She alternated the sights of her gun between Jazz and Tucker, who looked very startled at her sudden appearance. Maybe she had exaggerated a bit by almost kicking the door down, but she didn't care at that moment. Her fury escalated when she noticed Vlad hiding behind Jazz. Almost instinctively, she started to load her gun, which made a soft beep. A scream at the back of the house caught her attention and it was then that she saw a frightened Paulina, sitting on the steps of the stairs. A black blur moved with speed in front of Paulina and ran towards the room, where there were weapons on the floor.
- Stop right there Manson! Or I swear I'll shoot you!
Sam stopped and raised her hands in surrender.
- Valerie… calm down.
- Shut up! – She turned to face Vlad. - You! Come here!
- I rather not. – He said serious.
- Jazz, move aside. I'm gonna shoot him…
- No, you won't. – The redhead replied scared.
- Fine! I'll shoot you too!
When she was about to pull the trigger, she noticed the movement Tucker made to take a weapon. Automatically, she took a small pistol that hung from her waist and pointed it at Tucker.
- Drop it.
- I'm afraid I can't do that. - Tucker replied, tightening his grip on the weapon.
Valerie alternated her gaze between him, the goth and the redhead. Little by little her anger was rising more and more. She was wearing her outfit and they hadn't flinched, confirming that they all knew her identity. Paulina took advantage of the distraction to run to the kitchen and hide behind the kitchen bar. Star was right. The rumors were true. Valerie was the Red Huntress. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She had to do something before things got out of her hands.
- We have the numbers, Valerie... the prudent thing would be for you to calm down so that we can...
- I don't want to hear you, Manson! Now tell me where he is so I can deal with him!
- Val...
Like a flash, Valerie turned her head and saw Danielle leaning against a wall to her left. She looked bad, but she was about to get worse. She swung both weapons in the direction of the younger one.
- You… - Both weapons began to beep and Danielle was surprised by the action.
Sam jumped in front of the girl to hide her behind her and step by step, she got closer to Valerie.
- Put the gun down. – Sam said taking another step.
- Valerie… - Dani called her again.
- Don't talk to me! Now come here and get on the ground!
- I know you're upset...
- I said don't talk to me! – She shifted her gaze to Sam. - Where is he?
- I won't tell you anything unless you put the gun down. – Sam spoke slowly, measuring her words.
- Too bad.
- Valerie...
With difficulty, Danny called to her from the top of the stairs. He slowly sat up on a step, placing both hands on his knees as he suppressed a groan of pain as he straightened his back. Panicking, Tucker stepped into the path between the loaded barrel of Valerie's gun and Danny's.
- Foley, move. - She sentenced.
- Believe me when I say I want to, but I won't. - He said as he closed all shooting angles.
- I'm going to shoot in 3...
- Valerie, stop. – Jazz asked.
- 2…
- Tucker... - Sam called him worried, while the sound of the weapons intensified.
- I'm not moving. – The dark-haired man said nervously.
- 1…
- NOBODY IS GOING TO SHOOT IN MY HOUSE SO PUT THE GUN DOWN!
Valerie hesitated a bit at Paulina's sudden outburst. She watched her run out of the kitchen and near the stairs. She ignored her and returned her gaze to Danny.
- You asked me to come for revenge, remember? Well, this is what my revenge looks like.
- I didn't ask you to come. – She got a little closer to the brunette.
- We did. – Vlad confessed.
- What? – She turned her head towards the mayor. - Why...?
Paulina took advantage of the distraction and shot Valerie with the teaser she had kept in her pocket. The electrodes stuck to Valerie's suit and, although normally her suit would protect her from that, she wasn't wearing her mask and she was wet. Everyone was surprised by Paulina's action, especially when she lifted her leg and kicked the gun out of Valerie's hand.
The brunette fell to the ground as she writhed from the shock. Realizing what she had done, Paulina took three steps back and exhaled sharply. It was the first time she had used the teaser in the 5 years since she had received it.
- Damn… - Tucker whispered.
- Hurry up. - Sam exclaimed. – Tucker, get a chair. Jazz, help me with her.
As Sam put a hand on Valerie, her hand received the residual charge the suit still had. She shook her hand and moved a little away from her. Seeing what was happening, Vlad took off his jacket and placed it on top of the soaked girl. Jazz helped her lift Valerie. Tucker arrived with the chair and they both sat her down.
- Paulina, do you have any rope? - Jazz asked.
- What? – She asked puzzled. - What do you want a rope for?
- When she recovers, she will be very angry. And she's a black belt in…
- I just electrocuted her! – She interrupted Tucker somewhat upset. - Do you think she's going to be able to stand up to fight?
- You'd be surprised… - Sam whispered.
- So... tape? – Added Jazz.
- We're not going to tie her up. – Dani said walking towards them.
- Dani is right. – Danny said from the stairs. - We need her on our side.
Dan was sitting on the throne inside what was left of the castle of the ghost king. He had his eyes closed and, to the naked eye, he seemed to be calm. But inside of him, he was fighting a battle for dominance. The force with which he clenched his fists was evidence of this. From time to time, his face grimaced at the effort he was making to keep at bay Pariah's consciousness that threatened to take control of the body they now shared.
He had wanted to stay a little longer on the human plane to…have some fun. But when he was about to attack the helicopter that was flying over his head, he started to hear a voice in his head. And not only that, for a brief moment, he had lost control over his left hand. That was why he had made a tactical retreat: better to disappear as a terrible threat than to stay long enough for them to discover a weakness.
This situation was far from what he had faced when he assimilated Vlad's ghost side. That occasion had been very natural, almost symbiotic due to the affinity that existed between both parties at the time of the merger. Pariah was too strong and had only succeeded in subduing him by being unconscious. But since he had awakened, he would have to constantly fight with him for dominance. He managed to shut him up after a few minutes and opened his eyes.
He looked at the huge hole in the roof of the castle, courtesy of the previous fight between the 4 of them. He could rebuild it, but he didn't plan to stay there long. He raised his fist to the level of his face and peered at his ring. It hadn't been part of his original plan, he'd added complications to it, and most of all, it hadn't brought him one bit closer to his goal. "Stupid Clockwork". He thought with anger. If he hadn't fled like a coward before he was freed, he would have already eliminated him and kept the time staff. That would be all. As the owner of the most powerful weapon in existence and the new master of time, Dan would be able to unleash all his fury on life itself. And when he was done, he could do it over and over and over again. For the whole eternity.
He brought his hand to his head, specifically over the horn that he now had. He greatly disliked that addition to his appearance, as it gave his enemies an advantage. "At least the other one didn't come out." He thought.
He stood up and held out his hand in front, opening a portal to the human world. He had already encouraged Daniel, now he had to encourage his hunters.
Valerie began to blink and lifted her head to look straight ahead. When she opened her eyes, she had a hard time focusing on something, the only thing she could make out was a yellow spot in front of her. She could still feel a slight tingling running through her entire body, as well as a numbness in all her muscles. The yellow stain in front of her began to blur, so she rubbed her eyes with both hands to clear her vision. If her ears weren't lying, someone was calling her name. When she was able to focus on the object in front of her, she realized it was Tucker waving his hand in front of her face. She peered past the boy, noting that to his left was Sam and on the other side was Paulina. She growled as she remembered everything that had happened.
- Hello. – Tucker said nervously when he noticed that the girl was already responding.
Valerie ignored him and looked down at her hands again. She still had her outfit on, but what struck her was that she wasn't tied up in any way. Slowly, she straightened her legs and noted that they weren't tied either.
- Do not even think about it.
Val looked up at Sam, who gave her the warning.
- For kidnappers, you guys really suck at this.
- Wow! – Tucker said raising both hands. – No one kidnapped anyone! Paulina used self-defense to immobilize a threat inside her house.
Valerie ignored him again and looked at the Latina girl.
- And you…
- You're the Red Huntress. - It wasn't a question, but it wasn't a statement either.
The brunette raised an eyebrow at such absurd comment from her ex-friend. She snorted wryly.
- As brilliant as ever. And to think you want to educate children. – Paulina was angry at the comment. - So now you're part of their little group?
- Yes.
- No.
Sam and Paulina turned to see each other with a frown. Valerie smiled.
- Kind of… - Tucker chimed in. – Look, I know you have plenty reasons for not wanting to listen to us…
- You're damn right about that. – She said straightening up in the chair.
- But you'll have to. – He sentenced. – Because saying that the future of…
- I'm not interested. I just want… Hey! What do they do to my equipment?
Valerie watched as Vlad, Dani, and Jazz were disarming one of her weapons. She wanted to stand up, but Paulina prevented her.
- Hey! Sit down or I'll use this on you again. - She pointed at her again with the teaser.
- As I was saying… - Tucker resumed speaking. – Something really bad happened and that's why we're all in this together.
- Temporarily. – Sam clarified.
- Think about it. - Tucker spoke. - Why else would Dani work side by side with Vlad?
- I heard that. – The mayor complained.
- I don't care what that idiot does with the other idiot. – The girl spat furiously.
- Not "our" Danny, "your" Dani. – Sam clarified. - Didn't you work together?
- Did we? – She asked looking at the girl who didn't dare to look at her. – Because it could be just a ruse between the three of them to play me for a fool…
- That is not fair! – Dani demanded raising her face.
- But it was fair for me?
- Danny's secret was not mine to tell you... and you already knew his. – She said pointing to the man next to her.
- What? – Vlad exclaimed surprised.
- How do you expect me to trust you if you lied about everything?!
- I did not lie to you!
- That day in the Nasty Burger, you told me that you knew them because "Vlad was a friend of the Fentons".
- Unfortunately, that's not a lie. – Jazz said taking something out of the gun.
- So, she is your cousin? – She asked him.
Jazz stopped and froze at the question. Valerie surveyed the room, noting that everyone except Paulina was avoiding making eye contact with her.
- What are you? – She saw the girl lower her head. - What are you three?
Paulina walked to stand behind Valerie's chair. She had been asking herself the same questions for a couple of hours, but she didn't have the strength or the anger Valerie had to express them.
- And why are you still in your ghost form? - She asked to the girl again. – They transformed after they got their ass's kick. Why didn't you?
A few footsteps caught everyone's attention and they saw Danny coming out of the guest room, leaning on the wall with one hand and holding his ribs with the other.
- If I promise to tell you the whole truth…, will you help us? – He spoke.
The girl began to laugh softly, before adopting a serious face.
- The truth? You? You are incapable of telling the truth.
- Valerie…
- You ruined our lives, to my father and I... and you want me to trust you?
- We've had this conversation before...
- But that was before I knew who you were! – She stood up and quickly, Tucker and Sam stood in front of her.
- Guys, let her go.
- You're crazy? - Tucker spoke.
- She's not armed.
- Her fists are her weapons! – Tucker told him again.
- Would you at least listen to us? – He begged the girl.
- No. - She said seriously.
- Then do it for your father. – Dani said standing up.
- Don't bring my dad into this. - She accused her with his finger.
- We won't do it, but whoever did this to us will surely do it. - Danny intervened.
- Well, he seemed satisfied only with you.
- Didn't you recognize the crown and the ring of that ghost? – Vlad spoke, fed up with the situation. -Are you going to pretend you don't remember the ghost crisis in Amity Park a few years back? Don't you have scars from the time you faced…?
- That wasn't him.
- Because there is a new king. - Danny said. – A much more dangerous one.
Valerie fell silent and watched him. After a while she looked away and snorted.
- Speak. – She raised a hand in the air to stop him. – Start with whatever they're doing to my weapons.
Danny closed his mouth and turned to Vlad, who stood up to speak.
- When I asked you to hunt down Dani and you ended up betraying me… - She frowned at the accusation. - Daniel used something to stabilize her. That something turned out to be a compound that increased ghost abilities.
- And what does that have to do with weapons?
- Applied directly as he did, it has that effect. But if it goes through this converter first… - He raised the piece that Jazz had removed earlier. – The potency of the substance manifests with damage towards the ectoplasm entity that receives the impact.
At that moment, Jazz extracted the weapon's core. It was a small sphere with a very viscous green substance.
- And why do you want that?
- To heal faster. - Danielle answered. – We only have 24 hours before that thing strikes again and not enough time to restore our energy.
- 24 hours? Why did he give you time to recover? – Everyone looked back to see Paulina, who had asked the question.
- He wants us to hand Clockwork over to him. - Tucker spoke. – He's the ghost of time. And if we don't...
- He plans to destroy the city. – Sam finished for him.
- And are you going to do it? - Valerie asked cautiously.
- No. - Danielle said.
- Oh, my… It's good to know whose side you're on… - Valerie whispered.
- He intends to destroy the city no matter what happens. - Danny said.
- Besides we don't know where Clockwork is. - Sam added.
- And that doing as he says would be like giving nuclear weapons to a child. – Tucker said.
- And what is your plan? – Paulina asked again.
- Heal. - Danielle said. - And fight him again.
Valerie shook her head and sat back down.
- You'll lose again.
- Unless we have help. - Danielle told her.
- Well, good luck with that. – She crossed her arms without turning to see her. – Your reputation will not help you.
Danny sighed. They had an uphill battle in trying to convince Valerie to help them.
In a safe house, operative K was preparing for the interview that he was going to have in a few minutes to give a report on the situation through a television link. The city was in chaos, not because there had been a confrontation between ghosts in the center of the city, but because of the political crisis that the identity of the mayor had unleashed, along with the accusations that had been made against the hero of the city. Added to this, was the stress caused by the partial closure of roads due to the persecution a few hours earlier. Now it was his responsibility to calm the situation so that the emergency governing junta that had been formed would regain control of the situation.
Everything was already set up in the room: at the back of the room was the chair where he was going to sit and in front of it, the transmission camera and the reflectors. Near the door was the audio, video, and connection control center, along with the surveillance table, from which they monitored the entire property.
He reviewed the notes on the preliminary forensics report about the explosion at their facility again. 34 confirmed deaths, 16 people still missing, $50 million in damages, and the ghost boy as the prime suspect. As the anger of the moment wore off, more doubts arose about the boy's responsibility for the events.
- We have a problem.
L entered with a Tablet in his hands. And he showed it to K. On the live news broadcast, they were playing a video showing the ghost boy landing in the courtyard of the facility along with his "accomplices", Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, after the explosion had occurred, since the flames were already present. The video continued for a few more seconds before the host cut it off.
- This video has gone viral on the internet in the last hour. Its origin is still unknown and our experts have not been able to verify the fidelity of the video. However, the video clearly shows that Danny Phantom arrived at the disaster zone after the incident occurred, contradicting the official version put out by the Guys in White. Now, on the internet there are many theories as to why we were lied to, the most popular being the cover-up of some experiment...
- And it's everywhere. – L concluded by turning off the device.
- This will hinder our search.
- The public will not want to cooperate with us to catch the ghost boy.
- We need something else. – K. paused briefly. - Do we know anything else about this? – He raised his notes in the air.
- Nothing new. Danny Phantom is the only ghost that matches the power profile needed to destroy the Ghost Portal. – He adjusted his glasses. – As unlikely as it might sound, it has to be him.
- You're wrong about that.
Hearing the voice of a third party, they both drew their weapons and pointed them towards the back of the room where they were. There was nothing visible in the room but the two of them; however, the drop in room temperature was indicative of the presence of a ghost. Cautiously they began to walk towards the back of the room, pointing their weapons ahead or anywhere they could sense movement. When they hit the wall, they both sighed and put their weapons back. They fixed their suits and turned around, finding the unknown ghost standing near the door.
- These pictures… really don't do me justice. – He said while inspecting the Tablet, passing the images with his finger.
- Freeze! – They both shouted, drawing their weapons again.
Dan leered at them with a bored expression before tossing the Tablet somewhere across the room. He crossed both arms behind his back and began to walk towards them.
- You humans... always trying to control things out of your reach.
- Identify yourself!
- Why would I? - He closed his left fist and both operatives were paralyzed in a kind of green glow and suspended in the air.
They tried to free themselves from whatever was holding them down, but gave up when that ghost was less than a meter away from them.
- Who are you and what do you want? – K said.
Dan watched them with boredom and held up the index finger of his left hand. Instantly, the operatives' mouths were covered with ectoplasm.
- I'll be the one doing the talking. – Dan sentenced, returning his hand to his back. – Now, this is what you will do. Starting tomorrow at noon, you will have to hunt down Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius. I don't care what you have to do or how you do it. I want them dead, not alive. Did I make myself clear?
Dan moved his hands to the front and snapped his fingers. The operatives fell to the ground and quickly looked to shoot him. Dan was faster than they were, removing their weapons with a flick of his hands; thereupon, white flames appeared in his hands and began to melt the weapons. K and L scrambled back and tried to get to their feet, but Dan stepped forward and froze the ground under his feet, causing them to fall again. He tossed to the side what was left of the weapons and crossed his arms over his chest.
- I guess I didn't make myself clear.
- What makes you think that…?
- Because if you don't, I'm going to massacre the entire population of this shithole you call home. A couple thousand people for every day you fail to bring me their heads. Is that enough to… persuade you? - He added with a smile.
- We can't. – Said L. – We have protocols and we cannot…
- You are not understanding the seriousness of the situation. – He hardened his features.
- Our guidelines are strictly about capture and interrogation...
- We cannot murder two civilians without due legal process...
- Their human halves prevent us from having full control of their detention and...
- You're stalling. - Dan interrupted them.
He observed that the operatives wore a watch that had a red crystal, with the letters "SOS" in white. They had probably activated the distress signal when he wasn't looking. Although he didn't care. He shifted his gaze from them to the surveillance camera pointing at him from the corner of the room and back at the operatives. They both smiled at him.
- Scared?
Dan just smiled at them.
- Curious. Your boss said something along those lines before I blew him and his peers into oblivion. – He extended his hand to the front and his sword materialized. – Now… I need you to appear on television. – He pointed his sword at K, before turning his gaze to L. – But you're not so lucky.
Without giving them time to react, Dan swung his sword and ended up slashing Operative L's throat. Blood sprayed in all directions as L put both hands to his neck, trying to stop the bleeding in vain. K froze as he watched his partner bleed to death and writhe beside him. In his last moments L of him looked at his partner with the intention of saying something, but ended up drowning in his own blood. Seconds later, L's lifeless body lay still in a pool of his own blood.
K panicked and looked at the ghost for an explanation. Dan hadn't taken his eyes off him, showing him a serious and even-tempered face. He regretted not having been able to enjoy the agent's last seconds and missing those moments before death where, with just one look, humans begged for their punny lives while the dread of ceasing to exist invaded them. Fortunately, life was full of second chances. 7.3 billion second chances.
- Why are the others taking so long? – Dan smiled at him after a few moments in silence.
With trembling hands, K reached his hand over the communicator in his right ear.
- To all operatives. A-activate protocol 77.
His friend's blood had already stained his ordinarily white suit, and as he lowered his hand to the floor, he made contact with the hot liquid. Dan raised an eyebrow.
- Scared?
K took off his dark glasses to show him all the hate and fury he could and felt building up inside of him, to which Dan only responded by rolling his eyes.
- Now, where were we? – He said ironically as the sword disappeared.
- I…
- Their heads. - Dan interrupted. – Or that is what you will see throughout the city. - He pointed to the body of L.
- You won't stop even if I hand them over to you. – He whispered.
Dan smiled before looking back at the camera.
- No. I won't. – He said moving closer to the camera. – But you will die without the blood of a thousand people on your hands.
- Only with two...
- We all have to make decisions at some point... But don't worry. I'll make yours easier.
Two white rings appeared around Dan's waist and transformed him into his pre-fusion appearance with Pariah Dark. K was taken aback by noting the initials DP on that ghost, as well as the obvious similarities of the costume to that of two other individuals.
- What…?
- I'm not done yet.
Dan widened his smile and the rings again appeared around his waist, but this time they transformed him into his 14-year-old ghost version. Seconds later, two black rings formed vertically in the middle of his body and he transformed into Vlad Plasmius. He stayed in that form for a few seconds before turning and walking towards K. Starting from the boots up, small embers of white flame began to destroy the suit, returning him to its current form. He grabbed the operative by the collar of his shirt and lifted him into the air. K placed his hands around Dan's wrist very carefully, as the whole arm of Dan was covered in armor.
- With that video you won't even have to ask people for their head. – He pointed to the camera. – They will bring them to you voluntarily.
K lowered his head and was silent. For some strange reason, the monster in front of him had been able to transform into the ghost boy and the ghost of Wisconsin. It must be a trick, right? He took a closer look at the ghost's suit and noticed that the initials DP were also on his chest. The symbol of Dani and Danny Phantom. In some strange way they were connected to him.
- Look. - Dan spoke again. – I don't care if you use this video or not, much less what you are going to say in your silly conference. The only thing that interests me is that you do as I ordered you.
A beep from the control table interrupted them. Dan generated a duplicate that went to inspect the control center. There was a flashing red light and earphones. He held up the latter and could hear a voice speaking through them. He watched the original Dan as he listened to what they were saying, and after a few seconds, he lowered the headphones.
- 3 minutes.
Dan nodded at the clone's comment and returned his gaze to K.
- Showtime. – He told him with a smile. – I leave you to do what you have to do. And remember: the lives of thousands of people depend on your decision.
Dan tossed him into the pool of blood on the floor, splashing it all over his face and the front of his suit. By the time K turned around, there was no one else in the room. As he could, he walked to the chair and before initiating the connection, he sent a message to O.
Dani left the room frustrated. She tried every way she could think of to reason with Valerie, but to no avail. They had taken advantage of the brunette's temporary weakness to lock her in the guest room on the ground floor.
- I guess you weren't lucky. – Jazz commented when she saw her leave the room.
- She's so stubborn!
- We already knew that. – Sam said throwing the remains of a weapon to the ground. – But at least we already got what we wanted, right?
Sam, now with the tights on under her skirt, turned to look at Vlad. The eldest placed a cloth on the coffee table in front of the television and on top of it, 6 syringes with a green liquid.
- We have 6 doses. 3 to apply now and 3 in case of an emergency. – He explained. – However, I am not sure that we will heal immediately, so I would recommend that…
- Get down!
Vlad didn't have time to react when he felt Jazz throw herself at him and knock him down. The next thing he saw was an object flying past where he used to be standing and crashing against the wall with a loud thump. The rest turned to see who had thrown that item and from where, and they saw Valerie coming out of the room with what looked like a small metal box.
- Then use them all!
Valerie tossed the box at Vlad, who was still on the ground. Tucker moved to grab a cushion from the couch and use it to stop the projectile. A little roughly, Jazz pulled Dani behind her as she scrambled to her feet. Paulina moved quickly and approached the brunette, ready to use the teaser on her again, but Valerie forestalled her and stopped her before it could make contact with her. She caught her wrist and bent them up to drop the device to the floor, then pushed her back. Tucker and Sam saw their opportunity and went against her. Taking advantage of her boots, Sam launched a kick at her that she had no problem deflecting. Tucker grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, but Valerie took advantage of it to nudge him in the jaw with her free arm. Sam charged back with a series of weak punches, but Val parried all attacks until she managed to grab her hand. She spun her around and locked her in such a way that her arm was behind her body and she kicked her in the buttocks to throw her down the hall that led to the guest room. Since her back was turned, Tucker took advantage of it to hug her from behind and pin her down.
- You need to calm down. – He told her.
Valerie struggled with him and used her head to hit his nose. At the blow, the boy loosened his grip on her and she used it to scale the wall, spinning over Tucker's head and freeing herself from him. When she was free, she pushed him into the hallway where he ended up colliding with Sam, who was coming back towards her. She turned to charge at Vlad again, but thanks to her quick reflexes, she managed to step back to avoid a kick that went straight for her face. Although she was surprised, she didn't allow herself to waste time and she launched a low kick to knock Paulina down. Quickly, the Latina flipped to the side, out of range of the attack.
Danny came out of the bathroom when he heard screaming and banging coming from outside. When he saw what was happening, he ran to intervene regardless of the pain in his ribs. Dani was going to try to stop her, but Vlad grabbed her ankle tightly and felt a sting in her leg.
Sam had grabbed an umbrella from the hallway and tried to hit her over the head with it, but Val ducked in time and Sam ended up walking past her. Tucker ran into her and using his weight, pushed her from behind and knocked her down. Sam and Tucker ran to get her back on her feet, but using her stubbornness, she headbutted Sam in the abdomen and knocked her back. Tucker pulled her back by both arms, but released her when he saw Danny transform in front of him. Valerie was further annoyed when she saw Danny in his ghost form, and quickly reached down to pick up Sam's umbrella and lift it into the air to hit him with. However, she felt how her hand was imprisoned against the wall. She turned for a second to watch Paulina's foot crush her wrist against the wall and missed the blue glow in Danny's eyes. When she turned to face her nemesis, Danny used his frozen vision of her and encased her entire torso and legs in an ice cube. When she was pinned down, Paulina lowered her leg and Valerie began to jerk violently in an attempt to break free. She snarled and pouted, but she was effectively contained.
- Valerie. You have to calm down… Ouch!
Danny felt a prick on his left shoulder midway through his speech and quickly turned his head to see what it was, only to find Vlad pushing the plunger of the syringe all the way in, paying no attention to him.
- Done. – He told him taking out the syringe. – You can continue playing the hero.
- At least you could warn me. – He answered, taking his hand to the place where he had stung him.
- Let me go! - Valerie was still fighting against the ice.
- Are you guys okay? – Danny asked his friends.
- Yeah.
- No.
All eyes fell on Tucker, who had a hand over his mouth and nose.
- I think she broke my lip. - He said removing his hand to see if he had blood stains.
- Let me go or I swear I'll scream!
- You're already screaming. – Jazz observed while she walked towards the window to look outside. – But you're right, we have to shut her up.
- Paulina, do you have the tape we told you about? - Dani asked.
- Don't you dare lay a finger on me!
Paulina was about to respond when they saw Vlad transform and cover Valerie's mouth with purple ectoplasm.
- Done.
Vlad sat on the couch and took a syringe. He sighed deeply before sticking the needle into his leg and pushing the plunger until the syringe was clear of the green liquid. He took out the needle and put the syringe back on the table.
- As he was saying before the interruption… I suggest we rest for the rest of the day. We won't be able to do anything until noon tomorrow anyway.
- Why? - Dani asked.
- Dan asked for Clockwork at noon at Pariah's castle, so we know he'll be there at that time. - Danny explained. – Before that, we have no idea of his location.
Dani lowered her head, understanding how the situation was. She turned to see Valerie, who was just looking at her with contained fury in her eyes. She looked away from her and decided to go sit with the others. Vlad wrapped the remaining 3 doses in the cloth and looked at everyone present. He inspected them one by one and quickly made up his mind.
- Here. – He handed the rag to Jazz.
- Why do you give them to me? - She said looking at the cloth while she received it. - I'm not a ghost.
- Look around. Do you trust someone else to keep them safe? – He raised an eyebrow.
- No. - Jazz whispered.
- We are right here, you know? - Sam said.
Vlad returned to his human form and asked Paulina for a bathroom. After receiving instructions from her, he went to the restroom, leaving the others while they were talking.
- I didn't know you had strength, Tuck. – Sam joked as she remembered how he knocked the girl down.
- One of the many surprises of these 73 kg of power. – He said posing.
- Yes... you managed to knock down a girl smaller than you. - Danny joked.
- I'd like to see you try it without your powers, Danny. – He returned the joke.
Paulina observed that brief exchange from a few meters away and she could not understand it. They were being wanted all over the world, their reputations had been ruined... and yet they allowed themselves those brief moments to make jokes. She couldn't help but feel a little envious. Those 3 had a bond much stronger than any friendship she had or had ever had. She snapped out of her musings when she heard her name called.
- What? – She babbled.
- How did you do that? – Tucker asked again. – You know, the backflip and the leg…
- I was a cheerleader.
Tucker opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything. He felt foolish for asking something so obvious. Sam shook her head and put her hand on Danny's shoulder, who turned to look at her.
- How do you feel?
- Well… - He looked down to his side. – I almost don't feel pain, but it could be because of the energy rush that thing gives you.
- That means you should go back to lie down. - Jazz intervened.
- How boring. – Her brother said serious.
- And you. – She pointed to Tucker. – Return to your surveillance.
Tucker just raised his eyebrows and turned around, heading to the kitchen where all his things were. Sam put Danny's arm around her shoulders and helped him back to the second-floor room. Only three girls were left in the room: Paulina, Jazz and Dani.
- Look… - Jazz spoke to Paulina. – The boys will probably never say anything about it, and Sam definitely won't, but… Thanks. For everything.
- Yeah. Don't worry. – She looked to her former friend. - What will we do about her?
- She's a problem we have to deal with. – Jazz replied crossing her arms.
A loud growl echoed throughout the room, causing the redhead and the Latina to exchange strange glances.
- I think we have another problem.
Dani smiled as her gazes fell on her and her hungry stomach.