A/N Hello everyone, I know I left you all with one hell of a cliffhanger last week so I won't say too much here that way we can get right into it. We're getting into the final act of the story so things will be getting pretty intense and dramatic. I hope you all are ready for some excitement and action, I know I've been pretty excited writing it. I forgot to mention this last week, but the story has reached 200 total reviews and I love you all so much for it. Your feedback and support means everything to me. I hope to still read lots more before the story ends, so without further ado please enjoy the next chapter, and at the end remember to REVIEW!
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Ember was seeing her entire afterlife flash before her eyes while staring down the barrel of Skulker's plasma cannon, Danny slung over his shoulder and unconscious. Less than five minutes ago she'd just finished playing the song she'd written for Danny and they had been kissing so deeply and passionately. Now all of that felt like it was months ago with her current state, too weak to move and save herself or Danny.
"Say goodbye Ember McLain, too bad it had to end this way since you were once one of us," said Skulker as his plasma cannon was charging up. All Ember could think to do was look at Danny before it happened.
"Danny, I'm so sorry, I love you," said Ember weakly in a desperate attempt to have Danny hear her voice one last time.
*BLAST
"Ahhhhhhh," came the cry of Skulker, who had somehow just been blasted himself before he could fire upon Ember.
Dropping Danny to the ground and hitting the antenna tower of the op center, Skulker looked to where the blast had just come from with severe anger. He was furious that someone had just stopped him moments before he could destroy Ember.
"Who dares interrupt me when I was about to claim my prize?" said Skulker roughly as he got his footing back.
"Let's just say I'm a very overprotective sister who cares way too much about her little brother," came the voice of someone Ember had never properly met, but recognized the voice.
Lifting her head enough to look to her side she couldn't believe what she saw. It was Danny's sister Jazz. She'd just fired the Fenton Bazooka at Skulker, and was also holding the Fenton Peeler in her other hand. Raising the peeler up Jazz hit the button to activate it, a full body suit forming around her as she posed for combat. Still too weak to get up, Ember looked over towards Danny who was now laying on the ground motionless.
"Danny, please get up," said Ember as she tried to crawl towards him.
Skulker had now shifted his attention away from Ember and was focusing it completely towards Jazz, charging at her with his rocket powered suit.
"I'll peel you apart molecule by molecule for hurting my brother," said Jazz firing the peeler's rays at Skulker, realizing she just sounded like her dad with that remark, shaking her head at it.
Despite the peeler hitting Skulker directly, it wasn't actually having the same effect that it had when she used it on Spectra months ago.
"Foolish girl, my suit cannot simply be peeled apart," said Skulker as he raised his missile launcher from his shoulder pad.
Switching tactics from the peeler, Jazz pulled the Fenton bazooka back around and fired it's rays at the missiles, making a couple of them explode. But the ones that didn't were blown off course from the explosion and ended up flying in different random directions. One blew and landed behind Skulker, one landed carelessly to the side where nobody was, but the third was on an unfortunate course, right towards Ember.
Ember braced herself as she realized the missile was falling right at her, coming too quick for her to be able get away as it hit the ground mere inches from where she was laying.
"Ahhhhhhhhh," cried Ember as the blast blew her away, landing right at the edge of the roof and now as unconscious as Danny.
"Ember no," cried Jazz as she saw her land, worried about both Danny and his girlfriend.
Skulker took advantage of the momentary distraction and flew back over to Danny, picking him and Ember's guitar back up.
"You may have ruined my chance to claim Ember's pelt, but I still have the prize of your brother and this guitar to deliver. I'll be back to finish the job another time," said Skulker as he took off into the sky with both of his prizes.
"DANNY," screamed Jazz as she quickly tried to rush to stop Skulker, but he was already too high in the sky for her to do anything. And worse than that she didn't have any idea where he was being taken. Turning back to Ember she rushed over to her before she could fall off the edge of the building. "Ember, are you okay, please wake up."
Jazz lightly shook the ghost rocker but she didn't move at all. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was hanging open, her body completely limp. Not knowing what else to do, Jazz picked her up and carried her down into the op center, laying her down across the long counter to assess her. But since she was a ghost she didn't know what to check. She didn't have a heartbeat, she didn't need to breathe, or anything else that would be done to help a living person. All Jazz could do was look at her, occasionally try to wake her up, and hope she would soon.
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Skulker flew throughout the night heading back to Vlad's mansion, the whole time Danny stayed out cold so it was a smooth flight for him. As the mansion came into view Skulker started to descend with a smirk.
"You're lucky I agreed to deliver you alive whelp, but worry not, I shall have your pelt before long," said Skulker to the unconscious Danny as he fazed through the roof and down to the secret lab.
Skulker landed to find Plasmius there waiting for him, looking quite pleased with the ghost hunter's delivery.
"I see you were successful in your task to bring young Daniel and the guitar here," said Plasmius while rubbing his hands together.
"Well, two out of three tasks, which still isn't so bad," said Skulker as he set Danny down on what appeared to be an operating table, and the guitar on the counter to the side. "I was about to destroy Ember McLain before I was surprised by the ghost boy's sister who I wasn't expecting.
"What, how did young Jasmine get the best of you," said Plasmius who now didn't look so thrilled. "If you failed to destroy Ember they she and most likely Daniel's friends are going to come looking for him."
"A minor setback, Ember was left barely stable and I don't believe his sister has any idea where I brought him, nor did she have any means of following me," said Skulker, waving his hand off at any concern. "I shall simply return to my realm to replenish my gear and finish the job."
Plasmius still didn't look like he was fond of this wrinkle, his plan was dependent on Ember being destroyed and Daniel being taken without any witnesses.
"How did young Jasmine even know about anything, I was under the impression Ember, Daniel's two best friends, and now my former pawn were the only ones that knew about his powers and his secret double life," said Plasmius with a sneer. This new obstacle could prove to be quite a problem depending on how far her knowledge went.
"I do not know, but the ghost boy was in his human form when she arrived so it's possible she actually doesn't know anything and just had lucky timing," said Skulker shrugging his arms. "The whole thing did happen on top of their house so it's possible she just heard the commotion and came to investigate since they are a family of ghost hunters."
Plasmius was starting to pace back and forth, not knowing the full extent of the situation was more frustrating than anything.
"It's too much of a risk to leave this to chance, you have to finish the task and destroy Ember, and while you're at it do whatever you have to do with Jasmine as well to keep her from ruining anything," said Plasmius roughly. "Don't waste any time, go now to your realm and get whatever you need to finish the job."
Skulker looked thrilled at the prospect of adding yet another prey to his list. Smirking at Danny as he secured his body down with some ecto bindings, he activated his rocket pack and flew into the ghost zone through Plasmius's ghost portal.
Plasmius meanwhile was walking over towards Danny, looking down at his motionless body with a smirk.
"Sleep well while you can Daniel, for when you wake up you and I will have a lot to talk about," said Plasmius as he turned to walk over to the counter where Ember's guitar was sitting. "But for now, let's have a look at this magnificent device."
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January 11, 2005
The winter sun was starting to peek over the horizon of Amity Park, shining into the Fenton Works op center where Ember was still laying across the vanity, Jazz asleep in the chair right beside her. As the hours wore on with Jazz trying to wake Ember up, her drowsiness eventually caught up with her and she gave into it. With Ember out cold and no way to track Skulker alone, Jazz figured she should at least get some rest if she was going to launch some kind of rescue mission to save Danny.
Luckily for the both of them Ember was starting to wake up. As her eyes opened she looked at the ceiling and tried to process where she was and how she had gotten there.
"Ugh, wh...where am I?" said Ember weakly as she rubbed her head.
Gathering her thoughts she tried to recap the last things she remembered. Danny's birthday, setting up his scavenger hunt, playing his song for him, kissing him afterwards, Skulker showing up and...
"DANNY," shouted Ember as she shot up to a seated position, remembering what had happened last night and how Danny and her guitar had been taken.
She didn't see Jazz beside her at first, but her shout had suddenly shocked her awake.
"Huh, what, where," said Jazz rapidly as her eyes shot open and she looked at Ember, relieved to see her awake. "Ember, you're okay, thank goodness."
Ember jumped up and floated into the air away from Jazz, not sure what she was doing here or what she was up to.
"What are you doing here, why didn't you go after Skulker when he took your brother," said Ember furiously. "You should have just left me and gone after him."
"Okay first of all, nice to officially meet you, I've been so eager to meet and talk to you for months since I've known about your relationship with my brother," said Jazz offering her hand, which Ember didn't take. "Secondly, I wanted to but he got away before I could stop him and I don't have the slightest clue where he took Danny. So until you woke up all I could do was wait and hope that you'd know where to find him."
Ember lowered herself back to the ground on the opposite side of the vanity, feeling really weird that this is how she was meeting her boyfriend's big sister.
"Well I guess it makes sense that you knew about our relationship since you know about your brother's secret life," said Ember calming down a little bit. "I was there during the whole incident with Spectra when you discovered his identity so I've known that you've known for a while myself."
Jazz smiled at Ember, relieved that she could finally talk to her brother's girlfriend, though she did wish the circumstances were completely different.
"Well when you put it that way, it seems we could have met and talked to each other quite a while ago, but since I've been keeping my knowledge of Danny a secret we never thought to do it," said Jazz smiling. "Can I just say that I think you're so good for him and I've never seen him happier in his life, you've completely changed him in the best ways."
Ember smiled at her words, so relieved that her boyfriend's big sister approved of her.
"Can't tell you how much that means to me," said Ember happily. "And I've seen how supportive you are towards Danny and all the hardships he faces both at school and at home. I wish I'd have had a sister like you when I was alive."
Both girls smiled at each other, momentarily forgetting that the boy they both cared so deeply about was currently who knows where with the ghost zones greatest hunter.
"Thank you for saving me last night, but how did you even know what was going on?" asked Ember snapping back to the situation at hand.
"Well, I figured Danny was going to sneak out to see you for his birthday after the party here died down," said Jazz matter of factly. "So once he did I was just going to get myself ready for bed and wait up to make sure he got home, assuming he didn't stay with you again. Yeah I know about how he was with you on New Years by the way and not at Tucker's like he said."
Ember blushed a little bit at the accusation, thankful that Jazz hadn't actually seen what had transpired that night. That would have been pretty awkward.
"Anyway while I was waiting up, I actually could hear it when you started playing that song for him," said Jazz as she sat back down. "I came to the op center to investigate, and when I peeked through the trap door I saw both of you as you were singing to him. I didn't want to interfere so I just came back down here to listen to the song, it was beautiful by the way. Then I heard all the blasting afterwards and once I realized what was going on I quickly ran down to our lab to grab the first weapons I could find so I could help. I managed to get back just in time to save you, but that ghost still got away with Danny and your guitar."
Ember was returning to her previous panicked state, knowing that every second that went by Danny was going through who knows what with Skulker.
"The only place I can think to look for him would be at his lair in the ghost zone, and I know exactly where it is," said Ember while reaching for her guitar on instinct, only to remember that Skulker took that as well. "Damn it, I just hope to everything he doesn't claim his pelt before we can find him."
"I don't know much about that ghost, Skulker as you call him, so to speak, but I don't think he was going to be claiming Danny's pelt," said Jazz while thinking carefully. "Just as he was getting away he said something about delivering him, so I don't think he's working alone in this and he was taking both him and your guitar to someone."
Ember slammed her fist against the vanity at Jazz's words, furious that there could be others involved.
"Damn it, that could be almost anyone in the ghost zone. Skulker enjoys being a hunter more than anything and I've known him to take jobs for several ghosts in the past as long as he gets some kind of prize out of it," said Ember while gripping her hair and pacing rapidly back and forth.
"But you know where his lair is, and that's the only lead we have so we need to get there as fast as we can," said Jazz as she picked the Fenton bazooka and Fenton Peeler back up. "But I don't have any experience fighting ghosts, we should bring more help."
Ember stopped pacing and looked at Jazz, not wanting to stall going after Skulker any longer.
"We can get help in the ghost zone from my friends Kitty and Johnny, their realm is on the route to Skulker's," said Jazz as she started moving towards Jazz, intending to grab her arm so she could carry her while flying.
"Wait, do you mean Johnny 13? Hell no, that freak tried to use me to switch bodies with his girlfriend a while back," said Jazz stepping back a bit. "You mean to tell me that his girlfriend is your best friend?"
"Okay yes I forgot there was some history between the three of you, but we don't have time for that, we have to go now and just put all that aside," said Ember while losing her patience.
"We need to get Tucker and Sam, they have experience in the ghost zone too and I'm guessing have fought Skulker with Danny before," suggested Jazz. Ember immediately flamed up in fury at her words.
"We can get Tucker but I am NOT asking that hippie for help, she tried to destroy me and accused me of putting Danny under a mind control spell to make him love me," said Ember aggressively. Sam was the absolute last person that Ember wanted to ask for anything in this world.
"You just said my past issues with Johnny and Kitty should be put aside, well then the same thing applies here," said Jazz smartly. "If it means saving Danny then we should bring all the firepower we can, though I was not aware of the fact that she tried to destroy you. That explains why I haven't seen or heard from her in so long. But if it means saving Danny you know she will do whatever it takes just like you."
Ember was tensing up more than she had ever done before, infuriated that what Jazz was saying made sense. As much as she hated that bitch, she knew that it was true she cared deeply for Danny, and if he was in danger she'd want to help him too. At the end of the day that's all Ember cared about right now.
"Gahhhh, fine, but she better stay out of my way and if she tries anything I won't hold back like I did the last time we fought," said Ember reluctantly.
"Okay, great, let's get going, we don't have any time to lose," said Jazz offering her arm. "You'll have to carry me since I won't be able to move as fast as you on my own."
Reaching forward to grab Jazz's arm, Ember turned both of them intangible and flew out of the op center, heading towards Tucker's house first since it was closer. Ember had never actually been there but Danny had pointed his house out to her a few times when they'd been flying over the city together. Thankfully it was still early so Tucker hadn't left for school yet, in fact he hadn't even woken up yet. As Ember flew herself and Jazz into his room they found him still sleeping in his bed. Unfortunately for him Ember wasn't in the mood to be patient and gentle.
"Wake up geek boy, we need to go right away," said Ember as she started shaking Tucker awake, who almost jumped out of his skin when he opened his eyes and realized who was shaking him.
"Ember, what gives and what the hell are you doing here in my room," said Tucker groggily as he rubbed his eyes in annoyance. When he reopened them he noticed Jazz as well which was an even bigger shock. "Jazz, wow, what is going on, why are you here with Ember, and where's Danny?"
Tucker had been caught completely off guard and wasn't able to process all the confusing thoughts that were currently flooding his head, the most glaring being why were Ember and Jazz together without Danny.
"We don't have time to cover everything right now Tucker, just get up and let's go," said Jazz as she pulled Tucker's comforter off which unfortunately revealed that he was only wearing boxers underneath, making both girls cover their eyes quickly. "Ahhhhh, okay get dressed first and do it fast."
"Hold up now, first someone needs to tell me what's going on and where's Danny, how are the two of you together?" asked Tucker as he hopped out of bed and moved over to his dresser to quickly get dressed.
"Long story short, I've known about Danny's secret ghost life for months but have been keeping it to myself until he was ready to tell me," said Jazz rapidly. "But last night Danny and Ember were attacked by some ghost named Skulkman and he captured Danny and took Ember's guitar."
This immediately changed Tucker's expression as he flipped around to look at the girls in disbelief.
"You mean Skulker, he captured Danny, oh crap," said Tucker in disbelief as he suddenly found new motivation to get dressed faster than he'd ever done before. As he finished pulling his pants up he looked back at Jazz. "So you're telling me you've known about Danny's powers for months?"
Ember rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"She just said that you idiot, we don't have time for this. We can cover all the details later once Danny is found and safe," said Ember roughly while frowning. "You come with me because we still have to get your damn hippie friend who I would much rather do this without. Jazz, go back to your house and get that flying speeder machine your family has ready, I won't be able to carry all three of you once we're in the ghost zone."
Jazz nodded while narrowing her eyes in determination. Ember took each of them by the arm and fazed them all out of the room, landing on the ground first to put Jazz down before flying off again with Tucker towards Sam's house. She was sneering with so much reluctance at the thought of asking that bitch for help, but kept reminding herself what it was for.
'It's to save Danny, it's to save Danny, it's to save Danny,' Ember repeated to herself in her head.
Tucker gave her the directions to Sam's house, pointing out which window was to her bedroom as they were arriving. Not looking forward to what was about to happen, and pretty sure it was going to get ugly, Ember fazed them both into the bedroom just as Sam was waking up and stretching in her bed. Landing in the middle of the room they both locked eyes with Sam who almost jumped out of her skin just like Tucker had.
"Sam, you have to get up, we need your help," said Tucker urgently, but Sam barely heard him as her eyes had locked onto Ember's, furious at the sight of her.
"What the hell is she doing here, get out of my room, and where's Danny?" said Sam aggressively as she hopped off her bed and glared at Ember, who glared right back.
"Believe me hippie you are the absolute last person on this entire planet I want to ask for help, but unfortunately I am left with little choice but to swallow my pride and hope you'll do the same," said Ember roughly, in reality wishing she could just punch her right in the face.
"Get the hell out of here, in what universe would I ever help you?" said Sam with clenched fists. "Did you screw things up with Danny and that's why he's not here, I knew at some point you'd do something and he'd see through you."
"Sam, Danny was taken last night by Skulker," said Tucker quickly to get the situation out there, which immediately made Sam quiet and turn to look at Tucker. "Last night Danny was with Ember and Skulker got the jump on them. He took Danny along with Ember's guitar and we don't know where."
Sam's emotions did a complete 180 on the spot, going from outraged that Ember was in her room to deeply afraid that something bad was happening to Danny.
"Danny...was taken," said Sam weakly with her eyes shaking. She sat back down onto her bed as she processed what Tucker had just said, her mind panicking the whole time. "No, no no no no no, Danny."
Tears were quickly starting to form in Sam's eyes as she thought about what Skulker was capable of and how he always would boast about getting Danny's pelt for his collection. It seemed he had apparently finally succeeded last night.
"Look, I don't like you, you don't like me, but we both care about Danny more than anything, so I'm willing to put our animosities aside in the interest of saving him," said Ember while stepping forward with a sincere voice. "Once we save him we can go back to wanting to rip each other's heads off if you'd like."
Sam stayed staring straight ahead for a moment as she wiped her eyes. Looking up into Ember's she once again was glaring.
"You let him get taken by Skulker, what makes you think he's still okay, Skulker has probably already skinned him and is using him as a rug," said Sam slowly with red eyes while standing back up, her voice slowly getting higher and more emotional. "You let Danny get captured by that crazy hunter and now you want to work together?"
Tucker stepped forward to get between them before things got out of control.
"Sam no, we don't think Skulker has done anything to Danny, Jazz was there and says that Skulker said something about delivering him, so we think he was working for someone else," said Tucker. This got Sam's attention again at the mention of Jazz, reminding Tucker that he needed to quickly fill her in on that. "Oh yeah, apparently Jazz has known about Danny for months but never said anything. It seems there is a lot of stuff we all need to fill each other in on, but right now the only task is finding Danny, and our best bet is to go to Skulker's lair in the ghost zone."
Sam was gripping her hair, trying to absorb all this mind blowing information at once, and it was a lot.
"You...you think Danny might still be okay and we can save him," said Sam weakly while looking back and forth from Tucker and Ember. Both of them nodded in response, making Sam take a deep breathe. "Fine, if it means saving Danny I'll do whatever it takes, just know that this is only temporary."
With that Sam stood up and held out her hand for Ember to shake. She narrowed her eyes for a few moments before reaching forward to accept it.
"Temporary indeed, all I care about is saving Danny, I love him too much to let my pride stop me from saving him," said Ember. Sam visibly didn't like hearing Ember say she loved him, but just this once she brushed it aside.
As the two girls pulled their hands back from each other, Sam quickly ran over to her dresser to get changed, doing so by taking her clothes into her walk in closet. Tucker walked over to talk to her from the outside.
"Sam, Jazz went back to Fenton Works to get the Specter Speeder ready for all of us," said Tucker lightly, not wanting to talk too loud and attract Sam's parents. "Ember knows the most direct way there so she's going to lead us. We'll arm up when we get to the lab and head straight for Skulker's lair."
Less than two minutes after going into the closet Sam came back out fully dressed and ready to go.
"Alright, let's get going, I want to blast that little slime ball in a tin can to the next universe," said Sam as she reached into her nightstand and pulled out a little wallet sized photo of her and Danny, tucking it into her pocket. Ember saw it but decided not to say anything, time being too valuable right now.
"Okay, I know you've both been intangible with Danny before, so you know how this works," said Ember as she stepped forward to take Tucker's arm, hesitating for a moment before taking Sam's as well. Sam didn't seem to be comfortable either but just kept her thoughts to herself. "Let's go."
Ember flew out of Sam's room gripping both Sam and Tucker just in the nick of time. Not thirty seconds after she flew out came both of Sam's parents to wake her up, only to discover that she wasn't there.
"Oh Sammykins, rise and shine sweetie, it's a gorgeous January morning," said Mrs. Manson with her usual extra cheery grin and wide arms. It only took a moment for both parents to realize they were talking to an empty room.
"Uh honey, our daughter is gone," said Mr. Manson calmly. After a few seconds they both had gasps on their faces and spoke together. "OUR DAUGHTER IS GONE."
She was indeed gone, and she was flying at a high speed with Ember and Tucker straight for Fenton Works. Ember wasn't wasting any time, flying at her top speed and gripping both teenagers tightly. Sam felt pretty uneasy while this was all happening. Not too long ago she and Ember had brawled viciously over Danny, and Sam had been actively trying to end her. Now here they were flying together in a joint effort to save Danny.
Mere minutes after flying out of Sam's house Ember was fazing through Fenton Works and straight down to the lab. Thankfully neither Jack or Maddie seemed to be around and were still upstairs for whatever reason. Landing in the middle of the lab the three of them found Jazz waiting with the specter speeder. Sam met Jazz's eyes for a moment to address the elephant in the room.
"So apparently you've known about Danny for a while," said Sam matter of factly. Jazz nodded in response.
"Yes I have, I've known quite a lot for quite a while, but all of that is going to have to wait, let's arm up and get going," said Jazz as she put the Fenton Peeler into the speeder.
Sam and Tucker both went through the lab and gathered respective weapons for themselves. Sam took the ghost gauntlets like she had last time, Tucker grabbing a Fenton Rod, both of them grabbing wrist rays to attach to their arms. After getting their weapons they started looking for specter deflectors, looking in all the drawers but coming up empty.
"Where are the specter deflectors?" asked Sam hastily as she shuffled through another cabinet.
"Yeah, um, unfortunately they aren't available," said Jazz nervously. "They're kinda over there on that table because my parents were experimenting with upgrading them. And by upgrading I mean my dad wanted to make them MP3 capable."
Sam and Tucker both rushed over to the lab table Jazz was pointing at and their eyes shot open in horror. The specter deflectors were all taken apart and in several pieces, completely useless to them right now.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," said Sam gripping her hair. "Of all times for your dad to think of trivial upgrades, why now?"
"I know I know, it's completely stupid, but there's nothing we can do about it now, we'll just have to go with what's available," said Jazz with her hands up, loading the Fenton Bazooka into the speeder as well.
"Alright, the three of you follow me in this thing, I'll lead us straight to Skulker's Lair, and if we are able to we can also get Kitty and Johnny to help us along the way," said Ember as she started floating over the ground.
Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all climbed into the speeder and strapped themselves in, Tucker taking the controls to steer. Nodding at Ember from inside, Tucker started up the engine as Ember took off into the ghost zone with them right behind. Once inside Jazz had a look of complete surprise on her face, this being her first time in the ghost zone.
"Oh wow, this is...surreal," said Jazz while looking in every direction, taking in all the crazy sights.
"I know, the first time you see it it's pretty insane, I had a similar reaction," said Sam while keeping her eyes right on Ember. Jazz noticed how hard she was staring at her and addressed it.
"I imagine this is pretty intense for the both of you, working together to save Danny considering what happened in the past," said Jazz slightly, her psychology mind pretty curious to explore the situation.
Sam narrowed her eyes at Jazz's words, still staring straight at the blue haired ghost.
"It sickens me to have to work with her, but Danny needs help and I'd die before I let anything bad happen to him. So I'm willing to ignore my feelings for her right now," said Sam in a gruff voice. "Once Danny is okay we can go back to the way things were, it's only a matter of time before something actually happens and she blows it with him."
Tucker was starting to feel really uncomfortable with where this was going, wishing he wasn't having to listen to any of this. Last time he got put in the middle he hated it with every fiber in his body. Jazz however seemed like she was going to take a different approach.
"Well, considering both of you care about him so much and are willing to risk everything to save him, maybe you have more in common with each other than you realize," said Jazz slowly. This made Sam turn her head away from Ember to look at Jazz now.
"The only thing we have in common is that we both want to be with Danny, she's just unfortunately the one that is...for now," said Sam through gritted teeth, though Jazz was slightly smiling at her words.
"I figured you had a crush on Danny for a while now, I've only just now been able to confirm it," said Jazz smirking. Maybe she could actually use this ride to help Danny in more ways than one. "Since you care so much about Danny, doesn't that mean you would want him to be happy?"
Sam looked back at Ember, loathing the sight of her as she led them through the ghost zone.
"Of course I do, but how can I support him being happy with that diva who tried to take over the whole world?" said Sam fiercely.
"What makes you so sure that she still feels that way?" asked Jazz. "I know that Danny and her have been together for a little while now, and nothing has happened to suggest that Ember has any kind of evil desires anymore. She seems happy with Danny and just wants to be with him. When she was performing her concert at New Years I could see how pure her happiness was from it, and it was all because of Danny. Sam...emotions like the ones she was showing on stage can't be faked."
Sam didn't want to believe it, but she knew what Jazz was saying. It was true that the more time went by the harder it was getting for Sam to tell herself that Danny's relationship with Ember was some kind of plot. She could see how happy he was with her, especially during New Years when they kissed at midnight in front of the whole town with a firework display behind them. It looked like an image taken out of a fairy tale.
"It just hurts so much, seeing him with someone else and so happy with her," said Sam, her tone easing just a tad. "How is it fair that a ghost tried to conquer the world, and when she failed she didn't suffer any consequences. Danny sent her back to the ghost zone only for her to return the next day looking for more trouble. Yet somehow, and I still have no idea how, she and Danny fell for each other and are now deeply in love. She tried to enslave humanity, and the ending result is she gets the most amazing guy in the world to fall in love with her. Why couldn't he have done that with me?"
Sam felt a small tear forming in her eye as she let her emotions and thoughts out, something she'd been keeping in for quite some time since she didn't have anyone to let them out to. Jazz put a hand on Sam's shoulder in support.
"I know and understand how much you care about Danny and that he's quite a unique guy, but if you really care about him as much as you say then you should be supportive of him being so happy," said Jazz softly. "I know it seems unfair, for a while I thought you and him would end up together too. But life is just too unpredictable and complicated to feel so resentful. I'm sure Danny still cares about you even though he's with Ember and would like to have you back in his life. Don't you think there's a way all of you can coexist together. And I'm willing to bet he's not the only guy out there that would like and appreciate you for who you are."
Tucker was really trying to stay silent in all of this, remembering what happened the last time Danny tried to get all of them together so they could move past their issues. Thankfully Jazz was WAY smarter than any of them and much more capable of breaking through. Sam meanwhile was losing the willpower to hold on to her fury.
"Of course I want him back in my life, I just don't know if I can handle him being so happy with someone that isn't me, I love him," said Sam as another tear fell from her eye. It was the first time she'd ever admitted that out loud to anyone.
Jazz reached into the glove compartment to pull something out of it and showed it to Sam. It was the magazine that had both Danny and Ember on the cover where they were staring longingly into each other's eyes before their New Years kiss.
"Can you honestly look at the two of them in this picture and tell me you don't think they're legitimately in love?" said Jazz while holding the magazine up for Sam to look at, keeping her tone soft and gentle. "It's still weird for me to see too, he is my little brother after all. But it's as plain as day when you look at their expressions. They want to be together, and if you truly love and care about Danny you'll want him be happy. I know it'll be hard, but time will help, and there will be someone out there for you too."
Sam was staring at the image of Danny and Ember looking into each other's eyes. Even though it was a photo there wasn't any mistaking the glow in their pupils and their longing smiles. Sam tried to remember a time since she'd known him where he looked happier than this photo, and she couldn't think of anything. Without saying anything she lightly took the magazine from Jazz's hand and looked at it a little closer for a few moments. Despite not saying anything, Jazz could tell Sam was thinking everything over even though it was currently really painful for her to do. Eventually Sam did speak again, uttering only three words.
"I can try," said Sam in a whisper, looking up at Ember again outside the speeder. She still felt anger looking at her, but for the first time since Ember first appeared months ago, she felt a small amount of that anger subside.
Tucker looked to the side at Sam, amazed that she actually admitted she was willing to try to move past everything with Ember.
"Wow, I think the world just turned upside down," said Tucker in disbelief. He was so shocked he almost missed a turn as Ember started drifting a bit to her left outside.
"Tucker pay attention," said Jazz pointing at Ember out in front of them. Tucker jerked the steering console to maneuver them back behind Ember before they lost her. Once he did Jazz looked back at Sam. "It'll all be okay Sam, we'll save Danny and everyone will get past this. I may not have been there when all the bad stuff happened with the three of you and Ember, but I can tell she's not evil. She just wants to be happy and with Danny, and for him to be happy as well."
Sam looked into Jazz's eyes one more time but stayed silent. For now all she could hope for was that they would find and save Danny, everything else would have to be put on the back burner. But for the first time ever a breakthrough had been made on Sam and Ember both being in Danny's life peacefully.
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Danny was feeling quite a throbbing pain in his head as he felt his body start to wake up. His first instinct was to reach up and rub his head and eyes, but when he tried to he realized that he couldn't. Slowly opening his eyes and looking down, he saw that he was in his human form and restrained to some kind of operating table with ecto restraints. Looking at all four of his limbs, he realized that they were all secured and he couldn't move at all.
"What the hell, where am I?" said Danny out loud to himself as he looked around in a panic.
Taking in his surroundings it seemed like he was in some kind of ghost lab, but it wasn't Fenton Works. He noticed that a lot of this equipment seemed like the kind of stuff he could find in his parents basement, but it was all different, and it seemed a lot darker too. Wherever he was he had to get out of here right away.
"I'm going ghost," said Danny as he transformed into his ghost self, thankfully still able to do so despite being restrained. He tried to go intangible to faze out of his restraints, but for some reason wasn't able too. In fact when he tried he felt all four of his limbs tingle as the ecto restraints glowed brighter. "What, I can't get loose, what is this place?"
"Oh good Daniel you're awake," came a sinister sounding voice from behind him. Danny didn't need to actually look to recognize who it was. His expression immediately turned to a sneer as his eyes narrowed.
"Plasmius, figures this would all be your doing," said Danny trying to look up where the voice came from, seeing his arch enemy upside down from his perspective.
"I must say Daniel I really like the new look, something that your dear girlfriend did for you no doubt considering the color and the logo," said Plasmius cheerfully as he made his way beside Danny. "Oh and do feel free to try to use your powers again, these restraints can actually siphon the ectoplasmic energy of your abilities and transfer it to power my machines. So you're basically a free extra generator right now."
Danny glared up at Plasmius as he realized his powers were not only currently useless, but they'd only help his enemy if he used them.
"You are so sick, you've actually resorted to kidnapping, you won't get away with this," said Danny roughly, trying to sound intimidating before switching to mocking. "And thanks for the compliment by the way, I agree the new look is really bad ass. I'm so happy to have someone that actually loves me and does nice things for me as a result. You know what that feels like don't you?"
Plasmius hid his annoyance by keeping his cocky smirk on his face.
"Make all the jokes you want Daniel, for soon you won't be able to do so anymore, or anything else for that matter," said Plasmius as he walked back over to another operating station. "Once I make some adjustments and run a few experiments with this handy little device, I'll be able to get everything I want in this world."
Danny sat his head up as high as he could to see what he was talking about. His eyes shot open when he realized he was referring to Ember's guitar.
"What are you doing with that," Danny demanded angrily, wanting to rip it right from Plasmius's hands and protect it until he could get it back to Ember.
"Oh, it was delivered to me earlier by Skulker along with yourself," said Plasmius while rubbing his hands together playfully. "I have big big plans for this thing, and thanks to these scans, it'll be very easy to do so."
Plasmius held up what looked like blueprints of some kind, and they were of Ember's guitar.
"Since your puny little mind couldn't possibly understand this, I'll explain," said Plasmius smugly with his eyes closed. "These scans of your girlfriend's guitar were taken by Skulker when you were all at the Christmas truce party. He may be a tiny little blob in reality, but that suit of his really does have some great abilities, and thanks to them I already have a full analysis of this guitar. Now I just need to make some improvements and it'll get me everything I deserve."
Danny suddenly looked horrified. He'd seen what Ember could do with that guitar plenty of times already as it currently was. He didn't want to imagine what Plasmius would try to do with it once he made whatever adjustments he was planning. As he was watching and processing, a thought suddenly occurred to Danny about what Plasmius meant.
"You're going to use it to brainwash my mom into leaving my dad aren't you," said Danny in disgust. Plasmius just kept smiling and looked back at Danny.
"Oh that is only one of many things I plan to do little badger," said Plasmius happily. "Also that is not completely accurate, your mom won't simply be leaving your father."
Danny's eyes shot open at Plasmius's words, horrified at what he was implying. But before he could say anything else he heard several loud noises coming from another direction.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR*
Danny tried to turn his head towards the direction of the roar he just heard, thinking whatever it was didn't sound very friendly, or small.
"Patience my minions, patience, if Skulker fails to destroy Ember I'm sure she will show up here at some point, and you'll all get to have some fun then," said Plasmius looking towards the direction of the roars himself.
Danny looked back at Plasmius, hanging onto one part of his statement.
'Ember is still okay, thank goodness,' thought Danny to himself. 'Please let her be okay without her guitar and find me.'
Danny laid his head back on the table he was restrained to. For the time being all he could do was lay and wait, hoping for a rescue party at some point.
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A/N Holy crap holy crap holy crap what is that bitter old fruitloop up to, no good it would seem. Danny is in way over his head and needs his girlfriend and friends to hurry their asses up and figure out where he is. Hopefully when they get to Skulker's they can make quick work of him and get to Wisconsin fast. But only time will tell as to whether it will go that way, so looks like everyone will just have to wait and see. Side note, how about Jazz with the save at the beginning? I have been patiently waiting for the right moment to bring her into the inner circle, teasing it so much along the way. Funny thing, my original layout of the story didn't even have her getting involved, she was just going to stay as a secret observer in the background. But as I'm sure any writer knows, when you actually write the story it almost never goes the way you planned, and you end up making all kinds of changes. So when I got to this point of the story I just had the thought that this was the perfect time to bring her in, and I'm really happy with the way it went because I've been dying to do it for a long time. Other side note, how about Sam being willing to make peace with Ember? Who would have ever thought that was possible? But there are more important things right now and we'll just have to see how that goes later. The main goal is keeping Danny from becoming a full ghost, only time will tell if they succeed. In the meantime I love you all, as always your support means everything. Please show your support by clicking that button right below here and leaving a REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! See you all next week.