Part I

It was a dreary, cold morning. Danny swore he saw the clock's hands slow to a halt as Lancer stood at the board. Aside from inscribing the words “Civil War” in capital letters and underlining them, he hadn't moved an inch -- well, discounting his mouth, to Danny and the others' dismay. Somehow, although it was obvious he did have a great enthusiasm for all of the subjects he taught, his projection was always skewed into the same drone...a familiar voice-pattern that glossed over equations and literary excerpts, making it all one big deathly boring waste of life, so thought his students.

Danny had already assumed the usual “classroom stakeout” position, with chin in hand, head at a slight angle, and lids drooped ever so slightly. He sighed as he lifted his head only briefly to pivot it so his gaze fell upon the door instead, which was just as good a view in his current opinion.

Unbeknownst to him, a thumb-sized spirit approached with the most mischievous of intentions...invisible, it casually phased through the classroom wall, pausing to observe the human bento-box. Upon seeing Danny, its tiny face lit up, and it immediately headed toward him, uttering a high-pitched squeal -- fortunately it's frequency was too high to be detected by human ears. Also, for the thing's size, it managed to avoid tripping Danny's trust ghost sense...for the time being.

The miniscule specter drew close, hovering, then quickly whisked underneath his shirt. It cooed also inaudibly at the boy's warmth. Then, it took to unleashing its only power: it began deftly stroking and prodding Danny's tender belly, taking great joy in stuffing its nub of an arm into his navel.

Danny jolted out of his usual school day trance, eyes widening, but not quite bulging. The sensation resonated powerfully throughout his entire body. Reflexively, he lightly slapped himself where the sensation seemed to emanate. The ghost was not deterred in the least, as it simply evaded the swat, and adjusting its position, continued tickling. Danny was incredibly ticklish, his belly being one of his most sensitive spots. He became frustrated as the unbearable sensation continued. He found himself unable to suppress giggles. Between a still closed mouth, he helplessly gritted his teeth.

Lancer drove a temporary wedge into his lecture, as he noticed Danny's rather odd, chipper demeanor. Raising an eyebrow, he walked casually over to the boy's desk, looking down at him and asking, “Do you find this funny, Mr. Fenton?”

Sam and Tucker also exchanged glances in the synchronized head-turning. This was so unlike him. Something was up, for certain -- but what...that would have to wait just a little longer. They eyed Danny with pity.

Danny looked up, with a grin that he couldn't help, but tried to make proper. “N-No!” he blurted out, through clenched teeth.

Lancer stared at him for a moment, shook his head, sighed, and walked back to his post, resuming his speech.

At that moment, after thoroughly exploiting Danny's ticklish tummy, the ghost rose up and squeezed into his left armpit. At this, Danny let out a rather loud grunt which was as much as he could stifle a potentially glass-shattering guffaw. He clamped his upper-arm to his side, and cupped his hands around his mouth tightly. His eyes widened again as he felt a sudden coldness in his mouth, and watched the visible breath escape his selfmade gag in all directions, like the remnants of a small, soft explosion.

His first thought was, Go figure...; then he went on to ponder -- snickering helplessly all the while --, ...but this doesn't make any sense...ghosts have never been interested in tickling me before -- they've been interested in hurting me and trying to kill me, but never tickling...AGH, I CAN'T STAND IT!

The tiny thing slipped out of its current crevice, and danced its way across Danny's back -- causing him to squeeze his shoulderblades together and crane his neck ever so slightly -- then ducked into his right armpit. Danny grunted again and not only clamped his arm to his side, but lay his head face-down on the desk in a tormented despair.

Sam and Tucker looked at one another again, this time Sam looked determined. She couldn't let Danny suffer like this...it was painful to watch. Suddenly, she had an idea.

As it so happened, Lancer turned his gaze to Danny again, and seeing him doubled over the desk, he cried, “Count Longardeaux's Book of Party Tricks, Redneck Jokes, and Worldly Records, Fenton, are you --!”

“Mr. Lancer!” Sam piped up, punching the air, “Danny’s sick, can we take him to the nurse’s office?”

Lancer looked over at her. “We?”

“Yeah,” Tucker chimed, already catching on, “Danny’s gonna need two friends to make it down there today. He’s got it real bad!” He walked over to Danny and lifted him up, supporting him by the arm.

“Got what?” Lancer queried, half-irked, half-dreadful.

“Sorry, no time!” Sam squeaked, grabbing Danny’s other arm and placing it over her shoulders. “It could get worse if he doesn’t get treatment immediately!”

With Danny’s chin on his chest, his chortling sounded remarkably like gagging; Lancer gave the three of them a weary eye as they ambled out the door.
“Hang on, Danny…” Sam said softly as they made their way down the hall.

They arrived at the infirmary, and made arrangements for Danny to go home. As soon as they were out of the building, and safely out of earshot, Sam said firmly, “My place!” Tucker nodded.

Danny’s face was as red as a cherry by the time they dragged him in the door. He fell to the floor, finally able to laugh freely as he slumped to the floor, kicking and rolling around frantically.

“What is going on?!” Tucker cried.

Amidst cachinnation, Danny said, “I’ll tell you what’s going on –“ reaching under his shirt, he finally managed to catch the little ghost, clutching it tightly in his fist, “this is going on!”

Gasping for breath, Danny sat up, and held his fist in front of him, while Sam and Tucker knelt down and looked on.

At first the ghost was still invisible, but feeling threatened, it became visible, uttering a cry – a high-pitched mew – that could be heard by human ears. It looked up at the three humans and blinked.

“That’s what’s been attacking you?!” Sam said with incredulity, “Awww, it’s so cute!” She reached a hand down, extending a finger to pet it gently. It cooed as she did so.

Danny looked positively pissed. “Cute?! Cute!? This thing’s been torturing me for the past several hours! How can you –!”

Danny was cutoff as he looked down to see the pint-sized ghost leaning over his hand, hugging it. Now his friends both clasped their hands together, with big silly grins on their faces, going “Awwwwwwwwwww!”

Danny looked about ready to strangle them both. “If you like it so much, then…” he began, trailing off in disgust.

“Do you have a name little guy? Do you? Do youuuuu?” Sam twittered, looking down at it with big eyes.

The little ghost looked up at her, blinked, then smiled and nodded. It floated over to the coffee table, picked up a pen – which was easily at least three times its size --, and busily wrote something on the first page of an open notebook. The three of them hovered over it, reading what it had written as it turned and floated out of the way.

“Kusu…Guru?” they read in uncertain unison.

The ghost nodded with a happy mew, dropping the pen and floating up toward Danny. “D’ah!” Danny cried, and stepped back.

Panicked, he looked it in the eyes and said, “Go tickle Sam!” pointing toward her.

Sam shrieked and wrapped her arms around herself, covering her midriff. The Kusu Guru turned, floated within a foot of Sam, paused, then turned and went back to Danny, and hugged his shoulder, with a short coo.

Sam shot Danny a soft glare. Danny shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“Aww, see Danny? It likes you.” Tucker noted. “You should feel special…or something.”

“Or something…” Danny echoed, “Great…so will it still follow me around while I’m trying to battle other ghosts?”

Just then, as if on cue, Danny's ghost sense triggered, and there was a loud noise and screams outside. Sam ran to the window. Danny looked back at Tucker, then stood up, balling his hands into fists.

There was a moment of silence; Danny turned his head to see the Kusu Guru still latched onto him. With a sigh, he plied it off him with forefinger and thumb, and letting it go, raised a finger and said firmly, “Now, you stay here, I have some important things to do!”

Returning to face the door, he raised his arms, hands outstretched, and triumphantly declared, “I’m going ghost!” The Kusu Guru watched from an arm’s length as the spectral ring appeared around his waist, then split into two, one zipping up, completing half his suit, and shifting his black hair to a pale silver and his blue eyes to a luminous green; the other zipping down, completing the other half of the suit, and completing the transformation from ordinary boy to ghost.

Phasing through the front wall, Danny appeared on the street, now catching sight of the terrorizing force – two monster ghosts; a centaur-like bull, black with red armor, armed with a large sword; and a centaur-like ram, white with violet armor, armed with a bow and arrow, and a mallet. They dwarfed Danny by at least three feet.

Taking a deep breath, and sighing, Danny assessed the situation, and decided to take down the ram first. While the bull seemed to be the more dominant and aggressive of the two, if he got rid of the ram, then at least there would be one ghost less to deal with, he reasoned.

He flew above the ram, shooting a blast at its head in an attempt to stun it. It seemed to get the beast’s attention, leastwise, as it stared up at Danny, made an eardrum-shattering bleat, and drew its bow, shooting off arrow after arrow. Danny managed to dodge most of them, and those he didn’t, he avoided via intangibility

When the ram’s quiver finally ran dry, it discarded its bow and held up its giant decorative mallet, lunging at Danny with it. Still drained from evading the arrows, Danny was slow to move – but luckily, at that point, something grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of the way.

Danny’s relief turned to horror when he realized what had grabbed him – one of several innumerable iridescent vines, from a strange patch that hung in the sky. As three more vines ensnared his other wrist, and ankles, he knew it to be the work of the Kusu Guru even before he heard the mew and saw it hovering out of the corner of his eye.

“What are you DOING?!” Danny cried, “No, NO! Not here, not now! PLEASE!” He turned his attention to struggling against the pull of the vines – which was just as well, as the ram had ceased its attack and was watching his predicament curiously.
With a triumphant mew, the Kusu Guru spread its minute arms, with a huge grin on its tiny face, and the vines sprung into motion, tickling the ghost boy from fingertips to tiptoes, front to back; even phasing through the soles of his boots to reach his sensitive feet. Danny burst into laughter, writhing and tossing his head, kicking his legs and flailing his arms wildly, as much as the vines holding him would allow.

The Kusu Guru mewed and clapped happily as Danny’s laughter and intermittent pleas rang out through the sky. The ram, still watching with fascination, produced a smirk, and eyed the Kusu Guru.

From the ground, Sam and Tucker watched anxiously. “Well, I guess it’s still cute – but man, Danny was right, that thing is nuts!” Tucker exclaimed.

“That adorable little gooball is putting Danny in huge danger!” Sam cried.

“Well…maybe they know each other?” Tucker proposed, having noticed the ram’s yielding to the Kusu Guru’s hold on Danny.

Sam sighed. “Yeah, maybe – but okay, even if he’s not in mortal danger, it’s torture for him, and plus, even if most of the people here don’t know who he is, he’s still gonna be totally embarrassed.” She watched Danny writhe with sad eyes.

After what seemed like at least a half-an-hour, Danny built up a huge amount of energy in frustration. He aimed it at the ram’s feet. It had been so busy watching him that it was caught off-guard, and bleated as its legs buckled. Breathless, Danny then blasted free of the vine-patch and attacked the ram again. It finally toppled over onto its side. Danny had never reached for the Fenton Thermos faster. In exhaustion, he accidentally threw it at the beast – however, to his surprise, after bouncing off the ram’s head, the Thermos froze in place, while the ram’s body was sucked into it. When it finished, it then fell to the ground.

Danny looked wearily around for the bull, but it was gone. “DARNIT!” he shouted exasperatedly. He hung his head as he floated to the ground. Sam and Tucker ran to meet him. The Kusu Guru silently floated down as well.

Danny had caught most of his breath back by the time he had both feet on the ground. He spied the Kusu Guru and gave it the most hateful glower he could muster. The Kusu Guru frowned, mewing inquisitively. This only made Danny angrier.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked.

“I’m fine.” Danny said curtly.

“These things do happen.” Tucker said, trying to look sympathetic.

“Yes, these things do happen…” Danny repeated, then, looking up, looking his friends in the eyes he continued, absolutely livid, “WELL UNTIL YOU STOP THESE THINGS HAPPENING –“ he pointed blatantly at the Kusu Guru – “THIS THING DOES NOT HAPPEN!” he pointed at himself; then quickly reverted to his outwardly human form. He started to walk away, past them; paused, stared at all of them, Kusu Guru included, bared his teeth, then threw his head back, threw his hands up, turned, and stormed off.

The new trio of Tucker, Sam, and the Kusu Guru watched him go. Sam looked disheartened, Tucker looked bewildered. The Kusu Guru mewed sobbingly, and floated lower, screwing up its tiny shoulders, and crossing its arms over its face.

Part II

Danny leaned back on the couch. He raised his arms above his head, stretching and yawning. “I haven’t gone ghost in two weeks…” he mused, “this feels great!” He was silent for a minute; then said sprightly, “I think I’ll take a nap!” He then let himself fall onto his side, spread his legs out, tugged a pillow beneath his head and closed his eyes.

He was already snoring by the time Jazz appeared in the entrance to the family room, clutching the phone. “Danny?” she called quietly. Getting no answer, she walked up to the couch and repeated, “Danny?” Frowning, she picked up another pillow and tossed it at his head. “Danny!”

“…mmm…eh…whaa?” Danny muttered as he awoke; he rolled over onto his back and looked up at Jazz. “What do you want?”

“Your friends are calling you again –“

“Tell them I’m not here.”

“Danny, I’ve been telling them that for the past week –“

“Then tell them I’m dead! Or something…” Danny rolled over and clamped the other pillow on top of his head.

There was a pause as Jazz put the phone to her ear. She then lifted it away, saying, “Sam said she heard that and you will be if you keep ignoring her.”

Danny put a hand to his forehead and dragged it down his face. “All right, all right, gimme that…” He held out his hand, and Jazz gave him the phone. As soon as both her hands were free, she gave Danny’s sides a teasing tickle. He yelped and tried to kick her. She laughed and walked away.

Sliding the underneath the top pillow, he said rather dismally, “Hello.”

“Danny, listen: I totally understand you being upset and needing some time to cope – but gosh darnit, I’m not letting you quit.” Sam said firmly, “Now get your butt over to Tucker’s so we can talk about this.”

“We are talking…” Danny replied.

“Just get over here!”

Danny paused. Then he asked, “Is that…thing...still with you?”

Sam lifted the phone away and looked over her shoulder. Tucker and the Kusu Guru stared each other down on opposite sides of an air hockey table. The Kusu Guru had manifested a white glove with which it grasped the paddle; jerking in the air and waving its arms as it knocked the puck about. Tucker gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep up. Finally, the puck slid into Tucker’s goal, making the score four to zero in the Kusu’s favor. Tucker looked at the scoreboard frowning. “Oh man…”

The Kusu Guru busied itself with a victory dance, and mewed a triumphant tune. The hand raised a finger and began dancing about as well.

Tucker looked over at it, annoyed, “I hate that song…” he muttered.

Sam chuckled at the sight, and put the phone back to her ear. “Yeah, it’s still here…”

“Then I’m not coming,” Danny said matter-of-factly, and pressed the phone’s “Off” button promptly with his thumb.

“Dan –“ was all Sam could manage before the dial-tone blasted in her ear. Hanging up the phone, she growled.

Tucker and the Kusu looked over at her. “Danny still moping?” Tucker asked.

“No, now he’s rebelling,” Sam replied, “well, if he won’t come to us, we’ll have to go to him. Come on, Tuck, we’re going to plan C!”

“I thought we were going to Danny’s…” Tucker said. The Kusu giggled. Sam raised an eyebrow in his direction. Tucker raised a hand, saying, “Kidding, kidding…you got the stuff?”

“All right here,” Sam said, grabbing the strap of a chic black duffel bag.

“Cool, then let’s jet!” Tucker said, giving a quick thumbs up; dropping the paddle and heading for the stairs. Sam followed him, glancing back as the Kusu, who mewed and floated after her.

“I’m not getting it!” Jazz called out as the doorbell continued to ring.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the pillows harder against his head.

“What if he doesn’t answer? What if nobody answers?” Tucker asked, turning to Sam as he continued to press the doorbell.

Sam held a black handkerchief across her flat-palmed hand as she delicately applied a number of drops of chloroform from a small bottle she held vertically with the other. “That’s plan E – we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, OK? Just keep ringing…”

After five more rings, he sighed exasperatedly, rolled off of the couch onto his feet and went to the door.

The minute the door was open wide enough, Tucker and Sam pounced on Danny. Sam shoved the handkerchief in his face and he collapsed to the floor with a groan. The Kusu watched from the doorway with intrigue.

When Danny came to he found himself lying on his back, on his bed, with his wrists stretched over his head and tied to the headboard, and his bare ankles were tied apart, secured to the footboard. Sam and Tucker stood at the end of the bed looking down at him. The Kusu hovered in front of the closed door.

“What the –!?” Danny cried, yanking on his bonds. “What are you going – what are you doing?!” He stuttered, half-angry, half-terrified.

Tucker looked at Sam, who began, “Now Danny…consider this an intervention…we’ve decided to go ahead and implement what I’d like to call an “endurance session”…”

Danny’s eyes bulged as he shrank back against the pillow and curled his toes.

“…now this is for your own good,” Sam said reassuringly, “this is a serious attempt to lessen your weakness. We’re going to try and condition you against tickling. We’re not going to hold back because it might make a difference in a real situation.”

Danny’s eye twitched, and his jaw inadvertently dropped.

“You ready?” she asked in all sincerity.

“WAIT!” Danny cried. “You’re – You’re not going – can’t you just get it to stop? Didn’t you think of that?!”

There was a moment of silence. Sam shook her head. “Danny, you’re not taking this seriously!”

“Not –!” Danny began to rebut, cutoff as Tucker began tickling his foot. “Aaaaah! Stop! Stop!” Danny managed to yawp between strings of laughter.

“Sorry, Danny!” Tucker said sheepishly, though he continued.

“If he can still talk, we’re not doing a good enough job!” Sam declared, pulling two black feathers out of the bag; she pulled Danny’s shirt up to his chest and swept the plumes down his torso, dragging them across his belly and brushing them up and down his ribs.

Danny twisted and turned, arched his back and tossed his head from side to side, and throwing it back. Every so often, he would grit his teeth and try to control himself, but it was only a matter of seconds before his jaws burst apart with guffaws.

His pitch jumped when Tucker sawed the bristles of a black hairbrush underneath his toes. He furiously tugged his legs, but the rope held strong. His movements only succeeded in tickling him more.

He rocked back and forth, as Sam dug her nails into his armpits. His laughter faded in and out of audibility, separated by sharp gasps for breath.

The Kusu giggled and clapped.

After an hour, the duo let up. Tears still clung to Danny’s temples and cheeks; mingling with sweat, which lightly soaked his shirt. His breaths were labored.

“That was kinda fun…” Tucker mused, as he and Sam returned the items to the bag. Sam smiled at him. Then they both looked back at Danny, who looked more beat than he had in any battle. Opening his eyes, he glared at them.

“I’m going…” he began weakly. The spectral ring appeared around his waist – but now it flickered, and faded. “I’m going…to…pass out…!” Danny finished, with a groan.

“That was a good session…” Sam said soothingly, untying him, “you just rest for now. Come on, Tuck...”

Tucker nodded, walking to the bedroom door, and opening it. The two of them and Kusu took one last look at Danny, still breathing fairly heavily, before stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind them. Together they headed downstairs.

Part III

Danny finally fell asleep, and tossed and turned as he relived past battles – all somehow warped to involve tickling him. At the climax of a humiliating tussle with Vlad, he awoke with a scream, bolting upright. He sat there for a few moments, taking deep breaths and slowly exhaling.

He looked around for his friends and the Kusu, but the room was empty. With a sigh, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat on the edge of it for another few moments; then put his feet on the floor, stood up, stretched, and walked out the door and down the stairs.

“Danny?”

Stopping halfway, Danny saw Jazz at the bottom of the stairway, looking up at him with those “concerned” eyes. Danny continued down, standing beside her.

When he didn’t say anything, Jazz said, “Danny, listen, can we talk?”

Danny nodded once. He followed her into the family room. As they sat down on the couch, Danny was actually the one to speak first. Something compelled him to say, “I know!”

Jazz closed her mouth and sat back a little, looking into his eyes, giving a slow nod.

“I know that I shouldn’t let this get to me…” Taking a breath, Danny continued, looking down, “I-I-I…just don’t understand…why is this ghost different from all the other ghosts? Why does it like me so much? What does it want from me? And if it’s only going to get in my way…then why are Sam and Tuck taking its side?”

Jazz put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. “I don’t know either, Danny…” he looked away, “but I do know one thing…” he looked back at her, “…whatever the reason, it’s a perfectly good one. There’s an explanation for everything, and soon enough, I know you’ll find the answer to your questions. I hope even though I can’t give them to you, this will be enough to help you until you get them.”

“Mm…” Danny muttered as Jazz hugged him tightly. He reached his arms around her and returned it. “Thanks, Jazz…” he said softly.

As they parted he asked, “Hey…did you see where they went?”

“Sam and Tucker? Well, they hung around for a while, but then they left…they told me to apologize to you for everything when you woke up…Sam said in retrospect, she didn’t think it was such a good idea.”

Danny closed his eyes and uttered a monosyllabic chuckle. Opening them, he headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Jazz asked.

“I’ve got to go see them…I’ll be back soon.” Danny replied, opening the door.

As it shut behind him, Jazz folded her arms. “Famous last words…” she muttered.

Sam walked to her door as she heard the knock; opening it, she gasped as she saw Danny standing in front of her. “Danny! I didn’t expect to see you!”

“Yeah…” Danny said.

“Please, come in…” she said, standing aside.

Danny nodded.

“Who’s th –!” Tucker began, walking into the foyer. “Danny!”

“Listen, Danny…I’m really sorry about earlier…it…sounded better in theory…” Sam began sheepishly.

“It was – it’s fine,” Danny said reassuringly, “I know you were only trying to help, and I really appreciate it.”

“So…does this mean you’re ready to take up your post again?” Tucker asked.

Danny looked at him. “More than ready…” he said, “…I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I’ve realized once again that I was given these powers for a reason…and since I’m the only one around here who’s using them for good –“ an image of Vlad flashed in his mind ever so briefly – “who am I to shirk my responsibility for keeping thousands of people safe over some stupid embarrassment?”

“Wow, that’s really eloquent, Danny…” Sam said, verging on a blush, “I’m so glad.”

“Besides,” Danny added, putting a hand to his forehead,, “it’s not like I haven’t ended up with my pants down in front of Paulina, Lancer, and the entire gym class more than once…”

“That’s true,” said Tucker with a smirk. Sam uttered a monosyllabic giggle.

Danny brought his hand down. He stood there silently for a few moments before looking around and asking, “Hey, where did Kusu go?”

Tucker and Sam also turned and looked around. “I could’ve sworn he was around…” Sam said.

“Kusuuuuu, where are youuuuu?” Tucker called; a hand to his mouth.

Danny jumped with a yelp that became a helpless giggle as two large white gloves delved into his armpits from behind. Pivoting slowly, he looked up to see the Kusu floating at eye-level. “HEY!” he cried.

As the Kusu flinched, the gloves withdrew.

Taking a deep breath, Danny looked the little spirit in the eyes, extended his arm and with a smile, said, “Truce.”

The Kusu smiled, and with a mew, grasped Danny’s hand with the right glove, shaking it heartily. With Danny’s newfound amiability, it did not hesitate to tickle under his arm with the left glove while it still had a firm grasp on his hand.

Danny laughed, trying to tug his hand away. “You sneak!” he cried.

The Kusu giggled and let go of him. This time, Danny only grinned. The Kusu mewed happily and zipped over to him, pressing itself into his chest, its arms spread to their full length.

Danny closed his eyes and held it against him with his knuckle. It was such a soft little thing…

After a few minutes of embrace, they parted, and looked one another in the eyes, each nodding slowly, almost bowing to each other.

Danny’s ghost sense triggered, and he and the Kusu both turned their heads toward the front wall. Danny walked to the door, Kusu close behind.

Outside, they looked up to see the bull ghost standing in the street once more; it looked down at them and snorted.

In silence this time, Danny transformed; arms at his sides. His eyes met the bull’s. The Kusu doubled the stare.

Part IV

The bull drew the sword from his right sheath, and with a grunt, aimed its tip at Danny; the boy quickly leapt out of the way and into the air. The Kusu kept with him. The bull quickly raised his sword and swung it again. Danny went intangible this time. The sword fell through him and tore up the street. Danny flew in its face and hurled several blasts at it. The bull, grunting, flinches and took a few steps back, but quickly brought his sword between his face and Danny, and batted the boy away. Danny hurtled through the air and landed smack in a heap on the pavement.

He groaned and struggled to sit up. He felt two big strong hands grab his arms and help him to his feet. He turned his head to see that they were the gloves of the Kusu, who looked worried, but then smiled at him. Danny returned it.

They both turned as they heard an engine’s roar ring through the air. It was Valerie. Zipping past and circling around the bull, she simultaneously fired both her ecto-guns as well as launching just about every other weapon she had. The bull roared as the onslaught struck it. It now drew the sword from its left sheath, and drew them together, slicing the jet-sled in half. Valerie screamed, but managed to jump in time to avoid being crushed.

“Valerie!” Danny cried, rocketing into the air and catching her.

“Danny!” Valerie cried as he caught her.

As he set foot on solid ground, he let her down, saying, “I think you’d better leave this one to me…”

“Well, without my sled, I guess there’s not much I can do now…go for it, Phantom.” Valerie said softly, nodding.

The Kusu mewed, and waved its arm, as if to say, “Don’t worry, we’ll handle it!”

Danny looked at her for a few seconds before turning to face the bull again, who now stood facing him, both swords drawn and held in a fierce poise.

“No fooling around with this one…” Danny muttered unthinkingly aloud; the Kusu mewed, nodding.

As the bull raised its arms and thrust both blades down toward Danny, the boy took flight once again, squeezing through the swords and hovering a few feet from the bull’s face.

The bull yanked its swords out of the ground and began lunging them at Danny, one at a time, in all formations. Danny danced through the air, dodging the blows, and also firing various blasts.

The Kusu noticed as he began to tire, and used the gloves to tug him out of the way, and even grasp the sword’s blade for a few moments while Danny got out from under it.

The bull ceased for a moment, dropping its arms to its sides. Danny took the moment to look down at Valerie. To his surprise, Sam, Tucker, and his sister now stood with her, all looking up at him. “Guys…” he said softly.

He jumped and quickly looked up as the bull now suddenly spoke. In a deep voice that seemed to echo from everywhere, it said, “I came before when I heard of your presence here…I could not imagine that it was true, but now I see you do exist…I know what you hide, and I shall take every measure that it never comes to light…”

Danny looked confused. “What?” he asked, “What do you know about me?”

With a snort, the bull drew his right arm back, and thrust his sword at Danny. Danny gasped, and suddenly froze. The bull’s sword barreled toward his head. Danny squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself. He opened his eyes as he heard the Kusu utter a terrible mew of pain. The bull had aimed the sword to one side of his head, piercing the tiny Kusu.

“NOOOOOOO!” Danny cried, watching as the sword continued its descent and plowed into the ground, crushing the Kusu beneath it. The bull then withdrew his blade.

The others also screamed as the sword landed within a foot of them, making the ground shake. They all grabbed a hold of each other as they lost their balance and fell.

Danny became a blur as he raced to the ground. He scrambled to the pit the sword had made, and ducked down into it; he reappeared cradling the Kusu gently in both hands. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks. “Kusu…” he whimpered.

The Kusu mewed weakly, barely audibly. Its eyes were half-closed, and its body from its chest down had been ripped in half. The others rushed over and surrounded Danny, staring down at the wounded Kusu. Jazz raised a hand to her mouth; tears welled up in Sam and Tucker’s eyes as well.

Danny closed his eyes and held the Kusu to his chest once more. Suddenly, he felt a tickle on his right palm. He held his hands out in front of him, and saw the Kusu smiling weakly. It began to fade. “No, no…” Danny sobbed.

As it disappeared, Danny looked more closely at his right palm, where the tickling sensation remained. There was a small green dot. As he stared at it, it began to grow, and change shape.

The others looked at it with the same wonder. They stepped back as stepped forward. He held his right hand out at arm’s length. The others gasped as something began to form; a green outline flickered in and slowly manifested.

It was…a sword.

The blade was a foot wide, easily six feet long, and two inches at its thickest. Its hilt was rectangular, with a metal end, wrapped with what appeared to be worn leather that stuck out in frayed ends in a few places. Between the handle and the blade was a crystal-ball-sized, green orb; it had the pattern of flames on the side toward the handle, and in the center, what looked to be a symbol of the Ghost Zone as it appeared from the Portal.

Danny widened his stance, leaning forward with one knee slightly bent, and extending the other. He held the hilt right hand over left; the sword pointed toward the bull, who looked down at him, half-enraged, half-amused.

Suddenly, the orb began to glow, and Danny felt the sword begin to pulse. The beats went through him as well. Dark electrical energy began to spark along the blade, and the orb’s glow grew brighter, a murky jade tinged with black.

“The Phantom Fang…” the bull explained, “the only weapon forged with a thousand-fold the power of the Ghost King…it was sealed away, hidden, because of its tremendous power…”

Danny gritted his teeth and grunted as the sword’s power surged through him. His arms quavered a bit as he continued to grasp the hilt.

As a dark green mist began to fill the air, acid rain fell from the clouds. Sam, Tucker, and Valerie exclaimed and tried to shield themselves with their arms. Jazz quickly pulled out the Fenton Tarp and draped it over all of them. Valerie cradled Tucker and Sam hugged Jazz as they all continued to watch Danny.

This is…! Danny though, cutoff as a gush of pain throbbed through him, Something is…flowing from the Phantom Fang into me!

“Unleashed, the sword will draw in all demonic ghostly energy…” the bull continued, “you will not be able to resist that energy boy…for you carry the blood of a frail human and an evil ghost.”

Danny’s grunts and groans suddenly became mixed with unearthly growls. Sam watched in horror as his hair grew into long fiery locks; his teeth grew into long fangs; his ears grew pointed; his skin began to turn a pale blue, his temples laced with red veins; and his eyes grew a menacing crimson.

Crud…! Danny thought, My body…won’t listen to me! My head…!

“Danny!” Sam cried.

His painstaking utterances climaxed into a raspy roar, as he threw his head back, jaws and eyes wide.

Sam let go of Jazz and cast off the Tarp, sprinting toward Danny. “DANNY!”

“Sam!” Valerie cried.

Sam splashed through the large puddle of acid rain surrounding him. She wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could. “Danny…don’t give up!” The acid hissed as it ate away at her boots. She buckled a little in pain.

“Sam!” cried Jazz.

“Sam!” cried Valerie again, shortly after her.

Sam sobbed as she continued to hug Danny. With her face buried in his chest, she didn’t notice that the orb’s malicious glow subsided.

Danny made a few weak grunts. “Sam…” he whispered.

The orb began to glow again, but this time, a bright, sparkling peridot.

Danny looked down at her, and the redness faded from his eyes; his skin returned to normal color, and his fangs receded.

“Danny…are you all right?” Sam asked, like so many times before. She stood up a little, grasping his shoulder, and looked into his eyes.

“Yeah…but…” Danny began quietly, turning around, “could you hold me up…just a little longer?”

“Of course…” Sam said, nodding. She wrapped her arms around him once more, laid her cheek on his shoulder-blades, and closed her eyes.

As Danny raised the sword with both hands again, it began to pulse again, but this time, its energy was warm and radiant. It seemed to give him all the strength in the world. As he raised it above his head, the blade had become enveloped in pure white, hot light. Bright green spheres of energy drew toward it, imploding into the orb. “Take this…!” he unthinkingly shouted.

Danny gritted his teeth, and squeezed the handle; hollering as he brought it down, “CRUOR SOUL BLAST!” A funneled tsunami of green energy mingled with emerald shards exploded from the blade; whipping up and combining the acid with it.

The bull snorted in disgust before the attack struck him head on, engulfing his body. He gave a dying roar that shook the earth. The blast ate away at his form; he became simply a mist, then nothing at all.

“It…it’s gone!” Jazz exclaimed.

“He destroyed it.” Valerie added; eyes wide with amazement.

After a few moments, Danny turned his head, “It’s gone, Sam, we’re safe now!”

Sam nodded slowly, “Mm.” Then her eyes closed, her grip loosened, and she began to fall backward.

“Sam!” Danny cried, turning around quickly, catching her, “Sam!” He knelt and held her, “Hang in there, Sam!”

Sam simply lay there in his arms. As he flattened his right palm, the sword disappeared the same way it had appeared. Danny felt it rest within him.

“Sam!” Danny said again; then cried out, “SAM!”

A few hours later, Sam lay in bed, her feet wrapped in bandages; Danny sat beside her, looking down at her. He smiled as she opened her eyes, and looked up into his.

“Do your…feet still hurt?” he asked.

“Only a little…” she replied, “Danny…” she sat up.

Danny sighed. “Man…I’ve got a long way to go…” he said, looking away, “I managed to wield the Phantom Fang…” he looked back at her, “…but not by myself.”

Sam blushed.

“I’m sorry you got hurt…” Danny said, “I feel like it’s my fault.”

“It’s not,” Sam replied firmly, “it was my decision to do what I did – and I’m glad I did, because when I was there helping you, I felt happy…I’m so glad I’m with you.” She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder.

Now Danny blushed. Leaning against her a little as well, he thought, The same goes for me…since you’re with me…I’m glad.

They sat together for a few moments, when suddenly, Danny chuckled. Then he giggled, then he began laughing outright, losing his balance and falling to the floor. Sam fell with him, but only hung over the bed’s edge.

Danny laughed for a few more minutes, until, the small lump in his shirt lifted up the bottom, revealing itself.

Sam’s face lit up. “Kusu!” she cried.

The Kusu gave a happy mew.

Danny raised himself up on his elbows and looked down at it. “You’re alive!? It’s a miracle!!”

The Kusu turned and winked at him. Then it raised its arms, manifesting eight of its white gloves, which descended on him; ducking back under his shirt, it continued to tickle him silly.

Sam grinned as she watched.

A few more hours past, and Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Danny stood in front of the Fenton Portal. The Kusu hovered on Danny’s shoulder.

Danny gently plucked the Kusu off and placed it in his hand. Jazz opened the portal, and he let go of it. “Go now, forget me, forget all of this…”

The Kusu mewed, and floated back over to him, hugging him.

“I’ll miss you too…” Danny said, “but you can’t stay here…”

The Kusu let go of him and looked up into his eyes, mewing.

“Don’t worry, little guy…goodbye’s not forever…” he said softly, “…you can always come back…”

The Kusu nodded, and mewed happily. Giving Danny one last hug, and waving goodbye to the others, who waved back, it floated into the Portal and disappeared.

Danny and the others stood there for a few moments; then Jazz closed the portal, and they headed upstairs.

In the family room, Jazz looked at Danny and said slyly, “You know…with that little guy gone, I guess I’m going to have to be the one to fill in for him…”

“Yeah…” Danny muttered, “…wait, what? No, please! Jazz! NO!” he cried, bursting into hysterical laughter as she began tickling him.

“Us too!” Sam said eagerly, she and Tucker joining in.

Danny’s laughter pervaded the house, even echoing throughout the basement. Even through the closed Portal doors, it reached the Kusu. It turned its head, smiled, and sighed.

It mewed as if to say, “Someday…”

THE END