xxxxxxx

Back in the present time, Tucker shuffled through papers in his office while holding a phone between his right ear and shoulder.

"Yes, yes, I'll be there to cut the ribbon for the new library…I'll have one of my staff members write a speech for me…"

There was a knock at the door. Then, an older woman in a business suit opened the door.

"Mr. Foley? Danny Fenton is here to see you."

"Hang on, Mrs. Miller." Tucker covered the microphone part of the phone. "Thanks, Linda. Send him in."

Danny walked in, and Linda closed the door behind him. He took a seat on the other side of Tucker's massive desk.

"Uh-huh…yeah…of course…Great, see you then. Bye." He hung up the phone and leaned back in his seat.

"Dude, I'm exhausted," he groaned.

"You sound like it. How long have you been working today?"

"I don't know. Since 8 am."

"Tucker, it's 3 o'clock."

Tucker reached for his smartphone on his desk and pressed its home button.

"Oh. So it is."

"Have you even had lunch yet?"

"What's lunch?" Tucker said with a laugh.

"Okay, yeah, you need to eat. Let's go."

"Fine." Tucker pressed the button to the intercom on his desk. "Linda?"

The assistant came in. "Yes, Mr. Foley?"

"I'm going on my lunch break now. I should be back in an hour or so."

"Very good, Mr. Foley. Enjoy your lunch."

"She seems nice," Danny said as Linda closed the door.

"She's very helpful. I'm ready to go. Are we flying?"

"I don't know when's the last time you've looked out your window, but it's a beautiful day today. Let's walk."

Tucker shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

As soon as they opened the main door to City Hall, the sunlight hit their eyes, making Tucker shield his face.

"Whoa! Gonna need some time for my eyes to adjust."

Danny chuckled. "Welcome back to the outside world, Tuck."

"Hey, where's Sam? She's not coming with us?"

"Nah, she's hanging out at the Skulk and Lurk. Too much heat…or Sun in general."

They continued walking and passed the entrance to the park.

"Hey, wait! Is it just me, or does that girl look like Tara to you?" Tucker said.

Danny looked where Tucker was pointing and saw a teen with long black hair sitting on a swing. She swung ever so slightly, kicking her feet underneath her. She looked at the ground.

"I think it is…" he said.

They walked to her.

"Yo, Tara!" Tucker said as he took the swing next to her.

She looked up and sadly smiled.

"Hey, you okay?" Danny said.

"Yeah," Tara said. "I was just…thinking, I guess."

"About?" Tucker said.

She shrugged. "This whole thing about hiding. My parents. Ever since our meeting a couple of days ago, I've noticed they've been arguing when they think Meg and I are sleeping. Not fighting, of course; they never fight. Sometimes they argue, but usually they come up with an answer together and don't argue about it again. Whatever they're arguing about this time, though, doesn't really seem to have an answer.

"I don't know exactly what they're talking about, but I think Dad doesn't want Mom to fight with him and The Resistance anymore. He's saying things like, 'Things are different now; you have to stay with Tara and Megan in the past!' And Mom's like, 'I'm not leaving you to fight alone. I might back off a bit, but I'm not leaving your side!' And then Dad's all like, 'You're being irresponsible!'

"I don't know what's changed all of a sudden, and I don't know if there's anything I can do to help."

"My guess is this is all grown-up stuff that you don't need to get involved in," Danny said. "I'm really sorry you heard all that, though."

Tucker rested his hand on top of Tara's, on her lap. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"I know you're probably thinking you should help fight," Tucker said. "But remember that Megan needs you. You don't want her to deal with being in the past alone without her sister, right?"

Tara smiled. "It's like you can read my mind."

Suddenly, a large human shadow blocked the Sun from them.

"Hey sweet stuff," Dash said with a football in his hands. "What're you doing hanging out with these nerds again?"

Tara groaned. "Eww, not you again."

"You should hang out with me and my buddies," he said as he pointed to the group of guys behind him. "We're just practicing some football. You can sit and watch me and my awesome, winning moves."

"I'd rather eat garbage from a dumpster than hang out with you."

"Aw, come on, sweetness. I know you don't mean that. With your beautiful looks and having me, King of Casper High, as your boyfriend, you'd be on the A-list in no time!"

Tucker stood up from the swing and got right in front of Dash.

"She said no."

"Whoa there, Foley! Finally grew a pair, huh?"

Tucker pointed a finger at Dash. "You stay away from her. Or else."

"Or else what?" Dash stepped forward towards Tucker with a wicked grin.

Tucker looked up at his face with wavering confidence.

Suddenly, Tucker clenched his jaw. He lifted his arms and pushed Dash back, knocking him a few steps back.

Dash stabilized himself and looked back at Tucker in shock.

"Get it?" Tucker said.

"Tucker!" Tara hopped off the swing and grabbed his arm.

Dash brushed his jacket. "Yeah, whatever. I've got a whole line of girls wanting me anyways. I'm bored of this chasing game." He walked back to his friends.

"Tucker, are you insane?! He could've totally sued you, the mayor, for pushing a citizen!" Danny said.

"He's not smart enough to know that," Tucker said.

"Tucker," Tara said softly, "I didn't need you to do that. I could've taken care of it by myself."

"Yeah, well…" He then sighed. "I don't know what came over me. Sorry, Tara."

She hugged him from behind. "It's okay."

xxxxxxx

A blue portal opened in the living room of Tara's home. She walked through it.

"Mom? Dad?" she called out as the portal vanished.

No response. She walked past the door that led to the basement, when suddenly her ghost sense went off. Tara turned back and opened it.

"I can't believe you're willing to fight with us, despite our history together," she could hear her father say.

"Hey, he stole Bertrand from me," a voice said. "Nobody steals my personal assistant."

Tara closed the door behind her and tiptoed ever so quietly down the stairs.

"He broke the rules by waking Pariah Dark from the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. He will be punished," a deep, manly voice with a Southern accent boomed.

"And I don't want to be ruled by some stupid adult," a kid's voice cried. "I rule myself!"

Tara peered into the next room.

There, surrounding a large desk in the middle of the room, were her mother and father, as well as some of the ghosts she had heard about from her parents' stories: Youngblood, Walker, Penelope Spectra, Box Ghost, Lunch Lady, Sidney Poindexter, Ember McLain, and Pandora with a white owl on her shoulder.

"He's a bully and needs to be stopped," Poindexter said.

A small blue ghost with black pigtails popped up between a grown-up Box Ghost and Lunch Lady.

"He will feel me and my family's fury!" she screeched.

"Hush, puddin'," Lunch Lady said. "Use your inside voice."

"Sorry, Momma…" Box Lunch said as she floated back behind her parents.

"Now, we currently have a ghostly fleet led by Skulktech 9.9 along these trails," Pandora said as she pointed to the map on the desk. "They've done an excellent job of clearing the path of Dark Danny's troops. We should be able to meet up with them there and help them defeat more of the enemy army."

"Until we finally reach Dark Danny…" Ember said.

Box Lunch came out from behind her parents again. "And then we take away the crown and the ring!"

"Be quiet, dearie, or else we won't let you come with us," Box Ghost said.

"I'm sorry, Papa…" She descended once again.

"Right, as I was saying…" Pandora said. "Once we reach Dark Danny, we'll take him down and obliterate him."

"You can each take a weapon and spread the remainder among the fleet," Sam said.

"Perfect," Pandora said. She looked at her owl. "Angel?"

The owl turned its head. "Yes, my lady?"

"Angel, my most trusted friend…I need you to stay to here until the Fentons are ready to move out."

"Actually, it's not exactly the 'Fentons.' I kept my maiden name," Sam said.

"Oh, yes, of course." Pandora turned back to Angel. "I'll take the new soldiers with me to the fleet."

"My lady," he said, "I will honor your request. Please stay safe."

"You too," she said and hugged her feathered friend. Angel then fluttered onto Danny's shoulder.

"Let's go," Pandora said to the ghosts, and they disappeared.

"Are they going back to your parents' portal?" Sam asked.

"I guess," Danny said. He then looked at Sam.

"You can still change your mind, if you want," Danny said.

"Again with this, Danny? Really?"

"Sam, please. I'm begging you. Don't do this."

"I'm an adult, Danny! I can make my own decisions!"

She then turned towards the stairs. Tara turned invisible, and her mother walked right through her.