Seeing Double

Rebound - Part 7

Sam was pissed. "You let him go in there alone?!"

"He's a ghost," Tucker said. "He can jump back out whenever he wants!"

Sam glared at Sidney. "That so?"

"Yes ma'am!" Sidney said. He straightened out Dash's Letterman jacket and ran his fingers through his blond locks, admiring Dash's reflection in the mirror. "The Phantom is safe. But the bully will be outnumbered."

"So it'll take a while for him to find Dash in the first place," Danny said.

Sidney snapped Dash's fingers. Danny couldn't help but think of Phantom's quip earlier. Puppet Master.

"Exacto-mundo," Sidney said.

"The heck are we supposed to do in the meantime, huh?" Sam said.

"I owe a special somebody a slurg." Sidney winked at Danny.

"Miiilk. Shaaake," Tucker said.

Sidney laughed. Dash had a surprisingly high pitched laugh. Kind of scratchy. "Yes! And we can gst fries. You want fries, Danny?"

It was still weird hearing his first name come out of Dash's mouth. It took a second of them both staring at each other before Danny remembered he'd been asked a question.

He gulped. "Uh... fries as friends?"

Sidney blinked. He looked at Tucker.

Tucker stage whispered. "Sloooow."

Sidney nodded solemnly. "Friendship fries."

Sam stuck her hands in the locker and unhooked the mirror from its hook on the wall.

"Wh-what-" Sidney started.

"I'm not leaving it here," she said.

Then she put it in her spider backpack, careful to wrap it in a black sweater.

oOo

Sidney bought two milkshakes, forcing Tucker to share with Sam and Danny to share with Sidney.

Tucker smirked at Danny from across the table.

Danny kicked him, but Tucker just briefly winced and then started giggling.

Sam aggressively chewed on fries. There was a large basket of them at the center of the table.

She used one to point at Sidney.

"Where do you go when Phantom gets back with Dash?" Sam said.

Sidney shrugged, not-so-casually throwing an arm over the booth behind Danny.

"I'll float around," Sidney said. "In my natural form, I suppose?"

Sam tightened her hold on the purple spider backpack, which she'd kept on her lap.

"You won't get sucked back into the mirror?"

Tucker and Danny both straightened, eyes widening, and Danny reached for his utility belt.

Sidney, by contrast, just laughed.

And laughed.

It wasn't a sinister laugh. More like a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

As if someone were tickling him.

He laughed so hard milkshake spurted out his nose and Danny automatically scrambled to give the guy a napkin.

"The mirror traps bullies," Sidney finally gasped. "I'm safe and sound. And with my friends!"

Abandoning his earlier nonchalance, Sidney dropped a heavy arm around Danny's shoulders to emphasize the word 'friends.'