Chapter 35
"I swear the A List is being weirder than usual," Sam grumbled over the phone.
"We're supposed to be focused on watching Mr. Masters," Danny reminded with a small sigh. He didn't feel like listening to another rant about the popular crowd at school, though he had to admit something odd seemed to be going on with them. Since Monday, more of the A List had come to school wearing black clothing, which wouldn't necessarily be an odd thing if they didn't look like they all suddenly decided to become Goths. Danny could see where that point would upset Sam, who was Goth since before they entered high school.
"Did you see Star though?" Tucker said, joining in on the A List talk. "What was with that weird eye makeup? And she had a streak of blue in her hair!"
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can only handle so many problems at once," he murmured, mostly to himself. Then he focused his gaze back onto the front door of Axion Labs. So far, he saw no one suspicious approach the building.
After school on Monday, they staked out Axion Labs to watch for any signs that Mr. Technus planned to attack Mr. Masters again. When nothing happened and they were forced to give up for the night, Danny let Sam drive him around on a quick patrol before she dropped him off at home for curfew. Between keeping watch over Mr. Masters and still trying to hunt down clues, Danny saw his time for homework dwindling. He had to tutor Elle after school on Tuesday. They met at the Nasty Burger near her house because they were still having repairs made after Mr. Technus attacked them. Elle looked better, but she admitted to him she was having nightmares about a robot trying to kill her. Sam and Tucker agreed to keep watch for him and let him know the moment they saw anything. They didn't see anything.
Danny couldn't continue like this. Jazz always pestered him about being more serious about his schoolwork, so for his sister, he refused to let his grades suffer. But to stay caught up in school, he couldn't waste most of his free time lurking outside of Axion Labs on the chance of Mr. Technus attacking. It killed him to think that, though, because he couldn't ignore Mr. Masters was in danger.
"Why would the A List being weird have to be your problem?" Tucker asked baffled.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "We're just chatting to fill the time. Stakes out are kind of boring."
"Hey. What did you get for number twenty-two of our math assignment?" Tucker questioned distractedly.
"Wait. Are you sitting there doing your homework?' Danny demanded. "You're supposed to be keeping a lookout!"
"Well, I need to work on my homework at some point. And nothing's happening yet. I can keep watch and do my homework at the same time. So, Sam-"
"I'm not giving you the answers, Tucker," Sam cut him off, and Tucker groaned.
Danny stood up straighter as he felt the hint of a chill wash over the back of his neck. In the next second, he heard a loud crunch like something heavy cracking the pavement of the street. He leaned out from his hiding spot in an alley across the street from Axion Labs. Then he paled at the sight of a robot making its way down the street. It was easily twice his height, and looked about ten times scarier than when Danny saw it in the Masters' house. He swallowed, backing down the alley.
"Are you seeing this?" Tucker gasped with maybe just a hint of excitement at seeing the robot.
"Of course he can see it," Sam scoffed. "It's right in front of him! Besides, I'm pretty sure the screaming of people fleeing the scary robot is a dead giveaway too."
Danny ducked into the hideout he scouted at the beginning of the week. "Any ideas on how I can stop that thing?"
"Why would you - Oh, right." Tucker sounded a little disappointed at the prospect of the robot being destroyed. As he spent much of his time working on and designing robots, he probably hated the idea of tearing apart something he considered a masterpiece.
"I know this is hard for you," Danny said, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder as he changed into his costume. "But if we don't do something to stop him, he might kill Mr. Masters. Do you want to risk letting your favorite teacher become a murderer? We can stop him before he does something there's no coming back from."
After a moment of silence, in which Danny finished changing, Tucker sighed heavily. "Yeah, okay. I hate everything about this, but yeah, I don't want to see my teacher become a killer. The problem is, if he can control technology, you could tear the robot apart and he could probably just pull it all back together again."
Danny's shoulders slumped like the weight of an impossible task rested upon them. "So it's hopeless?"
"I didn't say that. If you knock Mr. Technus out, the robot will stop working."
"Right. So I have to find Mr. Technus while stopping the robot from killing Mr. Masters? Sounds easy enough." Danny rubbed at his face.
"Sam and I can look for him!" Tucker volunteered. "I might be able to track him. You just keep that robot distracted."
"Yeah, Sam will help look," Sam said, and the roll of her eyes was clear in her voice.
"Hey, you're the one with the car," Tucker pointed out. "I mean, it's unlikely that he'll be far away from the robot, but we can move faster in a car if he happens to be, I don't know, operating from a couple blocks away. Who knows how far his range of control extends?"
"Okay. You two deal with finding Mr. Technus. I have a robot to stop." Danny stowed away his bag, stuffed his phone into concealed pocket in his suit, which he had Tucker add recently, then pulled up his mask.
When he darted out of the alley, transforming before he reached the street, Danny watched as the robot smashed through the entrance of Axion Labs, shattering the glass doors. He hoped his friends could find Mr. Technus and stop him, somehow, before it was too late. Danny raced across the street, weaving through the stopped traffic. People on the street stood around, pointing at Axion Labs and whispering to each other.
"Hey, it's that Specter guy!" someone shouted, and Danny nearly tripped over his feet.
"No, that's not his name," a young girl corrected. "It's Phantom!"
Danny smiled behind his mask then plowed into the building. Some employees of Axion Labs hid behind the front desk, holding onto each other for comfort, some crying or whimpering. One woman murmured under her breath in a language Danny didn't understand but assumed she was praying in her native tongue. He knew he would be praying, too, if he was in their position.
"Are any of you hurt?" Danny asked, trying not to startle the women.
A woman with bronze skin looked up with deep brown eyes and streaks of tears down her cheeks. "We're fine," she said in a shaky voice. "That - That thing just passed us by."
Danny nodded, relieved the women were unharmed. "Stay out of sight," he advised. "I don't know how this fight might go, but I don't want any of you getting hurt."
Once he thought the women would be okay, Danny rushed off to track down the robot. Not a difficult task when the robot was large, loud, and now shouting for someone to bring him Vlad Masters. Subtlety was, apparently, not Mr. Technus' strong suit. Danny jogged up the escalator, jumping the steps two at a time and glad the robot hadn't destroyed it during its rampage through Axion Labs. He reached one of the laboratories to find the robot looming over Mr. Masters who stood with his back pressed against a wall and with no escape route.
"Well, you have me now," Mr. Masters said, oddly calm, and Danny half hoped it was all an act. How could anyone be that calm with a large robot standing over them with the intent to kill? "What do you plan to do with me now? Kill me?" Mr. Masters smirked like the idea amused him.
"You're to blame for this," the robot growled as its mechanical hands twitched, fingers curling like it couldn't wait to wrap its hands around Mr. Masters' neck and strangle him. Then the robot laughed, an eerie sound filled with clicks. "All your plans and schemes, but I bet you didn't count on how this would turn out." The robot stood up straighter, spreading out its arms. "Thanks to you, I am now the master of technology. I can bend it to my will." The lights flickered and various machines within the laboratory came to life, filling the room with loud buzzing and rumbling. Then everything fell silent again. "Unfortunately, I still plan on killing you."
"Yes," Mr. Masters agreed with a frown, "that is quite unfortunate. Your ability to manipulate technology could be useful. Think of the advancements we could make now. We could make a fortune developing new means of communication, better computers. Think of what we could do in the field of medicine by creating better machines for different surgery procedures or helping to diagnose patients. We could do great things with your power."
You could also do really crazy evil things with a guy who can control technology, Danny thought with a spine tingling chill trickling down his back as he pictured Mr. Technus laying waste to the world with an army of robots under his command.
"Interesting point," the robot said, taking a moment to consider what Mr. Masters said. "But why would I need you for that? I could make everything on my own and take the fortune for myself." His arms shot forward to seize Mr. Masters.
Danny launched into action the moment he saw the robot making a move to attack Mr. Masters. He shot through the robot, shifted out of intangibility just long enough to grab hold of Mr. Masters, then phased both of them through the wall where they hit the floor. Danny lay on top of the man, using his body as a shield while plaster and dust rained down upon them after the robot's arms burst through the wall.
"Reasoning with him doesn't seem to be working," Danny said, pulling Mr. Masters to his feet and dragging him away from the wall while the robot tore out chunks of the wall to get to them. "Do you happen to have a safe place to hide here?"
"I fear you may be right on that point." The color drain just a touch from Mr. Masters' face, and a hint of fear flickered in his dark blue eyes. He shouldn't think it at the moment, but Danny was partly relieved to see even Mr. Masters felt scared at times. It made the man seem actually human.
The robot finally punched a hole big enough for it to fit through, and it climbed into the room. Danny pushed Mr. Masters back a step, staying between him and the robot and acting as a shield for the man. He hoped Tucker and Sam could track down Mr. Technus because he wasn't looking forward to fighting this robot.
"If you have a safe place to hide, I would suggest heading there now," Danny said, hoping his voice sounded strong and confident because he felt shaky and, he could admit it, scared right then.
"Running away won't do you any good," the robot said. It took a swing with one arm, and Danny caught it.
Or tried. The arm slammed into his side, and he was fairly certain he heard something crack. He gasped out, agonizing pain radiating from his side, but at least he had blocked the attack. Grimacing, he kept hold of the arm and turned it intangible. It didn't extend to the entire robot. He didn't have the power to shift the whole machine to intangible, but the arm was enough for what was in his mind. He dragged the arm downward while the robot stumbled in confusion, not used to the idea of being partly intangible. Danny shoved the arm through the floor then released it. The moment his hands left it, the robot returned to a solid state with its arm stuck up to the elbow through the floor.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" roared the robot as it attempted to rip its arm free.
"Time to go!" Danny grabbed Mr. Masters' arm then darted for the door of the room. As they jogged down the hall and away from the angrily shouting robot, Danny couldn't help thinking that some other powers would be incredibly nice right now. Intangibility was great, and the healing factor was definitely nice, though would be a lot better if it worked faster. His side screamed with every step he took. But a power he could attack with would be extremely useful right now. He needed some way to take down the robot, and using only his hands didn't seem the quickest or most effective way. Ripping out parts hadn't done anything when the robot attacked at the Masters' house. The robot had remained functional under the control of Mr. Technus.
"Head down those stairs," Mr. Masters ordered.
Danny followed the man's directions. Behind them, he heard the thundering thumps of the robot running to catch up to them. Trapping the robot's arm in the floor hadn't stalled it for as long Danny hoped.
"In here!" Mr. Masters ducked into one of the rooms on the basement level of the building.
Danny hadn't even realized they had gone that far, but he followed Mr. Masters into the room. It didn't have much in it. A few storage cabinets stood against the walls here and there. A table with some sort of control console was set up behind a round raised platform at least four feet in diameter in the middle of the room. The raised platform looked tech related, but Danny couldn't think of what function it would have. While Mr. Masters worked at the table, Danny rifled around in a storage closet for something to use against the robot.
"This doesn't look like a very safe place to hide from a killer robot," Danny commented, finding a hammer with a fist sized head. It had some weight to it. Perhaps with enough force behind it, he could punch through the robot's metal body.
Mr. Masters snorted in response. "Do you think I would sit idle after an attempt was made on my life?"
Danny frowned as he noted Mr. Masters didn't mention the danger put to his daughter because the robot attacked him at his house.
"I've been devising ways to stop that thing, and I think I may have figured it out. I just needed it to attack and lead it down here." Mr. Masters turned his gaze to the door, waiting patiently.
A trap, Danny realized. That might explain why Mr. Masters appeared relatively unfazed by the attack: he had waited for the robot to strike a second time. "So you lure it down here. Then what?"
"I need the robot to be standing there," Mr. Masters pointed to the raised platform before him, "when I activate the machine."
"Right. And the machine does what, exactly?" Danny's brow creased with concern.
The ceiling exploded, and Danny jumped out of the way as large chunks crashed down where he had stood. The robot landed on the cement flooring with loud clunks as its feet hit the ground. The right arm, which Danny had phased into the floor, was ripped off, the robot deciding to sacrifice the arm in order to pursue Mr. Masters.
"Did you think hiding down here would save you?" The robot laughed as it stood up straight. "You will never hide from me! I, Technus, master over all technology shall have my revenge for what you did!"
"I think you're a little con-" Mr. Masters was cut off with a grunt.
Danny snapped his head around toward the man. Mr. Master lay on the ground behind the table with metal tubes wrapped around his chest, squeezing tighter by the second. Danny swung the hammer at the robot, landing a strike dead center in the metal chest. The ring of metal on metal echoed in his ears. The robot swiped at him. Danny ducked then rolled through the robot. He slammed the hammer into the back of the robot's knee, knocking it down to the other knee for a brief moment.
"Little pest!" the robot shouted, shifting all its focus onto Danny.
With his adrenaline pumping, Danny could ignore most of the pain in his side, which was good because if he stopped for even a second, he knew the robot would hit him a second time, which he wasn't sure he would survive. Unfortunately, his own hits did little but dent the robot's metal body. He jumped onto the robot's back, making it stumble a step or two. As Danny brought the hammer down, the robot twisted its head all the way around, and its green T screen face glowed brightly.
"Uh oh," was all Danny could say before the blast struck him. He flew back, too fast to think of turning intangible, and crashed into a storage cabinet. It toppled over on top of him. Danny groaned, his vision blurring slightly around the edges.
"Not much of a bodyguard." The robot stomped toward Mr. Master, who had escaped the tubes and was back at the table.
"He wasn't a bodyguard." Mr. Masters' mouth curled into a smirk as the robot stepped onto the raised platform. "He was just a distraction." He flipped a switch on the control console.
Danny clamped his eyes shut as a column of bright light shot up from the raised platform. The robot shrieked, and Danny had to clap his hands over his ears at the terrible sound. Then heat washed over him as a shockwave made the storage cabinet on top of him shudder. After silence reigned for several long, tense moments, Danny opened his eyes. The air was cloudy, like someone had beaten a super dusty rug and the dust lingered in the air. Danny phased through the cabinet, feeling like a giant bruise.
"What happened?" Talking and breathing caused Danny to cough, the dust clogging up his lungs. He waved at the air, trying to clear some of the dust away from him. His legs trembled a little under him. His energy was fading. He wouldn't be able to keep up his ghost form for much longer.
"I've eliminated the threat," Mr. Masters answered like he spoke of taking out the trash. "If I were you," he shot his gaze toward Danny, "I would get out of here before the police come to ask questions about what happened."
Danny wanted to demand answers out of the man, but his head swam. His control was slipping. Even with a mask to hide his face, he didn't want to revert back to normal here in front of someone. He didn't want people knowing Phantom had another form, or even suspected it. He felt like it would risk his civilian identity if they knew anything.
"I protected you because your life was in danger," Danny said, hoping to make what he needed to say quick. "You didn't have to kill him."
"As you said, my life was threatened. I was acting to protect myself." Mr. Masters spread his hands out before him. "And anyway, it was a robot, not a living human."
Danny narrowed his eyes at the man. Something about the way he said it tickled him, but he didn't have the time to sit and puzzle over it. "There's always another way!" he shouted, anger a tight knot in his chest.
"You already said it yourself. He couldn't be reasoned with." Mr. Masters strode past him toward the door of the room. "He wouldn't have stopped any other way," he said quietly when they stood next to each other. "He was obsessed with getting his revenge on me."
"What exactly did you do to him?" Danny gritted his teeth, tempted to punch the man, but he resisted the urge.
"Nothing." Mr. Masters shrugged. "I employed him from time to time for projects. When he fell into a coma, I took over medical responsibilities for him. He had no family, you know. I have no idea where this thought that I'm the villain came from." He glanced toward Danny. "I merely did as I would do for any of my employees. Now if you'll excuse me. I'm sure the police will be here soon, and they'll be asking questions. Which I'm sure you would rather avoid having to answer."
Danny squeezed his hands tightly, listening to Mr. Masters walk away from him. Nothing about what happened felt right to him. A moment passed, allowing Mr. Masters to get far enough away that he could no longer hear him, then Danny jogged down the hall, trying to ignore all the aches and pains and the swirl of thoughts in his head. He needed to get back to where he stashed his bag, change, then find Sam and Tucker.
Sugarhoneymouse: Walker, destroying every little girl and boy's costume fun time since the dawn of existence. Because he's a butt. XD;;
Mischievious Kiss27: Of course not. XD This is Vlad we're talking about.
YumiStar: 8) What could she be up to?
Poohbearmorris: Danny has bad feelings about Spectra too. XD;; Aw, thanks!
BringbackDannyPhantom: That's okay! Holidays can be busy times. I hope you got all your shopping done in time! Dan will definitely be returning. Soonish. XD;;
Tetractys: XD Danny just hasn't figured out why he gets bad vibes from her yet.
ZoneRobotnik: Looks like Danny just keeps getting more and more problems to deal with. XD;;; I'm pretty sure Danny would like to punch Lance Thunder in the face too.
The freedom girl: *sighs* When will Vlad learn?