Chapter 28
As they sat down with their lunch trays, Sam told Danny and Tucker about Phantom stealing back the stone.
"I can't believe he did that!" Tucker exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know! I think there's a lot more he isn't telling us. He's acting so shady. I really thought he was one of the good guys. But now, I'm not so sure."
"But what about when he saved Mr. Fenton? I mean, that was pretty heroic," Tucker pointed out.
"Well, what do you think, Danny?" Sam asked.
He was completely distracted, stirring around his mashed potatoes over and over while his mind was in a million different places.
"Danny?"
"Oh! Um, sorry, what?"
"About Phantom."
"Phantom? What about Phantom? I haven't seen him. Don't know anything!"
Sam and Tucker exchanged confused looks.
"He stole the stone the other night," Tucker said, after they stared at him a moment longer.
"Oh, heh," Danny pursed his lips. "Weird."
"Well, don't you wonder what his intentions are?" Sam asked.
"Honestly, it does make you wonder. Doesn't it?"
"Thank you!" Sam said.
"But, Danny, he saved your dad's life. That's gotta count for something."
"I can tell you with absolute certainty: Phantom is doing what he thinks is best. But he's only human. He makes mistakes like anybody else," Danny explained.
"He's not human though. But I guess he was before…you know," Tucker said.
"Right. And that brings up my next thought," Sam said. "I wanna look into this guy's past. Figure out who he was. Starting in the Ghost Zone!"
"Huh?" Danny said.
"Cool!" Tucker exclaimed. "Danny's house after lunch?"
"Totally!" Sam said.
The bell rang just before Danny was about to say 'no.' He just shrugged and followed them out of the cafeteria.
When they arrived back at Danny's house, his parents were out. The doctor had suggested that Jack get out of the house more and spend less time in the lab. Much to his chagrin, he followed the doctor's orders and went to the mall with Maddie.
It was completely against their nature not to spend all day every day in the lab, testing their latest inventions. Eventually, the health kick would more than likely wear off, but for now, they were steering clear of all things ghost. And unfortunately for Danny, that meant that there wasn't much of an excuse not to go to the Ghost Zone with his friends.
"Perfect day to go out for a spin," Sam said, patting the Specter Speeder.
"Um, my parents never actually finished –" Danny started.
Tucker hopped inside and turned the keys. The engine revved on, and it began hovering.
"Cool!" Tucker and Sam exclaimed.
"Great," Danny said stoically as Sam jumped in.
"Danny, what are you doing down there?" They heard Jazz's voice from upstairs. She stepped down and saw the Specter Speeder running. "Wait, are you guys going into the Ghost Zone?" She pointed toward the portal with raised eyebrows.
"Um –" Danny started, then realized this might be the perfect way out of this. "Yep. That's exactly what we're going!"
Sam facepalmed while Tucker moaned.
"Then I'm coming with you," Jazz volunteered.
"Huh?" Danny said, jaw dropping.
"It's exactly the type of material I need to write the next chapter of my book," she said with her hand on her chin, walking toward the vehicle.
"Come on in then," Sam said, extending a hand to her. She jumped inside, and Danny reluctantly followed.
As Sam pulled into the ghost portal, everyone looked around at the green ectoplasmic tunnel in awe while Danny anxiously awaited what they might find out in the Ghost Zone about himself. They all gasped when they saw the huge, abysmal world in front of them.
After a few moments, Tucker began digging through the glove compartment.
"What's this?" Tucker asked, pulling out a scroll.
Danny's eyes widened as he mentally facepalmed. He had left Frostbite's map in the glove compartment!
"Oh wow! This is so detailed. Is it a map of the Ghost Zone?" Jazz asked.
Sam's eyebrows raised. "It looks like it was made by people that live here. Some ancient artifact maybe?"
"Wait, there's something else," Tucker said, pulling out a notepad with Danny's scribbles of the Ghost Zone.
He gulped.
"Dude, this is your handwriting," Tucker turned to Danny.
They all looked at him for an explanation. He put his hands up. "Um – I can explain. You see, I…saw that map in there and tried to copy it down."
"This looks nothing like the map," Jazz said, comparing the two.
"Wait! You've been here before, haven't you?" Tucker said.
"Danny?" They all said when he was silent for a moment.
His face felt hot and red. "I – I –" He stuttered. "Okay, yes! But just once."
"What were you doing?" Tucker asked.
"Just exploring."
"By yourself?" Sam asked.
He nodded.
"That's a bit dangerous, Danny," Jazz said.
He just shrugged.
"And the scroll? Where is it from?" Sam asked.
"Um…Phantom gave it to me," he lied.
"Oh…did he say why?"
"Just in case I – I mean, we would need it."
"Hmm."
"Speaking of Phantom, where should we look for him first?" Tucker asked.
"Why are we looking for Phantom?" Jazz questioned.
"He's been acting suspicious. We want to figure out who he is and what his intentions are," Sam explained.
Jazz nodded slowly then her lip twitched. "Well, I mean, he saved our dad. What more is there to say?"
"Of course. There's definitely good in him. But he is acting really weird. Just trust us."
"Whatever," she said, sitting back and crossing her arms.
"Let's start here," Sam said, maneuvering the vehicle down to a floating warehouse.
They all jumped out of the Specter Speeder and walked up the steps of the warehouse.
Floating boxes filled the room to the brim. Danny's ghost sense went off immediately. He was on high alert as they sifted through the boxes to get their bearings on the place.
When he spotted the Box Ghost, he purposefully hid his face.
"BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! I HAVE POWER OVER ALL CONTAINERS CARDBOARD AND SQUARE! NO ONE IS ALLOWED IN MY WAREHOUSE BUT ME!"
"Wait! We just have questions, dude," Tucker casually said.
"Questions? I do not have time for questions. I must –" The Box Ghost looked around the room and just shrugged. "Eh, ask away," he said as he floated onto a box and sat on it while he floated.
"Um…okay," Sam said. "Do you know the ghost Phantom?"
"Phantom? Yeah, I know him. He trapped me in that strange cylindrical contraption a few times! It hurt my back," he said, rubbing his back.
"Ghosts feel pain?" Jazz whispered to Danny.
"Do you know where he lives? We came to the Ghost Zone to find him," Tucker said.
"Here? Haha! The ghost boy is not one of us! He does not live here."
Sam and Tucker exchanged glances then looked over at Jazz and Danny. They just shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked when she turned back around.
"Enough questions!" The Box Ghost shouted. "My delivery should be here any minute!"
"But –"
"Out!" He said, raising a hand. All the boxes began to tumble towards them. They all ran out of the warehouse and slammed the door behind them.
They got back into the Specter Speeder. "That was…not what I expected," Tucker said.
Danny felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. They came way too close to discovering the truth. Jazz noticed he was upset. "You okay?"
He nodded.
"So Phantom isn't one of them?" Sam repeated.
"I wonder what that means," Jazz remarked.
Tucker studied the map and pointed at something. When his finger grazed the page, the location lit up – it was the Prison and listed details about it. "Whoa! Where did Phantom get this thing?"
Danny looked over his shoulder and raised his brows. "Cool."
Tucker pressed other places. All their eyes were glued to the map.
"What's this football?" Sam asked, pressing it.
"Vlad's portal," Tucker said.
"Vlad? As in Uncle Vlad?" Jazz asked.
"Yes," Danny seethed.
She narrowed her eyes. "I feel like there's something I don't know."
"You didn't tell her?" Tucker exclaimed.
"What? Didn't tell me what?"
"It's not exactly an easy conversation to have!" Danny said.
"Danny," Jazz said, crossing her arms.
"Ugh, fine. Vlad Masters poisoned Dad."
"What?!" Jazz shrieked. "But he – I don't understand."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Danny said.
"This is insane. Why would Vlad do that?"
"Honestly, he's evil. And he despises Dad. And has an unhealthy obsession with Mom."
"I always thought there was something off about him, but this?" Jazz said, shaking her head.
"It's the truth, Jazz. And I believe Phantom is helping him," Sam said.
"What?!" Danny, Tucker, and Jazz all said together.
Sam just sighed. "I didn't want to believe it, but he stole that stone from my room. The stone that Vlad was trying to steal! When he flew off, he was heading straight toward his manor."
"Let's say for argument's sake that he is. If he was working for Vlad, why did he save Dad?" Jazz asked.
Sam shook her head. "Part of me wonders if that's what he was doing. Didn't your nurse get knocked out? And didn't your dad's vitals go all haywire before he was revived according to the doctor? And he almost…" Sam shrugged. "Look, I don't want to believe it. But things aren't adding up."
Danny put his head in his hands. Her assumptions couldn't be further from the truth. But he understood how she came to these conclusions. Nonetheless, he wanted to scream to her that it wasn't true. But if he did that, he would have to tell them the whole truth. And right now didn't feel like the best time.
Jazz frowned. "I just can't believe he'd do that."
"I say, let's go to Vlad's lab and find a file on this Phantom guy," Tucker said.
"That's a great idea!" Sam exclaimed, pulling forward in the vehicle.
"Yay," Danny said, feeling a pit in his stomach.