ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Danny Phantom: Ancient History
Part Two
By Aaron
Back outside the city, a rapid-fire barrage of electrical blasts burst from an old-west six shooter, hammering away at the light barrier. But it seemed that no matter how many shots were fired or how intense, nothing seemed capable of breaching the dome. Dropping his gun arm, which was coated in an odd crystalline substance, a pair of green rings encircled the attacker’s body, which ultimately revealed G, who could only let out a heavy sigh.
“No sense wasting the energy. If THAT’S not going to be enough to punch through that thing, then NOTHING will,” he thought out loud. “Sorry Danny, I tried my best. But it looks like you’re on your own.”
… … … …
Back inside the dome, Ghost Tucker and Hotep-Ra continued to enjoy the spoils of their conquest. With Danny and Sam bound and everyone else powerless to intervene, the panicked cries of the people below sounded quite satisfying indeed.
“Ah, nothing like having your own kingdom. And it couldn’t happen to a more deserving soul, in my opinion,” Ghost Tucker boasted, feeling quite pleased with himself. “Now…what should my FIRST royal proclamation be?”
“If you’ll forgive yet another suggestion from your most humble servant,” Hotep-Ra chimed in, turning towards Tucker with a wicked grin. “A king would do well to not have any possible usurpers challenging his claim to the throne.”
“Tucker, run! You’ve got to get out of here!” Danny shouted, instantly picking up on where Hotep-Ra’s train of thought was headed.
Tucker, however, could only stay rooted to the spot, completely paralyzed. Caught between his fear of the situation and his guilt at abandoning his friends, he seemed completely at a loss for what he should do. Unfortunately, all that hesitation was doing was providing his enemies all the more time to do something to HIM.
“Tucker, you can’t help us if anything happens to YOU!” Sam yelled, snapping Tucker out of his indecision. “Just go!”
As much as Tucker didn’t want to admit, Sam was absolutely right. Making a decision, Tucker followed his instincts and bounded down the steps of the palace.
“Guards! Seize him!” Hotep-Ra commanded, sending a patrol of jackal-headed guards in pursuit.
“Oh relax! I’VE got this!” Ghost Tucker interrupted, preparing to take up the chase himself.
Fortunately for Tucker, Danny wasn’t as helpless and he’d originally led everyone to believe. Activating his freezing powers, he turned the shackle on one of his wrists brittle enough to shatter with a hard pull. And with one arm free, he fired a full-power Ghost Ray, which sent Ghost Tucker and Hotep-Ra flying back, buying Tucker the time he needed to escape. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to help them escape, as Ghost Tucker recovered almost instantly. Growling in frustration at having lost his quarry, Ghost Tucker waved the Scarab Scepter and Danny’s wrist was chained once again.
Tucker, meanwhile, had reached the bottom of the palace and was quickly escaping into the bewildered crowd. Quickly blending in, he soon became virtually indistinguishable to the pursuing guards.
“Can’t you find him?!” Ghost Tucker bellowed from the top of the palace.
“Forgiveness, my liege,” one of the guards called back up. “But…they all look alike to us.”
“Then arrest them ALL! He HAS to be down there SOMEWHERE!” Hotep-Ra snarled angrily, only to return to a more submissive state upon catching a dirty look from Ghost Tucker, “With your permission, of course, oh Great One.”
At that moment, Tucker’s camouflage bought him no comfort as the guards immediately began apprehending everyone in sight, in an attempt to thin out the herd and track him down. But there was nothing he could do for any of them. Fleeing onward, he ducked around buildings and into alleyways. Only when he felt absolutely certain that no one was following him did he finally stop to catch his breath.
Unfortunately, he still had a big problem on his hands. There was still a city swarming with guards, all after his head, at Hotep-Ra and Ghost Tucker’s command. But even if there wasn’t, so what? When it came right down to it, Tucker was still alone, facing both ghosts with no weapons and no backup…not that any amount of either could POSSIBLY stand up to the power of the Scarab Scepter.
“What do I do now?” Tucker sighed, feeling completely helpless.
Then, suddenly, an idea popped into his head. What if he could catch Ghost Tucker by surprise and get the Scarab Scepter AWAY from him? That would make the odds at least a LITTLE more even, wouldn’t it? Tucker had a fairly confident idea on how this could be achieved. After all, it had the virtue of having worked before. But there was no possible way he could do it alone. Not only because it would require more people for the plan to work, but also because Tucker didn’t trust himself to try and take the Scarab Scepter personally, still remembering what it did to him the last time. Clearly, he was going to need some allies, but where was he going to find them?
Just then, he caught the sounds of movement from around the corner. Peering out from his hiding place, he caught the sight of a group of people being marched to the jails by a contingent of guards. Tucker instantly recognized classmates like Dash, Kwan and Star, along with a few parents, a couple of City Council members and Tanya among the group’s number. These might be people that could help him. At this point, ANYTHING would be a benefit. Of course, it still didn’t change the fact that he was all alone, with no one to count on rescuing them but himself. But what choice did he have? He had to try SOMETHING. Pausing to take a deep breath, Tucker took a moment to try and get his confidence up.
“Alright…time to man up, dude. It’s cool, you can do this. You’re a WARRIOR. Just get out there and…AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
Tucker’s efforts to pump himself up were interrupted by a gentle tap on the shoulder, causing him to leap into the air with a piercing shriek. Whirling around in mid-scream, he flailed his arms wildly, trying to slap away whoever had just snuck up behind him. But he was in for an even bigger surprise as he finally snapped out of his fit, opening his eyes to see a familiar round face staring back at him, complete with a white ponytail and a simple wave from her hand.
“Hi.”
“Danielle!” Tucker exclaimed. “What are YOU doing here?”
“Seriously? You can ASK me that question?” Danielle answered sarcastically as she held out her arms to demonstrate the entire transformed city. “I was just eating in the Lunch Room at school, totally minding my own business, when my sandwich…my delicious peanut butter and blueberry jam SAND-wich…turned into…wait for it…SAND! All I know is that SOMEONE around here owes me an explanation…not to mention, LUNCH. So what’s going on here? Where are Danny and Sam?”
“Danny and Sam…aren’t available,” Tucker replied uneasily. “They got captured by the ghosts who were responsible for all this?”
“What?! Well, why didn’t you SAY so?!” Danielle shouted, instantly flying off. “I’ve got to…!”
“Danielle, wait!” Tucker cut her off, grabbing her arm to pull her back down to earth. “Listen to me! You don’t know what you’re up against. You wouldn’t last five seconds or get within a hundred yards with the power they’ve got right now. The only way we’re going to even have a chance to win this is to take that power AWAY from them.”
“And just how are we supposed to do THAT?” Danielle argued.
“Actually, I’ve got an idea that might work, but we’re gonna need some backup first,” Tucker answered, taking a moment to peer outside the alley once more. “So what do you say? Feel up to helping me organize a little prison break?”
“Whatever you say…’Warrior’. Nice battle cry by the way,” Danielle joked, mimicking Tucker’s expression from when she’d approached him just a few moments ago, “Goes right up there with ‘Please don’t hurt me!’ and ‘Not in the face! Not in the face’!”
“Oh, you’re hilarious,” Tucker grumbled while Danielle could only giggle behind him in response.
… … … …
Not far away, the group Tucker had spotted being captured by the guards was just being locked up in their large cell. Two guards were being left behind to keep watch over the prisoners while the rest made off to resume their search for Tucker. The people inside the cell, however, were still too distressed to fully understand what was going on. But what they DID know is that they hoped this nightmare would soon come to an end.
Just then, a black and white blur streaked past the cell doors, tackling both guards and sending them flying out of view. None of the prisoners could make out what was happening, but they could definitely hear sounds of fighting, accompanied by an occasional green flash. After a few moments, everything went silent, only to have the group receive another surprise as Tucker burst in front of the cell door.
“Is everyone alright?” he asked.
“Foley?! What are YOU doing here?” Dash exclaimed.
“Getting you guys out, what does it LOOK like?” Tucker replied as Danielle tossed him the keys from the dazed guards. “I’m also running a small recruitment drive. I think I can put a stop to this, but I’m gonna need a couple of volunteers.”
“Hah! Are you kidding? You ran off and abandoned us the first chance you got! Why would ANYONE here volunteer to be led by YOU?” Star objected, drawing more than a few unhappy glances in Tucker’s direction.
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I was able to avoid getting locked up in here and YOU weren’t?” Tucker responded sarcastically as he opened the door, creating a group of low foreheads, nodding and grudgingly muttering in agreement. “Now, like I said, I’ve got an idea on how we can get out of this, but I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need at least a couple of you to help me out. Can I count on you guys?”
“Now wait a second,” Kwan chimed in. “What exactly are you going to need us to do?”
“You? Nothing. Anyone who comes along is just going to be a distraction, for show,” Tucker answered as he waved over outside and Danielle stepped into the doorway. “SHE’S going to be doing the heavy lifting.”
“Who is THAT?!” Star blurted out, merely voicing what everyone else was thinking.
“Until we get Danny Phantom and Sam Tasma back in this fight, she’s the only big gun we’ve got,” Tucker replied as Danielle simply stood confidently with her arms crossed. “Trust me…she can do what we need her to do. OUR job is going to be just getting her close enough to DO it.”
“This pipsqueak? Are you kidding? What is SHE going to do? Run up and bite them on the…Hey!” Dash’s argument was cut off as Danielle grabbed his ankle with one hand, floating up and lifting him upside down off the ground. “Put me down!”
“Anyone else care to leave a comment?” Danielle announced sternly while Dash merely dangled helplessly from her grip, wailing in protest.
No one else had any objections after that, all shaking their heads or holding up their hands in submission. A few moments later, most of the prisoners made their escape out of the cell, each of them cautiously looking around for any sign that someone might be following them.
“Okay, just stick to dark alleys and in between buildings and stay out of sight. You’ll be fine,” Tucker instructed before turning his attention to Dash, Kwan and a few members of the Casper High football team, who all stayed behind. “Okay now here’s how we’re going to do this. First, we have to…”
It was at that moment, that Tucker looked up to see Tanya had stayed behind, remaining in the cell, keeping a fair distance from everyone. And it wasn’t hard to see why. All Tucker had to do was look into Tanya’s eyes and the dread on her face more than told the story.
“Guys, give me a second, okay? Danielle, keep an eye on the door, make sure no one’s coming by,” Tucker requested as he walked up to Tanya, who seemed to be growing more rattled with each step he took. “Tanya…?”
Instinctively, Tucker reached out to offer a hand of comfort. But almost instantly, Tanya pulled herself away.
“Tanya, are you okay?” Tucker asked quietly.
“How…can you…ask me that?” Tanya responded, keeping her own voice down to avoid making a scene. “How many months have I been working for you? I TRUSTED you. And now, suddenly, this entire town that YOU are in charge of is in the middle of this because of YOU? WHAT…is going on?”
“Tanya, I…,” Tucker cut himself off, finding it hard to come up with an actual explanation. “It’s…it’s a long story. I’m not sure we’ve got time to…”
“MAKE time! Because as far as I’m concerned, I’m safer in HERE until you start giving me some answers!” Tanya argued. “You need to tell me what those things were and how you’re mixed up in all this. You need to tell me why one of them LOOKS like you…”
“…You need to make me TRUST you again.”
Tucker could only hang his head, partly because he didn’t want to answer. But with a heavy sigh of submission, he nodded slightly and motioned for Tanya to step over to the wall, farther away from the others.
“Okay,” he began, taking a moment to steady himself. “It all started about a year ago…”
… … … …
After a while, a pair of guards was walking through the streets, continuing their search for Tucker. But they soon found something else as a pair of Ghost Rays shot out from a nearby corridor, slamming into the two and putting them down for the count. A moment later, Tucker and Danielle were peering out into the street, searching for any witnesses.
“Come on, let’s go,” he whispered to Dash and the others as they ran out into the street to drag the incapacitated guards back into the alley.
“Dude, do you seriously think this is going to work?” Dash asked uncomfortably.
“All they have to do is buy it for five seconds,” Tucker answered. “Trust me, that’s more than we’ll need.”
… … … …
Back at the palace, Danny and Sam were still imprisoned by Hotep-Ra and Ghost Tucker. Struggling with all their might to get free, they were unable to break their shackles. And now, thanks to Ghost Tucker concentrating through the Scarab Scepter to make the shackles even stronger, even Danny’s freezing powers were of no help.
“Unh…you know, I’m starting to think we need to do a LOT more research on scepters,” Sam remarked after pausing from her latest attempt to free herself, “Because we are having absolutely NOTHING but bad luck with those things.”
“So…not looking so high and mighty NOW, are we?” Ghost Tucker couldn’t help gloating. “How does it feel when someone ELSE has got all the power for a change.”
“Yeah, uh huh,” Danny replied dismissively. “You know, the only thing that’s going to make this whole thing worth it…is seeing the look on your face when your new buddy in the body cast stabs you in the back.”
Ghost Tucker didn’t reply to Sam’s statement. For a moment, he seemed almost…perplexed.
“Oh, what…He never TOLD you that he made Tucker the same offer?” Sam taunted. “I mean, come on. Did you REALLY think YOU were the first one he CAME to?”
“Why would it even occur to him? He thought he was getting a free ride,” Danny responded mockingly. “That’s all he EVER wants.”
“Shut up…,” Ghost Tucker muttered angrily.
“Go ahead. Ask your ‘mummy’ how long THEIR little ‘bromance’ lasted,” Sam continued goading. “Assuming he isn’t already planning to throw you away. I mean, it took him about this long to use up the REAL Tucker. With YOU, I figure it’s got to be at LEAST…”
“SHUT UP!!!” Ghost Tucker bellowed, pointing a flashing Scarab Scepter in Sam’s direction.
“My Pharaoh!” a deep, yet oddly feminine voice called from behind, yanking Ghost Tucker out of his tantrum. “We have done as you commanded.”
As Hotep-Ra emerged from the inside the palace, Danny and Sam looked over in shock to see Tucker, his head low being led up the stairs, along with a handful of schoolmates and three guards. Ghost Tucker and Hotep-Ra couldn’t have been more overjoyed at his capture. But Danny and Sam’s concern suddenly turned to confusion. Because one thing was for certain, these guards leading Tucker up the steps didn’t look like the typical guards that they’d seen running around so far.
“Excellent,” Hotep-Ra responded, his attention fixed squarely on Tucker as he wrung his hands with wicked glee. “Does ‘my liege’ have anything last words before I pronounce sentence?”
“Hey!” Ghost Tucker protested.
“Actually…yeah,” an oddly high-pitched voice came out of Tucker’s mouth, much to Hotep-Ra’s confusion. But his bewilderment turned to alarm as Tucker’s head shot up, smirking at him with glowing green eyes.
“Are you REALLY this stupid?”
Before Hotep-Ra could react, Danielle phased out of Tucker’s body, slamming her fist square into the mummy’s face and sending him flying back into a stone wall. Danielle then turned her attention to a still-stunned Ghost Tucker, firing a Ghost Ray stream that knocked the Scarab Scepter out of his hand.
“Treason!” Hotep-Ra shouted as Danielle unleashed a volley of Ghost Ray bolts which cracked Danny and Sam’s shackles, allowing them to break free.
“Alright, all of you…go!” Tucker shouted to the prisoners behind him as the guards that led him to the palace shed their jackal masks to reveal themselves as Dash, Kwan and Tanya. But before he fled with them, Tucker couldn’t help turning his attention back to Hotep-Ra.
“Okay, I’m not surprised that HE fell for this,” Tucker remarked, pointing at his ghostly twin while keeping his gaze fixed on Hotep-Ra, “But you? YOU should have known better, Dude.”
With a bellow, Hotep-Ra lashed out a stretching arm in Tucker’s direction, unwilling to let this insult stand. But Danny was already leaping to Tucker’s defense, firing a Freezing Ghost Ray, which iced over Hotep Ra’s arm, before shattering it with a hard front kick.
“Rrrr! What are you waiting for?!” Hotep-Ra growled at Ghost Tucker as he nursed his arm. “Get that Scepter back, you fool!”
“Hey! Who’s the Pharaoh here?!” Ghost Tucker shouted in protest.
“What you’ll be is NOTHING if you don’t retrieve that Scepter!” Hotep-Ra argued. “Now go FIND it!”
Ghost Tucker’s eyes flashed in anger, wanting nothing more than to punish Hotep-Ra for his defiant outburst. But at the same time, he had to admit that Hotep-Ra was right. Without the power of the Scarab Scepter, he was a nothing but a sitting duck. However, before Ghost Tucker could take off to look for it, he found his path blocked by Sam, who had a scowl of wicked intent across her face.
“Hey, Mister ‘I-Want-Everything-You’ve-Got’!” Sam called out, surprising Ghost Tucker as her eyes glowed orange and flames burst from her hands. “What to see what ELSE you can’t do?!”
Ghost Tucker found himself gasping in shock as Sam unleashed a wave of ghostly flame towards him. But at the same time, he wasn’t so stunned that he was unable to avoid the attack, darting up into the sky as the fire passed harmlessly underneath him. However, the same couldn’t be said for Hotep-Ra, who took the attack head-on and instantly burst into flames. Flying off of the building as a giant fireball, it took only seconds for him to burn away to ash and drift away on the breeze.
Meanwhile, Ghost Tucker quickly found that he still wasn’t out of danger, either. He may have avoided Sam’s attack. But as he took off into the sky, he quickly discovered that he wasn’t moving fast enough to avoid Danielle, who flew up past him, only to send him hurtling back down to earth with a hard punch.
As the battle continued to rage, atop the palace, Tucker had caught up with Tanya and the others as they retreated down the steps. But he soon found them stopped dead in their tracks as they were faced with a battalion of Jackal guards charging straight towards them.
“Dash, we can’t stay here!” Tucker called. “We’ve got to move!”
“Are you nuts?!” Dash shouted back in fear. “Look at those things! How are we supposed to stand up to them?!”
“Come on, Dash, don’t think like a human facing ghosts! Think like a football player facing an opposing team!” Tucker argued. “Now YOU look at those guys. They’re scrawny, 90-pound beanpoles. If you were on the field and saw THEM coming towards you, would YOU stand for that?”
“NO WAY!” Dash declared before turning to Kwan and his fellow teammates. “Alright team! QB’s calling a play! Defensive wall formation! Just mow ‘em down, got it?! Now HIKE!”
At Dash’s command, Kwan and the others surged ahead with a combined yell, slamming into the charging guards and tearing through their line with virtually no effort. For the moment, Tucker was pleased with the results of his little pep talk, but at the same time, he still had the safety of others to look after.
“Tanya, go with them!” he called to her. “They’ll get you out of here. Just get someplace safe until this is over.”
With a nod, Tanya did as Tucker instructed, running after Dash and the others. But Tucker wasn’t about to follow. Turning his gaze upward towards the palace, he had more pressing matters to attend to as he ran back towards the fighting.
Meanwhile, more guards were making their way up another flight of steps to the roof of the palace. But with the high ground, Danny and Sam had the clear advantage. An advantage that Danny was more than willing to press as he tossed a giant Ghost Ray Sphere into the steps, sending guards exploding in all directions. Next, it was Sam’s turn. Drawing a pair of Fiery Ghost Ray Blades, she plunged them into the palace roof, sending trails of flame erupting down the steps and causing the guards that Danny hadn’t blown away to leap to safety.
But Sam’s flames apparently did much more than that. Reaching the bottom of the palace, they continued snaking along the ground…directly in the path of Hotep-Ra, who was just regenerating from being incinerated by Sam’s last attack.
“I…AM…RISEN!!!” Hotep-Ra bellowed. But at that exact moment, Sam’s flames roared past, lighting his body up like a roman candle and returning him to ash once again.
Meanwhile, Danielle continued to trade blasts and blows with Ghost Tucker, who was becoming more and more frustrated as the battle went on. Bad enough that Danny and Sam were able to beat him so soundly, just the night before, but now this CHILD was managing to keep pace with him? If something didn’t happen to turn the tables, and FAST, he was going to be completely and utterly humiliated.
But just then, at that exact moment, a glittering flash caught the corner of his eye. Looking over, Ghost Tucker caught a glimpse of the Scarab Scepter peeking out of the sand, its central jewel sparkling in the sun. Sensing salvation, he broke off his fight with Danielle and streaked toward the ground, hoping to get the Scepter back into his hand again.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Danielle shouted, firing a pair of Ghost Rays straight at Ghost Tucker once she noticed what he was headed for.
But Ghost Tucker was one step ahead, forming his own Ghost Ray energy into a shield for Danielle’s blast to slam into, exploding on impact. The force of the detonation sent Ghost Tucker hurtling downward even faster, slamming into ground at top speed.
For a moment, it looked as if Ghost Tucker’s stunt had backfired on him, until his hand burst from the sand, holding the Scarab Scepter. A second later, Ghost Tucker exploded from the ground in an eruption of raw power, sending lighting streaming in all directions. One of the bolts knocked Danielle out of sky, only to be caught in Danny’s arms as he and Sam flew off the top of the palace to find cover.
Laughing with demented glee, Ghost Tucker no longer seemed to care who his targets were as he floated into the sky, continuing to pound the land with streams of lightning. And without so much as a second to move, Danny, Sam and Danielle could only remain hidden under a stone outcropping, hoping to be safe from the blasts.
“This is nuts!” Danny shouted over the thunderous noise. “As long as he’s got that Scepter in his hands, he can’t be stopped! We’ve GOT to find SOME way to get it away from him!”
Just then, Danny and the others heard a series of yelps and cries out over the din. Instantly, they looked out to see Tucker darting from one direction to the next, trying desperately to stay away from the lighting slamming into the ground.
“Tucker!” Sam called out as she lashed out one of her Ghost Ray Strands, wrapping Tucker around the waist and pulling him inside to safety.
“Dude, are you alright?” Danny asked worriedly, while Tucker could only respond with panting and a shuddering nod.
“Tucker, we need your help!” Sam exclaimed. “We’ve got to get you up there so you can get that Scepter away from him and erase this whole mess! You’re the only other person who can use it! No one can do it but you!”
“Are you out of your mind?!” Tucker blurted out, having managed to catch his breath. “You think I want to go back to THAT again?!”
“Uh, Tucker…not exactly flush with options here!” Danny pointed out in distress.
“Hel-LO! Has everyone forgotten what happened last time when that thing TOOK ME OVER?!” Tucker argued.
“Yeah, at FIRST! But then, when you used it LATER, it DIDN’T!” Sam noted. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe the only reason it took control of you the first time was because you LET it?”
“What are you talking about?” Tucker asked, curiously.
“Tucker, I’m going to ask you a question. And I want you to give me an honest answer, okay?” Danny responded. “When you were running for Student Council President that time, were you doing it because you actually wanted to do the job? Or were you just doing it to get attention, like Dash was?”
“Well…it’s not like I…wouldn’t have…DONE…the job…,” Tucker answered half-heartedly.
“And that was why you dropped out, wasn’t it? Because you knew you were running for the wrong reasons,” Danny went on. “Now let me ask you this…when the City Council came to you and offered you the job as Mayor…did you take the job because you actually wanted to do it?”
“Honestly…,” Tucker hesitated at first, “…I…really wanted to DO it.”
“You wanted to help someone else, didn’t you? You didn’t want it just for yourself,” Danny continued, pointing up towards an insane Ghost Tucker. “Don’t you get it? It’s not gonna be like last time! Because you’re not that guy, anymore! You’re not HIM! So don’t worry about it, okay?”
“Tucker, look around you,” Sam chimed in as she guided her hand towards the people huddled indoors and behind walls, trying desperately to seek shelter from Ghost Tucker’s onslaught. “These people need help! We can’t give it to them! Only YOU can! They need you to do what you did when you agreed to be Mayor! They need you to step up! So what’s it gonna be?”
Clenching his fists, Tucker could only shut his eyes tight, his mind still plagued with doubt. But the sounds of Ghost Tucker’s wild laughter, accompanied by the screams of frightened people, suddenly had his eyes pop open with a stern gaze as the words escaped his lips.
“Let’s do this.”
Back up above, Ghost Tucker appeared to be completely unhinged, continuing to laugh maniacally as the city below suffered his wrath. But his madness was quickly cut short as a pair of Ghost Rays shot past his face. Turning his gaze downward in a rage, he saw Danny flying up towards him at top speed, his hands blazing with ecto-energy.
Ghost Tucker, however, wasn’t about to let such an insult go unpunished. And with swing of his arm, he unleashed a wave of energy from the Scarab Scepter, knocking Danny out of the sky and sending him slamming back down to the ground. And before Danny could recover, Ghost Tucker was already hovering over him, a flashing Scarab Scepter pointed right at his head.
“Did you REALLY think that you could beat me with the power that I have now?!” Ghost Tucker boasted joyfully.
“I’m not TRYING to beat you,” Danny replied with a smirk. “I’m the distraction.”
“Distraction? From what?” Ghost Tucker uttered in confusion.
“Take a wild guess!” Sam’s voice called from behind him.
As Ghost Tucker whirled around and looked up, Sam was already on the move, using one of her Ghost Ray Strands to slingshot Tucker towards him. And before Ghost Tucker could react, Tucker had already reached him, grabbing the Scarab Scepter and causing it to emit a brilliant flash of light.
“What…What are you doing?!” Ghost Tucker shouted, barely able to see through the dazzling gleam being radiated by the Scepter.
“What does it LOOK like, genius…?!” Tucker replied angrily.
Suddenly, a wave of force slammed into Ghost Tucker’s body, causing him to lose his grip on the Scepter as he flew back. Quickly, he managed to stop himself. But as he looked up and the blinding light faded, he saw Tucker floating in front of him, holding the Scarab Scepter in-hand and dressed in the royal garments of King Duulaman, with glowing red eyes and a firm scowl across his face.
“…I’M TAKING BACK MY TOWN!!”
“Aw nuts…” Ghost Tucker groaned, just before Tucker blasted him with a beam of energy from the Scarab Scepter, sending him flying with a loud yelp.
“Oh, I think he’s got this,” Danny remarked confidently as he turned to Sam and Danielle. “What do you say we help clean house?”
With that, Danny and the others took off to deal with the few remaining guards who remained scattered around the area. But as soon as the guards saw what was coming their way, they were all quick to beat a hasty retreat.
One individual, however, who was more than eager to rejoin the fight, was Hotep-Ra. It took him longer to regenerate than usual, in light of Sam’s Ghostly Flame. But as Sam flew past, chasing a pair of guards, he finally managed to swirl his ashes back into form once again.
“I…AM…RISEN!!!” Hotep-Ra bellowed once more. And indeed he was…until Sam peeked her head back for a moment and snapped her fingers, causing a column of flame to erupt under Hotep-Ra’s feet before flying off to continue her chase.
“OH COME NOW, THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH!” Hotep-Ra hollered after Sam before his body was once again reduced to ash.
Meanwhile, Tucker’s battle with his ghost half was turning more into a one-sided pounding as Ghost Tucker tried desperately to flee, firing a volley of Ghost Rays to try and slow Tucker down. But Tucker wouldn’t be stopped, swatting each of the blasts away with the Scarab Scepter before catching up to Ghost Tucker like he was standing still. Grabbing his evil twin’s face, Tucker held him forward as the two flew on, smashing through the wall of a nearby pyramid at blinding speed. For a few seconds, they had both disappeared, save for some thunderous echoes and brief flashes of light coming from the hole in the pyramid. But just then, the top of the pyramid erupted as Ghost Tucker was sent blasting through and up into the sky on a beam of energy. Eventually, he managed to get off the beam in mid-air, but he was in very sorry shape, battered and wobbly, unable to even lift his arms. A second later, though, he immediately realized his troubles weren’t over yet as he weakly turned to see Tucker floating behind him, appearing to not have even broken a sweat.
“Had enough?” Tucker asked sternly, gripping the Scarab Scepter even tighter in his hand.
“So what?!” Ghost Tucker protested. “You beat me! Big deal! You could beat ANYBODY as long as you’re holding THAT thing! What’re you gonna do now…just throw it away? You think it’s gonna make you some big hero? What’s the point, if you’re just gonna go back to being that wimp?!”
“Who are you seriously thinking about giving it up for, huh? Them?!” Ghost Tucker went on, pointing down at Danny, Sam and Danielle, who were continuing to dispatch the remaining guards. “And for what? So you can go back to having them look down on you all the time? Or worse, so you can go back to having them come SAVE you all the time? Why should you have to make THEM look good? With that Scepter, you could have whatever you want…whatever WE want…”
“…So what’s it gonna be? Do you want to BE somebody? Or do you want to just go back to being their dumb comic relief?”
Tucker didn’t respond at first, looking away briefly before moving his gaze down at the Scarab Scepter in his hand. For a moment, it looked as though Ghost Tucker’s words might actually be getting through to him. But a second later, he looked up at Ghost Tucker’s wicked grin and a hard frown crossed his face.
“If it means turning back into YOU…I’ll take my chances,” Tucker declared as he raised the Scarab Scepter, blasting his ghostly doppelganger out of the sky with another stream of energy and sending him hurtling to earth, where another ghostly menace was once again pulling himself back together.
“I…AM…RIS…oof!” Hotep-Ra’s proclamation was cut short as Ghost Tucker slammed into him hard, sending both ghosts bouncing and rolling across the desert floor.
Picking himself up as best he could, with Ghost Tucker’s dazed body flopped on top of him, Hotep-Ra looked up angrily to see who would have dared disgrace him with such an insult. But what he soon discovered, to his dread, was Tucker pointing a flashing Scarab Scepter right between his eyes, with Danny, Sam and Danielle standing triumphantly behind him.
“Give…me…an excuse,” Tucker stated threateningly.
“Uuuhh…my…my liege,” Hotep-Ra shuddered, instantly changing his demeanor as he attempted to bow. “Your…humble servant hears and obe…”
“Oh come on, that’s not even a NICE try. Besides, I think we BOTH know you don’t have anything I want,” Tucker interrupted before creating a miniature portal with the Scarab Scepter, reaching inside and pulling out the Fenton Thermos to give to Danny. “I believe this is yours.”
“I don’t know. Would YOU care to do the honors?” Danny offered.
“Hmm…nah. I think I made my point,” Tucker replied with a grin.
No sense wasting any more time. Taking the Thermos in hand, Danny immediately opened it up, sealing up a bellowing Hotep-Ra, along with a prone Ghost Tucker. With the battle brought to an end, the few straggling guards in the area were left with no choice but to flee. At the moment, all the people in hiding swarmed out, applauding Danny and the others for coming to their rescue…especially Tucker. Even Tanya, standing on the sidelines, had to smile, joining in the ovation, herself.
“Way to go, Tucker,” Sam praised silently, gently nudging him in the side as the crowd continued to clamor around them. “I think this town just got a whole new appreciation for you.”
“Yeah…maybe. But I’d prefer they appreciated me for another reason,” Tucker replied with a shrug, looking down at the Scarab Scepter before raising it over his head. “And that’s why I say that we all go back to what we were doing before all of this happened! And that no one has any memory of this, or any knowledge of the Scarab Scepter, except for the members of Team Phantom!”
“Oh…and her, too,” he added, looking over at a bewildered Tanya before pulling the Scepter in for one last whisper. “And just between the two of us…let’s get THIS one right.”
With that, the Scarab Scepter let out a blinding flash, enveloping the entire town. And as the light struck the barrier, it instantly dissolved away, much to the surprise of “G”, who was sitting against the dome before losing his support and falling flat on his back.
“What the…?!” he blurted out, finding himself suddenly looking up at the sky before he sat up and looked around to see that the town had returned to normal. “Huh…well, I’m not sure what just happened, but I am not complaining.”
… … … …
Back inside the town, the flash from the Scarab Scepter vanished, just as instantly as it appeared. Danny, Sam and Danielle, were still in their ghost forms and found themselves back at City Hall, outside the Council Chamber with Tanya and Tucker, who was still holding the Scarab Scepter.
“Here,” Tucker requested, handing the Scepter to Danny. “You might want to put this someplace safer than a museum. If either one of those two creeps gets their hands on this again, we’re probably not gonna like it.”
“Wait a minute…are you sure you want to do what you just did?” Danny had to ask.
“Yeah. You know, saving an entire town like that. You’ve gotta admit, that would be some pretty good PR,” Sam agreed, while Tucker merely responded with a shrug.
“I think this town’s got enough super heroes,” he answered simply. “What it NEEDS is a MAYOR.”
Danny and Sam merely responded with a smile. Not only did they admire what Tucker had just decided to do, on a certain level, it actually made them quite…proud.
“Oh nuts! I’ve gotta get back!” Danielle blurted out as she flew off. “I’ve got LUNCH to eat!”
With that, Danielle had phased trough the roof and was gone. Danny and Sam meanwhile, simply looked at each other with an amused grin before taking off themselves, leaving Tucker out in the corridor with Tanya, who was still trying to fit her head around everything that was happening.
“Come on,” Tucker announced, lightly patting her on the arm. “We’ve got a meeting to get to.”
“Sure…right…,” Tanya murmured, instinctively turning around and following Tucker into the Council Chamber.
… … … …
The rest of the day occurred pretty much without incident. The field trip came and went. And once school was over, Sam found herself standing outside City Hall once again. But she soon wasn’t alone as Danny phased up through the street in his ghost form before changing back to normal.
“Get it done?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. It’s all taken care of,” Danny answered before pulling out the Fenton Thermos. But now, we should probably get back to my place. We’ve got two ghosts to dump and I’VE got a few family members who are going to need me to fill in some blanks.”
“Mmm,” Sam agreed, even though she wasn’t in so much of a hurry that she wasn’t willing to take a moment to put her arms around Danny’s neck and pull herself close. “Our boy did good today, didn’t he?”
“Yeah…yeah, he did,” Danny answered, folding his arms around Sam’s waist, savoring the moment himself as they gently swayed back and forth and pressed their foreheads together. But the moment was soon interrupted as Sam heard Danny take a set of quick sniffs.
“Mmmm…”
“If you’re planning on making another barbecue crack, you’d BETTER hope you’re wearing shin guards,” Sam interrupted before finally looking up at Danny with a warning frown.
Danny simply chose to remain silent at that point, simply smiling and making a quick zipping motion across his mouth. Sam could only respond with a cynical smirk, but at the same time, she couldn’t resist leaning in and meeting Danny’s lips with a chain of tender kisses. With that, the pair simply put one arm around each other and walked off, with Sam leaning her head on Danny’s shoulder.
… … … …
Inside City Hall, however, Tucker was sitting at his desk, staring outside the window. Despite all the chaos that had happened earlier in the day, his expression seemed strangely calm. However, his silent contemplation was interrupted as Tanya opened the door, quietly knocking as she walked in.
“You…wanted to see me for a minute?” she asked, trying to sound as composed as she could.
“Yeah, just for a second,” Tucker answered as Tanya walked up to the desk. “You doing okay?”
“I…I think so,” Tanya replied with a shrug. “I suppose I’m just wondering…you know…”
“…Why I didn’t mind-wipe you along with everyone else?” Tucker inquired, while Tanya responded with a simple nod. “Well, I’ll get to that in a second. But honestly, there’s a reason I called you in here…and it’s because I need you to do something for me.”
“What?” Tanya asked innocently, even though she had no way of anticipating the answer that Tucker was about to give her.
“Resign.”
“What…?” Tanya uttered in disbelief. “I…I don’t understand.”
“Tanya, you said you wanted to trust me again. And the reason I didn’t erase your memory is because I wanted you to know that I trust you, too,” Tucker explained. “And…that’s why I need you to resign. Because you can’t be my Secretary if you’re going to do what I need you to do.”
Tanya simply remained silent, growing more confused by the second. Tucker, however, needed a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.
“I’m calling for a Municipal Election on Monday,” he revealed. “I’m going to be running, Tanya. And I want you to be my Campaign Manager.”
“Really?” Tanya asked, clearly caught off-guard.
“And…if I win,” Tucker continued, “I want to appoint you as Deputy Mayor.”
“…You’re serious…” Tanya murmured, while Tucker let out a heavy sigh, taking another moment to collect himself.
“I don’t have a political mind, Tanya. I just don’t,” he confessed. “I DO know that I like this job. I like walking in here and walking out, feeling like I helped to make one person’s life just a little bit better. I think I’m good at this. What I’m NOT good at…is what I have to do to KEEP this. I don’t know how to act like a Candidate. I don’t know how to THINK like a Candidate…”
“But you do. I can tell that much at least,” Tucker continued. “All these moves you’ve been making these last few weeks…rewriting my speeches…feeding me polling data…positioning me for photo ops and putting me next to sponsors…You’ve been carrying me, Tanya. That’s why I did a little checking up on you a few days ago. You were a Political Sciences major in college. You graduated third in your class…”
“I don’t really don’t know why someone like you took this job and I’m really not going to ask,” Tucker added. “But I do know that…there’s no way I could have gotten this far without you. And I know you can do a lot more if you’re not stuck behind that desk.”
“I…I really don’t know what to say…,” Tanya responded, still surprised.
“Just…tell me you can help me,” Tucker asked.
This time, it was Tanya who needed a moment to collect her thoughts. But as she turned back to Tucker, he couldn’t help but notice a positive twinkle in her eyes.
“Yes…I can. But first, I think you really need to understand what you’re getting yourself into,” she answered, her voice becoming more somber as she loomed over the desk, looking Tucker dead in his eyes. “Believe me when I say that absolutely NOTHING you have ever been through can POSSIBLY prepare you for what’s about to happen. You are going to be walking into a pit of rabid dogs and they’re ALL going to be gunning for YOU. They are going to do absolutely everything they can think of to take all of this away from you and they’re not going to care how they do it. They will be going out of their way to tear you down and make you look like some dumb, worthless kid who has absolutely no earthly business being here. And you are going to have a VERY hard time proving them wrong…”
“…There IS some good news, though.”
“Oh…you mean that WASN’T the good news?” Tucker remarked sarcastically.
“IF…you win this thing…this job is going to be yours for as long as you want it,” Tanya continued with a confident gaze. “NO ONE is going to risk destroying their political career before it starts, by running against a guy who was winning elections before he was even old enough to VOTE.”
“Okay, I like that part,” Tucker commented with a nod.
“I’ll submit my resignation in the morning,” Tanya stated, turning and walking out of the office. “In the meantime, you’d better go home and rest up, because we’re going to be going over a lot tomorrow.”
“Tanya?” Tucker’s sudden voice of uncertainty caught her attention as she stopped at the door, turning around to notice a slightly worried expression on his face. “Do you really think I can win?”
Tanya didn’t respond at first, taking a moment to eye Tucker with a serious gaze. But all of a sudden, a gentle smile found its way across her lips.
“Do you really think I’D be working for a 15-year-old kid if I didn’t BELIEVE in him?” she answered simply. And with that response, Tucker suddenly found himself feeling better.
“Thanks Tanya,” he answered gratefully.
“Get some rest,” Tanya warned before finally walking out the door. “Trust me…you’re going to NEED it.”
With that, Tanya was gone, leaving Tucker alone in his office once more. No turning back, now. He’d officially made his decision. But as nervous as he felt at the uncertainty to come, there was a certain level of calmness, too. He couldn’t quite explain it. But maybe he didn’t have to. Maybe it was just enough that he felt it. It gave him the courage to move forward.
Deciding he needed a moment to stretch his legs, Tucker activated the secret elevator which took him to the bunker beneath City Hall. Others would undoubtedly think it strange, but for Tucker, getting a chance to walk around all the technology stored down there was enough to mellow him out. And he could use a good dose of mellow at that particular moment.
However, after a few moments of walking, he quickly noticed that something was very different in the bunker. In the room where the storage capsules were kept, meant to house weapons and other such things, Tucker noticed that one of the capsules was wrapped in brown paper, with a big bow around it. Walking over curiously, he also took note of a simple folded card taped to the side as well, with an equally simple message written upon it…
… … … …
TUCKER,
BECAUSE YOU NEVER REALLY KNOW.
DxS
… … … …
Tucker recognized the card as being from Danny and Sam, but it even made him more curious as to what it meant. Reaching up, he tore away the simple paper wrapping, not sure what to expect. Of course, the last thing he expected to see as his eyes went wide was the glittering form of the Scarab Scepter, floating inside the capsule’s containment field.
Tucker was completely at a loss for words. He’d told Danny and Sam to hide the Scepter someplace safe, but he never imagined they’d leave it here. Granted, there were fewer places more secure than the bunker. But for Tucker, the importance of this was not WHERE Danny and Sam were leaving the Scepter, but WHO they were leaving it with.
As the reality finally sank into Tucker’s head, he couldn’t help but be touched that they were willing to have so much faith in him with something so incredibly powerful. In a way, they were showing just as much faith in him as the people of Amity Park showed him when he was chosen to be Mayor, all those months ago. At that moment, he knew he had to live up to the enormous responsibility that was being entrusted to him. He had to make sure that if he was ever going to USE this power, it could only be as an option of absolute last resort. He couldn’t take it out for every little problem that cropped up.
Of course, having said that, there was no reason he couldn’t take it out for a spin once in while.
“Hmmm…,” he thought out loud with a mischievous look in his eyes.
… … … …
Materializing with an echoing yell, Hotep-Ra looked around to find himself trapped in the swirling vortex of the Ghost Zone. Ghost Tucker was floating close by, But Hotep-Ra was more disconcerted by the endless expanse. He had no idea where he was, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d been placed in some kind of prison. And a hard scowl crossed his face as he thought about the ones who put him IN it.
“You think you can keep me in here!” he raged as Ghost Tucker was just recovering from his daze. “But I WILL find a way to escape! And when I do, my revenge…my most deserved revenge…will be…!”
Just then, Hotep-Ra was taken out of his rant by an enormous shadow which suddenly appeared behind him. Turning around, he and Ghost Tucker were stunned at the sight of the giant Tucker-faced Sphinx, towering overhead. Ghost Tucker was frightened enough at the Sphinx’s titanic size, while Hotep-Ra was terrified for a much more familiar reason. But they were both cry out in fright as the Sphinx growled down before lunging towards them, swallowing them both whole with a single bite. And as it licked its chops, the Sphinx became instantly content as it panted happily.
“Oh…I am NOT looking forward to the passage that leads us out of THIS,” Hotep-Ra’s voice echoed from within.
The End
Part Two
By Aaron
Back outside the city, a rapid-fire barrage of electrical blasts burst from an old-west six shooter, hammering away at the light barrier. But it seemed that no matter how many shots were fired or how intense, nothing seemed capable of breaching the dome. Dropping his gun arm, which was coated in an odd crystalline substance, a pair of green rings encircled the attacker’s body, which ultimately revealed G, who could only let out a heavy sigh.
“No sense wasting the energy. If THAT’S not going to be enough to punch through that thing, then NOTHING will,” he thought out loud. “Sorry Danny, I tried my best. But it looks like you’re on your own.”
… … … …
Back inside the dome, Ghost Tucker and Hotep-Ra continued to enjoy the spoils of their conquest. With Danny and Sam bound and everyone else powerless to intervene, the panicked cries of the people below sounded quite satisfying indeed.
“Ah, nothing like having your own kingdom. And it couldn’t happen to a more deserving soul, in my opinion,” Ghost Tucker boasted, feeling quite pleased with himself. “Now…what should my FIRST royal proclamation be?”
“If you’ll forgive yet another suggestion from your most humble servant,” Hotep-Ra chimed in, turning towards Tucker with a wicked grin. “A king would do well to not have any possible usurpers challenging his claim to the throne.”
“Tucker, run! You’ve got to get out of here!” Danny shouted, instantly picking up on where Hotep-Ra’s train of thought was headed.
Tucker, however, could only stay rooted to the spot, completely paralyzed. Caught between his fear of the situation and his guilt at abandoning his friends, he seemed completely at a loss for what he should do. Unfortunately, all that hesitation was doing was providing his enemies all the more time to do something to HIM.
“Tucker, you can’t help us if anything happens to YOU!” Sam yelled, snapping Tucker out of his indecision. “Just go!”
As much as Tucker didn’t want to admit, Sam was absolutely right. Making a decision, Tucker followed his instincts and bounded down the steps of the palace.
“Guards! Seize him!” Hotep-Ra commanded, sending a patrol of jackal-headed guards in pursuit.
“Oh relax! I’VE got this!” Ghost Tucker interrupted, preparing to take up the chase himself.
Fortunately for Tucker, Danny wasn’t as helpless and he’d originally led everyone to believe. Activating his freezing powers, he turned the shackle on one of his wrists brittle enough to shatter with a hard pull. And with one arm free, he fired a full-power Ghost Ray, which sent Ghost Tucker and Hotep-Ra flying back, buying Tucker the time he needed to escape. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to help them escape, as Ghost Tucker recovered almost instantly. Growling in frustration at having lost his quarry, Ghost Tucker waved the Scarab Scepter and Danny’s wrist was chained once again.
Tucker, meanwhile, had reached the bottom of the palace and was quickly escaping into the bewildered crowd. Quickly blending in, he soon became virtually indistinguishable to the pursuing guards.
“Can’t you find him?!” Ghost Tucker bellowed from the top of the palace.
“Forgiveness, my liege,” one of the guards called back up. “But…they all look alike to us.”
“Then arrest them ALL! He HAS to be down there SOMEWHERE!” Hotep-Ra snarled angrily, only to return to a more submissive state upon catching a dirty look from Ghost Tucker, “With your permission, of course, oh Great One.”
At that moment, Tucker’s camouflage bought him no comfort as the guards immediately began apprehending everyone in sight, in an attempt to thin out the herd and track him down. But there was nothing he could do for any of them. Fleeing onward, he ducked around buildings and into alleyways. Only when he felt absolutely certain that no one was following him did he finally stop to catch his breath.
Unfortunately, he still had a big problem on his hands. There was still a city swarming with guards, all after his head, at Hotep-Ra and Ghost Tucker’s command. But even if there wasn’t, so what? When it came right down to it, Tucker was still alone, facing both ghosts with no weapons and no backup…not that any amount of either could POSSIBLY stand up to the power of the Scarab Scepter.
“What do I do now?” Tucker sighed, feeling completely helpless.
Then, suddenly, an idea popped into his head. What if he could catch Ghost Tucker by surprise and get the Scarab Scepter AWAY from him? That would make the odds at least a LITTLE more even, wouldn’t it? Tucker had a fairly confident idea on how this could be achieved. After all, it had the virtue of having worked before. But there was no possible way he could do it alone. Not only because it would require more people for the plan to work, but also because Tucker didn’t trust himself to try and take the Scarab Scepter personally, still remembering what it did to him the last time. Clearly, he was going to need some allies, but where was he going to find them?
Just then, he caught the sounds of movement from around the corner. Peering out from his hiding place, he caught the sight of a group of people being marched to the jails by a contingent of guards. Tucker instantly recognized classmates like Dash, Kwan and Star, along with a few parents, a couple of City Council members and Tanya among the group’s number. These might be people that could help him. At this point, ANYTHING would be a benefit. Of course, it still didn’t change the fact that he was all alone, with no one to count on rescuing them but himself. But what choice did he have? He had to try SOMETHING. Pausing to take a deep breath, Tucker took a moment to try and get his confidence up.
“Alright…time to man up, dude. It’s cool, you can do this. You’re a WARRIOR. Just get out there and…AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
Tucker’s efforts to pump himself up were interrupted by a gentle tap on the shoulder, causing him to leap into the air with a piercing shriek. Whirling around in mid-scream, he flailed his arms wildly, trying to slap away whoever had just snuck up behind him. But he was in for an even bigger surprise as he finally snapped out of his fit, opening his eyes to see a familiar round face staring back at him, complete with a white ponytail and a simple wave from her hand.
“Hi.”
“Danielle!” Tucker exclaimed. “What are YOU doing here?”
“Seriously? You can ASK me that question?” Danielle answered sarcastically as she held out her arms to demonstrate the entire transformed city. “I was just eating in the Lunch Room at school, totally minding my own business, when my sandwich…my delicious peanut butter and blueberry jam SAND-wich…turned into…wait for it…SAND! All I know is that SOMEONE around here owes me an explanation…not to mention, LUNCH. So what’s going on here? Where are Danny and Sam?”
“Danny and Sam…aren’t available,” Tucker replied uneasily. “They got captured by the ghosts who were responsible for all this?”
“What?! Well, why didn’t you SAY so?!” Danielle shouted, instantly flying off. “I’ve got to…!”
“Danielle, wait!” Tucker cut her off, grabbing her arm to pull her back down to earth. “Listen to me! You don’t know what you’re up against. You wouldn’t last five seconds or get within a hundred yards with the power they’ve got right now. The only way we’re going to even have a chance to win this is to take that power AWAY from them.”
“And just how are we supposed to do THAT?” Danielle argued.
“Actually, I’ve got an idea that might work, but we’re gonna need some backup first,” Tucker answered, taking a moment to peer outside the alley once more. “So what do you say? Feel up to helping me organize a little prison break?”
“Whatever you say…’Warrior’. Nice battle cry by the way,” Danielle joked, mimicking Tucker’s expression from when she’d approached him just a few moments ago, “Goes right up there with ‘Please don’t hurt me!’ and ‘Not in the face! Not in the face’!”
“Oh, you’re hilarious,” Tucker grumbled while Danielle could only giggle behind him in response.
… … … …
Not far away, the group Tucker had spotted being captured by the guards was just being locked up in their large cell. Two guards were being left behind to keep watch over the prisoners while the rest made off to resume their search for Tucker. The people inside the cell, however, were still too distressed to fully understand what was going on. But what they DID know is that they hoped this nightmare would soon come to an end.
Just then, a black and white blur streaked past the cell doors, tackling both guards and sending them flying out of view. None of the prisoners could make out what was happening, but they could definitely hear sounds of fighting, accompanied by an occasional green flash. After a few moments, everything went silent, only to have the group receive another surprise as Tucker burst in front of the cell door.
“Is everyone alright?” he asked.
“Foley?! What are YOU doing here?” Dash exclaimed.
“Getting you guys out, what does it LOOK like?” Tucker replied as Danielle tossed him the keys from the dazed guards. “I’m also running a small recruitment drive. I think I can put a stop to this, but I’m gonna need a couple of volunteers.”
“Hah! Are you kidding? You ran off and abandoned us the first chance you got! Why would ANYONE here volunteer to be led by YOU?” Star objected, drawing more than a few unhappy glances in Tucker’s direction.
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I was able to avoid getting locked up in here and YOU weren’t?” Tucker responded sarcastically as he opened the door, creating a group of low foreheads, nodding and grudgingly muttering in agreement. “Now, like I said, I’ve got an idea on how we can get out of this, but I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need at least a couple of you to help me out. Can I count on you guys?”
“Now wait a second,” Kwan chimed in. “What exactly are you going to need us to do?”
“You? Nothing. Anyone who comes along is just going to be a distraction, for show,” Tucker answered as he waved over outside and Danielle stepped into the doorway. “SHE’S going to be doing the heavy lifting.”
“Who is THAT?!” Star blurted out, merely voicing what everyone else was thinking.
“Until we get Danny Phantom and Sam Tasma back in this fight, she’s the only big gun we’ve got,” Tucker replied as Danielle simply stood confidently with her arms crossed. “Trust me…she can do what we need her to do. OUR job is going to be just getting her close enough to DO it.”
“This pipsqueak? Are you kidding? What is SHE going to do? Run up and bite them on the…Hey!” Dash’s argument was cut off as Danielle grabbed his ankle with one hand, floating up and lifting him upside down off the ground. “Put me down!”
“Anyone else care to leave a comment?” Danielle announced sternly while Dash merely dangled helplessly from her grip, wailing in protest.
No one else had any objections after that, all shaking their heads or holding up their hands in submission. A few moments later, most of the prisoners made their escape out of the cell, each of them cautiously looking around for any sign that someone might be following them.
“Okay, just stick to dark alleys and in between buildings and stay out of sight. You’ll be fine,” Tucker instructed before turning his attention to Dash, Kwan and a few members of the Casper High football team, who all stayed behind. “Okay now here’s how we’re going to do this. First, we have to…”
It was at that moment, that Tucker looked up to see Tanya had stayed behind, remaining in the cell, keeping a fair distance from everyone. And it wasn’t hard to see why. All Tucker had to do was look into Tanya’s eyes and the dread on her face more than told the story.
“Guys, give me a second, okay? Danielle, keep an eye on the door, make sure no one’s coming by,” Tucker requested as he walked up to Tanya, who seemed to be growing more rattled with each step he took. “Tanya…?”
Instinctively, Tucker reached out to offer a hand of comfort. But almost instantly, Tanya pulled herself away.
“Tanya, are you okay?” Tucker asked quietly.
“How…can you…ask me that?” Tanya responded, keeping her own voice down to avoid making a scene. “How many months have I been working for you? I TRUSTED you. And now, suddenly, this entire town that YOU are in charge of is in the middle of this because of YOU? WHAT…is going on?”
“Tanya, I…,” Tucker cut himself off, finding it hard to come up with an actual explanation. “It’s…it’s a long story. I’m not sure we’ve got time to…”
“MAKE time! Because as far as I’m concerned, I’m safer in HERE until you start giving me some answers!” Tanya argued. “You need to tell me what those things were and how you’re mixed up in all this. You need to tell me why one of them LOOKS like you…”
“…You need to make me TRUST you again.”
Tucker could only hang his head, partly because he didn’t want to answer. But with a heavy sigh of submission, he nodded slightly and motioned for Tanya to step over to the wall, farther away from the others.
“Okay,” he began, taking a moment to steady himself. “It all started about a year ago…”
… … … …
After a while, a pair of guards was walking through the streets, continuing their search for Tucker. But they soon found something else as a pair of Ghost Rays shot out from a nearby corridor, slamming into the two and putting them down for the count. A moment later, Tucker and Danielle were peering out into the street, searching for any witnesses.
“Come on, let’s go,” he whispered to Dash and the others as they ran out into the street to drag the incapacitated guards back into the alley.
“Dude, do you seriously think this is going to work?” Dash asked uncomfortably.
“All they have to do is buy it for five seconds,” Tucker answered. “Trust me, that’s more than we’ll need.”
… … … …
Back at the palace, Danny and Sam were still imprisoned by Hotep-Ra and Ghost Tucker. Struggling with all their might to get free, they were unable to break their shackles. And now, thanks to Ghost Tucker concentrating through the Scarab Scepter to make the shackles even stronger, even Danny’s freezing powers were of no help.
“Unh…you know, I’m starting to think we need to do a LOT more research on scepters,” Sam remarked after pausing from her latest attempt to free herself, “Because we are having absolutely NOTHING but bad luck with those things.”
“So…not looking so high and mighty NOW, are we?” Ghost Tucker couldn’t help gloating. “How does it feel when someone ELSE has got all the power for a change.”
“Yeah, uh huh,” Danny replied dismissively. “You know, the only thing that’s going to make this whole thing worth it…is seeing the look on your face when your new buddy in the body cast stabs you in the back.”
Ghost Tucker didn’t reply to Sam’s statement. For a moment, he seemed almost…perplexed.
“Oh, what…He never TOLD you that he made Tucker the same offer?” Sam taunted. “I mean, come on. Did you REALLY think YOU were the first one he CAME to?”
“Why would it even occur to him? He thought he was getting a free ride,” Danny responded mockingly. “That’s all he EVER wants.”
“Shut up…,” Ghost Tucker muttered angrily.
“Go ahead. Ask your ‘mummy’ how long THEIR little ‘bromance’ lasted,” Sam continued goading. “Assuming he isn’t already planning to throw you away. I mean, it took him about this long to use up the REAL Tucker. With YOU, I figure it’s got to be at LEAST…”
“SHUT UP!!!” Ghost Tucker bellowed, pointing a flashing Scarab Scepter in Sam’s direction.
“My Pharaoh!” a deep, yet oddly feminine voice called from behind, yanking Ghost Tucker out of his tantrum. “We have done as you commanded.”
As Hotep-Ra emerged from the inside the palace, Danny and Sam looked over in shock to see Tucker, his head low being led up the stairs, along with a handful of schoolmates and three guards. Ghost Tucker and Hotep-Ra couldn’t have been more overjoyed at his capture. But Danny and Sam’s concern suddenly turned to confusion. Because one thing was for certain, these guards leading Tucker up the steps didn’t look like the typical guards that they’d seen running around so far.
“Excellent,” Hotep-Ra responded, his attention fixed squarely on Tucker as he wrung his hands with wicked glee. “Does ‘my liege’ have anything last words before I pronounce sentence?”
“Hey!” Ghost Tucker protested.
“Actually…yeah,” an oddly high-pitched voice came out of Tucker’s mouth, much to Hotep-Ra’s confusion. But his bewilderment turned to alarm as Tucker’s head shot up, smirking at him with glowing green eyes.
“Are you REALLY this stupid?”
Before Hotep-Ra could react, Danielle phased out of Tucker’s body, slamming her fist square into the mummy’s face and sending him flying back into a stone wall. Danielle then turned her attention to a still-stunned Ghost Tucker, firing a Ghost Ray stream that knocked the Scarab Scepter out of his hand.
“Treason!” Hotep-Ra shouted as Danielle unleashed a volley of Ghost Ray bolts which cracked Danny and Sam’s shackles, allowing them to break free.
“Alright, all of you…go!” Tucker shouted to the prisoners behind him as the guards that led him to the palace shed their jackal masks to reveal themselves as Dash, Kwan and Tanya. But before he fled with them, Tucker couldn’t help turning his attention back to Hotep-Ra.
“Okay, I’m not surprised that HE fell for this,” Tucker remarked, pointing at his ghostly twin while keeping his gaze fixed on Hotep-Ra, “But you? YOU should have known better, Dude.”
With a bellow, Hotep-Ra lashed out a stretching arm in Tucker’s direction, unwilling to let this insult stand. But Danny was already leaping to Tucker’s defense, firing a Freezing Ghost Ray, which iced over Hotep Ra’s arm, before shattering it with a hard front kick.
“Rrrr! What are you waiting for?!” Hotep-Ra growled at Ghost Tucker as he nursed his arm. “Get that Scepter back, you fool!”
“Hey! Who’s the Pharaoh here?!” Ghost Tucker shouted in protest.
“What you’ll be is NOTHING if you don’t retrieve that Scepter!” Hotep-Ra argued. “Now go FIND it!”
Ghost Tucker’s eyes flashed in anger, wanting nothing more than to punish Hotep-Ra for his defiant outburst. But at the same time, he had to admit that Hotep-Ra was right. Without the power of the Scarab Scepter, he was a nothing but a sitting duck. However, before Ghost Tucker could take off to look for it, he found his path blocked by Sam, who had a scowl of wicked intent across her face.
“Hey, Mister ‘I-Want-Everything-You’ve-Got’!” Sam called out, surprising Ghost Tucker as her eyes glowed orange and flames burst from her hands. “What to see what ELSE you can’t do?!”
Ghost Tucker found himself gasping in shock as Sam unleashed a wave of ghostly flame towards him. But at the same time, he wasn’t so stunned that he was unable to avoid the attack, darting up into the sky as the fire passed harmlessly underneath him. However, the same couldn’t be said for Hotep-Ra, who took the attack head-on and instantly burst into flames. Flying off of the building as a giant fireball, it took only seconds for him to burn away to ash and drift away on the breeze.
Meanwhile, Ghost Tucker quickly found that he still wasn’t out of danger, either. He may have avoided Sam’s attack. But as he took off into the sky, he quickly discovered that he wasn’t moving fast enough to avoid Danielle, who flew up past him, only to send him hurtling back down to earth with a hard punch.
As the battle continued to rage, atop the palace, Tucker had caught up with Tanya and the others as they retreated down the steps. But he soon found them stopped dead in their tracks as they were faced with a battalion of Jackal guards charging straight towards them.
“Dash, we can’t stay here!” Tucker called. “We’ve got to move!”
“Are you nuts?!” Dash shouted back in fear. “Look at those things! How are we supposed to stand up to them?!”
“Come on, Dash, don’t think like a human facing ghosts! Think like a football player facing an opposing team!” Tucker argued. “Now YOU look at those guys. They’re scrawny, 90-pound beanpoles. If you were on the field and saw THEM coming towards you, would YOU stand for that?”
“NO WAY!” Dash declared before turning to Kwan and his fellow teammates. “Alright team! QB’s calling a play! Defensive wall formation! Just mow ‘em down, got it?! Now HIKE!”
At Dash’s command, Kwan and the others surged ahead with a combined yell, slamming into the charging guards and tearing through their line with virtually no effort. For the moment, Tucker was pleased with the results of his little pep talk, but at the same time, he still had the safety of others to look after.
“Tanya, go with them!” he called to her. “They’ll get you out of here. Just get someplace safe until this is over.”
With a nod, Tanya did as Tucker instructed, running after Dash and the others. But Tucker wasn’t about to follow. Turning his gaze upward towards the palace, he had more pressing matters to attend to as he ran back towards the fighting.
Meanwhile, more guards were making their way up another flight of steps to the roof of the palace. But with the high ground, Danny and Sam had the clear advantage. An advantage that Danny was more than willing to press as he tossed a giant Ghost Ray Sphere into the steps, sending guards exploding in all directions. Next, it was Sam’s turn. Drawing a pair of Fiery Ghost Ray Blades, she plunged them into the palace roof, sending trails of flame erupting down the steps and causing the guards that Danny hadn’t blown away to leap to safety.
But Sam’s flames apparently did much more than that. Reaching the bottom of the palace, they continued snaking along the ground…directly in the path of Hotep-Ra, who was just regenerating from being incinerated by Sam’s last attack.
“I…AM…RISEN!!!” Hotep-Ra bellowed. But at that exact moment, Sam’s flames roared past, lighting his body up like a roman candle and returning him to ash once again.
Meanwhile, Danielle continued to trade blasts and blows with Ghost Tucker, who was becoming more and more frustrated as the battle went on. Bad enough that Danny and Sam were able to beat him so soundly, just the night before, but now this CHILD was managing to keep pace with him? If something didn’t happen to turn the tables, and FAST, he was going to be completely and utterly humiliated.
But just then, at that exact moment, a glittering flash caught the corner of his eye. Looking over, Ghost Tucker caught a glimpse of the Scarab Scepter peeking out of the sand, its central jewel sparkling in the sun. Sensing salvation, he broke off his fight with Danielle and streaked toward the ground, hoping to get the Scepter back into his hand again.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Danielle shouted, firing a pair of Ghost Rays straight at Ghost Tucker once she noticed what he was headed for.
But Ghost Tucker was one step ahead, forming his own Ghost Ray energy into a shield for Danielle’s blast to slam into, exploding on impact. The force of the detonation sent Ghost Tucker hurtling downward even faster, slamming into ground at top speed.
For a moment, it looked as if Ghost Tucker’s stunt had backfired on him, until his hand burst from the sand, holding the Scarab Scepter. A second later, Ghost Tucker exploded from the ground in an eruption of raw power, sending lighting streaming in all directions. One of the bolts knocked Danielle out of sky, only to be caught in Danny’s arms as he and Sam flew off the top of the palace to find cover.
Laughing with demented glee, Ghost Tucker no longer seemed to care who his targets were as he floated into the sky, continuing to pound the land with streams of lightning. And without so much as a second to move, Danny, Sam and Danielle could only remain hidden under a stone outcropping, hoping to be safe from the blasts.
“This is nuts!” Danny shouted over the thunderous noise. “As long as he’s got that Scepter in his hands, he can’t be stopped! We’ve GOT to find SOME way to get it away from him!”
Just then, Danny and the others heard a series of yelps and cries out over the din. Instantly, they looked out to see Tucker darting from one direction to the next, trying desperately to stay away from the lighting slamming into the ground.
“Tucker!” Sam called out as she lashed out one of her Ghost Ray Strands, wrapping Tucker around the waist and pulling him inside to safety.
“Dude, are you alright?” Danny asked worriedly, while Tucker could only respond with panting and a shuddering nod.
“Tucker, we need your help!” Sam exclaimed. “We’ve got to get you up there so you can get that Scepter away from him and erase this whole mess! You’re the only other person who can use it! No one can do it but you!”
“Are you out of your mind?!” Tucker blurted out, having managed to catch his breath. “You think I want to go back to THAT again?!”
“Uh, Tucker…not exactly flush with options here!” Danny pointed out in distress.
“Hel-LO! Has everyone forgotten what happened last time when that thing TOOK ME OVER?!” Tucker argued.
“Yeah, at FIRST! But then, when you used it LATER, it DIDN’T!” Sam noted. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe the only reason it took control of you the first time was because you LET it?”
“What are you talking about?” Tucker asked, curiously.
“Tucker, I’m going to ask you a question. And I want you to give me an honest answer, okay?” Danny responded. “When you were running for Student Council President that time, were you doing it because you actually wanted to do the job? Or were you just doing it to get attention, like Dash was?”
“Well…it’s not like I…wouldn’t have…DONE…the job…,” Tucker answered half-heartedly.
“And that was why you dropped out, wasn’t it? Because you knew you were running for the wrong reasons,” Danny went on. “Now let me ask you this…when the City Council came to you and offered you the job as Mayor…did you take the job because you actually wanted to do it?”
“Honestly…,” Tucker hesitated at first, “…I…really wanted to DO it.”
“You wanted to help someone else, didn’t you? You didn’t want it just for yourself,” Danny continued, pointing up towards an insane Ghost Tucker. “Don’t you get it? It’s not gonna be like last time! Because you’re not that guy, anymore! You’re not HIM! So don’t worry about it, okay?”
“Tucker, look around you,” Sam chimed in as she guided her hand towards the people huddled indoors and behind walls, trying desperately to seek shelter from Ghost Tucker’s onslaught. “These people need help! We can’t give it to them! Only YOU can! They need you to do what you did when you agreed to be Mayor! They need you to step up! So what’s it gonna be?”
Clenching his fists, Tucker could only shut his eyes tight, his mind still plagued with doubt. But the sounds of Ghost Tucker’s wild laughter, accompanied by the screams of frightened people, suddenly had his eyes pop open with a stern gaze as the words escaped his lips.
“Let’s do this.”
Back up above, Ghost Tucker appeared to be completely unhinged, continuing to laugh maniacally as the city below suffered his wrath. But his madness was quickly cut short as a pair of Ghost Rays shot past his face. Turning his gaze downward in a rage, he saw Danny flying up towards him at top speed, his hands blazing with ecto-energy.
Ghost Tucker, however, wasn’t about to let such an insult go unpunished. And with swing of his arm, he unleashed a wave of energy from the Scarab Scepter, knocking Danny out of the sky and sending him slamming back down to the ground. And before Danny could recover, Ghost Tucker was already hovering over him, a flashing Scarab Scepter pointed right at his head.
“Did you REALLY think that you could beat me with the power that I have now?!” Ghost Tucker boasted joyfully.
“I’m not TRYING to beat you,” Danny replied with a smirk. “I’m the distraction.”
“Distraction? From what?” Ghost Tucker uttered in confusion.
“Take a wild guess!” Sam’s voice called from behind him.
As Ghost Tucker whirled around and looked up, Sam was already on the move, using one of her Ghost Ray Strands to slingshot Tucker towards him. And before Ghost Tucker could react, Tucker had already reached him, grabbing the Scarab Scepter and causing it to emit a brilliant flash of light.
“What…What are you doing?!” Ghost Tucker shouted, barely able to see through the dazzling gleam being radiated by the Scepter.
“What does it LOOK like, genius…?!” Tucker replied angrily.
Suddenly, a wave of force slammed into Ghost Tucker’s body, causing him to lose his grip on the Scepter as he flew back. Quickly, he managed to stop himself. But as he looked up and the blinding light faded, he saw Tucker floating in front of him, holding the Scarab Scepter in-hand and dressed in the royal garments of King Duulaman, with glowing red eyes and a firm scowl across his face.
“…I’M TAKING BACK MY TOWN!!”
“Aw nuts…” Ghost Tucker groaned, just before Tucker blasted him with a beam of energy from the Scarab Scepter, sending him flying with a loud yelp.
“Oh, I think he’s got this,” Danny remarked confidently as he turned to Sam and Danielle. “What do you say we help clean house?”
With that, Danny and the others took off to deal with the few remaining guards who remained scattered around the area. But as soon as the guards saw what was coming their way, they were all quick to beat a hasty retreat.
One individual, however, who was more than eager to rejoin the fight, was Hotep-Ra. It took him longer to regenerate than usual, in light of Sam’s Ghostly Flame. But as Sam flew past, chasing a pair of guards, he finally managed to swirl his ashes back into form once again.
“I…AM…RISEN!!!” Hotep-Ra bellowed once more. And indeed he was…until Sam peeked her head back for a moment and snapped her fingers, causing a column of flame to erupt under Hotep-Ra’s feet before flying off to continue her chase.
“OH COME NOW, THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH!” Hotep-Ra hollered after Sam before his body was once again reduced to ash.
Meanwhile, Tucker’s battle with his ghost half was turning more into a one-sided pounding as Ghost Tucker tried desperately to flee, firing a volley of Ghost Rays to try and slow Tucker down. But Tucker wouldn’t be stopped, swatting each of the blasts away with the Scarab Scepter before catching up to Ghost Tucker like he was standing still. Grabbing his evil twin’s face, Tucker held him forward as the two flew on, smashing through the wall of a nearby pyramid at blinding speed. For a few seconds, they had both disappeared, save for some thunderous echoes and brief flashes of light coming from the hole in the pyramid. But just then, the top of the pyramid erupted as Ghost Tucker was sent blasting through and up into the sky on a beam of energy. Eventually, he managed to get off the beam in mid-air, but he was in very sorry shape, battered and wobbly, unable to even lift his arms. A second later, though, he immediately realized his troubles weren’t over yet as he weakly turned to see Tucker floating behind him, appearing to not have even broken a sweat.
“Had enough?” Tucker asked sternly, gripping the Scarab Scepter even tighter in his hand.
“So what?!” Ghost Tucker protested. “You beat me! Big deal! You could beat ANYBODY as long as you’re holding THAT thing! What’re you gonna do now…just throw it away? You think it’s gonna make you some big hero? What’s the point, if you’re just gonna go back to being that wimp?!”
“Who are you seriously thinking about giving it up for, huh? Them?!” Ghost Tucker went on, pointing down at Danny, Sam and Danielle, who were continuing to dispatch the remaining guards. “And for what? So you can go back to having them look down on you all the time? Or worse, so you can go back to having them come SAVE you all the time? Why should you have to make THEM look good? With that Scepter, you could have whatever you want…whatever WE want…”
“…So what’s it gonna be? Do you want to BE somebody? Or do you want to just go back to being their dumb comic relief?”
Tucker didn’t respond at first, looking away briefly before moving his gaze down at the Scarab Scepter in his hand. For a moment, it looked as though Ghost Tucker’s words might actually be getting through to him. But a second later, he looked up at Ghost Tucker’s wicked grin and a hard frown crossed his face.
“If it means turning back into YOU…I’ll take my chances,” Tucker declared as he raised the Scarab Scepter, blasting his ghostly doppelganger out of the sky with another stream of energy and sending him hurtling to earth, where another ghostly menace was once again pulling himself back together.
“I…AM…RIS…oof!” Hotep-Ra’s proclamation was cut short as Ghost Tucker slammed into him hard, sending both ghosts bouncing and rolling across the desert floor.
Picking himself up as best he could, with Ghost Tucker’s dazed body flopped on top of him, Hotep-Ra looked up angrily to see who would have dared disgrace him with such an insult. But what he soon discovered, to his dread, was Tucker pointing a flashing Scarab Scepter right between his eyes, with Danny, Sam and Danielle standing triumphantly behind him.
“Give…me…an excuse,” Tucker stated threateningly.
“Uuuhh…my…my liege,” Hotep-Ra shuddered, instantly changing his demeanor as he attempted to bow. “Your…humble servant hears and obe…”
“Oh come on, that’s not even a NICE try. Besides, I think we BOTH know you don’t have anything I want,” Tucker interrupted before creating a miniature portal with the Scarab Scepter, reaching inside and pulling out the Fenton Thermos to give to Danny. “I believe this is yours.”
“I don’t know. Would YOU care to do the honors?” Danny offered.
“Hmm…nah. I think I made my point,” Tucker replied with a grin.
No sense wasting any more time. Taking the Thermos in hand, Danny immediately opened it up, sealing up a bellowing Hotep-Ra, along with a prone Ghost Tucker. With the battle brought to an end, the few straggling guards in the area were left with no choice but to flee. At the moment, all the people in hiding swarmed out, applauding Danny and the others for coming to their rescue…especially Tucker. Even Tanya, standing on the sidelines, had to smile, joining in the ovation, herself.
“Way to go, Tucker,” Sam praised silently, gently nudging him in the side as the crowd continued to clamor around them. “I think this town just got a whole new appreciation for you.”
“Yeah…maybe. But I’d prefer they appreciated me for another reason,” Tucker replied with a shrug, looking down at the Scarab Scepter before raising it over his head. “And that’s why I say that we all go back to what we were doing before all of this happened! And that no one has any memory of this, or any knowledge of the Scarab Scepter, except for the members of Team Phantom!”
“Oh…and her, too,” he added, looking over at a bewildered Tanya before pulling the Scepter in for one last whisper. “And just between the two of us…let’s get THIS one right.”
With that, the Scarab Scepter let out a blinding flash, enveloping the entire town. And as the light struck the barrier, it instantly dissolved away, much to the surprise of “G”, who was sitting against the dome before losing his support and falling flat on his back.
“What the…?!” he blurted out, finding himself suddenly looking up at the sky before he sat up and looked around to see that the town had returned to normal. “Huh…well, I’m not sure what just happened, but I am not complaining.”
… … … …
Back inside the town, the flash from the Scarab Scepter vanished, just as instantly as it appeared. Danny, Sam and Danielle, were still in their ghost forms and found themselves back at City Hall, outside the Council Chamber with Tanya and Tucker, who was still holding the Scarab Scepter.
“Here,” Tucker requested, handing the Scepter to Danny. “You might want to put this someplace safer than a museum. If either one of those two creeps gets their hands on this again, we’re probably not gonna like it.”
“Wait a minute…are you sure you want to do what you just did?” Danny had to ask.
“Yeah. You know, saving an entire town like that. You’ve gotta admit, that would be some pretty good PR,” Sam agreed, while Tucker merely responded with a shrug.
“I think this town’s got enough super heroes,” he answered simply. “What it NEEDS is a MAYOR.”
Danny and Sam merely responded with a smile. Not only did they admire what Tucker had just decided to do, on a certain level, it actually made them quite…proud.
“Oh nuts! I’ve gotta get back!” Danielle blurted out as she flew off. “I’ve got LUNCH to eat!”
With that, Danielle had phased trough the roof and was gone. Danny and Sam meanwhile, simply looked at each other with an amused grin before taking off themselves, leaving Tucker out in the corridor with Tanya, who was still trying to fit her head around everything that was happening.
“Come on,” Tucker announced, lightly patting her on the arm. “We’ve got a meeting to get to.”
“Sure…right…,” Tanya murmured, instinctively turning around and following Tucker into the Council Chamber.
… … … …
The rest of the day occurred pretty much without incident. The field trip came and went. And once school was over, Sam found herself standing outside City Hall once again. But she soon wasn’t alone as Danny phased up through the street in his ghost form before changing back to normal.
“Get it done?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. It’s all taken care of,” Danny answered before pulling out the Fenton Thermos. But now, we should probably get back to my place. We’ve got two ghosts to dump and I’VE got a few family members who are going to need me to fill in some blanks.”
“Mmm,” Sam agreed, even though she wasn’t in so much of a hurry that she wasn’t willing to take a moment to put her arms around Danny’s neck and pull herself close. “Our boy did good today, didn’t he?”
“Yeah…yeah, he did,” Danny answered, folding his arms around Sam’s waist, savoring the moment himself as they gently swayed back and forth and pressed their foreheads together. But the moment was soon interrupted as Sam heard Danny take a set of quick sniffs.
“Mmmm…”
“If you’re planning on making another barbecue crack, you’d BETTER hope you’re wearing shin guards,” Sam interrupted before finally looking up at Danny with a warning frown.
Danny simply chose to remain silent at that point, simply smiling and making a quick zipping motion across his mouth. Sam could only respond with a cynical smirk, but at the same time, she couldn’t resist leaning in and meeting Danny’s lips with a chain of tender kisses. With that, the pair simply put one arm around each other and walked off, with Sam leaning her head on Danny’s shoulder.
… … … …
Inside City Hall, however, Tucker was sitting at his desk, staring outside the window. Despite all the chaos that had happened earlier in the day, his expression seemed strangely calm. However, his silent contemplation was interrupted as Tanya opened the door, quietly knocking as she walked in.
“You…wanted to see me for a minute?” she asked, trying to sound as composed as she could.
“Yeah, just for a second,” Tucker answered as Tanya walked up to the desk. “You doing okay?”
“I…I think so,” Tanya replied with a shrug. “I suppose I’m just wondering…you know…”
“…Why I didn’t mind-wipe you along with everyone else?” Tucker inquired, while Tanya responded with a simple nod. “Well, I’ll get to that in a second. But honestly, there’s a reason I called you in here…and it’s because I need you to do something for me.”
“What?” Tanya asked innocently, even though she had no way of anticipating the answer that Tucker was about to give her.
“Resign.”
“What…?” Tanya uttered in disbelief. “I…I don’t understand.”
“Tanya, you said you wanted to trust me again. And the reason I didn’t erase your memory is because I wanted you to know that I trust you, too,” Tucker explained. “And…that’s why I need you to resign. Because you can’t be my Secretary if you’re going to do what I need you to do.”
Tanya simply remained silent, growing more confused by the second. Tucker, however, needed a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.
“I’m calling for a Municipal Election on Monday,” he revealed. “I’m going to be running, Tanya. And I want you to be my Campaign Manager.”
“Really?” Tanya asked, clearly caught off-guard.
“And…if I win,” Tucker continued, “I want to appoint you as Deputy Mayor.”
“…You’re serious…” Tanya murmured, while Tucker let out a heavy sigh, taking another moment to collect himself.
“I don’t have a political mind, Tanya. I just don’t,” he confessed. “I DO know that I like this job. I like walking in here and walking out, feeling like I helped to make one person’s life just a little bit better. I think I’m good at this. What I’m NOT good at…is what I have to do to KEEP this. I don’t know how to act like a Candidate. I don’t know how to THINK like a Candidate…”
“But you do. I can tell that much at least,” Tucker continued. “All these moves you’ve been making these last few weeks…rewriting my speeches…feeding me polling data…positioning me for photo ops and putting me next to sponsors…You’ve been carrying me, Tanya. That’s why I did a little checking up on you a few days ago. You were a Political Sciences major in college. You graduated third in your class…”
“I don’t really don’t know why someone like you took this job and I’m really not going to ask,” Tucker added. “But I do know that…there’s no way I could have gotten this far without you. And I know you can do a lot more if you’re not stuck behind that desk.”
“I…I really don’t know what to say…,” Tanya responded, still surprised.
“Just…tell me you can help me,” Tucker asked.
This time, it was Tanya who needed a moment to collect her thoughts. But as she turned back to Tucker, he couldn’t help but notice a positive twinkle in her eyes.
“Yes…I can. But first, I think you really need to understand what you’re getting yourself into,” she answered, her voice becoming more somber as she loomed over the desk, looking Tucker dead in his eyes. “Believe me when I say that absolutely NOTHING you have ever been through can POSSIBLY prepare you for what’s about to happen. You are going to be walking into a pit of rabid dogs and they’re ALL going to be gunning for YOU. They are going to do absolutely everything they can think of to take all of this away from you and they’re not going to care how they do it. They will be going out of their way to tear you down and make you look like some dumb, worthless kid who has absolutely no earthly business being here. And you are going to have a VERY hard time proving them wrong…”
“…There IS some good news, though.”
“Oh…you mean that WASN’T the good news?” Tucker remarked sarcastically.
“IF…you win this thing…this job is going to be yours for as long as you want it,” Tanya continued with a confident gaze. “NO ONE is going to risk destroying their political career before it starts, by running against a guy who was winning elections before he was even old enough to VOTE.”
“Okay, I like that part,” Tucker commented with a nod.
“I’ll submit my resignation in the morning,” Tanya stated, turning and walking out of the office. “In the meantime, you’d better go home and rest up, because we’re going to be going over a lot tomorrow.”
“Tanya?” Tucker’s sudden voice of uncertainty caught her attention as she stopped at the door, turning around to notice a slightly worried expression on his face. “Do you really think I can win?”
Tanya didn’t respond at first, taking a moment to eye Tucker with a serious gaze. But all of a sudden, a gentle smile found its way across her lips.
“Do you really think I’D be working for a 15-year-old kid if I didn’t BELIEVE in him?” she answered simply. And with that response, Tucker suddenly found himself feeling better.
“Thanks Tanya,” he answered gratefully.
“Get some rest,” Tanya warned before finally walking out the door. “Trust me…you’re going to NEED it.”
With that, Tanya was gone, leaving Tucker alone in his office once more. No turning back, now. He’d officially made his decision. But as nervous as he felt at the uncertainty to come, there was a certain level of calmness, too. He couldn’t quite explain it. But maybe he didn’t have to. Maybe it was just enough that he felt it. It gave him the courage to move forward.
Deciding he needed a moment to stretch his legs, Tucker activated the secret elevator which took him to the bunker beneath City Hall. Others would undoubtedly think it strange, but for Tucker, getting a chance to walk around all the technology stored down there was enough to mellow him out. And he could use a good dose of mellow at that particular moment.
However, after a few moments of walking, he quickly noticed that something was very different in the bunker. In the room where the storage capsules were kept, meant to house weapons and other such things, Tucker noticed that one of the capsules was wrapped in brown paper, with a big bow around it. Walking over curiously, he also took note of a simple folded card taped to the side as well, with an equally simple message written upon it…
… … … …
TUCKER,
BECAUSE YOU NEVER REALLY KNOW.
DxS
… … … …
Tucker recognized the card as being from Danny and Sam, but it even made him more curious as to what it meant. Reaching up, he tore away the simple paper wrapping, not sure what to expect. Of course, the last thing he expected to see as his eyes went wide was the glittering form of the Scarab Scepter, floating inside the capsule’s containment field.
Tucker was completely at a loss for words. He’d told Danny and Sam to hide the Scepter someplace safe, but he never imagined they’d leave it here. Granted, there were fewer places more secure than the bunker. But for Tucker, the importance of this was not WHERE Danny and Sam were leaving the Scepter, but WHO they were leaving it with.
As the reality finally sank into Tucker’s head, he couldn’t help but be touched that they were willing to have so much faith in him with something so incredibly powerful. In a way, they were showing just as much faith in him as the people of Amity Park showed him when he was chosen to be Mayor, all those months ago. At that moment, he knew he had to live up to the enormous responsibility that was being entrusted to him. He had to make sure that if he was ever going to USE this power, it could only be as an option of absolute last resort. He couldn’t take it out for every little problem that cropped up.
Of course, having said that, there was no reason he couldn’t take it out for a spin once in while.
“Hmmm…,” he thought out loud with a mischievous look in his eyes.
… … … …
Materializing with an echoing yell, Hotep-Ra looked around to find himself trapped in the swirling vortex of the Ghost Zone. Ghost Tucker was floating close by, But Hotep-Ra was more disconcerted by the endless expanse. He had no idea where he was, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d been placed in some kind of prison. And a hard scowl crossed his face as he thought about the ones who put him IN it.
“You think you can keep me in here!” he raged as Ghost Tucker was just recovering from his daze. “But I WILL find a way to escape! And when I do, my revenge…my most deserved revenge…will be…!”
Just then, Hotep-Ra was taken out of his rant by an enormous shadow which suddenly appeared behind him. Turning around, he and Ghost Tucker were stunned at the sight of the giant Tucker-faced Sphinx, towering overhead. Ghost Tucker was frightened enough at the Sphinx’s titanic size, while Hotep-Ra was terrified for a much more familiar reason. But they were both cry out in fright as the Sphinx growled down before lunging towards them, swallowing them both whole with a single bite. And as it licked its chops, the Sphinx became instantly content as it panted happily.
“Oh…I am NOT looking forward to the passage that leads us out of THIS,” Hotep-Ra’s voice echoed from within.
The End
Suggested Collections
Featured in Groups
Well, another Danny Phantom story has come and gone. Hope you found this one as enjoyable as my other works. Remember that comments are always appreciated.^_^
© 2014 - 2024 TuxedAaron
Comments80
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Tucker has changed a lot from being the Student Council President candidate, now he has a big reason as mayor and he wants to make it work for him, I'm sure he wants to avoid being called a loser should he remained a coward, so he rise up, that also means his fame is building up.
Lol, a low blow for Hotep by exploiting his mummy cloths and burn them with fire whenever he's risen again. What a dirty move, Sam. 
What a dirty move!
As for the scepter, I was hoping it'll be snapped in two so that the power cannot be used ever again, no matter if it's kept in a high security vault, but as we know ghosts, they can still phase the scepter out of it. So I prefer it to be destroyed than either display it on the museum glass or kept in a vault. Once destroyed, there will be a notice for why it must be destroyed and how powerful it can be in the wrong hands. That's my choice of it, I'm sure Mayor Tucker will have to make some serious explanation with the museum curator about the scepter no longer on display, whether he keeps it or return the broken pieces.
When Tanya mentioned about his age that he's not even old enough to vote, yet alone run as Mayor, but after a wiki check, 18 is more than enough, but as he's 15 years old, what about his high school education then? Does he finish early before graduation? Or maybe I need to find that out in one of your fictions. For your plan to make him governor in the far future, that will be 25-30 years old minimum. How old is Tanya by the way? And how long has she been in her career as the mayor's secretary?
Looks like Tucker is quite humble after the Egyptian Ghost incident, it seems he's ready for another election round. He's got quite the fight in him, and will he win again? That will be the rest of the Amity Park citizens to decide.