CSIalchemist: My kitties do the same damn thing. Or, at least, my real life Dan Kitty does. Real life Sam Kitty's less persistent. Real life Dan Kitty will sit there and stare at your fork as she (real life Dan Kitty's female) meows away. If you don't get the hint, she will climb up on your leg and dig her claws in. The more you ignore, the deeper the claws penetrate. You can't shake her off, either, because she "rides" your leg as your trying to get rid of her. Damn cat…
Oak Leaf Ninja: Congratulations! You just won three foot ball of multi-colored yarn!
Vlad glared angrily at the mechanical ghost after he had finished his observations.
"What the fudge do you mean you don't know how to work it?" the hybrid demanded, "You're the technological expert in the Ghost Zone!"
"One," Skulker replied, folding his arms, "That's Technus. And two, even Technus wouldn't be able to figure out how to work the damned statue because it's not technological at all! I can't work the wires in it if there are no wires for me to work with in the first place!"
Growling, Vlad leered at the golden cat, mentally hurling cursed pastries as it sat there, mocking him.
"If you want my advice," Skulker continued, "I'd say take it back to the temple and find some other way to get back at the whelp. Maybe let me test out my blade on him?"
"Oh, yes," the billionaire said, sarcastically, "That's an excellent idea. Let this hunter who's been trying to capture the boy for three years now attack him with a blade. Hey, maybe Daniel won't become intangible and dodge it, this time."
"Oh, look whose talking," the cyborg sneered, "Mr. I've-Been-Trying-To-Kill-My-Ex-Best-Friend-For-Three-Years-Now-And-Still-Get-Beaten-Up-By-His-Teenage-Son."
As the ghosts continued their argument, a pair of green eyes peeked from the corner that hid the owner. Stifling a snort, Danny cautiously floated towards the idol and quickly grabbed it, only to be tattled on by a blaring alarm. Three felines poked their heads around the same corner as the two ghosts stopped their argument and stared at the wannabe thief.
"Um," the boy muttered, nervously, "Oops."
"Daniel," Masters smirked, transforming into Plasmius, "What a surprise to see you. And just what do you think you're doing with my cat?"
"Your cat?" Jazz hissed, running to her brother's side," Don't you mean Bastet's cat?"
"Mew!" Sam hissed as Dan growled.
"Bastet?" Vlad replied, pretending to be confused, "Bastet? Nope. Never heard of any goddess named Bastet."
"Then how'd you know she's a goddess?" Danny asked, glaring at his enemy.
"Enough talking," Skulker growled, as two large, glowing blades appeared from his arms, "It's time for me to teach you what happens when you break into my realm."
"I agree," the elder hybrid said before blasting several pink ecto-beams at the boy.
Danny easily dodged the blasts, but he could not dodge Skulker as the ghost charged at him with his blades. Pinning the young phantom to the ground, the cyborg grinned wickedly as he prepared to slice the boy's head off, but was intercepted by a black cat flying at his face.
"AUGH!"he cried, running around in circles as Sam clawed at his eyes, "Get it off me! Get it off me!'
Danny reached for the golden cat he had dropped in the attack, but discovered it was already picked up by the cheesehead. The younger hybrid flew up to grab it from him, but Vlad pushed him back with another ecto-blast. He flew towards the boy, readying another blast, but a sharp pain at his ankle.
"BUTTER BISCUITS!" he cried out, looking down.
A black-and-white cat was glaring at the frootloop with his red eyes as he hung down the ghost's ankle with just his teeth.
"Get off me!" the tom's victim demanded, shaking his leg vigorously, but to no avail.
With a growl, Vlad reached for the kitty, ignoring the scratches his attacker gave him, and pulled the cat off his bloody boot. Dan tried to fight back as Plasmius held him high above that bizarre hairstyle of his, but again, his claws did nothing.
"MREOW!" he shouted as Vlad hurled him to the opposite side of the room, causing the cat to hit the wall hard before he slid down limply to the floor.
Jazz ran for her fallen brother as Plasmius scanned the room for Daniel. No sign of the boy. He was definitely up to something. Ignoring Skulker's screams and running about, Vlad went down the corner to discover the whereabouts of the younger hybrid. Unfortunately, he paid no heed to what was happening behind him.
"Gotcha!" Danny cried out, triumphantly, blasting the billionaire with an icy beam.
Crying out in shock, Vlad dropped the idol, allowing the boy to quickly pick it up and scoop the sapphire out of his pocket. He had just put the stone back into its proper place when a fierce yeowl followed by a groaning "Mew" was heard. Danny turned around to see what had happened, only to be blasted in the back with a plasmic blast.
"Two can play that game, Daniel!" the elder ghost snarled, reaching for the fallen statue.
"Oh, no you don't!" a girl cried out.
Vlad only had time to look confused before another attack on his ankle was made, forcing him to drop the precious cat.
"Don't you dare try to hurt my brother again," Jazz hissed, furiously clawing on Vlad's ankle.
Danny reached for the cat again, only to notice the blue eye glow brightly before shooting its beam at the tabby.
"Meow?" his sister cried out as her legs grew longer and less hairy.
Both hybrids watched in awe as the girl's orange fur shrunk back onto her head, creating her carrot-colored hair once more. Her pale skin traveled up her body as her paws grew to hands and feet. Finally, the statue called back its beam and admired its work as Jazz stood up on her two feet.
"I'm human?" she asked, staring at her hands before throwing them up in the air, "I'm human!"
"So," Plasmius said, thoughtfully, "It's the red beam that turns you into a cat."
Before the siblings could respond, Vlad quickly grabbed the cat and aimed it at Danny.
"Now then," he smirked, "Red beam, I command you to turn Daniel into a cat!"
Jazz and Danny glanced at each other and snickered as the cat remained silent.
"Fudge!" the older ghost cried, vigorously shaking the statue, "How in the fudge do you work this thing!"
Smirking, the younger ghost shot an ecto-beam at Vlad, knocking the statue out of his hands and into the next room.
"Hey," Dan hissed, as the statue whizzed past his tail, "Watch it!"
Turning his attention back to Skulker, he dodged another blast from the cyborg's arm cannon!
"Dammit!" the ghost cried, "Hold still!"
"What the hell is taking Tucker so long?" Sam growled, as she took another swipe at the ghost's boots, not damaging him in the slightest.
That question had been running through Dan's mind as well. Before they left, Renisenb had informed the group that an apology gift to Bastet for the missing statue would help win the goddess' favor. Why they ended up doing it instead of Plasmius was never made clear, but Jazz figured it was to apologize for taking so long to retrieve the damned thing and putting it back. Tucker volunteered to fetch a gift, and to make an excuse for not being in the fight, Dan thought, but still, a trip to the grocery store for a can of tuna shouldn't take this long! He didn't have much time to curse out the geek though, since Skulker was aiming another blast at them.
"Dammit!" Skulker growled again, "Maybe this will settle you down!"
Changing the arm cannon into a rifle, the cyborg peeked at the crosshair as he aimed a red laser straight at the black cat's forehead. He glanced back at the other cat, but it seemed too hypnotized at the black one to do anything. Just as Skulker was about to squeeze the trigger, the tom jumped at the other cat, crashing it to the floor, making the hunter miss.
"Dammit!" he cursed again, aiming the rifle again, "Hold the hell still!"
He tried to aim at the multi-colored cat, but the damned thing kept smacking at the wall along with its partner. Growling, the mechanical ghost aimed for the cat's tail, but the black one noticed it and batted it, alerting the other to the danger, and to the light on the floor. Skulker groaned as the cats clawed at the floor where the light was now shining.
"Okay," he sighed, "That was a mistake."
He changed the rifle into the blades.
"But, this one," he smirked, enjoying the cats' fear on their faces, "Won't be."
He swung a blade down on the tom, causing him to dodge the attack. Skulker let out a snort as the cat hit the wall in its escape, causing it to crumple onto the floor. The ghost attacked again, but cried out in surprise as the blade went through the tom, not hurting it in the slightest.
"Great," he sighed, withdrawing the knife, "A ghost cat."
He turned to the other one and noticed it pawing at the fallen statue.
"But," he smirked, "You're not, are you, kitty?"
"Mew?" it asked, lifting up its head.
Skulker replied with another swing of the blade. The cat dodged it as he expected it to. Kicking the statue to a corner, the ghost aimed another swing, driving the cat back once more. This game was played several more times before finally, the hunter had trapped it into a corner. Coincidentally, he trapped it into the same corner as the statue.
"I've got you now!" he sneered, aiming another blow.
Sam looked behind her, already knowing there was no crack open. She thought about dodging between Skulker's legs, but the space seemed so small, she highly doubted a mouse would go through. The same observation was made for the sides.
"Mew!" she cried out, awaiting her death.
"MREOW!"
Sam lifted her head up, only to have it knocked down again as Dan phased through the mechanical ghost's body and land right on top of her, making the both of them intangible as Skulker's blade swung at them.
"The hell?" he cried out.
Dan hissed, not noticing the glow of the statue's eyes nearby. Sam noticed, however.
"Mew?" she asked.
The tom looked at the statue and was hit square in the face by its blue beam just as the red beam hit Skulker in the face. Sam watched the transformations of both ghosts, glancing from the one on top of her to the one beside her. The cyborg ghost let out a yeowl as body shrunk as the other one let out a yelp as his body grew. The cat watched her friend's black-and-white legs grow in size to arms and hands as his white hair disappeared from his body, reforming on his head. Turning her head again, the goth watched Skulker's metallic body turn green, but she didn't notice any hair, not even on top of his pointy ears.
"The hell?" Dan's regular voice asked, "I'm me again?"
"Meow!" a tiny, robotic voice cried out, staring at his tail, "Meow!"
Dan and Sam both looked at the green robotic kitty as he hissed furiously at him.
"Meow!"
"Aw," Dan smirked, "Is the wittle kitty mad?"
Hissing, Skulker sprinted at the bigger ghost clawing his arm, furiously.
"OW!" he protested as he grabbed the cat's neck and pulled him off him, "Bad kitty! You need a time-out."
Grabbing a glowing wire basket, Dan got up to his feet and stuffed the mechanical cat inside, gluing it shut with his ecto-slime. Growling and hissing, Skulker scratched at the basket to no avail.
"Now then," the other ghost said, placing the basket down, "Let's see what my twerpy self is up to, shall we, Sam?"
Agreeing with his idea, Sam took off after Dan after he had picked up the statue and arrived just in time to see Vlad hurl Danny on the floor as Jazz tried, but failed, to attack the older hybrid with the Fenton Peeler. With a snort, Plasmius shot an ecto-beam, knocking the peeler out of the girl's hands and into a wall. He was readying an even bigger ecto-beam into his hand before a raging roar surprised him, sending him straight to the wall to join the Fenton Peeler. Knowing the drill, Jazz ducked and covered her ears as she waited for her brother to finish.
"Whew," she sighed when he was done, "Thanks Danny."
"Huh?" Danny asked, rubbing his sore head on the floor next to his sister, surprising her.
"Wait a minute," she said, warily, looking at the opposite direction.
She gasped as she saw Dan in his true form holding the sacred statue as a black cat ran towards Danny. Looking down, she noticed Danny staring right at where she had been a few seconds ago.
"How in the hell-?" he asked, not finishing his sentence.
Ignoring him, Dan floated towards where Vlad had landed, and shot him with an electric ecot-beam as the billionaire tried to get up.
"If anybody's going to be torturing my pathetic past self," he snarled, "It's me!"
"Hey!" Danny protested, standing up.
"Your pathetic self?" Vlad asked, staring at both Phantoms before noticing the similar logos on their chests, "What in the fudge-?"
Dan grabbed Plasmius and hurled him to the other side of the room, not letting him finish his question. With a grunt, Vlad crashed towards the floor and involuntarily changed back to Masters. Growling, he forced his ghost form to appear again just as Dan aimed another electric beam at him. Vlad flew up, missing the charge by inches.
"Skulker!" he cried, "Get in here and help me!"
"Meow!" a robotic voice answered.
"What the-?"
Plasmius peeked into the other room and noticed a green mechanical kitty, hissing and clawing at its prison.
"Oh, well that's just peachy," the billionaire complained, "It works on you, but not on Daniel!"
While the frootloop was distracted, Danny shot an ice beam onto his back, forcing him into the room.
"Come on," he said, lowering his hand, "We've got the statue. Now, let's get out of here."
"Tucker has the Speeder," Dan reminded him.
"Well," the younger Phantom answered, "We're going to have to go without. You take Jazz, and I'll take-"
"Hey, guys!" Tucker said, cheerfully as he walked into the other room, "I've got the salmon-Whoah!"
He stared at the mechanical kitty, unaware of Vlad sneaking up behind him.
"Aha!" Plasmius cried, triumphantly as he wrapped his arm around the boy's neck, "Got your little friend here, Daniel!"
"Oh, no," Danny moaned, "More problems."
"Now," Vlad continued, holding a glowing, pink ball of ecto-energy towards the geek's face, "Give me the cat, and your little friend here won't get hurt!"
"Mew!" Sam cried, racing to her friend's rescue.
"Oh, very funny, Daniel," the older hybrid rolled his eyes," I meant the cat statue! Give me the cat statue, or your friend gets it!"
Jazz and her brothers ran into the room, but it was Sam that made the first attack as she bit the frootloop's ankle.
"FUDGE!" he cried out, releasing Tucker, who was only to happy to run, "Get off of me!"
He kicked his leg hard, sending the cat flying towards the wall.
"Sam!" Danny cried, flying to save her while Dan filled his lungs for another wail.
"Uh," Tucker said, staring at the statue's glowing eyes, "Guys?"
Instead of a wail, the older Phantom let out a surprised cry as the statue in his arms again shot out both its beams, blue for Sam and red for Vlad. Danny caught his friend, but nearly dropped her when he discovered she was getting heavier. A look at her face revealed a surprised kitty morphing back into a surprised human. The opposite was true for Vlad. The surprised humanoid hybrid morphed into a surprised kitty hybrid.
When the statue was finished, everyone stared at the new black cat as he stared back at them with his red eyes.
"Mreow?" he asked, staring at the statue, "Mreow!"
Suddenly, the cat let out a hiss and flew at the statue.
"Hey!" Dan cried, dropping the statue.
Ignoring him, the cat hissed and growled as it clawed furiously at the statue. Snickering, Danny put Sam down as he reached for a nearby glowing basket and opened it as his psychotic self peeled Vlad off the statue, muttering curses under his breath as the cat protested with his claws. Finally, the ghost managed to get him into the wired cage.
"Damn cat," he muttered, looking over the numerous injuries on his hands.
"So," Tucker finally said, slowly, "Do you want me to lock up the salmon and caviar in the Speeder so that those two don't get to it?"
At the mention of the seafood, both Vlad and Skulker perked their ears up with interest.
"I'll take that as a yes," the geek answered himself.