Yay! Thank you all for supporting this story. Special thanks to mutantlover09 For giving me the main idea of this chapter, and 2wingo for the end piece idea! Woo!
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He who tells stories rules the world. American Indian Proverb
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I covered my head with my pillow. Shadow still hadn't returned, and the thoughts of the other people in the building were tormenting me. A family of five lived below me. Even in their minds they argued with each other. It had been a day since I had fought Darius. A day since Shadow left.
I hate it! I hate my brother so much! He's such an immature brat!
My sister is so stuck up. I wish she'd disappear.
Maybe if I wish hard enough both of my siblings will curl up and die.
This was too much. I had to find Shadow. Or at least get out of range of their thoughts. I changed into my ghost form and was about to jump out the window when I saw my glowing reflection in the glass. White hair. White gloves. The familiar emblem was back too. Shadow never changed me back. I was Danny Phantom again.
Noisy kids… maybe I can ditch them with the guy upstairs. He seems to have plenty of free time.
I groaned and looked outside. It was almost dark. If I stayed invisible I would be fine. Shadow was definitely going to need a good excuse. I dove through the window and flew straight up, slowly getting farther and farther away from the other voices. I sighed in relief, and watched as the lights began to come on in the city.
"Shadow!" I called mentally, not really expecting an answer. Again I looked at Amity Park below me. There were an infinite amount of places he could have been. He really had better have an amazing reason for this. I flew lower, flying just over the buildings, waiting for my ghost sense to go off.
Finally it did. I stopped and looked around, calling Shadow again. Instead I heard, Just what I didn't need, a ghost attack. Darius. I stayed invisible and noticed for the first time that I was floating over a hospital. Darius appeared, looking like he was in intense pain. "Show yourself!" he yelled. "I'm not in the mood to play nice today."
"You don't look like you'd be able to do anything at all." Even my voice sounded different. I became visible, watching his face register anger, then shock.
Darius said nothing, too stunned. His mind though, was full of things to say. It's Danny Phantom! He's back! He saved me last night, and now he's back! How did he beat that ghost? The ultimate enemy? He beat him before though, so I guess it makes sensed…
"I think it would be best if you went back to your hospital room." I turned to fly away.
"Wait! Phantom!" I turned back. "Can we talk?" Vlad and Valerie instantly appeared in front of me, their faces even more ugly than before. I gritted my teeth and walked through them, feeling nothing but still shuddering as their eyes stared at me.
"Sorry. I'm looking for someone. And it's best if I don't stay in one place for too long."
"Why?" I tried not to smirk. He really wanted to talk to his hero, 'Phantom'.
"Because the Ultimate Enemy might come back. I can't ever defeat him for good." Maybe Darius and I could talk for a little while. I could get some information from him. "I guess though, since you've taken over for me, it couldn't hurt." Yet. Vlad and Valerie looked furious. They were floating behind Darius.
The boy looked extremely happy. Okay, I'm going to talk to my hero! Be calm… cool… "We can sit on the roof if it's better for you." I nodded and he flew over to the hospital roof, wincing as he sat down.
"You want to ask me something?" I said, already knowing the question.
"Yeah, actually. Why did you leave? And why did you come back now? You've been gone for over twelve years!"
I thought about it for a moment. "I came back because I had too. I wanted to see this city again. The ultimate enemy followed me though. As for why I left…" Why not tell the truth? "The girl I loved married my best friend."
Darius looked mortified. "Sally and Trent got married?"
It took me a moment to figure out from his mind that those were the names Sam had made up for herself and Tucker. "Yeah."
"But Sally loved you! She always did but could never tell you! Why did she marry Trent?" He spoke Tucker's fake name with contempt. I was silent. So Sam had always loved me. All along.
"Trent spent a lot of time with her while I was fighting ghosts. He fell in love with her and was jealous that Sally loved me instead. So one day he blasted me with a gun that put me into a… the Ghost Zone. I couldn't get back." Telling him I was in a coma would bring up too many questions. "By the time I escaped it was too late."
Darius looked down at his cast. "How dare he do that to you. And Sally. Why didn't she do anything?"
"She couldn't. I was trapped, and she didn't realize how jealous Trent had been, so she thought it was an accident."
"So my mom lied to me. She said you left of your own free will, and that you were fine."
"She might not have known. Don't blame her. Trent kept a lot of secrets from a lot of people. I never knew he loved Sally. I always thought he'd support me if I started a relationship with her. But he stabbed me in the back instead."
Darius glared at the space in front of him. "Why? He always seemed kind in the stories. He always made lame jokes and stuff. Never did he ever seem so… evil."
"There are a lot of things left out of stories. You need to hear more than one side in order to get the whole picture."
"Where is he now? Trent? Hopefully in a ditch somewhere." I could feel the hatred radiating from him and looked away to hide my smirk. "Is he the one you said you were looking for?"
"No. I'm searching for a partner of mine. I'm not sure where Trent is. I saw Sally a couple of times, but I didn't reveal myself."
Darius frowned. "I can't believe they would do that to you. Never would I even think that!"
"I know. I was shocked too, trust me." I stood up. "You should go back to your room now. Someone will notice you're gone."
"Yeah." He's right, even though I don't want to go. He struggled to his feet. I made no move to help. "Thanks Phantom, for saving me last night. And for explaining things."
"No problem." I vanished, watching him look around and then float back to his room. Now I was grinning. I had succeeded where Vlad had failed. I had turned Darius against his father, even if he didn't know it yet. And all it took was two different costumes.
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I resumed my search for Shadow, my ghost sense silent until I approached a large white building. Then it went crazy. I tried to phase through the wall, but it was ghost proof. I smirked again and froze the wall before smashing it to pieces. Ghost proof, but not freeze proof.
Shadow was there, and so were a hundred other ghosts. All of them trapped. An alarm started to blare, and the Guys in White began to show up. I blocked out their distracting thoughts the best I could and found the main control switch. In an instant all of the cages were open, and ghosts were flying everywhere. I watched invisibly for a moment. Darius was going to have his hands full.
I left through the roof and waited outside for Shadow to appear. It did, looking sorry. "They captured me last night at the bridge."
"I'll accept that excuse. Besides, looking like a hero gave me a chance to mess with Darius' head."
Shadow grinned, and swirled around me, changing my appearance to the way it was before. It was good to be back.
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Tucker's POV
His daughter acted strange around him. Tucker told Jamie what had happened, and her response was, "You came out of your office and mom didn't even know?"
Tucker was trying his best to take care of her. But he wasn't doing very well. They had to order take out because Tucker couldn't make anything besides sandwiches. Jamie frowned at this, and said that Chinese food was made of cats and dogs, or at least, that's what Sam had told her.
Tucker was going to watch cartoons with her but she wanted to watch some boring sitcom instead. He sat there; feeling like his brain was turning to mush. Finally it was time for Jamie to go to bed.
"Will you tell me a story, Father?" That was another thing that bothered Tucker. She refused to call him Dad. She always said, Father.
"If you stop calling me that. What do you want to hear about kiddo?"
"Danny Phantom of course! Please, Fa- Dad?"
Tucker looked at her eager face. Sam was right. These kids really did love Danny more than him. Just look at his daughter! But he couldn't refuse, and told her about the time when he was pharaoh of the world, downplaying Danny's role. She didn't like it, and booed at 'Trent' when he sent Danny to the coliseum. Finally she went to sleep though, and Tucker left the room to stew in his own thoughts.
What was it about Danny that made everyone love him? Tucker thought. His powers? His heroism? His personality? Tucker frowned. Sam's argument last night had forced him to think about the past, something he had hoped he could put behind him.
The day Danny was put to sleep was imprinted on Tucker's memory for all time. He was going to ask Sam to be his girlfriend. It had taken him nearly forever to build up the courage. Then he found Danny and asked him if he was okay. But of course he wasn't. Danny had decided to ask Sam to be his girlfriend that day too.
Tucker remembered his shock. He had been unable to focus on anything, and didn't get the chance to talk to Sam either. Then during English class an alarm went off. Tucker remembered looking out the window and seeing Vlad fly towards Danny and Valerie. He and Sam ran from the room in the confusion and worked their way outside.
The Fenton's had arrived, and Tucker vaguely recalled that Jack was explaining what his latest invention was. The Specter Sleeper. Then a fight occurred above him, Jack aimed the gun, and Tucker had tackled him, causing the blast to hit Danny.
Then it was over. Everyone was silent. Danny fell from the sky, changing into his human form, and went into stasis. The Fenton's freaked out, and everything thinkable had been done to help Danny.
And Sam… Tucker had watched her destroy herself. She refused to leave Danny's side. She stopped eating, taking care of herself, and Tucker hated Danny for causing her so much pain. Tucker helped her back from the edge. He took care of her. He held her when she cried. He gave her the one thing Danny never did. Love.
Later he proposed, and she agreed. Tucker was elated. The girl of his dreams was his now. Or so he thought. She was constantly talking about Danny, and when they adopted Darius Tucker couldn't help but notice how much his face looked like his old friend's. Some part of him missed Danny, but another part wanted Sam to be his completely, and that would never happen.
So he locked himself away, leaving Sam to her memories of Danny. Tucker didn't want to think about it, didn't want to be reminded. Because ever since he had proposed to Sam he had the nasty suspicion that he had put Danny into a coma on purpose.