A/N: Oooh, I do love reviews! Thank you all for your thoughts. I really listen. Now, I'm posting Chapter 11 a little earlier than I planned, at the special request of and in honor of Angelus-alvus, who has stuck with me through thick and thin—from the very start! I thank you, my friend, for all your encouragement. AND I also appreciate each and every one of you wonderful readers out there who, I hope, are enjoying this story and appreciate DP as much as I do. And special thanks to Pearl84. I think about you every time I'm editing. Your insight is priceless! Did I blather enough? Sorry! Now, hope you enjoy Chapter 11, and, of course, ditto!
A Mini Review—Chapter 11
As Danny flies toward whatever direction he picked 'cause he has absolutely no idea where he is, or where he's going, he keeps searching, scanning below and beyond for any clues about anything. Finally the teen sees something on the horizon, and blurts out, "Hey, what's that ahead?"
He increases his speed and can see the outlines of the restored city buildings. He utters, "Sam and Tucker have been here! Good work, guys!…But, oh no, then, where are you?"
He continues to search, but this time for Sam and Tucker. He is soon frustrated. "Man, I never knew how big this city was until now. It's as if it just popped out of nowhere!... Well, actually, it did just kinda pop out of nowhere!"
Then a wild idea hits him. " 'Pop?' That's it! Now if I can just find Sam and Tucker before my hour is up, I think we can get through this mess! But first…"
He flies to Tucker's house and turning intangible, glides into Tucker's bedroom. "Now, if I were Tucker, where would I put that thing?" He quickly goes over to Tucker's computer and sees what he wants in the corner right next to it. He chuckles, both with triumph in finding it and in knowing his friend very well. "Can't be too careful protecting your techno stuff, right, Tuck? I'm so glad I loaned this to you. If it were where it ought to be, it would be totally useless to me now!" He then spies one of Tucker's backpacks, gets another idea, checks its contents, smiles, and also brings it along.
Returning to the air, he resumes his search for Sam and Tucker. He tries to think what his friends would do. "Hmm, Tucker would….probably… want to unshrink more of the city…And Sam?..." He smiles at the thought. "…She would want to find me. So, let's just see if both of them have headed back to where I left them…" Then his thoughts shift. 'Can't be too careful, though. So, better make sure the two goons don't see me while looking.' He turns invisible, heads back toward the bushes—that is, Amity Park Central Park— and continues his hunt.
Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker are silently discussing what they should do next. They hunch down further when they see Technus and Skulker float closer. The two ghosts are now blocking their safe path to their original point where Danny had first left them.
"But how are we going to find Danny if he doesn't know we are no longer in the place he left us?" Tucker quietly whines.
"I don't know…Let me think," Sam whispers, more convincing herself than Tucker. "But in any case, let's get out of this area for now. I don't want those two ghost jerks sneaking up on us should we get too loud."
"Sounds good to me!" Tucker whispers back.
They see that the cover is good in another direction and head to another set of bushes much further in the distance, a place they decide is good enough so they can talk without being detected.
As he looks around again, Tucker groans, "These aren't bushes, either. They're the trees at the picnic area of the Floody Waters water park!"
Lightly shaking one of his shoulders with slight irritation, Sam says, "Get a grip, Tucker! We haven't unshrunk the rest of the city, remember? We're bound to come upon all sorts of tiny features of the city until we can get rid of the bad guys! Now, let's think about our next move, okay?"
"Okay," Tucker answers, calming down. "Maybe we can shrink Skulker and Technus and then get the school and Danny's house from them?"
"That would be a good idea, if it weren't for the fact that then the school and Danny's house would be even smaller and still in their pockets."
He cringes at not having a good enough plan, and then remarks, "Well, it was just a thought."
And as his friends try to figure it all out, Danny, still maintaining his invisibility mode, nears where he left his friends off in the first place. He can see Skulker and Technus beyond the miniature trees and close to where Sam and Tucker were dropped off, and changes his speed so that it is now a slow flight. He glances downward, scanning the ground below for Sam and Tucker. He sighs quietly when he sees that they're gone.
Thinking to himself, he says, "Well, I was kinda hoping you two would still be there, but then, where could you be? Maybe Tucker won and they're unshrinking more of the city." He wonders if he should double back that way, toward another part of the city. He glances down at his watch. "Oh, no, just fifteen minutes left! I just hope they are there, uh, wherever 'there' is!"
He turns and before he increases his speed, he glances downward again. Just as it looks as if his luck wouldn't hold out, and with the bushes blocking his full view, the teen notices an unusual reflection near the ground. "That's odd! There are only certain things that make that kind of signature reflection and those things are gizmos that could have only been made by Mom and Dad! Sam and Tucker are down there!"
He silently speeds downward. He is upon Sam and Tucker before they notice, as they are still engrossed in their plans.
Both of them scream when Danny nonchalantly comments, "So, there you are!" before materializing.
"Danny! You scared us half to death!" Tucker yells.
"Well, I am half a ghost!" He smirks.
They growl and Sam says, "It's not funny, Danny! The school and your family are in danger!"
"Sorry. You're right, Sam! But I have a plan that I think will work! But first, here's your backpack, Tucker. I hope you don't mind that I checked in it to make sure it had what I wanted in it."
"Aw, sure, dude," Tucker replies, bewildered, and then slips his backpack on. He quickly notices how feathery it feels after trying to carry Danny, and utters, "Man! I never realized how light this backpack really is!"
Danny grins at his friend's hint and says, "Yeah, I bet! And by the way, I'm swearing off milk shakes!"
Tucker grins back. "That's okay, dude!"
Danny smirks a little, and then, being a little more serious this time, adds, "But in any case, it's good to know that I can always depend on you in being prepared, Tuck!"
His friend smiles at the compliment; and Danny then proceeds to fill them in on his plan. Then at the end of his explanation, says, "We all know what to do, right?"
His friends nod in agreement and brighten a little, hoping that his scheme will work.
"But are you sure no one will get hurt?" Tucker can't resist asking.
Danny looks understandably at his friend, and replies, "There's always a risk, Tuck, but I think the risk is more as long as Skulker and Technus have them."
"All right, then, let's do it!" Tucker announces and immediately hooks up his PDA to the Fenton Crammer.
In the meantime, Skulker and Technus are loitering around and bored while waiting for Danny to return.
"How long has it been?" Technus whines.
"That's the hundred and twenty-sixth time you have asked that question!" Skulker complains. Then looking at the gadget imbedded in his arm gear, he announces, "He has five minutes and thirty-nine seconds to return here."
"That's too long!" The mullet-haired ghost wails. "How can you stand all this standing around doing nothing?"
"Technically, we're floating. But, anyway, a hunter knows how to wait and wait patiently."
"But I'm no hunter! I'm the 'Master of…" Technus begins his spiel, only to be nipped in the bud by Skulker's "Oh, please!"
"Well, I'm bored!" Technus objects. He picks up the school, inspects it, and then starts to shake it. The inhabitants immediately scream hysterically as they are tossed about in the process.
"Stop that!" His partner demands. "Hunters do not return damaged goods!"
Still examining the small school, and hearing the hysterical screams within, Technus moans, "I said I was no hunter! And why did we have to shrink all the electronic gadgets in our mad rush to conquer the world?"
"Uh, the 'we' and 'our' would be 'you' and 'your'!" Skulker corrects him. "All I wanted was the Ghost Boy!"
"Whatever, then, 'we-ish'!" Technus concedes, and then putting the school back in his pocket, adds, "Anyhow, when we finally get the Crammer back, we can uncram some of those gadgets and then use them to rule over the shrunken world!"
"And do what to them?" The cyborg ghost argues. "So far, everything that has been shrunk is totally useless! What are we going to do with a conquered world the size of a pea?"
"Well, I don't know. Use a peashooter? In any case, we're still the biggest things around!"
"Us, and that Ghost Brat!"
Technus smiles wickedly. "We can fix that once he's got back with the crammer. And then we unshrink the electronic stuff I need to rule the world!"
"You mean us?"
"Yes, erm, us! You know how carried away I can get!"
The Ghost Hunter rolls his eyes in response.
Just then, Skulker sees a slow flying figure headed their way. He whips out his binoculars to check what it is. "Speaking of the Ghost Brat, he's coming!" Skulker announces and then adds, "And he's holding something behind his back!"
Both of the older ghosts snap to attention. When Danny is close enough to hear them, Skulker checks his watch and smugly replies, "Back in time, I see! And you have the weapon?"
Danny, with one of his hands still behind his back, nonchalantly says, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! So, I won't keep you waiting much longer! And I just wanted to let you know that I've changed my mind!"
Confused, the cyborg ghost asks, "About what?"
"About kicking your butts!" Danny yells. The young hybrid immediately charges up a baseball size ball of green ectoplasmic energy, and then whipping out the 'Fenton Creep Stick' from behind his back, tosses the ball of energy in the air, and hits it with the bat, driving the ball squarely into Technus. The force of the blow pummels that ghost to the ground.
Danny doesn't hesitate with the next round and quickly bulls-eyes the Ghost Hunter with the same tactic. Skulker lands roughly to the ground face first, plowing a trench as he finally slows to a stop.
Now both of the older ghosts are incensed. They quickly recover and pull out their captive buildings. They hold each of the buildings high in the air, threatening to throw or squash them between their fingers.
Danny gasps and then, smiling, cries, "That's what I was hoping you would do! Now, Tucker!"
At that precise moment, two rays in rapid succession hit the school and Fenton Works, blowing them back up to their normal size at a speed that was much more rapid than usual, thanks to Tucker's alterations.
The sudden size and weight of each of the fully restored buildings crush Skulker and Technus under them. The two older ghosts groan momentarily and then phase through their respective buildings in a counterattack.
Tucker pushes a button on his PDA and then immediately fires two more rays in rapid succession at them, reducing them to the size of, well, ants. Skulker and Technus look at each other in shock and then upward at their conquerors.
"Bye, guys!" Sam cheerfully announces as she quickly activates the Fenton thermos, compliments of Tucker's backpack, instantly sucking the two mini-villains into it.
Now secured in the thermos, Technus suddenly smiles and remarks, "Hey! For once, it's very roomy in here!"
"Oh, shut up!" Skulker sulks.
Turning invisible, Danny flies over and grabs his friends. Then quickly turning them invisible as well, he flies away just as the inhabitants of the school and Danny's family file out of their buildings, dazed but unhurt.
After reaching another—and still small—part of the city, Danny and his friends land.
"Great work, guys!" Danny happily says.
"You didn't want to hang around back there and get any of the glory, now that you saved everyone?" Sam asks, fishing for Danny's reason for leaving so soon.
"No, I didn't even think about that! Remember, my parents were back there! I'm sure they would have shot first and probably never asked questions!"
"You're probably right!" Tucker agrees, then remarks, "Now that everyone's okay, all we need to do is uncram the rest of the city…" And when his stomach suddenly growls, he adds, "…and cram my stomach to the brink!"
Placing one hand on Tucker's shoulder, Danny laughs, "There is more than enough time for that!"
"And don't forget that you need to return the school and your home back to their original locations," Sam reminds him.
A slight chuckle in his voice, Danny replies, "Yeah, but I might want to wait until our next school break. I could sure use the extra sleep I will get now that my house is right next door to the school!"