"Bhyrun?" Danny asked with confusion in his voice. "What are you talking about?"
Skyler started smiling as he stared at Danny. His short brown hair was blowing softly in the wind with a disturbing silence.
"You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" Skyler softly said as he and Danny continued to stare at each other. "Come to my lab with me, I'll tell you all about it there."
The walk was only a few minutes. People were staring at Skyler and Danny as they walked along the almost-empty sidewalks, not knowing what the two were doing together. The entire walk was silent; Skyler had nothing to say, but Danny wasn't sure he wanted to say anything at all.
Skyler's lab was a decently sized building. It had a white exterior, but inside it looked very scientific. The floors were carpeted with several doors all over the place, along with huge glass windows inside and outside the laboratory. After a winding and confusing walk through the building, Skyler reached his office.
Skyler's office looked like a regular office. It had a desk, a very high-tech computer, and a lot of scientific equipment like a microscope or test tubes in it. There was also a chair in the corner of the room, where Skyler gestured Danny to sit once they walked into the office.
Feeling very nervous and slightly uncomfortable, Danny agreed to sit down in the chair in the corner of the office while Skyler sat down in the chair at his computer. Skyler started rocking back and forth in the chair while he crossed his hands and rested them on his stomach.
"So, you don't know what Bhyrun is?" Skyler asked with a smile on his face.
"N…no," Danny replied, not knowing what to say.
"Well, when I first saw that cloud pop up into the air last night," Skyler said, wiping the smile off his face. "I was curious of it, of course. So, I decided to do a little research on the cloud and its origins. And I found some very startling information."
Danny gained some interest with those words. Maybe this Skyler guy actually had knowledge of the cloud in the sky?
"Well, to answer your question," Skyler said, "that cloud that popped up last night…it wasn't a cloud."
"It's not?" Danny asked. "If it's not a cloud, then what is it?"
"It's a curse," Skyler calmly replied. "A curse that, according to my research, goes back centuries."
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked. "Are you sure the stuff you found in your research is talking about the same thing that's hovering in the sky as we speak?"
"Yes," Skyler replied. "I told you, that cloud is actually a curse. It goes back a long time. A long, long time."
"What are you talking about?" Danny said. "You're confusing me!"
Skyler ignored Danny's complaints and continued talking. "In the year 1368, there were these two mages: Nouron and Bhyrun. Both of these mages were extremely powerful, and as the story goes, they even had special powers."
"What does that have to do with the cloud, or curse, or whatever?" Danny interrupted, losing his patience as Skyler kept talking.
Skyler put his finger right next to his mouth and pretended he was zipping his mouth up, telling Danny to keep quiet. Danny just sunk back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"As I was saying," Skyler continued, "Bhyrun started getting a little too fond of his power. He stopped using his power to protect people, and instead started using them for his personal wants, like revenge. It wasn't soon before Bhyrun was on the verge of domination and power. Everyone was nervous, especially Nouron, so he did the only thing he could: he cast his strongest magic on Bhyrun, inflicting a dark curse on him. The curse is what transformed him into that cloud that is hovering in the sky. So, now you know why that's Bhyrun."
Danny was confused, but now he was also irritable. "Did your research involve reading from fairy tale books, because that is sure-as-heck what it sounds like."
"You don't believe me?" Skyler asked, but didn't seem too angry. "How else could you explain that black cloud being unleashed out of nowhere?"
Danny moaned. He wasn't sure what to believe now. While he thought the reason had to be much more logical than what Skyler said, it was the only thing he had now.
"Uh…okay," Danny finally said. "I don't really get it, but if that's why you think that cloud is in the sky, then go ahead and think it."
Skyler didn't say anything. He just continued to slump back into his chair, until finally saying. "All right, kid, you can go now. By the way, I never got your name."
"Danny," Danny replied, quickly getting out of his chair.
"Well, Danny, why don't you go home and let the police decide what to do about this? I think it's better off if you don't go getting yourself involved. Besides, there's a machine I need to get out now, anyway."
Danny seemed to get angry at the remark about not getting involved, but didn't show it. Without saying anything, he quickly nodded his head to Skyler and walked out of the room. Walking at a very fast pace, Danny made his way out of the laboratory and ran behind to the back of the building once he was outside.
When Danny was behind the building and out of everyone's sight, he turned into his alter-ego and started flying through the air to save himself the trouble of walking all the way back to his hotel.
While he was flying through the air and feeling the wind in his face, Danny couldn't help but think of Skyler's words; they practically disturbed him.
I think it's better off if you don't go getting yourself involved, Danny thought to himself as those words played in his mind. Why not? I'm probably the only thing around here that has the slightest chance of destroying that thing! If I don't destroy it, who will? That guy certainly doesn't think he can destroy it on his own…
In a matter of minutes, Danny saw his hotel. Even at the sunniest time of the day, everyone was still staying inside or hiding to avoid getting close or being outside with that giant cloud. The entire place just seemed so creepy, but Danny didn't let it bother him.
Danny flew behind the hotel and changed back into his human form. He then ran around to the front of the building and ran in through the revolving door and into the elevator. He hit the button to his floor, and as soon as the doors opened, Danny started quickly walking through the deserted hall to his room. He put the key card in the slot, and opened the door when the light flashed green.
Danny walked inside and saw Sam and Tucker nervously looking around. When they saw Danny in the door, they were overjoyed.
"Where were you!" Sam yelled. "Do you have any idea how worried Tucker and I were for you?"
"Don't be worried, guys," Danny said, trying to reassure them. "You remember that Skyler guy who we saw at the museum yesterday?"
Tucker and Sam nodded their heads.
"Well, I pushed him out of the way just as that cloud out there was about to do something really, really bad, and…"
"What was it about to do?" Tucker interrupted.
"Let me finish!" Danny yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "Anyway, after I saved his life and not getting a single 'thanks', Skyler wanted to take me to his lab and tell me about that cloud. He thought he had a pretty good idea about what it was."
"Really?" Sam said with a hint of surprise in her voice. "What he say?"
"He thinks the cloud is actually a curse or something from 1368," Danny replied. "He told me there were these two priests or something named Nouron and Bhyrun and the dark cloud up in the sky is actually Bhyrun."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tucker yelled, putting both of his hands in front of his face. "I'm confused now. Who are these two guys again?"
"Skyler told me they both had powers and that Bhyrun went a little over the edge with his. Apparently that Nouron dude did something about it and turned Bhyrun into that cloud."
"Well, how does that explain the bottle and opening it?" Sam asked.
"It doesn't," Danny replied. "Look, to get a better understanding of it, why don't we do a little bit of the research ourselves? Tucker, upload your laptop and enter in the names 'Nouron' and 'Bhyrun' under a search engine."
Tucker wasted no time. He loaded up his laptop and searched the two names Danny told him to. It wasn't long before they found something.
Tucker and Sam started reading it while Danny stood from a distance with his arms crossed, waiting for them to get some results.
"Danny! We found something!" Tucker yelled excitedly, waving his hand and telling Danny to come over.
"We found out some more about those two dudes," Sam added on, turning away from the computer to look at Danny. "And it looks like your scientist friend was wrong."