Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: Hurrah for 9000 hits and counting! Feel the love, my sweets, feel the love! Hope I didn't make you wait too long to get this cliffie resolved…but I'm bringing up a whole other issue now…
Misconceptions and misunderstanding and confusion on one poor girl's part abounds, bwahahaha! I'm putting this up earlier than I thought I would so you guys have fun!
This is what I posted in my bio, and it's for all of you, so I'll put it here too:
9426 hits? 257 reviews (at last check)? Oh my God, I really think I would have to sit down if I wasn't already doing so. I really don't know what to say other than a very sincere thank you to you all.
For everything.
For the hits and the reviews, for the lovely comments that have been sent my way via email and PMs, for all the encouragement and love and straight up ego boosting.
For just talking with me and being my friend.
Thank you to all of you and I hope that my story continues to capture your interest, brighten your day, stir up your imagination, and tug at your heart. Love to every one of you!
Lacey
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Thirty: Effect
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Last Chapter
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
As the large group of people finally finished rushing past her, Valerie turned her head to the side just in time to catch a bright flash of light coming from…Foley and Manson…
"Not a problem!" Danny Phantom cried as he shot off towards another ghost most residents of Amity had come to know as the Box Ghost.
'What in the world?' Valerie's eyes widened as she started to run, 'What the hell just happened?'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Valerie ran as fast as her legs would allow her to go, "What the hell was that light? I've finally caught up with that stupid ghost boy to ask him my damn questions and now I've got more!"
The fighting lasted only a few minutes as Valerie watched Tucker grab for Sam's backpack, only to toss a thermos to the girl who yelled out for the ghost boy and throw it up to him.
'Wha…what?' Valerie couldn't quite wrap her mind around it, 'First he talks like an actual person with Sam Manson on a hill in the middle of the night and now he gets help from her and Foley? What is going on?'
Valerie, however would not get her answers until later, as she watched Danny Phantom capture the ghost then swoop down to grab both the Goth and the Techno-geek and take to the skies.
Taking a peek at her hand held tracker, the truant girl headed for the Amity Park park, all the while sniggering about how weird it sounded to call it that. She would find the damnably frustrating ghost and gets answers from him…not to mention exact some revenge for all the time spent grounded…
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Why'd you grab us?" Sam huffed and folded her arms as soon as Danny set them down in the park, "You could have just landed and changed back. The rally wasn't even over!"
"I saw Valerie in the crowd looking at me…she had this really weird look on her face okay?" Danny's hand unconsciously ran through his hair before settling at the back of his neck, "It weirded me out!"
"So?" Tucker glanced at the halfa beside him, "She's seen you lots of times…she was probably just wondering what you of all people…er, ghosts was doing at an environmental rally."
Danny didn't deign to respond to his friend as his hand finally came away from his neck.
"At least you're calming down," Sam heaved a sigh of relief, "You were starting to make me jumpy with how nervous you were feeling."
"Sorry Sam," Danny gave her a forlorn smile, "It's just…Valerie looked like…like she might have seen something…but maybe not."
"Whoa," Tucker adjusted his glasses, "You mean you think she saw you change?"
"I don't know," Danny sighed, "Not much I can do about it though. It's not like I could stop it or…stop it Sam! I know what you're doing."
"I'm not doing anything," Sam said smugly with a Cheshire grin.
"Okay, I'm lost," Tucker eyed the pair cautiously, "what did Sam 'not' do?"
"Sam…she…uh, how do you explain it?" Danny turned in confusion to the young lady in question.
Rolling her eyes Sam turned to Tucker, "What he's trying to explain is something we can do through the link we have. When he's over-reacting to something, I'll just focus on something I'm feeling and send that feeling to him. It'll either overpower what he's feeling or distract him. Either way works."
"What feeling did you send him?"
"I'm sticking with my guns. I didn't do anything at all," Sam smirked again and leaned back against the bench they had come to occupy.
"She's feeling either really 'I don't care about anything' right now…or she's doing a damn good job pretending to feel that way," Danny smirked back at the girl, "but I know you're doing it now, so I'm going to ignore it."
"Whatever Danny," Sam shook her head, "I can't believe we're not at the rally. I've been planning on going ever since I found out about it.
"Hm," Tucker answered her as he began to record his newfound information on Danny and Sam in his PDA.
"I was so exited about it too. This is just like that time that the two of you wanted to go to Paulina's party and I wanted to see 'Trinity of Doom.' You always get your way."
"Hm…"
"Me?" Danny shot his friend a look, "I don't always get my way! Besides we went to the movie that night after I got rid of Desiree!"
"Mhhmmm…"
"So? You always…" but she was interrupted by Tucker's voice as his eyes scanned over the screen.
"Mm."
"Tucker? Are you alright?"
"Hm?"
"Never mind…" Sam grumbled and massaged her forehead, "Let's just spend the rest of the day here."
"Fine by me."
"Mmhmm.."
Taking a peek at Tucker, who had seated himself between the halfa and the girl, Sam and Danny caught one another's eye and promptly burst out laughing.
'He can be so ridiculous at times when he's into something that really interests him,' Sam gave Danny a bright smile as he winked at her, 'Too bad what he's so interested in happens to be his two best friends…it's like we're study subjects…'
Danny too sat and pondered over Tucker's behavior, 'He must have noticed something really interesting, and it's probably about the link because he's been so into tracking it lately.'
"I got it! The mystical Sword of Erath on level forty! Woot!" Tucker suddenly exclaimed, raising his head to find Danny and Sam giving themselves whiplash trying to turn away from each other, their faces bright red, "Dude, you two look like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar. How I do so love these 'blushy moments'…"
"Shut up!" the pair said simultaneously, "Let's go do something…"
"Right," Tucker grinned as he chuckled silently to himself, "Whatever you two say...at the same time..."
"Shut up, Tucker!"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Alright, stay focused girl," Valerie Gray was on the hunt, "The tracker indicates that he landed in this quadrant and never left, so he has to be around the park somewhere."
Laughter caused her to shift her attention, however, as the sounds of three unruly teens began to draw nearer. She was in the open, but fortunately the others were in the tree-line for some reason.
"That was lame, Danny," she heard Sam Manson exclaim, "It was even worse than your dorky lines when you're fighting."
'Fighting? Since when does Fenton fight…maybe she means video games or something,' Valerie shook her head as she moved to her left slightly to hear better.
"What? I thought it was 'punny', get it? 'Funny'….'punny'…it was a pun…" a sigh was heard as they stood on the other side of the trees, "Oh fine, that was lame, I admit it."
"It's about time," Tucker Foley's voice came through to the hunter, "Maybe you'll stop trying to play the cheap 1960's superhero, complete with knock-out punch lines."
"Well that was just as lame Tucker," Sam's sarcastic tones sounded and Valerie could almost picture the girl rolling her eyes in disgust.
Deciding she could take a peek safely,theghost huntermoved her head around the edge of the tree, only to see the strangest thing in her life. The girl thought she was sane until that particular, poignant moment in time…after it, she wasn't sure of anything.
"What do you mean 1960's?" she watched as Danny Fenton asked…
A light formed around him and began to travel both up and down his body, a jumpsuit left in their wake instead of a t-shirt and jeans.
'He changed...'
A cocky smile was plastered to his face, snow-white hair blowing in the wind, green eyes glowing eerily even though it was still day.
'He changed...'
And Valerie Gray watched as Danny Phantom answered, "This is the twenty-first century and I ain't a 'cheap' superhero. I'm just a kid who ends up saving the world sometimes."
The two with him just laughed as he changed back and they continued on their way, Manson gently scolding him about being careful and talking about their vice-pricipal, Mr. Lancer for some strange reason.
Valerie sunk to the ground, her back against the tree as she began to take everything in, 'He changed…he changed…Danny turned into…he changed into…'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
An hour later, the young ghost hunter was still in the park thinking over everything she had seen and all the times she had ever come into contact with Danny Phantom or Danny Fenton.
'They look alike…they always have,' she had puzzled over that fact for months. Agonized over how much they resembled each other in voice, in expression, in features. She had been grounded over and over trying to find him…and he was beneath her nose the entire time.
'I liked him!' she huffed to herself, finally over her denial and moving into anger, 'That no good, selfish, ugh! I liked him a lot, and I thought that I had a chance if that Manson girl would've just given up.'
'There has to be a logical explanation. Fenton isn't a fighter. He isn't the hero type, is he?' Valerie finally stood as she forced herself to think things over, 'Wait…'
A bird had just flown over her, it's shadow passing over her and then the ground in front of her, 'That's it! Ghosts can take over people's bodies…maybe Fenton isn't really the ghost.'
In a twisted way, it all began to make sense to Valerie, 'Paulina says that Danny Phantom always seems to show up where Danny Fenton happens to be. They look alike, sound alike, and have some of the same expressions. Danny sometimes has bruises and is always really tired…like he's been fighting!'
Lengthening her stride, Valerie headed for her home, 'Phantom is overshadowing Fenton. It all makes sense now, I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner! I have to figure out a way to help him.'
'Some friends he has though,' shesardonically grimacedto herself, 'letting him be possessed by a ghost and not doing anything to help him. Well, that ends soon! The next time I catch Danny change, I'll make sure that Phantom gets blasted right out of his body and blown to tiny pieces.'
"But what if Sam and Tucker have been possessed by something too, and that's why they weren't helping him?" the hunter stopped in her tracks to consider this, 'They're all best friends…and I know that Goth girl cares for Danny more than that. Uhg, I guess I'll have to save them all…'
Grinding her teeth and clenching her fist, Valerie began to think over what she was going to need, "Time to get in contact with Mr. Masters and tell him what I'm planning to do. I have a lot of work ahead of me."
'I'll save you Danny,' she thought determinedly to herself and nodded, 'That stupid ghost ruined my life. I won't let it ruin yours and your friends' lives too.'