DP: M. of the Spirit Gems ch29

People in the city had already rounded in the streets near the park, though Maddie and Jack had forbidden them to come any further. The police put barricades to keep the citizens safe in case anything worse happened. Everyone stared up at the battle that took place, thousands of feet in the air, wondering who would come out the victor.

Tucker and the others looked up as well. He turned to the east and then looked at his watch. "Twenty minutes," he said worriedly. "Danny's only got twenty minutes left until Sunrise, Sam."

Sam had an arm around her son, who was still holding her leg tightly. "He'll make it, Tucker," she said. "He promised he'd make it."

Tucker looked at her in silence before staring up at the sky again.

Suddenly, there was a giant flash of light, and the next thing anyone knew was that something incredibly large and black, like a big cloud of black smoke, was careening towards the ground. As it did, it seemed to be battling something small, white, yet unbelievably bright; almost like a black storm cloud trying to fight back the rays of the sun.

People shouted in fright and pointed upwards. Tucker placed an arm around Sam while she held her son tightly.

The two ghosts twisted madly and shot ectoplasmic rays at each other as they fell. People covered their heads and held down their hair as the wind began to rise. They shouted in fright and squatted quickly.

Tucker ducked down over Sam and Andy as the five-year-old screamed in fright, just as the two ghosts flew over them, only feet from shaving their heads. They sailed on a few ways before finally colliding with the ground. There was a violent tremble that stretched across the entire park and a bit of the city, causing trees to rattle and lose a few loose leaves, and garbage cans to fall over with loud crashes. Damaged buildings groaned and loose debris fell from their crumbling structures.

A bright white light exploded, raising dust and dirt from the ground and covering everything from view.

KAVLAM!!!

People cried in bewilderment and then fell silent. Birds nested in the nearby trees squawked and took for the sky in panic. The Fentons, Tucker, Sam and Andy only looked up once everything had become still.

Rising dust and dirt covered everything from view. No one could make heads or tail of anything.

Tucker slowly got back to his feet, as did Sam. "Did he win?" Andy asked. "Did Daddy beat him?"

"Is he alive?" Jazz asked worriedly, running towards the dust a few steps.

No one answered their questions, or the question that haunted everyone else's mind in the city; had their hero emerged victorious?

They waited several desperate seconds before finally a dark shadow began to emerge from the dust. People in the streets whispered to one another, some fearing that all hope was lost.

"Come on, Danny," Tucker whispered. "Please be okay."

Andy hugged Sam's leg tightly, trying desperately not to fear the worst.

The shadow continued to walk forth until finally, the victor walked into view:

Danny Phantom shook some sense into his head while waving his arm about before him, trying to clear the air. He coughed a few times before finally opening his eyes.

No sooner had everyone recognized him did they cheer for joy. Tucker, Sam, Andy and Jazz cried out happily and jumped into the air while the streets behind them filled with claps and whistles.

"Danny, you DID IT!!!" Jazz squealed, running to him.

Danny looked up at her and smiled, only seconds before his sister leaped into his arms. He stumbled backwards a few steps until Sam leaped on top of his as well. Tucker jumped in third, until Danny fell backwards with a laugh to the ground with everyone.

"You won, Danny, you won!" Tucker laughed, throwing his arms around his best friend.

Danny laughed in reply and patted Tucker on the back. "Good guys always win, Tuck!" he said. "I thought you knew that!"

They remained on the ground for a few more seconds before Danny finally rose to his feet. The other's followed his action.

"How did you gain control of that power, Danny?" Jazz asked as her brother dusted himself off.

"I don't think I totally do have control over it," Danny replied, looking at her. "The only reason it looks like I do is because I'm still in ghost form. I got the chance to practice it enough while I was in the Ghost Zone so that, when I do use it in the future, I'll only revert back to human form, instead of losing my body all over again." He looked at Tucker and Sam. "Which reminds me," he said softly. He turned and walked towards the Ghost Portal.

Tucker, Sam, Jazz, Andy, Maddie, Jack and Johnson followed him, silently wondering what he was doing.

Danny came to a stop, just outside the portal, and turned to look at his best friends. "How much time left, Tucker?" he asked.

Tucker looked at his watch. "About fifteen minutes," he replied. "Give or take, I guess. You'd better transform back now."

But Danny only shook his head.

Tucker was immediately overcome by deep concern because of this. He shared a worried look with Sam and stared at his best friend again. "But Danny, it's all over now," he said. "You won, you can change back."

"Not yet, Tucker," Danny replied. "I'm still a ghost. I don't have my physical body yet."

"But we saw you transform," Sam noted. "We saw you transform from human to ghost when you first got here near midnight."

"That was just a mirage, Sam," Danny explained gently. "You guys only saw what you wanted, or needed, to see."

"A… a mirage?"

"It's another side effect of coming in contact, or near range, of the Spirit Gems. To protect me."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other once more before looking at the ghost again.

Danny waited a moment in silence before he held out his hand and grabbed Sam's. "Can you feel me yet?" he asked softly.

Sam looked down at Danny's hand and rubbed it gently. She shook her head. "No," she whispered, looking at him once more.

"That's because I don't have a physical body for you to feel yet," Danny replied, pulling his hand away. He looked at Tucker. "It's still in the Ghost Zone."

"Then go get it," Tucker insisted. "You've got the data the Spirit Gems transferred to you; now you can go track it down and come back home."

But again, Danny shook his head. "I can't do that, Tucker," he whispered.

"I… I don't understand…"

Danny smiled at him. "I know where my body is now, yes," he replied. "But I can't take it back…" He reached out and grabbed Tucker's hand. "Not without your help," he added in a whisper.

He held out his other hand and opened it, placing something down in Tucker's palm. Tucker could not distinguish the shape of the item, but when Danny pulled his hand away, he saw it and gasped in shock.

It was a beautiful white gem, shaped like a diamond star. It glowed dimly with ectoplasmic light, giving it the illusion of containing tiny, glowing snowflakes.

"It's the fourth Spirit Gem," Tucker announced as Sam stared at it in awe. The mayor waited a moment before looking up at Danny in shock. "You had it the whole time, didn't you?"

"I figured that I should keep one for safety, just in case it happened to be more important than what I thought it could be," Danny replied. He grinned amusingly. "Turns out that it was better that way."

Johnson snapped his fingers, catching everyone's attention. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "Turn the game of the hunter against him by hiding the final treasure with the prey!" He looked at Danny and smiled. "By concealing the Spirit Gem, you led Shade on an endless chase for it! The only possible way for him to retrieve it would be if you were to disappear!"

Just as he said those words, Danny's body went transparent again. Sam gasped softly and covered her mouth.

Danny looked at himself before looking at Tucker again. "Speaking of which," he said, with a hint of concern. "This is what I need you and Sam to do, Tucker; you need to take the Spirit Gem into the Ghost Zone and join my ghost half with my human half."

Tucker looked at him worriedly. "Why can't you do it?" he asked.

"Because I can't break the last defence mechanism if I'm the one the stones are trying to protect," Danny explained, his voice becoming urgent. "I need a physical body to do that, but that's what the Spirit Gems are protecting." He closed Tucker's fingers around the jewel and pushed the man's hand towards his chest. "I need you to open it for me. Use the Fenton Thermos to carry my ghost half to the place my body's being kept, and once you've unlocked the last defence, open the thermos and join the two together."

Andy, who had taken the opportunity to run to the RV and grab an empty thermos while Danny was explaining things to his uncle and mother, tugged on Tucker's sleeve and handed him the object. For one reason or another, Andy had guessed that the hero would need the thermos, so before he had even mentioned it, the five-year-old went to grab one.

Tucker turned and grabbed the thermos when the boy held it up to him. He stared at it in silence before looking at Danny with concern in his eyes. "I can't stuff you in this thing, Danny," he said worriedly.

"It won't hurt me," Danny replied. "I've done it before. It'll just be cramped."

"… I dunno, Danny…"

Danny placed his hands on the thermos and looked at Tucker. "You need to do this for me, Tucker," he said quietly yet urgently. "I can't do this on my own. I need your help to do this." He smiled weakly. "When I wake up as Danny Fenton, I want my best friends to be the two first people I see again. It would mean the world to me if you and Sam did this… Please, Tucker."

Tucker stared at him in silence before looking down at the thermos again. For a moment, he thought about stuffing his friend into a soup can. It did not sound incredibly comfortable.

He sighed and looked at Sam. Sam, though clearly afraid of entering the Ghost Zone again, grinned as bravely as she could to show her support.

Tucker took a deep breath and looked at Danny. He nodded weakly. "Okay," he said softly. "Okay, Danny."

Danny's eyes were immediately cleared of any fear and he gently pulled his hands away from the thermos. Tucker tucked the Spirit Gem into his pocket and pulled the cap of the thermos off. He pointed it at Danny. "See you in a while?" he asked.

Danny grinned back as he continued to fade in and out of view. "You got it," he said softly.

Tucker pressed a button on the side of the thermos. It projected a blue ray of light, which quickly spread over Danny's entire body.

Danny took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He seemed to turn intangible, but only seconds afterwards, he was sucked into the thermos.

Tucker placed the lid over the cylinder and then looked at Sam. "The Spirit Gems probably have the portal in the area we need to go," he said. He pulled out the white gem and looked at it. "The closer we get to Danny, the more this baby will shine."

Sam grabbed his hand in hers and smiled boldly. "Then let's go get him," she said.

*****