Chapter 9 – Have a Seat

Daniel and Sue just stood there motionless and didn't say a word as Hank scratched his head with a raised eyebrow. Just as Sue stepped forward and was about to speak up, all three of them heard a car horn honking outside to see a yellow taxi cab parked outside. "It's okay," shouted the driver, "I brought them here, and you left the door wide open when we arrived!" "I guess I did leave the door open didn't I," asked Hank, "Alright then, just keep it running, we'll be down in a few!" The driver gave a thumbs up and kept the car running. "So why are you two here," asked Hank to Daniel and Sue, "this is pretty far from Drago Valley, 250 miles if memory serves me correctly. If you two were heading for Asemetro City, you still have about another 50 miles to go. Although I highly don't recommend too many of the hotels there." Sue raised her left index finger and interrupted Hank by saying, "Actually sir, we have a few things we wanna ask you." Daniel then pulled Sue by the arm and turned her around whispering into her ear, "Uhhh… Sue… What are you doing? We're probably in enough trouble as is, so why not just make a dash for the cab?" "Well the Portal probably dropped us here for a reason," whispered Sue, "so maybe we're supposed to ask Mr. Zimmerman for important advice or something like that. Besides, we may never get this opportunity again." Suddenly, a honking sound could be heard from the cab again as the driver shouted, "So you guys coming down or what?! I don't have all night you know!" "Keep your panties on," yelled Sue, "we'll be down in a second!"

"Please take a seat," said Hank, "feel free to ask me anything you want." "Well for starters," said Sue with a grin on her face, "what's in the box?" "Excuse me," asked Hank with both of his eyebrows raised. "What's in the freaking box," asked Sue as she pointed to a cardboard box filled with mysterious looking artifacts sitting in the corner of the room. "Oh these are just a bunch of old relics and treasures that I've unearthed over the years. Ranging from an old snow globe with real snow inside of it, a painting believed to be a historic artifact from the Titanic, and this jar of pencil shavings. Yes, that is literally a jar full of pencil shavings." "These are all very nice, except probably the pencil shavings," said Sue, "but what's up with that creepy colorless mask at the bottom of the pile?" Hank pulled out the pale colored mask and showed it to the duo. "To be totally honest with you, I have no idea what this is or even where it originated from. I got it in the mail a couple of months ago from an 'anonymous supporter'. I tried it on a couple of times just for fun, but it got old really quick and now it just sits in the corner and collects dust. And call me crazy, but I think it's watching me sometimes. Talk about a wild imagination, am I right?" "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah," replied Daniel and Sue at the same time. Hank put the mask back in the box and asked the two if they had any more questions. "How rich are you," asked Sue. "I'm definitely not the richest man on the planet," answered Hank, "but I'd say I'm worth at least 5.5 billion; that's according to Wikipedia at least." "What's what the Portal of Power," asked Sue, "I didn't think someone like you would be into Skylanders." "Not exactly," answered Hank, "but my daughter seems to like them a lot." Sue raised her eyebrow and replied, "You have a daughter?" "Yeah," said Daniel, "I guess I forgot to mention that earlier."

"Any day now," exclaimed the cabbie. "I promise we'll be down in a few more minutes," exclaimed Daniel. "You still haven't asked me any questions Daniel," said Hank, "isn't there anything you'd like to know." Daniel looked down at his feet, back up at Hank, then looked Sue in the eyes, and finally turned his head back in Hank's direction before finally saying, "Well there is one thing that's on my mind, but I'm not sure you'd be able to help me with it." "This is about William again isn't it," asked Hank. Sue placed her arm around Daniel as the latter nodded his head up and down. Hank looked down at the ground for a split second and fixed his eyes back on Daniel and Sue before saying, "Actually, I think I might have something that might interest you. Please wait here, I'll be right back." Daniel and Sue waiting on the sofa for Hank to return as Daniel stretched and placed his arm around Sue, with both of them smiling lovingly at one another. Before either of them could say anything, they heard footsteps getting closer and closer to the room and they quickly let go of each other, with both of them blushing until Hank finally walked in the room with a white lab coat and a silver watch. "These belonged to your father," said Hank, "they're the last things I was able to salvage from his lab after he disappeared. I've been holding onto them to remember him by, but I think you deserve these more than anyone else." Daniel smiled and put on the watch and the lab coat. "You look just like him," said Hank with a grin on his face, "y'know excluding the white hair. Speaking of which, how do you have white hair at such a young age; that does not look like hair dye." Daniel smirked and said, "Now it's my turn to answer something? Okay, here goes nothing. When I was younger, I had fallen seriously ill due to an unknown disease that was slowly eating me from the inside." "Yes," interrupted Hank, "it all makes sense now. Your father was pleading me for months to help him with his research to develop a cure; I agreed to help him, but he never told me what he was trying to develop it for." "Bingo," continued Daniel, "and long story short, I wake up in a hospital bed with my uncle by my side and a nurse telling me that my father had found a cure. My uncle told me that my father was waiting for us back home, but when we finally arrived back home from the hospital he was nowhere to be found. We even set out a search party for him, but with no luck. A week later, I woke up to find that most of my hair had somehow turned completely white overnight, and man you should've seen the reaction on my uncle's face. Eventually, all my hair had turned completely white; even my eyebrows had turned white. And that's how it's been ever since." "I had no idea Daniel," said Hank, "but listen, if you ever need anything, just give me a call." Hank then handed Daniel a business card from out of his pocket with his cell phone number and email address on it. "Thanks for everything Hank," said Daniel with a large smile on his face, "we'll be sure to keep in touch."

"Okay, I'm really starting to lose my patience," yelled the cabbie, "it's really cold out here!" "I guess we better go before Sir Nags-a-Lot ditches us," smirked Sue. "It was nice meeting you Hank, again," chuckled Daniel. "Likewise Cooper," replied Hank, "have a goodnight you two and save travels." As soon as Daniel and Sue got in the taxi and took off, Hank pulled out his phone and started talking to a person in his list of contacts that simply read 'O' and began to type a text. "They have unlocked the door. The card is tracking their every move. We'll soon be ready to strike." Meanwhile, while on the road the cabbie said to Daniel and Sue, "I'm sorry for almost snapping back there, but I have a test to take tomorrow morning and I would very much like to be prepared for it." "No problem Mr. AdamGregory03," said Daniel. "How did you know my name," asked the cabbie. "I read your nametag when we got into the cab," answered Daniel. "Okay," replied Adam, "that's much less creepy." "Speaking of creepy," added Sue, "how did you know we were in Mr. Zimmerman's mansion and how do you know we're from Drago Valley?" "We have our ways," muttered Adam. "Who's 'we'," replied Sue in a suspicious tone. "Crap, I've said too much," muttered Adam, "sorry about this guys." Adam then pushed a button on the dashboard that sent out a powerful electric shock through the back seats of the cab, electrocuting the duo and knocking them unconscious.

Daniel and Sue later awoke to find themselves unharmed and in front of Ricky's mansion just as the sun was beginning to rise. Sue stood up furiously about what occurred the previous night with the cabbie, but was quickly calmed down when she realized Daniel was smiling. "Are you seriously happy that some big-boned part-time cabbie just electrocuted the crap out of us," asked Sue with a raised eyebrow. "Of course not," chuckled Daniel, "I'm happy because it feels like a part of me that's been missing for a long time has finally come back. I know he's still out there somewhere, and I won't rest until I find him." Daniel then looked directly at Sue and asked, "Now what was it you wanted to show me last night?" "Ah yes," said Sue, "now close your eyes. Don't wanna ruin the surprise now do we?" Daniel closed his eyes while unknowing to him, Sue closed her eyes as well and once again began to pucker her lips. However, the kiss was once again interrupted, this time by Summer and Oliver who had just opened the mansion's front doors. "Young Daniel," said Oliver, "we thought we heard somebody out here. We're sorry to interrupt you and Sue but we need your help." "Help with what," asked Daniel, "and where are Brad, Wordsworth, Ricky, and the others?" "That's just it," said Summer in a troubled voice, "we can't find them anywhere! They're just… gone…" Daniel and Sue then looked at each other out of pure shock and muttered, "Oh no…"