going on vacation for a few days, be back soon!
Her hand unconsciously closed over the sharp, rusted edge of a nearby locker vent as she battled to keep her breathing regular. "I..." There were no words, no sort of witty banter that could possibly rectify that delightfully confused and terrified look that flitted across her face in perfect sync with his own gleeful grin.
"What's the matter? Ghost got your tongue?" He teased, his deep voice sending no unpleasant shivers up and down her arms. She took a deliberate step backwards, tremors tingling through the tendons inconveniently 'Jello-fied' by the recent arguable overuse of anesthetic.
"Nothing has my tongue," She stated bluntly, her mind momentarily drawing a blank and the following wince signified the fact that she had caught onto her own comment. His malicious grin did not fade and perhaps only brightened in intensity.
"I was wondering when Jazz would bring you in, I was surprised to find that Tuck also participated in this...extremely illegal situation." Her eyebrows unwittingly knit together.
"There was nothing illegal about it, unless he stole the car." She commented immediately, terrified to find him approaching stealthily.
"There are rules, obvious rules that have been spelled out in basically every language imaginable." He informed her formally.
"Arabic?" She choked out, alarmed by the cruel and malicious laugh that followed.
"I've missed you...and don't scream, you don't really want me to have to deal with more people than necessary, do you?" His word choice was painfully casual, this and the recent medication causing her knees to buckle. "I still get you weak in the knees, Sammy?" He reached his hand out and she stumbled backward, batting it away.
"No touchy, Daniel." Her tone mirrored that of Vlad Masters, a.k.a. Plasmius, and she was uncertain whether or not his reaction was prompted by amusement or anger. The resulting lunge seemed to answer that. Reflexively she released a shriek that could shatter eardrums, startling Danny just long enough for her to wriggle away.
"IT'S DANNY! IT'S DANNY!" She wailed in warning, barely avoiding the ecto-blast that he directed her way. Her rubbery legs flew into the air as she spun into the nearest locker, her head colliding with metal painfully.
"I'm going to make concussion history," Sam groaned, massaging her temple as she simultaneously propelled herself to her feet, just in time to dodge another attack. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a fully suited Jazz, and knew that Tucker and Dash had to be nearby.
"This wasn't supposed to be this way." Daniel spoke calmly, and despite her lack of knowledge concerning the 'new' Danny Phantom, Sam was an expert concerning the former. She was perfectly aware that he could have snatched her in a moment, but after years of being monologued perhaps he had grown accustomed to this...but she knew better. He harbored some sort of hope that her old allegiances would prompt her to join him willingly, even if common sense informed him that there was not a snow ball's chance in hell of this happening.
"Sam! Back it up!" Tucker roared, manning an actual weapon somewhat knowingly. She minded his words of wisdom, ducking below the line of fire and sliding across the linoleum, maneuvering around her comrades' legs.
"SAMANTHA!" The slight shiver Danny had given her before was nothing to this, an icy hand seemed to trail down her spine as his voice cracked like a pubescent boy, every letter resounding with raw emotion, and she could see Danny...not the thing he had became, but Danny, the boy she...
"Here!" Jazz interrupted her train of thought, shoving a complex gun into her grasp and quickly gesturing to the trigger before continuing her fruitless attack on her brother. "Capture, not destroy! CAPTURE!" She exclaimed, glancing pointedly at an unobservant Dash.
Tucker nodded, not bothering to break the sort of staring contest he and Danny were currently engaged in. "Roger that, Jazz." The delicious cliche that danced in that was enough to tug a smile onto Sam's face, though it faded just as quickly as it had appeared as Tucker was struck by the radioactive-green-goo, his hat flying into the air and his PDA crashing to the ground as Danny used this advantage to launch his old friend into his grasp, that cruel grin playing on his lips.
Jazz shrieked, firing pointedly at her brother, seeming to disregard the safety of her little brother with this new development. "Tucker!" She shouted, dropping her weapon wordlessly the instant Danny found it amusing to use Tucker Foley as a shield.
"I can break him in half, or more accurately, into quarters." He threatened, glaring pointedly at Sam as Jazz coaxed Dash into dropping arms. "But for old time's sake, I might just let him go." The unshielded terror that glowed in Tucker's eyes was not a force to be reckoned with.
"Danny, don't, he's not a hostile! You can't, he's a neutral!" Jazz declared in a betrayed manner. Her brother shrugged this off.
"I make the rules, I can break them. Agreement as a neutral is to not assist either side, and he not only fired a weapon at me, he also brought S. Manson, an unidentified, into the vicinity." He relayed in a bored manner, his eyes still boring into Sam's. "I am willing to negotiate a non-violent barter in the exchange of Tucker's life for the capture of the unidentified, Samantha Manson."
She frowned before correcting him, "how am I an 'unidentified' when you just said my name?" The old sort of tired annoyance flashed in Daniel's eyes, one of the few remnants of him that remained.
"No!" choked Jazz, yanking the top portion of her jumpsuit off and wiping the blossoming tears from her eyes. "Let him go, he can be reregistered and we will make no contact with neutral 718, it is unconstitutional to trade for the unaided capture of another." She replied in an equally former manner.
"No, the neutral has broken the agreement, surrendering his chance at amnesty along with a generous second offer in exchange for the outside force he has brought into this. It is up to my discretion to do as I wish with those who do not comply by the arranged rules." He informed her thickly, and she just as hastily retaliated.
"It can be construed as self-defense, you were attacking a non-participant and he was forced into action. All he intended by inviting said unidentified was for assistance, non violent."
The expression of utmost serenity was shattered by the hint of a genuine look of irritation, "This area is non-designated, not personal property, shattering your thesis. Now, it is up to S. Manson to either accompany me to base to be judged like so, or neutral 718 can be executed without formality." Jazz gaped, glancing unconsciously at Sam in terror.
His clutch on Tucker's throat tightened and the geek wheezed, his shoulders tensing and Sam felt guilty as she could not help but think, like brother like sister. "Tick tock Sam." It was an action of guilt in passion, and her selfish side wanted to refrain, but her common sense warned her otherwise. Once Tucker was dead he would take another, or perhaps just abduct her. Who was to say? He was far more powerful than she had anticipated.
With one look at the obviously distraught Jazz as her and Tuck's eyes met, Sam flinched and stepped forward. "Okay."
I'm evil, I'm evil, but im not leaving until friday so reviews aplenty can result in an update!