Danny stared in wonder and confusion as he saw Skyler trotting through the laboratory. Even though Danny could only see Skyler through a window from the Fenton RV, Danny could tell Skyler was doing something important.
When Jack was feeling secure enough to start driving around again (after nearly costing him and Danny their lives when the cloud started attacking), he drove himself and Danny back to the hotel. The road was completely empty, and it looked very creepy. Danny and Jack were almost disturbed to see no cars were outside on the road. (in fact, they would be disturbed if they didn't know why the roads were empty.)
When they were finally back at the hotel, they both took their time walking back to their room. Jack reached his room and put the key card in the slot, unlocking the door and letting him in. Danny continued to walk down the silent, red carpeted hall to his own room. Once he put the card in the slot, he walked in. Once again, Sam and Tucker were relieved to see him.
"Danny! Did you do anything to hurt that cloud?" Tucker asked, walking over to Danny by the door.
"No, but the cloud almost hurt me," Danny said. "I'm lucky to be alive right now."
"What happened?" Sam asked, having a higher-than-normal amount of fear and concern in her voice. She quickly walked over to Danny as well.
Danny told his two friends the story of how the cloud was firing lasers down at them and almost turned the Fenton RV into a pile of waste. Danny shuddered at the thought of having to go outside again with that thing.
"Guys, there's something I want you to do," Danny said in a desperate way. His blue eyes began to widen, and Sam and Tucker knew he was being completely serious. "You remember that Skyler guy who told me about Nouron and Byhrun?"
"Wasn't he the same guy who did that show at the museum?" Tucker butted in.
"Yes," Danny replied calmly. "Look, I really think he's doing something weird. I have no idea what it is, but I'm pretty sure it's something I should know about!"
"That's great and all," Sam said depressingly, "but what do you want us to do?"
Danny paused for a moment. He closed his eyes and pointed his head down at the floor. After a second or two, he lifted his head up, opened his eyes and squeaked out, "I want you to help me get into Skyler's lab tonight."
Sam and Tucker's eyes widened and their mouths dropped.
"Wait a minute!" Sam yelled, "You want us to go leave our room…at night…go onto the streets…with that cloud up there…to break into…a science lab?" Sam asked, making sure she had everything clear.
"Yeah," Danny admitted. "Look, I know it's risky and it's asking a lot, but I think that Sklyer guy is really up to no good. Or at least he's doing something I should know about."
Sam and Tucker were silent. They stared at each other and gave a "what-do-you-think" look. They were quiet for a while as Danny nervously watched them silently converse with each other whether or not they were willing to go out onto the streets at night to break into a science lab.
"I'll go," Sam finally said, slightly blushing. "I mean, I'm only going because you're my friend…and friends gotta look out for each other, right?"
"Err...right!" Danny said, a smile forming on his face as he made a triumphant fist in midair.
"Wait!" Tucker yelled. "If Sam's going, I'm going!" Tucker made a thumbs-up and pointed it at himself. "You've saved our butts quite a few times; I think it's time we helped you now."
Danny was smiling and his face lit up with delight. "Thanks, guys," Danny said. "I'm sorry I'm making you go through with this. If I could duplicate myself and send my copies in there instead of having you risk your lives, I would. But, I don't have that power, so…"
"Don't worry about it," Tucker beamed. "Besides, this was going to be a boring night anyway, especially since the beach is practically closed and there are no girls to hang out with."
"All right!" Danny said. "It should be nightfall in about three hours. Let's get ready then and wait a while before going out."
"Wait, what do we need to do to get ready?" Sam asked.
"Uh, I don't know," Danny said, still with a load of happiness in his voice. "Just mentally prepare or something like that."
The hours ticked by slowly. The entire time they were getting ready by packing things that they would need. Tucker was thankful he brought some cell phones, because they were going to need them. He gave one to Sam, one to Danny, and kept one himself.
When it was about 9:30, the streets were completely dark, save a few street lights illuminating the dark, empty streets.
"Okay guys," Danny said, "now before we get ready to go out, get into your pajamas."
"Huh?" Sam asked. "What for?"
"My parents are going to come in and say good-night to us," Danny said. "We're going to need to look like we're actually going to sleep so my parents won't get suspicious of something."
"Okay," Sam and Tucker said in unison.
All three of them individually went into the bathroom and came out in their pajamas. As all of three of them were "dressed", Danny said they should crawl into bed now. And just as Danny predicted, Jack and Maddie knocked on their door.
Feigning exhaustion and that he was ready for bed, Danny went over to the door and greeted his parents with a fake yawn and a weak wave.
"You kids ready for some shut-eye?" Jack asked.
Danny nodded his head, still pretending to be exhausted. "Goodnight, dad."
"Goodnight, Danny," Jack replied. "See you kids in the morning."
Danny's parents closed the door. As soon as the sound of Jack and Maddie closing the door to their room was heard, Danny had an excited look on his face.
"All right, now let's get ready to infiltrate that lab," Danny said. He walked over to his day clothes piled on the floor by his bed and began to pick them up.
"So, exactly what are our plans again?" Sam asked, still not knowing what it was Danny was getting at.
"It's not that hard," Danny said. He pulled off his pajama top and started putting his arms through the sleeves of his regular shirt. "All you guys need to do is help me get into Skyler's lab unnoticed. I'll take the rest from there."
"How come you even need us then?" Tucker asked. "Couldn't you just go intangible and get into that lab unnoticed just as easy?"
"I guess," Danny said, now putting on his socks. "But what if something happens and I need backup? What will I do then?"
Tucker and Sam looked at each other as Danny continued getting back into his regular clothes. When he was finally ready to go, he saw that Sam and Tucker hadn't done a thing. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get ready!"
Sam and Tucker wasted no time. As soon as they were both ready, Danny grabbed both of them by the arm and had all three of them go intangible. In a matter of seconds, the three of them were flying over the empty night-time streets. Tucker and Sam were taking in the scenery as they watched the streets flow by the them when they looked down below. Danny, on the other hand, was staring straight as he piloted the three of them towards the lab.
"Cup Street…" Danny said to himself as he was flying through the night sky. "Good thing I kept track of that street name earlier today."
Finally, when Danny saw Cup Street, he took a turn at it and followed the road. In no time, he found the lab.
"All right guys, this is it," Danny said. "Time to end Skyler's experiment!"
"…or to at least figure out what he's doing," Tucker added on.
Danny planted him and his two friends on the ground right outside the main door to the lab.
"Okay, I'm going to drop you two guys off at different parts of the lab. If I need you guys, I'll call one of you on your cell phone, got it?" Danny said.
"Got it!" Tucker and Sam said simultaneously.
"And vice versa. If you guys see something strange or not right, don't hesitate to call me."
"Got it!"
"Okay!" Danny said. "Let's do this thing!"
Danny once again grabbed the two of them by the arm and made all three of them go intangible. He passed through the walls to the lab like they weren't even there, and in no time, they were in the same lab Danny was in earlier that day.
The lab, like the streets, looked even creepier at night. Even though Skyler was still the only person Danny saw in it, the lab seemed even more lifeless and empty. Danny showed his two friends which two ways he wanted them to go. Without saying a word, the group split up and headed in their separate directions.
While Sam and Tucker took surveillance of the side halls and rooms, Danny instead headed straight for the main lab in the center of the building. Danny was still invisible, so he didn't have to worry about Skyler seeing him. And in fact, Skyler was in the main lab.
The lab was large and empty, except for a table in the center. On the table were really sharp instruments for experiments, and there were needles similar to the ones patients in the hospital have for injections. Inside those needles was the swirling black cloud that was part of the cloud earlier that day.
Danny watched as Skyler was running around the lab for some unknown reason. He pulled a few bandages out from cabinets and placed them on the table with the sharp objects and injection needles.
Confused, Danny continued to observe Skyler move about through the lab. Finally, when Skyler was sure he was alone, he ran over to the table. And what he did completely shocked Danny.
Skyler picked up one of the three needles that had the black cloud swirling around in it and began to stare at it for a little while. Finally, Skyler stuck the needle right into the joint behind his elbow. Skyler seemed to be in a bit of pain.
Danny was taken back by it. He could almost feel the needle going into his own elbow joint as Skyler began injecting the material from the cloud in the needle into his own body.
"Okay, he's definitely not doing that for research," Danny confidently concluded. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and called Tucker on it. Danny began to whisper, "Tucker, forget exploring and call the police pronto! Tell them to get to the science lab on Cup Street. Skyler's up to no good."
"What's he doing?" Tucker asked as he talked through the phone with Danny.
"I'll explain later, just hurry up and get the cops over here!" Saying this, Danny hit the hang-up button on the cell phone and stashed it under his black jumpsuit. As soon as he did that, he looked to see what Skyler was doing.
Danny was able to see Skyler inject the third and final needle of cloud matter into himself. Skyler seemed to be in great pain now, and it looked like he had trouble standing up.
Skyler was screaming in pain. He bent downwards and had to press his hands on the table he was standing at to support himself. Danny wasted no time. He became visible again and ran into the center of the room where Skyler was seemingly struggling somehow.
"Skyler!" Danny yelled with rage filling in his voice. His teeth were grit and looked like he was ready to take someone on in a boxing match.
Skyler looked up, only his face looked much different. His face looked darker, more withered and angry. His once brown hair was now almost turning gray. He was very unhappy to see Danny standing there.
"What do you want?" Skyler managed to spit out.
"What do you think you're doing! I thought you wanted me to help you get samples of that cloud so you could study it and find a weak point in it!"
Skyler started smiling, revealing yellowing teeth in an evil grin that gave Danny the chills. He finally began standing up straight. He took small steps towards Danny, not once blinking.
"You mean Bhyrun?" Skyler asked. "Yes, that was my original intention. Now, I have changed my mind. Bhyrun and I are one!"
Confusion was written all over Danny's face. "What are you talking about!"
"Didn't you see that amazing power Bhyrun had?" Skyler asked. (he was talking about the cloud) "Wouldn't it be something if a human could obtain that kind of power?"
"You're kidding…" Danny mumbled. "You think putting stuff from that cloud into your blood is going to give you its powers! You could die from injecting it into yourself!"
"Think of the possibilities," Skyler said in a hissing voice. "Becoming one with Bhyrun…merging with that cloud!...yes. That could possibly give me power greater than I ever imagined!"
"You're crazy!"
"I'm not insane, I'm fulfilling my desire. I wanted to see what would happen if a human were to fully bring out their potential. The way I see it, having Bhyrun's power within me by injecting myself with matter from that cloud is the way to do it."
"And the way I see it," Danny started, "is that you're a moron who doesn't know what he's talking about! I'll bet you've just taken fifty years off your life doing that, not becoming immortal like you think you have!"
Skyler seemed amused and shocked at this. He started gently raising his hand up to his face. "Are you saying you don't think putting Bhyrun's material into me made me stronger?"
"No, I don't!" Danny yelled, putting his arms firmly at his side and clenching his hands into fists more solid than iron.
"Well, then," Skyler said with a nasty look on his face. "I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?"
Danny and Skyler began standing off with each other, ready to fight.