A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR and MERRY 10TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Yep, I did say: 'Merry Christmas'! As you remember from my Christmas story, Christmas Presents (And if you haven't read it yet, you still have time since we're still in the Christmas season!) Christmas has been traditionally celebrated for 12 days. (Hence, the 12 Days of Christmas). The 12th Day of Christmas is this Sunday, which traditionally was the celebration of the visit of the Three Wise Men. Some cultures celebrate this 'Little Christmas' as well as December 25th. In fact, my family does that! It's the most wonderful time of both the new and old years! YAY! Heh-heh. Now back to this story! As you can see, we continue with the level 5 ghosts. And Danny has just gone through another ringer in the last chapter. Now doesn't that just make Vlad and Ms. Hyde all the happier? Don't forget the "IDNOAC" disclaimer and here is Chapter 25. Enjoy!
Gold Tested in Fire—Chapter 25—Level Five Ghosts—Well-Oiled Machine
Pain…anguish…The emotions were intense…
But there was more…
Hazy, random thoughts also wrapped around him. Still others echoed hauntingly throughout his mind.
Danny unconsciously frowned, barely making an effort to eke some sense out of any of them. In a way, he didn't care if his swirling thoughts would come together or not since none of them lingered long before another replaced it. In fact, it was more like he couldn't really discern any one thought or one emotion from another. But he knew that all of them were laced with….intense grief…
He haphazardly caught one memory: he had been crying. Then another impression surfaced…he had lost his friend Wulf, who had been destroyed by…He stopped as that train of thought briefly continued…No, in the end, he lost two friends: Wulf and Sombre! He still couldn't believe it. But what upset him more than that was that he didn't know whether it had been a dream or not.
The boy's murky mind fell back into dismay again. It couldn't be true. He had to believe it was a dream…He couldn't bear the thought of losing any more of his ghost friends.
Still, another, more disturbing memory caught a hold of him. He recalled another pungent feeling that had surrounded that entire encounter and it seemed to rattle his very soul. In fact, it had been so penetrating at the time that he could swear that he could almost palpate it; and, strangely, even now he could feel its lingering emotion: a hatred for all ghosts.
He mentally shuddered just as intensely at how that creeped him out—only for his emotions to churn full circle and return to grief.
Wulf…Was he really gone? What about Johnny 13? And Cujo?
And for that matter, what about Sombre? Was that why the shadow ghost had attacked him? Because the Spectre was also upset about Johnny 13?
Suddenly, he didn't want to think about that because it made even less sense—and only made him feel worse.
But even in the midst of his sorrow, the boy was also aware of feeling physical pain. He could even hear as well as feel the uncomfortable throbbing of his ecto-blood running through the veins at his temples. If his other thoughts hadn't distracted him, he might even think he would go mad at the constant, dull pulse pounding his eardrums.
Ironically, however, that real pain helped him to focus.
Danny opened his eyes and groaned at the pain riveting his head. He reflexively lifted his hands and cradled the sides of his head before rubbing them. Great. He had a massive headache!
Little did he know, however, that the headache he had been having since he had first gotten to this cursed place had momentarily worsened from the slight jolt he had gotten when the Subliminal Helmet had shattered. He had no clue about that because he had never seen the helmet's remnants since he was placed back into delta sleep as soon as it had been destroyed.
Danny groaned once again as he slowly pulled himself up and sat on the side of his cot.
He startled at his next sudden, frightening thought. Was he still dreaming now and all those previous thoughts were not real? Or was he awake and this stupid headache was scrambling his memories? He swallowed hard, trying to get a hold of himself.
Still, he had to know if what had happened with Sombre and Wulf was real.
He searched his mind even amidst the bombardment of all the other thoughts and emotions still vying for his elusive attention.
The young hybrid relaxed slightly when a new thought pushed forward with a bit more clarity. Though the memory was still sketchy, Danny knew that it had happened just before his encounter with Sombre and Wulf. Inexplicably, his friends had been part of that scene. His heart leapt with hope. How could they have been a part of it? They weren't here!
But then another random thought countered him. Had he only been dreaming just at that time, only to have his dream interrupted by Sombre's attack? He searched his mind again. It hurt to do that; and so he couldn't remember any detail to prove or disprove that thought.
And that only discouraged the boy more…
After several more moments of near catatonic silence, a thought seemed to float right in front of him. And he reached out to it in near desperation. And yet, at the same time, he was angered by it. That must be what the Observants' game was! They wanted to confuse him so much that he wouldn't be able to defend himself against any of their 'test results'. And somehow he also felt that those 'results' would only end up really being accusations bent on damning him —even if those accusations were false!
That was so unfair!
Suddenly, that thought was enough to clear his mind and spur him on.
The boy angrily yelled up into the air, "Hey, you jerks! Yeah! You know I'm talking to you, Justeco and Konsilisto! No matter what your 'test results' end up saying, it was never part of the bargain for any ghost to get destroyed in these lame tests! So, how can any of this be 'proper' now? It's time to stop this craziness!"
But once again, he was met only with silence.
Danny rubbed his eyes, all of the sudden feeling very drained from the mental stress. And his head still hurt. Were they even listening?
Once again, he didn't care. He was just so tired of all of this; especially since for some strange reason he always felt that any of the sleep the Observants had allowed him to have still wasn't enough or right or…something.
All he wanted to go home and lie in his own bed and —
A sharp pain suddenly shot through his brain.
Home…Mom!
He felt sick to his stomach for not thinking of her until right now.
Another intense pain further below jolted him. His stomach!
"Oh, great! As if this freakin' headache wasn't enough! Now I'm starving!" he thought with irritation. "But now what am I going to do? I can't just ask them for something to eat after what I just said to them."
He gritted his teeth, angry with himself for giving the spirits any benefit of a doubt.
"As if they deserve my asking them nicely for anything after what they've done so far," he grumbled under his breath.
Still, he knew he was still at a big disadvantage since they had his mom. But he also didn't want the spirits to think he was going to be that compliant, either!
Danny looked back up at the ceiling and yelled, "Darn it, Justeco, even if you haven't decided on when to stop all of this nonsense, what about all of those other 'proper' things you talked about when you started this whole thing? You're forgetting about those! I mean, don't you have any concept of…" But he quickly interrupted himself. "Duh! Of course they don't have any concept of time!"
Still, sounding more demanding this time around, he continued, "Okay, sure, you don't need time here, but I'm very used to it; and even if you're not through with me yet, it's time for you to let me see my mom and get me something to eat!"
Suddenly, and as if he were commanding a genie, a small portal appeared right next to him, which actually jabbed right into his side—as if the Observants had done that on purpose and were having their own kind of fun.
The teen frowned. Of course that was exactly it!
Still, he did his best to ignore the irritation and peered into the portal and saw that his mother was in the process of eating what looked like some kind of breakfast.
"Okay. Just be glad that she's still okay," he said somewhat threateningly.
But before he could make any more comments, that familiar small table and chair appeared nearby with a very large breakfast for him upon it.
Danny resisted the urge to smile or even thank the Observants as he approached the table. He silently served himself and instead of sitting at the table, brought his plate to his cot and sat upon it before digging in. He got up two more times before he finally felt satisfied. Even his headache seemed better now.
No sooner had he finished placing his empty plate on the table, and returned to his cot when his simple bed disappeared right from under him just when he was about to sit on it!
After falling onto his bottom, Danny dryly harrumphed, "Ha-ha! Very funny! As if torturing me with all these stupid tests weren't enough!"
He pulled himself up to a stand, only to take a step back in surprise when he turned to where his cot should have been. He had not expected to see another portal right away.
In the very next instant, however, Danny felt the glowing portal's trying to suck him into it!
"Arrgghh!" Danny yelled even as he was reflexively resisting the pull.
But the force was obviously too strong.
The boy continued to yell at being violently transported somewhere against his will.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Maddie! What did you do?" Vlad hotly demanded, just as shocked—but instantly angry—at what had just happened.
"You ordered Program 289-5 gamma to commence immediately, sir," the computer generated image casually replied.
"But that was after Daniel was supposed to go to the Observant's Dimensional Room which would be Program 288-DM!" he exclaimed.
"All programs originate within the simulation room, sir, including the program in which your test subject is currently," She began without emotion. "And you have programmed me to obey orders, not assume your thought processes."
Vlad stared at the image of his love and then it hit him. And just as sudden, he could kick himself. Sometimes he had to remind himself to remember that this Maddie was only a computer! He pinched the top of his nose, trying to calm himself. He drew in a long, slow breath before he said, "You are quite right, of course, my dear. And, really, I think I can plan an alternate course of action that will clear the matter up in short order. So, it should be alright."
"As all of your plans are perfect, sir," the computer slightly gushed.
"Yes. Yes, they are," Vlad agree before he turned his attention to Daniel and Program 289-5 gamma….
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A few seconds later, Danny found himself back in the blackened Time and Existence Chamber.
"Just what was that all about, Justeco?" the boy called up into the air in irritation. "I could have walked, you know!"
"Maybe that's how they got me here all those other times I don't remember getting in here", he added only to himself. He then frowned as he sarcastically thought, "Just as well I didn't remember it because it can't come close to the rides at Floody Waters!"
But just then, his surroundings began to twist and turn again. And the boy had no doubt at that point that this was another round of the Observants' lame tests…
The atmosphere cleared very shortly after it had begun shifting.
Danny was now standing inside what he could only describe as some sort of rundown warehouse. Its metal roof was rusted through in some places and he could catch glimpses of the Ghost Zone just beyond them.
The grey walls looked as if they could crumble to dust if he so much as sneezed —which was a possibility because there was so much dust around. Yet, at the same time, he guessed that there also was a good chance that they would stay as they were being that they seemed glued in place by all the spider webs covering them.
What contents the warehouse contained were mostly in disarray, with all sorts of gizmos, old mechanical things and electronic devices strewed here and there, partially hanging out of various boxes, or carelessly placed on various rusty metal-framed shelves.
Some of the old neglected shelves leaned so heavily that it was a wonder that the boxes on them hadn't slid off yet.
Even the boxes didn't escape the chaos and overall were also jumbled up. Nevertheless, some of the cardboard receptacles were new and neatly sealed; but most of the others were haphazardly torn opened, as if someone was in a hurry to get into them. Still others were obviously very old and abused. Many of them were sloppily placed on some of their more even shelves, and were just balanced enough not to teeter off of their ledges.
The boy began to walk around the room. He knew he should be more suspicious and on guard about all of this—and really, he was—but after being around Tucker virtually all of his life, he couldn't help but be more curious and amazed about all of these neat-looking gadgets that littered the place.
That thought only jolted him. Tucker! He thought of his dream again and his face dropped. In the next second, however, he was determined not to let it bother him anymore right now. He squared his jaw and tried to think of other thoughts.
However, his bravado had only partially worked. He was still thinking about Tucker. How he wished he could get a hold of his best friend! But he was sure that his friend would surely be looking for him….only, would there be any clues to his whereabouts? He sighed. He could only hope and pray that his best friend and his own neat futuristic gizmo—his PDA— would somehow figure out that he was in the Realm Beyond Time.
But then, of course, thinking of Tucker made him think about…Sam! Maybe he could contact her! Sure…it had been a while since they had used their telepathic powers. After all, they didn't think they needed it now that they had each other's trust and understanding. Still, now would be a great time to use it! He closed his eyes and began to concentrate…
But before he could even begin to get a 'connection' with his girlfriend, a very loud alarm sounded, which startled him out of his thoughts!
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" the raspy voice called out amidst of all the blaring lights and clangs that made the warehouse look like some kind of weird discotheque.
Danny instantly recognized that voice and forgot all the other discouraging thoughts! Now, he was just annoyed; and, more importantly, very focused.
And then suddenly, his ghost sense was activated.
He instantly gritted his teeth, and saw wisps of frost still eking out around and through them. He tried to ignore that since he knew he couldn't take the time to think about it as he surged his green ectoplasmic energy into both of his ready fists.
But instead of seeing the ghost he expected, a few of the strewed about electronic devices around him lit up and were instantly encased in green energy.
They rapidly whirled and drew near together until they formed a large make-shift robot made up of several former individual gadgets. It immediately shot up in the air and rocketed over to the boy.
"Surrender, foe!" the robot's mechanical yet very threatening voice demanded while aggressively snapping its huge metallic claws at the boy.
"Not in your lif…uhm, Forget it, pal!" Danny spat back just as he flew out of the robot's reach.
The boy reflexively twisted back and threw an ectoplasmic blast at the robot.
Danny's emerald ammo squarely hit its mark and the robot disintegrated on impact.
One of Danny's eyebrows shot up in surprise. That was too easy; but then he shrugged it off. After all, he knew he wasn't finished yet.
Just then, even more glowing gadgets and gizmos converged on themselves and finally formed a large, black menacing mechanical dog, which immediately barked loudly and aggressively.
Danny frowned at the mechanical mutt's razor sharp teeth that were obviously threating to cleave him in half even as it lunged at him.
Once again, Danny easily avoided his foe and shot another ectoplasmic energy ray at it. But to Danny's surprise, the dog machine chomped down upon his beam and effectively slashed it in half and rendered it harmless!
The young half-ghost bit his lower lip while rapidly searching his brain and his surroundings for some kind of plan. And then he spied a nearby opened door. He could see what looked like a long hallway beyond it. He smirked before he pulled his still ectoplasmic-laden arms behind his back and then purposely attempted to draw the dog's attention.
"Here, pooch," Danny said before whistling.
The teen smiled only to himself when those beady red-lit-light-bulbs-for-eyes zeroed in on him before the dog began to growl.
Steeling himself in spite of the dog's very aggressive stance, the boy quickly pulled one of his hands from behind his back and commanded, "Fetch the ball!"
He then threw the large green ectoplasmic ball that he had formed within the palm of his right hand moments before when it had been behind his back.
The automated dog instantly bolted after the pretty glowing ball as it flew down that hallway. As soon as the dog was in that hallway, however, Danny flew up behind him and slammed the door tight.
"Predictable as usual," Danny chuckled under his breath and purposely ignored the protesting barks of the dog made of junk he had just tricked.
But as soon as the boy floated back into the main room, several other mechanical devices suddenly lit up and began to elevate on their own.
"Time for target practice!" Danny smugly said as he lifted just his index fingers up and pointed them forward as if they were the barrels of a couple of hand pistols.
With quick and accurate precision, the boy picked off each of the glowing gadgets before they could form anything bigger. He continued until there was a lull in any more of them being activated.
"C'mon, Technus," Danny finally breathed out, sounding as bored as he felt. "Is that all you got?"
"Oh, come now, child," the green-skinned techno-ghost began just as he finally appeared.
His white hair was still pulled back into that annoying shaggy mullet and he was still sporting that black body-length jumpsuit covered by a floor-length gray cape and accented by large green laboratory gloves.
The older ghost raised the small rectangular-shaped frames of his sunglasses slightly off of his eyes before narrowing them evilly and continuing, "You're in my domain now!"
Danny looked all around the unkempt storehouse again. Then still sounding bored, the boy dryly replied, "Seriously, dude. I thought you would be a total neat freak. But are you saying that I should be afraid of you because you live in a junkyard?"
"This is not a junkyard, whelp!" Technus protested, obviously insulted. "These are treasures I obtained from other people's…"
"….junk!" Danny interjected, chuckling a bit.
Technus frowned in anger, and said, "Go ahead and be all smart-alecky all you want, young whipper snapper! You will be sorry! And for that matter, what makes you think that you will defeat me here, in my own lair?"
"Oh, I don't know….does 'because you're lame' ring a bell?" Danny quipped back with a defiant smirk.
The techno-ghost frowned before throwing the boy a sinister smile. "I am ready to make you, uh, how do you children say it? Oh, yes. I will make you consume what you say, and…"
"Uh, do you mean: 'Make me eat my words'?" Danny sighed, his arms crossed in front of him while one of his hands was cupping the side of his jaw.
"Whatever!" Technus countered before his face melded into a scowl. "You will soon see that you do not know whom you're dealing with. I am all powerful in my own domain! And you forget that I am….
"….the 'Master of Long-Winded Ego Speeches'! Yeah, I know!" Danny firmly interrupted him.
Just as a long, thin blue rod topped with a round electrical ball with stiff wires jutting out of it and charged with green energy appeared in Technus' hands, his voice shrilled in threat, "It is time that you were taught to respect your elders, whelp! And I am thrilled to volunteer to do that and have that happen here in my lair!"
"Only if they own up to being good mentors, jerk! And that certainly leaves you out of it!" Danny quipped back, also pouring more energy into his own hands.
The mullet-wearing green-skin ghost flicked his rod.
Suddenly, lots of hubcaps bathed in green swirling energy pulled away from the corners of the warehouse and floated toward the techno-ghost before they merged and formed what look like a large man made of, well, hubcaps!
"Hey!" Danny objected. "Those aren't mechanical stuff!"
"They are when they're the spinning rims' kind!" Technus countered before motioning with his rod.
The 'spinning hubcap man' then pulled one of his whirling 'arms' back and swung it in an arc toward the boy. But as the 'arm' came forward, the spinners whirled more violently and created a strong blast of wind.
The sudden beam of violent air crashed right into the teen ghost.
Danny was shoved right into a far-side wall. He slammed into it with a loud thud.
As the boy slid down the wall and cradled his head, he thought, "If that didn't hurt so much, I would've thought those spinning rims were cool!"
Nevertheless, he jettisoned back into the air and returned fire at the mechanical man.
Spinning hubcaps spun wildly out of control from the impact of Danny's energy beam.
Even Technus had to duck when two of the hubcaps were hurled right at him.
The techno-ghost growled in frustration and disapproval and lifted his energy rod up again. He willed even more green energy in it. But instead of sending its energy into other gizmos or gadgets, Technus created a large cloud made up of charged ectoplasmic energy. The plasma globe swirled in and on itself like a hurricane, emitting bolts of lightning as it grew in size.
"Behold, child!" Technus crowed. "You will now feel the sting of my new and improved and very ultimate power—in 3-D no less!"
The techno-ghost quickly thrust his rod forward and the whirling mass of sizzling electricity shot toward the boy.
Danny bolted away and barely missed the ball of chaos that had been flung at him.
But then, the 'entity' seemed to come alive. It popped and hissed before it sharply changed course and zig-zagged back toward the teen!
Once again, Danny managed to avoid the flux and shot a beam of his green energy at the cloud. But all the mass did was absorb his ray with a sizzle! And then it moved even more rapidly toward him!
All the while, Technus cackled, "You cannot outwit the Master of All Things Scientific, child! Learn your lessons well. On my turf, my power is far out and limitless!"
Danny was too busy avoiding the electrical storm to quip anything back. And any beam he threw at it was instantly absorbed and made the entity expand!
But then, an idea hit the young hybrid's mind and he didn't hesitate to act upon it.
He quickly formed a small ball of green ectoplasmic energy between the palms of his hands. And then, he slowly and deliberately pulled his hands apart, willing the ball to expand before infusing his ice energy within it. The now solid ball of ice cold energy continued to pull moisture out of the air, making the ball more and more able to conduct electricity. And when Danny thought the ball was 'ripe' enough, he threw it at Technus's creation and his ball instantly engulfed the entity.
At first, that seemed to have stopped the storm.
But Technus had waved his wand in a counter-attack, sending a reinforcing wave of energy into the mass.
At that moment, Danny's ball of energy burst outward from the older ghost's repelling blow, which also sent a surge of shock waves outward and just in front of it as it headed back to the boy.
Danny was rammed into the nearby wall by his own ectoplasmic energy given an extra push by Technus' electrical storm!
The boy groaned as he slid down the wall and landed on the ground with another loud thud. That only made his headache worsen again!
"'Lesson One' complete, child!" the older ghost said with a triumphal laugh. "Hard learned, of course!"
Danny shook away part of his dizziness and gasped when he could see that not only had he not destroyed that cloud of green electricity, but the storm was barreling down right on him again!
The boy bolted upward, quickly swerved away from it and soared to the other end of the warehouse. Now that he had put some distance between him and the electrical cloud, Danny frowned. His headache was pounding so badly right now that he was having a hard time thinking straight. In fact, he didn't even know he had floated nearer to a door.
But Technus saw that. The white-mullet-haired ghost aimed his rod at the door and it lit up in green energy before it opened.
It was the same door behind which Danny had trapped the mechanical dog.
In a heartbeat, the dog bolted into the area and pounced on the young hybrid!
"Get off of me!" Danny demanded just as his eyes lit up and shot out a powerful ice beam right into the menacing fangs nearing his face.
The dog yelped for just a moment before it fell completely frozen to its side.
But then, he heard the techno-ghost laughing a few feet above and in front of him.
"You can't win, whelp," the older ghost taunted with glee as he waved his glowing rod toward him.
Danny eyes widened. The electrical storm was headed to him again!
He winced at the increasing pain of his headache and an unexpected thought resurfaced: he hated all ghosts!
The boy narrowed his eyes as his rational thoughts dulled. He suddenly grew angry and he wasn't aware that his green eyes were now blazing a darker shade of green. He had to end this.
He shot upward from where he lay and instead of turning to face the electrical mass, he flipped over and headed straight to Technus.
The older techno-ghost gasped but nevertheless aimed his glowing rod right at the charging Ghost Boy.
Danny growled in more anger and intensified the ecto-energy glowing in both of his hands. A moment later, a thick powerful dark green beam shot out from both of his extended hands and slammed right into the rod that Technus was still holding.
But to Danny's shock, not only did the rod disintegrate, but so did Technus's hand!
The mullet-haired ghost screamed in pain and reflexively cradled that hand.
Danny immediately jolted to a stop in mid-flight, stunned at what he had just done. He hadn't restrained himself like he usually did whenever he fought weaker ghosts! The shock was enough to jolt the boy out of his irrational thoughts.
"I-I didn't think you would ever do that!" Technus wailed, still holding his hand close to his bosom.
Danny blinked hard. He didn't think he would ever do that, either! The thought of it suddenly crushed him, especially when it was coupled with another thought. He was losing more than just his powers! He was losing all control over himself!
The strong emotions sent a shiver in the boy. He had to get a hold of himself.
He took in a deep breath and focused his thoughts in resolve. Suddenly, Danny winced when he felt a sharp pain behind his left ear. But then, the pain left as soon as it had come and he no longer felt any hatred toward his opponent.
"I-I'm sorry!" he suddenly blurted out, his voice very remorseful as well as on the verge of panic.
Now that his mind was in even more conflict, Danny wasn't aware that his sub-conscious desire to help was steering him closer to the upset techno-ghost.
And when he realized that he had floated too close, Danny's eyes widened when he saw Technus's face radically change from pain to a wicked smile.
Less than a heartbeat later, Technus rapidly produced another power rod with the same hand that was supposed to have been destroyed! He immediately sent out a powerful green ray which hit the Ghost Boy point blank. He laughed as the boy was harshly sent tumbling several yards back from him, with Danny's screaming in pain all the while from the hard blow.
"A booby trap for a real booby! It's so easy to fool your 'hero' side, child! You never hurt me! I just let you think you did! After all, how else can I prove to you what I told you: you can't win in my domain! But now, it's time to finish proving that!" the older ghost chuckled.
With another flick of his wrist, Technus conjured up an even more powerful cloud charged with his electrical powers and immediately willed it forward.
In the meantime, Danny was still hovering in a daze from the blow he had just absorbed. In fact, it was enough of a distraction for the cloud of electrical energy to finally reach him.
Technus laughed hysterically as Danny immediately yelled in more pain when the storm engulfed and pulled him up higher into the air. It seemed to drive its power in him as if it were a scorpion driving its poison-laden stinger into his skin.
Helpless within the clutches of Technus's power, Danny's body twisted and contorted in near convulsion as he desperately tried to wrench himself out of the mass in mid-air.
But there was more.
It was obvious now that the purpose the storm's bite was not just to attack the boy. It was meant to carve an opening, to lay down a lead wire to the boy's energy as it were. And as if the boy were indeed a battery and the storm were a hungry machine, Danny felt his power leeching out from him.
He struggled more when, suddenly, white lightning shot up and down his spine like too many times before, which only added to his agony.
As the seconds ticked by, Danny grew weaker and weaker. But even amidst the pain and drain of his strength —and like so many times when he was in dire straits —Danny was somehow able to cling to staying focused. He concentrated, digging desperately to reach his inner strength….
And then, suddenly, he felt a wave of cold energy swell from deep within him and then outward until he was surrounded by a ball of blue ice energy, which instantly burst outward.
The conductive nature of the wave of cold energy instantly sucked the electrical storm within it before all of it vaporized.
All became eerily still.
Even so, the stress of the event was too much for Danny. Instead of being recharged from his inner strength, the boy fell from near the ceiling and smashed into the ground, overcome with dizziness.
Danny groaned as he struggled to pull his upper torso up off the floor, followed slowly by his trying to get his legs under him.
Though Technus was secretly irritated that the yet-defeated boy had managed to destroy his electrical storm —and really, everything else up to now —the older ghost flippantly said to the struggling boy, "No matter. I still have a couple of ideas up my pants leg!"
"It's 'a few tricks up your sleeve', jerk!" Danny managed to growl out in irritation at the ghost's bad use of idioms.
Nevertheless, the boy was finally able to right himself and fisted his hands in defiance.
"Whatever, child. That was 'Lesson Two' in minding your elders; and even if it was not as hard learned, it look like you'll still remember all the sore points it made with you, if you know what I mean."
"Yech!" Danny uttered with a roll of his eyes, "Can we just get this over with and put a hold on your stale quips?"
"You should remember your manners, whelp, and not talk back to your elders! In fact, it's time to hammer that point with 'Lesson Three'. My ultimate lesson!"
Ignoring his dizziness as he pulled himself back into the air, Danny sarcastically said, "Whatever! Just get on with it!"
"I'm getting to that, whelp," Technus replied, clearly irritated that the boy wasn't shaking in his white boots by now.
The elder ghost waved his rod, and this time, every piece of material in the room lit up with Technus' ghostly energy and floated up on their own.
However, the things didn't form together as they had done before. Instead, each of the gizmos, gadget and other miscellaneous materials 'turned on' and moved their little joints menacingly before they rushed upward at the boy.
Gritting his teeth with determination, Danny quickly pulled himself back a bit to brace himself before he charged up his ectoplasmic energy and shot large, intermittent beams into the foray of seemingly endless mechanical devices.
But the more he shot at them, the more seemed to replace the destroyed ones.
Now tiring even faster from all he had already gone through, Danny willed out his wulf claws when some of his ectoplasmic energy began to sputter unexpectedly. He sliced and diced his way through slews of the energized gizmos and gadgets that Technus effortlessly threw at the boy.
And when the surge swelled all of the sudden, Danny shot ice beams out from his eyes as he continued to stab with his wulf claws.
But even as Danny fought on, even more possessed devices appeared and crowded the young hybrid back, finally shoving him back into a corner in retreat.
The Ghost Boy panted with the effort, now even more aware of his lack of productive sleep and mounting headache. Still, he fought on and just as he felt the bite of little mechanical jaws on his legs—literally—he thought of something in desperation.
He drew in a large breath and a second later let out his Ghostly Wail.
At first, all of the devices nearest to him were being swept away from him.
But then suddenly, the young hybrid felt the shadow of something pass over him and in that instant his Ghostly Wail was nipped in the bud! In fact, Danny felt his throat immediately dry up and he reflexively clutched at his throat. A moment later, he collapsed to the ground with his white transformation rings washing over him without his willing them to!
Danny pulled himself up and looked over to a smiling Technus who was now holding on to some kind of ….dream catcher! It looked similar to the Fenton Ghost Catcher his father had made, the one that separated his ghost halves, only this one had a red glowing spider-web-like pane spread taut over its oval frame and it pivoted in place very much like a gyroscope in motion.
"Ha-ha! You've failed 'Lesson Three', young whipper-snapper! Still, I guess I need to thank you. You had made this possible by giving me the idea when you used something similar on me that one time. I built my own modified Ghost Dream Catcher which is able to separate all the ectoplasmic energy out from any ghost that it passes through it….I call it the Ghost Anti-Energy Gadget, or GAG! Heh-heh, get it?"
Danny rolled his eyes but then when he tried to object, no words came out of his mouth! He couldn't even hear the gasp he then emitted in shock after trying to talk!
The mullet-toting ghost floated menacingly toward the helpless human boy, carrying the GAG with him. He then darkly continued, "As you can see, it works perfectly! And by my count, that would mean you have three strikes and you're out, whelp!"
The techno-ghost crowed as he then pulled out and hurriedly waved his electrical rod. A stream of current immediately shot out from it and toward the fallen boy.
Since Danny was now fully depleted of all his ghostly powers and defenseless in his human form, all he could do was silently scream at the pain as his body was engulfed within and then absorbed Technus' raw power.
And Danny remembered no more….
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Vlad smiled at the results of this 'test', though he didn't feel entirely triumphant. After all, the room was still rattling slightly from the last effects of Daniel's Ghostly Wail.
Nevertheless, Daniel's reactions provided even more data for analysis. The boy had used his 'inner strength' again. The monitors confirmed the presence of even more intense emotions that could indicate that the boy's mental stability was collapsing. In fact, Vlad was sure of it since he had never seen the boy's green energy be that dark —or powerful — before; and especially when the boy had produced them almost immediately after Vlad had sent the same subliminal message he had used in the last program: a hatred for all ghosts.
Indeed, the man should feel triumphant. But he wasn't totally because of what had happened not too long after he had sent that subliminal message and the boy had used his obviously more powerful energy. All the readings of the monitors indicated that the boy's stress level almost quadrupled when Daniel thought he had severely injured that idiotic Technus. And right after that, his computer had reported a minor short-circuit in the microchip —coupled with a strange yet almost immeasurable amount of some kind of energy.
Though Vlad couldn't explain that strange phenomenon, Vlad was sure that the boy's 'hero complex' contributed to its manifestation. And because of it, Daniel was somehow able to override —and he would even say destroy —the subliminal message.
Nevertheless, Vlad wasn't dissatisfied. In fact, he just knew that getting the boy under his control was in the very near future. All he had to do was shorten that wait…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A/N: Heh-heh, you made it down here! I sure hope you enjoyed Danny's meeting with Technus. I actually think he's a very annoying ghost, but I simply love his corny puns!
And speaking of corny puns, you can throw that wonderful popcorn at me when your review this chapter! LOL! *smiles goofily*
Now, for those of you keeping track, you absolutely know and are expecting the continuing run-down of the Fantomos Ecto-Scale:
LEVEL 1 GHOSTS
289-level 1—Omegas—shapeless ghosts and brainless ones. Also known as Malfortas. Simple nuisances but very easily defeated.
LEVEL 2 GHOSTS—still nuisances, and still very easy to defeat, but require some alertness to defeat. They usually have more intellect (more or less) or have slightly higher powers than the Malfortas.
289-level 2-Iotas—Derek and Sarah—truephan's original characters from her story, TrueHeart
289-level 2-Theta—Dairy King.
289-level 2-Eta—?— Will appear in a later chapter.
289-level 2-Zeta—Klemper (and friend Chilly-Billy)
289-level 2-Epsilons—Box Ghost and Box Lunch
289-level 2-Deltas—Norbert, Ruben and Willie, Vlad's three fez-wearing vulture cronies
289-level 2-Gamma–Cujo
289-level 2-Betas—Mutant Animals from the episode, Maternal Instincts
289- level 2-Alphas—All other ghost animals in the Ghost Zone
LEVEL THREE GHOSTS—easily defeated, but are a bit more aggressive, intelligent and/or conniving than ghosts of lower levels of power.
289-level 3-Zeta—Lunch Lady
289-level 3-Epsilon—Youngblood and his skeleton sidekick
289-level 3-Delta—Sydney Poindexter
289-level 3-Gammas—the Circus Gothica ghosts from 'Control Freaks': Lydia, Tom the dwarf, Elastica and Goliath (the strongman ghost)
289-level 3-Beta—Kitty
289-level 3-Alpha—Bullet
LEVEL FOUR GHOSTS—not too much power. Easily defeated, May be difficult only because of their own weapons or special abilities. If they had no weapons, would be moderately easy to defeat. Or they may have good powers, but aren't too bright.
289-level 4-Zeta—Amorpho
289-level 4-Epsilon—Razilo—truephan's OC from her story, TrueHeart
289-level 4-Delta—Johnny 13
289-level 4-Gamma—Ember McLain
289-level 4-Beta—Bertrand
289-level 4-Alpha—Wulf
LEVEL FIVE GHOSTS —Moderately easy to defeat. The ghosts have special abilities, and are more powerful than lower leveled ghosts, but their powers have major flaws and once those flaws are discovered, they can easily be defeated.
289-level 5-Gamma—Johnny 13's friend, Shadow
289-level 5-Beta—Technus
Until next time, have very MERRY 10th, 11th and 12th Days of Christmas, dear readers!
truephan