Phantom woke up early in the morning. The sun rays seeping from the window irritated his eyelids, making the young king stir and rub his eyes. As he was doing this, the teen already noticed that he was not where he should be — his room in a world of mortals. As the realization dawned upon him, the memories of the previous day gushed like water from a broken dam. Danny bolted upwards from his bed with a gasp. The covers flew away, soundlessly falling on the floor covered by a blue carpet. Sam put away the book she was reading, with a soft thud it fell on the white covers, and she looked at him with a small, sad smile.

"Good morning," she mumbled.

"Morning?!" Danny whisper-yelled, not willing to wake up the entire house. After the last time he had started to lock the door, although it was unlikely to stop his giant of a father. "B-but..."

Sam leaned over the blankets and put a finger over his mouth. "It's alright, Danny. Calm down."

"Why didn't he tell me anything?" Phantom got up and paced around. "I'm going to get Fright for this."

"Calm down, Phantom!" The raven haired girl raised her voice sternly. Her calling him by his new last name struck a chord within the half ghost. Sam got up and approached him. "Rambling will do nothing to change it."

"How can you be so calm?! Your father is probably already turning your whole home upside down. And the entire world by extension. What are we supposed to do?"

"First, take a deep breath. Second, I had an entire night, I did worry, I was scared, but I cooled off and so should you."

Danny's lips thinned in thought while Sam gently took his hard hand. God, those beautiful ever-gleaming eyes of hers, pleading for him to heed her words. She didn't need puppy eyes of his to convince someone. He had grown too attached to them. Phantom sighed, putting his other hand on hers.

"If we are late than at least we should come there as quickly as possible. Maybe your Dad won't rip me apart. MUCH."

Sam rolled her eyes at his dramatizing. And his pointless hopes added to the absurdity of all. No, Undergrowth would rip him apart to the tiniest pieces there were. But better put the problem under the carpet for a short while. Danny quickly put on his usual clothes, including the new black jacket. Sam couldn't help but smile at seeing him like this. The jacket really suited him. But that wasn't done without washing up, the ghost girl just waited patiently, looking at the closed door of the bathroom. The dirty implications were quickly shaken off as her face greened. The tension had eased, albeit even after that Danny didn't seem to be in his brightest mood, the long face of his wasn't going to shorten just because of the cool water splashing into his face.

Nonetheless, the two went downstairs. The house was surprisingly quiet, a rare occurrence at the Fentons' place. One would enjoy the morning without any explosions serving as a bizarre alarm clock. But Phantom, on the contrary, was growing concerned. What could possibly make the eccentric scientists to stop their meticulous research for even the tiniest span of time? As Danny was pondering, standing in the middle of the living room, Sam got to the kitchen, humming a song under her nose. Phantom just watched her move around the room, about to make a breakfast. Shaking his head at her ignorance of their predicament, the half ghost chuckled. She looked like a usual human, accustomed to the ways of their lives. Then Danny's eyes widened.

"No, no, no," he stopped her. Sam looked at him with large eyes. "What did I say about the metal and the microwave?"

The plant ghost looked at the plate with oatmeal. There was a spoon. Sam chuckled in embarrassment, before putting it away. Alright, this time she was just inattentive. Smiling, Danny asked her to make something for him, too, before he opened the door to the lab. Sam just looked at his back, which disappeared down the poorly lit staircase. She was curious as well, but they'd better hurry. As it was far from the weekend. And the ghost girl was unsure about this whole concept now. To think that she would risk everything just for the sake of going to some place for extra work. Granted, she enjoyed it to an extent, but there was a much greater prize in all of this. The girl hoped that she wouldn't lose everything in but a moment. After all, the most beloved object is the one people are about to lose.

What was her companion doing at that moment? The basement was just as messy as the last time. His parents had little time for cleaning everything up even still. That's why everything still looked like a hippodrome after a wild race. Phantom approached the shut portal. It was still silent, the ecto-filtrator was still ruined. There wasn't a tiniest sliver of hope of repairing it too soon. He needed at least one full day, one which was not interrupted by such minor inconvenience as compulsory education. Taking a sigh, Phantom decided to look around in search of the new tools his parents might have come up with. That was a waste of time, nothing new. It didn't ease his concerns as to what they were up to. Tucker might know, and it was exactly the thing Phantom had in mind — to ask his genius, yet naive friend a couple of questions.

Meanwhile, as Danny was scooping around the basement and Sam was busy trying to make something without starting a fire or being eaten herself, the heavy footsteps could potentially be heard on the staircase. It was Jack. Sleepy, extremely inattentive, in his pajamas over the jumpsuit and a teddy bear in his palms that engulfed the poor stuffed creature in its entirety. Sam was too busy to look to the side and notice even that giant of a man. She was trying to comprehend how the coffee machine worked. Jack rubbed his eyes in confusion. Yeah, he remembered that girl, but what was she doing? He put Mr. Pufferston on the sofa and went into the kitchen, which, by some decision made long ago, did not have any door from the living room. But before he walked around the only corner that separated him from walking into the kitchen, he heard the door of the lab opening and his son speaking.

"Well, that was an absolute garbage."

Jack froze. No, how could he say so after going into their glorious lab? He just stood there, making one watcher with a reference to time in his name wonder about the odds of him being noticed. Jack leaned against the wall.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked curiously, raising her eyebrow.

"It's just weird...I thought my parents are down there, you know, making all sorts of useless things. Never in my life have they been not in time. That explosions always happen on time. Maybe something happened?"

"No, I heard them walking outside of your room last night. They definitely returned."

Jack was confused. The gears in his head had been set off, but they were moving too slow. How could she hear them from her house...now, wait a second. His eyes widened, before he wiped a tear, oh, his boy was growing up so fast! But he was still grounded, Jack decided. Yes, he had to be a proper parent. Jack kept listening.

"Cheers," Danny said, before grunting upon sitting at the table. "Hopefully they didn't have a run in with the patrols. Honestly, if today I talk with that charming fellow in charge of police and get the news of it, I'm gonna flip."

Jack was even more confused. How did he know the head of the local police department? Little did he know that his son had little interest in conversing with that guy of all people. Honestly, the two sounded more like a married couple than two simple teenage lovebirds.

"You are overthinking, Danny. Everyone is alright, see? Maybe the two are just tired after staying up late."

"Until I get confirmation about the patrolmen being alright, I'm not going to relax easily. Worrying about your father finding out about us is enough for my nerves," Danny made a sip of coffee and coughed. "Ugh...wha..."

"Oh, so sorry, I just don't know how to use that thing. I'm still getting used to all these machines."

Phantom smiled, getting up. "Not to worry, pretty rose, here, let me show you once again."

As the loud machine got to work it was hard to make out what they were saying. Then, as it finished brewing the warm drink, Jack listened again. Phantom meanwhile got down to cereal and coffee. What a way to start the day. At least there was plenty of milk.

"As for our main problem...I'll make the filtrator if my dearest parents don't. We'll get you home, don't worry."

Sam smiled softly, leaning over the table and planting a kiss on his cheek. She hugged his neck. "I'm sure you will, just don't make a tragedy out of this. It's my mistake, if I just didn't come here..."

"Or it is mine, 'cause I forgot to change the damn filtrator. Thank goodness it did not explode into our faces."

"Then we can at least be even."

Danny snorted. Jack meanwhile stared into the empty space. His mind did wander off to the topic of his son being so irresponsible. To think that because of his irresponsible behavior they all could die. He was definitely grounded. But the metaphorical angel on his shoulder whispered to him, asking to not be so harsh. After all, Danny did remember this on his own accord, albeit late enough. Well, Jack was quite forgetful himself...Then, like a truck going towards him, an overweight deer, the first thought came back. Get home? Now wait a second, why did he need an ecto-converter for this? Even Jack could realize what it implied and he almost tripped out of horror. No, his son was dating a ghost!

'Alright, Jack, don't overreact,' Jack thought to himself. He was unarmed, the ghost would escape. Act cool.

He tiptoed to the sofa, as if he was there the entire time. From there he went forward with a lot of noise.

"Hey...kids!" He exclaimed, getting the attention.

The ghosts looked to the side and flinched lightly. How come they hadn't noticed?

"Good morning, Dad," Danny mumbled, taking the last spoonful of fruitloops. He carried the bowl to the sink. "You slept a lot today."

"Ah, yeah..." Jack kept glancing on that vile fiend, masking as a beautiful human girl. Sam only blinked in confusion, she wasn't that unobservant. "We just wanted to stop that ghosts from openly strolling the town at night."

"Hm..." Phantom hummed, his assumptions were just confirmed. Poor fellows, he would raise his men's pay. "How did it go?"

"Not that well...they are elusive little beasts. Apparently, they did retain some part of their consciousness still..."

'Try its entirety,' Danny thought. "And..."

"No, we didn't catch any."

"And you still haven't come to the lab? It's not your first 'trip'," he said the last word with a note of disgust, completely missed by his father.

"Your mother got a wound on her leg. Nothing serious, but she will have to stay in the bed for a couple of days."

Then Jack's stomach grumbled. The main point of him coming to the kitchen resurfaced. He was hungry. Digging inside the fridge, he took out a plate with a huge piece of ham.

"So...",he started, looking at Sam. "What are you doing here early in the morning?"

"I am a mocking bird," she smiled innocently.

"Yeah..." Danny put in. "AND she'd better warn about showing up at the sunrise next time," he faked an accusatory tone.

Sam got the message. "Sorry."

"Well, kids, what are your plans for today?"

"Uhm...school?"

"Oh, yes...hey, Danny-boy, I've got something to show you two, mind staying for a couple of minutes?"

"Is that your cookie stash?"

"No, this one is too sacred. Just wait a moment."

He dashed inside the lab, while two ghosts looked at each other.

"I think we should go," Danny said.

"Yes, good idea."

"So, kids, let me demonstrate...this!" Jack jumped from out of the door, Fenton thermos in his hands. But then he found nobody in the kitchen.

"Fudge nuggets!" He exclaimed. "And Maddie can't come yet," he mused, before dashing to the door of the lab. "I'll save you, my boy!"

"Jack, what's going on down there?" He heard a shout from above, the one that made him freeze.

"Nothing, honey!"

She shouldn't worry while being injured, she would endanger herself by trying to get up. He would do everything himself.

Meanwhile the couple was walking down the street, away from the dangerous house. Neither could stop their chuckles.

"So I'm coming uncomfortably early?" Sam asked dramatically.

"You are not going anywhere," Danny responded with a smirk. "But...have you noticed how weird he acted?"

"Yeah...he kept looking at me. It could be that he is suspicious of me being so early."

"Or worse..."

Phantom's implications didn't need any further explanation. The ghosts decided to drop the topic, there was already too much on their minds.

The city around them was shaking off the sleepiness, surprisingly sound and uninterrupted. Would you look at that, the ghost police terrified the criminals so much that they preferred to stay put. Well, most of them, some were still foolish enough. In a small town like this it was no trouble to track down anyone, especially for someone who has no obstacles in the material world, be it metaphorical judicial walls or the ones made of bricks. The police was strict, but not oppressive to the humans during their self-imposed curfew. Because there was no official one, the patrolmen were ordered to avoid meeting the occasional passers by. The humans were already agitated as it is.

"Hm, there seems to be more people than before, you know?" Sam asked.

"One cannot hide forever," responded Danny dryly. "Otherwise they will be fired..."

He froze at seeing an announcement, so unthoughtfully placed on the glass bus stop. Of course...

"How could I forget?" Phantom asked, while Sam leaned over his shoulder and read everything herself.

"Elections?"

"Well, yes. Ugh, I'm such an idiot," he facepalmed. "I've agreed to give my decision by two days from now. Otherwise it would be too late. The stupid responsibilities of this world are distracting me too much."

"Danny..."

"Alright, alright, I'm calming down. But Ernesto Montez is not my candidate. None of them are," the half ghost complained as they kept walking.

"And now you are thinking what to do."

"Precisely!" Phantom raised his hands in exasperation. "Well, we have a lot of time to consider this. The lessons today are dope, we may as well just relax...alright. Not gonna happen."

They kept going through the streets, which had become routine by then. Sam would pet and feed every stray animal on their way, no matter how foul they looked, and they would eat what she had on her and let her pet them, all the while whining contently. Danny would watch her with a never ceasing amusement, patiently. The people around would be less enthusiastic about this, much to the ghost girl's discontent. They would continue going and now Sam would stare at the cars with a look of resentment. She had been like this ever since learning about the pollutions they caused.

Then all of a sudden, the ghost froze. Her companion stopped abruptly, turning around at noticing her absence by his side.

"Sam, what's going on?"

Phantom then followed her angry look. Oh, yes. The workers were chopping the trees. There had actually been some protests about this. And it was ludicrous to think that the mayor would do something so unpopular so close to the elections. From what Danny knew, and he learnt everything what happened in the town, that plan was actually procrastinated for as long as possible. Hm, maybe it could be used to Phantom's advantage. Somehow. Sam approached the workers, making Danny's eyes widen.

"Hey, Sam, let's not be hasty here!" He got in front of the raging ghost.

"What do you mean 'hasty'? I'm doing what I have to!"

Danny held her from going further. Sam struggled out of his grip and it did not make the people around comfortable. On the contrary, they just moved away from the strange couple.

"Let me go, damn it!" Sam shouted.

"Sam, stop. People are staring."

"Like I give a thing about it, Daniel! Leave me now!"

"I'll settle everything, you will make it worse!" Phantom whisper-yelled.

It made the ghost girl calm down a bit. Then she suddenly grabbed his T-shirt roughly.

"Do it now, Phantom," Sam whispered with the dangerous notes in her voice.

Danny realized why she was so hectic about it. Plants were more than just some hobby to her, they were the meaning of her existence. And, what was easy to guess from Sam's powers, her very obsession. And no one messes with a ghost's obsession. Phantom silently, yet gently took her hands, and everything in his understanding look told her to watch him. Danny took a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere, before putting them on. He turned towards the workers. Nothing too harmful, he guessed.

That chainsaws were dangerous, so first just shut them down. All worked from the generator. A little flick of his fingers and it turned off, stopping its rattle and fuming. His eyes glowed green, and that was precisely why he carried the sunglasses around. Just in case. The workers noticed the problem instantly, as the first tree was yet to be wounded. One of them went to the generator, confused. Meanwhile, the one who was in charge of the operation, suddenly lost all his identity, his eyes now having the same glow, yet too dim to notice. He ordered to pack up, as he had just 'received a call'. The glow then vanished, yet the workers did as they were told. The guy in charge was obviously confused, but everyone around wouldn't do something without him telling them. So, he guessed he had.

Danny chuckled, taking off the sunglasses. "Would you look at that."

"That was...original."

"Modern problems require modern solutions," Phantom smiled.

"It doesn't remove the problem. They have to stop this."

Meanwhile, through the streets ran one Jack Fenton. Now fully armed, with a box fixed on his back like a backpack, connected to a huge bazooka-like gun in his arms. Several devices were fixed on Fenton belt, including the famous thermos. Honestly, they should be selling this stuff. Finally, he got to them, and neither noticed him. It was perfect. The people jumped away, knowing perfectly well that Jack Fenton with a huge gun was a threat to the well being of the town. Especially when he was on his own. Pointing it at the plant ghost, so shamelessly conversing with the son of the greatest ghost hunter there is, Jack charged the gun. Almost there, when a split second was separating him from pressing the trigger, something totally unexpected happened.

The entire world seemed to have gone mad, for never before any earthquakes touched the town. Everything around shook tremendously, many people lost their footing, including Jack and both of the ghosts. Just then both Danny and Sam perked up, and while the latter froze, staring into nothingness, the half ghost's mouth let out a gust of air. Several cars crashed nearby, one hit a hydrant, flooding the street with water. Just then concrete and asphalt were breaking, cracking, since no material could hold the growth of massive vines, plants spurting from below the surface. In a blink the street was already blocked by the massive forestation. Danny looked at Sam in question, but her scared look told him everything. If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain, as the saying goes.

Then he emerged, once the vines started to take humanoid shape, tall as a fifteen story building, terrific in his power. A rageful roar coming out of his beak-like mouth announced his emergence. The people fled in terror, but then he spoke loudly, and with his height, it was fairly simple to get the message through.

"YOU WORTHLESS FLESH WALKERS!" He yelled. "HAVE YOU NOT SULLIED THIS WORLD ENOUGH? NOW IN YOUR ARROGANCE YOU DARE CLAIM MORE?!"

Undergrowth just crushed several buildings in the vines' vicious grip. Danny and Sam looked at each other.

"We have to stop him," Phantom said. "He will destroy the city!"

"I know. He is here for me, let me just...change. We can't have him see me like this."

Danny nodded, before wordlessly yanking her into the nearest alleyway. Sam yelped, but managed to follow him. Once there, Phantom changed into his ghost form, before turning around. He knew that her process was more...time consuming. Even at such circumstances he wasn't going to violate her privacy. Sam quickly discarded her human clothes, and the leaf dress took their place. Her eyes lost the pupils, glowing with bright forest-green color. She nodded, before they both flew invisibly. Meanwhile, Jack understood that he needed to go get bigger toys.

Danny and Sam avoided more vines spurting from the ground, as Undergrowth laid siege to the town in the limitless rage of a concerned father. While being like this, sadly, the ghost knew little about the further plan. After all, shouting into the air was going to get him nowhere, if Sam had been in danger in the first place. Finally, Danny dropped invisibility first, as he found the courage to appear before the giant.

"Undergrowth!" He shouted to get attention.

The ghost turned his head to him, being large enough to swallow him whole.

"You, boy-king! WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!"

"First of all," Danny raised his head indignantly. "Do not yell at me, I'm trying to help! Two," Phantom added at hearing him growl. "She is right here."

He looked at where Sam was. But then both his ghost sense and the common decency told him that she wasn't near him. Danny was suddenly grabbed with a giant hand in a crushing grip.

"You think it is funny, boy?!" Undergrowth's eyes glowed crimson as he gave him the most venomous glare possible.

"No, I swear she was near me just a moment ago."

Of course Sam, take your sweet time. Phantom was correct in his assumption that Sam was actually afraid. Can you blame her? She had never seen her father so furious. And if he learned about her own volition to come to this world...That is why she stood invisibly by the side, watching in tremor as all of this was occurring. Finally, at seeing her father so willing to crush the half ghost, she abandoned her safe place, about to stop the fight from breaking. But then the building she was on crumbled, as the vines did not bode well with the foundation of the house. Sam fell down along with the structure.

Steadying herself in the air, she softly landed on the rubble. Shaking her head, Sam was once again about to fly up, but then she heard screams for help. Oh, for goodness sake, she couldn't leave them. Finding the way through the crashed piles of concrete, she walked deeper, simply turning intangible. The vines of her own emerged, as the stretches of those grown by her father. Their strength was enough to lift the debris, showing the shocked people beneath. They were even more terrified at seeing her, a ghost of all beings.

"You need an invitation?" She asked, "Get out before it crashes down!"

No one needed to be told twice. Through the window she saw another crash, and it occurred to her that it was pointless. Better stop father now. Then, something bright blinded her, something strong pulled her somewhere. The cap of Fenton Thermos was closed.

"Aha! Got it!" Jack exclaimed.

The king looked at Undergrowth with a non-amused look. This was getting annoying, albeit he could understand the rage. Phantom himself now wondered where she had gone to. The giant ghost noticed that his arm was now incased in a layer of ice. It cracked thunderously, and, although the assaulter did not feel any pain about losing a part of his body, Phantom escaped the grip.

"Enough!" He shouted. "You either listen or get lost, because otherwise you will learn nothing!"

The giant ghost growled. "Speak."

"She was near me, right here. She was not in any danger up to this moment when you appeared. I planned on getting her home, but the portal is closed... how did you even get here?"

"Where nature is, so am I, boy. Samantha was not supposed to be here in the first place!"

"This is an issue to be settled later," Phantom muttered.

"Sir!" A ghost emerged near the two. It was one of Walker's men. "What's going on? All this destruction..."

"This isn't your concern. We will resolve this, but go help the people in the debris. Because SOMEONE does not care for collateral damage."

"Yessir, it shall be done, My Lord."

The ghost flew off, before Phantom looked at Undergrowth again.

"Now let's solve our issues. I have no qualms with you, Undergrowth, while you trespass into my domain. If you calm down and we talk like two rational ghosts, we will find your daughter, I'm more than willing to assist. Just stop destroying everything around or you might smash her and not even notice."

That seemed to convince the giant ghost to at least stop further decimation of the town. Phantom sighed in relief. Fighting his girlfriend's father was the last thing he wanted.

"Why is she even here?" Undergrowth muttered. "If I find out that you are at fault..."

"Let's...take the conversation in another place. You have made a lot of mess, and I doubt that the locals are going to love you or me because of it."

The destruction of the city finally ceased. The wild flora began its sudden retreat underground and Phantom felt one of the vines pulling him downwards. Yelping, he found himself in an alleyway. Both exits were still closed by the plants. Undergrowth materialized near the half ghost, now just twice his size.

"Well?" He raised his eyebrow.

"We were about to come to you," Danny began, "Maybe she is just...afraid?"

"Of what? Me? She is old enough to understand the reason, boy. I have never laid a finger on her, even in order to discipline."

"Then again, she has never done something like that, correct?" Phantom crossed his hands, "I'm not putting blame here. I'm just trying to understand the reason. We have to find her, no need to tell you that. Can you track her? She was able to feel your presence."

Undergrowth hummed and closed his eyes, "I cannot," he said worriedly, "She wasn't wearing shoes? The contact with the ground is vital."

"She wasn't," muttered Danny, "Let me try. The ghost sense should work."

He should have been able to do that. He had managed to track her throughout the entire town before. But then Phantom's eyes widened in shock and horror.

"I...I can't!" He exclaimed.

Undergrowth growled slightly, "Figures. I'm growing impatient, boy."

"This is not about you and me now, Undergrowth," Danny's voice shook a bit, "My ghost sense has been honed to perfection! If I can't find her, then...she must be in a place where the ghost energy is untraceable..."

"What does that imply?"

Danny gulped, "There is only one place in the entire town when such thing is possible. We better hurry," he said in an urgent matter, "She is in grave danger. I'll go there."

"No, you have failed already, I will go, tell me!"

"You have caused enough damage," Danny narrowed his eyes, "Stay low. Meet you here after this."

With that he vanished, before the older being could even argue. Growling loudly, the plant ghost retreated underground. Phantom flew on the neck-breaking speed, praying to whatever gods there were that Sam was there. He felt horrible for being so irresponsible. He knew what his parents were capable of! To be kidnapped twice in a row, she must have hater her luck just as much as he did.

Barging through the doors of his house in the human form, Danny started calling for his parents. They would certainly know. But no reply came, down in the lab he also found nothing. Why would his injured mother be absent? With each step his fear grew more and more. As he was about to exit the kitchen, his attention was suddenly grabbed by the sticky note on the fridge. Danny froze in horror at seeing what was written.

'Danny-boy, we caught a ghost. Gone to the GIW. Ham in the fridge.'