Chapter 14
Encounters
"YOU WHAT…!" Vlad's furious voice ached across the top floor of the Specter Tech. headquarters.
"We, uhhh, we lost the book and its translation." Valerie repeated her previous words with a nervous gulp.
"Damn it! Why am I surrounded by incompetent morons." The elder Halfa continued, focusing first on Valerie: "you could never do anything right, even as a snot-nosed little teenager."
Valerie's face turned from one of fear to one of anger and she stood her ground as she looked Vlad right in the eyes.
"If you have a problem, then maybe you no longer have any need of services!" she retorted boldly.
"HOW DARE YOU PLAY THE SHREW WITH ME!" Vlad screamed as he struck Valerie hard across the face, causing her to fall to the ground with a cry of pain.
"Is there a problem here?" a sting voice asked suddenly.
Vlad turned and found himself facing one of Valerie's men dressed in their distinctive black uniforms.
"None at all, the lady and I were just having a conversation." Said former billionaire explained dismissively.
"Uh huh. Are you alright Ma'am?" the agent shifted his focus to Valerie and went over to his boss to help her up.
"I'm fine, what is it Warren?" Valerie asked as she was lifted to her feet.
"Ma'am, Jackson reports that the three targets have returned to the Fenton home with the book and translation." Warren reported briskly.
"They've gone back to the house?! The fools, they're completely vulnerable!" Vlad's voice was filled with glee as he took in this new piece of news.
"Do you want us to attack Ma'am?" the agent continued, ignoring Vlad's excitement.
"No, I will deal with them personally." Vlad announced.
"Ma'am?" Warren asked pointedly to Valerie.
"You heard Mr. Masters, keep a visual on the house and report any movement by the targets, but do not move in." the CEO ordered her subordinate, who nodded to her and shot a glare at Vlad before leaving the room.
As soon as the agent was gone, Vlad took out a small, remote control looking device and pushed one of the buttons on it. Minutes later, Dan appeared in the office.
"You called…boss?" Dan sharply, annoyed at being summoned like some pet.
"We'll be paying the Fentons a visit. I want you all to look your best when we leave." Vlad explained with an evil grin.
"Fine then, I'll leave you two to it." Valerie muttered and started walking toward the exit, but Vlad moved in front of her, blocking her way.
"Perhaps I wasn't clear; we'll all be going to the Fenton's this afternoon."
"What?! Impossible, I have a company to run!"
"If you want to continue to have a company, you'll do as I say!" Vlad's voice was rising in anger as he said this.
Valerie stayed silent. She had no argument against this reminder that Vlad still held power over her. Nonetheless, she continued to glare at him angrily.
"Alright, so what are we supposed to do when we reach Fenton's place?" Dan broke into the tense silence.
"We find that book's translation. That's our only concern now." Vlad replied simply.
"And what about Danny and his allies?" Valerie asked quietly.
"The translation is all that matters." Vlad insisted, his tone growing dark.
"The others are expendable."
Maddie was shocked by the arrival of Danny and Dani. What's more, the two Halfas half-carried another young man through the door with them upon their return.
"What happened? Who's this?" the questions began flowing forth from Danny's mom almost immediately.
"This is Garrett; he's a friend of mine. We're gonna take him upstairs and let him lie down. He needs it." Danny explained as he and Dani moved past Maddie and lugged Garrett up the steps.
They set him down on Jazz's old bed, and the exhausted young man was out in minutes. The two Halfas went back downstairs to talk quietly.
"We should really get him to a hospital." Dani observed anxiously.
"What for, he doesn't seem hurt, just drained." Danny argued.
"What about that thing he said earlier about their being "lots of pain"? He was clearly exposed to some sort of energy. Danny, what if it has the same effect that exposure had on you and Vlad?"
"It shouldn't. The PGP isn't capable of outputting as much energy as the regular Ghost Portal. He'll probably just feel pretty exhausted for the rest of the day."
"And what if you're wrong? We can't just hope nothing happens; we have to talk to him. Otherwise, if he does transform, he'll be scared and clueless as to what's going on." Dani persisted in her arguments, and it was starting to wear her counterpart down.
"Look, let's just let him rest for now, he needs it. We'll talk to him tomorrow." He relented at last.
Dani nodded in agreement, and the two of them went back into the kitchen where Maddie was reading over the translations from Dr. Cartwell. She did not appear to notice the two young adults until Danny tapped her, causing Maddie to jump slightly.
"Hey, you alright?"
"Hmm, oh yes, quite interesting what Dr. Cartwell has to say here. Whatever this Focusing Stone is, it's somewhere in the Ghost Zone."
"We know, Cartwell gave us a set of coordinates we have to follow. But the PGP got fried. We're gonna need the original Ghost Portal in order to get to the Ghost Zone." Danny explained as best he could.
"Uhhh, that could be a problem. The Portal's not what it used to be. Ever since I had the lab shut down it been in an extreme state of hibernation. It'll need some new components to get it cranking again." Maddie replied, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to remember what all the Ghost Portal needed.
"Uh oh, where can we get the components?" Dani asked worriedly.
"None of them are too rare or special. You should be able to find them at any electronic store. There's a Coleman Circuit Supply shop just down the road a few blocks at the Wal-mart complex." The elderly Fenton assured them both.
"Alright, I'll go down to the Circuit shop and get the stuff we need while you two work on getting the Ghost Portal cranked up for when I get back. Mom, can you make a list?" Danny suggested, and Maddie nodded before going to retrieve a piece of paper and pencil.
"Be careful out there. Make sure you keep your face well covered." Dani reminded him.
While his mother prepared the list, Danny dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a gray hoodie. All in all, he looked basically inconspicuous, and that was the way he wanted it. After pulling the hood of the coat over his head and hiding his black hair, Dani nodded her approval. Maddie handed him the list along with her credit card.
"Take care, and mind who you speak to. A lot of people living here went to school with you." His mother cautioned him.
"Got it. I'll be back in an hour at most." And with that, Danny set out into town.
A heavy wind was whipping through the streets of Amity Park as a massive cloud bank rolled in from over head. It was a sharp contrast to the sunny, clear-blue skies of that morning. The dark clouds threatened rain once again, and Danny pulled the hood of his jacket further over his eyes, both to block the increasing wind and to hide his eyes from the people passing by him on the sidewalk.
Amity had changed quite a bit since Danny had last been there. Many of the old places had closed down like the movie theater (ever since online streaming had included theater releases, movie theaters had gone out of style). Many of the old fast food joints had also closed down. Even Casper High had been closed down. A new school had been built that accommodated both high school and middle school kids. As he walked past his old school, the windows all boarded up, Danny couldn't help but feel a bit sad. The past was all rotting away before him, and, as far as he could tell, his future looked no better.
Just past the school was a new strip mall that had been built in. This contained the electronic store that Danny was looking for. It looked like your average tech. shop. Danny might have even compared it to Radio Shack (another thing from his past that had long since gone out of business). Nonetheless, he entered the small establishment and began to search through the rows of circuit boards and other tech. implements.
"Confusing isn't it?" a voice off to his left caused Danny to jump.
He turned and found himself facing a young man about his age with black hair and brown eyes. The man was smiling at Danny.
"I'm trying to find some parts for my computer, but it's all Greek to me." He continued with a shrug.
"Yeah, I'm not a big techno geek either." Danny admitted, grinning slightly. Despite not knowing this stranger, the man's friendliness was infectious.
"Hey, no worries, man. I wasn't into computers by any means. I'm a vet, I work at the clinic here." The strange explained, grabbing one of the boxes on a nearby shelf and examining the specs.
"Yeah? That's interesting. Must be fun."
"It has its moments." The man replied with a small chuckle, "Well, I'm gonna ask one of the specialists for some assistance. Nice to have met Mr..."
"Fairburn, Daniel Fairburn." Danny repeated the false identity that he had assumed all those years ago.
"Eric Fallings." Eric shook Danny's hand with a smile, and then headed off toward the front desk.
Danny watched him walk off for a minute before focusing his attention back on the task at hand. He grabbed the three items on the list and then paid for them at the register before heading back outside. He did not run into Eric again, and he found he was surprisingly disappointed by this. The man was the first friendly person Danny had encountered all week aside from his friends and relatives.
Back outside, rain was starting to fall once again. Danny found himself caught up in a large crowd of people that was exiting the Wal-mart next door in the strip mall. Danny, his hoodie up and covering his eyes as best he could, made his way through the crowd. Suddenly he bumped into someone, causing them to drop a small bag that they were carrying.
"Sorry" Danny muttered as he turned around quickly. The hood of his jacket slipped up slightly, exposing his eyes.
This allowed him to make eye contact with the young, black-haired woman he had bumped into, and his heart stopped when he made contact with the violet colored eyes across from him. The two figures locked eyes, both showing shock and surprise.
"D…Danny?" the young woman whispered.
Sam arrived at the bus station late that morning. However, she headed home first to drop off her luggage. When this was done, she contacted Brisby and informed him that Danny had shifted from Chicago to Amity Park.
"You'd better hurry, Sam. Plasmius is becoming bolder. I don't imagine we have much time left before he starts making some serious trouble." Brisby had warned her.
Sam had assured him that she would find Danny before hanging up the phone and heading out into town. It was a little past noon when she finally set out for her destination: the Fenton residence, the one place Sam knew Danny might go.
However, the effects of a sleepless night were starting to catch up to Sam. As she was driving through town she felt her eyelids getting heavy. She could not sleep however, not now. Instead, she stopped by the Wal-mart on the way to the Fenton home to get some energy drinks. She was doing just this and walking out of the Wal-mart with her two energy drinks in a bag when she ran into a young man wearing a hoodie with the hood draped over his head.
"Sorry" The strangers had muttered, turning to face her.
Their eyes met, and Sam was dumbstruck when her own eyes met the familiar, light blue ones that lay under the young man's hoodie.
"D…Danny?" she whispered in disbelief.
The man in the hoodie at first simply stared at her. Then, without warning, he broke into a sprint in the opposite direction, pushing his way through the crowd. At first, Sam was too stunned to move. However, the sight of the fleeing man brought her to her senses pretty quickly.
"Hey, wait!" she shouted after him, also pushing her way through the crowd in pursuit.
Danny was a few feet ahead of her, but Sam was gaining quickly. He saw this and quickly moved out of the crowd and into the open parking lot where he was able to sprint more freely.
"DANNY!" Sam shouted as she continued her pursuit after him, dodging cars as they ran through the large parking lot.
Said young man managed to squeeze between two cars and ran down the sidewalk beyond away from the parking lot. Sam, being the athletic young woman she had grown into, jumped on top of one of the cars and then off of it onto the walk before running after her target. The hoodie, which Danny had selected with the hope of making him look inconspicuous, actually made him very visible to Sam.
This allowed her to more or less keep up with him as they ran down the emptying sidewalks of the town. The rain was starting to fall harder now, and Sam squinted through the veil of drops. Danny was running as fast as he could, though he was beginning to become winded and slow down. Sam noticed this and pooled all of her last reserves of strength into a final desperate sprint.
Danny, seeing that she was gaining quickly now, turned down an alleyway suddenly. Sam managed to stop herself (almost falling on her face at the speed she was going) and headed down the alleyway after him. However, the alleyway was split by a chain link fence with barbed wire at the top. While her target passed through this by going intangible, Sam smacked into it with a clatter.
Seeing she could not get past the fence, Danny slowed and started to walk slowly toward the other end of the alley.
"Danny, wait! Just…Wait!" Sam shouted to him in desperation.
The hooded young man did actually stop. Seeing this, Sam waited for him to say something. However, no words came from him, so Sam spoke instead.
"Danny...please…talk to me." She whispered.
The figure remained silent. All that could be heard was the sounds of water running off of the buildings as the rain continued to fall in sheets. Finally, after what felt like hours, Danny spoke up.
"Daniel Fenton is dead…he's dead." He replied solemnly before walking swiftly down the alleyway and out of sight.
"Danny wait, some back! COME BACK! DANNY!" Sam's voice rose to a scream as Danny moved out of view and she shook the chain metal of the fence violently.
Finally, she gave up and collapsed against the wall of one of the buildings. Tears were flowing from her eyes and she was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Danny" she moaned through her tears. "Damn it Danny."
She cried for some time, the rain falling around her, but she didn't care. Perhaps some people were just meant to be rained on.
Danny managed to walk only as far as just outside the alleyway before collapsing to the ground. Tears were filling his own eyes as Sam's pained cries echoed in his brain. Her face hung before him now, not helping to alleviate the strong emotional burden that now hung heavy on his soul.
He did not have time to drown in his sorrow however. He gripped that bag that contained the parts for the Ghost Portal (which he had somehow managed to hang onto throughout the chase). He had a task complete.
"I'm sorry, Sam" he thought, tears still leaking from his eyes as he looked back at the alleyway one last time, "I'm so sorry."
He walked the rest of the way to the Fenton household, not really bothering to make sure Sam was not waiting for him on some leg of the route. He reached the house without incident and entered, closing the door behind him and taking off the wet hoodie.
"Mom, I'm back." He shouted into the house solemnly, but he got only silence in reply.
Danny noticed the basement door open, and decided that his mother and Dani were busy working on the Ghost Portal downstairs and could not hear him. So, he headed down the steps toward the old lad, thoughts of Sam occupying his mind.
He knew that it was wrong in almost every way to run from her. She had recognized him, she had known even before their encounter; somehow, she had known. There was, of course, that part of him that wanted strongly to return to Sam. He missed her deeply, despite what others might have thought. But no, to go back to her now would have been a greater folly then running was.
"No." a voice in his head reaffirmed, "you cannot go back."
He reached the bottom of the steps and entered the half-empty lab. It was rather dark, and Danny clicked on one of the light switches which illuminated the basement with the fluorescent lights above.
"Hello Danny boy." The voice caused Danny to jump, and he turned his attention to his left.
The Halfa was shocked to see Dani tied to a chair with Dan standing behind her, grinning maliciously.
"What…?!" Danny began, but he felt something wrap around him, and he was on his knees in pain in an instant.
Some sort of special cord had been wrapped around him, delivering pain shocks to his body. Another figure, this one wearing a strange suit that made her look like a small Transformer.
"V…Valerie?" Danny groaned, recognizing the young woman occupying the suit.
"Hello, Little Badger." A third voice sounded from across the lab.
Vlad emerged from the darkness, Maddie in hand, the elderly woman also tied with cord.
"Let's have a chat, shall we?" the former billionaire said scathingly.
I've been trying to take a more two-sided emotional view. It would be easy to percieve Danny as the villain in this case (and it may be true). Still, I'm trying to show that Danny too is suffering from his decisions. Anyway, story is definetly along eh? Please review and comment, they're always fun to read. :) Cheers.