A/N: I got only one thing to say. I got my inspiration back.
Anyways, I would like to give thanks to the people who have reviewed for my story.
So, thank you: animegurl088, The 13th Unlucky Jinx, RegiGod, Bunny Bubble, Sillvog, Kyuugi, hikarisailorcat, A Fool With Hot Chocolate, yami4eva91, Wapecilove, Dream's Abyss, RavenGhost, Evilwings, holyfanfictionbatman, and broken0dream.
I thank you for waiting for the next installment of Just Like the Story.
Just Like the Story
Chapter 2: Lack of Thereof
In the basement of Tucker's house...
Sam and Tucker glanced at their best friend out of the corner of their eyes. The white haired teen had been strangely silent, and they were starting to worry. After the incident at school, Phantom had been constantly in thought and somewhat depressed. His usual neon and bright green eyes had dulled and there were bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. (Unknown to most people, ghosts do require at least 3-4 hours of sleep to recover their energy.)
Sam sighed and turned the TV off with a click from the remote control. Phantom didn't seem to notice that the fight scenes his eyes were glued to had disappeared into the black void.
Sam felt her eye twitch. Tucker quickly took the remote from Sam before she could crush the electronic, and threw it square at Phantom's head.
"Ow!" He seemed to finally be back on Earth now. "Tucker! What was that for!?"
"That," Tucker said, "Was to wake you up."
"Are you okay, Phantom?" Sam asked, frowning.
"Yeah, man. You seemed out of it… like some kind of zombie!"
Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Zombie?"
"Dude, you didn't blink. And you look like you haven't slept for days!" Tucker said.
Phantom sighed and rubbed his temples. "Two days to be exact."
Sam took a sip from her now cooled hot chocolate. "What's bothering you Phantom?"
The ghost gave a grin. Sam and Tucker could see it didn't reach his eyes though. "Nothing's wrong, just tired is all."
Sam rolled her eyes and Tucker shook his head.
"Phantom, we know something's up, so save me a migraine and spill." Sam glared at him to make her point.
"It's something about the whole fiasco two days ago, isn't it?" Tucker asked quietly. The dark skinned boy's hand unconsciously drifted to his bandaged arm.
Phantom sighed. As much as it made him feel happy that the two worried for him, he hated the fact they could read him like a book. He thought for sure he looked normal today.
"Guys, I'm just frustrated." Phantom confessed sourly, looking away. "I should have been there to help everyone."
Tucker laid a hand on Phantom's shoulder. "Dude, you couldn't have known. You can't tell the future or anything."
Phantom glanced at Tucker with a self loathing look. "But I could have stopped them!"
"No, you couldn't have." Sam said. "It was totally unexpected."
"But I should have been there! I could've-!"
Phantom jumped when Sam suddenly slammed her hand onto the coffee table. The tremor made ripples in the three hot chocolate mugs. "Don't go blaming every bad thing that's happened on yourself, Phantom!"
"Yeah, man. Besides, you didn't really think we humans couldn't take a little abuse now, did you?" Tucker said proudly, thrusting his bandaged arm out like it was a badge. "It would take a lot more than just three-"
"Four. Johnny had his shadow with him, remember?" Sam interjected, counting her fingers along.
"Four, ghosts to take us down." The African American boy continued.
Phantom stared at the two before grinning. "Thanks guys."
"No prob, Phantom, but if you ever get depressed, just think of this." He held out his PDA to the ghost's face and showed him a picture he had been saving for some time now.
"Wha- Oh my god." Green eyes widened and Phantom stifled the laughter bubbling in his body.
Tucker gave a smile that rivaled the Cheshire cat. "Oh, yeah." He was about to tell him about the photo's history when suddenly the, what Tucker and Phantom both dubbed, 'Aura of Impending Doom™' descended around the entire basement. The both paled though, (Phantom was a color that could be labeled transparent) when a low voice spoke behind the huddled pair.
"What is on your PDA, Tucker?"
Even though the voice was low and quiet, the absolute silence in the room seemed to only maximize its volume. Phantom and Tucker could practically feel a sort of cold and purely menacing force rolling off of Sam. Phantom vaguely wondered how human Goths seemed to do what ghosts never could; freak the living hell outta people without screaming at the top of their lungs.
Tucker could almost picture little red devil ears pop out of Sam's hair.
'Sam's scary when she's mad!' Tucker quickly pushed his prized piece of electronic into his pocket and put his hands up in defense."Uh, nothing, Sam. Hehehe… why do you ask?"
Beside him, Phantom sighed and shook his head at the lame and incredibly weak excuse. He pitied the poor guy who was unfortunately facing the wrath of the she-devil.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Tucker Foley. You're hiding something that either: a) needs to be burned in the lowest level of hell, b) angers me that is enough for you to never again see a piece of technology ever. Again, or c) something so horrible that I would be forced to beat the living crap out of you and sell a photo of the aftermath of it on eBay."
Phantom could've sworn he heard Tucker's thoughts screaming, 'OH DEAR LORD, NO!'.
Tucker gulped visibly, a bead of sweat dripped down his head. "Um, uh…"
With Tucker temporarily mentally down, Sam grabbed his PDA from his pocket with a precision of a snake and glanced at its screen. It was the exact moment that Sam's eyes widened, when
Tucker gained back the ability to speak and think of a proper excuse.
"Well, you see Sam, I got lost on the road of life and took a few-"
"Tucker…"
"Dude, how could you have gotten lost on the 'road of life'?" Phantom asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.
Sam's eye twitched and she drew a deep breath.
"I heard it in a manga, but hey, it could happen." Tucker said, shrugging his shoulders.
"But there's only one way." Phantom pointed out.
Tucker blinked. "Oh, I guess-"
"TUCKER! FOLEY!"
Tucker jumped and sweated at the sight of Sam looking obviously pissed and... was that embarrassment? He gulped. "Y-yes?"
"...Where did you get this photo?" Sam's hand clenched tightly around the PDA.
Tucker didn't say anything, but stare at her with his mouth open.
Sam's glare never wavered. "Answer me or your precious PDA gets it."
Now that response really got to him because the second she finished saying that, he immediately leapt off the leather chair with a somewhat crazed look in his eyes. "NO! I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK! BUT PLEASE, SPARE PAULINA!!!!"
Phantom whipped his head towards Tucker, his eyes wide with shock and alarm. "You named it-"
"PAULINA??!!" Sam screeched. "YOU NAMED YOUR PDA AFTER THAT SHALLOW WITCH?"
Unknown to the two arguing, Phantom was slowly inching away from them. He did not want to get involved, especially since he knew where this conversation was going to go. Yet, he couldn't help but shudder at mere name of her.
"Hey! Paulina isn't a witch!" Tucker defended. "She's just misunderstood! I'm sure that if I can take her out on a date sometime to Nasty Burger, we'll definetly connect!"
"Oh, and what makes you think she'll want to got to Nasty Burger if you ever do get a date, huh?" Sam retorted, throwing her hands up to empathize. "She'll just demand to go to some fancy restaurant than eat that poisoned rubber in Nasty Burger!"
"WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST MEAT!?" Tucker screamed back.
And there they go again.
Tired of watching the two ping-pong retorts, Phantom rubbed his temple. He could already feel a headache coming on. Sparing them a last glance, the prince of ghosts fazed through the walls and into the night's cool air. Phantom sighed and flew his way towards the park. It had always been a good place for him to think…
An owl blinked owlishly as the white haired prince landed silently in front of the park entrance.
…especially about Sam and Tucker's 'savior' he'd overheard Desiree and Ember report the night before.
In an apartment complex at the edge of town…
The door bell rang, causing the 16 year old girl to jump at the sudden sound.
"Valerie! Can you get the door!?" Called a voice from down in the basement.
Valerie put down the ecto-gun on the couch and stood up, wincing at the crack heard from her neck. "'Kay dad!" Valerie opened the door, expecting her science partner there. The boy had been egging her on on their science project for some time now. "Look, Foley, it's your turn to- Danny?"
Valerie blinked at the unexpected surprise before she immediately pulled the thin boy in. "What's wrong? Do you need help? Are you hurt?" She eyed his body for any possible injury. Her brown eyes drew her to the blood soaked sleeve of his white shirt.
Danny was pushed onto the couch with an 'oof!' and watched blinkingly as his close friend examined and prodded his arm. "Um, hi Val."
"You're hurt!" Valerie frowned, examining the wound and got out a first aid kit. "What did you get yourself into?" The long haired girl ignored the 'hey!' when she ripped his shirt sleeve and cleaned it with an alcohol pad. The cut looked deep and the sheer amount of blood made her slightly dizzy.
Danny rubbed his bandaged arm after she treated him and smiled gratefully. "Ah, thanks, Val."
"No problem." Valerie said, sitting beside him and kicking the kit under the couch. "So…" She narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"
"Huh? Oh, just a gho-"
"Ah hah! So it was a ghost!" Valerie confirmed jumping up and held her ecto-gun. "Who was it?! I'll tear them apart molecule by molecule until-!"
"Calm down, Val! It's just a scratch!" Danny insisted. No matter how much he appreciated it, Valerie always was strangely over protective over him, even on a scary level.
"'Just a scratch?' 'Just a SCRATCH!?' You could've died from the blood loss!" Valerie argued angrily with hands on her hips.
Yes, just like that.
Danny smiled reassuringly. "Val, you know I can't die from something like that, since I technically already am." He joked.
Valerie sighed as Danny grinned lopsidedly and dropped back down on the couch. "Jeez, you gotta take care of yourself anyways, Danny. Normal people would've been unconscious by now."
"I'll keep that in mind." Danny said.
"So, what brings you here?" Valerie asked after a pregnant pause. Don't get her wrong, she did enjoy being around her friend, but for the skinny teen to go all the way here meant something was definetly up. "Is it Lad? He causing' you any trouble?"
"The old fruit loop's always doing that." Danny said sourly.
"When has he not? All his schemes are enough to turn our lives into a soap opera." Valerie grumbled, polishing her ecto-gun with a rag.
Danny sighed. "…He's up to something." The teen said grimly with his hands intertwined under his nose. Valerie glanced at him questioningly. "I think he was involved with the incident at school two days prior."
Valerie looked at him in alarm. "How is that possible? He was in a meeting in Wisconsin at the time."
Danny looked away out the window. It was a full moon in the clear and starry sky. "I don't know… but I think he's the one who sent Skulker and the other ghosts to school." Here, Danny sighed tiredly. "I just don't know why."
Valerie grinned suddenly despite the troubling news. "Who knows what goes in his head? The only ones who probably do are his ghost vultures."
"…He really needs a cat." Two voices said in unison.
Danny and Valerie looked at each other before breaking out in laughter.
Danny looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It pointed half past nine. "It's time about time for rounds. Wanna come?"
Valerie saw the shy and slightly pleading expression in Danny's baby blue eyes and couldn't help but grin at the endearing sight. Danny looked far too innocent to be such a deadly ghost hunter like he really was. (She had his stats on her laptop to prove it.)
"Sure, why not?"
In a parking lot not too far away...
"BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST!" The ghost screamed what Danny thought was threateningly. "FEAR MY CUBIC MINIONS OF DOOM!" The Box ghost wiggled his fingers to emphasize the word, 'doom'.
Danny's hand gave off an eerie green glow and he blasted the ghost into a tree. "I thought you said this was a level four ghost!"
Valerie prodded none too gently on the ghost detector around her wrist. "Damn. Stupid thing must be broken." The girl, clad in her red jumpsuit, blasted the box obsessed ghost to Danny who captured him into the Fenton Thermos.
"Finally, some peace and quiet." Danny muttered as he screwed the cap tightly.
"YOU CANNOT SILENCE THE BOX GHOST!" The Box Ghost cried from inside the thermos. "BEWARE!"
Danny sighed and ran a hand through his white streaked hair. "Jeez, it's the fifth time he's escaped the Storage Room this week. (1)
Valerie grunted. "That ghost's just asking for his butt whooped."
Danny agreed. He was about to say something when Valerie's ghost detector went off.
"Level 8 ghost detected. Repeat, Level 8 ghost detected. Location; straight ahead." It said in a cool monotone voice. "You'd have to be some kind of idiot to not know that there's a Level 8 ghost straight ahead."
"Level 8?" The Red Huntress mumbled looking straight ahead like the detector said. "I don't see a-"
"AH!" Danny fell to the concrete with an 'oof!' and looked up, only to find a pair of dark green eyes staring at him.
"Danny!" Valerie immediately turned around and aimed her bazooka at the green ghost on his chest who was… licking him?
"Cujo!" The dog barked happily and slobbered Danny's face, his tail wagging all the while. "I missed you too, boy!" Danny laughed, picking the hyper puppy in his arms.
Valerie lowered her weapon and rubbed the dog behind the ears. "Hey, Cujo. Man, I haven't seen him in weeks."
Danny petted the ghost dog. "I wonder where he disappeared to."
Valerie shrugged and glanced at her watched. "Yikes, it's pretty late. I told Dad I'd be home before 11." She jumped onto her glider. "See you at school tomorrow!" And with that, she took off towards the direction of her apartment.
Danny waved and he too flew home with the pup still in his arms. (The little guy would follow him anyways.)
When the sight of a majestic looking mansion came into view, Danny phased through the roof and landed tiredly onto his bed. Slowly, his hair lost its white streaks and if one could see behind his closed eye lids, the green outlining his irises had vanished.
Five minutes later, Danny was sleeping peacefully with Cujo curled on his chest.
Tbc.
(1) The Storage Room is a place where a ghost goes after been sucked into the Fenton Thermos and inserted back into the ghost zone.
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