A/N: Well, I think y'all have waited long enough to see what's happening to Danny and Valerie while they're inside the Ghost Zone! In fact, looks like I made you wait an extra day! Sorry…did that quick 'out-of-town-but-now-am-back' thing. In any case, I hope you'll think it was worth the wait; 'cause, as you'll soon see, it's going to be a wild ride for the two of them while they're there. And don't be shy and throw your delicious thoughts my way any time. So, without further blather, here is Chapter 24. Enjoy!
TrueHeart—Chapter 24—Inside the Ghost Zone
"Where am I?" Valerie said, scanning the strange area. It did look a little familiar, like the last time she was in here, but she was sure it was not the same area. She pushed a button on her wrist and an instrument dutifully popped up. She gasped on how wildly the dials were moving as they frantically picked up all kinds of ghostly readings. But their conclusions were not clear at all.
She swallowed hard. She had never used her instruments in the Ghost Zone before, and now that she was looking at them, she wished she hadn't. She wondered if the readings were even right. She had never realized in that relatively short time she was in here before that there could be so many ghosts in once place at one time ever. One thing she was sure of, though; she was definitely not in Kansas anymore.
But if her devices were even partially right, she was absolutely certain she wouldn't be able to fight all those ghosts at once. She had to get out of here—if she could.
Caution was her best ally right now. She stepped on a button under her boot and her hover-board slowly inched forward. Not that she really had a choice about it. Her board was still damaged from her fight with Bertrand and from the explosion caused by her own weapons.
Moving her head in all directions as she floated slowly onward, she thought, "This looks like the same place I was somehow thrown into when I went after Phantom a couple of weeks ago. But, of course, I got out as fast as I could through those….portals! Portals! That's how I got in and out the last time and how I got in this time! How did that happen?"
But she knew she didn't have the time to think about it. She had to get back into the Real World—and the sooner, the better. Not really sure exactly how she was going to do that, she scanned the green, purple and black atmosphere. As her hover-board continued to putt forward, she looked in awe at all of those floating doors and shelves that heavily littered the Ghost Zone. It was a remarkable place, even if she didn't want to admit that it intimidated her as well.
She had gone just a little further on when she suddenly jolted to a stop, her gaze locking on a large green boulder sitting upon a purple shelf just ahead. Her eyes scrunched, trying to make some sense as to what they were perceiving. What was that black thing laying there in the shadows? It was barely visible, even with her enhanced vision.
She checked her instruments, pushing buttons as she did. She startled at the results. They were even more awry. Unsatisfied, she pushed a few more buttons to recheck the readings. At first, there was nothing more unusual than all the crazy readings she had been getting. But then, there was an odd and rather large spike in that confusing data. A very familiar spike. However, she frowned immediately afterward, when that rise in spectral energy level began to wane. Still, she had seen that measure of ghostly energy before. And that could mean only one thing…
"It can't be!" she then unconsciously muttered under her breath in disbelief. "But I'll have to make certain since my instruments are going all wonky!"
She stepped on the accelerator and her hover-board inched ahead, not changing in speed at all. Still, she kept her eyes glued to the black-and—now she could see—white entity that remained motionless at the base of the boulder. Finally, she was within clear visual range and she gasped. "It is Phantom!" she growled angrily under her breath as the black-and-white blur took on that familiar shape. "Darn it! He may have escaped me the last time—again! But it looks like he's right where I want him. You're number is finally up, punk!"
Her hover-board continued to chug slowly forward and a large, cannon-like weapon sprang out from her suit. She looked into its sites and only then did she realize how excited she was because her shaking arm was not holding the gun as steady as she usually did.
"What gives?" she asked herself, looking inscrutably at her quivering arm and lowering her weapon. She growled, irritated with her hesitation this time. "He's just one more ghost and a mighty big pain in my side. I can't even believe how he's managed to get out of every one of my attempts to be rid of him! And now, he can't do a thing about it! He's all mine!"
She quickly shook off that pesky little reaction away and gritted her teeth in more determination. "Can't lose my concentration! He certainly would do the same to me if he found me in the same boat!" she growled, bringing the weapon's site back up to her right eye. "'Same boat'?" she unconsciously repeated, suddenly thinking about Tucker, and lowering her weapon once more. That's what he said to her when she was thinking about canceling her party…that they were in the 'same boat' of being bummed about Sam's kissing Armen and her almost kissing Phantom. And then being upset about Danny and Sam's being upset with each other.
She frowned in sorrow as her thoughts of Tucker suddenly flooded her mind. But she pushed them desperately away. She wouldn't let herself be distracted by them. She couldn't. She hated that Ghost Boy, and she didn't want to miss this opportunity now that she believed him to be still unconscious. He was too close to her right now, and just as close to being obliterated by her. She shook her head in another effort to drive out Tucker's distressed look over discovering that she was the Red Huntress just before she lifted her gun up once more. . But, suddenly, something happened with that attempt. She was aware of a creeping little inner voice coming from within as it whispered, "Still, it seems unfair to have him go down without a fight."
"Enough of this!" she hissed as she concentrated on her aim. "As if he would give me a fighting chance or as if he put up any sort of fight worthy of fairness before!" But she then gasped at what she spied in her sites.
A blue haze was all of the sudden appearing and surrounding the Ghost Boy!
"It's a trap!" she uttered in shock and began to squeeze the trigger. However, before she could fire, her ghost alarm went off. She ignored it, thinking that it was just acting up from being in here or maybe confirming the fact that Phantom was now in the range of her weapon. But then suddenly, two sets of strong and aggressive ghostly arms grabbed both of her arms from behind, and her weapon was jerked upward as it fired prematurely in that same upward direction. Her two attackers hadn't even looked at where she had been aiming as they tightened their hold.
She accidentally dropped her weapon as she struggled to free herself from her attackers. Still, they were able to pull her off her hover-board and began to whisk her away. She screamed in defiance as she fought them.
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Danny was suddenly aware that he was surrounded by total darkness. He groaned and the blackness slowly ebbed into greenness, purpleness and blackness when he opened his eyes. And just as Valerie had been able to register his energy reading, his blurry vision began to clear at the same rate as his memory. And he realized he was in the Ghost Zone.
The electrical pain jolting through his side sped up the rate of his lucidity, and he reflexively touched it and winced. Obviously, he hadn't fully recovered from Valerie's attack. He could feel the warm ectoplasm as it continued to ooze from the large wound. He suddenly felt weaker, as if he might drift out of consciousness again. He groaned again at the pressure in his breathing, and he knew he wouldn't really need to have any heavy bricks on his chest to know how it felt.
But he made himself concentrate and a blue haze suddenly enveloped him. He struggled to keep it up, feeling the black curtain insist on falling upon his eyes again as he did. Finally, the searing pain began to melt away and his breathing eased. His head began to clear and he relaxed a little as he felt his strength slowly return.
But before he could finish, he suddenly heard a frantic, yet angry, cry nearby. He instantly recognized it. Valerie!
"What's she doing here? She's going to be in a lot of danger if she stays here!" was his next thought. But then, he shot up to an alert sitting position, his next immediate thought unexpectedly coming into sharp focus.
Ignoring the twinge of pain he still had in his side, he thought, "Then again, if she's here, she just must be still after me! Did she just find me? Then why did she yell? Better move then!"
He jumped up in alarm at that thought, but just as sudden, stifled the groan that had eked out from the pain that shot through his side when he had moved too quickly. He hurriedly scanned the ghostly horizon toward the direction from which he thought the scream had come, and caught a glimpse of…Valerie's hover-board! But she was no where near it. He then finally saw her dilemma. She certainly wasn't after him—at least not now. Instead, she was tangling with a couple of tough-looking ghosts!
The boy immediately thrust himself upward and soared after the group. However, with his violent movement, an even more intense jolt pierced his side; and this time, he was unable to stop his painful, loud groan. With that, he was suddenly aware, as well as a little surprised, and very chagrinned that he was moving a lot slower than he should—and wanted to—be.
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"Let me go!" the Red Huntress heatedly demanded, straining to reach the controls to her weapons. But she couldn't reach them because each of her foes had pulled her arms completely apart and forcefully kept them pinned to her sides as they flew onward.
She struggled harder, trying to pull back and slow their pace. But the ghosts obviously noticed her ploy because they responded by tightening their grip on her and speeding up.
Meanwhile, Danny grunted when the gap between him and his targets seemed to rapidly widen. He tried to concentrate and summon his supersonic speed, but he instantly felt an indubitable bout of pain and dizziness just when he did. Instead of trying again, he slowed to a stop. It was then that he noticed that his breathing was still labored and his side still throbbed.
He hurried examined his side. He could see through the tear in his costume that was still there from Valerie's assault that his wound was healed. But he still had a fairly large, almost blacken, bruise in its stead. He did not know that he had not only suffered that nasty gash, but that the injury also included a couple of broken ribs—which had not yet been given enough time to heal.
"Man, what's wrong?" the boy groaned through his painful pants. But he was just as irritated at himself as he was in pain. "I thought my healing power had done the job!" He grunted again, "Duh, obviously not, Fenton! Should've given it more time! But I don't have the time!" He suddenly winced in pain before sighing, "I guess I'll just have to take the time! I—and even Valerie—will depend on it!"
In the next instant, he concentrated and the bright blue aura enveloped him once again. Though he knew that with each passing second, the chances of rescuing Valerie from her attackers moved farther away, he also knew he had no other choice at the moment. He was no good to helping her if he were as helpless as she was right now. So, he willed his power to continue even longer than he wanted to wait.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Danny extinguished the aura. He was sure he felt recovered enough now. He examined his side. The bruise was gone and his breathing was significantly easier. Feeling a sudden rush this time, he knew he had fully recovered at this attempt, and he was right. He no longer had the gash, the bruise or the broken ribs!
Now satisfied that he could finally get on with the task of finding Valerie—well, if he even could at this point—he scanned his surroundings. It took only one quick look at the nearby floating green shelf with the equally green boulder on top of it to know where he was. He would recognize that red, oozing scrawl upon the boulder anywhere!
Rolling his eyes in irritation, the teen uttered, "Not them!"
He had tangled with many ghosts to be sure: some well-known, others not at all; some powerful, others, not so much. But this particular group of ghosts or more specifically, this particular ghost gang, was one he would not forget. Their paths, like many others, had crossed here quite a while ago. They called themselves the Wraiths, and their leader went by the name of Razilo (1).
His encounter with them had been a long and…. interesting one… It was enough to say he did not feel like mentally diving into the details at the moment. But just knowing he was dealing with this ghost gang again made the teen frown with worry.
If Valerie was in their clutches, no telling what they would do to her. He groaned at the possibilities before muttering, "Geez, and the gangs in the Real World think they're tough? They have no idea! Still, it's good to know that I know where their lair is and that it's more than likely that they will be taking her to see Razilo.
He started to soar in the direction that he knew the ghost gang's lair would be. As he flew onward, he tried to come up with a quick plan. "I hope that there's still time. And I hope that Valerie will stall for that time by weighing her words carefully." Then thinking how acrid her words usually were when it came to confronting any ghost, he moaned, "Or not."
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In the meantime, Valerie still struggled with her captives, but they, in turn, grew as determined as she to get to their designation. They hadn't said a word to her in all the time that they held her, even though she gave them a very big piece of her mind.
Finally, the threesome arrived at the Wraiths' lair, and Valerie had to stifle her gasp when she saw a few dozen even meaner-looking ghosts hovering in the near distance. They were all gathered in a semi-circle around a lone ghost sitting on a floating black platform.
Upon that platform and behind the lone ghost stood what looked like a large black marker. But when Valerie got a better view of it, she could see that it was more like a tombstone. It seemed like a rather plain tombstone except for some large, shiny red blob on it. But as she drew even nearer than she wanted to be at this point, she could see that it was no longer a blob. It was some kind of writing. But the strokes were spidery and shiny. But they had looked shiny because they still looked wet, like the words had been written in fresh human blood. Even as she looked at the scrawl, the red 'ink' continued to slowly ooze down the tombstone. But the words upon it never smeared. Was that even possible? Suddenly, Valerie didn't want to know.
Her two unplanned escorts didn't stop until they had practically bumped into that platform. Valerie forced herself to keep her head and body erect against the firm hold of her guards as she looked up at what she had quickly concluded must be the leader. She didn't want him or any of the other ghosts surrounding her to see how terrified she had now become. But secretly, she was also glad she still had her helmet on, which shielded her anxious face.
As she studied the very powerful-looking ghost now silently glancing down at her, it was obvious that he was not a blob of a ghost like some of the others here—including the two ghosts who had captured her. He definitely seemed to be a human ghost for the most part. He had a black kerchief pulled tightly over his head; and the only evidence of any hair being upon his skull was the makeshift ebony pony tail that jutted from behind the tight knot that secured the kerchief. The only other hair that Valerie could see was the scraggly short beard that jutted out like spikes from his chin.
Razilo had gold rings in both of his ears and a red spike through one of his thick dark eyebrows that loomed over his eyes. His eyes…they looked the least human. Though he had pupils, they were as red flares that pulsated in various degrees of intensity. And they rested within deep pockets of his lean, yet craggy, blue-tone face that, Valerie was sure, had seen its share of violent fights.
The rest of the Wraiths' leader was dressed in black leather. His jacket was loose and open, revealing a sleeveless black undershirt with the same red words emblazoned upon it at his chest. A thick leather belt embedded with silver spikes jumping within the hoops of the interconnecting silver chain separated jacket and pants. And on his feet he had sturdy black boots.
The petrifying suspense only mounted when the leader still wasn't saying anything. In fact, he looked a little bored over the whole thing. Valerie calmed a little with that and darted her eyes to her sides, trying to see just how many ghosts were here. She finally noticed what she hadn't before. Each of the ghosts she was able to see without seeming obvious had those same crimson words tattooed upon their upper right arm.
But her eyes quickly darted back to the front at the sound of leather moving. She looked back up at the leader just as he was removing his jacket and throwing it to the side, as if he were readying himself for a fight. Valerie swallowed hard when she saw his strong blue arms tense under the wide leather wrist bands similarly adorned as his belt. Then she finally saw the red tattoo that matched the one on the tombstone, the other ghosts, and the leader's shirt. Just like all these places upon which it had been imprinted, the tattoo vibrantly oozed down his right upper arm. And then at long last, she tried to read those words. As she did, the clarity of those scarlet words finally sunk the reality in her mind: Wraith Brotherhood. She had stumbled upon a ghost gang!
Again, she steeled herself. She couldn't let them think she was afraid, even though right now she was ten times that. She struggled to make her mind focus on what she was going to say, when her thoughts were interrupted by a gravelly, deep voice.
"So, what have we here?" Razilo slowly said, sounding as bored as he had looked. "Seems like we've encountered this creature before—just not on our turf."
His remark was answered by a few snickers but those quickly hushed when Razilo's eyes flared.
"D-Do I know you?" Valerie managed to say, but bit her lip when she realized she had stammered her response. She was sure she would have remembered him.
Razilo floated down so that he was now face-to-face with the Red Huntress. He answered her, but his lips hardly moved away from the slight snarl on them, "In a word, no, but you have met my brothers many times in the Real World. I am sure they still have the scars from your inhospitable welcome."
A few of the other ghosts shifted and mumbled in anger; but Valerie, who was in front of them and still closest to Razilo, had only heard their angry murmurs. She again swallowed hard, but still pressed on, "They had no business being there…."
"As you do here?" he snapped back, rudely interrupting her.
She tried to ignore it when fire spit outward a little from his eyes when he said that. Still, she also didn't want to admit that he had a point. "It's not my fault that I'm here," she countered firmly. "I fell into a portal, otherwise, I wouldn't have ever wanted to come here!"
"So, you have disdain for us in either world?" Razilo challenged. He briefly glanced at one of the gang members holding the girl. Then he quickly returned his gaze to her. But he didn't give her a chance to answer. He tersely added, "Obviously so, since you continue to show your inhospitable manners with the masking of your face!"
Before Valerie could object, the ghost to her left had yanked off her helmet.
She couldn't stifle her gasp at that unexpected action. But what confused her most was that all the other ghosts around her—except Razilo—had also gasped in surprise.
"Well, well, well, if this isn't a little delicious twist to it all," he remarked to Valerie before turning his eyes totally upon her. He suddenly laughed in amusement at the sudden obviousness of it before turning to his gang and saying, "Can you imagine, my brothers, that we have been getting beaten by not only a human warrior, but a human girl warrior?"
He gave her another quick look over, ignoring the uncomfortable blush on Valerie's face as he added, "And a beautiful one at that? But his tone suddenly turned darker at his next words. "Quite impressive, but unwise on her part, for sure. Unwise, because for one so beautiful and fierce, she's not very smart for a hunter. She should have seen and not ignored our warning signs. She should have known that the Wraiths don't let anything —ghost or otherwise— come into, or even pass through, our territory unless they bear the mark of the brotherhood."
Unexpectedly, however, the Wraiths muttered in disagreement before quieting once more upon the signal of Razilo's flashing eyes.
He angrily answered them at once, "That one does not count!"
They immediately hushed to dead silence again.
Valerie looked at him in confusion. What did he mean by that? But he interrupted her musings once more.
"And we all can see here that she neither has the mark or, should I say, the obvious requirements. Then, shall we return the inhospitable welcome to her?"
Just as he said that, Razilo produced the thing that had earned him his nickname. His right hand suddenly morphed into a long, wicked-looking, thin blazing blade the color of his blue skin. Its flame suddenly increased in intensity just before he brandished it very closely to Valerie's face.
Valerie's eyes widen only a moment when she felt the heat of the razor sharp knife; but then, she mustered her grit and hissed, "So, then, seeing that you're willing to hurt me when I can't defend myself right now, all I can say is that each of you then deserved everything I've done to your 'brotherhood' in the Real World!"
Razilo, though angered by her words, was just as impressed by them. She was totally within his power, but still was able to defy him. He liked that as much as he liked how beautiful she was. He smiled as he suddenly brought up his other hand to her cheek and softly stroked it.
She reflexively recoiled from that but he continued to smile as he said, "Maybe I can persuade you to be hospitable before I send you back to your kind."
His words only angered the girl more. Pulling against her guards, she firmly replied, "You think that just because I got here by accident and then brought to you by force that I would want to stay here by falling for your fake charm? You're just as slimy as any other ghost, then! Just let me show you how hospitable I'd really be if I had my weapons!"
"Watch your tongue, human!" Razilo suddenly seethed, his eyes and bladed hand flaring with his anger. "I would not press your luck if I were you."
"As if by your own admission that you'd ever given anyone a chance in the past!" she bravely countered. "Sounds like to me that you all are just a bunch of rotten punks, using their scare tactics to intimidate anyone in your clutches! That's so like all the ghost cowards I know!"
Suddenly, one of those ghosts in particular came to her mind and she sarcastically added, "Besides, what you say isn't true about not letting any ghost or anything else into your territory! I'll have you know that another coward of a ghost that doesn't have your 'required mark' has also invaded your turf, and is still in it! And I know where he is. I would think he's caused just about as much trouble with you as he has with me. You should think that he was just as unwanted—or more."
….'Coward of a ghost'….the words echoed in Razilo's mind. He wondered what this human was up to. Was she bluffing? And just what was she talking about? This might be another trespasser. Or it might be the one ghost that had invaded their turf in the past—and had survived. He, too, had accidentally stumbled into their domain. And he, too, had ignored their warning signs—the red stains of the Wraith Brotherhood that outlined their territory.
Now that he thought about that ghost, Razilo was still amazed that it took a dozen of his strongest gang members to capture him and bring him to the lair that time. Of course, it was really luck that they had, since they probably wouldn't have been able to do that if a stray Wraith ray had not plowed him into a boulder. That impact had been enough to stun him before they could actually lay their hands on him. And once they did get a hold of him, it took several blows to subdue him. But it didn't matter how they had captured him. All that matter was that they regretted that they did.
The Wraiths had found out the hard way that that ghost—whose name they'd never forget—wasn't even trying to fight them when they had encountered him in the first place. Razilo had found out much later from those dozen Wraiths that had first challenged him at their border that that ghost, that Phantom, had actually tried to talk them out of getting hostile. But, of course, the Wraiths had taken his own subtle warning as a sign of cowardice. And they couldn't have been more wrong.
Even the Wraith leader had been fooled by the ghost at first. Danny Phantom was just a kid compared to him. He was just a bit shorter, definitely leaner, and, of course, a lot younger. He was no threat. But as Razilo was quick to find out, his blue blade was no match for the young hybrid. When the gang leader had tried to intimidate the boy with the majesty and strength of his morphed razor, Phantom had merely answered it with ten of his own green ones—his wulf claws. Before the Wraith leader knew it, his blade was sheared to his wrist, all of his gang were either frozen, or blown away by the kid's powerful wail, and then all ten of Danny's claws were back at the leader's throat!
Danny Phantom had definitely won the day then. But then, he had also won the eternal respect of all the Wraiths when the young teen hadn't done more than subdue them in turn and warn them to give other wayward ghosts a break. And even though Danny had not known about it, from that day on, he was given a silent free pass throughout their territory. He had not even seen any Wraith in his path after that. They hadn't dared….
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Valerie repeated, pulling Razilo out of his thoughts. "Danny Phantom's in your territory!"
"So what?" Razilo finally answered, bringing his flaming blade close to Valerie's right upper arm. "I'd be worried more about yourself right now," he added as his razor lightly touched her arm.
The burning sting of his knife shot throughout the girl. She gritted her teeth, determined not to let him see how much it hurt. Instead, she jeered, "Cowards are all alike! I think that the Phantom punk would make a good member of this lame gang of yours after all!"
"That's enough of that! Now it's time for you to find out what we do with all our 'unwanteds' around here, girl!" he spat back as he raised his blade upward.
Suddenly, a powerful green ectoplasmic energy ray precisely blasted the blade, leaving a smoldering black heap of ash instead. Razilo gasped and looked up. But before he could react, another equally as powerful green ectoplasmic energy ray hit one of the ghosts holding Valerie dead-on without even flinching her. That ghost was wrenched away from the Red Huntress by the force of the blow, and her right arm was now free. Without hesitation, she pressed the buttons she had been seeking and a small weapon popped up. She immediately blasted the remaining ghost holding her to smithereens.
She was left floating in the air, yet free. But she did not expect to see what happened next, and she could only stare in disbelief as another large green beam hit Razilo squarely in his torso, jettisoning him violently away from the rest of the group.
That was all that the other gang members needed to make themselves scarce. In no time, the ghost gang had become as invisible as their name of their gang had implied.
Before Valerie knew it, she was all alone—and safe for the time being. She turned toward the direction where the green blast had come, wondering who her rescuer was and why only three blasts were needed to scare the afterlife out of this obviously tough gang. She had not known what the gang knew, and that was that they knew their attacker—and knew well enough not to mess with him or with her for that matter right now. But when she finally spied who it might be, all she could see was a black-and-white blur flying rapidly away from her.
She blinked her eyes in disbelief before narrowing them in hatred. She checked her instruments, but their still-crazy readings could not confirm what she suspected. Still, they did hint of an unusual—and that familiar—spike of ectoplasmic energy. Then, she wondered why….
But her thoughts were interrupted when her hover-board suddenly—and quickly—came into her view. "How did that get here?" she mumbled, still watching it. "And how did it get fixed?" However as she tracked its movements, the board started to slow on its own and then, stopped about a hundred feet from her. Again confused by this, she pushed a button and the hover-board resumed its approach to her—at a very slow putter as it did before she was yanked off of it.
She hopped on the board and scanned the area again. She thought she might as well give it up when she studied the readings. All these extra ghostly artifacts she was picking up on were just scrambling all her instruments, making it very difficult for her to figure them out. She was about to turn her scanning devices off when she noticed a rather large spike in the readings once more.
"How can that pick up that single ghost when I'm picking up bakoodles of energy signatures? How is that possible?" she asked herself before doing a double take on that spike in her readings. It seemed to be that very familiar spike again; but, like a moment ago, she couldn't be certain. However, before she could ponder any more about it, she startled when a portal suddenly opened not more than a couple of feet from her. But, it was jagged around its edges, as if it were an actual tear in the fabric of the dimension.
She hadn't even thought of moving toward it yet when she felt an unseen force push her and her hover-board toward the portal. Sensing now that this might be the very familiar ghost—Phantom—she growled under her breath as she entered the portal, "Maybe later, then, Ghost…."
"You're welcome!" the comment from nowhere interrupted her just after she had passed the entrance of the rapidly shrinking portal.
The Red Huntress turned around, wanting to say something, when she heard a strange sound come from the other side of the portal. She cocked her ear but the sound was choked off by the now completely shut portal. As the portal disappeared, Valerie could swear that the sound she heard was a …..cell phone?
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Sam and Tucker had been searching for Danny for over an hour. It was very late and they stopped to rest a moment.
"Can you try to reach him by phone again, Tucker?" Sam asked, "I'm going to try to reach him my way, again, and maybe between the two of us, we might contact him."
Her friend nodded and immediately began to dial Danny's number, while Sam closed her eyes and concentrated.
Just as Danny had pushed Valerie safely out of the Ghost Zone, his cell phone rang. He reached in his pocket and got it. Just as he answered it, he also heard Sam's call.
"Danny?"
"Sam?" he said to his phone.
"No, dude, it's me, Tucker!" the relieved male voice on the end of the line said.
"Sorry, I thought you were Sam!"
"Well, she was sorta 'calling' you at the same time, you know, your way, and looks like we both succeeded!" Tucker answered his friend with a relieved smile.
"Looks like," Sam mentally said to her boyfriend, just as relieved as Tucker.
Danny was about to say something to her when Tucker interrupted him, "Where are you anyway, dude, and what happened?"
"In the Ghost Zone. And where have you been, dude?" Danny questioned him. "I've been looking for you for hours!"
His beret-wearing friend replied, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry I got you and Sam so worried…So, why are you in the Ghost Zone?"
But Danny didn't want to tell him the real reason. Instead, he said, "Uhm, I'll tell you later when I get back, OK?"
"All right. But while you're there, could you go look for Valerie? She's there, too! By accident-kinda, but not kinda. But we don't have time for all that right now. Can you go look for her?"
Danny said, "Well, I kinda already found that out about her, Tuck. But she's safe. I got her back into the Real World just a minute ago."
Tucker sighed in relief before saying, "Thanks, man! I feel so much better now! Meet you back at your place?"
"Sure, see ya soon," his friend said, before hanging up his phone. "And I'll see you there, too, Sam?" He mentally asked his girl. After all, he was aware that she had been mentally listening in the whole time.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Uhm, sorry!... But you didn't object and…You know that I did that because…Uhm, see you there!" she haltingly said with embarrassment.
Danny laughed and then double-checked his injured side. It was fully healed and he felt normal again. With a tired sigh, he quickly prepared to get back to his home.
A/N: 1. The Wraiths' leader's name is Esperanto for 'razor'. And, BTW, the little story of the Wraith Brotherhood is my OWN invention. But did the story beg me to tell you about it this time? Oh, no! It actually intimidated me to do so—Razilo's blade can be very persuasive, you know! Anyhow, hope you enjoyed it and hope to hear from y'all soon! truephan