Chapter 52

"So what if this doesn't work? Do we have a plan B?" Sam asked.

"The short answer? No," Jazz said simply.

Danny picked up blueprints of the suit. His dad's scribbles on the page were indecipherable. "Anyone know how to read hieroglyphics?" He joked dryly.

"Allow me," Tucker said, extending a hand.

"Plan B will be me fighting Vlad, no suit," Danny told them.

"But Danny!" Sam and Jazz said.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the portal doors. "What choice do I have? I either die trying, or the whole world will pay the price."

Sam frowned. "It's a bad idea."

"Frostbite didn't have any other ideas to offer," Danny sighed.

"Hey, Danny, I need a lift," Tucker said, nodding to the suit. Danny came and flew him up and into the suit. He hovered behind him, watching what he was doing. Tucker cleared his throat. "A little space please?"

"Oh, um, sorry," Danny said, floating back down.

"Well, maybe we have some weapons in here we could use," Jazz suggested, walking into the junk closet.

Sam turned to Danny. "I better go help Jazz," she said to avoid being alone with him.

"Danny?" Tucker said.

He flew up to him. "Yeah?"

"Trade spots with me. I think I understand how it works."

Meanwhile, Jazz and Sam were scouring the junk closet. "There's nothing in here but, well, junk," Sam remarked, picking up a spelling bee trophy and tossing it to the side.

"Our parents are kind of hoarders…" She looked around the closet some more. "So, not to pry, but…you and Danny?"

Sam blushed. "I – I mean…"

"Sorry. You don't have to talk about it."

"Well, actually, it would be nice to talk to a girl about it. Not that I'd ever talk to Tuck about it anyway," Sam said, still sifting through a box. "I guess…it's just a lot right now. You know? You find out one day the guy you've been crushing on for weeks turns out to be your best friend that you've known almost your whole life…I just never thought about Danny that way.

"But the more I think about it, the more I realize that maybe those feelings were always there under the surface. Because knowing they're the same person? It doesn't change how I feel. Not one bit. I've realized that I really like Danny. That's what makes it so scary."

Jazz was smiling.

"You can't tell Danny any of this by the way," Sam said.

"My lips are sealed!"

Danny closed his eyes, focusing on his ghost core. His aura began to light up the entire room. Electricity began to swirl around him, and the suit powered on. The white ring formed and altered the appearance of the suit to match Danny's own suit.

"Now that was cool!" Tucker exclaimed.

Danny chuckled a little. "So how do these controls work?"

After some trial and error, Danny ran the suit across the room and smashed into a wall.

"Whoa! This thing's fast. And I feel a little unsteady…" He noticed a red bar and a warning signal came on. He raised a brow.

"What?"

He turned to Tucker. "I'm…not sure. Something's wrong with the suit," he told him. He popped the dome up and attempted to climb out of the suit but instead tumbled to the ground.

"Danny!" Tucker yelled. He ran to his side. "Are you okay?"

Danny rubbed his head as he sat up. "I'm not sure…"

Tucker helped him to his feet.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as she and Jazz came back into the room with a few gadgets.

"Nothing good. What did you find?"

"A few things…mainly these Fenton Rods and more Bazookas," Jazz said.

Tucker's eyebrows furrowed, checking over the blueprints again. "I wonder what went wrong."

"Well, luckily, we still have a week," Danny said.

"Kids!" They heard their dad suddenly yell as he bustled down into the lab in his pajamas. He was out of breath as he approached them.

"What's wrong?" Jazz asked.

"It's your mom. She's been taken. This time by force! By some ghost."

"Plasmius," Danny muttered angrily.

Jack did a double take at Danny who was still in ghost form. "You?!" He exclaimed, slinging out an ecto-gun from his robe.

"You carry an ecto-gun in your - oh, never mind," Tucker shrugged.

"Da—Mr. Fenton, I can help. Do you know where he took her?" Danny asked.

"No…" He said, reluctantly lowering the pistol. "But he said something about finally putting an end to this. And he left this message, but I can't understand why." He handed him a crumpled-up note.

"Daniel, meet me where it all began. I have a surprise for you. Bring Jasmine…" Danny read aloud, exchanging glances with his sister.

"I don't know what this ghost wants with my family, but he messed with the wrong ghost hunter!" Jack said, as he began gathering some weapons and pulling a jumpsuit out of his closet.

"Where it all began…what does he mean by that?" Sam asked

"I think I know," Danny said, flying up and into the suit. "So much for having a week to learn these controls."

"Take us with you," Sam demanded.

"Now wait a minute, Phantom! That's my suit! And I'm coming too. This is my wife, for crying out loud!" Jack shouted.

"We are all going," Jazz said.

"Yeah! No way are you fighting this battle on your own!" Tucker added.

Jack nodded. "We can strap the suit to the RV. I'll teach you the controls on the way there, Phantom. But you have to be careful - that suit can drain you if you use too much power, too quickly. Now come on!"