Chapter 10: part 3

~~~DANNY'S POV~~~

We walked downstairs into the ghost lab and piled into the Spector Speeder.

"I'm setting the coordinates for Wisconsin." Sam said. She tacked away at the keyboard and pressed a button when finished. The GPS lit up and the portal to the Ghost Zone opened.

"Let's ride." I said.

I revved up the engine and pounded my foot on the pedal. The Spector Speeder jerked backwards and crashed into the wall.

"Uh, sorry!" I called. Tucker and Sam grumbled under their breath.

I set the gear to drive this time and pounded my foot on the pedal again. The Spector Speeder zoomed forward through the portal and into the Ghost Zone. Sam sprawled herself on one of the chairs while Tucker pushed all the buttons that were in his sight. He pressed one button and the radio turned on.

"Aha! There it is!" Tucker said.

He turned the volume up and turned his attention back to the colorful buttons that beeped and blinked on the console.

I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naïve

I'm just out to find

the better part of me.

As my eyes scanned the scene before me, my ears and mind were lost to the beat of the music.

It may sound absurd, but don't be naïve

Even heroes have the right to bleed

I may be disturbed, but won't you concede

Even heroes have the right to dream

and it's not easy to be me.

My mind was flooded with an image of Saralyn. I remembered the day we all sat on the hill, laughing and talking. The sun was setting, so the sky was covered in shades of red, pink, and orange. I remember looking at Saralyn and seeing the sun's fading rays cast one more glow on her skin. The colors of the sky absorbed into her eyes, adding to the lavender, and they shimmered with delight.

I shook my head, but I felt the back of my head tingle and something flutter in my stomach.

~SARALYN~

I awoke in a purple ghost lab. It was far more advanced than the Fenton's ghost lab. There were all kinds of chambers and technology that I've never seen before. Chemicals boiled smoothly inside of beakers and weren't bubbling over and mucking up the counters.

I stepped forward and I bumped into something. I reached up and rested my hands against a light blue energy box that surrounded me.

"Hey, someone get me out of here!" I cried, pounding on the box.

I heard the sound of footsteps and I watched as Vlad approached me with his hands behind his back.

"Hello, Saralyn." Vlad said. "I assume you are comfortable?"

"Let me go, you old coot!" I cried.

"As much as I would love to do that, I have special plans for you."

"You mean cloning me and killing Danny and my friends?"

Vlad raised his eyebrow. "Well, since you already know what I am up to, I won't waste any time with the details."

Vlad pressed a button and a laser device came out of the ceiling and sparked with red energy.

"What is that?" I said.

"It's my Clonenate 3000."

"3000? What happened to 1000 and 2000?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Vlad exclaimed. "Enough dillydallying."

~DANNY~

"This is as far as I want you two to go." I said. "I can handle this."

"Danny, are you sure?" Tucker said. "I'm in the mood for kicking some fruitloop butt."

"We'll have to save that for another time."

Tucker and Sam looked at each other and sighed in defeat. They went back into the Spector Speeder and drove off. I changed into my ghost half, took a deep breath, and flew up into the sky.

"Hang in there, Sara." I said to myself.

~SARALYN~

"If you don't let me go this instance, I swear I'll pound the cheese curds out of you!" I said, pounding on the box until my fists felt sore.

"As tempting as that sounds, no." Vlad said.

"Danny was right. You are a crazy fruitloop."

"I could write a book on that." a voice said.

Danny phased through the ceiling and landed on the ground between me and Vlad. He glared at Vlad.

"Danny!" I smiled.

"Now, Vlad..." Danny said. "I told you once, and I'll say it again. Let her go!"

"Over my dead body!" Vlad said.

"Don't get my hopes up!"

Danny's hands glowed green and he shot ghost rays at Vlad. Vlad made a shield and the rays bounced off of the shield and hitting some of the technology. Vlad flew forward and grabbed Danny by the throat.

"Danny, no!" I cried.

Vlad smirked and tightened his grip. Danny clawed at Vlad's arm.

"Sara..." Danny said. "Use... your... powers."

"What?" I said. "But-but the last time."

The gurgling sound that escaped from Danny snapped some sense into me. My eyes glowed. I let out an angry scream and shot out my hands.

Vlad froze and his hand let go of Danny. Danny fell to the ground and gasped for breath.

"What the butter biscuit?!" Vlad said, trying to gain control of his body.

I scanned the room and found a release button on the wall. I threw my arms to the side and Vlad was thrown against the wall. His head smacked into the button and the energy box around me faded. He slumped against the ground, unconscious. As my feet landed on the ground, I was unaware of an electric cattle prod coming out of the wall. It pierced my back and electrocuted me. I screamed and fell to the floor.

"Sara!" Danny cried, crawling over to me.

"Danny, you're okay." I said.

"But what about you?"

"I'll survive."

"Can you stand?"

Danny took my hand and tried to sit me up, but I cried out and fell back.

"Sorry." Danny said quickly. "Here."

He picked me up bridal style, changed into his ghost half, and flew up and out of the ghost lab. The fear and adrenaline that built up inside of me vanished in one fell swoop and I felt exhausted. I looked up at Danny. The sun was reflecting off of his snow-white hair and absorbed into his neon green eyes. He looked down at me and smiled. I smiled back, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

~DANNY~

When I arrived at Sara's house, Tucker, Sam, and Carmen were seating in the living room. The air was as silence and deadly as the nervousness that radiated from them. When they saw me, they jumped out of their seats.

"Sara!" Tucker and Sam cried.

"Oh my gosh!" Carmen cried, rushing over to me.

"I'm fine, too, thanks for asking." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well, another mission accomplished." Tucker said.

"But who knows what else Vlad has up his sleeve?"

Carmen shook her head.

"Whatever it may be, we'll be ready." Sam said. "Vlad has some pretty crazy schemes, but so do we."

I nodded and smiled. I took Sara up to her room. I laid her in her bed, stepped back, and stared at her.

She looks so peaceful... I thought. And beautiful.

A perplexing expression formed on my face and I shook my head. I turned around and looked around her room. I approached the collage of photos on her wall. My eyes caught on the picture of us sitting on the hill. I smiled to myself.

The picture was pretty great, but it was nothing compared to witnessing the real thing.

I glanced at Saralyn, fast asleep, and left, humming to myself.

I'm only a man in a funny red sheet

looking for special things inside of me...

It's not easy to be me...

You got that right...