Danny sighed miserably and rubbed the inside of his elbow. Although his transformation had healed the pinprick, it still bothered him. He wondered what they were planning and how long they'd been planning it. He wondered where he was, and if anyone would ever find him here. He wondered what he would tell him parents if he ever got free.
"Psst!" The ghost boy glanced up to see one of the twins trying to get his attention. "Listen," she hissed.
From somewhere else in the facility, someone screamed. He thought it was very far away until the door opened and the sound increased exponentially. The scientists immediately began to protest. "We have a security breach!" one of the guards cut them off. "Back up your work and terminate the subjects!"
"No!" Danny screamed, a useless gesture. "You can't do this! I'm human!" He was completely ignored.
"Hey, and what about us?" yelled the guitarist. Casey, he'd learned. "We used to be human!"
"This is discrimination!"
The banshee thumped against the side of her prison, soundlessly demanding to know what was going on.
"I don't want to die!"
"We're already dead!"
"Well, I'm not!" Danny broke in. He started to blast the walls again, growing desperate to escape. If they had something that could kill a ghost, what would it do to him?
Maddie ducked through a door to escape the guards and found herself in some kind of break area. A few men in lab coats had been standing around talking; they started to babble incoherently at sight of her weapon. "Where are you keeping the ghosts?" she demanded, training the Ghost Bazooka on them in a bluff.
One actually fainted, earning a contemptuous snort from his colleague. The third pointed down the hall. "S-s-second hall…" he stammered. "Third d-d-d-door on the l-left. But you'll never get past the security lock!"
She barely heard the last sentence, already on her way as she was. She felt a chill as the alligator ran through her to meet their opponents. A few terrified scientists ran by; they were in for a nasty surprise when the reached the elevator. If the angered shouts were any judge, it was still being held upstairs.
The Ghost Bazooka really wasn't designed for attacking humans. She hadn't actually expected to fight her way through an underground facility. In fact, the only reason she had brought the weapon along was because she thought the ghosts would give her more of a fight. She thought getting Danny out of the facility would be the easy part.
The whole place reminded her vaguely of a military installation. The guards clearly weren't army, but they also weren't trained in ghost combat. They probably hadn't even believed in ghosts until the alligator charged into their midst. Their weapons were ectoplasmic based, but the scientists were doubtlessly responsible for that.
She passed the first hall, completely ignored by the guards. Apparently, someone had figured out that the Ghost Master was a bigger threat, and had disregarded her as potentially dangerous. Had anyone even tried to apprehend her, they would have realized their mistake. Fortunately, no one did.
There was a crunch followed by a terrified shout as the alligator's jaws closed on someone's leg. Maddie cringed and turned down the second hall. Since the panic had not spread this far, the few guards yelled for her to freeze. She threw herself back around the corner and clutched the Ghost Bazooka, mentally calculating how much damage it would do to flesh.
A reptilian snout bumped her leg; he seemed to be getting tired enough that he was no longer out of control. "Six," she informed him, gesturing with her thumb. "Right outside where we need to be. And try not to knock them all out; we still need to get through the door."
He snorted and stomped around the corner. There was a cut-off shout followed by a scream, then the sounds of weapons'-fire. After a moment, she heard a whoosh, and the sound of footsteps heralded the appearance of three more scientists. "Door's open, ma'am!" called Ghost Master. She slipped around the corner to see that the alligator had been put to rest again. His floating eyes darted toward the door in a gesture of impatience. "Something's wrong; be quick-like!"
"What is it?" she demanded, running forward.
Eight glass tubes, each filled with some kind of translucent gas and a fading ghost. She saw Danny, his hands to his throat as though choking but not faded like the others. It was barely a second to take it all in, then she dashed across to the computer console.
"Get'em out, woman!"
"I'm trying!" Maddie snapped without taking her eyes off the monitor. She tried to push the sight of her son out of mind and focus on the lock sequence. After a moment, she was rewarded by a slight hiss and the sound of all-too-human gasping. She wanted to run to him and make sure he was okay, but more guards took that moment to arrive.
"Freeze! All of you! Hands in the air!"
If the situation hadn't been so dire, she might have laughed. Ghost Master did laugh. "What is that, regulation?" he asked.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out across the acoustically unsound, enclosed, metal walls. Maddie screamed and clutched her ears, dropping to her knees in agony. She thought she felt something grab her, but it was a long time before she was able to pull her hands away. Even then, her ears rang horribly.
They were traveling through solid rock. She wasn't sure whether to be nauseated or fascinated, so she did both. "I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered.
"Sorry," Danny said nervously. Then they in open air again, and she turned to smile encouragingly.
"Oh, not you," she replied. "It was that banshee."
He let her down by the Fenton RV and drifted a few feet farther away than was really necessary. "Um…thanks for saving me, Mo-uh Maddie."
He didn't realize she knew? She started to correct him, then stopped. He had tried to make her forget; he didn't want her to know. Channeling her old acting classes, she adopted a suspicious posture and nodded. "Well, you did save Danny a few times. But don't think this means I'll go easy on you. And now, I need to go see if my son is still at his friend's house."
She almost laughed at the expression of dismay that crossed his face, quickly hidden by an uncertain grin. "Well, good luck with that!" he said, waving slightly as she got into RV and drove away.
"I am in so much trouble," he groaned. After a moment's hesitation over whether or not to go help the ghosts below, he launched into the sky and angled for Tucker's house. They could take care of themselves.
After some thought, he landed a block away to become human again and started running home. Sure enough, before too long, his mother pulled up. Neither of them spoke as he climbed into the passenger side and sat hunched over, the picture of miserable dejection. "I can totally explain," he muttered, even though he knew he couldn't.
Maddie shook her head and tried not smile. "I'll forget it this once, Danny. We had quite a bit of excitement, and I'm just glad your okay."
Much relieved, he sighed happily and leaned back. It never did occur to him to wonder why his mother had gone to save her enemy before looking for her son.
"Police are still trying to figure out exactly what happened here last night, but, so far, no clues are forthcoming. Back to you, Harriet."
Danny turned off the news and yawned. He couldn't say he was sorry that all the scientists and guards had been driven mad with fear, although he did think Ghost Master may have gone a bit too far. Still, he felt no pressing urge to complain. Surprisingly, no one seemed to have connected his mother with the event yet.
"Ghost Master is my hero," Kat said suddenly. Danny jumped and huffed in annoyance.
"How long have you been there?" he demanded.
She shrugged. "About five minutes. I just came to tell you what I learned."
The boy waved her off. "About him and the alligator? Mom already figured it out."
"Well…" Kat started to pout. "What do you need me for then? I work my tail off for you, and this is the thanks I get? See if I offer to help you again!" She vanished, but not before giving Danny a parting shock.
He rolled his eyes; she was such a drama queen.