(Wow I completely forgot about this story..)
One hour left.
Danny sighed, flipping over to yet another page of geometry questions. He sat at the kitchen table with his homework laid across in front of him, but truth be told, it was the furthest thing from his mind. Right now, the each tick of the clock on the wall pounded through his head like a drum, reminding him of how much time he had left as a human.
Luckily, he would soon be released Vlad's abusive spell.
The strangest thing about it, however, was that the recent events weren't adding up. The Plasmius Maximus only had temporary effects, so it would certainly be useless in the long run. The only way it would make sense to use the dreaded machine would be to shock the boy every three hours- something he hoped even Vlad wouldn't have the heart to do. Besides, if there was anything he knew about the man, it was that he didn't like to waste time.
Secondly, Plasmius had left their previous fight without so much as a sarcastic response. Just one simple remark pertaining to the teenager ban on the Nasty Burger, and the older halfa left quickly, as if feeling guilty for the nonsensical rules he'd established. Of course, the teen knew better than anyone that guilt was the last emotion Plasmius would have felt. Most likely, he was plotting something sinister.
Still, it was quite unusual to have gotten rid of him so easily. Usually Danny would be the one to have to run away.
Of course, the fight hadn't been entirely without repercussions. Not only had he been temporarily reduced to a full human, but Jazz was now on his case. After Vlad had left, the boy suffered an earful of concerned ramblings from his older sister, prompting him to all but shut his eyes until she stopped. Unfortunately, his parents were out late on a ghost hunting trip, so there was no one to stop her. For now, she'd forced him to do his homework, insisting that he now had plenty of time to study and attempt to pick up his grades.
If he didn't struggle with math so much, he might have seen that as an advantage.
"Danny, we're home!"
The sound of his mother's voice at the door alerted the teen to drop his pencil and lift his head from his book, making him grateful for the interruption. Moments later, his parents walked into the kitchen to greet him with tired smiles, holding plastic cartons in their hands.
"Hey, Danny boy!" Jack greeted his son, setting his share of the cartons on the table. "Been working on your grades?"
"We brought some takeout after we captured a few echo-crooks," Maddie informed Danny sweetly, setting her gear down to drink some water. "We figured you might like a Nasty Burger dinner since you probably miss it."
The teen's eyes lit up instantly. "Wait, really? Thanks, you guys!"
Danny pulled one of the cartons towards himself, and true to their word, it contained a big, juicy burger. Pushing his homework aside to avoid covering them in grease, he wolfed down meal, relishing the taste. The tomatoes were perfect, the meat was savory, the bread was soft, and the ketchup was wonderfully sweet. Though he still felt slight resentment from the mild betrayal from his friends, he wished he could share the moment with them.
He almost felt bad for leaving them at the park.
Danny shook his head, refusing to let guilt crawl its way under his skin. He'd suffered enough already, hadn't he? He could blame Vlad for that. Just for the night, he deserved a break away from all the annoyances he'd had to put up with for the past week. Starting with his precious Nasty Burger, he'd start to enjoy himself again.
"Hey Danny," Jasmine called out to the teen, entering the kitchen as their father left, "Did you leave any for me? Don't hog it all!"
"I'm not hogging anything," the child scoffed, pushing a carton towards his sister. "Here."
The redhead accepted her dinner and sat down across the table, taking her first few bites as well. "Don't tell me me you're still mad about not going out ghost hunting."
"I'm not."
"How long do the effects of Vlad's machine last?"
Danny paused to think. Truthfully, he would only have twenty more minutes before returning to his halfa status, but it wouldn't be wise to reveal that. After all, as soon as he regained his powers, he planned to go on another flight to the very edge of the sky- the night was dark, and if he remained invisible and intangible, Vlad would never even have a clue. But if Jazz knew the truth, any sort of suspicious absence would make her even more frustrated and worried with him.
"About half a day left," the teen lied, feigning irritation. "I hate that machine. You know what? I'll just chill in my room and listen to some tunes, then I'll go to bed."
Jazz smiled. "I'm glad you're being mature about this. I know you've got twelve hours of being powerless left, but you're taking it well. You're even almost done with your homework."
"Yeah. Thanks, Jazz."
The two sat ate quietly for a few moments before being joined by their parents- though, Jack and Maddie only came for the leftovers. Danny felt slight guilt about lying to his sister, then shook it off, remembering that it was a lifestyle he'd already gotten used to ever since the accident. Instead, he kept up his charade- much easier to do with delicious food in his hands.
"Vlad's so generous, isn't he?" Jack remarked, reaching for a fry. "What a great pal."
Danny nearly choked on his food. "V-Vlad? What? He paid for this?"
"He did," his mother replied. "Apparently, it was his way of thanking Amity Park's best ghost hunters... or something."
The boy rolled his eyes and caught the underlying meaning in his mother's tone. No doubt, the older halfa had tried to worm his way into her heart with some free food at his expense. It was almost laughable how much of a kiss up the powerful man could be when in front of the "love of his life". It made Danny glad to see just how loyal his mother truly was to her family.
"Alright, you two," Jack began. "Your mother and I are dead tired, so you'll have to do the cleaning. Make sure the place is spotless!"
The teen turned to his sister. "Jazz, you can go to bed too. I'll take care of it. It's not like I have anything else to do, remember?"
The older three retired to their rooms, leaving Danny alone with the leftovers. He began to put the condiments away, and soon moved onto the cartons, placing them in the fridge. As he tidied up, he felt a strange tingle, causing him to pause and test his powers by forming a small ball of green energy in his palm.
It worked.
He smirked, glad the meal and conversations had taken the perfect amount of time. After finishing the self imposed chore, he switched the lights off and stretched, preparing to soar high into the sky. Before he could exit the kitchen, however, he spotted a light coming from the microwave. Raising a brow, he walked through the darkness and opened its small door, finding a forgotten carton inside. He lifted the lid and instantly stepped back, surprised by what he saw.
The burger inside glowed bright green.
"What the- what?" he muttered to himself, his eyes wide. "Was the food contaminated? Oh... no."
He immediately began to pat himself down and press any areas that contained his vital organs, but to his confusion, he felt no pain. He felt no dizziness or a headache, and no nausea came crawling up his throat. He activated his ghost powers by creating the same ball of energy in his palm, and yet, faced no obstacle in doing so. Curiously, he shot a harmless blast into his other palm to reabsorb it with a tiny shield, and found it effortless.
"Doesn't look like anything's wrong," he mumbled. "I don't have time for this, anyway. The night doesn't last all... night. Heh."
Danny turned invisible, switched into his ghost form, then flew right through the roof and into the cool air above. There was no current need to stay intangible, though, since no one was attacking him. Grinning from ear to ear, he flew one hundred feet into the air, grateful for the escape.
"Take that, Vlad," he laughed, darting through the trees and various buildings. The stars above seemed to call out to him, prompting him to fly even higher. By now, the nightly pedestrians had been reduced to the size of ants, and it felt wonderful to get away from the hustle and bustle of it all. If he made his way high enough, he could watch his first ever sunrise from outer spa-
His world was turning green.
The teen paused mid flight. Peering down at his body, he found that even though he was completely invisible, a soft emerald light surrounded all the places his limbs and body were presumed to be. It was as if a lightbulb was glowing, but without the lightbulb itself as a source. Apparently, the strange effect had spread to his eyes as well, which would explain the new tint the world took on.
"I- I thought I was undetectable?" Danny stuttered, attempting to reduce the light emitting from his body. His efforts were fruitless, however- he was already invisible, and there was nothing else he could do. He tried turning intangible, but even that didn't help, due to the fact that intangibility has nothing to do with light or color.
Suddenly, the sound of an alarm rang through the air.
The boy stared down at the earth beneath him, finding himself a couple hundred feet above the park. One of Vlad's strange contraptions that he'd set up during the day appeared to be emitting gentle rays of light, and one such ray had fallen on his still invisible form. However, it seemed to detect the green light around his body immediately, triggering the wailing sounds that alerted the people below.
Vlad had set him up.