The Phantom Anomaly

Chapter Seven

Tucker, barely awake, yawns loudly. Then he turns right back around so that his head is buried in his pillow.

A loud knock rings out through the room, making its way through Tuck's dead sleep.

"Tucker Foley, I swear...if I have to knock one more time...." A loud, angry voice calls from the hallway.

Tucker practically vaults out of bed, blaming Pavlov for his body's instant reaction. Being kicked out of bed one too many times has conditioned his body to react to her voice.

"I'm up!" He calls, running to the door. Sam's fist, reaching to knock on the door, hits him in the nose instead. He recoils, wounded. "Ow! Ugh....what did you need?"

"We should go watch Danny train." Sam says, still wearing loose black sweat pants and a tank top from sleeping. "If we sneak up on him, maybe we can measure his natural power level without him holding back."

"Actually, Sam..." Tuck interrupts, the sleep-fog clearing from his brain, "I don't think we can sneak up on him anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if he could hear us talking right now."

Sam sighs. "You're right."

A pause.

"Let's go anyway. He may need the support. That's what we are here for, anyway."

Tucker groans, glancing back at his comfortable bed.

"And bring your equipment." Sam adds.

--------------------/ /---------------------

When Sam and Tuck enter the training room, they both freeze. Danny, in Fenton form, is standing in the middle of the room, his eyes closed. A few random human objects surround him, of varying sizes. To his left is an armchair. To his right, a lamp. Scattered around his feet, a few books sit haphazardly, as if they recently fell.

Clockwork, only a few feet from Danny, turns to the two newcomers. He holds up a hand, effectively silencing them. Tucker 'opens' his PDA with a swipe of his finger, and starts recording ecto-energy levels.

Danny takes a deep breath, then opens his eyes. Still in Fenton form, his hands start glowing green. With startling accuracy, he hits every single item near him with an ectoblast. He makes sure to hit the armchair three times.

The glow of Danny's hands suddenly changes to white, and the blast areas change in kind. His eyes close once more in concentration, and sweat breaks out at his temples. His left arm extends towards the armchair. In response, the chair shifts. With a shaking hand, Danny raises his arm. The chair rises with his motion.

"Move it away, to the right." Clockwork breaks in. The sudden noise causes Danny to nearly drop the chair. He recovers, and wordlessly moves his hand to the right. When his left hand runs out of room, his right hand takes over. Soon the chair is sitting far away.

"Now the lamp." Clockwork says. "Try plugging it into the outlet on the wall to your left."

Tucker stops to admire the fact that there is an outlet in the Ghost Zone. He had only recently made the discovery that ectoplasm carries currents very similar to electricity. As such, he was able to create wires around Clockwork's castle that would absorb the surrounding energy. How else was he supposed to charge Sharon? He couldn't just let his PDA, his precious, die!

Danny quickly shoots off another low-power ectoblast, hitting the lamp's wire without melting it. His hands once again turn white, levitating the lamp from far away. They trade off control as the lamp crosses in front of Danny. His left arm sets the lamp down gently by the wall. Then he searches for a way to isolate the wire. Once he finds it, he controls it to plug into the socket.

"Good. Now the books." Clockwork encourages.

Danny grimaces, holding his hands downward. After a pause, all seven books shoot into the air. Danny has them spin around him once before he decides to have some target practice. One by one, they shoot off towards the far wall, making a satisfying thud as they hit it.

"Alright. You should have a break now." Clockwork says. "It's been seven hours and thirty-four minutes."

"Danny!" Sam calls immediately. "Did you sleep at all?"

Danny's head shoots up, his eyes widening. He obviously had no clue they were there. Clockwork floats away, towards his time streams.

Tucker watches as his best friend mentally reprimands himself. Glancing at his PDA, he stops the current program and turns it to the data chart. His eyes widen as he takes in the numbers.

"No, Sam. Sorry. Maybe later..." Danny says, reaching his friends' sides.

Sam growls lightly, but changes the subject. "New power?"

"Yeah." Danny says, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can move anything with ectoplasm. It takes a lot of concentration though."

"Nice trick, shooting normal items with ectoblasts." Sam says.

"Thanks." Danny says, looking over at his abnormally quiet friend. "Tuck? What's wrong?"

"Dude." Tucker says in awe. "Your human form has a power level of nine!"

Sam and Danny exchange a myriad of excited and worried faces.

"I can't wait to test your Phantom levels!" Tucker says. Looking up, he sees his friends' expressions. "I know that higher levels mean less humanity, but..." He trails off, looking at the two with a sad smile. "It also means that he will have better chances against Abaddon." With a deep breath, Tucker continues. "Besides, we are already on borrowed time. Four years of it. We still don't know for sure what kept Danny partially alive, but we knew it wouldn't be permanent."

Danny's eyes widen, his hand reaching out to soothe Sam. She takes a deep breath, and then her eyes harden.

"Tucker is right. I need to stop moping. This may be my fault, Danny Fenton, but I swear to Clockwork, if you die before our wedding, I will make your reign a living hell."

Danny's eyes widen at the word 'wedding', but then his face settles into a determined grin. "I had better stay alive, then."

Tucker smiles at his two friends, but suddenly feels the need to cheer up the room.

"I mean, you could always change the lines 'till death do us part'....." He cracks.

Sam turns her steely glare on him.

"And you, Tucker Foley. If Danny dies before you can be Best Man, then you are going to be my servant forever."

Tucker shivers at her demands, but somehow the words fill him with confidence. Almost like how he would imagine a drill sergeant, Sam leads by instilling fear as well as pride.

"Yes, ma'am!" Tucker and Danny shout in unison. Their shouts echo through the green swirls of the Ghost Zone.