The Cutters Pain: Quite frankly, the fact that he didn't rip Paulina's face off for forcing a pink bow on him is kindness enough.
greekghostgirl: With Dan at the bottom, poor kitty.
CSIalchemist: Hori's pure cat, so he won't become human. Sam and Jazz will find something with no problem. As for Dan, well, ummm….I'm sure he'll find some-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Man, couldn't write that with a straight face!
"Meow," Hori instructed Tucker.
"He says go left and then straight for a couple miles," Jazz translated.
Tucker pulled the Speeder's controls towards the desired direction as Danny watched his feline self eye the red cooler. The tom was in the midst of observing the cooler's door, trying to gain an easy access, though to be fair, Jazz was watching it, too. Sam and Hori had managed to restrain themselves, but still kept glancing at it every now and then.
"Mreow?" Dan asked Danny, turning his head towards him.
"No," the younger phantom sighed, "I've told you like ten times already. The red snapper's for Bastet, not you."
"Mreow?" the tom persisted.
"Ignoring you," the hybrid replied.
"Mreow?" Dan continued pleading.
"Maybe," the tabby said, still staring wide-eyed at the chilled box, "We should just taste it. You know, just to be sure it's the perfect kind to give to Bastet."
Her feline brother seemed to like this idea.
"For the last time, no," her human brother answered, glaring at the felines.
"Mreow?" Dan kept insisting, standing straight up so he could rest his forepaws on the boy's knees, "Mreow?"
Danny made no answer, but scowled at the ghost-kitty. Suddenly, to his surprise the cat got back down on all fours and began purring while rubbing the shocked boy's leg.
"What the hell are you doing?" the boy shouted.
"Mreow!" the cat purred, not disturbing his rubbing, "Mreow! Mreow!"
Sam let snort as she watched the scene unfold.
"He says," Jazz translated, "That he's very sorry for trying to kill you and your friends and family. He says you taught him how to be good again and he wants to thank you for it."
"Oh really?" Danny asked, skeptically as he arched an eyebrow at the kitty.
In response, Dan jumped up on Danny's lap, still purring, and continued his rubbing."
"Okay," the human phantom said, ignoring his friend's laughter in the front seat, "This is weird."
This sentiment was further enhanced when his sister joined in on the purring and rubbing.
"Danny," the tabby purred, "I love you!"
"You know," her brother answered, "You guys can act all cute and sweet as you want, but you're still not getting any of Bastet's snapper."
As soon as he said that, Dan let out his only warning, a growl, before biting his idiot self's hand and flying off to the passenger seat up front. Looking back, the tom flattened his ears and let out a hiss.
"He says he didn't mean any of that apology stuff," Jazz replied, coldly glaring at Danny.
"Yeah," the boy replied, holding his injured hand, "Figured."
"Meow!" Hori interrupted the debate.
"The temple's straight ahead," the tabby replied, quickly forgetting her anger, "You can't park at the temple entrance, though. It's considered disrespectful."
"Where do I park?" Tucker asked.
"Meow," the tortoiseshell answered, "Mew meow."
"You can park on the right," Jazz interpreted, "There should be something around to tell you where."
As if on cue, a giant, grinning cat statue appeared in front of the vehicle's windshield displaying a sign on its base.
Welcome Worshippers! Please Park All Vehicles Here Before Praying to the Glorious Bastet! Don't Forget Bingo Night on February 7th!
Tucker turned into the parking lot as Danny reached for the icy container. As soon as the Speeder's door was opened, Hori bolted up to the front, leading the rest of the procession to the sacred altar. They walked for no more than five minutes until they came across a cream-colored Scottish fold sitting at the door.
"Hori?" the cat asked the leading feline, "Hori? Is that you?"
"Indeed it is, Renisenb," he answered, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"It's been three years, I believe," she answered, staring at awe her friend, "Where on Earth have you been?"
"At the dwellings of a most terrible witch," the cat continued, "But, all is well, my dear. Do not fret for me anymore."
"Hey, lovebirds," Dan growled, "Are we going inside anytime soon?"
"These creatures," Hori went on, "Are here to see our mistress. Two of them have been transformed due to a mishap, but the other…"
He glared at Dan, not finishing his sentence.
"Of course, dear friend," Renisenb answered, "Have you your gifts?"
"Yes," Sam answered, nodding to the cooler Danny was holding as he and Tucker listened to Jazz's commentary.
"Then follow me," the Scottish fold said, turning towards the temple doors.
"When you get inside," she explained, leading them down the dark hallway full of carved stone cats, "You will meet Kameni and he shall aid your efforts in contacting our mistress."
"Kameni's still here," Hori asked with a twinge of jealousy in his voice, "I thought he went back North."
"He did," Renisenb replied, "But he came back after you disappeared, my dear."
"Hmmm," the orange and black tom replied, growling a little.
"Kameni?" Sam asked, looking at Hori.
Hori did not answer her, but kept is thoughts to himself.
"Here we are," the cream-coated feline purred as they reached a golden door with the images of cats carved on them, "And now, I leave you. May Bastet bless you strangers. I'll be waiting out here."
Hori led the group through the doors, surprising a Russian blue playing with an orange-and-black Scottish fold kitten.
"Hori?" the cat cried in surprise, "Hori! Is that really you?"
"It's a pleasure to see you again, too Kameni," Hori grinned, "And…"
He stared at the kitten who stared back at him with wide-eyes.
"Um," Kameni answered, uncomfortably, "Renisenb had kittens a few months after you disappeared and this is one of them. She named him Yahmose. You know, after her brother."
"What?" the other cat looked confused, "After what he almost did to her?"
"Uh, excuse me," Sam interrupted, "I get that you want to catch up with your old friends and everything, but Dan, Jazz, and I are still cats!"
"What?" the tortoiseshell replied as if he were stunned, "Oh, yes, right. Terribly sorry. Kameni, my friends and I wish to speak to our mistress."
"Have you the gifts?" he darker cat asked.
"We do," the tabby answered, licking herself.
"Then place them at the altar and stand back," the Russian blue instructed, shooing Yahmose away from the room with his tail.
After Jazz translated the cat's orders, Danny took the snapper from the cooler and placed the offering on the altar, careful to keep Dan from seeing it.
"Mistress Bastet!" Kameni cried out to the air, "Please accept this offering and heed our call! Hear our prayers and exterminate our woes! For you are our mistress! You are our mistress of the cats!"
Danny floated in the air, wincing at the priest cat's wailing and yeowling. He looked over at Tucker and noticed that the geek was having a hard time keeping his hands away from his ears as Kameni screeched on. After the prayers were over, a gust of wind filled the temple and lit the candles and torches set on the walls. The ghost looked ahead and noticed that the altar was missing. In its place stood a slim figure with pointy ears sticking out of its head. Smoke clouded the figure's features, but was gradually disappearing.
"My darling pets," a woman softly cooed, "Why have you called me? What troubles my precious treasures?"
The ghost-boy gasped as the smoke around the figure in a white tunic cleared, letting him have a clear view of the woman with the head of a cat standing front of him.
"Mistress Bastet," Hori started, stepping forward, "I thank thee for hearing our prayers and assisting us in our time of need."
The goddess said nothing, but nodded her light-brown head.
"My friends," Hori continued, nodding behind him, "Were once of humanoid nature-"
"And ghost," Dan interrupted.
"And ghost," the tortoiseshell glared at him coldly, "But, now they are of feline nature. While one of them does deserve his punishment-"
Hori broke off glaring at the black-and-white tom as he glared back.
"The others have been persecuted unjustly by the same villain who has stolen your sacred statue from your temple."
"I know the man you speak of," Bastet nodded her head, "And I know of your fellow felines' transformations. You have the sapphire, Daniel?"
Danny jumped a little, taken aback at the goddess's address.
"Uh," he answered, "Um, yes, ma'am."
He dug into his pocket and retrieved the dark blue stone.
"Good," the goddess said, approvingly, "Take every caution you can to guard it. Samantha, Jasmine, and Daniel require your great care if they have any hopes of changing back to their original forms."
"I will, umm, ma'am," Danny promised, "But, it's still useless without the statue, isn't it?"
"Correct," Bastet answered, "But locating the statue and retrieving it isn't too difficult of a task for you, I wager."
"But," Tucker intervened, "We don't even know where it is. Unless, Vlad hid it in his lab. He wouldn't be that stupid, would he?"
"While there is no question of Vladimir being a fool," Bestat snorted, "He is not as foolish as that. No, he has hidden it with Skulker. I assume you know where the hunter's lair is, correct?"
"Right," Danny assented, "I do."
"
"Wait, um, ma'am," the younger ghost asked, quickly, "Before you go, there's something that's been bugging me. What does Vlad want with that stupid statue, anyway? I mean, if he's trying to take over the world with it by turning every person on the planet into cats-"
"And he is not," Bastet interrupted, "No, he has stolen my sacred idol for the purpose of transforming you into a cat."
"Me?" Danny shouted out in alarm, "Why me?"
"If you are not human, or a humanomoid ghost," Bastet reasoned, "Then you will not be much of a threat to Vladimir, thus enabling him to easily murder your father and take control of the entire world, both human and ghost. When he attacked you earlier today, my idol recognized his evil intents and tried to stop him, but unfortunately, your sister was punished."
She looked sadly at the tabby who merely shrugged.
"No big deal," she mewed, "It's kind of interesting seeing the world from a cat's point of view."
"Yeah," Dan snorted, as Sam rolled her eyes, "Interesting."
"But being back to my old self will be even more interesting," the black cat finished.
"Now then, Daniel," the goddess concluded, "I believe you know what you must do, now. I give you the best of my blessings on your journey."
The smoke filled the room once more and fogged the feminine figure.
"By the way," Bastet replied before completely disappearing, "After you have successfully retrieved my statue, you'll be kind enough to restore it in its proper place."
"Bastet has spoken," Kameni spoke up after the fog carried away the goddess, "And now what shall you do?"
"Well," Danny replied, after hearing his sister's translation, "I guess we go to Skulker's and get that cat."
"May Ra grant you the best of his blessings," Hori bowed his head.
"You're not coming?" Sam asked him.
"No," the cat shook his head, "I've been away from home for far too long as Yahmose has proven to me. It's time that Renisenb and I catch up with each other and make up for lost time, if you know what I mean."
He purred delightfully as Jazz rolled her eyes.
"Hori," the tabby growled, "Seriously? Imagine that sometime in the future, some pathetic computer-science-wannabe is sitting on her ass at her laptop, drinking her fifth or sixth cup of coffee at night, staying up until at least midnight to record this story for all of the internet to laugh and mock at, and she discovers you said that and typed this up. You really want kids to know that that was your last words to us before we leave?"
"Wait," Dan blinked, looking completely confused, "What?"
"Okay," Danny said, picking up his sister, "I don't know what he said, but I'm guessing he's staying here. Well, thanks for your help and whatever you just said, Hori."
"Yeah," Tucker chimed in, "Thanks dude!"
As the group left the temple, the Russian blue remembered that he had almost forgotten to give them an important message.
"Wait!" he cried out, "Don't forget about Bingo on the 7th!"