Another gripping chapter has arrived! You guys are wanting more so here you go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters...blah, blah, blah! I think it's safe to say I clearly don't own the characters, just this story.

Chapter 38

Rescue

Sam rushed back to the clock shop as fast as she could. She wasn't going to wait for Tucker and Valerie to come to the cave. She didn't care if people saw how different she currently looked like. All she cared about was getting Danny away from Vlad. When she arrived and went upstairs, she saw Tucker and Valerie's bodies glowing purple and frozen in place. 'Of course Clockwork saw this coming…'

"Clockwork! Where are you?" Sam yelled.

Clockwork came out of his study. "You should know better than to sic a Cecaelia and a young adult human on me, Samantha," he scolded.

Sam turned her attention to the Master of Time. "Well, standing around like a bunch of Congressmen is not going to save Danny," said Sam. "Could you please unfreeze them? We need to think of a plan to save Danny."

Clockwork held up his Time Staff. "Time in," he said as he pressed a button. Valerie and Tucker were unfrozen.

"What have I told you about using that weird staff?" Valerie asked angrily.

"Sam! Sorry, we tried getting him to talk but then Valerie lost her temper and well, you know the rest," said Tucker.

"It doesn't matter," said Sam. "We need to figure out a way to save Danny and stop Vlad from doing anything to him."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Valerie asked irritably. "Knock on the front door and demand him to tell us where he's holding Danny?"

"Not to mention, the Guys in White probably already have a bunch of data and stuff on Danny. We need to either retrieve that data or erase it so they can't get it back," said Tucker.

"Well, you're into computers and junk," said Valerie. "Can't you get it from Vlad's computer or something?"

"I can but I haven't exactly mastered the art of hacking yet," Tucker said modestly.

"He's already hacked three of the FBI's top hackers and the Area 41 website," said Clockwork. Tucker smiled cheekily.

"We're going to need your computer skills to erase any trace of Danny from Vlad's computer and from the Guys in White," said Sam.

"Isn't that a felony or something?" asked Tucker.

"Technically you and Danny are not U.S. citizens so you guys can't get arrested," said Valerie.

"Can you help us at all, Clockwork?" Sam asked.

He shook his head. "I can only give you a warning," he said.

"Better than nothing," said Sam. "Let's hear it."

"If Vladimir were to ever harm a hair on your head, Samantha, the Phantom's true nature will be unleashed," Clockwork warned. "Only you can tame the savage beast."

The three blinked in confusion.

"So how are we gonna get in without Vlad finding us? We can't just waltz in the front door," said Valerie, getting back to the problem at hand.

Sam thought long and hard about it. "I remember seeing a hatch on the floor of the basement lab," she recalled. "Maybe if we went in through there, we could use the element of surprise on Vlad."

"What if he's in the basement?" asked Tucker. "Then we're at a disadvantage."

"You're right. We need a distraction," said Sam. The two then looked at Valerie, the only person who was not able to breathe underwater.

Valerie looked at them. "What?"

~0~0~0~

Sam and Tucker swam to Danny's grotto. Sidney was just swimming back there after 'walking' Cujo.

"I got your text message," said Sidney, showing them his shell phone. "Sounds urgent. What do you need?"

"Did you bring what I asked?" asked Tucker.

Sidney held up a sack. "Got all the components. I just hope the scent is still there after all these months." He emptied the sack and a bunch of pieces of Vlad's droids landed on a flat rock.

"So, what are we gonna do?" asked Sam. "I don't know how to get to Vlad's house from underwater."

"Which is why Cujo here is going to lead us there," Tucker said confidently.

"Is this even legal surface-wise?" Sidney asked nervously. "What if the High Council in Atlantis finds out about this? You know what that means? One hundred years to life in the Bermuda Triangle Prison! I can't do time in the slammer! I won't last a week!"

"Sid! Calm down!" Tucker exclaimed.

"How can I? Trout like me never last long in the big house!"

"We're rescuing one of our own. How is that illegal?"

"Guys! Can we please focus?" Sam asked irritably. Both boys shut up. Sam then held a piece of Vlad's droid in front of Cujo, who sniffed it. He then sniffed the ocean floor until he finally caught something. He then released something that sounded like a howl. "We've got a trail."

The three friends then swam after the great white shark. To keep up with everyone, Sam held onto Cujo's dorsal fin. Poor Sidney had him on a leash and was dragged along the ocean floor.

They eventually stopped outside a cave.

"This is where the entrance to Vlad's secret basement lab is?" Sam asked in disbelief.

Tucker looked around and saw a large window. He carefully edged towards it and peeked in. "Oh yeah. This is definitely the place," he confirmed. "I recognize the floor tiles."

"Do you see Danny?" asked Sam.

"Not from this angle. I don't want to get closer. Vlad might see me," said Tucker.

Sam growled in frustration. "Uuughh! Where's Valerie? She should be at the front door by now."

"Who is Valerie?" asked Sidney.

"My girlfriend," Tucker replied. "She's waiting for my signal." He pulled out his shell phone and started to text her. "As soon as she texts us back, that's our turn to strike."

"Uh, I hate to pee in your swimming pool, but how is Valerie gonna text you back if she's distracting Vlad?" asked Sidney.

Sam gave Sidney a smug grin. "Valerie has a way of texting under a person's nose. She'll be able to tell us."

~0~0~0~

Valerie waited in her car about a block away from Vlad's manor. She was kind of excited about this. She'd never done a stakeout before. Too bad her first one had to be involved with supernatural creatures.

A tune from the song 'Under the Sea' rang out from her shell phone (also from Clockwork). Val grabbed it and opened it. Yes! Tucker and the others finally found a way into the basement from the water. Now it was her turn.

Valerie drove her car to Vlad's manor and parked out front. She stepped out and rang the doorbell.

Vlad opened the door. "Valerie Gray? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Hey, Mr. Masters. Can I have a moment of your time?" Valerie inquired.

"Well, you kind have caught me at a bad time," Vlad replied. Not to mention he was aware that Valerie knew what he really was. At least he was pretty sure; she was outside the house when he showed her friends what he had become.

"I promise it won't take that long," Valerie insisted. Behind her back, she was texting a bunch of gibberish to Tucker, letting him know that she had Vlad distracted.

"I really can't, Valerie," Vlad insisted. "I have work to do."

"Well, do you need help? I can help you with whatever it is you're working on," Valerie offered. She sent the text.

"No, thank you. Good night," said Vlad.

As he was about to close the door, Valerie put her foot in the doorway to keep it from closing.

"Come one, Mr. Masters. What could be more important than to spend a few minutes answering questions for my business class?" Valerie asked through gritted teeth. Distracting this fruit loop was harder than she thought.

"Something that involves the government. It's called paying my taxes," Vlad said irritably. "I've been putting it off for far too long."

"I can ask the questions while you're doing them," Valerie grunted as she pushed the door, trying to keep it from closing.

"I need to do this in a quiet environment," Vlad grunted as he pushed the door.

Seeing that simply pushing the door open would get her nowhere, Valerie slowly inched her way towards the opening. If she could squeeze her way through…

~0~0~0~

Tucker's shell phone vibrated. He opened it and saw a bunch of letters and gibberish on his screen. It was from Valerie.

"I didn't say she could text words and complete sentences," said Sam.

"It doesn't matter," said Tucker. "What matters is that she has Vlad distracted and that's our chance to rescue Danny."

The three friends, plus a shark, swam into the cavern. Tucker's hand lit up with energy and they swam deep into the cavern's depths. When they saw a hatch near the ceiling, they knew it was what they were looking for.

Sidney and Tucker twisted the hatch door open (Tucker had to use his tentacles for extra strength). Sam grabbed the ladder and started climbing up. Tucker soon followed.

He stopped and looked down at Sidney. "If we're not back in…half an hour, get Danny's parents. They'll know what to do," he told Sidney.

"What about Cujo?" asked Sidney.

"Make sure he goes with you."

"Make this quick. I'm no psychic but I'm picking up a lot of negative vibes from this place and I want to get out of here as quickly as possible," said Sidney.

Tucker nodded and climbed up. Sam was waiting for him and continued climbing.

"Hey, Tucker? I have a question but it sounds kind of stupid," Sam said as they climbed.

"Shoot," said Tucker.

"Well, obviously most of the things your people say are Latin, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'm not exactly fluent in the dead language so I've gotta know; what does 'te amo' mean?" Sam asked.

Tucker blinked. "It means 'I love you'. Why?"

"That's weird. That's how they say it in Spanish," Sam recalled.

"Weird indeed," Tucker agreed.

They finally reached the top where Sam twisted another hatch door open. She slowly opened it to make sure the coast was clear. They were indeed back in the basement lab. Sam opened the hatch wider and climbed out. She helped Tucker out as soon as he used a dry spell on himself.

It wasn't that hard to find Danny. The tank he was in was pretty big. He just laid there in the artificially colored rocks looking miserable. He knew that if he tried to break out, he'd be at a disadvantage. Vlad was still in the house and the smallest noise would alert the fruit loop that his hostage was escaping.

A tapping on the glass broke him out of his daze and saw who was making the noise. Danny's face lit up when he saw that Sam was here obviously to rescue him. Tucker was also there, doing some sort of trick on Vlad's computer with his PDA (in a waterproof case, by the way). Danny placed his hand against the glass, wanting so badly to be on the other side and to have his mate in his arms.

Sam put her hand on the glass too and observed the tank, looking for some way for Danny to get out. Seeing that there was no sure fire way to get him out, she decided to break him out. She gestured to him that she'd be right back and looked around the basement to find something that would set her boyfriend free.

"How's your end coming, Tucker?" Sam asked.

"I've already downloaded everything on Vlad's computer. Now I'm just erasing every little thing on it so he can't retrieve it," Tucker answered.

"Well make it quick. I don't know how long Valerie can keep Vlad busy," said Sam. Her eyes landed on a pipe sitting in a corner. Obviously Vlad didn't bother throwing it away after Danny wrecked the pipe works back in the fall. It would have to do.

Sam picked up the pipe and smashed it against the glass of the tank. Danny instinctively got back as far as he could. Sam smashed the pipe against the glass again and again until cracks began to form.

"Almost got it, Tuck," Sam announced.

"Great. I've got everything I need from Vlad's computer. If I hack into the Guys in White, we're in the clear," said Tucker.

"Okay. Batter up!" Sam exclaimed and swung the pipe again with all her might. The glass finally broke and water poured out all over the floor along with Danny.

"Awesome! He's out!" Tucker cheered.

Sam dropped the pipe and knelt down on the floor next to Danny. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah," he stammered as he sat up. "I'll be fine."

Sam smiled. "This is the extent I was talking about when it came to sea animals in tanks," she stated, remembering their talk at the aquarium.

Danny smiled back. "Te amo," he said.

Sam blushed. "T-Te am –" A blast from behind hit Sam in the back, cutting her off before she could finish what she was going to say. She collapsed into Danny's arms, unconscious.

"SAM!" Tucker yelled.

"Your meddling has gone on far enough, Samantha," Vlad said as he came into the basement. One hand was smoking magenta while his other arm was wrapped around Valerie.

"Let me go, you freaky fruit loop," Valerie growled as she tried to break free from Vlad's grip.

Tucker saw that Danny hid his face behind his bangs. The Cecaelia paled when he remembered Clockwork's warning.

"Vlad, you really shouldn't have done that to Sam," Tucker whimpered as he backed away from his best friend. This was about to get real ugly real fast.

Vlad scoffed. "And since when are you concerned for my well being?" he asked.

"You hurt my mate," Danny growled suddenly. His teeth were slowly sharpening. He turned his face towards Vlad. His eyes glowed brightly, his pupils no longer visible. His normal fingernails were slowly turning into claws. "YOU…HURT…MY…MATE!"

A burst of energy erupted from Danny's body, his hair breaking free from its ponytail. His tail was replaced with two scaly black legs with webbed feet. He turned his eyes towards Vlad who was so shocked about this transformation, Valerie took that chance to break free and went to Tucker.

"Valerie, Vlad just unleashed the Phantom's true nature," Tucker said in fear.

The climatic battle is next!

Man, Vlad is stupid for doing that to Sam! He really should have done his homework.

Will Danny defeat Vlad? Is Sam really okay? Will Danny come back to his senses? Will CBS renew CSI:NY for another season? Why am I asking you?

Stay tuned!