It's been a month since Dominique Fenton and her twin brother Daniel had their lives changed forever by their parents' new portal to the Ghost Zone. They discovered that they had the ability to transform into ghostly versions of themselves. It was a strange time of adjustment for them, but they had their friends to help them with it. Danny had his friends, Sam and Tucker, and Dom had Paulina. She thought about telling her friend Star as well, but she didn't really trust her to be able to hold the secret. She also wasn't exactly sure how she'd take it. She did notice though that she was starting to become jealous of the time she and Paulina were spending without her. Dom didn't want her feeling left out. High School was already stressful enough without having to worry about your friend freaking out or being jealous over the fact that you had powers. Tomorrow was the first day of the new school year and she was already nervous. Paulina could read her like a book and already knew what was going through her mind.

"Everything's going to be okay, Dom." Paulina said as she grabbed her best friend's hands to recenter her. "You're not going through this alone. You have Danny and you have me to help you navigate things."

Dom looked out her window and sighed. She pulled her hands back and lifted her knees to her chest before wrapping her arms around her legs. "I don't know, Lina. Most of the time you'll just be running interference for Star so she doesn't see my powers go on the fritz. You can't shield me from the whole school. Maybe I'll stay home tomorrow or convince my parents to homeschool me or something."

"I do know. We'll figure this out together. Plus, as much as I love your parents, what if they discover you're half ghost now when they homeschool you? They're obsessed with catching them now."

Dom hadn't thought about that part. She had managed to slip under their radar this last month, but what if they ran experiments on her or thought a ghost was possessing her instead of her actually being one? Now on top of everything she was starting to worry about what her parents would do if they learned about her and Danny. The stressful overthinking caused Dom to turn invisible without transforming, but instead of phasing through her bed and the floor she started floating.

Paulina's eyes widened at her disappearing in front of her, but instead of freaking out and searching for her through the house she reached her hand out to touch where she last saw Dom's left cheek with her right hand. "Hey, hey. Come back to me. You're here with me."

Jazz walked past the slightly open door of Dom's room and peeked inside to see Paulina touching the air and for Dom to appear out of nowhere where her hand was. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her sister was a ghost? Did it have something to do with their parents' new portal? She was about to walk away and give Dom and Paulina their space when she noticed Dom's cheeks turn red at Paulina's touch. She felt like she was seeing something she wasn't supposed to and was becoming an overbearing parent despite just being her older sister. "Your secrets are safe with me..." She whispered as she walked away from the door and back towards her room.

---

The next morning Dom made her way downstairs to see Danny and Jazz at the table. Danny was eating cereal and Jazz was reading a book titled, "Surviving Adolescence Through Therapy". Their mom was working on another invention, likely something to do with ghosts. "Good morning." Dom said with a yawn.

"Good morning, sweetie." Their mother, Maddie, said without turning away from her invention. "Two more days and it's done."

Their dad, Jack, bust into the room and picked up the device. "What'd you say? It's done? The Fenton Finder is done! This baby uses satellites to lead you right to the ghosts."

Those words woke Dom up completely. She started to back out of the kitchen before the Fenton Finder said, "Two ghosts are near. Walk forward." It was leading them towards Danny first. Before they could reach him Jazz stepped in the way.

"No. I will not let your insane obsession with ghosts pollute the minds of your impressionable children. Come on, Danny and Dom. I'm driving you both to school today."

That was unexpected from Jazz. She never drove them anywhere. It seemed their parents also agreed that it was strange because the moment they left they surmised that she was the ghost and planned to capture her.

Danny was sprawled across his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was faintly glowing with an ethereal pink aura. Another not-so-subtle reminder that being a half-ghost didn’t come with an “off” switch. Nerves made it worse. And with school starting in the morning, his nerves were working overtime.

Tucker lounged in Danny’s desk chair, feet kicked up, scrolling through his phone. Sam perched on the windowsill, arms folded, surveying the room with deadpan concern.

“So, are you gonna just glow all night,” Tucker asked, not looking up from his screen, “or do you want me to hit the lights for you?”

Danny shot him a weak smile. “Funny. If my parents come in and see this, I’m toast. Or, you know… ghost toast.”

Sam cracked a smirk. “Relax, man. If anyone bursts in, I’ll just say you’re trying out a new nightlight aesthetic. Real cutting-edge stuff.”

Danny sighed, flexing his hands. “I just… what if I phase through the floor tomorrow? What if I go invisible in the middle of homeroom? What if Dom and I both glitch out and the whole school finds out?”

Tucker shrugged, still scrolling. “Then you’ll be the coolest show-and-tell ever.”

“Not helping,” Danny muttered, though he looked a little less tense.

Sam’s voice softened. “You’re not gonna mess up. And if you do, we’ll cover for you. That’s what we’re here for.”

Danny finally sat up, tucking his knees in. “You guys ever wish things could go back to normal?”

Sam shrugged. “Not really. Normal’s overrated. I mean, look at me.” He said gesturing to himself. “I gave up on being normal ages ago. Besides, you’re the only boy I know who paints his nails pink and still worries about fitting in.”

Tucker finally looked up and grinned. “And hey, if you panic, just blame me. Teachers already expect weird stuff when I’m around.”

Danny laughed, genuine, this time. “You two are the worst.”

Tucker raised his phone in a mock toast. “But we’re your worst.”

A comfortable quiet settled over the room. The glow surrounding Danny finally faded as he relaxed, knowing that, whatever happened, he wasn’t

---

Danny was half-asleep over his cereal, trying to ignore the buzz of his mom’s latest invention. Dom wandered in, yawning, just as their dad burst in, the “Fenton Finder” started beeping. Danny’s heart skipped. It pointed right at him, but before things could get awkward, Jazz cut in, cool as ever.

“No. I will not let your insane obsession with ghosts pollute the minds of your impressionable children. Come on, Danny and Dom. I'm driving you both to school today.” Jazz announced, grabbing car keys.

Danny blinked, surprised. Jazz never drove them. As they hurried out, he could hear their parents whispering behind them, probably plotting a way to catch “the real ghost.” Danny just hoped he could get through first period without glowing.

Dom went to her new locker and placed her bookbag and purse inside for the day. She didn't need either of them yet or really at all. Her mind kept thinking about all the possible ways things could go wrong today. She could phase through her seat in homeroom and become a laughing stock, she could disappear and re-appear in the girls' locker room, and a ghost could randomly attack. She honestly wasn't sure which scenario would be the worst one. She closed the door to her locker to see Star standing next to her. She almost went invisible out of shock but managed to focus enough to stay opaque.

"Wow, Star. You scared me. Make some noise next time, please?" Dom asked as she turned to face her friend.

Star wasn't amused in the slightest. "Are you avoiding me? I haven't seen you in a month."

A sympathetic frown formed on Dom's face. She was starting to feel bad for leaving Star out of her secret, but still fought with the idea of confessing to her. "Of course not. I've just been really busy and dealing with a lot."

"But you're not too busy to hang out with Paulina..." Star said with her voice filled with sorrow. "Are you two dating? You know you can tell me. I'll always support you."

Dom's eyes widened in shock as her cheeks turned red at the question. She shook her head vehemently. "No, no. We're not dating. We're best friends. I've been helping her prepare for school. Her dad asked me to be her tutor."

Star wasn't entirely convinced, but she knew that Paulina struggled with her classes this past year so she decided to accept the excuse for now. "That makes sense... Save me a seat at lunch?"

"I'll draw a star at your spot so everyone knows it's yours."

"You're the best, Dom. See you in class." Star walked away with a satisfied smile, but something was still tugging away at her mind.

---

"I should've skipped lunch." Dom said as she plopped down into her seat at the cafeteria. She pulled out a permanent marker and drew a star on the table right next to where she was sitting. She was a woman of her word and wanted Star to feel included.

"Seriously." Paulina replied. "Why are we eating grass?"

"Sam... I love my brother's friends, but not everyone wants to eat recycled grass. I don't even know how you recycle grass."

"I know I wanted to watch my figure, but this is not what I meant." Star said as she pulled up and sat in her assigned seat.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Fenton Residence the Ghost Portal opened releasing a green ghost that was dressed as a school's lunch lady. "Ooh. Somebody changed the menu." She said in a voice that sounded like a sweet grandma before turning invisible and flying up to exit through the roof.

Maddie and Jack were too focused on another ghost invention to notice. "Maybe this is a bad idea." Maddie said with concern in her voice.

"No, it's perfect. When Jazz gets home we suck the ghost out of her with the Fenton Extractor." Jack said as he pulled up what looked to be a hi-tech vacuum.

"But what if Jazz isn't a ghost? What if we accidentally hurt her?"

"Maddie... The Fenton Extractor doesn't hurt humans. Unless it gets in your hair."

---

Dom was enjoying the conversation she was having with her friends when cold air exhaled from her mouth alerting her to the presence of a ghost. Just great. She couldn't even get through her first day of school without a ghost ruining it. "I have to go to the lady's room." She said as she stood up.

"Do you need us to go with you? It's not like we're missing anything here." Star replied, ready to leave with her.

"FENTON!!!" Dash, a quarterback and bully, yelled out as he launched a mudpie at Danny.

"No, thank you. But can you make sure Dash doesn't kill my brother?" She asked before rushing out into the hall. She looked around to make sure no one was around before exclaiming, "I'm going ghost!" White circles enveloped her before transforming her into her ghost form. "I'm definitely going to need a better catchphrase."

Danny’s morning at school was a blur of nerves and routine. He shoved his hands in his pockets, doing his best to ignore the way they still faintly glowed pink when he got anxious. His main goal? Survive homeroom without phasing through the floor or making a scene. So far, so good.

He found his locker, crammed it with textbooks, and met up with Sam and Tucker near the end of the hall. They traded tired jokes, mostly Tucker mocking the cafeteria’s new “healthy” menu and Sam glaring at him.

By the time lunch rolled around, Danny was starving. He grabbed a tray and eyed the so-called “food,” wrinkling his nose at what looked suspiciously like recycled lawn clippings. He took a seat with Sam and Tucker at their usual table.

Tucker poked one, making a face. “Sam, remind me why you convinced the school to serve… recycled grass cubes?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “It’s called being environmentally conscious. They have protein, fiber, and half the carbon footprint of whatever mystery meat they were serving here before. Animals also don’t have to get slaughtered for it.”

Tucker muttered, “Yeah, well, they also taste like a lawnmower. Next time, let’s be less conscious.”

Danny barely had time to interject. He heard the familiar yell of "FENTON!!!" followed by a mud pie landing on his face. By the time he wiped it off, he was grabbed by his shirt collar and pinned against wall. Of course it was Dash. His least favorite person. He would almost be hot if he wasn’t a complete jerk, and terrifying.

“Your boyfriend ruined lunch for the whole school!”

Danny’s mouth opened and closed. “I-he’s not-”

Sam, deadpan and unfazed, kicked his boots up onto the bench. “Sorry, Dash. I didn’t realize reading was such a struggle. The memo said plant-based. Want me to sound it out for you?”

Tucker nearly choked, stifling a laugh.

Dash flushed, but before he could retort, Paulina sauntered over. “Seriously, Dash? Still blaming Danny for everything? You ever think about reading a sign before throwing food?”

Dash hesitated, caught off-guard by Paulina’s presence. “Ugh, whatever. The grass cubes suck.”

Paulina folded her arms. “Then go talk to the principal. Or are you scared she’ll make you eat vegetables and apologize?”

Sam muttered, just loud enough for Danny to hear, “Can’t believe we need a cheerleader to keep the jocks in check.”

Danny shot Sam a look.

Dash glared at everyone involved, but let Danny go, and took off sulking.

Danny straightened his shirt. “Thank you so much Paulina.”

Paulina grinned. “Don’t mention it. Ooh, but do me a favor, when you see Dom, tell her I’ll talk to her later.” She turned and strutted back to her table.

“Don’t mention it.” Sam mocked as Paulina walked away. “Ugh, I don’t understand how Dom can be friends with her. Her type are all the same.”

Danny sighed. “Sam, Paulina isn’t bad…”

“They’re like Vampires. They turn their humanity on and off depending on who’s watching. I don’t trust it.”

Before Danny could respond to that, an icy breath escaped his mouth, ghost sense. Of course. “We’ll talk about this later. I gotta go, cover for me.” He took off away from the cafeteria, and as soon as he was out of sight, he transformed into his ghost form.

Dom Phantom phased into the cafeteria kitchen to find a nice old lady ghost holding a bowl of salad with a look of disappointment. Dom didn't even know salad was on the menu. She could have at least eaten that. She wondered how dangerous this ghost could be. She looked pretty sweet and innocent, but knew that looks could be deceiving.

The ghost lunch lady turned to face Dom. "Oh, a ghost child. Poor thing. Can you help me? Today's lunch is supposed to be meatloaf and I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?"

Okay. Maybe she was sweet and innocent after all. "Yeah, they did. They're trying this new vegetarian initiative."

The lunch lady's demeanor and appearance immediately changed. Her white hair turned into flames and a green flame aura surrounded her. "They changed the menu!? The menu's been the same for fifty years!" She threw up her hands while balling them into fists and created a green portal looking thing above her head. It felt like she was summoning a tornado in the kitchen.

"Hey! I'm going to need you to calm down and go back to where you came from."

She clearly didn't like being commanded by a child and used her powers to throw a bunch of plates at Dom. She turned invisible and allowed them to phase through her and crash into the wall behind her. The lunch lady threw some more plates at her and Dom used her ability to fly to avoid all of them. "Hey! That's school property! You can't just go around throwing plates because you're mad."

The lunch lady clearly didn't like being told what to do. Three ovens rumbled to life and started to bounce at her command. "I control lunch! Lunch is supposed to be sacred! Lunch has rules!" She made her escape out of the cafeteria while the living ovens roared to life to distract and attack Dom. They spewed flames at her before charging forward to eat her with their new teeth.

"I'm sorry, I am neither Hansel nor Gretel." She quipped before flying out of the cafeteria to try and catch up with the lunch lady. When she entered the hall the lights turned off as electricity surged and wind picked up again. This time lockers burst open releasing what was inside and meat from somewhere flew towards the lunch lady to turn her into some kind of meat monster. Dom wasn't sure how she was going to take her on by herself. "Where is Danny when you need him?"

Danny turned the corner just in time to see Dom hovering over what appeared to be a giant, oozing meat monster stomping through the hallway, trailing sizzling bacon and flinging sausage links like nunchucks. The air was thick with smoke, the scent of scorched tofu, and the faint echo of cafeteria chaos drifting from the kitchen.

Danny winced, ducking a flying drumstick. “Great, a real food fight. Just what I wanted on my first day back.” He zipped up, floating beside Dom. “Need a hand, or do you have this covered?”

Danny narrowed his eyes and scanned the chaos. “I’ll keep her busy, try to cut off whatever’s feeding her power. There’s gotta be a source for all this meat.”

Then, he shot forward, aiming to punch the meat monster: “Hey, Lady! Ever heard of Meatless Monday?”

Dom was happy to see her brother join the fray. It was almost as if she summoned him with her question. "Took you long enough." She said with a smile. "I could always use the help."

Dom heard the rumor about the teacher's lounge hoarding a lot of meat, but she didn't think it was this much. She couldn't believe they'd keep all the actual food to themselves while feeding them actual grass. Grass! She was sure that if there was more meat to take from the school the lunch lady would've taken it all for her meatsuit. For now there was nothing to cut off since she stopped collecting meat and the wind in the hallway died down.

She watched as Danny sprung into action and thought of a way to take this ghost down. Then an idea came to her thanks to her witnessing the lunch lady using her powers to throw things. Maybe she could do the same.

"I've only heard of Meatloaf and Mystery Meat Mondays. Tell me what this is!" The Lunch Ghost yelled before extending out her meaty arm to catch Danny mid-air.

Dom reached out in her mind to grab one of the open locker doors with her ghost energy. She pulled at it with as much force as she could muster pulling it off its hinge and launched it in the path of the hand made of mystery meat to stop her from grabbing her brother. "Get her, Danny!"

Danny’s eyes went wide as he watched Dom throw the locker at the meat monster. How did she do that?

Danny was impressed, but it barely slowed her down.and hurled it into the ceiling tiles.

Danny ducked under another swing and punched the creature square in what looked like its stomach. His fist phased through, hitting nothing but cold air and slime.

“Right,” he muttered, shaking it off. “Punching the ghost made of meat. Brilliant move.”

The chaos from the fight bled out into the hallway. Echoing with every crash and shout. Food and cafeteria utensils were flying.

Before he could continue, the doors slammed open and Sam and Tucker stumbled in. Tucker was drooling hungrily at the sight of all the meat. “Is that… bacon?” he whispered.

Sam groaned, elbowing him. “Focus, Tucker!”

Danny whirled on them, panicked. “Guys! You shouldn’t be here!”

Tucker ducked behind a trash can as a flying tray narrowly missed his head. “Are you kidding? This is a tragedy! She’s wasting perfectly good meat!”

The Lunch Lady ghost stopped mid-lunge. Slowly, her flaming green eyes fixed on Tucker.

“What… did you say?”

Danny’s heart dropped. “Tucker, shut up-“

But Tucker was on a roll. “I’m just saying, Sam’s ‘plant-based revolution’ ruined lunch for everyone, and now….”

The ghost’s roar drowned him out, echoing through the hall. “Who changed my menu?!”

Her gaze snapped to Sam, whose expression went from annoyed to oh no in a heartbeat.

Danny barely had time to yell “Sam, look out!” before a tentacle of glowing meat shot out, wrapping around him and yanking him into the air.

Sam was somehow both annoyed, and terrified. “Are you kidding me? You try to save a few animals, and this is what happens.”

Dom flew into the air to try and save Sam from being devoured by a meat monster, but was knocked aside into one of the lockers. Before she could recover the monster turned into a stream of meat and carried Sam off with her. For a pile of meat she was pretty fast. She stood up, feeling pain in her back. "Great. Even as a ghost I can get back pain." But that wasn't as important as what Sam was currently going through.

Dom turned to Danny and Tucker. "Come on, you two! We have to go after them!" It was at this moment that she wished she had the Fenton Finder with her. Even if it might've tracked her and Danny it could've still tracked the lunch lady down to wherever she went. Tracking... That was it! She remembered this quirk that Tucker had where he had a nose for meat, almost like a bloodhound. She wondered...

"Hey, Tucker. Do you think you could track down the meat with your nose?" She asked.

"Can I track down the meat with my nose?" Tucker asked, offended at the question. "That's like asking if I could breathe. Of course I can." He sniffed the air to follow the scent left behind by the lunch lady's meat form and got a lock on it. "Got it. Follow me!"

Tucker skidded to a stop outside the teacher’s lounge, nose twitching like he was experiencing some kind of spiritual awakening. “So… the rumors were true,” he said, awestruck. “They’re eating better than we are.”

Danny didn’t wait. He phased through the door, sticking only his head inside to scout it out. His eyes widened.

The room looked like the aftermath of a food tornado. Floating slabs of meat, smoke rising from half-possessed crockpots, and right in the middle… Sam. Strung up like a piñata by links of glowing, writhing sausage.

Danny whispered, “Oh no…”

The Lunch Lady ghost whirled around, her voice booming: “How dare you change the menu! Lunch is sacred. It has rules!”

Then, just as fast, her face softened into something grandmotherly. “Would you like some cake?” she asked sweetly.

Sam stared at her, blinking slowly. “…Um… sure?”

Her face snapped back to rage-mode instantly. “Well TOO BAD! CHILDREN WHO CHANGE MY MENU DON’T GET DESSERT!”

She hurled a rolling pin past Sam’s head, narrowly missing him. Sam flinched. “Of course… I should’ve seen that coming!”

Danny’s head popped fully back into the hallway. “She’s got him totally wrapped up! And she’s—uh—having a cake mood swing!”

Tucker peered in behind him. “Is… is that a full brisket fountain?”

“Focus, Tucker!” Danny exhaled slowly. “Okay,” he whispered. “We’re gonna end this before it gets even more out of hand than it already has.”

Dom began formulating a plan while Danny was doing recon in the Teacher's Lounge. She could move things with her mind just like the Lunch Lady was doing with the meat. It wasn't like Dom was restricted to only being able to move locker doors. If she were that would be really lame. She believed she could control the meat as well. She just hoped her pull would be stronger than the Lunch Lady's.

When Danny came back out Dom turned to him and nodded in agreement. "I have a plan. I'll distract her while you two save Sam."

Dom phased through the door and yelled to get the Lunch Lady's attention. "You want your meat!? Come and get it!" She focused on the floating slabs of meat and pulled them towards her. "It's working!" She thought to herself as she flew towards the window in the lounge and opened it so the meat could escape with her.

The Lunch Lady tried to pull the meat back to her causing a tug-of-war of their wills. Dom strained to keep her grip on the meat and was able to securely pull the meat out of the window with her.

This made the Lunch Lady to be furious. "That's my meat! You get back here you ghost brat!!!" She dropped the meat she was using as body armor to fly and phase through the wall after Dom.