Danny
Danny and Poindexter met up with Sam and Tucker in the same classroom. Once the door was closed and he was sure it was just the four of them, he transformed into his human self.
"Thanks for your help," Danny said to the others. "Those gloves could have been a problem.
"No sweat, Danny," Tucker said.
"Yeah," Sam added with a smirk, "it was our pleasure."
"That was swell!" Poindexter said.
"What are you gonna do next?" Tucker asked. "Should we go to my place and play video games?"
"Not yet, Tuck," Danny said. "Poindexter and I will pay a visit to his home in the Ghost Zone. He still gets bullied even as a ghost."
"That blows, man," Tucker said to Poindexter.
"Do you need our help?" Sam asked.
"Not really, but you can come along until we enter the portal," Danny said.
"You mean go all the way to your house just to be left behind?" Tucker asked. "Thanks. I'll pass."
"We can use my portal," Poindexter said.
"You have a portal?" Danny asked.
"How do you think I got here?" Poindexter said. "It's the mirror inside the locker."
"But how does it work?" Danny wondered. "Why did it take you so long to get free?"
"I don't know," Poindexter said uncertainly. "I've been watching through that mirror for ages, and today it just opened up and let me out."
Sam perked up. "It was because you touched it, Danny!"
"What?" Danny asked.
"When you first opened your new locker," Sam explained, "you touched the mirror at the back. It must have sapped some power out of you to become a portal. Imagine what else you can do!"
"That makes sense," Danny said, transforming into his ghost form. "Okay, we'll go to my locker! Sam, Tucker, we'll meet you there. Poindexter, let's go."
The two ghosts flew down the halls to Danny's locker. He entered the combo and opened the locker door. The mirror hung inside, looking like an ordinary mirror. Danny leaned in for a closer look. Faint images of people appeared deep in the mirror's reflection. The longer he stared, the clearer the images became.
As his friends jogged toward the locker, Danny popped his head out and said, "I can see students inside the mirror. It looks just like the hallway on the other side."
"Sweet," Tucker said.
"How do you get through?" Sam asked. "It's so small."
"We're ghosts, remember?" Danny joked. "We can fit anywhere."
"Right," Sam said, smiling.
"See you later!" Danny said, and he floated up and into the mirror portal.
On the other side, students milled around and talked at lockers. They wore 50's style clothes and hair-dos, just like Poindexter. Even though they were all ghosts, no one floated. They all walked on two legs instead of using wispy tails. The weirdest part was that everything was in black and white, like an old movie.
Poindexter appeared next to Danny, and in an instant, all eyes were on them.
"Look!" someone said. "It's Poindexter and the halfa!"
"Wow, the halfa!"
"What's he doing here?"
A crowd gathered around them, reminding Danny of his encounter with Dash earlier. He found himself backing up until his back hit the lockers. Poindexter looked panicked, but the other students seemed excited and curious. Danny nervously cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Um, hi. I'm Phantom. Um…"
The school-bell rang, but no one moved. They were transfixed on Danny. What should he say?
"Well, you know my friend Poindexter. You all need to leave him alone." He tried sounding authoritative but didn't think it worked.
The students talked among themselves.
"Whoa, Poindexter's friends with the halfa?"
"Far out!"
"That's so groovy!"
Danny's confidence rose. "Yeah, we're friends. Tell everyone that bullying Poindexter is off limits."
That elicited an aggressive reaction.
"We were made to bully Poindexter."
"Who are you to stop us?"
The crowd pushed in, shoving Danny and Poindexter closer together. Hands reached out and grabbed them. Then the punches started. Danny raised his arms in defense, just like he would against Dash. Poindexter whimpered beside him, getting knocked to the ground and kicked.
"Stop!" Danny yelled. His rage flared hot and fast. It filled his ghostly body, and he realized he grew in size. "Stop!" he repeated. This time, an unearthly echo transformed his voice, and he noticed his teeth were sharp points.
The students backed off, looking up at him in fear.
"You will not harm Poindexter," Danny growled, "or else you will face my wrath."
The ghost-students scattered, running into classrooms or fleeing down the hallway. None of them made a peep.
Danny deflated, both physically and mentally. He went back to his normal size, and the anger seeped out of him. Poindexter moaned on the floor. Danny leaned down and helped him up.
"You okay?" Danny asked.
Poindexter jumped back. "What was that? Are you some kind of demon?"
Fear chilled Danny's veins like ice. He shivered and looked at his hands. They seemed normal, but he knew he wasn't normal just a moment ago.
"I… don't know," he said, his voice cracking. He looked at Poindexter with wide eyes. "What happened to me?"
"I don't know," Poindexter said. "I didn't see. But your voice changed. It was all echo-y and… demon-y."
"I… need to go home," Danny said shakily. Without waiting for a response, he turned around and opened the locker.
"Wait," Poindexter said. "You're just gonna leave?"
"You don't need me anymore," Danny said. He went through the mirror portal without another word.
On the other side, Sam and Tucker waited.
"How'd it go?" Tucker asked. His expression shifted to one of shock. "You look scared. You okay, bro?"
"Let's go somewhere no one will bother us," Sam said, walking to a nearby classroom.
They all entered the room, and Sam closed the door. Danny tried to think of what to say.
"Something happened to me," he managed. "I… I changed over there."
"How?" Sam and Tucker asked.
Danny said, "Poindexter asked if I was a demon. I don't know the answer to that. I got really angry and… and grew. I was bigger than everyone else. And my voice… I don't even know how to describe it."
"Sounds awesome, man! Ow," Tucker said. Sam hit him in the arm.
"Can't you see Danny's upset?" Sam admonished. To Danny, she asked, "Are you okay?"
Danny transformed into his humans self. He felt more in control that way, more stable. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"I think so," he said. "It just freaked me out, ya know?"
"Sounds freaky," Sam agreed.
"What about Poindexter?" Tucker asked. "Did you work things out for him?"
"Yeah," Danny said and told them what happened. "Anyway," he finished, "I have homework. See you tomorrow?"
They made their goodbyes, and Danny transformed to fly home.
Danny
The next day was a no school day, but Danny flew to the school to check on Poindexter. He found the ghost roaming the halls in confusion.
"Where is everyone?" Poindexter asked.
"It's Veteran's Day," Danny answered. "No one's here today. And since tomorrow's Friday, we get that day off too. You're on your own until Monday."
"What am I supposed to do until then?"
Danny shrugged. "Wanna hang out with me?"
"Can I really?"
"Why not? I've never hung out with a ghost before."
"Hot diggity!" Poindexter said, throwing his fist in the air. "Where to first?"
"Where did you like to hang out when you were alive?"
"That's treading dangerous waters, bub," Poindexter warned.
Danny backed up. "Whoa, what did I do?"
Poindexter shook himself like a dog, startling Danny even more. His tone returned to normal. "Sorry. Automatic reaction. Don't talk to ghosts about… what you just did."
"Oh," Danny said, not sure what Poindexter was referring to. "Um… how should I…?"
"Just don't say that word," Poindexter said. "It… triggers something in ghosts."
"O-kay," Danny said.
"Here. The proper way to ask is: Where di you like to hang out before becoming a ghost?"
"Ohhh, I see," Danny said.
"To answer your question, all the kids in my generation hung out at the malt shop. Is that still around?"
"Um, I don't think so. But we can go to the ice cream shop in the mall."
"What's a mall?" Poindexter asked.
"You don't know what a mall is?"
"Nada."
"C'mon, I'll show you."
Danny
Danny and Poindexter spent all morning at the Amity Park Mall. When they arrived, they flew overhead to get a scope of the sprawling building. Poindexter was amazed at the size.
They went in, invisible to humans but visible to each other—a trick Poindexter taught Danny. Poindexter was just as delighted with the selection of stores as he was at the exterior.
Instead of lunch, they had ice cream, which Danny paid for as a human. They ate on the roof, where they could have a conversation without being interrupted.
"Can ghosts even eat ice cream?" Danny wondered.
"Sure, why not?"
Danny shrugged. "I never thought about it before. I always transformed into a human before eating." He took an experimental lick of ice cream. It was a little bland, but otherwise the same.
"We don't need to eat, but it's still enjoyable."
"Cool."
After a minute, Danny asked, "How do ghosts get nourishment?"
"Huh," Poindexter said. "I don't know."
"I mean," Danny went on, "ghosts still get tired from using powers, right?"
"Yeah."
"So… you have to get energy from somewhere."
"That's a question for the yetis of the Far Frozen," Poindexter said.
"Yetis?!"
"Yeah. They're like the scientists of the Ghost Zone. At least, so I've heard."
"I had no idea yetis were real! Are they ghosts?"
"Well, yeah! Otherwise, they wouldn't be the scientists of the Ghost Zone, would they?" Poindexter finished his ice cream cone. "Where to next?"
"I have plans to hang out with Tucker. I'm sure he won't mind if you tag along."
They played video games at Tucker's house, which fascinated Poindexter. Tucker showed off all of his technology. Poindexter and Tucker bonded over it, leaving Danny out for over an hour. He tried not to mind, but it wasn't as fun playing video games by himself. It was fine. Danny and Poindexter shared ghostliness at least. It was good for Tucker to have a tech friend. Right? That's what Danny told himself.
At the end of the day, Poindexter didn't want to leave, but Danny reminded him that humans needed sleep. Poindexter went back to Casper High School to do whatever ghosts do in their spare time while Danny went home for bed.