Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back-
Tucker pressed himself flat against the wall as paramedics hurried past him. Jack was laying on the stretcher, silent and unmoving with blood all over his face and a mask helping him breathe. Maddie, in tears, was following the paramedics right on their heels, Danny quickly behind them. His friend was pale and looked shaken, and Tucker reached out to grab his shoulder.
"Dude, I'm so sorry, I should have stepped in so-"
"It's not your fault," Danny immediately cut him off. He didn't even pretend that he could fake a smile, his lip quivering hard. His eyes flickered to his family. "I-"
"Go," Tucker encouraged. He glanced around curiously. "Where's Sam?"
"She passed out," Danny smiled weakly. "The second she saw the blood. She's with Vlad and Nico."
"I'll go collect her," Tucker replied. He pulled Danny into a hug, and he could feel the goth hug him tightly in return. "We'll probably just go home, give some space, but please. Keep us updated."
"I'll let you know how things go," Danny promised softly, and he finally let go. He shot him a small smile before rushing to meet up with his family.
Danny was fairly quiet the whole weekend, but Tucker and Sam didn't question it. The goth did update them though, stating that his dad had been stable and was home by Sunday night. Vlad and Nico had extended their stay, given the mild family emergency.
Tucker had noticed, via the pop up notifications on his computer, that Sam had spent basically the entire weekend playing video games. Of course, Tucker had too, to an extent, but the ectopuss that interrupted lunch Saturday morning wasn't going to catch itself. Nor did homework do itself (though he wished it did). And there was also the movie night his family insisted on having. Before he knew it, it was Monday morning once more, and he hopped down the stairs earlier than usual.
"Mom! Have you seen my-?" Tucker's question was cut off with an emotional punch to the gut as he entered the kitchen.
Instead of his mom stood his dad, dressed for work in a pressed white suit. His breath caught in his throat, and he gulped. His dad glanced at him, the man pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Mom's at the office," his dad replied.
"I thought she was mostly working from home. And part time," Tucker asked. His heart was racing like crazy. His dad smiled warmly.
"Well, with this new job, I'll be working less hours, so your mother decided to go working full time again," he explained cheerfully. "So I'll be seeing you and Livvy off to school now, and you'll be home alone for a while when school is over." Oh great, just perfect.
"O-oh, okay," Tucker stuttered a bit, but forced a smile. He couldn't help but take in so many random little details of his dad's outfit. That fancy new high tech watch was probably some ghost detector device. He had a new bluetooth that he had never seen before. God, was the GIW uniforms really that white?
"Where's Olivia?" his dad wondered. He pulled a seat up at the kitchen table.
"She was still in the bathroom when I came down," Tucker replied. He tried his best to not seem as if his anxiety wasn't skyrocketing. His dad's new job suddenly felt too real.
"Do you drink coffee?" Maurice asked. Tucker shrugged as he began to dig through the cabinets to make some cereal.
"Not very often," he replied. He glanced at the counter tops. The lunches that were normally, as Angela always put it, made with love and care, were nowhere to be found. "Did you pack lunch? Mom normally does for us." Maurice stared at Tucker in surprise.
"Ah, no," he confessed. "I didn't know your mother did that. Here, I'll just give you and Livvy money for today."
He put his coffee cup down and reached into his pocket for his wallet. He took some money out, handing a few bills to Tucker as his son came to sit at the table with him. Tucker accepted it, jumping a bit as the touch gave them both an electric shock. Maruice jumped too.
"Oof," Maurice chuckled, oblivious to Tucker's immediate nervous sweat forming. "Static electricity."
"Y-yeah," Tucker weakly smiled, but it instantly dropped as he saw Olivia peeking into the kitchen.
"Hi, Daddy! I'm off to school!" Olivia spoke quickly, and she soon disappeared.
"Wait, Liv," Tucker called out to her. He put his bowl of cereal down, grabbing the other money. "Lunch money!"
"I don't need it!" Olivia's voice came out hurried, and Tucker could hear her speedwalking to the door. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he rushed after her.
"Liv, what the heck are you wearing?" Tucker stared.
His baby sister was just about to open the front door to make her escape, but looked back at him guiltily. The preteen had traded in her knee length jeans and t-shirt for a skirt and tank top. A skirt he recognized and realized she had made homemade adjustments to so that it'd be more of a mini skirt. Her hair was down and straightened, and he could tell that she must have gotten into their mom's makeup. He knew Olivia had no makeup of her own.
"Clothes," Olivia snapped huffily. Tucker heard his dad follow them into the room, and the man make a shocked choking noise.
"Oh, absolutely not," Maurice said firmly. Olivia's lips trembled.
"Why not?" she whined. Maurice frowned.
"You're too young to dress like that," he told her. "And for makeup. What has gotten into you lately, Livvy?"
"I'm not a baby!" Olivia argued, stomping her foot, and Tucker could already see big black streaks from her beginning to cry. "I'm growing up, and you can't stop me!"
"But you're not a twenty year old adult yet either," her dad spoke firmly. Tucker knew that voice. This wasn't a debate. Maurice sighed heavily. "Tucker, go on ahead."
"But breakfast-," Tucker began. Maurice gestured to Olivia's lunch money.
"Get something on the way," his dad pleaded. "Your sister and I need to have a long talk."
Tucker glanced between the two of them before quickly fetching his backpack, and he went off to school.
"We have the thermos again, just go in as Ghouly and suck that emotion vampire back into the Zone," Danny frowned the second Tucker finished telling them what had happened. Sam shook her head. "Sam, she's obviously going after Olivia! How can you not be concerned?"
"I am, concerned! But she mentioned having plans, we need to see what she's up to," Sam argued.
"She's right," Tucker agreed. He stared down at the donuts and container of milk in his hands he had bought along the way, but he felt a bit too queasy to properly enjoy them. Danny scowled, but Tucker could see that the goth shared their concern. "We can't risk her plans hurting somebody even when she's gone." The halfa rattled his brain for ideas.
Sam grumbled in annoyance as she stared at the vending machine, kneeling and leaning in at the options presented.
"Amity Park Granola, AP String Cheese, AP Mountain Water?" she spoke aloud to herself as she read the snack titles. "What the hell? Where's the hot pockets?"
"Sam, just eat something else!" Danny told her. He crossed his arms.
"Wait, this is your doing!? God damn it, Danny. I WANT a hot pocket!" Sam scowled. She stood up, clenching her fists. "I always eat a hot pocket for breakfast! It's the perfect first breakfast food!"
"Nestle is built on the back of slave labor!" Danny argued. "We should be using locally grown goods and resources to feed our student body! And companies that don't extort people!"
"Oh my god, who cares?" Sam grumbled as she threw her hands up in frustration. "Danny, I just want a hot pocket."
"Come on, Sam! You haven't even bothered to try one of these!" Danny pointed to a local knockoff brand of a hot pocket in the vending machine. Sam's lower lip trembled.
"But I want a hot pocket!" she scowled. "That's not a hot pocket!"
"Guys, Spectra might be out to literally murder kids, is now really the time for this!?" Tucker scowled. The two immediately looked embarrassed, and they both muttered an apology.
"Maybe we should snoop in her office again?" Danny suggested. "Or like, eavesdrop again?"
"You really think she's gonna just have her evil plans written down somewhere?" Sam questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I dunno! Maybe! I don't see you suggesting anything!" Danny snapped.
"I don't have the energy to think without my morning hot pocket!" Sam half-yelled back.
"There's a perfectly good local version of it right! Fucking! There!" Danny was now yelling, pointing to the option in the vending machine.
This was how the day was going to be, huh? He decided to simply walk away and let the two tear each other apart over the vending machine's options.
Tucker came home to the home being empty, and he briefly paused. Where was his mom? She was almost always-oh right. He and his sister were latchkey kids now.
Speaking of Liv, where was she?
"Olivia? You home?" he called out curiously. He could faintly hear her reply, that she was in her room.
Tucker jogged up the stairs, throwing his bag by his bedroom door as he came to the pink-colored door. He knocked on her door. A moment of silence before he heard Olivia's permission to come in, and he opened the door.
Her room was a mess. Normal, but she had clearly gone nuts removing her horse and ballerina decorations. Olivia's favorite stuffed animal, a pink horse named Madam Sugarcube, was half-shoved under her bed. The girl herself was on her bed, face in a pillow. Since that morning she had changed into her pajamas.
"Hey, Livvy," he called out to her gently. He got a disjointed grumble in return. "What's going on?" He walked further into her room, shifting to sit on the edge of her bed. "Liv, you're worrying me."
"There's nothing to worry about," she scowled as she lifted her head from the pillow. "Actually, stop worrying. I'm not a baby."
"Yeah, but you'll always be my baby sister," Tucker lightly argued. Olivia glared at him. "Why is this suddenly such a big deal?"
"Dr. Spectra said that if I don't grow up soon that I'll never like, do well," Olivia began to explain. Tucker kept his best poker face at the mentioning of her. "That I can't be a baby forever that likes horses and stuff, cause then I'll never go to college or get married and stuff. She said it's time that I drop ballet and stuff, and focus more on realistic goals and expectations lest I become a homeless drifter. That adults don't do things that they like or have hobbies, they do what's expected of them, and that's doing their job and having families.
"That's stupid," Tucker said bluntly. "Mom does archery and goes to book club. Dad enjoys painting figurines and bowling. Both of them took that dance class for a while. Nobody expects either of them to do that. People need hobbies, they need relaxation times. If Mom or Dad never relaxed, they'd like, do really badly at their jobs and always be ticked off with us because they never unwind."
"But ballet-"
"Olivia, you're not too old for the things you like," Tucker insisted. He reached down to grab at Madam Sugarcube, picking up the stuffed animal to hold out to her. "There's no age cap on stuff or hobbies. Mom has a stuffed animal still. Danny has a Crash Nebula lunchbox. Grandma still loves Disney movies. Mr. Fenton still plays on the playground at the park. You're never too old for anything. And there's also no rush or pressure to grow up or try things, or even like stuff. Not every adult likes coffee, ya know?"
Olivia's face scrunched up as if she was gonna cry. Eyes watering, she snatched her stuffed pony from Tucker, holding it tightly to her chest.
"But what about what Dr. Spectra-," Olivia began, but Tucker harshly cut her off.
"She's full of shit," he replied. "Not all therapists are good therapists. You're allowed to find ones that's right for you. A good therapist shouldn't make you feel like this about yourself. If they did, then what's the point in going?"
Olivia's fingers lightly stroked the fuzz of her stuffed horse before finally nodding in agreement.
"Yeah...Therapists are supposed to help you build skills and such, to like, cope with things," she said slowly. Tucker nodded eagerly, and Olivia hugged her stuffed animal tightly.
"Exactly," he replied with a smile. "You are growing up, but like, at your own pace, yaknow?" Olivia smiled.
"Yeah, I think I get it," she replied. Tucker opened his arms, and Olivia eagerly put her stuffed animal aside to hug him. Tucker squeezed her tightly. "I think I'm done with the horses though," she confessed.
"Well, that's fine. But you don't have to feel like you can't like them anymore," Tucker told her. Olivia pulled away, looking at some of the horse things. She thought for a moment.
"I think I am done with them," she said. "I still like ballet though."
"There you go," Tucker grinned. "I got something to take care of, but holler if you need me."
"I will!"
Tucker got up from her bed, and as he went to the door, he noticed Olivia beginning to clean up from her fit earlier. And to his delight, she was indeed putting her ballet trophy back up onto her dresser.
He left her room, and made his way to his own, grabbing his bag as he went inside. Tucker shut his door as calmly as he could despite the anger bubbling in him. He pulled his cell phone out, immediately dialing Danny as he went to his backpack. Danny answered almost immediately.
"Hey, I'm going to confront Spectra now. After her last appointment," Tucker informed him. He pulled the Fenton thermos from the bag, setting it on the dresser. He continued to look through his bag.
"Wait, I thought we were gonna find out her plan first," Danny sounded shocked. Tucker pulled the ectoblast from the convention out.
"I'll punch the plan out of her," Tucker replied coldly. "She's fucked with my baby sister's self image for the last time. If Tucker Ghouly the half ghost savior of Amity Park isn't coming for her tonight, Tucker Foley the pissed off older brother is. Either way, I'm kicking her ass. Call Sam and meet me there as soon as you can." Tucker transformed, and he pushed himself off the ground to hover. Thermos on his belt, blaster in his hand.
"We'll be there soon," Danny promised him. Tucker gave a smug smile as he imagined all the ways he was going to beat that emotional vampire into the ground.
"See you soon," he replied, and he hung up before phasing out of his room, and towards the school.
The school was, for the most part, empty. It was nearly four, when most after-school clubs had already ended. Sports were still practicing, but they were outside or confined to the gym. The few teachers who remained were preparing to leave for the day after staying behind to grade papers or tutor students, have parent-teacher meetings. Janitors never came until at least nine, when any possible other person in the school would be , Dr. Spectra was one of the faculty members who would consistently stay late for appointments.
Tucker passed a girl who looked like she had been crying hard. He didn't know her name, but he still recognized her as one of the cheerleaders. She refused to look at him, with an embarrassed red flush to her cheeks. The half-ghost could only deduce that she was the patient Dr. Spectra was attending to.
He didn't bother waiting for his friends. He went right into the building, giving a quick glance around. Nobody, and he transformed before floating up and zooming down the hallways.
It didn't take long to find her, her weird assistant holding her bag as the school psychologist locked up her office. They were idly chatting.
"Oh that girl just has so much misery because of her dad's death, she blames herself and it's just such a feast," he could hear her tell the assistant, who was smiling warmly.
"That's enough," Tucker spoke loudly. They both jumped a bit in surprise, turning to see him. Spectra hummed lightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, can I help you?" she asked, and he could finally pinpoint what was wrong with her voice. It was malicious evil hidden behind the fake kindness of a loving persona.
"No, you can't. You fucked with my sister," he replied hotly. The more he thought about it, the more anger built up inside of him. Spectra studied him with a frown. Tucker quickly moved out of the way as she lunged for him, the halfa shifting to be behind her. "You hurt her self esteem and messed with her self image. She cried because of what you said to her. That alone is enough reasoning for me to kick your ass harder than necessary."
"Oh, so you're going to kick my butt?" Spectra giggled, turning to re-face him. She slid her sunglasses down a bit to raise an eyebrow at him. "Just because of your little sister? Olivia Foley, right?" Just her saying his sister's name made his skin crawl. Everything about he was absolutely wrong. "You know she's not a baby, right?" Tucker clenched his fists.
"It's not just about her. You're an-an-an emotional vampire!" Tucker accused. Spectra cocked her head in amusement at this claim. "You find something that a kid's afraid of, that they're insecure about. Their past actions, their relationship with their parents and friends, their looks and confidence, and all you do it pick at it and pick at it and pick at it while you and your snippy little ghost assistant feeds on it."
Bertrand frowned.
"Hey!" he protested, obviously offended.
Spectra, meanwhile, was beaming. She clapped slowly as that smile turned into a smirk.
"Oh, good, very good!" she cooed. She exposed her teeth, and Tucker couldn't help but notice how sharp and menacing her grin was becoming. And how impossibly wide it was, to match the new purely red glow of her eyes. "Although you did miss a few details."
A purple ring of fire and smoke flared up around her, leaving behind a pure black shadowy figure. Tucker jerked back a bit in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that flash of green as Betrand, the blob ghost haven taken the form of a giant cat of sorts, pouncing at him. He couldn't dodge in time, and the ghost pinned him to the ground. Tucker squirmed, and he managed to knee Betrand, before he kicked him off.
No sooner than he had gotten up, Spectra had body slammed into him, sending him flying down the hallway. He barely managed to gain control, just enough to lessen the impact of crashing into the wall. God, that was going to hurt later.
Clawed hands grabbed at his face, and his undead heart skipped a beat at that hungry look in her eye. Accompanied by that large grin. He squirmed in her grasp, but it only made her grab onto him tighter. Her sharp nails dug into his face.
"Let go of me!" he demanded.
"Oh, and why would I do that?" she asked in that voice of false concern. A nail lightly stroked his cheek, and he could absolutely tell that it left a shallow cut. "Your guilt, your self-doubt, your fear, it's delicious."
He shivered, and he squirmed harder in her grip before flailing. Tucker felt his hands burn hotly with energy, and he punched her in the gut. Her eyes grew wide as she gasped, and she let go of him as a bright yellow energy beam sent her backwards.
Tucker glanced down at his hands. They were glowing! With leftover energy! Like Technomancer did! Holy shit holy shit holy-SLAM!
A gnarly punch distracted him from his accomplishment. Tucker swiftly dodged, glancing to see Betrand in a new form, an MMA influenced man. Obviously eager to test out this new power, Tucker blasted him. Betrand got blown back as well.
"I don't have time for you," Tucker told him. He reached onto his hip for the thermos, unhooking it and uncapping it. Pressing the side, the bright blue energy latched onto Betrand.
"No! No! NO!" came the disturbed wails. The second the cap was back on, Tucker glanced to notice Spectra coming for him, high speeds.
He jerked back to dodge her, and Spectra turned her head at an inhuman speed to glare. Tucker smirked, tauntingly rattling the thermos at her.
"You're through!" she hissed, and she lunged for him again.
"And you're done telling kids lies!" Tucker snapped back. He moved out of the way, but managed to grab her arm. With a wide swing, he flung her into the ground, hard enough to crack the tiles. "Tell me what you're up to!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Spectra insisted, bearing her teeth. He could see that one of the teeth were knocked out. Good.
"At the other school," Tucker replied, staring down at her. "What are you planning on doing?"
Spectra grinned.
"Oh wouldn't you like to know," she cooed. "Why do you care so much about them?"
"What do you mean?" Tucker asked. Spectra grinned that wide, toothy smile as she got up, but she didn't go for Tucker just yet. But that didn't mean he didn't watch her carefully, prepared for anything.
"Oh, just the humans," she replied, as if it was obvious. "I mean, you're just a ghost trying to fit in with humans, huh? Or just some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?"
"I'm neither!" Tucker snapped. Wait... "Both? No, no! Neither!" God, did he really just...die in that accident? Was he just pretending? "I don't know…"
"Oh just look at you," she spoke softly, reaching out to him. Tucker immediately went to uncap his thermos. She gave a hiss, knocking it out of his hands, and she grabbed him. Tucker felt physically weaker as she dug her nails into his shoulders. "You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy! Oh, who cares for a thing like you?"
"I do!" a voice yelled. They both snapped their heads to see Danny at the end of the hallway, panting heavily. He looked sweaty, as if he ran the entire way to the school. The goth was armed with a huge looking ecto-gun, pointed directly at her. "Back up, Dracula!"
"Oh, it's the killer," Spectra chirped in delight. Danny looked taken aback, but glared at her.
"I am not a killer! Fuck you!" Danny yelled back. He took a shot, and it hit Spectra square in the shoulder. She shrieked in pain, going back. "Tucker, get her!"
Tucker searched frantically, and he dove for the thermos. He quickly uncapped it, and aimed it at Spectra. He pressed the side, and the emotional vampire was immediately sucked in, harrowing wails echoing in the halls. But soon, she was captured. It was over.
"Where's Sam?" Tucker asked. Danny shrugged.
"She wouldn't answer my calls," he replied. "I think she's still mad at me over the vending machine stuff."
"Ah...we'll talk to her tomorrow," Tucker replied. He smiled at his friend. "Dude, check this out!"
He held his hand up, and he let a yellow ectoblast charge and be sent. It hit the Casper High trophy display case, and both winced as the glass shattered, and trophies were destroyed or sent flying.
"Uh, let's go," Danny suggested quickly. Tucker wrapped an arm around his friend's waist.
"Absolutely," he agreed immediately, and he phased them both out of the building.
"Hey Tuck, hey Olivia," Danny greeted the pair. "Oh, Olivia, I love your hair!"
Olivia beamed brightly. Instead of twin buns, their mom had helped her style her hair into a singular bun with a few hair accessories pinned in. She had on her normal attire and her Barbie lunchbox.
"Thanks! Bye, Danny!" she replied, and she skipped off towards her way to school.
"She looks a lot happier," Danny commented.
"Yeah, thank god," Tucker replied with a sigh of relief. He glanced around. "Where's Sam?"
"She said she was gonna get a ride from her parents," Danny told him, giving a small grumble before complaining, "I can't believe Sam's still pissed about the vending machine."
"You know how serious she is about her hot pockets," Tucker half-joked, the pair beginning to walk towards school. "But she'll get over it. We should focus on Spectra."
"Definitely. Did she tell you anything during the fight?" Danny asked. Tucker shook his head no.
"Nah, she gave no info. Just psychological warfare," he complained. "How's your dad?"
"He's much better, Vlad and Mom have been taking good care of him. Jazz too, she actually made dinner last night so it was edible for once," Danny joked.
"Don't like the taste of ectoplasm, huh?" Tucker teased.
"Nah, not really," Danny laughed. "Not much of an acquired taste either." He stopped dead in his tracks. "No…"
Tucker glanced ahead to notice a bunch of students rallied together. Lead by a familiar face, who was yelling into a megaphone. Specifically about getting the old vending machine foods back.
"She organized a protest in one night?" Tucker didn't know whether or not to be impressed.
"Nestle is a corrupt company! I bet she didn't even try the local hot pockets!" Danny growled, and he made a beeline for Sam.
The nerd was on a makeshift stage, with impressively decorated posters and lots of students seemingly already on board. Tucker decided that he was indeed impressed. Sam saw them approaching, and she handed the megaphone to somebody else and climbed down to greet them.
"So you really just organized an entire protest in one night?" Tucker questioned, jerking a thumb to the hoard of students. Sam smirked.
"Because I don't have to constantly go to the farmer's market and to sixteen different mom and pop shops to get what I need, I have more time to do things," she said, giving a pointed look at Danny.
"Yeah but it keeps you healthier and gives you more energy to do things!" Danny snapped back. "Just watch, Samantha! This is war!"
Tucker sighed.
"I'll see you two in class," he said, and he just walked away as the two continued to argue.