Spill it
"Spill it."
Danny just floated there, mouth slightly agape and head reeling. Sam knew, and he had no backup plan. How can I be this stupid! Think Fenton, think. How am I going to save my ass here? Meanwhile, Sam was impatiently tapping her foot, and annoyance wafted through the air. Oh, for the love of-! "Can you stop with the tapping! It's annoying."
"You know what's annoying Danny? You, lying to us for the past couple of months!" She roared with anger. She came closer and started to poke her finger at his chest with each step. "Letting us think that you died!" She stepped forward again. "Letting us believe that you didn't survive that rock!" She again took a step forward; she was a foot away from his chest. "And letting ME think the love of my life didn't exist anymore!" She took half a step forward before bumping her forehead against his chest, but she didn't back away. Instead, she beat her fists against the rest of his chest before letting them fall to her sides. "I thought you were gone forever, Danny. I missed you so goddamned much, you asshole!" With that, she wrapped her arms around him and started to sob into his chest.
Danny stood there for a few seconds, his mind trying to figure out the logic behind all this before letting it play out and wrapping his own arms around her shaking frame.
Tucker watched the whole exchange with disbelief. His best friend was still alive? After all that time thinking he was dead, Tucker had a hard time believing Sam's words. He shook his head and walked over to his best friend, who looked up at him when he heard the footsteps.
"Is...is it really you Danny?" Tucker asked, his voice hesitant.
"Yeah, Tuck. It's me." That was all that Tucker needed before flying into his best friend's arms. All manhood forgotten.
"Wow, guys. I didn't expect all the hugging." Danny joked as he looked at his two friends.
"Shut up and enjoy the moment." Was Sam's reply.
The three friends stood there for a while. Holding on to each other. The freak trio was reunited once more.
After about ten minutes a cough could be heard from behind them. As the three detangled themselves, the unknown figure stepped into the light. Only to reveal...Mister Lancer?
"You heard everything didn't you?" Danny asked in an almost amused tone.
"I was wondering where Miss Manson dragged Mister Foley off to, so I followed and stayed to listen. Sorry about the inconvenience Mister Fenton." Man that felt good to say.' Lancer thought to himself.
Danny only chuckled, his eyes finding his friends. He smiled at them and gave each one of them another hug. He turned to Mister Lancer once more. "I guess I have some explaining to do." The clearly unhappy tone he spoke in was clear that he didn't like it.
"I reckon you do, Daniel."
When they had all found a seat in the lounge, an awkward silence settled in the air. "So..." Danny drawled. "Where do I begin?"
"Let's start right at the beginning," Sam said in a threatening tone.
"Right. The first thing I remember is waking up in Clockwork's tower. My head hurt like hell, and my chest was throbbing a little. I sought out Clockwork and watched the whole thing happen. I tried to get back to you guys, but Clockwork wouldn't let me. He said my destiny was here in his castle. Clockwork has never misguided me so I stayed. I watched you all through the Timestream, and it nearly broke my heart. I watched so many bad futures play out, and I was so weak and couldn't protect you all. So I trained and stayed with Clockwork for the months to come and became the Time Master's Apprentice." Danny finished with a huff. "I really didn't want to leave you, but at least I now have the power to protect you from further danger."
"You're..uhm...actually...d-dead now?" Tucker asked tentatively.
"I'm fully dead now." He snickered at his inside joke. Sam shot him a glare that brought him up short.
Lancer noticed the exchange, thought about it and shrugged. I guess I will never fully understand the secret that is Mister Fenton.
"So...what now?" Danny asked while giving Sam a sideways glance.
"I am still angry at you Fenton, and I mean business if you ever do the disappearing act on me, but I'm glad you're okay."
"And glad you didn't punch the living daylight out of Dash the moment you saw him," Tucker commented.
"I wanted to, but I kept my cool. It wouldn't have been a good introduction, beating the crap out of a "random" student."
"No it wouldn't, and no you won't," Lancer said, trying to sound authoritative, and failing miserably.
"Ahh, but..but, please? Nah, I'm just kidding." Danny joked.
"And did you guys see Dash? The poor kid is on the verge of a mental breakdown. I chose not to tell you because it would just complicate things, and I can't have that at the moment. I might have an idea why all this happened to you."
"Oh please, Apprentice of the Master of Time. Enlighten us." Sam answered sarcastically.
"Hey, it's a tough job! Don't underestimate my awesome powers! Booo!"
"No dude, just no," Tucker said while snickering.
Mister Lancer cleared his throat and said: "Please Daniel, tell us what's going on."
"Okay, I think Vlad is behind all this. Vlad Plasmius." He said the last part with a wink to Sam and Tucker. "That guy is a seriously crazed up fruitloop, and he has always had a thing for my mum and me. So I think he wanted revenge on Dash, aka my murderer. So, that means that he probably crashed your airplane and stranded you on that island. I guess he'll try to stop me from leading you back to the Fenton portal, as he still wants his revenge. Then again, he knows I'm the Time Master's Apprentice. I'm pretty powerful."
"So we need to watch out for this Plasmius ghost? How are we going to do that?"
"We need to keep a low profile in the Zone, which is not going to be an easy task considering the rest of the class. If we travel trough the tunnels and caverns, we might have an advantage."
"You mean that creepy tunnel you teleported us to after our encounter with Clockwork?"
"Yup, those creepy tunnels."
At this point, Tucker let out a big yawn.
"Maybe you three should go to bed. It's late, and we can always talk about this tomorrow."
"Fine with me, you coming to Sam?" Tucker asked.
"I want to have a private word with Danny first; you two go ahead."
"Alright Miss Manson, see you later tonight." With that, the teacher and the geek walked off. After what seemed like an eternity Danny had the guts to ask Sam why she wanted to talk to him.
50m ago"I am furious with you! You egotistical bastard! I've cried myself to sleep almost every night only for you to show up again, without a single scratch! I watched your parents crumble under the weight of your death while you were happily training for your upcoming job! How could you do this to us, Danny? How could you do this to me?!"
Danny flinched at Sam's harsh words but quickly talked back, angry this time.
"This isn't some walk in the park you know! I saw everything happen, I saw you, and I saw mum and dad! I even saw Dash crying to his teddy bear! Don't you think, not for one second, that this shit didn't affect me! I was the one to die, Sam!"
Sam knew that his words were true, and stayed quiet this time.
"I gave up the rest of my life so I could protect you all! That's why I trained and didn't drop a line. That's why I didn't say anything 'till now. I died for you! Don't you understand Sammy? I died to protect YOU! I love you, Sam. I love you so goddamn much, and I wanted to tell you every single day and night, but I needed to give you the closure you sought."
Danny was on his knees right now, grasping at the fabric of his cloak. His hands were trembling, and his voice was shaky.
"But how could you love me, now that I'm dead Sam."
His voice sounded so far away; the echo sounded through the empty halls.
"How could you ever forgive me?" That's all he said before vanishing from sight.
Sam stood there dumbstruck for an hour, before realising what had happened. The air around her was suffocating as she looked at the exact spot where Danny had vanished. She wanted to speak, but her voice wouldn't obey. Only soft whispers and whimpers came out.
Her Danny was gone once more.
The soft glowing green swirls of the Ghost Zone were comforting to a certain troubled teen. He breathed in and out, even if he didn't need to. He knew that running away didn't help, but he could at least try. The thoughts from over an hour ago were still fresh in his mind. The look on Sam's face when she scolded him for dying. He let out a dry chuckle, which soon ended in a silent sob. He glanced around the Zone; this was a less inhabited part. As he deemed the area clear of peeping ghosts, he let out his tears and cried for the first time in five months.
Clockwork glanced at the Timestream where he saw a crying Danny.
"Sorry I can't help, my Apprentice. Some things you need to face on your own." He said with a sigh. A single tear running down the Time Master's cheek.
As soon as morning dawned, Mister Lancer was up and getting ready for an interesting day. The night before had been filled with secrets, thoughts and plans for the future. He woke up Tucker but soon found Sam's spot to be empty. Worry clearly displayed on his face he went to the living room area where he last saw the Goth. He came to a stop when he spotted her still sleeping on the couch.
Tucker had followed the slightly overweight teacher and smiled when he saw a sleeping Sam.
Mister Lancer was not so happy, something about all this seemed off. Other students of his were now waking up and walking towards the dining hall. He motioned for Tucker to wake up Sam while he went to check up on the other teens. He sat down at the table and frowned when he didn't see Daniel already sitting there. He had thought that since the ghostly teenager wasn't there when they woke up, he'd be here already eating.
His thoughts were interrupted, when he heard a cry from what he could only guess was Miss Manson. He hurried towards the door, only for the two missing children to beat him to it.
"Chronos, he's gone!" They chorused.
Vlad Plasmius watched the video footage with a grin on his face that almost split it in half.
"So the Time Master's Brat has finally left his merry little group, well we wouldn't want to take advantage of that, would we?"
"Of course not my honey sweetcakes!" A robotic Maddie Fenton answered.
With the push of a button Vlad sent his message across the Ghost Zone and let out a maniacal cackle.
"So, the Time Punk has left his group unprotected and vulnerable to other ghosts? And humans are against the rules." Walker smirked and closed his book with a smack.
"I want them found and captured Bullet, let nothing stand in your way.
The other ghost nodded and gathered his troops; he had some puny humans to catch.
"So if I got this right, we are now stranded in the Ghost Zone without any food or water and without our guide?" Dash asked, his voice raising two octaves at the end his sentence.
"Exactly." Mister Lancer answered. He stole a glance at Tucker and Sam, the two of them in the middle of a heated discussion.
"Where has Danny gone off to?" Tucker hissed at Sam.
"How should I know Tuck," Sam yelled back at him. "I know him as well as you do."
"You talked to him at night; you made him leave."
That comment stung and Sam averted her eyes. It was true; Danny was gone because of her harsh words.
"I'm sorry Tuck, I just don't know him anymore."
"We've located them at Princess Dorothea's castle, sir." Bullet said through his communicator.
"Good, apprehend them and bring them to the prison."
"In what condition do you want them, sir?"
"You decide on that one Bullet."
With that, the two broke off contact. Bullet smirked and motioned for his men to follow, now to scare some humans shitless.
The entire class was busy running around like headless chickens and decided that doing exactly the opposite of staying calm was a good approach. Lancer looked at this pitiful group and muttered a few book titles under his breath. He cleared his throat and said in the loudest voice possible.
"Stay calm, you idiots!"
The class looked at him dumbstruck.
"Did he just say, idiots?" Nathan asked.
"He sure did." A disembodied voice answered.
Everyone looked around for the source of the voice. They all froze when he appeared in front of Star, holding a glowing green knife to her throat.
"If you want this girl to live, then you come with me." Bullet said while his goons surrounded the group, electrified batons in hand.
They all nodded their heads in silence and not before long, everybody was tied up by glowing ropes and teleported to Walker's prison.
"Boss," Bullet came to Walker's office. "the humans are in the specialised cells. What do you want us to do with them?"
"We'll have some time on our hands before the pipsqueak is here. Why don't you grab that goth girl and try on the electric chair? I'm sure she can give us some feedback."
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Ghost Zone, Danny got a chill running up his spine. He blinked at the familiar sensation and started as a grey mist came out of his mouth. He wanted to know more about this and teleported back to Dora's castle.
He ran through the halls until he encountered Arthur, who was busy pulling a sword out of the newly installed television set.
"Do you have a clock hanging around here?" His voice was somewhat frantic.
"Yes, but why the sudden interest in clocks?"
"Just, give it to me okay? I need it now."
"Okay, don't get your panties in a twist," Arthur answered him while walking away to get a clock.
Danny literally ripped the clock from the other ghost's hands. He focused his newfound time controlling abilities on showing him the time stream. He grunted with effort as he slowly managed to create a miniature viewing mirror. He almost dropped it when he saw a limp Sam strapped to a chair. It blurred and became a picture of his class behind bars.
"WALKER!" Chronos screamed as he entered the prison...through the wall.
"Well, well, well, the Time Punk has arrived.
