going smoothly for the first time that day. Vlad was able to keep the diver at bay while Danny froze the whaler in place, removing the threat of his rusting harpoon. Sam and Tucker even joined in with a few well-placed shots from the Specter Speeder. Danny was just about to take the whaler's harpoon gun from him when an enormous shadow fell over them.

"Fun's over, ghosts!" Jack yelled over the loudspeaker as the Fenton Blimp's bulk loomed overhead. "No one picks a fight with the Fentons and gets away with it!"

Things were going smoothly, so of course it couldn't last long. Missile pods opened up on either side of the Fenton Blimp's gondola.

"Oh for the love of—!" Vlad began, cutting himself off as the first missile barrage blasted out of the pods. He raised his good arm in a sweeping motion; a wave of magenta energy arced out from the movement and struck several missiles from the air. He was immediately rewarded with a blow from behind that knocked him to the ground.

The diver flung their anchor up by the chain and prepared to deliver another blow, only to find themselves beset by the missiles as well. They diverted their movement mid-air and swung the anchor in a horizontal line, striking more missiles from the air.

Danny dove into the ground and avoided the worst of the missiles, only to find that the whaler had gotten free when he surfaced again. And had re-armed his harpoon gun. Danny hesitated, briefly wondering if it would be better to get some distance or fight him up close. He dove for the whaler with his hands already glowing blue.

Vlad hit him from behind—not on purpose, as the second missile barrage had knocked him flying with help from the diver's anchor.

The whaler fired.

Danny yelped as the harpoon grazed his left shoulder and kept going—cutting the left side of Vlad's torso as well.

"Enough!" Vlad growled as he shoved Danny away from him. He grabbed the rope of the harpoon and snapped it in one swift motion, then flew up above the Fenton Blimp and conjured a massive ball of energy between his hands. Vlad hurled it down on them, just past the blimp where it split into dozens of smaller blasts that showered down on the two hunters.

And Danny. He dove underground again and resurfaced by the closest wall of Vlad's house while the blasts thundered down like boiling rain.

The dust cleared. The hunters' clothes were battered, but they were still standing.

Danny would change that. He was still fresh enough to risk a Ghostly Wail, it wouldn't be enough to force him back into human form. Danny took a deep breath, the rust on his shoulder twinging as if in preparation for the amount of power he was about to use, and let the howling sound waves of his Ghostly Wail finish the fight.

A sudden, piercing pain in his left shoulder cut the Wail short. For one panicked moment Danny thought the whaler had somehow managed to shoot him again, only to realize it was the rust spreading rapidly over his shoulder that hurt so much. A sudden wave of exhaustion made one knee buckle, then the other. Danny caught himself with his good arm and tried to steady himself.

If he stayed here they would find out. He could feel his power dipping dangerously low, toward the point where he could no longer maintain his ghost form. His legs refused to move when he tried to phase into the house behind him. It was so close—!

A hand reached through the wall and hauled Danny inside before his power gave out. He landed on his back and lay there while his breathing calmed. The pain was constant, even after he returned to human form. That wasn't good.

Danny pushed himself up with his good arm, the pain and exhaustion having receded enough to let him move again, and found Vlad glaring down at him. "You... Helped me?" Danny asked in plain confusion.

"What, helped you keep your secret? Of course I did. Your secret being out leaves you with no incentive to keep mine!" Vlad snapped, as if this should've been obvious. "Now come along, your parents are going to be knocking any minute and we need to fix this." He turned and started down the hall, clearly expecting Danny to follow.

Danny rolled his eyes and got to his feet, jogging a little to catch up with Vlad's long legs. "Fix the rust?" he asked hopefully as he caught up.

"Yes, you need to stay here with me until we can get rid of it," Vlad replied. He then cut off Danny's protest as Danny opened his mouth to make it, "Do you really want your parents to find you rusting in the exact same spot they witnessed Phantom getting hit? I know your father is a buffoon but Maddie is sharp enough to piece things together if you give her enough."

Danny scowled at him for the jab at his dad but couldn't exactly disprove it. "So what are you suggesting as an excuse?" he asked, jaw tight with anger.

They were interrupted by someone pounding on the front door just a few rooms away.

"And there they are. As for the excuse, given the state of your grades I suggest tutoring," Vlad replied, completely ignoring the rise his comment got out of Danny as they continued on.

"But it's summer vacation!"

"Surely your teachers assigned some work so you could get a head start."

"They did, I was just having a great time not doing it," Danny grumbled.

"And there you go. Your parents have been too busy with their work, so you asked your Uncle Vlad to help you instead."

They arrived at the front door and Vlad opened it to find, as expected, Jack and Maddie on the doorstep.

"Jack, Maddie, what a surprise," Vlad said smoothly, his demeanor having changed to one of calm bemusement upon opening the door. "What can I do for you on this fine day?"

"Vladdie! Thank goodness you're safe! There were a bunch of ghosts fighting on your back lawn but we showed them!" Jack said, his face lighting up the moment he saw Vlad. "And Danny!" Jack added as his gaze dropped to his son, then he paused as he recalled something. "I thought you were going to the arcade."

"Exactly what I was wondering," Maddie said, giving Vlad a glare.

Vlad looked down at Danny, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh uh, it was an excuse. Um, because I was embarrassed," Danny began, stumbling over the impromptu lie. He could almost feel Vlad wanting to facepalm next to him.

"Embarrassed about what, sweetie?" Maddie asked as she stepped closer. "You know you can tell us anything." She shot another glare at Vlad over Danny's head, this one razor sharp and threatening unpleasant things depending on what she heard next.

"Well, it's about my grades," Danny began. "I wanted to do a bit of studying to get a head start before school, but I needed help." He was really messing up the delivery on this one, though really he'd never considered himself particularly talented at lying on the fly. Maybe mixing a little honesty in would help. "You guys are always busy with work, and I just didn't want you to be disappointed in me again when I brought it up, so I asked Uncle Vlad for help."

"And naturally I said yes," Vlad added with a benevolent smile. "Daniel really is a bright young man, he just needs a little extra help to excel in school."

"That's Vlad for ya, what a guy!" Jack said, looking happy as ever.

Maddie sighed. "Jack, could you pop back to the blimp and check the missile pods for me? I think one of them had trouble slotting back into its dock."

"On it, baby!" Jack said, giving her a thumbs-up on his way back to the Fenton Blimp.

"Now, Danny," Maddie said, taking Danny's hands in her own. "I'm so sorry we made you feel like you couldn't come to us for help. We're just concerned for your future but," she sighed with disappointment. "We've been going about it the wrong way if you're afraid to talk to us about it. We'll try to do better, alright?"

Danny gave her a sincere smile. "Thanks mom," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Now if you still want to study with Vlad for a bit that's okay, but next time remember us, alright?" Maddie said as they parted from their hug.

"I'll study with him this time and see how it goes," Danny said.

"And as for you, Vlad." Maddie turned to Vlad, who tensed a little upon being the focus of her attention; even through his usual excitement at being in her presence he could tell there was a storm brewing. She stepped toward him, caught him by the back of the neck with one hand, and yanked him down to eye level. "I don't know what you're playing at, if you're trying to win me over through Danny or what, but let me make one thing clear. If anything, and I mean anything happens to my precious boy, then I will make you regret the day you met me. Understand?"

"Absolutely Maddie, you could not have made yourself any more clear than that," Vlad replied. He was still smiling, and Danny couldn't tell if the fear that was showing through was genuine or not; either way Danny couldn't help but smirk at the situation. "I will protect him with my life."

"Wonderful to hear, Vlad," Maddie said, giving him a sunny smile as she released him. She turned to Danny again and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Now Danny, be good and do your best, and remember that you can come study with us at any time, alright?"

"Sounds good," Danny said. He stood on tiptoe and gave his mom a kiss on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too." Maddie glanced over her shoulder and noted that Jack was now making his way back to them. "And one more thing, Vlad." Her smile was still there, but her voice was like ice. "If Danny's grades don't improve once he's back in school, then I will know why."

"Yes, Maddie. I will keep that in mind," Vlad said, his smile rallying a little. "I will tutor him to the utmost of my ability."

"Hey Vladdie, you should come over for tea sometime," Jack said as he joined them. "I've still got the ol' chess board ready to go!"

"I'll think about it, Jack," Vlad replied. "But for today we're turning our minds toward more scholarly pursuits, isn't that right, Daniel?"

"Yep, it always pays to be prepared," Danny said, with considerably more enthusiasm than he'd started the whole conversation with; the double boost of his mom listening to him and watching her threaten Vlad were doing wonders for his mood. "I'll be home when we're done."

Danny watched his parents climb back in the blimp and take off, then turned to the still-open door to find that Vlad had already stepped inside. He couldn't help but smirk again at the memory of Maddie threatening Vlad, and made a mental note to keep that little agreement between the two saved for whenever Vlad was giving him trouble in the future. "So, Uncle Vlad," Danny said as he closed the door behind himself. "What should we learn about first?"

If Vlad was shaken by Maddie's threat, he wasn't really showing it now. He certainly looked tired, though. "First I need to run some tests on the rust to see if my suspicions are correct. I might already have a remedy for it."

Danny's phone rang with Sam's number and he picked it up. "Hey, Sam. You guys okay?"

"We're fine. We decided to duck out once the Fenton Blimp showed up," Sam said. "And we also managed to grab that whaler guy's harpoon while they were running away," she added with no small amount of pride in her voice.

"Seriously? That's awesome!" Things were finally starting to look up, despite the biting pain of the injury on his shoulder. "And Vlad thinks he might have something to help with the rust. Maybe we can finish this all up and be home by dinner."

"Don't jinx us, dude," Tucker said. "Also can you come let us in? We're at the back door."

"Hey Vlad," Danny said, turning to him. "Sam and Tucker got that whaler guy's harpoon. Think it could help you find a cure?"

"It certainly couldn't hurt," Vlad replied. "And they are where...?"

"The back door, they probably wanted to avoid my parents confiscating the harpoon gun."

"Right, we'll go meet them and then head down to my lab." Vlad led the way, stopping after a couple hallways to lean against a wall for a few moments.

"That bad already, huh?" Danny asked as he sidestepped around Vlad and leaned down to get a look at his face. If Vlad couldn't help they'd be back to square one on figuring out a cure. "You're not gonna pass out, right?"

"I just need a minute," Vlad replied. He pushed off the wall and adjusted his collar, revealing a creeping edge of the rust. "It seems to spread slower in human form, at the very least." Vlad pulled himself up into his usual flawless posture and started walking again.

They met Sam, Tucker, and Amorpho at the back door and continued to Vlad's lab. Danny noted the method for getting in—a specific book being pushed into a bookcase that resulted in the whole thing sliding back—even though Vlad would probably change the entrance now that others had seen it. They might need it for later, for all he knew.

The lab had been changed since he last saw it, but he couldn't help but feel a little sick upon entering all the same. This was where Vlad had tried to melt Dani into a puddle of ectoplasmic goo, after all. Having to work with Vlad like this felt like betraying her in a way.

"Alright, let's take a look at that weapon," Vlad said, waiting for them by a large set of scanning equipment.

They approached, and Sam hesitated just short of handing the gun off and looked at Danny.

"My mom's gonna kick his butt if something happens to me while I'm here," Danny said, giving Vlad a knowing smirk.

"Yes, and we don't have time for games at the moment," Vlad added, gesturing for Sam to hand the gun over.

Sam passed it to him, but Vlad didn't handle it for long. He dropped it into the scanner and pulled his hands away as if he'd been shocked. By the color that left his face he'd encountered something truly unpleasant from it.

"What sort of weapons did you say these were?" Vlad asked as he stared down at his hands.

"Ghostbound," Danny replied, eying Vlad uneasily; anything that freaked someone like him out had to be bad. "They have captive ghosts inside. Or I guess just one in this case?"

Vlad turned on the scanner and calibrated the analysis type he wanted, then retrieved a thick pair of black hazmat gloves and set them down beside it. "I don't want to touch it with my bare hands again," Vlad said, answering the questioning look the three were giving him.

"So you heard it too?" Amorpho asked, wobbling slightly on Tucker's shoulder as he leaned forward.

"Heard it? I got more than that," Vlad muttered. He then dropped the conversation and walked across the room to a lab table where he selected the equipment he would need for taking samples of the rust.

Danny stepped closer to the scanner and peered at the harpoon gun. It looked normal enough while not being used to attack him, and he had to admit he was curious about what Vlad had sensed by touching it, despite the man's aversion to it. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted Vlad slipping his coat off the injured shoulder and returned his attention to Sam and Tucker, thankful that Vlad hadn't dared suggest the sample come from Danny instead. "So what did the whaler guy look like after he dropped it?"

"Just a guy," Sam replied. "We didn't get a good look at him since the diver pulled him away, but he looked pretty normal once he dropped the harpoon gun."

"Which means he could approach us and we wouldn't know it was him until it was too late." The pain on his shoulder briefly sharpened before ebbing off into a dull but ever-present ache. "He'll definitely be back for this."

"What should we do with it? We can't just let Vlad keep it, who knows what he'd use it for," Tucker said, keeping his voice low enough that Vlad wouldn't overhear.

"Can we free it?" Danny asked, eyebrows raised as he looked at Sam. "That way he'll never be able to use it again, and maybe they'll get the message not to mess with us."

Sam sighed. "The book doesn't mention how unbinding goes. Amorpho?" she turned to the ghost, who was drooping on Tucker's shoulder even now.

"If ghosts knew how to do it, we wouldn't be so scared of it happening in the first place," he said glumly.

"And I'm guessing that destroying it just risks obliterating the ghost inside, right?" Danny asked.

"Correct," Amorpho replied.

"I'll hide it somewhere if I have to, just as long as that hunter doesn't get his hands on it again." That option didn't sit right with him either, truth be told; it was better than allowing the ghost to be used, but either way it was still trapped and completely alone in a prison it couldn't escape.

"We'll figure it out when the time comes," Sam said as she put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small reassuring smile. "Right now let's focus on you and Amorpho getting better."

Danny gave her a small smile in return, thankful that he could always count on his friends.

"Speaking of which, never thought we'd be actual guests in Vlad's house," Tucker said with a smirk. "How'd you get your parents to okay you staying over here? Doesn't your mom hate him?" The last question was a bit louder than the rest, enough that Vlad would be able to hear if he was intentionally eavesdropping on them.

"I told them he was helping me get a head start on school studies," Danny replied with a smirk of his own. "Then mom told him she'd make him regret ever meeting her if anything happened to me."

This got shocked laughter from Sam and Tucker; laughter because Vlad certainly deserved the threat after all he'd done, shock because they hadn't realized Maddie hated him so much that she'd be willing to threaten him to his face.

"You have got to save that one for later," Tucker whispered, giving Danny a conspiratorial nudge with his elbow. "Like, imagine you're in a fight and you just whip out your phone and tell your mom you're visiting him—" The rest was cut off as Tucker covered his laughter, but Danny could certainly imagine the rest.

"Vlad'll probably figure out how to get around it eventually, but it'll still be nice to not have to worry about him until that happens," Sam added.

"Ah, excellent." Vlad's voice interrupted their mirth at his expense and they turned to find him stepping away from the lab table, looking pleased with himself. "Turns out I do have the remedy to our problem after all!" He strode over to a refrigerated cabinet set into the wall and opened it, his guests joining him as he did so. The cabinet was lined with jars and bottles, all neatly organized and clearly labeled. "And it should be right—" Vlad stopped short, having found the slot empty save for a handwritten note.

Danny leaned around Vlad's shoulder and read it: Note to self, get more blood blossom for wound decursing salve. "You're so much like my dad sometimes it's scary," Danny said before he could stop himself.

Vlad shot him a glare—sharp but not nearly as threatening as the ones Maddie had given him earlier—then sighed and ran his hand down his face. "Well, it seems your friends will have to go fetch some blood blossom so I can make our cure."

"Seriously?" Sam crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at him.

"Why do we have to do it? Can't you send a minion or something?" Tucker added.

"You really think I should trust them not to take advantage of me in this weakened state?" Vlad asked. "I barely trust you three to do the right thing."

"Okay and why should we trust you enough to give you blood blossom?" Danny asked, giving Vlad a glare of his own. "And how's that even supposed to help? It's like poison to ghosts!"

"In its unaltered form yes, but as with many remedies the poison is in the dosage," Vlad replied. "I have perfected a salve that removes the influence of foreign ghosts while leaving the patient unharmed, and blood blossom is the essential ingredient." When this did nothing to convince them, he continued, "I've used it on myself countless times with no ill effects, it's perfectly safe."

Danny looked at Tucker and Sam, and they both rolled their eyes.

"Fine," Sam grumbled. "Where do we find it?"

"And what do we have to do to get it?" Tucker added, his tone just as flat as Sam's.

"I'll draw up a map and instructions, and make the appropriate preparations," Vlad replied. "And in the meantime, Daniel." He paused and heaved a weary sigh. "You need to call your parents and come up with some sort of excuse to stay here until we've cured ourselves of the rust."

Danny's first reflex was annoyance at being saddled with such a difficult conversation, but then he realized that Vlad had given him free reign to decide the terms of his staying over. He took his phone from his pocket and selected his mom's number. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.


She was putting her connections board away when it finally clicked.

There was a photo of Phantom that she'd accidentally added to the collection of her and Danny, she wasn't sure why, they didn't even have the same hair color—

Valerie stared down at the photo, then found one of Danny from a similar angle. Her heart skipped a few beats as she finally recognized Danny's features in Phantom—the nose, hair style, face... The same, save for the colors being different. How had she not realized it before? He was even wearing a jumpsuit like his parents!

Betrayal was the first emotion to make itself known, hot and biting and bitter. How could he lie to her like that? They were friends, weren't they? She looked over the photos again, all those happy memories. That had to be real, right? They were friends…

Sadness arrived next, dampening the flames of the first. Was he afraid to tell her? She hadn't been kind to Phantom, despite their current ceasefire. She'd been cruel to him in the past... Yet even so, Danny remained her friend.

Valerie set the photo of Phantom beside a set she'd taken with Danny in a photo booth at the fair. So Danny was like Vlad. Human and ghost. But that was where the similarities ended: Phantom was nothing like Plasmius when it came to personality, and Danny was nothing like Vlad in the same department. If he'd really wanted to get rid of her he could've done so at any point during their friendship, so that couldn't be his goal.

One thing was certain: rushing into this would be a mistake. She had to give herself time to think.