WARNING: Rabid Danny fans will not like this chapter, but I insist that you at least read the entire chapter and the note at the end, before making any nasty comments.
Chapter Nine: Warm Tape
"Stop!"
Valerie turned round. She recognised the two youths that were running up towards her. How could she not recognise them, after all, they were classmates, even though she didn't know them personally and would never have stooped so low as to be able to know them. Still, Tucker had once been kind enough to take the rap for intruding upon the factory her father guarded.
"Stay back!" she cried.
It was too late.
The Water Ghost rose back out of the pool of water and turned through the air to face Sam and Tucker. It looked at them and saw them armed with makeshift wooden swords that seemed to be made out left-over planks for picket fences and lots and lots of ivy, covering the sword and themselves. Somehow, it knew that these were exorcists of a sort but it did not recognise the ivy. The Water Ghost roared before opening its mouth and letting a jet of water spray out, and as the water left its maw, it turned to slushy, half-melted ice.
Through a sheer stroke of luck, Tucker slipped on some water and fell forwards and out of the way of the stream of water.
Sam was not so lucky. She was not quick enough and the water hit it with a force that knocked her off her feet and nearly made her barrel into Suimsalp. Though the ivy around her was supposed to protect her against the ghost's attacks, it was practically useless against a barrage of water. The ghost's attack ripped the flimsy ivy right off her and soaked her to the bone.
"How did I get talked into this again?" she wondered out loud, as she brushed her damp hair out of her eyes. She lamented her parka, which was meant to keep her dry but had failed to stop the water seeping down past her neck to her clothes and was now doing its best to keep as much moisture in as possible.
"Be thankful it only hit you with water," said Suimsalp, who seemed to be as dry as a bone.
"I should have brought a spare change of clothes," sighed Sam, as she got up on to her feet. "Well, let's get this thing done with."
"What do you think you're doing here?" cried Valerie, as she dodged a few more icicles aimed at her. "It's dangerous. Get out of here!"
"No way," protested Tucker with a shake of his head. "It's all right you hunting ghosts, but you can't have this one."
Valerie frowned underneath that helmet of hers. Did she hear right? Was Tucker protecting this ghost?
"You must be kidding me!" she cried. "All ghosts have to go and I'm the one to get rid of them." She aimed her huge anti-ghost gun at Tucker. "Now get out of my way or I'll have to fry you as well as that ghost."
Tucker gulped nervously, as he stood there. He had no idea Valerie was that determined to be rid of ghosts. Was she that willing? Was she going to shoot him just so she could get to the ghost behind him? He hoped not and he hoped that his courage would last long enough for him to stand her down. Despite the knocking of his knees, despite the shaking of his entire body, he knew that he had to stand Valerie down. Tucker had to do his duty to his friend, Danny, and protect the ghost that Danny was supposed to protect, that very ghost that was behind him.
It was then that Tucker realised that the ghost was behind him. He whirled round and saw it hurtling towards him with sharp claws aimed straight at his chest.
Tucker let out the most high-pitched, effeminate scream of terror in his entire life, moments before Valerie shoved him out of the way and then fired a net at the Water Ghost.
The net flew through the air straight at the Water Ghost and enveloped itself around it. The fibres that made up the net glowed with an eerie green glow, as the Water Ghost tried its best to slip through, but found itself unable to. No ghost could phase out of that. Intangibility was useless against the net, as it prevented the ghost's very essence from moving through it. That net was the perfect trap for a whole ghost.
Underneath the gear that hid Valerie's face, she smiled. That ghost was as good as hers and she would take it straight it to her current employer for her reward. The amount of money she got from that would be very welcome and she was confident it would help get her family back on its feet. She could almost feel the money in her hands, as she moved towards the ghost under the net.
"Huh? What?" cried Valerie, as Sam suddenly blocked her way. "Get out of my way, Goth girl!"
"No, I can't do that," protested Sam with a shake of her head. "You can't take away this ghost. It's one of the things keeping this city from falling apart."
"Don't be ridiculous," scoffed Valerie.
"No, it's true, young lady," said Suimsalp, as he shuffled towards Sam and Valerie. "This is one of many fragments of the Si Ling, the Four Holy Animals that are Guardians of the Four Cardinal Compass Point Directions. It is acting Ch'eng Huang or City Guardian. If you take it away, the Forces of Chaos will rise and envelop this city. Already, two others have been captured and the city is already feeling the ill effects of the imbalance." He looked Valerie in the eye or attempted to anyway. "You must not take this Ghost Fragment away," he said sternly.
Valerie laughed.
"What's with the old man?" she asked Sam. "Look here, Gramps, I was paid to capture this ghost and I am going to do that. Not you nor these losers are going to stop me."
"You've got to listen to him," said Tucker. "Please, Valerie. He's not lying to you."
"This ghost is important for our city's survival," said Sam sternly.
Valerie laughed at that comment. She had never heard something so ridiculous in her entire life.
"Ghosts are important?" she scoffed dismissively. "Like the ghost that trashed my Dad's career and trashed my family's belongings and completely trashed my life?" she shouted, her voice nearly becoming a scream of indeterminable rage. "Ghosts are useless. They have no use. No way is a ghost ever going to be of any use to us. They're just rejects. They should have passed over a long time ago. They shouldn't even exist!"
There was a chuckle from behind Valerie.
"I m-must agree w-w-with you there."
Standing behind Valerie were two men clad in the uniforms of the Blue Bow Army, the very paramilitary group that served as the security guards for the Roslyn Hospital Complex and its laboratories and mental institute. They stood there with firm, determined expressions on their face and seemingly armed to the teeth. They each stood on either side of two people. One was a blonde-haired woman, the same woman that had been the nurse that had been tending to Danny in the hospital just before Sam's visit. The other was…
"Danny?" exclaimed Sam in disbelief.
Danny wore a white helmet on his head on which was the symbol of the Blue Bow Army. He wore a black Kevlar suit with white boots and white gloves, the forearms of the suit being white as well as the shoulder pads. Draped around him was a blue cape of some sort that was kept in place by a gold chain clasp with the Blue Bow Army insignia on both sides of it.
There was a smile on Danny's face, as he floated next to the blonde-haired woman.
"Thank you," he said calmly. "Th-Thank you for capturing L-L-Long Wang's Ghost Fragment f-f-for us. We, the B-B-Blue B-Bow Army, have been searching a long t-time for it." He raised his right hand and clicked his fingers.
In response the two Blue Bow soldiers on either side of him rushed forwards.
"Oh no, you don't!" cried Valerie, as she stepped in their way. "That ghost's mine!" she shouted, before aiming her rifle at the two Blue Bow Soldiers. "Take one step closer and I'll blow you to Kingdom come!" She watched them stop in their tracks, looking at her awkwardly with what seemed like an expression of pure fear on their faces. "Say, you're from the Blue Bow Army, ain't you?" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you guys doing here? What? You don't trust me to bring this ghost to you?"
A smile spread across Danny's face.
"O-On the c-c-contrary," he replied. "We w-were just here to t-t-take that troublesome g-ghost from your h-h-hands." He moved closer to the two soldiers, his feet never touching the ground. "D-Don't worry. We haven't f-f-forgotten our p-part of the bargain," he told her and clicked his fingers.
The nurse quickly stepped forward and opened up a briefcase.
Tucker gasped. He had never seen so much money before in his life. So this was what Valerie wanted? Money?
"How do I know it's all there?" asked Valerie sternly, as she looked at Danny.
"You d-don't t-t-trust us?" asked Danny in a hurt tone of voice. "I'm hurt, V-V-Valerie. I'm v-very hurt by y-your w-w-words."
Valerie suddenly realised something. She had been wondering why Danny looked so familiar to her, as she stood there.
"Who are you?" she asked suddenly. "Where's Dr. O'Donnell?"
"He c-c-cannot be here, I'm afraid," replied Danny.
"So he sent you here?" asked Valerie. "He sent you? I recognise you! You're that ghost that ruined my life!"
An apologetic smile spread across Danny's lips.
"W-What c-c-can I s-say?" he said in reply to her statement. "That's a-all in the p-p-past." He motioned towards the nurse, whom nodded and closed the briefcase. "Think of th-th-this payment as c-c-compensation for all the harm I've c-c-caused you."
It seemed that Valerie was deep in thought at that moment.
"Danny, what do you think you're doing?" asked Tucker.
"You will not take this ghost fragment, traitor!" cried out Suimsalp, before he rushed the soldiers. Wielding his cane like some sword, he knocked the two of them unconscious and watched as they both fell, a Fenton Ghost Thermos flying out of the grip of one of the soldiers' hands to slide across the wet tiled floor and come to a halt underneath Danny's feet.
"Th-Th-Those m-moves," exclaimed Danny, as he extended his hand out and caught the Fenton Thermos, which fell upwards into his gloved grip. "They are j-just like that of the M-M-Mao Shang." An awkward smile spread across his lips, making it look as if he didn't have full control of his face. "F-F-Foolish old m-man," he said disdainfully. "Who d-do you think y-y-you are? Who d-do you think y-you are to f-f-fight against us, the B-Blue Bow A-A-Army? We w-w-will have the g-ghost fragment of L-L-Long Wang. You c-cannot stop us. N-Nothing can s-stop us."
Sam shook her head in disbelief. Had she heard right? Had Danny just announced that he was a part of the Blue Bow Army?
"Danny, what's going on?" she asked him. "I don't understand. Why are you working for them now?"
"He's a traitor, that's why," snapped Suimsalp angrily. "We Mao Shang, we protect those ghosts that need to be protected, not just send them off to Feng Du for judgement. Yet now, now he's siding with the Westerners that threatened the Mao Shang, that even now threaten this city with their greed. Traitor!"
"No, it can't be like that!" protested Tucker with a shake of his head. "It's not like that, is it? Tell me it isn't like that."
"Danny?" exclaimed Sam, with a great fear in her heart, a fear that Danny had really gone over to work for the Blue Bow Army.
Danny smiled awkwardly, as he floated there beside the blonde-haired woman. It was a lop-sided smile, as if one side was grimacing and the other was being forced into a smiling expression.
"S-Sam, Tuck-ck-cker," he stuttered, before wincing as if in pain but only momentarily. "You've g-got it all wr-wr-wrong. I'm their L-L-Leader now. Th-They do as I-I-I say." He chuckled again, as he closed his eyes, as if he was resigning himself to some unthinkable fate. "Y-Y-You're both welcome to j-join us, if you like. Being my f-f-friends, you can join as high ranking o-o-officers of the Blue B-B-Bow Army," he told them.
"C-Come on, guys," Danny said in a pleading voice. "You'll h-h-have the perfect oppor-opportunity to mould this w-w-world as you see fit. No more j-j-jocks. No m-m-more being b-b-bullied." The smile on his face widened, as he floated towards them. "We will c-c-call the sh-sh-shots and there'll be n-n-no more ghosts to bother us," he added. "This world… W-we shall b-build a N-New W-W-World in its stead and we shall m-make it in our i-i-image."
Sam turned to glare at the blonde-haired woman.
"What have you done to him?" she asked accusingly.
"I'm sorry, I don't follow," replied the blonde-haired woman with a shake of her head. "I haven't done anything to him."
"What? You must be kidding me," replied Tucker. "You guys have obviously done something to him."
"Well, even if we have, I wouldn't know," was the blonde's reply. "I was just asked by Dr. O'Donnell to accompany Master Fenton."
Danny laughed.
"Oh, I s-s-see," said Danny cheerfully. "You th-th-think they've d-d-done something to me, don't y-you? Well, you don't have to w-w-worry, g-g-guys. This is all m-m-my decision. I d-d-decided to join the Blue Bow A-A-Army out of my own f-f-free will." He smiled in a way that suggested that he was trying to hide something. "S-S-So, guys, what do you s-s-say? Join me?"
There was silence for a while.
Sam didn't know what to do. On the one hand, this was Danny. He was her friend, he best friend. Yet on the other hand, he had just joined an unethical and possibly evil organisation. He was stuttering too, which suggested that he wasn't quite his normal self. If she joined, would it help her find out what on Earth was going on in Amity Park? Would it help her find out just what the Blue Bow Army was up to? Then there was the principal of the thing. Could she join up to an organisation that had tried to harm her friend in the past, even though Danny claimed he was in charge now?
"Sounds pretty good to me," said Tucker, who sounded very convinced.
"No," protested Sam awkwardly. It didn't seem as if she meant it from the expression on her face nor from the way she said it. "No, we can't join the Blue Bow Army, Danny. It's just not right."
"I s-s-see," said Danny in a disappointed tone of voice. "I'm sorry you f-f-feel that way, but seeing as you are my f-f-friend, I guess I c-c-can respect your deci-ci-cision." He shook his head. "But Sam, I c-c-cannot allow you to get in my way. You understand that, d-d-don't you?"
"No, I don't understand," protested Sam with a shake of her head. "Why are you doing this, Danny? Why did you just join up with these creeps?"
"I h-h-have my reasons," was Danny's abrupt reply. "N-N-Now, please get out of m-m-my way. We m-must capture the Seal of L-L-Long Wang for the L-L-Life G-Ghost Project."
"No!" shouted Suimsalp, as he stepped in Danny's way. "You cannot take away this ghost fragment. I told you, the Seals of the Si Ling are important to this city's survival!"
The disappointed look on Danny's face changed awkwardly and abruptly into a displeased look. Danny looked down on Suimsalp with the coldest stare he had ever given anyone, even Dash Baxter.
"G-G-Get out of my way, old m-m-man," said Danny in a dangerous tone of voice.
"No."
"Then d-d-die," retorted Danny, before he blasted Suimsalp in the chest with a powerful surge of ectoplasmic energy that blasted the old man through the air and dropped him into the pool.
"Danny! How could you?" protested Sam in disbelief. "That was a defenceless old man!"
"He was f-f-far from defenceless," was Danny's reply. "You kn-kn-know just as w-w-well as I d-d-do that he was m-m-more than capable of h-h-hurting me."
"I expected nothing better from a ghost," said Valerie, as she rose back to her feet. She aimed her rifle at Danny. "Now I'm going to do to you what you did to that poor old man." She opened fire.
With one sweep of his hand, Danny sent the bolt of energy flying back at Valerie and if she hadn't back-flipped out of the way, she would have been toast.
"P-P-Pathetic," stated Danny sternly. "I-I-Is that all you've g-g-got?" He winced again, almost as if someone was stabbing him in the back or in the head. Then he sighed, as he shook his head. "We share the s-s-same goals, you and I," he told Valerie. "We're n-not that different, V-V-Valerie."
"You're wrong," replied Valerie, before she fired another plasma bolt at Danny, which went straight through him harmlessly. She cried out before rushing Danny. Her fist went through thin air, but not because Danny had become intangible. He had merely floated out of the way and his next blow hit Valerie in the head and sent her flying backwards.
"Those who s-stand in my w-way will get what's c-c-coming to them," stated Danny in a matter of fact tone. "I will change this w-w-world for the b-better. It will b-b-be a glorious new world and I-I-I will c-c-carve out the name of its new r-r-ruler in the v-very earth if I have t-t-to." He aimed the Fenton Thermos at the ghost fragment of Long Wang and uncapped it, pressing a button on its side. "The G-G-Greatest Thing is going to awaken soon and w-w-with it, a new ch-ch-chapter in our h-h-history shall begin," he stuttered, as the Fenton Thermos sucked up the ghost fragment.
Sam couldn't stand it.
"No!" she cried, as she rushed at Danny. "Let go of that ghost!" She grabbed the Fenton Thermos and tried to tear it out of Danny's grasp, but found herself incapable of doing so against his inhuman strength.
"N-No, S-S-Sam," protested Danny. "Y-Y-You let go. This d-does not belong to you. L-L-Let go, S- Sam… Sam, before I have t-to hurt you." He reached out and grabbed Sam by her head, his fingers wrapping tightly around his skull. "So persistent! Let g-g-go now before I have to c-c-crush your sk-skull," he warned her and he tightened his grip just to make sure that Sam knew he meant it. "L-L-Let go, S-S-Sam." Danny tightened his grip on her skull, applying more pressure to it than he had before.
"No, don't do this, Danny," pleaded Sam, as she felt the pressure of Danny's grip like some vice against her head. It hurt, it hurt a great deal, but she knew she had to cling on to the Thermos. She couldn't let Danny take the ghost away. "Please." She looked up into Danny's eyes with a pleading look on her face and it was then that she knew he wouldn't care if he did cave her head in.
That look on Danny's face, it was so cold, it was so uncaring. There was nothing in his eyes to even suggest that he had a soul, let alone feelings of friendship or love for her.
Tucker suddenly rushed forwards.
"No, Danny, don't!" he cried out to his friend, as he grabbed Danny's arm and tried tugging at. "Danny, let go of Sam! Let go of her!" he cried out.
"Et tu, T-Tucker?" exclaimed Danny in surprise. "You, my b-b-best f-f-friend, would get in m-m-my way?" He turned to glare at Tucker coldly. "Get off me Tuck-k-ker," he said sternly. "Let go n-now. Don't b-b-betray me like this, T-T-Tucker. Let go n-now!" He then inhaled sharply, before spitting out a glob of ectoplasmic energy that struck Tucker against the head and knocked him unconscious.
"No! Tucker!"
Suddenly, Sam felt a great surge of pain in her stomach. It made her let go of the Thermos and she fell backwards, and in doing so, she caught a glimpse of the blonde-haired woman whom had delivered the blow.
"Thank y-y-you, Alethea," thanked Danny gratefully, as he looked at Sam and Tucker, lying on the floor. "C-C-Come now. We must go." He turned, as if to walk away, or rather float away, but he stopped. "Ah, wait!" he called out to Alethea. "I f-f-forgot to do ssomething." He turned back round and looked at Sam thoughtfully, as he floated back towards her. "I'm s-s-sorry, S-Sam," he apologised to her, before he reached down and grabbed her by the throat. "I have to d-do this. I hope y-y-you'll understand." He lifted her up by her throat and then flung her into the cold, freezing pool.
Danny then turned round.
"Now f-for the other one," he said calmly, as he turned to face Tucker. He floated over towards Tucker, before he bent down to grab his former best friend by the collar. "G-G-Goodbye, Tucker."
A plasma shot flew through the air and struck Danny in the chest, sending him floating backwards.
"Get away from him, ghost," warned Valerie, as she aimed her rifle at him.
"When the New W-W-World begins, you," began Danny as he pointed a finger accusingly at Valerie, "will bbe one of the f-f-first to g-go." He floated backwards and wrapped an arm around Alethea, before he disappeared completely in a flash of light.
"Good riddance," muttered Valerie under her breath. She turned to face Tucker and then thought. "He was going to throw his friends into that freezing cold water?" she wondered out loud. "What kind of a monster is he?" She suddenly realised that he had forgotten about somebody. Valerie turned around and ran for the pool, flinging her weapons aside and dived into the freezing cold water.
After what seemed like an eternity, Valerie climbed back out of the water and hauled Sam out…
The machine was a strange one with eight spider-like metallic legs sticking out of its bottom to stab into the ground. Each of these were entwined in eight wires that wrapped around the legs to connect to the bottom of one of eight glass columns that rose upwards, filled with bubbling water. These joined to a giant glass sphere in which the water was illuminated by the sparks coming from eight prongs near the top that made the water bubble.
All of this was illuminated by the concave mirror that sat on top of this machinery, which was mounted on what looked like giant, dark, metallic shoulder pads that capped the top of the glass sphere. Attached to this great metallic cap were two strange things like rockets with four spikes on one end to form something like a claw and these spun round the machine in a slow, regular manner.
A concave mirror sat on top of the Fate Determination Machine, mounted on top of what looked like giant, dark, metallic shoulders pads that capped the glass sphere of the machine. Attached to this great metallic cap were two strange things like rockets with four spikes on one end to form something like a claw and these spun round the machine in a slow, regular manner. They were as strange as the eight spider-like metallic legs that supported the bulk of the machine, around each of which was entwined eight wires that spiralled around the legs to attach to the bottom of eight glass columns that supported the glass sphere.
A new addition to the Machine was ivy, which now covered the legs and parts of the glass columns. Another new addition was that of Professor Zeross. He was attached in the bottom of the glass sphere to a circular dais with a hole in a middle, over which he was suspended. Wires trailed in and out of him, as ivy entwined his entire body.
O'Donnell planned to place the Life Ghost in Zeross' body. The Life Ghost would take Zeross' body and consume it, use it and reconfigure it to the shape that the Life Ghost would be more comfortable of inhabiting. He smiled.
"It's only a matter of time," he muttered under his breath.
There was a loud crash that made O'Donnell turn round.
Standing there was Dr. Fordyce, staggering in like a drunk and with an asinine smile on his face. Actually, the latter wasn't that unusual, but the drunken stagger was.
"This is paradise!" drawled Fordyce lazily. "I'd never seen so many ghosts in my life. So many to choose from."
"You've been consuming ghosts?" asked O'Donnell in disbelief. "Fool! We have far more important things to attend to than indulging your stupid addiction."
"A-Addiction?" exclaimed a third voice.
There was suddenly a flash of light and Danny appeared, floating beside Alethea.
O'Donnell raised his left arm and pushed back his sleeve to look at the face of his watch.
"That was quick," he said to himself. "I take it then that you succeeded… Sir?"
A smile spread across Danny's face, as he floated away from Alethea and towards Dr. O'Donnell with the Fenton Thermos in his hands.
"That's r-r-right," he replied smugly. "I did hhave some interference from a few f-f-former friends of mine, but nothing really b-b-bad happened." He handed the flask to O'Donnell. "See?" he asked. "Wasn't it a g-g-great idea to follow that V-Valerie girl after all?"
"Yes, and we don't have to pay her," agreed O'Donnell with a nod of her head. "We get the ghost, we don't have to pay a thing… A win-win situation."
"F-F-For us, anyway," added Danny.
A smile suddenly spread across O'Donnell's lips.
"Yes," he agreed with a nod of his head. "Yes, indeed." His smile widened. "It would appear that you're learning fast, Master Fenton," he told Danny, as he turned round to face the Fate Determination Machine. "Yes, you're showing real initiative. Tell me, Master Fenton, what do you plan to do now? That Valerie girl won't be tricked into finding Gui Xian for us, not now anyway."
However, Danny looked as if he hadn't been listening. He had been looking at Fordyce all that time.
"Tell m-m-me, what were you t-talking about?" asked Danny curiously. "B-B-Before I arrived. Something a-b-bout an addiction?"
"Oh, you mustn't worry about that, sir," replied O'Donnell. "Dr. Fordyce will handle it personally. Won't you, Michael?"
"What? Feck off!" swore Fordyce drunkenly.
"He's a mean drunk when he's high on ghosts," said O'Donnell with a shake of his head.
Danny frowned.
"He e-e-eats ghosts?" asked Danny curiously.
"That's right, sir."
A smile spread across Danny's lips.
"P-P-Perhaps then, we've f-f-found a solution to this city's g-ghost problems," he said in a pleased tone of voice. His right eye blinked uncontrollably for a second, before it returned to normal. "We have a t-terrible ghost problem h-h-here in Amity P-P-Park. Like v-v-vermin, they swarm all over the p-place. Someone m-must exterminate them. Exterminate them a-all."
"Yes, indeed," agreed O'Donnell, "but once we create the Life Ghost, there will be no more ghosts in Amity Park or anywhere else in the World of the Living, for that matter. And we're only one ghost fragment short of completing the Life Ghost." He smiled. "If we can capture the ghost fragment of Gui Xian, the Life Ghost will be complete, the Fate Determination Machine will be complete and we will be able to take control of the Kingdom of Death!"
"You don't even know where the last fragment is," slurred Fordyce.
"You are c-c-correct," was Danny's reply.
"So what do you intend to do, sir?" asked O'Donnell curiously.
Silence followed O'Donnell's question. A bemused expression spread across Danny's face to then be replaced by an expression of desperation.
"I-I-I'm n-n-not en-en-entirely s-s-sure," was Danny's stuttered reply. "I-I-I d-d-don't know." He turned to face O'Donnell. "W-W-What do you s-s-suggest, Dr. O-O-O'Donnell?"
A smile spread across O'Donnell's face.
"I thought you'd never ask," was his reply. "We have completed the construction of several new Automaton Ghosts, based on the Jiangshi. These A-Ghosts can be considered, ectoplasmic robots. I suggest, sir, that you send them out to scour the city for the remaining Seal of the Si Ling."
"L-L-Let it be so, then," said Danny dismissively. "I m-m-must go now. If you n-n-need me, I will b-b-be in the shower, washing o-o-off the stench of ghosts from m-m-my body."
Tucker groaned, as he clutched his head. He felt as if he had just been hit by a speeding truck. Why was that? Why did his head throb like that? It was almost as if he had been hit in the head. He tried to think back to what could have happened before he had blanked out, but what was it that he had been doing before he was knocked unconscious?
Danny.
That was right. He had been in a confrontation against Danny.
Tucker still couldn't understand how Danny had gone over to betray them like that. It wasn't like Danny to act like that. He wondered. Was it possible that Danny had one of those paper Talismans on him? He certainly didn't look as if he was wearing one, but perhaps one was attached to him underneath the armour. And the way Danny tried to hurt Sam just didn't…
"Sam!" cried Tucker, as he sat bolt upright.
A frown appeared on Tucker's face, as he sat there in an unfamiliar bedroom. It didn't look like his bedroom, so whose was it? It didn't look like Sam's bedroom either and it definitely wasn't Danny's. A sudden thought occurred to him and it made him nearly wet his pants. What if he had been taken to hospital and not just any hospital but the Blue Bow-run Roslyn Hospital?
"Good, you're awake."
Tucker turned round and saw Valerie sitting beside him.
"Where am I?" he asked curiously.
"Hospital," was the reply.
"Which hospital?" asked Tucker nervously.
A frown appeared on Valerie's face, as she sat there on the chair.
"What?" she asked. "What does it matter which hospital?"
"It's not the Roslyn Hospital is it?" asked Tucker curiously. He received no immediate reply, which was no good for his nerves. "Is it?" he asked insistently, even though only a microsecond had passed since he last asked Valerie. "It isn't, is it? Please tell me it isn't. Please, Valerie, tell me you didn't let those ambulance guys take me to Roslyn."
"What is up with you?" asked Valerie with an irritated tone of voice. She couldn't understand it. Just when she thought she had Tucker figured out, just when she thought he wasn't that much of a loser, he would show her just how much of a loser he really was. "If you didn't want to go to hospital, you shouldn't have been out there with that ghost flying around."
"Sam, where's Sam?" asked Tucker.
"What do I look like?" replied Valerie. "Sam's keeper?"
"Is this Roslyn?" asked Tucker more insistently.
Valerie sighed, rolling her eyes.
"No," she exhaled irritably. "What's wrong with Roslyn anyway?"
Tucker thought of his experiences at the Roslyn Hospital and of all the bad experiences there. Even before he knew of the Blue Bow Army's control over the hospital, when he visited Danny there for the first time, he had suffered being pinned underneath several of the Blue Bow's security guards after his PDA went off. They had detained him for ages and it had taken a thorough searching and frisking before they were satisfied that he could leave.
"The Blue Bow Army controls that hospital," was Tucker's reply.
"Oh," said Valerie quietly.
"Yeah," said Tucker, as he nodded as if agreeing with the subtext of Valerie's word.
Valerie looked away and down at the tiled floor of the hospital. She thought back to the event at the pool. They had called that ghost by the name of Danny. Didn't they hang out with a kid named Danny? Yes, they did and now that she thought about it, that ghost kid did look a bit like Danny save for the glowing eyes. She wondered. Was Danny really a ghost? A ghost in their school. That seemed unbelievable. Surely, such a thing wasn't possible?
"Hey!" cried Valerie. "What do you think you're doing? You can't get out of bed now!"
"Thanks for your concern, Valerie, but I've got to go find Sam," said Tucker sternly, as he looked around for his clothes.
"You get back in that bed, boy," protested Valerie angrily. "The doctor said there's a risk you might have got a concussion. You gotta stay in there!"
Tucker smiled, as he turned his head to face Valerie.
"Aw, I didn't know y'cared," he said, before he found his clothes folded neatly in one of the cupboards. He took his shirt and his trousers down. "Uh, Valerie, would you mind giving me some privacy?"
"Fine," sighed Valerie with a sigh and another roll of her eyes. "But I'm coming with!" she added sharply. "Someone's gotta look after a dolt like you."
The smile on Tucker's face widened as he watched Valerie walk out. He wouldn't mind being with her at all. Tucker turned his head to look out the window and then grimaced at the night scene that lay outside before his very eyes. He had a terrible feeling that Sam had been taken to a different hospital, to the Roslyn Hospital, the Hospital under the control of the Blue Bow Army and its new Leader, Danny Phantom. Tucker had no idea what terrible things they were doing to Sam there, but he knew he had to hurry. He had to save Sam.
"S-S-Sam."
The black-haired girl in question was floating in a new machine developed by the Blue Bow Army. She was submerged in a tank filled with water heated to thirty-seven degrees Celsius in an attempt to keep her body temperature stabilised. It wasn't perfect by a long shot, which was also why she was hooked up to a dialysis machine that removed her blood and ran it through a heated machine to ensure that even her blood itself was at the correct temperature.
"I l-l-loved you, S-S-Sam," whispered Danny, as he floated near to the tank and he couldn't help but smile faintly, as if from a fond memory of his own past. "M-M-My love for y-y-you burned with a thousand w-white hot suns. I just w-w-want you to know that." His right eye closed as a spasm made the entire right-hand side of his face contract momentarily. "It really hurt me to do that to you, S-S-Sam," he told her, as the right-hand side of his face returned to normal. "But, I c-c-couldn't stand the thought of you h-h-hating me."
The smile returned to his lips after the spasm that had wiped it from the right-hand side.
"I know that I-I-I can never be that s-s-special one f-f-for you," Danny whispered to Sam quietly, "that one p-p-person in the whole w-w-wide w-w-world that y-y-you love no matter w-w-what, that o-o-one person, the only p-p-person that you will e-e-ever love f-f-for the rest of your l-l-life. So, you s-s-see, that's why I d-d-did this to you."
"S-S-Sam," sighed Danny, as he leaned over the tank, pressing his hand against the glass. "This w-w-way, you can be mine f-f-forever. Y-Y-You can n-n-never hate me. You c-c-can never lose your l-l-love for me. This w-w-way, you will s-s-stay perfect f-f-forever and w-w-we will always b-b-be together… in our d-d-dreams." He leaned in closer towards the glass surface of the tank. "I l-l-love you S-S-Sam," he whispered, before he kissed the surface of the glass just above Sam's pale lips. "S-S-See you l-l-later, Sam."
Author's Note: Some of you may not like what I've done to Danny in this particular chapter. (Yes, he is particularly creepy in the last scene). But don't worry, he'll be back to normal later on in the story, but for now you'll have to put up with him as he is. Some of you may even recognise the plot situation as being borrowed from a particular videogame out there. Yes, it inspired this chapter, but believe me when I say that this will not turn into a clone of that videogame.
