*bad pun here*

"What are you losers doing in here, this is our hiding spot."

"Noone owns hiding spots!" Sam snapped back before turning her gaze back to the door to back away cautiously. They watched them both in uncertainty for a second before someone spoke.

"Did you lead the fucking ghost to us!?" One of the football players exclaimed. Half of the group held their breath at the sudden anticipation while the others glared daggers at the pair.

"Tucker, message him." Sam muttered through her teeth.

"But I thought-"

"Just do it."

Without another word Tucker pulled out his phone, immediately bumping into a desk as they were still backing up. He almost fell into the front of the huddle, three people trying to shove him away again.

Just as Dash finally regained enough composure to speak without giving away his nerves, the door burst open. Despite their ability to pass through anything, many of the ghosts seemed to like a dramatic entrance. A female spirit dressed like a teacher they'd never seen before marched inside smiling widely.

"Are the little kiddies playing hide and seek? How cute." She hummed, her smile growing brighter but eerily more threatening. "But it's time to come back to learning now."

She held up a hand and a mess of green string shot out towards them in an instant, breaking the quiet with a chorus of gasps and screams as everyone cowered. After most of them realised they weren't hurt, they slowly peeked up again to see that Star was now gripped tightly by the rope, pulled back towards the woman who gripped the other end tightly. Star was squirming as much as it'd let her, breathing frantically.

"Get away from my bestie!" Paulina shouted, barely thinking and grabbing the closest item to her.

"Hey what are you-"

She lobbed the phone as fast as she could at the ghost, not really knowing or caring if it hit. She just felt like she had to do something in the moment.

"Argh!"

Star yelped as the ropes dissipated and she was dropped to the ground. She looked back at Paulina, who was just staring at her.

"How did that-"

"Who cares why it worked, let's go!" Sam shouted, seeming to snap everyone back to reality. She and Tucker didn't hesitate to head for the exit behind the ghost, who was now hunched over with a hand over its eye. Star did the same, first grabbing Paulina's wrist, who was basically running on all adrenaline no thoughts right now.

Everyone in the classroom followed, people dragging along anyone who seemed too frozen in place. Tucker went to grab his phone as they passed, Sam reprimanding him and yanking him back to his feet so they could keep moving. As the first few reached the door, a low growl echoed from behind them. Everyone got faster.

The door was too much of a chokepoint, and a few of the back were captured. Their sacrifice did however give everyone else the time, as rather than chase the escapees, she dragged her prey down the hall in the other direction, likely to wherever she had taken everyone else.

The new group made it all the way to the bend in the corridor where the main entrance would come into view. When they got there however, they were met with what appeared to be life sized ghostly wooden puppets, hung by green strings that faded into nothing in the air. A couple noticed them there and began hobbling towards them like zombies.

"Oh what the hell!" Dash exclaimed, turning around to run back.

"Wait!" Sam took charge again. Despite her 'loser' social status she could be quite authoritative when she wanted to be. "She's back that way remember! And don't you think the other exits will be guarded too?"

"How are we meant to get to it through them!" He gestured to the hoard that they were now having to gradually back away from.

"Tucker, you haven't changed your phone since Technus last infected it right?"

"No, why?"

"It's contaminated. I think that's why it hurt the ghost despite being a normal object."

"There's no way no matter what happened to it that that thing hurt it that much!" Someone else interjected.

"It did hit it in the eye." Tucker pointed out.

"Then let's test it." Sam decided, speaking over him and yanking his phone.

The device smacked a puppet in the head, and the thing promptly stubbled backwards onto the floor, as if it had been hit with something far heavier. Tucker's phone fell and cracked beside it.

"Not again..." Tucker complained quietly, "But hey, it works!"

"Pretty well too." Sam observed proudly. "Does anyone have anything that a ghost has interacted with. Anything more substantial than just holding it might work."

"Yeah I might do."

After a moment of no one moving, a few people made muttered responses and notes to self.

"Well there's that-"

"Now that you mention it…"

"Maybe."

"Well let's split into teams based on where your lockers are and go get your stuff, whatever it is." Sam explained

Dash inhaled as if he was about to object to following orders from her, but ultimately decided against it.

After sectioning people oft as best she could, she and Tucker set off quickly, seperating from the pack despite some of them heading in the same direction.

"Aren't we just use the weapons in our lockers?" He asked now he actually had the chance.

"We are doing. I don't want to deal with those idiots deciding that they also deserve ecto weapons just because we have some."

"Oh, good point."

Before they even got close, they found themselves abruptly stopped in place, bound in green strings.

"Now kiddos," a silky voice called from behind them, "What's the rules about running in the halls."

"Shit."

~~~

Danny took the spare thermos from Tucker and inspected it in disbelief.

"Let me get this straight. You guys got captured, so a bunch of regular teenagers broke everyone free using… a pair of trainers, a makeup kit, a regular thermos, a ruler, the torn off door of a locker, four mobile phones, and about twenty boxes?"

Sam and Tucker glanced at one another before Sam shrugged, smiling reluctantly.

"I don't really believe it either, but yeah. Other than the actual capturing part they did most of the work."

Danny chuckled "I guess everything can be a weapon if you use it wrong enough… maybe keep your actual weapons nearby next time though."

"Hey, it's not like we can just take them to class with us." Tucker retorted, "Unlike you, our weapons aren't our hands."

"But your weapons are regular objects now apparently." Danny noted, still amused by that. He was about to ask if they had any more details on it before Sam interjected.

"Speaking of, can you like leave my boots in the ghost zone for a day or something? I'd really enjoy getting to dropkick a ghost for once."

"As much as I'd love to see that, I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"Damn."

~~~