"Smile!"
Click!
Lowering the instant camera from her face, Sam grinned as the picture of Danny by the Fenton Portal came out, tugging it free and waving it about to help the image form faster. Tucker grinned himself, admiring the thing taking up the wall. The Portal was an impressive piece of technology. A portal to another world, another place. The Ghost Zone. Exciting!
Plus. Danny's embarrassment in holding up the hazmat suit with his dad's face plastered onto it while standing next to his parents' recent huge pride and joy was so freaking worth it. Tucker wanted copies. Sam better give him a copy.
"Okay." Danny threw the suit to the side. Embarrassment shifting to annoyance of being down in his parents' lab next to the thing. "I showed you the Portal, can we get out of here now? My parents could be back any minute. Besides, they say it doesn't work anyway."
"Then where's the rush?" Tucker asked with a grin. Anything to embarrass Danny after what happened last week. "Let's check out this sweet piece of technology."
Sam jumped along with Tucker, eyes sparkling mischievously, excitedly.
"Yeah. Come on, Danny. A Ghost Zone? Aren't you curious? You gotta check it out."
"Exactly! Sweet big piece of new technology and the horror aspect, you knew coming into this we were going to check it out, Danny. And think of the possibilities with it! Uh, you know, once it works."
"You know what? You guys are right. Who knows what kind of awesome, super-cool things exist on the other side of that Portal?"
Picking the hazmat suit off of the floor, Danny put it on. Tucker grinned, excitedly looking forward to this new embarrassing moment, eyes going to Sam's camera. Then Sam stepped forward.
"Hang on." And she ripped Jack's grinning face off of the suit! What the hell? "You can't go walking around with that on your chest."
How was that fair!
What happened to his and Sam's joint enjoyment of watching Danny get all flustered and embarrassed? Or the fact Sam absolutely loved and always—always—took photographic evidence of embarrassing moments?
If Tucker had to suffer last week's snapshot of him, then Danny for sure had to suffer too.
He squinted over at Sam.
Did she like like Danny?
There had been that odd smile he'd seen a couple days ago that she'd glared at him for when he noticed. And it had been directed at Danny. The smile. Oh my god! Sam did! Sam totally like liked Danny, didn't she?
Tucker was going to, no question about it, call her out on it and give her absolute hell.
Ripping off another Jack's grinning face from a hazmat suit, Sam tossed it over at Tucker, and then ripped another of Jack's grinning face from another to put on herself. They both slipped into the suits, zipping up. Very quickly, Sam grabbed a hold of both Danny and Tucker, squeezing them close as she lifted up the camera.
"Everyone say 'spooky'!"
"Spooky!"
Click!
"All right, now that we're in the spirit of things… Let's go!"
"Hey." Danny pipped up, whining. "Why is okay when you make puns like that and not when I do?"
"Because cheesy lines in horror films is accepted and approved. And it fits my vibe. Your jokes are all over the place and well Danny, honestly? Usually pretty bad. Now come on!"
Sliding her hand down to Danny's, Sam quickly looked away and into the Portal, powering over thick power cords and inside the Portal, taking Danny with her. Tucker leaned to the side. Getting himself a good enough view of Sam's face. Oh, she definitely like liked Danny.
Excellent.
Tucker was going to have so much fun with this.
Lifting her camera up with the other hand, (totally leaving her other hand gripped around Danny's hand, Tucker could not fail to notice) Sam positioned it to take a picture, Danny nearly stumbling into Sam at her sudden stop and his free hand shot up to the side to catch his balance.
Click-click!
Tucker's grin of utter glee on destroying Sam with the knowledge she had a crush on Danny quickly disappeared.
The Portal was…humming?
He sucked in a breath, wide eyed and then squeezing his eyes tightly shut at the light and energy which suddenly filled up the Portal. Energy crackled, sending Tucker's hair up on end, feeling that energy even from where he stood outside of it. He forced himself to open his eyes, squinting. And forced himself to step closer to the Portal at the screams of terrible pain coming from it.
"DANNY! SAM!"
Tucker could barely make out Danny and Sam's silhouettes in all the light. But he could definitely hear them. Screaming.
"GUYS! GET OUT OF THERE!"
The screams continued and Tucker didn't see them moving closer.
And the screaming seemed to go on and on and on.
His fists clenched.
Pain. That's all there was. Pain.
This was supposed to be embarrassing Danny! This was supposed to be fun! This thing wasn't supposed to work! Danny even said it wasn't working! Something was wrong! Something was very wrong!
Did their voices seem weaker?
"GUYS!"
Drawing in a huge breath, Tucker pushed into the energy, racing inside of the Portal.
All his breath left him at the amount of electricity, a scream bursting out of his own mouth.
Turn back, his body screamed.
Get them, his mind cried.
Light searing his eyes, the shapes fell to the floor.
Click!
And the Portal turned off.
Breathing hard, spots filling up his vision, Tucker cursed any laziness or sever dislike of any P.E. class and how long it seemed to take him to reach them.
"G-guys?"
Weakly, he swayed where he stood, eyes staring. Unbelieving. In shock. Numb. At a loss.
A pair of bodies lay before him. Unmoving and quiet. Sam's instant camera was in pieces. It…
Tucker fought, trying not to heave or throw up, tearing his eyes off of the sight.
The image of it stuck in his head despite he was now looking at Danny instead of Sam.
It looked as though it had exploded in her hand.
Little bits buried and…
Sam's face and hand were…
There was some on one side of Danny's face.
Oh god.
Tucker turned his head, vomit reeling out from him, his feet giving out from underneath him and he hit the floor.