"Do you know what it means...to miss New Orleans?" sang one of the ghosts. Poorly.
"Alto!" barked one of the others. "Leave the singing to them as can actually sing!"
"Then leave the playing to them as can actually play, Dear Tenor," she shot back.
Danny let his gaze rove across them all. While it was probably nothing more than a "we're all in this together" mentality, he found himself warming up to his fellow prisoners. They really weren't half-bad for ghosts. He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of his name. "Huh?"
There were some good-natured chuckles. "I said, do you play?" the guitarist repeated. Danny's headshake earned an amused chorus of groans that was quickly silenced by the return of the scientists. They fiddled with the computer for a few moments while the haunters tried not to seem too interested. Suddenly, a mild shock passed through Danny that forced him back into his human form just before the glass surrounding him lifted.
He waited until they stepped away from the terminal, then lunged backward. He felt something buzz and heard a gasp. Apparently, they had put up a ghost shield without realizing it would only affect him in ghost mode. He heard the other ghosts cheering him on as he once again transformed into his alter ego and zoomed over the scientists' heads.
Suddenly, the main door opened and eight uniformed guards charged in. He threw up his shield as they started firing, but the shots went straight through. Human again and much weakened, he could only watch helplessly as the scientists took quite a few blood samples before returning him to his prison.
Maddie wrapped her arms around the ladder rungs and leaned against them. A pair of floating red eyes blinked lazily a few inches from her own, strangely amused at the simple human ability to get tired. It was a disorienting effect since the "cowl" of his sheet was pushed back: a pair of eyes floating above nothing... "Now, what happened to your body?" she asked breathlessly.
Ghost Master pushed the cowl back up, almost self-consciously, and shrugged. "Got eaten by a gator," he confessed.
"The alligator?"
"What can I say? We been through a lot together." He laughed for some reason. "Heck, he died killin' me."
Maddie looked at him for a few seconds, unsure whether she should laugh or not. Finally, she just started climbing again. "Eventually, they're going to come up here after us, you know?"
"Dunno why you're worried. T'ain't like they can just lock you up. Not like me, anyway."
Maddie stopped again, as much to rest as to regard her companion. Danny's attitude, she could understand; he was still half-human. However, all her experience with other ghosts had led her to conclude that they weren't that intelligent. They tended to focus on a certain goal, and it was that obsession that kept them from moving on. Of course, she'd never actually had occasion to have a conversation with one before. She caught herself wondering what kept him around, a thought that she decided to voice.
"I used to know," he replied wistfully. When no further conversation was forthcoming, they resumed their descent.
They were nearly down; she could see the top of the elevator. How long this place had been here, she couldn't say. The simple fact that the elevator went so deep into the earth implied that someone had known this would happen for some time. She started to ask the Ghost Master how long he had been planning to move to Amity Park, but changed her mind. Suddenly learning that ghosts, normal ghosts, were intelligent was somewhat disturbing. Being forced, once again, to come to terms with the fact that Danny was half-ghost was more than earth-shattering enough. She didn't much care to have her world view destroyed any further. Maybe later, when she didn't have so much else on her mind.
She stepped carefully onto the roof of the car and motioned her companion closer. "Is the ghost shield still up?" she whispered. He tried to drop through it, then nodded. After a moment's thought, Maddie leaned down to put her ear against the metal. She didn't hear anything, but...
"Can you go through the walls?" A corner of the sheet vanished into the nearest wall; he nodded. "Go see how many of them there are." His eyes glittered impishly, and he let the sheet fall over her. She bit back a retort as she yanked it away just in time to see those eyes vanish.
So the sheet was not actually part of him. She had her suspicions, but he had just provided confirmation: he was not a wight. He was barely a disturbance, with almost no power to speak of. So how could he possibly have been in command of such a large haunting team? And, more importantly, how did he keep the loyalty of such a primal spirit as the alligator, an embodiment of pure rage?
She felt the sheet tug out of her grasp and looked up to see those eyes again. "Eight 'cross from the door," he whispered. "Two down to the left; there's a corner there. Maybe more down it, but I didn't look."
Maddie nodded. "The other side?"
"Blank wall, and shielded, at that." His eyes dimmed slightly as he narrowed them. "They's expecting us, ain't they?"
"They have to know we're here. But what are they waiting for...?"
Ghost Master straightened and seemed to grin. "Ain't it obvious? They're scared of the Ghost Master."
Maddie rolled her eyes. He was really the most irritating, egotistical...
And suddenly, and idea struck. "Prove it." When her only reply was a blank stare, she scoffed as derisively as possible and gestured downwards. "If you're so all-mighty and terrifying, go down there and scare them off."
She was rewarded with a moment of unease, but, as expected, his ego wouldn't allow for questioning. "Fine!" he announced. "I will!" Then he was gone again. After a moment, she was alarmed to hear a panicked shout followed by the sound of snarling and snapping.
He had brought the alligator. He had actually brought that menace along without warning her, and he had unleashed it on those poor humans. She quickly checked the charge on the Ghost Bazooka, something that had become habit ever since the attack on Town Hall-
And her heart skipped a beat as the implications suddenly hit her. If Jack hadn't forgotten...
She shoved the thought away. Danny needed her now, and letting the past get in the way wouldn't save him. She dropped through the maintenance hatch and ducked outside to see a reptilian tail disappear around the corner. The few people that hadn't gotten away in time laid around in various states of consciousness. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. Maybe Ghost Master had more control than he let on. She made sure the fallen guards were, in fact, still alive before moving on.
More unconscious humans met her eyes. Beyond them, the off-white sheet swirled around slightly as Ghost Master donned it like a cloak. "They weren't expecting the Ghost Master," he laughed.
Maddie sighed heavily. "You mean they weren't expecting the alligator?" He actually chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head...or, at least, went through the motions.
"Yeah...well..."
"Freeze!" yelled a guard as he appeared at the far end of the hall. Maddie ducked back around the corner, quickly joined by her "war buddy". "Come out with your hands, or hand substitutes, in the air!"
Maddie started to speak, but the sound of the elevator going back up distracted her. They were trapped. "A'right, look," Ghost Master said. "We're going to have to trust each other, here. I can keep them busy long enough for you to get by. I'm trusting you to let my team free."
"Why would you trust me?" she asked suspiciously.
He seemed to smile. "Let's just say, you remind me of an old flame." He seemed to focus on something very far away as he added quietly, "She was fine lady, was Kelly...strong...a lot like you..."
After a moment, Maddie sighed. "Just don't hurt anyone."
"I can't make no promises on that, but I swear I won't kill'em." It would have to do, she supposed. She nodded.
Ghost Master seemed to grin as he let the sheet fall one last time. Something growled, and that was all the warning she had before the alligator lunged out of the open air where his body should have been. For just a moment, she saw him as a hazy fog that was sucked into the creature's mouth. It snarled at her before charging back around the corner.
The Ghost Master and the alligator were fused souls. Maddie had to mentally smack herself for not catching that when he described how they died. Although it wasn't particularly uncommon since the invention of gunpowder and, subsequently, bombs, she had never met one before. Maybe he would be worth not sending back to the Ghost Zone, at least immediately. She might never get another chance to meet a ghost like him, after all.
She waited a few minutes, just until Ghost Master had the guards distracted, before charging out herself. Focused on the rampaging beast as they were, they paid little attention to the human.