Chapter 35

Danny, his family, and his friends all went to church that Sunday to hear another message from Jakob, who had resumed the disguise of Rev. Jonathan Raguel. Mr. Lancer was there as well, and he pulled Danny aside to talk to him. He said, "You seem a bit calmer than the last time I saw you."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side as he replied, "That is what happens when you go to another universe for two weeks, learn about your powers, and come back at the exact moment you left."

Mr. Lancer just raised an eyebrow at Danny and said, "That generally doesn't leave people feeling calmer."

Danny looked at him in surprise and his wings extended as much as they could under his coat, "Wait. It has happened before."

Mr. Lancer just nodded and said, "There are certain things that we 'super-natural' creatures know as fact that scientists can only theorize about."

Danny suddenly gained an excited look and asked, "Are aliens real?"

Mr. Lancer just smiled and shook his head, "Yes they are. The ancient Viking tales of the Norse gods are actually tales about powerful alien races that were so technologically advanced that they were able to manipulate not just the forces of nature but also quantum energy fields."

Danny looked confused for a few seconds, but before he could say anything, Galen came over and asked, "Danny, who is this?"

Mr. Lancer shook Galen's hand and answered for Danny, "I am Daniel's teacher. My name is William Lancer, but you can call me Mr. Lancer. What would your name be?"

Galen took his hand away from the handshake and said, "My name is Galen Marek, and I am not from this universe."

Mr. Lancer smirked and said, "I noticed."

Galen raised an eyebrow and Danny's left eye twitched as he asked, "How could you possibly know that?"

Mr. Lancer held up a Bible and said, "Though he speaks perfect English he cannot read it, and he was viewing everything around him as though it was new and unfamiliar."

Galen smiled at him, "You are a very observant man."

Mr. Lancer smirked, "It was how I knew that Danny had wings, but I did miss all the clues of him being a Halfa. I would suggest that you don't introduce yourself in this universe with that fact that you are not from here.

Galen nodded to him, "I will keep that in mind, but I will go sit with the Fentons until Church starts."

After Galen left Danny asked, "Will you ever tell me everything you have learned?"

Mr. Lancer smirked and then he dodged the question by asking one of his own, "Have you flown recently?"

Danny looked at him in confusion, "Yes."

"Have you used your wings while flying?"

Danny shrugged and the mentioned appendages moved under his coat, "I don't need to; I have ghost powers."

Mr. Lancer shook his head in exasperation, "Yes you do, because even with your ghost powers your wing muscles will atrophy if you do not use them, and if you, for whatever reason, lose your ability to fly and you need to fly to get somewhere…"

Danny accidentally read his mind and finished for him, "I will need to use my wings to get there, but I don't know how to fly using them."

Mr. Lancer gave him an almost irritated look, "It comes naturally to us, and we use our wings unconsciously to express our emotions and feelings when we are not using them in flight, and yours generally don't move that much under your coat."

Danny gained an almost triumphant look, "That means I won't be discovered easily, though."

Mr. Lancer glared at him, "Firstly, it is not won't, it is will not. Secondly, I would rather that you be discovered than be dead because you are incapable of flying to save yourself."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and looked at where his family and friends were sitting, "Yes, Mr. Lancer. My family is heading out to the park today after church. I will get practice when we are out there."

Mr. Lancer put his hand on Danny's shoulder, "That is all I ask. Now, let us go sit and wait for the message."

Jakob watched them walk back to their seats and decided to start service so he could get to his message after singing a few songs. He got up and walked to the podium, his microphoned tie swaying in a slight draft from the door opening in the back of the sanctuary. His voice carried out over the small congregation, "Let us all open to 535 in our hymnals and sing Amazing Grace…"

-DP-

Vlad smirked when he saw on the screen in front of him Danny and Mr. Lancer walking into the pews, he had heard what Danny had said about his family going to the park. This was the opportunity that he was waiting for. He had gained control of his hypnotizing abilities and had used them on Spectra and Bertrand. He had planned to use his new ability on Skulker as well, but Skulker was easy to please anyway. He called his two new minions down to his lab with his mind.

Spectra and Bertrand both phased through the ceiling and bowed to Vlad. Their eyes glowed a sickly orange color, which filled their sockets and painted their faces with an eerie light. Spectra asked him in a voice void of emotion, "What is your bidding, my Master?"

Vlad smirked and turned away, gaining a sense of pleasure from hearing the normally emotion-filled voice of such a strong ghost void of emotion per his command, "I want you to follow Danny and play with his emotions, and wear this to keep undetectable." He threw a suit at her which looked similar to the one from when she tried to make a new "human" body for herself. The only difference was that it seemed to contain armor with green glowing lines running along it, and it had for her head a tiara shaped thing that would keep everyone but Plasmius out of her mind.

She shifted from her shadowy form into a more human one and put on the suit while Bertrand received his orders from Vlad after receiving two strange objects, "You are going to place this specially made bomb under the driver's seat of Jasmine's car, and you will use this remote detonator only after Daniel and the rest of his family are in the park."

Bertrand and Spectra bowed said to Vlad before leaving, "Your wish is our command?"

Vlad scowled after they left, "If only Daniel and Maddie had said that to me long ago, then none of this would be happening." Vlad then smirked as he turned back to his now muted viewing screen, "Let's see how you deal with the loss of your sister. I doubt it will be enough to push you over the edge, but I do have more tests for you to go through."

-DP-

Clockwork shook his head in sorrow after seeing Vlad's plan in his viewing screen, "I did not want for any of you to have to go through this, Daniel."

Shadow, who was standing behind him, put a hand on his shoulder and said, "It is for the best, my dear old friend. Though even I sometimes wonder what possessed me to give the two of us the powers which we now possess. None of this would exist if it wasn't for me becoming cursed and making that first chaos emerald in the original universe."

Clockwork turned to Shadow and said, "It was not your fault. None of this is your fault."

Shadow shook his head in sorrow and disbelief, "Maybe it isn't, but I have still been too lax in my duty to guide this world toward a better future."

With this Shadow turned around and left the tower in a flash of light. Clockwork stared at the spot where his oldest friend had disappeared for a few seconds. He sighed and looked at the alcove where Dan's thermos resided, and he could "hear" the dark thoughts emanating from it. So, the idiot has finally made a most surprising move against my younger self. It seems that he has finally lost what little remained of his sanity. It could prove useful to me in the future to take his powers from him and then kill him. I already know that he is going to lose to my younger self, because after all that has happened, it was only a matter of time.