A/n: OGOD! I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE! This story was already written, but I lost half of it, even though it was saved! I could never write it all back! It was way too much to remember! I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cancel the story! I hate doing this! I mean, I really hate it! But it won't work. SO INCREADIBLY SORRY:'(
Here's the rest of the story that was saved, if you really want to read it, but you won't like the ending being so abrupt and unsatisfying. It doesn't even get to the part where Jack finds out! But I don't post author's notes without chapters so, here ya go. I'm deleting the story in a few days.
Chapter 1- How could I be so ignorant?I played with my action figures; my mind on other things. How did it all fall apart like this? How did I get so caught up in my Job to fall so far apart from my family's needs? Ghosts are all I know about anymore.
I'd come to this realization just last night. I finally understood what Maddie felt like. And though when I was around people I quickly hid my feelings, they popped back up every time I sat down to do something alone. This was a bad habit of mine for ten years now. Ever since the incident with that one ghost when Danny was four and Jazz was six. Jazz had gotten so much smarter since then. She'd always read faster and such; I always wondered where she'd gotten it; probably her mother. I sighed a depressed sigh until Danny came into the room, looking completely exhausted. I looked up, my bad habit taking the best of me.
"Hey, Son!" I said in a cheery voice. "How was your day at school?" He flinched at my sudden outburst. "More importantly, do you want to see our new invention!" He looked at me in a 'please don't' expression that I never noticed before. It's amazing what you see when you stop being ignorant of the world around you. I sat back down, fighting to express something other than a huge grin. He must've noticed I was trying to fight something in my head because I could see three expressions on his face: one of confusion, one of worry, and… was that relief? My inside depression grew, but I couldn't help myself from going anywhere lower than a strait face. I couldn't frown unless there was an invention of mine that didn't work, or a ghost was around especially when they're trying to hurt the ones I love. That was the kind that made me really angry. Like that Danny Phantom ghost. He was the only ghost that I couldn't figure anything about, And I've found him attacking good people, like the Mayor, or even more, Jazz; and yet, he seemed to claim he was a good guy. Why would he be dumb enough to try to fool us, when he was clearly a smart ghost? How else would he be able to hide from us like this? I managed to give a slight frown in my thoughts. Danny sat down next to me, still a bit exhausted for some reason, but worry, the dominant on his face.
"You okay, Dad?" He asked, his voice full of concern. I looked at his face and, closer up, noticed a scar on his cheek. I suddenly forgot about my own thoughts, and turned my attention to his injury. It was time to make a change. It was time to care for my family.
"Danny… What happened to your face?" I tried to sound loving, but it was harder than I remember. I felt it, but it seemed harder to express it. His sudden reaction startled me a little, as his hand moved lightning fast and covered the small wound.
"Oh, it's nothing." I heard a major change of tone from worry to squeaky nervousness. I raised my eyebrow. "Uh. I've gotta go do… stuff." He said and before I could spare him one more look of confusion, he had rocketed upstairs. I blinked in dismay. What was that all about? I thought but this was a train of thought that led me back to my original problem. I need to spend more time with my family. And before long, I fell back into my original slump. Why did I have to be so ignorant? I thought, just in time to be disturbed from my thoughts once more.
"Honey? Is something wrong?" I heard the voice of my wonderful wife. I smiled a tad, knowing my spouse would know where I was coming from.
"Maddie… You know how you and Danny had that bonding trip?" Her expression darkened, but brightened at the same time, leaving the odd appearance of someone with amnesia who just figured out they were constipated. She cloaked her expression with a small smile that hardly reached her eyes.
"You mean that visit to… Dalv?" she asked in a fake cheery voice.
"Uhh… Ya." I stumbled. "I thought maybe we could have a weekend like that again, only… reversed."
"Reversed?"
"You know… Danny stays with me, and you go with Jazz…" I clarified.
"Oh! That sounds wonderful!" she cheered. "I'll go ask Jazz, and you'll ask Danny!" she ran up the stairs, obviously excited. I sighed. What was I thinking? I hardly know my Son. How am I supposed to entertain him for a whole weekend? I know! I'll babble on about gho… I mentally slapped myself. It was time to change. Time to bond. I looked down to the Lab. The eerie green glow of the ghost portal attracted me to invent something. I'll start tomorrow, I thought quickly, and I slipped down to the Lab to begin my project, and hopefully end it before midnight, when my goal was set to begin.
Dream Sequence(I thought I woke up from a drooling sleep in the lab…) I wiped the crusty, dried spit from my mouth as I looked to the portal. I found myself attracted by it, mystified by its green, swirling contents. I closed my eyes and dived into a cool fluff around me. As I fell, I realized all the shapes flying up around me. I looked down, seeing the ground rush up at me. I tightened my eyes, heart beating, ready for ground contact, when I felt nothing. I opened them once more. I found that I had landed softly on the ground. I looked around at the barren landscape, and shivered in the cool feeling of the place.
"No wonder ghosts want to escape from this place," I thought out loud. "There's no fudge anywhere."
I decided that there was nothing better to do but walk until I found something interesting, so I started to walk. I eventually realized that I was lead nowhere by the seemingly useless path. Then the ghost boy came and smashed into the ground with an incredible force. He was struggling to sit up, the perfect time to nail him. But as I reached into my pocket (which lead to a pouch formed by a rip in the space time continuum, where I kept all my ghost hunting equipment.) for a gun or something, I felt nothing but a regular pocket with nothing in it. I watched as Phantom turned his attention to me.
"Da… Jack?" He asked, clearly in confusion. "What are you doing in the ghost zone?"
I shook my head.
"I don't kno…" But I was cut off by a sudden blast out of the boy's hands as I heard a scream of pain. I looked up. It was a pitch black, formless ghost, or as a ghost hunter would say, a 'case 34526.' I watched the hole from the blast around the stomach area, close back up, like it was never there in the first place. This would make it a 'case 345269.'
"STROBE LIGHTS!" The ghost boy yelled. I followed his gaze to two teens in… Was that the SPECTER SPEEDER! I squinted, but before I could clarify, a huge flash of strobe lights came from the large metal object, resulting as the ghost was obliterated into a sort of vapor. A shadow ghost! I thought. 'Case 3452690!' Probably with a master. I looked up again, and squinted once more. Yes. This was defiantly the specter speeder. I was about to yell, when I felt a cold hand grab my neck on a sensitive pressure point. I looked to the root of the hand, just to see a concerned ghost boy's face, before I fell into unconsciousness.
End of Dream sequenceI woke up in my bed. This was weird, because I remembered falling asleep in the lab on top of my invention. I got up, stretched and decided to go down to the Lab and check on my invention. As I picked it up, I noticed some wires seemed to have shorted out, dry crust on the ends of them. I wiped it off, realizing it was none other than dried saliva. I picked up a screwdriver when I remembered my goal, to think more about my family than ghost hunting. I drooped my head sadly, until the ghost portal caught my eye once more. My mind flickered to the dream I had last night. It was so strange. Suddenly a yawning Danny interrupted my thoughts.
"Hiya, Son!" I said, taking up my cheery manner once more.
"Hey…" he said sleepily. "Mom said you wanted to ask me something." He stretched and yawned again.
"Danny, you look exhausted!" I remarked. He just stared at me, his eyes only half open. "Anyway, yes, I wanted to ask you if you were up for a bonding trip with me this weekend." His eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something, when he gasped. He suddenly covered his mouth, said, "I'll think about it!" and sprinted up the stairs, almost leaving a dust cloud behind him. I slumped down, getting back to my thoughts, as I was mesmerized once more by the swirling mist of the ghost zone, it all seemed so… real.
Chapter 2- Bonding, huh?
Was that Dream real? No. It couldn't be. How could the ghost boy get his hands on the specter speeder? I shook it off. If only I could go in there. See if the dream was real. Then I heard a crash from outside. I ran up the stairs, making sure that my pocket was now filled with ghost weapons.
"How can such an annoying, incapable ghost like you, cause so much damage!"
I heard from outside. I looked out the window to hear the next phrase.
"Beware, for I am the Box Ghost! And you may not call me annoying, for I am not inc… incap…"
"Incapable?" Phantom said, looking annoyed.
"Yes! Incapable!- OOF!" He was hit with a blast from the ghost boy, who sucked him up in a thermos almost simultaneously. Hey! Where'd he get a Fenton thermos! He flew over the house. I watched, a bit too stunned to move. Why would he trap one of his own kind? I sighed. And went back down to the Lab, but I stopped halfway down the stairs, when I saw the ghost boy in front of the portal, the Fenton thermos in his hand. He looked at me. I could see a mix of annoyance, and anxiety on his face. He quickly put the Fenton thermos in the slot to empty it, still looking at me. He pressed the release button, took the thermos, and flew up, through the ceiling and away, not giving me a second chance to do it right and blast him to smithereens!
I sighed, and slumped up to Danny's room to ask him where he wanted to go.
"I don't know…" He said, laying on his bed.
"We could go anywhere. Just somewhere." I said. I needed to prove to myself that I was able to focus on other things. "Danny, please, I'm trying to…" Danny sat up; his face changed from boredom to slight worry. "I just want to…" He blinked at me. "Change." He seemed to be panicked, like he didn't know what to do, as I frowned and lowered my eyelids. He sighed.
"I guess we could do something…" I perked up immediately.
"Really!" He sighed.
"Really."
"All right!" I marched out of the room and closed the door. But then I slapped my forehead. I'd forgotten to ask where he wanted to go! I peeked my head back in. He slowly exhaled when I left, but quickly inhaled at my partial return, which obviously threw him off sides. "Uhh… where do you want to go?" He quickly gathered himself.
"Umm… how about… Twelve Flags?"
"Right! Sure… What's Twelve Flags?" He rolled his eyes.
"It's a theme park." I nodded and took my head from the door, closing it, and hearing another large exhale from the other side.
"Eighty-eight bottles of ectoplasmic residue on the wall, eighty- eight bottles of ectoplasmic residue, ya take one down, test it around eighty seven bottles of ectoplasmic residue on the wall!" I sang cheerfully. Danny in the back, holding on for dear life, though I'm not sure why, I mean everything is going grea…
"Watch out for that CURB!" He shouted. I quickly took my eyes off the rear view mirror and navigated away from the curb. I could hear a sigh of relief from the back. I started singing again, as Danny just sat there, still afraid to let go of the seat.
"Aww… C'mon, Danny, sing with me!" I started singing again, but he still did not. It felt useless. Then Danny gasped the same way he did last time we were in the Lab, and I was asking him about the bonding trip. I saw a black blur in the rear view mirror. The engine then whirred. I quickly pulled over; a bit too quickly, because the next second, we crashed into a tree. I saw flame burst up from the front, followed by a white bag in my face, and an overwhelming flash in the back. I felt myself get tense, and then weak, like I might loose consciousness soon. My vision blurred, and I started to sweat from the heat of the flame spreading. I felt cold hands lift me through the roof, as I looked at them, I saw silver gloves on each. I was put on the grass, where I lay, listening to blasts and such, as my vision got blurrier and blurrier, until it finally faded out, but the last thing I heard was my son's voice, echoing in my head.
"Dad? DAD?" I passed out.
When I woke up, I still couldn't see very well. I was back in my bed, at home. Danny and Jazz were standing over me.
"Dad! You're okay!" They both said together, each giving me a huge hug. I smiled.
"What happened?" I asked, feeling an icepack on my forehead.
"We crashed, and then I…" Danny started, but then hesitated, "Danny Phantom came and got us both out of the car, and flew us home! It was incredible!" I looked at his expression; it didn't exactly match his tone. He looked more depressed than amazed. I switched my attention to Jazz.
"We thanked him and gave you an icepack and such. Mom's downstairs making some toast and scrambled eggs."
"Well, so much for our bonding trip." I said disappointed.
"That's okay. I'm sure we can do something next weekend." Danny consoled. I smiled again and turned on my side, closing my eyes.
The week passed uneventfully. I mostly just sat in bed, healing from my head ach, and the small amount of trauma I had gotten. What confused me is that Danny acted like nothing had happened, and when I asked him how he could be so calm, I swear he mumbled something like "I'm used to it." But when I asked him what he said he just shrugged and told me to get some rest. Another thing that confused me was the kids' story of how we were saved. Before they told me, I still thought Danny Phantom was evil, but then I was told the story of how he saved my life, as well as my son's. I was still disbelieving, and when I asked Maddie, she told me that she didn't exactly trust the ghost boy either, because Jazz answered the door, and when she called her in, it was just Jazz, and Danny, and they carried me up to the bed, and asked her to make something for him to eat when I woke up, but she also made the point, that, she didn't think Danny could carry me all the way back home that far, by himself, so she was forced to bring the ghost boy story into consideration. No matter; soon enough it was the weekend, and Danny and I decided on a simple day at the pier, and an evening of bowling.
The pier was amazingly fun! We bought some cotton candy, went on roller coasters, and feasted on fudge. Lots, and lots of fudge! We even ate some of those Curley's fries, which are possibly better than any other fries in the world to date; especially with vinegar. We eventually got to the bowling alley, got our shoes, and sat down for a good hour of bowling, when Danny gasped unexpectedly. This time, I saw closer up, and noticed that it looked like breath outside in the winter, with a very minor tinge of blue. I looked at him, confused, as he returned my stare as one of anxiety. Once a ghost came right into the bowling alley, one that previously, if I remember correctly, was called the annoying box ghost. Everyone in the room bolted except for me and…
"Danny, where are you going! You come back here right now, this is the perfect time for you to learn something about ghost hunting!" I scolded. He turned to look at me, then at the ghost, and came running back.
"Fine." He said. The ghost was stupidly staring at the scene, forgetting he was part of it. I handed Danny a blaster.
"Now, ya wanna nail 'im right between the… Woa!" before I could instruct Danny to do anything, he'd already aimed and fired, hitting the ghost right in the sternum. "Danny! Where'd ya learn to shoo…" He cut me off by pulling a Fenton thermos out of nowhere and sucking the ghost into it. I marveled at his fine talent, which was never even taught to him. When did he learn to do that? I thought. Then I saw the Fenton thermos again. I never remember when it started working, but apparently sometime… But where'd he get it? Actually, last time I saw it, it was in the ghost boy's hand.
"Danny, where did you get that Thermos?" I asked, sounding a bit more accusatory than I meant to. He laughed nervously and handed me the thermos.
"I… found it… in the lab." I nodded. I didn't believe him, but I didn't want it to get in the way of our day of bonding. So we went back to our lane, and started a game once more. I hate to say this but he beat me by… fifty points or more every game…
We did bond in the end, so much, that I asked if we could do it next weekend, and he agreed! I told Maddie all about it that night, she was also curious about how our son obtained such talent. Then she had an idea.
"Why don't we go as a family to a session of martial arts training tomorrow!" She said. I raised my eyebrow.
"Why on Earth would we do that!"
"Because, then, we could see if he's naturally talented in that as well, and if so, ask if people can have those kind of skills naturally. If not, we can start worrying, but most likely, he won't do that." I sighed, unable to contemplate what my spouse meant, but I decided to just nod, so I could get a good night's rest.
Chapter 3- Martial arts, and a clue.
"We're doing what!" was the first thing I heard from my son the next morning, as Maddie told him the news. I stood outside his bedroom door and listened.
"Now Danny, it's just a normal family outing," Maddie tried to calm him.
"I had plans with Sam and Tuck! All day!" He said, annoyed. Maddie sighed.
"It's just one day," she said.
"Rrrgg, okay, but I have to call Sam and Tuck first."
"Okay, sweetie thank you for understanding," I heard Maddie say, the door opened, and Maddie came out. She gave me a friendly smile, and went down the stairs. I knelt down on one knee, and listened in on the conversation over the phone.
"Sam? hey, listen, I can't go with you guys today… because I'm going to this last minute martial arts family bonding thing… ya, that's what I thought… ya think so?… so your saying I should act all 'off balance' so no one thinks I've had experience?" I gasped a tad loudly. "Hold on, I think Jazz is listening in on our conversations again. JAZZ! THIS DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!" He yelled. I slipped, my back hitting the door. Footsteps neared the door. I quickly heaved myself up, and started down the steps when I heard the door swing open. "Jazz, you…" He started, but cut off at the sight of me, and only me. "Dad?" He asked in a confused fashion.
"Yes, son," I said, sounding innocent. I didn't want all of yesterday to go down the drain because of my eavesdropping.
"Have you seen Jazz?"
"Why, no I haven't." His eyes shifted from left to right, and he closed the door slowly, taking a few double takes, and finally sliding it completely back into place. I exhaled. That was close. I thought. But what did he mean be saying he was experienced? I pondered this, but there was no explanation to be found. Soon Maddie called up that it was time to go, and I raced down, in the chance of being awarded a cookie for being prepared.
We got in the car, but this time, Maddie drove, leaving me to once again take up singing.
"Ninety nine bottles of ectoplasmic residue on the wall, ninety nine bottles of ectoplasmic residue!" I sang. Danny and Jazz sat in the back. Jazz was slaping her forehead in shame, where as Danny seemed distracted, glancing out the window every thirty seconds, and shivering a little bit.
Finally we got to the martial arts place. It was a beautiful area. It looked like an old fashioned pagoda over a small waterfall leading into a pond of lilies. Cherry blossoms surrounded the building, You could smell freedom, and good fortune in the air. Maddie got out immediately, smelling the air, stretching, and smiling. I must admit, I was impressed. I thought it would be this shaggy little karate place. Jazz looked impressed as well, as did Danny, but not as much as Jazz. I frowned. Something is going on with Danny. I thought. We all followed Maddie into the lobby. It had a small water fountain in the middle of the room, and a pleasant smell to it. Maddie went up to the front desk, as we sat on one of the many couches bordering the walls of the room. She conversed with the secretary, and a minute later, we were gestured to get up. We followed the black belt down the common balcony, every once and a while, going up a flight of stairs. The light hit the tall canopy of redwoods surrounding the clearing, to make the walk even more pleasant, as the interior wall was plastered with wallpaper of cherry blossom trees, and the occasional window or door. Maddie lead us into the top most room. It was an amazingly large room with a sky window as most of the roof, the occasional bird passing overhead. Maddie walked up to the other black belt in the room and gave a bow. The master bowed back. He had gray hair wrapped into a topknot and a goatee he also had a friendly smile, and wise eyes. Maddie started introductions.
"Master Keign-rowe, this is Jazz, Danny, and Jack." He nodded as Maddie gestured to each of us in turn. "Children, Jack, this is Master Keign-rowe." She said softly. "He was my teacher in martial arts." We waved; he bowed. "He's going to be teaching us the advanced set." She winked at me. We all nodded.
"All right. Let's start with some meditation, shall we?" He said in a soft, low, wise voice. We all sat down, and watched as Maddie and Master Keign-rowe took position, and we copied. We took deep breaths, and I started to smell fresh air. I opened one eye, and saw that the window was open. I looked next to me, and saw Maddie eying Danny. Danny seemed perfectly in to the whole meditation thing, and so did Jazz, as they were both smiling peacefully. I closed my eyes again and started my deep breathing once more, smiling peacefully as well. This was just as relaxing as needlepoint. I dazed off into my own little world, as my mind flickered back to the dream I had the other night. I wasn't really sure it was a dream anymore. I remembered the icy cold hand, how I shivered, how it felt to dive through the portal. That's when it hit me. How could I feel anything in a dream! It must have been real; otherwise I wouldn't be able to feel any of it! I grinned at my victory, and opened my eyes. The grin quickly faded as I noticed that everyone was staring at me, eyebrows fully raised. Apparently, meditation time was over.
Next were balance exercises. We were told to stand on one leg, with the other tucked up beside it, knee pointing outward. I soon fell down, as well as Jazz, but Maddie and Danny stayed perfectly balanced. But after about five minutes, that was done too. Master Keign-rowe was a bit surprised at the balance of Danny, but put it off, saying that it could just be a talent of his.
The next was stretches. Pretty boring right? Yea… boring. But after that came the exciting, interesting part. We were all hooked to a cable on a trampoline, and told to try a back flip. This would be an advanced set, but we had cords attached to belts around our wastes. Master Keign-rowe quickly demonstrated the form of a back layout, and told us to try and copy, then they would go into flip-kicks, as he plainly put it so we would understand. I started jumping. quickly followed by a potential face plant if I was not on a bungee. I looked at the rest of my family. Maddie was on the ground, doing it perfectly, since she had already been trained. Jazz was doing almost as badly as me. Though after the first three tries, she seemed to be getting it. But my eye was caught by Danny, who seemed to have a form almost as flawless as his mother's. And by the third try, it was as flawless. I looked to Maddie who was gaping at him, as well as master Keign-rowe. The master cleared his voice. Danny stopped to notice everyone was starring at him, suddenly falling on his rear. I could see Maddie raise an eyebrow at this. The master cleared his throat once more.
"Let us practice flip-kicks." He said softly. He seemed to be trying to keep confusion out of his voice. "Observe." He did a perfect kick-flip and landed, feet, solid on the ground. Maddie copied, doing almost as well. Danny, Jazz and I followed suite. I fell instantly; Jazz, also. Danny, though a tad clumsier, still did a remote kick-flip. But as he seemed to be getting better and better, before long, he looked like he was trying to mess up. Eventually, it just looked like a well-executed kick-flip, a firm landing, and then an accent of 'bottom-to-ground action.' We all stared at him until he realized, once again, that he was being stared at, and fell on his rear once more, laughing innocently. This time, everyone rose eyebrows, except Jazz for some reason.
"He, ha…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um…"
"Danny, could I talk to you for a minute?" Jazz asked.
"Sure!" he sighed in relief. But as they went their way, master Keign-rowe motioned to us to have a word.
"I am most curious about this son of yours." He said, mostly to Maddie. "Has he had any training in the martial arts?"
"No… Actually, we just realized his talents in combat yesterday, and came here to test how much he could do." Maddie replied. Master Keign-rowe looked confused.
"I have been a teacher in the martial arts for many years now, and have never seen a student without previous training, adapt to such an advanced set so quickly." Maddie nodded.
"But how could he have these talents naturally."
"That's exactly my point." The master nodded back. I watched the conversation almost as an outsider. "Unless he is getting training in secret..."
"No…" Maddie interrupted, I mean I know he's been coming home late, and has lots of scars and bruises usually when he does but… It's random… I mean it has no schedule… It's not like he comes home like that every Tuesday and Wednesday. It's random… And… I trust him more than that… Besides, why would he hide something like that… there's no reason to… is there?"
Chapter 4- Think fast!
I sat there, thinking, sometimes looking across the room to where Danny and Jazz were bickering like a married couple I sighed gently. What are they saying? I looked back to my wife, and her old master, Waiting for someone to talk, or something interesting to happen. Then, Jazz and Danny came back, both a bit exasperated. We decided, silently to test him once more.
"Now let's work on reflexes." Master Keign-rowe addressed us all at once. He started by passing a simple 'think fast' reflex test, where he would throw a basketball at us, and see how fast we could catch it. Jazz was first, and though a little startled with being thrown the ball so abruptly, she still caught it. Then me; I failed miserably, getting a sharp blow to the stomach, and partially winded. I took a few breathers, and after a couple of minutes of, "Are you okay?" I successfully caught the ball, though with the same, if not more, amount of being startled, as Jazz. Maddie caught it, and then a second, followed by a third in five seconds flat. Danny, caught two; the without any jolts of surprise, but the second, with a forced one seemingly because we started giving him funny looks.
Next, was the fly catch. The master would hold a fly in his hand, and we would have to catch it before it flew away. Maddie was used as an example for this one, as she was experienced. She tried for the first fly, and nearly got it, but missed. Taking a deep breath, she seemed to meditate for a few short seconds, catching the fly the second time around. She was obviously pleased with herself, proving this to be a very difficult task. Jazz was up next, failing as miserably as I did with the 'think fast' test, only without as much pain. It was my turn. I sat down and took a deep breath, then swatted or the fly, but it landed gently, right on the back of my hand. I took another deep breath, as the fly went back to master Keign-rowe's palm. I tried once more, but the fly dodged like magic. The master sighed, and nodded me away, as Danny took my place. He took a few breathers. Then he grabbed with a jolt. The fly was nowhere to be seen. He turned, quickly, eyes widened, staring strait as Jazz. Master Keign-rowe and Jazz also looked astonished, and wide eyed, but I could see Maddie trying to put one plus one together, then it hit me like an iron brick. He caught the fly, on the first try, without any said experience. My eyes widened with everyone else's, Maddie, who was still in a state of shock, finally, just gave up, and stared at Danny also. After a minute of awkwardness, Master Keign-rowe Finally collected himself, clearing his throat.
"Maddie, Jack, could I see you to the side again please?" We were taken out of our daze, and nodded. "We moved to the other side of the large room.
"Master, I… I… is that possible?" Maddie stuttered.
"No, that's what's confusing me the most. It is impossible for someone of his age to be that experienced unless he were trained since birth, which would make it impossible for him to get training in secret, since he probably didn't even know who he was at that point in time, including the fact that you've only witnessed his strange behavior for a couple months now. It is also impossible to gain that much skill naturally. The only way he could learn that fast is through actual daily combat between him and an enemy, or a master with an unstable mind." Keign-rowe said.
"Unstable mind?" Maddie questioned.
"A master that attacks randomly without any logical reason." The master clarified.
Maddie gasped slightly, and then felt silent, probably thinking again. This gave me time to think as well. How could he do it? I peaked over at Danny, who now opened his hand. The fly shot out. He wouldn't be dumb enough to go to a master who was mentally unstable, but how would he face combat daily without getting on the news once and a while? There never were any 'masked figures' reported in the history of Amity Park. Battles that could give him that much practice couldn't be quaint slap fights. There is no possible way he could hide it from us long enough to fight like that. It was so confusing. I could tell Maddie was thinking along the same lines.
"Maybe one more test will clarify this a little more." She said, not giving up.
"What would you recommend?" Master Keign-rowe asked with a small nod of respect.
"I would suppose a dodging test would do nicely." She said, smiling at the courtesy of the gentleman. We walked over to where the two kids sat, Danny, curled up, somewhat in a ball, and Jazz with her arm around him, whispering something in his ear; but as she saw us coming, she quickly jabbed Danny wither elbow. He uncurled, and stood up immediately, rubbing his arm where Jazz jabbed him.
"I think it was a lucky catch," he said, now rubbing the back of his neck, which he seemed to do mostly when he was nervous. The master just smiled gently.
"Very well, then, should we move on to the next, and final exercise, or do you want to try catching the fly one more time?" He asked Danny. Danny's eyes shifted to Jazz, his face panicked.
"Uhhh… Let's go to the next exercise." He mumbled.
"Right." Master Keign-rowe nodded once more, and started to address the whole family. "I believe for this one, I will have you all in separate rooms. You will each be responsible for your video camera, which will be in your room. The cameras will record everything. I will see nothing, unless you would like to show the tapes to me. You will decide what happens to your tape, and who sees it. All in all, this will not only base you on your physical skills, but also on your skills of knowing whom to trust. You will be tested on dodging." Danny grinned.
"So, if you don't want anyone to see it, no one will see it?" Danny questioned.
"Exactly." The master smiled. With nothing more said, the master lead us out of the large room, and back onto the common balcony. I almost forgot how beautiful it was, and how good it smelled. I followed, the group down two flights of stairs, and into another door. Inside, the exterior wall was a swirl of brown, white, and bright pink. It was a hallway though, with about twenty doors, all leading to their own, small, long cubical. We were all assigned to different rooms, were all leading to different rooms. Where we were told to stand outside our door and listen to the instructions.
"All right then," The master said to us. "Now, inside the door that you are about to enter, is a hallway. On the other side of the hallway is a door, but in front of the door is a shooting machine. It does not do anything dangerous. It just shoots lasers that tickle when they hit you. The shooter is heat sensitive, so it knows where you are. When it does not hit you for about ten shots, it will level you up. The levels get harder and harder. There is a camera in the room, that tapes everything you do, and at the end of your trial, the machine will shut down, and put the level you got to at the end of the tape. Then, you are free to exit. The exit door will only be unlocked, if something goes wrong, or the trial is over. When you exit, there is another room that has some activities for you to do until everyone is finished, it will also have a small electronic device, that when ejected, will give you the DVD of everything you've done in the room. When everyone is finished, you may all exit, No one will know who finished first; this is when the trust exercise begins. After this, you may meet me by the pond. A few additional things: If you are hit ten times, the machine will turn off, and you will exit the room; this will determine your trial time. Another thing is that, as soon as you close the door it will lock, and five seconds later, the shooter will start. Please, do not try to destroy the machine. Any questions?" He paused. "Very well then. Good luck." He bowed, and motioned to us to go into the rooms.
I opened, and the door. The hallway wasn't as wide as I'd hoped, but it wasn't too bad. It was just plain white. I heard a beeping noise and saw a green blast hit my leg. It tingled, and tickled just a bit. The there was another blast. I flattened myself against the wall. It only missed me by a hair. I went back into the middle of the room, and flattened against the wall once more when it shot. This time, it scraped me. I shot the machine a brief look of anger, before returning to the middle of the hall as it shot once more, I quickly flattened against the opposite wall, sucking it in. But that's when I heard a boom against the wall, like someone was stomping up it. The room next to me on that side was Danny's. I heard a blast go without hitting. And then:
"Aww… c'mon. This is lame!" I was too busy listening to realize I was getting hit. Another stomp on the wall, and more stomps on the ground went off almost simultaneously. And at the same time my machine charged down. I took my mind off the room next to me to the disappointment that I had been too preoccupied by listening to Danny's trial to succeed at my own.