A/N: Box Ghost: I am the Box Ghost and I have returned! Now I shall take over this author's note and type all about the wonders of my cubical domain! Me: I don't think so. Box Ghost: Ha! You can't stop me! Pitiful human! I am all powerful, all knowing, all... Me: (whips out Fenton Thermos) Box Ghost: ...crud! Me: (spins sealed thermos around on index finger) And now back to our story.
Restless Teen Halloween
Chapter Six: Bitter Alliance
"Oh man!" Danny panicked, "That creep's got Sam!"
"Hey!" Tucker called, "Can you get me down please?"
"And whose fault is that?!" Kate snapped, "Now that cretin will break his half of the curse and your little girlfriend will be trapped in the Ghost Zone forever!"
"All right ghosts!" Jack shouted, taking aim with the Fenton Foamer, "Prepare to be thwarted!"
"I don't have time for this!" Danny complains. Glancing at the scoreboard he zips over and pries Tucker loose.
"Tuck, can you distract my parents while I rescue Sam?" he whispers.
"Um...sure, but how are you gonna find Sam?" Tucker inquires once his feet are back on solid ground.
Staring back at Kate (who obviously wasn't amused by Jack's threats) Danny replied, "To quote Skulker, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'."
"Got'cha," Tucker smirked, giving Danny a quick thumb's up before rushing towards the ghost hunters. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! Look out!"
Jack and Maddie turned around just as Tucker came crashing into them, knocking them all to the floor.
"Now's our chance!" Danny exclaimed, soaring over and grabbing Kate by the wrist. "We've gotta catch up to them before Sam gets hurt!"
"Where are we going?!" Kate demanded.
"To the old lab!" Danny answered as he fazed through the wall with her in tow. "You're going to take me through whatever portal you used to get out of the Ghost Zone!"
"And why should I help you?!"
"Because if you don't Jet's gonna use my best friend to break the curse and leave you stranded!" Danny reminded her.
"Hmph," Kate didn't like her options, but she knew that siding with the ghost kid was the best chance she stood of stopping Jet. "Fine Halfa, but don't think I'm going easy on you once this little 'truce' is over!"
"Yeah yeah I know how this whole 'teaming up with your foes' thing works." Danny mumbled.
"Tucker!" Jack yelled, "Why on Earth did you ram us like that? We were about to make the biggest ghost bust in history!"
"Um..." Tucker fidgeted, "...I thought I saw a ghost sneaking up on you?"
Looking behind them they saw their daughter skulking over, angry and embarrassed...as usual.
"Oh Tucker," Maddie smiled, "that's not a ghost. It's just Jazz."
"Or is it?" Mr. Fenton asked with his eyes narrowing.
"Jack," Maddie scolded, "we've been through this. Jazz is not a ghost. Just like Danny isn't either."
That's what they think. Tucker grinned nervously.
Danny and Kate reached the old lab in no time. Danny took a moment to wince at the broken door, obviously forced open by his parents. Mr. Lancer's definitely gonna make me pay for that.
"Over here!" Kate griped impatiently.
"This?" Danny questioned, skeptically gazing at the broken mirror. "It's cracked and all streaked up!"
"Moron," Kate huffed before placing a hand on the mirror's surface. Instantly the cracks filled with an eerie green light, the glow consumed the entire mirror within seconds and a portal straight into the Ghost Zone was opened.
"Wow, appearances can be deceiving." Danny observed.
"Don't get too excited," Kate warned, "There's a limitation to this portal. It can only be used during the night of the school's Halloween Dance. And it can only be opened by me or Jet."
"So how much time do we have?" Danny asked.
"The dance officially ends at midnight." Kate answered.
Checking his watch Danny frowned, "That leaves us less than ten minutes!"
"Then we'd better get going!" Kate snapped before dragging Danny into the portal.
"DANNY!" Tucker yelled, rushing into the lab. "You're parents are coming, I can't hold them off!"
"You have to try Tuck!" Danny called, halfway through the portal, "We've only got til midnight!!"
Tucker watched as his pal disappeared through the swirling green vortex. Raising his arm he shoved up his sleeve, setting his alarm to go off exactly at midnight. "You haven't got long," he muttered, watching the seconds tick away on the digital timer.
"Where are the ghosts?!" Jack demanded, appearing in the doorway.
"Um...they..." Tucker stammered.
"They didn't go through the portal yet did they?" Maddie asked.
"Well...yeah!" Tucker replied, "Looks like they got away. Oh well, better luck next year."
Raising the Fenton Sealer Jack took aim at the mirror, "Not for these ghosts!"
"What are you doing?!" Tucker gasped, rushing to stand in between the device and the mirror.
"Step aside Tucker!" Jack ordered, "I'm going to seal the portal for good! Those ghosts won't be wreaking havoc at the dance next year or ever again!"
"B-but..."
"Hey!" Jazz interrupted, panting as she staggered in, "I thought you said you were going to try to help them!"
"Obviously they're too dangerous to reason with!" Jack replied, "You saw how they were recklessly blasting at each other during the dance!"
"They were lashing out Dad!" Jazz objected, "Obvious cries for help and attention!"
"But Jazz dear," Maddie began, "what exactly can we do for them in such a short time?"
"Short time?" Jazz asked.
"The curse's effect of transporting them here only last for the duration of the dance." Jack explained, "Once midnight comes around they're stuck in the Ghost Zone for another year."
"And they won't be any more cooperative next year." Maddie added.
"I don't care!" Jazz insisted, "They've suffered for over two decades! It's time they were brought together, forced to resolve their differences, and finally at peace with their true inner selves."
"Uh yeah...what she said." Tucker nodded.
Exchanging doubtful glances Jack and Maddie finally sighed in defeat.
"Well, I guess we could give it a few minutes." Jack agreed, "But if they're not out here and behaving like civilized—ur—ghosts by midnight I'm blasting that portal closed for good!"
Gulping Tucker turned back to the mirror. Hurry Danny...you're running out of time!
Once through the portal Danny noticed that the Casper High he knew was now the Casper High of the mid '80s. The halls were decorated for the Halloween Dance and students in costumes were all gathering in the gym.
"Welcome to my eternal nightmare." Kate grumbled, "Every day is the day of the stupid Halloween Dance! I'm getting so sick of confronting that loser!"
"Huh?"
Sighing Kate explained, "The curse is like this, we live out each day of afterlives stuck in this school on both the day and night of the dance. Every day Jet either flirts with every other girl there, or tries to run off and hide from me so he doesn't get chewed out in front of everyone...again!"
"But why do you keep confronting him?" Danny inquired. "It seems like it would get old after a while."
"Ha! It's jerk face's fault that I'm stuck here in the first place!" Kate replied. "If he hadn't cheated on me twenty-one years ago then I wouldn't have been yelling at him in the science lab and we wouldn't have been caught in that explosion!"
"But, don't you think it would be easier—for both of you—if you just forgave him?"
Kate's eyes flashed a dangerous electric blue, "Look Halfa, you just stay out of this! You've got no idea what I've been through! Let's just go save that freaky girlfriend of yours so I can get back to making Jet suffer for cheating on me and stranding us here!"
"Whatever," he shrugged, I almost feel sorry for the guy.
It didn't take them long to find Jet and Sam. The lavender-eyed girl's cries echoed throughout the nearly empty halls.
"Let go of me you Grubby Ghost!" she ordered, stomping down on Jet's foot.
"Pathetic," Jet shook his head, "don't you realize that here you're the ghost? You pass right through me."
"That's right!" Sam's eyes widened, concentrating she managed to slip free of Jet's hold.
"What?!"
"Like you said Jet, I'm the ghost!" Sam grinned, "And you can't touch me!"
"Ha! I don't need to touch you!" Jet retorted cockily, "All I have to do is keep you here until midnight. Then the curse is broken, you replace Kate, and I'm free of her eternal nagging."
"You forgot about the portal!"
"The portal can't be opened by anyone except me or Kate." Jet smirked.
Sam appeared to be at a loss for words. What am I supposed to do now?!
"Don't worry Sam," Jet chuckled, "You'll see your precious Danny again...next year! And by then he'll probably have found some other girl to like. You'll see, these high school crushes never last."
"DON'T COUNT ON IT!!!" Danny shouted zooming towards Jet from out of nowhere and slamming his fist right into the ghost's jaw.
"Danny!" Sam exclaimed happily.
Kate stood, unnoticed, by the water fountain located in an intention in the wall. "If Sam replaces me...does that mean I'll be free to leave the Ghost Zone whenever I want? I'll be banished from this part of the realm...but where will I be banished to?" she wondered aloud.
Jet countered Danny's next punch with a roundhouse kick in the gut. Danny flew back into the lockers, and dented about four in the process.
"Give it up Halfa," Jet sneered, "I'm too far above your level!"
"What a snob." Danny muttered, wincing a bit as he forced himself to stand. "I'm not through with you yet!"
"Likewise," Jet grinned as he came charging straight for the halfa.
Looks like Jet may actually win. Kate mused, Wonder if he's realized yet that his ticket out of here is finding someone to replace him. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finds out!
Another well placed punch from Danny sent Jet skidding down the hall on his backside. Sliding past Kate he noted the smug grin she wore. Huh? What's she know that I don't?
Danny prepared himself for another attack as Jet came dashing back down the hall. Instead he was surprised to see him stop by the water fountain and yank his ex into view.
"All right Kate, spill it!" Jet ordered, "What's so funny?!"
Slapping his hand away Kate laughed manically, "You still don't get it do you?! You pathetic, dense, cheater!"
Sam and Danny rushed up to the pair looking just as confused as Jet.
"What are you talking about?!" he demanded.
"You've been scheming ever since we got here to find a girl to replace me with. So that you could break the curse and be rid of me for good!" Kate continued between bouts of laughter, "But had you ever stopped to consider that this curse was caused by betrayal you would've realized that by one of us betraying the other we release them instead of ourselves!"
"W-what?!" Jet gasped. "Y-you mean instead of making Sam my new 'Monique' I've actually just made her my new 'Kate'?!"
"Exactly Casanova." Kate chuckled.
"Hey I don't wanna be either of those girls!" Sam objected.
"You won't be," Danny promised, "I'm getting you out of here."
"And just how are you going to do that Halfa?" Kate questioned. "Even if by some fluke your ghost powers allow you to pass back into the living world through the portal they can't help her!"
"I-I lost," Jet seemed dumbfounded as he sank to his knees in the middle of the hall, "I'm still cursed. And I FREED Kate instead! NO!!!!"
Danny held Sam's hands in his own. "Sam, there's gotta be someway I can get you out of here before midnight."
"Forget it Danny," Sam sighed, "You tried your best. Right now you've gotta get back to that portal before it's too late for you too."
Kate raised an eyebrow, hardly believing her ears. The Goth geek is telling her loser boyfriend to save himself?
"No Sam!" Danny protested, "I won't leave you! There's no way I'll just abandon you here!"
"Danny you don't have any other choice!" Sam insisted.
"Actually," Jet snickered, snapping out of his shocked state and rising to his feet, "there is a way you can save your little girlfriend Danny."
"How?!" Danny demanded, "Neither of you will open the portal so how can I take Sam back to the living world?!"
"Kate may not be willing to send her back," Jet smirked, "but I will...on one condition."
Narrowing his eyes Danny took a step towards the ghost boy, "What's the condition?"
"Agree to switch places with Sam," Jet answered, "stay here as MY replacement so that I can be free of the curse. Kate betrayed me by bringing you here. That means that as of now you're both trapped with you as the only one with the power to get out. If you agree to stay put, I'll open our side of the portal and allow Sam to return home."
"WHAT?!" Kate shrieked.
"Don't do it Danny!" Sam pleaded. "Think about what you'd be losing! Your body, your family, and your life!"
I-I don't know what to do! Danny held his head in his hands, torn between two choices. One, save Sam and forfeit his life to being trapped within this realm of the Ghost Zone forever with the ill-tempered and arrogant Kate. Two, return to the living world, leave Sam behind, and hate himself for the rest of his life.
Off to the side Kate was leaning against the row of undamaged lockers studying the halfa carefully. Hm, he's really thinking about sacrificing himself to save his girlfriend. And that Sam girl keeps begging him to leave her here. They're both willing to suffer an eternity trapped inside the Ghost Zone for each other.
Though she wouldn't admit it, Kate was developing a grudging respect for the halfa and his girlfriend. She sensed a strong bond between them. If only she and Jet had managed to form that sort of bond, they wouldn't be in the mess they're in now.
Seeing Danny hesitate Jet spun around to Kate, "Time's running out!" he yelled, "We can trap these two 'love birds' here as our replacements and exit the mirror! We'll finally be free!"
Frowning Kate locked eyes with him, "So...you really wanna be rid of me that badly?"
"Huh?"
Her brow furrowed just before she exclaimed, "Well too bad! If you hadn't cheated on me then we wouldn't have been arguing in the lab when the explosion happened! And...and," tears began to gather in her cerulean eyes, "if I hadn't been so shallow back then...I never would've dated a jerk like you in the first place!!!"
"Danny! Have you found Sam yet?!" Tucker's voice echoed through the hall.
"That's Tucker!" Danny shouted, "His side of the portal's still open. We must still be able to hear him!"
"Yeah but that probably means that he can't hear us!" Sam concluded.
"Danny your parents have gone out to the RV to get the spare Fenton Thermos incase some 'ghosts' pop out in the next few minutes! They're gonna be back soon and they're planning to seal up the portal!" Tucker explained, "Jazz is standing guard in the hallway incase Lancer shows up but you've GOT to get out of there NOW!"
"Don't be a fool!" Jet screamed to Kate, "This may be our only chance to get out of here!"
"Our only chance passed us by twenty-one years ago," Kate stated firmly, "We decided who we were back then, and everything we did was our own choice. Now we're just gonna have to deal with it!"
With that said she walked across the hall to a large wooden door a kicked it open. "This is the science lab, in the Ghost Zone it hasn't exploded since our punishment is to relive the dance we missed every day. The mirror above the sink is your way back to the living world. Come on!"
Danny and Sam rushed inside while Kate slammed the door in Jet's face and locked it. Rushing to the mirror she placed a hand over it and stepped back as the portal appeared, "It'll take you back but you have to hurry! When you reach the other side you have to seal it somehow."
"How?!" Danny asked.
"I don't know...smash the mirror!" Kate blurted.
Nodding solemnly Danny took Sam by the elbow and tried to pull her towards the mirror.
Sam refused to budge, she stared at the ghost girl before speaking, "But...you'll be stuck here...with him."
"Yeah," Kate admitted, "but he's nothing I can't handle."
Pounding against the door Jet shouted, "I'll get you for this Halfa! You can't do this to me! I REFUSE to stay trapped here another minute with HER!!"
"Too bad pal," Danny remarked, one foot sitting on the brim of the mirror, "you shouldn't have cheated on her. Then you wouldn't be in this mess. I hope—for her sake—that you two can work something out."
"DANNY! SAM!" Tucker yelled, "My alarm's going off! Get your butts out here!"
With a quick wave of goodbye to the newly reformed Kate, Danny and Sam leapt through the mirror, holding each other's hand tightly.
"You think we'll make it in time?" Sam asked as they were sent hurtling through the portal.
"I hope so!" Danny answered.
They could hear the sound of Tucker's alarm going off as they traveled between the two openings. The sound was gradually growing louder and louder until...
Amanda/Artiste: Ha! Cliffhanger...don't ya just love those? Next chapter: Will Danny and Sam make it back in time? What if Jack and Maddie are there waiting to suck the first 'ghost' they see into the Fenton Thermos? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the next and final chapter of "Restless Teen Halloween"! Don't forget to review, no flames!