Yay! New chapter! It was fun writing it especially at the end! Enjoy folks!

Chapter 9

Aragon stormed into the Pit of Gloom. Plasmius was writing in his journal while Klemper played solitaire with some cards and Danny was whistling folksongs. Aragon marched over to Danny who ceased his whistling.

"You two truly love each other and so you might have been truly happy," Aragon hissed.

Danny scoffed. "Might? I think you mean we will be truly happy."

Aragon sneered at him. "What you have occurs once in a century." Danny gave him a smug look. "So I think no man in a century will suffer as greatly as you will."

Prince Aragon then went to the controls of the Plasmius Maximus, pushed Plasmius out of the way and turned the machine on. He then turned the setting to twelve, the highest setting.

Plasmius panicked. "NO! Not to twelve!"

The machine roared to life. The Plasmius Maximus shocked Danny like never before. This kind of pain was worse than any torture imaginable. Danny screamed in pain. His screams were so loud, everyone in Amity could hear them. Sam's family heard it, Danny's family heard it, Dash's Brute Crew heard it and even Sam herself heard it. She did not recognize it but it still sent shivers down her spine.

Luckily Kwan and Tucker heard it too. They were trying to get through the crowded marketplace when they heard it. Everyone was silent as they listened to the mystery screams of agony.

Tucker, however, recognized those screams. "Kwan! Listen!"

Kwan listened. "You mean that screaming?"

Tucker gave him a deadpanned look. "What else? That sounds like Phantom."

"Why do you think he's screaming?"

"Phantom's true love is marrying some other dude tonight. Why else is he screaming like that? I made that same scream myself when Plasmius murdered my dad ten years ago. The Scream of Ultimate Suffering," Tucker explained.

They then tried to follow the source of the screams that now faded away to silence again. Unfortunately the marketplace was far too crowded.

"Excuse me! 'Scuse me! Excus – Hey! Out of the way! Kwan? A little help, please?"

"OUTTA THE WAY!" Kwan shouted. The crowd immediately parts.

"Thanks," thanked Tucker.

~0~0~0~

Eventually, two hours later, the two misfits made their way to the woods where the trail went cold at a dead tree with several knots at the base.

"Dead end," Tucker muttered.

"Now what?" Kwan asked. They heard someone coming in their direction and they both hide. Klemper then appears. He was pushing a wheelbarrow, whistling a tune, happy as a clam.

Tucker appears and stops Klemper in his tracks, the Soul Shredder poking his nose. Kwan then appears with the Fenton Thermos pinned to Klemper's back.

"Do either of you want to be my friend?" he asked.

"It depends," Tucker replied. "Where's Phantom?"

"Uh…I don't know what you're talking about," Klemper answered nervously.

"You got there from these woods, right?" asked Kwan.

"Uhh…umm…"

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Kwan, how about you jog his memory?"

Kwan then hits Klemper on the head (thanks to the Ghost Gauntlets). Unfortunately, Kwan hit him a little too hard. Klemper fell to the ground, unconscious.

Kwan looked at what he just did. "Uh, Tucker? I think I jogged him a little to hard. Sorry."

Tucker face-palmed. "Never mind," he sighed. "Suck him up." Kwan sucked the unconscious Klemper into the Fenton Thermos.

"So now what?" Kwan asked. "Where do you think Phantom is?"

Tucker pulled out his Soul Shredder. "Okay, Dad," Tucker whispered to himself. "After ten years, you're finally going to rest in peace. But in order to do that I need to find someone who can help me. Guide my sword."

Tucker then starts walking toward the tree. Kwan slowly followed nervously. The tip of Tucker's sword pokes on one of the knots. Tucker, thinking he failed, puts his sword away and walks away to sulk. Kwan, curious about the knot the Soul Shredder poked, examined it. He pushes the knot deeper into the tree. A secret door appeared.

"Tucker! I found a way in!" Kwan called.

Tucker looked up and saw the now visible door. "Nice job, Kwan!" The two gave each other a high-five and entered the tree.

The room they were in now looked like a torture chamber. They saw Danny lying on the examination table, seemingly dead. Kwan approached the unconscious halfa and checked on his pulse. Tucker found an open journal at the control panel to the Plasmius Maximus and began reading it.

"He's still alive, Tuck!" Kwan called.

Tucker nodded. "That may be true, dude, but in the state he's in now, he's powerless to fight. According to these notes, Phantom's gonna be like this for the next ten hours."

"But we don't have enough time to wait for his powers to come back!" Kwan exclaimed. "This is his only chance to rescue Princess Samantha and your only chance to fight Vlad Plasmius!"

"Wanda, hold on!" Timmy interrupted.

Wanda looked up. "What's wrong, honey? Is your fever going up again?"

"No. Danny is going to get his powers back in time to rescue Sam right? I mean, how is Danny going to get his powers back in time to stop the wedding? He can't wait ten hours. I don't need to flunk math to know that."

"Do you want me to finish the story or not?" Wanda asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah," Timmy answered, "but how are they going to rescue Sam? By the time Danny gets his powers back, it will be too late!"

Wanda winks at her godchild. "What they need is more time."

Timmy, curious about Wanda's hint, calmed down and listened to Wanda read again.

Tucker then snapped his fingers. He smirked at Kwan. "We Foleys don't give up that easily. Get Phantom off that examination table. I have an idea. How much money do you have?"

Kwan pulled out his wallet and counted his money. "Fifty bucks."

"Good enough," Tucker mumbled. Kwan removed the straps from Danny's limbs.

Kwan tilted his head as he looked at Danny. "Are you sure this is Phantom? This guy has black hair. Phantom's hair is white."

Knowing that time is of the essence, Tucker just simply stated. "Long story short: that's Phantom in human form. Now come on! We need to get to Timeline Tower."

"Why did you ask me to count my money anyway?" asked Kwan as he threw an unconscious Danny over his shoulder. "And why do we need to go to Timeline Tower? I thought we were going to rescue the princess and avenge your father."

"Because, my simpleminded friend, Timeline Tower is the only place in Amity where one can buy more time."

~0~0~0~

Tucker and Kwan eventually made it to Timeline Tower on the outskirts of town. Tucker pounded on the door. "Go away!" cried a voice from behind the door.

Tucker kept pounding on the door. Eventually, a green woman opened the window on the door. "What do you want?"

Both Kwan and Tucker furrowed their eyebrows. "You're not Clockwork," Kwan stated.

"Yeah man," Tucker agreed. "Clockwork's a dude. He used to work for the prince several years ago."

"You mean my short-tempered brother who fired Lord Clockwork and banished me from the castle? Thank you for reminding me of such painful memories!" she exclaimed bitterly. "We're closed!"

She slammed the window in their faces.

"DORATHEA!" a more superior voice called out. "Show some manners!"

Tucker, curious, knocked on the door again. The window opened again only this time a blue ghost with a scar on his left eye answered. "Leave now or I will call the Brute Crew."

"I am the Brute Crew," Kwan answered.

Clockwork looked Kwan over. "Indeed you are the Brute Crew."

Tucker decided to cut to the chase. "We need your help."

Clockwork sighed as he changed into an old man. "I'm retired. What would you want with someone the prince fired?"

Tucker jabbed his thumb in Danny's direction. "This guy is the one who needs help."

Clockwork thought about it. "Very well. I'll take a look. Bring him in."

The two misfits entered the tower, following the two ghosts to the top floor. Kwan placed Danny on a table. Clockwork, now a child, looked him over. He poked Danny with his Time Staff. "I've seen worse," he muttered.

He continued poking Danny for several minutes. Tucker tapped on Clockwork's shoulder. "Uh, I don't mean to rush you, but we're kind of in a rush."

The Ghost of Time turned to Tucker. "If you rush me on this miracle, you're going to get a lousy miracle."

"We have money," Kwan stated.

"How much?" asked Dorathea.

"Fifty dollars."

Clockwork frowned, changing into an adult. "I've never worked for so little."

"Yes, you have," Dorathea argued.

"That was once, Dora," Clockwork responded, "but it was for a noble cause."

Tucker threw arms over his head. "This is a noble cause!" he exclaimed. He pointed to Danny. "His…uh…sister is blind and his…um…nieces and nephews are on the brink of starvation."

Clockwork frowned. "If you're going to lie to me, you're going to have to do better than that."

Tucker sighed in frustration. "All right. I need him to help me avenge my dad who's been dead for the past ten years."

Clockwork gave Tucker a deadpanned look. "You're first story was better."

"Does he owe you money?" asked Dora. "Let's ask him."

"How?" asked Kwan. "He's unconscious."

"He looks completely dead to me."

Clockwork, now an old man, glared daggers at Dora. "On the contrary, Dora, their friend here is a halfa."

Kwan looked confused. "A whata?"

"Half human, half ghost," Clockwork explained. He continued poking Danny with his staff. Seeing that the boy was not responding, Clockwork simply whacked him on the head. Danny moaned as a response.

"He's still alive," Clockwork stated. "He's quite the fighter."

"What's he fighting for anyway?" asked Dora.

Clockwork smiled, turning into a child. "True love."

Tucker gave Dora a victory smirk. "Can't get more noble than that."

"Well, I still don't understand why we should help him," she responded skeptically.

"Because Daniel here is Samantha's true love," Clockwork answered.

Kwan raised his eyebrows, surprised. "How do you know that?"

Clockwork turned to Kwan and smiled. "I know everything."

Tucker stepped in. "Look, you need to help him so we can stop Prince Aragon's wedding."

Both Clockwork and Dora looked up at Tucker. Dora was the first to speak. "If we help him, my brother suffers?"

"Embarrassments galore, Princess!" Tucker exclaimed.

Clockwork, who transformed into an adult, smirked. "Now THAT is a noble cause."

Yes! Clockwork is cooperating! How is he going to help? :)