Hey guys.
You all are probably like, "Why does she even set deadlines for herself? She hardly ever meets them." If you're wondering that, it's fine.
So am I!
Okay well, one thing that made this take forever is that I'm currently revising all of the old chapters. I'm not making giant changes that would require you all to start reading from the beginning again to catch what's going on or anything, but grammatical errors and spelling mistakes were fixed. There are as of now, two more chapters and an epilogue, which as I've already said is sort of the opener to TSAC II.
Speaking of the sequel, those of you who asked about TSAC II website, it is up and running and ready to be viewed, but its official opening will be the day that the last chapter is put up along with the first chapter of TSAC II (both are on the same day as suggested by darkbunny92).
I'm really excited about the website now that the music on the individual girls' pages is up and running. I'm also excited for this one because you have…dah-dah-dah-dahhhhhh…visuals! That's right. It took me FOREVER to do it, (haha) but I have gotten you pictures of almost identical look-a-likes to not only the new girls, but also the original girls of TSAC, and their relatives.
Enjoy this chapter (which is a bit on the long side 6,850 words …this chapter is still part of the climax, but it ends with the falling action of the fic), and what's to come,
Keyarrah
Annica held the keys in her hand numbly as Emma placed them in the palm of her hand. Her thumb ran over the leather keychain in silent terror.
"An," Emma said softly, "It's just a car."
Annica shook her head firmly and quickly replied, "No, it's not."
Her voice was thick with unshed tears, and her eyes clouded over. The girls looked at her sympathetically as Annica gathered her composure.
"Forget it, Annica…I can…I'll do it." Raven offered. "We can switch places, and you can look after Ashley or something."
"Don't be afraid of anything."
Annica closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tear that fell, without avail.
"Not just now, Annica. Don't be afraid of anything ever."
"I'm not afraid." Annica finally replied, more to the voice in her head than to her friends.
She clutched onto the car keys and a shiver went up her spine. She walked away briskly before she could change her mind, the only sounds she heard were her bare footsteps crunching in the snow. Now that she was walking and not being chased after, the cold unusual winter wind chilled her arms until they felt numb and unnatural. She made the long trek to the parking lot through the lawn that seemed to go on for at least an acre and a half.
It wasn't hard to find the janitor's car, seeing as it had the school's crest on the side. It was an aged pickup truck. The paint was peeling near the tires and there were spots of rust beneath the cracked speckles of black paint. Annica's head was a million places at once, but she wouldn't allow herself to feel it. She wouldn't be afraid. She wouldn't be afraid. She wouldn't be afraid.
She opened the car swiftly and sat there at the steering wheel. All at once flashbacks of her mother's crushed car went through her mind as the images of her friends' faces swept through her memory.
A single tear made it's way down Annica's face as she struggled to gain composure. She put the car in gear with a shaky breath. Not only were her best friends counting on her, but also so was her sister, most of the students in their school, their mothers…her mother.
"Great…" she said aloud. "I've never driven before, and my first time is gonna be in a rickety old death trap…"
Remembering what she'd learned and seen in the Driver's Ed classes she was forced to take earlier that year, she backed out of the parking lot jerkily.
To help her concentrate she shakily pushed in and turned the old plastic knob on the radio until she heard something besides static.
She didn't really recognize the song or the artist, but it made her feel better somehow. She clutched onto the steering wheel, her sapphire blue chipped nails drumming on the wheel nervously. Her attention snapped to the windshield as the heard the soft pitter-patter of the rain hitting it.
The water held her in a trance-like state as she felt herself delving back into her memories.
"—again, I'm very sorry, Mr. Reed. You're daughter's over here." Annica watched as her father came toward her, his face as stiff as stone, yet more broken than she'd ever seen before.
He picked her up into his arms and carried her away from her mother, or who she used to be at least. Annica held onto her father, little hiccups erupting as he carried her toward his car, where Jacqueline sat in the backseat, her body wracking with sobs.
Her father was so strong as he carried her. He was stiff; he walked as if it were his duty to. However, as Annica clutched onto her father, she felt a warm tear fall on her shoulder, and that's when she realized that her daddy was hurting too.
Annica allowed herself to be placed next to her sister, who clutched onto her. She allowed herself to be buckled in. She allowed herself to nod slightly as her father kissed her forehead. She allowed herself to be cried upon by Jacqueline. But she would not allow herself to be afraid.
She promised.
She promised…
More determined than ever, Annica snapped back to attention only to realize that she'd driven herself right into an empty field. She shook her head in annoyance, and pulled forward; ready to pull the junky vehicle in reverse, when all of a sudden there was a loud thump that startled her.
In the gleam of the winter sun, she could barely make out the silhouette of Sophia Baxter as she landed on the roof of the car with a smirk. Annica screamed and attempted to back up and hopefully throw the woman off of the car only to have her kick a foot through the windshield with a sporting laugh.
Letting out another terrified shriek, Annica scrambled to the backseat and frantically shook the door handle only to find that it was stuck. Sophia, never taking her eyes off of her, phased through the windshield, unharmed by the glass she'd just broken. Annica pushed even harder on the door, only to have it creak slightly.
By the time the door handle began to move Sophia crouched in front of her, and cupped Annica's cheek in her palm.
"C'mon, honey. Vlad's waiting."
Annica responded by kicking her in the face.
Annica kicked the door as hard as she could and fell out of the door because of it. She got up, seeing a pissed off Sophia behind her and ran as fast as she could. She wasn't going down without a fight.
Sam and Jazz kneeled in thicket of trees. They both watched helplessly as Danny tried his hardest to take on the older halfa. Vlad jeered at the teenager, taunting him about how he was supposedly destined for a big future of nothingness. Danny seemed to be taking it to heart in a way that only made him fight Masters harder. As Danny took a hit to the face, Jazz turned to Sam, unable to watch anymore.
Sam and Jazz noted Raven and Emma coming toward them from behind with Ashley in between them. She had an arm around each one of the girls as she tried her hardest to hobble toward them on one leg.
Sam glanced at her sister in concern before her attention was taken back to Danny as he let out an anguished wail.
"That's it, we've got to do something." Tears welled in Jazz's eyes, as she thought of her baby brother doing this all alone.
Sam hung her head low.
"Like what, Jazz? What can we possibly do? If we could do something, I would be doing it right now! You think I like just being here, not able to do anything? Well, I don't!" she snapped angrily.
"Sam, I didn't mean—…Sam, I'm not doubting you." Jazz sighed.
Sam nodded, apologetically.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just…" she trailed off, turning to the other three. "Where are Roxie and Annica?"
Raven, unsure of what to make of what just happened explained, "Roxie's with the guys, and Annica drove off for help."
Jazz and Sam turned to her fearfully.
"Annica's driving?" Sam gaped.
"Annica's alone?!" Jazz inquired, her eyes widened.
The girls exchanged understanding looks of panic. They weren't supposed to leave Annica alone. Someone was supposed to be with her at all times. Not only had they before forgotten about what driving meant to their friend…they'd put her life in danger…they'd put all of their lives in danger.
"We didn't think. We didn't…Ashley was…Oh God." Emma whispered, closing her eyes.
"Oh God, is right." A voice announced from behind them.
The girls whipped around (or slightly turned in Ashley's case) to see Annica coming toward them, her dress in tatters. It was dirtied and her bare feet were muddied. She had a slight cut above her brow and her brown eyes looked slightly glazed over, probably from the excitement of whatever had just happened to her.
Jazz met her with a startling and almost bone-crushing hug. "Annica! Are you okay?"
Annica gave a nod and a shaky smile, as Emma brushed her dress off for her.
"Yeah. I'm good. Roxie helped me find you guys." She nodded behind her, to where Roxie was walking toward them, an annoyed expression crossing her features.
"I didn't find help, but I did happen to run into a bit of trouble with Stepmommy Dearest, though."
Roxie, whose hair was splayed around her shoulders and messy from running about, pulled her hair into a tight ponytail.
"Figures since Princess-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-Paulina is out and about on a ghostly rampage. She woke up in a super-pissy mood, btw. Oh, and guess who got to play decoy? Apparently, in the midst of all of our excitement, we forgot that 1.) Paulina's possessed and more psycho than usual, and is probably going to kill us,
"2.) The fracking MAYOR is going to kill us if Preppy Princess Prostitute-blah-blah-blah-Paulina doesn't kill us, and 3.) THERE IS STILL SNOW ON THE GROUND, and we will die from the cold if we don't die from the latter." She hissed.
Jazz sighed, ignoring the puff that her breath made in the air.
"Okay, fine. Roxie, although she said it in a frank and irritable sort of way, is right. We've got to do something fast. Our options are incredibly limited, and right now, we're getting our butts handed back to us."
Sam agreed, "It's obvious that those…creatures were used to tire us out so that we'd be absolutely no help to Danny by the time we got done with them. We also can't forget the fact that Vlad knows that we've got hundreds of people to get out of the way, and I doubt that he'd waste any time moving them out of the way to get to us."
Annica spoke up, "I've got a plan."
Before any of them could say or do anything, Annica strode out from behind their hiding spot.
"Annica, what are you doing?" Ashley hissed.
Ashley's inquisition seemed to fall upon deaf ears. Annica broke into a run until she arrived directly below Danny and Vlad. Vlad flung Danny away from him and looked down at Annica before swooping down. Annica stood her ground firmly and stared him down as he landed before her.
He took his chin between his index finger and his thumb, his thumb just centimeters from her lips, which were pursed in what could have been sheer will.
"So tell me, young sweetheart. What have you to tell me?" Vlad's voice rang through the air just loud enough for the girls to hear.
Annica turned to her friends, her brown eyes looking as if they could burn through them. "They're over there."
Emma, Sam, Roxie, Jazz, Raven, and Ashley stood in disbelief as Annica pointed a finger toward them. Her eyes were trained on the thicket of trees. Her eyes…they were brown. But how?
Instantly, twelve ghostly guards grabbed the girls, two of them holding one firmly. The guards were glowing an eerie transparent white just like an average stereotypical ghost.
They were at least six feet tall, and weighed more than all six of them put together, plus maybe Dash and Tucker. Their eyes were sunken into what could be called their heads, and their mouths were grim and menacing-looking.
"WHAT THE HELL, BRITANNICA?!" Roxie screamed, wriggling in between the two guards who had clasped themselves onto her. "YOU LIED TO US!"
Annica threw her a nonchalant look. "I said that I had gotten into trouble, Roxanne. I didn't say that I had gotten out of it."
Danny, who'd just made his way back to them looked at the scene before him in utter confusion and shock. Annica was standing with Vlad, their friends, his sister, and his girlfriend were being held captive and out of the corner of his eye, he could note Paulina and Sophia heading straight for them.
"Leave them out of this, Plasmius. This is between you and I. This has nothing to do with them!" Danny bellowed angrily.
Vlad only waved him off.
"I warned you, Daniel. The moment that you turned me away, this became their battle too. Now, Ramón, Jefferson. Bring her here."
Danny got ready to leap as the two guards known as 'Ramón' and 'Jefferson' dragged Sam to his enemy. Vlad held up a hand before he could move.
"Move an inch, Daniel, and I'll be sure to snap her pretty little neck." Vlad threatened.
Danny stood still, but seethed nonetheless.
"Now. Make a decision, Daniel," Vlad told him, "I can kill her in front of you now, or I can make her kill you before I kill her. Either way, you both die."
Danny's eyes flashed a deeper shade of green as he landed on the football field, still sure to keep his distance from Vlad and Sam.
"Don't you get it, son?" Vlad asked him humorously as he rose up into the air. "I always win. Always. When you wake up, I'll win. When you go to sleep, Daniel, I will win. And my favorite part about all of this is that there is absolutely, positively," He formed a ball of ectoplasm in his fingertips and brought it near Sam's throat. "nothing that you can do about that."
He turned to Sam, a smile forming on his lips. "So tell me, Miss. Manson. Are you ready to die?"
Ashley, doing the first thing she could think to do, let out an earsplitting scream, causing the ghosts holding her and the other to let go in order to hold their ears. Sam used that opportunity to bite Vlad and clumsily fall from his grasp.
Luckily, Vlad hadn't gotten far enough off of the ground for Sam to get hurt. She landed on her knees and got up quickly, following her friends as they quickly hurried away.
"Thanks," Sam told her sister breathlessly.
Ashley grinned. "I owed you one."
"Of course." Vlad seethed, rubbing his wrist where Sam had bitten him as he threw a dirty look at Danny, who also looked a bit affected by Ashley. "You'd be the one to pick a difficult girlfriend."
Vlad ignored the ringing in his ears, and harshly waved a hand toward his minions. "Get them back."
He turned to Annica and put a finger under her chin and said, "Go make me proud."
Annica nodded and beckoned Sophia and Paulina before all three of them disappeared.
"Okay, not that it wasn't really good and all, but Ashley, what was that?" Roxie asked, panting a bit as they ran through the thicket of trees that had once been their hiding spot.
Beyond the thicket was town, not far from where they'd all gotten their costumes and much of their 'winter' gear.
"That, was how I got a pony for my fifth birthday, and how I plan on getting a car for my fifteenth." Ashley explained, cursing as her heel snagged on a bushel of branches.
"It's too bad you won't live to see past fourteen, kiddo." Six heads swung around to see Sophia, perched up in a tree, her legs swinging childishly.
"Okay, people really need to stop popping up out of nowhere, us included." Ashley grumbled.
They went to back up, until Sam felt something in back of her. She turned around to see a slightly smirking Paulina.
"Hmm, Manson. Turns out that I might be getting Danny after all."
Annica walked out to the right of them. The only direction they had to run in was toward the school, which obviously would lead them nowhere.
"Annica, what are you doing? We're your best friends. We…want to save you." Sam tried to remind her in a pleading tone.
"My best friends? Oh, because you love and care about me so much, Sam, that you sent me to my death in a basically condemned vehicle just to save your little boyfriend?" She walked in front of Sam in anger.
"Oh dear, you worked so hard to get him and now he's going to be taken away from you. Hate to see you not get your way for once, huh, Samantha? You know, with what you did at the Cupcake competition to get his attention…why it almost makes me wonder what else you'd do to keep him."
Sam looked at her in shock.
What was she talking about? Did she really put Danny in front of Annica? No, she didn't. How could she have possibly known that Annica was in trouble? Annica was paired up with Emma, and she had been paired up with Jazz. Sam's job in this whole thing was to get to Danny. Something wasn't right, besides the fact that their friend was obviously possessed.
"And Emma, so fast to tell me that it was 'just a car'. You have no idea what I've been through, blondie. As always you're so self-centered and concerned about what's happening in 'Emilyland' that you couldn't once ask me what was wrong? But no. Nothing's as important when Emily Court has an audience and a mirror."
Emma stared at her best friend in hurt and shock.
"You know, all of this could have been prevented, if sweet little Ashley didn't always have to have to spotlight,"
Annica walked toward them menacingly.
"'Oh no! Help me! I'm the misfit Manson! What shall I do to earn Mommy and Daddy's love? Hm. Maybe I'll act up. But wait, they only got sick of me and my little 'antics' like the rest of the world is soon to do, and they shipped me off to school with Sam. Boo-fricking-hoo. Now I know what I'll do, I'll ride my sister's coattails and share her friends. You know, since I'm too much of a little freak to make my own. Oh, look at me. I've got pretty-fake blonde hair. But maybe if I stopped dressing and acting like the 'cool' person that I'm not, I'd soon realize that everybody hates me, including myself.'" she mocked.
Ashley's eyes hardened and Annica took a few more steps forward, turning to the eldest of the group.
"And Jazz, so smart…yet such a lying little bitch. You pretend to be so smart, and so perfect, and yet we both know that that is biggest pile of bull that the world has ever seen...or hasn't seen yet. Oh, but you're so pretty…and you're so intelligent…but you will never be perfect. Tell me, Jazz, why is it that you try so hard? I never really understood it before, but I really get it now. Your brother is Danny Phantom. Oh, if I were a big pile of nothing, I'd put on an intelligent façade too. Oh, but you sure did fool one person, didn't you? So tell me, honey, how long until Dash realizes that you'll never ever be the person you make yourself out to be? Actually, while we're at it, how long until you realize it?"
The others sent Jazz a look through their hurt and confusion. Jazz and Dash? Annica was on roll, and didn't seem to be stopping just yet.
"Oh, and speaking of 'façades' that brings me to you, Roxanne. You know, I've always wondered if you wake up every morning and practice your 'smile'. It's almost as much a joke as you are. Oh please, stop glaring at me. Little Miss. 'Dark, Brood, and Offending', why we know who you are on the inside. Broken and ashamed. I realized something in our years of friendship, Roxie. You never really seem to talk about yourself. Oh sure, we hear the things that you want us to hear, but that's about it. You know how they say that 'hurting people hurt people'? Well, it is needless to say that your sarcasm gets a little bit tiring and just so old. Now, I won't tell the whole wide world your secret about what Daddy did. How he left your poor broken little family back at home with your mother. Oh, and how she works herself half-dead to provide for you and your brother Jamie. I also certainly won't let in on exactly how you got into this school, but just remember that the world tires of a one-trick pony, and soon they're gonna want more. Can you do that, Roxie? Can you give a bit more? Or was it all taken away? Did you ever really have it?"
Roxie clenched her fists and bared her teeth furiously. "You don't know what you're talking about, Annica. So shut up."
Annica ignored her and turned to Raven.
"Now onto our next and final charity case. Raven, why do you even bother? I mean, yeah, you supposedly 'helped' Sam, but in all actuality, we would have seen the fliers anyway. We didn't ask for you to be the messenger, which in that case, probably should have been shot. But…why are you with us? Honestly, the only reason why we tolerate you is because we don't want to look…well…racist. Have you ever noticed that you're the only black girl here, mixed in with six white girls? You never wondered why? I mean, we couldn't just tell you go to away, that would look bad, and as I said for the others, they don't particularly favor looking bad. So why don't you go do us a favor, and go away now. You've had your fun playing with the big girls, now why don't you go find a couple friends that you can relate to."
Raven stared at her gaping, tears looking ready to fill her eyes.
"It's not true, Rae. None of us feel like that." Jazz told her softly. "I promise you that."
The six of them looked astounded at Annica. Their emotions ranged from hurt, anger, confusion, and just blind fury in Roxie's case.
"So you six, are supposed to be my best friends?" Annica laughed bitterly. "You want to save me? How cute. How disgustingly cute. And another thi—"
Eight different heads turned as Annica's body was engulfed in a sky-blue light and then they watched as it fell limp to the ground, her limbs splayed over the branches and leaves. A moment later Paulina and Sophia lay not far from her.
"You know," said a familiar voice. "She seemed a lot nicer a few days ago."
Perched upon spectral looking horses, there in jeans and t-shirts were Melanie and Melody, both holding high-tech looking thermoses.
"I swear…after today, I am never going back to the zoo." Raven murmured to Emma who couldn't help but smirk.
"You two couldn't have done that two minutes before she called me a bitch?" Jazz asked, submerged in confusion.
The twins both shrugged.
"So…are they okay?" Roxie asked, still annoyed by her friend's words.
Melanie nodded. "Yeap. They're fine. They should actually be waking up pretty soon. They should remember everything, though the details will most likely be hazy." Melody nodded in agreement.
"So…who exactly are you two? And what are those things?" Ashley questioned.
"Us?" Melody laughed. "We're store owners, duh. Our sister Valerie, however, is a little more than that. It's…complicated. Anyway, these things, are modified Fenton Thermoses. Heard of those, Jazz?" she joked.
Jazz gave a small smile. "You guys just…came here alone? Randomly?"
Melanie and Melody shared a look and shook their heads in unison. "We brought a friend. He's around here…somewhere."
A soft groan was heard as Annica sat up, holding her head.
Everyone ran and hugged Annica except for Roxie.
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean any of it, I swear. It was like…my mouth was moving, but I wasn't the one talking and—" Ashley interrupted her with a tight hug.
"It's cool," Ashley beamed. "We all knew it couldn't have been you. You were like…channeling Paulina or Hayley Marshall or something."
"Who's Hayley Marshall?" Sam asked.
"This girl. She hates you, by the way." Sam blinked and decided to forget it.
Annica laughed, feeling as things had gotten back to normal. She turned to all of her friends for hugs and apologies, and got just that until she turned to Roxie.
"Ow!" Annica cried out. "What was that for?"
Roxie glared. "That was for calling me broken, and a whole bunch of other things that offended me that I don't remember right now, but I will later." She then hugged her, but not before punching her again.
Another groan was heard as Paulina sat up in utter confusion.
"Quick, someone knock her back out…" Roxie muttered, letting Annica go.
Not far from Paulina, Sophia Baxter stood up. "Where's Carter? …And why do I feel like I know you girls?"
"Because you tried to kill us, marry her dad, and that one's apparently been secretly snogging your kid." Emma nodded at Jazz. "Which we will talk about later." She gave a pointed look at Jazz.
Jazz turned pale before reddening.
Paulina interrupted. "Enough catching up! We've got to go save my Phan—my Danny! He's still in danger." Sam gave her a death glare and eyed the thermos.
"Wait, gimmie, I think she's still possessed." Jazz waved her off, regaining her composure.
"As much as the first part of that sentence was oh-so-incorrect, the second part wasn't. Danny really is still in danger, and—what are they doing here?" Jazz's gaze went to Tucker and Dash, looking incredibly tired and making their way towards them.
"Aren't you guys supposed to be watching the thousands of students and making sure they don't…hm…let's see…die?" Raven questioned.
Dash nodded. "All taken care of, explain later…or not. Whichever. It's taken care of." His eyes fell on his mother who stared at him in disbelief.
"Dash…I am so sorry…" Sophia began. Dash looked away and found himself looking directly at Jazz as he spoke.
"It's fine." He cut her off. "Now, let's go save Fenton's butt in exchange for all the times he's apparently saved ours."
It was like a flurry of lights as Danny and Vlad hurled ectoplasm at each other. Shots of red and green showered the field, varying from the sky to the ground.
Now with added guests, the girls found themselves amongst the thicket of trees once more, planning out their next move.
"So, what? You can't just shoot that thing at him and let it all be over and done with?" Emma asked the twins.
"No way," Melanie replied.
"Vlad is way too powerful for this thing. He'd split it in two if given the chance. We were lucky enough it worked on those three." Melody finished.
"Okay, well, what about that friend of yours? Can't he do something?" Paulina questioned.
"Of course. He can do everything." Melody informed.
The others looked excited.
"Well, great! Let's get him and we can do this thing." Tucker said, clapping his hands together.
Melanie shook her head. "He can do everything, but he never really does. It's hard to explain. He'll be around when he's needed and no other time but then. If he felt that it was necessary, he could have prevented the whole thing to begin with."
Sputters of anger and annoyance were heard as the twins shushed them all. "Relax. He knows what he's doing. Now, until then, we wait." Melody informed.
The thirteen of them stood there in a cluster, watching as Danny fought his archenemy his hardest.
"Give up, Daniel. I win. I told you, I always win."
Danny was caught off guard as a beam whizzed past his head. Vlad grabbed him and Danny fought against him with all his might, only to find that Vlad's grasp was way too strong.
"Remember the dream in which Sam turned on you? She killed you in that dream, Danny, remember? That was me."
Danny struggled harder.
"Remember how Paulina had told the world your secret in the other one? Everyone turned against you, Danny, even your own parents. That was also me." Vlad was beaming now.
"Oh! And you must remember the one in which all of your family and friends were dead because you didn't listen to me like you were supposed to and—oh. I'm sorry that one wasn't a dream. That is what is going to happen now."
Danny's eyes glowed in morbid fury.
"Well, Vlad. If the boy remembers those, then he must remember the dream of what is really going to happen."
The two in the sky and the thirteen on the ground peered curiously at the little ghost making his way toward the two halfas. He had a booming voice for such a small thing, but it was a voice that somehow suited him, and demanded respect in a gentle sort of way.
"That's him?" Dash deadpanned. "You sent a baby…a medallion holding baby?"
"It's not a baby, Dash! It's a man! Can't you see, stupido?" Paulina glowered.
"It's an old man...'stupido'" Ashley corrected, looking on as the ghost transfigured.
"You're all correct…well, sort of. It's Clockwork." Jazz looked at the twins to confirm, which they did.
"Remember the dream, Danny, in which you woke up to a beautiful young amethyst-eyed woman, and three gorgeous children? Remember the house? The love you felt? The rest of those dreams might have been Vlad, Danny, but that one was all me."
Danny gaped at Clockwork as Vlad loosened his grasp on him.
"What are you doing here?" Vlad seethed. "This has nothing to do with you."
Clockwork, who had transfigured once again into a middle-aged looking ghost, held up his hand in disagreement.
"Oh, but Plasmius, it does. You were trying to rearrange time and the future itself. I believe that is my jurisdiction, is it not?"
Vlad was beyond irate. "This has nothing to do with you." He repeated.
Clockwork kept his casual tone as he replied back, "Excuse me for disagreeing. Now, let him go, Vlad. You and I have much to discuss."
Clockwork's warm and vivid red eyes held no anger, but his tone showed that he was serious.
Vlad didn't answer. He just shoved Danny out of the way before letting blasting an ectoplasmic beam full-force toward who he viewed to be his new enemy.
Clockwork just shook his head and held up his medallion. The red ghostly blast seemed to freeze in midair before turning back around to hit Vlad before he realized what was going on.
Vlad hit the ground with a harsh 'thud'.
"Well, Plasmius. In that case…I believe that your time is up." Clockwork flicked the medallion at Vlad, letting it fall onto his chest. There was a dome of red light surrounded the older halfa and no words were spoken.
"Wh-where'd he go?" Danny asked, staring at the medallion as it lay in the grass.
Clockwork gave a soft smile as Danny came to land next to him, turning back into his regular blue-eyed self. "You let me worry about that, Danny. Let's just say that he has an impromptu meeting with the counsel in about ten minutes. Now, I believe there are a group of people not too far away who'd like to see you."
Danny turned around to see his friends, Paulina, Mrs. Baxter, and two identical looking girls whom he didn't recognize standing not too far away.
As they made their way toward everyone, Danny couldn't help but engulf Sam into a deep hug. He hung his head down a bit to bury his chin in her hair, which was windblown and messy, not that either of them cared in the slightest.
"You gave Danny the dreams?" Raven inquired. Clockwork shook his head.
"No, not all of them. I gave Danny one or two, possibly three, but not the ones that deprived him from sleep at night…except for that last one." Danny's eyes met Sam's as Clockwork said that.
"'Amethyst-eyed woman', huh? Anyone we know?" Roxie smirked, ignoring the incredibly deep sulking fit that Paulina had just gone into.
Sam and Danny smiled at each other, both of them recognizing the blush on each others and their own faces.
"So wait…" Tucker pieced together. "If Vlad gave Danny the scary-ish dreams, and you gave Danny that good dream, what was up with those weird dreams? And why did one of them come true?"
Clockwork raised an eyebrow. "One of them?"
Tucker's eyes widened. "…Wait. …You mean…I was in a dress? When did that happen?!"
Clockwork looked away and Roxie coughed a little, looking back at the trees.
'Ooh…look, a robin. Fly away...fly away robin...and take me with you...' Roxie thought anxiously.
"So…anyway, Mr. Time-Changing-Ghost-Man, can we…have our moms back? 'Cause my mom's got a ten o'clock flight to England tonight to see my grandparents, and…yeah." Emma shrugged.
The ghost laughed. "Yes, of course, Emily. Now, before we do that, Danny, I must ask, what about your secret?"
Danny looked at him in confusion as he continued to hold on to Sam. "What about it? I mean…it's out now, isn't it?"
Clockwork nodded. "Yes, but it doesn't have to be. They," he looked at Ashley, Raven, Roxie, Annica, Emma, Paulina, Mrs. Baxter and the twins, "can easily forget."
"Well…I don't know. Sam?" He looked down at Sam to see tears running down her eyes.
"Uhm…yes." She nodded. "Except…I want to forget too."
Danny let go of Sam to look her straight on. "What?"
Sam shook her head and sniffled. "Danny…today…was beyond crazy. We all almost died more times than I can count on all of our fingers, and I almost lost you twice as many times as that. The way that I found out, well, I know it wasn't the way that you would have wanted me to find out if you were given the chance to tell me.
"Danny…I love you, I'm absolutely positively sure of it. And it's because of that, that I want you to fully know that I love you—both sides of you—not just because I have to, or because it was forced on me, but because I just do."
She closed her eyes and turned to Clockwork sullenly. "Can you…please just do it?"
Danny stood next to her, mouth agape. He didn't quite know what to say to that, and either decision seemed like the wrong one. If he didn't let her do it, it was selfish, but if he let her do it, something could go wrong…or everything could go the way it was really meant to.
Roxie however, seemed to have already make the decision for him.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!" Roxie stomped her foot. "As touching and tear-jerking and blah-blah-blah as all of that was, this is my memory we're talking about here. So just because her boyfriend is the one who can go through walls, does not give her the right to do stuff to my brain! I want to remember, and I am going to remember." She loudly declared huffily, using her arms and hands to emphasize her point.
She turned to Sam and rolled her eyes. "And so help me, Manson, if you try and forget I swear that I will remind you every single day of your natural born life. I will carve it into your walls like some freaky cult-classic movie if I have to."
Her declaration received a few chuckles, even from Sam. Around them, the others nodded in agreement.
"Well, Miss. Manson. It would appear that you have been outvoted. Would you like a recount?" Sam laughed and wiped her face.
"Not necessary, thank you." Danny grinned at her.
"Sam, I love you too. And there is no doubt in my mind that I do…and I have for a while. I don't know how long I have, but I have. I don't know, maybe it was when I was standing there watching you prance around a stage in what was probably less than a bathing suit,"
Sam laughed at the horrible memory.
"or maybe it was one of those days that I sat behind you in class, and watched you do that thing with your hair." He tried to demonstrate but failed, earning another laugh from the girl beside him.
"But I know that I love you, Samantha Manson. And I'm glad that you know my secret…'cause nothing really seems worth having unless…I can have it with you." Danny smiled sheepishly.
"Aww…" Ashley grinned. "Well, then, I hope hamburgers aren't worth having, 'cause she's definitely not having any of that."
Emma pinched her. "Way to ruin the moment, Ash."
Ashley stuck her tongue out, "Oh, go look in a mirror!" Emma mock glared.
"Not cool!"
In the midst of their bickering, Clockwork turned to Danny and Sam. "So your secret…?"
Danny shrugged.
"It's out. Why not? I understand the dangers and the implications, but…well, I'm a little bit more than convinced that my friends and family can handle themselves if I'm not around. …Which won't be too often." He added, casting a worried look at how bruised and beat-up everyone looked.
Clockwork nodded.
"So, what was up with those weird dreams I had?" Danny finally asked.
The other ghost laughed. "Those, young Daniel, were just a few of my favorite memories of the future that I thought I might share."
Danny looked even more confused as if he were missing something as Clockwork winked at Sam who was grinning.
Clockwork went to disappear, but first turned to Sam.
"By the way, Miss. Manson. The game ends with you." Sam stopped smiling and only nodded in thought as the ghost disappeared.
Danny turned to his girlfriend. "What game?"
Sam shrugged, but lied easily. "I…have no idea. Now, let's go, I think our parents are back!"
Everyone hurriedly made their way back to the school with Ashley piggybacking on Dash. The others hurried back, eager to see their mothers once more, as Jazz hung back a little.
She looked back at the field and the broken debris as her eye caught something. She picked up a small medallion and held it flat in her palm.
Jazz finally began to walk away from the field, and away from a tale that no one but they who were there would know, or believe.
Ah! You all do not know how hard that was for me to crank out! Haha. Okay, so I honestly sat here for over five hours (with a really sucky head cold and about a thousand tissues surrounding me) to get this one out.
Ten pages, people! Ten! And almost 6,500 words! Ahh! Haha. I will go somewhere and cry if I do not get reviews for my hard work, or at least in pity for the fact that I feel like I just got run over by a dump truck! ;)
Love you all, Chapter 21 will be out…as soon as I catch my breath and find some medicine.
Keyarrah
P.S. There was your double-shoutout Hayley! X's and O's to my sickly brethren!...Or Sister...en. Whatever. I'm going to sleep, haha.