It was far from the first time Danny had gotten stuck in a ghost trap. It was, however, his first time getting caught in one set by Valerie. It was definitely not one of his parents', since they weren't exactly subtle when it came to making sure everyone knew what belonged to them. Actually, he was pretty sure this was the first time she'd even used ghost traps, preferring to be more of a chase-you-down-then-shoot-you-in-the-face kinda gal. He had to hand it to her, he did not see this one coming. However, he would be knocking off points for creativity, because, well, everybody used nets.
Welp. This was fun, but he should go now, before Valerie did catch up and shoot him in the face. Luckily for him, most ghost traps weren't meant for humans, which meant he had an easy out. He tugged on his core, and let the white rings wash over him.
...And nothing happened. He was still Phantom. Shit. Valerie would show up any minute now, and he really didn't want to deal with her right now. He had already established that his powers didn't affect the net, and now without his human advantage, he had two options: he could try to talk his way out of this, or he could play along with whatever she wanted this time. He tried transforming again, but to no avail.
Why the hell wasn't it working?
He heard Valerie's voice, yelling about "You can't have gotten far off, Phantom! You can't get rid of me that easy!" She was definitely not as far behind as he had thought. Great. The telltale hum of her hoverboard grew louder, and he saw her come down from above the alleyway.
"Yeah, yeah. I ruined your life, you're never gonna stop hunting me until I'm dead, yadda yadda. Can we get this over with? What do you want this time? Gonna gloat about finally catching me? Blast me into oblivion?"
"Actually, Phantom, Vlad gave me special equipment designed for you specifically." Ah. That explains not being able to switch back. "He wants me to take you to him." She glared at him as he opened his mouth to object. "I don't plan on it. But , I want answers."
He sighed. "Alright. Answers. What answers? What did I do this time?"
"Remember last week, when we rescued your cousin?" He nodded. "Well, I have quite a few questions. And if you don't answer them, I'll drop you right off at Vlad's doorstep."
He sighed again. He wasn't going to get out of this, was he.
