Chapter 40

"Danny?"

"Jazz! Thank God," Danny yelled over the phone as he paced inside a temporarily closed booth at the festival.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm stuck."

"Where? I'll come pick you up."

"No, I mean, I'm stuck as Phantom!"

"What?!"

"I don't know what happened!" Danny panicked, glancing outside the curtains of the booth to make sure no one was nearby. "One second I was me, the other I was Phantom, and now I can't change back."

"Okay – don't worry! I'm sure there's a rational explanation. Are you sure you're doing it right?"

"Of course! I mean, I thought I had mastered the change."

"Hmm…well, what do you think would trigger you to change back?"

"Maybe the Specter Deflector? I bet that would make me change back."

"But it'll hurt you!"

"Sure, but it won't kill me."

"Fine. I'll get it and meet you at the –"

"Kissing booth. It's closed for renovations."

"Renovations for –? Oh, never mind."

When Jazz came inside, she saw her brother sadly sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

"Danny?" She said, softly.

He rushed to hug her. He was shaking.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

He shook his head. "I – I guess I'm just scared. What if I'm stuck like this permanently?"

"Danny, we aren't going to let that happen! Whatever it takes," she told him, pulling out the Specter Deflector.

He took it from her and clasped it around his waist immediately. "Gah!" He yelled, feeling electricity zap him all over as he fell to his knees.

Jazz frowned, wanting to help him. "Whenever, it's too much, just say the word."

He put up a hand. He groaned as the zapping continued. It was becoming so intense, the belt started smoking.

"Danny?"

"Not yet. Just a few…more…" He couldn't take it anymore. He ripped the belt off himself and threw it to the ground. He fell to the floor.

"Danny!" She yelled, rushing to his side.

Where he had burns, he was already starting to heal.

"I'm stuck like this," he said, eyes wide with fear.

"Let's figure this out. What exactly happened when –"

"Agh!" They heard from outside. Other screaming ensued, and the two of them exchanged glances. She helped Danny up to his feet.

They walked out the booth and gawked at the scene before them. Cats and dogs were literally falling from the sky, unicorns were galloping across the sidewalks and hitting pedestrians, and there was a large wave of melted chocolate coming over the hill like a tsunami, carrying several screaming children with it.

"Um…"

Danny sprang into action immediately, saving a couple of people from the wild unicorns, saving the children in the chocolate tsunami before it crashed into a ditch, and rescuing two falling dogs and a cat. He quickly realized that these animals were actually ghosts. He popped his thermos out and sucked them in. Swiveling toward the unicorns, he triggered his thermos again – they too were ghosts.

He flew down next to Jazz.

"What the heck is going on?" She asked.

He shrugged his shoulders before a large woman ghost appeared before them. "No!"

She was dressed like a genie with long, black hair and green skin.

"Who are you?" Danny asked.

"I am Desiree! And you have messed with my wishes!"

"Wishes? Wait a minute –" He looked around in a moment of realization. People had wished for these things?

I wish Phantom was here all the time, Sam's voice rang in the back of his mind.

Danny pointed the thermos at her, but before he knew it, she disappeared.

"Oh no…"

"What?"

"She did this to me!"

"That's a good thing, right? Maybe now that she's gone you can change back!"

He ran behind a booth to try to change back with no luck. When he came back out, he shook his head.

"Oh no."

"It's him!" Someone screamed.

A barrage of ghost hunters, including the Fentons, came running at him. Someone shot a net at him. He attempted to phase through, but it didn't work. Then he punched his fists out and broke through.

As shots were fired at him, he quickly flew away.

Jazz bit her lip. "Well, things certainly couldn't get much worse."

Her mom came up next to her, reloading the net into a gun. "Aw man! We almost had him!"

Jack shook his head. "I can't believe he got away."

Suddenly, something in Maddie's pocket started beeping. She grasped it and squealed. "Ghost detected at Fenton Works!" She screamed to Jack.

"Let's go, baby!"

Jazz's eyes widened.

When Danny got home, he breathed a sigh of relief. The relief was short-lived when an alarm started blaring.

"INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. GHOST DETECTED. INTRUDER ALERT," an automated voice said over an intercom.

Gates came down in front of the front and back doors, and the entire wall appeared to be electrified. When he went to break open the gate, he was electrocuted and fell back. He gulped. What had they said they were working on for the past week or so? A ghost shield?

"Great."

In the time he was trapped, he attempted to transform back again, but it wasn't working. He waited with bated breath for his parents to come home so he could hopefully escape.

The door barged open. Maddie triggered her bazooka.

"Say good night, ghost scum!" She shouted.

Behind her, Jazz bumped her arm, and the shot instead hit the ceiling, breaking the fan.

"Watch out!" She shrieked.

Danny did as she said, and after becoming intangible, he flew straight through his family as the fan crashed in the middle of the room.

"I'll – um – head him off!" Jazz said, taking the bazooka from her mom. "You guys stay here to catch him with the net!"

"Sweetie! I didn't know you were interested in this stuff!" Maddie exclaimed excitedly.

Jazz just nodded and ran. She knew where Danny would go: the alleyway a few blocks down. She found him there, resting amongst the trash cans.

"Hey," he said simply.

"Hey." She slouched down next to him.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"So…" Jazz said.

"So."

"What are you gonna do?"

He laughed half-heartedly. "I dunno, Jazz. Sleep in the dumpster, I guess."

"No way."

"What am I supposed to do? It's not like I can go home."

"What about Tucker or Sam? Maybe you could stay with one of them."

"I guess…"

"What should I tell Mom and Dad?"

Danny swallowed hard and closed his eyes. "I guess tell them that I'm sleeping over at Tuck's place."

Jazz nodded. "I'm sorry, Danny."

"Yeah, me too."