The last few chapters have been rather drama filled, but I remind you that the genre of this story is humor/romance. But as some famous dead guy once said, I'm not sure if it was Plato, Socrates, Shakespear or someone else all together, a good story will make you cry and laugh so hopefully this is a good story. Anyway, things seem to be a little heavy now but they will lighten up. Really.

Chapter Seven

To say that Danny was shocked at the condition of the basement in his old home, Fenton Works, was an understatement. The lab had been shattered. He carefully picked across the goo scattered floor, doing his best not to disturb too much as his father requested. He then phased his way up to the Ops center and cued up the cameras he hoped were running while his father tested the new gadget.

Danny typed in the specified date and time and was pleased to find footage of his father working on the device. He watched as his father stopped working and left the lab, then suddenly the footage went blank. Danny frowned. He checked the status of the recording and found it had been manually overridden an estimated five minutes before the explosion.

"Dad wouldn't have disabled the system," he said to himself. "And neither would Mom" He leaned his head on his hand and played back the footage a few times. There was nothing to see. Danny stopped and decided to look at it frame by frame. Still there was nothing unusual until Jack left the lab. Then there were several quick flashes of light from the direction of the ghost portal, which couldn't be seen from the camera angle. Then the screen went blank.

"Something or someone definitely came out of the Ghost Zone." Danny said out loud. "Plasmius." Who else could it be? As far as he knew there was still a truce in the Ghost Zone.

Danny quickly changed to ghost form and phased his way down to the lab. He stopped in front of the portal thinking he could hear the phone ring. He listened, but decided the ringing was his imagination and flew into the Ghost Zone.

The Ghost Zone hadn't changed since his last visit. In fact, it never changed. It was still the same swirling formless place. Danny knew where he wanted to go first and as he made his way there, he felt something hit his back. He turned and was blasted with a large blast of ice. "Klemper," Danny said then was hit again but this time from an ectoplasmic blast. Suddenly shots came from all sides and before Danny knew it, he was overwhelmed. So much was going on that he couldn't figure out who was attacking him except Kelmper, and why? Before he could even attempt to get his bearings the world around him darkened and he lost consciousness.

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Sam sighed as the phone rang and rang and no one answered. She hit the gas and hoped that he wasn't at Fenton Works yet. It would take at least thirty minutes for her to reach Danny's childhood home. The ring on her finger was making her hand tingle and she frowned as she looked at her hand. A sense of unease washed over her.

"Danny is fine," She said hoping beyond hope that she'd reach him before he went in the Ghost Zone. Sam couldn't exactly put her finger on why, but she had a feeling something was wrong and that Danny needed to be on guard. Of course knowing Technus was out of the Ghost Zone and haunting her friend's computer added to the feeling that something was very wrong.

Sam's finger began to tingle again. She looked at the ring on her finger then gasped as the little green stone was now all lit up inside, glowing with an eerie, ghostly light. She grabbed her cell phone again, but this time she dialed Tucker.

"Did you find him?" Tucker asked as he answered the phone. Sam usually gave him a hard time about the way he answered her calls. He never said hello. It was always a question, but right now, she felt too strange to quip with him.

"Tuck," she said weakly as a wave of nausea caused by a sudden and more intense stab of anxiety. "Can you…" her thought process clouded over and she pulled over on the side of the road.

"Sam?" Tucker asked urgently. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to come get me," Sam said urgently. "I need to you come get me and take me to Fenton Works. Now!"

"Where are you?" Tucker asked quickly. No other questions were necessary for now. Sam informed him of her exact location on the side of the road. "Sit tight," he told her. "I'm on my way."

Tucker bumped into Jazz on his way through the door and he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.

"What's going on?" Jazz asked in stunned confusion as she ran with Tucker. He opened his car door, shoved her in, ran to the driver's side, started the car and sped out of the driveway with a squeal of tires.

"Tucker!" Jazz yelled as she fastened her seatbelt. "What's going on?"

"Something's wrong." Tucker answered. Filling her in on Sam's phone call. Jazz frowned picked up her cell phone and dialed Sam's number.

"Put your seatbelt on," Jazz ordered as she put the phone to her ear. Tucker blinked then quickly belted himself in.

Jazz spoke to Sam in calming tones as she and Tucker zoomed down the road. She admonished him a few times to slow down, but Tucker ignored her.

"It sounds like you're having a panic attack Sam," Jazz diagnosed. "Just breath. Everything will be okay."

"It's not a panic attack!" Sam growled. "Something is wrong!"

Jazz looked at Tucker and mouthed, "Panic attack." Tucker said nothing. He knew better than to step into any kind of verbal discussion at this point. He was also well versed enough in ghostly happenings that he was unwilling to dismiss Sam's feelings as something as simple as a panic attack.

Sam jumped out of her car in relief as she saw Tucker pull up. She grabbed her bag and locked the car then ran and opened the back of the car. She shoved her left hand forward. Both Tucker and Jazz's eyes widened as they observed the pulsing glow of the green stone.

"Whoa!" Tucker said as he grabbed Sam's hand. Jazz bent forward to look.

"That's not what Abby and Michelle said," Sam laughed as she tried to shake off the nervous feeling. Tucker let go of Jazz's hand and she took Sam's hand and wiggled the ring.

"That hurts," Sam said as she tried to pull away.

Jazz examined Sam's hand closer. She rubbed the tip of Sam's finger with her own fingernail. "Can you feel that?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam said as another rush of anxiety began to overwhelm her. The ring began to grow brighter. Jazz turned Sam's hand palm up and looked at the ring from the other side then looked at Tucker and indicated for him to examine Sam's hand.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked softly as she rested her head against the seat and took a deep breath.

"Maybe we should just find Danny," Tucker said as Jazz released Sam's hand.

Jazz turned to Sam. "Do you want me to sit back there with you?" she asked gently.

"No," Sam said as she sat back and put on her seatbelt. "I'll be fine. I just feel a little ill."

"And you hand isn't hurting or anything?" Jazz questioned.

"Other than tingling," Sam answered. "No." She laid her head back and took several deep breaths. The feeling of anxiety began to fade and left her with an overwhelming need to find Danny.

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Danny opened his eyes and found himself bound to a wall with ectoplasmic ropes. He looked around and saw Skulker approaching. Skulker wasn't smiling his usual evil grin, he looked very stern.

"Truce breaker!" Skulker accused.

"What?" Danny asked. "I didn't break the truce!"

"He says he didn't break the truce!" Skulker yelled. Danny could hear laughter but could see no other ghosts.

"Let me go!" Danny yelled as he fought against his bonds.

"Truce breaker!" Skulker accused again. 'Now we're in chaos again! It's all your fault!"

"I didn't break the truce!" Danny yelled as he continued to fight the bond holding him to the wall.

"Then explain the explosion. Explain the ring being activated." Skulker said angrily.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Danny growled "I know nothing about an explosion or any ring….Wait, are you talking about the explosion in my Dad's lab? I didn't have anything to do with that. I can prove it to you"

"And you deny activating the ring?" Skulker questioned angrily.

"What ring?" Danny asked. "I don't know anything about a ring!"

"Small," Skulker said as he got up in Danny's face. "Gold with a nice little green stone?"

"Sam's ring?" Danny asked in confusion. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Danny had forgotten where the ring came from and only now did he remember that it had been given to him by his father. Danny had never questioned Jack about where he'd gotten the thing. He just took it.

"Sam." Skulker said, he knew the girl though due to the truce he hadn't seen her in years. "Sam! Sam! You gave the ring to a human?"

"Who else would I give it to?" Danny asked.

Skulker's leaned in closer to Danny. "Why'd you give it to her, and why now? We knew you had the ring at one time, but then it disappeared and we couldn't find it again. We figured you destroyed it."

"We?" Danny asked.

"Us!" Skulker answered. "You know those of us living here in the peaceful Ghost Zone?"

"Okay," Danny said slowly. "I gave it to her as an engagement gift. We're getting married."

Skulker's eyes went wide and he backed away from Danny and began laughing. "Ghosts can't marry humans."

"I'm only half ghost," Danny pointed out. "I am human."

"But you're also ghost and the law clearly states that no ghost may marry a human. Period." Skulker said. "But that's the least of our troubles boy. We need the ring."

"What's so important about the ring?" Danny asked feeling a little sick. He wondered if it was going to hurt Sam. He wanted to get out of the Ghost Zone now and find her.

"You really don't know do you?" Skulker asked he turned. "It's okay everyone. He didn't break the truce. There is no declaration of war. He's just a clueless idiot playing with things he doesn't understand."

Danny could see figures moving away, some muttering in disappointment others sighing in relief. Skulker let Danny down off the wall then held up his hands. "No harm done…yet."

Danny narrowed his eyes at Skulker. "So it's still shoot first and ask questions later hmm?" he ran his fingers through his ghostly white hair and tried to shake the fuzzy feeling out of his aching head.

"I thought you grew out of doing stupid things," Skulker said to Danny.

"I really would like to know what you're talking about." Danny growled. He what he really wanted was to shoot Skulker with a big blast of ectoplasmic goo, but knew any type of aggression toward a ghost in the Ghost Zone was an automatic violation of the truce.

"The ring! The ring!" Skulker said angrily. "The one you gave to a human! A human! A human girl! Aghhh!"

"Still not getting it," Danny sighed. "You'll have to explain."

"It's an ancient thing," Skulker told Danny. "The ring of guidance, or sometimes the ring of rule. It can also be the ring of destruction. Really depends on the wearer. But you stupid fool put it on a human hand. Who knows what's going to happen now! We're all ready feeling the effects. Doors are disappearing. A few of us have been forced out of the Ghost Zone. Which means as time goes on, more and more of us will start invading your human world."

"And all you need to stop it is the ring?" Danny asked.

"Yes!" Skulker said. "Well no. We don't need the ring. We just need it off her finger. Cut it off if you have to."

"The ring?" Danny asked.

"The finger!" Skulker growled.

"I'm not cutting off Sam's finger!" Danny said in outrage.

"You either get the ring off of her or the whole of the Ghost Zone will declare war on her. And it will be a war unlike anything you've ever seen before!" Skulker warned.

"It's not a problem," Danny said. "I'll go take care of it now."

"If you don't," Skulker threatened. "I will!"

Danny grabbed Skulker and got in his face. "Touch her and you die." He let go of the ghost then flew as quickly as he could out of the Ghost Zone.

"Too late," Skulker sniffed. "Already dead."

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"He's not here," Jazz said. "But the portal is open so he must have gone through it."

Tucker looked around the messy lab and grimaced. He'd already been warned by Jazz not to touch anything. Not that he needed any type of warning. He already knew the consequences of messing with things in the Fenton Lab.

"I'm feeling much better," Sam said as she looked at the ring. It had stopped glowing and the panic and need to find Danny now faded.

"We should go upstairs and wait,' Tucker suggested just as Danny appeared through the portal.

"Wait for what?" Danny asked. Everyone stopped unsure what to say?

"So Danny," Tucker said breaking the silence. "Did you give Sam a cursed ring on purpose or were you clueless as usual."

Danny's eyebrows furrowed. "You know about the ring?"

"You gave me a cursed ring!" Sam accused as she advanced on Danny. She grabbed his arm and Danny yelled and jump back in pain as her touch sent waves of shocking, electricity through him. Sam let go and looked at him with wide worried eyes.

"Ouch!" Danny said lamely as he made eye contact with her.

"I'm sorry," Sam said as she watched Danny transform to his human self. He hesitated a moment then reached out and touched her. Sam winced away from him, but nothing happened.

"It only affects my ghost form," he said thoughtfully then held out his hand. "I'm sorry to

do this Sam, but I really need the ring back."

Sam looked at Danny for a long moment then at Jazz who was standing over his shoulder. "I'd really like to do that for you Dan," She said. "But I can't"

Danny gave her a look of exasperation and disbelief. "I understand that it has significant sentimental value Sam, but it's cursed and" he paused as he read her expression. "You can't get it off your hand can you?"

Sam shook her head then slowly offered her hand to Danny. He looked down at the ring on her finger and sighed in resignation. The ring was fused into her finger. Danny looked back up and met Sam's worried gaze. He wondered why nothing could go easily between he and Sam. There had always been reasons and reactions keeping them apart. When finally, finally they were together and savoring their happiness, another bolt of lightning from the sky had to do it's best to strike them apart.

"I'm not going to let happen again," He said to Sam who gave him an impatient look. She knew what he was thinking.

"You're trying to say the Universe is against us." Sam laughed. "I don't believe in that kind of stuff." Danny pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"This time I'm not letting you go." He said.

"This time?" Sam asked. "How many times have you let me go?" Danny shrugged thinking about the hundreds of times he and Sam had come tantalizingly close to starting a real relationship only to have some catastrophe from the Ghost Zone tear them apart.

They'd resorted to a half lie. Telling people they weren't involved with each other that way. Telling themselves they weren't involved but both knowing the truth that maybe they really were involved in a deeper relationship than just close friendship.

Danny was sick of it. He just wanted to acknowledge to the world that he loved Sam. He wanted stake his claim so there would be no doubt to her, himself or anyone else that they belonged together.

"Tuck," Danny said in exasperation. "Can you get me something on this ring? Skulker called it by three names. The ring of guidance, rule and destruction.

"I'm on it," Tucker said as he headed to his car for his laptop.

"Jazz," Danny said as he turned to his sister. "Is there any medical way to get this ring off her finger?"

Jazz gave him a skeptical look. "Western medicine doesn't have too much effect on ghostly items," she said. "Short of cutting off Sam's finger. I don't know what else we can do."

"You're not cutting off my finger," Sam growled. Danny looked at her worriedly. It was either her finger or the entire ghost zone against her.

"This is ridiculous!" Jazz sighed. "The next thing you know some weird ghost will pop out of the Ghost Zone and tell us that Danny can't marry Sam or something ridiculous like that." Jazz shook her head and went up stairs after Tucker.

Danny's heart constricted. No. He was not going to tell anyone what Skulker said. He didn't care if every ghost in the Ghost Zone came after him. Nothing was going to keep him from marrying Sam.

"You know Danny," Sam said as she eyed her finger. "All we need now is for Valerie to show up and I'll believe once and for all that you and I are just not meant to be together."

"Aghh!" Danny yelled. "Don't say that. Never say that!" He put his hands to his hair in a gesture of pulling it out.

"I'm just calling it like I see it," Sam said in a matter of fact tone. She waved her hand. "This is one big green glowing neon sign. And do you know what it says Danny?"

"No," Danny said as he folded his arms across his chest. "I don't want to know."

"It says," Sam continued "Danny and Sam are not meant to be." Anguished vivid blue eyes met resigned lavender.

"That's not how I read it," Danny replied as he moved to take Sam in his arms. "I think the sign says, Sam and Danny are perfect for each other, and that scares the rest of the universe so much that it has to try and keep them apart."

"That's a long neon sign," Sam laughed then said seriously, "But if the whole universe is against us. How can we succeed?"

"Because we don't give up!" Danny declared then lifted Sam's face to his and kissed her with all the passion and love and desire he'd been denied showing her until recently. He refused to bottle those feelings up again.

Jazz had chosen that moment to venture back downstairs and witness the romantic embrace. Her face flushed a deep shade of red and she quietly turned and tip toed back up the stairs, finally giggling when she reached the living room.

"What's so funny?" Tucker asked as he looked up from his lap top.

"Love birds," Jazz said then sighed happily as she sat down and leaned against Tucker.

"It's hard for me to type with you holding on to my arm," Tucker complained trying to not be amused by the blissful look on Jazz's face.

"I want them to be happy Tucker," Jazz said forcefully. "I'll do anything in my power to keep them together. It's taken them too long to get this far."

"You're just excited that you'll finally be able to let out your inner Goth and wear a latex bridesmaid dress," Tucker laughed as he typed.

"A what?" Jazz asked as she wrinkled her nose.

"Oh yeah, It's a nice black monstrosity." Tucker laughed. "Very sexy actually." He gave her a wolfish grin. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing you in it."

"Aghh! No!" Jazz said as she laughed and eyed the scary looking web page Tucker was browsing through. "How do you know anyway? Did Sam show you?"

"No," Tucker answered. "I hacked into her computer. Her password has been the same since ninth grade."

"What is it?" Jazz asked.

"Mrs. Samantha Fenton," Tucker said as he smiled.

Jazz giggled with glee and then pointed to the screen. "That's the ring!"

"The ring of guidance, rule and destruction," Tucker said as he read. "imbues the ghostly wearer with powers of knowledge, justice, wisdom and destruction. Mostly depending on the wearer's temperament."

"Sam's pretty even tempered," Jazz said. "Then we don't have anything to worry about."

"You think Sam's even tempered?" Tucker asked in astonishment. "Well yeah you would think so, you've never lived with her. Besides, it says ghostly wearer."

"Well then what will happen to a human who wears the ring." Jazz asked as she read the screen then froze.

"Death." They both said together. "To the ghost zone first and then the wearer."

"Oh great," Tucker said as he covered his face with one hand, knocking his glasses askew.

"Does it say how to get it off?" Jazz asked anxiously.

"Well it's not a ghostly pat of butter or we'd grease up her finger and slip that puppie right off," Tucker answered. "Nope looks like there are two options."

"Cutting off her finger," Jazz said and Tucker nodded in affirmation.

"But that's the easy way," Tucker continued. "The other way has all sorts of weird requirements for some sort of drink that will short circuit the ring's hold on the wearer and cause it to slip off her finger."

"So what's in the drink?" Jazz asked. She wondered what kind of ingredients a curse breaking brew would involve. Probably eye of newt and wing of bat.

"It doesn't say," Tucker answered. "It just says, drink of the Elixir of Odio."

"Sounds gross," Jazz said. "So look it up. Maybe you'll find a recipe." Tucker nodded as his fingers flew across the keyboard looking for the solution to save Sam's life, or finger.

There were dozen's of references to the Elixir of Odio, but they were all in another language.

"It's in Spanish," Tucker said. "I didn't do so well in Spanish."

"So what do we do now?" Jazz asked.

Tucker hesitated a moment then looked over his shoulder toward the lab. "Vlad," Tucker whispered to Jazz. "He's the only one I know of who is versed enough in Ghost Zone lore that he would have a clue…"

"Wow," Jazz said in mock joy. "The news keeps getting better and better."

"Yeah," Tucker sighed "But I think Sam would rather cut off her finger, than go to Vlad for help. Bad thing is we only have until the new moon to figure this out."

"When is the new moon?" Jazz asked as she experienced a terrible sinking feeling.

"Sunday," Tucker answered. "Six days away."

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Okay. Now it's time for me to ask you to please review. Thanks ;-)