WoM- 'giggling,' A lot of people liked last chapter… 'grins widely,' I gotta say, it was really fun to write up! Anywho, here's chapter 18 for all of your reading pleasure! 3 Chapters and counting after this! Oh, and instead of going with my regular update sccheduled anymore, I've decided to update all my stories totally just once meore, then finish up this story and MoC so that I can concentrate on other things. Sorry for the late update, but things have been pretty hectic lately...
"Hate the sin and love the sinner."
-Garry Gamble
Scene 18
"Steady… Steady…" Lamburg said, hovering around anxiously, "Make sure to get all the action! Both Phantom and his little friend!"
"You shouldn't bother," Mandy said in a bored tone from where she stood with Electra and Derris, "It's all going to be destroyed."
"Would you knock it off with the psychic mumbo-jumbo already!" Electra snapped, glaring at the younger girl before turning an irritable eye to Derris, "And would you stop sulking? It's really getting on my nerves."
"It's impossible not to get on your nerves, Electra," Derris said dryly, "whether or not you're even trying." Electra rolled her eyes and turned away from her co-star to scowl up at the dueling ghosts.
All three of them had been 'strongly urged' to attend the event by both Lamburg and Kimbers, both of which were ecstatic when the ghosts mysteriously took over all the satellite broadcasts and send their cryptic invitation.
Honestly, though, Electra couldn't care less.
'When is this going to be over?' she thought impatiently, scowling. She wanted to go find Danny and ask him about that creepy eye trick he did. Not to mention ask him about his progress in finding Sam… 'Not that I care what happens to her,' She reassured herself hastily, 'It's just that Mrs. Manson is getting on my nerves with her crying over her 'lost little girl.''
"LOOK OUT!" Electra was jolted back to the present by the loud shout from the girl in the green Hazmat, belatedly realizing it was to her when she saw the stray ectoblast heading straight for her. Screaming, Electra covered her head and face with her arms on instinct, too surprised to do anything else.
Just before the blast was due to hit her, though, something else did, wrapping and arm around her waist to haul her into the air at a speed that took the starlet's breath away. Relaxing slightly, the girl look up at her savoir.
"You alright?" Phantom asked, his face still stern from the heat for battle.
"I… I think so…" Electra said, a little stunned.
"Good." Then, something caught the ghost's eye and he dived downward in spite of Electra's screech of protest, barely dodging the fireball Inferno had lodged at them. Clutching the ghost's shoulders desperately, Electra squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as possible and buried her face into his hazmat.
'This is why I don't do my own stunts…!' She moaned slightly, catching Phantom's attention again.
"Hang on," He told her over the sounds of the battle around them, "I'll set you down as soon as I can,"
"Hurry!" Electra pleaded before she gasped loudly. "BEHIND YOU!"
The girl's warning came too late, though, as Sparks shot a fireball into Danny's back. Yelling in pain and surprise, the ghost boy fell forward, Electra falling form his arms and rolling on to the ground with a low grunt.
'If that bruises, I'm going to be very, VERY angry…' She thought to herself, trying to get up. She froze when she saw a pair of feet in front of her, looking up to the smug grin on Spark's face.
"Buh-bye…" She sang out, conjuring up a fireball. Before she could do anything else, though, Phantom flew over Electra and knocked the ghost off her feet, pinning her to the wall by her wrists.
"Leave her alone, Sparks," He said in a harsh tone. Electra gaped at his back dumbly.
'Why his he risking his afterlife to save me?' She thought, confused, No one had ever gone so far to keep her safe before, after all… especially not a ghost…
She glanced at the female pyro to see how she was taking Phantom's warning. Instead of looking worried or angry, she seemed amused for some reason, even going so far as to laugh right in the other ghost's face.
"Oooh…" She purred out with a flirty grin, "I never realized you like it rough, Ghost Boy…" And with that, she kicked Phantom hard in the stomach, making him release his grip on her. As soon as she was free she tackled Phantom to the ground, one hand planted on either sides of his head, "Not that I mind, Sweetheart," Phantom snarled out a profanity, earning another laugh from the girl, "Hey now, let's watch the name calling. You don't want to hurt my feelings after all… not while we've still got your precious human girlfriend locked up."
"You're making a big mistake underestimating Sam like that," Phantom snapped back, before charging up enough energy to throw the girl off of him so he could stand up. "And a bigger mistake underestimating me…"
"Danny!" The green hunter yelled out, throwing a grenade type thing at a group of pyros as her ally charged at Sparks. Phantom didn't seem to hear her though, as he gracefully dodged a blast Sparks shot at him, not turning when it hit the camera equipment the movie men were using.
'Did he say Sam?' Electra thought, blinking in surprise as she watched the two ghosts fight. 'Sam was kidnapped by these guys? Because of Phantom?' the young starlet bit her lip before turning away coldly, 'What do I care if she was? It would be her own fault for getting involved in all this.'
"What are you waiting for?" Phantom roared at her as soon as he got a break from fighting long enough to turn back to her, "MOVE!"
Electra didn't need to be told twice, racing back over to the crowd of humans and off the battlefield, where Maddie was there to take her somewhere she could sit down.
"Are you alright, sweetie?" She asked in concern.
"F-Fine," Electra stammered, shaking slightly. She turned wide eyes back to the fight in front of her, her hands shaking slightly and her old scar burning in a silent reminder of the terrible power in those blasts the ghosts were throwing around like baseballs.
'Don't think about it,' Electra chided herself, closing her eyes to try and dispel the image. 'Don't think about anything… It's not true after all, none of it's true…' Still, even as the girl told herself that, she knew it was nothing but a lie…
"Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Moe!" Tucker said cheerfully, lowering his hand and heading down the randomly chosen hall.
'Never fails, man!' He added in his head as he raced down the stretch of hallway to another corridor with four more halls connected. The tech geek groaned when he got there, looking around helplessly.
"Great…" He griped, "A maze… Just perfect!" After grumbling a little more, the boy sighed and fixed a determined look on his face, "Okay Tuck, you can do this! Sam's counting on you, after all… Now let's see… this is just like Level 7 of Doomed. So all I gotta do is find the pattern. There has to be a pattern if the ghosts can get through it… Of course, they can walk through walls, and it's not like this place has a players guide map and cheat codes…" Tucker sighed and made a face at that.
'Now I'm acknowledging the fact that something Mr. Lancer said is true… if that's not a sign of a near apocalypse, I don't know what is.' Remembering what was going on, Tucker promptly kicked himself for that jinx and he leaned against a wall to try and figure out what to do…
…Only to accidentally lean on a secret switch and fall straight through the wall, staring down a hidden, torch lit hall in shock before his face split into a wide, gleeful grin.
"Score one for dumb luck!" he laughed, scrambling to his feet and heading down the passage. "Man, I can't wait to see the look on Sam's face when I get to her! That's show her I'm not as hopeless as she says…"
Tucker blinked as he slowed in front of one door, hearing the soft murmuring of voices behind it. Grinning, the tech geek threw the door open, charging into the room without thinking.
"Never fear, Sam!" He said loudly. "The cavalry… has…" he trailed off as he noticed that instead of his best friend, four hooded pyros sitting around a table playing poker were staring back at him in shock. Grinning sheepishly, Tucker started to back away with a nervous laugh. "Oops," He said meekly, "Wrong turn. Sorry to interrupt your game!"
Before he could make his get away, though, a fifth pyro entered the room, grabbing him by his arms as he tried to escape. The other pyros got over their shock then, and all of them stood with the same grim look on all of their faces.
"Well, well, well…" One of them said with a scowl, "If it isn't the half ghost's other friend…" Tucker flinched before flashing the most convincing smile he could in his current situation.
"Half ghost?" He asked, feigning ignorance, "What half ghost? I don't know a half ghost. I just got lost is all. Sorry to bother you!"
"Save it, kid," The pyro that caught him snapped, taking the Fenton Communicator from Tucker and crushing it in his grip.
"Hey!" The tech geek protested with a glare, "That's Danny's!" The boy froze at that, realizing he's just contradicted himself.
'…Aw, crud.'
"Well?" One of the pyros asked, "What should we do with him? Lock him up?"
"Are you kidding?" Another one snorted, "You wanna end up like Fahrenheit?" Tucker blinked at that.
'…Who?'
"Well then, you gotta better idea?" A third pyro snapped. The one from earlier grinned darkly, making Tucker's stomach sink.
"As a matter of fact, I do…" Tucker gulped audibly as the ghost loomed over him.
'Why do I have a bad feeling about this…' he thought helplessly as the ghosts advanced on him, 'Well, I hope Sam's having better luck then I am…'
"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sam screeched, tearing at her hair and biting her tongue to restrain the long, violent line of curses she so desperately wanted to scream to the heavens from spilling out. "Come on! Haven't I suffered enough WITHOUT putting up with some impossible maze too?"
Panting after her outburst, Sam took the time to look around her, groaning to herself as she realized that she no longer knew which direction she'd come from and slumping to sit on the ground, her knees pulled into her chest.
'Great,' She thought sullenly, 'I'd trade vital organs to be able to walk through walls right about now…' Sighing, the goth fell back to lay down on the ground, staring at the ceiling. 'Come on, Sam, think! There's gotta be SOME way out of here! I've just got to wait for some kind of sign…' That when she heard the loud noise that had her scrambling to her feet, 'that was a scream… and not just any scream, either…'
"Tucker…?" Hesitating only a moment longer, Sam dashed down the hall the screams and yells were coming from, navigating through the maze with little effort now that she had a more obvious guide then dumb luck.
Soon, though, Sam found herself in a hallway where the screams weren't coming from any hall. Instead, it seems to come from the wall itself. Frowning uncertainly, Sam pressed a hand against the wall, moving it until one of the bricks pressed inward and a portion of the wall moved away. Jumping back, Sam grinned at herself before slipping into the secret passage.
'Now the score's Sam-2 Pyros-0!' She thought smugly, 'And I still haven't broken a sweat!' Just then, though, a door down the hall opened, and several pyros stepped out into the hall. Cringing, Sam hastily hid herself behind one of the torches.
"Are you sure we should just leave him?" One of the pyros asked uncertainly, "I mean, shouldn't someone stand guard?"
"We need to find that girl," Another pyro snapped, "Besides, you really wanna end up like Fahrenheit?" Sam smirked a little at that one.
'Wow,' She thought as the ghosts passed her, heading down the hall, 'Word really travels around here…'
"I'm gonna go help the boss," one of the pyros (he seemed to be in charge.) announced just then, "Find the girl and take her back to her cell, no matter what the cost is." Then, without another word to his allies, the ghost headed through a door that was hidden in the torch light.
Making a mental note on where it was, Sam waited until the rest of the ghosts had left to come out of her hiding place and sneak cautiously into the room Tucker was being kept in.
"Tucker?" She hissed out to him as she shut the door behind her. Turning back to the room, she faltered slightly at the sight in front of her; her best friend chained up and being slowly lowered headfirst into a pit of fire.
"Sam!" Tucker said, sounding relieved, "You're alright!" Sam came out of her shock to roll her eyes and shake her head at that.
"What the heck are you doing here?" She demanded with a glare. Tucker flinched slightly before smiling sheepishly.
"Um, saving you?" Tucker, after giving the girl another sheepish smile, he jerked his head towards a wheel-like device in the right, "That's the thing they used to string me up. Wanna see if you can…?"
"I'm on it!" Sam said, rushing over to the wheel she frowned when she saw several switches on it, none of them labeled. Deciding to take a shot, Sam flipped one of them, only to hastily flip it back when Tucker screamed loudly as he plunged at an accelerated rate. "Oops!" Sam told the shaken tech geek, "Sorry!"
A few switches later, Sam finally found the one they were looking for. (Much to Tucker's relief.) And after flipping it, she hurriedly unchained her friend and hauled him out the door.
"We've gotta move fast!" She told him as she headed towards the exit she's seen the pyro take, "Danny's in danger!"
"When isn't he?" Tucker muttered slightly to himself as he and Sam went through the door, making sure to keep that comment under Sam's hearing. He stiffened when he head a noise out in the hall. "Oh, man! Someone's coming!"
"This way!" Sam hissed, dragging him down the new hall to the lone exit at the other end.
Tucker flinched as he heard shouting from someone at the end of the hall, yelping when he saw Sam was gaining distance on him.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as Sam reached the door and flung it open. "Wait up!"
"No time!" Sam yelled back, "Hurry!"
She stepped outside, screaming in surprise when the earth sloped sharply beneath her feet, and rolling head-over-heels down a steep hill and coming to rest at the bottom with a pain groan, which turned into a grunt of pain when Tucker landed in her back.
'Well that's gonna leave a mark…' She thought dryly, pushing her friend off.
"Get OFF, Tucker!" she snapped as she stood, "We have to get out of here now!" She gasped loudly when pyros began spilling out of the building, turning and heading into the thick, wooded area nearby, "This way! We'll lose them in the forest!"
Sam maneuvered her way through the trees, bushes and shrubberies the best she could, barely feeling the scratches some of the branches were leaving all over her body. Finally, she stopped in a small clearing to catch her breath.
"I think…" She gasped out, "I think we lost them…" When her friend didn't respond, the goth looked up, an sick feeling in her stomach when she realized she was alone…
WoM- Is that a cliffie, or a semi-cliffie? Ah well, either way, blame Sadie! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find a nice, safe, fortified place to hide for after I post next chapter… 'slinks away.'
Thanks to;
Light Dragon SunsSong, SummersSixEcho, SquirrelGirl, Kagome lover, Moss Royal, Samantha-Girl Scout, Petitio Principii, littlekittykat, puppyface, epobbp, Crazy Billie Joe Loving Freak, SSpHaC, Punker88, i AM the Random Idiot, Darth Frodo, the sleep warrior, Rob Phantom, BratCat, conan98002, The Sole Survivor, Zuzanny, Fade B., Inumaru12, Snea, Hakkyou Kuusou, Lumias, phantomshadowdragon, DanPhantom, enigmatic penguin, sarah-sama, Tareei, Hunter Hatake, AirGirl Phantom, Writer's-BlockDP, Invader Johnny, Sam Fenton, Master of Procrastination, ShadowBlue, spirit1s, Little Minamino, MP(Mysterious Prophetess), waveblader213, wierdIT, Kuki Salazar, Jimmy the Gothic Egg