*Danielle*
As the room came into focus I noticed two things. One: Dan wasn't anywhere near me. Two: I wasn't anywhere I knew. "Well it seems the Whelpette has finally woke up." I whipped my head around to see the self-proclaimed Ghost Zone's greatest hunter.
"Wh-where am I?"
"You're in the ghost zone child. And your end is coming." Dan! I need you! Help me please! It was a long shot but it might work Da…le! Than…ds yo…! …are …u? Dan! I can't hear you! Dan please say you're okay! I didn't get a reply after that, we were too far apart.
"No one can save you ghost child. You're mine now."
Time in the Ghost Zone was obviously different, or at least I really hoped it was. Just in the time I was there I'd seen the sky turn from dark to light and back to dark almost 6 times. As I laid down to get some sleep Skulker pulled on the collar of my HAZMAT suit and dragged me toward what looked like a lab. I was strapped down to the table and Skulker left me alone again. I started thinking about how Danny would cope without me and how Jazz would take being told her only sister was dead. I feared for Jazz, knowing that with me gone she would take everything meant for me, or maybe she wouldn't. Jack had always talked about Jazz as I thought about what would happen if I died. Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Danny. Danny would be hit the hardest. It would be like losing his other half. Ever since we were little we've been told by teachers, friends, even our enemies that we were like two halves of the same person. If I died would I take my life energy with me? If I died would Danny also cross to the land of the dead like he should have that day down in the lab? With that thought I fought against the restraints. If I wouldn't fight for me, then I'll fight for Danny, for his life. A pain rushed through my head and flashes went through. I couldn't piece anything together. Danny must have been hurt. Sometimes if we weren't together we could get flashes of what the other twin saw. I fought against the thick metal that pinned me to the equally thick table. By the time I stopped I was out of breath and bleeding from the cuts I made trying to escape. "Now, now, you wouldn't want to kill yourself before your brother gets here. Would you ghost child?"
"Leave him alone you stupid tin can!" I felt something hot run down my leg. I looked down at my leg to see neon green blood run down my leg and drip onto the floor below.
"You better sleep Whelpette. It very well could be your last." An evil glint in his eyes told me that I should sleep with one eye open. He walked into another room and I stared at the roof. Dan please say you can hear me... I need you more than ever right now. I called out one last time only to have the same result as before. I thought about everything in my life, good and bad. The good things made my eyes water. I thought about Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and most importantly Danny. Sam was always there for us when we needed her; sure her rebellious nature sometimes got us in trouble. Without Sam we never would have gotten our powers because we wouldn't have gone in. Tucker was always making jokes mostly lame ones but it would always put our mind on something else. Although it was usually slapping him he still tried to lighten the mood. Jazz. My heart felt like a knife was stabbed through it and twisted. Jazz never left our side. Even when we were little she would always be there right after dad was finished with us for the night. She would give us creams and ointments for burns or rashes, wrap broken bones and made sure they healed properly. Jazz even went so far as to her dream of being a child psychologist on hold to take care of us. By now I was crying silently when another face crossed my mind, Vlad. Even though I've only known him for a few days he was still a blessing to me. He cared when even our dad didn't. He saw what our friends were too blind to see. He made Danny and I feel safe for one of the first times in our lives. I was brought out of my thoughts as pain suddenly spread through my chest like a poison. The pain continued with a strong blow to my left eye. There was no doubt that Danny was back home again; and without me to take half the punishment. Small video clips of what Danny saw went through my mind. I saw Jack raising his fist, ready to strike. I saw the ground as Danny fell. Pain flooded through my back as Danny was kicked. A flash of white as the mattress we called our bed came into view. I felt a cold wind rip through my body as Danny's clothes were torn to shreds. A burning hot pain in my lower back told me that it wasn't ending any time soon. The pain continued to burn and send a white hot fire through my back and legs. My wrists started aching from the mix of the handcuffs on Danny's wrists to the restrains on the table. A hand slapped Danny and then everything went black.
When I woke up I was back in the cage. My arm groaned in pain as I tried to get up. The cage seemed smaller but then again maybe I'm still half asleep. Pain was shooting through my body and wouldn't stop. Flashes of Dash and darkness went through my mind. I could feel my strength fading and I felt the human part of me become closer and closer as the seconds ticked by. I felt the familiar fire of my ghost form fade and saw the ring of light form around my waist. I fought the rings and only succeeded in completely draining myself of energy. I closed my eyes and saw the world as Danny did at the time. I saw Sam and Tucker down in the lab with him. They were talking about something but I couldn't hear them. I used what strength I had left to give Danny a beacon to follow. I saw him whip his head around toward the portal before darkness consumed my vision.
I was woken up by a sharp pain in my stomach. The force of what ever hit Danny caused us to cough up blood. Dan! Please say you can hear me! DANIELLE! Thank the gods you're alive! I couldn't tell what was going on. I'm so glad you're safe. A pain on the side of my head stopped me from replying. Focus on your battle. Worry about me later. I could tell he was about to reply but decided against it. I could feel myself getting stronger by the second. I tried phasing out of the cage but it didn't work. Well I didn't really expect it to anyway.
"Dani!" I looked to my left where Sam and Tucker were in some strange suits and honestly looked really dumb. They had on a really bad knock-off of our Phantom forms HAZMAT. They also had on what looked like a fish bowl on their heads. They released me and I searched for the fire of my ghost form. The twin rings formed and then split. One going down and the other going up. The black HAZMAT suit and signature P inside of the flaming D. I phased through the roof of what seemed like Skulker's home.
"So you managed to escape, girl.." He glared at Danny. "Fine. You may have won this round Phantom. But the next time we meet it will be the last." Without another he flew off in some random direction and we let for the portal in the basement.
At school the next day no one even cared that I wasn't there. I mean I know I'm pretty much invisible but come on! I mean there's never been once when I was without Dan by my side. I guess people just don't care. Or they seriously bought Danny's excuse for me not being there. School went on like normal, English, Art, History, Math and then we went home. At home Jazz almost killed me before I closed the door with her hug. The days following my escape from Skulker were uneventful, or as uneventful as things can be. It was almost a week later that our ghost sense went off just before Jack got home and left to find an electronic store under attack.
"I TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL THAT IS ELECTRONIC AND GLOWING!" Dan and I exchanged a glance and just blasted the wacko scientist into the Fenton Thermos. That was easy... Almost too easy. Almost. I have a bad feeling about this. A blue mist escaped our mouths once more and we turned around to find our old friend Skulker.
"Hello Whelps. Now let's finish what he started." He shot a net at us again, but this time we were ready and easily flew out of its path. We shot blasts at him and that damaged his weapons. "Dani! Danny!" Looking down at the ground I saw Sam and Tucker. Tuck had his PDA out, go figure. Before anyone registered what happened Skulker had taken Tucker's PDA and repaired his armour.
"I man! I still had three payments on that!" Sam smacked him in the back of the head. Skulker then flew off thanking us for the upgrade and the four of us were left standing on the sidewalk wondering what just happened.
The next day ended up being more eventful, and weird. As we were about to go to History class Skulker decided to show up again. Tucker was using his other PDA and suddenly Skulker's arm beeped. He looked down just as confused as we were. "Time for History?" Without another word Skulker jetted off in some random direction leaving everyone very confused. We changed back and then went to class.
"Daniel, Danielle. Can you stay behind for a second?" Sam and Tucker just sat back down as we walked up toward the front of the classroom. "Your grades have dropped dramatically and if you don't do an extra credit assignment then you'll very well fail this class."
"What do you want us to do?"
"I want you to write an essay on a topic of your choice. Honestly I don't care what it's about. You will have to do it on your own time but I assure you it will help bring up your grade. Which might possibly allow you to pass this class."
"I'll help you manage your time so you can get it done before the deadline." Dan turned around and saw Tucker typing away on his PDA.
"Very well. Mr. Foley will help you and Ms. Manson can keep you focused. Dismissed." the four of us walked out of the class room and then toward the library. Skulker, having returned from wherever he fucked off to, showed up again when we were outside of school.
"Do you ever give up?" I was starting to become seriously pissed off with him. He held his arm out and we were about to transform when his arm beeped again. "Go to the library and check out a book on the turn of the century." Jets appeared on his back once again and Skulker looked just as surprised as we were. They carried him away from us as they had done earlier. None of us knew what was going on and we continued on our way.
"We should go to the museum and find out what we can about how Amity Park was affected."
"Tuck I don't think Amity Park was around back then." Tucker looked depressed and Sam went over to a computer typed something in and then showed us a picture of a gorilla.
"You can do it on the purple back gorilla. There's only two left in existence and they're both male."
"Call me crazy but aren't gorilla's asexual or something?" Dan and I chorused with gained us a look of confusion from them both which was followed by a glare that told us we should shut up. Tucker looked at us "That's plants, bacteria, the hammerhead and blacktip sharks and most types of reptiles."
"Oh... Are they the hermaphroditic then?" Our voices were laced with confusion and embarrassment.
"No... That's slugs, snails, some types of fish and again plants."
"Then what are gorillas?" Dan was just as confused as I was. We knew that we were wrong but I guess we didn't know just how much. "Gorillas are mammals, the same as humans-" We cut Sam off.
"But Humans can be hermaphrodites and they can produce asexually can't they?"
"Tucker help me out here! No wonder you two failed biology last year!" After a long explanation, and a lot of stupid question on our part, we finally got biology. Well some of it at least. After what was probably three hours we left for the local zoo which had one of the two remaining purple back gorillas.
"Sam, can we go. He hasn't done anything but walk around scratching his ass."
"Even I gotta admit Sam this is kind of boring." Just as Tucker finished his sentence a blue mist escaped my mouth.
"It was until now." We changed into the Phantoms and then phased through the roof of the viewing centre, or whatever the hell it's called. Just like every time we've seen him since he returned the mech's arm beeped and he jetted off looking very annoyed. Just as he left Tucker's PDA also beeped. "Well we should go home now."
"But we didn't get to study Samson enough!"
"We would have if the twins knew biology." Tucker gave us an accusing look and Sam just glared at us. Everyone said their good-byes and then went our separate ways.
We were greeted with a bone crushing hug from Jazz and found out that Dad didn't even bother knowing if we were here. We breathed a sigh of relief and went to sleep.
Fire was everywhere and screams echoed through the darkness. A guitar riff echoed all around the void and it felt like the sound waves were trying to push me. "r...r…r…r…r" I heard a cheering noise off in the distance and started walking toward it. "Say my name! Say my name!"
"mer…mer…mer…mer…mer" as I got closer the chanting got louder and clearer...
My eyes flashed open and I sat up on the mattress. "Elle? What's wrong?" I shook my head and then tears started to flow. "Elle…" He gave me a hug from where he sat and rested his chin on my left shoulder. I felt his hand go across my eyelids as he wiped away tears. You know you can tell me anything. You're never alone. Neither of us ever is, or ever has been. I know… I just… don't know… I sent him flashes of my dream. "It as just a dream Elle. Just a dream." Dan's voice whispered in my ear and he brought me back down to the mattress for a few more hours of sleep. I didn't dream of anything else that night.
When we woke up I looked over at the clock on the floor near my head. "SHIT! DAN WAKE UP!" Danny shot up in bed as soon as he heard my voice. "FUCK! WHY DID JAZZ NOT WAKE US UP?!" We pulled on a pair of jeans and raced downstairs putting on our shirts as we went. A note on the front door stopped us in our tracks.
Daniel and Danielle,
Dad's off visiting Vlad for the day and I know you had a rough night. I called the school and told them you weren't feeling well. I'll have Sam and Tucker bring you your homework and I'll help you out with anything you need. And then later we'll work on your biology. Sam and Tucker explained to me what happened last night and I thought you deserved some sleep. Dad should be home at 4 but if he shows up early sneak out your window and wait for Sam and Tucker to pass the alley.
Love, Jazz
We walked into the kitchen, made some tea and went right back to bed, thankful for the day to catch up on the missed sleep that accumulated since gaining our powers. We went up to our room and pulled out our phones. As soon as they were turned on they dinged with the sound of a message in the chat Tucker had created.
FryerTuck: Hey why aren't you in school?
Twinsanity: Jazz let us off the hook for today after last night
FryerTuck: Lucky. Lancer has us defining the word 'the'
Twinsanity: So you're in the computer lab in the back room with the door to your left?
FryerTuck: Nice. You are good.
MadnessDoubled: Haha. I'm glad I'm not in school now.
FryerTuck: Sure laugh it up but you'll have to do this at home. I think
DarkAngell: So Jazz just let you stay home?
Twinsanity: Yup!
MadnessDoubled: Yup!
FryerTuck: I still say it's creepy how they do that even on the computer…
DarkAngell: Gotta go! Lancer's coming!
The rest of the day was boring. We captured Technus again and Skulker was still flying off every time he showed up, which really we weren't complaining about. It saved us the trouble of getting rid of him. Jazz brought home our homework because Sam and Tucker had theirs to do. It was late that evening when a beeping from my phone signalled to me that they were having just as much trouble and we were.
DarkAngell: THIS IS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER!
FryerTuck: Maybe we can all help each other out.
MadnessDoubled: Ok what subject are you guys on?
DarkAngell: History
FryerTuck: English
Twinsanity: We're on math. Since we're all on different subjects just do that subject
MadnessDoubled: And share answers
FryerTuck: Sounds good to me. I'm almost done the first page of the history assignment.
DarkAngell: I thought you were working on the English assignment?
FryerTuck: Yeah I started the history assignment but I couldn't get questions 3, 4 and 5
Twinsanity: Really Tucker? Even we got Question 3.
MadnessDoubled: Question 3's answer is 1843
FryerTuck: That's Question 2's answer isn't it?
DarkAngell: No… Question 2 is 1957
Twinsanity: Ok we just finished the math assignment!
FryerTuck: Don't brag Dani…
MadnessDoubled: You'll have it done also when we tell you the answers.
DarkAngell: I just got the history assignment done
FryerTuck: I'm almost done the English. I just need help. What part of speech is 'the' again?
DarkAngell: It's a conjunction isn't it?
MadnessDoubled: I thought it was a preposition…
Twinsanity: I'm pretty sure it's an adjective…
FryerTuck: I thought it was an interjection…
Twinsanity: Well we'll just put down our own answers and find out who's right.
DarkAngell: Well have fun getting it wrong.
MadnessDoubled: You're the one who's wrong Sam.
FryerTuck: You're both wrong
Twinsanity: Honestly I thought it was an adjective. But just because we're fighting over it none of us are right. XD
MadnessDoubled: Probably :/
DarkAngell: I'd bet on that.
FryerTuck: Yeah… Dani's probably right about that…