Riverfox237, thank you for being a loyal reviewer. It helps me write knowing at least one person is really enjoying the story.
Many thanks to Ryo Hoshi for beta reading the chapter.
Chapter 5: System Error
Danny sat down at his usual table with Sam and Tucker. Tucker grinned at him, "Okay, fess up. You can't avoid the topic any longer. How was your date with Valerie?"
"It was pretty good. We just watched the movie and then went out for ice cream afterwards." Danny smiled, "Though, I think the best part was when we walked by Dash. His expression was priceless."
"Oh, man! I can just see him try to comprehend you on a date with Valerie. He must have been dumbfounded," Tucker said, slapping his leg as he chuckled.
Danny added, "It looked like his brain had crashed."
Tucker chortled.
Sam sighed very softly. She plastered a smile on her face and said, "Well, I'm glad you had a good time."
"Really?" Danny said surprised. "I thought you didn't like her."
"I don't trust her. There's a difference. Under other circumstances, I might like her since she's shed the way of the prep," Sam explained.
Tucker leaned over and said quietly, so only Sam could hear, "You just don't like how she's pursuing Danny."
Sam growled at Tucker who scooted further down the table.
A crash echoed through the cafeteria as someone dropped their lunch tray. "Watch what you're doing, punk!" snapped Dash. He was holding a freshman by the shirt, glaring down at the terrified student.
Danny's ghost sense went off as Dash continued to torment the student. One of the lunch ladies walked up to Dash. "It's alright, sonny. I can whip you up a new tray of food."
"Uh oh," Danny said, seeing who the woman was. "Guys, it going to get interesting here in a moment."
"I wasn't talking to you!" snapped Dash, not sparing the women a glance as he continued to look menacingly at the freshman.
"So you don't want my food? Then you must suffer!" she yelled as she began to float high in the air, summoning all the meat from the cafeteria into a swirling vortex around her head. Dash let out a high-pitched shriek as he dropped the student, and began to run away from the meat-controlling ghost.
The rest of the students in the cafeteria did not hesitate, they began to yell and scream as they ran from the room. They learned from prior experiences with ghost attacks that it was best to get out of Dodge.
"Little Women!" exclaimed Mr. Lancer as he ran into the panic filled room, "What is going on here?"
Danny smacked his head, "Why does the past week feel like something out of the Twilight Zone? The Box Ghost and now the return of the Lunch Lady, mixed in with the date with Valerie, it feels almost like a bad B science fiction movie."
"I guess that's the story of your life," said Tucker, smacking Danny on the back.
Sam said, "Aren't you going to take care of her?"
"In a minute, it's not everyday I get to see Dash humiliated." They could see Dash dodging pieces of flying meat as he tried to hide somewhere. His jacket was streaked with the juices of the meat he was unable to avoid.
"Danny…" Sam said in an exasperated voice.
"Okay, okay. Cover for me," Danny said ducking under the table with his friends. "I'm goin' ghost!"
Danny turned invisible and flew out from underneath the table. Turning visible, he flew at the Lunch Lady, "I thought we already did this before. I don't want seconds!"
"Growing boys need lots of red meat!" she yelled sending a stream of meat at Danny. Going intangible, he flew through the meat and hit the ghost. Using his momentum, he carried both of them through the walls and outside.
Without waiting for her to recover, Danny blasted her with a series of ectoplasmic blasts. She seemed to recover for a moment but then feel to the ground. Danny floated above her a moment. I wonder if she'll explode like the monsters on Power Rangers did when they fell to the ground defeated? I suppose that would be hoping for too much.
He unscrewed the lid of the thermos and sucked the defeated ghost inside. "Hope it isn't too cramped in there for you," he said, shaking the thermos a little.
Quickly, he flew back into the cafeteria and under the table, where he transformed back. Mr. Lancer came from the window he watched the quick fight from. "Okay students. You can get up now." He looked around the cafeteria. "You all are excused from class to help clean up this mess."
"But Mr. Lancer, we didn't do it," whined one student.
Mr. Lancer crossed his arms, "Would you like to clean it up by yourself?"
"Uh, no," the student cringed, shrinking away from the mad teacher.
"Then don't complain!" the vice-principal snapped. He picked up a piece of meat himself and dropped it in the nearest trashcan. The students closest to him could hear him mutter to a lunchroom monitor, "The custodians won't clean up any excessive ghost messes anymore. They say it isn't in their contract." The off duty teacher nodded in understanding, "I've heard the school board might have to dish out more money if they want to keep teachers here. Some teachers say they aren't being paid enough to teach here."
"Woah," said Sam, "I didn't know the situation was that bad." A teasing grin spread across her face, "You know, if they went to an Ultra-recyclo-vegetarian menu they wouldn't have to increase funding."
"Sam!" Tucker and Danny said at the same time. Then they saw her hunched over, trying to not let her laughter be heard.
"Okay, I guess that was kind of funny," Tucker said. He looked at Danny, "Now where were we?" He gave Danny a sly grin, "I believe you need to tell us more about your date."
"Well-I'm not going to get out of this, am I?" Danny asked, hoping.
"Nope," Tucker said. "We've got all the time to clean up for you to tell us the juicy details. None of that general answer stuff you gave us before. That might satisfy everyone else but I want to know everything," Tucker said rabidly.
Danny scooted away from Tucker. "Dude, you're scaring me."
"Yeah, Tucker. You sound a lot like the girls in Paulina's group," Sam said, wearing a smirk.
Sam and Danny laughed at the horror stuck expression on Tucker's face. "That was mean, Sam," Tucker said.
"But she wasn't far off," Danny added.
"Fine, you win. I'll just have to let my curiosity go unsatisfied." Tucker pulled out his PDA, "Though, I can hack the security cameras around town to see for myself."
Danny shot Tucker a glare and picked up a bucket of water. "I have a bucket full of water and last time I checked, PDA's and water don't mix."
Tucker began to back away slowly and stopped when he heard a throat clear behind him. Guiltily, Danny put his bucket down. Tucker turned and saw Mr. Lancer standing there.
He raised an eyebrow, "I hope you three hooligans can clean up without causing problems, or else, I can make sure you get all the practice you need in the future."
"Yes, Mr. Lancer," they said as one and went back to cleaning the floor with the rest of the people in the cafeteria.