Don't forget, I've made a new blog to support me and keep up with all things Guardians! It's a tumblr blog under the name theguardiansseries and it contains chapters, art, and everything else Guardians. It also contains behind-the-scenes drabbles and snippets from other character's point of views - all of which can be found under the tag 'ftb excerpt'
Enjoy the chapter!
"I think a threat that's stronger than Pariah is about to wake up." It sounded silly when he said it out loud, but Danny had been thinking on this for a while now and it was the only thing that seemed to make sense after his walk around Pariah's Keep.
"What- Wait, what?" Sam looked surprised and even scared, almost, before her expression dropped and her eyes narrowed. "What kind of a threat?"
"I don't- A threat." It sounded stupid, but it all lined up! Danny had been seeing the signs for weeks and he hadn't even realized what he was staring at until it was almost too late - almost. "Sammy, you have to trust me on this one."
"Uh huh. Why do you think we're about to face a threat, Danny? And give me an exact reason, not a ghost sense sort of reason."
"None of the ghosts have attacked in almost two weeks!" Alright, Sam's groan was unappreciated and wildly unhelpful. "C'mon, Tuck, back me up here. You think it's weird, don't you?" Maybe he was exaggerating a little with it being a Pariah level threat, but it was weird.
"Yeah. Weird." While Tucker gave strange responses sometimes, that was weird even by their standards. He usually never shut up, but thinking about it, Tucker had been weirdly silent during lunch this time.
"Tucker? You alright, buddy?" The three were in the cafeteria, so Danny had been a little concerned with eating before his food was stolen or shoved down his shirt, but now that he was looking, Tucker had a lot of papers and notebooks out. "Okay, last I checked February wasn't even over yet. What's with the finals level studying?"
"It's not studying." Tucker was staring down at a packet of papers with utter seriousness, food completely abandoned and ignored beside him. It was, Danny decided, absolutely terrifying. "It's for the student council elections coming up."
Danny didn't even get to open his mouth before Sam was kicking him, which, alright, he probably deserved that considering he hadn't even known that his best friend was running for student elections. "Cool- Cool. That's cool. Uh, refresh my memory, which position are you going for?" Because if Tucker was aiming for President, then he had quite the depressing news.
"Vice president. In this school, the VP always is the one behind the big changes. The jocks can fight for the figurehead position all they want, but I know what I'm doing."
"Never doubted you for a second, buddy." At least he had done his research, this year. "So, uh, what kind of plans you have in mind? Hopefully nothing that will end up with a changed lunch menu."
"Hey! We agreed to never speak of that moment again! Nothing I did or said as a freshman can be held against me and you know it." Sam glared at him and Danny knew without any doubt that she could kill him anytime she pleased.
"Right, right, so, uh, student council. Vice president. You wanna… talk about it?" That's what supportive friends did, right? Talk about student politics?
"You have time for it?" All three of them seemed to realize how harsh that was at the same time since Danny winced the same moment as Tucker and Sam. "Sorry- Sorry, that was… Sorry, man."
"Yeah, no, hey, I get it. I haven't exactly been around the past few weeks like I should have been." It had been one crazy thing after another, it seemed, but things were settling down, now. "The ghosts haven't been by in almost two weeks, though, so I think I'm good on time for the moment."
"Oh… Right! Well, uh, so first-" The next few words were drowned out by the ringing of the school bell, Tucker looking disgruntled as Sam hid a laugh behind her napkin.
"Raincheck?" Danny grinned, happy when he saw Tucker give a grudging one of his own. "We can talk about it after school. Gaming party at yours?"
"You know it." Sharing a quick fist bump with the both of them, Danny helped Tucker gather a backpack's worth of paper as Tucker looked like he tried to stop himself from smiling too widely. "Just you wait, man, I have so many ideas on how to keep this place from becoming hell- Oh! I had a few ideas about our, uh, club."
"Club? Tuck, we don't-" Oh. Oh! "Right! The club." Ghost hunting was a club now, then. Great. "Uh, sure- Yeah. That sounds great."
A little gaming time with Tucker while talking about their lives sounded like something that was long overdue.
Unfortunately, the ghosts never stayed quiet for long. What was supposed to be a fun night of gaming turned into six hours of fighting off Technus and his latest plan to use the Gamestop in the mall to take over the internet. It was six hours of his life that he was never going to get back, but he figured he could at least make it up to Tucker by taking him to the mall that, thanks to 'Phantom,' was still there.
Of course, it would have been better if Desiree hadn't shown up and started granting wishes by the fountains. One would think that the town of Amity Park would have learned not to wish for things out loud, but four hours of hell proved otherwise. Danny was still trying to figure out who wished for walls to be made of jello. He would kick their ass, if he ever figured it out, that was for sure.
After that it was the Lunch Lady causing a riot at one of the local soup kitchens, Ember trying to enslave a group of teenagers in the park, the Box Ghost taking over the post office, and Johnny and Kitty having a fight that almost destroyed an entire city block.
Finally, though, March was here and things were calming down once again. "Tucker- Hey! Tucker! Wait up!" Student elections for next year's positions weren't going to be voted on until late April so Danny had plenty of time to listen to Tucker's plans and help him out with campaigning and all of that. It would be easier, of course, if Tucker would slow down and wait for him. "Hey, so, I was thinking that today-"
"You could leave me behind and go off and hunt ghosts on your own? Yeah, sounds perfect, Danny, let's do that." It wasn't the words that hurt so much as the way Tucker sounded so bitter. "Here, you can even get a head start. I'll go home, and you can stand here and wait for the next ghost attack, which should be in, oh, ten minutes? Five, maybe?"
"Okay, no gaming marathon today, then." Danny shook his head, trying to find out where the bitter attitude was coming from and finding himself unable to. He knew it had been a rough few weeks, but it wasn't like any of that was Danny's fault. "Okay, right, I'll bite, what the hell? I mean, I know I've been busy-"
"Busy?" Tucker near knocked Danny over with how fast he turned around. "No, busy would be dealing with the ghosts and then coming to talk to me afterwards. You've been a jerk-"
"I've been a jerk? You've been avoiding me all day when I've been trying to catch up to you so we can talk. And I'm sorry, since when am I considered a jerk for taking care of threats that no one else can?"
"No one else- Do you even realize- Do you even see us?! All of this - everything - is all your fault! And you're too much of a stubborn jerk to even see that!"
"My… And just what, Tucker, is my fault?" None of this was his fault! How was any of this his fault? He had his own stuff to deal with, too, and by the time the fights ended these days, he was too tired to do much more than to make it home and collapse.
What Tucker thought was his fault was something Danny didn't get to hear. Instead he heard a high-pitched whine, saw Tucker look shocked and scared, and then he felt nothing but pain. Pain and fear were the last things he felt before he saw black.
::
"Greetings, prey… I had a feeling that my weapons wouldn't trigger that little detection power of yours."
"Oh, God, of course it's you." Danny's ears were still ringing, and his mouth felt like it was stuffed full of cotton and sand, but he had enough sense to recognize Skulker's voice when he heard it. "And here I thought you finally chased the wrong prey and got your suit destroyed or something."
"Unfortunately for you, that is not the case. No, whelp… You see, I've decided that it was high time that we bring our little hunt to new grounds." Right, Skulker was just going on with his dramatics. That gave Danny at least five good minutes to figure out where the hell he was and why he felt so awful.
The second one he could probably blame on whatever Skulker had used to knock him out. He remembered electricity, just barely, and that was enough. Skulker had probably gone to Technus to have his weapons upgraded, the jerk.
Okay, okay. Focus. He had been leaving school and- Tuck. Tucker. Right. Well, even if they were fighting, he was still sure that Tucker would call Sam and Jazz and some rescue attempt would be put together. At least, that was what he thought until he heard a familiar groan beside him.
"My brains… feel like oatmeal." Pushing himself up faster than he should have, Danny's vision swam as he stared down at where Tucker was lying down next to him.
"Ah, yes. I even brought along a friend of yours for our hunt today. I couldn't have him running to tell others and interrupt our hunt too soon, now could I?"
"Skulker, the second I can see straight I am going to punch you in your face!" Of all the things to happen of course Tucker would be trapped alongside him! Sam, at least, could have kept pace with him, but Tucker? Depending on where they were, they might just be doomed.
"Maybe once you might have been able to, whelp, but I have the home field advantage." The… The home field advantage? Stomach feeling like it had been taken out of him and dropped off a skyscraper, Danny shot his gaze up towards the sky and saw nothing except green. Green meant that they were in the Ghost Zone, but Skulker wouldn't be so smug if it was just that. "Now, since I like to give my prey a sporting chance, I'll give you a ten-minute head start."
Feeling a tug to his wrist, Danny's gaze snapped over to where Tucker was looking shocked and scared, eyes wide as he stared at the handcuffs that chained them together. This, Danny realized, just became a lot more difficult.
"Oh, and did I mention your ten minutes began when you awoke?" Skulker's smug, satisfied words had Danny scrambling to his feet, fighting the wave of dizziness that swept over him as he grabbed Tucker's arm and pulled him along as he started to run.
"Danny! Do you even know where we're going?!" Tucker's shouts only had Danny pulling them along faster, because the sooner they got away from Skulker, the better.
"I think that as long as we're running away from the crazy mecha suit, then it doesn't really matter," Danny yelled back, eyes wide as he tried not to run them into any trees. He had caught glimpses of a forest in the Ghost Zone once before, but since when had there been a jungle? Were they at Skulker's island or lair or whatever it was?
"And how do we know we're not gonna just wind up going in circles!" Feeling a jerk on his arm as Tucker tripped over something, Danny swore as he slowed down enough to make sure Tucker didn't fall before pulling him along again. "Ow- Danny!"
"Just shut up and run, Tuck. We wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't been acting like a jerk-"
"You're blaming me for this?!" Tucker stopped again, and Danny grunted as he felt a sharp tug to his wrist where the handcuff was locked around him. He was starting to hate these handcuffs and he couldn't wait to punch Skulker in the face for this. "This is your fault, dude."
"My fault? It's my fault that you've been ignoring me for the last few days?" Seeing the other ready to reply, Danny sharply shook his head the same time he pulled on the chain of the handcuffs. "We don't have time for this. Just shut up and I'll fly us out of here."
Danny let himself relax before he was triggering his change into his ghost half, except there were no rings - or anything else. Trying again, Danny swallowed as, again, nothing happened. "Oh no."
"Oh no?" Tucker frowned, crossing his arms and bringing Danny's own arm with him. "Why are you saying oh no?" Changing wasn't working, nor was flying, or intangibility, invisibility, ectoblasts, or anything else.
"We might have a problem," Danny finally admitted, looking to the handcuffs and realizing for the first time that they were glowing. "Scratch that, we definitely have a problem."
Tucker followed his gaze after a moment and it seemed to click at once considering the loud swear he let out. "This thing stops your ghost powers?"
"Seems to be the case," Danny hissed, fingers scrabbling against the cuff on his wrist. He almost started swearing when it didn't even budge. "Okay- Okay, just- Don't panic. Just follow me-"
"And who put you in charge?" Tucker looked even more defensive than before as he took a step forward, poking at Danny's chest, and, seriously? "This is my life on the line, too, you know! Why do you get to make all the decisions?"
"Can we not do this right now?" Danny frowned, batting Tucker's hand away. "Look, I get it, you're pissed I don't get to spend time with you anymore, but we need to get out of here before Skulker tries to skin us or something. As for the other thing, I get to be in charge because I know about ghost things."
"And I don't?" Instead of his words reassuring Tucker, the other only seemed to be getting even angrier. As great as it was that they were finally talking, now was really notthe time. "Dude, I've been right here the entire time! You don't even see me, but we've been learning all of this stuff at the same time! The same pace!"
"Where is this even coming from?!" Danny finally shouted back, not caring that their ten minutes were probably up and Skulker was on the hunt for them. Skulker was the last thing he was worried about, right now. "It's only recently that we've been fighting like this-"
"Recent?" Tucker's voice was whisper soft before he was yelling again, looking angrier and angrier with each word. "Recent- It's always been like this! You've always been so damn prideful and full of yourself and it's gotten worse ever since you became 'Phantom.' You think you're above everything!"
For a second, Danny could only stare at his best friend in shock. Then the shock ended and anger set in. "Above- You have no idea what I go through!" They could never understand. Tucker and Sam could never understand what it was like to be half-ghost. They saw him, but they didn't see the aftermath. They never saw. "I'm trying to be 'in charge' because I, at least, know about all these damn ghost things-"
"And I don't?!" They were the same words, but this time Tucker screamed them as if Danny had just stabbed him. "I've been right here this entire time and learning it all the same time as you! I've been here the whole time and you don't even see me! I'm nothing but the tech guy to you!"
"At least you know what you are!" The words exploded out of him, Danny certain that his powers would have already been reacting if they hadn't been suppressed. "I don't even know if I'm alive anymore some days-!" Danny's words died in his throat as he saw green energy that was speeding towards them.
Their ten minutes were definitely up, and Danny realized in that moment how loud they had been screaming. He then realized that while these weapons could hurt ghosts, this was technology that could kill humans, and it was flying right for Tucker's back and no-
Danny was moving before his brain could make the decision, hands grabbing Tucker by the arm and back of the neck before he was spinning them around to switch places. He then immediately pushed them towards the ground. The blast of energy felt like fire against his skin as it seared across his back, gritted teeth feeling like they would break as he suppressed a scream and hit the ground a second after Tucker.
He didn't give himself time to recover, instead dragging the two of them up before running through the jungle again, trying not to focus on how Skulker's laugh boomed all around them. Danny knew Tucker was trying to say something, but Danny ignored it until he was skidding into a cave opening, knowing the hiding spot was only temporary.
"-alright?!" Tucker's whisper shouting finally sunk in, Danny blinking as he looked over to see Tucker was staring at him with wide, wet eyes and shaking hands. "Dude- Dude, you pretty much just took a bullet for me."
Staring at him for a minute, Danny finally shrugged and tried for a grin, "I can handle stuff like that." Tucker couldn't. Danny was stronger against these types of things even in his human form.
"But- We were fighting. We were fighting and you still- Ow! Hey!" Watching Tucker clutch the back of his head where Danny had just hit him, Danny gave a mock glare.
"Dude, do you seriously think that I would let you get hurt just because we're fighting?" Danny was definitely pissed at Tucker and he had the urge to drop him off a small hill or something, but even at their worst he would never want Tucker hurt, let alone killed. "Idiot."
Hearing leaves rustling, Danny jerked them further into the cave, biting his lip at the wave of pain from his back even as he pulled Tucker down to the ground and into the shadows. The two were utterly silent and still as the rustling leaves slowly moved away before they disappeared altogether.
"Okay, we need a plan," Danny finally said, looking to Tucker and giving him a nudge. "Any ideas, VP?" There was a long moment where Danny thought Tucker was going to make a thing of it before he looked away with a grudging smile.
"Elections aren't until April, you know," Tucker said quietly, Danny beyond grateful that they weren't the type to go into feelings. "Sorry. I-"
"Nope, no, nuh-uh, we don't have time to deal with emotions. You've been a jerk and I've been an arrogant asshole or something and got carried away and forgot to tell you that we're a team, and you're not just backup."
"I've been a jealous asshole," Tucker finally corrected, looking suspiciously emotional. "And you've been a prideful prick who doesn't like to take suggestions." Ah, much better. "You think I would have learned the first time about being jealous."
The memory of Desiree and her powers sent a shudder through Danny and Tucker both, especially as they remembered the end result. While 'Tucker Phantom' hadn't been bad at first, it had showed Danny that he could get as wrapped up in himself as anyone else. Had he really started slipping that easily, again?
"I haven't exactly given you reason not to be," Danny finally said, sitting up slowly and trying not to show how much his back was hurting him. Tucker probably knew, anyways, judging by his wince. "Tuck… I didn't think I had to say it because I thought you knew, you idiot."
"As always, you're full of such affectionate nicknames," Tucker grumbled, peeking his head out of the cave. "Looks clear, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had Technus rig up some kind of spying system."
"Yeah, but Tucker, look, man, I'm trying to emotionally connect, here." At the look on Tucker's face, Danny did his best not to laugh. "I'm serious. You're not just tech support."
"Yeah, yeah, man, I know, we're friends and I'm part of the team and-"
"We're not friends." Danny let Tucker's shocked silence sit for a moment before he grinned, giving him a nudge. "We're brothers, aren't we?"
"Oh my god you almost gave me a heart attack." Even as Tucker dramatically clutched his chest, Danny could see the way his eyes were getting wet. He knew his own were the same, so at least they had mutually assured destruction. "This conversation never happened."
"What conversation? Seriously, though, please tell me you have a plan or something, because otherwise we're kind of screwed."
"I don't know how to get these cuffs off, but I do have something." Watching as Tucker twisted and squirmed around, Danny shook his head as the teen finally got his backpack open from where it was stuck on one arm.
"Tell me that you're not about to pull out some plot device to save the day or whatever. I know our lives have gotten kind of crazy, Tuck, but-" A Fenton Thermos was being waved in front of him. A Fenton Thermos that was black and green. "Whoa. Dude, what…?"
"I told you I've been working on our ghost stuff, too. This is one of the things I was trying to show you, dude." The Thermos, which looked a lot less like a thermos these days, was the same size as the old ones, but had a metal plate that had a circular pattern to it covering the top instead of the lid it used to have. "It's like one of those cool sci-fi kinds of openings, you know? You just a press button, this opens up like a circle thing, and boom, you have a ghost capturing ray."
"Tuck, you're a genius." Taking the Thermos, Danny's grin got even wider as he thought about how much work must have gone into something like this. "You're my favorite."
"Sweet. I'd tell Sam, but I don't know if the satisfaction would be worth both of our deaths," Tucker laughed, falling silent the same time Danny did. A branch had snapped not far off from where they were sitting. "Wanna take that thing for a test drive?"
"Tuck, you read my mind." Danny grinned as the two of them stood back up, Danny realizing in that moment that Tucker really had been through it all with him. As Skulker stepped out of the foliage, Danny's grin grew wider. This was going to be fun.
::
"I was wondering when you would be back! Honestly, you could at least give warning if you're going to disappear for weeks on… end." Ghostwriter stared at him and Danny could see the exact moment that he registered Danny's back was bleeding and he was chained to Tucker. "This one must be Tucker, I presume?"
"Oh, cool, you do talk about us!" Tucker's voice was a cheerful little chirp as he stuck his hand out. "Yo. I'm Tucker Foley, Danny's best-friend-slash-brother. You must be the ghostly book nerd he won't shut up about."
"You're going to make me regret bringing you here, aren't you," Danny grumbled, reluctantly amused when Ghostwriter cautiously shook Tucker's hand. "So, uh, hey, do you know how to lockpick handcuffs?"
"I do, actually, yes." Oh, cool. That made this easier. Danny also knew what he was asking Ghostwriter about next time he visited. "I take it those handcuffs were not a choice, then."
"Why- Why would you think it was a choice?" Danny was grateful that Tucker looked just as horrified, but Ghostwriter only looked amused as he opened the door properly for them.
"Who am I to judge another's preferences? Come on, then. It shouldn't take me long. I take it that's been cancelling out your abilities?"
"Yeah, Skulker's a dick," Danny nodded, pulling Tucker into the library and using the handcuff like a leash when it looked like Tucker was about to run off to explore. "Do you have bandages, too?"
"Goodness, you're certainly high maintenance," Ghostwriter sighed, looking amused instead of concerned, thank God. Danny was good enough with all the concern he already got. "I should have something."
"So, hey, you know, you could totally go digital and get rid of half these books - maybe free up some space, even. I mean, paper copies aren't really efficient."
Ghostwriter, after faltering in his steps and looking back, gave Tucker the dirtiest look that could ever be imagined, Danny breaking and starting to laugh when Tucker only beamed back before going in depth about the advantage of technology over books. It was good to have things back to normal.
Danny couldn't wait until they got even better, though.