(A/N: Woo-Hoo, I am back! Those nice, long reviews were just what I needed to get my batteries recharged. Please Read, Enjoy, and Review.)
Technus sat in his workshop, about realize the fruit of more than seven years of hard labor. Now that I have the Solex Agitator, he thought, I can finally complete this machine and be free of Vlad Masters forever. I'll go deep into the Ghost Zone, so far that he will never be able to find me.
Wiping the sweat from his sooty, green face, Technus put down his blowtorch and removed his welding goggles. Running a hand through his sweaty mullet, he rose and strode over to a computer, checking his figures for the third time. He could not afford a single mistake. Double-checking the Agitator to make sure that it was in proper working order, he inserted it into a slot in the machine's side.
Suddenly, Technus became aware of the sound of high-heeled shoes coming his way. Turning around, he saw Danielle coming at him with a number of papers. "Mr. Masters requires that you make these adjustments to Project: Helios," she said impassionately, "Immediately."
Giving them a quick but thorough glance, Technus replied, "Thank you, Dani."
Offering him a rare smile, Danielle said, "No problem, Nikolai. You shouldn't work yourself so hard. You've made progress on this machine years ahead of schedule."
Technus frowned and said, "Not fast enough, for me. I aim to finish before the week's out, and bring this world to its knees." Returning to her usual state of reticence, Danielle left.
Sitting at his desk and reading forgotten lore, Vlad suddenly across a phrase that he couldn't translate, or even readily identify what the language was. "Danielle," he called out, "what do you make of this?" Entering, Danielle adjusted her eyeglasses and bent over the desk to see the inscription.
"I believe," she said after a while, "that this is Samaritan. It says, 'He-who-controls-the-flow-of-time, the spouse of Fate and father of her son, Twist.'" Vlad, somewhat distracted by the delightful view of Danielle's shapely and fairly large breasts, took a while to reply.
"He-who-controls-the-flow-of-time? I've never heard of this character," said Vlad. Suddenly, a thin wisp of reddish gas emitted from Vlad's nostrils. Rising to look out the window, Vlad saw a silvery humvee-like vehicle with a stylized F on the side. Suddenly, the doors opened, and out stepped two faces he had seen in his nightmares every night for 20-odd years: his former students, Jack and Maddie. Following them to the castle door was a willowy teenage girl and a boy with dark hair.
"So," said Vlad quietly, "Jack's son is the ghost boy who interfered with my plans."
Jack rang the doorbell, grinning like a maniac. Both he and Maddie were so happy that Vlad had finally forgiven them, stating in his letter that all those years in the hospital had helped him to plot out a course for his life, and make some decisions that made him very wealthy very quickly. Finally, the door opened, and Danielle stepped out to greet them.
"Hi," said Maddie, "Is Professor Masters here?"
"He regrets that he cannot greet you personally," replied Danielle, "but follow me and I will show you to your rooms. He'll join you at dinner."
Finding their room had already been prepared, Jack and Maddie got situated quickly while Danielle led Danny and Jazz down a long hallway. "So," said Jazz, hoping to break the silence, "do you live here?"
"Yes," replied Danielle, "I work for Mr. Masters."
"What do you do?" asked Danny.
"I'm his personal secretary," said Danielle, "I do whatever is required."
"And exactly how personal is that?" asked Danny.
Danielle stopped in her tracks and whirled around, an impressive feat for a girl wearing business pumps. "I'm a damn good secretary," she said coldly, "Period."
After Danielle left them, Jazz said to Danny, "That was extremely rude of you."
"What?" said Danny, "I though that she was his granddaughter!"
"Well," replied Jazz, less vehement, "you should have worded it differently."
Danny left without another word and entered his own room. He lay on his bed, thinking. He wasn't sure before, but he could definitely sense something now. Some kind of energy disturbance, but he couldn't pin down the location of its source. Oh well, thought Danny, I'll figure it out later. Exhausted from the long trip, Danny fell asleep almost immediately.
When Danny woke up, it was dark out, and moonlight streamed through the window. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, he saw that it was almost 11 o' clock. He had slept the entire day! Suddenly, he felt a familiar tingling in his skull, and he began to exhale blue gas. Feeling a ghostly presence almost outside his door, he transformed and went intangible and invisible.
Looking out into the hall, Danny saw the flick of a whitish cape as it rounded a corner, apparently cover in a kind of ethereal glow. Silently but swiftly gliding down the hallway after the caped figure, Danny found himself unable to keep up and was eventually lost. "Darn it," he hissed under his breath, "I almost had him."
"Don't worry about him," said an icy voice behind him, "He is the least of your worries."
Danny turned to see a tall ghost with blue skin and black hair, dressed in an imperial yet functional outfit complete with a flowing, off-white cloak. His eyes were as red as blood, and glowed from within, making him look for all the world like a demon from Hell.
"Well?" asked the ghost, advancing slowly on Danny, "Aren't you going to try to capture me into your ridiculous containment device?"
Danny couldn't explain why, but something about this ghost filled his heart with dread, "I," stuttered Danny, "I don't want to fight you!"
"No," replied the ghost, grinning malevolently, "You don't."
Before Danny could react, the ghost shot a brilliant crimson ray at him, striking him in the chest and throat with the force of solid light. Slamming against a nearby wall, Danny coughed violently as he struggled to his feet. Good Lord, thought Danny, I've never been hit that hard. Who is this guy?
Danny lunged at this powerful new adversary, determined not to just lay down and be beaten. But sometimes when a man has never been beaten down, he starts to believe that he CAN'T be beaten down. That's when a man, no matter just his cause or how righteous his thinking, has lost. And this night, Danny lost.
"Who are you?" rasped Danny, attempting to wipe the blood of his nose from his upper lip with his shaky hand.
His unnamed adversary, knowing that Danny was about to pass out, spoke only three words.
"Quod sum eris."
(A/N: I'm happy with this one. I hope you all liked it, cause it could be awhile before the next chapter comes out.)
TO BE CONTINUED.