Hoo, boy. Chapter 4, I think. Yeah, that's right. Only two more left. To the one person who reviewed this, thank you. You make my heart smile.

Brazen Bells

Tucker was bored. There was hardly any other word to describe the lack of activity in his room and in his head. It was sad, really. Tons of video games, computers, gadgets, gizmos, and what-have-you's laying around his room, and he was bored.

It sounded like a really bad demotivational poster.

He considered the day exciting. Confusing, but exciting. The mall acted like a new playground, and as soon as they all got used to it, they had a good time. And yes, that included Sam's gift. Tucker plaintively fingered the brass bell still strapped to his arm. He had to admit, it looked cool. In really, really dim lighting, of course. The less he admitted about Sam's adjustments to his fashion sense, the fewer of them she would make. He fought hard enough just to get her to let him keep his beret.

Lowering the chair he had on two legs down to four, he glared halfheartedly at the machines decorating his room and sighed loudly. "Will something interesting please happen to me right now?" he stage whispered at the ceiling. Of course he wasn't expecting anything to answer.

At least, not by cell phone, which had started ringing not two seconds after his rhetorical demand. Tucker jumped violently in surprise and nearly fell out of his chair. Then he warily glanced up at the ceiling before reaching over to pick it up. He raised an eyebrow when he saw it was Sam.

Pressing 'talk,' he said, "Sam? Why are you-?"

"No time," Sam said sharply, making him raise the other eyebrow in surprise. "I have a feeling that Jazz and Danny will need some help patrolling tonight."

"Oh, really?" This was not the 'something interesting' he'd meant. The looked up at the ceiling again, this time with a glare, before returning his attention to the phone. "And why is that?"

"Because Jazz just called to tell me that Danny was choking on absolutely nothing-"

"What!" he cried, eyes widening. That wasn't what he wanted, either!

But Sam apparently wasn't finished. "...And then she turned right around and said Danny's fine."

Nor was that. "Um..." Tucker turned the situation over in his head multiple times, but that didn't help him understand it any better. He cleared his throat, stalling for time. "That's... what?"

"Exactly," he heard Sam say with a slightly smug tone. "So there's either a ghost making Jazz extremely confused right now, or she's just really tired." I'm gonna go with really, really tired, Tucker thought, and he would've said so if Sam hadn't spoken again. "Wanna get out here and help?"

Decisions, decisions, thought Tucker, again glancing around his cluttered room. It wasn't much of a decision, really. "Uh, yeah, sure. Um..." he glanced at the clock, which read 2: 23. It was that late? he thought, startled. Really? "Where is everybody?"

The answer came a moment later. "At the mall. I'm already headed there now."

"Okay," he said, getting up and reaching for a discarded coat. His house was closer to the mall, and he knew she would get there before her. "I'll see you in a few, then."

"See ya," he heard drift through the speaker, and he hung up. Tucker quickly made sure that his parents were still asleep, and then made his way out of the house.

A few minutes later, Tucker rode his skateboard into the parking lot of the mall-turned-bazaar, looking around for the others. He could see Sam's moped parked a short ways away, so he knew she couldn't be too far. That didn't mean that he couldn't see her, though.

There was something weird about this place, he knew. He couldn't really feel it, but something about the lights and the wind felt... odd, to say the least.

Suddenly, he heard a groan. Tucker tipped his head toward the sound, and quickly rode his board around the building. He came to a halt when he saw a window with a large hole shattered through it. Ignoring his shock, he stepped off the board and poked his head through. The hole was large enough to let him give the broken glass a wide berth, making him wonder who, or what, made it.

Hearing the groan again, Tucker turned his attention to his front. The area immediately following the window was littered with broken glass and split wood and plastic, ruined by the projectile. And at the end of the path of destruction lay a familiar groaning figure.

"Danny!" yelled Tucker, pushing his way through the debris to get to his friend. Danny groaned again as Tucker reached his side, and Tucker knelt down to check for injuries. There weren't any, but he looked behind himself, knowing that the trip would've been painful.

"T-Tucker..." moaned Danny, and Tucker turned his attention back to him. It hadn't escaped his notice that he was in his human form, and Tucker could only wonder what did this.

In the middle of Danny's coming to, his eyes suddenly snapped open and he screamed "Jazz!" Danny leapt up with a flash of light - turning him into Phantom - and he flew out of the building fast as anything. Tucker blinked, quickly standing and struggling through the debris again. He poked his head out through the broken window again just in time to see Danny recoil in midair with an echoing moan of fear and horror.

Watching him abruptly collapse to the ground, Tucker was about to call his name in concern when he heard the bell on his arm ring and a hand came up to cover his mouth. Tucker struggled, trying to see who had him when he stopped in confusion. His own hand had rendered him silent. And he didn't do it.

Hearing a giggle echo from behind him, Tucker whirled around. There was a girl there, standing in the middle of the mess.

But that's impossible, he thought to himself, eyes widening. She couldn't have gotten here without making a helluva lot of noise. Unless...

"You know," she said suddenly in a bell-like voice, making Tucker start, "I've always been fascinated with dark skin." She walked over to him, phasing through the wood, plastic, and glass without even going intangible. She ran a finger down Tucker's possessed arm, making it tingle with that odd feeling he felt before. He didn't like it.

Her finger stopped when she reached the brass bell, and her black eyes hardened. Then her face was split with a smile. She looked back up to meet her eyes with Tucker's, saying, "A white man's skin goes blue when he chokes and gray when he dies. I've always wondered what dark skin does."

Without giving him a chance to register what she meant, she lightly flicked the bell on his arm, making it ring. His hand let his mouth go, letting him breathe freely, only to clamp down tightly on his neck.

Every bit of breath he just gained was cut off, and Tucker gasped. He clutched his wrist with his other hand, trying to pull it away, but to no avail. His possessed arm somehow gained the same strength that he'd seen the result of minutes before. His good arm clawed and groped, breaking his own skin in multiple places. It did nothing.

He was running out of air. He tried to scream. He tried to plead. But the girl's face never changed. When she seemed satisfied, she rang his bell again.

His hand didn't let him go, however. It simply changed its grip. Instead of putting the fingers around his entire neck, it dug into his skin to grip his windpipe. Tucker renewed his efforts for freedom, but all he managed was a low, gurgled, "D-Danny..."

The girl stepped back, her own arm clawed in a position around the air the same way his arm was around his windpipe. He thought he heard someone scream his name, but he was beyond hearing anything now. She gave another, broad smile, and jerked her arm back.

His own arm did the same.