DarkFoxKit: Ohoho, so we've finally finished the King Tuck episode… wow, that episode took longer than we thought to finish, and we're moving on to the Master of All Time. Now, before we get into it, I feel I should let you readers know. We did change quite a bit in Master of All Time, but it's nothing crazy or expansive like with the King Tuck episode. The change we did was more out of logical reasoning rather than any big ideas we had to overhaul the plot of the episode.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Unfortunately a lot of the plot that happened in the episode was suited around Danny and his inability to think things through. With Andy in the equation, it didn't feel exactly right to go with the full original plot.
DarkFoxKit: So keep that in mind as you read through the episode. For now though… *Looks around* Where is Andy?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Christmas is around the corner, so Andy is either home or hiding from the cold.
DarkFoxKit: Oh that's right, Andy is a bit more… sensitive to the cold. Well, speaking of Christmas… Merry Christmas everyone! I know it's a bit early at the time of posting this, but we wish you all a Merry Christmas regardless! I'm going to give Onyx a nice present for her to enjoy~
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': That's… ominous. *Looks at the camera* Merry Christmas all. Make sure you bundle up nice and good if you're somewhere cold. If you're somewhere warm… well then… I'm jealous as it's pretty cold out here without there being snow on the ground. Oh, make sure to spend time with your family and friends!
DarkFoxKit: Personally, I live in the south, so we rarely get snow here, and I'm jealous for anyone who is having a white Christmas this year. *Looks back at Onyx* Don't worry, Onyx, you're going to love your present~ Now if you'll excuse me… I'm going to finish the incantation for it.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Incantation…? Oh geez…
Chapter 81: A Time of Respite
"You can't drop out of the election, Tucker," Danny stated firmly.
Over the past few minutes, since Danny got back, Sam, Danny, Tucker, and I have been trying to convince Tucker to stay in the race for Student Council President.
"Why can't I?" Tucker asked. "You saw how well I handled being in charge. I can't handle being in charge without getting corrupted."
"That wasn't you though," Sam pointed out. "You weren't in control of yourself back there. You were being influenced by that scepter."
"Does it matter, Sam? I still fell for it. First getting ghost powers by Desiree, and now some old Pharaoh's scepter," Tucker scowled. "What if it happens again? Maybe I'm just not meant to wield power."
"Tucker, you know that during those moments, you were being influenced by malicious power. You becoming… what you were during those times is understandable," I pointed out, hesitating on the word 'corrupted'. "That doesn't make you a bad person, it just makes you human."
"Tucker, you feel guilty, right?" Danny asked.
"No, I feel absolutely fantastic for enslaving our entire school for weeks," Tucker sarcastically replied. "Of course I feel guilty! I doubt I'm ever going to stop feeling guilty…"
"Then how about instead of dropping out and hiding from those feelings, you make up for it by becoming the Student Council President and making the school a better place?" Danny suggested. "What better way to make up for enslaving everyone than to make them happy by making the school happy?"
Tucker hesitated. "I… don't know… could I really do it without losing it again?"
"Tucker, we'll be right there. If you do lose it, we'll be sure to snap you out of it, like we always do," I reassured. "Besides, you're not going to lose it again. I know you genuinely want to help this school, that's why you decided to run in the first place, not to be in charge or gain popularity."
"You can allow yourself to be open to constructive criticism if you feel like you might be getting a big head, and allow people to share advice with you if you're not sure about something," Sam added. "That's what makes a good leader into a great leader. Leaders don't become great all by themselves after all, they need to take time to listen to the people they're trying to lead."
"Come on, Tuck, at least say you'll give it a chance? It would help you to feel better if you were in a position to help out the school," Danny pleaded.
Tucker took a deep breath and let it out. "You… all make a good point… Fine, I'll stay in the running. I don't know if anyone would vote for me now though. There is still a chance they might remember what happened subconsciously."
"Considering how oblivious the people of Amity Park can be, I doubt they would," I mumbled.
"That's great, Tucker. We'll be supporting you every step of the way." Sam smiled.
"Yeah, we'll keep helping you out until the election is over," Danny added.
Tucker gave a smile of his own. "Thanks guys."
Admittedly, the election went by quick after what had happened in the other realm and the conversation we had with Tucker. The votes were actually pretty close. Dash being a popular jock, and having pretty dang good ideas already, gave him a lot of votes. Valerie, although no longer as popular as the A-Listers, still had some influence on the social ladder, especially with Star and Paulina helping her out. Her ideas for helping keep the school safe were also something to consider. Tucker, however, managed to win by two votes above Valerie, who came in second. Dash's results were no slouch either though. Tucker was pretty surprised that he managed to win, and promised to be the best Student Council President he could be. He's also open to construct criticism and advice from others.
Since nobody ran for vice president, however, Valerie ended up getting that position since her votes were so close to Tucker's. Tucker and Valerie did put Dash in charge of sport management however, so in a way, all three of them won.
Although Tucker had won the election, I could tell that he was still bothered by what happened. When school ended for the day, I held onto Tucker's arm, letting Danny and Sam walk ahead of us.
"Andy?" Tucker asked, looking at me.
"Come with me for a moment," I instructed before I began to walk away.
Tucker blinked before he followed me.
I lead Tucker to the central park. I sat down on a bench, gesturing him to sit beside me. Tucker did just that, giving me a curious look.
"So why did you bring me to the park?" Tucker asked curiously.
"It's a good place to just talk," I answered. "I've noticed that you still seemed to be troubled by what happened. I would suggest you talk to Jazz, but you don't seem comfortable enough to share details with her. Perhaps you'd just like for me to lend an ear and listen?"
"I don't know, Andy… I mean, this kind of experience is…" Tucker hesitated. "It's not really easy to talk about."
"You don't have to force yourself if you don't want to. I just hoped that you'd at least get some of it off your chest," I replied.
Tucker remained silent for a moment. I didn't say anything either. Both of us just sat in silence, just looking at some kids playing around in the park, and feeling a nice, pleasant breeze. Then, after what felt like a while, Tucker spoke up.
"It scares me with how easy it is to let power go to my head…" Tucker frowned. "That time with Desiree, when she gave me ghost powers because of my stupid jealous wish, I felt like I was on top of the world. You didn't know it at the time, at least not until I was mutating, but I was so happy to be a ghost hero, like Danny. I could fly, I could go through walls, I could become invisible, I could lift things like trees or trucks with ease, and I could fire plasma blasts with my hands. It was like a dream come true, and I didn't even have to go through some painful accident to get these powers. But… well… since the superhero thing didn't work out for me, I decided to leave that to Danny and have some fun with the ghost powers. I caused quite a bit of chaos at school, playing pranks, scaring the other students, messing with the teachers, even overshadowing the popular girls to say nice things about me. But as time went on, I started becoming more and more… aggressive with the ghost powers. I began to cheat in school, I started hacking the computer system to change my grades… I even attacked Danny."
I nodded, remembering that all too well. Tucker actually overshadowed me to fight with Danny that day, but I decided not to say anything.
"Danny may have saved me from turning into a full, corrupted ghost that day…" Tucker paused when he noticed I cringed a little. "You okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Just keep going, don't mind me," I quickly said.
Tucker blinked for a moment, before he nodded. "I just thought it would've been a one time thing, you know? I made excuses like it was because I was being influenced by the ghost genie, that it wasn't all my fault. But then… this whole Scarab Scepter and Duul Aman thing happened. I know that I was influenced, but I wasn't completely taken over. All the things I did in that other realm… I had wanted to do them. Yes, Duul Aman had influenced me into doing these actions, and the power of the Scarab Scepter allowed me to do so, but I still chose to do them in the first place. I chose to enslave everyone to do my bidding, I chose to imprison Juliette and make her my queen, I chose to hurt Danny, trapping him in a death ring. I could've killed him, if he hadn't kept his ghost powers somehow. If this could happen twice, it's bound to happen again."
I looked at Tucker.
"I just don't know what to do. I don't want it to happen again…" Tucker frowned. "But it's like it's way too easy to lose control of myself. I don't know how you and Danny do it. Both of you have these awesome ghost powers, you could've just as easily become corrupted with them."
I tried not to pale at those words. "It's… a lot easier to lose yourself to power than you think, Tucker. I know that Danny has been trying his best to be responsible with his powers, but he's not perfect either. There have been moments where he showed signs of… losing himself. Perhaps the worst one was when Freakshow was controlling him with his crystal ball. While it wasn't technically Danny's fault, that showed just how cruel and dangerous he could be should he ever choose to be like that. I suppose Dan is another one, but I'm not sure how much you remember him because of the whole time shenanigans stuff going on."
"What about you?" Tucker raised a brow. "Have you ever been tempted by power or gotten so wrapped up in a new power that you failed to realize what you were doing?"
"I… don't really know. While I have been wrapped up with figuring out how some of these powers worked, I've been really self conscious and scared of these ghost powers since I accidentally obtained them," I admitted. "I've always been terrified that anything I do out of anger or spite was me losing myself to these powers. I've relaxed a little bit since then, but I am still pretty self conscious about it. I will admit that I did use these powers to make things more convenient for myself, but I don't think that counts as signs of losing myself to the power... I suppose the closest I got was when I almost obliterated… an innocent ghost. Though that was mostly out of fear."
I remembered how close I came to blasting poor Hope because I was both angry and scared of her that night.
"I never heard of you doing that," Tucker blinked.
"It's not something I tend to talk about," I grumbled. "But you see what I mean, right? You're not the only one struggling with having power. At least you have the chance to make up for it now. And maybe… once you feel confident enough, you can confront the one person you felt you've hurt the most."
Tucker raised a brow at that. "The one person I've hurt the most…? Danny? Cause my actions put his life on the line in the colosseum."
I sighed. "And you called Danny the clueless one. While Danny's life was on the line, that's kind of nothing new at this point. I was talking about Juliette."
"Oh right…" Tucker frowned. "Yeah… I messed up my relationship with her."
"Just give her some time to herself. You should take some time as well. It'll help reflect on what happened, so you can avoid making the same mistakes again," I suggested. "You don't need to talk to her right away about it, it's best if you wait until you feel confident enough to speak to her again."
"Yeah…" Tucker solemnly agreed. "Thanks, Andy. I do feel a little better after talking about this."
I gave him a small smile. "Since tomorrow is Saturday, maybe we can help cheer you up by ordering your favorite meal at the Nasty Burger."
"Your treat?" Tucker asked with a small smile of his own.
"Sure, just don't order a large drink. I'm kind of on a budget," I replied.
Tucker's smile widened before he nodded. "Don't worry, I'll just get my usual."
I was glad I could help make Tucker feel a little better. I told Danny about going to the Nasty Burger to help cheer Tucker up. Danny agreed, wanting to go there anyways to relax for a bit. Our parents have been dancing around in the living room lately, though I hadn't bothered to ask why. I realized I probably should have been more concerned about why our parents were dancing in the living, but I was just tired that night.
The next day, Danny and I were walking out of the house to go meet up with Tucker and Sam at the Nasty Burger.
"Bye Mom, bye Dad! We're going to meet up with Tucker and Sam at the Nasty Burger!" Danny called out.
"We'll, like, totally see you two later!" I heard Mom say in a strange accent.
"Is... there a reason why they're talking like that?" I questioned my brother.
"It… can't be anything good…" Danny sighed before he looked at me then at himself. "Perhaps we should grab our hoodies just in case?"
"I'll go get them," I sighed before I headed up to our room.
I put on my dark blue hoodie, and grabbed Danny's red hoodie. After the Christmas season was over, Danny decided to get a regular non-Christmas themed hoodie, much like the one I had, but a different color. I was about to leave before noticing Danny's wallet was sitting on the desk.
"Huh… guess Danny almost forgot his wallet," I remarked, picking it up before putting it in my pocket. "I'll see you later, Hope."
I headed downstairs, giving Danny his hoodie and his wallet. "You left this on our desk. You really shouldn't forget your wallet if you plan to go somewhere, bro."
Danny chuckled nervously. "Yeah… I kinda forgot."
"So I can see," I chuckled. "Come on, let's go."
Both of us decided to walk to the Nasty Burger. It wasn't far, and we didn't always want to use our ghost powers just to fly everywhere. Besides, with our parents around, it was usually bad for our health to stay in our ghost form for very long.
We met up with Tucker and Sam at our usual table. Tucker gave a smile as he saw us.
"Hey you two, glad you could make it," Tucker greeted.
"We weren't going to miss out," Danny chuckled.
"Well, you never know. Ghosts tend to love to attack at the most inconvenient times," Sam pointed out.
"Thankfully, this isn't one of those times," I replied.
Tucker, Sam, and I went to go stand in line to order our food. Danny was to save our seat at the booth table. Since I had promised Tucker yesterday that I would pay for his food, I had to pay for both his and mine. I didn't order a lot since, as I had told Tucker before, I was on a budget. Sam, of course, ordered a salad, and a tofu soy melt, which was apparently some kind of sandwich. I was surprised the Nasty Burger even had something like tofu soy melt.
After we got our food, we went back to our table. I slide Danny his food and drink. The four of us began to dig in while we chatted about nothing important. Danny and Sam usually always forced me to try to relax whenever we had a regular hang out like this, and for Tucker's sake, I decided not to mention anything about ghosts or strategies.
Before long, all of our food had been eaten. We were just sipping what was left of our drinks now. Tucker looked quite satisfied with what he ate, and he leaned back against the booth. Sam was leaning back as well, sipping her own drink.
"Glad they've improved their vegetarian selection," Sam remarked. "At least the quality of it."
"Did you make some suggestions to them?" I asked curiously.
"Of course I did." Sam smirked proudly. "They were using a type of lettuce that is notorious for being frequently recalled for E. Coli and other health concerns."
"I have no idea what that means," Tucker remarked.
"Well, even though Nasty Burger may not be the healthiest place on Earth, it's considered a safe haven for us teenagers," Danny chuckled. "I mean look around, there are hardly any adults in this place. It's mostly people around our age or older."
"Mostly teenagers from Casper High too," I added. "Which means if someone embarrassed themselves here, they're instantly a social pariah. Not that it matters to us all that much."
"You two… did not just do what I think you did…" Tucker frowned, giving a concerned look at Sam who was also frowning a little.
"They totally just jinxed-" Sam started before the front doors burst open.
"Danny! Andy! Run!" I heard Jazz's voice warned urgently.
"Run? From what?" Danny asked as we both turned to Jazz, who was running towards us.
"Is something going on?" I asked in concern.
"Embarrassment!" Jazz hissed.
Before I could even ask what Jazz meant, the doors suddenly burst open again. What I saw made me stare in disbelief. Dad was wearing a big, orange long sleeve jacket with black and white stripes on his sleeve. He also wore some kind of gray pants with a white vertical stripe. He had these bright purple shoes on. He also wore a huge chained watch, it was big enough to hang down to his torso, and another glowing green watch with a big 'F' letter on it. He also wore a big, fuzzy white hat, and some kind of sunglasses.
Mom wasn't much better, the way she fixed up her hair, it made her look poofy and wild. She had a black bow at the lower part of her head. She put some kind of make up to make her look like she had a mole on the lower part of her right cheek. She was wearing teal leggins, and a teal top, covered with a loose black dress of some kind. She had a big golden belt buckle. She also wore big golden earrings, and wore some oversized bracelets on her wrists. They both looked so outdated that, for a moment, I thought Clockwork got them from the 80s and dropped them here as a joke.
"Hoodies up…" Danny muttered before he zipped up his hoodie and pulled the hood over his head all the way to hide his face.
I didn't hesitate to bring my own hoodie up. I loved my parents, but sometimes the things they did easily got out of hand. "What are they doing?"
Jazz quickly squashed herself in beside Sam. "If anyone asks, I'm related to you."
"If that's gonna be the case, don't smile," Sam chuckled softly.
"I think it's more believable that Jazz was related to you if she did smile, considering how cheery your parents are," I pointed out quietly. "Besides, I doubt Jazz is smiling right now."
Jazz was actively hiding herself behind a menu.
I could already hear the other teenagers in the area gasping as they stared at our parents in shock. However, once the shock wore off, they all began laughing. And when I say laughing, I mean they were laughing hard. Who needs clowns and comedy when you got the two naturally funniest parents right here in town?
"We, like, totally decided to drop by to get some quick eats," Mom stated in that accent, causing the other teens to laugh even harder.
"Totally, we got a super bad case of the hungo-s and decided it would be totally radical to fill up here," Dad added.
None of us made a sound as our parents strolled up to the cashiers, who were staring dumbfoundedly at them.
"Wha-" Tucker began to say.
"Shh!" I quickly hissed. "Don't make a sound, and don't move. Their eyesight is based on movement and familiarity."
"They're parents, Andy, not dinosaurs," Sam remarked.
"With the way they're dressed, they might as well be dinosaurs," Danny muttered.
Jazz wasn't daring to make a move or a sound herself, she was trying her best to remain hidden behind the menu.
"Maybe we can sneak out while they're at the counter?" Tucker softly suggested.
"I'm all for that," Jazz whispered. "Let's hurry before they notice we're here."
The rest of us silently agreed, and we slowly slid out of the booths. While everyone else were too busy laughing their heads off, we did our best to blend in with the rest of the by pretending to laugh as well. I saw Mikey holding up a video camera, chuckling.
"This is so going on the internet," Mikey stated.
I could see Mom and Dad looking at the kids, before they began to dance around, likely thinking the kids were laughing because they wanted to see their moves. I could understand Dad being oblivious, but I thought Mom would've been smarter than that.
I could finally breathe easy when we got out of the Nasty Burger. Though the laughing was so loud we could still hear it in the parking lot.
"Looks like we escaped relatively unscathed," Danny said as he pulled off his hood and unzipped the hoodie.
"I'm surprised neither of you two went invisible," Tucker pointed out.
"They're our parents, Tuck, they're likely to have some kind of Fenton gadget to warn them when a ghost power is used," I pointed out before sighing. "What the heck were they doing back there?"
"Apparently they're getting ready for an 80's disco dance night at the Material Grill Restaurant," Jazz explained. "I was hoping they'd stay home until it was time for them to go, but nope. They wanted to come join you guys to eat at the Nasty Burger."
"Why?" Danny deadpanned.
"I don't know, maybe because they thought they looked cool, young, and hip or something?" Jazz shrugged. "Even though I kept telling them they really don't."
"Which means they'll be looking for us in there… calling out our names really loudly…" I frowned. "In front of the entire Nasty Burger."
"Well… at least your reputations will be… better known…?" Sam tried to look on the bright side.
"I think I preferred being the loner at school…" I grumbled. "There's only so much embarrassment a guy can take."
"Did they really have to dress like they stepped out of the 80s though?" Danny grumbled. "Just once, I'd like to know what it's like to live in a normal family!"
"Which you never will, as long as you're Jack Fenton's son," A familiar voice answered.
All of us looked up at the sky to see none other than Vlad Plasmius standing on the street light above us.
"Oh great… just what I needed today…" Danny grumbled. "First my parents practically step out of the past and now the fruit loop shows up… Why is there so much weirdness from my parents' college days popping up today?"
"Just our lucky day I suppose," I sighed.
Vlad jumped down from the street light and landed in front of us. Danny was about to go ghost, but I grabbed his arm.
"Wait… something's not right," I said.
"Of course something isn't right," Danny agreed. "We aren't using this opportunity to kick Vlad's butt and send him back to Wisconsin."
"Look at Vlad, Danny, he doesn't look all that… great," I pointed out.
Vlad looked pale, paler than usual even in ghost form, and he wasn't standing up after he landed.
"Heh… perceptive as usual, aren't you, Andrew?" Vlad lightly chuckled before he let out a groan.
The black rings appeared around Vlad's torso, changing him back to his human form. All of us let out a surprised gasp when we saw Vlad's face had glowing red acne all over it.
"Is that…?" Sam started.
"Ecto-acne, yes…" Vlad answered. "It has come back with a vengeance, I am afraid. I came here… because I wish… nay, I am begging for your help."
"Why did your ecto-acne come back?" Jazz questioned in concern.
"If I knew that, I would've told you…" Vlad replied. "Unfortunately, I do not… I simply woke up… and it had returned worse than ever."
Even after all this time, 20 years after the accident that gave him ecto-acne, it just comes back? I frowned to myself.
"Why should we help you after all the trouble you've caused us?" Danny demanded.
"Because you don't want my death on your conscience…" Vlad grimly answered.
"I should go get Mom and Dad, they know this stuff better than we do," I stated.
"I'll go do that, you keep an eye on Vlad," Jazz offered as she turned to walk back inside.
"Wait," Danny suddenly said, stopping Jazz.
"What?" Jazz asked, looking at Danny.
I noticed a strange look in Danny's eyes that I normally didn't see as he looked at Vlad. The look felt familiar yet wrong at the same time.
"We shouldn't help him. If he wants to be cured, let him get help himself." Danny glared.
"Daniel, please…" Vlad begged. "If you do not help, I won't make it. I will die. You and your family are the only ones that can truly cure me…"
"Well, maybe you deserve it. It'll put you out of your misery," Danny hissed.
"Danny? What's gotten into you?" I asked, frowning. I know he doesn't like Vlad, but is he really willing to let him die like that?
Vlad scowled at Danny, reaching into his suit. "If that is your answer… then I shall simply have to make you help me, Daniel. If my own life won't motivate you to help, then perhaps the lives of your friends will."
I suddenly had a flash of images in my head. Vlad tossing something at us, and smoke covering us. When the warning vision ended, I only had time to turn to Jazz before Vlad threw something. I pushed Jazz out of the way, but I didn't have time to get to Tucker and Sam. Jazz and I looked back, gasping when we saw they were covered in glowing purple smoke.
"What did you do, Vlad!?" I heard Danny demanding angrily.
"Help me find a cure, Daniel, or my fate is theirs'," I heard Vlad replying.
The smoke faded, and to my horror, I could see the same glowing acne on both Tucker and Sam's faces.
"Oh… no… he's infected them…" I realized with horror.
Vlad smirked a little before he collapsed onto the ground.
"I'm going to get Mom and Dad," Jazz quickly stated before she ran inside.
Danny growled before he grabbed Vlad's shirt and lifted the unconscious man up. "Vlad! Tell me you're bluffing! Tell me there's a cure! Tell me anything!"
"Danny!" I called out, rushing over to him. "Danny, stop, put him down!"
"Why should I?!" Danny snapped. "This fruit loop just poisoned Sam and Tucker!"
"Danny! Andy!" Mom's voice called out in worry, causing Danny to put Vlad down. "What happened? Jazz told us there was a-"
Mom stopped when she got over and saw the ecto-acne on Vlad, Sam, and Tucker.
"Mads, what's-" Dad started before Mom cut him off.
"Jack, get the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle!" Mom ordered. "We need to get Vlad, Sam, and Tucker home and go into quarantine mode! We have an outbreak of ecto-acne!"
Dad's eyes went wide before he nodded and ran off.
"Wait… we're going to quarantine them… in our house?" Danny asked, shocked.
"Yes, Danny," Mom confirmed. "After all, we're the best equipped people to deal with ecto-acne and with how severe it looks, these three may only have a few hours if we don't help them quick."
The Fenton RV quickly pulled up in front of us.
"Don't touch them, kids, ecto-acne could be contagious," Mom warned us. "Jack, put on your gloves and help me get them into the Assault Vehicle."
Dad stepped out of the Fenton RV in a full hazmat suit complete with a helmet. "You go get your hazmat suit on, Maddie, I'll get these three loaded up. Danny, Andy, Jazz, you three better suit up as well. Wouldn't want the ecto-acne to spread to you too."
None of us argued as we put on the full hazmat suits. Normally it would be embarrassing to wear something like this in public, but given the situation, it was completely understandable. We helped get Tucker and Sam into the RV. Dad carried Vlad himself.
"Are we… going to be… okay?" Tucker asked, worriedly.
Poor Tucker… he just became the student body president, and he was trying to get over what he did when Duul Aman took him over, and now he's got a possible lethal disease. This just really wasn't Tucker's week.
"You'll all be fine," Mom assured as she walked over. "We'll make sure to cure you all, don't you worry."
"Yes, we will, don't worry," Danny echoed, looking at Tucker and Sam with both worry and determination.
If only I had pushed them out of the way too… I frowned to myself. I could've prevented this…
I felt someone's hand touching my shoulder. I looked back to see it was Jazz, trying to give me a reassuring smile. At least I was able to save one person from the ecto-acne.
As soon as we got home, Mom and Dad rushed our friends into the house. Not long after that, the big orange quarantine tent came over the house. We had to isolate Vlad, Tucker, and Sam in one room.
"I'll start taking blood samples, Jack, you make sure they're comfortable," Mom coordinated.
"Right, will do," Dad answered as he started moving around. "When I'm done, I'll start trying to figure out how the ecto-acne spread in the first place, as up until now, it hasn't been contagious."
Danny, Jazz, and I watched as Mom and Dad began to hook the three of them up to the computers. Mom used a few needles to take blood samples from each of them. Tucker and Sam had fallen unconscious during the trip here, so they were lying on some hospital beds.
"Danny, Andy, Jazz, it would be helpful if you three could work on decontaminating the house as there could be traces in the carpet, walls, and furniture when we brought these three in," Mom stated as she continued to work on the blood samples.
"We'll get right on it," Jazz answered before she turned to us. "Come on, you two. Mom and Dad can handle things from here."
I didn't want to leave Tucker and Sam like this, but I knew that Jazz, Mom, and Dad likely wanted us to get out of the way, and to keep us from getting too worried. It was hard to see our two best friends lying on the tables like that, clinging onto their lives. This reminded me all too well of how I felt when I saw Danny lying in the hospital room after the accident.
"Come on, bro…" Danny muttered softly.
I was taken out of my trance when I heard Danny speak to me. I looked over to Danny as he gave me a look of concern. I gave him a nod.
"I can't believe it…" Danny muttered softly as we stepped out of the infirmary through the decontamination booth, which sprayed down the outside of our hazmat suits to make sure we were absolutely clean.
Jazz stayed downstairs to decontaminate the living room and kitchen, while Danny and I headed upstairs.
"What can we do?" Danny asked as we started decontaminating the hallways. "Our friends could be lying on their deathbeds for all we know. If Mom and Dad can't find a cure…"
"I don't know, Danny…" I said softly.
"I swear… if Mom and Dad do find a cure, I'm still going to throttle that fruit loop for putting Sam and Tucker's lives in danger…" Danny growled.
I let out a small sigh in my helmet. "I mean maybe we should've just helped said fruit loop instead of antagonizing him."
"Why would we ever help someone who has constantly tried to split our family apart?" Danny questioned. "Why would we help someone who quite literally had an ecto-acne bomb? For all we know, had we cured him, he would've used it on us and taken the cure away before we could use it!"
"We don't know that for sure. And despite everything he's done to us… wouldn't you still have helped him anyways because it's the right thing to do?" I asked. "That's what you usually always said to me."
Danny looked at me and frowned. "We help the people who need it, the people who can't help themselves, the people who aren't evil. Would you help a criminal who has done countless awful things in the past and may do countless more awful things in the future if you do help them?"
I looked back at Danny. "Would you really have been willing to let Vlad die, Danny? Just because he may be a bad guy, it doesn't mean he's completely irredeemable. He'll never get a chance to try to change if we let him die. You can't simply condemn him for his actions in the past."
"In the past…" Danny repeated softly.
"What are you thinking now?" I groaned, knowing that look in Danny's eyes meant he was thinking, and it wasn't always the best of ideas.
Danny shook his head. "Let's worry about finishing decontaminating our area for now. The lab should already be automatically decontaminated, and Jazz volunteered to decontaminate the RV."
"Right…" I gave Danny a look. "Just don't go doing anything crazy."
Danny gave a small chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to let you know before I do anything crazy."
"That means you really are planning something crazy," I grumbled.
"Like you're any better," Danny pointed out.
I really couldn't argue with that.
I just finished decontaminating our room. I was about to leave before I remembered the pocket watch Clockwork had told me to keep. I hadn't thought about it since I put it away in the drawer. I looked over at the drawer.
I wonder… since that watch seems to have some kind of power… maybe it could help me now? I didn't know what the watch could do exactly, but if it did have powers, I needed to know what kind of powers it had. It could potentially help me find a cure for the ecto-acne.
I figured the entire upstairs was decontaminated by now, so I took off the hazmat suit I was wearing, including the helmet. I walked over to the dresser and opened it, seeing the pocket watch was still there. I cautiously picked it up again.
"What is it that you could do?" I asked the watch. "Now that you're no longer cursed?"
The chains of the pocket watch began to move and shake a tiny bit. I gave a curious look before I place it back down in the drawer, not wanting to give it a chance to try and jump at me again. However, as soon as I put it down, the watch did exactly that. The chains launched out towards my neck, the watch following behind it. I tried to block the chains, but was too slow, and the chains clamped around my neck before the pocket watch began glowing.
"Okay, this is the second time you jumped me! What the heck do you want from me anyways!?" I snapped, not liking that it clamped itself around my neck again.
The glow began to get brighter and brighter, forcing me to close my eyes.
I suddenly began to see different images. I saw Danny flying in the Ghost Zone by himself, and the black knight suddenly jumped him. I saw Tucker and Sam dying on the beds they were laying on. I could see Jazz asking where Danny was, because he left without saying a word. I could also see Scarlet asking me and Danny to train for something. I saw Juliette looking around in the Ghost Zone, looking frantic and scared about something. I saw something, but the vision was blurry. I could only see mixes of black, red, and green.
I shook my head, trying to come out of it. "What…?"
I rubbed my head, feeling disorientated. The chains of the pocket watch suddenly came undone before the pocket watch fell to the carpeted floor. I looked down at the watch.
I bent down and picked the watch up. It wasn't glowing anymore, and it didn't seem all that interested in jumping me again, at least I hoped it wouldn't.
"What just happened?" I questioned, not sure if I would even get an answer.
"You okay, bro?" Danny spoke up behind me, making me jump. "Whoa, didn't mean to startle you. I came up here when I felt a strange burst of energy."
I turned to look at Danny to see he wasn't wearing his hazmat suit either. I was still holding the watch. "I'm not sure… I picked up this watch again. The watch suddenly clamped itself onto me, then it glowed brightly, then I suddenly saw a bunch of different images in my head that I think might be… visions of the future, and then it just fell off of me."
Danny looked at me with a curious expression. "Was it different from your normal visions somehow?"
"Yeah. The visions came kind of fast, so it was hard to tell what was going on. But I saw different visions, I don't know if they were different branches of the future or not , but I saw way more than I usually would…" I answered before I dropped the watch back into the drawer. "I better not mess with this right now."
"Well, while we're on the topic of the future… I came up with an idea," Danny started before smirking a bit. "I thought about ways to stop Vlad from infecting Tucker and Sam. And in the end, I decided, what better way to cure Vlad of his ecto-acne and stop him from infecting Sam and Tucker than to stop Vlad from ever getting ecto-acne in the first place?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, getting a sinking feeling all of a sudden. "How could you stop Vlad from ever getting ecto-acne?"
"Ask Clockwork to send either me or us back into the past to when Mom and Dad tested their first Ghost Portal and see if we can stop Vlad from being infected with ecto-acne," Danny explained. "It'll also stop him from getting his ghost powers as well. It's a win-win."
"No, bad idea, mark that off your list right now," I quickly rejected.
"Why?" Danny asked with a frown.
"You do know that if you change the past, you'll end up changing everything drastically after that, don't you?" I pointed out. "I mean just give it a few second thoughts. Think back to all those time travel movies and books and TV shows. If you change even the smallest of things in the past, that will change the future drastically."
"But I think this would be more beneficial than a detriment," Danny argued.
"Listen to me, bro… I've time traveled into the past before," I spoke up. "It was when I was desperate enough to stop the accident that gave you your ghost powers. That ended up with us living with Vlad, Dad was in jail, and Freakshow took over the world. I'd rather not go through that again, thank you very much." Not to mention that changing the past can sometimes come at a great risk, like when I was almost wiped from existence…
"I doubt all of that is going to happen just because I stopped Vlad from getting the ecto-acne and his ghost powers," Danny rolled his eyes.
"Okay, then think about the butterfly effect that would come with that," I said instead. "What do you think will happen if you stopped Vlad from getting the ecto-acne? He had a crush on Mom, heck he still does. What if he ended up marrying her instead of Dad since you stopped him from getting the ecto-acne? We would cease to exist, Mom would probably be living somewhere in Wisconsin, and Dad… I'm not sure, but he could end up being the bitter single one instead. When you change the past, there's always going to be consequences."
Danny grumbled. "Fine…"
"Good, I'm glad to see you understand," I said in relief.
"I'm going to go… see if the lab's auto-decontamination sequence activated properly," Danny said softly before he left our room.
I gave a small sigh as I laid in my bed, wanting to relax a little. Hope was giving me a curious look.
"Are you just going to let him go off on his own like that?" Hope asked.
"What? I don't have to stick with him 24/7 just because we're twins," I grumbled.
Then suddenly, images came into my head again. I saw Danny turning into his ghost form, and he flew into the Ghost Zone. I could see he was heading to Clockwork's tower. However, before Danny could reach Clockwork's tower, he was ambushed by the black knight from the colosseum. I could see Danny being knocked out and carried away by the black knight.
I gasped as I sat up in my bed.
"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!"
I was shouting this as I flung myself out of bed, and made a beeline to the lab. I didn't see Danny, so he must've already went into the Ghost Zone. A ring of light appeared on my torso as I was running towards the Ghost Portal.
"Danny! You better not have gotten yourself kidnapped!" I shouted as I had transformed into my ghost form and flew into the portal.
Reviews
Titanic X: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Ahh, Unicorn is definitely an interesting one. It would be a bit of a challenge and I'd need to rewatch it, but I do remember liking the plot of it.
DarkFoxKit: Unfortunately, I have no idea what you two are talking about. I don't know the Gundam series at all.
The Moonfox Collective: DarkFoxKit: Onyx here is a big Steven Universe fan, so yeah, you're probably going to see a few Steven Universe references here. And since I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh fan, the original series of it anyways, I've always wanted to try making cards with other things from different franchises to see how they would work. It was a lot of fun coming up with how different ghosts work, and what could be used as a spell or trap card. Though as for a Yu-Gi-Oh fic, probably shouldn't expect too many written duels, we would have to use the official cards, which would be tedious to have to look through. It was fun here, where we could make up whatever, but in Yugioh itself, it would be a lot… tougher to do.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': In fact, saying it right now, with a Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic, we would likely not be doing many duels at all and perhaps focus on the Millennium Items side of things. There are untold adventures that could center around those objects that can literally alter the world.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, the duels would be more of a side thing, like it was in Season 0 or the first 7 volumes of the manga, rather than the main focus.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We definitely had fun coming up with the card game. It was interesting to integrate a little bit of Yu-Gi-Oh into the world of Danny Phantom. Both worlds deal with spirits, the after life, and all that. The two could easily fit together if the worlds were fused. The Shadow Realm could be a different section of the Ghost Zone or a realm parallel to it. The characters wouldn't necessarily have to interact as they live on opposite sides of the world. The biggest change would be that Kaiba Corp would probably be a household name. Besides cards, I could see Kaiba making appliances and all sorts of home electronics to fund the card game side of things.
Guest: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Considering the ghosts summoned by the cards weren't actually the ghosts, it's unlikely. The ghosts that were summoned were Andy's perceived version of them. The two are not connected at all.
DarkFoxKit: Not even Juliette or Scarlet were actually there. The only ghosts who were actually there was Danny and Clockwork, who appeared there instead of his holographic self just for the fun of it, not that Andy or Danny knew that was actually Clockwork. Hotep Ra is… debatable.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, it was because of that why we still had Tucker erase everyone, but the main cast's, memories. We did consider, for a little bit, that the school would remember because it would open up some interesting ideas and new story arcs, but in the end we decided not to go for it. It would've been too tedious to have to write out everyone's reaction to Tucker after what happened, we rather just focus on the main characters.
The Black Knight is definitely going to play a big role later on in the story. It may not be during season 2, because that's coming to an end soon, but maybe at some point in season 3 or our own original season after that.
Andy may not be able to control the future, but he can influence it if he knows what's coming. That's why he was upset with himself for not having better control over his future visions, he believed he might have been able to prevent Duul Aman from taking over Tucker in the first place.
Like I said, Masters of All Time wasn't heavily revised, just… changed for reasons. Andy already experienced time travel and the consequences that come with it back in My Brother's a Ghost, so keep that in mind for the decisions we made for the episode.
As for the Maddie and Vlad part, I do agree with you, why did Maddie marry Vlad if she felt she had to hide her passion from him? Well, people marry each other and then get divorced a lot… an alarmingly a lot… so this doesn't really surprise me. Maddie probably got swoon by Vlad, then they got married after Jack ran away. Vlad seemed to have gotten a hatred for ghosts, and wanted nothing to do with them, while Maddie still retained her passion for ghost research and ghost hunting. The only way Maddie saw she could make this work, and have her husband happy was to hide her true passion from him. Vlad was being… well, Vlad despite marrying the woman he loved, he was still very controlling, very selfish, and only cared about what he wanted rather than what Maddie wanted. Maddie probably thought she loved Vlad, until he revealed just how heartless he could be by trying to kill Jack and Danny without caring about how she felt about it.
But hey, this is just me going into character analysis, I can't say for sure if that was the reason, but it was just my own take on it.