Around an hour had passed since Tucker arrived at Sam's house and found about her heritage. Yet, since that hour they had still to see a movie because the techno-geek was busy asking the usual questions, asked for someone with a lot of money.
"Tucker, are we watching movies or not?" Sam asked, her annoyance hearable in her voice ad visible on her face.
"Okay, okay. Just a few more questions" Tucker begged, sitting on a chair with popcorn and soda. Lina rolled her eyes but stayed quiet. "Could you buy a plane?"
"Yep."
"A yacht?"
"Yep."
"Um...a bowling alley?"
"Nope." Before Tucker could ask why, Sam pressed a button on a remote and the movie screen on the wall, started to slide out of view. In each place, it revealed a four-lane bowling alley. "There's no place to put a second one."
"Yet" Lina commented, knowing that if Sam's parents decided to upgrade and expand the house, they would easily do it.
Turning to look at the bowling alley, she spotted Sam's grandmother, Ida, riding out on a motorized scooter and rolling a bowl, getting a strike.
"Yippee! Bubbe's hot tonight!" the old woman said, pumping her fist in the air.
Lina copied her moves. "You go Granny Ida"
From everyone in Sam's family. The old, kind grandma was the best one. Always supporting Sam despite her extreme decision, she would offer her a smile and comforting words. While the adults never took her seriously because of her age, Lina was happy Sam had someone inside the house.
Ida had been the most welcomed when Sam first introduced Lina to her, always happy to see the girl coming over to the house or being around with Sam. While her parents were neutral towards it, the kind old woman was always willing to offer her some food or cool stories.
The movie screen wall closed back over the bowling alley after Sam pressed a different button.
Tucker then sniffed the air. "That's weird because you don't smell stinking rich"
That made Sam leave out a sigh and take a seat next to Lina, making her be between Tucker and her. "Will you stop it? That's the whole reason I didn't tell anybody"
"But I don't get it. With all this money, why do you hang out with me and Danny? If you flash a little of that bling, you'd be Miss Popularity!"
It was Lina's turn to leave out a sigh, Tucker not understanding. One of the many things the two girls had in common, was their mindset of how unnecessary and stupid popularity was. They were smart enough to see how fast the scales and hierarchy could change. And they would prefer to be themselves and be surrounded by true people, than brainless fake friends, who would eventually dump them when they got the chance.
"I don't need popularity, Tucker, especially not if I have to buy it"
"You should tell that to Danny. Can you believe people spent good money on that old junk from his parents' shed?" Sam said and Lina shivered slightly.
Just thinking about that stuff, she had a bad feeling about it. After defeating Technus, the lab and that staff were not the same. Danny was often, very ignorant of that stuff or did not seem to have such connection with his ghost half like she did.
It was not new for her to just feel stuff or have better cognition even in her human form. While Danny many times treated his other half, as a different personality, Lina felt that hers was the same person.
Perhaps that was why but she still questioned it. And unfortunately for her, it was not possible to just use the internet, open a book or ask someone since well…their situation was one of a kind. Or so she thought.
The movie had started, being an action genre with decent acting and karate moves. The three friends were busy watching but then, the movie was moved a few seconds passed, repeating a scene again and again.
This made the two girls annoyed. "Tucker, if you want to watch a part over again, could you please tell me first?" Sam said, speaking for both of them.
"Me? You're the one messing with the remote." Tucker shot back.
Then, the duo looked at Lina who lifted her empty hands and proved she was not the one with the remote either. Suddenly, her ghost senses went off just as the remote glowed the familiar green and floated up from the table.
"I'm not schooled in the ways of the rich, but do all your remotes do that?" the only boy asked.
"No. Well, my toaster does, but it's from Denmark. That stuff Danny was selling must have been contaminated with ghost stuff!" Sam pointed out just as the remote started acting up again.
It shot a zap of green lightning at the popcorn machine, which broke and blasted popcorn everywhere, and another one at the soda fountain, which turned on and sprayed soda all over the room.
Lina quickly changed to her ghost form and became transparent, allowing the soda aimed at her to simply pass through her. She then saw the remote heading fast for Sam and Tucker. She sped up and delivered a very nice kick that would put her on the football team, sending the remote up towards the ceiling.
She was ready to attack it again but to her surprise, the remote phased through the ceiling and left them at peace.
The three friends exchanged a look before getting into action.
They left Sam's house, Sam and Tucker through the door and Lina passing through the floors. She flew above them, and the trio quickly followed a steady stream of electronics and appliances flying through the air in one direction.
"Looks bad. Probably a job for Danny and Lina Phantom." Tucker said, making Lina growl as they all came to a halt.
"Probably. And if I wasn't so mad at him, I'd probably care that it's going to interrupt his big jock party" Sam added.
"I still do not care and I should allow him to deal with this on his own" Lina said, folding her hands in front of her chest.
She was still angry at Danny for dumping them when he got popular, and of course, for not listening to her when she had warned him about those junk parts. Now, his actions brought the situation and he would have to deal with them.
"Either way. We cannot let it get out of control. People could get hurt" Sam reminded her, making her pout in defeat.
She was right. She could not simply ignore it, since Danny might firstly not be fully capable of dealing with that and secondly, people could get hurt and she did not want that or guilt would drown her alive.
"Fine. Tucker, go get the thermos. Sam and I will try to find where those appliances go" she ordered and the boy gave a salute before rushing towards the Fenton Workshop.
Lina could go on her own to fetch it, but she wanted to check and ensure that if Danny was late to handle the situation, she would protect those who ended up in the middle of this all.
They all meet up at a street, outside Dash's house. Lina and Sam had arrived there a few minutes before Tucker but did not make any move. At last, their friend arrived carrying the special thermos.
"Lina! Sam! I got the Fenton Thermos! You know, Danny's got to start carrying this in some sort of lunchbox" he said.
"Everything is gravitating here to Dash's house. Looks like whatever fun Danny's having will be coming to an end soon" Sam said and on cue, a crash was heard.
Danny flailed past them as he yelled before he slammed into the side of a building. "Hi, Sam. Hi, Tuck. Hi Lina. Glad you could make it" he said dazed and then fell to the ground unconscious.
Lina's eyes glowed a dangerous red as the trio turned their back around to see a giant Technus emerge from the alleyway.
"I am Technus, master of technology and destroyer of worlds! Behold my awesome electronic fury! *Bending forward* Who's your daddy?"
Lina was about to hit him and punish him hard for hurting Danny, but her adopted brother had managed to regain consciousness.
He quickly flew to Technus and landed different punches and kicks, but the ghost was too powerful and protected by metal to feel anything. With one move, Technus brought a hand up and knocked him to the ground.
He looked defeated and also confused at his three friends who stared him down. "Guys? Help!"
He flew back only to get knocked down by Technus again. The trio simply crossed their arms and turned their back to Danny. Lina felt back, hearing him try again and failing but all she had to do was remember how he dumped her and all feelings of guilt disappeared.
"Guys, come on, seriously! *Flies back up again. While dodging Technus's attacks* I'm sorry I chose to hang with the popular kids over you guys. It was stupid and shallow, and I'll never do it again!"
Technus punched him in the back into the ground, where Sam, Lina Tucker smile at each other and look down at him.
"How can we be of assistance?" Sam asked.
Danny accepted Lina's hand and let her help him up. "He's running an old version of Portals XL."
"That piece of vaporware?" the other halfa confirmed.
"It's the worst software ever" Sam added.
Tucker suddenly had an idea. "Keep him busy. I think I know how you can beat him"
"That, I can do. Lina?"
The girl smirked. "Popular boys first"
Danny did not comment and instead flew up to Technus while Lina stayed ready to attack. It was not uncommon to let Danny distract or try first, and have Lina come while the enemy was busy. It was also better since the female was more quiet and fast, compared to her male counterpart who was louder and clumsier.
However, their combo made a very good and effective team that kicked ghosts back into the portal they escaped from. "Get back, you hunk of my dad's junk!" Danny said.
"Could mere junk do this?" Technus asked as a remote and a robotic finger emerged from the dryer in his chest.
The finger pressed a button on the remote, and Danny changed into a cowboy. The button was pressed again, and he changed into a female model. The button was pressed once more, and he changed into Spock from Star Trek.
Lina tried her best to keep back her laughter, only annoying Danny more. He gave her a look and she moved fast grabbing the remote in the blink of an eye and tossing it at Danny.
The boy pressed a button and changed back to normal, only for Technus to attack him with his claw. He grabbed and slammed him into the wall, angering Lina.
"Hey! You moving trash can" she shouted, making them turn his head to look at her only to come fast.
Her fist had a faint red glow as she charged and delivered a strong right hook on his mechanical head. It only made him stumble a few steps back but Danny was not freed and the ghost was not affected much.
He tried attacking her while ensuring Danny would not escape but Technus, only had one good claw hand and Lina was too fast and agile for him to aim and get her. This earned time.
"Tucker, any time!" Danny shouted, one hand holding the claw and trying to free himself.
Tucker was busy fast typing on his PDA. "I'm trying, I'm trying!"
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, watching him.
"I'm trying to bypass the program, but I can't! He must have upgraded."
"What do we do?"
"We need the latest version of Portals XL" at the same time, Technus kept trying to attack Lina while keeping Danny trapped. At the same time, Lina tried her best to deliver attacks on the claw or him, to free Danny but there was no major effect. "But where are we gonna get it this time of night?"
"Leave it to me," Sam said and held up her phone, before quickly dialling a number. H
A few seconds later, a delivery girl which the girls knew as Tracey, rid up on a scooter.
"Here you go, Sam." She said and handed her a disk.
"Thanks, Tracey," the girl said and paid.
"Wow! You have access to the latest technology after hours?"
"Yep"
While Danny was confused, barely paying attention and still trying to free himself from the claw, Sam got into action. She looked at Lina who quickly understood the point and turned herself invisible.
Sam then proceeded to walk to Technus. "Uh, excuse me. I'm Sam. I don't believe I caught your name. Perhaps you should scream it loud and shout out your motive.£
"Hello," Technus said to her and then proceeded to do that, falling victim to his ego that Sam flawlessly used against him. "I am Technus! Manipulator of machines! Lord of all gadgetry! Wizard of integrated circuitry!"
"Go on" at the same time, something invisible brought Sam a power cord, while she was already holding a different one. "Isn't there more you'd like to tell me?" she plugged the two cords in together.
"Oh, yes! I am also master *starts glitching* of all... *Fades out*"
Danny looked at his friends confused, not understanding what was going on or being able to see where Lina was. "What's happening?"
A cord trailed down from the back of Technus's head, courtesy of Lina, which Sam plugged into a cord leading into Tucker's PDA, which read:
SHUTDOWN.
"Portals XL is happening. Everybody knows that every new version of Portals XL has a gigantic hole in its security system" Tucker explained as Lina became visible again, a smirk on her face.
"What?! No!" Technus continued to glitch, and the claw holding Danny released him.
"Yes!" he said as he flew up and grabbed the end of the claw. "Process this!"
Lina quickly moved, taking speed and body-slamming Technus on the back causing him to take a few steps forward. At the same time, Danny shoved the claw into Technus's front disk drive, which electrocuted his battle suit and caused "ERROR" to blink on his screen.
"Wait! That doesn't go there!" The suit sparked and shut down, hunching forward.
Tucker then pulled out the Fenton Thermos. "And for my final trick..." he threw the thermos to Danny, who caught and used it to suck Technus out of the battle suit.
Once done, the male Halfa capped the thermos just as the battle suit fell apart into a heap of electronics on the ground.
"Nice going, Tuck," Sam said as Lina landed next to him and transformed back to human. She placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah. You are a genius"
Soon, Danny followed suit in landing next to them.
"Don't thank me. *Holds up the disk* Thank lousy software"
The next day, our heroes walk the hallways of their school. All rested and once again, back together as good friends.
"So, what's the damage from this weekend? Did you get in trouble for taking your folks' stuff?" Tucker asked, walking between Lina and Sam.
"Not really. I hauled it all back to the shed yesterday while they were out. My dad's checking every piece for government surveillance devices" Danny explained and Lina smirked in amusement.
It was very funny hearing Jack talking about the government taking his stuff, hidden cameras and then spending hours on end to ensure the junk pieces were not harmed or had any kind of tracker.
"Sounds like you got off pretty easily," Sam said.
"He did. He was lucky this time" his adopted sister added, giving him a nudge with her elbow.
She was not mad at Danny, not after he apologized. Plus, he had learnt his lesson and that was the important thing for her.
"Well, not really" the male halfa argued. "I do have to return those stupid sweats so I can refund everybody's money. *Stops walking* And I still feel terrible about the way I treated you guys. Of all people, I should know how it feels to be invisible."
Sam leaned against a locker, waiting for the big words. "So would you say you've learned a lesson from all this?"
Danny did not say anything, instead, he looked over at Dash, who opened up his locker. A pile of teddy bears from his closet fell out onto the ground.
"Fenton!" the bully shouted, being waist-deep into teddy bears.
"Yep. That one person's trash is another person's revenge"
The four friends laughed, along with the rest of the school and enjoyed that rare sight. One more day gone, one more lesson learnt and no one knew what the future had in store for any of them.