"Twenty-three bottles of beer on the wall…." a voice sang weakly. "Twenty-three bottles of beer…"
Valerie ignored the words and focused on the voice. It seemed to come from a slightly raised circular platform rimmed in lights. Listening carefully, she realized it gave off a low hum as well. The voice definitely came from above it, but there was no one there. She wasn't very surprised. "Excuse me!" she called, stepping into view. The voice faltered and stopped. "How long have you been at that?"
After a few seconds, the voice responded, "Uh…three days?"
"What number did you start on?"
"You don't want to know." Kat faded into view using her old fourteen-year-old form as it was easier to maintain, and she was weak from boredom. "Come to gloat, miss ghost hunter?" she asked.
Valerie toyed with the notion of just walking out, but Vlad had said she could trust the ghost girl. She might hate ghosts, but she trusted her benefactor. That did not mean that she had to like it. "I…I'm supposed to get your help," she allowed, willing to say that she needed it. It was on her tongue to ask why Kat didn't just get down, but clearly something held her in place. "So how do I shut this thing off?"
The gremlin glared suspiciously and pointed at a nearby console. "Dad was feeling cliché," she explained. "It's the big red button."
Valerie paused, her hand over said button. "Technus is your dad?" she asked slowly.
"Yes, well. Today, he's mud. Get me out of here."
She was related to the guy causing the whole mess, but Vlad had said to trust her. Well, technically he'd said she could help; he never said anything about trust. Still, against her better judgment, she hit the button. Immediately, the control panel began to spark. Glancing over, she saw the platform was as well. She had just enough to get out of the way before the two exploded, and Kat manifested in her usual form, laughing maniacally.
"So much better!" the thespian announced. She gave Valerie a grandiose bow, even removing her top hat with a dramatic flourish. "And to thee do I give my thanks. If e'er you need a favor, you may call upon me but once." She started to vanish in a puff of blue smoke.
"Wait! I need that favor, now!" She waited until the ghost came back and ignored the cocked eyebrow as she explained the situation. "So will you help?" she finished.
Kat looked her up and down with an appraising eye. "Hm, well, it's good workmanship. Still, nothing I can't hack. Dad uses the same codes for everything, I swear. And then he's amazed when I can hack his systems." She shook her head, chuckling quietly, and drew a glowing circle in the air. "Fly with me, miss ghost hunter. We'll discuss along the way. This is going to be interesting…" She vanished through the temporary ghost portal with Valerie in hot pursuit.
"We're here at the Amity Park Power Station where infamous ghost Danny Phantom appears to be holding several people hostage." Tiffany Snow glanced back to make sure nothing had changed in the past thirty seconds before facing the camera to continue her report.
In actuality, Technus was trying to clear the area of anyone who might be able to stop him, or so he told himself. He was unsure of the real reason he didn't want anyone to get hurt, and he had no desire to entertain the most likely cause. Danny was firmly under control; there was no way his mind might have been interfering. It was the sound of a familiar engine that drew his attention long before the hunter girl's battle cry. He built the equipment, after all. He probably knew its sound better than he knew his daughter's voice.
"Back for more?" he laughed.
Valerie hovered at eye level half a dozen feet away. "Are you sure this is going to work?" she whispered, ignoring his usual histrionics.
"Is the sky green and orange?" responded her electronic hitchhiker.
"What?" She dropped to avoid an ectoplasmic energy blast and returned fire, Kat's odd comment temporarily forgotten.
Technus dodged the attack, still in very good humor. It struck him as the height of comedy that a normal human girl possibly thought she could beat him. So amused was he that he decided to say as much. "You cannot hope to defeat me! For I am Technus!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Valerie interrupted. "I get it already!"
"Foolish child!" the ghost scoffed. "Have you forgotten that I can render you helpless with a mere thought?" He sent the shut down command to her equipment. There was the barest moment during which they both wondered what had happened, and then every nanobot in Danny's body with alive with electricity. Kat, previously been hiding in Valerie's equipment, had traveled back across the signal.
The black and white body fell, screaming, though which ghost actually felt the pain was up for debate. Kat took very brief control to get him inside the building; she knew he would likely change back and hoped that Valerie wouldn't find them. Then even she couldn't keep him conscious.
It was dark and the bugs were everywhere. Danny felt like he was on fire from the inside and was barely aware when it ceased and the bugs fell away. A familiar voice groaned, "Oh, that hurt…" to which a second responded, "Don't say I didn't warn you, Daddio."
He was in the hall from his nightmare, but it felt different. It felt less like a dream and more like reality. Looking up, he saw Technus in much the same condition he was. Kat stood behind him, looking around with great interest. Noting his attention, she grinned. "You have a…an interesting mind," she said tactfully.
He blinked. "Is that what this is?" The two electric ghosts fixed him with near-identical glares of skepticism.
"Um, duh."
Technus stood, chuckling lightly. "Indeed! And now that I have complete control of your body, I will use it to take over the world!" His daughter rolled her eyes and mouthed something about a one-trick pony.
Danny stood as well and clenched his fists. "We'll see about that!" He raised one hand to fire an ectoplasmic energy. Suddenly, the little spiders jumped to life and swarmed over him. It crossed his mind to wonder why Kat didn't help, but even as he thought it, he knew they could hear it.
"I can't help without hurting you worse," she called. "Those things are too sophisticated for me to reprogram."
"Can't you destroy them?" he demanded on the verge of panic that he couldn't get rid of them.
"No!" Technus gleefully answered for her. "Not without permanently damaging several important systems! You think I didn't plan for that?"
He had hoped not. It was official; Technus really was smarter than Danny gave him credit.
"Thank you!" the ghost mocked.
On the other hand, in order to control him, Technus would have to have set up a mental link between the two of them. His sudden genius had probably been a side effect of that. And if it worked one way…
Danny grinned as the silver bugs fell away. "This is my mind, Technus," he reminded his opponent. "And you're not welcome."
Technus shouted in alarm and tried to flee as the nanobots attacked, but, as the boy had reminded him, this wasn't his mind. When it came right down to it, he wasn't really the one in charge. He fell beneath the silver creatures and saw Danny leaning over him. "There's only one way to stop the pain," the boy said with great relish.
Technus growled. "Fine! But this isn't the end, ghost child! Technus 2.0 will return to fight another day!" The nanobots stopped just long enough let him escape. After a few moments of their master's absence, they ceased to function. Danny slowly opened his eyes to see Technus disappear back to his lair.
"You okay?" Kat asked, leaning over him.
"…head hurts…" he muttered vaguely.
"Not surprised," she agreed. "It'll be a few days before you're back to normal." She faded into a mist of sorts, and he found himself staring at his ghost half. The apparition flashed him a lopsided grin. "Valerie's on her way. Just…lay there. You'll be rescued shortly." Kat tipped a nonexistent hat and went to be as obvious as possible. For such an egotistical thespian, that wouldn't be difficult.
Danny sighed and closed his eyes again. By the time Valerie found him, he was deep into a thankfully dreamless asleep.
A/N: Whoops! I screwed up and forgot to post the last chapter. Sorry! So, you get two. (hate when I do that...)