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Danny Phantom strikes again! Park area sabotaged-!
The cubical television went static, interrupting the news broadcast. Frustrated with trying to tangle with the antenna, I hit the top of the television with my fist and the screen cleared instantly.
"Wow." I muttered. "Sam Manson, you're a genius."
-terrorizing the citizens and attacking the public once more. Guys in White agents have once more tried to apprehend him in the middle of the rampage, but were unable to arrest for his crimes.
A hand went to my face. Danny was frightening Amity Park all over again, causing the people to lose the trust that took us forever to develop. What are we doing now? Wasting our time trying to fix a machine that I wasn't even sure could help solve our problem?
I sighed loudly. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to accept the fact that he really turned out to be this way. Could he have deceived us all this time we were friends?
Maybe not. You know him better. He can't have lied to us for that long. He's still as clueless as we think him to be.
"Did you get the TV fixed?" asked Tucker as he came from the basement and entered the kitchen. I glowered at him.
"Sorry." He sighed, taking a seat in one of the dining room chairs. "Standard question."
The search for the teenagers, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, is still in progress. We just discovered that the two have escaped their own homes and into the community streets. Some witnesses claimed that they last saw the two buying clothes at the Amity Pit Stop a few blocks away from the house they just escaped. If anyone has any more information to share about this case, please contact the GIW immediately at their local number listed below. They believe that those two fugitives could lead the answers as to why our hero has turned against us.
With that, the broadcast ended and a commercial came on the screen. My eyes stared sightlessly at the flashing images. We were in as much in trouble with the law as Danny was.
He is so going to get it from me.
"Great." Tucker groaned. "More people looking for us. Just what we needed."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
"How's the work with the Speeder going?" I said, trying to change to subject.
"I haven't even got the chance to pick up a single tool, thanks to this." he pointed to his arm. "I only had the time to examine what needed to be fixed. Darn this cast! I can't even do anything!"
"And?" I pressed. "How long is it going to take to get it fixed?"
Tucker sighed heavily. "Three weeks."
"Three weeks?" I half yelled. "We have to put up with our best friend scaring off everyone we know for three weeks?"
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" countered Tucker angrily. "We're wanted by the entire Amity Park! We can't just go out strolling out of our safe house without getting arrested!"
"If only your arm wasn't broken…" I grumbled.
"It's not my fault that my arm is broken! You were the one that would have had a broken arm, not me!"
My insides twisted at the mentioning of what happened. Tucker stopped for a moment to think about what he just said and instantly bombarded me with apologies.
"I didn't mean it that way, Sam! It's not your fault that my arm is broken either. It's…Danny's."
I shot him a death glare. How could he accuse his best friend of breaking his arm on purpose?
"No, its not." I answered sternly. "It's Vlad's. The sooner we can get the Speeder fixed, the sooner we can stop him. Danny isn't at fault here. He's being manipulated into doing all these horrible things. And...again Tuck."
"What?"
"I'm really sorry."
"It's fine. Really."
I stood up from my seated position and left the room. "We can get started tomorrow." I said as I left the kitchen. Tucker closed his eyes, not caring to follow me in worry of his tongue slipping again.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." He said to himself. I made my way across the wrecked living room and sat on the third step of the stairs.
"Three weeks." I repeated. I guess I could wait that long. Ever the optimist I was. My fists went to tug my hair in frustration.
…
What would happen if we did get captured? Would Danny still save us? Or would he leave us in the hands of the GIW to be imprisoned for questioning?
I can admit that I still trust him enough to be a friend, but I'm not as sure to if he'll even help us out.
That's enough. I told myself. No more talk about Danny. Vlad's the one we should be focusing on. He's the one that's making Danny do all this. I'll refuse to believe that Danny had any part in his actions until I hear him say the words out of his mouth.
...
A sharp knock from the front door snapped me out of my thoughts.
Tucker's form appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, and that proved that this wasn't my imagination.
"In the basement." I hissed. The teen rapidly bolted to the safety of the lab. His loud footsteps were heard thought the empty house until a silence fell, telling me that he found a decent hiding place.
We had rehearsed this repeatedly. If one of us was caught, then the other could use the chance to get away and since Tucker was the one who was the weakest, I agreed to be the first to be captured if the time came.
Getting to my feet, I brushed my skirt and went to the door. It was now or never.
"Hello?" I shakily asked as I creaked through the door open.
"I figured you two would be here."
My jaw almost dropped when I realized who replied.
"Valerie?"
The former A-list member returned my outburst with a grin. "Hey, Sam."
My first instinct was to shut the door and jump out the window, but I let the door swing open to reveal what was inside the house. The grin on Valerie's face disappeared when she stepped into the house and realized the destruction.
"What happened in here?" she gasped.
"None of your business." I snapped, closing the front door. "First you show up without a word about why you're here. Then you burst inside, like some freeloader. Now you're shouting to the world when Tucker and I trying to keep a low profile to hiding from the law? What's wrong with you?"
Valerie stopped panicking and took a deep breath before she spoke once again.
"I came here when the news said that you and Tucker were seen at the store. Danny's house wasn't far from there, so…suspected that you guys would be hiding there."
"So are you going to turn us in?" I asked suspiciously. Was she working with the GIW?
"What would I get by turning you two in?" she questioned deviously. "I could get the answers to Phantom without having to have those GIW agents in the way."
My eyes narrowed. So this is what she was after. If I hadn't known better, she was going to blackmail us into giving her information about Danny in exchange for her keeping silent about us. Quickly, I tried to devise the best choice of words to get her to leave us without her reporting us to the GIW.
"…We don't have much tell you then." I lied, rushing to get to the lab. "I'll get Tucker."
Valerie raised an eyebrow me, but I urged myself to go down to pick up the techno-geek downstairs.
"Who was it?" Tucker asked, jumping out from behind the busted Speeder, a little relieved to see me. "Please tell me it was just some pranksters or something."
"It's Valerie." I said, making his spirits go down. "She's blackmailing us into telling her all of Danny's secrets for her to keep quiet about us hiding here." I explained. A small pause fell between the two of us.
…
"She could help us, you know." Tucker suggested.
"What do you mean by that?"
Tucker didn't answer my question as he began to ascend the stairs back into the living room where Valerie was waiting. I crossed my fingers and tagged after him.
"Hey, Val." Tucker greeted, raising his free arm up. The second Valerie saw Tuck's damaged arm, she put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.
"Okay, now I need some real answers." She demanded. "What happened to Tucker? What happened to Danny's house? What happened to Danny?"
...
It didn't take long for Tucker to retell the story about what happened back when 'Phantom' attacked the school. He told about how he broke his arm and how we managed to escape here from my house. Valerie kept silent as he explained, as I anticipated, but when Tucker finished, I expected her to hassle us with more of her questions.
"You don't have to believe us." Tucker provoked. "But that's what happened."
"Alright." Valerie finally said after her long silence. "And what about this house? And Danny?"
Tucker nudged me to continue. Cursing mentally to myself, I knew I had to lie once again, so I improvised as I went along.
"When we got here, Danny and his parents were taken by Phantom and kidnapped into the Ghost Zone." I fibbed, hoping her 'I hate Danny Phantom' instincts would kick in. "We decided that Tucker and I fix something called the Specter Speeder, a vehicle that can help us get around inside the ghost realm. The both of us figured we could catch him and clear our name to the public."
I looked at Tucker pleadingly to stop talking about our plans so openly, but he nodded for me to continue. Ugh.
"We're planning to save Danny and his parents from Phantom's evil plot." I coughed out. Valerie stared at us for a while until the stillness was broken when she laughing out loud. Tears ran down her cheeks as she doubled over in pain.
"Man!" she continued, giggling. "I'm not sure I'd believe such a story coming from you two! I know you two are wanted and all, but for you to save him from a ghost as tough as Phantom? You wouldn't stand a chance!"
I felt my hands clench into fists and my teeth grit together. How dare she? Laugh at us when she couldn't even catch Danny once? I gave her a piece of my mind and let out what I was thinking.
"We said you didn't have to believe us," I growled. "But if Danny's in danger, we wouldn't care if we didn't stand a chance! You couldn't catch Phantom if you tried, either. At least we're willing to give up our lives to save a friend while you just sit there and stare. We were hoping at least you could," I swallowed hard. "…Help us out."
The girl gradually stopped laughing when she realized that the two of us were serious. She put a hand on her chin and looked deep in thought. I rolled my eyes.
"…Fine." She agreed. "I'll help you save Danny, fix your Speeder-doohickey and get food for you and whatever, but on one condition."
We listened intently, knowing what she was going to ask.
"You two tell me all of Phantom's secrets."
I glanced at Tucker for an answer. He merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't look at me." He said. "I'm just a guy with a broken arm. And besides," he leaned over to my ear. "We'd be able to finish in a week earlier if she helped."
You aren't helping, you know. I said mentally to Tucker. Valerie stuck out a hand to aggravate me more. Would I really let Danny's secrets out to her just to save him?
"So do we have a deal?"
I stared keenly at the welcoming hand that promised to solve our difficult lives and shook it. Of course I would. He's my best friend.
"Deal."
-Posted August 13, 2011
Goodnight everybody~