Chapter One:

The sky of Amity Park turned a deep purple, so dark that it was almost black. Sam stared up at the sky and, despite her love for the color purple (it was one of her favorites), she couldn't help but think how truly ugly it was in that moment. Chaos surrounded her, voices screaming out in ear-splitting volumes, but none of it registered with her. Worry churned her stomach icily. Sam looked off to the side, a desperate attempt at receiving the only comfort she could find. Tucker managed to give her a slight smile, despite his own worries that were as overpowering as hers.

"Don't worry, Sam. We'll find him," Tucker said gently, his words coming out as confident as he felt. But he wasn't feeling very confident himself, which is why his own words sounded horribly pathetic, even to his own ears. Sam gave the tiniest smile back.

"Of course we'll find him," she whispered out quietly. "We have to. This is Danny we're talking about." Sam's expression changed suddenly, her amethyst eyes flashing in solid determination. Her voice came out hard, full of faith for their friend, "Danny wouldn't give up on us. We're going to do the same for him, even if it kills us."

"That's the spirit," Tucker grinned. "Let's go catch ourselves a halfa."

"Sam! Tucker!" A voice yelled out with worry. Their heads automatically turned to the source of the voice, seeing Danny's mother run up to them. She had a Fenton Bazooka in hand. Her eyes were wide, glancing around quickly for danger as she spoke to them at an urgent pace. "What are you two doing out here? It isn't safe! Get to City Hall, quickly!" Maddie cut off suddenly, her mouth dropping to form a perfect circle. "Danny isn't with you, is he? Oh, that boy! He should know better!" She started scanning their surroundings again, this time for a completely different reason than before.

"Danny isn't here, Mrs. Fenton," Sam said reassuringly. "We came out here because we wanted to help, but Danny stayed at City Hall."

"Oh, thank heavens!" Maddie said in relief, her hand immediately going to her chest as she let out a relieved sigh. But then her head snapped up quickly. "You wanted to help? You two aren't even trained properly! What were you thinking? You could have been killed! You could still be killed! Get to City Hall right now, before they put up the ghost shield. Then we would really have to worry." Maddie hands went out to grab their shoulders, turning them around and giving them a gentle push.

"Right, sorry, Mrs. Fenton," Tucker apologized. He started running off, Sam right beside him.

"Thanks for everything!" Sam threw over her shoulder before they eventually disappeared from view.

Those kids, I swear, Maddie thought to herself, shaking her head as fond smile danced across her lips. A couple of people ran past her and Maddie cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling out "Get to City Hall!" to the remaining population of Amity Park. What few people remained scattered quickly. Maddie adjusted her bazooka so that it rested comfortably against her shoulder and, with her remaining hand, she spoke firmly into a white walkie talkie.

"Last section clear. How are things on your side, Agent Z?"

"Ghost Portal's still forming at the edge of town, slowly but surely. It's pretty massive. There's no telling how many ghosts could get through, but I can already tell that this invasion is gonna go down in history. Set to deploy Ghost Shield?"

"Affirmative," a male voice answered.

"Ghost Shield in place. The citizens are safe," Agent Z informed. Maddie bit her lip out of worry, looking to where her son's friends stood moments before. I just hope they got there in time. City Hall isn't that far from here...

"Danny!" Tucker shouted. "Danny!" They were still wandering around town in search for their friend, but have so far come up empty. Tucker opened his mouth to yell again, but Sam elbowed him.

"He's not a dog, Tuck. Yelling his name isn't gonna make him come running."

"Yeah, well, I was thinking that he might yell back if he-"

"TUCKER!" Tucker was cut off as his name was screeched extremely loudly. Tucker and Sam exchanged a look.

"Danny? DANNY!" They ran. They ran as fast they possibly could, in the direction Danny's voice originated from.

Boom! There was a loud blast, followed by an agonized scream of pain. Sam and Tucker's eyes widened and they turned the corner, finding themselves in a narrow alley. Danny Phantom was backed into the corner of the alley. He was crouched over, his right hand grasping his shoulder in a tight grip. Plasmius stood next to him, a feral grin adorning his face.

"You-" Danny gasped out, his teeth clenching shut with a snap. His eyes closed briefly and Danny took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I what, Little Badger?" Vlad mocked, smirking down at him with that arrogantly conniving look.

"You shattered my collar bone," Danny mumbled out shakily, his knees giving out from under him. He hit the concrete with a loud bang, groaning out in pain.

"Oh, but that's not the only issue here, is it, Daniel? That leg isn't looking too good," Vlad remarked, tsking.

"Danny," Sam whispered quietly, her hand immediately curling around her Fenton Thermos. A grin grew on Vlad's face and he whipped around, his devilish red eyes narrowing in on Danny's best friends.

"How nice of you to join us, Tucker, Samantha."

"Leave Danny alone!" Tucker yelled angrily, his fists clenched shut tightly, palms lightly stinging in pain as his nails dug through his soft flesh.

"Oh? And what do you plan to do about it?" Vlad taunted. "You are but a measly boy and his pet," he spat out, his gaze flickering over to Sam's rigid form. Vlad made a face, his mouth making a move to open before he was engulfed in a bright flash of light. "You're too late! THEY ARE ALREADY HERE!" Vlad shouted before his whole body was sucked backwards, disappearing completely.

"Didn't anyone teach you to never turn your back on an enemy?" Danny groaned out, his lip quirking up slightly despite his pain. He twisted the cap of his thermos shut, making a move to stand. Sam and Tucker immediately rushed forward, moving to support him before he collapsed.

"Dude, are you okay?" Tucker asked worriedly. Danny shot him a dry look, not bothering to reply as his mouth twisted into a grimace.

"Right..." Tucker trailed off. "Stupid question."

"Ya' think?" Sam asked sarcastically. "C'mon, Danny. We need to get you out of here.

"But what do you think fruitloop meant with all that dramatic 'You are too late!' crap?"

"Who cares?" Sam scowled. "We need to get Danny to Fenton Works, and that's all that matters right now." Danny's uninjured arm was around Sam's shoulder, while Tucker supported his waist so that he wouldn't fall. Danny limped forward slowly, white hot pain shooting up his leg with every little jostle. He winced.

"Hold up a sec, guys," Danny mumbled, slowly bending down and sitting on the floor. He reached out to right leg, his hand glowing with a brilliant blue light. Ice grew around his leg, encasing it in a make-shift cast. Danny sighed slowly as a wave of exhaustion hit him, his mind clouding while black spots threatened to take over his vision. His hand shakily moved to his shoulder, encasing it in the same ice as his leg. He started panting, his eyes squeezing shut.

"Danny, are-" Sam asked worriedly, being cut off as Danny's eyes suddenly snapped open in alarm.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"People, heading this way," Danny grunted, his hand going out to grasp at his ice encased shoulder. "We need to leave right now. I can-can fly us out," Danny hissed out in pain, his teeth clenching again.

"Don't be stupid, Danny," Sam said firmly.

"Yeah, man," Tucker agreed. "You aren't in any condition to fly, let alone carry two people in the process."

"If I limp out of here like a snail, it'll already be too late."

"Then we better get moving." Sam and Tucker went to help him up, supporting his weight away from injuries.

"And just hope that they're friendly," Tucker added. They slowly inched forward, Danny fighting back a hiss of pain with every step. His shoulder area burned unbearably, the ice only lessening the pain by an almost unnoticeable fragment. A sharp pain suddenly flared in his leg, his muscles feeling as if they were slowly tearing themselves apart. Danny gasped, stumbling to the floor. A simultaneous ache stabbed through his head and Danny clutched at it, letting out a cry.

"Danny!"

"Well well well, now what do we have here?" A smallish group of people approached them, heavily armed with ghost weapons. They were from the Guys In White. The one who had spoken was Agent O and he had an ugly sneer on his face.

"How lucky are we? Stumbling upon the Phantom menace when he's most vulnerable," a nameless agent commented, taking in the state of him.

"Hello!" Tucker yelled. "Two members of Team Phantom, standing right here!" Agent O looked them over with indifference.

"You two are of no concern," he sniffed, waving his hand dismissively. "We only want the ghost scum, children, and we'll be on our way."

"If you want Phantom, you're going to have to go through us!" Sam snarled, standing firmly in front of Danny, who was still clutching his head.

"We do not harm children," O responded flippantly.

"Oh, you hear that, Tucker? They don't harm children!" Sam mocked, snorting. "Tell that to the people and I'm sure they'll all magically forget all those times your reckless 'ghost hunts' have caused harm to those children that you supposedly don't harm."

"Any and all of those incidences strictly hold the ghost scum at fault."

"Right, I'm sure," Sam muttered sarcastically. Her hands went behind her back casually, and she lightly held a hand over her Fenton Wrist Rays.

"Stand down, child," Agent K spoke up firmly, attempting to stare Sam down.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," she stated simply. "And we aren't children." She struck out, aiming her ecto-blast straight at Agent O, who seemed to be the leader of the group. The ectoplasm normally wouldn't have had a tremendous effect on a human, but she angled it so that the blast would hit him right in the eyes. Agent O gasped, clutching as his face.

"GET THAT LITTLE BRAT!" He barked out. The group of agents reacted immediately, approaching both Sam and Tucker with their ecto-guns held up menacingly.

"Nice, Sam," Tuckered whispered. "You made them angry. Good going."

"Shut up and fight."

"This is your last warning," K growled. "Hand Phantom over and nobody gets hurt.

"Not gonna happen," Sam repeated, before ordering, "Tucker, get Danny out of here!"

"But-" Tucker started to protest, but Sam gave him a hard stare. He would have argued further, but he noticed something deep within her amethyst eyes. Tucker saw a hidden desperation; a sorrowful plead to make sure that Danny got out of there okay. He gave her a resigned look, nodding his head, and Sam's shoulder's straightened slightly. Whether or not it was out of relief, Tucker wasn't so sure.

They exchanged another glance and then moved simultaneously. Sam darted forward the confront the group of oncoming agents. Tucker took the place of where she previously stood, crouching down beside his best friend. Danny definitely wasn't in good shape, be he had been through the darkest pits of hell and came back mostly unscathed (metaphorically, of course). He was strong and would survive this. Tucker promised himself to make sure of that.

His hair was messier than the usual untamed appearance that it typically gave off. Parts of it were signed crisp black, which stood out in great contrast against his snowy white hair. Dirt caked his face and body, mixing in with the pure green ectoplasm that leaked in high enough amounts to cause great concern. Large portions of his skin was stained with that ashy green color of dirt and ectoplasm and Tucker held in a wince at the sight.

I will get you out of this alive, Danny, Tucker vowed. I promise you that. His arm slipped under Danny's knee bend while his other arm went around his neck for support. Danny was still half-conscious, wrapping his own arms around Tucker's neck immediately. He stood up, cradling Danny's body to his chest like a small child. He was light, and for that Tucker was extremely grateful.

Sam was engaging the agents in combat, trying to hold them back to give Tucker room to escape. All of their focus was centered on her. Tucker started to slip away, jogging at a moderate pace. He tried not to jostle Danny too much, but Danny still cringed slightly with the light movement. Sweat beaded his forehead and he had his eyes clenched shut.

"I know it hurts, Danny," Tucker winced sympathetically when a particularly rough movement made him hiss out in pain, "but we're gonna fix you up real soon. Just hang in there." Danny responded by tightening his hold around his neck.

Tucker almost made it out. One GIW agent noticed him, letting out a yell that attracted everyone else's attention to them.

"He's getting away with Phantom!"

"STOP HIM!"

"Aw crap," Tucker muttered, his jogging quickening into a full out sprint. "Crap crap crap crap..." He heard the footfalls of them trying to catch up, starting to run after him. There was a quiet hum and something whizzed passed his ear.

They're shooting at me! Tucker realized with a panic. The last thing he heard before turning the corner was Sam's echoing yell, "RUN, TUCKER!"

And run he did...

I'm testing the water here, but I have a bunch of motivation for this right now. What do'ya think?