(A/N: Glad you all liked my little scientific lecture. I hope that it was neither too boring nor too pedantic. Please Read and Review.)
Ugh, thought Danny, Stop pounding my head with that rubber mallet. But as Danny slowly regained consciousness, he realized that the feeling of being struck repeatedly in the head was just a temporal vein pumping blood. Gingerly raising his hand, he felt a swollen, purple bruise off-center on his forehead.
"Lie still," said a deep voice next to him, "you've had a nasty fall." Danny's vision was still quite blurred, but he could make out a tall, older man kneeling next to him. Pulling out a hip flask and unscrewing the top, the old man lifted up Danny's head and said, "Drink this."
Danny coughed as the spicy liquid went down. Suddenly, his vision became clear, and his bumps and bruises didn't hurt as badly. "Mr. Masters?" asked Danny, feeling weak as a kitten.
"I am, young Daniel," said Masters, helping him to his feet, "We haven't had a chance to meet, yet. You must've been somnambulistic and fallen down the stairs."
Danny didn't know what somnambulistic meant, but he didn't deny it. The less Masters knew of what really happened, the better. But how had he gotten to the bottom of the stairs? The ghost who'd beaten the holy snot out of him must have done it, but why? Ah well, he'd figure it out in the morning.
Vlad half-carried Danny back to his room. Helping Danny onto his bed, he said, "Sleep well, little badger," and left.
Danny woke up feeling like crap. Giving himself a once over in the bathroom mirror, he saw that his more serious wounds had been cauterized and were healing quickly. "What the Hell happened to me last night?" he asked himself. Showering and putting on clean clothes, Danny went downstairs to see if he could find the kitchen.
Going down the stairs, Danny saw the dining room, with everyone seated, apparently waiting for him. "You don't usually sleep this late, Danny," said Maddie, "Have trouble sleeping?"
"I caught the boy sleepwalking," said Vlad, "Tripped going down the stairs."
"Remember how I used to do that?" chuckled Jack.
"Unfortunately," grumbled Vlad, "You destroyed my mother's antique Prussian vase."
"When Jack and I were in college," said Maddie, "He rented Professor Masters' spare room off-campus."
"It was better for performing experiments," said Jack.
Danny nodded every now and then, but he wasn't really paying attention. He could feel a faint tingling in the back of his skull, but it wasn't enough to activate his blue breath. It was almost as if the ghost he was sensing was here, but at the same time wasn't here . . .
Meanwhile, down in the workshop, Technus continued to labor at the machine, working tirelessly toward his goal of freedom. "Soon," said Technus to himself, "Soon my task will be complete."
But just then, Technus began to receive mental distress signals from his computer. Logging on, his worst fear was confirmed: a computer virus.
"No, no no no no no!" yelled Technus as he typed frantically. But it was already too late. A Chernobyl Virus had set it, making his entire operating system useless. He'd have to take apart and rebuild the entire computer, retrieve all of his files from his hard copies, and make major adjustments to Project: Helios.
Dashing to his communicator, he quickly dialed Vlad's cellphone number.
Vlad took out his vibrating cellphone and checked the number. "I hope you'll excuse me," he said, "but I cannot afford to not take this."
Picking up, Vlad immediately heard Technus say, "Vlad, you've got to get down here. The whole system has crashed!"
"What?!" said Vlad, angrily standing.
"A computer virus has ravaged the system," continued Technus, "If we don't fix this as soon as possible, we could be set back years!"
Vlad hung up, snapping his phone shut angrily. Turning to the Fentons, he said, "I'm sorry to say this, but a highly important business matter has come up in Manchuria. I have to leave immediately."
"What about the reunion?" asked Maddie, obviously disappointed at this news.
"I'm afraid that it will have to be postponed," said Vlad, hurrying here and there, "My accountant was using my money to short sell stock in various companies, and the prices are higher than ever this morning! I may have already lost millions!"
Turning to his guests once more before exiting the door, Vlad said, "You are welcome to stay in my home while I am gone, but this could take months, so perhaps you would prefer to return home."
"Yeah," sighed Jack, "That's probably be the best idea."
A few disgruntled hours later, the whole Fenton family was seated on a plane bound for Northern California. Danny sat in his seat, watching the in-flight movie Earnest Goes to Africa. He didn't like it at all. Man, he thought, Wish there was something more exciting to do.
Just then, Danny began to breathe wisps of blue gas. He could feel the ghostly emanations coming from . . . the roof of the plane? Swallowing hard, Danny entered an unoccupied lavatory and changed into his ghost form. Become intangible, he stuck his head through the ceiling, and found, to his surprise and relieve, the cold and lack of oxygen didn't bother him. Less heartening was the figure who, somehow, was standing on top of the plane, and in fact was walking across it toward him. It was the ghost from Vlad's mansion!
"What do you want here?" asked Danny, rising to stand on the top of the plane as well.
"I simply wanted to warn you," growled the ghost in a voice that might have been velvety had Danny not known the evil that lay behind it, "not to meddle in my affairs. I know who you are, and I know what you can and cannot do. Return to Amity Park and stay there, and you'll not have to worry about your own safety."
"Who are you?" demanded Danny, but the ghost simply vanished in a crackle of red light. Sighing, Danny sank back into the lavatory, transformed, and went back to his seat. This superhero stuff isn't all that it's cracked up to be, he thought glumly.
(A/N: Sorry it took so long, but I'm recovering from surgery. I'm also battling Writers' Block, so cut me some slack.)
TO BE CONTINUED.
