Chapter 6:
Tucker Misses Everything
Sam Dragged the drooling half-ghost down the hall, towards the cafeteria, by the collar of his shirt. Third period science had been no less eventful than math.
Mr. Watson finished writing on the board, and turned to check that everyone was listening. Then, he jumped about three feet in the air. The jocks in the class were impressed. They hadn't thought the old man could jump.
"Daniel Fenton! What are you doing on top of that desk!?" He shouted. The boy turned away from what Sam judged were imaginary butterflies and sent a blank look at the teacher.
"Marco," He stated, calmly.
"Polo," Clark and Dash replied, at the same time. Dash had been taking his own nap, and was half-asleep when he answered. Clark just wanted to see where this was going.
"GET OFF THAT DESK!" The class quickly went downhill, from there.
||Well, at least nothing exploded. I really expected a classroom full of beakers and dangerous chemicals to be more chaotic, when you added a delusional half-ghost to it,|| Sam thought. She was almost disappointed.
She and Jazz sat at the back of the cafeteria, trying to eat without choking, as they watched Danny stare into his mashed potatoes, as if they held the secrets of the universe. The boy was sniffling again, and people had already started whispering about what could've gotten into the usually-quiet Fenton kid.
Meanwhile, the ghosts were being unusually quiet, (aside from Youngblood that morning, but they hadn't heard anything else from him, since,) and it was making Sam and Jazz nervous. Danny's ghost sense hadn't gone off once since he'd gotten hit by the BOO-ger, that morning. Sam figured it was because this cold was messing with his core. He had actually been shivering. Danny hadn't gotten cold since Frostbite had trained him to use his ice powers.
Sam thought she saw Valerie throwing strange glances their way, from across the room. But, when she looked again, the girl was gone. The Huntress had been avoiding them, ever since she'd helped Danny rescue Ellie. And, naturally, Sam was suspicious. But, as with everything else about her crazy, out-of-control, overly-haunted life, she'd just have to watch and wait.
||And, if Valerie does anything to hurt Danny, she'll have one very angry goth girl to deal with,|| She thought, taking a bite out of her cheese and tofu-bacon sandwich. She looked up, as a string of drool ran from Danny's mouth, into the hole he'd dug in the center of his food.
"Here," Jazz sighed, scooting closer to her brother. She took a spoonful of macaroni from her brother's plate, shoving it into his mouth, before he could protest. She quickly regretted this course of action, as Danny made her spoon feed him the rest of his Lunch, (and some of her own,) whimpering pitifully when she tried to stop.
Sam didn't even try to hide her grin, as she text-updated Tucker. Of course, She didn't say anything too revealing. Team Phantom had come up with their own code system, just to be safe, but they were still careful what they said. Especially today. This ghost sickness was pushing their luck more than the hiccups.
||But, maybe this situation isn't all bad...|| Sam thought, watching Danny beg for another spoonful of macaroni, then fight against Jazz when she tried to put it in his mouth. Whispers were flying around the cafeteria, like ecto-beams at a ghost fight.
||At least, it's giving the school news crew enough material to start a gossip column.||
||He's sick? Can ghosts even get sick? How does that even work? How does-||
"-Oof."
Valerie's inner dialog was interrupted, when she ran into something big and ugly. "Watch where you're goin', loser."
"Baxter," Valerie growled, grabbing the boy's collar and jerking him down to her eye-level. He yelped in surprise, more girlishly than he would ever admit. "I will make you cry like the baby you mentally are. Then, I will force you to call your mother, and tell her, in detail, about all the trouble you cause. Then, I will hang you upside down from the field-goal, by your shoelaces. After that, the teachers can sort out what's left of you," She threatened, menacingly.
The big Junior thought a moment, then scoffed. "As if you could."
"Try me," She grinned.
He did. But, he doubted he ever would again.
Tucker did his best not to cackle too loudly, as he read Sam's text. He didn't want to wake up Ellie, but he was glad someone had said 'polo', since he hadn't been there to.
||Oh, man! I miss everything!||
"Ellie, quickly, the Fenton Bad-Guy-Catcher-O-Matic!" Dream-Maddie shouted to her 'daughter', as the two chased after the madman in the (incredibly fast) hot air balloon. The madman, Dr. Von Stupidhead, cackled, wildly.
Funny, he sounded kinda like Tucker.
Ellie reached into he adventurer bag, pulling out a little, blue marble. Maddie took it from her. "By the power of a mother's love," She shouted, as the marble in her fist began to glow. "Release my family, or face my wrath!" Suddenly, the marble was a giant gun.
||It's gimongous!|| Ellie thought, amazed, as she stared up at the weapon, completely disregarding the fact that 'gimongous' wasn't a real word. Suddenly, the gun fired, popping the balloon. It squeaked and squealed, as it turned over and over in the air. Von Stupidhead turned green.
"I think I'm getting air sick," he said, lamely. Suddenly, the balloon shot off in the other direction, dropping Jack, Jazz, Danny, Sam, and Tucker, before it was nothing but a distant twinkle in the sky. For some reason, Ellie expected someone to shout about 'blasting off, again', but no one did. She and her 'mother' ran forward, through the dense jungle, until they cam across a group of giant, talking trees.
Upon further inspection, though, it was revealed that the trees weren't talking. The five people in them were.
Danny hopped down first, landing catlike, barely making a sound. "Thanks, Mom. Good job, baby sis," He said, running up to them, and ruffling Ellie's hair.
"Move it, Tucker!"
"Sam, Sam, Sam," the boy tsked, laid over a branch, on his stomach. "Patience is a virtue."
*Thud*
With a girlish scream, Tucker fell out of the tree, belly-flopping on the ground. "Tucker, Tucker, Tucker," Sam tsked back, one boot swinging under the branch they had previously shared. "Not arguing with a girl who can kick your butt is a necessary survival-skill." The techno-geek picked his head up, spitting out a mouthful of grass.
"NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY," Jack piped up. "LET'S GO FIND THAT TREASURE!" He pulled back the gigantic leaves of an Amazonian bush, to reveal a crumbling Aztec temple. The seven headed for it, at a run. And, it soon turned into a race.
"I WIN!" Ellie shouted, hopping up and down on the bottom step. Danny caught up first, hands on his knees to catch his breath, followed by Maddie and Sam. Tucker, Jazz, and Jack brought up the rear, panting hard. Tucker collapsed onto the ground, landing on his face for the second time in as many minutes.
"WELL, SLOWPOKES," Jack said, staring up at the temple, suddenly re-energized. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE. LET'S GO HAVE A LOOK." They walked up the stairs for what seemed like an eternity. When they finally reached the top, they saw that the door had seven hand-shaped indents in it, in seven different colors.
In large, ancient-looking letters, The inscription above the door read: ONLY A FAMILY WITH A TRUE LOVE FOR ALL THINGS GHOSTLY MAY ENTER HERE.
"Sounds like us, alright," Sam deadpanned. They placed their hands on the hand-prints. Sam on the purple, Tucker the red, Jack the orange, Maddie the blue, Jazz the pink, Danny the ectoplasmic green, and Ellie the electric yellow. The door opened, and they all walked into the pitch black, together.
*Click*
The sound echoed around the hollow chamber, as a spotlight turned on. And, in it, stood none other than Dr. Carlson Von Stupidhead. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He asked, sinisterly, stepping forward from the shadows, twirling a cane in one hand.
Everything went black, as the floor dropped out from under them.
"And, stay away from the Trio. They're under my protection," Valerie said to Dash, who was now dangling over the six-yard box, just as promised, blubbering like a baby. Behind her, someone cleared their throat, and she turned around to find Mr. Lancer. She sighed, her shoulders slumping and her expression deadpan. "How many detentions do I have, now?"
AN: Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! :) Hugs and turkey-hats, all around! ;)
So, Valerie's trying to make it up to Team Phantom, now. So, that's thing. And, Danny's starting to cause some trouble. Predictable enough. And, tomorrow, we get to see Tucker's babysitting skills :) This is gonna be so much fun! XD
To the guest who commented, thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! :))
Whether you celebrate, or not, I hope your day, and your entire lives are filled with more love, joy, warmth, and kindness than you could ever imagine! *Hugs* :))
As always,
God bless, and I hope you enjoyed! :) See ya tomorrow!
- Ellie
