A/N: Well, how's it going? Getting juicy yet? You bettcha!! Remember that Danny, Sam and Tucker are at the museum in Shadesville and Danny has been attacked again by another Spectre, who is now working for Jiva. Now, here is Chapter 21. Enjoy and, of course, IDNOAC!
Shadow of a Doubt—Chapter 21—Anxious Attack
Sam looked at Tucker and Tucker looked at her. They both had heard the same noises: a strange-sounding ectoplasmic blast and a thud. Whipping out their weapons—Libro and the PDA—they ran toward the main room.
Anxiously searching in the dark room, they finally caught a glimpse of something on the floor and something else hovering over it. Libro immediately leapt right out of Sam's hands and flew his covers open, emitting a powerful greenish-white light as he hurled himself at Bhuto. His light emblazed the entire room, and both Sam and Tucker had to momentarily shield their eyes.
The shadow ghost shrieked in intense pain and was immediately thrust back to the Ghost Zone with the force from the beam.
"Danny!" both Sam and Tucker cried when they caught sight of him in the light. They ran up to him and knelt by his unconscious ghost form, just as Libro dulled and fell to the floor again. Sam and Tucker looked down at their friend in the now darkened room and were momentarily blinded again with the light of his transformation rings as he reverted back to his human form.
Sam touched Danny when her eyes finally adjusted, and he immediately groaned. "Danny!" she breathed again.
He opened his eyes and smiled weakly through his blurry vision when he first saw her. Then his eyes frantically skittered around. He frowned in doubt and confusion, then uttered, "Uh, what are you doing here, Sam? And why is it so dark? I don't like it here! Uh, aren't you supposed to be home or something?"
"C'mon, Tucker! Help me get him up!" the girl commanded and together the two friends helped Danny up to a sitting position.
"Tucker?" Danny murmured, finally seeing him, "Where are we? And why are we in this dark room? I hate dark rooms!"
"Dude, we're at the museum in Shadesville, looking for clues, remember?"
Danny just looked at him in confusion, not understanding what Tucker had said.
"He's been hit by the Spectre that Libro attacked! We have to find the wound, Tucker!" Sam commanded again, and together, they began to examine their friend.
But Danny objected, pulling away from them, "What are you guys doing? Stop it! You're making me nervous!"
Tucker pulled back, but Sam didn't, and she struggled to get him to cooperate. "Tucker, help me!" she commanded again.
Tucker again tried to help but then Danny grew angry and his eyes burned green. "You're both being crazy!' he yelled, pulling more forcefully away when his friends ignored him. He shoved Tucker off of him.
"And you're acting like a friggin' dweeb!" Sam firmly said, grabbing his hands and struggling with him. "Look, I know you can't help it, but you have to stop fighting me! Let me help you!"
Danny was still trying to get her to let go, but not with as much vigor upon hearing her insult. "Uh, wait, what did you just call me? Did you just call me a dweeb?" he asked her, appalled, although his mind was still being affected by the ray.
"No, I called you a friggin' dweeb! Now, listen! We have to find the wound! You were shot by a Spectre!"
Tucker was already pulling out the reed leaves and pods he had kept from their attack at Ombre's pier. Then he saw Danny's wound and he yelled to Sam, "The wound is on his back, Sam! I see the green blood!"
"And he's beginning to burn with fever again!" Sam yelled back, still struggling to get Danny to lie down.
But ignoring both of his friends, Danny yelled in panic, "Spectre? The Spectre have been here? I can't fight them all! And they hurt me so badly the last time! What am I going to do?" He suddenly felt more lost and he didn't know that his desperation had triggered his transformation back into Danny Phantom.
He suddenly let go of Sam and brought his hands together. He wrung them intensely together and uttered, "Spectre! They're all over the place! I got to get out of here!"
Then he started to get up and Sam commanded, "Danny, stop it! Please! Just calm down and let us help you!" She grabbed him by his hands again and struggled harder.
And suddenly, Danny thought about his nightmare, the one he had about Sam and her claws.
"No, Sam, don't!" he cried and willed his own wulf claws out.
Sam gasped at his sudden change in demeanor. He was no longer just confused. He was confused, fearful and angry. She pulled away and he fell back. But then he soared upward, readying his claws to attack her.
Sam and Tucker both gasped helplessly when suddenly Libro flew between Sam and Danny. He flung his covers open and emitted a very intensely blue, hot light which was so strong that Danny shielded his eyes and screamed.
"Get away!" he demanded as he lashed out at the book.
But Libro quickly dodged the boy's swipe and intensified the light and heat.
Panting heavily in panic, the ghost boy flew upward, trying to avoid Libro's energy beams. But Libro would not yield and continued in his attack. Danny charged back with his claws, but because of the light, could not locate Libro's position. Still, the teen swiped wildly and rushed toward the book. Just at the last moment, when it looked as if Danny's claws were going to run Libro through, the book darted away and Danny slammed into the wall that had been behind Libro.
At that precise moment, Libro jerked around and shot his powerful beam of blue light and heat right at Danny's wound.
Danny screamed in immense pain and fell unconscious to the floor below. The boy then reverted back to his human form. Libro quickly extinguished his light and floated downward and landed right next to the still boy just as Sam and Tucker rushed over.
"Danny!" they both screamed as they got to him.
But he didn't respond.
Tucker looked in fear at his friend, and did not notice that Libro had his covers open and was writing. But Sam did and quickly read what he was saying.
"He'll be all right, Sam!" Libro wrote, "His wound is healed! Just let him rest a while." He then quickly and quietly shut his cover.
"Thank you," Sam gently said to Libro, brushing Danny's raven hair off his face. He was still wet with sweat and a little warm, though his fever was now gone.
But Tucker looked at Sam with shock and fear, "Did you just say, 'Thank you'? What for? Why did Libro attack him? I thought he was our friend! Is Danny going to be all right?" He was obviously very upset that Libro had done that to his friend.
"Libro must have some healing powers, Tucker, because he just told me that Danny is healed!" Sam said, trying to assure her friend.
Tucker blinked in as much confusion as Danny had been. "But how…?" he began, but she interrupted him…
"Remember I told you he could write? Well, he just told me that Danny is going to be all right, Tucker! Now help me get Danny off the floor. I saw a bench in the back room. We can put him there until he comes to."
"OK, Sam," Tucker muttered, still trying to sort everything out.
Sam placed Libro in her backpack and then both she and Tucker gently lifted Danny and started to carry him to the back room.
But just as they were weaving through the circular display of rings, Tucker noticed the change in two of the rings encased there.
"Hey!" Tucker exclaimed. "Did you see that, Sam? A couple of the rings in that case weren't glowing before and now they are!"
Sam glanced over at them and said between gasps, "That's great, Tucker! But can we sight-see after we put Danny down?"
They finally got their friend to the back room and lay him on the bench. Sam spied some soft packaging material and rolled it up and placed it under his head. She smiled weakly now that she was satisfied that he would be comfortable until he came to.
"OK. Danny should be all right for now, Tucker. How about you go on ahead and look at those rings. I'll be right there in a minute, OK?"
"Sure, Sam," he said, though she could tell by his voice that he was still obviously upset. Sam placed her hand gently on his shoulder just as he turned to go. He stopped and looked at her.
He was surprised at how softly her eyes matched her voice as she said, "Hey! I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about Libro in the first place. He is our friend and we all can trust him. I knew he wouldn't hurt Danny. So, don't worry, OK?" And she gave him a quick, though sincere, hug as she added, "Uhm, and thanks, you know, as always, for everything!
"Sure, Sam," he said, and Sam sighed, satisfied that this time her friend's voice also sounded relieved. He smiled weakly and headed out to the main room.
Sam quickly took Libro out of her backpack and remarked, "Uh, thank you again, Libro! But why didn't you do this at the pier?"
Libro opened his covers and wrote, "I thought you might ask. I can heal small wounds. What happened at the pier was beyond my powers. But I knew the reeds would definitely work. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before."
Sam smiled and glanced back at Danny; and then looked at Libro again and replied, "That's OK, my friend. After all, it's only the third time you saved Danny. But who's counting?"
Libro quickly flipped his covers open and shut again before shuddering and then quieting completely. Sam gently placed the book into her backpack. Then she lightly and gently caressed Danny's cheek. He was still a little warm but he definitely wasn't sweating any more. She hurried to join Tucker.
As she neared, she could see that Tucker had a frown on his face.
"What's wrong, Tucker?" she asked him even though he was still a little ways from her. The girl's face immediately scrunched up in worry when she saw the expression on his face.
"The rings!" he moaned. "They're not glowing any more! They were glowing when we went by them carrying Danny."
Sam finally drew near enough and just as she was approaching her friend's side, two of the rings began to glow again.
"What did you do?" Tucker asked in awe.
"Nothing, I swear!" she insisted but her quick mind concluded, "Do you think maybe they glowed when Danny was near them? Well, Libro's in my backpack. Maybe the rings recognize ghostly things or something!"
"Well, let's test that!" he said as he went up to Sam and opened her backpack. He hesitated, and instead of reaching in, he asked, "May I, Libro?" He paused again, but then reached in and pulled Libro out. "Thanks man, I mean, Libro!" he uttered, very pleased that the book trusted him after all. Now he was no longer afraid of Libro.
"OK, Sam, Libro and I are going to walk away now." He proceeded to do just that and the rings immediately dulled.
Sam enthusiastically said, "They've stopped glowing, Tucker! Now walk back with Libro, OK?"
Tucker nodded and as he and the book approached, the two of the rings glowed again. Tucker was surprised that Libro shuddered a little as well. But he shrugged it off, smiled and remarked, "Hey, you were right, Sam! These rings must sense other ghosts!"
"And that's why Danny didn't notice that Spectre! His ghost sense would have been triggered by the rings, too!"
"I can't wait to tell him! Hey, don't you think we need to check on him?" Tucker asked, still holding Libro.
They both didn't need any more encouragement for that and they headed back to where their friend was.
Sam put her hand on Danny's forehead. It felt normal. She caressed the rest of his face and he suddenly groaned and his eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Sam? What are you doing here?" he muttered, but then his mind began to clear, and he jolted with his first memory. "Uh, did you just call me a dweeb?" he asked, reflexively putting his hand to his forehead.
She chuckled in relief and said, "No, a friggin' dweeb!" But before he could respond to that comment, she added, "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I think so. What happened?"
"You got attacked by another Spectre!" she softly said.
"And Libro healed you again!" Tucker blurted out, holding the book up for Danny to see. The bespectacled boy was relieved that his friend seemed to be OK.
Danny blinked and looked at Sam and then at Tucker. He had only a vague memory on what happened. He then smiled nervously and said, "Did I do anything stupid?"
"Not anything a friggin' dweeb wouldn't do!" Sam teased, quickly grabbing his hand and squeezing it with reassurance to let him know that she was just kidding. "But we're glad that you look and seem better."
Danny smiled in embarrassment and replied, "Well, thanks again, guys, and especially you again, Libro!"
The book shuddered, acknowledging the boy's appreciation.
Danny continued, "It sure is easy for these Spectre to kick my butt! And obviously, my Blazers didn't do me any good this time, either."
"Well, he did hit you from behind, the jerk!" Tucker said, trying to bolster his friend's feelings.
"But why didn't my ghost sense alert me?"
"It did! But you thought it was because of the ghost rings!" Sam assured him.
"That's right! I remember now!" Danny said, suddenly brightening. "And speaking of those rings, we should get back to those clues!"
"Only if you think you're OK, dude," Tucker replied, touching his friend on the shoulder.
"I'm fine, really, Tuck! Don't worry, OK?" Danny said, placing his hand on Tucker's shoulder in turn.
Sam and Tucker then told Danny all about what happened with the rings and with renewed earnest, they all headed back to the ring room.