Chapter 2: The Search Begins
Alright guys, Chapter 2. Glad to see you guys are enjoying it so far. Now to address my reviewers requests to kill Skulker. I have thought of a method of killing Skulker but I am not 100% sure if you the readers would like it or understand it. For those reviewers that would like to know my idea, please leave a review and I will be sure to private message you my ending. If you like it, awesome. If not, I would appreciate your input on what you think would be a satisfying end the ghostly hunter. I do not own Danny Phantom. R&R and Enjoy.
It seemed like the fall would never end. Although Danny and Ember were used to the feeling of the wind rushing past them while flying, now they were terrified because they couldn't control their decent. As they continued to fall, Danny slowly floated towards Ember and held her in a tight embrace. Tucker was screaming at the top of his lungs, praying that he and his technology would come out of this unharmed. While Sam was scared that she might die, she couldn't help but be a little jealous as she watched Danny and Ember holding each other.
After what seemed like an eternity but in actuality was only a few minutes, they finally crashed into a lake. Immediately, the four swam to the surface and made their way to the nearest bank.
Danny collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. Ember coughed up a mouthful of water and fell onto of Danny's chest. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and looked her over before cracking a small smile.
"Not even a lake full of water can put out my beautiful flame." Danny said before bringing her in for a kiss. At that moment, Sam had just made it to shore and witnessed the couple sharing the kiss.
"Seriously? Do they have to make out after every life and death situation?" she grumbled.
"Wouldn't you if you both survived a situation where you should have died?" Tucker countered, having just reached the bank.
Sam simply threw him a dirty look before trudging up to higher and dryer ground. Sighing, Tucker put his hands in his pockets and brought out his PDA and his cell phone. After several attempts to turn the devices on, he sadly concluded that his precious tech was ruined.
"No!" Tucker wailed in despair, bringing Danny and Ember back to their current situation. "My babies are dead!"
Shaking her head, Ember climbed off Danny and walked over to Tucker.
"Come on, Brainiac, you can always buy new gadgets. Right now we have to search for our babies." Ember said, lending him a helpful hand.
"Couldn't you just make some new babies as you so graphically displayed in that video of yours?" Sam said.
Ember turned and glared at Sam. Normally, Sam was pleasant and tolerable to her and Danny. Occasionally she would make some rude comment about the two being together but Ember was always able to brush it off. Today, Ember was no longer in a forgiving mood now that the lives of her and Danny's babies were on the line. Flipping Sam the bird, she pulled Tucker to his feet before walking back to Danny.
"So what's the plan, baby-pop?" she asked, wrapping an arm around his waist.
Looking around, Danny noticed an orange flag attached to a nearby tree. Walking closer, he saw the entrance to a pathway leading into the jungle.
"Skulker did say he would mark a path for us. Looks like this is the way to go." Danny said before starting down the path, closely followed by Ember, with Sam and Tucker bringing up the rear.
"How long do you think our powers will be shorted out?" Ember asked Danny.
"I don't know." he replied. "Guess it depends on if this is the same one Vlad used on me or a more powerful version."
"Couldn't we just wait until our powers return and then save the twins?"
"Too risky since we don't know how long our powers will be out of commission and Skulker may harm them if we don't play his game."
Looking at her, Danny could see the concern in her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it. We will find them and rescue them. Then we can figure out a proper punishment for that bucket of bolts."
While the lovebirds were chatting up front, Sam and Tucker were having their own little discussion.
"Why the Hell would you say something like that to Ember? You know she and Danny are worried sick about the twins." Tucker said in a disapproving tone.
"I'm just tired of seeing Ember being with Danny instead of me." Sam said.
"Ok. One, your were being extremely overprotective and jealous when you and Danny dated. Two, they already have two kids and are married. Wouldn't you expect them to spend a lot of time together? And three, we still get to hang out with Danny."
Sam didn't reply, understanding the points he had made but not wanting to admit it.
"Have you tried talking to Ember about this? I'm sure..."
"No, I haven't talked to Ember about my feelings for Danny." Sam said, cutting off Tucker. "It's not like it would change things between us. Hell, she might not want to hang out with me anymore if I tried to talk to her about it."
"Whatever Sam." Tucker said in a defeated tone. "One of these days you will have to work things out with her."
"Hopefully not today." Sam muttered quietly.
***2 Hours Later***
The four were exhausted from their trek through the jungle. While the pathway made it easier to walk through, it did nothing the suppress the sweltering heat. Even Ember was drenched in sweat. Finally, the path opened up to a small clearing. Someone had apparently set up camp here judging by the tents and fire pit. Closer inspection showed that the camp had been abandoned recently.
"Well, now is good a time as any to get some supplies." Danny said.
Searching through the tents yielded several MREs, several canteens filled with water, and some sleeping bags.
"I don't get it." Tucker said. "This camp is full of fresh supplies. Why would the people that set this up abandon it?"
"Maybe they didn't leave willingly." Danny said, noticing drag marks on the ground. "Maybe something, or someone, got to them first."
The group followed Danny as he walked towards a patch of bushes where the drag marks ended. Pushing aside the leaves, the four were greeted by a horrific site. Hanging from the trees by their ankles, were the remains of four humans. Their skin had been completely removed, revealing their muscles and internal organs. Ember turned away from the grisly sight and buried her face into Danny's shoulder. Tucker fainted from the sight while Sam simply looked on in shock.
Danny knelt down and picked something out of the pool of blood underneath the corpses.
"Green Berets." Danny said, showing everyone the dog tags he held.
"Skulker is one sick son of a bitch to do something like this." Ember said.
Suddenly, a malicious cackle of laughter echoed through the forest. Looking around, the four could not find the source but concluded that it could only be one person.
"He's playing with us." Sam said.
"No shit. You think." Tucker said, waking up.
"Should we cut them down?" Ember asked Danny.
Danny sighed. "As much as I don't want to leave them hanging here and bring them back to the human realm for a proper burial, we need to keep going and make sure that our kids don't suffer the same fate. The problems for these soldiers are over, ours have just begun"
After packing what they could, the four continued down the trail. Every bend in the path they came across, Danny and Ember hoped that their babies would be there, unharmed, on the other side. Each time they came around the bend and saw no sign of their children, they were disappointed to see only more of the path.
Since the Ghost Zone had no real night or day, they couldn't tell how much time had passed since Tucker's gear had been ruined after the dunk in the lake. After another few hour of walking. The group finally decided to take a quick rest before setting out to find the kids with fresh legs. Tucker and Sam had their own sleeping bags while Danny and Ember shared one. Sam managed to keep her mouth shut but was displeased nonetheless.
The jungle was unusually quiet. While it did make falling asleep easier, it did keep the group wary incase one of Skulker's beasts decided to sneak up on them. Nevertheless, the group finally managed to drift off to sleep.
***Several Hours Later***
As the group slept, Skulker crept towards the sleeping bag where Danny and Ember lay. Standing over them, he extended a set of blades from his wrists and rested them on the necks of the couple. The cold metal brought them out of their dreams and face to face with the ghostly hunter.
"I wouldn't move if I were you." he said with a malicious grin on his face. "Or you just might loose your heads."
"When we get our powers back, we're going to make what you did to those soldiers look like child's play." Ember hissed.
"I'm sure you'll try. But I'll make sure you won't. I want you to die just as you reach your brats. Victory will be in your grasp and I will be there to snatch it away." he said, standing up.
"You have 3 hours to go until my deadline. It will take you two hours down the path until you come to a fork. One path will lead to your boy while the other to your girl. Each path is about an hour long walk until you reach the brat, so you are going to have to split up to get them."
With that, Skulker vanished. Danny and Ember then scrambled to their feet, woke up Sam and Tucker, and relayed the information that Skulker had passed to them. Grabbing only what they needed, the group rushed down the path, hoping to reach the twins before time was up.
By the time they reached the fork that Skulker had mentioned, the four were exhausted but hopeful.
"So now what? Ember and Danny go one way while Tuck and I go another?" Sam panted.
"No." Danny said, trying to catch his breath. "We have no idea what surprises Skulker has in store for us. If our powers come back and Ember and I were together, you two would be completely defenseless. Tucker and I will go left while you and Ember go right. Then we will meet back here once we have the kids."
Tucker and Ember nodded while Sam held in a sigh of disappointment.
"See you soon, baby-pop." Ember said before giving Danny a kiss.
"You to, my beautiful flame." Danny said before rushing down the path with Tucker following close behind. Turning to Sam, Ember gave her a small smile.
"Ready to go, Sam?"
Sighing, Sam replied, "Ready as I'll ever be." before setting off down their own path.