it's Homecoming week! i'm so excited. we weren't able to go to the dance last yr so im excited for this yr! plus, only 2 1/2 days of school the next week. im just sad we have a tourney that day too. our coahc will probably yell at us, but who cares...its homecoming!

hope you enjoy the story. its starting to pick up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or its character. I thank Butch Hartman for that.

Johnny 13: I thought this was a pretend fight.
Danny: Then pretend this didn't hurt!

Chapter Eight

Sam had to run to the park. A noisy scooter would attract too much attention of the sleepy town people of Amity Park. Besides, she was in great shape, and for her at least, this was just barely a work out. She arrived about five minutes past what they were expected to meet up. Tucker and Danny were already there thanks to Danny's use of his ghost powers. They were both still staring into the hole. It seemed as if they were statues and had not moved from that spot since earlier in the afternoon.

Danny heard footsteps and turned to peer over his shoulder. His acute sense of hearing noticed the clanging noise of the ghost weapons in Sam's bag.

"Hey," he said to her. This was the time that Tucker noticed they weren't alone in the park. Even in the moonlight his face lit up as his other best friend came to join them. The shine was replaced by a face full of worry on the young teen's face.

"You're sure you want to go through with this, man?" asked Tucker to Danny.

Danny's sky blue eyes caught Tucker's teal eyes. Tucker could tell that Danny was worried on the inside, but being the hero that he was, acted brave to cover it up.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Danny said. He nodded his head as if to reassure himself of this as well. There was a slight pause; barely noticeable to most people, but Tucker realized this was Danny's way of convincing himself to continue with the plan. Danny then turned his head to Sam, his eyes catching a fiercer determination that there was in those eyes seconds before.

"Did you bring everything, Sam?" Danny said. Sam dropped the bag on the ground and sat down to open up its contents. As she unzipped it, the towel-rolled weapons came out. She neatly arranged them in the grass in front of her as she unrolled them one by one. Sets of three of very few of the weapons came out of the bag. Most of them were in pairs Danny noticed.

Sam motioned for the boys to come closer to collect their weapons. Each of the teens got a Fenton Flash of Light. Tucker was able to have the honor of carrying around the Fenton Bazooka, while Sam carried the Jack-o-Nine Tails, an extra thermos, and an ecto staff.

After everyone had their items, Sam stood in front of the pit and looked down. Before jumping in, she turned over her shoulder to see the boys behind her, weapons ready at the moment's notice. They were her best friends and she knew they would protect her. Taking one more breath in, she crouched down and jumped into the pit. Tucker soon followed suit.

Danny waited above as the watch guard for now, but his face told a different story. He wanted to be next to his friends, able to protect them with whatever powers he had. He didn't like seeing them out of his sight, but that was the overprotective side of him taking over.

Down in the pit, Sam took out her Fenton Flash of Light. It was the size of a regular flashlight, but with two different buttons: one for normal light, and another light with a green-ish tint that blinded and paralyzed any ghost unlucky enough to step into its path. Danny was above so as not to be affected by the greener light.

Sam flashed the green light and used it to search over the newly dug cave walls. Nothing squealed, but a few insects could be seen scurrying away from the light. Deciding nothing ghost-related was about to attack them anytime soon, Sam turned off the green half of the light and switched it to normal light. She nodded to Tucker behind her to signal Danny was free to drop in now.

"Danny!" Tucker called. "The cave is clear and ghost free!" He had placed the bazooka on the ground so both hands could be used to create a makeshift megaphone around his mouth.

Danny heard the scream and lunged into the pit with a small grunt. By the time his feet reached the dirt floor he was already in ghost mode, complete with the black and white jumpsuit, white hair, and eyes as bright as a city sign. He now took the lead over his friends. A slight green ghostly glow came from his left hand for light in addition for Sam's flashlight.

They began their journey through the tunnel, not knowing where it would take them.

After ten minutes of traveling in silence, Tucker decided that this was not making any progress from where they were at the top of the pit.

"So…" Tucker said uncomfortably. Apparently he was the only one not on full alert. Both Danny and Sam in front of him stopped dead in their tracks and turned around, as if expecting danger. Danny's hand used for lighting glowed a little brighter. At the moment it looked a bit more menacing than Tucker expected. The boy in back raised his hands to show he meant no harm. Sam let out an exasperated sigh. They started walking again like before.

Tucker tried again, "Did you hear of the joke of the three girls and a bathroom mirror?"

Sam turned around again, but continued walking. "Not now, Tucker," she spoke through clenched teeth. The fire in her eyes were ready to kill on contact. "Be serious, Tuck."

"Sam, there's nothing to be serious about," Tucker explained, his voice raising a bit. "We've been down here for over ten minutes now, and all we have come across is more dirt that I have ever wanted to get to know." His hands flew in the air to show Sam where exactly they were…as if she forgot.

Danny stopped walking and turned around to face his friends. "Tucker's right," Danny said. "I don't think we're facing anything tonight. It's too far ahead of us." He faced Tucker and said, "Do you know of any way to judge when the tunnel ends?"

Tucker whipped out his PDA. A few buttons were pushed, then he glanced up to look at Danny. "Shoot," he commanded Danny.

Danny didn't understand the request, and a confused look showed up on his face. "What?" he asked.

"Shoot," Tucker repeated. The look on Danny's face showed he still had no idea what the request really meant. "Shoot a small ectoblast down the tunnel. I tuned my PDA into your average speed to find distance. Simple algebraic equation," Tucker explained.

Danny shrugged, "I'm not the math man here. Let's have a go at it." He took the hand that was not giving off light and pointed his index finger down the tunnel. A small ectoblast came out of the finger and could be seen traveling down the tunnel.

The friends waited where they stood. Tucker stared intensely at his screen. A small shock rippled through the ground and made the dirt around them vibrate. Loose dirt from the ceiling fell onto the heads of Team Phantom.

"It found the end," Tucker told the others. "Judging by the length, the wall is directly under the school." He looked up to see the faces of his comrades.

First shock was displayed on Danny's face, but was replaced by a more common face for Danny Phantom: determination.

"We know where Aftershock is going to hit," Danny said. He grabbed the wrists of the other two. Danny crouched down, turned intangible, and flew them above to normal ground. He let go of them and looked into the sky. "Now we just have to figure out when."

hope you continue to like it. i also hope my writing has gotten better bc im not officially through my 1st grading period of ap english. (b+ by the way...thats a 4.33 on a 5.0 scale) im so happy about that. anyways...reviews would be nice!