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Chapter 43: Preemptive Strikeout

"Worse. With Clockwork's power, I'll send her through the first portal I find—whether it's a gateway to another universe or a tunnel to hell." Wenn snickered.

Cecelia's heart was beating fast. Danny held her tight. He knew it would not be wise to protest. But how could he agree to help the enemy?

"Besides, I'm the only one who knows how to get you out of here anyways. And I will do so only if you help me seek out and destroy the RealmFinder. Without me, you'll be completely lost here forever."

"FYI Wenn, I've been to Clockwork's realm many times." Danny said.

Wenn scoffed. "So have I. But I'll bet you've never been to his new address." Danny rested his case. Wenn was telling the truth, and Danny knew it. Wenn landed the vehicle on the large stone pavement right outside Clockwork's little round house. "You only get one chance." Wenn said to Danny and his girlfriend. "Or she'll be separated from you forever." He fastened a belt around Danny, forcing him to turn back into human form. The belt also prevented him from using his powers to escape.

They decided it was in their best interests to follow Wenn for the moment. Cecelia held on tight to Danny's arm. So tight it would leave a red mark. "Don't worry. I won't let you go." Danny whispered to her.

Wenn knocked on the wooden purple door. Nobody was home. All the lights were out. Not one sound emanated from inside that house. "Kick down the door." Wenn commanded to Cecelia.

"Don't talk to her like that." Danny said.

"It's allright, Danny." Cecelia gave the door two kicks and it faltered.

Danny made Wenn go in first.

"I don't like this—breaking and entering." Danny said as they walked through the ghost's home. "Don't touch anything, Cecelia." He warned her.

"I won't."

As they slowly creeped throughout the house, floorboards creaked and a gust of wind flew in some of the windows (which had no curtains).

It was very spine-chilling.

"How will you know when you've found it?" Cecelia asked Wenn.

Wenn was getting frustrated. He didn't see it anywhere. They'd already looked through the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. So where else was there to look?

Danny walked across the part of the floor where it creaked. "Isn't it obvious?" He said to the other three. "There's a basement."

"Good thinking, Danny. So where are the stairs?" Wenn looked around.

"There isn't any in a ghost's house. You'll have to remove the belt so I can phase us through."

Wenn scoffed. "Like that'll ever happen."

"It's the only way. I'll do it if you swear to let Cecelia go back free. Back to my house, in this universe, with no worries."

Wenn stood there, poker face on. He took of the belt. "You have my word as a Tossi." He said with a snarl.

Danny took Wenn's and Cecelia's hands and phased them down through the basement. Cecelia shivered—she was wearing a tank top. And it was cold and damp and musty down here with the smell of mildew. A single string of ghostly green Christmas lights lit the wall. And they were very dim.

Wenn, who was not cold at all, marched right onwards.

"Hold on everyone. I see it." Wenn picked up a little metal box on a desk. The metal box had some buttons on it and a small rectangular screen.

On the underside, it had two little speakers. And it also had a fabric handle so one could conveniently wrap it around the shoulder like a purse or a bag. Wenn smiled evilly.

He turned towards them and they seemed to be very scared that he'd actually found it. Danny especially wondered if Wenn had any intention of keeping his word. "Wenn…" Danny started to scold the Tossi boy.

"Oh don't worry," said Wenn smugly, "I'm going to let you go. This little thing is far more important than Danny Phantom and his petty girlfriend."

Danny crossed his arms. He was both insulted and yet relieved. He phased them out of the ruddy little basement.

"You okay?" He asked Cecelia.

"Yeah, just a little chilly, that's all." Cecelia shivered.

Danny changed back to Fenton form and gave her his blue jacket.

"Thanks." They smiled at each other.

"Get in the car!" Wenn bellowed, ruining the gentle moment with a flurry of anger and adrenaline.

"So what does it…do?" Danny asked as Wenn was driving them back to the portal.

Wenn snorted. "Oh well, duh! Why didn't I think of that?" He picked it up. "It'll save me a lot of time. Not that it's any of your business what it does, though."

Danny scoffed.

"Take us to the ghost side of the Fenton portal." Wenn said to the speakerphones of the box.

Much like an Infi-Map ride, it took control of the vehicle and within seconds, they arrived at their desired place.

"Out." Wenn commanded. "Don't wait for me to change my mind."

The two of them looked at each other, and then at Wenn. Before Wenn could even realize what was happening, Cecelia held Wenn down while Danny took the RealmFinder. Danny then phased it, and himself plus Cecelia, out of Wenn's car.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Wenn roared tumultuously.

"Stealing doesn't work out as well as you thought, huh?" Danny said, smiling self-assuredly.

Wenn glared.

"Take us to Clockwork." Cecelia told the RealmFinder.

Immediately, Danny and Cecelia were whisked away deep into the ghost zone with Wenn trailing close behind in his vehicle.

Turns out Clockwork was somewhere in an old abandoned clock tower, similar to his original home. But it wasn't. The door was open.

Danny and Cecelia entered. They were startled to see Clockwork standing right there, staring down at them with disappointment in his glowing red eyes. Danny froze. Clockwork received what was rightfully his.

"It wasn't us! Wenn stole it! Wenn Lester!" Cecelia said.

Clockwork chose not to respond.

"No, really, Wenn made us. He captured us and forced us to come along." Cecelia explained.

"Yeah." Danny agreed.

They must have stood there in silence for fifteen minutes before Wenn showed up. The moment the Tossi saw Clockwork, he tried to run away. Clockwork stopped the thief and scared him into coming inside. Then Clockwork showed the door.

"You're mad." Danny said.

Clockwork shook his head. He smiled approvingly towards Danny and Cecelia. "I'm proud. You two need to stay together—you make a great team."

"Gee, thanks." They said in unison.

Clockwork chuckled. "It's hard to imagine that one day I'll be saying that to your kids." Clockwork tapped his staff, and a portal appeared that would take Danny and Cecelia back home. They stepped through. "Don't worry—I'll take care of this boy." Clockwork waved to them.

"I-I-I have no words." Wenn blurted. He braced himself for what he thought Clockwork would do.

"What are you doing, boy? Against my better judgment, I'm going to let you go. But be warned…" He created a portal for Wenn to step through.

Now that Clockwork was all alone, he sat down and kicked back to watch some TV. Everybody needs a day off some time.

Back at the Fenton house, Garth and Sam had gone home. Danielle was upstairs sleeping. Tucker was in the living room taking advantage of Danny's video games.

Danny felt so good that he had done the right thing. He and Cecelia thought alike when they both sprang to defy Wenn.

"Danny, are you okay?" Cecelia put her arm around his shoulders as she stood next to him.

"Yeah." He smiled, because he actually believed it.

This whole adventure has made Danny grateful to be exactly who he is. Being surrounded by people who cared about him was also a plus. So that was the big lesson behind all of this.

"I feel like I set things right today." Danny said.

"That's because you did." Cecelia agreed. "You're a hero, Danny, and everyone knows it. I'm just glad you finally believe it. After all this, you'd think it would have all went to your head by now. But no, you're way too smart for that." Her cheeks pinkened.

Danny flushed too. "Thanks." He said softly. She brushed some of the sweaty hairs away from his face so she could better see those beautiful eyes he had that were the color of the sky. She stared into them with her own lavender-colored eyes.

Danny changed back to human form. Mom and dad were opening the front door just as Danny and Cecelia were coming up from the basement.

"Hey son!" Jack gave Danny a constricting hug. "Guess what happened today?"

"Your father and I got hired by the Guys in White to build a weapon that detects ghosts from far away!" Maddie cheered.

Jack and Maddie danced around the house happily without a care in the world. However, Tucker paused the game and Danny and Cecelia came over to him.

"Uh oh." Tucker said. "What'll we do?"

"I dunno." Cecelia looked down.

"I don't have a plan yet, but I'll think of one. I've just gotta. But we don't wanna go take a preemptive strike and then find out later it wasn't worth it. I think that right now, patience will be key."

"I agree." Cecelia said. She hugged Danny.

"Do Whatcha want." Tucker went back to video games. Danny joined him, and Cecelia watched.

School started back up again—because Easter break never lasted long enough. One morning, Danny, Tucker, Cecelia and Sam met together for breakfast at Sam's house. It's always nice to sit in the lap of luxury for a while. Sam had her butler cook breakfast for them.

"School's going to be ending soon. And my parents' careers are more successful than ever." Sam said.

"My father's picked up a good amount of money working for NASA." Cecelia said. "He's able to keep the halls of NASA buildings ghost-free."

"My father's been shirking on his mayoral duties." Tuck said. "You think he'll let me take over again?"

Everybody laughed.

"What? I'm serious! My mom's a home decorator and her career is going nowhere. I wanna make something of my life!"

"And you think that being mayor of Amity Park is a big accomplishment?" Sam heaped loads of sarcasm onto Tuck's shoulders.

"Well, Sam, something happened yesterday to change my parents careers forever." Danny began. "They've been hired to make a ghost-detector for the Guys in White."

Sam gasped.

"Don't panic." Cecelia warned.

"I'm not. I'm just worried. Danny, you're going to have to be extra careful." Sam said with worry.

"I know that." Danny said fearlessly. "We all will."

There's only a few days left of Junior year for our little heroes.

Today they will be taking their final exams, to see if they pass on to the next grade. Danny Fenton, Cecelia Hazel, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. Of course, some of their classmates didn't have to worry so much. Dash and Kwan got average grades and they knew that their teachers favored them too much to hold them back a grade.

Paulina and Star had similar apprehensions, only they actually tried to pass with better than a C average. Valerie was trying, but had just barely brought her average to a D. She still hadn't managed to balance her job at the Nasty Burger with ghost hunting and school too.

Danny looked forward to his Senior year, because his sister Danielle would be joining the school as a freshman, now that she'd gotten all caught up through serious home-schooling studies.

As Danny and his three friends headed to lunch, he looked over at Cecelia. "Hey." He said to her.

"Hey Danny." She smiled sweetly. Her long dark brown hair was free and her red lips were so very inviting.

Before they went into the lunch room, Danny pulled Cecelia aside and kissed her. He touched her soft lips to his and held her tightly. She didn't resist. She couldn't resist.

He stopped to take a breath of air. "Sorry, I just couldn't wait any longer."

To his great surprise, she couldn't stop laughing as they both sat down to eat their lunches.

It was nearly impossible for someone to dislike Danny Fenton. He was sweet, gentle and very cute. He made friends with everyone too. His buddies were so different from each other yet they all got along with him.

Danny just had that charisma.

Cecelia had a bit of a crush on him for longer than she let on, but who could blame her? He's had that effect on several different young ladies. Recently she just discovered that he feels the same way about her.

He's the hero. Naturally he deserves loads of attention.