Ask and ye shall receive! A new chapter for you all! I know this is coming along slowly but 'slow and steady wins the race'!

Enjoy!

Chapter Six

Written Warning

"I can't believe that Cujo ate all of this crap!" Tucker exclaimed. "We don't even have fine china in our collection!"

"At least you got your Hawaiian license plate back," said Danny, holding up a rusty license plate.

"I don't want it anymore," Tucker deadpanned.

Danny chuckled as he tossed the license plate aside. Cujo had eaten a lot of garbage in the ocean for the past few weeks and now it was coming back to haunt him. Danny and Tucker just finished fixing that.

"I can see why Mom and Dad didn't want to get me a shark when I was a guppy," Danny realized. "I forgot that sharks were the ocean's garbage disposals."

"And sooner or later, they get backed up," Tucker added as he observed the small pile of junk that was once in the shark's stomach.

Danny looked through the small pile for anything salvageable and came across an old soup thermos. "This looks like something Mom and Dad could use," he observed.

"A thermos?" Tucker asked. "We can't eat soup down here. It would float all over the place and the minnows would be everywhere."

"Maybe they can use it for one of their inventions," Danny suggested.

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Why do they call it a thermos anyway? Sounds like it's short for thermostat."

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I didn't come up with the name."

Tucker then decided to change the subject. "So, what are you going to get Sam for your anniversary?" he inquired. "A human engagement ring?"

Danny turned bright red. "No! At least…not right now. I…I still think it's too soon to tell."

"You're gonna have to ask her sometime," Tucker sang.

"I know, Tuck. I just don't want school or any threat to get in the way," Danny replied.

"Dude, school is the least of your problems. And besides, you kicked Vlad's butt with your true nature and you're still together with Sam," Tucker said to his best friend. "You guys can handle anything."

At the mentioning of what happened a few months ago, Danny's fin-ears drooped. "Weren't you guys…scared of me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Scared of you? No," Tucker replied. "Scared for you? Yes." The look Danny gave Tucker showed that he was doubtful. "Okay, I was scared – A LITTLE – at first but I was mainly scared that you would…you know…do the unthinkable."

Danny smiled a little at Tucker's honesty. The Cecaelia was never a good liar when it came to saying things like this.

~0~0~0~

Valerie was doing her rounds on campus as part of her part time job with working security. It wasn't her favorite part of the job, but it was better than doing the paperwork in the security office, something Professor Bickles seemed to prefer over going out on patrol.

Valerie walked past a bulletin board and saw a flyer that was promoting a beach party of some kind. On closer inspection, it was actually a promotion for 'mermaid watching' hosted by none other than Paulina Sanchez. Of course knowing Paulina, it'd probably turn into something that would rival whatever went on in the Playboy mansion. To play it safe, Valerie ripped the flyer off the bulletin board and pocketed it. 'I bet everyone is going to go. Paulina has enough charisma to start her own cult.'

~0~0~0~

Sam tried focusing on her homework but her conversation with Danny in the cave kept bugging her. She gave up and felt her room. She walked down the hall until she reached Charles Doyle's room.

For years, Sam had considered Mr. Doyle a good friend. His messy black hair and matching goatee went well with his pale skin. The glasses he wore that hid his green eyes and his scarf that he got from his half-brother Randy gave the impression that Charles was sickly and frail but it was quite the opposite. Like Clockwork, Charles Doyle was also a merman who gained legs permanently prior to the beginning of World War II (he started roaming the surface at the beginning of the Elizabethan Era).

Sam knocked on Charles' door. The merman answered moments later.

"Miss Manson, what are you doing here?" he inquired.

"I need your advice," said Sam.

"Of course. Come on in." Doyle opened the door wider and let Sam in. Doyle's room was, in a way, a complete mess. It was nothing like the hoarder living across the street. The room was filled with mountains of books going up to the ceiling. The place, unlike the clock shop that smelled like dead fish, smelled like musty old books.

"Are you planning on cleaning out your apartment anytime soon?" Sam asked as she looked at her friend's room. "Including what you have at the Skulk and Lurk you probably have more books than the Library of Congress."

"Some of these books are mine while others are going to be sold at the Skulk and Lurk," Doyle explained.

"So which is which?"

"That's for me to decide," Doyle replied. He went to a mini refrigerator and got out a can of soda. "Would you like a soda? Normally I'd offer a beer but I'm fresh out."

"I'll take one, thanks," Sam answered. Doyle tossed her a can and sat down across from her.

"So," Doyle started, "what do you want to talk to me about?"

Sam opened her can and took a sip. "It's about Danny," she said.

Doyle lifted an eyebrow. "The Phantom? What's he done now?"

"He hasn't done anything wrong," Sam replied. Doyle already knew about what happened in the spring and decided to keep a tight lip about it from the Observants.

"So what seems to be the problem?" asked Doyle.

Sam took another sip from her can before answering. "Danny is still upset about what happened in the spring. He's afraid that…it will happen again."

Doyle sighed before taking a sip from his can of soda. "I can see why he's nervous. No Phantom has ever had a mate in all of recorded history. They've courted, but never mated." He turned to face a corner of the room and, with a crook of a finger, a book floated into his arms. He opened it until he found the passage he was looking for. "48 BC: the Phantom intended to propose to Cleopatra but turned him down in favor of Julius Caesar." He then turned several pages. "1526: the Phantom tried to court Anne Boleyn but Henry the Eighth bought her heart through jewelry. I warned the Phantom that the king gets everything he wants but he didn't listen to me."

Sam was dumbfounded. "I can see why Danny seems so nervous. Everyone who meets the Phantom leaves him with a broken heart."

Doyle then closed the book. "And this just covers five hundred years. The second volume covers the 1600s to the present."

"None of the past Phantoms have ever had a mate?" Sam asked for clarity.

"None that we know of. Look what happened to those who broke the Phantom's heart. Tragedy follows. Danny is probably worried that you'll suffer the same fate," Doyle suggested.

"I would never leave Danny!" Sam exclaimed. "If this is what he's worried about then he's wasting his time!"

"And why do you say that?" Doyle asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Because I love him!" Sam proclaimed. "I was just as lonely as he was before we met. If I left him now then he'll be as lonely as before he met me and vice versa."

Doyle lifted an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason?" he asked.

"No," Sam answered. "He made me what I am today. I care about the environment after I found him on that beach twelve years ago. He cares about me and I care so much about him. I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Doyle smiled. "And that is why we know you're perfect for him. You've put your life on the line to protect him more then once. And he's kept you safe from the dangers of the sea. You're perfect for each other."

Sam smiled at that. "Think you can convince Danny? Without trapping him in a poem?"

Doyle pouted. "You just took the fun out of it."

Sam smirked. "I know about what you did to him when he was fourteen."

Doyle smirked back. "It worked, didn't it?"

~0~0~0~

"This guy is totally nuts," Daniel noted to Tucker as they watched Silence of the Lambs later that evening.

"Yet at the same time, he's totally brilliant," Tucker added. "I don't know whether to root for him or not."

Both blanched at the next scene.

"I'm not rooting for him," Tucker croaked as he covered his eyes. "He's more crazy than brilliant."

"How is he able to do that much damage in a short amount of time?" Daniel asked his best friend. Both boys were now looking a little green around the gills (no pun intended).

Dick Tock came into the living room holding an envelope with no return address. "You two have mail," he said.

Daniel paused the movie and he and Tucker released a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Dick," said Daniel. "We really needed to take a breather."

"Now we can distract ourselves while the adrenalin wears off," Tucker added.

Dick gave Daniel the envelope. "This came for you while you two were out today," said Dick.

"Aren't you going to tell us what it says?" asked Tucker.

"Now why would I tell you that?" asked Dick.

"You're the Master of Time. Save us the trouble and tell us."

Dick gave Tucker a deadpanned look. "I respect your privacy by not saying anything about what you get in the mail because I already know what you get. I'm not about to tell you now."

"He's not going to tell us, Tuck," Daniel told his friend. He opened the envelope and took out a letter that had only one sentence written:

Atlantis will know about the Phantom.

The color that slowly returned to the boys' drained from their faces again as they read the note.

"Looks like you're going to have to keep your guard up," said Dick.

"How could Atlantis know about what happened?" asked Tucker. "I haven't even said anything about it and you guys know I have a big mouth."

"And that's saying a lot," Dick muttered.

Daniel was having a hard time from not panicking. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate. He knew Tucker hadn't said anything to anyone about what happened. He trusted Clockwork not to say anything (Clockwork hated the Observants). Charles Doyle swore on his store that he would never say a word about it. Jazz wanted to be a shrink so she knew when to keep her mouth shut. Maddie and Jack were very protective of him so they were ruled out. Danny certainly knew Valerie and Sam hadn't said a word since they weren't merfolk. He was also sure Sidney Poindexter hadn't said anything about Danny despite their history (they recently buried the hatchet and became unlikely friends).

"This is not good," said Tucker. "Who could have sent this?"

"Take a good guess," said Daniel as soon as he pulled himself together. "Vlad obviously sent this. Who else could it be?"

"It could be anyone," Tucker answered optimistically.

"Everyone we know has been sworn to secrecy," said Daniel. "The only other person who knows about it is Vlad."

Dick decided to step in. "I can tell you this much: Vlad did send that letter to you," he confirmed.

"And you couldn't save us the trouble of telling us sooner because?" Tucker asked irritably.

Dick gave the dark skinned boy a deadpanned look. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not allowed to say anything regarding the future?"

"You've done it before," Daniel argued, knowing that Dick had given them warnings before.

"The first time was unimportant and it was to humor myself," Dick explained. "The second time was to give you a warning. Both those times did not interfere with the time stream."

Tucker then turned to Daniel. "What should we do, man? Should we tell Sam and Val?"

"We have to," Daniel replied. "They're just as involved as you are."

Happy Independence Day, y'all! USA! USA! USA!

I thought there aught to be a little history to show Sam just how unlucky the past Phantoms are when it came to matters of the heart.

Okay, I'm trying to find a new song to add in but the only one that comes to mind is from a video game (which will remain unnamed) my sister plays. Problem is I can't find a good moment to put it in! Aaauuggghhhh! So frustrating!