Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Spicy Ramen

...

"Wait, why's the screen black? Dang it, Sam! You broke my phone's camera!"

"No, I didn't, genius. Your finger is just covering the lens."

"Oh... true."

Tucker turned his cell phone horizontally and pressed the record button before handing the device to Sam. She rolled her eyes and positioned the camera so that he was sitting perfectly in the frame. "We're rolling. Go ahead," she told him.

He smiled, stared straight into the camera, and then cleared his throat. "Okay. Hi. I'm Tucker Foley, and—"

"Why are you saying your name?" she cut in. "This video is for your eyes only, you know."

His brows bumped together in a mild scowl. "Sam, right now, you're a cameraman. They aren't supposed to speak. That's unprofessional." She snorted, but said nothing in response. He returned his attention to the camera and straightened his posture. "Anyway, me, Danny, and Sam are about to have a spicy ramen noodle competition."

"You really mean you and Danny. I'm not participating in this nonsense."

"Still being unprofessional, Sam." He then smiled broadly and began rubbing his palms together. "This whole thing was my idea. Danny's busy boiling the noodles downstairs, so whenever he's done fixing up everything, he'll be in here with us."

Sam smirked. "Five bucks says you tap out after the first bite."

"Ten bucks says I don't."

"Deal."

He took back his phone and trained the camera on her, disregarding the glare that crossed her face once he did so. "Wait, I need to get you on camera saying that so you don't try and take it back when you lose. Before you do that, though, state your first and last name."

She screwed up her face and crossed her arms over her chest. "I would honestly rather stick needles in my eyes. Or yours. Either works." When he slightly lowered the phone to frown at her, she sighed in defeat. "I'm Sam. Sam Manson."

"Great. Now, state your deal."

"No. I literally just said it ten seconds ago."

"And? Say it again. This video will serve as official proof."

The door to Tucker's room swung open at that moment, silencing them both. Danny walked in, carrying two bowls of spicy ramen noodles. "Dude," he started, "I leaned in to smell this and the inside of my nose started burning. I'm kind of scared to eat it now."

"Oh, please," Sam scoffed. "You battle deadly, sinister ghosts on the daily whilst simultaneously cracking jokes and taunting them, yet you're scared of spicy noodles?"

"No. I'm scared of extremely spicy noodles."

Tucker's brow raised as he glanced over at his best friend, who sat down beside him on the bed and set the bowls down on the end table. "Hey, Danny, Sam said she has five bucks on me winning."

"That's a lie," she responded, her forehead puckering. "I said I have five bucks on you losing. Actually, make that fifteen. I'm feeling pretty confident in myself."

Danny scratched his head. "Wait, what does the winner get?"

Tucker pressed his forefinger to his lips, his eyes sliding to the top of their sockets thoughtfully. "A popsicle, perhaps?" he suggested. "Wait. How about if I win, you pay for my ticket and two snacks at the movie theater tonight. If you win, you'll receive the same thing."

"Works for me. What do you think, Sam?"

Sam shrugged, snatching the phone away from Tucker and recording both him and Danny. "I like the idea," she agreed. "To make this competition even more difficult, I'll ask you guys some random questions while your tongues are blazing. You know, for personal entertainment purposes."

The corners of Tucker's lips dipped into a frown and he swiveled his head towards Danny. "Wow. She's evil." He then grabbed one of the bowls from the table and gulped nervously, reaching inside to pick up the fork that had been stabbed into the noodles. "I think I'm ready now."

"Ready to lose, I hope," Danny murmured. He copied Tucker, bringing his respective bowl to his lap and picking up his fork. He warily stared down at his dish like it was going to sprout wings and fly up to attack him, and after all the crazy things he had been through in the past, that idea didn't seem too far-fetched.

Sam pushed her hand into her pocket and whipped out her cell phone. "I'm setting a timer. You both have two minutes to finish your noodles. Whoever cracks and drinks something first loses."

"Got it."

She turned Tucker's phone around so that the camera was facing her instead of her two best friends. "Tucker has a cast-iron stomach, so while his insides may be somewhat safe during this competition, the same can't be said for his tastebuds." She reverted the phone to its original position and zoomed in on Danny's face. "Any last words, Danny boy?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Bite me."

"Okay, but I leave a pretty incriminating bite mark." She then turned the phone's camera back onto Tucker and zoomed out. "And what about you, Foley? Any last words?"

He frowned at her and knitted his eyebrows together. "Don't I get a last meal or something?"

"That is your last meal."

Danny smirked at them and held up his fork, waggling it in place. "Let's just go ahead and get this over with, guys. By the way, Tucker, my favorite movie snacks are Skittles and nachos."

"Telling me that was pointless because you're not going to win, good buddy." Tucker slammed his eyelids shut and inhaled deeply, his shoulders rising simultaneously. "Okay, Sam. I think I'm officially ready. You can start the timer now."

Sam made sure to fit both him and Danny into the frame of the video before hovering her finger over the start button of the timer. "You guys ready?" she asked.

Danny nodded eagerly and dragged his gaze down to his bowl of noodles. "I'm definitely ready. Ready to win. How about you, Tucker?"

"I was born ready."

"Okay, then." Sam paused for a few seconds before grinning and pressing the start button on her phone. "Go."

Both boys dug into their food, with Tucker tentatively sticking a forkful of it into his mouth while Danny merely picked at it like it had been poisoned. He kept pausing a lot, but as soon as he brought the noodles to his lips and bit into it, his eyes shot wide open.

Sam started laughing with mirth afterwards, zooming the camera in on his face to capture his reaction perfectly. "Record scratch. Freeze frame." She instantly began imitating his voice, but he was too distracted by the spiciness of his food to notice at first. "Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation."

He glared weakly at her, but didn't bother retorting because he was too busy stuffing noodles into his mouth. Tucker was doing the same thing, but in addition to that, he was dramatically sucking in deep breaths through his mouth.

"I knew I shouldn't have attempted this as soon as I saw the evil-looking sauce covering the noodles." He sniffed, only because his nose was running, and then continued eating. Sam cracked a smirk and angled the camera so that it was recording both him and Danny again.

"So," she began, "I've decided to cancel the whole 'asking random questions' bit because quite frankly, watching you two suffer like this is much more entertaining to me."

Tucker screwed up his face like he was eating something sour. "Thanks, but you're still evil." His nose continued running, but rather than wipe at his nostrils, he just kept sniffing and eating. The full power of the hot and spicy noodles slammed into his face like a fierce punch, making him halt for a few seconds.

Sam watched with amusement as Danny puckered his lips and vigorously blew on his noodles in a failed attempt at reducing the level of spice. "I don't think it works like that, Danny," she told him. He immediately froze in place after realizing that she was right.

"I think I would rather listen to your random questions while we eat instead of listening to your commentary," he mumbled. He was panting and glaring down at his bowl of food, his lips now painted red and his eyes filled with moisture. "You know, I didn't want to be the first one to admit this, but this is really, really hot."

"You're right, man. This isn't worth fifteen bucks." Tucker cast a glance over at Sam, appearing to give up at first, but then he flung his forefinger towards her and said, "I want to raise the price to thirty dollars because this is pure torture."

Still holding the phone horizontally and in position as she recorded them, she nodded her head and smirked. "Sure," she agreed, "but I suggest you hurry up and eat because time's almost up and Danny looks like he's about to win."

Danny would've grinned at that, but he was too busy trying to wolf down the remainder of his noodles before Tucker caught up to him. "I feel like I'm swallowing lava. How is this even edible?" Despite what Sam told him just seconds prior, he blew on the ramen again and shoveled it into his mouth.

Tucker had tears streaming down his cheeks at this point. He moved his hand to his chest and mentally debated on whether or not he should just accept defeat and forfeit, but he quickly decided against that. He didn't want to give Sam the satisfaction of seeing him lose, so he forced himself to continue.

Danny eventually stopped eating and set his bowl on the table beside the bed. He clutched his stomach and groaned softly, his eyelids sliding shut. "No. Forget that. I quit." He hiccuped and opened his eyes, blinking several times. "I'm sweating and my chest is burning. I need some milk."

Sam frowned and shuffled over to his bowl of noodles, picking it up and training the camera on the inside of it. "Are you sure you want to give up?" she asked him. "You were almost done. Just a few more bites and tears left to go and then you're set for the movies tonight."

That seemed to motivate him, as he nodded and took the bowl from her. "You're right, Sam. I got this." He forked up some of the noodles and popped them into his mouth, chewing hastily. "This is nothing. I've handled much bigger things than this. If I just believe in myself—"

The timer then went off at that exact moment, abruptly interrupting his speech.

"I won! In your face!" Tucker dropped his fork into his bowl and grinned triumphantly. He didn't stay to boast, though, because right after that, he sprinted out of his room and made a beeline for the kitchen. Danny's expression quickly shifted from determination to shock as he lowered his bowl onto his lap.

"I lost? How did I lose?" He gasped for air and fanned his face, which had turned crimson during the competition. "I was eating way more of the noodles than he was! I want a rematch."

Sam snorted. "Oh, please. A rematch will turn you full ghost." Like before, she zoomed in on his face, smiling once he glared into the camera. "So, tell me, what did you learn from this experience? Is it A, that you're an idiot, or B, that you'll never try something like this again?"

"Neither. It's C, that you're deleting that video."

"No can do, ghost boy. You know Tucker only records stuff like this for his memories collection. Besides, it's funny."

"Yeah, to you."

Tucker entered the room half a minute later, gulping down a glass of milk while holding a second one in his other hand. "I know losing sucks, so I brought you some milk as a peace offering," he said to Danny, who rolled his eyes in response. "By the way, I'd like Milk Duds and Life Savers at the movies tonight."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny bitterly accepted defeat, and the drink, but as soon as he raised the glass to his lips, he realized something. "Wait." Both Sam and Tucker paused, looking over at him curiously. "Sam said whoever drinks something first loses, right?"

"Yeah," Tucker confirmed flatly. "So?" It wasn't until Danny stared at the drink in his hand with penetrating eyes and a growing smile that he caught onto what his friend was trying to say. "No. No freaking way."

"I won!" Danny's arms shot into the air and he began cheering vigorously. A distraught expression etched its way onto Tucker's face as he watched the Halfa break out into a happy dance. Sam stepped up to him, camera still rolling and everything.

"Ah. This must really suck for you." Her words carried sympathy, but her tone indicated the contrary. "I'll tell you what. Keep your money. You'll need it for tonight anyway. That, and your reaction compensates for it."

She clapped him twice on the back before moving the camera towards Danny again to record his reaction. Tucker was in shock for a few minutes more, but once he recovered, he shouted, "I want a rematch!"