Hey everyone, Lord Pugsy here. I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. Here is the next chapter where Danny & Co are stranded out at sea. I do not own Danny Phantom; only the story.
The moment Danny kissed her, Sam's mind went completely blank as she savoured every second their lips were connected. The euphoric feeling was cut short though when Sam felt herself being lifted into the air, and thrown at the descending lifeboat, straight into Tucker and Valerie's arms.
"DANNY!" She screamed, but it was too late; Danny had already ran back inside the ship to look for the trapped people.
"What is he doing?!" Shouted Tucker in disbelief.
"He's trying to be the stupid hero again! PULL US BACK UP!" She screamed again, struggling against the two that were trying to hold her steady. "PULL THE DAMN BOAT BACK UP NOW!" The lifeboat continued to lower, against the Goth's desperate cries, until they touched down on the water.
"DASH! KWAN!" Shouted Mr Lancer. "Man the oars! Get us far away from that ship! It may end up rolling this way!" The boys grabbed the oars and started paddling as hard as they could.
"Mr Lancer you can't!" Sam cried urgently. "Danny is still on the ship!"
"Who cares?!" Shouted Dash, still paddling. He wasn't being malicious; he was terrified, as were the rest of the class. Deep down, Sam knew this, but that didn't stop her anger bubbling to the surface. Before anyone could do anything, Sam snatched the oar away from Dash and bashed him round the head with it, sending him to the floor of the boat; Sam stood over him menacingly and looked at the others.
"Anyone else?" She was being malicious, and everyone knew it as they all shook their heads. Their looks of fear were suddenly replaced with a look of hope as they looked back up to the doomed ship.
"There's Danny!" Shouted Mikey. Sam looked up, and true enough, there was Danny standing at the railings, looking out at them; they all started shouting and beckoning him over to them. Their hopeful thoughts, however, were crushed when the ship started rolling away from them, causing Danny to disappear from sight as he fell back.
"NO DANNY!" They all shouted, Sam being the loudest. Seconds felt like hours as the group watched in horror as the boat completely turned on its side, threatening to capsize completely. When all hope seemed lost, the group could just about make out a figure standing on top of the rails; it was Danny. He paused for a moment before coming to the conclusion of diving off the hundred foot high boat, plummeting into the cold Atlantic. After what seemed an age, Danny's unconscious body broke the surface. Sam, fuelled with adrenaline, took off her coat and went to dive in after him, before Tucker and Valerie held her back.
"Sam, no!" Shouted Valerie, tightening her grip on the teen.
"Get off me!" Sam squirmed. "I have to get to Danny."
"Sam?" Tucker said softly into her ear. "Danny can't freeze to death. You on the other hand can." Sam locked eyes with Tucker and she knew he was right. He was just as scared for Danny as she was, but she realised he had a point, as she slumped into Valerie's embrace. Tucker, knowing that Sam wasn't going to try anything again, grabbed the oar and threw it to Craig, the next strongest kid, and gave Kwan a stern look.
"Get us to Danny quickly." He said authoritatively. "Mr Lancer is right. That ship could still fall back this way." Not put off by the boy's sudden show of courage, the boys took to the job with zeal and made their way to Danny, who was still floating there.
"Eric, get over here," Started Tucker as they got closer to Danny. "When we get to him, you grab his right arm and I'll get his left." He turned to the boys paddling. "Hold us steady. We don't want to hit him or go over the top of him." When they were close enough, the two boys leaned over and dragged Danny onto the lifeboat.
"Get us away now!" Ordered Tucker to Kwan and Craig. As the boys were paddling away, the rest of class looked down at Danny and recoiled slightly; there was a thin, steady trickle of blood going down the side of his face. Dash had forgotten to be angry at Sam for hitting him; even Paulina was quiet as she looked down at the injured teen. It was then that the class realised that Danny wasn't breathing.
"He's not breathing!" Cried Tucker, checking his pulse. "Who knows CPR?" He looked around as Alice put her hand in the air.
"I know the basics." She said shyly.
"That's good enough." Said Tucker. "Do what you can." As Alice moved towards where Danny was lying, she looked guiltily back at Bradley and then at Sam. Valerie saw the look and realised what was bothering her.
"Come on Alice. Sam will take care of the mouth to mouth. Just focus on pounding his chest." Relieved at hearing this, both Sam and Alice got to work on Danny, but after a few minutes there was no change. Alice sat back and started silently crying; Bradley coming up behind her and hugging her as the rest of the class just sat there in shock as the boat continued to drift out to sea. Sam, not believing that Danny could be gone, started pounding on his chest.
"Don't you dare Danny. Don't you even think about dying on us." Sam said, continuing to hit his chest. "You do not get to kiss me and then go ahead and die." She continued to hit his chest and slapping his face. Finally, Danny choked up sea water and had a massive coughing fit as he dry-heaved up all the salty water. Before he could gather his bearings, Sam launched herself on him and gripped him tightly.
"Sam." Danny said in a raspy voice. "Can't. Breathe."
"I don't care." She said, verging on crying. Realising he wasn't going to win, Danny just sat there and held tightly onto the crying Goth, not caring who was watching. Eventually, she eased off a bit, so that he could sit up, but he did so slowly.
"Dude?" Asked Tucker. "You ok?"
"I don't know." Slurred Danny. "Since when were there three of you?"
"He's got a concussion." Said Valerie, answering the confused looks from the rest of the class; she turned back to Danny who was beginning to sway.
"Just lay back down Danny. We don't want to aggravate it even further." Danny just nodded as he laid back down where he was before, quickly falling to sleep. Realising that was probably the best thing to do, the occupants of the boat got themselves comfortable and fell into a restless sleep. Sam was the last to fall asleep as she couldn't help but worry about Danny; at last, snuggling up to him, she eventually drifted off.
The morning came too soon for the occupants of the lifeboat as the cold Atlantic air woke them from their slumber; their only good fortune was that the water had remained calm throughout the evening. Danny was still asleep Tucker noticed when he woke up. If it had been anyone else, he would have worried but Tucker had seen Danny overcome larger injuries; it only took him a day to recover from his fight with Pariah Dark. A cold chill disturbed his thoughts about his best friend, causing him to shiver, pulling Valerie in closer to him so that they could stay warm. Everyone was beginning to shiver, even those who had thick coats on. Sam, realising they had to keep up appearances, went to put her coat around Danny to prevent any probing questions that would be sent their way. However, before she got a chance, Mr Lancer placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I think you are in much more need of that Miss Manson." He said gently.
"Danny needs it more than I do Mr Lancer." Lied Sam; Mr Lancer just shook his head.
"In case you hadn't noticed Miss Manson, but this is a lifeboat from a luxury cruise ship, not a little raft." He gestured under their benches where there were a series of compartments. In the first one there was a large medical kit; in the second was several dozen bottles of water, and in the last was about twenty, thick blankets. Sam took several for her, Danny, Tucker and Valerie, as well as some water, and went back to where they were sat with Danny.
"Is he going to be ok?" Asked Valerie in a whisper, as she looked down at Danny's still form, still in Tucker's embrace.
"He'll be fine Val." Assured Tucker, holding her tighter. "I've seen him get hit by Skulker and he just walked away from it. A knocked head won't slow him down." He knew what he was saying was true, but that didn't stop him from worrying about his best friend.
"Why did he go back?" Asked Valerie; this time Sam spoke up.
"Because that's who Danny is Val. He cares. If someone's life was in danger, no matter who it was, he would risk his life to save them." She sniffed. Valerie just nodded contemplatively.
"That explains it then." She said, more to herself than anyone else.
"What do you mean Val?" Asked Tucker. Valerie just gave them both a look.
"When were you guys going to tell me?" She asked.
"We don't know what you mean." Said a nervous Sam. Valerie gave them a small laugh so not to attract unwanted attention.
"That Danny here is Phantom." She whispered, still smiling. Valerie then gave another little chuckle at Sam and Tucker's faces.
"When did you find out?" Tucker asked finally.
"Couple of weeks after the thing with Vlad and Danielle." Valerie said.
"How did you know?" Asked Sam.
"After we initiated the truce, we began to spar with each other, which is when I began to notice things; little things. They both rub the back of their necks when they're embarrassed or nervous. They have the same laugh. The same goofy nature." Laughed Valerie. "There is also the fact that they look and sound exactly the same as each other. I'm just sorry it took me to stop attacking him to notice these things. I just hope he can forgive me." Her voice becoming lower, causing Tucker to hug her tighter again.
"Don't worry about it Val." Tucker said, comforting her. "Danny forgave you as soon as you helped him rescue Dani. He's crazy about that little girl."
"Thanks Tuck." She said, smiling up at him, before a frown crossed her face.
"What I don't get is how becoming half ghost suddenly turned him into this courageous superhero. The Danny I knew from years ago was always shy and scared of everything." This time it was Sam and Tucker's turn to laugh.
"See, that's where you're wrong Val." Said Tucker.
"Yeah," Agreed Sam, giving Danny a loving look. "He's always been brave. He just never wanted the attention. I remember this one time, two years before he got his powers, we were all walking back from seeing a movie and we saw this house on fire. When all of a sudden, we heard a scream from inside; there was a child trapped on the second floor. We couldn't help but stare in horror. There was no one around so Danny just shouted at us to call the emergency services, and then he ran into the building to save the trapped child." Valerie gasped.
"Yeah." Said Tucker. "That's what we did."
"Anyway," Continued to Sam. "By this point, a small crowd had gathered outside the burning building. As the first fire engine appeared around the corner, Danny came bursting out the front of the building with a small boy in his arms. He was covered in burns, but he was determined to care for the boy." Sam just smiled reminiscently, until Danny's voice cut through the air.
"It was a little girl, not a boy." He chuckled, opening his eyes, laughing harder when he saw the shocked looks on his friends' faces. Sam smacked his arm, but she was beginning to smile as she pulled him into a hug.
"We thought you were asleep."
"Hyper-sensitive hearing remember?" Danny said, smiling still, pulling away from the relieved Goth. "I heard everything." He then looked guiltily over at Valerie, who had a matching expression.
"I'm sorry I never told you Val. If it's any consolation, Tucker was right. I forgave you for everything you did the moment you helped Dani. It was at the point when I really wanted to tell you everything."
"How did it happen?" Valerie asked quietly. Danny took a quick glance around the lifeboat, making sure no one was listening in. Seeing that everyone was back in their social groups and talking amongst themselves, Danny turned back to Valerie.
"Two years ago in my parents' portal thanks to a certain Goth." He said, giving a look to Sam who blushed and looked down.
"I still feel guilty about that." She said softly. "I effectively killed you." Danny just took her hand, causing her to blush harder.
"Never feel guilty for it Sam. I wouldn't have had it any other way." Said Danny. "Anyway, my parents thought it was broken so I ventured in with some enthusiastic encouragement. Once in there, I brushed against the wall where the on switch was; turns out they had forgotten to switch the stupid thing on. I was shocked with ten million watts of electricity as well as the entire Ghost Zone. The result, one super-powered, half dead teen." Whilst Valerie took in this information, Danny took the chance to take in his surroundings and assess their situation. What worried him was that there wasn't a single other lifeboat in sight.
"Something's not right." Danny finally muttered, the other three looking confused at him.
"What do you mean?" Asked Sam.
"We should have seen a rescue boat now, let alone another lifeboat."
"We all floated in different directions though." Tucker threw out.
"That's beside the point. We were following the Gulf Stream on the Cruise, so when all the lifeboats drifted off, they would've been caught in that current and travel in the same direction as the rest of us, eventually hitting the North Atlantic Current to the East." Danny said, looking to the sky and using whatever remaining stars there were to get their rough location.
"So what's the verdict?" Asked Valerie nervously.
"We're not heading East," He started, his face dropping. "We're heading South." Danny's three friends all had scared expressions on their faces as they took in their predicament; their shared moment was shattered, however, when there was a collective gasp from the rest of the boat. The four looked around and saw that the other occupants of the boat had been listening in to the last part of their conversation.
"Great Gatsby!" Cried Mr Lancer. "Are you sure Mr Fenton?"
"I wish I was wrong." Muttered Danny.
"How do we know Fenton's telling the truth?" Asked a suspicious Dash, but scared nonetheless. Danny just sighed.
"Because I study Astronomy Dash. I know how to use the stars to pinpoint my location no matter where I am. Look," Danny said, pointing behind them. "You can just about still see the North Star, also known as Polaris, up there behind us. This means we are heading in the opposite direction, meaning South." Danny reiterated. It was at this point that Star gasped, even louder this time.
"But that means we won't be rescued." She said, starting to panic.
"Stop panicking. You're going to make your hair worse than it already is." Whined Paulina, as she started to run her fingers through her hair, grimacing when she got caught on a knot. Danny just shook his head.
"You don't understand Paulina." Danny said softly. "Star is right. Anyone looking for survivors will be following the Gulf Stream, or be waiting for us when we hit the North Atlantic Current, because that's where they'd assume we'd be travelling. We won't be rescued, because they won't be looking where we're not supposed to be."
I hope everyone enjoyed this, despite the lack of action in it. I am trying to space out the action/adventure stuff as I do not want it all crammed together. Until next time.
Lord Pugsy.