Here's chapter 7! This was quite a challenge to write, had to improvise most of it, so I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom characters.
Enjoy!
PHANTOM (DP Tarzan)
Chapter 7: Meeting Sam
In the tall bamboo forest, a small pathway had been made. It looked like the foliage had been cut by something, some of them appearing to be smoking like from a laser blast.
Danny looked around, wondering what caused this. Using his sense of smell, he found what looked like footprints...as well as bullet casings. However, Danny had never seen such things before, but it had a weird smell.
Curiously, he picked up one of the bullet casings and sniffed it, and attempted to see if it was edible.
"Bleh!" Danny spat, sticking his tongue out in repugnance. "What the heck is this?! I'm so washing down my mouth after this!"
*BANG!*
He gasped upon hearing that sound again. Tossing the bullet casing away, he flew up a tree, swung on a vine and onto another tree. He looked around for the source of the noise, and his right ear swiveled the moment he heard a voice. It sounded male, and a bit suave like a proper gentleman.
Danny saw trees moving, or rather, someone moving through them. He couldn't really make out whoever it was, but he could see him cutting through the foliage.
'What in the world...?' Danny thought. 'Who or what is that?'
As the figure drew closer, Danny surfed down a tree, and hid behind some bamboo leaves to get a closer look at whoever was approaching.
"That's when I knew I was born for Africa," the figure spoke up as he sliced away more foliage, "and Africa was created for..."
The figure trailed off when he seemed to spot something.
Suddenly... *BANG!*
Danny narrowly avoided getting shot by the figure's Ecto-laser. At that moment, the figure cut down the bamboo trees in one swipe, aimed his gun, yet found nothing.
Danny quietly gasped as he finally got a good look at his face. He was a tall, slender man in his 40's, had midnight blue eyes, gray hair tied up in a pony tail, and he had on a black suit with a white shirt underneath and a red bow tie.
"Vlad!" a voice belonging to a teenage boy cried out. This teenage boy was a 17 year old African American with glasses, wearing a long sleeve yellow shirt, a black belt, green cargo pants and brown boots while wearing a red beret. "Oh, there you are! I finally caught up with you! Geez, man! What with all the laser and gun shooting up in the air? What are you, a terrorist?"
"I thought I saw something," the man, known as Vlad, answered as the teen approached him.
"Oh!" The teen exclaimed. "That all we need right now: crazy beasts waiting to pounce on a techno- geek like me and I'm probably delicious!"
"It's hard to tell, young man" Vlad answered, as the teen looked around, "I couldn't see it through the underbrush."
"If I have known that I would end up in a place like this, I would quit while I was still ahead! I hate the jungle! It's all sticky and full of bugs and creatures who want a bite out of me!" The boy spoke.
"Tucker, be quiet!" Vlad shouted.
"Shutting up!" On that, the teen, Tucker Foley, made a zipping gesture across his lips, gesturing that his lips are sealed.
"Geez, Tucker! If I've known you were going to complain on this trip, I would have brought earmuffs."
Danny's ears perked upon hearing that voice. At that instant, a young girl about his age came pushing her way through the bamboo trees with ease. She had short black hair with a small ponytail at the top of her head held back by a green hair tie and violet eyes. Her clothing consists of a black choker around her neck, a black tank top exposing her midriff with a purple oval in the center, black skirt with a green crosshatch design, purple leggings, and black combat boots. She also has a pair of black bracelets around her wrists.
"Besides, how can you not love the jungle? Fresh air, beautiful scenery, and lots of beautiful creatures living here freely."
"Well, Sam, maybe it's because it's full of bugs, the lack of technology, barely any WI-FI reception, and plus no cheerleaders for the Tuckster! I can't believe you dragged me here." Tucker complained until he zipped his lips again.
"Hey, genius, when you won that free trip to this place by getting that scholarship you wanted, you wanted someone with jungle experience and I'm your gal." The girl, known as Sam, proudly stated.
Danny gasped silently. He had never seen creatures like these before. They almost looked like him...only they didn't have ghostly attributes.
"What's with the zipped lip?" She asked inquired.
"Vlad told me to be quiet, Sam!" whispered Tucker. "Vlad told me not to say a word! He saw something!"
"Uhh...okay," Sam muttered before she went over to Vlad.
Tucker did his best to stay quiet, yet he gave in when he was almost out of breath. "Man, I almost passed out!"
"Mr. Vlad," spoke Sam, "I don't mean to be rude, sir, but we came here to Africa not only because you gave us the trip but also to learn about the ghosts who are living here in groups. I'm afraid that your shooting might be scaring them all away."
"I'm in charge of this trip, so that includes that your safety is my responsibility. I shall protect you, Miss Manson," replied Vlad.
"And trust me, you're doing a marvelous job," Sam assured, "but we only have a limited amount of time before our ship comes back and-"
"Sam!" Tucker cried. "Sam, look! Do you realize what you're standing in?!"
Sam looked down and gasped, for she found footprints of different sizes.
"Ghost footprints!" the techno geek exclaimed.
"Oh, my gosh!" Sam gasped. "You're right!"
"At last!" Vlad exclaimed kneeling down. "Our first sign in days." He soon looked around. "Do you think the specters could be nearby?" he asked.
When he asked this, Danny lowered himself down on a vine behind him in order to get a better observation of the man. Although, the second Vlad felt as if he was being watched, he looked over his shoulder to find no one there. The reason being was that Danny had already flown back up into the trees.
"They could be," Tucker answered, "the evidence is staring us right in the face."
"Oh, Tucker, look!" Sam exclaimed. "Over there! Old hammocks, scratches on trees, and nests!"
"Yes, I see that!" Tucker noted.
"It's just as you predicted!" Sam added.
"Family groups!" the two declared before they hive-fived.
"Oh, Sam, we're practically making history here!" Tucker spoke.
Up in the trees, Danny watched curiously at the humans, while Vlad laughed.
"Family groups?" he repeated. "Uh...pardon me, but these are wild demons that are said to be hateful of humans! They'd sooner reap your soul out than look at you!"
"Oh, please Vlad, the ghosts have better things to do than haunt an innocent soul," Sam countered, "Besides, according to Tucker's info about them is that they're a shy race that really like to be away from society and-"
Vlad, who had a look of disinterest, suddenly became alert when two leaves fell from the sky.
*BANG! BANG!* He fired two shots at the trees; the loud bangs caused Sam and Tucker to duck for cover. Danny, who was hiding above in the trees, panted softly as he had narrowly avoided the gunshots.
"That was too close!" Danny said to himself.
"Dude, what the heck you are doing?!" Tucker questioned in alarm.
Sam nodded in agreement. "What if it's a ghost?!"
"It's not a ghost," Vlad answered, looking around. "At least, not a normal one anyway."
Sam and Tucker looked at each other, confused. Vlad surveyed the area, still on edge.
"Hmm..." he murmured. "Perhaps we should move along."
"I agree," Tucker concurred, "we'll head west, where the tracks lead and please, give the gun a rest!"
"Excellent idea, Mr. Foley," Vlad commented as he and Tucker pressed onward, "I would drop the gun if you like to be a beast's dinner. I don't want that because with your expertise in technology, you're essential to this expedition. It's just so hard to find quality help these days."
They continued onward, with Sam following far behind.
As Sam followed, she curiously looked around until, suddenly, a fruit dropped on her head.
"Ah!" Sam gasped, startled. "What was that?!"
At that point, a small, green ghost puppy known as Cujo scampered down from a tree and took a bite out of the fruit.
"Oh!" Sam exclaimed. "Are you what all the fuss was about?"
Cujo glanced up at her, nonchalantly eating his fruit.
"Tuck!" Sam called out with a whisper. "Tucker, come quick!" She soon opened up her sketchbook. "Hold still, you sweet thing." she told the little one. "I just have to get a sketch of you! You may not be a humanoids ghost, but still it's better than nothing."
From above, Danny swung over to a tree branch on a vine as he glanced down at Sam drawing a sketch of Cujo. 'Wonder what she's doing here?' he thought.
Subsequent to finishing her drawing, Sam looked up to see that the pup had vanished.
"Huh?" she muttered. "Where'd he-" At that instant, Cujo reappeared by her legs, wagging his tail happily. "Oh!" Sam gasped. "There you are!" She showed him the sketch she made. "What do you think?" she asked.
Cujo eyed the drawing with intrigue. Before Sam knew what hit her, the little ghost dog swiped her sketchbook from right out of her hands and ran away!
"Hey!" Sam cried. "Why, you little…! Get back here!"
Cujo just ran ahead playfully, leaving behind a literal paper trail. Sam growled as she chased him.
"This is just perfect," she grumbled, picking up pages from her sketchbook, "I come all the way to Africa to study about ghosts and get my sketchbook snatched by a puppy."
Danny flew down, picked up a sketch that Sam missed, climbed back up, and sat in a tree to get a better look at the drawing. Not too far away, Cujo was ripping out pages from Sam's sketchbook until he found the one with his picture.
"Hey, you!" Sam called. "Give me back my drawing!"
"No!" Cujo barked, nuzzling the sketch, indicating that it's his to keep.
"All right, I'll give you til the count of three," Sam said, then started counting, "1...2..." At that moment, she started pointing in the opposite direction. "Oh, look! A giant bone!"
Cujo happily turned around, and at the very second he did, Sam snatched her drawing right out of his tiny little paws.
"Got it!" she spoke up. "I can't believe you actually fell for that."
Cujo whined and whimpered before he howled into tears.
"Oh, come on. Don't start crying." Sam told him. "What would your parents say?"
*GRAAAWR!*
Sam gasped to see a pack of angry ghost animals, glowering down at her. Most of them are scary versions of wolves, tigers, bears, and all the animals you could think of.
"See what I mean?" she inquired as she nervously backed away.
Cujo then stood in front of the animals and morph into a giant version of himself as he growled at her fiercely.
"Okay, I can see that you're upset, guys," Sam added, still backing away, "But just so you know, the dog started it."
She suddenly tripped over a tree root, causing her to fall down, and the animals all rushed after her!
"AAH!" Sam screamed, scrambling to her feet and running for her life.
The ghostly animals chased her, growling and snarling. Danny, who was up on a tree, witnessed Sam running away. Grabbing a vine, he swung down above the animals and reached his hand out to try and catch the fleeing Goth girl.
Sam, who was still running, saw that she was nearing a cliff. In that moment, taking a literal leap of faith, she jumped. However, she did not fall. Instead, she felt like she was flying.
"Wait, what in the world?!" Sam questioned, looking down at the jungle below her. "How am I flying!?"
She glanced up and saw that she was being carrying by Danny, who looked at her as she uttered an ear-piercing scream.
"OH MY GOSH, WHO ARE YOU?!" she shouted. But before she could get her answer, one of the animals was biting on her foot.
"AAH!" she yelled in alarm. "GET OFF! GET OFF!" She kicked the animal with her other foot until he fell off with her boot as he was still biting on it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Sam screamed as Danny swung off of the vine through a tree's leaves, and up onto the highest point of the tree where the halfa landed and caught the girl in his arms, bridal style. "Put me down! Put me down, right now!" Sam demanded.
As Danny was about to do so, Sam saw the animals charging at them. "I CHANGE MY MIND! PICK ME UP, STRANGER! PICK ME UP!"
Danny quickly lifted the screaming Goth up and jumped down to surf on one of the trees branches, leading to a twisting roller coaster ride. First, Danny slid down a tree branch in the shape of a corkscrew, followed by a loop, and a zigzag as Danny held Sam by her thighs.
"Oh, no!" she cried.
Next, they surfed across a spiral branch, and Sam was screaming the whole time. They slid down a tree branch, and were about to make contact with the other ghost animals.
The Goth girl got behind Danny, accidentally hitting him in the face and chin in the process. Danny, however, summoned his ghost shield, using it to block the beasts in their path.
As the last of the animals were pushed back, Sam realized that there were no animals left. She laughed, thinking that she was in the clear...until one ghost beaver appeared and jumped onto her!
"AAAAHH!" she screamed. "GET OFF ME, YOU ECTO-RODENT!"
As she tried knocking the Mink off, Sam's legs clung to Danny's neck.
"GAH!" he gagged.
Sam was able to get the beaver off of her, although her hand got caught on a vine, pulling her back and off of Danny's neck. Danny looked back to see Sam, dangling on the vine as the animals closed in on her, and all he could was groan in exasperation.
As the animals swarmed Sam, their combined weight snaps the vine, which leads to all of them falling.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Sam screamed. Thankfully, Danny caught the Goth girl by her left foot with his own feet while as the animals held onto her hands.
"Uh-oh." Cujo muttered when he saw an incoming tree branch.
*WHAM!*
Cujo collided with the large branch, along with the rest of the animals, while Danny and Sam continued swinging through the trees.
"WHOOAAA!" the latter cried as she was flung into the air by the former. Danny landed above a hollow tree and held his arms out to catch Sam. However, upon catching her, his legs did an involuntary split. A pained grunt was uttered as the halfa gritted his teeth in agony.
'I'm going to feel that in the morning!' Danny though painfully.
At that point, he looked up and saw the beasts beginning to swarm again. Left with no other way out, they jumped down into the hollow tree. The beasts pursued after them, flooding the inside of the tree. Danny and Sam slid down, away from the Minks, yet the weight of the animals made the hollow tree collapse.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sam screamed as she, Danny, and the animals fell. Above them, the hollow tree broke apart and fell.
Danny grabbed a vine, which burned his hand as he slid down, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. At that instant, the vine acted as a bungee cord and launched both him and Sam onto a tree. Danny looked up and saw that the hollow tree falling towards him and the Goth girl.
Sam yells, "OH, GOD! OH,GOD!"
Danny jumped from branch to branch until he shielded her, just as the hollow tree fell. On the ground, the animals scrambled away in a panic. Thankfully, they weren't injured; even so, they were quite frazzled, nonetheless.
Danny and Sam took a peek to see if it was safe. As they did, Cujo came floating in mid-air, barking at Danny. Danny responded in barks and growls, as Sam could only hear from him.
She watched in confusion until Danny turned to her and snatched the sketch of Cujo away from her. He viewed the drawing for a couple of seconds and then gave it to Cujo. The dog morph back into a puppy and snatched it out of his hand as it went away happily.
When Danny turned back around, Sam was gone. "Huh? Where'd she go?" he asked. He spotted her trying to climb down the tree, still scared from the last ride.
"Okay, I'm in a tree with a ghost boy who talks to ghost animals," Sam moaned, "Oh, okay, I can do this . I think I can-" She placed one foot onto another tree. "Hey, wait, this is good! I'm doing fine!" Sam noted, placing her other foot on the tree. "I just-Whoa!"
She fell forward, but luckily caught herself. "Okay, girl, you can get across," Sam told herself, "You're the top in PE class. One, two..." She tried getting across, although she nearly lost her balance. She was able to catch herself again. "Ugh...!" she groaned. "It can't get any worse, can they?"
*BOOM!* A crack of thunder, a flash of lightning, and it instantly started to rain, to Sam's ire.
"Apparently, they can," she said as she looked down, only to be face-to-face with Danny, "Get away from me!"
Sam pushed herself backward, trying to get away from him, though she lost her balance. She swung her arms around, trying to keep her balance until Danny flew up the tree she was previously on and held her back with his middle finger, He immediately pushed her back and she fell right on her bottom underneath the shade of a tree's leaves. Then, Danny slowly approached her, curiously.
"Hey, Stay away from me!" Sam cried. "Don't come any closer! Please, get away!"
She kept him back with her bare foot, which he looked at with intrigue. He touched her toes, causing her to laugh uncontrollably.
"Ha ha ha ha ha, no quit it!" she laughed. "That tickles!"
Danny seems to smile a bit before he began to play with Sam's toes, and he soon began to lift up her skirt...
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Sam yelled as she kicked Danny in the jaw. Danny backed up, a bit taken back by her kick. "Ever hear of personal space and privacy? Well, serves you right, you jerk!" Sam added hugging her knees and holding a branch she got from the tree to threaten him. "Just stay away from me like a good ghost boy!" Though, Danny kept getting closer. "Dude, I'm warning you! I know karate! My friend won't take kindly to you." Sam warned, trying to hide her nervousness, yet Danny still moved closer to her. "No, that's close enough! Do you even speak English? I said no!"
Danny reached out and touched her cheek, to her surprise.
"How dare you-" Sam started as she raised her hand in an attempt to slap him, but Danny caught it before she could.
The halfa examined her hand, and gently pressed his palm against hers. He noticed how their hands were the same. But then, he thought of something. He then transformed into his normal form and placed his palm against hers again. They're the same.
San blinked at him, surprised. This strange ghost boy, who saved her from certain death and also seemed somewhat perverse, is also a human. And now, he's touching the palm of her hand with his own. 'How is it possible that this ghost is also a human or vice versa? And why is he doing this?' she thought.
At that point, without warning, Danny lowered his head pressed his ear against her chest, causing her to moan uncomfortably. His ear swiveled at the sound of her heartbeats, which were strong yet steady.
Next, he pulled away and held Sam's face to his chest.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "Oh, no! Ohh-kaaay!" Sam slowly pulled away, smiling awkwardly. "Thanks...you have a very strong heartbeat, if ghosts have hearts" she noted, feeling nervous, "it's really cool."
"...It's really cool," Danny repeated, speaking in plain English.
"Thanks, though I can't do a thing about it in this humidity-" Sam replied as she was tying up her in a ponytail until she realized Danny just spoke in her language. "Wait, you can actually talk? All this time, I thought you were just the strong, silent type. Why didn't you tell me, I'm very curious as to know who or what you are, I wanna-"
Danny suddenly put his hand to her lips, silencing her. Next, he put his hands on his chest.
"Phantom." he spoke. Sam blinked, confused. "Danny." He repeated, pronouncing his name. "Danny…Phantom."
"...Danny Phantom….?" Sam repeated. Danny hummed happily while nodding his head. "...Oh, I get it." Sam realized.
"Oh, I get it." Danny replayed. "Danny Phantom. Oh, I get it."
"Oh, no, no," Sam corrected before clearing her throat, "I'm Sam."
"Oh, no, no," Danny repeated, mimicking Sam's voice and clearing his throat, "I'm Sam."
Sam laughed a little, but then she spoke, "Okay, that's funny. But no...my name is Sam. And you are Danny Phantom. Sam… Danny... Sam."
"...Sam," Danny repeated.
"Exactly." Sam nodded.
*BANG!* Sam gasped upon hearing that gunshot.
"...Vlad...!" she whispered.
Danny morphed back into a ghost and floated out as he looked out.
*BANG!* Another gunshot was heard.
"Vlad!" Danny repeated with a smile.
"...Okay, this is really weird," Sam began, "but at the same time, it's interesting and extraordinary." She soon stood up. "Danny," she spoke, "Can you please take me to my camp?"
*BANG!* The halfa mimicked the gunshot with his ghost ray in the air.
"Yes, Vlad!" Sam exclaimed. "That's very goo-AH!" Danny grabbed her and held her close. "Uh-oh," Sam muttered, "Uh...okay...we're gonna fly again?" As if to answer her question, Danny jumped down and flew in a high speed.
Sam screamed. "CAN'T YOU SLOW DOOOOWWWWNNNN?!"
"YOU SLOW DOOOOWWWWNNNN!" Danny repeated, mimicking Sam's voice.
Hope you enjoyed it. And Thanks for some ideas, gwencarson126.
Please leave reviews!
