Chpt 10: New Surprises

A few minutes after Tucker, Sam, and Jazz were all dropped into their cage, humans and ghosts began to arrive. The confused people stood where the ghosts directed them and instantly quieted down when they saw Plasmius standing out in front. Once everyone had arrived, Plasmius began to speak.

" Everyone, I have good news and a bit of bad news," he said. He looked around at everyone's faces to see that all eyes were locked on him. " The Halfa is no more." He waited as everyone cheered. " Yes. I found him and three of the children that he took from you. I defeated him quite easily last night."

The families of the kidnapped children stood infront of the crowd. Sam and Tucker's families looked relieved and a bit confused at the mention of three children only being found. They thought that only three had been captured. Danny's and Jazz's parents stood with grim looks on their faces. They were afraid of who was still missing. Plasmius saw the Fentons and gave them a reassuring smile that didn't help to loosen the knots in the horrified parents' stomachs.

" Notice that I said only three were found. I say that because late last night Danny Fenton was recaptured by the evil ghost-boy. Unfortunately, one child may possibly never be seen again." He heard gasps and murmurs

The three kids in the cage all lowered their heads; each of them thinking about Danny.

" Wh-who wasn't found?" Maddie asked, afraid of the answer.

Plasmius lowered his head in sorrow, " I'm very sorry."

Maddie gasped and cried into her husbands chest as he hugged her tightly.

Jazz heard her mother crying and couldn't bear to have anyone else in the crowd be told anymore lies. "Don't listen to him! He knows where Danny is! He k..."

" Now now, Jasmine, you must remain quiet. You are in a state of shock, afterall," Plasmius interupted. "It was a horrible fight, and unfortunately these children were forced to watch. That was the last time they saw young Daniel."

" Are you still going to try and find him?" asked Jack.

" I searched all night, along with the other ghosts from the ghost-zone, but we didn't find him anywhere. It's as if he vanished into thin air," answered Plasmius.

" LIAR!" yelled an outraged Tuck. " He didn't vanish! You know exactly where he is and so do we!"

" Then tell the crowd where he is," urged Plasmius. " Go on. Tell them."

" Um...well...he's lying on the floor of some...invisible box that's floating in the sky..." answered Tuck.

Sam and Jazz looked at Tuck as if he were crazy. Sure he was in something floating in the sky that was cloaked by invisibility, but the way Tucker explained it made him sound like he was crazy. Surely no one would believe that story. The kids listened for any comments but only heard silence. They could only imagine the looks on everyone's faces as they thought about Tuck's words. At that moment, they were completely grateful that they were being shielded from view by the ghosts infront of them.

" You see, he's obviously in a state of shock," Plasmius announced, breaking the silence. " There's no need to worry about it. This problem will clear up soon. Very soon."

None of the three teens liked the way he ended that sentence. There was just a pinch of venom in those last two words.

" Can we have our children back now?" asked Tucker's mother.

" I'm afraid not," answered Plasmius, shaking his head. " You see, these children did something terrible. They withheld information that you all desperately needed. See, these three children all knew who The Halfa was." Gasps were heard throughout the crowd.

" Samantha, is that why you protected the ghost we were chasing?" asked her mother.

" Yeah, it is. I wasn't going to let you guys capture my friend and tear him limb from limb! If you knew who he was, then you'd know that the scum infront of you is lying!" Sam yelled.

" For their actions, these children must be punished," Plasmius continued. Everyone in the crowd looked at him.

" What do you mean by 'punished'?" asked Maddie?

Before Plasmius could give an answer, a large blue lion jumped infront of the crowd and faced the evil halfa. As Plasmius and the other ghosts stood, shocked by this new arrival, it jumped toward Plasmius and the ghosts behind him, knocking them all out of the way with his powerful left paw. The crowd watched as it attempted to open up the cage that Jazz, Sam, and Tuck were confined in. It bit and clawed, but couldn't seem to break through it. Finally, Plasmius and the others got their nerve back.

" Bertrand!" yelled Plasmius.

The small man hurried over to his leader quickly. " Yes?"

" Take care of this pest."

" Yes sir."

Bertrand flew towards the blue-intruder while transforming himself into a green version of the animal. Bertrand knocked the new enemy away from the cage and pinned him to the ground. They each stared deep into the other's eyes and growled fiercly. Suddenly, the blue lion used it two back legs to kick Bertrand off him, sending him hurling through the air. Bertrand was able to flip over and land on all-fours. He looked back at the other lion and growled some more. The enemy cat didn't miss a beat; he began to run towards Bertrand at full force. The green-ghoul began charging toward his opponent as well. Everyone watched and waited for a clash between the two. The anticipation grew as they got closer and closer. When they were close enough, Bertrand tried to attack, but the blue lion jumped over him, bit onto his tail as he hit the ground and they both transported out of sight.

Bertrand had no time to react to the bite on his tail. He closed his eyes and roared in pain, and when he opened them again he was on top of a tall skyscraper. He looked around but couldn't see the other ghostly-cat anywhere. He sighed as he turned back to normal and walked over to the edge of the building and looked down. Suddenly, he felt as though he were no longer alone. He turned around, thinking he would see the blue-lion again, but instead saw something that made him freeze.

" You...it's...it's not possible..." Bertrand stammered.

" Oh it's very possible," said an eerie voice before viciously attacking the small ghost.

" What happened?" someone asked.

" What was that thing?" asked another.

" Where'd they go?"

" People, please. Don't worry about that little interruption. I'm sure Bertrand will take care of the intruder. If not, one of these other fine ghosts will."

All the ghosts seemed as though they were beaming with pride at Plasmius' words.

" Anyway, let's get back to what I was saying before. These children are going to be punished. Not by starvation, torture, or a slow painful death, but by a.. OOF!..." Plasmius was cut off as Bertrand came smashing into his side, knocking them both down.

" What happened!" Plasmius shouted angrily.

Bertrand opened his mouth, but no words came out. It sounded like he was having trouble trying to speak.

" Well answer me this. Is that rogue-ghost taken care of?"

Bertrand shook his head weakly from side to side before he passed out on the ground. This sent the crowd of humans into a terrified frenzy. They began to scatter, but they were stopped by ghosts trying to keep them where they were. Plasmius stood up again and nodded to Skulker who hit a red button connected to his suit. Soon after, a giant cage- like the one Sam, Tuck, and Jazz were being held in- materialized around the frightened humans, trapping them inside.

" Hey! What's the big idea!" people cried.

" Everyone, I did it for your own safety. You can't all be roaming around as easy prey for that hungry beast. You all will stay here in the park where I can keep a close eye on you."

Everyone looked at eachother with concerned looks on their faces. Sam, Jazz, and Tuck stared down at the unconcious ghost. Something felt strange to them. That ghost-lion was trying to break them out of their cage. But why? Why would some unidentified ghost be trying to help them? The only ghost they knew of that would try to save them was Danny, and he was dead. They couldn't figure it out. What ghost out there wasn't working with Vlad? They thought as hard as they could, but they only drew up blanks.

Plasmius had decided that everyone could use a rest. After the news of Danny "missing" and the attack by the rogue ghost, everyone should have a little time to rest. He also put a sound barrier on Tuck, Sam, and Jazz's cage so they couldn't tell anyone what really happened to their friend. They tried not to let it bother them too much, but what did bother them was Plasmius saying that they were going to be punished.

" What do you think he's going to do to us?" asked Tucker, a tiny hint of fear sounding in his voice.

" I don't know. He got cut off before he could tell the town, and now he's just delaying it even more," answered Jazz.

" Well, he named what they weren't going to be. What else is there to do to us?" asked Sam.

" I don't know. At the moment, I'm concerned a little about what he's upto now. He's lied about everything so far and he's obviously not just keeping everyone in that huge cage for protection," said Jazz.

" Why do you think he's gone to all this trouble? Remember what Danny said earlier? Plasmius could have wasted him long ago, so why did he make the town search for him?" asked Tucker.

" Probably to torture him! You saw how Danny was after all this started!" Sam exclaimed angrily.

Tuck gasped in shock then looked away from the goth-girl, almost ashamed to say anything else.

" I'm sorry, Tuck, " she apologized. " I'm just upset. I keep thinking about Danny. I just can't believe that he's...gone."

They all nodded in agreement.

" We can't let Plasmius get away with this! We have to do something!" Jazz declared.

" Like what?" asked Tuck. " We're trapped in this cage and there's no getting out of it."

" Well...I don't know," she admitted. " But...we can't just let him get away with killing my little brother! Your best friend!"

Tuck and Sam thought about it, and Jazz brought up a good point. But how were they supposed to do anything? Humans with no weapons for fighting ghosts couldn't do a thing.

" Well, what if that other ghost-lion comes back?" asked Jazz. " It looked like it was trying to get us out of here."

" Yeah, but why? For all we know it could have just wanted us for dinner," said Sam.

" Then again, there were other people it could have gotten to if it wanted to eat," Tuck told her.

" So? Maybe we looked tastier!" Sam argued back.

" But everyone else was just standing there! If it wanted to eat, it would have gone for the easier prey!" Tuck shouted back.

" It was a ghost! Maybe he thinks differently than normal lions!"

" You guys, quit arguing!" Jazz cried. " Maybe it did want to eat us, but it could have been trying to free us. Who really knows anymore?"

" Sorry, I guess we're a little on edge," said Sam.

" Yeah," Tuck agreed.

" We're all a bit irritable at the moment, but we can't start turning on eachother. We have to keep strong, especially for Danny. We have to try and devise some sort of a plan against Plasmius. Even if we can't do much, we have to do something. He has to let us out sometime, especially if we're punished," smiled Jazz.

Tuck and Sam looked at eachother and nodded. They all spent the rest of their time trying to come up with something to do. They would avenge Danny.

Back in town still on the skyscraper, was the thing that had attack Bertrand. He looked in the direction of the park and smirked evilly.

" Plasmius will pay for everything he's done. He can't escape from me."